summer concert series gets real...

summer concert series 2011 has rocked.  but now that we've been to a ku show, it feels more official :)

  um, yeah, about that picture...

 jake owen opened was awesome....

  no explanation needed...clearly, this is as close as i'll ever get...

how many shows and i've still never met him?

 the stage rocks this year...

 jerry rocks this year...

 ku rocks this year (i realize i'm not helping my "crazy" case)...

it's just a big party, i'm tellin' ya...

october 11, pepsi center.  i'm just sayin' you should be there...

monkeyville

...so...been a monkeyville member for about 4 years now.  if you don't know what monkeyville is, shun.  just kidding, but you should know:  keith urban fan club. 

as kim's checking it (monkeyville) out the week before we head to nashville, she hears about a pre-party before the show.  no, we don't want to go at all, but we feel like we should, just to say we did.  we won't be wearing all the gear, so we can always abort the mission if needed. 

i'm a fan, but these are real fans.  like, they've make denim jackets with keiths face on the back, fans.  so, for those of you who think i'm crazy, i'm not thaaaat crazy. 

there's going to bea raffle and i'm just dying to see what this whole thing is about, so we schedule it in... 

mcfaddens, 4pm. 

it was unbelievable.  ladies everywhere with everything homemade you can think of....hats, shirts, sweats that somehow screamed of their undying love for ku.  spectacular, really.  and the raffle.  framed pictures, homemade magnets, blown up photos made into posters, original monkeyville gear...you get the idea.  all up for bidding for the biggest fan.  for the record, i bid on nothing. 

we rvsp'd, we showed up, we were amazed, and we moved on....

 and we met a few monkeyville members "of like mind"...

and then we got down to business....showtime!



Crazy Town

I heart Nashville.  I mean, I really, really love that city.  It’s number one on the list of places to live, right after exactly where I live right now.  I’d move there in a heartbeat.

Kim and I just saddled up and went out there last weekend...

so I’m still in a Nashville funk ready to go back.  And we rented Sweet Thing (and for those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, please watch the video for “Sweet Thing” by Keith Urban. 

And we immediately went to Pancake Pantry. 

where I did not mess around...

And even more than just getting to see Nashville again, we saw Keith Urban (again).  A little slice of heaven.  And a surprise piece of heaven was Jake Owen, my new crush (because I need another).  

And we went to Puckett's.  Let's just say, when I travel, I eat.  And I don't regret it. 

Chicken Fried Steak that could change my life...

And it was tax-free weekend in Nashville, which basically meant rather than saving the money, you got to pick one more item each time you got up to pay!  Fabulous…we will always go the first week of August.

Keith Urban's Star on the Country Music Walk of Fame.

And we went to Meridee's Breadbasket. Again, food.

The peanut butter pie--it's half the reason I go to Nashville! 

We ate and played and barely slept...just how it should be...

please tell me it's not like morning sickness....

kim and i took kendall to cheyenne frontier days to see eric church and toby keith this year.  and somehow, i got roped into riding the carnival rides.  okay, wait, i remember volunteering without hesitation.  i love this stuff, and the higher and faster, the better. 

we bought a 24 pack of tickets and jumped in line.  (and yes, at this point, i'm still craving a funnel cake and have formed a list of all the junk food i'm going to get when we're finished with the rides)

so we hop on this sucker, first.  no big deal. 

so at this point i'm feeling invincible and i'm ready to hit the next one--one of the of loop-de-loop things that swings back and forth until it's got enough speed to take us upside down. 

and that's when i realized i must be getting old.  or something was wrong with me.  about 30 seconds into the ride i went from screaming and laughing to dead silent and eyes closed.  not a peep from our row for a good minute.  kendall and i were both ready to push the eject button.  it was awful.  'round and 'round and 'round...surely they had forgotten the thing was going and we would be on this all night long. 

it came to a screeching hault, and i wasn't entirely sure i was going to be able to get myself off this dang thing. 

not the same smile as the first ride, huh?  and the jokes the carneys were telling me just weren't cutting it. 

i was so sick the rest of the night.  my list of carnival food went out the window as i crammed a soft pretzel down my throat.

please tell me it's not like morning sickness or i'll never make it. 

....twang is just the ticket...

Cheyenne Frontier Days, Part I.  Jason Aldean.  He's pretty much the last country artist I "needed" to see.  And I'm sad I waited, but it was WELL worth the wait, let me assure you.  Jason Aldean is now tucked right up there under Keith Urban--so my second favorite artist.  Like, groupie status....again. 

And since I'm all redneck, hillbillly, I thought it would be fun to find someone who was not, and introduce him.  Enter, Tim.  Friend from college...lives in LA...owns a plaid shirt, but unfortunately, no boots or chaps.  But a great sport, nonetheless. Becuase after he got his fill of fried food and saw his fair share of beer guts, and talked to people missing teeth, and well, you get the idea, I think he still enjoyed it.  I think we were so busy people watching, we failed to take one picture--well, except the one of Jeremy and I while we were waiting in line for the funnel cake with bavarian cream (not).

train wreck

every time i start a story about a concert, you should automatically assume this:  i'm late to the show.  why does this always happen to me?

 so here we go...

gavin degraw, maroon 5, and train.  in that order.  on the tickets, it said gavin degraw, train, maroon 5.  but yes, i still intended to be there one time.  holy traffic headed to red rocks.  kim and i left with plenty of time to get up there from the house, but we were an hour late walking in. 

we're taking our time, and i hear the one and only song i purchased tickets hoping to hear:  moves like jagger.  and it was playing.  and i was not there.  we sped up the pace.  we are there to see maroon 5 and they have already started.  of course. 

doesn't matter.  we were row 3, staring adam in the face, and a lovely face at that.  our t-shirts read "team blake" although, i'm not sure given the choice who i'd choose to "coach" me, either! 

fabulous.  i loved it.  great show.  great entertainer. 

we were about ready to pack up when train came on.  and all i can say is train wreck. it was so much fun.  he's a riot and kept us entertained. 

and the last concert I went to with this many costumes was Hannah Montana, so I wasn't sure what to think...

Not too bad.  Note the high-top converse.  Stellar.

Outfit #2.  Ruffles.  Really?  I'm sure that someone approved of this....someone.....right?

And on to the baggy tank top.  Absolutely positive my dad has this tank top.

No, we aren't done. 

Sidenote.  I'm a sucker for bald men.  (like, purposeful, bald men.  not George Costanzas) oh, and sleeve of tatts gets me every time.

But then I saw the drummer who's from Colorado.  Oh man. 

and i'll be seeing him when he comes back--it was that good.  and i've purchased the albums, so his mission is complete.

humboldt

Still workin' on that bucket list.  Another 14er down.  Many to go, but we're checkin' off that list, slowly but surely. 

Humboldt Peak, down in the Sangre De Cristo Mountain Range, out by Westcliffe.  A group of friends and I met down there to climb--great excuse to see these guys, anyway.  Brent teaches down there in Westcliffe and I've promised to get down there to see him before.  Now, whether he likes it or not, I'll be back :) 

We went out the night before to The Dome--yes, it's actually a dome.  With phenomenal pizza.  And live music.  And men selling boots.  (true story)

Best part of this climb:  actually sleeping before the climb.  Brent lives like 30 minutes from the trailhead.  Again, I will be visiting him often.  Protein-packed breakfast (better than my hard-boiled-egg-on-the-go any day) we took off and were on the trailhead by 7am.

It may or may not have been a much longer hike than we anticipated, but we  made it.  I think we estimated like 8 miles roundtrip, but after we recalculated, it was 13 miles.  That's a big difference when you're talking about A) walking up a mountain and B) carrying a pack on your back.  But I'm still alive to tell about it. 

   

 

And I must say, I laughed most of the day.  These guys are just funny--so the entertainment was about as good as you can get. 

And the company, about as good as you can get.  And the views, about as good as you can get. 

Mark it off the list.