Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year at Debbie and Joe's!  It was so nice to be able to drive 20 minutes to be with family, rather than taking 2 flights from Boston :)  My parents also came up to hang out - they were "orphaned" since my sisters and I were all with our in-laws.  The Smiths always host a big group of cousins and relatives, and Debbie always does a great job hosting... cooking a TON of yummy food and desserts galore.  Oh, and Joe you do a great job of hosting too :)  

Ellie had fun playing with her cousins Will, Keely, Brianna, and Austin.  It was also really fun to have my parents there.  And a certain football team's loss, while disappointing, was not that really that big of a deal, considering the way the year has gone!  Hope you guys all had a great Thanksgiving!      

I love this picture of Ellie and her cousins Will and Keely!

Free Download of New Song from Genesis!

Head on over to the Caroline Cobb music blog to hear a new song I wrote for the Scripture to Music Collective!  It's also a free download!  Would love to hear what you think.

Free Download of New Song from Genesis

 All the Stars by Caroline Cobb

Based on Genesis 12, 13, and 15, "All the Stars" is a song that describes the covenant promises God made to Abraham.  We often skip over these intimate and huge promises that the God of the universe made to a normal man.  Abraham's story is a perfect example of how the intricate details of our stories fit into the overarching Story of God.

This is a new song that I worked on for the Scripture to Music Collective (S2M).  What do you think?!  I'd love to hear your comments and constructive criticism!

As a reminder, I'm planning to write at least 66 songs - one for each book of the Bible - before 11/11/11.

So, here's the status... 

28 total songs written

21 books covered

12 recorded

5 posted to S2M

Christmas Cards

I love receiving and sending Christmas cards, don't you?  Even though it can sometimes become "one more thing" that makes us busy and crowds the true meaning of Christmas, I think there is something really special about it. 

One thing I love to do is add a meaningful line from a Christmas carol to our cards every year.  Like hymns, Christmas carols have some amazingly rich and meaningful lyrics.  But because Christmas carols are so familiar to us - they're played in Starbucks, department stores, and elevators all over the world during this time of year - we often miss the richness of these lines.  This year, we're going with this line from that oh-so-familiar carol "Joy to the World": "Let every heart prepare Him room."  Again, with the "crowdedness" and busy-ness of Christmas, this is a prayer I have for Nick and me!  

I've already made our card on Shutterfly, but I don't want to "reveal" it, so here are some of my other faves from that site that are on the "cheaper" side... (I like how you can put lots of pics in there!).

PS - Right now, Shutterfly is running a great sale!  Combined with some great promos that they're doing, you can get a great deal on super cute Christmas cards (I'm talking really, really cheap)!  You can also get wall calendars buy-one-get-one (BOGO) 1/2 off and Photobooks BOGO 1/2 off, both great Christmas gifts.  The sale ends in a few days - on December 1.  You can also get free shipping on orders over $25 with code SHIP25.  AND...I also like their party invitations (is it sad that I'm already looking forward to/secretly planning Ellie's 1 year b-day party?).

PPS - Shutterfly is also doing a cool promotion for bloggers that I'm taking advantage of with this post.  If you will write a blog entry about Shutterfly's cards, etc. you can receive 50 free Christmas cards!  So, if you're a blogger - go for it!

Scripture to Music Update!

Whew!  I am really enjoying writing songs for the Scripture to Music project I told you about in the last post.  I have to write at least 66 songs - at least one for every book of the Bible - by the time I turn 30 on 11/11/11.  

Here's a quick update: 

The other night, I couldn't sleep so I wrote some words for a song from Song of Solomon (*blush*) at 2 AM (*yawn*) and then put it to music the next morning.  I also recently wrote a song for Numbers and Lamentations (did you know "desolate" loosely rhymes with "bitterness"?).  In the past month or so, I've written songs for Exodus (re: the Passover), Genesis (re: Abrahamic Covenant), 1 Samuel (re: Hannah), Ruth, Philippians, Colossians, and more.  I have little pieces of songs for Isaiah and Jeremiah.  I can't tell you how much FUN this is for me!!!   

**pause while I stop Ellie from eating the Jade plant**

A visual of my progress on the Scripture to Music project: at least 66 songs a year!!!

What I'm not enjoying?  Trying to figure out how to get my recording equipment running on a new computer!!  BLEH.

I love the feeling of having a song recorded, of having it "set".  I'd rather write than record any day of the week, but without recording a song, no one can hear it!  Needless to say, I have lots of need-to-be-recorded songs hanging over my head. Unfortunately, before I can record them there are drivers to be installed, and technical issues to work through.  I need a techy musician person to come over to my house, please.  

**pause to stop Ellie from eating the box of matches**

But I do promise you this: as soon as I figure all of this stuff out and start recording, you'll be the first to hear all of this new stuff!  Can't wait!

Pre-Thanksgiving Thankfulness

21. That snot sucker contraption for babies. Very handy dandy :)
22. Instagram app on the iPhone, making all my normal photos look way cooler.
23. My new, comfy, make-me-feel-like-an-artsy-rock-star-hippy TOMS!

24. Sufjan Steven's Christmas album, Songs For Christmas!
25. Ellie smiling at me from the backseat
26. Amazing Collection Bible Study @ church - going through the whole Bible book by book

27. My nephew in utero!!  So excited to meet him.
28. God's faithfulness - after a season of sadness and loss...joy.
29. Fall leaves (Yes, even in TX! Not quite as bright and beautiful as New England's, but that's ok)
30. Starbucks b-day love!

