Finding my sea-legs...

Well I'm officially in the middle of the ocean and I have figured out that I do have internet access 95% of the time, my cell phone is working but it's roaming so I won't be using that until we get to Alaska tomorrow, and I have not yet found my equilibrium (is that right? haha). In other words I'm still REALLY nautious most of the time, which could be good or bad because it means that I'm not really hungry...so, I guess there's no chance of stuffing my face constantly and gaining weight...but I'm not sure if that would be an issue anyway because the Crew Mess food is questionable at best! haha
So far I've been in safety training most of the time, but we will go full force with rehearsals for the next 3 days in order to be ready to open with our first show Wed. night. Basically during "install" (which is approx. the first 3 weeks of our contract on board) we will be starting with one show this week and continuing to add shows until we have officially performed all 3 shows plus "Welcome Aboard" & "Farewell" shows. During this time guests are on the ship, but instead of seeing all of our shows the cruise director has filled in the gaps with comedians, magicians, or other musicians to headline until we are comfortable with our shows.
For those of you that will be coming aboard the ship at some point or another - news flash: Alaska is cold! hahaha :) The weather change is definitely a rude awakening, but the view pretty much makes it worth while.
We have some really good shopping on board, the guest areas are beautiful, and even though my room is a shoe box, it's cozy and I have managed to find a place to stick everything I own.
I can't post pictures today because I'm on the ships computer - the internet is much cheaper if I don't use my own laptop - but I promise that I will be adding some as soon as I get a chance. The view is incredible so I can't wait to show you what I see everytime I walk outside. I'm finally getting used to the time changes - we will be gaining and losing and hour every week depending on where we are in Alaska - that will be odd, but hopefully I can manage...

Oh, by the way - Mrs. Stricklin you are cracking me up!! hahaha I love everything you're telling me though so please don't stop!

Yes, I will be able to check everything I have on the internet - so facebook, myspace, email etc.
I can't remember the other questions right now, but hopefully I'll be able to answer them next time around. I'm off to another rehearsal, but hopefully this one will be short and sweet. I love and miss everyone, so please keep me posted with things on your end!!!

His,
Kristian

Seattle!

(The pictures above are of the Rhapsody singers and dancers as we prepare for our final run through on Wed. )

Well, I'm jet lagged and I still feel like it's 2 a.m. even though it's just 11:00 over here on this side of the country! We had a GREAT run of our country show on Wed. and got some wonderful comments from our directors, as well as many of the office workers that played a part in hiring us. I guess that was our final chance to prove to the office, directors, and other casts that we had in fact done our jobs and were ready to perform on the ship. I think we proved that and then some if you ask me!!

As most of you know, I am a bit of a procrastinator, so I spent all night Wed. packing and cleaning up. BUT in my defense I was not the only one - 1/2 the other girls were right there with me. So, none of us got to bed until around 2 a.m. and we had to be waiting outside to be taken to the airport by 4:30 a.m.!!!!!!!!! It was BRUTAL...but I got some sleep on the 5 1/2 hr. plane ride and managed to arrive in Seattle around lunch time their time.

We head toward the ship at 7:45 a.m. and will hopefully be on board by around 10 a.m. at the latest. Most of the next couple of days will be filled with orientation training and boat drills etc. and our ship should be leaving around 5 p.m. Friday.

We open with "Piano Man" the following WED!!! Please be praying for the whole cast during the next 3 weeks because we will be rehearsing constantly so that we can get comfortable working on an actual stage with props, costumes and everything....our days will go anywhere from 8 a.m.- 12 p.m. until all the shows have been successfully installed and we have all passed our ship safety tests. It's gonna be a lot of work, so keep us in your prayers!!

That's about all the updating I have for now. Thanks for all your wonderful comments...they really keep me going when I'm far away like this! KEEP THEM COMING!!!!

Blessings,

Kris

I know...where have I been?!?! haha

Well, sorry that I've been a little out of pocket since my birthday. It has just gotten really CRAZY down here! We are now officially working on all 3 shows everyday and my brain feels like mush by 6 o'clock!!! Today we began by learning new things for "Piano Man" - then did a run of that show...after lunch we ran "Pure Country" which I can finally say is completely finished (it is the first show that we've finished everything for so far)...then we learned the finale of "Ballroom Fever" which means we are about 4/5 of the way through that show! I find myself singing my spanish songs with a very SOUTHERN twang after running the country show first though, so I'm glad that we do 2 runs of the same show each night on the ship. That way I can get in the right mindset for that particular show and I won't have to switch gears at 9 o'clock! haha

It looks like we are definitely doing "Pure Country" for our official run on Wed. the 21st. Incase you weren't sure, this is GREAT news for me!!! This is by far my favorite show and all I have heard is that we would be doing the ballroom show for our run because of our ballroom couple's leading role in it... BUT I'm sure that the main reason the office chose the country show is because we've officially learned everything for that one, so from here on out we'll just be able to run through the whole show over and over again. Where as with the other 2 shows we're still not finished with them, so it's hard to perfect something that you haven't learned yet...

Other than rehearsing from 10ish to 6ish everyday I do A LOT of sleeping right now. I'm absolutely exhausted and I can't wait to get past the learning process, onto the ship, and into the performing!!

I can't believe we fly out in 9 days, over night in Seattle, and board the ship May 23!! We'll have a 3 week "install" which will be almost as tiring as what we're doing now because we'll have to get used to the stage and having the actual props at our disposal, but once we get through that part it's smooth sailing the rest of the way...

I hope all is well at home! I miss everyone terribly!! It's good that I stay busy because if I didn't I would be a mess!

Keep praying that my brain continues to function to the best of it's ability!!! hahaha

His,
Kris

Show #3 Has Begun :)

OK - the first pic. is from our wild and crazy - yet very very HILARIOUS White Trash Christmas Party. Then I just liked this pic. of Roland and so I decided to add it as well!

First off: YAY I'm 24!!!! hahaha Today has been a really GREAT day! I got flowers from someone special *wink ;) and my cast got me a cake and a gift certificate to the mall. It was soooo sweet!!! We are going to have a nice dinner tomorrow night and then go to the beach Sunday so this will be a weekend of birthday celebrating! I can't wait!!!!!!!

Other than that, we started our 3rd show yesterday, so we are now working on "Piano Man". So, far I really like it. Our new director for this show is great and very laid back so we really get along well. I'm singing some really good stuff in this one: "Superstition" - Stevie Wonder, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"- Elton J., "Georgia on my Mind" - Ray C. etc etc. This one will most likely be my 2nd favorite next to the country show.

I will definitely say that all the material is starting to pile up now, so I'm really trying to be dedicated to all 3 shows...which is really hard! Learning new material and still trying to improve the last two shows is taking a tole on my mind, but it's coming along slowly but surely! AND I'm not alone in this battle - everyone is feeling the same way, so atleast I'm not the only one that feels this way.

Keep updating me on how things are going where you guys are! I love getting messages, texts, phone calls - just anything to keep me posted!!

His,

Kristian