2008 Christmas Picture and Letter

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope that this letter finds all of you in good health and happiness.

2008 has been an interesting year for Zac and I. Right before Christmas last year, when we were driving back from visiting family in Michigan, we hit a deer with the Volvo in Iowa. Somehow the car kept running (thanks to Zac’s amazing ability to keep “junk” running) and we were able to make it back to Colorado safely… it just took a bit more time as we could only drive during daylight. When we got back to Colorado we began a search for a replacement vehicle. We found a 1993 Subaru Legacy on Craig’s List and were a bit hasty in buying it. As a result, we ended up with a car that didn’t have a working “reverse” and needed a new radiator. The girl wouldn’t take the car back and give us our money back. :-( So… I took the major plunge and decided to lease a car since, at least that way, I could be sure that I’d have a vehicle that was 100% reliable. I got a 2008 Subaru Outback. So far, so good. The rest of the winter and spring were pretty uneventful. Zac and I still haven’t taken “the plunge” and gotten married. Hopefully that happens soon. :-)

Zac spent the year working construction near our home in Fairplay. He had the opportunity to build his first log home which he really enjoyed. Now, maybe one day, he can build us one. It turned out really well and he’s very proud of it. I continued to work at Wells Fargo bank in Breckenridge and part-time at Bahnhof Sport until August when the bank was starting to change some things and I didn’t like what they were doing so I gave my notice. I decided to go back to working full time at the Bahnhof in Breckenridge. I am pleased with this decision as it is much less stressful than the bank and more fun. The pay is better too. :-)

In June/July, I had the opportunity to take 2 weeks of paid vacation and visit my family and some of Zac’s family in Michigan. It was nice to have that time off and to enjoy the Great Lakes. I miss the water, living in Colorado. I spent most of the time relaxing and hanging out with my parents at Bay Harbor since Dad is working for Walstrom’s Marina there. It was just really good to see everyone and enjoy some “down” time.

In the spring, the New Kids on the Block announced that they were reuniting and releasing a new album. Yeah!!! They’ve been my favorite singing group since I was 11 years old. Not long after announcing the reunion (by appearing on The Today Show), they announced that they would be doing a tour as well. This announcement took the cake since I didn’t get to see them in concert back in the 80’s and early 90’s. They came to Denver on November 14, 2008 and performed at the Broomfield Event Center. In addition to being able to see them in concert, I also got to meet them through a meet and greet opportunity. I was in heaven!! If you want to read about the entire experience, check out below.

Another major thing that has happened this year is that I have become a CASA volunteer. If you don’t know what CASA is, check out this website: http://www.nationalcasa.org/. Basically, I volunteer about 20 hours a month and my “job” is to get to know a family that is involved in a dependency and neglect case. Then I write a report for the judge for each court hearing that follows. The cool thing is that I get to have an impact on a family and I get to be the kids’ voice to the judge. You spend approximately 1 to 1 ½ years on a single case. When that case is closed, you are released as the CASA and take on another case. It’s cool because, lots of the time, the family and the kids see all kinds of different people in that time and the CASA is the only person that is guaranteed to remain on the case from beginning to end. It’s something that is constant in their changing lives. I love having such an impact on children’s lives.

Well, I think that about covers our year. Not too crazy… just enough. :-)

NKOTB in Guadalajara, Mexico

So, this was posted on the New Kids site. Someone put together some of their video clips from the show in Guadalajara, Mexico. It's a nice mix. Enjoy.

My "Chance of a Lifetime"

So, here are the pictures from my "chance of a lifetime" opportunity to MEET the New Kids on the Block! YEAH!! I do hope that I get another chance in the near future though. :-)

New Kids on AMA's

The New Kids on the Block were on the American Music Awards this year!!!! I just got done watching them perform (on TV)! Awesome! It was great to see them again. They did a collage of music. Personally, I don't think it was one of their best performances... too rushed... but it was still really cool. Check out the video!!!

My New Kids Concert and Meet and Greet Experience

Well, I thought I’d take the time to share my experience with all of you. It was a day of ups and downs. I arrived at the Broomfield Event Center between 8:30 and 9:00 am. Kelly and her friend Kris arrived about 5-10 minutes before me. We hung out there all day and pretty much only saw the crew unloading trucks. People were arriving throughout the day, maybe starting around 11:30 or noon. At about 2:00 pm, I think, Lady Gaga’s bus showed up (for a second time) and everyone rushed to see who it was. At that point, I pulled out my camera and it got knocked out of my hand, by accident, landed on its lense and stopped working. So, I had to high tail it to the nearest store I could find and buy a whole new camera. L There was no way that I was going to the concert without a camera. By the time I got back (maybe 30 minutes or less) most of the busses had arrived so I totally missed the guys arriving, even though I waited all day for them. L

At about 3:00 or 3:30, myself and some of the other girls I met (you know who you are) headed over to the north side of the event center to start waiting in line for ILAA. We wanted to be in group A. From that point until 4:30, we were all shuffled inside and outside, back and forth. Needless to say, we lost our spot, even though we were first in line and even were the first people to get to the event center in the morning. That completely bummed me out and kind of put me in a pissy mood, sorry to anyone that thought I was not being nice, I was just super frustrated with how unorganized things were becoming (due to lack of communication between ILAA and the event center). In the end, it didn’t really matter which group you were in, you didn’t get any more or less time with the guys. So, we got our lanyards, my group was letter E and then we went to the party room to have food and drinks. I ended up not using my drink tickets, I just drank lemonade. We had a great selection of food… chicken and beef skewers, desserts, pot stickers, sugar snap peas, lots of good stuff. We saw the guys enter the room where we would be meeting them. It was so surreal. I mean, I saw the guys and it still felt like I was just looking at pictures of them. Not too long after the guys arrived, they started to herd us in, in our groups. It went super fast. They flew through the line.

