ENDING


The walk back to the hotel was one of random squeels and “OMG Carly said this” and “David is so awesome” type comments freely flowing through the air like it was expected to be. I’m not sure any of us had really and truly absored what had happened. I personally went a little quiet. I think I was just trying to digest it all, yet I couldn’t! We finally made it back only to see this HUGE group of people in the lobby of the hotel. We were hungry and I decided to go down stairs and get some snacks, while Karen spazzed on the phone LOL. As I left I could hear her trying to fit every single thought in her mind into as many words in a sentence as possible. I chuckled as I headed for the elevator, it was so awesome to me to hear and see the excitment felt by my friends. I did a Brooke and went downstairs barefoot haha I was too lazy to put my shoes back on not to mention they were still wet from all the water. I went down and bumped into Rudy hanging out and trying to get stuff with his stolen wallet situated. I got my snacks and talked to random people as I did. It was fun to just interact with different fans for whatever reason lol! I finally got back to Rudy and was with him for a while trying to help him with the details about his wallet. We got the info needed and went back to the room, only to hear Karen still spazzing hehe. It was BRILLIANT. She tried to hide out in the bathroom, but it wasn’t working ha Karen, yes we heard you and we loved it! So, Rudy and I took care of what he needed to and tried to get it fixed. Then Karen came back and we decided to go downstairs and see what was going on. We got to the lobby and found the same group of fans, (which I believe were FOD people) only larger now with TONS of boxes of yummilicious pizza sitting on the lobby tables! YUMMO. Perfect for 3 starving idol fans. Pizza was the food of choice on this trip. We had it Friday night cause nothing else was open, we had it Saturday at the concert and we were about to have it again as it was sitting right there and was offered to us by some of the fans that saw us. So we all grabbed a piece and found a seat amongst the group of fans and enjoyed some conversation. I think there was probably around 30 or so people. It was pretty cool. We were all scattered around the lobby of this pretty cool hotel and the staff was cool with it. I loved how laid back it was. You had people dressed up, then you had some of us with just socks and t-shirts and jeans then you had me with no socks and hair up haha. It was like a big ole slumber party. You heard chatter from different parts of the room, everything from how cool the show was, to what happened at the AP, to learning about where everyone was from, to Richard uploading photos to FOD. It was so cool to experience so many people of different races, thoughts, fandoms and so on and so forth just chillin! In a world so easily divided it goes to show you how something so small on the scale of importance can bring us all together. I’d be nice if the same could hold true for the bigger things in life. I guess it just goes to show how in the end it’s not always about the right thing. I digress, I’m heading towards a rant that isn’t needed. haha! So, after a bit I was tired and knew I needed to get myself into a shower and in bed. So, I left Rudy and Karen to enjoy some time away from yours truly lol. I’m sure they could use it. I ran to grab a shower but heard the phone and I assumed it had to be one of them and well I kinda forgot to give them the key. Sure enough Rudy wanted in haha So I finished up and let him in, a few minutes later Karen came back and we all sorta hung out for a bit! We shared stories and talked about everything that happened. Karen plugged her ipod into the clock radio and we jammed out to some DC for a while. Rudy decided it was time for bed for him so he threw his blankets down and passed out pretty quickly. Karen and I chilled for a bit before she started to get ready to leave. She had a 6:30am flight.. YIKES! So, I just laid down and watched some movie with this comedian who I am totally forgetting his name right about now (it’s late forgive me). I tried hard to stay awake till she left and I did pretty well. She finally left around 5:15/5:30 am but not before sharing some awesome thoughts with me, and to everything she said, I echoed in return. She totally made the trip so much fun and added an aspect to this whole situation that wouldn’t have been there without her. I wouldn’t have wanted to experience all of this with anyone else. I had a BLAST with her and I felt like I had known her forever. It just made this whole idols thing that much more fun with her and people in general who understood what it was like. Our little group was perfect! After she left I stood up a little longer and finally fell asleep. I woke up to hear some buzzing, thankfully I did, someone was txting/calling Rudy and it was now almost 9AM I believe. I had to be at the airport early because I needed to check in my baggage and hope everything with Rudy was situated. He didn’t want to wake up as much as I didn’t but we had to. It didn’t take long for us to get into conversation about everything exciting he experienced. He couldn’t tear himself away from that camera and truth be told, I completely understood. I snuck a few looks at my own over a preiod of time as well. It was hard to believe it was ending, that it was OVER. In previous trips like this I always left with sadness but this time, I didn’t. I left with a certain level of joy because I think although I am sad to see AI7 come to end, for me it ended in the best way possible. I feel like I have closure and am now ready to see what happenes from here on out. Rudy and I met met up with Kim to go to the airport. Rudy really has become like my little brother because I would tease him at any oppertunity that I could. Much to his dismay I’m sure hehe. We had a heated discussion about how he should have the window seat and how I would make his day if he got it, to which I pointed out that he already had his day made by Carly and he should be happy with that LOL. Needless to say he didn’t end up with the window seat but I ended up with a beautiful friendship braclet he made. hehe. Since it was going to be a long trip home, and it was, we knew it would have it’s moments and it certanly did haha. At one point all 3 of us were either so tired or not feeling well that words wouldn’t come out right or things were absolutely hilarious. I remember Kim saying “The people on this flight must hate us” cause we kept laughing. I’d start cracking up over something Kim would say or do (like her spazzing at randomly seeing DC in a sketchers add in her first of 3 magazines only to look for the exact same photo in the other 2 and when she found them she spazzed more and had them all in her lap haha) and then Rudy would crack up at me because I was laughing and all silliness would insue. I think one of the more funnier moments was in the plane. Kim had started to fall asleep/rest her eyes while during take off.. the plane was doing some weird movements due to turbulation and I just felt weird so I kept trying to “balance the plane” as Rudy called it and he just couldn’t stop laughing at me. We died of laugher, so much so that we were both crying. All of this crazyness really made the trip home fun and kept the mood light even though I know all of us were sad at knowing we wouldn’t get to experience this again. We finally got to Denver and I did some touristy shopping and more airport hilarity continued. We then left for SFO. This time we weren’t together so I used the oppertunity to sleep. I don’t even remember take off ahaha I was so dang tired. We reached SFO, we made a bee line for luggage and then proceeded to say our good-byes. Rudy left first and then I had some time to sit with Kim before she left.


