Omaha, somewhere in.....

here's the rundown.

we're in Linlcoln Nebraska right now stay with Joshuas family. (incredilbly nice people!)
played Omaha tonight, and was a great show.

played Minnesta last night. Trevor got arrested and put in jail for spraypainting a stencil of Kerouak and the line "read more books". the financial district of St. Paul didn't think that was too funny. luckily they let him out thismorning and he was able to catch a plane back home.
love ya trev!

played Milwaukee the night before that. cool show. Coreys crew, and Amber sounded really great that night.

Ann Arbor was the night before that. fun show.

i had left out that when we played the new york show, i got a tour of the city by my good friend Randy Roberts. it was 2 am and we went to time square and rode the subway and all. good times. i have pics, but i left my camera at his place. i ended up staying there for the night.
i woke up the next day to a phone message saying that i needed to hurry and meet the band at some university to do a morning radio show that i didn't think i was playing on. so i got to figure out the subway system by myself... along with a map, a couple random people, and TOURIST THAT KNOWS NOTHING written on my forehead.
so i get off the train at my stop, (miraculously) and i find out that i have to walk another 2 miles to get to the campus.... and i'm supposed to be there in 10 min. so i begin to run down the street in my cowboy boots, in the middle of the Bronx, dodging cabs, and basically realizing that i'm the most rediculous sight in NYC.
i finally get to the station, again asking a bunch of uninterested people for directions. and...........
josh has already started the interview and i'm not even doing it.
so, i wish that someone would have atleast got a picture.

on to kansas city. go chefs. :)

Joe, you were wrong again!

So i know its been awhile, and i'm gonna try and get it all in.

We went around New York, and i'm in love with the place. My favorite city is a place called Tonawanda. Couldn't belive how much it reminded me of Logan, 15 years ago. I'm gonna be taking my wife back there soon so she can fall in love with it too and we can move there.

Its right by Buffalo, and really close to Niagra Falls.

WE went to the falls. Slept in left field of a baseball field, and were woken up by the mowers, and luckily not the sprinklers.

We finished up the shows with Will Dailey in NYC. Boston was killer, and Will's crew was amazing. if you haven't checked out Will Dailey's music, please do asap. he's an amazing musician and an amazing person, along with Matt Joe and Dave. We're gonna miss those dudes.

Corey Chisel and his crew are now on with us. Amber Rubarth has been with us for a few weeks and we're really excited to hit the road towards home.

We played in Buffalo at a music festival with Blood Sweat and Tears. that was fun....

BUT i was asked to be a judge for a local american idol type thing, and i was nice. it was hard to be nice. i was nice. maybe too nice. it was scary because i couldn't be mean for fear their parents would find me and beat me.

Played Grand Rapids MI, great fun. Met up with Jensie and Tyrell. Good seeing them again. We stayed with some great GREAT people, the Nutkins, in Grand Rapids, and they really took care of us. We have really stayed with some amazing people on tour.

-little story that needs to be told. (and it wouldn't need to be if Joe had just owned up to his mistake.....)

So, Court used to run a lot in high school. i did too. when we were in the kitchen on the Nutkins, i was explaining that even though i might not look like it, i'm a decent athlete. Joe, in his wrongness, patted my stomach and laughed and said i wasn't. so we decided to put Joes ridiculous statement to a little test. Court and I would run a mile, and if I won, Joe would have to AGAIN admit that he was wrong and i was an athlete. If Court won, i'd buy him a pack of cigarettes, cus that's all that really motivates him.

Joe really should have known that smokers don't win distance races, but....

So we ran it, and of course i won. Court almost didn't make it to the finish line, and i felt bad cos the smoking has really taken its toll....but in all fairness, i could tell that he used to run. He said it almost motivated him to quit.

SO I come to Joe, ready for his apology again, and he STILL won't say it. THEREFORE, now we will list out the bets in which Joe has been simply wrong, and i've proven it. ( YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST ADMITTED IT JOE, AND IT WOULDN'T HAVE COME TO THIS!)

1. that i couldn't beat Josh in a game of basketball, to fifteen points, without Josh scoring one.

RESULT: NATE WINS THE BET!

2. joe says that i'm not in near good enough shape to swim that leg of the mississippi river.

RESULT: NATE WINS BET BY SWIMMING IT, IN JEANS!

3. joe says that nate isn't an athlete, and can't win a footrace against Court in a mile run.

RESULT: YEP, YOU GUESSED IT! NATE WINS AGAIN!

now joe, if you're reading this, know that all you have to do is admit you were wrong, and that i'm an athlete, and this will all go away. until then.......... : )

So now we're in Chicago.

Saw Chris Rock today outside of a hotel. Its funny because i saw a dude that looked like Chris, and he was wearing headphones and all, so to be funny, i yell out my window, "CHRIS!! CHRIS!!!" then the other dudes in the band look, and we're like. WOW that dude REALLY looks like Chris Rock. So we all start yelling CHRIS!!!!! CHRIS ROCK!!!! CHRIS!!!!

the dude ignores us, and has headphones on so its easy to ignore us.

So then we are like, wow, that dude REALLY looks EXACTLY like Chris.

Joes goes into the hotel, and says, "that dude has an entourage..." we're still like, No way, it can't be him.

We get to the club, and Courts friends tells us that Chris IS playing Chicago tonight, and that was his hotel.....

Crazy huh. We were harassing Chris Rock, thinking it wasn't him.

my beard is crazy.

peace.

joe, you were wrong about the race, BUT you were right about the ROCK, and i gotta give you props for that.

Philly! WHAT UP?!

i'm still working on getting some photos up, but, no luck yet.

typing this right outside of Philly.  We played Baltimore last night, and D.C. the night before that.  Both shows were pretty cool!  I love Baltimore anyway, and the crowd was WAY cool.  we're staying with some friends now, (owen and John) who were cool enough to let us stay at their place make us breakfast.  

so we went to mcdonalds a couple nights back at 1:00 in the morning and the lady at the window explained that they didn't do the dollar menu after midnight....  then we asked for a big mac and she explained that its company policy that they don't sell big macs after midnight.....

think about that.

peace out.

hanging in charlotte for the Fourth Of July

ALright! i'm gonna try and get back on this blog more regularly. Kissle is gonna let me use his computer so i can begin putting pictures up and everything.

lemme try to recap the past few weeks.

we stayed in florida with some of my great friends the Cliftons. Chris and i served together in Oakland. We had such a nice stay! the whole family was so kinda and made sure we were well fed, and had a washer and dryer. Great friends, and it was a nice break.

the show in miami got canceled so we took off to the beach on the gulf of mexico. really great day. we got a camp site to sleep at that night right on the water front. we went to a local diner for dinner and found out that they were having a karaoke night. so we had an amazing evening singing Sexyback, Cher, vanilla ice, MC hammer, Queen, Rick Astley, Coolio, Kansas, and Prince. Seriously, one of the most fun nights i've ever had. a bunch of the people eating were loving the sing along, and some even came to the show the next night in Tampa.

played the jacksonville then headed up to south carolina. the shows were cool, but the best part of south carolina was the beach! there was a storm in charlston so we went to the coast. the rain hadn't started yet, but the wind was blowing the clouds were so dark. the fine sand that sits on the top of the beach was being blown in the wind and looked like a fine moving mist around our ankles. 200 yards away was a lighthouse doing its thing. it was so incredible. then the rain started up before i had a chance to get a picture.

played ashville. cool city. fun little show. Will Dailey and his crew played great.

inbetween ashville and charlotte, we went up into the mountains and found this serious waterfall that was burried up in the hills. we had to hike into it, and then take a rope line down a rock face to get to the bottom of the fall. we swam for a bit, but then had to get back on the road.

we played charlotte last night, and the crowd was unbelievable! Will Dailey, the band we're on tour with, was ON! The past couple shows have had some awesome crowds, although small in numbers. Last night the crowd was great, AND there were a bunch of people there! It was electric!

We have a couple days of for the Fourth. i have some friends here in charlotte, and we're gonna go do some fireworks tonight. we're staying with some of the nicest friends, the kosters, at their beautiful place here in town. they have let us eat their food and swim in their pool and have given us such great company!

Happy fourth. I hope we can all remember the sacrifice of our forefathers. The heroes that founded this country laid everything on the line for the birth of our free nation. they were God-fearing men who were courageous and whom we owe everything we enjoy today. Through the years, many men and women have put their country above themselves, and have done unbelievable things to forward the freedom and greatness of the USA. Our country has never been perfect of without flaw, but the model of freedom we live under is inspired by God and is the greatest system and vehicle of freedom known to mankind.
the opportunities that we are provided here are like nowhere else. it seems it has become easy for us to complain about how terrible we think things are, but when we stop to look at everything we have, we'd be pretty ungreatful to think that we have it that bad here. we are so blessed and have so much!!!
since i've had all my things stolen, i've realized that even though it feels like i've lost so much, i also realize that i HAVE so much. A beautiful amazing wife whom i love dearly, loving family and friends, a good job, talents, and the opportunities to better myself and those around me.
finally, i hope that we can remember our troops today, and the freedom that they represent and fight for, (even for the freedom of those who smear them and won't ever appreciate their sacrifice.) they're heroes, and deserve our love and respect. we all pray that they can come hope safely soon.

when we look at the fireworks tonight, remember what they represent.
"...and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, THAT OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE. Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE."

God bless America.