4 posts tagged “2009”
After the Opening Ceremonies, I went home for a few hours (I should have slept, since I only had 30 minutes of sleep the night before). I put some finishing touches on my sign for the Mark Ballas show and changed clothes. My outfit from the morning was summer-wear, but still too hot for me. So, I changed into a skirt and white shirt. I met a gal on Facebook after she posted some cool pictures from the Shawn and Friends show (July 26, 2009, Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines Iowa) on a group page. None of my pictures of video from that concert turned out...we were in just the wrong place in front of the stage and the lights washed everything out. We agreed to meet out at the fair to enjoy a day of Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson (well, ok, I'm a Shawn fan, she's mostly a Mark Ballas fan). :D Her and her friends got great seats at the Anderson Erickson Stage pretty early in the afternoon. They got there around 2pm I think, I got there around 4pm. :)
We watched the KCCI Channel 8 news, where Shawn and Mark made an appearance, then we watched a bunch of young girls dance, a magician, some duck calls, and the introduction of the Iowa County Fair Queens, who are competing to be the 2009 Iowa State Fair Queen. At 7pm, The Nadas took the stage for an hour and sang some great songs. They are always a good show.
Then, after The Nadas, Mark Ballas sang a set, about 30-40 minutes. :) After the show, he signed autographs and took pictures. I gave him the sign I made for him, he said he really liked it during the show and afterward. :) It's not my best work, since I don't normally draw in marker. lol But, it came out better than I thought it would. It was a great day - although very hot. The heat, my lack of sleep, and sitting on a bench without a back (front row though!) for 5 hours straight made for a long day, but it was well worth it. :)
I've got a bunch of pictures and video from the KCCI Channel 8 news appearance and the concert. :)
First here are some pictures of the sign I made for Mark (and gave him). I draw with pencil and paint, I've never drawn with marker before, so this isn't really an example of what I can do, but I was really happy with how it came out. :) I started by drawing 4 pictures (one on each corner). I paused video of Shawn and Mark's Argentine Tango from Dancing with the Stars Season 8. I sketched with pencil first and then drew over with a fine tipped marker and filled in with color. I decided not to fill in Mark's black suit because it would be too much black on the sign. Then, I added the wording. :)
Next are some pics of Mark getting set up on stage and doing a sound check. Some friends and family of Shawn's came to the show so she bounded out to greet them. She got mobbed by people though, so she didn't hang around too long. She hid out beside the stage for the rest of the evening. :) We were in the front row, but some kids came and sat on the gravel in front of us (between the benches and the stage).
The rest of the show was all in video: (I recommend you open them in YouTube so you can read the descriptions) The only song I didn't record was the first one: "Get Out Alive" because my phone locked up.
After the show, I went up to the stage to show Mark the poster in more detail. He had said he liked it during the concert "I love that sign! EPIC! That's my word!" (of course I wasn't recording lol). I showed him the drawings and he really liked them. I gave him the sign and got a picture with him. First picture I chopped off his head, (whoops), but he said to take another and that one came out better. :)
It was a fun day, very tiring! I'm glad I was able to show Mark the poster. Shawn and Mark and their dancing has really inspired me to get active again. I used to be in top shape, I loved weight lifting, sports...I was built! And then graduate school got my butt stuck in a chair, typing and reading and typing. lol But, they have inspired me and I've been working out since Dancing with the Stars Season 8! :D Thanks Shawn and Mark and thanks Iowa State Fair for allowing Mark to come play! Also, thanks to my new friends, Ashley, Heather, and Jennifer (? eek, I hope I got your name right!!). I had a great time!
Yesterday was the first day of the 2009 Iowa State Fair (most amazing Fair anywhere!). Mom and I went to the Iowa State Fair parade on Wednesday (Shawn and Mark led the parade) and then we went to the Opening Ceremonies Thursday morning. :) We got there about 6am on Thursday and got raffle tickets to try and play the Cash Cube - where you catch the flying money. Mom's number got called and she went up to get her money!
It was also quite funny, because between each song, they took a break to do the weather/news/sports for the radio show and Mark just wandered around the stage, waiting. heehee. I took lots of video of the performances...can't see him, but you can hear him. :) I also got a few pictures of him getting ready to sing and waiting between songs for the radio show to do their segments.
We left after the interview. The other portions of the Opening Ceremonies were starting and mom and I needed to get home for a few hours. (I came back out to the fair in the afternoon). Later, the Fair presented Shawn with an engraved brick that will be displayed in the wall of the Grandstand. It's a tradition, we have many engraved bricks here. :) It is for her Olympic achievements. :)
Here are some pictures of Shawn and Mark relaxing on stage between radio segments, talking to Shawn's friends and family and signing autographs. This was after the performances. They were waiting for the next half of the Opening Ceremonies to start. We didn't stay for that, but Shawn and Mark didn't have a big part in it, they just stayed because Shawn was getting a surprise (the engraved brick dedication). :)
Last weekend, Mom and I babysat Julia, a 4yo family friend. We went to the zoo (and the heat index got up to 103, so we didn't stay too long - ended up at Dairy Queen, Julia's "favorite ice cream place EVER!" lol).
Here are the pictures from the zoo trip:
A couple of these are from the trip, and a few from this morning. We got a few MORE inches last night, so we just added those to the growing snow pile in the yard. lol
First up is the runway in Michigan. I took this from the plane. My flights from the day before had been canceled due to a snow storm that was in Chicago. Now, the storm was in Michigan...and I was pretty surprised they let the flight go! You can't really see it, but the wind it blowing and snow is going everywhere! It was pretty nasty out there.
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