Branson!

This weekend was amazing!It was a "perfectly planned weekend."It turned out quite different than we expected but it was well worth it.:)
Thursday we left as soon as I got home from piano lessons.We got in around 10 p.m.Friday morning we got up and went to Silver Dollar City for the the beginning of Young Christians weekend.It was cold and damp and we didn't stay quite as long as we thought we would.However while I was there,I was able to surprise a friend of mine.She works in the kids ride part.That day she was working the balloon ride.I sneaked behind her and scared her.It was great.She knew I was coming down,but she thought it wouldn't be until April.She was going on break just as I showed up.So the timing was perfect.lol!
Saturday morning we woke up to cold weather and lots of rain.Yick.We decided to wait around for a lil bit and wait and see if it lightens up.In the mean time we wandered down to the breakfast room.On the way there I saw a familiar face that made me do a double-take.Yup.Sure enough it was Anthony N. from CYT. I said,"Hey!ANTHONY!" He nearly jumped outta his skin.Ha! HE did a double take as well."Whoa!Hey!" He was there with his youth group for Young Christians weekend at SDC as well. I asked him if his sister,Bri, was around.He said she was probably still in bed.I told him to say hey for me in case I didn't get a chance to. A few minuets later Brianna entered into the breakfast room. I was able to give her a hug and talk to her before heading back to the room. It was a real treat to see CYters in Branson.That is actually the second time to happen to me.:) We ended up not spending any time at SDC cause of how cold it was and none of us had the right clothes for that type of weather.So we went to the IMAX theatre to see College Road Trip and did some shopping.Pretty much killing time before the Haygoods show that night.
The show was amazing as expected.Rae and I was able to talk to all the guys and Cat after the show.Except Tim.But I will catch him later once he is back in the show. ;) I don't wanna say too much,cause I do not want to spoil the fun for those of you who have not yet gone. But after the show was fun! I had fun trying to get good pictures.haha.Cause I wanted my sis and me in all the pictures.First up was Pat, and finally Mike saw us trying to figure a good angle so he took the camera and took the pictured for us.Patrick was trying to tell Mike how to do it and to make sure he was doing it right.It was funny.They are defiantly siblings! hehe! When I talked to Mike I told him how much I loved 'Danny Boy.' and was really glad they put the Irish back in.I told him about the Irish book my piano teacher got for me and how I was working on Wild Rover for recital.Right then and there Mike burst into the chorus of Wild Rover. :)That was priceless. I was also able to ask Matt some bass questions. It was fun talking to all of them. It was a great weekend.I'm sad to be home.*whimper whimper.* Love you all!

"Wait till you get better then pick up 5 string.Once you get that down than you can really dig into it." -Matthew Christian Haygood

Always,
Megan Renee

A Season....My next chapter.Do I have any regrets.

Wow....What a whirl wind week,and the madness continues.

Yesterday I had a meeting for the home-school formal.The girls who are helping me are....ummm...How to put this.Past acquaintances,shall we say.In other words we used to be friends.When they came over the other 4 girls were pilled on my couch while I was perched on my piano bench.We agreed for most of the part but they talked me into setting the formal back till May. So it's like,whatever,but now I have to worry about making sure my entertainment and speaker will be available.*rolleyes* GAG! Now I'm thinking I just want to get it over with.I was excited about banquet,but now.Its going to be one big pain.*sigh* Home-schoolers have a way of doing that to me.

In other light,part of me, hates it. When I had the great volley ball fall out,I still hung around the home-scoolers and took classes, but I felt like the black sheep who nobody liked.That was one reason I joined CYT.I was looking for an outlet with out doing volleyball. The girls had lost my trust and I had lost theirs.It was something stupid that got blown way out of porpotion.That was over 2 years and I'm just starting to re-get in contact with them. Yesterday, when they were piled on the couch giggling and their conversation wandered off to something I didn't get cause I wasn't in the "loop" any more,it slightly hurt. I had to sit and wander if I had regrets about my decisions. If I had kept up with volleyball would I ever have joined CYT?I'm not sure I would of.Cause one thing that drove me to do CYT was I had to get away from the home-schoolers and make new friends.It was too painful to be around them.

In that time I had before I joined CYT my sister and I got so close.We were each others best friends.We had no one else and that was okay.We were always close but we truly became sisters and best friends in those 6 months of being lonely.Also I found something to be passionate about in acting,I found out I was good at stuff I didn't know I was, and I have new friends I would never trade the world for. My parents have friends in the adults of CYT. My parents love being invovled with it as much as I do. My sister had never felt like she fit in anywhere.In CYT she found tons of friends and that she fits in just fine. Mariah,one of the girls said it best."People who don't fit any where else,fit in here." But I still sit and can't help but think life would be like if I had kept my friends here, close to me instead of CYT. I'll never know and a part of me doesn't want to know.

Yesterday when I got to callbacks,Michael was there to help out now that he is graduated from CYT. He asked how my day was and when all I said was,"Rough." He gave me a hug and told me everything would be okay.Other examples,I was not feeling good and very tired. I had several people make sure I was okay. People at CYT truly care about you.

My life has been enriched because of them.I am a better person and closer to God cause of what happened.God has a plan for taking me away from the home school scene.What,I am not sure.Maybe it was to get me to rely on Him, and make me a stronger person.Maybe just to help build my character before I face the world, and wants me to use my theatre experiance for Him, in my life besides CYT.Maybe cause of the people there, and in the end I need to be around them more than the people here in Saint Joe.Maybe there is someone truly special who I would not of met other wise. When my sister left to PA,I had a huge family called CYTers as a support system.They kept me sane.

So I guess,even though I am sorry I lost friendships, as I sit here thinking about waht my life has been like these past 2 years and looking at the photos above,I have no regrets. I wish some things would of turned out different,but I guess no regrets. :-) I don't know what I would do with out these wonderful people in my life.

"A piece of the puzzle,one stepping stone, can only show you a one small part off life's journey."

Always,
Meg Renee

A short update.

This will be my first short post in a long time. :) haha. Well anywho I am finishing up my senior year of school,my piano recital,I'm in charge of the homeschool formal,planing gradution,HYPE,CYT,and a few other projects on the side.Such as a few leather projects I am working on.A guitar strap,a wallet,a holder for my dad's GPS he has to have for work,a mini saddle for my sister's birthday and a cell phone holder. Whew. Soon I will also be taking up tooling classes on how to do the techniques better, and create beautiful patterns on my projects. I just finished a cell phone holder for my friend Sydney. I would love to custom design a belt for myself. That's my next thing for my "me list." Right now it's the guitar strap for my bass. It's gonna be tan,blue, and white.I've already started on it. I stamped BASS CHICK on it.hehe.I'll post pictures when I got it done. Well I'm off to CYT classes. I've never done the singing class before. This one is "WICKED." I am seeing WICKED LIVE when it coems to KC! WOOHOO

Tomorrow is auditions for Mulan. I'll let you know how it goes. :) Cast list gets posted on Sunday. Well I'm off to sing about the Wicked! :)ha! Later!

"You know everything will be okay when you can see the rainbow in the storm."

Always,
Megan Renee

Suesssical Show Week.VERY EXTREAMLY LONG!

Ok....Where to begin. How about the beginning.lol!I'll start with HYPE since it was a big part of the week.HYPE is the "leadership program" of CYT.It stand for High school Youth Pursuing Excellence. Every CYT has one but KC North has not had a HYPE for about a year or so.KC South has a really good HYPE and KC East had one but I know they are having problems.So we decided to start it back up and see what happens.One of the first things we wanted to do was set up a prayer box to have for people to put prayer request in and have HYPE members pray for them.We talked about who would be in charge of that and how we would keep them confidential and make sure everyone knew that they would not have to worry about their request being known unless they wanted it to be.We were getting ready to move into the theatre so we decided on Sunday we would put it out there and the HYPE members would rotate days, and we needed someone in charge of the prayer list.They asked who would volunteer for that and I found myself raising my hand. I e-mailed the HYPE President,Mariah, back and forth discussing ideas for show week. I pulled the list up and told Mariah on the final show,Sunday,we should have all the HYPE members pray together and if we had time we could share testimonials about God and what we learned during show week.She liked the idea and sent out the word on the mail chain.Also we do devotions before each show and every devotion came from a line or theme in the show.( Mine was "A Persons A Person No Matter How Small". I used Psalms 139 where David talks about being fearfully and wonderfully made.I talked about how no matter what we look like God cares for us cause of who we are to him.We are His creation.)I was the very first one on the list to go.I had Thursday morning. For example Reid's came for the song,"How Lucky You Are" and Mariah just used the the theme acceptance,etc. All the devotions this week were so good! I have more HYPE stories here in a second. ANYWHO!

