Genius instrumental talent in 70's songs!

Hey Blog Followers,

I've really been in a 70's kick for the past year now. I am IN LOVE with some of this music that we often forget about and maybe haven't even noticed. Here are some songs that you really need to go back listen to and specifically find these instruments in these songs.


The harmonica in "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young: Oh man, gives me chills every time. I tried replicating it with my harmonica and let me tell you, this little instrument is trickier than you think! If you don't believe it, then go try it. If you accomplish it, then you are a talented music genius.

The piano in "Somebody to love" by Queen: As a piano player, I'm telling you, these are not easy chords to keep up with. This band is amazing! They are well known by all generations for a reason. In my opinion, this song is insanely amazing for many reasons. The way they put all their high pitched voices and sounds together, but yet make it flow so fluently... TALENTED!

Drums and horn (Brass instrument)  in "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder: Makes you want to move and yet when he sings you are still able to focus on what he is saying.

Steven Tyler's perfectly screaming and controlled voice in "Dream On" by AeroSmith. I recommend that you watch Steven Tyler perform this song. His pitches are so perfect on those high screeching notes and makes you even enjoy this song.

Drums in "More than a feeling" by Boston: Keeps a steady beat, but if you really listen in changes to predictable and yet unpredictable patterns at the same time. I don't really know how to explain it, but just listen to it and maybe you'll hear what I'm trying to describe!

String instrument (Guitar?) and piano in "She's always a woman" by Billy Joel. Let me just say, the piano his songs is something that you can't help but feel drawn too. I love this song, so I might be a little bias right now.


What are some 70 songs you enjoy listening to that we should go back a dissect a bit deeper than just the lyrics?

These are things I had to say.
#DreaSaidIt

Photo Credit
Queen Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band)

Loving my student's work!

Hey blog followers!

Today's post is a little random than my normal posts, because I normally don't talk about my students and their work. When I was a kinder aide I usually would put up quotes they would say. Also, when I was a first year teacher last year I would share some things that I was doing with my students, because everything was so new! The ironic part is that even though I am not commuting hardly at all anymore, I feel I am FINALLY starting to balance work and life. It only took 7 months to do so! :)

I am loving the work that my kids have created this year and I wanted to share some of it with you.

My 7th/8th grade Pixlr class (Free version of photoshop...check out the link!) is a fun one for me to teach. I am very much in my element, but more than that I love seeing what my kids create! I give them all the same guidelines and instructions and no art work is ever the same! It's amazing!

One project we did was remaking a book cover and this is what they came up with! They make me so proud :)


Another project we recently did was a typography assignment. Can you see the words in the pictures? What I love about this is that these two students don't sit by each other, but they used the same word with two interpretations. 

If you are a teacher or are into a hobby let me know what are things you are doing that you are proud of lately!

These are things I had to say

#DreaSaidIt

Social Media Break

Hey Blog Followers,

I love this time of year for many reasons and one reason is because lent season is coming up. I have given up Facebook in the past for lent, but this time I'm going to give up all social media in general for AT LEAST 40 days! I will probably use my Twitter account when I go to the CUE conference this year, but other than that you won't see me on it. After the 40  days I don't know when I will be back, because this journey is more than just giving something up for lent. For me it's a season of hope, detox, and living for the present moments.  

I hope you will still keep in touch with me through calling, texting, and emailing me. I don't plan on working on my blog or YouTube stuff during this fast, which I'm not even consistent at keeping up in general haha :)

I'll see you when I see you! 

These are the things I had to say.
#DreaSaidIt

The kind of guy I will one day end up with

Hey Blog Followers,

I hope this new year has been a good start for you. Even through the valleys (hardships) I'm hoping you are taking some life lessons and will be able to pass down your wise experience on how you have overcame them through this season. 

I feel pretty open talking about the dating/single life, because I feel it's a topic that people want to talk about, but often there is a dark stain that comes with that topic, so I want to try and break that. I'm not saying that I handle it the best way, because my close family and friends know how much it touches me talking about this. 

I want to share a dream and my thoughts about it, because it truly taught me on what I'm really looking for in a life companion. I'll be the first to admit that I had a list of of the superficial qualities that I was looking for in a guy, however recently I am learning it's so much deeper than that. This dream has shifted my heart and mind to think and feel differently. 

The dream:
The dream started off with me meeting a guy that I use to have a crush on. In the dream I was suppose to wait for him to get ready, because he was not ready, but then the next scene in my dream was we were at church singing songs of worship. This person in my dream knew the lyrics to the songs, but wasn't singing it from his heart. He was basically lip singing and then I said to him, "You know the words, so why aren't you singing?" In my dream I felt the change shift drastically all  because of those words I told him. The dream ended with that guy having his arm around me-like a side hug and we were truly singing songs of worship to God from our hearts. The most powerful thing I felt in my dream was, I felt spiritually safe with that person. 

