Song of the Week

This morning I got to spend a fair amount of money on new music thanks to Birthday iTunes Voucher gifts. So I will get this song in quick before it's potentially replaced by everything new I'm about to hear.

I LOVE everything by Audrey Assad, but if I had to pick a favourite it would be this one...

'Carry Me' - Audrey Assad, The House You're Building



Pain is a forest we all get lost in
Between the branches hope can be so hard to see
And in the darkness we've all got questions
We're all just trying to make sense out of suffering but

You say I am blessed because of this
So, I choose to believe
As I carry this cross, You'll carry me
Help me believe it

Fear is a current we all get caught in
And in its motion faith can be so hard to find
And we all falter 'cause we're all broken
We're all just trying to turn the shadows into light but

You get glory in the midst of this
And You're walking with me
And you say I am blessed because of this
So, I choose to believe
As I carry this cross, You'll carry me

And I know Your promises are faithful
And God, I've seen Your goodness in my life
And oh, I've found Your mercy is a river
Your love is an ocean wide

You say I am blessed because of this
You get glory in the midst of this
And You're walking with me

And You say I am blessed because of this
So, I choose to believe
As I carry this cross, as I carry this cross
'Cause as I carry this cross, You'll carry me

You'll carry me, God
You'll carry me
And Your love is an ocean wide

Song of the Week...

Yay for a new post that I am going to do (like the title suggests) once a week! That's one more step on the way to blogging more regularly!

To be honest this song has been a favourite of mine for a couple of months but I have listened to it particularly large amounts this week so it is still valid...

Come To Me - Jenn Johnson, Bethel Music - The Loft Sessions...



I am the Lord your God, I go before you now.
I stand beside you, I’m all around you
And though you feel I’m far away, I’m closer than your breath
I am with you, More than you know

I am the Lord your peace, No evil will conquer you
Steady now your heart and mind, Come into my rest
And oh, let your faith arise, And lift up your weary head
I am with you, Wherever you go

Come to me, I’m all you need
Come to me, I’m everything
Come to me, I’m all you need
Come to me, I’m your everything

I am your anchor, in the wind and the waves
And I am your steadfast, so don’t be afraid
Though your heart and flesh may fail you
I’m your faithful strength
And I am with you, Wherever you go

Come to me, I’m all you need
Come to me, I’m your everything
Come to me, I’m all you need
Come to me, I’m your everything

Don’t look to the right or to the left, keep your eyes on me
You will not be shaken, you will not be moved
I am the hand to hold, I am the truth, I am the way
Just come to me, come to me
Cause I’m all that you need

This Week...

I have been lesson planning... because tomorrow I start teaching!

God is amazingly good at opening unexpected doors but he also has a great sense of humour because, classroom teaching..... I have always told everyone adamantly I would never do (especially my mum, who is a teacher)!

But now every thursday I am teaching Music Theory and Songwriting to a class of approximately thirteen 18-25yr olds. (This means that some of them could be older than me :S weird!)

It's all quite daunting but really trying to remember the big picture of how awesome this actually is! Having been on their mailing list for years, seeing their shows, following their bands at Soul Survivor and the like, I am now teaching for NGM (New Generation Music) - an awesome Christian Charity {here}. This is BIG!! And it keeps hitting me what a potentially massive door this is for me!
In their own words...

"New Generation Music is a vibrant community of artists who are passionate about art and life.

Filled with creativity, ngm produce music, artists, dancers, musicians, unique artist training courses, innovative conferences, and much more. As artisans they seek to bring beauty, excellence, and influence through all they do. They help to transform people and communities through their creativity all infused with their Christian faith and values." 

Cool huh!? So excited, a tad nervous and expecting to learn from this experience as much I teach, is how I will go tomorrow. Let's see where this road leads... if you're of the praying kind, then please pray :)

Image found {here}

Things I am Thankful For...

