I’m not talking about the old song; I’m referring to my wonderful husband of one and a half years! Even though we haven’t been married for very long, we have a very interesting history that goes back to before either of us hit puberty. And in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to tell you our story.
Zach and I started dating as 21-year-olds in 2004 (September 16, to be exact) but we first met at the age of 11. Fifth grade. We became friends, and would hang out in big groups after school and on the weekends. The next year, Zach asked me to be his girlfriend. We were each other’s first kiss, and he even told me he loved me. Needless to say, he was heartbroken when I broke up with him a month later. He still gives me a hard time about that!
Zach and I remained friends through our sophomore year of high school, but at that point, we drifted apart. We still had lots of mutual friends, but he was too much of a party animal for me. After graduation, I didn’t see Zach again until I ran into him the night of my 21st birthday, at a bar of all places. We were inseparable the rest of the summer, but didn’t make it official until the fall.
In 2005, Zach graduated from college and returned to Springfield to start his career. I still had a year of graduate school left, so we only saw each other on the weekends. It was a tough year, to say the least, but we still managed to have a lot of fun.
2006 was another challenging year, because I spent most of it in St. Louis doing my music therapy internship. Luckily, I was able to live with Zach’s sister and brother-in-law, and I went home on the weekends to see him. Zach took me on my first trip to Las Vegas (the picture is of us on the plane…can you tell I’m excited?) and we bought our first house.
In 2007, I finished my internship and finally got to live in Springfield permanently. I got a great job, and soon after that, Zach proposed! He took me completely by surprise, luring me to the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis on false pretenses and asking me to marry him in a room filled with rose petals, candles, and “our” song playing. When we went down to the lobby for a celebratory drink, we found our entire families waiting to celebrate with us.
On August 8, 2008 (8-8-08…can you guess my lucky number?) Zach and I had the most beautiful, perfect, and fun wedding. After a week in St. Lucia on our honeymoon, we returned to real life as a married couple. Turns out 2008 was the year of weddings, including Zach’s brother’s just a few months after ours.
2009 started off with a bang: we bought a new house! We spent the next few months decorating and nesting, and I moved my private practice from the “road” into my new home studio. In May, we added a new member to our family…our golden retriever, Sadie. Career-wise, we both had amazing years; Zach earned the prestigious title of AAA’s “Agent of the Year” while I successfully raised money to record a professional CD, presented at the AMTA National Conference, and was featured in the media several times.
2010 has only just begun, but so far it has been great! We took an exciting trip to New York City and attended our friends’ gorgeous wedding last month, and we are already looking forward to a few days of sun and fun in San Antonio this April.
Tonight we are going out to dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day…our 6th together, with many more to come! I feel so lucky to have such a supportive, successful, and loving husband, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.
“Sunday Singalong” got bumped to Saturday, because I have a special Valentine’s Day post planned for tomorrow. Two weekend posts…bonus!
Like I said in the video, I chose Laurie Berkner’s song “The Story of My Feelings” because all month, my students and I have been working on understanding what emotions are all about, what they look like, and how we show them. I received the illustrated book as a Christmas gift two years ago, and I have been using it ever since to supplement not only music therapy sessions, but also the music classes I teach for young children.
And now back to today’s regularly scheduled programming: couch time! It is Saturday, after all, my one day to relax after a busy week. Sundays start early, with choir rehearsal, church, grocery shopping, Church Mice, and tomorrow, a Valentine’s Day dinner with my special Valentine. More on that to come!
Can I just tell you how “amped” I am about my new MobilePre USB Preamp by M-Audio? Excuse the pun, but I couldn’t help myself :) Maybe you have no idea what a preamp is, and that’s totally fine. Because the truth is, until a few months ago, neither did I. Basically, what a preamp does is takes the signal from a microphone or instrument and boosts it so that it can be recorded. In other words, I can plug a microphone and guitar into my preamp (which is connected via USB to my computer), do my thing, and voila! I have a high-quality recording.
Before my preamp arrived earlier this week, I had been recording all of my guitar tracks just by setting up my Blue Snowball Microphone and playing my guitar directly in front of it. This worked well enough; my Snowball mic is awesome, but I knew there had to be a better way. With my old setup, any background noise made while recording the guitar part could be heard (the most common being me knocking the guitar against my desk – oops!). Now, since the signal goes directly from my guitar into the computer via the preamp, that problem is eliminated. That means a much cleaner-sounding guitar track, resulting in a much better recording overall. Oh, and the preamp even has a headphone jack right on the interface so that I can monitor the sound as I am playing!
