Wicked: A review by Kendle

Memorial weekend Kendle, my mother, and I made our way to Spokane to see the totally fabulous and magical production of Wicked. Here are Kendle's thoughts about the day:


Okay, first this is one of the only (awesome) plays I've seen.  I thought the coolest prop was a dragon that breathed fire -- aka red smoke.  We got to sit in row F.  Good for me 'cause I'm pretty short.  When we finaly got into the event center I was super excited.  My top 2 favorite songs were Popular and Defying Gravity.  The main characters in the play were Galinda, (Glinda later on) Elphaba, Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose, The Wizard of Oz, Chistury, (that was a flying monkey), Madam Morrible, and the fellow Ozians.  There was one part I don't recommend for kids age 6 and under. I thought it was just loud and violent in one scene. (The part where the Wizard's big talking head moves around and makes lots of noise.) Oh, and did I mention in the beginning it had a big map of the Emerald City? My favorite scene was when they sing Defying Gravity and Elphaba's a witch and her dress is HUGE!  It's like her dress just magically grew. 

I will just add that Kendle had a huge smile on her face for the majority of the show and her eyes got really big quite a few times. I'm so glad it worked out that my mom was able to come with us as well. It was the best girls day ever! After the show we walked the water front and the park, Kendle climbed the huge red wagon and rode the carousel, and we stopped in at Cyrus O'Leary's for the pie we'd been craving all day. The weather was perfect to boot. My mom and I concluded we MUST do that more often.

Girls Weekend

Friday morning Riley's appointment in Grandview got cancelled so he encouraged me to go with my mom and help my sister move. I had about a half-hour to take a shower, pack a bag, and make sure everything was in order for me to leave him and the kids for the next three days. He's never had to be with the kids that long by himself, but he assured me everything would be fine and he felt confident in his fatherly skills. :)

I got to my parents, helped load up a few more things and we snapped a few pictures before we left.











(way to slouch down in this one to make me feel tall)

We caravanned down the road to Corvallis and made it there by late afternoon. The traffic through Portland was horrible so we didn't make as good of time as we wanted to.

Tamra will be living with one of her good friends from high school and their apartment is not too far from OSU's campus. It looks kind of old on the outside, but the inside looks pretty good. New carpet and flooring and fresh paint. Besides the ugly orange counter tops, and nasty cupboards, the kitchen isn't too bad and they have almost all new appliances. It is easy to find, and right by a nice little park with sand volleyball courts and softball fields.

(Gotta love college furniture)

We unpacked the cars and then started helping Tam unload her "stuff". We got the bed set up, furniture arranged, a few pictures hung, clothes put away, and almost all of the boxes unpacked in an hour or so. Not bad right? We were joking that if we would have had the guys with us, it would have been a million times more complicated.

We decided to take a break because it was about 100 degrees, and no apartments have air conditioning down there. The humidity was unbelievable and we were sticky and sweaty and we needed cold air FAST! Chinese food sounded good and we ate really slow to enjoy the cold air before heading back to the heat. We needed to do some shopping, and at least the car felt good while we drove around. We hit quite a few stores and got some big fans, which probably ended up saving our lives and our sanity through the weekend.

When we got back to Tam's apartment we were completely exhausted and ready for bed. My mom and I were "roughing" it and had brought sleeping bags to camp out on the floor. It sounded good in theory, but after about half an hour we were complaining. Then, just as we started drifting off to sleep with the fan blasting on us, the guys in the apartment upstairs decided to turn their music up and the bass was thumping so loud it sounded like they were stomping up there. So at one in the morning we were laying there, hot and uncomfortable and listening to loud bass. Oh, the joys of being in a college town. We were also sleeping with one eye open due to the large spider we tried to kill before we went to sleep that escaped under the baseboard heater. Yikes!

Saturday we did some more shopping, looking for cheap furniture and a table mostly. I can't believe how much Corvallis has grown in the last few years. We shopped all over Corvallis and Albany and then headed back to the apartment to help Tam's friend unload her things and put together furniture. Later that night we got a nice surprise that these guys were in town at my sister-in-law Debbie's parents' house there in Corvallis. They came over to see the apartment and then my mom and I went back with them to enjoy some cool air and watch the Olympics for a bit. Deb's parents are so nice, and it is great to have people like that close by in case Tam ever needs help.

That night my mom and I were drifting off to sleep when BOOM - a huge clap of thunder woke us right up and made us sit up thinking a bomb had gone off. There was a huge thunder storm and it poured down rain. Lightning lit up the sky and the apartment windows. It was nice to have some cooler weather rolling in and the rain smelled good. After the storm started fading away, the people upstairs (must be their one a.m. ritual) started blasting their loud music with the bass thumping away. It was a long night.

Sunday morning we woke up to some cooler weather, it was such a pretty day. There was a hint of fall in the air. I tried to straighten my hair for church, but the humidity and the curl in my hair just don't mix. I even used some non-frizz stuff in my hair, and it didn't help. We got dressed for church and took Tamra to the student ward on campus. We met the Bishop who was very nice and discovered his son is in my parents ward back home. It's a small world. The ward was packed and it seemed about 1,000% cooler than when I was there ten years ago. A super cute returned missionary gave a great talk (good first impression for my little sis) we enjoyed a somewhat strained version of "Amazing Grace" on the harp, and then listened to an excellent talk by their assigned High Councilman who encouraged them to befriend each other and become a close ward family while there at school. It was a really good meeting. One of the other really cool things is that the Institute is right on campus and when you sign up for Institute classes they give you a parking pass sticker for your car, so Tam can park there during the day if she wanted and be that much closer to her classes elsewhere on campus, and for all of the football games, which is what my dad and brothers really care about. HA.

I really love Corvallis, and I know that Tamra will love it too and have a fun time there. I love driving around and seeing orange and black, and OSU stickers, flags, and signs everywhere. I wish I could be as big of a WSU fan since I've lived in Washington for the last eight years, but I don't think it's gonna happen. My mom and I had a great visit on the drive back home and I knew my family had been missing me while I was away. I didn't get home until about 9:30 Sunday night and I was so excited to open the front door and give them all hugs. It's amazing what a little time away can do for your attitude and really makes you appreciate coming home again. My kids both looked older and Riley looked relieved. He had done a great job with Kendle and Morgan and the house was clean.

So now that I know what a great job he can do, I'm already thinking about another girls trip...............................

Custer's never let's me down

Yesterday was just one of those near perfect days. In the afternoon, my mother and my sister accompanied me to the Custer's Christmas bizarre at the TRAC. My mother and I go every year and it is always fun to see all of the crafts and Christmas items on display. It jump-starts the Holidays for me to hear the Christmas music playing and smell the wonderful smells. I always find something really cute for my home, and this year was no exception. I've been searching for that perfect little black table, and low and behold yesterday was my lucky day.
















Isn't it cute? What a steal, I couldn't believe it. Not only is it an exact fit for the little corner in my kitchen, but it looks like it was made to pair with my black shelf that hangs above it.

This table from a store would have been at least twice as much as what I got it for, so I couldn't have been happier. After leaving Custer's, we drove to the Country Mercantile to shop some more. They have a ton of Christmas decor and ornaments on display, and of course the yummiest selection of goodies for miles around. It took us a long time to get out of there because there were so many neat things to look at. It was hard for me to not come out of there with an armful of sweets, but I did come away with some clever stocking stuffers and these cute ornaments:

By this time we had really worked up an appetite, so we headed back to town and stopped at Cousins for dinner. We visited and took our time, and it was so relaxing to not have to rush around. My super husband had told me to take our time and go do whatever we wanted for however long we wanted. He really is a great guy (especially during hunting season when he knows he needs to butter me up) and takes good care of the children while I'm gone. Funny story I have to insert here- Since he was going hunting this morning he loaded the kids up in the car to go scout some birds. Kendle loves to go on these little adventures with dad. Then he was planning on taking them to Walmart because he needed to buy some more contact solution. Well, they drive out to the fields and he smells a dirty diaper in process. So he had to head back home and unload the kids to change Morgan. By that time, he lost his motivation to head to Walmart. I just had to laugh when he was telling me this after I got home, because isn't that so typical of when you are trying to go anywhere with a baby? Oh, the life of a mom.

Anywho, it was the best day I've had in a long time and I realized I need to do more things like this with my mom and the rest of the girls in my family. This time of year makes me want to be around my family as much as I can. We ended the day with lots of goodies, good ideas for future crafts, and some great memories.