There is no doubt about it, life changed drastically after November 5th, 2008. I still managed to get 2nd place in my dorm hall Nostalgia night the next day but every spare minute after that was devoted to learning more about Hanson. We knew we were coming in late to the fandom and needed to do 10 years of catching up in a matter of months. The first thing we did was resource youtube. Beth and I spent endless nights staying up until the wee hours of the morning just watching concert clips and interviews with a nightly ritual of taking a break around 1am to get Taco Bell or McDonalds. That was our life. We joined the fan club on January first and shortly after Hanson announced they would be having a fan club members only event in Tulsa in May. We were going. How would we get there? How much would this cost us? Where were we going to stay? We didn't care. One way or another we were going.
We ended up meeting some of our best Hanson friends because of the MOE. We had been active on the fanclub forums on hanson.net and had started talking to a group of girls from Minnesota also going. We decided to meet up for lunch at the Mall of America so that we would at least know some people in Tulsa. This was the day we met Julie. And diaper baby. But diaper baby needs no mention other than she drove everyone crazy. "WHEEE" Back to Julie. Julie is now one of our best Hanson friends. I don't know what I would do without her humor, support, quirkiness, patience and general big sisterly presence in my life. It is no mistake that she is an Issac girl, Beth is a Taylor girl, and I a Zac girl; naturally sister-in-laws. (In case anyone doesn't know us, this is a joke people!) Julie was our first Hanson friend, and you will see her mentioned quite a few times throughout our Hanson adventures.
Something very notable happened in between our fan meet up luncheon and the MOE. Beth and I had already planned out our MOE trip way in advance and suddenly Taylor Hanson was part of some side band. The news about Tinted Windows broke and everyone was freaking out without any real answers. My and Beth's reaction was to make a second trip to Tulsa two months earlier than the MOE to attend Tinted Window's first public performance. I still remember the conversation that first took place while at my coffee shop job while Beth was doing homework. This conversation would become all too familiar in the months and years to come.
Something very notable happened in between our fan meet up luncheon and the MOE. Beth and I had already planned out our MOE trip way in advance and suddenly Taylor Hanson was part of some side band. The news about Tinted Windows broke and everyone was freaking out without any real answers. My and Beth's reaction was to make a second trip to Tulsa two months earlier than the MOE to attend Tinted Window's first public performance. I still remember the conversation that first took place while at my coffee shop job while Beth was doing homework. This conversation would become all too familiar in the months and years to come.
"Let's go."
"No. That's crazy we can't. What about work?"
"You'll get it off."
"...What about school?"
"It's fine we'll only miss one day."
"...What about money?"
"We'll work it out, if we split everything it won't cost us THAT much!"
And so we went. I think part of us wanted to go perchance Tinted Windows either became a huge success or the failure of Hanson. We were in Tulsa less than 24 hours and told virtually no one that we were going, which became quite interesting when we had a MAJOR car issue and hour outside of Tulsa in the literal middle of nowhere. We got our first taste of being real adults and handled it all on our own without calling our dads. We paid for the repair ourselves, slept in the immobile car in a parking lot outside of McDonald's and made friends with a nice older biker dude named Berry who was coming home from the casino and thought we were running away from home. Basically, our first trip to Tulsa was quite an adventure and we didn't have time to see much.
For our longer trip in May we decided to split a hotel room with two other people to lower the cost instead of getting a hotel room for the two of us. Because we were new to the Hanson fan world, we didn't know anyone to room with so we replied to a posting on the Hanson.net forums and ended up rooming with a girl named Ciara and her friend Jonny. I am so thankful we stumbled across Ciara. She is very straightforward and will take charge of situations. I'm not meaning any of this in a bad way, in the contrary I am very thankful that is who she is. It is good for Beth and I to have someone who will stick up for us and get things figured out when we are naturally quiet and not wanting to cause any sort of conflict even when people are stepping all over us. Basically, I would be scared of her if I weren't friends with her. Ciara also has the best accent I have ever heard in my life. We learned a lot from her on this trip, she told us about traveling all around to see Hanson and how to do so cheaply. We had some very memorable nights running around Tulsa together and you will also see Ciara make numerous appearances throughout this blog.
