Favorite Things

My husband. The one who drums on me.

My fun and fabulous friends and family.


This is James and I drinking Cafe Creme in Paris.


Grammie.. the one who hums.




These are my friends.. the ones that go to Olive Garden with me.



This is us playing games.





My sister Jesse. Doesn't she look hot in her shoes?







My family at the Montgomery Biscuits game









Sisters



A long time ago when we went to New Orleans. We love zoos and Aquariums...



What my house looks like on Christmas.



Samuel...The samwise gamgee





Hello everyone,


Today my blog will be light and upbeat....it's all about my favorite things. This may seem rather self indulgent but I don't care. I hope it brings insight and some clarity into who I am so that as you listen to my music, you will feel maybe slightly connected to me. Which leads to my first favorite thing....

1. Buddies. Let it be known that I have coined the phrase "Life is better with a buddy." It's true, I can't think of any situation where I don't like having a friend. I made a buddy at my substitute teacher orientation and it made the whole 3 hour experience that much more bareable. I shared with her the pop tart I smuggled in, she lent me her pen. It was a good experience. So...I love my friends. I am blessed to have really, really, good ones. I measure this qualtitatively and here is the scale: Will they go to Olive Garden with me? Do they hug me when I'm sad? Will they listen to me about all my Lost theories? And I'm lucky, because yes... there are people in my life that do these things.

2. Samuel Shadinger is one of my favorite things in life. He's my maltipoo, but he looks just like a maltese. I have never had a pet until I was 26. I had an eel once for a day when I was 10 and he ate my brother's fish Zorro and so I had to take him back the next day. Tragic experience. So I love it when Samuel has to sleep touching me. He either rests his back to me or puts his leg on me. I love it.

Ok, so I going to stop numbering things and just list them:

Cool side of the pillowcase

Olive Garden

Epic movies like Lord of the Rings (I read all three books after seeing just the first one)

Good mysteries like LOST and 24. But Lost is the real love of my heart. Sayid.... amazing

Christmas: My mom's christmas dishes, real christmas trees and christmas music, all our ornments from all over the world (especially the pearl and diamonds ornaments that Gigi made. )

A good cup of tea: I like mine with milk and a little sugar and my husband makes the best tea in the universe. This is why I married him... I mean in the universe.

Waking up and than realizing I don't have to get up and going back to sleep.

Sleeping, especially in my sheets...They are heaven. I have even asked God to have those sheets in my house in heaven. He can do it you know... He made everything.

Having my friends over for dinner so I can use my cool dishes and practice cooking. I also like really unique table cloths and I love setting up my table. I have these cool cups and saucers that are part of my every day china, and it reminds of being in a cafe in Europe drinking Cafe Creme. Every coffee beverage is served with a cup AND saucer. I like it.

I love it when my husband plays drums on me.. On my arm or leg or whatever.. He finds the rhythm in everything and then plays it on me.

Games...Group games or one on one games of scrabble with my mom. I just like games.

Really cool clicky keyboards or buttons. Like on a phone or computer...

All things muppet....Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper ..

One dollar gambling tickets that I am only allowed to get when I'm traveling.

Mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and gravy and rolls in gravy...pretty much Thanksgiving.

When my Grammie hums and talks to herself while she gets ready.. Also when she taps the glass on the window in my car while she reads every sign from the road. I also love it when my Papa argues with the navigation system in their car.

The way my Dad looks in his uniform and the way his freshly clean shaven cheek feels and smells when I give him a kiss on his cheek.

My Family...I love that we go bowling or go to the Montgomery Biscuits baseball game. We just have fun.

Ok last one for now......When you go to the movie theater and your movie is on the REALLY BIG screen that they only have one of. Usually I am in one of the side smaller screen theaters and I get so excited when I round the corner and wham!! I'm in the really big one. I sit right in the center or slightly higher up.

Please feel free to comment other favorite things like when you are driving and you don't hit any red lights. I love to hear them. Love to you all.

Cameron

Deal or no Deal

Good morning everyone,
Today I am going to talk about one of the craziest life experiences I have ever had. I am not sure if those who read this watch "Deal or No Deal," if you don't you should. I love that show and recently there were auditions in Nashville. So.....I tried out. I figured I had just as good a shot as anybody and that I had a really good schtick.

Here's my schtick: I'm an aspiring singer/songwriter working two jobs pursuing her dream. I would have my three siblings on the show with me because I moved my whole life and they were the only home I ever had. I would mention my dad's service in the Air Force and the fact that my two sisters and brother are hilarious when we are all together. I love our family dynamic. It was perfect and I would use the money to pay off my demo project, pay our closing costs on the new townhome we are building, buy my husband a motorcycle and make more music! So armed with my schtick, my bottled water and some hot tamales I headed out at 7 am to the audition.

