Dreams Do Come True

Aside from finding the loves of our life and getting engaged (blah, blah, blah), John and I both had our dreams come true this year.

Don't Stop Believing
For the first time in 20 years, the Pirates finished above .500. A winning season! And not only that, they made the playoffs! And I'll do ya one better still, THEY WON THE WILD CARD GAME!!

The morning after we found out the Pirates would be playing in the Wild Card game, John drove me to school and rushed over to the stadium to buy play-off gear. Fortunately, this moment was captured by an Altoona news station (where John used to live!). So without further adieu... check it out! (Please enjoy the "modeling poses" at 0:55).

Because John was a season ticket holder (which I'm sure he'll tell you was the best decision of his life), he was able to purchase play-off tickets. So, we were lucky enough to attend the wild card game.

Before the Wild Card game.

We'd been to many baseball games before, but this one was unlike all the others. The atmosphere was electric. The stadium was full of Pirates fans... you hardly saw any Red. It was so neat! There was no extra chatter, every one was hanging on each pitch--John didn't even touch his game snacks!

The Reds' pitcher that night was Cueto. All of the Pirates fans started chanting "Cueto! Cueto! Cueto!" to get in his head. Well it worked! At one point the pitcher dropped the ball, only to have a homerun hit off of him the very next pitch. He was so shaken he got pulled in the bottom of the 4th! 

The Pirates went on to win 6-2, and I've never seen John so genuinely happy. I was lucky enough to catch the last out and his reaction, so enjoy these videos and photos....

The Gulf Tower downtown lit
up a "P" for the game

Some famous Pirates guy
threw out the 1st pitch.

A local hospital dressed up
newborn babies as pirates!!

My favorite--He's so happy.

Bridge party after the game!

MMMBop!

I've never been one to obsess over famous people--with the exception of one small time period of my life. My celebrities of choice were Hanson and the Magnificent 7 ('96 Olympic gold-medal winning gymnastics team--think Keri Strug and Shannon Miller). I was OBSESSED!

I loved Zac Hanson with every fiber of my being. I had posters on my wall, t-shirts, books, videos, everything Hanson I could get my hands on. I was accused of wanting to play drums in 5th grade only because of my love for Zac. I still claim this isn't true, but I may be questioning it more...

Because I finally got to see them in concert (thanks, Abby!). And seeing them live made me want to do 2 things: marry Zac and play the drums again (so maybe there is a slight connection between my drumming days and Zac). I can't explain the feeling of finally getting to see the band I had loved so hard.

Isaac, Zac, Taylor

The most shocking part was how little I remember their music! They kept playing songs off their first popular album (Middle of Nowhere), and I would have no idea what they were. The fan girls would go crazy within the first few chords, and I'd turn to Abby to ask her if I should know the song. She'd give me a crazy look and remind me that it was from the first album. She'd sing along to all the choruses, and I was left so confused because I couldn't recall the song at all! It makes me want to go buy their Middle of Nowhere album, but after listening to some of the songs on youtube I've realized that they really did not sound that good way back when.

Don't worry they sound good now. And look even better, too!!

Isaac, Zac (on guitar), and Taylor doing their solos.

At one point in the show Zac and Taylor actually switched instruments! WHAT?!

Zac on piano and Taylor on drums.

But the coolest part of the show was when they sang completely unplugged. The concert was at an old library (literally, you had to walk through the fiction section to get to the makeshift bar) and so the acoustics in the theater were really good. Because of the theater, they were able to sing a cappella. All 100+ fan girls were completely silent while they sang. It was so neat. And they said they don't get to do that often, so it was really cool that it happened at our show.

They probably played for a solid 2 hours. High energy, song after song, non-stop. It was such a great show! I have fallen all over again and am bringing back my love for Hanson. I only hope I get the chance to go to another show. And now, I convert all of you...

Zac singing solo:

Hanson Covering "Happy Together": (It might be played at our wedding... John or Zac)

MMM Bop, of course:

There's no stopping Hanson, or my love for them. The Anthem: