Winners of The Sckpanhead Awards 2011!

The votes are in, and the winners have been picked! The results for The Sckpanhead Awards shall be revealed right here, within this very blog, but first, I have a few things to say.

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to all of you that voted. I didn't have very many people voting, but they ones who did were awesome and came back multiple times throughout the past two weeks to help me make this a reality. Honestly, when I started this, I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. I thought, "Well, I'm probably going to end up getting no votes the first week, and have to end it prematurely, or vote myself the whole time, or something." But I got enough votes to not only have second and third place winners, but there was even some last minute competition!

Secondly, if you were an observer or a voter, I would like your opinion on how I did things. I'm trying to make my blog a little bigger, get more readers, and lots more traffic, so I want to know how I did to plan for next year when I (hopefully) have more readers.

So anyways, on to the fun part! The winners of The Sckpanhead Awards ARE......

Male vocalist of the year:

1. JOHN COOPER (Skillet)

2. Trevor McNevan

3. Ryan Clark

Female vocalist of the year:

There was a tie between TRICIA BROCK (Superchic[k]) and DAWN MICHELLE (Fireflight)

Jen Ledger pulled in after that.

Artist of the year:

1. RED

2. KJ-52

3. As I lay Dying

Song of the year:

1. U DON'T KNOW ME LIKE THAT (FM Static)

2. Christ Is Risen (Matt Maher) :( This song should have totally won

3. Deafening (Disciple)

Album of the year (released in 2010/2011):

1. MY BRAIN SAYS STOP, BUT MY HEART SAYS GO! (FM Static)

2. Outta Space Love (Group 1 Crew)

3. H&H (Demon Hunter)

Music Video of the year:

1. CAN'T SHUT UP (Anthem Lights)

In Division and Parallels tied for second.

Winner pictures will be posted on the Facebook page.

Thursdays and Jeremy Camp

A Thursday blog! I love having control like this!

Anyways, I felt like I needed to do more writing than the big reveal of the winners tomorrow, and I have the perfect excuse to do it. What's my excuse you say? I went to an amazing concert that's what! Saturday evening, I had the privilege to see Francesca Battistelli and Jeremy Camp. I went into it knowing it was going to be a pretty awesome concert, because it was outside and there was only going to be around 2,000 people there. But I didn't know just how awesome it would turn out.

I heard about the concert at the Rock and Worship Roadshow I mentioned going to earlier in the year, and being me, I promptly made up my mind to go. I figured my father could be talked into going with me somehow, especially if I payed for the tickets. As time went by and the concert got closer, I mentioned to some people at church that I wanted to go, and was then offered tickets by some 'inside' people for ten dollars each (the normal price was fifteen). Of course I accepted the offer, and purchased two tickets, one for me and one for my mom or dad to come with me.

My parents, however, decided that neither of them wanted to go with me about a week before the concert. I was stuck with two tickets and no way to get there. "How hard could this be?" I asked myself, "I have a free ticket to the Jeremy Camp concert, I'll put an advertisement on Facebook: Free ticket for any adult who can put up with me the entire evening." It worked, I was now going with my Aunt and my cousin.

I took my sister along with the extra ticket, since everyone else in my party already had tickets. We got to the venue (a church in the country) super early, which of course made me super happy. It wouldn't be possible to push my way to the front at this concert, because they had it roped off for people who were willing to pay more to get in, but at least we would still be close. It turns out my cousin had a friend who payed for both him and my aunt to get into the special roped off area, and my aunt understood that these tickets included a meet and greet. She was going to turn it down, but instead she realized that she had a music fanatic with her who would love to have that piece of paper. In case you were wondering, I'm referring to me. So I scored a Gold Circle ticket for ten dollars. Happiness.

They let us in much earlier than the general public, and we wandered around looking at merchandise while the sound check finished up. I soon got bored of that, and threw myself down on the grass. time had never passed so slowly.

Finally sound check ended, and it was a mad dash for the best seats. My group got spots in the very front, all the way in the right corner. That's when I started freaking out. To explain how close I was to the stage, I would be able to touch them if I so desired, and I could see pimples and sweat. And as if it existed for no other purpose than to torture me, time slowed itself down even more.

[Insert two hours that felt like days]

...............................................

......................................................

...............................................

.....................

AND THEN FINALLY IT STARTED!! The first guy was pretty good, it was just him and his guitar, and honestly, I don't remember his name. He played three worship songs, and then they brought out Francesca. I never liked her, I still don't but I was in the front row. I could try and memorize chords if I wanted. After she finished (that took a long time too), I was afraid they would try and drive me insane with an intermission. They didn't, but the people that actually had meet and greet money (notice I said money not tickets) went backstage for their time with Jeremy at this point. It didn't bother me, I had a pretty clear view of everything that was going on back there. That is until they disappeared behind a bus. But they finished up and Jeremy finally went on stage.

