believe.

I am so blessed to be apart of the production Beauty and the Beast. Seriously. I can't tell you how much I love being on stage, even if the part is small. It's the best feeling in the world to be up on stage and look out over the audience and hear their laughter. I love make believing that I'm living in this different world. My director tells us every night to believe. We then chant that word, holding hands in a circle, and march into the middle.
Tonight is our fourth show out of twelve, and I get really sad just thinking about the last show. Beauty and the Beast has been such a fun experience and I'm so extremely blessed to be involved. :)

this is before my costume was finished.

xo, Hayley

there's a firefly outside the window.

the day was full. plans were made and unmade, 

and eventually the air was filled

with overly-tired giggles and barely

conscious words. we were all tired. nothing,

not even cookies could keep us awake. i fell half-asleep on the car ride home,

we made another stop, i was awakened 

by harsh outdoor lights and the rumbling 

of car engines. we were all tired. but not 

too tired to see the firefly out the window.

making up for not posting yesterday, oopsie. also, thank you to everyone who has submitted so far! keep it coming. 

xoxo, 

jocee

he makes me laugh

he smiles, i laugh. 

he laughs, i laugh so hard i can't breath. 

he tries to hide his face from the camera using his baseball cap, i take a million pictures to only have one decent picture of his smiling face not hidden by the bight red hat. 

right here, in this moment, i am trying to document his contagious smile, his sparkling eyes, and his many freckles. i know none of this may last very long, and that is why i carry my camera with me everywhere. i want to remember how my little brother looked way back when he was ten. i want to remember that moment when we were in the car, riding home from baseball practice for the hundredth time, listening to country music with the windows down and eating ice cream. life is constantly moving past us, and it will never stop. 

what is one ordinary moment you wish could last forever?

xoxo,

gracie

the old scout

we have this old scout that's been with us for over 17 years.  it used to be my parents main car, and not too many years ago my dad drove it to work everyday.  the other day my dad taught Kendall how to drive it, and we took it out for a drive around the neighborhood for the first time in a few years.  it's a stick shift and it was bumpy and bouncy and awesome.

xo,

abby

I must be the heartbeat

If the earth is like a
body,
needing water to stay
alive,
I must be the
heartbeat,
because I'm happiest
when
it rains.

xo. Megan Kristine

you should write for us

it's that time! the time where we ask you, our lovely readers, for submissions. now that we've been telling you about our ordinary utopia, we'd love it if you shared with us some of yours.

to submit something, be sure to follow these guidelines:
- you may include 1-4 photos
- at the bottom of your post, please include a link to your blog, and you can also include a short bio if you like.
- please don't promote your giveaways or work on an ordinary utopia. while we love things like that, it's best if you keep them on your personal blog.
- please email us your submission with this in the subject line: [your title here] - a guest post by [your name here] at ordinaryutopia[at]gmail[dot]com. we will try to respond as soon as possible.
- please note that your work must be original to an ordinary utopia, and we prefer that you not repost it anywhere else.

start writing! we can't wait to feature you on our blog.
xoxo,
jocee