Short stuff

Hey kids, so tired right now. Had a good weekend. Nick came over and introduced me to a bunch of music. Awesome times. Davey was having his birthday party, so it was nice to have someone that I could hang out with. Saturday morning I went over and rode a neighbor's horse, but he was boring and lazy, so that wasn't much fun. That night, I went over to Nick's and met some friends of his. Much fun. They think I'm a pool shark cuz I stunk the first game and played well the second. ::shrugs:: Sunday was good, we did a scavenger hunt thingy at Shock Wave, most excellent! Two new girls in the d-team and they're lovely! Went to my third voice lesson w/ Ms. Adriana today. Went straight to rehearsal after that. I had an awesome talk w/ one of my cast members. Keep them in your prayers, kids. Keep me in your prayers too, God's opening doors and hearts at Essex. So exciting! I've gotta run. Come see Zombie Prom! Stay in God's hands. All my love...
Romans 5:1-2
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

Fun randomosity

Hey kiddos, I'm not gonna write much tonight. I'm more answering the comment I got on my last post. ::grins:: No, Matt, there's no one special I'm addressing my "darling"'s to in these posts. My heart just overflows with love for all of human kind. ::winks:: Yah, just being cheesy there. I figure that everyone needs to know that they are special, and anyone reading this really does have a very special place in my heart. You're taking time out of your life to read about my life. How weird is that? So you see, it makes me feel special and it makes a special place for you in my heart. Anywho, I ate lunch with a girl from my acting class. She's a cool chick. Grew up in New York. It's just so much fun to get to know different people. The kids in my Philosophy class rock! Everyone's normally there about fifteen minutes before class starts, so we sit around and talk. Sometimes about the class, sometimes about Philosophy, sometimes we just talk. It's great fun. I love Honors classes. They're so much more laid-back and you get to know the people so much more. Now there's a hasty generalization for you. I've had two Honors classes and I'm making an assumption about all of them. Very bad logic, I apologize. Right, onward... Harmonizers starts tomorrow along with co-op. I have an appointment with the costumer at the college that afternoon and then rehearsal from 2-5. I'm really hoping to go to the concert after that. We'll see, it might be a last minute decision. There's a big concert on Oct. 5th (or 1st, something, I need to check that), but I don't know if I can go to that one, so I'll go tomorrow if I can. Yah, long tangent there. Anywho, if you need info on Zombie Prom, leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you. Opening night isn't til Oct. 22nd, but I know schedules fill up fast. ::grins:: I'm really pushing this one. No, I'm not gonna lay on a guilt trip. Come if you can. I'd like it. Why? Because we love you! (Throwback to the Mouseketeers, ok, I'm a dork.) M-O-U-S-E! Snap out of it, Tamra. The fifties are taking over my life. ::giggles:: Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee... Beauty School Drop-out... Frankie Avalon... Perry Como... So much fun!!!! Love ya, babe!
Psalm 100:2
"Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs."

Can you fathom it?

Kiddos! Oh my glory! Zombie Prom is so much fun! The male lead is in one of my classes. He's got a great voice and he's a good actor. The other two leads are absolutely amazing as well! The chick playing the principal was in my acting class last year and has a gorgeous voice, she's doing such an awesome job with a part that's really hard. I don't know the guy playing opposite of her, but he seems like a sweetheart and he's a really strong first tenor. Kids, you have no idea how exciting this is for me! I'm prolly the youngest in the cast and it's such a complete honor to be there with these amazing people. The people doing the supporting characters are just as astounding! I can't believe I got cast in this part. You know the best part? Seeing how good they are isn't intimidating me. It's making me desire to live up to their prowess. Darling, this is how Christianity is supposed to be! No competition. We see others living their lives for Christ and it encourages us, humbles us, and makes us desire to serve Him more! Mr. Carl (my director) is so good about being encouraging after every rehearsal. I really respect him, which makes his praise even more welcome. Especially when I've worked extra hard and he notices! Kids, please come out for this show! I'll be sending the information around pretty soon so that ya'll can get it on your calendars. It really would mean a lot to me if you'd come. I think most of ya'll will enjoy it. Even if you don't like musicals, come out and open your mind to comedy (even if it is a little cutesy). I'm so excited to see where it goes. Goodness! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! ::feels like doing a cartwheel:: Better not try, I'd prolly hurt myself. ::winks:: You have no idea how much I love you, babe! Stay in His arms...
1 Timothy 4:12
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity."

::big grin::

Kiddies!!!! Not only did I make it into Zombie Prom, but I'm gonna (God willing) be playing the lead!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy criminy, I'm so excited! Yesterday was a really good day. Actually, it's been a really good weekend all together. I went camping out in the Catoctin Mountains/hills (::grins::) with a bunch of old friends and had a grand old time! Emily and I got to catch up and have a lot of good, good conversations. I should have found a better adjective, but "good, good" will work. Then on Sunday, we stopped by the GBC rodeo (which I didn't think we'd be able to do) to drop Brooks (David's friend) off. So I got to see a bunch of my ranch friends and say hi. I was disappointed cuz Petru wasn't there, but he called later, so that was alright. But I was pretty close to tears for the rest of the car ride home because having a few minutes with these dear, sweet people that I'd spent my whole summer with made me remember how much I've missed them and made me miss them all over again. But as soon as I got home, we had a couple of cool messages on the answering machine. The first was that I have a new baby cousin. ::smiles:: Wesley Isaac Davis. He was born on Sept. 11th at 11:15. Healthy baby, healthy mother, happy family. Then I heard the message from the Stage Manager asking if I was accepting my part in the show. I hadn't been at school since the audition, so I didn't know if I'd made it and hadn't been able to initial that I'd accepted it. He didn't say what part I'd gotten in the message, so I called and asked what the part was so that I could accept it. He said, "You got cast as Toffee." I didn't really register it cuz I didn't really expect the part, so I automatically started saying, "Ok, great... wait, Toffee?" "Yah, the lead, congratulations!" "Wow... thank you, yah, wow, I'll definitely accept it." I was so amazed, he seemed to think it was pretty funny. I got off the phone and was like, "Mom, I got the lead." Man, I was on an adrenaline rush for the rest of the day. And then I got to go to Shock Wave, which was awesome cuz I got to see a bunch of peoples who I hadn't seen since before the summer. I missed Shua like a mongoose, though. Not the same without him... But I'm hopefully gonna go to Zach's All Time Low concert with Phil on Friday, so that's a very good thing. Haha, turns out Phil's practically one of their groupies. ::grins:: Good times. I've got my first read-thru of the show today, so I'll find out who all made it in. ::big grin:: Yay! So exciting. I've gotta run, darlin'. Love always...
Philippians 4:4
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Crazy!

Hey my darling! Had my second voice lesson with Ms. Adriana today. Crazy. So much to think about. ::shakes head:: Mom says she's moving me really fast. Faster than normal, but that may just be cuz she (mom) hasn't been in on one of her lessons for years and she very well could have changed her teaching style. ::shrugs:: All I know is that it's really hard to take the stuff she gives me and apply it when I'm performing or even just singing a song (vs. doing vocal eases). I worked on my monologue for the audition tomorrow. Did I tell you about that? I've got an audition at the school tomorrow. The musical is called "Zombie Prom". Kinda a cheezy little show. The type that was good enough to be off-broadway, but not all the way to broadway. Still, it's an audition experience and a chance to work with my acting prof (he's the director), so I'm gonna go out for it. I'm not sure what I'm hoping for. It would be fun to get in, but it's a lot of time. Nyah, if I don't get in that one, I'll either go for CHC or Loyola's play. Loyola's doing Dracula. ::grins:: I wish I could find out what CHC is doing. Stupid people won't get back to me. (I don't really think you're stupid, Seth, but it would be nice if you'd call back eventually. ::winks::) I've gotta run, sweetie. As always, you have my love...
2 Corinthians 12:9
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

See me

Hey kiddies, it's been a couple days since I posted, let me see if I can sum up what's happened since then. Hmmm, Saturday... Oh, I was supposed to go to the Vanity Fair outlets w/ Carolina, but I had to stay home instead. I cleaned the house/mowed the lawn, then that night went over to Emily's house w/ my lil bro while our 'rents went out to eat. We watched Zoolander (very strange, but funny). Although Em and I did more hanging out and talking and looking at pictures from our respective trips. Sunday... umm... ::scratches head:: Church, had an awesome service that talked about resentment and reconciliation. Oh yah, we went down to the Inner Harbor and had dinner at J. Paul's. Very nice restaurant. Stained the back deck w/ my family yesterday. Very tiring. Ok, now today... School. Went pretty well, I ran into Gwen before class, so that rocked. I love her so much, what a sweetie! Acting class got started today. It rocked! I was so happy! I didn't let my intimidations get the better of me like I normally do and I was just myself. It felt so good. This summer was really good for me. It's hard to hold on to what I learned this summer though. It would be so easy to fall back into the trap of conformity and timidity. I don't want to be in the mold and float along with everyone else. That's so rotten. It's horrible to know that you've got something inside that wants to burst out, but you're too afraid to let it through. God really brought some people (particularly Petru and Jeanette) into my life that just showed me they loved me and respected me for WHO I AM. Petru told me I was beautiful even when I felt so ugly. Jeanette is always there to listen and she talks to me for real. They showed me that I don't have to hide. It's not healthy to hide. I'm not going to open all of me to everyone, but I'm tired of feeling like nobody knows me. I'm trying to knock down the barriers and be more real. I would switch personas so much from place to place. At Harmonizers, I'm the hostess, so I clown around. At Grace, I smile and laugh and be polite and love everyone. At School, I would always be quiet and meek and smile and nod at the teacher. We did an exercise in Acting today where we showed how we thought people viewed us and then who we really were. I was struck first by how many different characters I play and second by how person after person portrayed themselves (their real selves) as being so broken. Just crying and reaching out to anyone. Longing for acceptance. It's gonna be a hard class. I want to show them how much they are loved. I want God to be able to use me. Anywho, after that I went to Philosophy and almost fell asleep (bad me) cuz it was going over the exact same stuff that we had been assigned to read. Only half of it, actually, so we'll have to do the same thing on Thursday. But the teacher couldn't really help it, he had to go over the stuff cuz some of the people in class didn't understand it. He goes off on tangents an awful lot, but that's beside the point (a little bit of irony there, if you didn't catch it, maybe I'm just dumb). Oooh! Funny story (well, funny in retrospect). In the middle of staining the railing for the deck, Dad was on a ladder, and it was one of those cheap-o aluminum ones. The bottom bent. It was crazy. He fell. Then proceeded to throw the ladder. It was scary, but it's kinda funny now. Another funny story. My philosophy teacher learns names by making a sheet of where people sit, assuming that since human nature prefers something familiar to the unknown, people generally sit in the same seats all semester... The second class as he called roll, he marked down where people were sitting and muttered, "Same seat, same seat, different seat..." etc, etc, so I picked up on this. Just to test my theory, I sat in a diff seat this week. Sure enough, when he called roll, he checked his sheet and would look in the direction of the student's seat from last week as he called their name. So when he got to my name, he looked where I'd sat last week, but I wasn't there, so he had to switch it on his little sheet. It made me very happy. ::grins:: I'm such a dork. Love ya'll.
Song of Songs 2: 11-13
"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,
The cooing of the doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
My beautiful one, come with me."

Sing to Him

Hey dear one, today was a wonderful day! I went to the mall with my mom and lil brother this morning. Definitely wasn't planning on buying anything, but I figured I'd try on the clearance prom dresses for the heck of it, right? Bad idea. I found an absolutely gorgeous dress for $35. Yep, definitely bought it. ::shrugs:: Hopefully one of my guy friends will ask me to prom or homecoming or some formal event. Otherwise I'll just have to crash the homeschool prom... again. ::grins:: Actually, Jess and I will prolly do that anyway. But that's not the reason today was good! I mean, it was definitely a factor in making it a nice day, but not the reason. ::shakes head:: I'm so dumb, nevermind, you got the picture the first time around. Where was I? Oh, right, good day. K, so I went to the State Fair tonight after dinner to see Switchfoot in concert with a bunch of my friends. It rocked! I hung out with Jess all night and she was there with a bunch of other kids I knew, so that was awesome. Then I ran into Sean again, very cool, two days in a row. Then we ran into Gavin, Carolina, and a bunch of their friends. Then we found Rachel (and Chris and Ryan and Laurel and...) and said good-bye to her cuz she's moving away. ::sniff:: She'll be sorely missed. Then, amazingly, I ran into Mike, Sean's friend, who I met at lunch yesterday. That was cool, but very strange. ::grins:: It was so much fun! Jess drove me home and we had a grand old time. I love her so much! What a sweetie! We always have fun no matter where we are. Prom, Ocean City, RVR, State Fair... Good times. ::grins at the memories:: Aren't you glad that God gave humans a memory? I mean sometimes, it hurts hard core to have a memory. It especially stinks when you can't let go or get over something, but for all other purposes, it rocks. I love reminiscing with friends and if we didn't have our memories, that would be impossible. Socrates said (or Plato said that Socrates said) that the unexamined life is not worth living. Can that extend to examining our past and enjoying our past? Cuz if it can, then I agree tenfold. I still agree if it doesn't extend, but I agree more if it does. Man, I need to go to bed. Still have to wash off my mascara, etc. It's so weird to go from no makeup, hat hair, tshirt, and jeans all summer to wearing makeup almost every day and dressing nicely fairly frequently. ::shrugs:: Both are nice changes. Anywho. I'm going to bed for real this time. Love ya'll more than you know.
Psalm 59:16
"But I will sing of Your strength,
In the morning I will sing of Your love;
For You are my fortress,
My refuge in times of trouble."

