Smyth family photos 2015

My family had professional photos done by Xan's Eye Photography. It's the first time we've taken family photos outdoors, and I think they turned out great! Here are some of my favorites (in no particular order):

And one of our talented and darling photographer, cousin Xan. Thanks, Aaron, for thinking to get one!

Transformation Tuesday: The difference in 20 lbs.

Guess who has lost 20 pounds in the last year?*

Me! It's me!! I did! I'm now in the best shape I've been in during my thirties! I can wear clothing I haven't worn in years!

July 3, 2014

August 15, 2015

I've completed the Personal Trainer Food diet four times in just over the last year. I haven't been consistent, so I've gained a little between each cycle. Happily, during the next cycle I have always lost more than I gained. I think it helps that I've discovered that I like yoga and pilates, and I exercise as much as I can. I've also learned (during a ridiculous amount of lunches and dinners out this last cycle) that a lot of salads at restaurants are delicious... though I've made notes of some places I want to return to for their sandwiches, pizza, and pasta ;)

It always surprises me that losing weight doesn't mean I'm automatically toned -- that's the next hoped-for goal. Now to not undo all my hard work, but also find a balance in diet so that I'm not totally afraid of food. I want to eat cake on my birthday. I want one more cone of Nielsen's frozen custard before the summer is over. I want to participate in the pancake breakfast my director is planning for a Saturday rehearsal in a few weeks. I may not have as much time to exercise as I'd like in the coming weeks, but I can eat responsibly most of the time in the meantime.

Now to buy new jeans again.

There are worse problems :)

August 28, 2015

*I feel awkward talking about diet, weight, and weight loss. I am aware that I am not fat and was not even when I was 20 pounds heavier. I was considered technically "obese" several years ago, but even then I know I've never been large. There are quite a few friends who I feel like a heal talking about my weight loss journey around. If, in talking about my own efforts, you feel that I am judging you, I apologize. That has never, EVER been my intent. I just know my family history and that my genetics tend to the heavy side the more I age. I'm still in the dating game, and I still want to be considered for certain roles in theater, so I'm doing what I can while I have the free time and money. Plus, I've never been one for diet and exercise, so I'm curious to find out how good of shape I can get myself into.

Is He Dead? (my latest play!)

I auditioned for Farmington's Is He Dead? because a bunch of my friends were auditioning. I'd only seen the play once and remembered little about it, and was worried that I'd hate driving all the way out to Farmington (it didn't help that traffic was bad the night that I auditioned and it took me an hour to get there). But I felt it would be irresponsible not to audition with such terrific people, and I was curious about the director, and I had nothing to lose, so I auditioned.

By the end of the callback, I really, really wanted to be cast in the play.

The pages we read were funny, and the people I read with made them even funnier. This would be a great show and I wanted in. I loved that director Ryan asked us to do weird things to get us out of our heads and help us relax and be silly and comfortable with each other. I loved seeing my friends make up characters I didn't expect from them. It was one of the most fun callbacks I'd been to in a long time. No stress, just fun.

So I was thrilled that they pulled us each into a room and offered roles before we went home. I LOVE not waiting for casting results! I was offered the role of Marie Leroux, girlfriend to the lead character. Ryan was a little concerned I might not be okay with all of the kissing, especially since my counterpart is older. I asked who the man was, and when Ryan said it was my friend Adam I knew we'd be fine. (I read the script later and WOW there really is a lot of kissing -- guess this is the year I'm kissed for comedic effect!) I've known Adam and his wife, Mary Ann, for over 5 years and adore them both. We all think this casting is hilarious!

I took a few photos that night, and miraculously everyone in my photos was cast. Cool coincidence, eh? I've been in plays with most of them, but didn't get to interact with them in those other plays, so I'm glad I get to change that. Plus, I get to know two new people. They're just so creative and shameless and supportive and talented and nice. We've had several rehearsals and it's at least as awesome as I'd hoped. I love comedies. I love a small cast.

Missy and I

Emily, Nathan, and Ethan

Andrew and I

(And, it turns out that Farmington isn't that much further than CenterPoint. Thank goodness. But I still don't want to travel much further north than that. I know, I know: famous last words.)

Put October 7-10 on your calendars. It's dinner theater, so we'll feed you before we perform. I don't know what dinner will be, yet, but everyone assures me Farmington's mashed potatoes were amazing last year (fingers crossed they have them again). Tickets are $20 and seating is limited. Apparently, they aren't selling tickets at the door, so you'll have to plan ahead. I'll post Web site info as soon as I have it.

Hope some of you can make it. Good fun and a funny show? Yes, please!

A restrospective on 1776

1776 closed nearly a month ago, and I miss it! On closing night, I felt neither heartbroken or happy. I loved performing and I loved the cast, and it was time to end. It took about two weeks for it to hit me: It's over! I'm very grateful to the friends and family who came to support me. I'm surprised how many came all the way out to Magna.

• During rehearsal, the swamp coolers did not work, and we had a major mosquito problem indoors. It was pretty easy for our men to "act" as though it was 90 degrees outside and plagued with flies. The cast joked that we might as well have done the show outside since the conditions were the same :) Fortunately, the mosquitos died out as soon as we got the coolers working (about a week into the run). Unfortunately, the coolers weren't always on during performances. We were never sure why.
• I brought in a couple of ringers when I auditioned. I take full credit for bringing in Stephen Hopkins (Stephen), Richard Henry Lee (Brandon), John Hancock (Marc), and Thomas Jefferson (Matt). Thanks for taking a chance, men. You were terrific!

We had a devil of a time casting Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. They needed to have a certain look, and be talented AND available. Our director found a Franklin, but I asked no fewer than 16 of my tall male friends to be my Jefferson (I obviously had a personal stake in the matter, considering the kissing scene. I wanted him to be a decent person and friend). I even asked an almost-stranger in my ward. 15 nos make for a lot of rejection in a relatively short span. I am grateful that Matt said yes. He is a handsome, talented sweetheart, and I think he was terrific in the role. Several people asked if we were married in real life -- I guess that means our chemistry was good. Hooray!
• Maybe I didn't learn all of the men's names. I didn't even learn a lot of their character's names. Most were identified by the state they represented. I feel a little guilty because they were all such nice guys and made Melissa and I feel very welcome, mostly (I did have to say "I may look like this but I'm not actually stupid" once). If either of us left the dressing room, we were immediately surrounded and admired. Not a bad gig!

• The audience feedback I received the most was: "It was so much better than I expected!" Thank you? Such a weird compliment. I was proud of the play. I'm glad that it was well-received. I was even mentioned by Front Row Reviewers :)
• I showed my nieces some photos from the show. Zonks asked if I was playing a rich lady and I said I was. They asked me about my role and I said I was married to a president. Of course they wanted to see photos of my husband. Then Breezy asked if we lived in a mansion, so I showed her photos of Monticello. She was fascinated by that beautiful, historic house. It was pretty awesome to get to tell them a little about America's history. For awhile after, Breezy referred to Jefferson as "your president" in a sing-song voice like a teenage girl gossiping about her friend's boyfriend. It was seriously adorable.

The photo Breezy and I are looking at in the photo above

• Melissa made a comment early on about my playing the "hot" girl. That freaked me out a little, since I've never considered myself in those terms. Then again, I know I looked great in my costumes, and anything anyone says about Martha in the show refers to how gorgeous she is, and I spent most of my first scene kissing my on-stage hubby. So, there's that ;) 
• I think it amusing that the Adams' relationship as portrayed in the play is a sweet, romantic one where they talk through letters and never touch, and the Jeffersons get to actually be together and end up kissing and more during their time in the show -- good times!

• It was either the preview or opening night when I shared the quote about you only being as good as the night the audience sees you. Mr. Thompson looked at me in mock-awe and said, "That was profound, and you're not even high!" What I heard, however, was "You're not even hot!" After we cleared up my misunderstanding, it became our joke that he'd tell me how not hot I was.
• Melissa's little brother, Brigham, played the Leather Apron, probably the most thankless role in the show seeing as he had to stand up onstage for almost the entire play and only had 2 lines. He and Melissa schooled me in the ways of neediness, introducing me to the Elvish and Indiana Jones methods for giving high fives. (Ask me and I'll demonstrate sometime.)

