In the Studio Again

I am in the studio again today writing with Tim Rosenou- TobyMac's guitar player. I gotta admit, I wasn't looking forward to hitting the ol' drawing board again when Gotee told me to keep writing, but I really believe it has been good for me.
There is a certain pressure that comes with sitting in a room at a scheduled time and saying "1, 2, 3- Create!" Fears like "What if I don't have anything to give today, What if I'm not good enough, What if I look stupid, What if I expose my mess to this person- let alone the world through a song?!" arise in me and I have to choose to risk.
To choose to risk is an interesting thing. It means there is something to lose- but yet also, something to gain. I believe if one chooses to risk, they must also choose to hope. Maybe those words are actually symonomous: Risk; Hope. To hope is to risk. But without hope, the heart begins to die. By sitting sedentary, and not practicing an art, the skill begins to die. By playing it safe, and not venturing to dream, the dream dies.
We have reason to hope.
Today, I choose to hope.

Keith Urban

I work at starbucks in Franklin part time. Some of our regular costumers are Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. Nicole hasn't come in since she had the baby, and lately, paparazzi have been waiting outside our building- but Keith comes in and gets her grande decaf coffee and tall non-fat milk foam. They are always very warm to us, and pleasant to serve. Today I got him a spoon to take to Nicole for her milk foam and he said "Thanks sweetheart." He probably thinks I'm 17 like everyone else, but it was a nice gesture. Its interesting to watch them handle attention like they do. It continues my fascination with the concept of fame. What is it? Its man given. We give it to people, and then it destroys people. And we wonder what went wrong. There is One who is wired and worthy for great fame. His name is Jesus.

Andy Stanley Quote

"You have no idea the numbers of people that God may want to influence through you.
You may be perfectly positioned to influence the world because you are careful with that trust."

Insomniac/Preston & Stephanie Sing

I cannot sleep. I went to bed at 11pm, maybe fell asleep by midnight, and woke up at 2am. Its 3am now. I have to get up at 4:30am and be at work by 5am. Maybe I will just stay awake. I feel awful.
In more exciting news- its my friend Jordan's birthday today and we celebrated it early at PF Changs. Preston and I gave him the best gift we knew to give- we sang him a song... Ladies and Gentlemen, back by popluar demand- Stephanie and Preston:

Shoes!

One of my favorite brand of shoes is Irregular Choice- Here are a few of my favorites:

business sucks

I slept in today. Then I made an omlette and coffee and sat on my porch while I did my devos. I met with Glenda my manager this afternoon and talked about all the business things that are so hard for me to talk about. I must admit, I have been feeling discouraged lately about this whole record deal thing. It is just hard to get started. I have great musicians who I love touring with, and they are taking other gigs to pay the bills, but as a result, they are tied up so much that I can't get them for tours I'm trying to put together. So this week I feel like being a boss sucks. Maybe next week it will be better.
ohhh whoa-eys-me. ;)
just kidding.... I am learning a lot and growing a lot.
more to come
S

Cherie Marie Get's Married

Watch my beautiful cousin walk down the aisle!!! It was so beautiful...

Zebras

Zebras mate for life..... and they cuddle!
I took this picture on safari in South Africa
Pretty awesome eh?
S

Nu Thang

This is my happy place music:
It does my heart good.... 1990 dc Talk.
Watch and learn

Lindsey and Steph and the Bottle

Well, It did come back.... and after it did, a guy came up to us and accused us of potentially cutting a childs foot off. When we tried to explain to him that it wasn't our bottle, we were just throwing it back where we found it, he didn't like that. So he packed up his whole family from under their beach umbrellas and tattled on us to the umbrella rentals dude- who proceeded to come scold us for being "rude" to his customers.
Thats right folks- you saw it all right here on my blog.... we were trying to save life by preserving the barnicles, and we got chewed out. ;)
crazy.
S

Bridge Jumping

We went to a special spot in Destin and Brock and Jacob got the bright idea to jump off the bridge. Brock made a friend on the bridge, who also decided to jump off after seeing jacob and brock had their go. He also informed us that there is a hefty fee for doing it.... but only if you get caught ;) We didn't get caught, and we had a good time... here is the video.

Later, my roommate Emily made her way to the beach. When she got there- our possy was complete. She helped at the merch table, and I taught everyone my nifty slap bracelet trick I had learned. Lucky for you, we documented it... have a look:

But the sad thing is, I am no longer at the beach.... I am in texas for my cousins wedding. It's great to be with family- but sometimes weddings can be stressful ;) I'll keep you posted!
S

Crossroads Church!!!!

Ok so I met some Gangsta's here in Fort Walton Beach... These gentlemen were kind enough to compose and perform a rap for me.... here is it.
Word Up Crossroads Church- you ROCK!

Keylime PIE!

We had the best keylime pie.... look at how big it was.... Then, look what was left.

YUM!

The Beach!

I am at the beach with Brock and Auny Gill again. I miss my mexican friend Barbra, but my fire eating friend Lindsey is here with me.... and my boyfriend Jacob. This is a picture of us at da beach.
We got here yesterday, and met up with Brock and Auny in Pensacola. As we got here, a HUGE dark cloud rolled in. As we stepped foot on the beach, flocks of people were running for their cars. The beach entirely cleared and we had it to ourselves. We watched as clouds threatened to spin and winds picked up. Its amazing to me how the ocean and the sky communicate. The darker the sky, the more intense the waves. And once it all blew over, the water was FREEZING!... It didn't even rain on us. Crazy.
Here is a video clip....



Today we all slept in and watched a little John and Kate + 8, then went to the beach! The water was so clear, there was no seaweed, and I only saw 3 jellyfish today as opposed to the 847 I saw last week when we were here.
I love these super wow camps- its great to be back, I missed it and I was only gone a week! Unfortunately I have to leave early this week for my cousins wedding, but thats not a bad reason ;)

By the way- the video of preston and I singing is up- so go back and watch it!
Blah blah blah!
thats all
S

More on the busted van....

So get this:
My van broke down in Atlanta, and I had to leave it there and rent one to get my band home. If you've been reading, you already know that.... well, my roomie Lindz helped me drive to Hotlanta, then followed me home in my car as I drove the van and tried out the new transmission. I got a text from some friends of mine in a band called Storyside:B as I was driving home saying that they were on the side of the road on I-24 about 100 miles outside of Nashville. I was about an hour away from them headed their direction....
The rest of the story goes like this: We meet up in Nashville around 11:30pm. I hand the keys of my newly fixed van over to them so they can leave at 5am to make it to Cornerstone in IL. Crazy! If I wouldn't have picked my van up when I did, I wouldn't have been able to help my boys out! Pray for them to raise the funds to fix their van- its stuck in Nashville, and their trailer is parked outside my place while they figure out their situation.
On a positive note- I spent part of my 4th of July with them grilling and laughing. Preston and I realized we have a hidden talent in common... check out our patriotic tribute to this Independence day in this clip!!!!



Ohhhh good times ;)
I hope you had a good 4th~
S

Gypsies Disneyland

My friend Brock likes extremes. He built a 320 foot zipline in his backyard and we tried it out. This video clip is my daredevil boyfriend being the guinea pig on the first trial run!

We like to have fun!
Then I went down.... 1st girl to give it a go!!!!!



Later that night we had a bombfire and lit fireworks.... this video is my roommate linsdey who likes fire a lot.... infact she has made a career out of it- she is Lindsey the Fireproof Woman!!!!

Crazy times!
More to come!!!
S