Napa Adventure

It's Tuesday!  And I'm blogging on Tuesday!  I thought about waiting until back-up day because I have chores to catch up on but I decided to not be lazy.  It's not like I'm gonna be constantly cleaning all day.  Although sometimes when I start cleaning things, it turns into a frenzy.  That's because I run on inertia.  Man, if I just never stop moving, think of all I could accomplish.

Anyway, John and I went to Bottlerock on Sunday.  It was my first festival ever!  Although it did feel similar to being at the fair just with better music.  And no rides.  We got to see Mumford and Sons!  They put on a great show.  It was totally worth the hours of standing.  Then when it was over, everyone left at once.  We all walked down the street like some kind of traffic flash mob.  It looked insane.  Luckily we parked far enough away that we avoided all that nonsense.  We only hit one slow down on our way out.  It was a lot of fun but I don't know if I would do it again.  It was so crowded.  There would have to be a band I REALLY wanted to see and I don't know if that band exists.  Yet.

I kinda feel the same as when we went to Vegas.  Like, it was fun but I can't imagine ever wanting to go back.  I like visiting places with less people and more trees.  Or waves.  I haven't been to the ocean in a while. 

This was one of the only normal pictures cause John kept making faces

TV Rambles

I ended up skipping last week.  It wasn't completely intentional but I didn't try very hard.  I had planned to blog on back-up day because I was babysitting on Tuesday.  And then Thursday rolled around and I was just cranky and moody.  I think.  I just remember my reason was only semi-legit.  Bishops going to be out of school in a few weeks, maybe I'll use that to do a make up blog. 

Brandi and I went to a concert this weekend.  We saw the Strumbellas.  They were amazing!  It was a nice opportunity to cut loose after being traumatized by Game of Thrones last week.  I'm pretty sure that's the only show that has a real effect on my life in terms of needing recovery time.  Although I was pretty traumatized by The Ring in high school.  But that was a movie, so my point stands.  I'm way too sensitive to watch horror movies.  Sometimes I'm way too sensitive for normal people in everyday life.  It's kind of embarrassing.  I'm very thankful to be married to an extrovert.  This is the whole reason opposites attract.  All of our dumb qualities are balanced out by the others strengths. 

So we did the concert on Saturday.  Then Sunday we watched the last episode ever of Game of Thrones.  It was a lot less traumatizing.  It was okay.  Not entirely satisfying but it does make me want to get back into the books for the rest of the story.  I finished book one a while back.  Now I'm slowly making my way through Les Miserables.  It's 1,000 pages but I am determined to get through it.  I just finished the PBS mini-series.  It is not a musical but all the songs are stuck in my head now anyway.  The mini-series was really good.  Now I need something new to watch in the morning.  I have to find the sweet spot of shows that I like but that John doesn't care about watching.  Maybe I'll get into Downton Abbey. 

This is what happens when I don't plan ahead.  I end up rambling about TV shows. 

Healing Music

I totally forgot to post on Tuesday.  I wanted to go pick up my piggy bank that I painted and then Marshall and I ended up having lunch in the shopping center.  Then when I got home, my brain was preoccupied with what I was going to cook for dinner because I decided I was going to cook every Tuesday.  John is our family chef because he loves cooking but he needs a day off.  So instead of waiting for him to tell me when he needs a break, I decided to pick a night to cook because I'm not great at spur of the moment tasks.  I need time to prepare and know what I'm doing.  We had nachos.  They were tasty. 

Last week I talked about some very emotional stuff.  Today I want to share some of the music that helped me through some of that struggle.  Music is very healing and has a way of calming my soul like nothing else can. 

The first song is by the Avett Brothers called "No Hard Feelings".  It's all about wondering what might happen when we die.  The song is just a big question with no answers but is very calm and peaceful.  It reminds me that we all have these questions and we all wonder but it doesn't have to be upsetting.  It helps me to live calmly with the question.  Here is a video of the song from a movie about the Avett Brothers "May It Last". 

 

 The second song is called "Deep Water" by American Authors.  This song is more about personal struggle and it really speaks to how I process turbulence in my life.  The song talks about how "it comes and goes in waves.  It always rolls back but it's never quite the same".  Every struggle turns my life upside down in some way and when it's over, things return to normal but I'm changed.  Sometimes I feel worse and most of the time I feel better.  It's a reminder that the struggle is part of the happiness.  I know I wouldn't be happy without my struggle.  It has led me to the most interesting parts of my life.  Here's the audio for "Deep Water".  

 

So those are my songs and that's it for this week.  Hopefully I won't forget to post next week.  But if I do, I'll keep Thursday as my back up day.