Ho, Ho, Ho!

We are spending Christmas in Utah with Rosa's younger siblings Gabe and Julie-- us "little kids," if you will. :) Then all four of us will travel to Bakersfield, CA to spend a few days with the Gardners!

Also, we sent out a little Christmas letter-- we couldn't find our list of addresses, so it was mostly sent to immediate family because we knew those :)  In a few days I'll post it here for anyone who missed it.  

It's been a great year. Thanks for all the love and support!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Presents around our "tree"

festiv-ized bookshelf (with our piggy bank Voldesnort peeking out)

The stockings were hung on the screws the previous owners left in the wall, with care, in hopes that when we remove them, the holes will no longer be there.

My First Black Friday

Funny that three of our least favorite things in the world just so happen to be exactly what Black Friday is all about:

1. Waking up early
2. Waiting in lines
3. Shopping

For some reason, Ben cracked a few years ago and has been sold on it ever since. I've never really cared much about it because I've never really had money to blow on plasma TVs or laptops, but it turns out there are other good deals out there besides the big doorbusters. After buying a newspaper just to look through the ads, I was decided: "I've got a message for you, three-dollar hand mixer at Target-- YOU'RE MINE."

Our alarms went off at 3, and I was not a happy camper. I had had a bad cough all week. That didn't stop me, though-- it was time for my first Black Friday adventure!

We arrived at Target around 3:45 and got what was probably the very last parking spot in the lot. It was PACKED. We quickly realized how cold it was outside-- standing out there got old fast. Luckily, the doors opened at 4, and since everyone runs in like there's no tomorrow, it didn't take long to get inside.

It was incredible. There were people everywhere. There were already long lines at the registers when we walked in. Ben and I had a game plan to divide and conquer. I ran to the mixers, and to my disappointment, they were ALREADY GONE! Booooooo! Luckily, I didn't really need it. I only needed it because it was $3. And really, who DOESN'T need a mixer for $3??

Ben had success finding the Wii game we wanted and picked up a DVD for $1.50. What a deal. Apparently he was also the Black Friday hero for some idiots who couldn't figure out how to get the games out. Look at that-- getting deals AND saving the day. What a guy.

After Target we figured we'd hit up a few other places just because we were already awake. We came home around 7:30 with a few goodies, like a really nice winter coat for Ben (who has been wearing a freaking HOODIE until now). Aaaaaand, even though we were tired and hungry and hated waiting in line to check out behind the guy who couldn't understand what Kohl's cash was, we didn't end up killing each other. In fact, we had a blast.

I suppose it was fun for me because there wasn't anything I desperately wanted or needed. I mean, if I was up super early and in the cold because I needed that plasma TV and then I found out there were none left, that would be the opposite of fun. But my loss on the $3 mixer was something I could deal with. And spending time with Ben is always something worth doing. :)

Black Friday-- I'm not so scared of you anymore (now that I don't work retail). Maybe we can be friends now... maybe. ;)

Buzz, buzz, buzz! (We're little busy bees... get it?!)

Well hello there, blog! It's been a while! There are big things ahead for the Gardners-- I'm on my way to an April graduation, potentially performing in a Senior Showcase that will travel to perform for agents in NYC and LA (I'll keep you posted if I get in!), rehearsing for Peter Pan (runs Jan 19-29- SO FUN, come see it!), among other things. Ben is busy busy busy with grad school applications, several research projects, working full-time, becoming a certified member of the Red Cross's local Disaster Action Team (isn't he so cool??), and listening to me jabber on and on about whatever show I'm in and how important my life is. HA!

Speaking of me jabbering on about my life, let me tell you a bit about what's been going on. What an action-packed semester it's been! Between Junior Seminar and Auditions class, it has been the hardest yet most rewarding semester of my life. I've grown so much already and it's not over yet!

In Seminar, we are assigned a musical, and then we are responsible to cut it into a 40-minute show, directed, staged, choreographed, and performed by us. My first project was my "stretch role"- I was Julie in Show Boat. I really grew to love the show. The music was gorgeous and I had a great experience. My group worked hard and we put on a good show.

I have been EXTREMELY pumped about this second round-- I am Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden! Anyone reading this is probably laughing at me because this is not news-- I talk about the show constantly. :) Just ask Ben... haha. We had our first preview the other day and it went very well. I really feel like I can do this role. In fact, our whole cast can do their roles-- we could all be cast in these roles today, probably. I look young, I can sing convincingly young, and I have to say, I think I can play young very well. It's hard, as an actress, to play a kid because they don't think the same as adults; their minds process things differently, and I've had a great time trying to explore that. It's a challenge and I have a ways to go, but I have to give myself credit for how I've done so far. My teacher gave me a nice compliment after our preview. He said, "You played young very well-- I didn't have to see the 'actor at work'." A lot of people are good at ACTING. They are engaging to watch but they are still "acting" and not "being". My goal is to work toward that in all of my acting, not just this role.

I could go on and on about this musical and how gorgeous the music is and how spiritual the experience of putting it together has been. There's a message of hope in life after death and eternal families that literally brings me to tears by the end of our show, every time. My hope is that we can bring that same feeling into the hearts of the people watching it. I've had several spiritual experiences with shows in my life, but I feel like this one's really making it all click for me-- I know art can touch people's lives, but with this show I feel like I'm finally an active participant in bringing that to people, and more than ever I want to get any bad habits or insecurities I have and throw them out. I need to get them out of the way and let the message of the show shine through me. That's my goal, anyway.

Our final performance is Dec. 9. I will try to remember to take pictures and post them after it's all said and done!

Other than Seminar, my life is taken up by preparing my six monologues and two songs for our Auditions class final in Dec, teaching voice lessons to a few students from the voice class I am a TA for, baking random treats instead of doing my Civ class readings, and of course, spending time and snuggling with Ben as much as possible. I kinda like him... a lot.

Polo

Ben is so funny, it catches me off guard sometimes. I mean, he's usually just so quiet, and then BAM! He'll open his mouth and adorable hilariousness just comes out.

The other day, I got lost wandering around Target for a while, looking at deals and forgetting what we were even there for. I realized after a few minutes that I hadn't seen Ben in a while, and began looking up and down aisles (as I'm sure he had been for a few minutes). Just then I got a text from him. All it said was, "Marco."  LOL.


He makes me laugh.

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

So, I have this problem. I kind of really love food. Well... let's be honest: I'm pretty much in love with it. I always say that if I could have three wishes, they would be: 

1) The ability to eat whatever the heck I want and not gain weight, 

2) unlimited money to eat whatever and wherever I want to, and 

3) to fly. Unrelated, but really, who wouldn't want to fly?

One of my favorite things to do when I have more important things to do is bake or cook something (or several things, depending on how hungry I am when I decide it's time to play in the kitchen).  Because of my newfound obsession with finding recipes and all sorts of amazing/interesting things using Stumbleupon.com (thanks, Juji!), I have been baking and cooking delicious new concoctions on a regular basis. Here are just a few of the things I've made lately (click on the name to go to the recipe):

Salsa Roja 

Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake

Pesto Stuffed Shells

Quick Ramen Bowl

Indian Spiced Oats w/ Coconut Milk

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

I mean, right? RIGHT? The best part of all these recipes is that they were really EASY! Seriously, you won't even believe how simple the salsa is. The result almost seems unfair for the amount of work you put into it. My only complaint with these foods are that some of them are addicting. I kid you not, I just had about 2 cups of that salsa. And let's not even discuss how quickly those Oreo cheesecake cupcakes disappeared...

The good news is that I have a wonderful husband who also just so happens to love eating food as much as me. He is always so kind to help me eat my lovely concoctions. What a guy. :)

Love him.

One of the MANY reasons I love Ben:

Whenever there is an animal on the road that was obviously hit by a car (which breaks my heart), he always tells me it's just sleeping. "Don't worry, Rosa. That cute little deer was just tired. He's taking a nap."

He's so good to me. :)

Ragnar Relay SoCal--- Here we come!

That's right, everybody! Ben and I are officially signed up to be on the yet-to-be-named Gardner/Williams family Ragnar Relay team!

I know, I know. You're thinking, "But guys, you're not runners! You've never run a day in your life! You are lazy and love to eat crappy food! And Rosa, your legs are super short!" ...and you'd be right. But what you DON'T know is that we've been talking about finding something fun and active that we can really get into for a while now, and we've both been running about three times a week for about a month. Yea even, we started running before we heard about the race. So, THERE, all ye naysayers! We can do it! And we will!

We're training right now with the aim of running a 5K in September, and then we'll go from there for the Ragnar. See, we are for real-- and now that you finally believe me, make sure to check up on us and keep us motivated!

We can't wait!

Around the World in Second Grade

I remember in second grade, my teacher would organize us into two lines-- girls and boys-- and we'd head over to the bathrooms. I'm sure it was like the "go to the bathroom before we head out on our road trip" mentality, to minimize the number of kids raising their hand every two minutes saying, "Teacher! Teacher! I have to peeeeee!" Anyway, I don't have a ton of memories of said bathroom breaks, but I do have one that I am very grateful for. I remember looking up at my teacher as she explained, "Make sure you take the handle and make it go around the world! Say it with me kids," and then we'd all make a circular motion with our hands while shouting calmly, as children do, "AROUND THE WORLD!!!"

Sometimes toilets handles work when you push down once. A lot of times, they don't. This is where this way of cranking the handle comes it. Because of my second grade teacher, I am never "that guy" that leaves a little present for the next person in a public bathroom stall. Around the world never fails. I mean really, people... does everyone think that every public restroom just has crappy (pun intended) toilets that don't work? Here's the thing: THEY WORK. You're just an idiot.

Ok, you're not an idiot-- that was harsh. Sometimes I'm pretty sarcastic. But, on to my point--I learned how to flush in second grade (thank you, Mrs. Kluter). I know you can do it too. I believe in you.