5 posts tagged “happy”

I honestly think last week lasted about 3 times as long as most weeks. I was so happy to see the weekend, and I was planning on lots of books and sleep. Matt had other plans, and those turned out to be even better. We saw downhere and Jason Gray in concert, and we had such a blast hanging out with people at the concert. Lots of singing and bouncing around. Lots of hugging and smiling.

Unfortunately, I was thrown off by Matt's surprise and completely forgot to take one of my nice cameras. Instead I just ended up with some blurry photos from my mobile phone. Think of them of abstract portraits of energy and joy. At least, that's what I'm telling myself. ;)

Jason Gray opened for downhere, and I would love to see him in a longer concert by himself. I enjoy his CD All the Lovely Losers, but he's honestly even better in concert. It was just him and his guitar, and his incredible songwriting and voice were the stars of the evening as far as I'm concerned. His talking between the songs was also really positive and uplifting, and I loved his focus on letting God use our weaknesses as well as our strengths.

When we walked out of the concert, the world just seemed better. I need more concerts! I could totally see myself following some groups around the world if I had a life of leisure. Instead, I'll just make sure to catch them when they're in the area.

My friend Layna and I have decided to meet one morning a week at the local park to enjoy some fresh air and walk together. She's a stay-at-home mom, so she enjoys having time to talk to another adult, and I enjoy the time with her and her daughters. Sabrina and Tabitha are 19-month-old twins who are absolutely adorable beyond words, and it's wonderful to get all the fun parts with them and then let them go back home with their mom when they're ready for their naps. :)

I'm going to have to remember to take my camera next time and take some photos of all the things that fascinate Sabrina and Tabitha as we walk. To gain a new appreciation for the world around you, I highly recommend going on a walk with someone whose eyes are around your knee level. They notice every pretty bug, rock, and leaf anywhere in your vicinity, and it makes you remember that the world is a pretty incredible place. I needed that.

I don't mention it that often, but I'm in grad school again. I guess I just like collecting pieces of paper that have no discernible impact on my life. Anyway, the plan was to happily work my full-time job and sneak in a class or two each semester until I'm done. Then my advisor encouraged me to take 3 classes this semester, which actually wasn't that bad until the last couple of weeks where all my final papers were assigned and due the same day.

And of course, that covered Matt's birthday last week, which we celebrated with a weekend trip out of town, so that meant a few days that were spent trying to ignore the big pile of stuff that needed to get done. That's all behind me now though as I just finished my last final exam of the semester, and I was even two days early. I'm so insanely pleased with myself. And I get to breathe again! And I have two whole weeks without papers! There really aren't enough exclamation points for that!

Plus, I get to catch up with everyone on Vox! Yay!

A conversation with Ana in the comments of my recent music post reminded me of the Mägo de Oz songs I've got sitting on one of our external hard drives, so I've been listening to some of that today. They call themselves a Spanish folk metal band. All I know is that I really like them. In some ways, I think of them as a Spanish version of Jethro Tull, but they still have their own unique style.

All their songs are in Spanish, so I understand very little of what they sing, but I love the way they sound. Their name, as you might have guessed, is Spanish for Wizard of Oz with an umlaut over the "a" to look like the other cool kids. ;) It's the kind of music that makes me want to dress like a gypsy and dance around a campfire.

Take a look at a couple of their videos to get a feel for them.

One of the things I love about working from home is getting to listen to my music without worrying about bothering someone else or having to wear headphones all day. Plus, I can sing any time I want, which is most of the time. :)

Today's music has got me bouncing all over the place even with the beginnings of a cold trying to knock me down. So what's got me dancing and singing today?

Sugarland's new album Enjoy the Ride just came out today. It's good, but I think I still like their first album better. That opinion is subject to change the more I listen to it though. My favorite on this one so far is "Want To".

I've got some Skillet songs on here. About half of their Comatose album is really good, and that's the half I've got on my playlist, but the other songs don't do much for me. My favorites on here are "Rebirthing" and "Whispers in the Dark".

A few songs from Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams are in this mix too. In fact, "Banana Pancakes" is playing right now. That and "Do You Remember" are two of my favorites from this album.

Then I've got India.Arie's Testimony, Volume 1: Life & Relationship, and this whole album makes me incredibly happy. It's been in rotation on most of my playlists for the last couple of months. The cover of Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter" is better than the original in my opinion. And "I Choose" makes me feel so peaceful: "I choose to be the best that I can be. I choose to be authentic in everything I do. My past don't dictate who I am. I choose."
 
Relient K is a band that's grown on me. I didn't really like them at first, but then I heard their Apathetic EP, and they suddenly clicked with me.

Ayiesha Woods is a new artist for me. I just got into her a couple of weeks ago. The first song I heard was "Happy": "No I cannot count the ways you have made my life so blessed. All I know is that you came and made beauty of my mess."

Then there's Jeremy Camp's Beyond Measure. "When You Are Near" is my favorite, but the entire album has been in heavy rotation in the week it's been out.