Saturday, October 28, 2006

Maple Leaf Land here we come!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that in a few short hours we will be entering the great country of Canada! So the next time you hear from us it will from across the border!

Thanks and God Bless.

Friday, October 27, 2006

comments

I'm not sure why, but all of a sudden I had 26 comments to moderate- some a week or more old. So there are some new comments on some old posts for everyone's reading pleasure.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

For all those who haven't heard...

...We're going to Bolivia! You can check out the details of our trip to South America on CTI's website under the news section. We're pretty pumped and it's going to be here before we know it!

In other news team life has been going really well. We are in New York right now, at the home of my former full-time teammate, Beth Russell's family. It is so great to see her family again. We are also now joined on tour by the one and only Chris Reed, our manager. We can't tell you how excited we are about that.

We spent most of the last week in northern PA and southern NY working with YFC chapters there. We had a blast getting to experience life working with YFC. It is great preparation for going overseas in a month. Big shout outs to Melody Crawford, Shaye, and everyone else at YFC. After a brief stop in Walden, NY at Freedom Road Bible Church, we made our way here to the Russell household. Last night we played a concert at a youth center in Middletown, and it was a blast.

Today we roll out for Rhode Island so watch out for more updates from the East Coast!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Bristol

Okay so it has been a bit since I wrote a blog. I am going to go back to last week. Last week we were in Bristol Virginia or Tennesee depending on what side of the city you are on. We had several shows over the weekend. And then we had a couple of days to kind of relax. Rick Call ( our contact) said he was going to set up some special things for us to do. So Last Monday (9 days ago) we went on a 17 mile bike ride (it was all down hill). It was gorgeous. I have never done anything like that before. We were taken to the top of a hilll by this shuttle and then we rode all the way down. So that was awesome

Then Tuesday Rick again had something special for us. that morning he called us to the computer. He wanted to show us pictures of what we would be doing. It was pictures of Bristol Motor Speedway. A lot of you know that I am a huge NASCAR fan. So I seriously liked frieked out when I found out we would be going to the track and would be able to go onto the track!! So after breakfast we drove to the track. I was so excited in the van. We go to the track and started our tour. We drove the van onto the dragstrip which was awesome and then we went to the stock car track. The same track that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had driven on. :) So we went up to this suite that overlooked the track. I got so many pictures. Then we went into the grandstands and I got even more pictures. Then we drove the van onto the actual Bristol Motor Speedway track!!! WE stopped at turn one and I sat on turn one for a while just taking it all in. Then I ran over to the finish line and got more pictures of me standing on the finish line and to top it all off we then raced the van around the track. Wow what an amazing feeling :) Oh and then we got to sing at the Speedway. That was awesome...So thanks to Rick because that was seriously just so much fun.

Anyways yeah so I hope everyone is doing well. Hi team 14:22!!! Hope you guys are awesome, miss you all!!

~ Julie

Saturday, October 14, 2006

I'm dreaming of a White October...

It snowed on us today. It was beautiful. Especially since none of it stuck on the ground. Just thought you all would like to know.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Whirlwind week...

It feels like it has been forever since we left Minnesota, but it has really only been just over two weeks. I think that is largely due to the fact that we have been so busy, especially lately. Since last Tuesday we have had at least one concert a day, and some days we even had two. It is so great to be used by God though! We would not want it any other way.

Here's a few highlights and lowlights of the past few days...

We got to help serve and perform at Evansville Rescue Mission, which is an organization that reaches out to the community of Evansville, Indiana with a message of hope, and a helping hand. We even got to be a surprise worship team at their chapel service prior to our concert.

From there we headed to Berea, Kentucky where the team began to get our first taste Southern hospitality. We played at the River of Life Foursquare Church and had a blast. We had awesome hosts and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Thursday on our drive to White Pine, Tennessee we had a flat tire on the van. No need to worry about anything though, we were very careful when changing the tire and the Lord provided for us in many ways through that experience. It also brought us closer together as a team.

Friday night found us rocking out acoustic style at a coffee shop in downtown Bristol, Tennessee. Our team loves coffee shops and acoustic sets, so it was a great fit.

Saturday night we met up with Rick Call who has been our host in the Abingdon, Virginia area since then, and we played at the Arise Center in Glade Spring, Virginia. The people there rocked! The guys got a chance to skate with some of them before and after the concert so that was really cool.

Sunday we peformed at Rick's church in the morning and then helped out at a youth rally in the afternoon. From there Rick took us to our luxurious accomodations at the Martha Washington Inn, which is essentially a five-star hotel. Needless to say we were living it up! Thanks again Rick!

Monday morning we gave a short concert at Graceland Academy and then changed into our riding clothes in preparation for our 17 mile bike ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail. This day was so full of memories it is hard to put them into words, but suffice it to say that we were truly blessed beyond our wildest imaginations!

Tomorrow holds more suprises from Rick and a concert at Emory and Henry College. Please pray for us as we are starting to feel the weariness that accompanies a busy tour schedule and we want to keep pressing on toward the prize!

Monday, October 02, 2006

here's my first one on this blog...

well it's been about two weeks since we left. everythings been doing well.
we've been a week on tour and are now in Marion Indiana at the Indiana Weslyan University.
we are going to be going to Tennessee or Kentucky tomorrow at 10am.
musically it's been going good. i miss home.
i'll try to update more asap.

-brandon

Recruiting

Well I am sitting right now in Indiana Weslyan University. We have a table and we are attempting to recruit people :) Luke is playing the guitar and everyone else is just kind of chillin. It has been such an interesting week. We've been through many states and have had some fun concerts. I think everyone is mostly healthy right now which is just awesome. We will be here at the college for like another 3 hours and then we get to just hang out for the rest of the day. So yeah...

This past week has taught me so much on so many different levels. One thing that I guess I shouldn't be amazed at and yet I am all the time is how faithful God is to give you the strength you need for each day. Everyday teaches me something new and I am so excited to see God work in and through my life over the year.

Well I'd like to say hi to team 14:22!! Hope you guys are doing great :)

~ Julie