Christmas for a Cause 2010

Kayla, Amanda, Jianna, Carlos, Joel, Robyn

THIS IS THE 2010 CAST!....Animation Form!!

Here are the results!!!

Our Saturday Night Show we raised..... $604.50

Our Sunday Night Show we raised..... $1345.85

Making our grand total: $1950.35!!!

This year was great and NEXT year it will be our 5th consecutive year of CFC so next year will have a big bang to it!! (well.... hopefully!) :)

Tootle Tip :D

My Focus at the Moment

Poster Created by Ramona

School's Out For-EVER!

Is it sad if I constantly have to remind myself that there is only a week left of torture?

I only have:

1 Seminar Presentation

1 Homework Assignment

2 Final Papers

1 Final.

And I'm DONE!! PLEASE LET THIS WEEK END!!

Let the Countdown(s) Begin!

Here I am, sitting in my Education Music class, waiting for it to begin, and thinking "I am bored".

So I thought I would tell you the many countdowns for things I am looking forward to before the new year.

2 days until we have an audience for Snow White & the Vertically Challenged Excavators.

Interested? Check out these websites on articles/information about the show!!

Panto-Land given Glee-like Spin!

25th year for FVGSS - SNOW WHITE!

4 days until our "official" opening of Snow White.... and an after-party Gala afterwards!

14 days until my LAST class of being an undergraduate!!

18 days until my LAST assignment of being an undergrad!

26 days until the first performance of Christmas for a Cause.

33 days until Christmas.

34 days until I get to see Joshua and his family in Newfoundland!!

There you go!! Class is starting!

Tootle Tip!

I had the greatest weekend!!!

Okay, a week behind. Yes yes, I've mentioned it in my last few blogs, but I officially fail as a constant blogger.

Anyway, you may be asking yourself why I had the greatest weekend ever.

Well..

My wonderful and amazing boyfriend Joshua took time off of work and flew into Vancouver too come visit me!! (For those of you who don't know, he is in Borden, Ontario right now.... as he works for the Canadian Forces.... yes, I am dating a military man).

Anyway, even though we didn't do much (most of the time we slummed around and snuggled on the couch), it was just soooo nice to see him. I think it was about 2 months since I had seen him last. I mean, Skype and the phone are nice, but being able to actually BE with the person is much nicer. :)

I just wanted to blog with how good of a weekend I had!! Now I'm back to reality and working on homework (I have 3 papers due in the next week. And I have to read a play by Thursday.... which I haven't started.) Yikes!! Only 4 more weeks of my undergraduate!! Wahooooo!!

Tootle Tip!

I'm trying!! Really I am!

Okay, so I know I've been totally failing for my "Monday" blogs... but I'm pretty sure I've posted something once a week..... have I not? Oh well.

So first and foremost, I thought I should let the world (...well.... those who actually read this

blog...) that I have officially "given up" Facebook until December 10. I am doing this for many reasons:

1. So that I can concentrate on my schoolwork more. I find that whenever I get bored/writers block/lazy... My fingers and brain will guide me to Facebook.

2. So instead of spending time on Facebook... I can spend some more me time. What does me time involve you ask? Well right now it is involving two things very important to me:

a) Reading. Right now I am reading:

Amazing, AMAZING book.... so far. I'm excited to finish it.

anndd....

b) NaNoWriMo!!

Yes, this is my first year actually, officially participating in NaNoWriMo. Don't know what it is? Check it out here:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano

Fun stuff. yes, I am a few days behind *cough*five*cough*.... but I'm hoping to catch up (hence the Facebook break)

Anyway, I wanted to blog about this to let you all know.

Tootle Tip!

FAIL BLOGGER!

Okay, so I know I should have NO EXCUSES for missing this Monday (again).... buutttt.... it IS midterm week and things have been *slightly* crazy.

So... last night my mom comes into my bedroom as I am skyping with my boyfriend and she shows me some sheets she's printed up from a website off the net.

What were ON these printed off sheets, you ask?

Well... when I was 10 years old.... I wrote this poem for school called "The Mysterious Man". Somehow, it got onto this website... and my mom found it and printed it off for me!! It's creepy how things appear without you even knowing how they got there.

Anyways.... for your enjoyment..... I give you my poem at 10 years old.....

"The Mysterious Man"

I saw him, just a few hours ago.
He was wearing a black coat and a dark brown hat.
He had something in his hand, that I couldn't quite understand.
Maybe it was a locket or a little boys rocket.
Maybe it was a ball or a little girls doll.
I turned the corner wondering who he could be,
And the mysterious man was smiling at me.
I smiled back because I was glad,
To see that this man was only my dad.

