Make It Up As You Go

'Ello, loves! :)

No, you're not imagining things. This is me, blogging. Yay!

Yes, I realize it's been a while but I haven't had anything important to say. I still don't but I slipped into a blogging mood and now you will get some randomness. You love it, admit it. DO IT! XD

Well, about 2 weeks ago or so I found out Plain White T's are coming to Phoenix...er, Scottsdale. In October.  A concert in my area-ish? I was beyond excited. We won't get into the last time I went to a concert. OK, yes we will: December! 8 months!!! That is...just...wrong. So before taking the plunge into the ticket purchasing pool, I made my usual callout on Facebook hoping someone would want to go. I got nothing. Am I surprised? NOT REALLY.

Fast forward to last week. Mr. Ryan Star tweeted that he was working with Tom (Lead singer for Plain White Ts). I'm not gonna lie, I squee'd like a 12 year old at Beiber concert. Dead serious. I was having kind of a shitty night so yes, that tweet completely turned it around. About 30 seconds after that tweet, I found myself debating whether or not to hit "Submit Order" on the ticket website.. It was weird, I don't even remember how I got there. There I was still frustrated from my bad night yet oddly excited about the fact Tom and Ryan are hanging out, writing together. I wasn't thinking straight. I clicked. I'm now the proud owner of one ticket to the October 8th Plain White T's concert...with no one to go with.  Oy. I'll figure it out. I think. Pray for me. Seriously.

So in non-concert news: My nieces and nephews are back in school. A Jr. in high school, two 8th graders, a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a 1st grader. I love the 1st grader, I really do but if I had to wake up to the Spongebob or the iCarly theme song one more time...yeah. - Oh yes, and my lovely Curly-Haired started Pre-Kindergarten. He really likes it. :)

What else? Oh yes, my diet! It's going OK. Food wise. I'm eating better. I'm actually getting hungry more often. Which sounds weird, right? Eating more to lose weight. Well, the thing is that before I wasn't doing well because I would only eat twice a day. No breakfast so by lunch I was starving and I would over-eat. Same with dinner. Several hours would pass and I would be starving by then, again over-eating. Now, all my MAIN meals are smaller, so: I eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner. Depending on what time I eat dinner, I can squeeze in another snack before I go to bed, (either before or after Wii Boxing) IF I'm starting to feel hungry. And by snack and I don't mean Oreos and milk. Like I said before, I've started eating a lot of fruit. That's my main thing right now.

I also decided to either give up or change a few things: Regular sandwich bread and tortillas. Don't tell my mom about the tortillas. We're Mexican. She'd disown me. Ahem, anyway... if you follow me on Twitter you've probably seen the links I've posted for the Flat-Out wraps and flat bread I started eating instead. I've tried the the Fold-It flat bread. Delicious! I've yet to try the wraps. I need to go grocery shopping for veggies so I can make chicken and veggie wraps.

My mom and I collect those Coke Rewards points and we were able to get a 3 in 1 sandwich maker. Grill, Sandwich maker and waffle maker. Pretty cool. I'm just waiting for it to get here.

Soda: That one...isn't going as well as I'd hoped. I went about 2 weeks without one now I'm back to one a week. It's gonna be a long process. I refuse to drink diet soda, so I'm just going to get myself off of it completely. Eventually.

Fast Food: OK this is my biggest breakthrough right now. I didn't have it for about a month, (with maybe the exception of pizza but we'll get to that in a second) then about a week ago, my dad didn't feel like cooking so he made a McDonald's run. Well, after I was done eating I was completely grossed out. Not in a "the food made me sick" way. It just didn't feel right. So yes, I think I may be done with fast food for good. Or at least with the scary clown franchise.Yay! :)

Pizza: OK, I'm gonna be honest here: I would sell my soul for pizza (and pasta, but again we will get to that in a second). No joke. I'm addicted. BUT I've only had it about 4 times in the past 2 and a half months. And the day a had leftovers, I couldn't even finish a slice. But let's blame my stomach for that one. But yes, another breakthrough. Well, I've decided that if I really want pizza I'm gonna work for it. Remember the flatbread I mentioned? Well, I'm gonna use that as a crust to make my own. Should be easy, right? Right. :)

Pasta: Again...addicted. But I'm switching from regular pasta to whole grain/high fiber pasta. Gonna test it out on my blood sugar. Regular pasta sends my numbers through the roof. :/ I've also invested in this little thing called Fasta Pasta. It's a container that cooks pasta (and other things) in the microwave. It's not fancy or anything but for $12 (on eBay) I figured, why not? And it got some pretty good reviews. Bonus!

