The Interview

  Last Friday Great Lakes Science Center asked me to interview as an engagement specialist and to prepare a 3-5 minute presentation on the scientific topic of my choice. I’d applied but didn’t expect to hear back and was surprised to get the call. I was even more surprised at the words “presentation on the scientific topic of your choice.”  The word ‘surprised’ here means an internal freak out of nearly hanging up the phone proportions. Erm….
 When my bro and I were young homeschoolers in love with such shows as Bill Nye and The Kratz Brothers we thought it would be super cool to have our own show as a brother/sister duo from a Creationist perspective. That said, Dev would provide the actual know how on factual things while I would provide whatever on screen antics were necessary. Devan is also brilliant at on screen antics but the fact is I’d need a script and he could have written it. Dev used to bury himself in DK books, field guides and thick encyclopedias of nature facts. When enrolled in public kindergarten for the week and a half it lasted, he walked by what was my old classroom [which I‘d loved], peeked in at pictures of dinosaurs on the walls and said  to his teachers surprise “Oh look it’s a (some highly scientific and difficult to pronounce and not known by most 5 yr old words here)”
  He left kindergarten in tears about a week later complaining that “all they do is draw circles and cut them out!!”
 On the flip side of this his older sister loved kindergarten and craft time and Sesame Street. ...
  Despite the slight flashback this phrase brought I did NOT hang up the phone and after a pause ventured “Now, I gather you’ll be evaluating me on my presentation skills & not my scientific know-how ?”  Oxygen returned to my brain upon hearing the words "Yes. Of course, if you say something blatantly wrong we’ll call you on it, but yes.” Crisis averted.
 Still I was freaking out a bit, not at all sure what I should speak on or what ‘presentation’ fully entails. I mean are we talking power point here or what? Thankfully I had the privilege of performing Shakespeare scenes with a couple of actors who in fact work at GLSC. A love for the Bard and mutual fondness for Pho made for a fast friendship with one such actor. I excited/panic texted her and was enormously thankful for her input and encouragement which included “Do NOT do a power point unless they ask for it”.
When helpful roomie Cassie got home I told her the news & she asked what I’d present on.
“I have no idea.”
“Whales! You have to do it on whales.”
  This woman is smart.  I could easily talk on this subject over 5 minutes even without prep. Which I began to do in the shower, on walks to the grocery store, and around the house to see what material I already had. I decided to divide it into three categories- blues for their size, humpbacks for their song and grays for their long migration-and got to work fact checking and arranging the presentation. I learned some cool stuff including the proper size comparisons for a blue whale, which are pretty awesome (100 people could fit in a blue whale’s mouth and it’s heart is the size of a mini cooper. It’s HEART! Seriously, you could crawl through it’s major arteries. The thing is huge. Thank God they’re docile!)
 Brainy bro Dev looked over my material and gave some pointers and encouragement (after inadvertently giving me the 3rd degree via text. “Who is your audience? How long do you have? What kind of presentation? When is it?” “Dev, you‘re freaking me out!” “Sorry.”) and after polishing and prepping on Monday I was about ready to go.
 Job searching in the dead of Cleveland’s coldest in decades winter is possibly when I most pointedly feel the annoying side of my car-less state of being. Usually a tromp through snow and ice and ridiculous temperatures to the bus involves layers of real clothing, hats, scarves, general warming wear. Bundled properly, I don’t much feel the cold or the harshness.
 Enter job interviews. Suddenly a certain ‘look’ is necessary, often involving hose and heels and dresses. When I see women running around in hose and obviously too little clothing for March, I often scoff glad for leggings and thermals. Now I get to be this person. And this person was very grateful for the pretty, long, heavy dress coat her friend bought her in St Louis because even with it she still froze her butt off. How do business women do this?!
 Hopping off the bus a tad early, which means a longer walk, I run into CVS to get my single prop, a print of me kissing the baby grey whale at Magdalena Bay in Baja California. I consider not risking the time but will have to ditch this part of my presentation if I don't because without the evidence I think it will seem made up. I calculate the time carefully hoping the bumper is enough even though the quirky guy at the register still has to print my pics which annoyingly wasn’t done. He’s kind though and I have just enough time.
“Just waiting on Miss Whitacre’s prints. Here we go!” As he places them in a manila envelope and rings it up he remarks, “That is some interesting stuff! I think I need to be more diverse in my choice of activities!”
I laugh wondering what everyone in line behind me thinks might be in that envelope.
