19 Things Theater People Will Understand (as described by Back to the Future gifs)

1. How much you wanna smack the person who doesn't have their lines memorized by tech week


2. That one costume you hate


3. A healthy fear of your director is good, right?


4. Music directors are some of the coolest, funniest people you'll ever meet


5. The length of rehearsals. They weren't supposed to last this long, right?


6. Tech week. What's that yellow thing in the sky? Oh yeah. That's the sun. I never see it anymore.


7. So much makeup. So, SO much makeup. On guys and gals, everyone is bound to give each other weird looks.


8. An entire cast trying to learn the music. At least YOU know what you're doing!


9. Nearly missing your cue. Never in your adult life have you been so scared.


10. Once you're in costume, who knows when or how you'll pee again


11. Dance shoes


12. Cool props


13. Drama drama. You know what I'm talking about.


14. Theater romances, onstage acting

vs. offstage for real


15. Thinking how perfect you are for a part--and then not even getting a callback. Directors, what do they know?!



16. The pressure of learning your own lines


17. Crazy set builds


18. Learning seemingly impossible dances


19. And lastly, the joy of stepping onstage the first and last shows, and every one in between.


I hope you enjoyed this post!
x Chris

Easter 2016! And What It Means To Me

"He has been raised"
Crazier words have never been spoken. It's kind of easy to think of Jesus' life almost in a fairytale like form, where its a cool story with some magic and twists, but what if that was happening today? Picture this: someone you know died. And you saw it happen. You went to their funeral, there was just no doubt about it, they were dead. Now imagine three days later, someone coming up to you and saying they just saw that person ALIVE. You'd probably be a bit freaked out and scared and a whole lot concerned about this other person's mental health. And, you'd probably want to see it for yourself...

So it's easy to hear the story of the Resurrection and say "ha, that silly Thomas. How could you doubt Jesus?!"

Now come back to modern day; if you really think about if you were in that situation, you'd probably be doubting a lot too. Even if you'd seen Jesus's miracles and He said He was going to rise, you'd probably be really doubtful because especially everything in medical science points to the plain impossible fact that you can't come back from the dead-- especially after THREE whole days!! That kind of thing puts everything for your faith on the line. In a way, we are all doubting Thomas'.
As Christians, the Resurrection calls us to believe the impossible. There is no other religion on the earth like this.

For me, it relates a lot to my life where I say all the time "Jesus I don't know what I'm doing I need you to show me how everything's going to turn out okay I can't possibly wait any longer." And instead of getting showed exactly what I'm supposed to do at the exact timing (aka also known as MY    timing), Jesus says "Why do you doubt Me when I've led you through the valley before? Why are you so little of faith when I already hold your whole life in My hands, you suddenly don't trust Me now?"

The world says "Show me, and I'll trust you", but Christ says "Trust Me and I'll show you". That's the kind of life it's terribly hard to lead but the only one we can fully grasp and have true joy in.
I hope this has raised a question to your mind as to what Easter means for you and maybe this brought a new light to your mind this beautiful Easter Day.

Sláinte!
Chris

The Happiest Early Valentines Day; Meeting Emmet Cahill 2/13/2016

You read that title correctly. Two nights ago I met Emmet Cahill and it was everything I hoped it'd be and a little more (*insert squeal here*).

After figuring out some logistics, waiting two months anxiously, packing frantically the day before, traveling three and a half hours in a snowstorm at night, having financial issues in a different state (since the only real grocery store was 12 miles out of state from the hotel), GPS giving problems on the way there so we had to turn around a few times, having to park far away and walk through the snow to get to the theater, and many other issues I don't wish to bother you with, that evening was all worth it. And I'd live it all again, even the frustrating parts, just to get a few more minutes with him.

The beautiful but modestly set stage was adorned with a few simple pieces; a piano, a guitar, and a microphone on its stand. Some soft but colorful lights from the back shone onstage, and far above our heads hung large twinkle lights and lanterns in the shapes of stars. That was it. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy. It was perfection.
I got to sit in the second row (general admission rocks!), and I remember feeling so excited and nervous and happy and anxious waiting for 8:00 p.m. You sit there wondering when he'll ever come out, what he looks like in person, when the show will start,  what will the first song be, when the heck the show will begin, if he'll even see me, when is he ever coming onstage, if my hair is holding those darn curls, and DARN IT WHEN THE HECK IS HE COMING ONSTAGE (just note that 30 minutes of waiting for one of your favorite people to show themselves feels like an eternity. I'm not a patient person, Jesus is trying to teach me better.) My heart skipped a beat every time I saw the curtain rustle. Half of the fun of going to a show is the seconds before the performer appears.

