rock star in my bed.

holy goodness, it's almost Christmas!! and it's been a LONG time since i've posted, oops.

we often have bands stay at our place and over the summer a band tweeted at my roommate asking if we wouldn't mind having them even though no one in our house knew them personally. always wanting to help potential friends in need we said, "sure!"
thing of it was, only my one roommate was going to be around the night they were there, she said she didn't mind though so they came over and spent the night and went on their merry way.

a couple of months later i had the opportunity to go see these boys in concert and i was determined to figure out which one had slept in my bed....not because they had done anything to it but because sometimes i get questions stuck in my head and can't move on until the mystery is solved. so we watched the show (good job OIT boys) and afterward i literally started asking all of them if they had slept in my bed. after one time of just walking up and saying, "did you sleep in my bed" without explanation that they had stayed at my house i learned to preface it with a "this summer you stayed at my house and i was gone when you guys came but i just really want to know..." none of them seemed to remember and we had all moved on and were standing around in a circle chatting when this conversation ensued:

palmer: "wait, do you have the bed with the animal print pillows?"
me: "YES! the big zebra print pillows!"
palmer: "it was me, i slept in your bed."
me: "awesome."
*sara and palmer high five*
kevin: "never before has a girl been so excited about palmer being in their bed."

xo

song and a weddin'

tomorrow i'm headed into studio to record. but just one song. and it's just for a silly little contest but i'm still excited. it's a song about love by the band he is we and adam young did the male vocals on it so when all is said and done it will seem like i've recorded a song with mr. owl city, ha!
the second part of the contest involves making a video. we're going to film a wedding scene next week and i'm so excited! i love planning and since i'm apparently not planning my own wedding anytime soon (ie. i'm single) it's been fun putting all of this together! in fact, as i sit here typing this i'm wearing a veil and fake engagement ring...which now seems more pathetic than fun but whatever!
i'm excited and maybe, just maybe, i'll upload the video when it's done!

xo

feeling feisty.

i am a lover of songs. words and melodies put together in a way that makes you pump your fist in the air and sing at the top of your lungs. or makes your breath catch and your eyes fill with tears. Or gives you the courage to stand up for what is right. or just maybe gives you a flicker of hope. songs are emotional, wonderful. i will fight for the songs i love.
it makes my blood boil when i hear people say, “there is just no good Christian music.” whether or not there should be a classification of “christian music” is a different tale, right now there is a classified genre and it is filled with amazing artists of faith that are putting out high quality songs (lyrically and musically) that easily rivals that of the mainstream. i am going to go ahead and assume that the people who claim there is “no good Christian music“ are ignorant. they don’t know. they don’t know what is out there and are making their bold claims based off what they remember being played in youth group back in 1998.

you like boy bands and pop music? anthem lights, group 1 crew, britt nicole, charmaine, capital lights, breanne duren, FM static, arrows and sound, and he is we are better than top 40 on mainstream radio.

or maybe you’re more into the mumford and sons scene: have you heard of mike mains and the branches, from indian lakes, abandon kansas, SHIROCK, discover america, listener, a lion named roar, paper route, abel, ravenhill? yeah, i didn’t think so.

we’ve got something for you kids who like to dance too: and then there were none, rocky loves emily, swimming with dolphins, LIGHTS, we are leo, love out loud, capital kings, and family force 5 should get you on the dancefloor.

straight up rock fans, you’re in luck: the wedding, thousand foot krutch, the almost, i am empire, ruth, ivoryline, the classic crime, wavorly, ocean is theory, children 18:3, skyhawk drive, hyland, icon for hire and the savvy surely won’t disappoint.

to the coffee drinking, acoustic/folksy lovers we’ve got your bases covered too: jon foreman, jenny & tyler, the civil wars, john mark mcmillan, dustin ruth, and gungor will give you indie cred.

keep your pants on hip hop homies, for you there’s: lecrae, trip lee, tedashii, and others but i'm not as versed in this genre so this is what you get.

i would never forget about you screamo, wall-of-death fans: for today, underoath, showbread, these hearts, a plea for purging, maylene and the sons of disaster, as i lay dying, oh sleeper and norma jean will make your circle pit hearts happy.

