Tech Week

Hello Family and Friends! I just got in from rehearsal and I wanted to write a quick post.

I heard from Daniel the other day as they were headed to 29 Palms. The second half of their training is taking place there. I haven't gotten a call from him to know if his cell works there yet. I am sure he has been kept very busy with the transitioning from one setting to another. Last time I chatted with him he had a head cold though. If you could be keeping him in your prayers that would be wonderful. I hope it has not developed into anything worse.

I am so excited about him coming home at the end of October.

In the meantime the show is chugging along. Tonight's rehearsal was strictly for props, scenery and timing. We just went straight through the scenes and taped the floor where the scenery goes( that was my job) and made sure everyone was assigned props to carry in and take off stage. It was tedious but I was glad we got it out of the way. It will make the next few rehearsals before the show run so much smoother.


Here we are sitting listening to instructions for the night. The cast looks really tired. It has been a long week of rehearsals. The man with his back to the camera in the black shirt and camouflage shorts is the director. His name is Ron Bright. He is a wonderful man, and he has such energy for the show. He got us up and moving and having fun in no time...

Starting Saturday I have to be doing something South Pacific related everyday until opening night on the 7th of October. Next week is going to be long. Sunday is a run-through of costumes and then we have rehearsal with the orchestra every night until Friday. Whew!

I am going to go to bed now. I stayed up until 3 am last night reading. I need to sleep some tonight.

I will leave you with a few pictures of petite chat/little cat. I am still thinking of a name. I am thinking something Hawaiian...

This is her stretching after we watched a movie together. She is such a cuddlebug. I am thankful she is so lovey. It is nice to have someone to love on when I come home.

Night!

Kitten!

It was so hard to go to rehearsal today because I had to leave this baby. She is a precious 3 month old calico, mostly black and orange. And yes, she looks alot like Phoebe. I had not planned on falling in love with one that looked like my parents cat. It just worked out that way.

I had also not planned on getting a kitty, but the adult cats at the Humaine Society that day all seemed to have health problems or running away problems. I didn't want to have a cat die early or have a cat always bolting for open doors or ruining screens, so I opted for a kitten. Of course I had no trouble falling in love with all of them. After figuring out I defintly wanted a healthy girl kitty, I found this little one.

I have not named her yet. I wanted to get to know her a little before I named her. Part of me wants to wait until Daniel gets home but something may fit before then.

Here is another pic of her without the evil eyes.
She is not photogenic yet because she moves too much and every picture is blurry. I will get some sweet ones of her sleeping sometime.

Currently though she is laying on my lap while I type. She is kneading the air since I just moved her a little and her belly is facing up. She was kneading my leg. I just love cats!


Daniel just called me on my way home from practice. He was getting ready to go on duty for the night. If you are reading this...hello love!

Well, I am going to go fix some dinner. It was along day of rehearsal and I am ready to relax with baby cat. (That is going to be her name for now...yes I am stealing that too.)

Have a great weekend!

South Pacific

Well, I just got in from rehearsal. Things are coming along well. The director is able to give notes now because he isn't having to run around and stop things all the time to correct them. I am getting a lot of notes. I still have a lot of work to do and I need to learn to take the criticism with grace. Tonight he said something about my vibrato, the way the voice shakes when you hold a note, and I got a little sensitive about it. There is one little bit of music that I felt I could do a little more on but he didn't like it. Basically, musicals are not the way I was trained so sometimes I get a little huffy about it. It is just me being stupid. I didn't say anything to him about it, but I drove home with hurt feelings. I need to not take it personally.

Here is a back stage picture I took while I was getting ready to go on stage. As you can see we are still working on sets, we are not in costumes and we have no orchestra...yet. We start with the orchestra on Saturday and the costume on Sunday. So things are happening rather quickly.

I am really enjoying getting to know the cast. It has been great meeting all the new people.



Daniel called again on Monday. We got to talk for a longer time. I was very thankful. He is busy doing the same thing he always does, making sure people get where they need to be and get what they need when they get there; the logistics guy... I know that is putting what he does in a nut shell, but if he tells me more he'd have to kill me....haha yeah right. I am glad his job is not secretive.

