A Boring Narrative on My Boring Life. ;P

Hey, all! It's been another of those crazy weeks. 

VBS ended today, and at the end of the day, a bunch of kids came up and gave me a group hug. It was adorable. This is why I love Sing & Play; all the kids love you and give you hugs at the end of the week. 

I'm sad and relieved at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I love the kids and the acting and the songs, but herding children and memorizing skits at the same time as not having my parents home this week was just a teensy-tiny bit stressful. 

My parents are glad to be back in the States, and they brought me back (among other things) foreign sugar. My sweet tooth is unbelievable. But anyhoo, this is what it looked like. 

Weird, right?

I've been staying up late watching Bachelor Pad lately, which is shameful but entertaining, and I've also been getting up early because of VBS. 

I just realized how boring this week must have been to you. But it was crazy insane busy for me. :P

I'm actually about to head off to a 21st birthday party, so I suppose I'd better go. Sorry for wasting your life by telling you about mine. 

I hope you all are having a great, amazing, spectacular summer, and I'll see y'all next week! STAND STRONG! 

Keep Calm and Endeavor On,

~Adalyn

My Amazing Dramatic Camp

I've had a crazy week. 

So, this week, I was gone at camp for six days, with no wifi, no family, and no idea of what I was getting myself into. It was a totally new camp I'd never heard of. I was only there because my friend Claire had wanted some people she knew to be there with her. 

So I signed up. 

It was an overnight drama camp held at a school about an hour outside of the city. Like I said, acting has been a big part of my life lately, and this camp seemed like a great opportunity to enhance my talents and try something new at the same time. 

But on the first day...I was really nervous. 

I didn't know if Claire had been accepted, and since I'm a freshman I was probably going to be the youngest one there, and what if everybody was super cliquish and didn't really include me?

I was super, super, super nervous. 

But this really nice guy named Jon snapped me out of it and helped me emerge from my silly, fragile shell. And from then on, it was all fun and games. Quite literally. 

We played a bunch of ice breakers and theater games, and we all introduced ourselves to each other, and I had a really awesome time. There were a couple people that stood out in my book, but you'll hear more on them later. 

On the first day, we had to audition for what part we were going to play. And I was fourth on the list. 

I was also super nervous about that, even though I figured I'd get a small role. A freshman, brand new to a camp and everyone but one person in it? Yeah, I was definitely gonna get a leading role!

But anyway. 

I got the part of Kate, a girl with only one spoken line and two sung ones. But that was okay, because I didn't want a big part anyway. Too much pressure. 

And the rest of the week went by, with games at 9am until 9:30, and then vocal warmups, song practice, and then a run through of the play, with input from our directors (we had an artistic director and a music director) whenever it was needed. 

The people who played the main roles were super talented, for the most part. And the people who played Laurey and Curly were absolutely spectacular. 

It was a ton of fun, and I met a bunch of über-nice people who liked to make me laugh. You would expect the people who played the leads to be sort of stuck-up and have an I'm-too-cool-for-you-peasant kind of attitude, but there were actually no "mean kids" at this camp. Which was nice. 

And Clayton, the guy who played Curly, was always really funny and open and welcoming. He never frowned once and he always made sure I was having fun. 

Friday was our dress rehearsal, and we all got into our costumes, donned mascara and eyeliner and blush and lipstick, slipped on our cowboy boots, and jumped right in. 

It went really well, and we were all totally psyched for Saturday night, when we would put on the play for all our friends and family. 

Saturday was our cast party. We watched Le Mis, which I'd never seen, and then The Phantom of the Opera, the one with Gerard Butler. Which I love to pieces. Everyone was forbidden to sing during Le Mis, but no one cared if everyone belted their hearts out to The Phantom of the Opera. And a girl named Ella brought cupcakes. They were really good. 

We had one last run through of the show before we went to dinner, and then rushed to the dressing rooms before the 8pm show. 

I put on my blue, floral costume, knowing it was the last time I'd ever wear that ridiculous dress, pulled my hair back in the assigned hairstyle, and pinned my bangs back so I could put on the makeup I'd bought on Friday.

Red lipstick went on over Chapstick. My naked blue eyes were outlined in black and my eyelashes darkened and fanned out. My cheeks became artificially rosy, even though I knew they'd get pink as soon as I started dancing. 

Even though I'd been really nervous about coming on the first day, I found I wasn't nervous at all before the show. No butterflies. Not even little ones. 

As a final touch, I unpinned my bangs, slipped on my boots, and settled my hat on my head. And then I skipped out into the world of Oklahoma!, arm in arm with Claire. 

The play went perfectly. My family brought me flowers and I got a bunch of contact information for a bunch of different people. I've already texted/ emailed most of them, and I'm going to get in touch with the rest of them today. 

Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I can't wait to head back next year. The directors both said I was amazing, and the acting director said he had plans for me for next year, so I'm super excited! 

I think I'll relax a little today, because I have VBS tomorrow! Yay! 

I'll post on Friday this week, so....

Keep Calm and Endeavor On! 

~Adalyn

An Update On My Stressful Misery.

Hello, all you beautiful people who read my blog! And hello all you gorgeous new people who have never seen me before and are just browsing blogger/ the Internet/ NaNo, and just happened to stumble across my blog or my profile. You are beautiful too. 

Everyone is beautiful today. 

I don't know why I'm in such a good mood right now, considering I'm having a crazy, aw-screw-it kind of day. 

First of all, I've told you guys I'm helping out with VBS again this year. It's Athens, like I said, and I have to be this Grecian girl named Thalia who is learning from St. Paul. 

It's stressful because my parents had an opportunity to go on this amazing vacation for a couple weeks, and they took it, and so...they're gone for VBS. My parents and our family play a big role--the only role, really--in making and setting up all the decorations and sets for our week-long Vacation Bible School. 

