BTE Concert Report

I absolutely love Better Than Ezra. The post could end there but I will tell you about our evening with the band (ahhhhhh!)!!!! It was so much fun!!!! Yesterday (the day of the concert) happened to be the lead singer, Kevin's, birthday! So our meet and greet was a birthday party complete with cake! ;^) It was an awesome little gathering. There were less than 20 people there and some of them were workers who came with the band, so they didn't care to talk to them, so we got a lot of time with them.
The first guy I met was Tom. The one that I think looks like Chris Kirkpatrick. He was standing all by himself for a while eating birthday cake so I decided, now is as good of time as any. So I went and talked to him (yeah!), had him sign some photo's and then... ASHLEY YOU ARE A GENIOUS FOR TELLING ME TO DO THIS.... I got to give him a kiss!!!! LoL. It was so much fun though. He was so nice and I absolutely loved loved loved loved loved that time.
Next I met Kevin (the lead singer and most handsome of all the band in real life). He was very chill. I actually think I was the first "fan" to talk to him. When they walked in we all surprised him by singing happy birthday and then they cut the cake and passed it around. He was first to get a piece and then he headed over by us. So I got to personally (and foremost) say, "Happy Birthday Kevin." hahaha. It's the little things in life that make it grand right?
Next I met the drummer, Michael. He was so nice too. All the guys were very complimenting and wanted to talk to me and say nice things to me just about as much as I wanted to say nice things to them and compliment them on their music. (Although i never like to be a obsessed fan so I played it cool.)
For the first part of the concert we were probably 3 rows of people back and off to the side. But by the end we managed to weasel our way to the second row which was awesome. The venue was very small and we got to stand right next to the stage, and they were only like one foot away from the edge so we were very close! Especially when they would walk to the edge! SO AWESOME!!!! I swear some of their sweat dripped on me (sigh. i will never wash these clothes again) just kidding.

In the middle of the concert Kevin invited Howie Day on stage to play and sing. It was fun watching Howie play along side Better Than Ezra and seeing the guys laugh together. He was an awesome singer and fun surprise. Kevin said that he wrote Howie a letter through his fan club and asked him to come play on his birthday with them in UT and that Howie's appearance fulfilled his birthday dreams. LoL. I wish I would have video taped Kevin throughout the evening. He is a really funny guy; it's the way he says things and the way he acts, too great!I think that kiss that I gave Tom really paid off in the end because he was posing for me all night long so I could take photo's of him and he threw three guitar chips to me! The first one fell to the floor because I wasn't paying attention, the second bounced off my hand and back onto the stage and some other girl snatched it up, and the third he actually just placed in my hand! LoL. But I got it!!!!
It was a really really really fun night. I felt like a teenager again being all boy band struck. But being at the concert wouldn't have been nearly as fun as it was if I hadn't been with Mike. He really made it such an enjoyable evening. He is so sweet and it always amazes me how caring he is and how willing he is to always put others before himself. It was fun doing something that we both enjoy and having an evening together!I took 1144 pictures at the concert but here are just a few... I haven't found my favorites yet so these are just a couple random ones. Enjoy!

Better Than Ezra (the new *N SYNC)

Okay really nobody could be better than *N SYNC but I do have a new fetish with a band called, "Better Than Ezra."

I went to see them in concert in April and fell in love. Their songs are so good. One that I listened to a lot in Africa was "Just One Day" here are the lyrics:

"Just One Day"
If you could change the choices that you made,
Would you do it- today?
If you could spin the world the other way,
Could you do it on faith?
If time would stand still,

What would you do? What would you say?
If everyone you love came back for just one day?
How would it feel if every dream came real?
And all the scars you have fade away
For just one day

Imagine all the times you that could take back
What would you have done differently?
Thoughts in your head you never said
Or a heart that you broke and left for dead
If all the pain you had could be released
How life flies by.
What would you do? What would you say?
If everyone you love came back for just one day
How would if feel if every dream came real
And all the scars you have fade away?

For just one day

And the night
All the good times and the fights
All the take and the give
All the moments that we never got to live
Ohhh.....

What would you do? What would you say?
If everyone you love came back for just one day
How would it feel if every dream came real
And all the scars you have fade a way

[Repeat]

For just one day [x2]
If you could change the choices that you made, Would you do it- today?


