Indian Trading Furs - The River and The Wall

Kyran Million and Will Gallivan, Indian Trading Furs (friends of my son) wrote, play and sing in this video.  The music is not only  rhythmically sound but it has a spiritual lift to it as well. Listen and enjoy :)

Lucky the penguin

No words need to describe this video but a big THANK YOU I send out to Teva and the Santa Barbara Zoo for helping "Lucky" the penguin to walk!

LIke My Mother Does

If I could only do like my mother does... her strength, her composure, her patience... she has helped me through many a rough time and I am forever grateful to be blessed with her love and guidance.

Keep it between the lines

This song reminds me of a friend I recently met who lost his dad years ago. He has a love for cars as his dad but it's more of an honor and respect for his father who taught him to "keep it between the lines".

Cody and Laura's honeymoon to Italy

Pictures and adventures of my Cody and Laura's honeymoon in Italy...

"ate gelato three times, met some fun dogs and cats, saw a free classical concert, and oh yeah got locked into an underground museum of an ancient Roman city in the middle of Perugia... plus scorpions!" ~ Laura

"Teaser of the day - museum closed early without telling us and turned off all the lights...while we were underground in Etruscan-Roman ruins. Using the flash to light the way to the emergency exits (that were locked) and making it upstairs just in time to see the front door close and lock and to set the alarms off. Yay! (Filed under 'things that only ever happen to us1)" ~ Laura

Florence, Italy

Venice, Italy

 

 

The Wedding

My son was married Friday to the most beautiful person a mother could want as her daughter-in-law.  The colors were turquoise and brown and was held at the zoo... yes, the zoo! A beautiful zoo and a beautiful wedding full of love, happiness, fun, laughter, tears of joy, yummy food, and of course, dancing.  There was a cotton candy booth, a photo booth, pinwheels everywhere and silly, fun lovin'  abound!

These are just a couple of the pictures I have and rest assured there will be MANY more! The song for the mother and son dance was Beautiful Boy by Ben Harper (cover song of John Lennon's original) and yes, I cried.

So, here is a glimpse of what I have so far of the most funtastical wedding EVER!

My love to my son and his new wife... forever and always, Mom

My Wish for my son... and CONGRATULATIONS!!

Waiting on a Woman - Brad Paisley with Andy Griffith

The Things That Matter...

A very beautiful friend of mine wrote this about a week before she passed away. Although I never met her in person her essence was profound and she will always forever be in my heart. Her name was Deb and here is what she wrote...

The things that matter.....

I seem to have so much time on my hands these days although not the sort of time I would chose if a choice was given, but time to reflect, time to think and time to straighten a few things out....

What matters in life...? I have spent my adult life working hard, saving all the pennies, stacking them away... why?

The dream you see... The dream of the pretty cottage in the country, the Daffadils and Tulips in the spring, the Lilies and Lupins in the summer, the sweet apples on the tree as the summer fades. I have seen the beautiful garden in so many of those dreams, ablaze with colour, vibrant and alive. I have sat on a cold winters night, the frost thick on the ground, in front of the warm open fire being mesmerised by the flames getting lost in the music they dance to. I have climbed the rickety old stairs to the rooms above and laid upon the cool cotton sheets on the old Oak bed.... This was my dream, my purpose in life but now its not so important, it would be nice but its no longer at the top of the list, no longer the ideal I yearn for.

Why? what changed.....? Life changed, maybe not for the better but changed it did and the things that seemed so important have become secondary to something far more so. The worst thing is that what now is the most important thing was there all along but just taken for granted and often overlooked and no doubt, on occasion, abused.

There are things that matter way more than any dream of a cottage, any amount of money, anything at all in fact......

These things will pick you up when you fall, catch your tears when you cry, carry you when your too tired to even crawl and they will love you without reserve. You can shout at them when you are low and they will not hide from you, you can tell them your fears and they will listen without judgement, you can sleep when they visit you and they will return tomorrow and the day after if you sleep again. When they are true they never desert you, never leave you lonely and never expect.

What are these wondrous things that I now hold so dearly to my heart..... They are simply Friends.

I have people I have called friends throughout this world and until not so long ago I would have said they numbered many tens. Now I can count them on the two hands I hold in front of my face and still have a finger spare in case another comes along :)

They come in all shapes and sizes, they come from all over the world and they come from unexpected places...

I have friends here in RLC that I now know would stand by me till the bitter end and that brings me peace and calm. I have friends here in RLC that are at equal to that and just because i may never meet the person behind the profile it doesnt mean they are less of a person....

To quote a few lines from a great song from the film Trainspotting. Shallow grave by leftfield!

Im not ashamed.

Ive known love,

Ive known rejection,

Im not afraid to declare my feelings

Take trust for instance, or friendship these are the important things in life, that help you on your way

If you cant trust your friends well what then, what then?

