Reminder to Self: Life Is Not Just About the School Year

OMG, I haven’t posted anything since APRIL!  April.  Wow.  Where has the time gone???

Life gets really busy in a high school during the spring, and since I’m a school counselor, I will have to use that as my excuse.  This year was no exception, but considering the spring I’ve had, I plan to NOT make it the rule, either.  That being said, I’m pretty sure I have lots of stories that might make for new songs over the summer.  What a year.  Which will be done in a couple weeks.  Good riddance!

Yes, exactly

But, of course there’s more than just school to the year.  There is music.  There is always music.  Thank the lord.

This year, aside from the amazing music scene we are currently blessed with in Seattle (see The Head and The Heart, The Local Strangers, Virgin Islands, Ivan & Alyosha, Hot Bodies in Motion, Benjamin Doerr, and lately Justin Froese – my goodness, that’s a lot of awesome!), I also had the opportunity to sing at two weddings, and at a couple of church-oriented events.  I really love these opportunities for expression, as they force me to be humble and look beyond my own skill.  They are about blessing others, and as I’ve been trying to work with this idea anyway for the past couple of years, it’s really nice when you’re presented with opportunities to use gifts you’ve been given to do just that.  And of course, when you get to be a part of blessing others, you can’t help but be blessed as well.  Mutuality, reciprocation, or whatever you’d like to call it.  Regardless of the chosen term, it is a beautiful thing.

For the wedding of a dear friend in April, I was given some fabulous details about their relationship from both the bride and groom.  I used it to create a song that is very personalized, and gave me a lot of joy to write.  Because the bride and groom laugh a lot together, I tried to write something that would capture their humor.  It was a lot of fun to do, and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit during the wedding.  Mission accomplished, thanks to the wonderful stories they sent me (and the wonderful personalities they both have)!  I’ve pasted in a very unprofessional video link below—the lyrics won’t mean much to you without knowing the bride and groom, but hopefully the spirit of their relationship will shine through.

Thinking about starting a personalized wedding song business on the side.  Thoughts?  😉

OK, not really, but it is a fun adventure when given the chance.  Now that most of my friends are married, I don’t think there will be too many more, but keeping my mind open!

With that, wishing you all a summer of goodness.  You deserve it.

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Weddings, Music, Family (not necessarily in that order)

In the past 5 years or so, I have come to realize how very fortunate I am to have such an artistically talented family.  As I’ve mentioned before, both my mom and my sister sing.  We were raised in a household of theatre people, who also had strong musical leanings.

So my mom’s side was quite influential. While my brother and dad don’t lean so much musically, they definitely have an appreciation for it, and my dad explores other artistic avenues (photography, writing, etc.).   That said, on my dad’s side we’ve got a whole other set of talented folk!  My cousin is a wicked guitar player.  (Excuse me, but I lived in Boston for a while, and they like to say wicked.  Feel free to join in.).  As well, he has a beautiful singing voice.  Of course, as he plays in a punk band, Virgin Islands, that singing voice doesn’t really get exercised too much.  This weekend, however, at another cousin’s wedding, we were graced with the beauty of Chris’ voice.  Please enjoy (without paying any attention to the horrible video) Chris Meyer singing “She is Love” by Parachute.  You won’t regret it.  I liked the song before.  I love the song now.

Along with my “blood relatives”, through marriage we’ve been blessed with some other fantastic cousins.  One got married this past weekend, and the other got married last year.  The wedding and reception last year was practically a musical festival (which, not surprisingly, thrilled me!), with guests performing originals and covers, the groom frequently joining in, a live band, and an end of the evening filled with ipod dance tunes.  Thank the lord for great dance music at weddings!  This year, the wedding itself was filled with beautiful music, and the music at the reception included another great set of dance tunes.  Oh, how I love dancing at weddings!  Kind of makes me want to try crashing a couple…  😉  But I digress.

Well, the groom of last year also happens to be the brother of the bride this year.  As such, he also performed in the wedding.  Steve Shepro sang a lovely version of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz (yet another fabulous song!) as the processional.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take out my phone in time, but please enjoy what I did manage to capture (including more random wedding footage).

Finally, in a slightly separate category, the bride can dance!  This is not a skill I have, though I certainly pretend.  My cousin’s wife, Summer, is also a dancer.  She performs regularly through various Seattle burlesque shows, and as her skills are crazy amazing, I try to NOT dance next to her at weddings.  My aunt also has some pretty rockin’ moves, and I love watching her tear up the dance floor.  These women have little to no inhibitions about being in the spotlight, and add to the inspiration that is my family.  

All that to say that I have been increasingly grateful to be surrounded by creative individuals in my life.  It’s only recently that I realized how much of that influence is comprised within my own family, and how blessed I am to have it on all sides.  The temptation to compare myself to them has diminished over the years, and now I just get to take it all in and let it feed my own desire to create.  Here’s to the fabulousness that is (or can be) family!

You should see the family at karaoke!  😉  But I’ll save that for another entry…

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