skirting the issue

So apparently there has been a lot of brouhaha on the interwebs about women wearing skirts/dresses to church. Apparently there’s even some sort of protest scheduled for this Sunday.  I am glad to see that I am not the only one who thinks this is completely ridiculous. I am so bothered with people who need to make everything into a political statement—especially things like this where it’s OBVIOUS they are so insecure about something they have resorted to grasping at straws for something to take issue with. 

There are many reasons I love and am so thankful for my mother, but one of the biggest is that she taught me to love and accept EVERYONE. I remember one Sunday morning-I could only have been 5 or 6, and we were on our way to church. I remember seeing one of the less-active families headed that way too, and I noticed the little girl was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I asked my mom why she wasn’t in a dress, and she replied, “it doesn’t matter to Heavenly Father what you wear to church. It matters more to Him that you’re there.” Twenty-six years later and that lesson has still held true for me.

For me women wearing dresses to church isn’t a sign of submissiveness, but rather respect. Respect because you wear the nicest things you own when you go to worship. Dresses are the nicest thing I own, so that’s what I wear. Not because I feel I am being oppressed and unequal to my male counterparts. It makes me sad that there are women in the church who feel this way. Men and women in the church have their own roles to play, they are both divine and necessary in their own right, and I have never once felt that one was more important than the other. It is only when both are working in harmony that everything works as it should. If anything I have felt more honored by the men in the Church because I am a woman. Men and women will never be ‘equal’ because they are not the same, and it is infuriating to me that some women will choose to use something as sacred as personal worship to propel their own political agenda fueled by their own insecurity.

Now if a woman chooses to wear pants to church because that is what she is most comfortable in? I say more power to her. If you are so pre-occupied about how uncomfortable you are in what you’re wearing that you lose sight of the real reason you’re there, then you’re better off not going in my opinion. Do I think less of women who choose to wear pants? Nope. I’m just glad they’re there.

I just wish people would stop. Stop wanting what others have. Stop the hatred, and anger, and discord. Stop trying to be something they aren’t and instead revel in what they ARE. I am a divine daughter of my Heavenly Father, and I know that He holds women in the highest regard. I am trusted with bearing and raising His children. One day I can be a QUEEN. That is pretty cool and not the least bit oppressive in my opinion. Because we’re different we have been given different responsibilities-neither is more important than the other, and that’s just fine by me.

People may think I’m brain-washed or a Stepford wife for saying this. I assure you this isn’t the case. I merely have never felt oppressed or wronged by my role as a woman in the Church and I am HAPPY with the role I have been given. So, I will be wearing a dress to church this Sunday. Not because I feel I HAVE to, but because I WANT to. I hope what you wear to worship is what you WANT to be in and it allows you to feel close to your Heavenly Father and His spirit (or whatever you believe in). Because that’s all that matters.

Even fashion-forward girl power Carrie wore a dress to church...just sayin'.

breakin up is hard to do



No this picture is not relevant in any way, shape, or form.
I just thought it was funny.

 You meet through a friend. You're a bit worried, but they soon win you over with their charisma and wonderful personality. You begin to build a relationship based on trust with them, and it becomes more and more difficult to remember what your life was like without them in it.

Then things change. You don't know if you can continue the relationship--although you REALLY want to. It's not bad at all, just hard. It becomes even harder when distance is thrown into the mix. You know you have to break the news, but you just don't know how. You begin to wonder if you will ever find someone worthy enough to attempt to fill their shoes. Each day becomes more and more stressful, because you know the longer you put it off the harder it becomes to say what needs to be said. You have been a ball of stress for weeks because you just don't know how to break the news...

*   *   *   *   *



No I'm not talking about Mr. Wonderful and I. Don't worry, we are great. Better than great-we are SWELL...is swell better than great?

I'm talking about my hairdresser. She is wonderful and fabulous, has become a great friend, and about the only one I trust with my tresses. She is the reason so many envy my hair-I don't know what she does, but she's magic. I can't say enough nice things about her. I simply adore her. I have been seeing her for about two and a half years and I LOVE her. There's only one problem. She's expensive. Like $120 every eight weeks expensive. When I was working at Joe's I could justify the expense because it was all tip money. Even after I quit I made it work because I love her so much. Your hair is the ONLY thing you wear every day so it should look great, right?

Looking into buying a home has made me REALLY evaluate my budget and where I have placed my priorities. My fear of failing and/or being a failure ranks right up there with being alone, so I'm trying to trim as much fat off my spending as possible. I got the perfect out about a week ago when she emailed me to let me know she had left the salon I saw her at and was looking at other places. Instead of telling her 'good luck' I said she had my business as long as she wanted it-which is true-but right now it's just a stretch. I thought I might have a little time, but she emailed me a few days later and said she'd taken a job at a salon in Daybreak and she hoped to see me soon. (She used to be 10 minutes away from my house) Aw crap. Now I feel like a total tool. I want to keep seeing her, I LOVE her and trust her with my hair implicitly, I just can't afford her anymore.

How do you tell someone you've built a relationship with and come to love like family that it's just not working anymore? And most importantly, how do you find someone to replace excellence?

big blonde and beautiful

I love shows. Watching them, being in them, you name it, I love it. My favorite part is the costumes-especially when I get to wear them. The right costume can really make you feel the part you're playing as well as draw your audience into the world you're trying to create. I know you've all seen stage productions where the costumes didn't jive and you were distracted because of it. With that being said....


I HATE COSTUMES.

