Relationship Goals In Country Music

"I don't ever want to wake up,
Lookin' into someone else's eyes
Another voice calling me baby
On the other end of the phone
A new girl puttin' on her makeup
Before dinner on Friday night
No I don't ever wanna know, Oh Oh
No other shotgun rider, beside me, singin' to the radio, Whoa Oh, Oh Oh"

*Tim McGraw Shotgun Rider

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Are we just a backseat, tryna get it while we can
Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number I should wash right off my hand
Are we last call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years
Are we written in the stars baby, or are we written in the sand"

*Old Dominion Written In The Sand

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"What really makes you a man
Is being true to her 'til your glass runs out of sand"

*Eric Church Some Of It

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"Would you go with me if we rolled down streets of fire
Would you hold on to me tighter as the summer sun got higher
If we roll from town to town and never shut it down

Would you go with me if we were lost in fields of clover
Would we walk even closer until the trip was over
And would it be okay if I didn't know the way

If I gave you my hand would you take it
And make me the happiest man in the world
If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl
Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea
Let me know if you're really a dream
I love you so, so would you go with me

Would you go with me if we rode the clouds together
Could you not look down forever
If you were lighter than a feather
Oh, and if I set you free, would you go with me"

*Josh Turner Would You Go With Me

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"The way your fingers fit in mine
It's five plus five, not rocket science
This day in time, that's hard to find
It's true
The road we're on ain't a traffic jam
It's a Sunday drive on a piece of land
It's paradise as long as I'm with you

It's like one, two, three
Just as easy as can be
Just the way you look at me
You make me smile
Ain't no need to complicate it, we both know that's overrated
We've been there, it's safe to say it ain't our style
It's just that simple, S-I-M-P-L-E
Simple as can be"

*FGL SIMPLE


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"What if I was made for you and you were made for me
What if this is it, what if it's meant to be
What if I ain't one of them fools just playin' some game
What if I just pulled you close, what if I leaned in
And the stars line up and it's our last first kiss
What if one of these days baby I'd go and change your name
What if I loved all these what ifs away"

*Kane Brown What Ifs

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"If I got down on my knees and told you I was yours forever
Would you get down on yours too and take my hand?

Would we get that old time feelin', would we laugh and talk for hours
The way we did when our love first began?

Would you tell me that you'd missed me too and that you've been so lonely
And you waited for the day that I return.
And we'd live in love forever and that I'm your one and only"

*Randy Travis I Told You So

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Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and broken Hallelujah
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EF7-a5S97Y

The shirt Brad is wearing in this video. (One woman. Many Guitars)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSilWoILcZg&list=RDYSilWoILcZg&start_radio=1

Country Radio, basically just this whole song.

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Oscar Wilde De Profundis

"What the paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. Desire, at the end, was a malady, or a madness, or both. I grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure where it pleased me, and passed it on. I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore what one has done in the secret chambers one has some day to cry aloud on the house-tops. I ceased to be lord over myself. I was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not know it. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace. There is only one thing for me, absolute humility. "

Put Yourself in My Shoes, Please

I was listening to my brother preach and he mentioned someone who has gone back to drugs and is suicidal, and I thought if the church stopped preaching a message of lives of perfection and started preaching that we all fall and get back up (Proverbs 24:16) perhaps suicide wouldn't seem like the only way to deal with an ongoing issue like drugs.

Found a similar sentiment expressed in this blog post by Boz Tchividjian, Words Matter.

Oh, that everyone would stop and think about what they're saying before they say it!

Housekeeping as Art

Housekeeping as Art is going to be my...not a resolution, but an idea I'll try to keep in mind in 2015. 

The original thought came to me while I was reading Holy Curiosity by Amy Hollingsworth.  She is talking about the steps to creativity - wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  She uses verses from the Bible, including Proverbs 24:3-4 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."  The paraphrase from the Message says it thusly:
"It takes wisdom to build a house,
    and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
    with fine furniture and beautiful draperies."

The idea of knowledge required to make a house a home intrigued me, and was followed by the thought of housekeeping as artistry.

I admit and accept that I will never be an artistic, creative person in the traditional senses.  I have absolutely no ear for music (my poor music when I was a kid!), I can not reproduce something lovely with pens or pencils or watercolours or markers or chalks or paints.  I can, I suppose, write well, but I can't control my thoughts enough to produce anything of substance, plus, it's not something I enjoy.

But I *do* love my home, and I do love my family, and I do believe I should be able to keep my house in a way that I wouldn't be ashamed to open my door to guests.  And that - the knowledge of how to make my house my work of art will be my focus in 2015.

Leaving this Here so I Don't Have to Search!

Who Would Jesus Love 5th song down.

Art Corner In The Garden

I'm thinking garden thoughts - ready for spring!  - and planning for a "patio" area behind the house this year.  We have long-range plans to put in a real patio, with a brick bread oven built into the bank at the far end, but those will be later....someday...

This year I'm thinking just an area to put out our lawn chairs, a couple little tables to hold our drinks, and maybe a few whimsical things about to pretty it up.  That's where this idea came in.  I looked online to see if it had already been thought of, so I could pin it, but didn't find one, so I decided to write it myself. ;)  Here is the idea:

An Art Corner, for fairy houses. 

(potential spot for a fairy house.  I couldn't find any photos of houses we've built in the past.)

In my idea, there are small baskets of things to be used to build fairy houses: 
pinecones
pebbles
twigs
dried leaves
grasses
bark
acorns
shells
sea glass
feathers

and while we're enjoying our new backyard sitting area we can play around with them and build and re-build houses. 

I'll come back later when this idea is more than a partly formed scheme and post photos. :)

Emma's Graduation!!

 Our oldest daughter graduated last night.  We had planned a party at the park - rented a shelter and everything - and it was COLD yesterday!  So we commandeered the food pantry and set out to make it as nice as possible....as nice as it's possible to fix up what used to be a garage. ;)

 Decorations were silver, black and purple.  With diploma accents.  And books.  You know, because Emma's all about books.  The books are actually a set she was supposed to read before she was finished with high school, but I needed to have the party before my sister's kids head to OK to spend the summer with their dad, so she didn't quite finish these books.  Perhaps she will someday...

 The cupcake stand was a donation to the food pantry.  The lady who donated it said it was a fruit stand (maybe used in a small store near the register to hold a few apples and bananas?  Seems I've seen one like that before), but I spray painted it silver and added a couple bows and it became a cupcake stand. ;)

Anna said it looked like Halloween with black, purple, silver and green icing on the cupcakes. ;)  They tasted good, though, which is what matters with cupcakes.

Her Daddy made the name cut-out for her, and we bought balloons to tie to it.  $8 for 3 balloons!  Should have gone to Dollar Tree... ;)  I think all-together for the decorations we spend a little over $50. 

 There she is - our Graduate!

Her and her Daddy, and the all-important diploma!  (Shout-out for Homeschool Diploma - Beautiful diploma and Super Quick shipping!)

 GIFTS!!!  I found a tassel keychain with '13 at Hobby Lobby. 

She had a good night, I believe.  I am so proud of her.