25 Years Later

 True to my luck since the reunion, this wasn't the year for them to tour and me be able to go. We just relocated cross country to Tennessee and Marty isn't working. There was no way that I could try to go to a show. I was sad more about missing out on going to shows with my best friend and fan friends than anything.

 For me, being a New Kids fan has always been about loving them with friends. From my oldest friend Christena, my cousin Rissa, my friend Tanya to my best friend Andrea, I've always have loved seeing them with friends.

A little over a month ago, I got a message from a fan friend that I made on Twitter via AB and A2. She asked me what I was doing on June 20th? I said, '' I don't know? What is June 20th?" She told me, '' You're going to see NKOTB in Atlanta!'' que the screeching record................

She had an extra ticket and wanted me to have it as a gift. I was floored, humbled, honored and blessed by the gesture. I couldn't believe that I was going to see a show this year. After all that last year held, I had been fine missing out this year. Like I said, I was sadder to be missing out on the friend aspect of things.

Yesterday, I drove to Atlanta giddy and excited. I was going to see New Kids once again. I was going by myself which worried Marty. I explained to him that there is a sisterhood in NKOTB world, I wouldn't be alone and had several people going that I knew.

My seat was amazing!!! On the floor, eight rows back on the aisle. That was the closest seat I've ever had for a New Kids show ( I've only been to two in 90'&91) with seating. So I was thrilled, my benefactress asked if my seat was good? ''AMAZING'' I told her as I hugged her before the show.

Me and Flat Andrea!

Happy Jules wearing a necklace given to me by my friend Lindsey aka LL Fancy

I sat down next to a pretty blonde girl named Christina, who explained to me that she was alone as well. Her friend was unable to come with her. We chit chatted a bit before the show started the usual ''Who is your favorite?" "How many shows have you been to?" fan pleasantries. Funny how God works those things out isn't it? Suddenly I didn't feel alone at all!

It was during this time, I also saw my local Blockhead friends Melanie and Sheree. They came to check on me and make sure they kept me company. They are so sweet, we've only met in person for lunch once but I already feel like they are dear friends.

In the 90's after NK's split, I was a punk rock grunge girl. So I never was a Boyz II Men fan, going to high school in the 90's meant I knew their songs regardless. What an amazing show they put on truly should have been longer than it was.

98* played. They aren't favorites of mine, I actually laughed hysterically causing my seatmate to ask me what was so funny. There is a long inside joke story with that, sufficient to say it has caused me to laugh everytime I see Drew and Nick Lachey.

Hey lookie, I got my picture with Drew and Nick too!

After their show, I was able to run upstairs and see the famous Mandy Young. She's a wonderful girl that Andrea introduced me to. We are friends connected by a common friend of many friends. She is amazing, I could see her from my seat on the floor and loved watching her joie d'vivre from afar.

On my way back to my seat, I ran into a tweep of mine Sarah ( @auntsay), to say I was happy to see her is an understatement. I nearly started bawling!

Finally it was time for New Kids. There are some former teen bands that play and just look paunchy and embarrassing.

 NKOTB, they are only getting better with age. It is like they've got their own fountain of youth on their bus!

I loved the opening to the show. They have a pledge that flashed across the screen, really some amazing words encouraging you to have fun for the next two hours.

In a truly wonderful piece of fate, I happened to be sitting on the side that Joe performed on for most of the night. As a ''Joe Girl'', I was in heaven watching him be the showman that he is.

 During ''Please Don't Go Girl" I started sobbing. I missed my friends and suddenly felt very alone in a room of thousands.

As an adult, this song always makes me cry. It was the song that made me love New Kids

Then one of my favorite moments of the show happened, Joe sang ''I'll Be There'' a song that I first heard him sing at my very first NKOTB show in 1990. It was then my moment of self awareness happened, the first time I ever saw Joe was on MTV by myself at home.

 I was a New Kids fan before I had friends that were fans as well. This night was for me to celebrate being a fan for twenty five years, getting to watch them live again something I didn't think was possible this year.

