Mrs. Reba Nell thinks I'm Fancy!

For all of you who know me, for the past few weeks (or month) I've been very excited to go see Reba McEntire in concert. Saturday night couldn't come fast enough!

First of all, I really like the television show Reba. For all those interested in checking it out, it comes on Lifetime on weekdays at 4 and 6pm. I may have the times wrong there; it alternates with Still Standing.

The point of that was to get you familar with Barbara Jean. Barbara Jean is the new wife of Reba's ex-husband in the television show. And she is CRAZY!!! She cracks me up in a kind of way that makes me laugh out loud and sometimes repeat what she says outloud and laugh some more when no one else is around. It's worse when people are around.

None other than Melissa Peterman (who plays Barbara Jean... she probably appreciates it when people use her real name) opened for the concert! She is hilarious. It was so very funny and I was so very giddy... which is a great mix if you ask me.

Then, after a much needed bathroom break, we start hearing the tunes to "Sweet Dreams" and the curtain starts to come up. That could have been the best rendition of "Sweet Dreams" I've ever heard. They rocked it out.

Now some of you are wondering, "They? Whose they?" Well I'll tell you. This was the Reba and Kelly tour. Which, I like Kelly Clarkson perfectly fine. I like her music. I respect her a great deal. But after that concert, I have MUCH more respect for her. Her voice crosses many genres, she sounds great live, and she held her own against the magnificent Reba McEntire.

The whole show was great. They really put a lot into it. When they ended it, of course we weren't going to stand for that. So... for the encore... they sang "Because of You", "Since You Been Gone," and to end it.... "FANCY!!!!"

I still get giddy thinking about it. It was the best! They rocked it out... not a person left sitting... everyone up clapping and singing along... they threw in some lyrics I didn't know... but I sang along like I did... awesome!

If you ever get a chance to see this concert... DO IT! My husband was not very excited about it beforehand and even he said it is one of the best concerts he has ever seen. Just cough up the money now, you won't regret it.

I would like to take this time to plead for Brandi Mair's forgiveness for going without her. I would have loved to have been able to go with you. I was thinking about you the entire time.

Amethyst Initiative

So, this is probably as random as a post gets, but while at the SWACURH conference in Fayetteville today, I had the option of going to a "Burning Issues" presentation. These presentations were basically topics that get people fired up and arguing.

The Amethyst Initiative was one of those said programs. Except, when looking at the schedule, I didn't know what it was. So, I go into this room blind.

I wasn't the only one. Out of about 40 people in the room, approximately 5 knew what it was. Finally, right before we started, someone asked. And basically, it is a political drive to lower the drinking age. There isn't a specific age necessarily (most advocate 18), but it is basically arguing that the legal age of 21 isn't working and political discussions need to ensue.

Hit up that link. It will take you to the Amethyst Initiative site. It has the overview on the homepage but it also has the actual statement that university presidents and administrators can sign, more in depth information about where it originated, and a list of schools that have already signed.

I wanted to blog about this because I want to know your opinions on the matter. As for myself, I feel like I'm about 85% supportive of the initiative. It goes back to tired old argument of, "If you can vote, smoke, and die for your country, why can't you have a beer too?"

I'm taking the stance of, "If you treat people like adults, they are more apt to act like adults." Currently, when you hit 18, you are technically considered an adult, but its more like a quasi-adult. You aren't the real deal until you are 21. My theory is, if you treat people like they aren't full-fledged adults, then why would they act like they are? Am I saying that people wouldn't act stupid? Of course not. They would. They do now. But I'm advocating an overall culture change. If when you hit 18, you have all of the rights of an adult and are encouraged to start acting that way, I believe that this wouldn't be a huge big issue. But as it is now, they know that just because they are 18, it doesn't necessarily mean they are adults.

So what do you think? Give me your opinions on this.

Weekend with Rylee!

Hello everyone! With it being election day, I've decided to blog about.... Rylee! (haha... some of you were scared).

Last weekend (before Halloween) my niece Rylee came to stay with Justin and I. Justin and I are members at the Little Rock Zoo (right up the road, how awesome is that?), so we took Rylee to Boo at the Zoo. All week long before she came she would call us and tell us how she wanted to see the puckies (monkeys), ompo-ompo-matamuses (hippopotamus), raffes (giraffes), and the zebas (zebras)... oh and the adybugs (ladybugs... we still don't know why).

Well, I have never been to Boo at the Zoo and I found out that the animals aren't really out. She was too excited us to not let her see the animals (aminals according to her) so Justin and I decided we'd take her that morning to see the animals, we'd come home and have a night, then get her dressed up in her puckie suit and take her back to Boo at the Zoo. It was tiresome yet splendid day.

Here are some pictures with caption (hopefully... I've never uploaded pictures before so bear with me)...


I had to add this one because she is so cute.


This is Rylee and Justin looking at the puckies.


These puckies...


This is Justin and Rylee at Boo at the Zoo. She was wearing her puckie suit.


In this picture, you can see the banana in her pocket.


For all of you who know Gena, this is her riding the ferris wheel with Johnny. It was so funny because Johnny wanted to ride it so bad so he told her he would pay for the tickets.


This was my favorite part of the night. They have this old school carousel at the zoo. We told Rylee all day that she would get to ride it. We got on and it started out slow. You could tell she was having fun but she wasn't giggling with joy or anything. Well, it speeds up all of the sudden. She had me, Gena, and a few workers rolling laughing. I have never seen that much joy on any kids face in my entire life! She liked it so much that she wouldn't get off once the ride stopped. Justin ended up taking her again.