Nag'em...

Thai and Fro Yo...

2011-02-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

My parents are visiting the kiddos in So.Cal. for the week!!

This past Monday my sister and I joined my parents for a day trip to downtown Pasadena. We had a wonderful time window shopping and eating some great Thai food for lunch...

followed by some epic Frozen Yogurt.

Spiritual Nostalgia...

2011-02-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

I heard this story about a group of missionaries who were imprisoned for their beliefs. The prison conditions were harsh and reality of "to live is Christ and to die is gain" took on new meaning. There was only one bible that had been snuck into the prison so the missionaries divided it amongst themselves so each of them could have a section of the Word of God on there person at all times. While they weren't being fed elaborate meals, they spent their time feasting on the presence of the Holy Spirit. Worship and prayer were items on their daily check-list, they were almost synonymous to breath and water. In a miraculous event all of them were released from prison. They all went their separate ways and began to share the testimony of God's faithfulness during their time of imprisonment.

Years later, the prisoners decided to have a reunion of sorts. All of these men and women of God were leading lives of incredible purpose and eternal significance, but they all agreed on one thing. They would give anything to go back to that prison. When faced with life or death these missionaries chose to run to the foot of the cross and dwell in the holy of holies. They sought the face of God with their whole hearts and God set their hearts ablaze for Him.

Are you wishing you could return to a specific season with God? Are you pressing into an even more fruitful season to come? Are you relishing in the season that God has you in right now?

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Just food for thought. At least, for me it is.

A good dose of humility...

2011-02-12T23:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a big night for a dear friend of mine, Liz.Liz was a finalist in a regional acting competition. Out of 265 people who auditioned Liz made it down to the top 16. Quite an accopmlishment. I also was apart of the competition and made it to the semi-finals. Watching Liz perform I felt a mix of emotions. I felt like a proud mama bear with a dose of excitement, competivness and jealously thrown in.

Honestly, she was absolutely incredible. All of her work was beautiful and the audience ATE HER UP.

But after her two scenes and monologue were finished Liz didn't end with a quick "Thank You" like all the other finalists. Liz took a breathe and an emotional smile came across her face. Then in complete seriousness she said the most heartfelt, "Thank You," I have EVER heard. It was as if in those two words Liz managed to say, "I just had the best time. Thank you for this opportunity to act for you and share this incredible experience. I feel so blessed." I'm not normally a crier. But something about that "thank you" struck my heartchord and I began crying as Liz walked off stage.

When I performed for the semi-finals I didn't have fun. I have such a tendency to try and THINK myself into success rather that I couldn't even enjoy the experience. In many ways I feel that as an actress I have become very robotic. I know how to deliver a product through technique and practise, but I have let myself forget how much fun acting can be. AND: audiences' respond to you when they see you having fun on stage!

I know this may sound simple and like an obvious philosophy: Don't forget to have fun!

But I feel like I just learned a life lesson of epic importance.

Little Laudie

2011-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

"My cup runeth over...."

My little sister is, for the first time in 5 years, (minus summers and the semester I was at sac state), is now living only thirty minutes away from me. I get to see her a couple times a month and can I just say, she is a ridiculously huge blessing in my life?! Here are some reasons why:

She lets me kiss her and cuddle with her and occasionally, if I am REALLY lucky, we have sleepovers when we go home and she will climb in my queen sized bed and talk and talk and talk... and then I will put my cold toes on her legs and she will pretend to get angry and threaten to leave... BUT I know she secretly loves it.
She is artsy fartsy like me and never turns down an opportunity for a photo shoot.
She loves me even though I smother her sometimes.
We share the same witty and random humor, that we totally inherited from mama bear.
I really feel like I have been in college an extra year so I could get to know my sister better as an adult. I gotta admit, she is pretty fierce.

She loves me and I love her.

When will you realize...

2011-02-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

Since the age of five my schedule has largely been dictated by one priority. School. Back in the pioneer days parents used schooling as training ground. Their children were put on a schedule (e.g. ringing of the bell for breaks). The children got used to six-eight hour work days (making the transition to farmer or coal miner less jarring). Lets be real, It also was a more sophisticated title for babysitting (giving mama time to tend to all the household duties that needed attending).

Well, I'm not going into agriculture... or any form of manual labor for that matter. And as graduation day has been rapidly approaching my type A tendencies have begun to strike with a vengeance. Complete with weepy panic attacks and indescribable acne.

I was trying to find a way to describe the change I have been undergoing in the past month, but the catalyst really occurred in a conversation with my Mom. I have been burnt out from acting and more particularly acting school for a while now. I thought a change of pace might bring some R&R, while giving my adventurous spirit a fix. I thought: Au Pair+ Barcelona= Nirvana!! As I told my epiphany to mom she listened and then said, "Megan, I just worry that your going to Barcelona and being an Au Pair would simply be a way to hide from your burn out rather than really relaxing and rejuvenating."

Honestly, I am completely terrified of failing. Can I get an AMEN?

But, I don't know, from my simple conversation with my mom I am now realizing...The reason I have been wrecked with anxiety and am willing to do just about anything, so long as it keeps me busy, is because I am afraid if I slow down I will never get going again. And I am completely terrified of failing. I really want to be successful. BUT, for the first time in a long time society isn't dictating my schedule. This allowance to slow down and catch my breath may be more of a blessing then a curse.

The Lord is my Shepard

I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quite waters.

He restores my soul.

Psalm 23

Behind the Scenes...

2010-07-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from backstage :)

Caitlin and I in secretary costumes

Casey and I in army clothes

Goofing off during the show

God stories...

2010-07-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

God has been working in a mighty way and I am so humbled by the opportunities I have had to share the love and hope of Jesus with the actors I am working with. I could go on forever, but here are a few highlights.

-My roommate for the summer is a non-believer who, this past winter, felt like she needed to "find God." We've had A LOT of God conversations, but she asked if she could go to church with me. The church experience was not the best, but praise the Lord, the other day she said she was so glad to have me for a roommate because of my positive attitude and for bringing her closer to God.

-Another is with one of the older company members. He is a Christian, with some interesting theology... but anyway, we were talking about living out the Christian faith. And he told me, and these are his exact words, "Honey, your light for Jesus just shines, shines, shines..." ha ha. Good! I know that may sound simple. But I have been learning to enjoy even the simple God conversations the Lord blesses me with during the day.

Please be keeping me in your prayers as well, that God will continue to use me. That He would keep my heart soft, mind renewed, and spirit attuned to the call He is so faithful to guide me in.

Feel free to post a comment and let me know how things are going and how I can be praying for you!

Who will be a witness for my Lord?

2010-06-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

http://laurasponselee.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/thank-you-card.JPG

It's always a fine line. Walking what God's called me to do and not getting caught up in the calling. Does that make sense?

Here, for my own edification, let me try to explain. I love to act. I am loving being a professional actor. I just sometimes feel like I'm not be useful enough, in an eternal perspective. Like I told my mom yesterday, "It's hard to be in the world, but not of it."

Praise the Lord, my God is such an encourager. He never will leave me or forsake me. The past couple of days I have had to pleasure to really see the Lord working in and through me.

The next couple of posts will be some God stories of my time out here.

Yes, I think this will be a grand idea.

Opening Weekend...

2010-06-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Opening weekend has just finished and boy am I tuckered out! Shrew is such a pleasure to be a part of. The audiences love this musical! You know what I love? My crazy wig and costumes.... I haven't taken any amazing pictures yet... but here are a couple backstage shots to whet your palates.

Let's Play Ball...

2010-06-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, another Monday has come and gone. I have become particularly fond of Mondays, considering the fact that Monday is my only day off in the week. Being Memorial day this past Monday some of the other actors decided why not show our patriotism by attending one of America's favorite past-times: A baseball game!!

We had a blast taking the train to downtown Atlanta, catching a shuttle to the ballpark, and enjoying the Braves game. Oh, and WE WON!! Here are some pics of our fun!

The whole crew (Me, Casey, Ann-Marie, Caitlin, & Brian)

Representing "A-town"

mmmm nature...

2010-05-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

As one might imagine the amount of memorization and rehearsal that is required of me in these three productions is intense! But as Merry Poppins, "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way."

Well memorization is my medicine and nature is my sugar.

Today I took my laptop, script, and score and decided to work outside. Maybe I'm not as production as I might be crammed in my dorm room, but it made me happy.

Here are some pictures from my cozy study spot.

Do your thang, God...

2010-05-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not gunna lie, I've been kind of depressed the past couple of days. It's been a kind of bi-polar transition coming to Atlanta. I love the rehearsals (which is good since they are so so long), but outside of rehearsals I have been super bored and lonely. I usually am so exhausted I just end up going to bed around 10pm instead of 1am. Or, my ridiculously talkative roommate keeps me up telling me EVERY SINGLE detail about her life. Golly, it makes me miss my roommates in La Habra.

I kind of started to freak out. There are only five other kids my age, none of which are believers. I didn't realize how surface level relationships are when Christ isn't at the center. And I love relationships. I love meeting new kindred spirits. So a couple of nights ago I went on a date with God. I worshipped, read my bible, and wrote in my journal. I know that the Lord has opened the doors for me to be here, but I told him I really need a good christian friend out here.

Oh Jehovah-sneaky strikes again. Today is my day off. So I watched yesterday's sermon from Northpointe. Andy Stanley talked about letting God work in the way He wants, rather than trying to make Him fit into our concept of the way he should answer our prayers. So I told God, "Alright, I just want you to move God. I will pursue you, and trust that you will work in your own perfect way."

Well, I suddenly got a craving to go swimming. I found a YMCA only two miles from my dorm. I borrowed Miss. talkative roommate's car and signed up for a free 7-day trial with YMCA. I then went to the pool!! Golly, I have missed swimming! BUT WAIT, it gets better!!!!

Who should plop into the lane next to me??? But Mr. Hottie McHottie. Seriously though, I about peed myself, this guy was adorable. We started talking between laps. Talking about stupid stuff, but jeez he was so sweet and cute. We raced a couple of times (and I held my own, we were neck and neck for most of it).

Anyway, I left praising the Lord (not because I meet a super nice and attractive guy my age, although that was nice) but leave it to the Lord to give a sanctuary to cure my loneliness at the local YMCA. Like I said, Jehovah-sneaky. I love Him so MUCH!

Sing, Sing, Sing...

2010-05-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Alrighty... I have made it to day four of rehearsals. That should count for something.

I only managed to get two hours of sleep on my flight to Georgia, before the eight hours of rehearsal that lay before me. At one point during music rehearsal I found myself dreaming as I sang. It was the most surreal out of body experience I have ever had. The frustrating part was, I knew it was happening but I couldn't snap myself out of it for a good thirty seconds. Needless to say, that night I slept from 9pm (which is 6pm Cali time) till 9am. I was plum tuckered out.

The past couple days have been EXTREMELY dance and music heavy. Let me preface this with saying, I only did musicals in high school. Even then, all choreography was catered to my novice ability. Not here. Ha Ha! I am expected to contort in ways I didn't even know was humanly possible while making it rhythmic! KILL ME NOW! One of the numbers has this epic dance break that includes all kinds of lifts and spins... let me tell you my body is feeling it! Yesterday I thought for a split second, "hmmm, maybe I should just quit now." But after working, working, and working I feel like I MIGHT be able to pull this off. But let me tell you, it will only be by the grace of God.

The killer dance number we are doing is based off of Bob Fosse's "Sing Sing Sing." Most of the choreography is pulled directly from there. So if you want to see what is expected of me watch this. My money's on you either laughing or crying. Laughing: because you can't imagine me moving like that. Crying: You feel really sorry for me.

Edurance.... or Adrenaline???

2010-05-17T09:36:00.001-07:00

Who cares about endurance, for the next 48hours I just need a consistent surge of ADRENALINE!!

Today is my one and only day of finals. My professors have graciously rescheduled all my tests/ assessments to accommodate my move. That said, I might just pull my hair out.

So I finish finals at 6:30pm tonight. Then I gallop down to the airport to catch my flight to GA! Fly all night long and arrive in GA at 6am (3am California time). Then drop my stuff off at my place (yes, housing provided :)). Rehearsal begins at 10am! oh yea, it's an 8hr long rehearsal! Golly! I'm getting tuckered out just thinking about it!

The Lord is my strength! Hallelujah!

The Lord Only Knows...

2010-05-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I was talking to my roommate Richae about Biola Chapel. I had just gotten back from the Sunday night worship meeting at Biola and had asked Richae if she had gone. Richae began to laugh and said, "The Lord only knows the last time I've gone to chapel." I laughed. But then Richae paused and said, "No, but really only the Lord knows. I can't remember the last time I went to chapel."

Well, it is the same for me and blogging. Only the Lord knows the last time I've blogged.

Only today marks the beginning of a new adventure. Tonight I am taking the red-eye to Georgia, and embarking on, what I hope to be, an incredible three month journey. For the first time in my life I am getting paid to be an ACTRESS!!!

I don't think I've been this excited and nervous since I went to BADA two years ago!

I have speant so much time in prayer over these past couple months, and the Lord has opened so many doors for me. I want to be the best steward possible for this journey. Therefore, I know declare it: BLOGGING SEASON!!

Be prepared for a look behind the scenes of my life. The good, the bad, and the lovely. (I'm trying to stay optomistic). Please be keeping me in your prayers as I keep y'all updated.

It's my birthday!

2010-02-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

Twenty-two years. Golly! I know it may sound stupid, but 22 always seemed so old to me. Growing up I was under the impression that life ended at 21 and then re-started once you turned thirty. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a birthday, than this year. Not because of an parties or plans, but because of the season God has placed me in.

When I was younger I wanted to be just like my mom (If I had had it my way, I probably would have made it happen); I wanted to be married by twenty, and have my first child by twenty-two. A couple of years ago I fell in love with a quote by the brilliant Jason Isaac's,

"Every time I make a plan, God laughs a me."

While I would love to be married and have a family, God is obviously working on a different time table. :) However, I would not change where I am at. My relationship with God is better than it been in years, I will be done with my college degree in a year, I have amazing roommates, I really have enjoyed being single for twenty two years :), I am blessed with a wonderful family, and I feel like the best is yet to come.

My prayer for this coming year is simple:

Here I am Lord. Send Me!

My Abode... at Christmas

2009-12-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

I love my townhouse! It's a super cute 2 bedroom, 2 bath, two story place. I get along famously with all my roomies and we all love Christmas!! In light of that, we christmafied our little place. It is adorably cozy, take a peek.

Micala, Richae, Emily, Me

All the roomies

Dining room and Kitchen

Living Room

Another shot of the living room

IVANOV...

