On Our Way To Crazy

For a couple of people have never taken Valentine’s Day particularly seriously, we had a whole mess of stuff going on this weekend. I am wiped out.

It all started Friday night with a youth girls’ sleepover at our house. Thirteen girls and two adults crammed into our tiny house, with all the pillows and blankets and games and movies and marshmallows and kool-aid and glitter that come with them. It was out of control.

We played a rousing game of Celebrity (which included references to both the Andrews Sisters and BILL CROSBY, which I took to mean Bill Cosby but actually meant Bing Crosby, apparently my junior high girls were born in in the 1920s) before tackling a Valentine’s cookie making project. I thought it was going to be simple – roll out the dough, cut out the hearts, bake and decorate. No problem. Somehow, instead, we ended up with a mountain of oily batter that would not shape into hearts no matter what we did to it and flour everywhere. EVERYWHERE. It was all over the kitchen, in their hair, on our clothes. Messy messy messy. Fun fun fun.

After not nearly enough hours of sleep, we got them up and headed over to a nearby assisted living center for our monthly service project. The kids sang old hymns and visited with the residents, and were overall just full of awesome. I was really proud of them – for a lot of them it was their first time to do something like that, and making conversation with people in those situations can be pretty nerve-wracking. But they did a great job.

We got home mid-afternoon, just in time to turn around and go to a Valentine’s event our church’s men’s ministry put together. It was exactly what you think it was – dressed up old people, roses, cheesy love songs, linens, tiny desserts. But it was oh so much more. There was a barbershop quartet. There was a picture of our pastor dressed as Elvis. There was contraband wine snuck in from the hotel restaurant. There was an under-the-breath Delilah reference that made me cry from trying not to laugh.

It was… not cool. But we had fun with the other four people there under the age of fifty, and we learned a valuable lesson – sit in the back corner where no one can see you. And bring a flask.

We celebrated the actual day by doing nothing, thank goodness. We had a good morning in youth group, a quick lunch, and then spent the entire rest of the day reading, napping and watching the Olympics. We ate sweet tart hearts and pineapple salsa and it was glorious.

The Ballad of Love and Hate by The Avett Brothers

Love writes a letter and sends it to hate.
My vacations ending. I’m coming home late.
The weather was fine and the ocean was great
and I can’t wait to see you again.

Hate reads the letter and throws it away.
“No one here cares if you go or you stay.
I barely even noticed that you were away.
I’ll see you or I won’t, whatever.”

Love sings a song as she sails through the sky.
The water looks bluer through her pretty eyes.
And everyone knows it whenever she flies,
and also when she comes down.

Hate keeps his head up and walks through the street.
Every stranger and drifter he greets.
And shakes hands with every loner he meets
with a serious look on his face.

Love arrives safely with suitcase in tow.
Carrying with her the good things we know.
A reason to live and a reason to grow.
To trust. To hope. To care.

Hate sits alone on the hood of his car.
Without much regard to the moon or the stars.
Lazily killing the last of a jar
of the strongest stuff you can drink.

Love takes a taxi, a young man drives.
As soon as he sees her, hope fills his eyes.
But tears follow after, at the end of the ride,
cause he might never see her again.

Hate gets home lucky to still be alive.
He screams o’er the sidewalk and into the drive.
The clock in the kitchen says 2:55,
And the clock in the kitchen is slow.

Love has been waiting, patient and kind.
Just wanting a phone call or some kind of sign,
That the one that she cares for, who’s out of his mind,
Will make it back safe to her arms.

Hate stumbles forward and leans in the door.
Weary head hung, eyes to the floor.
He says “Love, I’m sorry”, and she says, “What for?
I’m your and that’s it, Whatever.
I should not have been gone for so long.
I’m your’s and that’s it, forever.”

You’re mine and that’s it, forever.

Oh my gosh, you guys. YOU GUYS. For weeks I’ve been planning to tell you a very important story today. I’ve been working out the details, writing funny lines in my head, planning the touchingly sweet conclusion. I was ready.

THEN. I realized I already told you this story. Three years and three hundred sixty four days ago. Why? Why did I do that? Who tells a story on it’s six years and one day anniversary? GAH.