I can't cook on a regular stove so whatever makes things easier for ME, I'm all for it. Breakfast and lunch are things that I've started making on my own but they've all been food that don't require much cooking. Dinner is usually whatever my mom or sister make. Usually.

Milk: I've taken up Almond Milk. I bought a container about a week ago. I accidentally bought the vanilla unsweetened kind which doesn't really taste as good on it's own (in my opinion) but for smoothies, cereal and whatever else you add milk to...it's really good. I need to get back to the store to buy some of the regular kind and the chocolate kind. Yum! :D

So yeah, I think that's it. Or at least that's all I can think of. I'm still working on the smoothie thing. I can't seem to find the right sweetness. Tastes kind of bland. Boo!

And I think I've taken up enough of your time. Translation: I'm all randomed (yes it's a word...that I just made up) out.

So thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.

Lyrics of the Day: "Make it up as  you go. Future's wide open, nothing's written in stone." - Make It Up As You Go by Plain White T's

Twenty-eight things that I love - Day One: Chili-Cheese Fritos.

So this is day one (of twenty-eight) of my blog challenge "Twenty-eight things that I love."

Yes ladies and gentlemen, Chili-Cheese Fritos are probably God's greatest creation. I just love chips, but if I could eat these for the rest of my life, I would. They're my go-to junk food of choice. I mean, next to chocolate. But that's an entirely different post. No really, it's coming up...eventually. :)

Look how beautiful they are:

So if you're looking for the perfect birthday/Christmas/Thanksgiving/just because you love me gift, this is the way to go.

There you have it. Thanks for reading. <3

Thirty songs in thirty days and twenty-eight things that I love...in twenty-eight days.

That's a very long title. The blog gods must hate me by now. :)

Anyway, hello kids!!! As some of you may or may not know, there is a 30 day song challenge happening right now. What is it? Well, read about it on Brooke White's blog.

I just read about it on Twitter last night and I've decided that I would participate, but I will be starting on Tuesday Feb 1st. I will be using my Tumblr account since it automatically sends my posts to Twitter.

But, what is this "twenty-eight things that I love" thing? Well, in addition to partaking in the 30 day song challenge, I have decided to start my own challenge. I think I've neglected this blog long enough and it's time I do something about it.

Last night I started making a list of things that I love. Things that just make me happy. After all, Valentine's Day is coming up. OK fine, I can't stand the actual "holiday" but that's beside the point. =P

Every day in the month of February I will randomly choose something off my list and blog about it. But I won't just be writing about it, I will be putting my (very limited) photography skills to work and SHOW you my blog subject.

So there you have it, kids. If you're interested in learning a bit more about me (because apparently I don't share enough on Twitter =P) then watch out for my Tumblr posts and links to my blog starting Tuesday!

Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday!!

Remember the day, cause this is what dreams should always be.

So in just a few short hours, we'll be ringing in the New Year.

I think it's safe to say that 2010 will be pretty hard to top. At least for me, personally.

If you would have told me a year ago that:

• Music would become an integral part of my life again;
• I would experience that amazing music, live;
• I would be meeting (some of) my heroes, those who created the music that changed my life;
• I would be meeting my ULTIMATE hero, Ryan Star, who not only changed my life with his music, but managed to restore my faith in people, something that I'd lost long ago;
• I would plan a mini-road trip to see My Ultimate Hero with my most favorite concert buddy. This being especially hard to believe when I struggle to find someone to drive me 25 minutes to a concert;

and last but most certainly not least,

• I would "meet" (in some cases actually meet) some of the sweetest, funniest, most understanding people in the world via some social networking site that I had initially REFUSED to join;

...had you told me ALL of that would happen in the course of a year (or so), well...I would have laughed in your face. I would have said: "That just doesn't happen. Life cannot be that good."

And had you known me a year or so ago, you wouldn't have been surprised by my less than positive attitude.

But that's another thing that has changed. My outlook on life is...different now. Before, I couldn't care less about much. I didn't have a passion. That ONE thing that I was willing to work my ass off for.

I didn't have the drive to carry out ideas. "It'll never work out" I would say.

Little did I know that with just a little bit of help from lovely, supportive friends ... I can pretty much do anything. If you're reading this, you ARE in that category of lovely, supportive friends. Unless of course you accidentally stumbled across this blog, in which case...uh, let's be friends. :D

So what IS my passion? Remember those heroes I mentioned above? Well, my mission is to make sure that their hard work gets noticed. I'm determined to continue spreading the word about the music that has made my life worthwhile. I'll plug their music on Twitter and Facebook, I'll buy multiple copies of their CD's to give away, I'll invite people to their shows, I'll talk my friends' ears off about them, I'll threaten my friends into listening to the music. There isn't much I'm not willing to do. I mean, as long as it's legal. And even that's negotiable. Just kidding...just in case someone from law enforcement is reading this. Ahem...moving on.

As far as friends go, I'm starting to learn just how much I can trust people. I never went with that gut feeling. I've always felt it. Never listened. I would trust people too much, too soon. That always backfired. So I started to LOSE trust in those who were in my life. People who'd never done a thing to prove they were less than loyal. I've made the mistake of making people bend over backwards to prove to me they could be trusted. That doesn't work either. I started becoming the type of person I despised. I'm still cautious of course... kind of have to be. Just not to the point of paranoia.

Had that not changed, none of you would be in my life right now. And quite honestly, right now...at this very moment, I can't imagine my life without you. You all have been, everything. I'm grateful to you all for everything from you letting me vent, to the stories, inside jokes, mutual love for hot rockstars...uh I mean, music. The prayers and positive vibes I received from you all have been life saving. You all have gotten me through things I KNOW you weren't even aware of. Some pretty heavy things that I never talked about. With anyone. When I asked for prayers, no one questioned me and only said "of course". I'll forever be indebted to you for that.

So before I start sobbing to the point where I can no longer see the screen, I'll close this thing.

To all my rockstars, friends and anyone who made 2010 the best year of my entire existence: I love you. Thank you for the happiness and support you provided.

To the year 2011: I know it'll be hard, but get your shit together and kick 2010's ass! I'm ready!

Music, Friends, Rockstars. What life should be about.

"You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

I love Ryan Star. If you didn't know, now you do. Wait, if you didn't know, where the hell have you been? I mean, it's no secret I borderline on worshipping the man. Well, OK not really. Let's not go that far.

I've always said that I'd do anything for him, within reason of course. He's my favorite musician/person...ever, really.

Before last night, the last time I saw a show was in September. In fact, that was my first full Ryan Star show. A headlining show. Which as I've said before, was by far the best show I've experienced.

About a month and a half ago, I got a tweet from someone named Heidi. I'm sure a lot of you know who I'm talking about. She tweeted to inform me that Ryan would be in Tucson soon. Of course right away I tweeted back thanking her for the info, but that I was sorry that I wouldn't be able to swing Tucson. And that was that. That is until I had a total meltdown over the fact that I can't just up and leave somewhere. It wasn't specifically about the concert though. It's not easy for me to do something like that. But it started getting to me.

About a week after that, I asked my parents how long of a drive Phoenix to Tucson is. They said anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. My mom then asked why I wanted to know. Of course I said "No reason". Did she buy that? HELL NO she didn't. She then says "Whose concert?" Dammit, how does she do that?! I asked her "what makes you think it's for a concert?" The look on her face? Priceless! And she says "That's all you ever want to do now. I KNOW." Then I did the whole dramatic sigh and said "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Not doing it."

