Church Hill Music Co.

There are few things in life better than the feeling of being on stage, belting out a note and hearing the crowd roar. It's a feeling that's fabulous, addictive, rewarding, invigorating and something I thank god every day I decided to find again. I've sung for most of my life in one way or another. In school it's easy. Music is a regular part of your day through class and chorus. I did lots of theatre and other things that allowed me to sing. But after a time, it became harder and harder to fit it in until one day I said to myself.....I miss this. 

Luckily I found some people who missed music as well and we decided to play together. We all have day jobs, different lives and pursuits, but we love creating music. And so.....Church Hill Music Co. was born. Our sound is always changing but I like to think we play a mix of bluegrass, R&B and classic rock with our own spin. You can check out our facebook page here and you can also catch us this Saturday at Cooper Vineyards. Check out our our event page here. Hope to see you there!

Heavenly Day

Snow days are rare in Richmond. We're lucky if we get two a year. Bread and eggs fly off the shelves and we sequester ourselves in our homes. We cancel school, any and all events and stock up on wine. It usually only lasts a day and then we are forced back to reality. But for that one day....that magical day.....time stops. The snow acts like a holocaust cloak (insert shameless Princess Bride term. God I love that movie!) and insulates us from the outside world for just a time. Cell phones, email and the like can't find us. Our responsibilities and concerns can't touch us. We are free. We can relax. It's snowing. Our cares will find us tomorrow. But for today, we can just be happy. 

There's a great Patty Griffin song called Heavenly Day that I love to sing. The band does it simply, just me and the guitar. We tried it with the banjo and bass but it felt too heavy....too forced. It talks about a heavenly day that two people get to share. It's a simple day, nothing fancy. A walk though the meadow....laying under a tree. But for that day they don't have to worry about anything. They can just be together. It's a beautiful song and it makes me think of a few heavenly days I've had in my life. These are memories we have to hold onto and not take for granted because god knows if we'll ever get another one.

I took these pictures on a snowy walk through Church Hill the other day when the world shut down and I had no cares for a time. The snow made everything quite and peaceful. I didn't have to worry about the past or the future that day. It was nice. 

My Day Job

{The view of the capitol from the general assembly building }

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves an not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressman and government officials, but the voters of this country."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

I've been a bad blogger lately, sorry:). This is one of the busiest times of the year for my day job and I've learned from trial and error that I can push myself until I get so exhausted that everything I'm producing across all of the platforms I love becomes crap or...... something's gotta give. In January that something was blogging. And that's ok. Things are slightly less hectic now so naturally I'm feeling more creative and the longing to take photographs and tell stories has returned.

Anyway, back to my day job. I've tried to keep blogging and my day job pretty separate, but I love my job and feel very lucky to get to do the work I get to do so I wanted to share a bit about it. I work for a non-profit organization here in Richmond and in our policy shop we work on issues that help patients with rare, chronic disorders get better access to health insurance and affordable treatments. We cover both the state and federal level which affords me a great deal of variety and the opportunity to interact with legislators, organizations and patients from across the country.

This time of year we focus heavily on state issues so I'm at the General Assembly Building here in Richmond quite a bit. I hope you enjoy the pics from my home away from home. The experiences I have there, and really every day for my job, illustrate what Roosevelt was trying to express. A voter has more power than they will ever know, but it means absolutely nothing unless they exercise it. Complacency and complaining are for those that are too afraid to make a difference because it means things might actually change and then they'd have nothing to complain about. 

VOTE!

{ Our spot on the 7th floor }

{ Don't worry there's a cheeseburger next to this. 6th Fl cafeteria forever!!!! }

{ After a long day I do need directions like this :)}

Up A Creek

On a cold January day not too long ago I went with my friend Mary and her husband Mike out to Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery for a few beers, fabulous conversation and good times. The brews were fabulous and we even got a private tour from owner/brewer extraordinaire Sean. I hope you'll stop by their tasting house and try their fabulous offerings out for yourself!