Blogggggg

stressed Stressed STressed STRessed STREssed STRESsed STRESSed STRESSEd STRESSED

Yep. That's about how my life is right now. I have so much to do and so little time. It's rather unfortunate, actually. I'm getting stir crazy because I've been in Joplin for too many days in a row. I need to get out of town again, and I need to play a show again, and I need to feel alive again. Four more days until I have another show, and then another 5 until we leave the state for a little while. I'm so ready.

This Is Halloween

HAY GUYZ! So I'm really excited because it is OCTOBER and that means HALLOWEEN is coming up! My family (mostly my mom) was always super into Halloween growing up, and our house was always decorated with ghosts and ghouls. I already decorated my apartment similarly just on a lesser scale. I have pumpkin lights hanging outside and ghost lights hanging inside with a little skeleton sitting on the cabinet. Plus I have pumpkin spice candles and cinnamon apple oils for my warmer thing. I AM SO EXCITED! Also, I got to wear my boots the other day. They are seriously my favorite pair of shoes I've ever owned. I bought them last year and almost cried when I found them. Hahaha. Everything is awesome right now. (I just watched The Lego Movie with the kids I babysit tonight.)

The only thing I'm not excited about is that Neewollah, the big Halloween festival in Independence, KS every year, is not on the weekend that I thought it was this year. I'm really distraught, actually, because I had planned on going back for it as usual because my whole family comes back to celebrate. Plus there's parades, Halloween costumes, DOGS IN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, cotton candy, corn dogs, and the CARNIVAL. UGH WHY CAN'T I GO THIS YEAR?! It's because I'm a musician in a band, and made prior commitments the weekend after when I THOUGHT Neewollah was this year, and is also the weekend that it ACTUALLY is. UGHHHHHHHHHHHH. Oh well, I guess. I'm still going home the weekend I thought that it was to hang out with my immediate family. AND MY DOG. Oh my GOSH I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MY DOG. Bunker is the best. I always look forward to him running around the house and jumping on me and not leaving my side for the whole time I'm home again. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. Plus he gets to sleep in my bed when I'm home. Except he hogs the bed. Bunker is a bed hog. I always shove him over, but somehow he always ends up right next to me, which is fine, but DANG, BUNK. GIVE ME SOME ROOM.

That's about all I have to write about right now. We have a show tomorrow night in Girard, and hopefully it doesn't rain since it's outdoors. That would be bad. Very, very bad. So fingers crossed it goes well! And then after the show, we're heading back to Kansas (not that we won't already be in Kansas) to see our families! AKA My parents and MY DOGGY!!!! AHHHHHHHH <3 at="" face.="" his="" i="" look="" mean="" p="">

Expect more pictures of him this weekend. YAY! Okay bye! 

A few things...

Okay so there's a few things going on that I'd like to write about.

First of all, last night Luke and I went to Tulsa to The Vanguard to see House of Heroes. HoH were amazing as always, but the thing that really bothered me was the way The Vanguard handled the show. There was next to no promotion whatsoever. There was an event page with three TBA local acts. We couldn't find any information on who was opening the show until we got there, and there wasn't ANYONE. Isn't that the venue's job to book locals on a show like that? Answer: IT IS. I was super pissed because 1. it meant that we had a good shot of opening up the show, but I didn't even TRY to get booked because I assumed they would have LOCAL TULSA BANDS on the show, and 2. because it meant there was a way smaller draw because of it. House of Heroes is probably the most solid band I've ever witnessed live. They put their heart and soul into the music they play on stage literally every time I see them. It's ridiculous how fantastic they are, and I feel like The Vanguard showed them so little respect with the way the show went it wasn't even funny. The good part was that literally everyone in that room was there for HoH. It was an insane show because EVERYONE cared, and was singing along. It was one of the most surreal experiences hearing all 50 or so kids in the room singing House of Heroes at the top of our lungs. I wish they could have had more people there to appreciate them, but whatever. They put on a GREAT show, and were able to play for over an hour. It was amazing. And since there were no openers, Colin opened the show with some excellent acoustic tunes, and ended his set with Mirrors by JT. So that was really sweet. We chatted with them afterwards, and it was just super cool. I love those guys!


The next thing I want to talk about is my will to get healthy! I started to watch my calorie intake and stay away from pop and fast food, and I've been working out regularly. I've lost 8 pounds since last week, and it's been amazing. I feel so much better, and I can fit in clothes I wasn't able to fit into before. I still have a ways to go, but I'm getting there, and this time I'm not giving up. I finally sucked it up and bought a scale, and now I have a way to track my results, so I can hold myself accountable. I AM SO EXCITED.

And finally, we recorded Gravity Hill. IT SOUNDS FREAKING AMAZING. I can't WAIT to share it! We're still trying to figure out how and when we'll release it, but hoping for sometime around the end of October. It is a creepy song anyway.

Okay well that's it for today.

TL;DR The Vanguard sucks, House of Heroes RULE, I'm getting healthy, and a new OCN song is coming.

Home Sweet Home

I LIVE IN A BETTER AND BIGGER PLACE NOW. WOOHOOOOOO. We moved everything over here the past couple of days, and holy wow. I am exhausted, sore, and sleepy, but this place looks SWEET. Maybe sometime I'll put up some pictures. HOPEFULLY.

Oh yeah, and I GRADUATED COLLEGE on Saturday! I am DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER. HALLELUJAH.

I'm wearing my Perry the Platypus shirt, and I went to Walmart tonight. While walking around the aisles I passed a child who was probably 3 or 4 and his mother. As I walked past them the little boy turned to his mom while pointing to my shirt "Mom!! Pewry...Pewry the Platypush!" It was seriously the cutest thing ever. Oh my gosh. Thanks, little child, for making me smile while doing my weekly grocery shopping.

Is that a challenge?!

I just read something on Facebook about #100HappyDays or something like that where you post something that makes you happy for 100 days. I can already tell you that's not going to happen. So what I will do is just post 100 things that make me happy whenever the eff I feel like it. I feel like it's important to remind myself of things that make me happy quite frequently because the world is kind of a scary place sometimes. So let's think positive!

1. Family - Pretty obvious.

2. Friends - Also pretty obvious.

3. Dogs - They're so full of love and fun, and are carefree. "Whoever said diamonds are a girl's best friend never had a dog." <--boom .="" p="">
4. Giraffes - I seriously can't look at a giraffe without feeling pure joy. They're so beautiful and awkward, and I. Love. Them.

5. Baby animals - Who doesn't love baby animals? If you don't love baby animals, you're kidding yourself.

6. Phineas and Ferb - That show is hilarious. The whole Perry the Platypus vs Doofenshmirtz thing is my favorite.

7. Disney - Walt Disney said, "Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever." It's my favorite quote, and I hold it dear in my heart. I love Disney. They taught me to never lose hope and to always dream big and that one day I will find my "Prince Charming" if I just believe. Spoiler alert--I did.

8. Summer - The heat, the long days, the warm nights, fireflies, NO SCHOOL. Yeah. It's great.

9. The Beatles - The perfect soundtrack to my life.

10. The beach - Feet in the sand, staring off at the ocean, feeling the mist on my face, and the smell of sunscreen.

That's all I'm doing for now. I'm laying in an awkward position and don't feel like continuing on at the moment.

To be continued... 

Adventures in New England

I forgot that I haven't updated this yet. Last week I took a random trip to the New England states with Kerosene Records to deliver some shirts to a church in Maryland. Long story short, big client, big order, short notice, FedEx is unreliable. So we drove it there ourselves. I shall tell my story in pictures.

Hitting the road with Luke, Josh, and Jerry the Giraffe! 19 hour road trip! 

 Luke is not thrilled to be in the car this long.

Hey St. Louis. Someday I'll stop and visit.

Jerry is STOKED to be on the road again.

So many jankalicious bathrooms. Hahaha.

 It snowed SO MUCH that we literally could not see 10 feet in front of us.

Seriously. Look at that.

 It's supposed to be SPRING.

Decided to make the trek to NYC since it was so close to Maryland already.

