near death....always?

So you probably watched this before reading and I just want to clarify that even though I smiled and laughed alot in the video I am freaked out by what happened.  I was shaking for a good 15 minutes or so after it happened, and am so so so grateful that no one else was hurt, I wasn't hurt, and my truck wasn't hurt aside from an exclamation point light that came on.....(tire pressure maybe?)  I usually use humor naturally when i'm uncomfortable or freaked out by things.

So obviously I had all these thoughts of "wow, I could've died just then.....that could've been it....."  and things like that.  I was on my way to meet up with one of my best friends so when I got there I told her about it, but then I went to a wedding rehearsal and didn't say anything to anyone about it.  It's weird to think that everyday we're having "near death experiences", but we really are.  So many of us have "trust issues", but sheesh we get into huge boxes of metal everyday and "trust" the drivers around us to follow the traffic rules.  Every time we walk into a public place we are "trusting" that someone hasn't made plans to conceal a weapon under their coat and turn on an innocent bystander.  The other strange timing thing is I had just written an email to a friend about musicians that died really young and some of those deaths were just freak accidents.  It makes me think of that movie American Beauty where he narrates the last day of his life.  I mean I was doing such normal things today...

I still haven't processed everything, but i'm alright.  I don't mean to make this seem like a morbid, fear everyday life message....it was just thought provoking.  My life didn't flash before my eyes though.  All I remember thinking was "no I can't get in another accident" and my mom telling me about a bumper sticker she saw that said, "trucks may rock, but they also roll."  After all that, I had to drive to Branson in drizzly weather and all I wanted to do was never drive again.  I think it was that "Get right back on the horse after it bucks you off,"  mindset that got me where I needed to go today.  Thank You, Lord, for wanting me here alittle longer.

Unexpected inspiration....

.......is maybe the best kind.

I randomly found this Lori McKenna song today.  I was doing other things and started crying out of nowhere. I sat down and listened to it 3 times.....yes 3 times......crying the whole time.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FbU8Kd4CHs

I'm not sure of all the places the contents of this song is reverberating in my little soul, but I was hit hard.  I typically react quickly to things, but it takes me a bit to figure out the roots of my reaction.  And please don't put me in the box of "that girl" that just wants to be married......I considered that already but no, it's hitting me somewhere else.  Ask me in a few days I suppose....

But back to my unexpected inspiration.... so we had vending machines installed in our office building on Friday.  Inspiring? Well the dictionary tell us that inspiration is to "fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence."   So yes for me.  My boss asked me to kind of supervise and make sure the machines ended up in the right spot.  Well I'm sure I could have just showed them the spot and gone back to my day, but something kept me there.  They probably thought I was watching out of a lack of trust in their integrity or skill but no, I was just intrigued.  There are so many calculations and spatial guess and check decisions that go into this process.  I mean these are large machines squeezing through some tiny doorways.  It's a wonder they don't have to completely construct the machine on the spot.  So sidenote, I love puzzles and simply found myself in awe of their ability to maneuver and angle things just right when it looked like there was no way passage would occur.  I got home later and almost literally walked to my bedroom, stared at my oversized desk, and pulled out a gauntlet or asked it to dance or something.  I have been wanting to move that desk out of my room for awhile, but honestly couldn't remember how I moved it in.  So for about 30 minutes I was hoisting this glass top oversized desk to balance on my thighs and trying to angle it through the doorway.  I'm pretty sure I tried every way possible before pulling it up vertical and maneuvering it through and safely out to the garage.  I have huge bruise lines across both thighs from balancing the edge of the glass on them, but it was SO worth the victory. :c)

So music update!!  For my birthday, many many friends joined together to give me studio time!!!!  I have 9 more hours in VanSmith Studios where my previous tracks were recorded.  I am so excited and hope to at best get three more songs in that time to put together a 5 track little album!  Thank you to everyone for giving such a great gift and all the encouragement along the way!!!

I want to turn your pages.....

So I've been listening to alot of Ernie Halter and Tony Lucca this week.  A friend introduced me to them via the lovely world of youtube.  Here is a good sample of them together!  They are individual artists, though, with great original songs. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QSLbyqmq0s 

Ernie Halter does a cover of Pretty Girl that I love.  That's where the title of my post comes from today.  In this song, the girl is referred to as a magazine and he follows up with "I want to turn your pages."  And he also mentions the phrase, "to know her is to love her."  That is so true with girls.  We feel loved when someone knows us well.  Even at work today, a husband surprised his wife with a drink from Sonic I think and he knew exactly what to get her......and i'm not talking a regular Dr. Pepper.  It was something fancier.  It just means something so deep to girls to be known in whatever detail.  For example.....my birthday was Monday and my parents drove in Saturday to go to the ArtsFest and listen to me play.  My Mom made this quilt for me!!!  My dad chose the fabric on the back and the verse embroidered on the back.  I LOVE details.  My mom named the quilt "Eleni's Tulips".  I studied abroad in Greece for a semester and Eleni is my Greek name.  Tulips are my favorite flower.  My mom thought the fabrics were all watery colors so she embroidered the names of all the places I visited in Europe while abroad.  Ah and thank you to everyone that came to the show on Saturday!!!  Your faces are such a comfort to me and make me somehow more into it because I feel that to an extent you either understand or want to understand.  So thank you Anne, Lesley, Kris, Terry, Candy, Mike, Teresa, Mom, Dad, Adam, Katherine, Cayla, Brett, Dominic, Lui, Jay, Brett, Bev, Melissa, the man in the back wearing a hoodie that likes Van Morrison, and whoever else I didn't know or may have missed.  mm you guys bless my heart!

I'm playing again this Saturday from 3-3:50pm-ish on Commercial Street in Springfield, MO at the C-Street Jam.  There will be several stages of different styles of music throughout the evening.  I will be at the Footbridge stage.  I'm told that it is cheaper to buy your tickets before the event.  I hope to see you there!!! :c)