now i’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not but there are a TON of artists of faith who have crossed over into mainstream music and have successfully maintained their integrity as christians while creating music for a wider audience; NEEDTOBREATHE, switchfoot, mat kearney, owl city, relient k, the rocket summer, anberlin and mute math to name a few.

i dare you to listen to all of those groups (and this is by no means an exhaustive list) and then tell me that you hated all of them. that not a single one of these artists and/or bands were talented and that they can’t stand up against some of your favorite “secular” stuff. i double dog dare you.

xo

yoga in a cornfield.

one of the most random memories of lifelight 2011 is yoga in a cornfield with david duffield.

i knew the 'we are leo' boys were at lifelight but i hadn't seen them yet when i went to the car to grab a diet coke and who should i run into but frontman, david! we exchanged pleasantries then got talking about how david has recently gotten into doing yoga, especially before shows, to stretch, think, meditate and pray.

of course i needed to see an example since i don't do yoga. i figured he'd do a simple one like that one where you end up looking like a flamingo but nope, he went straight into downward facing dog. might i remind you that we are in the middle of a cornfield...and a hay wagon full of people from a back parking "lot" rolled on by. he proceeded to show a couple more stances (of which i can't remember the names) and i was fairly impressed. especially over the fact that he could practically touch his forehead to his knees while standing! homeboy's flexible.

later i went and caught their show, it was the best show i've seen them play yet!

xo

because my words are failing me.

sometimes music is the only adequate expression of how i feel. it gives voice to my emotions and has the courage to say what i can't. he was wronged. he was robbed. he was is a great boss. the proverbial blood is on their hands.

Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I'm not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I'm still waiting
I'm through with doubt
There's nothing left for me to figure out
I've paid a price
And I'll keep paying

I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time
To go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell, can't bring myself
To do what it is you think I should

I know you said
Can't you just get over it?
It turned my whole world around
And I kinda like it

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don't mind sayin'
It's a sad, sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter sayin' that I better
Shut up and sing or my life will be over

I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time
To go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell, can't bring myself
To do what it is you think I should

Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I'm not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I'm still waiting.

xo

we are the outsiders.

there once was a girl who was smitten with needtobreathe. this girl, we'll call her sara, works at a college that is set in the middle of a corn field. then, as fate would have it, she found out that needtobreathe was going to be playing a free show in the middle in the afternoon the next day in the town neighboring that corn field. how fortuitous!
she was granted the afternoon off of work, gathered some friends and went to the show. the band played on a lake on a floating barge and sara was given permission to sit on some bleachers in the lake about 15 feet in front of the barge. oh how glorious those four songs on lake waconia were. as always, they played famously and left everyone wanting more.

this is from a point and shoot. so close to the action. photo credit: kimmie moehring

after they played the band hung out on the docks and chatted with the hundred or so people that were there. sara got to have a conversation with seth bolt, a charming bassist/mandolin player with a smile that breaks hearts. she is now in love.

after the show picture by the lake!

xo

forgiveness.

so every once in awhile a rock star is the one saying something instead of me. but usually whatever they say is much more eloquent and profound than the word vomit i generally produce. this is what was said:
"today i was sincerely forgiven by another person who I hurt worse than anyone I've ever hurt. that kind of thing changes your insides."
wow.
now i don't know if this particular artist is a believer in Christ or not but what an incredible example of grace given and a life impacted. i find it refreshing, too, that it was an example of being shown forgiveness and not showing someone forgiveness. in those two simple sentences, the humility is so loud it's almost deafening.
thank you matthew mayfield for your vulnerability. and for your music.

xo

i hate napping.