So here are the lessons I learned:
1) You may be ready to date someone, but maybe God is still working on that person. Maybe they aren't ready. Maybe God only wants to give you the absolute best and He knows that it can even better. 
2) A person may "know" Jesus, but does he really know him? He may say he does and sure, he knows the stories or can defend with bible verses that he knows God, but what really matters is his heart. Is he able to sing songs to God with his whole heart or does he just sing the lyrics?
3) Feeling physically safe is important, but feeling spiritually safe with someone is just as important or even more important. Physical looks or protection will pass and is not guaranteed, so I would argue that being with someone who is cheering you on to live a life eternity with God is more important. 
4) You want to be singing side by side with the person you end up with singing praises to God. It was so beautiful that it's hard to describe the feeling (AND THAT IT'S JUST A FEELING FROM A DREAM! I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT THE REAL THING FEELS LIKE!)

I'll admit, that it's so tempting to date someone who you get along with, but isn't pushing you to a deeper relationship with God. I'm not saying that it's easy waiting for the right person. I'm saying that I'm at least going to try and if those feelings from my dream are true, then I rather wait for the right person to spend the rest of this life with than settle.  

My list of the guy that I'm prayer has changed from physical features to something deeper.

The guy I will end up will...
-Love and knows jesus whole heartily.
-Prays with and for you.
-Thanks God for you.
-Values you and your family.
-Laughs with you a lot!
-Has you're back, you're a team!
-Is a gentleman
-Makes you feel physically and spiritually safe.
-Cowboy at heart :)

Why cowboy? Well that will be for another post. Until then, I hope you are able to feel inspired and encouraged. Trust me, I don't always feel hopeful and there are many days that I feel lost in this specific topic, but writing it out or posting on my wall has been such a great reminder to not give up on what I have been dreaming all along. 

These are the things I had to say.
#DreaSaidIt

The random me

Hey blog followers, 

I am a very random person. It was bound to happen, because my family and upbringing is pretty unique and random than the average nuclear family. Not only is my family random, but I'll be the first to admit that the things that come out of my mouth are pretty random (It's why I called my blog, "Drea Said It-The Things I have to say"). I have this problem where I think people can hear my thoughts, which means people automatically know what I'm talking about without giving them a preface. 

Here are some quotes that's my friends still remind me of what I have said in the past: 

"I like to thank God for creativity. Like today, I thanked God for Twilight" (APU Study Abroad South Africa, 2009)

"Thank you Nelson Mandela for sacrificing your life." (APU Study Abroad South Africa, 2009)

The author of Twilight is intellectual. She uses fancy French words like, Façade. (APU, 2010)

"We're Hydro-PLANKING" (In the car... can't remember what year)


Alright alright, they may not be funny to most of you, but for the ones who were there in those moments, you know you still make fun of me for it. I love laughing with you about it too :)

My family, the jobs I have had, my groups of friends, and life experiences that I have had have been pretty random. I broke down into categories the things that are random and explained why.


Family:

• My dad had me when he was 60 and my sister at 61. 
• The fact that I have sister that is 11 months and 2 weeks apart is pretty random. (yay for being Irish Twins!) 
• I have 8 1/2 siblings and even though my mom never knew my 1/2 siblings mom- my mom was friends with my 1/2 siblings mom's, sister. 
• I was an aunt before I was born (Yes, my nieces and nephews are older than me)
• I was a Great-Aunt when I was 21. A GREAT AUNT!!!! I'm hopeful to be a Great-Great Aunt in my lifetime ;)

Jobs:

• Working for Boys and Girls club at 6am
• Had one of the best jobs in the whole world, Kindergarten Aide! (How that all happened was random in my opinion)
• Working in Culver City (When I applied I had to idea where Culver City was, but the blessing is that my sister lived 15 minutes away from there and I didn't even know it when I applied).
• Ending up as a computer elective teacher (The plan was elementary!!! Kindergarten, first grade, MAYBE 4th!) 
• Ending up as a MIDDLE SCHOOL teacher ( I told people all the time, "I would never do middle school. Elementary and High school for sure, Middle school-never)
• The only middle school experience I had was on my 1st day on the job. I'll never forget. It was Thursday, September 11, 2014. 
• Ending up at Sandburg Middle School with the same job as C.C.M.S
• Coaching 7th grade boys basketball this year!

Life experiences:

• Being destined to go to South Africa
• Getting stuck in a Sci-Fi Freshman writing class my sophomore year of college and loving it!
• Walking up to a guy I had a crush on and telling him how he called me a boy in the 2nd grade...(What can I say, the nerves get the best of me and I had nothing better to say?) 
• Eating Del Tacos beef burrito when it use to be the #1 with ketchup. 
• Flew from CA to Seattle to only end up sleeping at the airport and came back home less than 24 hours(I was suppose to end up in Montana, but their was snow storm, which canceled the trip)

The beauty of all these random things are they make me, me! It's fun that I have different groups of friends, a unique family, random interests, and experiences. Most of the things I have enjoyed in my life have been put into my path randomly. I wasn't necessarily looking for it, but it found me and each event has truly led me to next. Every thing has been done for a purpose. I full heartily believe that.  Some things can't be explained, some things are in the making still, and some things are just super clear on why it is the way it is.

Whatever life has brought you, embrace it! There is a reason, a purpose, and even if you don't understand-it will one day link a puzzle piece to another. 

These are things I had to say.

#DreaSaidIt

Thank you for loving me- Letter 1

Hey Blog Followers,

 I have been in a funk lately... I have felt sentimental and reflective of where I am in life and the people I get share it with. Not that's a bad thing, but it's just where I am. 

We often think of writing love letters to people, whether it's to lovers(P.S. Single people-you don't have to be in a relationship to write a love letters) or to someone who has gone away-things we wish we could have told them at some point. Well, my plan is to write love letters in the near future to people that I love and that I want to express to them as we are living life right now, in the present. You just never know how fast life can change and I am trying to live a life with no regrets.
 Keyword: TRYING!

 I don't want to wait to share how I feel at a funeral, a death bed, or something like that. If you feel something, you just gotta say it. When you are healthy. When you are alive. When life is good! I'm on a journey on wanting to make people feel special and to make sure that they know how loved and broken my life would be without them, because lately I have been surrounded by people who make me feel so special and this is the beginning of my love letter to them.

So, THANK YOU to my family and friends who have stuck by through the thick and thin. Who tell me the truth even when I didn't want to hear it and who wouldn't allow me to settle for less. Thank you to the ones who point me back to my moral beliefs and compass. Thank you to the ones who laugh at my lame jokes and comments, embarrassing moments, and my contradicting thought process. Thank you the ones who spoil me with the 5 love languages. If you have no idea what I'm talking about CLICK HERE.  Thank you to the ones who pick up where we last left off with no question on where our friendship stands. Thank you to the ones who have pushed me to be the best person I can be. Thank you to the ones who have made me feel special by dressing me up on the outside and on the inside. The ones who have pushed me to try new things, who have challenged me, and give me the best hope too. Ultimately, I thank God that He gave me the best thing... which is YOU guys! Who are truly the best things that happened to me, even when I don't say it enough. 

I dedicate the chorus of this song to you...

These are things I had to say

#DreaSaidIt

Walking with Strangers

Hey Blog Followers,

I'm going to get straight into my thoughts and points tonight. I have been thinking about the question, when do strangers become familiar faces and when do our familiar face friends/family become strangers? 

Life doesn't make sense sometimes and I don't mean to sound negative about it, but truly I don't get it sometimes. One of my favorite quotes from Gossip Girl is, 

"In life, as in art, some endings are bittersweet. Especially when it comes to love. Sometimes fate throws two lovers together only to rip them apart."

I'm not talking about lovers or love here. But, replace the word "lover" with stranger, or friend, or family. I know the typical answer that I have heard many times before...everyone comes into our lives for a reason or for a season,  A blessing, or a lesson, blah blah blah. 

Are we living a life with full of strangers? Perhaps. Think about the people you know if your life right now. At some point were they a stranger and now your best friend? Were they family and now you feel distant and don't have a clue about where to even start with them? I have ran into people who are not friends, nor strangers, nor family, so what are they and how is it that I ended doing this thing called life with them. Co-workers, the cashiers at the gas station, the bank teller, our doctors, familiar hikers, gym goers, etc.  

HOW COOL is that though!? That everyone we meet and see has the potential of making a mark in the memory spots of our brains. That even if people do disappear in our lives it can still be part of your story no matter how big or how small of an impact they made. I know strangers who have helped me along the way to where I am now and I don't even know there name, but I have their face implanted in my brain. For example, the guys who helped me when I got rear ended last year. Or the girl who actually ended up hitting my car. The lady who basically told me to go to South Africa. STRANGERS! Implanted in my brain and made in impact in my life in some way.

What about you blog followers? What are your answers or perspectives on this topic?

These are things I had to say.
#DreaSaidIt