Song for today...

I think I may start posting links to songs I'm diggin at the moment.  So here goes...

This song I heard on a Target commercial and am now in love so enjoy Forever by Haim!

Irish High Holiday

In honor of my Irish clan, I say Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

I'm not sure why I'm so excited to celebrate the Irish High Holiday this year... maybe it's an avoidance tactic as it is finals week and I have little sanity left.  Regardless, I'm feeling the luck-o-the-Irish this year and happy to think of something else besides all the work I still have to do to prepare for finals.

My grandma came from two Irish families, the Murphys (on her mother's side) and the O'Shaughnessys (on her father's side).  While the family, like so many immigrants, was forced to change their name (to Shaugnessy to be less confusing) and to abandon a lot of their customs, we still found a lot of pride in all things Irish and would always have corned beef for St. Patrick's Day growing up.  My grandmother also gave me the wonderful gift of awesome music.  We would go and spend long periods of time with her, driving around her home in the desert of California, doing fun things and listening to random but very cool music like the Mamas and the Papas and Paul Simon.  One of the greatest gifts was an introduction to the Irish Rovers.  God Bless her, we had so much fun with them.  Here's a taste of their awesomeness...

And my fav... Lilly the Pink!

Awesome.

Now that you have had a little toe-tapping fun (I know that I have), I leave you with an amusing poem one of the Irish Rovers said in one of their concerts...

The horse and mule live thirty years, 

And nothing know of wines and beers.

The goat and sheep at twenty die, 

and never taste of scotch or rye.

Cows drink water by the ton, 

and by eighteen, they're mostly done.

The dog at fifteen cashes in, 

without the aid of rum and gin.

 The cat in milk and water soaks, 

And then in twelve short years it croaks.

The modest, sober, bone-dry hen 

Lays eggs for nogs, then dies at ten.

All animals are strictly dry; 

They sinless live and sinless die.

But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men 

Survive for three score years and ten.

 And some of them, though very few, 

Stay drunk yet live past ninety-two!

Nine years and 6 months

My darling girl turned 9 on Monday the 27th.  I'm so happy to have her in my life.  As we've already taken a trip down memory lane about Fynn's life, I'll focus on this past year.  First off, to celebrate her birthday, Fynn got a HUGE bone...

Here she is waiting ever so patiently for her birthday bone.

And it wouldn't be a picture without a photo-bomb from Ella the foster cat.

Finally!

As of right now, we still haven't quite conquered the massive gift but it's ours and we're very happy to protect it!  

As fun as it is to celebrate her birthday, it's important to take a moment and remember that we almost didn't have this time with her.  Six months ago today, Fynn was rushed to the vet with a deadly case of bloat.  

Fynn post-bloat surgery

I cherish every day with her, not only because she's getting old and we're not sure how much longer she'll be with us but because this reality almost didn't happen.  So thankful.

So, in honor of the past six months that I consider a bonus, here's the past year in review.  

Aside from the obvious, we had a pretty good year.

This summer when the weather was good we took lots of leisurely strolls through the nearby cemetary with our brotha-from-anotha-mutha Milo.

We also went camping where we had the pleasure of sleeping right next to mom, what a treasure!

Fynn saying goodnight laying her head on my sleeping bag.

And we took lots of cruises with mom - one of our favorite things to do!

For Christmas, we got to go to lovely Lake Tahoe...

Fynn enjoying our stop at Lake Shasta.

And on Christmas day, we not only got to partake of lovely bows (our tradition)...

but also the love of our favorite Auntie Jennie.

This past weekend for her birthday we went to Neah Bay... one of Fynn's favorite places... where we got to go to the beach.  Like her parents, she's such a beach girl.

Fynn at Tsooes beach

Priceless

So grateful every day for my Fynn.

Why I am a music nerd...

As we all know, music plays a big part in my life.  While other people are keen to understand everything going on in a football game, I'm the one listening to the musical interludes.  I'm the girl in the restaurant who hears a good tune playing softly in the background and starts to dance... much to the embarrassment of my girlfriend:)  This all became even more clear last night as I heard a song on the radio and was like, "this song just makes me think of the Seahawks" and she was like, "what?"  I guess while I'm trying to pay attention to the plays at games, my head is automatically groovin when a song comes on... or alternately wincing in agonizing pain when the Sea Gals (Seahawks cheerleaders) dance to yet another awful white-rock song.

And now let's take a moment to address this issue...

Dear Sea Gals,

As much as I appreciate you trying to cater to those people in the audience who don't appreciate the various hip-hop tunes played during the game, dancing to awful white rock is not the solution. In the future, PLEASE select rock classics from the likes of Led Zeppelin or go for any 80's rock classics from the likes of Def Leppard.  (I think we would all love to see you dance to "Pour Some Sugar On Me")  Then at least we can actually enjoy your performance without plugging our ears.  Thanks.



So December ushered in the return of my favorite singing competition... the Sing-Off.  Now people may love American Idol or the Voice or all the other shows out there looking for singing talent but this show is the one with the musical chops.  As anyone who's ever sung with other people knows, it's hard to not only match pitch and tone but to also sing in harmony.  In a capella groups, that is all you do and since there are no instruments to keep you in tune, it is even more difficult as every flaw stands out.  After NBC cancelled the show after 2011, they decided to bring it back this past December.  While the harmonies and competition weren't as good as the third season (in my opinion) there were still amazing moments.  Here's my favorite song of the season (Colder Weather by the Zac Brown Band) being sung by the winner Home Free...

Awesome.

Season three had an amazing group called Afro-Blue from Howard University that had UH-MAZING jazzy tunes.  This was my favorite song of theirs from the season.  (Hint: if you want to skip over the intro discussing the group's journey to that week's tune, the song starts at 1:45)  

Impeccable... they were my second choice...


Season three's winner was Pentatonix.  (You can check out their YouTube channel here.)  After three seasons, they were the first to have such a complete sound, to do amazing pop effects, and they did it all with just five people!  Here is just one of my favs...

And here is another one I love...

And last but not least, this rendition that I find super sweet...

So... glad I had this opportunity to geek out... Thanks to NBC for bringing back a show with true musical grit ;)

Music for the season...

As usual, music helps me get into the mood for anything, especially to celebrate Christmas.  Aside from my perma-love of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's Charlie Brown's Christmas music, I have found a few great tunes for this season.

The first one is a work of love.  The World of Color Honor Choir was created this year to be a part of the Winter Dreams show in Disney's California Adventure Park.  This show has been around since 2010 but after seeing the work Eric Whitacre has done with his virtual choirs, they decided to bring that performance to their show.  So this past September, a call went out for singers to submit video for this choir.  The videos had to be submitted by early October and I'm proud to say I made the cut!  Out of the over 1,400 singers who submitted video, 703 singers were chosen.  As you look at the video, I have no idea where my image is amid all the snowflakes but I'm there!  It's just such an amazing piece of music, really just gets you into the holiday mood.  Here's the official video.  And here's what it looks like in the official show:

So cool.

And finally, one of my favorite songs that really snaps you back to the meaning of this holiday season is Francesca Battistelli's "You're Here".  What beautiful lyrics, and what a great message.  This is a video someone put together but it so perfectly shows the emotions captured in that first night.

Happy Holidays!

Getting there...

This month, heck, this year has been difficult.  Amid good things like getting through the quarter at school (with acceptable grades yay!) and an adoptiversary, it's still been difficult to do things like get into the holiday spirit... but we're getting there!  A little recap of the highs and lows...

Sink-gate 2013

This past week hit an all time low when our kitchen sink started to leak... and then after being "fixed" wouldn't drain.  To confess, I have a bit of OCD so to deal with three days of dishes and not being able to use your kitchen sink and all the clutter, it was very difficult.  And of course, my slumlord landlord doesn't care or in all honesty, know that I have this problem.  I mean, it's extremely emotionally upsetting and stressful.  Luckily, things are doing pretty well now as it's fixed with only minor draining issues and last night we actually made dinner... and I actually cleaned the kitchen.  While the crap is still all over the floor as they are coming back to patch up the hole, it's better than no sink.

