Happy 17th Birthday to me :) The Last Sixteen Years

Happy Birthday to me! :)

It seems kind of strange that I am turning seventeen; it doesn't seem that long ago that I was turning thirteen and becoming a teenager. Now, I'm on my last year of being a child, nearly an adult. 

As I mentioned in my Halloween post, I said I was going to do a Birthday post and here it is(I spent a lot of my day yesterday uploading all the pictures to the blog post). Sorry it's so long.

I plan on doing several different things today on my birthday- I'm going to watch the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'm going to write my book, I'm going to watch Batman Begins, and watch and read several other things. 

Sorry for getting this up so late- I started this yesterday and I spent a good amount of today working on it.

So, "The Last Sixteen Years" 

                                                 On this day I was born at about 12:32 P.M. via Emergency C-Section. The reason was this was that my heart rate kept going down and when I was out it was apparent my umbilical cord was tied in three knots and that I'd swallowed a lot of meconium. Since I wasn't breathing right (and because my skin was all purple-blue) I was hooked up to a monitor. My Nana, realizing I needed better medical attention, convinced the Pediatrition that I should be sent somewhere with better equipment. So when I was only a few hours old, I was flown by Helicopter to the a hospital in our state capital(I've always thought that flying in a helicopter was so cool! :D). To remove the meconium from my lungs, they put a tube down my throat. After a few days I reached up, grabbed the tube, and pulled it out of my throat, even ripping through the tape holding it secure to my face >:) (Oh yeah, I was a SUPER baby!)

                                       When I was five days old, my Mom came and she held me for the first time. That had been the first time I'd been held since being born(My Dad didn't want anyone holding me until my Mom did).

                                                                     My Official Birth Photo

                                               I was very sensitive to sounds and lights as a baby(I still am), so it was hard to get me to stay asleep at nights- plus, I was a little colicky. My first words were Nana, Mama, and Dada and I said them early on.

                                                                       Me in my baptismal gown

                                When I was little, I used to dress up, stand in front of a mirror and talk to myself(I still talk talk to my reflection when I'm talking to someone). My Mom said that from that moment, she knew I was going to be an actor.

                                My first birthday! :) When I turned one, my birthday party theme was Winnie the Pooh which was one of my favorite shows. I also really loved Barney, Spot, and Tellitubies. I loved being read to and I even knew several of my colors. I also loved french fries and my Mom would have to sometimes drive out of her way to not pass a McDonalds because I'd start saying "Ice Fries and ketchup!" We also had to pass a Water tower every time we went out or I'd get upset.

                                         "You're messing with the wrong Jedi youngling, Sith Lord!" XD

                                                   My second birthday party which had a Barney theme. When everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" my Nana said I got a huge smile and my face and because of that, it was her favorite of my birthday parties. As a two year old I knew my Alphabet and I could count to ten; another thing I liked to do was sing(which I still do).

One pretty memorable thing that happened when I was two was, while I was at my Nana and Grandpa's house, I fell on a rock step that led into the living room, splitting the back of my head open. I ended up having to get staples- Ouch.





                                                  When I was two, my little sister was born. I really liked my sister and when they brought her home and my Nana was trying to get me to say her name, all I could say was "It's a baby, it's a baby!" Though, whenever my sister tried to take a nap, I'd try to find her and wake her up so I could play with her. Since my sister couldn't get a nice nap, my Mom would have to hide her and put a toy I didn't like near her hiding place so I wouldn't go and wake her up.


                                            
                                   Probably my earliest memory took place on the Halloween I was two years old. I remember dressing up as Winnie the Pooh for Halloween and having my Mom pain my nose black. Since the paint was wet when we left the house, my Mom told me not to touch my nose. I remember trying not to but it bothered me so much I kept poking at it with my finger(I even remember how the street looked).

                           

                                                                             My sister and I

When I was three, my birthday party theme was "The Big Comfy Couch" which I really liked. I flew on a plane for the first time(I remember this too) and I wanted to fly it. I also liked to play dress up and play with my baby dolls.

Me in a Ballerina dress

                    My fourth birthday party theme was "Blue's Clues"(at this time we'd moved from out house in a neighborhood*we also lived in Winsconsin for a few months* to the country where we lived in a trailer while our house was being built). I loved shows such as Blue's Clues, Little Bear, Veggie Tales, and shows on PBS kids.
I also asked a lot of really funny religion-related questions at around this time :)

I remember once, while watching Barney, they said you couldn't hear with your feet. Determined to prove them wrong, I covered my ears tightly and lifted my feet into the air. When my Mom asked what I was doing I said "I'm trying to hear with my feet."

