Finally I have a bit of time and I thought I would post about my Navy Band audition nearly three (!) months ago. If you don’t feel like reading a lot today, here’s is the long story short…I felt extremely prepared, and I probably played the best I’ve ever played in an audition for a […]
Category: Navy music
Phase 2 is complete! Wow, the last four weeks certainly went by fast. In fact, it feels like I just started this whole process just the other day, but it was 8 weeks ago! Anyway, back then I really wasn’t sure what I would focus on in “phase 3”, other than a two week “taper”. […]
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Snowed in!
As I type this, there is a foot of snow on the ground outside, and it’s still falling. While this was normal up in Rochester, it is practically Armageddon down here in Virginia. Ben even got the day off, and it must be bad if the Navy Exchange is closed. Anyway, I thought I would […]
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I’m famous!
Hey check it out, a picture of me was in the Navy Times (the navy wide paper)! It was for a story about our wear test of the male “crackerjack” uniforms and wearing the “dixie cup” hats instead of our usual blues uniform, which is a combination cover and neck tab and jacket: We’ve since […]
As of my last post, my schedule was pretty ridiculous…I was not looking forward to being so busy. Well, since my last post, our awesome congress decided to let the government shut down. Luckily, we are still being paid, but there’s no money for gas for our vehicles to get to gigs! So we are […]
As you can probably imagine because of my lack of blog posts, I have been insanely busy this summer. So a vacation was exactly what I needed. After spending two weeks in Colorado, I have been thrown back into reality and I am back to work…plus I’m starting a new teaching gig at a high […]
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My first Navy trip!
Last weekend was my first official overnight trip with the band. I went with the woodwind quintet (which I’m in) and the brass quintet, plus our boss (the band officer in charge of Fleet Forces Band). We traveled several hours south to South Carolina, to a little town called Pawley’s Island, which is just south […]
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Advancement Exam
This past Thursday morning marked my very first Navy advancement exam. What is that, you ask? Well, in the Navy, the main way junior enlisted personnel get promoted is through exams on their specific job. The tests for E-4 through E-6 happen twice a year, and the test to make Chief (E-7) happens once a […]
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Summer season
Well, summer is upon us. Here in Virginia, it is uncomfortably hot. I was always used to Colorado summers, hot, but DRY! Here it is the same temps (80s & 90s) but there is so much humidity to go along with it! I’ve been going out on runs before work (6am) and it still feels […]
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Years of service: 1
One year ago today I embarked on this crazy journey called the Navy. Its been a crazy ride – especially those first months. I look back at boot camp with fond memories, I still have a picture of my division on my dresser! Never have I been pushed out of my comfort zone so much, […]
Sandy Herrera, Clarinet 