Happy Little Life

The concept of my small life being so important to my creator, blows my mind. He has been so faithful to my family and this Thanksgiving, I'm so grateful for his love. I have so much love in my life. The love of my family, friends, students, a church to fellowship with, Charlie, God and the love of new people who invest in my life and encourage me throughout the week. I'm a lucky gal and I'm excited for new things on the horizon. P.S. It only took 3.5 years to understand it's meaning in my life, but this week I felt unspeakable joy in teaching my 2nd graders about Voice in Writing. The excitement that we are all invested in this process... it's an amazing feeling. My students are a huge part of my life and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to work with them daily. I think they are brilliant and I am immeasurably blessed.

and Weekly Favorite

Saturday Soundtrack: Bonnie

"I Can't Make You Love Me" is a classic. It stands the test of genre. You're the OG of painful love songs, Bonnie. James Arthur (I'm kind of in love with this guy) Bon Iver Adele JP Piano Instrumental Remix Boys II Men Which version is your favorite? P.S. Check out more of James Arthur's tunes. He's worth the listen. Also, if you know him personally...give him my phone number and tell him to holla' at ya girl.

Saturday Soundtrack: British Invasion

Thank you, interwebs, for making international music exploration possible. Here are a couple of my favs from the UK and beyond. Rudimental-"Feel The Love" Featuring John Newman Eliza Doolittle-"Pack Up" The Streets-"Dry Your Eyes" Mark Ronson-"God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" My fav Adele song-"One and Only" Honorable Mentions: Just for fun. Cher Lloyd-"With Ur Love" ft. Mike Posner Irish singer-songwriter-musician-Damien Rice-"The Blower's Daughter". This is the song my sister-in law walked down the aisle to at my brother's wedding. So pretty. and my eternal crush, another Irishman. Glen Hansard-"High Hope" Ella Henderson-"Rule The World" Es el fin

Saturday Soundtrack: Acapella, Bluegrass, Ukele and Avett Love!

Let's make this short and sweet. Lately I've been listening to:

Acapella. So underrated. It takes a great amount of talent to control your voice enough to blend with others seamlessly. I appreciate you, acapella. Specifically Pentatonix.


Bluegrass. Thirty Years of Bluegrass. I also found an old vinyl with mountain songs. So precious to me.

Ukele anything and everything. I picked up one at a used book store last weekend. I'm completely in love. I've already learned some chords and  a Death Cab song. If you have any suggetions for quality Ukelele music, please share.
"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" Death Cab For Cutie for Ukelele
http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/uke-songs/death-cab-for-cutie/i-will-follow-you-into-the-dark-uke-tab-11767.html

and finally....I've been listening to the First Listen of  The Avett Brother's,"The Carpenter" on NPR.Winter in my Heart really strikes a chord with me. I can relate mucho right now. The album is similar to, "I and Love and You" in that it's much more folk rock influenced. I dig that but I'm a sucker for old School Avett Bros. tunes. Their first few albums featured more bluegrass/americana rhythms. I'm so glad to hear that banjo twang infused throughout the album, though. Check out the sneak peak here: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160188286/first-listen-the-avett-brothers-the-carpenter .

Honorable mentions
Generationals. Featured on "Our Idiot Brother" soundtrack, which was suprisingly lovely.
Here's a cute video with the song.


and Scott Hoying (of Pentatonix)


What have you been listening to? Catch ya later!

There is a Time

I don't have much to say. These last few days have been pretty difficult to get through. Thank goodness for family and TV Land. I love old t.v. shows. Laverne and Shirley, I Love Lucy, and I Dream of Jeanie are my favorites. My folks are obsessed with The Andy Griffith Show. I'm ashamed to admit that I have never seen an entire episode until today...and oh my goodness. It's pretty sweet.

Here's why...


Thumbs up for the Darlings, hillbilly bluegrass, and beautiful songs with incredible meaning. I<3 The Andy Griffith Show and the joy and calmness it brings my family.

I saw this picture on Pinterest this week. Feels like a good way to express my heart. T's all folks.

Saturday Soundtrack: Outburst of the SOUL

You know what I love more than a sweet throw-back soul artist? NOTHING!

