Wednesday night Scott and I went to the Back9Network's Launch Party. We got invited by a friend and thought it would be great to finally check out ICEBAR Orlando. That...we certainly did.
ICE BAR BABY.
If you've never been to an ICEBAR before, it's definitely something worth checking out. Beyond the ice, there's a regular temperature bar with seating and a large dance floor area. Check out the virtual 360 degree inside tour.
The coats you see in the tour outline the actual ICEBAR, which is an extremely chilly 20 degrees, made entirely from ice. Tables, chairs, decorations and even cups were stone cold.
Don't worry: you don't have to wear a parka here...
They provide one for you.
Or at least a version of that...
The event was great, and we are excited to see what the Back 9 Network is all about. Look out for it airing in the near future.
There was a variety of talent there and The Voice 2011 Winner Javier Colon kicked off the party off. Al B. Sure! and Flava Flav joined in and the crowd enjoyed their renditions of "There Goes My Baby."
Here's a talent highlight video:
Contrary to what most people might think about the bar and location, I think this venue would be a great place for tourists AND locals to go out.
International Drive used to scream the word tourist to me, but Scott and I have been enjoying dinners, movies and outings in the area lately. You're okay, I-Drive.
I'm sure we'll be back to the ICEBAR soon.
We've got a Groupon to use :)
Aye, Aye!
This weekend Scott and I channeled our inner Scottish selves.
Scott is part "Scott"ish (ha!), Irish & English, and has interested me in learning as much as I can about Celtic traditions and heritage. When we heard it was time for the Scottish Highland Games, we were all about it.
The
first rule of attending a festival just for Scots is to try their
food. I opted for a delicious Shepherd's Pie with a side of IRN BRU:
(both were ridiculously delicious.)
while others preferred ground sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs), also known as Scottish Haggis.
I
don't care if having a bite of that is considered good luck for a year or
not... I'm pretty sure that was my one and only time experiencing that. I just wish I had I a picture of my face when I found out what I just put in my mouth - EEK!
Luckily, I quickly got distracted by the sheep tossing contest.
Although they weren't real sheep...the women were tossing real weights over on the other side.
After the games, Scott and I tried to find anything with "Hess" on it, since that's where Hesington stems from.
Although our first Married Christmas is over, there is still so much I want need to share. If I didn't elaborate on the presents that appeared in my stocking this year, it would be a shame...because they were out of control.
I'm not really sure if I was on the Naughty or Nice list this year because Santa (or Scott) left me pretty confused. I'm beginning to think that Santa had nothing to do with this because everything I found had a Japanese label on it.
Hmmm. I do remember Scott saying something about a 100 Yen store.
Yup...it's all coming clear now. I also remember saying something about all the stuff he didn't need to bring home from Japan:
Eh, you win some and you loose some...and I'm not quite sure which category my Stocking Stuffers fit under. I need your help deciding, so let's start at the beginning...
We decided our new iMac and our new running shoes were our Christmas presents to each other, and I was kind of counting on Santa Claus to help me out with the stocking part...no such luck.
So, I did what anyone would do in this situation and started digging in. The first thing that made me question Santa's work were these Spicy Choco Sticks.
Since when did spicy + chocolate = yummy?
Next up...exactly what I was hoping for...a Nose Ball Roller.
I mean, you never know when you might need to roll your nose.
We had a good 2-minute laugh at the next one...
Mind you, these are a size Large. Who fits in those? And WHY are they made of my fuzzy sock material? Oh, wait...I've been looking for these...Finger Puppets!
I love how there's two happy puppets and two angry ones. What the heck? I promise you it gets even better...
Who's up for a nice round of the Panty Hose Game?
Or, can I interest you in borrowing my Instant Balloons?
The list of crap stuff goes on and on...but I'll leave you with the best highlight of all: Dried Fish.
Go ahead, dig in to those bad boys...I dare you. I guess my Nose Ball Roller came in handy, after all.
Oh...my husband. He found such joy in this that he decided to re-gift some of my presents for my niece and nephew. Notice how the wrapping is just as awesome as what's inside.
What happened next is best explained in this video:
Whether you were good or bad this year...I hope your Merry Christmas Stockings turned out to be more Nice than Naughty.
Question:
Did anything outrageous end up in your stocking?
Every Christmas Eve, Scott and I look forward to the Candlelight Service at First Baptist Church of Orlando. Our church is known for being quite large, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Although It may be considered a mega-church, there's a life group and/or sense of community for everyone.
It's nights like Christmas Eve where I'm proud to be a member here. Every year FBCO hosts a service dedicated to worship through music, remembering why we're celebrating Christmas the next day. Jesus is the reason for the season, after all.
Everyone is handed a candle as they walk in, and to close the service we light 5,000 Candles. The majority of the pictures you see below (except for a few at the bottom) were shot by a very talented friend of mine, Tim Smith at Honor Photography. Thanks again, for capturing the night perfectly.
♪♫
Silent night. Holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin, mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
♪♫
Here's a video I took from last year's service. Since I filmed so much of the set-up in hopes of catching the congregation light up row by row, I only filmed the first verse of the song. We sing all three verses of Silent Night, and as each verse is sung you lift up your candle higher and higher.
You can actually hear Scott singing, he's the one on my left with a surprisingly pleasant voice.
It started snowing in Orlando. Not really Really. When we woke up this Christmas, a miracle happened: a complete Winter Wonderland! The temperature outside went from 80 degrees down to 30, and Scott and I couldn't wait to take the entire family downstairs to play in the snow.
What started out as innocently building snowmen quickly turned into an intense snowball fight...us vs. them. Our clothes turned into Elf costumes and we were ready to rock and roll! There were a few good hits from both teams, but I'll let you be the judge of who won this one:
*REALITY CHECK: If you're lucky enough to actually be surrounded in snow today, go outside and take advantage of it! Maybe you picked up a pointer or two on how to throw a good snowball... ;)
Since the day Scott and I really started talking, we have shared a mutual love for Gavin DeGraw's music. Before I even met Scott, I had been in love with the Chariot (Stripped) Album and would listen to it every single night as I was falling asleep - literally - for at least a year. Although Gavin became popular for more upbeat songs like "Chariot" and "I Don't Wanna Be" his voice on this album in particular is very soothing, soulful and calming.
I LOVE his music.
Fast forward a few years and there I am on a 20+ hour plane ride to China, with Scott sitting next to me. Eventually, we got to talking and I was curious to what he was listening to in his ear buds...
Lo and behold, it was the Chariot (Stripped) Album. Who would have thought? Right away, I asked him to share and for the duration of the trip we both listened to it, pretty much on repeat.
Although I love every single song on that album, if I had to choose a favorite, it would definitely be "More Than Anyone."
Well...what do you know...that's someone else's favorite too. To make a long story short, fast forward another few months and Scott eventually sang that song to me when we first starting dating as our phone conversations came to a close, almost every night.
THIS was our song.
When it came time to choose a first dance song at our wedding, I immediately turned to it. I found it very odd that Scott refused to agree, but didn't think much more of it. For months, we debated back and forth and eventually agreed on "Hold Us Together" by Matt Maher.
So where did "More Than Anyone" come into play?
His ring. I wanted to engrave something special in the inside of his ring and rather than going with the standard "Scott + Heather 7.22.11," I decided to engrave "More Than Anyone 7.22.11." I'm sure you can figure out why...
*Ignore the PROOF on these 2 photos. Both came from our wedding photographer: Elegant Imagery and we are still, verypatiently waiting to get our photo CD in the mail.
After the toasts, Scott surprised me by singing the song to me, in front of everyone. I laughed, shocked that he pulled this off without me knowing, cried because all of those emotions of falling in love resurfaced, and became smitten with my new husband: +100 brownie points for you, Mr. Hesington.
To avoid doubling the post size of this one, I'm going to give you a preview of a complete surprise that Scott pulled over on me...this time, it was worth +500 brownie points.
I'm sure by now most of you know I was in The Singing Christmas Trees production at First Baptist Church of Orlando this year. I dance at church with the Rejoice Dance Ministry and had the pleasure of performing with the Dance & Drama back in 2009 and again this season.
*All of the photos I used in this post are from a very talented photographer and member of our church, Tim Smith.
All photos are from HONOR Photography.
The shows went GREAT! I had a lot of support from my friends and family, and someone I knew came to see the show, every showing. Kudos, Orlando friends!
I'm excited to say the Trees will be aired on television, beginning this Sunday, December 18th. The show is just under 2 hours long, but for those of you who would like to see the shorter version, there is a snippet "episode" of the show at the bottom of this post.
The main part I dance in is a number called "Gotta Buy," which is an original song about going shopping on Black Friday. I'm wearing a green dress and you'll see me mostly in the front left.
Things you should take note of:
This video doesn't show our "Sleigh Ride" snowflake dance. Even though it was short, I really liked that part and thought it was adorable.
After "Gotta Buy" it goes into "Jingle Bells" which is made up of around 120 kid elves! Every time we ran through the show I rushed out to see this number because they were SO stinking adorable.
My FAVORITE one...by far...is a little nugget named Elliot all the way on the right side of the stage (on the stairs), and you'll see him late in the dance come up on stage.
Oh wait, I almost forgot....maybe my favorite is this one!
It's a tough call, because Elliot was also Jesus as a toddler.
The show is filled with traditional choir, a full orchestra, and an entertaining storyline. One of my other favorite parts is when a fellow dancer, Xio got to do a quick solo in the snow during "I'll Be Home For Christmas."
Here are a few more dancers in "I'll Be Home..."
I loved EVERYTHING. Mary, Joseph, and all of the soloists were great!
And of course, the flashback scene. This is where Grandpa tells the little boy Max how he met his grandmother.
Goosebumps.
I had such a great experience dancing in the show and I'm hoping for an opportunity to be a part of it again.
Great job Singing Christmas Trees 2011!
You will be able to catch the full show televised, starting this weekend. As promised, here is a 25 minute snippet of what you can expect to see from the show, a video I pulled off of YouTube:
Full Show Showtimes:
Airing on:
WFTV (Channel 9 in Central Orlando), Bright House Cable 7 and HD 1090
2 hour version with commercials.
Sunday, December 18th @2pm
Saturday, December 24th @1pm
WTGL-TV, (Channel 19 in Central Orlando), Bright House Channel 45
Saturday, December 24th @3pm
Hope you can catch one! Alright...I've got to go finish some Christmas shopping..."Gotta Buy!!!!"
