Heaven on Earth... literally

Right now it is 10:56 pm and I am here, once again, at camp Seabeck. I just finished the newsletter and I have some time and a good song is playing on pandora so I decided to take a second to write how I feel, because I feel good. There is a happy, warm fuzzy, safe, secure feeling I feel in the randomest places. One, for instance, was when I helped Ms.Lloyd and James and Megan with "In the Mood" back in February when my parents were in Europe. We had spent the past 11 hours setting everything up for the show and now were settling in in the "Booth" (the lighting booth/Ms.Lloyds office) to watch the show and work spots (Spotlights.)

It is a long, narrow rectangle. A couch sits on the back wall with pillows. There are stairs down to the lobby to the left and infront of the couch about 4 or 5 feet is the light board and then the sliding glass window that over looks the stage. On either side of the couch is bookshelves filled with plays. Pictures of former students and actors adorn the couch wall with play posters covering the lightboard wall and the stair walkway.

Anyways, I was sitting on the couch with James and Megan working the two spots and an extremely nice lady (I forget her name :() working the light panel and on headset. The show was starting and it was all quiet except the muffled sound of the show. 1940's jazzy music. An overwhelming calm feeling washed over me and I felt so safe and secure right there. It was nice

Now, here at the lodge at Seabeck at 11:00 pm I am feeling that same goodness and like I am safe and at home. That's the amazing thing at Seabeck. We see eachother for a week out of the year, we don't talk or hang out other than these few days, yet great friendships are made among all the people from year after year after year of coming and learning bits and pieces at a time. We leave and come back a year later but it is like the other 360 some odd days are edited out and we come back, friendships still fresh. And no matter how matter I complain, I really do love doing the newsletter. Giving people something to look forward to. I love when people come up to me and tell me that they like it. It makes me happy to be validated. That is why I love Seabeck and the people that come here. They all love eachother and accept eachother even though there differences between people. It doesn't matter, they are still good.

Long time No See

Holy smokes! I have not posted in like... 4 months! I blame it on the play. It took up all my waking hours besides school and even then they are practically one in the same. Then the end of school came and I'm pretty sure that I forgot that I even had a blog. Summer is finally here and I have soooo much to tell you about! Dinners that have been had, Flowers created, A flower Josh made for his sweatheart, learning french, the play itself and so much other wonderful stuff! Can't chat right now but Definitly in the very near future. We are leaving to go to Seabeck tomorrow and there will be tons of empty time just waiting to be filled with happy memories put into words :) Until then, Au revoir!

Sunshine

I finally finished my stich project! In case you can't read it it says "Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." I used some extra fabric I have from my quilt and then the frame is from St. Vincent de Paul's thrift store in Kent. People have been telling me lately of the wonders they've found at thrift stores and I decided to give it a try = Success :) Now, just to find a place to put it.

Rosemary Dinner Party Invites

Here are the invites I made. I think they turned out pretty good for just left over scraps.

The end is Nigh

Less than 3 hours and I shall be "homeless" no more! My parents come home tonight, their plane lands at around midnight. Because of jetlag and such, I will be going home after school tomorrow after school. They are going to pick me up! Just like the good old days! So in recognition of this special occasion I decided to make a list of all the things I love about my parents and my house:

• I love how I can always talk to my mom about everything and how I can trust her with all my secretes and such (because I have so many, right?:) Yes, I can tell some other people bits and peices of things, but my mom is the only one who knows it all and even when she is tired and just wants to go to sleep, she'll stay up and talk with me when I really need her to.
• My dad and his funny way of showing that he loves me :) like When I cook. I know I did a good job if he, jokingly, says that it's "edible".
• Lots of hugs from both of them
• My mom shopping and keeping the house stocked with fruits and veggies! We love costco ! Thanks mom!
• My dad always helping me with projects even though it was my fault for procrastinating.
• My parents both for picking up the slack when I don't do what I'm supposed to. One time I woke up late for seminary and my dad packed my lunch and made me a waffle so I could make it. I thought that that was really sweet
• Their constructive criticism/ advice when I really need it. Like if my outfit really just doesn't match or if they've noticed my fingers in the cookie dough a little bit to much, they lets me know and even though I don't always take it for what it is (constructive criticism) I really do appreciate it.