I trust all my friends, they are my they are my rope when I need hauling from a deep hole, they are my beach when I need somewhere to lay my head and they are my sanity when insanity reigns supreme.

Thank you for being here with me, I love you like brothers and sisters and my life would be an empty place without you being part of it...

My love to you my dearest Deb... i know you are where the angels fly and dancing above the clouds...

Moon is made of Gold

Rickie Lee Jones has one of the most beautiful voices ever and her music is always so full of heart. I just found this song tonight. It's a song her dad wrote when she was little. I send this to my dad... don't feel bad because by now you must know that the moon is made of gold! :)

Hurry Home by Jason Michael Carroll

A bittersweet video with a very important message about love and forgiveness...

 

Richard... r.i.p.

Another good man passed away... the brother of Michael (previously passed) and Debra. They're mom? Wow! She's much like my mom... such strength and so strong. God bless her heart to have raised and loved two boys and a daughter with such pride and honor.
Peace, love and harmony to you and your family Richard... you now are where you should be and have earned your wings!
My love always...

This song was one that Richard played for me one night. He rarely showed his pain or sorrow but when this song was played he had tears in his eyes. "Say Hello to Heaven" has a whole new meaning to me now.

Stacy Westfall showing what love is all about...

Amazing bittersweet video of a girl and her horse for her dad. My sister and cousins have taught me about horses and from their knowledge and patience I see so much beauty and strength and love in this video. I dedicate it to my Uncle Darwin and my dad... r.i.p.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby audition

The best audition ever!  !!

 

Have a Little Faith in Me - Benny & Joon

Poem for my mom

This post may be late but it still holds the same meaning as when I gave it to my mom on Mother's Day this year. I haven't been the easiest child, (I sure wouldn't want to be my mom!) but she taught me so much and even if I haven't quite learned all of her lessons well, they are instilled in my heart. So... this is my poem for my mom..not much really, but its all I got. 

Thank you Mom, for giving me

The important things in life

By being strong and standing tall

For teaching me what's right

You've shown me how to see the light

When everything went dim

You never let me give up hope

When life was dark and grim

Always you've been there for me

At times I wondered why

It couldn't have been easy

To watch your child cry

By doing that you gave to me

A strength that will not die

Things happen for a reason, right?
But only if I try

So this Mother's Day I give to you

The thing I cherish most

A love you placed within my heart

and forever I hold close

Bandaids

It seems the road has been tough for many recently and for some reason mine has gotten a little easier. I have had some great friends and family to carry me thru times when I couldn't even crawl and maybe now its my time to carry them.

We can't always say the right thing or make someone do what we feel is for the best, but we can stand beside them, behind them and at times in front of them to guide and protect.

Never give up on a friend, even when they fight like hell to push you away. It's not easy and they may not want you around at times and may need to be left alone. Just don't leave them alone for long... stay with and near them... in touch with them anyway you can... nice messages, kind words or comments, whatever feels right and good.

We all have bad memories... sores that hurt a lot... but i was once told by a very wise man that we need to allow our wounds to open so they can heal. They just can't be allowed to stay open for long because that's what makes a scar.

We all need a bandaid now and then and someone to put it on for us... even if we know we can do it ourselves. Its called caring... its called love.

So here is to bandaids... may we all have plenty to share!

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"Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop."
~ Meredith Grey

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A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success, "Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today."
This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure or fear of rejection? Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? "The early bird catches the worm" "A stitch in time saves nine" "He who hesitates is lost" We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant...

That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beats the hell out of never trying.
~ Meredith Grey

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"At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. It's like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And it's not so important happy ever after, just that it's happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you, and once in a while people may even take your breath away."
~ Meredith Grey

For my nephew - In The Morning of the Magicians

My nephew is an amazing artist. I recently asked him what his favorite song was and he said "In The Morning Of The Magicians" by The Flaming Lips. The song speaks of such sorrow as well as beauty and it did surprise me at first that it would be his favorite. Then I realized how much sorrow he has endured in his life and I understood. It hurts me some to listen to it because I know of his pain... he lost his father at a young age... and yet he has endured and succeeded in spite of, or maybe because of that pain. To me this song is so heartfelt and sad yet there is a beauty inside it. Ahhh, yes.. my nephew is a true artist!

Bonnie Hunt parody of American Idol audition

This has got to be the FUNNIEST parody EVER of American Idol! Bonnie Hunt is AMAZING!!

In Memory of my Father... Oct 31, 1934 to July 6, 2009

This is one of the hardest posts I have ever made. How can I not know what to say about a man who raised me and taught me so many things? Maybe once I stop crying the words will find their way.  Music has always been an avenue for me to feel and relate my thoughts so why stop now?

My dad passed away after a long battle with lung cancer on July 6, 2009. There are many things I will always remember and hold close to my heart about my dad and one is when he played this song for me and my son, about ten years ago. There was a look in his eyes which was sad yet proud and is one of the values he taught me and I will always honor... to remember the "little man".