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Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Now In Flight

 After 3 days of rehearsal, Catherine left Albright College today on a coach bus with her fellow musicians now on Swiss airlines flight from JFK to Zürich. My little girl is on her way to an amazing adventure. I'm so thankful to everyone who helped us get her there! Every donation made it so much easier to make this trip possible.

Last night we had the pleasure of having dinner with this group of musicians and then they entertained us with an amazing night of music. In just a few sessions together these students from the East Coast have melded together to make such beautiful music.

Catherine & Dad

Catherine & Mom

I'm excited to see pictures from her trip. I hope she has fun & learns a lot. It will be the best 3 weeks of her life! I've been driving everyone around me crazy today knowing that she's flying across the ocean without me. Worrying about every detail that I'm sure she  knows backwards and forwards. It was weird seeing how grown up she looks in her uniform that it took my breath away. She's really growing up. It makes the realization that she'll be headed off to College that much more real. 


Thursday, March 26, 2015

March, March, March

I don't know how this year is flying by already, wasn't it New Years just last week? I'm having a hard time realizing that March is almost over! It will be April next week!

Catherine received her Passport a few weeks ago and she’s ready for worldwide travel. It’s pretty exciting to have it in hand! Now I'm thinking about what she needs to protect her passport while she's traveling. I know that the little travel pouches are handy, but they'd be bulky to wear underneath like they're intended. Would a crossbody bag be better? She could keep her valuables on her and in front of her at all times, but she doesn't like to carry a purse, she'd prefer a cinch sack, but I don't feel comfortable with the risk that her passport could be lost/stolen. Am I the only paranoid parent out there? I've never traveled abroad, it's on my bucket list, I hope to one day. What do you think? Have you traveled abroad, do you have any tips on keeping your passport/money safe?

Catherine went shopping with one of her friends to find the "flag red" blazers, which is part of the uniform that they're required to have while performing in the concerts.  They had good luck in the mall finding the blazers, much to my surprise. That's the first step, now we need to sew her patch on and find a white scooped neck blouse, a pair of navy blue slacks & flats. She looked so grown up when she showed us how the blazer fit. I can’t wait to see her in her Red White & Blue playing her trumpet! 

I'm glad to see the Euro match the US dollar better than it has in years. It's almost time to go to our bank and order money (we have to have Euro, Swiss Francs and Czech Koruna). Next month I will set up a Credit Card/Visa for her to use overseas. I feel like my baby girls is growing up so fast! :)

We have 25 days to raise the last of our funds for her trip (Donate Here) :) 
The estimated charges for the airline fuel charges and fees are an additional $630 on top of the $3,000 that still remains. We had a successful Pampered Chef fundraiser and I'm so thankful for everyone that participated. We raised over $100 with PC and $350 with straight donations so far (PayPal & GoFundMe) from friends and family. 
I just can't say thank you enough! We truly appreciate it, every dollar makes a difference! 


In other news...

Please excuse the "mom gushing" but I can't help but be really proud of her, she's been a pretty busy kid latelyShe's in JROTC at school and she looks so nice in her uniform. Jazz Band rehearsals have been going well, next month they will have their Jazz Band Festival. I always look forward to a good night of music so I'm excited for that. Before we know it, it will be marching band season again!

The last few weeks of school she has been busy with volunteering as a stage hand to help the High School Musical production of Grease. The show ran three nights last week and was great, and the stage crew was successful in switching out all the scenes. Catherine wanted to be at the school board meeting as they were going to hold the vote to merge the two high school marching bands into one, since she had a prior commitment with the musical she wasn't able to attend. When the proposal was first brought up by the band directors she was against it, fearing that traditions would be lost and school pride for representing her high school would be diminished but over the course of the last marching band season she changed her mind realizing the potential the band could have with being one large group. The school board did vote to merge, so there will be a lot of change, but with a healthy perspective of "sometimes you have to change to survive" I believe it can be very successful. She may have a few reservations, and it's a little sad looking at pictures of her and her section in their uniforms realizing she'll never wear that uniform again. But she has an open mind and is excited for the new changes. I'm glad she has a good attitude about the merger and can handle what life throws at her.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Her Passport is on its way.

We have the paperwork submitted to get Catherine's Passport. Soon she'll be ready for international travels.