life has been super busy and has left very little time to do anything, especially blog and sleep. so i was running pretty much on empty by the time sonshine rolled around this year. some friends from arkansas had been up hanging out at our place for about 5 days, rock the barn happened (and was fantastic!) and then i had a seven and half hour shift beginning at 5:30am the morning sonshine started so sleep just wasn't an option...too much life to be lived.
the first day of the festival was a blur filled with selling merch, switchfoot and birthday fun (happy 25th bets!). by the time i finally got to bed i was into my 20th hour of being awake and had to be up in just 6 short hours to get back to the festival grounds because i was making my sonshine MC debut!
it was all the bands that had made the finals for the club 3 band tournament so it was fun to see old friends....and let's be honest, i really enjoy being onstage. family band shasta blvd. was up and i decided to sit on a speaker that was on the ground stage left. so i sat on the speaker and had my chin resting on my hands on the side of the stage to watch the show.
one minute i'm watching the show the next moment (or so i thought) i almost fell off the speaker. at some point i had fallen asleep with my head resting on the stage and was woken up by the foot of a band member precariously close to my head. i was asleep for probably three songs. luckily, i had on really dark sunglasses and i don't think the band realized i fell asleep during their set. i feel that would be one of the biggest insults to an artist. and i really just hate napping in general, so napping that causes me to miss music is the suckiest napping of all.

xo

i can't ever keep my cool.

so i have an apparel line. i also really like boys in bands. i finally realized that if i gave a boy in a band one of my shirts it would give me an excuse to talk to them as well as promote the apparel line....two birds, one stone.
one of my newer favorites was coming into town and i deemed them worthy enough to wear my shirts. ha! so i studied the lead singer, will, in some of their videos to try and figure out his size, cause how embarrassing would it be to bring the wrong size? i grabbed the minneapolis skyline shirt in a medium (most band boys are mediums right?), made myself look fashionable enough to hopefully believe that i would own an apparel line and got my butt to the show.
it was the first time i was seeing them and i was completely in awe at how good they were live. the music was full and tight with added gems like the saxaphone and the vocals were dead on, even when will jumped off stage and into the crowd, he never went off pitch. the best part though was the encore.....as it usually seems to be. they apparently never plan an encore and when everyone kept on cheering will came back out and was a little flabbergasted. he picked up an acoustic guitar and asked what everyone wanted to hear. the crowd practically called out in unison, "forever and always"- it's a love song and makes all the girls melt.
after the show i hung out for a bit so i could give mr. will his shirt. as the crowed thinned and my opportunity arose i panicked a bit and realized i had not prepared what i was going to say......gah. i almost left but he made eye contact and smiled so i plunged in. what i said went a little something like this:
"hi. great show. i have an apparel line, proceeds go to help end human trafficking. i wanted you to have a shirt, so you could remember minneapolis. it's a medium. i guessed on your size. don't feel like you have to wear it, i just wanted you to have it. really great show. my name is sara. uh."
word vomit. he was sweet and asked a couple of questions about heartsbeatlove, assured me that medium was his size and that he would wear the shirt because he actually liked it not because he felt obligated. so keep an eye out in the next few parachute videos...fingers crossed one of my shirts will make an appearance!
xo

roadtrips and memories.

here's a throw back story cause it's been awhile since i've written one of those:
traveling=love. so when i can combine a road trip with a concert it makes my world that much more happy. remember when i was one of the biggest newsboys' fans around? well i was in 10th grade the year 'thrive' came out and i had not missed a tour since 'take me to your leader' so there was no way i was going to miss this one. unfortunately the closest the tour was coming to my little hometown, minnesota was winnipeg, manitoba, canada. okay....roadblock....me and all my friends were like 16 and there is no way on earth our parents were going to let us drive to canada for a concert. so we put our thinking caps on.
"hey, rachel and ian (volunteer youth leaders) are from winnipeg, let's see if they'll take us!" - they agreed right away and we gathered together about a dozen people, made matching sharpie shirts, found a big ol' van to use and bumped our way up over the border.
of course nothing ever goes as easily as planned and we had one flat tire and one fat face to add to our list of memories from the trip. praise God for random middle-of-nowhere tire shops and vicodin (poor boy had his wisdom teeth taken out the previous day but refused to miss the show- yeah, my friends are hardcore).
once we finally made it to the arena we got to see some of my old favorites (the nb's) and an opening band that would turn out to be one of my favorites for years to come. maybe you've heard of them? they're called thousand foot krutch. funny to think that at the time i didn't know that less than 10 years later i would have met them a bunch of times, told trevor he has pretty enamels and sold their merch on more than one occasion.
never let a few hundred miles stand between you and the things, or people, that you love.
xo
ps. canadians are crazy!

love in the air.

so it's spring, verging on early summer, and that can only mean one thing...weddings, weddings and more weddings. being a violinist for the past 13 years one might assume that i've played in countless weddings. false. i had never played in a wedding until a week ago. and despite the fact that i was super nervous it was great being paid to do something i love! it was one of those moments where i felt like i was actually a musician and not just a girl who loves music and picks up her instrument every now and again....guess it's true when they say "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life"
anyhow, back to the wedding: the bride is a music lover and wanted "vanilla twilight" by owl city and "only exception" by paramore. the groom is a nerd at heart and opted for two songs from "final fantasy." there was no canon in d here folks- to which i say, "praise the Lord!" (i know it's pretty but i'm really bored with that song).
i had the privilege of playing with a phenomenal cellist...he is leaps and bounds better than i am and when i screwed up "vanilla twilight" during the ceremony he kept us together. thanks j.knicks, you're a gem!
later this summer i get to play in another wedding, this time it will be "lost in this moment" by big and rich" and "i won't let go" by rascal flatts. from electronica/top 40/gamer music to country all the way...love it.
the only downside of weddings is they remind me once again how very very single i am. no worries though, i am going to the parachute concert in about a week and plan on having will anderson (lead singer) fall in love with me. i'll tell you all about it.
xo

dj got us fallin' in love.

as my mama always says, 'it's all in who you know.' i cannot tell you how many times this has worked in my favor, including snagging some free usher tickets! i have a friend, her and her boy toy were going to go, they broke up, she gave the tickets to me...for free.
so i grabbed a friend (she hearts usher), we got ghetto fabulous, and we went to the show. we sat stage right about 8 rows up. there were some hilarious girls in front of us that kept a constant flow of alcohol going which only made them more funny as the night progressed.

glammed up for usher

akon opened for usher and did a fantastic job of getting the crowd dancin' and pumped for usher. and let's just say, he looks mighty fine in all white.
usher took the stage next....and by took the stage i mean he flew over the audience on a platform and landed on the stage. the hour and a half long show consisted of dancers, fireworks, confetti and a little bit of scandal. let's just say the show was definitely not "G" rated. those parts aside it was a fun night of dancing, picture taking and building memories, ending with a little jimmy john's.
xo

songs are emotions.

below is a list of songs i would live inside depending on my mood:

song that feels like summer: "you got it" by family force 5
song for when i'm feeling feminist: "not ready to make nice" by the dixie chicks
song for worship: "come thou fount"
song for the hopeless romantic in me: "kiss me slowly" by parachute
song that feels like christmas: "carol of the bells" (mae version)
song that breaks my heart: "let that be enough" by switchfoot
song for driving: "burn this city" by cartel
song for when i'm feeling 80's: "can't fight this feeling" by reo speedwagon
song for when i'm angry: "gunpower and lead" by miranda lambert
song that brings me back: "breakfast" by the newsboys
song for the southern girl in me: "the outsiders" by needtobreathe
song of my life: still writing this one...

xo

sometimes i miss being 16.

so sometimes myself and my friends like to pretend that we are younger than we are. it's just good fun and people usually mistake us for being younger than we are anyway so why not go with it? a couple of years ago we decided to drive down to iowa to catch the portable sounds touring featuring family force 5, thousand foot krutch, and toby mac. we figured that since we were going to iowa we really had no one to impress so we made some sharpie shirts, threw our hair up into messy buns and pretended we were 16, cause sometimes 16 is more fun than 20-something!
so we get to show where everyone seemed to be in wranglers or lee's, i'm not judging, just making an observation about iowa's culture. we proceeded to be the only 3 people that moved in the crowd the entire night! we used to think that artists used to say, "we love playing minneapolis, you guys are just so great" in every city with that city's name, we no longer think that....this random town in iowa got no such accolade. seriously iowans, get your act together.
after the show we decided to do the whole "get all the bands to sign our shirts and take pictures with us" thing cause we were being 16 remember? so we made the rounds. in the family force 5 picture we all look real special, it's hard to be krunk in homemade t-shirts and cheerleader hair.

