Winning

My life is good. oh so good. 

and it seems with each day, it only gets better! 

I was at a theater festival last weekend and we did really well! 

our school's one act received superior! (first place). The Amador festival is equivalent to like...state championships, but for theatre haha. So this was a huge deal!! 

Me and My scene partner Jay also won with our scene! woo! well. actually. we got second. but come on, out of the 50 best high school two person scenes, we got second!! I was happy. first would have been nice...but comedy hardly ever wins over serious pieces. 

Jay is the one wearing blue, and the guy whose hand he's shaking was only the judge who didn't give us a one. that stupid judge whose reason for being a judge was, "well, when i go to college, i want to major in theatre" was the reason we got second. so basically, he's the devil. with no credentials.

what is second? we won.

Speaking of drama, here's the queen of theatre herself: Mrs.Latimer
not only is she the coolest teacher this side of the mississippi, but i'm pretty sure she dated Shakespeare.
She's amazing.
Monday was CSF life member night and i asked her to present me. She was hilarious and ranted about my facial expressions. she even made a giant poster board filled with giant pictures of the most unflattering yet ridiculously hilarious pictures of my face in the most contorted expressions you can ever imagine me making.
AND she got me a Gryffindor beanie?!! no yeah, she's the best.

 all the life members are so wonderful! But I only know one of them closely. Megan is the most adorable person on the planet! and i'm about to sneeze in this almost-perfect picture, but i still love it.

all of the life members with my other favorite teacher, Mrs.Watterson! she's incredible!!

we didn't actually get our scholarships until the next day at the Scholarship awards night! Let's just say, I made a few more trips to the podium than i had expected! Tuition paid for? yes. SO happy.

Oh hey Estezzy. your eyes are closed.

I like that all of my old madera people whispered, "I loved Seussical" into my ear as they handed me envelopes. hahaha yay for Gertrude, she helped me win.

oh and hey, Mr.Simmon's head.

then i scuttled over to the end of Travis' volleyball game with that Brandon kid..

I'm kind of upset that the night Taylor got to play, i didn't get to watch. 

Meet Taylor.

or as I call him, "Cali Swag t-daddy Bees el Tay tay taylor Be-beakes-in"

coolest nick name ever, yeah?

He's pretty much my little brother. he's flipping adorable.

La Puesta Del Sol Warriors For Vida!

yesterday, while all the babies were taking CSTs, we big bad cool seniors gt to sit in an awesome assembly for like 34562 hours. soooooo not a waste of my sleepy time right? no.

BUT two good things DID come out of senior activities. well three.

1.) I played Wii Tennis with homeboy Carl Licuanian. aka Jonathan Lipnikey. aka the next Steven Spielberg aka the coolest guy on the planet. way t be, CARL!

2.) I got my purple cap and gown. weird.

3.) I won an award. hehe. guess what it was?! I'll give you a hint. here. and here....

MOST SCHOOL SPIRIT!!!!!

needless to say, i died.

and my scene partner won some ridiculous category about having a bunch of kids. so i made him take a picture with me. you can tell from his oh so happy face that the assembly was awesome. ha. cool, bro. we should stop hanging out or pretty soon our houses are just going to be over flowing with trophies! all we do is win!

just kidding, that was conceited, I'm sorry.

But real talk? I feel really blessed this week. I'm grateful for the 32 scholarships that i applied for and all the committees that considered me. I'm grateful for the six who chose me. And for Stephen and Mona who kept cheering for me the whole night. And I'm ridiculous happy for Vanessa and Shaq who won Landon's scholarships. and I'm so proud of my friends who just kept raking in the cash and for flipping Ryan who got a $16,000 scholarship for Austin. Way to go! 

I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of MSTC, but that's entirely different post. and I love working with Mrs.Watterson. I'm grateful for CSF and all the service opportunities it's given me.

*sigh*

I love my school. and i lvoe that Brandon was the boy part of that award, because he deserved it too.

Happy. just plain happy.

