I went ahead and auditioned for that play. I had a very strong audition and felt very confident about what role I would get. The second round of auditions came and I knew I wouldn't get the part I wanted because a friend auditioned much stronger. In the end? So glad I didn't get that part!
The rehearsal process started in September and we opened in October. Wow. It was a lot of work! I'm really glad that I did it, it was amazing being back on stage. I didn't realize how much I had missed it! I'll audition for something else soon....
It was a lot of work that's for sure. There were times I wasn't sure I was going to make it! I'm in school full time, have 2 small children at home, plus the struggles of getting a business off the ground. Sheesh! Not sure where I thought I'd have the time to be in a show, too...but I did it, it's over and I'm happy that I had the experience. I'm currently helping build costumes for the local High School's production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe so once that opens, my life will be FREE! And hopefully sometime in there I can squeeze in this novel I'm working on for NaNoWriMo. Yeesh.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Over here!!
I guess I kinda fell off the map, didn't I?
Well, I'm BACK! For who knows how long. :) I tend to be sporadic with blogs, but there it is.
Here's what you can expect moving forward -
Book Reviews. I read. A Lot. I like to talk about books.
Rants. I'm a person. It happens. Deal with it.
Raves. See above.
I'm a gamer who is working in theater and hoping to audition for a show while being a stay at home mom who is helping write and publish novels and doing some media marketing on the side when I can fit it in around laundry. Yup.
All right chums, let's do this....
Well, I'm BACK! For who knows how long. :) I tend to be sporadic with blogs, but there it is.
Here's what you can expect moving forward -
Book Reviews. I read. A Lot. I like to talk about books.
Rants. I'm a person. It happens. Deal with it.
Raves. See above.
I'm a gamer who is working in theater and hoping to audition for a show while being a stay at home mom who is helping write and publish novels and doing some media marketing on the side when I can fit it in around laundry. Yup.
All right chums, let's do this....
She's Here!
Sophia Morgan was born at 1:34pm on Friday July 27, 2012. She weighed 7lbs 14.5oz and was 19" long. She had (and has) a head full of beautiful black hair.
This pregnancy had been a lot harder on me than my pregnancy with my son. The pelvic pain, insomnia and mood swings made this pregnancy seem a lot longer and harder. I had even had irregular contractions for what seemed like years; one night was bad enough that I roused my husband out of bed and he drove us to Labor & Delivery - and my hospital was 45+ minutes away! So when I went in for my regular appointment at 40 weeks and the doctor asked my thoughts on induction, I half-jokingly replied "Can we do it today?" She smiled and said no, but we could schedule an induction for Friday. SWEET, I thought. I gave her the go ahead and I was able to schedule an 8pm induction for Friday. Today was Wednesday. So I had just a couple more days and my little princess was being evicted!
Thursday I was doing some last minute shopping with my mom and gathering up the last of the things I wanted and needed when the doctor's office called and said they could get me an earlier appointment and did I want it? I discussed it with my husband and we decided to go for it. So we rescheduled for 7:30am on Friday. Holy moly!
So I spent the last few hours of my pregnancy enjoying some quiet time with my husband, son and mother. I was having irregular contractions again, but they'd never been a sign of anything and at my appointment the day before, my doctor had said there was no progression. She even whipped out the ultrasound machine to make sure my girl was head down, since my cervix was so incredibly far back.
I got up to pee about 4-5 times and at 1:30am, my eyes popped open and I shot out of bed, intending to run to the bathroom. I never made it that far. I stood by my bedside and just gushed. This was the second time I had felt a gush like this during this pregnancy and the first time my water hadn't broken. This time, something felt different. I managed to wake up my husband, get to the bathroom and put on a Depends diaper (so handy for that post partum bleeding, let me tell ya). When I got back, I flipped on the light to clean up and noticed my mucus plug was everywhere. This was the real deal. The contractions were kicking in hard core. It was time.
We managed to get things decently cleaned up, woke up my mother and loaded up our little car. My husband had gotten just enough sleep for it to hurt to be awake so we ran through the Starbucks drive thru for some black coffee....we had a nice long drive ahead of us. We talked and laughed and rolled with the contractions and I tried my best to handle the gross feeling of the gushing with contractions.
