the first of many

Most people like to keep track of baby's firsts - first tooth, first steps, first word, etc - because these are fun and exciting moments, not only the baby's life but the parents' lives as well. However, there's one more first that our theater family likes to keep track of...Baby's First Show! (This is especially the case when daddy is in the show.) Baby was only eleven days old.

There's a choir in Logan, Utah called the American Festival Chorus, founded and directed by USU's Caine College of the Arts Dean, Dr. Craig Jessop, (former conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). They perform different kinds of concerts throughout the year. In October 2013, they had a Family Pops Concert for Halloween. 

My husband is known for playing the Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical at USU. It was a fun play and a great character that fit him perfectly. Dr. Craig Jessop, (who highly complemented my husband's Cat in the Hat performance) asked if he would like to return as the Cat in the Hat and be the guest performer for the Family Pops Concert. Of course my husband said "Yes!" As the Cat in the Hat, my husband would be the MC for the show (speaking in rhyme of course) and would sing the ending of a Disney melody ("Friend Like Me" - Aladdin).

We made our way back to Logan for the weekend, this time with our brand new baby. We loved showing our baby the city where we spent the last four years of our lives. My husband had a couple of rehearsals to attend so I played with baby and showed him off to our friends.

Saturday morning I woke up with pain in my stomach. I knew exactly what it was but it had never come this bad. I was scared and didn't know what to do. We went to the doctor and I explained that I knew why I was having the pain and I just wanted something to fix it. (The pain also made sense due to my recent delivery...and I hadn't taken any stool softeners.) However they decided to be more cautious and sent me to the ER. The doctor there had me get some x-rays and later informed me that he was worried it was appendicitis. After discussing options with me, he decided to have me tested for it, which could have taken 6-8 hours. I promptly said no. I knew what it was, I wanted something to treat it, and I wanted to get out of the hospital. My husband had a rehearsal to be to and I didn't want to miss his performance that evening. After giving me a disgusting drink, we left the hospital. A short while later, my system was cleared and I was feeling better. (The doctor called me later that week making sure I was still alive. :)

The performance had finally arrived. I couldn't find a babysitter but didn't mind taking my little one to the show. I was more worried about the people around me if he started crying. My seat was dead center. I hung out with my husband back stage as he got dressed for the show. Baby had a bottle after which I rocked him to sleep in my arms. I wished my husband good luck and made my way to the middle of the crowd. I'm sure I saw people's eyes saying "Oh great, a baby's sitting next to us."

But guess what? Baby slept through the whole show! Even the loud sounds of "Circle of Life" and the brilliant theme song of Darth Vader. The classic Disney songs kept him sound asleep on my shoulder. He missed the superheros - Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America, Batman - and the clone army, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, and Chewbacca. And sadly, he missed the Cat in the Hat's signing and rhymes and his hilarious battle with Dracula. It was such an amazing concert! After the show, three ladies told me that my son did a great job. They had so much adoration for my little eleven day old. They couldn't believe that I would bring such a tiny baby to the performance, but after I explained that his daddy was the Cat in the Hat, they agreed that he couldn't have missed it.

Afterwards, the kids at the show, all dressed up in their costumes, got to go out to the lobby and meet all the famous characters. My husband was loved by children and adults alike. Several people commented on the precious baby in his arms. He was a proud daddy! :)

 

 

Even though Baby slept through his first show, we will always remember our little Baby Link with his Cat in the Hat daddy!

the winds of change

It all began on October 14, 2013 when the doctor said, "I can strip your membranes."

"Huh?"

"It's not inducing. It's just hinting to the baby that it's about that time."

Sure enough, seven hours later I was in labor and four hours after that we were admitted to the hospital. With the amazing work of modern medicine (epidural) and the awesome help of wonderful people (my husband, my nurse, my doctor), we met our beautiful baby boy at 5:02 on the morning on October 15.

We will never forget the wonderful day our first baby joined our family. We went through rough nights and long days for the first few weeks but have learned much and grown in love. He became a happy baby who caught the attention of everyone around him. The months of November and December flew by as we watched our little man grow. 