                            Whenever we went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house, my Aunt would show me pictures of herself when she'd taken ballet as a teen/tween. I thought it looked so cool that I asked my Mom is I could take dance lessons. I ended up signing up at a nearby dance studio; I remember my first class very vividly- People kept forgetting my name for some reasons(I think it was because I'd never done it before and the other girls had), and my assistant's teacher was named Amy; I actually ended up telling her that "I have a doll named Amy!". I loved dance a whole lot!! :D I also started Kindergarten at this age and enjoyed watching Disney films(my favorite was Cinderella)

 

My fifth birthday party theme was Fairies. At this age I loved a lot of the same shows as well as Magic School Bus. On my sister's birthday, she got a Magic School Bus video tape on Space and right after watching it I became obsessed with Space and the planets(before that it had been the baby Moses). I looked and read as many books on the planets as I could, would line up balls on the floor in their orbits, and watch videos. I think this early obsession with space is what fueled my love for Science Fiction. My favorite planet was, and still is, Saturn! :D

I even made up a song about how much I loved Saturn and sang it at one of my Aunt's weddings :) (she was nice and danced to it! :D)

I also knew a lot about Spanish and could count to twenty(which I can still do) and sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

Even though I started Ballet when I was four,  didn't have my first recital until I was five. I remember being a tiny bit nervous right before going on stage but once I got on I thought "This is the coolest thing ever!" XD I did really good on my dance and I knew I definitely wanted to do it again. I loved being on stage and performing and I am very thankful to have taken dance since it propelled me into acting(I asked to be on Barney a lot). 

                                                                   My sixth birthday theme was, as my friend said when he called me before the party "About Space, but mostly Saturn." My Mom and Dad made a cardboard rocket ship, we played games, and made a Saturn cake(we used twinkies for its rings) and several Saturn cupcakes(we used licorice for its rings).
I got really into reading at this age and my favorite books were the Junie B. Jones series and the Magic Tree House series. I also started playing soccer and became very interested in Jewish culture(I had my whole family perform a Sedar which we still do every year).

Here's a picture of my ballet outfit on my second year. I decided I would start doing tap along with ballet on my next year since all the other girls were doing and it being kind of mean to me because I wasn't(I remember getting into an argument with a girl I was friends with about which was better- ballet or tap).

Christmas day(doesn't my hair looks just lovely? XD)

                       My seventh birthday theme was "Pippi Longstocking". I really liked her story since she was the strongest girl in the world- I have always wanted to be a strong person so seeing her being so strong made me want to be like her. :)  I think my costume turned out rather well :)

                       When I was seven I got into many different stories. My Mom starting reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series to me and I also started watching the TV show and I loved it. I also started watching "The Land Before Time" with my sister and our obsession with dinosaurs began :).

I also seven when I started reading "The Chronicles of Narnia" series which sparked my interest in the fantasy genre. I remember getting so excited at the end of "Magician's Nephew" that I knocked my cup over and got water everywhere. I loved the books and wanted to be Lucy so badly(as did my sister). We watched the BBC shows of Narnia several times and were both excited when we heard they were making a movie of the second book. :)

           My sister and I dressed up for Thanksgiving. I was an Indian and my sister was a pilgrim.

I started taking softball and learned to tie my shoe at this age.

                                                     Since I loved being on stage and performing, I got my first part ever in a Christmas pageant at my church- I played one of the angels. I loved doing it but was disappointed that no body applauded when it was over XD.
 That summer, I started Missoula Children's Theater and got in- I was a Raccoon in the play "Little Red Riding Hood." After that I wanted to do acting even more.

                                 I'm playing a video game here- I like this image :)

                        Apparently I went to Disney when I was seven- here's a picture of me in front of the best ride ever- Mission Space. :)

                                          Me in my "I Dream of Genie" costume. My Mom had to pretty much sew everything together :P.

                                      Here I am on my Eighth Birthday with my Kirsten doll. I had recently gotten into the American Girl books(we had read the Molly books) and I wanted Kirsten because she was a pioneer like Laura(however, I didn't particularly like those books). I still liked the doll and I still have it(though her hair is messed up now).

                          My eighth birthday party was German themed(the green, German dress I'm wearing was my Mom's). This was the year I really got into politics- My whole family was campaigning for Howard Dean(who had contacted my Grandpa) during the election- we also campaigned for John Kerry when he won the Democratic nomination. I remember going out and holding signs and traveling from house to house and asking people who they were voting for and encouraging them to vote for Howard Dean. I had the list of Presidents memorized and would say them to anyone who would listen.

                     My cousins, sister, and I have always performed plays on the holidays. Here we  are doing one of our Christmas plays.

                       I really got into reading and listening to books on tape at this age- I must have the books "Running Out of Time" twenty times(I was really proud to be reading a book for ten and up and age eight).

