Things Are Looking Up

Yesterday was a really nice day. It was Stephen's first day off for spring break, after working 6 nights in a row. It was also the first day we've had off together in a really long time...I work and we go to school during the week and then he works on the weekends, so we never have time off together. We enjoyed just relaxing together at home.

We were able to check our grades online yesterday and...we both got 4.0's in ALL our classes!! It was really exciting and a little bit unexpected (I thought we'd do well, but not that well).

To top it all off...Stephen got a new job! He has been getting really tired of his current job (hasn't been getting many hours, and isn't being offered more hours even though someone is leaving and Stephen is the most senior one there) and wanting to quit and find a better job. Our married-couple-friends, Jenny and Clay, work at one of the video stores here and let us know that the store would be needed to hire quite a few new people. They suggested Stephen apply and they would introduce him to the owner and whatnot. So he did on Monday and when we stopped by yesterday to rent some movies, Jenny was working (she's one of the managers) and had some paperwork for Stephen to fill out...he's gotten the job!! It was so quick and effortless...I guess that's what happens when you have a connection. So we're pretty excited and Stephen is anxious to give work his two-weeks notice. This job should be much better for him: it'll pay about the same, but he'll get to work more hours and better hours (not so much of the weekend).

So yesterday was a very good day for us!! Today we went out to breakfast with Clay and Jenny and then hung around at home watching movies. I love lazy, sunny days!

Feeling Sorry for Myself

I feel so lousy right now...I think I'm getting sick :( I woke up this morning with a sore throat and feeling super achy (I didn't want to move), and now I'm feeling really shaky and dizzy and sick to my stomach. What a bummer way to spend Spring Break! And I don't even have Stephen here to take care of me. He'll be working til 11 tonight and by then he'll probably be too tired to do anything. I know I should probably just lay down, but there's so much I need to do...I really need to clean the house some and I just feel bad about sitting around doing nothing. I already sat and watched a movie; I don't want to waste any more time. Well...we'll see if I can at least finish up the dishes and clean Nellie's cage, then I'll at least feel like I accomplished something today (I haven't even gotten myself to shower today...eewwww).

On a happier note...I got to spend some wonderful time last night talking to Robin. We were on the phone for a really long time, and it was great just to chat and reminisce like in the old days! I went to bed feeling very pleased.

Dreams and Nightmares

One night I dreamed of people from high school--all the kids from the a.p. chem. and honors eng. and math classes. Everyone came back from various colleges for the summer and we were all enrolled in some weird chem or science class with Mr. Johnson. I specifically remember Meghan, Leilani (for some strange reason she was with our age group), Cathy, Genea, and Megan Herrin (but I think her name was Faye in my dream), but I know everyone was there...the class was huge. Don't really know what any of it means!

Then a few nights later I had a nightmare...a real nightmare like in the movies. The dream itself was more weird than scary (it involved a turtle continually biting my guinea pig Nellie's paw), but the effect it had on me was so crazy. I woke up tossing and turning, shaking uncontrollably, and calling/crying out. Stephen had to hold me to calm me down and get me to stop saying weird things about turtles. I don't think I've ever had a nightmare that's done that to me... even when I was little the most I'd do would be to wake up with a gasp and then fall back asleep. Usually I just have scary dreams, but this was really a nightmare. Maybe I ate something I shouldn't have before bed!?! Anyone have any thoughts?

A Few Pics

So here's a picture of me in one of my costumes for the play. It was set in the 1980's and I was supposed to be in my 30's, so that sort of explains my look. I had a ton of different costumes to change into between scenes (nothing more stressful than quick costume changes!!!), and I sort of wish I had pictures of them all. Oh well. I really enjoyed my costumes (everything but the shoulder pads!). It's surprising how beautiful I could feel in funny-looking 80's clothes! There was this one really soft and fuzzy sweater that I loved, but I only got to wear it in one short scene. It reminded me of something that my mom would've worn back in the day!

And this is me at home after our last show. I love getting all dolled up and having people do my hair and makeup. I'm such a girl!

Hair

The before.

The after.

Oh the sacrifices we'll make for our art!! I've been working on growing out my hair for quite awhile, but last week I had to cut it off for the play. The look Matt wanted for my character wasn't going to work with my longish hair, so I agreed to cut it shorter (we lopped off several inches). Stephen cut it for me, so that we'd have time to practice the look during dress rehearsals, so it's sort of just a temporary cut. Sometime soon we'll go to a salon and get it layered and whatnot.

It was kind of a bummer to have to cut my hair. Normally when I try to grow it out I get impatient and chop it off, but this time I was actually content with letting it grow. This was the first time I wasn't ready to cut it! Oh well, the play was more important to me.

