The Letter Black

(26) Dear Diary,

Yesterday we played at Lifefest in Wisconsin. Got there early and set up merch and killed time until soundcheck at 3:30 pm. Once we sound-checked, I did a video interview and then we chilled on a RV that someone donated to artists like us who just have a van still. It was sweet. Then I went and warmed up and we all got dressed and ready for the show. We went on at 5:30 pm and it was great! Fantastic crowd. I love seeing everyone singing and rocking out with us.

We signed autographs and took pics right after the show at our merch table. We signed a “onesie” for an ADORABLE 6 week old baby. I think our youngest fan. Way too cute! LOL. Grabbed some dinner once we were done hanging out with everyone. Then we packed up and headed out at a decent hour… not too late cause we had a really long drive all night last night.

Arrived near Youngstown Ohio this morning and got a hotel to hang out in and sleep in today. We got here a little before noon and the room wasn’t ready yet so we dropped the trailer and went to get an oil change in the van. After that, we went to a mall for the food court for lunch. Mark went jogging then met us inside.

After lunch, we headed to the hotel to actually check in and shower. We’ve been like 3 days overdue for a shower! So we showered and cleaned up, then headed to the movie theater to see Knight and Day which was way better than we expected it to be! It was awesome. After that we grabbed some KFC. Then somehow I managed to convince Mark to go to Pier 1 Imports with me to check out some of their new stuff. After we left there, we went back to the hotel and have been chillin’ in here for the rest of the night. Really tired now and we’ve got to get up and drive an hour to the next show. My mother-in-law, sister, brother, and sister-in-law are all coming out to this show so its gonna be a fun one!

Well for now, I’m finally going to sleep. Falling asleep while watching “The Water-boy”. Goodnight beautiful world… goodnight beautiful husband… goodnight wonderful God!

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(25) Dear Diary,

Thoroughly enjoyed having last Sunday and Monday off. We got to enjoy Cincinnati a little bit by hitting up some outlet place. It was pretty sweet. I was on the hunt for a dress to wear to the dress rehearsal and dinner for our friends wedding this past weekend. Found the perfect one, so the day off was a success. Also saw “Grown Ups” Sunday evening, which was mostly really funny. Drove to Champagne, Illinois Sunday night and got a hotel. Enjoyed the entire day there. Saw another movie Monday night! Matt and Ryan went to see A-Team which they really liked and Mark, Mat and I went to see “Prince of Persia” which was killer.

Got up Tuesday morning and drove to Bushnell, Illinois for Cornerstone Festival. We played on the Encore Stage which was sponsored by The Whosoevers. It was sweet! Great crowd!! Got to hang out with Sonny, Brian, and Ryan. It was nice to see them again. Grabbed a ton of CDs from them to give out at our shows.

Once we left Cornerstone, we stopped off at DQ for some late dinner and headed home for a day. Got in around Noon or so Wednesday afternoon and hit the ground running. I had to go pick up my bridesmaids dress, and do a few other things to get ready for the wedding. We didn’t even unpack anything because we had to drive out Wednesday night at Midnight for Creation East, which is only about 3 hours away from home. We were home for less than 12 hours and were busy pretty much the whole time.

My sis, Jenny, came out with us for the trip since it was just one show then back home. We drove out around Midnight, Wednesday night and got there around 3 am. Parked in some random gas station parking lot to sleep till morning. We woke up and drove about 15 minutes to Creation. First time there and it was amazing! We even went on early, around noon, but there were still a lot of people who came out and we were all shocked at how many people knew us and knew all of our songs! We signed and took pictures and signed a ton of stuff and met a lot of awesome people. It’s funny, cause my sister looks like me and so she got asked for an autograph a few times. She’s used to it though cause she’s come to shows before. I joke and say she’s my stunt double.

