Newsies: The Musical

When I was little, I fell in love, maybe for the first time, with a man named Jack (also known as a really young Christian Bale). He was a dreamer who loved Sante Fe and wanted to Seize the Day with his fellow newsies who were just trying to sell papes on the street and make a living. They loved to sing and dance and now, their dream (and mine) is coming true - those beloved Newsies are coming to Broadway and I get to see them!!!

Danielle and I just booked tickets last week to go and see this AWESOME show. I'm so excited, I can't even tell you! We're going at the end of April and are planning a weekend full of Broadway shows and good times! We are hoping to see a couple more shows while we are in town, we just haven't bought tickets yet. We're staying in a little hostel two blocks from Times Square and I know we are going to have a blast! I love New York, I love Broadway, I love Newies, I love my best friend! It's obviously going to be a great weekend!

Say Yes to Life

I realize that it has been way too long since I last blogged (maybe 8 months? yikes!) and I don't have any good excuses. So, I'm just going to move forward! :)

The latest thing to happen to me was an awesome four-day weekend with two of my favorite Wisconsonites! Jen McT and Courtney (two of my best friends from high school ... remember that time I lived Up North a long time ago?) came to visit me and we had such an awesome time! We were very, very busy because I had a lot of things to show them!

Here are some of the highlights:

Dallas Day - Thursday


On their first full day in town, we became professional tourists of Dallas. We went to the Sixth Floor Museum and studied the conspiracy theories behind JFK's assassination (so intriguing!), we rode a free trolley through UpTown and saw all of these fun places I need to try, and we went to the Farmer's Market where we bought lots of yummy produce that we cooked with the rest of the time they were here. It was delicious!


Friday

This day I took Jen and Court to Sam Moon. If you haven't ever been here, you should go! It's a huge warehouse type building with every kind of accessory you can imagine. It's a girl's version of heaven on earth. Jen and Court were quite overwhelmed at first, actually they were speechless, which if you know them is hard to imagine. haha. But, they persevered and we spent probably 2 hours in the store perusing hats (I bought a fedora), jewelry, scarves, bags and more. It was great! Then we got lunch and some yummy fro-yo and headed over to DBU so they could see where I work and go to school. DBU is a gorgeous campus and I always love for people to see it! That night we took a chance on an unknown musical and ended up being pleasantly surprised. Bring It On: The Musical was everything we could have hoped for AND more! Danielle came with us and the four of us just grinned from ear to ear during the whole show. The songs were SO good! The dancing was awesome! The stunts were great! It was just fabulous! Seriously!

 
Fort Worth Day - Saturday

On Saturday, I took the girls to Cowtown. We toured the Stockyards, saw cows, visited lots of really cute shops and ate at the Internationally Famous "Cattleman's Restaurant." Then we went over to Sundance Square and walked around. It was a fun, laid-back day! That night we went to Chuy's, which is my favorite Mexican restaurant in town! It is so good! We laughed a lot and enjoyed our last night together. The girls left early Sunday morning. I was so sad to see them go, but so glad we got to spend some much needed time together! I'm so thankful for great friends and I loved showing them a new side of Texas! :) 

Over the Top!

This weekend I went to the Women of Faith "Over the Top" Conference in Dallas with my friend Becca. We had a great time. We weren't able to attend all of the sessions, but we really enjoyed the ones we were able to go to.

I will say this, I've never been in a place with SO many women at the same time before. It was a little overwhelming on Friday night. But a really sweet moment happened on Saturday morning. We were singing some praise songs with the worship team and I just got quiet for a minute and listened to all of the thousands around me raise their voices to the Lord. Gathering together in corporate worship, praising the same Lord was so beautiful. Our God is great! And I loved the opportunity to worship Him with fellow sisters in Christ from across the country. 