Just like a few days before, on that Friday, I was the last to leave SFO, but rather then looking foreword and imagining all that could be on this trip, I was looking back on all that was. A dream it almost felt like, but a reality it was. My life this summer was a movie and no doubt the American Idols were the soundtrack to that story. I walked through SFO bag in hand as the doors closed behind me. I waited around for my mom to pick me up and watched as loved ones said good-bye to each other with hugs and smiles, tears and sadness. I sat on my luggage and as I read a text from Karen saying she was at the mall I laughed a bit at the fact that those 3 days really were a dream, it’s back to the real world now; the usual routine. My mom said first thing as I got in the car… “how was your trip” and all I could think to say was “Amazing! I guess I have to wake up now” she laughed and said.. “Lets go home” to which I said “IM HUNGRY.. BUT NO PIZZA PLEASE!!” haha


La fin!!

AFTER PARTY

The after party is a strange thing. On one hand it gives you exceptional access to the idols but on the other hand it promises nothing. I will say I am completely happy and excited that I was given the privilege to attend. I will never know what I did to deserve such a wonderful gift and for those who made it happen I will forever be indebted to you and fully filled with gratitude for you making my dream a reality. There really isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been expressed in one way or another whether through other AP’s or just a general idea of how it would feel. This was the biggest AP of the tour. There had to be at least 120-150 people there. It wasn’t a shocker, it was just amazing so many could fit in that room! At some point they had to give David Archuleta his own room, as he had the biggest group of people wanting to get to him of all the idols, surprisingly enough. I would have thought it would have been David Cook, but alas, it was the younger David. Nonetheless, DC did have quite the large gathering around him. All of the idols were present. Although I was never able to reach Michael Johns, which saddened me. The families and extended members of the families were there. I saw Brooke’s husband. David Cook’s Girlfriend, Kimberly Caldwell along with his brother Andrew and his mom Beth and step-dad. I saw Jason’s Girlfriend, Mandy (I believe) along with his mom and little sister. David Archuleta’s mom, Lupe along with his Dad Jeff (of course) were also there, along with grandma and others. I was told Syesha’s fiancee was there as well. The room was filled with people who either knew David Cook previously or currently and was also filled with people the idols had seen and knew from previous meet and greets and stuff like that! It really is so surreal to be in such close contact with people you only have seen on TV or from a seat many feet away. Karen and I tried to think of a plan of attack, but that was easily dropped when we saw the amount of people in there. So with all intentions put aside we just decided to go to whoever however we could. I made the rounds pretty quickly and got photos with all that I could. Again I’m sorry I missed Michael. I wish he would have stayed longer. As I sit back and think about everything I knew many dreams were made a reality that night and I can only look back with appreciation for being one of them. So many smiling faces and so many wonderful moments had by all. I know from hearing all the accounts on IDF and as well from Rudy and Kim that it was as cool as can be and no doubt those are all moments that will forever be etched in the minds of everyone there. It was a real gift to be given and I again just have to say thanks to all who made it possible.

