Day 6: It'll be Charming When we Get the Dance Right

Front page of the paper is always exciting, especially when it's for a show. And our local paper does a phenomenal job of promoting every one of our shows. It always makes for great scrapbooking!

So other than the excitement of being on the front cover with my counterpart Kayla Berrie (pictured yesterday), today was rather dull. I didn't end up going to Savannah as planned which is probably better anyways because I really couldn't afford the gas.

A few things are worth mentioning about the day though.

For one, I broke down and treated myself today by ordering a video game I've wanted for four years. I'm not a big gamer at all, which is why it's taken me four years to make this purchase. But I've looked at Black and White 2 for what seems like forever and today I said, "To heck with it, I'm doing it!" And I had it rushed so it'll be here tomorrow!

Even more exciting than that, I found out that Emily (the one I blogged about a few days ago) and my other very very very close friend from church camp, Austin, may be coming to see Cinderella! I was blown away when I got the news. I have the best friends ever and I love them to death.

However! This adds some intensity to the show. I have more motivation now to make Cinderella as amazing as it possible. I am fully confident that we will pull this off and it will be absolutely wonderful, I just need to learn how to waltz well! The paper mentioned a "Charming Scene." Well it'll be charming once I get those steps down!

Day 5: The Texas Boys at Sonic

Yes! I got my adventure today!

The picture is of some fun we had during Cinderella rehearsal. Prince Charming felt like immersing himself in Cinderella's hair. It was AFTER rehearsal that the fun began.

One of my besties Ashley Campbell and I went out for some ice cream at Sonic. We've been pretty tight for several years and always have a blast together. So we pull up and she's about to hit the button to order when she notices a bunch of navy guys (one being in uniform) sitting at one of the tables outside. We decide to ditch the car in the parking lot and see if we can score a number for her.

So we go to order and luckily, the ice was broken for us by a ridiculously loud intercom on the order board thing. It made us all jump. So we laughed it off after placing our order and started talking.

So the guy in uniform had these huge dorky glasses on. My guess is that he is one of the mechanical or computer savvy guys. Another was in a cowboy hat and was a TOTAL dweeb. The third guy was a little bigger than the others and had kind of an ego, but the fourth guy seemed pretty cool. He had a cowboy hat too (which made sense after we learned he was from Texas) but rather than wearing it like the dweeby guy he kept it on his knee.

He did most of the talking and was really nice. And yes, Ashley got his number right before we left.

I wanted to get their picture for the blog, but I didn't want to be 'that guy' so I opted not to. We may be seeing a little bit more of him though so a picture in the future may not be out of the question.

The other picture I really wanted to get was on our way to Sonic when we saw a drag queen in a parking lot. But there was no way I could have gotten that picture without the flash and that would have been SUPER awkward.

Anyways I'm headed shopping in Savannah tomorrow. Hopefully that will make for another exciting adventure to blog about tomorrow.

Day 4: The Day Without a Clever Name

Today was pretty great. Nothing really exceptional happened today, but nothing horrific either.

I went to church this morning and was very moved by the standing ovation given to our former youth director Elizabeth Thomas when she was recognized for her service as Director of Youth Ministries. It was very sweet.

After church I watched an episode of Stargate Atlantis (best television show EVER) and then went to Brunswick with one of my closest friends Aaron Silva and my brother to take care of some stuff at the office for work. We ate at Five Guys and played around in Target for a little bit too. It was pretty great spending time with him because it's been over a month because SOMEBODY had to go to California!

Anyways the picture is of the restaurant right next to Five Guys. We have a friend that we've nicknamed Skinny Pete so it's kind of a shout out to him. By the way, that's Aaron in the picture. Not me. We hear all the time that we look like twins so I thought I'd clarify.

So no real adventure today, but maybe tomorrow will be more exciting. Who knows?

OH!!! I was on the front page of the paper for Cinderella. That was pretty cool.

Day 3: Me and my Emily! :D

So...everyone meet Emily! One of the best things that ever happened to my life. I didn't mention in the Day 2 blog about the best part of yesterday, which was surely walking up to the pool and trying to sneak up on her when she whipped around, saw me, and attacked me with one of the best hugs I've ever gotten! I wanted to feature her today because she is definitely one of the most special people in my life.

It was very tough leaving camp this afternoon because I've been going since I was two years old and for the first time in my life I can't tell you when the next time I'll be able to go back will be. And of course, leaving Emily was a toughie. I always hate saying goodbye to her. But alas, life must go on!

So I came home and went to see the Summer Theatre for Camden Day Camp production of Aladdin Jr. I was amazed by these kids. Kudos to the direction staff (headed up by my personal hero Mary Kraack) for working some true theatre magic with these kids. And the kids were SO cute out in the lobby! Shaking our hands and saying, "Thank you for coming!" That professionalism aspect of our program starts early I tell you, early!

