Third Annual Top 10 Song List

Wow. That is all I can say for this year in music. There were SO many good songs on the radio, I had a really hard time narrowing down what my absolute favorites were. I went back and forth and back again trying to make sure I wasn't leaving off something. As I am writing this I thought of another song I missed! Ugh, well, I may have a longer list of honorable mentions than I usually do, but without further ado, here they are. My top ten songs of 2010. I hope you will give them a listen!

10. Fallin' and Flyin' - Jeff Bridges from Crazy Heart - Jason and I saw Crazy Heart on our cruise in May and the music in this film was just great. I don't know why they can't write tunes like this for the radio. But I seriously love this line 'Funny how fallin' feels like flyin'...for a little while'. So true.

9. The Writer - Ellie Goulding - This song was on the target in Entertainment Weekly, and I had a hard time finding it online - not sure if it is on iTunes yet or not - but it was worth the search. It is such a beautiful ballad with great lyrics.

8. Crying Lightning - Arctic Monkeys - This song always has me grooving in my seat in the car. It is kind of a strange and freaky song about loving someone who is totally wrong for you. Haven't we all done that really?

7. The Cave - Mumford and Sons - I really liked Little Lion Man when it came out. Jason and I always would check the radio station when it came on if Isabella was in the car, to make sure it would be the censored version. =) So I got the album and I think this song is by far my favorite song on there. I love M&S's sound. How it is a little bit country (or bluegrass) and a little bit rock n roll. My favorite line? "Cause Iiiiiiiiiiii need freedom now, and Iiiiiiiiiiiii need to know how, to live my life as it's meant to be." I just feel it in my whole body.

6. The House That Built Me - Miranda Lambert - This song makes me cry every time I hear it. I am one of those super nostalgic people. Like when I go to stay in a hotel for a week on vacation, when I leave I have to give it one last look and feel a little ache in my heart to be leaving a place that I spent a week of my life. Weird right? But you can imagine how I feel about the house I grew up in. I still dream about that house when I dream of being home. We moved out when I was in middle school and yet that is still what my mind has in it as my house. I even dream about buying that house back some day. Again, weird right? But when I listen to this song, it makes me remember every detail of that house and just has me in a puddle by the end.

5. Justin Bieber - Never Let You Go - LOL, did you think I was serious? Sorry, I had to make sure you were still paying attention. I am proud to say I had to google JB to find the name of a song he sings.

The REAL #5. Something Beautiful - Needtobreathe - I bought this album at the beginning of the year and never listened to anything but this one song. My friend KC finally convinced me to listen to the whole thing, and it is a really great album. Through Smoke is especially convicting to me, but I still think this is my favorite song on there. The line that gets me when I am feeling less than worthy of God's love - "I know that I'm in reach, cause I am down on my knees, and waiting for...something beautiful".

4. Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machines - Heard this song on SYTYCD and it had me. I have listened to it, oh, maybe a million times this year. Nothing really to say about it other than it is just beautiful.

3. Help I'm Alive - Metric - Again, nothing deep to say on this one, but I LOVE it. If I listened to Cosmic Love a million times, then I listened to this one two million.

2. ONE - Yeasayer - The battle for the number one spot was a tough one. I could not get enough of this song this year. When it would surprise me on the radio, it was like Christmas. Even though I had it on my iPhone. Don't you find a song is so much better when it comes on the radio unexpectedly than when you play it deliberately? Anyway, I almost made this song number one. It's name would certainly have made it an obvious choice, but ultimately the number one spot went to.......

1. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit - I heard this song once described as munchkins on acid singing. It is an apropos description, but something about this song, I. JUST. LOVE. I love the music, the lyrics, the beat, the fact that I have no idea what the words in the opening mean, or if they are even in any language, but I LOVE it. I would highly recommend you listen to it a few million times.

Well, that is it. Disappointed? Did I leave off your favorite song of the year? Leave me a comment and tell me what yours was! Like I said, there were so many that didn't make the list that I loved, so here is my honorable mention list, in no particular order...

Chris Tomlin - Our God, Mates of State - Second Hand News, Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts, Miike Snow - Animal, Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em, Tim McGraw - Mr. Whoever You Are, Taylor Swift - Back to December

Happy New Year!!

Welcome Home

So our last portion of the Orlando training was Disney. Mike Scopa -from http://land.allears.net/blogs/mikescopa/ - recently wrote some articles about your 'hook' at Disney. Not the big things like seeing the castle or the Magic Kingdom sign when you get to Walt Disney World, but those smaller things that when you get there makes you feel like you are home at last. Well, mine is sort of literal. I just love when you get to the front desk at your resort and they say to you "Welcome Home". I just smile and say "thank you", sincerely. That is how I felt when I walked in to my room at the Boardwalk Resort and saw this on my bed. Ahhh, I am home. It had been a very busy and long week, and wasn't about to slow down, but at least I was home. =)

The first day we spent the whole day in a conference room just learning about all things Disney. Fun gifts to put in people's room and different ways to make our clients stay at Disney World just a little more magical. Right before lunch, as we were wrapping up that session, who should make a surprise visit? Well, I think you can see...


