Epic Fail

Hello everyone...if there is anyone still out there~

Needless to say, I haven't written in a while. It's been over 6 weeks and I feel bad about it. I keep trying to remind myself to at least post some pictures, but I haven't even made myself do that and I'm sorry.

Why haven't I posted? Lots of reasons I guess. I have been busy and in my spare time I like being vegetative and not creative...ie: Watching the entire first season of Glee on Cast TV, playing ridiculous games online, etc. In short, I enjoy wasting time in my spare time. Sad but true.

Also, I would get so far behind on updating this thing that I felt like I could never catch everyone up on what was happening anyway, so it was easier to ignore it.

Another reason: I didn't know what to write and I didn't want to write some of the depressing things that I was thinking. I didn't want to post long blogs about how homesick I was or how I was sick of touring and felt lonely or how I was frustrated that doing what I love to do (acting for a living) makes it almost impossible to live any sort of a normal life. I didn't want to bring anyone down and I don't like whining (especially in electronic form) so....I've avoided my blog. And I'm sorry.

But now I'm back. So here's a quick recap of the highlights of the past few weeks:

1. I was in the northeast for a long while and I really liked it. I went around Pennsylvania and Maryland. I got to spend the day at the Holocaust museum and had a nice dinner right outside of D.C.'s Chinatown.

2. The guys in the van didn't secure the box that holds all our stage weights...so they came loose and crushed my luggage. It's still useable, but a little worse for the wear.

3. I had several free days in Manhattan. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Tribeca and I tried to make the most of it. I ate great food, saw old friends from my year at the Know and grad school and saw some great theatre--A Behanding in Spokane with Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell and Time Stands Still with Laura Linney, Brian D'Arcy James, Eric Bogosian and Alicia Silverstone. Both were amazing and reminded me of why theatre is still important. I also ran into (almost literally) Paul Giamatti in a subway and Toni Collette was hanging out at the karaoke bar that I went to in the East Village. Brushes with greatness. AMAZING.

4. After NYC we headed south...after some amazing stops like Statesville, NC and Newnan, GA we crossed down into Florida. We did a night of Miami South Beach, Pompano Beach, Clearwater, Tampa, etc. We ate tons of seafood and got some sun and it was glorious.

5. We stopped in Paducah, KY. It was actually a lovely place. They have a program that is designed to get artists into the town by giving them old Victorian houses to live in for free as long as they fix them up and make them open galleries five days a week. They also had a great Argentinean restaurant that we enjoyed.

6. We went through Arkansas (close to Fayetteville, sigh) and spent a few days in Texarkana. My Mommy came and we went to Shreveport, Louisiana and had a great time! Mom got to see the show in Texarkana and so did Dad, Linda, Aunt Kim and my sweet little step-niece Haven. They all loved it and I have quite the agenda for coloring, stickering, hide-and-seeking, etc., with my little girl once I get back.

7. We went back up north to Chicago and I got to spend 2 nights with Kyle (from TU) and one night with Abbey (from U of A). It was a balm for my soul to be with my wonderful friends and spend time in the city. I saw 2 great shows (one at Steppenwolf) and auditioned for a company while I was in town. All in all, a great trip and I SO didn't want to leave.

8. From Chicago we headed north to the Canadian border and cooler temperatures. Currently we're in Grand Rapids, MN, the birthplace of Judy Garland. We went to a museum dedicated to her and saw the house she was born in. It was pretty cool.

So there are the highlights of the last 6ish weeks. I have seen some pretty amazing stuff. I've gotten to visit some wonderful people. I've gotten to see lots of our fabulous country. And I've gotten paid to do it. Which sums up most of my experience of this tour.

After it's all said and done I will have seen 35 of our United States. That's just insane.

It's been challenging to say the last.

Honestly, this year has been the hardest of my life so far. I've lost my Papa, made some major life changes and been away from home and living in hotels for 4 months.

I missed being there for my family during this time of grief. I missed my friends' babies being born and growing. I've missed a lot. And that's the hardest thing for me.

But I've also learned what I can take. And it's a lot. More than I thought I could. And for that, I'm proud.

I couldn't have done ANY of this without the support and love of everybody back home. I appreciate my friends and family more than I can say. I have been so blessed to have you in my life and if I can support you and be there for you one-tenth as much as you have been for me, then my prayers are answered.

I don't know what the next step will be for me. I have some soul searching and decision making and, if I'm smart, praying to do to figure things out. Bottom line, I am more blessed than anybody has a right to be and I know that there is a plan for my life...I just have to find it.

So, blah blah blah...sentimental and philosophical. Sorry for the delay in blogging. I will put some pics up here soon. Tomorrow we leave Grand Rapids and start east for our final trip into Philadelphia. Lots to see and do there, so it will be fun!

I love you all and I can't wait to see you SOON!

York final and Random

Largest 6-pack in the world in La Crosse, WI

"The Dude's Smoke & Stuff" in York.

Around York and in our performance space

York, PA

Central Market House where the Farmer's Market was

Ceiling in our performance space

Row houses

Beautiful buildings in York

New York and York, PA

Gorgeous church in York

We're famous!

