Since growing up on a farm, we have all also grown up listening to country music, and most of us still love to listen to it, and because of that, I for one love movies that feature either country music or a country background. Since I saw the previews for the movie Country Strong I have been absolutely dying to see it! I love Glee, and seeing the episode with Gwyneth Paltrow I knew she would rock in this movie. Same goes for Leighton Meester. At one time Good Girls Go Bad was my favourite song, and after hearing that she was also in the movie I obviously looked up all of her songs/videos on youtube! Summer Girls is a favourite of mine by Jessica Andrews, and Leighton Meester sings it in Country Strong.
Not that I want to ruin the movie for anyone (or myself for that matter), but our cousin Lara posted this video on her Twitter and it is amazing also!
Enjoy!
We are Country Strong
Because it's still Saturday in Calgary
Leah here, again. I hope you all aren’t getting sick of me this week, but it was Erica’s turn for NaBloPoMo and she has been kind of MIA today.
This is also going to be a bit of a crapulous post because it’s 11:00pm and I’m laying in bed reading a book while Tim is watching chick flicks and KKK movies. Odd combo, I know.
I hope that you are all having a great weekend. I spent the day with a song I sang at karaoke last week in my head – Two Princes by Spin Doctors. You know, “one, two princes lay before you / that’s what I said now / princes, princes who adore you.” it happens to be a fabulous karake song and I would recommend it if you are looking for one.
Which leads me to ask, what is your go-to karaoke song?
My Song
Someone recently asked me, “What is the one song out there that describes exactly who you are?”
I was with a couple of other people and the three of them instantly could pick out that one song that describes exactly who they are as people.
I was stumped. At first I though maybe Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” But I realized that is just a song that makes me incredibly happy and put me in a dancing mood, no matter where I am or who is watching.
But I kept thinking about it, and later in the night, when I was laying in bed (I do my best thinking right before I fall asleep at night), It came to me.
This, my friends, is The Song That Best Describes Who I Am As A Person.
Enjoy!
How I relate to the song:
-the upbeat, catchy rhythm that makes me want to, at the very least, sway my shoulders a bit speaks to my overall personality and attitude towards life.
-the thought behind the song that you should “give a little bit of your life” and love to and from other people resembes my general outlook on humanity, that we should share what we have, and take care of the people around us (also why I am a social worker and probably too nice to people a lot of the time).
-the lyrics “see the man with the lonely eyes, take his hand, you’ll be surprised” bring up one of the biggest lessons I have learned throughout my entire life – never assume you know what is going on behind closed doors.
-it brings me back to one of my fondest memories – driving in the car one summer on my way home from work at our family’s golf course, it was one of the best summers of my life and it was a perfect day and I was driving with Micaela home from work, and that song came on the radio and I just rocked out to it while driving through the country with the sun shining on my face.
Now I am posing this question back to you: What is the song that describes who you are as a person?
You are my sunshine.
I loved Kent’s choice for our first dance song. It was special to him because it was a song he often played for me on his guitar, and also a duet by his two idols, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, and it was special to me for reasons he didn’t even remember.
The first time I went into his little cabin room at the woodland resort that we worked at the summer we first started dating, Kent was playing guitar and had his harmonica strapped over his face with some metal device. I thought it looked like the nerdiest thing and was impressed that he didn’t even seem embarassed by wearing it in front of a girl that he liked. I soon came to realize that the harmonica strap was to him as much a part of his face as his nose was. He was constantly playing his guitar that summer (still is), and one of the songs I remember him playing all the time was “You are my Sunshine.”
It made me smile that for the first couple months, before he ever said “I love you,” to me, he would skip the part of the song that goes “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.” I loved that. To me, it made me feel like he was definitely singing it to me and not just for the sake of singing it. I never brought it up and to this day I exercise the same caution when Kent writes new songs and plays them to me. I just tell him that I love them (which is the truth) instead of asking a million questions about where in his head they are coming from. Because I know that if I was writing songs (or blog posts, or anything) that’s what I would want. And he and I are pretty similar (in our marriage preparation class the priest was shocked that we had the same results in all four personality quadrants. But that’s another story.)
In fact I’m totally veering from the original point of my blog, which is this. Lauren posted a wooden sign with the lyrics to our song on her tumblr recently, and I don’t know if she realized the significance of the song, but I loved it, although a little less when I saw the price: £230.00.