2009-12-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

Last semester seemed like a whirlwind. I think most of that had to do with being cast in the play, Ivanov. It was a very educational experience and I am really looking forward to a change of pace with "Marvin's Room" this upcoming semester. I thought I would share some pictures from my Ivanov experience.

The Little House on the Prairie Effect... (lesson #4)

2009-11-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

It seems to be the plague of hometowns, if you stay there, you will be getting married pretty fast. I think a lot of this is due to what I want to call the “little house on the prairie effect.” This theory states that since you grew up in a small town and intend to stay there… You pretty much know who the eligible singles are in your town. So just choose the best out of what’s available.

I have seen four such couples enter into “little house on the prairie effect” wedded bliss, and while usually the parents and in-laws are thrilled that little Johnny from across the street is marrying June… It only takes a month or two before the honeymoon glow is a distant memory. Not saying that all of these couples are unhappily married, actually a three of the couples are extremely happy… just make sure that your high school sweetheart is someone you will still love even if you were the only two people stranded in a 1870's or 1880's Minnesota farm town.

Standards and School... (lesson #3)

2009-11-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

There is a classmate of mine who is really struggling with being single. She knows my track record with men, or lack there of, and asked if I thought her standards are too high. I laughed and asked her why she would ever think her standards are too high? She replied, “Well I’m not attracted to anyone at school and I don’t know if my standards are just too high.” I told my friend, “I don’t find anyone attractive here either, but I know my standards aren’t too high. It just means you know what you want.”

I must admit though, it can be pretty frustrating… I mean in a school of over 30,000 you would think there would be someone, but alas. I believe my new favorite phrase is:

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink

If you can't join 'em, do theatre... (lesson #2)

2009-11-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

At the risk of sounding like a total moron, I am here to tell you how wonderful it is to be a theatre major. Lets address an obvious reason. I am twenty-one and have never been kissed… but I have had a lot of practice.

But being an actor I have the opportunity to kiss guy after guy with one GREAT bonus= No emotional baggage! You may find this impossible to believe, but a stage kiss is about as detached as physical contact can get, but I assume its pretty good practice for the real thing.

I remember my first stage kiss, I was playing Ariel in a high school production of Footloose. I was supposed to kiss Andrew. The boy I have known since the third grade and who had a crush on me for the majority of our elementary years. Now that we were in high school, Andrew had had his fair share of “girlfriends” and thought himself a pretty talented kisser. So backstage he came up to me and said, “well, do you want to do this now, or on stage with the whole cast watching?” Petrified, I said, “Just do it.” With those three words I pursed my lips together and stood like a statue. All I remember is Andrew’s massive lips attacking my face. Totally shocked I immediately stepped back and wiped the massive amounts of saliva Andrew’s “kiss” had left on my face. (I think I had to kiss around ten guys throughout my high school theatre career. And that just seems a little excessive to me. Personally, I think my theatre teacher found a little to much joy in seeing me out of my comfort zone).

Then this past year I had to kiss another fellow actor. I hadn’t kissed anyone since a production of Tom Jones my senior year of high school… so I figured just go for it. And I did. I can tell you things had come a long way since high school, but don't worry I wasn’t in love with the guy… I was ACTING!! After our kiss he turned to the whole cast and said I was a great kisser… (red flag #1). Then the whole run of the show he couldn’t stop hitting on me… (red flag #2). I finally had to explain to him that just because I could kiss, that didn’t mean I was in love with him. I was just doing my job.

Haha… oh jeez… “just doing my job.” That sounds so corny. Corny it may be, but it's true.

Can't Stop This Train... (lesson #1)

2009-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

I was in the eighth grade. It was Sunday morning and one of the girls in the church was home visiting from college. I thought she was so cool. I mean, college, anyone who goes to college has to be cool, right? I was anxious to get the inside scoop so I began peppering her with questions. Were any of these questions academic? No. But I'll tell you what they were about: BOYS!

Do you have a boyfriend? Have you gone on any dates? Are the boys really cute? Are you getting married? The list goes on and on. This poor girl, she probably thought I was crazy. But she answer my questions. And the answer was no. NO?! I couldn't believe it. So I regressed. Have you ever had a boyfriend? --No. Did you date in high school? --No. Have you ever been kissed? --No.

Needless to say, these were not the answers I wanted to hear. So I spoke up, "Well, I am going to date A LOT in high school. And I WILL have my first kiss before I leave for college."

Famous last words. Haha. This memory is almost comical to me now. Can I just say that I am so thankful my parents didn't let me date until I was 16? By the time I was sixteen I wasn't willing to mess around with boys I knew I couldn't see myself marrying. Seeing my sister now dating I took it upon myself to give her one sisterly piece of advice:

Be careful when you decide to date, because one you've had a boyfriend it's hard to go back to being single.

Like the bible said, "It is not good for man to be alone." We are made to be in relationships. I believe the primary reason I have been able to love single life is because I don't know any different. Once I am bitten by the relationship bug, I highly doubt there will be any turning back. :)

Life Lessons Learned out of Singleness...

2009-11-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.joe-ks.com/images/HeLovesMeNot.gif

It can be overwhelming, being single in your twenties. You leave high school thinking that the boys that have surrounded you your whole life will magically transform into men by the time college rolls around in August.

Once in college you realize the dreams of finding true love in your first semester are far from coming true. In fact, it becomes abundantly apparent that the vast majority of "men" in college, are just as "mature", as when they graduated high school. The next semester is spent in a state of panic, wondering if you are the secret ingredient to your unfortunate state of singleness.

Then something magical happens: You realize that it's okay to be single, in fact.... I have found it to be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks to the fact I have been single I have been to France, Italy, London, Panama, Mexico, and a good chunk of the U.S. I have attended four different Universities and one junior college. I have changed majors and minors. I have attended the British American Drama Academy. I was in a Shakespeare Festival.

I have been a bridesmaid three (going on four) times. I have watched my friend's marry the love of their life and I have seen them settle for second best. I have lived singleness my entire life. I have witnessed love as a bystander, and let me tell you, the view from here is unforgivably truthful. I have no rose-colored glasses to hide behind. I see relationships as they are, for better or for worse. It is with this priceless knowledge (I know, so humble) that I have chosen to bestow some pearls of wisdom on my few readers (but really for myself, since many of my readers are in healthy relationships).

With that said, be prepared for two weeks of passionate perspective and life lessons learned out singleness. Nag'em style.

Hang Ups...

2009-10-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Up until yesterday, my townhouse has been scattered with framed pictures, that had yet to be hung on the wall.

Well I finally decided to get some nails and borrow my roommate's hammer and set to work. I must admit everything came out rather nicely and my little abode is really quite adorable.

But this whole procrastinating to hang up a couple pictures feels kind of like life right now. I have been so busy that all I want to do when I get home is zone out. Therefore, everything else in my life has been like those frames sitting against the walls waiting to be hung up.

I realized what was happening, but it wasn't until two weeks ago that I decided it was time to get some stuff done. Here was my to-do list:

1. Spend time in the Word everyday (Those few minutes in God's word are so imperative to my relationship with God, as well as my outlook on life).

2. Stop watching Say Yes to the Dress and What Not To Wear (enjoyable, but honestly, a complete waste of time)

3. Do Something Fun (i.e. going to Redlands to hang out with old friends)

4. Go to sleep before midnight (sleeping from 1:30am-6am, is recipe for a cranky Megan)

4. Hang up those poor lonely pictures.

By the grace of God, I have been more faithful with all of these than I believed myself capable of. And let me tell you, I have been one happy gal lately. :)

Red Box...

2009-09-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Another one of Stanislovski's elements is Naivitee.

There is something vulrnerable, holy, pure, and innocent about a person who is naivee. One of the verses in the bible I have been meditating on is,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matt. 5:8

I have always been more innocent than most of my peers, thanks mostly to my wonderful parents. However, as I have grown up, I have realized that society (especially in America) doesn't value innocence. It actually seems to be more of a character flaw than a virtue. Therefore, I found it quite startling that an acting method would hold Naivitee in such high regard.

That said, the other night I went to a Red Box near home to rent the "Hannah Montana Movie"... (don't judge me). As I went to select the movie there was a dad with his three elementry aged children standing next to me looking at the various movies Red Box had to offer.

As I was silently making my choice I realized all the movies the dad was suggesting they rent were rated "R." Not only that, the Dad was asking his CHILDREN'S opinion on other "R" movies!! NOT ONLY THAT.... the Dad looked at me at one point and seemed to be proud that he was letting his children watch this garbage, like it made him "cool" or something!

I was dumbfounded.

As I took my copy of Hannah Montana and began walking to my car, it took everything in my power not to run back to that Dad and give him a piece of my mind.

It is his job to preserve the innocence of his children for as long as possible! His kids should be watching Hannah Montana not Friday the 13th or My Bloody Valentine! He isn't doing his job!!!!

Oh I am so mad!

I may sound like a prude, but that's how I feel... MAD!

Event...

2009-09-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Stanislavski is one the author of one of the most universal acting techniques. Since my acting prfessor is Russian and was a student of one of Stanislavski's students I have the pleasure of learning this method from a pretty relieable source.

One of the elements of the Stanislavski method is called:

Event, which is defined as: an extraordinary fact.

I love that! I think of all the memories I have, the vast majority of them are various Events in my life.

I cherish Event's. They leave me feeling alive. There is something about a day that is ordinary and it being changed into something extraordinary... I just marvel at.

I get so excited thinking about all the Events God has in store for me. I know not all of life's events will be met with joy, but I rest in the knowledge that the Lord is using the ordinary days to prepare me for the extraordinary ones.

Enjoy your work under the sun...

2009-09-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

I know this may sound dorky, but sometimes I feel guilty for how much I love life. I have some sort of idea that there is no way anyone should ever be this happy all the time (okay I'm not happy all the time, but most of the time).

I have been reading the one year bible and today there was the perfect verse from Ecclesiastes. It was just such a good reminder that if I keep Christ as the center, there will and should always be an overflow of joy and peace in my life.

"Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past." Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

rotisserie chicken...

2009-09-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Whoever invented rotisserie chicken is a genius!

Now that I am actually feeding myself, I have come to embrace protein!! This is my logic:

Protein= Brain Food= Rotisserie Chicken

So what could be better than my living less than a block away from my friendly COSTCO where with the swipe swipe of my Costco card I can have a beautifully cooked bird? YUM!

Overload...

2009-08-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have officially decided that the first two days of school are ALWAYS chaotic. I seem to block out this lovely fact every year, and every year I find myself about six units away from having a major meltdown. Even though this is the first time I have actually ever returned to a college... I think this year has by far been the biggest adjustment for me.

First of all this BFA program means I will have absolutely NO LIFE! Which I am perfectly okay with actually. It just means I need to sleep, go to the gym, and get involved in a bible study... so I can maintain some sort of balance in my life.

I am taking eighteen units, working four hours in the theatre library, will be in one of the CSUF plays, and am a commuter student once again!

Enough of the stressful stuff. Now its time for you to be envious. MUAHAHAHA!

I get to take Advanced dialects class where I will learn how to speak proficiently in an Irish, New York, British (RP), and Standard American dialect's. As well as having the tools and knowledge to learn how to speak in any other dialect in the WORLD! HEYO! Now that's some serious skill!

I also am taking Costume Design. Where I get to take a stab at designing, as well as learning about the history of fashion.

plus I am taking: women in music, ACTING!!, critical writing, political science (boo), and something else I can't remember right now.

Well I think I will have my work cut out for me...

Let's do this!

Lease...

2009-08-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!!

You are reading the blog of a townhouse renter!!! For the first time in my college experience I will no longer be living in the DORMS! Can I get a Hallelujah?!

Finally, No More Dorm Food! No more bunk beds! No more communal bathrooms! No more quarter-taking washer and dryer! No more "open hours"! No more Noisy people living above me! No more DORMS!!! Yippee!!

I have just signed my named on the dotted line and I will be living in La Habra, CA as of August 19, 2009!!

I'm so stoked! This is REALLY happening!!!

Guilty Pleasure...

2009-08-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/j/M/8/goalposter.jpg

Most woman are sucked into the chocolate vortex or caught in the gravitational pull of reality television, but not I! I have risen above the murk and the calories and have found peace in a lovely place I like to call my guilty pleasure... Soccer Movies!

You think that is a dorky guilty pleasure? Hear me out.

I believe that Soccer Movies are the worlds best guilty pleasure in the world for Ten Reasons, the list follows:

10. They usually take place in the UK (or somewhere in Europe)

9. I can eat chocolate while I watch them

8. It brings me back to those 7 years I played recreational soccer

7. I don't feel stupid using my British accent

6. Soccer movies require soccer players= lots of good looking guys

5. I was in Italy when Italy won the world cup in 2006, SO MUCH FUN!

4. It is the only sport that I actually enjoy watching and playing

3. My expectations are usually quite low for each movie, so I can only be impressed

2. It gives my competitive nature a healthy outlet

1. I am a much happier person after I watch any soccer movie (very weird, yet very true)

The moment I knew my infatuation with Soccer Movies had turned to "guilty pleasure" status was when I saw the movie "GOAL!"

If you haven't seen it, go rent it TODAY! It's really great! (There is a sequel "GOAL II". Don't rent that one, it's rubbish) The original is phenomenal. A diamond in the soccer-movie-genre-ruff.

Just so you don't think I'm completely off my rocker. I watched "Bend it like Beckham" (another soccer flick) tonight, so it sparked a fire of blogging inspiration, and who am I to quench such a flame? :)

but seriously. Watch GOAL!

My First Good Review!!!

