Samuel's First Birthday Party Video!

I'm so behind on posting about ANYTHING and I hate it... I still want to finish my post about Samuel's birthday, but for now I have this video compilation from his party that I will share!

It was such a fun day and such a great memory!! Looking back on it, he has grown so much in the last 2 months since his party!!

Thank you to Kenzie for taking so much great video!

Bruno Mars Concert

On Monday night, Trent and I went to see Bruno Mars in concert here in Omaha. We got the opportunity to purchase tickets to the sold out show through Morningside, so we took them up on their offer and Trent took me to the concert as an early birthday present.

The opener for the night was Aloe Blacc, who was good. He sings songs like The Man and Wake Me Up. He has a great voice and was enjoyable, but he was nothing compared to Bruno (not that it was his fault or anything... since Bruno is the headliner and got all the cool lights and all that!).

From the moment that Bruno took the stage, it was so entertaining. The lights and the dancing and his voice and everything was just perfect! His songs were all great, even the ones we didn't know were still awesome because they had such an entertainment factor to them.

One of my favorite parts of the concert was when he sang When I was Your Man. The whole place got dark and everyone was more subdued. You could tell that it was personally an emotional song for him. A lot of the crowd got out the flashlights on their phones and held them up, and it just created a corny but very cool atmosphere. Below is a picture from during that song with him in the spotlight on the right and the crowd holding up their phones.

He sang all his songs like Treasure, Moonshine, Natalie, and Grenade, among others. Bruno and his band members looked like a boy band up on the stage a lot of the time with their choreographed dancing and the way they moved around the stage. It kind of brought me back to the 98º and NSYNC concert days! But that is definitely a good thing! 

Bruno ended the show with Just the Way You Are and that was another good one because it was a softer song and I love it when you can hear the crowd singing over the singer's voice sometimes. So cool! The picture below was taken during his "last song." I love how the lights are shining on the crowd and you can really see the masses of people that were there. Of course, when that song was over, the band all left but the lights stayed low and the crowd didn't stop cheering, because everyone knows they were coming back again!

When he came back out for the encore he sang Locked Out of Heaven and Gorilla. I think the Locked Out of Heaven performance was my favorite of the night. It started with him out on the stage alone playing the drums and the crowd was just so loud and excited and the lights and atmosphere were just awesome. Towards the end of the song, gold and silver confetti filled the arena and it was just so incredible. Whatever they were trying to accomplish with their big show totally worked on me. It was great.

The first song of his encore was very much like his Super Bowl Halftime performance from last year's Super Bowl, so I definitely think you should watch that if you want to get an idea of what we experienced!

Below is a compilation of videos that I took during the concert. I was hesitant to post it because I didn't want the cops to show up at my door and arrest me for recording at the concert, but I figured that they aren't even good videos anyway and if you search on YouTube for "Bruno Mars Concert" you're bound to find a lot better quality and longer videos of him in concert than what I've got below! 

The first five clips are Snapchat videos that I recorded, so they are all 9 seconds or less and really bad quality, but I think they are still kinda cool. The first one was at the beginning of the concert when he came out. The curtain that was covering the stage dropped and it all began! Then there's a video of the crowd during When I Was Your Man when everyone had their phones out. The rest of the shorter clips are just random things from during the concert and the last one is about 45 seconds long and was Just the Way You Are, the last song of the main concert. Hopefully they help you understand more about why I've been raving on about the concert for far too long in this post! :) It definitely was a great concert and I am so happy that Trent took me for my birthday! It was a great present!

Mother's Day Weekend

(Yes, I realize Mother's Day was three weeks ago... Oh well, I do what I can =) )

Trent and I are blessed to have wonderful and amazing mothers. When we got married, we each gained one more woman in our lives who cares for us and would do anything for us!

This year for Mother's Day weekend, we got to see both of our moms. We spend Friday night and Saturday in Ankeny with Trent's parents and got to see my mom on Sunday.

