Musical Monday #10!

Hurray for #10!!

Right now I am in a jolly mood. The sun is shining, my hair is curling, my cardigan is yellow. Life is lovely.

(Also, I tied a rainbow-striped ribbon in my hair).

And in order to further this jolly mood and spread jolliness to all who stumble upon my blog, I present the absolute happiest-sounding song you have ever heard in all of your life.



I dare you to not smile. That's right. I DARE YOU.

What starts with 'b'?

I was tagged by Lora over at Take Me the Way I Am to do this so...here are ten things I love that start with the letter B!!

(this is just like Sesame Street!)

#1: Baking: I absolutely LOVE baking. I started with biscuits at the tender age of eight, and then moved onto cookies, then cakes, then pies. Mm, pies.

#2: Books: That was my first word. Not even kidding. I was sitting in my crib when my mom came in and I pointed to my bookshelf and said "books!". She handed me one, and then I said "thanks!". Polite and well-read at an early age. But seriously, love me some books. I currently have shelves that wrap around my room that are nearly full of books.

#3: Bridal...ness: I made up a word. I've had two years to revel in being a bride-to-be, and I've got one more to go. I really enjoy all the white, fluffy goodness.

#4: Bubble baths: Ooh, I got four b's out of that one! But yes, nothing is nicer than a bubble bath. :)

#5: Babies: Oh, how I love babies. P and I want five of them. :)

#6: Brown...as in Jason Robert: All right, so I cheated a little bit, but he is one of my all time favorite Broadway composers. He did Parade, Last Five Years, Songs for a New World...and he plays the piano.

#7: Braids: I love braiding my hair, even if it doesn't necessarily suit me. Actually, my hair's braided right now. And I am LOVING IT.

#8: Babbling: It's true. Whether I'm talking or writing, I love it when words are just comin' out. :)

#9: Bows: Not even kidding. I love bows. Any kind of frippery, actually.

(also, who else loves the word "frippery"?)

And finally:

#10: Blogging: What would I be like without a fun place to babble?

All right...if your name begins with C, K, A, or D, I wanna see you do this!! And your letter is...L!

I've got more hope now!!

I've got one semester of school left, right? One last semester to pull out a noteworthy performance...if I can get cast.

So that's why I've been putting so much pressure on myself to get a stellar part. I'm out of the running for Death of a Salesman, because those rehearsals are taking place in the summer, while I'm in Disney. And then there's Guys and Dolls, which I would LOVE to play Adelaide in, but, while I'm a decent singer, there's a lot of other people who are better, so that's a risky thing to rely on.

So when Mike the Almighty Director announced yesterday that the season was changing, I was ECSTATIC.

We are now doing Death of a Salesman in February and Beau Jest in September, with rehearsals starting on August 17...

...which just so happens to be the week after I get back from Disney World! So I can conceivably be in it!!

I have a sneaking, sneaking, sneaking suspicion that this was arranged so that I can be in it. I really do. I'm not going to rely on that. I'm going to pick the best monologue and song I can find and prepare them and do my hardest if I get called back. But I feel a lot less panicky about pulling out a lead role before I graduate. I think I might do well with this.

So...the week of April 20th, I am going to be a MASSIVE BUNDLE OF NERVES.

Not even kidding.

But right now, I'm excited.

My Disney College Program Experience

Name: Caitlin Nicholas

College: Lipscomb University

Major/Minor: Theater major, English minor

Are you a campus rep?: Sure am! I’ve been one since fall of 2006.

Current age: 22

Age at time of program: 18, but I turned 19 during the program

Time and type of program: Spring of 2006

Type of job: Attractions

Work position and location: A Great Movie Ride Tour Guide in the Disney-MGM Studios

What did your job entail?:

A big part of my job was performing shows, but I also loaded guests onto vehicles, parked strollers, and facilitated lines, among many other things.

What was your costume like?:

Man, that was back in the day of the good ol’ costumes. Black polyester pants, white button-up shirt, red bowtie, red suspenders, and a red newsie cap. When I worked outside, I wore an orange Chinese jacket called a “pumpkin jacket” and a matching “pumpkin hat.”

What other nametags did you use?:

I was Kimberly on and off…it was my default name when I couldn’t find my own, and I took the tag home with me…

Where did you live?:

Chatham Square…I’m pretty sure it was building 22, on the second floor.

How many roommates did you have?:

I had two. Most apartments house 2, 4, 6, or 8 people, but there are three-person apartments for those who request them.

Did you know anyone before you went down?:

I knew the two girls I lived with, and since we were all nervous freshman, we chose to live together. Katie worked merchandise at Coronado Springs, and Brittany worked QSFB at Port Orleans.

