Back to 8th Grade

I just woke up from a very deep sleep--so you are right that I'm not going to work today. I actually thought I might be able to before, but after riding along to the gas station yesterday (my exciting event out of the house), I was sadly kinda pooped and my stomach hurt so I stayed put the rest of the day. I also sold my tickets to the Taylor Swift concert...sad day all in all. But last night I woke up around 2 a.m. and ended up watching some t.v. and eating a snack so I could take some more medicine. (It had been several hours promise.)

The next thing I know I'm waking up after my dream about going back to the 8th grade. You see, I went to a small private school for a couple years that only went through the 8th grade. So it wasn't so random that I went back to that grade.

But I show up in my uniform. I'm at my current age and have had all of my same experiences. Apparently I'd been going through some periods of self-discovery and decided I wanted to continue learning and to do so by going back to school. It just turns out to be 8th grade.

The ironic aspect is that I know most of my classmates--we were all in class together, what, 10 years ago! And the teacher is good 'ol Mrs. Brinkerhoff. As customary, I talk with the teacher before class begins and she doesn't seem to remember me being in her class before. Instead she explains the differences that have come since I was at the school in earlier grades. (For example, the school has now expanded through high school.) I have to explain that I actually had her as my teacher in 8th grade before.

She pauses....and asks what year I had graduated high school before. I reply, "2004." Hmm, I'm pretty sure at that point we both think that maybe 8th grade wasn't the right place for me. I think briefly about switching to an older grade but, hey, I know all my classmates!! My next thought is that maybe going back to school wasn't the greatest idea and maybe they'd offer me a part-time faculty position instead to start a little journalism program. Hehehe, now I'm talking--I mean, dreaming.

But at least that idea is somewhat plausible.

Becoming Appendix-less

Hello, hello. So I'm sitting here in my hospital bed and figured I should probably update everyone on what's happened in the last 24 hours (actually less).

Thursday started out completely normal. I got up and went to work and felt just fine. I had a sandwich and banana for lunch. Then suddenly at about 1:30 p.m., my stomach started hurting a lot. At first I thought it might just be cramps, but then again, I never get cramps. At about 2 p.m. I was having a hard time and felt like I was going to throw up. I took a few trips to the bathroom but nothing was happened. It was really odd how fast it came on, and I wondered if it was because I didn't have enough food, or if something I ate was now affecting me. I debated back and forth about just leaving a little early but since I only had two hours left, I decided I could make it to the end.

But then at 3 p.m. I took another trip to the bathroom and this time did end up throwing up. I was like, "OK I'm going home" and went to tell my boss I wasn't feeling well.

I managed to drive home, found myself a handy plastic bowl to keep with me in case of an "emergency" and tried sleeping it off. But I couldn't sleep and my stomach kept hurting.

Now the last time I even remotely remember feeling like this was when I was 10 and was hospitalized for possibility of appendicitis. I ended up not having it but stayed overnight and was fine the next day. So those memories were in the back of my mind as the pain seemed to get worse.

I finally called my parents around 4/4:30 who tried to diagnose me. Since I didn't have sore muscles (aside from my gluteus maximus, but I was pretty sure that was from the gym :P) which would indicate the flu, they were leaning towards me having food poisoning. That wasn't very exciting for me because I had eaten my normal foods and would have had no idea what was the problem and would have had to find all new foods to regularly eat as I'm sure I'd be scared of my regulars from there on out.

But I kept remembering my 10-year old experience and finally mentioned that the stomach pain was mostly on the right side. Now they were both telling me that I had to go to see a doctor. I'm not much of a medicine/doctor person, so this took some convincing. But I started looking through the addresses for places on my insurance even though I was still unsure it was needed. The pain seemed to get worse and while I was going to drive myself to the doctor's, my parents now insisted I find someone to drive me and to go to the ER.

No one was at my apartment and I was telling myself that I could drive over. I had made it home from work afterall. But then my roommate's parents who were staying at our place for the night came in, and my mom was like "You need to ask them! Can I talk to them?" I declined and said I'd ask myself.

