Sunday, November 20, 2011

Well folks, it seems like I have a boyfriend...

So since we went public on Facebook I can only assume that telling all 7 of my followers that I have the most amazing Boyfriend ever seems OK.  Tracy is tall, dark, handsome, and Silly!  Yup, just last night he tried on a blue wig, painted my face with a Y, and skipped through a parking lot at 10 pm to catch the 2nd half of the BYU game.  Are we nerds?  Yup!  Did we have a blast?  You betcha!  Would we dress up and ask random strangers to photograph us in the future...Absolutely!  I have to say that he is rather amazing.  I realize I might be a bit biased simply because I am kissing him on a daily basis...but I think it would be true anyway!

So the 411 on Mr. Amazing-ness.  He is 6'2", brown hair/eyes, big strong hands, fantastic at basketball...though I have never seen him "Dunk it" (So Jay you can perhaps be OK with admitting your true height to Tracy.)  He is kind, and calm, and fun, and inventive.  He is a super nerd...just for those that don't know "Nerd-face" is a term of endearment in my family.  I love nerds.  He of course is an Engineer...I know, nooooooooo one is surprised.  But this engineer is just as social, just as fun, just at entertaining, and just as good at dressing as I am  (super rare for an Engineer.)  I would say he is well rounded, and collects skills/talents like some collect facebook friends.  I am impressed by him daily.  We talk & talk, and he loves my soap boxes...and I love his.  More often then not we share matching soap boxes...though he said he would never succumb to matching track suits...though I might have to buy some to tease him at some point in life.  He has even taken some improv workshops at another improv group.  I do have to admit that when he tries to tell an actual joke it never seems to go over well...he should stick to improv ;)  He is so good to me, is kind, and thoughtful.  I sometimes wonder how any girl could be dumb enough to have let him go.  I like that we both want to take things nice and slow.  No rushing a relationship...we are taking the time to really get to know and understand each other.  We have had some disagreements, yet have been able to quickly fix things without yelling.  Hmmm...I guess we will all have to wait and see what might come.  But for now I enjoy seeing him daily and even have fun loosing at most competitions and sports.  P.S. Tracy's pretty good at Mercy fights...just be warned. Lol.

                                

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Famous? Well maybe in Idaho.

So I am working on a movie in the middle of a desert right now, and one day as I am dressing an extra I this funny experience.  The Extra keeps looking at me smiling and shy.  He finally got his courage together and asked if he could ask me something.  He said, "I am sure you get this all of the time but are you in a bunch of movies?"  I laughed.  I said yes I am in a few cheesy ones, with very small cameos, but nothing too exciting.  He disagreed and said that he had seen me in several of his favorite movies, that he loved the cheesy Mormon Movies.  I laughed and told him that really the only place that people think I'm famous is in Idaho.  And that more than one person had stopped me in the store when visiting family up there.  It has been funny to be asked in the middle of Shopko pr Wal-mart if I am "Sonja Nelson", or asked if I was in such and such a movie.  Once someone told me that they had a "Sonja Nelson Movie Marathon" while they were decorating for Christmas and watched 3 of these movies back to back.  The Extra didn't think this was that funny and told me that he and his family love my movies and proceeded to tell me who I played in each one.  I was a bit shocked, and almost waited for one of the guys I work with to jump out and tell me he had put the Extra up to this and get it all on tape.  But Bruce Wing or Kee Miller or any of the other jokesters never jumped out, and this guy was in dead earnest.  The Extra told me that his Family looked for me in every movie now, and always got excited to see me appear in something new.  I was puzzled until he told me that he had to go to a wedding the next day...in Idaho.  So again, I find it funny that Idaho thinks so highly of a wardrobe designer that is occasionally in a very small part in a movie.

But what is even stranger is that the week before and had another odd yet similar conversation.  I was at a dear friend's wedding and I didn't know many of the people as we waited outside the temple for the couple to reappear.  I saw someone I wished to avoid and said a little prayer that I would be able to find someone to talk to instead.  An cute older couple about my parent's age approached me and asked if my face had recently been on the cover of the Ensign.  I laughed (I tend to laugh a lot in these situations...guess that is better than taking myself too seriously.) and said no, my mother would have been sure to have called me if so.  They said that all through the wedding they had been trying to figure out where they knew me from, and decided it must have been in the Ensign.  They were then puzzled and started trying to figure out how they knew me.  Again it was one of these small movies.  But then they were thrilled to talk to me about my profession in Wardrobe for film.  A conversation I like much more than my acting.  They had seen several movies I had worked on and took a list of others that they decided they needed to get at Deseret book before they went home.  But this time home was not Idaho.  It was California.  I loved being able to talk to them of some of the other more serious films I had done, and they were sweet to introduce me to all of the grooms family which I hadn't ever met.  It was a bit odd to be treated like a celeb.  I think I would be bored quickly if I had to lead that kind of life. 

