Jonas Brothers Concert 11/27

**Warning: Probably the longest blog I've ever written...You've been warned!**

Well, it has honestly taken me a couple days to process this very big day; it was extremely special, in more ways than one, and since it was my Christmas/21st birthday present, I was soaking up every minute of it. Now seems like as good a time as any to let you all know about it. I didn't go to class Tuesday, because it would have been pushing it too close for the meet and greet by the time I got out. I was able to sleep in a little, take my time getting ready, and get everything together for later on that night. We were ready a little earlier than we thought, so we left around 11:30 or so to get on the road. We stopped at a Starbucks not too far outside of the city to get some coffee, then got back on the freeway. I was supplying the music, of course, with the sounds of the Jonas Brothers. I was really starting to get pumped for the show, but starting to get nervous at the same time for what to expect. My mom and I were having fun, just talking and joking around in the car. We still had plenty of time, so we stopped at Wal-Mart, so I could pick up a couple magazines with Taylor Swift on them, then headed back out.

We made our way into LA, and decided to have lunch at our usual place, Paty's, in Toluca Lake. They seated my mom and I in a different room than we usually sit in, so it was a nice change; new scenery. We split a roast beef sandwich and two salads, which was all delicious. I know it's just pretty basic diner food, but it's always fresh and tasty! We were done pretty quickly with that, then decided to drive around the area. I'm sure you all know why by now, but nothing exciting was going on. There was still plenty of time to kill, so we decided to go into Trader Joe's for a few minutes. I think just about everyone in LA was there, as well. Okay, obviously not, but every time we go to one of the stores down there, they're packed, since the health nuts shop there. Everyone insists on pushing past with their baskets or walking around you if you aren't going fast enough. I was starting to get annoyed; my mom picked up a few things, then we walked across the street to a thrift store. Last time we went in there, a few months ago, they had some pretty nice things, so I was excited. I looked around for a little while, and found a really cool make up case, that's vintage, but in really great condition. Plus, the fact that it was only 2$ was pretty awesome!

As soon as we were done, I was ready to head towards the theater, just to make sure I had plenty of time, because the nerves were already starting to kick in. We got in the car, trying to put the address for The Pantages in, but it wasn't coming up, so we just took off, hoping we'd get there...With a bit of tension in the air, and cars coming out of every which direction as my mom was pulling out, it was quite a moment, but we made it to the theater with no problem. We parked, then walked into The W Hotel, which was where everyone with the meet and greet was supposed to go. It was very swanky; red, black, and white, was the color scheme, there were sitting areas, a bar area, etc.We walked up the stair case to a sitting area, and honestly, I was nervous that we'd get there and it would be a ton of girls just staring one another down, thinking you're competition for possibly getting in the way of their precious Joe or Nick. We made our way upstairs, where only one family of three was sitting. The girl looked about my age, or maybe younger. I gave a small smile, being friendly, and to my surprise, she smiled back. We exchanged a few words, then my mom and I decided to find a restroom. We returned to the area a few minutes later, and continued talking to the family, and pretty soon the daughter (who I later found out's name is Ariana) and I were talking all about the Jonas Brothers, especially Nick. From there, we were talking about our ages (we're the same age), school (both going to community colleges at the moment), and a few other things about what we were sort of expecting that night.
We then decided that we were going to stick together when we went inside to hang out with the Jonas Brothers, which put my mind at ease, because I had been a bit nervous about just hanging out alone...LOL.
After waiting about 30-45 minutes, with more girls trickling in, things were really starting to happen. The security started tightening up, and the special door was opening up more often. Ariana had started talking to another girl, Daniella, who was from Costa Rica, so she decided to hang out with us, and we clicked as well. Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for came. Ariana and I said goodbye to our parents, and the three of us lined up, talking with others in line, about the Jonas Brothers, of course; they checked us in and we walked inside to a sort of board room/conference room, where a DJ was set up, a backdrop on one side that said Jonas Brothers all over it, some couches, and a table with refreshments. We found a spot against the wall towards the opposite side of the room, just waiting to hear what would be happening. The three of us were really starting to freak out, growing more anxious by the minute. One of the ladies in charge walked to the center of the room, telling us to line up, and we would be taking our photos with the Jonas Brothers pretty soon. Not much later, the doors finally opened and the Jonas Brothers stepped in, they waved to us and walked right into place for the photo. The line immediately started and people were starting to fly through. Between the three of us, we were trying to figure out who wanted to go first, and I decided that I would, because I was feeling confident and ready to go.

