Tuesday 4 Music

1. What kind of music do you like the best? I like a lot of different kinds of music. I mostly listen to Christian music. I enjoy both contemporary songs and hymns. I enjoy oldies music that I listened to back in the 60's and 70's. I like soul/Motown like the Temptations, Supremes, Peaches and Herb. Also easy listening/soft rocklike Carole King, James Taylor, Seals and Croft, Carly Simon, The Eagles and Bread. Also groups like The Lettermen, the Association, and Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. I liked the early Beatles too! My list could go on forever! Oh I do enjoy classical music too and played it on the piano for many years as a youth. Now my granddaughter plays and will be joining the youth praise band soon.

2. Does the radio play in your car and if so what station or kind of music plays? Yes the music in on all the time. Hubby got Sirius Radio and we get to choose a year or type of music. When it is just me driving, my favorite Christian station is playing. Hubby usually chooses what he wants and we pretty much like the same thing. Does music play in your home often? I like to listen when I Bible journaling or working on graphics or blogging. Hubby mostly watches his tv programs.

3. What do you think of the music played in restaurants or stores? Do you find it relaxing or annoying? I enjoy music for the most part. Sometimes I will just walk around Hobby Lobby enjoying the music they play. I will even sing along. I don't enjoy eating when the music is really loud unless it is a dinner show. Not that I am older, my right year is more sensitive to loud sounds.

4. What part has music played in your life? What kind of music played at your wedding or at parties you have been to? Music has played a big part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are learning songs from Sunday School. There was always music at school. I was in choir at church and school. When I was around 10 or 11, my parents gave me a radio to listen to at night because they knew I had a hard time going to sleep. I remember saving my allowance in Jr. High to buy 45's. My parents took us most of the musicals that came out and bought us the soundtracks on an LP. I had a class in high school were we had to explain the meaning of a song. Bye Bye Miss American Pie was playing in my senior year and Crocodile Rock. I watched American Bandstand and Sour Train to hear the music and dance. 

When my husband and I were dating, we would write letters to each other and write song titles on it.

1973Just My Imagination-Temptations

Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got-Four Tops 

Natural High-Redbone

Could It Be I'm Fallin In Love.-The Spinners

Ain't No Woman Like The One I 've Got

1974, 

You Make Me Fill Brand New-The Stylistics

Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me - Gladys Night and the Pips

Top of the World-Carpenters

Then Came You Dionne Warwick and The Spinners

I've Been Search'n So Long-Chicago

Could It Be I'm Falling in Love-Spinners

There were just so many songs that I liked that were not love songs, just good songs to listen to or dance too. The Carpenter, The Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon, Marvin Gaye, War, The Tower of Power,  Stevie Wonder Diana Ross, Elton John and The Jackson Fiv . So many artist with so many songs. I did not care for heavy metal and we didn't hear much country music in So. California. 

Around 1973, our church youth group had a summer party. Helmut the exchange student from Germany asked us to do a "Soul Train" dance line. We put music on and we started dancing and laughing and just having fun. There were several adults there and no alcohol beverages. Just clean fun. I am dancing with Helmut in this picture. Remember the wide leg pants? I made my outfit.

My husband and I were first born kids and our parents both went in to give us a big wedding.  I was a student at UCI and he was working two jobs. A small wedding would have been fine with us. But we had a big wedding!  They played a few Carpenter songs at the Wedding

like We've Only Just Begun, and One Love. Household of Faith was sung by one of my bridesmaid and Eddie Espinosa who later became a worship leader. He wrote the song Change My Heart O God.

There was a Mariachi Band playing while we ate. Then a popular band came and played for about 3 more hours. Our Wedding Party Dance was set to Color My World by Chicago. Then we danced to Sabor A Mi. and we danced with our parents. Though we had a lot of albums when we got married, 8 Track players were coming in. So my parents gave us a combo Turntable and 8 track player because we loved our music.

We also enjoyed the music of the disco era like the Bee Gees and Donna Summer and we went to a few disco places in Newport Beach CA. We went with my sister and her husband and another couple. It was fun, but not something we did too many times. None of us had kids yet, We also liked the music from Star Wars!

This is one of my favorite pictures from around 2005. My kids dancing with us at a wedding.

Every year has songs that I like. In 1990 I started listening to mostly Christian music.

As I mentioned earlier, we enjoy musicals and hubby and I went to see Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas and I got to see it with my parents on Broadway. I love musicals! I just saw West Side Story with my older grands and all of us went to see Encanto and Sing 2.

Music is just another gift that God has given us to enjoy. It is one of the strongest things that touches our soul. Hearing is one of the last things to go and music really calms the soul. It brings back memories to many. I saw how it really helped my mom when she had Alzheimer's. I played hymns for my dad as he was getting ready to see the Lord. It gives me peace and I love all the memories tied to music and songs.

 

Marriage

1. How did you meet your husband/wife? I met him at our church youth group in my senior year of high school. February 1973.

2. How did you know he/she was “the one”? I liked his smile. His friends called him Smiley. I asked him what his family called him and he said "Jr." so that is what I called him. We had fun together. He knew what my career goals were and supported me. We started talking about marriage after I turned 18.

3. How did he propose? We were playing pool and he said he wanted to marry me. He didn't go down on his knee and I never even thought about that. He said he needed to talk to my dad. So he did and my mom said to get at least a half carat solitaire. She would tease me because he gave me a promise ring which was popular back then. So we went to Zales Jewelers. I asked them to show me a 1/2 caret solitaire. I chose one and that was that!  My mom use to work for Zales back in the 60's. All that happened in October 1973. I think I have it written down in my diary from then. My mom arranged an engagement party to announce our engagement. Family was invited to our house for Thanksgiving 1973 and our engagement was announced. 

We were married nine months later. After our engagement was announced, our parents got together to discuss the wedding. It was decided that they would go half and half with the expenses since I was a full time student and he was working two job. We were both first born kids. His dad insisted that Jr. buy my wedding dress. I never really planned to get married so early. But we were in love and back then most girls got married right after high school. I let my mom do most everything because I was busy going to the University.

We did have a large beautiful wedding in August 1974.Our little  Gethsemane Methodist church was too small so we got married in the bigger First Methodist Church in our city. Back in 1974, the bridesmaid made flowers out of crepe paper and decorated the cars. The cars drove from the church to the reception and we drove by the Orange Circle to the reception. We had a Mariachi band during the food. Then we had a popular band some in afterwards. There were no dj's back then. You can see more pictures here at my old website.

 

4. Do you have any favorite stories from your marriage or about your husband/wife? We have been married 46 years now so there are many stories. The first few years of our marriage were easy.

   Spring 1977, ready to go out to a Disco!

 As soon as I got my degree in 1977, we decided to start our family. It was a rough time for us but we held onto our faith.We bought our first home in 1978.  With lots of prayers and infertility doctors,  and after 3 miscarriages we finally had a son and then another son, and finally a daughter. 

  

1989

I worked part time at the post office in the evening. So for 19 years we worked different shifts so that our kids always had a parent home. Luckily my husband could take care of the kids. It worked for us. Marriage takes work, patience and commitment. It is giving each other space. It is having common interest and understanding our differences. Our faith in God has been the main thing that has held us together. 

 1993

 

 25th Anniversary, 1999

 

 

 

 2017

 

2020