Music

I am a genuine music lover. I love a huge variety from all decades. I feel very connected to music and always have. Certain songs or voices reach straight into my soul. Others evoke emotion or thought. I love all things that come with music...listening, singing, dancing, etc. I have thought about the concerts I have seen and realized I have never written down all the artists I have seen live. So here it is (or as close as I can get):

My very first concert was in 7th grade- New Kids on the Block. I was beside myself. I think I even cried. More:

Janet Jackson

Boys 2 Men with Babyface and ???

Barenaked Ladies (5 times maybe?)

Alanis Morisette

Glen Phillips (from Toad the Wet Sprocket)

Train

Madonna (twice)- holy cow she puts on an amazing show

Weird Al...yes...Weird Al. This was all Josh's idea

Tina Turner

Joe Cocker

U2

Gwen Stefani

N Sync

George Winston (pianist)

Amy Grant

Jimmy Buffet

I wonder who I am forgetting...anyway...

And then, last night, I saw Celine Dion. Now I have been teased since high school about liking her, but I have to say her voice is one that gives me chills. Her songs put lumps in my throat. I really have never heard a voice so pure and strong and beautiful. My mom and I went to the concert last night and were blown away. She owned the stage and was so personable and real to the audience. To some she is annoying with the chest pounding and the goofiness. To me she is goofy and powerful and strong and her music has always touched me differently than any other artist. She is not to be confused with how I feel about Michael Jackson (my favorite artist of all time) but her voice is angelic and last night was awesome. Thanks for the birthday gift mom! Seeing her live was very special.

I've Turned a Corner

I truly am an adult. The other night I was at the gym and I walked into the bathroom to find 2 teenage girls smoking pot. IN THE GYM BATHROOM! 10 even 5 years ago I would have laughed to myself at the stupid act and went on my way. All I could think was if that was my daughter I would want to know. Here I would think she is off to the gym with her friend (a membership I probably would be paying for) and she's going to smoke pot! Then my teacher side came in and I thought, if they get in trouble now then maybe it will prevent them from making worse decisions than the current one. I thought of approaching them myself and giving them a talking to, but decided against it only because it would not have the same impact as if they were approached by the staff. Needless to say, I told the front desk, they called their parents and canceled their memberships. This may be naive, bit hopefully they learned their lesson?

Week Off

Here we are with cousin Aaliyah!
She's 4!
New scooter. Camryn came over to play a bit on her birthday.
Ready for a walk.

I am loving the week off and just being with the kids.  

Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful day today seeing Aaliyah and coming back to make a lobster tail dinner. It was great. We were at Costco today and saw 2 lobster tails for $19. We knew we wanted to make a semi-nice dinner to not totally ignore the day. They ended up being delicious!

Valentine's Day has turned into a significant day for me. Not just because it's a whole day focused on letting people know you love them, but because 4 years ago on Valentine's Day I went to bed only to be woken up at 3:30am from my water breaking. Tomorrow I will relive the day as I have for the past 3 years. Haley was born on the 16th, but my labor started on the 15th at that early hour.

4 years ago on Valentine's Day I remember we went to go see "Hitch" and get some dinner. We saw the movie, but I was too uncomfortable (for obvious reasons) to make it to dinner so we came home. 

I wonder at what point you don't relive the day in your head?

You Know You Have Good Sleepers When...

We have been blessed with good sleepers. Haley started sleeping through at 7 weeks and Ryan at 9. One was bottle fed, the other breastfed. No matter how you look at it, we lucked out. We have also noticed how lucky we are that Ryan does not wake up at night from Haley. He goes to bed at 6:30 and she goes to bed at 8 and I would not say that we tiptoe or whisper. But last night REALLY showed what good sleepers they are. Our house alarm went off at 1:50am. This alarm is LOUD and shot both Josh and me right out of bed. It was going off for a bit while we cautiously made our way down the stairs (turns out our french doors in our bedroom weren't closed all the way and the wind opened one a bit). I couldn't believe that a siren that could wake the city left our two snoozing the night away.

Pandora

My friend Lindsey at work introduced me to pandora.com. I LOVE it! Right now I am listening to a 90s mix and realize that this is my favorite mix. It's the music I grew up with. Bel Biv Devoe, "This is How We Do It," Bobby Brown, I could go on and on. Makes me smile. Especially when a song is played that I simply forgot about.

She Was CHUBBY

I was organizing photos this weekend and found his one and COULD NOT stop laughing. Haley was 4 months old in this picture.

She's Here!

I am a very proud auntie. Aaliyah Roseann Rasul came into the world yesterday. Cita went into labor at 5:30 in the morning, was at the hospital at 7:15 and delivered Aaliyah at 9:41. I cannot believe it was all so fast. It's hard being a teacher and not being able to just leave your job. My wonderful colleagues helped me out and I left at lunch time to meet my new niece in Santa Cruz. She is damn cute...8 lbs 6 oz, 20 and 3/4 inches. Jake and Cita asked me to be her Godmother and I could not be more honored. I am so excited for the kids to meet their new cousin.

Welcome Aaliyah!

Sparkles

The other day Haley said, "Mommy, I have sparkles coming out of my feet that you can't see. They don't hurt."
Her foot was asleep.