home

...and, three and a half weeks later, I'm back.

Goodness.

A quick update that we have officially returned to Oskaloosa, for those that don't yet know. We actually headed back less than a week after my last post (which was much earlier than people were expecting - only our parents knew that we were coming so soon). It was fun to be able to surprise everyone, and we're adjusting very easily to being back in Iowa.

But enough with that. =] What I'm really excited to talk about is my new job.

I'm back at the George Daily Auditorium in Oskaloosa (this is huge for me, by the way)! I could not be more thrilled.

[Again, for those that don't know, the Daily is a "state-of-the-art" (I put the quotes there because I think that phrase is kind of funny, but everyone uses it, so I shall too) auditorium in the middle of little Oskaloosa that brings in the same professional shows that tour all the major venues across the country. For example, earlier this week I was privileged enough to work Cabaret, and in the past I've done shows like Fame, Grease and Man of La Mancha. Fantastic. This is also the same auditorium where I performed all of my plays, concerts, etc during high school, and where I previously ran the summer theatre camp program. Up to speed now? Good.]

Around the time of all the med school decisions, I was discussing with Travis how very much I missed theatre. It really is my passion. You know how some people have that drive, that love, that attachment for something? You can just see it in their eyes, when they're doing what they love...they're complete. That's what theatre is for me. It's a part of me, and I've been dying to get it back.

We'll skip through the specifics of the process but, to sum up, the auditorium's current children's theatre director was leaving, and after expressing interest, they offered me the position. I'm ecstatic. What makes it even better is that I was able to select two of my favorite people to be my counselors this summer. Huzzah!

The camp starts as soon as school gets out, and runs basically until school starts back up again in August. It's for kids in the area who are 7-15 years old, and it runs Monday - Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Kids sign up for one week at a time (but they can come as much as they want - last time I did this I had two kids that were there every week all summer long). Besides playing fun games and teaching kids about both acting and the technical side of theatre, my counselors and I write a script for the kids on Monday night, and by Friday they're putting on a half-hour performance for the parents and friends! It's amazing what these kids can do. It's a really stellar program, and so much fun.

Last time I did the camp (four years ago now - wow), there was a group of about half a dozen kids or so that I got to be really close with, and I was able to see them shortly after getting back to Oskaloosa. It was so fun to catch up, and I was even happier that they all were saying they wanted to somehow be involved this summer now that I was back (talk about an ego boost, huh?). After doing some brainstorming (as these kids are now 16 & 17 and too old for the camp), we've decided we're going to have an evening program for high-school-aged kids that lasts throughout the summer, where they'll be putting on a full-length play. They're also going to be building their own sets, hanging their own lights, everything. I'm so excited about this! I seriously get to play all summer long, do what I absolutely love, with people I absolutely love, and get paid to do it. Amazing.

I'm already at work planning camp and its promotions, which just has me so excited (why can't it be June already??). I also got back in town just in time for the auditorium's last professional show of the season, Cabaret, as I mentioned earlier. It felt so good to be back in the auditorium, on the catwalk, hanging lights...I can't say it enough - I love it. I'm home. I absolutely loved Arizona, and I certainly miss it. But this is what I need to be doing right now, and it's working out beautifully for Travis as well (he gets to start school in just over a month - yay!).

more changes...

Sorry for the delay there! The last couple of weeks have been truly insane (and we thought that things would calm down after Travis stopped medical school!). But this time it's been a good insane.

We made a quick trip up to Utah to visit my cousin Codie before he enters the MTC (this week!). I can't believe he's old enough to go on a mission! Wow. He's going to Mexico, and I know he's going to be awesome, so here's to Codie! =]

As for the next crazy step in our lives, here it is...we're moving back to Iowa. More specifically, Oskaloosa.

What?

This was not something I ever (mind you, I really mean it when I say this), ever expected to do. I was happy with my upbringing, but I've always been a big city girl, and absolutely despised the weather, too. Especially after we fell in love with Arizona so much, we never imagined that we would leave it (particularly so soon).

BUT. Once Travis started looking into nursing programs, we realized that all of the programs here in the valley had a waiting list. A long one. As in, a minimum of one year. Ugh.

That being said, we were still planning on staying here, and Travis would just work for that one year. Simple enough, yes?

Then, for completely unrelated reasons that I will at some later point reveal, we started looking at the Indian Hills program near Oskaloosa. Just to see. And we found out that there was, in fact, no waiting list for their program. He can start June 1. That's only two months away!

We were a little shell-shocked. Was this divine intervention leading us back to Iowa? We didn't know what to make of it. But the pieces were just falling into place too quickly and too perfectly for it to not mean something.

So. We prayed and talked and prayed and talked. And we're moving to Oskaloosa! Wow. The both of us are extremely excited about this too, which is also a sign to us. We figure we're feeling this way for a reason. =]

So what of the house? We're in talks of either renting or selling it. And we'll see how that goes. But everything has worked out so well for us this far...we have complete faith that this will work out too. We'll be living with my parents until we get this house squared away, which will be fun. We're excited to be back near both of our families, and to see all of Travis's siblings' sporting events and concerts (there are two still at home, and one will be attending UNI next year and playing rugby). Hooray!

Oh, and another part of our motivation came from the fact that I have landed my perfect job. Really! I can't even begin to express how excited I am! BUT. I'm not sure if I can really make it public news or not yet, so I'll have to keep you waiting! It's worth its own post anyway. =]

Until then!