Anyway, today is the ten year anniversary of my first date with Aaron. TEN YEARS. We are so old, y’all.

I had no idea, as a dumb 19-year-old, what I was getting into that night. No idea that I would never hold another hand or kiss another face. No idea that I had jumped onto a road that would leave me out of Texas and into Nashville and a life bigger and fuller than I ever could have imagined.

All I knew was that the cute, funny boy I’d been friends with for ages was holding my hand. And I was happy.

Okay, folks. This blogging every day business is tough. Especially on the day after a holiday when all I did was go to the flea market and put up my Christmas tree. Do you want to hear about the three vintage necklaces I bought today for five dollars? Or about how I found yet another of my favorite ornaments broken when I opened the box this year? Or about how Miles likes to crawl under the tree and take a nap?

These things are not that interesting. Also not interesting – random information from Aaron’s head. But when I started whining about having to blog when my brain has literally nothing to say, this is what he gave me. So I am passing it on to you.

FIFTEEN THINGS AARON WANTS YOU TO KNOW

1. William Henry Harrison passed out hard cider on the campaign trail and then died after his first month in office.

2. Friday Night Lights (book, movie and TV versions) – all excellent.

3. Butterscotch is called that because you scorch butter to make it.

4. If you value your sanity, don’t manage bands.

5. By the time America entered WWII, the American navy was larger than all other navies in the world combined.

6. Bears eat beets.

7. Jack Daniels has seven mistresses but was never married. Allegedly that’s why it’s called Old No. 7.

8. Lou Dobbs is running for president. (Me: “That’s boring.” Aaron: “It’s current events.”)

9. Four Christmases was a funny movie.

10. In the White House, the Lincoln bedroom was never a bedroom during Lincoln’s presidency.

11. Judas Iscariot either a)hung himself, or b)bought a field and then exploded in it. Or, if you are a literalist, both.

12. The single largest jump on any radio chart belongs to Kelly Clarkson. The second? Elvis.

13. Dallas has a skyscraper that looks like a wad of cash. On purpose.

14. Aquafina is the most delicious water.

15. Coming up with fifteen random facts is more difficult than blogging every day for a month. (LIE.)

Hi! Would you guys like another post about how busy I am? Great! I’m pretty sure that’s all I have to talk about these days.

Tonight is the first night I’ve been home for the evening with no guests in eight days. Eight days! That is out of control. This past week was GMA (Gospel Music Association) Week, which basically means that everyone connected to Christian music is in town for a whirlwind of interviews, showcases, parties, meetings and general insanity. Both of Aaron’s bands were in town all week and we were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

FRIDAY
Aaron and I drove up to Clarksville to see the guys play at some kind of town festival thing. Good crowd, fun hang out time with a couple of other band and all the Airheads you could eat. Very nice.

SATURDAY
The band (and two wives and two kids) came down to Nashville to settle in for the week. I took the wives on a sweet tour of homes where we decided to just buy one big fancy house for all of us to live in.

SUNDAY
After having our first youth service in ten months (which, yay!), I hosted the families at our house while Aaron took the guys to an interview. Then we tried really really hard to go to a wine tasting party with Sheryl Crow, but alas, it was not meant to be.

MONDAY
Monday was showcase day! You may remember last year, when I declared Aaron’s showcase day one of the best I’ve had. And I stand by that. This year he did it again, this time showcasing Danyew as well. It was the first time I’ve seen him play live, and you guys, it was pretty freaking great. (Shameless plug: download the ep for $5! Totally worth it! ‘Close Your Eyes’ and ‘Turnstile’ are my favorites.)

Now, obviously I am biased. But I have seen the band play a bajillion times, and I’m pretty sure the show on Monday night was the best one I’ve seen. Part of it was definitely the (packed!) club atmosphere, but they were just on that night. Which was good, since the place was full of managers and bands and radio guys. We finished the evening with dinner and pint night at Flying Saucer, and to top it off the booking guy picked up the tab. Excellent.

