6. Brooke Fraser

Brooke Fraser is one of the finest singers and songwriters around, she hails from across the Tasman, a kiwi who's flown the nest to the big bad world of Oz and found Hillsong.

She's been singing and writing with them for a few years as well as making her own music.

She has three albums out, 'What do I do with Daylight', 'Albertine' and most recently 'Flags' and most notably her mainstream song 'Something in the Water'.

It wasn't until her album 'Albertine' that I really got into her music. I had never heard of her before, which is sad because I enjoy her music so much! 

It's rare that I find a good christian singer that I enjoy listening to and playing her music on the piano or guitar. 

My top three favourite songs by Brooke Fraser are 'C.S. Lewis Song', 'Albertine', and 'Hymn' a beautiful piano melody that I love to hear and play!!

As well as writing music for her own album Fraser writes for hillsong as well. And my all time favourite song to sing my lungs out to is a song she sings called 'Lead me to the Cross'

I leave you with a sample of her music. Have a listen and tell me what you think!

A Quest

A Quest to read more books.

The List... of books that have been sitting on my shelf and need to be read!! 

Hope to have them all read by the wedding, and the big house swap!!

1. What's so Amazing about Grace - Philip Yancey
2. A Place Behind the World - David Hazard
3. Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
4. Trace - Patricia Cornwell
5. All that Remains - Patricia Cornwell
6. Disappointment with God - Philip Yancey
7. The Virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory
8. Bonhoeffer - Eric Metaxas
9. Where is God when it Hurts? - Philip Yancey
10. Case for Christ - Lee Strobell
11. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
12. Hating Alison Ashley - Robin Klein
13. Sons of Encouragement - Francine Rivers
14. Left Behind - Tim LaHaye

These are the books I shall try to read. I will hopefully keep you updated on my progress!!

7. Laura Marling

Sometimes it depresses me knowing the music I listen to now is made by girl people my own age or younger!!

Laura Marling is 22 years old, like myself, she plays guitar mostly and sings. 

She has an acoustic sound, indie sound, focusing on vocals, lyrics, guitar, melodies and blending music together without much in you face loud drum beats.

 'I speak because I can' is her second album she released a few years back. It's the album that introduced me to her dark lyrics and beautiful riffs.

'Devil's spoke' is one of my favourites, and I listen to it regularly.

Her latest album I enjoy, not as much as 'I speak because I can' but if you are going to check out her latest music, I recommend the track 'Sophia', it's one of my favourites.

If you like music by mumford and sons, she's been linked professionally (and rumoured, romantically as well), so if you like there music then you'll enjoy Laura Marling's.

I shall leave you with one of my favourites songs by Marling. 'Hope in the Air'

Well, well, well

Well, it's the last 15 minutes of my birthday, it's my last birthday living in Sydney and my last birthday being a Miss B, soon I will be a Mrs L.

Well, I've been wondering, do you ever get used to getting older? Does it ever stop feeling like you shouldn't be the age you are, or that you had all these ideas of what you would be like by the time you reached a certain age and then you realise, you're nothing like that.

Well, I've come to realise that I'm just me, no matter my age, I wont be this awesome, responsible, independent, confident woman because I know me and thats not who I am. But that's ok and I've come to accept that. 

So I'll continue to age and believe I will be a different person when I've reached a certain age. But for right now, I am going to do all I can to make the future me proud of the present me, and thank God that I took the steps now to be a better person then.

If only it were all so simple as it is too write it!

So it's my Birthday!!

First day of Preschool.

In the hopes of not looking completely vain, I've come up with a collage to show the many different hairstyles I've had over my last 22 years. These are just a few and keep in mind, there were many, many more variations than what is shown here!!

Linking up with Sakura Haruka for Wordless Wednesday

Wedding!

So I'm getting married in a few weeks, (10 to be exact but who's counting) and I'm out of ideas.

I'm looking like crazy (actually todays the first day I've really been looking) to try and find ideas for centre pieces, guest book ideas and bouquet ideas.

Centrepieces - quirky, different, I want my guests to think they are cool and very much S and I. I've been googling and pinning and haven't found anything that really stands out to me! I don't want flowers and I love candles! Any ideas?

Guest Book - my friend had a station at her wedding where you could write a message on a stone she and her partner had found and they would place them in a vase and use them as a table setting at their home. Another friend had a quilt which family and friends wrote their well wishes on. I want something like this but not to steal my friends ideas. I'd like something that is practical I can keep for a while and be used as part of the furniture. Any ideas?

Bouquet - I'm looking into fake flowers at the moment, enquired online through a few companies, I hope to have my bouquet as artificial flowers so that I can keep them and use them as a centre piece or just decoration in my home for years to come. Any ideas?

So if you have any ideas, what so ever, you saw something on pinterest or experienced something going to a friend or family members wedding, please it would be very much appreciated if you could share and gives me some ideas to work with!!

Any ideas? Thanks!!

8. Taylor Swift

Everybody knows Taylor Swift, and if you don't I have no idea where you've been living for the past few years!!

Normally I wouldn't chose someone like this to have in my top favourites... Being her so popular, commercialised and well sort of preppy.

But I am not void of ears and I do enjoy her songs, and I'm not snooby enough to dislike her just on principle. I give credit where credit is due, even if I'm not normally a fan.

Really, how can you not like Taylor Swift? Her music is fun, quirky, country and you can dance and sing really loud to it and not care.

She's tall, (like 6ft), pretty, down to earth, can play every kind of instrument, guitar, ukelele, and a hole car load of other instruments, she sings to convey her message in lyrics, lyrics that she wrote or co-wrote, not to show of her vocal ability with tonnes of licks and fancy shit that sounds like they're trying too hard.

I'm sorry, maybe I should hate her? No one should be allowed to be that good at everything....

But alas, credit where credit is due and praise where praise is due. 

She has a gift, whether others like her or not.

She's being herself, where allowing her music to sell its self and not relying on her half naked body to do so (though she did accidentally walk over a wind machine whilst wearing a flowey dress in one of her performances, embarrassing!)  like all her other fellow pop stars (not naming any names *cough rhianna cough*.

So if you don't like her music, that's fine, but you have to admit, she is talented and a blessing to an industry too ready to use sex as a means to sell EVERYTHING!

Okay, so this post took a while to be written. I lost my list of artists and forgot them all!

But never fear, (arhibald is here) I have already written the rest of my list, ready to be posted. 

So stayed tuned for number 7.

Linking up 'With Some Grace' for Flog Your Blog Friday