{"id":74,"date":"2010-12-31T17:31:02","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T22:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2011-01-04T00:19:16","modified_gmt":"2011-01-04T05:19:16","slug":"best-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/?p=74","title":{"rendered":"Best Days"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Stage<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The family and friends CD release party was one of the best days I’ve had in my life.\u00a0\u00a0I began the day both excited and anxious–really wanting to do a great show for everyone. \u00a0I wanted it to be special for those who mean so much to me, and who were along for the ride while we finished Leap<\/em>. \u00a0I ended the day completely overwhelmed with how much that was actually given to me. \u00a0Here are just a few of those gifts:<\/div>\n
(1) Sonya (aka SwaffMom) made the Club House so comfortable for everyone, with homemade treats, Christmas decorations, and desserts from Piece of the Pie European Bakery in Carrollton. She really thought of everything. \u00a0Just before the concert, she took me into a room and was sharing the thank you notes with me she had made for the guests. \u00a0What I didn’t know was that while we were in there,<\/div>\n
(2) Swaff was hanging a huge canvas poster of the album cover above the stage. \u00a0He had arranged for the poster to be made and put up as a complete surprise to me. \u00a0At the end of the concert, he even gave me a commemorative engraved plaque celebrating the release of Leap<\/em> on 1-1-11. \u00a0I’m constantly amazed at Swaff—the thousands of hours he put into this project, and he still thinks of something totally unexpected.<\/div>\n
(3) Jessica, aka SwaffSis, even helped transport the poster from Atlanta.<\/div>\n
(4) Donald, aka SwaffDad, was also taking care of a lot of the behind-the-scenes activities, like loading and unloading equipment, and setting up the CD display.<\/div>\n
(5) The band was amazing. Brian, Carson, Cody, Jay, and Swaff are just the best out there. \u00a0Comments from the audience included “you guys sounded just like the album”. \u00a0The main thing I like about working with them is that they seem like they don’t really want attention–which to me really adds to their class factor. \u00a0Some of the audience made comments like “you guys are a humble, dignified rock band, which is unique.”<\/div>\n
(6) My family and friends were a highlight of the night. \u00a0My brother, his wife and daughter drove four hours just to be there. \u00a0It meant everything to me to see my mom (THE original Mama Hippopotamus), rocking out in her own way, especially after all she has been through physically the last few years. \u00a0Almost everyone I invited came, and even more attended. \u00a0One of my best friends and toughest critics (brutally honest even when you don’t necessarily want it) left the concert saying, “It was spectacular, and I’ve seen just about every band you can imagine.” \u00a0I can’t tell you how good it felt to see everyone that night.<\/div>\n
(7) God’s blessings are unbelievable, and when He aligns most of them in one room for a moment in time, there are no words to describe it. \u00a0I didn’t want it to end. \u00a0Be sure to check out the photos, compliments of Breakfast at Tiffany’s Studio. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n
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The Band Plays Increase<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Band Plays Little Child<\/p><\/div>\n

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Swaff on Electric Guitar, Carson Ray on BGVs and Shakers<\/p><\/div>\n

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Jay Wilson on Bass, Brian Preston on Drums, Cody Preston on Lead Guitar <\/p><\/div>\n

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My bro BT, Me, Tiffany, and my Mama!!!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Wonderful Sister-in-Law Carol!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Hostess with the Mostest! (Sonya, aka SwaffMom)<\/p><\/div>\n

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The family and friends CD release party was one of the best days I’ve had in my life.\u00a0\u00a0I began the day both excited and anxious–really wanting to do a great show for everyone. \u00a0I wanted it to be special for those who mean so much to me, and who were along for the ride while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jdouglaswright.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}