This may sound foolish, but sometimes I miss the mountains so much that it hurts my stomach. Usually it's when I'm listening to music that I listened to a lot in Colorado this summer, or when I look through the pictures from Deer Valley. It seems really silly, but it's true.

So one of the things that I was "priviledged" to experience for the first time is: auditions...but, at college. We arrived Thursday afternoon. Before the night was over, I had signed up for choral auditions and for Annie vocal auditions and movement auditions.

So Friday came, and while I wasn't really nervous about the choral audition, I was a little jittery. Needless to say, I feel fine about my audition. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best I could have done under the present circumstances :)

So then came Saturday, and with it the Annie vocal auditions. I wasn't even jittery about this one..I was planning to sing Never Fully Dressed, and that's no big deal, and I had picked one of the monologues to read, and that was no big deal. So I went, and sang, and read, and it was no big deal. I think I did fine.

And this afternoon I have movement auditions. I'm not really concerned about these auditions either. So I guess the purpose of this post is to tell you all that I am staying busy and finding groups to audition for, and it's not really not stressing me out :)

jenna, stop procrastinating and give the good people an update!!

Alright...I'll begin to fill you in.

I am at school - Harding University - and I begin classes on Monday. I just got here on Thursday, and already I have auditioned for the choral programs and for the homecoming musical, Annie (well, the vocal audition...I have "movement" auditions tomorrow). I am moved into the dorm and mostly settled. My roommate, Molly, is fabulous...we are currently jamming out to Justin Bieber.

Okay...I'll continue later.

"little" girls

Here we are, the females that stayed in the "little" girls dressing room.
LtoR, Esther George (Ruth Putnam), Heather Beger (Susanna Walcott), Olivia Edwards (village girl), Rebecca (Betty Parris), and me (Mary Warren).

over for now

And, just like that, it's over. Well, the show itself isn't over, but I am now relaxing in the basement, sipping tea, waiting quietly until curtain calls. I believe I have been in at least one show on the OAT stage 8 out of the last 10 years. This is my home. I love the people here. I love the ugly mountains painted on the basement walls. I love the creepy artwork in the dressing rooms. I love the nasty rug that is always super grody. I love the smell of the building. I love the bat that makes appearances from time to time.

I'm really looking forward to working with new people with new ideas in a new space with new smells and new quirky things. I'm just really, really going to miss being home.

I have yet to cry. I had thought that I might cry on stage, but in the heat and adrenaline of the moment, I did not.

It's not over, I keep telling myself. It's just over for now.

So, in the near future look for some blogging on the following topics:

- Little Prairie Bible Camp

- college approaching much too rapidly

- the Crucible..yeah, I know, you're sick of me blabbing about it, but I can't help it!

- maybe I'll finish posting about our June vaca...we really did make it all the way to Deer Valley!

...and some other stuff. I'm at the theatre now, waiting around until it's time to go back on stage.

I love my life.

opening

This show has come so far...it's grown, matured, fleshed-out and been layered together by an extremely talented cast. And tonight, we open.

It's unreal how much I have learned while working of this show.

It's my last show at OAT for a while.

I'm really going to miss everyone. Especially Jeff the chair.

To quote the circus people in Seussical, "Come see the shoooooooow!!!"

humor from screwed lines, double negatives and Puritan grammar possibly getting to my head

There have been several times when people have messed up lines during Crucible rehearsal, changing the meaning entirely and making the rest of the cast laugh uproariously.

For example, the man playing Hale has a line concerning Proctor,

"From the beginning, this man has struck me true."

But TWICE now, he has accidentally said,

"From the beginning, this man has struck me too...."

This strikes everyone as unbearably funny, since in our production of The Crucible, John Proctor has a habit of getting angry with young girls (myself included) and throwing them to ground.

Once, our Tituba was supposed to say,

"Oh, yes, I love the little children.."

but it came out,

"Oh, no, I don't love the little children.."

..which was made even funnier with the comments that immediately followed, "Yeah, she doesn't love the little children. She eats the little children..."

