Jenny Snyder

Just like the lyrics to the song explain... life is all about what you make of it.

We got home from NJ yesterday evening (had a great time and great trip which I will blog about later) and I made a mad dash to run a few errands before the end of the business day as well as picking up Rowdy and Kieran from the kennel.  I hadn't been home for 30 minutes when Kevin & I were online looking into tickets for Jesus Christ Superstar.  I hopped onto Craigslist and by total chance, came across a listing for someone selling Natasha Bedingfield tickets.  I asked Kevin if he knew anything about her coming in concert -- assuming it was down the road and probably at the ampitheatre.  He didn't, so I looked it up.  And lo and behold... she was performing LAST NIGHT at a SMALL BAR in CHARLOTTE!!!

It was 7pm ... the opening act went on at 8pm - Natasha would probably start at 9:30p.  Since Kevin is madly in love with her, it was more important that he look nice that me, so I threw on jeans and a halter top, rushed though my makeup, and pulled my hair up.  And the dude looked handsome for his Brit beauty!

We made it there at 8p and got to the center of the 5th row - a great view!  The opening act, The Veronicas, was stellar!  I'm planning on downloading some of their music on ITunes.  Natasha was, of course, more amazing than expected live... and absolutely beautiful.  She definitely made eye contact with Kevin a few times, but not hard considering he was in a sea of girls... and he's 6'4".  He stood out very easily to her... and knew all of the lyrics to her songs.  We were even able to talk to the band and backup singers for a while on our way out... there were standing by the bus which was next to our parking deck.  We were hoping to meet Natasha, but they said she had already passed out from the show.

We both had such a fun night - this was certainly HIS "Bret Michaels" night and I was so thankful we had the opportunity to go!  We laughed and sang the whole drive home... just a perfect ending to our vacation.

Below is a video of her singing "These Words" that I took (I missed the first few seconds)... as well as a few pictures. 

 

 

My cousins, Mike and Diane, just flew to Seoul, Korea about a month ago to adopt a 9-month old baby boy they have named Kaden.  (This process has taken them well over a year... and they were given very short notice when it was time to actually fly over to get Kaden, so there has been a LOT of anticipation for his arrival from our family!)

She sent me a few pictures of him last night.  My Granny, pictured with him below, is thrilled to be a Great Grandma again! 

So there are several blogs that I subscribe to (just because I love to read blogs - really!) and one of my favorites is Damn I Like That.  The writer sends out a daily dose of retail therapy in a good range of prices and items (everything from clothes to household items to random whose-its and whats-its) and its always fun to check out.

One of the neat finds in yesterday's entry was something called Message Beans. I pasted the picture and entry below:

This is taking the concept of the greeting card to the next level. It’s called a Message Bean and it is really an innovative way to tell someone how you feel. Recipients will receive an aluminum pot with instructions on how to grow the bean. In order to see the message, they will have to water and wait for the bean to sprout up revealing a messages that has been lasered on one side and a picture on the other. You can choose messages from Thank You, to Happy Holidays, and of course Happy Birthday and more. Now you can give something that people can take part in and enjoy more than just a card.

Here's the funny thing... when I read this, I first thought - I would LOVE to get a Message Bean from someone!  But then, I wondered if I would torture myself waiting for it to grow and wondering what the message was inside (picture Ralphie from A Christmas Story trying to decode Little Orphan Annie's secret message as hurriedly as possible!).  Or - what if my black thumb killed it before I could discover who the secret message was from?  Are these things foolproof for organic dummies like me!??!  And just HOW do the get the message on there??  There's just too much to wrap my head around on this one....

fA few weeks ago, my friends & co-workers, Michelle, Stephanie, and Billie, and I all attended a dinner for the Second Harvest Food Bank at Table Restaurant in Ballantyne.  On the way home, out of the corner of my eye, I caught an odd sign sitting outside of a prominent neighborhood that was curious enough to make Stephanie turn her car around.  Once we confirmed that the sign did indeed say what we thought it said, we all hopped out and took turns taking pictures in front of it... then Stephanie, being the genius graphic designer she is, photoshopped all of us into one picture.  And voila!

  

A few weeks ago while I was cleaning the house, I had the TV on and happened to catch a program that VH1 had put together highlighting select performances from the Station Fire Benefit Show.  The premise behind the show was to raise money for the victims' family members who were left behind with no means of support - Dee Snider of Twisted Sister did a great job of rallying an impressive line-up (you can read the story here).

Anywho, one particular act made me stop my dusting and mopping and sit down to watch:

I of course knew the song, but didn't recognize the singer and assumed someone was covering it.  When I looked up the name, I was floored to find out it was indeed the original singer - what a transformation from his hair band days!  Yes, the sound is a little different... but I really like this acoustic version.  This has always been one of my favorite songs to come out of the 90's, and has held special meanings to me at different points in my life (for example, I remember being on a high school ski trip when it first came it and singing it nonstop with friends that weekend).

Kevin called me at work a few weeks ago to let me know we had potential tenants.  One of the birdhouses in our backyard was being inspected by a Mommy and Daddy chickadee.  A few days later, they moved in... and not too long after that, we had babies.  We didn't remember to take daily pictures, but here's what we did get:

 

Just a few hours after the last picture was taken, all of the babies fledged.  Hopefully we'll have more new tenants soon!

A few weeks ago, Kevin had the opportunity to compete in the Brad Hoover Corporate Combine Football Challenge as a part of the team that his company put together.  It was designed to be a fundraiser for the YMCA and organized by its namesake, Brad Hoover, of the Carolina Panthers.  About 20 teams of 3-4 people competed, and they each rotated to a different football drill every 12 minutes.  AND each drill had a Panthers player manning the station!

Kevin was most excited about the field goal drill as he always felt he missed his true calling as an NFL kicker.  He was right... at the end of the day, he kicked a couple of 50 yard field goals!   Hmmmm... I wonder what it would be like to be a pro-athlete's wife?!?! :)

Kevin's team finished 3rd or 4th overall.  Kev placed 2nd in the Sack Drill out of about 80 people, and his team placed 2nd in the Snap Drill and Punt Kick Drill. 

Here's a video of Kevin doing the Running Back Drill:

Here's a few pictures that I "borrowed" from the photographer's website:

And here's one with Matt Moore and Brad Hoover from the Panthers: