Life with Jerin

New Blog...

2009-03-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hey! Thanks for stopping by! I have a new blog and the address is www.lifewithjerin.wordpress.com. Check it out!

Still Alive

2008-05-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who still check this blog occasionally here is an update... finally!!! Here are a few pictures from the spring tour with downhere, Jason Gray and Shawn McDonald. We were able to take a bus out on the tour which was a huge plus and makes traveling much easier. Although I really don't sleep well on the bus so it's nice to be back in my own bed for a little while. Another bonus was the fact that I was able to see my family as we did a show in Montana!!! To the right you'll see I put my Dad to work behind downhere's merch table for the evening (I was the merch manager for the tour so great volunteers made my life SO much nicer). And thank you to any of you who came to show your support at a show... you guys are amazing and we love seeing your familiar faces!!!

I had a day off to spend with my older sister and brother-in-law and was able to hang out with my cute little niece! Here we are on a tour of the bus! She loves her Uncle Jeremy... but only from a distance for some reason=}!

A couple people had Birthdays during this tour so we celebrated in style usually after the show in the bus. Jason and Taya would supply the party favors and we would play pin the tail on the donkey on the moving bus and make balloon animals... we were crazy! Jeremy and I found these mustaches for everyone to wear to celebrate a guy in Shawn's band's Birthday (he had a real mustache and wore it well)! Oh and these ugly teeth had some bling in them... notice Jeremy's jewel in his front tooth=}!

And after every show the promoters would hook us up with cereal for the next morning, and it was usually more than we could ever eat. We loved having all these options every morning though.. you never knew what you were gonna get. By the end of the tour we were buried in cereal!

Anyway, it was a great tour for World Vision!! We ended up getting 850 kids sponsored in 26 shows! Thank you Lord! It was such a blessing to be a part of that! Now for a little R & R before we are back at it again next week!

A True Princess

2008-03-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I did a Cinderella party for a lady I work with part time. She has a little daughter named Gabbi who turned 6 recently. Since she is still in love with princesses and fairy tales, she thought it would be a good idea to bring Cinderella to her party. Now I was expecting this party to be like many of the others... facepainting, story time, games and crafts. etc. And all the little girls all dressed up in their favorite princess dresses like usual (very cute by the way...this job never gets old). They were all dressed up and we did many of those things, but a few moments made this one stand out among the rest.

Each activity we did, I let all the girls know that since it's Gabbi's birthday she gets to go first for whatever we are doing, so she would feel special that day! But when it was time to eat cake we sang her happy birthday and all the girls waited eagerly to get their piece of the castle cake. However, Gabbi was not at the table with the rest of the girls. She was making her way to and from the cake table and serving her friends first!! I was so impressed by that simple act of kindness from a 6 year old at HER party! I have been to many parties and I don't think I have ever witnessed that from the birthday girl.

While the girls were eating their cake I was walking around and putting little glitter tatoos on their hands. I glanced over at Gabbi and she was whispering something to her friend. Then she turned to me and asked, "Cinderella, do you love Jesus?" I looked at her with a big smile and said, "Yes I do love Jesus!" She then turned to her friend and said, "See, she does!" That just melted my heart! I love sharing my love for Jesus especially to children, because I was 6 when I asked Jesus to come into my heart, so I know she can grasp that!

Another moment that made this party different from the rest was when I realized there wasn't any presents. But there was a table with a princess table cloth right next to the one we ate at, and it had lots of groceries on it. I asked the mom about it and she said instead of gifts, all the girls brought a grocery item that Gabbi would help give away to a family in need!!! Wow... I love that idea! I give props to the parents for raising their little girl this way and I admire the little girl for her willingness to follow through... a true servant... a true princess!

My Disney World 1/2 Marathon Results!

2008-01-16T12:10:00.000-08:00

Well I'm pleased to report that with help from my fellow running partner, Krista Lavender, we finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 15 mins! Unfortunately I didn't feel as great as I would've liked throughout the run and there were times when Krista's positive attitude had to carry me along, but we did it. Normally I get a second wind at about mile 5 or 6 but not this time... it was a bit tough towards the end. But I think it still puts me in a great place to work toward the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville the end of April. Hopefully some of you reading this will join me on that run=}!! The more the merrier!

Jeremy did a great job as a spectator trying to capture pictures along the way. He had made a nice sign that said "Go Erin, I love you", and held it up as I ran passed=}! He had the sign in one hand and the camera in the other while shouting my name. It made me laugh and gave me a boost. I guess he had to wait in the same spot for an hour to capture a picture of me after running through Cinderella's caste. But boy was it worth it! I love this picture... this is at about mile 6 I think, so I was still feeling alright=}.

As we entered the tunnel in the castle there were characters above us playing the trumpets as if royalty were entering the castle. That was pretty cool. There were also lots of characters along the way to cheer you on including some pirates in their ship, chip and dale, Alice in Wonderland characters, Ariel and much more. It was a great experience and I'd encourage you to train for one! Even if you just walk it. There are plenty of people who walk it and have a blast!

Ok I'll post more from our fun times at the Disney parks soon! Thanks for praying everyone! I'm so thankful for the healthy body I've been given and working legs to even be able to be a part of such a cool experience.

With Minnie, and holding my Donald Duck medal=}!

Disney Marathon, here we come!!

2008-01-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

So if you've read Jeremy's blog you'll notice we'll be running the Disney marathon this weekend! I will run the 1/2 (13.1 miles) on Saturday and he will run the full (26.2 miles) on Sunday. I like that it's split up like this so we can cheer each other on from the sidelines, and hopefully get some great blog worthy pictures=}. I'm running the 1/2 marathon with Glenn's sister Krista who stuck by my side to help me finish the country music marathon in Nashville! So her presence will help push me again for sure... thanks Krista! Below is the course map for us. It might be too small but it shows that we start running at Epcot Center and then up to Cinderella's castle and then back to Epcot. I guess there are characters out to cheer you on along the way, so that and the unique scenery combined should help distract me. Also the course is mostly flat!!!... which is wonderful since I've been training in hilly Tennessee. So if you think about it this weekend say a prayer for all of us running Sat. and Sun. Thanks guys!

A Montana Christmas!

2008-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the new year has brought you a refreshing look on life and a time to reflect on all the good gifts God has given. Jeremy and I enjoyed our time off from the road life and retreated with my family in Montana this Christmas. So far we have successfully been able to pull off an "every other year" plan for Christmas with our families and this year happened to be a time with my family. However, we were able to incorporate some of Jeremy's family traditions such as having "Christmas crack ers" at dinner and working on a crossword puzzle made by my Dad. We took advantage of the beautiful area that my parents live in and went snowmobiling, sledding and even went on a horse drawn sleigh ride!! My two sisters where there as well with their husbands and of course my little niece, Ella! I just couldn't take enough pictures of that girl. She says my name now and it's SO precious... it sounds like "owen". Here are a few pictures of the lovely time we had with family!

This is Ella before the sleigh ride! The sleigh was pulled by 4 percheron horses that were all decorated for Christmas. And Ella on Christmas morning!

Jeremy and I on my parents deck after snowmobiling. The mountains behind us are covered in clouds but when it's clear the view is spectacular.

I was smiling for the camera in this picture=}!

My beautiful fam on Christmas Eve after the candlelight service.

Decorating "Our" Christmas tree

2007-12-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

We're so sorry it's been so long since we've posted here - things have been rather crazy in our world over the last few months. However, it's now Christmas time, which means it's time to decorate a Christmas tree!

A friend of ours was snapping pictures during the whole process and when we looked at them afterwards we thought it would be fun to let you in on how our tree gets decorated every year through a series of pictures - call it a "photo essay" if you will...

Erin deciding whether she's going to let Jeremy help decorate.

Erin decides to let Jeremy help but only under strict supervision ("This one goes here, this one over there...").

Jeremy deciding if he really wants to see this task through to the end...

Posing for a picture: "Jeremy 'helps' decorate the tree."

Jeremy decides his time would be much better spent (and FAR more productive) making eggnog ice cream.

The finished product... "We" did pretty good, didn't we!

Double the Fun!

2007-09-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

So I've always wanted to try riding a tandem bike and this past weekend was my first opportunity! It was a lot more challenging than I was expecting. I had in mind a nice leisurely ride through a small mountain town. I realized that was not the case once we got started. First of all it was a serious road bike. Not a bike with big seats and handle bars and wheels like I was expecting. This bike was used in competitive road bike races! Plus the guy that was showing us how it worked and riding beside us around town decided to take us on a 13 MILE ride!!! Now, I did not have any padded shorts to wear like you should have on if you're riding this bike. So needless to say... I'm sore!
It took a little bit to figure out how to ride it. The way you start off is the person in back, me, puts their foot in the pedals that secure in your feet while the front person holds the bike steady. Then the front person, Jeremy, steers and puts their feet in while the back person pedals. Then once you start pedaling you need to try and match each others cadence. Then you really need to be in constant communication with each other throughout the ride so you know what the other person is doing. You can easily parallel this with marriage. You have to trust the front person as they are the leader and the back person must follow. One of the tricks I learned is that if Jeremy was going too fast or I felt a bit out of control I could just pinch his but because it was right by my handle bars=}!

Anyway, it was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone, especially couples needing to sharpen communication skills!

Fun in Winthrop

2007-09-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked up to Blue Lake in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, otherwise known as the "American Alps". It was a gorgeous hike!!! It was about a 4.5 mile round trip and worth every step. Most of the artists on Centricity Records went so it was a fun time spent with friends. And of course when we reached Blue Lake Jeremy couldn't help but jump into the freezing water that flows off from the glacier in the background. He didn't last long but it made for a great picture.

Jeremy also started from the road below and climbed a few hundred feet without gear and I was able to get a shot of him finishing.

The downhere family at the top of the trail. Jonah is my little buddy!!

Washington pass overlook... amazing!

More pictures from the hike.

We attended the Winthrop Rodeo yesterday... such a fun experience!

Debbie and I at Sheri's, the popular dessert "hangout" in town... I have chocolate in my teeth from a yummy homemade peanut butter cup!!

Highlights from Northern Ireland

2007-08-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not yet seen these pictures here are a few highlights from our trip to Ireland. What a huge blessing it was to be a part of such a cool event. Downhere played in the Odyssey Arena - the largest venue in Northern Ireland - and opened for Chris Tomlin! It was such a great night and I am so thankful I got to soak in that experience. It was a bit stressful for me as we lost our largest merch suitcase on the way to the event so we didn't have all that we wanted to hopefully sell to 3,500+ people. But I had joyful merch volunteers and we sold out of all our Wide-Eyed CD's. AND I just loved having that responsibility that evening even though we didn't have all our merch. I am so thankful for my job and loved watching the guys give their all to a crowd who ended up loving them by their second song... and who, by the end of the night, enjoyed Chris Tomlin's set, but raved about downhere's set. God is good and he was glorified that night and I got to see him use these guys to make his name known in N.I.