So my roomie's mom had started doing the dishes and I walked into the kitchen and said "Can I ask you a favor?" And she's like "Oh am I doing something wrong?" Haha, noo. But I explained that I felt sick and my parent's said I needed to go to the hospital and asked if she could take me. She said of course and we hopped in her car. She asked me a similar serious of questions that my parents had asked and agreed that it didn't sound good.

Right when we pulled up I could see Margie walking in so that was good. This was about 5 p.m. We checked in and they started processing us through really quickly. They took blood, did a urine sample, and the doctor came in to check with the problem was. After feeling around on my stomach, he said it was exactly where my appendix is. Plus my white blood count was up around 21 while normal is around 10.

So they set me up for a cat scan. They said they put a sort of dye inside that would make me feel like I had to pee or was actually peeing (as stated by the male nurse in the room). They were speaking really fast while they explained this and I didn't really know what they said...but I never did experience that apparently expected situation.

By the way, everyone was really really really nice throughout this. And funny; the guy in the cat scan room was like, "Now you aren't allergic to cats right?? But after looking at the scan a different doctor came in to tell me that my appendix was swollen but usually the swelling goes around the appendix rather than being swollen itself. So he asks me if I want to take it out, or if I want to stick it out. What am I supposed to say to that? Just tell me if I need to take it out and I will. I ask what "sticking it out" would entail, to which he says, "maybe another 12 hours of this, maybe it gets worse." Once again, uhhh you are the doctor.

So then they say they'll have the surgeon come talk to me and see what he thinks. I'm wheeled back to my room but not long after being there, the first doctor I saw comes in and tells me we are for sure going to surgery. He says there's no question that it's my appendix. So now it's about 7 p.m., and I'm prepping for surgery.

Just before this my grandparents arrived and brought their neighbor to give me a blessing. And then I'm off! I had to take my contacts out so from this point on, I couldn't see anything clearly at all. That always makes you seem out of it anyways, plus add drugs, hospital gowns and the strange environment. They take me to the opporating room where they decide to make me use the bathroom AGAIN just to absolutely make sure my bladder is empty. (Yea, I know you are all enjoying these lovely details.) So they drug me and say I'm be fadding out in a few...but then the nurse is like, Wait, you have to give me this info first. So I repeat my name and birthday and ...

The next thing I know I'm waking up...and apparently am quite emotional. I know one nurse brought me a whole box of tissues and I was having exasperated breathing, so another nurse sat by me saying stuff like "good job," just deep breaths" "that's great." I think I finally calmed down and they took me to my room. (Today my aunt told me that the surgery was just under an hour but I took about an hour to wake up which was more than usual.)

Fun for me, my roommates Miriam and Grace had stopped by too. Which was way nice of them, even though I was in a weird, loopy moode. And I know I made them stay longer than they planned....ooops. So with those two there, my aunt, grandma and grandpa went home. I was still randomly crying and breathing hard and such but I started to calm down...I think. The roomies also brought me flowers, a sudoku book, a coloring book :P and then this morning brought by a laptop (thank you!!) books, magazines, clothes, contact stuff, toothpaste, etc...Oh plus balloons later!

I actually felt like I slept really well last night. Even though the steady IV seemed to automatically wake me up every two hours to climb out of bed over to the bathroom. But it wasn't too bad. I'd wake up and be like...ooh it must be like 10!...No, it was 3. But that means I get more sleep!!

Let's see what else. Oh I have pictures of the surgery...inside me. I couldn't look at them until a couple hours after the surgery, and they still gross me out. The roomies and I also took some pictures last night, so I'll hvae to posts those later. (Warning: I probably look disgusting)

This morning I had to call work to let them know I wasn't coming in. I know, it all happened so fast. I mean, I only missed one hour of work yesterday. So I call around 7:40 and as soon as I start explaining the situation, I can hear my voice going weak but I did not want to be crying about this over the phone to my boss! Seriously. He asked me how I was feeling and I said, well I actually ended up getting my appendix out last night sooooooo well, I'm not gonna come in today." He seemed to feel bad and just told me to take care of myself and such. A little later a nurse popped her head in saying my employer was on the phone and if it was fine to give them my room information.

Then I start picturing the scene from the Office episode where Michael hit Meredith with his car and they all went to visit her at the hospital...luckily only the VP of my company came...and brought a card and flowers, which was really nice. He told me to take as much time as I need and not worry about anything...(hmm, I might reeeeally have to consider that.) This is getting long, so I'm sure I'll have more info later. But for now...well I'm gonna try for another nap cuz I'm kinda drifting....

Deciding on a user name

This past week I submitted my very own question to Careerealism’s T.A.P. (Twitter Advice Project). My question was kind of specific to me, but I did present it with a more general approach. The topic?

Your social media username.

I’m working on establishing my personal brand and want to be consistent with the user name I use for a variety of media contact sources (e-mail, Twitter, blog, LinkedIn, Google Profile, Facebook, etc.) The one I usually revert to, and through which I’ve used to establish several accounts over the last few years, is derived from my name but might not directly transfer. I don’t believe the user name I use is necessarily unprofessional (It’s no surfergirl1022 or ilovetosleep5.), but it’s also not always read as a straight firstname.lastname type. How do I know if it is acceptable? Should I make a switch now before building too big of a following?

Here are some of the T.A.P. responses:

@tmonhollon: 1st, ask this: What is your long-term purpose in social media? Getting a job? Building expertise? Starting a business?

@gradversity: I would keep it consistent and not worry about it. But if you are losing sleep over it, make the change.

@DebraWheatman: Establish personal brand with a professional email for easy reference. If it’s confusing, change it to avoid issues.

Now, a little additional information for you. Back when I was first registering as a student for college, I of course had to create a student id to use throughout my college career. After inserting my first and last name, the program generated a list of options. With the help of my sister Ruthie (right?), I decided on “skariann.” We thought, hey it’s from my name (“s” for “Salisbury,” plus my first name, although without an “e.”) and it’s fun to say (“scaryann” anyone?).

And that was the beginning. Now “skariann” marks my presence on Gmail, Blogger, Twitter, and Google Profile, among others. Over the years as I’ve applied for various jobs and internships, I’ve always used a separate e-mail address for professional correspondence—usually, karianne.salisbury. (My name is so long!) But these days everything is interconnected, and my professional correspondence and networking isn’t limited to e-mail. Everything I do, specifically online, is now part of my personal brand, and these various accounts will all play a role in establishing that.

So what do you think? Is “skariann” acceptable for me?

--
Careerealism first launched the T.A.P program in March and, with a diverse set of career experts participating, started offering direct, personalized career advice via Twitter.

There are a lot of different topics covered and lots of input for each question. You can find all of the previous questions and responses on the Careerealism site and Twitter, or you can submit a question of your own.

The one requirement? You must be a member of Twitter. (Don’t worry, I have a post in the works full of things you should know about Twitter.)

Wow, it's the middle of May!

Hmm, what can I possibly blog about? That's the question I've been bouncing around the past two days. I have lots of ideas and topics and drafts and articles to consider for another time, but nothing seemed right for today.

Here it is—nearly the middle of May already. Wow, is that really possible?

A lot has happened in the last month: a birthday, the beginning of a mentor program, exploring Twitter, taking steps towards my business, setting more goals, discovering new music, having my blog mentioned on an artist's site, cutting sugar for two weeks, meeting new people, staying connected with old friends, networking, working, being re-tweeted for the first time, living, playing, trying to become more organized, and even remembering why I love doing the things I love to do.

It's a nice feeling to know I'm taking steps, however small, in the right direction of where I want to be headed. I was discussing some of my ideas and thoughts for the future with a new friend who mentioned that it is also important to slow down and take things in their own time and season. And I believe that idea is very important and may be what's helping me even somewhat grasp the magnitude of everything and anything I want to do combined. Sure I can have big goals and a lot of things to be working towards, no matter how impossible they seem right now. But all I have to do is simply prepare for everything to take place in its own time. I don’t have to rush it. I just need to take it one step at a time, which is where goals come in. You start small and slowly, over time, gain momentum and continue accomplishing bigger and better things—no matter what those are for you.

One thing I’ve found particularly interesting this past month is how much I’ve always loved writing, how easy my career choice was, and how perfectly it fits for me. Just last week I was looking through my stack of writing assignments and published articles from back even as early as 9th grade. (Maybe it’s just me, but I have pretty much every substantial thing I’ve ever written.) I took my first journalism class in high school, and that was just the first step in continuing with it today. I’m probably too nostalgic, but I enjoy looking back and seeing my path of embracing my interests and talents and cultivating them into a perfect career for me, a career that is just starting to develop.

thoughts of a late night ramble

It's late, but it seems I'm resorting to some old habits and am here blogging when I should be getting a good night's rest before work tomorrow.

I know many of you read my Psychology of Wealth post...so thanks for all your support and feedback. Before I forget, I still need a few more subscribers to make that goal. (By THURSDAY) I'm not ready to not meet it so if you can still help me out, that'd be amazing. I had several people ask me about how to actually subscribe to different blogs so I did write a post about using Google Reader. Check it out...and let me know if it's helpful, or if it's not!

Relating to the Psychology of Wealth post, I had my second meeting with the mentors last week, this time in the group setting. Again it was really awesome and got me motivated to go forth and accomplish all my dreams and goals. And its really great to have that motivation. This meeting was kinda similar to the first time I met these guys at the BYU Financial Planning Seminar. So I didn't take a lot of notes...but here are a few things I did jot down.

I choose everything that happens to me. There are four quadrants of life: mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical...and they follow this pattern: M + E + S = Physical. So everything that we have going on in the mental, emotional, and spiritual quadrants ultimately determine what we have going on in the physical quadrant.

Tying this to money: A lack of money is never a problem. It is only a result. So, a lack of money is the physical result of whatever is going on in the mental, emotional, spiritual quadrants. We make things happen and we make choices one way or another. Whatever our situation is, financial and otherwise, is a result of choices we make in one or more aspects of our lives.

A similar ideas is that of controlling your thoughts and feelings, because these lead to action, which leads to results. One of the mentors has a saying he tells himself every morning to create motivation and help himself maintain control of his thoughts and feelings, and then control where his life goes.

Anyways, that's it. Not exactly too profound, but hearing repeat information is usually what motivates us anyways. And as I mentioned, I definitely have felt pretty motivated lately...but I do still have to work on getting the results I want. (Including this month's subscription numbers :P) In addition, I'm seriously looking into everything to get my own magazine started, somewhat exploring new right-now job options and different opportunities, working on building my personal brand as a career boost, and simply becoming (even slowly) the person I want to be. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but as I think about the prospects for the future, I know that while I may not be perfect, or rather, in the perfect place with the perfect job, etc., I know that the opportunities are out there and that sooner or later (but hopefully sooner) things really can work out perfectly.

Thanks again for reading and for all of your help!!!

My top played—Work edition

I did this last week and after posting checked out what the results showed via my work iTunes account. I actually feel this is a lot more reflective of some of the new finds and music interests I've explored lately. So, of course, I am sharing that with you now!

Hope—Who Am I To Say


This song strongly reflects its solemn innocence with the phrase, "Who am I to say you love me?" The simplicity of the ballad makes it one that you (OK, maybe just I) can listen to on repeat, get lost in the emotion of and/or simply use as background, soothing music (some of my favorite kinds.) Hope is signed with Atlantic Records and is working on her debut album.

Favorite Lyric: "Color me blue, I'm lost in you....Now you're a song I love to sing; never thought I'd feel so free."

Matt Toka—Without You


I think this song is definitely one that grows on you. If you listened to this song as well as Hope's you heard the little introduction with an advertisement shout out. What does that mean? Well, the song is FREE for you. (Another point in the change in the music industry.) I couldn't find Hope's account anymore, but check out the rest of Matt Toka's album for free at TrueAnthem.

Favorite Lyrics: "I can't breathe living without you; how am I supposed to..."

Meiko—Boys with Girlfriends


Meiko is a bit better known than the previous two but still in the "rising artist" category. Her first album came out near the end of 2007 and in 2008, she participated in the Hotel Cafe Tour with Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles and others. The last couple months she's been performing with Joshua Radin (who we know I love) and has now started her first headlining tour. See her Myspace.

Favorite Lyrics: "I know better than to be friends with boys with girlfriends."

Parachute—She is Love

I posted about them a while ago, and they have officially stuck with the name Parachute (stemming from Parachute, VA and Sparky's Flaw. If you haven't heard this song yet, well you should. Their new album, "Losing Sleep" is out May 19th.
*Their new song "Under Control" is this week's iTunes Single of the Week. Download it free!

Favorite Lyrics: "I lost my faith in my darkest days, but she makes me want to believe. They call her Love."

The Script—Breakeven

Just this past weekend I was watching a music show on Saturday morning for a few minutes. I heard one of the Script's songs and knew I knew who it was but couldn't place it. They are an Irish pop band and released their debut album in August 2008. I think their main single right now is "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" (also really good). They are currently being featured on VHI's, "You Oughta Know." Check out their Myspace.

Favorite Lyric: "What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you; what am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up and you're OK."

A first grammar experience

As a ninth grader at South Hills Middle School, I, like all of my classmates, had to prepare a project for the annual science fair. Now I had participated in my share of science fairs and usually did pretty well. This year was no exception. After all, with my impressive display board, extensive researching and surveying and—no joke—food samples, how could I go wrong? I even made it up a couple rounds and got to bring my project to display at some sort of regional fair at BYU. (Today, I have no idea where on campus this science fair took place but I’m suspecting it was in one of those buildings that, well, actually focus on the sciences.…I didn’t spend much time in those.)

I don’t recall this experience for any sort of pompous motive. (Although a somewhat recent run-in with a classmate still recalled that I beat him out for first place at the science fair.) As impressive as that accomplishment is, the success in this science fair is not what I most frequently remember. Instead, my memories focus on the grammar.

Yep, although it was a science fair and I had quite a time experimenting about the connection between sight and taste, I have planted this experience in mind as the point where I first became concerned with the differences of “affect” and “effect.”

You see, while working on my display board during my first period science class, my teacher informed me that I had selected the wrong word for my title: "Does Sight Affect Taste?" I probably didn't know better, said OK and later printed out the other word to use. In class the next day, my teacher changed her mind and said she thought I had it right the first time. And she changed her mind at least a couple times more. (Today there is no question in my mind which is correct, but I have no idea which I started with or which I ended up using...I'm hoping it was the correct one. Looking back, maybe that's why I didn't advance after the regional round...)

In 9th grade, I had no experience with the fascinating grammar books I now routinely read. I knew "affect" and "effect" were commonly confused, but no one was really offering me any help to figure it out.

For the record:
affect: verb, indicating a relationship between two parts; to act upon or influence
effect: noun, a change; an outcome; something brought about by a cause

I think I've been pretty open about my grammar style and my take on those commonly termed "grammar snobs." As an editor, I constantly face the stereotype of a gloating editor dedicated to finding errors everywhere around her.

"Another editor. That thing behind his ear is his pencil. Whenever he finds a bright thing in your manuscript he strikes it out with that. That does him good and makes him smile and show his teeth, the way he is doing in the picture. This one has just been striking out a smart thing, and now he is sitting there with his thumbs in his vest-holes, gloating. They are full of envy and malice, editors are."
Picture and quote from "How to Make History Dates Stick," by Mark Twain

Any who know me or chat with me online could quickly see that I’m not quite that…intense.

I don’t question why not every one knows random things like capitalizing page with one number, but not multiple (Page 2, pages 3-7). And I'm OK that some people don't quite understand capitalization...that school subjects are not capitalized. (English, Spanish, French, etc. are languages.) I know commas can be confusing. (Even though we’ve all been dealing with them for who knows how long.) And I’ve participated in discussion after discussion in educational circles about the spiraling downward emphasis on grammar in schools.

All in all, I do think knowing and understanding grammar is important. But, honestly, I’m not sure if some teachers should be teaching kids anything about grammar. In fact, I think most of the confusion that high school and college students face concerning grammar can all stem back to incorrect and inconsistent methods taught by teachers who were confused themselves about the material.

How many of us can remember learning to do something one way only to have it corrected later? (I remember being taught in 1st grade to always capitalize the word “island.”)

Spring Cleaning—Digital Style

My personal project for last week was, sadly, cleaning out my Gmail inbox. Yes, it took me all week. And slowly I got my numbers down from more than 800 to its current 10.

Ah...it's nice. And it's been surprisingly easy to maintain. I have not reached more than 10 in the past 5 days. That's impressive for me!

I started doing this with the simple objective of getting things in order and ultimately seizing control of parts of my life that seem to be in utter disarray. Since I spend a lot of time on computers and, as a result, on e-mail, this seemed like the perfect place to start. It would be quick, easy, and take no extra effort—practically.

Of course I might just have to tackle my work e-mail account next. Yikes.

But, I started looking at exactly WHY I have had such a hard time keeping a neat, simple inbox in the past. I figured someone has to have done a survey about what your e-mail inbox says about you. And after a quick Google search, I found I was right.

Some of us are Hoarders. Some of us are Deleters.

Obviously I'm a hoarder. And, according to Jeffrey Zaslow's article "How You Handle Your Email Inbox Says a lot About You," here's what it means:

You are your inbox.

Take a clear-eyed look at how you answer or file each email. Notice what you choose to keep or delete. Consider your anxiety when your inbox is jammed with unanswered messages.

The makeup and tidiness of your inbox is a reflection of your habits, your mental health and, yes, even the way Mom and Dad raised you.

"If you keep your inbox full rather than empty, it may mean you keep your life cluttered in other ways," says psychologist Dave Greenfield, who founded the Center for Internet Behavior in West Hartford, Conn. "Do you cling to the past? Do you have a lot of unfinished business in your life?"

On the other hand, if you obsessively clean your inbox every 10 minutes, you may be so quick to move on that you miss opportunities and ignore nuances. Or your compulsion for order may be sapping your energy from other endeavors, such as your family.

Maybe those are generalities. But how do they really compare to you and your life? For me, I do keep my life cluttered in other ways. (Take a quick look at my bedroom...OK, uh nvm!) Plus, I love having a million things going on. But I do appreciate a bit of order too, especially in areas or parts of life that aren't entirely "mine." (i.e. I don't like other people having to deal with my disorganization.)

Another reason? This is a big one. I use my e-mail inbox (and also Google Reader) as a to-do list of sorts. I read an e-mail, think "oh I need to use/remember that later," mark it unread or star it and move on. Then things start to stack up and eventually I have hundreds of e-mails staring at me each and every day. (Did I also mention that I have nearly 200 e-mail drafts too? These are notes about anything and everything that I compose and save so I can access certain information any time.)

So this is probably why Danny Sanchez's (@dannysanchez) #1 tip on managing insane amounts of e-mail is to NOT use your inbox as a to-do list.

Using your inbox as a to-do list is the cardinal sin of e-mail. It is the key factor in slowing you down. And it makes your inbox a scary place to be.

Sanchez instead suggests you "port your action items to an actual to-do list." Makes sense.

As I said, maintaining my under-10 inbox has been easier than I expected. I just have to make myself do something with the e-mail right then!

Starting right here and right now, you’re going to process your email as it comes in, and as you’re done with each message, you’re going to either delete it or file it away in a folder separate from your inbox. This means your inbox will be completely empty—clutter-free!—on a regular basis. From here on in, think of your inbox as a temporary holding pen for stuff you haven’t dealt with yet. (Which, coincidentally, is the definition of “inbox.”) Once you make a decision or take an action on a message, move it out of your inbox. That way, you can see at a glance what email you have to process, and everything else is out of sight (and out of mind.)
From Gina Trapani's (@ginatrapani) "Simple Strategies to Clear Email Clutter."

I know a "clean" e-mail inbox isn't a big deal for a lot of people (although for many others it is), but hey, any step towards any type of decluttering is a good one. And I'm now more motivated to go on and tackle bigger projects: maybe some actual physical spring cleaning like my closet and perhaps our kitchen drawers!

Music Monday—My top rated

It's the second Music Monday on my blog...and I was trying to figure out who to write about. I have a few I want to feature but the timings not quite right for a few of my current faves. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to make it work now :) (I know that makes no sense because it's all a part of my weird thinking process.)

Soooo what am I going to do?

Well (in case my heading didn't reveal it for ya) I picked out some of the artists from my iTunes top rated and top played. The one thing is that I'm at home rather than at work where I spend a lot of music-listening time. And the two libraries probably reveal different stats. (For example, the most played versions at home hold the slow, mellow, stretching type of songs I listen to at night)...so maybe I'll do a work version in a couple weeks. :P

----

Debra Arlyn—Let it Go



This gal was one of my favorite finds last year, and I know I've mentioned her before. This song actually made it on the 2008 Summer Songs cd and I looove this song. Especially since we are changing seasons right now (at least weather wise...kinda).

Favorite Lyrics: Am I doing the right things, pursuing the right dreams; I'll go for a drive...The hardest thing for me to take, is for things to not move at my pace...I'm tired of the racing in my mind, so I'll leave it all behind...

Suggested link: Check out her iLike page (I like the Facebook application). Most of her songs are available to download. Do it!!!

Matt White—Love



Whoohoo for memories from my, uh, second concert. I liked a few of his songs for a couple years before he ended up coming to town with two other artists I liked...then I bought his cd and got a free pair of pants. Nice deal! You may recognize this song from a Burger King commercial, She's the Man, One Tree Hill, and others.

Favorite Lyrics: And I can feel it in your kiss; it just gives me tender bliss; What is love?

Making April—I Wrote This Song



Unfortunately I missed their concert here a couple weeks ago. Yea, I'm really sad. :( But this is one (of the many) of their songs from their EP they gave away for free last year that I really liked. I even told my little brother that his band should write a song like this...after all girls are always telling them they want songs about them. This is the perfect way!

Favorite Lyrics: I wrote this song about you, isn't that cliche of me to do. But it's nothing for you; the band just needed something more to play.

Suggested links: Myspace page and Twitter feed

Miley Cyrus—See You Again



Yes it's Miley Cyrus, but this is an AWESOME workout song. Seriously, it gets me going on the treadmill every time I need a little boost of energy. P.S. If you have any great workout songs, let me know! I'm always looking.

Favorite Lyrics: Oh woah woah (and, uh, the beat?)

Eric Hutchinson—Oh!



This is a song that grows on you...especially when you listen to it enough to have the words down flat. And those of you who have accompanied me singing in a car know that I'm not the best with lyrics. I have improved. I like singing the chorus of "Ohs" with a surprised emphasis, like you are figuring things out for the first time, like things are finally making sense.

Favorite Lyrics: I picked a pocket just to give it all back, Took out the license left the money intact. The man said "I wanna thank you" and I had to ask why. "That was the old me I was living a lie." And i said "Oh!"

Suggested Links: Myspace page, YouTube Justin Timberlake medley, and his new video for his next single, "Ok, it's alright with me." (This is the first of his songs I started listening to last year.) I like it's simplistic nature but with the words. Nice.



Sherly Crow—I Shall Believe



This is one of my favorite songs for stretching or just relaxing. Or for choreographing lyrical dances in my bedroom.

Favorite Lyrics: I do believe that not everything is gonna be the way you think it ought to be. It seems like every time I try to make it right it all comes down on me. Please say honestly you won't give up on me, And I shall believe

Joshua Radin—pretty much his whole album :)



(The song posted is Only You.) I honestly didn't realize I played his album this much. But I guess I do. And that's not even counting the hours I have it on repeat at work. So I guess this is me saying once again that you should buy his newest album, "Simple Times."

Favorite Lyrics: All I needed was the love you gave, all I needed for another day, And all I ever knew, only you.

Let me know what you think of these songs. And what are your top played?