so sorry!

Dear John, Melinda and Rachel,

We are so very sorry to hear your news. I know what an important part of your lives Ray was. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Much love,

Janelle

Thought you'd want to know...

It's with much grief that I write to let you all know that our dearest friend, mentor, boss, father (everyone needs a third one), and Rachel Ray's name sake, has gone to be with Jesus last night. He died after much struggles the last 6 months with breathing. He and Anne decided if he were to go in the hospital again they would not put him on life support. We said our good-byes, he was given morphene, and then he breathed his last breath at 7:15 last night. Ray, Jr and Jani (his son and our dearest friends here in Nashville) are in Ireland speaking at a large conference. They'll be flying home tomorrow and we'll all be flying out Wednesday. There will be a graveside when we arrive and then two services, one at St.Andrews in Newport and one at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. We're not sure of any plans-- everything is up in the air-- but I'm sure John will keep you posted. We're terribly happy for Ray to be released from his struggles and gasps for air, but our hearts are deeply grieved. No one will ever be able to replace him. We're just happy that we had the privilege of knowing him. He would tell me from time to time, "Live so people will cry at your funeral." I'm sure that will be the case at his. Much love to you all.

New School

I don't know how many of you know this, but i'm switching schools next year. I'll be going to a public middle school called John Trotwood Moore. I've allready met several of the rising eight graders, so i'll at least know a few people. I've also met the volleyball coach, she was really nice and she even said she remembered me from past tournaments. Our first day is August 13th, I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited.

What am I missing here?????

Are you folks all ready for this??? Ryan says; "Things have been uneventful recently" ; "not much to report on"; On weekends I go out to my friend Jamiee's house in Long Island--She belongs to a private beach club: oh and by the way he has a steady stream of visiting female beauties.
Now, I don't know about all of you, but all of this sounds a whole lot more than just uneventful. I'm no sure what the rest of you are going to do, but I'm going to be on the next flight to New York and become Ryan's personal valet. Of course, that's with your permission Big Fella..Ryan I'm sure that all of your fellow bloggers are tickled to death that you are having such a wonderfully unique and rewarding experience. Our problem is two-fold; we are envious beyond description of your adventure,but most of all we miss you in a huge way and can hardly wait for your coming home to share with us all of your Broadway Debut.
Bunches and bunches of love to you from you gray haired old grandpa///
Dick

"Go Into Your Dance"

Greetings from NY once again. Things here have been uneventful recently; not too much to report on. I have just been hanging out and going to class; its become somewhat of a routine. I wake up, shower, eat breakfast, and get to class by 8:45 to stretch and warm up for class at 9. Then I come home at 12, eat lunch and watch The Tyra Banks Show, then go back for class at 1:15. I come home at 3 and do whatever I feel like. It varies from many things. Some days, I'll go shopping with my roomies, or hang out with some of my friends from class. Other days, I'll just chill in my dorm, eat, watch tv, and sleep.
Then on the weekends, I go out to my friend Jamiee's house in Long Island and stay Sat-Sun. She belongs to a private beach club, so we go swimming and lay out all day, all weekend. Its fantastic! Everytime I go out, which has been every weekend so far, there is some form of activity for the night. First weekend, I saw a Billy Joel cover-band concert on the beach, then the next weekend, we went to a Dennis Deyoung (lead singer of the Styx...I think is what Jamiee told me) concert in the park. It got boring real fast, so I ended up going to my friend Vikki's house, and we went jacuzzi-ing. Then this past weekend, on wednesday night, I went and saw the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was the first showing of the movie in the country, so that was pretty awesome! The movie was FANTASTIC, and I just saw it for the second time the other day.
I'm really excited for the 7th and last Harry Potter book to be released tomorrow (friday) night at midnight. So being the giant dork that I am, I will go wait in line to get my book with all of the other die-hard Harry Potter fans like myself. My plan is to read all day Saturday to find out how the series ends because if I don't, someone will accidentally blurt it out on the street, then I'll find out, and I'll be beyond upset.
Anywho, on an issue most of you have probably heard about on the news. Yes, the "Earth has opened" as many print ads have been says. Yesterday (wednesday), on 41st and Lexington Ave., an 83 year old pipe exploded sending a bus, a piece of concrete the size of 2 kitchen tables, pieces of pipe, and a billowing wall of asbestos-filled steam into the air. 1 person was killed, 50-something people injured, and 2 people received third-degree burns on 90% of their body. It was a tragic experience to be so close to. Luckily, I'm about 20 blocks away from where it happened, but it was still scary because it could have happened anywhere.
So, yea...life is going really well out here in NY. My best friend Courtney, who was supposed to come to the Ailey program with me, but didn't because she injured her back a couple hours before we were flying out, is coming to visit me with her parents for the weekend. She is arriving today, and I'm going to meet them for dinner tonight. My other really good friends Kelly and Cassie will be coming out on Sunday and staying till Thursday. So it'll be nice to see some familiar faces and people from home.
I miss everyone terribly, and can't wait to come home, see my family, and get back to work. I have a long year ahead of me. It will be my senior year, plus a reality show will be shot at my school next year, starring me and 5 of my friend in our persuit to balance work, school, dance, and putting on a production. So each of us will be receiving our own camera crew for the ENTIRE year, and it will be airing later this year on either ABC Family, MTV, or A&E. More details to come at a later date.
Hope everything is well with everyone! Miss you all!
Love love love!!! :)

Oh My Gosh!

Maybe it's time to find a new hobby? You could always ride a bike alongside Gene and his horse. Just kidding!

I hope you get to feeling better soon.

We had a good time in Palm Springs. The girls are just hanging out with their friends and I am going back out to P.S. this weekend for my bunco girls trip. We are having our house tented next weekend (YUK!) and will spend a few days at the Hyatt here at the beach. At least that will be fun.

We are missing Ryan and looking forward to getting him home. It is just not the same without him here!

Miss all of you!

Janelle

"Come to the Freakshow"

Fourth of July in NYC is FANTASTIC! There are no words to describe the day I had. I woke up at 12:30...which was great by the way...ate breakfast/lunch, then watched some tv, thinking I was just going to stay in for the day. But that all changed when my roomie, Matt, asked if I wanted to go out. And of course I said yes, and we ended up inviting a whole group of our friends from Ailey to go with us. We all decided to go to Coney Island, which I have never been to. Oh, by the way, it's raining outside when all of this is taking place. We get on the subway for the HOUR LONG ride; we had NO idea Coney Island was on the opposite side of the state. But right as we got off the subway, it stopped raining. We ended up walking on the boardwalk of Coney Island, eating hot dogs, onion rings, and cotton candy; it was just like a scene out of a movie. As a side note, Coney Island looks exactly like it does in the movies: old rides, side/freak shows, cotton candy vendors, it was awesome. If any of you have seen the musical Side Show, there was a freak show being advertized by a man in a red/black/yellow suit, wearing sunglasses and a hat. So, being the musical theatre kid that I am, I walk by this guy and start singing the opening number from Side Show, "Come to the Freakshow", then the man started singing with me. It was sooooo funny!
Anyway, so we did Coney Island, which was awesome. We got on the subway to go home and started talking to this man, who was very helpful. Matt, who is from Canada, wanted to see fireworks, so we ended up going to the East River at the South Side Bay and watched the Macy's Fireworks Display. All I gotta say is that it was GORGEOUS! The music was inspirational, the rain stopped, the people were all silent; it was fantastic! Then we went home because we were all exhausted, and we had rain, product, sweat, and ash in our hair, so we felt kinda gross.
But the day was amazing! One of my favorite Fourth of Julys ever. The only thing that could have made it better is if my family was with me.

:)

Hi there everyone! Just wanted to wish all of you a very happy 4th of July!

Things are good here at the Marks' house. Paige is recovering nicely from her knee surgery and is out and about. We are missing Ryan terribly, but glad he is having such a great experience. We talk to him a few times a day, so that helps me alot!! Sydney is spending her time in the pool and playing with friends. We are off to Palm Desert on Saturday for the week. You probably think we are crazy!

Our love to everyone and have a good holiday,

Janelle

"New York, New York"

so New York is AMAZING! there is no other city like it. I have been here twice before, but it's a different experience everytime. I love it! I'm staying at Fordham University, and if you feel so inclined, I greatly appreciate mail and care packages; it makes me miss home a little less. :) My address is:
Ryan Marks
155 West 60th Street, Apt. 6M3
New York, New York
10023
My classes are going EXTREMELY well. I'm taking Ballet, Horton (it's a certain technique of Modern dance), Jazz, and West African. My favorite class is the West African because my teacher talks and dances like he just got off the boat from Africa. He just oozes passion for the art form; it's really addicting. My roomies are all awesome; we get along really well. I'm staying in a 3-bedroom suite with 2 bathrooms. So it's really nice. My roommate and I lucked out because for some reason, our room is alot bigger than the other two. So it's cool!
But I definitely miss home and all of you! It's weird waking up every morning to faces that arn't familiar. But it's only 7 weeks. So i'll be home soon! I love it here, and I love to dance. So it makes it all worth it in the end!
:)