We did get a day after the concert to sightsee around the coast. Here are a few pictures from the 4 days we had there. This was my first time so I couldn't take enough pictures!
Erin

downhere at the Odyssey

Giant's Causeway

Me and my new friend Cherith.

The Dunluce Castle on the coast.

White Man's Overbite

2007-08-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

Well, our good friend Krista captured this wonderful moment Friday night in Muskegon, MI. I'm not sure what to say - I know I make faces when I play, but I had no idea they were this bad! Wow...

Jeremy's Week in Review

2007-08-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

"Week in Review" - that sounds pretty lame, really. I'll have to come up with some clever title for this like Grandpa's "Weakly Note" - any suggestions, Grandpa? I'm obviously having a hard time hitting the Monday deadline, aren't I!! As usual, we've had a pretty full schedule since I last posted. Let me "break it down" for you:

Last Friday we drove BACK to Nashville and flew to California where downhere performed at Spirit West Coast in Monterey on Saturday. On Sunday we did a concert in Roseville, CA and then flew back home (finally!) on Monday.
Tuesday we went to see the Bourne Ultimatum (I'm a big Jason Bourne fan - you can read more about the movie here).
Wednesday Erin did a Cinderella party in the AM, then we had lunch with some friends of downhere who had travelled in from various places (VA and MI, mostly), and then I was wrapped up in meetings the rest of the afternoon.
Thursday was spent getting ready to leave town again for 10 days. Erin worked at her part time job and I ran around getting errands taken care of - it was a pretty busy day (and not enjoyable in 100+ degree heat!) and we finished it off with dinner with two other couples from church - so that was great.
Friday we got up at 2:45am (I'm shaking my head as I type this) to drive to Michigan to play at a festival with Leeland, Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns, and others. Erin's going to post some pictures from the day, and you can read some of my post about the day here as well (we nicknamed them "Jars of Thigh" for the night - need I say more??).

That should be it - we're headed to Ireland next week so it will be probably much more interesting. Hopefully we'll get some down time next week - I'm really feeling like I'm needing it. So we'll see...

Pictures from Creation West

2007-08-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

A tribute to our Creator! This festival is definitely one of the most scenic locations we've played. Downhere played on this stage to start off the evening. It was such a treat to have my parents out for this event. They drove from Montana to see us. I had fun getting excited with my mom when she saw Jeremy on the jumbotron. It was a blast sharing this part of our lives with them! They were also a big help at the merchandise table... thanks Mom and Dad!

During their set some lady threw this hat on stage and Jason brought it back to Jeremy for him to wear.

The river by the Gorge had a section that is known for it's dove shape... my Dad took this picture with his phone.

My proud Father waiting for downhere to come on!
My Mom and I with the crowd behind us... Doesn't she look fabulous in that shirt=}!

Update on the last week

2007-08-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I told Erin I would do my best to do a weekly post on Mondays about what we've done during the past week, and I already missed my first post. How did Thursday get here so stinkin' fast?!?

I'll tell you how... we have been trying hard to just keep things together in the last little bit. Here are some of the noteables from the past week (and a bit):

we went for dinner to The Melting Pot which was a wonderful experience - a first for both of us to this particular restaurant, and a reminder that we need to pull our fondue pot out of the closet! (Read a more detailed post about our night out here.)
Thursday we (Erin, myself, and the band) flew to Seattle, WA where we arrived around midnight and stayed with some friends there
Friday we drove out to Quincy, WA and performed at Creation West. What a GORGEOUS venue (I'm sure Erin will post some pictures from the day soon). The day was definitely slammed - we were on the run all day - but it was fun to share it with Erin's parents who drove out from Montana to spend the day with us. We arrived back in the Seattle area by 1am or so to stay with some other friends.
Saturday we got to sleep in a little bit before Glenn, Erin and I went for a run on a beautiful riverside trail in the Redmond area. Erin had one of her better runs, and Glenn and I did 7 miles at a 7:58 (min/mi) pace - the fastest run I've done at that pace for that distance in a long time. We performed Saturday night in a coffeeshop in downtown Seattle where we were surprised by a visit from two of my best friends (groomsmen at my wedding) Wes Morris and Mike Guenter, who drove down from Vancouver. So we were up until 1:15am that night just hanging out and visiting with them.
Sunday we played three times at Overlake Church - twice in the morning services and once in the evening - before rushing off to the airport and flying through the night back to Nashville, arriving at 8am Monday morning. We were picked up from the airport and drove directly to Lookout Mountain, GA where we set up to lead worship for a camp all week.

And that's where we've been this week - here in GA leading worship for these kids and taking naps in between sessions trying to recover from the crazy weekend. We're pretty much recovered - just in time to mess it all up again by flying out to CA tomorrow for the weekend. I'm going to have to squeeze in some laundry somewhere... Okay - you should hear from me around Monday again - the update will be much shorter I'm sure. Later!

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

2007-07-27T08:56:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd post a quick picture and note commemorating this, our 802nd day of marriage. That's a lot of days... But to put it in perspective, if all goes well and Jesus doesn't come back before our 50th wedding anniversary (although I suppose that would be a far better thing!), we will celebrate 19,052 days of marriage on that day! Crazy...

Kabobs on the Barby!

2007-06-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it's already been a couple of weeks since we did this, but the picture was too good to pass up. Very rarely are we home long enough to actually make a regular, somewhat fancy meal. However, we had the opportunity last month and Erin jumped at it. We had a blast making these kabobs - it's really simple, actually! - and they came off the bbq tasting wonderful. We'll definitely do it again at some point... Good times had in the summer time! Now if only we'd get some rain...

