Don't you love that moment

when one of your best friends gets super excited for you because you got your dream role in a musical? Not only does she get excited, but she explains why she's so happy for you with, "that's your dream role!"....something you told her over 7 years ago in high school.

Yes, one of my best friends is an elephant. She doesn't forget a thing. I love that about her...it always makes me feel special.

Thanks for calling to say "hi" and brightening my day last weekend!

Lately

Well I feel like I haven't posted in awhile. Not a ton has happened but I suppose there's always things to talk about, right?

I had my birthday this last week. I'm not going to lie, it was a little rough...at least for the first 3/4 of the day. We'll just say there was some craziness going on. It was stressful. The craziness wasn't with Phil, in case you're concerned. We're still blissfully married!

After Phil got home from work he treated me extra nice and let me kind of relax from the day. We went out to eat at a mexican restaurant near our house and then I watched So You Think You Can Dance. I had a couple friends come over for a board game last minute as well. My evening was much better.

For my birthday "cake" I made this heavenly recipe from Our Best Bites (a really good food blog)
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/06/ooey-gooey-peanut-butter-chocolate-brownies/
Anything involving chocolate and peanut butter it an A+ in my book! I loved them.

Then this weekend we had our softball team out for a bbq and to see our house! It was fun to hang out with everyone out of the ballpark setting!

Last night I had some of my awesome friends from Once Upon a Mattress (the show I did last summer) out to watch the Tony's. We had a lot of fun!

So, basically it's been pretty busy, but fun. The show I'm in this summer, Oklahoma, is coming along well. I think it'll be good! If you want a sneak peak you can watch a rehearsal of the dream ballet that I'm in that is tagged on my facebook account!

Proud to be a Wildcat!

Okay so I'll admit, I've been very reminiscent lately. Todays thoughts led me through my collegiate acting experiences. I truly got to work with some amazing people in the theatre program and KSU and that makes me happy!

Exhibit A:
www.equitythemovie.com
George, one the the people I worked with in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is up in New York and is doing his first producing work for an indie film. He's also in this mini internet series...
http://elwinexplains.com/
seriously you should check it out...he's absolutely hilarious!

Exhibit B:
Nathan Jackson was doing graduate work at KSU and writing scripts while I was in the program. He truly has a talent in writing! He's since been accepted to Juilliard in play writing and his second show is being produced at the Lincoln Center in NYC! Here's an article in the New York Times about him!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/theater/10jackson.html?_r=2

Exhibit C:
ERIC STONESTREET! Although he was at KSU before I was around I'm proud to say that I went through the same program as him! It's cool to have an Emmy winner come from KSU theatre! Check out this video KSU did to spotlight him!
http://youtu.be/ZEKObTr_XSs
(If you watch the whole video you may even spot a certain someone you know.)

So many other people I've worked with have gone on to get paid to act in Kansas City and other cities around the nation! It's just cool!

Mmmm good memories!

Not so touching quote

Today I was scanning through facebook and on my news feed one of my friends had this as her status:

‎"There was a time when many Gods were a fact, a time when the world was surely flat, there will be a time, an age, if you will, of reason, when faith will be a minority, and at the exponential rate of social evolution, it may even happen within our life-time, if not our children's. Maybe then, just maybe, instead of believing in fantasies, we can start believing in ourselves."


Now I should say that I love this friend dearly, and we have strayed away from religious conversations probably for good reason. But despite how much I love her, I think this quote symbolizes a lot that is wrong with the way the world is moving.

Is this really what we want? A society that has no faith? Has no reason to behave so that we can acquire a divine future? Don't get me wrong, we need to believe in ourselves, like the author says. But I would, I suppose boldly say, that we need to believe not only in ourselves but that we are children of Someone who loves us more than we can comprehend. We need to believe that we have divine beginnings, and a divine potential. Why? Because if we believe in those things, we do what it takes to be good people and live up to that potential. I'm not saying that you can't  be a good person without believing in God (my friend who posted this is a lovely person).

It just blows my mind to see that our society is becoming so "open minded" that it's shutting the door on people who believe in God. Is that really open minded? Our society is going through exactly what civilizations in the Bible and Book of Mormon experienced and prophesied would happen in our time. We're experiencing the world becoming so materialistic, and short sighted, that it rejects faith, and the gospel.

I don't know who reads my blog, and chances are someone will disagree with me. That's fine, and we can talk about it if you'd like, but I'm not trying to start a fight. I was just very taken aback by this quote, and felt like showing my point of view.

