dear blog, i thought about you...

Dear Blog,

I know you are probably feeling neglected since I haven't shared the last few months of my life with you. You are probably thinking, "What did I do wrong?" Honestly Blog, it's not you - it's me. My life has been sideways and backways and frontways this summer. This is no excuse to avoid you. I want you to know that through it all I did not forget about you.

I thought about you when rehearsals for the Utah Festival Opera started the last day of May. It was the last day of my job at the elementary school. I went from being busy to bored while my husband went from being bored to busy. He was gone a lot, which left plenty of time for me to talk to you. But things kept coming up which stopped me for doing so. I started babysitting three adorable boys, just a few times a week for the summer. I celebrated four years of a wonderful marriage with my husband, (which I did talk to you about. You're welcome.) And I celebrated with my sister-in-law during several events - a shower, a bachelorette party, a temple session - which ended with her marring her best friend during record breaking heat. I thought about you while I was sweating.

Blog, I also thought about you when the 21st season of the Utah Festival Opera opened the second week in July. I saw all four shows within a week. I wanted to give you a review of the shows and let you know how incredible they all were. I looked forward to seeing the operas again and really enjoyed Othello. It was performed in Italian and had an enticing story line. The Fiddler on the Roof was fantastic, especially with Michael Ballam as Tevye. My husband played a Russian soldier and did great, even though he was only in the first act. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was my favorite of all the shows and I saw it three times. My husband played Naphtali, one of the brothers, and was so much fun to watch. They made the show a big song-and-dance production and everything about the show was incredible! My husband and I enjoyed the company of several family members who came to see the shows and are so grateful for the support. I'm sorry I didn't share this with you sooner Blog, or you could have come to see the shows too.

The craziest thing that happened this summer was packing up our apartment of four years and moving to Sandy, Utah. I thought about you Blog, during our move, as I went through so many emotions that I wanted to share. We started moving things down as early as June. Anytime we drove down to be with family, we would pack up the car with boxes. It was hard to watch our stuff go but it hadn't hit me yet that we were leaving our home. The first weekend of August we had a moving sale to get rid of a lot of stuff including most of our furniture. Blog, this was really fun for me. I loved bargaining with people and running the sale. Once it was over and the left overs were taken to the DI, we packed up everything and did the final cleaning touches. It was then I realized that my first home of four years was gone. I thought about you when the tears came, but we knew it was time to leave our home.

Blog, the most exciting thing of the past few months has been watching our little baby and me grow. I thought about you after several doctor appointments, especially the ones with ultrasounds. I thought about you when he first kicked and when he first pushed his knee out. But I mostly thought about you when I've had the wonderful impressions that life is such a miracle. It is so amazing to read about baby's development week after week. I still have hard time comprehending how much he grows while I just live my life normally. I know that my Father in Heaven is a huge part of this process and I am so grateful for the experience to carry our little guy inside me. We only have about four weeks left until we meet baby. Blog, I cannot wait to meet our little guy! And the best part about all of this is that I have a husband who truly supports and love me and baby. He will make a wonderful father and I look forward to seeing my man hold our little man for the first time.

I think about you now Blog as we are all settled into our new place. We are happy to be closer to family, have jobs that are keeping us afloat, and count down the time till our son is with us. We still have uncertainty for the future and I will be sure to do my best to include you in it.

Yours always,
Theatre Wife

P.S. Here are some pictures to help you visualize.

25 weeks at the Hike with Mike

Sweatin' at the Weddin'

Pres. Monson came to see Fiddler. Michael Ballam as Teyve.
My husband is the one in back that looks like Mario. :)

Yard Sale experts!

the do and don't of your four year anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our four year anniversary this past week. We wanted to go away and stay the night somewhere but with a baby on the way and my husband's crazy rehearsal schedule, we decided to make the celebrating simple and go big next year. And although we had an amazing day, there are some do's and don't's to the four year anniversary celebration.

Do start the celebrating early by going to see a great movie, especially since your husband was dying to see it. Hold his hand during the movie, make a few funny comments, and spend the drive home discussing the content of the movie, (like how Superman finally asked Jor-El why he didn't come with him to Earth and Jor-El vaguely answered the question).

