Back in Kentucky!

I am back in Kentucky and have been busy as ever thus the lack of blogging. We just opened All Shook Up last night which went over unbelievably well so the fourteen hour work days have come to an end! When I first got here I had a great surprise. My friends Katie and Tiffany came from Wytheville, and I got to see them. They were visiting Josey, Katie's boyfriend. I have known Josey since he was 14 so it was a big friend reunion. We went to the Jenny Wiley Falls which were pretty. It's the second time Tiffy and I have been to falls together. Hopefully, the next time will be in Hawaii!!!! Afterwards, Josey's dad met us and treated us to dinner at El Azul. What a great time.

Then on our opening weekend of Smoke on the Mountain I had another surprise. My friend Patty from Celina came to the show. She, her husband, and brother and sister-in-law were at Renfro Valley and came on to see our show. It was such a great surprise and a wonderful treat to see her. Thank you, Patty, for making the trip! It was wonderful to see you and Don!

Lots of people have come to see me already! It has been so nice. Even my dad came the night before Father's Day. It was a short visit but great to see mom, dad, and mama. So I have met some great people here, and the talent this summer is amazing! Here are some pics from All Shook Up.

Samantha has become a quick friend. Our personalities just gel. She plays Natalie, the lead, and she is great.
Bryan, Matt, Samantha, and I are the four amigos this summer. They are a joy to work with on and offstage.
This cast is totally fun!

Deidra and I singing for Jesus. :) This girl is better than Jennifer Hudson, honestly. Hearing her sing is worth seeing the show. No lie. Brittany, Matt, and I. Again, great people. Josey is all grown up!!! He had to chop all his curls off for this show :( Many weren't happy about that.

I will try to post more pics from the show and update more often. Tara is flying in tomorrow and will be here for a week so it's going to be a good week.

America's Future

Oh dear, I am afraid I must once again address another anonymous comment. It is much too long to copy into this posting, but I will post a portion. It is in response to the "Controversial Issue" posting on May 20th. I do wish the anonymous' out there would make themselves known because it seems as if they fall into one category -- lacking logical reasoning skills. If I were an anonymous, I would not want to be grouped into such a category! Here is a portion:

I stumbled onto your blog thinking it belonged to an old friend. I perused for a second and ended up reading this post. And I just had to say that this is a very ignorant post. Honestly. I can understand not supporting the misuse or fraud within the welfare system but to basically say "i don't want my money going to people who are living in POVERTY" - do you get that? - POVERTY? - is just an example of the ridiculous capitalist "i need more" mentality that runs rampant in this country. And - aren't you supposed to be a christian?

(Back to Amanda) Hmmmm..... When referencing my posting I believe these were my words verbatim, "All I suggest is obligatory monthly civic duties in exchange for welfare assistance." Nowhere do I see the words, "I don't want my money going to people who are living in poverty." (By the way, the "who are" is not needed)

Mistake #1 -- When we paraphrase, we must paraphrase the writer's words and not our hasty interpretation.

Next, which may have humored me most, is the reference to being a bourgeois or ridiculous capitalist. What is ironic is according to my end of the year tax return, I have fallen into the poverty category for the past two years. Yes, I AM ONE OF THE CHOSEN that falls into the category of government aid, yet I haven't received it. I ate a diet of eggs, oatmeal, bananas, celery, and bread for the past three months because of my low-paying wages, but somehow, I, the poverty stricken, still managed to make it without starving to death, plus I didn't gain weight eating these low cost/healthy foods. Also, I lived in a house with ten people. I did not have the luxury of having my own apartment provided or even the luxury of my own bathroom. (I threw that in for the sympathy vote)

Mistake #2 -- Before we point the finger at someone else being ignorant, let us make sure we are not the ignorant ones.

And lastly, the "aren't you supposed to be a Christian?" line. This one certainly confused me the most (on many different levels). If my blog was an innocent stumble and was perused for a matter of seconds, how in the world would one even know I was a Christian? None of the postings on the blog page declare that. Archive digging or familiarity would be the only way that truth would be brought to light. Divine revelation, perhaps?

Mistake #3 --- If lying, make sure you cover all your bases.

And, ladies and gents, perhaps this is what we get when we have the audacity to hope for change.

Sorry

So sorry to everyone I have not emailed or texted back yet. I promise I will in the folllowing days. I have been in VA since last Wed. rehearsing for the King and I -- which went GREAT! Afterwards, I headed straight to KY and started rehearsals this morning for Smoke on the Mountain. Needless to say, I am exhausted and hoping to get some rest tonight. I'm learning a new instrument for this run --the mandolin. Hopefully, I can pick it up in nine days!!! Again, sorry to all those I haven't responded to yet. I promise I will -- after I get the alto part and the mandolin down :)