School. Music. Life.

I live in a time where I have to go to school so I can do what I want.

So, here I am.

Going to UVU.

And loving it. :)

I think that I needed to go back to school when I did because I was going  crazy just working all the time. I feel like the store has been such a mess this summer and I barely survived it. But being able to sing every day and talk about music like it's a way of life (because it IS!) just makes me happy.

There are 3 audition choirs on campus: Women's choir, the Masterworks Chorale, and the Chamber Choir. I was in Women's choir all last year and loved every second of it! Singing in an all-female chorus is such a unique experience. I also loved all the women I sang with and our director is fabulous! This year, however, with work, I could  only audition for the Masterworks Chorale. I went into my audition and could hardly look at Cherilyn (the Women's Choir director) because I was so sad. But as I finished my audition, Dr. Criddle looked and me and asked, "Are you sure you don't have time for 2 choirs? I would have called you back for Chamber." A-what?!! Chamber Choir is the "elite" choir on campus. Normally, Dr. Criddle picks choir voices for that group. This year, however, he's changing it up a bit:  the choir is going to China in the spring so he wanted to gather up the good voices in the vocal department. So, it's official: Dr. Criddle thinks I'm GOOD. That was definitely a confidence booster for me, as it's hard to please him.

I'm so excited to be working with Tyler again this year in voice lessons. His wife (who is a contralto) is now teaching voice lessons on campus, so I considered moving to her studio. Plus, she's awesome and who wouldn't want to be Val's student?! Anyway, I felt, though, that Tyler really pushed me to find my soprano voice. I have a dark color and a wide vibrato, so most voice teachers have put me in the mezzo-soprano category. But the thing is... I can hit an E above the staff. Yes, folks. That is 3 ledger lines above the staff. B above the staff is a comfortable soprano note. I can hit it. Comfortably. I like singing low and jazzy in choirs because it pushes my range lower (I can sing tenor better than most tenors, lets be honest here), but I love crooning above the staff.

Ok, nerd moment over...

Bryan and I are putting together a small business plan so I can start teaching voice and piano lessons. I need to be singing every day, all the time. Teaching will help me do that :) I think we'll start small--just Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday teaching while I work part-time at the store and still go to school. When I get enough students, then I can go to work and tell them, "It's been real, but I'M OUTTA HERE!" (I'm still working on the exact script, but you get the idea).

Bryan is turning into a real freelancer. Yes, ladies and gent's:  He's made a COMMERCIAL. And, he just book ANOTHER commercial through the same advertising company. They really like him. Hopefully this means that he'll get all their small projects (6-8 per year) and then we'll be able to finally start saving for a new car, a condo, and a baby (not pregnant).

Here's the 30 second spot, if you haven't already seen it on TV:


Yes, my super awesome, amazingly talented hubby did that. I'm so proud :)

My family is going to Disneyland in October. My whole family. That's all 8 of my siblings, spouses, grandkids, and my cute parents. Bryan and I are trying to figure out if we're going or not. I really want to go, but money is tight and we're trying to figure out if it's just the right time.... I sure hope we can go. I love seeing my family and I don't get to see them very often. And plus, it's the happiest place on earth! Where Bryan and I honeymooned over 2 years ago!

I guess I was worrying a little too much...

Last night went like this:

Bryan:  Have you checked out or kickstarter page today?
Me: I've been avoiding it all day, to be honest.
Bryan: Well, you should.
Me: Why can't you just tell me?
Bryan: You just need to see it for yourself.
Me: (walks over to laptop. Turns it on. Goes to kickstarter page) $1,000?!!!


Yes, people. It's crazy, but it's happening.

Be part of something BIG!
Make the pledge!
_______________________________________________________

On to normal life things....

Work has been insane!
We're doing our big semi-annual sale right now and it has been the BUSIEST semi-annual sale I have been a part of in my 3 years at my job.
SO CRAZY.
But it's been good because we need the business.

I miss school. The end.

Bryan's work is absolutely crazy, too. They have a bunch of shoots going on right now, locally and all over the country, and Bryan has been alone in the camera room for about 3 weeks now because his boss is shooting and his co-worker is on set with the boss.
Poor Bryan, he gets calls all the time from people asking about check-outs. But he doesn't mind. It just gives him more to do.