I am planning a trip to the Humane Society on Friday with my friend Amaya. We are in search of cats. We have both been talking about doing it for so long. I finally called her up and said lets go this Friday. We have it set up and we are ready. I may have a picture of an adorable cat to put up next time I blog. I hope so. I saw a cat today when I was driving in a neighborhood. I just love them! I get all silly around them and want to purr and chat with them. I like dogs too but my heart goes out to just about any and every cat. I am excited!

More exciting news! I became an AWANA Leader today. Yes indeed, AWANA, Approved Workmen are not Ashamed. One of the best programs in churches for children ever. If you have not heard of it, it is a scout-like program for children in kindergarten and grade school to memorize Bible verses, learn Bible stories and basically learn more about the Bible. Today I helped a little girl memorize the books of the Bible and a little boy memorize1 Peter 5:7. If you are thinking about having children, you already have them or know people with kids, find this program in a church. Looking back on my childhood, this is one of the best things I ever spent time on. It is better than all my music studies combined(even though I highly recommed that for kids too!) You learn so much about the Bible and the best part is, you remember it! The knowledge gained is priceless. Anyways, I will stop ranting about it.

So you can see why I am excited about being a leader. I was able to connect with the kids today. Some of them even looked for me at the end to introduce to their parents. I was delighted. Another beautiful thing about the program is that I still know all the songs we learned. I was singing along with the kids during the learning time. I loved it. Over the years they have not tried to update the songs just because they are old. They are poignant and easy for children to learn. Every Wednesday at 3:15 I will be at Faith Baptist with the kids. I look forward to it.

Well, I am going to go read some before I hit the sack. Thanks for reading this is you did. I kind of went off there for a little while...

Much Love!

Babies, Babies Everywhere...Not yet though

Well, this week I found out that three couples Daniel and I know are pregnant! Very exciting news. It is funny it all came within this week. Just a sidenote to everyone, Daniel and I are not planning for one for quite a while. Everytime I start talking about babies and friends expecting, people start teasing and asking when we are going to try for one. Not for a while, I need to know Daniel as husband before father to our children.

Congratulations! I am not going to name who because it should be their joy to share the news. I am going to take one of the ladies to the doctor tomorrow morning for her appointment. Her husband is going to be on the range all week, much like Daniel was a few weeks ago. Being on the range is where they shoot all week to qualify for certain badges for the year as marksmen or sharpshooters. Anyways, he is not able to take her to the appointment. I am so glad to be able to help. I get to take care of her baby girl as she sees the doctor. He daughter is precious! I am looking forward to helping out...

Daniel called on Friday. He is doing well. He doesn't have a phone signal in California, wherever they are. We didn't get to talk long, unfortunately. That has been the hardest thing so far, not hearing how he is and sharing every bit of news I have with him. I leave him voicemails whenever I think of something I don't want to forget to tell him. He is going to have several by the time he has cell phone reception again. Ah well, at least we are somewhat communicating.

I just got back from the airport. Another couple, not expecting, just got back from their honeymoon. It was a little delayed since they got married over a year ago, but like so many military couples they were not able to have a honeymoon right after the wedding. They finally found the time and went to a neighboring island for a week. They had a wonderful time. I missed chatting with the wife though...I am glad they are back.

Rehearsals are chugging along. Everyone is "off-book" or not using their script anymore. It is much nicer not having to lug the script around anymore, but occasionally I go blank on my lines. Thankfully I have three weeks left to perfect them. I am doing better than I thought I would. I have always had a hard time with memorization. I think all the rehearsals have been good for me in many ways; keeping my mind off Daniel, helping with memorizing, and getting to know the cast really well.

I went to Guys and Dolls, another musical, last night with some of the cast and the funniest thing happened...well it wasn't funny while it was happening. I was sitting next to a guy who was double-casted for the show we were watching. Basically it means the next weekend the show was playing, he was going to be performing one of the roles. ANYWAYS, the entire first act of the show he recited every line along with the guy on stage he was going to play. As if that wasn't enough, he started singing along with him. I was in awe of his behavior. He was loud. I had decided that by intermission I was going to kindly ask him to not speak the lines aloud and to please not sing because I had never seen this particular show. Thankfully he moved to another seat during intermission and I did not have to ask him to be quiet or deal with him the second act. I felt bad for whoever had to sit next to him for the remainder for the show. It was definitely an interesting evening. The ladies I went with said my faces were so memorable. Just when I thought the guy was done saying every word, he would keep going... We laughed about it in the car on the way home...

