What's New?

Well...a whole lot actually! Things have been pretty crazy over here lately. I guess the biggest thing is that we will be moving to California this summer! An opportunity came up within Kevin's company and they offered it to him. We've known about it since Jan. but we weren't sure if it would happen until now but now so I can finally say that it is official! I'm so incredibly excited but nervous at the same time. I've been wanting to move to LA to professionally pursue acting since I was a teenager but there ws always some reason why I/we couldn't. Now that it is actually happening, it's almost surreal! There is so much we will need to do to prepare for a cross country move. It's definitely not something we were expecting, having just moved into this house a couple months ago! But when fate hands you your dreams, you don't say no! The first order of business will be to sign with a good agency out there. A good agent gets you in the door of the good auditions. I'm working on putting together a demo reel but decided that I need to have something "more" to make me stand out sooooo I decided to produce my own short! I have met so many talented people here, from actors to crew and know that with a good script and the right people, we could make something really incredible. I started writing a script and after about, mmm 20 revisions, I think it's ready! I'm working on all the pre-production right now (which is such a huge job nobody really thinks about) I've really enjoyed writing, it's something I used to do a lot when I was younger but hadn't done in many years. I forgot how much it opens up the creative part of your brain (and how hard it is to turn that part of your brain off at 3:00am!) It's been a great experience though and I can't wait to take it and turn it into a piece of visual art. I think that is what I love so much about acting and film-making in general, it really is an art. It's painting with emotions and taking a story from a piece of paper and turning it into this real, living thing. If I can spend the rest of my life just doing that, with talented and creative people, I will be fulfilled and happy. So anyway, we are now trying to figure out exactly where we want to move in the LA area. Ideally I'd like to be close to the beach and close to the studios so we are thinking about Santa Monica. It's ridiculously expensive, we could get a lot more if we went inland but I really want to be near the beach to have that ocean breeze and and avoid the pollution and the heat so we're probably going to be massively downsizing!

So what else is new? Well we switched Katie's schools. It was weird, when she first started at this new school she loved it. All the girls were nice to her and she didn't really know the teacher that well yet. Then for some reason, the girls just turned on her and decided they didn't want to be her friend anymore. She was eating lunch by herself and playing alone on the playground, it was heartbreaking. Katie has always been really popular in school so this was a huge blow for her. Then to top things off, the teacher turned out to be terrible. She wouldn't let Katie read the books she wanted, Katie was coming home confused and not sure how to do her homework. Kevin and I were literally teaching here everything ourselves at home. I started looking around at private schools in the area and found a school called Shepard of the Hills Lutheran School. I went on a school tour and was sold. It is such a wonderful environment, first of all it's a Christian school so they are constantly being taught to be a good person, treat other kindly, etc. The class size was half the size of her public school class and the feel when you walked into the classroom was so warm and happy. The whole school really is like a big family. Everyone is so warm and welcoming. We started Katie last week after got back from vacation and she is so happy. There are only 5 other girls in the class and they are all so sweet. I went up there and had lunch with Katie and was so impressed with the other kids. They are respectful, polite and kind...imagine that! The teacher is wonderful, he reminds me of Santa Clause, lol. He is so jolly and kind. The math issues Katie was struggling with at her old school have been totally resolved in one week. He actually spends time working with her everyday and she comes home understanding her assignments and telling me all the new things she learned! What a difference! I'm really sad for her to have to leave this school because we are moving this summer. It goes all the way till 8th grade and the middle school is just like the elementary school. There is no big "change" of having to start at a HUGE middle school like there is in public school. I remember being so shocked going into middle school, I was this innocent little kid and all the sudden there are these 8th grade boys grabbing my butt and fights going on and drugs and sex (and yes, this was in a "good" school district) and I just don't want Katie exposed to all those things at such a young age. So I am on the search for a similar Christian school in the Santa Monica area. I found a couple and we are going out there at the end of the month to check them out, look at houses, etc.

The boys are doing great. Kaleb just turned 2 and Kobe turns 4 at the end of the month. Kobe is learning to read and is turning out to be a total math whiz. It's just so easy for him, he just "gets" everything on the first try. Kaleb is obsessed with playing games on my Iphone and is talking like crazy. He and Kobe are having a lot of fun playing and wrestling together. Kaleb is like Kobe's shadow and follows him everywhere and copies everything he does. Kobe is the most patient, sweet big brother and puts up with a LOT from Kaleb! I'm so glad they weren't born in the reverse order!! I still can't get over the fact that after so long, we don't have a "baby" in the house anymore. It's bittersweet. I am greatly looking forward to the freedom that comes with having all older children. Everything from just getting in the car to go to the store to traveling and taking trips is just SO much easier without a baby in tow. I won't say that we are officially "done", who knows what may change over the next couple years... But I will say that we are done for a while. :)

I'm trying to get back into working out and running. Winter just killed my running. I hate running on a treadmill and don't want to run outside when it's below freezing and snowing so after about November, I basically quit running. Now that it's warming up again, I'm excited to get back outside and start running again. That is definitely one thing I am looking forward to about moving to Cali, year round warm weather!! After three years in Colorado, I can definitely say I am NOT a winter person. I get depressed and lazy when it's cold outside. I love being outside and being active and am really looking forward to living in a climate where I can do that year round. In Texas it was too hot half the year to enjoy being outside and in Colorado it's too cold half the year! I think Cali will be just about perfect :)