thousand foot krutch was up next. in case you forgot, i'm a little bit in love with trevor mcnevan and i was genuinely excited to take a picture with them. you can totally tell in the picture, i'm grinning like an idiot. 

we ended the night in the toby mac line. he asked where we had come from and we told him it took us about 5 hours to get to the show and asked for a picture. he agreed, we got the shot all set up and the batteries in our camera died. total fail. but gabe-real came to the rescue and took a picture on his phone and then uploaded it to the toby mac website for us! hahahaha! his caption said something to the effect of driving from 5 hours away just for the show. some girl commented on the picture "i wish my mom would let me drive that far to see toby mac." we all laughed and figured we must have accomplished our mission of being teens again for the night because we certainly didn't have to ask our mom's if we could go to the concert!

i pray i never become too old or too cool to be 16.
xo

follow up, part 3.

the hosting gig has come and gone.
6 films.
5 not overly funny jokes.
4 dress changes.
3 hours.
2 hosts.
1 incredible night.

probably my favorite dress of the night!

it was fabulous and i felt like a princess all night.
and we got to announce that crown radio is merging with refuge radio. that's right, we're going fm baby!
xo

follow up, part 2.

so the show was last night and it was fabulous. beyond fabulous actually. there was hardly anyone there, perhaps this was due to the fact that the show started at 5:30! boo. anyway, we arrived a little late (sorry, we're adults and had to work and then fight traffic) and missed half of the mike mains show. then it was swimming with dolphins. then abandon kansas. the real story comes though after the show.
i was going to be brave, i was determined to talk to austin. so i bought a tank top mostly so i could have a reason to talk to him but also cause it's cute. then i confessed. i confessed that i was the girl who saw him on the street and then facebook messaged him about it. he remembered the message and wasn't too freaked out about it which i was very thankful for.
we ended up talking about the youth conference the band is going to be leading worship at this weekend and i'll be there representing the college where i work. i left it with saying that i was sure i'd see him around over the weekend and he said that we should definitely hang out over the weekend. i'm assuming this is due to the fact that i'll be one of the few over 18 year olds there but i'm taking it! perhaps someday those 'up in the stars' lyrics will be about me ;)
xo

follow up, part 1.

the band has come and gone. they were fabulous gents. gracious and left us a cd as a thank you present!
i had to get up early to get to work so i was already showered, dressed and eating breakfast in my kitchen by 6:30 when i hear an unfamiliar scratchy-from-sleep boy voice say, "can i get a glass of water?" i turn around to find a band boy standing in his boxer briefs asking for my help to quench his thirst. those of you who know me personally know that i am real awkward, especially around people who are just shy of naked. i fumbled around trying to get him a glass of h2o while avoiding looking directly at him. i got him his water and then bolted back into the safety of my bedroom to finish getting ready.
i'll keep you posted on how the rest of the week pans out!
xo

a week to look forward to will be a week to remember.

this week is going to be big. i'm real excited for it.
tuesday night: some random band is staying at our house. apparently they are kind of a big deal. i won't be able to catch the show due to work but i can certainly help play hostess with the roommates once they get here. i don't really cook and i'm kind of awkward at conversing with people i've never met before so i'm probably not a great hostess but whatevs. always fun to meet boys in bands! haha, just kidding, it's a ministry. really, it is!
thursday night: abandon kansas, swimming with dolphins, mike mains and the branches! this show is going to be killer. and a bunch of people i know and love are going as well so it's going to be like one big party. a big party with some of the best live music i've ever seen. and never seen (since this will be the first time i've seen swimming with dolphins play). please pray for me that night. pray i don't say something stupid to austin because even though i know we will never get married and adopt children together i still don't want to look like an idiot.
friday night: homegirl is co-hosting crown's spring banquet/reelie film festival with my radio counterpart. i get to wear pretty dresses (5 to be exact), be all dolled up, and pretend i'm hosting the oscars (move over anne hathaway). after the hosting gig is over i'm hightailing it over to a quaint little coffee shop to listen to my friend sing -remember the boy who sounds just like jon foreman? yeah, it's him. it's going to be a fabulously long day, glad i already took the day off of work! yeah, i've got my priorities straight.
this is one of those weeks that makes me love the life i live.
xo

this is my confession.

