my sister

I miss my sister. We don't keep in touch enough. We need to be better at that. We've always been really close, but what's funny is we've also both been very independent. I don't think either one of us has really been homesick. Well, I'm not sure, she might have had a few moments when she was in New York but I think at the time she was just in a difficult place and she definitely wasn't that happy with where she was. Other than that though, I mean, I went to camp when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I flew all the way across the country and it never occurred to me to call home... not once while I was gone. I also know that I'm just not that good at keeping in touch with people either. I think my grandmother and I have that in common as well... I should call her this weekend...

Hold close to your family, to your loved ones. They're always going to be there for you, through thick and thin. They may have their own strong opinions about things but that's just because they care about you so much. Either way, they're always on your side.

Love you lil' sis!

~Gwen

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It just occurred to me, I never updated everyone on Harry Potter's 7th book!! The book was awesome. Just awesom. I thought she brought in enough new stuff to the story to be truly intrigued, and I felt she tied all things up quite nicely. I've read the book and I bought the audio CDs. I've just finished listening to the CDs, and Jim Dale does another great job. I have to say I have minor frustrations, because the voices, though all distictive, don't entirely mesh with the ones he came up with in past books. At least I don't think they do. But then again, those of you who know me know how particular I can be... :)

So that's my update. If you haven't read the Harry Potter series, I would definitly suggest it, for children or adults. Obviously, you have to enjoy the concept of magical worlds, but it's a pretty easy read and touches on lots of good moral points.

~Gwen

Amy Courts

I've been delinquent in keeping my blog and myspace up to date, so now I guess I'm overcompensating, but you have to check out my myspace page and my friend Amy Courts.

I noticed that Amy, Eric Paslay and Heidi Burson were playing tonight, so how could I resist seeing three people I knew I'd love all in one night. When I got to Lyrix, I spotted Amy, and after ordering a Shirley Temple (I know, going all out tonight, wasn't I?) I stopped by her table to say hi and catch up a little. Later, when she went up to play in the round with Eric and another singer/songwriter, they went through each of their songs, and on Amy's last song, she dedicated it "for a girl who is missing a boy halfway around the world" and she proceeded to sing what she knows is my favourite song of hers (so far anyways... :) ). I cried. She's so awesome, that just meant so much to me. So thank you again, Amy. You're a dearheart and I love you.

~Gwen

Love for Friends

Back in June when I visited California, I met up with an old high school friend of mine. His roommate happened to be another old high school friend of mine, but at the time I visited, Chris was unavailable. I was sad. Then I found out that Chris had gotten a part with Evita! and would be starting his National tour with the group in Chattanooga! So last Thursday, I get this last minute call. He's playing that night and Friday night. I busted my buns to get my work done by Friday afternoon (and let me tell you... that was rough) and, forgetting that there is an hour time difference between Nashville and Chattanooga, I then skipped dinner and left straight from work to make it to the show on time.

I got there at 7:56pm for the 8pm show , bought a ticket (row Q seat 9, right up front and just off center... awesome), and the lights went down. I had made it with seconds to spare. Chris was awesome. He was in the Ensemble that night, but he had a couple of solo parts and I was so proud of him! It was a great show. I wish I had gotten to meet the guy that played Che, Omar I think it was... he was amazing.

After the show, Chris and I met up and wandered off to a quiet corner of a bar to catch up for a couple of hours. It was so good to see him again. I'm so bad at keeping in touch with people, but I still cherish moments when I do finally get to reconnect with old friends. I had a great night, even though I got home at 1:45am. :)

~Gwen

I am sooooo behind!!!

I'm so sorry, world, I haven't posted a thing for weeks and weeks!! I've been so caught up in a few things I haven't even had a chance to look at my blogs or myspace. Oh, and can I just say how irritated I am. My workplace, totally without notice, has suddenly blocked all access to myspace, which is really ruining my social event calendar, because a lot of things happen right after work on weeknights, and now I can't check to see what's going on after work. I'm missing my shows because I can't check my calendar. Now I'm going to have to come up with some new system, which is not going to be ideal.

On a totally different note, though I've been missing very much my dance and my music friends, those events never did pan out very well socially. Dance is good, we have gatherings after class (which I've been skipping because my foot still hurts), but I wasn't meeting any single guys to date. I made a few really great friends, but none turned into a relationship. And the music scene has been a total bust on that front. Now, however, I've found a really nice, wonderful even, fellow that I've become really attached too, and I had to send him overseas last week. It's tearing my heart out, but we're doing a pretty good job so far of keeping in touch, and we'll see how it all works out. He should be back in about 6 months. So ladies, wish me luck and give me some ideas on things I can send him in the mail to keep him happy!! We're both already really looking forward to the day he gets back.

~Gwen