Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to the greatest dad! I know most people think that their dad is the best, but my dad was truly amazing! I look back at everything he did for me, and I am incredibly grateful. I only wish I could tell him Thank You for those wonderful things to his face this Father’s Day.

Unfortunately, my dad passed away about 1 year and 3 months ago. This is the 2nd Father’s Day we’ve celebrated without my dad actually present. It definitely brings a different feel to this Hallmark holiday.



For us, it is now a time to remember our dad, and to be thankful of how wonderful he was.

Here are a few great memories of my dad I’d like to share:

When I was in elementary school, I can remember him taking me out of school in the middle of the day for a dentist appointment, or maybe it was an orthodontist appointment. After the appointment he would take me to lunch at McDonalds. At that age, getting McDonalds was a real treat!



I also remember a time when he went with me on a field trip to Chicago for my ACT class. I think I was in 4th or 5th grade at that time. He took the day off work, and we rode in a Greyhound bus to Chicago for the day. I think it was my first time ever going to Chicago. We went to Shedd Aquarium. We went to the Field Museum. We had lunch in the park. It was a day of just me and my dad. I can’t really remember the details of the day, but I still can’t believe he did that with me!



Other memories of my dad include him teaching me how to drive! I’m sure he enjoyed that… but not really… :-) To teach me about driving in the snow, he had me drive around in the high school parking lot before it had been plowed. The car I learned to drive in didn’t have anti-lock brakes. So he had me drive super fast (or what felt like super fast) across the lot and then slam on my brakes and try and turn the wheel. For anyone who’s driven in the snow, you all know that my car did not turn and continued to go in the direction I had been driving. He then had me repeat this little exercise and then pump my brakes and turn the wheel. This time, my car turned in the direction I wanted to go. I think that was a lesson I’ll never forget! :-)



Something I am so grateful for is that my dad was able to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I was very nervous and stressed out on my wedding day. I remember walking down the aisle, more like running down the aisle, and my dad said “I think we are supposed to walk slowly.” I said “Oh crap, that’s right!” We were already half way there, but we immediately changed our pace. I just find that so funny. That was my dad’s way of calming me down!



I have so many incredible memories of my dad, just too many to write about here. Even after a year, a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about him and miss him. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD!

Time Traveling Through Music

Distractions at work are inevitable! It could be hearing the people in the aisle next to you talking very loudly about what they did over the weekend. Or people arguing about some pointless issue that could be resolved quickly but they INSIST on dragging out. Or having tours go through because my cubicle is in a “working” showroom…

So, to avoid these distractions and attempt to get some work done, I put on my headphones and rock out!!! My method of streaming music has evolved since I began working. I began by listening to Launchcast Music through Yahoo.com. Launchcast was nice because I could rate different artists and songs and it would personalize my station if I was logged in.

But eventually Launchcast was discontinued and converted into CBS Radio. This was still through Yahoo.com. I did not like this as much because I could only choose pre-set stations, and I could personalize a station. This meant I did not get very much variety in what I listened to. I usually just chose the “Pop” or “Today’s Big Hits” stations.

As Chaz and I began to regularly attend church, I decided to try out some contemporary Christian music. So, I began streaming from the local stations WayFM (89.9) and JQ99 (99.3). This was a nice change and I realized that contemporary Christian music isn’t that bad! :-) It was uplifting and positive, and I could still rock out to it. Plus, I started learning the words to the songs they rock out to at church, so it was a nice change.

But I felt I needed more variety, so I began using Pandora.com. And I love it! I am able to personalize my station, and it is a lot easier that Launchcast ever was. I am able to just type in an artist and it is added to my station. And if I don’t like a song that is playing, I just give it a thumbs down, and it skips the song for me! And let me tell you, my station is VERY DIVERSE! I still have my contemporary Christian music like Casting Crowns and Newsboys, and then the next song could be Xzibit or Notorious B.I.G.

So anyways, let me get to my point. Now that I’m listening to Pandora and my diverse radio station, I am hearing songs that I haven’t heard in FOREVER! And I LOVE IT! Isn’t it crazy how you can hear just the first few beats of a song, and instantly be transported into some other time where that song had some meaning or was a part of some event? All the emotions of that time are stirred up and it just brings back SO MANY memories! It definitely makes work more interesting when I “time travel” to those different moments in my life.

For example, any time a Boys II Men song comes on, I am back in 6th or 7th grade! I was obsessed with them during that time. It makes me think of those Junior High dances and first crushes and boyfriends. I get the same feeling from Mariah Carey’s song, “Always Be My Baby.” The emotions that come up from those songs always bring a smile to my face. Oh, to be young again!

I am brought back to fun times in high school with Jen Miller any time I hear an Nsync song, of course! We love our teeny-bopper music together! I also time travel back to high school when I hear DMX’s “Up in Here” or Jagged Edge’s “Let’s Get Married.” And then there are just way too many songs to name that being me back to the college years! But I’ll try to name a few anyways: “In Da Club” by 50 Cent, “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash and Frankie J, “Dance with the Devil” by Immortal Technique, and “Ignition” by R. Kelly.

I seriously love how music is such a memory trigger! And for me, those emotions that get stirred up can be so strong! Am I the only one that feels this way???

And this leads me into shamelessly plugging my new little Etsy shop that I started – www.AccessoryLove.etsy.com ! :-) I’m not sure how many people read my blog, since I’m new to it and I haven’t been regularly blogging, but I thought I’d give my readers (if there are any other there :-P) an opportunity to get ONE of my fun jewelry designs at 50% off!!! All you need to do is comment here with the name of a song and when/where it makes you “time travel” to. Then visit my shop and pick out an item that you want! Add it to your cart, fill in the information, and in the “Notes to Seller” section, put BLOG READER. Then hit the “Commit to buy” button. I will send you an invoice with the 50% off sale price. And remember, all my items have FREE SHIPPING within the United States! :-)

I look forward to reading about your songs and “time travels!” :-)