So here goes!
It all started on Fri, the week before. Dryers Ice cream, donated a truck load of AI ice cream to "sell" at the Arts Festival, at the High School, $.50 for a cone. So Em, Ja, and I went over to help with that. it was fun! There, I found out somene had donated At-n-tee Go fones(yes I spelled it wrong on purpose), and we had a list going for kids to sign up. So Tuesday, they were planning on watching everything at the High School, but the choir had a concert that had been scheduled the whole year! So they bumped up the concert to 6 oclock, and has tv's in the commons area.
Em and I went over earlier in the day, to get one of the phones, and discovered they desperatley needed help! So the story was, a bunch of people, and one lady in particular, got the idea to send as many go phones to the High School so people could text the votes in. We ended up with about 200. When I got there they still had about 150 to program, and charge. We had to figure out which time zone they were in, if they had unlimited texting, and set up the texting, so people could insert the word vote, with a quick note. Oh, and some of us were setting them to vibrate too. The process of setting up the unlimited texting, was a pain in the rear. We had to call, and set it all up, and it was voice activated, and we were all doing it. So just imagine...
It took about 8 of us- random crazy Archulta fans- (mostly moms my age) about 3 hours to get all the phones ready. Then the party began. Well the choir concert began, while Archie fans gathered in the commons area. When the concert was over, and they were still cleaning up the stage even, they sent to feed into the auditorium, JUST as David was starting his first song.
After the show, voting like crazy began. A local restaurant had even catered dinner for everyone there. They fed about 200 people who stayed to vote. And good food too! Chicken breast in a yummy sauce, beef brisket, yummy rice with a hint of lemon flavor, red potatoes, salad, and green beans with stewed tomatoes. I was kind of shocked! I was expecting spagetti or sloppy joes or something! :)
I had N, P and Em with me, and we stayed and voted until about 9:30. The boys kept slacking, so most of the night, I was double fisted voting. Then after we got home, I grabbed the land line, DH's cell and had mine. The boys voted for a while, but finally fell asleep. Jack tried to get in on it too!
I figured, between all of us, over the 4 hours, and 4 phones, we probably got 1000 votes in. My phone alone I got 800 texts in. Crazy I know, and apparently, not enough...but anyway...
The next day, with a glaze over my eyeballs, we got ready to go to the Delta Center. The thought of going was making me sick, but I knew if I didn't go, I would be SO mad at myself, not to
mention Emma! So Em, P and I head out. I toyed with driving or taking the train, but it came down to, I didn't have enough $ to pay for the train, so we drove. Parking down town is HORRID, and always expencive, so I was worried about finding a spot. Well check it out...parked across the street!The line was wrapped all the way around the building, and EVERYONE had a sign. I was so mad at myself. I am the sign QUEEN! Why had I not thought of making one. I called my sister, she was gonna make one and bring it to me, but she's lives in Montana, so it would have taken too long to get here! ;)
We got in pretty fast, not too bad. The energy was electric! Everyone SO excited, and proud or in love with David! :)
We were excited to see who would be there from Idol . I really thought it would be Carmen R, but it wasn't. We got Matt, from season 3 I think. Anyway, it was so fun, and as we got ready to be on the first time, ecryone one was screaming, and jumping up and down! Matt kept yelling...NO GREEN SEATS!!! So everyone PILED in, and made it look as full as possible. Then we watched the parade of eclectic used to be famous people...just kidding...and most of the summer tour. *rolling eyes*
Then we were getting ready for the big announcent. Matt had everyone ready, kids on shoulder's naked guys with David written on their chests, everyone was huddle in a HUGE mass, and then it came... DAVID......COOK! Seriously...it was like 4000 people were punched in the stomach! Girls were crying, Emma was crying, she cried all the way to the car. Sobbed actually. "I wanted David to win!" Noone even stayed to watch Cook sing. It was kind of funny actually, to watch that many people be CRUSHED, with one word.
I will say, David handled it beautifully. He is so gracious, and a genuinley nice person. And as I have said for years, to NOT win, is better off. He is fine, he will be fine.
The one thing I have been kind of sad about, is how this amazing young man, has kind of lost his old life. He can't go back to school like nothing happened. I have wondered if he could even go to church, or youth conference. SO much has changed, I have been praying he can have some sort normal life. Then today, I came across this. It warms my heart, to see him in this setting, at church, like Idol never happened. Be sure to read the info, on the video. I hope it will warm your heart too!
Here is the story behind the video:
The following letter is from Richard - who is playing the piano in the background!
Hey there, I just wanted to pass on a cool experience I had last night. Yesterday I got a phone call at about 3:18 pm from the Archuleta's. I was asked if I would be available to play for David for a fireside that he was speaking in the next couple of hours. Brett Hales, a friend of the Archuleta's, was asked to speak on trials and how to overcome them. Brett has M.S. and was on a feeding tube less than six months ago and could have been counting his final days, but miraculously now is up and about and doing pretty darn good. He decided to bring David along to share. So, I cancelled everything from my busy Sunday evening, loaded up the kids, and went to this fireside, which was held at a school for troubled youth. It is a 10 month in-house program that helps these kids 'right the ship'. What was interesting about all of this: most of them had never seen David sing because they don't watch T.V. there. This was their first experience of hearing him. David sang "Angels" and "Be Still My Soul" and did an incredible job of telling of his experience on American Idol. I was fortunate to accompany David on both songs. The piano that they had there was not amazing, but it worked out. Be Still My Soul is an arrangement that I did for David a while back. I have included a link for you to listen to this performance. When he sang it, you could just feel the Spirit come over the room. The directors of the school were in tears, because they said these kids don't feel this way very often. It is hard for them to feel the Spirit or recognize it because of their current state and their attitudes. But, it was more than evident that they did. You could see it in their eyes and I can only pray that they find the desire to have it in their lives even more. David was also so good to stay and talk to everyone who wanted to. He signed autographs, took pictures, and just gave words of encouragement for almost an hour and a half. It was so awesome to see his willingness to share. Anyhow, Enjoy! Richard