                      I started choir when I was eight and I enjoyed it a lot. I also learned I was allergic to corn at this age :(

                                   I tried out for Missoula Children's Theater again that summer and got cast as the leader of the Venus Fly Traps in "The Frog Prince"; I was the only one with a line which was "Fly Traps! Fly Traps!" (I know, it's silly, but I was very proud about that). This play was a lot of fun and I loved how we got to chase the fly around XD "Finally we got the fly!"

                                                     

                        Me waking up on my Ninth birthday :) (my room looks a lot different now since I now share it with my sister, but the walls are still pink). I'm holding a Baby Blues comic book which I really got into at this age.

                    My Ninth Birthday party was Pioneer/Little House themed.
My Mom and Dad convinced to give the Harry Potter series a try(I had said I didn't like it before- now that I'm older I get it was because I was jealous that they had magic powers and I didn't). My Aunt and Uncle got it for me at this party and my Dad started reading it to my sister and I and we LOVED it! :D I was hooked for page one and I couldn't wait to read more. This began my road to being the geek I am today! :D

Later that year my friends got me into the movies that would shape my life- the Star Wars Saga. They hadn't seen it yet but they were going to soon and were telling us all that they knew about it. Since my sister and I thought it sounded really good, we had our Mom take us to rent two which were "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back".  A New Hope completely blew me away and my obsession with Star Wars, Jedi, and lightsabers began!!! :D I've wanted to be a Jedi ever since.
I also started getting into the EU when my Dad read "Yoda: Dark Rendezvous" to my sister and I.

Another very important thing happened when I was nine- I started the Science Fiction book series that I am currently writing!!! :D. I'd always enjoyed writing and coming up with stories but this year, my sister, cousin, my friends, and I were all coming up with ideas for movies and books. One of my friends was making a science fiction series so I decided I would make one up too. I recently found the notebook I started writing my first rendition of book one in and it was really good for a nine year old(though it had me laughing since some of it was ridiculous and there was no grammar to speak of).

                         It was also at this age that I took my first Communion. We took a class and learned about what it all meant, made banners to hang up in the church(and take home) and made the bread we would use at our first communion. :)

               I got the part of Mary in this year's Christmas Pageant. I had hoped to have one of the guys I was friends with be Joseph but he got another part(I was sad when he moved away- he was really fun to talk to).

         This year in ballet I got to be in the Opening Number of our recital. I was so excited since it was something very special and we were the youngest group to ever do it. That years recital was all about the Seasons.

                                           Me in my tap outfit. This was my last year of doing tap- the next year I did ballet and jazz.

                       In this Missoula Children's Theater production(which was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) I got cast as one of the three skunks who were part of the "Friendly Forest Animals"(I was disappointed at having to be an animal- I had wanted to be one of the dangerous creatures). But it was still a fun play. My sister did Missoula for the first time and was a bat.

                 Here's me on my Tenth birthday :)

       For my tenth birthday activity, we went to a really cool chilldren's museum. In the above pic my sister and I are in a plane cockpit which we pretended was a Podracer. We had so much fun yelling at C3PO and racing Sebulba.

                                         Here I am in one of the rooms being silly- I was doing a little impromptu for my Mom :)

                                    My sister and I playing scenes from an early version of the second book in my book series.
                                  The place had a huge, three story playground outside which we had a lot of fun playing on(image below)

                                                               My sister and I did a combined birthday on my tenth and her eighth since we both wanted to do a Harry Potter theme. We had a really, really cool birthday filled with Hogwarts classes, sorting, and Quidditch

                       The barrier between platforms 9 and 10. You had to go through the slit in the plastic to get to the door.

                                                       Platform Nine and Three Quarters

                            My sister and I with our cakes.

                       When I was ten, I was looking in the library and found the book series"Young Jedi Knights" which I immediately fell in love with. Jaina Solo became my hero and I wanted to be just like her(it's funny, most girls at this age had heroes in pop stars and Hannah Montana(I did like that show) but my hero was the Jedi Jaina Solo. She, along with the many other amazing girl Jedi/characters, are the reason I never felt like I lacked in female Star Wars characters.)

               The December I was ten, my parents went to Guatemala to pick up my little brother. My sister, the rest of my family, and I met them at the airport and we brought him home. At first it was really strange having a brother, having grown up as a four member family, but I soon got used to it and now I can't imagine not having my brother.

                                             Our Christmas gift :)

                                                   My sister and I having fun with one of my cousins. :)

                           This was the last year I did dance. I had decided I wanted to try other things but I did enjoy my last year. I did ballet for the seventh year and my first and only year of jazz. The above picture is of my in my ballet dress- I was really happy to finally get to wear a Tutu in ballet.

                    Me in my jazz outfit. I LOVED jazz, it was really fun. I also thought it was cool that we were doing a song from "Back To the Future" which I had watched before that.

