Update & A Potpourri of Random Music

Well folks, Baby BSN tells me that there are only ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE days until it's arrival! That is FOUR MONTHS people.

FOUR MONTHS.

FOUR.

4.

I can't believe this program has gone so quickly, and I am currently in the throws of the hardest quarter of this baby. Thankfully, there are only about 3 weeks left and then it's smooth sailing for the summer!

I have some new music to share with you, but you'll have to forgive me as I am (literally) all over the place these days. There is no rhyme or reason to these songs other than, "It's good. Me likey."

List time!

• "Love Came Down" - Brian Johnson. Do not be fooled, this is the same song from the album that I mentioned here. However, this is the fancy radio version. I think this version should be alternatively titled, "The Version that's Faster and Has More Drums so You Can't Weep as Much". Seriously, this song gets me. EVERY TIME.

• "Our God" - Chris Tomlin. This is just a good song. Chris Tomlin sings it. What more do you need to know?

• "Be the Center" - Jami Smith. I recently heard this song again after a LONG time - honestly, this should be our theme song for life.

• "Marked By Heaven" - Jake Hamilton. Now, this is a new album that I just purchased, thanks to my sweet friend Ali, who I recently reconnected with. Jake (we're on a first name basis) is currently leading worship with the Jesus Culture worship team. I LOVE his raspy voice. Best songs from the album: "The Anthem" and "Sacred Obsession".

• "Breakthrough" - FourSquare United Generation. I don't want to say that I bought this album just because the group name has the word "Four Square" in it, but that pretty much sealed the deal. If loving four square is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Now I would like to move into the arena of "Summer Music". I don't know why, but when the warm weather arrives, I suddenly feel a strong desire for really awesome music. Not that I don't feel that other times of the year, but there is just *something* about summer music! I like to blend the "oldies but goodies" with a few current favorites. Here's how my list is shaping up so far:

OBG (Oldies But Goodies):

• "Sunshine & Summertime" - Faith Hill
• "Summer Nights" - Rascal Flatts
• "Stolen" - Dashboard Confessional
• "Soak up the Sun" - Sheryl Crow
• "Summer Love" - Justin Timberlake

(Apparently my summer mix is brought to you by the letter "S".)

• "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" - Kenny Chesney
• "When the Sun Goes Down" - Kenny Chesney
• "Dreams" - The Cranberries
• "Everyday" - Dave Matthews Band
• "Just Like Heaven" - The Cure
• "All I Wanna Do" - Sugarland
• "4 Minutes" - Madonna & JT

NaG (New and Good):

• "California Gurls" - Katy Perry
• "If It's Love" - Train
• "American Honey" - Lady Antebellum
• "Today Was a Fairytale" - Taylor Swift
• "All the Right Moves" - One Republic
• "Smile" - Uncle Kracker
• "Chameleon" - Dave Barnes

What are your summer essentials???

Finally - an Update!

Whew, it has been an offensive amount of time since my last post! Hopefully all 2 of my faithful readers are still around - and, if not, I bid you adieu.

So, what has life been like for the past 2 months since my last post? Well, it has been a whirlwind of paperwork, presentations, *really* early mornings, a huge test where I basically had to memorize all the medications known to man, finals, and - finally - vacation!!!

I want to update you on lots of fun stuff. Since you know I operate best with lists, let's just embrace it, shall we?

New Shoes - Certainly you remember these shoes, right? NOT CUTE. Well, after walking my last mile with feet that hurt, I was in desperate need of an upgrade! Thankfully our mall has a New Balance store where an angel of mercy fitted me for the most COMFORTABLE shoes. Stylish? Not as much as I would have liked, however, I have learned in my short time walking ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY, that style sometimes has to bow it's (stylish) knee to comfort. Can you all hear my Mom weeping tears of joy at that statement?!? Anyway, this angel also told me that I walk on the edges of my feet and that these shoes have something miraculous called a "roll bar" that will keep me walking straighter! (Honestly, if you are still reading as I talk about how I walk funny, I applaud you. Wow, can I ramble or what?!?)