After a few announcements from the people who work at the theater, Seamus the pianist came out and started playing a little intro. ~Anticipation builds to maximum capacity~. And then, suddenly the curtain to stage right moves, and there he was.

The DVDs don't do him justice on any part; Emmet is far more talented, funny, kind, humble, attractive, Godly, and personable than I could've imagined.

I had lost my voice to a cold about a week before, so even though I was all better, my voice still cracks a bit at higher frequencies, so I couldn't really scream but I shouted and clapped. He went right into the song, "This is the Moment", and I can't even begin to describe how utterly angelic his voice sounds in person. Like I said before, the DVDs and recordings don't do his voice justice.

After the first song, it only got better. The songs were amazing and the audience adores him. One thing Celtic Thunder never lets the guys do is talk in between their songs very much (and on the DVDs not at all), but I wish they would. Because I never knew Emmet had so many funny stories about his time with CT, or stories of fans being hilarious with him, or that he has a passion for musical theater, or that he so loves his faith he even did an encore to close the show with my favorite hymn, "How Great Thou Art". The more he talked the more I realized we have in common, and it actually pained me that I so badly wish I could just have coffee with him for a couple hours, because I know there's so much I want to talk with him about.

Emmet loves connecting with his audience, from making eye contact and smiling at individuals to taking song requests and hosting singalongs. I even have a video with proof that during "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", during the second chorus whilst he sings "Sure they'll steal your heart away", he looked right at me, raised his brows, and broke into a huge smile that made my whole being shiver with happiness.

After the show, Seamus announced that they'd be by the door saying hello to everyone on the way out, so guess who booked it towards the door as fast as her 3 1/2 inch heeled boots would let her ;). We waited in line for only about a minute (I made really good time okay), and I kept expecting myself to be really nervous as I got closer and closer to someone I've only imagined I would ever meet. It had settle that this was reality, but I wasn't starstruck, it was more like I was eager and about to go meet a very good old friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Suddenly, I found myself at the front of the line, and Seamus asked my name as I handed him my CD which he handed to Emmet. "Christie". "Spelled with a C or a K?". "It's a C". Emmet signed it quickly, then looked up to make eye contact with me. Good gracious. His eyes looked straight into mine. "Hi, thanks for coming!" He said. "Hi, it's Christie". "Ohhhhh! Christie (including my last name)!! Hi!" His face lit up into a huge grin (he recognized me from a few comments we'd had back and forth on his Facebook recently). I felt myself blush and smile from ear to ear, flattered and happy someone as busy as himself remembered me. I handed him the gift bag I was holding (I had made him a dude bracelet that has a celtic knot button on it and a cabby hat I bought at Target). "Aw thank you, you're so kind!" He said. There goes my cheeks again.

We took a group picture with my mom, sister and brother, I asked Emmet if I could take one more with just he and I. He happily obliged, even though the line was getting impatient. After forgetting and remembering my phone password (nerves kicked in), I got a very quick selfie and then turned around and hugged him. I'll never forget how tightly he embraced me.

We said goodbye and I walked out the door. I remember turning back as I walked away, looking back through the weathered red door's large windows and seeing him one more time. As I walked down the softly lit, snow-covered downtown street, my head spinning and heart racing, I pulled up the newest picture on my phone. Emmet and I smiled from the inside of my phone screen. I closed my eyes and smiled happily, tilting my head up at the sky and thanking God silently in my heart and mind.

I felt, and still feel, so blessed.

