Exercise playlist

First of all, I stand by my comment about a "wicked young man." (:

And thank-you so much for your support of Graci's rubber ducky fundraiser! I feel so overwhelmed and blessed to know so many wonderful people that would honor her in this way. THANK-YOU. You are appreciated!!

On to the title of this post:

Jeremy likes to tease me about my choice of songs to exercise to. I suppose it’s not “normal” to workout to Christian contemporary, but to me there is nothing that makes me want to run more than, “Come to Jesus…” blaring in my ear.

You would laugh at my most recent “exercise mix.”

I myself think it’s a bit strange. I hadn’t thought much about it when I sat down to burn a new CD off of Itunes. I just added songs that were calling out to me until I reached 40 minutes of playtime (my maximum time on the elliptical machine before I collapse in exhaustion.)

As I started to exercise, I began to realize the randomness of the songs I chose:

1. Remember When It Rained—Josh Groban
2. Haven’t Met You Yet—Michael Buble
3. Lemonade—Chris Rice
4. Made to Worship—Chris Tomlin
5. I Will Survive—Gloria Gaynor
6. Jesus Will Meet You There—Steven Curtis Chapman
7. Fireflies—Owl City
8. Watching Airplanes—Gary Allan
9. Kung Fu Fighting—Carl Douglas
10. The Lord’s Prayer—Andrea Bocelli and Mormon Tabernacle Choir

As I listened to each song, I thought about why I had chosen it:

1. “Wash away the thoughts inside that keep my mind away from you.” Not sure what it’s intended to mean, but I think of “you” as our Father in Heaven, and I LOVE that line. Expresses so well my desire to rid myself of my vices. And Josh Groban's voice-- wow.

2. Michael Buble just makes me happy. I LOVE him. (Luckily, Jeremy thinks he’s hot too!) Plus I have a fun memory of recently staying up until the early morning hours with Jeremy watching all of MB’s music videos and just having fun together.

3. I love the carefree nature of this song and the way it reminds me of my happy life.

4. Love it. Love that it’s singing praises to HIM. Love the line “And even the rocks cry out and even the heavens shout at the sound of His holy name.”

5. I know what the song is really about, but to me—the only words that matter are “I will survive!” I will survive all the messes and craziness and messes and appointments and messes and ups and downs that are mine! I say those three words to myself several times a day. (:

6. Two lines in this one that call out to me: “When the doctor says ‘I’m sorry, we don’t know what else to do,’ and you’re looking at your family wondering how you’ll make it through, whatever road life takes you down, Jesus will meet you there.” Of course, this line fills me with anguish, love, worry, peace—all when I think about my Graci Kate. And then the line, “When the sunlight comes and your world’s still dark…” I think of my Elli and the life she faces and the tremendous trials she is going through—and the promises she has been given. I am so grateful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ and could not make it through without that testimony.

7. Picked this one completely out of love for my Taylor. He heard it at school one time and asked us to download it. He loves it, and I love to hear him sing along. I had told him how much I loved his voice on that song, so one time he called my cell phone and left a message—singing the whole song. Love that kid.

8. I know it’s a tragic song, but it’s romantic and I love it. Love the melody. Jer and I love to dance to it!

9. Most random song on here. Dumbest lyrics ever: “Everybody was kung fu fighting. That kid was fast as lightning. In fact, it was a little bit frightening. He fought with expert timing.” HUH? I suppose I picked it for the beat, but also because it makes me laugh and reminds me of high school dances. A couple of years ago I started singing it out of the blue and Jer was like, “What song is that?” I couldn’t believe he’d never heard it! We went on the computer to download it and ended up finding the music video. It’s hilarious—a must see. We laughed our heads off.

10. Like, the most beautiful song EVER. The Savior’s words put to breathtaking music. You must listen to this video. I suppose I identify with Andre and love him in part because of his blindness. His voice is angelic and this particular recording sounds like it was recorded right in heaven. As a side note, when I was a little girl and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would answer, "I want to play the organ for the Quabernacle Choir." (:

So yes, a strange playlist! And yet as I was listening to it—if felt so… me! So much of what I feel each day is within these songs: gratitude, romance, determination, testimony, desperation, contentment, silliness, joy, sadness, hopelessness, laughter, love…

The way my life is going, I’m quite sure my next CD will be just as random!

Pause the music at the bottom of the blog and enjoy the song...