(To see proof that I'm not crazy and that it actually IS on a website, go here):

http://www.edbydesign.com/storyteller-page.php?ID=3226

Tootle Tip!

Damn! Already missed my "weekly" blog!!

DOH!

It is my goal to write a new blog EVERY MONDAY and of course.... yesterday was Monday and Amanda stupidly forgot to blog. (even though I wrote myself a post-it note and everything!)

Oh well. One day late.... not bad.

Anyway, I SHOULD be doing homework right now but I'm not in the mood (am I ever?!). I know I'll be regretting this later.

Man, lately I've been really struggling with what I should be doing with my life after I graduate (this is my last semester of my undergraduate degree).

I mean, teaching has always been an option. But with jobs in my area being very limited... I feel like I have less motivation to even apply to teaching practicums around me.

However, if I don't apply... what else can I do with my degree?

Bleh. So complicated and annoying.

Any suggestions? hahaha.

Tootle Tip.

Short blog.

I had my training for Fright Nights yesterday.

All I gatta say is, it's going to be hard to not get scared myself as I'm scaring other people.

It should be an interesting challenge. To be 100% prepared for ANY reaction, to keep in character, to scare people, to give people their breaks..... it's going to be a fun two weeks.

Amanda is back for "once a week" blogs!!!

My new goal is to blog at least once a week. I am hoping to eventually make it so I blog once a day, but we'll have to see how busy/amusing my life gets. (heheheheh)

So, for my first official Monday "once a week" blog, I am going to update people on my life.

1. I am in my last semester of school at SFU. I am taking an English class and two education classes and then I'm done!! I've officially applied for graduation. So I am praying this semester goes well so that I can officially be done my undergrad!!!!

2. I am teaching musical theatre (again) for a homeschool Christian theatre group (Xtreme Theatre), and for The Lindbjerg Academy of Performing Arts (who now owns their OWN space... but it is in the process of being finished!) This year I get to work on 3 awesome junior musicals: Seussical the Musical, Honk, and School House Rock!!! It's going to be a busy year!!

3. I am currently rehearsing a pantomime (Snow White and the Vertically Challenged Excavators) for the Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society. I am uber stoked. I am playing Prince Charming (alas, a boy...... again). The cast is awesome and it's a really funny show with up-to-date songs (a LOT being from the Glee Soundtrack). I'll post more info in another blog... but it runs Nov.24-Dec.5 at the Surrey Arts Center.

4. I got hired for PNE's Fright Nights. Yes, that's right.... I got hired to scare people. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!! I'm super excited to start.... training is in a week!! And it's good because it's just til Halloween so it's basically only for a month.... :)

5. I am in a new relationship with a wonderful guy. Sad part is that he is in the military and he got sent back to Ontario last week... and I probably won't see him for three months. *sigh* I miss him a lot. But I knew what I was getting myself into so I've accepted what has happened and I am willing to wait :).

I think that is the BASICS of my life right now. Again, I am hoping to keep the world updated. ONCE A WEEK!! Be prepared.

Tootle Tip!!

L-O-V-E

Lately I have really been questioning the meaning behind the word love.

How is it that a simple four-letter word can have so many meanings behind it? How it is that this word is able to bring hope, joy, fear, anxiety, as well as many other emotions and feelings into its meaning? Why is it something we all yearn for. What is it about love that makes us weak at the knees, have butterflies in the stomach, and yet have the feeling of uncertainty and doubt within us?

And yet despite my pondering and my many questions, I still seem to know the answer. I will always know where to find the answer.

I've probably read this passage a million times in my life.... and surprisingly, each time I read it.... I learn something new.

I hope you do too.

1 Corinthians 13.

(1)If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

(2)And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

(3)If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

(4)Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,

(5)it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

(6)it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

(7)It bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

(8)Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.

(9)For we know partially and we prophesy partially,

(10)but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

(11)When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside these childish things.

(12)At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known.

(13)So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

A friendly reminder.

Sometimes, when you feel as though you're so alone and your life is without purpose.... you realize things are that way because YOU are not making the conscious decision to do anything about it.

So go out there, and live YOUR life. Do what you want to do!!!!

I love this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooPhmL0XL7k

Natalie:
We need some light.
First of all, we need some light.
You can't sit here in the dark.
And all alone, it's a sorry sight.
It's just you and me.
We'll live, you'll see.