But of course our lives continued to roll on. Halloween as Link, Zelda, and baby Link was a treat. We are thankful for family and a delicious Thanksgiving feast. I climbed my way to a milestone birthday. Christmas came and went with fun memories as a threesome. 

We continued on to a new year with more in store. My plan was to be a stay-at-home mom but when the opportunity of a job came up, I took it. Working with elementary kids and being done the end of May made taking the job an easy decision. 

In February, my husband made the trip to Chicago for graduate school auditions for the second year in a row. Both of us were nervous (me more than him), both of us worked hard for this (him more than me), and both of us hoped that this would be the year. He came home from Chicago with good feelings, high hopes, and lots of contacts.

Listening to a voice mail on February 23, 2014...

"I was going to call you tomorrow but realized I am going to be in meetings all day."

(Growing smile on my husband's face)

"I would like to invite you to join our MFA Acting program here at Florida Atlantic University in the fall."

(Excitingly jumping up and down grinning from ear to ear)

The feeling of relief and success washed over us both! Finally we had plans and could move forward. But that was only the beginning...

"We'd love to have you at Central Florida University."

"Indiana University is the place for you."

Plus six more offers! We were overwhelmed at the options. How do you make the choice of where to continue your education? Well, you visit the campuses, starting with IU then making your way to FAU and finishing with CFU. And don't forget to stop at Walt Disney World on the way.

During our trip it was clear that there was only one grad school for us.

Indiana University... HERE WE COME!

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?

i've won the war

I did it. I finally mastered the chocolate chip cookie.

How? you ask. What's the secret? you say. Well, I'll tell you:

Refrigeration

Let me explain. The chocolate chip cookie has always been my arch nemesis of the dessert world. I'm a pretty darn good baker but when it came to the chocolate chip cookie, I could never seem to get it just right.

Growing up, we always had cookies of some kind in the house ... snicker doodles to gumdrop cookies and everything in between. I grew up helping my mom bake them and eventually it become my Saturday chore to make cookies. I learned to love making cookies, but I still struggled with my arch nemesis.

I remember one day my mom came home with a new recipe to try. She insisted that this was the recipe to solve the madness. So I gave it a shot. And guess what? They turned out perfect ... great tasting, nice and round, soft. We thought that was it, that life would be blissful with a perfect chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk. And for awhile it was, till I tried the recipe again ...

Failure. Pure and utter failure. To my amazement, the recipe never worked for me again.

When I got to college I discovered the best tasting chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's on the back of the Western Family brand of chips. I said to myself, "Self, why not try this recipe out?" They are delicious! But, they always turn out flat. I think after years and years of fighting with the chocolate chip cookie, I finally settled for a delicious tasting cookie regardless of how it comes out of the oven.

A few weeks ago I was craving cookie dough. So instead of making some, I picked up some pre-made Western Family chocolate chip cookie dough at the store. It was delicious, of course, but deciding against making myself sick on raw dough, I baked some cookies as well. I assumed the dough was made from the same recipe Western Family promotes on the back of the chip bags. But when I took the cookies out of the oven, they were perfect. Golden brown, round, soft for days, and delicious.

So I started to wonder what the difference was between my pathetic cookies and these brilliant ones. The big obvious answer was that this store bought dough was hard from being in the fridge. When I rolled the dough into balls, they stayed tight. And the dough was cold so when placed in the oven, it took longer for the dough to fan out. I concluded that the next time I made chocolate chip cookie dough, I would put the dough in the refrigerator and see if this would put a stop to my rivalry.

My husband loves chocolate chip cookies so it wasn't long until I made some dough again. But this time, the dough went in the fridge over night. The next day I baked two dozen and to my wonderful pleasure ... they came out golden brown, round, and soft for days! And of course, absolutely delicious, especially warm right out of the oven. The perfect chocolate chip cookie!

The battle is over; the war is won. I have mastered the chocolate chip cookie. Who know all it took was a little chill.

costumes galore

Most theatre departments and companies have what you call costume storage. And most of these costume storage spaces are full of costumes. Go figure. However, I think you would be surprised by just how many costumes there actually are. At least I was when I saw Utah State's costume storage. I guess I would have to describe most costume shop people as ... pack rats ... They save everything because they never know when they are going to need it again.

