Stanley's First Trip

Last weekend, the band had a run of shows in Florida. It was Stanley's first trip out of the back of a book and he was excited to get somewhere warm! We spent time in Ocala, Tampa, and Tallahassee. The most exciting stop was Tampa, where the band performed for 9,000 people at Winter Jam. One of the coolest things about the night was that Stanley got to meet Hunter Smith, the punter for the Indianapolis Colts. Hunter also plays in the group Connersvine. Stanley loves football and was so nervous around Hunter that he didn't say a word. I don't know much about football, but I had to do all the talking. Hunter was really nice and even took a picture with us. Thanks Hunter!

Flat Stanley

I've seen a few Flat Stanley's in my day, but never knew the story behind it. According to my new Flat Stanley book, he's been around for forty years. I don't have my plan together yet, but look out 'cause my Flat Stanley will be coming to town near you!

Texas and American Gladiators

First of all, I want to give a shout out to all our friends we saw last week during our Texas radio trip. A huge "thanks" to Jon and Sherry Rivers, KSBJ, KLTY, EMF, and the CMB for being so nice to us! I hope to see you all again soon.

As for less important things...I can't believe that American Gladiators is back with Hulk Hogan as the host! I'm not the only one who's shocked. While I was watching it, I was also at the 'Above the Golden State' myspace sight. Michael Watson had wrote something about it as well. The new Gladiators is back with it's glorious spandex and all new WWF style dialogue. This writers strike is killing me! So much bad reality style television. Almost as bad as the Sanctus Real podcast.

Ten: No More Numbers

I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to number my blogs. Perhaps it was a lame attempt by me, an amatuer "blogger", to gain merit by racking up a hefty count. Wow, ten whole blogs. Just waiting for a star gold star to stick on my self-discipline chart. Ok. Seriously. No more numbers after this.
Today was really good. I went to church this morning and then spent a lot of time with my family throughout the day. We had Boston Market for lunch. I love their sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows on top. They might be one of my favorite things to eat...ever. The problem is all the carbs weigh me down. Who am I kidding? It's completely worth it every time! I also spent some time on the phone with Chris (Sanctus Real) talking about the marketing plan for our new record. We really think that it's, by far, the best Sanctus Real record we've made. It's really important that we're personally involved in getting the word out. We're actually gearing up for a short promo tour next week, and then we'll be on the road with the band Third Day. So much blogging waiting to happen! Did I just say "blog" again? Who came up with that word anyways? Kind of an ugly word...

Nine: It Was Grand

Last week, the band performed in Branson, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and our hometown of Toledo, OH. All big tourist cities, well, except Toledo. I had never been to any of those other places before. Let me tell you, they are very "grand". Believe it or not we even performed at the Grand Palace in Branson, the Grand Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, and even stayed at the Grand Hotel! Gatlinburg was by far my favorite and there was nothing "grand" there except for a crowd of 7,000 at Extreme Winter conference. All in all, it was a good trip, but I'm glad to be back in my not so grand home again.

I love the picture of Mark sitting in front of the "Waterfall Pool" (At Grand Hotels, waterfalls have their own pool) with the warm glow of the Grand Buffet neon lights on his face.