Just Popping In

While looking through my Pinterest Snacks board to find something to make for the Superbowl, I came  across a recipe I had pinned from this blog.  And that led to several minutes of browsing through my past life.  And it reminded me why I started blogging in the first place.  It was really nice to have my thoughts and ideas written out, like a journal or a story.

I miss blogging.

It has been over a year since I last posted on this blog.  A lot has happened in that time.  A lot.  So much.

I.......

• got accepted into 3 graduate programs, including my top choice. 
• Graduated from college. 
• Got engaged (!!!!!) to my drummer.
• Adopted a dog (She is adorable! If I actually keep up with this thing, pictures will come)
• Went to New York
• Moved to a new apartment
• Drummer moved to Austin (sad)
• Played "Kate Monster" in Avenue Q at Theatre Baton Rouge
• Started graduate school
• All while planning a wedding!

So, that's been me for the last year.  I can't complain.  Life has treated me well.

And on that note, good night, blogiverse.  I hope I'm back soon. 

Busy, Busy, Such a Tizzy!

If I had to describe my life as of late in three words, they would be: Busy, Busy, and Busy.

School is busy! Theater is busy! Life is just one big pile of busy! Lot's of papers and tests and performances.  And on top of all that, I'm studying for the GRE, applying to Grad School, and trying (and failing) to keep up with my running. Busy, busy, busy...

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Actually...now that you mention it...I could go without the tests and papers... and I'd rather not have to retake the GRE and deal with Grad school applications...and I've increased my running mileage, so it's kind of a pain in the you-know-what at the moment.  But you get the idea!

Let's wind down from such a busy week and prepare for a busy weekend with...

Fill in the blanks on your own blog and link-up here!

1) The last thing I ate was peanuts as a part of my role in The Importance of Being Earnest.  It really is quite a funny moment.  You've got to come see it :)  Before the show tonight, I had homemade gumbo and sourdough bread with Irish Butter.  Sooooo good :)

2) The last time I went to the beach was this past August.  My family goes to the beach every year thanks to my incredibly generous Grandfather.  It's a trip I look forward to every year.  It was especially special this year because boyfriend got to come join us for the past few days. 

3)  My last vacation was the beach.  See above answer.

4) The last place I drove was home from the theater.

5) The last song I listened to was that new Adele song for James Bond movie.

6) The last thing I watched on TV was "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta."  LOVE that show.

7) The last time I said "I love you" was to boyfriend a little while ago.

Friday, Friday

Happy Autumnal Equinox!  Did you know that today we will have equal hours of sunlight and darkness?  Well, now you do.  And your life is much better because of it, isn't it?

It is finally Friday! And I, for one, couldn't be happier!  This week has dragged on slower than a snail carrying a pebble.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it was because I had three tests?  Or perhaps it was because I was waiting all week to get the iPhone 5 today?

Yes.  This morning, I woke up at 6 and drove to the store to be one of those people who wakes up really early and goes to wait in line for a phone.  And you know what?  It really wasn't a bad experience at all.  The people in line around me were nice.  The store employees were passing out free water bottles and donuts.  I got to do a little reading for school.  And by 8:30, I was leaving the store with my shiny new iPhone 5!  Hallelujah!  My 3GS took a little rise through the spin cycle of my washing machine a few weeks ago, so I've been using my 1st Generation.  I was so ready to upgrade.

Y'all.  It's awesome.  And that's all I'm going to say about it because this is not a blog post about the iPhone. It is.....

Fill in the blanks on your own blog and link up here!

1) Something I am very proud of is the fact that I've gotten myself running again.  I really have surprised myself with the awesome things I can do if I just get off my butt and do them. 

2) My favorite thing about myself is my hair color.  I inherited it from my grandmother and it reminds me of her daily.

3) My favorite color for fall is deep purple.   Really, I just love purple.

4) Something I've been learning lately is sign language.  I'm taking a course at school in manual communication, and part of that class is learning signs so that we can sign in English word order. This is different from American Sign Language.  ASL is a completely different language.  This class is making me really excited about using sign in my therapy in the future.

5) My favorite Pandora station is the Ben Folds stations for music and the Louis C.K station for long car rides.