So not as exciting of a day as yesterday, but still a very good day! That's it for now, I'll make sure to blog Day 4 tomorrow!

Day 2: The Day the Lightning Struck

Oh my goodness. What a day yesterday was. I apologize for not blogging, but you'll understand in a minute.

I was asked to come up to help out with my Presbytery's summer camp yesterday so I went up and spent the day and last night there. Everything was great. We had a great time with the kids and everyone's spirits were up.

So we're eating dinner when a thunderstorm rolls in. A very very very loud thunderstorm. Some of the kids were getting a little upset but for the most part everything was under control. Until the entire room lit up and a crack loud enough to burst eardrums knocked all of us out of our seats. Followed immediately by a true horror movie shrill from one of the younger camper girls. Chaos ensues as the coffee pot in the corner begins to smoke. Yes...the camp coffee pot was struck by lightning...right in the middle of dinner...right in the middle of the mess hall. Somehow we still had power though. STUPID STUPID me (and I must admit I was pretty amused by the whole thing) starts chanting, "Again! Again! Again!" Well.... I got my wish! Not five seconds later another flash, another crack, another horror movie scream, and no more power! And just to seal the deal...one more flash and one more crack. I guess the girl didn't have it in her to scream anymore. Or maybe she passed out. Who knows...we couldn't see a thing. I think this was the most excited I've been in a long time. I found something very very cool about the whole thing.

The kids however...did not. Emergency power kicked on which was the equivalent of a few flood lights over a few of the doors. Kids are crying EVERYWHERE! Luckily we have a great counselor who started singing Peace Like a River. Thank God for that! It's amazing how quickly turning the focus on Christ made all the kids forget about the storm still wreaking havoc outside the windows. In a matter of about thirty seconds all eyes were dry, they were all on their feet, and they were all just singing praises. It kind of reminded me of the disciples and their own storm. When they wake Jesus up from his nap scared for their lives and as he calms the storm he asks them, "Do you peeps still not have any faith? What gives, foo's?" Our kids were the opposite and I'm thankful for that. There's also a lot we can learn from that, I think.

Anyways... GA Power was called and they made sure to put us as a priority seeing as we had fifty some odd kids in the dark. When the storm calmed down we moved the kids to a building with more windows and doors so we could keep them a little bit cooler and in a little bit more light. We played some games with them there and prepared for the worst should the power not be able to be restored quickly. This preparation included getting buckets to fill with pool water to poor in the back of the toilets so we could continue to flush. Wouldn't that have been fun??

Luckily, power was restored in about an hour and a half and we were able to get the kids to bed safely. What an adventure! All the phone lines in the camp were completely fried...hence no wifi and no blogging. Incredibly though... the coffee pot still works! Get that!

The picture is a random snapshot I took while the power was out, but I think it truly captures the little bit of chaos we experienced. One of the other councilors jumped in front of the flash as i snapped the photo and BAM! It turned out pretty cool.

So that's Day 2! Day 3 will follow later tonight.

Day 1!

So this is the first day and the first picture. I promise it won't always be me taking a picture of myself...but this was a catastrophe. I, along with three other cast mates (Camden Cabaret), were providing the entertainment to a black tie affair tonight....and I lost my black tie!! So I'm sitting in the parking lot freaking out because I'm mortified that I'm about to have to not only walk into a room of people, but perform in front of a room full of people without my freaking tie! Luckily, my director had an extra tucked away. I still had to walk inside though. So I went in through the back door and walked sideways facing the wall to our dressing area. In hindsight, I probably looked more stupid walking that way than I would have without the tie...but that's life.

The show was great other than the fact that I messed up the words a little bit to Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera. But it was a minor glitch that no one knew about but me. We got two...count 'em two...standing ovations which was pretty exciting. Everyone had a great time and was asking if we'd be able to come back next year. The year before they had a hypnotist as the entertainment and the year before that they had some crappy comedian that nobody liked.

So it was a fantastic evening and well worth all the work we've put into the show. Shout outs to my Cabaret cronies Stephanie House, Brittany Bingham, and Matthew Humphrey. And if anyone sees a black bow tie laying around Kings Bay Naval Base somewhere near the Convention Center...please give me a call.

The Purpose

So I wanted to start chronicling the events that make me who I am so I decided I would start a blog and take one picture a day. At the end of the day, I'll upload the picture and talk about it a little bit. I wish I could say what direction I'm going to take this in... but I have no idea! We'll see what these pictures end up being and maybe I'll learn a thing or two from them. Who knows? So buckle up. It's One a Day Through Work and Play.