Things I miss about my house:

• My own bed
• Scrapbook stuff
• PIANO!!!!!
• Rides whenever I need them. Without feeling guilty that is: )
• X-box 360
• My bathroom (well... the kids bathroom I guess.)
  
• how close I am to certain things like Crestwood and friends
• EXERCISING!!!! ooh, I can't believe I almost forgot that one. I'm pretty sure I gained somewhere around 5 pounds this trip. I really need to get back in gear.
  
• My family all together
• my kitchen

I am Very excited to be getting back into my regular routine tomorrow!

Until then.

In the Mood

Yesterday I spent 13 hours at the theatre helping set up for a little musical called "In the Mood." It was a 1940's themed thing. They had a band come and it was all song and dance but 1940's style. It was adorable. I loved every minute of it! A big Penske truck came and we unloaded tons of wheeled crates and then set up everything: lighting, sound, set etc. I learned so so much and I was really grateful for Megan Ingalls and everything she taught me. I never really realized all that goes into a little production like that. Each and every light has to be focused, all the coloring and angles and diffusion and sharpness. Then for the sound: a million cables had to be labeled and hidden and then they had to calibrate all the speakers and make sure everything sounded perfect.

I thought that it was awesome that people came together with their specific talents to make this thing work. It was wonderful to see people all doing their thing and working together and how nice everyone was to each other.

Things are starting to be different soon though. Now people are finding out that I am mormon and I'm not sure that the theatre kids have had such a great experience with mormon kids. It's not that I was trying to hide it nor proclaim it, it's more of that I was trying to stay... neutral? Just be me, be a good example. I'm not sure how to handle this to tell you the truth. There are two sides of the spectrum and there is a very fine line in between. On one side there is the over zealous, crazy mormon child who tries to convert everyone and is a stickler about her beliefs and standards. Then on the other side there is the girl who wants to fit so she throws out her standards and is a mormon only around moron kids, who doesn't CTR and is only a mormon by title. I want to still be a good person and keep my standards, but I also don't want to get the "Preachy little goody-two-shoes" reputation because that doesn't help anybody. So here is the philosophy I came up with and I used swearing because that is the first problem I have encountered. I have been thinking about it a lot:

I don't swear. I don't ever plan on making that a habit. This is high school and other people do swear and there is no way around that. I ignore it the rest of the day, I can ignore it in the theatre. Yes, if it someone has an extremely bad swearing problem then I can ask them to stop but I am not going to go around looking for swear words so I can ask people to cut it out. People swear but I will not and what others say says a lot about who they are as a person and I will always remember that. "Be in the world but not of it" and that is my plan.

Beautiful Bellevue

On monday the wonderful Jacksons were kind enough to take Sabrina and I to Bellevue square to do some shopping. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to get out into the brisk morning air with the sunshine... Oh! It was perfect! Bellevue square is a place I have not had the pleasure of visiting before and it was like a vamped up AMC. It had bunches of stores in an open air mall/strip deal. I loved looking at GAP and Anne Taylor. Looking of course; I can't spend $300 on a pair of shoes... yet :)



I did get to go into a very cool place called The Body Shop. I had never been there before, only heard good things. Well I found a very good thing there.

My Friend Christy has oil blotting tissues and they were miraculous. I soon forgot about their magicalness until I saw these there. Because it was Presidents Day, there was a sale and I got 2 packs for $10 or 4x65 for $10. I am very excited because I used one today and it worked!!! My face gets really oily, especially around lunch time (7 hours of being awake) and so it will be perfect to de-grease my face before going to drama and the lights. Would hate for my face to glare too bad... Anyways. This was the highlight of my day.

We ate at Subway, which is a wonderful place. I got a good sandwich and used my free pass for the blog. It was good though. Thank you Jacksons for taking us out for such a fun day!