2009-08-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an excert of my first good review!!! Kind of ironic that my first positive review should be found within a terrible review of the festival. For your reading pleasure I have bolded and placed in italics the part of the review that concerns, MOI! Also I only included the "Hamlet" portion of the review. To read the full review visit: http://ietheatre.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

RSF Strikes Out Again
By Darcie Flansburg
The Real Critics Editor/Publisher

Every year I look forward to going to see the latest productions of the Redlands Shakespeare Festival. Every year I look forward to the classics produced there, the new talent that emerges and the potential of that magnanimous venue. But every year I leave feeling somewhat disappointed.
As an avid Shakespeare fan I can, at most, appreciate the fact that Shakespeare is being produced for more viewers to see. But I also worry that the droll traditional productions will continue to turn away young viewers whose belief that Shakespeare is outdated is only furthered by these stale performances.
Granted, I am a fan of adaptation. I believe that Shakespeare’s universal themes can be echoed in countless cultures and time periods. But I am also a fan of traditional productions, though these productions must be even more on point to hold their audience’s attention.
This year the Redlands Shakespeare Festival was producing two of my most favorite plays – “Hamlet” and “Measure for Measure.” Both shows were directed by Eric Tucker and both shows felt uninformed, though somewhat inspired.
Let’s start with “Hamlet.” Something positive – the casting of Cedric Wright and Megan Pickrell as the guards Marcellus and Bernardo, Hamlet’s old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the comic-relief gravediggers and then the slightly effeminate Osric, was simply genius. The two actors got a chance to show their acting range and obviously had fun doing so. Wright seemed to perform in a similar comedic style, while Pickrell explored the true limits of her characters. Wright’s gravedigger was particularly hilarious. His floating head and nimble fingers used the table/grave as an excellent prop.
As a local director, I know how difficult casting can be in a production, which makes Tucker’s decision to cast the two actors in multiple roles that much more brilliant. On that note, casting is also said to be 90 percent of the director’s job and this is also where Tucker failed. Many of the actors seemed to have a general idea of what they were saying on stage, but did not seem to plunge into the depths of their characters. And believe me these characters have some incredible depth.
Both Ophelia (played by Crystal Munson) and Gertrude (played by Melanie Ramiro) have the potential to show some amazing emotion, reveal a good deal of backstory and work in some fancy blocking. In Ophelia’s crazy scene, there are so many emotions being conveyed through song and they all have to do with her dead father, missing brother, unknown mother, lost love (Hamlet) and the possibility that she is pregnant. Tucker’s direction, or Munson’s own direction, felt as though Ophelia had gone crazy, but for no apparent reason other than what the audience could guess. In Gertrude’s bedroom scene with Hamlet she goes from commanding and angry, to terrified but in denial, to realizing her own folly, to utterly distraught. Ramiro had two levels – questioning and upset. Tucker would have done better to cast a non-comedic actor in the role of Claudius, rather than himself, as well as cast a younger and more valiant Hamlet other than Sabel. Sabel’s Hamlet left much to be desired. The audience should be able to sympathize with Hamlet, but this Hamlet was whiney and weak.
Tucker also brought some strange comedy to the Shakespearean tragedy. The Ghost of Hamlet’s father (played by Bill Greeley) was strangely calm about “fasting in fires” for all eternity. He spoke of being poisoned by his brother as if it were a normal occurrence and did a Scooby-Doo-esque exit with his final line – “Remember me!”

The Straw that broke my back... metaphorically speaking of course...

2009-07-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

I have had the American honor of being summoned for Jury duty every year since I turned 18. (I am actually pretty sure this is not an exaggeration). I served once and the other two times I had to call in and politely explain that I am in fact a college student in a different city and would be unable to serve... Well well well... Daddy brought in the mail yesterday and had a little present for me. You guessed it. I have been summoned again. Seriously, if I were as coveted by men as I am by the California court system I do believe the world would be at my fingertips. You could call me Aphrodite (without the sexual connotations of course). Oh wait Aphrodite ONLY has sexual connotations... hmmmm. C'est La Vie.

Back to my Camel analogy.

Suffice it to say I was pretty perturbed. I mean aren't there enough people in Placer County?! I mean come on, we have Sun City Lincoln Hills in our backyard, hit the rec center and you could have any patriotic senior citizen at your Jury Panel beck and call until the cows come home.

So as an angry Christian 21 year old, jury summoned, girl... what did I do? I got my bible and went in the backyard to meditate on the Word of God. In particular, I was hoping Abraham Lincoln crawl out of the book of the Holy Word and say that he has talked to the President and they have deleted my name from there governmental database and that I will never have to serve jury duty again... and he thanked me for my service.

five minutes later, no Abe, but... the sprinklers in the backyard came on. Now normally I would have been incredibly ticked off... but I had had enough of being mad. So I thought, "I can work with this." So I got into the Bikini I have had since the eighth grade and went into my backyard and began running through the sprinklers. It was PERFECT! So nostalgic. I began to laugh because the water was so cold. I began to cry, because I needed to cry, and then I realized that everything will be okay. So after fifteen minutes of pure unadulterated backyard fun, I was back to normal. Hallelujah. I hate being a mad 21 year old jury summoned young adult... it's so cliche.

Coffee Shops...

2009-07-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I tend to gravitate towards scandalously titled coffee shops.

The Naked Lounge in Sacramento

and

The Nautical Bean "Naughty Bean" in San Louis Obispo

hmmmm interesting...

Last Stop SLO...

2009-07-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

We so goofy!

My exquisite Salad from "Naughty Bean"

Alex Creswell... such a great friend!!!

first... I'm sorry I have to say it... SLO has the absolute best food in the entire world. If I went to Cal Poly, I am pretty sure I would end up an oompa loompa because the cuisine reigns supreme in this town.

As my last stop on my mid-summer road trip I went to visit my good friend Alex Creswell in San Louis Obispo. I'm not gunna lie, we had SO MUCH FUN!!!

Alex and I started off our time at a local coffee shop called the Nautical Bean or "Naughty Bean" for short. At the naughty bean I had a so chai latte that was mind blowingly fantastic. I was so moved by this incredible drink that I went up to the guy who made it and said, "That Soy Chai was LIFE CHANGING, THANK YOU!"

You think I am exaggerating? Okay let's please pile all the world leaders into the same room and give them each a Soy Chai from the Naughty Bean and world peace will not only be a possibility it will be a reality by the time the last drop of chai rolls off the tastebuds and down into these happy world leader's belly's.

How do you get any better than the Naughty Bean? Oh jeez... it gets so much better!!! Alex gave me a tour around town and after a pit stop to the local Frozen Yogurt shop we decided to hit downtown and see a movie. The yogurt was fantastic and the movie was perfect!

Then it was off to Alex's to get a good night sleep.... right... about that good night's sleep.... So we ended up talking until probably 3am. (and that is just a conservative guesstamation). In all seriousness, that was easily the best, most profound, hilarious, encouraging, and enlightening conversations I have had in an incredibly long time!

The next morning we went on a mini road trip to paso robles where we went to Target and to a venue that Alex had shot a wedding at (she's a photographer)... she had left one of her camera lens there so we went to pick it up. However none of this happened before our morning stop at Naughty Bean for another wowing dish. A salad and Iced tea!! Yum Yum Yum.

After our productive day, it was time for me to be on my way. (haha that rhymes)

So I guess all I have left to say, is I'm glad that I was able to have five days of adventures with great friends and wonderful memories that I will cherish forever!

Sexy Solo Roadtrip Continued...

2009-07-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

...because "Solo Road trip" sounds so much more monotonous than SEXY Solo Road trip, right?

So after the wedding I was in desperate need of some spontaneous fun! Which led my trusty Ford Focus down the 101 to Studio City, CA. At the heart of Hollywood magic I was met with the warm welcome of my good friend, and fellow BADA babe, Jill Waters!!

Jill has been in So. Cal. doing an internship this summer and since there are a couple other west coast BADA alumni, we thought... It's about time for a BADA reunion!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S BEEN A YEAR?!

Anyways. The day couldn't have been more amazing. It began with a picnic at the Getty. Then we went to Shakespeare By The Sea's production of "As You Like It" with seven BADA buds. Then it was off to a L.A. must, a restaurant called "MILK"!

We had a fantastic time going down memory lane, catching up, and making a whole mess of unforgettable memories! Who could ask for anything more?

Death of an Artist...

2009-07-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Funny Story:

The rehearsal dinner for the wedding was at this super swanky restaurant on the Santa Barbara pier. I drove with three of Molly's sisters and we were the first to arrive. So as we entered the restaurant I saw a collection of Dolphin paintings. We had a little time so I shared a story...

Growing up my favorite animal in the world was a Dolphin. In fact, in the third grade I really wanted to be a dolphin trainer (No lie). As a result of this obsession I began to doodle this beloved mammal. I eventually became so good at drawing dolphins that my fellow classmates would automatically come to me for my specialized skill. What can I say I was in high demand...

Until Nate Clinkenbeard!! (the scoundrel, as my mother would say)

Mrs. Wall was letting our third grade class do an art project. Naturally I had a couple dolphin requests, but my hand was kind of cramping so I politely said, "sorry no dolphin today." Immediately after my simple no, Nate piped up and said he would be more than happy to draw a dolphin for the classmates. Curious to see how his drawing skills compared to mine I watched over his shoulder.

His dolphin was better, much better. I was no longer the dolphin guru. My confidence shattered. My passion for dolphin drawing was kicked to the proverbial curb.

Thus... the death of Megan the dolphin artist.

Because when I arrive, I bring the party!!!

2009-07-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Jeeze Louise...

I cannot even begin to describe how much fun these past couple days have been!! Since this past Wednesday I have been roadtripping solo up and down the California coast making memories and enjoying every minute! To give you a glimpse into my glamorous vacation I think I will break it down.

WEDDING!!!

Molly and Owen are now married!! I had the honor of being a bridesmaid on their special day and Boy was it FUN!

First of all there is probably nothing in this world more theraputic to me than driving. So I got to spend six and a half hours on Wednesday driving from Sacramento to Santa Barbara. Nothing but me, God, and my tunes! Heavenly!

I have never really driven along the 101S, except to Gualala, point reyes, Mendacino... okay correction I have driven the 101 a lot. But this time it felt different. Don't ask me why, it just did.

So once I reached Santa Barbara it was time for Miss Molly's Bachelorette PARTY!! It was pretty low key, basically three of her close friends and her four sisters hung out in the guest house and watched 27 Dresses.... (fitting considering this is my third wedding as a bridesmaid).

So basically I got to Molly's house and knew NO-ONE! I only know Molly and Owen. So as I pull up to a gated mansion that looked like it was Cameron Diaz's house in "The Holiday"... I was kind of intimidated. But that lasted for all 5 seconds. I immediately became fast friends with all seven of Molly's siblings and had a blast!

The day of the wedding was beautiful. It was exactly what Molly and Owen had wanted and more. However, there was one fly in the ointment, neither Molly nor Owen are very extroverted and they wanted dancing at the reception.

So the responsibility fell to ME!

Let me tell you... I BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN!!! I got everyone dancing! It was awesome and I did it in such a way that the bride and groom were still the center of attention.

It was then that I realized why Molly had asked me to be in her bridal party....

IT'S BECAUSE I CAN BRING THE PARTY!!! Hahaha. SO FUN!

p.s. I didn't look "morbidly obese" in the dress either. :)

Nightmares of Bridesmaid proportions...

2009-07-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

The other night I had a nightmare...

My dear friend Molly who is getting married in a week. She is one of the tiniest people you will ever meet, and so are ALL her sisters, who are also the bridesmaids. Then there is me. Now I am happy, very happy as a size 6/8... but I guess my subconscious begs to differ.

My nightmare:

I receive a phone call. It's molly.

"HI MOLLY!! Your getting married! Aren't you excited?!"

...

"Uh... Megan... So... I have been thinking about the wedding. The ascetics of it all... and... well... I know you already bought your bridesmaids dress. But... You are just too morbidly obese (YES SHE ACTUALLY SAID MORBIDLY OBESE IN THE DREAM!!! WHAT THE HECK!?!?)... and well I don't think I can have you be a bridesmaid."

Then I woke up.

Great dream huh? Don't worry I don't think I'm morbidly obese, I just thought this dream was too bizarre and ridiculous not to share.

I don't know why she swallowed the fly...

2009-07-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a year since BADA. I am doing a lot better than I thought I was this month. I thought I would be oober depressed that I was in Rocklin rather than Oxford, but that isn't the case. Actually it is quite the reverse. While I do miss the whole BADA experience I can't help but look back with joy thinking of God's hand over my life these past couple years.

It's like that song... I don't know why she swallowed the fly... she swallowed the horse to feed the cat (or something like that).

But for me it's...

She went to Biola because her parents did, she when to sac state 'cause biola cost too much, she went to Colorado state 'cause she didn't want to live at home, she auditioned for BADA 'cause she thought it would be fun, she went to CSUF because she was going to be a music education major, she changed majors because she realized that she was a gifted actor and was an unhappy musician, she auditioned for the Shakespeare festival because she likes Shakespeare, she got into the BFA program because God has a plan for her life, she is happy in Rocklin for this summer because God is in control....

I think that about sums up these past couple years! Not bad, if I do say so myself .

Lessons from a Betta...

2009-07-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't think that such a little creature could provide such creative fuel, but let me tell you, I could probably write a book by now because of all the things I have learned from this red, slippery, beady eyed, fishy fish.

So tonight as I was about to go to bed, I made my nightly pit stop to feed the miracle fish. I was feeling pretty generous tonight so I gave the betta a healthy pinch-full of food... Then I watched. Have you ever watched a betta eat?! It's absolutely INCREDIBLE! No Joke! This little fellow was a force to be reckoned with in that tiny tank.

It went from wafer to wafer of fish food swallowing each one like it was water (not air, because it's not human... hah.) I couldn't believe how efficient that little bugger was. I just stood there watching. It took about fifteen dime sized wafers for the betta to loose steam, but even after he was full (and let me tell you there was no doubt in my mind he was full) he still kept going after the rest of the floating food... It was then that I realized.

Me and Mr. Betta, are a lot alike. We like food. We love food. We keep eating food, even when we aren't hungry.

Since I have been home I have decided to get in shape. Mainly because... well 1.) I am home and don't have much else to do since no one is hiring. 2.) I am an actor, which means I should be able to have some sort of endurance built up for all those action scenes I am going to be in. BAHahaha!! 3.) I'm a bridesmaid in two weddings so I don't want to look like porky pig when the pictures of the most important day of my friend's life's are taken.

So even though I am working out everyday. (It's true, been over a month! Aren't you impressed?!) I haven't changed my eating habits. So I have lost over 4% of body fat, but no pounds. Therefore I have decided to learn from the fish. I am going to try something I have never tried before.... Portion Control.

Pray for me!

So I have taken a lesson

The Sheets are always cleaner...

2009-07-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

Let's face it you always want what you can't have. (You don't?) Okay correction, I always want what I can't have. So praise the Lord for missions trips! I get to have EVERYTHING... almost.

As a result of my sister's excursion, in addition to the betta babysitting, I get the honor of sleeping in her bed. Now I am really not one to complain about sleeping situations (Believe me, you don't make it through three years sleeping on dorm room mattress' as a complainer) but let me just say, Laura is going to have it rough whenever she moves out of the house. 'Cause her bed is SUBLIME!!

It is a queen size bed that has a pillow top. With brown sheets with an absolutely heavenly thread count. Topped off with a white down comforter that makes you feel like you are swimming in comfort and relaxation.

As if your sleeping experience couldn't get any better, my lovely grandpa pickrell installed a ceiling fan above the bed...

That means while my upper body is encased in comforter-pillowy-goo my legs can peak out of the sheets and be messaged by the steady waves of cool air keeping my body at an optimum temperature.

Lets just say, when I sleep in this bed there isn't any purpose in my setting an alarm, because sleep this good I would imagine is very rare this side of heaven.