(and a search on the awesome site where it came from, Rockett St George, brought me to this chair, which I think is more than a little bit awesome:)
Today, on our one month “anniversary” of our marriage, I thought of the sign again and about how nice it would be to have it hanging in our home. I wondered if I could find a more affordable version on the one website that never lets me down. So, I searched Etsy. Turns out, we could cover our whole house, ourselves, and our future children in “You are my Sunshine” paraphenalia if we wanted to! (Which, we don’t, I might add.)
Anyways, these are some of my favourites:
Best of all? I could have had this themed garter!
So, which one is your favourite? Should I hold off for the wooden sign or settle for one of the others?
Daily Addiction
I always think to myself, it’s a damn good thing that Mom gave me (all of us) $500 on our 18th birthday as an incentive for not smoking, because I have a seriously addictive personality, and I know that if I started smoking, I wouldn’t be able to stop (also, smoking is gross). There are some amazing things in this world that I get so easily addicted to. These things range from cereal, to televsion shows, to games, to a pair of jeans, to Pepsi, to writing checks and online banking and so on. Okay, I realize some of these things aren’t actually addictions (slash all of them) but whatever! I am not talking about addictions in the true definition of the word, but addictions as defined in my reality.
My addiction for today (and my amazingly lovely and wonderful Twitter friends may already know this) is this video. Watch and enjoy, my friends.
I e-mailed it to a team member today, and all he had to say is “Leah, where would we be in this world without music.” I have watched it no less than eight times today, and each time my heart bursts a little bit more.
Sh-Zune sh-Zune Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da sh-Zune!
First things first: Hello Boston Metro readers! Welcome to Five Blondes.com. Lauren will take your coats, Leah has the drinks going at the bar, Kate is our official photographer, Micaela is chillin’ in the lounge, and me? Well, I’ve got the music going. Stay a while!
I got a new toy last week and whenever I say the name, I think of the song Sh-Boom by the Crew Cuts. It just words so perfectly! Yup, I got a Zune. This was not based on any recommendations from any big time bloggers living on a ranch in Oklahoma, no-sir-ee, this is what I wanted.
I know I’m probably going to get some flack from the ‘iPod lovers’ out there, but that’s OK. I have an iPod. I’ve tried it. Granted, I have an older generation (a mini), but it just never agreed with me quite like the Zune does. The clickwheel on the iPod was really touchy and I could never get it to work right. I guess I’m clickwheel deficient. Also, iTunes won’t install properly on my computer – what’s with that?
Anyway, yeah, my Zune. I had my favorite podcasts and (legally attained) MP3s on it within moments as well as a cute background! I’m a little old-skool in that I love listening to the radio – that’s one of my favorite parts of the Zune, the FM radio tuner! I have the dial permanently stuck on BX93 (Country music! *ducks to avoid tomatoes being thrown*) and it’s perfect for my bike to work.
There are many iPods owned by my family and friends, so I want to ask you guys: Would you ever consider a Zune?
Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol is holding their auditions once again. In addition to the traditional in-person auditions they are trying something a bit different this year: “Last chance auditions” – online auditions! You record your video, and send it to them and they put them on the website so everyone can watch them! I’m not sure if they put all of them up, and I actually doubt that they do because there were probably so many sent in. We actually know someone who is on the site- she sang Oh Canada for her song. They had to sing specific songs, but I’m not sure how many there were to choose from because I don’t see the rules posted anymore (the contest is closed). As an alternative I think you could have written your own song, which is what my two favourites did! Here is a bit more information that I found.
I actually tried out for Canadian Idol years and years ago. In grade 12, my best friend and I took the bus to Toronto and waited in line forever and sang, and didn’t make it. It was fun thought. I think our problem was that we definitely didn’t sing the right song. I didn’t pick my song until I was in line, and kept thinking of songs, and then realized that I didn’t think I knew all the words. Looks like I won’t be found in the limelight any time soon!
Anyways! Here are some videos that I liked. You need to click through to the next page because they kinda mess up our formatting.
You're Gonna Miss This
My recent favorite song is by Trace Adkins, called “You’re Gonna Miss This.” I didn’t really pay attention to the words the first few times I heard the song and then one day I really listened, and the song really hit me. It’s about life and how you wish for the future and then you will look back and miss what you were doing. I think everyone in life can relate to this at one time or another!