It went very quickly and I don’t remember everything to be honest. I was able to share with DC a poem I had written to him, thanking him for his music and how it has helped me cope with the death of my grandma in July. I didn’t get to expound much on it, although I wish I could have, but nonetheless, he got it! whether he read it, is a fact I guess I will never know the answer to. I had given DA a gift earlier in the day but didn’t get to ask if he got it or what. I mean I know he did but I don’t know if he got to look through it. Anyway, It was all so crazy and filled with SOOO many people I just can’t even begin to explain. I think the thing that stands out most to me is probably something that wasn’t even meant for me, but hey, a girl can hope, right? haha.gif And that was David singing “Crush” as I walked up to him. I was waiting for my turn to take a photo and as he just finished with someone Ray was like “SOMEONE GO NEXT” so I just went, as I did he just looked at me and started singing “Crush” which I’m wasn’t sure how to react to so I laughed haha.gif it just made everything all the more hilarious because he wouldn’t stop. I’m standing there next to him and he just kept going. The lady taking the photo then said “alright just say CRUSH” so we both just cracked up as she took the shot, hence the laughing photo. Then she’s like I don’t think it took, so she’s like lets try again before she did, we looked at each other and he started AGAIN roll2.gif omg it was hilarious to me… lol the lady was like “SAY CRUSH” I think in hopes to get a good shot and so that’s why there is a second. It was all pretty funny, and ended rather quickly, but it’s something I’ll remember forever. Our little moment. Anyway, I’m just happy I met who I did and I’m sorry I missed out on Michael. I really wanted to meet him, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be this time around. It was really fun watching everyone interact with the idols.

I enjoyed talking to Jeff. I had a letter for him in a clear plastic thingy and when I got to him I told him that I wanted to give it to him (it was originally posted here in the Jazzman thread) and that it was just a few thoughts on how awesome they were as parents and a wonderful support to David… he said “Awww, thank you” with this really appreciative look on his face. Then I told him I was really moved by hearing David that night (I was bawling like a baby haha) and I told him why. Then I gave him the letter and he looked it and I told him that I hoped he would be able to read it, both he AND Lupe. He was like “I will…. but where’s your name?” and I was like “oh did you want me to write it?” AHAHA *DUH* and he was like “YEAH, I’d actually like to know who it’s from, I want to remember that” so I was like “uh OK, I guess” so I had to take it out of the plastic and find a pen (all the while hope he doesn’t walk off). He stood around me, but kept an eye on David. I put it all back together and gave it to him. He said “wow this is long” AHAHAHA hilarious and I’m like “YEAH!! of course” then we laughed and I asked for a photo and that was that.

So that’s just a bit my experience. Or the things that stood out anyway.

