SAN DIEGO for Lauren's wedding October 15 2009

Lauren, Newbie, and I at their wedding reception.
WOOOOOO LAUREN GOT MARRIED! Holy moly one of my closest friends got married and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I jumped on a plane and got to San Diego the Thursday before the Saturday wedding. The plan, show up, settle in, bachelorette party, help prepare for wedding, wedding! It was nice to fly somewhere for once instead of drive.


When I landed in San Diego I had to make my way to Encinetas. This means a bus, a train, and a bit of a walk. Good thing I only packed a backpack. The public transportation system was super easy to manuver and the train, the Coaster, was just lovely. You could compare it to Salt Lake City's "Front Runner". I sat on the top deck and was blessed by a lovely view of the coast along the way. Thus the name "Coaster".




After seeing a surfer moon the entire train and walking a little around downtown Encinetas I made my way the half mile to the hotel and checked in. There was going to be 4 of us staying in our room so I was happy to see two queen sized beds. Lauren, her sister Lillis, Briana (lauren's cousin) and me. Yes that's right ladies I was the last person to share a bed with the bride before her wedding! haha. That thursday night we batchlorette partied it up. Sorry, I cant say what we did...


The next day was a serious prep day with Lo's family. Her mom and dad came from the Congo and her sister Lillis came from Kenya so it was amazing to spend time with them and a rush to get everything done.

They don't look like they're from Africa at all ;) I love them.

We had the rehearsal dinner and I got to know some of the other people involved in the wedding. Good times. Good peeps. The rehearsal dinner was beautiful. It was a warm warm day and the evening was still 70 degrees or so. Our main light was candlelight and I loved hearing what everyone had to say about Lauren and her (then)fiancee Newbie.






So Newbie was like the total bomb. He was personable, good looking, and he seemed patient and honest. What he said at the rehearsal dinner was lovely and very insightful. I got to know him a little better Friday night after the rehearsal dinner. They opened up their new apartment to us all and we played guitar and sang and chilled. It was so refreshing! I am so proud of them and so happy that Lauren has such an amazing (now) husband!!! AHH! It's just crazy. Anyway..

The wedding was beautiful. It was on the lawn of their church that overlooks the city and the weather was hot and perfect! Lauren had us dance down the isles with our groomsmen and mine dipped me! We were for SURE the best dancers ;) well maybe. lol
I almost cried a million times during the ceremony. It was perfect. We decorated the whole place with wild flowers and there were butterflies everywhere. One even almost landed on Newbie during the ceremony. My fav part was that they wanted to do communion before they had their first kiss as husband and wife. That meant a lot to all of us. It was perfect!!!!!! Good job you guys and thank God! Lauren's brother who was stuck in Texas due to flight problems even made it JUST in time to see the ceremony. Praise God!





After the wedding we cleaned up and headed to a park for a potluck reception. It was perfect... except for the BEERLYMPICS going on right next to us. lol it turned out to be a good thing. They even provided the music for the first dance. I can't wait to get all of the pictures (not sure how to get them). We decorated Newbie's truck and sent them on their way. Ok, so, no joke, the second they left FOG rolled in- SO BAD that you could bearly see 10 feet in front of you. Good weather for the whole thing and the second it was over FOGGY- so much fog that when I finally made it to the ocean it was bearly visible! haha. So much fog that all of our flights were delayed HOURS. The night before, though, I meandered into a free concert at a downtown coffee house and there were peopel from the wedding there! I chilled with them then went out to pizza with some more of the wedding party. Lauren, your friends are the bomb.
Next day I made it home on time even though flights were delayed. What a wonderful long weekend.

Lets do it again!
We could be closer than you know,

SOZO Sacramento September 22ndish

Krissi (pictured above with me), her husband Tommy invited me on a little adventure to Sacramento for a retreat... of sorts. I didn't know if I could go but after a little convincing I was on board. One round trip ticket to a ride in a packed explorer 12 hours there and back for a quick weekend. I'm in!