Sunday afternoon we had move in and we had rehearsal from 1-4 pm. It was pretty intense,but needed.I barely talked to Michael when we had down time.At first I said whatever,I don't care.But when we both had down time and I would try to talk to him, he was often busy hanging out with some other people.I wanted to spend time with him cause this was his last play. So eventually when the next break came I just sat down right where I was and didn't move.Enters Luke."Why are you down there?" I look up at him."Cause I'm too tired to move." He tells me,"But it's better up here." I laugh.He sits down next to me and we sit and talk about why I'm tired and it's due to the how long I spent working on my mom's car the day before.But I drive it so much it's kinda mine,but not really.;) lol! He also told me how much he loved my "A Girl needs to be so wrapped up in God,a guy has to seek Him to find her." shirt.Mom came over to talk to me for a few minuets and Luke went off to the corner and started doing his gymnastics routine.(What he had space for.) Mom whispered,"You know he's showing off for you." So yeah.Forewarn you.The rest of the week went that way.Not the car,but spending time with Luke instead of Michael.haha.

Monday was the leads only,so I was not needed.
Tuesday we tried to,but was not able to run through the whole show for rehearsal.Which was scary because it was a 4 hour rehearsal and the show is a 2 hour show.We even stayed a good 30 minuets late too.By the end of the night everyone was exhausted.
Wednesday rehearsal came and gone and thankfully we finished what we did not get done the night before and ran through the entire show.

Bright and early Thursday morning @ 9 am we were back at the theatre for the 10 am show. Our opening show went well and was fairly packed.Our theatre holds about 900 and all but some balcony seats were sold.It was a good crowd and we were proud of our first show. My friend Jen,my mom, and I all had plans to go out to eat when she got done with classes around 1and meet us @ 1:30.That was fine with us because we had our photo shoot after the Thursday morning show,which would take some time,give me time to change, and take a few mins to rest. There isn't too many places to eat close to the theatre so we choose Applebee's.We had just been seated when Jen showed up.We were sitting there having a nice conversation when all of the sudden I see a big flock of CYTers come bounding through the parking lot. I tell mom and Jen "I should of figured this is where they'd pick to eat.They usually go here after Thursday morning.They are probably just getting here cause of the ones that did individuals shots." I just got a group photo this time,so I was done pretty fast. Jen asked if Michael was there.I said not yet but it wouldn't be too long until he popped up.Just then as if on cue Michael and Luke came bouncing past the window and into the restaurant.When I say bounce I mean it literally.lol! It was quite a sight to see. She asked who was who. I tell her Michael is the one with the green hair(he was the Grinch and before every show they spray dyed it green.) and Luke was the one with the green hat."Alright.Now I know what Michael looks like.Wait.Are those two friends?"I tell her yeah.She hides her smile with her hand,"That's funny.They're friends.I find that so funny." We finish our lunch and head back to the hotel room to relax.Jen,mom and I all took a nap.I woke up a lil early and didn't want to disturb them so I head out into the hall way to call Annette and she what's been up since I was not able to check Internet. After chatting for a bit it was time to head back to the theatre for Round 2 of Seussical.Thursday night show went really well.Right at the end of mom and feel back stage and her arm really hard on the stage.She was going to go to the ER but it was late and it was going to be 5 hour wait.Mom said"Forget it."Her arm is still sore.I'm still not sure if didn't crack it at least.

Friday was another interesting and busy day.The morning show had topped the previous day's shows.But things in my head were starting to get jumbled up.*I've left alot out for reading sake* Michael had been really good about giving me a hug when I got there and saying hi to me inbetween scenes but he has still yet to truly sit and talk to me.I mean he wasn't like he was totally ignoring but he wasn't hanging out with me at all.I just simply got lost in the mix and pushed to the end of his list of people who wanted to hang out with him for his last show. I admit. That hurt a lil bit. I didn't expect him to spend all his time on me.I didn't want him to.It just would of been nice to have a chance to actually talk with him. Not every but alot of time when I went off by myself to clear my head for a few moments Luke would come over and plop down next to me.He always got a smile out of me in the end.

Friday night Sara and Logan came to see the show.So that was nice.After the Friday night show we always go to Cici's to eat cause the Saturday show call isn't until 1 pm.At Cic's I sat with a big group of my gal pals. Andy,Beth,Sarah C.,Hannah,Maddy, Madeline,McKenzie, and Angela.Needless to say laughs at our table, were constant. Luke didn't stay long but he did come over for a little bit to bug us girls.lol. Friday night both my parents were cranky,worn out, stressed, and tired.Not good. None of us slept well that night.

