as of late

salutations dear ones,
it has been quite the long while since summer, and I realize that I never wrote a blog about the things that I did throughout. I apologize for that. so, I am making up for it by writing it out now. here we go...

this summer, a lot of things happened. so many things, that in fact, I am going to forget to mention some of them. if you were a part of any of the unmentioned activities, please do not be offended. there's just not enough space to blog.

in the beginning (after God created the heavens and the earth), and all throughout my summer, I worked with arts with a mission (AWAM)'s summer performing arts camps (that I have been a part of, or working with, since I was quite a bit younger than I am now).

the first camp took place in tyler, texas. I lead the "D group" which is the highschool group. I was in charge of working with this group everyday, and was the point person for all things D group. last year was my first year leading this group in tyler. it is a lot of fun, and a lot of work, work that is well worth it.

 tyler campers performing at splash kingdom water park

tyler campers praying for a man we met on our outreach to dallas

the second camp took place in dallas, texas. I was also in charge on the D group in dallas. the dallas camp is geared more towards reaching inner city youth, and calling them out to the more that God has intended for their lives. the week in dallas is a spiritual battle. contending for the lives of the youth who come each day.

taylor and I... she was my right hand girl for the tyler and dallas camps

the third took place in chicago, illinois. chicago is my favorite city in the united states, each summer that we run our camp in chicago feels like coming home to me. I was also the D group coordinator in chicago, as well as a small group leader.

my small-group (the group we meet with daily,
to talk about how Jesus is rocking our worlds)
we always meet in the elevator. it's our thing every year

and the fourth, in goshen, indiana (this was the first year that we (AWAM) ran a camp in goshen. it was horse and buggy central. it was so cool).

I have mentioned the camps before, and that's because I love them. I believe in the works that God has done in and through the lives of the participants in each camp, each year. if you want to know more about the camps you can "click here" and you will be taken directly to the camp portion of the AWAM website (which I designed, by the way. it's my first full website to design.) (one of the products of my spring)

along with the 4 awam camps that I worked with, I also ran a "star" musical theatre camp at the tyler civic theatre, here in tyler, obviously. and I directed the chiluns in a mini-production of the play "antshillvania"

my little "infANT" trying out her costume

this summer we had a group of youth that have participated in our camps, as well as other various awam activities, through the years join us for our summer "artreach"

 this is the goshen group of volunteers

(you can also read a bit about artreaches on the awam website). artreaches are how I (and many of my friends, who are also now in full-time missions) first really got involved in missions during our summers. the goal of arts with a mission is "to raise up an army of artistic ambassadors" and that is exactly what they have done, and continue to do. I consider myself very privileged to get to be a part of awam as staff.

in between the four camps, some of these youth, as well as a group from my home church "new covenant church" (from here in tyler) joined awam and headed to joplin, missouri, where massive tornadoes tore apart a huge portion of the city, to do relief work.

our joplin group outside of "hope" highschool

 

 the other letters of "joplin" were ripped off by the storm

but hope remains

 armed with change collected by participants of our tyler camp (as well as others from around the world who heard about, and were moved to participate) as part of AWAM's "you CAN bring CHANGE" project.

where you take and ordinary can and go and collect as much spare change as possible, and then use that change to bring a positive change to this world.

during our time in joplin, we did de-construction of homes with Americorps:

mi familia sorting through the rubble of a home

art therapy with a variety of classes at a local elementary school with Art Feeds:

Jenica, with students from stapleton elementary

and more art therapy with multiple YMCA locations throughout the city:

I was amazed by the stories of the people I encountered; by the hope that was so evident when you looked in their eyes, despite the utter devastation that surrounded so many of them. whether they had lost a home, a friend, or a family member, the resilience of their spirit was inspiring!

another thing I found inspiring during my time in joplin, was getting to reconnect with some heart-friends from my dts, the paxtons.

these guys are something else, and I was quite blessed to get to spend time with them. let me tell ya. click here for the link to their website (and buy one of their albums while you're there. quality music, from some quality people)

well, that is a bit of some bits of my summer...

here is my shout-out to my friends that moved away from tyler at the end of this summer. I love you dearly, and anxiously await the time that our paths do come together again.
first, we have regina; she moved back to California at the very end of july

and more recently to leave my sight, we have julianne; she just moved to germany to do a dts at the beginning of september. you can check out her blog by clicking here

lastly, we have my momma. she is only gone for 2 weeks, but she is gone all the same. she is in norway teaching at 2 different training schools. one of which is where I did my dts. please be praying for her as she shares on God's original and redemptive purpose of the arts. and that jet lag will not steal all her sleep away from her. (yesterday was her birthday)

ha det, and thanks for reading

momma

today is my beautiful and fantastic mother's birthday. she is in norway, and I just wanted to post saying

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMSY!!!!! 

