Cornerstone 2006, Bushnell, Illinois (July 2-10)
Preface (haha)
Cornerstone this year was so different from years past. I went to my first cornerstone in the year 2000 with Kate Maher and her mom. That experience really changed me and I have continued to use what I learned that year on the hill and under those tents throughout my later years and even now. I went again and again until 2005 when I skipped it for the first time because I was so worried about money and making money for school. I basically psyched myself out and couldn't get it out of my head that if I missed one week of my life and went to Cornerstone I wouldn't make the amount of money that I needed to make that summer for school. After the end of the summer it turned out that I would have been fine if I went. Despite me not going, God still used my absence as a real teaching opportunity. From then on I have learned and decided that money is never the issue and my time needs to be spent on the things most important in life. I learned that I had to prioritize and that my priorities lay with and always will lay with my relationships in life. My relationships with GOD and my relationships with those people that are the very alive kingdom of God in my life: my family and closest friends. Since then I have been making way better decisions, according to me anyway, that have been much more moral and fulfilling in my life. For example, I'm going to be returning to Michigan during a busy time at school here for my brother's graduation party. School won't suffer much... It's important that I go to his party. You only have one high school graduation party and I'm his only older sister. I should be there. If this was last year, however, I probably wouldn't even consider going because I'd be too freaked out about leaving during a busy time at school. How lame was I? Pretty lame. THIS YEAR, the idea of missing an ENTIRE WEEK of school while I'm also taking extra credit hours of classes and it's been hard as heck didn't even phase me. Everyone was like "you are crazy for doing that!" They think I'm crazy as it is for taking an extra class, especially during the summer and then when they hear I'm taking an entire week off of school, they freak out. I guess you just don't do that or something. haha.
Cornerstone 2006
I really wanted to bring my sister and brother to cornerstone this year and share my experience. When I realized that that plan wasn't going to work out and that my sibs weren't going to be able to make it this year, I got really discouraged. It changed ALL of my plans. I was planning on flying to Michigan, picking them up, and then going from Michigan to Bushnell, Illinois for Cornerstone. I REALLY wanted to share the experience with them. So anyway, my plans changed and I ended up hitching a ride from Savannah with this guy Gabriel who I met through one of my closest girlfriends Lauren (who is in California right now working at an awesome Christian camp called Alpine). Anyway, turns out Gabe was driving up with a bunch of other girls: his 19 year old sister, her 24 year old friend, and this 16 year old girl, a sibling of one of his friends. We all packed into his civic and took off for the 14 hour drive. We had to pick up the older girl in Nashville which was on the way anyway so I got to see Nashville for the first time. It was a SMASHED ride with all of us uncomfortably smashed into the little car with ALL OF OUR STUFF, which thinned out considerably before we left as we all had to make sacrifices to fit Autumn, the 16 year old. She had never been to Cornerstone and so we decided to let her come with us and try to give her the best experience that we could... this meant that I had to loose my sleeping bag AND tent. I went to cornerstone this year with only a hammock and a pillow for my sleeping accommodations. It was all worth it to have Autumn with us. Anyway, I dug what I saw of Nashville. We took a quick driving tour of Bellmont, the school that Gabe's sister goes to. It was pretty nice. She is studying music management. I didn't even know that was a major. haha.
THANK GOD FOR GABE
Got to cornerstone around midnight. We paid and got it and started looking for a place to set up camp. Tons of stuff was already roped off for early campers that came and called their spots. That's just how it goes I guess. The problem was that we needed a place with some trees to hang the hammock. After TONS of searching we decided to just go with this one place near the encore stages with one perfect tree. We hooked the hammock up to the tree and tied the other end to Gabe's car. Gabe, Autumn, and I set up camp in the middle of the night while Gabe's sister and her friend just slept in the car. We decided we'd be cool and set up their stuff as well and just let them be lame and sleep. We basically got everything done without them but then it started RAINING and I mean POURING... so here we are, Gabe, Autumn, and I running for our lives and trying to tie down the tents and keep our stuff dry after being up for like 24 hours and driving the WHOLE WAY all the while, the other two girls are sleeping like babies in the car not even offering to help. We ended up seeking refuge in The Asylum which is a huge tent dedicated to a GOTHIC OUTREACH... we ducked in there soaking wet and miserable only to find tons of crazy gothic decorations and a bunch of pale white people wearing all black with heavy black eye liner and tons of piercings awaiting us. Seriously freaked me out haha. They were super nice to us and let us take refuge overnight in their giant tent. We talked about their outreach and dubbed them the Gothic Red Cross. That night we slept a few hours on the hard ground under their giant red striped tent while still in soaking wet clothes. What little sleep we got was miserable. The next morning we dried off and took showers. Poor Autumn. I did my best to get her dry clothes that night and at least she had a dry shirt... better than Gabe and me. We all slept side by side in the Gothic tent. NOthing else we could do. I woke up to Gabe's whole body shaking and shivering- his shoulder that was against mine was shaking so bad that I could have sworn he was awake. Nope, fast asleep and shaking like he was freezing alive. Poor kid. That morning was much better after we got started and stuff. His sister and her friend never thanked us for letting them sleep in the car and setting up all of their stuff at our own expense. Day two and we're running on 2 hours of soaking wet freezing sleep. Begin Cornerstone 2006.
After that, everything was peaches. The only problem that I really had was the fact that I didn't really have a blanket or anything for my cold nights spent in the hammock. We ended up fixing that after 2 more FREEZING nights by going to Wall mart and getting me a 15 buck comforter (which worked WONDERS and made the outdoor sleeping under the stars WAY more comfortable).
My sleeping place.
in past years I had brought a serious george forman or some high-tech camping grill... This year was a little more lax. haha.
Cornerstone this year was very different from years past. The biggest difference for me? I think it might have something to do with the fact that in the past two years I have gone from being just another kid trying to find their place in the world to becoming a professional artist.... I guess much like those performing on stage. Really I don't see much difference. I make videos and they make music. Artists, psh. I love the community of Cornerstone... especially now that I am working professionally as videographer and director. Its strange, really... I feel like something inside me has changed. I guess I'm just growing up. Cornerstone used to be an event that I went to where I just went and had fun. This year I guess I've just naturally moved into my spot as part of this kingdom of God. Cornerstone isn't in any way just the event that was thrown that I attended anymore. Cornerstone is a party that we are throwing for ourselves and our friends and our God. Cornerstone is made and run by people just like me and Hawk and Gabe and any other Christian that I work with on a daily basis. To me, it is now more of a community and a gathering of like-minded creative people than just a giant music festival. I think that THIS is what it has always been and has meant to be... I'm just now growing into my place and finding it's meaning for myself. Cornerstone is a place where artists and fans alike can enjoy each other's passion and life work. Awesome.
Gabe Hall in the mix during the first Showbread show! He was taking pictures from the floor while we were filming on stage. Here are some of the pix he took:
Proof! Pix taken by Gabe Hall
(all of the color work on this picture was done in-camera by Gabe Hall)
My FAVORITE thing about Cornerstone this year? I met a ton of new people and got to really sit down, or walk for the most part, and have some awesome and Christ-centered conversations with a few of them. There are a few people in my life that I have met and been instantly attracted to. I don't mean in the way that I am actually physically attracted to them hahaha no no no, I mean these are people that I have met that I know right away will be friends in faith. It's apparent right now how important it is to keep up with these people and keep them close to my heart. These people make up what I consider to be the true kingdom of God in my life. My personal kingdom of God if you will. haha. Anyway a few of these kids were at Cornerstone this year and I got to really catch up with them and have a few awesome conversations. It is those conversations that are like my drugs in life... they leave me so encouraged and pumped. ENCOURAGE ME, friends. This is the true reason why going to Cornerstone really energizes me and "fills my cup"... not because of the music but because of the fellowship. I mean who knows, I might not see some of these people again for up to a year, even more. It is just so good to be able to be with them for the little time I was able to be with them at Cstone.
Shows? I went to some awesome shows. I also did a little bit of video here and there. Funny because I was NOT planning on bringing my video camera to Cornerstone but I saw Ivory of Showbread about a week before Cstone and he asked me if I'd be filming them when they played there. I told him I wasn't planning on doing any video work there and that I just kindof wanted Cornerstone to be a retreat for me and a place where I got away from work, including video work, to which he said: "oook that's ok... we'll just tape it with our little crappy handy cam." He looked at me with that Ivory look, probably knowing that he said the exact thing to get me to bring my expensive camera to dirty old cornerstone. He smiled as I was like IVORY jeesh don't say that. Now I won't be able to let you film Cornerstone shows with a crappy camera... ugh! Next thing I knew I was filming for them at Cornerstone which was turned out to be an AWESOME experience! Filming at Cornerstone at the HM stage in front of what seemed to be a thousand people was so much fun. I don't think I have ever filmed a show that large. I thought I'd be nervous but I wasn't at all. It was natural and we had a ton of fun. I met a kid named Dillan who had the same kind of camera as I did and I invited him to help out. Together, we got some AMAZING footage during both Showbread shows. We also filmed Chasing Victory which I honestly haven't watched yet. A guy from Zambooie.com approached me at the end of Cornerstone about working with them and possibly selling them the videos. We'll see about that. It sounded like a good opportunity.