Anywho, we left there at a decent hour in the early hour and got home before it was too late, which was really nice cause Friday was totally busy and crazy. I woke up and got my hair colored for the wedding, then got a mani/pedi for the wedding, ran around town to do a couple of other things to get ready for the wedding. Dress rehearsal and dress rehearsal dinner went great and Mark and I were in bed by midnight.

Saturday was our friends wedding day. We’re actually friends with both the bride and the groom, so Mark was a groomsman and I was a bridesmaid. Saturday was a really busy blur but it was really really nice. We got ready, took pictures, had the ceremony which Mark and I did a song for, then headed to the reception hall for dinner and dancing all night. They even had fireworks! Since Mark and I aren’t really dancers, we just socialized and I ate the whole night. Got to bed a little after midnight which was good cause we got up for church since we were actually home!

Woke up Sunday, went to church and it was nice cause it was tied in with the 4th of July. After church, we had a cookout and it was fabulous. Not really anyone came… Just Mark, Jenny, Sandi and I… but it was so nice to just hang out and eat and watch movies. We watched Independence Day. Good movie. Then later that night, my brother Reed and his wife came out to hang out for a little while before going to see fireworks. Jenny left with them to see the fireworks around 9 pm. Mark, Sandi, and I watched fireworks on T.V. from the Capitol and they were beautiful! Then Mark and I went to bed around 10 pm… I know… We’re party animals.

Woke up Monday, July 5th and Mark and Matt took the bus to get looked at before we use it for the first time. I stayed home and did laundry and cleaned since we actually were home and I had a little time. I went to my parents house and hung out with them for a little bit too while Mark was gone. We were looking at some stuff in their garage and I discovered that I am allergic to dust, so that was exciting. LOL Ok, not really fun. But anyway, it was also Mat Slagle’s birthday so we called and sang and then gave him cards later when he came over to leave for the next trip. We ended up leaving around 6:30 pm for these next couple of shows.

Drove all night to get to Joliet Illinois. We slept for a little bit in a rest stop where we all sweated out about 10 lb. each! It was so hot!!!! Woke up early due to being so hot and just drove the final hour there. Stopped at Barnes & Nobles to look for a book by Dr. Ted Broer about health and all stuff. Of course they didn’t have it so I’m going to have to order it. Anyway arrived at the venue and are now unloading and getting ready to rock n roll. Gonna be going to Lifefest tomorrow which has like 100,000 people who come to it so we’re pretty stoked about it!! But first things first… Lunch.

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(24) Dear Diary,

Big Ticket Festival in Gaylord, Michigan was awesome!! We arrived there around 10 am or something like that around on Friday morning. When we pulled in, we unloaded the trailer, took equipment to the Rock Stage and took merch to the merch tent. I began setting up while the guys worked on the gear. Its always so crazy at festivals! Its such a hurry up and wait deal at festivals, but I love them! Part of the way through, I had to go get passes and our “Welcome” folder. LOL. Then when I went back to finish setting up merch and count in, the guys told me it was time to soundcheck, so I had to leave merch again. Finished soundcheck and finally got to finish doing merch.

After merch was all set up, we headed to catering to eat real quick before we had to go on. We went on at 1:40 pm and it was amazing! There were so many people who came out to check us out, some of whom saw us from a few years ago when we played the Indie Stage there. It was sweet to see everyone singing along with the majority of our songs. Its so nice to see that because that means people like us! Thats always nice to feel the love.

When we got off the stage, we immediately went to sign and do pictures. Got to meet so many cool people. I love meeting everyone! So after we got finished with pictures, we did a video interview. After that, I went to go do another video interview and the guys had to go load up the trailer. When I was done with the interview, I called the guys and met up with them to do the 3rd and final interview of the day. Had a little trouble finding the radio statios table, but we found it in time so it all worked out. All the interviews went well overall.