 And then out to the brisk! I run in heels for the first stretch both for time and hopefully body heat. Then I meet more crosswalks and slow it down. The air is like swallowing ice water and is so piercing I feel like my body might explode. I have never been this cold. The Lake becomes visible and the sight of it makes me colder still. It’s ice as far as you can see. It’s magnificent and if my thoughts weren't so frozen I would be mesmerized at one of Cleveland’s many overlooked attributes. But I am frozen and that occupies all of my brain space.
 I make it and wonder what my hair must look like as, halfway here, I decided to don a hat after all. The other darn applicants are so dang early a quick bolt into the bathroom for a mirror check is not in the works. I feel discombobulated and try arranging myself noting as I do that the women waiting with me have arms full of actual science looking props and that they evidently have science &  teaching backgrounds. I am the odd duck actress in the room. Because I was already cold and now need to take off the one shield I have, my large coat, I don’t ever actually warm up and when we get a break later on I dodge into the bathroom & realize my lips are actually purple. Odd duck actress now looks like an idiot who can’t dress herself. Awesome.
 We get upstairs, I’m still cold, my phone decides to play DC talk though the ringer is off, my materials feel like they’re everywhere and I have to pee. But this museum is totally cool and I am so gonna ride this wave. One of the other applicants remarks (not unkindly) that she’s impressed I could fit all my material into one bag. Seriously these women have beakers and bags and stuff and I have zero props aside from my possibly cheap shot picture of me and the baby gray. During the audition we pair up and find an exhibit to present with our partner. All the other applicants actually know things while I get excited that an echo machine looks like it came from Dr. Suess. My contribution to the zoetrope presentation with my partner is cartoon knowledge.
 Mostly I’m just amused by all of this and intrigued by a new feeling; The Uma/Janeane Switch.
 There’s a movie I enjoy that is a gender reversal of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac. It stars Uma Thurman as the leggy, gorgeous, brainless model and Janeane Garofalo as the intelligent, snarky, guy-ignored radio host. They forge a friendship through the misled and somewhat accidental venture of winning a guy with Uma’s appearance and Janeane’s wit.
“You and I together make the perfect woman!” Uma excitedly pronounces.
“No you and I together make the perfect political prisoner. What we really do well is act self-righteous and starve.” counters Garofalo.
 Generally in my life I have related to Garofalo’s role. (When she finally gets a chance to talk on her own to the handsome Brit she likes she drops salsa on her t-shirt which she then scoops off with the offending tortilla chip.) So it was very strange to suddenly feel a role reversal. I didn't suddenly become drop dead gorgeous & free of thought and certainly these women weren't unattractive or overly snarky, but they actually knew what they were talking about, I didn't and yet my presentation skills trumped theirs. I thought how strange if I were to get this job, if I really was what they were looking for, that it would mean stage presence beat out actual scientific know how. I thought how frustrating that could feel to someone with a well grounded scientific background.
 Presentations themselves were fun. One other applicant had some theatre experience but more so in science & I found it interesting that we were the only 2 to stay in the time frame.
  Even though I didn't have stunning props, my blue whale facts were pretty sweet and the ladies were kind and gave me their attention. Afterward I told one of the other applicants her presentation was really cool (It was. She had beakers and chemicals. There was smoke and it was awesome.) and she thanked me and said  she was impressed I could keep her engaged with just words. Also one of the applicants brought Oreo s which was super smooth move. And tasty too.
My interviews afterward went well and the staff members used really positive language that made me think they were interested. The first was an actual scientist who shared with me that when he first came it was a strange adjustment for him that they wanted actors more than scientists. That made me feel that a) they really were looking for actors even though I felt the odd man out, and b) I was right about how strange it must be to accept that from the other side. In the next interview they told me I’d be a good fit for such and such and could tell the age group I preferred by my presentation [I may or may not have done a Dory speaks whale imitation.] which was where they thought I’d fit. It was all encouraging and I’ll know by Monday. Either way it was a really good and stretching experience.
 Leaving the museum I took a moment for how cool this whole thing was. I walked past the Omnimax box office and could look out to Lake Erie just 20 feet from the lobby. Since my brain had thawed I thought of the things I love about Cleveland and how cool it would be to work here at GLSC. I took the train back this time and it looped me around to Tower City providing a stellar view of the city and taking me under bridges I hadn't noticed, seeing architecture and angles of the city I've missed. A daily commute to the Great Lakes Science Center is something this odd duck actress certainly wouldn't mind. Especially if she can wear real clothes.