Perhaps Tituba's mistake came from all the double negatives in the show getting to Erin's head (Erin being the actress that plays Tituba, of course..). There surely are an annoyingly large amount of double negatives in this show. Example:

"I never seen no sign you ever sent your spirit out to hurt no one."

Oh, the grammar in this show...
I think it's getting to my head.

This morning I said "I believe they are out picking blackberries, are they not?"

"Are they not?" Where did that come from????

Anyway, come see the show. It's intense. I saw Act 4 for the first time last night. I cried.

several things.

First - the Crucible. It is the thing that's taking up most of my time these days.


I am basically off-book..there might be a couple times I have to call for a line, but overall, I'm good. This is when the real fun begins.


My character appears briefly in Act 1, several significant times in Act 2, and in the whole of Act 3 (or "the beast" as it has been affectionately referred to). Act 1 isn't nearly as vexing as Acts 2 and 3, because it's not an emotional rollercoaster for me. Acts 2 and 3 are.


Maybe it's just because I've really never done a drama before, or maybe there is something legitimately special about the show, but last night after running Act 3 (the intense courtroom) I was shaking. I was pumped with adrenaline. I wanted to cry. I think it's just my lack of experience working on a show like this. It's really cool.


--


Tomorrow night is the FOLLIES! Come come come! OAT, 7:00, $10. Be there...or don't.
The Light girls (that are in town) will be performing ;)


--


As if I need anything else to be thinking about, I have the senior recital on Monday, the 25th, 7:30, the Presbyterian church in Rolla, free. You can come if you want to. I'll be playing :/

Reheasals for The Crucible began yesterday. During the afternoon session we did a read-through, and in the evening we blocked act 1. It's a little scary how quickly this whole process is going to be...after rehearsal this afternoon and tonight (blocking acts 2 and 3), I'll be done with blocking. We're supposed to be off book by next Tuesday. I'll try to keep y'll updated on how it's all going for me...very different from a Fine Linen rehearsal! And it's not a musical. And it's not happy. Very, very different from anything I've done before.

I had read the play before in school, but I have never seen it performed, so the read-through was extremely helpful as far as understanding the character's personalities and the tonality of the piece. It's going to be an excellent production.

Last night I dreamt that I was standing in the Cardinal dugout. My beloved Wainwright was about to head out to the mound to give Carpenter a pep talk, but before he left, he gave me the stinky, sweaty hoodie he was wearing...I was supposed to "hold onto it" for him.

Strangely enough, as I stood there, holding his nasty hoodie, and watching him run out to the mound to encourage his teammate, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

Because I got to hold onto Adam Wainwright's hoodie.

Ha!!

trip: day 2

We left the Bacon's early the next morning. Breakfast consisted of breakfast burritos that Uncle Dennis so kindly made for us, coffee that Uncle Dennis so kindly made for us, and Fluffy Fresh donuts. When Mother was pregnant with me, she craved Fluffy Fresh donuts. Now I understand why...they are divine.

The Little Ones slept across Kansas.

We finally arrived in Colorado Springs around 4, if I remember correctly. We went to the hotel to meet up with the rest of our family and change for dinner.

Dinner was delightful. We ate the Flying W Ranch, a ranch with a reputation for fabulous Cowboy food and fabulous Cowboy music.

Besides the dinner-and-music show, the ranch has all sorts of Western-style shops and...stuff. It's like a little town.

After a wee hike, you can sit on these red rocks and get a great view of the Flying W and Colorado Springs.

Twas a bit windy...

Teepee for the children (and adults) to play in...

LtoR: cousin Joseph, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Dan, cousin Elizabeth

The food was great. The music was even better.

Here ends my account of June 10, 20ll.

trip: day 1

The first leg of our journey from Rolla to (ultimately) Buena Vista, CO began June 9, 2011. Packed into the minivan like hoards of young girls into a Justin Bieber concert (meaning there were a lot of us in a tight space), we (my mother, father and two youngest sibling...C and R left with the grandparents that morning) hit the road with excitement, enthusiasm, and lots of animated movies.

