Yep, it's that time - the DivaMommy's annual year in review. A look back on the events of the year.
It's been a year with a lot of ups, a few downs as usual and a LOT of learning! I am truly blessed with wonderful experiences.
Ok...where to begin? How about at home.
Mama's Babies are Growing Up!
Seriously! Ryder was baptized in April - (and he turns 9 in just 4 days) and Lola will be baptized this year. I love to watch them grow and accomplish and learn and to see their wonderful personalities come out. There are lots of challenges and triumphs, but it's truly my family that brings me the most joy.
Unfortunately I missed their 1st day of school this year because of a this years Bermuda show, but Grandma was nice enough to get photos on their first day of school this year. Chloe started high school, Piper is in 7th grade, Ryder in 3rd and Lola in 2nd.
Chloe's first high school dance.
Piper broke BOTH of her arms!
But it didn't stop her from performing in my Halloween show! Chloe and Piper were stars and I was so proud of them!
And Lola continues to be my sweet little girl - who happened to bring down the house nightly singing "Do You Want To Build a Snowman" in our fall Disney Revue.
There's less of Mama this year!
Yup, I finally lost that baby weight. Yup, my baby is 7.
My weight is always up and down but I finally broke my plateau. I went from a size 12 to a size 6. It's really nice and it wasn't hard. Not having gluten as helped but I cut out a lot of sugar. Any gluten at all and more than just a little sugar makes me sick so it's an "easy" choice to make. But what really pushed me over the plateau is EFT. I've been doing it for a few years but never for weight loss. I literally "tapped" along with one session that mostly addressed the overwhelm of weight loss itself and that did the trick. I have to work harder in other areas, however. I am a big fan of EFT so I wanted to share it! The best place to get started is here: http://www.thetappingsolution.com/ There is a book on basic tapping and one on weight loss. There are videos and programs and I'm happy to help guide anyone to the proper resources!!
I do still have a baby bump, though. A 4 baby bump to be precise. I'm kinda proud of it. :-)
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| Performing recently with Jack Walker and Lou DeMeis. Photo by Ed Foster Photography |
Mamma had a challenging theatre producing experience.
As you may recall, 2 years ago we went to Bermuda to produce Once On This Island. We brought the family, lived there for 2 months and it was a really great experience.
We were asked back again this year to produce Beauty and the Beast. It was the most challenging experience of my life so far. Unfortunately the company we were hired by wasn't prepared for the technical and financial challenges of such a show and even more unfortunately, they often chose to be less than forthcoming about their shortcomings, creating more challenges for us and extreme stress and strain on every level of the production. While I don't believe any of it was out of malice, lack of communication and dishonesty will sabotage even the best intentions. Oh, and it rained almost the whole time we were there!
It was a blessing that the cast was truly responsive and appreciative and brought us much joy and that we learned that 65% of our desired production level was still really darned good. And I got to create some truly gorgeous costumes, grew closer to my husband and some really good friends. It was definitely and adventure and a learning experience!
It was a good year for gettin' Mamma's sang on!
I had a varied and diverse performance opportunities this year.
Steve and I opened the year singing together as hosts at Sam's Town Live's weekly variety show, produced by Ed Matthews. We invited our good friend Taylor Eliason to sing with us, Lola sang a little "Snow Man" and the Davis' brothers treated us!
I got back onstage in a musical as The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot - which was another learning experience. Never costume a show when you're the lead, ok? I really should have learned this by now.
Here's one of my favorite numbers from the show. DramaDad was also in the show - he played Sir Lancelot which once again meant we had literally no on-stage interaction, though his character was the catalyst for my character's best joke. It was a fun, silly show where I got to sing my guts out and wear pretty costumes - who could ask for more?
We produced a really wonderful and amazing Disney Revue for our church. It was an incredible cast and we had way too much fun. I hope to have video highlights of it soon.
I created and performed in a Halloween show for Las Vegas' Springs Preserve again this year. It was again, a LOT of fun!! This year we had Diva Monsters!
And GHOSTLIGHT - my country singing group, had a great year!
We did some red Carpets and performed at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel for Mondays Dark - a really great charity event!
We added musicians so we can now perform as a band...and we had an awesome photo shoot.
Check out our band promo!
I truly love these guys - 2015 is going to be our year!
Mamma made pretty things!
Just a few of my costuming adventures this year!
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| Belle's Ball Gown |
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| The Bouche (Wardrobe) from Beauty and the Beast |
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| Self Explanatory |
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| Katy Perry Inspired |
BBR's ALICE
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| Another Katy Perry Inspired costume - for a Burlesque STAR! |
And, of course, Mamma made time for Disneyland!
My first trip was in early January to actually audition for a role in Disneyland. It was a great experience and my first time in Disneyland solo...which is why there are no photos.
We knew we would be traveling to LA a lot this year for fabric shopping, so we took the plunge and purchased annual passes to Disneyland. So I was there for my birthday!
And we even ran into our GHOSTLIGHT bandmates in the Fall!
As well as this unsavory character...
And in November, we took a family trip with some of DramaDad's extended family. It was a LOT of fun! We had a blast and Lola FINALLY got to meet Anna and Elsa.
So looking back, it was in fact a pretty great year. Looking forward, I have lots of great things coming up, surrounded by a family I love more than anything in the world.
Much love!!!
The DivaMommy