We arrived and got checked in by 3am. By 5am, the doctor wanted to go ahead and start me on pitocin. My nurse was in a delivery, so we ended up getting a different nurse who started the pitocin at 6am. At 7am, the shift changed and I ended up with another new nurse. This would make 4 in as many hours. I had wanted to go as natural as possible but I also didn't want to be stuck in a bed all day so I had agreed to the pitocin and when it really hit, I was ready for an epidural! It was placed quickly and my nurse, Kay, informed that if we had waited any later, it might have been hours before I got the epi, as the anesthesiologist was going to be in the OR.
Things were going swell for a few hours. I got a bit of sleep, my husband got some sleep, things were progressing....and then the epi stopped working. Right in the middle of a section of contractions that were non-stop. It was some of the most painful moments of my life. I have no idea how long it lasted, but I know that I nearly broke my husband's hand. I was screaming for dear life and sobbing....When alerted, my doctor actually called for them to give me a shot to STOP my contractions. They managed to get a second epi placed and while I still felt everything, it wasn't as though I was being ripped into shreds.
I started alerting the nurse that I was seriously needing to push around 12:30. At 1, the doctor came in and agreed that it was time to start pushing. I think at this point I was just plain slap happy. So when the nurse called to me "Push like you're really constipated!" I burst out laughing. Which of course made Sophia's head move a little closer. The doctor and the nurse laughed, saying that evidently laughing worked for me. I continued to push and watch as much as I could in the mirror above my head. Towards the end, I again busted out laughing. This time, the doctor looked at the nurse and said, mid push, "did you guys get new badges?" I laughed and then saw the most beautiful sight...my little girl's head of black hair crowning. One more push and she was out!
My darling husband was able to cut her cord and she was quickly checked out and brought back to me. She started nursing immediately and was a champ at it.
Meeting her brother was an incredible experience. He came up to visit with my mom and just thought she was the bees knees.
This pregnancy had been a lot harder on me than my pregnancy with my son. The pelvic pain, insomnia and mood swings made this pregnancy seem a lot longer and harder. I had even had irregular contractions for what seemed like years; one night was bad enough that I roused my husband out of bed and he drove us to Labor & Delivery - and my hospital was 45+ minutes away! So when I went in for my regular appointment at 40 weeks and the doctor asked my thoughts on induction, I half-jokingly replied "Can we do it today?" She smiled and said no, but we could schedule an induction for Friday. SWEET, I thought. I gave her the go ahead and I was able to schedule an 8pm induction for Friday. Today was Wednesday. So I had just a couple more days and my little princess was being evicted!
Thursday I was doing some last minute shopping with my mom and gathering up the last of the things I wanted and needed when the doctor's office called and said they could get me an earlier appointment and did I want it? I discussed it with my husband and we decided to go for it. So we rescheduled for 7:30am on Friday. Holy moly!
So I spent the last few hours of my pregnancy enjoying some quiet time with my husband, son and mother. I was having irregular contractions again, but they'd never been a sign of anything and at my appointment the day before, my doctor had said there was no progression. She even whipped out the ultrasound machine to make sure my girl was head down, since my cervix was so incredibly far back.
I got up to pee about 4-5 times and at 1:30am, my eyes popped open and I shot out of bed, intending to run to the bathroom. I never made it that far. I stood by my bedside and just gushed. This was the second time I had felt a gush like this during this pregnancy and the first time my water hadn't broken. This time, something felt different. I managed to wake up my husband, get to the bathroom and put on a Depends diaper (so handy for that post partum bleeding, let me tell ya). When I got back, I flipped on the light to clean up and noticed my mucus plug was everywhere. This was the real deal. The contractions were kicking in hard core. It was time.
We managed to get things decently cleaned up, woke up my mother and loaded up our little car. My husband had gotten just enough sleep for it to hurt to be awake so we ran through the Starbucks drive thru for some black coffee....we had a nice long drive ahead of us. We talked and laughed and rolled with the contractions and I tried my best to handle the gross feeling of the gushing with contractions.
We arrived and got checked in by 3am. By 5am, the doctor wanted to go ahead and start me on pitocin. My nurse was in a delivery, so we ended up getting a different nurse who started the pitocin at 6am. At 7am, the shift changed and I ended up with another new nurse. This would make 4 in as many hours. I had wanted to go as natural as possible but I also didn't want to be stuck in a bed all day so I had agreed to the pitocin and when it really hit, I was ready for an epidural! It was placed quickly and my nurse, Kay, informed that if we had waited any later, it might have been hours before I got the epi, as the anesthesiologist was going to be in the OR.