Batta Fish...

2009-07-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

My sister is on her first over sea's missions trip. She has been in Guatemala for almost two weeks and I miss her company like crazy. (I miss my ipod I let her borrow, almost as much as I miss her... What can I say I like to listen to my tunes when I work out?)

My sister's only request while she is away is that I take care of her betta fish.

Simple enough, right? Unfortunately... wrong.

My former roommate Natalee, and anyone who has a close relationship to me is aware of the fact that I am no animal lover... okay even that is a generous statement. Basically I don't dig pets. But if I were to take care of any animal I think a little fish should be alright.

....well let's just say the fish was fasting for a couple of days. (He really had begun to let his relationship with God go, so as his spiritual mentor I thought it my duty to help him get back on track; i.e. I forgot to feed him for about 5 days.)

When I went to examine the damage after realizing my potentially flush worthy mistake I found a fish that was definitely on the fritz. I began to panic. Bad. So I fed the fish... A LOT of food. Cleaned the tank and hoped it would perk up....

one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..... no change. (If only those shock paddles used in the E.R. were manufactured for marine life!)

So I did the only thing else I thought could work...

I laid hands on the tank.

It went something like this:

"In the name of JESUS CHRIST, BE HEALED!"

Well, I had given it my all. If Jesus wasn't on my side, there wasn't anything else I could do. The battle had been fought, so I went to bed.

...but then I awoke in the morning! GUESS WHAT?!?

IT IS RISEN!!! (Well it was never officially dead, but the little bugger is alive and kickin, or flickin.)

Praise the Lord! I am not a failure as a betta babysitter!

Inspiration...

2009-07-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know it's been over two month since I have last posted anything. Even worse, it has been probably six months since I have written anything of humor or substance. What can I say? I guess I was suffering from some writer's block.

Actually that isn't true. I didn't have writer's block. I have plenty to say... I was just sick of thinking that there were only two people who were reading it. So I left the remnants of my blog to cyberspace and decided to forget this whole blogging thing.

...Until now. Inspiration has struck and I need a creative outlet. I am starting fresh. I have a new lease on blogging life. Therefore, let it be know that on July 10th at 11:21pm Nag'em the Blog has been resurrected.

Prepare to be amazed.

2009-05-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

A week ago I was interviewed by Jamie Shoop for an article in the Redlands newspaper (Press Enterprise). The article was published online last night and should be running in there next paper. Thought you might want to read the article… Only 4 days until we open!!

Making the Bard relevant

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, May 3, 2009

By JAMIE SHOOP BRAY
Special to The Press-Enterprise

"H" is a troubled young man. His dad is dead and his mom married a creep. He hates his stepfather -- who, it turns out, murdered his father. So "H" plots revenge.

Tragedies such as this pepper the evening news. But this story was actually written more than 400 years ago by William Shakespeare -- the tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

It is timeless stories like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet -- with characters that ring true in any age -- that draw young people to the Bard of Avon.

"(Shakespeare's plays) are just as relevant as in the Elizabethan era and will continue to be relevant," said Megan Pickrell, 21, a theater student at Cal State Fullerton. "There will always be that troubled teenager like Hamlet. There will always be the star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet."

Pickrell is one of the younger cast members of the Redlands Shakespeare Festival, which opens Thursday at the Redlands Bowl. She will play Miranda in "The Tempest" and a number of roles in "Hamlet."

She and a couple of her castmates took time to consider if and how Shakespeare is relevant to young theater-goers whose tastes run more to "Fast and Furious" or Fall Out Boy.

Story continues below

Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise

Melanie Ramiro plays Queen Gertrude and Eric Tucker is King Claudius in "Hamlet," which will be performed at the Redlands Shakespeare Festival.

For the youthful actors, the appeal is a no-brainer. In any age, Shakespeare is the ultimate acting experience.

"When it comes to live theater, it's always been said ... if an actor can do Shakespeare, he can do anything," said Steven Sabel, artistic director for the festival. Actors want Shakespearean credits on their resume, which demonstrates their range and ability.

Sabel will sink his teeth into an actor's tastiest feast, the lead role in the festival's production of "Hamlet." "It's the ultimate male-acting experience -- the greatest work of drama ever written," he said.

Several of the young cast members have studied Shakespeare on the Bard's home turf in Britain. Pickrell spent last summer at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. "Shakespeare is what I want to do for the rest of my life," she said.

Nicholas Zaharopoulos, a junior at the University of Redlands, studied for six months at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Dustin Lovell, a graduating senior at University of Redlands, studied Shakespeare as a visiting student at St. Catherine's College at Oxford University.

The trio of actors agreed that getting past the archaic English is the biggest hurdle modern audiences face in appreciating Shakespeare.

"A lot of people are introduced to Shakespeare in a literature class," Zaharopoulos said. "To read the words on a page from a literary standpoint, it kind of went over my head. When I started acting, the language became my friend."

"You can't just study Shakespeare -- you have to act him," agreed Lovell.

But what about selling Shakespeare to other young people?

Zaharopoulos admitted that is sometimes tough.

"Whenever I invite friends to my shows, it's always 'oh, Chekhov,' or 'oh, Shakespeare -- it's boring, it's not an action movie,' " he said. "When you see a good production of Shakespeare, it's riveting."

If people give the play a chance, they can be in for a surprise. "If it's their first time, people are astounded at how many layers and levels there are to play within the text," Pickrell said.

Lovell has heard friends say "Shakespeare is cooler than I thought."

To introduce young people to the pleasures of Shakespeare, Redlands Shakespeare Festival does outreach programs for area schools. A group of four or five actors will perform scenes and monologues for students, then discuss the situations in the plays and take questions.

Sabel asks the students if they have dealt with divorce or a step-parent they can't relate to. "You'd be amazed at the number of teenagers who raise their hand," he said. Then he discusses how Shakespeare's plays focus on these same themes.

Zaharopoulos recalled performing Romeo for a group of students in Phelan. "I'm 20 but I look a lot younger," he said. The students were introduced to a Romeo who was a teen like them, with a teen's outlook on life.

The presentations are age specific. So younger students might be introduced Prospero, the wizardly father in "The Tempest," by comparing him to Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings." Similarly, Ariel, the "Tempest" sprite, is called the original Tinkerbell.

Students are encouraged to ask questions about acting, about the language, about the personalities of the characters. And when they come to a performance, they are ready for something beyond a classroom experience.

"Suddenly their experience of Shakespeare isn't 'open the book to page three-thirty-five.' It's alive. It's vibrant."

Season of Vengeance

What: The Redlands Shakespeare Festival "Season of Vengeance," featuring "Hamlet," "The Tempest" and "Measure For Measure"

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, through May 24

Where: The Redlands Bowl in Smiley Park, located on Brookside Avenue between Eureka and Grant streets.

Admission: Free. A goodwill offering will be taken.

Information: www.redlandsshakespeare

festival.com

http://www.pe.com/localnews/redlands/stories/PE_News_Local_S_shakespeare04.359e021.html

Load In...

2009-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Load In at the (RSF). For those of you who don't know, load in is when all the sets are put together and all the props for the shows are organized. Because RSF is a community theatre the actors are required to take part in loading in the sets and making sure everything is in place. So this past weekend I spent 9am-4pm both Saturday and Sunday in Redlands... getting tan/burned... cleaning the dressing rooms... telling stories.... vaccuming carpets... and bonding with my fellow actors. :) Here are some pictures from our fun in the sun.

Melanie (Gertrude in Hamlet) and I being productive

Melanie is an UH-mazing massuse!

Me, Eric (director of Hamlet and Measure for Measure), and Sabrina (player)

Me telling a story, I think

Clean clean clean!! I love CLEAN!

To Be or Not To Be...

2009-04-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Redlands Shakespeare festival's opening night is one week from TOMORROW!!! I can't tell you how much fun I have had these past couple of months. This has been a huge learning experience for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. A couple of the girls in Hamlet took pictures during a couple rehearsals last week and I wanted to share them with you all. Can't wait for you to come and see the performances. It will be a lot of fun!

All of these pictures are from scenes with Rosencranz, Guildenstern, & Hamlet. (Cedric, who plays Guildenstern is a blast! We have way to much fun goofing off backstage! I wish I had pictures of the other cast members... we have really all become close friends. Hopefully more pictures are soon to come).

Little Sally Homemaker...

2009-04-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Crissa & Natalee... fresh rosemary anyone??

Cooking shouldn't be this much fun!

I'm HUNGRY!! haha

The frozen french onion soup...

Natalee you should be the next Vanna White

Can I tell you how much I love my cousin Natalee??? She really is great!

I remember thinking she was so cool when we went to Walt Disney World in 2000, then we were roommates my Freshman year of college, a year later I was a bridesmaid in her wedding, and a year later she is still one of my closest friends.

Natalee gets me. Now that she's started he own life with her amazing husband Alex, I cherish the time I get to spend with her.

A while ago I got to spend an evening with Alex, Natalee, and Crissa (who was also a bridesmaid at Nats wedding). We went shopping at Anthropologie and Trader Joes and then went back to the house to cook an INCREDIBLE dinner.

Cooking is very therapudic for me and being able to cook and enjoy the company of two talented cooks, was so refreshing. I am so glad I am in the Redlands Shakespeare Festival for a million reasons, but one BIG one is that it gives me the opportunity to see Natalee and Alex more. Here are a couple pictures for our fun night.

Sabrina...

2009-04-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's official, I have finally decided what my favorite movie is.

Sabrina (the one with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond, not Audrey Hepburn)

I love this movie! The story is enchanting, the dialouge is timeless, and the characters are beautiful. But more than the movie itself, I love the memories I have of watching this movie.

....watching it at Coltar Lodge in Big Bear, CA while my mom and aunt's were scrapbooking....

....In my dorm at Biola....

....With my friend Kristine....

...etc...

One more memory has been added to my Sabrina experiences. While I was in Colorado Lauren and I had the chance to watch Sabrina one night.

The movie was secondary to the company. I can't begin to say how much I cherish my friendship with Lauren. Lauren and I met January 2008 when I transferred to CSU. Her boyfriend, Nick, introduced us at a bible study because I was new. Lauren and I became close friends over the course of the semester and have stayed in contact since I left last spring. It has been almost a year, but everytime I talk to Lauren we pick up extactly where we left off.

Lauren is an incredible friend. She challenges me spritually (I have never been so faithful with reading my bible since I became Lauren's friend), physically (I have never wanted to work out so much in my life... Lauren is a running machine!), and in so many other ways. Seriously I could go on forever.

I can count on one hand the friendships that I want to last for a lifetime and without a doubt Lauren is one of those friends. Thanks Lauren for such a fun time over spring break! Love you girl!

Sundance...

2009-04-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

All the Girls!! LOVE THEM!

HAHAha... I don't have X's anymore since I'm 21!!!

Me, Lauren, and Kodi!!! In Line for Sundance

Laurn and Me!

Getting Ready!

How much have I missed Sundance????

Well I could try and describe it, but it would be a feeble attempt...so I won't even try. Lets just say that I LOVE LINE DANCING!! But line dancing at SUNDANCE is one million times better!!!

I had such a fun time enjoying a night on the town with all my close girlfriends in Colorado. We had fun dressing up, taking pictures, and dancing the night away! Celebrating my belated 21st birthday!

A picture is worth a thousand words so I will give you a couple to enjoy!

Rodeo...

2009-04-28T13:26:00.001-07:00

It has almost been a MONTH since I was in Colorado, but I have to share all of my fun times!

I was born and bred a California girl, so there are a lot of midwestern experiences I haven't ever partaken of... such as milking cows, riding a horse, or collecting eggs from the chicken coop. I also have never been to a rodeo!

Well, I can now check that one off my list! With a big group of my Colorado friends we went to the Colorado State University Rodeo! It was so much fun! It smelt terrible, we got to watch all the cute cowboys and see all kinds of different events. I was reminded of how much I love Colorado when, before the rodeo began, the announcer prayed a pray of safety, protection, and a fun time over the evening.... all I could think is... wow this would never happen in California.

We all had a great time!

Plus, Lauren, Gabby, and I went to Coldstone afterwards and had probibly one the funniest most engrossing conversations I have had in a LONG time... no to mention I used my whiley ways to get an extra big serving of "Mud Pie Mojo" :) Gotta Love It!

Toe Cramp...

2009-03-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know I am spending my spring break in COLORADO this week!!! For my 21st birthday I asked my parents if they would use some of their frequent flier miles to buy me a ticket to Colorado as my birthday present....

Now I am HERE!!!

It has only been a couple of days and I am having so much fun!

I have a funny story from my first night here in Colorado. :) So one of my best friends, Lauren, picked me up from the airport and we spent this past weekend at here family's house in Parker. We had a BLAST!

ha ha. but the first night... as Lauren and I were trying to fall asleep after sharing a bunch of laughs... I suddenly felt like I was getting a massive cramp in my 3rd toe on my left foot. I started freaking out and Lauren started laughing. Lauren proceeded to turn on the light to see if we could figure out what was happening to my possessed toe.

As soon as she turned the light on the cramp stopped. Then, no more than five seconds later, it began again!! As we were dying of laughter at this point, I managed to say, "Oh my Gosh Lauren! It's veering to the left!! It's veering to the left! Do you see that!?!"

My third toe on my left foot was literally swerving to the left while the rest of my foot remained unaffected! It kept going for about ten minutes. By the time it stopped Lauren and I were crying we had been laughing so hard.

Oh so funny! I love those moments. These are the stupid, hilarious, unique moments that I love to remember. The moments that you can only truly appreciate if you were there. :) ha ha. What a great start to spring break. I love toe cramps!

Happy Bunny...

2009-03-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of being able to see my mom for a couple of days, when she flew down to So. Cal. I love my mom! Actually that is probably the understatement of the year... More accurately I would have to say that my mom is the most incredible mother in the world and I feel so blessed that God chose me to be one of her children.

With my mom going back to teaching and my involvement at the RFS, we haven't been able to talk as much as we normally would. So when I saw my mom, it had been a little while since we had last talked. The thing I love about getting older is that when I see people I love I don't get hung up on the time spent a part. We simply pick up where we left off.

While my mom was in town I was able to join her, my brother, and my grandparents at Tony Roma's for dinner. We got into the subject of my blog over dinner. I am well aware that I haven't posted anything in a while... sorry. But my mom made the truthful observation, that she knows I'm happy when she doesn't hear from me.

It's so true! I love to blog, but honestly I tend to do it only if I'm bored. :) Or I blog when I am having such an incredible time that I can't help but share it with everyone. (but usually the latter only occurs when I also have pictures I want to post).

