Still A Winner

Many of you know that I was up for People's Most Awesome Star Encounter of 2011 with Josh Groban; I didn't win but the entire process made me realize just how lucky I am and have been.  The last 5 months have been an incredible roller coaster all because of something that happened on one very amazing summer night.  I was fortunate enough throughout the voting process to get an incredible amount of support from my fellow Grobies and have been blessed with getting the chance to get to know a few of them much better.  The real prize in all of this has been the amazing journey that I have gotten to share with Josh these last few months; I mean when else am I going to be able to say that he RTd me not once but twice trying to get us votes!  I feel so incredibly lucky to have gotten to have this experience with him and I sincerely hope that it doesn't end.  In a perfect world we would meet again and have the chance to get to know each other the way two people usually get to but life isn't perfect so for now all I can say is that I am a winner for getting to be a small piece in the story of his life.

The Josh Groban Experience Continues

So some of you may have read my post The Day Josh Groban Learned I Exist and know what happened that amazing night exactly 4 months ago (and if you don't know click the link and read all about it!).  Well I thought that was the end of the experience....but I was wrong.  People magazine is having it's annual Best of 2011 contest/poll and one of the categories is "Most Awesome Star Encounter"...I submitted our story and picture, had an online interview with someone from the magazine, and found out the other day that I made the finals!!  I am now 1 of 7 competing for the title and the winner will be determined by who gets the largest amount of votes.  So this is my request to all of you reading this...please click on this link: Most Awesome Star Encounter and vote for me and Josh Groban!  You can vote as many times as you want and the winner will be announced December 16th.  Please help me out and keep this amazing journey going!  Thank you!!

Yes, You May

Where’s Maury Povich?? (an inside joke between Josh and I…I’m totally serious!)

Long Time No Blog

It seems like it has been forever since I have posted anything of any kind on this blog....I blame grad school and student teaching.  These two things combined leave no room for anything else...especially not anything fun or enjoyable (at least lately).  Don't get me wrong, I love teaching....but things would be so much easier without having to do work for 4 classes as well as working on my action research project at the same time.  I'm going to really try to get better about it though...even if it is only a few sentences or something as simple as a picture or posting I have found that day on Pinterest (one of my obsessions) or somewhere else.

I will leave you with this today...it's a little too accurate for my own good ;-)

The Girl You Sang To (A Thank You)

As many of you know I was the lucky girl who Josh Groban sang Happy Birthday to at the Washington DC concert on July 27th.  It was such an amazing night for me thanks to Josh and I thought he deserved not only a thank you but to know a little more about the girl he sang to.  So here it is...it might sound a little cheesy but it shows a glimpse of who I am...I really hope he reads it!

A Poem For Josh, From the ‘Pretty In Purple’ Girl You Sang To

Sending this Straight to You dear Josh,

Some further ‘inspection’ for your need.

You sang Happy Birthday to me in D.C.

Jenna – an elementary teacher to be.

Entering my grad year,

I’m not The Wandering Kind.

Teaching the little ones,

Their talents Hidden Away I hope to find.

To wonder like Galileo,

Teaching them to read and write,

My teaching specialty for grad year,

Is to help them find their light.

Hearing your thoughts on If I Walk Away,

I’ll think of the song in a different way.

Not only of love, but of a students’ heart,

Their own true worth I hope to impart.

I grew up dancing and singing my way through school.

Dancin’ in show choir and travelin’ around.

Virginia, DC, Florida, New York….

Heard those Bells of New York City, a beautiful sound!

You Raise Me Up daily in your video posts,

I crack up over your crazy goofiness.

My Confession to you – we are much the same

Light-hearted and passionate, seeking love and happiness.

By the way ….. on how ‘you owed me’- do you remember the q?,

in Richmond you sang to my friend Jess* - now ‘you owed me’ big!

Game on! Climb through that Higher Window, I can do it too!

It truly was my birthday, just needed that text to jump out at your crew!

Love Only Knows I spent two weeks phrasing it,

Determined to succeed, I Never Let Go of my goal.

When you called my name I couldn’t believe it.

The dream of a lifetime I would now come to know.

Time stood still.  What really happened?  Everyone watching.

Thank God for Facebook and Twitter, pieces of the night streaming in.

Don’t Give Up I tell myself….keep on searching

The clarity of the night no longer veil thin.

Thank you dear Josh, from the bottom of my heart,

I’m your number one Grobanite from your career start.

Now you know the girl you sang to and hugged,

Don’t ever forget that You Are Loved!

*(Hint:  She asked if you about what’s the worst trouble you’ve gotten in and it involves Italy)

So there you have it...a little bit of me for you.  Josh, if you are reading this I would love to know that you did!!  Thank you can't begin to express how you made me feel that night...but it's the best this teacher can do right now.

Contact Me at:

Twitter= @JennaShevlin

The Day Josh Groban Learned I Exist

I know it's been awhile since I've written a blog on my personal account and not on my Reality Check blog but there just hasn't been much to talk about....until now.  Last Wednesday (July, 27, 2011) I went to the Josh Groban concert at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.; now I knew that this night would be amazing but I had no clue just how amazing it would become!  Before the show began you could text in questions for him and 3 would be chosen and given to him to read/answer during the show.  I texted in a question thinking that it would never get chosen but what did I have to lose...well I was wrong because it did get chosen!! 

My question was the 3rd and final question and it took me about 5 seconds to realize that it was my name and seat information that Josh had just read...I then proceeded to jump out of my seat and scream.  My question read like this "Today is my 22nd birthday and it is my wish to have you sing to me.  Will you please make this the best day of my life?  PS-You owe me and I can prove it."  That in turn provoked some "I'm not the father" comments which was just fine with me!  That idea, even just for a few seconds, was more then I ever imagined he would say to that (and to me) but it was perfect.  Then came the big moment....he left the stage and came straight to me (I had floor seats and was at the end of a row)!  He stood there alternating between holding my hand and having his arm around me and proceeded to sing me the best rendition of Happy Birthday I have ever heard, along with the entire arena.  I stood there beaming, looking into his eyes and knowing that he was looking back.  When he was done he gave me a hug which was one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me and certainly something I will never forget.

It is several days later and I'm still in disbelief.  I find myself constantly wondering whether it really happened and then I close my eyes and can see him looking straight into my eyes, I can feel his arm around me while he was singing as if to keep me from floating, I can hear him saying my name multiple times, I can smell the delicious scent that stayed on my clothes for the rest of the night, and I can feel his arms around me and his scruff on my face; I then know that it really happened.  I am living proof that dreams really do come true...this was one dream that I NEVER thought would come true, but it did.  It is a night, a feeling, and a memory that will never leave me....it is a special moment that he and I shared in front of an audience of thousands that nobody will ever be able to have, it is mine and mine only.  It is without a doubt the best night of my life and will be incredibly hard to ever top!  Josh Groban knows that I exist in this world and to be able to say that is a dream come true in itself, the rest is just icing on an already amazing cake.