The Lucky One

OK!! Before you judge or roll your eyes thinking what I'm about to tell you is not a big deal, IT IS!!! My brother, sister and I listened to Amy Grant as little kids. We loved her! We wanted to be like her. My parents went through a phase when I was about 4 or 5 where they were mostly listening to christian music. I remember my dad walking to the neighbors with a stack of records to give away because they were "of the devil." My brother, being a record collector, gets sick thinking about what awesome records may have been in that stack.

For those of you who don't know too much about me, I am forever in love with music. I thank Amy Grant for that. My brother, my cousin and I formed a christian group when we were 4 and 5 called the Stoppers. I remember standing on a chair in my parents bedroom to record my very first song. The record button was broken so we had to stick the tail of a Bic ballpoint pen in the slot to make it work. Smart little kids we were! It's called When I Go To Sleep At Night and of course it's a song about Jesus. I thought we would get in trouble if we sang about anything else. I really wish my brother still had those tapes because I'm sure they are the sweetest little voices singing songs of praise.

As we got older Amy Grant was still a cornerstone in "our" music. We began to write and make music of our own, which is extremely funny/embarrassing to listen to now. We definitely have come a long way. As the years went on my sister was too cool to listen to Amy Grant and so Amy became a glue for my brother and I. I'm getting just a little bit emotional while typing this because it was such an important time in our young lives. Adam would buy every Amy Grant tape that came out and we would sit in his room and listen to them. He would play it in his truck as we got older. I, myself, never purchased anything of Amy Grant's but I know A LOT of her songs just by being around my brother and soaking up all her lyrics.

It's an understatement to say my brother is a huge Amy Grant fan. I believe Amy Grant's music got him through some testy situations in life. Amy's lyrics have always been there to uplift us when times were hard. She has a way in her writing and in her deliverance of a song to make everything seem like it's going to be okay. Her music has pushed me to be a believer in Christ more than any preacher ever has. There are messages in her songs that cannot be delivered in better ways.

Well, I've known for awhile that Amy Grant was coming to concert in October to the Broken Arrow PAC. I was elated when I heard the news! Not for myself but for Adam. I wanted him to get a chance to meet her and get his picture and spend a little bit of time with her. He deserves it more than anyone I know. My brother is a nice, gentle, talented, amazing person.

This past Thursday was concert day. Adam called me very happy cause he's been waiting for this day for awhile. To sum the day all up here is what happened.....

Adam meets Amy - Adam tells Amy a story of how us kids would ride around our dad in the garage as he lifted weights to her music - Adam calls April and fills her in - April is so happy - April, Zach, Ron and Amber go to show - April and Amber tell Adam that they will do anything to help out so they can get a backstage pass - Adam puts them in charge of picking up food for the crew half way through the show - Amber and April go to What-A-Burger with a long list - Amber and April return to PAC - Ron tells them that Amy just told a story about a guy named Adam she just met and told the dad weightlifting story - Amber and April cannot believe it - Amber and April take the food to the tour buses - Amy ends the concert and goes to the green room - Adam takes Amber and April in the room to meet Amy - Amy takes a picture with all of them - Amy is beyond kind - Amber and April stand in the hallway and watch Adam take pictures of the meet and greet - Adam gets song list - Amber, Adam and April have one of the best nights of their lives.

So there it is, the Amy Grant story that I will tell for years and years.

Baby, we're the Lucky Ones ;)

April

Me and my husband Zach

On the side of the stage.

Our view from the balcony.

Me in front of the tour bus, obviously.

Amy's dressing room door.

Amy's dressing room.

The song list.

Amy at her Meet & Greet.

Me and my VIP pass.

My sister Amber, me, Amy and my brother Adam.

Priceless!

Look at me, I'm sharing :)

I've had the day off today and instead of a nice little nap on the couch with my doggie I decided to do some "interneting". I don't usually look for much on the internet. I pretty much visit Facebook, check my bank statements and work on my blog. I've been keeping a list of websites I've come across in magazines or have heard about from podcasts that I listen to. Today, I decided to actually visit them and see what they were all about. I would like to share them with you in case you need a new site to spend a few minutes on. Hope you find some of them interesting like I did.

fredflare.com (cute stuff everywhere!)

givesimple.com (good gift ideas if you want to find something that no one else will.)

uncommongoods.com (neat items but kind of pricey on some stuff.)

organize.com (I spent way more than a few minutes on this site. i wanted EVERYTHING!)

myhip-t.com (I wonder if these really work. If so, then it's brilliant.)

shopgoodwill.com (this is like ebay but on a goodwill level. I found it very interesting.)

