Welcome to the 60s!!!

I've been cast as Tracy in Hairspray at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans. I am so excited!! I haven't performed in New Orleans since I worked at Six Flags in 2005. My last show here was Seussical in January of 05! It's been over five years, and I'm so glad to be back home and doing such a fantastic show!!

My family is going nuts. I don't think I've ever seen them so excited for something I've done. They have bought about 30 tickets for opening night already. Family members from Texas are making plans to come in. I'm so happy that they are so excited about this production!

I'm looking forward to working with people I haven't worked with in a while!! I get to work with Blake Coheley and Jefferson Turner. They played such a huge role in my early theatre life, and I'm glad to be working with them again! I'm also incredibly excited to be working with people I haven't worked with before. In college you work with a lot of the same people, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Each day is a gift. We work hard. We fight hard. Good things come our way. I'm so grateful for this opportunity.

Inspiration can come at any time...

Today I was babysitting a 9 and 7-year-old. Part of their daily routine is to take 30 minutes to read anything they'd like. When I announced that it was Reading Time, I expected them to put up a fight, but they quickly ran to their books, picked a seat and immersed themselves in their reading. I decided I should probably read as well, so I went to the bookshelf to look for a book. For some reason, a book of Shel Silverstein poems caught my eye. About halfway through our Reading Time, I came across the following poem. I really think it sends an incredible message to me and many of my peers at this point in our lives. Each and every day I hear people make negative comments about what I have chosen to do with my life. But I really don't see it as a choice. This is what I was put here to do. Each of us has been given a gift that we need to share with the world. Our journey will not always be easy, but with the knowledge that this is all we are here to do... we will succeed. We will be strong. We will prove the Mustn'ts, the Don'ts, the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts and the Never Haves that anything can be.

Listen to Mustn'ts, child,

Listen to the Don'ts.
Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.
Listen to the Never Haves,

then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child,

Anything can be.

- Shel Silverstein

Moving in before getting out.

It's official. I have moved back in with my parents. Temporarily, but still... it's a strange feeling. Today my mom and I unloaded the last bit of stuff from my car. I immediately purged through my clothes, tossing away anything I haven't worn in a while. Anything that looks like a 23-year-old shouldn't be wearing anymore... gone. Then I felt like Andy from Toy Story 3. We made boxes of things to donate: dolls, purses, etc. I couldn't bear to donate my Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. That cannot go. I did give up Tweety Bird though. Then I came across my NSYNC marionettes. They are in perfect condition, just a little dusty. They aren't going anywhere for a while though. I came across so many pictures from high school. Why did we think it was cool to carry around a stack of wallet-sized photos of each other? I have a stack of close to 350 pictures that I know I carried around in my school bag.

So now what?? Well I'm planning to move to NYC in the fall. Auditioning for LePetit Theatre's "Hairspray" on July 17, so we shall see what happens with that. Life is a journey. It takes unexpected twists and turns, and we just have to be ready to go along for the ride.