Life has Seemed to Have Changed A LOT Since I Last Wrote

Wow.....it really has been a while since I wrote on here..... I guess I better do some updating from my last communication.

My Little Minnie Mouse is almost 2!! She is a very independent, strong-willed, intelligent, beautiful little girl and is adored by almost everyone. She is the boss in Nursery and is also the tallest out of everyone but the leaders there. She still has a hard time using words to express herself and has no interest in being potty-trained. She loves Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Paw Patrol, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sofia the First, and the list is growing everyday. She loves books, outings in the car, and her Boo-boo. For those who don't know, Boo-boo is my baby brother. She likes being with girls more than boys, which is okay for now, except for her Boo-boo.

Hubby is only working one job now. He works many hours to provide for our little family. I am still trying to encourage him to get either more training or go back to school, but nothing is happening yet. He enjoys working with the Young Men at church, most of the time, and playing games like Destiny and Minecraft. He loves being Daddy to our girl, even if she refuses to admit it.

As for me...well... there has been adjusting to being a mom to a strong-willed girl. I had a job with Amazon but that ended a month ago. I barely do anything now with theater or music. I still sing with the chorus, but that might end if I don't get an income to support it. I don't read many books that I want to read, music I like, or TV shows/movies, but I love my life. At church, I am now Primary co-chorister. I like being able to teach the kids music and helping them understand the Gospel in a different way. I have been trying to start up my own music instruction. I still have plenty of work to do before I really can get anything started, but I will keep trying. That is all for now!

So... I haven't been on in a while...

Plenty of things have happened since I last wrote on this thing! Like I am pregnant with our first daughter! She is suppose to come in March but we may never know when the Lord is involved! She doesn't have much now but that will change with at least 2 baby showers on the way and plenty of friends and family who already love her! I cannot wait to meet my little Minnie Mouse, my not-so-little Peanut, as one of her great grandmothers has called her. The doctor is saying she is growing healthy and strong with every visit we take. I am just so darn excited to meet her and learn how to teach her about being a daughter of God and how many people already care for her here on earth!

We are also not in VA anymore. We are slowly becoming residents of Kentucky! I never seriously thought about living in KY as a kid, but now it seems like we can hardly live anywhere else! We are renting a small, brick home in a good, fairly quiet neighborhood. Just have to wait to get all the utilities turned on, the weather to warm up, and furniture moved in and it will be close to perfect! I am glad to be living in a place where we can really start a strong foundation for our family. The ward we are living in is full of friendly people. Hubby is called as the Teacher Quorum Adviser and I am the Ward Nursery Leader. Did you think the Lord was trying to prepare us? I think so too!

Hubby is working 2 jobs. I am learning about pregnancy and adjusting to Peanut's movements. I also arrange music in my own free time for church use mostly and still trying to figure out how to be a wife.  I have joined the local Sweet Adeline's chorus in the area with my mom. We are both singing bass and are having a fun time with it! We have a few friends here and are blessed to have many of my family close by to help out too! 

My brain seems to have stop working. I think that is all the real big updates. My brothers came home from their missions with honor and are now at school in Idaho. Monkey Man has been diligently working on leaving for his mission. Snicker-doodle is struggling to survive her last year of high school before she has a summer of fun and getting ready for college. Little man is doing okay, just praying for his dog Lola to come home again soon. My parents are trying to prepare themselves to be grandparents and just living one day at a time with whatever comes their way and the help of the Lord when they need it. Umm...... I think that is really it for now.

Love all y'all and praying everyone is safe in this crazy weather! So much snow, cold and ice! Anyway, lots of love!    

Movies, Musicals, and Learning about Life

Life has been fairly quiet this May. It rains at least once a week. The days are lazy and long and nights get dark and cold. Time is given to reading books, lazily keeping up with chores, watching movies, and rehearsing for the musical every night except Sundays. This week with the show, I got to learn to imitate ballet and fighting. I still learn everyday about acting and singing for the stage, but the dancing is what excites me most! 

I got to see the new Star Trek movie. It was AWESOME!!! The theater I went to had the volume up really loud, so during fight scenes, explosions, or anything that was just loud, I would bury my ear in Lorenzo's arm. But the storyline, acting, FX, everything was perfect.

One of the books I have read was the first book of the Hunger Games. It was a good book, one that I could read over again in the future. It read like a young girl telling a story, as it should be, not like Tolkien, Hugo, or the more scholarly authors. It was captivating, like many have told me. And yes there are differences from the book and the movie, but what book doesn't? 

Umm... I guess that is it for now. Love you all and see you all soon!  

Beginning Life After College

I have walked the graduation stage, Mitt Romney there to congratulate me on all my hard work. Work on the May Musical, Babes in Arms, is in full swing! I am slowly shedding pounds tapping my feet away, learning more about being in a musical than I can being anywhere else now. Learning how to tell the story with others, singing on stage, dancing, and being able to really connect with people in the cast, not as management, but as a cast member and a friend.

