Update (nothing really cool, no worries)

Right now most of my family is in Virginia visiting my older brother Joe and his family. Joe is graduating from Georgetown Law School. That's right, my brother is a genius! I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. This will be the first time he isn't in school for the past 7 years.

Way to go!!! I wish I could come up and celebrate with you!

Adam and I are trying to find hobbies to do. We are in a little bit of a rut lately because we don't have a whole lot to do during the day. We have checked out books to read, we have been working on new songs and new monologues, we have been babysitting our nephew, we have organized Adam's old mission letters, etc. I am running out of things to do. Any new hobbies you all can suggest would be great. See, I am always busy and this past week I have been soooo not busy, it's annoying.

I was watching "American Idol" and they went to Murray, Utah for David A. and I had this sudden homesickness. I saw the mountains and the Gateway and Murray High. Oh, how I want to visit Utah soon. Plus, I got to hear all of the great Utah words you don't hear anywhere else such as:
Utah word Real word
rilly= really
still= steal
closent= closet
clinmate= climate
pellow= pillow
melk= milk
crik= creek
mou'in= mountain
commanment= commandment

Hope everything is going well for all of you!

Three Year Anniversary

First off, thank you for all of the advice. I really appreciate it. Adam and I thought long and hard about it and the fact of the matter is that right now we are not able to have kids, so we have decided to take this time to put our heads down and just get our cards. That being said, I feel really good about the decision and am excited to think that maybe soon I will be able to figure out why we are supposed to be on this theatrical path.

We just had out three year anniversary and my sweet husband planned a surprise vacation. That's right a VACATION!!!! He cancelled all of our classes that we teach and took me to this beautiful hotel in Orlando.

He also got us season passes to Universal so that we can have some mini vacations through the year. Yeah, he is pretty much the best husband EVER!!!

While we were enjoying our time in the park, Adam had cookies and milk delivered to our room. They also brought us wine and Chocolate dipped strawberries. The strawberries were De-Lic-ioso! I alwaysleave a note with the wine when hotels deliver it. "Thanks so much for the thought, but we don't drink". However, it was some very yummy milk.

It was so great to be able to go and just be together. What an amazing and kind husband I have. He always puts my needs and wants first. He always wants me to be happy and he always wants to do what is right. I have had the most amazing three years and cannot wait for the next three!

Confessions

Okay, so here it is. I am having some issues that I would like your opinion on. Adam and I are trying to be professional actors. We have found, in our experience, that you need to be a member of the Actors Equity Association to even begin to hope to make it. The reason we are currently residing in Jacksonville, FL is for the purpose of earning enough points (meaning weeks) to be accepted into the union. Once you are a member, you get to schedule auditions for professional shows, you have a 401K, you have health insurance plus you get paid more per show. Now I know that because of our situation with not being able to start a family yet we should really work hard and do as many shows as possible. You have to have 50 weeks in order to be accepted. Adam has 40 weeks and I have 31 weeks. Here is my problem.

Adam and I have a wedding in Vegas that we were going to go to June 14th. We were also going to go to Utah for a couple days and see all of our friends and family. I haven't seen any of my family for almost a year and I miss them sooooo much! Adam and I were going to have an actual vacation. Fun, right? See, since I started at this theatre in November, I have not had any time off. I got Christmas day off and Easter day off and I believe 3 more days periodically throughout the past 6 months, but really only 5-7 days off total. Meaning I work Sunday through Saturday. Now I am so blessed that I get to go to all of my church meetings and choir practice on Sunday's, and I am blessed to be able to work as a full time actor, but it is starting to get a bit taxing. Enter dilemma.

The owner/producer/director called me up and asked me to be in the next show. I didn't audition for it because I know how this theater works. Understudies do NOT go on. They are on paper and that is it. So if I do the show, I do NOT go with Adam to the wedding and to see the family. Now, I am very grateful for the work and the opportunity, but I also was REALLY looking forward to a little break.

Pros
*If I do the show, I catch up weeks with Adam and then we are both only 10 weeks away from our Union Membership
*Do a favor for the boss, he does have the power to just give me my Union Membership
*I get a raise if I do it
*I have guaranteed work till the end of July
*I get to add yet another show to my resume

Cons
*No vacation, time off, or family time
*Long hours for about 2 weeks while I am rehearsing one show and preforming in the other. 14-16 hours a day
*Stuck in Actionville no matter what for another 9 weeks
*Another show to add to my resume, but at the same theater

This may seem silly, but I do want your opinions. I really am so blessed to be able to have this as my big crisis. Thanks for you advice friends!

Seuss and Dancing

So here is the newest show we just got done with. We got to read a bunch of different Dr. Seuss stories and act them out. I know, doesn't sound like much, but it was fun. We used lots of squirt guns and bubble machines. When in doubt, douse the audience with bubbles! Makes everything better!

After Company last night, some of the girls went dancing. Now they do this frequently but I don't ever join them because of the fact that I like to go home and sleep. However, last night I went and just danced for 2 hours. I was VERY sweaty. It was sooo much fun. The girls helped me watch out for slimy guys who want to get close. EEWW! We had so much though. Lots of dancing all night long!

Dates, Company, and the Three Bears

So, Adam and I finally had a date. We got a gift certificate to Ruth's Chris and had a whole night together. We walked along the river, ate amazingly good steak, and had some great ice cream. It was so nice to be able to be together. I mean, we work together and everything, but we don't really get to talk and communicate. It was so fun!!!
This is a picture of my little friends from Company. We all get to be together in Dressing Room 4. In this picture is me (April), Maria who plays Susan, Michelle who plays Marta, and Kristen who plays Kathy. Hello Gorgeous!

This final one is of Three Bears. It is the previous Children's Show that we did. Yes, that is Papa Bear (Chris), Baby Bear (Shelly), and Mama Bear (Me). We have such a blast being silly and having fun.

Yes's and No's

Sorry I have not updated for a while. We have, like everyone else, been crazy busy these past couple of weeks. Right now I am breathing in and out and being grateful for a little rest. As I sit here thinking about everything going on in our life right now, I am again amazed at how the Lord guides and directs us.

For those of you who don't know, Adam and I will have been married for 3 years next month. (Can you believe that Dad? Time sure does fly!) We have been so blessed to have each other and are loving the fact that we get to be together forever. For the past year or so we have been trying to get pregnant. (Lisa, remember you and me walking around NY talking about how frustrating it was to not be able to concieve? Good times!) I have gone to several appointments and my doctor is working with me on some things. We have also been trying to purchase our first home. We found out today that the answer is no. We will find out on March 18th why we haven't been able to have a baby yet. We keep getting no answers to things Adam and I want so badly right now. We wanted a home for our baby. We don't get either right now.

I know this seems like it is a depressing "whoa is me entry", but it's not. As we are getting all of these answers I feel this amazing amount of peace in my heart. I am reminded that Heavenly Father has a plan for Adam and I. We have felt so strongly that we need to continue on in the theater and acting. We have been able to secure jobs that pay us well and only have to do with acting. We are able to spend time with Adam's family and the possibility of maybe spending some much needed time with mine as well. We are able to participate in our ward and our choir. We have been able to start a FHE with some non members from our theater. We are able to be 100% debt free and have a six month supply of emergency funds.

I guess today I am feeling extremely grateful that Heavenly Father is at the head of our life. That even though I am getting a bunch of "No's" I have so many "Yes's" to be grateful for! One of the great yes's is all of the support we get from our friends and family. Thank you for being such a blessing in our lives! We love you all soooo much!

I have been Tagged by Laurel~

Yea! I love getting tags, so Laurel thanks, I am responding right now. Oh, and I am tagging Dawnell Midgley, Lisa Anderson, and Jen Butterfield. Let's see those up you guys!!!

20 years ago:
1988-I was seven years old and living in Bountiful, Utah. My mom was pregnant with Beth and I was obsessed with Dumbo's Circus. I loved following my Dad around and being his little stage manager. I would belt out Les Miz at every possible turn and my best friend was Heidi Brown. I was going to Adelaide Elementary and my crush was on.......hmmm I don't remember having a crush on anyone yet.

10 years ago:
1998-Okay, that was the end of my sophomore year. I was going to Lone Peak High School, working on a bad version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" monologue, working at Wendy's in Lehi, and excited to be going to the Prom with Marty Johnson. Marty and I had such a fun time. What a great guy. I was in "Singin' in the Rain" as a chorus girl. My crush was, of course, Jon Zabriskie. I think anyone who knew me in High School knew that I was smitten. Isn't High School funny that way?

5 years ago:
2003-Wow, this was NOT my finest moment. January-August were really rough months for me. Bad, bad things were happening. But then, in August I was in "Savior of the World" up in Salt Lake and it completely changed my life. I was able to be happy and reconnect with my family and myself again. Plus, December of 2003 was when I met Adam. I would go through the first 3/4 of that year over and over again so that I could find what I did at the end.

3 years ago:
2005-This was the greatest year. Adam and I got married in April, moved to Florida for the summer, moved back to Utah for Adam's last year of college. I worked as a restaurant manager at "Paradise Bakery and Cafe" for that year. Such an amazing job. The women I worked with, Holly and Becky, are AMAZING! They were so supportive! Total and complete blessings.

1 year ago:
2007-This was a wonderful year too. Adam and I started out the year in New York. We figured out a bunch of things about how the acting industry works. We had jobs in Greenwich Village and lived the total New York life. We then moved down to Florida to work on our Equity cards and become full time actors.

So far this year:
We have been getting closer and closer to our Union Memberships. We are preform in shows for children in the morning and do our Equity shows at night. We are also in the middle of trying to buy our first home. Funny thing, people don't think that acting is a stable profession so they don't want to give you money for a home. Silly Loan Officers!

Yesterday:
Adam and I got up and went to church. Unfortunately no one else was there. They moved to a new building and didn't tell us. We have to go to whatever ward meets at 9 am since we have to work at 1, so we aren't officially part of the ward. Therefore, we didn't warrant a call to be told that the new ward building was open. So we came home and did the lessons with each other. Then we had a show at 2:00 and a show at 8:00.

Today:
We woke up and went to a rehearsal for the next children's show "Seuss". We then went to Wal-Mart, worked out, went shopping for food, finished the laundry, made dinner, and then did a joint FHE with our friend Maria and her daughter. Ahhhhh, days off. Ever so relaxing!

Okay, I want to see those posts, Dawnell, Lisa and Jen!!!