Bippity, Boppity, Boo.

Hubby and I got Disneyland annual passes for Valentines Day.  We love Disneyland, but haven't been in a long, long time.  With these passes we'll be able to go as often as we'd like for the next year!  With Pickle in nearby Long Beach, (and she already has a pass...) we'll be able to swing by, pick her up, and spend a little more time with her. 

I just happened to see this posted on my friend Brittany's FB today. I watched it and got a kick out of it.  I especially liked the song at 2:54. Give it a watch, it will put a smile on your face. 


Have a super-sparkly day!

USNA Spirit Spot

I'll admit it, I love men in uniform. What can I say?

I've seen tons of versions of this video, but this is one of my favorites. It's just some silly fun for a Friday morning.
 
Enjoy a little Gangman Style...

The X Factor

Yes, I'm watching.

Yes, I'm addicted.

Yes, I loved this guy.



Jeffery Adam Gutt. Remember that name. I think we'll hear more from him, at least I hope so. One of my favorite songs, and certainly one of my favorite renditions.

Whew!

Almost 3 days and no update! What the heck is going on? Just the usual. Therapy visits, another graduation, and graduation party to attend, a visit to the cemetery, a Broadway show ("Wicked"-it was AWESOME!) a visit to the fair, dinner with Mom, a Halloween planning party (yes, already) another visit to the fair for ideas for the party, playing catch-up on tons of emails (I'm down to only 272 from 428 I started with this morning, whoo-hooo!) a movie with the kids and a couple of other things here and there. That just about sums up my last couple of days. Whew!

We got to see Pickle's bf Josh graduate. It was a wonderful day.

 Hmmm, I bet you can tell what the theme to this year's Halloween party will be.

 Yup, there were just a few other people at the fair. Yikes!

 Wicked was just that - wicked indeed! Wicked fun that is!

 Not a bad movie...some good, no-brainer fun.

 My new boyfriend? Maybe...

Tomorrow I take Pickle to Long Beach for her college orientation.  How did that sneak up on us? We are heading out at the crack of dawn...no, even earlier than that! Good night, sleep tight my friends, 5:00am will come quickly!

A Valentine in April

I saw this and loved it. I hope you will enjoy it too.

The Voice Update

Pickle had her audition last Saturday for "The Voice" and she had a great time. I have to give that girl a LOT of credit. I would never have the confidence to stand up in front of a group of strangers and belt out a song -especially knowing one of those strangers was there to judge me. But she did, and she was the only one in her group to be asked to stay and sing a second song!!

HOW COOL IS THAT?

There were thousands of people there that day, and only a very few "call back" sheets handed out. Although she didn't get an immediate call back, she was told to be sure to leave her number, as they might possibly call her back within the next couple of weeks. Whether or not that happens is yet to be seen, but if it does, or if it doesn't, it was still great for her to hear from someone else, what we've been telling her all along - that she CAN sing! The judge in the room that day told her he liked the tone of her voice and her style. He also told her that if she didn't get a call back this time to be sure to keep practicing and come and audition again for next season. That beats the heck out of "thanks, but we aren't interested..."

So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that she gets the call back, and in the meantime, she continues to practice and learn new songs. She learned this one yesterday...

The "Voice"

Pickle is going to be auditioning for season 3 of "The Voice." HOW COOL IS THAT? She is debating on which song she should sing for her audition. I like both of the songs she's narrowed it down to, so I thought I'd put it out to you.

Which song do you like better?



or...



Please leave a comment and let us know which one you think suits her voice better. Her audition is scheduled for March 31st. Keep your fingers crossed!

It Takes Time

Simple as that...it takes time. I've got to remind myself of that, and more importantly, I've got to remember to give myself time. I did just that yesterday. I made a little time for myself. I took the evening and made it my own. I took my camera down to the beach and snapped a few pictures.

I got there just after the sun had set - bad timing on my part, but I was still able to get a few pretty shots. I was ok with that. After all, it wasn't about taking a perfect picture, it was simply about being out, by myself, doing something I enjoy doing.

Once it got dark, I sat in my car, and listened to music. Calm, mellow music. A little of this, a little of that. I listened to The Civil Wars , some Mumford and Sons and even some Chopin.

I also listened to this...