Let the Adventures Begin

Today Terrell and I had a long day prepping H4 to be polished and ready to perform on Wednesday, running through workshops, and loading up the van for the start of a fall season of taking Margie & Mike and H4 (or so we call it) to schools in Ohio and also Pennsylvania and Michigan. We got to the rehearsal space at 9:30 and made our last trip down the elevator after load in at 6:30. After the last load of stage equipment going into the van we both collapsed against the elevator walls and laughed at the unplanned mutual expression. "This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership." Only not the beginning because we've just spent the past month getting these shows ready to hit the road. As we finished up final touches to H4 today Nina commented on the subtle but poignant changes "Wow, you miss a day...." Because of how right she was I couldn't help but think what it would be like if someone had missed a week. It's been so fun to watch how this brand new show has evolved as we've worked it this past month. I ran across pages from the first draft the other day and laughed at how foreign some of the lines seemed now. Watching the characters and story become more concise, direct, and tight has been a fun adventure. And now we'll get to watch and see how the kids react, what they relate to, where they laugh, and where they don't.

Nowadays there are multiple moments where something brings me back to the happy reality of "This is my JOB. And I love it." Today one such moment came when Al gave me t-shirts to try on for going to schools. They have the Cleveland Play House logo on the front and it made me grin to remember yet again that this is where I work. So good. 

Befriend Faithfulness

Today at the Bucks I'm working second bar pouring milk and prepping the usual long line of cups for my co-worker Mark. I remember him mentioning being part of a play at his church and ask if that's still going on. It is.
"Yup. I've been an actor for 10 years now." says he as he finishes off a grande nonfat, no foam, with whip, caramel macchiato. Oh the lingo that is now a daily part of my life.

 I do some math in my head not counting elementary days of locking myself in my room and singing at the top of my lungs to The Commitments or Sister Act soundtracks, not counting when I was four and my aunts or Mom would hold my nose and tell me to say "Hello Max" like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard ( I knew to lift my chin and look down my plugged nose too sending them into peals of laughter), not counting Christmas pageants and chicken out auditions and summer theatre camps. Choosing to count from my first real production at the Old Opera House, aka my second home and local community theatre growing up, I total the math while pouring 2%.

"16 years for me." I say not a little proudly and with a happy smirk, not necessarily because I've chronologically one upped him- I am after all older than he is, but because I'm proud to say it's been that long that I've been an actor. Which makes the next part sting more.

"You're an actor?"

Oi. When I first learned Mark was an actor I didn't even throw in 'me too' because in most other settings of my life that's just been a given. It's what I did. Not so in this season of my life it seems. "You're an actor?"
It isn't the first time though that what I have considered such a substantial part of my identity hasn't even been known about me. I've waded through patronizing comments and outright laughter and confused looks while waiting tables on the boat. Sometimes I just wanted to scream out 'You don't understand! This is what I'm GOOD at!'

 But I don't understand either really. I don't understand that it is something I"m good at and yet...
yet it's really hard for me to think of it in terms of an actual career. For myself at any rate. And after being in New York for a short time I feel I've stalled out somehow. And I question myself where it fits in my life. But while the question is still there withdrawal is setting in, it always does, and I want to do what I'm good at again. And I get really kooky.

And so while I take over for Mark whose shift is over I daydream about running away to LA. Watching clips of the Golden Globes and going to the movies with my roommate I crave to be in films. I am a goof and I love watching things like the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Seriously, it's like my Super bowl. And I do get excitedly involved as if touchdowns are happening for my home team. I like seeing all these actors familiar from the screen together in one room. It's just exciting.
So I daydream about LA. And I wonder what I'm doing with my life and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life and what God wants me to do with my life. And while making espresso drinks in Cleveland Clinic I remember this verse I stumbled on when I first moved here. It's in the Psalms and the part that comes to my mind is 'dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.'
Befriend faithfulness.
Earlier in this Psalm it also talks about delighting yourself in the Lord and Him giving you the desires of your heart. The desires of our heart are refined too and even changed sometimes as we do learn to delight ourselves in Him.
In these things I am encouraged even in the midst of work, in the midst of being really unsure. And when I get anxious and restless during the afternoon of coffee and customers and 'you're an actor?', wondering where I can best pursue what I'm good at, this answer comes back.
Befriend faithfulness.
 Be faithful.
Right now, in this season, be faithful to what is before you.
And I'm not always. Actually, I'm not often.
Be faithful in the small things first.

