Birthdays are awesome.

Today didn't begin all that different from most days. I woke up in a hotel in the middle of Nebraska, we had an 8 hour drive, I did a radio interview in the car with a station in Wisconsin... and THEN we made it to Iowa. We got to James' Aunt Deana's and a whole bunch of the family was there to surprise me. WHAT AN AWESOME SURPRISE!!!!

Let me back up and talk about the first part of the day.

I had an interview with Justin Brown at WJVL - Janesville, Wisconsin.



We are playing at the Janesville Performing Arts Center tomorrow night and Justin was so great to have me on his show today! He recorded the interview and put it up on their website :)

You can go listen if you'd like! Click here for WJVL interview

I was so nervous my signal was going to get splotchy on the phone. We needed to keep trucking, but we had good service, so I was just hoping that wouldn't change!!! Whew... we made it the whole 5 minutes :)

And then... at the next stop... we went to (surprise!) Subway for lunch. While at Subway, I found out that I came in runner up for "Best Female Performer" in Campus Activities Magazine!!!! YAY!!!! How awesome is that?? So exciting! I was up against all these comedians and people that are constantly on VH1 and Comedy Central. So I am pretty stoked to be in this category! I still haven't found out who won. But they said they have attached all these fancy schmancy "silver star logos" to my name now :) Movin on up, y'all!!! Brick by brick.... inch by inch.

So at this point.... it's already a great birthday. I was really feeling the late night when I woke up, but all these fun things to do got my adrenaline pumping :) Well... and the Subway... umm.. and the cookies from Subway...

So we are staying with Uncle Tim and Aunt Deana tonight in Iowa City. They have become the official Aunt and Uncle of the band since they are always putting us up in their house!!! We walked in and so many people were here to celebrate!!! James did good :) I LOVE surprises and I had NO IDEA anyone else was going to be here. How fun. There is nothing better than getting to see family on your birthday and especially when you're on the road and not expecting it!!! I love my family. Getting married is awesome. My family tripled this last June. :)- And I LOVE it. I like for it to be "official" because James' family has felt like family to me since before we even started dating... back when we were just "in a band together."

They had food and a cake and more food.. and more food to take with us..... You'll NEVER go hungry in this family - that is for sure!


Aunt Traci told me that she made my recipe of Tortilla Soup this last week!!! Made me SO happy.

I was determined to get of picture of EVERYONE. I (well.... James...) found the timer on my camera...
Take 1:


oops.

Take 2:


MUCH better. :)

Deana had a cake made from a lady in town that is starting a new business. She is from Peru, so we all KNEW it would be good. Miguel has told us a LOT about Peruvian food and how amazing it is... he's not lying. This cake was amazing.


(James is talking in his sleep right now... it's gibberish... but it's funny)

You know what was so great about today? It wasn't a glamorous or big crazy birthday. There weren't any big gifts or grand presents. But it was a day filled from beginning to end with texts, phone calls, wall posts, emails, voicemails, comments, twitters, surprises and hugs from people I love, and it made me so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. I am on the road living my dream and doing what I have always wanted to do. I am watching this dream come to life in bigger and better ways every day. Who could ask for more?

Cinnamon (my sweet puppy) even sent me card. It's pretty great.... not gonna lie.
Click here to see Cinnamon's Birthday Card to me.

It's funny how birthdays start to change. Miguel asked me last night if I was ready to be 27. My first response was "Can we just not talk about the 27 part?" I KNOW 27 isn't old.... But when you're little... you think 27 is "grown up". Heck you think college is "grown up" therefore, you think (or at least I did) that you'll be in this big glamorous place in life. But 27 is just getting started. And that's the beauty of country music. Most of the people I look up to weren't huge stars at an early age. In the pop world - there is a lot more pressure to "hit it big" by the time you are a teenager. But the country world tends to be a bit more realistic! I am just now starting to figure things out in my writing and in my musical journey that I would have NEVER had to offer at 16. And I am LOVING the journey I am on. I am married to an incredible man. My family is so supportive and loving. My friends... some of the most understanding people in the world. And I have fans that love my music and are almost more impatient than I am for my next record. It's an amazing thing to see my dreams coming to life. And I think 27 is going to be a HUGE year to me. I don't know why it initially sounds SO much older than 26. But maybe it is just because there are so many HUGE things on the horizon. So here's to NEVER STOP DREAMING - whether you're like my Granny and only "2 years from 100", just getting started or somewhere in between.

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie