Soundtrack Saturday

It's been a while, but here are the next songs.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat

But always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small

When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Living might mean taking chances

But they're worth taking

Lovin' might be a mistake

But it's worth making

Don't let some hell bent heart

Leave you bitter

When you come close to selling out

Reconsider

Give the heavens above

More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack. I love this song simply because it's about dancing. I LOVE to dance. But, obviously more important than that, is it's message. It's about always being in awe of God's creation, no matter how "important" you've become, and to LIVE life, despite the risks. Take a chance. I actually have a very literal example from my life. The summer after I graduated from college, my roommate came home to Minnesota with me before we started our trip to Europe. One of our teammates was getting married. I went to the wedding (gasp!) stag. My roommate's fiance was at training and she was in the wedding, so we were both single. No big deal right? We were having a great time with lots of friends. Until, of course, the "slow songs" played. During one such song, I was sitting by myself at my table (everyone else was coupled up and dancing). A guy came over and asked me to dance. I knew who he was, his girlfriend was a classmate. A nice guy as far as I knew, but the whole thing made me uncomfortable. Not in a "I'm a strong woman, I don't need a man" kind of way, but in a shy, embarrassed, "Please don't feel sorry for me and feel obliged to do this" kind of way. I think I actually said no multiple times, but somehow was dragged on the floor. This is exactly what I DON'T want my girls to do. So what if he felt bad for me? He was being a nice guy. But more importantly, why not dance when some one asks? Life is to be lived and enjoyed! And I hope my girls always take the chance and DANCE!

The second song is "Amazing Grace" by LeAnn rimes. I originally had chosen a version by Charlotte Church, but due to technical difficulties, I went with this version. I love that it's a capella and the song itself, of course, is beautiful. But it's also a "family" song. My dad loves it and when we were little, we'd always get excited if they sang it at Mass. So in addition to sharing the wonderful lyrics, we're sharing a little bit of family history by passing this song on.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

Was blind, but now I see.

'twas grace that taught my heart to feel

And grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

When we've been dead ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Then when we first begun.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

Was blind, but now I see.

*Soundtrack Saturday is a (somewhat) recurring series where I share songs that are the soundtrack to my life. Currently, I am sharing songs off a cd I made for my girls.

"Please Don't Stop the Music"

I know it's not Saturday, but I wanted to talk about music anyways.

I was driving my car a month or so ago, and my passenger saw a cd in the console, I think it was this one about the Mass, and he asked me about it. Then he asked me if I listened to Christian music, too. The discussion went on to cover the "quality" of music. I think he had convinced himself that all Christian music was boring and/or "cheesy." And truth be told, I used to feel the same way sort of. I mean really, there isn't a lot of Christian music on the Top 100 list, now is there? Slowly over time, however, mostly through friends' recommendations, the internet, and every once in a while the mainstream (especially country music), I'm starting to find more songs and artists that I enjoy.

I used to think that it didn't really matter if I listened to specifically Christian music. It didn't mean I was a bad Catholic. I still went to Mass and prayed. But just as I am trying to read more books that strengthen my faith, I've been listening to more music that I hope will do the same. And then the other day, it hit me. I was walking from my car into a store with my daughters and a song started running through my head. "Our God is an awsome God" kept repeating over and over. As I realized this, I smiled. Now my thoughts were on God, even when I hadn't purposely put them there! How AWESOME is that?!?!?!

In case you are wondering, some of my current favorites are...

..."I Saw God Today" by George Strait. How wonderful to be able to look at the little things in life and see God in them.

..."Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. This is probably not a shocker, as it has been pretty popular recently, but it definitely reminds me of Who should be in charge.

..."There's a Life Inside You" by Matthew West. A great pro-life song.

..."Shout to the Lord" from the American Idol Gives Back show. I didn't see the actual show, but I found the song on Itunes. I was excited that this song was given this kind of an outlet and I wanted to show my support. But I also enjoy it and the song reminds me to give it my all when I worship God, to not just whisper (although that's okay too, sometimes) but to SHOUT out my praise.


Of course, if you have any recommendations, I'd love to have them.

