The Top Ten Theme Songs of My Life

By bobbi
July 2, 2014
2 Comments

Hey guys. I feel like I haven’t posted in ages. We had a great time in Lake Tahoe and I was not online much and that spoiled me. We’ve been home for a couple days but I still haven’t touched my computer . However, I thought it was time to get back into it, at least a little bit. Last night I went to go see the move Begin Again and it got me thinking about music. Then I saw that Jen asked us to share the theme songs of our life. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love music and I always have mental soundtracks that accompany the memories of my life. So here are my Top 10 theme songs that hold meaning to my life.

photo credit

~ 1 ~
The Childhood Years

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

When we were growing up, my parents liked to listen to the oldies station that played a lot of motown. I remember my mom telling me this was one of her favorite songs. I like this one because it seems to represent my parents early years of marriage. Barely 20 years old (or so) they had rough childhoods and their own demons to fight. Being the oldest, I best remember the early years and the troubles they faced. God was not an active part of their lives then and you could see the effect. They struggled. But as the song says…

Listen, baby
Ain’t no mountain high
Ain’t no valley low
Ain’t no river wide enough, baby

If you need me, call me
No matter where you are
No matter how far
Just call my name
I’ll be there in a hurry
You don’t have to worry

God was always there beckoning them, calling them, ready to fly to their sides if they called out to Him. Thankfully, they did. God’s grace healed their relationship, healed the issues they were facing and breathed new life into our family. God became the center and we slowly learned to live for Him. As the years passed and more babies came (eventually 9 kids) mom and dad’s love grew even stronger. There was no valley low enough to keep them apart from one another. After 45 years of marriage, they are going as strong as ever… still loving and still feisty. They are a living example of how God’s grace can completely transform a life.

~ 2 ~
The Teen Years (TIED)

Love Song by The Cure

Suedehead by Morrissey

You get two songs for the price of one because I had a ridiculously difficult time narrowing it down to one song since there were numerous tracks dominating my headphones. Runner ups were The Smith’s Ask, New Order’s True Faith, Depeche Mode’s Policy of Truth and Psychedelic Furs’ Heartbreak Beat. Back then these songs were the soundtrack of driving around So Cal. Now they are the playlist I use to scrub toilets, do laundry and wash countless dishes. My how times have changed. 😉

~ 3 ~

Young Adult – The Dark Years

Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails

The song itself is not really bad but the memories that come with it are not good. They conjure up the years I fell away from God and into sin.

~ 4 ~
Young Adult – The Reversion Years

Confession by John Michael Talbot

I think the lyrics say it all. (I started crying again just posting it here.)

I see a struggle now within
Alive in my soul
As I’m dying to sin
I do the things that I hate
So I hate what I do
Who will deliver me?
But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ
For there is no condemnation at all

This is the message we have heard
We have seen with our eyes
We have touched with our hands
The Word of life appeared
The Word became flesh
The Word dwelt among us
The Word of life
The God of light
And in Him there is no darkness at all
If we claim to have fellowship with Him
Yet we walk in the dark
We live in a lie
If we claim to be without sin
We deceive ourselves
The Word is not within us
If we confess our sins and cry out to God
He will forgive and purify our human hearts
For those who are in Jesus Christ
He has given us of the Spirit of God

I see a struggle now within
Alive in my soul
As I’m dying to sin

~ 5 ~

Young Adult – The Discernment Years

Dreams by the Cranberries

As the song says…

Oh, my life is changing everyday,
In every possible way.
And oh, my dreams, it’s never quite as it seems,
Never quite as it seems.

My 20’s held the most changes in my life. After my reversion and coming back to God, He completely changed my heart. I then contemplated a religious vocation. It was very difficult for me because my dream was to always be a mom one day and to give that up was almost more than I could bear. However, I knew that I owed everything to God and if this is what he wanted of me, than I would follow. Like Abraham, God only wanted my willingness to sacrifice my Isaac. In the end, I realized I was called to the vocation of marriage. This song represents those years of waiting and yearning for The One. I never thought my dreams could be so completely fulfilled until I met Brian. He was everything I dreamed of and then some.

~ 6 ~

The Dating/Long Distance Relationship Year

Return to Me by Dean Martin

Brian and I met online in November of 1998. We met in person in April of 1999. We were engaged a few months later. Up until one week before the wedding at the end of that year, we were separated by 400 miles. It was very difficult, to say the least. Brian sent me a cassette (remember those?!) of a Dean Martin album with special emphasis on this song. 🙂

~ 7 ~

The Honeymoon Years

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

I was finally married to the man of my dreams. Need I say more?

~ 8 ~

The Motherhood Years

Hey Mama by Mat Kearney

Motherhood did not come easily for me. After we were married it took us a year to conceive Bella. The next six years brought us secondary infertility and two babies lost in miscarriage. Thankfully, we found out about The Creighton Model of NFP along with a great NFP teacher and doctor who helped us figure out the problem and a solution. The result? Three bouncing bambinos within the next six year span. God is good.

This song fills me with nothing but good memories because we listen to it all the time as we are driving in the car or when I am cooking dinner and they are “breakdancing” on the kitchen floor as they yell, “Hey mama! Look at me.” Happy sigh. “I’m looking, sweetie. I’m looking.”

~ 9 ~

The Cancer Years

Hold You Up – Shane Harper

I’ve posted this song on the blog before but it still means a lot to me. Here is a portion of the lyrics:

When it’s coming apart, you had it all.
It wasn’t enough. No, it’s not enough.
They tell you it’s not worth the price, so just let it go.
But you know you can’t. You know you won’t.

It’s not easy, no.
Finding the words to say.
When you’re feeling lost, you’ll find your way.

The world is so broken and sometimes it leaves you cold.
At nighttimes you can’t feel the fire to guide you home.
The demons will harm you and try to steal what you know.
But the angels, they brought you, and they’re gonna hold you up.
They’re gonna hold you up.

They see the fear in your eyes, heart sinks like a stone.
‘Cause when you’re afraid, it weighs on your soul.

It’s not easy, no.
Finding the words to say.
When you’re feeling lost, you’ll find your way.

* * *

I love the lyric “The demons will harm you and try to steal what you know. But the angels, they brought you, and they’re gonna hold you up.”

When I am feeling overwhelmed and am stressing out I am tempted to lose it, I can give into my weakness and the negativity in my head and allow the demons to steal what I know – that God is with me. That he is strongest when I am weakest and He can accomplish amazing things. If I am docile in the hands of God and surrender to him in the little things, as well as the big things, He will hold me up and carry me through. That is especially timely these days. 😉

~ 10~

Modern Day

Pompeii by Bastille

The current soundtrack of my life is the entire Bad Blood album by Bastille. I’m addicted to every song but the one that touches me the most right now is “Pompeii.” When we found out that Brian’s cancer came back in January, I felt just like this…

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You’ve been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Our life has been turned upside down with his cancer, but there are moments when we are lost in our love and we forget what we are battling. It has brought us closer together and with only one chemo cycle left, I am optimistic about our future.

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram. 😉

PPS – Some of the links on this post may be affiliated links.

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7 Quick Takes (3/8/12): Conclave, 80’s Music & Daylight Savings Time

By bobbi
March 8, 2013
1 Comment

The kids are home today and need some lovin’ so I need to make this short and sweet.

~~ 1 ~~

Come, Holy Spirit – It seems that all Catholics have on their mind right now, besides Lent, is when will the conclave start and who will be our new Pope. There is to be an official announcement in Rome at 7 PM their time. EWTN will be live at 2 PM…(hold on)

Okay, how crazy is this. I was checking twitter to see what time zone it was and up popped that the Vatican has officially announced that the Conclave will start on March 12th. How is that for up to the minute breaking news? And you thought I only shared recipes, photographs, and random useless pieces of information. (Don’t fret, you’ll still find that in QT #2-7.) 😉

~~ 2 ~~

I Love Waking Up Early, She Never Sayeth – This weekend is Daylight Savings Time. I would like to share with you exactly how I feel about DST but I am going to confession tomorrow and I already have a hefty list of sins and don’t want to add swearing to the list.

So forget what I think and hear it from medical professionals instead.

Study Shows Daylight Saving Time Change Increases Your Risk for Heart Attack

~~ 3 ~~

Happy Day – Bonnie over at A Knotted Life is having an awesome O Happy Day Giveaway. I don’t know what I am more excited about – the mix tape or the chocolate chip cookies. And the scarf is muy bueno! (Yeah, I’m a Mexican that can’t actually speak Spanish. Go figure.) I debated whether or not to tell you about this contest because I want to increase my chances of winning by having as few entries as possible, but Lent calls for sacrifice so there you have it. Go over and enter!

~~ 4 ~~

Flashback Weekend – Speaking of mix tapes, do you remember those, children of the 80’s?? My sister BC and I would put together the most awesome mix tapes! We had a mellow mix that we’d play as we went to sleep in our room with posters of The Smiths smiling down on us. Sigh. Now, instead of mix tapes we have playlists, which I also love. One of the songs on my flashback playlist just turned 30 this week. It’s New Order’s Blue Monday. Remember that? Although, my favorite New Order song remains True Faith. Don’t believe me? Just call my cell phone and listen for the ring tone. (Unless you are BC, then your ring tone is “Suedehead.” ;-))

The video is bizarro, even for the 80’s but the song still rocks.

~~ 5 ~~

On Repeat – And speaking of electronic sweetness, I heard this song in a movie I saw last week and I can’t get the tune out of my head. (It also doesn’t help that I am listing to it as we speak.)

~~ 6 ~~

Is That Funny…or Sad? – I just realized that every post I’ve made this week – and I posted each day! – is a link up. That’s right.

On Monday I linked Catholic Woman’s Almanac with Jenny.
On Tuesday I linked Meatless Meals with Beth Anne and Astoria Girl.
On Wednesday I linked Five Favorites with Hallie.
On Thursday I linked Theme Thursday: Piles with Cari.
Today I am linked these Quick Takes with Jen.

So when I say that I love me a link up, you know I am not exaggerating! 😉

~~ 7 ~~

Down for the Count – Well, the next post I make will not be a link-up. I still want to do some Downton Abbey news and share some of the things I’ve been learning on my Lenten journey, including getting up earlier for prayer time. I think my desire to sleep and my need to pray is going to have a knock out brawl once DST hits. We’ll see…

Have a great weekend! xoxo!

7 Quick Takes (3/1/13): Spring, Mumford & Sons and Unplugging

By bobbi
March 1, 2013
7 Comments

~~ 1 ~~

Good bye, Holy Papa – It was so odd yesterday seeing Our Holy Father knowing that it would be the last day he’d ever be our Pope. But it’s even stranger today – the first day without a Holy Father at the wheel. I know some people are completely freaking out over end times but the Holy Spirit has been guiding the Church this long, I know He will continue to guide us. However, we still need to pray for the upcoming conclave, for our new Holy Father, and the Church in general. If you like novenas, check out the one Brian put together – Novena for the Papacy.

And if you haven’t seen it already, Dorian Speed put together a great website explaining the process of electing a new Pope. Check it out at ElectingthePope.net.

UPDATE: I just saw the website for Adopt A Cardinal.org. You can sign up and you’ll be given the name of a Cardinal that you will pray for before and during the conclave. I picked one for our family and we will be praying for Cardinal Backis form Lithuania. 🙂

~~ 2 ~~

Spring Is Here. So Are My Allergies. – Happy first day of March! (Although, I’m still trying to figure out what the heck happened to January and February.) My blooming flower photo that I posted yesterday was pretty but it also came with a price. Everything, and I mean everything, is covered in yellow pollen – the trees, the plants, the deck, our driveway, our cars. Oh man, the cars! I wash the car and the next day it is completely covered again. Don’t believe me? Here is the photo of my car window.

No bueno. I’m going to sneeze just looking at it.

~~ 3 ~~

National Day of Unplugging – I was listing to the radio this morning and they were talking about today (actually tonight at sunset) being the National Day of Unplugging. The website says:

The National Day of Unplugging is a 24 hour period – running from sunset to sunset – and starts on the first Friday in March. The project is an outgrowth of The Sabbath Manifesto, an adaption of our ancestors’ ritual of carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones.

And from SabbathManifesto.org

The Sabbath Manifesto is a creative project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world. The Ten Principles:

Avoid technology.

Connect with loved ones.

Nurture your health.

Get outside.

Avoid commerce.

Light candles.

Drink wine.

Eat bread.

Find silence.

Give back.

Hmmm…that sounds exactly like what we Catholics are supposed to be doing on the Sabbath Day! (Although our bread and wine taken at Mass also becomes the Body and Blood of Christ) but I for one needed the reminder and think I will join the day of unplugging!

~~ 4 ~~

Thou Shall Not – It’s also funny that I saw this just after I wrote this morning’s post – The 10 Commandments for the Digital and Social Media Age. Here are the first three.

I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or blogging before Me.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God as OMG.
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day and dare to unplug. (Coincidence?? I think not!)

(Read the rest of the commandments here.)

~~ 5~~

Better Late Than Never – I’ve been craving some new music lately and I asked Brian for Mumford & Son’s Babel for Valentine’s Day. Usually I just download music but I knew he wanted to get me something tangible that I could open. First of all, I’ve heard a few of M&S’s songs and enjoyed them but it was not until “I Will Wait for You” that I was truly blown away. (Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m always a day late and a dollar short but I eventually get there.)

Seriously, the song can still bring me to tears. I was reading an article by Cathleen Falsani and she talked about the emotional effect the song had on her during a difficult time in her life. She says:

In the midst of a roiling sea of emotions, I find myself clinging to faith like a life raft, while simultaneously wondering desperately what God’s up to in all of this tsouris, as my rabbi friend might say.

Perhaps that’s why “I Will Wait” put a lump in my throat and filled my still-sleepy eyes with hot tears. The author Frederick Buechner says that we should pay careful attention to the things that bring about such reactions, because they are signs that the holy is drawing nigh.

Wow. I don’t know what the lyrics meant to M&S but it can be seen as a prayer by the listener. Either way, Babel is played continuously in the house. I’m completely taken. 🙂 (NOTE: There is some bad language on a couple of songs, I usually skip those.)

My other point about their album is that I forgot how much I used to loooove getting a new CD and getting cozy while I read through the CD booklet and pondered over the lyrics and how the artist chose to express themselves. I used to fondly read over the dedications and credits… (Now, that I think about it, maybe I didn’t have much of a life back then.)

Anyway, when I opened the CD and saw all the words and the photos I ran to the couch and got cozy as I read through some pretty amazing lyrics, particularly poignant if you are a believer. It was like relieving my youth, except that this time there was a kid trying to color on me with a marker, another kid spilling his milk on me and another kid waving his stinky diaper in front of my face. Good times. Good times.

~~ 6 ~~

I Prefer My Mac with Cheese – Speaking of music, the kids are now at an age when they are paying attention to the music I have playing in the car or in the house so I have to be extra careful that it is family friendly (not that I really listen to anything “bad” but you know what I mean.) I’ll often have the local Christian station on and one of the artists they particularly enjoy is TobyMac. I have never really been into his music but for the sake of the kids I downloaded his newest album Eye on It. Okay, I’ll have to admit that the album has grown on me and I actually love many of the songs. The one we all love right now is “Me Without You.”

(Not an official video but you get the idea.)

So if you see a gold minivan in Cali with singing occupants consisting of a mom, three little boys and a tween girl pretending not to love it, you may just be passing by us. 😉

Oh, and if you have a favorite artist you think I should check out, let me know!

~~ 7 ~~

If You Aren’t A Regular (Why the heck not? ;-)) – Okay, time to get off the computer. I’ve got a serious pile of laundry waiting for me. It’s actually been a big posting week for me. If you haven’t been around, here is what you missed.

Meatless Meals: Matthew’s favorite minestrone soup and the chance to link up your post where you brought a Pinterest idea to life.

Theme Thursday: Happiness is a photo journal of things that bring me joy. (Hosted by the infamous Cari.)

Lenten Ideas we are doing in our home.

The 10 Commandments for the Digital and Social Media Age (But I already mentioned that one, so never mind.)

Have a blessed weekend and dare to unplug tonight!

7 Quick Takes: Mommy Burnout, The Fair, Beach Boys & Identity Theft

By bobbi
August 31, 2012
1 Comment

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Motherhood Can Kick Your Butt – During those early weeks of August when I took a blogging break I had on my list of Quick Takes Ideas this topic: “Motherhood is !@#$% hard.” At the time I was going through a mommy funk. I mean, I loved my kids and all but I was fed up with all the bone-aching tiredness and emotionally draining moments that have me praying for bed time. In fact, on my birthday when I was blowing out the candles and everyone said, “Make a wish!” do you know what my wish was? “Lord, I just want to be happy again.” I can laugh at it now since I am out of that slump but I honestly meant it.
Do you know what helped me out of it? During that time there were at least three of my regular mommy bloggers that I follow (and look up to) that shared that they were going through a mommy funk and/or shared about how hard being a mom can sometimes be, whether it was dealing with a major cross or just dealing with yet another explosive diaper. The mere acknowledgement that I am not alone in this fight was enough to help me refocus, regroup, and recharge. God’s grace kicked in and it helped my birthday wish come true. So if you are having a rough day, hang in there. You are not alone.

– 2 –

Fair Days – This is our last week of summer vacation for us and we have been trying to take advantage of it. Yesterday we all played hooky, Brian included, and spent the day at the county fair. We had so much fun and it was an extra treat since this is the first time Brian has ever attended with us. We usually go on the “kids are free” day while Brian is working but he was able to get the day off at the last minute so he could join us. We went on rides, played games, and ignored the calories and fat content in the homemade corndogs, ice cream cones and the smoky goodness of Big Bubba’s BBQ feast. (Although I still don’t get the appeal of deep fried candy bars and cookies. But then again, I also don’t quite get what grits and hush puppies are. Maybe I need to expand my Cali native horizons. 😉

– 3 –

A Surfing Summer (without the surfboards) – As I mentioned before, this has been a Mat Kearney summer but there is another band the kids (well, the boys really) have recently been into – The Beach Boys. It all started when they saw the trailer for Despicable Me 2. We loved the first movie and have watched it a number of times. It is really cute, despite the few instances of “potty humor.” Anyway, they saw the trailer that has the minions singing the Banana song to the tune of the “Barbara Ann.”

I told the kids that the tune was actually from a song by the Beach Boys and that they are one my dad’s/Grandpa’s favorite bands. Furthermore, when I was little he used to sing along to “Barbara Ann” but he change the words to “Bobbi Ann” (I used my full name back then.) Of course they wanted to hear the real song and from there, they were hooked. So we’ve had quite a few surfing tunes playing over the last few weeks. Here’s a little Surfing USA fun to end your summer.

(Hey, didn’t the guys on here get the memo – you are supposed to be wearing your baggies not skimpies!)
Actually, any Beach Boys song reminds me of my dad. And when I am missing my parents I’ll listen to Motown. (If I’m missing my mom specifically I’ll watch I Love Lucy.) But the music just takes me back to fun times when they were cooking in the kitchen and dancing around and having fun embarrassing us. (I secretly loved it.) Their playful spirit and ability to laugh is something I treasure. To prove my point, yesterday my parents celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary and what did they do? They went to Disneyland! I love it. Next to the grace and mercy of God, I think it is their laughter that has held them together this long.

– 4 –

Plugged In – The other day I was at the computer store getting Brian’s little netbook fixed and I saw the book Good Night iPad, which is a parody of the classic book Good Night Moon. Being a digital family, I thought it was hilarious. If you use an electronic reader instead of paperbacks, are attached to your ipod, find joy in facebook, twitter and instagram, have kids that can whip your butt at Angry Birds and have toddlers that are proficient in the use of iPhones and iPads, then you will enjoy reading this book! Check it out.

– 5 –

You’ve Got to be Kidding Me – Which reminds me, did I ever tell you about my credit card being stolen? A couple weeks back we were trying to use our card but it kept getting declined. I called the credit card company and they put a hold on our card so they could verify a few purchases. They wanted to know if I happened to spend $2,000 at Chanel? Or (brace yourselves) $8,000 at Neiman Marcus? WTH? All you kidding me? No, that was not me! I asked the credit card guy how the purchases were made and he said it was a store purchase with a physical card. I told him that we had our cards in our wallets and never lost them so how did they get it? He said there are lots of ways to get our info and make “new” cards with my number. Anyway, the guy was really nice and removed the charges from our account and told us not to worry, that they’d take care of everything and they did. Brian said the thief should have spent that much money at Target and then no red flags would have been raised. Touché.

– 6 –

I Need an Identity Theft Superhero – Meanwhile, when I was at the computer store (it was around the same time) I was talking to the computer guy about my card info being stolen. He said one of the popular ways to steal credit card info is by using RFID identity theft. This allows the thief to not even touch your card. You simply need to be within his vicinity while he is scanning your info through radio frequencies. I look it up online and there are tons of articles about this form of theft. I don’t know if that is what happened to me but it freaks me out a bit. I love technology and how it helps our lives but there is always a dark side too.
Funny thing is that a day or two after all this happened, I saw an ad in a magazine for RFID blockers that you can put in your wallet. They also sell RFID blocking wallets and purses to protect your identity. I would have shrugged all this off as paranoid but now I am not so sure!

– 7 –

Mamarazzi Moments – Okay, but enough with the drama. I’ll end this Quick Takes with a few photos from yesterday.

I love my boys even though none of them inherited my love of roller coasters. They all wanted seats on the carousel that did not move up and down. Oh well.

Andrew & John-Paul

Matthew wants to know when he gets to ride in the car.

I think this was the boys’ favorite ride.

Mama tried to squeeze into this one.

The boys were tired of photos. They wanted more rides.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

7 Quick Takes (7/28/12): Saturday/ Olympics 2012 Edition

By bobbi
July 28, 2012
No Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Did you watch the Opening Ceremonies last night? What did you think? I enjoyed it, even if a few moments seemed a bit odd. (Giant baby, anyone?) The James Bond bit was genius and I loooved the music montage although I am still upset with NBC for bloody breaking to a commercial during some of the best songs. (Did they really cut out The Clash??) At least I got to hear New Order. It was enjoyable none the less and thankfully I was able to sleep in this morn since I didn’t get to bed until after 1AM

– 2 –

It was fun to see the cast of Downton Abbey excited for the games to begin!

Source: https://twitter.com/hughbon

– 3 –

Even more than the sport itself, I love getting to know the stories behind the athletes and picking favorites to root for. I enjoyed this little clip of Athletes to Watch from the Today Show.

– 4 –

Like many, my favorite sports to watch are gymnastics and swimming. I thought it was really cute when the swim team made a video to the song “Call Me Maybe.” (Although, I would have enjoyed it more had they not picked such an annoying song. 😉

– 5 –

Speaking of songs, some people have been complaining that “Survival” (the official song by Muse) was too theatrical. I thought so at first but after a few listens it grows on you. Plus, when you combine it with this montage of Olympic athletes, it fits perfectly.

Okay, if that doesn’t motivate me to get off my butt and get some exercise nothing will! I’m adding it to my beach walking playlist so I can listen to it as I am climbing up those sandy dunes of death. (Or as normal, fit people call them, the small sand hill leading to the parking area.)

– 6 –

Before the Olympics started yesterday I was watching the 2012 Trials of Jordyn Wieber with Matthew. He was fascinated by her, particularly the balance beam and tumbling routine…

– 7 –