hahaha. there are so many things I've been keeping from you! Never would have known, but now I have my claim to fame:
I did it! I tried out for American Idol back a few months ago--and not once, but twice! For all of my friends who always told me, and believed in me--yes, I tried it. Been there, done that. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but now I've got the proof: I made it to the website:
click here .
So, I'm famous for just a moment--a mere snapshot.
But I know, I know--you want to hear the whole story, right? and why I didn't show up on T.V....
Well, it's a lot different than you might be aware of...16,000 people showed up in B'ham to try out, and less than 30 made it to Hollywood. That's about 1 in 600. Also, about 99% of the people that show up CAN sing. So you're fighting for a chance to be heard, but almost everyone is just as good as you or better. So, for the most part, only the bad and the ugly make it. The first audition I attended, B'ham, was a learning experience. As you can see in the pic, I didn't do anything special--kept the look you all know and love. The girl pictured with me is Beth, whom I met on the plane back to Birmingham--a believer, and really sweet girl from Ohio.
Anyway, the producers set up about 16 booths with tables and 2 judges, down in the arena and start lining up people 4 across in front of the tables; about 6 rows deep. So, 24 people standing in front of 16 booths--384 people. So there are as many as 16 people singing at the same time across the arena. In that way, it only takes about 10 hours to process 16,000+ people! It was very hard to concentrate to say the least. Then, as the auditions progress, you realize that nobody is making it. Then you hear through the grapevine that you don't even see Randy, Paula, and Simon until the 3rd round! So, Sarah and I tried out together and neither of us made it.
Well, I did see that more trendy folks were getting thru, and I hate rejection--so I wanted to try one more time. I chose Memphis, b/c it was on a Sunday, and I could catch a red-eye (overnight flight), and be back to work on Monday. (Frank, btw, was very supportive of the whole thing.) I got help from my artsy friend, Deannah, who straightened my hair, gave me makeup tips, and helped me come up with trendy outfit and jewelry. Well, I felt like a million bucks. But, unfortunately, Memphis was like B'ham. Too much talent, too few spots.
I was disappointed at first, but the longer I've dwelt on it, the more I've come to terms with it.
Rejection is hard, but here's what I think:
1. The entertainment industry is HARD work. Touring is esp. difficult (KimHill, I know you get that!). I would just like the $$ that come after all the work! haha.
2. Thank God I find my identity in Him and not AI. I know that I can sing--I am also aware that had I made it to the big 3: R,P, &S; they would have said: "you're a good singer--but too broadway, etc." I know my style, and I don't know how long I would have been able to hold up a pop sound.
3. Don't know if I would have made it in the Industry as far as the pressures: mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. There is SO much room for moral failure.
So, now I can have a small claim to fame and say I was there when...
p.s. You're probably wondering why I didn't tell you before....well....
I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up in case I didn't make it. The fewer people to disappoint, the better. My mom was crushed pretty bad as it was. And after it was over, it became, well...not important anymore. I just didn't care. But, now that I made it to the website, I HAD to tell someone!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
10 Tips for painting a room on a budget
This article came from the website "Living on a Dime" (link: bottom left). If you sign up for their newsletter, they email articles once or twice a week with great tips on how to save money.
This info about painting a room was too good not to share, and now I can get rid of the email, cuz I'll always have the article!
One of the easiest ways to save money redecorating is to paint a room yourself. It can cost anywhere from $200-$500 to have one room painted. Painting it yourself, you can do it for under $30. Here are some tips that we have used to save money painting:
1. Check your local hazardous waste recycling center for free or low cost paint. I've painted many rooms and pieces of furniture just by checking their free paint section. I painted my entire house for $45 using three of their low cost five gallon buckets of brand new but leftover construction paint.
2. Use an old sheet or spend $1.00 for one at a thrift store to use as a drop cloth. Sheets are heavier than the plastic drop cloths at the store and will last for many rooms of painting. Hang over a clothesline or fence to dry before folding and storing.
3. When removing the outlet and switch covers, put the screws back into the holes so they don't get lost. You can also put the covers and screws in a zip top sandwich bag.
4. Line your roller pan by putting a plastic grocery sack or trash sack (inside out if it has writing on it) on the paint tray. Then you can just invert the sack when you're done and throw it away.
5. Poke four or five holes with a nail in the groove on the top of the can. That way the paint doesn't get stuck in the groove around the edge of the can and make a mess when you put the lid back on.
6. Use the paint at the bottom of the paint can when nearly empty to paint the trim. I got enough paint out of an "empty" gallon to do the entire room's trim.