Lately, I've been listening to/reading the General Conference talks from this last April. I worked all day on that Saturday, so I never got to hear the talks. It has been a sweet blessing and experience reading the words of the prophets. It helps me know that the heavens are opened; that God did not and will not leave us alone. He wants to give us guidance and show us that he has infinite concern for us. I know that one of the ways our Father in Heaven does this for us is by giving us prophets and apostles who know the needs of the Church and of the world. They are good men who love God and the gospel.

Things are going... Just going. I hope I can keep up.

I feel so NERVOUS!

So, Bryan has been working SO hard on a script, a business plan, and a Kickstarter campaign for about 6 months now.

In the next 48 hours, we launch our Kickstarter campaign.

Tonight, I talk to several siblings and friends about how to pledge and help make our dream a reality.

And... I'm TERRIFIED.

I'm the kind of person whose mind always goes to the worst-case-scenario.

This is slowly turning into one of those moments.

You see, people look at Bryan and I and think we're crazy.

Yes, Bryan quit school.
Yes, I'm working full-time and going to school so Bryan can be home more to work on this whole thing.
Yes, we're taking some huge risks starting this business.

But let me just say this:


When you look down on us-- and vocalize it, for that matter-- for taking a chance on our dreams now when we have the time and motivation to do it, it doesn't help.


You know what does help though? Support. Any support you can give.

So, this is why talking to my siblings and friends is becoming scary...
I'm afraid they don't believe in us enough to make the pledge.

Can I ask my readers something?

Don't you want to be part of something that could change someone's life?

When it's live, I'll post a link to our Kickstarter page so you can be part of something that will change not just our lives, but everyone's who is involved in this project...

If you want to, follow our journey here.

Believe in us. It sure is a lonely road to making your dreams come true.

_ _ _ 
I'm sorry this post is kind of bi-polar and not really me, but it's how I'm feeling right now...

Hello.

I'm Kelsey, and I suck at life.

Well.... Blogging. Yes, I suck at blogging. I honestly love it, but I'm terrible at keeping up! I can never figure out why!

As a little update to our busy life, Bryan is doing fantastic! He's working on two commercials right now--on his own! Yep! Ladies and 'Gents, my cute hubby is doing his own production work! He's excited but still kinda... I'm not sure how to describe it. Stress? Anxiety? idk. Meh, whatever! He's living the dream :)

Me, on the other hand, I'm just cruising along with school. I'm come to reason with the fact that it's going to be about 3 years instead of 1.5 years before I graduate, but I'm doing what I love and I love what I do! My voice teacher has been away since the end of October doing The Barber of Seville in Beijing, China. (Poor soul, his life is so hard... NOT!) He comes back after Thanksgiving and honestly, I'm SO HAPPY. I've been practicing every day and working on my music, but I'm just ready to have him back. Other than that, work is work and all that jazz.

So, in ONE WEEK... Bryan and I are trekking down to Phoenix to see my family for Thanksgiving. I honestly can't tell you how happy I am to be (1) getting out of Utah and (2)getting away from the cold and bracing myself for snow. 70 degrees, here we come!

I need to do some venting...

Okay, so it's not ANGRY venting. I just need to openly talk about how I feel....

So, my boss (the owner of the store I work at) is kind of crazy. Well, he's like a good person, just not the best boss in the world. As in, he curses at us, gets mad easily ( like REALLY easily ) and I just feel like he doesn't express himself very well.
Anyway, so I get guilt tripped REALLY easily. Like, if you tell me that you didn't like the sandwich I made you for lunch that day, I'll feel bad about it for like three days. No joke. I'm serious.
So, my boss called our store three times today and I was involved in some way or other with all those calls and he cursed TO me (not at me, but TO me) twice in one sentence. Yeah. Sometimes I wish I could tell him that I don't appreciate his cursing, but he's kinda scary. So, continuing, he called two more times upset, and then he sent me a kinda angry email. It was only one line, but as I read it, I could hear him saying it and that didn't help at all.
So, the reason why I need to vent is because I hate crying over how my boss treats me. And the thing is, I know he doesn't realize how all of us feel about it because all of us just put a face on in front of him and then when he leaves, we all basically break down in whatever way we do. Personally, I end up crying and ranting to my husband. It's never good. And then I have nightmares about it. Dead serious. Nightmares. About work. never good.
I just pray everyday that God will touch my boss's life that way he can have some peace and have a good head when things go wrong. I literally pray for him BY NAME. I'm just glad that God answers my prayers. But it's still hard on those days when my boss doesn't let the spirit touch him and he just... GOES. :(
Sad day.

