[life] 20 Random Facts About Me (and my first YOUTUBE video!)

Y'all. I made my first "regular" YouTube video! I had already posted two videos on my channel (both were from our travels), but I felt that adding ::hopefully:: a weekly, or even bi-weekly, video would give a voice and personality to my writing on the ol' blog! Plus I am an avid YouTube video watcher... there are loads of channels that I enjoy!

Anyhoo, my first video is 20 random facts about me! I thought this would be a good introductory video so you can get a sense of me and who I am. Obviously I am a novice at editing videos and the camera goes in/out of focus at times (ugh!), but I'm pretty proud of what I made!

Without further ado, here it is! Feel free to "subscribe" to my channel to get the latest videos I create, or you can just wait for the blog post... I'm sure I'll do a post for each video I do!

P.S. Does anyone else hate the sound of their voice being recorded? I'll have to get used to that!

Let me know of any other video ideas you would like me to create: there are plenty of YouTube "tags" out there that I could do, but if you have any ideas, send them my way. Happy Friday!

[life] A Morning Playlist

You guys.

I think I finally did it. I think I created the greatest playlist of all time.

I am known (by Nate) to be a notorious "song changer". I'm really big into singing along to songs (not to say that I have a fabulous voice, I just like knowing the words), so if a)I don't know the words, or b)it doesn't have a good beat/rhythm, I'm going to change the song.

Nate always tells me that if I gave a song a chance, I would learn the words. Nope, nu-uh. If it doesn't "grab" me in its intro, it's more than likely to be a terrible song.

So, I give you...

Do you use Spotify? If so, you can get this playlist EASY PEASY! Just search "Up and At 'Em" with a cute little sunshine and you should find it :) I call it that because I am NOT a morning person, so thanks to Gabby (British YouTuber), she has said that turning on music immediately has helped her become a morning person. So I'm giving it a try!

The playlist has a good combination of pop, rock, some country, a few slow jams, some 80s songs, lots of Beatles and Michael Jackson, Elton, and Stevie (Wonder, that is). Don't worry... I am a big fan of T-Swift, but I have all her albums on my iPhone... So I just listen to those all at once! Also, I am a Texan and a fan of Texas Country, but I just don't like country music that much! #craptexan. And I'm sure there are a bajillion other songs that could be added to the list. This is just a start!

Here's a list of the songs... All 52 of them, in alphabetical order (I must love you guys!) Songs with a *** are MUST LISTENS.

"Best Day of My Life (Acoustic)" -Alexi Blue***
"Single Ladies" -Beyonce
 "Just The Way You Are" -Boyce Avenue***
"Two Is Better Than One" -Boys Like Girls
"A Thousand Years" -Christina Perri
"Billie Jean" -The Civil Wars ***
"You Are My Sunshine" -The Civil Wars
"Fix You" -Coldplay
"Crazy in Love" -Daniela Andrade
"You Make My Dreams" -Daryl Hall & John Oates
"I Will Follow You Into The Dark" -Death Cab for Cutie***
"Thinking Out Loud" -Ed Sheeran
"Your Song" -Elton John
"Rocket Man" -Elton John
"Crocodile Rock" -Elton John
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" -Elton John
"Bennie and The Jets" -Elton John
"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" -Elton John
"The B---- Is Back" -Elton John (sorry guys!)
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" -Elton John
"Build Me Up Buttercup" -The Foundations
"Cry Me a River" -Glen Hansard
"Bang Bang" -Jessie J. (and others)
"Folsom Prison Blues" -Johnny Cash
"Roar" -Katy Perry
"Go Your Own Way" -Lissie
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" -Marvin Gaye
"All About That Bass" -Meghan Trainor
"The Way You Make Me Feel" -Michael Jackson
"Smooth Criminal" -Michael Jackson
"P.Y.T." -Michael Jackson
"We Can't Stop" -Miley Cyrus
'Wrecking Ball" -Miley Cyrus
"Happily" -One Direction
"What Makes You Beautiful" -One Direction
"Buttons" -The Pussycat Dolls
"Across the Universe" -Rufus Wainwright
"Kiss Me" -Sixpence None The Richer
"For Once In My Life" -Stevie Wonder
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered" -Stevie Wonder
"Superstition" -Stevie Wonder
"Shake It Off" -Us The Duo***
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" -Whitney Houston

(THE FOLLOWING ARE COVERS OF BEATLES SONGS)
"Come Together" -The Silver Beetles
"Get Back" -The Silver Beetles
"Eleanore Rigby" -The Silver Beetles
"Help!" -The Silver Beetles
"Yesterday" -The Silver Beetles
"Paperback Writer" -The Silver Beetles
"Hey Jude" -The Silver Beetles
"Let It Be" -The Silver Beetles
"I Want To Hold Your Hand" -The Silver Beetles

Whew! Are you still here? Those are just some of my favorite jams. I also like musicals... but that will be a different playlist for a different day :) What would you add to the list? Any songs I must learn the words to? Ha!

Have a GREAT weekend! If any of you participate with Secret Church #SC15, our church is participating tonight! If you don't know what that is, stay tuned for Monday's post! 

[Friday Favorites] You Tube

So did you all know there is a whole world of "YouTubers"?

Like, You Tube is their job.

Really! It blew my mind: I started watching You Tube channels on a regular basis at the end of last summer when The Daily Tay recommended Eleventh Gorgeous in one of her blog posts. There is a huge variety of You Tubers: beauty, fashion, cooking, DIY, random whatnots, plus vlogs which just follow them in their everyday life. I watch these videos while I get ready in the morning or when I'm folding laundry, and they are pretty addicting! Here are five of my favorites:

Tanya Burr: She is SO sweet! She lives in England and shares tips on about beauty, fashion, some cooking, and vlogs.

Miss Glamorazzi: Ingrid lives in California and films about beauty, fashion, home, and healthy eats. She is where we got the inspiration to begin doing green smoothies!

Eleventh Gorgeous: This channel belongs to two sisters (NOT twins) who live in Alabama. They share all things beauty, ipsy/Birchbox comparisons, challenges, and vlog about their adventures together. They are hilarious!

Zoella: Her and Tanya are friends in England, so many times they appear on each other's channels! Zoe films on fashion and beauty, with lots of vlogs thrown in the mix.

The Saccone Joly's: I found out about their channel through Zoe's favorites one month. This is a DAILY VLOG on an Irish family (Jonathan, Anna, Emilia, and Eduardo). They have filmed their lives every day for at least 3 years and they upload every night at 6pm (UK time: not sure what it is in TX, but it's always there by the time I get ready in the morning)! They are about to move to London from Ireland, so their daily vlogs are full of moving, their two adorable babies (two under 2!), and their sweet 6 Maltese pups.

Let me know if you have ever watched their videos: there are many others who I could've listed, but these five are the ones I watch on a regular basis. I really enjoy the makeup tutorials the girls do, and watching the Saccone Joly's each day is so fun! I especially like to see what Anna prepares for dinner each night... does that make me weird? Probably... Ha!

 Happy FRIDAY! Woot woot! Enjoy your weekend!

"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns."

Psalm 46:5

[film] Crown Princess Caribbean Cruise

So... six months later isn't TOO late, right?

I've been fiddling with YouTube and video editing over the past 24 hours and I may be addicted.... Will "vlogs" be a new addition to Everyday with the Jays? Doubtful. BUT maybe! I tried my hand at editing, and although it is highly amateur, I had a good time with it! Enjoy our escapades from our family cruise vacation from the spring:

Anyone else upload videos to YouTube? Do tell!

Happy Monday!