7. Don't use painter's tape. Painting is just like coloring inside the lines in school. Use a small, one-inch, angled paintbrush and slowly go around the edges. It takes less time than putting up and taking down tape. Keep a wet rag by your side in case you make small mistakes. Some tape also lets the paint bleed through, so it's not a very clean finish.
8. Store your rollers and brushes in a plastic grocery sack between paintings. You don't have to clean them after each use if you keep them from drying out. Refrigerate overnight or freeze them if you are going to not be painting for several days or weeks.
9. Turn the ceiling fan on in a room to speed up drying time.
10. When you're done with your painting clothes, turn them inside out as you take them off. This way, you don't accidentally get wet paint on anything but your head. ;-)
This info about painting a room was too good not to share, and now I can get rid of the email, cuz I'll always have the article!
One of the easiest ways to save money redecorating is to paint a room yourself. It can cost anywhere from $200-$500 to have one room painted. Painting it yourself, you can do it for under $30. Here are some tips that we have used to save money painting:
1. Check your local hazardous waste recycling center for free or low cost paint. I've painted many rooms and pieces of furniture just by checking their free paint section. I painted my entire house for $45 using three of their low cost five gallon buckets of brand new but leftover construction paint.
2. Use an old sheet or spend $1.00 for one at a thrift store to use as a drop cloth. Sheets are heavier than the plastic drop cloths at the store and will last for many rooms of painting. Hang over a clothesline or fence to dry before folding and storing.
3. When removing the outlet and switch covers, put the screws back into the holes so they don't get lost. You can also put the covers and screws in a zip top sandwich bag.
4. Line your roller pan by putting a plastic grocery sack or trash sack (inside out if it has writing on it) on the paint tray. Then you can just invert the sack when you're done and throw it away.
5. Poke four or five holes with a nail in the groove on the top of the can. That way the paint doesn't get stuck in the groove around the edge of the can and make a mess when you put the lid back on.
6. Use the paint at the bottom of the paint can when nearly empty to paint the trim. I got enough paint out of an "empty" gallon to do the entire room's trim.
7. Don't use painter's tape. Painting is just like coloring inside the lines in school. Use a small, one-inch, angled paintbrush and slowly go around the edges. It takes less time than putting up and taking down tape. Keep a wet rag by your side in case you make small mistakes. Some tape also lets the paint bleed through, so it's not a very clean finish.
8. Store your rollers and brushes in a plastic grocery sack between paintings. You don't have to clean them after each use if you keep them from drying out. Refrigerate overnight or freeze them if you are going to not be painting for several days or weeks.
9. Turn the ceiling fan on in a room to speed up drying time.
10. When you're done with your painting clothes, turn them inside out as you take them off. This way, you don't accidentally get wet paint on anything but your head. ;-)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Irritating habits I've picked up since moving to CA:
The impulse to hold items for reading at a distance. I don't know if it's because I work with a lot of people who need reading glasses, or if I'm just getting old too, heehee. But I've found that when I pick up a piece of paper to read, I hold it far away from me while studying it. Maybe I AM getting old...sigh...
The sound "mhhhm" at the end of a telephone conversation. Instead of just saying "bye", I've picked up what EVERYONE here does: "mhhhm, bye". I think it's because we're trying to be polite, and we can't quite figure out how to end the conversation, so this just seems to be the best way. I've caught myself several times in the past few days, and it is annoying as all git out. (now there's some good ol' southern slang for you.)
Several key phrases:
"Totally". That is sooooo valley girl/Southern California!
"You guys". 'Nuf said.
"yeah-no". Where you are agreeing with someone about something, esp if they are telling you a funny story.
"Hi". Everyone says that instead of "hey!".
So don't laugh at me when I get home!!!! You know it'll take me awhile to get "re-Southernized"!!!
The sound "mhhhm" at the end of a telephone conversation. Instead of just saying "bye", I've picked up what EVERYONE here does: "mhhhm, bye". I think it's because we're trying to be polite, and we can't quite figure out how to end the conversation, so this just seems to be the best way. I've caught myself several times in the past few days, and it is annoying as all git out. (now there's some good ol' southern slang for you.)
Several key phrases:
"Totally". That is sooooo valley girl/Southern California!
"You guys". 'Nuf said.
"yeah-no". Where you are agreeing with someone about something, esp if they are telling you a funny story.
"Hi". Everyone says that instead of "hey!".
So don't laugh at me when I get home!!!! You know it'll take me awhile to get "re-Southernized"!!!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Stuff I keep meaning to tell you
Don't have a lot of time, but there's things I've been meaning to share...
