Surprise!

I am usually such a stickler for saving all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving. So when my mom asked if I'd rather have an early Christmas 'surprise' or wait until Christmas Day and unwrap something from a box, I didn't really have an answer for her. What was this surprise? And why did it have to take place before Thanksgiving? I was really in the dark about the whole thing. I had no clue what my surprise was going to be, but I guess that's the point of a surprise, right?
My mom told me what to wear, and that we were leaving about half an hour after I got home from work on Friday. We drove to Fresno and arrived at the theatre where we had seen Wicked about a year and a half ago. But there weren't any signs outside the theatre. By the time Mom gave the tickets to the guy at the door...I still had no idea what was going on. It wasn't until we walked past a Merch table selling copies of Some Lessons Learned and Let Yourself Go that I realized that we were at a KRISTIN CHENOWETH CONCERT!!! At that point I started crying a little bit. How is it possible that a) I didn't know that Cheno was performing in Fresno, and b) I would be seeing Ms. Chenoweth perform live for the second time!!
Everything about the concert was amazing. She sang a little bit of everything, a couple of her Glee songs, some country, some jazzy, vocally stuff, Popular from Wicked (in English, Japanese and German), of course she did Taylor, the Latte Boy...and then she blew the roof off the theatre with Bring Him Home from Les Miserables...and I cried for the second time that night. She encored with I Will Always Love You, and I never wanted her to stop singing!

#ChristianConcertProblems

Last night I got to experience The Rock and Worship Roadshow

The experience included driving about an hour or so to Fresno, waiting in line for about half an hour, and then rocking out in worship for about 4 or 5 hours...with about 15,000 or so other Christians!

I love going to concerts, nothing beats a live show! My favorite thing about Christian concerts though, is the array of people you see there. From the very young (we're talking actual babies) to this old couple who were probably in their 60's. People of every race and background, soccer moms and punks with mohawks...all coming together because they all worship the same God! Plus, if you see a cute guy at a Christian concert, you've automatically got so much in common...which leads me to #ChristianConcertProblem numero uno:

Is it a wedding ring, or a purity ring?

"Maybe it's a purity ring, we are at a Christian concert"-my friend, K!

While waiting in line, there were three people in front of me and K. Two guys and a girl. One of guys was very obviously in a couple with the girl...so K and I snuck a peek at the left hand of the other guy. A ring, but no wife.

This ties in to my second #ChristianConcertProblem

Sitting by an entire high school youth group, instead of a couple of cute Jesus-loving guys

Right? And then when there are some cute guys in the row in front of you, one of them is just goofy enough to be cute (but inexplicably has a super pretty girlfriend*) and the other, well...how do introduce yourself to a random stranger without him thinking you're a brazen hussy?

-sigh-

Then K and I ended up 'window shopping' for our future husbands while bands of cute musicians occupied the stage ("and he's a Christian!"). I decided I'm going to marry the guitar player from Disciple and K is going to marry the keyboardist from Tenth Avenue North...no rings on either! So we're just going to live happily ever after as the wives of Christian rock stars!

*re: the goofy guy with the pretty girlfriend. This combination always confuses me. For one, the pretty girls should leave the goofy guys for girls like me. For another, you never see the combination in reverse...for this reason I know I will never have a super duper hot boyfriend. Or, apparently a goofy one...since they seem to be snatched up by all the pretty girls.

A Farewell to Mugs

I feel like I should end this month with some kind of 'Circle of Life' (or 'Circle of Mugs', if you will) or a ceremony of sorts. Maybe had I chosen my first and last mugs more wisely, I could have linked them together in some kind of 'well, there you have it' phrase. Y'know something deep...or something akin to the 'in the end, we all fruit' statement the dad makes in 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. As hard as I try, I can't think of a way to force this mug together with today's.
Again, had my mug selection throughout the month been wiser, I wouldn't have to arrive on the 31st with 'the only mug I haven't used yet', but that's where we are.
Again, please excuse the PaintShop editing job. The text spirals and reads 'Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul'. Which is such an appropriate sentiment for a coffee mug, since coffee is usually served warm, if not hot. At least when it's served in a mug.
This is a poor replica of a mug that used to be for sale exclusively through Jamie Cullum's Website. But the price was listed in British Pounds, therefore ordering the mug off the website would mean I would have to call my bank and ask them to authorize my credit card for use in a foreign country. Then Jamie's merch people nixed the mug. So I attempted this recreation, fiddled around on zazzle, and voila...Jamie Cullum mug!!
When ever I use this mug, I feel the need to jump off a piano
I didn't take this picture, and I regret to say that I don't know who did...because they deserve mondo credit! In fact, whoever captured this is kinda my hero.
The last time I saw him in concert, I wasn't able to capture a jump with my camera. I got a pic of him standing on his piano, and then a pic of him landing...I'm not quick enough, nor do I have the mad photo skillz (or a super schnazzy camera) to produce such an image...but I feel major photog envy towards whoever did