Starstruck!!!

Last night we went to see our F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E group of all time. Selah ...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, they are ahhh- mazing. They are our all time favorite-take your breath away-incredible,-send chills up your spine Christian singers. They are truly amazing. The group consists of 3 singers, Todd Smith, Amy Perry, and Allan Hall. When Brian and I were first introduced to them, in 2003, it was right after we had lost our 2nd baby, Keelan Lark, and I was desperate to find some peace in the wake of what I thought was the worst thing to ever happen to me in my life. I looked up my favorite hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" online, and found a version sung by this group I had never heard of, and when I first listened to it, I sobbed and clung to the haunting vocals of these 3, and let the grace and peace of the lyrics just wash over me. Brian and I were just taken completely with the vocals on the song, and immediately ordered every CD of theirs we could get ahold of. When they arrived we listened to each one and just fell in love with the music of this amazing and talented group of musicians. At the time, Todd's sister, Nicole was a part of the group, but has since gotten married and left Selah (how dare she! *wink*) thus paving the way for Amy to join.

We have seen Selah in concert twice now, and last night was one of those times... OH. MY. GOODNESS. We went with our great friends Tracy and Don Weiss and their daughter, Lauren, to the concert. We had a BLAST. Yes, that was us, sitting in the front row, and yes, that was me waving frantically to Todd every time he came over to our side of the stage. *insert red face icon here* What a huge huge blessing to be a part of this night. We were thrilled to listen and to be surrounded by and to let this God filled music wash over us... and you can bet we sang along! Erm, well... whatever you want to call it. ;) We had fun anyway!

OK, to be fair, that photo up top is -- ahem-- edited, and it wasn't just the two of us (although in our hearts it was, right Todd????)

Here are the rest of the photos ;) Enjoy!

From left to right : Allan Hall, Lauren (my friend Tracy's awesome daughter, whom I not so graciously pushed out of the way so I could stand next to Todd and Amy.. ahem --love you, Laur!), my fabulous friend Tracy, Amy Perry, me, and my new boyfriend Todd, errr, I mean, Todd Smith of Selah (whom is happily married to Angie, of course) ;)

Here I am, unashamedly gushing over them. Think they've alerted security quite yet?

Friends Near And Far

Well, this weekend our long awaited trip finally happened! We got to go and see Carrie. We had this trip planned for a long time, and it had a few false starts, but this time it really came to pass!

My sister Becky and Laura and I left bright and early Saturday morning and headed away. Despite the gloomy rain, we were happy to be on our way to see our girl!

We met her at AppleBees for lunch, and had some well deserved Appletinis and Margaritas, then headed back to town for some R&R in the hotel room sans kids. What a great girls weekend! Good friends, a few Smirnoff Ices, a deck of cards, and a hotel room -- seriously. What more could we ask for? It was a blast.

Since Carrie and I don't get to see each other that often, it was especially a treat for me, even though I had to share her with Becky and Laura! LOL! It was a lot of fun. I even got to see her adorable boys for a bit at the hotel, then we all went out to lunch today, and we saw the boys and her HH for awhile as well.

It was a great time, although it went way too fast for me. I have already talked Brian into planning another trip, for him and I and the kids, in another month or two, to go see Carrie again. Life is too short to spend it away from our best friends.