1 - You Were In An A Capella Group ?

From the Facebook post little known facts about Josh Case Sr:

1 - I sang tenor in a four-person A Capella group in high school.

I have always loved singing, but I never claimed to be any more than adequate at it.  Still, there is something heavenly, bordering on orgasmic, about a four part harmony coming together.  I love being a part of that and as a result have put myself in various situations I never should have really been in.

Back in high school was the first of these experiences.  Three of my friends from Spectrum (our select high school choir) and I decided that we loved singing enough that we should form our own a capella group.  Why a capella?  The real question is: why not?!

Our name was "A Shade Of Soul" which was supposed to be a play on words because we were all caucasian. The name was as mediocre as our singing, but we had fun and actually made quite a bit of money one Valentine's Day.  We spread the word about our willingness to serenade loved ones and shower them with gifts (flowers, candy, etc.) for a nominal fee.  We made enough money to pay for our entry fee to the annual UNC Jazz Festival.  We also had enough left over to splurge on some sweatshirts with our ridiculous logo and equally ridiculous bright red lettered names running down the sleeve.  I am glad I don't have any pictures of them.

We "broke up" shortly after our disastrous performance at the aforementioned jazz festival.  But we had certainly enjoyed many wonderful moments of harmony and melody coming together as we invested hours of our free time to try and improve our sound.


Song Of The Day:
Around this same time I became quite fond of the A Capella group The Nylons.  Obviously they were/are MUCH better than our group was, but their song "Good Old A Capella" always reminds me of the fun that can be had when a group of people just enjoy making that good old harmony.

...

How Do I Love Thee ?

Today I celebrate 15 wonderful years of marriage with my sweetheart, Karen!

Our lives have changed so much in the decade and a half that we've been together, most of which has been change for the better.  Our family has expanded (and expanded and expanded) ... perhaps blossomed would sound better because it's not like we're fatties or anything ... to include 7 awesome kiddos.  We have moved through three different homes, and one just the right size for the time basement apartment.  Our sports cars (my old Trans Am) have been swapped out for mini-vans (and one BIG van).

But the biggest change has been our "us" time.

Karen and I strive diligently to find time for "us" but this gets more and more challenging as the kids grow older and we have more responsibilities placed on us as individuals.  Today was an appropriate example of the sacrifice that naturally comes to "us" time as the years progress on.

One of our daughters had her school program rescheduled for today, so we spent part of our afternoon watching her sing songs and say her part for the play.
Our oldest son also had his final band performance of the year scheduled for this evening, so we enjoyed two hours of middle-school music as our evening appetizer.

And my awesome wife didn't complain about either unromantic activity.  She may have lamented the timing of these events, but she found a way to be happy about how our "us" time often includes children nowadays.

And that's just one of many ways that I love her more now than I did before.  Love definitely grows over time and I can see that happening in our relationship ... which is pretty cool.  As circumstances change you can find yourself with a different person than you think you started out with, but that's just another side of the same person that you get to love and appreciate.

Thanks for coming with me on this incredible journey Pretty Lady!  I love you so very much!  :)

Song(s) Of The Day:
No need for explanation on these songs for today.  Just a handful of them that I love and want to share because they remind me of my wonderful wife!

"Silly Love Songs" by Wings

"For You" by Michael W Smith

"Just When I Needed You" by The Nylons

"Then" by Brad Paisley

...