So Thankful...

I love this season. My sister Carolynn sent us an early Christmas present. It was a plain wreath with a bunch of harvest-y picks. Throughout the month, Cristian and I were supposed to take turns saying things we are thankful for and put a pick in the wreath, so by Thanksgiving it is full. It was a little rough just because C is not home much these days, but we did it and it was a great reminder to be thankful throughout the season, not just on the Day. Thanks, Carolynn, for helping us start a family tradition that I already love.

A few other things...

1. I am so thankful for my husband. He is kind, funny, hard-working, compassionate, patient (mostly with me), grounded, and above all, GOOD. He has such a good heart. I am so glad to be married to Cristian, and I am so thankful he chose me. I can't imagine my life without him.

2. My job. I work at an alternative medicine office with 3 doctors and 2 massage therapists. Cristian and I get free care, which has come in very handy since my back went out a year ago. I am now undergoing treatments for free that would cost someone else hundreds of dollars. My main concern is having a healthy enough back to be pregnant, and avoid surgery if possible, and the care I have access to here is helping me toward that goal. I also get good pay, vacation time, paid holidays, and work 4 days a week, who can complain?

3. My family. Both sides of it. I have a great family, and wonderful parents who taught me all the good things I know in life. My siblings are awesome, and I never tire of spending time with them. We are surprisingly close for such a big, spread out bunch, but we love each other and would do anything for each other. I am also grateful for the family I married into. They made Cristian into the great man he is, and welcomed me with open arms. They are wonderful people who we don't see enough.

4. My Aunt and Uncle, Tom and Ruth Pooler, and cousins Emily and Ben Montague, and Brooke Duke and her boys Connor and Wyatt. They live here and have adopted us into their circle, for which I will be forever grateful. Before living here, I saw them once a year, now, all the time, and it is wonderful. We celebrate everything together, birthdays and holidays, and other times too. We love to be together, and they have especially embraced Cristian, and that makes me love them even more.

5. The Gospel. I don't know where I would be without it. It has shaped me way beyond what my parents taught. I have long since developed my own testimony, with my own trials and triumphs to go along with that. I am grateful for Jesus Christ, who died for me. He knows me, and that brings me so much comfort I can't even begin to say.

6. Cristian's schooling. It has been hard, and a long road for us. But we are almost done, he graduates in May with an MFA. This will open so many doors for him, and for our family.

7. My talents.

8. Job Openings. Thanks goodness there are some out there. Now we just have to get hired in one of them. Just one. Please.

Happy Late Thanksgiving everyone, and remember as we step into the Christmas season, to still be thankful!

We gotta get outta here

Ok, I know this is my third post today, but I guess I have a lot to say. Make sure you scroll down to my other posts of the day. So before we lived in our home here in North Las Vegas, we lived in an apartment on the east side of town. Some would say that area is a little bit of the ghetto, but we felt just fine there. We just had a few crazy experiences with people coming to our place in the middle of the night, knocking on the windows, etc. One time some kind of transgender/transvestite/not really sure what arrived in the middle of the night. Sweet. In our new home, we have been fine for the most part, just one attempted break-in (we weren't home) for which we got a house alarm.
Last night, we were in bed and about 3am woke up to some pounding on our front door. Of course we jumped out of bed and Cristian went to see what it was, muttering, "I thought we left these experiences at our old apartment." Let me say that when people have come in the middle of the night, it is always Cristian who checks it out, and leaves me in the protection of our home, but this time he told me to get dressed and come in case we had to desparately push our door shut against intruders. Great. I was terrified and went and got our butcher knife from the kitchen. Anyway, it was a kid, probably in his early twenties, with blood all over his head, saying he had been jumped by 8 guys and woke up in our neighborhood, could we please call 911? He was wearing a bathrobe, said he had been at a lingerie party, and he was in the Air Force. He was definitely still drunk, but also clearly in need of help. Cristian called 911. We stayed with him (whate else would we do, he was bleeding all over our front porch) until the police came. At one point on of the paramedics was talking to him and he slumped over and fell out of the chair we had brought out onto the ground. Just blacked out, whether from alcohol or shock, I don't know. I think he really was in the Air Force, because he went into military mode and answered with "Sir" puntuating every sentence as if he was being drilled. The paramedic was nice enough to clean the blood off of our porch, and we got it off the wall next to the door. It must have been from his hand. He was bleeding a lot.
I felt really bad for him once I knew there was no danger to us, but I certainly don't need that experience ever again. I am not saying that all of Vegas is like this, there are many great things about it. We just happen to attract the crazies. We gotta get out of this town.

