So my mom signed me up for this adult show without asking.  At first I was frustrated, but I figured I might as well audition-- and oh was I glad I did.  For the first time in my life I was given not only a part with lines, but a lead character!  Now I must say that I truly appreciate all actors because it's a lot harder than it looks.  You have to learn how to portray yourself the way your character would, including the way they speak, the way they stand, the way they react the world around them.  I so enjoyed putting myself in the shoes of the kind, brave, elegant, outgoing abolitionist Julianna on her adventures in the golden age of piracy!  Between the joy of singing emotional songs, wearing beautiful gowns and getting to threaten people with swords, I had an amazing experience.

me trying to be cool HAHAHA

...it all went from "lame" to "jaw-dropping" in about two seconds.  I casually checked my email to find out that:

1. I got one of the lead parts in Pirates: A Love Story, an original production by our good friends Andrea McFeely {a Hollywood writer} and Karli Giles {a brilliant composer who was also my director for FunkyTown last year}.  This isn't their first time putting on this show, and when I saw it last year I was absolutely blown away by the beautiful colonial music and thoughtful script.  I'm playing Julianna, the lead's fiance who is everything good in the world.  She is strong, she fights to stop slavery, and she sings some very lovely songs.  You don't understand, sometimes I'll listen to full movie soundtracks so I can hear to orchestral music similar to that in this show, AND I've been obsessed with Elizabeth Swan's dresses pretty much forever.  Like I'm saying as a kid when most of my acquaintances were going through their High School Musical/Jonas Brother/Hannah Montana  fangirl  phases, I was playing with my Felicity and Elizabeth historical American Girl Dolls, longing to live a few centuries ago.
2. Despite the fact that there is so much competition and that I put it 2nd choice and wrote an entire third of my application on why I wanted to attend Hawaii, I got accepted into BYU Provo.  Still going to Hawaii, but I still cannot believe that the years and years of hard work have paid off like this.  I am so honored. 

It was weird to see Tyler play the part of the cruel, bad-a Chuck.  I've known him since I was a baby in Boston!

Since Footloose, I've hung out a ton with some of the Bomont teens. In the front row from left to right, you can see Jessie (Ariel), Lois (Urleen), Adyson (Rusty), Jessica (Wendy-Jo), Kale (Ren) and Dallin (Willard); you can also see our CD rapper friend Joey J in the white shirt in the picture above this and Dale on the top second-to-left of the first picture.   Whether we're in a group-message swapping our most disturbing action-shot stage photos or chillaxing in the hot tub, these people know how to make anything enjoyable.

On the left: I must brag that Kale is National Youth Actor of the Year and  Jessie Jo has also won statewide awards.  Man, was it great to work with such a phenomenal cast!

  Tomorrow school begins.  It's strange, you spend half the school year looking forward to the glorious summer, but then when it comes you don't know what to do with it until it's too late.
  Fortunately, we've had plenty of fun and games.  My mom is the president and makeup artist of Actors Youth Theatre, and my siblings are involved year-round in shows, including the two summer shows, Addams Family and Into the Woods Jr.  Sadly, I'm not even a real theatre kid & yet I no longer find it abnormal to find false eyelashes/wigs on the coffee table, watch Sophie painted like cows or fairies or ghosts for "practice," or get asked to run to Goodwill and fill the cart with the strangest items I can find. {BTW, I just found out that last summer's Aida won several National Youth Awards including Outstanding Production!  This is competing against states like New York and California too!}

After his amazing performance as Jack {beanstock}, Eric got asked by representatives from THREE professional theatres  to audtion for their shows!

Sweet little Livy {left} got to turn bratty for the Stepsister role.

Just remind us to take a map next time, so we don't get quite as lost as we did.
I love my friends so freaking much, though.  We've hung out a lot, whether spontaneously meeting up for desert and a movie on the beloved beanbag, freaking each other out in the garage, wrestling/Nerfgun wars {I realized pitifully that I would die within the first minute of either being kidnapped or made a soldier}, listening to the boys use inside jokes as a way to start dying laughing about something apparently dirt, singing along to the Frozen soundtrack, watching movies like Mr. & Mrs. Smith,walking around the lovely temple lights, watching the ferociosity of a five-year-old {poor Bryan is never gonna live down getting nailed in the face-- literally, like, this kid scratched him and drew enough blood in this long line that the mark is still there & everyone who glances out of the corner of their eye thinks he has a bloody nose.  I tell him to make up some heroic story as a cover-up, but he's too modest.} Last Friday Bryan and I went out on a date with Lindsey and Cody biking around brightly-lit neighborhoods.  The colors were bold and holidayish and the air was crisp, freezing our knuckles and crystallizing our breath.  We stopped our bikes on the freeway overpass to watch the cars flying by, then sipped peppermint smoothies, sang as Jingle Bells as atrociously as we could on the top of our lungs since the whoosh of the traffic whisked the ugly sound away anyway, and went back to Bryan's house to huddle around the fireplace as Bryan almost lulled us to sleep with his gorgous piano skills and played a game of Life and massaged each other. 

