Name That Tune

So glad you guys are checking out this blog post! It will (hopefully) shine some light on our relationship! So Ben and I have a love for music. All music. Really. Anyone who really knows me is shaking their head “YEP!” right now. I will do a post sometime how I believe that God communicates with me through music. Anywho, back to the real topic at hand…..WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD WE CHOOSE THESE SONGS?!?!?!?! So the songs on our soundtrack are actually in the “order” of our love story. So here goes……

State of Mind (Clint Black) – First off, early in our relationship (well, really before we had a relationship) Ben and I found that we shared a love of all music. Oddly enough, for both us to be SO diverse in our music tastes, we found that we also have a few artists that we may consider our top favorites. And our list is practically the same – Clint Black being near the top. I’m not always a harmonica fan, but man, he slays it! Once our relationship really bloomed, instead of sending lots of sappy texts, we shared songs through our iphones to describe how much we missed each other, loved each other, or simply to bring back one of our smiling memories. Other than this song being by one of our favorite artists, we chose this song because it describes how music makes us feel. I may not always recall specifics of events I’ve attended or memories I’ve made: attire, decor, ect., but I almost ALWAYS remember the song that played. The lyrics of this song completely describes why we made a soundtrack. “Ain’t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory, take you to another place in time, and even change your state of mind.”

2. I’ll be there for you:Friends Theme Song (The Rembrandts) – For real. This song could not have been a better fit for this portion of our story. So, it all began with a text. From Ben. He had gotten my number that was written in a card that I had mailed Amanda and him during her treatments. A few weeks after Amanda had passed, I received a text saying that it sucked we had been through the same crap, and we should use each other to lean on. And we did. We would randomly text each other to make sure neither of us had fallen off a “wagon” or to simply make sure the things we noticed or felt were justified or not weird. We were simply support. This went on for a few months. We never called. Never met up. Just random texts. Within these few months, I know that I realized (and he says he did too) that he was my best friend. Every lyric in this song perfectly describes us.

3. Midnight Rider (The Allman Brothers Band) – Our first get-together. So Ben and I have known each other forever. My brother was his science project lab partner in Elementary school and in Ben and Amanda’s wedding, Ben drove me and my prom date to the dance, and there are several other stories. We ran in the same crowd. But this was totally different. While texting, we found that the coming up weekend, (SEPTEMBER 16, to be exact!!!!! Yeah, I know. <insert squeal>) neither of us had the kiddos. So we decided what the heck, lets grab a pizza. So he comes and picks me up at my house, and before we leave the driveway, I turned to him and said, “Wait. Is this going to be weird?” Like that we haven’t seen each other in forever and lets make small talk until we can say it’s getting late and not be rude???? According to him, I was reading his mind. And all weirdness was gone. We rode around for hours talking about anything and everything, and listening to anything and everything. That’s how I first knew he was special. He loved my random music, from Nelly to Elvis. I sang Tainted Love like the guy in the Coneheads movie (see link) AND I want a hippopotamus for Christmas and he laughed the entire time! When he finally brought me home, it was well past midnight. Hence: Midnight Rider! Plus I LOVE this song! (I will post so much more about this night later in my blog!)

Coneheads!!!! https://youtu.be/O4A46OQkklA

4. I Met a Girl (William Michael Morgan) – I’ll Let Ben take this one 🙂 …… She swept me off my feet, what can I say. I never knew this girl I had known my whole life was so special. The way she would say just the right thing at the perfect time. How she could make me laugh at the craziest things at the drop of the hat, most of the time when we both never knew a laugh would feel so good. The way she smiled when she looked at me told me that she was not pretending to be someone she wasn’t, like most couples do in the beginning. She was sincere, funny, beautiful, and genuine. I heard this song a million times a day while picking cotton, and always smiled thinking about her. She was perfect…and still is.

5. Dirt on My Boots (Jon Pardi) – Dating. We did it. And there was no “put on” about us. We would show up dirt covered, grass covered, sweat covered, juice box covered, or covered in whatever else we had to do or get done before we could see each other. Who has time for a shower when your busy falling in love?!?!?

6. Can’t Help Falling in Love with You (Elvis Presley) – Elvis. Oh how we both love Elvis. This song represents that time in our relationship where we knew we had it bad. And we wanted it forever. Simply put.

7. Blue Clear Sky (George Strait) – It was time…Back to you Ben! The king of country says it best: “its the last thing you had planned, then out of the blue clear sky..” The craziest thing to us both was how we both knew we would be best friends forever and would want to be there to help each other through the bad times, but never knew love was in our plans. The minute she walked into my life, there was an indescribable push from “out of the blue clear sky” joining our hearts together. Like I said earlier, she was perfect: she loved God, family, farming, music, and ribs!!!! (And she wore boots!) You just can’t get any better. I knew she was the one. Once again, “out of the blue” I bought a ring. No, I don’t mean without thought, or on a careless whim, I knew exactly what I was doing and that we were made for each other. I had looked for a while and knew the right time would come, and one day: it rained, I got off, the jewlery store had a big event that exact day, AND I bought a ring, the ring. (And as you’ll read below, I knew just what to do with it.)

8. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond) – Our Engagement. Anyone who knows anything about the Red Sox gets it. For everyone else, let me enlighten you! Let me take you back for a moment. Ben and I learned the hard way that life is too short. And because of that, we have made it a point to fulfill our bucket list. This summer we scratched something off of our bucket list: Going to Boston (Fenway Park, specifically) and watching the Red Sox play the Yankees. Little did I know his “BIG PLANS!” (the full story will be in a future post!) Anyways, he did propose at the game. Sweet Caroline is the theme song of the Boston Red Sox, played every home game just before the 8th inning. It’s part of the tradition. Now, a part of ours!

9. Like the Rain (Clint Black) – Hello!?!? 1. Yes, another Clint Black song. 2. This song was totally our wedding first dance song. 3. It’s one of our mutual favorites. 4. Ben and I could have really gone through some “thunderstorms” we might not have come out of if it hadn’t been for each other. In fact, we have. But somehow, they don’t seem as scary when someone walks through them with you.

10. Just Another Day in Paradise (Phil Vassar) – I mean hello. We now have 3 kids. Young kids. We’ve already experienced how this won’t be easy some days. But it’s a beautiful mess. And we love it.

11. Cotton Pickin’ Time (Blake Shelton) – Happily Ever After….There are so many things inappropriate about this song, but there are SO many ways it fits us!!!! So Ben found out very quickly we share a love for agriculture. So not long after we started hanging out, he takes me to pick cotton with him one night that he had to work late. I was beyond ECSTATIC! I had never harvested cotton and was so excited about learning ALL about it. I even created a “Cotton Pickin’ Playlist” for us to listen to. Obviously, this song was on it. Oddly enough, Ben had never heard it. After listening to it, laughing, he got real serious. He told me that was something he had never done, sowed oats. Bless him. I explained those were not the same kind of oats Blake was singing about. We shared our first kiss that night in that cotton picker. But this song represents a farming couple living their happily ever after, never loosing their young love for each other. Sounds like a game plan.

Thank you all for the love and support you have shown us. I promise to post (most) of our sappy details of our full story. I’ve had every intention of it. It will come with the right time. Promise. Until then…