A Very Merry Um... Birthday!!

Yup! I turned twenty two yesterday!!

This was the first year that 1) I had to work on my birthday and 2) I wasn't with my family.

The first half of my day was uneventful. I went to work, yay.

The second half, though? That was fun. Leslie, being the awesome friend she is, invited me to see Tarzan the musical at Scera Amphitheater in Orem, which is about an hour drive for me from Price. I got stuck in some pretty bad construction in the canyon, and called her, totally frantic because I was hungry and worried we were going to be super late for the play.

Leslie, being the thoughtful person she is, bought us J Dawgs hotdogs while I was still on my way. After finally getting there I parked my car in front of her apartment, we hopped in her car and headed to the show, J Dawgs in tow. She got fantastic seats for us, and we had a fantastic time. Tarzan was mighty fine looking and the lady who played Kala was such a fantastic singer!

We finished with Dole Whip at Farr's Ice Cream, and stayed up til 1 AM talking in her room. Thanks Leslie for making my day something special!

And thank you to everyone that wished me a happy birthday! You all made my day!

~Courtney

A Week of Music

You know, I've grown up around music.I started choir in 8th grade, did Women's Choir as a Sophomore,  Jazz and A Capella as a Junior, and Madrigals as a Senior.

Then I graduated high school.

And went 3 years without choir.

I was focusing on school, pre-nursing classes, finding a balance between spending and earning money.

It was good, and I made it a point to sing around the house and in the car.

The beginning of this semester, I looked at what I was doing with my life

(nursing school and work)

and realized I needed, and had the time to add choir. So I did.

Every Monday I've spent an hour singing church songs, and it's been wonderful.

We had our one and only performance today, and it was so, so nice to sing in public!

On Monday I was sitting in the Institute library when my friend, Alex popped her head in and told me she was going to an audition for a musical showcase. She said it was an open audition and that she was super nervous. I asked if anyone could try out and she said yeah. So I, in some odd and crazy lapse of judgement, grabbed old music from my memory and went with her and auditioned. 

I sang Taylor, the Latte Boy from memory (without messing up a single lyric) 

and got 'in' to the showcase. The theatre director asked me where I had been all this year, 

and when I said that I was in nursing school he responded "but you could have been my lead in next year's musical!"

That was a nice pat on the back, for sure!

So I auditioned Monday, practiced once Tuesday, and performed Wednesday.

It was. Awesome.

It was so amazing to get up on a stage, feel that spotlight shine on me, and sing my heart out!

Yay for musical weeks!

~Courtney

Minnie Mouse Photo Shoot

Yesterday I worked til 1:30 AM. I brought my camera along with me, and had a little photo shoot during a dead set.  Here is Town Square Theatre at Magic Kingdom, where I spend most of my days.

Special thanks to my attendant who was so willing to have a fabulous photo shoot, and thanks to my Mickey who was equally as willing. We had so much fun thinking of poses.

Happy Saturday!
~Courtney

The Little Mermaid!

 My family has been going to Tuacahn in St. George for years and years now. I've seen so many different plays here.  Aida, Tarzan, Crazy for You, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Cinderella, Joseph, even Annie Get Your Gun.  Tuacahn never ceases to amaze me, the props are spectacular and they find the most amazing actors to play these roles.

The Little Mermaid was amazing!  Tuacahn took a play that I was semi skeptical over, and turned it into the human version of the cartoon I watched repeatedly as a child.  Water all over the stage, projections onto a sheet of falling water, a massive ship, and Ursula wheeling around the stage standing on an electric wheelchair (the poor driver! That must have been an awkward arrangement under that skirt.).

To top it all off, I got to bring my friend, Leslie with me!  It was her first time in St. George and we had a good time looking around the city.  We also went down to Zions and hiked the Emerald Pools hike... IN FLIP FLOPS!  We were sort of stupid there... that was my fault.  when we got to the top (after much prodding and encouragement from Leslie) we played in the big pool and I drenched my shorts so badly it looks like I had an accident.  Getting down the mountain was terrifying, but worth it (I suppose).

Pictures to come later!
Thanks for coming with me, Leslie!

~Courtney