Saturday morning Sara came back to the show and this time she brought my bible study teacher Sherri,and Sherri brought her grandson.Things were still kinda tense.When I talked to Sara after show she could sense it to. We went to get something to eat and things continued to escalate.All of the family stuff going on really got to me before the night show.I called Sara,crying my eyes out.Not sure what to do.I just couldn't take it anymore. I was losing it,and I knew it. I came in from talking on the phone out in teh parking lot and a few of my friends saw my eyes were red. They asked what was wrong and I told them.They prayed with me and told me God has everything in control and everything will be alright.Well I got my face streaked free and went to go put on my make up.While I was in the make-up room I started praying,"God I need a reason to smile.I know You love me and and are there for me.But I this show is going to be hard to get through.Please I need an extra boost.Amen." A few mins later dad got my attention and told me to come here. As I walked out of the make-up room my cousin Sarah and her son Jayce were standing there.I thought none of my family was going to come to Seussical.It instantly put a smile on my face.Also,Sarah's parents,my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Steve were up there in the audience as well. Out of my dad's family(except my grandparents) they are the ones I am closest to.I said,"Thank You God!" So for every public show so far I've had some body in the audience. Thursday night,Friday night, and Saturday afternoon I've had friends come, and Saturday night I had family. Then it came time for devotions. Well that night's came from the song "Alone In the Universe." Stephanie talked about how we are are actually never alone in the universe cause we have a God who is always with us. Talk about God's perfect timing.

Well while warming up before the show Luke was standing right infront of me.I was curious who is better at back massages.(cause earliar that week he made a comment that Michael was the best when I was giving one to my friend Kelsey.)So I started rubbing Luke's back. I asked him it felt good and he says,"Yes!" After I was done he goes,"Thank you!" and give me a big hug. Well while we had some down time inbetween scenes Luke sits right next to me and I ask him "Sup?" He says not much.Then gives me a bit of the puppy pout,"You know you could rub my back again." I laugh and say alright. I end up doing it for about 10 mins. Well after a few mins Michael comes down from his scene. I am watching him at out of the corner of my eye and when he sees I'm not just standing behind Luke I am rubbing his shoulders Michael gets this look of,"She's doing that again??" So then Michael decides to be a jerk and startd flirting with one of the girls and make sures I am watching. The thing that makes me mad...The girl he's flirting horribly with....Is only 14 and he's 19. Rocking the craddle much? I am sure as you all know this but when I was 10 I had a guy who was 5 years older than me try to take advantage of me.I know Michaels not him but that age difference and knowing that Shannon (the girl) is devolping a small crush on him bugs me. She says they are just friends and he's just fun to be around but Saturday she was following him every where.He didn't care at all but I can tell that she likes him.She spends more time around him than any of the other guys that are her age. And frankly it bugs the crap outta me.Espeically since she is....How to put this delicately.....Well figured and her shirts tend to flaunt it more than they should.So I just told myself,"He wants to be that way let him." After steaming for a bit I talked to God about it.All of the sudden that crush on Michael that was coming back disapeared with out a trace. God showed me Michael was not the one for me.A friend,yes.But him and I would never be "Him and I." I know I talked and gabbed so much about him but that last post that God really laid on my heart now makes sense.He was trying rein my heart,(and my mouth) in. I'm stepping abck and throwing it all up in the air and letting God catch it.


Sunday morning brought a new day,with warm weather and a better look at things.I walked in and instantly got a hug from Luke.After getting mostly ready the HYPE teens met for Sunday morning prayer time as planed.It was incredibly awesome.It was a true God moment.All of us could feel God's presence in that prayer circle. It was a encouragement to all of us to hear a group of "Average" teens praising God for His miracles and blessing and asking for comfort for the ones with tears.Due to the play alot of us didn't make it to church that morning but I learned something that day all the same.The devotion for the very last show was Mariah's on acceptance."Something we always think about is are we accepted. But do we ever think about our lives being acceptable to God." It was a wonderful devo. The show ended with a bang. We had the strike dinner and then the strike party where they hand out the awards and the directors get to spoof the show.I didn't get any awards this show but it's ok.

ALOT MORE happened but I'm afraid the post is already reaching record length.Lets just say the weekend ended with me texting Luke my phone number and he replied,"Hey!Now I have your number!Woot!"

"When I'm in over my head I let it all go and fall.But I make sure I fall to my knees."

Always,
Megan Renee