I WANT TO POST

I WANT TO POST, BUT I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!
Take care, Lots of Love, RANDOM THOUGHTS INSERTED HERE_________!
Jen

So my Top Secret Trip was to VIRGINIABEACHVIRGINIA to see MIKEWOODS!!!!! It was amazing.
We left on Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm and didn’t get to Virginia till 5:30 pm the next day. The drive was fun though. The only fun part was when all of us were too tired to drive and we were a little grouchy. Other than that it was smooth sailing. Doc had some amazing comments, including “Hey Baby, I’m Bionic.”
Saturday we arrived at Beth’s house (see photo) and all stood outside on the lawn calling our families to let them know that we were safe. Then the guys went to Ben and Mikes while we all showered and got pretty to see Mike. The guys came back and we all sat around for a while. Rachel and I made a Roman sandwich and it was quite comfortable. We went to Regent and played around in the lobby. We took pictures on the fabulous staircase (see photo), waltzed, Aaron Modeled, and Rachel Swooned. Then we all went back stage and waited for Mike to come around the corner. I will never forget the look on his face and his reaction for the rest of my life. Mike gave us a tour of some of Regent (see photo) and then we went out to eat at the restaurant that Mike goes with his friends. After eating and talking we went back to Beth’s and sat and tried to talk till 3:00 am and then we all went to bed.
Sunday is a day that I will want to freeze and revisit it whenever I get the chance. We woke up at 8:30 and went to get the guys. We ate breakfast at Ben’s house while watching the guys play x-men. (see photo) After that we left for the beach. (see photo) It was a beautiful day (see photo). The wind was cold but the water was warmer than the wind. There were seven of us that swam. (John, Roman, Aaron, Sharon, Becca, Rachel, and Me) I didn’t see them, but someone said that there were dolphins swimming just a little farther out than we were swimming. After we got out and tried to get warm and dry, we had devotionals on the beach. Landon brought his guitar and we sang, read scripture, and prayed. It was wonderful. I am so blessed to have friends such as these. After Devos we ran around on the beach for a while longer and then went to IHOP for breakfast/lunch. Mike left early for call, and we all left later to get ready. We went as fast as we could and we were still almost late. I drove to the show and I sure did break some traffic laws. (I don’t ever do that either, but I am pretty sure that the 3 point turn I took in the middle of a 4 lane road with a green SUV coming was a law breaking experience. I wasn’t about to drive 25 hours to see a show and miss it by being late by 2 min.) The show was so powerful. The acting was incredible. After the show we went out to look at the fountain and wait for Mike to get done with stuff. Then we went out for Chinese take out. It was SOOOOO GOOOOOD!!! We watched Batman Begins and I fell asleep after the first 45 min or so. I woke up and we all talked till 2:00ish and then I went to bed.
Monday morning came too early. We all got to sleep in a bit. Then we cleaned up, and I packed up my stuff. We all sat around and watched a discovery nature show about Cuba and how everything on Cuba is small. The guys provided some great commentary while watching the species. Amy and I went for a walk in the hurricane and got about ½ a block when our umbrellas blew inside-out, and we decided to go back then it was time for us to leave. It took a while…first we all said good bye. Then we couldn’t leave because we plugged the toilet and someone had to go buy a plunger. Then we found a plunger and they had to come back to un-clog it. Then we all said good bye again, and we finally left. I almost cried watching Mike and Angie; I had to swallow a lot.
The ride home was eventful and hilarious. I want to write about it sometime, but this post is already the LONGESTEVER!!!. So I will leave you here. Perhaps I will finish my thoughts later because I have already worked on this one over the course of a week.
Sorry the pics are out of order. You can figure them out. The one of Angie, Brian, and I is a representation of Illinois. I am ill, Angie is annoyed and Brian is an Indian.

TOPSECRETLOCATION!!!!!!!!!

I am bound for a top secret location. I will not be around for a while. I will tell you all about it when I get back. FALLBREAKROCKSANDILOVENUMBLIMS!!!!!!!!!EVERYBODYDRIVESAFE!