6) This weekend, I will rest, rehearse, and study.  Tomorrow, I have a 12 hour tech rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest.  I'll hopefully be able to use downtime during that rehearsal to study for the test I have next Thursday. I've got another rehearsal on Sunday evening.  I'm hoping I'll be able to use all my non-rehearsal time to rest.  But before that, I'm having a baking night with my roommate tonight!

Surprising Myself

So far, this week has been slow and stressful.  I've had three exams in the past two days as well as a quiz.  I am also in the last week of non-technical rehearsals for The Importance of Being Earnest, which is coming along wonderfully! I am so proud of this show and my work in it. I'm loving every minute of rehearsals.  But, I'm taking it very seriously.  Therefore, it is adding some stress. Good stress, but stress, nonetheless.

And on top of that, I'm running again.

By far, one of the most positive changes to my life since I met Boyfriend has been running.  I've never had a good relationship with running.  I used to spend all of my recesses and lunch periods in the school library.  I dreaded the President's Physical Fitness test in elementary and middle school because I was always the last person to finish the mile run and my time was always over 25 minutes.  In high school, I took a year of yoga to avoid all the running that was required in the general P.E. classes.  Running and I just didn't mix.

Then enters boyfriend.  Boyfriend runs.  A lot.

When we first started dating, running didn't play a huge part in our relationship.  Boyfriend would go running.  He would return.  I wouldn't let him touch me until he showered.  End of story.  Let's go get pizza.  Then one day, after complaining about the weight I'd gained recently, I declared that we had to start eating healthier and that I had to go back to my really strict, pre-Boyfriend diet.

"Or," Boyfriend said, "You could start running with me."

"HA!"

End of conversation.

But after that point, every time I mentioned my dissatisfaction with my weight, Boyfriend would suggest I start running.  And every time, I responded with a bitter "HA!"  Me? Run?  Never.  That's insane.

Then one day, instead of laughing in his face, I said ok.  I don't know why. Maybe the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars? Maybe I had been hypnotized?  Maybe I was just sick of him bringing it up and thought that if I just showed him how hopeless of a case I was, he would give up.

That first run was a total disaster. We took off in the Louisiana summer heat and after what seemed like a lifetime, Boyfriend said, "We're almost to the half mile point."  And I almost stopped and cried right there. And the sad part was that I hadn't even run that entire half mile.  I had walked a good bit of that.  I tried not to show it, but I felt so defeated and useless.  I was really that out of shape.  I convinced Boyfriend to let us head back to the car.  As I walked back, my mind was changing.  I had to accept that, in the case of a Zombie Apocalypse, I would definitely be one of the first ones bitten.  And I was not ok with that.

Source: obstacol.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I tried again the next day.  And the next day.  And the next day. And I kept trying.  Everyday I ran was a personal victory.  My running time around a small lake near LSU's campus (approx. 1.8 miles) kept improving.  I was able to add distance and increase my speed.  Every run was a new test.  Somedays were better than others, but everyday I ran was a day I could be proud of.  At my best, I could run about 2.75 miles around the campus lakes in just over 30 minutes.  Take that, Presidential Fitness Test!

Then, the running stopped.  Don't ask me why.  I have a million excuses.  None of them were good.  I was too tired.  Or my head hurt.  Or I had eaten a heavy lunch.  Or my legs were sore.  Or it was too hot outiside.  Or the treadmills were all full.  Or Toddlers and Tiaras was on.  Excuses, excuses, excuses.  And it wasn't just me.  Boyfriend had stopped too.  Life was crazy and unpredictable.  It was hard to keep any sort of routine when you didn't know where your life was going to take you in the next few days.

This week, I ran out of excuses.  Boyfriend has found time of top of his full time job to start running.  My entire family started running this year and has never let excuses stop them.  If they could do it, then there was absolutely no reason why I couldn't do it.  So this past Saturday, I dragged myself to my apartment's fitness center and made myself get on the treadmill.  While I was proud of myself for making myself go and do it, I was discouraged at how much I had regressed in my time off.  After a mile and a half, I had to stop.  My running:walking ratio was a little too even for my taste and my time sucked. So I went back the next day and pushed myself just a little further.  And then a little further the next day. 