I'm taking deep breaths, trying not to panic, but then I start thinking about how there are several things I want to say, I was going to lean in for hugs (whether they initiated or not) and I've noticed how quickly the others have been going through, and the nerves start a little bit more. But, I still felt good. I walked around the corner of the banner they were standing in front of and saw Kevin, because he was first. He stuck out his hand, I shook it and said, "Hi, I'm Shelby!" (I could see Nick, and I think that's really all I started focusing on, which did not help, let me tell you). From there, I just went down the line of shaking hands, going to Joe next, then finally Nick. He was standing there, and I almost couldn't stop staring as cheesy as it sounds, HAHA! I couldn't believe the moment I had finally been waiting for was about to happen. The dark green shirt he was wearing really made his eyes just sort of POP out like crazy! They were gorgeous. I just kind of froze, not really sure of what to do next. They weren't really initiating conversation, which most stars I've met have in situations like this, whether it's just "how are you?", "where are you from?" sort of things. I think that's when everything else just went out the window, because I'm not always the greatest at initiating conversation or keeping things rolling when they dwindle off, nor am I at initiating hugs. I thought they might be more touchy feely, but they weren't, so I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable; I'm not one of those girls that can just do that. I probably put way too much thought into it, but oh well. So, I basically just got in place, squeezing in between Nick and Joe. Right before, I finally decided to say something, which was, "My friend, Steph, says hi" I was looking at Joe, then turned to Nick when I said, "She loves you." He glanced back down to me (he's a little bit taller than I am), and said, "Well, tell her hi!" I think I just nodded, I'm not exactly sure. I had planned to say/ask a few more things, but at that point I think I figured if I tried, it might come out in a bit of a jumble, so I just didn't. We posed for the camera, and that was it. Each of them seemed really nice and made incredible eye contact, like you had their undivided attention. There just didn't seem to be a lot of time for chit chat necessarily.
I don't remember saying bye, I just remember walking out into the hallway next. I'm telling you the only time I get incredibly starstruck where I can barely say a thing is around the Jonas Brothers, especially Nick. It's like he says something, and I can't speak. It becomes physically impossible! HA! I waited for Ariana and Daniella to come out, then we all just stood in the hall while the others went through. We were all a little stunned at how fast it was all happening, and thinking, "Is that it?", "Are they still going to be in there when we go back in?" We really had no idea. We noticed some girls standing by the door, just watching the guys, because you might as soak up as much time of them as you possibly can, right? I mean they were RIGHT THERE! So, we're watching them and Nick glanced our way a couple times, then Joe did. Pretty soon, the security guard told us we need to move, so we all took a couple steps over, and he was like "No, you're going to have to go back further," so we all just moved further down the hall, all kind of wondering what was going on, and whether or not they'd still be in there.
We walked back a few minutes later, when this guy with the Jonas team approached us about doing an interview, just answering a few questions about the guys. We were like, "Yeah, sure!" Why not, right? We hung around a bit longer, and just a little bit later, the meet and greet was over. We all walked back inside to get our stuff, and the Jonas Brothers were gone. It was a little strange because we were under the impression that they'd be there with the DJ most of the time, or thinking that they'd be walking around, just mingling with everyone. Instead, it felt extremely rushed, which seemed ridiculous for the amount of money we all spent to do that. Everyone started grabbing their stuff, because there wasn't much else to do with the guys not in there. Ariana, Daniella, and another girl we met by the name of Taylor and I, talked for a few minutes, then tried to figure out what to do next. We ended up going over to see what the interviews would consist of, and a few minutes later, Ari and I went out on the balcony with the film crew to talk about the guys.
They asked questions like why we loved them, recalling the first song of theirs, and other things like that. The "reporter" pointed out that we must really like them, because we seemed to be smiling a lot while we talked HAHA...I guess that's a good thing? It was fun being able to do something like that, and hopefully they'll post it on their site or YouTube in the next few days. We finished a few minutes later and walked back inside. We decided to meet up with our parents, because there wasn't anything else to do really.