--------------------

Isn't that SO GOOD!?!!? My favorite line is If you could spin the world the other way, Could you do it on faith? It really makes me think every time I hear it.


Last time we got to be front row but I don't even care if we are or not this time because...

WE GOT VIP (meet the band) TICKETS!!!!!!!!!

Mike won four of them from some radio station (lucky!) but... he invited me and two of his other friends to go with him (luckies!)!!!! I am stoked! The concert is tomorrow in Park City! Whoop Whoop. Here are some pics from last time!


Doesn't he look a little like Chris Kirkpatrick!?



I don't care what anyone says. I totally see Chris in this guy. Personality and all. Sigh.
And if today's snowy weather foretells anything about tomorrow, they could be singing in the snow again. (yuck, luckily the concert is inside!)


9-30-09

my phone just broke

enough said.

Welcome Home

Within a week of being home on American soil these are the highlights of electronics greeting me:

laptop - broken

the little hole in the side of the computer where i normally plug in the charger to charge it is lose and doesn't work (i kinda figured this but paid $35 for a diagnosis) the part = $150

desktop - broken

motherboard, processor, and RAM all went out (bought it not even a week before going to Africa)

camera - broken

freezes, won't record video or delete pictures (had it for 3 months)

Portable hard-drive

Just doesn't work. Computers don't read it anymore (had it for 7 months)

Thank goodness I don't own a TV!

HURRAY FOR THE U.S.A. :^D

History

Let's never forget the moments our kids will ask us about.
Okay maybe Kanye at the VMA's isn't one of them but today he sure is something else!

Dear Alli, we missed you at Lagoon...

Dear Alli,

I thought you would like some pictures to go with the stories I will be telling you and the blog was the best way to do that. Last week we went to Lagoon. It was fun to spend time with everyone in the family, but we all missed you. We as always, went right when it opened and although Alisha, Brian, and Annika left at 5:30 we stayed all the way up to close. (Because that's when you get to get on the rides without waiting in line right!?) So here are some pictures from the day, they were taken with my cell phone but i hope you enjoy them. Love you!

Jen

Mom, Austin, & Jordan all in full swing! (Can you believe I got them all? Just turned around and held out my phone while the swings were in full motion and snapped!)

Mom, Aust, and Jord before the ride began.

Mom & Dad getting off the log flume. We had some crazy adventures with the stinking water rides. Seemed everyone was out to pay their 25 cents to get us wet. (Nobody we knew.) Dad & I got nailed in the face on Rattle Snake Rapids. Then I jumped on Jordan to miss getting drenched by the waterfall but couldn't get enough out of the way and mom said it looked like someone just dumped a big bucket of water directly onto my back. I felt it the rest of the night, don't worry!

Austin & Jordan on the swings.

Brian & Alisha on the swings.

Annika wanted to go on the Merry-Go-Round over and over and over again. She is such a good talker, you wouldn't believe it. She tells you what she wants to do and if she wants to do it again and what she wants to ride on. Here I was talking a picture of her with my cell phone and she said, "Jen, come." and patted the seat behind her so that I could ride the frog with her. I said, "Well do you want another picture or are you done?" And she said, "Done!" So I was like, "Alright." I started turning of my phone and she apparently thought I was going to take another picture of her because she repeated again (more sternly this time), "Jen, no! DONE!" and she reached over and pushed my phone shut to turn it off. LOL. What a little stink huh!? But of course it's more cute than anything so we let her get away with it.

Austin & I on the Musicland Express. Remember this ride how it throws you towards the outside of the seat? Well Austin and I did great and neither of moved from where we sat!

Annika & Austin waiting outside the gate as dad purchased the tickets. Remember how they say, "Lagoon, It's where fun is."? Well obviously by their faces, it starts in the parking lot!

P.S. Since you weren't here to do it, I went out on a limb. I got my hair cut at Serendipity. I know you can't see the length but I feel like it is so short (bra-strap length) and I got bangs. Annika things we are each other now because apparently with bangs I look like you! Do you like it?

9-12-09

Giant's Causeway - 8th Wonder of the World

One of my favorite places in Ireland was Giant's Causeway. A natural land formation created by an ancient volcanic eruption. All the stones are practically the same size and shape. It's amazing. The area has about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. We were able to walk all over them as much as we pleased. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.




Legend has it that a giant Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.