things I love

*a spring rain. not the kind that produces horrific storms and tornadoes, but the kind where it is starting to rain and the birds are still singing at the same time. aw, I like that. it's doing that right now outside.

*a pedicure. i am off to get one as soon as I publish this.

*good times with good friends. this weekend Courtney and I went to Oklahoma City for Natalie's 30th birthday party and we had such a great time. i love seeing my girls and laughing, laughing, laughing with them!

*and last, but certainly not least...something I love very much is a good report from the doctor. not for me, but for Brandon. God is good!!
here's the info from Phyllis.

We met with the doctor yesterday for a while...a long while. In the past two years, if you combined all the questions we had asked, it would have still been significantly less than the number that we asked yesterday. Poor April (our nurse), poor Rhianne (our PA), and poor Dr. Kopetz. They were troopers, though.
First the good news...ALL the tumors were significantly decreased in size. The biggest of the bunch (which by the way has been the biggest through this whole ordeal) had decreased from 1.5 cm to 0.6 cm...more than half ( Praise God!). We discussed a variety of options and Brandon decided to stay on a maitainence type chemotherapy. There will be no more oxalliplatin and the dose of the other drugs will be significantly reduced. Dr. Kopetz wants Brandon to be in frequent contact with them so that they can adjust the dose as necessary. The goal is to keep the cancer "under control" while allowing Brandon to live an active life. He told us several times that there are other options out there, but that Brandon's body has responded so well to the chemo he feels we should stick with it. He said we're in it for the long haul and he doesn't want to exhaust all our options this early. Apparently, many of the other options would also be much harder on Brandon's liver. All in all, we felt like this visit was very positive and much better received than last time.

NKOTB, Baby!!

I went to the New Kids on the Block concert on Tuesday night in Bossier City! Now, this was quite reminiscent for me because this is me 20 years ago...

I'm in the red with the stonewashed vest with patches all over it if you can't tell. We were sporting the signs! A big group of girls from my hometown all went together to see the New Kids in 1989 (maybe 1990) in Oklahoma City. Check out the clothes!

I have great memories of the New Kids. I loved them dearly as a child. I went to 2 different concerts at that time, this one pictured above in Oklahoma City and one in Dallas. We actually slept outside in line at the Myriad Convention Center in OKC for tickets with our moms for the tickets to the above pictured concert!! Our moms were sports, right? Gosh, it was so much fun!

On a side note--to my Becky--I missed you so much last night. I wish we lived closer and could have gone to this together. It was not the same without you. I mean, we went the the first two concerts together and loved them together and made signs for them together and slept outside for them together. Uh! I missed you!

So, without question, this concert brought back so many memories for me. I went with KB and we enjoyed ourselves so much!

KB and me, eating (and having drinks) before
Once we arrived at the restaurant, we were thrilled to find it packed with tables full of other women (yes, women) going to the concert. We were the most excited thirty-somethings around, all of us! As you can see, the people were decked out! I was sad we didn't think of the whole matching shirt thing... ;)




After much anticipation, the concert began!


{click on any pictures to make larger--you really must, it's the only way to get the full effect!! :) }

You've never heard so much screaming...and what was hilarious is that it was coming from women! Not little girls, like 20 years ago, WOMEN! And I will admit, every now and then I was one of them. So was KB!!

Joe, singing Please Don't Go Girl!

My favorite part of the night!!

More shots of Joe singing I must admit, I had moments where the memories were so strong, I was overwhelmed by it all. They put on quite a show. As dumb as it sounds, right when they started, I got all teary-eyed over it all. Not because I'm a stupid 30-year-old that still loves them (well, maybe a little!) but because all the memories of being that 10-year-old starry eyed girl would come flooding back to me.

I thought this was too good a shot to pass up. Unfortunately, this poor boy was not as starry eyed over them as I once was. The sitter must have canceled on his mama. She drug him out with her. Notice his earplugs. Good call, mom. He needed them. I needed them.

Isn't that a great shot of Jordan and Donnie?

We had GREAT seats. My camera doesn't even do it justice.

So, I was always a Joe McIntyre fan...but last night Jordan was much nicer looking than I remember!! He has aged well! This is a scene I remember straight out of the first concert I went to.

They did almost all old stuff. They did throw in some of their new stuff, which I actually really enjoyed and have already downloaded and put on my ipod!! They sang non-stop for over 2 hours! It was so entertaining! Many wardrobe changes, fun videos, lighting effects, stage changes...so much FUN!

they moved to a stage in the middle of the arena

(see them in the background?)

Old videos behind Joe as he sang.

All dressed in white

I spent the whole night trying to get a good close shot of Joe. He didn't seem to spend much time on the platform over by us. At the very end, after singing Hangin Tough and sending green and white confetti out over the crowd, he graced us with his presence. And wouldn't you know it, my camera card was full and my camera kept dying on me. I barely caught this shot of him. I didn't center very well so I barely got him at all! Even if you didn't/don't like the New Kids, they put on a fantastic show that anyone could have enjoyed! So glad I got to go!

Psst...by the way...my next post has videos, in case you missed it! :) I know, I know...you're welcome. You would not want to miss seeing videos of it all! HA!

It's like you were there!

I am so excited! I got the videos to download! What an accomplishment.

So the concert started with the boys (ahem, men) singing The Right Stuff. What a way to start!

The we have Joe singing Please Don't Go, Girl. A personal favorite of mine...

And they ended the night with Hangin Tough.

Of course, they sang so much more, but I had the smallest stinking card for my camera, so the videos had to be short. They're not the best quality, but you get the idea.

Doesn't it just take you right back to 1989?? It sure did for me!!