by Rachel | Resources & Tips
I fell in love with The Civil Wars’ music the first time I heard their song “20 Years” randomly on Pandora in 2011. I couldn’t get enough of their album Barton Hollow, and my bandmate and I added several of the songs to our set list.
When they posted on their Facebook page last year that they were taking a break but coming out with new music, I crossed my fingers they would stay together and bought the new album when it came out.
I was crushed to read the announcement on their website this past week.
“The Civil Wars—made up of duo partners Joy Williams and John Paul White—have regretfully decided to permanently part ways. The difficult decision ends a tumultuous period for the four-time Grammy Award-winning band, who has been on indefinite hiatus since late 2012.”
Joy and John Paul are amazing musicians in their own right, but there is something magical about the music they made together. It’s not often that I am as inspired and affected by a musician or group as I was by them. It’s not obvious when you listen to the songs I share here, but my personal songwriting has most definitely been flavored by The Civil Wars.
Nothing lasts forever, but this band is one thing I wish had lasted just a little bit (or a few more albums worth) longer. They did leave us with a parting gift — the saddest version of “You Are My Sunshine” I’ve ever heard. I guess it’s quite fitting.
You can download the song for free on their website. After you’ve done that, go check out my first (and current) BIG musical inspiration, Jason Mraz’s new album. It’s beautiful and uplifting…the perfect music to help cope with a painful breakup.
by Rachel | Family Life
The day Zach proposed to me (7/27/07), I chose a wedding date based on my lucky number: 08/08/08. Conveniently, it’s also a very memorable date, which has worked to Zach’s advantage ;) We celebrated our 6th year together this week — a year that has been by far the hardest, but also the best, of our lives.
Our wedding day was, up until June 8, 2013, the very best day of my life. It has since fallen to the #2 spot, but for good reason. It was a beautiful, sparkling, perfect Friday in Springfield, and I was surrounded by my entire family and best friends. We had a beautiful ceremony at Laurel United Methodist Church, followed by the most fun party I’ve ever attended at the Inn at 835.
I actually cried as the last song played at our reception, because I didn’t want the night to end. Everyone, and I mean, everyone, was still on the dance floor at midnight, and the facility basically had to force us out. That’s when you know you’ve thrown a successful party!
We spend the following week on our honeymoon in St. Lucia, and then came back to “real life” as a married couple at our first house on Holmes Avenue. In our six years of marriage, we’ve tackled some big things (home ownership, getting a puppy, owning a business, pregnancy) but nothing could have prepared us for our first year of parenthood.
Raising Parker has brought us together in so many ways, but it has also highlighted our differences and the things we need to work on as a couple. It’s comforting to know that we aren’t the only parents who have gone through this, and I think in the long run our marriage will be stronger because of it.
My mom offered to host Parker’s first sleepover so that Zach and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary. I think they were both pretty excited about it! Parker didn’t even look back as my mom carried him inside and we drove away.
We had dinner reservations at Augie’s Front Burner in downtown Springfield, which is one of my favorite restaurants. We don’t go out to dinner alone very often, so it was really nice to be able to take our time eating and enjoy each others’ company. It was really dark in the restaurant, so the photo didn’t turn out great — but we’ll still add it to our album of anniversary dinners.
After dinner, we went out for a drink downtown and then came home at the very late hour of 10 pm. So I suppose we didn’t take FULL advantage of Parker being away for the night, but what can I say…we’re old! We exchanged anniversary gifts, me going first as usual (because Zach always outdoes me in the gift-giving department).
I gave him a memory box with photos from all of our previous anniversaries and the one I took of Parker commemorating #6. I filled the box with smaller gifts, each wrapped with a note sharing a “wish” for year #7. We’ll see how many of them come true this year :)
For the past 5 anniversaries, Zach has given me a photo book containing all the highlights of the previous year. It is my FAVORITE present and I look forward to it every anniversary. We have so much fun looking through it together and reminiscing, and when we have guests over, they love going through all the books. It will be so wonderful for Parker to have photo books of our lives, dating way back to before he was even a glint in our eyes.
All in all, it was a wonderful anniversary and the start of what has been a great weekend so far! I slept in and woke up to Parker running into my room after Zach had picked him up from my mom’s house. Those two headed to the fair shortly after, so I’ve spent the entire day in my office getting lots of work done. I guess you could call that a bonus anniversary gift!
by Rachel | Family Life
One of the things I’ve looked forward to the most about Parker growing up is hearing him say actual words and expand his vocabulary. It started with just a few — mama, nana (banana), no, dada — but that list is growing quickly.
Say: Parker is obsessed with our golden retriever, Sadie. She usually spends a good amount of time at my in-laws’ house playing with their dog, but since my mother-in-law recently had knee surgery, Sadie has been at our house full-time. No one is happier about this than Parker, who loves to chase after Sadie and tease her with his toys. He calls her and every other dog he sees “Say!”.
Nananana: Not to be confused with “nana” (his word for banana, which he has been saying for quite some time now). Parker hasn’t yet mastered his l sounds, so the “lalalala” part of the Elmo’s World song is “nananana” instead.
Shoe: This boy loves shoes. He actually cooperates when we put them on his feet, and he even tries to put on other people’s shoes, while saying the word “shoe”.