                                                  I got to be under Saturn! XD

                                          This year missoula Children's theater did two plays and I got into both of them. The first one was "The Jungle Book" where I was cast as one of the four Wolf Cubs. It was the first time I'd ever gotten a script for a Missoula play! :D I had quite a few lines! :) Though, it kind of got on my nerves that the teens playing my parents chose favorites and I wasn't the favorite of either of them :P.

                                                         The second Missoula play I did(my sister got into this one) was "Robin Hood where I played one of the Foresters.

                             I found out that one of the local Homeschool groups was going to do a movie of "Cinderella". My sister and I sent in requests to be in it and I got to be one of the girls who played Cinderella and also one of the Step Sisters(my sister didn't want that many lines so she got a smaller part). It was a whole lot of fun, especially since film is what I want to go into.

                                         I know, not your ideal Cinderella, but I had fun doing it, especially since Cinderella was my favorite Disney princess when I was little(now it's Mulan and Belle though I still like her and Ariel).

                                  I was the Cinderella that went to the ball and danced with the Prince(I also was the one who married him at the end*they didn't show it exactly*). My family gave me a hard time about having to dance with a boy(he was really nice so it was okay, though I did find it awkward).

 
                 Me in my Step Sister Outfit (the girl in the black played my Mom and the girl in the white played my sister).

                                      My eleventh Birthday. Eleven was a good year(as was twelve) :D

                                          Me with my stuffed animal Manatee(I even adopted a Manatee; I was really into Manatees that year). :)

                                   Of course I had to get Young Jedi Knights books (this one has three in one).

                                        My sister and I did the combined birthday party thing again this year and had it at a gymnastic place which was really fun. My friends and I ran around the whole time and enjoyed jumping from this wooden structure into the foam pit and swinging from ropes. I was annoyed, however, that they made us dress up as princesses since we were girls(the boys got to be knights). I would have started an argument but I didn't. Annoying stereotypes :P Oh well, I did have a blast running around :D

This year, I got even more into the Star Wars EU. I started reading the Junior Jedi Knights series and I also read "Secrets of the Jedi" which my sister got me for my birthday. I even read some of the New Jedi Order books(Star by Star was my favorite). I also loved playing gameboy, especially with this one girl- we liked to play Lord of the Rings and make the Ring Wraiths come and we'd run away :)

                            (sorry the pics are sideways). I did Acolyte training and got to Acolyte at my church for the first time on Christmas :). I did really well and I enjoy doing it(however, I guess I'm too old so I don't get to do it anymore :P).

                                                     This year, I started several things, including Irish Dance, Band(I played clarinet), and piano. Here I am after going to an Irish Dance performance at a Senior Citizens center.

                         Christmas- We got Revenge of the Sith!!! I screamed really loud when I opened that present! :D

                                                My sister and I , through our choir, got to participate in an Opera(called Sister Maria) at the local University. However, our dumb choir teacher didn't teach us how to sing the words(which were in Italian and Latin); luckily we knew someone who knew Italian so we(our little group) went over to her house and all learned how to say the words. We had a great time(we sang back stage) and it was a really great experience.
 

                                           We started doing the history fair for the first time this year and I chose to do Georg Stellar, the man who discovered and named the now extinct(though there have been sightings) Stellar Sea cow which is a relative to the Manatee and the Dugong. My sister was Queen Elizabeth II. It was a lot of fun and I couldn't wait until the next one.

                                                  Here I am dressed up as Georg Stellar :)

                                                        I'm practicing my clarinet for band

                                                             Dueling my brother

                                                                            Reading "Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe" to my brother.

                                                          Irish Dancing performance. I really liked the capes.

                                   This year for Missoula Children's Theater we did "The Little Mermaid"; while not the best written of the plays, I had a whole lot of fun since I was doing it with two girls who were my friends at the time. I was cast as a "Sea Scout" and I got to do several things throughout the story- like carry a fish, be a huge dragon, and a soldier(I was lucky and got to be one of the Sea Scouts who was a soldier and part of the dragon; it was a lot more fun than being one of the Guards who ran away screaming) :).

                                                                Me as a soldier! :) Look at my sword! :)

                                     "We always roust, plunder, and pillage on Friday. Pretty great way to end the week, don't you think?" "I'm sorry, but, it's Saturday old chap." "It's Saturday? It's Saturday!"

                                          My sister and I in costume; she was one of the Town Criers

     
                                                           During this year, there was an exhibit in a nearby state that had Star Wars costumes, a droid making station, and loads of other Star Wars stuff to look at. We all thought it was really cool when we went.

