DONKASHEA (thank you in german)

...at least I think it is, and that cannot possibly be how you spell it!

Thank you for all the comments!!! Such loyal friends, you guys are lovely! I love getting on here to see what you have to say, what makes you laugh, what you are thinking about, and how you relate to whatever quirky story that I am telling you. So please keep posting your thoughts, ideas, and responses…they are brilliant, they make me smile, and let’s just be honest, I feel less afflicted about writing and "talking" to "you guys" when in reality it could just be a great big abyss the words are falling into; the blogger black hole. But it's not...there is life at the other end. Someone on the other side of my mysterious internet page! And we doubt aliens??? Shame on us.

I’d love to write you all back and says thanks but some of you are hard to track down! So please feel free to write me at my email address if you want to talk more, and know that I love reading what your write. THANK YOU. ([email protected])

Along that vein I am toying with the idea of having guest bloggers a few times a month on this site. If you would be interested in writing a little about your life, something you are passionate about, or just a funny story, please email me. Some ideas? Worst valentines day ever, new years resolutions, a political candidate you are excited about and why, or where you are from and what your life is like. There are a lot of you reading from overseas and we’d love to know more about you and your life. Things like that.

For today I will just do a spotlight on one of the readers of this blog. My friend Missy.

Ever met a person that is real? That makes a room light up and can make you laugh out loud or smile no matter how your day is going? A person that can cry and cuss, be sad or mad, and can share those same emotions with you when you cannot bear to take them on by yourself? A person who seems to have a relentless amount of random energy, ideas, imagination, and strength? That always smiles, always hopes, always loves, always sees the good in the world around her, always perseveres when it’d be easier to sit on the couch and waste away with potato chips and ice cream? A person who has the funniest, best laugh in the world and you find yourself cracking up because of them even if you are clueless about what is funny? A person who loves deeply, dreams infinitely and vividly (Missy…you remember when you wanted to bring Micheal Jackson in to do a concert…at Baylor, a Christian university, for the sole purpose of having your friends in Addison Road open for him???) and pursues life with a voracity of fullness and joy that makes you just want to never leave their side so you can be like them?

Have you ever had a friend that just decided to skip town and go live in Hawaii? Or get a last minute notion to drive to New York for New Years Eve? Or throw parties and invite complete strangers because it is fun?

That’s my friend Missy. She helped us start the band 6 years ago in college. She told us how to make press kits. How to book concerts. How to make contracts. And what to say and do on stage. She guided us through making our first two Cd's, even hopping in my moms green Ford Aerostar van to go to Nashville with us to help us with a world we knew nothing about. Her trick: confidence. Always act like we were music pros even if were terrified, broke, and stupid! She even helped me do my make-up for those first shows because I didn’t own any! We spent hours in college on her front porch figuring out life together and have since spent days in Nashville crashing on her living room floor as we have pursued this crazy life of music.

In the beginning after our first trip she gave me a picture of Ryan and I, and at the bottom wrote: go for your dreams Jenny.

Wow. Who gets to have a friend like that? She is one of my top five favorite people of all time …and if that is not enough to make her blush…she is a blond bombshell. She is one of those annoying people who are not only happy, outgoing, funny, sweet, and all around amazing, but she is also drop dead gorgeous!!! Like those people who can pick up any instrument they touch or learn a language just by hearing it…those overly gifted people that stupefy me…she’s one of them.

Anyways. Today is my friend’s birthday and I wanted the world to know there was an amazing girl out there that I get to call my friend. I hope everyone has a "Missy" in their life.

Happy Birthday girl.