Vacation - We just got back from a glorious week at the beach. Yes, it was chilly, however I couldn't have cared less. I was so happy to not be studying, I would have been content if it rained all week. I thought ya'll might want to see all the awesome pictures I took. I assure you, these are the ONLY TWO PICTURES I took all week. I think if nursing doesn't work out, I have a future in photography.

This first photo makes me laugh out loud. Remember this? See - I come by it honestly! What you're looking at here is EIGHT bags of chips for our 7 days at the beach. No, we weren't traveling with a group of teenage boys - there were three of us. Honestly, I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that, but it's just too funny!

Ok, this next photo was taken at a restaurant we went to for dinner in honor of my parent's 36th wedding anniversary. My Dad had ordered calamari and this little fried fella came on the plate. In case you can't tell, it's a tiny octopus or something. All I needed to know was that 1) It was tiny. 2) It was slimy. 3) It had many legs.

Well, thanks for hanging in there for my photo tour of a week at the beach! Compelling, isn't it?

The Final Countdown - As I type this post, I have just 167 days until I graduate from nursing school! Isn't that amazing? I can't believe that it's less than 6 months away!! I am completely excited to be finished and moving on with my career. People keep asking me which area I am planning to specialize. I am trying to keep an open mind, but I can confidently say that I have NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to see any more old man butts. I have seen way too many old man butts. I think I'll just leave it at no more old man butts. You can imagine the rest. :o) This next quarter I am doing pediatrics, and I am excited to see if I still "have it" with kiddos!

Now, for some fun stuff to wrap up:

• For all you married peeps out there, I encourage you to read this post about handling your single friends with care. This post just made my heart happy. (Disclaimer: I have amazing friends and this is not a subliminal hint that they are anything less!!) (Disclaimer to the disclaimer: I won't say no if my married friends want to do this. I mean, I'm only human! Ha ha!)

• In music news, check out Cory Asbury's song, "Jesus Let Me See Your Eyes". He's a worship guy from Misty Edward's IHOP and this song is so good!

• Speaking of Misty, we went to this really cool church on vacation, and they sang her song, "Pledge". It basically made me want to weep openly. GREAT SONG. (Side bar: don't you love when you visit a new church and see people start to worship the way you do at home?!? Honestly, when I saw people start to raise their hands in worship, it just made my heart sing!)

• Just heard about this new (to me) group, Foursquare United Generation. First of all, don't you love that name? I previewed their album "Breakthrough" and I'm pretty sure it will soon be appearing on my iPod!

I do believe that is all for now. Classes start again on Monday, but I really am going to try and be better about blogging! Happy Spring!

New Music! (The iTunes Spending Spree Edition)

For Christmas this year, I got a TON of iTunes gift cards. It was probably one of my favorite gifts this year! I absolutely love music (in case you haven't noticed).

I haven't spend all my gift cards yet, but I wanted to share some of my immediate purchases.

Brian Johnson - Love Came Down

This is an acoustic CD that will bless you beyond belief! Some old songs, some new songs. All excellent!

Misty Edwards - Point of Life

This is Misty like you've never heard her before. This is not a live album, but a studio album with a more "electronic" sound. Really cool.

Misty Edwards - Fling Wide

This is Misty live! This is probably my favorite album right now. There are so many amazing songs! "Soul Cry", "Rend", and "Arms Wide Open" are my three favorite songs.

Harry Connick Jr. - Your Songs

I heart this man's voice. I have already (repeatedly) professed my love for his Christmas music, and this is a CD of great love songs. They make me feel sappy. Someday I shall play them and make TBD dance with me! Won't he love that!! HA HA!

And finally, another one of my favorite songs right now is "New Creation" by Fellowship Church. I posted the video of this song here, and now the song is available on iTunes. This is a great song to go along with my "NEW THING" for 2010!

