Wild horses couldn't drag me away.

Tonight's blog is going to be a little bit different. Saturday Night Live was a rebroadcast that I had already written about, and I don't have any videos I want to share tonight. This blog post is going to be a bit more serious. I had been meaning to blog about this for awhile.

On February 19th, 2010, my younger brother, Leo, was hospitalized for a cerebral arteriovenous malformation rupture, which is just a fancy way of saying a brain aneurism. He complained of a bad headache and eventually went unconcious and was rushed into surgery. This is a lot for him to go through because he is only 6 years old. He is making very good progress and they're hoping to discharge him from the hospital he's at by the end of April if not sooner.

This blog post is to thank everyone that has gotten me through the past 5 weeks. They will either be because of message boards, Twitter, real-life friends, or through music.

Lizzie: Lizzie is part of a Bible study with me at school, and she's been one of my biggest support systems because she put God on our side to help my brother through it. I keep her updated through texts and she was one of the first people I texted when this whole thing began.

Alexis: one of my closest friends from school and one of the first people I told when the whole thing began. She keeps me entertained and treated me to a movie a week or so after the emergency to take my mind off it. I do my best to keep her updated through texts.

everyone on idolforums.com: my second home is IDF. The day after everything happened, I went to the public library because our internet was out (before everything happened, my stepdad was on the phone trying to get it fixed), and posted a topic in one of the forums. Within a day I had over 15 replies from people I knew and people I didn't know quite as well. I keep them updated as best as I can, when I know things.

everyone on joe-music.com: my support from across the miles. This website is for Joe McElderry, who is best known as the winner of the 6th season of "The X-Factor", the UK version of American Idol. I came to know of him because of youtube and became a fan. So, as you can imagine, most of the people over there are from Europe. They've been so supportive, and one even gave me a Bible verse to look up. Like on IDF, I keep them updated when I know things.

Ashley Trainer: one of the main celebrities I talk to on Twitter. After my major freakout on Twitter through texts when this whole thing started, I tweeted a few of the celebs that I talk to on Twitter regularly (more will come in a minute) to let them know. Ashley was one of the first to respond. She's a sweetheart and I feel like she's been my friend for years.

Alex Wagner-Trugman: another celebrity I became close to because of Twitter. He and I talk pretty regularly. So naturally, I had to tell him about my brother. So he's been a great support system, either through talking to me or keeping me laughing with his tweets (he's hilarious)

Laura Morett: I talk to her semi-regularly. She sends me messages sometimes. And she's also very in touch with God, so she definitely sent some love to him through prayer. It's always good to know that celebrities are sending prayers from fans......makes me thankful for people like them.

Jessica "Sugar" Kiper: another sweetheart, and not just because of her nickname. She and I have started talking semi-regularly. She always has a positive outlook on everything and gave me some love when I told her about my brother.

Steve Means: his support comes 2 ways: through Twitter and music. Steve is a musician based in Nashville, and I met him when he came to my school last October. I have one of his CDs and REALLY need to get his new one (this is where I hate being broke). The night after everything happened, I listened to one of my favorite songs of his, and it gave me a message about never giving up hope. So I tweeted through my phone (mind you, the internet still wasn't fixed yet) that this song had helped me through everything. It took me 3 tweets to get everything I wanted to say out, and I mentioned him by his Twitter username in all 3 of the tweets, and I guess he looked at my profile to see what was going on, and he tweeted me telling me that he hoped my brother's surgery went well, and to take care. He's such a sweetheart and very talented, and those are the two main reasons he's my favorite male singer.

Abby Elliott: a cast member from Saturday Night Live that also keeps in touch with me on Twitter. She has been one of my biggest Twitter support systems, and tells me to hang in there. She's funny, talented, and sweet, and there's a reason why she's my favorite female SNL cast member along with Nasim Pedrad. I think she and I would be great friends.

Dannii Minogue: she only tweeted me once, but that was enough. Dannii usually replies to fans on twitter, and I told her about my brother and that I was worried about him. She told me to give him all the love and that I could. She's very wise and talented. She's amazing.

the Tufts University Beelzebubs: I'm the biggest choir nerd ever. I first heard about the Bubs through the show The Sing-Off, which was an acapella singing group competition. I rooted for them to win since the beginning, and altho they finished second, I see a bright future ahead for them. I have all of their performances from The Sing-Off, plus a few songs prior to the show. Their motto is "fun through song", and when I listen to their performances I smile because I remember how fun they were to watch on TV. And their studio recordings sound amazing. One night they did a question-and-answer session on Twitter (whoever runs their Twitter). I did a 3-tweet description directly to them explaining how they helped me. They directly tweeted me back saying "glad we could be of service!". That made my night.

The Lonely Island: my heroes, plain and simple. They are a comedy/music group. Andy Samberg is a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and Akiva Schaeffer and Jorma Taccone are writers for the show. Their videos and music keep me laughing and smiling even through the most difficult of times. I love them.

and finally, I had to save the best for last:

Jason: one of my closest and dearest friends. He is my rock. He's always stuck by my side through everything. He was one of the first people I told about my brother. I was texting him like a mad fool, and even tho he couldn't respond right away, when we talked online the following Sunday, he told me he knew what was going on and that he hoped my brother was doing better. He's one of the nicest, most caring, most genuine people I have ever met and I know we will always be there for each other forever.

There. I think I got everyone. I love all of you.

Love y'all,
***-Lily-***