At first I thought it was just going to be K, T, and I but, when the car pulled up to pick me up early Friday morning, I realized every seat was taken. 5 people, 5 seats, 12(or so) hours. That's ok. I was down. Reminded me of that time we drove with a packed car 7 hours just to get hawk some Waffle House in Fort Collins. Good times! I hoped this would be just as good.

The drive was amazing. It brought back lovely memories of when T and I did it for our 2 year anniversary trip to San Francisco in the spring. We went the exact same way and took the exact same way back, the long way around Lake Tahoe. mmm.
The other two people in the car were Grace and Connie. It was Connie's car and she did most of the driving (thanks Connie!). They both turned out to be SUPER COOL and I'm so glad they were along on the trip! Connie, Grace, Me, Tommy, Krissi
Once we got to Sacrament we checked into a hotel and headed over for registration at this church that looked like a futuristic moon building or... like a giant gold armadillo. lol


The whole weekend was for this seminar, of sorts, that dealt with SOZOing. SOZO means to save, heal, preserve, and make whole in Greek. In short, the whole seminar was about forgiveness and how to help people into forgiveness. What I got out of it was a real revelation. I never realized how unforgiving I've been in the past 2 or 3 years. Technically, ever since the brake up I went though with the guy I dated for most of my college career, I've become a total bitch. Well not TOTALLY but I got sick not too long after that and forgiveness was not on my forefront of thought. I wasn't even thinking of it at all. It wasn't like I was CHOOSING not to forgive, it's just like I forgot about that all together.

The SOZO seminar helped remind me that, without our willing act of forgiveness, we are unable to partner in Love with the Lord. By being unforgiving we are imprisioning ourselves. It's crazy. I never thought of it like that. Like I am seperating myself from God's love with the more grudges that I hold. Crazy. So after I got back and processed the whole weekend I started really talking to God and forgiving the people He brought to my mind. A few specifically and probably more to come. It was amazing because I released them to him and blessed them and forgave them and it actually worked. Not just kinda like "ok i feel better" but I saw two of them that same day and I didn't get the usual choked up feeling or ANYTHING for that matter. It didn't bother me. I didn't think about them once for the rest of the day and it just wasn't a thing. During the process I asked God to replace the grudge I had, or whatever, with something good from Him and he did! For example, for one of the people I forgave He replaced my grudge with Joy and I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway, what a great retreat but I'd be lieing if I said it was a breeze. It was hard to take it all in at once but once we got back and I went through my own personal SOZO and then one with Connie and Grace, it was amazing to see the Lord move and work. AWESOME!




So on the way home we stayed with a family friend of Tommy's. Or his family or something. He lived in the biggest house I've ever been in AND they had like miles of land for horses and all sorts of cool stuff. It was amazing. His little daughter's room was bigger than my entire apartment... and it was pink. lol
We headed back Sunday and made it home by the evening. Good times.
Thanks Krissi and Tommy, Connie and Grace! I'll never forget the SOZO trip to Sacramento!
We could be closer than you know,

San Fransisco, CA- 01/27/08

We made it to San Fran! I can't believe Lydia or I haven't died yet. (JUST KIDDING). Alcatraz!

Although Lydia is still really sick. She is a trooper and is pulling through pretty well. I still have a tough cough but, other than that and the fact that I realllly need a shower, I'm doing dandy. We drove the few hours it was from Sacramento to San Fransisco and go to Slims, the venue, a little early. Sadly, they didn't have a shower room or anything like that for the bands touring through so, instead of a full shower, I washed my hair in one of the band's private bathrooms sink style. The chill rooms for the bands at Slims were actually pretty nice. All of the bands got their own rooms far away from the crazy crowd. Most venues have rooms like this. These types of band-only chill-out rooms are commonly referred to as the "Green Room" or Green Rooms. When a venue has a nice Green Room then the venue is a nice venue.
To the left is a pic of Lydia at Slims feeling a tad bit better. Better enough to come in, sit down, and use the computer for a bit. While she was online I decided to walk around a little bit. I went by a few of your typical city blocks only to find out that I was a little out of the way from where I would rather be DOWNTOWN. It's chill though and I had a nice 30 min walk.