The Hunt For My October

I love Fall. It is one of my favorite seasons. But living in Las Vegas I have realized that Fall is the most frustrating season for me. It is so hot in the summer that is takes so dang long to cool off. It was still in the 80's this past week, and that drives me crazy because, while that temperature range is not bad, it just doesn't feel like Fall. No leaves happening, no cozy weather. It goes on thru November, slowly cooling down, just not fast enough for me.

So, after 3 years of futile frustration, this year I have made an effort to have a better attitude about it. After all, I can't do anything about the weather, and at least it is not still over 100 degrees, like it is most of the summer. Plus, since Cristian graduates this year and we are looking for a job, next year I may be somewhere that by this time I am already freezing my butt off, and 80 degrees might sound pretty good to me. I doubt it though, because if we are somewhere cold, at least it will be pretty with leaves and hot chocolate and soup. Here in the desert, not so pretty. All the same, I have made my peace with the Fall in Las Vegas. For now.

Note to self...

Dear Nicole: anytime something in a recipe looks weird, call someone who knows better BEFORE going ahead. Ok, so we had Super Saturday this last month. For those of you who don't know what it is, Super Saturday is a big, glorified craft-making day for Mormon women. I am not crafty, at all, but I was actually pretty excited and came away with a clock that I made and some decorative tiles. There were some really cool projects this year. Anyway, so I volunteered to make cookies for the lunch. Mormon women always need to have food involved with every gathering, and I feel great about that. I decided to make some pumpkin cookies from a family recipe book. I had never made these before. So I am doubling the batch when I come to what says, "12 tsp nutmeg." Cristian and I were like, what? That sounds like a lot of nutmeg. Oh well, here we go! I am going to go ahead and state the obvious: It was a typo. Too much nutmeg. So I called my sister in law Melissa, who the recipe came from. She looked it up and said, "oh yeah, it is 1/2 tsp nutmeg. " I was like WHAT?! I was thinking it would be 1 or 2 tsp, but no, 1/2. When I told her I alreay made the dough, she laughed so hard at me. We laughed together because, what else am I going to do? I didn't want to waste everything, so I ended up making 3 more batches to try and even it out a litte. It was a long night, and the cookies still had too much nutmeg, but they actually went over just fine the next day. Cristian and I were amazed. Don't worry, I still have about 2 1/2 batches of this in my freezer. Anyone want some? The above picture is my mess of a kitchen during the whole ordeal.























I had to show a picture of Cristian carving our pumpkin the other day. He does not mess around. He busted the power tools out and everything. It did go a lot faster, which I am all about. We have a tradition on Halloween that I make some yummy soup from scratch (this year was chicken tortilla, from the afore-mentioned recipe book, no typos) then watch some kind of tv/movie while passing out candy and eating candy until we are sick. So fun. We ended up with way too much candy left over. I went a little over board. So, we are still eating candy until we are sick. Love Halloween.

Still playing catch up

I think most of you know I am not a very timely blogger. So, since there are things I still want to share, I have to turn back time a little. The first, and most important, was Cristian birthday last month. He turned the big 3-4! We didn't do a whole lot that first day because he is in school and busy, but we sure did roast some smores on the fire pit I gave him. It was great. That weekend we celebrated with my cousins and my Uncle Tom. (Aunt Ruth was otherwise engaged, and we missed her.) Here are some pictures:
I lit up that cake like the Fourth of July, there were so many! Hee hee. It was pretty funny. My cousin Emily

and I were laughing pretty hard as we lit them.