Last night was a rare night.  I didn't have rehearsal, so I was able to run with Chris around the lakes at LSU.  He likes to run the larger like, so it was just me, my iPod, and the small lake.  Honestly,  I didn't have high expectations for the run.  I was exhausted and I had a killer headache.  I thought I would just go through the motions and get my legs reacclimated to running on solid ground again.

So, with that in mind, I started my run. 

Imagine my surprise when I didn't stop until I returned to that same starting point 1.8 miles and 22 minutes later.  My best run ever!  I had never run that far without stopping before!  I actually danced a little with I reached my finishing point.  I may have even cheered!  I'm sure I looked silly, but who cares!  I had just done something that seemed impossible to me just six months ago!

Something clicked within me after that run.  Not only did I feel amazing and unstoppable.  I felt a new sense of control over my life that I didn't realize I was missing.  I was no longer kicking myself for taking so long off of running.  Instead, I felt empowered.  Instead of focusing on the choices I've made in the past, I was thinking of all of the new choices that I will be able to make tomorrow—not just in running, but in every aspect of my life.  I was reminded that I have the potential to do amazing things, like run 1.8 miles without stopping.  All I have to do is lace up my shoes and take those first few steps.

It's funny how we can surprise even ourselves.

Source: prettygirlstraindirty.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things?

Hey, what's this dusty old thing?  Oh yeah...I have a blog....

....oops.

Hello friends, real and imaginary!  I hope that life has been kind to you!  It has been for me :)  It's also been hectic and unscheduled.  And how can one be expected to keep up a regular blog schedule when one's life has no structure?  One can't, I tell ya!  But now that the school year has begun and my life has structure again, I'm ready to get back to blogging!

But before we begin, let me catch you up on my life :)

• I have been cast as Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Ernest at Baton Rouge Little Theater.  It opens on Friday, September 28, and, y'all, this show is going to be awesome!  I've been having a blast with the rehearsals.  Call 225-924-6496 or visit Baton Rouge Little Theater's Website for tickets.
• I have begun my senior year at LSU in the Communication Disorders program.  I have  good feeling about this semester!  I genuinely like and am interested in my classes.  My teachers are fantastic!  There's only one catch...
• Grad School.  I have to apply for it this semester.  I am so freaking terrified.  I have a meeting with my advisor on Monday that will hopefully quell some of my fears.  I've talked to some of my classmates and they seem just as terrified and bewildered as I am, so at least I'm not alone.  Right now, my plan is just to apply to as many schools as possible and pray that at least one of them wants me.  
• I am officially a football fan!  Well, at least an LSU football fan :)  Boyfriend was appalled that I had never been to a single football game as a student (and only 1 game otherwise) and convinced me to buy season tickets this year.  Y'all...football is fun!  I love every part of it—from the tailgaiting to the tiger band to the clothes to the food to the game itself!  It's all awesome.  I feel kind of silly for not going to more games before now.
• Speaking of boyfriend, tomorrow marks 6 months with him.  Just a cute little tidbit :)

And now...to the fun!

Fill in the blanks on your own blog and link up here!

1) Right now, the weather where I live is improving.  During the football game last week, I began to feel breezes blow through Tiger Stadium.  When I walked outside on Sunday morning, the weather was so wonderful I wanted to skip!  It felt like fall!  Fall is my absolute favorite season!  While the weather since then hasn't been as perfect, it has been pretty awesome!  Hotter on some days than others, but the delightful breeze has remained.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's nice for the game tomorrow.

2) The best piece of advice I've ever been given is "Things fall apart so that they can come back together."  A Rockefeller Center security guard after she mistook my crying with my head on the table for me being a homeless person in the days following my break-up last October. 

She was right.  She was so right.

3) My most favorite person in all the world is boyfriend.  I even tell him "You're my favorite," on a regular basis. (I didn't include my blood family in my pool of possible answers.  It's understood they they're held on a pretty high pedestal in my life.)

4) If I were to have a mission statement for my life, it would be Live. Love.  Laugh. Repeat. 

I just came up with that.  I've never actually thought about a mission statement for my life before...haha.