 This month, we built a stage.  Actors Youth Theater opened up its own studio we plan on designing like the Venecian.  Even if I don't do quite as much acting as my siblings who participate in so many productions I literally {and I mean LITERALLY literally} can't keep track, the love of performance runs deep in my blood and it's been amazing seeing this all fall into place.  Adam did an eagle project the size of three-- impressing all-- by helping install seats and paint, among a million other things.  I'm proud. My mom's the president of the board too, so congrats to her.
I also can't forget the incredible experience I'm having with Fuse Performing Arts and their little Glee group Funkytown.  I'm the oldest one in the group, but I've never met a group of nicer, more welcoming and fun-loving kids.  We have a blast at every concert, and even if we're not the best group out there, it has been amazing putting together songs to sing and dance to.  I was honored to add a little candle to my cake of a Christmas season by having the choir back me up as I sang O Holy Night.

  Hey.  Wussup?  Been a while, hasn't it.
  Yeah, life's been slightly busy.  Really, life's just been composed of school, Insideous, dancing at the country club, dates, Thursday letters, having a grand old time with the amigos.
  This week I felt honored to attend {and perform at} the annual AriZoni awards.  In competition against youth musicals across all of Arizona, AYT's Aida won 7 awards {including best music, choreography, and the highest honor of the best overall performance to name a few}.  SEVEN.

  I can never decide whether I like going to bed/getting up early or staying up late/sleeping in better.  That fresh accomplished feeling... or that partyish/screwit/summertime teen rebel feeling...
  As you can tell, it is 1 AM and this week my melatonin has refused to kick in till quite late.  Thus I guess it's the second. But it's OK.  There's nothing better to do in the middle of the night than blog, sketch, edit photos, play my electric keyboard with earbuds, write short stories for my BF/read the ones he sends me, eat, or watch scary movies {three this week alone} so that Rachel and I have to share her obnoxiously comfy bed for protection.
 But seriously, sleep?  Pshhht, though be proud of me: the sleep I've gotten is good enough that I'm actually remembering my dreams.  A rare thing.  This summer I've had dreams that it was still the last week of school, that I was Katniss Everdeen, that I was pregnant for absolutely no reason at all and was totally chill about it too.  Though I guess that's not as bizarre as Rachel's dream that she was pregnant with elephant twins and only a pregnant woman could activate the dishwasher.
  Life's good. I've had super fun datenights doubling with his parents for dinner and icecream {oh I am too clumsy, but pool stores are good time killers}, datenights with others minigolfing and watching the sunset from Hole in the Rock...  I've had plenty of rehearsals for the show I am in and am loving...  I've hopped the wake and posed a peace sigh wakeboarding... I've decided that I like going places with my mama cause she too likes to go out to eat and shop for cute things, but she is also not afraid to splurge while Daddy's at scout camp with Adam...  I've been home alone with Rachel at night when suddenly there was a pop and we were plunged into total darkess...  I've jumped on the trampoline at midnight and attempted to sleep in a two-man tent with three siblings before they remembered that Arizona is a desert and that a desert can be quite hot...  I've learned not to say Adam's name in Pig Latin... I've not even contemplated school...
  You know, though I've become slightly lonely deprived of friends who scatter for vacation, I do like summer.  A lot.  

....to....
 My outstanding siblings.  Both theatrical people.
   Now you see this babe here?  This goes to Rachel, who earned three awards at the high school's Fresneli Theatre Awards.  This included the honorary huge-glowing-trophy award of Most Professional Actress.  Round of applause?  Yes, go ahead.

  Aren't I just lucky to be part of such a fantastic family?

     Alright, so then after the game on Thursday, I had all this homework and studying to do.  But even though I knew I would be up till midnight working on homework, I knew it was inevitable.  I mean, both Chelsea and Karissa had texted me to find out if I wanted to support my hawks tomorrow on TV!  So by just after 5:30, I left the house with my teal skinny jeans, rhinestoned cheer shirt, cheer bow, and obnoxiously huge hoop earrings.  I guess we had been misinformed about the time, because Channel 3 News didn't show up for another hour, but what the heck!  We were on TV!  Chanting for Highland!
      Rachel, that night, invited Taylor and some other friends of hers over to hang out.  It's now too late for me to still be blogging on a school night, but I insist on you taking a nice look at these two.  Yes, they did blind makeovers on each other.  And yes, I had had the world's greatest ab workout after laughing at them so much.
  Yep. So close to being sixteen, and already life is spinning.  How crazy.  How fantastic!

 Oh holy goodness gracious.  I think I just fell in love.  With the arts.  After seeing all those fantastically taalented kids in AYT's production of West Side Story, I am having to chain myself against the urge to sing and dance and fall for romance.  It was so amazing!