A Little 90's Flashback

Audio Adrenaline has always been a favorite band of mine, pretty much since I was old enough to pick out my own music :)  They're right up there with Jennifer Knapp for being the music carrying me through the rough spots in life.  

This is "Underdog" one of my favorite songs and a fantastic mood booster......and this vid is ADORABLE......the little underdog is running around with a jock strap on his head LOL  :)  Enjoy!  Lyrics below

I am so weak and I'm so tired

It's hard for me to

Find enough strength to feed the fires

That fuel my ego

And consequently all my pride has all but died

Which leaves me

Down on my knees

Back to the place I

Should have started from

Been beat up

Been broken down

Nowhere but up

When you're facedown

On the ground

I'm in last place

If I place at all

But there's hope for this underdog!

That's the way, uh-huh, we like it!

That's the way, uh-huh, we like it!

You can call me the underdog

I'm in this race to win a prize

The odds against me

The world has plans for my demise

What they don't see

Is that a winner is not judged by his small size

But by the substitute he picks to run the race

And mine's already won

Keep Your Heart Young

Tuesday was the release date for the newest Brandi Carlile album Bear Creek!  I just started listening to it today though as my schedule was a little preoccupied.  Well, that and when I first listen to an album I usually listen on repeat 4-5 times so I can digest it and my dad has been here since Tuesday and I'm pretty sure listening to the same album on repeat is not really his cup of tea :)   So far, I'm only on listen No. 2, but shockingly (can you hear the drip-drop of the sarcasm?) I'm in love so far!  This is one of the songs that initially made me smile because of it's simplicity, yet it is only simplistic on it's surface.  It raises issues of childhood and maintaining innocence and a tender mind/heart throughout one's life instead of allowing our souls, hearts, and minds to become calloused and unfeeling as the world would rather we did. 

"Keep Your Heart Young"

My grandpa gave me a wheat penny and I kept it in my pocket

Had big plans in my backyard to build me a space rocket

Talked to my brother on a fake CB that I made from a tic-tac box

Packed my snowballs nice and tight and in the middle I put rocks

Don't trade in your tic-tac box for a ball on the end of the chain

And don't go spending grandpa's pennies buying into the game

You gotta keep your heart young

Don't go growin' old before your time has come

You can't take back what you have done

You gotta keep your heart young

Dad took the wheels off of my bike and he pushed me down a hill

But speed got the best of me and I took my first spill

That was back when alcohol was only used on cuts

Stung like hell so I shook my leg and mama said it would give me guts

Don't trade in your tic-tac box for a ball on the end of the chain

And don't go spending grandpa's pennies buying into the game

You gotta keep your heart young

Don't go growing old before your time has come

You can't take back what you have done

You gotta keep your heart young

So take a picture of the one you love and put it in a locket

Go dig up your time capsule and the blueprints for your rocket

Keep in touch on a fake CB and that same old tic-tac box

Pack your snowballs a little less tight and in the middle still put rocks

And keep your heart young

Don't go growing old before your time has come

You can't take back what you have done

You gotta keep your heart young

You gotta keep your heart young

Sometimes you don't die quick

Just like you wished you'd done

The love is a loaded gun

You've gotta keep your heart young

You can't take back what you have done

You gotta keep your heart young

Sometimes there are just songs that scream SUMMER!

Just one more?

This has been running through my head for weeks now.  All day, everyday.  "Bless the Lord O my soul, O my soul, Sing like never before, O my soul,  I worship Your holy name."  I push myself to do this, but find myself always looking for "one more reason" first.  I need to remind myself I already have 10,000 reasons.....I shouldn't need more. 

