Mix Tape Tour

Before I get into this post, I just have to say, Heroes is the most inticing show ever.

Ok, now on to the post. Ask I mentioned in the post below, I've found a new blog to stalk. Clever Girl is hilarious and a little while ago she had a post displaying her ultimate mix tape. Go here to check out her mix tape and the explanation of why she took on this task. She, like I, has a huge connection to music. My life has been surrounded by music since, well in utero and before. So many songs have different meaning for me and there are many songs I hear that take me to a certain event or time in my life or remind me of certain people.

I, myself, have been known to create CD of songs that represent the fun had on trips, during certain year, etc., etc. Yes...lame-o. I know. Anyway, I thought I'd take my cue from Clever Girl and list what would be on my own "ultimate mix tape" if I were to ever make one.

(Note: I just spent an hour going through my iTunes looking for songs. This post is probably going to take longer than it should because I'm currently distracted by Heroes and The Hills.)

Clever Girl had 13 tracks are her mix tape. I'll have 13 plus two bonus tracks, if you will. Here they are in somewhat random order, along with a description of why they made it onto the list.

1. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", by Judy Garland, also covered by Katherine McFee - This is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's tied for number one with "Signed, Sealed, Delivered". As a kid, The Wizard of Oz was always in the VCR. I watched it at least once a week and it's considered a national holiday to me when it comes on cable ever year. I wanted to Dorothy Gail from the time that I first watched that movie and my dreams came true in high school. My senior year, I gave up my soccer dreams (it was the first year of girls' soccer) and went for the role of Dorothy. I landed the role (not because my mom was the director) but because I was just that good. Ha. Only kidding. One of my lifelong dreams came true that year when I was able to stand on stage and sing this song like I'd always dreamed of. It was one moment in time. Really.

2. "Thank You", by Ray Boltz - This song was dramatized at my church the day I became a Christian, so it will always hold a special place in my heart, or on my mix tape, if you will. Although I was seven, the words and the meaning of this song came through as clear as crystal to me. Or so I say. Basically, what was going through my head on this day, was that I knew who God was, I knew what Jesus had done for me, and I knew I wanted to go to Heaven one day because that's where Jesus was. Jesus was my goal that day, and he still is today. Although, it saddened me to hear about the controversy surrounding Mr. Boltz last week, I know that this song didn't come from him, just through him, straight from the mouth of God.

3. "It's Gonna Be Me", by Nsync - Yes, I knew every dance move to this song and I'm not ashamed. However, whenever this song comes on, I don't think, "Hey, I knew every move to this song." I think about a certain group of high school guy friends (who shall remain nameless) that learned every move to this song to perform at a lock-in. It was actually pretty good. You should've seen the practices. I still think I'm a good dance coach.

4. (This is a three in one deal, a medley, perhaps.) This is what I call the Beffie-Kate medley..."Beautiful Disaster/Bless The Broken Road/I'll Be Missing You" by Kelly Clarkson/Rascall Flatts/Puffy and the Gang - These three songs take me back to road trips with my bestie Bethany, or as I lovingly call her, Beffie. Whether it was home to Pensacola or to the sticks to visit her grandparents and other family, these songs (and others) always take me back to rides in the "So-not-a Sports Car" aka the Sonota. Song long, Sonota. You'll never be forgotten. I'll miss our stops at the rest area between Pensacola and wherever we were to change clothes.

5. "Love Song For A Savior", by Jars of Clay - Stephanie Powell and I had a fun little text message convo about this the other night when I heard it for the first time in about 13 years at the Music Builds concert. This takes me back to youth group days at DMBC and our little band called Dead Yesterday, or as Melissa Wharton fondly named them "Pots of Mud" (a little play on the fact that they covered Jars of Clay). Anyway, this song brings back major memories that I will only recall with Stuff (Stephanie).

6. "Inspiration", by Chicago (or basically anything by Chicago, REO Speedwagon or Billy Joel) - These songs always remind me of family vacation. I'm not sure why, probably because I demanded that Billy Joel and Chicago by played over and over and over again until the tape (yes, I said tape) broke. Why "Inspiration"? I don't know. It's just my favorite. This is the music I fondly refer to as "beach music".

7. "Rainbow Connection", by Kermit the Frog - Yes, folks. You read that right. This is linked to my last memory of singing with my girls in high school. I miss those girls. We could harmonize with the best of them, and I pride myself on being the "light-skinned" one in the group. This, along with the National Anthem, should have been recorded and sold. We were a great group. Shout out to Robbie, Jessica, Kaleshia, Latoria and Ashley P.!

8. "This Is How We Do It", Montel Jordan - Sixth grade, Lauren Brown's grandmother's house, we stayed up "late" to watch this guy do this song on Leno, I think. It's the only thing I think about when I hear this song.

9. "Hand Jive", Grease - Lana Nettles and me and our crazy dance to this song, skipping around the Gulf Coast Community College gym doing the lasso move at cheerleading camp. Everytime.

10. "Hero", by Mariah Carey - The first song I declared I would sing on stage. I don't think that I've ever actually done this one on stage, unless my favorite stool counts as a stage and my MySony microphone counts as a real microphone. I believe this was fifth grade and I received this "single" tape from a friend for Christmas. I don't think it lasted until February. It was played at least 10 times a day.

11. "Bunny Hop", by Da Entourage - I always go back to Casey and I trying to do the fasts steps like the other girls out of the dance floor. I always failed miserably, eventually running over people.

12. "Love Shack", by The B-52s - I don't think that I know the real words to this song anymore. It's so engrained in my head as a Kappa Delta rush song that I just spit out the KD words whenever I hear it and don't even know it.

13. "Get Ready", by The Temptations - This song, and just about any Motown song takes me back to Colonel's Classics days. (If you don't know what this is, just ask.) Our sponsors were always putting Motown songs into our scripts and it seemed to fit our class really well. I just have flashbacks of our guys attempting the choreography. Bert, Austin and Drew can do a mean "Poison Ivy" and "Jailhouse Rock". (Yes, I know those aren't Motown.)

Bonus Track #1: "Ironic", by Alanis Morsette - Takes me back to the seventh grade lunch table. Bert was obsessed with Alanis and when the rumor went around about Alanis committing suicide, we almost has to commit him.

Bonus Track #2: "Macarena" - This takes me back to two places. Eighth grade and Spring Break Cruise 2005. Amanda, Katelyn and I ran some good crowd control.