Birthday Gratitude

I had a great birthday last week, thanks especially to my husband.  Here's a continuation of the gratitude list! 

11. Old friends who drove in from Dallas to surprise me and just hang out on Wednesday

Emily, Erin, and cute Sam (Ellie was napping)

12. New friends who hosted and came to a little Tex Mex surprise birthday party for me Tuesday
13. All of these things happening on Tuesday and Wednesday instead of Thursday (actual birthday) so I could enjoy them!  (Ellie and I both got sick and I spent all day Thursday at doctors' offices and that night sitting by the toilet!)
14. A husband who knows exactly how I would want to celebrate a birthday
15. Good health
16. New friends who bring me Einstein's :)

And some not-necessarily-related-to-the-birthday gratitude:

17. Going to a baby shower for a baby you prayed and pleaded for since the beginning
18. Friends' kids and babies
19. The "inhale" laugh - fills me with warmth and cracks me up every time!
20. We have a treasure inside cracked, broken jars of clay.  And that's a good thing. 2 Cor 4:7

Ellie's 8 Months!

Well, she was 8 months on November 6!  As always, I'm a bit late (oops).  Here is a video showing what she's been up to.  I am loving her little "inhale" laugh, which you'll see a clip of in there! :)

30 Before 30

As I mentioned in my last post, I (Caroline) am going to be 30 on 11/11/11!  This amazing date, with all of its digital repeating singularness (I totally made that up and - no - I do not think it makes any sense at all), along with the fact that this date will bring me from my 20's to my 30's, calls for some special kind of action.  Hence, the "30 Before 30" list which I present to you today.

I'm in a very goofy mood, by the way. I'm sure you can tell?

I've seen these around on a blog or two, and I thought it would be fun to make my own!  I don't actually have a full thirty things yet, but I'm sure I'll add them as we go along.  And here she is in all her glory and in no particular order....   Anything you think I should add???

1. Take Ellie to the zoo
2. Write a song for every book of Bible & send them to The Scripture to Music Collective
3. Plan at least 2 fun girls' nights out
4. Plan another college girls' trip
5. Plan a fun surprise date for Nick
6. Try out for kerrville folk festival
7. Do a 10k (er... maybe just a 5k?)

8. See both HP movies in the theatre, and preferably dressed up as Hermoine at the midnight showings with the Hicks (SO EXCITED! And so lame for a 29 year old?)

9. Plant a garden
10. Go to Frontier with YL kids
11. Snowboard
12. Go camping
13. Learn basic HTML
14. Learn basic Photoshop
15. "Unplug" Sundays - I want to start a habit of "unplugging" from Facebook, Twitter, and the internet on Sundays!!!
16. Make a running list of things I'm thankful for

17.  Host a Chinese New Year Party

18. Host a really special first birthday party for Ellie 

19.  Make Ellie a nice 1st year iBook

20-30....?

Gratitude

With my 29th birthday coming up, I've started to make a little "30 before 30" list - a list of thirty things I want to accomplish before I'm 30 (yeesh!).  But more on that later...

One of the things I want to do is start a running list of things for which I am thankful.  I'm copying my cool friend Kit from Boston on this one.  Thanks, Kit, for this idea!  As I look to thank and praise God for the small things in life, my prayer is that God would create in me a grateful heart and that I would see His beauty everywhere.

1. Relaxing in the park.

2. Avocados

3. Blue Bell Coffee Ice Cream

4. My comfy robe

5. Protection from almost buying a house that we probably shouldn't have

6. Ellie's pretty grandmothers and their willingness to babysit.

7. Saturday mornings at Einstein's Bagels.

8. Dallas in only 2 hours away from Tyler 

9. Baby Einstein movies on long car rides with Ellie 

10. Success with my first-ever gardening experience! Jalepenos!  Nevermind that the cilantro got chopped up because the yard guy thought it was a weed or that the tomato plant has yet to show signs of growing a tomato :)

A New Project I'm Dying to Tell You About!

Click here to find out more!

A New Project I'm Dying to Tell You About!

Announcing The Scripture to Music Collective!

The Scripture to Music Collective is a brand new project I've been dreaming about, working on, and developing for several months. The idea is simple: that songwriters would put passages of Scripture to music, and would contribute those songs to a collective database online.  The goal is to have songs for every book of the Bible, and to keep going from there. 

My BIG Goal

I have have a goal to write a song or two for every book of the Bible by the time I'm 30 (on 11/11/11).  At least 66 songs in just about a year!  I've already started the process and it's been really fun and encouraging for me.  I'll be blogging about this, so be on the lookout! 

How an Individual Goal Became a Collective Project
This whole thing started off as something that I wanted to do for and by myself, but then I thought "Hey, this is much bigger than just me and it could really encourage the Church."  So, I started inviting songwriter friends to do it with me - they can contribute just one song or a bunch of songs - as many as they want - and they can contribute again and again over time. 

And guess what?  I already have two other songwriters roped in and we've already got 5 songs from 4 books: Genesis, Habakkuk, Luke, and Psalms.  Boy howdy! 

Hopefully, we'll see this lil' badge of honor on a bunch of songwriters' sites in the future!

Spread the Word about Scripture to Music (S2M)

I'd definitely like to expand this project and get people listening, so Tweet, Facebook, and Blog about it for me if you feel so inclined!  And invite some songwriter friends!  You can also grab the S2M button and put it on your website (I'm about to put it on my own little blog as well!) by going to the Scripture to Music site and getting the HTML code. 

 

This project is in its infancy, so, please, please, please let me know what you think of this project and give me as much feedback and constructive criticism as you can.