I got some good pictures, I cried, I head banged, and I did my best to freak out everyone around me as I usually do. Long story short, I had a great time. During the last song, I made my way over to the merch tables. One thing was for sure, I was going to be first in line to get my poster and CD signed.

When the concert ended, everyone left surprisingly fast. I was excited about being the only one waiting for an autograph, but then again, if I was the only one, Jeremy probably wouldn't come out. My party found me, and I was glad to find out that there was another group of people also waiting. Everyone left, and they started to pack up the tables. All the merch guy would tell us was that Jeremy might be coming out. He never gave us a solid answer until we were about ready to give up. But Jeremy did decide to come out, all for me and the fifteen or so people who had waited faithfully. Guess what? I was first in line.

So yep. It was pretty much an awesome night, besides the fact that I had church the next morning, and by the time I got home I had a really bad headache on account of being next to the bass speakers the whole night which prevented me from getting much sleep. But I can now add Jeremy camp to my list of people I have met, and add my poster to my collection of signed posters in my room. Goodbye, and have a good Thursday.

I Didn't Forget the Title This Time!

We are now at the halfway point of voting! I'm going to count up all the votes thus far and delete all the comments, so don't worry that all your lovely votes are missing. Your vote still counts. Remember to vote today and everyday in the upcoming week! Voting ends Thursday, May 26 at 8 o'clock PM. On to the blog...

This was another one of those weeks where I didn't have a topic to write about. But unlike last time, it isn't a result of procrastination. I've been thinking of what to write about all week, and even the week before that. My mind is just too busy to dwell on one thought for too long. I woke up this morning knowing that it was Friday, knowing my blog wasn't written, and for the most part, knowing why, and I felt almost a little guilty. I had allowed myself to get so caught up in the exciting weeks ahead, in minor drama, and other not-so-important things that it didn't leave enough time to slow down and really think.

I stumbled out of bed like a half dead zombie (is that a redundant statement?),grabbed my Zune, and walked out to the living room where it was freezing. The plan was for me to get up early and write my blog before I did anything else, but when my alarm went off and a gazillion thoughts were still running through my head, I knew that probably wasn't going to happen.

Before I go any further, let me explain to you what all's going on. Tomorrow night, I'm going to see Jeremy Camp with most of my church. I am so pumped about that, I know it's going to be a lot of fun. The weekend after that, I'm going to visit my hometown five hours away for a wedding. At this point, I'm actually more excited about that. I haven't been there for almost a year now, and I miss a lot of my friends there. But honestly, I'm also a little scared. Last time I went, the changes in me suddenly became so evident. It wasn't where I belonged anymore, and if I didn't belong there, where did I belong? This time, I'm planning on going as a visitor, not a returning citizen. The weekend after this, my best friend is coming over to spend two weeks with me. We'll be living under the same roof for two weeks, sharing the same room, doing EVERYTHING together, and just having a blast in general.

I'm looking forward to all these things so much, I thought I didn't have time for much else. But still my mind manages to cram more in. I'm thinking about going to the doctor for Over Active Mind Syndrome. So as I sat out in my living room, knowing that my first priority was not to write a blog, but to clear my mind of at least some things. I turned on my Zune, and played the first song in the playlist I had made last night to run to. The song was A Little More by Skillet. And it was then that I realized the answer to all this craziness going on in my head.

As I listened to the song, it was almost as if God was reasurring me that I didn't have to worry about what was going to happen in the next few weeks. When I felt like it was all left up to me, like I had to make all the descisions, It was Him that held me tighter and showed me what He wanted. "Love is all around you now, so take a hold." As my thoughts built themselves up to an alarming degree, and I wondered about anything and every thing, I thought deeply about the words I was hearing, "Don't suffocate day after day, it's building up. Cause when you're feeling weak, you know I'm strong enough". That was my problem right there. I was thinking it was my job, when all this time I needed to start giving things over to God before I suffocated, smothered by the things I worried about most.

"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:10

The chorus of this song declares that the world can come crashing down, but love can take it. Again, something I needed to hear. Who cares if things don't work out the way I wanted them to? God knows the way He wants things to work, God knows what he has for me, why should I be so concerned with what I can't control? "Let the world crash, love can take it, oh, let the world come crashing down!"

Probably my favorite part of the whole song is the bridge, "You can find me anywhere. Take a look over your shoulder, I'll be standing there". And this is the point of the morning I found myself choking back tears. Of course, all this time I had simply to take a look behind me, and I could have seen that God was right beside me this whole time I was trying to figure things out.

This morning, as I was trying to regain control of my own life, a simple song reminded me that my life was not mine to regain control of. But instead, this morning, I'm giving control back over to God, knowing that my life will be much safer in the hands of the One who knows exactly how things are going to work out.

And now, I'm here, a blog written, a full day of work to do, an awesome weekend ahead of me, and only one decision remains: Should I bring back the Skillet obsession????