Lately I've been thinking about the relationship between fathers and their children. This song came to my mind.
"You're living proof that dreams come true. I love you and I'm hear for you." This song brings tears to my eyes.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Amy Grant: More than just a singer
Those who know me know of my love for Amy Grant. Seriously. Literally everyone who's ever known me knows I love Amy Grant. It's just part of who I am.
You people probably could NOT care LESS about why I love Amy Grant so much. But I'm writing this post anyway...more for myself than anything.
Yesterday my roommate's friend started asking me about Amy, why I love her so much...what my favorite Amy song and album are...so on and so forth. I couldn't give him a real clear answer as to what my favorite song or album is, which got me thinking. I briefly explained to him that my love for Amy goes much deeper than enjoying her songs or her voice. While I do love those things, there's so much more behind my Amy Grant dedication.
There are a few reasons I've formed such a strong admiration of Amy Grant. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you'll recognize some of this from a post I wrote a couple years ago.
1....
***Many of you know me as the daughter of Chuck and Carla Hanchett. Or, if you don't personally know my mom and Chuck, you most likely do know that my dad, Brian Perry, passed away when I was 8 years old. Amy Grant, to me, represents the me that existed as the daughter of Brian and Carla Perry.
I was introduced to Amy Grant's music when I was...maybe 3? I used to say that my first encounter with her music was when I was 5 years old. My mom was pregnant with my brother and I distinctly remember my mom and dad buying her Heart in Motion album/tape and saying to Kayleen and me, "We're going to have a little baby in our home soon. And this tape has a song about a baby." We were excited...there was a song about our little unborn brother on that tape! My parents were referring to Amy's popular song Baby Baby which is about Amy Grant's daughter, Millie. Amy wrote it for/about Millie when Millie was only an infant. The record company made it into a love song. But, now that I think of it, I don't believe this was my first introduction to Amy, because my mom had Amy's "Collection" tape that I can remember listening to prior to Baby Baby. Anyway...I loved Amy back then because I wanted to be a singer, and I loved pretending I was her. I'd stand on the coffee table with a hair brush and just belt it out. Kayleen and I would request her on basically every car ride.
My dad liked Amy Grant. My mom liked Amy Grant. Our little family liked Amy Grant. We all listened to her together. So you see, she represents a part of my history that not many people know or are familiar with. The Brian/Carla Perry family. The days when my dad was not just a memory.***
2....
***My dad's death, and then my mom's second marriage to Chuck, were not easy for me.
When my dad got sick, he changed. He was not the same person. He was more impatient, more child-like...and my 6, 7, and 8-year-old brain just couldn't handle it. He wasn't my dad. But Amy...Amy was Amy. And she'd calm me. When everything else around me was changing, Amy Grant remained the same. I'd listen to Heart In Motion and my mind would go back to the simple days in Germany, when my dad was well and things were "normal." After my dad's death, she produced another album. I got it for Christmas, and of course, listened and listened and listened. Amy's soothing voice was familiar to me. And helped me during really, really hard times. She was my friend, and her words brought me comfort.
Sometime after my mom got remarried, I went through a really depressed period of time. It's not exactly easy to combine two separate families... I won't go into that with too much detail, but we'll just say there were a lot of changes, and I, once again, had a constant in Amy. Not only was there a constant in Amy, but she influenced me to express my emotions and feelings through music. I had remembered hearing her say in an interview something to the effect of, "I believe everyone can write a song; they're just intimidated by the idea, so they never try." I decided to put that theory to the test. I wanted to try. I borrowed my math teacher's guitar while I saved up my baby-sitting money for a year in order to buy my own. I learned simple chords and began to play Amy Grant songs. And then, I did it. I wrote my first song. And then my second, and third, and fourth, and a million. Amy was my inspiration. Because of my desire to play and write songs like she did, I had an outlet. I stayed sane. I developed my love of writing, singing...my love of artistic expression.***
3....
***I'm someone who tries to wear my heart on my sleeve. Actually, I don't try. It just comes naturally. I can't keep a lot of things inside. I talk about everything, good or bad. I try to be real. Transparent. Again, I don't really try. Often, to my own downfall, I'm too transparent. I can't hide what I'm feeling to save my freaking life. It can be really bad sometimes. There's good and bad about everyone's personalities and qualities.
But here's the deal. Amy Grant always seems real to me. Even when her music was kind of pop-ish and mainstream, she still wrote songs that meant something to her. She often says, "My mom always said, 'When you get on stage, sing something that matters.'" And she's tried to do that. You can hear the rawness and realness in her voice. She smiles while she sings. Sometimes she cries. You can just hear it.
Amy wrote this on her Facebook page the other day...and it represents exactly how I feel. "At some point in life you realize that some things really matter and some things don't. Living matters. Celebrating life matters. Seeing the value in hard times matters. Relationships and people matter. Faith matters. I feel like that's where my head has been while writing and recording this project." That project is her latest album, How Mercy Looks From Here.
Amy gets me. We're on the same page. At least, I think we are. Her music represents who and what I'm trying to be in this life. Real, raw, a good friend, a faithful daughter of God. ***
These three things leave out a lot of tender things...like fond memories made over Amy Grant music, concerts attended with friends and family, Christmas decorating, karaoke fun...all to Amy's music. But, I'll spare you all those little memories.
So, friends. Amy is much more than a voice, a lyric, or a tune. Call me crazy. Call me obsessed. Call me a fanatic. That's fine. Her music has, I believe, made me a better person. If I ever get to meet her one day...well, I'll probably pee my pants and blubber some random nonsense. Maybe I'll just print this out and hand it to her. Who knows. But I'm thankful for her dedication to creating real, raw, meaningful and good music. It's saved my life on more than one occasion.
You people probably could NOT care LESS about why I love Amy Grant so much. But I'm writing this post anyway...more for myself than anything.
Yesterday my roommate's friend started asking me about Amy, why I love her so much...what my favorite Amy song and album are...so on and so forth. I couldn't give him a real clear answer as to what my favorite song or album is, which got me thinking. I briefly explained to him that my love for Amy goes much deeper than enjoying her songs or her voice. While I do love those things, there's so much more behind my Amy Grant dedication.
There are a few reasons I've formed such a strong admiration of Amy Grant. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you'll recognize some of this from a post I wrote a couple years ago.
1....
***Many of you know me as the daughter of Chuck and Carla Hanchett. Or, if you don't personally know my mom and Chuck, you most likely do know that my dad, Brian Perry, passed away when I was 8 years old. Amy Grant, to me, represents the me that existed as the daughter of Brian and Carla Perry.
I was introduced to Amy Grant's music when I was...maybe 3? I used to say that my first encounter with her music was when I was 5 years old. My mom was pregnant with my brother and I distinctly remember my mom and dad buying her Heart in Motion album/tape and saying to Kayleen and me, "We're going to have a little baby in our home soon. And this tape has a song about a baby." We were excited...there was a song about our little unborn brother on that tape! My parents were referring to Amy's popular song Baby Baby which is about Amy Grant's daughter, Millie. Amy wrote it for/about Millie when Millie was only an infant. The record company made it into a love song. But, now that I think of it, I don't believe this was my first introduction to Amy, because my mom had Amy's "Collection" tape that I can remember listening to prior to Baby Baby. Anyway...I loved Amy back then because I wanted to be a singer, and I loved pretending I was her. I'd stand on the coffee table with a hair brush and just belt it out. Kayleen and I would request her on basically every car ride.
My dad liked Amy Grant. My mom liked Amy Grant. Our little family liked Amy Grant. We all listened to her together. So you see, she represents a part of my history that not many people know or are familiar with. The Brian/Carla Perry family. The days when my dad was not just a memory.***
2....
***My dad's death, and then my mom's second marriage to Chuck, were not easy for me.
When my dad got sick, he changed. He was not the same person. He was more impatient, more child-like...and my 6, 7, and 8-year-old brain just couldn't handle it. He wasn't my dad. But Amy...Amy was Amy. And she'd calm me. When everything else around me was changing, Amy Grant remained the same. I'd listen to Heart In Motion and my mind would go back to the simple days in Germany, when my dad was well and things were "normal." After my dad's death, she produced another album. I got it for Christmas, and of course, listened and listened and listened. Amy's soothing voice was familiar to me. And helped me during really, really hard times. She was my friend, and her words brought me comfort.
Sometime after my mom got remarried, I went through a really depressed period of time. It's not exactly easy to combine two separate families... I won't go into that with too much detail, but we'll just say there were a lot of changes, and I, once again, had a constant in Amy. Not only was there a constant in Amy, but she influenced me to express my emotions and feelings through music. I had remembered hearing her say in an interview something to the effect of, "I believe everyone can write a song; they're just intimidated by the idea, so they never try." I decided to put that theory to the test. I wanted to try. I borrowed my math teacher's guitar while I saved up my baby-sitting money for a year in order to buy my own. I learned simple chords and began to play Amy Grant songs. And then, I did it. I wrote my first song. And then my second, and third, and fourth, and a million. Amy was my inspiration. Because of my desire to play and write songs like she did, I had an outlet. I stayed sane. I developed my love of writing, singing...my love of artistic expression.***
3....
***I'm someone who tries to wear my heart on my sleeve. Actually, I don't try. It just comes naturally. I can't keep a lot of things inside. I talk about everything, good or bad. I try to be real. Transparent. Again, I don't really try. Often, to my own downfall, I'm too transparent. I can't hide what I'm feeling to save my freaking life. It can be really bad sometimes. There's good and bad about everyone's personalities and qualities.
But here's the deal. Amy Grant always seems real to me. Even when her music was kind of pop-ish and mainstream, she still wrote songs that meant something to her. She often says, "My mom always said, 'When you get on stage, sing something that matters.'" And she's tried to do that. You can hear the rawness and realness in her voice. She smiles while she sings. Sometimes she cries. You can just hear it.
Amy wrote this on her Facebook page the other day...and it represents exactly how I feel. "At some point in life you realize that some things really matter and some things don't. Living matters. Celebrating life matters. Seeing the value in hard times matters. Relationships and people matter. Faith matters. I feel like that's where my head has been while writing and recording this project." That project is her latest album, How Mercy Looks From Here.
Amy gets me. We're on the same page. At least, I think we are. Her music represents who and what I'm trying to be in this life. Real, raw, a good friend, a faithful daughter of God. ***
These three things leave out a lot of tender things...like fond memories made over Amy Grant music, concerts attended with friends and family, Christmas decorating, karaoke fun...all to Amy's music. But, I'll spare you all those little memories.
So, friends. Amy is much more than a voice, a lyric, or a tune. Call me crazy. Call me obsessed. Call me a fanatic. That's fine. Her music has, I believe, made me a better person. If I ever get to meet her one day...well, I'll probably pee my pants and blubber some random nonsense. Maybe I'll just print this out and hand it to her. Who knows. But I'm thankful for her dedication to creating real, raw, meaningful and good music. It's saved my life on more than one occasion.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Original EASY Paleo Recipe--Skillet Chicken
I made the following recipe up...randomly. I do that often. But this was good, to my taste buds anyway.
Need:
2 Chicken breasts
1 Onion, sliced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning (I honestly don't know how much I used)
Salt (same as the Italian seasoning)
1/2 C. Sun dried tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 C. Artichoke Heart OIL (as in, the oily sauce that they marinate the artichoke hearts in...I use Costco brand)
1/2 C. Sauerkraut
Pour the oily liquid into a skillet along with garlic. Get it hot. Add Chicken. You can cut the chicken up, or you can keep it whole. I usually keep mine whole, but it depends on how fast I want it to cook. Add onion and tomatoes after the chicken's been cooking a little while. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning and salt. I probably used between 1 to 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning...maybe more. Depends on my mood. :) Sate all of that together for...I don't know. 10 to 15 minutes maybe? Again, it will go faster if you cut up the chicken. Turn the heat to medium low, cover skillet with lid and let it all simmer up into a sauce type thing. Make sure the chicken is cooked through. Once cooked, add Sauerkraut right before you eat it.
YUM. Call me crazy...but YUM.
You could also add some chopped up artichoke hearts if you want. But those are some of my favorite things in the world, so I often have leftover oil with no hearts to actually use, because I've already eaten them all. :)
Let me know if anyone actually tries this. Maybe I'm just a wacko that likes crazy combinations. Or maybe, just maybe...I created a masterpiece! ;)
Need:
2 Chicken breasts
1 Onion, sliced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning (I honestly don't know how much I used)
Salt (same as the Italian seasoning)
1/2 C. Sun dried tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 C. Artichoke Heart OIL (as in, the oily sauce that they marinate the artichoke hearts in...I use Costco brand)
1/2 C. Sauerkraut
Pour the oily liquid into a skillet along with garlic. Get it hot. Add Chicken. You can cut the chicken up, or you can keep it whole. I usually keep mine whole, but it depends on how fast I want it to cook. Add onion and tomatoes after the chicken's been cooking a little while. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning and salt. I probably used between 1 to 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning...maybe more. Depends on my mood. :) Sate all of that together for...I don't know. 10 to 15 minutes maybe? Again, it will go faster if you cut up the chicken. Turn the heat to medium low, cover skillet with lid and let it all simmer up into a sauce type thing. Make sure the chicken is cooked through. Once cooked, add Sauerkraut right before you eat it.
YUM. Call me crazy...but YUM.
You could also add some chopped up artichoke hearts if you want. But those are some of my favorite things in the world, so I often have leftover oil with no hearts to actually use, because I've already eaten them all. :)
Let me know if anyone actually tries this. Maybe I'm just a wacko that likes crazy combinations. Or maybe, just maybe...I created a masterpiece! ;)
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