I love you so much that I used capitals, and multiple exclamation points (if you know me, you know that that means something special). 

you are the best mom in the world. I love you to the moon and back.

are you ready for some football

At the cowboys thanksgiving day game, my first ever pro football game. Thank you uncle Al!

how it all PLAYed out. hah

dear friends, family, and strangers from around the globe that have just happened to stumble upon my blog, welcome and thank you for reading.
well, last weekend's performances of "it's a wonderful life" and "peter pan" went swimmingly, and altogether "wonderful". pun pun pun. gosh, I'm full of 'em today...

but for really, all the shows were great, and we had a full house for each one. so proud.


on monday and tuesday the civic theatre (where the peter pan play I co-directed took place) held auditions for "the diary of anne frank"

(my very favorite play in the world) and seeing how it's my favorite I couldn't help but go and audition. and glory be, this wonderful play just happens to have rolls within the age range of my brother, sister, and father (who I talked into coming and auditioning as well) how often does a family get to audition together? it was a neat experience, getting to watch and cheer on my family as they read for the parts, and seeing the annex begin to glimmer to life as each one stepped back in time, back into the lives of such inspiring people. I cannot wait to see this production!

it's a wonderful life

this fall I have had the privilege of assisting my mum with (and being wardrobe wizard for) a theatre class she teaches at a local private school (kings academy). this friday and saturday they are performing the play they've been working on this semester: "It's a wonderful life"

here is the p.s.a. for the production:



you should come and check it out! it will surely get you in the proper holiday spirit.

also this saturday, the musical theatre class I co-direct with my mom will be performing our musical rendition of "peter pan"!

this is sure to be a jam-packed and exciting week of shows and many dance classes. I'll keep you posted on how everything turns out.

ha det bra (goodbye in norwegian (directly translated: have it good))

there's a first time for everything

At my first football game. Ever. Took me 20 years, some east texan i am...

from my phone. say what?

I can post to my blog with my phone! what will they come up with next?

hey:

http://www.artswithamission.org

hola amigos! so, today when I logged on to my account, they told me that my blog had been deleted. I am glad to see that the internet was wrong. yay! it's still here.
sigh of relief.

today marks the day of my last final for this school year. it was in united states history, and I am very glad that it is over.
another sigh of relief.

on another happy note, i didn't even have to take my english composition final, due to the fact that my grade in the class was already an a. as my teacher put it "An A is an A is an A. You can take the final if you want, but you do not need to." (I took it anyway, just for kicks and giggles)
yet another sigh of relief.

this is just my happy blog, because I can't fall asleep. hope you enjoyed it.
that's all...

oh! except for this amazing slam poetry video that my mom showed me today. enjoy this too!

peace

it has been much too long

dear friends and family,
i apologize for the great length of time that it has taken me to get here. (and by here I mean back to blogging) life has been wonderfully busy, and i have let my life updates to the interweb get away from me. it's not something that i am happy about, so i am doing something about it.
alrighty, what have we missed... quite a lot now that I am starting to think about it... I will start at the last place I left you, and fill you in with little excerpts of a few things. if a certain "thing" catches your attention, and you wish to hear more about it, please, don't hesitate to shoot me a comment, email, or facebook message about said "thing"

*inhale* let us begin...
so, since my last blog, summer drew to a close with the 3rd and final performing arts summer camp, which happened in tyler, texas. (the city in which i currently reside, by the way) it was an amazing and Jesus-lovin-filled camp. hallelu-yer. followed up by a momma-daughter get away with haysoos, to the beautiful redding california.

and as i hinted to in the previous paragraph i made the decision to stay in tyler to work with Arts With A Mission. i have been so completely blessed being on staff with AWAM, God has, and continues to open, so many doors that it has become a huge adventure exploring each open passage.

open doors such as...
being the costume designer and assistant stage manager of the production of "it's a wonderful life" put on by "k.a.c. school" and directed by the fabulous, and ever-so-talented marlene dickson (a.k.a. coolest momma on the globe)

teaching dance at the studio on main

partnering with the local ymca and teaching dance there as well

and most recently with the tyler civic theatre, working with a musical theatre class!

I have been very blessed by so many things this past year, and look forward in excitement for what God is going to do in this upcoming year.

for those of you that I had talked to about my plans of revisiting india at the end of this month with my family... I just wanted to let you know that it is not looking like it is going to happen, due to lack of funds for the journey. (despite my usual distaste for using faces in my writing, I think this one deserves a =( p.s. I have no problem with other people using smileys, it's just a personal thing for myself. in some cases i actually find them rather endearing. in case you were feeling self conscious or something) But thank you for your prayers, and excitement you shared with me, it is always so encouraging to know that I have the support of love behind me.

also, this past week i sent in my "sketchbook project" sketchbook. if you haven't heard about the sketchbook project, or the art house co-op in general, i encourage you to change that. i have the link to their website down one post. if you're interested in seeing some of my drawings, i am planning on making an album on my facebook later this week. check it out - check it out!

shalom