NEEDTOBREATHE

This is NEEDTOBREATHE. Heather O. and I saw them last night. I would say "in concert" but it was more like in our living rooms. I have to tell the whole story...

We went to the Intersection where they were playing. Of course there was a line so we were standing there for about ten minutes and Heather said, "dude, I don't think this is the right line". Just then I heard a woman calling a very young girl saying, "this is the line for [mumble, mumble]." I looked at Heather, "did you hear that?" She did not, I repeated what I just heard the woman saying. We decided one of us should go to the door and ask, so I ended up going. Sure enough, that line was for sum 41... So we left the line and went right on in.

I got carded, the security guy was shocked when he saw my birthdate. He looked up at me and said, "I really thought you were under age. No, that's a compliment, isn't it?" I had to laugh. Heather left her i.d. in the car, so he asked if she would be drinking (of course not) and he marked her with the "M"'s. She was a minor for the night! We bought our tickets (they were $10, this has been the year of $10 concerts. I will be sad when I have to pay real money to see all these guys) and walked through the door where NEEDTOBREATHE was going to play. Seriously, think Central Perk from Friends. The stage was bigger then what Phoebe played on, but the room wasn't that big. So we went and sat in two big, comfy chairs right next to all the equipment cases, just left of the stage, not more then five feet away... The first band was a local band from Grandville. They were... local. The one guitar player reminded me of Paul from the Wonder Years (before he turned into Marilyn Manson -j/k) and the bass player reminded me of Jared Leto from My So Called Life. No matter what "Paul" did, he looked like a nerd. No matter what "Jared" did, he looked cool. I digress. They only played for about a half hour. Then came NEEDTOBREATHE. Heather took a picture of their set list. But they mostly played songs off their new album. Bear (they're from South Carolina...) explained that when they showed up at 3:30pm they realized there weren't enough channels, they decided to go acoustic.
I have never heard anything so amazing, it still makes me giddy thinking about it. For their last song, they unplugged and had everybody come gather around the piano and they played their last song. Never, in my life have I ever seen something so cool. Of course, they hung around afterwards and we were able to talk to them. We had our pictures taken with Bear and Bo (the brothers). And I have Bo's autograph.I'm hoping Heather will e-mail me the pictures. For now, I will post their picture from March (excuse the guys in front of me and their big heads...)
Pictures from March (above) Pictures from last night (below) Bo & Emily Heather, Bear, and Emily

Meyer May House

Way back in April, (a long, long time ago, as the story goes...) Bill and I were fortunate enough to get a private tour of the Meyer May House, here in Grand Rapids. Frank Lloyd Wright designed this house for the May's who were known locally in the clothing industry. This house is in the style of what is now Wright's prominent Prairie Style House. Wright is known for his overall design. From the furniture, to the lighting, to the bedding and all details within the houses, he designed. You can see from my pictures some examples of these fine details.
This window is in the dining room, looking out over the garden. I loved the bright forsythia. This was one of Wright's ideas, to frame the outside world through his windows. Which are pieces of art in themselves.
You probably can't do this on the regular tour, but the are not as stingy as many home tours. They let you walk around the rooms. They are not afraid of "ruining the carpet".
This gives you an idea of the overall scale of the living room. The fireplace is opposite this wall of windows. Wright's other main idea is that the hearth is the "heart" of the home. Thus creating the style of house we know today; the open family room to kitchen plan. They weren't that advanced in Wright's days, but he was getting the idea. No fancy parlor to receive guests. The guests entered and sat in the same room the family used.
I must brag about this picture (although if you think like Bill, you'll tell me that this is not my doing, but Wright's, I just happened to snap the photo). The reflection of the window on the carpet both showcasing his designs. I snapped a couple of photos of the windows reflecting light on the wall, but I like this one the best because you can see a part of the window, the shadow and the floor.

By the time we finished inside, it had gotten cloudy outside. I wasn't able to get too many pictures of the outside of the house. Perhaps I'll go back and get those, and post them later. I was also using our tour guide's mother's camera! (this is explains why I am just now posting the pictures, I just got them from her)

By the way, tours are free. If you're ever in town and interested in seeing the house personally, I would be glad to take you to it.

Another weekend gone...

Line dancing. The only dance white people can still do without looking like they're having a seizure. Honestly, I wish ballroom dancing were still "in". Yes, I'm a romantic. I love all those movies where the man sweeps the woman across the floor in one glorious dance. I really enjoy Jane Austin's stories, Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music, the list goes on. Now, instead of actually dancing like the stars all we do is stomp our feet to the sounds of a man/woman whining about what they've lost. I'd like to point out what we've all lost is the social aspect of dancing.By the way, I love square dancing, swing dancing, I learned how to Salsa at the Relay, and line dancing is fun when you're with your friends and they don't laugh when you keep forgetting what you're supposed to be doing.That was Sunday. As mentioned before, Bill and I went to see Grandma. We did not go to the Casino (thank goodness). We went to the Fernwood Botanical Gardens.It was really neat, but we did not spend a lot of time there because it got really hot and the mosquitoes were really bad. We'll have to go back in the spring. But we had a very nice visit with Grandma.This is from last weekend when we went to Dow Gardens. The piggy was in the Children's Garden. He was not a small pig.
Saturday night, Heather O. and I had a girls night. We went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, yum! (this bear was sitting outside, of course we stopped and took a picture!) We also went on a hunt for Dan's new children's book. One, the Only, Magnificent Me, which surprisingly B&N has, but the Christian bookstore does not... We rented Love, Actually which was not as good as I remember it, but like Heather said, it wasn't as bad as some movies...

Today! Is. National, Punctuation? Day! Just, thought. you'd? like! to. know!?

National Talk Like a Pirate Day

Check out my new favorite Veggie Tales song in honor of today's hot topic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaWU1CmrJNc

still something...

No. I haven't left blogworld. I've been super busy. It's not a good enough excuse, but please accept it for what it is, a lame excuse for not blogging more.

Labor Day weekend we went to the middle of the state, where dirt and gravel roads are alive and well. Where you can see millions of stars at night without even trying. Where our friends Heather W. and Josh live on forty acres. Josh built a HUGE bonfire, and we roasted marshmallows. We took a walk around their property, and we relaxed. I had allergies so I wasn't feeling that great and we only stayed one night. But it was a nice way to get back in touch with nature.

The following weekend was Homecoming Sunday at FUMC GR. There was a big turnout (over 500 in attendance at the 2nd service) and youth group was a lot of fun with a carnival theme. We're studying the Prodigal Son Scripture. This last Sunday we started off with the first two verses and played a shoe match game. Heather O. and I hid everyone's shoes (leaders too) in suitcases. It was fun. It was kind of smelly, but that's okay. We discussed the decisions we make everyday. Everything is a decision. It's pretty amazing. The kids are pretty good about discussing these things. We've had fifteen both nights. It's also Confirmation year, so I think that has something to do with attendance, but it seems like they enjoy youth group so far! Bill and I also became official members of FUMC GR this last Sunday.

This last Saturday we drove to Mt. Pleasant, home of Central Michigan University (who played Purdue and lost), and met Heather W. there. We drove over to Midland, home of Dow Chemicals. Also home to Dow Gardens. We strolled through the Gardens looking at beautiful flowers. We saw a wedding there, then while driving around Midland we saw at least four more weddings, then while eating dinner that night, a wedding party was outside having their pictures taken!!!

I'm on a big gardens kick. This Friday we're going to visit my Grandma. She mentioned something about going to the casino. Um, no. I'm not a fan. I don't care how good the buffet food is. I am not a buffet kind of person. It makes me want to vomit. Seriously, why do you think Americans are over weight? I can't eat that much food. So I'm just wasting money by going. So, instead of not doing anything about it, I remembered that my membership to Meijer Gardens is good for a Botanical Garden in Niles! I looked it up, found directions and am going to cross my fingers that she'll be up for that instead! I also looked up other things to do in the area. Notre Dame is close by, and my Grandfather was an alumni, I love that campus.

We'll see what we end up doing. But that's what I've been up to. Oh, and on this Saturday there's a Degage Ministries walk. So we're doing that with the youth groups and then we're eating at Yesterdog. Perhaps I'll have a picture or two to share from one of these experiences! (it's Jars of Clay's favorite place to eat when they're in town)