Nick Waterhouse is no exception to that sentiment. He is the bees knees.
He's a little r&b blended with a modern sound. Saxaphone? Check! Tamborine? Check. Guitar? Check. Sweet old school back up singers? Cheeeeck. Melodica? Check. Check. Check. I don't want to quit him.
Take a listen
Nick Waterhouse and the Tarots


Acoustic version of  "Some Place"

Saturday Soundtrack: Oldies and Goodies

Yo, Today's music selection is inspired by the Music Instrument Museum (MIM) and one eternal drive on the 101 to get there! Cheers to driving in haboobs! *clinks imaginary juice box* If you haven't visited there yet, what's your deal? Get yer booty in gear. It's a music, history and geography lesson wrapped up in one good time. Ahem, GREAT time. If you appreciate music, you'll enjoy the vast display of instruments from nearly every country and the influence that each region's traditional music had on surrounding countries. Plus, it's indoors and you most likely live in Arizona. If you just fried an egg on your driveway, go to the MIM. If you have a 3rd degree burn from touching your seat belt, head over to the MIM. If your A/C went out in your car, go to..the repair shop. Definitely don't try driving all the way over there in the 110 degree heat. My favorite displays included American Bluegrass (for obvious reasons), The Steinway, Martin guitars, Ireland, Hip hop, Appalachia, The Native American exhibit where the guy turned the tribal drums into a sweet drum set, Trinidad and Tobago (one of their national instruments is a plastic whistle! Um heck yes.) and Cuba! I'll have to ask Amber her favs, but I noticed her spending substantially more time at the Chinese exhibit, Ecuador, Fender co., electronic, and hip hop. We both agreed that the tiny little girls playing the string instruments from North Korea were precious and possibly brain washed. After the exhibit, we headed downstairs into the Experience Gallery.Fun ensued. Amber busted out on the drums and Ukelele. I hit up the gong. You know, they only let you play that thing once. Take it all in. It's the only chance you'll get. There's this sik electronic instrument called the Theremin that they grace you with the opportunity to play in the Experience Gallery. Try not to weep... Alright now dry those tears. Don't mock him. He spent a long time putting together that galaxy background. That guy is really talented. Are you that passionate about life? 3:46, look at that smile. The theremin fulfills him. If that didn't convince you, listen to this. Awwwwww yayuh. I know you liked that. If you've decided to take a visit, bust out your favorite jams. My roadtrip consisted of: The White Stripes (oo this is a good place to share a decent cover song) Cake and Andrew Bird (but just this song. I just kept replaying it over and over!) Es el fin

Saturday Soundtrack: Mix!

Hola amigos y amigas! This past Saturday I listened to a little of everything and found a couple of sweet records at this little antique shop in downtown Phoenix called QCumber. They have an awesome collection of old records! The record room is semi split up by genre. Rock on one side, jazz/blues/soul on the other. Although, a lot of the records are intermingled. I like that, though. I enjoy hunting for treasures. Walking through the store is like walking through a vintage wonderland. I am in mega-love with this place. I will definitely be visitng again! I scored an old Byrds album, Johnny Cash's Happiness is You, Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, and Disney's Peter and the Wolf. I collect all kinds of records but I have a certain weakness for soul, rare Cash albums, musicals, and random weird children's albums. Peter and the Wolf is one of my favorite stories! I made a classroom set of character puppets from the story and I love to introduce the story as re-tell at school with the younger kiddos and sequencing with the older ones. It's great for those auditory learners. Very engaging activity. I'm excied to teach it to the lil guys at work in the fall. Over the weekend, The Avett Bros played at Bonaroo in NYC. I missed the live feed but thankfully the festival uploads some of the acts on their youtube. The Avett Brothers are, by far, my favorite artists. Their live shows are so fun. Reminds me of why I love music so much. Take a listen. :) The Byrds are a class act, man. Legends. Here's an oldie but a goodie. Some sik guitar picking from the Byrdmaniax album. Enjoy :)

Saturday Soundtrack: Shadows on Stars

Woops! I can't seem to keep track of my days while on Summer vacay. I guess today is Tuesday. :) Anywho, here was my Saturday Soundtrack. Shadows on Stars, "Pay the Rent" Enjoy :)

Arizona Adventures: Frontier Town

It's easy to take Arizona for granted during the scorching summer heat. Truthfully, Arizona is one of the most beautiful states. There's a little of everything here. Today we made a few stops at Cave Creek, Carefree and Bartlett Lake. We visited lots of cute shops, a Frontier town, ate at Harolds and visited Bartlett Lake. I will definitely be visiting the Cave Creek/Carefree area again. Lovely little towns! I highly encourage you to do the same. :)