Meet Brandon

You've probably seen all these pictures before. But i just have to rave today about one my favorite people in the universe. trust me, it's gonna get sappy. I've ranted before about how much i love him Here and even a little Here but he was always grouped with two other amazing boys. so today he gets his own post. I don't want anyone out there to get the wrong idea, though. There's a difference between loving someone and being in love.  I love Brandon. And even though I've jokingly (but not 100% joking...haha...) said that i could totally marry him, I'm not in love with Brandon. So for all you who are reading this, but you don't know Brandon? don't take this as a subtle hint that we're dating. Cause we're not. promise. and we won't. promise. Because he's my brother. And he has enough ladies flocking all over him already. He certainly does not need another one. hahaha.

anyway...

 Brandon has literally been there for me through everything. I think i use the term, "best friend" loosely sometimes. But I really do feel like a have an usually large group of friends that fully deserve best before their title. Brandon is absolutely one of them. there's friends, Best friends and then "3 AM friends" you know the ones. they would answer your call and leave the house at the drop of a hat to help you . even at three in the morning. And then there's Brandon.

He's past the 3AM group. he's just any time anywhere. 

I Love him.

So this ones for you B-randy.

thanks for always being there.

Even when i was awkward and boyish.

 (Me as Brigham Young for a Biography project in 3rd grade. Brandon was Andrew Jackson. whose wife's name was Rachel. Don't ask me how i remember these things...)

Even when I wore overalls and wouldn't smile real smiles because of all the metal in my mouth

 You've been to all the birthday parties. Even when the theme was murder mystery three times in a row. and you were the murderer twice.

You loved me through the gelled back ponytails, the braces (twice), the torn up shoes, the baggy pants, the trumpet spit valve emptying, the awkward puberty stage, my shortest hair and my longest hair, and all the lengths in between. You walked me home from school everyday of elementary school and you listened to all my rants. just like now when we walk to second period everyday and you just let me talk and talk and talk and talk and i know you probably don't care but you pretend to for my sanity and i appreciate it.

Me and Brandon are the same person sometimes. I haven't had anyone ask me if we were siblings lately, but when we were younger it happened all the time. we even eat ice cream sandwiches in the same fashion.

we had the same hair cut in 8th grade...

Oh hey Justin Biebers...

 I've never been nervous on a first day of school. except Kindergarten, but after that? Brandon, Stephen and Jase face were all there, so i felt safe. And even after elementary school, I've always had a class with Brandon. I Love love love Stephen and Jason, don't get me wrong. But Brandon and I have stayed the closest over the years. Freshman and sophomore year i thought i was cool and i liked a boy who didn't like my friends, so i stopped hanging out with them.

Stupidest. Thing. Ever.

I regret that a lot. And i feel bad about missing out on two whole years of memories with my real boys.

It makes me upset that i was so dumb. but thankfully, we've made up for the lost time since then.

I'm not sure how i'm going to make it through my first day of college without them. or any of college for that matter...

Brandon can read minds.

Maybe it's just me? But he literally knows exactly what to say. always. Have i mentioned that i cannot remember a single time in my entire life that i have ever been actually mad at him?

A girl knows a boy for fourteen years and has never been mad at him once? that's an impressive feat! Boys of the world, take notes! we can all learn something from Sir B-ran:

Always be there. 

He's always there. no matter what. Even when literally no one else understands and you think you're completely alone, and your heart is broken, there's Brandon. And you go to his house and you swim and you bake cookies and you watch sappy movies and stupid youtube videos and you laugh harder than you have in ages and you feel like someone glued together the grand canyon in your heart because you're so much better now than you were before.

Never give up on them

Brandon has always reached out when our friendship was parting to bring us back together. he never stopped inviting me to things even when i said no. He never stopped being nice to me. he never stopped teasing me like a little sister. He has never stopped watching out for me. And i hope he never does. He'll be the first one to tell me if i'm acting stupid. And i love that. because everyone needs to be thrown off their high horse sometimes and Brandon is not afraid to tell the truth. He'll be the first one to talk to if i lose someone, or i don't get into my dream school, or i like a boy that i shouldn't like...