Dan:
Night after night,
We'd sit and wait for the morning light.
But we've waited far too long,
For all that's wrong to be made right.

Diana:
Day after day,
Wishing all our cares away.
Trying to fight the things we feel,
But some hurts never heal.
Some ghost are never gone,
But we go on,
We still go on.

And you find some way to survive
And you find out you don't have to be happy at all,
To be happier alive.

Natalie:
Day after day,
Give me clouds, and rain and gray.
Give me pain, if that's what's real.

Henry and Natalie:
It's the price we pay to feel.

Dan and Diana:
The price of love is loss,

Dan:
But still we pay.

Dan and Henry:
We love anyway.

Gabe:
And when the night has finally gone.
And when we see the new day dawn.
We'll wonder how we wandered for so long, so blind.
The wasted world we thought we knew,
The light will make it look brand new.
So

All:
Let it
Let it
Let it
Let it
Let it
Shine, shine, shine.

Day after day (day after day),
We'll find the will to find our way.
Knowing that the darkest skies will someday see the sun.

Dan:
When our long night is done,

Dan and Natalie:
There will be light.

Diana:
(There will be light.
There will be light.)

All:
There will be light.
When we open up our light.
Sons and daughters, husbands, wives.
Can fight that fight.
There will be light.
There will be light.
There will be light.
There will be light.

A New Goal

So, I've decided I'm going to try something.

Whenever I hear inspiring words, whether they be from a song, the newspaper, the internet, etc. I'm going to write it on a post-it and stick it somewhere in my bedroom.

I just think I need to bring in more positiveness in my life, so hopefully this will help.

My first post it?

"Comprehension, not speed, is the key."

... this was actually in an article about reading and literacy, but I think it can apply to more than just reading.

:)

Tootle Tip.

I like to be random

Welcome back to the life of the normal??

So, over the Olympic break I went to New York for a week. It was amazing. It was stunning. And I want to go back.

Performing in the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics were a dream and it just seemed so surreal (I made a vlog on youtube if you're interested in knowing more... look at my blog post below)...

So now, back to the normal life. School. Bleh. And teaching.

I feel like I need something to keep me going. Usually I'm doing something for myself as well as the usual things.

Hmmm...

What to do....

Get another job??

Nah...

Audition for a show??

Nah...

WHAT WHAT WHAT!!

Random blog for you...

Tootle Tip!!

Because I'm cool...

I post on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68EQG1vk304&feature=sub

My first of many more to come!

Tootle Tip.

It seriously ALWAYS happens to me.

Okay, so throughout my life, it has been known that anything bad or frustrating that could happen, DOES happen to me.

Examples?

1. The day I was supposed to get my braces off, I was SUPER excited. So, I go to the orthodontist smiling away....

.... turns out I couldn't have my braces taken off, because I wore my elastics TOO much. She said she didn't expect me to wear them that much, and I was infuriated.

2. I broke my collarbone a week before having to leave for Disneyland to dance.

3. I get achilles tendonitis a week before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

There are more "stories of my life", but I'm too bothered to write them

Well, time to rest and ice..... hopefully they are better by next week!

Tootle Tip!

Can't buy ME love!

Okay. Can I just ask...

WHY has everything become SOOOO commercialized?!

Halloween, Christmas.... VALENTINES DAY!?

Okay, I'm not against V-day at all. In fact, I think it's a great way for a couple to re-establish their feelings for one another.

However, when I walk into a mall and see everything red and pink and fluffy, it disgusts me.

Why should "love" be based around gifts?!

Love is not and should not be about material things.

I would much rather spend an evening with my boyfriend than receive any gift from him...

I don't know. It just makes me sad how people think they can "buy" each other's love.

Oh, and another thing.

Since when is it okay to do something big and romantic for your loved one on only ONE day in a year!?

Haha. It sounds like I am totally bashing V-day. But I'm not.

These are just two things I always question whenever the holiday appears.

:)

Tootle Tip!

What are YOUR 2010 Resolutions?

Here are mine:

1. Rekindle my relationship with Christ.

2. Keep being active and lose 10 pounds by end of the semester! (April)

3. Stop biting nails!

For those of you who don't know (which I think is most of you), I started a "Gratitude Journal" back in October. A gratitude journal is basically writing things you are thankful for, or things you appreciate in life. I've found that this has helped me become overall a more optimistic person.

Anyway, my latest entry in that journal was that I was grateful for the beginning of a new year.

Just think - once a year you are able to start out "fresh", are able to set goals for yourself.

There's something about a new year that just makes it seem much more possible, don't ya think?