Music

You’re listening to your favorite song. Can you hear it? What instruments do you hear? Is someone singing? What are the words saying to you? What is the music telling you? How do you feel when you’re listening to it? What does music do to you? How important is music in your life?


I personally don’t have a favorite song...I don’t even have a favorite genre of music, as my tastes are quite unique...My mood depends upon what music I listen to at that time...But also, my music can set the tone of my mood... When I’m feeling angry, sure I can turn up Metallica and head thrash about the room and jump up and down... (I’m sure you have a visual now.) Instead, I turn on Amos Lee or some good Ole' Otis Redding (Got to love that soft, slow bluesy sound) and get lost in the soulful lyrics of the song... These sounds..the words...seem to get through to me, to calm me down...

When I'm in a particular good mood..I, more times than not, go to my "Smiles" playlist on
the Ipod ( and yes, the playlist is actually called "Smiles") and belt out "Benny and the Jet's" by Elton John or "Rockin Robin" by Bobby Day...Whatever mood it may be there is a genre of music that will cater to it...Happy, sad, angry, mad, mellow, giddy, romantic..even nostalgic...

Everyone has that one song that can take them back to a moment in time...to a certain memory...and for that 2 or 3 minutes its like you are right back there..reliving that memory all over again...(I bet your thinking of a song right now, aren't you?) It may be a memory of heartache...or a sweet memory filled with the innocence of your youth..For example, some of my personal favorite memories are whenever I hear Hank Williams "There's a tear in my beer" I can't help but to think of when I was younger and my family and I would be driving to Birmingham to visit my Grandmother..the whole way to her house my dad would sit in the drivers seat singing those old Country songs and my brother, sister and I would sing along with him..It never failed..every trip we were going to sing that song...

Another great memory is...whenever I hear "The Twist" by Chubby Checker...I think of my mom cleaning the house and grabbing anything she could get her hands on and dancing (a broom, vacuum, door handle, etc..) most of the time it was one of us kids and she would teach us all the old dances of the 50's and 60's..( The Mashed Potato was my personal favorite).. :)

Whenever I hear Travis singing Conway Twitty's "Lay you down" it takes me right back to our first date...when he picked me up in his "Big Red Truck" as I used to call it...I was so nervous..he seemed so at ease...That song came on the radio and I can remember him starting to sing it...I dont even think he realized he was singing out loud due to the fact that he is so comfortable singing...but in that moment, I feel in love with his voice that night...It gave me goose bumps all up and down my arms...we have been together every since that night...

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, music is defined as: vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony...

I actually think it is best summed up in this quote by Frederick Delius: Music is an outburst of the soul... =)

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Small Things...

Do me a favor...

Stop for a couple minutes and ask yourself this question.. "What makes me happy?" Now, I'm not looking for your typical deep meaning and over analyzed answer's... What I'm looking for is a quick simple list of things that make you smile and give you that giddy feeling in the pit of your stomach...that thing that gives you that extra "Umphh" in your step... Ok..now..think about it...

At the beginning of the year I started this new thing..I guess you could call it a "New Years Resolution"..(even though I hate those things)...but it's more than just a resolution that I make at the beginning of the year and then by mid February fall off the band wagon and promise to do better next year..It's a promise to myself...

I promised myself that at some point in the day that I was going stop and do something that made me happy..something that made a small slow smile creep up on my face...sometimes I even giggle at myself because of how silly it is...but I think that's what this about..I wanted to slow down and remember the small things in life that can bring me happiness...and if only for that small minute or two, I forget all my worries..all my stresses and all my tasks...and in that moment, I am simply happy...

When I say small things...I really do mean small...just yesterday morning as I was about to fix my morning coffee, I noticed that I was about out and it was time to open the new tin of coffee that I had bought at the grocery store..at this point I got excited. The reason why...because I love peeling off the silver seal and getting that first fresh smell of ground coffee...small thing, yes..I know..but it made me smile and for a moment made me happy...