Brandon is the kind of guy that drives to my house late at night even when he's exhausted from baseball practice - with cookies, of course, because he knows my weaknesses - to talk me out of quitting something. Brandon is the realist. and i'm the dreamer. so we balance each other out pretty well.

I tell him to drop a bomb on the school he didn't get into, (because that's what should happen. right?) He tells me that the guy i liked wasn't good enough for me.

He tells me exactly what i need to hear. Even when it's the last thing i want to hear. I love that he is like my conscience. He gets in my head. when i'm making a decision, i literally hear his voice telling me to relax. or to wake up. and sometimes i think i feel him jokingly slapping the back of my head whenever i'm about to have a meltdown. It's like he already knows exactly what i'm thinking, he just confirms what i already knew was right. He knows what's good for me.

He knows what i want.

What i really want.

I can't even tell you exactly what that is. but there's just this picture in my head that i won't let anything in the way of. 

And Brandon gets that. 

and he wants that for me.

And i want the same for him.

I think when you care about someone, it's just about making them happy. You want the absolute best for them, and in helping them get what they need, you become better in return.

That's how i feel about me and Brandon.

I want, more than anything, for him to just be happy. 

and I know he wants the same for me.

So we're just stinkin' happy! because we help each other.

Thank you Brandon for being the drive behind the whole school's spirit.

for supporting me 100% in whatever i do, even when it's stupid.

For being willing to kill someone if they hurt me

And for being there for me on my best days, and my worst days and every single good day in between.

I'm sorry for the months i spent ignoring you, Stephen and Jason over a dumb boy.

And I'm sorry for not letting you in the silver hand notebook in sixth grade.

and i'm sorry that our school memories have to end in just a few short weeks. I literally don't know what i'm going to do without you in college. 

I'm so glad we're friends. too glad to say in words. which is why i bombard your windshield with doodles all the time. and why i spend all of third period doodling a sci-fi magically dystopian novel masterpiece for you. 

I'm thankful for the fourteen birthdays, 13 grades, dozens of teachers, hundreds of recesses,  and countless deep conversations in your car or our living rooms and the daily walks we've had together since i met you that august day in 1999. you've been the best friend anyone could ever ask for. you're my confidant, my conscience, my brother, my strongest human support, my biggest fan, and my truest friend. 

You've lifted me out of some deep ruts, and you deflated my big stuck up head more times than i count.

I hope i never forget the days we spent climbing the eucalyptus trees on the corner, digging a kickball field with Stephen, building rockets at G.A.T.E., and playing instruments together.

I hope i always remember watching Even Stevens on your couch, and swimming in your pool, and caroling on Christmas, and your surprised face when i brought you a care package because you were sick as a dog. 

I hope we're always friends, because I need you in my life forever!

Thank you for everything.

I love you, brother!

-Mel 

Thrifting & cereal

On Saturday I brought a prom dress.
Not even sure if i'm even going to my school's prom. But the dress was $25 at a vintage thrift store in tower district so obviously, i got it just in case.
I'm in love with it. I can see it right now hanging in my laundry room. It's green and long and sparkly. It looks like a mermaid. So. I'm just going to be a mermaid for prom, okay? cool. It's pretty much the opposite of what i wanted, but once i saw it, i had to have it. Doesn't that sound so vain?...yeah.

I wasn't mentally prepared to go back to school today. I stayed up writing a paper for my super cool 1984 simulation project and was worried that i'd be a grump all day. But you know what? Today was a flipping good day. not for any reason in particular. and those are my favorite days. just plain good.
kind of feel like this right now:

also? I'm about to watch the biggest loser while eating marshmallow mateys so, pretty dang content.

Seussical

 This post is gonna be crazy long, I can already tell.

I just want to say first that I loved Seussical more than i can say. And I really truly loved the entire cast. I may not highlight you individually, but that doesn't change the fact that you were all my whole life for the past three months. And i love you. SO. dang. much.
You're all nasty!

Wanna know something? I miss seussical like crazy... But there are a few things that i will NOT miss.

Like the hectic back dressing room before curtain:

too many bodies in one cramped space. plus wickersham hair. not pretty.

another thing that i won't miss? 

applying 2347 pounds of makeup to become gertrude.

I hate makeup, in general. I hardly ever wear more than mascara. It's a pain, it's expensive and it comes off by the end of the day so uhmm, why bother?

So icky thicky sticky stage makeup is even worse.

and because i hate makeup, i don't know how to do it all fancy. that had to change.

toward the end of the show i started doing my own but it didn't look good. hahaha. I was just tired of asking other people to do it. so oh well.

 Things I will miss?
the people. The entire cast, really. But i don't have pictures of all of them. They're all so good!

I love Alisan the dang lion.

 She's so flipping amazing!

How cute is she? and look at that hair! talk about dedication.

the techies.

Kim is the most patient person on the universe. helping me hook my mic EVERY show is annoying. I'm pretty sure that she wanted to slap me for being so lazy and not doing it myself. I love her!

David is hilarious. I'll definitely miss his "romantic" calls over the intercom, "will the most beautiful lavender bird please report to the stage so i can hear your amazing voice? Melissa Hansen? please come out here so i can check your mic, please. thank you." in a voice as sultry as a sophomore boy can make it. 

110 lbs of faux-hawked stud.

And i can't forget the lights! thank you ray and Aldiar for being the perfect spotlight guys. THE best.

 they're the ones who make it all happen!

I will miss freaking out in the wings because Truxton is improvising before his opening lines and i think he's just blanking. the kid kept me on my toes, what can i say?

And let's just talk about the fact that this kid is a sixth grader, but he can sing like dang clay aiken? he's amazing. go truck! (rue whistle)

 I'm pretty sure that I've discussed my lack of dance skills before, so i'll spare you.

but really, It's bad. hahaha. As you can see from this picture, I'm doing something COMPLETELY different than the rest of the cast. cool, Mel. smooth.

But honestly, I'm going the miss all the dancing. seeing dozens of people all do something at once gives me chills. even if it's just a simple clap, i get excited over a clean dance move. I'm glad i got to be the awkward bird because all the rest of the birds are uhmm, amazing dancers! ALL of them! intimidating much? yump.

I'm going to miss the set. watching it grow and change every day for the past three months has been incredible. and the set was amazing! Way to go brandon Giles for making us the best-looking sets in the dang world! But really though, i don't know how he thinks of these things.

one of my favorite things to do in this show was just to take everything in. look at all these colors! I love watching everyone's facial expressions and how well they get into character.

One of my favorites to creep on is Jared.

Horton the dang elephant. 

He's honestly SO good.

every night i literally just laid down in the wings and let my self fall under a spell for three minutes while he belted out 'alone in the universe' with truxton. Jared's voice is so deep and soothing! it's like chocolate! 

And he just got so into, i loved watching him talk to the clover like there was someone actually there.

He's just so flipping talented!

My favorite parts of the ENTIRE show? the bird girls and the wickershams. 

they all rock! the dang bird girls can just sleep me to sleep at night with their beautiful harmonies. and the wickershams just make me want to dance! they're so captivating and funny! gahhh, i feel like i'm just ranting. I just can't express how i feel about this show.

before i rave about Aretha Franklin , I mean... Zhanel...can i point out Tami's face in the picture below? 

love it.

Zha-dang nel flipping carter-martinez.

she just opens her mouth and out come these sweet sweet notes of honey!

She's singing at my wedding. 

the end.

I. oh my. i can't even explain the extent of my love for this girl. and? I love her voluptuous tail.

she needs to be on broadway asap.

I'm going to miss giggling at Brandon's angry voice during the military scenes.

 I'm going to miss spending literally every moment of every day with my best friends in the whole world

 performing with my adorable cousin, Teddy Bear.

being an annoying morning person and whipping my hair in the crowded back room and making everyone want to kill me because i sing Hairspray and Into the Woods at the top of my lungs non stop.