Headed to watch the guys in Days Divide. They rocked it, like always. Then headed to dinner. It was some of the most FABULOUS festival food I’ve ever had in my life. I would have paid $15 easy for my food. Such yummy Italian food!! Mmm…. Anyway, after dinner we grabbed ice-cream from the desert tent (yes, desert tent!) and went to pack up merch and then we left Big Ticket Festival. I fell asleep early for some reason, and next thing I know we’re outside of Applebees about to eat with the Days Divide guys. Dinner was yummy, and we took off for the rest of the drive to Cincinnati.

This morning, we rolled into Cincinnati to The Underground. Its a sweet venue! Set up, ate lunch, went to the hotel to clean up, came back, sound checked, chilled in the dressing room, and am now eating dinner…. well am about to eat dinner once I’m done with this entry. Excited to get 2 days off tomorrow and Monday! Sleeping in hotels and everything like real people! Yay! Ok, Buffalo Wild Wings is calling my name!

Yours Truly,
Sarah

Hey Everyone!!! Little different from my usual rants about my life but this is just as important, if not more important for you to read! Below is a list of stations that play or have played Hanging On By a Thread from The Letter Black. These stations will NOT continue spinning new tracks if buzz doesn’t build. This is a call to action!!! We need all of you calling these stations daily and requesting Hanging On By a Thread. It’s vital that we get this message out to everyone so please tell your friends too. Help us take over the airwaves! Thanks for all your support!

WCPR 97.9 BILOXI, MS
WEIR 1430 BURLINGTON, VT
WAQX 95X SYRACUSE, NY
WIIL 95.1 CHICAGO, IL/ Union Grove, WI
WTPT 93.3 GREENVILLE, SC
KLAQ EL PASO, TX
KMRQ 96.7 MODESTO, CA
KQXR 100.3 BOISE, ID
WXEG103.9 DAYTON, OH
WLFE 102.3 BURLINGTON, VT
WMMS100.7 CLEVELAND, OH
WNFZ 94.3 KNOXVILLE, TN
WRKZ 99.7 COLUMBUS, OH
WRQK 106.9 CANTON, OH
WRXS106.7 COLUMBUS, OH
WGIR 101.1 MANCHESTER, NH
WTZB 105.9 SARASOTA, FL
WHEB 100.3 PORTSMOUTH, NH
WVBZ 100.3 GREENSBORO, NC
WWBN 101.5 FLINT, MI
KYRK 104.1 NEW ORLEANS, LA
KMYZ 104.5 TULSA, OK
KNCN 101.3 CORPUS CHRISTI, TX
CIMX 89X DETROIT, MI
WXTB 97.9 TAMPA, FL
WTKX 101.5 PENSACOLA, FL
WXZZ Z103 LEXINGTON, KY
KATT 100.5 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
KLBJ 93.7 AUSTIN, TX
KNXX 104.9 BATON ROUGE, LA
KEDG BUFFALO, NY
KUFO 101.1 PORTLAND, OR
KXTE 107.5 LAS VEGAN, NV
KXXR 93X MINNEAPOLIS, MN
WXFX 95.1 MONTGOMERY, AL
WXQR 105.5 GREENVILLE, NC
WRZX X103 INDIANAPOLIS, IN
WJRR101.1 ORLANDO, FL
WKQZ Z93 SAGINAW, MI

THANKS AGAIN!

(23) Dear Diary,

Colorado was awesome! Great people in the church. Some of the best food of the tour too! They even had m&m’s for me cause I love milk chocolate. It has to be milk chocolate too, not dark. And it has to be Hershey’s, not Nestle or Ghiradelli or anything like that! lol. I’m very particular about my chocolate.

Wednesday, June 16th was a driving day to Kansas. We went jogging, met Days Divide for lunch at Qdoba, and ran to Wal-mart before hitting the road. Met up with Days Divide again that evening for dinner around 9. Ate at applebees and it was super yummy. I couldn’t resist the chocolate cake! We then continued to drive through the night toward Wichita. Pulled over at a rest area around 1:30 am to sleep the rest of the night. I had the worst night sleep yet for some reason. Woke up around 8:30 and it was so beautiful and sunny, with a light breeze and great temperatures so i did my Bible study outside the van while everyone slept. They eventually woke up and we drove the last hour to Wichita.

