Who said it?

Can you identify the quote? (A hint is if you can recognize people).

Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings.

Country music is three chords and the truth.

Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune.

Rock music in its lyrics often talks ahead of the time about what's going on in the country.

A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges.

Music is the universal language of mankind.

There's music in the sighing of a reed;

There's music in the gushing of a rill;

There's music in all things, if men had ears:

Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.

If this word "music" is sacred and reserved for eighteenth and nineteenth century instruments, we can substitute a more meaningful term: organization of sound.

Blogger blunders

Hey everyone, blogger messed my post up again. I posted today but it placed the post as dated April 22nd. Go back to that date and see what's new. Sorry, I don't know why this happens.

Happy Birthday Sis.Holly

Happy Birthday Sis.Holly! Not only is she a pianist and a singer, Sis.Holly is such a fun person whom I've grown closer to in the last few months. We've had a good time riding in truck beds, fishing, taking walks, and just chatting and laughing. This week, the school we teach at is on Spring Break so we went for a walk today with a couple other friends and followed that with a good Mexican lunch at Los Cabos. We made our way to Sally's Beauty Supply for hair sticks and then landed at BooksAMillion for an hour or so with our "caffeinated" beverages. Sis.Holly, I hope you have a good birthday tonight. Her husband called to make sure she and their two boys would ready to leave the house by 4pm tonight. I'm sure a really good birthday present awaits. Love you.

Musician's Maiden Fishing Voyage

Okay, I'm trying hard to keep this a music blog. Notice the title of this post. (rolls eyes =P ) I can't help but tell you about my first fishing experience. It was a gorgeous day, the fish weren't biting, the water was choppy from the rain we received the day before, I ate way too much junk food, and laughed so hard my sides hurt.

The plan was to meet at the new church at 9:45am. The guys, hauling the boat, took off together in the truck to put gas in the boat, while the girls rode together to Walmart to buy snacks for the day. I won't mention how us girls shop... yes, even if its in a Walmart Supercenter. We took a little too long and had our husbands calling us asking where we were. The first time we told them we were checking out (we were). The next time they called we said we were leaving the parking lot (... and we were). We even got one of our husbands to ask us, "can you see me? I'm waving." He thought we were at the grocery store across from the boarding ramp. We were dying laughing because we were still in another town altogether. Since we were supposed to be there, we simply avoided direct answers and strayed toward the vague yet true ones. LOL Whew! It was too funny when they found out later on.

The day definitely started off with spunk and fun from the girls while our more serious and subdued husbands were intent on "fishing." Well, we were too, but c'mon, let's have fun in the meantime. lol We arrived at the dock 10 minutes later and stored our Walmart "loot" in all the bins on the boat.

We finally backed into the water and started our day on the Guntersville Lake. It was a gorgeous day and had just the right amount of breeze. The waves were rather choppy due to the rainfall the prior day but other than that all was well. The men taught me how to cast my bait out into the water and slowly reel it back it, giving a subtle jerk whenever I felt a tug. We were all doing just fine until I got hungry around 11:30 and put my pole down to start snacking on sour gummy worms. Jeremy took my pole from me and in two minutes had caught a crappie . From then on, he kept steeling my pole whenever I would take a snack break. lol. Well, next, Sis.Holly's pole started arching over and we were hoping it was a really big bass. She was doing really well reeling it in when all of a sudden, up out of the water we see this:

All that work for a twig!!!
Oh well. Sis Holly did manage to get a striped bass later on that day. Those were the only two fish we caught. According to Bro.Jeff's monitor, the fish were staying about 18 feet down due to the choppy surface.

Something really funny that happened while out on the lake: The waves and wind were really starting to pick up towards the evening so we decided to start heading back to the boat ramp. Well, the kind and considerate Bro.Jeff was going to slow down the boat so that the spray wouldn't drench us so bad, but instead of gradually slowing down, he completely released the gas and the whole front of the boat went forward. A GIGANTIC wave washed over the front of the boat SOAKING us. I'm dying laughing as I type this. It was hysterically funny. Thankfully, I was not in the very front at the time. Poor Sis. Holly, Bro.Ken, and Sis.Bridget!!! HAHAHAHA!!! They wore denim and their skirts and his jeans had a really hard time drying out. They also stayed cold for a good while. It was pathetically funny!!! I'm sorry girls... I had to tell it!!

Well, we finally started getting hungry for real food so we decided to call it a day on the water and head back to the boat ramp. I failed to mention there was a fishing competition of some kind going on that day so that's probably another reason why the fish weren't biting. lol jk. No really, when the ramp was within view, we saw that it was swarming with boats and people for the competition and decided to drop off Bro.Ken on one of the banks and have him meet us at the other ramp with the truck. Us and our boat finally made it to the other ramp. Here's Jeremy walking up the dock.

Here's me and Jeremy posing =)

Since we rode in two separate vehicles, having only the truck at this ramp presented a very short term problem which us girls quickly resolved. We decided to ride in the truck bed back over the bridge and through a couple of traffic lights to Sis. Holly's car. Sis.Holly is a character... Let me tell you. She had us dying laughing back there in that truck bed. I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. lol We were musical convicts escaping Julliard. lol yeah right!

After making it to the car, we then headed to Top of the River, one of the best restaurants in the south where they serve fried pickles, fried catfish, fried onion rings (fried anything), crab legs, greens and cornbread and a big ol' glass of iced tea (lol). It was excellent... let me rephrase, "Clog Your Arteries Excellent." Mmmm MMmmmm Good. (Yes, I'm getting used to this southern home style cookin'. Its rather easy to do. =)

After we ate, we walked out the back door onto the dock and took some couple pictures. Here's Bro.Jeff and Sis.Bridget.