Did you leave a significant other behind?:

There was a guy I had a crush on before I left, but we weren’t dating. However, we started dating by long-distance halfway through my program, and we kept dating once I got home. Despite the unorthodox factor, it all worked out, and we’re getting married in March of 2010.

Did you bring a car?:

I did not. I relied solely on the buses. It actually worked out really well. Outside of grocery shopping, it was easy to work with, and even shopping wasn’t that bad (it was just hard to get everything home).

Did you take a class? Which one?:

I took the Entertainment Professional Development Series, which is only open to entertainment majors (like theater, dance, music, etc.). I really enjoyed it! We met with Disney professionals who showed us how a show, parade, or attraction is put together from first idea to close, and we even got VIP seats for Fantasmic! and a backstage tour.

Did you participate in the housing events?:

Just a couple of them. You definitely can’t miss graduation, and I went to a cast member-only pin-trading event and the Studios Spring Fling

What was the best thing you brought with you?:

My laptop and my Ipod. My laptop kept me in contact with people back home without going to the apartment computer labs, and my Ipod kept me entertained on the bus to and from work when I wasn’t riding with friends.

What did you wish you brought with you?:

I wish I had a lunchbox. Seriously. I got tired of eating in the CM cafeteria.

What was your favorite souvenir that you brought home?:

Probably my collection of Alice in Wonderland tee shirts.

Did you pin trade?:

Oh, heck yes, I did! I even have the dorky pin bag with 200+ pins in it…

What’s your favorite Disney animated movie?:

#1 (tie): Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland

#2: Beauty and the Beast

#3: Treasure Planet

#4: Meet the Robinsons

What’s your favorite Disney live-action movie?:

#1 (tie): Newsies and Enchanted

#2: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

#3: Mary Poppins

#4: Candleshoe

What’s your favorite Pixar movie?:

Definitely The Incredibles!

Who’s your favorite character?:

Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Giselle from Enchanted, Ariel from the Little Mermaid, Wilbur from Meet the Robinsons, and Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet

What’s your favorite Disney Channel TV show or movie?:

High School Musical (3, 1, 2, in that order). And I loved Even Stevens back in the day, although Wizards of Waverly Place is pretty fun.

What’s your favorite Disney song?:

“That’s How You Know” from Enchanted, “She’s In Love” from Little Mermaid on Broadway, “Carryin’ the Banner” from Newsies, and “Little Wonders” from Meet the Robinsons

What’s your favorite park?

Well, I am partial to the Disney-Hollywood Studios, but Epcot is freaking amazing. And MK is always a classic.

What’s your favorite Magic Kingdom attraction?:

Peter Pan’s Flight, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, TTA, and Pirates of the Caribbean

What’s your favorite Magic Kingdom land?:

Fantasyland, with Tomorrowland as a close second

What’s your favorite Epcot attraction?

Test Track is phenomenal! But I also love Mission: Space and Maelstrom (in the Norway pavilion).

What’s your favorite Studios attraction?

Definitely Great Movie Ride. I also adore Star Tours and MuppetVision 3D.

What’s your favorite Animal Kingdom attraction?

Dinosaur. And Kali River Rapids, as long as it’s not cold.

What’s your favorite water park?

I’ve actually never been to any of the water parks, if you can believe it.

What’s your favorite attraction that no longer exists?:

The original Journey Into Imagination ride. It’s one of my earliest Disney memories!

What’s your favorite 3D movie?:

Philharmagic and MuppetVision 3D are my favorites, but I hate It’s Tough to Be a Bug and Honey, We Shrunk the Audience.

What’s your favorite fireworks show?:

Fantasmic, with Wishes a close second.

What’s your favorite parade?:

The Christmas parade is fantastic, but I’ll always be partial to Disney Stars and Motorcars.

What’s your favorite stage show?:

Voyage of the freakin’ Little Mermaid, hands down.

What’s your favorite roller coaster?:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! I love that thing to death.

(If applicable) What was your favorite PI club?

The Adventurer’s Club! It was so fantastic.

What are your favorite places to eat?:

Magic Kingdom: Columbia Harbor House and Pinnochio’s Village Haus

Epcot: the Land pavilion and the French patisserie

Studios: Primetime Cafe

DAK: No clue, really. I guess the McDonald’s.

DTD: Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Puck’s, Raglan Road, and Ghiradelli’s

What’s your favorite Disney food?:

Mm…fish and chips! I got so addicted to it!

What’s your favorite Disney dessert?:

Dole whips! They’re only sold in Adventureland in MK, but they’re so freaking delicious. That, and the Nestle cookie ice cream sandwiches.

What’s your favorite resort?:

When I travel with my family, we usually stay in Caribbean Beach, and it’s wonderful.

What’s your favorite Disney shop?:

MK: Tinkerbell’s Treasures

Epcot: The UK pavilion toy store

Studios: Sid Cahuegna’s and the shops in animation courtyard

DAK: Really, no opinions here

What’s your favorite Downtown Disney shop?:

The pin store! The massive, beautiful pin store!

What’s your favorite non-Disney hangout?:

It used to be Bennigan’s, but they closed.

How many times have you gone to Disney World outside of your program?:

1987: offsite

1992: offsite

2003: Caribbean Beach

2007: Caribbean Beach

2007: Coronado Springs

(plus we stayed at Pop Century at the beginning and end of my program)

What was your most magical moment as a guest?:

Probably when a CM gave me the Jim Hawkins pin on her lanyard. I’d forgotten my pins so I couldn’t trade, but I was really excited because I hadn’t seen a pin of him before. She said she’d never met anyone who knew who he was, and gave him to me.

What was your most magical moment as a cast member?:

I was working on Mardi Gras, and a set of parents came through with lots of beads and two small children, a toddler girl dressed as Cinderella and a little boy about four. I talked to the little girl and greeted her as Princess Cinderella, and she just loved it. Then the little boy gave me a pretend Stitch experiment to be my very own. The parents thanked me for being so sweet to their children and gave me a string of Mardi Gras beads that I still have.

Did you meet anyone famous on your program?:

I did! The Barenaked Ladies came through the ride, plus I did a show from Scotty Pippin from the Chicago Bulls and I opened the vehicle doors for Roy E. Disney (Walt’s nephew).

Got a stupid guest story?:

So many stories…so little time. Well, I love the drunk man during the Wizard of Oz show. There were only five or so people on the vehicle, and it was the part when the munchkin mayor tells me to follow the yellow brick road. This genius stood up in his seat and started looking around anxiously.

Me: “Sir in row ten, please remain seated.”

Drunk Man: “Okay, but…but I really need to find the yellow brick road!”

Me: “…it’s okay, sir. I know where it is. It’s up here on the left.”

Drunk Man: “Oh, okay!”

Seriously. Hilarious.

What’s your favorite cast member memory?:

Honestly, I loved the camaraderie with my fellow Great Movie Riders. It was fun to just chill out and talk to people.

How would you sum up your Disney College Program experience?:

It was definitely one of the best things I could have done. I learned to live on my own and handle a full-time job, and it gave me a lot of performance experience. I absolutely loved my time as a CP.

Do you think you’ll go back?:

I’ve been accepted to the Summer Alumni program for 2009 in Attractions, and I can’t wait to do it again!

Any advice for new CPs?:

Come ready to work and ready to learn. If you come in with a bad attitude- you didn’t get your ideal work location, you think you already know what you’re doing, etc., you slack off a lot- you’re not going to do all that well. Your fellow CMs will get annoyed with you pretty quickly, and believe me, you don’t want to get on the bad side of the people you work with. Work hard and be nice. Then, as you get more seniority, you can get mad at all the new slackers coming in.

Still feeling dumb

I remembered some of my blog links, but not all of them. Still feeling stupid...

But on the non-stupid side of things, I fixed the link in the previous post. So now everyone but Patrick can see the wedding dresses I tried on!

You know, I never thought I'd say this, but getting evicted from Fanning might be one of the best things that could have happened to me. Weird, isn't it?

I'm going to live at home next semester, which means I'll commute, which means I need a car. Finally, I'll have a car! And because it looks like I'll have classes only on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I won't be required to go to chapel, and I can get a real job, instead of sitting in the lobby for seven hours a week. And none of this would have happened if I was staying in Fanning for another semester.

And...uh...yeah.

That's about all that's going through my mind right now.

That, and I need to refill my Bubba Keg. You want to drink more water, buy a Bubba Keg. Seriously. I refilled it four times yesterday, and that thing is 34 oz.

Good news and bad news

Bad news: I am an idiot.

I accidentally deleted 75% of the links on my blogroll.

Sadness much.

I'll have to go back and fix that.

Good news: I have pictures of me in wedding dresses!

PATRICK TREVATHAN, DON'T CLICK THIS LINK!!!

Musical Monday #...eh...9? We'll go with 9

(I accidentally hit enter after typing the title and it posted. Whoops. Now I'll fix it. Once I've picked a decent song...)

I have a confession to make.

I...am a Speed Racer fangirl.

I don't know how it started. I just know that I am. I mean, seriously. Look at him.

That doesn't work for you? How about THIS:

Seriously.

Sure, the movie didn't do that well in theaters, and when you watch it, your eyeballs might possibly burn a little. But it's fun. It's so much fun. The original show is silly and campy and over-the-top, and the movie pulled that off, while still making it seem serious. If that makes any sense.

(Also, as soon as I get a car, I have a Speed Racer clinging figure that is going up in the window the second I get it.)

Also, my car will be called the Mach 5.

(Also, my ultimate car is a white PT Cruiser, so I can stick a big ol' red 5 on the door.)

(Also, I'm a geek.)

But one of the best parts of the movie is the updated theme. And it gets STUCK IN MY HEAD on a disturbingly regular basis.

So, in order for you to enjoy the same awesomeness, here is the Speed Racer Theme, by Ali Dee and the Deekompressors.

(and please don't hold me liable if it gets stuck in your head!)

Mm, retail therapy!

Last night I rounded out the first day of dress shopping with a look-see at Jessica McClintock. It's pretty stuff, and it's inexpensive stuff. However, I was a mite disappointed. I tried on two dresses, and instantly discovered that the dresses were wearing me. I was hoping one of these dresses would work- I mean, they were in the $300-$500, and a lot cheaper than the two dresses I lurved but are a lot pricier (they were both $1,500). But yeah. I was drowning. And my mother saw them and mentally compared them to the dresses I tried on earlier, and quickly decided that even though a different dress would be pricier, it would be worth to have a nice one. So yeah.

Today didn't start out very thrilling. I mean, really...who schedules a dentist appointment at freaking 7:30 in the morning? (The answer is: my mother). But my dad made it up. He took me and my sister to Pancake Pantry (pecan pancakes are SCRUMPTRULESCENT) and then shopping at Opry Mills. So guess what I found?

-a blue knee-length "town gown" from Old Navy

-a white tee shirt with cap sleeves from Old Navy

(When I tried on the town gown and the tee shirt together, Lindsay commented that I looked like Belle- I even had my hair in a low pony. I snarkily replied that she should give me a basket and book so I could walk through the village singing, and the dressing room attendant cracked up.)

-Navy and white polka dot shoes, also from Old Navy

-Khakis from Gap that ROCK MY WORLD. Seriously. Not only were they $12.99, but they were TWO SIZES SMALLER than what I used to wear! Hence, the ALL-CAPS REJOICING.

-A SERIOUSLY FANTASTIC figure of Speed Racer. He's got one of those little suctiony thingies so he can hang on a window, and as soon as I get a car I'm going to name it the Mach 5 and hang that cute kid up in the window.

And in the meantime, I am going to lounge. And read Artemis Fowl. Why? Because I am seriously in love with that kid. I mean it. You hate him in the first book, but then you hit Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox and you just want to give him a big kiss on the top of the head and tell him it's all okay. Of course, he would respond to that by straightening his Armani tie, telling you that public displays of affection are most uncouth, and reassuring you that he had everything under control in the first place. But that's why you have to love him anyway.

Dress hunting!

IF YOUR NAME IS PATRICK TREVATHAN, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO READ THIS.

GO AWAY.

I STILL LOVE YOU, BUT SHOO.

kthnxbai

*coughs* All right, now that P's not reading...

I tried on wedding dresses for the first time today. Pretty nervewracking, let me tell you. It has to fit just right, it has to look just right, and, most importantly, it has to cost just right.

Well, I headed over to a shop called Arzelles in West End with Kat (my MOH) and Rose (a BM and one of my bestest friends ever) and Mum (my mother...well, duh.). I tried on four or five dresses, but there were two that just stuck out to me. They're the exact same price, and they're both from Mikaella.

#1262
and #1360:

The first one was suggested to me by Leslie, the girl helping me. It didn't look all that appealing on the rack, but it looked really good on me. The second I pulled myself, but Leslie told me she was already thinking of suggesting it to me because it fit the criteria I listed- sweetheart neckline, soft, and a nice price. Both of them looked good on me (which I was kind of afraid of...I didn't think anything would suit my weirdly built frame!) but the second one suits me a little more.

Rose took pictures of me in these two and one other dress...maybe I'll post them so you can see what I look like (as long as P doesn't peek!).

It was an odd experience, though. I've prepared myself for so long to try on wedding gowns that when I saw myself in the mirror for the first time in the white gown and the veil, I almost didn't know what to think. It just sunk in all at once- I'm actually getting married. And then, as quickly as it came, the feeling passed. There wasn't a teary realization, there wasn't a sudden "this is the one!" moment...it just felt natural to be standing there in a white gown and a veil.

Oh, well. I've still got time to figure this out. But in the meantime...I love these dresses!

D-day! (dress day)

That's right! Today is the first day of dress searching!

To be honest, I'm a little nervous. I mean, this is a BIG DEAL. It has to be "the one"...and it has to be the right price. Plus, I always get anxious about trying on clothes. So this could potentially be really interesting...

Last night was a ton o' fun. P and I headed over to hang with Lora and Anthony for St. Patrick's Day. She made shepherd's pie, and I brought Irish soda bread and vanilla chocolate chip cake (I was on a baking frenzy), and there was green beverages (with awesome cups and straws!) to be had. Then we watched Baby Mama and some Will Ferrell goodness while we played hand and foot (which Lora and I DOMINATED at. Seriously. It was spectacular).