The show went great, like every other normal show goes. Then we drove 10 hours overnight to Benton, Kentucky for Icthus Festival. We arrived around 7:30 am Saturday the 19th and slept till about 11 am. We called our runner when we woke up and she met us and took us to set up merch. The whole day was a blur. We had about 3 or 4 interviews spread out throughout the day, plus the show at 6pm. Packed up and headed home later that night.

Arrived home Sunday for the first time in forever! Just in time for Fathers Day! Yay. Went over to Marks family’s house to celebrate with his uncle and cousin who are both Fathers. Then headed over for dinner and hang out time with my family. My Dad had to go do a funeral for one of his soldiers who passed away so he couldn’t be home till about 5 but it worked out so we could see both sides of the family. Marks cousin is 5 months pregnant too so thats always super exciting!

Monday, we slept in and then I spent the afternoon with my mom and sister (Jenny) and Mark spent it with his mom. Always good to catch up and relax! Jenny and I then headed back to our house to meet up with Mark and his mom for dinner. The 3 of us jumped in the pool and went swimming first though. Then ate and watched a movie. Jenny spend the night. Woke up Tuesday and Jen went home and I ran around like a crazy person getting fitted for a bridesmaids dress and picking up stuff for Marks birthday party. Then we took our 2 year old niece to see Toy Story 3 which was awesome. Chilled the rest of the night and did some laundry.

Wednesday was Marks birthday! Sandi (Marks mom) and I were busy all morning… I was trying to finish laundry in the midst of it… and around noon I went to pick up his cake. Everyone came over around 2 and kept pouring in all afternoon. Cookout and swimming, hanging out, catching up, and music… overall a big success! After everyone left, we cleaned up the mess and packed for this next bunch of shows. Ended up going to bed by about 12:30 am and I got up around 6:45 to shower and get ready to go.

We left around 8 am this morning for Indiana. Arrived around 3 pm and have been running ever since!! Gonna go get ready now! Gonna be a good one tonight. Soon as we pack up, we’re driving all night to Gaylord Michigan for Big Ticket Festival tomorrow. “On the Road Again” is our theme song.

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(22) Dear Diary,

Last Friday, the 11th, we woke up in a hotel outside of Diamond Bar, California. Got to sleep in cause we didn’t have to be at the church we were playing in that night until about 5 pm which is really late for us. Its an off-tour show so we didn’t have to worry about all 3 bands setting up in time, just us. But we got to sleep in so we were happy. Mark, Slagle and I went for a jog when we woke up. It was a little chilly actually! Quite different from the Texan weather we were just getting used to. We ended up running almost 4 miles that day instead of our usual 2. I think it was easier to go that far cause it was cooler and also was mostly flat. After the jog, we got ready and left around 2 or so. Stopped at Del Taco for lunch and then drove into Diamond Bar, Ca. where we found the church. Got there a little early but were able to go ahead and unload. Set up and played at 7 pm. It was great. We met an awesome guy named Ryan who works with Sonny (P.O.D.) and The Whosoevers. We talked about The Whosoevers for a long time and are super pumped about it. Sonny’s involved, Ryan, Lacey (Flyleaf), Brian “Head” Welch (formerly in Korn) and some other ppl. We’ll be keeping in touch with Ryan about this for sure!