The New Kids and their fans have a special relationship that has been described as ''not normal''. They love their fans as much as we love them. Over and over Donnie kept repeating '' This night is about celebrating 25 years.''

 The rest of the show, I celebrated right along with the crowd.  It truly was a night of celebrating the new album, old songs, and even them covering some popular 90's songs. Joe singing ''Faith'' by George Michael was amazing as was Jordan singing ''Kiss'' by Prince.

It was like it was ''my'' own personal time with the band. Just me and them in a room of thousands, it was my memories flooding through my head to the songs and remembering all the band has brought into my life.

In the last year, I've become a Danny girl too!

The whole show was amazing, the singing, the lighting, the songs and the showmanship!

I love watching Jordan, he reminds me of my friend A2

Christina and I chit chatted, jumped up and down, sang, screamed along with the crowd. At the very end of the show, when the band was saying their goodbyes to the crowd, they were walking around the stage waving, shaking hands with the crowd before exiting the stage. Joe walked over to our side, as he walked over I waved to him.

It just so happened to catch his eye, he looked right at me and blew me a kiss! If I could have fallen over, I probably would've. I blew him a kiss back and the moment ended. I wondered instantly, ''Did that just really happen?'' only to be grabbed by my seat mate, ''That was amazing, it was like the seas parted and you were the only two in the room!!! I am so happy for you!! I hope someone got that on video!!!'' while grabbing me in a giant hug.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful night! I am a lucky girl, so many of my friends haven't seen them, so many they haven't seen them since the reunion. I not only have seen them but had mountain top experiences to boot. It was also a huge learning experience for me personally, I can go alone and have fun. This move is about making new friends while learning to live apart from old friends. In the end, it was about a girl who loved a band since she was twelve and loves them even more at 36.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N

Thank you to my ticket giver, you're a wonderful women with a kind heart. I will never be able to express my gratitude. My only sadness from last night is we didn't get a picture together!

Christina, I truly believe you were a blessing! I loved watching the show with you and chatting throughout. What a wonderful memory!

Sheree and Melanie, How lucky was I to move and become your ''neighbor''. You two are the best, I absolutely adore you. Thank you for coming to check on me throughout the night and making sure that I had a good time. I cannot say enough about you.

Sarah, I am so thankful for you and your smiling face. Thanks for checking on me too!

AB, Thank you for everything this week. Thanks for riding home with me and listening to my after show incoherent babble!

LL, Thank you as well. Thanks for listening to me and always giving a kind word when needed.

Time for a Tennessee Update

 It's been far too long, we've settled in, working, meeting new people and making new friends. I forget that not everyone knows what is going on since we moved and that I need to share more details. Life has gotten busy again and I've had little time to sit down to write.

Where to begin? The kids have started making friends. Conner being the happy--go-lucky guy has a whole group of friends already. He is running sound on Wednesday nights in his new youth group. He also likes to talk to everyone on the phone. We laugh that he talks on the phone more than I do anymore!

  Elizabeth has been really homesick. She misses her friends in Visalia badly and hasn't made good friends yet. We are looking for new fall activities, groups for her to join and ways for her to make new friends. She has made some friends in her small group on Sunday nights.

  Both kids went to "Beach Camp'' in Myrtle Beach,SC for a week. They stayed in a resort by the ocean, swam in the Atlantic for the first time and had a grand time.  Now the planning for that is over and E is already looking for new plans!

  Marty interviewed for a job last week with Knox County schools as a school police officer. We should know within the next few weeks if they will hire him. We are really hoping he gets this job!

  I've been working full-time, trying to keep up with home, my own business and blogging! It's a full schedule. Being back in the pool has really helped, loving swimming again. Now to get back on a good riding schedule with the family.

