OK, so my weekend begins late as we stayed at the hospital till FIL was realeased. He had 2 angioplasty's performed on his lower heart, so he took precedence over leaving early. (Damn family members gettin all ill... ;))

Sooooooo, we leave for our 8 hour drive at 2pm. Yay. I arrive at the fundraiser, AFTER getting bad directions from the hotel. Shoulda just listened to chloe. I will next time!! As soon as I walk in, I find my ladies (Chloe, Yellin, Amanda) & then meet the other Ohio ladies!! First thing my ladies say to me? "YOU MISSED ELLIOTT!". UGH, Of course I did. Dammit. Then I meet H, who is gorgeous, the bully brat. :P Then it was Dox. Hubby had to razz her about Kat, great ice breaker! :yes: THEN, I meet Mr. Brandon, who has a present for me. My travelling pic (of my over enlarged face...thanks for that Dox! :poke: :rotfl: ) had some way cool signatures on it...including one of none other than Mr. ELLIOTT YAMIN!! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, B thought of me! How, in all the craziness I dunno, but BLESS HIS HEART he did, I loves ya B!! Elliott even spelled my name right...*sigh*, he is an angel!
Then I meet MC, who is one of the sweetest men I have ever had the blessing to meet!
Then it was time to mingle, spend quarters for auction prizes & grumble at those who won...other than us! LOLOLOL (All in fun, we were thrilled for everyone!) Then our table FINALLY strikes gold! Dox wins (altho she was BESIDE our table....hmmmm, dangit she won. :P ) But, YELLIN won, so that was ALL GOOD! I didnt win anything cause in my hurry to get in the fundraiser I left my coin purse full of quarters in the car. Even left my camera....GEEEESH (went back for that!)
Then it was picture time & we had fun tryin to get together for that & all of us look at the same camera! :rotfl:

OK, sleepy time, so, more later & hopefully this link to my pics works!

http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/Dre...true&interval=3

Your pictures RAWK! (sic b/c for some odd reason, I can't restrain myself from spelling it like that) Glad to see you didn't catch video of the "One" performance as recreated by Chloe and Mary "H" Blige... *Ahem* And I am warning anyone who did, you post that thing on YouTube and I will totally ban you... I will!

Oh, and since I failed to flash my RAWKER (sic) hand as I was busy holding someone else's beer (I still would like to know- WHOSE BEER AM I HOLDING???), here's one now: :rocker:

Uh oh!! Was H getting crunk?

Back at you- since it was probably yours, fool! :cheers:

touche

Great pics RM - I'm glad you went back for your camera!

RM - your pics are totally cool. Again, it was so great to meet you and your husband.

Great pics, RM. :woohoo:

Then our table FINALLY strikes gold! Dox wins (altho she was BESIDE our table....hmmmm, dangit she won

What were you drinking? I didn't win anything? :no:

Was so great to meet you and the infamous JERRRRRY. LOL He is a good man, he looks like he just puts up with all this madness cuz he loves his RM!

Great pics RM! It was so great to meet the rest of the Buckeye Brigade! We've decided your DH is AWESOME!! To miss the game just to come hang with us Elliott fanatics? He's a keeper! :rocker:

Thanks for sharing! :wub:

Your pictures are wonderful. Makes me even more jealous that I couldn't go. So glad that everyone had such a great time!!!

RM :glomp:
Ok have to wipe the tears away can't see what I am doing here.. First of all your pictures are :rocker:
and LOVE the video! Linda and Dox WOOHOO!! Great job !
Then I come upon the bag awe that is so sweet! You did a great job and you said your not crafty! Thank you!

:wub:
Glad you had a WONDERFUL time. Sorry to hear about your fil.. hope all is better there.
Your hubby sounds like a prince!
Glad you got to see Elliott finally!
Now we have to work on you getting to meet you know who.. I won't say his name don't need you to thud this early in the morning!
:glomp:

RM!!!!!!!!! Girl, did ya get enough pics of me?? Ugh....lollllll;) Where is the one with Manda and I waiting in our seats, rawker style?? Dang it girl, you better get on it!!!

You know I love your recap and your pics, but most of all sweetie, I loves YOU!!! I am so THRILLED that I got to meet you, and so is mini yellin';) She still talks about ya, and how Ace is hers...and it was so cute the first night as it was about 1 am before we got back to the room, and all she wanted to do was sleep...till she found out YOU were coming to the room then PRESTO CHANGO, a wide awake Manda!! Your hubby was such a doll too..(specially since he thinks I look MUCH too young to have a daughter Manda's age..I think you should keep him!!) and he was such a good sport. Your photos are fab, and you know I stole a bunch of em....

you don't mind...do ya???

heheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

btw MC...love the new SIG!!!!

xxoo
and till next time..........

