Musical Mondays: First Date to First Dance

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Today's Musical Monday's post is in honor of my good friend, Shelby, and her new husband, Brad. I have lots of awesome pictures to show you ~ but first sit back and listen to their First Dance song as you read the story that makes this song so special to my dear friends.

Photo Credit: Rick Paul

In Shelby's words:

We will dance our first dance as husband and wife to “Feels Like Rain” by John Hiatt. The first time I heard this song was the result of Brad’s knack for romance. At the end of one of our first dates, we drove to the park that would later become the site of our engagement. Brad blared this song out of his blazer called “ole busted”. As we danced in the moonlight, I fell in love with the song and began to fall in love with Brad. The song eventually became “our song”.

Ladies, this guy really knocks romance out of the park. I'm so glad that Shelby has found such an amazing man to spend the rest of her life with. Congratulations, you two!

Feels like Rain
by John Hiatt

Musical Mondays: PUB CRAWL!

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Saturday was an epic adventure I'll tell stories about for years to come.

I was invited by some friends of mine on a PUB CRAWL. For those of you who don’t know what that is – it is pretty much bar hopping on a grand scale. Our festivities started at 11:00 a.m. Did you know that bars were open at 11:00 a.m.? I didn’t. Rules of the crawl state that someone must have a drink at each bar visited. We all started having our own beer at each place but quickly realized we would need to share if we wanted to survive in one piece.

Along the crawl we visited some very obscure places – one of which I had to call Lucas and tell him I love him just in case I didn’t come out. After I got over the initial shock of the event, I was whole-heartedly invested in its success. And a success it was. We visited 25 bars in one day! We could have kept going, but I had a husband to return home to and others had events already scheduled for the evening.

I want to thank my friends - including all my new friends I met along the way - for taking me in and showing me how to do a pub crawl right. It was a thrilling experience!

And now for the music -

Between bars we were jamming out to some really good music – The Avett Brothers. I’ve had several friends tell me about these guys and finally checked them out. They have some seriously stellar music. Check them out.

This is one of my favorites -

Shame
by The Avett Brothers




The girls hosting Musical Mondays are having a giveaway this month. Each post you submit for Musical Mondays during the month of May enters you into a contest for one of two gift cards to Amazon and iTunes. Go check them out for all the full details. If you participate, be sure to tell them I sent you. :)

Musical Mondays: BBQ Tunes

Hosted by Jori and Diane

This weekend was our city's big bbq festival. My company has a booth every year and it is so much fun for us all to be able to hang out and relax together.

I designed a logo for our team this year. Isn't he cute?


Anyway, our team did pretty well. We placed 6th in Ribs (for which we received a trophy) and 10th Overall. With a field of close to 80 teams, I think we did amazing. Our team always does well.

There is always some good music during the weekend, with a semi-successful artist to cap off the festival. However, this year we got the CHARLIE DANIELS BAND! What an awesome opportunity it was to end our weekend jamming to CDB!

I leave you with one of my favorite CDB classics -

A Few More Rednecks
by Charlie Daniels Band



The girls hosting Musical Mondays are having a giveaway this month. Each post you submit for Musical Mondays during the month of May enters you into a contest for one of two gift cards to Amazon and iTunes. Go check them out for all the full details. If you participate, be sure to tell them I sent you. :)

Musical Monday (on Tuesday): High School

Hosted by Jori and Diane

I had promised you some good stuff and I'm afraid I'm not going to pull completely through on that promise. I'll explain more later... In the meantime, walk with me as I stroll down memory lane...

Freshman year... Wow! I look really young here.

I never quite had the right look on these picture days. I am hoping it was just bad luck that I was looking so bad on picture day. Yes, we'll go with that...
I was a late bloomer I suppose....
But by senior year, I was starting to get the hang of things...

And then there was senior prom. I think I could've lived forever in that dress. I loved it.

(Yes, we were an eccentric couple. Notice his argyle socks? I think this was one of the only formals to which he did not wear Converses. I liked it. Hehe!)

One thing that stayed constant throughout the years was tennis...

freshman

sophomore

junior

senior

Went to the State Championships my sophomore through senior year.

Semifinalist my senior year, after an undefeated regular season.

I went wit the guys my junior and senior year because
they qualified as a team and I qualified individually.

Now to the fun part of high school, right? The boys....

There were a couple early on...

Then one for quite a while....

And he pretty much shaped my musical interests for a good three years. You see: he was in a band - Zero Space. And I was the lead groupie. Wow. Yeah. That was me!

I was hoping to have a few of their songs today for my post but my c.d. must still be at my parent's house. Included on that disc is a punk rock cover of 'our song' (Don't all high school relationships have to have a song?) and a song he wrote especially for me. Now - after our break-up I learned that he wrote a not-so-loving song in my honor, but I guess we all have to take the good with the bad.

Anyway, through those years we went to see several concerts. It started off with Creed but eventually became more like Blink 182, Weezer, Saves the Day, MxPx, and the Vans Warped Tour.

That's right... I was a punk rocker. Well, not really - more of a punk rock wannabe. But I did enjoy the music.

