February trip to Alaska

I know, I know, why the heck did I move to Minnesota? It seems like I'm always up in Alaska! Well, this trip up was for "business" in a sense. TBA Theatre brought me up to perform in a Folk's Tales show--the latest installment? Rail Tales! Songs and Stories of the American Railroad. Some of you may recall last year the show's theme was stories about the sea and pirates.

These shows are just so much fun. I'm friends with the whole cast, and the rehearsals for these shows end up being just as fun as the performances. This whole crew has the perfect mix of professionalism and goofy-ism to make the process enjoyable. What do I mean by that? We can definitely get off course with our sillyness, but we're able to ring ourselves back in to get things done. And we laugh a lot!

I touched down around midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and then Thursday mid-morning I was recording a radio show with Wayne, one of the other Tales cast members. We were recording a show that airs on the local NPR station call Stage Talk. I think it went pretty well! I was worried that I would sound a little daft owing to jet lag, but we actually had a good time, and it didn't sound too stupid when listening to it.

From then on out we had rehearsals most evenings, as there was really only a week before we had an audience! The rest of the cast had already been rehearsing, and I had been working on Orange Blossom Special on the fiddle... let's just say that I wasn't performance ready yet when we first started. But everyone was patient with me, and we figured out where to place me in stuff they had already arranged, and then we also got to come up with some killer harmonies while I was there as well. And yes, I did end up playing Orange Blossom Special in the show... it wasn' t too painful for people :)

Another highlight to these rehearsals were that they were in the new TBA Theatre Studio. TBA Theatre has its own space! They are using it for offices, rehearsals and classes, and they are renting a theater for actual performances. It looks great, and they just continue to make it nicer. My last weekend there I got to participate in a big open house they had celebrating the new space. I had no idea so many people would show up! It truly was a lot of fun, and it was a great way to kick off having the space.

Hmm... other highlights from this trip? I actually had quite a bit of down time. That drives some people crazy, but I'm one of those people that actually thrives on down time, so it was really great to spend some time at home, chillin with the dogs.

My one regret, as always seems to be the case, is that I never get enough time with my extended family. I see my parents a lot, since I'm staying with them, but I don't get to see my brother or my cousin's family nearly enough. Most of my downtime was during the day, when people were at work. It's one of those things where you always think there will be time and then the time is up! I'm going to have to make an effort to actually schedule time ahead on my next visit, just to make sure I don't continue to have that regret.

This trip was particularly hard to come back to Minnesota from. I think because I just absolutely love all the people in my life in Alaska. Don't get me wrong, there are great things about living in Minnesota, and there are some great people here as well... but there's something to be said for family and for friends that have been your friends for years. I love you guys!

Here's some shots from the show that my brother, Colin, took:



Oh, and here are a couple shots that Tony Batres took, including the necessary Dr. Pepper ad photo:

I'm in another play :)

Every time I get cast in a play here in Minnesota, it's such a relief. This can't just be another fluke! I've been cast in Theatre in the Round's production of The Madwoman of Chaillot. I am essentially an extra, playing a couple small parts, but I am absolutely thrilled. This theatre company is well respected in the Twin Cities, and this cast seems to be pretty darn good. Don't get me wrong, I love sinking my teeth into bigger roles, but there's something so much fun about playing small parts too--it is definitely less stress, and I still get to be there in the theatre, which is what I love.

Hooray!

Working from Home

So I've started working for a company in Alaska... from Minnesota :) So my office is my kitchen table! I'm essentially writing documentation on how to use a computer program. I've done this type of work in the past, so I've been hired to do it yet again.

Here are some pros for working from home:

• No commute, so I can sleep a little later and save on gas, parking, or bus fare
• Not having to dress for the office--I have time to exercise and then clean up for the day, but I don't have to wear slacks. Instead it's the nice comfy jeans :)
• Easy access to snacks--just have to go to my cupboard
• Being able to play my music and not worry about disturbing anyone

Here are some cons:

• I have to be extra diligent to stay on task
• I don't have tons of human interaction

Hmm... that's about it :) I do enjoy the work that I'm doing, and I like the people that I'm working with from afar. As far as the human interaction, I'm fortunate enough to have stuff in the evenings a lot of the time, so I get my fix of that as well :) All in all, I think it's a pretty darn good situation!

Wild about Hockey!

Again, this was a great experience that I didn't post right when it happened--but fun nonetheless!