Original found {here}, also found {here}

• Slowly, but surely getting excited about song writing again! Feeling inspired and excited about ideas and potential collaborations.
• Pinterest! If you don't know what this is then check out my page {here}. Pinterest has seriously helped inspire me this week and I have a new lyric notebook starting to fill up :D
• Hugs that literally physically prevent you from breathing and all the words and feelings conveyed in those few breath-taking moments.
• A taste of heaven whilst at Church last night - AMAZING, beautiful, stunning, tear-bringing, life-bringing, eye-opening, hope-breathing, reality-checking, flaming AWESOME Worship moment! There is nothing better, not one thing, than being in HIS presence! Need to remember that!
• Once again for Mike, who I saw cry (good tears) last night for only the second time. What an amazing evening! So incredibly thankful to be on this journey with you, what an adventure and what a JOY!
• Finding my voice again... thanks to a fantastic new music find, I have been singing all week. And strangely enough, for a singer, that hasn't been very common of me in recent years - ask anyone. Audrey Assad - 'The House You're Building' = AMAZING album! It's hard to pick one song to share with you but here goes...

Christmas Present Day!!

Ok I know that christmas is old news but yesterday I got to use my Christmas presents! Brooke Fraser Gig Tickets and a day trip to London! As you may well remember at Christmas time I was half way round the world from Mike so that's why it happened yesterday - and that's when the gig was!

It was an AMAZING day and by far the BEST gig I've ever been too. Brooke was already my favourite musical artist ever but she really blew us away yesterday - INCREDIBLE!
We left the venue positively beaming! :D She's playing in Birmingham on the 12th April and London again on the 13th - there's still tickets - go see her!!

Oh and a lovely afternoon was had visiting the Natural History Museum funfunfun! All in all a truely lovely day! Thank you Mike! :D Here are a few piccies...

Sometimes it's the simple little things...

I LOVE...

• Absolutely anything Peacock Blue - it makes me VERY happy! (Photo by my friend Naomi Bennett)
• Singing along to music in the car - especially with other people harmonising. Actually Harmonies and Singing in general - anytime anywhere!
• Sunsets and Sunrises. Sunrises are more effort to see and therefore more beautiful - trust me they're worth it :)

• Lush vocal arrangements (The only reason I like GLEE - I promise :P)
• The seaside in summer
• The seaside in winter
• The seaside at dawn
• The seaside at sunset
• Stargazing in the country - no light pollution = brilliant!!
• Weddings, especially the speeches and watching the Groom during the entrance of the bride - loveliness!
• Waking up and realising I have more time to sleep (I set 2 alarms half an hour apart every morning for this reason - mad I know!)
• 'It's a small world' moments.
• Hearing peoples stories/testimonies
• Photography - I'm not great at it but I do LOVE photos in general!
• A great melody that stays in your head for days
• Hearing someone humming something that you know they sub-conciously picked up from you days earlier :)
• Cheesy disaster movies - I will explain why sometime!
• Milk to drink, avacados to eat! (Not necessarily at the same time!)
• Converse trainers! Oh so many beautiful colours! I own 4 pairs - oops :P

(Photo from... http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/248/6/f/Converse_Art_by_Aufrah.jpg)

• Having time to blog! (even though right now I should be sleeping! lol)
• Walking around barefoot - especially on grass or sand!
• God's timing, God's sense of humour :)
• Driving under rainbows.
• The smell just before/after it's rained.
• Thunderstorms in the summer - gotta love a good bit of thunder and lighting!!
• The Psalms and their author David. A whole biblical book full of songs and wonderful lyrics that quite often put the prayers I need to pray into words for me :)
• Lying in bed when it's pouring with rain outside!
• Eating ice (Weird I know lol) - the crushed stuff is the best (best thing about Nandos is that you get free re-fills with crushed ice on tap hehehe!)
• Writing lists - only recently discovered this one in my boredom at work. Lots more list blog posts coming up I feel :)
• Film music. Linked to my favourite video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4
• Quoting funny lines from films with my sisters - especially Shrek, Ice Age, Finding Nemo etc
• Disney - I won't deny it any longer, this is my childhood, Hercules is the best!
• Solo Piano music to work to. Anything by Ludovico Einaudi or on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio.
• Making Mix CDs for people I love :)
• How holding his hand is enough to make my day!
• His smile, his honesty, his integrity, his faith, his passion, his hugs, his bad jokes - Him in general :)
• Romans 8 v 31-39, Isaiah 43 v 1-4

