Apparently it’s been a while since we have unpacked ALL of our things! It took longer than I anticipated. I still have some fixing up to do in my music room (plus ALL of the curtains are being held there), but I’m finally getting back to pen, paper, and my guitar!!

I’ve taken notes on my phone, the sick bahbag on the airplane,  and,  well, anything I can get my haves on when an idea comes to mind!

Today I wrote a fun little diddy for a friend in Tampa (if you are looking for a new dog to bring home,  and you live in the Valrico, FL area,  let me know)! I’m also working on a few other new ones (as always). As promised,  I will have Gypsy Soul ready to share this month… STAY TUNED! No pun intended 😉

We are all moved in! There are still plenty of boxes to finish going through, but we’re making a dent. My new music room  (the room that was going to be my office will now be the music room) is almost done! Just need to add a few pictures to the wall!

After the first night in the house, we thought we lost one of our cats. He is an indoor/outdoor cat, but he NEVER misses a meal! Every time we took our dogs out on Sunday, we called for him. Nothing. Monday afternoon, I opened the door to see if one of my dogs was ready to come back in, and wouldn’t you know? In walks the cat like nothing had been out of the ordinary!

Each room is starting to take shape, and feel more like home! I can’t wait to get all of my music stuff ready to work and share!  Hopefully more to come next week! Stay tuned!!

Well… my New Year’s resolutions are going as well as you’d expect. But in my defense, it’s hard being motivated for anything when you just stay inside 99.99% of the time and you don’t have a lot of natural light during the work day. This will all be rememdied when we move to our new home this weekend! Yay!

My new office space will be in the front of the house with two gorgeous windows overlooking our front yard. Ok, they are just regular windows, but you have no idea how happpy I am to have an office with a view again! PLENTY of natural light. It’s like the saying goes, “you don’t miss it ’til it’s gone.” So I might have paraphrased that a little.. but you get the point! Most days I don’t even realize what the weather has been for the day. Was it sunny? Raining? Warm or cold? All I know is my dogs haven’t figured out that I’m not home to devote all of my time to them. The highlight of some of my days is just going to Target, even if only to roam the aisles (but let’s be serious, how often do you walk in that store and NOT buy anything?!).

The lack of natural light has also stolen any motivation I had to finish songs that I’ve started. I’ve tried. White walls just don’t give me much to work with. I know most creative people love a “blank canvas,” but for me it doesn’t seem to help. I need to see life being played out to get ideas.

As you know, one of my resolutions was to write more blogs (as well as songs). One way I hope to remedy that is to at least do something weekly. In the meantime, I want to come up with a catchy hook to inspire these blogs. I am also hoping to record (on my iPad) “Gypsy Soul” once we move as well. I haven’t really had anywhere to make this video yet which is why it hasn’t seen the light of day. But soon(ish)!

So for February, here’s to more natural light, more inspiration, and a lot more music!

It’s the first day of the new year and I’m already blogging (again)! Thanks to my husband who is great at taking hints (although I literally sent him the amazon link for this) my blog is coming to you via my new wireless keyboard!

I guess it’s been a while, but lots of life has happened… for instance, we moved BACK to Georgia!! Literally, we drove hom December 1st and Chicago started getting snow on December 3rd!

With a new year underway, it’s natural for us to reflect on the past year or so, and resolve to make changes that we are really going to stick to this year! But I feel like we all say the same thing every year. Eat better, exercise more, be compassionate. So how can we do better at keeping resolutions? Encouraging each other and finding someone who has a similar resolution so that you can keep each other accountable!

Here are a few of my resolutions for this year. Feel free to bug me and ask how I’m doing!!

1. Spend more time writing/working on songs.

2. Blog more frequently.

3. Spend more time in my Bible and memorizing scripture.

I hope that you have a Happy New Year! 

A lot of songs that we sing in church come from the book of Psalm.  That’s because they were written as songs by the original author. I have often thought about putting a tune to Psalm 23, and last week in my Bible study I was challenged to do just that. Not specifically that chapter in that book, but using scripture as a basis for a song.

It’s funny how using a few different words in a common verse from the Bible can completely change the way you look at it. I have grown up in church my whole life and Psalm 23 is one of those things that you just know. Even if you don’t know the whole chapter verbatim you’ve likely heard the beginning and parts of the middle, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want… Though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

A few years ago I read that verse in a different translation and it hit me in a way I had never seen it before. Instead of saying, “I shall not want,” it said, “I lack nothing.” While the two phrases mean the exact same thing, there’s something stronger behind the latter phrasing. I used the new living translation for this particular song; I hope it gives you a fresh perspective on this chapter.

I actually wrote this towards the beginning of the year, but just now got around to posting the video! The words are very straight forward. Sometimes you just have to go for it! If it’s your passion, what do you have to lose? At worst, you’ll hopefully know what you need to work on for next time.

I have always heard, “the worst they can say is no.” And that is true! There are auditions that I’ve done and the answer was no. I don’t take it personally; I view it as a great experience and chance to have others hear what I can do. I try harder, and try again. In one audition, I tried out for two different solos. I didn’t get either, but was asked to join the praise team! I had so much fun singing with the team at that church, and I would never have had that opportunity if I didn’t “go for it.”

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite lines of the song: “I’d rather miss from trying/ than not know what could be mine.”

When I began writing this song, I wanted to encourage anyone that felt “different” to know that we are ALL different and unique in our own way! We should be celebrating our uniqueness, and realize we can all bring something different to the table. That’s what makes the world go around!

Saying that I’m short is an understatement. Growing up, people always thought I was MUCH younger than I was (they still do, but it’s much more appreciated today 😄), which could be annoying, but you learn to make the most of it. While I have step up on shelves in grocery stores (or chairs) to reach items that are too high, I’m also able to get into small spaces that most can’t! A perfect example is the day we moved. Apparently we had a pair of socks behind the dryer. I got to be the human claw machine and retrieve them. Or the times I am the go-to for hard to reach paper jams, or being the flyer while I was a cheerleader.

Whatever makes you unique, celebrate that. Do your best, and remember, you are the only you that we have!

I’d normally post a little something about the new song I’ve uploaded to YouTube; but in this instance, I think the song says it all! Enjoy!

We tend to get caught up in the lovey-dovey aspects of relationships,  and try to hide or forget the fact that it’s not always sunshine and roses.  No couple is perfect,  and that’s ok! It’s hard to remember that sometimes. Facebook allows us to show the sides of ourselves we are comfortable sharing.  Pinterest makes it look like we are all skinny with amazing wardrobes and cooking,  cleaning, and organizing skills! But that’s not the whole story.

The story behind this song is simple. I’m not perfect. I’ll never be an ideal wife,  but I’ll always have your back. I’ll be supportive,  and at the end of the day,  I love you.

For the  purpose of this blog, I wanted to include an unedited version of the song. I’m not great at picking yet, so I’m going to be staring at my guitar most of the time. But at the end of the day,  that’s just real life.  We may straggle, and make mistakes, but over time we learn and become better because of it. I will eventually make a nicer version of this video where I’m actually looking at you and not staring at my guitar, but again, for the purpose of this blog I thought it would be an honest capture of the what this song reflects.