The Dance

Well last night was the Back to the Future dance to support my (our) Cambodia missions trip and I have to say, it was pretty epic!

Dad dressed up like Doc Brown and was the DJ.

Plaid and Crush dressed up too!

I had to prove that I can kick above my head.

The children love to dance :)

Michael and Micah

Ma hoola-hooping.

Livin' on a Prayer is not the same without an air-guitar solo.

So, yup! That's the dance for ya! Thanks to everyone who came :)

Also! Slightly irrelevant but just as exciting: I have an interview to work at Chick-fil-A today! Pray for me!

I Love This Guy

When I was a kid, to overcome my fear of the dark, I would countdown from 30 starting the moment I turned out the lights. This involved making a blind dash across a room lit only by cracked-door hallway-light leakage and whatever might have been illuminating out in the front yard; a six sided Victorian-style glass lamp perhaps, or cars turning slowly into my neighborhood pushing light-bands of ghosts at odd speeds and angles over my plaid wallpaper and posters of hair bands Poison, Motley Crüe, and Cindy Crawford.

I would leap onto the bed to prevent any monster that may live under it from attacking my ankles. Once in the bed with plaid sheets to match the wallpaper, I would grab my stuffed duck and we would quickly bury ourselves in the cool fabric. As I neared zero in the countdown I would steady my breathing and prepare to be invisible. I would do this by commanding the universe to alter my molecular structure like some kind of X-Man. With two simple words I would say, “Flat. Blend.” And voila I would be reduced to the height of that which I was resting on, in this case, the brown plaid sheets, and like a chameleon my skin and clothing would camouflage itself with the pattern; almost like a color-changing lizard version of Flat Stanley. I would repeat this exercise every night. I had to. Always without missing a beat, as soon as I reached Zero, a crime-boss-man of some kind would enter my room and search the area looking to capture any living organism he found in the space. If I opened my eyes, my 2-dimensional blend-o-being-ness-spell would be broken and I’d be taken away. I couldn’t let that happen. I had a very alive stuffed duck to protect.

Eventually, the hit-man would look the other way and I’d be able to slide out of the sheets to catch some fresh air, with eyes closed of course.

I did this for years and it got me through many a possible long night. It may have also helped me become the vivid dreamer I am being as I would create different scenes and landscapes in which I was hiding out and blending in while hiding from the mob-boss. Strangely enough, I have a weird tic now where I find count whenever I climb stairs, walk down a sidewalk, or paddle out to the line-up on a typical surf session. Every pace or arm stroke is a number. I liken it to some kind of walking meditation where the goal is to be present for each step or stride. Counting may seem redundant but it serves me better than worrying about my egoic life, which at present is testing me like I’m alone in the dark.

~Jason Mraz

Bokeh

I kind of really like this effect a lot . . .

Am I a weirdo because I find the blur effect absolutely brilliant? Here's some of my attempts at this art form . . .

Portrait Challenge

Sooo I like photography. And I like challenges. And I like people. So I figured this photo challenge that can be found over here was a good idea.

Script Frenzy 2011 Results

I just won Script Frenzy 2011!!! Woo-Hoo! Yeah! You can all applaud for me now.

No seriously. Applaud. I'll wait.

Done? Good. My script isn't all that fantastic and I think I'm gonna throw some of it away and fix it but who cares?

I won!

A Quick Update On My Life

First (and most important): Today is Easter! Thank You so much, Jesus, for everything you went through for me! And thank You, Designer, for sending Him to us. And thank You, Holy Spirit, for residing in us today!

Secondly (and totally unimpressive compared to that first one): I have joined Invisible Children's campaign to end the 25 year war and the use of children as soldiers in Africa, and I am being silent for 25 hours. From now (at 7pm) to tomorrow (at 8pm) I will not say a word.

And Thirdly: I got a haircut!

And I kind of like it a lot. Thanks for reading, Friends! I'll write a more interesting post soon, I promise! *Makes X over heart with finger*

Alphabet Soup

Listening to: Beth by the cast of Glee. I've never even seen that show but I *adore* the music(slash)voices.


I got bored and thought I'd do this. Not to bore you or anything.

Age: 15. The oldest I've ever been. 

Bed Size: Queen. Heh heh heh.

Chore you hate: Cleaning the bathroom. It's all kinds of nasty.

Dogs: I don't have one but I really want a Yorkie. Or a husky. Yes I am a walking contradiction.

(Take Me Or Leave Me from RENT just came on my Pandora. *Flipping adore*)

Essential start of your day: The alarm clock sound on my phone is "I'm Alive" by Aaron Tveit. 'Nuff said.