A few days after that, my sister and I were on our way to see our other sis at the hospital after she had her baby. I semi-jokingly (of course) said, "Hey we should take a trip to Tucson. I wanna go to a concert there." She says "OK". Just like that. I told her that I was serious and that I'd have to buy my ticket ASAP. She says "Buy it, we'll go". On our way back she says "Wait a second, when is this concert?" when I told her the date she tells me that she's busy that weekend. My sis makes cakes as a side...thing. It just so happened that someone she knows was getting married the weekend of, and said they'd wanted her to make the cake. I said "OK, that's fine." I few hours wasn't enough time to get me too excited about it, so I wasn't too shocked or disappointed. Well, OK maybe just a little disappointed.

I thought that was the end of that, until a few weeks later. My sis, niece and I went shopping for my Wii. I brought up the NeedtoBreathe concert just to remind her about it. She offered to drive me to that one a few months prior. Way before I knew about Ryan's show. Then all of a sudden she says "Oh by the way, I'm not making the cake after all." I was waiting for her to keep talking but that's all she said until I said "So you're saying...." and she says "Let's go to Tucson". She said, "All I ask is that you plan something for us to do while you're at the show. Find a movie theatre maybe, and a place for us to eat prior to dropping you off at the venue." I said, "piece of cake!" Ha! I searched for a week and I couldn't decide on anything. I didn't know the area, obviously. So I decided that maybe I would ask my Twitter buddy @cool_shades *waves* to help me out, since she lives in Tucson. And she did. I'd like to take this moment to give her a big THANK YOU for saving me from getting lost! Thank you Coolie! <3

After a bit of trying to figure out how exactly I would pay for tix and trying to figure out what seating arrangement would suit me better I went on the site to buy my ticket. I had already decided on GA. Which was lawn seating. But suddenly it hit me: I didn't want to do this alone. Immediately I thought of asking my buddy and concert Partner In Crime, Laura if she wanted to go. Why I didn't think of it way before, is beyond me. Terrible. Just terrible! So I asked her, she said she could possibly swing it. We went back and forth on the seating thing. The least expensive tix were of course GA lawn area. She said I should probably call the venue to find out if lawn was wheelchair friendly. I called. Long story short: it really wasn't. I mean, the lady said they could accomodate once we got there. In other words, they would have to FIND a place to seat us that was safe. We then decided on mid-range priced tickets. I checked the seating chart. They didn't have any accessible seating in the area. I called to double check. None. We decided on going for it. Screw trying work out GA. Once I bought the tix it was smooth sailing. (For the most part. But I'll spare you the lengthy details. Stupid arguments, getting sick a week prior. You know.) Also we found out that it wasn't going to be full band. *sadface* Oh and Serena wouldn't be there either. Booo! I automatically assumed It would be just Ryan and Dallin. Not quite, though. More on that later.

(If you've gotten this far, I heart you. Sorry I ramble so damn much!)

So finally the day of the concert. Before leaving, I made a Twitter callout asking who wanted me to give Ryan a hug on their behalf. I got about 5 responses LOL.

I was feeling much better. Physically, emotionally. A couple nights before, we decided that we would eat a late breakfast at my mom's before leaving instead. But then sis decided last minute that we should stop to eat on our way there afterall! *headdesk* It was 1:00pm and I hadn't eaten at all. *sigh* So, my sis, mom, niece, nephew, niece's boyfriend and I were on our way to Tucson. About an hour into the trip, my sis asked if we should stop at In-N-Out. We all agreed we should. It was my first time trying In-N-Out. As we neared Tucson my stomach decided that it would wreak havoc. We were a good 5 or 10 mins from the venue when we had to make a stop. We were already running late as it was. I was pissed. Not only was I in some serious pain, but Laura was already waiting at the venue. I had the tickets. I hate making people wait.

We made it to the venue a bit after 5. Thank goodness they were running late also. When I got there, there was a HUGE line of people waiting. Laura and I sat at some bench waiting. When they finally opened the doors, Laura said we should try and see if someone would be nice enough to let us cut in. They did. When we showed the person our tix, she pointed in some general direction. We made our way over and looked for our seat numbers in the area where the lady pointed. We looked up at the stage. Not bad. That is until we actually found the seats. Laura's view was obstructed by some Pepsi machine...WTF? She said "hell no. We're moving over. If people claim these seats we can move back". I love her! :D

All of a sudden, something seemed off. I looked around. Right behind us was the lawn area. That didn't seem right to me. After spending weeks looking at that seating chart, I knew the damn thing like the back of my hand. I said, "this isn't our area. This is area is labeled "rear" on the seating chart. Our tickets are "front" area" and I point at the rows in front of us. She said "I'll be back!" Within 2 minutes she was back, freaking out saying "I FOUND OUR SEATS! LET'S GO!" Ladies and gentlemen, our seats kicked ass! We had SUCH an amazing view! I was so excited. Headachey but excited!!! :D By the time all this went down, the local DJ's were already introducing Christina Perri. We got to our seats just in time to see her come out.

Let me take a second to say that I'm totally cheating off a pic of her setlist that Ryan tweeted earlier. I remember the performances, just not the order the songs were performed. And if I tried to work off memory, I would remembered maybe two songs LOL. Anyway, so Christina and her guitarist/keyboardist John Anderson hit the stage. She kicked off her set with a song called "Daydream" which is on her "The Ocean Way Sessions" EP. Next song also on the EP, is called "Bang Bang Bang". I THINK she said it was a song about revenge. It's basically about a guy hurting a girl (possibly by cheating) and then in turn getting hurt by the girl he's with. My favorite lyrics from this song are "But how does it feel to swim in your own tears?" Love! She did a few other songs which were off her EP. Two were not though. One is called "Arms" and the other one called "Distance" which she said would be on her full length album which she's set to start recording in the next couple months. She ended her set with her single  "Jar of Hearts". She thanked the station for supporting it, and thanked the audience for coming out and also supporting her music. She said she'd be over at the merch table signing. As soon as she walked off the stage we headed over. There was a HUGE line. Some people were there to buy merch for the other bands too though. We were kind of overwhelmed. Or at least I was. I wanted the hardcopy of her EP. I ended up taking the last one :D I think. lol Her merch person was at one end of the table and she was at the other end. We were already by the front so we kind of...moved over, not really getting in line. Ahem. After a few people went, the security guy said we could go next. Mkay. LOL She smiled at me and said hi. I said hi and asked her to sign the EP. She said "Of course, thanks for getting it!" She asks me my name, I tell her and she repeats it (pronouncing it perfectly, btw.) and asked me to spell it. It took everything in my power not to laugh. LOL So I spelled it for her and I then said "Hey you did much better than Ryan! Don't tell him I said that!!" And she laughs and says "OK". :D I was going to tell her I had already downloaded her EP but Laura asked her if I could get a pic with her. She said "Of course". <3 Here's the pic:

She is adorable. And I couldn't smile, could I? *sigh* Anyway, bottom line: She's amazingly talented, sweet and I love her!

We made our way back our seats and the DJ's came out once again. This time: The moment Laura and I have been anticipating for WEEKS!! They introduce Ryan. He runs out and high-fives all the DJ's. Of course Laura and I laughed! Of course! :D Remember when I said I assumed it'd be him and Dallin? I was wrong. It was just him. He kicked things off with "We Might Fall". Alright, obviously I have nothing to cheat off of for his set, so let's talk about the high points of his set. Not in any order. He did "Last Train Home" before going into it, he mentioned that it's on the soundtrack for P.S. I Love You. He then says "I wrote the movie. I AM Gerard Butler." Everyone laughed and at that moment...*sigh* I decided to yell out "You're much hotter!!!" OK what the hell is in that Tucson air? Whyyyy did I do that?! He didn't hear, but WTF? LMAO! Oy. Moving on. Afterwards he did the Meatloaf banter. Laura says "Why does he always say that?" LOL I said "I don't know, but it's still funny!" *sigh* Of course I would think it's still funny! =P At one point while he was talking, someone in the front yelled something out. I didn't hear what it was but he looks over and says,  "You KNOW I can hear you, right?" She says yes and he says "OK, you know EVERYONE can hear you, right?" Damn shame I missed what she said. LOL He then introduced "In Your Eyes". I asked Laura if she'd seen the video where he brought out the Backstreet Boys to sing. She said yes, and right when I said that he mentioned that. LOL He said he wanted us to take their place and sing the "In Your Eyes" part. I yelled out "booo!" Ahem...BSB fans, let's blame the Tucson air again, ok? :D I love you. LOL. He said he wasn't a fan of theirs before that moment. Then said "Now my e-mail is BSB4Eva ...or something." LOL. Then, you know how he snaps a pic of the audience and has them tag themselves on FaceBook? Well, he didn't have a camera. Normally Serena's camera is used. So he asks if anyone has one. He says "None of this camera phone stuff. A real camera. If you have one come on up and take the picture." No one goes up for like a minute. Then I hear him say "Not of ME. Get up here and take a pic of the audience." LOL!!! All of a sudden there are like 5 people on stage with him taking pics! HAHAHA! There was one young girl, who I thoroughly enjoyed watching lose her shit over being up there close to him! LMAO! He asked everyone to get up and make it look like a real rock show. After all that craziness, then comes "Start a Fire". He gets behind the keyboard, and towards the end he tends to ask the audience to sing back "We're gonna start a fire". But then he says sees a couple kids backstage and brings them out. Well rather than TELL you what happened, I'll show you. A big thanks to Laura for getting the epicness on video. Note: At the beginning he's telling the little boy to say "How are you doing in the back?" (meaning the people sitting in the back). Ryan had to repeat this like three times for him. Watch what happens:

Priceless amazingness right there! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at ANYTHING. As you can tell by the video, Laura and I pretty much lost it. Pretty much! LOL By the way, did you all notice he left off the "sexual desire" part? Uh-huh! <3 Love! He ended his set with "Breathe". Perfect ending.

One more thing that I just remembered: during the intro to one of the songs (can't remember which >.<) he said that once, he did the song in front of a class of first graders and asked them to close their eyes and tell him what they see. He said "I got everything from 'I see  trees' to 'I see pink'. And some said 'I DON'T SEE ANYTHING! It's all black!!' Of course they're first graders so none of them raised their hand. This is what I get for asking a group of first graders to close their eyes and tell me what they see."

He then announced that he'd be hanging out by the merch table. HOLY CRAP at the amount of people that got up! When we got out there, we figured we'd not get in line and just hang back on the opposite end of the table, until the line got shorter. Only...the line kept getting longer! Aaand longer. We stuck with our plan and just watched him be amazing with people. When the little ones would come up to him...OMG my heart! He's so amazing with them! <3 *sniff* Ahem :D Soon, Ingrid Michaelson  hits the stage. Neither Laura or I were really familiar with her. Well, Laura was a bit more familiar with her than I was. We stayed there and just talked for a while longer. All of a sudden, Ingrid is talking and Ryan tells the person he's talking to hold on a second, and he RUNS over to the stage! Honestly, I have NO clue what went on. None. All I heard was some loud cheering.  LOL A minute later he returns and continues talking with people like nothing happened. :D Then  some random dude comes over  and asks us who we're there to see. We said MOSTLY Ryan but we like Christina and Sara too! He said he got free tickets. Said he likes Sara, Christina and was somewhat familiar with Ryan. He then says "He was fuckin' awesome! That guy's going places." Just remembering...*sigh* He kept going on about Ryan. LOL But I don't really remember what else he said. I think I was too happy to hear such great things that I just mentally agreed and my mind went somewhere else lol

Laura and I continued talking, then we noticed Ingrid had finished up her set. The only thing I could think was "Dear God, please let Plain White-T's go next. I don't wanna miss Sara Bareilles!" LOL Sure enough, Plain White-T's hit the stage minutes later. I think they were into their 3rd song when I hear someone say "Hi Guadalupe." I look up and then I hear "I'm Serena's mom!" I was COMPLETELY thrown off by this. Serena's mom knows my name? For serious?! Laura and I said hi to her. We told her that we were bummed that Serena wasn't there and that we missed her. We chatted for a minute and she says "You guys should come with me. I'll take you to Ryan." We didn't really want to cut in front of the line of millions :D and we tried to tell her that we could wait. She wasn't having it. She said she'd get him for us. OK! Who were WE to argue? LOL A few minutes later, a friend of Serena's mom came and got us. She took us to where  Ryan was standing. Now, I should tell you:  I was completely calm and collected while watching him talk to people before. I was confident I'd be OK. But the SECOND we were 2 feet from him, I could NOT think or breathe.We sat there about a minute until he finished up with the person he was talking to when we got there. The millli-second she walked away, Serena's mom got his attention. This happened:

Serena's mom: Hey Ryan. This is Guadalupe

Ryan: I KNOW who she is! Come here!

*then he hugs me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Ryan: How are you?

Me: I'm good!

Ryan: Can you guys hang out for a bit?

Me and Laura: Yeah!

Ryan: OK I'll be back.

We continued watching him be his amazing self. *sigh* For the most part he stayed behind the table unless someone asked for a pic. Laura and I started chatting again and completly lost track of what was going on. She and I (mostly me) were brought back to earth when he walked from behind the table (on his way to take a pic) and hit me over the head with a Sharpie. He didn't throw it. Right when he was close enough to me he just took the Sharpie he was holding and tapped me over the head. Kind of hard, actually LOL Laura and I looked at each other like "What the actual f... just happened?!" and laughed! I don't think he even looked back at us. Which made it even funnier!

Soon enough, he came over to us (I think I got another hug) and we chatted for a bit. Mostly he talked though. He was telling us about his crazy schedule. He's been everywhere. He actually told us where he'd been the past couple of weeks. I think hearing all the places gave me a bigger headache. Poor RockStar, he was SO exhausted. :( He said "I really really appreciate you guys coming down here." He looked over at me and the following exchange happened:

Ryan: Hi. How are you?

Me: *sigh* *shrug* I'm OK. [at this point I wasn't feeling too great but the WAY in which I answered his question was not intentional :/ ]

Ryan: What?

Me: Nothing

Ryan: What?!

Me: Nothing

Ryan: Whaaat?!

Me: Noooothing.

Ryan: *sigh* OK *glare*

And  I just smiled at him

We're 12. Yep lol

As soon as I got a second, I asked him to sign  the envelope in which a birthday card that my buddy Vanessa sent me, came in. She drew a star and wrote "Shine on, bright like the sun...when even the sky turns grey." on the back of it. <3 He said he LOVED it and "Of course I'll sign it". Then I handed him something I brought for him. (Julie, I LOVE YOU! Thank you for everything!) I had to wrap it in a small paper bag. You'll understand why in a sec.

He looks and says "What is it?" I said, "Well open  it!" He shook it before he opened it. I think he was even more confused cause he actually heard sound coming out of it! LOL So he rips the bag open. Inside were two boxes of Lemonheads. :D He smiles, stares at me for a second and says "YOU are amazing, you know that? Thank you."  What do you do when your favorite rockstar calls you "amazing"? You remind him that this is all part of a bribe. All my brain could muster was "You owe me a song!" he shakes the boxes and says "I know".

He then takes The Weapon and signs my card. When he hands it back to me I hold out my hand and ask him if he recognizes what I'm wearing. He looks at my Hero Band, smiles and says yes!

If you guys remember, I posted a pic of the bracelet that I got from the Hero Program. He has one too. My buddy Lisa is also a fan and she gave him one! I love that! :) *sigh* So we took a picture together, then he and Laura took one together. Before we parted ways, he said "Come here. I want a big hug" <3 And we went back to our seats. Laura and I did the math, he talked to people for a good 2 hours. Yes we waited just as long. He is...incredible. That's all.

We caught one last song by the Plain White T's and soon, Sara hit the stage.

All I have to say about her is, she has the most amazing stage presence. I liked her a lot before last night, but I LOVE her now. She had the cutest interaction with a kid who was dancing to her first few songs. She said "You are my hero" She asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and he said he wanted to play guitar and drums. She said "At the same time?" and he said yes. She says "No one's ever done that before, you could be the first!" LOL I have her album Kaleidoscope Heart, but I've only had it for a short while so I didn't all recognize all the songs yet. She did "Love Song", "Uncharted", "King of Anything" and... others. LOL Oh and she covered Single Ladies! :D

Overall, it was an amazing night! Amazing talent. I missed my RockStar so much and I'm so grateful I got to talk to him. I'm glad I took a chance in doing this. IDK if I would do it again, lol but it was all worth it! Until next time!

Heroes

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher Reeve

Hey guys! Today's blog is going to be short and sweet.

I just wanted to bring some attention to an awesome organization called Hero Program. My Twitter buddy Lisa and her hubby are involved with this organization.

The Hero Program is an organization that provides help to families of terminally ill children.

For more information please visit: http://www.heroprogram.org/ 

One of the ways they raise money is by selling "Hero Bands".  I ordered mine a few days ago and got it in the mail today.  I LOOOOVE! :D (I apologize for the extreme close up. Best I could do :D)

*They also have a few other items available. Just click on the Store link that the top of the page*

Once you've taken a second to learn more about it, please consider making a contribution to this amazing organization. Thank you very much for your attention!

~~~~~

Lyric of the Day: "I believe that you can save me and you'll never let me fall. I believe in what you show me, maybe there's a hero in us all." ~ Heroes by David Cook

My Bucketlist

So I decided that it was time for me to make a bucketlist. You know, a list of things I want to do before I die. Actually started this a few months ago but I'm just now putting in a blog.  A lot of these (ok most of them) are music related. But honestly, the past couple of years of my life have been mostly about music. So it's not surpising. I've been blessed to to able to cross a few of these off in the past few months. I'll be adding on as I think of more. So here you go, my bucketlist:

• Meet David Cook and the rest of the band. (October 23rd, 2011)
• Get a hug from David Cook.
• Get a hug from Neal Tiemann.
• Give David Cook a “Word Nerds Conquer Cancer” necklace. (Mission accomplished! He liked it!)
• Be front row at a David Cook concert
• Get a drumstick from Kyle Peek.
• Meet Kyle Peek.
• Get a hug from Kyle Peek. 
• Meet Joey Clement
• Ask Joey Clement if I can touch his hair. :D
• Go to a Kris Allen concert
• Meet Kris Allen and the band.
• Tell Kris Allen how many times I voted for him during the finale :D
• Participate in the Race for Hope
• Raise $1000 for ABC2 - What? I’ve gotta start small ;)
• Meet Lindsey Rose
• Go to a SafetySuit concert
• Meet SafetySuit
• Go to a Green River Ordinance concert.
• Meet Green River Ordinance
• Sit in front of Bear at a NeedToBreathe concert. (He smiled at me 50 thousand times!)
• Go to a Ryan Star concert
• Get a guitar pick at a Ryan Star concert
• Visit New York City
• Go to a Ryan Star concert in New York City
• Hear Ryan Star perform "Unbreak" live (OK yes this one is beyond my control, but it would make my life!)
• Hear David Cook perform "Makeover" (Again, beyond my control)
• Give Ryan Star a “Word Nerds Conquer Cancer” necklace  (I'm only assuming I can cross this off. Technically I gave it to Serena to give to Ryan)
• Get Ryan Star to answer one of my random questions on Twitter (Aaaaand it was iCarly related. Of course!)
• Put together a  benefit concert with proceeds going to ABC2 (David Cook, Ryan Star, GRO, Safetysuit, Kris Allen, Sleeperstar, NeedtoBreathe, Kelly Clarkson) - I’m sure there are more I would like to include but I cant think right now.
• Meet all my favorite Twitter people! <3
• Get a guitar pick from Seth Bolt. And I mean, handed TO ME BY HIM! :D
• Get a picture with Seth Bolt. A good one, with my arm around him.
• Get a drumstick from Joe Stillwell
• Get a normal hug from Bo Rinehart. - If you don't know the story, feel free to ask! :D
• Start a "GRO Support" fund.
• Book one (or a couple) of my favorite bands for my birthday. :D
• Meet the cast of Glee.
• Get a hug from Kevin McHale
• Get a hug from Dianna Agron
• Ask Mark Salling to sing to me :D
• Adopt Chris Colfer
• Have lunch a meal with Ryan Star. Really, any meal will do. :D
• Travel for a Ryan Star show.  (Tucson was a million kinds of amazing!)