Come one, come all!

Bring your lawn chair. Bring your dog. Bring a bottle of wine. Bring whatever you want. We're just going to get together and listen to music and hang out. Why don't more things happen like that? Ashley, her friend Emily and I went to this place called Matilda's the other day - with very low expectations, at least for me. From the front, it looks like a dump. It's basically a store that sells a variety of crap - you know, old furniture that has been painted over like 10 times, weird metal objects, stuff like that. But we walked around back (it was dark) and there was a totally different scene and feel going on.

The first thing we saw was a huge old barn with an enormous American flag painted on it. Very cool. To the left was another old country house - not lived in - with the front porch set up as a stage. It had lighting, sound systems, you name it. To the right was an open area with about 200 people. They had brought blankets, fold out tables, chairs, dogs, food, beer, wine, frisbees, kids...it was awesome! For about an hour and a half, a blugrass group played. We sat there and half listened and half talked, and loved it. It sure didn't feel like we were in Alpharetta, GA. It felt more like a Boone or Bend event, and Ashley and I both liked that.

Can't there be more events like this? A community of gatherers with really nothing in common other than wanting to get out of the house and do something, anything for a night. Wanting to do something different and cool. Wanting to feel like a local. Or wanting to feel like you are not local at all, in our case. It sure was a lot better than going to a "formal" concert - paying $40 to get in, and spending more $$ on decent food. We spend $10 to get in, and brought whatever we wanted. We loved it.

In case you were wondering, here are some more random events and updates:
- Danny turned 50. We had a great celebration of life, because he thinks that once you turn 50 you are going to die. We told him otherwise.
- Taffy and Spanky (the dogs) continue to be the cutest in the world. See pics below.
- Ashley and I had a great time in Arizona for our Young Life training...can't wait to be there for a month!
- My brother is starting his pilgrimege to Oregon...he found a place to live and a job! A productive week, to say the least.
- Work is going good - I am now managing our MySpace page...should I make a shameless plug? Ok. www.myspace.com/ironhorseauto
- I have pandora on and Don't Stop Believin just came on...its going to be a good day!
- Wedding plans are coming along...March 2010 is looking like the wedding month. Probably the 20th for the actual date, although don't hold us to that just yet!

Until next time, do something local. Go have fun. Summer is almost here!