And here is Bro.Ken and Sis.Holly.

What a great way to spend a maiden fishing voyage... with friends, sunshine and some good food to top it off (and a good camera to save the memories. =) )

Pray for Tenors

I have noticed that in "the South" many churches have a type of bulletin board connected to their church sign. Often times this sign will have the title of the next Sunday's sermon or an event that is in the near future. The other day I drove through town and passed by one of the many churches with a bulletin board out front. I couldn't help but notice the message:

I got so tickled and wondered if they presently had some really horrible sounding tenors or if they really needed tenors and just wanted to post a public "want ad" to the Lord. HAHA!! Nothing like praying in secret is there?! lolol

Keeping Tradition

Yesterday, sticking to tradition, Jeremy, Noah, myself and our friends snuck away for our annual one day vacation. A few years ago, when Jeremy and I still lived in CA but would come back for family visits, we started a tradition with our friends here. That tradition was to all pile into the church's 15 passenger van at 7am (give or take a few minutes) and make a long trek to somewhere... anywhere... as long as we were together and having fun. However, this trip is never intended to be a "non-stop" trip. We usually have several layovers. The first layover is usually at a Walmart for junk food and a bathroom break (yesterday there happened to be a need for new windshield wipers on the church van when it started raining). Another layover usually entitles us to some breakfast from either McDonald's or Cracker Barrel, my absolute favorite. Finally, everyone settles in for the long haul and we endure one sitting position until we've reached our destination.

Amid tons of stories and laughter, each trip has been such fun. Each personality is so different and everyone has different interests, yet we never fail to have the biggest blast when we all come together on our little one day vacation. Our first trip was only a handful of friends who decided rather spontaneously to go to Atlanta, GA and eat at Fogo de Chao. We enjoyed that "one-day-er" so much that we decided it was worth it to make it an annual tradition. The next year, with a few more people, we decided to go to Nashville,TN and see and eat at the Opry Land Hotel. Well, this year with Noah and my camera, I was able to capture the fun we had.

We were to meet at the new church at 7am and be on our way. Well, the one's who lived the farthest away were the first ones there while the ones who lived 2 miles away were...shall we say "on the road at 7am? lol On the way to Altanta, we laughed so hard listening to stories about organic chap stick, and "when he was just a boy...", and "very important phone calls" from some of our esteemed ministers of the Gospel. Well, Jeremy had called and made lunch reservations for us to eat at 1pm so we ended up going straight there after our Walmart layover. Everyone saved their appetite knowing that Fogo's salad bar and meat supply never ran out. We arrived after 3 hours and the waitress showed us to our tables. We hit the gourmet salad bar and I opted for the standard Romaine with their House Special Caesar dressing. Although the Pesto salad dressing is worth getting too. Some got the Brie cheese and House sourdough bread, but I chose to fill up on the main course. The Fillet Mignon was incredible... as usual. But this time my favorite was the House Special, Prime Rib. The flavor was out of this world and it melted in our mouths. As I sat there with my card on "green" the waiters brought me roasted Lamb, pork chops, two different Fillet Mignon's, Chicken legs in a white wine sauce, sausage, Prime Rib, and garlic Sirloin. They served drinks, cheese rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, and fried plantains (not crazy about this last one) along with the meat. After all that protein I was dying for something sweet. I asked what the most ordered dessert was and they told me the Molten Chocolate Cake served with ice cream... which is what I had been eyeing. It was all to die for... and so was the price of our bill. haha But once a year with some good friends, hey its worth it. The experience was so much fun... especially taking those who hadn't been before. Everyone loved it.

Next we went to the Atlanta Aquarium which is supposedly the world's largest aquarium. Noah fell asleep not too long into this excursion but woke up in time to see the whale shark that was showing off for its audience. I think he really enjoys the fish. We have a pond outside our back deck and he like me to hold him up while he leans over and looks at the gold fish. These fish at the aquarium were quite a bit larger than the ones he's used to at home. Here are some pictures of us at the aquarium.

After seeing all there was to see at the aquarium, we made our way to Lenox Square and went shopping, drank Starbucks, and spent more money. But hey, this one day vacation comes around only once a year. Like I said, its worth it.

Birthday of a World Class Song Leader

Today is a special day... well, actually we don't know the exact date. It could be the 3rd, 4th, or the 5th of April. But Happy Birthday to a one of a kind Dad anyway. The story from Grandma Bertram (who has passed on) is that Dad was born on the 5th of April but somehow in the hospital they messed the birth certificate up and put his birth date as the 3rd. So instead of worrying about it, we just celebrate both days, including the one in between. He deserves it.

Dad is probably the one who I inherited my love of music from. Although both my parents are musical, Dad went "public" with his singing and violin abilities. As kids he and his brothers and sister were all musical and would sing together. Although we don't hear much violin playing these days, Dad can pick up the violin's relative, the banjo, and make you want to dance. His singing styles range from the Frank Sinatra crooner, Elvis Presley's "humma humma" spunk, and a good rich baritone distinctly all his own. However, he was and is (in my opinion) the greatest song leader this world has ever seen or heard. From his motel to near death stories told over the platform at the Rock Church, he has encouraged and ignited people's love for God in unique ways. He is passing down a great gift to his kids. Now, all three of his kids sing and two play the piano.

Dad, you are the funnest, funniest, most daring and riskiest, money makin', musical Dad... and I think you're the greatest!! Anyone who knows you thinks that you are simply GREAT! Thanks for all the fun through the years. I hope you have a great birthday these three days and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Love you love you love you soooooo much. XOXO