After lots of adventuring, we're here, we're settled, we're cast, and we're even sorta employed! All of this is making my glasses rose-colored again. So here are the details.
Lots of adventuring:
We moved in last week and spent a few days auditioning, unpacking, decorating, running the errands necessary to help us finish unpacking and decorating, etc. Then we immediately hopped on a plane to visit "the Other Chapmans" and my sister in Denver/Colorado Springs. This also meant that I got to run around the Denver Airport, which is currently my favorite conspiracy theory.
Our plans were a little thrown off by the fact that it rained almost the entire time, but it was still a fantastic visit. Highlights included a trip to the zoo, where we fed giraffes and rode a sky lift, dinner with Beckah’s girlfriend (whom I think we overwhelmed a little, but that’s okay because we adore her), helping put together baby Ruthie’s first birthday party, and visiting Meredith and Seth and little Asher. And of course, cuddling and chatting with people we love, and helping take care of babies, which was awesome.
(I just noticed that Ruthie and I are making the same face in this picture--bottom right. Kindred spirits.)
Also, look at this baby. LOOK AT THIS BABY. I hope all my someday future babies are Ruthies (although I'm sure I'll love whomever comes). Georgia is so much fun, and we're good buddies, but it was fun to also get to know sweet Ruth on this trip.
Little angel! She's like this perfect little woodland sprite. This picture KILLS me!
Here's another thing that occurs to me while posting all these pictures. Carrie and I are BFF's, but I don't think there are any recent pictures of just her and I. I think there are very few pictures of just her and I AT ALL. The only one I could think of is this one, from BYU-Idaho theatre awards, sometime in 2005?
Carrie, I say, next time we see each other, let's take a classier picture together.
We're settled:
There are still a few finishing touches and adjustments I'm making in decor, and we're on the lookout for a free couch and/or loveseat to add to the living room, but I'm falling more and more in love with our little apartment every day. We live in an old brick house that's been split into a duplex. I love having a yard and a porch and a back door and big trees around.
Filing cabinet with art supplies. (The hieroglyphs up there say "Chapman household." Or "Shpmn household," because ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs have neither the "ch" sound nor vowels. And things like "household" are represented visually rather than phonetically.)
Decor. I still wanna tidy up that shelf a little, as well as all the guitars/amps/etc in the corner off-camera right.
Books and glider rocker and husband. The glider rocker is on loan from a friend. The green was throwing off my vision of the decor, so I made a temporary slipcover, and I'm REALLY pleased with how it turned out. No tutorial because I made it up as I went along, and it's probably the most successful made up sewing project of my life. That footstool had corners and everything!
Chair, updated:
Okay, entry way to the kitchen:
In the kitchen. That IKEA TV cart is one of my favorite things. It hold all our DVD's, and can be rolled into any room in the house. Also, that free-standing thing on the left is a dishwasher, but the landlord said she wasn't sure if it worked, so we just use it as a prep table.
I love that molding above the kitchen sink.
One of the quirks of this apartment: that's my clothes closet. It's in the kitchen.
The itty-bitty bathroom. I'm kind of obsessed with that shower curtain.
And IKEA spice racks are a revelation. (And not just because of their proximity to the religious picture on the wall...)
I did that space painting a few years ago, and the composition of it drives me BANANAS, but I still like it.
There's not enough closet space in the kitchen-closet for both of us to store clothes, so this is Jacob's "closet." He's also got some rolling tubs underneath the bed to serve as drawers.
See? IKEA spice racks! So great!
Jacob bought me this cool drawing from a vendor in New York, and it's living by the light switch right now, on my side of the bed.
And our creepy cellar, which is giving us some much-needed storage room:
There is a part of me that thinks that if you need to put something in storage, you shouldn't have it at all. But there's some valuable stuff that we just don't use ALL THE TIME, like luggage and camping gear and a sled. So I'm grateful for our creepy little cellar.
I was going to wait to post pictures until everything was FINISHED, but I realized recently that interior design is never "finished." You're always adding and adjusting and re-doing. So whatever. That's our home! We love it!
Our neighbors are definitely not LDS, which felt simultaneously refreshing, and if I'm being completely honest, a little scary. But they've been SO friendly, and we think it will be great. They seem to kind of run an open house, and there are lots of people coming and going, which keeps things interesting around here. :)
We're cast:
So we moved down to Utah with the exclusive intention of building our performance resumes. So the stakes felt high at auditions. I drove down on a Tuesday a few weeks ago, and auditioned for "Damn Yankees" at the Hale Theatre in Orem that very night, just a few hours after arriving in town with a van full of stuff. And the second I walked into that audition room, everything I'd ever learned about auditions, acting, singing, etc, flew out of my head. I sort of went on autopilot, which I'm grateful for, because it got me a call-back. Dance callbacks felt like this:
Okay, so it wasn't that crazy. But there was a double pirouette and a double stag jump to the floor, and a crapload of floor work and a handful of other things that I definitely could NOT do. And I was surrounded by all these girls in leotards who have Music Dance Theatre degrees from BYU and it was crazy. I learned two lessons at dance callbacks. One: I've got to get into shape. Two: If I suck, I've got to make up for in character what I lack in technique.
Reading/singing callbacks went well, and I had a BLAST. And it seemed to pay off because I WAS CAST AS SISTER. It's a small character role, but a very fun one, and I loved reading for it. I'm single cast as well (instead of double-cast), so I get to work consistently until Thanksgiving. Woo hoo! There are also a handful of familiar folks in the cast, all from past years at the Playmill. I'm excited to work with them, and get to know a few others.
And JACOB did a video audition for the Echo Theatre's production of Macbeth, and he's playing--nay, REPRISING--this role:
That's right, folks, he's playing the Porter! The director of the show is currently in England, where she's worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe and everything fancy. It's an awesome opportunity, and it feels validating to be cast in the first things we auditioned for here.
(If you're in the area, or nearby, and are interested in seeing the shows, here are links to more info. Jacob's show. Liz's show.)
We're even sorta employed:
So, one of the awesome things about "Damn Yankees" at the Hale is that it's a PAID gig. It's not a huge amount of money, but it's significant enough to help us make ends meet, and it feels amazing to not only have a job, but to have a job doing what I love. Jacob was able to pick up a few hours at the Sammy's down here in Provo, which isn't a perfect employment situation, but it's better than nothing, and he's enjoyed working at a place where he doesn't need any training. I've got an interview for a substitute teaching job this week, and Jacob's got a handful of other leads he's following up on as well. We feel good about our situation here, and we've got enough to make ends meet for a while longer.
Whew. Okay. Epic update.
Now I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams, everyone!
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