advice

come to alaska.

hello, alaska!

hey guys! i'm in juneau, alaska, and i'm pretty dang stoked to be here! my adventures in canada were epic. i met some seriously amazing people, saw some pretty dull landscape (not counting the alaska highway, that part was breath taking) and i had a lot of fun. i'm totally hoping to visit canada again, actually, we will be heading through canada on our way home! so anyways. its been a long, wonderful last month. i've been gone from home for 39 days, and its been a crazy 39 days. so many wonderful memories have been made that i'm so thankful for. i'm still processing it all.

so anywho! i know you guys want photos. so here are a few photos from the trip on the alaska highway and a few from the ferry ride we took from skagway to juneau. enjoy!

right now we're all staying at a duplex, my aunt's cousin owns it, we'll be living here for the next 2 weeks or so. its pretty nice having a house to stay at rather than the bus. although i love the bus, there's so much more stretch room here and we can cook! i get my own room and there's a giant bathroom and stuff, we're all pretty happy with the situation.

i'll try to keep posting photos and whatnot around here as often as i can.
i hope you guys are having a spectacular summer!

peace out.
-noni

ayye! so this is probably going to be my last post for awhile, because tomorrow we're headed into Canada and i don't plan on blogging from there. i'll be lucky enough if i can check facebook a few times! but once we're into Alaska i'll start the blogging back up. so anyways. i had a few questions about my family's music and what kind they play. so i'll try to explain...

my cousin's play a variety of music. they started out hard core bluegrass, but they grew out of that and started merging some gospel, Americana, and country into it. so now they're a mix. a really fantastic mix, if i may say so myself. my aunt is a classically trained pianist and vocalist, so she taught all her kids piano and how to sing. they've all had music instilled in them their entire lives.

rachel, (25) the oldest girl, mainly plays mandolin, but she can play piano, bass, and the penny whistle. she also has an amazing voice and is one of their lead singers.

next is kyle (23), the oldest boy, he plays fiddle. and wow, can he seriously play it. i know i might sound like i'm bragging about my family here, but honest to goodness. i'm not. they're just very talented, it runs in all of us kids. kyle is married to ashley, they have a 13month old girl named Maddy, i'm here as the babysitter/photographer.

next is benjamin (almost 18), he's the banjo player, and like kyle, he's incredibly skilled on it. him and kyle can play and do play just about everything else thats on stage.

then there's aaron, he's 15, and the lead guitarist. the last few years he's really bloomed with his music and now its his life. at first we weren't sure if he had it in him, but once he started there was no doubt. that kid can play!

and lastly is john (or jawn), he's 13 and learning the bass and is everyone's go-fer. poor kiddo, he deals with it, though, and is constantly making me laugh. i love that kid.

their dad, my uncle, who is my mom's brother, is the sound man. and their mom, becky, she plays guitar, piano and sings.
so now that the introductions are out of the way!

so here are some photos of them (and several extra randoms).

aaron

benjamin

left to right. becky, rachel, john and aaron. john was doing his johhny cash song here.

l-r. kyle, tyler (cousin-in-law, not related to me) becky on bass, ben on electric, rachel on mandolin, john just standing there, and aaron on guitar.

rachel, becky and aaron.

kyle w/the fiddle, tyler on drums.

rachel, aaron and ben.

rachel.

kyle and tyler on the box.

aaron.

ben on the electric banjo

rachel

lance, the sound man and bus driver.

me and the mad bug.

right now i'm in north dakota, all of these photos were taken in minnesota, except the last one, which was taken here in nd.

i really love life on the road. i could see myself doing this all the time, its so random and fun. but also incredibly tiring, there is work involved. but the fun evens out the work and its all so worth it. sometimes i wish i was the one on stage..but only sometimes. i like being the background helper.
so anywho, i could have sworn today was saturday. i've been a day off since wednesday.

and thats all i've got! i hope you guys are having a funtastic summer. :))

peace out,
-noni


p.s.
please excuse any horrid typos, i'm incredibly tired and i've got a cold. :p

today was...

thats me, farthest on the right.

it was funfun times! i loved the 2 storey forever21. we went and saw 'now you see me', good movie.
anyways. i'm tired. i'm going to get to answering all of you guy's questions from my last post here very soon. promises!

i like Minnesota, a lot.

-noni

the last few days have been spent in Wisconsin, right now we're on our way to Minnesota. i'm pretty excited about MN. my cousin's have a big gig tomorrow, i think we're all sorta nervous about it. they brought in a drummer friend, i'm super excited to see their show with a drummer. my cousin John does a Johnny Cash song. i heard him for the first time on Monday, and my jaw dropped. it was pretty dang impressive and he's just so dang cute up there. hehe. so anyways. i really loved Wisconsin. the people there are so nice, at least everywhere we went they were.

i ate fried cheese curds for the first time on Sunday. i'm addicted! they're soo yummy.

we're going into Canada next Monday...this means no constant wifi. *sads*
 even though it'll stink to not have facebook handy all the time and being able to chat at home peeps. i'm sorta looking foreward to no wifi. i have several books i want to read and i'm hoping to draw and paint more. and maybe make some more jewellery to sell at the merch tables. 

so anyways....

-noni

p.s.

so, if you guys have any questions about anything, like this tour or whatever. or. yeah. stuff. ask away! :D

yep. i'm loving this life.

xx-noni

this is the start

the start of hours in the bus, with basically nothing to do but read a book or stare out the windows.

i think we're gonna be state side for at least 2 weeks, then its into canada.
i need to buy a cd drive for my laptop, if i don't i won't have stinking music to listen to. and that'd be tragic.

so anyways. bored.
yep.

-noni