Decisions, decisions

So the sillier of the decisions I have had to make recently was just today, I spent about 20 minutes scrubbing paint from all over myself, trying to determine: paint, freckle, or scab? I was wrong quite a few times.
But more seriously, I got an email about a week ago from Ohio University asking me to make a decision and I have decided thank you, but no thank you for this year. It is a bittersweet decision, but I believe it is the right one. I had been asking them for clear numbers and deadlines for quite some time and they were not able to provide me with the clarity I needed and answers to questions, so I will take that as my cue that Ohio is not the place God has planned for me at the moment.
It was/is still a possibility that I may be offered a 9-month position here at PCPA, did I mention that before? Oh, yeah, that is supposedly a possibility, but they have to figure out their budgets and stuff and I sincerely doubt that it's going to happen. So, I am so glad that I at least have a show at Moonlight to fall back on if nothing else. Let the job hunt begin!

Week One, Already Done!

This is my first model next to
the design.

This week has flown right by! Unlike my Globe internship where I figured out pretty much within the first week that I didn't want to be a stage manager, I have been finding that I am increasingly more in love with this job. I got to practice a little welding on Tuesday, which would have gone better if it hadn't been so windy, and I have mainly ben working on building quite intricate small windows which we are making molds of so that we can cast a whole bunch of them, so I got to make my first ever mold! I have had a few run-ins with the sharp ends of my tools, but nothing a little super glue can't hold together : /. I am hoping that my second one comes out even better than the first, I am learning from my mistakes.

This is what the casting looks like,
one of 20 that will be made.

I haven't had any response to my questions that I sent to back to the University of Ohio yet, but I'm hoping that will come soon. I even went ahead and changed my FAFSA so they would have access to that information and hopefully that will give me some help. However, I did meet Emma, the Master Electrician for PCPA for the summer and 9-month intern, she is graduating from the school this year, she is A. awesome and B. a great advertisement for their program. She was telling me some pretty awesome stuff that just makes it more and more appealing. Also, one of the props artisans who hasn't arrived yet is currently attending Ohio University and on the same program I want to be a part of. I look forward to his arrival and the chance to pick his brain.

This is my second window,
still in progress.

I have been biking to and from work which adds up to about 7 miles a day and adjusting to new surroundings, a new bed, making all of my own meals, and working all day on stuff that requires tons of attention and focus, so I am TIRED! But in the best way, I am loving it. The only thing I am lacking is a church, so be praying with me about that and please keep praying for God's direction in regards to grad school.

"I am leaving you with a gift -peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift this world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."                                                                    John 14:27

   

Jesus Take the Wheel

I know the phrase has been utterly destroyed and overused since Carrie Underwood wrote her well meaning song but it is the best way I can think of to describe how I'm feeling right now. Doors have been opening right and left for me recently and they line up really well with each other, and it seems too good to be true.
There is not a doubt in my mind that God can open doors and that he will do so with joy for those who are walking with him, but right now I'm really in shock over the doors that have swung open in front of me. If you haven't heard or guessed, I'm talking about Ohio University offering me a half ride scholarship. Let me explain why this is so crazy to me: first of all until the USITT conference at the end of March I only vaguely knew this school existed and almost nothing about it. I met Tom Fiocchi who is the head of the props program there while at USITT, he looked at my terrible portfolio and talked with me quite a bit about the school, props, theatre, and the philosophy of the program. I was sold, but of course it was already past the application deadlines and they had already extended their offers for the year. Well, I had to come back a second day for an interview (for the internship I start tomorrow) and miracle of miracles, the person they offered their aid to had decided to go somewhere else. Tom told me to email him my portfolio and he would see what they could do. We emailed a bit, but nothing...Friday afternoon rolls around and I had resigned myself to the fact it just wasn't going to happen and I get an email that practically knocks me over. A HALF RIDE? I didn't even actually apply or any of the things that you are supposed to do!!! So now I have to figure out if this is the path God has for me.
Here is something to consider though, I don't know if you believe in prophesy but I do, I have seen it come to fruition in my friends lives and my family's. Last year, a man named Ed Trout, who is highly regarded in my church as a man of God and a prophet spoke a word over my dad's life and mine, I literally just watched my dad's part come to fruition and this is what he told me God wanted to say to me,

"You're an amazing young lady, not finished with school I see, got little things dangling there and you're just not sure and God says, 'Finish! Get it done, you can do this, and I'll give you success."

That's pretty straight forward. So, maybe I need to get over my practical brain that is looking at my bank account and get on with it. He has a promised land for every one of us, maybe it is time for me to pack up my tent like Abraham and Sarah and set out for the land he has saved for me.

Next Step

    So, I leave this Saturday for my new internship. I was wrong, it is only a 3 month internship, the start date was later than I had originally understood which has consequently left me with a bit more (un-employed) time on my hands than I expected. Not only was I un-employed but my dad was as well and PRAISE THE LORD, he got a new job at the very end of last week. It was crazy, they literally called him at 4:56 pm and it was awesome! God has been so good to my family through this ordeal and I got to spend more time with my dad than I think I ever have in my whole life. And I got to babysit the two most awesome little people in the world Stella and Gunnar, my cousins Kelsey and Hauna's gorgeous kiddos. I do not know if I could love them any more, they are so precious to me.

Gunnar being awesome, eating dirt. 

I have also been keeping myself busy with a few, ok a lot, of projects. my recent kick has been baking, I have been baking up a storm, it has not been good for my waist line but my stomach is happy :). I have also been crafting away. In the past, people have joked about my mom and I that we do everything except cobble our own shoes, well...  I kinda made shoes. I'm not saying they are perfect by any means, but they are wearable and I think they are pretty cute and quite admirable for a first attempt.

Stella with her "callies" aka coloring.

I also made a dress for myself by salvaging the skirt off a dress that didn't fit any more and building a new bodice for it made from old jeans, and I used the old bodice to make a dress for Stella which totally doesn't fit, that's what I get for not using any kind of size reference. But maybe it won't be a total loss because Hauna and Nathan are expecting baby #2, gender TBA. WOOT!

I've made a couple other things, done some alterations on some clothes, seriously done a lot of baking and cooking, but it hasn't all been for fun. I undertook most of these projects to improve on skills that may come in handy at my internship, sewing, leather working, baking, sculpting, paper mache are all important skills for a props artisan.

I don't know what all this internship will entail, I don't know how much I will be working, I don't know who I will be working with, all I know for certain is that God opened the door for a reason and my real job is to walk through it and trust that he has something special planned for me. 

Commit everything to the LoRD. Trust him and he will help you.

Psalm 37:5

Step 1. Get the Job

CHECK.
Well, it's not really a job, it's an internship -BUT- it is an internship with a pretty decent stipend and that is pretty darn close to a real grown up job.

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts has offered me a four month internship, which is a fantastic opportunity for me. But, it also requires me to move to Santa Maria for four months, where I will probably be renting a room and having to actually be entirely accountable for myself for the first time in my life. BIG STEPS HERE PEOPLE! I'm a little petrified, and I think that is why I'm not more excited about it. I'm afraid I won't have the skills I need and all these little things, but the reality is that I'm not supposed to be perfect, I'm just supposed to be willing to learn that is why it is an internship!

So, now I have a little over a month left at home and I am resolved to enjoy it and all the people that I will miss like crazy while I'm gone. Who knows where this will lead, maybe I will get another job (or maybe the Steppenwolf Apprenticeship...) and I won't be back. This is an exciting and terrifying time of growth and change, I'm thinking it's time to lean harder on God than ever before.