Good day

Hey kiddies! I'm really excited! I don't remember if I told you, but an Acting class I was gonna take got cancelled because of lack-of-interest, but it's being reinstated, so I'm picking it back up and dropping the Children's Lit class that I'd put in it's place. This makes Tiki very happy! The voice lesson yesterday went extremely well. I didn't embarass myself too horribly and mom said I did well. I was pretty nervous going into it and she had me sing for her immediately, so after having been in a car studying for two hours (my stupidity, I know, I should have kept my voice warm, but I thought she'd warm me up) I sang some snippets from two songs I've been working on ("As Long As He Needs Me" from Oliver! and "Bewitched" from something or other, don't remember at the moment). My control was horrible, but at least I got it over with right at the beginning. Then she worked me hard on breath control. She taught me a lot of anatomy stuff that I didn't really know and gave me a lot to work on. After that, she had me sing the two songs again using what she'd taught me. I dunno if you've ever had a voice lesson, but I was dead by the time she finished with me. I'm going back next Wednesday for another lesson and then a week and a half later on a Monday. After that it'll be every two weeks. God willing. ::winks:: Dave and I mowed the lawn when we got home to assuage Dad a bit. He's still really sick though. :'( I think that's a lot of why he got so upset cuz he's normally pretty smooth. ::shrugs:: Anywho, school went very well today. Like I said, I talked to my acting teacher, which is always fun. He's an awesome guy, I'll have to tell you about him later. My mom has such an amazing voice. She's accompanying herself on the piano right now, so that comment wasn't really as random as it seemed. Sorry, back to school, I got to hang out w/ Sean and his friend Mike today during lunch, so I wasn't lonely. Quite a plus. Hopefully I didn't annoy them too badly, cuz I really appreciated having a friend. Well, friends, plural, there were two of them. Nyah, my poor brain. I still think philosophy is gonna be interesting. Today my teacher was talking about Socrates and said that he didn't think he would ever give up his life for philosophy, then he went on to say that maybe he would if Bush was reelected. To much laughter from the rest of my class. I'm such a polar opposite of most of the people at my school. It's crazy. It's good for me, cuz I'm forced to be different and to decide if I'm gonna stand up for what I believe in. It's still hard though. ::shrugs:: My lil brother wants me to play Halo with him. ::grins:: We have a deal that I get to teach him how to dress nicely (meaning fashionably), but that means that he gets to teach me how to play video games. ::crosses eyes:: Good, quality, bonding time, there. Ah, well. I'll play with him later, he didn't mean right now. Oh! By the way, check out some pics from my summer job ---> www.rvr2004.blogspot.com Make sure to click through the archives, etc, cuz I only have four pics to a page. Hmm, did anything else happen yet today? Meaning of interest. Mmm, not that I can think of. I would like to know who the people are that commented. It would be nice if ya'll would leave your names. Hint, hint. ::winks:: I still appreciate the messages, though. Anywho, love ya'll more than you know...
Philippians 2:4
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests,
But also to the interests of others."

Sing, sing, sing!

Hey Kiddos, I'm better this morning. I went to bed and read out of Philippians (the encouragement book) and then God tucked me in and I went to sleep. I'm awake and alert now and extremely excited about today! Did I tell you kids about what's happening today? I'm going to go have a voice lesson with my mom's old voice instructor! She used to take lessons from this lady before and while she was pregnant with me! Mom respects her so much, so I'm a little bit (well, actually, a lot a bit) nervous, but that just makes it more exciting! See, my mom and dad didn't get married til a few hours before I was born, so mom's pregnancy was... umm... prolly not the most peaceful or easiest time (financially, emotionally, or any other -ally) of her life. This lady, gave mom her voice lessons for free during that time, so now I'm gonna take some lessons from her. Mom is kinda seeing it as her chance to give something back, and I'm just happy as a lark. Oh, and Ireland was gorgeous by the way. Once I get the pics back, I'm gonna stick them on another blog and I'll link to it from here so that ya'll can see. Well, I have to run. This lady lives in VA, so it'll be a bit of a drive, but I've got homework (yick, plenty of homework) to do in the car. Davey's coming too, so I can't drive, but it all works out. Say a prayer for me kiddos. Oh, and thank you to whoever wrote the comment on my last entry. I really appreciate it. Love ya'll so much!
Colossians 3:16
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."