5) My favorite thing in my closet is....don't make me choose!  I love everything!  The shoes! The dresses! The cardigans! I can't pick a favorite!

6) The best cure for a bad day is a hot shower, a cozy bed, swedish fish, and a really fattening meal.

7) Today is ....

I couldn't resist.

Brain Dump

1.  My brain is a huge mess of "Waaaaaaaaaa" tonight from watching the same 3 episodes of "On the Fly" and Jenna Marbles videos all night.

2.  When I go in the shower with eye make-up on, I come out looking like a sad raccoon.

vs.



3. You can see up my nose in that picture.


4.  I am listening to 2 boys on Skype argue about where to put pizza in the oven and how to operate said oven.  "Why would you hang it on the oven?"  "Because it reminds me of home!" Boys are silly.

5.  One of those 2 boys is Boyfriend, who is currently unavailable.  Thus the Skype.  I mainly watch him play Diablo while he watches me stare at the computer like a hypnotic loon.

6.  Summer sales made me a very happy person today. I think I tried on the entire sale section of The Limited.

7.  I got creative/bored tonight and painted all of my keys with nail polish tonight so I could tell them apart more easily. Now all of my keys are stuck together.

8.  I'm still new to this running thing, so I don't quite know what I'm supposed to do on the days that I take a break from running.  Today was one of those rest days.  I shopped and then ate McDonald's.

9.  Boyfriend was eating a pizza on Skype and was chewing with his mouth open (a sund which drives me up the freaking wall!).  So I kindly asked him to chew with is mouth closed.  He thought he would be clever and mute it so that I couldn't hear anything.  So I thought I would be clever and hang up on him, expecting him to call me back.  Well, that plan back fired.  Boyfriend never called me back.  Now I'm super sad, but also to stubborn to call him again with my tail between my legs.

10.  Woah!  Just kidding.  Boyfriend called me back.  Good things come to those who wait.  Or those who are stubborn.

11.  My room is a freaking mess.  I don't even know where all this stuff came from.  I started to clean it and then kind of hit a wall. I just can't make myself do any more work, despite the fact that my clean underwear supply is getting dangerously low.

12.  I think I'm going to order Jimmy John's even though I didn't run and I've already had McDonald's today and it is 1:00 in the morning.

13.  I ordered Jimmy John's.  Now I need to find clean pants to put on so the JJs delivery guy doesn't sue me for sexual harassment when he gets here.  Or vomit on my sandwich.

14. I can't end a list on #13.  So please enjoy this mantee.

Oh...Uh...Hi?

*cough* Uh...hello?  Is anybody there?  I wouldn't be surprised if everybody left me for more consistent bloggers.  I mean, it has been over a month since I last posted.  But I swear that I have a good excuse for my absence!  Life has kind of exploded lately.

First, 39 Steps, a show that I assistant stage managed at Baton Rouge Little Theater, opened.  

Me and my good friend Ronald, who played Richard Hannay.

That same weekend, I had the final rehearsals for and the performance of Singo de Mayo, as a part of my musical theatre class at school!  I had such a blast this year.  Look for a blog post about it in the near future.

Singo de Mayo was on a Sunday.  The following Monday, finals week began with a double final day.  Yikes!  Luckily, all of my finals were done by Wednesday, so I got a little break during the day Thursday before 39 Steps started again that night.  We had a show Thursday night, Friday night, TWO shows Saturday, and a matinee on Sunday.

Our stage manager, Mel, and the light board operator, Ms. Ellen.  Saturday was Ms. Ellen's birthday, so we went out for dinner between shows to celebrate!

I wasn't feeling so great after the show on Sunday.  I was nauseous, shaky, and exhausted.  By Sunday night, it had developed into a full blown Summer Flu that was making it's way through Baton Rouge.  I tried to just wait it out to see if it would go away on it's own, but when Tuesday came and I still felt like crap, I gave in and made a doctors appointment.  And it's a good thing I did!  Even though my flu symptoms were on their way out by the time I had my appointment Wednesday morning, the doctor heard rattling in my lungs and ordered me to get a chest x-ray, which showed that I had developed pneumonia!  The pneumonia actually wasn't nearly as bad as the flu.  It just made me really tired.  The timing sucked though, because my brother and grandmother came were in town that same weekend.  I barely had enough energy to even go out to dinner with them!  But I trucked through.  I was still able ASM the final weekend of 39 Steps.