And do you know what else is spectacular? The adorable pink gingham dress I got at Target for $21.99.

Seriously, how cute? It's the first dress I've purchased, rather than made, in probably a year. But on the downside, I did not find a single pair of shoes that I just loved. How sad is that? Oh, well. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

OH AND BY THE WAY...

P has his own blog. It's so nerdy and awesome. ^_^

I missed Musical Monday for the first time!!!

I haven't missed a MM since it started up. But I missed it yesterday. :( But that's what happens when I go home for spring break, and the only way I get to use the computer is if Lindz decides to sleep in. Hence, this morning update.

(But on the upside, my CD has been wending its way to Diane. Have you gotten it yet?)

P and I celebrated our three-years-down, one-more-to-go anniversary on Friday. Our annual tradition is to go to Cheesecake Factory. That place is SO MUCH FUN. Plus, I got my first sour apple martini. Not only did I love it, but Mr. I-Don't-Much-Care-For-Alcohol loved it too! It was super exciting.

Then we had our engagement party. It wasn't so much a "let's celebrate our engagement" party as it was a "OMG we've been engaged for two years and survived, now we've hit the 1-year countdown" party. I made white chicken chili and cheddar cornbread biscuits, he made white chocolate fudge cake. And there was Rock Band. So I think it was a success.

Yesterday was the first official day of spring break. I celebrated by being lazy. Well, I worked on wedding stuff, but sitting on your bed in your PJs cutting out pretty pictures from magazines definitely falls into the laziness category.

Today...well, today shall be a little crazier. Two loaves of Irish soda bread to bake, DDR to play (my favoritest workout ever), gown shops to check times and appointments on (and BMs to see if they can come), and Target to shop at...because it's already time to buy all the crap I'll need in Orlando. I'm getting prepared now...

Rather long and rather mushy...but hey, it's my anniversary, and I'll do as I please!

WARNING: Reading this blog might cause squishiness overload. It contains high amounts of romantic gushing, cutesiness, and long-windedness. Do not read this blog if you have conditions such as Anticoupleitis or an aversion to verbal PDA. This blog may cause reactions such as extensive “ahhhing,” a desire to pinch a short girl’s cheeks and tell her she and her fiancé are precious, or an intense desire to vomit from all the excessive romanticism.

(So yeah. This is how P and I got together. I said a VERY LONG TIME AGO that I would someday explain how we got together, but somehow I never got around to it. But since today is our three-year anniversary, I figured now was as good a time as any. So…enjoy!...I guess…)

I didn’t date in high school. Not at all. There were a couple of guys who expressed half-hearted interest in me, and there were some guys that I found kind of cute, but nothing really came of anything. As I got older, I pretty much made my plan. I would graduate from high school and then college with degrees in art and theater, then work in LA or Florida as a storyboard artist, and then when I was thirty I would start adopting kids.

Well, it was late October/early November of 2004 and I was seventeen years old. My family had moved to Nashville just a few months earlier, two weeks before my senior year of high school started. Some of my friends at Lipscomb invited me to their church’s Halloween party, so I dressed up as a psychotic cheerleader and went alone.

Kat and I were riding on the hayride when all of sudden two guys dressed in black came tearing out of the darkness and ran at us. One particularly enterprising would-be vampire actually leaped on the hayride. I screamed bloody murder…

…but I was the only person who did. Everyone else was completely nonplussed. Apparently I’m just easily spooked. After the hayride, Kat introduced me to my attackers. It was some guy named Patrick and his best friend Michael.

I saw Patrick around occasionally- I saw his youth group production of A Rose in Falcon City (he played a crazy old man) and he saw my school productions of Night Watch, The Music Man, and the one-act night. Every time we would chat, but we could never remember each other’s names.

In the fall of 2005, I started college. In an effort to make friends, I headed to the informational meeting for the freshman social club, but found myself holding a tee-shirt in a corner, because the girls who were going to come ditched me. Luckily, I ran into Patrick, who was also holding a tee-shirt and looking lost. We hung out for the rest of the meeting, and that’s when I realized that he was kind of cute.

One day in my first week or so of classes, my friend Emily and I were eating lunch after Honors Intro to Communications when she said that there was a guy in her next class named Patrick that she thought would be a good match for me. When I admitted that I already had a little bit of a crush on him, she made it her mission to set us up. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after lunch we would walk towards her class and strike up a conversation with Patrick.

My crush on him grew by leaps and bounds. He was cute, he was funny, he was geeky…he was perfect, except for one little thing.

He didn’t know I liked him.

