you're not alive until you've been to ALIVE!

it's that time again, folks... the grand summary of the Alive adventure! my ears are still ringing which is probably a very very bad thing! by the way, if you read this whole thing, I absolutely heart you.

TUESDAY: we left around 10:00. I met Leann (like really met and talked to her) who is basically my hero and then me and Kassie set up our tent when we got there about an hour later. then we walked over to the beach and rode the paddleboats and walked around singing Relient K and met the guy on the table and the family guy (FAMILY is an acronym for "Forget About Me I Love You... the answer to WWJD, cool yes?) and various mini-golfers and I don't remember who else. then we killed some time doing nothing back at the campground and went up to the stage around five for the Super Tuesday shows and I met some more people: Mike, Steve, Ben, Bridgett, and ran into Rachel from the OLV retreat a few weeks ago and woooo we had fun... general communist! so the first band was this crazy rap group called Divine Soldiers and this kid in front of us was really getting into it and it was incredibly funny. I took a picture of him. then Pocket Full of Rocks ended up being cool. Then came BRIAN of the Backstreet Boys, and yes I took pictures, and I really wish I didn't know all the words to all the old BSB songs. but I bet you do too so who cares. did you know: the Backstreet Boys are currently working on a new album? and then came Third Day who I knew would be kind of hard for me to get through without crying because I got saved during them last year even though I didn't know it at the time... anyway, in the middle of it the singer starts talking about how no one can really understand what Jesus did for us and who He really is and I just broke down... and then they sang Cry Out To Jesus which didn't help but it wasn't like I was sad... more like I was really happy... things have changed so much since last year. but then Steve gave me a hug and so did Leann and I don't remember who else and I was good.

WEDNSDAY: well, it rained. and I missed The Wedding and Seventh Day Slumber and let me tell you I didn't appreciate that :). but after a boring morning because of the darn rain we went up to the stage and strolled around the merchandise tent and I saw Pocket Full of Rocks again and basically figured out why I felt so much like I had to quit dance... that wasn't exactly cool but it did make me feel better. then Gritz sucked as usual but I MET THE WEDDING and wooooo it was cool! then Matt Redman was fun and Brittany got to sing Dancing Generation which basically made her life. then Rebecca St. James sounded incredibly eighties most of her show but SLOPPY JOE = HERO and hey it was fun. and that takes us into Kutless... let me tell you something about Kutless. they're amazing enough that people mosh, and if you're ever at a show, make a plan with your two crazy friends for sudden evacuation just in case :). but then we went to get their autographs and met Tara and Courtney (is he with the band? no, he's with the porter-potties!) and they screamed at us and that was indescribable so I'm not going to try... wow it was awesome. Then was Mercyme and the three of us (me, Brittany and Leann) decided to go down and show the old people how to dance... basically a bad idea but we had fun. then it stormed like heck all night so everything got soaked... but that's ok... me and Kassie had some fun conversation in our tent.. "with a lip ring!"

THURSDAY: it rained. hard. so hard that we had to come home. but I was reminded of why I love Sanctus Real as much as I do. and we saw a Paul Baloche seminar so my life was pretty much complete. AND I got a copy of Relient K's "mmhmm" in VYNIL RECORD form, I kid you not... darn orange shirts :).

FRIDAY: I wrote a song and played my guitar for the first time in ever and then we left home around 2:00 for what turned out to be an amazing day. First, Steve (the river, don't ask) didn't wash our tents away and somehow almost everything was dry. then we heard this guy speak and his name was Justin Lookadoo (is he Jewish?) and he was basically the funniest person I've ever seen as well as being incredible... "that's step six!"then the shows. missed Copeland and that made me kind of sad but oh well. Anberlin turned out not being very good live. no one cares about Desparation Band. Justin Lookadoo = hero. DID YOU KNOW!: The Afters met each other because they all worked at the same Starbucks? have you EVER seen more than three workers at a Starbucks? there's six people in this band. and they wrote a song about a friend who worked there. SEVEN PEOPLE at one Starbucks? anyway they were amazing and I really want to hear more of them. then came Chris Tomlin who never lets me down and we had to ductape Leann's wristband. and then was woooooooo Relient K and there's a good reason I was looking forward to them for quite a while. because right before they came on stage these people had been talking about the food vendors and then they came out and one of the guys goes "yeah, I had NUGGETS for dinner" I laughed. and let me just say that it's my new goal in life to watch an original VHS copy of Top Gun.

SATURDAY: they really do save the best for last. we left around noon, just me and Brittany like last year, because Kassie was feeling sick and Leann was coming with her parents later. we wandered around for a while and ran crazy-fast for the front row as soon as they would let us and YES WE GOT FRONT ROW and wow I was psyched... who cares that you have to stand up for eight hours straight before your band comes on? but the first band was Falling Up and they were GOOOD, better than I expected at least. then was Hawk Nelson and it was just FUN, no intense message or anything but oh well. and they busted out a kazoo in the middle of their show and it made me smile. David Nasser, the speaker for the night, didn't let me down as I knew he wouldn't. he said that maybe Christianity shouldn't be so much about changing your actions in order to change your heart, but literally (ok, not literally, but you know what I mean) EXCHANGING your heart for the one God has made for you and changing your actions because of that... and that made so much sense to me. then was Thousand Foot Krutch who once again didn't let me down, maybe you haven't heard of them but if you're looking for some good Christian hard rock PICK THEM.

then came what we'd all been waiting for (really), Audio Adrenaline's last Alive performance. for basically the whole first half I was jumping and singing, then as it got later the songs started slowing down and I realized, hey, I may never see this band again... I've seen three shows and been in the front row twice and that's more than any other band... Ocean Floor gets me every time and we're not even going to talk about King because I basically broke down. and not even mostly because of them... it was because of everything... how terrible and how amazing Alive had been at the same time and how it was over... for what God was doing in me... for what I finally know He's going to do with me... for the realization that I'm not in control of anything really but I have the God who actually is in control on my side... and He loves me and no matter what is doing what's best for me... be it something as big as CBT or as small as missing the House of Heroes show... that I am dead because He died and now I can really live because He lives... and that I am free... and no one can take that away from me... because God is God and we are not... and AA taught me so much of this... and you can't blame me for crying, okay? and the guy who took a picture of us during all this, well, he was cool. just kidding.

and that was Alive oh six... long I know... but it couldn't have ended on a better note than it did and I'm glad it happened like it did. rain taught me a lot. and mud is the new black.

<3333333 Rosie