And You Thought Flare Was Just For Fun

I did not know just how useful my pieces of flare were until today. I thought they were fun - buttons to put on your bags, backpacks, etc... bracelets for well, your wrist, and stickers for anything that needs sticking.

You know... this kind of thing

HOW WRONG WAS I!?!?!? There is SOOOO much more that can be done.

Pieces of flare can be used for...

A moustache

Toe rings...


Hoop Earrings


Or regular earrings:



Ankel Bracelet (Look at those legs!!! My sister's a trainer... can you tell?!?!?)

Handcuffs...

A Pony Tail Holder

)

A Halloween Costume... Minnie Mouse!

GLASSES!!! Look at how cute Granny looks!!!

Watch out James! A sling shot!

Then the girls really started to get creative. When you put the bracelets together - the sky is the limit!!!

A Choker

A Head Band

More of the crown headband

A Puppy leash!!! (It was actually an excellent leash)

A Jump rope

Limbo Pole

My favorite! The ROPE climb!

A belt

A scarf

A Picture Frame

So as you can tell... we had a GREAT day today with Granny at the Lake House. And WHO KNEW we'd find so many uses for flare! I just thought it was fun to have around. But it turns out, it is quite practical. ;)

Peace. Love. Fiddles. And Flare.

~natalie

Whether On This Earth Or From Heaven Above

What an incredible night.

Tonight we played our annual Christmas benefit in Columbia. I haven't played in my hometown since last year at this same event. That's pretty hard to believe. We have had such a good, hard, crazy year. And being away from home so much was not fun. But it's what we needed to get us where we're going.

There was something different about playing on stage tonight. There was a new confidence. A new maturity. I could feel how far we've come during the show. And I was so proud that we have made it this far.

I cried on stage tonight for the first time in my life. Before I started "Angel" I told the audience how much this holiday season has pointed out what family means. And just mentioned how we need to spend as much time as possible with those we love. And then I introduced Granny and why I wrote the song.

During the last verse... when I came to the lines "Whether on this earth or from heaven above, you're my Angel, my Angel, you're my Angel, my Angel" I couldn't sing. I began to cry and I couldn't control it. I could see Grandpa's face watching over me , and the emotion just overtook me. It was pretty incredible. And even though I lost "the words"... that song has even more meaning now than when I wrote it.... which is saying a lot. I didn't actually think that was possible. But I've sung it for Miguel and his grandparents after they died. And then tonight, for the first time... Grandpa was hearing it from heaven. And I know that he's one of my Angels now.

So Merry Christmas everyone. Tonight I got to see so many wonderful friends and family. And tomorrow I will talk about it some more complete with pictures. :)

Go tell someone you love that you love them.

peace. love. fiddle.
~natalie

The First Lyrically Inspired Tattoo

I don't even have words.

A beautiful girl named Kaleigh commented on my myspace profile 2 days ago with this note:

"I would just like to tell you how much I love your music, especially the song Angel. I picked it out for my Granny's funeral and the tattoo of your song is now put on the side of my arm with a memoir to my Granny.
You are amazing!!!"

Thank you, Kaleigh. But THIS is what is amazing.


When I first saw this, I couldn't even speak. I teared up and had to sit down. And I still don't have the words.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Great Grandaddy was a Fiddle Player?!?!

Today I found out that my great grandfather played the fiddle. I had NO IDEA!!! Granny has never talked about that before. But apparently he had an amazing ear and could play anything. And his brothers all played instruments, too - banjo, guitar, and jews harp. How cool is that!?!?!

We got to Columbia around 8:30 this morning. That means we spent 23 hours in the car non-stop. I am not sure how in the world James finished it off. I went to bed about 11:30am... RIDICULOUS! But we've had a good day of errand running... still doing laundry right now, and hoping to get done soon so I can get some sleep tonight. That took a lot out of me... but we are going to play the Ga National Fair for 5 days in a row! We get to stay in the same place for 5 days! YAY!!!! We have 3 shows a day, but still... it will be nice not to have to shift hotel rooms every few minutes :)

Night night.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Cinnamon's in My Nook

After being on the road for the better part of the last 5 months...
Here's just some of the things I LOVE about being home:

NOT having to be packed up and checked out by 11am.

Cinnamon (my sweet puppy) in my nook when we sleep

Catching up on "The Office"

JJ's fruit tea!!!!

Holding hands with my husband

Laughing and reminiscing with Granny

Driving my Jeep Cherokee (even though she's barely hanging on - we've passed the 220,000 mile mark together)

Driving WITHOUT the trailer!!!!

Hanging out with my parents

Cinnamon relentlessly licking my face until I have to make her stop (cause I have to be able to breathe!)

NO housekeeping knocking and ignoring the "do not disturb sign"

Taking baths again!!!

NOT having to put a toilet seat cover on to pee (gas station bathrooms... while I feel they have improved... still wouldn't trust em!)

Getting to do laundry (never thought I would LOVE that one so much)

Coming home to honeysuckle and the greenest GREEN I have ever seen!!!

Sleeping on my awesome pillows I got for Christmas

Purity 2% Chocolate milk

Shopping at the grocery store


And that's just after one day :) Who knows what all I'll be thankful for tomorrow!!!
Now... I'm off to dream with Cinnamon in my nook... Let's hope I don't have any crazy "Jurassic Park - style - T-Rex is after me" dreams like I did last night. That REALLY wasn't cool.

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And Hopefully Sweet Dreams.
~natalie

103WKDF, Froggy 100.9, and UMASS Dartmouth!

I woke to a flood of delightful texts and phone calls from Nashville this morning!!! It was some very exciting news that at first... in my groggy state... I didn't quite believe it.

Wylie Rose on 103.3WKDF in the morning gave me a shout out on the radio station!!! I've heard a few different stories - everyone had their own version (kind of like the game telephone... but only real-life telephone) but the basic gist is that she said something along the lines of "If Natalie Stovall can't get a record deal... then I don't know who can." Ummm. WHOA. REALLY!?!?! That is pretty much one of the sweetest and most awesome comments on the radio I have ever heard.

Wylie and I met last November when I did a benefit for the Raining Season at 3rd and Lindlsey. There were tons of HUGE songwriters and great performers there. Wylie was the host of the evening. She had such incredibly kind things to say to me after the show. And to hear that she gave me a shout out ON AIR on one of Nashville's best country stations... well that my friends, ROCKS.

SO thank you to Wylie and David in the mornings on 103.3, and thank you to everyone who called to let me know they were talking about me!!!

I did my own interview over the phone with Froggy 100.9 in Barre Vermont today! Jim Severance had me on his "Drive at 5" show this afternoon. He was giving away 2 tickets to our show tomorrow night, and then they'll be giving away more tickets in the morning!! Hehe. So fun. I even got to pick which caller would win - but it was pretaped, so I didn't actually get to hear the winner. Oh well. Maybe I'll get to meet them tomorrow night!

And then on to tonight! We did a show at UMASS Dartmouth, I was really excited to be here - it's only an hour away from Boston!!! So I feel like I am at home. :) I was talking to one of the guys tonight and he had a really thick Boston accent. I asked where he was from (just checking) and of course Boston. Isn't it funny how a very strong Boston accent and a really strong Southern accent BOTH make me feel at home?

The University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth is Paul's alma mater!!! Paul (aka my manager) went to school here :) And since it is only an hour away from where he lives now, he came out to the show!!!! I always love it when Paul comes. And he's gotten to come to a lot more shows lately since we have been up in the northeast more.
Oh Paul. :)


There were SOOOO Many students there to help us today. Load in and load out seem like a breeze!!!
All the members of CAB who helped put on our show tonight!


And here's Chris who was our main contact and the Student Supervisor :)


They made some really cool posters for the show :)

They even made Life size Natalie Posters :)


You'd think I'd be able to do that pose down to a "T"... close.... at least I am wearing the same belt :)

Paul!!! Paul helped guide us to the venue and was so helpful the whole night. He even took us to the late-night dining place on campus so we could get some grub after the show. Thank you for everything! Told you I'd put this in my blog!!! I expect the same from you :)


Tapan. I loved this guy. The first thing he said was, "Say "hi" to your Granny for me. Tell her thank you for putting you on stage." And then later on he said "I just want to meet your Granny and talk to her." HOW COOL IS THAT? Granny will LOVE that story. I'm sure Mamma will print out this blog and take it to her... so "HI GRANNY." From Natalie and your new friend Tapan in Dartmouth Massachusetts.

I also love the guy in the background who is ALREADY wearing the Peace, Love, Fiddle shirt he JUST bought! :)

Jeff! Jeff did an interview with me for the school paper. Plus he was the photographer for tonight! He was pulling double duty.
:)


This guy knows EVERY word to Taylor Swift's songs. The ladies like that :) He's a smart guy.


He was VERY happy when we threw in a little Zepplin :)



And I am so bummed. I didn't get a picture with Austin. What was I thinking!?!?! Or not thinking... actually.... Austin was our soundman for the evening. And Chris informed me before the show that Austin's birthday was yesterday. :)- So we played Beatles Happy Birthday song and got him up on stage to dance it out. He was SUCH a good sport!!!

And also it is my Daddy's Birthday today!!!! He doesn't have myspace, facebook, or twitter, so instead of updating my status' today... I'll reach him through my blog. This is currently my favorite pic of me and Daddy. (Who everyone calls Colonel. Cause... well... he is. Yup. Retired Colonel from the Army. Don't mess with this guy. He's had to chew monkey meat!!! - and he's a jungle expert)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Thanks Washburn!!

Washburn University posted an article and a video today. Washburn is in Topeka, Kansas. :) We did the radio show on 94.5 that morning, and a tv show in the afternoon and then this show at night. It was great, we played "Standing My Ground" at 8:00am, 4:30pm, and 9:30 pm :) That makes for a good day!

Here's the little clip they posted!



Yeah - I talk with my hands. I was even aware of it consciously DURING that interview. My Granny says that my Grandpa Tom talked with his hands, too. :) At least I know where it comes from.

I also found myself on another website today :) This one is a little bit different from any website I've ever been featured on :)
It is all about an RF5B motorglider.
Yup!!! My father-in-law has a glider. I have gotten to go up in it twice to see Seattle from the air. It is the most peaceful place in the world to be soaring with the clouds in a glider. It is amazing when he turns the motor off. So BEAUTIFUL up there. He has built an entire site dedicated to RF5B's. It is really fascinating. And if you click on "Photo's 1" you'll get a glimpse of one of my rides!

rf5b.com

We drove most of the day again today. We started out at iHop... and Hootie was apparently feelin like it was a "wheat toast" kind of day :)


We went to Lowes and sealed up the trailer... well... James sealed it - he's the only one that could reach it!


We have landed in Syracuse, NY for the evening and are planning on staying for 2 nights. It will be SOOO nice to not have to get up and leave at check-out. Staying in the same room for more than one night is such a luxury! We stopped to see Watchmen tonight - Hootie's been waiting on it to come out. He read the comic book, so he was excited about the movie. It was good - fascinating visually. I enjoyed it, but I was prepared... Hootie had prepared us all for what to expect :) Who knows what I would have thought if I had just seen it on a whim - I was always intrigued by the previews.

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and Goodnight!
~natalie

Granny Stole an Apple

Let me first say "Thank You" to anyone reading this right now. If you are, then you have personally enabled me to have a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch! ( I am pausing after every sentence or two to take a bite).
James and I took the trailer to Columbia last night when we got home.... spent most of the day lounging (ahhh!!! IT WAS SOOO GOOD) hold on....*bite*....
went to see Granny, cleaned out the Suburban (didn't start that task until 11pm... We are so weird)
*bite*...
I lied.... *2 bites*...
And THEN we decided to drive back to Nashville. Well, he got me all excited when he mentioned he was going to go buy milk so we'd have some for cereal (About the only thing good in our pantry at the moment). But when I got home, I got all busy doing stuff... unpacking... cleaning... getting ready for bed...
*bite*
I got all the way into bed, and then I realized "I HAVEN'T WRITTEN MY BLOG!!!"
*bite* MAN this stuff is good.
So I figured... well, hey! If I have to get back up, then I HAVE to go eat that bowl of CTC I had been thinking about, right? I mean, I was all sleepy.... so I need the energy. Right? (The correct response is YES no matter what the correct "answer" is)
*bite* or 2....

So back to the whole "going to see Granny" part of the day. My Granny is so awesome. I love her so much. And you would NEVER know she is 98 to look at her. She talks about how she is "losing her mind" yet she can recount story after story with fascinating and elegant detail. She told us a few stories today that I had never heard before!

One was about the only time she ever stole.

This is amazing, so I have to share.

When my Granny was 10 years old (which was 1920), her mother could not afford to take care of her. At that time there were orphanages set up for just that purpose. You didn't have to be what we normally think of as an "orphan"... if your parents couldn't afford to take care of you, churches and organizations had orphanages set up to help out. I hadn't heard her talk about the orphanage until a few years ago, but now she talks very openly about it. She always prefaces any story about the orphanage with how grateful she was to have that place to go to. It impacted her life in a HUGE way, and she loved being there because she knew it was the best thing for everyone. She and her younger sister (who I never got to know) both went there.

The orphanage was the first place she had ever seen an indoor toilet. And today she said "It had hot water in the faucet ALL day and night, and there was a basin JUST for washing your hands" (Just to put things in perspective).
She stayed there for 5 years and each year she alternated jobs.

Now for the story:
One year she waited on the "Lady's Table" as part of her daily task. She had to go into the storage closet for some reason and there were HUGE bags of apples and potatoes in the closet. She was hungry, so she took an apple and tied it up in her bloomers. When she finally retired for the evening, she went to her bedroom, took out the apple and had every intention of eating it.

But she couldn't.

The guilt of stealing overwhelmed her, and she could NOT bring herself to eat that apple.

The next day, she took the apple back to the storage room and put it back in the bag. She assured me that even though it had been in her bloomers, they cut and peeled and cooked the apples.... so it was fine :)

The funny thing is, I can't imagine her doing it in the first place. But the way it affected her? Makes SO much sense. I think it says a LOT about her character. And she did a wonderful job of instilling that kind of integrity into Mamma. Mamma is the exact same way.

It reminds me of a story that is probably James' favorite "Little Natalie" story. When I was 11, I went to an acting camp in NY. We were not allowed to talk to our parents the entire week of the camp, nor were we allowed any sweets. (Not sure what all that had to do with acting.... this was an extremely regimented and disciplined acting camp. Peter Sklar's Boot Camp Acting Workshop for Kids... I guess...)
*last bite of CTC*
Our parents did have our address, though and could send us letters in the mail. That was the only contact we could have with them.
So one day, I get a letter from my parents. I was laying in my bunk reading it. And after reading the main letter, there was this one envelope marked "FOR NATALIE'S EYES ONLY" in my Daddy's handwriting. I opened up the envelope... and there were 3 Werther's Originals Candies inside this envelope. Butterflies entered my stomach. This wave of panic overcame me.
We were NOT supposed to have ANY sugar. I had signed a 50 page contract (we had to sign EACH page - 1 parent AND me) that said I would strictly adhere to the rules. I took this stuff seriously, y'all. I just KNEW if I ate those candies, something bad would happen to me. I felt SOOOO guilty.
I asked my favorite counselor to come over to my bed. I whispered to her "My dad sent me these in a secret envelope and I don't know what to do with them". She gave me this look like "Oh no." And said "Sweetie, I can't let you have these. Hand them over" For some reason I felt like I was in even MORE trouble. There wasn't any, "Thanks for telling me. Or Thanks for being honest" Just "HAND THEM OVER". Funny thing is... she probably ate them. She was probably thinking "This poor girl... takes this so seriously, but SCORE! They are MINE now." Hehe :) That's what I am imagining right now anyway.
But I felt good about not eating them and keeping my word, nonetheless. So I guess Granny has passed down that overwhelming sense of guilt to me, too.

*drinking the milk now* mmm... so sugary!

Other than the one story, that acting camp was SO much fun. We had the opportunity to perform in front of all these agents in a beautiful off-broadway theater in NYC. It was my first time to NYC. It had actually been my first time on a plane and I had to go by myself - at 11!!!! I can't believe that looking back. But I had no fear. I just wanted to perform. It didn't matter what it took to get me there, I was going to NY!!!!

I remember getting a phone call at home and being invited by an agent to come to NYC after that. I wanted to go. But they were asking us to be there for 6 months. I had a great job at Opryland, and the thought of not getting to do Kid's Club again for something that may or may not pan out... well.... we decided to stay at home. :)
It's funny to talk about some of this stuff. I had a relatively normal childhood. But instead of sports or band... I worked a Opryland or played conventions around the country... or opened for old school country acts...
I guess not a whole lot has changed, huh?

Peace, Love, Fiddle