Things were going swell for a few hours. I got a bit of sleep, my husband got some sleep, things were progressing....and then the epi stopped working. Right in the middle of a section of contractions that were non-stop. It was some of the most painful moments of my life. I have no idea how long it lasted, but I know that I nearly broke my husband's hand. I was screaming for dear life and sobbing....When alerted, my doctor actually called for them to give me a shot to STOP my contractions. They managed to get a second epi placed and while I still felt everything, it wasn't as though I was being ripped into shreds.
I started alerting the nurse that I was seriously needing to push around 12:30. At 1, the doctor came in and agreed that it was time to start pushing. I think at this point I was just plain slap happy. So when the nurse called to me "Push like you're really constipated!" I burst out laughing. Which of course made Sophia's head move a little closer. The doctor and the nurse laughed, saying that evidently laughing worked for me. I continued to push and watch as much as I could in the mirror above my head. Towards the end, I again busted out laughing. This time, the doctor looked at the nurse and said, mid push, "did you guys get new badges?" I laughed and then saw the most beautiful sight...my little girl's head of black hair crowning. One more push and she was out!
My darling husband was able to cut her cord and she was quickly checked out and brought back to me. She started nursing immediately and was a champ at it.
Meeting her brother was an incredible experience. He came up to visit with my mom and just thought she was the bees knees.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Spontaneous
Having 2 small children is a lot of fun but it's also a lot of work. Over the course of the last 3 years, I've lost pieces of myself. I've found a lot more but there are times when it is so exhausting to be a mom that I just shut down. At the end of the day, there is no time left for me or the things that I want to accomplish, be it chores or just fun stuff, like scrapbooking or heck, even reading a book!
My husband struggles with the same issues. I'm lucky enough to be a stay at home mom which makes the financial woes a little more but there are infinitely more rewards to it. But sometimes, we all get stuck in the mud. We can't see our way out of it. We see the dreams and hopes we had crashing down around us. We start to see only the bad and forget all the wonderful things we have going for us. That's when I know it's time for us to get out of dodge.
This past week just worked out so that Josh had one day off, one day on, one day off and then a late shift. Where we are in Ohio, it's only about an 8-9 hour drive to the ocean. Me being me, Josh's schedule and our bleak outlook sparked an idea. After a bit of discussion and a whole lot of running on my part, Thursday morning saw us off to Virginia Beach. It took us a heck of a lot longer to get going and a lot longer to get there thanks to 2 small children and some crazy bad rain but we made it. We camped, played in the ocean, saw parts of the country we'd never seen before....It was amazing. The car trip back took much longer than getting there had (isn't that always the case??) but in the end, it was incredibly refreshing.
I'm reminded that life takes us down paths we didn't envision but that doesn't make it the wrong path.
I'm reminded that life doesn't have to adhere to a schedule.
I'm reminded that it's okay to rinse off all the sand just to jump right back in it.
I'm reminded that the world is a bright, wonderful place.
I'm reminded that I can be spontaneous, even with small children.
I"m reminded that cutting loose is necessary.
I'm reminded that not everything has to be a huge, expensive production.
Onward and upward. I've got some novels calling my name. Have a wonderful day, beautiful people.
My husband struggles with the same issues. I'm lucky enough to be a stay at home mom which makes the financial woes a little more but there are infinitely more rewards to it. But sometimes, we all get stuck in the mud. We can't see our way out of it. We see the dreams and hopes we had crashing down around us. We start to see only the bad and forget all the wonderful things we have going for us. That's when I know it's time for us to get out of dodge.
This past week just worked out so that Josh had one day off, one day on, one day off and then a late shift. Where we are in Ohio, it's only about an 8-9 hour drive to the ocean. Me being me, Josh's schedule and our bleak outlook sparked an idea. After a bit of discussion and a whole lot of running on my part, Thursday morning saw us off to Virginia Beach. It took us a heck of a lot longer to get going and a lot longer to get there thanks to 2 small children and some crazy bad rain but we made it. We camped, played in the ocean, saw parts of the country we'd never seen before....It was amazing. The car trip back took much longer than getting there had (isn't that always the case??) but in the end, it was incredibly refreshing.
I'm reminded that life takes us down paths we didn't envision but that doesn't make it the wrong path.
I'm reminded that life doesn't have to adhere to a schedule.
I'm reminded that it's okay to rinse off all the sand just to jump right back in it.
