Hunter Hayes Concert

If you ever get the chance to see Hunter Hayes in concert, go.

Right now.

GO RIGHT NOW.

Oh my God...last night was easily the best night ever. First of all, the opening act, Ashley Monroe, was fantastic. I love her songs, and it was so fun to watch her perform.

Now...Hunter.

OHMYGOODNESSHUNTER.

To say Hunter Hayes is cool is an understatement. He is the sweetest, most talented performer ever. I can't tell you how many times he thanked us for buying his music or spending our Friday night with him. At the end of the concert, he got down on his knees, hands clasped together, and said, "Thank you all so much! God bless you!" At that point, I was seriously considering leaping off the balcony and hugging him.

The setlist was awesome. He played EVERY song from "Encore"—in other words, HE PLAYED "CRY WITH YOU."

HOLY CRAP.

I LOVE THAT SONG.

He opened the show with "Storm Warning," and afterwards played "Can't Say Love" (which ISN'T on "Encore," but is still a fun song to hear live). I thought I was going to lose my mind when he played "Faith to Fall Back On," and "Cry With You," too?!?!

Best. Concert. Ever.

Hunter is a lot of fun to watch onstage. He's not one of those guitarists whose main goal is to hit a bunch of high notes as fast as possible, where the solo doesn't sound like it fits in the song. His playing was as fantastic as his singing, and his writing, too—in addition to his playing abilities and his voice, he is a gifted songwriter.

After he played "Where We Left Off," I swear you could feel everybody's excitement—he hesitated at the piano for a second, and then played a few notes. We all knew what he was going to play.

The first few notes of "Wanted" were enough to elicit deafening cheers from the audience. Just like all the other songs, everyone sang every single word. The chorus was really something, though.

Hunter didn't sing the chorus; we did. He kept playing, grinning at the audience as we sang every word. It was just like when the audience sang the chorus in "If I Die Young" when The Band Perry opened for the Rascal Flatts show.

The ending was just too awesome. Everyone was waiting for him to play "I Want Crazy." (This is the Let's Be Crazy Tour, after all.) He closed the show with the song, and the balcony actually shook because everybody was jumping up and down, freaking out. It was a fantastic ending.

It's hard to choose a favorite part of the show, but I absolutely love how Hunter interacts with his fans. At least three times, he reached out to touch the hands of those in the front row. He constantly said, "You're beautiful, _______!" and "You guys sound amazing! LET'S BE CRAZY!!!" The best, though, was each time he would say, "I love you more!" we would all scream louder, and then he'd yell, "I love you more!" It was so much fun.

Long story short, Hunter Hayes is a fantastic performer. He is inspiring both as a musician and as a person; he is so good to his fans and is just a really nice guy. Honestly, listening to his music is like talking to a friend. At least, that's how it has always felt for me.

Now, PICTURE TIME!!!!!

We took A LOT of pictures, but these are the best ones we took:

I think the one above was taken during "Storm Warning."

This was probably "Storm Warning," too.

 

 

We got a lot of "Storm Warning."

 

 

Not "Storm Warning." This may be "Faith to Fall Back On" or "A Thing About You."

 

This is either "Can't Say Love" or "In a Song."

 

 

Yes, that's me attempting to photobomb him. I can't remember which song it was.

 

Thank you all for reading—and thank you, Hunter, for being an awesome role model. <3

 

~Naomi

 







Update :D

Hi everybody!

It's been a while, so I just wanted to post a quick update.

School has been keeping me busy, and music is going really well! I'm taking official guitar lessons each week—and messing around with the GarageBand app. I'm definitely not used to it. XD

But it's a great app to have—with it, I can put together songs using instruments I don't own. Of course, I have no idea how to work it and accidentally recorded myself several times, but I'll figure it out at some point...

I recently wrote a second song for Hunter Hayes—and I've noticed a huge difference between my writing two years ago and now. My lyrics specifically improve with every song I write.

It's pretty late, so I have to go to sleep.

Wait—what am I doing in twelve days, you ask?

SEEING HUNTER HAYES LIVE?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!

I could write a song about how excited I am...

And now I leave you with another photo-shopped creation:

I really wish this tree existed...

Bye everybody!

~Naomi :)

AMAZING

August seventeenth, I saw Rascal Flatts in concert.

THEY WERE INCREDIBLE.

Cassadee Pope and The Band Perry opened for them.  Everybody was awesome!  I swear, country music is just the friendliest genre with such a "big giant family" vibe. :)

If Rascal Flatts are coming to your area, I highly recommend seeing them.  My only complaint is that they didn't play "My Wish"—but they have so many awesome songs that it must be difficult to figure out the set list. :)

It's late at night and I have to go to sleep, so here's a picture I photoshopped.

Get it?  "Special K?" Keith Urban?  Get it?! :D

Yeah...that's true procrastination right there. XD

Thanks for reading!  I can't believe September's tomorrow...it's just like last year—I feel like summer's ending too soon, like I've finally gotten into the summer mood and now it's over. :P

~Naomi

2013 CMA Music Fest! :D

NOTE: Blogger was having problems at the time I was making this post, so it may have been uploaded a day to a week later.  I wrote it on Monday, August 12th.  I hate you, computer. (Computer: I hate you, too!  Trollolololol!)