TUESDAY
Tuesday I actually had to work, which was kind of a bummer as all I wanted to do was sleep all day. But! Since Tuesday was the only night the guys had off, we loaded up and went to the Nashville Film Festival to see Hands On a Hardbody. Do you know about Hands On a Hardbody? It’s a documentary set in east Texas about a contest where a dealership gives away a (hardbody) truck to the contestant who keeps their hand on it for the longest period of time. It is amazing, and you need to stop reading this blog, go find a copy, and watch it immediately. They showed it on the big screen at NaFF and it brought me so much joy. Here’s a clip of my favorite character.

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday was a crazy work day for me. It is already the busiest day of my week, and this Wednesday was extra special because one of my senior girls was with me all day for her Senior Shadow Day. It was super fun to have her around all day, and it was really cool to get to show her what I do all day. Regardless, I’m pretty sure she still thinks my job consists of leaving facebook comments and looking for new ways to embarrass teenagers. The guys had a label party that night, and afterwards we ended up, again, at Flying Saucer. I love that place.

THURSDAY
Thursday! Thursday was the big day. The band was nominated for three Dove awards – Best Rock Album, Best Video, and Best New Artist. By this point in the week all of the wives and girlfriends and children of the guys had made their way into Nashville, and I spent most of the day running us all around town looking for last minute performance shoes and lip gloss and double-sided tape. We got all dressed up and made it to the Grand Ole Opry just in time to sit there for the SIX HOUR duration of the Dove Award preshow and telecast. Holy pajamas.

They performed (I can’t find video, but here’s a pretty sweet picture) at the beginning of the show, and biased or not, they were great. Christian music is the land of bland midtempo blahness, and they brought some seriously needed energy to the room. They didn’t win anything, but just in the last twenty-four hours Aaron has gotten a ton of response to their show. So we are counting it as a win.

Overall it was a great, if crazy week. I am tired, and Aaron is about twelve times as tired as I am. But they did what they came to do, we all had a good time, and we looked great, if I do say so myself.

I am posting this for the following reasons: I love surveys, I love talking about myself, I have been facing the posting white screen of death for days with nothing notable to say, Dooce told me to, and I am hesitant to post stuff like this on facebook. Because the kids I went to junior high with and the kids who are in junior high now are probably not interested.

I’m supposed to answer these questions about Aaron, that guy I married and get to hang out with every day. So here you go.

What are your middle names?
Aaron’s middle name is Kyle. My middle name is An. With one ‘n’. Which is totally awesome and not at all confusing. Hi mom!

How long have you been together?
We have been married for six and a half years, and together for nine. Nine!

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in December of 1998 and went on our first date on January 2, 2000, about two hours after I realized I liked and wanted to date him. So that was good timing.

Who asked whom out?
He asked me out, I guess. We’d been hanging out a lot, and had plans to go to the movies. He paid and drove and held my hand. I didn’t really know it was a date until then or that I wouldn’t be holding anyone else’s hand again after that night.

How old are each of you?
I’m 28 and Aaron is 30.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine, I guess, but we don’t see any of them very often. My sister lives in Dallas, where our parents are, so we always see her when we’re in town. Aaron’s brothers both live in the Austin area, so it takes a little more planning and organizing to get together with them.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Work, I think, just in general. We both have jobs that we love, but that require a lot of time and personal involvement and emotional attachment. Those things take their toll on us, both individually and collectively. It’s a hard thing to figure out how to take care of each other when you both take care of other people all day every day. But we’re figuring it out.

Did you go to the same school?
Nope. I graduated from UMHB with a journalism degree, and Aaron has a music business degree from Belmont. He uses his every day. I have used mine zero days.

Are you from the same home town?
Technically, no. We’re both from the Dallas area, but different suburbs. I grew up in Mesquite and Aaron grew up in Garland, but our houses were about five minutes apart. We never knew each other when we lived that close, though, choosing instead to start dating four days before he moved 800 miles away.

Who is smarter?
Hmmm. I think I am more book smart… I always did well in school and am good with the bookish things. Aaron has the common sense and problem-solving skills that I lack, though, which is a much more practical way to live. My extensive editing skills don’t help us out nearly as often.

Who is the most sensitive?
Oh my holy moly, I am.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
The best restaurant in Nashville is a little Greek place called Kalamata’s. They recently opened one near our house, and we eat there so often that when we walk in they start making our food. I love it with my whole heart.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Cancun? We haven’t done much traveling. We’ve worn out the road between Nashville and Dallas, though.