So for my family and friends who read this blog... I apologize for not having written... but at least you know I am enjoying a fantastic season of life. :)

Commuting...

2009-03-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

So it's week two of rehearsals for RSF. Which means it is my second week of commuting everyday to Redlands. For those of you who don't know my commute without traffic is roughly 50 minutes one way. When I accepted the roles at RSF I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't complain about the drive. I think I only complained once, but now I have embraced this daily ritual. Actually, I am going to admit something that may shock most of you...

I am loving life as a commuter! (I think a lot of it is genetic, because my Grandpa Pickrell loves to drive too)

There is something very therapeutic in driving two hours a day. I am such a thinker, that I cherish the time that I get to spend in my car praying, replaying my day, admiring the scenery (with my eyes on the road, of course), and the opportunity to BLAST my country music and sing at the top of my lungs!! So refreshing!

When I was living at home and commuting to Sacramento State University a little over a year ago I loved the daily drive. I left my house just before sunrise and drove home at dusk. I loved it then too.

Plus I just got a 91 Freeway Fast Track that cuts off 30-45 minutes off my drive time. :)

A lot of the time I feel like the character Mossimo from "The Wedding Planner", as he is joyfully driving down the freeway on his Vespa.

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that..."

2009-03-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Can I just begin this post saying how much I love Church?

Okay, with that said I have a funny story from church today. This morning I was at the 11am service called Encounter. It's basically a more contemporary service than the traditional one held in the main sanctuary. Well this Sunday the worship pastor decided that we were going to learn a new song. It wasn't a new song to me, because we sing it all the time at my church back home... it's called "I Am Free." It's a pretty upbeat and energetic song, lets just say that the congregation was having a hard time getting the hang of it :)

Anyways at the end of the song the worship leader says,

"You know that movie... Back to the Future?"..."Well I kind of feel like Marty McFly when he does his jam session at the dance... he ends it saying... "I guess you guys aren't ready for that, but your kids are gunna love it."

BAHAHAHahaha!

I got such a kick out of that. 'Cause it's so true! I mean I have seen a church that really loves that song, and I have now seen a church that...well... didn't. Let me tell you, that any analogy that the pastor gave, couldn't have been more appropriate! :)

Potassium Cravings...

2009-03-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.baronfoodsltd.com/Images/Fruits/banana2.jpg

The past couple of weeks I have been trying to not eat past 7pm. As a normal person that is already a pretty difficult thing to do, but as a college student it is virtually impossible. Why impossible? Because, thanks to my lovely roomies, I end up staying awake until about 12pm anyways, so that five hours I have to be awake without having any food.

Well, I actually wasn't having a hard time with this until about two weeks ago... It was a random night, and as I lay upon my bed to fall asleep I suddenly began craving BANANAS!

Just so you know I pretty much hate most variations of bananas. I only like the actual fruit. I don't like it in my smoothies, I don't like it in my yogurt, I don't like it in my ice cream. I just like it "au natural".

As for my craving... well I obviously didn't have a banana in my dorm room, so I eventually fell asleep and that was that... or so I thought. Little did I know, that I would have the same banana craving every night for the next four days. Well on the fourth day I had lunch with my friend Kelsey. I told her about my bizarre midnight craving and she simply laughed at me. Oh well. Well later that week I found out about my being cast in the Redlands Shakespeare Festival. I had only told a handful of people, but when I got to my dorm room I had a surprise waiting for me at my door...

It was a bunch of banana's that had a sticky note on top saying,

"Keep up the good work :)"

I was just blown away by my good friend Kelsey's thoughtfulness. One of my biggest love languages is gift giving, so I was overjoyed at her kind gesture. Plus I was super stoked that I would be able to eat a banana before I went to bed! I love my life! :)

When it rains, it pours...

2009-02-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

This past semester was an interesting one for myself. I hit the ground at light jog at Cal State Fullerton after having been in a month long sprint at BADA. The transition was much more difficult than I had expected. I was doing great work in all my theatre classes, but I wasn't getting casted in any shows. My confidence began to waiver and I began to question whether or not I was truly cut out for the "acting business."

So rather than getting totally bummed out that Cal State wasn't casting me I began to "stalk" about ten theaters in the area. I was online checking audition dates, past productions, etc... it may be ridiculous but, what's that phrase? The squeaky wheel gets the oil?

Anyways.

So about three weeks ago Cal State's theater dept. began holding auditions for their student directed ten minute plays. My audition was TERRIBLE! this isn't me trying to be modest either. It was genuinely bad. But I got a callback... and then another callback... and then I was cast in the play. It's called "Stop Rain" and I am super stoked to be a part of it!

Then last weekend Redlands Shakespeare Festival held auditions for their 2009 season, which includes: The Tempest, Measure for Measure, & Hamlet!

If you know me, you know that Shakespeare has always been my passion. So despite the two hour drive (roundtrip) I went and auditioned. I was the first person to audition and I was NERVOUS! I mean sweaty palms, dry mouth, cold toes... the whole deal. I ended up reading for both Ophelia and Miranda and felt my audition went really well. After my audition they asked me to come back Sunday for a callback!!! WHOOT WHOOT!

My callback went super well! I read again for the parts of Miranda and Ophelia. After the callback had finished the directors said thanks and that they would be contacting us by wednesday.

...well today I got a call at 9:15-ish...

I have been cast as

Miranda in The Tempest!!!

Guildenstern in HAMLET!

Let's just say that God is so good and when I walked out of my audition all I could say is,

"If my God is for me, then who can be against me?" :)

the little things...

2009-02-12T10:51:00.001-08:00

I had a very exciting discovery yesterday.

My phone can play SONGS!

Now to most people this is old news. Your phones have been able to play cool tunes for years now... Well thats just great for you, but please try and share in my excitement! For you see every time my family's contract with Verizon is renewed each family member gets a new phone. I have never been able to rationalize spending an extra $100 or so to get a more high tech phone so I just stick with whatever free phone Verizon will give me. The only problem with going the freebee route is that by the end of your two year contract you a significantly behind the rest of society when it comes to phone technology.

So when I got this new phone a couple of months ago I figured (it being free and all) that I would be stuck listening to the Mexican Hat Dance as my ringtone for the next 2 years. So imagine the thrill when my roommate sent me an audio text message and all of a sudden Beyonce's "SINGLE LADIES" was blasting. Oh Happy Day!

So if you call me anytime soon, as you hear the phone ringing you can picture me on the other side jamming to my cool ringtone!

"All the sing ladies, All the single ladies, Now put your hands up!" good one. :)

knock knock...

2009-02-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

I found this totally nerdy website that is a comic blog. I read probably thirty comics but only one made me laugh out loud. For your visual/ reading pleasure...

Inspiration...

2009-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

There are some things that really inspire me and set my heart on fire, Worship is one of the those things. If you didn't already know one of my goals in life is to someday fly to Australia just so I can attend a service at Hillsong. I LOVE HILLSONG's worship! With the hectic schedule I have had I can't tell you what a source of encouragement and peace it gives me just to be able to belt out songs of praise to God.

The other day I was searching what are currently my two favorite worship songs, "lead me to the cross" & "Hosanna." You can imagine my surprise when I found of when they were written by the same person. Her name is Brooke Fraser. Wow! What a woman of God. Brooke's love for God just radiates from her being. God has gifted her as a prolific songwriter, an exceptional vocalist, and she is also gorgeous! In an age that integrity, passion, and creativity are hard to find in one place Brooke Fraser is simply inspirational. I have attached a few of Brooke's videos... so enjoy!

God the Father...

2009-01-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

about a week ago I was talking to my bestest friend, Sara, about this phenomenal book called "The Shack." (First, I HIGHLY reccomend this book) This book is all about encountering God, more specifically encountering each member of the trinity. Sara is an amazing woman of God and such a source of encouragement to me, but the road to redemption for her was not an easy one. Sara had a pretty strained relationship with her father growing up and she said that it has really affected the way that she views God the Father. I think I have the most trouble relating to Jesus, but that is a completely different story...

What I wanted to talk about is how blessed I feel for God giving me such an incredible earthly Father and how my relationship with my dad has played a vital role in how I view God the Father.

I remember I was in fourth grade and I had just been the lead role (for a kid) in our church's annual Christmas musical. I loved being on stage. It was where I came alive and my dad saw that. Shortly after the musical was over I remember my dad saying that we were going to go to Sacramento to have a meeting with a casting agency. I couldn't believe it! Me and my dad then met with the representative and they had me perform a short monologue while they recorded it. (I still remember the script... it was for a GAP add. very corny. I loved it!) It turned out that the casting agency we went to really only wanted my parents money, but that was besides the point. I could have cared less if I had been signed to the agency, it was the fact that my Dad recognized my passion and was willing to take time to make my dreams of becoming an actress transform in to a reality. It was that unconditional love and support I remember.

I am so thankful to God for giving me the parents I have. Both of them are a daily reflection of God's love and it is their integrity, passion, and conviction that have helped cultivate my relationship with God. I am so blessed.

It's In The Air...

2009-01-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Kendall and I right after we met... I wasn't even 16!

Molly and I my freshmen year. I know I look chubbier... the freshmen 15

hit me like a ton of bricks that year.

Today marks yet another milestone in my life. I have been asked to be a bridesmaid again!!! I couldn't be happier. I know you probably won't believe me and will think I sound cliche, but I love being a bridesmaid. I love seeing such close friends find the love of their lives and their inviting me to be a part of witnessing their commitment to spend their lives together.

I think even more than the marriage itself, I love the week before the wedding. I love being by the brides side and being a part of her last week as a "single woman." I love helping with all the last minute details. I basically just love seeing the brides fairy tale come to life, and in what ever way I can help make that time more memorable, the better!

With that said I can't believe it but I am going to be in TWO weddings this summer!! One in June and the other in July.

The first is Kendall's wedding...

Kendall and I have such a great story. I met Kendall because I was going on the Brio Missions Trip to Ecuador the summer between my freshmen and sophomore years of high school. My mom didn't want me flying to the training in Miami by myself... so I pulled out the directory Brio gave us and decided since Kendall only lived thirty minutes away and was a year older I would give her a call. It probably was the most random awkward phone call of my life, but we ended up flying together and have been great friends ever since.

Kendall met her fiance, Scott, their senior year of high school and have been hopelessly in love with each other ever since. They have achieved what I thought to be the impossible, and managed to have a semi long distance relationship the past four years of college (Scott at Point Loma and Kendall at CSUS)... now they are graduating they couldn't be happier to be beginning the next chapter of their lives, together as man and wife. :) awwww...

The next wedding is Molly's...

I met Molly my Freshmen year at BIOLA. Molly had just transferred as a Music major (she is a flutist) and we had the majority of our classes together. Over the past three years Molly has been an amazing friend and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. I am especially glad that we only live 15 min. away from each other now, so we have been able to resume our tradition of pigging out at the cheesecake factory. yummy!

Molly is to be wed to Owen! I love Molly and Owen's story because it is pretty original. The spring semester of my freshmen year at BIOLA Molly had invited me to check out a church with her on Sunday, but for one reason or another I couldn't go. Well Molly decided to go alone... brave girl :) and little did she know someone special was sitting in the row behind her... After the service was over the guy sitting behind her, OWEN, introduced himself and said that he was currently getting his Master's at Biola and was wondering if Molly would like to go on a date with him. I remember the next morning at breakfast Molly retold every detail of the story to me (I couldn't stop my lame girlish giggles and squeals of excitement for her)... I knew then... Owen was the one for Molly, and the rest is history.

Walking On Water...

2008-12-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

My two new friends Sean and John

My Bungee Masters Brad and Michael

Me in from of the Bridge to Nowhere

This past week was finals and let me be the first to say, HALLELUJAH it's over! I am now resting in the comfort of my home in Northern California, watching White Christmas. Life can't get much better than that... Or could it???

Well last week I had quite the adventure. For my acting class our teacher had an assignment that was supposed to be completed by finals, it was called walking on water. Coming from the story in the bible, we were supposed to be like Peter and do something outside of our comfort zones and that was a risk. Well, I didn't copy Peter and decide to walk on water, but I did have an experience.

I WENT BUNGEE JUMPING!!! It was an incredible experience! The day began at 7:30am in Azusa, CA where I met up with my Bungee Masters and ten other jumpers. I was the only person alone and I was pretty anxious. :) After we finished signing away our lives (literally) we began the twenty minute drive into the Angeles National Forest. From there we bundled up and began the five mile hike through the forest (we crossed the river about ten times) to the "Bridge To Nowhere." From the bridge we kept warm as we waited to jump. I volenteered to jump first, and BOY oh BOY it was incredible!!! After everyone finished jumping we made the five mile trip back to our cars. It was an amazing day. I met some wonderful people, including three remarkable men. My only regret for the day is that I didn't give the guy's my number :) Hope you enjoy the videos.

Before I jumped

The Jump

After the Jump

Fall recap...

2008-12-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

It has been forever since I last posted for the simple reason that not much has happened. I mean I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and now I am back at school for two more weeks, but aside from that my life has been pretty predictable. Today was a fun day though. I got to spend the day at Disneyland with my brother and our friend Holly. We had a great time just hanging around the Happiest Place on Earth. I thought I would share some pictures from today and from some fun times over Thanksgiving.

A picture my sista took of me

Me and my roommates.

The one in the purple (Emily) is getting married in January and this picture was taken at her personal shower.

At one of my favorite places...

THE NAKED LOUNGE

in Sacramento

At The Naked Lounge with two of my closest friends Kristina and Sara

Jared and Holly Shooting in up in Fontierland

Busting a tune on Minnie's piano

It's a Small World

Blackmail... hehe

The beginning of a beautiful day!

Sisterly Bonding Time...

2008-11-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

This past week a couple of my closest friends from Colorado videotaped a "music video" of themselves being total goofballs to a song by Pink called "So What." They looked like they were having so much fun and I started to wish I could invent a teleporting machine so I could join in on the fun. Well I came home for Thanksgiving and showed the video to my little sister, Laura, and she reccomended we make our own video. So for your entertainment I bring to you the amazingly dorky music video of Megan and Laura. Enjoy!

P.S. I would like to dedicate these to Lauren and Megan, who provided us with such inspiration.

Disturbia

Angels Unaware...

2008-11-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

For the past three weeks I have put in over one hundred hours doing stage makeup for a theatrical production of "Noises Off." Today was closing night and in an effort to celebrate I decided to have In 'N Out Burger for dinner. (I stopped by my dorm to put two loads of laundry into the washing machine, so I only had 28min.) Anyways I went through the drive-thru to maximize my time and speedily ate my scrumptious meal in my car. As I was sitting in my car my mind began to nostalgically float back to my first days as an In 'N Out employee.

I vividly remember being on dining room duty and doing rounds cleaning the tables. As I was doing this one customer called me over and told me in the most peaceful voice, "I wanted to let you know that God loves you and thinks you are beautiful." Caught off guard I told the man thank you and went about my business.

I really hadn't thought much of the interaction, but it has stuck with me for the past four years. As I continued to chomp on my delicious fries I thought of another random incident that happened to me the day after Halloween.

The other day I was at Target. (I was not in a happy mood. I was buying different types of storage in a futile attempt to keep my dormroom clean... Ugh my roomies are so messy!) As I was pushing my cart I was about to pass a sweet looking older gentleman. Being the friendly person that I am :) I smiled at him. As I turned left to go down different isle the man said, "Merry Christmas! I just wanted to be the first person to say that to you this year." I laughed and told him thank you and wished him a Merry Christmas as well.

As I sat in my car mulling over these different encounters the thought suddenly came to my mind, "Maybe they were angels?" I have always believed in the spiritual realm and have often wondered if I have ever been in the company of an angel. As I got a little excited over this I had a flashback to sitting upstairs in my house as a little girl and belting along with Michael W. Smith's song "Angel's Unaware." It speaks of entertaining Angels and being completely unaware of it. When you are a kid nothing could feed a child's imagination more than the idea of each person I see or interact with may be an angel. It brings to mind the passage in the bible I memorized during my AWANA days,

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13.2

Have you been entertaining Angels Unaware? I love stories so do tell :)

Spilt Milk & A Renewed Mind...

2008-11-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

Can I start off by saying how much I like the title of this post... okay now I can move on.

I would be kidding myself if I were to write about how amazing my spiritual life has been the past couple of years. Of course I have had a lot of highs but on the general whole my walk with the Lord has been rather mundane. I tried to fix things a lot of different ways... I tried talking to my friends about God, I tried attending more "churchie" events, I tried getting involved with a bible study, I tried reading books about spiritual formation, the list goes on. While all these things are great things that I really enjoy they really should be icing on the cake, not the meat of my relationship with God.

Last night I was at church and even before the service started I felt convicted of being apathetic in my faith. I loved going to church and being fed but I could see that my priorities no longer lied where I wanted them to be. (One reason I don't like college, I think about myself WAY too much.) I have allowed myself to be so sucked into "my dreams", "my classes", "my time", me ME ME! That I have slowly let God become just an extra in my life. At church last night I decided it was time for a change. I thought it would be smart to get back to basics.

I am going to read my bible everyday. Sounds cliche and a little dorky when I write it out but this is huge for me. Reading my bible has always been like pulling teeth for me, which is stupid because I love to read I just have come to acquire a bad taste (mainly because I am lazy) for reading the bible. I have been reading faithfully for two whole days now :) I can't even begin to tell you what a difference it has already made in my life. I didn't realize how spiritually starved I had allowed myself to become. Every time I begin to read the Word of God I don't want to stop. It is as if I am reading it for the first time and it is electric!

Today I was very convicted and encouraged. I was reading a section of Hebrews 5:14 Talking about how Christians should be growing in the faith daily and increasing in maturity. I am encouraged because I have such a good foundation from my formative years, but I feel that God is calling me to really pursue him and make him a priority in my life. Like verse eleven says,

"Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing."

I don't want to ever become "dull of hearing" and miss out on the opportunities God is giving to me.

More than anything in the world I want to Love God with all of my heart and let my life simply be an overflow of that love. How can I do that if I am not in communion with the one I love? I'm sick of having a luke warm faith. I want my relationship with God to be dynamic and intentional and I am so excited to see the ways God is going to teach me and soften my heart through His Living Word!

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing 12For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil

Hebrews 5:11-14

Day Light Savings Time...

2008-11-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Why is it that every time day light savings time comes around in the fall I don't even get to enjoy it. I always end up staying up at ridiculous hours past my normal bedtime and it's just terrible. Take last night for example. I don't think I got to bed until around 2:00 in the morning. Granted that meant it was really only 1:00am, but still it makes me kind of angry.

I want a day light savings time that I will go to bed at 10:00 at night and just be able to sleep until 10:00 the next morning. That means I will have slept for eleven hours!! I can't tell you how glorious that sounds.

Oh well. Looks like I've got another year to dream.

Chicago Politics...

2008-11-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I found it both enlightening and interesting. I hope I don't offend anyone I just thought I would share it with those who read my blog. Whatever your political views are I encourage you to allow your voice to be heard and VOTE November 4th!!! This is the first year I have been able to vote in a presidential election and I can't tell you the pride and honor I felt as I sent out my absentee ballot. Be thankful for the opportunity to voice your opinions and take advantage of the freedoms this Country stands for!

CHICAGO POLITICS

BODY COUNT IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS:

292 MURDERED IN CHICAGO
221 KILLED IN IRAQ

OUR LEADERSHIP IN ILLINOIS

SEN. BARACK OBAMA
SEN. DICK DURBIN
REP. JESSE JACKSON, JR.
GOV. ROD BLOGOJEVICH
HOUSE LEADER MIKE MADIGAN
ATTY. GEN LISA MADIGAN
MAYOR RICHARD DALY

ALL DEMOCRATS

THANK YOU FOR THE COMBAT ZONE IN CHICAGO. OF COURSE THEY ARE BLAMING EACH OTHER.

CAN'T BLAME THE REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY!!!!!

STATE PENSION FUND $44 BILLION IN DEBT, WORST IN THE NATION.

COOK COUNTY (CHICAGO) SALES TAX 10.25%, HIGHEST IN THE NATION.

CHICAGO SCHOOL SYSTEM ONE OF THE WORST IN THE NATION.

Prosthetic Nose...

2008-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today was another day of adventure in stage makeup class. It was our assignment to find a celebrity with a large nose and create a prosthetic replication on our face. I'm not gunna lie, my nose turned out looking pretty authentic... so while I am sorry that this is another post on stage makeup I think it is a pretty awesome project!

The Nose I chose was Peter Jacobson's (Thanks Peter!)

My friends Paris Hilton and Sarah Jessica Parker

Yes I tried to make it look like I have a beard and overgrown eyebrows and the Tie was supposed to add to the effect.

Taking a piece of thread and litterally scraping away the prosthetic. Gnarly Huh?!

A chunk of nose.

We came, we ate, we conquered...

2008-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

It was another amazing day in Los Angeles! I went to my first football game!! It was UCLA vs. Stanford and let me just say the word "electric" seems like a good way to describe the experience. Jared and I enjoyed another wonderful brother/ sister bonding day and it was super fun! I think I am good Mojo for UCLA because they won only their second football game of the season today!!!

After the game we went to a California Classic, Tommy's Burger! Jared and I each enjoyed a double chili cheeseburger and chili fries. (don't worry, I couldn't finish mine.) ha ha. It was a great day!

Everlasting God...

2008-10-14T21:52:00.001-07:00

As of late I have begun to get a little bored and unaffected by my daily devotions. I found myself reading one psalm right before my head hit the pillow at night and it wasn't making any difference. (well maybe subconsciously it was, but that is a completely different tangent than the one I want to take).

I know that last month I blogged about the amazingness of pandora.com. Well a couple of weeks ago I decided that I was in need of a good worship session in my dorm room. So I set Pandora to my Hillsong station and began singing my lungs out. Somewhere in the middle of it all the song "Everlasting God" came on and I had a revelation. I thought, "why not switch it up a bit?" So I got out a couple pieces of paper and borrowed my roommates crayons and began drawing my devotions. My friend Sara calls it prophetic art, not because it foretells but because it testifies to who God is. (If you knew Sara that would make perfect sense.)

Anyway since I have begun making this "prophetic art" of sorts my roommates have followed suite and we now have devoted a wall in our room to these artistic reminders of who God is. With each piece of art being inspired by a song of worship I became curious of the scriptural reference within the lyrics. Like "Everlasting God" comes from Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

I just love that God is not contained by our perception of what devotions are. He is happy with whatever way we choose to honor Him. Whether it be in an hour of reading the bible, fasting, family devotions everyday before high school, or simply a college student's attempt at creating a Crayola masterpiece worthy of her Savior.

Stage Makeup...

2008-10-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of the benefit's of being a theatre major is some of the artsy-fartsy classes I am allowed to take. Take this semester for instance, I am currently enrolled in Stage Makeup. Albeit this is a very entertaining and fun class, but I find myself wondering how it is possible that I am earning three units of college credit from this class. I have made a couple of friends in that class too, Tiffany and Courtney. This week we had fun taking pictures of our Old Age makeups.

I was concerned when the class first began because I have never considered myself to be an artist. I mean not in the drawing, painting sort of way. I prefer acting, singing, and the like. However I quickly surprised myself by how much talent I have in the art of stage makeup. ha ha. Over the past couple of weeks we have done Skull, Stage Ready, Optical Illusion, Middle Age, & Old Age makeups. Since I am so proud of my creations I thought I would share a couple of them with you.

Galavanting Around L.A...

2008-10-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the best day I had since I have moved to Southern California. I spent the day with my Brother, Jared, and our friend, Holly. We had such a blast! Holly and I drove down to L.A. where Jared started off the day showing us around UCLA (he is a freshman there). Let me tell you, if UCLA wasn't on the quarter system I would transfer again! No lie. ha. After walking around the beatutiful campus complete with a tour of Jared's dormroom, the sinking gardens, and the inverted fountain.

Then we headed down to the Westwood hot spot known at Diddy Reese! We each enjoyed our ice cream sandwich creations and got a nice guy to take a picture of us.

After licking our fingers for any ice cream leftovers we decided to go to the Third Street Promenade. It was there that we went to forever 21, Urban Outfitters, and the McCain/ Palin table, where Holly and I each got a poster. Then we had possibly the best New York style Tomato Basil pizza.

Then we walked to the Santa Monica Pier and walked along the beach. It was an amazing day out, but it was beyond WINDY!!!

Then we decided to go to Hollywood!!!!!

None of us had ever been so it was a blast! We went to the Kodak Theatre, Chinese Theatre, got pictures taken with our favorite "stars" and enjoyed some hot chocolate and green tea.

We ended the day at UCLA and enjoyed some of the brilliant cuisine UCLA has to offer. I haven't had such good grilled chicken in a long time!!

It was an amazing day. Hope you enjoy the Pictures!

A Honkey-Tonk Girl...

2008-10-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

Throughout my formative years I was raised with Christian music and your occasional Spice Girls, N'sync, and Britney Spears. Country music, on the other hand, just wasn't a part of my vocabulary. As I went into junior high and high school my P.E. teacher's always seemed to dread the dance unit because it required them to play country music when teaching line dancing. Being the good girl I was I went along with the crowd and said, "ughhh Country music?! I haaaattteee country music." (man, I was so cool in those days....)

Well, I am proud to admit that I am no longer a country hater. In fact it is quite the reverse. I may even consider myself a country girl. It all started when I moved to Colorado and I haven't been able to let go since. I have 105.1fm set in both Northern California and Southern California as my country station in my car and I can't tell you how much I love it!

There is one big reason that I am in love with Country and it's two beautiful words....

LINE DANCING

Back in good ol' Fort Collins I found true love in the form of the SUNDANCE. The Sundance was the epitome of "country." The Sundance is a country bar that is a huge two story barn house. To top off the ambiance there was always a live band! I can't tell you how many good times I had there.

Naturally when I moved to Fullerton, CA this past August I thought I might as well kiss goodbye my Honkey Tonk days. However as the school weeks have dragged on I have begun to really miss my weekly escape.

I believe that God heard my cry, because guess what I found?!?! A COUNTRY LINE DANCING place in FULLERTON!!!!!! It's called In Cahoots!! I went for the first time yesterday and had a BLAST! I went with about five people from my dorm and it was, by far, the best night I have had since I moved here! Who knew that southern California was housing all these closet cowboys and cowgirls?! It was so much fun that I am going again next week. This time there is going to be over ten of us that go. (I think I started a trend). I can't wait! I will try and take pictures next week and post them on my blog so you can get a taste of my wonderful Wednesday night's!! YEEEHAAWWW!

A Letter...

2008-10-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

The following is an email I received from a close friend in Colorado. I usually hate forward emails, but this one really spoke to me. Hope it stirs up your mind and soul as much as it did mine.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees… I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think

Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting o ld, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you t thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He i s, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein

Megan Route...

2008-09-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest incentives in my moving back to southern California was to be able to become an active member of the church body at Rock Harbor. It's been a little over a month and I can't tell you how much of a blessing this church has been for me. I have been challenged in my personal relationship with Jesus as well as encouraged by my fellow believers.

A couple of Sunday's ago Todd Proctor (one of the Pastor's at Rock Harbor) was talking about Moses. (The man who parted the Red Sea... think Prince of Egypt). Anyway Todd brought up the point that after Moses fled Egypt he took up Shepherding in Midian... for FORTY YEARS! Forty years is a long time to be a Shepherd in one region. Then one day as Moses was leading his flock at the base of Mount Horeb... (also known as Mount Sinai, where later, the whole ten commandment business takes place)... Moses sees a bush, burning with flames, but not consumed.

Now think of this. After forty years I think it is safe to assume that Moses had developed some sort of route to take his flock on every day, or at least his top five. I also think that over the past forty years Moses had probably taken this route a good couple hundred times. So when Moses saw this bush on fire, he probably did a double, maybe even a triple take.

So what?! What does Moses and a burning bush have anything to do with me?

I am so glad you asked.

This was the statement that Todd made durning his sermon that really stuck with me.

"What burning bushes is God placing on your Moses Route?"

Over these past couple weeks I have been really mulling this over. Since I walk to school everyday I know I defiantly have a "Moses Route." The question and challenge I am posing to myself is,

How aware am I of the opportunities God has placed along my "Megan Route", and am I willing to make time to stop for a burning bush?

We have now entered the Twilight Zone... dun dun dun...

2008-09-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Brace yourselves. This blog is the result of serious boredom and a ridiculous lack of sleep. As of late, a fair number of my friends have visited a website called yearbookyourself.com. The purpose of yearbook yourself is that you insert a picture of your face and then the website generates about a dozen different yearbook photos ranging over twenty years. Being the curious and outragious person I am, I decided that I was going to give it a try.

Let me tell you, it was way too fun. I couldn't stop laughing. The majority of the pictures looked absolutely hidious, but there were some hidden gems. I saved those priceless little photos and have decided to spread the joy. Try to contain you laughter. (or maybe you won't find it funny at all, in that case I am very sorry to have wasted your time.)

1964

1968

1996

1990

1976

1996

Never can have too much fun!!!

2008-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

[!]

