American Idol Blog - Saturday July 26th, 2008

Melynda-
So here we are on our way to Salt Lake for Jenni’s audition for American Idol. After a small snafu with the hair color last night (part of it landed on my bathroom rug) Jenni is all prepped & ready for her audition. Katriina drove us to the airport & we sang some songs (ok - we sang one song) on the way to the airport. The line at the airport was a bit longer than normal but we had arrived almost 2 hours before our flight so we weren’t in any kind of a rush . Good thing too because I kept picking the wrong lines to get in - undoubtedly someone had either never flown before or was in the time of their life where general tasks take a bit longer to accomplish (that was my nice way of saying they were old). There was a nice gentleman standing in front of us who made small chat with Jenni & at some point in the conversation called her a ‘smart ass’ - funny how quickly people can infer things! J We had a good chuckle. We stopped by Wendy’s for a breakfast sandwich and then Starbucks to get Jenni a iced grande decaf no whip nonfat white mocha. I’m sure there is a Starbucks barista who will correct me on the order of the drink but who are we kidding…. I don’t drink coffee so I wouldn’t know anyway. We took a few pictures & moseyed on down to the gate. Fear briefly struck our hearts when we realized the plane had already been boarded by everyone else… there were only 86 people on the plane & they had loaded up everyone a little early. WHEW! Once we made our way to the back of the aircraft we played a few rounds of Mad Libs (side note - how come its so hard to remember what an adverb is once you graduate high school?) - our libs were entertaining to say the least & can only be read aloud in the company of close friends due to our interesting vocabulary. Jenni was/is slightly concerned about my comfort levels when flying. I told her as long as she doesn’t touch me I’m good… we had a brief layover in Spokane (a city I loathe) in which left only 5 people on the plane. From Spokane we have a hour and 20 minute flight into Salt Lake. The plane is full which makes me on edge & uncomfortable. I read through half of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe & tried to sleep. Jenni nudged me so I could order a Diet Coke & so I thought now would be a good time to start our blog. My brother & Danielle are picking us up at the airport. For dinner Jenni is going to have the privilege of having Chick-fil-a for the first time ever! I think we might try to go to the Buzz game (minor league baseball - they are #1 in the league right now!!) tonight to help pass some time. Jenni looks good (even after some tears) & is excited for our trip, as for me I’ll be excited once I get off the plane. Until then, here’s Bean…..

Jenni-
For those of you who don’t know how I earned the name Bean…or how it could derive from Jenni, let me just say that story is for another time and another place. Rest assured that I will not be using that alias for my auditions… somehow I don’t think Bean is the best name for my claim to fame. I need to comment on a few of Mel’s remarks. The only reason the guy in line called me a “smart ass” was because I was teasing Melynda. No crude words were used and his comment was in fun. Those of you who know me know I would never make jokes especially in a sarcastic tone.
I really can’t believe I am really on my way to audition for American Idol. I have wanted to do this for years, but never really had the nerve to do it. I am glad to have Melynda along as she is one my greatest cheerleaders! Not to mention she will keep me calm and make the entire experience that much more enjoyable.
That is all I have to add for now, I know much more will come later. As for now, I need to get back to the only book that has ever made me cry and let me tell you how weird it is to be on a plane full of strangers with tears pouring down my cheeks all because of a book. Good thing I know the person next to me.

Saturday afternoon
Melynda -
We’ve arrive in Salt Lake & to my parents place. Jenni is doing a bit of practicing & then we are getting ready to go to dinner & then Bee’s game (I know I called them the Buzz earlier - I forgot their name changed.) The end of the flight wasn’t exactly a picture perfect landing by any means… I thought Jenni might loose her breakfast sandwich on me. She made it though. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of beautiful people in the airport. Normally every time I fly into SLC I see the most beautiful people… they must all be on vacation this week.

Jenni - That was the worst landing I have ever had! Good thing I didn’t have any lunch, or it might have gotten ugly….not that any of you really want to hear that. We arrived in Salt Lake City to a warm 97 degrees (this is how our pilot described it), at least its not humid. Once we got to the Marshall household, I settled in and got to practicing immediately. I took my tape from my recent voice lesson and got right to work. I dragged Melynda in to the room to practice for her and for some reason, my confidence is dropping. I think I need to take a break from singing for the day and relax my voice, tomorrow will be my big practice day before the big audition. Well, I need to relax so we will be back later. Until then…