Gift Giving

2007-05-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

So if you are up to date on Jeremy's blog you will know that this month we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Let me tell you that time has gone by SO fast! Anyway, a few weeks before the date I began contemplating gift ideas for my man. Now, I just love giving gifts to people. I love spending time and choosing the right gift for that special occasion and person. But I couldn't think of a single thing that I could get Jeremy that he would really appreciate me spending money on. Most of the things I know he would like are beyond our budget. I could think of plenty of things to get him that I would enjoy, ha=} but that's pretty selfish...so I was stuck.

I spent time finding the perfect card but seriously couldn't come up with a great gift idea. I've spent 2 years living with this man and don't know what he wants for our anniversary?!?! I even called my sister asking her for advice and ideas. She suggested maybe tools or a back massager, but Jeremy has tools and he's not too much of a fixer guy unless he is in the mood - and the back massager I know would spend most of its time in his hands because he's just generous that way. But my sis did give me a great idea for how to know what to buy him for future reference. She advised that we sit down and make a list of gifts that we personally would enjoy that covers different price ranges just to allow for different options. Then swap that list so there won't be any questions as to what to get. So - the day of our anniversary I came home from work a little down because I just had a card to give him. He noticed that I wasn't too thrilled and we sat down and talked and I explained that I didn't have a gift for him, and suggested that we make lists for each other for the next occasion.

Anyway, so of course he was generous and could care less because he was so excited to give me my gift because he knew it was exactly what I had been wanting for some time now. And here they are - two white rocking chairs for our porch!! We use them pretty much everyday now - well when we are home. I'm so thankful for them - way to go Jeremy! So that's the story. Hopefully for his Birthday I'll be able to get him that "perfect" gift. I have some time to plan as it is not until December.

Modern Technology

2007-05-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am just so thankful for modern technology!! Last weekend my younger sister had a bridal shower in Montana and I wasn't able to "be" there. We were on tour and had a show that night in Burlington, WI. So just before the craziness of the night started I was able to get online and use a web cam and be a part of it via internet! They also have a web cam so when I called, my older sister walked me around the house and showed me all the people and decorations and presents and food and then "sat" me on the coffee table in front of my other sister to watch her open gifts. It was such a treat!! Then my mom wanted to get a picture of her three girls so here it is... quite funny actually! Nevertheless, I was so thankful to be a part of the afternoon. I just love my family and it's times like these when it is so painful to be so far away. So those of you who may live right down the street or even within reasonable driving distance from your family don't take it for granted and enjoy time with them while you can!

What a smile!

2007-05-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is my precious niece Ella! She has two new bottom teeth and is not afraid to show them off. What a killer smile huh! She lives in Montana so I don't get to see her very often but I love her dearly! She belongs to my older sis! My younger sis is getting married in June so we'll be up there soon. I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

This last weekend went really well. We had three concerts out east and I have some great pictures that I'll post later this week.

Victory Picture

2007-05-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is my running partner, Krista, (Glenn's sister) as we cross the finish line! What a cool shot! For the record this time is not our marathon chip time because it took us 24 mins. to get to the starting line=}.

Marathon...We did it!

2007-04-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well we finished! All the hard work and training paid off! Now we can really celebrate and eat lots of dessert this weekend=}. You can check out Sherri's blog to get specifics on times for the other band guys - Jason, Dave and Glenn! Way to go guys! Glenn set the new downhere marathon record (previously held by Jeremy). Jeremy, Krista (Glenn's sister) and I ran together for the first 11 miles and then Jeremy split off and joined the full marathon course. Krista and I finished strong beating our goal of 2:30 by 8 minutes! Jessica, Heather and Glenn's other sister Tracy volunteered to hand out water at mile 8 so we saw them just in time for some encouragement!

We read the Tennessean today and found out that the former running back for the Titans, Eddie George, ran the half-marathon and finished ONLY 20 minutes before me and Krista. George said that running the half-marathon was more difficult than playing a NFL game. His goal BEFORE the race on Saturday was to run the full marathon next year; but AFTER the race he said he's not sure because this one was really difficult. I felt pretty good after reading that article =}!!! And then there was the 71 year-old man who ran the full marathon in 3:48... wow!

All in all it went really well and I'm feeling sore but not as bad as I was expecting to. Here are some pictures from the big day!

2007-04-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Erin and I will be running in the Country Music Marathon here in Nashville. I'm pretty excited about it - we've got a number of friends who will be running also and I'm thrilled to be doing another run. Erin's going to do the half (13.1 mi) - I'll be running the first 11 mi with her and then when the two courses split I'll go on and finish the full. If you have nothing to do tomorrow morning and would like to follow along and see how we do, go to www.bimrace.com/cmm and look for the running name dhJeremy - that will be Erin and I for the first 11 mi and then just me for the rest of the race. The race starts at 7am CST - we probably won't get to the starting line until 7:30am or so.

Thanks - we'll make sure we post some pictures when we're done! Time to start eating some carbs...

Home for Easter

2007-04-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a crazy last couple of months, but I'm home at last - for a week, anyway. And it was great timing - I was able to spend Easter morning with Erin... and all the other folks at Rolling Hills Community Church. We got home at 10:30pm Friday night (after driving 32 hours straight from California) and on the drive home I got a call that one of the drummers had to cancel and they needed a drummer to fill in for Sunday morning. So I agreed, which meant I was up for rehearsal at 8:45am Saturday morning and then load-in at 7am today. But it was a great morning... the sunrise was amazing. In past years I have organized sunrise services with a friend, but the past few years I've been on the road over Easter and haven't had a chance. I wasn't in any shape to put something together this morning, but it was neat to still enjoy the sunrise on my way into town and reflect on what took place this morning thousands of years ago. Many blessings to you and yours - we'll fill you in on our California fun soon!