Oh man. Update. Much needed.

It's been a while since I've been on. I know I'm terrible, but HEY! I have a life, too!!! Not that I'm telling people who blog regularly that they don't have lives because then they wouldn't have anything to blog about. Right. Anyway.

So, Update:

Bryan got the job at LDS Motion Picture Studios! WOOT DIGGITY!!! It's just been fabulous and stinkin' amazing for him (and for me because now he has something he likes to do and he's not complaining as much. Poor guy, I didn't put up with it very well). He works in the camera/equipment check-out room where he basically does what I just said: checks out cameras/equipment. BUT, lucky for him, he works under the DP -- that's Director of Photography; took me about a week or so to figure it out, so I thought I'd clarify to those that were reading so you wouldn't have to look at that sentence a million time's trying to figure out what "DP" meant. You're welcome.

ANYWAY, so George is DP which means if he needs help on set, my cute hubby gets to go and help. YEAH! WAY COOL! He's gotten to go on set twice already and it's just been awesome for him and he's in heaven on those days. I love him so much.

I took tours at both UVU and BYU and I haven't really gotten a good idea about either school. I'm planning on meeting with advisors soon and then I hope to decide which school I'd rather go to. I plan on trying out for scholarships in the winter and hopefully that will pull and whether or not I get accepted. If I don't, then I'll just continue working and supporting my cute hubby until I get another opportunity to go to school (whenever that will be).

I had the most wonderful experience last week that made me realize how important it is to have faith in our savior, Jesus Christ. He will take care of us. It isn't a matter of maybe, but a matter of, "Am I going to let him suffer more than he already has by doubting him?" God takes care of all his children. We need to have faith and know that the atonement is real. We need to believe Christ when he says, "Take my yoke upon thee, and I shall give thee rest." I can do anything through the mercy and love of God and Christ. They love me and they help me continue on through life.

Now, PICTURES!!! They're like, really late, but here they are!

Disneyland! Day 1 of Honeymoon

Disneyland, Day 2!

LA temple, Day 4

One of Bryan's pictures from on set for the extended scenes of "Joseph Smith: the Prophet"

Sorry for those of you who wanted to see pics of my bike. Apparently, our camera erased ALL of the pictures from my birthday. Yes, ALL of them. :( *sniffles......

THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYERS!!!

First off, I just want to thank all of those who have been praying for Bryan and I over the last few days. Bryan received emails back from BOTH the jobs he applied for informing him that he will know by the end of next week whether or not he has an interview.
We went to the Provo temple on Friday night for our date night. It was just wonderful to sit in the peace and beauty that is the Lord's house. Bryan and I are really starting to feel that we could start our wedding video business. Bryan has been very diligent with his research and we have worked together with coming up with prices and packages. I really feel like this could work, and I know that it is partially because we have such a loving Heavenly Father that wants us to find JOY IN THE JOURNEY!
I'm starting to get used to the idea of staying at Scoreboard. It works, ya know? Good pay, good coworkers. Yeah, it's going to be stressful, but that's just work. I think that, once Bryan starts making money as well, if I join a dance studio or find a voice teacher, I'll be able to really let go of my stresses.
I got a new calling a few weeks ago; Relief Society music coordinator/assistant pianist. I'm actually really excited. It's getting me back into the groove of playing the piano. It's good to just let go for an hour or two every week (I should probably play more, but I'm a terrible person).

Now that I've realized that Vee is the only one who reads my blog...

I just giggle :)
I enjoy writing here, but I don't feel like I do it often enough.
I think God is trying to tell me to stick to Scoreboard because I think I'm getting a promotion. My manager, assistant manager, and I have been talking and when we move into our new store, I'll become the Team Rep for our store. That's kind of a big responsibility, but it comes with a raise... So, yeah. I think I can do it. I'm trying to come up with better organization methods NOW while I have the chance so by the time we move, I can move with full force!
Bryan applied for a few new jobs! I'm just so excited! I really hope he gets one of them. They would help so much with his schooling and his future career in film.
We've been married for 2 months TODAY! Which means, sadly... THANK YOU CARDS. Man, they're annoying! I feel like I'm writing the same thing on every card! How many ways are there to say "Thank you?"
-Thank you
-Thanks
-Thanks so much
That's all I got... Yeah, my cards and really varied.