Sunday, June 24, 2012

I've been slacking on composing entries for my blog... My sincere apologies.

Now, onto what's been going on since *cough* last September *cough*.

The "Sander's Family Christmas" show at the IMAX in Branson, MO offered me the role of Denise this past Christmas season.  I gladly accepted the opportunity and was happy to be home for the holidays and performing.  It felt good to be back in Branson doing theatre, but I'm glad that my home is now in New York.  I was able to act and sing again, on a regular basis (yahoo!!), and spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year with friends and family.  I couldn't have asked for more!

Back in New York, 2012, things are going well.  I'm still at the real estate office and I now have a second job babysitting kids during the week.  Their names are Isabel and Miles.  Iz is 13 years old and Miles is 9.  They are great kids and I am truly blessed to be taken in by this awesome family!  I'm like the big sister/aunt they never had!  I started watching them back in January and I'm happy to say that I'm still with them.  Most babysitter don't last more than 3 months (because most of the kids around here are spoiled brats who walk all over grown-ups), but thankfully the parents I work for raised their children to be polite, honest, and thankful.  BONUS!!!

They expanded our apartment in May from a 2 BR/1 BR into a 4 BR/2 BR.  Greg and I found a third roommate to compensate for all the extra space.  The new guy is Doug.  He works for a beer distributer here in Brooklyn.  He's great.  It's a nice quiet/chill vibe in our apartment.  All is well.  We have more space then we know what to do with!

It's now June and I haven't been doing much besides work.  It's been nice to get into a groove of working, but sometimes one needs a break.  At the beginning of June, I flew back home to Branson to celebrate my dad's birthday and for a much needed vacation.  I don't think my time there could have been better (well, maybe if I had made it to the lake at least once)!  I got to meet my new niece Nora for the first time (she was born on February 7th, 2012), I played with my beautiful nieces Ally, Georgia, and Ruby, and I spent a LOT of quality time with my dad!  It was perfect!  And I got him hooked on Downton Abbey.  Score!

I will make it a point to post things more often like I did when I first started blogging.  Sorry it's taken me so long to update.  I guess life carried me away for a bit, but I'm back!  ;)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

I don't really have much of an update, but since it has been so long since I've blogged, I thought a new post was needed.  I'm sitting here at the real estate office, watching people walk by, and it makes me realize that the days of summer are slowly coming to an end.  Soon there will be no need for tank tops and flip flops and it makes me wonder what I did with my summer.  I know there's still time left, but I feel like the time has flown by.  I went to Prospect Park (a huge park in Brooklyn, only 5 blocks from my apartment) for the first time last week and it was amazing.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to see it!  It's so close!  Immediately after I walked in, I felt like I was back at home.  There were trees and rolling hills, not quite like the hills in Missouri, but still enjoyable.  I suddenly didn't feel like I was in a city.  I couldn't see any buildings or hear any traffic.  I walked around the park for about an hour and a half until I found the perfect spot, under a tree, to read my new book, The Hunger Games.  My friend Chris gave me the book earlier in the week when we met up for coffee.  He said it was a "must read" and I'm really enjoying it so far.  :)

It's hard to believe that I've been in New York for almost six month.  This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my family or driving a car.  Yikes!  My new niece, Ruby, just turned 6 months old and I haven't seen her since she was born.  They all tell me how big she is getting.  And my niece Georgia, who is 2 1/2 years old, is now speaking in complete sentences!  I'm looking forward to the next time I get to see my family.  On a different note, I'm really eager to get behind the wheel of a car again!  I used to drive at least an hour every day before I moved, and now I find myself sitting on the subway for that amount of time.  I think I prefer driving.

The new apartment is great.  We couldn't have asked for a better place or location.  Auditions have really slowed down, but I was expecting that to happen, it being summer and all.  I'm working more and more at the real estate office, waiting for auditions to pick up again.  I have a friend coming into the city next week which is exciting!  It will be the first time I've had company since I moved, and I'm not even the reason he's coming!  Haha!  He's coming for work and a little vacation, but he's still a friend who's visiting and I'm excited nonetheless.  :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The summer in the city is HOT!  But I'm dealing with it.  Nothing too exciting has happened since we signed our lease last month.  Our new apartment is great!  We have acquired a glider rocking chair and a couch, but other than that, it's pretty bare.  Now we are in need of some decorations to make it feel more like a home.

My job is going well.  I'm able to come in throughout the week to file things.  It's not as often as I'd hope for, but it's better than nothing!  Auditions have really died down now that summer has hit.  Most shows are already in production for the season and auditions for Christmas won't start until the late part of August or so.  There have been a couple of auditions, but they're few and far between.  Most of them are for the union, which I'm allowed to attend, but since there are so few, the union people swamp the audition making it impossible for non-union people to be seen.

Greg and I ventured to Manhattan in hopes of catching a good view for the annual Macy's 4th of July fireworks display happening on the Hudson river.  HUGE MISTAKE!!!  The subways were ridiculously crowded and slow and once we actually got into the city there was no place to go!  There were thousands of people  all walking towards the west side to get a view of the Hudson, but all of the streets were filled to the maximum.  You couldn't even turn around in a circle because of the sea of people.  There were 6 barges lined up between 20th and 50th Street (or something like that) and that's where the fireworks were going to be.  We were on 24th St.  We decided that it was not worth our time so we left the people behind and continued walking north in hopes that the people would thin out.


We got to the corner of 28th St. and 10th Ave. and I saw my friend Colin standing there.  We met on set one day filming a TV show.  He was waiting on a friend who works at Manhattan Motorcars (a luxury car dealership on 28th St and 11th Ave, where they sell Rolls Royce, Porche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Lotus).  Whoa.  They were going to a party on the rooftop of the car dealership to watch the fireworks.  And yes, they totally invited us to join!!!  It. Was. Awesome.  There were food and drinks provided and we also got the chance to check out all of the cars in the showroom (I took a picture)!  Our view was perfect!  We saw 5 out of the 6 barges and the view opposite the Hudson was of the Empire State Building which was lit up in red, white, and blue.

I took a few videos of the firework display.  The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes or so.  I tried to cut it down to a really good part.  This is the finale.  At the very end I pan around so you can see the massive amounts of people crowding the street and the Empire State Building.  So much fun!!!