Happy New Year!

I haven’t blogged for some time and you’ve all probably been wondering, gosh, what on earth is Hannah up to? And I could tell you everything, but the truth is, Hannah has just been busy. Good busy though, mostly, finishing up the Christmas season with shows and concerts and gigs, doing things with loved ones, celebrating the new year, all of those wonderful things.

I wrote this status update on Facebook as my year in review and I’ll copy/paste it here for you.

“If I were a better blogger I’d have done a year-end recap. I didn’t do a Christmas letter either: I’ll just do it here–

I played a bunch of quartet concerts, joined a band, played opera, a recital with solo Bach and put out a CD. I traveled to Phoenix, Philadelphia, Nashville, Chattanooga, Chicago, El Paso and more. I moved and now live with two cats and a dog. I became an aunt to the world’s cutest niece. I got to see my youngest sibling graduate from college and can’t believe we are finally all grown up! I read a bunch of books, watched a variety of television shows, a few movies, ate at some good restaurants and some not-so-good ones. I hiked, sometimes longer than planned, I ran, I lifted a few weights, I ate some great food at home, drank some good wine, stayed up too late on occasion, and tried to be a decent friend.

Now I’m getting ready to put on my party dress and my party shoes and celebrate the coming of 2015. This year was okay. There’s no point in rehashing the crappy parts of the year, because I’m not looking to remind myself of those (though finalizing a divorce is really a good thing, I think!) I’m focusing on the good stuff, and looking forward to ringing in the new year with my loved one(s).

Here’s to all of you that made the year tolerable, that made the year special, that helped me up when I was down, and who were there in spirit when you couldn’t be in person! I wouldn’t have wanted to do it alone.”

So what are my plans for 2015?

Music wise, I want to keep doing more. Musically, I haven’t been this satisfied in years! I want to continue to push and challenge myself and grow as a musician beyond the narrow mindset of “I’m a failure since I don’t have an orchestra job” that has plagued me for years. 2014 helped me grow as a musician in ways that I could never have imagined, between playing with Jen, the Perseid Quartet, the Illumine Ensemble, and the TSO tribute band.

Teaching wise, I need to stay on top of things better and continue to grow. I might be able to swing a Suzuki Institute this summer and get inspiration and fresh ideas! I am pretty aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher and I want to obviously change those weaknesses into things I’m less weak at.

Personally: I want to try to be a better girlfriend, friend, daughter, aunt (!!!), and sister, to be more patient and listen more, and perhaps interrupt a bit less. I’m becoming more aware of some of my personal limitations (group travel is the worst—I literally cannot deal with groups of people for very long and I can become very unpleasant) and I want to work on dealing with my limitations better at least, especially when situations are unavoidable. I want to keep traveling and exploring the world, and I want to give back as much as I can. (Our CD sales have raised around $800 so far for the St Luke’s Life and Hope Fund and we have more copies to sell!)

Sometimes I am struck by how incredibly resilient I am in the face of difficulty, yet other times I am struck by how incredibly lucky I am. I suppose most of us feel this way. Like I said in my facebook status update, basically, THANKS for being there for me. Whether or not I was there for you. Let’s make 2015 an even better year together.