For Ginger

Yesterday was a sad day for my family. My family’s dog Ginger died in her sleep. It is probably harder for my family to deal with the loss of a pet more than other families. You see, when we get a dog, it becomes a member of a family. It gets multiple nick names. It gets dressed in any manner of people clothing. It gets half of my mom’s peanut butter sandwich every morning, and it gets half of my dad’s popcorn at night.
So this post will be a tribute to Ginger the sweet little sausage that she was.
My mom, sister, and I went to the humane society when I was 11 years old to look at the puppies. We found Ginger. She was the smallest of the litter, and she was shaking. We took her home and when dad came home we made him close his eyes, sit down on the couch, and hold out his hands. We dropped her into his hands and looked at him with the biggest, sweetest, can we keep her eyes. He couldn’t say no. Ginger had a interesting start to life with us. She was a sickly little thing and wouldn’t eat anything but bread soaked in milk. We were excited when she moved onto rice and then puppy food.
Soon she gained some spunk and grew a little. The funniest thing about her was her tail. It moved like a cat’s tail. It didn’t wag, it wiggled. We thought that from her short hair that she would have a thin silky coat. Ha, were we surprised; soon she grew a huge thick sheltie coat. It was beautiful even though she shed like a fiend.
One of my favorite memories with her was at McPherson College Track. We were all walking or running as a family. I think I was training for Volleyball. She got loose on the track and proceeded to herd us like sheep. If one of us strayed from the group she would walk along the outside of us and slowly walk us back into the group.
She also liked music a lot. She used to lay under mom’s stereo and listen to the music. Mom insisted that she liked soothing music best. Ginger would also play hide and seek with a bone. I could give her a nyla-bone and she would take it hide it and come back to let me know that it was hidden. Then she would help me find it. That dog could seriously talk to you with her eyes. If you asked her a question she would snort a response. I believe that she knew in her head exactly what you had said.
I will miss her. She was a great friend and a good playmate.

Memories of Big River

There is no way that I can coherently write about all the fun that I had, and all that I learned through Big River. It was an experience that changed me. I think that all shows change actors, it just depends on the show and the situations surrounding it that determine how much it changes you. So I have decided to list some of the wonderful things that I will remember about this particular show and the awesome people I got to work with.

So here are my memories
1. The first rehearsal having to say if I prefer spaghetti with or without meat sauce. Within this, learning about the new people in the cast
2. Learning the music knowing full well that these songs would be stuck in my head for the next month or more.
3. Finding out that I, yet again, got the “mom” role in the show and that I, yet again, (for the second tabor play in a row) would make my first entrance yelling the name of a mischievous youth
4. Having Becky frequently ask me “when is practice?” and walking together like old times.
5. Getting to know my soul sisters Elise and Bri
6. Absolutely wanting to disappear during multiple moments of embarrassment in rehearsal
7. The terrible night of the lip licking mix up
8. Watching James eat grapes and mouth the lines off stage, and listening to him every time he said, “you ruined the show”
9. Talking with Elise, Bri, and Aaron back stage about everything. Seriously, I mean everything.
10. The first time I heard Jarrod sing the government song
11. Praying with many different people during hard times in their lives
12. Getting to be joyful with John and Elise when their families got to come from so far away
13. Doing Man makeup
14. Wearing and tripping over 20 yards of fabric each night
15. Cast bonding on our first Friday night performance.
16. Listening to Daniel progress as the Young Fool
17. Dancing back stage before Free at Last
18. When Aaron modeled for us right before intermission
19. Singing in chipmunk voices with Ashley
20. Working with the brilliant but unpredictable Alberto (the set guy)
21. Getting a rose from Chris and finding out that I am now the proud owner of a nasty cupcake in a baggie…until I find it Moooowwwahahahahaha
22. Having my sister come to my show!
23. Singing the Crossing on Saturday night when it was perfect and getting huge goose bumps
24. Singing Stand by Me with Landon, John, Jarrod, Rachel, Elise, and others after practice.
25. Going to Luke’s room after practice and singing with Rachel and Elise
26. Walking out on stage on Thursday night and realizing that this was it. It was time to go.
27. Walking out on stage on Sunday afternoon and knowing that it was time to bring us home.
28. Loving all of my friends in the cast, and recognizing all that John, Landon, Rachel, Becky, Roman, Brett, Jarrod, James, and I have gotten to do together over our past 3 years and how much of a great opportunity this show was.
29. Knowing that I would never get to do this show again and being satisfied that we had fought hard and that it was good.
30. Talking with Angie on Sunday night, processing all that we had learned and the fun that we had, and thanking God for the blessing that Big River gave us.

There are so many memories and wonderful things that I will never forget. (like Landon, Shane, and the Toe Fish) I was lucky to get to know new people and to also get to know people better. If you have a memory of your own, feel free to share.

To bed I said

I want to post, but I am so tired and I have a large head ache. The play was amazing. My sister and her boyfriend both came and I was so glad to have them there. I want to say more about it, but I don’t think I have the ability right now. I am still processing. I will fill you all in later. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps a lot later considering that I have everything and a bag of potatoes to get done between now and fall break. Count it all joy. To Bed I Said, and Went to Bed.