My friend Tiffany told me the other day in stage make-up class that if I could be any form of punctuation I would be an exclamation point! After mulling over that comment for a while I have decided that I couldn't agree more! I have always been aware of my excessive use of exclamation points throughout my blog postings, but in my defense I have felt all of them to be completely necessary.

I really love life! I want to make every day count and I think that a positive and Godly perspective is the key to truly enjoying life. My mom says she knows when I am happy because she doesn't hear from me for a couple of days. It's so true. I am happiest when things are going on and I am just having fun. This past year has been amazing so far in the fun department.

First there was Colorado! If you have been reading my blog since the beginning you know that Colorado State University was an amazing season of my life! Sure it had it had it's moments, but on a whole God totally blessed me with amazing friends and community while I was there.

Second, BADA... Need I say more? Let's just say that spending a month in Oxford doing theatre with about one hundred of the most amazing people is hard to top.

With all that in mind now comes my frustration. Why did Colorado State have to cost so much money? Why did BADA have to last for only a month?

I know that God has me in Fullerton for a purpose, but I just am having a harder time enjoying myself as I try and figure out that purpose. I am not gunna lie I am feeling kind of lonely. It's like I am floating through a sea of acquaintances and without any meaningful friendships. I am getting involved in a Life group (bible study) this week and I am praying that God blesses me with a wonderful Christian community. I don't do well with boredom and right now that seems to be the word of the month.

I am in desperate need of true PIZAZZ!! I need to not be spending all my free time either doing homework or sitting in my room. I need to be going country line dancing, hot air balloon riding, singing my lungs out in my car with friends, going to Hollywood, San Diego, and San Louis Obispo. I am so bored!!

I promise that I am a huge believer in "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" it just seems I have temporarily lost my lemonade rescipe.

New Phone & moving on...

2008-09-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

New Phone (left) Old Phone (right)

I have always had issues with change. It's kind of weird considering the fact that I love to travel and take leaps of faith. Still, it's true. I remember when I was in elementary school and my parents decided it was time to sell my dad's Honda CRX and get a new car. It was heartbreaking! I can still see myself on the sidewalk at my dad handed over the keys of the car to the new owner. I thought that it might have been the worst day in my life.

I believe what it boils down to is that I love to go off on my own adventure, but it is so important that I have a "home" or something familiar to return to.

This past weekend marks yet another change that has caused some rather mixed emotions.

A New Phone...

My phone and me go way back. Two years to be precise :) I got this phone my freshman year at BIOLA. It came with a plastic cover on the face of the phone... I kept it on as long as possible... My room mate at the time, Natalee, wouldn't stop making fun of me for that.

Over the course of these past two years I have developed a sort of habit... Since these past two years I have met so many new people that mean so much to me, I wanted a kind of keepsake of them. So any time I received a text message that had to do with an inside joke or from a close friend I saved it on my phone. (I also kept them so that in case I died my parents would know what friends I really wanted to come to my funeral... No joke... kind of embarrassing... I know.)

So this past weekend I switched to a new phone. Our two year contract was up so our family all got new phones. As I switched phones I couldn't stop thinking of all the text messages that were all just going to be memories from now on. So if you are a close friend and have my number send me a lovely text message my phone inbox is looking pretty vacant.

All Grown Up...

2008-09-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

Laura unleashing her anger on a poor unsuspecting machine

Titanic pose. Who could resist?

Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters

chomp... chomp...

My beautiful mother and dashingly handsome father

On the carousel... So fun & only a dollar!

I am so thankful for this past weekend. I have been in school for a month and was beginning to miss my beautiful, fun, loving, thoughtful, crazy, wonderful FAMILY! So I must admit, I was ready to see their beautiful faces.

The reason for their visit was because my little brother (not so little anymore) is now a freshman at UCLA! Go Bruins!! So my whole family piled into the family CRV and drove down to move Jared into his dorm room. They arrived around 2:00pm, I planned on getting there the same time but of course, LA Traffic has a mind of it's own. Once I finally made it to LA Jared was already moved into his dorm and was quite ready to be independent. So I met the rest of my family at the hotel. (Let me just take a quick commercial break and say how nice it was to be in a hotel room with three of my most favorite family members rather than a dorm room with three virtual strangers.) My family was pretty exhausted but we went out dinner and then met Jared in Downtown LA to go to Diddy Reese.

Another commercial break:

If you don't know what Diddy Reese is my brother would probably say that you haven't lived, so let me enlighten you. :)

Diddy Reese is an ice cream sandwich shop in Westwood. It has an assortment of cookie flavors and ice cream flavors. The cookies are fresh and the perfect blend of a crunchy exterior with a gooey middle. The best part about these sugar saturated confections is that they are only $1.50!!

That Saturday we spent at the Santa Monica Pier while Jared was at the UCLA football game. We had a lot of fun and took tons of pictures. I'm not sure how I will last not seeing my parents and sister until Thanksgiving!

Pandora...

2008-09-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

I am officially a nerd. I have fallen in love with a website! Not just any website mind you, but Pandora.com... ahh Pandora how have I lived my life without you? Let me explain.

Pandora is pretty much the best invention ever, next to indoor plumbing... and indoor plumbing... and the wheel... and sliced bread... I digress.

Pandora.com is selftitled as the "music genome project." This amazing concept is simple, but oh so effective. After you create an account (simply a username and password) you simply choose an artist you love and then allow pandora to work it's magic. Based off of the artist you chose Pandora creates a playlist of a variety of artists and songs that have the same melodic quality and are from the same genre... and the best part... IT'S FREE!!

I love to do homework and dillydally with music playing in the background here are my 3 top favorite playlists:

1. Fred Astaire

(This is by far my all time favorite, with songs from Gene Kelly, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and the man himself FRED ASTAIRE! Love it!!)

2. John Williams

(probably the most talented composer alive today having composed for Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones... great instrumental!)

3. Hillsong

(of course who would I be if I didn't have a whole playlist geared toward my favorite Austrailian worship team.)

I hope this post has inspired you to take advantage of this magical website. I can't even tell you how excited I am for you, that you get to experience the convenience and perfection of such ingeniousness! Enjoy!!

2008-09-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah for this past Tuesday!

I won't even attempt to deny that I have really been missing BADA. I am determined to have a positive experience at Fullerton, but I was beginning to wonder if BADA was simply a once in a lifetime experience that could never be replicated.

Well today in Voice/ Movement II I believe a paradigm shift occurred. I know I have written about my V/M I class, but I am also taking V/M II at the same time. Let me tell you now that V/M II is one million times better!! I love my teacher and classmates and I am so excited that the emphasis of this class is physical theatre.

In class I try to approach every exercise with total commitment. Lately, I have felt as if I haven't been doing as great of work as I am capable of and have been pretty upset with myself. I was really in need of a personal victory, I am so glad it happened today!

In the middle of class our teacher asked for eight people to go in the center of the room and get into partners. I went forward and partnered with a new friend of mine, Leshawn. As we stood across from each other our teacher instructed us that we were to act as if we were never going to see our partner again and non verbally say goodbye.

Well, I thought, this I can do. haha.

Leshawn and I immediately went to hug each other and literally began to slowly and painfully peel away from one another. It was probably the most intense, committed, and emotional acting exercise I have ever done. It felt like it should have been a scene in The Notebook or some sappy romantic movie.

After we finished everyone in our class was either in tears or staring with a dumbfounded look across their face...

all I could think was, "YESSS!!! That's what I'm talking about! Yeah!!"

I love those moments when I am totally present and engaged as an actor. Those are the moments to be proud of. Those are the moments that I feel God's pleasure as I use the gifts he has given me. What an encouraging day!

My Happy Place...

2008-09-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

My Freshman year at Biola I bought my very first Disneyland annual pass. Since I was a so. cal. resident it only cost me about $130. Now if you consider the fact that a pass for a day was $60 at the time, I was really getting my money's worth.

When I first started mulling over the idea of transferring to CSUF I called up my mom. We got on the pros vs. cons and I told her the price difference of out of state vs. in state tuition. Then I casually mentioned Disneyland and how if I transferred I would NEED to buy another annual pass to which my mother said, "If you go to cal state we will buy you a Disneyland pass."

Oh if only should knew that I would hold her to that promise! MuuooahahaHAHA!!

Well I can tell you that I went to Disneyland within the first week of my being in Fullerton. My good friend Hillary, from BIOLA, has gone with me three times already and we are planning to go again this Sunday after church! We usually only hit about three rides and then leave, but it isn't the rides that we go for it's everything else. It's the music that is playing as you walk down main street, it's the little kids that can't contain their excitement, it's the haunted house employees that stay in character the whole day, and it's the opportunity to get out of your own world for a couple of hours and enter a place filled with imagination, wonderment, and fond memories. Here are some pictures of Disneyland memories.

Employment...

2008-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

It is now my third year of college and I have managed, by God's grace and financial wizard of a father, to never have had a job during the school year. Up until this point in time I have been able to work the summer's and just use that money throughout the school year. Well... I just happened to go to London this past summer so I am kind of broke. Also, let's face it, I'm twenty and shouldn't be asking my parents for spending money.

So I figured it out and I think I can manage to work between 10-20 hours a week. However I had a problem... where was I going to work?

Well it's funny you should ask....

It was Sunday after church and I was with my good friend Hillary (she goes to Biola). Church had run over time and we knew we weren't going to be able to make it back in time for the cafeteria so we opted for some good ol' In 'n Out Burger. As we were munching on our #2's without onions I thought, why not ask if I can transfer stores and just pick up a couple shifts a week?

So after we were done eating I went up to the counter and asked to speak with the manager. I can't tell you how many dirty and quizical looks I got from the employees who thought I was there to complain. haha!

The manager came and asked me how everything was and the conversation kind of went like this...

Me: Hi! My name is Megan and I'm from In 'n Out #... in Northern California. I just transferred to CSUF and was wondering if you could use me for 10-15 hours a week?

Manager: Sure. We'll put you on the schedule next week.

WOW! So I have a job! I am so excited and amazed at how easily that went. God is so good! Now I will have money again!! Hallelujah! Praise to Jehovah Jira (God who provides)

Pine Valley...

2008-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Girls

Outside the cabin.

Enjoying some lovely beach weather in San Diego!

What can I say? I'm a child at heart :)

I have found that at the beginning of each school year I am ushually in desperate need of a mini-vacation at the end of the first week. Lucky for me this semester Larbor Day fell on the Monday after school had started... that's right... 3 day weekend!

I am really happy to be in Southern California for a lot of reasons, but one is that I am close to Natalee and Alex. Natalee is my second cousin on my mother's side of my family and was my roommate for my first semester at BIOLA. Since BIOLA Natalee and her then boyfriend of SIX YEARS (Alex) have been married (I was a bridesmaid). Natalee is one of the few people who kept in contact with me after I left Biola and I was stoked that I am only 45minutes away from her this semester.

So what better time to hang out than Larbor Day weekend?! Natalee graciously invited me to come with her Alex and all of Nat's extended family to their annual family camp tradition at Pine Valley. It was a blast! It was fun to reconnect with Nat and Alex and it was a nice change of pace from dorm life. I'm posting some pics, but Natalee has a lot more up on her blog if you want to check it out...

Clash 'N Bowl...

2008-09-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Me, Rachel (one of my three roommates) and Lisa (she is great!)

I had one spare WHOOT WHOOT! Watch out world!

I can't believe how bad I have been about posting new blogs. However, in my defence my internet at Hope International University (where I am living) is NOT WORKING!! It hasn't been working since I moved in and I am beginning to get a little frustrated! Oh well. Anyways, I am writing this post from the comfort of a desk chair at the CSUF library (how very studious of me).

So I feel I should update you on my recent move to SO. CAL. I LOVE IT!! I have three roommates, not including myself, and I feel very blessed. After my "interesting" roommate situation in Colorado I have really gained an appreciation for good roommates. It's true, they are all a year younger than me, but we all get along really well.

The first week I moved in was orientation week. I have now participated in five, count them.. One (BIOLA), two (SAC STATE), three (Colorado State), four (CSUF), and five (HIU) orientations. I know I am not a student at HIU, but because I am living there I thought it best to participate and get as involved as possible. One of the orientation events is called Clash 'N Bowl. Essentially everyone gets dressed as whacky as possible and then we all go to the town bowling alley looking crazy and bowl until midnight. I had a blast! I am really looking forward to this semester!

Am I Crazy???

2008-08-20T14:15:00.001-07:00

Let me preface this post with saying:

Hallelujah for the fact that God is in control!!

Today my entire future changed. No I didn't meet a guy. I'm speaking purely academically. Today I changed my major! I am now on the road to completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. (Hence the title of this post: AM I CRAZY?!) I am actually still processing the reality of this paradigm shift in my life. So pardon me if this begins to feel like a stream of consciousness rather than a well thought out post.

I guess I should recap for you all this journey. Oh where to begin... I guess we will start with high school.

As most of you know I was a total theatre kid back in the day. I did all twelve productions Rocklin High had to offer and was a lead or supporting role in many of them. I knew that I was good at acting, but being the practical person I am I decided that I needed to major in something that I knew would provide consistent salary. So I decided on music education. Why not theatre education major? To put it simply I didn't want to have to be a teacher to all the theatre weirdos (if you haven't noticed theatre tends to attract a more eclectic group than music).

So off I went to Biola to become a music education major. I realized while I was there that I was in fact not a natural born classical vocalist, but much better at worship arts and pop music. Cool. After I left Biola I went to Sac State (where I wasn't accepted into the music program) and simply took gen. ed. classes. From there I flew on to take Colorado State by storm. If you have read my blog for a while you know that I was a finalist for the Singer of the Year competition there and loved my time in Fort Collins, but alas, out of state tuition was too big a financial burden... So that brings me to Cal State Fullerton. I had flown out to So Cal to audition for BADA and decided that since I was in the area I decided to audition for the music department at CSUF. Then the unexpected happened, they accepted me into the music program on the spot! So off to Fullerton for Megan.

Uh Oh! I was accepted to BADA!! Which ended up be the best of my life thus far and rekindled my passion for theatre and also gave me the confidence and push to realize that I could pursue a life as a working actor.

So coming back from BADA I decided to double major in Music Ed. (B.A.) and Acting (B.F.A). Well I talked to the acting advisor at CSUF yesterday and he told me that students in the (B.F.A.) program aren't allowed to double major and suggested we meet today. So today was the big day. I meet with the theatre advisor and it just so happens that his daughter had attended BADA! So after talking with him he waived a couple of pre reqs and was able to combine freshman and sophomore requirements into one semester. It will still take me three years (music ed. would have taken the same time) but I will walk away with a BFA in Acting and a Minor in Music (all of my music credits will count for the minor and I only need to take one more class for my minor to be completed.)