This helps. A lot. And the other things I've been reading and learning support this. That He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. That He works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. That what seems like random threads He has purpose for & in. That these desires of my heart He has set there for a reason and that I need to trust and follow Him.

Breaks

December 24th~2012

"Any special requests for Christmas? I'm guessing travelable?" read a text from my Mom a couple of weeks ago. In truth my answer was that all I wanted for Christmas was my a-fixed-up-tooth but I decided not to send a worrying response.
During an already emotionally down week I'd bit down wrong & felt a tooth give way and crack. The insurance I'm so happy to be getting soon would kick in in a month, but not sooner. So a cracked tooth was scary and not something I particularly wanted to deal with,  but there it was.

 This particular problem tooth had been giving me troubles since the year before. As an uninsured, acting student with a barely part time job in NYC, I went to a school of dentistry hoping for a quickish fix. Instead, after a long time and painful xrays that I needed much more work than I wanted or could afford or had to do with the immediate problem. I'd dealt with it since that time looking forward to when I could actually get the problem solved well.

 And now this. Being so close to insurance and having the break was frustrating. The thought of dealing with a break uninsured was emotionally obnoxious and scary. Yet there was a feeling of resignation too. That this or worse hadn't already happened was a remarkable provision and so was the fact that there was no real pain in loosing half a tooth.

 An email to my church community group leaders, David and Mary Bright, resulted in lots of prayers and a referral to their family dentist. Quick texts to co-workers meant a last minute shift switch that I was most grateful for and enabled me to make an appointment. The lack of pain was encouraging and I hoped and prayed that the dentist would be gracious and just do the bare minimum to keep that tooth healthy until it could be properly taken care of.

 My friend Chiara gave me a ride two days later and conversation with her encouraged me. A break of another kind had made the week before the cracked tooth an emotionally difficult one. Her words and the time with her were encouraging and helpful and I felt calmer when we arrived at the dentist. Prayers for provision and graciousness were abundantly answered and I left the dentists office beyond calm, I left joyful.
Considering this was an initial appointment I had anticipated being rescheduled for a later point to actually get down to business. Instead, to my surprise, a Novocaine shot and less than an hour later this capable dentist had my tooth entirely taken care of. Even better was learning that dentistry school had been wrong in saying a root canal and crown were necessary. And EVEN better the bill for being made all better was the same I'd paid for the consultation last year that had resulted in this apparently fictional burden. All this made my weird Novocaine smile even more lopsided as my grin grew.

 Breaks, of all kinds, suck. They're scary and no fun. But sometimes God uses them to get our attention and bring a wholeness or healing in a way we didn't expect. If my tooth hadn't cracked before I had insurance I would have chosen a dentist close by and not gone to such a helpful one further away. And would have missed the encouraging conversation with my friend.
 I would have felt in control but I'm not at all sure the provision would have been nearly like this.

 I'm not saying anything new here, I realize that, but though the principle may seem obvious, for me it's easy to forget the obvious. Sometimes the obvious thing eludes me exactly when I need it most.  So when the Lord lets me experience 'the obvious' in my own story and not just as a truth or principle, it's so good.  One of my favorite things is that while this recent provision itself was beautiful to experience it didn't stop there. God used it as a picture for an area of my life where it was more applicable, more necessary to remember, but less tangible to see.

 ~

Yesterday I found the seat saved for me by my friend Abbey in the Centrum Theatre where we go to church and happily sang with her and the rest of the congregation that hadn't yet gone away for the holidays. It occurred to me as we stood worshiping our Savior that while my initial reason for moving to Cleveland hadn't worked out that there were still beautiful things about being here for which I was grateful. And worshiping and learning and growing with the people at Gateway Heights church is high on that list. I don't plan to stay in Cleveland for very, very long and in many ways that makes my life feel very patchworky. However, God is sovereign and He uses all things to shape and place us. He uses all things to His glory and for the good of those who love Him. Lately I'm reminded of this and in this, in Him, there is peace.

