Raising music nerds: how I choose to musically educate.

You open the doors, you strap everyone in and by the time you hit reverse your kids are already happily chattering and debating over one thing: The soundtrack.

I guess I never thought about how controversial a car's soundtrack would be as a parent, or how much it would differ from family to family. I got on the subject with a friend a few weeks back and it got me thinking. She had said that she tried to always play christian radio while the kids are in the car but after a while, her kids get tired of it and ask for pop music.

I have to admit, I'm with the kids on this one. Christian radio stations can get so daunting for me. I think it's the fact that the music is mass-produced and lacking dynamics (highs and lows). It all just starts to run together to me and even though the messages are positive, I lose them sometimes in the monotonous 4 chord progressions that fill hours of the christian airwaves. 

I sat in a car with another friend who had classical music on and her two year old was incredibly content and calm. She smiled at me and said "This is the only station we agree on. He HATES it when I play country, but he tolerates this." 

All of these conversations going around in my head made me think: What do I do with my kids? When they were babies, I tried to expose them to the most amounts of different kinds of music that I could. I found that they gravitated more towards certain bands and certain albums. They don't particularly care for the jazz that I sometimes make them listen to, but they oblige it simply because introducing them to new music is something that they've done since they were inutero. It's as normal as breathing.

The thing about the radio is... they don't care that children are listening. When you turn the dials and start to hear the adult content that is in most songs it can make your stomach churn. So, as my kids have become more self aware, I've started to just make large playlists that I put on my phone for them. The playlists offer a wide-range of sounds. Some of them are songs from movies they love, some of them are (clean) pop songs. I also have a few albums of christian pop songs that they like equally and, of course, some new indie songs that I deem worthy enough for my kids to listen to.

One of my favorite things to do while listening is teaching my kids about the music. I challenge them sometimes to tell me what instruments they hear, or if they can feel a build up or a slow down. We can just as easily belt out the lyrics to Frozen as we can to Radiohead. I love immersing them in the world of music that is out there. I don't want them to get stuck in that 4 pop song loop just because it's what people are listening to. I want them to be music pioneers; to know all kinds of different music and where it comes from and, eventually, how to play it.

Maybe it's controlling of me to meticulously spend hours creating playlists of music on my phone. But you spend so much of your day in the car, it might as well be a positive and educational experience. If I don't teach them about music, then who will? Miley Cyrus? Lady Gaga? No thanks I got this one ladies. 

The funny thing about being a music nerd is... it's actually kind of cool to be a music nerd.

Unspeakable Joy

If you asked me 3 weeks ago how I would describe this holiday season this year, the very last word I would have chosen would be joy. This, being the first Christmas since my father died, I was expecting a rather rough go of it. But God gave me an amazing gift this year: The Gift of Joy.

A few weeks back, I had really been feeling gloomy and incredibly nervous that Christmas morning would consist of me crying into a box of kleenex. So I asked some friends of mine to pray for me and I waited. During that process, my mom flew in to spend the holidays with us and brought my long lost dog Sadie (whom we seriously missed). The holidays began to get in full swing and as I sat down at our Christmas Eve Service alongside my mother I had this overwhelming sense of joy surround me. It was the most amazing feeling to be totally at peace and... happy, on Christmas morning. I couldn't believe what a miracle it was!

It was such an incredible blessing to be able to have my mom with me, sharing stories and talking about our hopes for the future. Christmas is always such an amazing season where we celebrate Christ, but this year I was blown away by the amount of great joy He allowed me to have and how easy it was to truly CELEBRATE!

God didn't allow me to just "survive" or "get by", He knew I needed so much more than that. And I was so pleasantly surprised by the great gift of His amazing and Unspeakable Joy. I am so looking forward to this new year of Jubilee God has in store.

A New York State Of Mind

 Sometimes in life, crazy things can happen.

2 years ago, I randomly got the opportunity to write for a website called: hollywoodjesus.com. It started out just writing reviews for the music section. I would write up my opinions and viewpoints and in return I would be able to keep up on current music, and feed my itunes addiction. I took the job and said, "you never know what it can lead to."

I enjoyed writing reviews, and also worked on my book in my spare time. But then, one day last spring I was offered the opportunity to go on a press junket with the website for the movie, "The Lucky One" starring Zach Efron.
It was a crazy ride going to L.A. and interviewing celebrities. I enjoyed the experience, and saw it for what it was: A Once In a Lifetime Event. I returned to my normal life, just happy to have had the chance at something new. Cut to October when I got another chance to take an incredible trip to New York to visit the set of the new movie Noah, starring Russel Crowe.

I had to pinch myself several times. And I kept thinking, how did this happen? One day I was wiping butts and cleaning dirty dishes, the next, I was jetting off to New York, and dining with movie executives atop the Trump Tower. I couldn't believe how far the Lord had taken a small opportunity.

I was able to visit the most fantastic set in Brooklyn. Where, in an armory, they transformed an empty space into a life-sized ark. The visit was incredible, and I cannot wait to publish what I've written about it. I also got to meet Russel Crowe, who was incredibly friendly even after working a grueling schedule. It was truly an incredible experience.

I admit, I only have a few things on my bucket list. One of those things, was visiting New York in the fall. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to do something like that so soon. I joined 2 of my newly-made writing friends on a New York excursion. We took a taxi and hit up Times Square, Broadway, Juniors, and Rockefeller Center. I was able to see things I had always wanted to see in a span of 4 hours, and it was life-changing!

We stayed in the soho district and I found myself just walking the streets that last morning, taking in the scenery and reflecting on the wild adventure I had taken. There is something so freeing, so empowering about going to a big city by yourself. It makes you more confident in yourself. I wasn't Elijah's mom, or Tim's wife, or anything but just Erin Warkentin, writer. It felt so good to own an identity; to have people see me for exactly who I am, and listen to my opinions because they mattered.

I've always loved to write, but I never dreamed it would take me anywhere. This New York trip  taught me a lot about taking the opportunities God gives us. You just never know where they can take you!

I'm an author!

So I've been blogging now for several years and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been wanting for sometime now to take my two passions: blogging and music and work them together. Last week presented me with just such an opportunity as I joined the staff of HollywoodJesus.com as a music reviewer.

I mean, it's the perfect job! Brand new music every week that I get to listen to and critique? Yes please. I also want to broaden my writing experience and get some serious pieces under my belt so that I can be one of those pretentious hipster moms who drops their kids off at school and sits in Starbucks with a laptop on my lap and a latte in my hand. So without further adieu, I give you the introduction to my writing career: My first review

I'm thinking..... pink.

So today I decided to enjoy the festivities of breast cancer awareness week. Since, I'm 39 weeks pregnant and didn't have much else to do. It was fun driving through town and seeing everything in pink and also the crazy people who really dress out there for the event.

So I decided to check out Chop Chix Hair Salon as they were having a BC special for the day. They were doing rockstar toes and wackadoo haircuts for $10- it was a steal! As I walked in I was bombarded by fun music, pink feather boas, all the cupcakes you could eat, and some crazy ladies dressed in Halloween-typed pink costumes. It was a madhouse...but a fun one. As I sat there, I was introduced to a campaign called "Save the Ta-tas". So many tatooos and keychains and t-shirts displaying that message proudly. At first it took me a-back, but then I really thought it was fun.

Talking to my hairstylist, she told me they had several different kinds of t-shirts with sayings on them. She told me about the one men prefer to wear "Save a life, grope your wife". I thought that was clever. Then she told me about a breast cancer survivor who was walking around with a t-shirt that said, "Heck yes they're fake, the real ones tried to kill me". I loved it!

After my exciting pink adventure, we went down to the Sundial bridge to see it lit up in all it's glory. It truly is a sight and all of Redding is there so you bump into so many people you know. It really is beautiful.

Things they never teach you in college

When I started my college career, I was a young and naive 18-year-old. I was told that I needed to go to college to make something of myself. So I obeyed and signed on the dotted line, not thinking about the amount of money I was agreeing to one day pay.

I, like so many other suckers out there, was decieved into thinking that Sallie Mae was a great loan company willing to take a chance on a young girl with no credit history at all. Here I am 10 years later, very very sorry I ever signed that document.

Because of that signature I have had to endure years of constant calling, harrassing, and verbal threats from good Ole' Sallie mae. They have screwed up my bank account and my credit. They have done irreprable damage to me, but all that was nothing compared to the message I got tonight.

As some of you may know, I have changed my voicemail to reflect my current pregnant state. In it, I explain that sometimes I can't always get to the phone because I'm 8 months pregnant and have 2 kids. So, when Sallie Mae called me tonight, like most nights they call, I saw that I got a voicemail. Now usually I just ignore it, but tonight was something very different. Tonight one of Sallie Mae's little minions proceeded to mock me, insult me, and threaten me because of my pregnant voicemail.

I really am unsure how in the world people like that can get away with being horrible little monsters, but for some reason...they do. Why Sallie Mae couldn't have gone down in flames like all the other companies over the last 2 years I don't know. But now instead of being annoyed once again by their phone call, I'm insulted, hurt and a little afraid.

Birthdays, Babies and Weddings... oh my.

See what happens when I neglect my blog for 2 weeks? EVERYTHING!!

First off, we celebrated Noah's 1st birthday on Sunday May 16th. It was a beautiful day and we took the time to also have Dr. Schaefer dedicate our sweet boy to the Lord. All of our family and friends were there to share in his special day with us. It was glorious and we had so much fun watching him dive into his cake!

Two days later we went in for our first sonogram of our new baby, and found out that we're having a baby girl! We were so excited to see all her bones and body parts forming well, and to watch her stretch and kick. It was amazing, and we are so thrilled to have her complete our family.

Then a few days later it was off to Paradise, where we spent 3 days preparing Tim's dear friend Danny for his big wedding. Tim got to be Best Man, and Elijah got to be a ringbearer. Eli walked down so well, and in front of so many people. He looked like a mini James Bond in his tux, and I will forever kick myself for not taking better pictures. But I was baby wrangling all weekend, so fitting in a photo session was difficult. Fortunately, we bought the tux, so I can always take pictures later. Note to anyone in need of a child's tuxedo- go on ebay. We bought ours for $35 with free shipping. The rental place costs at least $70, and we got to keep ours. I'm thinking we already have Eli's Halloween costume this year :)