Happy listening!

In which I talk about music...

I got a request from a certain someone for a music post. Ask, and ye shall receive!!!

Now, this is more of a wish list rather than tunes from my own library. Now that I'm on the cash plan, and with our recession, my music purchases have decreased painfully.

[Side bar: Does anyone else love saying you can't do things because of the recession? I had a very hilarious discussion with a friend recently about how I can't color my hair because of the recession. Personal maintenance is right up there with the housing market as far as impact from the recession. Should I say recession one more time? RECESSION.]

Let's Begin.

Worship Music

These next two albums I actually have purchased. I'll be honest, I'd rather color in my gray hair with a marker and use the money to purchase ANY music from Redding. But thankfully I don't have gray hair!*

*Outright lie. I have 7 gray hairs at last count. Please don't make me count again.

Jesus Culture - Consumed : This is the latest installment from Jesus Culture music, the band that plays at Bethel Church's youth conferences. Very powerful! If you can't buy the entire CD, be sure to purchase "Burning Ones", "Holy", and "You Are Faithful".

Brian & Jenn Johnson and Crew - Here is Love: Finally, Brian and Jenn are back! This is live worship at it's best. Seriously anointed. Be sure to buy "I Found a Love", "What Does it Sound Like", and "King of Wonders". Again, you should probably just buy the whole thing.

Individual Songs:

Shawn McDonald, "Yahweh": This is a sweet, sweet song of worship.

Eddie James, "Freedom": Ok, seriously, this song is the BOMB. I love his deep, soulful voice. And let's be honest, the African American community knows about worshipping Jesus in a BIG way!!!

Rick Pino, "Holy is Our King": You can tell this guy isn't messing around when his latest album is called "Songs for an End Time Army".

Phil Wickham, "Heaven & Earth": Basically, I adore Phil Wickham. This is the first single from his new album which drops November 17th. [Don't I sound like a legitimate music person when I say things like someone's album "dropping"? Wait - don't answer that.]

Non-Jesus Music

Please don't judge me for the song I'm about to share. I can't help it. It's ear candy!

Miley Cyrus, "Party in the U.S.A": Now, don't act like you don't love this song too. I'll know you're fibbing. Ok, honestly, I just looked on YouTube for the link to the video, and I might have had to watch it too. Wow, am I really 30?

Jay Sean, "Down": This is a great song. Are you down, down, down, down, down?

Colbie Caillat, "Fallin' for You": Aw, I like Colbie. Bethany can testify since there was a period of time when 'Bubbly' was my ringtone, and I think it might have driven her nuts a time or seven.

Kim Zolciak, "Tardy for the Party": An instant classic. A lesson in why one shouldn't: 1) be on reality TV, 2) have friends who won't stop you from singing on reality TV, and 3) be allowed to write lyrics such as "I'll be feeling good by 9, after my third glass of wine." Compelling.

I think I should leave it at that, don't you? Honestly, I have really been listening to worship music continually for the past several weeks, so I'm kinda out of the loop on Top 40 treats.

Any suggestions?

Have a great week! And don't be tardy for the party.

New Worship Music

I have some new music to share with you, my bloggy peeps!!

First, I give you David Walker. Please don't ask me where I found him, just thank me that I did. He is a worship leader out of South Carolina. When I saw he was from SC, I didn't need to know anything more.

You can purchase David's album on iTunes, or just purchase "Better Than I Know", "There Is No One", and "No Sweeter Name".

Now then.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a Natalie Grant concert. All I can say is WOW. Girlfriend can SANG. Not sing...she can SANG. And she is the real deal. She is using the exposure that God has given her to reach thousands of people, educating them on the realities of human trafficking in our country. That's right, in OUR COUNTRY. You can read more about her foundation, The Home Foundation, here. She's also a supporter of Mercy Ministries, which is important to a few of us out there. :o) Check out Mercy's site.

