Official Website of JillandKate

It’s June 3rd folks…which means that it is non-other than Jason Halbert’s BIRTHDAY! We did a blog last year with pics & we decided to do it again this year. We have the pleasure of working alongside him & this last year has proved yet again why we are so thankful for him! He is our fearless musical leader on the road, a great friend, kick-A running buddy & an example of a fabulous husband and father. Also, he is always inspiring us to take pictures to document our many travels so we decided to put together a collection of those from the last 12 months. We are so happy to know him, laugh with him and j&k are looking forward to seeing what awesome things are in store for JH this year.

Jason…first off…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY…

This is how we see you a lot…

Sometimes you wear a shirt to remind us who you are and what you’re doing there…

Australia soundcheck…

VH1 Unplugged rehearsal.

“STRONGER” video shoot rockin’ the key-tar.

No clue when this was…some rehearsal in the last 365 days

When things really get going you’ll move on to this instrument…

Power faces.

Food is an important staple…Cracker Barrel pit stop…hmm…

Chowing down on Koi NYC. Yum.

Music City Hot Chicken Festival, Nashville, TN.

BK & long car rides….good combo.

Just normal breakfast table conversations happening here…

We like to run…Sydney, Australia.

Run club…West Hollywood, CA.

We hauled our butts over that bridge & back…hoo-yeah run club 2012! San Francisco, CA.

We admire all of Jason’s modes of transportation….swing….

Mini-car…

Surf board…

Bike…

We also support a creative wardrobe…when you feel like wearing all grey animated uniforms….

And wizard costumes…

And star shaped glasses….

And yuppy yacht apparel…

And bibs…

And neon green suits…

And mostly when you wear your party rockin’ LMFAO lovin’ gear.

Group shots extravaganza….

These next few pics didn’t have a category but thought they were honorable mentions of good times!

Weirdest city ever for a wine bar…Reno.

Dance party on the bus.

Best day ever…Universal.

Jill’s birthday….Denver, CO.

Made up game…entertainment for at least 30 minutes.

Free drinks on January 1st flying to New Orleans!

Culture Committee party Jacksonville, FL.

Jay Leno!

Dressing room at SNL. Aben looks thoroughly entertained.

Recording in Australia.

Some coffee shop somewhere in the world…

Best German driver ever. #preoseccoforever

New iPhone photo app DIPTIC…all of us demonstrating the “jet lag”

UK X-Factor.

Stretching it out before our pre-flight to Australia.

NO idea where this was but I bet we were having loads of fun!

Australia.

Until next year….

-j&k-

Hi friends…

So, since getting off of the STRONGER tour in mid-April, we’ve been here & there & everywhere it seems. So let’s get caught up on the fun things that have been going on…since bullet points are so fun we thought we’d bust some out:

• In Florida (where Kate wore her happy shirt…you can read about that here) we did a few songs with David Foster & Kelly. Also performing were Seal, Keith Urban, Ruben Studdard…so needless to say we were pretty excited cause j&k love us some Keith. Anywho…we did the show and for the last song all the celeb performers were singing a song together…and David invited us girls to come out and join them in singing “All You Need Is Love”…so we did…and for a brief moment our little fantasy of a j&k & Keith duet flashed before our eyes.

I like to think that Keith & I (kate) shared a moment in this pic Hahaaaa….

• After Florida Jill headed back to Nash & I headed to LA with Kelly to do some personal assisting stuff…while in LA I got to see Coldplay at the Hollywood Bowl…we all know my insane mad love for Coldplay & the show was incredible. The Hollywood Bowl is such a magical venue & the energy that Coldplay puts into a show is ridiculous. Seriously. Loved every second of that show. Everyone upon entering got these wrist bands with LED lights and during certain songs they would synchronize with their lighting & light up….it was SO cool. Fun times.

Before heading to Florida we enjoyed a little downtime in the studio in Nashville finishing up our album….which we will be releasing info about in the very, very near future…and we are so excited about it…we cannot wait to share it with you guys. Listening to first mixes of songs we constantly think about you guys and hope that you’ll like it. Seriously…some of you we mention even by name…knowing that it’s a favorite…hoping that you’ll like what we’ve done with it. So thank you for inspiring us to make music & being involved & supportive. We love you guys.

Driving around Nashville listening to mixes…

Lots of love….

-j&k-

We didn’t write this…go read this…

http://owlcityblog.com/2011/11/21/tourism-and-nostalgia/

It perfectly sums up how we feel at the end of tour…so why write it ourselves when someone else has done it so beautifully?

We loved seeing each and every one of you out on the road over the past few months. Thanks for the hugs, waves, cheers, cards, gifts, pictures….and for all of your support in everything we do.

Much love.

-j&k-

So after our neat-o blogging while flying experience, we landed in Seattle. Here are a couple shots I took from the plane as we were landing…

Upon landing, Miles had some problems….

We spent the night in Seattle & the next morning drove to Wenatchee, WA. Driving during the day was GORGEOUS!!! These were some pics that were snapped through the side of the bus window…except for the first one…I opened my maps app to see where in the world we were…I do that from time to time cause sometimes I lose track.

Airlines are getting so sophisticated these days. Well that’s a lie. But this whole internet while in the air…that’s pretty rad. Right now I am in a middle seat in an exit row on an Alaska Air flight. Not much to report except that the extra legroom in the exit row is totally awesome.

