everything...by amylou

today's guest post comes from the super sweet miss amy lou, from amylouwho, who found her infinite wisdom in the chords and notes of music. thank you, amy lou!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone! My name is Amylou! I blog over at my little space called AmyLouWho.

When Courtney asked me to guest post, I was really honored. I love her blog and she has an amazing way with words. I always feel inspired when I leave her space! At first I was worried I might not have the words in me to fit in with this theme, but once I started writing, my words just flowed. I'm really thankful that I had the chance to write this post. I feel like this reprents my true self more than anything I've ever written before! Thank you for letting me share a little piece of my heart with you today.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Everything I ever needed to know, I learned from music. Music has taught me a lot about myself and this amazing life that we live!

I have learned that I am a singer and sometimes even a dancer. I won't profess to be a professional at either, but my mom does like to tell these stories about when I was very young that I think really show how much music means to me. Three years old and my favorite activity was plugging in a movie and singing along while I danced around the room. Sound of Music and Dirty Dancing were my favorite movies as a kid. (Don't worry. I had no idea it was even called Dirty Dancing or what it was about at all!) I just loved to ask my mom if I could watch "Baby and Johnny" dance or hear Julie Andrews sing at the top of her lungs. My love of music started young.

I got my first cassette player when I was about 10. It was just my Momma's hand-me-down that she didn't use very much and we only had a few cassettes in our house. I chose Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard" soundtrack and played it non-stop for months. I knew that I wanted to have a strong voice like hers someday. Soon I learned how to sing by ear. I didn't give up and learned more and more about music as time went on.


As a young teen, I wanted nothing more than to sing in my church praise team, and I was so excited when I got to join. I really studied songs. I have no idea how to read music theory and I failed to learn how to play piano. What I mean by studied is that I would print out lyrics and memorize them. I would feel the song out in my head. I sang alone in my room daily. Often, the first thing I would do when I got home from school was to turn my stereo on. I played the same song ten times in a row. Soon I learned what singing harmony, instead of melody meant as well, and then I could use my voice in a whole new way. Singing was something I looked forward to every Sunday morning, and while I'm not a member of a praise team anymore, I still usually sing my heart out when my ipod shuffles and lands on one of my favorite worship songs.


My love for music constantly changes and grows. I have a love for so many genres. My brother taught me that I could love Led Zeppelin and The Beatles just as music as I loved NSync growing up. Adele and John Mayer can speak what my heart is feeling just as much as Julie Andrews can. Third Day, David Crowder and Casting Crowns constantly show me how much my Jesus loves me. Each song and melody has a different message. Sometimes I can hear the same lyrics and they might have a completely different effect on me and what I take from them that day.


Lyrics become like my own thoughts. They make me think about love and life and the blessings that I have received. Days like those are when I know that God had something special for me for me to hear. I believe that he uses music to speak to my heart. It might just be our special love language, just between Him and I.


Music has taught me that I am a very passionate person. I love deeply especially for my dearest friends and family. My heart is big! Sometimes it teaches me patience and to trust in my Provider to take care of me through thick and thin. Other times I'm just filled with Joy! I have learned to enjoy the small moments in life and soak in the love around me. To appreciate each day. So when I say that I learned everything that I need to know from music, I guess what I'm saying is that He, my wonderful Lord and savior, really just teaches me so many things through it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thank you, girl! be sure to check out her sweet blog here.

everything...by amber blue bird

Today's post comes from the lovely amber blue bird, who found her lasting inspiration beneath the city lights:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It all began with an elegantly dressed Aubrey Hepburn casually eating a croissant in front of the world famous Tiffanys.  This simple yet decadent scene is what prompted my heart to flutter about for all things New York and thus began my plan to move to the Big Apple.  Being just a small town girl from Texas, this move was met with big eyed stares from my family and friends, but after years of pining the dream finally came true. 

On a warm September day, I boarded a flight (my first flight ever in my eighteen years of existence) and landed in that magical city to attend Pace University.  It was here that I learned one of many lessons, the first being what true friendship means.  I met my close knit circle of friends the first day of college and we remain inseparable.  From these girls I learned that an open ear can soothe all your problems, that honesty creates the strongest of friendships, ice cream is calorie free as long as you eat it out of the carton, and the only cure for a hangover is another night out.

New York also taught me what love is.  I met my now husband Kevin on our second day at college and we have been an item ever since (nine years to be exact).  We held hands for the first time on the Brooklyn Bridge, found “our” restaurant in Little Italy, and got engaged under the Christmas tree in Rockefeller center.  I learned what it feels like to be unconditionally loved, that in every argument there is a lesson to be learned, and leaving dirty socks on the floor even though the hamper is only three feet away is no reason to throw said socks in the trash.

New York really did become my ultimate teacher.  I truly believe that I discovered myself under its towering skyscrapers.  As my time in New York progressed so did my self confidence.  I learned that inside myself I held a confidence that could not be deterred, that I was a take charge kind of lady, that nothing is more important than your family and friends, and that my humor was the stuff of legends.   I learned all this and then some under those bright lights of New York City.

-

thank you, amber! be sure to check out her funny and fashionable blog!

everything...by gentri lee

hey guys! while i'm in new england this week, i've entrusted my space to a couple of fabulous bloggers, in a new little series called "everything i ever needed to know..."

this series will focus on the place, be it kindergarten, grad school, or that one hot bath on a tuesday two years ago, when it all just clicked. when looking back on it, that's where it happened. where a little bit of life's wisdom stuck around longer than usual.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to kick us off, please meet miss gentri lee and the place she's found lasting inspiration, hope and beauty:

Hello Courtney's lovely readers! My name is Gentri and I blog over at Gentri Lee. I am so grateful to be guest posting over here today. Courtney's blog is definitely a favorite of mine. Her writing is probably the most beautiful out there.
***
Today Courtney asked me to post around a theme. "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in..."
My answer:

Blogland

And I am not kidding. Just in the short time I've been blogging I've learned how to be more creative, and adventurous. I've learned photography skills, cooking skills, and healthy tips. Here are some examples.