Hi: His little voice is the cutest, but especially when he says hi. He knows exactly what it means and uses it in the correct context.
Byebye: This is a runner-up to hi for cutest word.
And then there are the sounds he knows. This is probably a very normal developmental milestone for a baby his age, but I still think it’s amazing that Parker can answer these questions:
What does a cow say?” Moo!
“What does a kitty say?” Meow!
“What does a doggy say?” Woof!
What does a train say?” Choo choo!
“What does a birdie say?” Tweet tweet tweet!
“What does a duck say?” Quack quack quack!
Parker will even make these sounds when he sees a picture or toy version, especially cows. He knows the ones I listed by heart, but he can pretty much imitate (or at least attempt to imitate) just about any word or sound. It’s fun to see which ones stick. I can’t wait to see where his language development is in just a few months.
by Rachel | Business Ownership
Well, this is a bittersweet post if I’ve ever written one. After 5+ wonderful years providing music therapy services and lessons in my home studio, Music Therapy Connections is moving out. And while I’ll miss the non-existent commute and overall convenience of working at home, the pros of our new location far outweigh the cons.
I opened the doors of my home studio on June 15, 2009, after several years of traveling to my students’ homes. It was a dream come true to see everyone in one place, and not have to schlep my equipment all over town. Here’s a look back at my first year in the studio.
In the spring of 2011, my home studio went under a huge renovation in order to accommodate my decision to leave my job and pursue full-time private practice. The past 3 years in the updated studio have been amazing, but over time, my needs have changed.
In 2012, I welcomed fellow music therapist Katey Kratz to the Music Therapy Connections team, and she has been traveling to clients’ homes for music therapy and lessons ever since. In addition, I started offering early childhood classes last year, but have had to do those off-site because my studio is only big enough for individual and small group sessions.
This past winter, Katey and I began discussing the possibility of moving to a larger studio space outside of my home so that we could both work with students simultaneously as well as offer on-site groups and classes. We wanted a studio we could grow into, since our vision includes hiring another music therapist. We started scouting locations, but it wasn’t until after a visit to my favorite local music store that we found what we think is the perfect opportunity.
In just a few weeks, Capital City Music will be the new home of Music Therapy Connections. There we will have 3 dedicated studios, as well as use of a large room for groups and classes. We’ve been holding our early childhood music classes there this summer, and it has worked out beautifully.
Over the years, I have established a great relationship with the management and employees at Capital City Music (formerly Samuel Music), and they are excited to welcome us to their building. I’m thrilled at the prospect of working right next door to Katey every day, and she’s looking forward to seeing all of her clients in one place (I know the feeling, having been a traveling music therapist in the past!).
Capital City Music is just 5 minutes from my house, though I will actually have to get in the car to go to work starting in September :) It has been such a blessing, working from home for so long — especially this first year after having a baby — but I know this is a step in the right direction. We just shared the news with our families last week, and they have been nothing but supportive and enthusiastic about the new location.
As always, I’ll be sharing my adventures here on the blog, so get ready for lots of “new studio” updates. Oh, and if you’re a music therapist who wants to get in on the action, please consider applying for our open position. It’s an exciting time for music therapy in central Illinois!
by Rachel | Professional Development
I’ve always been a sucker for a full plate, both in the literal sense (ha!) and when it comes to work-related projects. I wasn’t sure if that would be the case this summer, since last year at this time I was on maternity leave and work was not a high priority. But it turns out that the opposite has been true, and I’ve been lucky to strike a good balance between family time and music therapy.
After our weekend summit in California last month, my Music Therapy Pro colleagues and I have stepped up our game. We added a brand-new feature called “Four Corners” in which each of us shares a monthly audio or video post on our area of expertise. My corner is called The Business Savvy Clinician, which is all about running a private practice (both inside and outside of the therapy room). While I love collaborating with Michelle, Kimberly, and Matt on topics for the podcast, it’s also fun to have my very own space over there.
The four of us also launched a new mini podcast called “MT in 3” that will air monthly via the Music Therapy Round Table. This podcast is free, and features a 3-question interview of a different music therapist each month. We had so much fun coming up with a HUGE list of potential interviewees, and then writing the 3 questions that each of them would answer. Michelle Erfurt is our roving reporter, so she’s the lucky one who gets to talk to all of the people we consider to be “rockstars” in our field. The first episode features Mallory Even, who is one of my own personal music therapy idols. You can listen here as well as subscribe on iTunes.
And this is my own personal project, which I’m super excited about. In the last month or so, I’ve had a lot of fellow music therapists ask for advice when it comes to creating and running early childhood programs. Since I have a lot of experience (I’ve been doing it since grad school!) I decided to create a 3-hour online CMTE course on this topic. This is a very labor-intensive project, which I know first-hand after creating The DIY Guide to Writing, Recording, and Sharing Your Music for Kat Fulton’s Music Therapy Ed, but like that one, it has been a labor of love so far. You can learn more and get updates about the course here.
There are actually a few other projects on my plate at the moment, but I need to keep those under wraps just a little longer. I’ll share them with you soon, though! What are you up to this summer? Are you tackling big things, or taking it easy? (Also, sidenote: how is it almost August already!?)