Last year Utah State got a new costume shop adviser. I think she has the same response as me when she saw the costume storage ... because seriously, there are a lot of costumes. This year, she approached my husband about having a costume sale to get rid of the excess of costumes. They would split the profits with TSA if they helped out. They agreed and the sale was on.

When I first heard about the idea, I thought it was great but I didn't think it would be a huge success. But with Halloween right around the corner, maybe it would strike up some interest. TSA was in charge of promotion so they posted fliers around campus and around town. The costume crew spent hours getting ready. The night before, several students helped pack the dance studio full of ... stuff - clothing, purses, hats, shoes, and other random items.

The sale was last Saturday for six hours. We arrived in the morning and looked around. I was surprised by how much cool stuff there was. Everyone around me were trying hats on and getting excited over period clothing. I immediately found a hat that I fell in love with.

The longer we stayed, the more people showed up. It was great to see people interested. My husband and I search through everything. It felt like an awesome yard sale, except it had items from the last few decades ... and everything was ten dollars or less. We found a few great items but sadly didn't have enough money to pay for it all. So we put it aside and left to grab some more dough. When we came back later that afternoon to pay and help clean up, so much was missing! The costume shop adviser said they had a steady stream of people all afternoon ... and that sometimes it got so packed that you could barely move around. She had also dropped the price of everything to twenty cents. Twenty cents! My husband and I found a few more things to buy at that price.

Overall, it was a huge success! The department sold over 80 percent of the items and made some room for more costumes in the future. The costume shop adviser wants to do this again in the Spring. If she does, you won't want to miss it.

always an aggie

Here at Utah State it's Homecoming week, filled with traditions, and football, and excitement ... and street painting.

Aggie Bull-evard goes right through the middle of campus and each year it gets painted by the different clubs and organizations. Every club gets a 10x10 space to paint their logo and/or incorporate the Homecoming theme - which this year is "Celebrate! Once an Aggie, always an Aggie." The street painting is a contest so there's only a two hour time limit to paint. The winners are for best overall, best incorporated theme, best artistic, and best greek.

My husband reserved a spot for the Theatre Student Association and was in charge of the design. He spent a good amount of time on it last week. After bouncing ideas off of me and other students, he finalized his idea. So Saturday, we were out and about buying supplies. We stopped at Home Depot for paint and such and Wal-Mart for cardboard. My husband decided to make a cut-out of the design beforehand to save on time ... which ended up working really well ... except for it filled up our entire living room and lasted most of our Saturday.

Once we had the cardboard laid out, my husband measured and traced and cut. And I helped, of course. We spent quite few hours on it. To make the time pass, we watched the Utah State v. Colorado State football game ... which they won ... go Aggies!

The painting was going on Monday night. Also going on Monday night was Legally Blonde rehearsal, which takes a good hand full of the departments students. My husband tried to recruit people to come help paint via emails and texts, but no real commitment came from it ... except for mine. It was just going to be me and the street. I was nervous to take on the challenge, I'll admit. We got there just before 6pm to get settled in. And to my great surprise, a theatre student showed up. She is in Legally Blonde but said she'd help for ten minutes or so before rehearsal. So it was the three of us tracing the design in chalk on the street.

Once rehearsal time came along, our friend left. My husband called the director and asked if he could stay since I was the only one there. Thankfully, the director let him stay for an extra hour. Huge relief off of my shoulders. As we were painting, we found that we had to use lots of paint to fill the gaps, and paint does not dry quickly on the street when there's clumps of it. But it started looking really cool. People would pass by and say, "Oh, I get it. Theatre masks in the 'U'. That's cool."

Shortly after we started painting, we had two more students show up to help us. Awesome! It made the job go much more quickly. The four of us had some difficulty painting on top of wet paint, which we had to do because of the time limit, but we got the job done. It was a lot of fun.

The design is a clock with an 'A' in place of the numbers. It represents always being an Aggie. The finished product turned out great and we were pretty proud of it. Sadly, we didn't win anything.