I'm reminded that the world is a bright, wonderful place.
I'm reminded that I can be spontaneous, even with small children.
I"m reminded that cutting loose is necessary.
I'm reminded that not everything has to be a huge, expensive production.
Onward and upward. I've got some novels calling my name. Have a wonderful day, beautiful people.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sydney Logan's Mountain Charm
Let's give a round of applause to Sydney Logan for bringing us another awesome work! Sydney is joining us today on her blog tour for Mountain Charm, the second book in her Appalachian Heart series. I've got all kinds of things to share with you so please keep reading!! There's even a giveaway of Mountain Charm at the bottom!
Here's a summary:
One issue I have with most romance novels that involve magic is that they are incredibly hokey. The magic in books can be a hard pill to swallow....it comes out poorly written and really kills the tone of the book. Sydney NAILS it with this book. Magic is a part of it but it's not in the least bit hokey. Angelina and Celia have magic in their lives but it's not the only thing that defines them.
The relationships in this book are heart warming and honest. I truly believed every one of them. Sydney is able to capture the essence of an Appalachian mountain community and at no point did I question any of the characters' choices which is a rare thing in a romance novel.
Bravo on another job well written, Sydney! I'm stoked for future works!!
Here's a summary:
“True love and sweet whispers, till death do us part;
Send someone to love my Appalachian heart.”
At the age of thirteen, Angelina Clark followed in the footsteps of her ancestors by casting an Appalachian love spell, which promised she would blossom into a beautiful and gifted woman who would find her true love. A young Angelina had been thrilled to participate in the sacred ritual, but through the years, her father’s untimely death and her mother’s failing health have shaken Angelina’s magical faith to its core. As her twenty-first birthday approaches, she refuses to practice her supernatural gifts and no longer believes in the love charm.
That is, until Dylan Thomas arrives on her front porch.
Dylan, a Nashville writer, travels to the mountain town of Maple Ridge to unearth the family’s supernatural secrets. While her clairvoyant mother is convinced that Dylan is her daughter’s soul mate, Angelina refuses to see the nosy reporter as anything more than a nuisance.
Despite their constant bickering, sparks fly.
Dylan admits he feels strangely drawn to Angelina and is in no hurry to leave Maple Ridge or publish his magazine article. Fearful that his emotions are being influenced by the spell, a stubborn Angelina struggles to fight her own budding attraction to the reporter.
The two inevitably grow closer just as her mother’s health begins to deteriorate, and Angelina is faced with the possibility of selling the family’s music shop to pay the mounting medical expenses. Desperate to help the woman he loves, Dylan explores his own family tree and finds support from an unlikely source. Can he finally prove his love is real—spell or no spell?
A story filled with love, friendship, family, and just a hint of Appalachian magic, Mountain Charm will leave you spellbound.
A little bit about Sydney:
Sydney Logan is an Amazon bestselling author and holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education. With the 2012 release of her first novel, Lessons Learned, she made the transition from bookworm to author. Sydney has a very unhealthy obsession with music, and her iPod is filled with everything from Johnny Cash to Eminem. She is also the author of two short stories: “Mistletoe Magic,” available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, and “Stupid Cupid,” which is featured in the Romantic Interludes compilation. When she isn't reading or writing, she enjoys playing piano and relaxing on her front porch at her home in East Tennessee with her wonderful husband and their very spoiled cat.
Her second novel, Mountain Charm, is slated for a summer 2013 release.
My take:
Loved this! I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it but once I made it through the first chapter, I couldn't put it down!
The story follows Angelina, a small town girl whose family has always been a little bit strange thanks to the streak of magic in their blood. At 13, all girls in her family cast a spell that is supposed to bring their soul mate into their life when they reach 21. In the very beginning, Angelina casts that spell and the first chapter opens on her 21st birthday and who should walk in but a handsome Nashville journalist looking for her.
The following course of events causes Angelina and her new found friend Dylan to question everything they know about, well, everything. Angelina must come to terms with who she is and what she is capable of. Dylan must learn to accept the things that he can and cannot change about his whole life and what that will mean for him going forward.
One issue I have with most romance novels that involve magic is that they are incredibly hokey. The magic in books can be a hard pill to swallow....it comes out poorly written and really kills the tone of the book. Sydney NAILS it with this book. Magic is a part of it but it's not in the least bit hokey. Angelina and Celia have magic in their lives but it's not the only thing that defines them.