                                                   I was very excited to hear about a local Children's Theater in our town so I readily signed up for it. This semester(when I first started we did four plays a near but we eventually shortened it to two plays a year) we did the play "Sleepy Hollow." I was cast as a ghost Pirate and one of the girls in the town. I had a lot of fun in the play and I couldn't wait for the next one. Though, I have to say, I HATED the mask they made me wear; on the last performance, after my last scene with it on, I threw it against the wall really hard. And of course, my sword blade kept snapping off. My sister did the theater too but she was in the younger group and did the play "Three of a Kind"(which she didn't like). She also got to have a small part in Sleepy Hollow(that of a maid).

                                              Me as one of the girls in the town/school. I got sort of annoyed during the opening scene because we were supposed to be pretending to converse with people and I had no one to converse with. Though, one thing I thought was cool was when it said all the girls screamed in the school scene I didn't do it. Mwhahahahahahaha! XD

                                      My Twelth birthday :) On this day I went Roller skating(I'd went ice skating several times before so I wanted to give roller skating a try).

                             I find the above picture very poignant. It fits me really well :)

                                Really awesome Volcano cake for a Star Wars birthday :)

                             For my Twelfth birthday party and my sister's Tenth we, for the last time, did a combined party- this time with a Star Wars theme. I dressed up as Jaina Solo and she dressed up as Tenel Ka. We had a blast at this birthday party- we played many games, our favorite being one where we imitated Zam Wessel's changeling status and put on other pieces of clothing to make ourselves new people(my cousin was very clever when he pulled out an apron and put it around his shoulders, declaring himself Super Vader XD).

This was the year I really got into the Lord of the Rings trilogy(I think I watched the films the year before). I loved the books, movies, and the games. I also loved playing games like Robin Hood(SO MUCH FUN!)

                         My sister and I with our awesome Volcano cake. My Mom made the cake and my sister put our action figures on the cake and on the table for decorations(the Obi-Wan is mine and the Anakin is my sister's).

                                                  Here we are with our cousin who dressed up in his Darth Vader suit for the party. :)

                                                           For the second play that semester at the children's theater we did "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" which was a book I had read the year before and really enjoyed. I was really excited for the play and was really happy to be cast as Ralph Herdman, the oldest of the wild group of children in the book(I'd wanted to be Imogene, but oh well). I LOVED doing this play and it is definitely one of the shows I'd love to do all over again.

                                          Me as Ralph Herdman who was being Joseph in the Christmas Pageant. It was kind of odd being Joseph but also pretty funny since how many girls can say they've been both Joseph and Mary :).

 
                                           We're a bad bunch of kids, aren't we ;). From left to right- Imogene, Leroy(the boy on the steps), Claude, Gladys, Ollie, and Ralph.

                                                      You know, I make a pretty good boy. I'm a bad boy ;) XD.

                           During one of the performances(the first one) I got a little carried away(which happens with actors sometimes) and knocked the girl playing my sister to the ground, pinning her. I apologized for it but she was cool with it and later told me that it looked really good since it was in character.

                                                       "Give me the doll, Imogene!" (I stole the doll from her in the play)

                                                     Mary and Joseph attacking the Wise Men XD

                                    Christmas. I definitely got a lot of really good books and movies.

                                                          Me with my History Fair board. This year I did author Frances Hodgson Burnett, the woman who wrote "The Secret Garden", "A Little Princess", and "Little Lord Fauntleroy"(I liked the first two a lot but the last one of the three was really blah).

                        During the new year, I did two plays- one with the Children's theater which I'll get to in a bit and one of the Homeschool theater group which was "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." It was so, so awesome to be able to do The Chronicles of Narnia since it has been a favorite of mind for so long. I auditioned for several roles(Peter, Edmund, the White Witch, and Lucy) and was cast as Peter(it was funny, all the Pevensies were played by girls- the only guy who could act was cast as Aslan). Some really annoying boys who auditioned dropped out because they got all huffy because they thought only boys should play boys(eye roll). I absolutely LOVED this play, it was so, so amazing and fun. Here I am, in the picture above, sitting with the girl who played my brother, Edmund. My sister said that I looked like Little Lord Fauntleroy in this version of my costume XP.

                                       My sister was cast as Lucy(she screamed so loudly when we got the email) and she did a really good job. The girl in the middle played Mr. Tumnus and the girl on the right played The White Witch.

                                      Having a meal with the beavers. The girl in the skirt and the long hair was the girl who played Susan.

                                                    Peter getting his sword and shield from Father Christmas. "These are tools, not toys". My sister and I had a lot of fun with this moment because we teased Susan ;).

                                                 Preparing to start the battle. The battle scene was definitely my favorite part of the whole play- it was so cool to be decked out in(fake) armor and rush into battle. We spent hours choreographing it and it turned it rather well.

