We Did a Bad Thing

You guys.... we did a bad thing tonight. Everyone knows that if you get a Christmas present, you don't use it until after Christmas. It's like wedding gifts. Don't use it until after you're married. It jinxes it! (It totally doesn't but it made sense in my head before I got married)

But my mother in law got us this popcorn maker for Christmas. Oh man, do we love us some popcorn. Before the Scrooge rehearsal and performance madness, we would have popcorn almost every night. But the thing is, our microwave is small. Tiny. And our bags of popcorn wouldn't turn. And they would burn. And burnt popcorn is not good, people. (Ohhhhh us and our first-world problems!)

So we asked for this popcorn maker and so we could honestly tell her that we use it when she asks us on our visit next week.... we tried it out!

First, measure out the oil.


Then measure out the popcorn.


Trial and error, we'll definitely use less next time.


Pour popcorn into the bottom of the popper.


Snap on the lid (that's also a bowl!) and wait in eager anticipation.


Watch it heat up in there and the bar spinning the kernels around.


Get impatient.


Then it gets good... it was like a mini fireworks show!


A minute later, it looks like this...


Flip it over, careful, it's hot!


And enjoy!


Verdict: It's great! Only a few burnt kernels but I think it's because we used too much popcorn on our first time out. I can't wait to get different kinds of popcorn and seasonings. It tasted more like movie popcorn, which I love. Thanks to MIL for the fun present. Now we can actually say we've tried it.

Oh Where Oh Where?

I haven't seen my husband in about two weeks. We live in the same house, mind you, and he's not traveling and neither am I. We've both been so busy, we're just ships passing in the night.

I see him in the morning, where I jump into the shower first since he is a 20-minute-long-showerer. Yikes. I can't even be in a shower for more than 5 minutes. I'm always thinking of what else I need to be doing.

As I'm drying my hair, he is downstairs making his lunch and while I'm putting on my make up, he's brushing his teeth. A quick kiss and he's gone.

Off to work I go from 9-6pm where at that point I rush straight to rehearsal, running across the street from the theater to the Baker's. Baker's made bank off of all of us this week, btw. Man, I love those fries.

Rehearsal/show... show nights are great because we're out of there by 9:30pm. Rehearsals were more like 10:30. Run home, shower, say a few words then hop into bed and rest up for the next day.

Lather, rinse, repeat for 14 days. Tonight is no exception. I'm off to a cast party straight after work. He's got stuff tomorrow evening, I've got a salad to make.

We're a little like that this weekend too. He has a gig, I have church stuff and bridesmaid responsibilities.

But we're ok. We're both doing things we love (I think me more so in this case, as I'm performing and he's just rehearsing). But it makes me think how lucky that we "get" what each other does. He doesn't get annoyed that he hasn't seen me in two weeks, that our kitchen is bare because we don't have time to shop, that the house looks like we just let twenty 4-year-olds loose in it.

We're both musicians and we appreciate it when the other one understands our "thing". My "thing" is musicals, his "thing" is horn gigs. Or Civil War bands, or whatever floats our boat. I come home happier than anything else when I've been to a good rehearsal.

How lucky am I that he says "go on, have fun!" when I'm off to rehearsal right after work? That he comes to my shows and tells me (honestly) how he liked it. If he wanted me to come to one of his concerts, I would. We get that this is us, this is what we love to do and we support each other in our extracurricular activities.

What could be better than that?

Deep Breath

I am so so sorry everyone! It seems like I have had barely any time to breath, much less blog!


To catch up, I have been in rehearsals every night for "Scrooge" and last week I came down with something awful. It was all in my throat and nose but man was it obnoxious. After rehearsing the show for 6 weeks, I couldn't even sing! I just had to make due with mouthing the words and killing it on choreography.


Last night was the last show which was bittersweet. I will love getting my nights back but I will miss being on stage and miss the cast. We've had a great time and I wouldn't have minded if this was a longer run. But there will be other shows in the future and I love this theater company. Plus, we just found out that this company will be doing the show at the Bowl next year... so there's that to look forward to (if I do it. Which I'm still on the fence about.).