Look, my new hair!

Michael Hogwood and Nathan and I!

Last of Chicago and Newark/New York

View of Manhattan from the Verrazano bridge

NJPAC in Newark, NJ

Performance space in Brooklyn

Bookstore in Brooklyn

Theatre in Chicago

Chicago and Hays, KS

Kyle and I.

Steppenwolf in Chicago

Daddy and I in Hays, KS

The N's: Newark and New York

Hello everybody~

On this fine and sun-shiny Sunday afternoon I am writing to you from Johnstown, PA. What? You say you've never been there, never even heard of it. Well, you're not missing much. It's not that bad, really, just out in the middle of nowhere. And we're at another Super 8. This one, while not as bad at the previous one, still is far from 'super'. The stay at this hotel comes on the heels of a Ramada, or Slumada. So, I am ready for a nice Baymont STAT!

Today I ate at a very famous Eastern chain called Five Guys. They make delicious Angus burgers and freshly cut french fries from real potatoes. It was described to me as the In-N-Out burger of the east. I have to say that, while I did enjoy In-N-Out Burger, I thought Five Guys outdid it. You could get any number of toppings on your burger for free (fried onions, sauteed mushrooms, A-1 sauce, etc.) and the fries were perfectly cooked. Yummy, yummy!

After lunch we saw Alice In Wonderland in 3-D. I actually really enjoyed it. Thought it was a bit slow in parts, but very fun and lovely to look at. Definitely see it in 3-D. It's worth it.

Yesterday I was in a great town called York, PA. Kinda reminded me of Fayetteville. Really artsy, people bringing their dogs everywhere and really eco-conscious. We loaded in early and the theatre was right next to their central farmer's market. It was amazing. Amish cheeses and baked goods, fresh seafood and deli, pretzels, cupcakes, you name it. For lunch I had: freshly squeezed lemonade with strawberry, a delectable crab cake sammy, and cream of tomato soup with real tomatoes! I also sampled cupcakes for dessert and bought cheese to go.

After lunch, Anthony, Kirsten and I walked around the town and shops and took pics. I found an amazing organic soap and lotion store and bought a few goodies.

Then there was the show....WOW. Technical difficulties don't even BEGIN to cover it. One of our songs started early, so everyone ran into place and started dancing. Then it stopped. Silence. So Anthony decided that we should just go into the scene, so he set everyone for the scene and I grabbed my flag prop which starts the scene. As soon as I took my opening spot, the music restarted at the beginning. So I ran and replaced my prop and started dancing and singing. About halfway through the song it skipped. And kept skipping. So no one knew where we were, everyone was running around on the stage singing different parts and in different choreography. We were like demented, escaped zoo animals with mange. IT WAS THE LONGEST THREE MINUTES ONSTAGE THAT I HAVE EVER SPENT. I pride myself on being able to roll with the punches onstage, but we just kept getting punched. Finally I ran to down center and yelled (in the middle of the song) "Ok, that's enough singing and dancing. Thank you. No more music." At this point the audience looked like they were at a funeral, which they were, ours. Everyone staggered to their places and tried to win the audience back. But the technical hits just kept on coming. I know they were struggling in the booth and we were CERTAINLY struggling onstage. I am surprised that the audience didn't ask for their money back. It was AWFUL.

Needless to say, drinks were on tap for last night.

So, now I'll quickly backtrack and cover a little Newark talk. We performed at the amazing New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The crew was professional and amazing. They catered all our food and cared for us like stars. They even gave us free tickets to their mainstage show (we were in their 'small' 580 seat house) the Peking Acrobats, which was cool.

I tried Portugese good for the first time and I loved it. I ate lots of seafood. My co-star Kirsten had friends come to the show (one of them is a Broadway star, he played Jean Valjean in Les Mis!) and they genuinely seemed to like the show.

On our final night in Newark we took the train into the city. I went into Astoria, Queens where all my grad school buds live and I got my hair cut and colored (ABOUT DARN TIME). Then I went to Jenna's apartment for my friends' theatre company meeting. Nathan Riley, Michael Hogwood, Bryce Kemph, Jenna Kirk and Val Andrews were ALL THERE. They did some exercises that we learned in grad school and I closed my eyes and it was like I was back in Fayetteville. It warmed my heart and soul. Then they read their original play, which was wonderful and going somewhere great as far as I'm concerned. We ended our time with drinks at an irish pub.

Then I took the subway to the East Village and met my co-star Anthony at a karaoke bar. We did a terrible duet, ate bad pizza, drank wine and staggered back to our hotel rooms around 3 am! Next morning call: 8:45am. We were tired but it was SO worth it. I was proud of myself for getting around New York City by myself and not getting intimidated. It was actually super easy and fun.

I'm headed back into New York (we're staying in Tribeca) on Thursday evening. I get to see everyone again on Friday night. It's Bryce's 30th birthday, so everyone is getting together and I get to see ALL my friends-Betsy, Ruby, EVERYONE. Can't wait.

In between now and then, I'm heading to Maryland again. I'll try to update again before then. I'm getting ready to post a bunch of pics, so stay tuned!

Love and miss you ALL!