quiet please, musician at work

Ever since I brought my mixer and fancy recording mic back from Michigan I have been having the best time.  I had to drag a couple of little tables back in from the garage to set things up.  As you know, I got a couple of songs recorded.  This week I tried to record some djembe on Tears Don't Come.  My rhythm was actually way better than I ever imagined it would be, but still my drum pattern was not the best for my song, according to Ryan.  So I am hoping that he will lay down a nice drum track for his dear sweet mom.

I finally got all my songs picked out for our church camping trip, even though it was a challenge narrowing them down.  I've been having an absolute blast with this project.  So many songs to run through trying to pick good ones.  It's going to be a very fun time.

my little music corner

Darryl and I have just cleaned out both boys bedrooms.  Half of the stuff is now in our living room, and the other half is in the garage.  It's probably a very good thing that we don't have anyone coming to see the house right now.  We have a U-Pack trailer coming to take the stuff away next weekend.  The following weekend after that we begin open houses again.  Yeah, and that's when the house has to be clean again!

So while we were cleaning out Ryan's room, I found a backpack filled with Chord sheets.  What a glorious find!!  I have spent the last couple of days learning new gems that I had never played before, but they are great songs that would be familiar to folks, so I'm super excited to have found them and have added a few of them to my camp song list.   I'm going to have to pick up all that music on the floor, but for now I'm just basking in all these new songs and enjoying the learning process!   I feel like my brain has gone into some other new gear with my guitar playing.  It sometimes feels like there is this little guitar gremlin inside me that just takes over... haha...it is quite fabulous.

PUB517

my first ever hydrangea flower

Usually the deer eat my plants before they have a chance to bloom.  I have had this plant for many years and have never seen a flower on it till this year.  I guess since I moved a small piece of it over by the pool they can't reach it quite as well.   But as you can see, this brave little buck is one plant away from eating it.

I shoo'd him away!

Darryl took me to dinner last night.  We were on our way to Hackettstown, but then at the last minute decided to head over to Allamuchy first to see if this place still existed, which was called The Still.  Yep, it's STILL there, but now it's called PUB517.   We ran into some folks there that Darryl knows, and we had a really nice rib dinner, with some sweet country ambiance.

View from our window, lovely and peaceful

some hard core heads on the wall

Found out today that Ryan's car is definitely totalled.  We are trying to move past it and determine the best way to handle things.  Ryan needs transportation otherwise he can't work.  We plan to get another car with the insurance money, once we get it.

We all make plans, don't we?  Sometimes we are surprised by how our plans unfold.

Just another reminder that we are not the boss, He is. 

thank God it was a Subaru

Ryan's car after the accident on Thursday.  I don't want to say much about this.  It's sad, heartbreaking, and scary.  It fills me with grief.

Life is precious.  I'm so grateful that Ryan is ok.  Words can't express my thoughts, feelings, and concerns over the past few days thinking about what could have been.

Waiting to see if the car is salvageable.

Jesus Loves Me

Since the house was quiet today, aside from a couple of pretty fierce downpours, I thought I'd try to record another song that I love. This is one that I thought would be super nice to do with Ryan sometime. But since he's not here, and I'm not there, I had to do the low male part and the higher harmony myself.  It really is too bad I don't have anyone to sing with.  Even so, I did enjoy this challenge. I'm learning a lot!  This is forcing me to pay attention to timing and rhythm and all sorts of things I don't focus on enough when I'm playing and singing at the same time.

It sure takes a lot longer doing it this way than just turning on my phone and hitting the record button... but eh, this is a new experience and I want to learn as much as I can.

I'm still trying to deal with being "home" in NJ.  I personally didn't think I'd be here this long.  I keep asking God what's the plan, but you know God....He's not real quick to answer most of the time.  I'm just sitting here wonderin' what on earth is going on.  Not exactly the test of patience I wanted, but I guess I needed it.

Trying to make my time here really count.

PS- My husband doesn't even know yet that I got all that equipment hooked up and successfully working.  He also doesn't know I got the battery changed in my guitar (yay!!) and found the other guitar cable, cuz otherwise I would have been up a creek, as they say.  I think he will be amazed that I got 2 songs recorded this week!  

here are 4 songs I wrote

edited again...
edit...

So, I was getting my music equipment set up again.  And while I was going through my stuff I found some recordings that I wanted to keep track of.

On this first one Ryan did the harmony for me.  It's a simple song for Jesus.  I did all the instruments.  :)



On this second one I did all the vocals (melody and harmony), and all the instruments.