  We are all excited about our new church, a little church in the WWII city of Oakridge,TN. It is a very small congregation with a lot of love. We already feel like they are family and it is our home. It the same denomination our church was in California. That is comforting since we hear about many of the same things we did in California. We've been to several functions, dinner with the pastor and he even took the kids out after camp to hear about their time in Myrtle Beach. We are excited to see how we can serve with this church in the future.

Meeting new people, enjoying new beautiful places, making new friends. We are so thankful that we moved here and are settling in to our new life. We still have to a few things to settle but for the most part, we are loving life in the south.

Better Together

 The sky is blue, the grass is green, the air is steamy which means summer has arrived in the south.  Suddenly life is a fury of activity. Last weekend we traveled to Chattanooga to watch cycling and camp.


  Sunday we dropped our kids off for beach camp. I love the activities of summer while they are happening, so much fun to enjoy the warm weather and exciting trips.

Of course, you come home from the activities and the chore that is never finished awaits.....the dreaded laundry

Of course, after camping clothes smell like campfire and are stained with dirt and grime. The kids clothes were full of sand and sunscreen. Plus, they are stinky teenagers now!

 Good thing this week, I had help from P&G doing my laundry. There is something about Tide,Downy and Bounce together that make the smells of summer so much better!

A few weeks ago, one of my blog readers and Twitter friend Auntie Em asked me "What is your favorite color and why?"

During the summer, my favorite color to wear is navy blue. For some reason, navy blue screams classic, summer and put together to me. Maybe because I am an old soul, I love a traditional color? I am not sure why I love navy and white so much?

I own so many navy blue and white shirts that it really is intervention worthy. When I'm shopping my eye always wanders to the navy blue shorts and flowing white tops. Being a native Californian, I live in flip flops all summer long until the cold sets in. This summer I have a new favorite pair of white leather sandals that I am pairing with everything.

My Favorite Navy Blue and White top with dark denim capris 

Simple denim dress with flip flops for errands or summer lunch meetings

This summer, I am trying to break free from my go to navy blue and bring in some color. I will never get away from white flowy tops but I can bring in a different color short. My first foray away from navy, denim or khaki

A bright turquoise pair of shorts with a flowing white top

Some things like Tide,Bounce and Downy go better together. They are classic like my standard navy blue and never fail to make my clothes look even nicer. Plus, they smell great and bring back memories of summers gone by. Just like those go great together, I know that navy blue and white work for me, why try something new when the classics work so well?

This post is part of the Daily Buzz Mom's Tastemaker program brought you to by 

 This post is sponsored by P&G. With Tide®, Downy® and Bounce®, you can keep your summer fashions looking new up to 50% longer.* Text CLEAN to TARGET (827438) for mobile coupons. *vs. leading value detergent alone

Finding Purpose in the Pain: Be Content

Here is my monthly contribution to Finding Purpose in the Pain: Be Content:  Be Content by Julie Timms   But godliness with contentment   is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6 I’ve been thinking about thi... read more over at Finding Purpose in the Pain.

Jules Loves Cycling: US Pro's Chattanooga

How can I even begin to describe this weekend? Let's start with the fact that this month has been a tough one since our move. Some of my girlfriends went on the NKOTB cruise, I couldn't go and felt like I was missing out. Then the Amgen Tour of California started, the first year in over five years that Conner and I missed going. I was pretty sad but looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing cycling in Chattanooga for the US Pro Road Race. Little did I know that the weekend would be so amazing.

Return to Camping:

 Our family has awaited this day since 2006. We camped with our friend Jen who stayed with us last year for the ATOC. We planned this trip as soon as we knew that TN was our planned destination. We loved camping again and enjoyed our new camping equipment. We got some great new equipment from Costco that really is outstanding. I thought of our donor Jerry the whole weekend, we talked with Jen about him on Saturday night after a steak and potato dinner.