I should mention that since my aforementioned Snowball mic connects via USB, I don’t need to use my preamp when I record my vocals. But since there are two microphone inputs in addition to the instrument input, that leaves the option available if I get a new microphone at some point in the future. You can’t beat that versatility.
I haven’t had much time this week to play with my new toy, but you better believe that I’ll be spending a good deal of my three-day weekend doing just that! Hopefully I’ll have some brand new songs to show for it, too. What are your plans this weekend? Are you one of the really, really lucky people who has a four-day weekend? Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln, and for all of you readers who got to stay home in honor of it, enjoy!
I first read about Temple Grandin during my music therapy internship several years ago, and I was completely fascinated. The way she was able to describe her autism, and the way her brain worked, was completely unique and as far as I knew, unheard of. I have since learned a lot more about Temple Grandin, and now, thanks to HBO, so have a whole lot of people who otherwise might not have.
On Saturday, February 6th, the full-length film Temple Grandin premiered, starring Claire Danes as the title character. I had the opportunity to watch the film at The Autism Program of Illinois headquarters, which was a pretty amazing experience. TAP and The Hope Institute for Children and Families (where I work as the music therapist) officially endorsed the film, and even sponsored its Chicago opening at the end of January.
Dr. Nyre, Hope’s President/CEO, was interviewed by several sources and spoke at the viewing I attended on Saturday. I wholeheartedly agree with his assertion that this film should and will be used as a teaching tool in schools and facilities all over the country, because it provides such an accurate depiction of autism. The film uses on-screen graphics to let us look into Ms. Grandin’s brain, to see the world as she sees it.
Have you seen the film yet? If so, what were your thoughts and reactions? I can tell you that by the end, there weren’t many dry eyes in the room where I was watching it. Claire Danes is amazing as Temple Grandin; in fact, you really do forget that you’re watching an actor, not the real deal. The film is educational and eye-opening, yes, but it is also extremely entertaining and touching. Take my advice and watch it.
I very distinctly remember my mom sitting my brother and I down and telling us all about stranger danger. She explained who we could trust to stay with us, take us places, and even made up a code word for adults to let us know that it was okay to go with them in the case of an emergency situation. Now, over twenty years later, I still get lectures about stranger danger from my mom, but I guess I can’t blame her. After all, the world can be a scary place, as we are too often reminded by the stories in newspapers and on television.
The song that I wrote to address this topic identifies three different categories of adults:
Safe Side Adults
People You Kind of Know
Strangers
Today’s song identifies and defines the three categories, and also determines whether or not it is safe to go with people from each. The term “Safe Side Adult” came from a consult client who uses this word with her children (a benefit of custom-written songs – incorporating your own phrases and terminology).
The world is full of people, Some you’ll know and some you won’t. I wanna tell you ’bout three Kinds of people you see, Some you can go with, some you don’t.
A safe side adult is a person that you know. With a safe side adult it’s okay to go. Because it’s your grandma, grandpa, mom or dad, Or someone that you’ve been told: Is a safe side adult, a person you know, With whom it’s okay to go.
There are also people that you kind of know. With those people you shouldn’t go, Unless a safe side adult has told you for sure, That a person, specifically, Is someone you can trust and know, With whom it’s okay to go.
A stranger is a person that you don’t know. With a stranger you should never go. Because it’s someone that you’ve never seen before, Or someone that you’ve been told, Is a stranger, a person you don’t know, With whom you should not go.
The world is full of people, Some you’ll know and some you won’t. I told you ’bout three Kinds of people you see, Some you can go with, some you don’t.
I’m sure you noticed that the tone is a little heavier than my other songs; I wrote the melody this way on purpose. Children need to realize how serious the topic of strangers really is, and I wanted this song to reflect that seriousness. What methods have you used to approach this subject with your children or students? Know of any other stranger danger songs? I’d love to hear about them!
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two.
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by M-Audio? Excuse the pun, but I couldn’t help myself :) Maybe you have no idea what a preamp is, and that’s totally fine. Because the truth is, until a few months ago, neither did I. Basically, what a preamp does is takes the signal from a microphone or instrument and boosts it so that it can be recorded. In other words, I can plug a microphone and guitar into my preamp (which is connected via USB to my computer), do my thing, and voila! I have a high-quality recording.
and playing my guitar directly in front of it. This worked well enough; my Snowball mic is awesome, but I knew there had to be a better way. With my old setup, any background noise made while recording the guitar part could be heard (the most common being me knocking the guitar against my desk – oops!). Now, since the signal goes directly from my guitar into the computer via the preamp, that problem is eliminated. That means a much cleaner-sounding guitar track, resulting in a much better recording overall. Oh, and the preamp even has a headphone jack right on the interface so that I can monitor the sound as I am playing!