With my lack of experience, I couldn’t flirt to save my life. I kept trying to show him I liked him, but he didn’t notice at all. But I was fairly certain he was at least semi-interested in me, especially on the day we started talking about 40 minutes before our next class, talked through our class, and two hours later he hugged me goodbye. And not just a friendly little side hug. Oh, no. This was a full-on, his-scruff-touched-my-cheek hug. I was giddy.

But in October of my first semester of college, I applied for the Disney College Program on a whim. I thought it sounded kind of nifty, and it couldn’t hurt to apply- my parents would probably say no. To my eternal surprise, not only was I accepted for a Spring 2006 internship in Operations, but my parents gave their blessing. I got more and more excited about working in the Happiest Place on Earth, but then I realized what that meant for my hopes of a relationship with Patrick.

I could tell him, “Hey, just so you know, I really like you and I think you’re awesome. But now that I’ve confessed my raging crush, I’m leaving for six months.” But how unfair would that be to him?

So I decided not to say anything to him. Instead, I wrote a blog on Myspace (since that was how I used to roll) and laid it all out. I basically said that there was a guy that I liked, but I wasn’t going to say anything. If it was God’s plan that we would end up together, then we would.

He commented on the blog, saying that he hoped things would work out between me and this guy, because I was a really sweet girl and deserved someone awesome, and if things did work out, he would have to meet him and make sure he was good enough for me. Needless to say, I was flipping frustrated.

Although I knew I couldn’t pursue anything romantically inclined with him, I figured it couldn’t hurt if we kept up being friends. I went out on a major limb and asked him if he would write to me while I was in Orlando. He not only said yes, but we exchanged phone numbers.

I headed down to Florida and started my internship. We talked a lot- sometimes on the phone, but mostly by text and the internet. It was nice, but still a little bit frustrating.

I turned nineteen during my internship, and he sent me a little birthday present. He took screenshots of my favorite anime series and turned them into a comic, with all the characters talking about my birthday, and wrote notes all around the margins of all five pages of the letter. (He also spelled my name wrong the entire time.) I was absolutely thrilled. It was my first birthday present from a boy.

About a month later, on March 13, we were texting back and forth during the morning. I was working Extra Magic Hours that night, so I didn’t need to get into work until six. It was a normal fun conversation when he sent me a message that said “I’m listening to a song that’s making me think of someone.”

I asked what song. He said it was “Savin’ Me” by Nickelback.

I asked who it was, but only if he wanted to tell me (and secretly hoping it was me).

And he said it was.

And that is how we started dating. He never asked me out on a date, he never asked me to be his girlfriend, we barely even said we liked each other. It just sort of happened. It turns out that he didn’t realize that he liked me until he read my Myspace blog, and he somehow just knew I was talking about him, even though I didn’t mention any details about the guy, not even where I knew him from. He also entertained the notion of asking me out on a date before I left for Orlando, but didn’t for the same reasons I didn’t ask him.

We dated by text and phone call for the next two months. While a lot of people looked rather askance at our unorthodox relationship, we were happy. It was working for us. We talked on the phone every night…well, it was more like we were on the phone with each other every night. Plus we texted all the time, much to the despair of my cell phone bill.

My internship ended on May 19. My family and I spent all day and most of the night of the 20^th driving home, but on the morning of the 21^st I was at church, preparing to see my boyfriend for the first time in six months…and it was the first time we would see each other in person as boyfriend and girlfriend. I was so scared I would walk up to the wrong person. Luckily, I recognized him right away. Our eyes met…we walked towards each other…and my friend Emily leaped in between us to tell me hello. Nevertheless, we had our sweet but awkward hello, and he gave me a cute plushie. We sat together through Sunday school and church, awkwardly holding hands. After service he pulled me aside and told me he loved me. I instantly said it back. It turns out we had both realized while I was gone that we were in love, but we had the same thought to wait until we could say it in person.

After church we went to his mother’s friend’s wedding, which is where I met his mother (although he forgot to introduce me, so I thought it was some random woman addressing me by name). And then after the wedding we went to a mutual friend’s graduation party. We were sitting in the corner of the living room with our arms around each other, and he kissed me on the temple…then the forehead…then the cheek…then the chin…I was so eager and frustrated that I kept tilting my head up, trying to convey that is was okay to kiss me on the lips. He finally did. It was our first kiss, and my first kiss ever. And it was actually pretty awesome.

After the graduation party, we went somewhere else (I can’t remember where) and then back to church for Sunday night service. That was the second time he kissed me, and I pulled away kind of quickly, not because I didn’t want it, but because all I could think of was “He just kissed me in front of God and everybody!”. And then he took me home. It was the longest day ever, but it was one of the best, because not only did we realize we were totally in love, but also that we each realized separately that we knew we would get married.