Yes, I agree, SanFransisco is weird.

So I'm all walking around SanFran and am finally getting a chance to talk on the phone with Tyler without tons of people around... FINALLY... when lo and behold. You would not believe what I walked by. Right there, on this off-broadway and out of the way street and block is, probably, the only thing that I know of San Fransisco: The Chrome Bag store and factory. Yes, folks and fellow cyclists, of all the places I get dumped out onto in San Fransisco I just happen to get dumped right down the street from the Chrome shop and walk right by it. haha. I don't even have a Chrome bag but I just thought it was hilarious that this was the only place I was at and the only thing I really saw of SanFran. Fixed Gear kids, eat your hearts out.

For those of you who don't know what Chrome is... A Chrome bag is like the trendiest bag of choice for cyclists around the United States and often the bag of choice for those most privileged cyclists who ride as bike messengers and bike couriers for a living. Nike is to basketball as Chrome is to cycling. Urban Outfitters is to indie-pop kids as Chrome is to fixed gear culture. It was hilarious. I'm so glad to have walked by that place.

The show was pretty cool. Again, I really liked this venue and had a good time at it. Although I wasn't technically allowed to film, I got away with it anyway and got some awesome shots of the AGAGAG show.

An old friend of AGAGAG named Frank who used to be in a band called Showbread (from Savannah just like AGAGAG) for a short while lives in SanFran and came out to hang out with us for a little. He offered us his house to stay in and we greatfully took him up on it. After the show, and Chris's(AGAGAG's bass player) 21st birthday celebration, we headed over to Frank's house. Frank lives like right smack dab in the middle of SanFran and, after looking for a safe place to park the van and the trailer we all decided that no such safe place exists at ALL anywhere near where Frank lives.

Our most logical option at that point was to try to get a few hours of driving in toward Portland where we would be staying for the next few days. Portland is a bit of a hike from SanFran so I decided to take the wheel and let everybody rest up for a long night's haul. We figured we could take it slow since we had the next night off before having to play in Seattle which is only a few hours from Portland. We had a few contacts in Portland to stay with so without further adoo, we took off.

All I have to say is that we absolutly should have just risked parking the van on the crime-ridden streets and stayed with Frank that night. I'll explain why in my next post.

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

Sacramento, CA- 01/26/08

Seriously, for as lame as Palmdale was, Sacramento was awesome. I was still feeling really sick but, believe it
or not, you can really get better quick when the girl who had been picking up your slack when YOU were really sick gets... really sick. So Lydia had a fever today and so I had to pick up the slack. About 10 Day-time cold pills, 4 cups of mint tea, 7 cold-eeze zinc cough drops and 2 boxes of tissues later, I was running merch and selling out the best night of the tour so far! The shows were awesome, I got some video work done, and I made a few, as Tyler Durdan would say in Fight Club, single serving friends. I actually had a great time and really loved the venue. Everything about the night ruled except for the fact that I was worried about Lydia. She has it bad now. Thank God I'm getting a little better and we can trade off so she can sleep.
Oi Oi Oi.

This is Chase chillin with me behind the merch after the show. I love this kid.

I'm totally excited about going to San Fransisco tomorrow! I don't think the venue is downtown-downtown BUT it's not in a suburb that's for sure. I'm excited and I hope I feel good. We stayed in Sacramento tonight with a band we are on tour with called Dance Gavin Dance. They are moderately nice people but the house they let us stay in is the pits. They don't pay for heat so it is freezing and there isn't any toilet paper. We bought some for them so the girls could use the facilities but you can kiss taking a shower goodbye. It's FREEZING and cold in there. No hot water or anything. Lydia and I slept in the car instead of on their cold floor. I hope Lydia feels better. She has a fever and is sleeping in the van (which isn't really that bad at all. It stays warm and stuff but I'm sure she'd feel much more comfortable in a nice warm bed with adequate bathrooms, etc.) Tomorrow should be better... At least we are in a nice neighborhood.