That's all I can bring to mind right now, pretty sure this could flow into a second blog post sometime down the line. I love being thankful for all this stuff and realising how much of it there is :)

The Best Thing That Could Be Happening

The Best Thing - Relient K (Capitol USA (new release) (P) 2007 Capitol Records, Inc.. All rights reserved)

This song just about sums it all up right now, If I could write how this feels it would go something like this...

Please note: Mike and I are trying to ban the word cheesy from our vocabulary (at least all it's negative connotations), so what if it's been said or done before or it's a cliche, sometimes it just needs to be said or done :)

It's been a year
Filled with problems
But now you're here
Almost as if to solve them
And I can't live in a world without you now
All my life
I've been searching for you
How did I survive
In this world before you
Cause I don't wanna live another day without you now

This is the best thing
The best thing that could be happening
And I think you would agree
The best thing is that it's
Happening to you and me

All I'm gonna have
Is all that you can give me
And I'll give right back
Everything I have in me
Cause nothing ever felt as right
As this does right now
I'll go back to before we met
Try and erase the past
Try harder to forget cause
Nothing will ever be as good as here and now

Cause when I looked into your eyes
And you dared to stare right back
You should've said "Nice to meet you, I'm your other half"

And this is the best thing
The best thing that could be happening
And I think you would agree
The best thing is that it's happening
Happening to you and me

Always knew
I'd find someone
I never dreamt
It'd be like this
You've surpassed
All that I've hoped for and ever wished
And I'm tryin'
So hard
With all my heart and mind
To make your life
As good as you've made mine

This is the best thing
The best thing that could be happening
And I think you would agree
The best thing is that it's happening to you and me

The best thing is that it's happening to you and me
The best thing is that it's happening to you and me

Massive List of Things to be Thankful For!

I am back to the world of blogging - oh yes I am! So sorry it's been an age and my life has changed a significant amount since I was last here. So much in fact I think I will have to update you a little at a time. Am going to start by sharing some lovely things :)

I am incredibly and wonderfully THANKFUL for......

• Becoming more and more aware that I am where I am supposed to be in the world for such a time as this! Bath is HOME this has never been more clear to me, a home I have made for myself, a place I miss if I am away for more than a few days, full of people that I love, an incredible church, wonderful friends! Thank You God that my degree brought me to this wonderful place where you clearly wanted me to be :)
• My two beautiful sisters! It's amazing how living apart has made us so much closer, I love catching up with you and sharing life with you, you make me laugh so much and bring me tons of joy - Thank You!

• Right now I am holding the hand of someone very special and wonderful and lovely. That's all I'm going to say about him for now :)
• Significantly changing lots of my travel plans (will update you all on this when I get more of a moment with the internet) hasn't cost me half as much money as I feared, in fact I have hardly lost anything and gained a whole lot - financial miracle whoop whoop! (these financial blessings seem to follow me around a bit - Thank you God that you are bigger than money - YOU OWN ALL THE DOUGHNUTS!! lol!)
• I really intensely dislike my job right now but I am incredibly thankful that at least I have one. It is allowing me to live in Bath and save for some wonderful things. I also work with nice people and we have a great laugh quite frequently. The things (i.e. cards) we sell in my shop also make people laugh and smile a lot - and that's nice :) (Must....try.....and.....find....the...good.....in......bad....situations......more!)
• Cous cous salads with lots of yummy veg for packed lunches! Very very yummy, cheap and something to look forward to in a long work day.
• Smiling - it's underrated, stress relieving, joy bringing, truth speaking and heart revealing - lets do it more!
• Walks in the park in the evening sun.
• Movie nights... lots and lots of movie nights.
• I had a steak for the first time in my life! YES Shocking I know lol! It was nice but not life changing I'm afraid though. Coincidentally (I am sure) my life does seem to have changed ever since I had that steak......... hmmmm interesting lol!
• For discovering that weird doesn't mean bad. I am very weird(i.e. amazing) but I am an original and I'm happy with that. 

