Bugs in the Nativity?

I attended the Methodist's Children's Christmas Pageant last week. Here is a little snapshot of the cute kids in their costumes. As you can see, there were shepherds and the three kings. There were also angels. They were the normal characters you would find at a nativity. Then the young children (around 2-3 years old) entered the room. They were dressed as various insects and animals. There were caterpillars, lady bugs, cats, birds, dogs, zebras, lions, tigers, alligators, turtles, etc. Who knew that all those animals were in the stable at the time of Jesus' birth? It must have been VERY crowded. (I think they also use these costumes when they portray Noah and the ark. They have dual purpose.) It was a very cute (and thankfully short) program. They sang tunes such as Mary Had A Little Lamb, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with the words changed to fit the occasion. Then they ended with a rendition of Happy Birthday to You for Jesus. It was a fun evening and only a handful of kids had to be hauled off by their parents because it was such a traumatic experience for them. Oh yeah, and the back drop only threatened to fall on the children one time. With everyone saying Oh!, it pushed the cardboard back up to its proper position.

Visiting Hours Are Almost Over

I have had some great visitors here in Nashville this year. My first visitors were my Uncle Larry and Aunt Margo. They came East to visit my cousin Vanessa and her family for Thanksgiving. They spent a day and a half in Nashville. One of their stops was of course to the Christmas Spectacular. They wanted to know why I miss the family Christmas party every year. After seeing the show, they have excused me from every future Christmas party if, and only if, I am in the Christmas Spectacular. They really liked the show. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of them.

My second visitor was Liz. I worked with Liz at the Canyons School District this past year. She took a well deserved break from work and her husband and kids and ventured to Nashville for a quick weekend. Her #1 attraction was the Christmas Spectacular. She was not disappointed. I enjoyed visiting with her over some treats after the performance.

My third group of visitors were Laura and her friend Kelsi. They came for a weekend and experienced all that Nashville has to offer this time of year. They had an action-packed crazy busy weekend. I spent a day with them and was exhausted! We started the day by doing some work in the Nashville Temple. Then we went to Ice which was featuring a Charlie Brown Christmas. Then I went off to the theatre to do two shows and they went shopping. They attended the second show that night and received a backstage tour afterwards.

I hope all the visitors had a great time! I enjoyed sharing with them a little of what I do out here. My most favorite visitor is yet to come...Mom! Yea! She is going to help me close down the show this year and load out.

The Abbreviated Picture Day

I decided to be a half team player this year on Picture Day. I was only willing to be in the big group picture. I didn't want to take the time to take individual pictures with people in our costumes. Plus many people didn't stay to picture day. Here is the group shot of the cast who stayed to picture day.

As you can see, only three of the six elves stayed for picture day. Can you say party poopers? All of the Rockettes are there. They know how to team play. Here's a picture of just the Rockettes. Beautiful Ladies! (Thanks Charlie for the picture!)

Opening Night

Friday, November 20th, was opening night for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. I received many great presents-candy, a cosmetic bag with the show logo, water bottle with the show logo, holiday socks, Reese's Pieces, ornament, and flowers.

Here are some pictures from the party after the show.

AJ Irvin (Santa) and me in the limo

Me and Matt Kubicek

Michiko Sasaki and me

Laura Atkinson, me, Nick (our dresser), and Leann Bankowski

The Little Peeps-Leann Bankowski, Laura Atkinson, Dale Krutzig, Pancho Moler, and me

Shawnda Caulfield (the Director) and me

The Kids and me

I didn't close down the party this year. I got there early. I ate some pasta (okay, a lot of pasta) and some treats from the chocolate fountain table. I took some pictures and did some socializing. Then I took the first limo home.

The Grand Ole Opry

Everything you wanted to know about the Grand Ole Opry and more! The Grand Ole Opry refers to two things. First of all, the Grand Ole Opry is the name of a radio show in which artists perform. Second of all, the Grand Ole Opry is the name of a theatre. The Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) usually takes place at the Grand Ole Opry (the theatre). During the months of November through January, the Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) takes place at the Ryman Auditorium because the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is performing at the Grand Ole Opry (the theatre). Got it? Good. The Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) is approximately two hours long. It is broken up into half hour increments with a different celebrity emcee each half hour.

Saturday night, I didn't have rehearsal so I figured I would venture downtown and go to the Grand Ole Opry. I have been to Nashville for four years and never been to the Grand Ole Opry. Plus Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood were performing and I couldn't pass that up. I was able to get a ticket to the sold out concert thanks to my company manager's connections.

I met some fellow cast members in the hotel lobby and we drove to downtown Nashville. We went to the will call window at the Ryman Auditorium to pick up our tickets for the evening. I ended up with the best ticket of our group even though I was the last to get my ticket. My seat was dead center on the first row of the balcony. Perfect!