Here are like 18 stills from the filming (just of the Showbread show on Tooth and Nail day):
It was hard to leave after Cornerstone was over. We left LATE during the last night and drove all night and all day until we were finally back in Georgia. I had to do some school work so I did that and then had to be at school at 9am the next morning. We were in Atlanta for the night and I had driven there separately from Gabe so I was planning on jumping in my car and just driving back to Savannah before class. I slept a few hours at Gabe's house in Atlanta and then got up at 4:30am and set off on my own. About 2 hours into the trip back to Savannah I was so exhausted that I decided to just screw school and not worry about it. I pulled over at a gas station and parked next to a Georgia Peach stand next to the gas station. I and fell asleep in the driver's seat and slept for 3 hours. When I woke up, there was another car next to mine with people sleeping in it. This gas station must have been a safe haven. I lumbered into the quick-mart and brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on some makeup. Morning routines at a gas station make me feel like a woman. haha. Not to mention I was alone. I bought some chocolate milk, walked back to my jeep (hoping that the peach stand would be open but it wasn't), put a few new stickers on my car, stretched, popped in a new facedown sampler cd and then listened to bro-core all of the way home.
WHen I got back to Savannah I slept all day. haha. How depressing to be back in school. Just kidding. I really got the boost that I needed at Cornerstone and I had a lot of time to learn about myself and about my faith. God taught me a lot in those few short days and He really worked on my vision. Am I totally clear on what needs to be done and worked on in my life, no, but I feel like he added another line of text to the driving directions of my life. Cheesy, yea haha. Anyway, next year I have big plans for Cornerstone. Big plans involving Veritaz Productions.
Please keep my heart pure, Lord, and thank you for manifesting your kingdom here, right here and right now. Thank you for those far away and please keep us strong despite our absence in each other's lives. I love you more than ever and I'm grateful for the break that Cornerstone provided for me from the everyday hustle bustle of life.
My friend Mike and I at mainstage waiting for As I Lay Dieing to play.
We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea
Cornerstone this year was so different from years past. I went to my first cornerstone in the year 2000 with Kate Maher and her mom. That experience really changed me and I have continued to use what I learned that year on the hill and under those tents throughout my later years and even now. I went again and again until 2005 when I skipped it for the first time because I was so worried about money and making money for school. I basically psyched myself out and couldn't get it out of my head that if I missed one week of my life and went to Cornerstone I wouldn't make the amount of money that I needed to make that summer for school. After the end of the summer it turned out that I would have been fine if I went. Despite me not going, God still used my absence as a real teaching opportunity. From then on I have learned and decided that money is never the issue and my time needs to be spent on the things most important in life. I learned that I had to prioritize and that my priorities lay with and always will lay with my relationships in life. My relationships with GOD and my relationships with those people that are the very alive kingdom of God in my life: my family and closest friends. Since then I have been making way better decisions, according to me anyway, that have been much more moral and fulfilling in my life. For example, I'm going to be returning to Michigan during a busy time at school here for my brother's graduation party. School won't suffer much... It's important that I go to his party. You only have one high school graduation party and I'm his only older sister. I should be there. If this was last year, however, I probably wouldn't even consider going because I'd be too freaked out about leaving during a busy time at school. How lame was I? Pretty lame. THIS YEAR, the idea of missing an ENTIRE WEEK of school while I'm also taking extra credit hours of classes and it's been hard as heck didn't even phase me. Everyone was like "you are crazy for doing that!" They think I'm crazy as it is for taking an extra class, especially during the summer and then when they hear I'm taking an entire week off of school, they freak out. I guess you just don't do that or something. haha.
