Day 5: More than a Memory

Todays' song challenge was to find a song that made me think of someone. However, this blog is between me and the universe. Recently, someone came back in my life through a little bit of luck and fate.

Day 6: Going Back to that Place in Time

In middle school, my across the street neighbor Elizabeth and I became the best of friends. We always had the best of times together, that included but were not limited to sipping icees, jumping on the trampoline, and tubing in Lake Erie. However, the summer after 8th grade, my family and I left KY and set out for NOLA. However, every year for Spring Break, Elizabeth's mom would take us to Key West. It was the best of times we could have ever imagined. Our Senior year in 1999 was the best out of all our trips. I will keep it a secret all the things we did that year, but it was sort of a coming of age for us. I was really into Oasis that year, and every time I hear the song Champagne Supernoava, I go back to that warm beach with the sand between my toes.

Day 4: In the words of Billy Ocean: There will be sad songs that make you cry

Today, I have been challenged to find a song that makes me sad. It's kinda weird to think of a song that makes you sad. No one wants to channel sad thoughts or bad memories. For me, this song makes me sad in a good way. It is sort of bittersweet for me. It reminds me of my childhood home, that I often miss. I miss it because of the circumstances of my life journey, I haven't lived in my childhood home since the early 90s. Although I love going home to my mom and dad's house, the house they live in now is one they moved to in my adult life. I will never get to sit in the same living room Christmas morning as I did as a child nor will I ever be able to take my own children into my backyard and show them where I used to play and built a fort. This song just makes me want to revisit the house that built me one more time.

Day 3....Sweet Serendipity

So today's music challenge is a song that makes me happy. There are several songs that make me happy for several reasons. Some songs remind me of a certain person or place and some of them help me to travel back in time. But this song I chose, is one that simply makes me happy to be alive.

This song has a story to go along with it. For those of you who know me best, know I'm always looking for a sign from the universe. Recently, I took a quick trip to my hometown of Paducah, KY. I was driving around looking at childhood memories and just thinking about life in general. I was thinking about how many things had changed in my life and how I had gotten to where I am today. And as I often do, I was thinking about how my life may be different if my family had not moved around as much. And as fate and the universe would have it, the song Sweet Serendipity came on the radio. It was a friendly reminder that life is all about unexpected surprises. Recently, I've been reminded that sometime people, places, or things, can be an unexpected surprise in your life. This song makes me happy because it reminds me that life is a journey, not a destination....

Day 2: And the loser is...

Choosing my least favorite song was almost as challenging as finding my favorite song. I'm not really sure why. There are tons of songs out there that force me to turn the station when they come one. I have to say overall, I must say I loath songs that "whine" about something or how awful the world is. So, with that being said, I have to say the loser is Tim McGraw's Back When. I have to say that Tim really missed the mark on this one. The song is just so silly and so cheesy and I hate when people whine about how life was so much better years ago (and for those who still think so, go check out Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire. Not only is it a wonderful account of history, it also depicts how the world has always had issues and how we, as humans, have always been trying to get rid of them).

Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy and appreciate MOST of Tim McGraw's music, but I think someone lied to him in the studio when they said this was a hit.

30 Days....30 Songs....30 Things about me...

So, after seeing many people on Facebook do the 30 day music challenge, I have decided to do one myself. Like most people, music is a huge part of my life. I credit my dad for giving me my love for music...especially classic rock. I have fond childhood memories of him driving our Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra and singing Janie Got a Gun. Also, it amazes me how a driving in the car and hearing a simple song on the radio, can flood my head with memories and feelings that that had gotten lost somewhere over time.

My first challenge was to pick my favorite song. Although it seems simple, it is hard to pick just one song to deem my favorite. I have a deep love for all types of music...everything from 2 Live Crew to soft rock.....to 80s pop. However, I was forced to only chose one. So, because I'm a huge Dave Matthews fan, I have chosen my favorite song to be The Best of What's Around. I love the message that it has. I sort of see it as the theme song to my life.....it's all about making the most of what you have in the world around you...what is what I intend to do while I enjoy my stay here on Earth.

The Road to the Final Four

The term "The Road to the Final Four" is known by college basketball fans as the journey each team begins at the start of the season as they chase the ultimate goal: The National Title. This year, I was fortunate enough to watch my KY Wildcats take a crazy journey through the season and end up in the Final Four in Houston. I was even lucky enough to see them play, but sadly we did not make it to the title game. However, as I reflected on my life and the years that led up to me having a seat at Reliant Stadium in Houston, the term, "The Road to the Final Four" took on a very different meaning for me. It somewhat became a metaphor of sorts for me.

You see, I'm a huge believer in fate and destiny. And as I became overjoyed with the excitement that I was going to get to see my Cats play in the Final Four, I began to reflect upon the years, people, places, and events that led up to me sitting in that arena.

Picture it, Mandeville, LA, 1996. That was the first year that my family lived in Louisiana. I hated it. I hated just about everything about it. I hated the weather, I hated my school, I hated the food there, the way people talked. I HATED EVERYTHING. Also, in April of that year, my Cats also made the journey to the Final Four and clinched the title that year. Their first since 1978. I remember like it were yesterday, watching the game in our living room with my family, so proud to see our boys take it all, and a little sad that I wasn't in the Bluegrass State to celebrate with my fellow Wildcat fans. I was even fortunate enough to share the same feeling of pride when we won again in 1998.

Fast forward to present day. I have come a long way from that living room in Mandeville. I have made my peace with moving to Louisiana and I have even learned to love some things about it. I even take credit for recruiting some new members to the Big Blue Nation.

Last week, I found myself sitting with my family in Reliant Stadium watching the Cats as they made a memorable run for the title. And as I sat there I couldn't help but all the events that had taken place for me to get there. Had I never left KY, I may never had such a passion for KY basketball (ok...that's a lie...it's like religion in that state). Also, if my family had never made that first move to Mandeville, would my parents have eventually ended up in Houston, which made us going to the Final Four convenient? There is no way to know. But what I do know, is that fate has lead me to where I am today. Even on my saddest days, when all I could think of was how my life might be better if I still lived in KY, I had fate that it was all for a reason. I had fate, that one day I would know why destiny took me on so many moves and changes through life. Also, several recent events and random twists of fate, have helped me to realize that it was all for a REASON! When, I look back on the years I spent bitter over a move, I realize that had I not moved, I would have missed out on some many wonderful people, places, things, and experiences. People who have come and gone, things that I may not have otherwise tried, places I may have never seen, and experiences I would never have gotten to cherish.

My Road to the Final Four was a crazy journey. But I wouldn't have traded sitting in Section 115, row AA, seat 19, the other night for the world!

FATE: the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do : destiny