We drove to Kansas City, Missouri...the very place where on January 24, 1994, the world was changed...I was born :) I love driving around Kansas City with my parents because they are constantly pointing out places they used to work, or places that people I should remember (but don't, because I was, like, 5 when we moved to Rolla), or places that are just really interesting. We spent the night at my Uncle Dennis and Aunt Michelle's house (who lives in Lee's Summit, really, not Kansas City). They are avid Cubs fans, but we love them anyway.

Here ends my account of June 9, 2011.

last summer

As we've been preparing for our upcoming vacation, we've had fun browsing pictures from our adventures last summer...

One day I challenged the kiddos to dress up as a movie character. Here's Matthew as Russell from Up and Meredith as the Sugarplum Fairy from the Barbie version of The Nutcracker.

Matthew (Russell) and Rebecca (Ellie)...

"Adventure is out there!!"

They look similar, no?

We celebrated Matthew's 3rd birthday on August 24th!

Random tea party/dress up day. Courtney as a masked Venitian-Parisian, me as a drunken pirate princess, Clarissa as a hippie named Violet Sunshine, Rebecca as a snobby British chick , Meredith as Nancy Drew, and Matthew as a little boy that wears his pajamas all day.

Gotta love Bible camp skits!! Here is Rebecca portraying Elijah (see her beard??), with her buddy Katie doing an excellent job portraying the soaked sacrifice that would soon be destroyed with fire from heaven.

The Fantasticks was fantastic...Here's Becca and Carl (she gave him that black eye).

Becca and Jordan..

..and Becca and Ryan :)

I can't wait to see everyone's pictures from this summer, and look forward to sharing ours with you...use sunscreen and drink water, folks!!

~jkl

did you feel that?

...because I sure didn't.

There was an earthquake last night.

I slept through it.

I'm not sure if I should be glad or disappointed.

class of '11

Lighthouse Academy Graduating Class of 2011:

Jenna K. Light

Class motto: "Treat it with love."

Class song: "Dream On" by Aerosmith

Class colors: Hot pink and black

Class flower: Lily of the Valley

- senior superlatives -

Class clown: Jenna Light

Most likely to succeed: Jenna Light

Best dressed: Jenna Light

Ugliest car: Jenna Light

Best hair: Jenna Light

my heart hurts because I had to leave

Many of you heard about the powerful tornado that ripped a 6 mile path through Joplin, Missouri on May 22. Three days after the storm hit, I was in the van with my mother, sisters, and best friend Courtney...headed down to volunteer.

We worked with the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team (DRT), an organization that I have worked with before while doing hurricane relief work in Bridge City, Texas. The first two days I stayed at the church building to help with the organization and distribution of donations. I loved working in distribution; I got to fill donation orders for victims (then hug them and pray with them and cry with them), I got to meet and work with lots of wonderful people (including a couple that I may end up going to church with in Searcy), and I got to work inside where the fans were blowing and I wasn't sunburned and covered in a layer of dirt and grime when the day was over :) Hours were spent sorting boxes of canned goods, toothpaste, shampoo, granola bars, sheets, etc. My favorite thing that I found while working in distributions: a bottle of Brut.
I sniffed it and sniffed it and sniffed it.
My grandpa wears it on Sundays.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, however, I was able to head out with "the team" (people from various area congregations...Rolla, Owensville, Houston, Iberia) and work out in the field. We raked yards clean of stray shingles and crumbled drywall and pieces of insulation. We sifted through piles of debris, looking for anything salvageable. We made huge piles of debris on the curb to be later picked up by FEMA. We met families who, just one week earlier, still had a house, a car, all their belongings. Now, their houses are gone. Their cars are smashed. Their belongings are strewn over their property, mixed together with chunks of drywall, insulation, broken glass, and twisted metal. We prayed with them, sang with them, cried with them, laughed with them, hugged them, and cried some more. While we were working at different homes, I was amazed at how many times during the day pickup trucks with a bed full of volunteers and coolers would pull up to the house where we were working and holler, "Cold water and snacks!" Many of the folks wouldn't take no for an answer, so even if we told them that we weren't hungry or thirsty, somehow you would find yourself with a bottle of powerade in one hand and a candy bar in the other.