So, Brooke and Emily started this tradition of the Awesome Birthday Sombrero. Luckily I have a husband who is an awesome sport. It is pretty sweet. Cristian, Happy Birthday, I love you!


So, aside from the birthday, we have planted a garden. Note to Self- never plant pumpkin plants and zucchini plants in small spaces. I am waiting for the Giant to come down from the beanstalk. Only the patch under the window is the actual soil. The rest is our patio. And yes, it the pumpkin grew through the legs of the white chair, so it is there to stay until the garden dies, which it may, since i am not a green thumb. However, we got some nice zucchinis.

I should have done this a month ago...

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Aida. Enjoy. I had a great time. Cristian's set looked great, and he got favorable mentions in the reviews we saw.

Prologue --->

My Boy Toy and me in the "My Strongest Suit" scene. (That's Joel. He actually wanted to be wearing a boe tie, but our director nixed it).












This is the end of Strongest Suit, after a super-fast quick change. Nice bootie shorts. Really sweaty, hot vinyl. Awesome.














After another, even faster, quick change, this next picture is the banquet with Brandon Albright, who played Radames. Sweating bullets by now.
This is Ty Lewis and I. She played Aida. She and Brandon were both awesome, and we loved working together. Then there is the bedroom scene, where I am a little excited about being married to Radames.



















A little more excited than he is, apparently.






Here we go, singin about lovin' the same man.





Classic Love Triangle, with really sweet clothes to boot. Then we have my "I just realized my life sucks" song, called "I Know the Truth." Complete with an on-stage costume change. Don't worry, it was very modest and tasteful.


And, eventually, we come full circle. And yes, Brandon's abs are painted on. The power of make up. And no, those are not my real bosoms, shall we say. They were greatly enhanced. My director wanted Amneris to be endowed like his wife is. Seriously. Good thing it worked for the character.


This is Ty and I and Leigh, our amazing, prego, Aussie, kick-butt dresser. She kept us both sane and dressed appropriately.

Post-show hair. This is why I wore hats after the show. Rockin.


And lastly, the cast photo with Cristian's great set. That is me in the center, in maybe the most uncomfortable position I have ever had to hold. Painful.
One of the reasons I love theater is that I can be, can create, someone totally different from myself. I usually play characters that require me to do some heavy physical alteration, like wigs, stylized makeup, etc. That is really fun for me. I loved playing Amneris and exploring someone new. The costumes were great and helped me to physically be someone I am not in real life. This may not make sense to anyone, but it does to me, and it is what I love.

I am in love with Oregon

Seriously. Specifically of the Medford variety. That is where Cristian and I went last month for the Riding Family Reunion. Hosted by my sister Cyndi, it was perfect. Fabulous weather, fun events/activities, and good company. I love my family. I already mentioned the talent show, but here are a few of the other activities we did:


Hung out at Cyndi's beautiful house. This is Cristian reading books to some cute boys. He was totally the favorite uncle.


This is what I like to call the "Ghana Grab." It is where my mom brings out her suitcase full of Ghanian gifts and we all figure out what we want for ourselves. It gets pretty rough. I think I gave my niece Jen a black eye over a hand bag. Just kidding. We went to Crater Lake, a GORGEOUS natural lake up in the mountains of Oregon. It used to be a volcano, and long story short, is now a crater with water in it.
The fam at Crater Lake. There are kind of a lot of us now.

This is Katherine. I should mention she is the last in a long line of beautiful children created by my brother Gary and his wife Melissa. I also mention this because Melissa credited her still being alive to Cristian's multiple times of steering her away from the pool. And yes, that is also her at the top of my entry with her brother Matt and the essential Children-stuffing-their-face-full-of-watermelon picture.
Of course any gathering is not complete without Sister Riding's scones!














We also visited a little park with a big model train to ride. we all indulged our inner child and rode the train, including Grandpa and Cristian.














