finding her wings

It's been too long since I updated this blog.

It's September and summer is coming to a close. It's been a wonderful summer, and I made so many memories that I will never forget. But it has to end eventually, I guess. So here's hoping that this year will be better than the rest.

I'm starting a new school on Tuesday and I'm rather excited to see what's in store for me. It's kind of like I'm starting over, you know? New place, new people, new opportunities. I normally don't like change but this is the good kind of change, the kind that comes as a relief after years of just going through the motions of a set routine. I think it's gonna be really good for me and my optimism.

I'll keep you all updated on whatever happens next.

Mari

I have finally made a Tumblr.

Today is my second day on Tumblr. I find myself to be quite obsessed.

Obsessed as in currently I am following more than 50 people, have over 100 posts, and even dreamed about Tumblr last night.

I post lots of pretty pictures, Adam Young, Taylor Swift, and Asian fashion, among other stuff.

If you do not like these things, ignore this post. If you do, follow if you wish:

http://sotherewewerebackhome.tumblr.com/

Mari

On Friday I went to an Owl City concert.

Kes arrived at my house at 2:30 and she, my dad, and I all got in the car and drove to Columbus. One thing you should know about me is that I hate driving to Columbus for some reason. But this time, it wasn't really that bad, probably because we were freaking out the whole time.

To my relief, the line was WAY shorter than I had expected. We then sat down and waited in the extreme heat for two hours. It was not fun. We entertained ourselves by writing song lyrics on our arms (or, in Kes' case, "Adam is sneaky" on her leg), eating Chex Mix, and looking at everyone's awesome shirts. As exhausting and boring as the wait was, though, I felt kind of at home, you know? I mean, I was surrounded by Hoot Owls and was waiting to go to a concert. It was pretty awesome.

We finally got inside and ended up about five or six rows back, which is actually REALLY close. We pretty much just stood there until suddenly the lights dimmed and everyone just SCREAMED, myself included.

Unwed Sailor's performance

Mat Kearney's performance

The two opening acts, Unwed Sailor and Mat Kearney, played, and both were extremely awesome. Afterwards, Kes and I sat down because our feet were killing us (yay standing only! x_x) and also because everyone else was. All of the sudden, the lights dimmed for the third time and we sprang up and began screaming yet again.

The Real World started playing, and suddenly I felt like I might pass out. I saw Breanne walk across the stage, and I thought, "Holy crap. That's Breanne Düren. She's right in front of me. That is Breanne Düren." and I think that was when I realized that everything was going to be a lot more amazing and real than I had ever imagined.

I looked over and saw Hannah and Laura, and another jolt of shock ran through me. And then I saw Daniel and Casey walk onstage, and for a split second, I saw Adam. I didn't say anything, only gasped and perhaps let out an involuntary scream.

There was a long intro, and then he walked up to the microphone and sang, "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there!" And suddenly my entire vocabulary flew out the window and all I could do was cover my mouth with my hands and say "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, holy crap, OH MY GOD" over and over again, and occasionally scream. I couldn't even sing. Kes just stood there, shrieking and singing and laughing at me.

I hadn't really understood the fact that Adam Young would be standing there in real life, less than fifteen feet away from me, until it happened. At this point, my brain got completely overwhelmed and I was in a strange state of shock for the rest of the night.

Just as she had promised ages ago, Kes did in fact scream "I FREAKING LOVE YOU" at the top of her lungs. Or, she tried to. She was so excited that it made absolutely no sense and sounded like "IEFJDLKJAF" instead.

Adam played so many awesome songs, including a few of the ones I had really hoped to hear. I was dancing and singing and pretty much just having the time of my life.

We both started tearing up when he played Lonely Lullaby, but a guy at the back screamed "We love you!" during a pause, which was pretty awesome.

Lonely Lullaby.

The entire show was filled with screaming, singing, and extreme happiness and excitement. At one point, the girl behind me shouted, "I love you!" loudly, and Adam looked up and replied, "I love you too!" It was quite awesome, although I was extremely pretty jealous.

At one point, I could have sworn he looked straight at me and grinned. It could have been at someone behind me, but I'm just going to say it was at me because that makes me feel awesome. I just smiled back and sang louder.

A few typical concert mishaps occured, such as when I was jumping up and down during The Yacht Club and accidentally knocked a girl's phone out of her hand. It was actually extremely funny, at least to Kes and me. We are very easily amused, to say the least.

Of course there had to be an encore, so after leaving the stage, Adam and the band returned to play How I Became the Sea and If My Heart Was a House, before which Adam announced, "Wow! There is so much to say, but I can't think of the words. I just - I love you. I'm in love with you." Everyone screamed for the millionth time, and I found myself screaming "I LOVE YOU" until my voice stopped working.

After the show finally ended, we stumbled over to the merch table, suddenly exhausted and in an incredible amount of pain from standing around for three or four hours. (So worth it.) I got an Alligator Sky shirt and a bracelet. We then walked back to the car and drove home.

All in all, it was an INCREDIBLE night that I will NEVER forget. If ever you get the chance to go to an Owl City concert, GO because it is an unforgettable experience, and SO much fun. Hopefully he'll be coming back soon, because I'm rather impatient and I don't know how long I can wait to see him perform again.

In an attempt to better summarize the evening, I put together a video (complete with way too many captions!):

Mari

"Time together isn't ever quite enough, when we're apart whatever are you thinking of, what will it take to make of break this hint of love, so tell me darlin' do you wish we'd fall in loooove... all the time... oh all the time..."

Don't mind me. I'm just getting myself hyped up for tonight. jflasjdfl

("I'D RATHER PICK FLOWERS, INSTEAD OF FIIIIGHTS...")

June 24 was my 13th birthday. It was awesome. Practically everything I got had something to do with owls. And I love owls, so.

I also got the All Things Bright and Beautiful(er) Bundle. Which means I got a CD, limited edition shirt, vinyl, and signed lithograph. SIGNED. And Kes told me it's real. By smelling it. I don't know how accurate this method is, but I'll take her word for it. xD

The DEER IN THE FREAKING HEADLIGHTS video came out!!! I FREAKING LOVE IT. I LOVE Back to the Future. So the fact that he's driving the DeLorean - not just a DeLorean, THE DeLorean - is both amazing and jfladkjfadslfjldfjds I AM SO JEALOUS.

Then again, I'm not. Because I just got a flashback of the one time I tried to drive one of those little kid cars. I drove right into a hedge.

And now, may I mention that I AM SEEING OWL CITY TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! jfljdsf. I have been waiting for this day for, like, AGES. We're leaving at 2:30, so we'll get there an hour early. You guys have NO idea how badly I want to wait for eight hours and be front and center, but my dad's driving, and he refuses to wait that long. :C So I'm just gonna pray for a miracle, I guess. <.<

So, wish me luck, I guess. :3 I'm so freaking excited slfjad;fjads. I will write an extremely long post about it tomorrow. Talk to you later ~

Mari

A couple updates:

June 15-19 I went with my church to Ichthus. If you don't know what Ichthus is, it's a super-fun Christian music festival in Kentucky. This was my first time, and it was AWESOME. There was a lot of making new friends, dancing, bubble machines, music, and FANGIRLING.

I saw a TON of awesome artists. Superchick, Britt Nicole, Skillet, Matthew West, Chris Tomlin, and Dark Valentine (awesome goth band with people I know personally  : D ), among others I can't think of right now.

Oh, yeah. And HEYHIHELLO.

I love HeyHiHello. So much. Their music is just awesome. So when my friend told me they were performing, my reaction was "jfldajlkadsjfla wait wait what?" (which is my reaction to ANYTHING unbelievable or exciting).

It took us ages to find the stupid stage, and it didn't help that NOBODY could pronounce its name. But we finally did. So we arrived about ten or twenty minutes early, which was smart, because right before it began, a huge crowd of people came in and walked up to the front. Luckily, we still managed to get FRONT ROW. (This was my first experience with the front row. Yes, the stage was small and we were just standing there awkwardly, and there weren't really any rows at all. IT WAS STILL COOL. Don't judge me.) And did I mention we skipped the provided dinner for this?

After the concert, I bought a shirt and a CD and got them signed. Now, if you know me, you will know that I am incredibly nervous around people who are famous, well-known, or just super cool. So I was shaking with nerves because I WAS MEETING HEYHIHELLO AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. And then Lane asked me what my name was, shook my hand, high-fived my friend, and told us we were awesome and not to let anyone tell us otherwise.

We then ran out of the tent and started fangirling. A lot.

Later, we were at the main stage and listening to a speaker. At one point, we were told to walk over to a cross and worship. They played a song, and we all raised our hands and sang along. It was cool. But then I looked over - and it was the hair that first gave it away, then the vest, then the shoes (he had written an H on one and an I on the other, so they said "Hi"). Lane Terzieff was standing almost right next to us. And then I turned my head a little more, and 3/5 OF HEYHIHELLO WAS STANDING NEXT TO US. I turned to my friend and we started freaking out. But then as we were leaving, we couldn't figure out how to get their attention, because we were walking right behind them, so we couldn't exactly be all "Hi! We love you! We are not stalking you!" without it being awkward. Thankfully, Lane turned around and saw me, so on the outside I was like "Ohai!" but on the inside I was like "FJADSLJFLSA THANK YOU." and then "omgomgomgomghejustlookedstraightatmeheythatrhymes."

I'm listening to Hello Seattle Remix. I don't know what that has to do with the post.

Also, I feel like I have to mention that I was front row for both Matthew West and Chris Tomlin. And sang and screamed so loud it should have permanently damaged my vocal cords at Chris Tomlin's concert, but didn't lose my voice. O_O

This entry is getting to be extremely long, so I'll post another with a few more updates in a bit. ~

As the title suggests, I am currently freaking out and fangirling so hard it's not even funny. Again. So I won't make much sense. Again.

So today ATBAB was released!!! I have been listening to it all day. Every time I had a spare moment, I would grab my iPod and quickly flip to whatever song I felt like hearing. It was great. My favorite would have to be either Honey and the Bee or Deer in the Headlights. I also adore Plant Life, and The Real World, and Hospital Flowers, and Angels... okay all of them. I also got to hear How I Became the Sea for the first time, and it's incredible. It makes me feel like I'm in a dream, floating and looking down on a scene from a science fiction movie. I DON'T KNOW WHY.

Aslashdlasdhasdh. I am listening to Galaxies right now.

If you can't tell, I am very much in love with this record.

ANYHOW. Not only was the record released, SOMETHING ELSE INCREDIBLE JUST HAPPENED. So a while back I sent Adam a fan letter. Just because I was bored in Language Arts and was suddenly like "heyyy let's write a letter. That sounds fun." So then I wrote a letter to him and sent it.

Fast forward a month. (And one day.) (Yes, I actually just looked the exact day up.)

My mom checked the mail and found a package addressed to me. Inside was a ton of Owl City stuff. For a few minutes we just stared and wondered what the heck was going on. And then a thought occured to me. I grabbed the packaging and looked at the address. Yep. Universal Republic. New York. Same place I had sent the letter to.

I freaked out right then and there.

I have been fangirling like crazy ever since. And because I needed to share this with SOMEONE, here's a list/picture of what I got:

Four posters (Used and now collectible. The ATBAB one has the wrong release date!!), three CDs (two of which are promos), and an Ocean Eyes sticker.

ahgkladhg;ajd'sadjgfhdsg;asjdfg;l'afjk'gaflhg;asfshdgklasdgfkas;dhkfassdhg'asjdg'ljlaghalskdsfgkjs

HAPPY ATBAB DAY GUYS. I HOPE YOURS WAS AWESOME TOO. BECAUSE MINE TOTALLY ROCKED.

Mari

Thanks to my busy life, I've ended up neglecting this little blog. Hopefully this won't happen again. ~

Yesterday was probably one of the best days ever. The awesomeness began when I found that All Things Bright and Beautiful was on Myspace. Initially, I didn't want to listen to it for the same reason I didn't listen to the leak: This is my first time actually getting to anticipate the release of an album, and I wanted to have something to look forward to, you know? But then my mom pointed out that it would allow me to listen to it for more than a day and a half (I'm going to a five-day music festival the day after it comes out and we can't bring iPods. Typical.), so I caved in (I always say "cave in" instead of just "cave" because I'm obsessed with song references) and listened to it. And then I freaked and ended up in that awkward position where you twist your arms around each other and clasp your hands together, and then bite your hands (or maybe that's just me). I tend to do stuff like that when I'm excited because I'm an awkward little creature.

