The Nauvoo Pageant 2011

So, I was an assistant stage manager this summer for The Nauvoo Pageant. A new role that I have never done before. See me with my headset on! It was great. I had some really sweet experiences. One of my responsibilities is what we called specialty casting, meaning: I chose the children who played Joseph Smith's children or Brigham Young's children etc. A couple of these little girls had lines and it was my responsibility to teach them their parts and rehearse with them. I loved it! I learned that Heavenly absolutely cared about which child played which part (most children got to do at least one specialty part) and that He had prepared children to come and do these parts. While choosing these children and rehearsing with them I felt the Spirit just as much as I ever had while performing on stage. It was a wonderful experience and definitely a highlight of my 5 year run of The Nauvoo Pageant.

My Little Red Car

This is my Little Red Car. It is a 2002 Hyundai Accent. I bought it in 2004 with 34,000 miles on it for $7,000. It now has 122,000 miles on it and this car has taken me from Salt Lake to Provo and back a million times, to Nauvoo 3 times, Disneyland once and has always been waiting for me when I returned to Utah from New York City. We have been through one accident and a couple of fender benders (none of which were my fault).

This is the second car that I have bought but the car I have driven the longest. I love that it is little and most of all I love the red color. My Little Red Car has been reliable and thus far only needed normal maintenance repairs.

Unfortunately, since I returned to Utah in January the transmission has not been functioning properly. After a long saga of trying to decide if it was worth fixing or if I should buy a new car, and how I should get to get to PA and should I take a car and if so what car, I finally decided to fix my Little Red Car. However, I am taking my sister's car to PA and leaving my Little Red Car in Utah for my sister.

The funny thing is that my sister's 1999 Toyota Corolla is the first car that I bought. I picked it out, bought it, and then drove it for 3 years. And, long story short, though my sister bought it from me fair and square, the title to this car is in my name.

So I am taking My Sister's Car to PA. And I plan on driving this car for the next two years but I don't know if I will ever be able to call it anything but My Sister's Car. There just isn't the same history and attachment. And although I know my sister is driving the Accent, I think it will always be My Little Red Car. And yes, I am having some separation anxiety issues.

However, I am SO grateful that this has all worked out! And I am SO grateful that I have a sister I can go to and say, "Can I take your car to PA and leave mine her for you because I just have a weird feeling that even though I am getting it fixed I shouldn't take it to PA? " She is an angel and each day when I drive My Sister's Car I will think of her and count my blessings.

Moving Again...

I am packing...again. I am moving across the country...again... 2 cross-county moves in 7 months....Is this really my life?

I'm Going to Graduate School and Nauvoo

I flew out to PA at the beginning of the month for my audition with Penn State. At the end of the audition, they accepted me! So I will be moving to State College, PA in August. It has been a long time since I have been a student and that makes me nervous, but I feel really good about this program and about this decision. This is quite an unexpected turn in my life. I certainly would never have planned 2 cross-country moves in one year. And if you had asked me in January I would never have answered that I was planning on grad school. But I do feel guided and inspired by the Lord and I will trust that there are good thing to come.

I am spending most of the month of July in Nauvoo for one last hurrah with the Nauvoo Pageant as a stage manager this summer rather than a cast member. This is definitely a new experience, but a good one. We just finished our rehearsals in Salt Lake. I will be in Nauvoo starting next week until July 25 and then I will pack like a crazy person and get myself to PA before August 22 when school starts.

Disneyland Birthday Party! May 15-20

1. I spent 3 days in Disneyland with my two younger sisters and my aunt. They all have April birthdays and so we called it our Birthday Celebration. We had a great time! Each day one of them wore the official Disneyland "It's my birthday today" badge and we designated that as their birthday. We were able to ride all of the rides we love more than once and do all that we wanted to do. Some highlights include:

*eating lunch at the Blue Bayou restaurant and sitting as close to the water as is possible. We waved at the the passengers of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as they went past. The food was quite good, but it was really all about the embience.

*The Fountain of Love: a drinking fountain near the castle that we dubbed the Fountain of Love and made sure we drank from each day. I filled my water bottle there. I'm hoping for results....

*The Pineapple Freeze!

*Captain Jack: We found him in the French Quarter, near the Pirates ride and had quite a long conversation with him.

*Space Mountain: a roller coaster ride in the dark! You gotta love it.

*Indiana Jones: which was closed for maintenance the first 2 days we were there but opened the 3rd day. We were able to go on it twice and sit in the front both times.

The rest of the world could take a few lessons on customer service from Disneyland. Everyone is so nice and helpful, they really made us feel like princesses and we came home tired and happy each night.

I'm Going to Audition

I got a call on Monday from Mary Saunders, the head of the Music Theatre Vocal Pedagogy Department at Penn State. She invited me to come and audition for them. So I will be heading out to PA on June 1st and auditioning on June 2nd. I am really excited that they liked my application, but really nervous about the audition. Well, I just have a lot of practicing to do still. So, I will stop blogging and get at it!

My Graduate School Application is Done!

About 5 weeks ago when I desperately needed some guidance on what to do with my life, I opened my email in box and found what normally would have spam from the NATS organization (National Association of Teachers of Singing). However, the title of this spam email was heaven-sent: "New Music Theatre Voice Pedagogy MFA." Aaaaaaahhh! (you must sing that in your head, it's a high angel sounding note). I have been waiting for years for some university to create a program like this. It is new this year and the only one in the nation. If you want to study vocal pedagogy there are plenty of graduate programs out there but they are all classically based. All those times that I have applied for graduate school and not gone is largely because they weren't really the programs that I wanted. What's even more miraculous about this all is that the deadline for Fall 2011 was May 1st. I still had time to apply and get in for this fall! I had a really strong impression that I should try to get into this program this year. So I turned down a very sensible job that I think I would have enjoyed because I didn't feel like I could get this application done in 5 weeks if I was working full time. And I was right. It has been a crazy race to the finish. It has been more than just writing a 2 page Statement of Purpose, creating a CV, a Repertoire List, and a DVD of some samples of my singing. It has been jumping back into the saddle after being out for almost 4 years which has required a lot of practicing, choosing repertoire and trying to figure out what my teaching philosophy is. I didn't think I had one, but after I thought about it for a while and paid more attention to my teaching at BYU this semester I was able to start verbalizing my approach as a teacher.

Whew! I am so grateful that I found this program. Even if I am not accepted, I am grateful for the process of the last 5 weeks. I feel like I have awakened and enlarged a part of my soul that has been dormant for a long time. I am really excited about teaching and about singing. I have been taking voice lessons and want to talk all the time about what I am learning and discovering. That past six months have been rough and it feels good to be excited about life again.

Once they receive my application they will decide if they want me to come out to PA for an audition where I will do some singing, and some observed teaching. But for now, I am glad to be done with the paperwork and to be able to spend my time practicing and preparing for the hoped for audition.

Here is the link to the DVD that I sent in with my application.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAOphGrX6Ns