Hello all!! So I wrote a big long post awhile ago, but somehow it didn't go through. Now you're going to get a giant dose of Jenn-life, right off the bat. Hooray!! So we hit the road 5 days ago. These have been the most memorable days of my life, and we just started. There are over 30 shows left. WOW. How do I begin to explain?
DAY 1: Traveled a few hours to Auburn, IN, and performed our first show to a full house. Received standing ovation. Stayed the night with an older couple who had only been married 6 years. Stayed in a room with Cara Bussis, who broke the bedroom doorknob off upon entering. Played with the couple's ridiculously adorable grandson. Was asked to autograph my bio in the Godspell program (which is full color and glossy, btw. They went all out!). We slept in twin beds that were across the room from each other (it felt like an early episode of I Love Lucy). They drove us through the town's covered bridge on the way back to the church in the morning and wanted my and Cara's picture next to it. So we posed.
DAY 2: Trekked up to Brooklyn, MI. Was friended on myspace by a girl who saw me in the IN show. Performed in a huge gymnasium space. Tension ran pretty high between cast members while we were setting up, and I felt like people were mad at me and that made me sad. This was the first time running the show that we had a lot of time to burn before go time, and I think people just wanted to hang out and were anxious to get off stage. But the show ran fine, and everyone was happy afterwards! Directly before this performance, as in w/in 5 seconds of going onstage, I absolutely slammed my head into a hanging rack in this gym closet we were waiting in, and then tried not to laugh at my throbbing pain while taking my position. I stayed the night with Bekah Posegate at a house in the middle of nowhere w/ a woman and her 2 college age daughters. We talked about boys and Christian schools (they go to Spring Arbor) and ate random food: Cheerios, chocolate chip cookies, and pretzels. We fell asleep on an air matress in their living room while watching a movie; I woke up in the morning and we were both laying in our exact movie-watching positions. The cast of Godspell decided to do pushup club, which entails do doing 3000 push ups by the end of 10 days. I have adopted the girl version: 100 push ups and 200 crunches per day. By the end of Day 2 I could not move my arms enough to hold up the bag of chips I was eating.
DAY 3: A 4 hour drive up to Guelph, Ontario in Canada. I got to know Noah better on the bus ride, because he was driver and I felt he needed someone to talk to. I love him. I can't wait to meet his wife, Bailey. When we got to Guelph, we went to the 150th Celebration of Canadian United Brethren at The Hartman Farm. There were about 600 Canadians there, and all ridiculously nice and fun. However, about 5 minutes after I stepped off the bus, I was rushed by half of my cast saying there was a pie eating contest, and I had to go do it. Noah, Dan, and Blair were doing it, and they wanted some girls (there were only 8 contestants, so we decided the Canadians were like, "Stupid greedy Americans, let's get them sick off of pie". And they were right). So being the ridiculously competitive feminist I am, I stepped up to the challenge. AND I WON. Yes, readers. I, Jenn Miller, fit an entire 8 inch apple pie into my stomach, faster than a group of huge men. I am a beast. And I felt deathly ill for about 5 hours after. I tried to throw it up, but it didn't happen. So I passed on the square dancing, and opted instead to sit with my fellow competitor Dan and wallow in my fullness. We played tug-a-war, Jesus team vs. Judas team (see facebook for team pictures from our bonding day), and of course Judas team won. Betray at all costs!!!! Brad had me test mics in the festival tent while people were eating, which went like this: Jenn standing in front of over 100 people saying "test test test". Brad: "Jenn, I need you to sing." Jenn singing "O Happy Day" under her breath, as people start to notice a girl is randomly singing at the front of the tent. Brad: "Jenn, I need you to sing like Jenn. REALLY sing". Jenn belts "I Get on My Knees". Godspell cast walks by the tent, laughing and wondering why the heck Jenn is giving a mini-show to hundreds of people. Jenn realizes that she needs to rehearse some songs that make her actually sound like she can sing in case she is ever in this sort of situation ever again. We then performed a 15 minute snippet of our show in the festival tent, after head banging to a band that had 2 teenage girls as the guitarist/singers. I felt we needed to support. And I paid dearly for my actions today. Anyways, it got ridiculously cold in the festival tent during the guest speaker's speech, and we were happy to head off to a Canadian household, complete with color-coded trash bags, milk in a bag, awesome accents, hockey paraphanalia, and a boy I beat in the pie-eating contest. This couple had 2 high-school age girls as well, and the older one was a lot like me. I liked her, and she made me laugh. Kristen and I stayed up talking to the family for awhile, and they tried to stuff me full of junk food (because I "didn't have dinner", but I ate an ENTIRE FREAKING APPLE PIE!!!!!). I think Kristen is hillarious. We got to sleep in a queen bed that was the most comfortable thing my body has ever laid on. The family had given us the boy's room, and laid towels out for us and given us a bowl of awesome food on the dresser. It was amazing.
DAY 4: We performed a 1 hour version of our show for both services at Parkwood Gardens Church, the one that Dave Magnus' dad is a preacher at. My voice was shot from performing outside w/ only floor mics the night before (we had to project like WHOA). When we got to the church they had a power point going on 5 different monitors with our head shots. It was weird to see my huge face and name all over the place. We received standing Os both services, and everyone was ridiculously nice. THEN, we were able to eat the best food I've ever had. Honestly. I think Mrs. Magnus made the best meal I've ever had in my life. She specially made for our cast ham, baked potatos, spinach dip and rye bread, green bean casserole (the way I like it, w/ beans still light green), veggie platter, jello w/ raspberries and blueberries in it, delicious rolls, cherry chocolate cake, and a chocolate pudding that had brownies and raspberries in it. And I'm sure I forgot some stuff. But man, it was GOOD. I ate myself silly. Then, we re-packed the truck and traveled about 2 more hours to Ft. Erie, Ontario where we performed the full show. It went really well, and they had refreshments afterwards so we could mingle w/ the audience. We loaded up and got in our "Cuddle" (the new way we pray. We went from holding pinkies to holding hands to arms around waist to basically getting as close to each other as we can, including our host families. It makes my soul smile), and then the girls headed off to a BEAUTIFULLY decorated house, and the boys are at another house. We talked to the couple for a little over an hour (kind, gorgeous young couple), and then we all piled onto mattresses in another amazingly decorated room.
DAY 5: We finished off our time in Canada with a visit to Niagara Falls, many of us for the first time. God's creation is so amazing and beautiful!!! We hung around that area and went to Tim Horton's for lunch. That hot chocolate was the best I've ever had, no doubt. We spent the second half of our day driving, and we crashed for the night in a hotel in Albany, New York.
TODAY: We just finished setting up for a show in New Hampshire. The landscape here is absolutely gorgeous...we are in a town on a mountain, and you can see hillsides all around us. The sky is filled with puffy clouds set in the smoothest shade of blue, and the trees and grass are blazing green. There are leafy trees mixed in with evergreens, creating the freshest mountain air I've ever breathed. My voice is very sore right now, so any kind of prayers for a speedy recovery would be very much appreciated!!!!
I love my life, and I miss you all.
Our first truck pack...in the rain. Mike used Abi's hair as a towel...and we all threw up a little bit in our mouths. 
Eric is dubbed "The Grease Man"
Burkett takes control and Connor lends a hand 
Mike surprises us with brand new Godspell T's!
It's all fun and games...until someone gets hit in the face with a plank!
Forester Fun!
Our backstage blog!