Overall, the street painting was stressful and fun ... two things my husband and I seem to be pretty skillful at. :)

a hidden talent

Guess what everyone? I've written a play. A full, over an hour, one act play.

My husband's theatre-ness is finally rubbing off on me.

This wasn't out of the blue ... well, kind of. The Theatre Student Association (TSA) has a Halloween show every year as a fundraiser for the club. In the past they have done skits or student written shows with a Halloween theme. My husband, who's the president of the club, came home one night last week and was telling me that no one had shown interest in doing the show yet.

The next day, I was bored. So I put my fingers to the keyboard and started typing. All I knew was that it had to be a murder mystery of sorts and include dancing pumpkins, (it's a tradition thing.) And from there I couldn't stop. My mind just kept turning. After about two hours or so, I had seven characters, a location, a basic plot, and sixteen pages of script.

The next day ... fourteen more pages. I was so excited and hyped up that I just kept working on it. I would show pieces of it to my husband and he would get excited too. We would talk about the plot as it got more and more complicated. I would spend hours writing and re-writing as my husband was at rehearsal. I had another student look at it and give me pointers. I told my family about it and they all thought it was an interesting idea. I even had to cut a character out because my plot was getting too complicated. I kept working and typing and after about six days I had a finished play.

Before I finished it though, I had to submit it to TSA for consideration. And when I submitted it, I was the only play that had been submitted. But then I found out that a comedy group had asked TSA if they could perform for the Halloween show with a series of skits. And then the next day, another murder mystery show had been submitted that was shorter than mine and completed. I had competition.

My husband called me one night from rehearsal and said that the verdict was in ... the TSA presidency was going with both of the other shows. Even though I was a little heartbroken, I could understand why. The other shows were cheaper to produce, thus giving them more profit. Plus, the other shows would be easier to do in such a short amount of time. But still, it was hard to motivate myself to finish the show after that because I had written it specifically for Halloween. But I did; I finished it, and I am now in the process of perfecting it.

I'm going to resubmit my play in the spring and hopefully see it come to life on stage. In the meantime, I'm going to try my hand at writing another play, one without so many limits.

Who knows? Maybe I have a hidden theatre talent.

rehearsal schedule drama

Wonderful news everyone! My husband was cast as Emmett Forest in Legally Blonde the Musical!

Thank you, thank you.....yes, we are both extremely excited! We sang to the songs all the way to St. George and back in preparation for the audition. Not only was this the part he wanted, but it will be a good challenge for him. And as this is his last year at Utah State, this will also be his last performance for the school's main stage shows. What a great part to end on!

But wait....there's more news. There have been some changes made to the rehearsal schedule. My husband will now be rehearsing three and a half hours a day instead of three and six days a week instead of five.....Yea!

I hope at this point you are sensing the sarcasm in that last bit, because it really doesn't make me jump for joy. So they need the extra practice time. No big deal right? It'll all be over in two and a half months. I can handle that....I think.

I don't mean to make this a sob story but I just wanted to share some things that I go through as a theatre wife. I grew up in a home where we always sat down as a family to eat dinner. It was important to my parents and became important to me. So I struggle with the idea that my husband isn't home for dinner. Eat earlier, you say? Well we would if I wasn't working and he didn't have other responsibilities. Before rehearsals ended at 10pm, we would eat dinner when he got home around 9:30pm. Not too bad I guess. But eat dinner after 10pm? Crazy I say! My husband told me that he would not be offended if I ate dinner without him. Sad thought! Who wants to eat a lovely cooked meal all by themselves six nights a week? Not me.

And what happened to the deal that the theatre department has him during the week and I get him on the weekends? Who broke that deal, huh? I sure didn't. The weekends were for me and him to regroup and spend some quality time together. But no, you decided to take a part of my weekends away too. And what about our family that lives an hour and a half away that we usually drive down to see once a month? What about them? They won't be seeing him any time soon.

