Poland

Hey everyone! Poland is an amazing city! I had hoped to post more while I was here, but we have been on the move. And the wifi doesn't reach to my room. :) I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, but I'm missing everyone at home. Last night Tori and I effectively flooded the apartment below us. So that was fun! Haha! Last night we got to sit down with Bro. and Sis. Adams and hear them tell of their heart for this land. God is working in Poland in so many ways. Thank you all for your continued prayers. Tomorrow we walk the city and pray. God is good! See you all Sunday!

Top 'O the mornin'!

07/19/2012 Wow! This has been such an amazing experience. Last night's service was great! God is stirring the hearts of people. Help us pray that a move of the Holy Spirit would sweep across the country of Ireland. Unlike in America, there is not a spirit-filled church on every corner. Pastor and sister Potter have been at work in Ireland for 15 years. They just recently were able to get a building, which is a major miracle.  There were many Nigerians at church tonight. I got to talk to them about my time in Africa and learn about their background and how they cam to Ireland from Nigeria.  I met a little girl named Victoria.  She loves to sing! There was also a little boy named Dani that marched around the church carrying around a microphone. :) That reminded me of my church.  Yesterday during the day, we traveled to Tramore. What a beautiful city! We meandered along the beach and walked up to an old church. The pictures are amazing! 

Hello from Ireland!

07/17/2012 On the bus from Dublin to Waterford. Initially thee was wifi on the bus! In the words of Tori, "Shut-up!" Haha! We arrived safely abut an hour behind schedule. Our fight was delayed an hour because they had to repair the toilets. Waiting was a snooze,but we were glad to have them in working order. :) It's neat to be in a country where they drive on the other side of the road. Someone pointed this out to Tori and upon the realization exclaims, "We're gonna get hit," in her thick Mississippi accent. Haha! I'm so glad she is here. Fun times are ahead. We were laughing about starting a twitter feed with the hash tag #torisays Haha! If you want to follow me on twitter, I'm @lindsarray. Hopefully I'll have the ability to tweet some gems from Tori and keep everyone updated on what's going on.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support on this journey. I'm exit for the God times ahead! On a side note, the cows are really small here!

The Countdown Begins!

Countdown 'til Summer Kicks the Bucket

Well, the first day of fall is fast approaching. Apple cider, football, and pumpkins!!! Oh and don’t forget bon-fires! I love fall! This year it marks the dead line to complete my summer bucket list. As of right now, I have 2 days, 6 hours, 39 minutes and 26 seconds to scratch the final few items off of my list. I had hoped to blog about each experience individually, but some of them happened simultaneously and I blogged accordingly. Here’s the list again:
1. Help my friends complete their bucket lists

2. Go to an out of state concert

3. Take 1,000 pictures

4. Throw a party for someone

5. Visit some place in my state that I've never been

6. Camp out in my yard

7. Paint something

8. Make a video

9. Catch a fish

10. Learn how to make a Vietnamese dish from my friend Savannah

Bonus: Learn how to make Aunt Suzie's sweet butter fudge
I kicked off my bucket list by working on number one. I joined my fellow bucket blogger, Lindsey T., and did a cannon ball into a sub-zero swimming pool at the outset of summer. I wrote about number two in “Chappelle in the Middle of Nowhere Say What?” I failed to mention in that blog, though, that I completed number five in tandem. The town that I saw Dave Chappelle in was the town I had purposed to visit in my state that I had never been. Yellow Springs is such a quaint little town with an abundance of good eats! My friend Janna had wanted me and Lindsey T. to go with her for a while and I’m glad we did. It was so much fun!

It seems like number seven chose me. I never planned to make this one happen. It just happened to me. While I was in Georgia on my internship, my cousin Autumn was in the middle of painting a mural in a baby’s room and she asked me to give her a hand. I couldn’t believe it! She didn’t even know about my bucket list, so she was pretty jazzed too. To me, painting is so soothing. I wish I had more time to do it. I didn’t think I could ever tackle something like a mural, but it turned out great! The next one I completed was number nine; except for I didn’t catch a fish per-se. I got really close so I’m counting it, but I never got the fish that was on my line out of the water. :( Nonetheless I fished, which I hadn’t done in years. Great success!
Now for the ones I didn’t complete… yet. I haven’t thrown a party for someone, I haven’t camped out in my yard, I haven’t made a video, and I haven’t learned to make a Vietnamese dish from Savannah. I’m not sure how many pictures I have taken yet, but I am confident that I can hit the 1,000 mark. I still have every intention of completing the last few items. I will not be defeated! Wish me luck as I work on the last few in the next two days!