So long story short. I prayed and prayed that God would shut the doors or else I would walk through. He hasn't shut any doors yet, so I keep walking. I am so excited for the opportunity to use the talents God has given me and to be a light at this secular school. Please pray that God will equip me to be an effective witness and that this will be an exciting new adventure! Thank you all for your love and support it means the world to me!

Open Day at BADA...

2008-08-06T12:42:00.001-07:00

The Three Sisters

Irena (Elise), Olga (Megan), & Masha (Christina)

The culmination of my Modern class with John Gorrie was a performance of

Act III of Chekhov's The Three Sisters

After the farewell dinner BADA put on a dance that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. I only got two hours of sleep before I had to wake up to catch my flight back home.

Hilary, Emma, & I at the farewell dinner

All good things must come to an end. I am happy to report that my last day at BADA was definately the best day! Here is a look into what Open Day looked like.

At 9:00am all the BADA students were supposed to meet on the lawn for a voice and movement warmup with some of the BADA faculty. It was the first time all 101 students were working together and it was super fun and a bit chaotic.

Immediately after the warmup it was time for Lorca's (my group) Shakespeare performance. We started off class playing our last game of "I AM." It would be too difficult for me to explain the premise, but the important thing was I WON!! Whoot Whoot! Up next was me and my scene partner Jill and our scene from "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Our Merry Wives scene is high comedy and really a fun time! It was so much fun working off of Jill's adrenaline and the excitement of the audience. Later in class I was able to perform my Queen Margaret Monologue from Henry VI part 3. It wasn't my best performance, but Queen Margaret is the polar opposite from my character in The Merry Wives so it was a great opportunity to show versatility and go all out knowing it was my last performance.

After lunch in the dining hall it was time for Lorca's last Hoorah as we went to the Old Common Room to perform exerts Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters. During open day your peers at BADA are welcome to sit in on either your modern or shakespeare time slots, it just so happened that almost all the grad students came to watch our Modern class. Even though we are all friends it still was a bit intimidating.

We began with The Cherry Orchard, so when it came time for The Three Sisters I was ready to spontaneously combust from all the adrenaline pulsing through my veins. The performance was fun and it was a joy to be able to work on such a classic piece of theatre.

After all the classes were over it was time to get the party started! Hilary, Emma, and I all got ready together and went to the Farewell dinner. The dinner was a blast! Fiona Shaw gave an inspirational address and it finally began to sink in that this was my "last night in the Nursery" as Wendy Darling would say. After dinner I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all my teachers from this past month. I went with a couple of my friends and it was hard to say goodbye to Lynn Farleigh, John Gorrie, John Toucker, & Linda Gates that have been with us everyday for the past month.

A couple of my friends had finished saying their goodbyes to our voice teacher John Tucker and it was now my turn. As I went to say thank you John cupped his hands around my face and looked straight into my eyes and said, "You are very talented." caught off guard I told him thank you, but he obviously didn't think he had gotten his point across so he continued, "You NEED to do this! You are extremely talented!" In a state of disbelief I said thank you again. I can't tell you how encouraging that was coming from such a successful voice instructor with so many high profile clients.

By the time dinner was over everyone was ready to PARTY! So it was great that BADA had hired out a D.J. so that we could dance the night away. I love to dance so this was the perfect ending of a wonderful day! Even some of the faculty danced a little bit! We stayed out all night saying our goodbyes and maximizing our time on the dance floor. I didn't get to bed until 3:30am and it was definitely a rude awakening when my alarm went off at 5:30am!

I got ready to leave Balliol College and woke up Hilary and Emma to say goodbye. Oxford was still asleep when I left Balliol at 7:00am. It also began to rain lightly as I walked to the bus station with my two oversized suitcases, which truly fit my melancholy mood. However, as I made it to my bus seat I couldn't help but reflect on what an amazing opportunity this past month has been and what a positive impact it has had on my life. With out a doubt I can honestly say this has been the best month of my life.

I wish it didn't have to end, I actually seriously entertained the idea of "accidentally" missing my plane flight.

So Much Fun & So Little Time...

2008-07-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

Memorizing lines on the beautiful lawns of Balliol College!

Riding a Rollercoaster with Hilary and Emma...

Okay maybe we took the pictures on my macbook :)

Emma, Hilary, Me & Gavin at The Dark Knight! (it was so intense!)

A night on the town (this was at a popular club in Oxford, "Que Pasa", I loved it because they randomly played Rockin Robbin and show tunes!)

Need I say more..

Okay, yes, It's fake... Funny though huh?

Under the Marquee for the play "The 39 Steps."

Amazing show! I highly highly highly recommend it!

Me doing improv at BADA's "Entertainment Evening"

SO MUCH FUN!

Ahhhhh! I only have four days left! Where did this past month go?

So much has happened so I decided since I don't have much time that I would post a bunch of pictures to give a glimpse of what's been going on. Today I am working with Fiona Shaw (who played Aunt Petunia in Harry Potter) so that should be fun! I look forward to seeing and talking to you all soon!

Alan Rickman...

2008-07-23T03:19:00.000-07:00

Good Ol' Alan!

http://www.aolcdn.com/aolr/harry-potter-alan-rickman-400a012907.jpg

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape!

I need to preface this post with letting you know that since I was in elementary school and saw Sense and Sensability for the first time I have been in love (maybe love is an exageration) with Alan Rickman.

Actually when I first started looking into BADA's Midsummer in Oxford program it was the fact that Alan Rickman was a guest faculty member that made me want to come. Not only do I think he has the most incredible voice in the entire world, but he is also an extremely talented actor!!

Well yesterday was the day of truth! Alan Rickman was here for a Q&A session!!! I still can't believe it happened! What a man! (okay I'll try to stop gushing).

I didn't have the guts to ask him a question but it was amazing the was he answered the questions that were asked. He was incredibly articulate and poised. He also treated us as peers rather than students. Throughout the whole session I was feverishly writing down everything that left his mouth. What words of wisdom. I can't articulate how much of a treat it was to soak up everything this successful actor had to say. I still am in a state of euphoria!

London!!!

2008-07-23T02:57:00.001-07:00

Billy Elliot!

Big Ben (We got to hear it chime!)

Oh those boys... such goobers!

At Buckingham Palace. Look at those clouds! It was a beautiful day!

I can't believe it. I am in the UK and I got to spend last Saturday in LONDON!

We had a blast! I went with six of my friends and we just had a relaxing time making the most of our free day. We arrived in London around noon and we were able to get FRONT ROW Seats for the musical Billy Elliot!

After having lunch we went to the theatre and enjoyed three hours of magic. Billy Elliot was phenomenal!! The dancing was mind boggling, the plot moving, and the set design was to die for. It was an amazing experience!

Oh funny side note. Right after intermission two cast members came on stage and were interacting with the audience... Well I was having a little trouble understanding them with their heavy British accents... anyway, one of the guys actually started to poke fun at me! He was saying, "Are you enjoying the show?" To which I replied, "YES!" His rebuttal was, "Well then you should tell your face!" (Good thing for him I'm such a good sport!)

After billy Elliot we decided to walk around London and see the various sites. We hit the typical tourist spots: Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. We had a great time. After we had dinner we decided to head back to Oxford. We didn't get home until midnight, but it was such a fun day and I am looking forward to going back next Saturday! Next time SHOPPING will be our goal! YES!!

Punting...

2008-07-23T02:25:00.000-07:00

The walk back to Balliol from the River Party

Enjoying the river

I look like an Amazonian Punter in this picture. HA!

I am so blessed to have friend like Hilary and Emma

Friday was BADA's River Party! They rented out a whole facility along the river and we had a blast. There was great food, free soda, dancing, and PUNTING.

Me as well as five of my friends decided that we would rent a punt for an hour. A punt is basically a gondola and boy are they fun! Hilary, Emma, and I were in high heels and dresses so getting into the punt was a miracle in itself.

We took turns being the "punter," but I'm not going to lie, I pretty much dominated! I kept on the course with easy and speed.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and wish you could have been there to enjoy it!

Queen Margaret...

2008-07-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

I LOVE TO ACT!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was absolutely thrilling! On the first day of classes Lynn Farleigh assigned me a monologue from Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3. I was to play Queen Margaret! The task was incredibly daunting. The monologue is around 34 lines long. Not only is Margaret usually played by a woman at least fifteen years my senior, but the character itself is rotten, regal, intense, and venomous!

Yesterday I decided to volunteer to perform my piece in front of my group. I had memorized the monologue, but had yet to perform it 100%.

It went amazingly!!! All my nerves helped me channel enough emotions, power and breath to create something I never knew could come from myself!! What Fun!

Later that evening Hilary, Emma, Gavin, and Chris were hanging out in my room and having a wonderful time! Out of the blue Chris said that I had done a wonderful job on my monologue and that I actually reminded him of Cate Blanchett!!! (I think I will be living off that compliment for the rest of my life).

So basically... Yesterday was amazing! I just can't get over how alive I feel when I am acting. I can't stop thanking God for this opportunity of a lifetime!! (below is the monologue)

QUEEN MARGARET

Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland,
Come, make him stand upon this molehill here,
That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,
Yet parted but the shadow with his hand.
What! was it you that would be England's king?
Was't you that revell'd in our parliament,
And made a preachment of your high decent?
Where are your mess of sons to back you now?
The wanton Edward, and the lusty George?
And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy,
Dicky your boy, that with his grumbling voice
Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?
Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland?
Look, York: I stain'd this napkin with the blood
That valiant Clifford, with his rapier's point,
Made issue from the bosom of the boy;
And if thine eyes can water for his death,
I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal.
Alas poor York! but that I hate thee deadly,
I should lament thy miserable state.
I prithee, grieve, to make me merry, York.
What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails
That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?
Why art thou patient, man? thou shouldst be mad;
And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus.
Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance.
Thou wouldst be fee'd, I see, to make me sport:
York cannot speak, unless he wear a crown.
A crown for York! and, lords, bow low to him:
Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on.
Putting a paper crown on his head
Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!
Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair,
And this is he was his adopted heir.
But how is it that great Plantagenet
Is crown'd so soon, and broke his solemn oath?
As I bethink me, you should not be king
Till our King Henry had shook hands with death.
And will you pale your head in Henry's glory,
And rob his temples of the diadem,
Now in his life, against your holy oath?
O, 'tis a fault too too unpardonable!
Off with the crown, and with the crown his head;
And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead.

Ice Cream...

2008-07-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

I WON A FREE ICE CREAM YESTERDAY!!!

I am the luckiest person in the world!!

Last night after dinner a bunch of BADA people went out to get some ice cream. We settled on a little homemade ice cream place. I tried a sample and wasn't blown away, but then I saw the price... 2 pounds for ONE scoop!! That is like 4 dollars! Are they crazy?!? I decided I wasn't going to have an ice cream. :)

Then we saw on the wall a trivia question, that if answered correctly, they would get a free ice cream! The question was:

Q: What does the typical American eat 18 acres of everyday?

(Being the intelligent person I am I answered correctly!)

A: PIZZA!!!

(Victory!)

The employee's we dumbfounded and rather disappointed that I knew the answer, but I was Ecstatic!!! So I got to enjoy a free cup of homemade chocolate ice cream! What a glorious day!

Theatre People...

2008-07-16T03:33:00.000-07:00

Gavin and Chris

Jess and Hilary

Emma and Me

Carly, Elise, Lisa, and Me (keeping them company while at a pub.

I'm so glad I don't drink. I am saving so much money!

I guess this applies for most artsy people, but in my experience it has been most evident amongst the theatre kids. They are usually pretty weird! Which is why I thought it is necessary to report that the people here are relatively NORMAL!! I was expecting to be with a bunch of ego tripping, super dramatic, method acting, creepers.

It's actually quite the opposite.

God has been so good! I have made friends with several different groups of people and would consider myself to at least be acquaintances with everyone else! It's so fun!!! Everyone is so nice and has such different life stories and personalities. What a thrill!

On Saturday I am going with my friends Hilary, Emma, Gavin, and Chris to LONDON!!! We are planning on seeing a musical, going shopping, and doing the typical tourist things (big ben, westminster, etc...)

Stratford-Upon-Avon...

2008-07-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

A little picture of me in front of the ad for "Midsummer"

The best picture I could get of the inside of the RSC.

Last weekend was my first time playing "tourist" in the UK. On Saturday all of the BADA students went to Stratford-Upon-Avon (it's really just Stratford, the add the Upon-Avon because of the river that runs through the town). What a fun little town!

The reason we went to Shakespeare's home town is because of the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company). Included in our tuition payment was a ticket for "The Taming of The Shrew" at the RSC. I had seen "Shrew" at Lake Tahoe last summer with my mom and loved it! So while I was excited to see the show at the RSC, I really wished that I could have seen a different production. Well, I was in luck! That day a matinee of "A Midsummer Nights Dream" was playing!! I love Midsummer!!! Mainly for nostalgic reasons. Midsummer was the first show I ever did at Rocklin High School and I was a fairy (unitard and all!) So I payed for a ticket that had been returned and enjoyed 3 hours of magical euphoria! It was amazing!

I wish I could say the same for "Taming of the Shrew." It was pretty vile and offensive, but I don't want to dwell on that rotten production. It just made me appreciate all the more the fact that I was able to see such a wonderful production earlier in the day! All in all I had a fantastic time!

Oxford Time...

2008-07-16T02:55:00.001-07:00

Oh Oxford...

I truly can't articulate how amazing this experience thus far has meant to me! I love everything about BADA's summer program! The one thing I don't like about Oxford is that everything closes SO EARLY!

With BADA I have class from 9am-6pm, with one hour for lunch. Well everything in Oxford, except the pubs, closes at 6pm! This presents a huge problem for me and my ability to post new blogs on a daily basis, but I shall press on and try to economize my day in such a way that I can post a couple of times a week.

Seriously though. Can you believe that everything closes at 6? It's just plain ridiculous in my opinion.

A Little Slice of Heaven...

2008-07-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

My sink is in my closet :)

My cozy little room with a killer view

The University I am staying at (Balliol)

I can't begin to describe how amazing this experience is turning out to be! Classes began on Monday and I have been blown away by the credentials of my teachers, the comradery of my group, and the opportunity I have to grow and have fun!

I love my teachers!!! Lynn (Shakespeare teacher) is the most fun, mothering, and wonderful person! The first day she hand picked a shakespearean mononlogue for each of us to work on based on what we want from the program and where we want to see growth. John (modern teacher) is a very serious man who has a hint of Hugh Grant charisma. I have been cast as Olga in Act Three of the "Three Sisters" and boy, do I have my work cut out for me!

Today we are working with Julian Glover (Indiana Jones and Last Crusade). I have no idea what to expect, but I know it's going to be great!

Thanks for the comments. I hope to have more eventful posts to come with more exciting picture! :)