But I do like the opportunity to work in what I do, and am so blessed to have been able to work on movies that are more than fluff and entertainment.  It has been amazing to use my skills to build up the kingdom, and to testify of what I believe.  Right now I am getting to work on the New Testament Library Project.  I am so grateful that I can help make a difference on such an amazing project.  I am grateful for the many teachers and opportunities I had in college and summer Theatre that have prepared me to have something to give.  Working on the Church Projects I'll never be recognized for something I made, nor my name be in credits, or have people stop me in the store and ask  if I worked on this show.  But I am honored to be able to create something worth while, that will change lives and help others to come unto Christ.  This project could have rolled on with out me and done just fine.  But I am thankful that I can assist in some small measure with so many other talented women.  I am also grateful for the many hands that are serving for free.  We have a sister missionary and several other amazing seamstresses who have sacrificed their time talents and skills to be able to come and help us build the clothing that is helping to tell the greatest accounts of history.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Feeling Rather Blessed!

I looked at a few of my friends and family's blogs tonight and decided I should write as well.  It had been sometime since I wrote. 

I have been thinking so much about how much I have, and how grateful for the people and things that shaped and influenced my life and Character.  I have been talking to a guy a lot lately....Let's call him "Bob."  As we have been getting to know each other better it has been interesting to see how many things in my life I have learned from, and have overcome, and survived, and grown because of. 

Tonight I told him a few stories of heartache, sorrow, and fear.  But as I finished the stories that had once been so devastating and hard to live through I said that I wouldn't trade those experiences now for anything.  I learned so much about who I am, I learned to call on God, to use the healing power of the Atonement, to trust in the Lord with all my heart.  I learned to choose to move on with life, to look for ways to solve the problems instead of be for ever crushed or conquered by them.  I learned that there was more out there for Sonja Nelson.  I have reflected on these life changing things to relate and empathise with others.  I learned that I could choose to be fearful, or bitter or I could choose to be happy.  I could look at the bright side, try to find the irony and humor or be a dark cloud of negativity.  I am grateful for the hardships I have undergone. 

I am sorry for the extra problems I have caused for myself by trying to solve it all alone at times.  And I am ever so grateful that I do not have to take life on solo.  I am grateful for my family, for my friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even complete strangers that have lifted me, strengthened me, given me advice, listened to my woes, helped me laugh and smile when things looked grim, and challenged me to be better than I was.  I am grateful for the Love and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am grateful to know that He Atoned for the sin's of the world, but most especially mine.  I am grateful that Christ has fulfilled His part of the Eternal Plan of Salvation so that each of us might look to Him and live.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  He has paid the price for each of us to become clean, pure, whole and someday be like Him.  It is up to us to fully turn our hearts, find the strength to trudge on, calling on His name and trusting in Our Father's care.  I have seen God's Hand in my life.  I know He lives, that He loves me and that He has a plan for me.  He does not stop me from getting injured on the rocks of the shore of life, but he can help me land more easily, be stronger to meet the opposition, and heal my cuts and injuries so I might be whole once more. 

I am grateful for the gift and Power of Prayer.  I have always known that God hears and answers my prayers, even if it is not the answer I want.  I know that I have learned to listen better, ask more direct questions, and learned to seek His will over my own.  I am blessed indeed to have been directed so carefully through out my life.  I never imagined myself to be where I am specifically today.  But I have been reflecting as I have talked and messaged "Bob" on how this is exactly where I am supposed to be, able to fulfil the tasks and opportunities in a very exciting time for me in life, in work and in my callings.  I have been prepared for such a time as this.  I am able to help, and serve, and work, and build, and in some ways pioneer a new program to much success.  Life has not been perfect, but I have become more whole because of my trust and obedience in God's Plan for me.  I am grateful that I need to not live with fear, regret, bitterness, or malice...those are some of the worst foes of Hope, Joy, Happiness, and Peace.  I am excited to see what this year has to offer, and I hope to be able to share the Hope, Joy, Happiness, and Peace that I have been given in such abundance.