But it's only for two and a half months. It'll go by quickly. And for that time, I'll put on a happy face and be supportive. We'll have late night dinners and make the most of our weekends. Honestly, I am excited for him and I am willing to support him in this. It just stinks knowing that he's gone just a little bit longer and a little bit more than usual. However, it'll all be worth it when I see him up on that stage, acting and singing his heart out. He is great to watch on stage! Until he kisses the girl....

But for another time, another blog.

Oh the life of a theatre wife. :)

s'more-less

My husband and I decided to have one last vacation before school started. One of the many adventures of our two week vacation was to camp for a night in Zion's National Park. We were staying with my husband's grandparents for the week but took one night to camp in the great out doors.

We got to our site kinda late and decided to make s'mores and call it a night. But as we were setting up, my husband called out, "Honey, where are the marshmallows?" Pretty sure I had seen them as I was packing, I claimed that they were in our bag. However, as we continued to search all our stuff, no marshmallows turned up. So it was either stay put s'more-less or head back to the house to get them.

Seriously, who ever wants to be s'more-less?

We didn't bring our car into the park so we had to brainstorm on how to get back to his grandparents. I knew there was a shuttle that went into town that passed by his grandparent's house. We headed over to the Visitor's Center in hopes that it wasn't too late to catch one. We got to a shuttle station and asked the driver if he went into town. He kindly redirected us to the other shuttle station....the one that went into town and not up the canyon. So as it was getting darker, we headed to the other station.

Once we got to the station, we waited for the next available shuttle with a few other folks. It arrived and we asked how late the shuttles ran and if we would be able to get back into the park. The shuttle driver assured us that we would be fine....if we hurried. Determined to get our s'mores, we climbed aboard and enjoyed our ride through town.

The shuttle arrived at it's farthest destination. We described the house to the driver only to hear the words, "Oh the West's!" She not only knew them, but was kind enough to drop us off in front of their driveway. We thanked her and ran inside. And of course, once we were inside, there were the marshmallows, sitting on the bed, where I had left them, as I was packing.

Relieved to find them, we grabbed the marshmallows, headed out the door, and giggled all the way back to the shuttle stop where we waited patiently with a bat for the shuttle to pick us up....It almost missed us. The street light decided to go out leaving us in darkness. Thankfully we were seen last minute. We hopped on and enjoyed the ride back into the park.

Walking back to our campsite, we talked of yummy s'mores and how this tiny, fun adventure would all be worth it. We weren't allowed to have fires so we were using our camper stove to roast our 'mallows. We started setting up our camper stove and the ingredients. It was only then that I heard the devastating words:

"Honey, where is the propane tank?"

I gave up. Even though I searched the tent for at least five minutes, I just knew it was back at the house, sitting on the bed, where I had left it, as I was packing. I felt like I had failed; we were going to be s'more-less. And the shuttles would be done in less than a half hour....not enough time to run back again. My husband did the best he could to cheer me up with words but nothing worked. Finally, he sat me down, put a marshmallow on a stick, lit a match on his zipper (which I didn't even know was possible), and toasted it. Catching on and smiling a little, I pulled out the grahams and chocolate. We each had one and enjoyed our s'mores under the starlit night.

S'more-less no more.

one of my little adventures

The Bear Lake area is known for its famous raspberry shakes. And I've lived 45 minutes away for five years and never had one. With the thought of moving out of Utah in the next year, I've being thinking of all the things we haven't done that we need to do before we move. And getting a raspberry shake is one of them.

My husband is wonderful to put up with all my little adventures. (This raspberry shake thing wasn't the first and won't be the last.) He had Tuesday night off from performing so we jumped in the car and drive north through the canyon. It was actually great to sit in the car and spend some quality time with my husband just talking....and avoiding the cows crossing the road. 

I did a bit of research before we went on our journey. I typed "Bear Lake raspberry shakes" into the Google bar and discovered a blog. It's by a family that taste tests all the raspberry shakes in the Bear Lake area to see which has the best. So I took their advice and decided to go to with their most recent winner, Quick 'n' Tasty. 

When we pulled in to the Garden City, my husband turned to me and asked, "So, where are we going?" I had "forgot" to look up the address to the Quick 'n' Tasty because part of the adventure is to not know where you're going, right? But don't worry, we didn't have to look far. On the corner of the first intersection was the Quick 'n' Tasty with a sign outside that said 'Famous Raspberry Shakes' and a long line of hungry people.

Once we got out of the car and stood in line, I took a look down the street. There were at least three other restaurants with a raspberry shakes sign outside their shop. Good to know if we didn't find the Quick 'n' Tasty we'd still get a shake. Better to know we were at the best tasting one. 

Again, my husband is wonderful and made a date out of my adventure by buying us dinner. We got chicken strips, a double cheeseburger, home style fries, and of course, a large raspberry shake. We got our shake first and started nibbling at it. One word: YUM! The food came next and it was all delicious. We ate outside and enjoyed every bit!

So was it worth it? In big, bold letters....YES! The raspberry shake was amazing and I would make the drive for another one. Of course, sharing the adventure with my husband made the trip one hundred times better. 

my first opera experience

So I saw my first two operas this past week. I never thought I would see an opera. My parents never went to see operas and Tim Taylor from "Home Improvement" made them seem unbearable. So when my husband asked me if I would come see Faust, I wasn't thrilled about the idea. He told me a bit of the story line - a guy selling his soul to the devil to be young again - and I thought, "Hmm, that could be interesting." Another concern I had about going to an opera was the language barrier. My husband assured me this wouldn't be an issue since subtitles are projected for the audience. Still, I was worried that I would miss all the action on stage because my eyes would be glued to the words. So with some doubts and concerns, I made my way to the theater.

Upon walking in, I received a program. And to my lovely surprise, inside that program I found a synopsis of Faust - as well as all the other shows. I felt a sigh of relief wash over me. I could now read what the opera was about before it happened so that I wouldn't be completely distracted by the subtitles. I did have to pause for a moment however, and think, "Wouldn't reading the synopsis ruin the surprise of the show for me?" Then I thought to myself, "Self, it will be hard enough to read the subtitles and watch the show at the same time and try to keep up on the story line. Why not give yourself the advantage and read the synopsis?" Okay, but only one act at a time.

The show started and the subtitles were projected. Now weather or not this was a blonde moment for me, I had a huge revelation occur during the first five minutes of the show - I read faster than the actors sing. And of course this is obvious once you think about it. I was amazed to find that I could read the words then watch what they were doing on stage and not miss a beat. I also found that the English translations were like cliff notes and made the show much easier to understand. 


Now I don't know what I imaged the opera like, but it was probably something similar to a vocal performance - with a very poor story line. But to my amazement yet again, the opera has just as good of story lines as musical theatre.  Faust kept my attention the entire time. 


I caught up with my husband after the show and was happy to explain to him that I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the opera. It was very well done and I could read the show and watch it at the same time. He smiled, said "Oh good," and proceeded to tell me that we were going to see Tosca - the other opera - the following night. I was excited! My husband had also never seen an opera but I assured him that it would be great.


And it was great! I enjoyed Tosca more than Faust. The story line was about two lovers trying to save each other during the French revolution. Tosca felt more like a play in that their singing was presented as dialogue rather than a song to push the story along. Also, there was more interaction between characters. And it had its good share of funny moments. Although it was a tragic ending, it was a great story that kept my interest. (And no, I did not ruin it for those of you who are planning on seeing it because you can read all about it in the synopsis before the show starts. :)


I like the opera now and I can't wait to see my next one!


Kudos to all the performers, directors, and deisgners at the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company. Tosca and Faust were incredible!


  

chain reaction

With my husband being in four shows and working for a professional theatre company, you can only imagine the commitment he has. Sadly, because of this, he had to stay in Logan while I made my way to Salt Lake City for my five year high school reunion. It was great to see old friends and I enjoyed hearing what everyone has been up to in the last five years. It got me thinking though...what have I been up to the last five years?.....

Well, the first big thing was I moved out of my parents' house and made my settlements in Logan. This lead me to....

Attend Utah State University. I was accepted into the Interior Design program with a Sales and Marketing emphasis. After my first year, I decided to move back into my parents' house for the summer. This lead me to....