                                                                "Charge!!!!" It was really funny because, in the first part of the scene, I was supposed to charge at one member of the White Witch's army and kill him- the script said to stab the person in the shoulder but me being me thought "That wouldn't kill him." So instead, I pretended to slash at his neck. When he fell down I was supposed to crouch down next to him(the director wanted to show the character's sorrow and shock at having done the deed) and the first time I did that, since I felt awkward doing it, I pointed at the guy and whispered "You died". He thought it was pretty funny :).

                                                    Me protecting my brother, Edmund.
         One time during practice the girl who was playing Edmund and I got bored so we decided to get silly during the battle scene. In the scene when the White Witch hurts Edmund he yells out "Peter" and I run over yelling "Edmund!". We did that but we did in slow motion as well as overly dramatic. It was like "Peeeteeer!!" and "Eeeeedmuuuund!" XD

                                       Protecting Edmund from the White Witch(I actually got to fight her, but I get my sword knocked out of my hand and Aslan comes and finishes her).

 
                           

   
                          After the battle scene, the coronation was a favorite part of the play for me. I loved how we got crowned and everything chanted "Long Live King Peter" and so on. During the performance, it was so funny because Susan was late to her coronation XD. What happened was we only had a little bit of time to change from our battle gear(or regular clothes depending on who you were) into our royal outfits. I was fast and got down in time with a few minutes to spare(they had this one guy pretending to play a trumpet; it was like we were being announced). The girl playing Edmund took a little more time but got down their just in time. They kept having to play the same trumpet announcement over and over again while we waited. My sister finally came down but Susan's dress's zipper got stuck so the director and several of the Moms had to go and help her. Then, after she'd finally came down, did we get crowned as Kings and Queens of Narnia.

                     After the coronation we had this little thing of performances which I felt was a little much. Though I was very happy we got to just sit there and watch since I didn't want to have to do the things we were watching(it was pretty much just filler). While we were sitting there, I joked to my friend "We don't have to do anything, we're royalty!" I'd love to do this play again :)

                                                  I look so cool! :)

                                While I was doing the Narnia play, I was also working on "Through the Looking Glass" where I played The Red Queen. This is the largest role I've ever had to date and it was so much fun(I think it's funny that I got to play both a king(Peter) and a queen(Red Queen) at the same time). I had ninety three/four lines to memorize(along with the twenty or so I had as Peter) and I was so glad for the experience.  I got a lot of compliments for my part in this play and I think it pretty much type casted me as a villain(though I pretty much always played a mean character).

                           The White Queen, me as the Red Queen, and Alice(she's the girl who played Imogene). Both of these girls are very talented and I hope they go far :) I loved getting to work with them.

                                                 "Turkey, Alice. Alice, Turkey, Remove the turkey!"

                                         In this year of Missoula we did "Jack and the Beanstalk." This was my favorite of the Missoula plays since I was doing it with two girls who were my friends but I also had some problems since most of the kids made fun of me because I had to wear a mustache :(

                                  I always enjoy VBS but this year was the best; two of my friends at the time came to do it with me and we had a blast!! :D I also got to be in the skit at the beginning of everyday and it was really funny(I was the Bat and I got to scream and freak out three times; so much fun). The person next to me is our Pastor :).
                  My friends and I especially enjoyed the games- we played capture the flag. While playing these two guys wouldn't go to jail when we tagged them so to get them to go, we cornered them(one at a time) and tackled them to the ground, saying "NOW you have to go to jail" before dragging them over there.

                                           During the fall/winter, we did "A Christmas Carol" with the Homeschool play. We had a lot of problems during the play since we only practiced on the stage only once and the director tried to make my friend and I change how we were doing something the day of the show(which you don't DO! >:(). I was one of the narrators(Peppermint) and my sister was the Ghost of Christmas Present. I enjoyed the play a lot but I got frustrated a lot during it as well.

                                       With the Children's Theater, we did the Broadway play called "Into the Woods" which is based on a variety of fairy tales(I watched the Broadway play on DVD and it was very good- just a word of warning, if you do watch the Broadway play, it does have several inappropriate things in it). I played Jack's Mother. While not my top favorite play ever, I still enjoyed it.

                                                             "You good for nothing son!"

                                                             My thirteenth birthday(don't you just love my pajamas?). You know, people act like becoming a teenager is a big deal but when I turned thirteen I didn't feel different. I've definitely changed since I turned thirteen but it took time so that when I turned around and looked back, I can see it. (oh just so you know, I always have waffles for breakfast on my birthday) ;)

                                                On my birthday we went Letterboxing.

                                        For my birthday party since the main thing I wanted to do was play and visit with my friends, we did just that. The girls I were friends with at the time came over and we played Robin Hood for hours outside. I loved playing Robin Hood and on this day we did a really awesome story. So many fun memories :).