It doesnt take much really...there are things around us everyday that make us happy..we just simply ignore them...and why?? It's ridiculously silly when you get down to the nitty gritty...we all make excuses..but why are we making excuses about why we ignore the small things in life that give us simple joy?? We all need to slow down..enjoy life..go dance in the rain with your children..go jump in that mud puddle and worry about how to get the mud out of the clothes later...go walk barefoot in your yard and enjoy the feel of soft grass under your feet...smile at the fact that your laying on the cold side of the pillow...Sing along at the top of your lungs with your favorite song...enjoy that first sip of coffee in the morning and savore it...hold onto your son or daughter for just a second longer at bedtime and give them a extra squeeze...laugh at that corny joke that you have heard a million times...stop at the store and get your favorite type of bubble gum...take a walk with your husband or wife and hold hands...take a million pictures...buy that ridiculous looking dress that noone else likes but you and wear it proudly...because before we know it...we are all going to be in our 70's and 80's and wishing to God we could get this time back to enjoy...Now go make that list.. :)

Oh..in case your wondering what I did this morning to make me smile...It's simple...I danced around my bathroom while singing at the top of lungs  "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey... =)

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"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. " ~Johann Schiller



I have recently started redoing my living room..you know, the basics...painting, putting new things on the walls, new pillows on the couch, rearranging different things...I have started pulling all kinds of pictures out of storage, after all, these pictures tell the details of our life, the memories, the times that we will always remember due to us taking a moment to take a snapshot of a very important time in our life. You see, I dont't want my living room to look like one out of a magazine, generic if you will, I want it to tell a story..I want you to be able to look around my living room and see my life..our special moments...and smile...

I had the best time going through some of these pictures...Khristian's first tooth, his first haircut, first day of Kindergarden, the first time Travis took him fishing, Our first Christmas as a family in our first house, first Halloween...and I could go on and on...As I looked through these pictures, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and just the feeling that I was blessed with something special..or rather someone special...my husband. I talk about Khristian all the time and how lucky I am to be his mom...I am just as lucky to have my husband. He truly is a very special person...I believe that God sent him to us when we needed him the most...

Travis, Khristian and I had sort of a rough couple weeks in December and I'm sure there will be many more moments to come through out Khristian's life..but we hit it head on as a "Family"...We had to tell Khristian Travis was not his Biological father..and believe me when I tell you it was the most gut wrenching thing I have ever had to do in my life...you know, when your young and your making decisions, you don't ever think that one day your mistakes will come back and hurt the person that you love most in this world. I hated watching my baby cry and hurt over something that he had no control over...he didn't deserve to be hurt. He asked about his biological father and we let him know that he hasnt seen Khristian since his first birthday and that he just wasnt ready to be a father at that time..It was a long couple hour's as Khristian had a ton of questions and I answered them as honestly as I could. My heart stopped when Travis turned to Khristian and asked "Do you feel any differently about me now?" to which Khristian responded "No..your my daddy, your the ones that has always been there for me and nothing is going to change that.."

Several months before Khristian turned 3, Travis and I started dating...He loved both of us and he knew that we were a package deal...This man has in every meaning of the word become Khristian's "daddy"...He goes to every football and baseball practice..he helps coach ever year...he watches wrestling with Khristian every Monday night...he plays endless amounts of video games with him...he helps him with his homework...he sat there and held his hand (even though he cant stand the sight of anyone elses blood) when he got 11 stitches in his leg...he came home early on our honeymoon because I missed Khristian so much...I can remember the very first time Khristian asked Travis if he could call him Daddy and Travis looked at him and said "Son, You can call me anything you want to.." but it was the look on Travis's face that I will always remember...it was a look of pride. Travis is not a cryer but I seem to remember seeing him get a little teary eyed that day....Khristian has called him daddy every since...

It's not the blood line that makes a Family and it's certainly not what makes a parent... It's the being there..good or bad..and NEVER giving up on each other...it's sharing moments together, crying tears together, holding hands and praying together, understanding one another...It's being a circle that can't ever be broken...and never abandoning one another...

Sometimes we dont understand the plan that God has layed out for out life and we can't see the big picture...God see's the big picture and I am ever so thankful that he added Travis into our's....



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