C is for Cookie

O!  I forgot to add this to my last post!  I apologize in advance for the poor video quality....it was taken with my cell phone.....but this is my little cousin James singing "C is for Cookie" (the cookie monster song from back when Cookie Monster actually ate cookies instead of veggies) while we ate breakfast. I can't even listen to this without DYING laughing....I was having a really hard time keeping a straight face through this....he'd only been singing for about 10 minutes before I started to record it :)

Savior, Please

Honestly, tired was an understatement in the previous post.  I'm exhausted.  There is little of me left.  This song just popped up in my Pandora and seems so fitting :)

Lyrics are as follows:

Savior, Please - Josh Wilson
Savior, please take my hand
I work so hard, I live so fast
This life begins, and then it ends
And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long I'll last

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Savior, please help me stand
I fall so hard, I fade so fast
Will You begin right where I end
And be the God of all I am because You're all I have

Hallelujah
Everything You are to me
Is everything I'll ever need
And I am learning to believe
That I don't have to prove a thing
'Cause You're the one who's saving me

Always

So ever since I stumbled upon this song a couple weeks ago it has been running through my mind almost continuously. Such a powerful reminder of who God is and that he truly is for ALWAYS.

Always - Building 429
I was standing in the pouring rain one dark November night
Fighting off the bitter cold when she caught my eye
Her face was taught and her eyes were filled, and to my surprise
She pulled out a photograph and my heart just stopped inside
She said, “He would’ve been three today I miss his smile, I miss his face”
What was I supposed to say,

but I believe always, always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone God knows our pain
and his promise remains
He will be with you always

He was living in a broken world, dreaming of a home
His heart was barely keeping pace when I found him all alone
Remembering the way he felt when his daddy said goodbye
Fighting just to keep the tears and the anger locked inside
He’s barely holding onto faith
But deliverance is on its way, cause I believe always, always Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone God knows our pain
and his promise remains
I believe always, always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone God knows our pain
and his promise remains
He will be with you always

Friend, I don’t know where you are
and I don’t know where you’ve been
Maybe you’re fighting for your life or just about to throw the towel in
But if you’re crying out for mercy, if there’s no hope left at all
If you’ve given everything you’ve got and you’re still about to fall
Well hold on, hold on, hold on
Cause I believe always, always Our Savior never fails
Even when all faith is gone
God knows our pain
and his promise remains
Always, always,
He will be with you always

A Delicate Balance of Abnormality

So I'm still a bad blogger. Nothing new there. At least I can accept that....isn't that the first step in fixing a problem? Acknowledging that I actually have one?

Anyways, in an attempt to better my blogging abilities, here is my life. In all its abnormality.

I am loving my Nursing classes and I like all my classes in general and realize this is what i do want to do. God blessed me with a great hall-mate who is kind of my roommate but not really. (we live on a 5 room wing. all the rooms are doubles, but we both have "singles" --double rooms with only one occupant--and the other 3 rooms are empty. so we basically have our own space but we see each other all the time) anyways, it is really neat because we've been able to kind of church hunt together and have regular life conversations, etc. i started my clinical stuff last week. I'm doing mine at the maine veterans home in Presque Isle.....and that is basically all i can tell you because of patient confidentiality :) Grade-wise/stress-wise this year is going very well and is a welcome relief from Grove City in that regard.

However, I miss my Grover friends miserably and that part has been extremely difficult. I know this is where I'm supposed to be and the whole friend thing has been a major growing point. The social scene is extremely lacking up here and I haven't met many new people...very few.

I am enjoying being in "the County" though, it is so beautiful and the people are so nice. :) I have found a church that I like up here, too!

This weekend I went home and got to spend time with my family....we had some adventures :) I got to be the camerawoman for Hillary and Jacob's latest production (an English project) and was dying laughing the whole time....they are so numb!!! lol They left for Fryeburg Fair this afternoon....so sad I didn't get to go! :( Oh, haha, on Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of the washmachine (it is right next to my bedroom) and Dragonforce's Through the Fire and the Flames blasting on about 50 just outside my bedroom door....when I opened my door and came out Hillary was like, "wow, are you seriously just waking up?" I said, "ummmm, yeah?" Hillary: "whoa, how did you sleep through that? we've been up for like an hour or so!" Apparently I am a very heavy sleeper......either that or Dragonforce is a lullaby :).

So now I am back up north. Work in the morning. Good night! e.

PS I have come to the conclusion that I cannot imagine life without music. I am so thankful that God gave us that! My life could be a musical....every morning I wake up with a song in my head... even before I open my eyes. I don't think that is normal. Friday it was Audio Adrenaline's "Original Species", yesterday it was Brandi Carlile's "The Story" and today it was Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again"....hm, maybe that was an omen....that I was going back to school.....hrm.