On Monday we set out for the Treesort, a bed-and-breakfast where all the rooms were treehouses. It was so fun! Ours was the Cavaltree, You can't see it very well behind the trees on the right. But it was a tent with a bed that we used and then another treehouse above it that some of the older boys slept in.
For more information on this place you can go to www.treehouses.com
We also hit the California Coast and the Redwood Forest. It was awesome and made me not want to go home to Las Vegas even more. The weather at the beach was perfect.














This is Cyndi and Melissa, and my nephew Ethan, and of course cute Kate.

My Dad took this picture, since Cristian and I have hardly any pics together. What can I say, one of us always has the camera.

It was an amazing trip, I really did not want to come home. Only because Vegas is barren desert compared to Oregon. Compared to anywhere, really. Yea for family vacations. Cristian and I are on our own next summer since my parents won't be coming back from Ghana until November 2009. Maybe we will have our first official Bell Family Vacation and go backpacking in Bryce Canyon.

Matthew "I am 4 and3/4 "Riding

My nephew Matt is so stinkin funny. Last month Cristian and I went up to Oregon for a Riding family reunion hosted by my sister Cyndi in Medford. I will post more on this later, but for now i will talk about Matt. He liked to say he was "4 1/2" until I mistakenly told him that since his birthday was in October, he is actually 4 and 3/4. Boy, did he love that. But my favorite part, of possibly the whole week, was our annual talent show. Matt decided to sing a song, and he loves the Jonas Brothers. Particularly a song from "Camp Rock" (some movie they just did). So he goes off and sings it, and I might have cried a little. No, I did. It was the funniest, cutest thing you can imagine because he fully committed, actions, vocal styling and all. It was pretty amazing. Honestly, he has a great little voice. Anyway, I added some video, so enjoy. The only problem is, I recorded it vertically on my camera and can't figure out how to rotate it. So does anyone know and want to share? Jamie B, are you out there? Also, my time limit was only 30 seconds, so I am putting 2 shots in, but it is so worth watching.

Kill Me Now

I am so tired today. My show started last night, and it was pretty fun. I had some serious first-night jitters. The weird thing is, I don't get nervous until right before I am on stage. Then I want to hyperventilate. Combine that with a dress that is so tight I can barely move, and a lift lifting me up on a platform high upstage, and I am also trying to focus on moving gracefully and not tripping and killing myself. It was a little nerve-wracking. I think overall the show went alright though. The audience was really good and supportive, so that helped a lot. I truly believe that a show always gets to a point where it cannot progress anymore until there is an audience, and that was the case last night. The energy from them helped us all so much. Anyway....

That is not the only reason I am tired. Some people from the cast convinced me to go out for food after the show. I have said no many times, but this time I said yes. Stupid, stupid. I got to bed at 1 am and woke up at 5:30 this morning for work. Am I getting old? A lot of these people are younger than me, and they just go, go, go. I can't do that anymore. I have to have my sleep, and will even take the Party Pooper title in order to get it. (My husband would agree with this one). I am all about playing after a show every once in a while, but on a week night? Am I my mom?

Long, rambling, sleep-deprived story concluding, I will be taking a nap today before my show tonight. Thank you.

Shameless Plug

Ok, this is a total shameless plug, but I would not be a good performer if I never marketed myself. I am doing "Aida," a musical with music written by Elton John and Tim Rice at Super Summer Theatre this month. It will be out at Spring Mountain Ranch from Aug. 13- Aug. 30, Wed- Sat. shows. Anyone who is in town, your support would be great, and I have to say, you would see a fabulous show. You can get tickets and information online at www.signatureproductions.net.

If you come, I will be out on Wed., Aug. 20, and Sandra Huntsman, my understudy, will be doing the show. So if you care about seeing me play the role, then just don't come on a Wed. and you will be fine. By the way, for those of you who know the show, I am playing Amneris, an Egyptian princess, on of the principle roles.

My talented husband Cristian designed the set, so it is fun to be involved in a project together.