The Theatre

Sorry to everyone that I haven't been very good about writing lately. Last week we did our play, so things were just a little bit busy for me. The play, "The Real Thing," went really well and I got a lot of great compliments about the acting. It always makes me feel so good to know that I did well and that people enjoyed my performance or were impressed by it. I'm really starting to realize how much I really love acting! I felt so happy after every performance (which is surprising considering the seriousness and depressive emotions I had to pull out in the play). Stephen and I would come home and talk endlessly about the show. There are few things in life that make me happier than being on the stage. With something I'm so passionate about, how can I not pursue it further in life? It's just such a scary and uncertain road to go down, and it's probably not the most logical choice. But how could I spend my life not acting? So many people don't know what they would enjoy doing or end up in a career that doesn't make them happy, that I feel like I'd be stupid to not take advantage of the fact that I've found something I love--something I would be thrilled to do for years and years. I don't know; I'll have to do a bit more thinking on the subject of theatre as a career choice.

Well I have some pictures of me from the play that I'll post later today (right now I'm at the school), and I should be getting more from Matt (our director) that are more action shots, so eventually I'll post some of those.

Also, just a quick happy birthday shout-out to my nephew Tyler and niece Serenity!! Both turned 1 year old on the 18th and today (respectively).

Spring is in the Air

I love the spring!! I get so excited and cheerful when I start to see the crocuses blooming. They are always the first to poke their little faces up through the ground. Port Angeles if great when it comes to flowers. The businesses and homes all around town are landscaped with lovely blooms, but my favorite spot is a stretch of the main road right as you're coming into town...along both sides of the ride for a few hundred feet are some flower beds that are just covered with flowers. Right now only the crocuses are bloomed, but I can't wait for the daffodils and tulips to open up! It's the best part of spring here (along with seeing the sun again after months of rain!).

The other day I was walking out on the side of our house and I noticed a bunch of flowers poking up! They haven't bloomed yet, but I can't wait to see them. We also have one tiny crocus all by itself in the front lawn. I smile at it every time I go out to the car (I cheated on the photo; those flowers aren't any of ours). I had no idea any of these flowers were there because we hadn't moved in here yet this time last year (we didn't move in until May). Our yard has given us so many surprises--three beautiful rose bushes, a blackberry bush, lilacs, daisies, a wild raspberry plant, wild sweet peas, along with all the other trees and bushes that weren't hiding. It's nice, but we aren't really able to cultivate the yard like we should.

I just love how happy springtime makes me! I get so motivated to be creative. (My blog had been in reds and yellows, but I changed the colors to be more spring-ish!) Friday was such a nice, sunny day and all I wanted to do was relax and create something or do something artistic. I wanted to do everything--draw, crochet, scrapbook, plant flowers, work at a florist shop, work at a pet store, write in my journal, play the piano, sing, do some pottery, act, and on and on! I wanted to do anything, even things I can't do or don't know how to do.

Unfortunately I have a bunch of homework hanging over my head, so I didn't do any of the things I wanted to. And of course, I still haven't gotten it all done. Just two weeks left until the end of the quarter and then we get two weeks off for spring break! I can't wait!!! I just need to catch up on my papers for Art History (I have five of them) and then I'll pretty much be all set in my classes. I wanted to finish the papers this weekend, but I had trouble feeling motivated. Sometimes all I want to do is sit at the computer or take a nap on the couch. I just have to get it done...no more wasting time.

The First

And so it begins...
I have become a new fan of the blogging idea. I've realized how enjoyable it is to read what someone is doing each day. So if I like it that much, I figure I might as well create one myself.

Today was a Professional Development Day for the faculty, so we didn't have classes. It was a much needed break! Unfortunately, my office stayed open (even though there were no students on campus to be advised) so I had to work a little this morning. It was such a dead day for the office! We had hardly any appointments scheduled, and most of the ones that were scheduled were no-shows. It was nice to not have a million things to do or the phone ringing like mad, but sometimes that can be sort of boring. Luckily I had a little project that Jan needed me to work on.

Today Stephen has been helping to build the set for our next play. He's been doing the electrical wiring on it so that we can have actual built in lights that I can turn on and off like a real house. It's helpful that Stephen had a little electrical experience from when he worked in Fallon. He had to figure all the wiring and everything out on his own. (I'm pretty proud of how smart he is, if you couldn't tell!)

I've spent the afternoon doing our laundry. We were gone to an acting conference all last week, and had a lot of work to catch up on when we got back. I did laundry before we left but we weren't home last Saturday, which is normally laundry day, so I didn't get to wash our clothes from the trip. I had no time during the week and I didn't want to get on a weird washing schedule, so needless to say, there was A LOT of laundry to do today. I don't mind too much though; laundry is one of the chores I like to do (dishes and cooking are another story).

Well, I should go put clothes away and maybe go up to the school to help out Stephen and the others if I can. There's nothing hotter than a girl with a power tool!! Unfortunately, I'm not very talented with that!