Summer Starts with Saving a Turtle

Summer, the time for red-skinned shoulders, short-shorts, hot cement, and driving with the windows down. There's something strange about the summer to me, it's scents and outings, adventures and warm air. Honestly, it's never been my favorite season, there is something odd in the summer-magic that doesn't quite click with me like the crispy fall leaves or the sparkle of snow do. Yet, this summer has proven to be a little different and I'm feeling much more of that magic.

It began with Rich rescuing a turtle. Perhaps this should have been a sign of all the adventures to come. We were driving to Gerilyn's house when Rich asked "Was that a turtle?!" I hadn't been watching the road and shrugged it off, surely it was only a rock. But Rich was distressed and rapidly made a U-turn, he could not drive on in good-conscious without checking. Well, sure enough there was a turtle in the middle of the highway! Rich rushed across and grabbed the shaken turtle. We took him in the car and drove him across the road, in the direction he was headed. We found a grassy area by a pond and left him there. And this was the beginning of our summer adventures.

After that we headed off to Utah! We crammed our suitcases shut and he warned me that he's a terrible person to travel with (this was after I had already checked three times to see if I had the tickets and proceeded to see if I could fit my fifth pair of shoes into my suitcase). The trip was fine, the airport food expensive, and our layover delayed. Yet we made it to Utah, hungry but intact. 

Utah started off marvelously, day one consisted of Cafe Rio (how could it not?), friendly faces, and nostalgic trips around Ogden, showing Rich Weber and taking him up the canyon. We absolutely love exploring! Rich definitely channels his inner puppy, frolicking about among the river, trees, and horse poop. My favorite photo of the day was when I caught him climbing on the road block barrier. He is definitely a wanderer and adventurer and will keep my soul young. 

For our next feat we decided we needed to conquer some mountains! Rich has seen photos of Zion National Park and I had been there when I discovered that I would be attending Purdue, so it was not difficult to decide that we would be road-tripping down there. Rich rented a car and we were off! He was fascinated by the way the scenery changed from the glorious blue mountains to the red-rock of the south. I must say, I have desperately missed my mountains. The scenery in Utah is absolutely breath-taking. As he was entranced by the surroundings I knew that Rich would love our hikes. I immediately selected Angel's Landing for our first hike, knowing that Rich would experience pure bliss as we climbed that last part of the hike. Sure enough, he loved it! We had so much fun climbing up the ledges and taking in the view. I must say, however, that I was surprised by the way the altitude affected me! After being gone for nearly a year my body was screaming "Give me more oxygen!" in the mean time I'm like "Hey, Body, we lived here for years, what is your problem?!" Yet, despite my inner battle, we managed to enjoy this hike as well as the Emerald Pools. It was a short trip for us, but we don't regret a minute of it! 

Once we were back in the city we hopped over to the Great Salt Lake. Rich is a water-boy at heart, loving sailing and the sea. He was very intrigued by the idea of this salty lake and was set to go swimming in it (us Utahns thought "Okay, Rich, you can go swimming," and like a good fiance I put on my swimsuit along side him.). But when we arrived the water was so low! So we set out to walk to the water, leaving Mom and Dad behind as they protested against the stinky lake-sludge. We walked out to the edge of the water, barefoot in the odd-smelling salt-sand and got our toes wet. The water was great, I was fascinated by the way the salt stuck to my legs even after the water dried and Rich enjoyed the view. We laughed as the wind blew our hair around and we chased down some tourists to take our picture. The worst part about the trip? Bird carcasses encased in the salty mud. 

We had so many wonderful adventures, but as always it is the best to see family. Jordan and Buttercup still needed to approve Rich (good news, they like him, the wedding is still on!) and Jesse had yet to meet him as well. So we had a barbecue, went to the chalk-festival, the flea-market, and the aquarium. The aquarium was a special day, as it was Mom's birthday. All she wanted to do was visit the aquarium, and she was passionate about us needing to go. She is so adorable when she is excited about things, and I must say, I could have watched the penguins with her all day (love you, Mommy!).

Our trip was over before we knew it! We had such a lovely time! Saying goodbye to my family was hard, but I'm so grateful that we were able to spend the time together.  

Our summer adventures have continued as we have returned to Indiana. We both started jobs, initially working as strawberry pickers. I am now also working at a testing center and Rich has started his brand ambassador job. The strawberry picking has been really nice (and really hard!). We have really enjoyed getting to spend so much time outdoors. Also, Annie's Orchard has some amazing strawberries! If you haven't tasted a strawberry fresh off the vine you definitely should. Amazing!

After exploring Utah we realized that we don't really know that much about Indiana, so we are making it a summer goal to travel around to different parts of the state and explore. So far we have been to many different parks and over the weekend we went to Delphi and took a ride on their old canal boat. Again, we are loving the time we get to spend surrounded by nature! 

Finally, we have been working on wedding planning. We plan on most of the wedding decor being hand-made. Rich and I both love to create things and it feels special for us to get to work on these projects together. We are finding that we have a great creative dynamic together and so far everything is working out beautifully! It's wonderful to have over a year to plan, there's no pressure and we get to play as much as we want. Also, it's been interesting testing our banners around the apartment, it looks like a giant obstacle course! 

So here's to a continuation of summer bliss! May your adventures continue on as ours do!

Sending love!

-Kelsie

A Year, a Year, Oh! What a Year!

I just finished entering grades for my classes, which means:

GRADUATE SCHOOL, YEAR ONE, COMPLETE!

So I sit here, alone at my desk in this little office that I share with five of the craziest individuals I have ever met, and I almost feel numb. Why? Because this has been a whirlwind of a year. People tell you that grad school is difficult, but honestly, I was not prepared for the shock of a year I would experience here. Good, bad, tears, screams, giggles, falling through stages, all of it has happened, and it's really bizarre.

Here is my year:

• Moved to Indiana, a 24 hour drive from my home in Utah. A fresh start and exciting adventure, a disappointment when I realized that my apartment was surrounded by corn, soybeans, and a trailer park. The flattest land, the most miserable winter, and forever-grey skies. 

• Lived in my first solo-apartment and loved it! Living on my own was wonderful (even though I did miss having 2:00 A.M. chats with Kelsey) and I loved having my personal space.
• The maggot incident under the sink. 
• Got a new car, named Ishmael, but I kept Butt Mervee's licence plate on my wall as a memento. 
• Making new friends. My five office-chums as well as the directors and designers and a handful of under-grads. I have fallen in a vicious-love with all these people. We drive each other crazy and we help each other out. Mostly, when I reflect on these people I just feel confused. 

• Getting to work out at the nicest gym facility I have ever seen. Seriously. 
• Getting to teach for the first time. Getting those "Dear Professor Slaugh" e-mails was amusing and shocking. 
• The "Statue Friend" saga. 

• Intense classes. What we all refer to as "hell week." No, this is not the typical theatre tech. week, this was the week in which we all cried in EVERY SINGLE ONE of our classes. I have never experienced such intense emotional work in my life. I went deep, and it was both scary and freeing. Mostly scary. But I'm better because of it.

• Conchita and Elizabeth. 

• Learning the layout of a new grocery store (don't underestimate the significance of this, it's tough shit). 
• Missing my Buttercup more than I can explain.
• Realizing I am the worst at memorizing lines. Kelsie Slaugh: Queen of Paraphrasing. Boo.  
• A school shooting. Being the teacher to a room full of confused students. Getting to make a difference.
• Exploring parks and investigating houses with my lover.
• Eating way too much strawberry gelato at Grey House.

• A break-down, hospital stay, and depression diagnosis.
• Almost quitting but deciding not to give up on myself, forging ahead, rebuilding myself, and believing in my art. 
• Falling in love. 

• Growing science experiments in a variety of cups. Dish-washing in the bathroom is not very appealing to me...
• Becoming addicted to coffee.
• Deciding to spend the rest of my life with Rich. 
• Watching the never-ending winter begin to disappear. Seeing the first blue-skies that I have seen in months and smelling Spring air. Suddenly Indiana doesn't seem so bad. 

I have grown more in this year away from home then I thought was humanly possible. I have morphed into a new person and it's quite alarming. I went through a lot of really bad and scary shit, but I also found some deeply hidden beauty inside myself. I needed to experience it all, the longing, the loss, the desperation in order to be who I am. Each day is a struggle, but in the best possible way. I'm growing, and that's all I can do!

xoxo,

Kelsie

Love, Rings, Coffee and Things...

