Baby
Mom went walking with my older sister Kelsey and was feeling really uncomfortable so they went to the doctor around 3pm. The doctor told her to go to the hospital and where they broke her water. Dad was there but Mom said that she told him “don’t breath my air” so he backed off and watched primetime television until I was born. She gave birth with only a little bit of pain medicine. I was born October 23, 1992 in Salisbury, Maryland at 8:47pm. I was 9lb. 6oz. and 21in. long.
I really liked to listen to music as a baby but I went to sleep to the Baltimore Orioles games. My sister loved to take care of me. They would fight over who would hold me and take care of me. I sat in the middle of them in the car and they would hold my hand.
I slept well and didn’t cry that much. I was a pretty relaxed and content baby. I was so used to being held and pasted around by my sisters and the rest of my family that I would got to anybody without a problem. I never was attached to a pacifier or blanket.
At my first check up Mom said I pooped on one of the nurses while she was trying to take my temperature.
When I was 18 months I got to go to nursery. I was very social and didn’t mind staying in there by myself. Mom would stay with me for a couple of minutes and then leave when I was content with a toy.
Toddler
I have always loved sports. My family are Baltimore Orioles baseball fans and Baltimore Ravens football fans. As a toddler I was go to sleep to an Orioles game every night. Even as a toddler we would travel to Baltimore an go to Orioles games. My dad loved going to Camden Yards Stadium not only for the baseball games but also because his Great Uncle, John Niernsee, was the architect of the train station they converted to part of the stadium when it was built.
When I was two I loved Elton John. There is a video where I am singing Bennie and Jets in a kiddie pool at Nana and Popi’s house. I’m dancing around the pool with a bucket that I called my “bucket hat”. At the end of the video I pinch my finger on the bucket and start to cry. I think this video shows the beginning I my interest in music and performance.
Growing up my parents always called me their “can do” kid. This nickname started when I was just learning how to talk and all I could say to get my point across was “my do it”.
I started to performing when I was three. My first performance was at the church road show. My two older sisters and I sang “She’s my sister”. This performance was just the start to my love for the stage and performance.
Before I went to school I was always with my mom and older sister Kelsey, before she went to school. We went to the store and would get animal crackers. We would go to the zoo where i liked to make all the animal noises and play on the playground.
Child
Before any of my siblings or I started kindergarden we had “Mommy School”. My mom is a teacher so she knew how important it was to start learning basic skills before entering school. She had little books for us to complete that taught use things like the ABC’s and beginning phonics. I also remember going to the zoo with my Mom and having half birthday parties. I remember waking up from a nap and Mom had gotten me a giant Barbie coloring book and colored me one of the pictures. Since there was four and six years between me and my older sisters, I spent a lot of time with Mom by myself while my sister where at school. Mom called me her “little buddy”.
When I was five and started kindergarden my mom decided to got back to college finish her degree in Education. Mom worked very hard juggling school and home life. When she was writing her final papers and studying for finals dad took us hiking in Shenandoah National Park. I’m so proud of her for finishing school. I can image it’s extremely difficult to go back to school with a family but she is a testament that it is possible.
I first joined The Children’s Theater of Delmarva when I was six. My first performance was at the Delmar Festival where I sang “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie”. My mom said that everybody stopped and watched when I started to sing. They were all surprised that such a strong voice came from such a little girl. That performance started a series of performances from the musical “Annie”. My sisters, two friends, and I sang “It’s a Hard Knock Life” on the local news, to promote The Children’s Theater, three times.
I met my best friend Stacy Commissaris when I was four years old. She moved into my ward in Salisbury, Maryland from Michigan. She was a little older than me so we didn’t become best friends until enrichment days. We have been best friends ever since.
When I was six I was outside playing while Dad was fixing the shed when a bee landed on my forehead. My reaction was to scream bloody murder and swat at it. The bee did not like that very much and stung me. Almost immediately my entire face began to swell up. My own grandmother didn’t recognize me. to this day she says that I looked Asian because my face were swollen to the point that my eyes look oriental. I got some test done and we found out that I was allergic to bee stings. This caused me to have to change schools sense I went to a very small primary school who shared a nurse with the elementary school in the town over. I only went to Willards Primary School for one week before I was transferred to Pittsville Elementary School.
After Mom graduated she was hired as a third grade teacher at Ocean City Elementary School. We lived in Willards which is half way in between Ocean City, where my mom worked, and Salisbury, where my dad work. My sisters who were older than me and were already going to school in Salisbury went into Salisbury with my dad to go
to school and then would stay at my grandparents house until he was done with work. But sense I was just starting the second grade, I started going to Ocean City Elementary School with my mom.
I have an October birthday, meaning I was still the new kid at school when my seventh birthday came around. I was so excited that I had made a couple friends that I could invite to my great party that I was having at a mini golf course, but when the day came none of my friends showed up. I remember being so devastated but my family was still there and made sure that I still had a good time. Looking back it was probably one of the best birthday parties I ever had.
On October 29, 2000 I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by my Dad and confirmed by my Popi. It was the first step I took to following Christ in my life. I am very grateful to have been born in the church and ha been taught the foundations of the church so that I could be baptized when I turned 8.
At Ocean City Elementary School I had a music teacher, Mr.Chapman, was really influential in getting me into music and performance. He was the music director at the Maryland Summer Center Musical Theater Camp. He suggested I audition for the camp. I participated in the MSCA camp from the summer after forth grade to the summer after eighth grade. I then worked as a counselor in the camp for two summers after
Pre-Teen
For 5th and 6th grade I went to Berlin Intermediate School where I was involved in there drama program. I participated in the musicals The Nutty Cracker as a stuffed animal and ballerina, Oliver Jr. as a police officer and orphan, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas as the Narrator, and Annie Jr as Grace.
In started playing the flute in the 5th grade. I loved the flute so much I would practice every night until I perfected the skill we were learning. I even had a solo in our 6th grade christmas concert.
My family loves to go to amusement parks. Busch Gardens in Williamsburg,Virginia was the park of choice for many of our vacations growing up. The park featured different European countries. Each country featured rides that correspond with the countries culture and urban legends. From 2005 to 2006 we had seasons passes. Most of the year Busch Gardens is the essence of spring with beautiful flowers and fun shows but in the fall the park take a different turn. By day the park has the same playful amusement but by night it turns into a land of ghouls and goblins. When ever my family wants to get away this is our home away from home.
Even though I was involved in a lot of arts related activities, I still loved playing sports. I was so determined to make one of the schools All-Star teams for one of the sports. By my 6th grade year I was getting pretty discouraged because I wasn’t being picked for any of the teams. I finally got my opportunity when we started a softball unit. I had been playing softball with my family in my back yard ever sense I could hold a bat. I knew this was my chance to shine. So I showed off hitting home run after home run and I was finally picked to be on the all-star team. I was on top of the world!
I also was able to take a cultures class in the 5th and 6th grade which opened up my interests in traveling and languages. I was excited to take a language in middle school. Through my whole middle school and high school careers I took two years of French and two years of Latin. I still want to learn Spanish, German, and become more fluent in French.
For 7th and 8th grade I went back to the county I was suppose to be in because Mom took a year’s leave of absence from teaching. I attended Wicomico Middle School beginning in the fall of 2004. The Wi-Middle students were a little tougher than what I was used at my old schools. The bathrooms regularly smelled like weed and the first girl that I remember a girl being pregnant in my grade in 7th grade. But on the brighter side it was the school that had an advanced program called TAG. I was able to take more advanced science, english, and history classes. I took a higher then average math class but it wasn’t THE highest math because that was my weakest subject.
I was never a really a big reader. I would read for school but I rarely read for fun. As a pre-teen I did get into the series “The Princess Diaries”. They had just come out with the movie that were suppose to be based on the books. Since i liked the movie so much I thought I would try out the series. They ended being completely different and so much better then the movie. Now I wouldn’t call this series a “classic” but they were a fun light read for my summer breaks.
When I was twelve I enter Young Women’s as a beehive. I went to my first Girl’s Camp at a 4-H campsite on the western shore of Maryland. That was the only year I went to girls camp with Kelsey because her last year of camp she went to Europe. I loved girls camp but I remember feeling like our level leader that year treated use like we were younger then we really were. That age is hard because you are right in between a child and a teenager. You’re trying to act more grown up but people don’t always treat you that way.
Teen
When I was thirteen I participated in my first school talent show. Before that I had just been performing in musicals and small variety shows, but I had never performed by myself, as myself, for a group on my peers. I was more nervous then I had ever been before. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. You would think a person who had been performing since she was two would be comfortable in front of any audience. I remember my sister give me a pep talk in the car before the show, which helped calm me down a lot. I performed “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson and was so excited that I had concurred my fear.
In the fall of my 8th grade year Kelsey and I were in our community theater’s production of the musical “Footloose”. She got the lead role and I was in the chorus. It was a great experience that got me on the biggest stage I had ever been on. It was also the most professional show I had ever been in and I was able to make connections with the local theater group so that I could be in more shows in the future.
For our 8th grade marching band, I was appointed to play the piccolo. I also made first chair flute in the 8th grade symphonic band. That spring I auditioned for the Parkside High School symphonic band and was accepted. I also auditioned for the Concert Choir (or Chamber Choir) and was also accepted.
My freshman year in high school was very busy. I was in the color guard for the 2006-2007 Parkside High School Marching Rams. We went all the way to the East Coast Regional Competition. I was also participated in the Concert Choir, Drama Club, and the Islam Awareness Club. At the end of my freshman year I decided to drop band and just focus on singing and acting.
Kelsey met Nathan Snow in March of 2008. Mom and I went to visit her for spring break in the beginning of April. I remember asking her if he was “the one”, on that trip, and she said yes. So for the rest of the trip I was hinting to him what size ring she wore. They were engaged at the end of May and where sealed in the Saint George Temple on August 8, 2008. Kelsey had enough faith in my baking skills to let me make her wedding cake.
I was able to participate with the Parkside Players (drama club) when I was in the 7th grade. My sisters were involved with the drama club and they need a person to fill in for a role at the last minute. So since the director already knew me and my acting ability I got very good roles all four years of high school. My freshman year I was in A Mid Summer Nights Dream as Snug and The Chronicles of Narnia was the Christmas Elf. My sophomore year I was in The Crucible as Rebecca Nurse and Robin Hood as a Lady of the Court. My junior year I was in Axe of Murder as Taylor and Shaherizod as an Egyptian Lady. My senior year I was involved in the community theater production of the musical “All Shook Up” which was on the same night as the Parkside Players play. I was able to be the student director of the play “The Shakespeare Stealer” so that I could still be involved but could miss the performance. I was also in “Get Smart” as professor Zalinka.
I went on my first official date with Brian Menasco when I was sixteen. I went to visit my sister and brother in-law in Utah. I knew Brian from my stake and we had been friends for a while. He was taking a mission prep class during the summer semester at BYU. While I was in Utah we watched Empire’s New Groove in the BYU Library and and got ice-cream. The next day we watched Farris Buller’s Day Off at my sister apartment and went to Taco Time. He went on his mission to Santa Rosa, California that August and I started writing him.
My junior and senior years of high school I auditioned for and was accepted into the Maryland All-State Choir. My junior year I was in the Women’s Choir and my senior year I was in the Mixed Choir It was the most amazing experience to be in a choir where everyone was a passionate about music and singing as your are.
All four years of High School I auditioned and was accepted into the Maryland All-Shore Choir. This choir was a little easier to get into then All-State but still had a lot of heart. Both experiences inspired me to peruse music as a career. For a long time I was even thinking about being a music teacher because of the great directors I had who inspired me to work hard and really understand the music. I loved my high school choir teacher but she didn’t always give us the drive we need to be the best choir we could be like the other directors did.
In the Spring of my senior year, 2010, I was accepted into Brigham Young University Idaho. This was the first college I heard back from and I was so excited. For a while I was really scared that I wouldn’t get into any college. I didn’t work as hard in high school as I had in previous years, but I was involved in a lot of activities and clubs so I was really relying on my extra curricular’s to pull me through. Once I was rejected by BYU in Provo I knew that BYU-I was were I was suppose to be.
I graduated from Parkside High School June 2010. I had a solo at commencement in front of over 3,000 people. Afterwards my grandparents threw me a party at their house with all my friends.
My baby brother Adam James Brady was born on July 8, 2010. He was a big surprise to the whole family since I had been the youngest before him. He has been a big blessing in our lives and I love him so much. I have been able to learn a lot about taking care of a baby that I was never able to learn growing up as the youngest. That summer he was mistaken as my son MANY times.
I began college at BYU-I when I was still seventeen. I started as a Music Education major. I loved having mostly music classes but I wasn’t sure if teaching music was really what I wanted to do but I stuck it out through my first semester
Young Adult
On my 18th birthday Elizabeth and my friends from my home stake Katie, Colby, and Noah, who where going to BYU Provo, drove up to Rexburg to surprise me. I knew Elizabeth was coming but my friends were a total surprise. We went out for pizza a Crego’s and got a Cookie Monster for my cake. That night was the Masquerade Ball. I had a really nice date but he was pretty shy. I think I got a little caught up in all the excitement of my friends being there that I didn’t pay as much attention to him as I probably should have, which I feel terrible about. You live and you learn I guess. Over all that was one of the best birthday weekend’s I have ever had! I made a lot of really good friends my first semester at BYU-I. Rachel and Emma where my dorm-mates. We did everything together! I even moved my mattress on the floor of their room for awhile because I was in there room most of the time anyway. Timmy was one of Rachel’s friends from back home and Connor lived in the same apartment complex. Timmy, Connor, and I formed a band called Rossen and the Rossenettes. Our one cover was the song Africa by Toto.
During the Winter Semester I was off-track. I went home and worked at the Gap in the Salisbury mall. I also started going to Young Single Adult activities at Brother and Sister Sollars house.
Nathan and Kelsey were living in Bristol, England while Nathan got his Masters in Film Studies at
Bristol University. Nana and Popi funded a trip for me to visit Kelsey and Nathan for two weeks. We went to Bath and saw the ancient Roman baths, a fashion museum, and I had my first English pasty. We then went to Gloucester to the Gloucester Cathedral where they filmed parts of the first two Harry Potter movies. Next was our two day trip to London. We went to Hyde Park, Baker St., Fleet St., The Globe Theater, Piccadilly Circus, The Nation Gallery, Notting Hill, the Millennium Bridge, walked across Abbey Rd., saw Big Ben, the London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and saw Wicked at West End. Last in my trip Kelsey and I went to Salisbury and saw Stone Henge. I have always wanted to travel to Europe and this was a spectacular first trip. I plan to travel to as many more places as I can. I started my second semester at BYU-I less than a week after I returned from England. I have decided to change my major from Music Education to Communications with an emphasis in Video Production.
