A time for everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

We interupt this blog to report on a very bittersweet day

Today when I got to work this morning I had 2 voice mails from my parents urging me to call them back. I knew it wasn't going to be good news. For the past year a dear family friend has had some very serious health problems. He and his wife are like grandparents to me since my grandparents live hundreds of miles away. Last week Jack's health really started to decline and last night he went home to be with his Father in Heaven.
His death isn't a shock to me per say, because of his declining health. But even though he was getting worse, I couldn't bear the thought that some time soon I would lose him.
Please keep his family in your prayers. We can rejoice in the thought that he is in Heaven and his COPD and emphysema are no longer bothering him. He is well again. This little town that we live in will not be the same without him. We all miss you, Jack.

Love,
b

Jack and his wife used to go to Hawaii in the winter time and absolutely loved it there. In their Hawaii travels they discovered Israel Kamakawiwo Ole' (most famous for his What a Wonderful World/Somewhere over the Rainbow song). The IZ songs below I dedicate to the memory of Jack.



Another Hawaiian Like Me by IZ (the pictures in the video are of IZ, not Jack)

You may go, I'll let you go, may god bless you
You'll be mine, wherever you may be
It's a warning, to say Aloha
'cause you'll never find another Hawaiian like me
Oh no you'll never find another Hawaiian like me

You may go, I'll let you go, may god bless you
You'll be mine, wherever you may be
It's a warning, to say Aloha
'cause you'll never find another Hawaiian like me
Oh no you'll never find another Kane'ka like me
Oh no you'll never find another people like us

Playing Catch Up

Okay... So I had every intention of blogging along about our travels while Chris and I were away but the cabin didn't have wifi and so my blogging intentions were shot. BUT do not worry!!! I have pics now and plan on posting them on here along with more stories about our trip. :) All in all Chris and I had a fun trip and it was a nice almost stress free get away. I miss it. If any of you guys get the chance to go to NC, definitely make a stop in the Smokey Mountains instead of driving straight out to the coast. The mountains are beautiful and everyone that we met were very nice and helpful. :) Hope you all have a good weekend!

Happy Birthday gift

So this post is really getting posted today, November 4, 2008. BUT, it should have been posted on my husband's birthday. Technical difficulties in the editing and uploading of this video delayed it's posting. Sorry folks. This is a video I made for my husband his birthday. Enjoy!
Happy birthday honey. You are the one I've been waiting for. :)
~b

NC Day 1 continued

Hello all! So, we made it to NC as the previous post states. We also were able to find our 1st mine way out in the middle of nowhere. It was an interesting drive (to say the least) but we made it to Cherokee Ruby and Sapphire Mine. :) We found a sapphire (YAY!) and a few garnets (tiny ones) AND we learned a lot! Then we tried to find our cabin. That was interesting.... For whatever stupid reasons, Google gave us directions to drive through the mountain instead of getting back on the freeway so there were some one lane dirt roads to negotiate. Once we got to the mountain where our cabin was we followed the road(s) to get to our cabin. The last leg of the route to our cabin involves us driving up a VERY steep incline, 15 plus percent, (some areas being much more steep than that) on a one lane dirt and gravel road UP a MOUNTAIN. Oy! Scary, Scary! But, every bit worth it. The cabin is beautiful and the view is outstanding.
Then we went out to eat dinner at the Frog and Owl Bistro along the main street in Franklin. This involved us going down the one lane steep scary mountain dirt road, of course. *Cringe*
The food was EXCELLENT. It's a cute upscale bistro. I think they were going for a rustic upscale look with dark, gray and mud colored painted walls white square tables, white painted, wood weathered chairs. They also played Jack Johnson, another fav musician of mine, the whole time we were there (AWESOME!). :)
When we were all done, then we had to drive back to the cabin on the scary one lane dirt road in the DARK. But, we again made it safe and sound. As a goodnight to day one, I'm going to close with my favorite Jack Johnson song, Bannana Pancakes. :)
~b

NC Day 1

Well we made it. It's beautiful and the Motel we stayed at was nice and clean, very 1950's art deco style with rental log cabins in the back. Hope y'all are having fun back home. :) Here's some travel music:

Economy

Any time I watch the news it's always: doom and gloom, the economy is going under, we're all going to die, etc. Yes the economy isn't good. Yes it is cause for concern. Yes there are a lot of other bad things happening too. But I'd rather know the essentials so that my husband and I can attempt to be prepared for whatever hits rather than live my life clustered up in my house fearing the worst b/c of the constant bad news the media is feeding us.
SO... here is my ode to the economy, or rather Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz's ode to the economy (sort of) :) Enjoy!

(Lyrics are below the video)



Don't you worry, there my honey
We might not have any money
But, we've got our love to pay the bills

Baby, I think you're cute and funny
Maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you
If you know what I mean

Oh, well let's get rich and buy our parents
Home in the south of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
And teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build a house on a mountain
Makin' everybody look like ants
Way up there
You and I
You and I

Well, you might be a bit confused
And you might be a little bit bruised
But, baby, how we spoon like no one else
So I will help you read those books
If you will soothe my worried looks
And we will put the lonesome on the shelf

Oh, well let's get rich and buy our parents
Home in the south of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
And teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build a house on a mountain
Makin' everybody look like ants
Way up there
You and I
You and I

Oh, well let's get rich and buy our parents
Home in the south of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
And teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build a house on a mountain
Makin' everybody look like ants
Way up there
You and I
You and I

Pressure!

I've only passed 1/3 of my work shift and already I feel like this:



Pressure! Pushing down on me Pushing down on you.....

Yup. That's what the day has turned into here and I still have 2/3 of my work day left... OY!
How 'bout you Josephine?

~b

NO MORE SAPPY LOVE SONGS!!!!

I promise this one isn't sappy. Aren't you glad? :-D

Do you ever have days where you just are sick of being in the house? Or wives/moms where you walk into the kitchen and you look around and have to clue what to cook for your family, let alone any real desire to cook at all?
Fall is fast approaching and in my area that means winter could come any day now. When winter hits I usually get the "winter blues". I'm sick of snow, little sunlight, ice, slush, and gray.
During this time I need to listen to peppy music to keep me sane, like "Hey Ya!" by Outkast, various Bollywood music, Buena Vista Social Club, etc. Devon Sproule's song "Let's Go Out", although not as peppy, perfectly describes that meh mood. I love this song. It's so clever and true! I found a video of her performing it. It's posted below. Hope you like it! :)
Do you ever get the "winter blues"? What do you do to get rid of them?

Devon Sproule can be found on Myspace and at: http://www.devonsproule.com/

Today

Well thanks to Ellen, Joshua Radin has experienced a huge surge in music popularity and his album is topping the charts on iTunes. You should all def. check him out. His Myspace page has a lot of music or you can visit his website at: http://www.joshuaradin.com/ You can also listen to his music on his site or watch some of his performances.

It's hard to pick a favorite, but I do enjoy his song Today. It's an absolutely beautiful song about 2 people who've found their soul mate in each other. Had I known that this song existed when Chris and I got married, we would have danced to that for our first dance.

It wasn't love at first site when I first met Chris. In fact he gave me his email address and I didn't email or talk to him for 3 months. But during that whole time I couldn't get him out of my head. Any time I complained to my best friend S (on the other side of the state) about not being able to find a good friend, his name would pop into my head. I couldn't get him to go away. So finally 3 months after he had first introduced himself to me, I talked to him. Another 3 months after talking, hanging out as friends, and emails, we were dating. Everything just clicked together and the key people in our lives (parents, family, and friends) were (and still are!) very supportive of our relationship. The song Today by Joshua Radin is our relationship.

Hummingbird by Kris Delmhorst

Below are the lyrics and a video of her singing Hummingbird(poorly made but the only one I could find). If you have a myspace account, you can find the song on either my page or in her site, just do a music search on Kris Delmhorst. Her website for anyone interested in listening to more stuff or buy her music is: http://www.krisdelmhorst.com/

Enjoy!
~b



Hummingbird by Kris Delmhorst

Here in the dark, I won’t even make a spark.
You’re the only one who’s never seen
The way I can light up in shades of gold and green.
I’m just a little firefly, I want to shine for you but I’m too shy,
So when you come around I hide my light.
But when you go away I shine for you all night.

Out there in the sun, I’d open up for anyone.
You’re the only one who closes me
Because I want to be the brightest thing you’ve ever seen.
I’m just a little dandelion, I want to blossom but I’m scared of trying,
So I hide my head when you come into the room.
But when you go away I come right into bloom.

And I can’t look down, I’m way too high,
And I can’t look up, into your eyes.

Well I never was afraid to sing out loud, in front of anybody, any crowd.
You, you make me lose my nerve
Feel like something more than I could ever deserve.
I’m just a little hummingbird, I want to sing but I can’t find the words,
So when you come around I just go still
But after you move on, when I know you’re gone,
Then I sing for you the way I always will

Relationships, boys, and finally meeting my husband :)

Right now, I'm listening to my Myspace music playlist. There are a lot of good songs on there, most by non-mainstream artists. My favorite song on there so far is Hummingbird by Kris Delmhorst.
It's about a person who secretly loves another but is too shy to show it or act themselves around that person. It reminds me of being in school and having a crush on a guy but being too afraid to tell him how you feel.

Once upon a time...
There was this guy when I was in high school, in my church youth group, who was a buddy of mine. I had had a crush on him for 4 years, but was too afraid to say anything to him. 4 years of not ever saying anything that would give away my true feelings about him. 4 years of just acting like his buddy. It finally got to the point where my youth pastor and my youth group friends threatened to tell him I liked him if I didn't say anything soon. But I came from the belief that the guy is to make the first move, not the girl. So I just went on playing the role of his buddy, while secretly wishing he'd ask me out.
My best friend and I used to dissect every little conversation, glance, and interaction he'd have with me to try and figure out if he liked me for more than a friend. OY! Young love... It seems so silly when I think back about it. :)

Finally, during a youth over-nighter event of laser tag, air hockey, basketball, video games, and pool, I was faced with an ultimatum: Tell R. or else one of my friends or youth pastor was going to spill the beans. I think I was just over 16 at the time and was old enough to date according to my parents rules.
But I couldn't tell him. I was too shy to say anything and too afraid b/c I didn't want to get my heart broken. It was safer for me to admire him from a distance than it was for me actually admit it. So I said nothing.