Cornerstone 2006
I really wanted to bring my sister and brother to cornerstone this year and share my experience. When I realized that that plan wasn't going to work out and that my sibs weren't going to be able to make it this year, I got really discouraged. It changed ALL of my plans. I was planning on flying to Michigan, picking them up, and then going from Michigan to Bushnell, Illinois for Cornerstone. I REALLY wanted to share the experience with them. So anyway, my plans changed and I ended up hitching a ride from Savannah with this guy Gabriel who I met through one of my closest girlfriends Lauren (who is in California right now working at an awesome Christian camp called Alpine). Anyway, turns out Gabe was driving up with a bunch of other girls: his 19 year old sister, her 24 year old friend, and this 16 year old girl, a sibling of one of his friends. We all packed into his civic and took off for the 14 hour drive. We had to pick up the older girl in Nashville which was on the way anyway so I got to see Nashville for the first time. It was a SMASHED ride with all of us uncomfortably smashed into the little car with ALL OF OUR STUFF, which thinned out considerably before we left as we all had to make sacrifices to fit Autumn, the 16 year old. She had never been to Cornerstone and so we decided to let her come with us and try to give her the best experience that we could... this meant that I had to loose my sleeping bag AND tent. I went to cornerstone this year with only a hammock and a pillow for my sleeping accommodations. It was all worth it to have Autumn with us. Anyway, I dug what I saw of Nashville. We took a quick driving tour of Bellmont, the school that Gabe's sister goes to. It was pretty nice. She is studying music management. I didn't even know that was a major. haha.
THANK GOD FOR GABE
Got to cornerstone around midnight. We paid and got it and started looking for a place to set up camp. Tons of stuff was already roped off for early campers that came and called their spots. That's just how it goes I guess. The problem was that we needed a place with some trees to hang the hammock. After TONS of searching we decided to just go with this one place near the encore stages with one perfect tree. We hooked the hammock up to the tree and tied the other end to Gabe's car. Gabe, Autumn, and I set up camp in the middle of the night while Gabe's sister and her friend just slept in the car. We decided we'd be cool and set up their stuff as well and just let them be lame and sleep. We basically got everything done without them but then it started RAINING and I mean POURING... so here we are, Gabe, Autumn, and I running for our lives and trying to tie down the tents and keep our stuff dry after being up for like 24 hours and driving the WHOLE WAY all the while, the other two girls are sleeping like babies in the car not even offering to help. We ended up seeking refuge in The Asylum which is a huge tent dedicated to a GOTHIC OUTREACH... we ducked in there soaking wet and miserable only to find tons of crazy gothic decorations and a bunch of pale white people wearing all black with heavy black eye liner and tons of piercings awaiting us. Seriously freaked me out haha. They were super nice to us and let us take refuge overnight in their giant tent. We talked about their outreach and dubbed them the Gothic Red Cross. That night we slept a few hours on the hard ground under their giant red striped tent while still in soaking wet clothes. What little sleep we got was miserable. The next morning we dried off and took showers. Poor Autumn. I did my best to get her dry clothes that night and at least she had a dry shirt... better than Gabe and me. We all slept side by side in the Gothic tent. NOthing else we could do. I woke up to Gabe's whole body shaking and shivering- his shoulder that was against mine was shaking so bad that I could have sworn he was awake. Nope, fast asleep and shaking like he was freezing alive. Poor kid. That morning was much better after we got started and stuff. His sister and her friend never thanked us for letting them sleep in the car and setting up all of their stuff at our own expense. Day two and we're running on 2 hours of soaking wet freezing sleep. Begin Cornerstone 2006.
After that, everything was peaches. The only problem that I really had was the fact that I didn't really have a blanket or anything for my cold nights spent in the hammock. We ended up fixing that after 2 more FREEZING nights by going to Wall mart and getting me a 15 buck comforter (which worked WONDERS and made the outdoor sleeping under the stars WAY more comfortable).
My sleeping place.
in past years I had brought a serious george forman or some high-tech camping grill... This year was a little more lax. haha.
Cornerstone this year was very different from years past. The biggest difference for me? I think it might have something to do with the fact that in the past two years I have gone from being just another kid trying to find their place in the world to becoming a professional artist.... I guess much like those performing on stage. Really I don't see much difference. I make videos and they make music. Artists, psh. I love the community of Cornerstone... especially now that I am working professionally as videographer and director. Its strange, really... I feel like something inside me has changed. I guess I'm just growing up. Cornerstone used to be an event that I went to where I just went and had fun. This year I guess I've just naturally moved into my spot as part of this kingdom of God. Cornerstone isn't in any way just the event that was thrown that I attended anymore. Cornerstone is a party that we are throwing for ourselves and our friends and our God. Cornerstone is made and run by people just like me and Hawk and Gabe and any other Christian that I work with on a daily basis. To me, it is now more of a community and a gathering of like-minded creative people than just a giant music festival. I think that THIS is what it has always been and has meant to be... I'm just now growing into my place and finding it's meaning for myself. Cornerstone is a place where artists and fans alike can enjoy each other's passion and life work. Awesome.