Danny Boy was my Dad's favorite song...I listened to this about 15 times in a row last night... This song brought the tears. I sat and cried until there were no more tears. (Thank goodness it was dark!) It was cathartic... Of course I looked like a swollen mess when I was finally done, but I did feel a bit better. Maybe I was just exhausted, I'm not sure.

Gosh, I miss my Dad so much. It's been 6 weeks and one day that he's been gone. Only 43 days, and it seems like forever.

"Sail"ing

Have you seen this guy? WOW! I would LOVE to do this. Oh, the freedom he must feel!

I love this song too, it's called "Sail" by Awolnation. It fits this video perfectly...yep, I've gotta get me one of those suits.

If you are interested (like I was)to learn a little more about this crazy guy, Jeb Corliss, check out more of his videos, etc. here.

Jammin

On Superbowl Sunday we were invited to spend the afternoon with some friends to watch the game and hang out. Our friend Gregg is quite the musician. As you know, Pickle is an aspiring musician herself.

Gregg was gracious enough to share his very expensive guitars and knowledge with Pickle and she thoroughly enjoyed both. They taught each other a couple of songs, and then preformed an impromptu jam session for us. It was pretty darn cool. Pickle didn't want me to share the song that she sung...so I'll only share this one (for now)...It's a little hard to see since the room was kind of dark and Pickle is sitting kind of behind Gregg, but you can here both guitars pretty well.

Name

Certain songs remind me of certain times in my life and certain people.

This is one of my favorites...for reasons that I'll keep to myself.


It's kind of an oldy, but a goody...

and so is this one...I guess I'm just in a reflective mood today.

I LOVE this!

My new favorite YouTube video. I LOVE moments like this!!

Talk About Special Treatment!

After a long search, I finally found some specialized music that I'd been looking for for our Halloween party. I ordered a CD from a company called CDBaby.com. Yesterday I received the following shipping confirmation from them. Take a moment and read through the entire thing. Don't we all wish we were treated this well? Pretty cute if you ask me...

Dear Susan,
Thanks for your order with CD Baby!

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our world-renowned packing specialist lit a local artisan candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, September 8, 2011.

We hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. In commemoration, we have placed your picture on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sigh...We miss you already. We'll be right here at http://cdbaby.com/, patiently awaiting your return.
--
CD Baby
The little store with the best new independent music.
http://cdbaby.com cdbaby@cdbaby.com (503)595-3000

For John

It's hard to believe that only 2 short weeks ago we were still on our cruise. It seems like it was months ago!

As I've mentioned, we had a blast with our dinner companions from PA, and wound up hanging out with them after dinner - mainly enjoying Karaoke. They sang, and we enjoyed. Their son, John, has a great big, very fun personality, and lit up the room when he had the microphone in his hand. I told him I was going to video tape him, and so I did.

Here, for John, are the 2 best videos I managed to get. I have to say that I laughed out loud watching these again John, and I will never listen to "My Humps" or "Boom Boom Pow" without thinking of you and your family. I sincerely hope we meet again!

These videos may not be everyone's taste, and you may not "get" it...but it was one of those "you had to be there" times, and it was just, very simply, a LOT of fun.

Pickle's music

She's been at it again - playing her guitar and learning new songs...and although this isn't one of her originals, I think this one suits her voice particularly well. What do you think?

Firework

While I am not normally a huge Katy Perry fan, I really enjoy the message this video sends. Be yourself, and celebrate who you are. (And the girl jumping into the pool? That'd be a younger me.)

Imagine

Rest in peace John.

Oct 9, 1940- Dec. 8, 1980.

Yikes!

I'm not sure if this is more funny or scary! Ha ha! I guess this guy has been around for a while, but I'd never seen any of his videos before, and it kind of cracked me up...especially right around the 2:45 mark. Every once in a while some mindless drivel is fun.

Like now. Enjoy.

Love this Version!

While I am not the biggest Lady Gaga fan, I have to admit, I LOVE this video! These guys do a heck of a job, and you can tell they put a lot of time and practice into this! It's not the best video quality, but worth watching all the way through. (By the way, Zach, the guy in the grey shirt and plaid shorts totally reminds me of you!)

Cutting Loose, Foot Loose

I needed something fun and light this morning. Thanks Carol, for sending this!