• Speaking of random skills, South Carolina used to beatbox backstage during "The Egg." A patriotic song set to a modern style? Yes, please!

• I was asked once after a performance to take a photo with a star-struck little girl. It was fun to be a "Disney Princess" for a minute or two.
• Benjamin Franklin's wig was notably bad. Because he and I have similar skin tone, I was in charge of his makeup for a minute (they then found someone who actually knew what she was doing). The wig was unfortunate, but as I said, I'm just glad they found someone decent to play the role, even if he did stand a little too close to me during our dialogue.

This was before we put makeup on the cap.
The makeup helped, a little.

• The producer had a photographer take photos during our final dress rehearsal. I wasn't satisfied with the photos of Jefferson and I together, so I dragged him outside for a couple of shots. We got the dipping-kiss photo after about 4 seconds. Matt pulled me up and said, "Oh, hi Elders." The missionaries were walking by while we were kissing and Melissa never said a word! So embarrassing!

• Our Courier, Caleb, received his mission call right after he was cast in the play. His date to go into the MTC was the Wednesday before we closed. He spent much of his time backstage reading the Book of Mormon, and performed his role with sweetness and sincerity. 1776 is his favorite play and he was thrilled to play this role before leaving on his mission. The best part? He was called to serve in the sovereign state of Virginia!

• Michelle and Vic did a terrific job with the set. I particularly liked that the red brick on the top half (Jefferson's balcony) was reminiscent of Monticello. I don't know if it was on purpose. I'm guessing it was.

• I want to keep this cape for forever and ever. It's the same one I wore in Robin Hood a few years ago; the costumer for that show was kind enough to lend it to me. I let her borrow some jewelry she needed for her current show. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if she kept that jewelry if it means I get to keep the cape. I love it. As a bonus, I pointed out to Melissa that it's the same color as her skirt, making it the "wife" color (maybe I've been reading too much MadStyle).

• The last two weeks, Brandon, Matt, and I started tossing "That's what she said" jokes at each other. Full disclosure: I'm terrible at them. We had a lot of fun, though. Brandon won the game when he wrote "Thus saith she" on a piece of parchment and hid it in one of Matt's books for him to find onstage. We Virginians had a great time together. We're warm-blooded people, you know :)

• It made me laugh that Brandon's character imitates mine at one point. I did an impression of his, too. I felt it was appropriate, since his wife (who I named "Esmeralda") and I were probably friends. We figured that he saw Martha while she was visiting with his wife and he had to send her away so he could "refresh the Missus." I can see Martha demanding in a fit of pique and jealousy "When's Tom coming home?!"
• The cast gift for Michelle was pretty darn cool. We gave her two baseballs: one with our signatures on it, and the other with the signatures of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. She loved it.

• It turns out, we don't know a lot about Martha Jefferson. I read the information on Wikipedia and the official Monticello Web site, but it seems that after she died, Jefferson was so upset that he burned all of their letters. There isn't even a reliable portrait of her. What we do know is that she was married once before and had a baby who died before she married Jefferson. They loved to play music together -- he on the violin and she the harpsichord. They had 6 children, three died in infancy. Only one daughter lived to adulthood. Martha died when she was 33. It's so, so sad! (I also found out that it's about 260 miles from Monticello to Philadelphia -- quite the journey during a hot summer day!)

• Just a few favorite photos of the guys:

• This is "The Swing" by Jean-Honore Fragonard. I think the dress looks like mine, don't you?

• Beloved fans :D

Chantryce, Natalie, Melissa, and me

Chantryce gave this paper doll book to me, along with some flowers.
I laughed and cheered. She knows me so well!

Laura, me, and Theresa

These men and their canes. At least Melissa and I are normal...oh, wait!