When our group entered the room, I handed Zack the mini scrapbook I made for the guys. I probably could have handed it to the guys and it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference since it didn’t seem like Robo was really enforcing the “rule” that gifts needed to be handed to him or Zack. So, I hope that they saw me give that to him and I hope that they took a look at it later in the evening (or over the next few days). My shyness kicked in big time when I entered that room and I didn’t give any of the guys eye contact. After I handed the scrapbook to Zack, Joe started to approach me for a hug. I didn’t give him a hug and I approached Danny. Joe’s my “favorite” though. The guys were lined up, left to right, Danny, Joe, Jordan, Donnie and Jon. I just went down the line, hugging each guy. Like I said, I didn’t give eye contact to any of the guys and I also gave them all super weak hugs. Shyness. I’m so pissed at myself! I gave all of the guys quick hugs, only speaking to Joe, telling him my name. When I got to Donnie, two girls were by him, already on each arm, so I just slid my arms in and gave him a quick hug then moved on. When I got to Jon I said that I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I don’t remember if he said anything back. Since he has a reputation for being one of the quieter guys, I felt the least shy with him and probably the most comfortable, for what it’s worth. Then someone said that it was time to take pictures and I had time to pose nicely with Jon (I was on his right). When they took the second picture Donnie said something like “turkey balls,” or something like that. I laughed. After the pictures, we were told to head out. I quickly said “bye, guys” and that was it. I did NOT take it all in. I was too shy. I’m so upset about that. That’s my biggest regret, which will probably make me upset every time I think about it for the next few weeks. Would I do the meet and greet again… yes. However, I hope that if I ever have the chance to do it again (like in a summer tour, if they do it), that I can not be so shy and actually take in the whole experience.

Okay, the concert… it was in Denver. I had section BBB row 3 seat 12. So, I was the second row, in the center section, on the aisle… right up front! It was nice to be on the aisle because I had lots of room, except when people tried to snake their way up to the front. Luckily, security was pretty strict about that so people usually weren’t up there for very long. I bought my ticket about an hour after they initially went on sale (VIP5*), not Amex though. My seat was great. I’ll add pictures in my photos later. Lady Gaga opened. It was interesting. She’s all techno. Natasha Bedingfield was next. She did a great job. Then the guys came on. The show was awesome and when the concert started, that’s when I came out of my shell a little more (too bad it didn’t happen sooner). I was screaming and jumping around and just having a grand old time! I won’t go into details of the show because I think that the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. I think that the guys saw me standing there and stuff but I wasn’t ever really acknowledged. Some girls were dressed like they were going to clubs and they were pretty much the ones that got any attention. I was totally into the concert! The guys sang and danced awesome and were just really having a lot of fun… so was I.

After the show, I headed out towards the south side of the event center to try to catch the guys at their busses. At the meet and greet Donnie had told us to go to his bus after the show. When I got to the south side of the event center, I was promptly stopped by the cops and not allowed past. I sat there for about 45 minutes and pretty much had a breakdown (still was feeling terrible about being so shy at the meet and greet). After 45 minutes, I was shivering too badly so I just decided to head back to my hotel. Then, that was it. L I can’t believe that the experience is over. I just hope I get another chance this summer and I hope that if I do, I am not shy and really take it all in.

10 More Days

Ten more days until I get to meet the New Kids on the Block!!! I'm SO excited to meet them. It will be incredible! I hope that I have a great seat for the concert. I wish that we got more than a couple of minutes with the guys at the VIP meet and greet but at least we get to meet them. It will be the time of my life!

Election 2008

Barak Obama is the 44th President of the United States!!!! The first black President! Let me just say that I generally vote Republican. I voted Republican on everything but the Presidential race. Yes, I voted for Obama. I was undecided until Colin Powell endorsed him. That was the clincher for me (Powell is a Republican and I have a great deal of respect for him). Now... don't get me wrong... I don't agree with Obama 100% nor did I agree with McCain 100%... personally, I think that's not possible... to agree with a candidate on 100% of the issues. The other reasons why I voted for Obama, besides Powell's endorsement, are because he is younger and less conservative than McCain. I think that Obama will look at "managing" the country in a very different way than McCain will. They are from different generations. I also think that Obama will surround himself with the right "support staff" to help him make educated decisions for the country. Since he doesn't have as much experience in government (compared to McCain), Obama will need to utilize the resources he has available and he'd need to listen carefully to his advisors. I have confidence that he'll do that and that he will prove to be a good President.