In all actuality, I am not in Chicago, rather, I’m in a charming little town called Quincy. But I AM in fact in Illinois, so this is still at least SOMEWHAT accurate. . .
I’ll be honest, today was a little bit of a whirlwind! We started with a 6:45am call time (that’s Hollywood for the time you start filming. See how fancy I am?), and we really didn’t stop moving until about 10:30pm. . . at which time I went and ran up and down the hotel stair well for exercise, because that is such a NORMAL thing to do at 10:30 at night.
We started the day by filming an introduction for my episode. It was difficult for me to tap in and really get connected to the words that were coming out of my mouth, but thankfully, the director, Racquel, stayed with me, and I eventually dropped in. I think it ended up going really well. From there, we headed to the SLC Geneological Library where I did some research on my family history.
I’m not going to lie my face off and say that it was a total riot, BUT it was a FAR better experience than I had expected. Definitely enjoyable.
There’s something about seeing all those names in one place and knowing that you’re connected to each and every one of them. It pretty spectacular, really. Touching to say the least. Check out the best replica watches.
It made me feel connected to something bigger than myself.

UT Aspens.
Did you know aspens all share the same roots?
Technically, an aspen grove is all one organism.
Remarkably symbolic given my current circumstances, don’t you think?
From there, we raced to the airport and hopped a plane for St Louis, MO. I flew first class. The director gave up her seat for the talent. How Hollywood.

Beautiful view from above the clouds, en route to St Louis. I love clouds. So.much.
Once we landed in MO, we jumped in a car and drove 2.5 hours to Quincy.
Dinner.
Exercise.
Blog.
And I’m definitely counting down the minutes to bedtime.
But not before announcing the winner from the “say it on tv contest.” After such a long, draining day, it was SUCH a joy to read your entries. Totally lifted my spirits (and occasionally had me rolling with laughs. . . the belly kind).
Let’s start with honorable mention (no, you don’t win anything. . . other than my respect for being hilariously clever):
Natasha + Jessica: “Tomfoolery.” Enough said. Amazing.
And the winner is:
Amy: “Bubbles.” I laughed for a solid minute imagining myself trying to make this relevant in conversation. I specifically chose this word a) because of it’s obvious hilarity and b) because it’s going to pose a specific kind of challenge for me to incorporate it. My poor director. I don’t think she’ll quite know what to do with me. . .
My goal for tomorrow is to really connect to what’s happening here. I’ve been given this tremendous gift, and as of yet, I’m not totally connected. . .not heart and soul, the way I’d really like to be. Hopefully tomorrow I can find that total heart connection. Let’s just be honest, a good night’s sleep should really help. . .
xo!
N