TWO WORDS

OPENING NIGHT!!!!!!!!

attention span

I feel as the week moves on in a productionwardly direction my attention span for all other things in life wears thin. Thinner than Thin, The thinnest way to wear thin. Thin like the knees of your favorite pants. Thin like the sweet layer of chocolate on top of a Three Musketeers. Thin like the 100 year old costume that I get to wear as a slave. Thin like the featherweight hair I inherited from my mom. Thin like Christian Bale’s upper lip. Thin like my little sister. Thin like the number of zeros in my bank account. Thin like the sound of an obo in the upper register. Thin like....

To Whom it may concern,

It has been brought to my attention that the mishaps of my life, especially concerning my speech, could be considered “sketchy” or “questionable.” Be assured that although I may appear a mild mannered person on the outside I live my mental life with somewhat of a reckless abandon. This attitude has brought me to saying and miss-saying many things that perhaps might be better if kept to ones self, but alas I don’t think the filtering part of my frontal lobe works with the efficiency that it should. This lack of coordination between frontal lobe and my tongue causes me many an embarrassing moment. I pray that these moments, although terribly uncomfortable at the time, prove to be great memories and stories that I can pass on to my future generations, after they are old enough to hear that is.

Big River Practice

Here is a sneak peek at what we all have been working on for the past little while. It is comming together!

Social Blunder

Who sleeps on cupcakes? I know someone!

Lets get a cheer for cast bonding! Lets get a cheer for sleeping for an entire week on a cupcake in a baggie! Lets get a cheer for people who are hopelessly oblivious!
None of these statements are related to each other in any way shape or form. They are all part of my life right now, but none of them deal with each other.
So as of late my posts have been less than vague, but that is because my posts reflect the state and condition of my brain. Anyway….
Here is a random fact that I just discovered about my foot. (Not The Foot, but my foot) I have a place in the top of my foot that must be a nerve ending, because whenever my shoe rubs it I get a tingling feeling in the crevice between my large and second toes. Weird huh?
Is there anyone out there that can tell me the function of every F1, F2, F3….key on the keyboard? If so, I will give you some cake.

Poke!

I am pumped. Tomorrow is Friday, and we get to have cast bonding after rehearsal. I am a huge fan of bonding in general. I love people and the weird things that make them themselves. (Why am I telling you this? You already know that I love all things weird, just look at all my friends?!?!)
I am going to go sneak up on a panda bear. Talk to you all later.

Doot Da Doo!

Today in choir Brad talked about what toilet paper rolls are called. He called them Dert de Ders, but he was wrong. All my life my grandpa called them Doot Da Doos. They will forever be Doot Da Doos. Think about it, you will figure it out.
God has a crazy way of doing things. Last night I felt so close to Him, and today I feel like the Grand Canyon is separating us. Maybe it is not God, Maybe it is me. Do you ever feel like you do all the right stuff, but you just can’t get it together long enough to take a worth while breath of free and clear air?
Pray, Always Pray.

burnt out

My head is all fuzzy, and I havn't even had any cold medication. It is a bad sign for a Monday.

My Wholesome Day

Yesterday was a wholesome day. I got up and worked out. (Then I passed the entire football team on my way back from the crc, I looked well…kind of like death warmed over) I went directly to Panda’s room to braid her hair. It looked great as usual. I went back to my house, got cleaned up, and cleaned our house. The basement had sustained a couple of weeks without a good cleaning, so we straightened, vacuumed and took care of business. It is so nice to have a clean place. After cleaning I ate lunch, pulled a little prank, and went to the game. After ¾ of the game, we could guess the outcome and were getting cold and wet so we decided to come back and get some work done. I did math while watching an old Elvis movie and then we went to eat. After supper we came back and watched the end of the Nebraska game. I like to watch Lucas watch football. He gets so excited and it feeds off to other people. I finished my math, or at least attempted to. Then we hung out, watched a new show on TV called Surface. (weird) And then were bored for a while. I wanted to make Cookies so we made some and Doc Chris and Amanda watched. I stuck a hot pad to Doc and he left it there for 30 or 40 min. Amy and I took cookies to Priebe and when we came home we were ambushed with fun-noodles. Amanda scared the living daylights out of me when she jumped out of the bathroom. After chasing each other around the house for a while, we went to the park and spun on the equipment and swung till we all felt sick from cookies and spinning. I Love being able to act like a kid.