So I leave you today with a few of my favorites from high school days past...

Screaming Infidelities
by Dashboard Confessionals (not really punk but they were a really good group)

Let Go
by Midtown (they were all tall, skinny guys wearing tight, skinny jeans and I thought they were just the hottest things)

Motivation Proclamation
by Good Charlotte (before they were so big - it is uncool to be popular in punk rock)

Then, I graduated, went to college, and life changed.
Sometimes I think it would be cool to go back to high school with the knowledge and self-confidence that I have now.

Naaaaaah....

But those
high school days were fun!

Musical Mondays: Embarrassing Confession

Hosted by Jori and Diane

This week's theme is "The song I am embarrassed to admit that I LOVE". Well, for me - it is more of a genre..... the booty music genre. That's right, ladies. I like to shake it to some good tunes. Unfortunately, the songs that tend to be best for the booty are not what I would consider 'classy' music choices to say the least.
I like listening to my booty music not only when I am dancing but other times as well - getting ready for a fun night out, relaxing with friends on the weekends, driving in my car and making other people stare as I get my groove on in the driver's seat, doing house work....

I don't really care much for the lyrics. I just like the beat. So I listen, sing, dance along to powerful artists such as Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, T-Pain, MIMS....... Yea. Classy.

Lucas is not a fan of my eclectic taste in music.... from my love of country to my rap repertoire. But he is most embarrassed by my booty music.... or my dancing... I'm sure that's not it... gotta be the music.

Here is just a taste to get you moving on your Monday....

Back That Thang Up
by Juvenile

Shake That Laffy Taffy
by D4L

Pop, Lock and Drop It
by Baby Huey

Musical Mondays: Why I'm Smiling

Hosted by Jori and Diane

(I'm sorry. This is supposed to be a theme week. Our theme this week is: Chicks That Rock. But I've already written this post so I'm going to go ahead and stick with it. Just so you know, some chicks that I think totally rock: Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, and Sheryl Crow. You know what else? I'm rocking a new smile. So I guess I'm a chick that rocks, too! Just don't listen to me when I get a hold of the mic in Wii Rock Band. Hehe!)

BEFORE:(Very ugly. I'm very embarassed of this. From some angles it looks like I am missing some bottom teeth. Gross! My top teeth weren't too bad but they have dramatically improved, as well.)

AFTER:(Yeah. Much better.)

So I have my retainer now. The first retainer Dr. Dickson made did not fit right. The plastic or the mold or something was wrong. I thought all weekend that wearing this retainer was just going to be awful. But he met me at his new office on Sunday to give me a new retainer. It is worlds better. Wearing this retainer is still a bit awkward but I'm getting used to it already. A mouth full of clear plastic is much better than a mouth full of metal... and it is only for 3 months.

Thank you, Dr. Dickson, for my new smile.
I love it!

We had a junk food party Saturday night. So much fun! Pictures to come later (I have to go steal them off of Brandon's FB page).

When You're Smiling
by Louie Prima

Musical Mondays: I Love College

Hosted by Jori and Diane

I think this song is fairly new. I was listening to the radio while cleaning out my closet last week and knew it had to be my next Musical Mondays song. It reminds me of the good times.

I don't necessarily want to go back to college but the time I had there was so much fun. Maybe not quite as 'fun' as this video makes it out to be but it was definitely fun and a little bit crazy. Just a little bit.

Spring break, Thirsty Thursdays, beer pong.... man,

I love college!

I Love College
by Asher Roth

Musical Monday: Twilight Edition!

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Yes, that's right! I was at Books-a-Million at midnight on Friday night to get my very own copy of the Twilight dvd! I also met Valarie Lea ~ but I'll save that post until I can snag a photo from her. Lucas and I watched the movie on Saturday, then I watched all the extras that came on the special features disc (while Lucas slept). One of the features... interviews and music video from Paramore. Love the song.. and the video!



Decode
by Paramore

Musical Mondays: Cry For Help?

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Almost forgot about Musical Mondays today and I just saw an interesting interview between Ellen and P Diddy over at Scribe's place. So the Rihanna - Chris Brown Debacle is on my mind. I can't believe all the things I've heard about this situation. So sad. Such a horrible example each one of them has shown to young, impressionable minds. I thought I'd put a Rihanna song up when the song 'S.O.S.' came to mind. Was it a cry for help? Doubt it. But so fitting now - with a whole new meaning.

S.O.S.
Rihanna

Musical Mondays: Oh, give me a break. You know!

Hosted by Jori and Diane

I'm sorry I had to do this but I promised a friend I would. Haha!! I'm having a great time in Cabo! I'll fill you in on all (well, at least most) of the details when I get back!



Why Don't We Get Drunk? - Jimmy Buffett











Oh, my! That's a bit embarassing. Haha! MOM - we're married, it's okay. I'm sorry! Haha! Oh, Lord........



Oh, and if someone wants to hop on over to Jori or Diane's place and add me to the little linky doo thing that would be great. I'm a little busy right now. Haha! Wow! Was that over the top? I think so. Sorry 'bout that.

Musical Mondays: Just Remember When You Let It All Go.....

