This Is Kristin

I can’t say much for the rest of the flower bed/ lawn etc… but the roses sure are pretty!

“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”
~Emma Goldman

This is my Grandma’s piano… it made it here all the way from CA. It is one of my favorite things, and I’m so grateful to have it. I love hearing the boys play on it… and it makes me laugh that they think the drawing of the man on the piano, is my Grandma.

I have sweetest memories playing that piano in my grandparents’ house, and hearing my grandpa hum or whistle along. I am happy to have it here now too, and can’t wait for the boys to start learning some songs.

Last night was so much fun, and so overwhelming! First of all, we got there about 4 minutes before the pre show started… we got stuck in traffic, and it was painful to watch the minutes tick by as we stared at stopped cars in front of us… but we made it in time, which is what counts!

During the pre show we saw some performances, my favorite being Meredith Andrews. Some of the awards were announced including “Best Package” which was the one Brody was nominated under. It was an honor to hear the nomination, and see his name up there on the screen, and we squeezed each other’s hands as they announced the winner, “Third Day, Revelation,”- a little bummed to see it was not the David Crowder DVD, but still honored to be nominated.

It was interesting to sit and watch people walking around, and see that many musicians and bands in one room. People around us were getting up to receive their awards, and to present or perform.

We were briefed by the announcer guy on how they would work the commercial breaks and how we were supposed to behave during the filming of the show. The applause became much more enthusiastic as the cameras turned on!

During the show, we saw performances by Natalie Grant- who was absolutely amazing, Mercy Me- again amazing, Tenth Avenue North- I love their music… and they also won the online voting.

The best performance of the night was by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was heartbreaking to watch him play his song “Cinderella,” and talk about his little girl he lost earlier that year. He accepted his award, saying, “I know that the reason that I am receiving this award, is not for my music, but for the tragedy that my family has gone through this year, and I want to use this opportunity to say thank you for the loving support, and that God is faithful, and that there is always hope.” He brought his wife with him to receive the award, and his son played guitar with him during his song. When they finished, they received the longest standing ovation I have seen.. it was very touching.

We were starving by the end, having not had any dinner and a relatively small lunch earlier in the day. We went downtown and found a little taco shop open late, and after we gobbled down some tacos, we sat and talked about the night. It was a great date night, and an awesome experience, that I was happy to witness.

My stomach is flip flopping this morning, thinking about going to the Dove awards tonight. I think I am mostly just excited! Since I am a stay at home mom, I live vicariously through my husband who travels the country and meets a lot of people. I like to hear the stories, but tonight I get to go with him and witness all these things he tells me about!

I found a fancy little black dress for only $14 dollars, and found some heels on a sale rack, regularly $59.99, and I got them for $5! Then I found some jewlery and a little evening purse on sale. I had a $10 off coupon to get my hair cut, (which has not been cut proffessionally in 2 years!) and I painted my nails. So I’ve got all the componets to put away my sweatshirt and jeans for a day, and get ready for a great night.

We are sitting 7 rows back in the middle, which thrills me for the seating purposes, but makes me nervous to have to walk that far in heels. I am not the most graceful heel wearer.

I am so excited about Brody’s award nomination also! We think that may be announced at the pre show, so if you are watching and don’t see that award shown, that may be why. I am sure that either Brody or I will twitter the results so stay tuned! Like he’s said, he’s “honored just to be nominated.”

In the mean time, you can vote for Mercy me, Addison Road and Fee…. and see the full list of artists we work with who are nominated tonight, here!

We have friends who are moving to Ethiopia to help with an orphanage which is saving children from superstitious tribes who are considered “imperfect.”  They are leaving in a couple of weeks, and are now selling their things, and also holding a raffle for their Honda Scooter.  

Check out Drawn from Water website, watch the video, and enter to win the Honda Scooter, which will be raffled off on Thursday April 30th.

Drawn from Water from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

We learned about Noah yesterday in children’s church, and the lesson was that he obeyed God.  My oldest son continued the conversation later when he asked, “what happened to the other people?”  I answered some questions, and we talked for awhile about how Noah had the choice to disobey God.  He could’ve asked “why?” or just chosen not to listen and do whatever he wanted.  Instead he obeyed, and his family and the animals were saved.  (I was a little too grateful for this lesson on obedience!)  

The other thing I find amazing about Noah is how he continued working, even when he surely became the laughingstock.  He didn’t admit defeat when he ran into problems, he didn’t stop just because he was being ridiculed, yet all along he had the choice to stop.  

I wonder how many times I have pondered too much, asked to0 many questions, instead of just doing what I know I need to do?  I wonder how many times I’ve thought, “but what would people think?”  and let that be the judge of my actions, instead of the question, “what is the wise thing to do?” 

…It’s also funny to me how often I get so much from the childrens’ lessons at church.

I just love Brooke Waggoner~

*Still following the Noticing Project, and this set took my breath away… so pretty! Anyone else still following?

(I was tagged by Lisa, so now I am supposed to list 10 of my favorite things that start with A, in no particular order… except the first one of course!)

1. Aiden

2. Art

3. Azaelas

4. Artichokes

5. Artichoke dip

6. Aquamarine color

7. Auburn, CA

8. Apple scented candles

9. Alpacas

10. Alaska

(Those last two… not really, I just ran out of A things… )

Now I tag: 

Barb~ Letter “F”

Lori~ Letter “C”

Allison~ Letter “R”

List 10 of your favorite things- of your letter.  

Have fun!

• Our morning started with discovering we’d been “egged” by our friends.  The boys loved hunting for the eggs all over our front yard!  
• Brody got home, and we traded Easter baskets, and then headed off to church.  We hung out with Kyle, Colette, baby Bella, and Randy the rest of the day, with a couple more egg hunts through the house.  
• I noticed that my clematis bloomed it’s first flower of the season, and thought about Lisa’s post about how it always rains on Good Friday, and the sun shines on Easter Sunday.  It was the same here, we had a crazy storm on Friday, and Sunday was absolutely beautiful weather…..and I had a beautiful flower on my porch! 

~Hope that you all had a Happy Easter too!