I'm gonna miss the butterflies in my stomach before every curtain.

And especially when i know there are people i love in the crowd.

I love performing. I love seeing the looks in kids eyes when the lights go up and the entire cast floods the stage. I love seeing hundreds of people sitting close to each other in the crowd on packed nights. I love the electricity of it all.
When we all sing at the very end of the play, those last bittersweet lines are the most powerful and strong of the entire show. Everyone's voices fill the audience and i feel so proud i could burst.
It's right then, right when everyone is giving 100% when i realize how much i love them.
In that moment - when the whole crowd is just mesmerized, their faces longingly gazing up at us - that i feel tears coming. and i hear a lump forming in my throat.
and i just love it.
too much to explain. 

I'm going to miss pretending to be in love with this guy:

yeah, yeah i know. It's hard to believe. but I've played opposite him two musicals in a row and gosh dang it! what can  say? that smooth voice gets me every time. 

just kidding.

But really, I love the guy! 

He's a good kid. and some days, in between afternoon and evening rehearsals while we drove to get a quick bite to eat, we'd just be laughing or in a really deep conversation and i would actually have to remind myself that we weren't together in real life. that i didn't love Jared, Gertrude just loved Horton. 

hahaha! i know, i'm a creep.

But really, He's so talented. and I've totally gotten used to depending on him being there and giving his all. We make each other look good.

We play a good couple.

I'm going to miss all the close-knit relationships that evolve over the run of a show. When you spend that much time with someone, you're bound to either kill each other or become best friends. luckily, Seussical was just a whole lot of laughs and friendship.

I'm going to miss this girl.

My dang Sav.

She's my other half of Gertrude. we bounce well off each other's ideas and quirks. I dang love the girl! She's    the reason why i felt so confident in my role. She was 100% supportive all the time. She always lifted me up and when i was a little bent because of a missed note or a stumbled line, she was there to roll her eyes and tell me it was fine. She was there to boost my ego when i needed support, and she was there to knock me down when i got cocky. Savannah is wonderful! And I'm glad that we got to be so close. thanks Gertrude for giving me a new friend and confidant. 

I'm going to miss driving with Jenae. as cheesy as it seems, I love driving. I love being able to think and ponder and (dream, far and wide as you dare. oh the thinks you can think!) talk and let my heart open. and for some reason, that happens best on car rides home. It's what made me and Derek close. It's definitely a daily routine that HAS to happen with Marissa, or i just feel empty. And slowly i can see it working with Jenae. But don't tell her i said that, or it might stop, hahaha. But really, I love driving her a round. even if it doesn't seem like it when i'm yelling at stop lights...

I am Gertrude McFuzz.

You don't understand.

I am she. she is me. we are the same being. only, she's a fictional bird and i'm a real person.

but we are literally the same.

We're both awkward and purple and crazy and kind of a stalker, but we have the best intentions at heart.

Gertrude tries relentlessly to get the guy of her dreams. she goes out of her way to impress him. 

but he's too busy with his heroic deeds to notice the girl that's been right in front of him all along.

Hm.

Story of my life?

I think yes.

she gets all depressed over her little one feathered tail. SO depressed that she gets surgery to get a HUGE tail. JUST to impress him! But finally she realizes that it doesn't matter how big her tail is, or how many ugly sweaters she owns, or how many feathers she has in her hair, or if she wears a fanny pack all the time... impressing a boy is not the reason you were born! you could do so many better things in your life than mope around waiting for someone to notice you and tell you that your dress is pretty.

finally, I uhmmm, Gertrude realized that!

so then, she was just happy!

and once she was confident, she got the guy just by being her awkward, creepy, purple self! 

So cheer up, freshman and sophomore girls. 

It WILL get better. 

life DOES go on without a boy.

You ARE beautiful. 

no one is a lone in the universe! ever! 

you've got brains in your head and feet in your shoes, so steer your self any direction you choose!

Thank you Gertrude for teaching me to be myself no matter what.