Who watched the three hour long CMA Music Fest on ABC tonight? :)

It was so awesome!  I still think Hunter ought to release "Cry With You" or "Love Makes Me" as singles...they'd both do really well.  And congratulations to him for "I Want Crazy" hitting number one!  I can't wait to see him in October.  He was fantastic tonight. :) ("Everybody's Got Somebody But Me" is stuck in my head...XD)

Actually, everybody was fantastic tonight.  It never fails to amaze my mom and me how good country singers sound live...I practically died when Eric Church started playing "Keep On."

People complain about how today's country isn't true country and Taylor Swift is pop and what the heck is Jason Aldean doing rapping and blah blah blah.

I'll admit—country is branching out quite a bit.  "Red" is a lot different from Taylor's debut.  And I was kind of confused by Jason rapping in "Dirt Road Anthem" and "1994," too.

For the most part, I still call today's country country.  It's not, of course, traditional country, but I'm not calling it traditional country.  I'm calling it country—as in, one of the branches of country. 

While I defend Taylor in saying she may be pop now, but she should still be considered a country artist in that she started out country and will still play country songs, I'll admit that I have a bit of trouble calling someone like Kelly Clarkson country.  Taylor started out in Nashville—Kelly didn't.  Don't get me wrong, I think Kelly's a fantastic singer, but I'm always going to associate her with pop. 

As for Darius Rucker, I think of him as a country artist immediately because, well, I never heard any songs from Hootie and the Blowfish.  My mom, on the other hand, always exclaims, "Hootie!" whenever he's on the radio, haha. :)

I think bands like Florida Georgia Line are really interesting.  They have a little bit of everything (Keith Urban reference ;)) in that they're on country radio, pop radio, and who knows what other genres are on their album.  They're a ton of fun to listen to, and that's pretty impressive when an artist's first single hits number one.  The same happened for Taylor, and that's not something that happens very often.  I think "Storm Warning" was only in the top twenty (it should have gotten to number one, though...:P). 

For those who believe today's country isn't country, well, fine, no one's forcing you to believe anything.  But just remember this—artists today like Florida Georgia Line and Taylor Swift were influenced by artists like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.  You may not hear traditional country in their music, but believe me, it's there in their hearts. (Wow.  That was super cheesy.)

And you know, it's fun to switch things up a bit every now and then.  My first time listening to Pip was really funny—I wasn't used to pop.  The closest I came to pop before then was "Forever & Always" by Taylor Swift. (Since it was before "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "22" came out.)  The same goes for Nathan Parrett—although I've only heard one original from him...I'm so writing a song for him. XD

And then there are some artists that are keeping the traditional sound—like Justin Moore and Ashley Monroe.  Their music is really awesome and inspiring, too. 

So the summary of this post?  I'll listen to anything country.  It's all at least a little country to me, and although the rap thing is odd for me, I can get used to it—as long as there's not too much of it.  I really like Jason Aldean, but even two songs is pushing it for me, and that's not counting the kind of rap verses in "The Only Way I Know."

Thank you for reading!  Things are going really well with my own songwriting.  I wrote a song I plan on sending to Justin Moore, and I'm going to see Rascal Flatts and The Band Perry this Saturday!  I'm unbelievably excited. :)

Have a great day/night/whenever, everybody! :)

~Naomi

Brass Buckle Band

Hey there!

I just heard this really awesome band at a country festival (I can't believe they had a Country Day here!!! :D) in my area.  They're called the Brass Buckle Band, and they're made up of extremely talented musicians who play anything from Johnny Cash to Florida Georgia Line.  I heard them play Luke Bryan's "Country Girl," Keith Urban's "You Look Good In My Shirt," several Toby Keith songs, and other awesome country music.  I look forward to listening to their future music. :)

Here's their website:

http://www.brassbuckleband.com/

You guys rock! :)

I don't really have an update for my own music—although I've written a song I think I'm going to send to Nathan Parrett...did I mention that already?  I forgot. XD

Have a great day, everybody! :)

~Naomi

Happy 237th birthday, America!

(I snuck in Mom's knitting, heh heh. :D)

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD

OHMYGOD
OHMYGOD
OHMYGOD
OHMYGOOOOOD

That's it.  We're writing a song together one day.

:D :D

Guess what's tomorrow?

What?  Hunter Hayes's album's in stores?

And what's in October?

One of his concerts?

THAT I AM GOING TO?!?!

:D

I'm so happy.

SLENDERNATE!!!!!

I should be doing something important, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...

 

 

Man, I love MS Paint.

 

~Naomi

 

 



I PLAYED MY FIRST BANJO!!!!

Yesterday, my dad and I went to a guitar store nearby. 

AND THEY HAD BANJOS.

LOTS AND LOTS OF BANJOS.

So I played one...I sounded awful at first, since I didn't know what I was doing. XD But I randomly played different strings and eventually came up with something I considered adding to one of my songs.

I recorded it on my MP3 player (it's about twenty seconds long) and listened to it while looking through a list of my songs.  I found a couple that could work, but I wasn't really sure about adding it.

Then I came across Keith Urban's song.

IT FITS PERFECTLY.

I always have ideas for the music for songs, and the melody will get stuck in my head, but I'd never be able to actually play it since I don't have the instruments. (And I will never learn how to tune that violin.  Ever.)

But now that I can go to this store and play around with the banjo (I'll really never learn how to tune it) and experiment.  This is so exciting!  I can't wait to play with it again. :)

The thrill of learning a new instrument...it's so much fun.  It's like checking out a new artist's music—which is another thing I'm currently doing.