CONCERT

As per norm the concert was basically the same, with a few “surprises” along the way. Chikezie was amazing. Awesome energy he seriously gave it all. He was also the most emotional, he was in tears. He thanked the band and thanked everyone. He talked about it all and cried doing so. It was so moving, we all felt it and no doubt shed tears right there with him. Rami brought some great energy. She too was emotional and thanked everyone as well. She gave me goosebumps doing the Tayor Dane song. It was awesome. Mj is simply beautiful. The mustache was uh.. different lol he looked like a porn star AHAH but nonetheless he was still his silly obnoxious self. He revved up the crowd with the queen stuff and just about brought me to my knees when he got down on his and was singing “It’s all wrong, but it’s alright” man I turned to Karen and said a few things I probably should have kept to myself haha. It was BRILLIANT. I don’t remember much of “Dream On” I was stuck on IAWBIA haha. At some point DC came to the side of the stage and gave MJ a rose and then got him with silly strings ahaha so all you saw was MJ on staged covered in silly string. It was priceless. KLC followed and she did her usual thing. She was cool. Carly was on next and as usual blew me away with her singing. I think I was more moved by her in San Jose, but she was still awesome as ever. I just LOVE “Bring Me To Life.” Carly can blow and she just has this presence on stage. I have been totally converted, not to mention Rudy made sure to let me know how cool she is hahah. Brooke came on next and she sounded great. She just has this down home quality to me. It’s kinda hard to explain for me, but she just feels “comfortable” it’s almost like you know you are going to love no matter what she does. She mentioned that everyone thought she would be the one to cry but she wasn’t going to. She did mention being tired but as with the rest thanked everyone and was grateful for all the support. The silliest part was MJ coming up behind her in some tight shorts and a yellow t-shirt. I didn’t know he had a sign but apparently from what I read somewhere else, the sign said “everything is bigger down south” or something along those lines all I can say to that is BWAHAHAHA gotta love crude MJ! Brooke finished off with “Yellow” of course and I don’t know why but just seeing her on stage and all the yellow around the room was awe inspiring. This was followed of course by the group number and then intermission. At this point I had told Karen that I wanted to meet David Cook’s mom, she was just a few rows ahead of us and I figured why not at least go say hi. So we did. We talked to his step-dad a bit until his mom was free from speaking to the other people in front of us. We told him how it was awesome to meet him, and how nice it was to always see them supporting David. I believe we said they a great job raising him and how loved David really is. He thanked us and told us how it was sad to see the show ending, I believed he mentioned they did a few shows themselves and was surprised to hear that we came all the way from California. Finally we got to David’s mom and we told her basically the same things, she told us about how she loves all the idols and how they are like her “babies” that they all call her “mom” and how they are like one big family. I noticed throughout the show that she took photos of ALL the idols. She sang word for word all of their songs and cheered, danced, and loved every bit of it, just like the rest of us. David’s step-dad had this awesome camera and was shooting all the idols so I know they got cool pictures. So we got a photo with her. Intermission ended and Jason came on. He like Brooke, to me is someone that just feels “comfortable” I love the calmness he has and the warmth that comes from him while on stage. It was time for Syesha “umbrella” of course was awesome.. but when she did the last song (I forgot what it is called) was CRAZY. I had major goosebumps. I could have swore she was crying as she sang it. The emotion she put into it was sick - I really have no words. I was seriously blown away. I couldn’t help but tear up at that. The of course, you know who was next. I turned to Karen right before and I said to her if I cry, just ignore me, because I know it’s building up, well sure enough I’m almost embarrassed to say I was BAWLING. As soon as the first notes to “Angel” started I cried and cried and cried. I could not stop, ahah just thinking about it now.. is making me start to start cry now… yikes.. oh gosh I’m such a nerd. Anyway, I couldn’t help it I think all the emotions of just being there and knowing it was the last show to everything I’ve been stressed about and my grandma dying in July just all came flooding out. Just seeing him right there couldn’t have helped either. I don’t look at DA in the way most girls do, I look at him as I would any guy I consider a “little brother” but his voice and the music he chooses just touches my heart and as much as I knew in my heart I didn’t want to be the token crying girl I couldn’t help it. I bawled my eyes out. The two ladies in front of me were Cook fans and although I’ve had some run in’s with Cook fans not to kind to those of us who cry/scream or whatever for DA, these two were amazing. They hugged me and just totally understood where I was coming from. I just remember feeling one of them rubbing my arm followed by reassurance from Karen. AHAH I’m telling you I was a mess. Anyway, all of his songs were beautiful and rather then focus on photos and or twittering I mostly just watched and took it all in. WYSYLM did me in, I can’t even begin to try and explain. I will forever keep that with me, the whole DA set is something that I will keep most thoughts to myself because it just felt so personal. It was like therapy. I needed it. I really did. Next of course was the man of the year! I turned to look at Karen to see her reaction, girl loves herself some DC! hehe anyway she was calm but ready to go, so the big screen changed and you see DC face big as life with #1 next to it and I couldn’t help but think about the ride and path in life he must have been on it had to be so crazy yet so humbling. The lights dimmed and the opening notes to “Hello” started. It was haunting is the best way I can explain it. David has this presence about him, on stage you just KNOW he SHOULD BE a ROCKSTAR. He stood there in all his glory and sang with all his heart, he felt every note, every word. It was beautiful to watch. He threw picks into the audience, he drank from water bottles and chucked them here and there. He talked a bit about how it’s been such an amazing year for him. I don’t remember his exact words, but he thanked everyone and told his mom, his brothers and all of us that he loved us all. After he said that I could see Kim turn to Beth and hug her and you could see that she said to Beth “how sweet” and she put her arm around Beth. It was awesome to watch them! Anyway He mentioned having sung “Magic Rainbows” 53 times LOL and how this was the 53rd of 53 haha. “Don’t want to miss a thing” was beautiful I believe he had the audience sing with him on that one. It came time for the video of the audience thing, he asked for everyone to take out anything that glowed and to raise it up high but rather then raise the house lights they left it dark and all you could see around the ENTIRE building was lights from cell phones, glow sticks, camera flashes and twinkling from who knows what. I stopped watching him for a second turned around and looked and it was a moment to behold. I don’t think words will ever explain it. As I turned back DC was on the catwalk with this HUGE smile on his face The thing is could tell he was just taking in everything. I think the things that stuck out most of all about DC to me was the interaction of him and his mom. He’d come over to our side (which she was on) and smile or wink or just give that extra little bit for her. She ate it up of course, as did Kim He made sure to talk a little bit about Tulsa and of course what he did when being there. He called out all his friends who were all sitting in a section to the left of Karen and I. He walked over to the other side far right) and reached out to shake hands with fans and I think the most touching was watching him shake the hand of his brother Andrew. It was a simple gesture that I think had a HUGE impact on me personally. He then ended up in the crowd and walked far out into it. He came back and threw out more picks for people. I think of the more funnier moments was when someone threw panties up on stage and he talked about how his mom was right there and she just saw it. All along Kim was laughing with Beth and when DC said he was going to push them off stage Kim turned to Beth and raised her arm in the air like YEAH!! DO IT haha I could help but laugh and then came the greatest moment, after pushing them to the side David said “Ill give them to Archie later” BWAHAHA that got a HUGE roar of laughter from the crowd. It was great! unfortunately we knew what was coming and the fact that it was really almost over. “Billie Jean” like “Hello” is very haunting, David, catwalk and smoke, the dark lights and strums on the guitar that can either make you cry or scream like your life is about to end. I have no voice in part because of DC haha. We all waited to see if the backbend would come, but it never did. Nonetheless, it didn’t take away from David’s performance. He finished it off by trashing his guitar LOL part of me wanted to scream to save the poor guitars life seeing as how I’ve wanted a guitar FOREVER (they are expensive haha) but part of me thinks it was almost symbolic.. he’s breaking away from this idol bubble and can now finally BE FREE!! Be free DC, be free… PDSTM time and as cool as the song is, I think we were all waiting to see what would come of Mavid. We saw Kimberly Caldwell leave and I thought nothing of it, but I later found out why. I guess there was a group of people (Kim included) standing by the side of the stage with cans of silly string and right as Mavid was to take place both DC and MJ got ambushed by SS so they were COVERED in string. It was HILARIOUS! David then ran around and got some on Carly and Brooke I believe. When they finished rather then leave the stage they all kind of gathered around the catwalk and hugged each other. They took their time enjoying the moment. They all hugged one another on the top part of the stage as well. A few went around and hugged the members of the band. The house lights never went up, so all of this took place in the dark. I think it kind of added to the emotions of the moment. It’s almost like although they were tired and no doubt ready to finish the grind of a tour, they didn’t want to leave the stage. It was a wonderful way for it to end..


