Summer Ten

It's natural to have a summer playlist. I've pick some of my favorites tunes of late for you. These are the  kind of songs that beg for you to role down the windows, forget that you did your hair that morning, and serenade whatever is listening.

Enjoy!

She & Him- Sweet Darlin' 

"Sweet darling, come hold me, just a little bit longer now"

Edward Shark and the Magnetic Zeros - Home 

"Man, oh man, you're my best friend
I scream it to the nothingness
There ain't nothing that I need.
Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie
Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ
Ain't nothing please me more than you"

Joshua James - Coal War 

"I ain't cutting my hair till the good lord comes- arrive upon the mountain just to see what we have done"

Thompson Square - Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not? 

"We were sittin' up there on your momma's roof
Talkin' bout everything under the moon

With the smell of honeysuckle and your perfume

All I could think about was my next move"

Ingrid Michaelson - You and I 

"Oh, let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France
let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters

and teach them how to dance"

Avril Lavigne- What the Hell (Don't judge me....it's super catchy and there is more to Avril than her dad's ties and sk8ter boy) 

"Whoaaa what the hell"

Lady Antebellum- American Honey 

"She grew up on the side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows

She grew up good
She grew up slow

Like American honey"

Ryan Adams- Oh My Sweet Carolina 

"Up here in the city feels like things are closing in
The sunsets just my light bulb burning out
I miss Kentucky and I miss my family
All the sweetest winds they blow across the south"

The Avett Brothers- Go To Sleep

"Lay back, lay back, go to sleep my man
Wipe the blood from you face and your hands
Forgive yourself if you think that you can
Go to sleep, go to sleep my man"

Ray LaMontagne- Jolene

"I found myself face down in a ditch
Booze in my hair
Blood in my lips
A picture of you holding a picture of me
In the pocket of my blue jeans
Still don't know what love means"

Two Emotions

To make you laugh,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56238687/Is-Everyone-Hanging-Out-Without-Me-by-Mindy-Kaling-Excerpt

To make you cry,

Stuck In My Head

It's natural to get a song stuck in your head.
I cannot stop listening to these two.
Duos don't get much better than The Civil Wars.  Their voices blend perfectly together, in a beautiful and often haunting way.
 I'll let you guess which one looks like Johnny Depp.

"Did that full moon force my hand?
Or that unmarked hundred grand?
Ooh underneath the water
Please forgive me father"

"Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
Oh you think your dreams are the same as mine
Oh I don't love you but I always will"

Possibilites

It's natural to have a slight obsession with Emily Dickinson. My father is actually the one who introduced her to me.  Having loved her for a while,
he felt like the two of us would get along.

I Dwell in Possibly
 Emily Dickinson

I dwell in Possibility--
A fairer House than Prose--
More numerous of Windows--
Superior--for Doors--
Of Chambers as the Cedars--
Impregnable of Eye--
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky--
Of Visitors--the fairest--
For Occupation--This--
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise--

LISTEN TO THIS TRACK

Ray LaMontagne has been one of my top five favorite artists for several years now.

Basically, I'm in love with his music and I just had to share this song with you. 

He has the kind of voice that has a certain wisdom, like it's been around the block a time or two. It's full of soul and wonder mixed with a distinct smokers croon. 

"It's hard to believe it
Even as my eyes do see it
The very things that make you live are killing you
Listen when all of this around us'll fall over
I tell you what we're gonna do
You will shelter me my love
and I will shelter you"

Young Love

I think these two are on to something.....

The preciousness of simplicity. Nothing is better than a first kiss and a high five. 

Soul Mates

It's natural to have several pet fish over the years.

Right?

Wow. It has been such a long time, blog. I'm sorry that I've been away so long, but that's the great thing about you, blog.  You can't yell at me for neglecting you. Neither can plants...or fish....so that explains my history with both of those things.

Either way,  I am happy to be writing again.

I have officially completed my freshman year.
Insane, right?
I remember that first day like it was yesterday.
As soon as our parents left, Joy and I turned to each other in tears and hugged for about 5 minutes, trying to comfort each other about the reality that this was our life now.

I cannot describe what this year has meant to me, what it has taught me, and how much it has changed me. There are no words.
There is no way for me to write in this blog and send it out into cyber space how amazing it was to look back on everything that happened in my life this past year and see God carrying me the whole time.
His sovereign plan written on every page,
 on every day,
 on every friend I made,
in every song I sang.

Even when it was all over, I came back to the same family I've had my whole life.  Of course this includes my actual family, but I am also talking about my friends.  The distance of college and the newness of our separate lives was no match for the bond that we have. These girls knew me when I was a fatty, when I was annoying, when I really loved Clay Aiken, when I was awkward (still working on that one), and even when I thought it was really cool to part my hair down the middle and wear Jelly shoes.  They have stuck with me through it all.  They are a part of me. One of the best parts of me.  I know that most people only have one soul mate, but I already have three.