Top Five Reasons Hawaii has Improved My Life

Hawaii may be frustrating, but it has certainly done some great things for me, too:

I've learned to relax enough to go to the beach regularly

I've discovered a love of hiking (and tree climbing)

I don't mind walking places instead of driving

Teaching Stage Management has made me have to be a better Stage Manager

I have been and will continue to be exposed to new cultures through instructors and friends

Kennedy Theatre Beautification- Before

This summer, there is a beautification project going on in the Kennedy Theatre. The project is led by professor Mark Branner, and coordinated by Meg. Basically a bunch of us are donating time to clean, rearrange, paint, and decorate the building. I am excited about making the building a more inviting place for students, faculty and staff to spend time, and I'm so glad that Mark worked to make this project a reality. The project will take all summer to complete since both Mark and Meg are leaving town for a while, but I thought I'd post the "before" pictures so you can appreciate the magnitude of the project.

Nicole and Dani repainting the bulletin boards for the hallway

The plain walls

This wall will become a place for student displays

There used to be a chalkboard and bulletin board here. Since the 80s. Full of termites.

Yasu is washing the walls. We washed all the walls on the first floor.

The project involves clearing out classrooms to make them less claustrophobic, creating a student area under the stairs, painting a wall with chalkboard paint (fun?) and cleaning up and minimizing the boards on the walls. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is finished.

The Florida Trip: Play by Play

Thanks so much to all friends and family we got to see while in Florida, and special thanks to those that hosted us. Here is the rundown of the whirlwind trip:

Day 1- Joe flies into Tampa at 6am; Lani flies in at 5pm; food and beer in the evening

Day 2- Lunch with Jesse, Liz and Careena at Three Coins, shopping for wedding clothes, visit to April and Josh- Joe stays for dinner, I head to Largo to see Stephanie Reitz!

Visiting with Pumpkin at Josh and April's

Day 3- breakfast at First Watch with Steve, haircut for me at Forever Beautiful with the always talented Victor, then to Armada Games for Magic play time with Steve. Back to St. Pete Bch for wedding rehearsal and bachelor/bachelorette parties.

Day 4- Wedding Day! Breakfast in St. Pete with Ged, Nick and Nick's lovely fiancee, Nicki. Then coffee at Kahwa, back to the beach to hang out with Shawn until set-up time, then prep and WEDDING! So beautiful and such a pretty reception at Kristin's sister Lauren's house (which was soooo pretty!).

There is a bit of a story here with the wedding, involving almost forgetting to bring the rings, me vaulting lounge chairs at the resort pool, Ged getting pulled in to usher and help with various wedding tasks, Joe seating guests up to the very last minute and some silly photos on the beach after the ceremony, but I won't get into any of that ;)

The reception was lovely; there were white twinkly lights everywhere, white table cloths, glowing orchid centerpieces, homemade food (how can you not love burgers at a wedding?), meaningful toasts and lots of love.

Top it off with some more Ged hang out time and it was a great day!

Ged and Kelleigh adopted a werewolf over the weekend

Day 5- Party at the Moore's! Chris, Abby and baby Bennett were kind enough to host a get together so we could see lots of friends in one place. Good food, good friends and Apples to Apples (if you haven't played this game, you seriously need to).

Day 6- I had lunch with Megan in Clearwater and got to see the Capitol Theatre where she works. Florida people, check out this article about the renovation project it is about to undergo. After that was a trip to The Patel Conservatory and some catching up with friends and colleagues there, then on to Origami Sushi with the Moores! Next we drove to Orlando to see Ed, with whom we also stayed up very late.

Day 7- Lunch in Sarasota with Grammy and Joe's aunts, then laundry at dad's house and on to the McColgan's in Tampa, where we got to see a rehearsal of Steve's proposal to Bethany (she said yes!). It was this great slapstick chase and if I ever get video, I will link to it. Then magic was played and I passed out on the couch.

Day 8- I flew out of TPA at 7am, Joe went to Port Charlotte to spend 2 days with Grammy. I spent my plane ride finishing a script that was due when I got back (any Choose Your Own Shakespeare fans out there? I'm bringing it back...).

This is Brutus. He loves you.

Day 9- Joe returns to Tampa, gets to see the season finale of Some Sort of Show, and hangs out with the Moores again.

Day 10- Joe goes to work and gets to see Greg and Dave (jealous). Also, he had Taco Bus (jealous again). Greg, I miss you!

Day 11- Joe flies back from Florida and I joyfully pick him up from the airport (which I had to leave the beach to do) because I was missing him so much!

Whew!