Jeremy

Map of UK Tour

2007-03-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

So this is pretty cool! I have a friend at work and his job is to make maps for the company where I work part time. He works on all different kinds of maps and has entered one into some sort of world-wide contest! I really don't know much more than that other than whenever they are printed out they look amazing! I've talked with him about what Jeremy does and where he is this week and he offered to make of map of the UK tour. Click on it and look at it a little bigger. When they played in Dartford, England they were just about on the Prime Meridian. Oh, and keep in mind that each of these concerts take place each night for one week, so they are having to fly a few times to get to the next venue on time. Crazy! You can read about it from Jeremy's journals at www.jeremythiessen.com. I've been able to talk with him every day by using Skype, an online program that allows you to talk with anyone in the world for free... praise the Lord! He just needs to find internet access and it works! So that has been a blessing.

I've been staying pretty busy this week. Two of my girlfriends have offered to make me dinner this week which was SO wonderful! I went and saw the movie Amazing Grace (the company I work part time for paid for everyone to go see it) and I highly recommend it! It was so well done and such a testimony to what God can do through a simple ordinary man. My Cinderella parties went great and just brightened my day. One lady gave me a $65 tip... whoa!!! And she had tears when I was leaving... so sweet. Tomorrow I'm off to AL with a friend from college to visit another friend from college. Then I need to rush back to get to a baby shower. Then one more week!! Ok thanks for stopping by. I'll fill you in more after the weekend.

From Paradise to Craziness...

2007-02-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

So many of you know that we just got back from the Caribbean. It was definitely time well spent and now Jeremy is on his way to the UK by way of Houston, TX and Saskatchewan, Canada. After they have finished their tour in the UK they head to Alaska!! What?! Might as well continue the world tour=}. They played last night in Houston for the KSBJ audience and I guess it went really well. They interviewed the guys live in the afternoon and again after their show at 10pm. I tuned in at 10pm and had a great time listening!

I've got to say that I am so blessed to be able to travel with them (I work for World Vision and get kids sponsored during their shows). But there are times when I do have to stay home and unfortunately this long tour is one of them. If you want to get more tour details you can log onto downhere.com and check out the schedule. I must say I can't help but dread times like these. For the most part I am more of an optomistic, glass is half full, kind of person...but when it comes to being apart from my husband for three weeks it is hard for me to maintain that attitude. I have been praying that the Lord would help these next few weeks fly by for me somehow and he has definitely answered my prayers. This weekend is crazy busy as I will be going to see Amazing Grace, the new movie that comes out today, then babysitting in the evening. Then on Sat. I have two Cinderella parties to do (I dress up as Cinderella and put on Birthday parties for children as a side job) which really fills up my day. I'll be working all next week and then will go visit a friend of mine in AL who just had a baby. Then the following weekend the same friend is coming up to visit me. I am also starting to do Cinderella parties at the Rec. center and they start the second weekend in March. I just want to use my time wisely and make the most of my time alone and really journal and blog and read and sew and other domestic things=}. So I'm trying not to get too busy at the same time. That's kind of a hard balance for me. This morning my Bible reading for today was from Psalms 39. The parts that stuck out to me were verses 4 & 5 -

"Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath."

These verses create a sense of urgency for me. We only have so much time to learn about and bring glory to God with our lives. How will I choose to do that with the time I've been given. These next few weeks for me will be to use my time wisely and not just mope around until Jeremy gets back. And I guess that can translate into our lives as a whole. Jesus is coming back so let's use our time wisely. Spend time with Him and be others-centered and have an eternal perspective on life. That's my two cents from what I learned this morning! Thanks for reading.

Oh and please be praying for safety for Jeremy and the band and also for health. Marc is not feeling well right now. With all the travelling they are doing it really takes its toll on their bodies. Thanks guys!!

Images of Paradise!

2007-02-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

Swimming with Stingrays in Grand Cayman!!

One of the many towel animals that were on our bed after we returned from dinner. I went to a class on the ship to learn how to make them! I hope I remember!

downhere in concert on the ship.

Awww... I miss it already!

Our room with a view! I so enjoyed sitting on our window sill and just taking in the vast expanse of the ocean.

Formal night with my hunk!

Enjoy this picture everyone...you won't see them this snazzy very often=}.

Enjoying the chocolate buffet!

Paradise... thank you Lord!

Fun Day at Sea

2007-02-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 8:20am and this is really the first time I've been able to sit down with my computer since we've been on the boat. I know, it's hard to believe... but it's true, and it's been REALLY nice! Erin is up in the spa enjoying an early Valentine's Day gift, so I thought I'd try and get some work done while I can.

There's lots to tell you about, and we'll post pictures later on. But we had quite a memorable day yesterday so I thought I'd fill you in en route and provide you with some entertainment for the day. Yesterday morning I got up early and hit the gym first thing. We arrived in Freeport at some point in the middle of the night so we were docked. When I got back to the room I opened the curtains and woke Erin up and then jumped in the bathroom to have a shower. Just as I finished disrobing, I hear Erin shriek and yell, "Jeremy, get out here - get out here now!"

Well, it turns out that the window washers chose to wash our window at the most inopportune time (for Erin - I suppose it was GREAT timing for them!). Let me just put it this way: I wasn't the only one to see Erin's backside yesterday morning! We had a good laugh afterwards... and needless to say, the curtains have stayed closed when we're docked since.