That impressed me. All of the people in Joplin, both citizens and volunteers, gave.
Everyone was giving.

For a while the traffic lights were out, so policemen directed the traffic. Several times, while waiting at an intersection, I saw folks riding in the bed of a truck reach out and hand a bottle of water to the traffic-directing cop. It made me smile.

On Saturday, a crew of medical folks came by where we were working offering free tetanus shots. Several of our team took advantage of them...I was thankful that I had mine a couple years ago ;)

What made this trip different from the other disaster relief trips I've been on was that, to me, it was all about Him. I loved the fact that we showered in tent showers with lukewarm water, shaved our legs in the sink, and had tight sleeping arrangements...it reminded me, constantly, "This isn't about you."
This is way bigger than you.
This is about the people...
It's about loving them.
It's about glorifying Him.


That is why I didn't want to leave Joplin and my family at Mount Hope. While I was there, it wasn't about me. It was all about Him. When I got home, it's so incredibly easy to be all about me. If I want to watch a movie, I can. If I want to eat this or that, I can. If I want a hot shower, I can have one. If I want to be lazy, I'll be lazy.
At Mount Hope, it was about Him first, and others second.

If you have an opportunity to go work in Joplin, do it.
Be His hands and His feet.
Hug His children who are hurting.
Feed His lambs that are hungry.
Love His people.
It's the most amazing thing in the world.

baby!

Meet Victoria Wells, the newest member of the family...Congrats, Katie and Tim!!

mother's day

I'm trying to make up for my recent blog-neglecting.



Aunt Kristie, Grandma, and my mother...so cute :)



My mother took some pictures of butterflies, which I shall include now for your viewing pleasure.

dayschool graduation

Matthew (and Drew Eldridge) in the classroom

Elizabeth Hall, getting ready to go on stage to get her diploma :)




I took pictures of Meredith...

All the helpers...thank you, ladies and gents, for all your work this past school year!

Hike IV

Fun was had by all.

Meredith: Before...




...and after :)

just me and my books

I feel free.
From now until the end of the month, I basically have no responsibilities outside of my home...
meaning I only have to do schoolwork and chores and stuff. I don't have any youth group events to plan. I don't have any church dinners to organize. I only have to read books and learn stuff and go camping with my family and go Hike IV-ing.

Speaking of the Hike IV...I'm thinking about carrying my big Seussy egg along in one of those Baby Bjorn carriers. Maybe not...I can see it getting a little annoying ;)

The pool guys are coming tomorrow to check out the pool and make sure everything is okay...which means we'll be swimming within a few weeks! Hmm...that sounded really nice last Friday when it was like 90 degrees and Mom called to make the appointment. Today it is freezing, and swimming doesn't sound very appealing.

plants, choir, frying pans

Last year, Jeni Steele gave me a plant (lily of the valley, my favorite).
I planted it in our flower bed, and promptly forgot about it.
But guess what happened a few weeks ago?
The lily of the valley started poking up through the mulch!
Funny how that happens...
I have now developed a habit of going out to check on my plant every day to see if it's 'blooming' yet...I'll post pictures when it does.

The big Spring choir concert is this Sunday. If you want to come, it's at St. Pat's at 3:30...tickets are $5.00. We're singin' Rutter's Mass of the Children and some other good stuff...should be a fun afternoon with great music!

I finally got to see Tangled...it was nice :) I felt like I could identify with the whole having-tons-of-hair-and-then-suddenly-it's-gone thing (Woah! Sorry. SPOILER ALERT, if you haven't seen it yet). So, yeah. I liked it.

Catching up

1. My hair is cut. 2. Senior pictures. Yahoo.

3. Seussical. Seussical the Musical.

Seussical has opened. The first weekend of performances are over. The second weekend begins tomorrow night. If you don't have your tickets yet, good luck. I think we're basically sold out.