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

Palmdale, California- 01/25/2008

No offense to Palmdale but it was the worst experience ever. Not only was I sick and I slept in the car for the second half of the show, but, the show itself was lame. The kids were lame, the venue was cold and damp and lame, and we had to pay for food which was pizza which was lame. The only cool part of the show was the part where I sat behind the merch table and watched one of Jeff's (from Poison the Well) movies he let me borrow: Man Bights Dog. It was totally interesting and he rocks for letting me watch it.

Oh yeah...

We saw a rainbow on the way. Yay.

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

San Diego, CA- 01/24/08

San Diego, CA

I woke up yesterday morning at my girl Lauren's house in San Diego and man I felt horrible. Thanks Glass House for keeping the doors open throughout the show keeping the whole place freezing cold and damp. (the temp was low and it rained all night) There is a bug going around and every body's band has been effected. I guess it was my turn. I had a fever and couldn't get very far without feeling very week. I sucked it up anyway and went with Laurena and Lydia to take Lydia to the beach for the first time in her life. She had never seen the ocean!!! That was a fun experience... except afterwards I felt like crappp. We stopped to meet one of Lauren's friends on the way back to her pad but by the time we got back I thought I was going to die.


SO- when everybody else went to the show, I stayed at Lauren's house to sleep. Thank GOD we were staying there for two night in a row or else I wouldn't have been able to do that. After sleeping almost all day except for the few times I ate, and listened to The Rock pod cast, and talked to my wonderful boyfriend, I felt a lot better. I slept all night and now, the next morning, I at least have enough strength to chill with everyone and push forward to the next show. This was a day of much needed rest.


My best sick pic
We just ate like the best breckfast I've ever had (including the worlds most amazing bacon!) and I'm ready for the rest of the day. Don't get me wrong, though, I think we are all going to try to take it easy for a few days. xo

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

Pomona, CA- 01/23/2008

Pomona, CA
I was excited to go to the Glass House (the venue we were playing at) again. Tyler, Hawk, and I had all been there like 6 months ago for Facedown Fest and we had a great time. It was awesome going from a place where I have bad memories to a place where, not too long ago, I had experienced very good times. It was my last trip to Pomona with Tyler and Hawk that really made me aware of my feelings for Tyler. I had liked him for a while before we went but, for some reason, our road trip really drove it home for me. So, anyway, yea I love Pomona. Not to mention it's a way cute little city.

Too bad it rained and was freezing the whole time. The show was fun and I got some really pretty video footage of the boys but at the end of the night we were ALL getting sick. We decided to just drive to the place we are staying just north of San Diego so we could just sleep in and try not to get even more sick. Best part of this decision was because the girl we are staying with is one of my most trusted and beloved friends LAUREN WEEKS! YAYYYY it feels so good to be with her. I feel at home wherever she is and, I know she'd take care of us if we were sick (which we all pretty-much were after the damp cold venue and weather). So we drove to her place in Encenitas, CA and crashed... HARD.

Oh yeah, while at the Glass House, I got a chance to talk to a guy named Martin who was just plain awesome. It was awesome having his company for a good conversation! Thanks Martin! He is from a band that jumped on the tour for a few shows in California. Another member of his band named Matt has also been an awesome comrade for the last two days. I'm glad to have met the guys in that band.

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

Hollywood, CA-01/22/2008

Hollywood, CA

We rolled into CA today just in time to load into the venue. The guys were playing at the Trouboudour in Hollywood and, apparently, that's a big deal. Hahahahaha. Sometimes I love being
clueless about certain aspects of pop-culture because it makes some people so angry. The fact that I had never even heard of this venue made some of the people working there so annoyed but I got a kick out of it. Turns out it's just one of the more famous venus on the planet or something and every famous musician has played there. It was a fun show but I seriously don't know what all the hype was about. They wouldn't let me film and stuff but I got some fun pictures. I've been taking pictures with this little point-and-shoot camera and, to sound perfectly pretentious, I'm used to a Digital SLR so it's been slightly frustrating learning how to make these pictures look good. Anyway I was sure to get the sign for the venue in all of the photos.


...Except this one :)

We stayed that night with a girl we knew from living in Savannah named Amanda. Her house was soooo cute! She lived in North Hollywood in this normal little neighborhood. It was very very different from what I remember of Hollywood from the times I'd spent there amid the hustle bustle and difficult relationships. I have to admit, I'd rather not ever be in the LA or Hollywood area after my experiences there. It sucked driving in and seeing so many familiar places. All those places reminded me of sad times and well yea whatever. I'm glad that now I have another HAPPY memory to add to the plethora of LA and Hollywood crap welled up inside of me. haha. Thank God for second chances!

We could be closer than you know,
Chelsea

San Bernardino & San Diego, California

Guess where I went this past weekend (well not this PAST weekend but LAST weekend)?

That's right... CALIFORNIA (my favorite state... not).
This past weekend I decided to go to California and visit my most awesome friend Lauren Weeks! She's been in the process of moving from the mountains near San Bernardino to San Diego so I thought what the heck why not lend a helping hand and help her drive her stuff the two hours south. Lauren had been working at a Christian Camp for the last, well, over a year now, and now is feeling called toward other opportunities. I love the girl.

The drive there was something amazing. It took me just about 9 hours to make it to San Bernardino and then it took us another hour and a half to two hours to go from SB to San Diego. I drove it alone in my little Subaru (naturally) and, like any other kid who has never seen the desert or any rocky mountains other than those I have here in Utah I was freaking out at how strange the terrain was. I took a million pictures for those of you who have also never experienced the "wild west". Here you go: (scroll down if you want to just skip them and continue reading)

Utah on my way to California



















Arizona ( There was only about 20 minutes of Arizona to drive through but it was my fav part!







































Nevada
















































California

































When I finally got to Alpine, where I was meeting Lauren, I got a chance to hang out with my friend Chris. Lauren still had a bit of a drive ahead of her so I chilled with him and talked music for a bit. I really missed that kid. I met him last year or so when I went to Alpine and stayed for a few days during spring break. I got a chance to snowboard there and write a little
music all the while enjoying free food and houseing thanks to the awesome people who work there. They are truly followers of Christ. Chris and I became friends right away because, I think, not many others working at the camp appreciate the same kind of music that we like haha. ANyway it was killer to spend some time with him. He is one of the coolest guys I know and gives me hope and a little reminder that there are amazing good Christian men everywhere- you only have to find them:)




I got to spend a ton of time with Lauren. She is so amazing. I always learn so much when I hang out with her. Lauren is like the definition of "Roll with the Punches". That girl is on fire for the Lord and I can only hope that some day I can be as much as an example for the Lord as she is. I love her so much and I miss her even more. She was already living 9 hours away from me and there I was helping her move 2 hours further away. Oh well. She's AMAZING. That's all I can say- here, see for yourself!

Lauren introduced me to many cool people (as always). I'm so glad I got a chance to spend some time in California. Yes I know I know... I always talk about how much I HATE California. Technically I do dislike California but let me tell you, Lauren and her friends shed their light on everything they touch, see, smile upon. California isn't that bad knowing Lauren and her people are there.