The relationships in this book are heart warming and honest. I truly believed every one of them. Sydney is able to capture the essence of an Appalachian mountain community and at no point did I question any of the characters' choices which is a rare thing in a romance novel.
Bravo on another job well written, Sydney! I'm stoked for future works!!
The Fun Stuff:
So you wanna win an ebook copy of Mountain Charm, do ya? Well, it's simple!
1. Follow my blog!
2. Go like Sydney's author page on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/SydneyLoganAuthor
3. Come back here and comment!
4. DOUBLE entries if you buy any of Sydney's other work and send me a copy of the receipt!
Accepting entries until August 3rd, with a winner to be announced on August 4th!
Accepting entries until August 3rd, with a winner to be announced on August 4th!
LINKS!
Lessons Learned on Amazon
Mountain Charm on Amazon
Mistletoe Magic on Amazon
Forces of Nature on Amazon
Lessons Learned on Barnes and Noble
Mountain Charm on Barnes and Noble
Friday, July 12, 2013
Coming soon....
A few years ago, I started reading works by this wonderful woman, Sydney Logan. While reading some of her unpublished stuff, I learned that she was working on her first novel and was attempting to have it published. Then she did. Do you have any idea how cool it is to know someone who is achieving one of their dreams? And to know that that person really deserves it? That's Sydney. Knowing her, I of course jumped to buy her book. That's what you do for friends. When they put something out, you buy it to support them. Know what though? I actually REALLY loved the book.
Lessons Learned was Sydney's first book. It completely floored me. It's about a teacher who moves back to her hometown and gets caught up in the life of a gay quarterback while attempting to put her own life back together. It's also set in Appalachia. Holy cow. I really boiled the book down to one line but there is so much more depth to this novel. I couldn't put it down and sobbed by the time it was all said and done. I truly believe that everyone should read it. You meet characters who are homophobic, some who are not, some who change and some who don't. It's not a preachy "get on the rainbow bandwagon" book but it does have an amazing message.
Recently, Sydney published her second novel, Mountain Charm. Again, I raced out to read it. Again, it didn't disappoint. A full review of it will be coming soon.
That's really what I'm here to tell you. On July 29th, I'll be hosting Sydney here as a stop on her Mountain Charm blog tour. So keep an eye out...I'll be posting an ebook giveaway of Mountain Charm!!
That's really what I'm here to tell you. On July 29th, I'll be hosting Sydney here as a stop on her Mountain Charm blog tour. So keep an eye out...I'll be posting an ebook giveaway of Mountain Charm!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
A New Start
When I started this blog, I wasn't really sure what I wanted it to be. And to be honest, I'm still not sure. An online record maybe? Somewhere for my kids to come in later years and read about the crazy train we were riding?
Yesterday, I realized that this blog will be whatever it ends up being. And I figured this was a good day to get back into my blogging!
I've made the choice to reclaim my health. I used to be thin and fit. Post college, post 2 babies, post desk job...I"m not any more. I'm significantly overweight. In the next year, I'm looking to drop around 75 lbs. A good friend of mine turned me onto Jillian Michael's Total Body Revolution. It's a 90 day program and she went down 6 pant sizes. It gives me hope.
Since I'm breastfeeding, I can't do the full diet program. I have to maintain a certain amount of calories so that I'm still making enough milk for my daughter. So I don't know that I'll lose quite as much as my friend but every little bit helps!
So I'll try and check in every week. I've done two days of Jillian plus an extra 60 squats today. when I weighed myself yesterday I was 204.8lbs. So lets see where I am next week!
Yesterday, I realized that this blog will be whatever it ends up being. And I figured this was a good day to get back into my blogging!
I've made the choice to reclaim my health. I used to be thin and fit. Post college, post 2 babies, post desk job...I"m not any more. I'm significantly overweight. In the next year, I'm looking to drop around 75 lbs. A good friend of mine turned me onto Jillian Michael's Total Body Revolution. It's a 90 day program and she went down 6 pant sizes. It gives me hope.
Since I'm breastfeeding, I can't do the full diet program. I have to maintain a certain amount of calories so that I'm still making enough milk for my daughter. So I don't know that I'll lose quite as much as my friend but every little bit helps!
So I'll try and check in every week. I've done two days of Jillian plus an extra 60 squats today. when I weighed myself yesterday I was 204.8lbs. So lets see where I am next week!
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