There is a commercial on TV (I think it's for Target) that shows a woman cooking pancakes in the shape of a teddy bear. I saw it the other day and randomly said to Eddie, "I want a teddy bear pana-cake (I still haven't outgrown the habit of pronouncing it pana-cake)." He replied, "Just to clarify, do you want a teddy bear pana -cake, or a teddy bear piano cake?" After a moment of contemplation, I jokingly decided, "Both." To my surprise and delight, the next morning Eddie was in the kitchen creating a masterpiece breakfast of teddy bear pancakes, complete with strawberry eyes and chocolate chip buttons. They were as adorable as they were delicious. Today, after a long day of work, I came home to heavenly sweet scent. Eddie was baking. When the egg timer dinged, he stayed in the kitchen with his creation until finally he called me in to unveil it. It was a teddy bear cake. I mean, an actual 3-D bear covered in frosting. He apologized that the...

When Eddie and I lived in North Carolina, we discovered Friday night jazz at Cypress Bend Vineyards , a picturesque vineyard in the green farmlands of Wagram, NC. Every other Friday evening, they set up a quaint tent by the patio, complete with a stage, dance floor, and intimate five-piece band that performed jazz standards while guests enjoyed music, food, and wine. We went the first time at the referral of my former Army supervisor, the same one who encouraged me to audition for the Army Soldier Show. It turned out that he and the owner of the vineyard were old friends. I was happy to see that upon our first visit to jazz night, my former supervisor was there as well, and I secretly hoped that he would talk the owner into letting me play a few songs at some point during the night. My wish came true when the owner and lead singer had a short, private conversation, then approached me and asked if I’d like to play during their 10-minute break between sets. I happily agreed, as I usua...

Whew! Today was the first official day of recording for my EP with Modern Vintage Recordings . After much blood, sweat, and tears, we chose 8 of my songs to track, although 3 of them may still be eliminated. Previously, we recorded very simple guides with only my voice and piano. The musicians use this as a base to record with so they have the feel for the tempo, style, and length of the song. The first instrument we recorded was drums. Doug Yowell , who has played with Suzane Vega and Duncan Shiek to name a few, was the drummer and he was AMAZING. He recorded 8 tracks in about 4 hours and contributed greatly to the project with his spontaneity and creativity. It's mind boggling to think that he was able to construct such a driving, detailed, and passionate drum arrangement with only an obnoxious click track and rough melody of my scratchy, out of tune voice. It's clear that drums are the backbone and framework for any piece of music and I'm proud to have him play on my E...

This is one of the four pianos outside Lincoln Center that was set up by Sing For Hope in their  Play Me, I'm Yours project. This was the first time I had ever been to Lincoln center, and look at that, it was to play a piano! I've been back one time since, and that was for an actual performance in a theatre for a World Mission Foundation fundraiser. Enjoy the video! To see more photos from the Play Me, I'm Yours project, click here . To see videos, click here .

On my second day at my new job as a pianist for a ballet school and company , I found myself struggling through the combinations. I thought that certainly after some practice, the job would become easier, but I suddenly found myself over thinking the counts, struggling with intros, and having trouble “squaring off the piece.” I was worried the instructor was getting frustrated at the disruptions. Even worse, the owner of the company, made visits in and out of the class room and I was certain she noticed my fumbles. The mirrored room reflected my image like a string of paper dolls. Every missed count echoed against the walls. Every mistake was magnified by a hundred. When the night was over, the owner very seriously pulled me aside and asked, “Can you stay a bit after?” I nervously replied that I could and she motioned for me to walk back to her office. As I sat there waiting for her to enter, I actually texted Eddie, “I think I’m about to get fired.” I silently prepared my plea for ...

I grew up in a Baptist church, attending at minimum 3 times a week - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. On top of that, I went to a Christian school, where we had regular Bible classes and weekly Chapel. Thankfully, I knew from a very young age what “salvation” meant, the importance of prayer, and God’s love and promises. At the age 4, I asked Jesus to save me, forgive me for my sins, and help me live a life pleasing to Him. After that, I recall very diligently saying my prayers every single night in bed after my dad tucked me in. I did it without being told or reminded. It just became a part of my life. As a child, there were only a few things in my world that made the list of important requests to pray for. I prayed for my dad to quit smoking (which he has since), and for all my family members to get saved if they’re not already, then I listed them by name. Even at that age from grade school and up, the thought of someone I loved passing away without knowing Jesu...

Scrabble is kind of a special game to my husband and I. We first played it years ago in the Army out of pure boredom. I was the Executive Officer of our Battery and he was the training room NCO, which meant I was his supervisor. Our offices were right next to each other, and as a brand new, naïve Second Lieutenant, I depended on his expertise quite a bit in the early days. He was not only a good soldier, but extremely intelligent. Really, he has a genius IQ of 154. Sometimes I like to play a game I call Rain Man, where I throw random, complex math problems at him and watch as he solves them in his head. He doesn’t really care for that game. But I digress. One day, I came to work to find that several computers had been stolen. As a result of sensitive information being lost, the entire battery was forced to live in the building until someone broke down and confessed. There we were, about 50 us, trapped in a smelly, old, military building for 4 days. We marched to and from the gym to s...