The Guys

Andy and Brody came to spend the weekend at Camp Nelson. Pop Gene (Brody's name for grandpa) couldn't wait to take the little dude on tractor rides and the 4 wheeler. They spent time making things with Playdough and digging up earthworms in my raised vegetable bed. And he was very interested in the horses, to the extent that we almost needed a leash on him to prevent Brody from running between their legs! Not long after their arrival, Brody was looking very closely at some of my lovely, fragile things, on the shelves by the dining room table. I told him that they were only to look at, and that he was not to touch them. He gave us this look, over his shoulder, that said "well if you didn't want me to touch them, why did you put them here?" It just cracked us up! His vocabulary is improving rapidly and we can understand most things he says. What a funny little boy.

It's going to be 80 degrees today, great weather for March! I'm going to get outside and do some garden clean-up; I'm starting to see shoots coming up and trees budding. This is such a great time of year.

Love to all, Joan

Sonic Wood

The band played Saturday night at a restaurant/bar called Nelson's Landing (no relation). We had a good crowd and hope to get invited back. The Nelson's son Jordy, was a football star at KSU and now plays for Green Bay and their daughter is a basketball star at KSU, so it's a very popular place with KState folks and locals. I recently purchased my own microphone, so I'm officially acquiring "gear". Our next gig is March 28 and it's a 4 hour show, so in the next couple of weeks we've got to add another whole set, which is approximately 10-12 songs. Yikes!

Gene's birthday is later this week, so Andy and Brody (the little dude) are coming out for a guy's weekend. I'm not sure what they have planned, but I know that Gene is looking forward to taking Brody for rides on tractors and the 4 wheeler. I wouldn't be surprised if he sets up his blind again so they can sit inside and watch wildlife.

Hope everyone is well and I should get some pictures this coming weekend to post.

Love, Joan

Greetings!

Just a couple of recent photos...just came back from my annual Chick's Weekend with Maureen and Cheryl. This year, we were on the beach at Santa Monica. The photo was taken on the Promenade (shopping district), where we did our best to stimulate the local economy. And then, there's Gene. "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" is what comes to mind...(for you non-country western listeners, that's the title of a song) And Jim, Gene says you CAN'T drive the big tractor up a tree, but it will knock a tree down! Anyway, all is well here, except for a minor set-back on my leg. Now I'm sporting a Unna boot, which is like a soft cast, from my toes to my knee. Talk about cramping my style! This too shall pass...

Much love to all, Joan

A new chapter...

Well hello all!

It has been quite some time since I have posted anything. I thought for sure no one checked this anymore, but my mom said it was still quite popular. So I thought I would post an update! As most of you have heard by way of my mother, I am moving to Paris in 3 weeks on a dance contract with Euro Disney for 9 months! Yes, I am quite excited/nervous/anxious, but it's gonna be a whole lot of fun, I'm sure! But before all this happened, I was doing Parade of Dreams as a Knife in the Beauty & the Beast unit and an African Dancer in the Lion King Unit.

   

                    

                  

 

Parade of Dreams closed, then I started doing A Christmas Fantasy Parade, which I LOVED because it is such a spectacle when you watch it. It is/was one of my favorite parades Disneyland does, even when I wasn't cast in it. My roles were Candlelight Ballroom Dancer, where I got to dance with the Princess and their Princes, as well as Finale Dancer, where we got to dance towards the end of the parade and pretend to be carolers as we do some hardcore dancing.

                             

               

But now since Parade of Dreams has closed, and so has Christmas Parade, I am jobless until I leave for Paris. It has been nice because I have been able to spent time with the family, practice my French, hang out with friends, and get my life situated.

Since I am going to be gone for so long, I decided to create my own blog about my Parisian adventures for all my friends and family to read! The link is:

http://ryanpmarks.wordpress.com

On this blog, I will post links to all my pictures so you can see them, as well as videos that you can watch of all my adventures! I already posted an entry on it that explains it all. It also explains how to get in touch with me while I'm out there! So if you want to view it now, just click the link, or save it to your Favorites or write it down somewhere. If you forget it, the link will always be here for your reference. 

I hope all is well with everyone! I miss you all!

Love, Ryan

        

Recent Visit

Keith and some others came down for the Steelers/Titans game recently. They all had a great "guy" time together. Here's a picture after the game in Jeff's box. It was a very nice way to watch the game when it was 17 degrees outside. We hope you all are well. We missed you at Christmas time. Much love, Melinda

Happy New Year!

We had our first paying gig last night at Brick's for their New Year's Eve party. Sonic Wood was a hit! We had people up and dancing, and they asked for an encore after our last song. We need to learn more music! By the time we got everything loaded up, hauled back to Dale's house and unloaded, showered etc. and into bed, it was 2:30 a.m. Waaaaaay to late for this country chicken. Brick's wants us back, but first, we have another gig on Jan. 24 at a different locale. Today, I'm looking forward to a nap. And the Rose Bowl. And a nap.

Best wishes for the new year, and Fight On!

Joan

Hello Deer

This is not one of Santa's reindeer, but a local buck visiting Gene's corn feeder. He has a digital wildlife camera mounted on a tree, near the feeder, with a motion detector on it. So we get photos of not only deer, but raccoons, squirells, possums, turkeys, and Big Foot. This deer is not in our freezer, but a friend of his is. Yummm. Yesterday's weather was nice, so Gene took down his blind and the camera for the season. He'll continue to put corn in the feeder, especially when the weather gets frigid and it gets harder for the critters to find food, or until he uses up all his allowance on corn, whichever comes first.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, our's was quiet. For New Year's Eve, my garage band "Sonic Wood" will be playing at Brick's. I'm going to need a powerful nap in the afternoon in order to stay up and alert, that late. And it will take me all of the first, just to recover from the late night. Rock and roll is hard in your 50's.

Take care, much love to all.

Joan