Top 2 Tuesday: Music

This Week's Topic: Top 2 Songs on your Ipod

My Response: TWO? You want me to give you TWO? So not possible! I can't even tell you my top two ARTISTS. I just love music too much for that. But, I'll give it a go.

1. I'm Still Yours by Kutless ~ What can I say about this song? I can't listen to it enough. (Technically, I don't think it's on my iPod yet, but it will be – when I get around to copying it off the CD.)

2. How to Save a Life by The Fray ~ Love this song.

Only sharing two is somewhat painful for me. I often say that music is my passion, and that's really not an understatement. I LOVE music.

If you wanna play along, there's a linky HERE.

Blog Journal: Day 5

Oh, MAN! Oh, man! Oh, MAN! This was a HARD one for me. If you've been following me for more than a few days, you likely will understand why when you see what it is. (Just in case, I'll explain after I show you my graphic.) As always, click on the graphic to see it bigger.

You see? ONLY ten songs? ONLY? REALLY? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE music! It's my passion. If I could go back in time, I'd major in something that would give me a way to work in the music industry. Music engineering, perhaps – being a producer would ROCK!

Anyway, more about the songs I've chosen, AND I'll embed them so you can listen while you read! :-) Actually, I found a widget on Grooveshark that allows me to create a playlist, so, I'll embed the widget then explain the songs.

1. Rebirthing by Skillet ~ Anyone who knows me won't be the least bit surprised I picked this song. In fact, the instant I saw this journal topic, this song came to mind. Skillet is my FAVORITE band. Absolute FAVORITE. (A long cry from Amy Grant, my favorite musician for most of my childhood, huh? LOL) And this song is probably (I say probably because they have so many songs I love) my favorite of theirs. As a special treat, I'm going to share the acoustic version this time. Enjoy!

2. Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve ~ LOVE this song. Love it. Again, enjoy!

3. Ocean Floor by Audio Adrenaline ~ Probably my favorite of theirs.

4. Sea of Faces by Kutless ~ An amazing song. They are another of my favorite bands, Kutless is just awesome, too.

5. Word of God Speak by MercyMe ~ Yet another favorite band. Hmm... see? I love music! LOL I actually first heard this song on Kutless' Strong Tower CD. I didn't realize it was a MercyMe song until I got their 10 album. Powerful song.

6. Burden in My Hand by Soundgarden ~ I am a closet Soundgarden fan! LOL I love their stuff. Love it. This is one of my favorites of theirs.

7. Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North ~ I loved this song before they put it on the radio! ;-) So good. So very good. Their new song is pretty darn good, too.

8. This is Your Life by Switchfoot ~ Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of Switchfoot on Grooveshark! :-( And, unfortunately, the only version of this song I could find was an instrumental redo by some orchestra. Now, I love orchestras, but words are important ... I uploaded my copy, but it takes awhile for them to process it. So, I'll try to share it maybe for a Tune-In Tuesday post! 

9. Beautiful Day by U2 ~ What's not to like about this song? 

10. Shackled by Vertical Horizon ~ Another song I love, love, LOVE! A different guy is singing, and I just love his voice – for some strange reason. It's more about the sound of the music in this one than what is being said. Anyway, hope you like it!

As you can tell, and if I haven't made it clear at this point, I LOVE music. I couldn't live without it. I recently started doing a weekly Tune-In Tuesday post, and would love to have others join me! :-) So, please do.

And now, I wanna see what music you wanna share! Head on over to Toddler Awesome if you wanna play along!

Worship and Praise Sunday: I'm Still Yours

I stumbled upon this earlier today on Leah's blog. You can join in on Worship and Praise Sunday by visiting Jen's blog.

I chose "I'm Still Yours" by Kutless. It's off their recently released "It Is Well" album, their latest praise and worship album. I LOVE this song!

If You washed away my vanity

If You took away my words

If all my world was swept away

Would You be enough for me?

Would my beating heart still sing?

If I lost it all

Would my hands stay lifted

To the God who gives and takes away

If You take it all

This life You've given

Still my heart will sing to You

When my life is not what I expected

The plans I made have failed

When there's nothing left to steal me away

Will You be enough for me?

Will my broken heart still sing?

If I lost it all

Would my hands stay lifted

To the God who gives

And takes away

If You take it all

This life You've given

Still my heart

Will sing to You

Even if You take it all away

You’ll never let me go

Take it all away

But I still know

That I'm Yours

I'm still Yours

Oh, I'm Yours

I'm still Yours

I'm still Yours

I hope it touches your heart the way it does mine. Have a blessed week!

Wow. This is so me.

A lot has happened since my last post. A lot. And, amazingly, I'm doing OK. I'm on the verge of tears almost constantly, but I have amazing peace. I have decided NOT to walk away from my site after all. It's MY site. I built it from the ground up. Before I did this, we were just a buddy group that moved from one forum to the next - often because the site went paid. I did this so we - the group, not just I - could have a home. Our own domain. A place we wouldn't have to leave. A place we could always go to. Every time we had to move, we lost people. I didn't want that to happen anymore. I didn't want anyone to be left behind. Even if someone chooses to leave, they will always know where to find us. We're not going anywhere. And I am not going anywhere. It is my site. My e-baby. My blood, sweat, and tears. It is time away from my kids, my husband, my family. It is MY money that pays for the server. What was I thinking in wanting to go away? Well, I know - I wanted to keep the peace. I thought if I quietly disappeared, things would be OK. The person I've had a problem with can go on and enjoy the site - sometimes I think she needs the board more than I do. I suffered in silence for two years. I sucked it up and dealt with it. I tried not to let that stuff get to me. I guess it was just festering under the surface, though. Honestly, I don't even remember what caused this whole mess in the first place. I mean, I do remember the post. There was a post about kids' cartoons, and I felt she was being snarky - she felt I was being snarky. I think, honestly, I was just finally lashing out against what has been a long, hard problem for me. But, I don't know when it went from that to me saying I'm gone. Oh, I do know. My co-Admins and I decided to bring up the matter (in general terms) with our Staff. See what they thought. See if anyone else noticed me being picked on and bullied. The very first response to the question about this was in support of the individual in question. Something about that post made me feel like it was over. Forget it. If no one else saw what I did, no one would support me. No one would care how this person made me feel. So, I decided to leave. I didn't want to hurt anymore, and I KNEW that this issue was going to be explosive if I didn't. It exploded anyway. I'm going to spare the details, as it's really no one's business. But, I'm torn up. I'm so sad and so exhausted and so - I don't know how to say what I'm feeling.

I was afraid this would look like a personal vendetta. It's NOT. Despite my feeling bullied by this individual, I didn't want to see her get hurt. I didn't want to see her lose something that I know she needs. I am as torn up over this whole thing as anyone else involved.

Anyway, I have been starting to feel better. More at peace. More accepting of the way things are playing out. I can only control me. I cannot control someone's reaction or emotions. I cannot force someone to see things from my perspective. I can just pray - and hope God shows one of us something we hadn't seen before. So, that's what I'll do.

That said, now I get to the point - or at least the explanation of the title of this post! LOL DH and I took the kiddos out to Chili's for dinner tonight. We had a gift card to use, and he didn't feel like cooking. I can respect that - plus, we love Chili's. On the way there, we were listening to KLOVE. There were some good songs, but the best came on shortly before we got there.

I have loved this song ever since I first heard it - and it's in my playlist thingy toward the bottom of this page. (If you wanna listen to it here, make sure to pause the playlist thingy first.) As I listened tonight, I heard it anew. I heard it in a way I'd never heard it before. I knew it was for me. I knew it WAS me - no, not was, rather IS me. Every single word to this song rings true. Every single word. I am going to give in and let God do His thing. I thank Him for this song, as it has ministered to me in a way I've not experienced for quite some time.



And after you listen to this, scroll down and listen to the song Strong Tower by Kutless. That's the other song that really reaches me right now.