my life soundtrack

Truer words were never uttered. Music has a special way of touching our hearts and our minds getting through when no one or nothing can seem to manage. I have a special love for music. As a child I remember our home always being filled with the sing song melodies of music. Whether it was my dad playing the harmonica or the harpsichord, hearing the tunes of oldies, country or rock and roll on the radio, my sister Star singing or myself practicing my newest piano homework, music was everywhere in our home:) These are some of my best memories. My most favorite memories are consumed by the sounds of music! Take for instance the drive from Show Low to Phoenix to visit my grandparents singing,

"how do you call your lover boy? Come here lover boy! And if he doesn't answer? Oh lover boy! And if he STILL doesn't answer! I simply say...Baaaaaby, oh oh baaaaaby, my sweet baaaaby, you're the one!"

This along with countless Billy Joel songs brings a smile to my heart :) I love that I can hear certain songs and remember specific memories. Music has a wonderfully, special way of connecting both happy and sad memories to songs. It feels oddly good to have all that you are feeling put to the words of a song.

I can't forget about dance. For so many years I wrapped myself and my life in dance. Music and dance go together like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs...so much better together than separate. Tap dancing was one of my favorite styles of dance because I could hear the music in my head and feel it through my feet, bouncing the rhythms back and forth.

 

“Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!” Dumbledore

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Today, music is still a very big part of my life. Now that I have
grown into a nearly fearless 30-year-old I am able to express more of my musical nature. I have always enjoyed singing, but now I sing more often in front of people and much more freely:) As I hear songs while driving I am constantly adding new songs to sing to my mental karaoke list. Ok, it's not mental:) I actually write the songs in a draft message on my phone so that I can access my sweet list when ever I'm in a jam for a jam. For your viewing pleasure...my song list, in no particular order:
Aha- Take on me
The Cranberries-Zombie
The Beatles-Oh darlin'

Billy Joel-Only the good die young

Coolio-Gangstas' paradise

Jermaine Stewart-We don't have to take our clothes off (lol)

Billy Joel-Tell her about it

Shania Twain-That don't impress me much

Gary Allan-Runaway

Soft Cell-Tainted Love

No Doubt-Walking in the spiderwebs

Peter Gabriel-Sledgehammer

Ray Parker Jr.-Ghostbusters

Asia-Heat of the moment

The Four Tops-Sugar pie, honey bunch

Foreigner-Love isn't always on time

Oasis-Wonderwall

 

*You know what they say...variety is the spice of life! Some songs on this list I haven't tried yet, but many I like to sing, and when I say sing I mean ROCK, on a regular basis. I have no idea why I think karaoke singing is so much fun. I just love singing and dancing around in front of people I guess :)So...the moral of my post today...keep singing your heart out and feeling the music in every part of your life. Whether you're happy or sad, music heals the soul.

 

 

 

 

 



Seeing the world

 

Today's blog post is one of my favorite things to talk about...traveling! I have had the travel bug since my first trip out of the country (sans parents) with my friends Leah and Lauren in July of 2007. The three of us planned a three week backpacking trip to Costa Rica. We were not disappointed :) It was such a fantastic experience! We were able to travel to both coasts as well as spend a fair amount of time adventuring in the central rainforests. Traveling around Costa Rica made me believe that I could travel anywhere and be fine on my own :) In fact, it was because of this trip that I had the courage to accept a teaching job all the way in Thailand later that very same year!

Traveling has become an important part of not only who I am, but the life I want to lead. I want to see and experience as many places as I can. Planning a big trip every year is a fabulous way to do this. I was lucky enough to find a partner that loves to travel as much as I do :) Adam and I have BIG plans to travel, travel, travel! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed traveling on my own, but it only heightens the overall experience having someone I care about to share it with. Together we are starting to plan how we want to see Europe:) We are probably going to make two trips of it since there are SO many countries we want to see! Watching soccer games in Europe is also a big to do on our travel list, which limits the times of year we would want to travel abroad.
On our drive to the coast yesterday we started talking about which countries we would want to see and spend time in and our list included, but is not limited to: British Isles, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Serbia, and Croatia to name a few! An ambitious list for sure, but I'm sure we can handle it;) I told Adam yesterday as we were driving that the sooner we start to put our travel plan ideas together the sooner we get to go! Here's hoping we start planning today!

I am also open to living and working abroad in countries I on my list to see. I think Adam is warming to this idea as well :) His new position with the company Mondelez is a great one because it can potentially open up options for work transfers all around the world! Food for thought indeed! I love the show House Hunters International and often picture Adam and I searching for our future rental property in a new and interesting place for adventure! You never know and at this point we are keeping ourselves open to all opportunities that may come our way :)

Sunshine, ocean, brews, and togetherness

Today Adam and I spent the day enjoying the coast. With his work schedule recently changing to swing shift (until further notice) and most of our weekends being packed with sports it was nice to get away just the two of us:) It was Adam's brilliant idea to head to the coast today, he is quite the smarty pants! He also knows me very well. I love the beach. Period. With our summer jam packed with new jobs, long hours and sports, sports, sports, we didn't have the chance to escape to the beach as often as I would have preferred. Today presented a perfect opportunity! I put out the option to head to Astoria and have lunch and brews at Fort George Brewery. Needless to say Adam was on board ;)

Our first time at Fort George Brewery was a year and four months ago during our one year day trip up the coast and it was a fantastic experience! We ended up in the taproom, a cozy little spot away from the busy restaurant getting schooled by John, a FAN-tastic beer dude and barman who took great care of us making our first experience super memorable! Imagine our delight when we showed up in the taproom to see John there again! We sat right up at the bar and chit chatted with John, drank delicious beers and ate yummy food:) I honestly don't think we will ever eat or drink in the restaurant after the superb service and atmosphere in the taproom. I even filled out a comment card sharing just how wonderful John has been to us twice now! My favorite beer of the day was the 11th Sour- a delightful double IPA aged for 14 months bourbon barrels. Adam's favorite beer was the Omega Tex- a hoppier version of their Vortex. Overall, it was another awesome time at good ol' Fort George Brewery!

After lunch and tasty brews we continued our coastal journey south to Cannon beach, a favorite for both Adam and I :) We walked up and down the beach laughing at all the sweet dogs playing in the surf. It was B-E-A-utiful on the beach, not an ounce of wind! In shorts and a light sweater I was quite comfortable. We ended up having a few appetizers for dinner at Mo's and wandered back onto the beach to watch the sunset :) Super romantic. What a super day to spend together with my favorite fella :) And thanks for letting me sleep for most of the way home babe ;) I love you.

Ketchup day

    There is a silver lining to me not having landed a teaching job yet. I reaped the benefits of that today :) As a nanny for two families I have the occasional Friday off, which is awesome! I like to trrrrry and pick up sub jobs on days I have off from nannying, but sometimes I just need a day to catch up. Today was a great catch up day!

     Now that Adam is on swing shift we try to spend the mornings I have off together, which is wonderful :) However, he didn't know I had today off and already had made plans to get his hair cut and spend some time with his parents before work so I had the morning to myself. We parted ways around 9:30 and I went home to have coffee while letting Falcon and Panda out for a morning romp. It's not everyday they get to run around all crazy in the morning after all:) Mornings like this are fantastic. I'm pretty sure that I sat enjoying my coffee watching House Hunters International while the rabbits ran amuck for an hour. I then proceeded to vacuum up fluff-the blue bedding from my bunnies' cages that gets everywhere, and grab a hard boiled egg to eat in the car for breakfast on my way to jazzercise at noon. Jazzercise kicked my bootie! In a great way! I got a few compliments for my energy and enthusiasm :)  

     After jazzing, the errands commenced! My errands were five-fold. Today the adventure began at the mail box plus store where I had to send back a sweet orange wind and rain jacket that was a bit too snug for my liking. I, of course, had to take some time to talk to my favorite Romanian, the owner of the mail box plus store. She is the sweetest lady who got to know my mom and dad while my brother and I were living overseas. She helped my mom send me and my brother goodies and they are friends now:)

      I then drove to my bank to deposit my work checks for the week...kind of a hassle to do every week, but they are so friendly at my bank that it doesn't feel like an annoying errand.

      Seeing as the sun was shining today I opted for an impromptu stop at Pinky's car wash to make my whip all clean and shiny! I love when my jeep is clean and shiny! Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow...