there is a boy who sounds like jon foreman.
i would marry him for his voice.
and lyrical content.
it's not jon foreman...it's someone else.
he shall remain nameless.
i hope he reads this and knows it's him.
and knows just how talented he is.
xo

i bid thee farewell.

one of my favorite clubs just had to move out of their current location. i was privileged enough to be able to judge the final battle of the bands night that was being held at the club the day before they moved out. i felt like an american idol judge (and i would pick to be ellen cause paula was crazy, kara liked the sound of her own voice way too much, and j-lo is such a diva). there were many things that made the night at the club fantastic, here are the highlights:

• a couple of really incredible bands
• free jimmy john's
• getting one last chance to be in the place that deepened my love for live shows
• feeling legit- my scores were the same as the judge from universal records
• hanging out with quality people

while the ministry of the club isn't over, i'm sure gonna miss the 5th st locale.

xo

i love love.

i've always been a lover of holidays, valentine's day is no exception. i had a roommate in college who would always wear black in protest against "singles awareness day"....whatever. she is now happily married and thinks valentine's day is fantastic, how fickle! but back to my story:
there has never been a valentine's day when i didn't feel loved if for no other reason than my dad always sends me a valentine and it's usually in the form of a cd or money. this year for v-day there was a free josh wilson concert in town, win!
the roommates were planning on meeting me there but the one with the car wasn't feeling well so i was flying solo on this venture. i arrived right before the show started so i ended up snagging a spot against the railing in the balcony to watch the blue-eyed crooner steal everyone's hearts. which was incredibly appropriate given the day.
he is a one man band and does a darn good job of making everyone in the audience feel included. he got the crowd clapping, singing along and laughing at his jokes. there was one point though where he called out one girl and made her feel especially special, it was his wife and he was singing the song that he wrote for her. he pointed at her from the stage and you could clearly see the love in his eyes, she reciprocated with a smile and a wave. it was absolutely precious. you could see the hearts of all the girls in the audience melting with every word, mine included.
someday i will be that girl, my husband will write a song for me and play it on valentine's day. and all the hopeless romantic girls in the crowd will think it's precious. i'll probably cry the first time i hear the song cause that's just how i am. it is going to be great, pretty stoked on it.
but for now, i will continue to feel loved by my dad and my Father.
xo

eyes like diamonds.

once upon a time i saw house of heroes. the show was at a venue where there was no stage just a make-shift stage area so we were literally standing face to face with the band. i could not help but notice that tim skipper (hoh's lead singer) had gorgeous sparkly eyes, it was literally like he had glitter on his eyeballs.
i was at the show with a friend who is friends with tim and after the show she went off to talk to him. i found a spot to sit since i had been standing at work the entire day and had stood the whole show and my ankles were turning into cankles- you know, where your ankle and calf all start to look like one big blob.
after about fifteen minutes my friend and tim wandered over to chat. tim and i shook hands as he said, "you're sara right?" and i answered, "yeah, tim right?" then word vomit happened and i added, "has anyone ever told you that you have incredibly sparkly eyes?" normally this is the part where the lucky recipient of one of my weird compliments looks at me guardedly and i want to crawl under a table. BUT this time was different, he chuckled and said thank you and launched into a story about how when he was a kid there was a girl in his class, roxy, who used to tease him about his eyes and taunted him saying he wore eyeliner. he was like, "i HATED her!"
don't worry, he no longer hates her and he's learned to embrace his phenomenal eyes. we talked for awhile about their tour and golfing (i found the tour talk way more exciting than the golf talk) and then it was time to say good-bye to my new sparkly-eyed friend.

if i ever meet you and point out something about your appearance that i find amazing, please still be my friend.

xo

booty touch.