This was the year I began reading the Jedi Apprentice series as well as reading the rest of the EU from the beginning. :)

                                                         BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!!! :D On this Christmas, my parents surprised me with a self-published copy of the first book in my series. I screamed so loudly when I got it- best present ever. I sat down after getting and read it- I can't wait to do it for real! :D

                                                          Me with my history fair board. On this year I did Rachel Carson who was an environmentalist and helped save many different habitats.

                                      In this years play at Children's Theater, we did the musical "Godspell" which is a sixties rendition of the book of Matthew from the Bible. We did this around Easter time and it really helped me understand the crucifixion story better. I absolutely loved doing Godspell- it was definitely one of the best plays I've ever done- I had a solo (Learn Your Lessons Well) and I also got to play many different characters in the parables- I was the servant who couldn't pay the other and was imprisoned, I was one of the thieves who beat up the man in the Good Samaritan story, I was one of the goats in the "Sheep and Goats" story, and several other characters. I even portrayed Peter in a sense(I'll explain below). Godspell has such beautiful music and the ending sequence is very poignant. I definitely recommend watching the movie- it's SO GOOD. :)

                                                     We're the weeds that choked the seed (the story where the farmer sows seeds and they either wither, are choked, or grow).

                                        In the play, right when Judas betrays Jesus and comes to take him away, a character pulls out a sword/weapon and tries to attack Judas only to be told "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword" by Jesus. When the directors were discussing who to give the part to, I ran around pretending to fight with a sword(they were discussing this and I just so happened to hear them) and one of the girls who was sitting with them was all "Maegen can do that!" So I ended up getting to do it! I was very happy since I had really hoped I would be able to do it :)

                  During one of our rehearsals, we shook the fence so much it pretty much fell over. Luckily me and the guy I'm standing next to in the above picture, caught on(well I caught on and I told him it was about to fall) so we quickly righted it(on my count) and hurried up to join the crowd carrying the boy playing Jesus out into the audience(we go out into the audience several times which was really fun; we actually started out there) :)



Here's my solo; I sound better now since I hadn't started taking lessons yet when I did this.




                                


                                                   This summer was the last year I did Missoula and the play was that of "Beauty Lou and the Country Beast." I played the older version of her youngest sister, Little Zo. This was definitely one of my favorite Missoula parts and I was actually recognized from this play a year later.

                                                My family and I joked that this little girl was my first fan. She really liked me and thought I was really cool and really good. I love having fans :D.

                                         Here is most likely the reason everyone remembered me(besides my fluffy mass of curls)- I threw a temper tantrum on stage. Well, three in fact. The first one I just screamed and kicked my heels into the ground. The second one I stood up and stomped on the ground before jumping the air and landing on the ground with a thump. The last one was the most fun! In that one I get up, run back and forth screaming my head off, stomping on both sides of the stage before coming to the center and getting onto the ground and pounding my fists and legs into the ground, rolling on my back and doing the same thing, before then running back to my spot in the line, arms crossed. I ended up getting welts on my wrists and ankles from pounding the carpet in early practice and wood when we practiced on stage.

                                                                          My sister, our cousin, and I going to see the amazing play of Wicked. We absolutely loved it!!! :D Definitely my favorite musical. It is one of the few shows to actually make me cry.

   
                                                  Me as Martin Luther in a church skit putting up the 95 Theses





            Suessical!!!!! That was such an awesome play!! :D Definitely another one of my all time favorites(P.S. - my fourteenth birthday happened while we were working on this play).
I played the second of the three Wickersham brothers(yeah, I play guys a lot; I guess I'm good at it XD). I really loved singing the songs and acting the part. The best part of it all was that I was doing acting class with two of my best friends at the time. I love acting class but I'm not close friends with any of the kids so getting to do a show with someone I was so close with was such a great opportunity.



         We were joking that we were like a motorcycle, rock band, gang XD (we had this whole story going on about how we all played instruments in the band and the reason we were mad at Horton was because he messed up our practice; I played the electric guitar)





          When Horton and Gertrude kissed in the play, we all three went gross and collapsed to the ground and I pretended to throw up in the cauldron.

                                        The day before my birthday, for my activity, we went and I got myself singing a few songs, recorded.

                                                      My fourteenth birthday

                                               My fourteenth birthday party was a Medieval Mystery Dinner where we had to find out who had killed King Stephen. I portrayed his daughter Princess Sarah in the tangled web of lies and deals. We had a lot of fun figuring out who the murderer was and making alliances as we went along. :) Definitely one of my favorite birthday parties :)

                                                            The three of us plotting to take over all the kingdoms. I had to lie to many people to make them believe I was on their side. Mwhahahahahaha XD

                                                                   An old lady

                              Me as a girl in the local bar. I had this whole little act I would do every time during the scene and it was pretty funny.


