It’s only May and this year has gone every which way  but planned. It seems like my whole life is up in the air; and here I am, just (im)patiently waiting to see how everything will fall into place.

We found out (just before my husband went on a two week business trip to the UK) that we will be moving to Chicago this summer. This will be our 5th house in the last 3 years. I realized the other day that we have not spent two consecutive New Year’s Days in the same house since 2013. I say that becuase, each New Year’s Eve since then, I’ve had the following thought, “This time last year we had no clue we’d be moving to a new house and state (or city)!”This will also be the first time we’ve moved outside of the southeast. To a land with little to no sweet tea (more of an issue for Jonathan than for me), I doubt they say “y’all,” and with each move, Chick-fil-A seems to be further and further from our new home. Growing up in Metro Atlanta, I’m used to having several locations within a 5 mile radius. In Florida, we had 2 that were 6 miles away from our house, and in Tennessee, they were about 5-6 miles away. Chick-fil-A has been our Saturday breakfast tradition since our first apartment in 2005. I may be driving an hour for the goodness that is chicken minis, hashbrowns, and a frosted coffee!!!

But this isn’t the only unplanned event this year. We have to sell our home. Something we’ve never done before. Trying to live in a home with four pets (one of which is practically shedding enough hair for another dog), and keep it clean… it’s as fun as it sounds. I’m not even sure how we’ve accumulated so many clothes, trinkets and furniture. It’s just two people. The majority is probably from me, but still.. there will be lots of donation drop-offs and dumpster errands in our future!

Again, that’s not all, but the rest is just more lengthy stories of how our plans have not gone according to our time table, or have no clear direction yet. This is one of the reasons I have been quiet on here. There has been a lot of change in our lives, business travel, getting sick, you know… the usual fun adult responsibilities no one warns you about. But I still plan on working on my music and will continue to post to this blog. I’ll bring country music to the windy city – I hope they are ready! I’m pretty sure there’s a good song or two about the perils of moving and living in two states for a month or two that can come from this glorious chaos. I still plan on making another video or two before I leave as well, and I am so thankful for everyone who has watched and read about this journey.

I leave you with this picture. You probably know by now that I love the show FRIENDS. At this junction in my life, I completely relate to this episode and this particular scene!

In the first season of FRIENDS, the girls have a slumber party. Phoebe is asked if she has a plan, and her response is hilariously accurate. “I don’t even have a pla!”

Sometimes I can relate all to well to this line. It’s not for a lack of planning, but just not always knowing where to begin. Ideas swirl around my head all of the time. The best lesson I’ve learned is to take a moment to step back and write down small, short term goals that will lead me down the right path.

If you want to make your dreams a reality -> you need to have a plan.

I’d love to say I’m perfect at this, but I’m not. So, I am going to share my first goal with you. This will give added motivation and accountability.

My short term goal is to play publicly, even just one song at an open mic. I want to accomplish this before the end of the year. I’ve played for friends, family, and co-workers, but I’d like to give it a shot for a new audience. Stick my neck out and just go for it!

I honestly can’t wait to see where this goal takes me! It’ll be exciting just to perform for people who have no clue who I am. Nashville, get ready! This little lady is getting ready to make my mark on this town! 😜🎤🎸

Over the last few years, I have grown to love coffee more and more. My first morning in Nashville, I ordered a Chai Latte from The Well Coffeehouse (which happened to be right in front of the building where I work). I love this place! The atmosphere is great, the people are friendly, and several of them know my “usual!” One day, they made my drink while I was in line, and had it ready (and gave it to me) by the time I ordered… now THAT is great customer service!

There is something about coffeehouses and music.. maybe because it reminds me of Phoebe from FRIENDS. It’s such a unique atmosphere to have live music, but still enjoy the company of friends, and of course, great coffee and pastries.

The more life I experience, the more I reflect on where I am, and where I’d like to be in the future (days, weeks, years). I have a million dreams, and I wish I had the time to accomplish all of them. One is to start my own coffee shop where people can choose from unique, funny mugs; and if you want your coffee to go, I would have a selection of to-go cups with funny phrases or puns. Of course, I would also have live music as much as possible. One of the best things about this dream is that if I had my own coffee shop, I’d always have a place to play music and share my stories (through songs of course)!

While I realize there is a lot more that goes into opening up a  place like this (rent, licenses, overhead costs, ACTUALLY knowing how to make coffee), it’s still a nice dream to have as a “someday plan.” In the mean time.. I guess I’ll stick with my youtube video’s until I have a good set under my belt (and a pick-up installed into my guitar) in order to play open mic’s and local gigs.

The last few days have been busy, and very eventful to say the least! Saturday I was getting ready to practice and work on some new songs… When I decided to close the window in our bedroom because my allergies were driving me crazy! As I was taking the small Dr. Pepper bottle out from under the window, it apparently didn’t occur to me that the window would shut so quickly. But it did. Right on two of my fingers.

I failed to mention that I was also in the process of calling my mom. Frantically, I was trying to lift the window with my left hand. I realized I’d get more leverage if I didn’t have the phone pressed between my ear and shoulder , so I quickly hung up, and was finally able to rescue my fingers! Thankfully my mom didn’t answer before I hung up, otherwise she would have heard me screaming in pain!

