The Loveless Cafe

Even though the weather was overcast and rainy, five of the Little People piled into one car and hit the open road for the Loveless Cafe. This was another one of my BRILLIANT ideas (if I do say so myself!)!! Many friends from previous years have said, "We went to the Loveless Cafe. The food was delicious. You have to go there." Then I would reply by saying, "Then why didn't you invite me to go along?!" This would usually shut them up and send them on their way. Perfect. So this year I decided to coordinate my own expedition to the Loveless Cafe. I would like to thank the LPs for once again going along with another one of my whims.

The Mighty Five-Leann, Dana, Me, Mike, and Laura

Dana showing off the place-the store, the BBQ pit, and the Cafe

Macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, homemade biscuits with honey and homemade jams-blackberry, strawberry, and peach-DELICIOUS!!

Good thing I exercised BEFORE I went to lunch. At least, I didn't feel SO guilty with my food fest. I kept telling myself I was just preparing for the many Thanksgiving feasts that were coming up this week. I have a Thanksgiving dinner to attend on Wednesday and two scheduled for Thursday. Considering that I felt sick after this little meal, I don't know if I will survive all the upcoming food. Now that it has been three hours since I have eaten all that food, I am feeling better. The food was DELICIOUS! It was well worth the 35 minute drive to get there. Just be careful with overeating! Oh yeah, did I mention I got some banana pudding to go complete with Nilla Wafers and Whip Cream? That will be a perfect dinner in a few hours while I watch some TV. :) Some days (actually most days) it's good to be me!

The Dressing Room

Beginning last year, the Grand Ole Opry has decided it's (finally) time to update their dressing rooms. Previous to the upgrade the dressing rooms looked like something out of the 1960s. Basic wallpaper, carpet with guitars on them, and just very basic in general. Here are some pictures of the old dressing room before the renovation.

About half of the dressing rooms have now been renovated at the Grand Ole Opry. The Little People got one of the refurbished dressing rooms this year. Our room is very nice. It has crown moldings along the ceiling and floor. We have higher countertops with stools. We have very nice countertops with sparkles in them. The lights dim. The carpet actually is soft and has padding underneath it. The walls look totally awesome with the paint job. Enjoy the pictures!

Opening Night

This is going to be a picture post. Opening Night was last Friday night. I had a blast. The evening consisted of presents (my favorite), a show, and a party after the show. The party had delicious food, fun friends, and a good DJ. It was so much fun that I stayed at the party until 3 AM!!! Even at the old age of 30, a girl still knows how to PARTY! Oh yeah, did I mention I slept in until 11 the next morning?! That's not important.

These are some of the presents I received

My parents sent me a bouquet of fruit for Opening Night (Delicious!!)

Here I am pigging out

Here I am working it off (woop, woop)

Here are the Little People I work with (Leann, Mike, Laura, and Dana)

There was another Little Person in the show, Dale, but he didn't come to the party. (What's up with that?!)

Me and Laura (the swing)

That was the fun-filled Opening Night festivities. We have now been in shows for a week and I love it! This really is the best job in the whole wide world!

Myrtle Beach 2008

Here are some pictures from Myrtle Beach.

This first pictures was actually taken on Halloween (notice the Halloween t-shirt). People are always asking me what I do in rehearsal. Here you go! This is what I do during rehearsal....Sleep! This is such an attractive picture of me. It's a wonder why I'm still single?! Is anyone concerned that I'm just going to slip right off the chair?! Apparently taking the picture was a little higher on the priority list.

Here is a picture of me and Adam. Adam and I worked together two years ago in Nashville. This year Adam is performing in Chicago and St Louis. BRRR!! Glad I'm not! Adam got in to Myrtle Beach the night before I left. We had a great time at dinner and seeing each other for a few hours. To answer the many questions, no, I'm not pregnant in that picture. I just got done eating a bowl of spaghetti and two slices of pizza and I forgot to suck in the gut! Yeah, a girl knows how to pack it away when someone else is paying! Adam was paying up on a friendly wager we made on a certain football game a few months back. Go Cougars!

I guess besides my birthday, those were the best pictures I have from Myrtle Beach. What can I say? My days in Myrtle consisted of rehearsals and hanging out with friends. Oh yeah, I exercised a lot but who wants to see a picture of that?!

Happy 30th Birthday to Me!