I want to add about to the show stuff info on Kimberly. I think overtime people have really come to be OK with her and I’m glad that they have. I still wont claim to be an official supporter of her, BUT I can say that she has really has shown me that things people say should be taken with a grain of salt. I think it’s easy to get mad and or a tiny bit green at the fact that DC has someone to call his own, sure people need to be realistic and understand that chances are slim for just the “casual fan” but truth be told I know it can be hard. I’ve been there, nonetheless I think its time for those who still are rough on the girl to give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure DC knows what he is getting into and I’d rather let him be the judge of what is right or wrong for HIS LIFE. If Kim is a right then let him have that, he deserves all the happiness in the world, right? Anyway, I didn’t pay attention the entire night but the times I did Kim was awesome, she sang every song word for word, she cheered for the other idols and enjoyed her time with DC’s parents. She posed for photos with any fan who asked and her and Beth seemed to have a great rapport with one another. At times she’d put her arm around Beth and they’d enjoy moments between them and David while he sang. She was cute with David’s step-dad, they shared a lot of laughs. They really did look like a “family” and that only signals to me someone who not only WORKS with the people DC loves but more importantly WORKS with DC. I’m going to add this here just to further justify my point. At the AP she didn’t make herself the story, she was there for a few minutes and then left. I caught her before she did. She was talking to someone so I waited but I softly asked her for a photo and she right away hugged me and said “sure” so we took the photo. I said thank you and she said “THANK YOU for coming out and THANK YOU for the support” she was welcoming and overall really kind. I cannot say a bad thing about her. So going by my interaction with her along with what Rudy and Karen told me it just further proves that she could really be a great compliment to David. She’s beautiful, she’s sweet and his family seems to really like her. I hope people give her a chance at least is all I can say.

