Oh iTunes I've missed you!

Last night after work (when I should have been at the gym) I went home and FINALLY got a chance to sit down and take a listen to some new songs on iTunes. It was blissful! I think I downloaded seven or eight new songs. I spend most of my music listening time in my car, so I'll have to put them on a CD so I can really spend some time with them. That's funny, I make them sound like friends or pets. Nope... just songs. Well, not just songs. I love music because people have a way of singing about ideas or thoughts that run through my head all the time. I just can never find the right way to explain what I'm thinking or what I'm going through. Music does such a better job of explaining things. There are probably a thousand songs that I can name a place, time, event, feeling, or some reference to my life in relation to. I will throw a few out there for you...

Celebrate - Kool and the Gang

This is the strangest thing. I can remember spinning on my Sit-And-Spin in my dining room when I was six or seven and listening to this song on the radio. I'm not kidding.

Roll on - Alabama

I can remember riding in the car with my family singing this song when I was a kid. Takes me back every time I hear it.

Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Last summer, Joe and I went boating with Kyra and Shawn and we stayed on the water until after 11pm and we were just cruising around listening to music, swimming, talking, dancing, being dumb. It was one of those nights when you feel like you were meant to be exactly where you are and you were 100% in the moment. It was so much fun and I remember these two songs specifically.

When You're Gone - Avril Lavigne
Faith in Love - Rascall Flatts/Reba McEntire
My iconic breakup songs from last summer.

Livin' On a Prayer - Bon Jovi
Every time Amanda, Jill, Janelle, and I would walk into Generations when we were 21/22, they would play this song for us. Everyone would sing. It was awesome! And we still request it everywhere we go.

Float On - Modest Mouse
One of the first times that Matt and I hung out we went to Old Cab. I was picking songs on the jukebox and he was talking to Janelle. I picked this song and when it played he got this shocked look on his face because he didn't think anyone else knew this song and couldn't believe I picked it. Love that song!

Today's Song of the Day

I Go Back - Kenny Chesney

The whole subject of this song is exactly what I'm saying in this blog. He talks about certain songs that take him back to different times and different people.

I'm back...

OK, I took a little blogging hiatus (mainly because my computer at home was on the fritz), but now I'm back. In addition to getting back to my blog, I can't wait to get on iTunes and start finding some more good music. It's been forever since I've been able to download any new songs. Oh the possibilities! I'm sure there are hundreds of new songs out there just waiting to be heard.

Today's Song of the Day

Split Screen Sadness
John Mayer

I Am Officially Independent

I am officially an independent woman and I'm so proud of myself! Yesterday for the first time in my 28 years of life, I mowed my yard ALL BY MYSELF (with a push mower no less)! Now I know that for lots of people this may seem like no big deal, but if you know me... you know this was a major accomplishment. Yes, I'm kind of girly, but I hope not in an annoying way. My hangup with mowing the lawn really had nothing to do with my ability to do it or not wanting to get sweaty or dirty or any of those kinds of reasons. It was much more of a hangup in admitting that I am officially a single girl living by myself in the suburbs and I need to be completely self sufficient. While I obviously am aware that I've been living by myself for almost a whole year, yesterday I finally decided that I can survive and thrive as a single girl for however long that might be.

I remember Joe and I having an argument before we got married about mowing the lawn and shoveling the snow. He was saying that if it snowed less than two or three inches he would not shovel the driveway and more then likely he would never shovel it before I went to work. And anytime he could hire a kid to mow the lawn, he would. I don't mean to be high maintenance or anything, but that completely offended me. How could he not want to go out of his way to make sure that his wife did not have to wade through feet (or inches) of snow? To me, this was a scenario about a man not stepping up to take care of his wife and it was kind of an emotional safety thing. I think a lot of women just want to feel safe and taken care of in some ways and the snow and the lawn have always been those triggers for me. That would be like me saying I would never work or cook dinner or clean the house to help take care of him. Admitting that I need to do these outdoor things for myself has meant admitting that I officially have no one to take care of me and I'm on my own. It might sound dumb, but it's been a tough one to get through. Last summer I was able to get my neighbors to help with the lawn thank goodness. Everytime I tried to go out there and mow, I just couldn't do it.

So yesterday was a day for the history books... It's OFFICIAL. I can do anything.

Today's Song of the Day... (I thought about "I'm Every Woman", but I couldn't be that cheesy.)

Shake It
Metro Station