Tay's Play

Who knew Igor could steal the show?

Once again, we are the parents of the star of the show...and it's kind of fun being that parent.  Taylor did an amazing job again this time as Igor - which was a tough part to play.  She did an wonderful job and we couldn't be more proud.  We survived through 5 shows in 3 days...pictures of the weekend below.

Thank you to all of the people that came to see the show - it always means a lot to Taylor to have people in the crowd watching her...and it means a lot to us as well.

Ann and Adam

Eddie, Kristina, and Abram

Wroxy, Tay and 'Luna' (Emma - who was the other main character in the show)

Cast Party Cake

Lake, Tate, and Laura took us out for dinner after the Saturday show - we went to Haabs

Not pictured, but showed up to watch were Nadia, Amy, and Emma (a different Emma than was in the show).

4 down...1 to go...

Who knew Taylor's play would be getting press coverage?

So it turns out YYT is getting more and more famous.  Ypsilanti Citizen sent a reporter out to the show on Friday.  You can see his short article and some pictures of the play at this link.  The pictures he took are also posted below in the video slide show.  Taylor is the one in all brown (looks like she's wearing a brown blanket).

Play is going well so far - and they are really coming together.  I would have to say this is the funniest play out of all of them so far.  Taylor is doing wonderfully and all of the other actors and actresses are also performing well.  It's great to see all of the hard work pay off.  I'll post pictures once I get some.

stoopid pelican

Who knew pelicans could cause millions of dollars of damage to one car?

Not sure if I feel sorry for this guy or not...just saw this on yahoo...

LA MARQUE, Texas – A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.

Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.

A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.

ouch

Who knew Dilbert could be funny and make you cry at the same time?

This one hit a little too close to home...I think I'm the chump they are refering to as the 'others.'



After 2 nights of long practices, making costumes, and finalizing sets, Taylor's show starts at 10AM today and runs all weekend long. Even last night at the last rehearsal before the show opens, there were still at least 3-4 kids not there because they were sick. It was tough running through the show without key people there and I think they are going to try to find people to fill a few roles today...we'll see how it goes. The good news is that it's still a pretty funny show and I can't wait to see it. They always seem to pull it off in the end, so here's to hoping...

coolest aunt

Who knew having Nadia around would actually pay off? (Just kidding Nadia, you know I love you!)

Taylor has been sick since Sunday (she's getting better, phew) and Monday was the worst day by far. I think she ate an animal cracker, 1/4 of a push up and 1/3 of a vitamin water all day. She slept most of the day and was just generally wiped out. She was being a good sport about it though.

It turns out, Duff from the show Ace of Cakes was in town on Monday doing a book signing - and it was a popular signature to get - you actually had to have a wrist band to get in line and they only had a limited amount. Taylor (and all of us actually) really enjoy that show and she thinks Duff is hilarious...so we knew she would have loved the chance to meet him, but there was no way with her being so sick. This is the part of the story where we introduce the hero...Nadia.

I got a text page from Nadia Monday afternoon telling me that Duff was in town and she was going to try to get over there for a signature...but they only had 100 wrist bands left and she was still at work (see, I'm building suspense). She recruited her friend Jeremy to run down and get a wrist band (since he works downtown A2).

So...



"Hey Taylor" at the top and then he signed mid-page - the signature on the bottom is his brother who co-authored the book with him. How cool is that??? Nadia also told some great stories about Duff and she was able to see him for a while at Borders - even saw them filming for the show...

It was a very bright spot in a tough day for Taylor...way to come out swinging Aunt Nadia...

Twisted Tales of Terror

Who knew I'd be promoting theatre?

Taylor's latest play is this weekend - and she was cast as Igor (another big role for her). She has been working really hard to learn all of her lines and get the acting down as well. We are very proud indeed and looking forward to seeing her in her 4th play. All the info is below if anyone would like to come watch.

She actually got the flu this weekend and was home sick from school yesterday - of course it's the final week of practice so she had to miss last night and possibly tonight as well - I'm sure everyone is stressed to have her missing. She is starting to feel better today though so we are hoping she will be back in her role again soon.

losing sight

Who knew clichés really could get you through life?

Over the last few months, I think I've lost some of my mental vision. I'm having trouble seeing through the fog of life and it's really been bogging me down. During this time, my biggest pet peeve was when people would throw out a cliché to answer my problems, or make me feel better.

"Don't worry, it will all work out in the end."

"You know, the sun will come out tomorrow."

"It could always be worse."

My reactions were always a bit negative when I got that kind of feedback. Thinking to myself, "Yeah, I'm sure it will work out in the end – but when is the end????" "I'm sure the sun will come out tomorrow, but it will just be lighting another terrible and busy day." "I'm sure it could always be worse – but that doesn't mean this is any less painful."