Don't go see the movie at 10:00 o'clock the night before causing you to finally fall sleep at 1:00 AM, then waking up early the next morning because you have to go the bathroom...cause you're pregnant.

Do eat out for every meal, especially if you love food as much as we do. Head to Kneaders for breakfast and eat their delicious all-you-can-eat cinnamon french toast with strawberries. Head up Logan Canyon for dinner to Garden City where there's a little burger joint with famous raspberry shakes and an overlook of Bear Lake. Love every bite of the raspberry shake and yummy cheeseburger, feed the seagulls your extra fries, enjoy the conversation, and look over at your husband and think to yourself, "I love this guy. I am so happy he is my best friend."

Don't go eat at KFC for lunch. It'll be a good laugh and okay food but you will have a tough time deciding what to order and have a discussion with the cashier about how you don't want a drink but instead want another side because you were expecting two sides in the first place...it was frustrating. You will then spend your meal in the company of several elderly people and a semi clean building. At least you are with the love of your life who helps you find a way to laugh about the whole thing.

Do enjoy a beautiful drive up and down Logan Canyon. Spend the time together talking about your baby, your lives together, the future, and memories from the last four years.

Don't almost hit a deer on the way home. The deer will clear the road before you pass him, but it will give you a little scare. Also, don't be mad if your husband passes gas in the car. Let him be considerate and say he's sorry before he does, and then roll down the windows to help get rid of the smells. You'll laugh about it because you've been married for four years and are totally comfortable with each other's bodily functions...totally...

Do give each other gifts. Take your husband shopping for some new shirts because he mentioned he wanted some green ones. Enjoy seeing him in different outfits and telling him how great he looks. Love the gift he gives you which is a Willow Doll with a husband and wife, both have a hand on the wife's pregnant stomach. Love the fact that he's given you one every year and how this one is so perfect because you are excited to be starting a family together.

Don't wear yourselves out by walking around four different stores, especially because you are tired from staying up late. But because you're feet are hurting so bad, but...

Do take a break, sit on the couch, and play Mario Party 9 on the Wii. Almost get your butts kicked by the computers until the very end when the tables are turned and you end up winning first and second.

And of course,
Don't forget to tell your husband you love him and you have enjoyed the last four years and look forward to eternity.
Don't forget to tell your husband that you are excited to start a family with him and that he will make the perfect daddy for your little ones.
Don't forget to write down everything so you can remember what a wonderful day you had with the love of your life.
Don't forget to end the day with the ultimate expression of love, letting him know that you are his forever.

Last but not least,
Do let you husband cut off the skin tag in your armpit, which he's been asking to do for the last four years. That's true love right there.

Enjoy your four year anniversary!

oh boy, oh boy

Well, hopefully this is old news to most of you but ... 

It's a boy!

We went to the doctor about a week and a half ago for the famous midway ultrasound. Going in I was pretty sure it was a boy. And he wasn't shy at all to let us know that he is a boy. Although, he didn't want us to show us his head, so we'll have to go back in for another ultrasound. Silly baby. :)

Besides seeing his ... friend ... I was amazed at how much of him we could see. We saw his heart beating; we saw his bladder and kidneys; we saw his spine and thigh bone; we saw two legs and two arms; we even caught a tiny look at his nose and lips. But this was by far my favorite picture of the day - his tiny little footprint in the sand. 

Isn't it adorable?! There's a life inside me!

At only 19 weeks, he's already developed so much and he's still growing. He's wiggling and hiccuping and starting to work his organs. He's an amazing little guy! 

We love our little guy and can't wait to meet him.

Four and a half more months!

as we call it - gradumacation!

He's done it! 

My husband has graduated!

I told him to look all excited and this is what I got. 

I guess the fist pump says everything it took in four years to graduate from college. :)

My husband graduated from Utah State University two weeks ago. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Theatre Education with a minor in Spanish Education. It was a really fun day for us and I'm so proud of him.

