life is good friday #1

every friday i'm going to complete the sentence life is good because... it could be from something that just made me smile and made my day to something on a much larger scale. there will need to be at least 5 reason per week why life is good. ready? go!

life is good because i found an eric hutchinson quote written in the middle of a notebook last summer and completely forgot about until i got to that page this week. the quote: "new life decides to come through the front door and makes us wish we'd shown respect before" from his song back to where i was. finding the quote made me smile so hugely that it's hanging on the bulletin board in my bedroom.

life is good because even though i rarely have money to spend on "fun" things, i have a job to pay my bills with a little left over, although living paycheck to paycheck is a little hard, at least i'm able to pay bills instead of letting them pile up.

life is good because i bought a ticket to see bob schneider on feb 17, and it came in the mail this week =)

life is good because when it finally comes down to the it, i know who my true friends are, even if they are online friends, it was our destiny to meet sometime in our lives.

life is good because the world managed to come together and donate millions of dollars to the people in haiti to help them recover from their earthquake.

there's my five life is good because this week. i'd love to know why your life is good either leave a comment, or write a blog and leave the link in comments.

see you soon.

<3 justina

i got to thinking the other day about why we attach ourselves to other people or more so why i got obsessed with a particular musician. if you know me at all, you should know by now: eric hutchinson. i really have no idea why i got so obsessed. obsessed isn't the right word, but it's the one that fits. my history with hutch is kind of a short one. i discovered him on rkop back in late 2006, and have been a fan ever since. the question isn't why i became a fan. his music is super awesome. what's not to like? it's a question of why i attached myself like a barnacle on a ship to his career. i apologize for the really bad metaphor, but that pretty much what happened. i've watched his career blow up since the release of sounds like this. and all the press perez hilton has given him. hell, i still street team like he's an undiscovered gem waiting for his big break (again with the really bad metaphor! sorry!). there could be many reasons why. we could be kindred souls. if you believe in that stuff of course, which i do. you can't know the connections i've made with people i've never even met before without having some sort of past life experiences. it could be i abso-positively love his music. i could just be a really crazy person who gets obsessed over certain things, but then i have to ask myself, why eric? why not todd carey? i discovered his music around the same time, or why not a bunch of other musicians i discovered over this wonderful thing called the internet. my first musical obsession ever was 'n sync. so why am in not harboring an unhealthy obsession of justin timberlake or putting all of my hope into an 'n sync reunion? i guess when someone is super fantastical as eric is hard not get obsessed over him. maybe?

i know i'm a huge jason mraz fan too, but i never felt the same way about mraz the way i felt about hutch. to be honest, without the connections i've made through jason mraz, i wouldn't know the people i know, i wouldn't be so into eric hutchinson. i honestly don't know who i would be without the connections i've made through him and that's okay. i'm still somewhat obsessed with mraz, but i never felt the way i did about him the way i did about hutch and that's what's making me wonder about why.

please, leave any insight on why or how i got to be this way in the comments below. or just say hi. if you never heard of eric hutchinson check him out: http://erichutchinson.com

2009 playlist

every year i like to scour my itunes library and find songs that best represented my 2009. well, okay, i started with 2008 but i still had fun. so here's a list of songs that moved me, brings back memories, fell in love with, or artists you should probably keep watching in 2010.

1. til someone catches a feelin' - bob schneider
   i fell in love with bob this year (thanks danielle!) and this is definitely a favorite off his new record, lovely creatures. be sure to check it out.
2. sideways - dierks bentley
   my country side really came out when i first heard this song. it's a really upbeat song. listen and try not to dance.
3. all over now - eric hutchinson
   it's really hard for me to pick and eric hutchinson song that best represented my year. he was my first real concert, and sounds like this still gets tons of spins on my car cd player, but all over now is definitely a favorite. western charms is superb too.
4. you're an ocean - fastball
   this song is soo fun and catchy. i love it.
   
5. booty call - g.love and special sauce
   i saw g.love and special sauce open for jason mraz at the hollywood bowl and this song was so much fun!
6. swim - jack's mannequin
   i love this song. definitely one of those "inspirational jams." it's got great lyrics.
   
7. dear anna - jason mraz
   yeah, i know it's a carlos olmeda cover, but i heard mraz sing this at red rocks (my first mraz show) and my jaw hit the floor.
8. who says - john mayer
   who says i can't love this song? i don't know why but i do. it's simple, with simple lyrics. battle studies has turned into a lullaby for me. when i listen before bed or when i can't sleep it knocks me out and that's not a bad thing. unless, it makes me almost late for work.
9. wavin' flag - k'naan
   i saw him open for jason mraz at red rocks, and i absolutely loved this live.
10. kiss a girl - keith urban
    i fell in love with this song watching him perform it on the american idol finale (shup) and i fell in love with it. it's really good.
    
