The First Merry Little Christmas Tour

I'm sure most of you know, this Christmas season was Trent's first Christmas tour!  And so that means it was mine, too.  We settled on the name "Merry Little Christmas Tour" and started booking shows.  

We decorated our tiny cozy apartment right after Halloween (don't judge; we had to get in the spirit) and started working on the songs.

 (After we decorated I got my craft on)

The first show was in Trent's hometown of Amarillo, TX at Paramount Baptist Church.  All the family came and OF COURSE I didn't get a picture.  Arrrrg! Before the show, we did some press and promotions at Amarillo Globe News and Channel 4.

Sound check.  

Trent busted out a brand-spankin'-new outfit.  I documented.  

We got a new (huge) banner and a new t-shirt design.  I also put Christmas decor on the table, but you can't see it.  

After Amarillo, we headed to Arkansas for a week of shows...

FUMC Fort Smith

Ashley and Stephen Moad (worship pastors).  We got to talk about Arkansas State, which was super fun.  Turns out, Ashley and I were there at the same time!  And, I'll have you know, the four of us did not coordinate our clothes.  It just happened.  And I like it.

Rudy Baptist.  Oh, this church.  They warm our hearts every time we go.  Janis and Justin Martin:

Kibler Baptist.  We love these people!  There's something in the water, though. LOTS of babies.  I even got to hold one =)

Next was Hays Chapel UMC.  I have no pictures.  However, there were two older women that were at the Kibler show the night before and they drove an hour to Hays Chapel so their grandsons could see Trent.  These women were adorable.  I told them they were officially groupies.  They giggled, though I'm not 100% sure they got my joke.

We had a day off, then headed to Siloam Springs to Christian Life Church.  I had to take a picture of this room we were in (that was fully stocked with yummy snacks).  Because... Phil and Kay Robertson (that's right, the same Phil and Kay from Duck Dynasty) have sat in the very space we occupied.  I could feel their presence.  Not really, but it was still cool.

It was the first show I sang into a microphone!

Before we left Arkansas, we got to get our transmission worked on.  Oh joy.  After lots of car jargon was tossed around between Trent and the mechanics, it turned out to be not a big deal.  Thank God.  And thank you Wilcox Transmissions!

Back to Texas!  A little break before the next show.  We had lots of time with family (stay tuned for that) and even had a picnic.

Stillhouse Baptist, Belton, TX.  Small country church with big hearts.  They were so sweet!  They really got a kick out of my foot tambourine!

And the pastor came to the next show to give us a magnet.  And I LOVE magnets.  Like, for realz.  I do not adhere to the "no clutter on the fridge" philosophy.

And another couple came to the next show and gave us a Christmas CD.  The generosity and kindness of strangers is such an awesome reminder of God's love for us, isn't it?

The next show was at FBC Belton.  My whole family came out.  Which was both heart warming and rapid heart beat inducing!  They were front and center! And OF COURSE I got no pictures!!!  We totally needed some merch volunteers, but oh well.  During the show, Trent shared a little bit of our story with the congregation.  About the fact that without FBC, there would be no us.  Had Trent not met Matt and Stacie (10+ years ago in College Station, TX), who now live in Belton and go to FBC, where my sister and brother-in-law go, who invited me to go with them after I moved home, which got me connected with Stacie, who said Trent and I should meet, there would be no us.  Anyway, Trent told that story, which made me cry which made him cry, and made my mom cry.  It was a moment. (Whew!  That was wordy). 

My nephew, Noah, drew Trent some pictures.  Melt my heart...

"best singer ever, thanks for coming to sing, go Trent, Gloria"

After about a week off, we headed to FBC Troy.  Here's Whitlee Casey (great voice) and his girlfriend.  

We left that night and drove to Fort Worth for the last show of the tour (sniff, sniff) at Hulen Street Church.  Great people!  We will totally go back.  Here we are with Wes (pastor) and Aaron (worship pastor).  Trent and Aaron matched, hence my pointing.  Blue shirts, jeans, black converse.  I offered to go buy Trent a tie.  It made us giggle.  The congregation giggled, too, when Trent said, "I promise Aaron and I are NOT in a boy band." 

The first Christmas Tour was a new experience.  It was fun and rewarding and we look forward to next year and many more to come!  If you didn't get to see a show, here's the set list:

O Come All Ye Faithful

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I Pray on Christmas

Beautiful You (original)

Into Orbit (original)

O Come Emmanuel

Heavy Load (original)

Joy to the World medley 

O Holy Night

Stay tuned for more Christmas/New Year's blogs!

That time we trespassed...

When we were in Amarillo for Thanksgiving, after the food had settled and the football game was over, we decided to walk off some of that food and go exploring around the area.

Here's the group at our first stop.  Trent, Lue Anne, Larry, Travis, Amy, Whitney and Cody.

This place used to be a part of the Craft Center in the 60's and was once some apartments.  This vacant building is igloo looking with a semi-circle shape and  standing in its emptiness, you can totally imagine hippies hanging out.  Lue Anne told us that she actually had one of them rented in the 70's!  Crazy.  She never lived in it because her friend wanted to live closer to town.

We walked about a mile to the source of our curiosity.  Amy is a realtor, and the garage door entry was open, so it wasn't breaking and entering or trespassing.  It was house hunting.  And this sign didn't apply to us.

I have never seen a house like this.  Weird, funky, creepy, cool.  Can't you just imagine a 70's movie filmed here?  

The view.  This picture does not do it justice.

Time for a swim...

To the right of the pool, there are 3-4 rooms with their own door that leads to the courtyard.  Perfect set-up for a bed and breakfast, if you ask me.

And don't even get me started on this tub.  I want it.  The bathroom looked like it could be on the movie Tombstone.

And this?  I adore.  It's the entry to the courtyard from the street.  Fancy.

We didn't stay long.  Just enough to see everything.  I didn't go upstairs, though.  I was scared I'd fall through the floor.

I kind of want to name it.

Gobble, Gobble.

It seems like I've fallen off the face of the blog.  We've been in full on family mode since our departure from Nashville and have been loving every minute of it.  (In addition to limited access to some wireless internet).

This year was our year with the Monk side for turkey day.  My in-laws recently moved into a new house and it was our first time to see it.  Amazing.  I'll try to do a better job of taking pics for another post, but let me just tell you:  we love it.  (And there's tons of beds and room for some grandkids).


The first morning we were in town, Trent surprised me with a quiche.  Hashbrown crust, of course.  It was yummy.  

We went over to Travis and Amy's house for dinner one night.  They have two Great Danes.  Now, this picture makes Achilles look like a normal size dog.  However, if you notice the counter behind him, you'll see that he is THE SAME HEIGHT.  He's harmless and so is his sister, Dottie (Dot Pot).

And since we're on the topic of dogs, here is Sam.  He's rarely still.  And usually only listens to his dad.  But he sure is precious...

Trent's parents bought some new stools and he put them together.  I'm glad I did not have that job.  They took 45 minutes to an hour each!  There were 6.  But they sure are pretty =)

During chair assembly, Mamasan and I were on pepper duty.  It's not a Monk holiday without them.  Jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese wrapped with bacon.  *Pause for mouth water*

I was the bacon wrapper.  Because of course I was.  

Thanksgiving Day!!!!!

Everyone was bringing something and since it's not Thanksgiving without sweet potatoes, I decided to make some.  Which I have never done.  Ever.  So, I consulted the social media.  I had lots of feedback (hallelujah) and I settled on a recipe.  It smelled, tasted, and looked delicious.  However, the consistency was a cross between baby food and baby poop.  Needless to say, the leftovers are probably still in Trent's parents' fridge.  (Meaning:  hidden and forgotten).  Trent decided to make dressing.  FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.  And it was delicious.  Because of course it was.  Next time, I'll just stick to the cream cheese smothered in spicy jelly.

Trent's mamas (Lue Anne and Ginny) and Mama Pat

The men, taking in the canyon view.  Larry, Tim, Papa Tuck, Trent

Post-turkey workout.  I captured my ensemble, because it reminded me of getting bundled up for coaching golf.  (Except I didn't coach in yoga pants.  Ewwww).  The running route we took is painful challenging.  Lots of hills.  The largest one, in fact, I have named.  I go back and forth between "Hill of Death" and "Suicide Hill."  

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Tim and Ginny had a House Warming of sorts.  We all gathered, ate more, talked about the new house and its crazy history.  And played 10,000.  It's a dice game that is a Monk tradition.  So fun and so easy!!!  If you want the rules, let me know!

What did you do for Thanksgiving?

And stay tuned for my tale of trespassing!  Fun times.

Happy Election Day

This has nothing to do with today's election.  It has everything to do with our weekend on the road.  

However, please go VOTE!  It's our right, privilege, and honor as Americans.

*end of politics* 

We went to Illinois and Missouri and I decided to bring a new addition to the road.  And I quite enjoyed having it.  (I'm talking about the eye mask, not the pillow...if you were wondering).

Our first stop was Belleville, IL which is just outside of St. Louis, MO.  This LEGO display of Busch Stadium was in the hotel lobby.  Over 2800 legos used! 

If you follow me on instagram/fb/twitter, you saw my post of the LEGO Nativity that was also in the lobby.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.  Approximately 1 million legos used in 9 months of production.  Each piece was shipped to this location in their  own crate from Seattle.

Here's a closer look at Jesus, Mary and Joseph:

Now, listen.  I love contemporary church design as much as the next girl.  Bring on the smoke machine.  BUT, traditional churches remind me of my childhood and I love them.  St. Matthew UMC in Belleville is BEAUTIFUL, so I had to get a shot after soundcheck:

I think he was being silly at this particular moment.  Telling the legendary loop machine story.

  

Us with Matt Vollmar.  He leads worship at St. Matthews and was our contact for the show.  He also is the lead singer for The Great Romance.

We drove through St. Louis on the way to our next stop (Desloge, MO) just so I could take a picture of the arch.

Allow me to explain this picture...

On the road, we stay in hotels, guest housing, we've stayed in an RV before, and sometimes our own tent. But we've never encountered digs quite like the ones at Desloge FBC.  They have an apartment at the church!  In the building.  We were literally about 20 yards from where the show was!  It had everything we needed.  Just like a hotel.  Except they stocked it with yummy snacks!  Such a great idea.  More churches should do this, we decided.  Not just to house musicians, of course.  They use it for hosting missionaries, evangelists, and guests of other churches. 

The view of the venue before the show.  They have a walking track, too!  And a workout room.  (And awesome retro chairs that I seriously would like to have one day).

I liked the shadow.

After the show, posing for pictures.

We don't always have merch volunteers, but we did this time and they were awesome!  Meet Bekah and Miracle...our Merch Mavens!

And this is random, but this is the book we're reading.  When I say "we" it's because I'm Trent's book on tape.  We are loving this story!

Happy Election Day!  GO VOTE!!

I'm SURE She'll Tweet Me Back

This was our first year to be around Nashville during Halloween.  And once I knew that, I started thinking about costumes.  

My excitement was partly due to the fact that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE dressing up and partly because I hadn't been able to dress up since 2009 (but who's keeping track) when I was a crazy lady with sweat pants, a wig, and a leotard Sally O'Malley: 

Before the actual day, some friends asked if we wanted to help with a Trunk or Treat at a local church.  We said yes and got to monitor the bean bag toss.

We had a great time!  Although, Trent's back was sore the next day from picking up bean bags all night long and I was told I was mean by a kid (not in costume) because I politely told him to toss underhand the next time he came to play.  My inner PE teacher came out.  He was throwing too hard, torturing the poor pumpkin and getting dangerously close to my man's baby making parts.   

The first step to our costumes was to paint Trent's nails black.  I had too much fun.  And he actually asked, "Do they make stuff to take this stuff off?"  Bless his heart.   

Our plan for this Halloween was not having a plan.  So we got dressed up at 5:30 and hit the town.  We drove downtown and saw NO costumes.  We drove by another place.  Same thing.  I was like, "Do people in this town not dress up?"  Then I thought, "Maybe they're all dressed up as hipsters and it's not cool to dress up..." 

Then we realized that it was still pretty early and so we went to Sonic to get a snack and then we realized how old we are.  Out before 8:00 and eating in our car at Sonic.  Sweet mercy.

We finally settled on a place and walked in and people loved our attempt at the Osbournes.  We even spoke in their accents and people asked for pictures of us.  HA!  (I tweeted Sharon our picture.  I'm still waiting for her to reply.  I'm sure she will).  

Finally, people started showing up in their crazy outfits and costumes and all was well.  And this?  Is about the most amazing thing ever...

Bob Ross and his canvas.

(And, to be clear, I have no idea who these people are).

It was a fun night.  It's the only day of the year where you can see a Ninja Turtle, Dorothy, and a Confederate Soldier dance and not think twice about it.  And that's why I love Halloween.  We've already started talking about future costumes.  

And, since we don't have kids, here's the closest thing I got.  The niece and nephews.  Aren't they precious?

How was your Halloween?