They were waiting for us in the sitting room we had previously been in. We told them how crazy it was in there, and nothing like we expected, and how they interviewed us, etc. They filled us in on how we'd missed the JoBros walk out the side door to use the restroom and how they had discovered how much Ari and I have in common. Since the concert was getting closer, we decided we'd check out where we were sitting. Ari said she was in section B seat 225. I pulled out my ticket and said, "Oh my gosh! I'm 226!" The parallels we were having with one another were something that only God could do. I was so happy that we'd instantly clicked and would be sitting together, it took the pressure off of both of us. We parted ways with the friends we'd made, and decided we'd all walk to the car to put our gift bags away in the car, when we started wondering about whether we had to wait in line or not since we had "VIP". We went up to the room to find someone, but didn't see anyone, so we walked across the street from the venue. We talked to a security guard about it, but basically...the VIP didn't do us any good. They told us we'd have to wait in line, so we walked down to the end of the street where we thought the line ended, but it apparently wrapped all the way around the building, and a little further down. After the interesting night we'd started with, we decided to just slip in with everyone else. There were more questions we had about the VIP passes that were answered, but not really in the way we were hoping. We walked inside the auditorium, and it was gorgeous. The detailing and architecture was stunning! I would love to go back to watch an actual play/theatre type production there, because it seems like the perfect place.
They were playing music before the show, mainly all the hits that are on the radio. It was getting later and the show still hadn't started yet. Ari and I talked for a bit, I scanned the crowd, and my mom told me that there were a couple people in the aisle that girls kept lining up with to take pictures. Apparently, they were from Camp Rock, but I didn't recognize them at all and my mom spotted Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's son, Connor. I also found out the next day that Hilary Duff was there and it was rumored that a few others were too! BUMMER. Finally, after delaying the concert for traffic, a shadow screen dropped and you could see the guys walk up and they kicked off the show. I heard the music and immediately knew it was "When You Look Me In The Eyes", which instantly took me back to the days when I first started liking them, and so many memories of my sophomore year! I wanted to tear up a little bit.
The show was AMAZING! I wish there was a better adjective to describe it, but it was everything I'd hoped a show of theirs would be. The energy was so high, and they had everyone on their feet, just really having a great time. I wasn't thinking about anything else; I was completely lost in the music. It also helped that we were in the second row, and Joe Jonas was SUPER close to us, making eye contact with everyone in the crowd, especially in our section. You can tell he definitely enjoys teasing the girls LOL, and was totally eating up every second of it, which was fun for all of us. I was having a blast singing along to everything; I loved the fact that they had a lot of songs that were blasts from the past (which took me back to my sophomore year), but several new songs to kick off the new era coming up for them, like "Wedding Bells", "Let's Go" and "First Time". I was taking plenty of video, which I plan to make a vlog of sometime soon! During the show, the entire Jonas family (Kevin Sr., Denise, Frankie, Danielle, and Joe's rumored girlfriend) even walked in front of us. If it had happened after the show, I would have asked them for a picture, but they were all on a mission, probably trying to avoid the crowd.
After the show, Ari, my mom and I met up with her parents at the hotel to pick up our signed guitars and posters, then walked to the car, talking about the eventful night. We said goodbye, and that we'd have to keep in contact; that anytime I'm in the area, I should give her a call and we could meet up or something.
I said if nothing else, it was a great experience and it was obviously meant to be that we met. I think it's just so mind boggling how God has all of these significant moments planned out in our lives, and thinking about that gives me peace when it comes to finding "the one" that I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I don't have to rush or worry about it, because He has it covered. I love that even in the most random of places and events, like the Jonas concert, God is still there and opening my eyes up to what I need and what He has been trying to show me.
My mom and I headed home after that, listening to some Christmas music and stopping at In-N-Out to get food because we were basically starving! I was so exhausted and was losing energy quickly, but it was all worth it.
Honestly, WHAT A NIGHT. I still keep replaying (and somewhat cringing) at how stupid I probably sounded in the meet and greet, not saying much, other than that my friend said hi and that she loves them....hahaha. It kind of gives the impression that I don't love them, but I'm sure they figured I was since I was there for the special meet and greet...Who knows?! But, now I'm just letting it go. Whatever! I'm sure they've heard stranger things! Besides, I've heard Nick likes girls who are a little on the quieter side ;) hee hee. Hopefully, in the future, maybe there will be other times...Like, say, a Dodger game? You never know. Los Angeles is a city where dreams come true.

To check out the rest of my pictures, you can follow me on Instagram!

That's all for now,
Shelby

CMA Awards

I've been meaning to get around to writing my review of the CMA Awards, but things were a little busy around my house right after, so I kept forgetting. Now that we're approaching "award season" in Hollywood, I figured now was as good of a time as any.

First off, let's talk about the red carpet! Everyone knows that truly is the most important part of any awards show. It's also usually the most exciting! Everyone looked gorgeous, but I had a few favorites that stood out.

Jana Kramer

Lucy Hale

Taylor Swift 

Carrie Underwood

Lauren Alaina

I still have not watched Carrie and Brad's opening in its entirety, but from what I saw, it was pretty hilarious. I love their comedic timing and just their friendship in general. I think it really shines through when they write their jokes and plan out what they're going to do every year. I'm telling you, they should take their routine on the road or at least do a holiday variety show. I know I'd like to spend the holidays with Carrie and Brad.

As for the rest of the night, I was a little disappointed. Maybe it was just the fact that I was watching from the hospital room that threw things off, but I wasn't happy about most of the winners, and not just because of the fact that no one by the last names of Underwood, Swift or Antebellum didn't win. The last few years, they might as well have just called it the Blake and Miranda show, because they win everything anyway. The one I really don't agree with is Blake Shelton, and not just because I'm not a big fan. I don't think he has deserved it yet. He hasn't been doing much this year, other than The Voice, and he sure hasn't toured like the others have, when you consider all of the touring and promotion that Taylor, Brad, and Kenny have done. I just don't understand what the association is looking for. Apparently, you have to be on a reality show to win now.

Here's the complete list of winners, thanks to USA Today: 

Entertainer of the year

Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
WINNER: Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

Female vocalist

Kelly Clarkson
WINNER: Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Male vocalist

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
WINNER: Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

New artist

Lee Brice
Brantley Gilbert
WINNER: Hunter Hayes
Love and Theft
Thompson Square

Vocal group

Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
WINNER: Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Vocal duo

Big & Rich
Love and Theft
Sugarland
The Civil Wars
WINNER: Thompson Square

Single

Dirt Road Anthem, Jason Aldean
God Gave Me You, Blake Shelton
Home, Dierks Bentley
WINNER: Pontoon, Little Big Town
Springsteen, Eric Church

Album

WINNER: Chief, Eric Church
Four the Record, Miranda Lambert
Home, Dierks Bentley
Own the Night, Lady Antebellum,
tailgates & tanlines, Luke Bryan

Song (award goes to songwriters)

Even If It Breaks Your Heart, performed by Eli Young Band
God Gave Me You, performed by Blake Shelton
Home, performed by Dierks Bentley
WINNER: Over You, performed by Miranda Lambert
Springsteen, performed by Eric Church

Musical event

Dixie Highway, Alan Jackson featuring Zac Brown Band
WINNER: Feel Like a Rock Star, Kenny Chesney (duet with Tim McGraw)
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, Willie Nelson with Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson and Jamey Johnson
Safe & Sound, Taylor Swift featuring the Civil Wars
Stuck on You, Lionel Richie (with Darius Rucker)

Music video

Come Over, Kenny Chesney
Over You, Miranda Lambert
Pontoon, Little Big Town
WINNER: Red Solo Cup, Toby Keith
Springsteen, Eric Church

Musician

Sam Bush
Paul Franklin
Dann Huff
Brent Mason
WINNER: Mac McAnally

Another highlight for me was waiting to see what Carrie Underwood wore. She had twelve wardrobe changes! There were a few I wasn't too crazy about, but it's always fun to see what she chooses, since it's such a flashy night! My top two were the second and the last dresses in the picture below. 

I really did enjoy Taylor Swift's performance of Begin Again, though. I loved that it was more toned down, and the setting was adorable; fitting perfectly with the song, which I love about Taylor's set designs and the way she strategically plans for these award shows. 

I had so much hope for these awards, especially because they're my favorite. To me, the CMA's have always gone a different route than the others, and have truly honored the people that deserved it, whether it was who I wanted to win or not. They proved me wrong this year. So, hopefully the next few award shows, won't be quite as disappointing, and here's to the CMA's next year...May they be better than they were this time. At least Carrie and Brad made for an entertaining time. 

That's all for now,

Shelby

American Idol Concert

I am finally just getting ready to prepare myself to write my American Idol concert review. I can't believe it has taken me this long to get around to it, especially when I have so much free time on my hands. Anyway, it was probably THE best Idol concert I've been to! I couldn't have imagined it going any better. My mom and I got ready pretty early so we could get to LA at a decent time. I had been looking all over for the American Idol highlights CD from this season, but couldn't find it at the two Wal-Marts we went to; they weren't very helpful, so we decided to stop at one on our way down there. They had it! I knew the trip was off to a good start from there. When we made it to the LA area, we had lunch at Kings Road Cafe. Unfortunately, there were no celeb sightings (other than some random comedian guy that I'm pretty sure was on Home Improvement), but I did see a few "People of LA" which was entertaining. It was a really nice day out, so we sat on the patio.

After we finished lunch, we had to stop by Dodger Stadium to pick up some collector bobble heads that had just come in. Well, there were some interesting things that happened around there, but eventually we made it. We had to wait a few minutes for someone to come out, so I was constantly checking Twitter to see whether the Idols had updated anything about being in LA. Once we were done with that, I figured it was time to get to Nokia to see if anyone was around. It turns out they do things very different with the buses at Nokia, and I hadn't really checked into it. They were on a roof of the parking garage across the street, meaning the chances of them being there were pretty slim, and there was absolutely nothing else going on. I had to take medicine, so we went to Starbucks to get some tea and hang out a bit. But, after awhile I was tired of sitting there, so we decided to scope out things a little more.

My new boots!  (In honor of Colton)

We walked over near the parking garage/entrance for important people, and there were a few fans sitting down. We waited a little awhile, but the area was pretty dead....Basically, I'll spare you a lot of detail and just say we waited on a bench for a long time for absolutely nothing! LOL. That's when we saw Joshua Ledet's mom walking in the side door. When she came back out, I thought we could say "hi" since we had talked to their family at the finale-they were in line behind us. We were trying to catch up to her, when we actually ran into Heejun. I got a picture with him, only to find out my eyes were closed...BUMMER. But, oh well. Afterwards, we caught up to Mrs. Ledet and talked to her for a good 25 minutes probably. She is one of the sweetest ladies; telling us all about Joshua's journey, how they'd been praying for him, and what an experience it was in general. She was also saying how relaxed everyone was backstage that afternoon, in comparison to right before a taping. I can imagine how high nerves are when it comes to the actual season. GAH!

We still had around 2-3 hours to kill, so we'd wander around, sit down, try to think of something to do, come up with nothing, and end up sitting back down and checking Facebook/Twitter feeds. Go figure! It was still fun hanging out with mom, devising plans and just going back and forth between our witty selves. It was getting closer to show time, so they brought out merchandise, fans were filing in for meet and greets, and Glozell was even out about entertaining the crowd! HAHA. Awhile later, we headed inside as soon as the doors opened, found our seats, got some snacks, and listened to the videos they played on the screens 4,000 times at least. By the end of the night, we had those songs memorized! That happened at the last Idol show we went to also, but with a Daughtry song instead.

Finally, the show started and I was so excited! I loved this group of people so much. Week after week, each of them would grow on me for a different reason. I loved the fact that they all seemed to be so close, and weren't quite as cliquey as some in past seasons. They all genuinely act like family, and after meeting/seeing them at the finale, it was really cool to be able to see them perform live! The highlights for me include:

• "Moves Like Jagger"-Colton, Hollie, Erika and Joshua
• Erika seriously blew me away. It's crazy that she was the first to get voted off, because she has some pipes!
• "Party Rock"-Heejun, Jessica and DeAndre
• "Rumor Has It"-Elise, Erika and DeAndre
• All of Colton's set! ...Just, wow. He's incredible.
• Top 9 singing "Just The Way You Are/What Makes You Beautiful"
• Hollie's set! She gave me goodies! I don't understand how the judges couldn't see how amazing she was.
• Joshua killed it! All of it! He can seriously sing, and he feels every ounce of music that is up on that stage. I was so glad he sang "Runaway." I think I could possibly like his version better than Bruno's. I also liked his duet with Jessica that they sang on the finale. 
• Phillip's set! Especially "Somebody That I Used To Know" with Elise. It was definitely one of my favorite performances on the show, and of course, "Home." It was cool that he was back to sing it again, and remembering being there that night for the finale. I was hoping the band would be there again, but alas, they were not. I loved Colton doing backup on it as well! :)
• The Top 10 "Glad You Came" 

It was definitely one of those feel good concerts that after you leave, you just feel better having gone. It was cool to see so many people of different ages: kids, teens, adults, and senior citizens all in the same place. It's rare that that happens for a concert these days. I love that they're all so relatable. As Colton even said, he was in our seats last year, and look where he is now. It gives me hope that there's still a chance for me to "make it" if it's in God's plans for me. Those things just always have a way of working themselves out.
After the show ended, we had talked about possibly meeting up with Joshua's mom...but, that's a long story. We waited outside, just hanging around, hoping to run into her, but we couldn't find her, so we kept waiting and walking in that area, hoping that maybe the Idols would come out, since they were staying in LA that night. I knew that usually they come out after the shows by the buses and sign, but with them staying in town, and the buses being on the roof, I wasn't exactly sure where they'd be doing it, if at all. After about an hour or so, we just decided to have a seat right in front of Nokia. There are glass windows, so you can see basically everything that's going on inside. My mom spotted a girl that looked like Hollie, and it was! She was also with Joshua and Skylar. They were taking an escalator down to what they call Club Nokia.  Then, Heejun and Elise walked out. A few minutes later, we saw Colton. That made me go up to the window! I tried to knock on it to get his attention, but the ladies that worked there started coming to the window as soon as I did, so I walked off. We tried peeking down below through the window, because you could see that the press was set up and they were doing interviews, but that didn't last long, because the guy at the merchandise table made us leave. Because standing two stories above them through the window is really going to do a lot of harm. *SMH* Anyway, we were informed that around the side is where they'd be coming out. We were like, "Uh, okay..." So, we walked around to the side entrance, across the street from Staples Center to see barricades set up and hundreds of fans lined up, waiting. Oh, so that's what they were talking about. That's when I heard my name being called. It always catches me off guard when I'm out of town and hear my name, because I forget I know people down there. I turned to see my friend, who I usually run into at things like this, and ended up calling me over, and we sort of squeezed in with her. I don't think many people around us were too happy about that...But....What can you do? We've had so many times where people have cut in front of us, and really, now you do just sort of have to squeeze in when you can. As harsh as it is, it's a dog eat dog world sometimes. We waited about 15 minutes, and all of a sudden we heard cheering and screaming from the people who were facing the door. It was Hollie! I was so excited because her and Colton were my favorites, and I didn't get a chance to meet her at the finale. She was incredibly sweet and gracious; I was so excited that I forgot to give her the card and lollipop I had gotten for her! LOL. Then, Erika and Elise not too long after. I was so glad to meet Elise because she was another favorite, and she was really sweet, taking her time with all of the fans. Not too long after, Colton came out! I had already met him at the finale...but, it's COLTON. You can never have too many pictures with him ;) haha. He was signing for everyone! I got my CD cover signed, but wasn't able to talk to him at all. He ended up remembering my friend, so they spent most of the time talking in our area, and then he moved on. He wasn't taking pictures, because he was in a hurry since his family was getting into town. The security guard told us that after Colton, no one else would be coming out, and we hadn't been able to get ahold of my dad, because the cell reception in the area sucked. So, we decided it was time to go. I wish we would've been able to wait around a few minutes, because as we drove off, I could've sworn I saw Colton posing for pictures for the smaller crowd that was left. :( Oh well! There's always next time.

It was such an incredible night; I had a blast! It was just another reminder that even though Idol might be taking some different turns that it would've when they first started, it helps us connect to the music world in a way that no other show or anyone else ever has. I feel like these people could be my friends. They have a lot of the same beliefs, dreams, and goals that I do, and if we lived in the same city, they'd be the type of people I'd hang out with. That's what the show is all about...reminding us of the beauty of dreams. When I think back to a lot of my favorite artists and some of my favorite people in general, they've come from American Idol. They've introduced me to so many incredible friends and have helped me through some hard times in my life. I'll always be grateful for this show.

After meeting Colton, we headed back to the parking lot, hit the freeway and came home. My mom and I were so tired, but still on the buzz from the concert, and just ready to get home. After a couple more interesting moments and a short detour (thanks to one of the lanes being closed, and throwing us in a completely different direction), and a stop at In-N-Out (our usual 'after concert' dinner) we made it home. I had planned on going straight to bed, but I got a little distracted looking at the tour book and reliving some of the moments in my head. Finally, exhaustion kicked in and I was out. But, what a night to remember! I got a ton of videos and some good pictures; I might post a few more videos later on, but for now, I'll leave you with a short montage of the highlights.

That's all for now,
Shelby

If you've been to the show, what was your favorite part? If you haven't who would you go just to see?

American Idol Finale Pictures

I wasn't able to post the pictures in my last post about the American Idol finale, because I had already made it so long, I didn't want it to be too overwhelming! LOL. Here are most of the really good ones from the night! Enjoy! :)