Go to Nauvoo for a week. My cousin was a performing missionary for the summer so I tagged along to visit with my aunt and uncle. It was a fun trip and also lead me to....

Meeting my husband who was also a performing missionary. Yes, you are not suppose to check out missionaries because, well, they are missionaries. But we noticed each other. I wrote him a letter...he wrote me back...long story short....

We got married! About a year after the Nauvoo trip and seriously, it was one of the happiest days of my life. We honeymooned to Park City and then cruised off the coast of Mexico. When we got back, I was still attending USU so I dragged him up to Logan. He was going to go into business but after we talked about it and I did a little pushing to follow his passion, it lead him to....

Become a theatre major, and me a theatre wife. He's loving every minute of it, and I enjoy watching him perform. It was great to go to school together for two years. But the day finally came when I....

Graduated from college with my bachelor's degree. It's a great feeling to have accomplished all that work for a degree that I'll probably rarely use. But thankfully, after some looking around I was lead to....

A job at an elementary school. I am working as an instructional aid part-time and loving it. I'm even considering getting my teaching certificate. These are the big things, however.....

There are a few small things I've done in the past five years. Paid bills; got my first car loan; painted my apartment; worked at a hotel, a call center, and a switchboard; went on several family vacations; tried countless new recipes....

But most of all, one of the most fun things I've accomplished is that I've seen more plays in the last five years than I had in the first eighteen years of my life....

And I look forward to many, many more!

I'm excited to see what the next five years has in store for me.

pros and cons

Guess what I was doing last night and the night before and will be doing every night for the next two weeks? It's probably something none of you have ever done or dream of doing.

I was running lines with my husband.

Yep....thrilling. Most of you are probably thinking that running lines sounds like a drag. Sometimes it can be. However, running lines does have it's pros and cons.

Pro:
Currently we're working on the part of Fred/Petruchio for Kiss Me Kate. My husband is the understudy and needs to be memorized in case of sickness, injury, or sudden death, (let's hope not on that last one.) One of the great things about running lines with my husband is that I get to read most of the show in advance. So I know what to expect when I see the show.

Con:
I read most of the show in advance and I know what to expect when I see the show.

Pro:
But because I get to read the show in advance, I can ask my husband questions about parts I don't understand like "Why is she so angry at him?" or laugh at funny lines like "Oh Lilli, you're not going to whoops" or discuss certain parts of the story like "It's sad to think that during Shakespeare's time women had their place."

Con:
However, sometimes this can ruin the show for me because I already know the intricate details of the plot and don't get to watch it unfold onstage.

Pro:
My husband is a trooper and does really well at memorizing so many lines so quickly. But I have to admit that I have a very good memory, and sometimes I memorize the other lines faster than my husband memorizes his....if I'm really trying. And usually I end up memorizing his lines because I hear them repeatedly.  

Con:
That just means for me that when I see the show, I know when an actor has made a mistake on his or her lines. This has happened a time or two before in other shows.

Pro:
Even though running lines takes at least an hour or more a night, it does mean that I am spending time with my husband.

Con:
I'm spending time with my husband....running lines....oh, the things I do as a theatre wife.

Pro:
I'm not an actress. My husband may convince you otherwise but if I were an actress, then Kristen Stewart would be pure genius on the screen. I've done a few acting tid bits in my lifetime, including two scenes for my husband's directing class one semester. However, I do enjoy pretending I can act. (Sir Ian McKellen on Acting -Yes, I am referencing this video again. :) So one of my favorite parts about running lines is making up accents and pretending to be the different characters. Lilli has a western accent. The gangsters have a New York accent. Paul is boring. Ralph is always tired. Hopefully by doing this my husband will admit that I am fun to run lines with.

Con:
If I practice too much, my husband may finally admit that I am good enough to be in a play and persuade me to do a show. Don't get me wrong, I love the theatre....I'd just rather be in the seats than on the stage.

We have fun running lines. Sometimes it's a drag and sometimes it's entertaining. Overall, I love my husband so much that I will sit on the couch, cuddle up to him, be the characters, and run lines...over and over and over....