 

While we were in Ankeny, we made a trip to Des Moines to do some exploring. We went to some shops around the East Village and stopped in to look around West End Salvage, among other things. We then finished up the trip with supper at Zombie Burger. Sunday morning, the whole family went to church and then grabbed a quick lunch before Trent and I had to head to leave town. We always find very fun things to do while we're visiting, and this special weekend was no exception.

 

After brunch, we headed to Westside to meet up with my mom and siblings. We all went to Ar-We-Va's graduation ceremony. My siblings, my mom and I gave out two different scholarships from funds that were set up with memorial money received after my dad's passing. Four senior basketball players were each given $500 from the memorial fund and four members of the senior class were each given $500 for an agricultural scholarship from a fund that was set up from a $7,500 gift given by my dad's employer for the past 12 years, Allied Producers Cooperative. I am glad that we are able to help these seniors continue their education past high school and hope that they go on to have a positive impact on the world.

 

Presenting the Basketball scholarship:

 

Presenting the Agriculture scholarship:

 

After the ceremony, we went to a few graduation parties and stopped in to see Grandma and Grandpa Jons' before we had to head back home. It was a busy day with my mom, but I was happy to just be able to spend that time with her!

 

It was a fast and fun weekend, and I hope our moms know how much they are loved and appreciated all year, not just on Mother's Day!

 

 

 

Thankful - Day 5: Music

I know I have missed a few days, but between working and studying and all the other random things I get distracted with during the day as well as always attempting to go to sleep early, the days just go by so quickly! So I'm just going to do a little catching up here throughout the rest of the month!

For my 5th Day I am thankful for music. I love what music and songs add to every situation. It intensifies situations in movies and makes the exciting moments more exciting and the sad or romantic moments even more dramatic. I'm also very thankful for the part music played in my younger days when I was in band and choir. I sure learned a lot through my years spent playing the clarinet and piano and singing and all that stuff with Mr. Meyer. =) I love what music adds to church services and picture slide shows and I'm very thankful to have music to make a car ride less dull. 

Lately, I have especially enjoyed it when I hear a song and part of it can sum up exactly how I'm feeling. I love that I can turn up the songs very loud in my car and just sing as loud as I want. For some reason, singing these words makes me feel better. Especially the chorus of Over You by Miranda Lambert below, when she sings "I miss you", a lot of times I just sing and cry, cuz that's exactly how I feel! But then, I know, that even though I miss my dad every day, that I will see him again one day. This world is temporary and he is in a much better place! For the time being, though, I, along with my family, will all learn to deal with the empty place in our hearts and we will be okay as long as we lean on God to comfort us and heal our hearts.

I have picked out these three songs that have really spoken to me as of lately to share. These songs bring me comfort and hope in the sadness and heartache I feel - and for that, I'm thankful!

See You Again by Carrie Underwood

I will see you again. 

This is not where it ends.

I will carry you with me. 

'Til I see you again.

Over You - Miranda Lambert

But you went away.

How dare you?

I miss you

They say I'll be okay

But I'm not going to ever get over you.

Steady My Heart by Kari Jobe

Even when it hurts

Even when its hard

Even when it all just falls apart

I will run to You

Cuz I know that You are

Lover of my soul

Healer of my scars

Steady my Heart

Free Song!

So, not too long ago I posted this about my new favorite song, Should've Been Me by Citizen Way?!?!

Well, it just so happens that it is the Free Song this week at KLove.com. 

I just thought I'd let you know in case you liked the song as well or if you just like FREE music :) 

Click here to get the song!

Here's the video of it again:

You can also the story behind this song here:

That is all :)

Should've Been Me

Happy Thursday! Only one work day away from another weekend!!

 This week I started up my studying again for my next CPA exam test, so I've begun the early mornings again. I'm still trying to figure out my exact plan since getting up at 5 (or 5:15 by the time I quit hitting snooze) doesn't go quite as far as it did when we lived at our apartment because I have to leave 20 or so minutes earlier to get to work at a decent time... but I'm sure I'll figure out a plan. It's also quite a bit harder to study at night because there's just SOOO much stuff that can be done around the house and I get distracted SO easily. :) I can't wait until I get the weight of studying off my shoulders for good and can just get distracted without feeling guilty about it!

I've also been more distracted this week because we've been getting ready to have company over this weekend. We're having our first guests stay since our parents came and stayed with us to help us out right after we moved it! (Yay for having a house big enough for them to all stay - even if some of them have to sleep on air mattresses!) Trent's parents and sister and her family are all coming to stay with us and have a big birthday celebration to celebrate Trent and Jan and Melodie and I's birthdays, which all happen within the next week and a half. Yay for birthdays!

Today is also a great day because the Financial Reporting group here at work got invited to a CWS tailgate and the 4:00 game, so I'm super excited to get out of here a few hours early and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather we're having here! So glad it's not the same weather we had earlier this week with temps in the upper 90s!

And one more reason for today to be a great day is because I heard this song below on my way to work this morning. I heard this song on K-LOVE earlier this week for the first time and instantly loved it. And then this morning, I was hoping that it'd come on again, and wouldn't ya know it, it did!! WOOT!
And since I love it so much and because it's my favorite song for right now, I wanted you all to hear it as well! It's called Should've Been Me by Citizen Way.
Enjoy! And have a fantastic afternoon!

I've read the story
I've seen the movie
I give to charity
And tithe my ten percent
These I remember
But I so easily forget
All these years never heard it like this

It should've been me
It should've been us
Should've been there hanging on a cross
All of this shame
All of these scars
Should've been stains that were never washed
Why do I hide
Why do you try
Over and over and over again
I guess it just leaves saying thank God
It leaves me saying thank God, thank God
For the should've been

I live a good life
I love a great wife
Our kids are beautiful
We got friends down the street
If I'm so thankful
Why do I easily forget
That you died for all of this

When it should've been me
It should've been us
Should've been there hanging on a cross
All of this shame
All of these scars
Should've been stains that were never washed
Why do I hide
Why do you try
Over and over and over again
I guess it just leaves saying thank God
It leaves me saying thank God…

For this heart you changed
This soul you raised
My God for taking my place

When it should've been me
It should've been us
Should've been there hanging on a cross
All of this shame
All of these scars
Should've been stains that were never washed
Why do I hide
Why do you try
Over and over and over again
I guess it just leaves saying thank God
It leaves me saying thank God, thank God
For the should've been

Saturday Post

I haven't posted in a while, and I think it, sadly, will probably be like that for some time. Since work started up in 2012, today is my first day off, and my next CPA test is just 26 short days away! So I have been pretty busy and all of my "free time" has mostly been spent sleeping, eating, or watching a little TV.

BUT as I was sitting down at my computer today to do a little studying (I sat down about 20 minutes ago and have yet to get to the studying part) I decided to catch up a little on some blog posts I had missed over the past 2 weeks.

Among them was this post from my wonderful friend Grace, who recently shared that she and her husband will be having a baby in July. YAY!! I'm soooo excited for her! She's the 2nd of my close friends that is having a baby in July! Yay for friends with babies!! It was so exciting to read that post about when she found out she was pregnant. It was so 'her' and I can't wait to read all about her journey of bringing that little precious baby into the world!

Another post I read was this one. I really don't know how I stumbled on the blog, but I love that I did. It's a girl who ALSO lives in Omaha and it's so fun to read what she writes about her life in this city and her take on it all. At the beginning of the post she talks about the weather last week. It just makes me laugh because it's so true and I have experienced the same thing that she did. What a small world :)

In her post she links the video that is below, called Sh*t Nobody Says. It is so true all the things that he points out and made me laugh. I guess I should say it's all true EXCEPT the "I really want a Fillet O Fish" because I honestly do say that and I will make a trip to McDonald's JUST to get one! I hope you enjoy it, too!

Have a great rest of the weekend and hopefully I will post again soon. I REALLY am going to study now so I can pass this stupid test (and 2 more after that) and just be done with this already!