The problem with my reactions above (so I'm starting to figure out) is that I've lost sight of the meaning – and I stopped believing. At church this weekend, they talked about having beliefs vs. believing in something. I think I've always had beliefs, but have not always believed in them.

It's easy to stand up and say you believe in something – going green, budgeting your money, loving your wife, etc – but it's something totally different to stand up and change your life to match your beliefs. How many of us believe in saving the earth? We would say it's a good idea to use less, to waste less, and stop harming the world. But how many times have I used a plastic bag anyway, or simply thrown away a battery, or used disposable things when I could have re-used something else? I'm starting to realize (and maybe I'm the only one on this train) that just having beliefs about something isn't enough – it needs to go deeper – it needs to change who you are to the core. If it doesn't, it's not worth believing in anyway.

I'm figuring out now that if I truly believed, those clichés people are throwing out should give me hope, should help me through my day and should actually make me feel better. If I truly believed it would all work out in the end, shouldn't that give me the strength to keep pushing through today knowing it would all work out eventually? I'm realizing now that the clichés are there to provide one thing – hope. I think I've truly been without hope for a long time. Deep down I had beliefs – I knew everything would work out in the end – but I didn't let it change me, and I didn't really hold onto it. When people are saying, "Don't worry, it will all work out in the end" – what they are really trying to tell me is, "Keep going, keep pushing through – have hope and be encouraged that your fight will not be for nothing." It's a much longer sentence though so I can see why that hasn't caught on yet.

At the end of the day, having hope is what keeps us getting up each day and pushing through life – hope of experiencing the simple things in life (like my morning cup of coffee), hope that some one will notice us and say hello (always nice to be noticed), hope that when we have completed another trip through whatever events we have scheduled we will be able to look back and see the good points in the day.

Hope is important and an ingredient in life that isn't optional. I think I've finally started to turn the corner like the picture at the beginning…I've gone from NO Hope to KNOW Hope…the K and the W make all the difference.

Go Vikings

Who knew just adding Brett Favre would make this season double the fun?

Not only are we winning a lot of games - we are also really throwing packer land into disarray (sorry to all the packer fans out there - it's nice to finally have MN beat you guys though). I though this picture from a fan at the Vikings vs. Packers game on Sunday was great...

I know why they are fired up and I don't blame them...but I also know why I'm soooo excited...I think it's cause we are 7-1.

Happy Halloween

Who knew Halloween could actually hurt? Guess I'm getting old, but I'm a bit sore from yesterday...maybe because I walked around for a few hours in slippers (since they were part of my costume).

Yesterday was the first time in 3 years we didn't spend the entire day getting ready for the Fall Festival at church (we were only there setting it up for about 4 hours). Since J isn't the Director anymore, we didn't have as much invested in it. Hopefully it went well, we didn't end up going since we were hanging with some friends instead. We were together for dinner and then all the kids went out for trick or treating. It was fun and you can see the pile of candy Tay got below - funny thing is, we'll most likely eat most of that since she doesn't eat much candy. That's why we were pushing them so hard last night - "Keep going, we need more candy!" Just kidding...

After trick or treating for a few hours, we went to another friends house for a Halloween party. It was fun and great to see so many of our friends all dressed up (they are all very creative and spend a lot of time on their costumes). All in all, it was a good night...and I need to take a vacation to recover from it.

Taylor dressed up as one of the "Mario Characters" from a Wii game called Mario Galaxy (she was princess Rosalina - Lake was Princess Peach, and Tate was Shy Guy - also characters from the game). Jaimie went as some one that was sick and I went as some one that was tired - so together we were "sick and tired." Pretty original huh? Funny thing is that at the party, one of our other good friends that are a couple showed up as the same thing - go figure. It was pretty funny.

Taylor as Princess Rosalina - sporting her contacts for additional authenticity.

Lake, Taylor and Elisa
Lake, Taylor, Kate, Tate, and Elisa
Laura the Leprechan
Jaimie and Courtney - don't you feel bad for J? She looks so sick! (Hehe)

What will Kevin be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next few days you ask? Please see picture above...

Rock Wall

Who knew a lot of hard work, some cash and a very wise wife could make the front of your house look better?

For those of you that know me well, I just want to clarify - rock wall does not refer to me, or my lack of opening up to others, or my closed emotions, or any of that so just keep your jokes and cracks to yourself (or e-mail them to me since I like to laugh).

Over the summer we updated the front of our house with a rock wall so I thought I'd throw up some pictures. Jaimie worked really hard to get it completed and it looks amazing. Only problem is that with the new wall, and the front cleaned up, the crumbling steps stand out even more and look terrible. Oh well, guess we know what our first spring project will be!