Yesterday Rich and I publicly announced our engagement by posting this picture: 

Since then I have received many inquires, "Who is this man?!" Ha, well I don't blame you all! I did not expect to run off to Indiana and in the midst of grad-school craziness to also find my soul-mate. But, here he is, surprise, surprise! So for all my lovelies back home, I'd like you to meet Richard Buchanan Jr. 

Rich is from Maryland and I am from Utah. We both found ourselves in Indiana after auditioning for graduate schools. Purdue chose us, and we met in August as we prepared for classes. 

I insisted he wasn't my type, while he knew from the beginning that I would be trouble. 

Rich and I grew to be good friends, mostly because we were working closely together on Anna in the Tropics. He was playing my cheating husband, Palomo. Since then he has also played the mischievous Wicham to my Lizzy Bennet.  

We continued to grow closer as he helped me through some pretty rough emotional experiences. My first semester of grad school was tough (to say the least) and I needed all the help I could get. Still, I insisted that we were just friends while I knew that he was falling in love with me. 

Suddenly everything changed when I received a little advice from a good friend. He was talking about his own relationship, saying that he had made a choice to just try with this girl, and that he was committing to this choice. Okay, okay, so I'd give this relationship with Rich a real chance.

As soon as I opened my heart to him I was done for. I had no choice but to fall for this wonderful man. 

(Oh, and there may have been a little help from this man too, Mr. Sylvester Little. Yep, he is Rich's wing-man and vice-versa. These boys are trouble.)

So what is it about Rich? We'll start with the little things. 

There's his little curly-que hair, squinty-eyed smile, and crooked nose. 

He is incredibly addicted to coffee. So addicted that this probably should  have been the very first thing that I said about him. Rich is most likely 75% coffee. Oh, and now he has decided to spread this addiction on to me. I need my morning cup, thanks Rich...

He is talented, venturing down this theatre road with me (gah, I said I'd never be with another actor!). But it's not just theatre, he is remarkably creative. He creates journals out of old book covers, makes masks and puppets, and sees the world in a beautiful way. Each day he makes me curious about something, and I can see his mind constantly racing as stimuli send different vibrations through him. He makes me wonder, and I love that. 

I cannot leave out how goofy he is. Random sounds? Check. Sitting in boxes with me? Check. Amusing sleep-talking? Check. And you should see him when he has stuff to physically play with. Rolling around on mats, jumping up on acting blocks, climbing to upper window-sills. He has a playful heart that is incredibly refreshing. 

Rich is also considerate. He knows that I hate cooking, so he frequently feeds me (the other grads are extremely happy to see me eating things that aren't cup-o-noodles). He will run lines with me, study with me, be a spring-board and bounce around ideas with me. He encourages me daily, reinforcing the wonderful things I know about myself. He reminds me that I'm beautiful, smart, and talented when I struggle to remember. 

This boy is incredibly quirky. He enjoys vintage stores and old-houses. Sometimes his love for character overshadows his practicality (yes, I'm referring to that time when he rented an apartment without functioning water pressure, but it "had amazing windows!"). I will frequently catch him looking up real-estate on his computer for fun. We like to watch Rehab Addict together and see Nicole renovate old houses; we then day dream about living in said houses. 

He's a dreamer.

 

Finally, people are wanting to know how he proposed. It was in a little park over spring break. I had known he was planning on proposing, why? Because I saw this picture and knew that he had purchased a ring...

He likes to refer to this chocolate brown diamond as a "chai diamond" after my favorite chai tea lattes. I prefer to call it our "coffee diamond" because, well, coffee and Rich are synonymous. 

While I knew he had the ring I had no idea when it would happen. I was blissfully surprised when we found a lovely little pond, surrounded by mossy rocks, and Rich began speaking love-filled words to me. He pulled out a ring box he made himself and asked me to marry him. He had been carrying this ring around for weeks, waiting for the right moment, finally telling me that he could not wait a moment longer without asking me to be a part of his life forever. As we got back to the car he pulled out some flowers that he had been keeping. We had dinner at the Lafayette Brewing Company, the first place we met back in August. 

I am so grateful for the support that we have received from our family and friends. I hope this lets you all know a little more about Rich and I. We are planning on having a small ceremony in October of next year. Thank you all for celebrating love with us.

Until next time!

With Love,
Kelsie