I was able to get her birth certificate from the Vital Records office (the document we had was basically a birth record, I couldn't locate it and when we got the BC we realized it wouldn't have worked any ways) that the passport requires with both parents listed on the certificate.  Bobby was in the Army, and they allow Veterans to get a free copy of the birth certificate. That's a nice little hidden perk, that we didn't realize. With $1,000 due in two weeks, every dollar saved is another dollar we can put towards this trip! :)




We're inching our way closer and closer. We've had a Pampered Chef Fundraiser that is open until this Sunday (search for my name "Heather Scott" in the top left corner" if you want to buy something.



If you'd like to support Catherine with a straight donation, you can send it to us online through PayPal or GoFundMe, you can give/mail it to us at home. You can even send it directly to American Music Abroad - but you must write Catherine Scott - Silver Tour 2015 on the check. You can mail those payments direct to American Music Abroad PO Box 1411, Voorhees, New Jersey 08043.

As always, thank you so much for following us along on this journey & helping us get Catherine to Europe! :)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Pampered Chef Party = Europe Trip

A friend of ours is a Pampered Chef Consultant and has generously offered to give Catherine all of her earnings from this show to her to help fund her Europe trip. If you like Pampered Chef items and would like to help support Catherine then Please click here and order your product by Feb 15th! Create a quick account & then find my Party "Heather Scott" (See the image below for a little guidance) then go nuts shopping to outfit your Kitchen!




As always, Thank you for your support!


I Dreamed a Dream - trumpet solo



We are another step closer, Catherine recorded her music and submitted it for seating.

  • Perform a 2-octave chromatic scale of your choice. 
  • Perform two short selections of your choice. One to demonstrate marcato style, the other legato style.

 One piece she chose to play was a trumpet solo from "I Dreamed a Dream" from her favorite musical "Les Miserables". January goes by really fast, and when we realized that her seating music was due mid-January we had two days to find & purchase the sheet music, in preparation to play & record it. It was a beautiful music piece and it always makes me so happy to hear her play.



I made our next payment that was due, but I'm still hoping for some donations. The next payment of $1,000 will be due before we know it!

We have to get Catherine's Passport this week so we'll have it here in time. This was Catherine's Christmas gift!

We celebrated Catherine's 15th birthday in January as well. It really was a simple birthday, I made her an ice-cream cake, this is the first year in 15 years that she didn't open one single gift for her birthday. She realizes that this trip was her Christmas, and Birthday. She had even said that she didn't want to receive any gifts so that we can put that money towards her trip.



Wednesday, December 10, 2014

All about Germany

We made our 2nd payment for this trip already, so we're a second step closer. I wanted to share more of Catherine's upcoming journey...

...On their third day overseas of their three week journey...
Heidelberg, Germany 

Catherine and her fellow musicians will  be visiting the historical city of Heidelberg, Germany then they will travel to Dinkelsbühl.
Dinkelsbühl, Germany

The next day they will travel to Rothenburg ob der Tauber where they will perform their 2nd concert of the trip.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
I would love to hear Catherine play at this concert but I will just have to wait to hear her stories all about her musical evening. I'm still saving every extra dollar I can for this trip, We're also looking for sponsors & contributors. If you'd like to donate to Catherine's campaign, please visit one of our online donations sites. 100% of the proceeds will go to support Catherine's trip. Thanks for your support!






Have you ever participated with American Music Abroad, or know someone that has? I'd love to hear of your experiences with it.  Have you been to any of these places in Germany? Please let us know about your time there! We'd love to hear your stories!


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The first leg

We made our initial deposit for the 2015 American Music Abroad Silver Tour.

I'd like to share with you a little about each leg of the trip from the itinerary that we've been given. 

America:  They will have intensive rehearsals and orientation sessions prior to their Farewell Concert for family and Friends on June 30th at Albright College in Reading, PA. Then they'll depart to JFK airport for their transatlantic flight to Europe. This will be Catherine's very first flight overseas!


They will land in Zurich, Switzerland on where they will board double decker buses and head out to their first destination on July 2nd: 



France:
 Alsace region, where they will have a guided walking tour of Colmar, The following morning they will visit World War II concentration camp at Natzweiler-Struthof. That afternoon they will tour the Haut Königsbourg Castle high above the Alsace Valley. That evening on July 3rd they will perform their first European Concert!

...stay tuned for more information! Click here if you'd like to support this trip!