{Famous People}

I felt this photo appropriate given Jose's departure from the Celebrity Apprentice last night.  I don't watch the show myself, but I read about it on msn today:).  This was taken in LA at some club.  He.Is.Gigantic...

Me and Jose Canseco in 2005

Speaking of celebrities, do any of you feel like you were completely surrounded by musical talent in college, or is that just me?  These people we went to ORU with keep popping up on major charts...I'm not talking just Christian charts, but grammy nominations, music with huge celebs, most downloaded songs on itunes kind of major!  Also, these are people we went to school with...not just who went to ORU years before or after us, but with us.  One of my roommates dated one of them briefly.  It's cool to see them succeed, clearly there is talent at ORU:).  Here's the list...

1. Ryan Tedder with OneRepublic.  Ryan is the lead singer for OneRepublic and is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and record producer.  He is probably best known for his single 'Apologize' mixed with hip hop celeb Timbaland. He hearted my friend J for a while, but she wasn't interested...too short:).

2. Kari Jobe is one of my faves!  She lead a lot of our chapel worship services at ORU.  She is so talented! In 2009 one of her songs was the most downloaded songs on itunes!  She was #67 on the top billboard 200 list and has won dove awards and so much more.  She still maintains her position as a worship leader at Gateway church in Dallas, but she also tours and leads worship events as well.  Jude and I heart her!

3.  SafetySuit, the band formerly known as "Crew" to us O-ROO-nationals, signed with Universal in 2006 (or 7).  They moved to Nashville right after college to pursue life as musicians and haven't done bad for themselves.  They had a single that topped VH1's top 20 countdown at #1, and have toured with some pretty cool bands....you may have heard of them...3 doors down and collective soul.  I think all of the guys in the band went to ORU, but I only sort of knew Doug Brown (lead singer) and Tate Cunningham (Drummer).  Tate (far right) did not care for me as I did not care to date his good friend:).

4. Jared Anderson is definitely included on this list because not only is he an amazing artist and worship leader, he is an even better writer!  I can't tell you how many times I have seen his name in tiny print on the screens at churches over the years.  He and the Desperation Band have written some awesome songs!  My friend K in college had a huge crush on this guy, but when I approached him about taking her on the roommate date he was much more interested in my friend J mentioned above:).  Have I mentioned how beautiful she is?

5.  Gungor is a Christian group who are so unique and talented!  I love all of their music.  It is more mellow and artsy feeling than some of the other groups listed.  They were just nominated for 2 Grammys this year for their song Beautiful Things!  I know for sure that Michael Gungor (lead) and Daniel Grothe (drummer) went to ORU while we were there.

Yikes, that seems like a lot of talent in one place to me, friends!  Tell me, was your school like this or does ORU just harbor some amazing musical talent?