All Girls Are Princesses

On this Sunday evening, I found myself longing for a good cry. Enter: A Little Princess. This movie was a special movie my dad and I shared as a young girl. Sarah's relationship with her father perfectly mirrored how I felt about my 'Papa.' Her absolute faith in him and in magic. Her belief in make believe. Her resilience in the face of adversity. Her strength in the unknown. She embodied how I wanted to be at her age, and upon watching it again today, has re-instilled my desire to be just as fearless.

Of course, I cried like a baby, so that wish was fulfilled. Have a happy Sunday, everyone. Remember, all girls are princesses.

My Shoelace Testimony

My heart's full, my eyes itchy, and my spirit at peace. Tonight was closing night for the Microburst Theatre Festival. I've watched all five performances this week, each time nervous and excited for whatever would come. All the actors did a fabulous job with the play scripts, though I may be a bit biased (shout out to Michael Comp and Jacob Swain in Shoelace)! Words can't express how touched and humbled I am at how a moment in my past has helped and informed others today, right now. How powerful is that? How awe-inspiring?

Granted, along with bearing my testimony through Shoelace, came the unprecedented worry and doubt of the audience's reaction. More so than any time I've bared my soul on the pulpit. But guess what? Each time Shoelace began, the Spirit settled on the audience and in me. Each time Shoelace ended, the Spirit calmed and electrified me, as well as the audience. It was palpable, and I'm not being some weird, theatre hippy haha. The audience's applause felt genuine each time Michael looked up, with the unspoken question so clear, "Who am I now?"

I am grateful for my past, present, and future. I am grateful for my struggles I've encountered up until now. Though I wasn't the typical 'BYU' student, I was a woman with questions about my worth, testimony, and value. I was confused, but hopeful in finding those answers. And, man, those answers only came through a harrowing journey. I remember the first time I tried praying after he left...My heart recently broken and my words unsure of themselves. I remember feeling myself split in two as soon as I kneeled next to my bed. Who was I to pray? Who was I to break up with this man? Who was I to love him? Who was I to choose a temple marriage? Who was I to want the Gospel and, at the same time, give it up? Who was I to question God's existence? Who was I?

Courageously ask, "WHO AM I?" and then forge ahead with bravery to find the answer. That is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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. (:

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.

Albus the Fat Cat and My Kiddies

After a six and half hour rehearsal for A Wrinkle in Time, it's quite wonderful falling onto our couch next to Albus, the fat black cat. He's not OUR fat black cat, but our neighbor's. (: Hello, Albus.

Mostly this post is just an excuse to share the CUTE faces of the kids I get to see everyday. (: Today we got out the bikes and there was perfect mayhem on the playground. Sigh. I am still learning names! Sorry I don't know all of them. ):

Andrew's just two, so he couldn't get on the bigger bikes. He was quite put out, until I whipped out my camera and snapped a picture of him! haha A smile beamed across his face.

Asia's my little helper and likes it when I'm her baby girl and she's the mom. We go on frequent shopping trips to Walmart and buy Chicken Nuggets. haha The purple thing she's holding is a small bunny named after my mom's first name, "Alicia." I had to sing the bunny to sleep because she had allergies and multiple boo-boos. (:

These two are quite the duo. I don't remember the other's name, but she's a sweetheart and likes to show me her ballerina moves.

I LOVE HIM. SO MUCH. Ryder loves helping me and asking me questions and proposing to all the girls on the playground. He asked me to marry him the other day and gave me a flower. He's seriously the sweetest little boy. The other day he asked me to get all the babies so he could hold them. He wanted to hold the babies. !!! Today he asked me to help him find his Spiderman action figure. In his words, "I have a toy and his name is Spiderman." !!!!! CAN YOU HANDLE IT?!

Andrew totters after me all day long. (:

I don't remember this awesome dude's name, but he's pretty stinkin' cool. He almost karate chopped me.

My first official day, Jasmine came home from school with the other big kids and saw me on the playground. She shouted, "Chelsea!!!" and then catapulted herself in the air and hugged me tight.

Basically, I don't deserve the life I'm living, but somehow I am anyway.

Home Alone

Long time no see you guys! Ah! How are you? I hope stupendous. (:

Life's been pretty amazing as of late. Writing screenplays for a hopeful job, spending my mornings with four and five year olds, and plowing through five hour rehearsals almost every weeknight with 8 hour rehearsals on Saturdays for A Wrinkle in Time. Tonight, I had a night off...so I'm chowing down on some leftover Cafe Rio in my pajamas. Haha No shame. Our new home feels so good to be in alone. It feels like I'm in a small, fraying pocket inside a cozy sweater that cuddles close. Yeah. Perfection.

Zac's at work until later on tonight and I'm enjoying the time to think and jam out to my music and clean the house before his return. Blink 182, Mayday Parade, Lights...Ah. Doesn't get much better than that. (:

After three sessions at the preschool, I CAN'T BELIEVE MY LIFE. I've given and gotten hugs. I've flapped my butterfly arms and helped the kids perform monkey bar flips. I look forward to waking up early and spending my mornings with them. Hearing them call me "Teacher" melts my heart. It's wonderful teaching them my name, them stuttering it out, and forgetting just seconds later. GAH. KIDS.

A Wrinkle in Time has finally entered into tech week and we go up next Wednesday for an audience. WHAT. Mrs Who's super pumped to get her sassiness onstage for all the kiddies. (: I feel like I've finally got Mrs Who pegged down for my body and voice. It took a while and a lot of patience from everyone, but I'm so glad they were so encouraging. If you can come, do, please! May 29th-June 15th. You can get tickets here. (:

birdies and angels

 Zac and I got out of classes at noon today. We then marched to the temple and had ourselves a grand time. On our way home, two elderly ladies needed our help in getting a wheelchair and pushing them up the ramp to the temple. While helping them, one of the women told me a story about birds and angels ("birdies" as she called them) and the other told Zac about how bad her parents treated her and how her husband left her. I do hope when I'm an old lady I talk about birdies and not the other stuff. :)

good times for a change

For those of you not friends with me on Facebook, I have some awesome news. :) Thursday night, I went to my first audition in about...four months. haha Needless to say, I was a little more than nervous. But I heard about this awesome multi-media project from a great friend of mine in WDA. She said I should audition because they need actors and (as she is a fellow playwright) also encouraged me to apply for a writing spot.

When I arrived for my audition, I also went through an interview. The woman directing the project (the one in the clip above) was my theatre history teacher all last year, so I instantly felt a little more confident. When I walked in she was like, "Chelsea I was just tooting my horn about you!" haha I was like, "Really?" hahha And she said to the other people holding the audition, "Chelsea was one of my star students and now she's a TA for the class." MAN. I couldn't stop blushing!! I had no idea I was a star student...I just thought I got a good grade. haha I covered my face with my hands and she saw my bright red cheeks and said something along the lines of, "And she blushes, too! Jack of all trades!"

Throughout the interview, I felt as much at ease as I could for the situation. Then she asked me if I brought a monologue...I didn't. haha >< But she gave me a side and I went outside to practice getting the words familiar then came back in. I stared straight ahead at the wall behind my auditioners and got into my groove. It was odd reading lines for people again. But very nice at the same time. I took my time and tried to make the monologue as laid back and honest as possible. I guess it worked out!

I found today yesterday that I made the cut for the class/show! We'll be creating a performance piece centered around things we've lost and what we've found. We'll be interviewing people all over Provo and then creating a work around their stories. Basically, I get to make theatre. Wow. Sometimes a girl gets super lucky. :) It goes up at the end of next February and it'll be a BYU main stage performance in the Margetts.

Four years into my college career and the one thing I've wanted more than anything concerning my schooling: to be a part of a main stage production at BYU.

Nailed it. :]

A little downer, though: With this class, I'll be at 19 credits for this semester...as well as being a TA, acting in another show this semester (more on that later :]), doing makeup for the opera in a month, and then being a stage hand for BYU's main stage, "Holiday."

Poor Zac. He's never gonna see me. :(

GIVE ME THEATRE OR GIVE ME DEATH. ...Kind of?

peach plumb pear

Sometimes it's the simple gestures that bring a lot of happiness.

My visiting teaching companion, Andrea, and I brought this cute fruit basket over to Sherry's house tonight. I contributed the peach and Andrea had the ribbons. We tied them on and then traipsed across the quad to Sherry's apartment. She invited us in and we talked for a good while. Guys, I love socializing in small groups. Wonderful things happen. Sherry was baptized last December and she gave her first talk in church last Sunday. Her testimony is SO touching and heartfelt. As we talked, Sherry asked us if we could go with her tomorrow morning to pick up a friend of hers who's interested in the church.

And we agreed.

(By the way, her friend's name is Liao Yi Ni--and you say it like Ee Lee, which means something like "the color of the surface of the water." a;ljfddlkjafdas Gorgeous, right? My first name means "limestone." Ugh.)

I don't know what'll happen tomorrow, but I'm quite excited to find out!

I have butterflies in my stomach but tomorrow couldn't come faster.

:]

So here's a music video.

Emily showed me this when we were freshmen.

And we burst into giggles every time we listened to it.

*Shudder*

"I Teach Them Correct Principles and They Govern Themselves"

Ah. As I stare at the monitor and type this post, my itchy eyes and uncoordinated fingers are scrambling up my thoughts. Have you ever been going about your business and then all of a sudden you look at your hands and realize you're shaking? haha That's been me all week. I know in the last post I wrote I was sick at home. But that yuckiness went away after a full day of rest and Hulu (Hello Smash and Once Upon a Time). Now my grossness is back stronger than before and I'm at school, battling homework and all that jazz. Zac's next to me in the library and we're sharing a big ol' lump of tuxedo fudge from valentine's day. I'm wearing my snazzy sweater vest I got from DI and my hair is big as big can be. This past week has been out to get me. I'm pretty certain of it. But it's the best when you can unwind with a bubble bath and watch Mythbusters on Netflix with the hubby.
SPEAKING OF HUBBIES.
Zac's on project to make us a homemade computer! I LOVE HIM AND HIS SMARTNESS. haha He's been working hard all week long adding up costs, creating a budget, and asking me for my insignificant valuable input in this computer creation. We're pretty pumped about this...in the end, the computer will cost at most $365 not including the monitor, mouse, or keyboard. I just looked over at him and he's looking up more steals. :]
I applied on Tuesday for a library clerk position. Confession time: I've wanted to be a librarian since I was a little girl. No, really. I just love the idea of being surrounded by books for hours at a time and helping people with books. As soon as classes were over for the day, I went to library, found Zac, and he told me a position in Emily's interlibrary loan department just opened up. I emailed my resume and class schedule immediately. The job listing closed the next day and they'll be hiring whoever it is tomorrow. Fingers crossed, please! :]
I've started writing my new one act play this week! Hoorah! I also have a new scene for my novel saved on my laptop which I'll be editing like a madwoman tonight.
Last night was my first rehearsal for Hedda Gabler! FINALLY. Oh my word. I always forget how nervous I get right before the first rehearsal. It's almost like I'm auditioning all over again...especially because I was cast in this show last October. haha But Lawrence, my director, is the bomb diggity. He is so awesome at creating a fun and relaxing environment for us actors to play around in.
As I'm learning more and more about directing this semester, I have a growing appreciation for all the HARD and INTENSIVE work directors do. While I'm required to take this class for my major, I don't know if directing is my forte. haha I'd much rather stay behind the scenes with writing or take direction while acting. That's just where I'm most comfortable. However, it never hurts to be pushed and stretched...so I'm jumping on in with trust and confidence in myself as well as the Lord that everything will work out. :] While in directing class today, George Nelson mentioned a quote from Joseph Smith Jr. The quote: "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves."  Having the gift of agency is so precious and powerful. I am so grateful for the guidance of the Spirit, both in theatre and life. :]

Keep smiling,
Chelsea

this weekend may kill me: but in a happy way.

Really fast.
I was just cast in BYU's Experimental Theatre Company's 24 Hour Theatre Project!

Starting tonight at 7pm, 5 playwrights will each write a 10 minute play, finish it by 7 am tomorrow, turn it in, and then 25 actors will take those scripts, memorize and block from 8am-12pm. Then scheduled rehearsal/tech rehearsal until 7:00pm.
Show starts at 7:30pm.
Then another show at 9:00pm.
Holy bananas.

I've seen several 24 Hour Theatre Projects and have absolutely loved all of them.

I'm pretty pumped to actually be a part of it tomorrow!

And...
I'M A BACKUP WRITER FOR THE PROJECT!
If one of the 5 playwrights suddenly drops out tonight, I will take his/her place. If that happens...I don't know how I'll remain sane with writing a play and then performing the next day. haha But I'll manage.

I'm also looking quite cute today, to top it all off.
Hair bow? Check.
New boots? Check.
Blue handmade skirt? Check.

Yellow and pink shirt? Check check.
Hehe.

On a less happy side note: Homework is already killing me.
"I'm dying."

"You're not dying. You just can't think of anything better to do."
Name that movie.

year reviewzorz

January

My family moved from Burlington, Kansas to Buckeye, Arizona! I turned 20 two days before Zac...and broke up with him on fb to scare some people. hahahha We had some fun.

February

I was in "The Importance of Being Earnest" with Utah Shakespeare in the Park and got engaged to my very very best friend, Zac Hickman.

Gosh, I love them.

March

I had some fun in my first makeup class, found my wedding dress, and wondered if I should keep pursuing an acting major.

April

I finished up the hardest semester of my life, did my proficiency audition, and found out I was ready to move on. I said goodbye to my wonderful roommates: Emily, Amber, Lori, and Hannah. I went back to Arizona to be with my family before getting hitched!

Arizona chicken. Odd.

May

I went on a road trip with mom and Julie to Kansas to see my brother graduate high school. I got to meet up with some old amazing awesome friends, including Wooge. I went to California to visit Zac for the first time in three and a half months. I also touched a sea urchin for the first time ever! :O I then came back to Arizona to do some last minute wedding planning with mommy.

 Photo cred: Logan Whittington

I love you guys.

June

Mom and I made a road trip out to California together the week of the wedding and HAD A BLAST. We stopped by a huge outlet mall somewhere in California where I found a dress for both the honeymoon and the day of my endowment session. Lots of crazy things happened that week: dates, cake testing, reception decorating, friends flying out, and mass confusion/excitement. But it all came down to the best day of my life:

I was married on June 24, 2011 in the Los Angeles Temple to Zac Hickman.

And then four days later, on our honeymoon in Hawaii, he did a back flip into a pool hit his head and was rushed to the hospital. He didn't remember us getting married. He didn't remember me for a while. Oh, wow. Biggest scare of my life.

Do not approve.

>:(

July
I started to get used to the word "wife" and "husband." We came home from Hawaii, took a break in Arizona with my fam, and then went back to California so Zac could work before we headed off to school. We saw the 3am showing of HP7p2!

A Hawaiian cave. o.O

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

We got to watch the 4th of July fireworks on a beach in Hawaii.

Luckiest girl ever is me.

Harry Potter happy excited satisfied obsessed ecstatic faces.

5:30 am, don't judge.

August

Zac, Poter, and I went to see Ludo live in LA! AMAZING.
Zac, Karen, Stephanie, and I loaded up the car and drove from California to Utah. We stopped by Vegas and had a great time! (No gambling or booze drinking for me and Zac! haha) BYU started and I figured out I wanted to be a playwriting major and an English minor. :)

September

I was cast in a one act play, "The Stronger" by August Strindberg. 

We rehearsed for 3 weeks then it went up in early October.

Definitely changed my life.

October

We carved pumpkins with Emily and Tim!

I was a zombie for Halloween.

November

I got to see my dad for the first time in a year and a half for Thanksgiving. We rode a Greyhound bus to Colorado from Utah.

I.Hate.Buses.

December

We wrapped up our finals, celebrated Emily and Tim getting married, enjoyed our 6 month anniversary and had our first Christmas together!

I also learned how to do a hairbow.

:)

An amazing year, to say the least. The best is yet to come, methinks.

I'm ready for you 2012.