4. This SONG. This song makes me cry. I've been listening to it over and over and over for the past twelve hours.

5. My graduation party was on Sunday. I think I have finally come to grips with the fact that I'm leaving in the fall.

6. I paid $57.00 for gas yesterday. Bleck!!!

7. I miss all the Seussies.

8. My dog has a lot of ticks. I need to take care of them :P

9. I'm going to see my love this summer...the Rockies :)

10. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is another song that makes me cry. I don't understand why; it just does.

11. I have now listened to a song performed by Mr. Justin Bieber.

12. I have (unfortunately) now listened to a song performed by Ms. Rebecca Black...and I am regretting it.

13. Choir....I was able to go to choir practice for the first time in 2 weeks. It was nice to sing some real music for a change; Rutter's Mass for the Children. It's lovely. THIS is my favorite movement.

Googling hair

I've been having loads of fun googling such topics as "1920's bob with bangs," "chin length bob with bangs," "bob with bangs," "1920's makeup," and "Clara Bow." Here is what I've come up with. Hair is probably too short for what the costumers (ahem, Laura) want for Mayzie, but I love this picture anyway. Again, too short for Mayzie, but I adore it :)

Little bit longer....

Here we go. I think this is what the costumers want...Laura said to look for the pictures with the scarf in her hair, and I'm assuming this is what she meant.

This is cute...

If it was up to me, my hair would be cut like this - especially the bangs, I love the bangs - but Laura might say that it was too short :) After the show, I'm going to have it trimmed into a pixie. It's going to be fabulous for summer...my hair won't take three hours to dry after swimming!

day nine

Favorite classic book: Little Women.

And that's all I'm going to say about that. I'm not even going to post a picture.

day eight

I'm not really doing too well with the whole posting every day thing...

This one was hard.

Day eight: an author that I don't like.

Myself. Now, before you freak out and call a therapist in for me, it's not that I don't like myself as a person...I am fearfully and wonderfully made :) I just don't like myself as an author.

I've been trying to "write a book" for the past several years. The plots always turn out sounding stupid, and the characters always turn out shallow and flat. I'm going to keep writing, but I think it'll be a while before I turn out anything that I'm proud of.

day 7..

Favorite author: Madeleine L'Engle...I say this because I like every book of hers that I've read. Yay L'Engle!! :)

Lesson learned: LOG OUT.

Love,
the real miss jenna kay, not her obnoxious little sister :)




btw...I love my sister, no matter how obnoxious she acts ;)

Yes,Jenna I will now sign you out because you forgot to!(no matter how fun it is posting on your blog when you are at choir and don't know what I am doing!)
Your Loving Sister,
<3 Rebecca <3

Wow,bloging is fun!!!

Well, I think Jenna needs to remember to log out of blogspot before going to choir practice!!!HAHAHAHAHA!!!

family

I don't post about my extended family very much, which is stupid, because my extended family is awesome and would probably result in some super amusing blog posts.

LtoR: Becca, me, Rachel (mom's first cousin, but we treat her like she's our first cousin), Nickie (one of our real first cousins), and Clarissa

Do you think we all look alike? Because I think we do.

days 5 and 6

favorite protagonist: Does Snape count? If so, then Snape.


Book you had to read for school and liked:


Frankenstein...one of my favorite books!! I read it in school this year and fell in love.
Two best things about doing British Lit this year: discovering my love for epic poetry and gothic novels :)

I'm beginning to see a pattern in these posts about books...pretty much every post is about a book that I consider a favorite.

Help Wanted

Due to the recent trend of a certain family getting sick/injured, a bodyguard is needed to protect brunette teenager from harm until Seussical is over.
Applicant must be:
- male
- God-fearing
- quite good-looking
- a perfect gentleman

Musical talent and good taste in books/music preferred. Wages will consist of one ticket to every performance of Fine Linen Drama's Seussical.

If brunette teenager should become injured/ill in any way while under bodyguard's protection, serious disciplinary action will be taken against them. You have been warned.