We got to explore Tulsa for the first time on this trip: center of the universe, MOE house, QT, Dwelling Spaces, 3CG drive-bys, etc. We also took Hanson's advice and ate at a few places they recommended. Casa Bonita was something they probably could have left off that list... We did a lot of shopping, between Beth and I we pretty much bought the entire spring collection at American Eagle when we spent half the day shopping in Utica Square. We also went to Dwelling Spaces and along with every other Hanson fan, bought the original I <3 Tulsa tee and my first pair of TOMS shoes. We attended the walk with all the other 700+ fans and finally got to witness the bombarding of Hansons on walks first hand. It was insane. They announced that after this walk they had reached their goal of exceeding a walk around the world 24,902 miles. It was a joyous celebration.
For the actual members only event performance, we were in the last session at the Tulsa Little Theatre. There was all sorts of line nonsense and we had to line up across the street while the other session was in the theatre, they gave us a specific time they were going to move the line to it's proper spot and that was that. Beth and I left to freshen up our make up in the car and when we returned the line had already moved across the street, 45 minutes earlier than we were told. We walked up to the girls who had been around us earlier in line and everyone around us were yelling and accusing and trying to figure out what had just happened. Some people tried kicking us to the back because we were not there when the line dashed across the street even though we had been there all afternoon with them. Finally the people in charge explained that we would be going into the venue in groups of 10, they weren't caring about the number system, and anyone who was out of line or cutting would be sent to the back. This girl named Jaclyn begrudgingly let us in front of her and explained she didn't care who was where as long as she got to go in with the same group as the two friends she traveled to Tulsa with. I was very grateful for her giving us our spots back. Jaclyn is now one of our best friends on tour and in real life and we talk almost every day. In the years since, I had a job that allowed me to fly out to visit her virtually whenever I could. Her parents consider me part of their family even though our hometowns are 1,112 miles apart. Whenever we talk about the day we met she reminds me how much she hated Beth and I the first time she met us, but now it just makes us laugh. Funny how a little line drama can bring people so close together.
When we got into the actual theatre we all ended up front row, including Julie who we got separated from when all the line drama went down. We were not allowed any recording devices or cameras as they were playing us brand new music and recording it for a special EP we would receive later. We were asked to remain silent for the recording part and that proved to be a difficult task for Beth and I who are commonly known for our not so silent "fangirling" for lack of better words. At one point during some Taylor lead song I received a accidental claw mark on my knee from Beth that drew blood and I had a scar for weeks. Somehow we survived without being "shushed." The only downside to being front row for this was even with our countless hours of youtubing Hanson stuff, we apparently didn't find enough fan club songs because when we were asked to sing along we had no clue and looked like idiots in the front row just giggling and mouthing whatever to pretend like we weren't horrible fans for not knowing the words to "Letters In The Mailbox" and "Take Our Chances" Forgive us, we were newbies. We DID know "Never Let Go" "I Am" and "Down" and were ecstatic to hear those. "Down" is up there in my list of possible favorite Hanson song ever category and this was my only time hearing it live. The boys were goofy as ever when it came time for Q&A, I remember someone making some naughty comment along the lines of "why don't you ask the dog..." and Zac randomly making up a song about anti-oxidants and frogs on the spot. We got to take group pictures with Hanson and being in the front row made for an interesting experience when it was our turn because the Isaac, Taylor and Zac were sitting on the edge of the stage and everyone just bolted at them when it was our row's turn. I saw someone running for the stage out of the corner of my eye and I was not going to let anyone or anything come between Zac and me on my first ever picture opportunity, so I basically leapt from my seat to the stage in approximately .27 seconds and the rest of my row dashed quickly after us. The guys laughed and made fun of us. Looking back on this moment I'm slightly embarrassed and would never do that today, but I was new and no one knew who I was yet. You live, you learn.
Going home from this trip was not easy. A few months before MOE even happened I had decided to put college on hold because I had switched my major three times in two years and had no direction or motivation for school. I was wasting money and I needed a break to figure out life. I stuck out the entirety of my sophomore year but decided I wasn't coming back so why go to my finals? I skipped my finals so we could go to Tulsa a day earlier. Sorry mom and dad (if you ever read this) but I was depressed. Going to my first MOE and meeting a bunch of other people who had the same passion as I did in a wonderful friendly city did more for me than a few credits ever could. I learned what a gem the city of Tulsa is, and after having the best weekend of our lives, going back to real jobs and normalcy in Minnesota seemed dreadful. The only thing that kept me going was a promise of a Hanson tour "soon."
