Rise Above It

"Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other."

Rainer Maria Rilke

As of recent, things have become so much more lively, exciting and interesting. Life is just beyond words. And I guess I've seen it coming for a long time now, but I'll just finally admit it.
As of October 18, 2011, I am in a relationship and for good this time. His name is JJ. He is my best friend. He is also my boyfriend and I honestly couldn't be more thrilled.

 

Want to know how he popped the question? Well... you know that die-hard love I've had for Switchfoot, which basically spans from the name of this blog to my tattoo and then some? Well I finally saw them in concert, accomplishing a life-long dream of mine. He drove a good six hours to take me to see them in concert. We left for the day, just the two of us. He held my hands, talked to me on the road. We laughed about stupid things, sang along to the radio... it was one of those escapes you just dream about when you're having a really bad day.

I made a poster, and my own shirt, and we (thanks to my stalking of the Switchfoot message boards) was able to help at the merchandise booth. I got in early and a free t-shirt! It was seriously exciting. I met fans from everywhere. There was this guy who had seen Switchfoot 8 times in the last 10 days and a girl who was on her 27th Switchfoot concert! (THAT is an accomplishment!) I was so excited by EVERYTHING and people were so supportive in this being my first Switchfoot concert!

My ticket and Merch pass!

Seriously, it was the most surreal experience of my life to even be at the arena. I was in the very front!! I sang along to EVERY SONG and though I was hoping they would play "Souvenirs" from their new album, they did play "Restless." and THAT is where it gets interesting.

JJ held my hand and kept me close and somewhere in between the song, he reached in close from behind and whispered in my ear, asking if I wanted to be his girlfriend.
I literally turned around, stunned and gave him possibly the biggest hug I've ever given anyone. This is a video of the performance. I can't see myself in here because I was in the front but I remember the moment :)

He held me close for the rest of the night and it was just so comforting. The concert was simply epic!

Jon Foreman singing "Restless" :)

Yes, I was this close to Mr. Foreman!

My awesome poster! (If you're a SF fan like me, you'll get it! :D)

My homemade shirt (with a lyric from an OLD Switchfoot song. 

JJ and I :)

That was pretty much everything I needed. Seeing my favorite band live, being with someone special, it couldn't have gotten better! We ran for the merch booth right after the show and helped up with selling shirts.

 and just as we were packing up and finishing everything, I saw something incredible. Right off stage, Drew Shirley (the guitar player for Switchfoot) was helping pack up. I squealed like a little girl and got horribly starstruck remained composed and asked the merch guy if I could go get my poster signed. Instead Drew came to the booth. I almost died in excitement, no lie.

The second Drew got there and said hi, I went into a rant that sounded like this.

Drew: Hi, nice to meet you! Glad you came to see the show!

Me: OMGGGGGG I'm a HUUUUUUUGE FAN! It's SO COOL TO MEET YOU!!!! I like have a Switchfoot inspired tattoo and my pet fish is named Romey [after Gerome Fontamillas, the keyboard player] and I have EVERY SINGLE CD and recording you can imagine and GAAHHHHHHH!

Drew: Wait... your fish is named Romey? *chuckles* I'm gonna have to tell him that one.

After my geekness subsided (and everyone had a good laugh) I asked Drew is he could sign my poster and take a picture with me.The picture above is proof! You can see the clear grin on my face and funny enough, as I was taking this picture, my new boyfriend (bless his soul) was a bit peeved about it (even after he found out all the guys were married and twice my age.haha)

Then we drove back home,pretty much in a daze. We got home at 5 AM and while I paid the price by having to get up for work 2 hours later, it was well worth it. This concert has inspired alot of things and it's one of the best experiences of my life.

As for my new relationship... it's hard to explain. He gets me without really trying. I feel safe and he just brings a smile to my face I can't describe. So all I can say is things are looking up! :)
I promise I will write more later! I've been trying to finish this entry for days and my boyfriend wants to see it. lol