the power of music

I realized that for the most part we listened exclusively to holiday music for the last month and a half. We watched very little TV and if we did it was a movie about the holiday's which most always included various Christmas songs. My two year old has run around singing carols and although she doesn't always get the lyrics correct, she does get the tune right. The songs make her sing, dance, and smile and it's hard not to follow her lead.

So now that the Holiday season is taking it's leave, my husband and I have taken it upon ourselves to introduce our daughter to a variety of music. We have decided that during the day we will limit our TV watching and instead play music. Music that has had an impact on our lives or emotions in some way. And in turn it will hopefully inspire her to love music the way we do.

My parents were always music lovers. I can remember afternoons and weekends filled with around the house projects and always in the background was music. Supertramp, James Taylor, Enya, Celine Dion, Spyro Gyro, Sheryl Crow,...and on. Some of my favorite childhood memories include dinner on the patio while listening to something my parents put on. It was a happy time in all of our lives and the music was the reflecting soundtrack.

Now that we have all grown up music still plays an important but more silent role in our lives. We have moved on, taken on new responsibilities such as jobs, kids, mortgages, and so on. Music has been forgotten from time to time. But not anymore.

We realized as a family that our current situation (location and finances) is less than ideal but maybe we can still turn this trying time into something more positive with music. If not for us than maybe for our daughter. Hopefully she can look back, as I do, and remember how happy she was painting and dancing with mom or planting and singing with dad. It will be our catalyst into happiness and creativity. Maybe it will help us get some home improvement projects done too!

the plan

I've always known I was not a city girl, but I'm finding more and more that even the busy suburbs of Phoenix aren't my cup of tea either. The weather is beautiful here most of the year and it was worth the experience of moving and discovering a new place but my husband and I both miss the color green. We ache for rainy days. Every day here in AZ is so beautiful you feel guilty about not getting out. And I'm not big on getting out.



I'm a homebody. I enjoy being at home. I love crocheting an afghan or watching a movie with my daughter. I like staying home and baking cookies and I prefer staying in my comfy clothes for the entire day. I remember Barbara Streisand once saying she prefers to stay home. That's me. I prefer to stay home. Call me Babs.

A simple life is the plan. One that doesn't require keeping with any type of jones'. A heavily wooded 5 acres with a beautiful house. A place we can have chickens and sheep. A place our kids can have adventures without the fear of the ball rolling in the street. A place we let ourselves get snowed in. A place for many vegtable gardens. A place for a tire swing and tree forts. A place for hot chocolate and quilting. A place we can live our dreams.

The great part is we found our destination. We just need to pave the path to get there. And we will do this as a family.

finding a marriage

It's no secret my husband and I don't get along from time to time. We probably quarrel more than most and a great majority of those arguments stem from frustration, finances, and the loneliness that accompanies a newly married couple who moves 2000 miles away from home, family and friends for the first time. This last year has been an eye opener on who we really are as individuals and as a family.

When it comes to being a family and making family decisions we are incredibly in sync. That is if we make the decision together. We are project people. We get along famously when we are concentrating on a single result together and the result always exceeds our expectations.
Whether it be making chili, decorating a room, or getting through a road trip with a two year old and one year old black lab we come together and complete the project with laughter and love and memories to spare.

As individuals we are well aware of what makes us different. But over the ten years we have been together some of the qualities that set us apart have been left by the wayside to make room for the things we thought would make us the same. I think many couples do this when first starting out. For us, the things we left behind are now the things that will bring us back together. I don't think many people get to say that.

Somehow, through a recent road trip, financial struggle, and preparing our house for the addition of another child, we have started the dialogue of planning for our future. And our visions, for the first time, are the same. We want the same things for our family and for us as individuals. It's not just a goal or where we see ourselves in a year. It's what we want ultimately and it's quickly becoming the light at the end of our tunnel here in AZ.

Now, it doesn't mean an end to all arguments but it is an end to uncertainty. And it's one very long project to work on together. And that makes me very happy.

..more to come on our plans!