I have not done Community Theater since joining Actors' Equity Association, my union, and it has been so great doing a show again for the simple love of it, and to be with people who are doing it for the same reason. This is not their job; it is their hobby, and they want to be there. It is very refreshing.

Anyway, come put a blanket on the grass, have a picnic dinner and watch a show, you will have fun, I promise.

Complete!

Cristian is home! Yeah! He got home Wed. morning at about 6am after an 18 hour drive. The last 3 days have been absolute bliss. I don't think we will ever do a 2-month-er ever again. Worth it this time, but not again. We hope.

My long lost husband

So, Cristian has been living in Tulsa, Oklahoma since early May working at a Theater. It was a great opportunity for him to get some experience in his chosen field of Tech. Direction, so we were excited about it. Two months apart, not the most fun I could think of, but no problem. I have actually always been good with alone time, as I believe I have said in an earlier entry, and I am working on a show at night, so I am pretty busy and time goes quickly. I have also gone out to see him twice, complete with sleeping in two twin beds pushed together in his dorm room on the University of Tulsa campus. Thankfully the people in charge were wise enough to give him his own room. We had a great time, truly.

But, ok seriously? It's getting really old to live by myself. I want my husband back. Cristian comes home in about 2 1/2 weeks, and I can barely stand it. I am ready for the other half of my bed to not go completely undisturbed at night, and I am ready to buy a full gallon of milk again, not just a half gallon. I am ready to see the truck outside in our driveway. I am ready to do more than one batch of laundry. More than anything, I am ready for my husband to crush me with his backside as he slides into me to say prayers at night. I am ready to not have to just talk to him on the phone every day.

I was told today by a good friend of mine that a sweet older lady in our ward (who I adore, by the way) asked her if I was married. And if so, whether my husband was a member of the Church, since she never sees him. Yikes. Fortunately, most people in our ward are wonderful and always ask about Cristian, how he is doing, how I am doing without him, and when he gets back. That has meant so much to me that people care about him.

I am so glad Cristian has had this job, I think he has learned a lot, and it has been a good thing for him, and for us. So I feel this has been worth the separation. I just really miss my man and am ready for him to come home.

Why, Hair, Why?

So, my cousin Emily is in hair school. She is really talented and has been coloring my hair for a while and last week she cut it as well for the first time. I tried something a little different and told her to just do whatever she wanted. I trust her completely. She gave me some bangs and a few new aspects to my hair, and it was really cute. The next few days i enjoyed my new hair style and got many compliments on my look. Then came the dilemma that has plagued me my whole life. I had to wash my hair sometime, right?

The problem is I have a disability called Hair-Retardation. It ranges from mildly inconvenient to debilitating. I cannot, for the life of me, replicate what Emily did to my hair to make it so sleek and shiny and sassy. It has been a hard week, complete with a last minute trip to Wal-Mart for some head bands to try and salvage the mess I made. I wish I had some pictures to show, but I also kind of don't want this documented. Am I forever banned from the freedom of certain hairstyles by my disability? Can I get a handicapped parking sticker for this?

To the Jacksons

I was heartbroken this past week as I heard about the tragic accident that befell some friends of Cristian and mine. Molly and Vic Jackson's daughter Lucy choked on a piece of apple and had to be life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake. I don't know all the details, but she went into a coma then passed away on Thursday. She would have been 2 years old on June 11.

I cannot imagine the pain and sadness of losing a child and I salute you, Molly and Vic, for your strength and testimonies. I cried as I read your blog and saw the hope you have in a resurrection; you know this is not the end and you will see Lucy again.

Our prayers are ever with you both.

I have pictures again!

We never found our camera usb cable, but we did find another one that works, so we finally were able to download pictures. I don't have anything really exciting going on right now, but I did want to post pictures from our anniversary in January. We stayed a night at the Venetian Hotel down on the Strip. It was gorgeous, and so fun. We ate at a great French restaurant called Bouchon. Yummy. I have to say, I was in charge this year, and Cristian didn't know anything until the last minute. I did a good job. I have the hardest time keeping secrets from him, but I pulled through, and he loved it. This is our room. Every room at the Venetian is a suite. I t was so beautiful. One of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in. This is us down in the Canal Shoppes, where you can take gondola rides with people who sing Italian arias to you and pretend they are from Italy. They're not. I know these things, I have friends who are Gondoliers, so don't be fooled if you ever take a ride. Sorry to spoil it for you. Also, we wanted a treat so we went to the food court and got these shakes from Johnny Rockets, you know that 50's style diner, and they were like, $7 each. What a rip off.
I just want to say how grateful I am for Cristian. He is definitely who I need to be with. He is funny, kind, hard-working, creative, handsome, and wise in many ways I am not. He has taught me more in the last three years than I ever thought I would need to learn, (but don't worry, I did, and I keep learning) and I am so glad he chose me. My life is more complete with him as my partner, and I can't imagine my life without him. Did I mention I am crazy in love with him? And, by the way, next year it is his turn to plan. He always comes up with something good.

jet-setting couple?

Well, today I am off to LA for a Teacher's Conference for the vocal organization I am a part of. I will learn all about ways to improve my teaching, which I am very much looking forward to. I really won't know anyone, so most likely I will be playing it stag all weekend, but I am ok with that. I tried to get Cristian to come with me since he would get to see some good friends while I am in classes, and it would be fun to have him along in general. He is my husband, after all; I like to hang out with him on occasion. But he has too much going on at school and just can't get away. Such is the life of a graduate student in the Theater Arts. Always weekend work.

But I realized this morning that most of the time when we are out of town, it is either one or the other of us. We very rarely get to go somewhere together, usually because one of us is tied up at home, or we are not invited. By that I mean, for example, Cristian's 2 week internship he just completed in Denver. We probably go somewhere together twice, maybe three times a year, out of all the other times when one of us is gone. That happens to be a lot, between the two of us. Just this last month, C went to Denver for 2 weeks, was home for a week, then Houston for a week, now he is home, and I leave today for the weekend. That is a lot in one month, even for us. But this summer he will spend 2 months in Oklahoma working at a theater there. Obviously, I can't go with him since I have a job here and other responsibilities. I will go visit him a few times, and other than that, I have a few other trips planned on my own while he is gone. I figure, if he is gone anyway, I might as well make the best of it and enjoy myself.

Does this solo-traveling seem weird? We never think about it I guess because if we could we would go together, but we just do what we have to do. We are both pretty independent people, and by now we are used to it, so it's not a problem, just interesting.
Don't get me wrong. I miss him when we are apart, absolutely. The really important times, like weddings and family reunions, we go together, no question.
It just hit me today how busy we both are. I am totally rambling now, so I guess I am done.

Oh where, oh where...

Has our camera cable gone? You know the cable that hooks up your camera to the computer so you can download pictures? We can't find it. Poor Cristian had to go to a meeting last night about being a set designer for a show, and he had no pictures to show his work. How embarrassing. I felt really bad about it, and I looked and looked last night, but it was no where to be found. That also means I can't post any pictures for a while until we find it or buy a new one. Boo. I was going to do some back tracking and post about our anniversary in January. It was really fun, but I have nothing to show for it.
I hate losing stuff. It drives my crazy. Back in our first apartment, our favorite cookie sheet disappeared, and even amidst moving multiple times, it has never been found. I don't get it. I especially hate the stuff like that. How does one lose a cookie sheet? Ok, I want to know the most random item that has ever been lost to you. Don't be shy. This is a time for sharing.

It's true...

I am super lazy. I do not blog nearly as much as I should, thank you, Beth. I need to start calling you my Blog-Conscience. I guess I never feel like I have that much to say, unless something big happens. But here goes.
Cristian just got home yesterday from a 2-week internship in Denver. Now, he goes out of town for various reasons a few times a year, therefore, leaving me home alone. I actually do just fine with this. I have always been good with entertaining myself, and "alone time," so as much as I miss him, I always use those days/weeks to watch movies I know he won't watch with me, and read good books.
The only thing I am not so good at is going to bed by myself. I am more or less ok, but I am really good at freaking myself out when I am in bed at night, and so at least one night when he is gone, I give myself a good scare. Before I go to bed, no problem. But as soon as I am at bedtime, I can go a little crazy. First, I lock myself in my room, when we never even close our bedroom door at night when we are both here. Then, as I read my scriptures, or whatever, you bet I am always listening for sounds, foot steps in the hall, etc. We even have an alarm system which pretty much guarantees that there is no one in the house but me, but I still do it anyway.
The first time he left town after we got married, one night I was so freaked out I took our butcher knife and stuck it underneath our bed. True story.
But, probably the best was just 2 weeks ago, right after he left, his parents were still in town with me and we watched this ghost show called "the Paranormal State" on A&E. I totally believe in ghosts and spirits, and after the second episode, I was sufficiently frightened of bad, angry spirits. Long story short, I not only locked myself in my bedroom, but I slept with my bathroom light on. I was very grateful that I was not alone in the house that night. Seriously, I am a 10 year-old sometimes. I need a night light.

So Busted...

I went to my high school reunion a few months ago, pretty confident that I did not need to have any of those conversation/confessions of teenage crushes with anyone. Well, that was true, but then this happened to me the other day...
I got a comment on one of my blog entries from someone named Nate. He was inquiring about me because he saw another blog in which I had referenced his name and he didn't remember me. I was asked to email him and explain how I knew him and the "embarassing moments" I had talked about. It was signed by none other than Nathan Seable! The hotty in the Concord 2nd Ward we all lusted after in high school. None of you can laugh because I won't name names, but I know you all thought he was hot too. We would always talk about that hot, quiet cowboy. And most of my high school friends know I have a string of moments I like to call my "Nathan Seable Saga." He didn't say whose blog he found me on, and I don't remember.
So I had to write that email that was totally the confession of "I had a crush on you in high school." I then proceeded to tell him, in a nutshell, about the "embarrassing moments." Like how I spilled food on him at a wedding reception, or was learning to drive in the Northgate parking lot while he and his dad were painting the Broncos mural, ( and then my dad, as stake president, HAD to go say hello), then how I ran, no leapt, into a mirror right in front of him during a blackout at BYU Education Week. So painful. Now I laugh really hard about all of these experiences, but I also never thought I would have to re-hash them to the man himself. I am sure he was laughing reading this email, and I was laughing writing it.
Needless to say, he remembered me and wrote back to tell me what he is doing right now. It all turned out just fine, but wow, it is a small world and karma really does come back to bite you in the &^%.

In Case Anyone Cares...

......I just got new headshots done. These were the two I chose out of about a million pictures. Headshots are always a kind of intense subject with actors. First of all, you have to find a good photographer, which I did, Alisia Packard. She does families and kids too for you Utah people; she also travels back and forth to NYC. alisiapackard.com.
The photographer needs to have the ability to make you look alive, not like you are just smiling nice for a picture. Then, what to wear? Something that shows your personality, but best to stick with classic styles for longevity purposes. And no loud prints. Please. These things are expensive and you want to be able to use them for a few years.
When all is said and done, you have to choose the BEST one, maybe two, shots. This usually comes after narrowing down, then again, then asking your husband to help and watching him throw half of the ones you actually like in the garbage. Then when you are down to just a few, you let the girlfriends you go to church with decide. That was kind of how it ended up going for me.
Now that you are up and running with the new shots, you are officially a slave to the look you currently have, so you can always be consistent with that picture. That is the worst part in my opinion. But these are like my calling card, how people remember who I am after an audition when they are going through all the headshot/resume combos of the people they saw that day. It's kind of crazy, I know. The funny thing is, I don't even audition that much right now, but I always need to be prepared for that last minute opportunity. Weird. But such is my life. Enjoy.