Great News

Hello Lovely Readers,

Guess what? I just got an offer to set up a music therapy contract with Heartland Hospice of Fond Du Lac and Green Bay, WI! I am so beyond excited for this opportunity. I have been praying for awhile now that God leads me in the path I am meant to be in career-wise.

While I have never worked with hospice patients before, I did work for 2 years at a hospital before we moved this last October. It is very humbling seeing the pain and suffering some people go through at the end of life. But, it is a very beautiful thing hearing their thoughts on 'being ready' to leave this earthly world and enter Heaven.

Here is a quick explanation of music therapy. Perhaps on another post I will go further in depth.

Music therapy is basically using musical interventions to accomplish goals in clients. These goals can be physical, mental, social, emotional, and/or spiritual.

For example, I worked a lot with stroke patients on a rehabilitation floor, and I used singing techniques mixed with speech therapy techniques to reach goals of speaking again and word recall.

Also, I loved working on the behavioral health floor. I held a group with adults and a group with adolescents, using song-writing, music listening, art therapy with music, and lyric analysis to encourage emotional expression, among other goals.

Lastly, music is AWESOME with children! Music therapy is very popular with kids with autism and developmental disabilities. It is very motivational and rewarding on many levels.

I could go so much more in depth! But, I've got to go cook dinner. Have a blessed Day!

Happiness

Don't you wish we could bottle up happiness in a can? Then when we needed a dose of happiness or to relive a special moment, all we would need is to open our cupboard and grab our can opener. Ta-da!

It is not always that easy. SOMETIMES, through all our external circumstances, happiness just HAS to come from WITHIN.

I am happy for grace readily available to me and to you!

 

I am happy for being able to spend Colin's 26th birthday with him on June 20th! We had a quiet day together, went out for lunch, and I made him tiramisu. In addition to going to the concert together last week, Colin is going to be getting his second tattoo- a cross on his back, with details relating to his profession of a police officer. Pictures to come!

I am happy for nature. The beauty of God's creations. The colors He gives us to see by.

I am happy for parrots. These videos will seriously make you happy.

I am happy for music. Anna Graceman, 11-years-old, singing Alicia Keys on America's Got Talent.

Anna singing Lexi's Lullaby, she wrote it after her baby cousin was born. So sweet.

Speaking of music...I am HAPPY because I have an interview on Thursday for a music therapy contract with Heartland Hospice of DePere, WI. SO excited. Please pray for my interview and that God erases my nerves!

Sending you happiness,
~Jessica

Goin' Coastal

Colin's 26th birthday is on June 20th, just over a week away. Colin has recently gotten into the Zac Brown Band, a country music group. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to look up when they may be touring Wisconsin. They just so happened to be performing as part of Kenny Chesney's Goin' Coastal 2011 tour June 11th, which was yesterday. Kenny used to be Colin's favorite singer--like, he's got NINE of his cds. SO, I decided to SURPRISE him with ground floor tickets as an early birthday present!! I kept it a secret for about a week, right up until the day before. I am good.

The concert was at Lambeau Field! It was the first concert EVER hosted at the famous Green Bay Packers field. It was very special, and coach Mike McCarthy even came out onto the stage holding the Lombardi trophy in the middle of Kenny's act. Glory was in the air.  Packer jerseys, a green and gold knit beanie, and even a cheesehead were worn by some members of the bands.

The opening act was Uncle Kracker (Follow Me, Drift Away, Smile). He teamed up later with Kenny on When the Sun Goes Down and Kid Rock's Cowboy, among others.



The next on stage was Billy Currington (That's How Country Boys Roll, Must Be Doing Something Right, People Are Crazy).



Then Zac Brown Band (Chicken Fried, Colder Weather, Free) performed. They really rocked it out on stage. The musicianship was AMAZING. The fiddle player WOWED me on The Devil Went Down to Georgia. It was crazy good.

They sang Highway 20 Ride.

Believe it or not, after a brisk and cloudy afternoon, 5 minutes before Kenny was to perform, the CLOUDS CLEARED and we had sunshine the rest of the evening, and later, a starry moonlit sky.

Kenny came flying through the air!

He was literally 3 feet away from us at one point!

He put on one heck of a show, bringing back old classics, such as Don't Happen Twice, Young, and She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy. He brought Zac Brown Band out later for an awesome rendition of Alabama's Dixieland Delight.

Kenny.

It was one crazy fun evening. There is not much better than a great concert with the love of your life.

Our feet are still killing us from donning our cowboy boots and our ears are still ringing. I was brought back to my roots of growing up a country girl. A farmer's daughter.

"Back where I come from, where I'll be when its said and done. I'm proud as anyone. That's where I come from." ~Kenny Chesney