Saturday November 1st was a marvelous day because all the attention was on me! The day began at 7 AM. I walked to the beach and watched the sunrise at 7:35 AM over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful sunrise. The sky turned blue with a few clouds along the horizon. It was quite cool that morning. After the sunrise, I walked back to my condo and got ready for the day.

Rehearsal started with everyone singing Happy Birthday to me. It was great! I loved all the attention! We ran through the show from beginning to end twice. I received phone calls, text messages, and emails from many friends and family members. Company management brought a birthday cake to the break room during lunch and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to me again. I blew out all 30 candles on top. It was hard work! I loved it! The cake was yellow with white frosting. It tasted delicious! I didn’t get any notes from rehearsal all day!

After work, some members of the cast and company management went to Fiesta Del Burro Loco for dinner to celebrate my birthday. The wooden donkey on wheels was brought to our table. I climbed up on the donkey and wore the sombrero as everyone sang Happy Birthday to me one last time! I loved it. I had a fabulous 30th birthday! Thanks to everyone who helped make it a special day.

San Antonio

Before I headed off to be an actress again, my family met up in San Antonio, TX for a family vacation. I was the only person in the family who had never been to San Antonio. I had a blast with the fam. Here are some pictures to show you what we did.

My parents and I got in to San Antonio a day before Chris and Allen showed up. We took advantage of the extra time and did an endowment session in the San Antonio Temple. It was so beautiful inside. We just barely made it to the temple in time for the reservation we had made.

Chris and Allen showed up the next day and we headed downtown as soon as they got in. Our first stop was the Alamo. Now the Alamo is in the weirdest spot ever, right in the middle of downtown. You don't even know you are there until you are halfway passed the building! Even after walking through the building and reading parts of all the displays, I still had no idea what was so significant about the Alamo. My friend had to send me a text about it for me to understand. As I understand it, the Alamo is a place to remember that a bunch of white guys didn't understand military strategy so they got killed. (Or something like that.) I think that's why everyone in Texas wears a gun. (Did anyone see Miss Congeniality?)

Then we walked along the Riverwalk. We stopped at a delicious Mexican restaurant along our walk. We rode the boat that took us around the Riverwalk while the boat driver told us information about the area. Then we went up the Space Needle Look Alike Structure. I think it was called the Tower of the Americas.

The following day we went to Market Square in downtown San Antonio. I bought some postcards that cost less than the postage to send them. Otherwise I felt like we had just gotten off a cruise ship in some port with the locals selling their crafts.

Then we headed off to Six Flags for an afternoon of fun and excitement. I was able to sneak on one roller coaster that I really wasn't tall enough to ride. But I was called out on another roller coaster I was trying to get on. Oh well! It was fun! Chris and my mom were able to ride roller coasters til their hearts were content. The rest of us enjoyed (?) waiting for them. After getting my necessary churro, we got in the car and headed back to the hotel. We ate dinner at this weird restaurant that reminded me of Casa Bonita's in Denver, CO. It was AUTHENTIC Tex-Mex food. It was delicious! Too bad I don't remember what it was called. Maybe it was called Mamacita's or something like that.

Sunday we just relaxed all morning and then went to the airport. That is where the fun began! Delta needed people to bump off mine and my parents flight. Since all I had to do was pack for the next two months of my life the next day, Mom and I decided to be bumped. We sent Dad home with most of the luggage and wheelchair. We sent Chris and Allen home to Orlando. Mom and I were given $400 in Delta money (NYC here I come!) and rebooked on a flight for the following day. We loaded up on food from the airport with our free meal vouchers. Then we took the free shuttle to the free Drury Hotel where we got a free upgrade to a suite. Man, oh man, was it sweet! We checked our email on the free computers. I ate free popcorn while we waited for the free dinner to begin. We ate the free food from the airport and the hotel for dinner. We watched TV and went to bed.

We woke up early the next morning and rode the free shuttle back to the airport. We flew to Atlanta, GA. That was the error in this excellent plan. I have the worst experiences in the Atlanta airport. Our flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City was delayed nearly three hours. We walked the airport, read, called people, etc, to pass the time. Finally we were going to board the plane when they decided it was broken. Every passenger then had to go to a completely different terminal to get on a different plane. The good part was we were upgraded for (you guessed it) FREE to first class! Now that was NICE! We were treated like royalty. (Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration; We were treated better than steerage!) Another surprise occurred after we had boarded the plane: Elder David Bednar, an Apostle, and his wife flew with us in First Class. All the FREE stuff definitely outweighed the inconveniences we endured and I would totally do it again.