'Today you are you that is truer than true, there is no-one alive that is youer than you!' 

- Dr Suess

• Finding more time to start songwriting again and enjoying it :) Watch this space...
• Finding lots of lovely free downloadable fonts on the web (www.dafont.com), and getting lots of ideas for lovely creative projects to use them in funfunfun! :)
• Two more friends weddings are coming up soon -  I Love Weddings!
• Wispa bars - Thank you Cadbury for bringing these back!
• Two of my cousins are having babies!! Let the next generation begin!
• Amazing friends
• Lovely family
• Knowing more and more that I am not in control and I don't know where my life may lead but that that is OK! Feeling strangely free because of this revelation, literally Thanking God for being in the driving seat!
• Peace, freedom, grace, breakthough, love, music, passion, friendship and cheese and marmite sandwiches!!!

That's all for now. Will post more soon :)

Thankful

Today I am thankful for...

* The amazing cleaning power of Vanish - because without it a white work shirt covered in tomato salsa would have been a disaster story! lol!

* Walking home straight into a lovely sunset! (just walking home in the light is a bit of a novelty at the moment!)

* Last week was a really good week, lots of little and big breakthroughs, tons of laughter, lots of friend time both with old and new friends = brilliant week!

* Painkillers that worked a lot better than they usually do, helped my day an awful lot! :D

* A headful of lyric/melodic ideas! yay! Watch this space..........

* Understanding a little more how my Father see's me and that what the world thinks doesn't matter!

Today I Am Thankful For...

* A relaxed sunday day off - so often my sundays are so full of things I am involved with at church that they are not the most chilled of days off. Don't get me wrong I love all the things that I do on sundays but it was really nice to chill for most of today. I now feel much more ready for the 5 working days ahead of me.

* Hot oat baths with candles and body shop lovely yummy mango toiletries whist watching a movie on the Mac :)

* Rediscovering a love for Cheese and Marmalade sandwiches! I know this is weird but you've got to try it! It's at its best with homemade marmalade which I just received a jar of from my lovely mum - Thank You Mum!

* My blueberry muffin candle - mmmmmmm smells delicious.

* Experimental stirfrys - prawn, sweet red pepper, onion, broccoli, chilli flakes, garlic, soy sauce and noodles! Its was SCRUMMY!

* That there wasn't even a threat of rain so I could walk without having to carry an umbrella YAY!

* Re-discovering my favorite song of all time - Dare You To Move by Switchfoot


Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

Switchfoot Dare You To Move (c) (C) 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

* Making plans for a fun-filled week...
Monday night - dinner, wine, and movie (the usual!) with the absolutely lovely amazing Sarah Cooper - nights in with Scoop are the best :)
Tuesday night - night in sorting and organising my life (strangely looking forward to this!)
Wednesday evening - going to see Avatar 3d - I have heard GREAT things!!
Thursday evening - D Group, LOVE IT!
Friday evening - travelling back to Bournemouth for the weekend
Saturday - Greg and Eva's Wedding! I LOVE Weddings! Also really looking forward to seeing all my lovely Bournemouth friends - it's been a while!

* I get paid tomorrow (first time in 6 weeks!) so am paying for my OZ/NZ flights!!!!!!

* I am especially thankful for realising today that I like myself a little bit more than I used to and there is a vast improvement on how I felt about myself this time last year, It's all good! Thank You God!