#6 See Ozzy on Tour

As soon as I set down to begin making My 30 Before 30 List I knew that seeing Ozzy in concert would definitely be included.  In fact, the night I started the list I got so excited about just the thought of seeing him in concert that I immediately began trying to figure out when I could make it happen.

The reason I was so adamant about including Ozzy is because a few years ago someone I'd admired since my mid-teens died, someone that I had always sworn to myself that I would go see live in person "one of these days."

Here's the man I told myself over and over again I'd make it a point to see in person "later in life," ya know, when I "had the time."

picture source

Don't recognize him?  Here, this may help.

picture source

This man is George Carlin.  I won't get into the millions of reasons this man was an absolute genius and will forever be a legend in my mind, because that deserves a post of its own.  

When I found out he'd suddenly and unexpectedly died it hit me hard.  I would never meet the man that has been extremely influential to me.  No more telling myself I'd do it "one day."  My chance was gone forever.

So, when I sat down to write my list I thought of George Carlin and how he would be at the top of my list if he were still alive.  And I also thought of any other living legend that I knew I absolutely had to see live before the chance passed me by.

The answer to that question was obvious.

picture source

I mean, look at that face!  Ozzy is a legend.  His music is insanely influential to millions of loyal followers.  He's been around for like, ever.  And for being The Prince of Darkness, his lyrics are often extremely poetic and thought provoking.  Plus, you know you're lying if you try to tell me that you don't immediately whip out your air guitar every time you hear the intro to Crazy Train!

So, when I found out that Ozzy, the man who literally tours world wide, was going to be performing live just four hours away from where I live and that tickets for the concert had just gone on sale two days before I realized this, I knew I had to be there.  

I immediately called up my amazing friend Alison to make sure she was in and I purchased the tickets.  For over two months we counted down the days leading up to February 10, 2011--the date we would get to see Ozzy perform!

Unfortunately, a few days before the concert mother nature decided she had other plans.

See that green area?  Yea, that's the area designated as slick and hazardous.  It's also the area we needed to drive through in order to get to the concert in Tulsa.

The night before the concert Alison and I sadly decided there was no way we could safely make the trip.  I went to bed very upset.  When was I ever going to get the opportunity to see him again in concert?  I had been looking forward to this for months.  I was devastated.  

The morning of the concert I moped and complained.  That is until I realized there was one flight that would get us to Tulsa approximately two hours before the concert was set to begin (so long as there were no delays due to the weather) if we left right then--and I mean right then.  I called Alison.  We both knew we were crazy but we decided that so long as we could make it to the airport from our houses through the ice and snow, we were headed to Tulsa!

Sure we had no rental car waiting for us.  Sure, we had no hotel to check into.  And sure, we had no clue how to get home.  But do you think we cared while we were enjoying this view?

When we stopped for a short layover in Texas, Robert called to let me know that he had booked the hotel for us.  Less than two hours later, I was holding the golden ticket!  I was about to mark off one of the items on My 30 Before 30 List and I was ecstatic!  

Slash performed first, which rocked my face off.  

But it didn't come close to how I felt when I saw this.

When the stage lit up and Ozzy came out, I knew why he was the legend I just had to see (not that I ever had any doubts.)

One of my favorite moments during the show was when he performed Momma I'm Coming Home.  The arena was lit up with lighters and cell phones and I realized that everyone else there was making one of their dreams come true at that moment too.  

The concert felt like it lasted 15 minutes because he played "my favorite song" followed by "oh no wait, this one is my favorite song" the entire time.  

After we made it back to the hotel Alison's fantastic husband called and agreed to drive all the way to Tulsa just to turn around and drive us home.  [I'll hold for the applause, because that definitely deserves one.]

So #6 is complete.  And now, 10 years from now when Maddox is listening to Ozzy I won't have to tell him that I never got around to seeing him in concert.  I'll be able to tell him exactly how great he was in concert, back when he was just 62 years old!

My 30 Before 30 List

As many of you know, I've been in the process of creating a list of 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30.  Tonight I started looking over the list and decided to share it here.

If a task has been crossed out that means I finally did it [yay!] and you can now click on it to see the story and pictures of how I made it happen.  :)

So here is my list... Wish me luck!

My 30 Before 30 List

1. Visit Spain
2. Go on a classic American roadtrip
3. Ride in a limo
4. Meditate on a mountain at sunrise or sunset
5. Complete 20 do-it-yourself projects/crafts
1. Make my own headboard
2. Refinish this school desk for Maddox's room [<--almost done!]
3. Create and send out Christmas cards this year
4. Make a Fabric Magnet Board
5. ....the rest will come in time
6. See Ozzy on Tour
7. Bet $100 on black at the roulette table
8. Sing in a choir again
9. Invest in the stock market
10. Find a church/temple that "fits" me
11. Get my mother and sister to quit smoking
12. Designate one evening per month as game night with my closest friends
13. Learn how to make balloon animals & volunteer at The Children's Hospital putting my skills to the test for the kids
14. Make someone's wish come true
15. Pick grapes or strawberries and make fresh jelly with my son, like I did when I was a kid
16. Ride a horse [<--coming soon!]
17. Ride a train
18. Get a new hairstyle
19. Bowl a turkey
20. Sky dive
21. Get in the habit of waking up early enough to meditate every morning
22. Watch 100 of IMDB's Top 250 Movies
23. Raise $1000 in two months for a charity TBD.
24. Watch the nutcracker during Christmastime
25. Ride on a motorcycle.
26. Skinny dip.
27. Work on a political campaign
28. Get hypnotized.
29. Buy a hammock--and use it.
30. Join a flower of the month club.