We got to explore Tulsa for the first time on this trip: center of the universe, MOE house, QT, Dwelling Spaces, 3CG drive-bys, etc. We also took Hanson's advice and ate at a few places they recommended. Casa Bonita was something they probably could have left off that list... We did a lot of shopping, between Beth and I we pretty much bought the entire spring collection at American Eagle when we spent half the day shopping in Utica Square. We also went to Dwelling Spaces and along with every other Hanson fan, bought the original I <3 Tulsa tee and my first pair of TOMS shoes. We attended the walk with all the other 700+ fans and finally got to witness the bombarding of Hansons on walks first hand. It was insane. They announced that after this walk they had reached their goal of exceeding a walk around the world 24,902 miles. It was a joyous celebration.
For the actual members only event performance, we were in the last session at the Tulsa Little Theatre. There was all sorts of line nonsense and we had to line up across the street while the other session was in the theatre, they gave us a specific time they were going to move the line to it's proper spot and that was that. Beth and I left to freshen up our make up in the car and when we returned the line had already moved across the street, 45 minutes earlier than we were told. We walked up to the girls who had been around us earlier in line and everyone around us were yelling and accusing and trying to figure out what had just happened. Some people tried kicking us to the back because we were not there when the line dashed across the street even though we had been there all afternoon with them. Finally the people in charge explained that we would be going into the venue in groups of 10, they weren't caring about the number system, and anyone who was out of line or cutting would be sent to the back. This girl named Jaclyn begrudgingly let us in front of her and explained she didn't care who was where as long as she got to go in with the same group as the two friends she traveled to Tulsa with. I was very grateful for her giving us our spots back. Jaclyn is now one of our best friends on tour and in real life and we talk almost every day. In the years since, I had a job that allowed me to fly out to visit her virtually whenever I could. Her parents consider me part of their family even though our hometowns are 1,112 miles apart. Whenever we talk about the day we met she reminds me how much she hated Beth and I the first time she met us, but now it just makes us laugh. Funny how a little line drama can bring people so close together.
When we got into the actual theatre we all ended up front row, including Julie who we got separated from when all the line drama went down. We were not allowed any recording devices or cameras as they were playing us brand new music and recording it for a special EP we would receive later. We were asked to remain silent for the recording part and that proved to be a difficult task for Beth and I who are commonly known for our not so silent "fangirling" for lack of better words. At one point during some Taylor lead song I received a accidental claw mark on my knee from Beth that drew blood and I had a scar for weeks. Somehow we survived without being "shushed." The only downside to being front row for this was even with our countless hours of youtubing Hanson stuff, we apparently didn't find enough fan club songs because when we were asked to sing along we had no clue and looked like idiots in the front row just giggling and mouthing whatever to pretend like we weren't horrible fans for not knowing the words to "Letters In The Mailbox" and "Take Our Chances" Forgive us, we were newbies. We DID know "Never Let Go" "I Am" and "Down" and were ecstatic to hear those. "Down" is up there in my list of possible favorite Hanson song ever category and this was my only time hearing it live. The boys were goofy as ever when it came time for Q&A, I remember someone making some naughty comment along the lines of "why don't you ask the dog..." and Zac randomly making up a song about anti-oxidants and frogs on the spot. We got to take group pictures with Hanson and being in the front row made for an interesting experience when it was our turn because the Isaac, Taylor and Zac were sitting on the edge of the stage and everyone just bolted at them when it was our row's turn. I saw someone running for the stage out of the corner of my eye and I was not going to let anyone or anything come between Zac and me on my first ever picture opportunity, so I basically leapt from my seat to the stage in approximately .27 seconds and the rest of my row dashed quickly after us. The guys laughed and made fun of us. Looking back on this moment I'm slightly embarrassed and would never do that today, but I was new and no one knew who I was yet. You live, you learn.
Going home from this trip was not easy. A few months before MOE even happened I had decided to put college on hold because I had switched my major three times in two years and had no direction or motivation for school. I was wasting money and I needed a break to figure out life. I stuck out the entirety of my sophomore year but decided I wasn't coming back so why go to my finals? I skipped my finals so we could go to Tulsa a day earlier. Sorry mom and dad (if you ever read this) but I was depressed. Going to my first MOE and meeting a bunch of other people who had the same passion as I did in a wonderful friendly city did more for me than a few credits ever could. I learned what a gem the city of Tulsa is, and after having the best weekend of our lives, going back to real jobs and normalcy in Minnesota seemed dreadful. The only thing that kept me going was a promise of a Hanson tour "soon."
