Theatre Conference!

For the past year and a half I have been the Primary Pianist. It has been one of the most fun callings I've ever had! I love hearing the kids learn songs, and I love hearing them pass off their songs, and sing so sweetly. Nothing brings the Spirit quite so strongly as when you hear a choir of children singing I Am A Child of God, or I Love to See the Temple, or my personal favourite: Families Can Be Together Forever. 

I was released from my calling today. 

There is good and bad to it. I have developed Carpal Tunnel in this pregnancy and so it's good in that regard because now my wrists won't be in so much pain after church, but I'm also very sad, because now I don't have any callings and I don't know what to do with myself. I am so sad that I won't be with the kids every week, but I am relieved that I will be able to have somewhat of a break before the new baby arrives and after. It'll make nursing at church a lot easier than if I had to be in the Primary to play. I'm sad, but I'm also very at peace with the events of today. I knew as soon as Brother Teeples called last night to have me come in today before church that I was going to be released.

This past week has been so incredibly fun! I met with Alyn and Kallee last week to set up our schedule for the rehearsal calendar for the Musical Theatre class so that we can start working on Aladdin with the kids! I am so excited to work with Kallee again, she is so incredibly talented and she is so much fun to be around. And then, of course, to work with Alyn. I say this after every show, but I seriously learn so much from her! She is an amazing teacher and I feel like I am always learning new things whenever I'm with her.

We also had the opportunity to go to Theatre conference with a group of kids on Friday! I had to be at the junior high at 7:30 am on Friday morning. I don't know about most people, but I haven't been awake and ready that early in a very long time! Since Jon would be at school and work for most of the day, once again childcare was left to my fantastic mother (I honestly don't know what I would do without her!). We decided that it would be much easier for Liam and I to just sleep over at my parents house, that way I didn't have to get up so early to get Liam and I ready, drop him off and go to the school. So Thursday night, whilst Jon was still working on homework, Liam and I got ready, packed an overnight bag and gave Jon lots of hugs and kisses and went on our way to my parents house. It was pretty relaxing actually! We got there about 7 pm, and so we had a good hour to play with Liam until his bedtime and then we brushed teeth, said prayers and then he went down for bed. After he was in bed, I decided that I would take a bath in my parents big bathtub! It was so nice to be able to just soak there, we have a tub at our house, but it's itty bitty, and not at all relaxing! So after that, I got out and got ready for bed. Then, I went downstairs into my old room, laid down and watched a movie, then finally went to sleep. I woke up so early, because I was so afraid of not waking up on time to get to the school! I showered, did my hair, and got dressed and ready to go! 

I got to the school at 7:30 and we got on the bus and we went to the Egyptian Theatre in Ogden where the workshops would be held. Alyn went and got us all registered and brought back our name tags and shirts and packets that had all of the info about workshops. I felt pretty important because my name tag had my name and then "faculty" written on it, letting people know that I was a teacher. I felt pretty awesome. 

The first workshop that I went to, I went with a cute girl who was quite shy who didn't have anyone else who wanted to go to that workshop. It was really interesting! It was called the Mastercraft of Colour and it was for technical design working with textiles and costuming. It was really intriguing and I loved the info that was given. The second workshop we went to was The Tangible Objective, this one was really fun because the instructor had several games that the kids played. One of them- the objective was to walk across the room with your eyes closed and pick up a shoe. He got several kids up and they all went for their shoes; then he had this one kid get up and he had him stand in a neutral position and breathe, I was sitting behind the kid and so I never saw his face, but the instructor kept telling him that he needed to stop making faces and just be neutral and breathe. This kid had the hardest time, and I could tell that he is constantly being the clown or the goofball, and that he probably didn't know how to just be neutral. This one girl who was sitting down said, "oh that's just him" and the instructor was very poignant as he said, "you are doing a disservice to him by saying 'oh that's just him'. Because this is not a person that I would ever cast in a show and for you to give him that crutch is enabling him." the room was dead silent after he told that girl off. Finally, this young man was able to not make a face and was able to just breathe and then they went on with the exercise. But it was interesting to see the difference in him between when he was "performing" and when he was just being real. 

After, we got lunch and then went to the keynote address, and then we got dinner and then went to see Oklahoma at Bonneville high School. Holy cow! They have some amazing male performers!! They were doing some really hard, intense ballet dances and their male actors had phenomenal vocals! I was surprised because the girls were not nearly as strong as the boys! It was a fantastic performance and I was very happy that I got to see it, and spend time with some of my junior high kids. I didn't get home until 11pm, and I was exhausted, but it was so much fun!

Mid January Update

We are well into January, and I have been so busy that blogging hasn't even crossed my mind! But, surprisingly there is lots to tell!

As a lot of you know, I work at Syracuse Jr. High under Alyn Bone- the theatre teacher- she was my high school drama teacher and after graduation, I still performed for her community theatre shows and started helping out when she would direct at Sandsprings Elementary. That sort of all blossomed into her hiring me to help out for her shows at the Junior High. I love it! This is seriously the best job ever! I go several times a week for a couple hours and still get to be a SAHM to my growing toddler! I get to work with the kids, and to teach them to love theatre the way I do and I get to watch them as they grow and progress! Our latest project was the 7th grade musical, which we finished up this week. We auditioned about 20 seventh graders-mostly girls- and only had to recruit three boys from higher grades, but we put on the show and it was so much fun. The performance was a short 45 minute musical with about five songs, and in teaching these songs there were days that I would be a little frustrated that the kids hadn't caught on as quickly, or when we got really into the thick of running the show that they would forget something that we gave them notes on. I would come home and express my frustration to Jon and my sweet husband would be the one to reel me back in and remind me that these kids are 12 for the most part and that I can't expect perfection. That was always a wonderful reminder to me- this is why I married him!
Even though I can't expect perfection, the kids did an incredible job performing! Opening night was a little rough, because this really is one of the first experiences that most of the kids had performing in front of an audience and there was that moment of sheer terror in a lot of their faces, but as the night progressed, they warmed up. Second night, which was our closing night, ran a lot smoother. They were so good! I was so pleased with how hard they worked and so proud of the fact that they did such a good job!

The next thing that is super important, well to me anyway, is that my sweet husband and good friends Cameron and Nate, brought over my treadmill that my dad had bought me ages ago. It has been in my parents basement for years untouched because it was in the storage space, but we brought it over so that I can walk in my third trimester, and then hopefully be able to lose all this weight I'm gaining. Truth be told, I lost twenty pounds in the first trimester and part of the second and then I have gained about five back. But considering that I gained about fifty pounds with Liam's pregnancy and then with the Postpartum Depression, I really have so much to lose still when this little one is born. I want to be back down to at least my pre pregnancy weight. I remember thinking that I was so huge before I had Liam, but then I got pregnant and then gained so much weight after his birth that I would give anything to go back to being that weight. But hopefully with the treadmill in the basement living room where we have our tv and relax, I'll be able to walk. I've done really good at walking the past couple of weeks, I wanted to get on every night, but some nights have been really difficult because I've been pretty exhausted with the last week before the show. But I'm feeling really good about walking and I've been able to up my speed and up my distance. That first day was really difficult and I only walked twenty minutes at a 1.9, because I just couldn't go any further without my belly aching. But I had bumped it up to thirty minutes at the 1.9, and then today I managed to do 1.05 miles in 30 minutes at a 2.5! and my belly only slightly ached.

Third Trimester hit last week, and it hit with a passion! I had been totally fine, and then it was the day that I turned 28 weeks and all of a sudden I was exhausted, and I felt like a hungry, hungry hippo! I wanted to eat anything and everything! It was ridiculous, and I kind of went slightly overboard and I made myself two sandwiches for lunch.... TWO! Yeah, that can't happen again. At least it was healthy foods that I made two of, because when I was pregnant with Liam there was one time that I went out and accidentally came home with the 12 taco box from Taco Bell... and then I accidentally ate all of them. At least haven't had a taco incident in this pregnancy! Overall, I feel as though I've done pretty well food wise. I'm trying to eat really healthy and not gain too much weight.