Once that show was done, we packed up and headed to the hotel. Slept and woke up early the next morning to drive to San Diego for the San Diego Loves Haiti Benefit Concert with P.O.D.. It was sweet! Our manager flew out for that one so it was awesome having him there with us. Always a good time . There were a ton of bands that played that day, including our tour buddies Rapture Ruckus. Set up merch a little later than usual due to the wind and it was an outside show. But we set it up and our sound guy Ryan became our merch person for the day cause there were no merch volunteers. LOL. We went on right before P.O.D. which was sweet. Rocked it for a bit, then let them take over. Of course, they did an amazing job. Great show. Got to say hey to the guys again. I’d actually never met Sonny before but the guys met him last year at Cornerstone. But I finally got to meet him, talked with him about The Whosoevers too. Got to say hey to Traa and Marcos again. When we left the show, we went out to eat with our manager Danny and 2 of his friends. After that, we checked into our hotel real quick then we all headed to downtown San Diego to hang out with Traa and his wife. Headed back to the hotel later that night and watched some t.v. till we fell asleep.

Woke up on the 13th and were going to begin driving to our next show which is Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was an 18 hour drive so we wanted to get a start on it, but Danny called and told us about a really cool island off of San Diego that he said we should go to, so we postponed leaving until after lunch. We drove the 10 miles to the island and it was BEAUTIFUL! It was the perfect temperature too, with a slight breeze to make it cool. Palm trees all around and the smell of salt in the air. It was so picturesque. We separated, Ryan and both Mat(t)’s went to eat at an Italian place while Mark and I walked a little further down and ate at a diner. All food was fabulous and we got ice-cream to top off the day. We walked down to the water and enjoyed the view in silence for a few minutes before I said “Alright, lets go to Colorado”. So we left and began our 18 hour drive.

We drove all Sunday evening, and all through the night. Around 1 am we drove through Vegas which was my first time ever seeing it. Pretty spectacular light show with all the buildings and signs lit up. Mark has been before with his family when he was younger but me and some of the other guys had never been there until then, so it was cool to see it as we drove through. About another hour or so we stopped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to change drivers. When they were switching, they woke me and mark up to look at the sky. We climbed out of the back and Slagle shut out all the lights in the van. When we looked up it was the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen in my life so far. As far as the eye could see from the eastern horizon to the western horizon there were the brightest, most abundant stars! The night was pitch black, but the stars we’re so brilliant and some were even twinkling! I can’t even put in to words how awe-inspiring it was. We all stood on the side of the road with our mouths hanging open, eyes upward, in awe. We could even see the Milky Way’s lighter stripe of stars and gasses running through the rest of the universe. Spectacular. Vegas has nothing on God’s light show!! After a while, we drug ourselves back into the van for the rest of the drive.

Woke up Monday morning still driving. LOL. The mountains and hills were killing our E.T.A. cause we couldn’t go fast uphill due to all the weight in the back of the trailer. Even going downhill, we had to gear down and go slow. But the views were awesome the whole trip. We drove through Utah and some other Canyon bearing states. I can’t get enough of the beauty of this country. There are so many times I think to myself “How could I have been stuck in such a hole before traveling”? There’s so much breathtaking beauty in the world and people rarely take time to look up from their computer screens to see it. Its so sad. But I am thoroughly enjoying it and in the future when Mark and I have kids, they’re gonna get to see the all of it!!

We finally arrived in Colorado Springs Monday evening. Checked in to our hotel, took our bags to our respective rooms and then went to grab some food to bring back to the hotel. Guys got Chinese food to go and I ordered out from Ruby Tuesday’s. Went back to the hotel and we all went in to the guys room to watch TV while eating. Watched the final episodes of Monk which is like my new favorite show (of course I had to discover it at the end of it all, maybe I’ll buy the series on DVD). Mark and I then headed across the hall to our room and watched the last 2 episodes ever made. Why have I never heard about this show before? Love it. Anyway, we finally forced ourselves to stop watching TV and try to sleep a little after midnight.

This morning, Tuesday June 15th, we woke up and Mark and Slagle jogged while I showered and I’m not sure what the other guys were doing, probably sleeping. They got back and Mark hopped in the shower while I finished getting ready and then we packed up and headed to the church we’re playing at tonight. Got here around noon and ate lunch. Then set up equipment and merch. Got done with merch early so I decided to go for a jog since I didn’t have time this morning. Went 2 miles and got back just in time to sound-check. Got done with that and now I finally have time to chill for a little bit. Dinner’s in about a half hour. Go outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine for a little bit before eating? Good idea.

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(21) Dear Diary,

So the show in Corpus Christi went awesome! Maybe the coolest of the tour so far. Great crowd, great promoter, super friendly people! The food was amazing there too, all home-made authentic Mexican food. After the show was over, we headed to the hotel and crashed for the evening. I was kinda glad that we are finally leaving Texas though just cause its so hot there!

Yesterday, June 9th, we slept in for the first time in a long time. It was SO nice to catch up on some sleep, especially since we ended up not going to bed until late cause of the show the night before. We woke up and I showered while Mark jogged. The guys were in their own room, so I’m not really sure what they did all morning. We ended up meeting up with them a little after noon and headed out on out next adventure, driving all the way from Corpus Christi to Diamond Bar, Cali to play a show off the tour with The Whosoevers. It’s a 23+ hour drive.

Mark started driving yesterday afternoon and drove for a long time. By the time he quit it was about 11 pm I believe. He and I then laid down to sleep in the back while Slagle drove and Matt stayed up with him. Ryan slept on the bench. Some point in the night, Slagle quit driving and Ryan took over and Matt stayed up with him too somehow. Slagle hit the bench, Mark and I were still in the back sleeping (kind of, it was a rough night sleep-wise). I vaguely remember a border patrol officer opening the back door and shining a flashlight to check and make sure we weren’t smuggling illegal people into the county. My shoes were propped up against the inside of the door, so when he opened the door, they fell out and I think it startled him. LOL. He then picked them up, set them inside, and shut the door and told us to move on.

Ryan woke me up around 5:30 am to drive. I’m cutting out coffee and soda from my diet, so energy levels were LOW, especially at 5:30 am. I grabbed a banana and some Fiji water (love that stuff) from the gas station and set out. Slagle moved from the bench to my spot in the back, Matt Beal went to his spot in the back, and Ryan went to his bench, and Mark was still sleeping. I ended up driving till about 7 am and I had to pull over to power nap in a gas station parking lot. I crawled into the back and curled up in an open spot by Marks legs with my head on a pillow on his calves. I don’t know how I slept like that, but I did quite wonderfully for about an hour. I set my alarm for 8 am, woke back up, and continued to drive. Drove for a few more hours till the guys got up and then we looked for a Wal-Mart so we could get an oil change while we got a few things that we each needed to grab. That was just past Tucson, AZ. The guys working the oil change part were cool and we gave them a CD.

We left there, and went across the road to FedEx and then walked over to In-N-Out for lunch. After lunch, we ran back to Wal-mart cause Matt forgot something. I did a phone interview while he ran in. Once he came back, we headed out to finish the long drive. Mark drove all afternoon and for dinner we stopped and at at Del Taco around 9 pm. Slagle then took over to finish out the last hour of the drive. Now we are sitting in the hotel and I’m not even going to shower to clean up before bed, ew I know. But I’m too tired!

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(20) Dear Diary,

Show went great in Austin on Saturday. There was a 16 year old girl who opened for the entire tour with an acoustic set and she had an awesome voice. Once the show was over we packed up and got to stay in a glorious hotel. We woke up in the morning, well rested and drove to San Antonio for our show there. On our way, we stopped at our old stand-by, McDonald’s. Actually ate it while sitting in the restaurant instead of eating it while going 65 mph down the highway. It was a nice change of pace. I ordered an M&M McFlurry cause I haven’t had ice-cream in forever, but then of course their ice-cream machine was broken so they refunded me. So a little further down the road I asked Mark to pull over at a Dairy Queen. It was delicious, even though Texas doesn’t have chocolate ice-cream. I always get the same thing from DQ… I get a large M&M Blizzard, usually made with chocolate ice-cream, and I add brownie pieces.