Who has the craziest exes?
Hee. This is an excellent question. I think we are probably pretty even on this one, but Aaron definitely has better stories. That I am not going to tell you.

Who has the worst temper?
You know those people who can let things just roll right off their backs? Who don’t get worked up and are always trying to find middle ground and solve the issues? Who always want the good of the relationship over winning the fight? One of us is that kind of person. And that one? Is not me.

Who does the cooking?
I do most of the cooking, which is kind of a new thing for us. Aaron is totally competent in the kitchen. But I am the one who finds new recipes and plans the meals and does the shopping and puts most of the food together. It works for us, and no one has been poisoned. Yet.

Who is the neat-freak?
Aaron believes really strongly that everything has a place. I tend to think, if it made inside the house, we’re doing pretty good.

Who is more stubborn?
If our stubbornness were put on both sides of a teeter-totter, it would be the most perfectly balanced teeter-totter of all time.

Who hogs the bed?
MILES.

Who wakes up earlier?
We are not morning people. At all. So the person who wakes up earlier is the one who has somewhere to be first. And the other one gloats and goes back to sleep.

Where was your first date?
We had dinner at El Fenix and saw Fantasia 2000 at the IMAX in Dallas.

Who is more jealous?
I am jealous that he can wear the same black and grey clothes every day and no one notices. He is jealous that I can get away with wearing tank tops in public.

How long did it take to get serious?
It got serious pretty quickly. We dated long distance for two and a half years, and it sucked. I wouldn’t have been up for that at all with anyone else.

Who eats more?
Definitely Aaron. He’s the guy who eats a PB&J twenty minutes after dinner.

Who’s better with the computer?
If it can be fixed by turning it off and back on, I’ve got it covered. Anything else is all Aaron.

Who drives when you are together?
Aaron. I am not a great driver, but I am an excellent navigator and controller of the ipod.

Who does the laundry?
We have separate closets in separate rooms with separate hampers, and we pretty much each do our own laundry. Actually, I say it’s because of the separation of clothes, but it’s really because we both think the other one does it wrong. (I’m just saying. They’re called dryer sheets. Maybe you should look into them.)

So there you go! Way more information about us than you were ever interested in. Now go answer the questions about yourselves so I can be nosy.

So Aaron turned 30. And we all survived it.

We went back and forth and round and round about what to do for his birthday. His original plan (which he now swears was a joke, but I am unconvinced) was to have a laser tag sleepover. I know that right now you’re thinking about how awesome that would be. And you are correct. However, it is excessively expensive to rent out a laser tag place overnight. Just FYI.

Then he offered me three options: a flat screen TV, a trip to see the Cowboys play, or a beach vacation. I, of course, jumped on the beach vacation idea. It wasn’t meant to be, though… we couldn’t afford to fly, stay and eat in any of the places we wanted to go. We could have done two of the three, but somehow I couldn’t make that work. So the vacation got pushed into next year.

Obviously, if you read this blog, you know that we decided to go with the TV. We shopped and researched and shopped and researched and came home with a 47″ Philips TV from Costco. It has a lot of features that have various initials for names and I don’t know what any of them mean, but Aaron is thrilled so I am too. It’s funny, though… we picked it out at Costco amongst rows and rows of TVs, most of which were significantly larger than the one we bought. Ours seemed small in comparison. Then we brought it home and put it in our living room and all of the sudden it’s the biggest TV there has ever been. Seriously, this thing is huge. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying. It’s a big TV.

The TV was a pretty big deal. And Aaron’s family was coming in to town for his birthday and we were going out to a fancy dinner. That’s good, right? That’s a good set of birthday hooplas. But it wasn’t enough. Not enough for me, anyway. The TV and a steak would have been plenty for Aaron. But I needed more. This was an OCCASION. It needed to be CELEBRATED.