We waited in line once they opened the doors to the Ryman. I headed right to my seat since it took a long time to get in the door and the show had already started. Little Jimmy Dickens was the emcee for the first half hour. He performed and also introduced the performers.

Martina McBride performed in the first half hour. She performed two songs, “This One’s for the Girls” and a song off of her Timeless album. She was amazing! I loved her!

(If you want to see the pictures bigger, click on the collage.)

Carrie Underwood performed in the second half hour. She performed three songs, “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, a song I didn’t recognize so it must be off her brand new album, and “Cowboy Casanova”. It was fun to see her live and in person.


At this point, I am going to give you the honorable mention performer of the night. It is the back-up singer with the dark hair in the following picture.

First of all, she was crazy. That was obvious! She did this weird thing with her fingers while she sang. She just couldn't stand still. She was very distracting! (She only stands still in photos! I'm surprised the picture didn't turn out more blurry because of her constant movement.) Second, she was always messing around with the sheet music while the other singers were just sitting quietly waiting for their time to sing. Third of all, she was a microphone hog. (See how she is elbowing that guy out of the way so that she is right behind the microphone??) There's more but I will leave it at that.

Now back to the headliners. Rodney Atkins performed during the third half hour. He is TALL!! I love his music! He performed two songs.

At the end of the third half hour, they introduced a surprise performer who just showed up backtage…Vince Gill!! Vince Gill came out on stage in jeans and a sweatshirt. He said he was at the hockey game across the street at the Sommet Center and decided to come over to the Ryman after it let out to see what was going on. The Ryman told him he had to perform to earn his way in since he didn't have a ticket. Ha! Ha! He performed one song for us. We were ecstatic! He was an awesome, unexpected bonus! Of course, this was when my camera battery died. Dang! I took some pictures with my cell phone but they didn’t come out very well. I tried! Vince was amazing!

During the last half hour, Jake Owen performed two songs. He was a relatively new artist. One look at that man, and I was in love, I mean lust!! Holy cow! Jake Owen is super hot, especially when he flashes his amazing smile! Wow! His songs were great too. I don’t think I could ever get enough of looking at that man! I was mesmerized!

I had to put this picture in of Jake just so you can see just how hot he is! This was obviously taken at the CMA Awards last Wednesday. He just doesn't look complete without a date. Where is his date? She was sitting in a hotel room watching the show in her pajamas! Oh wait, that's what I was doing. Oh well, same difference! :) There will always be next year....

30 Was The Best!

Let me just say, I love being in my 30s! They are way better than the 20s. This first year of my 30s beat the last three years of my 20s. Hands down! No competition! Here's the year in review that made it so great.

November 2008-My birthday. Hung out in Myrtle Beach and Nashville doing what I love to do.

December 2008-January 2009-Spent New Year's in Hawaii watching fireworks from Waikiki Beach with a French man. Ooh la la!!

February 2009-Bought my new car Bella.

March 2009-Found a great part-time job working with wonderful people which led to a full-time job. Working a little, playing a lot. Getting in touch with friends.

April 2009-San Francisco overnighter with my favorite traveling companion seeing my favorite musical, Wicked, all for less than $100.

May 2009-Started a great full-time job at the newly formed Canyons School District. Had a lot of fun entertaining my coworkers for five months.

July 2009-Enjoyed a fabulous weekend hanging out with my brother Chris and Allen when they came to Utah for a visit.

September 2009-Visited my second favorite city, Seattle, to see Wicked. Relaxed with some old friends at Lake Powell.

October 2009-Experienced five Broadway plays in my most favorite city of all-time New York City. Returned to Hawaii for some R & R. Began rehearsing for another season of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in Myrtle Beach.

I ended up having at least four days of birthday celebrations. Two were before my birthday with my parents, one was on the actual day with friends, and the last was the day after with coworkers. Here are some pictures of the big days!

The Birthday Cake Mom Made For Me

Enjoying the Cake

Made Out Like A Bandit-Cards and Loot

On My Birthday-Sticky Fingers Restaurant

My Fun Friends who Celebrated with Me

The Cake from Company Management-Ooh, Pink Goes Good with Green!

The Answer is Go To Hawaii

You're probably wondering what the question is. It is, "What's the best way to start your 30s and end your first year of 30s?" After my last day of working in the Human Resources Department at the Canyons School District, I headed off to Hawaii for five days of relaxing before starting the next adventure. This time I went to the Big Island of Hawaii. I stayed on the Kona side of the island.Visited the Kona Hawaii Temple

Beautiful Hawaiian Sunset

Hawaiian Sunset

Waipio Valley

The View from our Hotel Balcony



Lots of Swimming in the Pool


The Pacific Ocean


Turn Around-The Hotel

The End of Another Perfect Hawaiian Vacation