I hate even more when I have to find my own--no, I'm not a diva.
I will wear almost anything-as long as it fits into the following criteria:

I have to be able to wear a NORMAL bra. I don't want to go commando with the girls-and I'm pretty sure no one else wants me to, either.
In the event I have to change costumes I have to be able to get in and out of them relatively easy with little to no help.
I have to be able to MOVE the way the director wants me to. Besides wearing an uncomfortable costume is the pits.
I hate looking for them because:

Real women have curves.
Most of the time I love mine-until it's time
to do another show and end up feeling
like a fatty.

Nine times out of ten I'm in a show that isn't set in this century. That makes finding authentic-looking costume pieces rather difficult. Don't suggest thrift stores and DI. I ALWAYS strike out there-except last year. I got almost new tap shoes for $4.00. No joke.

I'm a curvy girl-but my curves aren't ordinary. Not many people have a 16-inch discrepancy between their bust and their waist (true story), so finding costumes that fit without making me look like a box is tough. Which leads me to reason three:

Costumes are EXPENSIVE! I have no problem contributing to my costume pieces because then I know it will actually fit-and I get to keep them after-but hot damn! I'm either paying through the nose purchasing "specialty" items or paying for it in my limited free time between rehearsals to make something.

For my latest show I need 50's era attire. Here's the catch-think Rizzo and Marty Maraschino-I am THE stereotypical bad girl-all my clothes have to look like I was poured into them-director's words-not mine.

Any comments on where to go to find possible costume ideas let me know. I've got a little less than a month so time is of the essence.

day eleven-fifteen

So I fully admit that I'm a slacker...but I have a good excuse. I have been in St. George visiting my awesome family the last few days and honestly...keeping up with the blog was the least of my worries. But here I am, picking up where I left off. I give you days eleven through fifteen for your reading enjoyment:

DAY 11:

My makeup bag. To be honest I have FOUR of these babies-but it's because I do theatre and the others are filled with theatre make-up. This is my main bag-the one that I count on every day to make me pretty. :) I wish I could be one of those women who can go without makeup, but being as I was "one of the lucky ones" who suffered from severe acne during my adolescent and into my adult years I have a hard time going anywhere without it on because I know what my skin looks like underneath.

Mattifier, Powder foundation, blush, eyeshadow primer, eyeshadow, liner, mascara, eyelash curler, concealer, lip balm, stain, and gloss, and bobby pins.

 DAY 12:

I don't have any skyline shots of my lovely SLC valley so I relied on Google:

Salt Lake really is beautiful-when there's no inversion. Or snow. Or snow AND inversion...

DAY 13:
 I am a music girl-there's not much I don't like, and my taste changes all the time. Except three artists are always in my top five:

 Brad Paisley. I have loved Brad since I first heard "The fishing song" and I still love him today. I try to see him every time he comes in concert. He is just such a talented songwriter and guitar player. Plus I'll admit, I have a little bit of a crush on him. He is a man's man yet I just love that on almost every album he writes a song for his wife--what girl WOULDN'T love that!

My favorite band is a toss-up between Maroon 5 and Bowling For Soup. They are on opposite ends of the music spectrum-one is a brooding, sexy as hell band with local ties (I used to know James Valentine's sister)- the other is a Texas-bred hometown boy band who doesn't take themselves at all seriously.

Not to mention the fact they wrote the theme song as well as having recurring cameos on one of my favorite shows: Phineas and Ferb.

DAY 14:

I watch a lot of shows on TV, but recently there are two I watch religiously:

Glee. No self-respecting choir nerd and theatre geek can honestly say they don't like glee.
The music is great, and after some hiccup-filled story lines in the beginning of season 2 they've really hit their stride again. I just love this show, and it makes my day. :)

Being Human. Mr. Wonderful got me hooked on this show. I was skeptical about the US re-tooling after watching the BBC version and HATING it. But I was pleasantly surprised. You are rooting for these "monster" characters trying to be well...human. The season is over, but I'm there once it starts again!

DAY 15:

I never leave the house without my phone and keys. I feel naked without either...



shoes! shoes! shoes! the secret of my shoes

If Avril Lavigne went to OZ she'd wear these...

I love shoes. I have way too many pairs of shoes for my own good. Expensive,  bargain, old, new, traditional, eclectic, strappy, flat, heels, tennies, sandals, flip flops...well you get the idea.

Mr. Wonderful doesn't 'get' the love I have for shoes. He thinks you only need four pairs of shoes: black, brown, dress, and athletic. He breaks his own rule because he has five-the previous plus a pair of work boots. I on the other hand have so many I have literally lost count. I have no room in my closet for them all so I have to store them under my bed and rotate for the seasons. (I was gonna take a picture so you'd believe me but the thought of pulling them all out and putting them all away again plum wore me out so you get what I already had on my phone.)

We were talking this week (post shoe purchase) and he just doesn't get it. The best way I could explain it to him was like this-when your weight fluxuates or if you are like me and are more...curvaceous than the average woman it can be down right discouraging to shop for, try on, and wear clothes. It's even MORE discouraging when the same clothes look so much cuter on women with smaller, less curvy frames. Shoes on the other hand are a completely different story. Shoes fit no matter what size you are. Shoes don't make you feel like a freak show and stop fitting right because you've got water weight or extra holiday pounds. Shoes don't shrink in the wash. You can buy the same pair of shoes as that skinny bitch in the magazine and still make them look as good as she did, if not better.



Upon finishing my explanation I was hoping the light would turn on, and his look would tell me he FINALLY understood what a pick me up shoes are. Instead he just looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. 

Oh well. The ladies understand me. That being said...



the newest addition to my family. aren't they ADORABLE!?