5dollardinners.com (This site makes me actually want to cook, maybe.)

Check these out.

April

"Zach, April, April, Zach."

“She’s the voice I love to hear someday when I’m ninety. She’s that wooden rocking chair I want rocking right beside me. Every day that passes I only love her more. Yeah, she’s the one that I’d lay down my own life for” Aaaaww. I love these words. Every time I hear them I get goose bumps thinking about Zach’s and my future and all the adventures we will have. Zach picked Brad Paisleys She’s Everything for our first dance at our wedding. It was a surprise to me. I told him he could pick whatever song he wanted to as long as it didn’t mention drinking and cigarettes and it had to be sweet. I was a little nervous of what he might pick but in the end he picked a good one. And it was for me! How precious! I heard this song on Pandora yesterday and it filled my stomach with butterflies. It brought me back to that special day, that special moment, of being a newly wed and being Mrs. Rowell for the first time. I always thought my name would be Old Maid Foreman. (which for some strange reason I was looking for APRIL FOREMAN on a sign-in sheet the other day at work.) Thank God He blessed me with a man that puts up with my picking and nagging and correcting. I can’t help itJ Thank you ZJR for loving me J

For those of you who don’t know the actual story of how I became Mrs. Rowell, let me just fill you in…..

The year was 2006. The month was October. I was a 25 year old single gal with a crush on one of the ushers at church. His name was Jeremy. He had said hi to me a couple of times at church. He had to, that was his job. One Sunday I got up the nerve to officially introduce myself and hopefully start up a friendship. I practiced all morning what I should say and when I should say it. I had it! The perfect conversation that wouldn’t make me look like a complete fool, at least I thought so. My mom didn’t show up to church that day so I was on my own. I sat in my usual spot and sweated the whole time. I was so nervous. Sometimes he would sit in the row in front of me (I always sat in the 2^nd row, left hand side) and sometimes it would be some other usher. He did not sit in front of me this day but I saw him sitting across the room. I knew I had to go through with it. After the service, I tracked him down and I had my words ready in my head. I planned to ask him if he knew where I could get an application to fill out to volunteer. That is not what came out of my mouth. But here is what did come out…..”Where can I ap to voltare?” Yep. Don’t ask me what it means ‘cause I don’t know and he didn’t either. As soon as I said it I knew it wasn’t right and I knew I would have to repeat myself. With a confused 'there must be something wrong with this girl' look on his face that made me feel about 4 feet tall instead of my 5’2 self he said, “I’m sorry. What?” So I slowed myself down and said it again, correctly this time. He motioned me to follow him to the tables in the foyer. By this time I didn’t even care anymore. I just wanted to leave. He handed me the paper, I said thanks and introduced myself, we shook hands and he told me to have a nice day. HUMILIATION!!! I was still determined to make him my friend.

A few weeks later a friend of mine told me she wanted to introduce me to someone. I said no way! I don’t so set ups. They make me nervous and they are uncomfortable and I was going to win the heart of the usher at church. She told me to forget about the usher and that she was going to introduce me anyways. She told me to look him up on Myspace and at least check him out. Sooooo, I did. The first thing that came to mind when I saw his picture is that he looked like Danny Wood from New Kids On the Block. Cute! That was all the effort I was going to put into it so my work was done. I checked him out like she requested and thought that was the end of Zach and April.

Well, a day or so later I received an email from Zach on Myspace and I knew it would be rude if I didn't respond, so I did. I invited him to a halloween party I was having and I really didn't think he would show up. Midnight rolled around the night of the party and there he was, standing in my brothers hallway with his entourage that came with him. Yes, it was awkward but we talked for a little bit and his friends were not shy to jump on stage and do some karaoke. It was a nice night. He called two days later and we've been together ever since. Sorry usher, you had your chance. :)

April

our first picture together

(plus my friend Lindsey)

Bullying? I don’t think so!

I am SO against bullying and I’m sick of the news showing a life lost because of it. This week is National Bullying Week so I would like to take some time to talk about it. This topic has been on my heart for about a year now. How can I help with the problem? Where do I go to help? How can I reach the individuals affected by bullying and let them know that it will pass?

I hate bullying! I saw it happen to my brother growing up and I’ve been a part of it myself. You feel helpless and you’re just wishing someone would stand up for you and make it better. It makes me proud to say that I have been that person before, standing up for someone getting bullied. I always feel like I should’ve done more though. The thing that really gets to me is that is doesn’t stop after grade school or high school. I’ve seen this extend into people’s adult years.

As much as the bully makes me mad and I just want to grab them by the neck and choke them out, I have to realize that they may be as tormented inside as the person being bullied. There has to be something going on inside them that causes them to act this way. I don’t think anyone wakes up in the morning and decides that they are going to be mean and brutal just to have something to do.

Two news stories have been on my mind lately about this subject. There is the one about the father who jumps on the bus and screams at the bullies and threatens them for picking on his daughter. I’ve seen the video and have heard clips from it several times and it’s not right what he did, but I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same thing. When you don’t want someone you love to hurt then sometimes you cross the line just to make it stop. The other story is about the 11 year old boy from Oklahoma who killed himself because of bullying at school. 11 YEARS OLD!!! That is so young! It breaks my heart to see his father on the news. This is a death that could have been prevented.

Bullying hurts!!! I’m not an expert and I don’t know how you help to make things better but just being nice to EVERYONE and being positive is the only start I can think of. Believe me, I’m not preaching because I’m not perfect. I need to work on this myself. I’m totally guilty of saying something mean about someone I don’t like or even about someone I do and at the time I don’t care. Afterwards, though, I do feel bad. What if someone repeats what I said? What if this person I can’t stand is having a bad day and my words are what sends them over the edge? I don’t want to be the cause of someone’s meltdown, or worse.

The point of this blog is to just be aware of how you act and who you act this way in front of. Be aware of the things you say and who you say them around. You never know how you are influencing and changing people. Even strangers at the mall.

I’m pledging now to Be a nicer person - Have an understanding heart and mind - Look for the good in people - Keep ugly comments and opinions to myself - Be a positive role model for my friends and family.

If you see me NOT doing any of the above, I give you permission to call me out on it and remind me of it. I won't be mad, I will probably thank you.

:)

April

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Fall Edition

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Not just fall, but the whole holiday season. Fall just kicks it off! I get waaaaaay too excited about decorating my house. I love my husband for letting me have full control of how our house is decorated. (He has his very own room, don't feel bad for him.) So since Fall is officially here and the weather has been delightful I decided that it needs to be Fall in my house. Below are some of my favorite Fall/Halloween decorations that get to see daylight once a year. They are happy to be out and I am happy to have them!!!

My little pumpkin/gourd family on the front porch.

My favorite little scarecrow in the front garden.

Some more little scarecrows.

Fall is never complete without a bowl of candy corn.

I just love this lil 'ol sign.

Okay, so when I bought this bird I thought it was a bird dressed as a devil, but when I got it home I realized it's an owl. So, now I pretend that he is a bird dressed as a devil. :)

This picture gets put up every Halloween since I got it. Such a sweet little Zachary Rowell.

I've had this little guy for years. He makes me happy every time I get him out of the box!

These cups are only used in the month of October. They make me happy!!

Hope you enjoyed just a little glimpse into my home.

Stay tuned for the Christmas edition!!

April

TOP 10 REASONS WHY I LOVE OCTOBER

1. Hearing Thriller and Ghost Busters on the radio.

2. Watching non-scary Halloween movies. Hocus Pocus, I love you!!

3. Costume Parties.

4. Hayrides and Haunted Houses. RIP Old Walts!

5. Carving Pumpkins.

5. Putting together the perfect costume.

6. Zachary Rowell's Birthday!! The BIG 3-0 this year!!!

7. Trick-or-treaters walking the streets.

8. The Halloween aisles.

9. Decorating my house for Halloween.

10. Candy, Candy, Candy