MUSIC

WOW! I have been so blessed with WONDERFUL people in my life who are encouraging me! THANK YOU (you know who you are) for your words, love, support, and encouragement! SOME exciting news: now that my wonderful husband is on winter vacation him and his friend Chris got together and dove head first into recording with our software. They both and reading this from scratch and so they spent the day together, learning, hanging out, and playing music. They were able to get the drums, bass and guitar for one of our songs, and do you know what they picked? You guessed it, You Of Little Faith, a perfect reminder of what we are doing. Trusting in God that he will guide us and lead us to what He wants for our lives.

I have been working on a few new song ideas. One idea is an song surrounding why when we make bad decisions, how that makes us feel like we don't deserve to be loved by God so we don't want to get close to Him. How those decisions hold us back from getting closer to God. And we need to give them to Him and know he forgives us and loves us, just as our parents love us even when we mess us in life.

The other one, my husband LOVES rock, heavy music and wants so bad to write a song in the theme of the bands RED or FIREFLIGHT which I really like there music too, we have got three verses worked out but I am struggling with the chorus. So we are working on that one.

Life other then music:
I feel so blessed! I have wonderful friends, I have a great family and I have my BEST friend as my husband! I LOVE my life right now! I have been really busy with work, music, church, and friends, which keeps me on the move but it is a move I really enjoy. Winter break starts for me tomorrow and this gets to be the first Christmas my husband and I get to spend together as a married couple! We are having both of our families over for Christmas this year! I am super excited because what you all might not know about me it I am completely and utterly obsessed with table decorations, napkin holders, name tag cards, chargers ETC. I love it all and I love setting the table! Cooking is fun too but my real joy is setting the table hehe.

I will have to post some pictures of what the tables look like after I do them :) ... Thanks everyone

God Bless and have a wonderful Christmas :)

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE ...sorry

It has been a while, my apologizes. Life has truly gotten away from me, in a positive way. After Darren and I got married my school life was in full swing, I am teaching a fabulous class of fifth graders who brighten my day every morning, and I decided to start my masters, so I was taking classes for that as well. Like I said my life was in full swing. As the beginning of the year went quickly and soon Thanksgiving was right around the corner I began thinking where is the time going. Darren and I started talking a lot about life and our goals for what we want accomplish. We both knew the standards having children buying a house, living happily ever after, but what else. What was God calling us to do with our lives? After some time of talking, praying, and thinking we both came together, honestly a little afraid of what we thought God was asking us to do, we told each other that we heard God telling both of us that we are to purse our music and song writing. Some of you might think why is the scary. WELL let me tell you our fears, we unfortunately at times have not received the support that would help us grow from some people, which if you know me at all you know how sensitive I am and how hard it is for me do deal with peoples disapproval. So that was one BIG fear, another one was/is money! It costs a lot of money to produce your music (which is what we feel called to do) and we firmly believe that we will not go into debt or put of future family into a hard spot money wise, since it does say in the bible we should not. And third, IF we do make a CD and people enjoy it and we have the chance to make a profit off of it we WANT to make sure that the money is used for Gods purpose not ours, we want to give it back to Him. See most of the music we write has a definite message and that message is for the lost, beat down, bruised, confused, and looking, we write a message of hope, and to grab their attention and show them the truth JESUS at the end of the song. We feel our songs are written to save souls, since music is such a moving a powerful thing that reaches the inner core of people we want to us it to show TRUTH, HOPE, and LOVE to people in need. And those people may be non-Christians but they may be Christians too.

So where do we go from here, we have the vision, we have the desire, we need a plan. With our fears as a guide and prayer as our daily practice we entered into a plan to follow God's plan for our lives. We purchased (within our budget) a few materials we needed to start the recording process and we started. Or I should say Darren started he has been working slowing but steadily on the music portion of our songs and started with the PERFECT song, we wrote a song called You of Little Faith. I wrote the words and melody of this song while in my car arguing with God about how I am not good enough to record, and all I could hear over and over was You of Little Faith, so this is the perfect song to start with.

Our goals is to have a couple songs in place for my 25th birthday in April, in which we would love to have a concert inviting all of you to come and hear what God has been doing in our lives :)

Thanks

Until next time :)

Vision

Vision: Praying for vision for my life, my marriage, my ministry and my church. God has big plans for all of our lives, have you prayed lately?

So as some of you know I have several count downs going on in my life, my favorite one, is the count down for our wedding! Second favorite at the moment is 9 days Darren and I are if all goes according to plan we are going to apply for a fourplex :) It will be next to some good friends of ours which is super fun. It is in our budget which is even better!

Hey by the way did anyone know Valentines Day is coming up? Guess what Darren and I are doing .... Nothing :) ... it is kind of weird to do nothing but at the same time AWESOME ... we are saving money, spending time together cooking and relaxing! Hurray for a relaxing evening with my love.

By the way, take time to tell your friends how much you love them! It means the world to them when you tell them!

TO ALL MY FRIENDS ... I LOVE YOU .... YOU ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL YOU SUPPORT AND LOVE!!!

Recording and Clashing

Hey Guys!

So question: Have you ever said something to a friend that hurt them, I am sure the answer is yes, well I did yesterday. I know everyone always makes mistakes but it is really getting to me. I feel bad for what I said since it hurt her feelings and she means so much to me. So I hope she knows I am sorry and I love her. I am just not perfect. I remember in high school and middle school I would try and try and try to be the best person I could be, to be perfect if you will. Then Senior year came and I realized how far from perfect I was and I let the whole world see and know the imperfect side of me. Life happens, I try to learn from events and lessons I have gone through, but I still fall short. That is life.

As some of you have read in previous post Darren and I had the opportunity sing for a gentleman who has a recording studio. I LOVED IT! Every minute of it was awesome! I mentioned I was scared that it wouldn't be about the message and the meaning of the words of the song, but God showed up and showed me that I have to trust him. The man who recorded is Christain and only records Christain artists and we prayed at the end and he talk about how he felt the words were powerful! It mean me so thankful for God and how he provides in everything we do!

Monday Mornings are always hard for me to wake up, I am so busy on the weekends that is never a relaxing break. I was pretty tired but I got to school and my kids surprised me so much and are being really good today! I love it. I love my job! The kids make my day! I cant wait until one day when I get to have some of my own :).

My kiddos are so dramatic here at school, if you have any Drama ideas let me know :) Thanks ... have a great day!

In Laws and Dreams

Weird Title huh ... a got a lot on my mind so here I go to unload.

In Laws first:

There is TONS of movies, and jokes on mother in laws, and how horrible they are. However, God must love me because He have me an amazing one! I am so happy to have Darren's parents as my future in laws. They truly are amazing and people I totally get along with. Life is good.

Side Note:

Had a wedding decoration meeting yesterday! AWESOME!!! I have great group of friends who give tons of time and love to me THANKS GUYS!!!

And

Thanks Lacey for coffee today it was fun! :)

Dreams:

What are you dreams? I have dreams, a lot of them really, one really big one that I dont tell a lot of people. I have told Darren and he has been so supportive, however am I silly to say that I haven't told a lot of other people including my friends and I probably should. So here is a baby step to that. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to sing one or more of my songs that I have wrote in front of a large group of people. Like a concert! I feel like God has given me songs and they are so reflective of what I have gone through or the feelings I towards God. And when i sing them and other people hear them I feel like I am spreading a message to others, I feel like it is my sermon, my testimony to others. Sometimes I feel frustrated or that I am not ever going to reach my dream, and when that happens, God sends someone to me and they tell me that they relate to the song or they felt touched by the song, and when that happens I thank God for another boost. Why I dont know but I feel like it will never happen for me and I give up, then I watch a song on you tube, or go to a concert or watch a movie and then my dream comes back to me 10 fold again! Why does God give us dreams? And why do I feel like my dream seems so selfish ... am I doing this or me or for God ... these are things I ask because I worry about that ... any thoughts? .... I dont want to do it for me ... I want to make sure that this is for God and others. Darren and I are going to sing and play our songs for his friend today maybe that will give some light to this dilemma in me.

I will write more later and let everyone know how it goes :)

until later :)

Weddings!

I LOVE WEDDINGS! It is kind of like an addiction really. I love going to weddings, planning weddings, watching wedding shows on TV, looking through weddings magazines. Really plan and simply I LOVE weddings. However, I HATE money! And the way money creates a monster. I feel the monster creeping up on me sometimes with planning my wedding. As some of you know I am on a tight budget. My budget is about $4000, with a invite like of almost 400 people. It is fun to figure out money saving ideas, and then at the same time I feel like I am always checking myself making sure that I am not spending too much money on things I really want. Things that have saved me FRIENDS! I love all of you. I have the best florist who is a friend from High School she has given me great ideas and worked completely within my budget, which is not easy task when I have 12 bridesmaids. Yes, I said it 12 bridesmaids. I have also bought a lot of things online which is sometimes risky but has worked out for me so far (cross my fingers for the rest). I am also in need of finding WHITE tulle CHEAP ... so if you see any out there let a sista know ... please!

I also have a very fun opportunity coming up on Saturday! I get to go sing for a guy who records music. It is really low key but if he likes it he is going to help Darren and I record our music! I am super pumped and hope it works out! Pray for us. :)

So you know how I mentioned in my first blog the way I got the idea for a blog was from Julie and Julia ... well just the other day I watched it again and noticed WOW she cooks with a lot of butter, I thought that has to be bad for you right, then I was reading an article about Julia Childs and her obsession with butter, and a comment by a nutritionist said that eating REAL butter and cooking with it is actually healthily for you, it is when you eat margarine and "fat free" it becomes a problem. I thought it was interesting. Bring on the butter. hehehe

Later tonight my church The Chapel in Troudale Oregon will be have a community dinner, 3 dollars suggested donation, then I head out for a class, FPU! Which by the way it an awesome class!

Raining on Sunday

WOW I am so blessed!!!! I had a great crazy busy day!!!! First to start off I went to Church at the Chapel which is such an awesome place. I got to lead worship today (YAY) and lead two of the songs Darren and I have wrote, which is so fun! After worship Darren and I went back to Chapel Kids Club to lead the kids in learning about how to put our priorities in order, something I am still working on. However, one of my favorite parts of CKC wasnt even involving the lesson. Darren said aloud that he was getting married in 6 months from today and this girl in the front row yelled, "EWWWWWW!" I was dying then someone raised their hand and said, "Darren who are you marrying?" Darren replied, "Marissa," Another hand went up and explained to Darren, "When you get married then she can tell you what to do." The girl next to her response was, "Oh yeah my mom does that." Wow, I was rolling on the floor at this point, what a great morning.

After church we set up a time to view a four-plex we are interested in. It is awesome and I love it, however it is still 6 months until we are to be married and I we are trying to wait as long as possible to find a place, so that we can pay off loans, I HATE being patient I am so bad at that. I heard a great quote from a movie though it said: did you ever think that when you pray to God for Patience that he would give you opportunities to be patient? Well I find myself running into those opportunities a lot. So pray for me, that I can wait this out. God has a plan I need to make sure I dont push that plan faster then it is suppose to go, there is a time for everything.

Later in the day Darren and I were invited to a friends house in which we were in charge of bring ribs. I love ribs, however I have never cooked ribs myself. Darren and I had 3 lbs of great organic ribs which he had feed himself at the farm he works at on the weekends. We decided we were going to slow cook the ribs for 10 hours, I turned them on when I woke up and had to suffer all day until we left smelling the yummy goodness. And they actually turned out ok :) ... Is there other yummy ways to cook ribs? Any suggestions out there?

Anywho, I leave you all with a CHEER for 6 months LEFT YAY!!!

Adventures of Saturday

Saturday, I love Saturdays! This Saturday was different then others. I went to coffee with one of my besties Karah which is always a great time. We went to a very fun coffee shop in Gresham called Café Delirium. My favorite drink there is the white chocolate mocha. If you are a fan of white chocolate mochas you should try this place. After my great time with Karah, I was driving home and stopped by this organic store called Twelve Mile Market http://www.twelvemilemarket.com/ I went in looking for organic BBQ sauce (they don’t have any), however, while talking to the owner he told me that they were hosting a class on salt, broth, and fats. It was a very interesting class, I was happy to be a part of it! After the class was over the owner said those who participated in the class would get 10 percent off anything in the store. Man if I would have known that ahead of time I would have been more prepared but I wasn’t and I walking away with homemade butternut squash ravioli.

For dinner I cooked the butternut squash ravioli for Darren. I love cooking for him. My favorite thing is to have it ready and waiting when he comes home from work. He works so hard, and it is so rewarding to see him happy when he gets home. I am so proud of him, he does such a great job!

Starting tomorrow is my 6 month countdown to the wedding J hurray I am so happy to become Mrs. Rice. Monday I will start my work out adventure. My goal is to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and do cardio starting at 5:45 AM. As some of you know I am not the morning person of this relationship, but I am going to do it. Check in on Monday and I will let you know how it goes.

Dinner with Friends

Had a great time tonight. Went to my friends house and had amazing Mexican Pizza (homemade) from Matt B. THANKS! It was very well done. During dinner I brought one of my very good friends Lauren with me and we had a great time of reflection from my Senior Trip in College. My graduation present was a trip to Mexico (fun times.) We did many fun things; we went on the zip-lines through the rain-forest, we went to a water park, shopping, site-seeing, and swimming with Dolphins. Did you know that Dolphin have teeth! And they are HUGE! You may think I am exaggerating a little bit, but don't be fooled I was terrified, yes I said I was scared out of my mind when it came to swimming with these Dolphins. I had my body glued to the side of the wall while holding my good friend Lauren in front of me, making sure if one of us was going down with the Dolphins to the bottom of the tank it would be her before me. However, you would be proud of me I actually got used to the whole swimming with Dolphin idea a little, well long enough to take a picture with the Dolphin. (see picture below) The picture below is when you are suppose to kiss the Dolphin, I was proud of myself for looking the Dolphin in the eye :)

Hello Blog

Thank you for letting me express myself. I have been using music as this outlet. However, I seem to be in a slump ... therefore after being inspired by the movie Julie and Julia I decided I would blog. So here I go:

I have had a crazy past ... my life has had it's up and down. Yet, I find myself relating to the song Bless the Broken Road, about two years ago I decided to date my childhood friend of 11 years, a decision my mother told me she was waiting for me to do forever. Apparently, if there was still arrange-marriages she would choice him. He is so amazing! After a year and half of dating, during a concert at our church, which we put on. After we sung the last we wrote together he got down on one knee and change my life, I said yes of course. Now I have six months and planning and dreaming before the big day on July 24th.

My fiance and I have a lot of things we enjoy doing. One of our very most favorite things is writing music together. He plays the guitar, piano, bass and would give his right arm to have time to learn the drums (he will one day. And I, I sing. I always tell him he is the harmony to my melody. My fiance has this gift which is unlike anyone, and that is, he can put up with me. I am not the most easy person to write music with, first I try to sing what I want the instruments to play, next I know nothing about notes, keys, time signature, but for some reason that doesn't matter cause my fiance does. And he understands what I am saying, thus: he is amazing.

As I said above my life is a little all over the place, same as the purpose of this blog. I seem to run around like a chicken with my head cut off throughout the week, so I would like to have a place when I can sit, stop, and reflect on my life. My hope is that: I can write my appreciation for my fiance and family, I can write more music, and I can give those I don't get to see all the time the update.

So in ending, God bless, see you soon.... :)