Costumes And Characters: Spy

This next chapter is one I often forget but is still important. It’s the “Missing Chapter” otherwise known as the Spy Chapter.

It all began with a love for Mary Kate and Ashley the mystery solving Olsen Twins. My sister and I would read the books and watch the movies over and over again. We would go sit up in our tree house and pretend we were the twins, I was Mary Kate and she was always Ashley. We would solve imaginary crimes and mysteries. Somewhere along the line I started really getting interested in codes and nicknames and putting together riddles for my sister or friends to figure out. I would put together these complicated puzzles and maps and they would lead them around the property until they found their prize, usually a treasure chest full of gold fish crackers. I loved the thrill of putting something together and having it lead to something cool. It was like a treasure hunt.

The riddles and puzzles turned into codes and complicated clues as the years went by. My sister and I created a fairly simple code or two and would spend hours trying to memorize them. Then we would write to each other in code and try to read it without cheating. At some point our love of solving mysteries somehow turned into a spy movie commercial.

One of our friends had stayed the night and we randomly decided we should film a commercial. A spy movie commercial. So, we did. We got all dressed up, fedoras, sunglasses and all, and I got out my video camera. And that was the beginning of the spy movie. The beginning of Opal the spy; otherwise known as Agent Jem.

We weren’t really planning on turning it into a real movie. In fact it was a year or so before we even came up with a real plotline. But since that random night of creating a spy movie commercial, spies was the only thing on our minds. We would start to go through “spy training” where we would split into two teams and write riddles in code and put them around the house. Then the other team would have to figure them out and they would lead them to our location. It was quite fun. In addition to the riddles and codes, we would also try to sneak around without anyone knowing where we were. We would call the tree house our hideout and we would try to go from the tree house down to the kitchen for food without being seen. I still find myself sneaking around sometimes, trying to walk through the house undetected.

Eventually the idea of filming a movie sounded too exciting to pass up, so we wrote a script. It took a while. And a lot of sitting around having everyone throw random lines at me while I sat on the computer attempting to put them in an order that made sense. I was surprised we even ended up with a script let alone a movie. But we managed to get it done. My sister and I still turn to each other with smiles on our faces whenever we watch it and say “we made a movie!” we still can’t believe we actually did it!

So, the spy is still lingering in my mind somewhere, just as every other character I have been over the years. I learned a lot while making the spy movie and I have learned a lot by pretending to be a spy.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see who the next character in my story is!

Costumes And Characters: Jungle Princess

The next character, or chapter, is Jamie the Jungle Princess. Whether my sister and I were rescuing imaginary injured animals and bringing them back to our tree house, going on a treasure hunt, or being the Jungle Princess and the Ocean Princess at a royal ball, a love of animals and the jungle is definitely present in the next part of my story.

This part of my story really starts when I was a baby. One of my parent’s friends used to watch me and we would watch The Crocodile Hunter together. Now, I don’t remember that, I was a baby after all, but my love of The Crocodile Hunter continues to this day. I loved how he would capture animals in trouble and nurse them back to health. I grew to love snakes, koalas, monkeys, any animal really. When I was ten I wanted to go to Australia and work at Steve Irwin’s zoo. Most kids want to be doctors or astronauts when they grow up, I wanted to be a zoo keeper. In Australia. A lot has changed since then…

From the time I was little my family started going to Florida every winter. Yes, sometimes we went to Disney World, but most of the time we were in the middle of the wildlife of Florida. I would grow to love watching the birds, gators, and manatees. My love of animals continued to grow with every time we went. And of course, living in the Adirondack Park and going camping every summer brought even more of a love for animals and wildlife.

When I was ten years old my love of the jungle transferred into my room. It was literally painted on my walls. My parents told me that they were going to paint my room and I could choose anything I wanted. But they were only painting it once, so if I changed my mind I would have to paint it myself. So, I chose something I knew I would like for a long time, the jungle. The finished product was more amazing than I could ever imagine. There is a rainbow, a waterfall, vines, flowers, and of course some fairies. There is even a painted tree on the wall that branches into a real tree branch over my bed. A canopy full of monkeys, birds, and snakes.