So the islands are supposed to be having three big storms coming in this next week. Hopefully none of them become hurricanes. Our home is in the tidal wave safety zone thankfully, but some of our friends' homes are not. They have teased that they are going to move in with us...

Speaking of the home, I took a few pics tonight.

Here is our family room. Daniel and I got the loveseat during a Labor Day sale at the Navy Exchange. We got the table at another sale at the Air Force Exchange. I tell you what, the benefits of military shopping are wonderful! I was so happy about the curtains. They are really nice and we found them at good ol' Walmart. I love that those stores have started carrying nice home stuff. We found the rug at Home Depot...and once everything got in the room it all worked. We are very happy with it all and everything is so nice and comfy...big plus for curling up and reading under a blanket.

Here is our breakfast room and kitchen. It is a little cluttered now, sorry. I write everything down to help me remember and all my notes from random places were collecting on the bar. I was also washing dishes. The house didn't have a washer installed but you can request one. We did, and in order to run it it must be rolled over to the sink and plugged in. It really isn't a big hassle. Standing for hours on the hard floor washing dishes can be a pain on the feet and back, which is the hassle. I am thankful for the size of the kitchen. I like to spend time in there...


Here is our guest room. We still need to hang some things on the walls to make it feel a little homier. I have some wall-hangings I got from Azerbaijan I just need to figure out how to hang them. This is where our family members will stay when they visit. I am so excited about the up-coming visits. My sister and brother-in-law will be here in a little less than 5 weeks. Woohoo!

Well, I am going to close out now. I need to get in the habit of writing on here again. Not having it while we were moving made me forget how much I like writing on here. It is such a good way to remember what our life on the island has been like so far as well as keep ya'll informed. It is like my public diary...ha!

Love to Everyone!

Back online

Hello dear family and friends!

We are back online and I am happier than ever. I was missing the ability to read my news online, email, and of course, update the blog.

Daniel is gone now and I am trying to keep busy. This week has been a successful one. I have stayed busy with rehearsals, KV activities and spending time with other wives. I have already been blessed by knowing these ladies and I am just getting to know them. I hope the next few weeks I can stay just as busy to not meditate on Daniel being gone.

It is incredible that we spent so much time apart before we were married. I am in awe of how things change after marriage. Granted we have only been married for a little over 3 months now, but I miss him more than before when I didn't see him for a year. I do understand the reasons why it just still amazes me how a person can start to fully depend and be so focused on one person in such a short time. It is a good thing to learn about this early. I consider this month and a half of us being apart practice for when he gets deployed. I am using the time to find ways to keep myself busy during that time as well.

Enough about him being gone. I can't dwell on it...

We are in the house on base and I am loving it more and more everyday. My hibiscus started blooming yesterday. I was so happy. When the last family moved out the housing maintenance people on base cut the bushes back so far that I was worried it would take months to see another bloom. Hawaiian weather proved me wrong. They are a pretty sturdy plant out here.

I plan to post some pictures of the house but I am heading out the door to meet a friend for brunch. Her husband is gone as well right now so we are keeping each other company... It is a wonderful thing to have that community so quickly.

I will post a recent picture of Daniel surfing. Like many other athletic things he picked this up quickly. He caught this wave and rode it for along time. I am so proud...My surfer boy!

Thank you to everyone who called to check up on me. I appreciate your thoughts.

Much Love!

NO Internet

Hello. I am currently in an internet post on base. I needed to check email and see the blog. I can't take long because they charge by the minute. I just wanted to say that we are settled in our new home and we are loving it. I will post pictures as soon as I can. We won't have internet until after the 14th of September.

Daniel is getting ready to leave soon. I am having mixed emotions... I am going to miss him terribly but I need to be strong. Its the job of a Marine wife.

We love you all so much. Take care...