On this bandwagon.

So, everyone else in the world blogs their playlists for each month/season/week/day/yadayadayada. Why should I be any different? I mean, I'm the first one to say that I am a follower. (Just kidding. I lead, I lead.)

I make playlists a lot. A lot, a lot. Pretty much every time I go on a trip to somewhere or host a significant event or just need a place to store specific music a new playlist is created. Some of my favorites are:

madison is for lovers (This is the playlist that I created for when I drive home to Madison, Mississippi.)
brand spankin' (A revolving door of music; This playlist houses new music as I add it to my iPod.)
new york, new york 2007/2008 (Music that represented the trips I took to [where else?] New York in the respective years.)
chrismakkuh (Duh.)

However, there are really only two seasons that I create playlists for:
summertime (Because I am a sucker for a pop song during the summer. This summer's mix featured Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson on heavy rotation.)
fall time is the right time (I love a melancholy song in the Fall. Read on.)

So, since we are right smack dab in the middle of Fall, I've decided I'm going to (be completely unoriginal) share with you my Fall playlist. This year I decided to include some favorites from my past and present. (After typing out the playlist I realized it's really more past than present.) Also, let me just explain my process for creating a playlist. Typically, I go through my iPod (by artist) and add the songs I want to an On-the-Go playlist until I hook up to my computer and give it a name. So, here it is:

Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars
Gone - Ashley Monroe & Trent Dabbs (Theirs is seriously some of the best music I've heard all year.)
You Are The Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne
Gossip in the Grain - Ray LaMontagne
I Still Care for You - Ray LaMontagne
You Could Be Happy - Snow Patrol
Run - Snow Patrol
Crack the Shutters - Snow Patrol
Objects of My Affection - Peter, Bjorn and John
Waiting on the Light to Change - Matthew Perryman Jones
Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg
Be Somebody - Kings of Leon
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
She Has No Time - Keane
The Heart of Life - John Mayer
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine
Meadowlarks - Fleet Foxes
This Low - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season)
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season)
When Your Mind's Made Up - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season)
Brandy Alexander - Feist
How My Heart Behaves - Feist
Ashes and Wine - A Fine Frenzy
Ungodly Hour - The Fray
Stay with You - John Legend
My Love Goes Free - Jon Foreman
Okay - Kaiser Cartel
The Lovers are Losing - Keane
Read My Mind - The Killers
Human - The Killers
Let My Love Open the Door - M. Ward
Arms of a Woman - Amos Lee
Long Line of Pain - Amos Lee
Seen it All Before - Amos Lee
Love in the Lies - Amos Lee
Meet me on the Equinox - Death Cab for Cutie
I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie
Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie

*I totally recommend listening to this on shuffle. Not that you're going to actually create this playlist for yourself.

Let me tell you about this kid.

This is Jack. Jack pretty much owns me. I look at pictures of him that I have saved on my phone AT LEAST once a day. And that's really fun - to look at pictures, but it certainly doesn't compare to getting to spend time with him.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a few days off from work and I flew to Amarillo to see Heidi, Brad (my sister and brother-in-law [BIL]) and Jack. I LOVE visiting Amarillo. It's so different from Nashville and completely charming. I've been there a lot this year on baby related visits and I always enjoy it. It's really fun to see my little sister in her new life and I completely adore my BIL. But, this isn't about them - they certainly deserve a post all their own.

Jack.

SO, this kid. Man. He is funny. And I know he's like, not EVEN four months old yet - but he makes me laugh so much. When you're hanging out with him, he loves for you to talk to him. And I would talk to him all day long if I could. Especially when he smiles at you and tries to talk back. Sometimes, he's all like - I'm gonna wave my hands around and if they bump into your fingers I'm gonna grab hold of them and just hang on.

But here's my favorite thing that happened while I was visiting. Heidi is training for a half-marathon and during my visit it was important that she maintain that training schedule. So that meant that Jack and I got to spend some quality time together (and maybe we had a mini photo shoot. See picture above.) Before Heidi left to go run, she warned me that Jack would probably get fussy and need to go down for a nap - in which case, I would have to rock him to sleep. I was really excited about this possibility and the reality of it did not disappoint. I can't even describe what that meant to me. This was about the closest I came to it:

One of the other greatest moments of the trip was when we were on our way to the airport. Jack started off sleeping, but he woke up about halfway through the car ride. He didn't make a sound - and not once did he take his eyes off of me. Which, I'm not going to lie, made it pretty hard to walk away.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

Here's why I would never go on a reality television show. I know the person that I am and while I'm sure that I would provide some entertainment, I'm far too concerned about what people think of me to actually put my flaws out there for all the world to point and laugh at. That and the fact that I'm not a Top Chef or a Project Runway designer and those are pretty much the only two shows I could condone participation on. Well, those and Amazing Race and let's not even talk about the fact that I only speak one language and to be frank, am not that much of a daredevil.

Speaking of television, it is one of the many reasons that I am excited about the Fall. Excited and to tell the truth, a little nervous. I feel like the line-up of new shows that I've already mapped out on my iCal is a bit overwhelming. I mean, most likely some of them won't even last past a few episodes but who am I to judge that? I'm an equal opportunity television lover. (This is probably the portion of the blog that I need to remind you that I am an adjusted and well-liked individual. (Right, right?) I have plenty of friends and do not lack for the company of others. I just like the TV.)

Speaking of television, I need to share something with you that will change your life. If you don't walk, no RUN, to the nearest video rental store (but let's be real, just friggin' sign up for Netflix already) and rent this series you should not be allowed to call yourself a television lover/watcher/casual viewer.



Can't Lose.

7.11.09

Undoubtedly the best day of the year. Why? I became an aunt.

That's right, I have a nephew! And he's about the most beautiful little baby boy you have ever seen. In the few days that I got to spend with him, he barely opened his eyes but I still got plenty of cuddle time.

It's a strange thing that happens - a baby. I've heard that being an aunt changes your life and I suppose that it does, but I figure most of that life-changing comes later on. But in the weeks leading up to his birth, I spent a lot of time waiting for him to make his entrance and a lot of time missing him. I know it sounds strange - to miss someone you've never met, much less someone that hasn't even been born. But if I thought I missed him then, since I've left Amarillo after he was born, that feeling has only gotten crazy strong. I now spend a lot of time either looking at pictures of him or planning how I can see him again. It's safe to say that little baby has pretty much taken control of my heart.

So, without any further ado I'd like to introduce Jackson Bragg Hickman.

The "It's My Birthday and I'll Cry if I Want To" Edition

I think I've heard it said that when inspiration hits, you must write. That would explain why I'm currently typing this out on my Blackberry. It's a slower process than usual, that's for sure.

I've been nostalgic lately. There have been countless times in the past weeks that I've uttered the phrase, "Remember when..." I understand that this is likely because of my impending birthday. And I know it's cliche, but I really can't believe that it's been a whole year.

On one hand, I don't feel like I really embraced 26. So many people told me that it would be a great year - and in retrospect, I see that it was. But I feel like I spent a lot of time looking for that greatness.

Which leads me to the other hand. I remember this time last year. Looking back, I realize how unsettled and unsure I was in a lot of areas. I wasn't satisfied with my job, many of my relationships were new and I was often frustrated about aspects of where my life was headed.

And what's funny in this whole situation, is that not many things have changed. I have the same job - but I've learned to appreciate and enjoy it. My relationships are pretty much the same - except they are no longer new and have settled into something really comfortable.

So if I've learned anything for the next year - it's that instead of searching and anticipating the next step in life, I just need to embrace it and experience it as it comes. Bring it on, 27.

Sleep Walking, Sleep Talking

Apparently my thought life is unoriginal because my dream life is getting all the action. For the past two months or so, I've had the MOST interesting and kind of exciting dreams. Sometimes they come out of left field such as last night's Jonas Brother's related dream, but a lot of the time they are related to what I've been watching on TV. Which would account for the multiple American Idol and Edward Cullen dreams. (It seems that I'm giving myself away here. You caught me. I'm into things that are probably lame.)

Look, here's the truth. I LOVE me some pop-culture. I'm never not going to be interested in what's going on with the girls over at The Hills. I will always Tivo awards shows - sometimes even the Espy's. (Well, that's not exactly true.) And I completely buy in to the dream that is American Idol. But you know what, I think that's okay. I'm also very much in touch with the real things going on in and around my life. So, I feel like that's an okay balance.

By the way, who were all the people shocked that Scott got voted off? He was clearly the one that needed to go.

Blog Woes.

The other day I read an article on blogging. It said that in order to be a good blogger, you must update regularly. Awesome.

I used to be really consistent with blogging (or journaling online, as we called it back then.) I'm talking 3, 4 times a day. But now? It's like a hassle to even think of a topic. And when I finally DO think of something, I sit down to write about it and get halfway through it, realize it's either extremely boring or too similar to the last thing I wrote. So, I just erase it and forget about it for another month or so. I'm beginning to wonder if my thought life is completely unoriginal.

(I just re-read that and almost deleted it all, because who really wants to read about someone that has lost the will to blog? But I am pressing on. Bear with me. I'll get better at this.)