PRE-SHOW (Buses)


Saturday morning, I just remember hearing “DISTURBIA” on Karen’s phone/alarm for about an hour. I don’t think any of us wanted to get up. Rudy was knocked out and I didn’t want to move, the curtains in the room kept it totally dark. I finally told Karen her alarm had been going off which meant it was tie to get up! We had plans on getting up earlier but uh.. 8:40 had to do haha. So we all got ready to go and eat, we met up with some friends from IDF Amy and Valerie. We were gonna grab a bite at the restaurant in the hotel but the wait was like 30 minutes plus. So that was out the widow with out 10am buses deadline. So we ended up getting stuff from the the little coffee shop they also had. That’s when some lady randomly came up to Rudy and asked if he was David lol we couldn’t help but chuckle. Poor Rudy! So Amy had mentioned to me on the phone earlier that she thought that the idols were on her floor of the hotel. She had heard a crazy party going on next door to their room, which sounded like Chikezie. They partied till 4 I believe she said. You’ll hear what Chikezie had to say about that in Karen’s review! Anyway, we went up there to eat breakfast with them and then head over to the buses. We made our way out after 10 and finally got to the BOK. It was HOT, very humid. When we got there, there had to be at least 100 people there already. Sitting around, chatting, music playing.. just have lots of fun! We could hear the dread heads playing some Jason. The cook fans encircled this HUGE banner made in part by Kim. The Archies were in full force, signs and post-it notes in tow. It stood pretty warm for a while only to give way to wind and ultimately the downpour of a lifetime. We waited.. and waited.. and waited. It got darker outside and we heard from another fan that she had got a weather report that the outer bands of Ike were on their way.. sure enough the flood gates opened and ALL OF US got completely SOAKED! It was so bad that my little slip on shoes had water in them! It was insane. We all huddled together, Cook, Archie and Castro fans as close as possible to shield each other but it really was all in vain. We were covered in every direction by water. FINALLY about 2:30 KLC came out, and if I remember correctly after her followed Jason, DA, Cook, Carly and Brooke. To be honest, we didn’t really get much time with each. There was soooo many fans there. I say at least 400+ there so the idols did their best to get through as quick as possible. I think Archuleta stood the longest, Cook tried to get to everyone but I know he was really rushed. KLC was sweet she came to our side and briefly talked to people. Brooke went by pretty quickly, she mentioned they had like 10 minutes so she tried really hard. Carly flew by I can’t say I remember anything about seeing her, other then she looked pretty with her hair back and glasses (hehe I believe they had a late night, according to many). Jason was on our side for a while, as the whole dread head clain was there, so he tried to get to everyone and I think most left happy original.gif Cook came by pretty quickly as well, although he was able to talk to Karen about the yearbooks, she has a cute story on that too. As soon as he came, he was gone though! I loved the halo he was wearing around. It was HILARIOUS. Then DA came by, someone gave him the guitar glasses and he wore them most of the time. I wasn’t able to talk to him or anything, but I did get the photos and watched as he talked to Karen about the yearbooks and the picture from her sister, again, she’ll tell you all about that lol! Thankfully she was able to give him my gift (THANK YOU KAREN!!), cause I couldn’t reach him. It was great to watch the interaction he had with the fans, he really took his time and made sure to speak to as many as he could. Then he left. So at that point the majority of the crowd thinned out. The weather calmed down and I guess most just wanted to go and get dried off. We assumed the others wouldn’t come due to press or something, but thanks to a very KIND security guy he told us he heard Syesha was coming out, so we waited. A few mintes later we were able to get closer to the barricades so we had a good place in line. She came out a few minutes after that. She came to our side first. She seemed OK, but I got the impression she was maybe tired, not very happy? I don’t really know. Anyway, she moved on to Karen and they talked a bit and off she went. After that our boy Chikezie came out, and he REALLY made MY BUSES experience awesome, he went to the opposite side and talked with fans, he lingered a bit over there but it was fun to watch. Then he came to this girl we met on our shuttle ride to the airport named “Desii.” I knew I had heard her name from somewhere I just couldn’t figure out where, till she mentioned Rickey.org and then it was clear to me. She’s a HUGE Chikezie fan. It was so beautiful and so emotional to watch them meet. We all stood from our place on the barricades and just watched in both awe and with some tears as they interacted. You could tell he was happy to see her and the opposite held true as well. They talked, they took photos and they hugged. It was soooo awesome. I don’t think I will ever forget seeing that. To me, his actions were the ideal way to end this whole adventure. He was really the true essence of appreciation for his fans. I will never forget that. Anyway, he finally got to Rudy and they took their glasses photos (I’ve included them, for you to see lol, they are GREAT!) Chikezie made up the second pose hehe I loved it. Then he got to Karen and she gave him this beautiful gift which was for his birthday and I KNOW he totally appreciated it he said “WOW THANK YOU” and he looked at it with such gratitude. They took a photo and looked all cute together hehe. Then he came to me *squeel* he signed my hat and I asked him if I could get a picture he said “OK” and we took it, then I asked if I could get a hug and he said sure with his huge smile *awww* then he proceeded to give me the LONGEST HUG EVER!! I could have died then and there and would have been happy. He seriously made everything right in that moment. While we hugged I told him a few things, which I’ll keep for us, but I left him by saying “thank you, you have been an inspiration!” and he whispered “thank you” in my ear. Awww I was finished, kaput.. done for… after that we decided to leave. I was said I didn’t get to see MJ. I really wanted to, but he didn’t… that ended our bus adventures.