I believe that Jesus Christ is our elder brother and Savior. He loves us so much that he died for our sins. He was resurrected so that we may all overcome death. He lives and is there to help each and every one of us through whatever life throws at us. I know this is true because I have pondered it many times and felt the Holy Ghost whisper the truth of it to me. As I have striven to live a life following the Gospel of Christ I have been blessed 10 fold for my efforts. I love our Savior and I hope that society can accept my love for Him, even if they don't agree with it.

Good-Bye's

Well, I officially had to say my first good-bye of my hospice volunteer experience.

Let me just tell you how awesome the lady is that I was visiting every week. She is in her late 80's and is a spunky lady. She lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years of her life and has so much advice and information to offer me as I contemplate world travel. She's been through a lot of trials in her life, but has such a positive attitude.

I just loved spending time with her.

Sadly enough, she's at the point where she doesn't really benefit from a volunteer coming over and chatting with her.

So, I went over to see her  and say good-bye earlier this week. I thought it was going to be pretty awful. But I realized more and more while I was there that it wasn't sad at all. She and I both thanked each other and she told me how excited she was for me to live my life. She complimented me in so many ways. I'm just happy that I was able to help her out in a tiny way for a tiny amount of time. I have no doubt that we'll be friends after this life. I'm kind of excited about that.

For now I get to go help someone else! I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to experience what I have with the hospice program.

It's been a big testimony boost as to my belief in Jesus Christ and his redeeming love. That is priceless.

Hooray!

Today is my 3 year anniversary with Phil!!! I can't explain how happy I am to be married to him! He's the best thing that's ever happened to me! We don't have any big plans or anything, but I'm just excited to both dress pretty and spend time together! 

Not a whole lots has been happening in my life. Phil has been in town for the last month or two, so that has been fantastic! 

I finally got done with my 5k training! I can officially run 3 miles! I'm definitely not fast, but I'm going to keep practicing and hopefully get better and faster at it. Eventually I want to work up to a 10k! The only down side is that it's ridiculously hot in Houston already. As a result I'm having to alter my running schedule, and I'm having a tough time with that. I think I'm more of a creature of habit than I think, because as soon as I have to make a change to something I'm trying to learn I fall out of it quickly and easily. 

I also learned how to sew a few new fun things! I'd post pictures to brag, but some of them might be gifted to a certain someone who reads my blog and is having a BABY! Which, might I add I'm so proud and excited for her! 

This is random, but I'm honestly so happy with my life right now! I feel like I've accomplished things that I've always wanted to, and learned so much in the process! Life is good!

Why thank you home teachers...

Our home teachers just left and our chat with them left me thankful for a few things (that I don't normally think about) in my life.


1. Scripture Study materials
I have made a goal this year to have better scripture study every day. I've made it habit over the last almost 7 years since I started investigating the Mormon church to read my scriptures every day. Now that I've read the Book of Mormon multiple times I'm excited to really delve into it and do more than just read it. Right now I'm going through this:

It's been awesome! It have increased my love of the scriptures a lot! I'm excited to use my Bible and Doctrine and Covenants study guides next!!!

2. My past journals

We were talking about how we need to be able to learn from our past and become stronger in the future. It's hard to learn from our past if we don't remember it....what we did and why we did it. Taking the time to re-read how I've gained the testimony that I have is an awesome motivator to keep me moving in the right direction. The Ensign (church magazine) had a quote that said "ask yourself every day...Am I closer to God today than I was yesterday? Will I be closer tomorrow?" That gives me a lot to think about.

3. My Patriarchal Blessing

For those of you who aren't Mormon a Patriarchal Blessing is something each member can receive. It is like personal scripture to us from God. It kind of gives us a roadmap to our lives if we live worthy to receive it. Anyways, I love to read my blessing and every time I do I learn something new about  myself. It's not long or detailed, but I can't read it without having something stand out to me. I want to make it a bigger part of my life and read it more.

I'm not trying to be profound or anything...I guess this is just what my Home Teachers made me think about. I'm happy to have the chance to constantly improve myself and learn new things about God and His eternal plan for us!

slowly adjusting

I know this may surprise you all but Phil was gone again this week. And I have to say that while I HATE him leaving I'm starting to cope better...I think.