For any fans of "The Voice," do you guys remember Nathan Parrett?  He went up against Pip in one of the rounds and, unfortunately, didn't go further on the show.  Although he definitely should have—he was really awesome. 

I found his YouTube channel and Facebook page, so I'm going to start watching his videos.  I can't wait to hear some of his music—especially since, I'm pretty sure, country isn't his genre.  That was something that was really fun about listening to Pip's EP.  I'm so used to country that it's really strange to listen to pop songs. 

And I'm pretty much done with my illness.

SO MANY AWESOME THINGS!!!

:)

Have a great weekend, everybody!  Thank you all so much for reading. :)

~Naomi

I'M ALIVE!!

The combination of nothing new really going on and me getting sick this week has kept me from blogging.  Sooooo...

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK.

On Monday night, I started feeling pretty darn sick, and it was really bad on Tuesday.  Fortunately, I started feeling better yesterday, and I'm feeling even better today, so that's good. :)

I'm at the end school-wise, and as far as songwriting goes, I'm doing pretty well...I'm writing another song to send to someone...guess...

PIIIIIIIIP.

Yes, this is the second song I plan on sending to Pip. 

I'M SO EXCITED.

I only have one verse and a chorus, but I think it's going well. 

No, I haven't sent Hunter his song yet.  I don't know when or how—the Blown Away Tour just ended, but where do I send the song?  And even if I knew where to send it, that'd be kind of hard to write a letter to him while coughing my brains out.

I don't know if I'll be able to go to Krav this weekend, but I may be okay for Monday—or maybe Wednesday.  I'll be just fine next week, I'm sure. :)

You know...for school, I have to make a print advertisement for a made up product.  I decided to make it on the computer, as I'm already artistically challenged and MS Paint doesn't help. 

I'm making an advertisement for a kind of tea that has loads and loads of fiber in it.  It's very useful because the tea helps you stay awake—so you can be fully aware of your regularity!

...Okay, this isn't actually the first ad.  I made at least three before this, but they were kind of too...weird for something I should send in for school.  Honestly, how seriously can you make an ad for tea containing forty grams of fiber?

My first thought was, "Hey, maybe with each ad I make, it'll get less offensive." Really, it was the other way around. 

Don't even get me started on the very first drawing.

So here's to hopefully getting a good grade!  *WOOT WOOT*

~Naomi

BLOG BUDDIES!!!

Guess who has a blog?

Guess.

Guess.

Guess.

MY SISTER.

Yes, my crazy sister started a blog!!!  And a YouTube channel!!!  AND THEY'RE AWESOME!!!

Here's a link to her blog:

http://ladypakenhamneedsahobby.blogspot.com/

She put up a Let's Play of two Slenderman games.  It's really awesome. :D

Ah, blog buddies...nothing more fun...

There are a couple things I'd like to mention before I end this post:

Today is Pip's twenty-first birthday!  Happy birthday, man!  I hope his performance went well today.  I couldn't get to see it (as I am on the other side of the country), but I bet it was awesome.  I swear, he has the best range ever...

And I just learned that this morning, George Jones passed away at eighty-one.  God bless this talented legend.  May he find a safe path to Heaven.  We'll never forget you, Possum. <3

Hope you all have a great weekend.  Thanks for reading! :)

~Naomi

Prayers for Boston ♥

All our love and prayers go out to the poor victims of yesterday's tragedy.  May those poor souls rest in peace and follow a safe path to Heaven; and may hopeful, optimistic thoughts be sent to their families.

Stay safe everybody, and have a good day. <3

~Naomi

The ACM's!

Hey there! 

How many of you watched the Academy of Country Music Awards last night?

IT.  WAS.  FREAKIN' AWESOME.

If you haven't seen it but plan to, SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

I'm gonna put a picture here of a circle so you don't accidentally see any of the winners.

Sorry, I had to make something really quick. XD

Anyway, congratulations to all those fantastic artists who won their awards—and congratulations to Luke Bryan specifically for winning Entertainer of the Year!  He definitely deserves it.  I love how everybody cried when he won. XD

Man, he and Blake were hilarious. XD And all of the performances were so awesome!  Hunter's new single is absolutely awesome.  I've only heard it once and it's already my favorite song. XD Also, on Kix Brooks's countdown last night after the show, "Somebody's Heartbreak" got number one!!!  WOOHOOO!!!! :D

Three hours of pure awesomeness.  If you missed it and wanna see it, I'm sure you can find some performances on YouTube.  Heck, halfway through the CMA's there was a video of Brad Paisley doing Gangnam Style already up. XD Heh heh...I love his shades. XD

Thank you all so much for reading!  I love making stupid drawings for you guys. XD Have an awesome week! <3 :)

~Naomi

AAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!

WARNING: Shameless fangirling ahead.  If you aren't afraid of a fourteen year old girl screaming, jumping up and down, and hugging the computer screen for ten minutes, continue.

GUESS WHOSE ALBUM IS COMING OUT IN JUNE.

GUESS.

GUESS.

GUESS.

HUNTER FREAKIN' HAYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ASD;JGA;KLSDJG;LAKSDJG!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I promise I'm done with the Caps Lock. XD For now, anyway. XD

I can't wait!!  He's gonna perform his new single on the ACM's this Sunday.  Yay!!! (It took a lot of willpower not to put that in Caps Lock, just so you know. XD)

And guess who wrote a song for Carrie Underwood?