11. already gone - kelly clarkson
    i took a little leap and saw kelly clarkson this year. i mean eric was opening anyway. i would n't drive 4 hours for kelly. i like kelly, even though i only really knew the singles when i saw her...and this song is not that bad
12. live like we're dying - kris allen
    i like kris allen. he debut record is a little forgettable, but i love live like we're dying--it was written by the script whom i love, so that makes sense. it's a good song, with a good message.
13. hey la la - the makepeace brothers
    finally saw these guys playing the gratitude tent and jason mraz's gratitude cafe tour. they make amazing music. you should check them out.
14. closer to love - mat kearney
    i just love this song. i really got more into mat kearney this year
15. fireflies - owl city
    a song about insects. what's not to love?
16. the mess i made - parachute
    saw these guys open for eric and kelly and fell in love. check out this song, it's gorgeous.
17. 21 and invincible - something corporate
    i turned 21 this year and i just plain love this song
18. falling from grace - todd carey
    i love todd carey, i love his music, i love his smile.
    
    so notice that most of the artists are in alphabetical order. i've never been good at arranging things so they rise and fall in all the right place, but if you do make this playlist when you play it, make sure you have it on shuffle.
    
    what songs would you include on your 2009 playlist? leave a comment or link to your blog
    
    
    <3>

2010 resolutions

here are a few changes i would like to make for the following decade:

• Be healthier: i know it seems like everyone and their grandma goes on "diets" on january 1, but as soon as it hits around january 10, they're back to the same eating habits. i'm not going to "diet" i'm going to choose to be healthy. i'm going to cut out a lot of processed food, exercise more, and learn yoga (!) i've always wanted the learn yoga, so i'm going to look for good dvd's and such and finally learn! one thing i'm not going to do though is diet. that word is pure evil. i'm going to cut out a lot of out of the box frozen/off the shelf food and fast food. i have had this book for a while now, and if i want something from the drive-thru i better cook it myself. i'm not saying i'm going to NOT go to taco bell at all and when i do i'm going to make smarter choices about what i'm putting into my body.
• Apply myself: just today i found my sixth grade report card, and one of the comments was: does not work to the best of her ability or something along those lines and it got me thinking. at the turn of the decade i was in the sixth grade. i have spent the last ten years not applying myself. if i had only applied myself i'd be graduating college in june, instead of just figuring out what i'm going to with my life. there's not telling what i could be doing right now if i'd only applied myself. i'm not saying that not applying myself is a bad thing, as with most choices, there's good and bad. if i'd applied myself, i would have paid more attention in my classes instead of screwing around online, and i probably wouldn't have found the wonderful people at rkop. some of the people i probably would have met eventually, but still, i can't imagine life without them even though i mostly lurk at the board now. it's a whole butterfly effect, and i'm taking the good with the bad. i still can't help but wonder what would have happened if i'd only applied myself.
• Budget: for the past 2 years, i've had more than my share of debt to pay. i'm not blaming anyone but myself. i got credit cards to build credit, but at the same time maxing the limits and not paying nothing but the minimums. it's gotten especially hard because not only do i have credit cards to pay down, but i've added a car payment and a cell phone bill to the mix. i do alright living paycheck to paycheck, but i'd like very much so to not have to do that anymore. knowing that i'm waiting until the last second on my phone bill until i can afford it. it's gotten a little out of hand. so my plan for 2010 is to get a few paychecks ahead of the game by watching exactly what i'm spending on what and only buying necessities and putting the rest away. i'm lucky enough that i still live at home and my mom only makes me pay an minimal amount of rent, and she feeds me, so i should be okay when it comes to only buying what i need.

those are the major changes i would like to make for myself in the coming decade. i have a few other minor changes and accomplishments that i would like to make: like finishing all my transfer requirements and transfer to a school around LA to finish my degree; travel to new york city; go to an eric hutchinson show with danielle. in texas. i don't think it'd be the same if she came here. i have to see the look on eric's face when he sees me there; blog more. blog about keeping my resolutions, blog about something that interested me that day. just doing it. i enjoy it. i have no idea if other people read it, but i'm doing for me. anyway that's pretty much all of the resolutions for the new year that i have, but as two spot gobi twittered today "I resolve as I go along, not yearly!..." i can't remember which gobi runs their twitter page, but that seems like sound advice, so i'm putting that down as another resolution. i resolve as i go along, not yearly, so if i find a flaw that needs to be fixed, i'll fix it. i won't wait until january 1 or my birthday or monday or next week, month, decade. i'll resolve it immediately. what are some of your resolutions? feel free to post them in the comments or link to your blog.

<3 justina

2009: a look back

2009. where to begin about 2009? 2009 was an amazing year for me. really. i finally got see jason mraz (3 times!), i got to meet danielle and a good portion of rkop'ers (it's about time too. i was only on the board for 3 years before even attending a show), i got to see eric hutchinson twice and a bunch of other artists which i really enjoyed. in 2009 i flew for the first time, i got my certified nursing assistant certificate, i bought a new car, and met a whole bunch of cool new people i'm grateful to call friends.

2009, i loved you. you were such a good good year for me. as much as i would like to reminisce and relive this year over and over again, i can't. 2010 will be another good year, i can feel it. so, while you were a good year, oh hell, someone will call it a freaking great year. i need to move on. you just aren't the right fit for me. when i'm staring out the window, know i'm thinking of you and i miss you. please, let me move on and better myself in 2010. it's not you, it's me. i'll miss you. i swear.

sounds like this live 2: a review of sorts

on december 15, 2009 eric hutchinson released sounds like this 2 a new ep showcasing 5 tracks from his debut record sounds like this. sounds like this live 2 is a bit of misnomer though.
"I wanted to continue the approach I had on the first EP, getting the songs back to their purest form – the way they were when I wrote them," Eric explains. "We had a day off in Minneapolis so I went into a studio and played through the songs in one take." so while not technically live, hutchinson still wanted the ep to get back to the songs the way they were written, him solo on either his piano or guitar. older fans of hutchinson know some of the tracks have been around for a quite a while before sounds like this was even recorded. outside villanova even made it onto his since discontinued release "...before i sold out," a live ep released in 2006. even though his band play on the ep, the feel of the ep is getting the fans back to hutchinson on the road solo; before perez hilton, before his record deal, before he hit it big. fans who were around to watch him blow up and are still continuing to watch him grow, and to be frank, are holding on for the ride just like he is, appreciate that hutch still hasn't forgotten where he came from.

the ep is remarkable and definitely worth the $3.99 you'll pay for it on itunes. be sure to pick it up here: http://bit.ly/soundslikethislive2

the track listing:
1. Ok, It’s Alright With Me
2. Outside Villanova
3. Food Chain
4. You Don’t Have to Believe Me
5. It Hasn't Been Long Enough

adventures

over the past few months, my converse have been on an adventure. i have had them for a while, but the real adventure started on july 22nd. i've had the shoes for a while, but the real adventure began then. july 22nd was the day i went to my first "real" concert. i've seen live bands at a few parties and fairs and what not, but at 20, i was lagging in concert attendance. that first concert was eric hutchinson. it was an incredible show. a night that i'll remember forever, i lived off the energy from that show for months, and my converse were right there with me. flash-forward to september. september was a big month for my trusty sneaks. in september, i bought my first car, and they were on my feet of course. also in september, i took my first plane ride ever to denver to finally meet danielle in person. still, on my feet through my first airport security experience, on the plane, and finally on the ground in denver were my converse. i wore my converse the whole weekend, they got to experience my first jason mraz concert, at red rocks amphitheater no less. on the last day of the trip it rained, and they were left outside on the hotel patio. the next morning on the drive through the lovely colorado mountains and snow, they were left at the hotel, much to their disappointment. october was another pretty big month for my converse. they got to experience two jason mraz shows, one at hollywood bowl, and the other at cricket wireless amphitheater. they also got to experience san diego for the first time. november was another pretty big month for my shoes. i turned 21, and although i didn't get drunk, (i honestly don't see the point in such things) it was a big day for me, and my converse were on my feet. most recently, on december 1, my converse got to experience a 4 hour drive to see eric open for kelly up in fresno. with stops along the way at a cheese factory gift shop among others.

all the memories of my converse were not good ones. through the end of july beginning of september, i acquired my certified nursing assistant certificate. part of the uniform for the class was white tennis shoes, and i couldn't think of any other shoe to wear other than my converse. throughout taking care of residents at the the healthcare center, my shoes have been urinated on and trekked through god knows what. i washed them and left them to dry in the sun, so they're completely sanitary now. i promise. they also became the object of my procrastination. there are now eric hutchinson lyrics written on them. listening to e.hutch while trying to do algebra homework is not the best. but now they sport lyrics from breakdown more, rock and roll, western charms, call me back, all over now, and subtitles. all in my horrible penmanship.

most girls have twenty or thirty pairs of shoes, but for this girl, there's only one.