So I decide, a week and a half out, that I should throw a surprise party. I get to planning and being sneaky and inviting and hiding cupcakes and beer at friends’ houses so Aaron doesn’t know about it. And his birthday comes along, and we all go out to dinner but the wait is an hour and we are already running late and Aaron decides he wants to go somewhere ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN and I am freaking out because we are supposed to be home in an hour and we haven’t even started eating yet but THEN (!) the hostess at the new place is one of our old youth group kids so I pretend to go to the bathroom and grab her and tell her to please have the waiter move as quickly as possible without being obvious and he does a pretty good job until he asks at the end “Did I move quick enough for you?” but Aaron is oblivious and we drive home and walk in the door and all of our friends jump out and give Aaron a heart attack.

It was PERFECT.

We have great friends and I have a great husband and it was an all around great night. Happy happy birthday, Aaron. I hope the next 30 are as awesome as the last, and I promise next time I really will listen when you say you don’t want a party.

Six years! How on earth did we get here?

Sorry to write the third concert-related post in a row, but I have to tell y’all this story. It is insane.

Monday night, as part of GMA week, we got passes to go see Jars of Clay and Switchfoot. Jars of Clay is one of my most favoritest bands, so I was pretty excited. Switchfoot I could take or leave… I like a lot of their stuff, and the show was good, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again.

(Third Day was on the show, too, but as I am pretty sure they don’t only play songs from their first two albums in their shows, I wasn’t too interested.)

The show was at the Wildhorse Saloon, which is this huge country bar place that has a giant dance floor with tables all around. We were standing on the left side of the floor, kind of near the edge. Jars of Clay came out and put on a pretty good show… they did a lot of new stuff, which I liked a lot, but they seemed kind of out of it and it was weird to see them in an opening spot.

So then Switchfoot comes out, and everything is all fine and good, they’re doing fun songs and the crowd is really into it and Jon Foreman touched Julie’s hand. We are in roughly the same spot, and there is a table kind of behind us. At that table is a guy we’ll call Big Crazy Dude.

Now I am assuming, as a general rule, that you have been to a concert before. You are aware of the fact that, especially in a general admission show, people move around. They shift and adjust and the people you start out next to are probably not the people you’ll end up next to. It’s just how it goes. It’s live music – people clap and bounce and dance a little. It’s not a motionless event.

I don’t think Big Crazy Dude was aware of that. Clearly this was his first concert, and possibly his first time out in public. About halfway through Switchfoot’s set, Aaron gets a push in the back. He turns around, and the conversation goes like this:

Aaron: What?
BCD: Get out of the way.
Aaron: Huh?
BCD: You’ve been moving in front of us for three songs.
Aaron: Are you serious? *looks around* Where am I supposed to go?
BCD: I already asked you nicely.
Aaron: What? It’s a concert, man. People move.

So he turns around and we exchange that ‘what is up with this guy?’ look with each other and with the people around us. A few minutes later, and I swear I am not making this up, BCD comes up around the side of Aaron and stands directly in front of him. As in, it would not surprise me if he was standing on Aaron’s toes. Now, Aaron is a big guy, and this guy easily had six inches on him in all directions. And he is literally standing right in front of him. The conversation goes like this:

Aaron: Dude, what are you doing?
BCD: I asked you to move.
Aaron: Are you serious?
BCD: You kept sliding over in front of us until we couldn’t see.
Aaron: It’s a CONCERT. With music. That people move to. What did you expect?
BCD: I asked you nicely to move and you didn’t. You brought this on yourself.

Sidenote: This guy was easily in his late thirties and was wearing a Third Day t-shirt with a Bible verse on the back. Also, around this time in the show Jon Foreman started moving out into the crowd and BCD started rotating AROUND Aaron to stay in his line of vision.

Aaron: You can’t come in here and sit at a table and expect to have a perfect view.
BCD: You got in my way, now I’m getting in your way.
Brandi: *laughing* Is this a joke?
BCD: Nope. Just giving him a taste of his own medicine.
Brandi: Right. Because that is totally what Jesus would do.

At this point Aaron turned around and took the stool BCD had been sitting on and sat down. BCD was just about sitting in his lap.

Aaron: Hey, man, you’re right. I’m sorry I came to a show to see a band I like. I’m sorry I didn’t stand still through all the songs. I’m sorry I sought you out and deliberately stood directly in front of you. I’m such a jerk. You have taught me a valuable lesson.
BCD: Funny.

It went on like that for a while. Clearly BCD had no intentions of leaving. It was insane. All the people around us were moving and shifting and trying to give Aaron a better view. The girl in front of me told BCD that she teaches 5th graders and they behave better than he did.

Then they started singing Radiohead’s “High and Dry”. Aaron taps BCD on the shoulder.

Aaron: Hey man, do you know this song?
BCD: No.
Aaron: Really? Is it because it’s not by Third Day?
BCD: What?
Aaron: It’s by a band called Radiohead. You should check them out.
BCD: Whatever.

That’s right, y’all. Aaron decides that the way to win this battle is with MUSIC SNOBBERY. Genius.

No lie, BCD stood directly in front of Aaron for at least 30 minutes. He finally started moving back around the table when Switchfoot finished their set… but then they came out for an encore. And he came back! You guys! He came back! It was so awesome. He was determined to make Aaron miss Switchfoot’s set, and he would not rest until he did it. Insane.

We left when the encore was over, and Aaron gave him a nice “Enjoy Third Day” on the way out. Neither he nor his wife looked at us when we walked by.

It was one of the most crazy things I have ever seen. Seriously! Who does that? Is this typical behavior from Third Day fans? Christian music fans? GMA attendees? Nashville tourists? I have no idea. But let me warn all of those people… don’t mess with Aaron. He will break you down with his music knowledge. I know you’re scared.

Oh my gosh, you guys. YOU GUYS. I am going to say this, and it is going to sound a little extreme, but it is absolutely true: Yesterday was one of the very best days I have ever had. Seriously.

Yesterday morning was a great one for the youth. We had four kids get baptized yesterday. Four! It was crazy. Over the last few weeks they all approached me separately to talk about it and it all came together yesterday. It was really special – just knowing these kids’ stories and how they got to where they are… it was a big thing, y’all.

(Also, and it feels weird to even type this but I wanted to get it in print for the days that really really suck – our senior pastor told the WHOLE CHURCH yesterday morning that I am one of the best things about GracePointe. He was probably just trying to be nice, but still. Whoa.)

Yesterday afternoon Aaron had a lot of errands to run, so I was on my own. It was an amazing beautiful day, and I spent about three hours laying on a blanket outside reading. Fabulous.

Yesterday evening was a really big one for us, Aaron in particular. This week is a big industry week for him, full of conferences and lunches and showcases and meetings. A couple of months ago, in preparation, he was trying to figure out the best way to showcase his two bands, Remedy Drive and Jackson Waters. Their labels weren’t putting anything together, so Aaron decided to just do it himself. He got himself a sponsor, a club, some supporting acts and a fancy invitation and before we knew it, we were putting on a show.

I don’t know that I can make it clear how big of a deal this was for Aaron. It was like a coming out party for his company. He started this business for these two bands, and last night was his first opportunity to show people what he’s got. Failure wasn’t really an option.

As it got closer, Aaron was getting visibly more nervous. All of our conversations centered around it. How many people would come? Did we remember to invite everyone? What songs should they do? Do we open the bar? Charge admission? How long should the sets be? WHAT IF NO ONE COMES?!!?!?!

Last week Aaron had taken to saying that 75-100 people would be awesome. The club is split into two levels, and that number would fill the bottom half really well. It’s important for the place to feel full, you know? So that was kind of the plan… block off the stairs and fill up the bottom level.

Y’all. When I got there at 8:30 (the show started at 9), there were easily 100 people there. By the time Remedy Drive went onstage, there were 250. When Jackson Waters went on, there were people everywhere. Both levels full, every stool taken, the stairs packed with people. They were spilling out into the courtyard and the bar area. There were people EVERYWHERE.

Who are these people? Where did they come from? How did they know about the show? I have no idea. There were about 20 of our friends there, plus the label people and some festival and booking people. But seriously, between the two of us, we maybe knew 100 of those people. I don’t know who everyone else was or where they came from, but they were there in droves. It was unreal.

It was such a huge night for Aaron. It could not have been bigger or more successful. Both of his bands put on amazing shows and there were tons of people there to see them. I have never been so proud as I was last night watching lines of people wait to talk to him after the show. It’s like he (and his company) are legitimate now, if that makes any sense. He went out on his own, he has two great bands, and he put on a great showcase. Because he is awesome.