Then, my mom and I went shopping at Target and miraculously found everything we were looking for and more. My favorite purchase would have to be a little backpack I can take to concerts, so I can carry CDs, money, merchandise, etc. I will be needing said backpack a lot during this summer.

Afterwards, we came home and I ran across the street to the neighbors', who had collected money for charity through a lemonade stand last year, and who, to my delight, were doing it again. I also ran into a lady who works at my school and got a picture taken with her. xD

I then ran upstairs and listened to ATBAB some more and sang all the lyrics I knew at the top of my lungs. I discovered that I cannot rap because I am prone to forget the lyrics in the middle of a sentence.

At 2:00 I watched a livestream chat on the Owl City website and freaked when Adam announced that he would be letting us listen to ATBAB... even though I'd heard it that morning. Hey, this meant I got to listen to it and sing along with a bunch of awesome people! (... who don't know I exist... but whatever.)

After the chat was over, I sang at the top of my lungs while voting for the album here. The day before, I had managed to bring it from 3rd place to 2nd by myself, but it was still really far from being in the lead. Nevertheless, I kept voting. And then I guess a bunch of people suddenly found out and decided to bring it to 1st place, because suddenly every time I voted there would be 10-20 more votes. In an hour or less, it was in the lead by a landslide. The entire time I was singing Angels and Dreams Don't Turn to Dust so loud that my voice sounded horrible and amazing at the same time. It was heaven.

At this point I was extremely hyper from partying all day and ended up scaring all my friends at church. (If any of you guys are reading this, sorry! ... And how the heck did you find my blog?!)

The day didn't end as well as I'd hoped, but I was able to pick myself up again using one of the two methods I have developed for killing depression: Internet. (The other is listening to Stairway to Heaven. No, seriously. It works! Especially if you play air guitar the whole time.) I have found that it is impossible to frown while reading dorky #ThatAwkwardMoment tweets. (Also while eating a Frosty. But that's off-topic.) (Wow, I'm still really hyper.)

Today shall hopefully be just as awesome. Yesterday gave me a reality check and made me remember how great optimism is. So, readers, your awesome optimistic blogger is BACK! And I'll be here... um... for the rest of my life, I guess. o3o

Mari

(This is incredibly short. Working on a longer post ~ )

So my friend Kes wrote the quote "I feel vegetable" (only those of you who read the Owl City blog will get this, lol) on a piece of paper and taped it to her locker. Yesterday we were lining up for our next class and our teacher saw and was like, "I feel vegetable. I am feeling vegetable today," and walked off.

o.O

... It was funnier in real life.

Mari

I've started referring to spring and summer as the "sunny seasons" because after a long winter I can't tell the difference. So I use the same name for both.

Things I love and associate with the sunny seasons (this list is very long and in no specific order):

~ Sunshine (of course)

~ Pop and country music

~ Ice cream (vanilla, with sprinkles)

~ Sundresses

~ No homework

~ Swimming

~ The zoo

~ Horseback riding

~ Watching the sun set

~ Lakeside (my favorite place in the world)

~ Guitar

~ Free time

~ Flip-flops

~ Going barefoot

~ Internet

~ Concerts

~ Spending time with friends

~ Parties

~ Bats (I love bats and think they're adorable.)

~ Photography

~ Fireflies and butterflies (at a safe distance - I'm terrified of bugs.)

~ Singing

~ The feeling you get on the last day of school

~ Reading a new book in one day

~ Riding a bike

~ Drawing

~ Wasting time without feeling like you're wasting time

~ Green grass

~ Blue skies

~ Breezes

~ The feeling of the sun on your shoulders

~ The scent of sunscreen

~ Being able to say that it's spring/summer

You?

Mari

So a bunch of fans got together and made this for Adam. We reeeeaaaally want him to see it, so if those of you who have Twitter could tweet him the link, that would be great. And if you don't have Twitter, post it the blog (like I did), Facebook, Tumblr, etc. Thanks : )

And, in case you're wondering, I'm at 1:44. : P I hate taking pictures of myself. xD

EDIT: He saw the video!  : D I'm sorta in shock right now  : DDDDDD

Mari