After resting for a while and putting ice on my hand, I sat down and worked on some new music 😊

Monday, I was sharing the three lines I had for a song, and he mentioned, “most of your songs are slow, you need some tunes with a faster beat.” Challenge accepted! I was at the gym later that night, and (since I don’t bring any music to listen to) I was going over some ideas I wanted to work into the song. Then, on one of the ab machines, the one line I needed between the verse and the chorus came to me! Luckily I was on my last set! I finished, wiped down the machine and headed over to the paper towel station. I grabbed a paper towel and pen, and sat down to write!

I can’t help when and where lyrics, song ideas, or melodies come… All I can do is hope I can find resources quickly to save my ideas. The only times of “lost hope,” is in the shower or in my sleep. If someone could come up with a way to write in the shower, I’d buy into that!

Lately, I have felt more bound and determined to put my dreams into motion. Make them a realistic possibility. I read today, everything we want is on the other side of fear. I am willing to face any fear, any obstacle to chase my dream!

I’ve mentioned before that I have written a few new songs, well, here is one of them! Originally the song was going to be more upbeat, thankfully looking back on life’s milestones that took longer than expected. But as I was practicing one night, I started playing around with some chords, and sang along to it. I LOVED it! And with that, the song changed its tune… No pun intended!

I probably could have done a better take, but seeing as this was about the 6th or so attempt, I just went with it. My poor neighbors have heard this song a “few” times last night and today. Another reason this is the take I chose. Hope you enjoy!

I shared on my facebook page that I held a mini concert for the first two college students who came to our house for our weekly bible study (mostly because I was practicing when one walked in and they asked if I was going to play more). More times than not, I’ve played for my family when I’m in town, and for my  husband beacuse, well… he has no choice 🙂 I’ve played a song for some of the college students before, but it was only a half-written song at the time, and I practiced at my office with a few people listening because we plan on having a “musical lunch time” in the near-ish future.

Normally, I am the kind of person that likes to be 110% prepared for something before I “present” in front of a group of people. But there is something so unique with music. It’s so soothing for me to just play, even if I’m just quietly strumming some chords. When I play, I don’t mind messing up, and I don’t mind playing for people even though I’m not great yet, or I just wrote a song, so I forget a word or too. It’s one of the few times (if not only) that I don’t mind being completely vulnerable and not great. If you know me, you know how competitive I am. I either like to excel at something, or I don’t like doing it. You don’t have to tell me, I know that is probably the most immature character trait ever. But again, with music, it’s different. I just enjoy playing for people. Even if it’s just me on the back deck, playing to empty patio furniture.

If you’d like to hear me play the handful of songs I’ve written, just come by the house! I’ll be ready-ish… as ready as I can be! You’ll get the “unplugged” experience 😉

Side Note: one of the cool things about the other night was I had just played the first couple of strums of a song, and Jonathan blurted out the title of the song. I know he hears me practice, but I wasn’t expecting him to know the song right off the bat like that! I literally stopped playing and smiled!!

Another weekend, another song completed, and it’s already husband approved! Since December, I’ve written a song to encourage young moms, a song about the funny trials of being a mom, chasing your dreams, overcoming obstacles, and being the  perfectly imperfect wife. Most of my writing and fine tuning comes on the weekend with what I like to call “songwriting Saturday!

I wish these blogs were as easy to write, or that my picking came as easy as the lyrics. But, like anything else in life, practice makes perfect! Unless you’re having an off night and get really frustrated… I think it’s ok to take a break then 😜

At any rate, here’s to another song for the books!

I love when a song randomly finds it way to my consciousness; flooding onto a piece of paper. That’s exactly what happened last week during my lunch break.

While practicing the other night, I started working on the chords and melody, but kept getting stuck at the chorus. Tonight, I went outside, wanting to make some progress (I’ve found it very inspiring outside)! Plucking away, everything started falling into place. I changed a number of the lines, but regardless, it’s so fun to see the transformation of a song from beginning to the end. While I’m sure there are still more edits to come, I’m happy that I’m at least a little closer to the finished product.

And yes, I used that flashlight to practice! 😜

Yes. You read the title correctly! Today I was reminded of one of Phoebe’s songs from the show FRIENDS (probably my all-time favorite series)!  I wanted to share this video as a tribute to a great character on an amazing show!

On a more serious note, I think I finally finished a verse I had been stuck on for several weeks!!! The more I write, the more excited I am about the other stories just waiting to be poured out into my notebook! I also can’t wait to share these new songs with anyone and everyone! Not only do I text and call my husband, mom, and vocal/guitar coach; but I have also contemplated just starting my own block party/music fest in my driveway! 🎤😜 So, if you are in my area, and hear someone randomly singing in the neighborhood, it’s probably me!

Surely I’m not the only one who mentally responds to text, only to realize days later that I never ACTUALLY responded to that person! Well, that’s how I’ve been with this blog. I mentally wrote a few posts over the last couple of weeks, but apparently my iPad can’t read my mind. I mean come on! It’s 2016, why hasn’t technology evolved to this standard yet?! 😜

All kidding aside, I have found some time to work on my writing, which has been quite interesting! Some of the songs over the last few months have come quicker than others. I’ve started most with the chorus, one with the last verse, and one I wrote almost entirely backwards!

I’ve found inspiration in interesting circumstances, and often without even looking for it. Tuesday, I wrote lyrics to a new song while on my lunch break with no clearly defined melody (which is a first for me).

I have had so much fun seeing the variety of ways these new songs come to existence. Many are still works in progress, with a number of other ideas on deck. With each new song, I feel like it’s my new favorite! I can’t wait to see where my journey takes me, and what new stories are yet to be told!