Currently listening to M83′s song “Wait.”

I am so having a Judy Jetson moment. I just took that pic on my computer. On an airplane. At 40,000 feet. Which I will now post on the INTERNET people. This is crazy.

Gonna post this now. Blogging in real time. I guess that’s called tweeting. Whatever. Oh I see a beverage cart coming…let day drinking commence.

Maybe I’ll give y’all an update on my exciting flight in a bit.

-kate-

It’s been a little while since we’ve blogged…sorry!

Here’s what’s been going on in j&k world…in no particular order:

SPRING!!!! The trees were blossoming in Springfield, MO and the weather was amazing. Love it.

Our AWESOME friends sent us a giant cookie cake and a huge basket of cookies, cake pops and goodies to our dressing room. It was one of the best days ever. Seriously, a giant cookie cake can really make any day great…Not to mention having the greatest friends around.

Jill and Miles were cracking themselves up by putting chip clips on their fingers. Lots of time to kill on the bus. Obviously Miles was extremely amused by this. Or in severe pain. Not sure.

Rockband in our dressing room! We never had time to actually play, but we did pretend to play…haha.

We went on a 3.5 hour walk with Cory in Sioux Falls, SD to find the falls. It was exhausting, but so fun! Also, it was our first time to South Dakota. Beautiful…and a great crowd!

Thanks for the Canada mittens! They are awesome!!

We decorated the bus with pictures from all of our travels over the years. Here is a picture of Kate in front of the pictures. She is wearing a scarf around her head…not sure why. Again, we have a lot of time to kill on the bus.

So that’s a little peak into our last few weeks. Hope you’ve been enjoying yours. St. Patty’s Day tomorrow…Wear green and catch some leprechauns!

LATER!

-j&k-

Randomly woke up way too early while we were in Niagara Falls….opened the shades & saw the sun breaking through the clouds…

It was pretty cool. Except all that fast, rushing water scares me a little…so this time around this picture is about as close as we got to the falls

But let’s not forget the last time we were there…ummm…awhile ago…we got this close:

That’s right. We were CLOSE. So this time we stayed indoors and admired the falls from afar.

Good times in Canada…but more about that later

-j&k-

When we were up in New England I (kate) got up to a couple out-of-the-norm-while-you-are-on-tour things which were SUPER fun. I had a friend visiting so we made the best of doing some fun things up in New England. Here are some picture highlights

It was a mere 3 degrees outside but the sun was shining & it was beautiful!

Drove up the coast of Maine & stopped at this cute little secluded beach.

Found a path & hiked all along the cliffs. And yes…that’s ice in the picture so in certain places I seriously did not want to have a clumsy moment & end up in the water. I took it slow

That’s me in the distance.

Cute little lighthouse. I had actually been here before but it was during the summer months so it was nice to see it in a different season.

In Boston we scoped out what the New England Aquarium had to offer. My favorite part was the amazing jellyfish. They were mesmerizing. Whatever…I did a report in the 3rd grade on jellyfish…I felt we had a connection. Haha.

They were glowing. Right? #coolestthingever

Then there was THIS guy. I literally laughed out loud and could not get over how funny I thought this was. He didn’t move…he was just chillen on the glass. Watching us. SO FUNNY.

These guys freaked me out. They are something like Dragon Fish found in Australia…they looked SO weird.

#schoolsoffishfordays

Walking around Boston we found this sign. I felt like I was winning.

Hit up a great breakfast spot, The Paramount. Yes, I said breakfast. Don’t judge. This was my breakfast & it was delicious. Banana Caramel French Toast.

This pic was after we had left New England but I still thought I needed to share. I was on the bus in Johnstown, PA…talking to my dad on the phone…minding my own business. I stepped off the bus & was going to the bay to get something from under the bus when a security guy got my attention and said “I don’t think you wanna walk that way…the policemen have their guns out.” I had gotten off the bus and started walking RIGHT INTO four policemen with their guns drawn yelling at someone in a cab. It was crazy. I immediately whipped out my phone to take some pics…I know, I know…super smart. Anyway…they arrested someone in the back of a cab and the excitement was over. I know what you’re thinking…best story ever. Haha.

So…as per Jill’s last post, we thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in the sun a couple days ago in Jacksonville, FL. It seemed like the perfect little retreat after some pretty chilly temperatures in the North East. Also, that part of tour always seems busier than normal. With Jill’s family being from that area, I had a friend visiting and our friends from college living in that area, the time up there seemed packed with loads of fun & busy days(ps. I did some very tourist-y things which I’ll have to blog about later.) Totally worth every second but I think that’s what made Jacksonville such a simple restful haven. We walked the beach tirelessly, strolled cute side streets & sipped coffee on patios at little local gems. We also had a little tour party out under the stars…complete with a kick butt s’more station. We played games, drank some drinks & ended the night with our feet in the water. It was dreamy.

Here are a couple pics that encapsulate my love affair with Jacksonville -kate-

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so.

Kate warming her hands over a toaster at rehearsals. Inventive, yes?

No caption necessary. <3

Jill’s guitar rack at rehearsals.

From the sky.

Cold rehearsals in New Orleans. Brrr!

“No Errors” on the treadmill screen. Is that a word of encouragement or a threat?

SNL day!!

Group shot right before we went on live!

Kate’s ear pack had Eminem’s name on the back……pretty kick A.

30 Rockefeller Plaza!