OK this is going to be my review of the Tulsa trip and it’s mostly going to consist of the AI stuff seeing as how that basically took up most of the trip. I’m going to do it over 5 days as there are five parts. The ARRIVAL, PRE-SHOW, CONCERT, AFTER PARTY and finally the ENDING. So, I’m going to do an overall detailed review, but section by section, because I’m just going to post the same thing pretty much everywhere I post lol but if I do little by little it wont be so overwhelming.

ARRIVAL

Thursday was a late night for a lot of us. I remember coming online and seeing Karen up and I believe Rudy as well. I think all the energy from what was to happen just kept us all going.. finally around 2 I was able to get to sleep.

6 am on the dot, Friday morning. I was up and ready to go. I knew all four of us going from the bay area were up early because we had all txted one another at some point. We knew the day would be filled with flying and an adventure it definitely turned out to be. So one by one we made our way to SFO. Karen’s flight was delayed a bit due to weather and I had to wait in line for over an hour to check my bag because stupid me didn’t load up my debit card so I couldn’t use the computer to check in and pay for my luggage. Oops! Anyway, Rudy and Kim left first, then Karen and finally me. Our friend Kim had made plans to see the Andy Skib show in Tulsa so she needed to get there asap. In the meantime I was able to meet up with Rudy in Denver. It was cool, he is awesome, not to mention hilarious. We just sat around and talked and tried to figure out how to get him onto an earlier flight, he was on standby and was hoping to get on the same flight as me. Anyway randomly I looked up when who walks by? KIMBERLY CALDWELL!! I told Rudy “is that….?” he’s like “WHAT?” I was like “THAT’S KIMBERLY” he’s like “no it’s not, she’s too short!” he’s like “no way” so we noticed she went to the restroom. We continue to sit there and see if she’d come back, and she did! As she walked by Rudy was like “Does she have a tattoo?” and I was like “YES!!, IT’S HER” lol so he decided to investigate, he can tell you what he did, haha I’ll just say he got confirmation and all I remember doing was texting him “HURRY UP AND COME BACK THE PLANE IS GONNA BOARD” (I had his luggage haha). Anyway, he came back and about a minute after him she came walking back, this time on her cell phone. She seemed pretty caught up in stuff, maybe not feeling too well, so I thought it was best not to bother her, I know Rudy wanted a picture and he actually told me “I probably won’t ever get the chance to get one again… come on let me” and I told him “you never know” haha little did we know, that he actually would!! Go Rudy. Turns out Kim was on my flight I saw her as I walked in to find my seat. She did look a little tired and maybe not feeling well. Anyway we finally reached Tulsa. I saw her again as I left the plane, she had to wait for some luggage, she did have on lots of makeup (but she is completely beautiful in person) and she was on the phone and doing her hair lol! Didn’t see her again until the show. I waited about 2 hours in the baggage claim for Karen and Kim to arrive and finally they did. Rudy was still flying at the point they came so after Kim headed off to the Andy show, we decided to go find out hotel. We finally got there and checked in, we got some awesome and yummy cookies for doing so lol! Doubletree rocks. I have to side track a bit and say what made being at the doubletree more cool was that it was filled with fans. I still say about 90% of the hotel was Idol fans. I got asked quite a few times what’s going on that so many people are in town and they just laughed at all of us being there. I saw IDF people, I saw FOD people. I saw dread heads and MJ fans, the Cook crews were everywhere from big to small, this little tiny girl was too cute for words. It was amazing to have so many people who all loved the same group of idols in one place. We all hung out, talked, ate and shared stories. It was a BLAST! Anyway, around 11pm/12am we decided to go see if we could find the BOK center. Tulsa, is pretty slow at night, even for a Friday in the part of town we were nothing was going on. We finally found it and went around to see where they might line up for the M&G buses before the show. I got a call from Rudy saying he was headed to the hotel so we decided to go back. It was HOT, hecka muggy out there, the air conditioning of the Doubletree was much welcomed. Karen, Rudy and I were hungry and according to the hotel front desk nothing was open any longer, everything shuts down around 11 I guess, including room service.. YIKES! Anyway, they gave us the # to a pizza place to call, so we did. We hung out in the lobby talking to random people as other random people kept stalking Rudy, thinking he was David Archuleta. Another lady came down stairs who knew Rudy from the Sacramento show and kept us busy talking till our pizza came… over an hour later! We finally went to our room, chilled and ate. After a while we decided to call it a night. Karen fell asleep first and then Rudy and finally me.