That was the first episode - later on that afternoon we played our show. Well, it turns out that my fly was down for the whole show! And all the guys knew about it but didn't think to tell me about it (Glenn did look back at me and smile a couple of times - but I thought we were laughing about something completely different!). Of course, no one in the audience could see as I was sitting behind the drums... but it definitely seemed like an appropriate episode for the way our day was going!

Good times had by all - we're having a "fun day" at sea today, so it should be a great relaxing day. An opportunity to enjoy all that the boat offers and not feel like you should be getting off and taking in all that the stop has to offer. More to come later - take care!

Cruisin' it!

2007-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of our 7 day western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Cruise line! it is a "Christian music cruise" with Come Alive Cruises... you can see more info at www.comealivecruises.com. Downhere is one of the guest artists along with Casting Crowns, Rebecca St. James, Tait, and Paul Baloche. We are SOOOOO excited!!! This is such a gift for us and it came at such a great time as Jeremy will be gone for 3 weeks after the cruise - on a tour in the UK. So some good quality time will be wonderful! And I really believe this cruise is a bit of a reward (Ok a huge reward!) and an encouragement for the guys and all their hard work.
We won't have much internet access on the boat so I'll post pictures and comments to fill you in when we return. We would appreciate your prayers for health and safety... thanks!

Technorati Tags: cruise, downhere, music

downhere's song #1 on KLOVE!!!

2007-02-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

Yes folks that is correct. After about 40 straight weeks of being on the top twenty countdown on all the KLOVE stations across the country they have arrived at #1 for A Better Way. You can see for yourself at www.KLOVE.com/music. After traveling with these guys ever since the song was written and seeing how its message has impacted many lives, I am so glad to finally see it get this kind of recognition. Way to go Jason Germain for your creative writing and for being sensitive to the Spirit moving in you to write this beautiful song. Way to go guys! God is good!

You can get your own copy of the song on the album "Wide-Eyed and Mystified" online at downhere.com or at your local Christian bookstore!

This is my proud plug for my hubby's band=}!

Extreme Southern Hospitality - God is Good!

2007-02-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

Wow! Am I feeling spoiled or what?! These past two weekends have been spent in Alabama and Louisiana leading worship for Disciple Now youth retreats. The weekend before last we were in Sylacauga, AL which is about 45 mins or so outside of Birmingham. (We'll post about this past weekend in LA later on this week.)

We all stayed in the same beautiful host home where the wife was an excellent cook! I think that must be a qualification for wives in the deep south. Hopefully it's just the deep south otherwise I've got some serious catching up to do=}. As soon as we arrived on Friday she had quite a lunch buffet spread for us with delicious desserts to follow. We were told to eat light because dinner was even more elaborate, so I did my best to not completely stuff myself. The next morning they even cooked us a full breakfast. We were taken care of and well prepared for our long run (more to come on this later).

Anyway that weekend was such a great worshipful weekend for me. Even though I hear downhere lead worship quite often it never gets old to me. I think God uses the same words and melodies to breathe new meaning in my heart. The venue where they played was a gym that had a track that went around the top of it. I was able to watch them lead worship from the track and kind of be "on my own". I also had a view of everyone worshipping... that was pretty cool! One of my favorite songs that they use to lead worship is How Great is our God. During that song I saw a little girl, probably about 4 years old, come onto the track from the door nearby. She was dressed in a pink tutu with pink tights and leotard. And she began to dance to the song. She was right on the beat and danced so childlike and beautiful. On these lyrics:

Name above all names, you are worthy of all praise, my heart will sing how great is our God

she would stand on her tip toes and lift her arms up over her head like a ballerina over and over and look toward Heaven - and I just lost it. The tears started coming. She was the expression of the way my heart felt at that moment.. and should feel more often. I would have felt silly dancing in worship like that even though my heart wanted to. Her dance gave me a glimpse of what I will be doing for eternity with Jesus. And I also saw it as a reminder to have childlike faith - praise God and express your heart no matter what or how silly you may look to others. And in doing so God will see it as a beautiful dance and rejoice over you! The rest of the weekend went on and I just kept seeing her in my mind. And now I think I will whenever I sing that song.

God also kept on blessing us through our hosts. Jeremy and I went for a long run on Saturday - which felt great by the way - and came back to a steak dinner waiting for us! What a way to finish an 8 mile run... and 13.1 for Jeremy! We were definitely spoiled by this family. If we are ever in Sylacauga, AL again we have a place to stay.

Cooking Williams-Sonoma Style

2007-01-25T04:11:00.000-08:00

I can honestly say that last night was the first time in a year and a half of marriage that Erin made a meal that was inedible. That's pretty good, wouldn't you agree? Here's what happened last night:

Erin saw a recipe in the new Williams-Sonoma magazine for chili-garlic prawns with Chinese noodles... sounds pretty good, huh? So we went shopping for the necessary ingredients, which included a bottle of chili garlic wok sauce. Well, we found a bottle of chili sauce with garlic and thought, "Hmm... sounds like this is the right stuff."

Boy, were we wrong.

I came home from putting gas in the car last night to find Erin with a distressed look on her face. The first thing out of her mouth was, "I think I made a mistake - I can't feel my tongue and my lips are burning." I did what every loving husband would do and said, "Oh, I'm sure it's fine - let's eat!" After a few bites my mouth was on fire, sweat was breaking out on my forehead, and I was starting to agree with Erin that this meal may not be edible (especially since I needed to be able to talk that night to lead our church home group!). So, after cooling down our mouths with some cereal (I distinctly remember a twinge of jealousy as Erin plastered her lips to the SIDE of the milk jug in a desperate quest for relief) we looked at the recipe again and discovered that - of course! - the bottle of chili garlic wok sauce was for sale exclusively by Williams-Sonoma for a mere $12. We obviously chose the wrong sauce - but you can bet that we'll try a bunch of other options before we pay $12 for a bottle of sauce!!

I love my wife - I love that she enjoys discovering new recipes and trying them out. I really am looking forward to our next new dish... although I must say that if there is any mention of "chili" in the name of it I'll be double-checking the ingredients and keeping the cereal nearby...

Jeremy

Adventures up North... brr!

2007-01-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend we have traveled to Evart, MI by way of Valparaiso, IN. While we were in Indiana the guys from Red Umbrella and Sevenglory put us up for the night. It was great getting to know them and just hanging out with other people that understand our lifestyle.

We then traveled to Evart, MI and are “camped” out at Spring Hill Camps. The moment we drove up and saw an out-of-this-world tubing hill with five snow machines surrounding it and a 1,000 ft. zip line mounted at the top we knew this wasn’t your average “winter retreat”. This is a camp on steroids!! They have a paintball course, four ice rinks for broomball, a heated indoor swimming pool, a gym with bungee jumping (you jump as high as you possibly can on a trampoline while being attached to bungees to help give you a better lift), and a huge billiard room including foosball and ping pong tables. And of course all the tubing you could ever ask for… and these are just the winter sports=}!!

I’m inside where it’s nice and warm typing up this blog and doing some reading. I had my fair share of outdoor activities today as Jeremy and I did a 7 mile run this morning in 12 degree weather…. brrrrr! Actually, it really wasn’t that bad – we were bundled up and kept a good running pace. The sun was out and there really wasn’t much wind…so thank you Lord for a great day to run and the ability to do it! As I write this Jeremy and the guys are outside by the tubing hill judging the tubing races. Then they will join in on the 3 on 3-basketball tournament to warm themselves up a bit. Honestly, I can’t believe… well maybe I can… that Jeremy has enough energy to play basketball after our run this morning.

Downhere really enjoys playing at these kinds of events where we can actually stay in one place for more than a day and get to know some of the kids. We are all staying at a house on the campground… that’s when it really feels like the “downhere family”. We had fun last night staying up late and playing poker with sugar packets=}. That was maybe the second time in my life that I’ve ever played that game so I didn’t have much of a chance at winning. Plus my poker face is way too dramatic…

Downhere is the worship band for the weekend and the stage they get to play on is like none I’ve ever seen. Someone brilliant has designed a stage set that looks like a graphic equalizer and is synched with the sound. So when Jeremy hits the bass drum or Marc hits a high note the lights go all the way to the top. Check out this picture… let me tell you “We Will Rock You” turned into WE WILL ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!! They would turn those lights off for the worship sets so it wouldn’t distract from worshipping the Lord. (Oh and by the way - on either side of the stage are huge Apple ear buds with lights shining from them...so cool!)

Tomorrow we finish up here and then head off to Traverse City, MI to do a concert. So please continue to pray for safe travels. We have a 14-hour drive to tackle on Monday to get home in time to see Jack Bauer save the world=}. Later!

Playing with the Legends

2007-01-14T22:41:00.000-08:00

This weekend was quite a whirlwind. Downhere played in Pine Bluff, AR for a benefit concert for people suffering from Lu Gehrig’s disease. And not only did they play but they got to “headline” the show (which means they played last). They had two of the founding fathers of the Christian music industry, Phil Keaggy and Randy Stonehill, open for them (although they were really just playing first – those guys don’t “open” for anyone!). Randy is an excellent singer/songwriter and wrote songs like “Shut De Do”. He is quite a goofy guy and really does a great job entertaining and including the audience. He has been active in the Christian music industry for over 35 years now. Phil Keaggy is probably one of the top 3 guitar players in the world – and is also a singer/songwriter. If you are ever in the same town as Phil then I suggest you catch a show and marvel at the gift God has given him. He’s been around for about as long as Randy. Jeremy and I watched both of their sets not only because we enjoyed them, but out of respect, as they have led the way for Christian artists today. It was pretty cool! Oh and as a sidenote – the venue they played in held a museum of celebrity artifacts and one of the “display” items was Johnny Cash. Yes, The Man in Black himself - a life-like version of him playing the guitar and singing. You could push a button in front of him and he would start strumming his guitar and singing “I Walk the Line.” It was kind of creepy and kind of amusing all at the same time – I felt like his eyes followed me as I walked past (sort of like the Mona Lisa).

Since it was a benefit concert we didn’t feel that it was appropriate to do a World Vision presentation. We DID decide to have the table set up just in case anyone wanted to learn about it or even sponsor a child. And since Dave and Jess (our sound guy and road manager) are expecting in June, I will be taking care of selling the merchandise. So Jess is giving me tips here and there in preparation for that. That will add more responsibility for me on the road, of course, which I am really looking forward to. The volunteers we had for the evening were part of the CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association). They were so helpful and easy going. Oh - and they all had on their leather vests and everything…it was great=}.

We stayed in host homes last night and since this was downhere’s 3rd time to play in Pine Bluff Jeremy and I stayed with the family he has always stayed with. Scott and Kelly were so generous - we stayed up and talked until 1am eating carrot cake and getting to know each other better. I guess the last time Jeremy stayed with them he had just proposed to me so they wanted to hear my side of the story and find out all about me. Then Kelly made us a delicious breakfast at 8am and dropped us off and now here we are, back in the van again. Thanks to Circleslide for letting us borrow their van for the weekend as ours is in the shop for some major repairs.

So tonight we are leading worship in Franklin, TN (Jeremy’s old church), which is nice because then we get to sleep in our own beds=}. I guess that’s it for now. More updates to come. God Bless!

It Still Fits!!

2007-01-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

If you read yesterday's post then you would know that I got the opportunity to put on my wedding dress again today for the Nashville Bridal Show! I had so much fun!

The people that photographed our wedding had a booth set up and had me stand out in front to greet people and usher them into the booth for more information. I had such a great time chatting with people and answering their questions and talking about my wedding day. The photographers, Suzette and Kevin, had me bring our album to display. Plus... they had a 24 x 26 framed bridal portrait of me hung up along with several others (here is the picture of me next to the portrait...crazy=). I also had a mother come up to me with her little girl and say her daughter wanted to have her picture taken with me...so funny! I should've brought my Cinderella party business cards with me...bummer. So anyway, it was a fun and memorable day for me and I am so thankful for the opportunity.

This morning after Jeremy dropped me off he when for a 9 mile run around downtown Nashville and is well on his way to the marathon. Then when we got home this afternoon he biked with me while I did my long run. I felt so good too! I did 5 miles in 1 hour and 9 minutes. So please continue to pray for good health, strength, stamina, positive attitude, endurance, will power...and all those kinds of things and we'll continue to update you on our progress. Thanks for stopping by! Off to bed now.

Every Woman's Dream

2007-01-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight my wife is carefully laying out the necessities for tomorrow - white satin gloves, a tiara, a Swarovski crystal choker, and, of course, the veil.

No, Erin's not getting married again tomorrow - I won't allow it.

What I WILL allow is the opportunity for her to wear her wedding gown again. She has been invited by our wedding photographer to come be a "greeter" at their booth at Weddings the Bridal Show in Nashville tomorrow. It seems that in the past year and a half they have been getting rave reviews about her bridal portrait - every bride-to-be they sit down and talk with comment on this picture. So they thought "Why don't we bring the real girl in for the day?!?"

Erin is thrilled.

I am too - for her. Once again, the difference between man and woman is being displayed here - if someone I HIRED to do a job for me a year-and-a-half ago called me up and asked me to come stand in my tuxedo for 4 hours on a Saturday for free (they ARE giving us another print of one of our wedding photos, just for the record - a very nice and probably fairly expensive "thank-you") I would have told them they had fallen off their rocker and hung up.

But for my wife - this is a dream come true. And rightfully so, I guess. Picking out the dress was probably one of the biggest and most important decision of the whole wedding process - I can understand how it would be fun to wear it in public again. And she'll look FANTASTIC - that's a given. It even somewhat appeals to the monetary part of me - I mean, we payed $xxx.00 for this dress to only wear once?!? Are you kidding me - yeah, let's get it out again! But would I do it - would I get dressed up again? Not a chance...

Not unless my bride was standing next to me.

(You'll hear her side tomorrow)

We're really doin' it, Harry!

2007-01-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official - Erin and I will be participating in this year's Country Music Marathon here in Nashville, TN! Erin will be running the 1/2 Marathon, and I'll be doing the full. From the looks of it we're going to be able to run the first 10 mi or so together before the 1/2 marathoners split off to finish their race.

I'm looking forward to the challenge of training for another race. For me, this one's going to be a little different because I'll be running at Erin's pace for the first half or so - I'm not going for a PR (runner's slang for "Personal Record"). Rather, I'm going to be using this race as part of my training to complete an Ironman race (more to come on that in future posts). But for Erin, this is going to be a landmark race - what a great challenge to tackle! She's doing great on her runs already - we're practically doing hill training EVERY day out here, as there's really no flat road in Spring Hill!

We're also trying to encourage as many people as we can to join us. If you are unaware, a 1/2 marathon is a 13.1 mi distance, with the full being 26.2 mi. If you've never run a marathon before and haven't been running consistantly for the last few months, getting in shape and ready for the full is probably out of reach by now. However, being prepared for the 1/2 is DEFINITELY still an option. So far Erin's dad is planning on joining her to do the 1/2, Erin's got a girlfriend or two from church who will running it with her, and my roadmates Glenn and Dave will be doing the full (although I think they're going to be shooting for faster times than I will be, so I'll probably just see them at the start and later on at the finish!). If you are at all interested in challenging yourself to do something like this, leave us a comment - we'd love to have you be part of the team! It's always more fun when there's more people involved and you can train together...

Time for bed - an integral part of training is proper sleep... no wonder I love running! :)

Jeremy

Christmas in Canada

2007-01-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Below are some pictures from our time in Canada over Christmas with Jeremy's family. We had a number of classic Canadian Christmas experiences: pond hockey, caroling in the snow, party crackers (the ones with the free hat and toy inside), and the 17-year staple: the Quinn crossword puzzle on Christmas morning! Enjoy - we'll post more pictures later...

Here we are with our gingerbread house - made from scratch. It took nearly a whole day to complete. In the picture (L-R) are: Melissa and Steve, Julia, Erin and Jeremy.

We played Skip-Bo with Stephi Mutch (seated far right) one morning - she managed to beat us all! But we had a great time hanging out with her and looking at some of her pictures - she's got some great old-school ones of the downhere boys!

Thiessen "Von-Trapp" family leading the caroling at the Caronport Christmas Eve service.

Jeremy and his brother Dave accompanying us=}.

What a lovely bunch of coconuts!