Thankfully my lovely friend Katy decided to come with me. We show up at around 7:20 thinking we were plenty early because the tryout was from 10-1 and there were already 3000 people there in line. We couldn't believe it. So we get in line and immediately start chatting with this mother and daughter in front of us about how early this was and how we couldn't believe we were doing this. Which inevitably lead to talking to the people behind us and along side us. After 4 and a half ours my beloved friend Katy decided to leave because she is a fabulous photographer and had a wedding to get ready to shoot. So I stayed BY MYSELF in line with a crowd that had now climbed to almost 10,000 people. We were all outside, in the hot sun, walking from one end of the Opry Mills Parking lot to the other. And Guess what......I stood in line for 10 hours. Yes!! I stayed in line for 10 hours.

There is so much craziness packed into that last sentence that I might need to break it down for you. One, I hate standing in line for anything. I am horribly critiquing efficiency whether I am waiting in line for the bank or picking up my Chinese takeout. Awful what goes through my mind while I watch people fumble around with a cash register or computer and I fight every instinct not to want to climb around and do it for them. ( I have many years of experience with cash registers and computers) Still, here I am standing in line by myself for ten hours in the heat of all things. (those that know me realize the heat is death to me. I have actually rejected snuggling with my husband at times because he is so hot... who does that?) And here is what was amazing....

One, I was not actually by myself because the people in front and behind me took care of me. After about four hours we had already practiced what we were going to say, told what we would do with the money, where we were from, what we did for a living so I was not the least bit lonely. Complete perfect strangers who lent me their umbrellas to stand under, because even though I was slathering on sunscreen every 15 minutes, I was still burning. They let me get out of line and go by some flip flops at Old Navy because I had been standing in the most ridiculous shoes for 6 hours. ( I had thought we would be sitting and the heels made my legs look really long in my jeans. haha) They let me go get a pretzel and more water and sit down for awhile. The kindness that I saw among complete strangers was beautiful. Now I absolutely returned the favor, pulling people's chairs and bags through line so they could sit out for awhile or get a coke. I lent people my sunscreen and would time them and let them practice what they were going to say at their audition. It really was such a bonding experience with humanity.

Now I know that sounds a bit dramatic but I really mean it. I do enjoy people and I was raised to be polite so I ususally talk and say thank you to people when in public, but never have I really had such community with complete strangers. There were people from all walks of life. There were old people and young mothers with their infants in strollers. People in sequence and crazy hats and even a man straight out of the hills of Tennessee who made moonshine. He had a beard almost down to his hips and a walking stick and work overalls with no shirt underneath. :) I said hi to him right away. The humbling thing was every person there needed the money. Every person there had a dream that they wanted to fullfill. There were definitely people worse off than me and their stories broke my heart. I met the most beautiful woman whose hands were twisted because of her arthritis and she was concerned she might not be able to try out because of her condition. I met a woman who lived in a trailor and was quite happy with her home, but her husband wasn't and she wanted to win the money so she could buy him a house. I could cry now remembering. I was genuinely rooting for every person who told me their story and they were too. We all knew that it was chance so it was easy to be hopeful for everyone.

Everyone had a story and everyone was so kind to one another. Literally everyone let people leave the line to go the restroom or buy something to eat and they would hold their place in line. Nobody was cut throat or mean. Everyone listened to everyone's stories and were supportive. After ten hours in line we all knew about as much as you can about complete strangers in that amount of time.

So now the finale... The great thing is you go in ten people at a time so by this time you aren't half as nervous because you have nine of your friends with you. You have 30 seconds to tell them about yourself. Not much time at all and I said my schpeil and even got a few notes of singing in (yes, I know..cheesy) before i was cut off and thanked politely and that was it. I exited the room with everyone else, said farewell and left for home. As I drove home I thought about the afternoon. It was 5:30 pm this time and I had stood for ten hours outside for 30 seconds. I just laugh thinking about it. My husband and friends were texting me the whole day asking if I was still there and what I was doing and was I lonely by myself. They all thought I was crazy, but it became my marathon. Something I had to prove to myself. I have been waiting for this music thing to unfold and it's been frustrating. Waiting for call backs and meetings is hard and I have been discouraged, but this was an endurance test and I feel like I passed.