My aunt Shelly, who I live with, was invited to attend a NHL Wild Hockey game here in Saint Paul through her work. They were treating some customers of theirs, and Shelly interacts with these specific customers on a regular basis. So not only was Shelly invited, but I got to be her +1 :)

Here's the thing: This was a very swanky experience. We were in one of the sky boxes, which was very nice. There was also catered food, which was incredibly delicious. And it was a hockey game, where the Wild won!




Shelly and I were both on cloud nine from the experience. The whole evening was probably about $200 for the two of us... and we paid nothing :) The people we hung out with were fun as well, so the whole night ended up being a great time!

I'm going on a cruise!

I can't believe it's really happening! Me and about 17 other friends from Alaska (maybe more?) are all going on a cruise together in November! This has been a talked about fantasy for quite some time, and now we are actually doing it! I have to give kudos to Robin for taking the initiative of contacting the travel agent and getting options for us. Omigosh, I get so excited even thinking about it! The picture is from Belize, one of the stops on our Western Carribean tour.

The cruise has also inspired everyone to start getting into shape! November is far enough away, that those wanting to trim a few pounds will be able to do it, and since there is such a big group of us, there is plenty of camaraderie and support in getting fit. It's pretty exciting! Now, I don't have pounds to lose, but I definitely have strength to build. So I've started doing my Pilates again, and I'm hoping that I can continue to make it a habit. When I've done Pilates in the past, I've noticed that my back doesn't have as much pain and my posture is better. So I'm staying inspired by my friends, and hopefully it will be reciprocal!

Woo hoo!

Pictures from Alaska in December :)

Well, it didn't take long for me to get some pictures emailed to me from my trip! Allow me to share (thanks Shane!):

Here are some photos from our caroling time - we ended up getting covered in snow, and it was so much fun!


And here are a couple from Christmas and New Year's parties I went to.

December trip to Alaska

Well, for some reason I just haven't felt like blogging! I don't really know why, except I have been feeling a little lazy lately. Or rather I've been having a fairly busy life, and so when I actually have down time blogging doesn't equate to what I want to do at the moment.

Whatever the reason, I've fallen drastically behind :) So let me touch on some highlights from my December trip to Alaska, keeping in mind that I've actually had another trip to Alaska since then, so things may be hard to distinguish :)

Let's see... well, of course in December in Alaska, you definitely have the picturesque look of Christmas. There actually seemed to be record snowfall for December, with the snow coming all the way up to the top of the fence in my family's yard - it looked like a big swimming pool full of snow!

One of my fondest snow memories was going around a friend's neighborhood and singing Christmas carols. We go through this area every year, and they were doing it long before I even knew this group of friends. But I've gone with them for quite a few years now, and I absolutely love it. How great that there is a time of year when it is fully accepted to randomly go up to people's front doors and sing to them? Love it! And I love seeing how happy people get. Some houses even give us treats! Part of the fun this year was that it was actually snowing while we went out, and it was that beautiful, big snowfakes falling from the sky. So it was fun to abandon all hope of remaining dry... and go ahead and jump in some snow piles! It was almost too fun :)

I also used to sing with a professional caroling group back in the day, and my absolute favorite part was the tour day where we would go to several different nursing homes in the area. The arrangement of songs we would sing, with 4 part harmonies and such, were so amazing to be a part of. Well, the director of the group heard I was coming up, so he asked if I would like to join them for the tour day--would I ever! I was actually suffering from a cold, but I still had a great time going everywhere with them. It ended up being quite the day of service, because that night with my Folk's Tales friends we helped lead music at a Boy Scout dinner that they were throwing for some families in need.

Now, I was visiting Alaska over both Christmas and New Year's which afforded me a chance to go to parties and see lots of people that I might not otherwise see during a visit. So it was great to catch up with a lot of people.

I guess it bears repeating again, that I was also able to take part in the one-page play festival that happened the first weekend I was there. I already posted some photos, but I thought I would tie that in with this trip.

Anything else? Well, as I mentioned, over part of this time I was actually kind of sick. While that's not always the best thing, it did force me to stay home and get lots of visiting time in with my family and the dogs :) So it wasn't all bad :)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something at this time, but these are definitely some great highlights. Sorry that I don't have pictures :) A certain *someone* gave me a disc that didn't end up having the photos on it. You know who you are!

In honor of a great man

I simply want to pay tribute to a wonderful man, Blaine Reed, who is being laid to rest this day.

Blaine is my cousin's grandfather, but I've always simply called him grandpa myself.

Your voice will be missed when the family sings...


The following link will take you to his obituary if you wish to read about his life:
http://newsminer.com/2007/03/07/5740/