 (Now it's Defying Gravity by Idina Menzel. Pandora loves me.)

Favorite Color: Green. Like you couldn't tell.

Gold or silver: Gold. I still want a gold star.

Height: 5' 7". Heh heh heh.

Instruments I play (or have played): A little guitar. Does the voicebox count?

Job Title: I just applied for Chick-fil-A. "My pleasure."

Kids: None. Not really planning on changing that.

Live: Colorado Springs, CO. It's too cold here.

Mom's Name: Kimberly. She goes by Kim.

Nickname: Segovia, Chair, Char, Bugs, Kiddo, Sunshine, Starshine. I'll respond to just about anything though.

Overnight hospital stays: I've never even been in a hospital. Except when I was born and when I visited Gomps.

Pet Peeve: When people think they're cool. Most of the time they aren't.

Quote from a movie: "You never give up on your music. No matter what happens. 'Cause anytime something bad happens to you, that's the one place you can escape to and just let it go." ~Lewis Connely, August Rush

Right or left handed: Right. I'm boring.

Siblings: One younger sister and one younger brother. Follow Sissie's blog.

Time you wake up: School days - 6:30. Other days - when I feel like it.

Underwear: Are important. Duh.

Vegetables you dislike: Squash! They're all kinds of nasty.

What makes you run late: I'm human. It's just a guess though.

X-rays you've had done: Dentist, and once my lungs when they thought I had pneumonia. I didn't.

Yummy food you make: Lemon bars. They're sooo good.

Zoo animal: Peacock. Obviously.

Runaway With Me

Runaway With Me by WriterChick2013 featuring sparkly tops

The Most Random Things Make Me Happy

A few things that have made me smile recently.

1) This quote:

"Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all." ~Helen Keller

I flipping *adore* it.

2) The fact that SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE!

3) This picture my friend Nicci edited of me:

Squee!!!

4) The random greetings people give me at school. People have grabbed my hand in the hall when they can't stop to hug me, yelled my name for all the world to hear, and hugged me from the back so I freak out and think I'm being attacked. I love my friends.

Darcy's Okay But . . .

Listening to: Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid

Okay so I have a little obsession that even I find strange. I'm not totally sure where it came from but it stems from somewhere deep in the core of my being. Wanna know what it is? Okay, come in real close and I'll tell you.

Mr. Bingly.

I know, I know. Weird, huh? But I love him soooo much. I love Darcy too but he doesn't really compare to Bingly in my eyes.

I don't even find him very attractive, but something about him makes me all fangirly.

I love how he's always smiling :)

You can't honestly tell me that picture doesn't make you smile.

And I absolutely *adore* his and Jane's love story. It's just so much more precious than Darcy and Lizzie's. Or maybe I'm just a weirdo.

So that's my little confession. Thanks for reading, Friends.

Beautiful People: Discovering Emma (and Travis) Part Deux!

The second set of questions has come out! Here we go.

1) How old is he/she? Emma: 23-years-old. Travis: 24-years-old.
2) What does he/she do with his/her spare time? Emma: She dances. That's all. That's all she's ever known and it's all she feels safe doing. Travis: Spends time with Heidi and Emma, reads, dances.
3) Does he/she see the big picture or live in the moment? Emma: She's more of a "big picture" person only because she's very hesitant to do things. Travis: He lives in the moment. He tries to cherish every moment alone with Emma and every moment at all with Heidi, every moment he gets to dance, everything.
4) Is he/she a perfectionist? Emma: Yes and no. She's very neat and precise for Travis and Heidi and the two kids she nanny's. But for herself she's more disorganized. Travis: Not at all. He's very free spirited and he lets the chips fall where they do.
5) What does his/her handwriting look like (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.)? Emma: Loopy and girly. Travis: Kind of sloppy in all capitals.
6) Favorite animal? Emma: A sparrow. Travis: A golden retriever.
7) Does he/she have any pets? Both: No.
8) Does he/she have any siblings? How many? Where does he/she fit in? Emma: One older sister. Travis: Two younger sisters.
9) Does he/she have a 'life verse' and if so what is it? Emma: Joshua 1:9. Travis: Isaiah 6:8.
10) Favorite writing utensil? Emma: Ballpoint pen. Travis: Pencil.

Anywhere

Listening to: She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5

The beginning of this song: makes me think of coffee shop music.