Tomorrow: Pre-Show!

I still haven’t slept yet. I leave for the airport in 5 hours. I’m scared lol, I’m totally scared. I cant wait just to get there and get home. Ehh. I think I need sleep. I set up a twitter for updates you can check it out here http://twitter.com/izzy82. So, hopefully I’ll be talking to ya’ll by Sunday! Pray for me lol.

OK, so I had attempted to make a new layout but needless to say it basically combusted! I had this grand idea running through my head but honestly nothing worked quite like I wanted. Truth be told, I wasn’t really happy with the layout and so it was pretty much downhill from there. So, yet again, I have a backup. I found this one online and I think it’s cute. It’ll last me until I can figure something else out.

I actually got things situated with my computer. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but my computer basically crashed. I lost EVERYTHING! Photos, music, files, documents, poems, letters… EVERYTHING. I was pissed. I had downloaded windows service pack 3 and it seemed that everything went downhill from there. So, in the end, I had to reformat the hard drive as windows wouldn’t start AT ALL. I got a fresh install and now I’m slowly getting my usual programs and stuff back. It’s a pain though.

I leave for Tulsa Friday. I’m a little nervous. I don’t have the same fear nothing attitude that I used to have. Now, I’m worried about all the rain they are going to have. I guess I’m more fearful of flying alone. I have this tiny bit of dread that comes over me here and there. No, I don’t believe it’s a “sign” or anything. I just think it’s nerves and the extra stress that is coming over me from my recent panic attacks. I’m excited to go, I really am. I just don’t really like the idea of flying alone. I’ve become such a punk, I swear!

So, I was supposed to go to a job interview today but my mom is being majorly difficult. She gave me no real option on getting there. I’d take the bus if I had money to do so, but I don’t. Basically I get the “I don’t care” vibe from her right now. I don’t know.. eh. I don’t want to deal with it.

On a better note. I WON AN AWARD! How cool is that? Kristi over at the so-facetious.org awards gave me an award as her “pick” of season 2! WOW! I so don’t deserve it, not at all! But I’m totally grateful. I hope I can live up to being her pick. I feel totally special. Ya’ll have to check out my cool AWARD I’m going to go add it to my awards page! Thank you Kristi


In 4 days I’m going to be face to face with my Davids! *squeal* I cannot wait…

Please go vote for me at the So-Facetious.org awards, you can vote here So-Facetious.org

Thank you.

Sorry for lack of updates but I’ve been busy and well now my computer has basically been rendered stupid. I downloaded service pack 3 like an idiot and it has pretty much killed my system. I already lost everything because I have to reformat the hard drive to even get windows to start back up AT ALL, now the computer will work for various amounts of time then proceed to shut itself off and or go into hibernation/sleep and won’t turn back on unless I leave it alone for a period of time or unplug it from the outlet. The computer will sometimes work but then the monitor and keyboard will remain in “sleep/hibernation” until I do one of the said actions above. It’s a real pain and I have no clue whatsoever on how to fix it. *le sigh*

Aside from that. I’m getting ready to take off to Tulsa Oklahoma for the FINAL American Idol concert! I’m so excited. It’s going to be so much fun. My friend Karen (from IDF) and I scored 5TH ROW SEATS? can you BELIEVE THAT? we got them last week. It was crazy! So, I’m even more happy now. Something to re-focus my mind on. Anyway.. I better go before my comp restarts and I lose this blog. Hope to chat again soon!

Well, Ive been absent mostly due to the fact that I’ve been dealing with a lot personally. Unfortunately my grandmother died a little over a week ago, and it’s been a pretty tough situation. I have to say, more then anything, I’ve been pretty numb to everything. Although, I’ve shed tears here and there, I think I’ve pretty much closed off expression of emotion within myself as much as I can. I just simply feel numb. There is this part of me that feels constant sadness, yet there is this part of me that knows not how to feel. It’s hard to explain. Im almost weirded out by myself because I fully expected to be more emotional then I was/am, but that hasn’t happened. Yet, there is this constant nagging hole that is present within myself. It’s there, I feel it. I just know everything has gone in slow motion, yet has passed by so quickly, I have yet to catch my breath, and myself.

I’m not sure what to do right now. Everything is confusing. The night is my day, the day is my night. I’m expressing emotions of content. I’m living in constant pain. It’s all a contradiction at this point.

I just walk day by day, without actually living.