I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams...

This year marks the 2nd year I haven't been home with my family for Christmas. It sucks being so far away but I am happy we got to go home for Thanksgiving and see them. I don't know what I would do without technology like we have today. I talked on Google Plus with my family at least 3 times this week via webchat. I got to see my family open gifts we exchanged with each other. I even got to see my two new baby cousins! They probably had no clue what was going on but was happy to see their faces and hear their voices. If we didn't have such technology I would probably have to talk to everyone on the phone or even worse, have to communicate in snail mail. Dave and I probably won't go home for the holidays next year but who knows what will happen between now and then. We didn't exchange gifts with each other yet and I don't think Dave and I are doing gifts this year. We are going to Orlando the 3rd week of January and going to Disney World. Holy crap am I excited! I can't wait to see Cinderella's castle and see Mickey and Minnie. I am 25 going on 7 everyone....haha! So that is kind of our Christmas presents to each other I suppose. We are going to see Dave's niece play in the band at the parade at Disney. His whole family will be there and it will be a great opportunity for me to get to know them a little bit more. Spending more time with them will be great too. A week after that I go back to school so it will be nice to have some fun before being pounded by school. Dave says this first semester back will be rough and I believe it. I'm taking 13 credits and am looking for a part time job for a little extra money. If I don't get a job right away we will be fine and its hard to find a place that will take college students with their forever changing schedules. I had a job interview for a place called Al's beef that is opening up after the new year. It's a place based out of Chicago and saw them on Man vs Food. The interview seemed to go well, the manager really liked how I got all the questions right on the test for the application that dealt with food safety. He was concerned about my trip to Orlando though but we will have to see because he said he might see me after my trip! *fingers crossed*

Just Hold Me Tight and Cross Your Heart to Stay

It took me a while to realize it but I needed to move on from my dream of becoming a famous singer/songwriter. This past couple of years has taught me that I need to adapt to my surroundings and make myself happy with whatever I choose to do. It makes me happy to sing and play my guitar but I can't seem to write new songs that support that happiness. The happiness I feel now compared to how I felt 5 years ago reflects in my songwriting. I can't sing the same songs that I wrote back then and feel happy about them. Looking through my binder of songs makes me depressed seeing how I used to feel. How lonely I was. Now that I have found the man that I want to be with the rest of my life(hopefully), those songs don't apply to me anymore. I used to be a person that I don't even want to recognize anymore. On the outside I looked different and felt different, same thing is happening now. I just want to be content with who I am on the outside and the inside. I am about 40lbs heavier than I was when I met Dave. That's why I want to go down a different road now. I want to hopefully better myself and help other people with doing the same. I am going back to school in January to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition specializing in Dietetics. I have been toying with this idea since the beginning of last year when I was really trying to lose weight and having no luck. I could learn a lot more on how our bodies work and hopefully come up with a fitness plan and sticking to it. Ever since I started working at Nestle a few years back I was putting on the pounds. Not sure if it was mostly muscle but I was eating a lot and was so tired from work that I wouldn't exercise. This past year I lost almost 12 lbs of it and gained it all back when I quit my job at Walgreens to pursue songwriting. I've really lost my motivation to stick to a plan, whether it be fitness or diet. Dave says I should be eating less than I do and he is right but it is hard. I need to eat less and exercise more. I would ride my bike or do something outside right now but it's been really rainy here lately. I want to get a treadmill or something.....maybe Jillian DVD's can help or maybe Zumba. I just really need to start doing something because I don't want to get out of school and look like a hippocrit.

Breaking Ground

I started off this journey with my head held high and firm belief that I could be a great songwriter. It's this kind of confidence that makes me worry. I still feel like it's too soon to feel like this when I haven't had any major success with my songs. I have gotten some positive feedback but I still don't feel like I have any connections into the business. I did some research and was told to join either ASCAP or BMI for my songs. I did find some open mic nights in the area. Now only if I had the guts to go out there and play my songs in front of the "real world". It seems so much easier to do things online but that doesn't really show people who I am and what I am capable of. I need to grow a following, a local following and perhaps get in somewhere in San Francisco or LA. I will probably travel to Nashville too and see what I can do there. Hopefully I can find a way soon but it takes time. I'd like to thank everyone who has believed in me so far. You are amazing and I am grateful for your support. I can do this. We can do this. Lets show em!


                                       Peace Ya'll!
                                                  *Kristin*

Back on the saddle again.....

So it's almost been a year since I've written in here and a ton of stuff has happened! Can't believe also that it's almost been one year since we've moved to Cali! So far it hasn't been too bad, can't complain about all the sunshine! I got a job at Walgreens back in March and recently left that position to pursue my dream in being a Singer/Songwriter. I know it will be a little hard trying to make it while not living in Nashville but have found that I can use other mediums to help me get my music out there, mostly the internet. I just have to at least try to get my songs out there if anything. My sweet boyfriend and family support me all the way and I couldn't be more grateful. I basically have 6 months to try at this, see if I get anywhere. If not, I will have to go back to school for something. So hoping this works out, just gotta keep writing, singing, and dreaming!

                                                                                 Peace Ya'll!
                                                                             
                                                                                           Kristin

Dream of Californiacation.......

So I know it's been a while since the last update....Dave and I decided to move to California after that last post! So far it's been great, beautiful weather and plenty of sunshine! We are now living with our previous room mates we had back in IL and it's good to be back with them. Dave got a job working with one of our room mates last week so he's pretty happy! At least one of us has a job. I've had a couple interviews out here. One with Kohl's and one with a company called Zazzle which I have yet to hear back from. I got a call today from US Bank and have an interview with them on Thursday! So hopefully I will get one of those jobs and everything will be ok! Our plan right now is to just get settled here, get jobs etc....Next year we are looking into getting a bigger place than this apartment, probably rent another townhouse or a house. The boys really want a garage so they can work on their cars. Dave is trying to get his car legal so we can get Cali plates on it....then we can get our Cali drivers licenses! My BFF Tracy came to visit this last weekend for my birthday and we had fun. Went to the beach and saw the golden gate bridge! We went and saw Keith Urban and Jake Owen last weekend too! Wish we wouldn't have missed our m&g with Jake Owen but it will be ok.....had a miscommunication with the time and showed up late and missed it :( Hopefully he comes back around here soon! As far as my music goes.....I know it was a big thing for me to move to Nashville but now I realize that I still wasn't ready to make that step. I need to work on some things with my guitar playing and confidence and maybe we can try again in a couple years. After Dave gets enough experience out here we might move back and try again. In the meantime I'm going to go back to school for music and see what I can do with my talents....figure myself out a little bit more.....and just enjoy life out here in Cali while it lasts. It's a beautiful place but can't wait to see the hills of Tennessee again someday :)

"Keep on dreamin' even if it breaks your heart"

It's been kind of a rough week and I feel like I kinda need to vent about it. Good news is that Dave finally got a job but not the job he really wants. It only pays $15/hr and he starts Monday. He's still hoping to find a programming job in the area. But if he wants a good computer programming job in this area he needs at least 3 years experience which no one will give him here in Nashville. So here comes the tough part that makes this week feel so rough. We are really starting to consider moving to California with our room mates from Dekalb, IL. He would be getting the experience he needs out there and theres tons of jobs out there for him. After he gets this experience we can hopefully move back to Nashville to stay. It's just a really hard time to find jobs anywhere and if this is the best option we have to do it right? I'm just not sure about moving so far away from family. Nashville is still far but close enough that we can visit more often than California. Mom and Dad if you are reading this, I am so very sorry if we have to move out there. I will let you all know when we come to our final decision but as for now we are still living in Nashville. It's just we would be so much happier if we had jobs we liked. And I'm not to crazy still about working at Cracker Barrel. Seemed like a good idea because we needed money but it's almost worse than working at Mcdonalds. I just hope things get better and if they don't we will still have the fallback plan we have now.....which is....California....If that does happen I will still pursue my dream. Maybe even go back to school for it. I really want to learn how to play guitar better and voice lessons would be great. I should've just enrolled in the community college down here because I was looking yesterday and they have a great music program! We were so excited to move down here to Nashville for that reason. I haven't been with the music though for a couple weeks after I started my new job. I feel emotionally drained and effortless. Like I said I hope it gets better soon......

"I can take you on a trip to heaven and have you back by 9"

So I've got good news!! Got a job as a server at Cracker Barrel last week! I've been training for about a week already and it's an alright job....just not sure if I'm ready to be on my own yet. Serving that is.....I've never worked for tips before so it's a whole new concept for me! We'll see how it goes! Dave still hasn't gotten a job yet but he's gotten an offer for a help desk/phone position for Dell at $13. He's holding out to hear from one of the other jobs he's had interviews for until he goes ahead and takes that one. I don't blame him, that job is on the other side of town too which is like 45 min to an hour drive each way! I haven't been doing much practicing lately because of the new job and such but it should settle down here soon enough I hope. Seriously though, one of the main reasons I had to blog today was because of what happened yesterday! It had to have been one of the best days ever!! Jake Owen tweeted earlier on twitter that he was thinking about taking his boat out in Nashville and thinking about inviting people. So when he finally tweeted the address of the place he was putting his boat in the water....I started freaking out. Dave finally convinced me to give it a shot and drive down there to see if he was for real. Which I knew he wasn't kidding because I know Jake has invited people out on his boat before! So we get there and we were one of the first people there......then we saw Jake! I was like OMG this is really happening?!?! I still can't believe it! Next thing I knew we were in his boat cruising down the river with about 10 other people that came down. He actually recognized Dave and I, mostly because we got him this crazy light up shirt last year and gave it to him in a M&G we had in Chicago. I finally got a chance to ask him what his new tattoo meant.....didn't get a definite answer from him but he was funny about it haha!
One of his friends got a hippo mask from somewhere......so above you see all of us on his boat and the creepy hippo man! Hysterical!!Above there is a pic of Jake wakeboarding, Jake and I after the boat ride, and Dave and I with Jake in the background driving the boat. Jake's friend "Ando" wakeboarded first then Jake did and actually seeing Jake do flips like that in person is awesome!! On the way back to the dock Jake was playing us songs off his new cd like The One That Got Away, Wide Awake and Heaven. Seriously can't wait until his new album comes out!! I know I'm probably leaving out a lot of details but seriously it was an awesome time! I respect Jake a whole lot more for doing this for his fans, kinda like fans are friends to him! I'm hoping he does this again sometime because I wouldn't mind going on another boat ride :)