On the Road with Sisters...

Hey again, I (Nicole) have been on the road with my sisters for a while now. I have been blessed to travel more than ever lately and have tons of stories about my sisters. We have had, at times, 10 hours in the car straight cooped up together!! That sounds pretty scary for most people, but it is really a blessing.

Here is how it goes usually. Natalie usually takes the back seat, and me and Nika usually are sitting on the middle row of seats. Well, Nika and I have a constant struggle to racing like little kids to the seat that doesn't have to pull down to let Natalie in the back seat. Not that we don't want Natalie with us ha, but 50 percent of the time at a gas stop, you will beat Natalie to the car (b/c she loves coffee and that is the real problem of all this fuss, who likes coffee anyways? huh why did it have to be invented?),and then you have to wait outside the car for her to get in while you have car hair and pillow wrinkles in your face. I remember once while we were on a long drive, Natalie decided to empty her coffee out Nika's window from the backseat. That was not a good thing, especially since we were driving fast down the road and the coffee decided it was going to splatter all over the side of our car. So we laughed all the way to our next stop. When we got out of our car, you would have thought there was 10 gallons of coffee in her glass b/c there was so much on the side of our car!! It was funny and all that, but we still made Natalie clean it up with our ration of baby wipes. That made it even funnier... 

The other day we were heading back from IL going to Nashville for a photoshoot. Before we headed out for the weekend of playing and taking pictures, we packed for the first time ever our whole entire jewelry case and two huge suitcases. We didn't need all our extra stuff for the gigs, just the pictures. We wanted to have everything "just in case", cause we are the "Queens of Just in Case". (That is really not a good title to have because you end up bringing everything in your house and not needing it. Then you force everyone to use what you brought trying to make yourself feel like it was worth bringing after all) We really did not have the room for the jewelry case, but we laid it on its side and realized that if you lay it on its side, it will come unlocked. Sooo... I had to shove pillows all around it and put our suitcases and guitar amp shoved against it so nothing would fall out. I pictured myself riding on top of the car like granny from the "Beverly Hillbillies" because our car was so crammed. (I imagine granny really liked sitting on top of the car getting a tan in the breeze driving down the interstate.) 

But anyways I always have fun on our adventures and look forward to every road trip because there is always something to tell and laugh about!!! 

-Nicole

My NEW MANDOLIN!!!!!!

      
        I can't believe I(Natalie) am finally free from my sister's mandolin!   It seems like my little sister could never give me her older sis a hand-me-down, but Nika did somehow manage, of course! Well, the mandolin fits me because it has gold hardware, pearl tuners, and reddish sunburst frame.  I guess that sounds like I'm bragging, but I feel that it is an expression of my PRINCESS nature ha.  Not really, but it is very, very, very beautiful like me.....Of course, I'm kidding again, but it does have alot of fancy, smancy buttons that makes people think that I know what I'm doing anyways!  I'll be banging my head and bouncing my feet a little more on stage now because I'm holding what's MINE.  I feel like I sound like a 3 year old,"MINE, MINE, MINE," but if you own an instrument, you know the joy and appreciation you feel when you pick out and OWN the one that you feel is apart of you.  I would like to thank Godin for the sponsorship, and I can't wait to show it off!!!!!!! 

-Natalie

Red Roots Chickens

 
Part 1                                           Part 2                                              Part 3

  
      Hey, This is my first, I guess official Blog. This is Nicole btw, Natalie usually does the blogging but now it is my turn to write....
       I have been wanting chickens a long time, ever since my cousins have gotten them, it has made me jealous of their chickens. I will go over to their house and run and chase after the chickens, if you can picture it. (It looks just as stupid as the image in your mind of me chasing chickens) But even though I look like an idiot it makes me happy for some reason, I think it is because it is something that is easy and it looks hard. It is kind of impressing to catch a chicken to some people who don't how to catch it. If you know the secret then it is really not hard at all. I know I am supposed to tell you the secret next but I am not b/c I still want people to think I am cool when I run around like a huge dork screaming and chasing chickens till I catch em. We bought ours and we bought them when they were around a couple weeks old so they are not ready for all the fun I had in store for them yet but in a few months they will be. I can't wait till they get all big and pretty and I can run outside like a little kid getting eggs and hearing them make their chicken noises. I really want pigs for the same reason b/c I love to hear little pig snorts. (Maybe that is something you only tell your close friends and family)
      Oh well anyways moving on to the chicken coop building. Natalie, mom, dad, and I all helped build the chicken coop which used to be our playhouse then our garden house. Note: Nika did not help until the last 30 minutes... That playhouse/garden/chicken coop has been through a lot and has hosted a lot of memories. I remember having friends over in middle-"cool" (I say that b/c when I was that age everyone is so cool in their own mind lol) and like 20 little loud prissy girls all squashed in a tiny space that is now a chicken coop. (I bet no one would have spent the night in there if they would have known it was going to be a chicken coop 10 years later) Then once we got interested in garden it was pretty much our garden shed and we would pile cow manure, shovels, seeds, and everything else you need in it. It turned out to be pretty junky ha but still we knew where everything was, including the huge Tarantula spiders that looked so big and nasty that we wouldn't even try to spray down b/c we wouldn't want to make the tarantula mad at us. If they weren't completely killed, they could follow us back in our garden and take one of our legs out b/c we tried to kill them.
      I say all that to say, we just got our chicken coop up and ready to go ,and I am looking forward to more great memories in it catching chickens and gathering eggs. We are going to raise them ,and I am not going to say that we are going to raise them to eat b/c you are not supposed to tell people ALL your chicken plans, just the fun plans. All I can say is watch the videos and you can see some fun we had together as we first met our chickens and they met us. (If the videos are too small, just click the youtube button)

-Nicole

40 Days for Life Silent Prayer Protest

Watch the 3 Videos and read below about our Pro-Life Protest!
Part 1                                               Part 2                                               Part 3

       Us girls are very passionate about being Pro-Life.  The 40 Days for Life Spring Campaign had its kick-off, so we decided to take a part in silent protesting.  We visited our local Planned Parenthood, and we prayed there for it to be shut down.  It was very encouraging to see the Pro-Life clinic set-up right across the street of it right beside a Chuckie Cheese (very ironic, and the owners of that Chuckie Cheese are pro-life btw) We met a lady that day who came to the clinic every day for ten or more years, and she would pray and give information regarding abortion to the clients there who would listen.  She was very inspiring.  She told us that she has seen 4 abortion clinics close down due to prayer, and a number of doctors actually quit.  It was great to hear that earlier that month a lady told her that 19 years ago she was going to abort her daughter, but she was too embarrassed to go through with it because that lady was out there.  It's great to see a loving and non-judgmental approach to protesting.  We definitely learned a lot that day and pray for the mothers who have aborted and are considering abortions.
Here's info regarding 40 Days for Life: http://www.40daysforlife.com/Beaverton/index.cfm?load=event&event=15
Here's info regarding the Pro-Life stance: http://www.prolifeinfo.org/

    -Natalie

New Nechville Banjo

 

Watch this new video about Nicole getting her New Banjo!