The Race location and setup:

How exciting to have a race in my new home state!! All I can say is, it truly was the best experience I've ever had at a race. It even tops the famous ATOC when we met every rider. The city of Chattanooga did a wonderful job with setup,access and were wonderful hosts. The city made the parking garage free when they could have made money on parking. Volkswagen USA was AMAZING, their facility is gorgeous, they gave us free waffles and drinks plus let us drive their cars! I will seriously buy a Volkswagen just for the amazing weekend they gave us. It was that good!

The Divas Tour De France:

When I first started my cycling twitter, I met a lady Anita who introduced me to everyone I know on Twitter by introducing me to her friends. They are a group of amazing women, who love cycling and travel to support it. They are famous for their diva tents at races and really know how to do things right.

We had the best view, shade, any supply you could imagine all thanks to Anita and her amazing family. Not only did this family provide us fans with a wonderful spot but they have been so welcoming to my family. 

They live in my new hometown and have helped us out so much since we have moved. I had built in girlfriends in Jane and Anita, a wonderful friend in Jeff ( Anita's dad) who has helped out so much as well. This weekend the F5 and B1 gave us a wonderful gift by showing us how to watch a race! Thank you Anita, Jeff, Vic, Mark and Jane for everything.

It was so nice to meet the other divas in person for the first time:

  D'Andrea has a warm smile and gives great hugs, I felt like I knew her a lifetime the moment I met her. I almost cried hugging her goodbye, I loved being around her and watching cycling with her. I also loved watching her be a great momma to her daughter as well.

I also met another Diva Barbara, who was kind and friendly. It was great to meet her in person after hearing so much about her.

Jane is wonderful, she is already becoming a southern momma to me. I am so lucky to have met her and know her, she is that amazing.

Anita, I always say my friends are all thanks to you. You can out mom me anyday, it was nice to have someone to take care of me. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I am lucky to call you friend and look forward to more fun times

Jeff, DadBurnett! I love knowing you and so does my family. We talk about you all the time and just love calling you friend.

My favorite part is they are a family like my own family. They include everyone,feed them, make them feel like family and do everything together. There aren't many families like this in the world and I am so thankful that I found one like my own.  So nice to be surrounded by people who love being a family!

I love this man.

Lovely ladies

I saw Jane wearing this hat and copied it. I had sunscreen in my eyes all day and after I put it on my eye stopped watering!

Tweetups

I was most looking forward to meeting my tweeps this weekend. I could care less about meeting riders since I had met most all of them and didn't even plan on meeting any. I was most looking forward to meeting people that I talk to on Twitter everyday. I've got to know some of these people very well and yet have never met them.

Anna, I had no clue she would be there until she said she wanted to meet me! I was so excited to meet her since she was one of my first follows on my cycling twitter. She is an amazing young woman with a fabulous personality. Little did I know, we are a lot alike and actually share a lot of the same opinions. I was even more glad to spend time with her and talk about a lot of different things. She made me realize, I really am the cycling Twitter mom after so many call me that already. It was so fun to hang out and spend time together.Saddest part of the weekend was not getting to say goodbye. Follow her @pelotonitis for great race updates

Valerie, We've talked so many times on Twitter and on the phone. It was so nice to finally meet up and spend time together. She has heard about my family and it was nice she could finally meet them. I had fun wandering around chatting with you yesterday. I loved our test drive together, it was so funny!

MJ, Thank you for all the hugs and smiles this weekend. We are definitely kindred spirits, sometimes people  just meet, it doesn't matter who or how, we are supposed to know one another! It was so fun meeting up and chatting with you this weekend! I will come visit you in Asheville soon. If you don't follow him, your missing out @dudeinavl

Rox, Thanks for the ride up the mountain and my picture with Ted!! I loved being able to talk to you in person and finally get to know you better. I just loved spending time with you and Anna together, I love that you're such great friends and so welcoming. You helped make my weekend great! Follow her for great pictures @cyclingrox

Steph, It was so nice to get to know you this weekend and meet up. I loved watching you watch cycling and wandering around with you. It was fun to spend your birthday weekend with you. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Dan, it was so nice to finally meet you and watch you in action. Conner and I have always been thankful to know you and learn from you. I loved seeing your beautiful family and enjoyed talking with your wife. I was so glad we finally got to chat a bit yesterday. We are blessed to know you. He is a funny tweeter who writes for VeloNews @Dwuori

I also got to meet the hilarious and sweet Emily aka SpazMcSpazzy, she is hysterical and definitely worth the follow @spazmcspazzy 

Also was introduced to Jebbie, a wonderful mom of a well known cycling tweep. She is adorable and came all the way from Virginia for the race. I look forward to knowing you better.

The Riders

For me, this weekend was about falling in love with women's cycling. These women are underpaid, under appreciated and virtually unwatched. It was the highlight of my weekend watching these inspiring women race with little or no support. Even Conner walked away saying, ''Mom, we need to support the women more, everyone loves the men but hardly pays attention to the women.'' and he wasn't talking about the way they look. My kid isn't that kid, he was talking about the honest truth of women's cycling.

We planned on just watching, not trying to meet riders or get autographs like in the past. We've been there done that and really are over it. I did have one rider I have been wanting to meet, it just happened that he was in the same area and I was able to meet him. Then I got to meet a couple others at the end of the race since they were close to the area of the tent. I loved watching my friend Jen meet Tyler Farrar.

Personally, I wanted to meet Heather Nielson @ridempowered. I met her on Twitter when I first started tweeting and learned her story. This girl has sacrificed to follow her dream, she has scraped by and fought tooth and nail to overcome. I don't admire many people in the way I admire her, I rarely look up to someone but I look up to her. She has guts, determination and a feisty spirit. She's always been wonderful to me on Twitter and we are both California girls. I looked forward to finally meeting her this weekend and watching her race.

How amazing to see someone you know start a race and be able to scream loudly for them. There really are no words for how this felt and how much it made me adore her more. She thought she wouldn't have any fans, so I fangirled it up for her ( we all know I am a pro fangirl). I even timed a bathroom break to make sure I didn't miss her passing by. So imagine my sadness to see her rolling up the sidewalk when I came back, she had been pulled from the race earlier than expected. I was so bummed for her, the best part was I could give her a hug, listen to her frustrations and be able to be a support for her. What an amazing unexpected blessing.  I will be a diehard fan as long as you race, I only hope that I can come support you at more races.

I love my Colgate Smile picture with Tyler. What a kind and gracious man, I will now cheer him on even more

Lucas Euser was so friendly and kind

Poor Ted King, he thinks I am crazy. The only reason I ever wanted to meet him was because of two followers Em and Jennifer. I made him take this picture for them. Someone tell him I am a nice mom.

Jen, Thanks for the wonderful weekend of camping,riding and racing fun. You are one of the family now and we love spending time with you. I love being able to mom you and take care of you while we are together. Thanks for printing out all the race info and keeping me straight all weekend. We are so much alike and you're definitely a sister of the heart.

Marty, I am so lucky to have a husband like you. You put up with all of my hair brained schemes and antics. Thank you for going and watching racing with me. For driving all the way home to take the kids to camp and back.  Thanks for understanding my love of cycling and my love of tweeps, I am so glad you could meet them this weekend.

Conner, gosh, who would have thought that you watching the Tour De France in 2005 would lead to this. I love that we have a hobby together. It's so fun hearing you talk about cycling, your thoughts on riders and the peloton. I can't wait to become bigger women's cycling fans together.

Lizzie, I know you hate it! So I am glad you go and tag along. Hey, at least you get fun free stuff. Wait until you see the light up necklace I got you.

Long story short, I am one happy, heart full of joy, short peppy redhead. Life is good and this weekend reminded me of that. I was sad to let it go and leave it behind, truly made memories of a lifetime.

A/N

My antics became famous. A newspaper reporter wrote about our chalking party on Lookout Mountain. You can read about it here: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/27/ready-for-race/

Some pics Marty and I took this weekend.