And to always smile. Even when you can't fly.

ah,  the sappiness. wonderful.

Thank you Seussical.

For making me the happiest I've been in years. 

For giving me friends i never would have come across otherwise.

for sneaking motivational messages in every song.

For depriving me of sleep and food, for clogging my brain with endless rhymes. For making me hate make up even more than i already do. for giving me a renewed respect for tap dancing. For making me love Mrs.Bricker. For forcing me to realize that putting on a show is not as easy as it looks, and Ginger Latimer is one of the most selfless people I know. for giving me my first power dollar. for making me sing so loud and so often i thought my throat would fall out. For making me fall in love with my school, again. For convincing me that Theatre is my niche, and i can never stop doing this.

And for reminding me how blessed i am.

Look at all these happy faces!

I love them all so stinkin' much!

this show was pure MAGIC.

From the very first Oh the thinks you can think in January with Joel, To the Green Eggs and Ham last Saturday night that ended it all, there was an undeniable glow in this production.

If you didn't get to see it, you missed out.

I already it miss it more than i can bare.

I'm going to keep missing it.

All of it.

All of them.

So thank you Seussical, For making me happy, for setting my future in motion and for changing my life.

Anything's Possible!

The Reception

ahhhh wedding receptions.

Luckily, Christine has great taste. 

and actually, I'm not the biggest fan of the color blue, but Christine knew to get just the right shade! It literally flattered everyone! and it looks great in all the pictures, does it not?

way to go, girl.

The reception was great! That building is super pretty and the whole evening was very elegant, especially the tree on the dessert table. did i mention that Christine has impeccable taste? yeah, well she does. 

I was freaking out for the first half of the reception, unfortunately. Because Seussical was going on without me. and although i absolutely LOVE my understudy, and i knew she was doing perfectly fine as Gertrude, It was the most nerve-wracking feeling ever! I won't go into how much i love Gertrude McFuzz right now, that's a later post. (get ready for the multi-colored Seuss love. it's coming.)

But it was really hard for me to not be there.

Looking back now, i can't believe I even thought about leaving the reception. 

I'm honestly embarrassed. 

Donny is my brother! and It was the most important day of his life! And even though, I wanted to punch the person when they said it, I completely agree with them now. I was just being selfish. and dumb. 

I mean, come on, who would want to miss on all of this?

we compared our heights...

took some not-so-attractive sibling bonding time pictures.

we're cute.

reunited with best friends

and gushed over tender moments 

So here's the moral of the story:

don't let what you think is important in the moment blur what will be important in the long run.

A Forever Family is worth more than anything else on earth.

and?

Donny and Christine are the most adorable couple ever.

The Wedding

These pictures are ALL hopelessly out of order but they're just so happy that it doesn't matter. Everyone's faces show you all you need to know regardless of when they actually happened chronically.

Donny looks so proud!

So happy :)

I love this! Natalie loves Christine. A real-life princess just married in her forever castle? Fairy tale.

So sweet!

diggin' the shoes!

Grandbabies!

The singles! we're half and half now! all the coyotes are married haha

 I promise that we have better posture than this! we were leaning in for the picture haha

 groomsmen :)

yomp.

we're cute.

Sistas! Love them!

Derek and Caleb are twins 99% of the time.

Bridesmaids! we all look pretty smashing if i do say myself...

Dedicated dads. adorable.

 Nieces who adore christine

 Wahoo! finally! dig this picture.

 all 21 of us!

 the original family seems so small now

Dear Jimmy Larson who was the first son-in-law to marry into the Wallwork side, 

Thank you for starting the tradition for the jumping picture.

I love it.

and my future husband is doing it. the end.

Donny looks like he's sneakily practiced this a few times...

0 to 5 in one day? pretty dang happy

Seeing them so happy the entire day of their marriage only made me want to get married in the temple even more. gahh. they're gonna be together forever, and i love that.

They're Pretty much the most beautiful couple on the planet.

and I love THAT.

I just love them!

Happy Forever, guys!