But anyway, when we got to San Antonio yesterday, we got a late start to the day, but still got done in time for the show at 6pm. It was another great show, great people, great volunteers. Once the show was over, we packed up and drove to the next show in Pharr, Texas. It was a 6 hour drive so we got here around 5 am or something like that. I was asleep. Got up around 9:30 am and began today. Matt, Ryan and Slagle unloaded the trailer while Mark and I jogged. It was MISERABLE!! It was around 95 degrees when we ran, but the weather channel said it felt like 105 degrees. We are stupid. LOL. ’bout passed out on the side of the road, although we did cut our normal 2 mile jog down just a little bit, so it could have been worse I guess. It somehow was hotter if we took a break too… I think because when we were jogging that made it feel like a slight breeze. Its sad that we were cooler when we jogged than if stopped for a break.

When we got back, we all grabbed lunch and then Matt and I set up merch while Mark, Ryan and Mat set up equipment. Then we had sound check and chilled in the green room. It was storming SO bad outside it was kinda crazy. The power shut off twice during soundcheck time. Matt said that the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees within a few hours. But the show turned out to be ok because the rain eased up a bit. The crowd was great! The most interactive so far! Thanks to everyone who came out last night. We packed up and went to our hotel which was conveniently located within walking distance of the show.

Today, we woke up and left around 7 am for Corpus Christi, Texas. I ended up driving the whole way cause the guys were all sleepy and I’m probably the best morning person in the band anyway. I’m getting a little bit tired of driving in the rain too! I almost had to pull off the side of the road again. We also went through a check point to make sure we weren’t smuggling in anyone illegal. LOL. We got a call from Rapture Ruckus saying they got stuck there, probably cause they’re from New Zealand. They should be ok with their paperwork though. But anywho, we got here safe and sound and I’m hungry so we’re gonna go grab lunch from catering! (got out of my jog today thanks to the rain! kinda happy) Then on to work.

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(19) Dear Diary,

Why do I ALWAYS forget to change my shoes before I go on stage?!

Yours Truly,
Sarah

(18) Dear Diary,

First show of our little tour went great. We woke up and met with Slagle in the lobby of the hotel and went for our jog. It was SO hot! When we got done with our jog, we showered, packed up and everyone met for lobby-call around noon. We headed to GC where I got my own spiffy mic stand. It goes up and down with the squeeze of a handle. Much easier. Grabbed some other not so fun stuff and headed to Venue 68. Got there and began unloading our stuff. Rapture Ruckus arrived and we got aquatinted and then a little bit later, Days Divide pulled in and began unloading and we introduced ourselves to them. So glad that everyone in both bands are nice. You never know if there’s a diva involved or not, but fortunately everyone is super down-to-earth.

We all set up our own merch and equipment. Ran through our soundcheck and got out of the way of the other bands so they could do their thing. Then we had a ton of time to kill! We are so used to being the first band to go on because of the Skillet tour that we don’t know what to do with ourselves for an extra hour and a half. Its kinda funny actually… yesterday we were all just sitting around talking and we were like, aren’t we supposed to be doing something right now? We’re so used to rushing all day from beginning to finish that its weird to have a second to breath. Its SO nice. The show went great too. Great crowd and the Q & A was fun. Once that was all done, we packed up and headed out to Texas.

It was actually a 8 hour drive to Austin. We drove through the night like usual but the guys were all so tired that we actually pulled over for a few hours just to sleep. Ended up getting here around a little after noon today. A super nice lady gave me a bag of Hershey’s chocolate. Mark and I went on a jog in the 90 degree weather before setting up stuff. While we were jogging, Matt, Slagle, and Ryan pulled out the equipment from the trailer. Everyone set up their respective stuff and then we are all chilling now waiting for dinner. Yummy Yummy Yummy.

Show tonights gonna be great!! Can’t wait to get started.

Yours Truly,
Sarah