                                    The next play I did with Children's Theater was Beauty and the Beast. In that one I portrayed Madame D'Arque(spelling?) who ran the town asylum, one of the wolves,  and a woman in the town. It was a fun play but I wish I could have had a better part.

                                                 My sister and I in our wolf costumes. We had so many changes we had to figure out ourselves how to make them work.

                                               Me as Madame D'Arque with Gaston(the guy who played Gaston was actually really nice and he played the role really well).

                                     Here is the last play I did with Children's Theater(we did a cabaret during the last year but that was different). The play was "Thirteen" and was the worst play I've ever read. The characters acted all weird. I mean, they were thirteen and they were acting like really immature sixteen year olds; they were all obsessed with inappropriate stuff and kissing which I found really weird since when I was thirteen I definitely did NOT act like that.

I also didn't like the part I got- that of a Rabbi and just a random girl at the school. Interesting fact- I was the only girl(being a girl) who wore a modest top. I also really hated the song "Being a Geek" which basically paints geeks as friendless, lame, weak, losers which I know ins't true at all. Now, whenever I think of that song I sing to myself 'Being a geek is the awesome-st thing in the world!' Geeks rock and don't you forget it, writer of this play!!
Oh and the band playing our music was so kriffing loud! I had to shout my only singing line to be heard over their blaring noise; it annoyed me so much that I yelled at them to be quiet(of course, they didn't hear me)

Here are some things I actually did like about the play or practicing it. 1: During the scene in the class room where they're talking about how so and so was going to do "The kiss" with so and so I yell "EWWW!!"       2: Me and one of the other girls had this really neat thing we did during the theater scene(I hate the song); in the scene we're watching a horror film and she gets scared and I pat her on the arm and saying "it's just a movie" to help her calm down(I was pretending to be the only kid who liked the movie). 3: Once while we were practicing, I had the Revenge of the Sith book with me so  could pretend it was a textbook and I started reading it and fazed out. 4: I liked the library scene where I get books and where I walk out and look at a book*which was Wild Space* and wave at a girl who roller skates by. 5: A few of the songs were actually really good. I especially liked "A Little More Homework", "What it Means to be a Friend" and "Thirteen".

                                                          My fifteenth birthday. This was the year I got into such television shows as "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

                              For my birthday, I wanted to go to a Taekwondo class to get a feel for what it was like(we watched The Karate Kid before going). I ended up joining this school around a year later. I had a lot of fun and retained quite a few things I learned at this first class. I'm so glad we joined this school- it's the best in town. :)

                                                      My fifteenth birthday party was an Improv theme. We played improv acting games and had a lot of fun! :)

                                                            Playing taxi cab :)

My sister and I did the Napoleonic wars for out History Fair project. I dressed up as Napoleon and my sister dressed up as Lord Nelson from Britain. Our costumes were really cool and were probably the rest ones there that year :)

                                      This year, after two years of study, I was finally confirmed along with one of my friends from church. It went really well and I got a sword which I cut the cake with. :)

                               The summer I was fifteen I auditioned for the play "Annie" at a local community theater and got the part of the orphan Pepper. I had so much fun at this play!! It was actually the best play I have ever done. Never have I felt that close to a cast- we were all tightly knit and we all worked together marvelously. I want to do it AGAIN!!!!! D: D:
I also got a lot of praise for my role and I was happy people picked up on how I was trying to add depth to Pepper and show the vulnerable lost little girl in the tough bully. :)

                                                Me holding Pepper's baby doll. When Miss Hannigan would kick it off the stage, I'd make an angry, crying sound and scoop it up.

My sixteenth birthday. I got a phone, a couple of Jedi Apprentice books, and a few other things. 

                                                My sixteenth birthday party was a scavenger hunt which was a whole lot of fun. :) I got a car at the party

                                                      Since turning sixteen I've done many things, most of which you've heard on this blog(Taekwondo, Celebration VI, Disney, etc). You all have already heard about my past year so now I come to the present. :D

                                I hoped you enjoyed the post! :) I had a good birthday :) We had gluten free waffles and donuts for breakfast, I watched the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while eating Ice Cream(and it was really, really good!! :D Very happy with how they ended it), I went to a cool Asian restraunt for dinner, got a gluten free chocolate chip cookie cake, and for gifts I got- the Jedi Apprentice books "The Deadly Hunter" and "The Call to Vegeance", a couple of shirts, and a hair drier. I also got some pretty cool cards(one being a Star Wars one that had the "These aren't the Droids your looking for" conversation said to you. :D
Sorry the post was so long!! :D
May the Force be with you...Always
Jedi Shena Tokala out