The first speaker that we heard was Lisa Whelchel on Friday night. She was in the show "The Facts of Life" back in the 1980s, which happened to be one of Becca's favorite shows ever. So, needless to say, she was pretty excited about it! Lisa shared a testimony about what she has learned about friendships and it was really touching. She shared stories from her life about struggles that she's had, and she was very open and vulnerable. I appreciated that about her. As she shared about struggles getting close to friends and maintaining strong friendships, I was reminded of some of the wonderful friends that I have been blessed with and was thankful for them as I sat and reflected. I truly think God blesses us with friends to share life with - to laugh with, to cry with, to be vulnerable with and to rely on. I really enjoyed Lisa's talk and the things I took away from it.

Then on Saturday morning, we got to hear Sandy Patti perform (she is a gifted artist!) and speak. Sandy shared about struggles in her life, with weight and other self-esteem issues and what it means to have new beginnings in your life. She has some great points to share and it was neat to see her in concert. She seems like a genuine, loving woman.

The highlight of the conference for me was seeing Amy Grant in concert that afternoon. I grew up listening to Amy, from the time I was a little girl. When I was in second grade, I entered the school talent show with my awesome dance to "Baby, Baby." Believe me when I say, I was a fan! So, when I saw her on stage, I reverted back to that little 6-year-old. Becca thought I was a little crazy, but I didn't care. I sang along to "El Shaddai," "It Takes a Little Time, Sometimes," "Lead Me on" and "My Father's Eyes." I loved it! This alone made the conference worth it.

There were also touching moments of testimony, moving dramatic pieces and more. I may have cried more than once. :)

While, I will admit, I felt a little young in the audience, I did enjoy the conference. It was a neat experience bonding with other women of faith as we laughed, cried and listened to how God is moving in the lives of others.

Fun in the Summertime

This summer has been fun as I've enjoyed and explored this new city I call my home. I wanted to share some of the fun places that I've been to over the past two months:

The Sixth Floor Museum

My college friend Kate came to visit and we went to the 6th Floor Museum in Downtown. This is a museum dedicated to JFK and share insight into his assassination in 1963. You can even view the spot from the window looking down on the Grassy Knoll where it is believed that Lee Harvey Oswald stood when he shot JFK. Kate and I are secret history buffs and we loved learning more about this pivotal day in American history.

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

My RA from college and dear friend Sarah Gardner got married at these beautiful gardens in June. It was such a precious ceremony and I loved getting to walk around these awesome gardens! I'd love to go back when it's a little cooler and explore some more!

Buca de Beppo

Last weekend we went to this really fun Italian restaurant as part of Cristal Moreno's bachelorette party! The food was delicious and the atmosphere was lively and entertaining! This was a great place to have a great time!

The Melting Pot

My HPU friends, affectionately known as "The Herd," try to get together at least once a year for a reunion so we can catch up on each others' lives. This year only four of us were able to meet up, but we still had a great time! We went to this really fun fondue restaurant called The Melting Pot in the Arlington Highlands and it was quite a treat. While the overall meal was a little on the pricey side, we enjoyed every minute of the four course meal! It was so laid back and fun as we enjoyed cheese fondue, salads, the biggest meat platter you can imagine and delicious chocolate fondue for dessert! To give you a good idea, we spent about 3 1/2 hours there and loved every minute! :)

Southlake Town Square

My sweet friend Larissa came to visit me from Brownwood one weekend and we found a really fun shopping area called Southlake Town Square. It's only about 15 minutes from my apartment and it is so much fun! We enjoyed roaming around in all of the cute shops and grabbing lunch. I could have spent a lot more time here! I'm looking to going back again sometime soon (maybe when I have more money, haha!).


Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

I also went to a Rangers game with Larissa and my Brownwood small group the weekend she came to town. While it was really hot, it was also really fun! I love the atmosphere at baseball games (shocking, I know!) singing "Take Me Out the Ballgame," eating nachos and people watching is a good time to me! Plus, the Rangers beat Toronto 12-2 that day! Go Rangers!

Well, these are just some of the highlights of the summer. There has been a lot more going on, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I'll try to keep highlighting fun things to do in the Metroplex for all of you friends that should come and visit me! I've got plenty of room in my apartment and I love company! And, obviously, I'm fun and Dallas is fun, so you should come visit! haha. 

Women of Faith

So, I have exciting news! I received two tickets to attend the upcoming Women of Faith conference here in Dallas on August 26 and 27. I'm really excited about going to this event for the first time. I've heard wonderful things about it over the years and it will be neat to have a firsthand experience to share with all of you!

I feel like many of the speakers and singers this year are a collection of women from my childhood - including Amy Grant (Baby, Baby anyone?) and Sandi Patty, along with Lisa Whelchel from The Facts of Life! One speaker I am really interested in hearing is Brenda Warner. She is married to the pro-football player Kurt Warner and it sounds like she has a really neat testimony to share.

I'm excited to hear stories about how God is moving in the lives of these women and worship with women from around the state. I know God has great things in store and I look forward to sharing with you all about it!

Show me how to love

Earlier this week my new boss asked how I was doing with my adjustment in the new job and everything. I told him I was doing really good. I'm enjoying my new job and everything is just great. Then he said, "you seem to be a positive person. Are you ever not positive? Are there ever times when things aren't going well?" I told him, yes of course! Well, tonight was one of those times.

I got my feelings hurt by someone and then I got mad about it. I was trying to do something nice and they were not acting appreciative at all. It just hurt me so much.Didn't they see what I was doing? How I was going out of my way to do something nice?? In fact, I got so upset, that I took a walk in the park across the street to tell the Lord all about it. I took two laps around the park, huffing and puffing, crying and venting. Didn't God see how hurt I was? Why was He letting this happen? Why was I being punished when I was trying to do something nice? Didn't I deserve better? Tears were flowing as I was crying out to the Lord asking why I was being faithful and yet things like this happened.

And then, on lap three it hit me. I realized that the reason I was so upset was because I was doing this good deed to make myself feel better and I wasn't getting the response I thought I deserved. It was all about me ... Whoa. That just kind of slapped me across the face. The Lord reminded me that I should be doing this act in service to Him. I should be loving and giving to others as an overflow of my love for Him, and not be seeking anything in return. As I was walking, the song "Hosanna" sung by Christy Nockels came on. One of the lines spoke to my heart. It said, "Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like you love me." That's what I was missing. I was so wrapped up in me that I was missing out on an opportunity to learn how to love like the Lord does. Once I realized this, my heart was lifted, my burdens were lighter and I was able to look around and see the beauty God was displaying all around me. The sun was setting behind the hill, reflecting brilliant colors of orange and pink across the night sky.

This verse just came to me as a beautiful reminder:

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies." Song of Solomon 6:3

So, next time I get all worked up about how someone has wronged me, hopefully I will stop and look at my heart and motivation. I want to love others like the Lord loves me. And I know my faithful God is going to keep walking beside me and showing me how. 

Fight for Survival

Headlines lately have highlighted the verdict for Casey Anthony and the race for our next President. There was a huge fire in Phoenix and the Texas government passed 1,200 bills we didn't hear about because of the budget crisis. But, when I was reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram I ran across a story I hadn't heard anything about until today.

Did you know that 12 million Africans face 'fight for survival'? I had no idea!!! Apparently the severe drought across the Horn of Africa has affected people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djbouti. In one refugee camp more than 360,000 people have come to receive some kind of relief. The camp is only equipped to help around 90,000. Can you imagine?

We are facing a severe drought in Texas right now, but I had no idea about the plight happening on the other side of the world. The photos I saw and stories I read brought tears to my eyes. I'm researching an organization to contribute to that will help a little bit and I'm going to be lift up prayers for these hurting, starving people. I know they belong to the Lord. I know He loves them. Sometimes it's so hard to understand why there are some in the world that are starving while there are others that have an abundance. This news deserves more attention than it's getting. It shouldn't be buried on page 10.