The David Cook Story

So everyone is asking - how did this happen? So here is the simple story. We happened to be at Disney World on Friday when they were filming some segments of the Christmas Day Parade. David Cook performed "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and we watched him sing it three times but really only saw the back of his head because of the way the crowds were arranged. (BTW - I have whole different viewpoint of that parade now that I've seen how staged it is.) Anyhow, after David Cook left, we waited around for the parade part but they filmed the opposite side of the street we were on and the kids just got bored waiting around.

So we went in search of popcorn for my eight year old and then went to go join my hubby and our little one in line to meet Tinkerbell, but on the way there we saw that they were filming an interview in the grass near the castle. We stopped to watch and a small crowd gathered as well. The girls waved and waved and he looked over and waved back, while laughing good-naturedly about how long they had been waving at him. They took a break from filming and when he did, David walked over to some of the crowd, but not where we were. I knew if I left my spot, we'd never make it over to him anyway so we just stayed and watched. Someone on the crew, his manager? someone from Disney?, I'm not sure, looked over at us and I shrugged saying that we'd never make it over there. He said, "Hold on a minute. I'll get him for you." So he goes over and asks David to come say hi to go my girls. And then he just walks over and chats with both of them and offers to get a picture. I only had my iPhone with me but it came out pretty good:-) I got the whole thing on film as well - maybe I'll upload it as soon as I figure out how.

But it was SO fun for them. They've never met a celebrity and since they watched every episode of American Idol and voted for both David's throughout the competition - they were over the moon excited. They still get swoony when they talk about it. Of course, I totally forgot to ask if I could get a picture with him, too!

So a big shout out to David Cook for being so kind and gracious and for absolutely making their day. 

Twittering Away

We just returned from Disney World and Im still trying to get unpacked. Some time away, even if it was walking who knows how many miles around Disney World was needed. There's a Broadway song called, "Stop the World I want to get off." I don't want the world to stop, but a pause button might be nice once in a while. The trip felt a bit like a pause, a break from the reality of the routine of life. It was nice.

All that to say that I'll try to post here more often, and you can always find out what I'm up to at Twitter - SarahSumpolec is my handle there. I find Twitter fun because it's so short - and I can do it from my phone! That tells you how often I'm out and about:-)

So assuming anyone is still reading this thing from time to time, I'm back:-)  

A wow story:-)

I had this forwarded to me, and really - it's amazing.

A Lion's Tale.

A Christian Movie Studio?

Watch this video - and to find out more info, go to In Jesus' Name Productions:

I'll post some more about it over the next week so stay tuned for more!

Fear Factor

This is The Drop Tower at Kings Dominion. The picture really doesn't do it justice. According to their website it's 

The largest drop ride in North America, a 305-foot tower of thrills that promises daring riders a 272-foot descent at 72 miles-per-hour! This adrenaline-pumping adventure simulates the sensation of skydiving. 

If that's true, I won't be going skydiving. Ever. I thought for sure I'd like it since the Hollywood Tower of Terror - also a drop-motion ride, was one of my favorites. But that one dropped and then went back up, dropped again, then went back up. It was fun. I went on The Drop Tower, or as I like to call it The Tower of Death, with my daring seven year old daughter, who BTW, was well within the height requirements for the ride. 

My first clue should have been the women who panicked and asked to get out just as my daughter and I were heading towards our seats. The Ride Guy had to unlock her to let her out and they put me in next to the guy she had just abandoned on the ride. 

I snapped the thing closed and my maternal instincts kicked in as I checked and re-checked my daughter's straps to be sure she was in securely. All the while, the guy next to me keeps up this constant chatter about how this is "the scariest ride I've ever been on" and "it makes me want to die". No wonder the chick with him jumped out! And just about the point my panic reached the "I have to get out of here" stage, the ride started and I was stuck.

I grabbed my daughter's hand thinking that if I was panicking how was she doing? Meanwhile, the guy next to me will not shut up. He's giving me a blow-by-blow about how many seconds it takes to get to the top and how long we'll linger there looking out over Kings Dominion before we drop to our deaths.

Then we dropped. And I mean totally and completely dropped. And it went on forever. I had never been more scared on a ride in my life. And not the fun kind of scared. The terrified kind of scared. But I had my seven year old to think about so all feelings of panic and fear were stuffed inside so that I didn't react. (besides the scream on the way down!) Not because I didn't want to admit it, but because I didn't want to scare her. But once we reached the ground safely (Thank you God!), my daughter hops out of the seat smiling, with only a little bit of nervous laughter. "Did you like it?" I asked her.

"Yeah! My legs are all shaky," she said.

I felt shaky all over, and a wave of nausea coursed through me just to add to the thrill. I spent the next hour telling my husband how scary it was and declaring that I'd never go on the ride again. My seven year old was surprised I was that scared, since she didn't think it was too bad. I even skipped out on the Rebel Yell because I was still feeling woozy from the whole thing.

I'm not sure that I have some profound spiritual point. Got any ideas? I mean, I'm okay. But I won't ever go on it again. Give me a nice loop-de-loop roller coaster and I'll be happy. But I am curious - what about you? Ever been on a scary ride? Ever done something that was really scary and then it turned out okay?

Tell me about it, maybe it will make me feel better:-)

Cross-posted from Girls, God & the Good Life