natalie's blog » Posts with Videos http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog "For to me to live is Christ." It is my goal to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in every area of my life and to use the talents, skills and opportunities He gives me to further His kingdom Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:02:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 A Day at Oregon’s Water Park http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/08/06/a-day-at-oregons-water-park/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/08/06/a-day-at-oregons-water-park/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:16:52 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/?p=324 Today, Nicole and Andy planned a suprise destination for me. All the others were in on the little secret, but I was left guessing until we arrived at Steelhead Falls…a cliffjumper’s paradise!


Andy, Nicole, Noelle, and Joey pose at the entrance to the “water park.”


It was a half-mile trek back through the canyon to the final destination point.


The swirling falls, surrounded by crags that served as a perfect launch pad for the cliffjumpers.


We got warmed up on the easier jump. Andy led the way and most of the rest of us followed. (Sorry, you’ll have to turn your head sideways to watch this clip…)


We were all impressed when Dad made the jump! And look at the beautiful form, to boot! :-D


Andy, Noelle, Joey, and I made our way over to the falls and had a blast climbing up and jumping off the edge several times.


Noelle prepares for her entry into the rapids below.


It took her a while to work up the nerve, but Naomi eventually made the plunge. We were all so proud of her!


Next, Joey and I set our sights on the big jump on the other side of the river.


It was a good bit higher than the other cliffs, but oh, what an adrenaline rush! I’d say God definitely has the corner on creating the best water parks, don’t you think? Too bad He didn’t put a few in Kansas, though… :-)

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/08/06/a-day-at-oregons-water-park/feed/ 3 Our First Commercial http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/02/26/our-first-commercial/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/02/26/our-first-commercial/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:25:32 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/?p=302 For a recent family project, Joey and I were paired up and assigned to produce a commercial for the product of our choice. We opted for Joey’s favorite eating establishment – Taco Shop. We worked together to storyboard, film, and script our production. Neither of us really know anything about filming and the technical side of things (so please don’t judge us on our lack of quality… :-) ), but we had fun in the process! Here is the result of our efforts:

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2009/02/26/our-first-commercial/feed/ 6 Piano Camp 2008! http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/07/04/piano-camp-2008/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/07/04/piano-camp-2008/#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:52:43 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/07/04/piano-camp-2008/ My students and I had a great time this past week during our summer Piano Camps! One of our local music teachers associations is sponsoring a Music Olympics festival in a couple of weeks, so we spent a lot of our time at Piano Camp training and preparing for this event. It was a ton of fun! Here’s a video I put together last night to capture some of the memories from the week:

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/07/04/piano-camp-2008/feed/ 4 A Day on the Slopes http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/03/19/a-day-on-the-slopes/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/03/19/a-day-on-the-slopes/#comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:19:08 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/03/19/a-day-on-the-slopes/ Here is your chance to join us on the beautiful Colorado mountains for an exhilarating day of skiing! We were joined on our annual family ski trip by Nicole’s husband’s family, the Bloyers, and we had a blast together! This video will give you a glimpse into what our days of skiing were like. Enjoy!

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/03/19/a-day-on-the-slopes/feed/ 4 This is what happens when Joey is left alone with my camera… http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/02/10/this-is-what-happens-when-joey-is-left-alone-with-my-camera/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/02/10/this-is-what-happens-when-joey-is-left-alone-with-my-camera/#comments Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:10:50 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/02/10/this-is-what-happens-when-joey-is-left-alone-with-my-camera/

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2008/02/10/this-is-what-happens-when-joey-is-left-alone-with-my-camera/feed/ 2 Our First Film Project http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/07/16/our-first-film-project/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/07/16/our-first-film-project/#comments Mon, 16 Jul 2007 07:08:03 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/07/16/our-first-film-project/ This past week, six students and I spent a couple of hours a day together for a summer piano camp at my studio. I decided to try something new this year and purchased the equipment and software so they could produce a documentary on the life of Isaac Watts, the “father of English hymnody.” I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since it was our first attempt at such a project and we had to “speed-learn” how to use the camera (Canon Elura miniDV camcorder) and software (Adobe Premiere Elements).

There’s definitely plenty of room for improvement (feel free to leave specific tips or suggestions – like how to do a better job of equalizing the audio when it is being recorded in increments…), but overall I think they did a great job putting it together in a relatively short amount of time. (For those interested, I’ve included more detail about how we did this and what equipment we used here.)

]]> http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/07/16/our-first-film-project/feed/ 7 One Amazing Sister! http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/02/08/one-amazing-sister/ http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/02/08/one-amazing-sister/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:55:54 +0000 natalie http://nataliespianostudio.com/blog/2007/02/08/one-amazing-sister/ Our church has an Upward Sports League and both Naomi and Joey play on a basketball team. During the halftime of each game, volunteers from the church share a devotional. Naomi volunteered to share the halftime devotional for several of the games last Saturday. I asked her the week before what her topic was and she said she was still praying about it to see what the Lord wanted her to say. During the early part of last week, she asked me to read the paper she had written on her proposed topic, Be A Light in the World, based on Matthew 5:16. It needed some tweaking, but overall was pretty good. A couple of days later I asked her how the speech was coming and she said that she felt the Lord impressed on her that she should change her topic. She had begun working on a devotional titled, What It’s Like to Have C.P. I was very impressed at her sensitivity to the Lord’s leading and even more impressed at the quality and depth of what she had to say.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the games, but Mom recorded it so that I could watch it later. Naomi gave me permission to post the video here, along with a transcript below. May you be blessed by the faith of one of my amazing little sisters, who has taken to heart the words of Paul, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) She truly is an example to me!

YouTube Link

 

What It’s Like to Have C.P.
by Naomi – February, 2007

Hi! My name is Naomi. I have played Upward for 5 years; sadly, this is my last year, but as the Lord allows, I hope to stay involved in Upward.

I know some of you have wondered, and have even asked me why I have this brace on my left leg; well, here’s why! In June 1994, the Lord brought me into this world – about 4 weeks early – with a birth defect called Cerebral Palsy (CP). In my case it’s a disconnect between my brain and the left side of my body, which causes my left side to be weaker than my right. My Mom and doctor figured this out soon after I was born.

There have been some discouragements, but my parents have put Deuteronomy 6:7 into practice following the Lord’s command to teach me every day and along with lots of other great things they’ve taught me, they’ve helped me learn how to strengthen my left side. Their example of obedience has influenced my life and showed me to thank the Lord for what he has blessed me with rather than feeling sorry for myself because of my CP. My parents have taught me to work hard at everything I do, and that has helped me learn to do some physical things that are harder for me because of my CP. So I try to work hard every day to strengthen my left side.

My Mom has told me, “You can do whatever others do if you just put your mind to it,” and I have treasured that in my heart. Yes, I have gotten discouraged, and even angry at times, because it’s so hard for me to do some things, but the Lord has taught me that He has His own good reasons for allowing me to have this disability.

I do think about, though, what it would be like not to have CP … For one thing, if I was able-bodied, I wouldn’t be able to encourage people the way the Lord allows me to. The Lord does have purposes for why He does things, and they’re perfect. So, I have no regrets that I’m disabled, because the Lord has used me to shine His light in ways I couldn’t if I did not have CP.

Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. The Lord gives these to us to glorify Himself, so let’s learn to appreciate them and work with all our hearts to use these gifts. (Colossians 3:23) You may think, how can I do that, work at things with all my heart? Remember these verses, and they will help answer your question: (Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 41:10). These verses have helped me in hard situations, and they continue to give me strength when I need it.

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