Ok, one of the best parts of the concert was hearing a new artist, named Meredith Andrews. Again, WOW. She's AMAZING. Not to mention that I think if I knew her, we might be friends. If you don't buy the whole album, I won't judge you, but make sure you buy "You're Not Alone", "Show Me What It Means", and "The New Song We Sing".

Now go out there and worship our Lord!!

Are you there world? It's me, Random.

Happy Tuesday!

I am SO LOVING the sunshine today! I hope the sun is shining where you are, because DANG, I have missed it! I never would have pegged myself as one of those people who suffer from SAD, but I lit up when I saw what God was displaying this morning! [And yes, I gave you a little linky for SAD, because this blog is not only funny and witty, but also informative.]

Ok, so I have a lot of random things to share, so let's just jump in with both feet, shall we?

Slanket Drama

Do you remember this? Look how excited I was!! The back story is that Kristen and Jen bought me a Slanket for my birthday. Then Jen and I bought one for Kristen for HER birthday. Then we decided that Jen needed a Slanket because we're in 3rd grade and friends need to have stuff that match.

Well, it turns out that there was a Slanket mix-up and I was proudly displaying Kristen's Slanket instead of my own. When it arrived at my house, I just assumed it was my Slanket, not Kristen's! Whoops! Anyway, all Slankets have been accounted for and are with their rightful owners. However, one owner [who shall remain nameless] is fixin' to have her Slanket removed by SPS [Slanket Protective Services]. You know who you are!

Baby Cuteness

Have a little bit of this guy, just because he's so cute! Love him.


TV

Are we all watching American Idol? I hope so, because this season is go-od. Sadly tonight we have to listen to the State of the Union, but I'm looking forward to the next batch of hopefuls. I think my favorites so far are Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey. I also like Anoop, but I think it's just because they call him "Anoop Dog", which I find funny. I hope you are loving Judge Kara as much as I am. She actually has intelligent things to say, and she doesn't clap like a seal. Seriously, Paula's clapping makes me crazy.



Ok, I also want to comment on this season of The Amazing Race. I love this show! HOWEVER, I don't understand why people go on this show to test their relationship. Really? If you aren't sure if you want to be with someone, is putting yourself in a pressure cooker of sleep deprivation, stress, weird food, continual air travel, and language barriers really the way to go? Make sure you keep track of Phil's [the host] eyebrow, because that thing jumps around like nobody's business!

Music

If you haven't purchased the newest mini-album from Mr. Dave Barnes, please do so immediately.

Cooking Tip

When you are pre-heating the oven and begin to smell plastic burning, be alarmed. Poor strainer never saw it coming.

That's a whole lot of randomness for one entry, so I think I'll leave you now. To summarize:

Slanket = good
Baby = good
American Idol = good
Amazing Race = good
Dave Barnes = good
Preheating the oven with a strainer in it = bad

Have a great week!!!

New Year, Same Random Thoughts

Hi ya'll!

I hope you are getting back into the swing of things like I am. And by "getting back into the swing of things" I mean talking to my Academic Adviser, getting frustrating/not frustrating news, getting a parking spot stolen, paying $216 for 3 books, and needing to get a physical and a TB test for class.

Man, I miss the holidays. Much simpler times.

I can't really think of one clever topic to write about, so I thought I would tap into my Music Maven skillz and drop some new tunes on ya'll. Consider this the "Worship Music" edition.

• Misty Edwards - "Always on His Mind" immediately followed by "Finally I Surrender". Please ask a friend or family member to pick you up off the floor afterward. So incredibly good.
• Aaron Shust - "Come to Me". Perfect for soaking purposes. You'll be hearing it soon at Zion.
• Dancing Generation. Ok, not really. That was just a little jokie for a few of you!

That's all I have at the moment. I bought a ton of new worship songs over the holiday break, so stay tuned for more recommendations!

END WORSHIP MUSIC EDITION!

On a side note, are you familiar with the song "Live Your Life" by T.I. featuring Rihanna? If not, here's a little clip:



NOTE: You really only need to listen to the first 40 seconds or so to find this next story funny!

Ok, so now you know what song I'm talking about, right? So, this morning I was doing my morning examination of my skin, and I have this unruly blemish that I have been wrestling with for what seems like YEARS. It just won't cooperate. This morning, I wiped my hands of him. I may have broken into this song and serenaded my little blemish to just "live his life".

My word, I need help.

Holiday Hits!!

Oh my sweet bloggy friends. Nothing brings me more joy than preparing for the Holidays!!

I LOVE IT!

In honor of the approaching holiday season, I thought I would compile a definitive list of "must have" holiday music. Seriously, I can attest that mall traffic is much easier to take when you are getting teary-eyed from Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" [Yes, that song makes me cry!].

So here you have it, the list of holiday hits!

The Classics

• "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole - do not settle for impostors!!!
• "Nothin' for Christmas" by Ertha Kitt
• "Let it Snow!" by Ella Fitzgerald
• "Zat You Santa Claus" by Louis Armstrong
• "Carol of the Bells" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Billy May
• "(Everybody's Waiting For) The Man with The Bag" by Kay Starr
  

The New Classics

• "Mary Did You Know" by Clay Aiken
• "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey
• "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" by Michael Buble
• "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan
• "Silent Night" by Relient K

Just Buy The Whole Dang Album

• When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick Jr.
  
• Harry for the Holidays by Harry Connick Jr.
• What a Night! by Harry Connick Jr.
• Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey
• Ring the Bells by Travis Cottrell

There you have it. My list of must have Christmas tunes. What are some of YOUR favorites??

Blast!

Harry Connick Jr. just released ANOTHER Christmas album!

Look for spare change in your car's ashtray and purchase immediately.

And if you don't have this one or this one, you need to buy those too! Seriously, this guy is the best when it comes to Christmas music. He's like the Santa of Christmas.

Enjoy!

It's Time!!!!

Travis Cottrell.

Christmas Album.

Buy it.

Summer Music

Well, I have scoured all my normal blog sites, all 4 of them, and no one has anything new to report. So...I guess that means it's my turn to update! Funny how that works!

Because I have nothing new to report, with the exception of me studying 24/7, I thought I would share some of my favorite summer tunes. Since I have become somewhat of a music maven, allow me to drop some music suggestions on my humble peeps:

• "American Boy" by Estelle: This song is sooooo good! Not to sound like I'm on American Bandstand or something, but I love the beat. Ok, I just cracked myself up with that one! Moving on...
• "Chasing Pavements" by ADELE: Download. Immediately. I love her voice and I like the idea of this song. Plus, if you've ever seen her, she's got curves, and I think giving her $0.99 is the best way to say, "You go girl!"
• "Mercy" by Duffy: Do not be fooled. This is not Amy Winehouse. Much, much better! And I believe less wine.
• "If I Never See Your Face Again" by Maroon 5 & Rihanna: I love me some Maroon 5, and I can tolerate RiRi if she isn't singing about Um-ber-ell-as.
• "Closer" by Ne-Yo: Ne-YES.
• "Damaged" by Danity Kane: Don't act like you don't crank this song up when it comes on the radio. No one believes you. Just download it and listen to it whenever you want.

For the country fan in you:

• "That Song in My Head" by Julianne Hough: This chick was on Dancing with the Stars but she has such a great voice! This is the perfect summer song. Catchy!
• "All I Wanna Do" by Sugarland: I heart Sugarland. When watching this video I find myself mesmerized by Jennifer's hair and how it looks so great when she is clearly on summer vacation. How she goes the whole song without a headband and a ponytail holder is beyond me.

There you have it friends, my picks for summer. One quick warning, "American Boy" is for adults only. Our 'American Boy' Kanye West can't keep his clever rhymes to himself. Other than that, it's da bomb. Can't find the "clean" version...