Got my phone fixed finally, thank you Jesus. I'd spilled bubbles on it from the boys' birthday party and the battery was damaged. Then we got a new battery and realized that the little port where you plug the battery charger in was messed up too. bummer. and my new phone too. Pink Razr and all. So my mom sent an old loaner phone so we could switch the sim card, and Frank found a desk charger/battery set on ebay. So you can finally call me now. yey!
Frankie lost his 2nd tooth yesterday. He cried at school b/c he thought it had come out while he was on the playground, and he looked for it in the grass but couldn't find it. He was sad b/c somehow he found out about this thing called the tooth fairy who would give him money if he put the tooth under his pillow...don't know where he got that one...
Anyway. He was getting a drink from his water bottle at home that afternoon and found a piece of "ice" in his bottle--yup, it was his tooth!!! Bless his heart, he has been on cloud nine ever since with that new tooth.
(I say it's his 2nd tooth, as he'd had some trauma to one of his top front teeth-subsequently the nerve died and the tooth was pulled about a year ago. so it doesn't count.)
Well I'm finally legal in the state of California. Have put off getting my driver's license switched over for several reasons: 1. My AL license was still active 2. I like my picture and my weight on my AL license 3. Just too darn scared to take a leap of faith in a foreign world and go take the test, ugh.
Unfortunately my AL DL expired and I was forced to go. Of course to drive w/o a current license anywhere is bad, but esp bad here b/c there are so many bad drivers and just too many drivers period. You can be the best driver in the world--but it's the other drivers you have to worry about. So, after about 2 weeks of being driven around, I finally went and took the test and got my CA license. The picture turned out pretty good. I look older--more like a mother I guess. In my AL pic I was skinnier and looked like a little kid. So I guess I like the CA pic better. But the weight--well...
Hopefully it won't be that way for too much longer.
Something funny that Frankie came up with: when he was little, like maybe 2 or 3, he looked at Frank one day and said, "Daddy, you're my Special!". He has always called birthdays, "special day", like instead of "someone's birthday", it's "someone's special day". And everytime we eat a dessert or snack or get gifts out of the ordinary, he always calls it a special. It's just a cute something he came up with that I don't want to forget, and thought you would enjoy.
Ok, if I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
Got my phone fixed finally, thank you Jesus. I'd spilled bubbles on it from the boys' birthday party and the battery was damaged. Then we got a new battery and realized that the little port where you plug the battery charger in was messed up too. bummer. and my new phone too. Pink Razr and all. So my mom sent an old loaner phone so we could switch the sim card, and Frank found a desk charger/battery set on ebay. So you can finally call me now. yey!
Frankie lost his 2nd tooth yesterday. He cried at school b/c he thought it had come out while he was on the playground, and he looked for it in the grass but couldn't find it. He was sad b/c somehow he found out about this thing called the tooth fairy who would give him money if he put the tooth under his pillow...don't know where he got that one...
Anyway. He was getting a drink from his water bottle at home that afternoon and found a piece of "ice" in his bottle--yup, it was his tooth!!! Bless his heart, he has been on cloud nine ever since with that new tooth.
(I say it's his 2nd tooth, as he'd had some trauma to one of his top front teeth-subsequently the nerve died and the tooth was pulled about a year ago. so it doesn't count.)
Well I'm finally legal in the state of California. Have put off getting my driver's license switched over for several reasons: 1. My AL license was still active 2. I like my picture and my weight on my AL license 3. Just too darn scared to take a leap of faith in a foreign world and go take the test, ugh.
Unfortunately my AL DL expired and I was forced to go. Of course to drive w/o a current license anywhere is bad, but esp bad here b/c there are so many bad drivers and just too many drivers period. You can be the best driver in the world--but it's the other drivers you have to worry about. So, after about 2 weeks of being driven around, I finally went and took the test and got my CA license. The picture turned out pretty good. I look older--more like a mother I guess. In my AL pic I was skinnier and looked like a little kid. So I guess I like the CA pic better. But the weight--well...
Hopefully it won't be that way for too much longer.
Something funny that Frankie came up with: when he was little, like maybe 2 or 3, he looked at Frank one day and said, "Daddy, you're my Special!". He has always called birthdays, "special day", like instead of "someone's birthday", it's "someone's special day". And everytime we eat a dessert or snack or get gifts out of the ordinary, he always calls it a special. It's just a cute something he came up with that I don't want to forget, and thought you would enjoy.
Ok, if I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
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