That first summer was long, hot, stressful, and wonderful. He was working at American Eagle, and I was taking summer classes, but he would spend pretty much every afternoon on campus with me. We also plunged headlong into drama- his sister and his best friend didn’t like me, his best friend was having girlfriend issues, then his sister and his best friend had some drama together. Plus, on our third date I discovered the hard way just how rough it can be to live without a colon. P doesn’t have one, and he got dehydrated at the Renaissance Festival. But even with all that, we knew that we were meant to be together. On September 19, just six months after we started dating, we decided to get betrothed.

This opened a huge can of worms. We knew what it meant. To us, betrothal meant that we knew we wanted to get married, but we wanted to spend time growing closer to each other and to God before getting formally engaged. This was also a step that we wanted to tell only our close family and friends. But remember how I mentioned P’s best friend’s crazy girlfriend? Yeah, she told everyone we were engaged, and somehow the news started spreading. It wasn’t a good time. But still, P and I stuck together. We truly were lucky. We learned how to work as a team, and how to communicate with each other. It was also really important to us that we were supported by our friends and family. His family loved me, and my family loved him, and our friends were all very supportive of our relationship.

He asked my parents (and my little sister) for permission to marry me, and they gave it (reluctantly on my father’s part, but that’s because I’m the firstborn). Then P took my two best friends with him to pick out the perfect engagement ring. And although he’s not very good at keeping secrets, he was determined to make my proposal as secretive as possible. He told me that proposing and giving an engagement ring is the greatest gift a guy can give to the girl he loves, and wanted to make it as special as it could be. I knew he was going to propose, but I didn’t know when. I thought it would be Valentine’s Day (which was also my 20^th birthday), but no proposal. I thought it would be our one-year anniversary, but still no proposal. I just kept waiting.

On April 19, 2007, I was working on the world’s worst production of Into the Woods. I signed on to be the assistant director, since the director was an old family friend, but I quickly added choreographer, last-minute costume maker, makeup artist, cast member wrangler, and actress to my list of titles. It was the last night of the show, and after the curtain call the whole cast went out into the lobby to greet people as they left. P came storming over with a massive bouquet of roses. I was ecstatic. I started to tell him how I excited I was that he got me flowers for being in a show, but he started talking out first.

“Okay,” he blurted out. “The red roses are for true love, and the white roses are for pure love, and twenty-four roses is how many hours I think of you, and red and white together mean unity.”

It wasn’t until he said “unity” that I realized he was proposing. Two thoughts popped into my mind- one, that I promised P that I would let him get the whole question out before saying yes, and two, that that I was wearing a purple satin prom dress from Goodwill, a curled powdered wig, and Marie Antoinette-style makeup (since I was playing Lucinda, one of the ugly stepsisters). P got down on one knee, pulled a black velvet box out of his blazer pocket, and proposed. And I said yes.

It turns out that not only were my parents and his whole family there, but also two of my best friends. The only person who wasn’t there was my little sister, because it was the opening night of her school’s production of Brigadoon…and everyone forgot to tell her I was getting engaged. She was just as surprised as I was!

P and I knew from the start that there was no way we could get married until at least one of us was out of school. We also knew that we wanted to get married on March 13, our anniversary. So we set the day for March 13, 2010…about three years after we got engaged. It was a long wait, but we were (mostly) ready for it.

The past three years have been a little crazy. I spent most of my junior year sick (first shingles, then mono). He changed his major from general science to physics. I dealt with lots of drama with the people I was living with at school. He spent the better part of a year without a car or a job. And both of us got frustrated with how long the engagement is.

Today marks three years together, with one more year until our wedding. Honestly, we feel like we’re already married (except for the fact that we don’t have sex and we don’t live together, but you know…close enough). He’s the only guy I’ve ever dated, and we jumped into our engagement headlong after only a short time together, but these past two years have brought us even closer together, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were made for each other. We still have one more year to go, but I think we’re going to make it!

Why can I never think up a decent title?

I am sick. Unpleasantly sick. Not sick enough to warrant a trip to the doctor or get sent home from the dorm (that was last year), but sick enough to be terribly uncomfortable and skip classes for two days so I can lie around watching CSI and CSI: New York and feel sorry for myself.

Now I'm trying to do my Script Analysis homework really fast. Did I do it during all my free time? No. I was too busy watching the CSI lab in Las Vegas try to figure out precisely how a twelve-year-old boy died in a dryer.

I just now found out that one of my besties JUST NOW found out I was going to Disney. I was so sad. It was all over Facebook! I figured she knew!

buuuuut it was a fail.

On the wedding-related front, I'm thinking about going waaay on a limb on what the bridesmaids should carry. I'm thinking about having them carry lanterns instead of flowers. Pretty white or silver ones, with white LED candles inside. I think it's a pretty cool idea, and Kat and Rose like it.

Also wedding-related, this tie is AWESOME! Think I can convince P to wear it?

Musical Monday #8!

Today's song is rather random, but it's a good time.

I've always been a...well, let's just say quirky girl. When I was in high school, I discovered the joys of Japanese pop music. I quickly became a fangirl of Puffy AmiYumi, Morning Musume, and Megumi Hayashibara, much to the confusion of my Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys-loving friends. (Wait, were they still in back then? I can't even remember.) In any case, I listened to my beloved J-pop all the time, until I was in college and P started introducing me to more rockish kind of stuff.

But P played this song for me, and it brought back all kinds of fun memories. Plus, you've got to give kudos to any three-person band where everyone sings, including the drummer. How does she do that?

So this is Stereo Pony (Japanese band names are fantastic!) with a song title I can't pronounce.



And in other news...

P and I have discovered a small snag in our wedding planning. We're set on getting married in the great hall of our church, then flipping the space to make it our reception. The thing is, since we're getting married on a Saturday night, there's a fee to change the space from the usual church layout. How much of a fee? About $1,000 worth!

That's $1,000 we'd rather not spend. P is going to talk to the guy in charge about it and see if we can work something out. If not, we'll just suck it up and find the money. It would be cheaper to go ahead and pay that than try to find somewhere else that can accommodate us.

(Also, spell check just informed me I can't spell "accommodate" on my own. I feel dumb...)

We also drove past the apartments we're looking at. They're literally two minutes from his campus, so he can still ride his bike to classes. And they look like they're decent, which makes me happy.

Speaking of the living situation...since I can't have my old room on campus, my sister's going to take it. (She'll be eighteen in May. Scary!!) And my parents and I are talking about taking the money we would have used for a meal plan and my private room and using it to get a car, so I can be a day student for my last semester. Honestly, I'm okay with living at home. I've done my dorm time. Besides, I think my parents will like seeing more of me before I get married and leave home for good.

And I really want a PT Cruiser!!

The revamp is (mostly) done!

I'm going to make a nifty banner, then this thing will be PERFECT. I'm so excited!

I'm going to do makeup for a local homeschool production of The Music Man tonight and tomorrow. I'm really thrilled, because not only are a bunch of my friends in it, but I've been specifically requested by several actors who don't want anyone but me to do their makeup. I feel so loved. :)

I haven't seen Music Man since I was in it as a senior in high school. Goodness, that was four years ago. I'm so old...

Yesterday was my friend Emma's 21st birthday. A couple of us went out for sushi and sake. While I do enjoy many a grown-up beverage, I am not a fan of the sake. Too...I don't know. Too yeasty. It was just kind of blech.

But Emma came back with me to my room and we talked wedding stuff for a while. She's a bridesmaid, and making my wedding cake, and heading up the Team Nashville part of the wedding planning while I'm in Orlando. (I guess that makes me the sole member of Team Orlando. *sigh*). But it's so exciting that I can actually discuss wedding stuff with people, and not have them give me crazy looks for planning things two years in advance.

I'm still trying to locate a place to live for next semester. I'm either going to live in Old Johnson or Elam. But I'm also entertaining the notion of living at home. It all depends on whether or not I get a car.

Buuuuut...

P and I think we found a really good apartment. It's close to his school, it's roughly the same price as married student housing, it's bigger than married student housing, and...

IT WILL LET US HAVE PETS!!!

He'll probably move in next fall for school, and then I'll join him next March. But we'll probably pick out a baby kitten when he moves in. I've never had a pet, and I'm so excited!!

And in other news...



Everyone check this out!

Woohoo! 1, 000 views!

Aaaand in honor of reaching 1,000 views, I thought it was time for a revamp. I used to be Gidgett Charm Your Pants Off, now it's Go Go Gadgett: Gidgett!

(I thought it was cute...)

Now I just have to put all my widgets back in...and maybe make a banner...but yeah, I'm having fun with this!

Musical Monday #7!

I must preface this with a warning. This song, while hilarious, is about 90% profanity. Now, while I am not one to drop cusswords, I do think this is hysterical. So...watch at your own risk!

The reason I picked this song is...well, I'm not sure. Ashley, the girl I directed Enchanted Attic with, played this for us during rehearsal one day and it became the unofficial theme song. We would wander around singing "Oh my effing s, it's a dinosaur..." under our breaths, because it got stuck in our heads.

And it's funny. And right now, I felt like picking a funny song. Why? Because I'm getting evicted.

The powers-that-be have declared new rules about what areas of the dorms are going to be freshman-only. One of them is my floor, so I'm getting kicked out. I've lived in the same dorm building since I was a freshman, and I've had the same room for the past three years. I only have one semester left, and I have to spend it in a strange dorm.

So I'm going to cheer myself up and listen to the dinosaur song.

*ppbt*

(that's the noise of me sticking my tongue out at The Man, by the way)