I have heard it said that it's about the journey and not the end destination. I believe that... The true benefits to the day was not the 30 second audition, it was all the people in line that I got connected to. They were the reason I was there, the reason I want to sing. People's stories and hopes and dreams and the kindness and community that was there inspired me. I am a Christian and so my outlook and frame of reference is shaped by who Jesus is. I love that He was inclusive and kind to everyone. That He had time for the masses to speak to them and heal them. I have never stood in line, side by side, with so many people in my life. I couldn't help thinking about how on earth Jesus had time for everyone and how he spoke to them all when he was on earth, but he was always about the people. They are what mattered and when he told us to love each other and take care of each other, I was never more reminded of that than on that day when strangers shared their shade and chairs. I know this is pretty deep for a deal or no deal audition, but this was truly what was left on my heart from that day.

They say we could get a call back in a month or even a year. I have thought about making a video audtion and sending it in just for fun. (You can do that through abc) I love being able to rest knowing I have done everything I could have. haha Had I known it would have taken 10 hours to audition, I would not have done it. But I will now add this to the list of things that I am most proud of in my life. It took perserverence and I know I am capable of staying in the race. So here I am, still waiting and trying to enjoy the people around me. Love to you all.
Cameron

Birthday

Good Morning Everyone,

I have just finished my English Muffin and I'm still lingering over my hot tea and I feel like I finally need to address what happened on April 1. I turned 27. Now, there are those in my camp that feel like I should not admit that number that I should eternally stay in the realm of 25 for as long as I can. And who knows maybe you will read an article about me one day in Instyle magazine (ohhh this is getting fun....I'm getting carried away) and I will say I'm 25 and every last one of you will either be appalled that I could lie so outright or laugh that I'm a hypocrite. I would deserve that. Anyway, as of this day I am admitting I'm 27.

27. Twenty seven. Any way I type it, it looks awful. Now when I say awful I swear I'm not becoming one of those youth obsessed women who have already started taking Botox. (Some things you should save for later... wink!) I just mean 27 is an age where I feel like I'm reminded of some things I thought I would accomplish by now but haven't. However, I did get married last year and I just finished a project that I'm really proud of and has definitely been some of my best work yet. So I haven't peaked..... I never want to peak..I want to be like Abraham...Just when I think I get to settle into retirement God says, "Surprise, you are going to be the father of nations, we have a lot of work to do." I love that with God, you never really run out of time. I believe that.

So in terms of the things I haven't accomplished yet: i.e. recording contract or distribution deal or whatever shape this music venture turns into. I am still anxious. I have a lot I want to do. But in terms of life goals....i.e. Meeting my incredible husband, traveling, and building our cute little Colorado-ish townhome, maintaining and growing my relationships with my family and friends. I'm right on track.

My tea at this point needs a reheat, and the Easter candy that I bought for my family when they come this weekend is looking more and more like a nice finishing touch to breakfast, so I should close. In my heart I still feel 16. Moments when I can't believe I'm allowed to drive or that I do my own taxes. haha. There are a million things I still don't know how to do. (Hey, a short 10 months ago I thought a clove of garlic was a bulb of garlic. I discovered this AFTER I already served the special dinner to my inlaws on my fine china. Oh yeah.... First married dinner I cook for my inlaws and the pastor who presided over our wedding. Nice Cam, nice.) I am hoping that these next three years, while I'm embracing my late 20's will continue to show me that my best is yet to come. That people's expectations of me being a grownup will be coupled with grace as I still fumble around trying to learn the ropes. Ok...this Oprah/therapy session is ending. For those of you who stuck around to the end. You are truly in it to win it and I cherish people like you. Love to all of you.

Cameron

Vancouver,Canada

Hello everyone,

Well today's blog is going to be completely unrelated to music. My husband and I just got back from a trip to Vancouver and I can't begin to tell you how fun it was. It is officially one of the coolest cities I have ever been to in my life and definitely one of the most beautiful. With the mountains, ocean, gorgeous parks and fabulous sectors to the city, (not to mention their waterfront casino haha) we were non stop busy.

I also love how international the city is. I think I met like five Canadians the whole time. Everyone else was Australian, British or french. We also loved their thriving Asian population because we adore Asian cuisine. We went to this noodle soup restaurant where you pick your soup base and levels of spiciness. I'm so into that sort of thing. ;) I also had some amazing fish at this great restaurant right on the harbor called Aqua Riva. This gets five stars in my book.I had sturgeon and the dish rocked my face off. Plus the view was breathtaking and very romantic.
So now I am back at home where there are no cozy cafe's to have tea and the occasional chocolate croissant. Canada looked and felt a lot like Europe which I was suprised by. I am now an official lover of Canada and am looking forward to our next trip. We have Montreal and Toronto to cross off our list and I love, love, love to travel.

Well I'm signing off. I need to do laundry, mail some cd's and clean my car. Thanks to those who left comments. It makes my day!

Love,
Cameron

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