And since they're gone, all we have is a list of directions and a few good luck wishes from our parents, instead of a guiding hand as far as setting everything up. 

And I have to memorize six skits and work them out with my friend Marge on top of other lines and choreography which you will hear more about in just a moment. 

Another thing is the fact that I'm currently the only wannabe maternal figure in our house. And also the only one who doesn't have to work full-time who possesses the knowledge of how to operate the washing machine properly. 

My brothers kind of fail. 

But, then again, they're better and more willing cooks than I. And I only have to do two loads of laundry every day. They have to slave over the stove for hours. 

Or something like that. 

The third thing that's stressing me out is that I'm going to be gone at a camp this week, and we have six days to perfect the play Oklahoma! before we have to preform. I've never seen the full play/ movie, so needless to say, I'm a little nervous. 

Plus, it's an overnight theater camp, which means my family will be without any maternal figure whatsoever for six days. 

Keep in mind, none of them know how to do laundry. 

I've never been in a musical like this before, though I've been in plenty of plays. I'm still nervous though, because I was never much of a dancer. Hence why I dropped out of ballet, jazz, and tap when I was seven. 

Also, we've gotten a lot of rain here the past week. The streets are sodden. 

I went to run lines with my friend Marge, who lives across the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood is about two miles all the way around. 

And so, in it, I would not recommend scootering in the rain, through large puddles there is no possible way you can avoid. You get mud all over the back of whatever pant leg is not pushing, and you don't even realize it until there's this freezing feeling on the back of your calf. Also, your favorite flats get soaked, and you're just really thankful you brought socks in your bag. Oh, and your script is soggy. 

What? Haha. No. Pshhhh...No, no, I've never done anything like that. Haha, I'm so much more clever and practical than that! I'm not an idiot. That would be stupid. Pshhhhhhhhhhhh. 

Anyhoo, running lines went fine. Margie gave me a towel to wipe the mud off my jeans, ((shut up.)) and we had fun tossing lines back and forth. 

And then...I started to scooter home. 

Just kidding. I had learned my lesson. 

And with a humble and contrite heart that had no desire to get more mud on it, I walked. 

And I had a book idea on the way, inspired by the soaked hems of my favorite pair of jeans. So that was okay. 

Anyway, I'm gonna go take a nap and eat some candy. Not in that order. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and I wish you an absolutely fantabulous start to the summer! I hope your first week or two was awesome. 

Keep Calm and Endeavor On, 

~Adalyn

Today Was The Craziest Day...

I sing in the choir at my church. I think I've told you that before. 

Today was the beginning of a Catholic homeschooling conference here in my state, and there was going to be a graduation mass for the class of 2013. 

It was my mom's idea and so she had to set it up, which meant finding a pair of priests, altar servers, a Eucharistic minister, and a choir, as well as transporting an altar, crucifix, vestments, and various other things necessary for a Mass. 

So, I had to sing for this mass with my choir, and since our choir director is sick, we had to draft someone from another parish to accompany us. 

Which meant that I had to copy, print, staple, and deliver a dozen copies of the songs we were going to sing, AND help my mom set up the altar, crucifix, hymn books and pamphlets. 

It was a total hassle, but the mass was celebrated by the bishop that confirmed my brothers and I, and it was an absolutely beautiful mass. 

Afterword, we had cake and lemonade at a reception for the graduates. 

My brother is severely allergic to nuts. And you'll never guess what. 

There was almond extract in the cake icing. 

So on the way home, he started swelling up, and he was having trouble breathing, and he had hives all over his body. 

Needless to say, my dad took him to the emergency room. 

So I had to babysit my little siblings until my parents got home. 

(That would have been my Friday post, but I fell asleep while putting my youngest sibling to bed, so I didn't post. This would have been the post from Saturday.) 

My dad woke me up at 12:30am and told me to head up to my own bed, where I promptly collapsed. 

And, because my body likes to torture me, I woke up a little before 6am. For some stupid reason, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, my body decides I need less than eight hours of sleep to function. Genius, right?

My brother was fine. He'd had an IV in and they'd pumped Benadryl into his bloodstream, so he was out of there relatively quickly. I found him sleeping on the couch in the Living Room that morning. 

So I got my chores out of the way and got dressed, and then waited around for a couple hours until we left for the second day of the conference. 

It was actually pretty good. They had a speaker talk about what to expect in and about college, and then after a half-hour break, they had several religious of varying stages come in and talk about vocations. 

Then we had pizza for lunch and after that, I had a gig watching the elementary school-age kids for three hours. 

So I basically calmed down a few rowdy kids, watched Veggie Tales, helped a few kids tracing and coloring their hands, watched more Veggie Tales, and got paid $15 for it! :D

And then...after the day was done I bought some jewelry and headed home to freshen up a bit for my very first high school dance! 

It was held at a dance hall a little ways out of my city, and I went with my older brothers and a few friends. 

We were taught a bunch of line dances, and then we basically just did whatever to a specific playlist until the last song. 

It was really fun, and I can't wait for next month when there will be another one! 

I went swimming at a friend's house today, and we spent an hour and a half in the pool before drying off and getting dressed for mass. 

And that was basically my day. 

Oh, and I had three chocolate-chip cookies. 

Now that you've caught up...yay! 

I'm sorry if it's ridiculously long. And I'm sorry I posted two days late. But, you know, my brother was kind of in the hospital, so...

I promise next Friday, you'll have a post. As long as nobody I know is mauled by a monkey or run over by a trigonometry book, I swear on my favorite hat, I'll post on Friday. 

Keep Calm and Endeaovr On, 

~Adalyn