The day started up on the Quad where all the graduates met to line up for the processional. I met up with some family along the processional route to wait for the star of the show to pass by us. The processional was lead by the our country's flag and drummers. Once I found my husband in the crowd, he blew me a kiss. :)

The University ceremony was held in the Spectrum and luckily we sat on the same side as my husband. We found him quickly among the sea of grads. The keynote speaker was the President of  Nike, Charles Denson, who is also an Aggie. It was a wonderful ceremony.

We followed this with a fantastic lunch. And I mean fantastic! We went to Gaucho Grill, a Brazilian restaurant, who brought us a full array of delicious meats and served us with yummy foods. They even brought my husband the Aggie special, a blue fruity drink. I'm pretty sure we all walked away with full bellies.

The highlight of the day was the Caine College of the Arts ceremony. It started off with the USU Scotsman Pipe and Drum Corps, followed by all the college graduates and several faculty members. Since Theatre Arts starts with a T, my husband was third to last...but we found him. The valedictorian is a good friend of ours and she did an incredible job, especially since her speech was misplaced and she was improvising. The Teacher of the Year is a guitar professor and decided that he would feel more comfortable playing and singing rather than speaking. Splendid idea! He sang the Graduation Blues, a song he wrote, which had the entire audience laughing. My husband's name was read loud and clear as he proudly walked across the stage, receiving hugs from both his department head and the college Dean, Craig Jessop.

And of course, once the tassels were turned, the party music came on and streamers were flying. Celebrate good times! And you can't graduate from Utah State without finishing off with some Famous Aggie Ice Cream. :)

I am so grateful for wonderful family and friends who support my husband and me in our journey through life. We will miss Utah State terribly but we are on to bigger and better things. (Like seeing Iron Man 3 in 3D because that's the only thing my husband wanted to do to celebrate his graduation.)

that little thing called life

A lot has happened in the last three months and all I can say for is:

That's life.

Whether good or bad, it's just life. Things happen. 

Blessings and trials come our way and we learn and grow.

So let's start at the beginning.

THE TRIP

We went to Chicago the first week of February so my husband could audition for grad schools. It's this big shindig called URTA. (Long story short, all the schools accepting show up in one place for auditions instead of us going from school to school to school to audition. Smart idea.) My husband received callbacks and six interviews. He saw a total of 14 schools and felt confident with a couple of them. We spent two days auditioning and three days seeing the Windy City. It was a great trip.

The Silver Bean was my favorite thing we saw.

THE JOY

The day we got back from Chicago was a pretty memorable day for us. It was the day we found out that I was pregnant. Yep, we're expecting! I'm currently 13 weeks and feeling good. We went to the doctor three weeks ago and got our first ultrasound. It felt so good to hear, "There's a little one in there." Pretty much melted my heart. My husband got to see the screen and both he and the doctor commented on how baby was so wiggly and jumpy. He's definitely my husband's baby...performing in the spotlight. 

We're due Oct. 14th.

THE SAD NEWS

The baby is really exciting news for us and we've been really happy to tell our family and friends. However, we've had some sad news to share with them as well. My husband made a trip at the end of February to visit Penn State and Columbia for further auditions. We also went to Las Vegas the first weekend in March to tour UNLV. He received great comments and felt comfortable with several schools. He received an offer from a school in London but it wasn't the program he's looking for. And he received an offer from Savannah College of Art and Design but they offered very little to no financial help. As the weeks went on, we kept receiving "thank you, but no thank you" from school after school. It wasn't until after University of Houston that we finally accepted our fate - we will not be attending grad school in the fall. 

This is how we feel about it.

THE NEXT STEP

But since we've accepted our fate, we've come to realize it's a blessing in disguise. With our first baby on the way, it will be really nice to have my husband around to share in the adventure with. So what's next for us? Well, we will be Logan until at least mid-August because my husband has signed on for another summer with the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company. (He's a brother in Joseph and ensemble in Fiddler on the Roof and the opera The Flying Dutchman.) Then we'll make a move to the Salt Lake valley where my husband will have more professional acting opportunities. 

My acting man in Twentieth Century.

THE LOVE

Although things haven't gone according to plan for us these last few months, we are grateful to have gone through it together. 