Not too long after that we would venture into some real jungles in Roatan Honduras. I would get to hold some real monkeys and we would eventually buy property in the jungle where the Runaway Pineapple Lodge now sits.

My love of the jungle and animals really is spread throughout my entire life and continues to grow. But it is out of this love of the jungle and animals that some of my other characters and chapters come to be, including the one I’m in now. So I suppose it is still a good story to tell. The story of the Jungle Princess.

Check back tomorrow for the next character!

Costumes And Characters: The Fairy

I like to think of my story, my life, as a series of characters. As I go through life my personality changes and grows, and the characters I choose to play changes with it. I separate the chapters of my life by the costumes I wear. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but it is totally true. Seeming as Halloween is just around the corner, I figured what better time to write a post, or a series of posts, about costumes than right now? So, in the next week leading up to Halloween I will be posting a series of stories about different phases, costumes or characters if you will, I have been throughout my life and how they all tie together into my current character. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me!

(But if you’d like to just skip to the end, check back in on Halloween for the current character, who, appropriately, will also be my Halloween costume)

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The first chapter of my life is a princess, as any little girls is. But I don't remember most of that except that I had a Cinderella dress that I wore all the time, even though my favorite princess has always been Snow White. So, I’m going to start this with the next character, A fairy.

When I was little, my sister and I would go to our friends house all the time. His family was close to ours and we grew up together. Whenever we were at his house we would occupy ourselves in countless ways, but my favorite times were when we would go out to his backyard and end up in another world.

I was always a fairy, I had the ability to fly, of course, and I could heal those who got hurt in battle. I could also shrink or grow whenever it was necessary. My sister was usually a princess and our friend was always the hero. Our adventures would begin with us jumping off the swing. It was as if we were flying into an imaginary world or jumping into our character. We would use sticks for swords, or a wand in my case, and we would fight off imaginary villains. Whenever someone would fall in battle I would rush to their aid and heal them with my wand. I guess I’ve always had a desire to help people.

Like all good stories, we would always win. Even though the odds were entirely not in our favor as it was usually three against hundreds. But we were young; when you’re a child with an active imagination anything is possible.

We would spend hours out there, going on new adventures and coming up with new villains to fight. Day after day after day, we would never get tired of it. But, like all things, this chapter of my story came to an end. But I am still very much that same little girl. Just a little older, hopefully wiser, and unfortunately fighting some real battles now, not just imaginary pirates with stick swords. Life was so simple back then…

Check back tomorrow for the next Character in my Story!

Walkaway Tacos

"Walkaway tacos! It's a taco in a bag, It's delicious!" That is what I have been yelling all weekend long. I was selling them at the Snow Bash to raise money for the Sunday school at my church. Some people walked right up and tried it, some knowing just what it was and some just being adventurous. Some people were a little more hesitant and needed a little more convincing. And quite a few refused to try it at all, some even grimacing and shaking their heads. The most interesting were the people who finally decided to try one and then came back for seconds and thirds, surprised at how good it was and wanting more.

This got me thinking, why does it take us so long to try something new? We criticize it before we even try it. If it seems odd or strange we don't want to go anywhere near it. Is that why some people are so afraid to believe in God? Because it's so strange and hard to believe in? But then, like the ones who are finally convinced to try it, they give it a chance. Then they want more and more and can't get enough of it.

So, where am I going with this? I have had experience with both being too eager and being too safe. The trick is finding a balance in the middle. If something really seems like a bad idea, it probably is. But don't be too quick to either praise our criticize something if you have never tried it yourself. Also, don't hold yourself back. It is good to have parameters, but don’t let them hold you back from something important, something that maybe you are supposed to be doing in life.

So, the next time you hear someone yell "walkaway tacos! It's a taco in a bag, it's delicious!" don't be too quick to judge one way or the other. Think about it.