Elvis.

Just kidding.

This is the eighth song I'm planning on sending to other artists.  Woo!!! (Again with the no Caps Lock thing. XD This is harder than it looks...XD)

I have two sets of tests left in my grade, and I'm very happy with my last set.  My teacher said she really loved my chocolate report (c'mon, it's chocolate.  How could you not love it? ;)), and I had a great grade on the tests overall.  I was pretty nervous, but I'm calmer about school now, thank goodness.

Also, testing for level two in Krav is on the twenty-eighth, and my cousin and I are gonna do it. :) I feel pretty good about it, although I'll have to practice a couple things.  But I'm still feeling good as far as testing goes.  It'll be fun. :)

One more track and my eighth (I think? XD) album will be complete!  I'm so excited.  I had a journal where I'd write the lyrics to all my songs (every freakin' one of them XD), and then I'd underline different parts and explain some personal stuff. (Sounds exciting, eh? XD) It was like, a hundred pages long, and I'm done with it.  Around ninety songs are in that book, and now I have a new journal.  Man, I really love obsessively writing about people. XD

That's it for this update!  I'm gonna continue on fangirling with my friend. XD Man, I can't wait to get Hunter's album!!  For any Hayniacs out there, what's your favorite song from him?  I love "Faith to Fall Back On" and "Cry With You." (I think he should've released "Cry With You" as a single, but eh, what do I know about all that stuff? XD) Congrats to Hunter for "Somebody's Heartbreak" getting number one!  I love that song. :)

Thank you all so much for reading!  What drawing should I make this time?  Hm...I suppose I'll find something...

Ooh!  I know!

Isn't it really exciting when a favorite artist of yours is going to be featured on another favorite's album?  Like when Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood did the duet, "Remind Me." Or that new duet from Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift, "Highway Don't Care" (Keith Urban also plays guitar in the song).  But what about that new artist who's gonna be featured in one of Hunter's songs on his new album?

Ah, what was his name...?  I forgot...it started with an S...? (This is true procrastination right here.)

Seriously, Slendy could be a pianist with those fingers...XD (I know, I know—my drawings just get worse and worse. XD)

Well, I guess I should actually go do something important...XD Thank you again for reading!  Man, I have way too much fun with stupid drawings...XD Have a great week, everybody! <3 :)

~Naomi

Update of Updateness

I'm really creative with those titles, eh? XD

I'm listening to Justin Moore right now 'cause this may be a lengthy post.  NOOOO!!!!

XD Prepare yourself. XD
"I CAN'T HIDE MY REDNECK SIIIIIIDE!!!  IT'S IN MY BLOOD TILL THE DAY I DIIIIE!!!  WHEN I START HAVIN' A REAL GOOD TIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!!  NO, I CAN'T HIDE MY REDNECK SIIIIIIIIIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I FREAKIN' LOVE THAT SONG!!!!!!

Ok, back to the update. XD

I left choir early.  I'm really busy with school (and getting wrapped up in Krav ;)), so I left after the fundraiser last Friday.  I got a lot of goodbye hugs and even stayed in touch with a couple kids, so I left on a good note. (HA!!  BAHAHAHAHA!!!  HUMOOOR!!!!)

There's testing for level two in Krav next month, and I know Daddy's gonna do it, but I'm not sure if I can.  I want to, but we'll see what happens.  Tons of things have been happening lately...

My songwriting has been going great—I have seven songs I plan to send to other artists.

Wait.

Seven?

Let's see...Keith Urban, Thompson Square, Billy Currington (I'll rewrite this one at some point XD), Hunter Hayes (I WROTE THE LETTER!!  OH YEAHHHH!!!!!), Eric Church, Lady Antebellum...??

Who's seven?

What?  Did you say PIP?

As in, Pip from The Voice? 

As in, NOT COUNTRY?

Whoa.  Whoa.  WHOA. 

That's crazy.

Well, crazy as it may seem, it's true—I'm writing a song for PIP!!!

I know I say I only write country music, but I have a very Taylor Swift-Hunter Hayes songwriting style.  It's kind of country-pop, but it's not more pop like "I Knew You Were Trouble" or "22". 

Still, there's no banjo or fiddle, which makes it difficult to write. XD

I have a verse and the chorus, and I really like how it's going.  I'm super excited about it. 

School's been good.  I have Test 120 this week.  After that, I'll only have tests 140 and 160, then I'll be done for a week, then I'll go straight into the next grade.  Huzzah...

Oh well.  Gettin' crap done, at least...

Oh, and guess who's playing a small acoustic set in my area tonight?

HUNTER.  HAYES.

"Oh, you mean your favorite singer/songwriter/musician/human whom you've missed opening for Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood?"

Yes.  Him.

I wouldn't have been able to go even if I won tickets from the radio—you have to be at least twenty-one to get in...which, actually, is kind of funny when you think about it, considering the fact he wouldn't have been able to go to his own show a year ago. XD

Fortunately, I think there's gonna be a livestream on US99's website tonight...WOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!

And I heard him talking about it on the radio, so that was pretty awesome. :D

Things are going pretty well...ups and downs for everything, but eh, that's life.  I wasn't playing guitar because I was busy with school and choir and Krav, but now that I'm done with choir, that gives me over six hours back in my week. (Two rehearsals a week, and it takes about an hour to get there...bleh.  I'll still miss it a lot, though. <3) I began practicing guitar again, thank goodness...

STUPID DRAWING TIIIIIME!! OH YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where we do Krav, there's a really tight hallway where everybody exits out into after their classes.  A few minutes after our class, I went to get my coat, and there was only like, one other person there.  It was pretty quiet.

As usual, my cousin and I were goofing around and laughing about something.  I don't remember if we were making fart noises or duck noises or walrus noises or what, but we made some kind of disturbing noise that we thought was absolutely hilarious.

As one of us made this sound, a woman walked by.  She probably was picking up her kid from a class or something.

Well, she was disturbed.

It was so hilarious.  She literally spun around and stared at us, horrified. 

We laughed so freaking hard.

You know, I really enjoy all the reactions I get.

:)

Thank you all so much for reading!  I can't tell you how excited I get when I see a new view on a post.  Thank you for living with my crazies. XD

Have a wonderful day/night/whatever! XD

~Naomi

Happy Birthday Snoopy! ♥

Happy tenth birthday to my lovable Boston Terrier, Snoopy!  I made him birthday bacon this morning. :D

Yup...he loves Thanksgiving. XD

It's a normal week—I have choir today, Krav on Saturday (I'm hoping to do weapons), and hopefully Krav on Sunday (I wanna try KO bag).  Songwriting and schoolwork have been going well, and I missed five rehearsals already this semester—if I wasn't sick, Mom was sick, and if we were healthy, the weather was bad, and if we were healthy and it wasn't snowing crazily outside, the world ends, and if the world doesn't end...

Thanks for reading possibly my shortest post ever!  I hope you all have a wonderful day—including my little Snoppers! <3

~Naomi

*Happy Dance*

Why am I dancing?

'Cause I think it's funny to dance in public for no reason.

Ok, that's not why. XD But it IS funny. XD

About twenty minutes after I wrote Eric Church's song, I wrote a duet—with Lady Antebellum in mind.

This is the sixth song (counting Billy Currington's soon-to-be rewritten song) I have that I'm gonna send to other people...I'm so excited.

I'm listening to country music right now as I write. XD Little Big Town's "Tornado" is currently playing.  Mom and I were listening to country during breakfast—we heard Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Taylor Swift...an awesome way to start Friday. :) (I'm still hoping "Wanted" or "Somebody's Heartbreak" will come on. ;))

That's it for this post.  I gotta go do something productive. XD Thank you for reading, and Snoopy says, "Have an awesome weekend!"

 

:)

 

 

~Naomi

 

 

OH YEAHHH!!!

Guess who just wrote a song for ERIC CHURCH?!?!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XD

My mom and I absolutely LOVE Eric. We're part of the Church Choir, haha...;)

Anyway, we were listening to Chief on the way to choir today, and when we got home, I had an idea for a song. (Its message is like Eric's song "Homeboy." It's a fantastic song.  You gotta check it out. :D)

After writing just the first few lines, I could imagine Eric singing it.  With the thought of sending it to him, I finished it easily.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

This is the fifth song I've written that I plan to send to other people (well, I guess fourth—I wrote a song for Billy Currington, but I lost it :P I'm gonna rewrite it at some point, though :)).  WOOHHOOOO!!!

CELEBRATE WITH STUPID DRAWINGS!!!!!!!!

I did better with drawing Brad's facial hair this time—even if everybody's ears SUCK.  I apologize for the terrible drawing, haha. XD

Thank you all for reading!  I'm so happy about this song.  I've been working a lot on my music lately, and I have a dress rehearsal on Saturday and a performance on Sunday, so I'm pretty busy.  I hope to go to Krav on Monday, but I don't think I'll be able to go. XP Oh well.  I'll be able to go back next Saturday—and I want to try KO bag on Sunday.  I think Dad's gonna do it this weekend.  Woohoo! :)

Thanks again for reading!  You all are amazing. <3 :)

~Naomi

WORLD'S FASTEST UPDATE >:D

...Ok, not really. XD

I'll try to make it fast, though...

This is my last choir semester.  There are quite a few reasons why I'm leaving, but the main one is so I can focus on schoolwork and my music...also, I'm getting pretty wrapped up in Krav Maga. ;)

It's so fun!  Everybody there is great, and it's an awesome activity.  Everyone I met has been so kind to me. :)

I'm gonna miss choir, and I've been here for two years now, but I've gotta move on eventually. 

School is going well, as songwriting is.  I have five tracks for a new album (seventh or eighth...I dunno XD), and they're all written for the same guy...heh heh. XD I also have another track on an earlier album for him.  WOOHOO!! XD

Is it dorky that I'm actually writing an outline for Hunter's letter...? XD Hey, it's gotta be professional...XD

I'm bummed I'll have to miss Krav this weekend; I have a dress rehearsal on Saturday and the performance on Sunday.  I'm trying to memorize choir songs, studying my notes for school, work on my own music, there's been a bit of family drama, friend-making drama (slight drama, though—mostly just frustration)...lots of stuff going on. 

I'm happy to say OCD has improved a lot—I don't talk about it a lot on here, but I have mild OCD that really sucks. XD In one area it's gotten a little worse, but I think I can handle it.

I have to go, so I don't have time to make a new silly drawing, so I'll look around for something on the computer.

DANG IT!  I can't find a picture. :(

Well, that's it for this update. XD That wasn't the world's fastest update, but it was MY fastest update. XD
Thanks for reading!  You're all so awesome. :) Have a great week!

~Naomi

Happy Valentine's Day ☺

Who is my valentine today, you ask?

Just kidding.  Slenderman's my sister's valentine.

I don't have one—unless my dog counts. XD

I love that little baby<3 :)

♥

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  Have a good week. :)

You know, a lot of people are like, "I hate Valentine's Day 'cause liking it is too mainstream," which is funny, since now THAT'S becoming mainstream.  I don't absolutely love it, and I don't absolutely hate it.  I look at Valentine's Day as my golden opportunity to get more chocolate. XD

That's it for this post—I finished another album, and Mom's gonna help me write Hunter's letter tomorrow.  YAY!!!! :D

Thanks for reading, and have one heck of a week! :)

~Naomi

Hot Chocolate

Who wishes to hear the harrowing tale, "The First Time I Made Hot Chocolate from Scratch by Myself?"

It's terrifying, I assure you.

Okay, enough of that. XD
Quite a while ago, my mom found this AWESOME hot chocolate recipe online.  The problem was...it was eight-hundred calories. XD

However, she found managed to make a three-hundred calorie recipe from it instead. XD It's really, really awesome...

I think it was Thursday night, and Mom was pretty sick.  She was in her room watching a movie.  After dinner, I decided to make hot chocolate to make her feel better. 

I seemed to have forgotten I was making a double batch...and the little pot wasn't the one Mom used.  I forgot there was a bigger pot.

I did what I was supposed to do—I put in a pound of chocolate chips and four cups of milk (this was the double batch, so that's why there's so much of everything XD I'll put up the recipe at the end of this post ;)).  When I poured in the last cup, the solid/liquid/whatever the heck it was at the moment was nearly at the top of the pot.

I started freaking out.  I watched Mom do this a million times, how was this going so wrong?

Thinking it'll go down once it's all melted, I turned on the stove.  I had to add a cup of sugar and four tablespoons of vanilla (which actually isn't really necessary; I'll explain at the end). 

By the time these ingredients were added, it was about to spill.  I turned the heat down and looked in the cabinet.

Sure enough, there was a much bigger pot.

After scolding myself several times for not bothering to check, I managed to get the substance into the other pot.  It wasn't easy; it was really tricky.

I got out two measuring cups, one big one and one small one.  I used the small one to slowly put the sort of melting liquid but not exactly solid into the other pot; I used the big cup to catch any drops that spilled.

When the half-melted hot chocolate was in the other pot, I realized most of the unmelted chocolate chips were sticking to the sides of the smaller pot.

After about five minutes of chocolate-scraping, I had everything together in the bigger pot on the stove.  I had a lot of crap to clean up, but the hot chocolate turned out really well; Mom loved it.

I practiced making it again last night (for some reason, I love drinking hot chocolate while watching The Walking Dead, which is strange 'cause of all the gross scenes...but there weren't as many last night), and it was A LOT better than Thursday, thank goodness.  Actually, I found the vanilla isn't really necessary; I didn't add any last night because we were out.  It tasted the same to us.  We'd have to make a batch with vanilla and one without to really see if there's a huge difference. 

You know, let me just sum up the experience with these pictures:

One: Hot Chocolate Starts Overflowing

Two: Transferring the Hot Chocolate to the Other Pot and Dealing with the Unmelted Chocolate

Three: Finally Getting Everything Together and Not Having the Kitchen on Fire

:)

If you wanna make it, you'll need (this is the three-hundred calorie recipe, by the way XD):

*2 cups of milk

*1/2 cup of sugar

*8 ounces of chocolate chips

*2 tablespoons of vanilla (although, as I said before, I didn't add any and it didn't make a huge difference)

I suggest putting the chocolate chips in, and THEN the milk; the other way around might result in milk everywhere. XD I also suggest using a big pot if you make a double batch...like I forgot. XD After you have the milk and chocolate chips in, turn on the stove—the heat should be between low and medium.  After you put in half a cup of sugar, make sure you stir it evenly; whenever I make it, there are LOTS of chunks. X) You can choose whether or not you want to add the vanilla. 

When everything's finally melted (I gotta admit: the chunks are fun to eat XD it's like drinking a chocolate bar!! XD), turn off the heat and wait for it to cool down a bit before you pour it; it's gonna be pretty freakin' hot. XD

It's really good the next day, too.  It's good when it's cold. :)

If you make it, I hope you like it!  Mom got the recipe online somewhere. :)

Thank you so much for reading!  I really appreciate it<3 :) Bye!

~Naomi

The Walking Dead and the Grammys!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. XD Can you tell I'm a writer? XD

First of all...holy crap. XD I just watched "The Walking Dead..." NO DARYL!!!!  DON'T LEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude...they can't kill him off...his fangirls will just go crazy. XD And since he looks A LOT like Blake Shelton, I'm just gonna go insane...XD

Rick's officially lost it.  And I thought for sure the Governor (anyone remember his name? XD He said it once, but I forgot...XD) was going to shoot Andrea when she was talking to everybody.  I love how they all after her speech are like, "Yeah, never mind all the crap that happened in the last twenty-four hours.  Let's all listen to Captain Obvious-who-loves-doing-it-with-every-freakin'-man-on-this-show and act like nothing is going on!  Yay!"