For a room of Disneyphiles, you can imagine the response. I won't say there were tears, well ok yes, there were tears.

After we finally got done with the 'school' portion of the day, we had the whole evening off to go to the Magic Kingdom!! Woohoo! Sharla and I took off and got as much done as we could. I love the way MK is decorated for the fall...


The next day we started out at Epcot in France. They had this whole breakfast set up for our little group before the park even opened. It was truly an enchanting experience. It was so quiet and peaceful and just a great experience.


Throughout that day we got to go and see so many neat things. We saw a bunch of stuff behind the scenes that I was absolutely not allowed to take pictures of, but one thing we got to see was their HR building. When you walk in, instead of seeing like pictures of the forefathers, these statues were all around the room...


So cute.

That night we finished off the evening in a room above the American Adventure for dinner. We could watch the Eat to the Beat concert out of the window and there were lots of hilarious shenanigans that took place. We were all given magic wands and then we were taken to Test Track, where we were taken to the front of the line and given a ride. Then we got to go to a dessert party for Illuminations and were given these amazing, what looked like 3-D, glasses, that made all the fireworks look like Mickey Heads. I don't even know how to really describe it, but we must have looked like maniacs because every time the fireworks went off, we all were like FREAKING OUT. People must have thought we had never seen fireworks in our life.

To end the night we were taken backstage in to a back entrance to Soarin'. I LOVE Soarin'. So to get an after hours private ride was a perfect way to end the week.

I was only gone for a week for this training, but it was so busy and intense, it felt like a month. I was so glad to get home, but it was a wonderful experience. I would never have been able to experience it without MEI and Mouse Fan Travel letting me be a part of their team, so thanks to them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally getting caught up on my blogging, so here we go!

Over Thanksgiving we went to Tyler to hang with my family. We had a photographer come and take a bunch of pictures of the family. My mom has been wanting to do this forever so we finally got it together.

Here is a picture of the entire bunch...



Another cute one - I like how Bella is giving me a hug. =)


A super cute one of Isabella and her daddy...


My sister and her husband had a bunch taken and I swear every single one was perfect.


Here is one that is similar to the one we used for our Christmas card. The Trent family!

Here is Isabella with her Nana and Grampa, who she now calls Bobo - or Bopa - depending on the day. I think I have mentioned how Bells loves ice. Her Bobo has started giving her ice with a splash of soda on it, so now the first thing she says when she sees him is "Ice?" Haha, we are working on moving over to juice instead of soda...


A sweet one with Bella and Bopa...

Universal Day

Ok, time to finish up my blogging about my trip to Orlando. Sorry it has taken so dang long!

We had one full day at Universal Studios. We got to tour all the hotels and then they took us to both parks and let us walk right on to all the best rides. It was a seriously fun day!

I was very impressed with the hotels on property at Universal. If I am being honest, their lowest price resort is actually almost as nice as Disney's Deluxe resorts. Now, that isn't to say it is cheap - nowhere near as cheap as Disney's value resorts - but it is cheaper than some of Disney's deluxe. I didn't get nearly enough pictures, but here is one of the pool at the Hard Rock. They have speakers under the water so you can still hear music when you are swimming!


In the lobby of the Hard Rock they have tons of music memorabilia, and if you don't know, I am a big Heart fan. They had this signed guitar there from them that I thought was pretty cool.


Here is a view of the Portofino resort. This is their premier property and is designed after the village of Portofino in Italy. It is a gorgeous resort and HUGE.

Here is the pool at the Portofino. Behind that stone wall is a cool water slide.

Another pic of the pool...


The Royal Pacific hotel is the lowest level hotel they have, and I didn't get any pictures, but it was still really nice. I think my favorite was the Hard Rock, but I would absolutely recommend any of these.

Buzz Report: Tom's of Maine

I have another buzz agent report for you guys! As you know, from time to time I am sent products to try out and to give my 100% honest opinion on. This time it was Tom's of Maine Wicked Fresh toothpaste. It was really a great product! They use all natural products to clean your teeth, and they are a very Earth friendly company so I love that! As far as the product itself, it worked great. I definitely felt like my mouth was super clean and fresh afterward. It is one of those that actually kind of burn while you are brushing, until you get used to it.

Another thing I like about it is that it is in a metal type tube. So when you start to roll it up from the bottom, it stays! Not like the normal plastic tubes. Now, as far as keeping your breath fresh longer and all that, I can't really say that I noticed anything to that effect, but it was at least just as good as my normal Crest toothpaste. So I would say, if you are looking for an eco-friendly product to add to your daily routine, I would absolutely recommend Tom's.