Lyrical Lavender Life

I apologize for posting so late, I don't live under a rock as it probably seems, I have just been busy with the opera production... I noticed a video on Yahoo's News page a few minutes ago about a shooting that took place in a church in Knoxville, TN just yesterday (Sunday) morning. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_re_us/church_shooting I watched the videos associated with the story and learned that police had found a letter in the shooter's home, written by the shooter, that explained his frustration with not being able to find a job and his apparently passionate opinion regarding the 'liberal movement'. He confessed that he had intended to continue shooting people until the police arrived and he expected to be taken out by them to stop him. He entered the church with a guitar case that concealed his gun and when he pulled out the rifle, he killed one man who tried to stop him from shooting others. Eight others were injured and in serious condition, with t...

Vacation : Sun, waves, music and laughs! We had an amazing vacation and I wouldn't trade those times for anything. I'll give you the basics of how it all played out. We had a plan, but it was fairly fluid and ended up working out much better than originally planned. Pictures coming soon, I promise. Thursday - We drove 8 hours to DC, went to Wolf Trap and saw the Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile in concert. The Indigo Girls were amazing, as always; but honestly I had not heard Brandi before and was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved her sound. She was a great addition to Amy and Emily's incredibly tight harmony. I definitely have a new favorite song- Brandi Carlile's "The Story" is spectacularly raw and intense. I LOVE it! (Apparently it became well known because it was played on "Grey's Anatomy"... with music like that in the background, it must be a great show! Almost enough to make me want to get cable~ lol. Really though, give it a li...

Remember the other day when I mentioned I needed to RELAX and enjoy my summer more? Well, that's what the next 4 days are going to be.... sort of. Ok, so I let go of the idealist notion that I actually know HOW to relax... lol... but I DO know how to have fun and let my hair down on a road trip! So, that's the plan. Indigo Girls concert Thursday night, visiting with some friends Friday and Saturday, seeing an opera on Saturday night and enjoying my time alone with my someone special the rest of the time! I'm SO excited! So, I won't be back on until Monday, but I promise to report everything once I return. Have a great week and weekend!

This is my first attempt at adding a video to my blog. Right now I am using my camera phone for the video, so it is not great quality but it gets the job done. I'm just trying it out for now, so bare with me. If anyone has any pointers, tips, suggestions, whatever... please feel free to offer them up. I want to learn.

Thank God for Inspiring Gifts This morning I found a bunch of unmarked CDs mixed up with some software CDs I had in a binder. Upon inspection, I realized that they were all CDs of a singer I know personally. These CDs included a few recorded voice lessons, a couple of performance ready pieces on CDs made for distributing as part of auditioning requirements, and a CD of pictures from a few of her performances. Looking through the pics, I remembered each performance vividly (because I was there for almost all of them). I remembered how many people told her afterwards how amazing she sounded and how inspiring her voice is. Many people say her voice is a powerful gift from God that blesses them every time they hear her, no matter how many times or how often. Her voice brings a sudden chill, then the "warm tinglies" that you feel in those best moments of your life. This inspiring voice is a gift . A gift from God that she cherishes, protects and uses at every opportunity. Listeni...

June 25, 1977 at 6:19pm , I came into this world. Looking back over the last 31 years, I can think of event that stands out from each year. These are a reflection of my life; they run a gamut of emotions, memories and sentiments. These are my life in 31 flavors: If you care to read on, great... If not, I hope you have as many wonderful experiences as I have had in my 31 years. Enjoy life! 1 - Spoiled by my Maw-Maw and a daddy's girl 2 - Sister, Kelly, born on my 2nd birthday! cute birthday present, but she didn't mind me and sometimes I wanted to exchange her ;) 3 - Started taking dancing... quickly grew to LOVE ballet (and still do) 4 - Loved ballet, won many pageants 5 -Bad year... bad things began 6 - Sister, Kayla, was born on my mom and dad's anniversary 7 - Played baseball with the boys team 8 - Mom sick while pregnant, first ballet solo 9 - Sister, Kora, was born two days before my daddy's birthday 10 -Sang in public for the first time at a festival 11 -Learned t...

Over the last 31 years I have had an amazing, random, assorted, interesting, adventurous, scarey, surprising and incredible journey. Getting older is a part of life that none of us really looks forward to, but the wisdom that comes with living is well worth the pain. Just some of the things I have learned on my own. If you feel that the life can be more.... go chase your dream! If you feel knocked down and can't pick yourself up again.... make a new friend. If you think you may never be happy.... make a change. If you think that you need no improvement.... look again. If you take life for granted.... visit the dying. If you are healthy, fed, clothed, housed, and loved.... be grateful. Time passes quickly.... use it wisely. Life is the ultimate journey.... travel on.

J u n e 2 1 , 2008 I saw Melissa Etheridge in concert! How awesome is that? Not only did I get to be at the concert, but I was able to sneak down to the front and get 10 feet away from her when I went down for a song to take some pictures of her up close. We had really great seats and had a blast. She played a lot of the old great favorites and a great sampling of the songs off of her newer albums. I LOVED it. It was an awesome concert and I was so excited to see her LIVE! All I can say right now is "WOW!" She is incredible. Pics coming soon... I promise. (PICS ABOVE... as promised!) Talented Passionate Sincere Real Inspiring Creative Emotive Amazing!! I will write more later. I'm exhausted from an amazing weekend, and fear I may actually have to do some work today. :)

photo taken by J. Grimes I remember taking family trips as a child. Rather it was a weekend camping, water-skiing and roasting marshmellows, or a two week long vacation that covered six states and numerous famous national parks, monuments, or natural wonders, these were the best experiences of my childhood. Along with exposing me to many different kinds of people all throughout my childhood, I also developed a great love for traveling and learning about other cultures. Thanks to my father's vast knowledge, spiced with his line of bull that was always fascinatingly believable and creative, I was always enthralled to know what happened at each site we visited and what the people were like, or why they were "famous" or "infamous". This became the backbone of my interest in history, which begat an interest in anthropology, geology, geography, civics, sociology and psychology. Looking back on my travels with my family and the uninhibited ramblings, trivia and opinio...