I was still at risk for being contagious until 24 hours after I had taken my first anti-biotic, so I wore a mask my first night back at 39 Steps just to be safe.  I didn't want to risk getting anyone sick!  We needed everyone as healthy as possible for this show!

I also had just enough energy to go the LSU School of Music and Dramatic Arts Commencement Ceremony on Friday.  Why?  Because Chris graduated college (again)!  This was actually Chris's second degree.  He graduated with his music education degree a couple of years ago.  This year, he finished up his music performance degree.  Yep, I got me a smart one. :) Congratulations, Chris!

So proud of him :)

By Sunday night, I could feel the pneumonia fog lifting, just in time for me to start two weeks of babysitting during the day, which I absolutely loved.   After babysitting wrapped up, Summer school began!  But not before a busy Saturday.  Saturday the 2nd began with a rehearsal for an LSU Musical Theatre Troupe performance.  Eight of us had to revamp, edit, and, in some cases, learn completely new parts for musical numbers we did in Singo de Mayo so that we could perform them in Vidalia, La. As soon as I was done with the rehearsal, I drove to Lafayette to volunteer at the Louisiana Speech and Hearing Association Conference, which was such an awesome opportunity.  I served as a session monitor for a class on Vestibular Assessment and Management (which means assessment and treatment of balance and dizziness issues as they relate to the ear).  The target audience for the class was audiologists.  Even though I'm on a speech pathology path in school, I still found this class really interesting (probably because it's so different from what I'm focusing on)!  The speaker was great and I learned so much.  I wish I could have stayed for more of the conference, but I couldn't because I had to go home and get ready for...

...Beaux Arts Ball!  Every year, Baton Rouge Little Theater has a ball to honor and recognize all of the volunteers from the past season!  It's always so much fun.  There's mingling, food (really good food!), dancing, and an awards ceremony. The awards ceremony is kind of like a mini-Tony's awards. They give awards for Best Actor and Supporting Actor in a Comedy/Drama and a Musical and Best Actress and Supporting Actress in a Comedy/Drama and Musical.  The nominees and winners for those awards are chosen by a completely anonymous group of people.  I actually won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy/Drama a couple years back for my role as Sybil Chase in Private Lives.  This year, 2 cast members from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum won awards, as did 2 cast members from 39 Steps! They also give awards for best Backstage and Front of House Volunteers, of which the winners of both were incredibly deserving. 

A fun addition to Beaux Arts this year was a photo booth.  Photos by Staci set up a fun photo booth and provided lots of props for us to use in the photos.  Thanks to Dow Louisiana Federal Credit Union for sponsoring this (as well as our entire season)!

This was my 5th Beaux Arts Awards!  And my first one with Chris!

We brought our friends Mike and Elyse to the ball this year to add to the fun!

Summer school started up this week.  I'm taking my last general education Spanish course (finally)!  I'm really lucky this summer in that I've got a really awesome teacher who actually makes the language interesting and easier to learn.  Spanish really is a beautiful language.  It's just easy to forget that when your being tested on it.

Finally, this past Thursday, I took a trip up "north" with my mom and Chris to perform with 7 other musical theatre students for the fine citizens of Vidalia, Louisiana... in a bank!  We did fourteen musical numbers, including "Anything Goes" from Anything Goes, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair" from South Pacific, "Seasons of Love," from Rent, and a medley from Jersey Boys (which is such a huge crowd pleaser!).  We had such a great turn out and everyone really seemed to love the show.  Chris played the drums for us and my mom got to fim it.  I'm so glad she got to come :)

Rehearsing "Seasons of Love"

Jersey Silly Boys

All of us with our teacher, the fantastic Terry Patrick-Harris!

"To drum or not to drum?"

I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair!

"Seasons of Love"

So yes, life has been very busy for me lately.  But it's also been very good to me lately.  Sure, there may have been a few inconveniences.  But there has been so much love in my life and I've had so many wonderful opportunities lately!  I'm happy.

I'm not complaining :)