Sketches, Photoshop, New Piano Student, a Rec Center, and FSY

 This week has been a really good week, but also not devoid of hardships, which I won't talk about in detail. One of the newest developments is that I completed the Adobe Premiere course as taught by Daniel Walter Scott on Udemy.com. I also began a new course that I have been wanting to do once I was done with the Premiere course, and it is Adobe Photoshop. It has been an exciting few days of learning and it seems like I am learning a lot in a very little time. Here are some of the things I have done.

Sarah also asked me to use Photoshop to do a sign for the upcoming youth camp activity that is coming up.

Another new development is that I began to teach Ava piano starting last Monday, and that the Rutkowskis are paying us in month installments (so a lot of money all at once). It was really nice. I did a lot to prepare for the lesson, including by books Level E and F, all just in case. But I was right with my prediction that she should start on Book Level C in the Alfred Beginner Series. She already knows a lot and can play something super quick, there is just some fine tuning that need to be done so that she understands the nuances of the piano that she hasn't been getting before. I had sat down with Ava before just for fun at the piano and could see some talent in the piano. So, I'm very excited to begin teaching her piano. Also, the Rutkowskis are so cool.

I haven't taught Brother Danielson piano for a couple of weeks. Although he has a good reason for missing. He told me that he has been casted in the Book of Mormon videos (he's Polynesian). I can't wait until he gets back and we can continue, and also talk about his experience in the filming production.

Last Saturday, Sarah and I went to the Freestone Rec Center in Gilbert. It is a nice recreational center with an indoor track (the draw for Sarah), climbing wall, ping pong, foosball, billiards, steam room and sauna, raquetball courts, and a gym section. The unfortunate thing is it doesn't have a pool, and I think that is the only thing that is keeping us from cancelling our gym membership with VASA and going to Freestone. We'll have to reevaluate our priorities. Our gym just hasn't excited us in a while. And I haven't been very good about keeping up with my routine of working out, even though it is one of the habits I want to uphold. Sarah ran around the track until she completed a mile and a half. I did a mile. The track is 1/12 of a mile and it has 3 lanes, one for walking, jogging, and sprinting. We then looked around and played pool.

I also decided to pick up the hobby of sketching with pencil again, and boy does it feel good. It helps me see the world in a whole new light. And when I do sketch a good piece, I am proud of it.

This morning I helped the Bishop of our ward, Alan Norton, pick up the kids from FSY. It was held in Tucson at University of Arizona. It was nice to chat with him and pick his brain as well as be open with him about our lives. He's a really good guy. Bishop, spontaneously, wants me to play the FSY (EFY) Medley tomorrow for the youth to sing to. Fortunately, that was one of the songs that I loved growing up so I really know how to play it, so I told him it wasn't a problem. We'll see how it goes.

We also went food storage shopping at Costco and WinCo today. We picked up a lot of stuff and filled our chest freezer. It's exciting.