:rocker: :yellin: :etrain: :allaboard:

Hey Lindagt you are too good! Who do I contact to book you for the CA event. I think I can talk Sherwood into another challenge for you. :rotfl:

Did I see rnnana in there anywhere in the pics?

Gogo

Thanks you all for being so sweet... as usual! :wub:

Dox, I have no clue what I was on, cause I coulda sworn you won somethin, at the end. I am a mess, this is nothing new! :silly:

WeloveU, I am just sorry that I wasn't able to get Tyler's picture to stick to my bag! :cry: The glue I bought was supposed to work on EVERYTHING, as told to me by the salesperson. Well, I will enlighten her, cause it don't work on glossy 4x6 pictures. I was so upset, I REALLY wanted that pic of Tyler on the bag, but I had to settle for his & your names. I am sorry! I dunno if you can read it, but it says "ETrain Angels, Doreen & Tyler". I had a wonderful time, thanks to you & Tofu & I hope my pics are enough to not regret sending RM to see E! I tried to take as many pica as I could, so the all of our ETrain family who couldnt be there physically, at least FELT like they were there with the pics. :grouphug:

estilrose, one my fellow Buckeye Babes!! It was soooo great to meet you both! Yeah, hubby is a gem & I know it. Just wish ya'll hadn't been so vocal to him about how GREAT he is! Can we say EGO TRIP? :rolleyes:

H, if memory serves correct, I believe it may have been B's drink of the hour you were holdin! LOLOL After that rawker pic was taken, H was all like, "WHAT? I missed the rawker pic, no one told me to do the rawker hand!" :rotfl: You are a trip H, beautiful, funny & great to be around! I am so glad I was able to meet you!

B, you seriously are an ETrain miracle maker. You do so much for the ETrain & I hope you know just how much you are appreciated & loved. Ladies, B is adorable, inside & out & he has the cutest lil accent! :yes:

MC, it was GREAT to meet you as well. You are a kind & generous soul!

Yellin, I am posting the concert pics next....& that is where you & Manda are! And of course you can take as many as you want...ALL OF YOU! It aint stealin when I post them FOR YOU ALL! Silly Yellin... :glomp: BTW: Tell my Ace thief I said Hi & ACE IS MINE!! BWWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

OK, off to complete part 2 of my recap.... :danceghost:

:sorry: Didn't mean to cause an ego trip! In between trying to figure out why you look so familiar to us, I was hoping DH had a brother!! :rotfl:

Hey, if I can't meet E, I guess I need to be more realistic! :rotfl:

Ok, so after picture time, the crew decided we needed a pic with Mama Yamin, if she was so inclined. We patiently waited, then approached tiny Claudette. Good Ole hubby had camera duty & snapped the pics for us...on just about everyones camera at one time or another I believe. I then had a moment to speak with Claudette. She is as everyone expects, so sweet, & very appreciative of Elliotts fans. I asked her if we crazies made her worry, that "these wackos love my boy?". She giggled(as she knew I was teasing) & said, "OH NO! You all are absolutely wonderful. All of his fans have been so sweet & generous. And to come all over, just to see his 1st solo concert? Absolutely amazing, I still can't believe it all sometimes". Then she asked where I came in from & I told her Ohio & she replied, "See what I mean? You came from Ohio, we have ladies from London, England, I mean, literally ALL OVER! It is so amazing." and she began to tear up. She is the sweetest & it was obvious just how much she appreciated all of our wacky ways of expressing our love for E & ETrain! So, I let Claudette alone to greet more Elliott lovers & track down hubby. People were heading out when vacellist announced that Linda had a song to perform as promised. Dox tried to get me & yellin to do backup, but Yellin didnt know the song & I wasn't walkin up without her. So we watched Linda get her groove on & then my brain kicked in & I thought, I need a picture of this. I then recorded a snippet of it & went lookin for chloe to let her know we were headin to the hotel to check in. So I missed Lindas backup singers in action! :(

We finally get checked in & I track down chloe & yellin's room. I wanted a pic with chloe & my awesome Ace bag she made for me & had Ace SIGN!! I am so spoiled by my ETrain family! :grouphug: Everyone LOVED the bag & I kept tellin them all, chloe made it for me...LOOK he signed it! :thud:

