When we looked at our finances for travel, the current prices of hotel stays were high enough that we could get a quality tent and use it for camping.
So that’s what we did. We purchased the Wirecutter tent recommendation for car camping and picked the Oregon Dunes to explore. Jenni had fond memories of running down the dunes in her childhood and wanted to share the scenery with me.
Lovegood continued with new programming showcasing their first premiere mainstage. How this allowed for wider reach of performers to participate. I was happy to see some returning talent to blend into the community.
The Secret Garden Musical was a much more somber and slow story, but I’ve found the music to offer variety to Lovegood’s traditional upbeat and comedy. I appreciate expanding my repertoire of plays to different genres.
I’m so happy for my cousin Eileen who married her best friend last weekend. Their wedding was wonderfully personalized with video game nods in the processional music, gifts, and table names.
We’re coming up to three years at Lovegood and we’ve been privileged to see student performers grow with each performance. For Matilda, several lead roles were Jenni’s “show kids” and we loved their chance to showcase their skills and growth.
Jenni, Violet, and Bruce joined Lovegood’s The Wind in the Willows production with tepid anticipation because the main character wasn’t likeable and lacked character growth. That influenced my outlook on the play as I preferred likeable characters. I find it hard to stay engaged with stories when the main character is insufferable (Marty Supreme, cough cough).
When we reached tech rehearsal week, I finished the first day of photography surprised by the true message of the story: loyal friendship through seasons of life.
We attended ACMA’s Root performance, which featured student choreography including our neighbor Annabelle as a soon-to-be graduating senior. It was beautiful to see creative and artistic movement from the minds and hearts of students.
I personally enjoyed the “hair-ography” in a piece that Annabelle choreographed with two other dancers and the use of the giant screen and lighting to set the mood of several pieces.
I’ve put this off for too long and we made fun progress through the 147 miniatures we own for Marvel United. For this batch, I worked on finishing the Guardians of the Galaxy characters, but also anti-heroes and villains for gameplay variety.
We were delighted to photograph Steve and Pam’s 50th anniversary party–to see a marriage after many seasons of love instead of the beginning, like a wedding.
I’ve grown to appreciate the optimism and hope that Annie’s story brought to my Christmas season. While I was not impressed by the 1982 movie when we watched it for educational purposes, unsurprisingly, I’m fond of Lovegood‘s production.