Wildlife.. sort of!

This is long overdue, but I was looking through my photos from our June 2009 trip to Disney World and found this one.  It was taken at the Animal Kingdom on the safari ride and features one of my favorite animals.  I just thought it would be fun to share this photo.

Making Ug progress

So we're off book now and things are starting to come together.  I love this part!  A few weeks from opening night, the costumes are being finished, the set is nearly complete, and we're talking about hair and makeup.  These are all things that make the excitement rise, that make the adrenaline rush, and that make us do what we do over and over again.

After all, why suffer so much unless you love something, right?  And suffer is not a dramatic word, really.  When you do community theatre, you really do devote your life to something for about three months.  This show has been in rehearsal since November and closes at the end of January.  And while I really enjoy it, I do really treasure nights without rehearsal.  Mostly because they are so rare!

Our light/sound guy came last night and played with the board a little.  It was cool to see the lights go on and off while we worked on scenes.  Tonight we're working Act 2, so that'll be fun.  Most of my challenging stuff happens in Act 1, so tonight should be a little easier.

So we open January 22.  Photos and more reports are coming.  Stay tuned.

New face for Snapshots of Life

So I found a good template and have been working on customizing it.  For those of you who are reading this on Facebook, go here: http://anitahavelsblog.blogspot.com/ to see the new face of Snapshots of Life, the blog I've maintained since 2003.  I really like this template and am going to have a lot of fun tweaking it some more to add all the cool stuff I like to include in my sidebars.

Anyway, here it is!  Let me know what you think!

Under Construction

Please pardon the mess while I choose a new blog template and customize it.  This space may be very ugly for a little while!  But come back soon and see the new face of Snapshots of Life (in pictures and words)

Happy New Year!

I haven't actually made any resolutions this year, but I am making a commitment to post here more often.  I looked at my 2009 post count and it kind of made me sad.  I've been neglecting this poor blog and have decided to post more this year.

Welcome to 2010.  I know, the year is already a few days old, but the last few days have been kind of a blur for me so now that I'm back in the routine of everything, I'm taking a moment to think about what I want to accomplish in 2010.  I think it's okay to do this now, rather than on the very first day of the year.  It's okay to reflect for a few days before making these grand statements about what you want to do, right?

So here it is: my plan for 2010.  Things I want to accomplish.  Not resolutions, but goals. 
- Finish Draha outlines and start book 1 (for real this time!)
- Complete log cabin blanket
- Get more exercise
- Spend more time with loved ones
- Amend some of my 101 in 1001 goals (some no longer apply)
- Try something new once a month (this is a longstanding goal that has made my life so interesting in the last 10 years or so.  I do it every year and it's really great!)

My Word for 2010

Keeping with the trend set last year, I have a new word.

But first, a little recap of my 2009 experiences with the word I chose. It was passion. I decided I would live with passion and pursue my passions and have passion for everything I did. Know what? I did! Want to know something else? It was exhausting! But good. Amazing, really.

As a result of my commitment to allowing myself to be the passionate person I truly am, I spent the entire year being extremely involved with local community theatre. This was probably the largest part of my passionate journey, and certainly took the most significant amount of time. But it was amazing. I was able to stage manage, run lights and sound, direct a show, and act in two shows. As a result of all this involvement, I made lasting friendships and solidified other ones.

An unexpected result of living with passion was finding a church I really enjoy and getting involved there, both in small group and in the children's ministry. It has really been great being involved with the wonderful people there.

Another unexpected result has been that I've finally found the perfect person to really be passionate about. And that leads me to my chosen word for 2010.

So the word for 2010... (drumroll please) is LOVE.

I always try to keep love in mind when I am interacting with others. Jesus told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Sometimes our neighbors are not our favorite people in the world, but we must still love them. And there are so many different kinds of love, and so many different ways to show it. I will spend this year showing everyone in my life how much I love them, and also showing love to others who come into my life only to stay for a short time.

So that's the word for the year, and I'm excited about putting this word into practice. This should be an amazing year!

Ug updates

23 days until opening night! I always get very excited at this point. Costumes are being finished, props are starting to show up. Headshots were taken this evening and bios were due before Christmas. I tried on my costume for the first time tonight and it's really cute. The fabric is so nice - very comfortable and pretty. I'll be the cutest cavegirl ever! Well, probably not the cutest, but certainly one of the best dressed!

We are off book now, which is always fun. Tonight we ran Act 1 twice, which means we left the theatre pretty late, after 10. I'm tired right now but can't manage to get to sleep. I think it's because it just hit me tonight how close we really are to having an audience and I'm starting to get nervous! Off book tomorrow night for Act 2. I think I've got it covered, but it's still making me a little crazy, as usual!

At least I have the week off from work. Plenty of time to study those lines, right?