So, DAY OF THE SHOW!! I get a call at our room to be at the fairgrounds by 3:30pm, to get my M&G pass. I am shocked, cause I had NO CLUE there was gonna be a M&G! So, we get to where we need to be, but I wasnt on the list. :cry: There was a lot of confusion & I was left off of the list. (BTW: That is my luck, so I wasn't too surprised! :rolleyes: ) Lise & B did what they could & Felisha & Amanda (the banner ladies) tried to make me take their M&G stickers. I refused, as those 2 deserved to meet him & let him know about what they had done & were doing more than I did. I was bummed, but the M&G was a bonus & I still was gonna see Elliott SING, so I was happy! Everyone went back to meet E & we headed off to find food as we hadnt eaten yet. While considering our dietary options, I decide to get my cell out & call my dad to see how our girls were doing. (I was missin by babies! :( ) I see that chloe had called me, so I called her back. I thought maybe she was gonna have me talk to E or somethin, since I couldnt get back to meet him. Instead, it is H, yellin at me! :blink: "Where ARE YOU?? Get back to where you were RIGHT NOW!" :rotfl: Typical H, bossy as ever, one of the things I love about her. Anywho, thanks to a HUGE GROUP EFFORT, my ETrain family had been able to get me 2 M&G stickers, but I had left where I had been standing & they couldnt find me! Naturally, I am on the otherside of the fairgrounds when I return the call, so it takes what feels like hours, weaving in & out of people to get back to where I am supposed to be.

We get what we need, a cute guy breaks the rules & lets us behind the gate door (shhhhhh, dont tell hubby he was cute! :D ) & we are told to walk until we see some people. Uhhhhhh, Okaaay. We walk & who is the 1st person I see? Claudette! Then H comes over & says "HURRY UP!". H even helps pull my big ole behind up on this ramp like thingy. (Did I mention she is a sweetie?) I walk over to the crowd & THERE HE IS!! Elliott, gettin his pic taken, sigin stuff. He was mobbed, not pushy like, but surrounded, ya know? So, he looks up at me (cause I am 6ft & he is little) grins at me & then is posin for his next pic. I was gettin ready to ask for a pic, when he announces, "Hey guys, I am sorry, but I really gotta go & get ready for the show!". He waves Bye & heads in the buliding. *SIGH* No pic with Elliott. BUT, I DID get a grin & a personalized autograph (Thanks again B :wub: ) so I have NO complaints! Then I see Claudette & figure another pic with Mama Yamin would be nice! So, MC was kind enough to take the pic for us. Someone mentioned to her that we were from Ohio. She looked up at me & said "I know that already don't I?" :rotfl: She is a hoot! She remembered me from the night before apparently. So, she greaciously took another pic with me & then said she needed to find her youngest. lol

TIME FOR THE SHOW!! (Well, almost. We went & ate, but I am already on my way to a Pulitzer losing Novel length post, so I aint gonna bore ya with what we ate! :P )

Found our seats & anxiously awaited showtime! Hubby thought he spotted Elliott at the side of the stage & told me to look. It wasn't E it was his brother Scott. I told hubby who it was & he was amazed at how much they look alike. LMBO comes out, ear piercing screams ensue (the lil gal behind me, she had some LUNG POWER! :blink: ) Hubby spots E & snaps a pic of him waiting to come out. The crowd was chanting "Elliott, Elliott, Elliott!" It was awesome!

ELLIOTT COMES OUT!! Elliott sounded EMAZING, as usual. Hubby said he dances like a white boy! :rotfl: (Elliott had just done the chicken dance!) I told hubby, Who cares how he dances...LISTEN TO HIM SING! He was really great! Hubby loves Stevie Ray Vaugh, so he knew what E was singin before I did on that one!

After the show, I went to chloe & yellins for the aftershow party. WOOOWEEEEE, talk about a full house! The room was packed, but it was great to be together! Of course, Mini Yellin & myself were in chat, talkin to MJ, gypsy, des, dox & a couple others I think. (Thanks to peppers daughters laptop! wooooweeeeee, that thing was NICE! I am still hopin peppers may adopt me! :D ) It was so strange to be in chat & yet still talk to those in person that I am normally chattin with! :blink: It was great, really great!

I had an EMAZING time! The entire weekend was a magical blessing & I am so Thankful I was able to be a part of it!

Here is the link to the concert pics...ENJOY!

http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/Dre...gAnch=imgAnch21

Dreama, thanks soooo much for the Pulitzer prize-winning review and pics :).

I wish I could have been able to be there, but everyones' reviews make it feel like I was.

: :glomp:

Dreama, your recap is awesome! I am so glad you finally got to see Elliott up close, and you got a smile from him! You'll get that pic eventually. Your pictures are wonderful. It's so funny seeing all those E-Trainers in Chloe's hotel room. Wish I could have been there in person to meet everyone, but thanks to YOU, I was there via cell phone. Thank you so much for doing that. It was great talking to Dox too, and hearing everyone say hi to me. :grouphug:

I love the Ace bag that Chloe made you! It was so sweet of her to do that, and my favorite picture is right in the middle. lol. So cool that he signed it too. I'm glad you had a wonderful time in Richmond, and Jerry doesn't think we're all crazies anymore. :rotfl: Loves ya!

