best day of my life? quite possibly

If i'm to go on technicalities here, then the best day of my life [at least thus far] happened two days ago on 25 March 2010. An unlikely day that almost didn't happen, but oh did it ever!

Honestly though right now, i wonder if i'm even awake enough to write this all out. but i'll give it a go- it seems that i write the best when i'm way tired

h'okay so...thursday = the day of the Needtobreathe concert at The Vogue Theater in indianapolis and i was already stoked for it because 1.] their Cincinnati show a week prior was awesome, 2.] a big group of us were going, oh and 3.] i was asked to be the runner for the band. !!!! yeah i thought it was pretty cool myself. i got the e-mail on monday asking if i'd like to do it. immediately i thought, "hm...what am i supposed to have playing on my radio?" yeah still didn't have an answer when i left

the venue was about an hour and a half south from purdue's campus so i ended up getting there around 12:30ish. as i was pulling into the parking lot my sister called and told me that there was an e-mail saying that it turns out i wasn't going to drive the band after all. after confirming with Tyler [the pretty rockin' tour manager], the venue already provided a runner for them. !!!! sad day. he did tell me that i could at least hang out with them while they did a sound check and stuff since i had already driven down- it's not like i am a nuisance and need babysitting. so that was a pleasant turnaround to say the least. i was probably bummed for a total of 30 seconds in between events of jen's phone call and tyler's phone call

when the tour bus arrived [in the pouring rain mind you] i met with Tyler and went inside while the guys unloaded. immediately i realized there were no other sources of estrogen present, so i went up to the second level and sat while the gents did their setup thing. Tyler said that i may be driving their bus driver to the hotel, so i figured hey at least it's something and was happy with that. not going to lie, i felt like a creeper, though, because i was the only one on the second level, and i was just sitting there watching everything that was going on. but i figured that sitting on the main level would be doubly awkward. it was really cool to be a fly on the wall for a few hours

after a while of observing, Tyler asked me to drive the driver [ha] to the hotel. at this point there wasn't much going on save for Seth doin some mic checks. so the driver and i ventured out into the rain to find the hotel by way of shell gas station so he could try and find some more rockstar energy drinks. i dropped him off so he could get some sleep and returned to the venue, to meet my first instance of ridiculous parking situations- successfully on my second try. booyah

i went back inside bearing cookies that Jen had baked for them since she is just a month shy of 21, which coincidentally happened to be the age requirement for the show. i returned to my post on the second level to find the band in the midst of their sound check. it was really cool to hear them play to an empty audience floor and see them not in a performance mindset, or at least seemingly so. rockin out without having an audience in front of them; playing just to play. genuine and uncatered; i liked it. i hung around for about an hour just listening and simultaneously doodling before Tyler said that he would probably need me to drive some people to the hotel again. fine by me; that's what i was there for

waited around for a bit after i had handed off the cookies, to which Tyler said he was going to finish off all by himself. when i was summoned back to the main level, i was asked to drive Seth, Bear, and David to the hotel. it made me laugh when they asked if i would mind. seriously why would i mind? i actually get to do what i came down there to do

i picked up the guys and drove them to the hotel in a torrential downpour. so weird that it had been sixty degrees and sunny all week, but it made listening to the Singin' in the Rain soundtrack on the initial drive down to the venue all the more enjoyable. but it was pretty rad driving them because they were super chill and so nice. i'm not one for long awkward silences and was hoping i wouldn't have to be mentally prepared in advance for them. lucky for me i didn't have to be. initially i was borderline intimidated to say the least, but after about, oh, 12 seconds it was totally as normal as when i was driving the bus driver

took them to their hotel so they could get a shower in while i drove to subway to get my grub on. while i was driving to subway i became increasingly more paranoid that i was going to get lost or in a wreck because that is totally my luck. not to say that i don't know how to drive in the aquatic elements, but some things are just out of your control when you are behind the wheel regardless of your driving record. needless to say i didn't in a wreck, but i was lost for a few minutes because my GPS hadn't been updated in a year and after three tries i was finally able to score some eats

when i got back to the hotel i was trying to find some sinus pills that i tossed into my purse to stifle, well, my sinuses. i was mid-search when Seth got back into my car so my search efforts came to an end because nothing says reassurance like your driver taking meds. so the best hope that my sinuses had was a prayer that i wouldn't have to deal with them for the rest of the night. oh and i also had Mutemath's cd playing, that was my decision on what to listen to, though i was debating on switching it out after listening to it for 2 hours

on the drive back we passed a 5/3 bank which quickly became the topic of discussion because "5/3 bank doesn't exactly roll right off the tongue." i never questioned said bank's name before even though i grew up with it in our town, but they did have a good point. now that i think about it, i used to do banking with them. oh well

when we got back to the venue, it came to our attention that my parking spot the attendant promised me would be there when i returned, wasn't. so i dropped off the guys and began circling the lot like a bird of prey going in for the kill. finally i found one and waited in my car, unsure of whether i should leave at the risk of losing my spot again. but then Tyler came out and said that he would try coning off my spot again if i drove Seth around. deal

we left and i made a wrong turn so we had to go through the parking lot again to get back to where we needed to be. incredible, just one go around the block and my parking spot had already been ganked. if there's one thing that i don't thoroughly enjoy, it's finding parking in a crowded lot. now that show time was soon approaching, things were only going to get worse. eh, i'll deal with it later

after i dropped Seth off i switched out Mutemath for Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon. good choice i thought. i parked and started watching my clips of Singin' in the Rain to pass time. i don't know what it is, but something about watching this movie, particularly in the rain, makes me so happy. it's as if i am unable to find any reason to have qualms with the rain, and i'm totally ok with that. gene kelly is the man, and in this movie he is a man in love. the rain can't stop him and in fact it makes his life more visually appealing, at least for the sake of the audience. i just love this movie so much and aspire to one day pick beastly tap dancing skills back up. but i digress

driving back, floyd proved to be a wise decision and i was recommended to watch a video about how the album was made. i watched the video yesterday and it was really interesting i must say. while i was waiting for Seth, though, Tyler texted me to say that in order for me to get back into the parking lot i have to drop the "i'm with the band" line and hope that the parking attendant believed Seth when he said, "i'm the bass player." i couldn't help but laugh inside when i actually pulled up and said that to the attendant. apparently he didn't believe me and i still don't think he actually believed Seth either, but he let us in anyways. i dropped him off and had to squeeze into the most inconveniently placed parking spot known to man. at last, my fourth and final parking spot of the evening!

at this point graham colton was playing his set and my posse of friends were positioned stage right. i was finally able to snake my way through and catch up with my friends who had to wait outside in the rain. when i was able to stop and take a breather i realized that i had experienced something that day that most never get to do with the very people that grace their ipod or radio. for that i was beyond thankful. God has blessed me so much in these past two weeks and this definitely took the cake. something so simple as driving can be so helpful [at least that's what i was told]. who would have thought?

by the time that Needtobreathe came on for their set, i also realized how incredibly hungry i was. my 6:30 lunch hadn't done much to satiate my stomach reminding me that it was actually dinner time. oh well, i wasn't too terribly concerned about it

i do have to admit that after all that had happened during the day, i saw the set in a totally different light. not sure what it was, but whatever it was, it was awesome. that is fo dang shizzle

afterwards i was waiting around for the meet and greet to congregate since it was rescheduled for after the show. again i felt awkward because my friends had left and i was standing around like a lost toddler at walmart. when the band rep came around we all made our way over to a corner at the bar with some tables and chairs. i was sitting next to a couple that were really nice and talkative. we met with Joe, Bear, and Bo, and heard about an incident at a previous indy show that involved a broken lamp, a bus-blocked gate, and a potential hostage situation. fortunately that didn't happen at this show

once Bo had finished talking with us, the people i was sitting next to got up and left, as did most of the others. wasn't sure what to do since we hadn't met with Seth or David, but definitely didn't want to continue sitting by my lonesome. i decided that driving them around counted as a meet and i was thankful enough or that so i got up and started walking. On my way out, though, Seth came up and started talking to me which was really nice of him i thought. I also talked with Tyler and thanked him for letting me help out when it seemed as though i wouldn't be needed. gosh everybody was so stinkin friendly! but that's not a complaint by any stretch of the imagination. i guess just what i had experienced from bands when i was a radio station's promotions intern was way different than what i experienced at the show

made my way back to my crazy parking spot and felt like Austin Powers in my attempts to maneuver out without hitting van for Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers. In a final act of kindness, one of the guys came out and served as the eyes for my blind spot since i'm not tall enough to gauge the distance between my car and the next at extreme closenesses. whichever dude you are, thanks a million!

i couldn't help but smile in spite of myself when i was driving back. although the events of the day had a lot to do with my extreme feelings of happiness, it wasn't just that. it has been the amazingly gifted culmination of everything the past two weeks has presented to me. life is totally what you make it- whether you choose to see the things that happen to you as a gift or something far less. Lately i feel as though my eyes have been opened to see things as opportunities to serve and to love as opposed to wasting my energy on selfishness. oh wait, i should probably save this rant for another blog

not that anyone will read this, but a tremendous thank you to ALL the wonderfully gifted people that make up the Needtobreathe band and crew for being so welcoming and kind. what you do is part of something greater and that is absolutely encouraging to all that are privileged enough to know and meet you. have a blast with the rest of the tour and i'll see you on the rock boat!