Am I Dreaming?

The past month/6 weeks of my life have been nothing short of incredible. Knocking bucket list items off 2 or 3 at a time, venturing out to new locations, and meeting new friends, it's been awesome. Sometimes I wonder if I am still dreaming (seeing that I require a full 10 hours of sleep a day to fully function)

Beginning in April, when I did my annual pilgrimage to Texas Motor Speedway, as I thumbed through the event program, I noticed they used my picture in there from last year. I was ecstatic and wish I carried a sharpie so I could autograph every program they had! I also found out Sunday, that during a segment they filmed on Friday, I found myself on TV during the race coverage. Thankfully it was in the background, this isn't a close-up face for TV! So in the course of a weekend, I was featured in both the race program and on TV. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Later in April, I found myself going to knock 1 of 3 things off my bucket list. I have listened to the band Skillet since 1996. I have every CD. I have seen every band I love and listen to regularly in concert at least once. Except Skillet. Why? I don't know. Things came up. I was bond and determined not to miss this one. It was one of the most amazing incredible epic nights of my life. Skillet's drummer, the incredibly talented and beautiful (and British) Jen Ledger opened with her band, if you were one of the first 200 people after her set to buy her EP you got a wristband for an exclusive meet and greet with her after the show. I was one of the fortunate few (I literally got one of the last few arm bands) they wouldn't allow photos to be taken during the autograph session, but still, at least I got to meet her! Skillet played a full blistering loud energetic interactive 90-minute 14-song set. As they came through the crowd, John Cooper began high-fiving concert goers. I made sure I got one. As they played "Stars" on a small stage behind my seats, I was almost front and center.

Another bucket list (2 more, for that matter) came up later that week. Every year I say I'm always going to go to a race at Devil's Bowl Speedway. I have (surprisingly) never been, and I have never seen the World of Outlaws sprint cars (national sprint car tour with cars that have 410 CI engines/900 HP) so I did 2 birds with one stone, and naturally I found myself in the pits, and I met one of NASCAR's best (Kasey Kahne) and I got all the outlaw's drivers autographs and I even met the voice of the outlaws, their PR announcer with a distinct voice. Another amazing night, getting to watch the entire event from the backstretch grandstands and hanging out in the pits, feeling like I belonged.

Another concert I attended was on May 4 in Allen, I saw the Newsboys United tour, first time since 1996 I have seen the newsboys in concert. I found several friends in attendance outside the venue, and by the time I got in almost all the seats were completely full. I felt like Forrest Gump trying to get a seat on the bus. A friend I had just gotten introduced to (I'll explain that situation in another paragraph) saved me a seat up in the very top row, ended up watching the concert from there and enjoying every minute of it. Such a great night of music. So within 2 weeks I did 2 concerts and both were incredible nights (although Skillet blew every other band out of the water, especially since I had never seen them)

In mid-April someone who used to be in my life group at church set up a facebook group message (usually I hate group messages and leave them) introducing me to one of her friends as we had a lot in common. And man do we! We met at the Newsboys concert, she was incredibly jealous of me that I met Kasey Kahne (big fan of his, apparently) and have stayed in constant contact since that night. Finally found someone my age with my interests. It's quite a relief and quite refreshing.

The last part of my incredible 2 months took place last week. I was at my local dirt track, in the pits, shooting pics and the track owner approached me and asked if I would like to go to the infield and shoot photos. This was a first for me, and a dream come true. For one night, anyway, I was in the infield, shooting pics of cars going by me. If I missed a shot, I would watch them come off turn 2 and wait a few seconds (lap times are between 12 and 15 seconds) and try it again. 430 photos and a dead camera battery later...enjoyed every minute of it. Shaking the drivers' hands and congratulating them as they "parked it" in victory lane, met so many nice people that night and later as I uploaded all the photos on my Facebook page. Can't wait to get out there and do it again!

Lastly...Saturday, I found out that Texas Motor Speedway was going to 5 different Rudy's BBQ locations in the Dallas area, handing out tickets to the upcoming Indy car race. I went to the one in Allen taking my chances. I have never been to an Indy car race, for the June weekend, I go to the truck race and just watch the Indy cars practice. They handed me a voucher for 2 free tickets to the Indy car race. So something else to mark off my list: attend an indy car race.

Life keeps getting better and better. Only have God to thank for making all this possible!