Here's a fun picture from the show. I'm second from the left. (Thanks Judi for the great picture!)



I can't believe Christmas is in a week and a half. I'm ready but not. I'm excited to spend time with family but if I'm really honest I just want to spend my days off curled up in my bed, watching trashy shows. Maybe it's because my weekends have been insane lately and I haven't really gotten a break.

But I can't complain about being busy because it's all doing something I love. The children's pageant came off great this last weekend, for which we're so grateful. It was fun to watch the kids' faces when they would get reactions from the audience. I loved that the first question out of the kids' mouths was "What's the spring pageant going to be?" LOVE it!

But for now, I'm getting ready for the holiday break, finishing up work, cast party tonight, friend party tomorrow night, another party Saturday night and choir singing twice in church on Sunday. THEN I'll be able to stop and chill.

Sneak Peek

Our kids after Andre Rieu... it was such an amazing experience and I can't wait to write about it!

And it Begins

So, if you can't me for the next couple of weeks... here's why:

1. Dec. 2 Andre Rieu concert - pray for us.
2. Rehearsal every night from here until Scrooge which runs from December 11 - December 15.
3. Rehearsals for the pageant on December 5, 11 and 12.
4. Work conference in Newport from December 8-10.
5. 2 showings of Scrooge on Dec 11, 3 showings on Dec 12 and one a night on the 13th, 14th and 15th.
6. Working full time.

See you all on the flip side!

Aaaaand, We're Back!

Whew! That was quite a break, wasn't it? So sorry about that, life just got in the way. The Hubs and I were busy getting ready for his mom's Thanksgiving visit, the Andre Rieu concert, the pageant, I have rehearsal a lot... etc. No excuse but there are a hundred excuses why I haven't posted.

I've also been taking Christmas pictures for people. Like this couple, who were a dream to work with. They were definitely models and were so relaxed in front of the camera. If you or anyone you know in my area are thinking of Christmas pictures but don't think they can afford it, have them contact me! I can work with just about anyone's prices.


Have a great holiday season... we just put up a bunch of decorations last night. Can't wait to post pictures!

This is Why I Married Him

Conversation at approximately 10:30pm Saturday night.

Hubs: I'm going up to bed.

Me: Ok, I'm going to make marshmallows and then I'll be up. (mind you, I never mentioned my desire to make marshmallows at all during the day. It just CAME to me, you know?)

Hubs: Ok.

The man didn't even blink. Any other guy probably would have questioned my motives or wondered why I was thinking about doing that at 10:30 at night.

Nope. Not this guy. And that's just one of the many reasons why I married him.

Weekly Workout 11/8/10

I seem to be slacking a little with these weekly workout posts. I am working out but sometimes it just seems so blah to post about them. Especially when my work out week was pretty blah itself.

Monday: skip. This seems to be a reoccuring theme.

Tuesday: C25K Week 8 Day 1. This run was just fine. Felt good. Looked good. (ha, whatever).

Wednesday: Choreography rehearsal. Danced for 3 hours. So much fun.

Thursday: skipped. Can't remember why.

Friday: Off day. Should have worked out.

Saturday: C25L Week 8, Day 2. Don't remember much about this one. OH, I did run at 11:30 am which was a mistake because temps went up here again. Obnoxious.

Sunday: Was going to run the Mission Inn 5k but realized that I had to be at church at 9. 7:30am 5k 20 miles away? It wasn't going to happen if I was going to look decent for church. The children did a marvelous job singing, btw.

So yeah, last week fell a little flat. I didn't work out yesterday (slept horribly Sunday night). But I did work out today and I think have choreography tomorrow. I shouldn't replace my workouts with choreography but sometimes I can't help it. I'm tired!

How are your work outs going? Have you done anything to mix it up?

Sunday Sweet

What do you get when you take this:


and add it to this?


mmm. Heaven.


Apple crisp with caramel sauce.

Shutterbug-Shutterfly

Do you guys like Christmas cards? I LOVE Christmas cards. I like any cards, really. I think it's because I like getting mail. I might be kind of obsessed with it, actually. Every day I run into the house and ask, "Did we get any mail today?" Hubs probably thinks I'm waiting for something or to hide a piece of mail from him but it's just that I love getting personal mail of any kind.

That's why when I saw this opportunity on Katie's blog, I had to jump on it! I've used Shutterfly for a lot of projects in the past (one of them being our photo guest book at our wedding) but the chance to get 50 free cards was just too good to pass up! I've loved using Shutterfly because they are constantly having a sale, they have super fast delivery and their products are very high quality. What's not to love?

So I started looking through all the Christmas cards and they have SUCH great ones this year:

Of course, I started with the Photo Christmas Cards

This one is super cute. I like the idea of updating friends about your family and really like that it's only a couple of lines. Plus, those little boys are adorable.

Love this one. It's simple but a nice change from just one picture.


I LOVE blue and red together for Christmas. We did that for our card last year. So I'm thinking I may mix it up this year. But this is still sweet. Nice and simple.


I love me some monograms. We have M's all over the house. So of course this one spoke to me. We definitely don't have enough pictures to fill it up though.


This one may be my absolute fav. Isn't it great? I love the message. Plus it's my favorite Christmas song!


And if Christmas isn't your thing, you can't go wrong with a holiday card.

There are so many more great gift ideas on Shutterfly's site. Makes me want to have kids so I can plaster them all over a calendar or a mug. :) Just kidding Hubs! (Sorta. But really.)

So go! Check them out. I dare you to find just one that you like. And if you're a blogger, you could get 50 cards free too! Check it out here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Just act surprised when you guys get one in the mail, ok?

Thankful Thursday: Doing Something I Love

For this Thankful Thursday, I'm thankful for a person. A certain person:

Do you have just one thing in life you ADORE doing? Like something so challenging and difficult but still fun enough that if you were going for hours and hours, you could keep going and get past the pain?

I love dancing. Absolutely love it. But it has to be the right teacher/choreographer/drill sergeant or else I can't stand it. Or if it's not challenging enough. If I don't go home completely wiped out, I feel like it's a waste of time.

I've worked with many choreographers in many shows and only a few really make each person feel like they are dancers. Like, they appreciate we love to dance and though we may not be able to do everything, they don't dumb it down for us.

I'm in one of those shows right now. I've worked with this choreographer before and would be in any show that he was involved with. He's hard working, expects a lot, patient and really funny. He pushes us and is so creative with his ideas.

From 7-10 last night, we hardly took a break. But none of us cared. We just wanted to keep rehearsing over and over again until we got it right. I'm so proud of myself because a couple of years ago, I would have been moaning and groaning about how sore I was from doing all that but I think the working out has helped a lot. I do have bruises on my hands (don't ask) and on my knees (REALLY don't ask) but they are so worth it. I came home last night and plopped on the floor like I did 4 years ago when I was in Beauty and the Beast. But I had a huge smile on my face. I was SO happy to be doing this again.

Anyone who comes to see this show next month is going to be wowwed. Not necessarily by us but by how creatively we're telling the story. I am so proud to be putting this on stage and offering it to the community. And to have a strong leader getting us there? That's priceless.

I'm also thankful that my body can do these things. That I have the ability and coordination to dance and just let it all go.

While I'm thankful for many things this week (good job situation, lovely husband, good friends, exercise and food!), this is what is making me shine right now.

What are you thankful for right now?

My Heaven

After church on Sunday (see Hub's big performance here) we headed down to the Mission Inn for Cupcake Camp! All proceeds went towards Breast Cancer research. I'm down with that but you know what I'm MORE down with? CUPCAKES!




This group was cute: Cupcake Mama's. They had their kids with them too.


I was a bit dissapointed with Casey's Cupcakes. The frosting tasted like it was from a can!


There were cupcakes everywhere!




This guy was sporting his pink shoes for the cause.


The whole room set up. It was absolutely packed.


$10 got you 4 tastings and all the coffee, milk and water you wanted. Our loot:


The drinks. The coffee is definitely mine. Not the Hubs.


Digging in!
Chocolate and Raspberry Lemonade


CHOMP


Om nom nom nom.

That one was my favorite. Pumpkin and chocolate. Not too sweet. Perfect.

Overall, the cupcakes were just ok. I think I'm spoiled by My Delight Cupcakery. Their cupcakes are some of the best I've ever had. But it all went to a good cause. If they were to do it again next year (and they should!) it should probably be in a bigger place. It was kind of a turn off to be pushed around just to get cupcakes.

Go Cupcake Camp!

I Can Finally Spill the Beans!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Did you hear that screeching from your house/place of work/car?

That would be me. Screeching about something totally exciting.

And no, we're not pregnant. Did you know married people can have exciting news that ISN'T having a baby? Other stuff happens when you get married, you know. Sheesh.

But really, we're absolutely thrilled with this opportunity that has landed in our lap.

As you know, we just started a job as children's choir directors at a local church. The job is probably the funniest, goofiest, craziest thing I've ever done (can't speak for the Hubs) but the fact that we get to hang with these kids and teach them music is a pretty cool thing.

About 3 weeks ago, the Hubs and I were in JCPenney, picking out some new clothes when I get this phone call from one of the choir moms. She's talking really fast about this guy who needs a choir for this Christmas Concert. Ok, cool. We can see if it works with our choir schedule and if so, yes.

I call her back when I'm not in a loud store and she tells me about this world-reknown violinist who does these over the top concerts. He is coming to our area and he needs a children's choir for a song in his concert. Ok, still thinking it's cool. Whatevs.

I then start researching the guy and realize this is bigger than we both had originally thought. I actually started shaking at work after I watched the video that his manager had passed along.

I talk to my family and friends and they all know this guy and his music and love his concerts (well, some of them love his concerts but my aunt nearly had a heart attack and is already looking for tickets).

So this December, our choir kids will be performing with Andre Rieu in his Christmas concert.

Well, hello to you too.

Seriously. I still can't believe it. Here's what they will be performing.




It totally gives me chills. And the fact that our kids get to perform it, it's just incredible. I have to thank the previous choir director for building this program to what it is today and giving us this opportunity. eeeeeeeee!!!

My Husband, the Drama King

The church where we direct the children's choir has been very welcoming. We're constantly being invited to events, encouraged to participate in church activities, etc.

This past Sunday, the bell choir put on a performance during church and there was a familiar face who was invited to perform with them.


Can you see him? MAGIC ENHANCE!


Ta-daaaaa! The Hubs was invited to be the narrator for the bell choir's performance. It was all about Moses and the Ten Commandments. It was all very cute and the Hubs had great comedic timing. It's true! A kid in the choir (all of 6 years old) came up to him, stuck his finger in his chest and said, "YOU are FUNNY".

I totally agree.

Ear Worm

I have had this beautiful song on repeat for the last 3 days. I rediscovered my box set of Sufjan Steven's Christmas album and have been enjoying it ever since. If you haven't heard this, here's your treat for today!

Finally!

I'm so excited, my office is finally looking like someone actually works in there.

Here's the before:


And the after! 2 of them fell one weekend and they just now got fixed.


Much much better.

Ab Ripper

I think this might be slowly becoming an exercise blog. Hm. Not sure how I feel about that.

The exercise part is great. Although, I was complaining last night that I had been working out about 5 days a week for the past month and have yet to feel any different. The Hubs said, "It's because you haven't been doing the Ab workout". I got completely weirded out because he's always gone for work before I start my workouts. How did he know I wasn't doing it? He said he knew I wasn't doing it because I wasn't complaining about how my abs hurt nearly enough.

It's true though. I haven't been doing Ab Ripper X. I guess it's because I've been working out for an hour already and I don't feel like doing anymore. Or maybe it's because I like my extra 15 minutes of free time when I get ready in the morning.

So, I AM exercising but I guess I'm also kind of being lazy about it. There are workout plans for a reason.

I woke up early this morning to go running but it was so early that it was still dark out. And I don't like that at all. But I hauled myself out of bed and did Ab Ripper instead.

He was right. I was complaining like crazy when I was finished but I think it will really help in the long run. I haven't been doing hardly any core workouts and the core is the most important part of working out.

Oh my gosh, am I boring anyone else? I feel like I'm putting myself to sleep too.

Because I don't want to be all crazy-workout-look-at-my-fitness, here are the adorable cupcakes my past students delivered to my office today. They are too cute (and too yummy. seriously, I had to give them to my coworkers because I could not be trusted with all of them).


I also made a Gooey Butter cake for our potluck Wednesday dinner and holy crap. You guys, this recipe is amazing. Like, sell your first born for a piece, amazing. They should call this "Get a Man with this Gooey Butter Cake" or "So Sweet it Will Make Your Teeth Hurt Gooey Butter Cake". Go make it this weekend. Do it. Oh! and make it the day before you need it. And put it in the fridge. Trust me, it makes it better (if you can believe it).

We Need a Better Name for This Gooey Butter Cake
taken from allrecipes.com
Ingredients
Cake
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Mix cake mix, melted butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 eggs with a spoon. Pat into a 9 X 13 inch pan.
3.Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer. Slowly beat in confectioner's sugar (I only used about 2 and 1/2 - 3 cups). Pour over cake layer. Will be a little runny.
4.Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool. Put in fridge overnight.

Ugh

My run today was HORRIBLE. Absolutely horrible.

I just started week 7 of the c25k program and the first day is another 25 minute run. Not bad, I just did that on Sunday and it was hot outside. Now, the elements weren't against me, it was in the morning and I had already proved I could do it.

Here are the reasons why it sucked.
1. Didn't fuel properly. I'm so used to getting up and working out that I don't fuel at all. It's a stupid thing to do and I have to stop doing it.

2. I started a little later than normal and ran into the traffic jam that is the middle school morning drop off. I had to break my stride and jog in place while mean moms gave me the side-eye if I even made the slightest move to leave the sidewalk. Very frustrating.

3. I couldn't push past the side cramps. I've able to do it before but today I just couldn't.

4. My pace was all off. Because I was waiting for cars to pass, I thought I should make up that time by running faster but all that did was wear me out sooner. I didn't keep a steady and consistant pace.

So yeah, I'm frustrated. But I didn't stop running and just walk the whole way. I took short walking breaks then jogged a little. Walking break, jog, etc. I know not every run is going to be great but I was frustrated all the same.

Runner friends, what do you do when your run doesn't go as expected? A part of me wants to make it up elsewhere in the week but the other part is like, eh. Whatever I'll just try harder next time.

Weekly Workout 10/25

Monday: Skipped. Yup. Not gonna lie, my bed was feeling awesome that morning. I loafed around and I don't regret it one bit.

Tuesday: C25K Week 6 day 1. Good stuff although I have to keep increasing the lengths of my routes because I'm coming up short each time. I like my current route because I only have to cross one busy street. If I add more distance, I'm going to have to start going through stop lights. Not a bad thing, my any means (trust me, I'm so thrilled that I'm increasing my distance!) but still something I need to consider from here on out.

Wednesday: p90x Plyometrics. I realized I shouldn't just be focusing on weight training on my non c25k days and I'm going to do the p90x classic program, alternating my running days. Plyo wasn't bad when I was doing it but today, my legs are yelling at me. I completely forgot all about the squats and so stairs are not my friend.

Thursday: C25K Week 6 day 2. Same thing as Monday. Thrilled about going further distances in the same amount of time but need to map out my runs a little differently I think. I love my current route because there are no hills and only a small incline during my cooldown. So, we'll see what I come up with.

Friday: Day off. Took off work to prep for our Halloween party.

Saturday: p90x Arms and Shoulders. Goes a lot faster when you zap through Tony's babbling.

Sunday: c25k Week 6 Day 3. Went and did this at 3:30 in the afternoon. Kind of a mistake. It's starting to heat back up again down here. It was warm up for 5 minutes, run for 25, cool down for 5. I almost made it the whole way through and walked a few steps only twice. I'm almost up to 3 miles on these runs. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there!

So there you go. Eating has been fine this weekend. I'm trying to eat big breakfasts and smaller lunches and that's been working. Hearty breakfasts are really the way to go for me. I don't want to be hungry by 11!

