I MET HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness- Let me just go ahead and warn those of you that may not enjoy reading my blogs about Taylor Hicks. You may want to just click on a link to the left-hand side of my page to read about someone else's life because this one is devoted to only him....and me of course!

I cannot even describe what an amazing time Bridgett and I had not only at the concert, but on the way, during dinner, and afterwards. I'm going to try my best to write out every detail I can remember, not only for those of you reading, but for myself to read again later when I want to relive this incredible experience. Get ready- it's a good one!

I bought tickets on opening day from Ticketmaster. The best tickets I could get were on the 13th row from the stage. I thought that was pretty good. The concert was in the Concert Hall instead of the arena so I figured there probably wasn't a bad seat in the whole place. Now that I had tickets my mission was to get backstage passes. I did everything I knew to do. I heard about a local radio station giving them away the day before the concert so I had several friends trying to win them for me but didn't have much luck. I tried calling in and flat out asked them to give me some but was of course, turned down. At this point, I told myself that I would be content if I didn't meet him if I knew I had done absolutely everything I could possibly do. That, I did, so I was okay....still hoping something would work out, but I was okay. I did have the idea the night before the concert to look around on ebay to see what was out there. I was still hoping to get some backstage passes but instead found two tickets on the FIFTH ROW for TEN DOLLARS!!!!!!! I bought them, they were emailed to me Tuesday afternoon, and we were on our way.

I pull in the driveway at home Tuesday afternoon to Bridgett standing there waiting for me with a video camera. She had the wonderful idea to bring it along to film a "documentary" she entitled "True Life: I'm a Taylor Hicks Fanatic." Silly or not-I am soooooo very glad she did it. I changed clothes really quick and we were on our way.

We stopped for dinner really quick (which could have been an entire new documentary if we had only videoed) and then went straight to the venue. We pulled in around 5:00 and not knowing where to park, asked a security guard where we should go. As we looked around, we saw Taylor's bus directly in front of us. At that point, we didn't care how far we had to walk to get to the Concert Hall, we had found our parking place. We got out of the car with the video rolling, and headed straight over to the bus. We met two girls from New York that had driven down for the concert. They had been out there since 3:30 and had already gotten to meet Taylor and take pictures with him. Right then I knew I wasn't going ANYWHERE.

I took some pictures of the bus, talked to our new friends Jessica and Gillie, and then focused my attention on the door waiting for Taylor's appearance. Finally, I saw him. He came out of the door but then turned around and went back in really fast, as though someone had called him back in. Wow- I was freaking out at this point. So, we waited. He came out again on his phone for one second, only to turn right back around and go in again, as if someone called him back like the first time. Next, he came out one door and walked down a little hallway to get to another door. As soon as I spotted him I waved. He waved back at me! I was the only one waving so yes, it was at me for all you skeptics!! :) We continued to wait, trying to decide if we thought he was really going to come out and talk to us. Regardless, I still wasn't going anywhere. In the meantime, we met Brian the saxophone player. Wow- very easy on the eyes was he. He was really, really nice. I was actually calm enough to carry on a conversation with him. He talked to us and laughed about the video camera. We met one of the keyboard players, also named Brian. He played with Taylor in his band, The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra, before Taylor won American Idol. He was very nice, too. He said he went to school at Alabama and of course, I had to rag him about that.

So, we're still waiting patiently outside, cameras in hand ready to go. We waited until about 7:15 and our patience finally payed off. He came out the door again but this time didn't go back in. He started walking toward us with whom I assume was his manager. He looked so cute! He had on a long coat with jeans and his new balances. He was drinking some coffee but put it down to start signing autographs. I was hoping to get my picture made with him but his manager said, "We don't have time for pictures folks. He's not even supposed to be out here right now but he appreciates you guys so much he wanted to come and sign a few autorgraphs." I was disappointed for a split second but it went away quickly as he was approaching me to sign this little piece of paper I had taken out of my purse for his autograph. Closer, closer, closer.....Okay, talk about freaking out. Actually, I think I stayed pretty calm looking on the outside but inside I didn't know what to do or say. He was now right in front of me. I gave him my piece of paper and HE TOUCHED MY HAND. Wow- He signed it and gave it back to me and looked me in the eye. That's all I remember. My goal was to just make eye contact and I did. What he said to me? I have no idea. We later referred to the video, in which Bridgett got it all on film, and found out that he signed my paper, looked right at me for like three seoncds and said, "How's it going?" I was too frozen to say anything other than a quiet "good." I could kick myself now for not talking to him and actually carrying on a conversation. I can think of several things sitting here now I would liked to have said but they just wouldn't come out at the time. Anyway, I met him. Not only did I meet him, but I got TONS (and yes, tons) of pictures, his autograph, physical contact, and my favorite- he looked me right in the eye. Time stood still folks.

He went on the bus to change before the concert so we felt good about leaving and going to find our seats inside the concert hall. The fifth row was AMAZING. We were so close, as you will be able to tell by the pictures I will post at the end. His performance was remarkable (I'm running out of adjectives here). Brian (both of them but especially Brian on the saxophone) is incredibly talented. He was a huge part of the show. Taylor was running himself ragged and didn't slow down the entire time. His shirt was sopping wet from sweat. The backup singer was fantastic. I can't say enough about how enjoyable the show was. It wasn't just because I love Taylor so much. These guys are truly incredible.

I was sad when the concert was over. It was about 10:30 at that point, and seeing that I had to be in Birmingham the next day at 8:30 for that workshop, I didn't feel like I needed to hang around for long. Did that stop me? NO! We ended up going straight back to the bus. There were lots more people out there this time. We waited about 30 minutes before Taylor came back out. He still wasn't able to take pictures, but signed more autographs. I felt like I needed to make eye contact one more time with him before I left. The only problem was I didn't know what to say! I decided to keep it simple and just said, "Taylor, thank you." He looked right at me again and said none other than, "You're welcome." That was good enough for me. My night was set and it couldn't have ended any better.

So, after tons of pictures and a little bit of freaking out, we were on our way home a little before midnight. I was sleepy the next day, but it didn't matter. I couldn't keep my mind off the night before. It was such a wonderful experience- every bit of it. The best part is we have it all documented on video. It's almost an hour of coverage from our special night. I will never forget it. Enjoy the pictures!!!!

This week.....

Wow- I have to take a deep breath thinking about the week to come. Can we say busy with a capital B??? However, Tuesday night will be great. Guess what it is everyone......that's right, Taylor Hicks in Huntsville. I'm really excited. I've tried everything I know to get backstage. There's only one hope left. If any of you reading in my area have access to a radio and time to listen to 96.9 on Monday, they are giving away THREE sets of tickets and BACKSTAGE PASSES from 8-5. Of course, I'll be teaching and can't listen. I've already called and asked them to give me some and can you believe they refused?? :) I'll be okay not meeting him. But, I have to know I've exhausted all of my options first! So, help a girl out if you can.

In other news- I'm going to the beach with the family in May. I can't wait! All EIGHT of the kids will be there. I will shower my blog with pictures as soon as I get back. I think I took about 200 last time we went- literally. That was three less children, too!

Cortney ran the Seaside half marathon today. I just talked to her and she said they all did well and her knees didn't even hurt. For my faithful readers, I've posted before about a marathon she ran in Nashville and had to have cortizone shots in her knees. She avoided that this time. It's definitely a blessing that she made it so far without any pain.

I guess that's all the news. I will try to post pics about the concert but as I said earlier, this week is going to be crazy busy. The concert doesn't even start Tuesday night until 8 and I have to be in Birmingham for a workshop Wednesday morning by 8:30! It'll be a struggle to stay awake but I'm absolutely positive it'll be worth it.

Have a good week everyone!

I can't take it they're so cute......!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winterfest 2007 - a long one!

I don't remember when I have been so tired- or slept so hard after returning home from a trip. This past weekend, I chaperoned an event in Gatlinburg called Winterfest. Around 12,000 kids come together to spend a weekend worshipping God and learning to grow in their walk with Him. Overall, it was a great experience. I witnessed kids talking about baptism and sharing their desire to want to be closer to God. I watched God work. Jeff Walling spoke- he's always great. But for me, I enjoyed getting to be around some people from church that I don't get to spend much time with. I got to know some incredible and faithful ladies. What an example they are to me (more to come on that later). I thought the best way to summarize the weekend is to put it in outline form. Here goes....

I. 4:45 Thursday afternoon- depart the church parking lot and head to Gatlinburg. There were SIX vans of us caravanning down the interstate. We took over 50 people.

II. 9:45 - We finally leave Nashville. Yes, it took that long. We stopped to eat in Cool Springs. We made it all the way to I-40 when a stinking 18 wheeler kept two of our vans from getting over to exit. They had to turn around but finally caught back up with us. Off we go to Gatlinburg.

III. 2:30-3:00 am - Arrive in Gatlinburg. Our shalet was incredible. It was on the very top of a mountain. It had 8 bedrooms, 8 baths, a gameroom with a pool table and arcade, two hot tubs, full size kitchen with two of each appliance, plasma tvs, and a beautiful view. (At the time, I thought we were lucky to have gotten reservations there.) By the way, it slept 30- remember how many I said we brought? Sharing time in the bathroom was the biggest thing. It only took one cold shower to convince me to get up early enough to avoid the crowd.

IV. We got to sleep in Friday morning. We left the shalet around 11:30 to eat lunch and then go to Laserport. The kids rode go-carts, played putt-putt golf, and laser tag. Then, we went back to the shalet and got ready for the first session of Winterfest. Thank goodness, I bought a coat before we left. I had sold my only one on ebay a year or so ago because I usually don't wear a big coat. I thought I might need one in Gatlinburg and boy, was I right! We had to stand in line out in the cold to get good seats. I would have definitey gotten hypothermia had I not had my coat!

V. The Friday night and Saturday sessions were good. Watershed Worship did a great job of leading worship. The kids loved the singing. Again, Jeff Walling was great. He has an amazing talent of keeping the kids interested by being funny but yet keeping them challenged at the same time. The drama started Saturday night. We had just gotten down on our knees to praise God in song when all of a sudden we hear a voice over the loudspeaker, followed by a siren. The fire alarm had gone off. We tried to ignore it for a couple minutes, thinking someone had pulled the alarm. We then were told to go ahead and exit, to follow the proper precautions. We went outside and waited. In the meantime, the snow had started coming down consistently. We went back in about 20 or 30 minutes later and were told there had been some smoke on the second floor. All was taken care of, back to worship. I think Satan knew what a victory God had over him that night and he was working hard to keep that from happening.

We came out of Saturday night's session- it was still snowing. I started to get a little alarmed, thinking of the fact that our shalet was ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN. It didn't look like the snow was sticking on the streets at that point so I wasn't very worried. We went to dinner..It took forever to get food, regardless of where we went. By the time we came out, still snowing....HARD. I then noticed that it looked like it was beginning to stick to the roads. I was concerned.

On our way back to the shalet, snow was everywhere. The roads weren't totally covered, but were getting there. We slipped several times but thankfully, got back to the shalet safely. (Yes, I was terrified.) We had a great devotional. I think God is really working in their lives.

Another chaperone checked the weather on the computer. We found out Gatlinburg was under a snow advisory and we were expected to get 4-7 inches. Panic pretty much set in for me. We were supposed to be at worship by 7:00 Sunday morning. We knew that making it down the mountain was the problem. If we could do that, the main roads would be fine. Number one, I didn't think there was any way we would be able to make it down that early. Number two, I wanted to get home! Winterfest was great but my bed was calling my name.

The chaperones had a meeting. We talked about the weather, what we should do, made a game plan, then prayed. Some of us were calm, some were freaked out (wonder who??), and some were somewhere in between the two. This is probably where God taught me the most over the entire weekend. The ladies stayed after our meeting and prayed again. We talked about God's power and His ability to do anything we asked. We prayed specifically for Him to melt the snow, give us the wisdom to make the right decisions about what to do, and basically just to allow us to travel down the mountain safely. We decided we weren't going to worry, but pray believing that He would answer us. Nothing was left for us to do but be at peace.

VI. Sunday morning, Mark and Jeremy got up at 5. The snow was everywhere, probably around four inches. The plan was for them to try to take one of the vans down the mountain. Obviously, if they had trouble or thought it wasn't possible, we were going to sleep in and then decide what to do. They decided to go ahead and give it a try. Praise God! They were able to make it down safely. They came back and decided we would load up and all try to make it down. Everyone got up and got ready quickly. We got in the vans around 6:15 to head down. I totally believed that God led them to this decision and I was a little nervous but at peace while traveling down the mountain. As soon as we reached bottom, I couldn't help but to cry while thinking about how awesome God is. We looked around and all the other roads were completely covered in snow. I don't know that anyone could have traveled on them. Ours was one of the only ones clear enough to travel. We didn't get the 5, 6, or 7 inches they predicted. We got four, max. That morning had God written all over it. I was reminded very clearly that God hears our prayers and that if we pray believing, BELIEVING, that He will answer us. I will never forget that experince.

VII. Worship was great. Winterfest came to a close around 8:30. We took off to eat breakfast and head home. Despite an alleged infestation of bugs in one van on the way home and a pretend vomit stop for the intern, we made it home safely....Praise God.

P.S. Plans for next year are to make reservations at a hotel...NOT ON A MOUNTAIN!

The view from our shalet - before the snow!

Sunday morning after the snow- on the bottom of the mountain!


Downtown Gatlinburg

Gena and me on the balcony

I can't help it- I had to!

P.S. Off to Winterfest. Please pray for our safety.

Road trip to Nashville!

Bridgett and I left around 2:00 yesterday afternoon heading up to Nashville to celebrate Amy Stroup's CD release. We went straight to Rocketown and got there early enough to hang out with Crystal and meet lots of really cool people. We decided not to tell Amy we were coming and surprise her once we got there. The look on her face was priceless! She had no idea. She put on a great concert and showcased lots of songs from the new CD "Chasing Greenlights." We thoroughly enjoyed the concert....as we sold merchandise! It was so much fun swiping those credit cards!!! :)

For those that aren't familiar with Amy, let me tell you a little about her. You see, I've known Amy since she was in the fifth grade and wore those little coke bottle glasses. Even then, her personality was awesome and her wit was very obviously developing. She's such a fun person to be around and has always chased her dream of sharing Jesus through her music. Her voice is amazing. It's so pure and natural. (Visit her myspace page and listen or download her songs from itunes!) What makes this story more interesting is that a very close friend of mine from college who many of you reading know (Crystal W.) met Amy while living in Nashville. Being the marketing/business-minded person she is, Crystal decided to educate herself on the music business and help Amy promote her stuff. Let's just say, the rest is history. Pass the word everyone! Her music will bless you, I promise!

Here are a few pictures from last night. I always love an excuse to take photos.








P.S. A friend of Amy's named Charlie sang a few songs before she came out last night. He is very good and a really nice guy. Check out his myspace too!

I am truly, truly blessed!

Acting silly with Cort
About to blow out the candles!
Princess Marah was so polite, thanking everyone after opening each present!
Carter (3), Camden (4), and Caley (almost 2)

Joshua and Camden were dressed as superheros for the party.

Cort and I went to Huntsville this weekend to celebrate Marah's 2nd birthday. We saw all the kids and got to spend time with Paige, Rodney, Brooke, Thomas, Ben, and Anna. Every single minute meant so much to me. I can name lots of things in my life that I wish were different and that I would change. But, I thank God every day for blessing me so richly with the most wonderful family there is. That's one thing that I think about constantly. I don't tell them enough how much I love them and what comfort I find in them being a part of my life. So, blogging world (and the precious people I am speaking of that are hopefully reading)- I am blessed!

Many of you know the Morrows' and ask me lots how they're doing. I encourage them all to start blogs. Paige is in hibernation-I'm still trying to bring her back! Thomas has hopped on the train. Visit the Busby blog to keep up to date on what's going on in their lives. Ben and Anna's website is expiring soon, if it hasn't already. I know their spare time is fading quickly but if they get a chance, I'm encouraging them to begin a blog as well. Up to date pics of the triplets will be coming soon on my blog so check back.

Enjoy the pictures!