Also, that baby is really cute. XD I love how Daryl, the Chuck Norris of zombie killers, automatically is really awesome with her. XD

Now...moving onto the Grammys...

I never paid attention to that awards show, and since The Walking Dead was on at the same time, I didn't watch it—but it sounds like there's gonna be a lot of country there!  Taylor Swift and Hunter Hayes have three Grammy nominations, and I heard Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Dierks Bentley performed (I have no idea if the show's still going or not, so that's why I'm using both past AND present tenses XD), and some others I forgot about. XD

GO HUNTER!!!!  I'm bummed I missed him tonight—but hey, everything's on YouTube.  Halfway through the CMA's the video of Brad Paisley doing Gangnam Style was online. XD

And no, I haven't written that letter to Hunter yet...Mom's been really sick, and she has to help me write it (because we're gonna make it professional and stuff, and I have NO idea how to do that...XD).  Fortunately, she felt really great today, so we're gonna work on it sometime this week...I hope...XD

It's been one month, and I've already missed three choir rehearsals—I missed two because I was sick, then Mom got too sick to drive me. (You'd think I would practice the songs anyway while rehearsal was going on to make up for it, but instead I ate chocolate and watched Tobuscus videos...XD I'm terrible, I know. XD)

On the bright side, Hunter's song is going really well, as other songs are.  I finished Tests 100, and I'm gonna get back into the swing of things tomorrow morning (I'm currently writing at nine P.M.). 

Also, I went to Krav yesterday and partnered up with Dad; my cousin was sick.  It was...interesting. XD At the end (WHEN ALMOST EVERYONE WAS STILL IN THE ROOM), he actually picked me up off the ground.  I was so mad. XD I'm still mad. XD

So I yelled at him and may have kneed him in the thigh a couple times...XD He said his leg still hurts. XD He deserved it...XD
I have to go to sleep...bleh...XD Hey, have any of you country fans heard Kenny Chesney's "Pirate Flag," Dustin Lynch's "She Cranks My Tractor," or Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart?" They're AMAZING songs I can't get out of my head—then again, what country song ISN'T amazing? ;)

Thanks for reading my obnoxiously long post!  XD I still haven't gotten more space (not getting space...not writing Hunter's letter...missing rehearsals...dang, I'm lazy this year, haha XD hey, I've been sick for a MONTH now...although I'm a lot better :)), so I'm just gonna put up a picture I drew/photoshopped of Hunter Hayes—you know, since he has three Grammy nominations and all. ;) (And he released his debut in 2011.  I remember the first time I heard Storm Warning—on the radio in the summer of 2011.  I knew he'd get far. :))

HOLY CRAP.

I clicked the photo button thingy to add a picture I already put up here, and I just realized I CAN UPLOAD MORE PICTURES.

You know what this means?

NEW DRAWINGS!!!! 

The Walking Dead + the Grammys = AWESOME

You know, that'd be a pretty cool combination...XD I can totally imagine a zombified Hunter Hayes performing...XD Isn't there a thing where you can take pictures of people and see them as zombies?  I dunno...XD (This is nerdy: I'm listening to "What You Gonna Do" while drawing pictures of zombified Hunter. XD It doesn't get any nerdier than that, does it? XD)

By the way, "zombify" is actually in the dictionary...XD Seriously.  Look it up. XD

Thank you so much for reading!  I am uber happy about the space...XD I thought I ran out of space, but I guess maybe Blogger just had a brief problem; it couldn't take the level of stupidity. XD

Thanks again for reading!  Oh...and who wants to see that birthday cake I mentioned earlier? ;) It's currently my profile picture, and I don't have pictures of my Hunter in a box on here yet—that will come soon.  Right now, BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

XD I love how they're all posing, and then Justin in the corner is like, "HEEEEEYYYY!!!!!!" XD

Thank you again for reading and putting up with my weird teenage-girl-obsessions!  XD You know, last night I made hot chocolate from scratch for the very first time (my mom got this AWESOME recipe online.  I'll put it up in the next post)...by myself.  That was a harrowing experience. XD It all turned out well, but GEEZ. 

...Pictures shall be in the next post.  Beware. ;) 

Bye, and thanks for the fourth time! XD See ya later! <3

~Naomi

ZOOOMBIIIIIIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. :D

Does anybody watch The Walking Dead?  I'm happy to say it's gonna be back on February tenth!!!!  YAY!!!!!

I felt so zombie deprived ever since the "mid-season finale." I've been watching Shaun of the Dead all the time, haha. XD

And I'm also very happy to say Hunter Hayes is writing music FOR A SECOND ALBUM!!!! JAD;SLKGJASDLKGJALSKDJTLKJS;RLKN;SUAKLGJ;TLKJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm happy. :)

In other words, I'm gonna be sending "Still" soon!!!! ;DJGlkDJLGKJSLKDGJ:KLDSJGKLjdgajg;jg;jg;jgaj;ag;jkla;gjgl;akdslasdk;jg;lkj$%@#$^$%^&$^@#$%3%!#%♥4♣♦♠

XD

I talked with Mom about the space problem, and if I have to pay for it, I might as well make a Facebook account for the pictures and just leave the updates here. 

Or, I could try to do this:

DO8|>* O--o <-<-(·_·)

^That would be Keith Urban smacking a clown with a banjo.

...You know, maybe I can just pay for more space. XD

I've never done this with the computer before, so I don't know if it'll be really expensive or what.  I'll have to experiment with it.

Oh, and guess who caught the flu three days after her birthday and COULDN'T GO TO THE KRAV MAGA CHRISTMAS PARTY?!?!

I don't even LIKE going to most parties. XD Dad went and said that they asked about me. <3 :)

I had to miss two weeks of Krav in a row; the first because I was sick (and I missed a choir rehearsal that week, too), and the second because of a choir performance (that was shaky, but now I'm totally fine). 

As for a choir update, be prepared for confusion. XD
Okay, so last year, I was an alto III, and then my choir director made me a II.  I had to relearn a song we were doing again from last year (I still can't get that freakin' chorus...!!), but I got the other songs down.  THIS semester, he made me a III, and when I learned most of three songs, he made me a II because more were needed.  So I had to relearn most of three songs AND a song we were doing last year...which I learned as a III the first time.

That was confusing. XD
He always says if we don't feel comfortable where we are, he'll switch us around; he says that's more important than the parts being evened out.

Even though I loved being a III, and being a bordering II is NOT an easy part, still, I don't care; if I'm a I, THEN I'll have to be changed. XD

I have a few tracks for my seventh album—around five.  I'm still working on my sixth, actually; I don't have all the completed lyrics!  That's going pretty well, though.  A nice thing about being sick is that I got to work on some of my music a lot more. :D

And I have Test 100 next week...yippee. (O.O)

Thanks for reading!  You all are awesome. <3 :)

~Naomi

Dang it, dang it, dang it...

Well, I've got bad news: I think I ran out of picture space.

So, I can't put up any silly pictures.

JADS;LKGJASDLKGJL;!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the bright side, there IS a way to get new space—however, I may have to pay for it. 

Funny how this pops up—I was just thinking of getting a Facebook account for my blog.  I'm pretty sure I have unlimited space for pictures on it; maybe I could just have musical updates here and silly pictures on the page.

I'm not sure.  I still have to get it figured out with Mom later on. 

As for a musical update...

I finished another song, "Turning Twenty," that was verse-less for a while.  It's one of my favorites—right up there with "Waiting in Tennessee."

I have choir later on today, and Test 100 is coming up in a few lessons, so I'm gonna be really busy this week and the next one.  I might even make a Twitter page for American Songwriter 99...oh jeez.  Just Facebook, never mind, haha!

I'm sure I'll find a way to get more space.  I'm gonna do a test with one of my blog pictures today, and if it works, then I won't have to make a Facebook page or get more space.  If it doesn't...crap.

Thanks for reading! <3 :)

~Naomi

I'M FOURTEEN!!! YEAHHHH!!!!!!!

I had a pretty nice birthday last Saturday. ☺

It started off with Krav, which was really fun, as usual.  A few people said happy birthday to me. :D (Also, my aunt and cousin made me wear a huge birthday hat. XD No, I didn't wear it in class—it'd go flying off and I'd have to go get it. XD)

In the afternoon, we went to my grandparents' house.  My grandparents on my mom's side came with us, and it was really fun!  I got Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" from Mom, Dad, and Megan, and Kenny Chesney's "Welcome to the Fishbowl" from my grandparents. 

Also, you know what my cousin made me?

She asked, "Are you ready to see your 'Hunter in a Box?'"

"What?"

She pulled out a really small cardboard box (I'll have to take a picture of it—it's awesome) with pictures of Hunter Hayes all over it.

It got even better when I opened it.  Inside, there was a little picture of him standing up (along with even more pictures on the inside of the box), and when you removed the sixty-one hearts (yes, we counted), there was one more on the bottom.

It's the best thing ever. 

I'll put a picture of it up here soon—now, moving on to the cake...

When I was turning twelve, my mom was able to put the cover of Fellowship of the Ring on the cake.  This year, however, she got country singers on the cake.

Okay, something weird is happening with Blogger—it's not letting me upload any pictures.  I don't know why, but when I click the "Insert image" button, it says "You can upload JPG, GIF, or PNG files," but it doesn't actually let me look for the pictures.

I don't know if it means I'm out of space or what, or maybe Blogger's just having problems, but for right now, I'm afraid I can't post any pictures.  I'll get it straighted out eventually; it's probably just some weird problem.

I'll just describe it.  From upper-left to lower-right, Blake Shelton, Hunter Hayes, Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Justin Moore, and Keith Urban were on the cake.  Mom said she was gonna put on Kenny Chesney, Chris Young, and Dierks Bentley, but it was too small.

Anyway, back to the cake—I got Hunter, and Megan got Justin.  I'm pretty sure my aunt got Eric, and Dad got Keith—although he didn't want the picture, so he gave it to me, like he did with Gandalf from two years ago.  Also, I think my cousin got a third of Brad.

I had Blake the next morning, and Brad was somewhere in the fridge, but we devoured him pretty quickly.

XD

It was awesome.  I'm getting songwriting done; I think I finished my fifth album, and I'm nearly done with my sixth. :)

Thank you for reading!  I really appreciate it. :)

~Naomi

2013!

Happy New Year, everybody!  Let's hear it for all the crazy crap from 2012!

Thank all of you SO MUCH for reading my blog!  I have done the victory dance several times after looking at the views. :) I hope you had a great 2012 and will have an even better 2013! <3

~Naomi