so, as promised, here's the story of the time i touched toddie funk's butt.
it was the toby mac after party at club 3 degrees and the diverse city band had their chance to really shine. almost all of the members of toby's band have their solo side projects and this after party was really giving them a chance to showcase their own stuff...so naturally they had a chance to sell their merchandise and yours truly was manning the table. now there were three artists who had all their merch on the same table (toddie funk, shonlock, and mr. talkbox) so it was a challenge keeping all the money separate.
after the show things only got more confusing when the band members came to the table to greet fans and sign. they all grabbed their piles of cash and got to signing. we were still selling merch and all of a sudden i had ten bucks in my hand that now belonged to toddie funk and had no idea where to put it. so i leaned over and asked, "hey, where's your money going?" without skipping a beat he said, "in my back right pocket" and lifted a cheek in my direction. so i did the whole grab the folded bill with my pointer finger and my thumb trick and tried to stick it in his pocket without touching him. can't lie, i failed, totally grazed his butt but he didn't seem to notice, praise the Lord.
now one might ask, why wouldn't he just take the money and stick it in his own pocket? well see his hands were a little full with trying to open cd's to sign and hands to shake.
the things you do as a merch girl.
xo

MOA

i grew up in a small town but am a city girl at heart. i love living in the city and all that it offers. i happen to live fairly close to the largest mall in america which is great because there is a stage in the middle of the mall that often hosts free music, how fabulous is that?!
so there have been a plethora of shows that i haven't been able to make it to but there have been a handful that i have seen.
1. saw rascal flatts play a mini-acoustic set. some friends and i got there wicked early and held our spots all day. they were late due to the weather (thank you minnesota winter) but it didn't stop the thousands of people from going wild once they got there. they were fantastic.

2. i wasn't even planning on seeing someone play live but i was at the mall doing some christmas shopping and heard some pretty great christmas music. so i stopped and realized it was katherine mcphee. remember when she was on american idol and took second after the dude with the grey hair?? there were like a hundred people listening to her....i felt a little bad for her.

3. christian artist brandon heath played. i was impressed at how many people were there- just as many people were there for him as for rascal flatts! the show was going great and i looked over and saw a guy standing backstage that i recognized but i couldn't remember how. so, of course, i stopped caring about the show tried to figure out where i knew him. frustration growing at not remembering i hit up the caribou that was right by the stage for a coffee so i could still hear the music. about halfway through my coffee i realized two things: i recognized the guy from behind stage because of a mutual friend and had seen him on facebook with that friend and that i really had to go to the bathroom. so i made my way to the bathroom and who should be walking out of the guys bathroom but mr. backstage! could i just let him walk by?? oh no, of course that is not how my brain works so i approached him and asked, "do you know josh danielson?" he confirmed that he did and after some more small talk i realized what a bad idea this was....i didn't know this guy and i used our one common point of interest in my opening question! so i tried to bid him farewell gracefully and scurried into the bathroom.
when will i learn not to talk to strangers?
xo

beautiful things.

so one of my jobs is to book and travel with the two ministry teams that go out from the college, crown college to be exact. one of the teams is a musical drama team and the other is a contemporary worship team. it's kind of like being a road manager for a rock band but not nearly as cool since they usually play youth rooms instead of clubs. anyway, the contemporary worship team recently lead worship at a senior high retreat at a bible camp. the weekend was filled with outdoorsy things, camp food, a phenomenal speaker (his name is james grout if you want to check him out) and some really great times of worship.
one song that really hit me over the weekend was the song 'beautiful things'. it is written by michael gungor and performed by gungor (the band) and it is one of those songs that is so simple and so complex all at the same time. here's the chorus:
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
aren't those words gorgeous? to think, the same God who created man out of the earth wants to make our lives as beautiful as He's made His creation. neat, huh?
xo

shameless plug.

i have a little radio show. it is absolutely fantastic and i get to play the best christian music on the planet. okay so maybe it's actually not fantastic but i think it is, i mean, i am a little biased....my name's in the title of the show. anyhoo, it's called the dinner rush with sara walz and anyone can listen online at www.crown.edu/crown-radio from 4:30pm to 6pm CST monday through thursday.
and how's this for a bonus: you get to hear me say stupid stuff! i know you can always read the stupid stuff i say right here on this very blog but now you get to hear it live. i know, exciting hey?
i hope your new year is off to a fabulous start! here's to 2011 being the best year yet!
xo