Creativity:
{Head Band/ Collar}

{Craft Room Makeover}- ignore that ancient tv

Adventurous:
{The Hand Tram}

{Rock Climbing}- Something I always swore I would never do.

Photography:
{Lake Louise}

{Aly's Photos}

Cooking:
{Berry, Cinnamon Almond, Spinach Salad}

{White Chocolate Ritz Cookies}

In short, blogging has taught me more about myself. I've developed talents, interests, and skills I never knew I had. I've made friends from all over the world, and I now view the world for the beautiful and exciting place that it is.

So thank you to all of you bloggers out there, for helping me become a better person. For giving me inspiration, hopes, and dreams.

I hope that you can all stop by my blog. I'd love to hear from you and see what we can learn from each other. Thank you Courtney for your beautiful words and for letting me guest post. It was a wonderful experience. :)
Love,
Gentri

microscope heart : sarah

for this week's microscope heart series, i am so happy to introduce you to sarah, from desirous of everything. pretty sarah is living every english major's dream as a librarian in manhattan. she's quirky and cute and just the sweetest thing. her blog is a beautiful collection of musings, writings, and snippets of life with her love, alex. please do stop by and show her some love.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I try and recognize tiny things that make me happy on a daily basis if only for the reason that it makes life more fun!  Which is why I was so excited to try Courtney's Microscope Heart challenge.  When I sat down and thought about it, I found myself experiencing this weird paradox of not being able to think of anything, and then not being able to think of only one small thing to focus on!  Finally, I realized that for me, scent is one of those tiny little things that always make me happy.  Just this weekend, while spending time down the shore with my family, my dad made some amazing steamed muscles in a garlicky white wine sauce and the smell of it sent me over the moon with joy, even more than the taste I think.  I kept bending over and inhaling that big beautiful bowl of food.

I think when I stopped and smelled that delicious scent, it was really a moment of reflection.  Like my mind was able to stop for a minute and really appreciate what a great weekend I was having, how lucky I am to have family and friends that love me and yummy food to share with them over frozen margaritas, Ray Charles singing in the background and lots and lots of laughs.  My microscope heart moment came from a smell, but really, brought on so much more than that.

You know that old saying, "stop and smell the roses?"  I guess whomever came up with that really was on to something!  It's the smelling part that brings me an instant joy, but the stopping part is probably the most important.  A wonderful and delicious smell causes me to pause, breath in real deep, smile, and remember the things that are most important to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

thank you so much, sarah!

what's the smallest thing that makes you happy? i want to feature you! find out more here.

an open call for suggestions and travel tips

she is ready. after a few months of preparation, our new england road trip travel itinerary has been set. in a bulging one-inch binder complete with sheet protectors. i even broke out my special "birds edition" post it notes from anthropologie, the ones that cost as much as a new hardback book, for the occasion.

i've managed to condense the intricate details into very broad overviews of travel stops along our way, outlined below. we leave very soon!

and though the big plans are set, i've left a little room for adventure. for exploration. for back roads and little roadside diners. for spontaneity in a land unknown. the most fun we had on our west coast road trip last year was at midnight in a denny's near fort bragg, california.

**post edit: i totally realize the ben & jerry's headquarters is in VT. we've got it planned that way. sorry for the typo!

and here's where you come in! please, please share your new england must-sees. i'd absolutely love to hear them. because though i'm from the east coast, bear in mind that i am from a small town that only recently got a stoplight and a wendy's. and growing up, we only went to myrtle beach, and as lively of a time as that is, i'm certain you guys could show me a better one!

learning a lost art

she had the couch reupholstered last year. the one right by the front door, in a pearly shade of white. clean, like a sno-cone before the grape juice seeps into the cracks.

but no one really comes to sit there anymore, except her husband, when he needs to see the television. or stretch his legs. except the woman who lives next door, with a son not much younger than hers, in his fifties.

but in early evening, when the day's baking is done, when her grandson has gone home for the night and her husband's head is drooped down in slumber on the recliner, dolores sits there. under the lamplight around seven thirty. bathed and in her nightgown, with a heavier scent of powder than she wears for the daytime.

and she embroiders. tea towels. baby bibs. his and her pillowcases. old iron-on patterns she's kept since the sixties. new ones she found on sale at hobby lobby. she has to go slow, and it takes her weeks to finish one pattern. she has the shakes now, she says.

and robert's grandma has offered to teach me. how to embroider. how to choose the right shade of thread to make the bear's belly brown and the flowers pale pink. to make loop stitches and knots. once we get back from our new england trip, a weekly evening jaunt to her warm little house in the city is on my agenda.

it's a lost art, this sewing business. this making pictures out of string. but like the woman who relaxes to it, i'm convinced it only gets better, gets richer and more beautiful, with age.

in these memoirs or recollections there are gaps here and there, and sometimes they are also forgetful, because life is like that. intervals of dreaming help us to stand up under days of work. many of the things i remember have blurred as i recalled them, they have crumbled to dust, like irreparably shattered glass.

from what i have left in writing on these pages there will always fall-as in the autumn grove or during the harvesting of the vineyards-yellow leaves on their way to death, and grapes that will find new life in the sacred vine.

my life is a life put together from all those lives: the lives of the poet.

-neruda, memoirs