Friday, August 20, 2010

My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me

If you know me or read my Blog you know how much I love American Idol. We watch it as a family & even call in to vote for our favorites. My friend Tammy & her family are the same way. Every season we discuss who we like and who we don't like. (Sometimes it's the same, and sometimes it's very different!) A couple of seasons ago both of our favorites was Danny Gokey!

A couple of weeks ago I was on my way to work & heard on the radio that Danny Gokey was having a concert right here in Queen Creek, Arizona. Where is Queen Creek you ask, it is an eastern suburb of Phoenix, just like we are. I knew Tammy would want to know this ASAP, so even though it was early morning, I called her to tell her about it. While we were still on the phone, she got on line to the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center & ordered our tickets! We got 4, deciding we'd take our husbands and make a double date out of it! We couldn't wait.

Then the night before the concert some friends of ours from Church went out to diner & being American Idol fans themselves, recognized Danny Gokey eating at the same restaurant. They told him they were big fans & had seen him on the AI tour. He told them he would have his manager call them & set up tickets to his show the next night, including passes for the Meet & Greet before the show!

Shauna, Nancy & Barry with Danny Gokey at PF Chang's

So the night of the concert we were having diner before heading to the venue & Nancy texted me saying she got us Meet & Greet passes too! She is great at making things happen! I texted back, we're on our way & Tammy's already screaming! :) Thankfully we didn't get pulled over!

John & I!

I told him we'd voted for him & that he should have one! He thanked me. It was down to 3 contestants left, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen & Danny Gokey. I really liked all 3 of them. But, Danny was the only 1 who had NEVER even been in the bottom 2. Everyone knew he was the favorite to win. Then the unthinkable happened. He was voted off! Even the judges & Ryan Seacrest was in shock! He was robbed! Danny told John he had been a Worship Pastor (like John is) for 5 years! Guess you know what kind of guys I'm attracted to! :)

Jay & Tammy

Danny with his #1 fan!

It was so much fun to meet him. Danny is so nice & really seemed grateful to be doing what he's doing! He was sweet & funny & seemed so thankful to his fans, taking time with each one.

Barry & Nancy

Sandy

Scott & Shauna

Before the Concert started Tammy goes Scott MacIntyre (another Idol contestant from that season who is from Arizona) just sat behind us! So of course, we do what any good fans would do, we got our picture taken with him! He was as sweet as he was on the show & was selling albums that night as well too. Danny introduced him from the stage & said that they had hung out that day!

Nancy, Tammy & I with Scott MacIntyre

A few days latter I was at the John Mayer concert in Phoenix & saw Scott MacIntyre there as well, I'm thinking I might just have a stalker! :)



The seats we bought were like in row 15 or so, the tickets he gave to Shauna & Nancy were in the 5th row! So guess where we sat? That's right, with them! We're not dumb! :)

In our seats!
One of the few times we were actually sitting!

And let me tell you he puts on a great show! You can tell he loves to entertain! And you know I love a man who can dance! And there aren't many of them out there, sadly! :)



After the show both Danny & Scott signed autographs, so Tammy & I went running to get in line!



I had him sign my Concert Ticket, and you can see us all wearing VIP stickers, those were to get into the Meet & Greet. I told Tammy she should have him sign her sticker!

But, I just had to tease her:
in this picture it looks like she asked him to sign something else! ;)

(And we were laughing that even Scott has a smirk on his face, and he's blind!)

It was such a great night! Just what I needed! It's easy, & so much fun, to get caught up in all Tammy's enthusiasm! We screamed and danced, like we were pre teens at a Justin Beaber concert! (And just for the record, let me state, I just don't get the whole Justin Beaber thing! Sure, he sings, dances, has hair, but come on, he's no Shaun Cassidy!) And as I told Tammy that night, I'm gonna be singing Danny Gokey's song: My Best Day's Are Ahead Of Me! At the concert Danny talked about how his young wife, who he had starting dating when he was 16, had died not long before he tried out for American Idol. And how Idol had become for him a second chance at life. It took him out of tragedy & into triumph! But, he still believes his best days still lie ahead. And all I'm losing is my job! Here are the words I've been singing everyday:


My Best Days Are Ahead of Me


Blowing out the candles
On another birthday cake
Old enough to look back and laugh at my mistakes
Young enough to look at the future and like what I see
My best days are ahead of me


Life hasn't always been a party
But mostly it's been good
There's only one or two things that I'd change if I could
I don’t get lost in the past or get stuck in some sad memory
My best days are ahead of me


Age ain’t nothing but a number
Sometimes I have to wonder
What does it really mean
But hey I’m still putting it together
I keep getting better
If I keep getting better
I can be whatever I want to be
My best days are ahead of me


I've got sunsets to witness
Dreams to dance with
Beaches to walk on
And lovers to kiss
There's a whole lot of world out there
That I can't wait to see
My best days are ahead of me
My best days are ahead of me


The whole gang after the concert!
We stopped someone & asked them to take our picture & it's kinds blurry
(left to right: Scott & Shauna, John & I,
Tammy & Jay, Nancy, Barry & Sandy)

Thanks everyone for a great and memorable night! And Keep Singing!

1 comment:

Pam said...

OMG! Lucky you! Our family watched American Idol religiously, too. And we all loved Danny. It's nice to know that he really is as nice as he seemed. What an awesome experience. Great photos, too! I'm so happy for you and John to have had this happy experience in the midst of your recent troubles.