Apply in person to Laura Cook or Jenna Light as soon as possible. Thank you!!

This is a joke ;)

day four..

Favorite protagonist:
Sara Louise Bradshaw, known as "Wheeze," from Jacob Have I Loved.

Read the book. You'll be glad you did :)

note: I realize that this is a very boring post. I apologize.

day three..

Most memorable (not nesessarily inspirational or life-changing) quotes:

"If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years, as I could in a day."
-the charming Mr. Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights


"Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."
-Doyle in some Sherlock Holmes tale

injuries

So you know how Clarissa broke her ankle two weeks ago, and that was the first broken bone in our family ever, and we were like, "Great...first broken bone in the Light family, a month before Seussical. Fantastic!"

Well, yesterday, Rebecca hurt her wrist. Really hurt her wrist...like, it's probably broken. The radiologist is going to look at the x-rays and let us know hopefully today.

So now I guess it's my turn to break something...I'm thinking something big, like my neck, so that I can get more attention than my gimpy sisters. Haha.

Stay tuned for more encouraging health updates from the Light house!! I'm going to go wash down a couple calcium tablets with a large glass of milk, then put on a bike helmet, wrap my body in bubble wrap, and stay in bed until I have to go to the theatre for rehearsal :P

day 2 - 30 days of books

Best cover art - The Great Gatsby

It's iconic and loud. I like it.

Not the greatest picture...sorry.

30 Days of Books

I found this list on facebook. You're supposed to create an album named "30 days of books" and each day, post a picture in that album that cooresponds with the list...but I'm going to do it my bloggy blog, not facebook.
Deal with it.

I'm considering today "Day 1."

I just finished this popular series. Don't laugh at me.

Various other facts concerning the aforementioned series:

My least favorite of the series was book 4.

My favorites are books 3, 6 and 7.

Favorite characters: Lupin, Sirius, and Snape.

(I have trouble picking just one favorite of anything.)

I wasn't expecting so many people to die. It was a wee bit depressing.

I cried at two specific moments in book 7.

chopping it off

I am planning to cut my hair for Seussical. I'm super excited!!

So, basically, I'm going to look like this...

Haha! I can't wait :)

confession of the day

I love (the movie) Black Beauty.
I don't know what it is about it.
I just adore it.
I love Sean Bean in the first five minutes of the film as "the farmer."
I love love looooooove David Thewlis as Jerry the cabbie. He's wonderful. And he has gorgeous hands.
I love that I used to watch Black Beauty over and over at my grandparent's house, but I didn't really know what was going on because I was six.
I love the music. It makes me want to cry.
I love that that Black Beauty doesn't die in the end.

So, there ya go. Confession of the day: I love a semi-cheesy horse movie that was made in...

Fun fact! I just found out that Black Beauty was made the year I was born.

I guess most everyone has heard by now: Clarissa broke her ankle. She gets the prize for first broken bone in our family.

She was complaining about how she will miss the next two ECDs because of her cast.

I think she should just find a muscular partner that can carry her around.

Haha.

"Crazy Meredith!"

I could watch this video every five minutes for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.

the big video editing experiment!

Confession: I've never edited video clips before. I've never even tried.

Yesterday... I decided to try.

Please don't laugh at my lack of editing skills. They're pretty rough.

Also, the video is kind of...stupid. Before you judge me, please take into account that the purpose of this video was not to entertain, but to give me something to piece together....

Although, if you DO want to leave a question like I encourage in the clip, feel free to! It'll give me something to practice editing on :)

two things...kind of..

first: I heard a song on the bluegrass radio program this morning....it was a guy telling the story of how he watched the girl he loved get married to another man, and then her husband cheated on her. And then the chick married the first guy. Then she died.

It was really touching.

second:



I forgot what I was going to say.

I googled my name, and this is what the internet thinks Jenna Light looks like:

Second result for Jenna Light:

The third result was my duckstamp entry from last year:

It's not that great. Don't look at it too closely :)

So, yeah. Silly Google!