' Praise the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever. '

Bite Size

 It's a simple fact that bite sized midnight milky ways are even better than the full size candy bar. Okay, it's a 'simple fact' that my opinion is such at any rate. Not that I'm not hating on the full size version of my favorite candy bar, just saying that bite size is an even better thing. Why? Because there's more semisweet chocolate to marshmallowy nougat ratio. It's perfect. And given that it's a darn good candy bar to begin with, improving on greatness in a bite sized snippet like that is pretty impressive.

 Another area where I've discovered the beauty of a snippet is in postcards. I used to be of the mind that a letter worth writing was worth writing long. To be worthy of sending I thought I needed to embark on a veritable novel. Apparently I had not yet stumbled upon Blaise Pascal's words, “I'm sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn't have time to write a short one.” In the last couple of years though I've discovered that I enjoy simply hearing from someone, and small notes from dear friends make me very happy. Along with this I recognized what a great little thing postcards are and started sending more of them and notes too. A postcard is  agreat little snippet because it can bring the receiver a bit of where you are in a visual sense as well as forcing the writer to either focus on a single moment or edit a full experience into a few sentences. It's a great exercise in editing yourself. Which is something that I could often use.
 
 "Bite sizes" are on my brain because of the inspiration of a wonderful woman whose radio ministry I benefit from- Joni Erickson Tada. Joni's ministry, Joni & Friends, includes daily encouragements & devotionals in 5 & 1 minutes segments. I used to hear her as a kid when WCRH was on at our house and when I was living in NYC last year I rediscovered these clips online. Keeping on track & motivated was often difficult in the Big Apple and I was looking for something to spurn me on. Dragging myself out of bed to get to Manahattan and the stockrooms at Macy's it was great to be able to listen to Joni remind me of the goodness of Christ, and Whose I am, and encourage me in living in the light. And because I often got up twenty minutes before I needed to head out the door it was great to know there was something short but meaningful to help start my day right.

 While listening to her out of the blue the other day-it had been a while since I'd listened to a clip- I found it inspiring that she was faithful to this part of her ministry that looks like such a small thing time wise but has a big impact.  It made me start wondering what I could do in five minutes. In one minute. Mostly in terms of what skills and gifts God has given me to use. Where can those go?Writing a full length play seems daunting. But can I get onto working some sketches? What can I do in bite sizes? 
 
 Not just me though. The reason Joni's work is so effective is because it is centered in God in Christ. It's not just her work. She's doing it but it's the work God gave her to do. That's something crucial for me to remember as I look to work on bitesizes. So I'm going to be praying about & taking action in bitesizes. Because little midnight milky ways are delightful.
 

Chcolate Pudding and Sunday Musings

I'm washing dishes when I hear my laptop give a subtle but firm
'Ding'
indicating something is wrong. The first one I notice but it doesn't faze me too much.
'Ding'
'Ding'
When the warnings continue into 2. 3, 4 I'm slightly baffled and curious given that I haven't been on my computer in about 20 minutes and no one else is touching it. I glance over and find that in actual fact that assertion is wrong. Because there's little Lily (who is undergoing a potential and trial name change. Mom thinks maybe 'Lily' is a little too soft and delicate for our wild little bit. I wonder why.) round and rounding on my keyboard trying to curl up for a nap and with my laptop protesting more and more frequently. This is after all the device I chased her around with the other night trying to get her picture. Obviously it's a landing pad for curious little kittens, and just the right size too.

