School Shooting at Annunciation Catholic School

On August 27, 2025, a mass shooting occurred at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis during a scheduled all-school Mass for Annunciation Catholic School. The attack resulted in the deaths of two children and the perpetrator, while leaving 30 other people injured. The shooter published a disturbing manifesto and shot himself before being apprehended. This school shooting hit me HARD. It could easily have been Immaculata. These children were just praying and attending the first school Mass for the year. May God bring these 2 children directly to heaven! 

Fletcher Merkel (age 8) and Harper Moyski (age 10), were killed in a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Shana's Tortoise Named Mossy Mac : A Lifelong Desire Fulfilled

I was at work today when Shana got Mossy Mac in the mail, so we did a video call! SHE IS SO EXCITED! Why Mossy Mac? Mossy is from a book of the same name, a true story about the tortoise with a beautiful garden on its back. Mac is from the Dr. Seuss book Yertle the Turtle where Mac questions the authority of the oppressive regime of Yertle. Oh how Shana loves her tortoise who loves clover, cuttlebone, and burrowing!

The Year of Lasts : Annie's Last First Day of School

Annie would not let me take a first day of school picture this year, but she did take one of her own which is above! What a beauty! I had to fight to take the picture below which is of us reading the kissing hand, the traditional book we read before the first day of school each year. It comes with little stickers that I have given each child for their first day of school to remember that their mama loves them. Every year they put it somewhere special and this year Annie put it on her notebook. I pray that this book is used again when these two girls have children.

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : Alice , my Teal Group Angel

Thank goodness I got Alice's contact information when I was in the teal group in utah! We connected over Facebook and kept in touch. She was chosen for the paid teal group in Texas because she is a resident of texas. She kept telling me to push my way to the front. I wasn't that brave, but I was not afraid to ask Mitch if I could be a part of the teal group on my third day. Alice really wanted a photo together and wanted me to post it on Facebook to tag her. She was unable to take pictures of herself due to her contract. I wish I had gotten a picture of Leah Rose, my other teal group friend who couldn't be hired either because she does not live in Texas, but time ran out. If it wasn't for this amazing lady, I wouldn't know the ins and outs of being a paid extra! I thank God for Alice!

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : TEAL GROUP, Day 3

I am glad I took this picture because it is the only one I have of my teal group partner today, Kari. Once we had our partner we were supposed to stay with them the whole time. Because Brock Allen casting would not hire anyone who did not live in Texas , it was a bit harder to get into the teal group this time. How I got in the teal group was that the assistant director Mitch came and asked for people who had dark clothes to raise their hand if they wanted to be up front. He remembered me. I was chosen! The rest of the people spent the time simply walking around on the outside of Pilot's courtyard. As part of the teal group, there were three different places that you could go to and the assistants would have you walk with your partner at the appropriate time when they were filming.

Today we filmed the very end of the spoiler scene I mentioned yesterday. Walking with Kari behind the cart holding the affected character towards the stable and then out the door. Then entering the door with Kari as the apostles are running out with the cart, moving quickly out of the way.

Oh the number of times we heard the command "background reset!" But by the end of the day the full scene was finished!

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : The Flood, Pre-Set, Day 3

Even though our call time remained the same for this day, what really happened was that we remained in our cars for about 3 hours! You can see why in the radar above. There was no reason for us to exit our cars because there was no way to film outside due to the heavy rain. So here is how we felt at that time and our view of the cars in front of us. We were literally told to wait in our cars until someone came to us and told us to go in.. periodically you would see people get out and walk very far to the bathroom. I had no desire to get myself and my feet all wet in the mud until I had to, so the cut water bottle in the internal car picture was used for what you might think. And although most of the actresses decided to meet in the bathroom as you can see in the final photo, the cut water bottle worked very well for us.

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : Jerusalem Backdrop on Soundstage 2

One of the neat things to see on this Soundstage was a life-size backdrop of the entirety of ancient Jerusalem. It looked photographic. When lit from the front, it has a daylight effect. But when lit from.the back, it has a nighttime effect with lighted windows, torches & stars!

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : Photo Highlights

Filming the Chosen Season 6 TEXAS : Ciaphas' House on Soundstage 2

Above is my favorite pic from this trip. Shana snapped this picture in the house of Ciaphas as i was waiting for my turn to take the pictures below, .... behind the table where the Judas from The Chosen accepts the 30 pieces of silver. The details of this set are unparalleled. For example, the details on the wall above the archways (see picture 4 & 8) are hand painted and NOT wallpaper! ... The parchment scrolls behind Ciaphas' desk are REAL and contain prayer intentions from fans.