Times Squareeee

It's the Macy's building

Why are these out of order?

Empire State Building. --Side story. Luke asked "Is this the building that Donkey Kong climbed?" HAHAHAHAHA. Yes, Luke. Yes. That's who climbed it. 

Luke with Paul McCartney's guitar! 

Took another side trip to Philly on the way home. 

This is Josh.

VISITED GRACEEEEEEEEE. 

My favorite picture of me and +Luke DeWitt 

Stopped in Pittsburgh to see some of Josh's friends on our trip back home. Looks so pretty!

THE LIBERTY BELL! Why is this so out of order? JEEEEEZE. Also, for those of you that don't know, it was free to get inside to see it.

Luke at the Liberty Bell! I could fix the order, but I'm too lazy. 

Since this is my year of adventure, I decided I should probably go ahead and make the trip. It was basically free for me -- I just had to pay for my food -- so why not? 

That's all, folks. 

Tonight We Feel Alive

There is a very large majority of my friends that are in bands. It's kind of ridiculous, and I wish that I could share every single one of them with you. That would take like thirty three million years, though. So for now, I will just share the most recent release from some friends formerly from Somewhere South of Perfect. Their new project is called Glasshouse, and it rules. Here's a link to their music. You can download it fo' free. CHECK IT OUT, YO. 
http://www.noisetrade.com/glasshouse

SIX MORE WEEKS

Guys. Only six more weeks of school left. Forever. Once I'm done, I'm not coming back. I couldn't be more excited about it. I just have to focus on graduating and keeping my grades up, and I'll be good to go. I absolutely hate Missouri Southern (seriously, guys. do not go here) and I cannot wait to get away from this horrendous place. ONLY THIRTY MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL! But that's not it! I already don't have classes on Tuesdays so you know what?! ONLY TWENTY FOUR MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Know what else? This summer is going to RULE SO HARD. WOOHOOOOOOOOOO.

Of Course Not - Contagious

I am so proud of this video. We worked hard to make it happen, and we're so grateful for everyone involved in the making of this. We had a BLAST filming this. I've always wanted to crash a child's birthday party. Haha. This video also introduces the origin of Jerry the Giraffe. Woo!

#mylife

Things I did today--

-Laid in bed for an hour checking social media
-Got up
-Ate Marshmallow Froot Loops
-Watched How I Met Your Mother x3
-Showered
-Watched Freaks and Geeks x4
-Baked & decorated cupcakes
-Drove to school
-Class was cancelled
-Got mad because I drove the whole way there
-Drove home
-Baked brownies
-Continued watching Freaks & Geeks
-Made a sign to sell the cupcakes and brownies for Solace
-Blogged

Actually a pretty simple day. Tomorrow starts Spring Break, and I'm SO PUMPED. I will continue to do nothing for the next week.

Can I Get Another Amen? (AMEN!)

I'm not sure why, but for some reason I felt like writing a bit tonight. My mind is kind of all over the place today. I've been sick in bed literally all day until I was finally able to get up a take a shower just now. Dizzy spells. Ugh. I would not wish those on my worst enemies. It feels like the entire world is spinning around you (I mean, obviously it is, but not that fast) and you can't stop it for anything. Laying in bed with my head turned one way is literally the only way to make it stop, and I couldn't move for at least 8 hours. Major suckage.

Anyways, I'm up now, and I'm feeling way better. Luke was nice enough to bring me some food, and we watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame--his first time!--and it was nice. That movie is really dark for a Disney movie. It's definitely one of my favorites, though. I remember my older sister taking me to see that when it came out in theaters for my birthday! Ever since then, it was my absolute favorite movie. I wanted to be Esmerelda, and Phoebus was my 2nd crush, after Aladdin, of course. The music from that movie has always stuck with me through all these years. GOOSEBUMPS. I still sing God Help The Outcasts in the shower from time to time.

Tonight Luke and I are going to see this band at Blackthorn called The Autonomics. They're touring down from Portland, Oregon, and contacted Solace about a show. I had to turn them down, so they booked Blackthorn instead, and I liked them so much that we're going to go! Woo! Nevermind, apparently they told me the wrong date because I just saw that they played there LAST NIGHT. WAY TO GO, GUYS. I was super pumped to go, too. :( I had it on my calendar and everything. Oh well, I guess. We'll just stay in again. NEVERMIND AGAIN. I messaged them, and apparently they're playing two nights in a row, so I will get to see them. Hahaha. Wow.

Well, I suppose that is about all I have to talk about tonight. Ok bye!

Be Kind

People drive me insane. I feel like so many people today are 100% closed-minded over every issue ever, and I can't wrap my mind around the fact that so many people don't think before they speak (or type, in this case). And so much HATRED. Why in the world are people so easy to hate someone else, and so quick to judge when they obviously do not know the entire story? My parents taught me to be kind to others. They taught me compassion, and humility, and that I most certainly do not know everything. I just wish more people had learned those things.

That's about all I have to say. I was just reading a couple news articles and comments posted about them, and I decided to write my thoughts here.

And now it's time for me to learn more life lessons with Mr. Feeny. We're on Season 3! Woo!

Adventures

I suppose there's been several things that I've missed since my last post. Since this was my year of adventure, I decided to color my hair blue. It looked SWEET.


I also went to Nashville for the Anchor Mission USA conference with the Solace crew for a weekend. It was SO MUCH FUN. I love Nashville, and I love those people, and we had the best time.


I got to hang out with my BFF Courtnie in pretty much the coolest city EVER.


Also this picture rules


Here's the whole crew in front of Superman in Metropolis


Also, I got to be Bat Girl in front of the giant Superman statue


Also I made this super sweet Mario cake for Kristen for her birthday. Yay!


Then we made our first official music video. At a skating rink. For Contagious. I'm so excited about it!




Also, I bought some crazy patterned Superman leggings that I wear sometimes. (I never used to wear crazy pants)


That's about all of my crazy adventures so far. We finished a new song last night called Gravity Hill, and I'm excited to start playing that live. Also, this weekend we're going to Tulsa to see House of Heroes at Cain's Ballroom! I CANNOT EVEN WAIT. I love me some HoH!

Okay. Now that's really all.

Adventure

Over Christmas break I got to meet up with a TON of friends of mine that I never get to see anymore. We all live in different towns, whether it be an hour away, or on the other side of the country. It's been such a huge blessing to be able to make time for all of them. I have some of the greatest friends in the entire world.

I also got to see my grandparents several times (all of them!) which has been really cool. They tell cool stories from way back when they were kids. They always have something interesting to say. :) Oh, and tonight we had a fish fry at papa and grandma's! Those are always special. We've done those ever since before I can remember, and it's my favorite meal in the entire world. Partly because it's so freaking delicious, and also because I really enjoy spending time with my grandparents. It's also very nostalgic for me. Hot summer nights hanging out at papa and grandma's eating fish and corn bread. Then sitting on the front porch swing as the sun sets behind the high school across the street just chatting about life. Playing with Barney in the backyard, and giving him hugs, and taking him for walks. Walking to the corner store around the block to get a newspaper and some bubble gum. Some of my favorite memories are with them.

One last thing: my friend Courtnie does this word of the year thing, and I've been playing with the idea of doing it myself. I've been trying to come up with a word for this year, and I really think I want that word to be Adventure. Luke has kind of inspired me to be more adventurous, and I really think that would be something good to focus on this year. Last year had some really cool moments, but a lot of it I spent worried or stressed out about school. I'm so sick of being stressed out over something as stupid as school. I know, I know, my future blah blah blah, but you know what? It's not worth hating my life over. I won't let school get me down anymore. DID YOU HEAR THAT?! I WON'T LET SCHOOL GET ME DOWN ANYMORE! So there's that. I'm going to focus on doing new things with Luke. Taking day trips to new places to explore, and do new things. I know that life is what you make it, so I'm going to make mine even better. I have too many down days to be acceptable, and I won't let that be an issue anymore. So in the words of Bilbo Baggins, "I'm going on an adventure."