Jon and I are officially adults now! We have a Costco Membership and everything! I really like the Costco Brand Diapers and Wipes and so we went and got a box for Liam today and then we started stocking up on little ones diapers. We still have so much to do to get ready for his arrival, and I feel like we aren't as on the ball as we were with Liam, but also Liam was due in the middle of the summer, so we had a good couple months to get ready for him with no stress. This one is a little bit different because he's due in April, right before/in the middle of finals and so we really have to wait for Spring Break in March to do everything in that week! Not that it's a ton, but we have to get his room ready and painted and then we need to bring up all of Liam's newborn-3 month clothing and get that all situated. Anyway, back to Costco, we went there today to get diapers, and we left with much more! Liam got really annoyed at sitting in the front and so we took him out and let him sit in the back of the cart, and he LOVED it! Until we had to put him back in the front because we were buying some bigger boxed things and needed the space. Then he threw a mini fit in the store, with tears and everything, but then he calmed down later.

Overall, we've had a pretty enjoyable January so far!! I am so excited, because on the 17th I get to go to theatre conference with Syracuse Jr. High! And then on the 27th, I have another doctors appointment. My last one going at a month, before starting the two week regiment of third trimester! It's hard to believe that I'll be delivering our second baby in just 11 weeks! I have 82 days left until the due date and as far away as it seems, it's really not! 

Happy New Year!

The New Year has officially been rung in! What wonderful things are in store for this upcoming year! But before we look forward, I want to touch on some highlights of this past year.

ME:

• I have had perfect vision for a whole year now, January of 2013 I went in for LASIK and was given the gift of sight! I am so grateful for the modern technology that allowed this remarkable thing to happen! I was almost legally blind, and now I have perfect vision. It's wonderful to not have to rely on glasses or contacts anymore.
• I overcame Postpartum Depression. This was something that I was very afraid of not being able to overcome, but through the power of prayer and the Priesthood, my family, friends and my God I was able to overcome the negative feelings that I had about myself. It's so unbelievable to me that I was feeling like that just a year ago. It feels like it's been eons. 
• I musically directed with Alyn at SJH.
• I performed in the worst show I've ever been in. 
• I found out that I was expecting our second baby 
• I went back to work with Alyn and was the assistant director for the school play and am the music director for the 7th grade musical
• We found out that Liam is getting a little brother!
• I switched doctors because Dr. Hall retired. But I am now with Dr. Johnson at Tanner Clinic and I am very excited to have him as my new doctor. I was very happy with my appointment time with him yesterday.

JON:

• Finished his last semester at SLCC and transferred all of his credits to Weber for Fall Semester
• Worked at Resolutions, Salt Lake School District, Avantguard and recently got a job working at Weber State!
• He did so much work around our house this summer and painted the whole outside of the house. Took a lot of work, a lot of days, and a lot of Motrin but he did such a fantastic job!
• Started Fall semester at Weber State and got a 4.0!
• Got an amazing present from his wonderful wife and when he moved his office downstairs he was able to set up two computer monitors and a second desk. He claims that he has upgraded.
• Made the final degree change from Business Administration to Applied Mathematics

LIAM:

•  Learned how to crawl, stand and walk all in this year
• Performed in his first musical in April as the Elephant Bird in Seussical Jr. He loves applause!
• He turned ONE and we had a wonderful day with him at the Aquarium. He loved watching all of the fish
• He was the cutest little Batman for Halloween!
• Liam went into Nursery! He loves playing with all of the toys and the other kids. Still learning the importance of sharing, but it's a work in progress!
• We took out his crib and he moved into his big boy bed. It was a very exhausting week, and he still doesn't love it, but he's done so incredibly well in his big boy bed. 
• He is still the most friendliest, kindest kid you'll ever know.
• He has a very special relationship with his papa. He lights up whenever my dad walks through the door, which is so sweet to me. 

These are some of the highlights of the year, and I am so grateful that I have my little family. This year will bring lots of new changes as well! We will be adding a new member to our family, and we couldn't be more thrilled. We are pretty sure this is our last baby and as disappointed as I was that I am not going to get my little girl, I am so excited that Liam will have a little brother to play with. I am going to be overrun by testosterone being the only girl in the house. But I couldn't be more thrilled that our baby is healthy and that he is growing nicely. I watch Liam and see how much he's grown in just the past year and it's amazing to me how much can change. Jon and I have been together for almost 6 years and will have been married for 3 in March, and who would have thought that when we met for the first time that September of 2009 that we would be married and have almost two kids in this time. I knew he was special when I first met him and he's definitely lived up to that first impression of him.