Gabe Hall in the mix during the first Showbread show! He was taking pictures from the floor while we were filming on stage. Here are some of the pix he took:
Proof! Pix taken by Gabe Hall
(all of the color work on this picture was done in-camera by Gabe Hall)
My FAVORITE thing about Cornerstone this year? I met a ton of new people and got to really sit down, or walk for the most part, and have some awesome and Christ-centered conversations with a few of them. There are a few people in my life that I have met and been instantly attracted to. I don't mean in the way that I am actually physically attracted to them hahaha no no no, I mean these are people that I have met that I know right away will be friends in faith. It's apparent right now how important it is to keep up with these people and keep them close to my heart. These people make up what I consider to be the true kingdom of God in my life. My personal kingdom of God if you will. haha. Anyway a few of these kids were at Cornerstone this year and I got to really catch up with them and have a few awesome conversations. It is those conversations that are like my drugs in life... they leave me so encouraged and pumped. ENCOURAGE ME, friends. This is the true reason why going to Cornerstone really energizes me and "fills my cup"... not because of the music but because of the fellowship. I mean who knows, I might not see some of these people again for up to a year, even more. It is just so good to be able to be with them for the little time I was able to be with them at Cstone.
Shows? I went to some awesome shows. I also did a little bit of video here and there. Funny because I was NOT planning on bringing my video camera to Cornerstone but I saw Ivory of Showbread about a week before Cstone and he asked me if I'd be filming them when they played there. I told him I wasn't planning on doing any video work there and that I just kindof wanted Cornerstone to be a retreat for me and a place where I got away from work, including video work, to which he said: "oook that's ok... we'll just tape it with our little crappy handy cam." He looked at me with that Ivory look, probably knowing that he said the exact thing to get me to bring my expensive camera to dirty old cornerstone. He smiled as I was like IVORY jeesh don't say that. Now I won't be able to let you film Cornerstone shows with a crappy camera... ugh! Next thing I knew I was filming for them at Cornerstone which was turned out to be an AWESOME experience! Filming at Cornerstone at the HM stage in front of what seemed to be a thousand people was so much fun. I don't think I have ever filmed a show that large. I thought I'd be nervous but I wasn't at all. It was natural and we had a ton of fun. I met a kid named Dillan who had the same kind of camera as I did and I invited him to help out. Together, we got some AMAZING footage during both Showbread shows. We also filmed Chasing Victory which I honestly haven't watched yet. A guy from Zambooie.com approached me at the end of Cornerstone about working with them and possibly selling them the videos. We'll see about that. It sounded like a good opportunity.
Here are like 18 stills from the filming (just of the Showbread show on Tooth and Nail day):
It was hard to leave after Cornerstone was over. We left LATE during the last night and drove all night and all day until we were finally back in Georgia. I had to do some school work so I did that and then had to be at school at 9am the next morning. We were in Atlanta for the night and I had driven there separately from Gabe so I was planning on jumping in my car and just driving back to Savannah before class. I slept a few hours at Gabe's house in Atlanta and then got up at 4:30am and set off on my own. About 2 hours into the trip back to Savannah I was so exhausted that I decided to just screw school and not worry about it. I pulled over at a gas station and parked next to a Georgia Peach stand next to the gas station. I and fell asleep in the driver's seat and slept for 3 hours. When I woke up, there was another car next to mine with people sleeping in it. This gas station must have been a safe haven. I lumbered into the quick-mart and brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on some makeup. Morning routines at a gas station make me feel like a woman. haha. Not to mention I was alone. I bought some chocolate milk, walked back to my jeep (hoping that the peach stand would be open but it wasn't), put a few new stickers on my car, stretched, popped in a new facedown sampler cd and then listened to bro-core all of the way home.
WHen I got back to Savannah I slept all day. haha. How depressing to be back in school. Just kidding. I really got the boost that I needed at Cornerstone and I had a lot of time to learn about myself and about my faith. God taught me a lot in those few short days and He really worked on my vision. Am I totally clear on what needs to be done and worked on in my life, no, but I feel like he added another line of text to the driving directions of my life. Cheesy, yea haha. Anyway, next year I have big plans for Cornerstone. Big plans involving Veritaz Productions.
Please keep my heart pure, Lord, and thank you for manifesting your kingdom here, right here and right now. Thank you for those far away and please keep us strong despite our absence in each other's lives. I love you more than ever and I'm grateful for the break that Cornerstone provided for me from the everyday hustle bustle of life.
My friend Mike and I at mainstage waiting for As I Lay Dieing to play.
We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea
posted by Chelsea at 1:27 PM
1 Comments:
more epic than the chronicles of ridik? noway.
come next year, you can be part of my army....
and i know you have always wanted to be part of the army.
hi will. i think that YOU are epic, as a person, epic.
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