This is how I used to be when Phil left:
-cry for the entire drive home
-refuse to leave the house for a few days
-consider getting out of my pajamas pretty much only to shower
-watch WAY too much TV to distract myself
-feel like a worthless lump
-sleep on the couch to fall asleep to the TV instead of in my own bed
-sleep with pepper spray in hand

This is how I've recently been:
-cry for about 5 minutes right when he leaves
-call friends and family and immediately make plans for the week to keep busy
-get around and out of my pajamas everyday
-spend atleast a little bit of time everyday outside of my house with other people
-still watch WAY too much TV..but it's getting better
-sleep in my own bed!
-and yes I still sleep with pepper spray in my hand...or atleast close by

I know boys generally think that girls overreact about the dangers of being alone...and well....I'm sure I do...but it's kind of hard being a girl and knowing that you are automatically more of a target than half of the population. Anyways, I don't freak out about it as much as I used to.

On another note...I went to a Monster Truck Rally (on a whim, really) and would totally go again! It was hilarious.

One of my favorite Christmas songs

Today I spent a lot of time reflecting on Christmas and how lucky I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I looked over my testimony notebook and had to hold back tears as I read the letters from the missionaries and friends who taught me. I decided it would be the perfect time to watch "Joy to the World"...which is a video that the church put out about Christ and Christmas. It is beautiful.

I'm so thankful that God gave us his "only begotton Son" so that I can overcome death and sin and live with Him again!

still undecided

Phil apparently thinks I shouldn't go private (as is evident by his comment and our lengthy discussion on the chances of being stalked online from my blog). I haven't decided yet...

In other news I am stoked for the holiday season. It's fun to see everyone and have an excuse to spend some real time together. The sad news is that I seem to be the lone child this Thanksgiving. My brother and his wife are staying in Wisconsin. Phil is in Africa, and all of his siblings will miss Thanksgiving too! Kind of sad...but Christmas should be all the more exciting.

I have decided that I will attempt to make a Thanksgiving dinner for Phil when he gets back...since he won't get one in Africa. I'll have to let you know how that goes. It all makes me nervous, but I've got to tame the domestic goddess in me sometime!

I miss Phil a lot. I need to put in a request that Exxon take a little break in sending him to Africa. It turns out that I'm NOT one of those wives that thinks it's a nice break when their husband leaves. NOT AT ALL! The good news is when he gets back we'll have 2/3 trips that we know about done! The other good news is that we're both anxiously awaiting a time when we can use his bajillion frequent flier miles and fly me over to Paris for a little vacation on his way back home! To date the only other country I've been to is Mexico.

Speaking of which Phil and I went on a little trip to Monterrey, Mexico after her got back from Africa last month! It was a lot of fun! We used some frequent flier miles and had a nice quick and cheap vacation! Phil wanted to go someplace where we could hike a lot (since he had been couped up on an oil rig for so long). We definitely hiked a lot and saw some fun stuff! (refer to facebook album to see pictures....I'm not on my computer at the moment.) The most memorable moment for me was when I got attacked by a camel on our "safari".

Okay and finally, this has been plaguing me a bit lately. I'll start by saying I know eventually I want to have kids, and I hear it will be the most wonderful thing I can do. Hard...but wonderful. And as a Latter-Day Saint I know that my family will be eternal and never ending. So I know Heavenly Father wouldn't reward any of us with an eternity of having kids if it won't be the happiest eternity possible.

Having said that...it terrifies me to think that the happiest I can be is with kids. It also worries me that I honestly have no desire to have a kid right now. I know a lot of that is selfishness...but part of it is that I'm missing that warm gushy feeling that I think normal people feel when they think about having a child. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, but it scares me. I know I'll try my darndest...I just hope I'll be a good mom.

Some Things I Miss At the Moment

Lately I've been really missing doing theatre... this picture makes me miss Brant too.

I miss doing musicals especially...and the KSU theatre department. I realized the other day that it has been over 3 years since I've done a musical. I haven't had that long of a break in between musicals since before I started doing them when I was 8. Seriously. I might have to find somewhere that will atleast let me be in the chorus.

I also miss my mom. She's awesome.

And these girls. I may have only lived with them for a year, but it was pretty awesome and I like them a lot.

I miss this girl a lot too. We've been through a freakish amount together and even though our lives have lead us different places we're still the same person.

I miss this girl because she and I always have fun together even if we haven't talked for months.

(This is where I picture of Kayla was supposed to be...but I'm having issues getting the picture uploaded)

I also miss being in Kansas, especially in the Fall. I even miss going to school.

But the good news is I have this stud to keep me going! He trumps all of the missing feelings and I couldn't be happier with how my life has turned out thus far.

Phil is awesome.

testimony

I have been working on my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow and it's on gaining a testimony. Naturally I looked back over my testimony notebook (which many of you know is the scrapbook I've kept since I was 16 of everything that has helped me gain a testimony of God, his son Jesus Christ, and the restoration of His gospel to the earth again by modern day prophets and apostles).

I can't help but be overwhelmed by the thick spirit that surrounds this notebook for me. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people on earth to have had the opportunity to experience all that I have. I had friends who were willing to put their beliefs out there for me to analyze (and over analyze) over the space of two years. They also stuck with me and were some of the most amazing examples of Christ's love and charity that I've ever seen. My dearest friends didn't have to do extravagant things to help me, but little notes of their testimony and actions that prove this testimony further have stuck with me for years (and I'm sure they will for eternity).

I never imigined living my life this sure of the happiness I will have hereafter. I know that as I acted upon my tiny growing seeds of faith I was blessed 10 fold in return. It has definitely been hard at times, but it's those times that have made me stronger and more able to cope with future difficulties.

Anyways this is getting long, but I want to say thank you to everyone who reads this. Chances are you've been an example to me in one way or another that I admire. Thank you.

Does this make sense to anybody else?

Okay so a little background to the story. Phil and I are renting a condo from a nice couple. This condo is part of a small complex with an owners association. When we moved in we were aware that they had some dumb rules like:

1. no bikes are to be visible (as in if we want to have a bicycle we need to store it in our small apartment...and I do mean IN the apartment...we can't even have them on our balconies or our parking space.

2. Motorcycles can't be parked on the grounds. So we have to fight for the two spots on the street in a 1 block stretch.

3. I understand this more but, no dogs over 15lbs, oh and you have to take it off the premises to go to the bathroom.

these seemed dumb but whatever, we don't own a dog and while lugging our bikes up and down our staircase sucks and makes our apt. dirty we got over it. Luckily the motorcycle can fit on the street most of the time. So we've been fine up until...today...when I got an ammended list of rules in the mail.

Now they have decided that:

1. 1 bedroom apts. can only have 1 person (which I think is freakishly stupid..why do we want to keep couples from having a 1 room apt? and 2 bedroom apts can only have 2 people. Also dumb, what if I had a kid? It seems to me the association is passivly discriminating against having anyone who is young...makes sense I suppose since most people here are old and don't leave their house...but seriously?

Okay so this doesn't effect us too bad but leads to the ridiculousness of the next rule...

2. Residents can now only park one car on the apt. grounds. WHAT? not even in visitor parking, which is NOT what we were promised when we signed our lease.

So now, they know that there can be two ppl per condo, yet they won't let you have any mode of transportation except 1 car. Heaven forbid two people have jobs...or worse, one goes out of town and has the car.

I don't understand!

my dream last night

So dream Kathleen got to play around with celebrities last night, all before galloping away on her horse. I beat-boxed with Eminem, and danced with Beyonce. weird. Of course eventually someone was trying to kill me, I dont' remember who. All in all, dream Kathleen had an action packed night.

A first happened for me this morning. I defriended someone on facebook out of pure annoyance. EVERYDAY she writes some status about how much she hates someone or another because she disagrees with their views. Today it was about how stupid people are who get married before they can legally drink. It took everything in me not to comment. So I defriended her and then typed out my own status update saying "does it really make you a tolerant (or even friendly) person when your status says something hateful towards people just because you disagree with them? I know I can't claim to not judge other people when they disagree with me, but I try to keep those comments to myself. What good does it do to try and make them mad by saying rude things?" However, my computer went through a wide variety of ways to keep me from posting, and eventually kicked me off the internet. I gave up, but it still annoys me that people do this all the time. They claim to be tolerant and then trash on people that they don't agree with. How is that tolerant? AND they hate intolerant people. It seems eerily hypocritical to me. Phew...I think I've got that out of my system.

On other news, I cut my hair off. It was too long. So now it's above my shoulders, in a bob like fashion. Also, my brother got married this last Saturday! I'm very happy for him. I like Alisa a lot. She looked gorgeous too! See exhibits A and B...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

2 steps forward...1 step back

I'm happy.

Yes indeed I am happy!

I had my last day of work today until the 26th! I love work and all...but I can't help but be excited to know that I get to have so much free time over the next couple weeks!!! I'm also done with midterms. I still need to take a test and a quiz, but those aren't technically due until after Spring Break (I just want to do them now). 