I also got a new jacket. It's been really chilly here in the morning but I always end up taking it off halfway through the run.

How's your exercising going? Have any goals for the new month?

Look Before You Leap

Did you know I'm doing family portrait sessions right now? I just did one this last weekend and I have one lined up for next weekend. It's great because it's people I know, low pressure and I'm basically getting paid in baking supplies. Because I don't want to set up my own business yet. So there.

So last week's session was really fun and I'm dying to post pictures but I don't feel comfortable since I think the prints are going to be Christmas presents to family members. Maybe after Christmas I'll show them to you guys but it was really a trip. It was 7 people: 2 sisters, their husbands and 3 kids between them. The baby was absolutely adorable and just a hoot to try and photograph. The older girls were pros and knew how to work the camera.

But even in those settings, it was sometimes chaotic. I wanted to get some candids but recognized that this family wants to enlarge the photos for presents so people should be smiling at the camera. But this baby, you guys, this baby was like butter. He was just adorable and I wanted to pick him up and squeeze him. I didn't, that would be creepy plus he was pretty nervous around my camera.

I'm running around all over the place, looking for fun places to shoot. I'm crouching down, making funny face, running ahead of everyone, taking pictures while they're walking.

So, I jump on a ledge and take a couple of practice shots before posing the crowd and take a step back to reframe the picture..... and I fall off the ledge.

I fall.off.the.LEDGE.

I scrape up my right hand, my camera bonks the ground and my butt slams into the concrete. Can we say embarrassing? There's your photographer on the ground holding up her camera yelling, "Is the camera ok?! Is the camera ok!?" and the family is all yelling, "Are YOU ok?! Are you ok?!" I just look up at them and go, "I'm a little more embarrassed than hurt, ifyouknowwhatImean." They totally understood.

And here's the thing, that family? They were pros. They got right back to the task at hand and never mentioned it again (although, I will see them tonight so who knows the ribbing I'll get). But man, I was embarrassed. I brushed it off as a joke and got back to work but I learned a very valuable lesson.

Look before you leap.

Then show off your butt bruise to your husband every chance you get.

A Work in Progress

We finished the 2nd bedroom this weekend! And by finished, I mean there's still crap all over the place but the bed is assembled and the curtains are up. Hurray!


But really though, it looked so good but then I decided to go through all my summer clothes and put them out in the garage, which meant my "winter" (said loosely, in Southern California) clothes had to be washed, dried, aired out, what have you. So have clothes on the bed, odds and ends in the chair and stuff that just needs to find a new home. And we need a couple of different pictures on the wall.

Ok, so maybe it's not finished.


Harumph.


BUT! We did have a fun weekend, nevertheless. I didn't really see the Hubs on Saturday. Ships passing in the night and all that jazz. But yesterday we did our thing at the Church with the kids and the music. We have huge exciting news about that whole deal coming up soon. I can't wait!


Side note: The kids were cuh-razy cakes yesterday. Half of them were asleep and the other half were hyped up on something. I think they ate suger coated chocolate bombs for breakfast because there was kicking and arm flailing and shouting instead of singing. Looking back now, it's hilarious. But yesterday was a test in patience for sure. The previous choir director was like, "uh huh. Just you wait. It only gets better." Then Hubs reminded me that next week was Halloween and a clear recipe for disaster. And I crawled into the corner and sucked my thumb.

Then in the afternoon, we went apple picking with friends in Oak Glen.

And by apple picking, I mean Hubs picked two apples and I took a ton of pictures. The end.

But it's not the end! You want to see pictures, don'tcha?

J and J recreating American Gothic

K and S enjoying the scenery


Me and K posing for our Girls of Oak Glen Calendar


K's creepin'


Classic Hubs


2/3rds of our pledge class with a pony.


The Hubs (in my favorite hat)and me.


I'm Brian Fellows!


As you can see, we had a great time. We ended the night back at J's house where we feasted on Cuca's burritos and watched football. And I almost fell asleep on her couch.

What did you do this weekend?