Weather has not been good to me here in VA. It keeps changing from rain to sun and my knee, on top of everything else, has been going CRAZY!!!!!! But I have been doing well otherwise. Cannot wait for my brothers to come home this year, sister entering her senior year, mother's day on Sunday, eventually moving out somewhere not near school.

I have nothing else to say for now except that I got a haircut! It is A LOT shorter since graduation

. Love you all and hope to see you all soon!!

The End is coming in the Spring

I graduate in 3 months and 7 days from my undergraduate programs. I am blessed to have a husband that loves me and is willing to work for us to be able to live together. A family of loving parents and wonderful siblings that care for me whether I am going through trials or in peace. Friends that love and support me no matter what. Extended family that loves me know matter how often I see them. And finally my Sunday School class. They are some of the most awesome 12 and 13 year-old's I know!

Today in Sunday School we were talking about how we could help others understand our Heavenly Father. An older gentleman walked in asking if he could sit in on our class and I agreed to let him stay. We start the lesson with asking the students if they were able to remember what we talked about last week with learning about the Holy Ghost. They were shy about it at first but they opened up a little. After a while, we started talking about Heavenly Father, who he was and how we understand him. The guest then injects and starts having the kids go through different sonarios of how people question about God and how they can share their testimonies. They really got interested and really started sharing their testimonies! Even one who doesn't participate much even did more than normal! And closed it off real spiritual. He then came up to me after the prayer. He then tells me that he is on the General Sunday School Board! I had a humbling experience today! He said that we need to plan the experience not just the lesson. It was great!!

That was my Sunday? How about you?

Miracles Do Happen

I have been blessed to have seen a miracle in progress this week. Some of you might know that I am the Assistant Director for the musical this fall at school, Little Women. The director, a dear professor and friend, suddenly fell over in pain. He was in the middle of passing a kidney stone. I had only seen my dad go through this on a few occasions in high school. He never reacted the way my professor did that Thursday night. I saw this man curl up in pain once I got him to his car, screaming terror from the pain. I was scared out of my mind. He then turned to me and yelled "Get out of here. I don't want you to hear this." I closed his car door and ran. I walked back into rehearsal and the youngest member of our cast asked to have a prayer in his behalf. I was so touched at that moment of faith. We must have prayed at rehearsal 3 times for him to at least find some comfort while in his pain. Found out he also got a blessing from two of the men in our cast and then was driven to the ER for further care. 

After rehearsal, the cast decided to have a fast for the professor so he will be able to overcome the kidney stone, find comfort, help his family, and give inspiration to him, the stage manager and me to figure out how to go about rehearsals until he has a full recovery from this kidney stone. So, most of us fasted on Friday until about the hour before rehearsal. As much as it was a bonding time for us as a cast, it brought time for us to see what our sacrifice was for. When the time for rehearsal came around, in walks our dear professor with his wife and adult daughter. What joy was brought in that room! Everyone applauded and hugged and smiled. He was only with us for an hour, but it was a blessing and a miracle all the same! We are still praying for a full recovery, but he is doing much better with the help of good pain medication. 

So, life at SVU goes on and the Lord shows us that He does listen and care for us all.

Senior Year!!!

I realize that I am horrible about keeping up with this blog! I can only hope that I can get better eventually.

Anyway, this past September began my senior year at SVU. Can you believe it? I have been at this great and expensive school for 4 years now? I hardly can! I am on track to graduate April 27, 2013 with Bachelor degrees in Music and Theatre. The work load though is amazing. I am constantly doing something everyday. My class list this semester is:

• Music Theory III- learning how music is made closer to what we hear from modern composers
• Acting III (Musical Theatre)- learning how to act while singing and some possible dancing
• Music History I- learning music's history from Ancient Greece up to Bach in the Baroque period
• Scenic Painting- learning how to paint for the stage (this class is a lot harder than it sounds!)
• Orchestra- playing percussion for whatever pieces Professor Taylor decides to have us play
• Wind Ensemble- similar but I am first flute 
• Aural Skills III- training my ears to hear music events and sounds
• Piano lessons- yup, picked that up again
• Performance Attendance- yes this is a real class
• Production Workshop- learn how to work behind the scenes of the theatre so all performances run as smoothly as possible
• Senior Project- consisting of acting as Assistant Director for Little Women, the musical we are performing this semester, compose a percussion score for that show and perform it. I also had to perform percussion for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. That show did REALLY well! We even took it on the road for one performance.
• Sunday School Teacher- with my husband, we teach the amazing 12- 13 year olds in our ward. Some of the best youth I know!
• Relief Society Chorister- leading the music in the RS meetings on Sunday

I think that is it... if not I will let you know! This semester has been busy, tiring, exciting, and fun. There would be very little I would change about it. I better go, I think the dishes are calling my name (ugh). Love you all and I hope that I can see people at Thanksgiving!