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Soundtrack Saturday

"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts is a great song. I don't know if the song was intended to be used this way, from parents to their children, but I thought the lyrics were so wonderful. Some of my favorites are:

I hope you never look back but you never forget

All the ones who love you and the place you left

I hope you always forgive and you never regret

And you help somebody every chance you get

Oh, you find God's grace in every mistake

And you always give more then you take.

But more than anything, Yeah, and more than anything,

My wish for you

Is that this life becomes all that you want it to

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to

I hope you know somebody loves you

And wants the same things too

Yeah, this, is my wish.

And if thinking about my girls when this song comes on wasn't enough to make me smile, my mom and brother danced to this as his wedding. A great memory!

*Soundtrack Saturday is a (somewhat) recurring series where I share songs that are the soundtrack to my life. Currently, I am sharing songs off a cd I made for my girls.

Soundtrack Saturday

A few weeks ago, I posted about Martina McBride's song "Blessed." Well, as I feared, it was out of order, but this week's song really is one of hers. (I told you I loved her. I always find so much meaning in her songs.) This week's is "In My Daughter's Eyes." The first two lines "In my daughter's eyes I am a hero I am strong and wise and I know no fear" reflect my hopes of being a good mom. But the rest of the song talks about how it's actually the daughter who has the wisdom and saves the mom.

But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see

how happy she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

Soundtrack Saturday

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

What can I say about this song, except that I hope and pray that my daughters will grow up knowing how blessed they are to live in this country and that they never take her beauty, grandeur, or blessings for granted.

Soundtrack Saturday

So it is still technically Saturday, especially since I'm in another time zone right now. My girls and I traveled home with my parents. I'm doing a little house hunting and hopefully, a little relaxing, before I go back (without the girls) to hit the house hard. And then my parents will bring the girls back a week later in time for Alexis' birthday. We (I should say my dad, with a little help from the rest of us) got a lot accomplished when we were all in Boston. I'll post pictures, but that will have to wait until I get home. Same with pictures of the girls from Easter. I must say, in my most unbiased, objective opinion, that the girls were pretty darn adorable! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that the joy of the season is overflowing in your hearts and homes.

As for today's song, my iPod has died and I don't have the list of songs on the cd with me to know which one is next, so I'm just going to pick one I know I haven't shared yet, "Blessed" by Martina McBride. I love her! This song just reminds me of the gifts I have in life and that I don't need to look any further than the members of my family to know how blessed I truly am.

I have been blessed

And I feel like I’ve found my way

I thank God for all I’ve been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones

That love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

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Soundtrack Saturday

I thought I would speed things up a little and share the next 2 songs off the girls' cd. Besides, I may not get to post next week.

The next song is "Daughters" by John Mayer. It's not the song with the most meaning on the cd, but it's more of a cultural song as it was fairly popular when I first thought of making a cd like this. It reminds us of the circle of life and how important our example as parents is.

"Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too"

The second song today is "Let There Be Peace on Earth." I chose this version because 1) I had it already and 2) I thought it was appropriate because Vince Gill sings with his daughter. The first time this song really moved me was at my grandfather's funeral. It's been a favorite ever since. I pray that my husband and I can teach the message to our daughters through the example of how we live our life.

"Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on Earth,
the peace that was meant to be.


With God as our Father,
brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother,
in perfect harmony.


Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
let this be my solemn vow,


To take each moment and live each moment
in peace, eternally.
Let there be Peace on Earth,
and let it begin with me."

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Soundtrack Saturday

Song #3 on my girls' playlist is "When You Wish Upon a Star." There really isn't much of a backstory here. Both my husband's family and mine have had Disney play a major part in our lives, for various reasons, and I thought it would be nice to include that in the list. I hope that my girls grow up knowing that they can dream as big as they want.

"If your heart is in your dream

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do"

Uncle Sam has spoken...

...and it's off to God's country for us!!! Yes, that's right...DENVER, COLORADO!!! Purple mountains majesty, the Broncos, my parents...the sun is shining a little brighter in our house these days (even at 10:30 at night). We are VERY excited, to say the least. And since I couldn't get a proper version of "Miracle" to play in the sidebar, we have an extra special edition of Soundtrack Saturday! (Never mind...I found a new way to play music over at A Wink and A Smile! so now you can hear both!)





Oh, and since we are taking the lucky charms with us, maybe the Rockies will win the World Series this year!


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Soundtrack Saturday

You're my life's one Miracle,
Everything I've done that's good
And you break my heart with tenderness,
And I confess it's true
I never knew a love like this till you....

You're the reason I was born
Now I finally know for sure
And I'm overwhelmed with happiness
So blessed to hold you close
The one that I love most
With all the future has so much for you in store
Who could ever love you more?

The nearest thing to heaven,
You're my angel from above
Only God creates such perfect looooove

When you smile at me, I cry
And to save your life I'll die
With a romance that is pure heart,
You are my dearest part
Whatever it requires,
I live for your desires
Forget my own, needs will come before
Who could ever love you more?

Well there is nothing you could ever do,
To make me stop, loving you
And every breath I take,
Is always for your sake
You sleep inside my dreams and know for sure
Who could ever love you more?

When I was still in my first trimester with Isabel, my mother-in-law sent me Celine Dion's cd called Miracle, the same title as this song. If you haven't heard it, it's a cd of lullabyes. It's beautiful. I used to sit in the new gliding chair we bought for the nursery and hold my belly and listen to it, wondering about the new life inside me. This was definitely the song that touched me the most. Our children certainly are MIRACLES from God.

Soundtrack Saturday

"Music is what feelings sound like." -Unknown

Last summer, we had what is affectionately (or maybe not) remembered as "party weekend." In order to make it easy for all of our out-of-town family, which is everyone, we celebrated Isabel's birthday on Saturday and baptized Alexis on Sunday. (We also celebrated my aunt/godmother's birthday Friday evening and another birthday on Sunday evening.) Inspired by the occasion, I put together a cd of songs that made me think of my girls. (I had actually started a similar cd for Isabel's baptism, but had technical difficulties.) These songs (my husband picked a few as well) make us think of how our girls make us feel, what we want for them, and who we want to be for them. So as a new series here, I am going to post about this list of songs that is so dear to my heart every Saturday. You can also play the song from my sidebar. And after I'm done with this list, I'll move on to another. I love music, although I am no expert, and I just love how there are those perfect songs out there to fit every mood, memory, and occasion. I hope you enjoy!

The first song on the girls' cd is Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World." There is actually much history to this song for my daughter Isabel. We moved to Boston at the beginning of June 04. We busted our rear ends on taking wallpaper down and painting our "new" house (the house is actually very old.) All of a sudden, the 4th of July sneaks up on us and we decided we needed a break and should enjoy the holiday. We were in the home of Paul Revere and the Old North Church, a certain Tea Party, and the Freedom Trail, just to name a few. Surely, they did something to celebrate Independence Day. And boy do they ever. Long story short, we went down to the Charles River to watch their AMAZINGLY SPECTACULAR fireworks show (really, I don't know if anything could top it) and had such a great time.

How does this tie in with the song, you ask? Well, music is synced to the fireworks show and that night they played Mr. Armstrong's song and it brought me to tears (of joy). That's how magical the night was and that was a great "welcoming" memory. We would find out a few months later that I was pregnant with Isabel (we were starting to wonder if she would ever show up, but God's timing is always PERFECT). I listened to this song a lot while I was pregnant. It just matched how I felt. Almost a year later, Isabel was born.

The fall after she was born was a sad one. Tom's grandfather was sick with cancer and was in and out of the hospital. We had visited once while I was pregnant and there just this feeling that he was going to see his first great-grandbaby. The October after Isabel was born, we went back to celebrate Tom's parents anniversary and Isabel got to meet her great-grandfather! He was in the hospital at the time. In his room, he had a stuffed frog that Tom's mom had given her dad. It played "What a Wonderful World" and had been making him smile even when he couldn't talk. He played it over and over. We returned to Texas a few weeks later to attend his funeral and there on the table with pictures and other mementos was the frog.

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow

They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world