Hosted by Jori and Diane

I really am too excited about this. These last few days are going to pass slowly. We will be headed to Mexico in TWO DAYS! The cold and windy weather has me aching for sandy beaches and warm sun rays. Lucas has been working himself crazy... or all of his working is driving me crazy anyway. I'm glad we'll have a week away together... phones off.... no work.... no stress! Just us. So here's a look at what I'm listening to to get geared up for the trip (as if I needed to listen to songs about Mexico to get excited)!

Stays in Mexico - Toby Keith
Mexico - James Taylor
Beer in Mexico - Kenny Chesney
Cabo Wabo - Van Halen

Musical Mondays: Our Somewhere

Hosted by Jori and Diane

So I promise next week's Musical Monday won't be wedding related. BUT - this week I wanted to share our exit music. Lucas and I left the lodge under a shower of rose pedals to this beautiful song.... (though the song had to compete with Lucas's brothers and a few friends singing some song in Spanish that I think was a little provocative in nature though I have no idea since it was in Spanish... they had had more than a few drinks by this point.. haha!)



Somewhere Over the Rainbow
by Israel Kamakawiwo (what kind of name is that?)

Musical Mondays: The First Dance

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Last week I featured one of our favorite songs from our wedding ceremony - "I'll Be". This week (the week of our second anniversary) I'd like to feature our first dance song. Lucas and I wanted a truly meaningful song to share as husband and wife. While we were dating we would often go dancing. One song that always seemed to play and we always seemed attached to was 'Heaven' (originally recorded by Bryan Adams, but we would dance to DJ Sammy's techno version of the song).

'Heaven' describes the all encompassing power of true love. It describes our journey together and our passion. We've had the fun, young love. We've developed that love into a mature relationship. We've weathered the storms and we've been separated by distance. But our wedding brought us together. It brought our lives together - never to part. I know we're just beginning. We have many more journeys and adventures ahead of us. Our love is strong and only grows stronger as each day passes. Whatever may lie ahead of us, that love will keep us together. It is comforting to know that I will always have Lucas by my side: as a husband, as a friend, as a caretaker, as a companion, as whatever it is that I may need... and he has me.


'We're In Heaven' - DJ Sammy
(The first song in the play list was our first dance at the wedding. The second is the song we would dance to while we were dating.... and even to this day on those rare occasions we are out dancing and this song is played.)

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

Oh, thinking about all our younger years,
There was only you and me,
We were young and wild and free.
Now nothing can take you away from me.
We've been down that road before,
But that's over now.
You keep me coming back for more.

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

Now, nothing could change what you mean to me.
There's a lot that I could say
But just hold me now,
Cause our love will light the way.

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

Now our dreams are coming true.
Through the good times and the bad
I'll be standing there by you.

(We're in heaven.)

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

Musical Mondays

Jori and Diane started Musical Mondays a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to join the fun! Although I myself am not very musical, I do love songs and lyrics and belting out tunes (by myself - for the safety of others). So this will be my first Musical Monday post! I hope you can play along, too, so I can learn more about your favorites and the meanings behind them.

As my second anniversary is less than two week away, I figured my first few weeks will be easy to fill with wedding songs!

I'll Be - Edwin McCain

This song was our wedding song played during the unity candle lighting. We laid individual candles on every seat with the wedding programs. Next to the 'Lighting of the Unity Candle' listing in the program, we wrote a short note to our guests:

We appreciate the impact that each of you have had on our lives. We hope that you will participate in this portion of the ceremony by lighting your candles and passing on the unity light in show of your support for our future together. Thank you.

When it came time in the ceremony, the music began and our dads walked to the very last aisle and lit one person's candle on each side. While our guests passed the light through the rows, my good friend Jarrod played the guitar and sang. He was accompanied by Megan, my college roommate. (She also played the piano for our ceremony. She's very talented.)



Our mothers were the last ones to receive the light. Once both of their candles were lit, they walked up to the unity candle and lit the side candles. Lucas and I then lit the main candle.


I picked this song for a simple reason, but it became very meaningful to us both. I desperately wanted Jarrod to sing at my wedding. I've always been blown away by his gift. (I think he should try to pursue a music career, but that's a topic for another day.) Suffice it to say, he is very good. I wanted to pick a song that would showcase his talent and that he would feel comfortable singing. Of course, he encouraged me to pick a song I liked and he would adapt it for his voice. As I was thinking of songs, I remembered hearing Jarrod singing 'I'll Be'. I remembered him singing it poolside with friends and giving us all chills. I remembered him singing it in a karaoke bar and the entire bar stood still and silent listening to his voice. I remembered every time he sang that song, it made my heart stand still and dream of whoever might one day be that person to me. I knew he had to sing this song. (Tid Bit of Trivia: My favorite song Jarrod sings is Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty but I didn't think it was appropriate for the wedding.)

I'm sorry that I can't get you a recording of Jarrod singing. He is better than Edwin McCain (no offense to Edwin).

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

(Chorus:)
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival, you're my living proof
My love is alive not dead
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache, that hang from above

(Chorus)

I've been dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in, turned on, Remembered the things that you said

(Chorus)