It's only been a month, but SO many cool things have happened, daily it seems, that it feels like it's been A LOT longer than a month. I'll start with last month.
We joined the Graham Talent Agency, and from that, we've been able to do a lot of cool things. First off, though, the rest of the people within the agency are AMAZING, and we've really enjoyed being able to get to know musicians like James Roquemore ( http://jamesroquemore.com/) and his amazing, kind, godly parents Brian and Elaine, Sam and Diana Wyatt, and so many others in the group. Within the agency, we were able to play at a Mansion Party (which was cool, 'cause we were supposed to play late, and the neighbors complained about all the late night sound, so we played acoustically, which was COOL! Met amazing people there), downtown during CMA week, and got to be on the CMT awards red carpet. That was pretty sweet, 'cause we got to be the "clappers", "shouters" and seat-fillers for the CMT stars. We had NOT realized HOW staged the CMT awards were. They hire people to do this, and tell them exactly what to wear and where to stand. We got to see Journey play "Don't Stop Believin'", Tony Hawk, Toby Keith, Hayden Panettiere, Colton Dixon from American Idol, Dario Franchitti, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Rascal Flatts. Colton Dixon was cool; he came up to Colton and told him his hair was cool (which Colton had gotten his haircut back in Cali, and got the same style haircut without knowing it), then took a picture with us. Then we got to fill the seats of anyone who got up during the CMT award show, to make sure the stadium looked "full". Cool experience! :)
Right after we played downtown Nashville for the CMA week, we drove all night to KS, for the Little House on the Prairie "Prairie Days" event, and played there throughout the day. That was SO fun, but we got SUPER sunburnt (right before Stevie and Darren's wedding the next week. But it ended up fading right before, so that was good). The next day, we played at a church in Park City, KS, for their worship service, and got to spend the whole day with the church and friends. They REALLY blessed us so much! They have enormous hearts for God and for missions! And our friend Lori (that we met at Zoomdweebies, a venue we played in our earlier days, no longer open anymore) was so hospitable to us, and hung out with us and allowed us to hold her dove Dedee. That night we played a full concert for the church, one of the BEST crowds we've played for ever! They were amazing! Oh, and we got to meet some people who were into Lolita and Anime conventions. They were really cool.
We're also talking to a label right now about getting on their label, and possibly getting booked shows in August out to the west coast! We're going to meet and talk with him again in Georgia this weekend. We're starting the extreme tour this weekend, leaving KS on Saturday for Macon, GA! :) SOOO excited! :)
While we've been here in KS (since the wedding, which I'll get back to), we've really been working on our merch for the tour, and also on our single album that we'll be releasing on tour. Colton's worked SO hard on it, and done such a great job recording, editting, and mixing it. It's turned out phenomenal! So excited to release it, so you all can hear it! :) Lots of merch this year, too-- many varieties and colors to our buttons, shirts, drumsticks, and jewelry. Been lots of fun to work on.
The wedding!!!! So, we all had to work a LOT of wedding stuff when we first got here. Stevie and Darren were rushing everywhere to get things done, Miss April and Mr. Steve and make sure all was together, and Colton and I worked on the bridal shower stuff. The girls of the Schrag family and our family had a surprise victorian tea party (complete with scones and cream!) for Stevie, and it turned out amazing and super fun (especially a certain game much like musical chairs, but with goofy, Quelf-like actions in it). And the WEDDING!!! Agh, the wedding was gorgeous. Stevie was SO beautiful! I'll let the pictures tell the stories. But their first kiss EVER was super sweet. I cried, almost bawled. Madi (Darren's sister), too. All the guys looked like hobbits (clothing-wise, not foot hair). And Stevie looks like she should be a wedding dress model. Or the queen of Fairyland. The rest of the wedding was so fun, their dancing, our dancing (dubstep and moshpitting!) the food, seeing friends, and for Colton, Seth and Sara (Darren's brother and his wife), "trashing" the going-away car was really fun. Somehow, we forgot Stevie's going away dress at home, so they weren't even able to leave for an hour, and almost everyone had to go home (many for long distances). Turned out perfect, though-- there was a pretty sunset for them!
The in-between stuff of our weeks have been fun. We've been showing our electric-guitarist, Brendan, all the "Kansas Culture" (all the things we do almost every time we come back to Indy), which consists of lots of Tropical Snow (snocones), the park, the Big Hill and Elk City lake, El Pueblito's Mexican restaurant, Brahm's Ice Cream, the zoo, our friend's house (the Smiths! wOOt!), walmart (though we haven't done that yet-- you have to be REALLY bored to go to there. Only the winter for us), and the zoo.
We got an iPhone! Many wouldn't think that was exciting-- but for a band that's computers are almost always in use, having a way to Twitter, Facebook, and take pictures and videos and get on the internet is REALLY amazing. I was praying about this phone, and it came. And it's been REALLY handy. Thank you, God!!!
Had to go the doctor. And get blood drawn. I used to cry, honestly. This time, I watched the lady fill up two hefty tubes with my arm-blood. I felt a bit brave afterwards. Celebrate: Tropical Sno-Cones.
In our reallly tired times, after working all day, it's fun to watch Brendan, Colton, and Darren play minecraft. Brendan's tricky, and breaks their windows and builds huge towers on their houses. And Darren and Colton freak out at creepers, that blow up everything and waste their time. It's quite entertaining.
We've also been spending a lot of time with our friend Corbin. He's got the BIGGEST heart in the world. His family is a farming family, and his whole family ancestry were all farmers, too, going back 7 generations to the family in Scotland. Corbin's taken us miniature golfing at the park twice (the first time, it closed before we could finish. Yesterday, we went and finished, and celebrated with DQ and playing Clue at home. That was THE best game of Clue I've ever played. I laughed so many times, so hard, that I cried, and had to leave the room to try to control myself. Chewing ice DOES help). We went to our friend's house (the Smith's) house for their son's first birthday. That was really fun, too-- he ripped into the paper and ate so much cake, he snorted from sugar-rush.
Lastly, God's really been helping me a lot lately. He's been showing me how deep His love is, and how much He cares for His people, and His mercy in helping me with the eating disorder, in helping me grow in controlling my emotions and stress (still got a ways to go, but it's been amazing to see how blatently obvious God's strength has been helping me), and in helping me remember to thank Him (and to SEE all the amazing blessings He gives me every day to be thankful for, especially for the fact that He's given me a new heart and His Spirit within me, to desire Him and love Him and obey Him, and for the gospel, and for the hope of eternal life with Him that I have now. How could I ask for anything else, when He's given me Jesus? It's like asking for a crumb, when I have the loaf of bread; or for a drop of water, when I have the ocean).
Getting ready to hit the road. See you guys in the coming months! :)
Love, zara
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