I have a strange urge, Friends. I really want to get inside a crappy Volvo, open the sunroof, roll the windows down, crank the metal remix of "Apologize" up as loud as it will go and fly down a highway at 90 MPH at 11 at night. Sigh.

Don't ask me why. Mostly because it's a long story that I don't feel like writing out right now. Maybe I'll write a book about it someday in college. When I wear massive glasses and scarves and hang out in coffee shops on the weekends writing poetry with all the other hipsters.

Anyway.

I really want to go somewhere. Anywhere at all. I'm in one of those moods where Colorado just isn't enough for me right now. I honestly don't care where I go. I just need to go.

Take me to a field in the middle of Kansas . . . the geographical center of the 48 connected U.S. states.

Take me to a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean in California somewhere.

Take me to the top of Mount Everest where we'll feel like we've conquered the world.

Take me to busy Times Square in the middle of Manhattan where we have to hold hands to avoid being separated.

Take me to the Arc de Triomphe where we can see all of Paris from that one corner on the top.

Take me to a market in Morocco so loud and crazy we can't hear ourselves think.

Take me to a place so dark we forget who we are, a place so windy we feel like we can fly, a place so perfect we'll never want to leave.

Let's go.

Right now.

Sometimes when you get lost on purpose you're lucky enough to get caught up in an adventure that is quite magical. ~Natalie Lloyd.

Let's find someplace beautiful to get lost.

Because I'm a Stalker Like That . . .

Just thought I'd stop by very quickly and mention that Aaron Tveit's Broadway show Catch Me If You Can debuted last night in the Neil Simon theatre!!! Eeeeeep!!!!!!! And . . . I just had to post a picture . . . or a few pictures.

Doesn't he look so classy in his little bow tie?

And . . . he enters all dramatic-like.

Like only he knows how to do.

Blowing kisses.

He's so cute when he's happy!

Okay. That's my little fangirl post for the day. Thanks all!

Kick Some WHAT!!!

Yesterday was our last performance of the one act plays we're putting on at school. I'm psyched and depressed. Psyched that the show went well, depressed to say goodbye. This has probably been the most fun thing I've ever gotten myself into. This post is dedicated to my loverly cast and all the friends I've made through this experience. I love you muchly.

Dress rehearsal was on Wednesday and it went really well. Then opening night was Thursday during which everything went wrong. One of our actors took some Dayquil which got lodged in her throat. She was bent over the sink, coughing up orange, panicking. Luckily, with the help of much water and comfort, she was okay. While this was going on I was running back and forth between the makeup room and the green room arranging props when, staying true to the klutz that I am, I rolled my ankle in the hall. I tried to mask my limp so people wouldn't freak out but Tim noticed it and confronted me with it. I came out with what happened. He showed me how to stretch it so it wouldn't swell and then wrapped it with a bandanna (we didn't have an Ace bandage anywhere).

I managed to go on even with the loss of all use in my left ankle. Then when the time came for us to go on and the show began we realized we were missing mike tape and a block of ice (which was one of our props) so I had to race back into the kitchen to find them both. I did. The show went brilliantly and we were so proud.

Yesterday we went to Village Inn after the second show for pie. We met a few other theatre kids who had just finished doing their own show at another school and ended up hanging out with them. I left my shoe in someone's car and couldn't figure out how to get out of another one. Maybe I'm just motor vehicle impaired . . .

Last night was closing night. We hung out and played awkward improv games and gave our director flowers and learned a relaxation technique and totally blew the audience members' minds will the brilliance of our show. I was very proud.

Below are just a few of the many pictures I took of the beautiful people I've had the pleasure of getting to know.

 (Left to right) Sam, Tim, Clay, Hannah, Erin

Only Hannah heard me say, "Pose!"

 Hannah doing Quint's makeup

 Black and white shoe: Clay, Blue shoe: Tim, Purple, black, and white shoe: Me

 Malari, Clay, Hannah, Annie

"Everyone's in love with Scribe . . . except for me 'cause I'm a man."

 Yes we do decapitate stuffed bunnies in our free time.

 David as the bunny.

 Zach and Lydia

 Lydia and me

 Clay was convinced he could walk across the entire gym like this . . .

Clay (the hipster) and Tim (the sheik)

Oooooh theatre boys

 Laney, me, David, and Hannah

 I played a hit man

 Clay, me, and Janelle

Me with Ma after the show

No number of words can truly de-SCRIBE how much I love these people and how much fun I've had. I hate having to move on and say goodbye. This show has brought us so much closer as a cast and as a family. I love you "A Play With Words" cast and crew! Keep kicking what.