Friday, October 24, 2008

Jars of Clay / Switchfoot / Third Day Concert!!!!

So, Kris came up in October and we went to an awesome concert! Here's some pics - you can click on them for bigger/closer views.

Jars of Clay:

I've been a big fan since about '95-'96...old school


They wore all white - which was not flattering...


Switchfoot:

By far the best performance of the 4 bands


Fan of Switchfoot since about '97-'98 - he was awesome! Robert Randolph played with them on this song and had a sign on the front of his steel guitar that said, "Switchfoot [hearts] New Kids on the Block."


Third Day:

Mac Powell laying down the worship - also a fan since about '95-'96


Third Day with Jars of Clay and Robert Randolph - note the JoC member in the angel outfit on the right (They sang a duet of "I'll Fly Away" - we think he must have lost a bet...)


Final Tour Concert - All 3 bands together w/ Robert Randolph:

This was awesome b/c none of the bands wanted to end the tour, so we got a huge finale of all 3 jamming out together with Robert Randolph, whose band also played with the big 3.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Another Random Posting...

No one chose me either, but I'm bored and have been told I don't post often enough! So here's some random crap about me...

1. Clothes Shop

I put this off as long as possible - and only do it when I have to or am really, really bored. I'm one of those who go shopping knowing exactly what they need, find it, and then leave. Please don't make me walk around aimlessly at the mall... And when I do find what I am looking for, I will grab a small and a medium (I'm between sizes on everything) and then if there are multiple color choices in it, there's a small and medium of each color... I will not waste the time to go back to try different colors after I find the right size. So, I may be getting one thing, but I may be taking in 6 of them to try on...and then I hate all 6 of them.

2. Furniture Shop

I am very picky with furniture, but then I did work at a quality furniture store for awhile, painting and staining it all after the carpenter built it - The carpenter taught me a lot about quality... My bedroom set is an antique set that I love and was sold to be at a GREAT price from my "spiritual parents". Everything else is a hodgepodge of antiques and solid (mostly mission style) wood.

3. Sweets
I will almost always pick something filling over sweet... But if it is sweet: Hot brownies or chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream on top!

4. City

Hmmm...I grew up in a kinda small town, a suburb of Dallas/Ft Worth. I kinda like the suburb feel even still, living in two capitals: Oklahoma City, OK and Denver, CO. I have also lived in the middle of no-where (San Angelo, TX). I imagine I will eventually move to another state capital: Austin, TX; however, hopefully it will be a suburb!

5. Drink
Usually Lipton green tea and water...but I do have my soda cheat days on the weekend. Sad thing is I had quit cold turkey for 6 months last year - I really should do that again!

6. Music
I LOVE music - not sure why so much. No one in my family has been very "musical." But then again, none of them were really athletes either - I can't believe I'm not adopted... Anyway, give me a little of everything except the 80's retro weird crap (as you can see from the previous post). My favs: 90's-00's rock, anything with a bit of a folk/bluegrass/acoustic feel - stuff with more than 3 chords and repetitive lyrics that are not well thought out or stolen.

7. TV Series

The Office and Hell's Kitchen. Anything not involving the current politics!

8. Film
I really don't watch TV much, and even more so, films/movies... "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Land Before Time" made me cry multiple times - come on, he licked his own shadow!

9. Workout

I'm so up and down. I try to run at least 15 miles a week - anything else is pretty sporadic these days. I plan to start the P90X series...someday.

10. Pastries

Not a big "pastry fan" - who came up with "pastries?" It's not like at (10) they had used everything else that comes to the common mind! Does blueberry muffins count - they are about 600 calories too!

11. Coffee
Please don't even make me smell it! I'm not kidding; in fact, we have two coffee pots. One for coffee and one to brew my green tea - they cannot share!


I tag Kris - and anyone else who is actually reading this who hasn't done it already.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Day Before You

I completely stole this because my BFF would have tagged me - if she tagged someone...which she did not.

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "YOU'RE HOT" YOU SAY?

"Demolition Man" (The Police)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LIFE?

"Don't Stand so Close to Me" - lol (Sting)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE LONG GOAL?

"Everything you Want" (Vertical Horizon)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

"Turn me On" (Nora Jones)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

"A Rush of Blood to the Head" - perfect! (Coldplay)

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR LIFE?
"Signe" (Eric Clapton)

WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT?

"Who Wouldn't want to be Me" - now I'm full of myself! (Keith Urban)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR EX?

"Black" - I'm not being racist! (Pearl Jam)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON WHO LIKES YOU?
"Square One" (Coldplay)

WHAT DOES YOUR BEST FRIEND ALWAYS SAY TO YOU?

"Black and White People" - Kris, you're racist on here too! (Matchbox Twenty)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

"God of Us" - I don't think this will go well (Shaun Groves)

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SAYING?
"Song for You" (Michael Buble)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Seek Up" (Dave Mathews Band w/ Tim Reynolds)

WHAT WILL BE PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Sweetest Thing" - Dang straight! lol (U2)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Put it On" (Bob Marley)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Jesus Don't want me for a Sunbeam" - sad (Nirvana)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR HOUSE?
"Like Toy Soldiers" -radio edit (Eminem)

WHAT WILL YOU NAME THIS?

"The Day Before You" (Rascal Flatts) - perhaps this would be the wedding dance...no offense DMB

Monday, October 13, 2008

Pikes Peak Hike

The initial plan was to drive our bicycles to the top, drive down and park, and then hike it up - then ride our bikes down on the main road...

After we couldn't find the main road from the trail head, the plan changed to: Hike all the way up and then either hitch hike down on the main road or see if we could catch the train down. If neither, we'd huff it down...

And so we started the trail at 0730 - Did I mention I got up at 0445 to pick up Rocio and make the drive down to the Springs? It was half a mile hike just to get to the trail head from where we had to park.

And so we started our hike. I felt unseasonably warm and hiked the entire time in a t-shirt, debating on stopping and putting on shorts...more on this later.

We hiked and hiked...and hiked - and passed some neat sights. (yes, I look like a goof).


We finally got to Barr Camp, which is about 7 miles from the beginning of the trail.

It took us 3.5 hours to get there from the start. When we got there, the nice lady informed us the weather was drastically changing from the weather report we had looked up the previous evening. While it was in the 50's - low 60's where we had been hiking with a 30% chance of rain, it has turned into 100% precipitation up top with high winds. Further, we were informed that the road is often closed down and the train stopped if the weather is bad - meaning, you are on your own to hike it down in the bad weather.

While this sounded like a great challenge and story later - we also weren't prepared for this. A TX girl and a CA girl, hiking in the elements with a sweatshirt and light jacket and no real plan for getting down before dark...we decided a great story wasn't worth our misery and possible MIA status.

So we stuck around the camp for about 45 minutes eating our nasty MRE's and discussing our options. Then we decided to go ahead and hike it back down. And so we did, 15 miles total (we jogged a lot of the way down just to go with the momentum/inertia/gravity - we were pretty tired and my eyes were on fire (still, more on this later.)

We got to the bottom and decided to jump on the next train to the top - might as well, right? Lucky for us because it was the last train for the day. As soon as we got to the top and inside the little shop, a park ranger came in and made a big announcement that anyone who drove up had to get in their cars and leave. They were closing down the road and if they did not leave with his escort, their cars would be sequestered up top - and if the train was full, they would "magically transform into hikers." They then announced our train would be heading down early due to the snow and we had 20 minutes to board before departure.

When we got back on the train, they made an announcement over the radio that the "lost hiker" was found - he got on the bus and slept the whole way down...enough said.

We got back down and Rocio told me she was going to go to the bathroom before we left - nothing normally significant, except that it was at this time I realized she had gone to the bathroom several times now and I had pretty much drank my 1 liter of water in my Camelback + another 16 oz of water on the train - and still didn't have to go to the bathroom...

So we headed back up to Denver and I just wanted to go to sleep. I dropped her off and went back to my hotel where I sat in the hot tub for about 15 minutes before deciding I should just go to bed. So I did - about 9pm. Then I started waking up every 1/2 hour starting around midnight until about 11am the next day... I was running 101.5 temperature (mine is usually about 96.8 - 97, not 98.6).

I think I had been sick the whole time - at least running a fever that made me very hot, tired, dehydrated, and my eyes burn... but at least I "kinda" marked it off my list of CO things to do. My mom would be sooooo mad...(lol) We made it a little more than halfway up/down; 14 miles of the full official 25 mile round trip trail (15 miles total from/to the parking spot).