mountains to climb

Yesterday, Zac and I went on a quick-nothing-fancy-still amazing date to Slab Pizza. I had the chile verde pizza, while Zac munched on his chicken club. Throughout our pig fest, we talked about where we are with our marriage and lives at the moment. No kids for a long while? Check. Chelsea get a second job? Will do, captain. Chelsea missing school already? Check. Zac needing more jiu-jitsu? Check.

I've been thinking a lot about what "comes next" for us. Zac will be at BYU until December 2014 and then it's onto med school and grad school. I'll work two part time jobs and write as much as I can. Sounds like a pretty solid plan, right? But the past couple of days, my anxiety about the future has reached a head (Sorry for not calling, Mom). Fear is a nasty roommate, I'll tell you what. On a whim I decided to listen to this talk while making dinner. After a few minutes, I pulled Zac into the kitchen and we listened to the talk together while washing dishes, side by side. Many times I stopped rinsing and cried. It spoke directly to me. I hope if you're struggling with anything, you can find some comfort with this talk.

With all that said, Google Reader comes to an end tomorrow.
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As of Late

What I'm listening to:

That guitar riffs kills me. Makes my head explode with scenario after scenario that I need to get on paper. Pretty much obsessed with James Arthur. (:

What I'm wearing:

Zac's jiu-jitsu t-shirt and some comfy skinny jeans. Summer in an outfit, if I do say so myself. Mmm.  

What I'm running:

I woke up at 7:30 this morning, put a load of laundry in the washer, and changed into my shorts and cut off t-shirt. I ran one of my growing favorite routes in Provo. 6 miles in an hour and five minutes. Getting better all the time!

What I'm watching:

Yeah, you know what's up. Pushing Daisies guys. That's where it's at.

What I'm writing:

I finished this version of Bring Her Back about a month and a half ago. This week, I've been cleaning up each scene for about an hour every day and it's shaping into something I'm liking even more and more. (:

What I can't get off my mind:

Zac bought me a dress for our two year anniversary. (: It came in the mail today. Happeh Chelsea is happeh.

handmade dough and 729 days of married life

Guess what. I'm waiting for my first EVER handmade and hand kneaded dough to rise. Just about another half an hour of waiting and feeling my tummy growl. What delicious dough is rising, you ask? CINNAMON BITE DOUGH, THAT'S WHAT. Recipe here. Not gonna lie, the recipe is pretty much a beast and I'm very brave for tackling such an endeavor with these new baker hands. But it's gonna be balla, I'll tell you what. (:

Zac's working today until after midnight (boo) and I have the whole afternoon to myself to be a true blue wifey-poo. hahaha (: Laundry washing, kitchen cleaning, bedroom picking-upping, living room reorganizing, and book reading are all on the agenda for today (as well as blogging, because, you know, all wives do that). I'd love for the house to be spit-spot (ew) clean for our 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY tomorrow! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I, for one, cannot.

If you can think of any ideas for our joint blog post tomorrow, let me know! Zac wrote a guest post last year on this here bloggity blog and I'd love for him to write another one tomorrow. (: My ideas are kind of slim, one being writing a letter to the other about this last year of being married. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment. We're gonna see Gatsby tomorrow (eeek!!!) and eat dinner at Black Sheep Cafe. PUMPED.
More pictures to come shortly of my masterpiece baking experience. (:

i'm a whimsical fairy, fool.

Well, as you can see, I chopped off all my hair and am quite the whimsical fairy. (:

While sitting in the chair at Shep Studio this morning, it took all of my self control not to squeal and giggle the entire time. It was such a liberating experience, having my "feminine" locks snipped away. Oddly enough, I feel more feminine and delicate with this "boyish" haircut than I ever have in my entire life. Weird? Nah. Just awesome. You know what's also awesome? This Is The End. SUCH A GOOD MOVIE. AH.

Minerva Teichert in the flesh...kind of (:

GUYS. I'M OFFICIALLY A FILM ACTRESS.

Yesterday morning and afternoon, I was filmed for Women of Faith. !!!! It was amazing and beautiful and life  changing and scary and intimidating and a complete rush. Goodness gracious. More great and wonderful things to come, I promise! I'll post the film for sure on the bloggity blog in September when it comes out.

Free for viewing, guys. Here are some production stills of me on location yesterday and when we had a photo shoot for our art gallery portraits, as well as a picture of my finished Minerva Teichert portrait. (:

Also, sometime in the future, I will expand more on who Minerva was...but she was a famous Mormon artist and the link above is one of my favorites of hers. (:

Mrs. Who Will Do (:

17 hour day. Almost every moment of it filled with theatre. Whew.

I attended BYU's Writer's Conference this morning from 9am-12pm. The Shoelace was read and moderated at the end of the ten minute play portion of the conference and I received some interesting and compelling feedback. As this play has been ripped apart and put back together again for almost 2 years, I believe the play is in a final stage that doesn't need too many more changes. Much of what the other writers had questions and concerns I've decided can be cleared up with a director who knows how to pull and prod thoughtful and committed actors. Today the actors were kind of thrown into the reading without any direction and therefore some important lines and motivations were lost in translation. But overall, it was a huge success with all present and generated some powerful discussion.

What does it mean to have doubt? What is personal worthiness? What is faith, both to an LDS audience and to others? 

After the talkback session, several film students introduced themselves to me and asked what I wanted to do with The Shoelace now. I mentioned turning it into a film and THEY HIT THE ROOF. Immediately, they wanted my contact information and gave me positive encouragement with helping me getting it on film. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. AH.

I had to leave for A Wrinkle in Time right then and waved goodbye. Our matinee (or manatee show as we like to call it) went pretty well. I was struggling, not gonna lie but pulled through for my cast. (: We had an hour or so for dinner and then sat outside and played "I Spy." (: And then it was time for our evening performance and IT WENT BEAUTIFULLY. The audience's energy was off the charts and I gloried in it.
Guys. I can't express just how amazing this show is. Agency, love, persistence, doubt, fear, encouragement, faith, love and more love. I get to PLAY. I get to PLAY with a cast I've come to love. How great is that? (:

One of my very good friends told me tonight after the show, "How perfect are you as Mrs. Who? You shine through Mrs. Who! It's you through Who!" hahaha! Greatest compliment of all time, me thinks.