life's a dance, you learn as you go...

webster’s dictionary defines “experience” as “the conscious events that make up an individual life. something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through. the act or process of directly perceiving events or reality. knowledge gained by actually doing or living through something.” i’m not sure when it happened, when i began to realize that life is made up of little experiences. but, i firmly believe this and actively seek out opportunities to experience something new.

these past few months have been very busy…filled with all kinds of new experiences.

1) in mid-april my boss asked if i would like to attend a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. i said yes immediately. 1) i love to travel. 2) i love country music. 3) why would i say no?

the conference was for writers, graphic designers, photographers, public relations, marketing…anyone who worked in the communications department for Baptist organizations.

two things i learned…
1) i love Nashville! my friend Amber (aka…tour guide barbie) showed me all of the hot spots and must sees.
2) all over this country there are graphic designers, photographers, writers, etc. that are just like me. it was great to meet a network of people that i can relate to.

this is a quote from one of these new friends…(as we were pulling up to a very sketchy looking bowling alley). “ladies, i predict that ya’ll are gonna get hit on tonight. there is a mountain man in there right now just lookin’ for a new wife.” (imagine this is said with a very thick southern accent).

2) shortly after returning from nashville i went to see broadway’s production of grease in downtown portland. i had no idea how much i would enjoy musical theater.

FYI…Taylor Hicks is less annoying in a broadway play than an entire season of American idol, which i think says a lot. that was until he pulled out his harmonica. a harmonica in grease…please

3) in the first part of may i traveled home for mother’s day, which also coincides with zillah community days. this brought with it my first experience running a 5K. it's something that i've wanted to do for a while now, but hadn't had the opportunity.


4) this past week found me travelling once again for work, this time to seaside oregon. with the busy schedule of the past two months travelling, house sitting, and a youth conference, it felt like really bad timing and i was not looking forward to the trip. however, my sister put it in the proper prospective when she said, “beckie, the worst thing you have to complain about is that you have to spend three days at the beach, really?”

once i saw the view from my hotel room, Christi’s perspective was reinforced. i mean, how can you really complain about this?

it IS a mad, mad world

i have refrained from blogging about my pick for American Idol this season. i found that people felt the need to convince me that i am insane. yes people, i am an Adam Lambert fan. i realize that while part of the world might not be ready for this type of artist, i am. because have you heard him sing? HE CAN SANG! no, i did not spell that wrong. i feel that "sang" is the only way to describe what he does.

i know that this is all pointless because last night america voted and Adam didn't win. and, believe it or not, i'm not heartbroken. i actually think that it will work out better for both of them this way. i agree with the following statement...
"I will just take solace in the fact that a) Adam Lambert will get a record deal anyway; b) not winning may allow Adam to have more creative control over his debut album, and thus he'll release more genuinely freak-flag-flying material; c) Adam won't have to release that insipid "No Boundaries" as his first single"

this is actually one of my favorite moments of the night...

i'm actually quite proud of cute little Kris Allen, who is also extremely talented. he became one of my favorites throughout the show and several times i was blown away by his performances. i'm also proud of Adam being so gracious as Kris won. i will be first in line to buy his album.