She took me to a Church called Tiphany. It was amazing. She used to call it her "Hardcore Church"... only upon going to it with her did I understand why. All of a sudden I found myself surrounded by tons of rock and roll kids in a crawlspace that looked more like a venue than a church (i later found out it was used as both). I got a chance to listen to one of the most passionate ministers speak about the future plans for his family and his church. His name was Tommy and he started the church a few years back not even knowing he was starting a church. He began just by ministering to the lost and broken kids who felt uncomfortable at their parent's church. Next thing you know the kids are calling his weekly ministering their church and it all sprouted from there. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and the best part was he was a "hardcore kid" haha. No joke, the man started hardcore dancing during his lesson that night to explain something he had said. I was like YESS! haha.

As it turns out I ended up at Tiphomy at the strangest time. See, Lauren and I weren't even going to GO to that church until something happened with Lauren's ID and she couldn't go to work on Sunday. When we were discussing what to do with the new free time we were facing since she coudln't work she jokingly said "we could drive back to San Bernardino and go to my hardcore church." I just couldn't let it go. I was like yea dood what is 2 hours right? She had to go to the dmv up there on monday anyway and I would seriously rather leave from SB than from SD because it would shave 2 hours off of my trip home on monday. We figured we were crazy but we went anyway. What a good decision.

I guess Tommy and his wife Krissy were announcing to the church that night their plans for the next couple months. They have decided that they should move to Salt Lake City because Tommy has a daughter that was born many years ago that he wants to take responsibility for. They told the church this past Sunday about their plans and about what they will be doing the next few months before they leave (they are moving April 1st) to secure good leadership for the Church. We prayed over the new leadership team and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. It was strange.

OK, wait... SALT LAKE CITY?! These amazing Christ-loving people after my own heart are moving to SALT LAKE CITY!!??!??!?! Ok let me tell you, reader, real quick HOW GOD WORKS:

When Tommy's wife, Krissy was up talking infront of the church about the plans and how she is supportive it was aparant that she was a little nervous and scared. California has always been her home and she is moving to support her husband. She is in school and doing other things with the church and I could tell she was a little freaked out. I talked to them and some of the other leaders afterwards. I just wanted to pump everyone up about how cool SLC really is and how much I love it. I told Krissy that I would prepare a place for her and maybe even build her a bicycle. Everyone freaked out. They were like "huh? YOu are here? AND today? This is cool!" I had a few kids come up to me who were very close to Tommy and Krissy and tell me that they were praying about me in hope that someone could be their connection. I guess they don't know many people in SLC- especially people who want to get pumped up and involved. They all thought my being there was a sign that everything will be ok. How crazy. I love how God works things out!! THANK GOD Lauren went to that church! Now I have something exciting to look forward to in April. Tommy is also in a sweet band- check them out- they are called Sleeping Giant. Yea, Facedown Records, no joke.

Let me just add one more thing in there. I have been praying to get some answers for the music side of my company Veritaz Productions. Nothing seems to have been adding up latley. After I met Tommy I think more things will be adding up. We will probably be shooting a video for their first show in Utah in early April after they move. This will provide us with an example of our work for our music festival tour this summer. Until now I didn't have a plan or the right band for that. I didn't want to use an unsigned band but at the same time I didnt' want to use a band that had been signed for a long time. His band has JUST been signed to Facedown so it would be the perfect example. Now I just have to raise a little money to get the crew out here. I'm so excited. God does things so well... even IF it's all in HIS time. haha.






So ANYWAY.. That was my trip in a nutshell. The only other things that happened were I got to meet more of Lauren's friends... Davey and his boys ruled... that's him to the right huggging Lauren. One of his bandmates starts his "car" with a knife. haha...I saw a snail for the first time and dood those things are huggeeee and they have the coolest eyeballs of the animal kingdome (if you can even call those things eyeballs). I ate at this rad 50's diner on my way home and had a King Kong Club sandwich.. (one wonders why they don't continue with the K motif and spell club with a "K" until um.. you write it out... and um.. nevermind haha). I bought my house mate Jenee a bullett keychain and drove on a road called "Ghost Town Road"... enjoyed more of the desert and made it home in one piece. Werd up. Long enought post right? Ok I'm done:) Just scroll down and see the proof of my writings hahaha.