Friday, October 31, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Ben Folds Concert!!
Ryan and I lucked out, finding 2 tickets (on the day before) this SOLD OUT show! We went to dinner and then stood in the pouring rain for over an hour (no umbrella) to get in. (and maybe it was more like half an hour. I honestly couldn't tell you. The line was clear around the block and I was freezing. I tend to shut down when I'm miserable. Just ask Ryan about some of our ski lift rides...)
So here we are...completely soaking wet and oblivious to the fact that the next 4 hours are going to be TOTALLY WORTH IT!!:
The opening act, Missy Higgins (who we'd never heard of, except for a song I recognized from "The Hills". I'm almost embarrassed to say that. Almost.) She was very cute and Australian and we enjoyed her very much:
BEN!! IT'S BEN!!! We wedged ourselves against the wall on the left side because my past Ben Folds (when they were still "Five") experience told me to stay on the side where we could see his hands - because he's freakin' AMAZING to watch!):
Here he goes...time to sit back and enjoy the ride:
Missy came back out for the duet "You Don't Know Me", which I mostly videotaped because it's my favorite song on the album. I'll post video later - as soon as I get to YouTube. I can only do one thing at a time:
I love it when he stands up and kicks his chair out of the way. It means you'd better buy yourself a hat and then hang the eff on to it:
I love this picture because it shows you exactly how adorable Ben Folds really is. Just look at those glasses! And his cute little stripey shirt. I just want to give him a big hug:
This was "The Frown Song"..."rock on, rock on, with your fashionable frown...rock on, rock on..." These giant frowny heads made several appearances throughout the night. There were two of them on either side of the stage, playing battling keyboards:
In a really unfortunate turn of events, Ryan and I were sort of pushed out of our primo spot by two A-holes who thought it was necessary and hilarious to talk during the concert. Not only did they wedge themselves right in front of us (by wiggling around, throwing wild arms full of beer, and screaming "Army!" at the top of their lungs) but when Ryan kindly asked them to stop talking, they became increasingly loud and annoying - making fun of us for wanting to hear the concert. It was hard not to give them a piece of my mind (I had something ALL PREPARED...) but my feet were actually starting to hurt (super-cute boots that I'd worn all over New York without any problems). I quietly suggested to Ryan that we find some seats up in the balcony so we could sit down. (concert was at Uptown)
The rest of these photos were taken from the balcony:
So here we are...completely soaking wet and oblivious to the fact that the next 4 hours are going to be TOTALLY WORTH IT!!:
The opening act, Missy Higgins (who we'd never heard of, except for a song I recognized from "The Hills". I'm almost embarrassed to say that. Almost.) She was very cute and Australian and we enjoyed her very much:
BEN!! IT'S BEN!!! We wedged ourselves against the wall on the left side because my past Ben Folds (when they were still "Five") experience told me to stay on the side where we could see his hands - because he's freakin' AMAZING to watch!):
Here he goes...time to sit back and enjoy the ride:
Missy came back out for the duet "You Don't Know Me", which I mostly videotaped because it's my favorite song on the album. I'll post video later - as soon as I get to YouTube. I can only do one thing at a time:
I love it when he stands up and kicks his chair out of the way. It means you'd better buy yourself a hat and then hang the eff on to it:
I love this picture because it shows you exactly how adorable Ben Folds really is. Just look at those glasses! And his cute little stripey shirt. I just want to give him a big hug:
This was "The Frown Song"..."rock on, rock on, with your fashionable frown...rock on, rock on..." These giant frowny heads made several appearances throughout the night. There were two of them on either side of the stage, playing battling keyboards:
In a really unfortunate turn of events, Ryan and I were sort of pushed out of our primo spot by two A-holes who thought it was necessary and hilarious to talk during the concert. Not only did they wedge themselves right in front of us (by wiggling around, throwing wild arms full of beer, and screaming "Army!" at the top of their lungs) but when Ryan kindly asked them to stop talking, they became increasingly loud and annoying - making fun of us for wanting to hear the concert. It was hard not to give them a piece of my mind (I had something ALL PREPARED...) but my feet were actually starting to hurt (super-cute boots that I'd worn all over New York without any problems). I quietly suggested to Ryan that we find some seats up in the balcony so we could sit down. (concert was at Uptown)
The rest of these photos were taken from the balcony:
Bonfire!
We had our annual bonfire out at my grandma's farm last weekend. It was gorgeous. Cold enough to need the fire, not so cold that people needed gloves. We roasted hot dogs and S'mores. We served wine and beer and hot apple cider. Kay made her yummy carmel apple dip. We carved pumpkins. We even had the KU game (and later the MU game) on TV for the avid fans. We have a lot of October birthdays in our family, so what started as a celebration for my dad's 60th has turned in to an annual event to celebrate Brandon - October 3; Troy - October 16; Dad - October 18; Kay - October 22; and now sweet little Anneliese - (also) October 22. Plus, it's a great excuse to put on some hiking boots and wander around the farm. 250 acres of changing leaves and crisp, fall air.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Christmas in October
On Saturday, Ryan and I volunteered to work on old houses with Christmas in October. We signed up through Hallmark and got up bright and early (6am) to help out. It was really beautiful weather and we had a great time - despite the fact that we had to give away our tickets to the KU vs. Colorado game. (it was okay, we brought our radio.) I spent most of the day running back and forth to Home Depot for supplies (since I'm not very handy and all of my projects were done by 9:30!) I also took pictures and provided moral support. We met "Mrs. Newton" and her daughter, Ann - who were extremely grateful for our help.
Mrs. Newton's house - 4246 Agnes, right in the heart of KC, MO.
This is Tim, who knew how to do everything!! He and his brother re-wired the entire house and knew how to remodel old homes. (they do it for a living)
This is his wife, Julie - our fearless leader at Hallmark. (later, she bought us popsicles from the ice cream man.)
This is the fire extinguisher that I installed. (I didn't take a picture of the fire alarm I put in the hallway. I know...fascinating.) But it was on the list, so that's what I did!
This is Mrs. Newton. 92 years old and still sharp as a tack! She spent most of the day in her back bedroom "tiddying up" - I think she was just too nervous to watch everyone tromping through her house.
Ryan's project was to repair a big, leaky, stained hole in the ceiling of her kitchen. He applied three coats of plaster and used this cool heat gun to dry it. (Tim's heat gun.)
Ryan let me paint the spot after it was all dry - I was starting to feel useless that I hadn't done anything messy all day. (I did pull carpet tack strips off of the stairs and sweep dust out of her attic, but nobody documented that.)
The foundation had a bunch of cracks in it, so most everybody worked outside with this "Quik-Rete" caulk stuff. I later went to Home Depot to buy 9 more tubes of it!!
This is Ann, Mrs. Newton's daughter, showing Christine the pictures of when she was a runway model. No, really!
There are actually two people in this picture! One on a ladder, and one practically underneath the house. There wasn't much painting to do, but these two knocked it out!
This is Anne, who coordinated our entire project. She's a tough lady, as you can see by her "guns".
This is Gary. He's one of the guys who actually knew what he was doing. He showed up on a Vespa with his own thermos of coffee. We asked him a lot of questions, when we couldn't find Tim.
This is Erin (my Art Director) spreading concrete with Julie (her boss). They mixed up some concrete and started shoving it in the cracks of the sidewalk. I was totally jealous until they walked in with dried concrete up to their elbows (I guess they started spreading it with their hands?). I really wanted to get dirty. Maybe next year.
This was near the end of the day, we finally got a group photo. We're missing four people (who already left) but you can see how smiley we all are. We had such a great day! And Mrs. Newton could not have been sweeter. :)
Mrs. Newton's house - 4246 Agnes, right in the heart of KC, MO. 
This is Tim, who knew how to do everything!! He and his brother re-wired the entire house and knew how to remodel old homes. (they do it for a living)
This is his wife, Julie - our fearless leader at Hallmark. (later, she bought us popsicles from the ice cream man.)
This is the fire extinguisher that I installed. (I didn't take a picture of the fire alarm I put in the hallway. I know...fascinating.) But it was on the list, so that's what I did! 
This is Mrs. Newton. 92 years old and still sharp as a tack! She spent most of the day in her back bedroom "tiddying up" - I think she was just too nervous to watch everyone tromping through her house. 
Ryan's project was to repair a big, leaky, stained hole in the ceiling of her kitchen. He applied three coats of plaster and used this cool heat gun to dry it. (Tim's heat gun.)
Ryan let me paint the spot after it was all dry - I was starting to feel useless that I hadn't done anything messy all day. (I did pull carpet tack strips off of the stairs and sweep dust out of her attic, but nobody documented that.) 
The foundation had a bunch of cracks in it, so most everybody worked outside with this "Quik-Rete" caulk stuff. I later went to Home Depot to buy 9 more tubes of it!!
This is Ann, Mrs. Newton's daughter, showing Christine the pictures of when she was a runway model. No, really!
There are actually two people in this picture! One on a ladder, and one practically underneath the house. There wasn't much painting to do, but these two knocked it out!
This is Anne, who coordinated our entire project. She's a tough lady, as you can see by her "guns". 
This is Gary. He's one of the guys who actually knew what he was doing. He showed up on a Vespa with his own thermos of coffee. We asked him a lot of questions, when we couldn't find Tim.
This is Erin (my Art Director) spreading concrete with Julie (her boss). They mixed up some concrete and started shoving it in the cracks of the sidewalk. I was totally jealous until they walked in with dried concrete up to their elbows (I guess they started spreading it with their hands?). I really wanted to get dirty. Maybe next year. 
This was near the end of the day, we finally got a group photo. We're missing four people (who already left) but you can see how smiley we all are. We had such a great day! And Mrs. Newton could not have been sweeter. :)
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