Here are the lyrics:
She was starin’ out the window of that SUV
Complainin’ sayin’ I can’t wait to turn 18
She said I’ll make my own money and I’ll make my own roots
Mama put the car in park out there in front of the school
and she kissed her head and said I was just like youYou’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss thisBefore she knows it she’s a brand new bride
In her one bedroom apartment and her daddy stops by
He tells her it’s a nice place, she says it’ll do for now
Starts talkin’ about babies and buyin’ a house
Daddy shakes his face and says Baby just slow downCuz you’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times so take a good look around
You may not know it now but you’re gonna miss thisFive years later there’s a plummer workin’ on the water heater,
Dogs barkin’ phones ringin’ one kid’s cryin’ one kid’s screamin’,
And she keeps apologizing, he says they don’t bother me I got 2 babies of my own one’s 36 one’s 23 it’s hard to believeBut you’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times so take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna miss thisYeah, you’re gonna miss this
And here is a video of the song that someone made on YouTube. Anyone who watches One Tree Hill will especially LOVE this video because it’s about Hailey’s life! Give the song a listen!
EDIT- I had to take it out because it messed with our format.. somehow.. Please listen by going HERE, and then comment on what you think of the song. Because I need to know!
Wedding Songs
I’m having trouble choosing music for the reception. There are just so many songs out there and I want the perfect one. Scott and I don’t really have a song, I really wish we did because it’s killing me trying to choose a song for our first dance. I don’t want it to be too long, because we are not dancers so it will just be us turning in circles on the dance floor which is boring for everyone else to watch. I’m considering having the bridal party come in halfway through the song so it takes some attention off Scott and myself.
Here are the songs I have come up with. I found a really good website which lets you preview the songs, which I find really helpful. You can picture yourself dancing to it and decide if it will work or not.
First Dance: “We Are Man and Wife” Michelle Featherstone (You can here it here on her myspace.)
Bridal Party Dance: They will come inhalfway through our first dance song because it is a bit long, and because I gave up finding a song for them to dance to.
Father/Daughter: “You’ve Got A Friend” James Taylor
Mother/Son: “What a Wonderful World” Louis Armstrong
Cake Cutting: “Everlasting Love” Natalie Cole
Garter Toss: “Another One Bites The Dust” Queen
Bouquet Toss: “Single White Female” Chelsy Wright
The wedding is in 4 days and 23 hours.. not that I’m counting down..
1 more day of work this week and I’m free, to do all the last minute planning I need to do.
Stag and Doe happenings
So Scott and my stag and doe was on Saturday night, held in the family drive shed. We got ready all week, cleaning it out, stringing up lights, cementing the rest of the floor, and the boys made a stage (which looked amazing!). And after all that preparation I’d say the evening was worth it! It felt like Saturday dragged by waiting for the moment when people would start rolling into the driveway. And finally people started showing up! The band we hired, “Moovin’ Groovin’ and Verhoeven” started playing at around 9pm and everyone loved them. I had people coming up to me all night, saying that they loved the band. They played for a bunch of sets and in between we had used an Ipod to DJ the event. Not too many people danced at the beginning of the night, and I was a bit sad because I loved the band, but I think it was just because people were too busy catching up with one another. By the end of the night lots of people were dancing. My mom and sister decided that they wanted to dance on the bar (made out of straw bales and plywood), and many followed, such as Scott’s mom, sisters, bridesmaids, myself and Scott’s 12 year old cousin. Good times for sure.
Games we had were Nail Drive (the least amount of hits to get the nail in wins!), balloon darts (similar to the fair game, throw darts at the balloons and there are prizes behind), 50/50 tickets, and musical chairs! We had 2 games of musical chairs, the first game was played by the bridal party +mic and -Scott (because her refused to play. let alone be in the room when it was on), and the second game anyone else who wanted to play could.
We are thinking that a bit over 200 people showed up to party and we are so much more excited for the wedding now. Scott’s mom send me an email the next day that read ‘I’ve learned that our families party well together. This should make for a fantastic wedding party.’
Scott and I learned a few things from this party. That yes our family and friends do party together. And at the wedding we need to spend more time together. I think I saw Scott maybe five times throughout the evening, when the party got hopping. Also I need to make sure to talk to everyone at the wedding because there are so many people who were at the stag and doe that I did not get to talk to.
Ok enough talk! Here are a few of the tamer pictures from the event..
Mic and Leah posing on all the beer before the party!
Our banner made by our married friends Laura and Matt!
The boys behind the bar.
Me with friends wearing my hat, complete with a veil attached to the back.
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