On this one, Darryl was kind enough to do the harmony for me. This is the song I wrote as a congregational song for my church.  And once again, I did all the instruments.




 
Edit: Yay!  I'm excited that I got all my equipment up and working! And I just finished recording this one.   I learned a lot in the past 2 days and made a ton of progress.  I'm having such a good time (when I'm not frustrated).  

Edit:  Darryl helped me with some settings on Garage Band so that my volume levels were better.  So, this is a new audio.  My next edit will be when I add djembe to it.  

more from Michigan

kyle's red kite in the sky

I suggested to Hilary to put her hand (engagement ring) on the string and this photo is the result of that idea.  Quite artsy.

watching a very large ship go down the channel at Holland Beach 

Ryan and I singing one of his songs which included a few whistling parts..wish we had a video of it.

I'm not writing anything tonight because I don't know what to say.  We're home.  It's a bit sad here.

I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow.

our last night in pure Michigan

hair cut I gave Ryan

hard cider, brother?

master fire starter

oh yeah, baby

view from the fire pit

What a great week we had here.  We got so much done...and yet so much more on our to-do list.  Thank God we were able to be here and enjoy our new home and our boys.  This was such a special time for us.

Sadly, tomorrow we have to start our journey back to NJ, stopping in Canton for a night along the way.  We will need a little time to acclimate back to the NJ lifestyle.

Still no activity on our house in NJ for almost 2 months.

What's up, God of the universe?  Is there something you're not telling us?

Jumped in a Michigan Lake

Saugatuck State Park

Holland State Park 

Enjoying the evening on our deck

the love birds

Another day, livin' the life in Michigan.

Been so busy!  Today we took some time to go do fun stuff at the beach.  We visited Saugatuck Dunes Stark Park and then went to Holland State Park.  Flew a kite, threw a frisbee, swam in the lake. Then we went to Captain Sunday for ice cream, dinner in downtown Grand Rapids....then chillin' on the deck at home.

the fiery furnace

the fiery furnace right before the party

Kyle contemplating his chores for the day

enjoying the at-mos-phere

Kyle is below the deck working, and Ryan is on the deck working out.

Ryan driving the lawnmower while I sat in the cart, going down a path towards our lawn.

Kyle working on the deck.

Hilary came over. We had a champagne toast by the fire.

by the fire

Man!  I just love it here!  Had a great day.  Getting lots done.  So much to do!

I even had a voice lesson today.  Lovin' it.

from a tiny red rose to a Rose of Sharon

I had to prune away some overgrown plants to show off this beautiful and bright red rose.  It was surrounded by so many things, I almost missed it.  So glad I found it before it bloomed.  There are so many cool plants growing here.  Next spring will be so beautiful, and I will be able to enjoy all the flowers I missed this past spring.

I also had to capture this huge Rose of Sharon while in bloom.

We've been spending a lot of time getting yard work and repairs done.   I've very slowly been adding some decorating touches here and there.  It's almost as if we actually live here.   Only a few more days though.

Our first Wyoming party!

A group of Ryan's friends came over for a party last night.  The first person arrived at 5:30, and the last person left around midnight.  It was such a great time!  There was lots of food and laughter, games and singing.  Lots of talented musicians = wonderful time of worship.  I was given the opportunity to lead several songs, and it was a great experience.  One of the fabulous worship leaders from Res Life told me I have a "beautiful voice".   I got good compliments on my guitar playing too!  It was so exciting.  Ryan told me I did a great job!  Man, I sure needed a night like last night.  It is so wonderful and encouraging to be around kind and generous musicians who take the time to appreciate others.   That's something that just does not happen in New Jersey!  No wonder my confidences wanes when I'm there.  People do perform better when they have been given good words to lean on for strength.  I'm so thankful for the friends who were here.

We ran out yesterday and bought a fabulous fire pit and some chairs.  It was like being in a park or campground or something, with the fire, and the waterfall gurgling, and marshmallows toasting, and people singing and worshiping...

All around a wonderful party!

Chateau-Palooza

Our neighborhood of Chateau Estates had a huge block party yesterday. It was amazing. They had a DJ, a pig roast, inflatable jumping thing for kids, lots of outdoor games, cotton candy machine, photo booth, a ton of door prizes, a ton of food, and even the Wyoming Fire Dept. was there. I gotta say, this thing was a blast. I'm so stoked to live in this neighborhood. They have events going all year round. So many nice people!

I won a free pizza!

fun in the photo booth!

I'm gonna enjoy living here!