SCORE!

This post is not about sports or landing a hot guy or gal.

Tonight Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the Oscar for best original score for The Social Network. Take a listen to my favorite track from that movie. 

Without music, most movies would loose much of their emotional connection. 

I'll never forget the day Matt Singleton recommended I listen to a composer named Thomas Newman. Little did I know, I was already a fan of Thomas' work, Six Feet Under, Shawshank, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Pay it Forward and so on.

The reason why I like the track above and Thomas' work is because of the juxtaposition between dark and light. There is something devastating and hopeful about these songs.

I often listen to Thomas' music and think about my life.

Although it would be nice if Mr. Newman composed my life's musical score, I like sharing the role of score composer between God, myself and my friends. My Life as a Musical often looks something like this:

*Jason picking up his guitar from time to time to play and sing

*Listening to my favorite music in the car and attempting to sing like my idols

*Hearing many friends play and sing music that communicates God's love every Sunday

*Being a fly on the wall as my co-workers write songs

*Constantly having a song in my head

*Finding harmonies in every song I hear

What musical moments influence your life's musical score?

Just Dance

I was a dancer before I was a singer. 

I took dance classes for 13 years. I always got compliments on being a good dancer but I was really just a fast learner and a good performer. I fooled a lot of people. :)

So, dancing has been a HUGE part of my musical. I was on the drill team in high school, the Marshall Mavettes. hehe!

I love watching So You Think You Can Dance. Some insanely beautiful story telling happens on that show. 

Today, I thought I would have a little fun and reveal a top secret video of some of my friends and I playing, Just Dance. You will have to watch it four times to catch each performance. . . 

ENJOY!

The Power of Paper and a Pen

When I moved to Nashville I was working a temp job answering the phone so I had LOTS of free time during the day. I decided to serve in a ministry at Cross Point called Notes and Cards.

The Notes and Cards team sends encouraging notes to those who are in the hospital, sick, had a baby, a death in the family, etc. Sometimes I would know who I was writing to. Often I had never met the person I was sending a note to, but was thankful God gave me an opportunity to love on them in this way.

Last Friday I got a prayer card in the mail from my mom's church in Marshall, TX. It was from the Pastor.

Today, 4 more showed up in my mail box. Some people knew me and some did not.

 

I was reminded that sometimes a hand written letter or card means so much. Our fingers are better at typing now, but our hearts still long to received notes from someone's handwriting we recognize.

My Gran has never sent an email. She doesn't get on Facebook. She can't send a text message.

But she writes me letters.

One of the first things I looked for after the flood damaged our home was the letters I have saved from her.

So take a moment sometime soon and send a card or a letter to someone you love. I promise, it will make their day.

Innocent

Today, while listening to the special at Cross Point, a song by Taylor Swift, "Innocent", I couldn't help but think about the very first blog post I ever wrote. 

It was in September 2008. I was a guest blogger on Jenni Catron's blog. You can read the post here.

My heart re-lived these thoughts today.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite lines from "Innocent,"

"Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?
Always a bigger bed to crawl into
Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything?
And everybody believed in you?

It's all right, just wait and see
Your string of lights is still bright to me
Oh, who you are is not where you've been
You're still an innocent
You're still an innocent"

28

Today I turned 28. 

I was on my way home from a doctor's appointment this afternoon and noticed God's present to me. A beautiful sunset. I wanted to pull over so many times to capture it but caught the tail end when I got home:

The past couple of weeks have been hard. I've avoided my blog because I didn't want to complain or be negative (I care too much about what people think). I've struggled with anxiety again. It has felt foreign to me because I haven't felt anxious the past 6 months. Work has been very busy. I haven't felt good and have had some other health issue's pop up recently that have caused concern. 

While talking to one of my nurses yesterday she said something that gave me peace,

"Miranda, you are too young to be going through all this pain but you know what? 

You are going to be ok."

Today, I feel so loved. I got over 100 birthday wishes from friends and family. My boss sat me down and encouraged me as soon as I walked in the door. My pastor sent me birthday wishes all the way from India! My parents/in-laws made sure I knew I was loved and I received my gifts on time all the way from Texas! My friends started making plans to celebrate me. My husband has been the best friend/caretaker/encourager/partner/etc.!

28 is a year I'm excited about. I'm hopeful for physical healing. I'll continue to work on emotional and spiritual healing. I'm going on a mission trip with my husband for the first time. The Telford's may have a little one in the works by the end of 2011. :)

So, I can say with confidence that I'm definitely going to be ok. And maybe even more than ok. :)

Flawless

Last night I got to see The Civil Wars perform at the Basement in Nashville. 

After the show, I was swooning over the sounds, melodies, harmonies, textures, and tones I heard. And maybe I was swooning over Joy and John too. :)

You see, there is a lot of music out there these days. A lot of good and A LOT of bad. Creative art forms will never run out of content.

There are few singers who can:

*keep consistent pitch

*sing flawlessly while making it their own

Joy Williams is one of those singers. 

And John Paul White keeps up really well. :) 

You could tell that both of them have worked on molding to the other's phrasings.

Other singers I have witnessed do this well are:

-Alison Krauss

-And my friend Amanda Stott Young :)

I'll leave you with this cover The Civil Wars did last night. Being in a 90's Rock Cover band, I was totally having a moment here. :)