You will be hearing from me soon!

Two Weeks

Two Weeks: My experience as an intern

Two weeks. It is such a short span of time in the grand scheme of things. A lot can happen in two weeks, though. For me, two weeks spent in Good Hope, GA had a dramatic impact. As a student, learning is a way of life and often becomes humdrum. In the honeymoon phase of a career as a student, you’re amazed at the introduction of new ideas and concepts and you’re excited to know that those few years will change your life. However, it doesn’t take long for complacency to set in. You soon forget that even a single class has the power to change your life’s course. That is where I was when I left out to intern for Huff Recording Studios. I knew the opportunity of working in a recording studio would be exciting, but my faith in any sort of long term impact had waned. Jesus’ words to a boat full of frightened fisherman could have been directed at me, “Oh you of little faith.”

Day one on the job seemed to confirm my disbelief, when I sat for eight hours wondering, “What in the heck am I doing here? I have no place in a recording studio.” What I didn’t know was that my boss, David Huff, didn’t need someone that was a fixture at a recording studio. He needed an administrator; someone that was comfortable with making the phone calls and orchestrating the day to day business. Lucky for him, I fit that bill. Thus, from day two forward, a great growing process began.

One week prior to my arrival, David’s MacBook Pro had been stolen from his car while vacationing in San Francisco. Everything was a total loss. Nothing had been backed up. In the midst of mixing two albums, tracking another, and playing out, finding the time to pick up the pieces was impossible for David. This recovery process became my main project during my time as an intern for Huff Recording Studios. Everything from album artwork to song lyrics were locked up in a shiny silver case under some social deviant’s arm 2,600 miles away. Every day brought on a new challenge, as slowly more things were recalled that had been on the laptop.

A new laptop was purchased shortly and the rebuilding process began. I took what I knew about a Mac and applied it, but there was still a lot I didn’t know. I set out to learn everything I could to help me make the best of the situation. I read articles, downloaded third-party software (don’t tell Steve Jobs), watched tutorials, and even attended a seminar at the Mac store in Atlanta. I managed pretty well and got very familiar with the Mac interface. I made a lot of phone calls to recover graphics, photos, passwords, and other files. Fortunate for me, David finally found all of the software that he had on the last one. It would have been very costly to replace all of it.

When I wasn’t working on the laptop project, I ran errands, changed light bulbs, lent my ears to the mixing process, and offered ideas and opinions for David’s personal music career and that of his studio and record label. I am happy to report that he like my ideas and has asked me to plan the release of his next album.

During the mixing process, I felt so inadequate to offer my opinions to someone who has been in the business for 50 plus years, yet I was honored that he asked. I was even more blown away when he complimented my ‘ear’ to a friend in the business. It was so educational to not only watch the entire mixing and mastering process happen from one day to the next, but to be a part of it as well.

We became fast friends!

I learned so much about the industry and the recording studio, but above all I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am capable of exceeding expectations of others and myself. I learned that believing in myself is half the battle. I learned that I didn’t make the wrong decision to attend Hocking College for an associate’s degree, after I had received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University. And I learned that approaching any task with a servant’s attitude and a heart to please almost always guarantees success. And all of it I learned in just two weeks.

This song summarizes the experience well.  Headed in the Right Direction
 

Note: I used the 'Georgia' font, since I talked about Georgia. I thought you might appreciate that. ;~)

 

Chapelle in the middle of nowhere. Say what?

Who can say no to that face?

This summer has been awesome! I have gotten to do so many things. It seems my summer bucket list has served as a bit of a blueprint for my summer. Methodically scratching items off my list wasn't exactly the goal of my summer, but having the intention to do so in the background has given my summer a bit more purpose it seems. Maybe it would have been that way without the list, since much has happened outside of the bucket. Who knows?

Line item two on my list was to go to a concert out of state. When I came up with that one, I was inteding to capitalize on my time in Georgia as an intern. I thought, "Hey Lindsay, you're a music student on a music internship, you'll certainly be attending a show during your time there especially since you're working for an awesome music dude." Wrong! Ha ha! There were absolutely no shows in the area. So, you can just imagine my excitement when just a few days after my return home a lovely opportunity presented itself like a little present wrapped with baubles and bows. (I'm not really sure what babubles are, but it sounds like it would be cool to get a present wrapped with them.) I got an email from Mocha club (a rockin' awesome organization that you should go visit http://www.mochaclub.org/) asking for volunteers for a show in Louisville, KY. My friend and I applied and got the job. Woot.