 Upon rescuing said laptop I found that the touch pad was off, the keyboard not typing and the wireless disabled. sigh. Well sigh and laugh. The cat did inadvertently teach me some features on my laptop I was unaware of and all problems are now fixed.
~
 It's a beautiful Sunday with blue skies and no humidity. Sitting outside this morning it was actually even a little cool and I was reminded of fall days. Two times in particular. One from here at the Burrow the fall before I left for AmeriCorps. The feeling of doing a show I loved, a bag of great hand me downs, Halloween at our house, the great big spider web we made between two trees in the front yard, home school Mom's proclaiming my black outfit made me look like a New York actress. The feeling of home and doing what I loved.
The other a fall visit to Charlottesville, the nourishment of familiar camaraderie with an old friend, tea and talks, walk by the river with Bonnie and Maggie May. An October birthday and red lentil stew. The feeling of happy comfortable friendship.
In both, belonging.
 I love the fall and fall memories.
~
 This morning may or may not have started with chocolate pudding. Let's say it's safe to go with the first. I found an incredibly simple and delicious recipe for chocolate pudding on a Paleo website. For chocolate pudding it's fairly healthy too. If not healthy then certainly guilt free. Depending on what kind of coconut milk you use (I'd used unsweetened.) if you use good dark chocolate and good vanilla then the only sugar is from the chocolate and that is very minimal sugar. And in my opinion when it's dark and good quality the pros outweigh the cons anyway.
 Anyway, long and short is take
2 cans of coconut milk
2 cups of dark chocolate chips
1 dash vanilla
(the recipe called for cinnamon too but the Whitacre women decided to forgo such a silly interruption to chocolate.)
Combine the milk and choc over med low heat and add the vanilla. The recipe wasn't specific about how long to heat it so I just went until the chips had melted and a little longer. Really I think you can just go til the ingredients melt and combine. (only I could turn this simple recipe into a 4 paragraph novel.)
 Then pour it into some dishes, cover them and stick em in the fridge.
 You're supposed to wait about 2 hours but I think I barely made holding off that long. At that point it was fairly thin in consistency but not exactly liquid. It tasted delicious. The longer it sat the more pudding like and firm it got but really I think the 2 hour mark was the best tasting one even though it was thinner.

 So yeah. Chocolate for breakfast. Yum
 Happy Sunday!

*Oh and 'Lily's' potential name switch is Ysma. Like Eartha Kitz's character from 'The Emperor's New Groove' who incidentally turns into a small cute cat. Lots of vivacity & wildness shrunk to a cute small kitten. Possibly perfect.

Long Time No Post

Good grief Charlie Brown, I knew I hadn't posted in a while but January?! I say again, good grief! So essentially this whole year, of which we are eight whole months in, I have not posted a single post. That's rather silly. Particularly because in many ways I've really had a stellar year.

 In February I started dating a handsome cellist. I've known him for three years and liked him from the start. We met through Masterworks and share a great group of friends, including several who have long been rooting for the possibility of this relationship.

   March took me back to the SeaBird and Baja where we had incredible encounters with grey whales and I got to kiss one. I beamed for hours. During this boat stint I reunited with some old boat friends and worked with a new group that was the most team oriented and positive group of stews I've ever had the pleasure of working with.

 After a break at home for Easter and a trip to Cleveland to see Bobby (he would be the cellist), May took me back to the boat in Alaska. Despite the magic of kissing whales in Baja during this short fill in stint I saw the best sight I've ever seen while working on the boat, and one of the top moments of my life; my Mom on the Sitka dock. Doors opened, God provided, prayers were answered, crazy awesome things fell in line and my Mom got to join me for the last week of my stint in AK.

It. Was. Awesome.

The weather was unbelievably good- we'd had so much rain the previous two trips, nearly every day, and hardly any for her trip. We saw actual sunshine multiple times. The guests were a good group and Mom and I both met several neat people. And the animal sightings which would have been excellent for any Alaska trip, were unreal for this early in the season. To go into it all would take far too long for this little sum up but we had a grand time & even got to fly back together.
There was only a little sadness in the venture and that was for my poor Dad who missed Mom so much I'm not sure he'll ever let her out of sight again. They're pretty cute on being reunited though.

Most recently was Masterworks where instead of the theatre program I nannied for my good friend (and veritable little sister) Kaelen and her precocious two year old Abel. He's has the biggest vocabulary of any toddler I know and says the most clever little things. My favorites from our time together were "I miss my Mommy. Do you miss your Bobby?" and
 "I'm grumpy too. Wanna snuggle?"

"Call me Mr. Suwah (Sir)"



It was really good to be with Kaelen again, to talk late at night and fall into our old rhythm of friendship as if we see one another everyday. And it was good to be around such great fellowship of old Masterworks friends, and new ones too, and to be encouraged in my walk with God. And seeing my boyfriend every day? That wasn't half bad either.

So now it's back at home before I move to Cleveland in two weeks. Sam and I have been playing bananagrams and watching Psych episodes and I got to visit the Howlett family and my beautiful *nieces, Scott and Corey from Belhaven, Alexandra and her family.

 There have been lots of mini adventures in between, things learned, good visits, new people, times of quiet. And hard stuff too. Even with all the happenings that make this year so grand, I've been struggling too- particularly after NY- with a sort of numbness. Mostly that's been in regards to acting but other things too. I think it's breaking up some though, for which I'm glad, and I'm very much looking forward to a new move to Cleveland in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading~