Okay, I know this isn't a music blog....

...but please indulge me yet another concert/music post!  I do not go to concerts all the time, even if it does seem that way based on my blog lately.  But, we did attend another concert (the 3rd in three weeks) that I just have to share with you guys.  It was my VERY FAVORITE artist currently.  My family may tell you I have a bit of an obsession with him, which may or may not be true: Is dragging your family 4 hours across the state to attend a concert considered a bit much?  I didn't exactly drag them either.  It was Spring Break and we went to San Antonio with friends to spend a day at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and well, there just happened to be this concert going on there that evening......

OK, OK......... it was KRIS ALLEN (current American Idol winner)!!  I love him.  You'll probably remember last year when I blogged about how much I loved him on AI and how I voted for him, even though it goes against everything I believe in to be that vested in a tv show.  When I found out he was playing a show in San Antonio, it was pretty much a given that I was going to get there to see him some way.  Conveniently, it was during Spring Break for the kids, so we drove over to SA with friends who wanted to spend a day at Fiesta Texas.  Meghan, Claire and I were the only ones who really cared about the concert, so everyone rode rides while we enjoyed the show.  By the way, Kris Allen opened for One Republic, so he wasn't even the main attraction.  Anyways, long story short, the concert was awesome!!  Kris is very talented, as is his band.  I love live music, and they did not disappoint.  Meghan and Claire were awesome concert buddies.....just as excited and into the music as I was.  It was so much fun with them.  And we were all really impressed with One Republic too.  They were just fantastic and so talented.  They played cello, violin and a really cool organ in addition to the usual guitars and drums.  Meghan had a couple of their singles from itunes, but we bought both their entire cds when we got home.

Okay, I could go on and on, but I won't!  (Even though it appears as I look above it's too late for that.)  I'll leave this post with some pictures we took:

After the concert, I said to the girls, "Let's just pick a band and follow them around all summer and be groupies."  They were totally for it.  :)  Concerts....especially outdoors, are just the best.

Happy Belated Birthday Becky!

One of my dearest friends, Becky, had a birthday last Friday and I just wanted to acknowledge it on my blog.  Becky and I have known each other since our oldest kids were just babies.  (Over 16 years ago!)  I love Becky.  We raised our kids from babies to toddlers to preschoolers together over lots of laughs, occasional tears, and many bottles of wine.  She is so dear to me, and even though our friendship has been long distance over the past 10 years since we moved to Texas, she is one of those people that I can talk to and it feels like we were together just yesterday.  So, a belated Happy Birthday to you Becky!   Lots of love!!

The weekend: a little volleyball/a big rodeo/ a giant concert

Finally!  I think I have figured out the photo thing between Blogger and the Mac!  Sorry for the delay, but I now have pics of our weekend a couple weeks back.  Claire had a volleyball tournament and do I have a picture of her spiking the ball?  Making a great pass?  No, I have a picture of her tailgating with her teammates during a break in matches.  Priorities, you know? 

So after the tournament, we headed down to the Houston Rodeo which is a 3 week extravaganza held downtown each spring.  It is one huge party for the city of Houston with a fair, livestock show, rodeo competition and live concerts every day for 3 weeks.  We scored tickets to see the Jonas Brothers.  Unfortunately, traffic was HORRENDOUS (McAfees do not do very well when stuck in traffic not knowing where to go.  Reference the Disneyworld Vacation 2008 post), so by the time we found parking, we only had time to scarf a quick corn dog before entering Reliant Stadium for the rodeo and concert.  I bought these tickets from ticketmaster the moment they went on sale back in January and still only managed to get nosebleed seats.  Thank goodness for the jumbo-tron because as you can see, we were up in the heavens.  Still, we had a lot of fun watching the cowboys wrangle steer and ride broncos. 

Then the fireworks went off to start the Jonas Brothers concert.  Demi Lovato opened for them and we all thought she was pretty bad.

The JoBros though, actually surprised me.  They were really good.  The girls had a great time (even Meghan who voted for Black Eyed Peas tickets over Jonas Brothers).  Jack tolerated the whole thing fairly well. 

In a nod to the rodeo, Nick, Joe and Kevin put on cowboy hats and sang a Keith Urban song.  The crowd (70,000 plus) loved it!  They were really fun and sounded great.  I definitely came away more impressed with them than I was going in. 

And a last picture of the girls outside of Reliant Stadium after the concert.  A long, but fun day.

The weekend: John Mayer concert

We had such a fun weekend!  It was exhausting, but so worth it!  John Mayer was in Houston on Saturday evening.  We bought tickets on a whim. (I might have whined a little bit that day about having to go to JoBros the next day, but not getting to see one of my very favorite artists when he was in town THAT VERY NIGHT.)  We scored really good seats: 18th row on the floor, in the center.  He was playing the Toyota Center which is where the Houston Rockets play, so it's a huge arena.  The concert was FANTASTIC.  I have been a John Mayer fan for such a long time.  I love him.  I know he has said some controversial things lately, and I frankly have shaken my head over some pretty immature, egotistical things that have come out of his mouth.  I am still a huge fan however.  (Room For Squares is one of my top five favorite cd's ever.)  This concert marked the 4th time I have seen him perform now, and he just gets better and better.  He is such a talented guitar player (unequaled for his generation?) and such a gifted songwriter.  I was on my feet and mesmerized the entire concert.  Thanks Jack for making me buy the tickets!  What a great night!

Spontaneity Rocks! (As does Mayer)

OMG!  Jack and I saw John Mayer perform last night.  It was a last minute decision to go, and I am so glad we did.  Floor seats.....18th row, smack dab in the middle.  We have been to four of his concerts in Houston now, and just WOW.  What a musician.  Will share more soon (with blurry phone photos), but right now it's an all day volleyball tourney for Claire, then straight down to the Houston Rodeo for some fried food, cattle, bulls, and oh yeah...these guys will be there singing.  I think they're called the Jonas Brothers or something?

Update again soon!
Tracey

LOLs

If you are ever in need of a pick-me-up, I thought I would share three websites I have bookmarked that never cease to provide me with a good, proverbial LOL.  Sometimes they even provide me with the elusive ROTFLMAO.   In no order of preference:

Awkward Family Photos 

At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me.  Then, I burst out laughing.  My sides; they still hurt.  You have to go to the site to read the caption.  I swear, every third or fourth entry on this site is downright hysterical. 

Cakes Wrecks 

This site captures pics of....well.....exactly what the website is called: cake wrecks.  The funny thing is, these cakes are all professionally made.  You have to go to the site to read the captions along with the pictures.  I've spent way too much time guffawing here over cake tragedies.

And lastly, a site you probably have already heard about, but is so mind-numbingly, atrociously, head-shakingly funny that I must include it:

People of Walmart.com

 

Oh my gosh.  The funny on this site.  I always tell myself, "Okay, just one more page and I'm done."  But I can't help myself and before I know it I've clicked through 20 pages of images....each one more absurd (and hysterical) than the next.  Plus, it makes trips to Walmart now a bit of a sport, armed with my camera phone and a heightened sense of  OMG alert.  Ahh, People of Walmart, you're the best.

Okay, big day tomorrow, so expect another post soon.  I won't entirely give it away except to say:

Meghan, Claire and Anna - meet Kevin, Joe and Nick.

Report Card

Let's see how those New Year's goals are holding up, shall we?

1. I ate half a loaf of sour dough bread (with real butter) last night at dinner.  Need I say more?
2. Yes! Two rooms in two months...Anna's room and Claire's room.  Did not snap before & after photos though. 
3. Heh
4. Um, no.  Hasn't happened.
5. Yes and no.  Yes = Becky and Alix.  (Hi girls!!!)  No = Sharon (Shame on me.)

Who does that?  Openly declaring your goals,  ignoring them, then abandoning your blog.  That is some stuff for the analyst's chair, no?  I've always loved this particular explanation for not doing something:  I am not afraid of failure, I am afraid of success!  Haha....yes, that's it!  I am afraid of the awesome bikini body I would have while showing off my beautiful redone house and super awesome quilts to my wonderful friends....both real life and in blogland.  Sigh.  That's got to be it.  I am so afraid of actually accomplishing these goals, I'm just ignoring them.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Truth is, I really like to blog and am sad I haven't been doing so the last couple of months.  But I am going to blog with abandon.  Meaning, I am going to abandon these goals.  Or maybe not the goals (hello...seriously...swimsuit season is like 6 weeks away in Houston), but my efforts to chronicle my success/lack thereof on my blog.  I may do it, but I may not.  I am just not going to tie my blogging to these goals any longer.

So, sorry for that false start to blogging in 2010.  Let's begin again and have fun.  Like, you want to know some of my favorite things currently?  I am loving this stuff:

TV: Modern Family

Please tell me you are watching this show.  I have not laughed so much and so hard at the television screen since Arrested Development (RIP) aired on Fox several years back.  Go watch every single episode you can.  Do it.  Right now.

Music: Stars Go Dim's debut cd "Love Gone Mad"

I was in Hollister last December buying Christmas gifts for the girls when this song came on the store's playlist.  I immediately LOVED it.  Jack was with me and I had him ask an employee what it was.  Turns out it was "You Got Me" by this group I've never heard of called Stars Go Dim.  I came home and promptly bought it on itunes and it has been heavily played ever since.  I just bought the entire cd about a week ago, and it's really good.

Internet: The Pioneer Woman 

Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, has been around quite some time and I have even had her website listed on my sidebar since I started blogging.  However, lately, I have been having a love affair with her and her website all over again.  I love her recipes and photography but most of all I love her writing.  I am endlessly entertained by her stories of life on a cattle ranch.  I told Jack yesterday that she is the Oprah of the internet.  If you are one of the two people who hasn't heard of her website yet, go here.  You won't regret any time spent with P-Dub.

Food: Candy Jar Ice Cream from Blue Bell Creamery

 

If you live in Texas, you know the only ice cream worth eating is from Blue Bell Creamery.  If you don't live in Texas, sorry for you life because this is the best ice cream ever.  EVER.  Sorry to be obnoxious about it, but it's really true.  Blue Bell has a seasonal flavor called Candy Jar.  If the name isn't enough to convince you, here is the description from the container:  "Rich caramel ice cream containing all of your favorite candy pieces - peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, peanut brittle, chunks of caramel and chocolate crisp pieces."  Seriously, this may be the single greatest reason I am still trying to lose 15 pounds.  YUM.

It feels good to be back to blogging.  Let's do this more often, okay?  Until May then!  (haha...just going for some self-deprecating humor there.)