Twinkle Toes

As of yesterday, Robert and I have officially been married for two years.  This may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but anyone who's ever had to live with me Robert knows this is something that deserves a celebration.

But, no celebration happened yesterday.  Why not, you ask?  Well, I suppose it all started the day I bought this desk.  That same day, in the same store, I also fell in love with this.

It's a cedar chest.  I bought it as a present for my mother.  It's a little shabby but will look great once sanded and stained.  

So, now back to my anniversary and why we didn't go out, which can best be explained using simple math.

Cedar Chest

+

This Guy

=

This!

Somehow, while attempting to move the cedar chest, he dropped it... on both of his feet.  Being in the military, he's required to get a record of his injury so he spent six hours in the emergency room yesterday.  Thankfully there are no broken bones, only a broken ego.

Something tells me this will be an anniversary that I never let him we never forget.  ;)

Spring Breaking in Branson

My mother, sister, husband, son, and I loaded up the Envoy last Sunday and spent the week in Branson for Spring Break.  We had a great time and it was a much needed break from reality.

A few hours into our road trip to Branson we passed this sign.

I convinced the gang we should go see what this was all about.  And after going a few miles down the scariest curviest road ever, we came to this.

After a $5 entry fee per person, we were able to walk down a path and view the bridge, which has formed out of rock.  Here she is.  Pretty neat, huh?

Just so you get the idea of how big it is, here's my mother and sister standing in front of it.

Of course, we took other pictures while on the trail.  It was a beautiful day outside and the perfect spot to stretch our legs.

From left to right:  My sister, Stevie, me, and my mother, Donna.  And of course, we can't forget to mention my son Maddox standing behind my sister.  ;)

Somehow my hubby, Robert, always manages to get Madd to smile in pictures with him while I'm stuck with the funny faces.  

My child meditating on top of a rock overlooking the woods.  I love that kid.

Before we knew it, we were at the condo.  We stayed at The Escapes! in Branson.  It was small, but the couch folded out into a queen-sized bed and the price was too great to pass up.  Plus, the location was perfect.  It was just a few miles from everything and since it was located on a lake, it didn't have the feel of being in such a tourist rich area.  So here's the condo.

Madd loved the play area.

And of course, we all loved the lake.

Everyone was obviously very happy to be on vacation.  This is all of us on one of the fishing and swimming docks.

We got to the condo just in time on Sunday to watch the sunset from the swings by the lake.  It was a perfect end to the day.

 Or, maybe this was.  It depends on who you ask.

It's easy to sum up Monday.  We did a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of this.

It was hard to get into the boats.  But it was even harder to get out of them.

We were all four soaking wet and cold, but we had a great time!

Tuesday we visited the Titanic museum, which was great.  I spent over three hours in there reading everything.  But, since we couldn't take cameras in there (boo) I have no pictures of our visit there.

But never fear, I did capture the best thing that happened that day on film: my mother taking my dare to jump into the lake that morning.

As we walked down to the dock, I kept waiting for her to turn around but she was pumped up and ready to go!

The water was choppy and the wind was crazy.  

But that didn't stop her.  She set down her towels and took off her shoes.  I still kept waiting for her to say she wasn't going to do it.

But then, with no warning...  this happened.

The first words she said when she came up were, "Brrrr.... coldddd!!"  Of course, we were all laughing hysterically on the deck.

After drying off a little...

...and describing to us exactly how cold that water was... 

...she was back to her rockstar self again!  [Have I mentioned how much I love my mother?]

Wednesday we did some more shopping and visited the Dixie Stampede.  But, since I shared the highlight of that day in this blog post, I'll move right along to Thursday.

Thursday was Silver Dollar City day.  I didn't snap too many photos because we spent a lot of the day waiting in line but here are a few of the highlights (minus my mother and Maddox freezing in wet clothing after deciding that a water ride was a good idea even though it was chilly outside).

Friday was our last full day in Branson and we'd planned on spending it at Silver Dollar City as well but it was too cold due to a storm that had blown through Thursday night.  

So, we did did some packing... 

And later on found a great burger place to eat at called Fall Guys.  Robert and I ended our last evening there by going to see The 12 Irish Tenors perform while my mom, sister, and Madd visited a dinosaur museum.  

So this morning, we loaded up to come home.  Robert drove while the rest of us did a lot of this.

Well, that is until this sweet little thing crossed our path.  

I only got a glimpse of her for a second but that was all I needed to tell just how skinny she is.  I had Robert turn the car around so we could feed her some lunchmeat we had packed for the trip home.  After seeing her close up, we realized just how bad of shape she was in.  And, because she seemed really sweet and just scared, hungry, and exhausted we put her in the truck with us after we fed her.

After her bath, she warmed up by the fire while Robert and Stevie removed over 50 ticks from her.  There's no telling how long she had been abandoned or how much longer she could have survived had we not found her.  Her spine is clearly visible, as are her ribs.

Here she is on our deck after finally getting dried off from her first bath.  She is weak but she is so incredibly sweet.  It's amazing that despite what she's been through she trusts us to help her.  Isn't she pretty?

Monday we'll be taking her to the vet to have her examined and to get her vaccinated.  I'm sure he'll want to put her on antibiotics as well due to the possibility of infection from the tick bites and the large cuts on her belly that aren't completely healed.  Poor girl.

So, that sums up spring break in Branson!  It was a wonderful week, and we're happy to be home and to have this sweet, sweet little girl with us.  I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on her progress and whether or not she becomes a permanent member of our family.

Update:  Want to find out what happened to this dog?  You can read about it here.