Amidst all the difficulties of the quarter, I had to get my root canal redone... an ongoing saga that never should have happened.  While that was an incredibly money-bleeding and awful experience, let's pause to do a public service announcement here.

Dear dentists everywhere,

When you have things in your patients' mouths, please don't ask us questions that can't be answered with a grunt or shake of the head.  It's really just cruel!

We got to foster quite a few dogs and recently adopted out our last one for the year, Phayth.  We had some trying times, even having two dogs at a time for a bit which is very stressful, but it is all worth it when you 1) realize you're saving lives and 2) get a chance to see them like this:

Phayth visiting with Santa

What an angel.

And amid all the hemorrhaging of money as my car and teeth received much-needed repairs as well as the dogs, I think I did pretty well in my first drafting class...

This is my final project and I'm very proud.  To go from not knowing how to do any of this to creating a semblance of a planting plan, to be able to create this from my head, it is awesome.

And finally, we celebrated another milestone.  My little man Milo celebrated his four-year adoptiversary!  Aside from some tasty treats he received as well as a new sweater, he just received lots of love.  I can't believe it's been four years that we've had this little guy.  Although it can be difficult dealing with a senior dog... or two... as I know this day or year could always be his last, I cherish every moment with him.

Milo... trying to hide the fact that he's terrified of Santa

I'll write a little more later about getting into the Christmas spirit.  For now I'm looking forward to getting away for a little vacation as we head south to the mountains for Christmas.  I can't wait to see the snow and hang with the fam... Good times.

Obsession...

If there's one thing I love more than music, it's finding new music.  And thanks be to Jesus that technology has progressed to free "radio" stations that play a bunch of music that you may never hear otherwise.  If you listen to the typical radio stations, if it isn't an independent radio station, they play mostly the same popular music within that genre over and over.  It can get a little redundant and definitely kill a song you thought you were excited about.

So, per the usual, let me give you a little background on where I come from with music.  It's always defined me and been a huge part of my life.  I can relate, as I'm sure so many people do, certain songs to significant moments in my life.  Music is what I listen to throughout the day and it helps me to work, do chores, and focus on homework among other things.  And then there's moments, brought to you by music, that have been some of the most amazing experiences in my life.  A few of the greats?

Singing or playing in a dark church...

I think it is one of the most spiritual experiences to, for me,  play the piano or sing in a dark church.  One such time my friend and I were preparing to sing a duet while on a mission trip in Scotland and we were alone, in a mostly dark space with only a bit of light coming in from the windows, bare walls so lots of echo, and the harmonies just lifted and it was as close to heaven as one can get.  Amazing.

Another time I was singing with the Western Washington University Concert Choir.  I didn't know it until a year later as I compared experiences but we had one of the best collections of singers.  We were singing for a special function at Seattle First Presbyterian Church Eric Whitacre's song Cloudburst.  To hear those voices, singing this song, in this amazingly acoustic church was amazing...

Ah...

Now back to the present.  A look onto my Pandora radio page shows music for all different moods.  Thanks to a mom who worried about the smut being played on the radio when I was a kid, I have a vast knowledge of "oldies" music.  Thanks to my adolescent years being spent in the Tri-Cities, home of classic rock, I have a profound appreciation for bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.  And thanks to my grandmother for instilling in me a love for Paul Simon, classical music, and a wee band called the Irish Rovers who gave us this true gem...

And of course I picked up a love for everything else, especially R&B and jazz along the way.

So every once in a while, through listening to the radio at work, I find new fabulous music.  And apparently, the latest toe-tappers I've grown fond of are from the country genre.  So in honor of sharing the wealth of my love for music and in the spirit of discovery, here are a few of my new country favorites for your listening pleasure... enjoy!

Get ready mom, I think you're going to like these...

Light Me Up - Hunter Hayes

Cruise - Florida Georgia Line