(The next day he posted this. Yup. That be Emmet, wearing the hat on Valentines Day:)

Until next time,
x Chris

Zucchini, Yellow Pepper, & Feta Quinoa

Happy Saturday!
Today I'm posting my first recipe and I hope you'll try it. Since I want 2016 to be full of good changes, exercise, and healthy eating habits, I decided to make something new and delicious. Quinoa (keen-wah) is a fantastic "super food" that is very versatile. I made my first pot of it today (good to know: 1 cup dry quinoa=3 cups cooked quinoa) and I was smitten with just the plain boiled stuff. It has a flavor and texture a bit like rice but doesn't stick to the pot and isn't all starchy. And it's SO YUMMY!

Zucchini, Yellow Pepper, & Feta Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1/2 a small-ish zucchini

1/2 yellow bell pepper

Salt+Pepper

Coconut Oil (or you can use olive oil)

Feta cheese for topping

1. Prepare quinoa according to the instructions on the package. If you don't have instructions though, it's really easy to look up online. Just be sure to rinse it before you cook!

2. While the quinoa is cooking, chop up the zucchini lengthwise, and then those logs into halves so that you have little triangles when you chop it into tinier pieces.

3. Chop the yellow bell pepper into little chunks, and put it with the zucchini into a small pan with a teaspoon of coconut oil and some salt and pepper. Cook until the veggies are beginning to brown, approximately 7 minutes while stirring.

4. After the veg is done, put 1/2 the quinoa into a bowl and mix with veggies. To serve in individual bowls, crumble some feta on top to your heart's desire and fall in love with quinoa at first bite.

The flavors in this are all really bright and yummy; the feta slightly melts and becomes amazing. I made this recipe by looking around in the fridge and saw what vegetables I had and used those, but you could substitute with two or three or eleven of what you have, whatever's your favorite! This would make a great side dish or I just had it for lunch all on it's own, it's surprisingly filling.

~Chris x

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Good morning! Er, afternoon I suppose it is now. I'm just having my Sunday morning me time+coffee and catching up on what needs to be done for the week (some grocery shopping to get some coconut oil, Skinny Pop, and protein powder are greatly needed).
I was just over on my dear friend Cassie's blog (https://cassidysangster.wordpress.com/ check it out! She frequents it often and writes well) and whenever I read other blogs I always get inspired to write something for my own even if I don't know what I'm going to write.
So, I thought maybe a little about me would be something fun and new. So without further adieu, these are a few of my favorite things...

1. I love twinkle lights (taking them down after Christmas is the most depressing thing EVER)

2. And long hair

3. Biggby coffee. You can get ANY of their drinks hot, iced, or frozen! Go cry a river, Starbucks.

4. Emmet Cahill singing "Edelwiess". Just listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCZUdo9fuI4

5. Tiny, tasteful tattoos

6. The smell of horses. I just love those babies altogether, actually. I've found there's nothing quite as therapeutic as grooming a horse. Until that horse spooks at nothing. But besides that it's really relaxing.

7. Really cute workout clothes (and fun inspirationals to go with them)

 


8. Coconut anything. I have this weird dream of living on an island or something, wearing palazzo pants and eating coconuts all the time. I believe the Lord Jesus gave us coconuts for anything and everything.

9. White roses

10. This music video. Kudos, Keith Harkin. I'd like to live in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2T3Tra40Ho

11. *SNOW* (which there has been a disturbing lack of this year -_-)

12. Decorative dreamcatchers (I hope to make one soon and do a tutorial!)

13. The website Duolingo is AWESOME (and freeeeeee!) for learning a new language (new years resolution, anyone?). I'm taking a class for French and using it on the side, but soley relying on it for learning the ancient Irish language, Gaelic (there's also Scottish Gaelic, which only varies slightly). After being told I would "never be able to learn that on your own!", well the determined firecracker fuse in me was lit. BRING IT.

14. Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles. They are the perfect gift to give and recieve! I know exactly where I'm going shopping if ever I win the lottery.

15. That feeling after a run (yes, I usually want to barf. But there's that sense of accomplishment and pride!)

16. Nicely painted toes

17. Aztec/Native American/Navajo anything. It's my newest obsession.

18. Downtowns. Despite being a "country girl", I simply fall in love every time I enter a big city. BONUS IF IT'S SNOWING.

19. Sparkling Ice carbonated beverages. Between their 0 calories, nice flavor, and adorable sleek bottles, I haven't drank soda pop in ages.

And lastly,

20. My Instax Mini Polaroid camera. These things are A-DORABLE (I have the bubble gum pale pink) and worth every penny.

BONUS!