RM you must be remembering the Autographed pic i won in the silent auction! I thought you meant the quarter auction. Much to my chagrin i didn't win NOTIN on that one NADA>

I got the pic of all the idols with all 12 siggies for $40 at the end of the night. That is what you are remembering! I promptly took it home and framed it! I have various signed pieces by Elliott, Taylor, Ace and Kellie, but i really really like this pic with ALL siggys on it. NIce collector's piece to commemorate my summer of idol!

This is going to sound weird Gyps - but there were so many people from the train there - I felt all of you there. It really felt like we were all in one place in time together. I'm sorry some of you guys didn't get the opportunity to be there physically, but we could feel your spirit there!

And RM I agree with your recap except in one point - Elliott was not Emazing as usual - he was more than we ever even imagined that he could be. He absolutely validated our instincts that he is a star being born!

Love your recaps RM and thanks again for finding that video :lol:

You are more than welcome emjay!! It was the least I could do considering your generous gift of allowing me to speak with Ace on your phone! Plus, it wsa great to have another chat crew member there with us in Richmond, even if it was via cellphone! :grouphug:

YAY Dox...I aint completely lost my mind, you DID win somethin!! I knew you went up to claim something & what a cool prize it was!! :rocker:

I am just glad ya'll enjoyed the pics, I tried to get as many as I could without experiencing all of the fun through a camera lens. :D


ETrain is by far the best group of fans EVER!! :wub: :danceghost: :bounce:

Somehow I haven't posted what I have been thinkin since I saw them the first time a few days ago...

Yellin & MC, LOVE the new siggie banners!!! :glomp: :danceghost: :bounce:

LOL

It's no biggie sweets, I put up road blocks pretty quickly! :eyebrows: Can't let him be too big on himself too long, he'd never stop! :rotfl:

You & April (I think?) were sooooo sweet & easy to talk too. It was a real pleasure sitting beside you guys. I had a lot of fun talkin with you! Hopefully, we can all meet up again in Elliott's solo tour, this time in OHIO!! :woohoo:

:danceghost: (I love this lil fella....wonder if we'll get a dancing turkey for Thanksgiving? :D )

Thanks RM!! It was a real blast meeting you and hubby. April :D (that's it) bugged me for hours trying to figure out where she/we may know you from!!

I told her it was just us crazy Ohio girls, we know each other anywhere! LOL!!
I'm definitely jonesin' for another Ohio concert. Athens has a few great, intimate places where nationally known acts sing. Especially jazz/blues etc. It's either that or win the lottery so I can go to LA, Philly wherever! :rocker:

Great pictures! You guys even had lights hanging up in the hotel room and fancy cupcakes and everything!!! Golly...you really know how to do a PJ party!!!

WOW RM YOUR PICS ARE GREAT. I AM STILL POUTING THAT I COULD NOT ATTEND. I REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. YOU GUYS HAD A BALL. :etrain: 4LIFE

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. :)

RM
RM
I did see the bag beautiful!!! I am so happy that you were there!
It's ok about the picture.. I have this stuff called Gorilla glue and it does not work on things it says it should. With that kind of name you would think it would stick to ANYTHING!
I read about your M&G and wanted to cry that you missed Elliott but at least you got a smile!
Glad you had a good time that is what it's all about!

:glomp:

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda!

And Dreama, I'm glad you were able to thoroughly enjoy Elliott's concert and man, you wrote some long recaps. Anyway, I'm happy for you!

HEY, I TOLD you it was forever and a day long recap! :blink:
I didn't wanna leave anything out, so those who couldn't make it could at least read like they were there! :grouphug:

And why are you gripin anyway? OH, I know, it kept you from seeing 5 minutes of your Friends re-reun! :P :rotfl:

I loves ya flippy & thanks for the happiness! :danceghost:

It was a real hoot meeting you and your hubby RM! You are an officially adopted member of the peppers clan! (Just don't expect a laptop for the holidays!) :D

=O That's a Celine Dion song!

:rotfl:

RM-

first.. i love that you love the good time ghost :danceghost:
Then I want to say that your pictures are AWESOME!! It's kind of a mindF seeing everyone there at the same time. It looks like you guys had such a fun time. This seriously better happen again. I need to be apart of the hootinany.

and..I LOL at the amount of times the term "rawker" or "rawk" was used.

anyways.. your pix are ooh lala.

<3 DJ (honorary member of the alphabet club)

edited.. because I only have to post things once..
:poke:

Well foooey! I was keeping my fingers crossed for a nice, shiny laptop with a purrty red bow on it! :cry: :rotfl: