The first few months of the year were, by and large, pretty uneventful. But there were a few things here and there...so that made the gross winter a little more interesting.
Always great to have dinner with some girlfriends- Jenny Medlock, Eleesha Tucker, and Bryana Shirley.
Sometimes your dear friend (Brook Mecham) in NYC organizes an NYC/DC adventure at a monster truck rally in DC. So we spent a classy afternoon at the Verizon Center watching massive trucks and dirt bikes wreck themselves in spectacular fashion. I felt really good about my life, and it was, of course, so fun to see some of my people! And, come on- MONSTER TRUCK RALLY.
I went to my first protest! Danny and I thought we would go check out one of the many protests happening in the city in the wake of the Inauguration for President Donald Trump. It was really interesting, and I have to say- I very much agreed with a lot of the sentiment expressed. I'm a little worried about the state of our country by the time that man is done.
Dave and fam stopped through on their journey back across the country after living in Nova Scotia for 6 months. They loved it, and were a little sad to be heading back to Utah. But it was sure fun to see them. They all stayed in a hotel, except for Emily, who stayed with us; that was fun to have her spend the night.
First Valentine's Day as a married couple! We had Thai food and ice cream, and it was lovely. I got real lucky with this one.
"Look, Dad! I found a statue of Jack!" My dad has a good friend from his childhood- a jackrabbit named Jack. I have grown up on stories about Jack, and the tradition is now being passed to the grandkids. I can't wait for my kids to hear the same stories.
First time going to the Library of Congress! It was gorgeous! I love when people come to town- it gives us a chance to play tourists for a day. In this case, Danny's brother Matt and his wife Colleen.
Check out that reading room. Just stunning.
George Gershwin's piano. I was definitely geeking out.
And then. THEN. In March, I went up to New York for a day with my dear friend Stephanie and her husband Riley. The purpose? A big Les Miz cast reunion. March marked 30 years since LM opened on Broadway, so my friend Greg Brandt organized a big party to commemorate. It was so fun, and so wonderful to see some old friends I had worked with and have not seen in person for so many years. I loved catching up on people's lives and finding out about marriages, babies, jobs, and just life. I have incredible memories of my life on tour, and many of these good people were a big part of that. Of course, there were people I had not worked with and didn't know, so it was fun to meet some new people as well. A really great night. I almost hadn't gone because of some church calling obligations, and frankly I had forgotten about it until I had committed to some other things. But I was able to get those covered at the last minute and go up with Steph an Riley. What a great weekend.
Stephanie (Cosette), Joan Almedilla (Fantine), and me
Leslie Henstock (Cosette cover), Betsy Werbal (swing) and I, just chatting it up in the gorgeous bathroom.
My Eponine cover sister, Marnie Nicolella.
Melissa Lyons (my replacement), Joan, and Jamibeth Margolis, who cast us all!
Marnie and Gregg Brandt (swing) who planned the whole thing.
My girl Steph. Still, one of my most cherished friendships.
Sandra Turley (Cosette from Bway and one of my BYU friends), Peter Lockyer (Bway Marius), and his wife Melinda. When we went to China and S. Korea, Sandra and Peter joined our company for that run as Cosette and Marius. It was fun to work with Sandra, and a joy and honor to work with Peter. I went on as Eponine once with both of them, and loved it.
I guess the first few months of 2017 were a little more eventful than I first thought- at least there were a lot of firsts, so that's fun, isn't it?
