Tune Tuesday: Lacey Sturm

tunetuesdayffThis week is going to be a different from the rest, well on here at least! I’ve decided to make both Tuesday and Thursday all about one rock band with a female vocalist(s).

Flyleaf is a heavy metal band from Texas. At the start of the group it consisted of five members: James, Pat, Jared, Sameer, and Lacey. In 2012, shortly after releasing their third album together Lacey left the band, so the lead role was given to Kristen who was a member of the band, Vedera. Today I am only focusing on Lacey’s time in the band while I’ll talk about a new song that was recently released as a single featuring Kristen on vocals on Thursday.

I found Flyleaf at the time their song “All Around Me” came out. I was still using MySpace at the time and one of the girls I was friends with at the time was obsessed with the song, she did many surveys on the Bulletin thing (do you remember doing those?) and she used to say it was she and her boyfriend’s song. It seemed like everybody was into that song! I had a late start of course! I could NEVER figure out the middle and what Lacey is singing. I never figured it out until like six or seven years later, still have trouble remembering the right words. A year or two later, I found “I’m So Sick” and “Fully Alive” because my sister was really big on finding other Christian rock bands, and Flyleaf was one of five bands she had on her iPod at the time.

I still remember hearing both “Again” and “Beautiful Bride” on the radio and watching the music video on MTV for “Again.” I’m still really addicted to these songs to this day! And yes, I know every word! In 2012, I started following the band on Twitter and within late 2012 or early 2013 I think Jared was on doing a follow spree and I got a follow back. I loved seeing the updates of the members on how the new album was progressing. They released “New Horizons” and a little bit afterwards the bomb dropped about Lacey’s departure and we all a bit shocked and upset (some of us still are apparently!) and after announcing Kristen as their new singer, they released the second single and music video for “Call You Out” the only thing I didn’t like about it was the fact they released the song for radio play but it was still in Lacey’s voice. I still think they should have rerecorded it with Kristen’s vocals and maybe that would have made a little bit more sense to move on with another singer. By the way, NW is the only Flyleaf album I’ve got a physical copy of and I still listen to it daily!

Since then she’s released a memoir called The Reason and she’s had another baby boy with her husband. She’s been doing some shows with her new band that is properly titled Lacey. She’s done some guest vocals with Orianthi and We As Human and was apart of the film Underworld: Awakening’s soundtrack on a song called “Heavy Prey” that I wish you could just buy off of iTunes as a damn single. Lacey has an incredible voice and of course, you gotta love her harsh screams in the earlier Flyleaf tracks. She feels the music and lyrics in other singers and you can clearly feel and hear the emotions of each song. My all time favorite old school Flyleaf songs are “So I Thought,” “Fully Alive,” “Arise,” “Broken Wings,” “Bury Your Heart,” “Call You Out,” and “Saving Grace.”

Coloring Easter Eggs!

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So this happened…

My nana’s birthday is this weekend, so majority of my family came down for a visit. Two of them weren’t supposed to come down because they were going to a truck show in another state, but plans changed and came down couple of hours after we ate! My Aunt Laurie, Uncle Mike and cousin Taylor with their dog Mila came down from up north. They usually like to come down on the weekend before my nana’s birthday because that’s when Taylor’s spring break falls on. How did she get so lucky? This weekend was extra special because my aunt really wanted to meet my sister’s boyfriend, you all know him as “Batman.”  So they finally got to meet and embarrassed him and my sister good!

I woke up around eight something and I wasn’t very happy. I had another late night because my mom had to stay later at work this time around and I knew my dad wasn’t going to go to bed early and I just waited up to see her before I fell asleep. By the time she came home it was like 11:30, I remember listening to like five songs on my iPod and watching one episode of The Golden Girls before passing out! I figured she wouldn’t want to get up too early to go over to my nana’s, but everytime I tired to go back to sleep I’d get right back up, by noon I had enough and I got up (physically) and listened to some music and I think within a half hour my mom got up too. Blondie and Batman got up pretty early and they went to Denny’s for breakfast (and I wasn’t happy!) they also went to Wal-Mart afterwards to get supplies to color Easter eggs. On our way over there, my mom tells me this and I got way too excited for my own good! I actually LOVE to color Easter eggs! I honestly hate painting anything, but Easter eggs were always a favorite activity to me!

When we got there, nobody had eaten anything besides their breakfast which was hours before! So they were basically waiting for my mom and I to get there before deciding where to go. We got Noble Romans pizza and bread sticks. Oh my goodness, they were delicious! Even though I had pizza like two days before I was still happy as can be! While Laurie and Mike went to get the pizza, my mom went and did my nana’s errands with Blondie and Batman. So I stayed behind with Taylor and the dog, it’s been a while since I had a nice conversation with my nana because of the weather and her health problems. We caught up on different things and it was really nice! After we got done eating, we actually went outside for a bit. It wasn’t too cold, but there was a chill in the air so you needed a light jacket. If you stood in the sun though, that wasn’t too bad! While everybody was outside, they were taking pictures of each other doing crazy stuff. At one point after David and Katt got at the house, everybody (but me!) were doing cartwheels in the yard in front of God and everybody passing by!

Around five in the afternoon, everybody had noticed that we didn’t have anything to snack on. Nobody had remembered to get a vegetable and fruit tray, so if imagine my mom on the phone calling our local store that arranges these things, in the kitchen which was a bad idea because when the guy asked what we wanted, everybody was yelling out different veggies and fruit. My uncle David was the only one with pizza still on the brain, plus the fact he was sitting right next to her, yells out different pizza toppings. At one point she slapped his arm that we all just lost it and started laughing our asses off! I’m surprised the dude didn’t hang up the phone! While we sat and waited for the hour to go by before mom went to go grab the trays, I asked when we were going to the Easter eggs. It’s just a lot more fun doing things like this there because everybody can take pictures and talk amongst ourselves.

eggs

My poor papaw was in the kitchen watching his basketball game. I mean, it is March Madness here! We did it in the kitchen because it’s got the best lighting in the whole house, but less amount of space! So when we brought out the card table, everybody just kind of scattered into the next room. My Uncle David managed to find a seat on the floor, distracting the dog for us. We brought my push wheelchair with us, because it’s less bulky but I couldn’t reach the table to do anything so my nana has this thing that lifts up your feet. I’ve used it on many of our DIY projects before! I knew it could be my little space, but I didn’t want to get it dirty with the different color dyes, so we used a paper plate and that was the best thing ever! Blondie and Batman got like five different things to decorate the eggs with and one of which came with these small paint rollers, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! We certainly didn’t have these when I was a kid! They also got the normal bowls with color drops, plus a glitter, monster (came with stickers and hair!) and Batman got himself a set of paints so he could attempt to make a Batman egg. It didn’t work out for him very well!

Blondie and Batman got like two 16 cartons of eggs, and of course my mom and aunt Katt had to boil the eggs for them beforehand! I think Batman and I had the most fun! We had a lot of fun using the paintbrushes and rollers…I haven’t used paint or dyes in a long time so that instantly brought out my inner child. When Blondie got out the glitter ones, they only came with two different glitters a light pink and bright sparkly green, then I remembered nana and I still had like seven bottles of glitter that we hadn’t used up from doing our Halloween pumpkins! So we started using those, actually I used the crap out of them! They were small enough bottles that I could grip my toes around them and shake them over the eggs! After tipping the glitter bottles over, it became like 10x more fun for me! Because all of the excess glitter ended up on my paper plate and I started rolling my eggs in that glitter! It was like I was six years old again! By that time, my nana, Aunt Laurie and my mom all jumped in and colored a couple of eggs! They did theirs the old school way! When we finished one carton, us three got tired and were out of creativity that we still had like 10 or so left, so my mom and sister just made the extra ones plain colors! We found out later on that night, when my dad went to eat one that while he was removing the shell that if it had glitter on it, the glitter would stick to your fingers and get on the actual egg too! Oops!

A little bit after that we left for the night. It was just starting to get dark too, that’s one of my favorite parts about spring! It gets dark around eight-ish and you’re constantly thinking you have plenty of time left when you really don’t! We went back to my nana’s Sunday afternoon. I knew that we had a birthday party to go to afterwards in the garage and I’d probably eat a lot over there, so I only ate some broccoli and dip before we came back to the house. They left around three and it was nice and fun like always to be around everybody again. When we got home, we switched wheelchairs and we went over to the garage for the party. Blondie didn’t stay long, she had to go back to the house to take a nap with the dog. I ate pretty good, steak, baked potato, plus the cake and ice cream at the end. I watched a little bit of Nascar, college basketball, and the guys play pool! I even got to visit with little Miss Chevy too! I’d say it was another great weekend for me!

the rollers and paint!
the rollers and paint!
our finished eggs! All of mine are on the left corner!
our finished eggs! All of mine are on the left corner!

The TBR Tag!

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I found this little tag from one of my blogger friends, Amanda who owns ChocolatePages! A “to be read” next tag for book lovers! I saw it and knew I was going to have to do it too! Sadly though, I haven’t been reading at all lately like maybe I’d like to, but I still saw the fun in this tag so I’m doing it! Hope you enjoy!

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

I use a site called Shelfair. I found it from another friend (who also is named Amanda!) and she showed it to me a week or two after I got my Kindle I think. I’ve had it for a few years and I really love it! It’s got quite a few features to help you keep track of your TBR, what you’ve already read, and etc. I also have two boards on my Pinterest for the books I’ve read and ones I want to read next too.

Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?

I like to use both print and e-books, but I have and get more e-books because they are easier for me to get than getting out.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

I go through my TBR list a few times and kind of narrow it down from 4,3, 2, and then one. I haven’t done that in a while, I’ve been spending a lot of my time in the free section for e-books so that kind of makes things easier to select from.

A book that’s been on your TBR list the longest.

In 2011, I was in a deep rock band craze and had been reading both Nikki Sixx books and Duff McKagan’s memoir. I still have Tommy Lee’s memoir “Tommyland” and Storm Large’s “Crazy Enough” they are the oldest books on my to be read next list.

A book you recently added to your TBR?

I am really obsessed with historical fiction, mainly anything from Marie Antoinette, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth I time frame. So the most recently added book is The Wives Of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser. Because you can never hear enough information about The Tudors.

The six wives of Henry VIII - Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr - have become defined in a popular sense not so much by their lives as by the way these lives ended. But, as Antonia Fraser conclusively proves, they were rich and feisty characters. They may have been victims of Henry's obsession with a male heir, but they were not willing victims. On the contrary, they displayed considerable strength and intelligence at a time ...

A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?

This is actually really difficult to decide because I am awful about picking books just for their gorgeous covers! I just can’t have one book for this question sorry! The first is The Selection by Kiera Cross, Fallen by Katie Barber and lastly Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler.

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A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?

Probably the Dracula book I’ve decided to add during a very weird week a few months ago.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?

I haven’t been checking on books to be released soon in a really long time! So I don’t have one.

A book on your TBR that basically everyone has read but you?

I don’t think I have any books on my TBR list that everybody’s read but me. Which is a surprise!

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

My friend Candice of All That Glitters has recommended quite a few books to me. I think she’s the one who got How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran on my TBR list after reading a blog post of what she was loving, but it was several months ago, I could have the wrong book!

Fall Must-Read Books - How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

Ooh! Well once I get through this last book in my Kindle I’d like to read Never Have I Ever by Katie Heaney and My Soon-To-Be Sex Life by Judith Tewes. I’ve read their descriptions and they both sound kind of hilarious!

How many books are on your TBR list?

I have a total of 105 books as of right now.

Blogs That I Love #19

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I suck at keeping at routines, especially if they are blog related! At least you get these posts once a month. My other series that is similar to this one is officially on hiatus because apparently I only watch four YouTube channels daily. I’ve been trying to find more new blogs and get myself to read them daily, but it’s not that simple. Luckily, recently I’ve done just that! Hell, I even updated my blogroll again of blogs I actually read, maybe not daily but weekly! Hopefully you like these next selection of blogs. If you haven’t read or follow these blogs, of course I highly suggest you do so!

  1. Nevena Krstic – Nevena is a lifestyle blogger from the UK. She talks about general life topics, does outfit of the day, DIY, and food posts as well. I found her blog while on Twitter, ever once in a while I go through other bloggers “following” tab and she was one of the bloggers I found and kept over time! In the short time we’ve known each other, we’ve talked quite a bit. She’s very sweet! Super gorgeous too!
  2. Our Wolf Song – Kathryn runs a mental health blog, very different from the normal blogs that I think everybody follows on a daily basis! When I found her blog and Twitter, we instantly became friends. She even started doing Lillie McFerrin’s Five Sentence Fiction word wring prompts during our first day we started talking! We’ve established this quite a few times already that we basically have the same music tastes and we can go from composer Hans Zimmer to Hollywood Undead after one finishes. Glad I’m not the only one who can do that! She’s also very sweet and friendly to anyone!
  3. Faye Olivia – Faye is a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blogger. I mostly read her lifestyle posts and her travel posts. Her pictures are beautiful! I found her on Facebook, while I was searching for more blogs to “like” on Facebook which I’ll say was a terrible disaster! I think I added over 45+ blog pages that day and since you only get to see about 10 of them, including the ones you’ve already liked in the past, you don’t get to see them all on your dashboard. For some odd reason, Faye’s blog was one of the ones that I couldn’t stop thinking about, it might have something to do with the fact I was a little obsessed with her name. Well, one day after months of only seeing her posts every once in a while I finally had a few and attempted to find them on Twitter, she was one of like two I found and she’s never came off it since! So now that I follow her blog on Bloglovin I never miss a post so that’s even better!
  4. SilverSpoon London – Angie is one of my newer bloggers I’ve been following lately! I’m usually okay with being a broke person/blogger, there’s nothing really wrong with that! Every once in a while, I like to see explore my expensive tastes in a safe way! SilverSpoon London is a luxury lifestyle, food and travel blog from of course London! I am really in love with this blog! It has been a real joy reading and looking at her pictures of everything! Don’t be surprised if you spend an hour on her blog because you will be dreaming of the food and all the places she’s been to. Just a warning!

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Life Lately | Spring Storms

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Howdy!

I hope everybody is doing well! I’ve been doing okay, been having some aches lately, but I’ve been dealing with them. I think ever since I decided to do these music posts on Tuesday and Thursdays, I feel like my normal lifestyle posts have been lacking a bit. I’ll be honest. I still haven’t been able to go out in our backyard and take pictures yet. On our second day of spring, it was very pretty! The temperature was in the upper 50s or 60s, but the ground was still too soft from the rain we had a couple of days before. It didn’t stop me from going outside though! My mom had to work that weekend, she came home, ate and took a nap, and after she got up she realized it was too beautiful for me to be inside so she surprised me by dragging my wheelchair into my room and having me go out. It felt good to be on the porch with the kitties again, but I really wanted to explore! I hadn’t even been outside for more than five minutes and that urge to take pictures of EVERYTHING in sight was back. I’m not going to lie I missed that in the winter months! I’ll be able to go back there soon, I know it!

Last Thursday, my poor sister got her wisdom teeth out. Poor girl! She stayed at home all weekend long, not being able to eat solids until late Sunday. I was supposed to go to the dentist on Tuesday afternoon, but thankfully it rained all day long so we had to cancel. I was torn with my emotions because you all know how much I hate the damn place, but two of my family members had to get their teeth done without cancellation. After Blondie got hers done, my mom came in with lunch and a very funny video of my sister after the operation with a drowsy girl in the car on the way home. She was so freaking hilarious! Anyways, I also knew a head of time that it was only a cleaning, but I still didn’t want to go! That night we got our first round of spring storms. It thundered off and on after 3pm. I literally had a conversation with my aunt on Facebook that afternoon, she said she wanted to see some storms where they were at, I also wanted to text her that night and say, “we got your storms!” I was happy that our satellite didn’t kick off in the middle of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or I would have been pissed!

I’ve been trying to find more and more films to watch lately. I’m almost done with The Book Thief and I literally just finished watching the last Disney Princess movie that I had left on my list, The Princess and The Frog. I wish I could say I liked it, but it wasn’t one of my favorites unfortunately! I do love Anika Noni Rose a lot. Anika was in a movie that I found playing on HBO that made me so happy! I found Dreamgirls and I had to tape it! It’s seriously one of my favorite movies and I’ve been known to listen to the soundtrack every once in a while! Another movie that I just love to kick back and watch is Center Stage. It was the first movie with Zoe Saldana! I did some digging to see how many movies I’ve seen with her in it, because she’s one of my favorite actresses! I’ve seen a total of seven films! I found out two weeks ago that one of my favorite shows came back on, last season they were on Wednesday nights, now they’re on Sundays at 8pm I think. I love, love, love TLC’s Who Do You Think You Are? so much! It’s right up my alley talking about family history.

To end this post I’m including some pictures of a few of our fur babies.

Midget and Grumpy
Midget and Grumpy
Bear Bear
Bear Bear
Bear Bear and Stormy
Bear Bear and Stormy
This wasn't easy to get, Grumpy is NOT the photogenic type at all!
This wasn’t easy to get, Grumpy is NOT the photogenic type at all!
Bootsie.
Bootsie.
The fluffball himself!
The fluffball himself!