Welcome To The Dark Side!

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the band Hanson (proof of that here, here, and here). When my husband and I first met and I told him about this love of the band, he kind of laughed. 

For 5 years, he has "picked" on me for being a fan of their music. He has made the mistake that so many other people have made....he didn't give them a chance past "MMMBop".

Until, that is, I made him.

It happened one day....I just put in my CD while we were driving and started listening to it. He protested a bit at first, but as time went on and I put that CD in more and more, he started singing along. He was reluctant, but one day, he finally admitted that the music wasn't horrible.

The one day he finally admitted he liked it.

So, on his own, he researched and listened to more music. He found that a lot of their music is much better than the crap they are trying to pass for music now. So I told him about them, about how they are now indie, working off their own label. I told him about how they really care about their fans and interact with them. I told them about the walks, the experience of being a fan.

The one night, one glorious night, while a tad bit (read: a lot) inebriated, he finally, FINALLY made the admission to me that I'd been longing to hear.

He considered himself a fan.

Now, he's just a baby fan right now. He may never mature past that stage and that's okay. Me? I'm like a senior fan. I know more than I probably SHOULD know about them. But when you've followed a band since you were 14, that tends to happen.

With his Fanson admission came the desire to go "Back to the Island", which is something the band has done for the past two years. If you are a member of their fan club, you can go to Jamaica and basically party with the guys. We'd both absolutely LOVE to go. It would be a honeymoon of sorts for us, because we never got one. 

The problem?

While it is at an all-inclusive resort, it is more money than we have. Airfare and resort pricing puts us at needing around $4,500. We don't have that and, while we could save for it, I'd rather save to buy a house or use that money for something we can do as a family. So I don't see a going to Jamaica at any point. I would, however, like to go to Tulsa in May for Hanson Day (yup, it's a real thing...)

It's really awesome to know that my husband now like a band that I've literally grown up with. I have such an appreciation for this band and, for him to really get in to it as he has, it really makes me happy. Because, as hokey as it sounds, Hanson is something I hold near and dear to my heart. It's not just about being a fan and listening to the music. It's about how a certain song can make me remember how it got me through something. That's pretty powerful.

So welcome to the dark side, my love. And Isaac, Taylor, and Zac....if you guys happen to read this and wanna pay for two people who have never had a honeymoon to come party with y'all next year, that would be truly amazing. My husband really, really, REALLY wants to get drunk with Ike......

New Year, New Hopes

Every year, I always say the same thing.

"[insert year here] is going to be my year!"

I'm not doing that this year, because I feel like, when I DO, I jinx myself. I hate jinxing myself.

With that said, I want to reflect a little bit on 2013. 

It was a pretty decent year. Minus the car accident (which FINALLY is getting resolved!) and some health problems, it really wasn't that bad. I got to meet Hanson, pulled off a pretty kick ass Christmas, and I turned 31.

The BEST thing to happen? My husband adopted Boy and Girl Child and they legally became his.

2013 brought me many new friends, mostly met through blogging. It brought some trials and some worries, but really, it wasn't that bad. I'm shocked. It was one of the better years.

I DIDN'T get the weight off me like I vowed I would.

You know what though?

That's okay.

So what do I hope 2014 will bring me and my family? Continued success for The Hubs at his job. Boy Child, Girl Child, and Lil Bit nothing but happiness and continued awesomeness at school (Boy and Girl Child will be in 5th grade in August and will turn 10 in July and Lil Bit will start Kindergarten in August, as well as turn 5!). I hope that, financially, we will become even more stable than we are now and that I can get us on a decent budget.

For me? I hope that this blog continues to grow, as well as my other blog Out Of My Mind. It's a new blog where I'll tackle current event type things. I want to keep Momisodes strictly for my family. I'm also considering starting ANOTHER blog called "The Book Review" where I'll review books I read. That's just an idea I'm tossing around though. I hope to successfully lose weight, but if I don't, I won't beat myself up over it.

Here's to 2014 being an even better year than 2013 was. And here's to a better year for all of you!

Scream and Be Free

"If you’re always living for tomorrow you’re gonna miss right now
If we’re only looking in the mirror we’ll never see ourselves"

Those are the lyrics to a song that is running through my head right now. It's by Hanson and it's called "Scream and Be Free".

Last month, I told you guys about the Hanson concert I went to. I was able to get my picture taken with two of the three guys and, to be honest with you, I hated both pictures, because of how fat my face was and how huge I looked. If you frequent this page, then you'll know that I am not a fan of my body. I'm often really hard on myself. I don't mean to be, but I am.

A couple of friends recently posted on Facebook that I need to start seeing myself as other people see me. This isn't something I can do. Because, in my mind, other people see me as I see myself. Huge. Fat. Overweight. Ginormous.In my mind, people see this hideously ugly woman, because THAT'S how I see myself. I project my feelings about myself on to other people.

This is something I'm going to work on over the holidays. I'm going to start trying to find the positive in me. After the holidays, I'm going to start (again) trying to workout and lose weight. But I'm doing it on my own terms. I have to. I know what works for me and I have to do that. Otherwise, I am setting myself up for failure. I know I'm going to have to ease in to it, but I HAVE TO DO THIS. And I need you guys to hold me accountable....

Here's to me trying this AGAIN.......and hopefully, I won't fail this time.

Mmmboppin' Right Along

You know who these guys are, right?

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a Hanson fan.

Since 1997, when they came Mmmbopping into my life, I have been a dedicated and devout fan of the three boys from Tulsa. Sure, I may have questioned my sexuality due to my attraction to Taylor and I may have shouted for joy when I found out that Taylor was, in fact, a HE and not a SHE.

I feel like I've grown up with the guys, being that I'm only 3 months older than Taylor. I've listened as they've evolved in their sound and grown in their style, yet remained true to who they were. To be a Hanson fan is so much more than just liking the music or having a "crush" on a certain guy. You defend your fandom, because people will give you hell over liking them. 

Friday (10/18), my bestie Patty and I made our way to Cincinnati to catch a Hanson concert. This was my 3rd show, her 2nd. We were both SUPER excited for the show. Before most shows, they do a walk for 1 mile. Our walk was at 3, so we made sure to sign up and be there in time. We walked with the guys, sometimes being right next to them (although talking to them during this is hard because of all the other fans). After that, they went to do meet and greets and whatnot. So Patty and I checked out this pizzeria called Mio's. AMAZING food AND, you get to sample everything they have on draft. Bonus points.

The doors opened at 7 and the opening act, who's name is David Ryan Harris, went on at around 8. He was pretty good. At 9ish, the band came on. And, naturally, they totally rocked. I was SO excited when they played a song called "Tragic Symphony" which is my favorite song off Anthem, their latest CD.

We went around to the back of the building after the show and stood in the cold with the hopes of meeting them and getting their autograph. It took FOREVER, but they finally came out....well, two did. Isaac and Taylor came out, Zac stayed on the bus. We think he was sick, but don't hold us to that. The wait was TOTALLY worth it, though, because we got to not only get their autograph, but we got our picture taken with them. OH EM GEE! Patty took the picture of Isaac and I and had covered the flash. So he grabbed the camera and took a selfie with me. He wanted to make sure we had a good picture!

Without further ado, here's some pictures!

Patty (l) and I, waiting for the show to start

Taylor, midway through the walk

Isaac, midway through the walk

Zac's back, on the way back to the venue

Patty (l) and I, midshow

Me and Isaac (he TOTALLY took this pic!)

Me, Taylor, and Patty. EEEEEK

If you want to see ALL the picture, click HERE (note, this is my personal Facebook page.....)

I can't WAIT until they come back around, so I can see them again. I got some motivation, through my picture with the guys though. But I'll post about that later!

Keeping Up With The Hansons

-->Hole

Lee

SHITAKE MUSHROOMS!

Rolling Stone asked me....ME....to interview Hanson. You know, the band that brought you "Mmmbop" back all those many, many years ago.

 People don't believe me when I say that they are still together, performing and putting out music. But it's true. As a matter of fact, I'm going to see them on 10/18 with my bestie Patty, which will be our second time seeing them (the first time was in April of 2008). To say I'm excited is an understatement.

Our tickets for the 10/18 show...EEP!

Patty and I 2008

I have been a Hanson fan since I was 14 years old. I'm 30 now, knocking on 31's door. I was such a huge fan that my walls were covered in posters, which I just recently found. I remember being 14 and just absolutely loving them, writing Taylor Hanson letter after letter because, after all, he was the perfect man. Of course, as I FINALLY got to meet him in 2008, after he was already married and had a few kids and I had my twins (wasn't yet married). But still, he's my favorite Hanson brother.

One awesome things about this interview is that my whole family was flown to Tulsa (where the guys are from), all expenses paid. This was doubly awesome for me, because while we were there, we had our family pictures taken by my favorite photographer Amber from Amber Snead Photography. It has been a dream of mine to go to Tulsa and meet the guys and actually talk to them. Getting to meet Amber and have her take our pictures is a major bonus.

We met at this really cute little park, which makes sense, because I have my 3 kids, Taylor has his 5 and both Isaac and Zac have 2 (Zac has a 3rd on the way). They are really laid back and their wives are also really nice. We discuss EVERYTHING and they are really open with their answers. We talk about how their music has evolved over the years, which is the biggest part of the interview. Their sound has changed so much, but at the same time, they've remained true to themselves. That's hard to do in this industry. Take their latest single, off their new album Anthem, which is called "Get The Girl Back". It's a great song with a great video.

We talk about their family, the hardships of being on the road, how being parents have changed them, and their hopes for their kids. A lot of it won't be used in the magazine, because it was about a 3 hour interview, so maybe one day, I'll have to post the rest of it here....with their permission.

After the interview is over, they invite us back to their family home for a cookout, bon fire, and jam session. 

This is truly been a magical experience for me, and one I won't soon forget. The BEST part? I gained a slew of new friends with the band and I look forward to them coming to my neck of the woods soon for another get together. Oh...and.....they have hired me to be their personal blogger! How awesome is that?!

Welcome to the October edition of the Secret Subject Swap! This is SUPER special, because it's the one year anniversary of the swap! So cool, right? I thought so too. Karen, from Baking In A Tornado, is the brain behind this, so I have to give her a big thanks for letting me be part of it.

My prompt was given to me by Melissa from the deliciously funny Home on Deranged.  The prompt was "As a writer for Rolling Stone, your assignment is to interview your favorite musician. Who do you choose? Tell us about the interview." Thank you so much for the prompt!

Check out the other bloggers and see what they've come up with! And as usual, thanks for stopping by!

Baking In A Tornado                              

Just A Little Nutty                          

Moore Organized Mayhem       

Crazy As Normal                                     

Searching for Sanity                   

Home on Deranged                         

Dawn's Disaster                        

The insomniac's Dream                 

Outsmarted Mommy                    

Black Sheep Mom                 

Writer B is Me                  

Tales Of A 14-15 Year Old Sarah

I'm in front

This is me when I was 14. Gosh, how young I look! No tattoos on my wrists, no scars from cutting.....

Taylor Hanson

Life was so innocent back then. I was in love with a boy that stole my heart and was simply amazing and he never even knew it....mostly because he was famous and lived in Oklahoma, but, damn it, his heart should have felt some tug to Florida, right? 

Well, I think so....

I was staring down starting high school.....I wasn't looking forward to that at all. Most of my friends, though, were going to the same school, so that helped out. It was what it was, though...high school...bottom of the barrel as a Freshman. Eff that!

My hopes back then were to be a big singer, selling out to stadiums left and right, touring with Hanson, being awesome and having an impact on the youth of America. Back then, I didn't realize that music was becoming more about appearance and less about whether or not you can actually sing. I was determined...I'd sit in my bedroom with my little boom box, a pair of head phone ('cause I didn't own a mic) and a blank tape in the cassette player, recording songs I'd written myself onto tape to send out.

Oh yea, I was dreaming big.

High school rolled around and it became an experience that I try to block out daily. High schoolers were even more cruel than middle schoolers. I had batteries thrown at me, I was picked on relentlessly. My chorus teacher wasn't as nice or as cool as the one I had in middle school, and the boys only talked to me because I was smart and willing to do their homework.

In February, halfway through my Freshman year, my Grandpa Fields passed away and we ended up moving to Kentucky from Florida and lived in his house. I started school with some old friends and met some new ones (like Patty, our Crafty mama!). School was a little easier to handle, I had friends and boys actually talked to me because they wanted to be my friend (some weird boys wanted to date me, but I was still holding out hope that Taylor Hanson would sweep me off my feet). I still wanted to be a singer, but I also wanted to go to college for something (I think psychology) and I wanted to write.

Taylor and his wife Natalie

It was a much simpler time, back then. And boy, how things have changed. Taylor never did get around to sweeping me off my feet and I finally came to the realization that he was unattainable, that he'd never date a fan, 'cause he was bigger than that, only to find out that yes, he WOULD, in fact, date a fan and would go on to prove he likes sex...A LOT (they have 5 kids!). He still makes music with his brothers and I'm still a fan. I saw them in 2008 and actually got to meet them and shake their hands and get autographs. (there is a funny story in there....they did this thing called "the walk" before their show. Patty and I were walking with them and was having a very intense conversation about baseball. I wasn't paying attention and walked right into a parking meter...with the band right behind me.) 

I'm married now and very happily so. I have 3 kids of my own and I strive daily to impress upon them what it's like to be in school. I try to get them to make sure they are polite to everyone, that they aren't mean for no reason (or any reason really). I encourage them to try things I wouldn't and to dream big!

My life didn't turn out how I'd planned when I was 14 or 15 years old. But I wouldn't trade the life I have right now for anything in this world.

My husband and I (take THAT Taylor Hanson!)

Memories and Hand Me Downs

When I was teen, my wall was LITERALLY covered in posters.

LITERALLY.......

I was a HUGE Hanson fan and I have posters EVERYWHERE, not only of Hanson, but of The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, The Moffetts, etc, etc. It was pretty awesome and I loved it. All those cute boys watching over me. Oh yea!
As I grew older and moved away, I packed all my posters up in a suitcase and planned on holding on to them. I had well over 400 posters I'd say..
Well, when I was 19, I moved in with my Dad from my ex-husband's house and the suitcase went into a storage shed. When I moved to Florida, I couldn't take my stuff, so it all stayed there.

I never saw it again.

When I moved BACK to Kentucky in 2008, I asked about my stuff and my Dad said a lot was in the attic and what was in the shed was probably not even worth looking at anymore, because it was probably destroyed, so I didn't think anything else about it.
Today, I was over there with the kids and I looked in the shed to see if a ball was in there. In the corner, i spotted my old suitcase with stuff written on the outside and posters taped to the outside.

My jaw DROPPED!

I got over my fear of creepy crawlies and stepped into the shed, snagging the suitcase. My heart fell a little because it felt so heavy, I just KNEW everything inside had been ruined. I put it on the ground and tried to open it, but couldn't, so my Dad went to get a screw driver. I stood it on it's side and got it opened and did a happy dance.

ALL MY POSTERS WERE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION!

They weren't damaged in the least. Anastasia started getting excited, knowing that she was going to be walking down memory lane with me, so we took the suitcase to the porch and started going through it. We were going to dinner at a family friends house, so we didn't get to look at them that much. I closed it and tucked it safely inside my Dad's car trunk and we went to eat.
Cailin and I came home early, because she was sleepy and hadn't had her nap, so I grabbed up my suitcase and brought it in the house. I opened it up and started looking through it. WOW! It was SO awesome to see everything in there again. Such good memories.

I'm excited for Anastasia to get home so we can go through the pictures together and I can hang some on her wall. I'm excited to giggle and share stories with her about the posters and the people in them and how they played a role in my teen years. I don't plan to give them ALL to her, but man, some of those are 15 years old. I DO, however, plan to clean up my suitcase and store it in my house somewhere. That way, when I'm feeling nostalgic, I can put on a Hanson CD and get lost in being a teen again. I can't WAIT to see what else I have at my Dad's!
What have you handed down to your kids from your younger days?

~Sarah