it has it's perks.

sometimes being married to a cop has it's advantages...

not always, but sometimes.

last night definitely was an advantage.
i got to meet county superstar martina mcbride...who is originally from a tiny little town in kansas.

 (yes, i was this close to her!!)

she is on a cross country train tour with amtrak to promote her new album "Eleven" which was released just yesterday and she is also spreading the word about breast cancer awareness. 

she arrived with her entourage on her own decked out pink train.

my hubby craig was part of her security while in town.
when he told me she was coming i said "i am going with you!"

she was only here for about an hour and spent most of the time inside our train station meeting with the media and other groups. 
i got to be in the train station the whole time! 
i got to meet her and have my picture taken with her.

the other girl with me is braidyn, who is a HUGE fan of martina.
she just happen to text me at the right time and i was able to smuggle her in :)
she is singing 2 of martina's songs at an upcoming national talent show in indiana.
needless to say, she was freaking out in excitement.
the only thing that bugs me about this picture is my "deer in the headlights look" and the fact that i didn't put eye liner on that day... :)  oh well!  hey it could've been worse!

while martina was there, she met with a group from BIG BROTHERS. BIG SISTERS and also several cancer survivors.

she also did live radio and television interviews inside the station.

they had set up a mini stage for her just outside the train station doors.
when she took the stage she talked about her new album release and also breast cancer awareness.
she said she was so happy she was able to stop into her home state while on her train tour.
we were happy she chose our little town!
she didn't do any songs, which i would of loved, but the fact that i got to meet her was fun enough!

she is the tiniest little thing!
even though she was being hurried through the crowd outside, she still listened to people's stories and signed autographs for her fans.
she seemed genuinely sweet.

here is her taking some photos with the crowd.

this is the family that owns our town's train station.
they asked if i would take their photo with her.
um, hello?  of course i will!

i have no idea how many people showed up, but from where i stood it was a lot!

so remember when i said the martina and me picture could be worse??
well... i actually had 2 photos taken with her.
her photographer took my camera to take our picture and obviously didn't look at how it came out.
when i saw it i was like "seriously!!!"  that is the photo i'm gonna have the rest of my life with martina mcbride?  i begged him to take another one and later he did.  phew!!! 
if he hadn't, me and braidyn would've been stuck with this picture for the rest of our lives!

a awesome picture with martina's peerly whites!  HA!

thank goodness for second chances...
...and nice husbands that will take you with them on security detail!