My best friend's boyfriend finally spilt the beans to R. when they were alone and R. didn't believe him! When J told R that I had had a crush on him he wouldn't believe it and especially when he told him I had liked R for 4 years. After that it was awkward, unfortunately. R had been dating someone else at the time when he found out I liked him and didn't really talk to me the rest of the night. It was agonizing for me. I didn't know what he was thinking and I was afraid of losing my friend. I don't remember if we ever talked about that night again. I don't think we did. But we did eventually return to being just friends.
I think part of the reason our friendship lasted was by that by that summer I'd given up trying to have a boyfriend. I had other things I wanted to pursue in my life and trying to find and attain a boyfriend took up too much energy. Besides, right after I turned 17 my family ended up moving to the other side of the state, hours away from R and my friends. So I had to start all over again.

It was so bizarre. I went from always feeling like the ugly duckling at my old school (where my classmates and I had been in the same classes together from Kindergarten on up) to being the "new girl" at a high school who's population was more than double the population of my old high school.

I had a lot of guy friends almost instantly. I'm pretty sure that was only b/c they knew upfront that absolutely NOTHING romantic would happen b/n me and them b/c I had sworn off dating. :) I was "safe" like Switzerland and we could just be ourselves with each other. There was no high school against or teenage drama. I wasn't going to waste my time with it. :)
SO...
When I met my husband (before he was my husband, of course) I wasn't too shy to act like myself around him. We met at church and he went to a different high school than me. I had made it very clear to him, that I ONLY wanted to be his friend, so don't even think about trying to date me.
Well obviously that didn't last. :) As I got to know him, I realized that he was it. He was the first guy that I had actually struggled to try to maintain the "no dating" rule with. I would have dreams that we were dating or married. I couldn't get him out of my head.

When I finally came to the realization that I couldn't dismiss C as just another guy friend, I all the sudden became self conscious. We were dating with the intention that someday it could lead to marriage. But I was too shy to sing around him, or touch him/stand too close to him, and be TOTALLY crazy and goofy around him (like I had been when we were just buddies). I didn't want to lose him or turn him off by doing something stupid.

The self consciousness Kris Delmhorst sings about in Hummingbird had come full circle for me.

I had started out as:
a young, self conscious, lowered self esteem girl with a crush on a guy
To a:
"No one can stop me", "I don't need a relationship to make me someone", high self esteem young woman
Back to a:
self conscious, "I don't want to look like a fool and lose him" girl
So I guess in a way I was like the singer in Hummingbird. Don't worry though, I did grow out of it. :)
Almost 7 years after we had first gone to a youth event together as friends, Chris, my best guy friend, and I got married. I love him so much and am amazed at the way God has blessed my life by giving him to me. :)

So what happened to R you may ask?
Well, we kept in touch, occasionally, after I had moved. One time, not too long after Chris and I had started hanging out, but before we started dating, I went back to the other side of the state to visit R and some of our friends from youth group. My best girl friend and her boyfriend at the time, (J (the one who spilled the beans to R about me liking him)) and R and I went out to eat. We had fun but, I realized that I didn't really feel the same way about R that I had almost 2 years prior. In fact, I couldn't stop thinking about Chris that whole time. (Sorry R.)
After that my grandparents told me that he had gotten married a year or so before Chris and I did to a nice girl I think he'd met at college. I haven't really heard from or seen him since I graduated from high school. I found him on myspace but it's an inactive account. I hope he's happy, though and I wish the best for him and his wife.

The obligatory intro

Hello all. So I've started another blog...yet again. *sigh* I just got tired of posting things to Myspace, Facebook, and other sites. So here is your one stop to find out all about me. I promise that I will keep this more current than my blog about Suzy.

Just a real quick bio. I was born, lived in a few places, finally settled down (for now) got married in '05 to my best friend, Chris. We live in a house that the bank still owns (for now) and have a newf mix named Suzy. She also has a blog but I don't update it much b/c of time and picture upload issues. We don't have any kids (yet).

I come from a musically talented family and growing up, the radio, cds, tapes, or records were always playing at our house. I've been told that I have a good singing voice, but all the women in my immediate family have unique, beautiful singing voices (among other musical talents). I think it was all passed down from my mom's side of the family. Sorry dad. ;)
I love all different kinds of music but I'd have to say my favorite genre of music is folk.
I love finding and listening to songs that deal with what I'm going through now or relate to something that happened to me in the past. It's like the artist climbed in my head, looked at my memory files and wrote a song about them. Creepy, but beautiful.
So these posts will be about my life, my history, thoughts, goings on, etc. I'll try to include a song, lyrics, or music video that is applicable to the post. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. ;-D

~b