Women's TT podium

Men's TT podium

Chris Butler's dad chalking his son's name. Loved this moment

Me watching the peloton

The winners

Camping

The smell of ocean air, sand, smoke from a campfire, eggs being cooked on an open flame. I love the feeling of camping and have my whole life. Ever since I was a little girl, my family camped all over the state of California. When my kids were little, our family started the tradition for them as well and then life took a sharp turn and our camping days were over.

One of our many camping trips

Growing up, my family had a tent trailer. We often went to San Onofre and camped along the train tracks, over the shoreline of the Pacific. Our mom gave us baths in the same tub she washed dishes in ( clean water of course) we ate chorizo and eggs for breakfast and played at the beach all day long. What fond memories of Carpenteria, Doheny, San Simeon and the Sequoia National Park.



After Marty and I moved the central valley, we joined a group of friends that went camping. I experienced tent camping for the first time in my life and new campgrounds never before camped at. I remember spending E's second birthday camping at Morro Bay State Park. My dear friends and I went camping the weekend after 9/11 at San Simeon State Park.

With my good friend Stacy camping in Morro Bay

For my 30th birthday, Marty and my mom planned a camping trip to San Simeon, my favorite place on earth. We went to the beach, visited Hearst Castle and then Marty took me to stay at the famous Madonna Inn for a few days by ourselves. Little did we know, that would be our last camping trip for the next seven years.

When Marty was diagnosed with renal failure our life came to a stop. We longed to go camping but because of his dialysis shunt and infection, we couldn't go camping. Then we started planning our move to the south and just haven't had the chance.

Next weekend we are remedying this and going camping! One of my cycling friends Jen, asked us if we wanted to go camping next weekend in Chattanooga for the US Pro Championship race. We jumped at the idea of going camping and watching cycling.

We are so excited to be going camping again and getting back in the habit. As we drove through the state on our move, we noticed all the campgrounds. We are so looking forward to exploring the state and camping on the east coast.

Look for updates after our trip!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Finally my Mom has internet access and can read a Mother's day blog that is long overdue!

I have the world's most fun mom, how many people can say they have a fairy Godmother for a mom! When we were little,she taught preschool and we always did the most fun crafts. We sang fun songs, she made our dresses and taught us about many different cultures.

As we got older, she took us to do fun things. She has worked for Disney most of my life, so on days off of school she would let us stay in Disneyland while she worked. Then on nights she didn't feel like cooking,she would take us there to eat dinner. She drove me on many crazy adventures, let me stay in a school far from our house and drove me there daily.

She instilled a love of all things Disney in me. Not many girls had to call their mom the day Annette died knowing that she would be crying! She taught me to watch Haley Mills movies, the Mickey Mouse Club and Alice in Wonderland.

She let me throw silly little parties like Pauly Shore wedding parties ( don't ask, it was a phase okay?) and Halloween parties. She took us camping, it wasn't her fault I drank the bacon grease that one time thinking it was hot chocolate!

We had a lot of  fun together. We haven't lived together since I was 18 years old, I remember the days of living in our apartment in Orange together fondly. We had some fun times in that apartment planning my wedding, going to the mall and other fun things.

Mom has always been a good friend to me. The kids love her and called her ''Best friend Grandma'' when they were little. She and Conner are particularly close, I often will find him talking to her on the phone during his school lunch breaks. They've loved their Disney grandma, she always takes them on fun adventures, buys them fun treats and helps them out on special trips. How many kids get to go to Disneyland as much as they want? My kids have been more than some kids have been in their entire life.

She helped Marty plan a 30th birthday camping trip for me, she helped us with our move across country and many other things. Last year, she even helped me get cookies to my favorite cyclist! Now she is hooked on watching cycling since she watched it live!

Mom, you taught me to be kind, loving, patient, a good mom to my kids, a hard worker, a Pollyanna, someone who loves to do crazy things,and you taught me to bake great Christmas cookies too! I am so thankful for all you do for me and my family, we all love you so much. Happy Mother's day!