It's been delightful having my husband home. He makes everything a bajillion times better. I also got another calling with church. I'm the beehive advisor in young womens...and get this...my first lesson is on (drum roll) .....homemaking. whut. 

I feel they've been terribly mislead if they feel I'm qualified to teach such a lesson. 

On another church note. I went through my testimony notebook this last weekend because I was planning for a talk. I can't help but get excited everytime I look at what I've put in that notebook. It all reminds me why I fought so hard to get to the point that I'm at...a member of the church of Jesus Christ. I also read my Partriarchal Blessing...so much of it was clear to me in ways that it never was before. I love it! I love this gospel! Finally, I get to go temple hopping with my other me ( actually not Phil...he's my other half of me...). It will be delightful!

I ripped off a hang nail at work today. Now my thumb hurts.

And finally...this is proof that my baby tolerance level is slowly but surely growing. 

Not exactly a charming picture of me...but you get the point.

I would make a terrible army wife

Phil left me for Africa today. Stupid Africa. I cry everytime he leaves...it doesn't matter how long he'll be gone...I will cry anyways. I'm lame. This is why I couldn't be an army wife, I can't imagine how worthless I would be for years while my husband was off doing scary things. For now I'll just have to console myself with chick flicks and fudgesicles. 

I'm very much excited to come to Utah in March!!! Not only will there be a platinum reunion, but I will get to see lots more people, including Britany in her wedding gown all dolled up and married like a big kid. Judging by how pretty she is normally, I think the results of said wedding gown and dolling up could be record breaking. she's pretty. 

My job is still great! I love the residents, they make my heart smile everyday!

stupid cable

So, I think the cable on my tv has been working about half of the time I actually watch tv. This is quite frustrating, although I care a lot less than I would if I were paying for it. But seriously, I've got some intense programming to watch people! Who's Line is it Anyways is all I ask for at 11:00 at night. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvpo24-Nzl4

The Crappy Part of Moving Away From Everybody...

...is that you're far away from everybody. 

Going home for the holidays made me realize how much I miss having friends and family around. Seriously. I miss being able to sit and chat with people like Brandon and John for hours on end (even the time that Brandon made the Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD opening screen play on repeat on his tv for the entire duration of my visit). I miss dicussing inappropriate topics with my old roommates, and I'm really sad I can't be more involved in the exciting things coming up in their lives (like Britany getting married!!!!).  I also miss knowing that Katie is close by, and that we can see each other if we need to. I miss being able to really spend time with friends, as opposed to rushing a visit in while I'm back for a short time.

I don't want to be entirely sad here. I love my life (see post below), and I love being in Houston with Phil. He's for sure the only reason I can live down here and be happy about it. 

On other news, my play opens this week. 

Bah. So my car has a lovely habit of trying to kill me. I'll describe. In about a year or two I've had about 4 popped or flat tires. 2 of them were within a day...and I'm coming up on a 5th. I noticed that my car was shaking as I drove. So Phil took the tires off to look at them, and sure enough there is about a half inch of tire wires exposed on the inner side of the tire. This is the second time a tire has worn itself down to the wires on my car. I've discussed the problem with a guy in my cast, who's a mechanic, and good news...we've got a problem with some sort of alignment thingie that is expensive to fix. ugh. I need to go get the tire repalced and then take my car to the mechanic today...but anything car related like that is out of my comfort zone, so I've been putting it off like crazy. 

I'm a very good procrastinator.

Happy Life!

So I have been very happy lately. I feel like a lot of things are coming into place and life just seems great!

First Phil and I are moving into our first apartment with bedroom walls! After living together in studio apartments for a year and a half this is a big accomplishment. Our landlords are the sweetest older couple and I love them. They even gave us the keys a week early so we could start moving stuff in AND left us a big gift basket of cookies and stuff!!!

Second...although I'm nowhere near done with finals, it makes me very happy to know that after this next week I'm done. And after next semester I'm officially a college grad!

Third, I might have the best job in the world. This may be premature, seeing as how I havn't started yet, but I'm anticipating much happiness at my new workplace! My boss is super sweet and told me that I could have Christmas off since my family is in Kansas. She only wants me to work New Years to make up for it. DEAL! On top of that once I get situated I can have my little acting troupe....life will be complete. I'm hoping that come May, when I graduate, I can talk to the people above me there and try to work my way into an even better position...they already know that I have my eye on growing in the company!! YAY!

Fourth, I have the best husband ever. He works so hard for me and I appreciate it a lot.

I'm SO excited for Christmas!!!