Fresh flowers adorning our table at
Sunshine Cafe

We decided to make a day of the festivities and visit a friend on the way down. We met for lunch in Yellow Springs, OH. It's a quaint little naturey, artsy, organicy (formerly not a word, but now is) kind of town. After a scrumptious lunch of tandoori chicken quesadilla's and coffee we went for a stroll around the block. While passing a park bench my friend leans over and says, "Did that guy look like..." I quickly finished her sentence with, "Dave Chappelle? Yes." We laughed and joked about how funny it would be if we actually saw THE Dave Chappelle in this little off-out-in-the-sticks town. As we headed back to the car, we were still going on about how much this guy resembled him. So, being all tech-saavy, we whipped out our smartphones and went to researching. As it turns out, we did in fact cross paths with Mr. Chapelle. Apparently he lives in the corn fields in that area and does his banking on the street where we found him in a gray tank top on a park bench. Who'd a thunk? (I wish now we would have gone back and got a pic with the Chapelle "look-alike". Oh Well!) 

We quickly got over our disappointment of passing up an awesome facebook, bragging rights photo opp and trekked on down the road. Each turn seemed to take us deeper into the inner city of Louisville. (I was a wee bit skeered at first, I must admit.) We unloaded and got set up at the concert and met the bands and what not. Katie Herzig and her crew for the evening, Larkyn Poe, and Matthew Perryman Jones, were all outstanding. Every set was made up of just three people, but it sounded like a full band. Outstanding! I knew Herzig would be good, but wasn't sure about the others and I have to say that Larkyn Poe blew me out of the water. I was thoroughly impressed with them on stage, and even more impressed with them off stage. Great girls. I hope to be able to keep in touch.

All in all, crossing this item off the lsit was sheer pleasure and came with some great added bonuses. I love living life on purpose!

Friends

Contrast = Beauty

Summer is in full swing my friends!

I am currently in Georgia interning for Huff Recording Studios. I’m having a great time! This past fourth of July weekend will be one of the most memorable that I have celebrated. Not so much because we did anything off the wall, but mainly because it was different than my tradition.


On Saturday my cousins and newfound friends and I took in the sights and sounds of Turner field. The Braves went head to head with the Florida Marlins. Sporting events are always good for bringing out the quacks. In front of us, there was a gentleman cheering his team to victory with the sound of the trump. Every strike, double play, steal, and homerun were followed by the regal sound of some sort of medieval looking horn adorned with a lovely gold tassel. I rather enjoyed watching him toot his horn. He also had a whistle that he blew in between good plays! While seated alone during a nacho run (in which our dear friend Rodney roamed the stadium barefoot), I was blessed to have a young man plop his carcass down beside me, slosh his beer about and ask my name. It was quite the encounter. Luckily his dad turned around and told him he was a nut and that he needed to leave me alone. Wow! I was told to take such accostment as a compliment. Hmmm…. Not so sure about that.


Sunday was filled with more family and friends, church, picnicking, trips to the neglected park bathrooms (in which there was ZERO toilet paper), corn hole, and fireworks. Spending so much time outside over the holiday felt so good after being holed up in the studio everyday!


With my friends back home maintaining our tradition of fireworks and mullet hunting, my attention was called to the beauty of contrast. Without tradition, spontaneity is blasé and forgettable, and vice versa. What do the good days mean without the crappy days really? And doesn’t the beauty of life make death worth it? All throughout the Bible God is trying to communicate to us this valuable relationship between the ups and downs.

Philippians 4:11 KJV
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am , therewith to be content


Ecclesiastes 7:3 KJV
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.


Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant , and a time to pluck up that which is planted ; 3 A time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ; 4 A time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance ; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together ; a time to embrace , and a time to refrain from embracing ; 6 A time to get , and a time to lose ; a time to keep , and a time to cast away ; 7 A time to rend , and a time to sew ; a time to keep silence , and a time to speak ; 8 A time to love , and a time to hate ; a time of war, and a time of peace.


I hope to live with this principal smack dab between my eyes. When life seemingly sucks, I hope to be able to see it as beauty and relish the good things that much more! I want the drunk guy hitting on me to make Prince Charming even more obvious to me.

As people, contrast makes us better.


Proverbs 27:17 KJV
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend

CONTRAST MAKES LIFE RICH!

Africa 2008 with my friends Patience and Ebenezer