Forever and for always.

top ten of 2012

So, it's been awhile. I blame it on the holidays ... which were a blast.

At the end of every year, my family makes a list of our Top Ten stories. And since I've been married, I've done with with my husband. So my first post of this year is...

THE TOP TEN OF 2012

Number 10. My husband and I have been married now for three and a half years. We celebrated three years in June. And to celebrate we went to a fun park in Ogden. We played mini golf, arcade games, hit the batting cages, and rode the go-karts. Then we drove around and found a pasta restaurant for dinner. We were the only ones there and ate great, unique food. It was a fun anniversary.

Number 9. With my husband majoring in Theatre Education, he needed some experience teaching theatre. So while he was working for the Opera this summer, he had the opportunity to be a part of Broadway Bound, which is a week long class for kids. This lead him to be a teacher for the Opera's Conservatory for children. Last semester he taught his first class called Creative Drama. He has a really fun class and enjoyed teaching theatre to children. He's going to continue teaching at the Conservatory this semester.

Number 8. My husband turned the big 2-6 this past year and has never had a surprise birthday party. So I decided this was the year to do that. I planned a bowling party for him and invited all our family and friends to be there. That morning, I took him to breakfast and drove him around blindfolded. He has no idea what was going on and was surprised when we arrived at the bowling alley with everyone there. It was a great party complete with a Spiderman ice cream cake, which he wanted. 

Number 7. Aggie Football! My husband and I had to be the biggest fans of Aggie Football this season ... or at least we thought we were. We went to every home game and watched every away game. We would drive up from Salt Lake just to go to a game. We were even on the field when Coach Andersen was handed the WAC Champions trophy and accepted the invitation to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. We watched them win the bowl game and finish off a perfect season. Go Aggies!

Number 6. Like I mentioned earlier and last year, my husband worked for the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre company this summer. This is was huge step forward for his career. He was working and being paid as a professional actor. He gained a lot of experience and connections. He also enjoyed being deeply involved with theatre. We're excited that he gets the opportunity to perform with them again this summer.

Number 5. This past summer was an Edwards Family Reunion to Moab, which my husband sadly missed out on. My favorite part of the trip was hiking to Delicate Arch. There's two different ways to see it. The lower route is a simple walk that looks up to the arch but it looks so small and slightly disappointing from this location. The other way is a 45 minute hike. But this is the way to see the arch. You're walking along this ridge, then turn the corner, and BAM ... there's the arch! And it's amazing! I promised myself and my husband that I would take him there to see it, because it's truly breath taking. (We're standing in front of it in the bottom right corner, just to give you some perspective.) 

Number 4. My husband has been performing at USU for almost four years now and has done a number of different shows. And sadly last semester was his last show ... Legally Blonde: The Musical. He was the leading male, Emmett Forest. What a way to end his career with USU! He was amazing and the part was perfect for him. Everyone who saw the show raved about his performance. It was a great last show and we're excited to see what grad school has in store for him.

Number 3. My husband and I haven't been on a vacation, just the two of us, since our honeymoon. So after he was done with the Opera last summer, we took a two week vacation. I planned almost every detail of this vacation and tried to squeeze in as much as possible. We went to a Bee's game, spent a day at Education Week, went camping for a night, relaxed in St. George, stayed at a bed 'n' breakfast, saw Les Mies and Wicked, and much much more. It was great time!

Number 2. So we've lived in Logan for over three years now and for most of that time the walls of our apartment have been white. I've always wanted to paint our apartment and in May, I finally got the courage to ask our landlady if we could ... and she said yes! So we did! We did most of it around Memorial Day and finished up on Labor Day. And it's been a huge improvement. I love our little home here.

And number 1. Auzi and King Louie. Our cars. We sadly watched King Louie hit rock bottom in 2012. He's been a good car but we didn't feel it was worth it to fix the damage. So we quickly looked for another car and quickly found the perfect one for us ... Auzi. And he's been a good little car. Complete with an Aggie license plate holder and Aggie sticker on the back windshield. :)

2012 was a good year for us. What's your Top Ten?