21. My Australian soul-sister, Bindi Irwin! Her dances were always flawless and she won Dancing With The Stars! I just about fell in love with her over the tv. She's an inspiration and I think we could be best friends.

Are any of these also your favorite things??

Chris x

Why I Must Become Queen Elsa in 2016

 

Undoubtedly, one of the hardest things is letting go. Letting go of your former routine. Letting go of your way. Letting change take its course. Letting friends drift off to places you cannot follow. Letting go of your life so you can hand it to God.

I hate change. I hate it when I return home and a piece of furniture is rearranged. I hate leaving somewhere I love when I travel. I hate trying something new when I know I like my usual far better than whatever this newfangled thing is. I (generally) hate new haircuts. And I espeically hate when people change.

Everything has a common denomenator here: I hate it because it's new and I miss the old. I miss my dresser in that specific corner. I miss the beach in the morning. I miss the taste of the Latte of Joy when I order something different and it's not as good. I miss my old pencil case, my old jeans, my old haircolor (this one is definitely justifiable especially when you accidentally dye it too dark). And I miss my friend(s) before fill in the blank with whatever happened.

I was currently writing out a list of resolutions for 2016, and one of them is literally titled, "Say it with me: Change is our friend." I told myself I will say it whenever something changes. Ehck. We'll see how that goes.

So why do we avoid change? Isn't change supposed to be good? This I had to dig further to find some concrete truth, and where else does one look for truth other than the Good Book.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven"

Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."

1 Corinthians 15:51 "Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."


I found one common denominator in all these verses that had referance to change in them: The only change that will not occur in your life is God. God will never change. He is exactly the same today as He was yesterday, the day before that, a thousand years before now and will be the same a thousand years after now.

In an effort to make some good changes in my life this upcoming year (2016 I see you and I wanna take you by the reins!), in diet, friendship, spiritual, mental, and general life, I already started by doing some things that may make me purposefully a little uncomfortable (at least for now). I moved a bit of furniture in my room (this one usually makes my skin crawl), but I like it better already. I'm getting rid of clothes that don't have any use to me anymore (plus I know people who will appreciate them, double score!). I'm taking down old photos and putting up new ones. I'm prepping myself mentally for a new way of school this fall. I'm redecorating. And most importantly, I'm mentally moving on from a broken relationship.

Now the flipside to change is something I also think about. I like thinking about my future, as scary as that can be sometimes. It makes me excited to think about 1 year from now, or 5. Even 6 months from now is a good thought to chew on.

Holding on to memories is good. But getting caught up and trying to live in them is another thing. For sure I love thinking of old times, and who doesn't? They remind us of the good in our lives and the people we count on. I have a whole jar that holds slips of paper that have memories on them. I call it the Good Times Jar, and at the end of the year (or whenever I need a smile), I go through and read them. It's a sure way to remember, well, good times :). But my whole life isn't in that jar; surely there are many other great times I didn't record. Those are just for my memory.

What do we fear, but finds us no matter where we hide? What lurks around the corner of each new dawn, but we can't always see? What do we desire but cannot always attain? What crawls into our lives even if we airtight ourselves to keep it out? Change is the answer to all these riddles.

I will like change and it will be good! I will try new things. I will be more adventurous. And who knows, maybe I'll put that blue streak in my hair I've been daydreaming about (MAYBE).

I have dubbed myself with what I call a "Queen Elsa" mentality this year. Let it go. The past is in the past. And the cold never bothered me anyway (I haven't fully figured out a metaphor for that one yet but I'm going to:). Time to move on. Time for a change.

Ask yourself: What do I need to let go of? What needs to change? And how can I change it?
Best of luck to you in your endeavors of change this year!!

Here's to not just a breath, but a gust of fresh air in 2016,

Chris x

Long Time No Posts

Hello to who ever is left here reading this!
I just realized how long it's been since I've posted anything. But I decided I really do still want to keep up with this whole blog thing, as hard as it's been just keeping up with school, a part time job, and the rest of crazy life. I have things I'd love to write about and I honestly miss blogging, so very soon I shall revamp the look of the site, and try to start anew!
Bless you if you read this.
~Chris