      Next, it was on to Target' (I like to make it fancy;) for a return and to pick up some essential groceries etcetera. Who is dying to know what I got?? Did I mention that I freakin LOVE Target?? It was quite difficult to avoid the clothes, shoes and books, but I ended up with vita gummies, toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, milk, coffee creamers (plural), eggs, sausage links, hummus, mozzarella cheese, three bananas, two Star Wars puzzles, one large Darth Vader eraser, and yogurt. Weird assortment of items huh?

      Girlfriend favors kicked in next as I headed to the cleaners to drop off Adam's suit to finally be cleaned :) He is a busy guy after all. I like to help him out when ever I can. He deserves it :) Seeing how the cleaners is right by my parents house I knew what my next stop would be! Time to see my dad, Toby, Brutus and Tilly for a lunch break of Panera broccoli cheddar soup:) I love stopping in to say hello and chit chat! Even got to see my mom for a bit after she got off work seeing as it was close to 3:00 p.m. She gave me some homemade chocolate zucchini bread! Mmmmm! The pups and I even squeezed in a visit to the park for some play time before I headed home.

      At home, I did some stuff around the house, unpacked groceries, started laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and FINALLY showered :) Don't forget the tire shine! An essential part of any car wash. Then it was time to relax. For dinner, I decided to make homemade bruschetta, but was missing a few ingredients so I bounced to Trader Joes for wine, tomatoes, bread, and stuffed mushrooms :) It turned out pretty delicious I must say. So to sum up, my evening consisted of enjoying my red wine, laughing at Modern Family and Friends while watching my "kids" run around the living room :) Pretty awesome AND productive Friday. To top it off I get to see my babe in about two hours! We are spending the day together at the coast tomorrow and I can't wait :) Happy start to a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

Arrrrrgggg!! v. HIIIIYAAAAH!!

For this incredibly awesome Thursday (ok, it's been rather average), I thought I'd spice things up with a would you rather. For those of you who have never played would you rather, all it consists of is answering a scenario question about what you would rather do. Fairly self explanatory right? However, it turn into an epic, disgusting, hilarious, FAN-freakin-tastic game to play with friends, family, or anyone you may run into on the street.
Alright folks, time to ask (and answer) the age old question of time...would you rather be a pirate or a ninja? I love this WYR question! Who out there has never answered this question? In fact it is such a fun question that I even asked the two kiddos I nanny for today-both boys, to get their expert opinions :)
Here is what they had to say on the topic:

Jack age 6- "I would want to be a ninja because no one would know who I was." He is elusive lol

Sam age 2- "I would be a ninja so I could HIYAAA! and BAM! (insert two year old swinging away and or the bat from Anastasia :) Smart kids! I'm pretty sure I would follow suit and choose to be a ninja over a pirate as well. Let me tell you my reasons why, they are three fold.  

1.) Ninjas get to do all the really tricky, sneaky, awesome quests.

2.) Ninjas get to use throwing stars and THAT is badass.

3.) Ninjas aren't required to be stinky 24/7 and I'm pretty sure I get seasick.

 

I could come up with several other candid, legit reasons why being a ninja would be much more KICKASS than a pirate (I look great in black for another;), but I'd be more interested to hear what you would choose :) So, what'll it be...ninja or pirate?

 

 

 





when jazz hands are necessary

Today is Wednesday.

Middle of the week.

Huuuuuuuuuuummmmmmp daaaaaaaay according to the funny camel in the commercials.

I needed my jazz hands today. It's been a week of little tests. Tests can be exhausting. I can always count on jazzercise class to offer me a chance to use my best jazz hands.

Today was no exception:)

Jazzing out my stress, petty annoyances, frustrations and irritations has been wonderful. I don't know why this surprises me...this was my life when I was young. Dance.

The last three weeks of jazzercise have been a way for me to do just that. A fantastic hour long work out including strength exercises that I can do every day after work aaaaaaand I get to dance. I smile, I laugh, I even use my brain (some of those moves are tricky!) and I genuinely enjoy that whole hour devoted to myself surrounded by others who have a passion for jazzing as well:) During this hour of my day I can put aside any negative feelings and just be...me.

My happiness

With the exception of Nascar races, rabbits instead of a dog, small mouth bass fishing, eight point bucks, and Jack D in my coke, the above video pretty much sums up what I love about my life right now :) I hit the jackpot. Some songs just take the words right out of your mouth :)