My Music

I finally added music to my blog! I decided that instead of just choosing songs I like now, I would let my music be a reflection of my life. While it isn't in any particular order, here is a list of why I chose the songs I chose. I am incredibly moved by music of all forms...I was (I'd like to say am) a dancer at heart. Listening to, playing, and dancing to music moves me in a way that nothing else can. I think my memory must be closely associated with the musical part of my brain (as I think it is with most people). Anyway...here is the music of my life:

Bless the Broken Road: You might notice that this is not the Rascal Flatts version. Rascal Flatts did not record this song first...Selah did. I first heard it on Dawson's Creek!!! When Johnny and I were deciding on our first dance song for our wedding, I immediately thought about it. Our lives had taken such different paths but ultimately everything we had been through separately led us to our lives together. He said no at first to the song...so finally I gave up and told him to surprise me...that was about 6 months before our wedding. When the DJ put on the Rascal Flatts version of the song I was floored...he had remembered the song and how special it was to me. It was just fate that Rascal Flatts had recorded and JUST released the song on radio...not even on CD yet! The DJ had no trouble finding it. It was a magical moment!

Feels Like Home: Another Dawson's Creek song. Ha! Can you tell I LOVED that show? This one just always seemed to be a song that described the perfect love to me...it feels like home when you're with the person you love. That's how I feel when I'm with my husband. It feels like home and it always has.

I Go Walking After Midnight: By the age of 5, I had an entire Patsy Cline tape memorized because my dad and I would sing the songs together in the car or outside while he was working on his boat. In fact, these are some of my earliest memories of my dad. When I was a very little girl, he would call me outside to help him work on the boat. He would be under the motor and need me to "trim" the motor up or down. I would just have to push a button but that made me feel like such a big girl. Often, we would be listening to Patsy. I thought she was amazing!!! When I got married, I had to dance to a Patsy Cline song with my dad. If you know anything about her, she sang some SAD songs! It was tough to find one. Walking After Midnight was not the song we danced to, but they didn't have Always on Playlist.com. I'll always be a Daddy's Girl...and I'll always think of my daddy when I hear Patsy sing.

Fraulein: Another song that reminds me of my dad...but for a funny reason. My mom used to tell us stories about how when my dad was drunk (because I think I have seen my dad drunk maybe once in my life) he used to sing this song to her. My mom is part German and so is my dad...it was fitting to sing this to my fair skinned, fair haired mom when he was a young man in love. I get such as funny image in my head of my dad pining away for my mom singing this song. It's so sweet.

Jambalaya: I'm from Sour Lake, Texas which is about 45 minutes from the Louisiana border, and both my mom and dad's families are from south Louisiana...Cajun Country. I have always love my cajun heritage. The food is wonderful, the people are feisty, and the LOVE to have a good time. We used to go to family reunions outside of Lafayette and they would always have a zydeco band...the most fun you can ever have is dancing the cajun two step with about 10 cousins!!! I think my heritage really shaped who I am and I am very proud to be a "coonass!"

1,2,3: Ahhhh...Gloria Estefan. If you went to high school at Hardin-Jefferson and you were in band...and out of 700 kids, 200 were...you know exactly why I picked this song. Rather than have after school marching practice each day, we had before school practice every morning but Monday at 6:45, then band period was first period, so we literally marched from 6:45 til about 9:00 every day in the fall. Since we were not allowed to use the athletic locker rooms, we didn't get to shower (I smelled every day in the fall) the girls changed in the band hall and the boys changed on the stage (with the curtains drawn). Our band director, Ms. Baker, would put on Gloria to get us moving faster. We would dance around and have a great time smelling like outside together! Ms. Baker was probably the most influential person in my life in high school. She demanded the best from us and took no excuses. She was fabulous. I credit her with my confidence as a leader...she told me once, "you shouldn't demand respect, you command it." She taught us to be classy winners and losers, to respect one another, to work hard, and to demand the best from ourselves and those around us. If you look at her students, most of us are pretty successful people...I have to believe she had something to do with that.

My Hometown: To say that college was fun might be the biggest understatement of my life. I LOVED college...particularly the one summer between my freshman and sophomore years when I didn't actually go to college, but I did live there! This song reminds me so much of Huntsville circa 2000, my friends, my experiences, and the one summer where I was truly carefree. I took my first river trip that summer, made some of the best friends anyone could ask for, and for three short months just let go. It's the most relaxed I think I've ever been in life. I miss it.

Here I Go Again: This, believe it or not, was my class song. I graduated from high school in 1999...we were a little behind the times. If you know the words, it's pretty fitting. As a class, we loved one another, but we were all ready to strike out on our own. We had been through so much...from the time we were in 7th grade til graduation we lost 5 of our classmates...and we only graduated with 155 people. I think we had to grow up a little faster than our peers because of this, but we were well-bonded by the time it was all said and done. I'm not sure if other people think about their high school as fondly as I do...and as fondly as many of my classmates do. Sure...there are those who had a miserable time, I'm sure, but I think by now they probably realize how good they had it. We had fabulous teachers who loved us and cared about us and expected the best from us, we were taught to be respectful and courteous to everyone, and we got a fabulous education for such a small school. I wish I could clone that school and move it to wherever I am when I have my own children. I became a teacher because of my experiences there. It has definitely had an impact on my life.