Thursday 27 August 2015

A Night At The Opry

"The night is warm and humid. It is late. Almost 3.30 am. Most people around here have been asleep for hours already. Not me, though. I'm waiting for something big. It is the night between the 17th and 18th of July 2015, my time, it is a night a lot of people have been waiting for for a long time.

I am sitting in bed, alone, the cats are around here somewhere, but even they are sleeping. The atmosphere is peaceful and quiet, but I can feel the excitement in it. It's coming from me, of course. I am far, far away from where the big thing is only minutes away from happening. It's all going down in Nashville, Tennessee, USA and I'm on the southern coast of Spain.

I've got my good headphones on, the ones with a really good bass in them, some coffee to drink and my mobile phone. And, of course, the most important thing, the app for the Grand Ole Opry's live radio broadcast. I have heard artist after artist playing and singing their country songs, but I don't even remember who. I'm only interested in one special band. My favourite music band of all times, the country a cappella band Home Free, are having their debut at the legendary Opry - the show that made country music famous.

I don't know when I first heard about the Opry, it seems like I've know about it all my life and maybe I have. My parents listened to country music when I was growing up and I have always favourited it without being aware of it. It's about the harmonies and the melodies, and the stories. And the Grand Ole Opry is to country music artists what Wimbledon is to tennis player. To get to play there is a huge dream, a goal, something to aim for. And probably something surreal when you are actually there.

Anyway, this is the first I actually tune in to the show live. I like it, even though I don't remember what I'm hearing tonight. It's country and I love country.

So, here I am, in high anticipation, waiting for Home Free to come on. This is big for them. This is big for the Opry and it is big for the world. This is big for the Home Fries. This is an historical night in the world of music. The rest of the world don't know it yet, but they will.

Another artist finishes his song and the presenter starts reading an advertisement and a huge roar is heard. And I know. Home Free just entered the stage. The presenter stops mid-reading the ad to say that he's never heard that big a response to an ad before. Yeah, right, I think, nice try. The Fries know. The Fries can feel it. The energy. Home Free is in the house.

I can hear how nervous they are when they start singing, those first few lines, are tense, but they do great. I have tears in my eyes of joy and chills down my spine from the greatness of the moment. This is wow oh so big. They finish their first song Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flats, and there is another roar from the crowd. I am wondering how many of the people in the audience are new to Home Free. I wounder what they think. I wish I could see it, not only hear it!

Now, Ring Of Fire, oh Ring Of Fire, the song that made me fall in love with them, the song that changed my life. I smile a smile so big it hurts, my cheeks are still wet with happy tears running down and I'm dancing right here on the bed. When Tim does his low notes I can feel the audience take a deep breath of surprise. Oh, how I would have loved to be there in person. But this is ok too. I am so excited to be a part of this, of their great moment in life. Because I am. I do get to share this! And I am proud as a mum! Maybe it's got to do with being a Patron. Or maybe it's just the feeling of love being all around them at all times. 

Another roar from the crowd is heard when they finish the song. It is over. I am raising my hands to the ceiling in victory (I seem to do that a lot, and cry happy tears, when it comes to Home Free) and say Yes! They did so well! What a great job they did! Yes! Yes! 

The presenter thanks them and tells them how great they were. Yes, they were. They sure were."

It took me hours to get down from the high that night. What a great debut it was!

Home Free were invited back on the spot, the Grand Ole Opry was that impressed by them. How could they not be. Remember all those roars I heard from the audience? They weren't just roars, they were standing Ovations. 3. Yes, that's right! Home Free got 3! standing O's on their debut at the friggin' Grand Ole Opry! And they only did 2 songs! Lot's of Fries in the house, and the Opry was blown away. Great job, Fries! Fantabulous job, Home Free!

I heard a story about the Opry tour guide being in the back of the building when Tim hit his low note, and he felt the rumble from it. How cool is that?!

This all happened because of Duane Allen and The Oak Ridge Boys, who have truly taken Home Free under their wings. They brought Tim with them to one of their performances at the Opry and introduced them to each other. Way to go, Duane and ORB!! The Fries are you forever indebted for so much! We can't wait to see what the future will hold for the nine of you together!

The reason why I have waited this long to share this experience with you is because I wanted to be able to share an official video of it, and the Opry finally uploaded Life Is A Highway to their YouTube channel yesterday.

You can see the tension on the guys, especially on Austin. I've never seen his face to tight before. But you can also see and feel the joy and disbelief in their eyes, and their relief when the song is over. And you can see the second standing O. I hope we get to see Ring Of Fire one day too. I can't wait for them to go back there, and my bucket has a new addition. Not only do I want to go to the Opry, and not only do I want to see Home Free live, but I also want to see Home Free live at the Opry.


One day that dream will come true!

Love//
Carina









Saturday 22 August 2015

My Heart's On Fire For #HFORB

Take 4 parts of legendary, old school country singers with sweet harmonies, add their greatest hit song and 5 parts of (will-be legendary) new school a cappella country singers with (at least) equally sweet harmonies, a killer arrangement and then mix it all together. Add to the quotation that one of those nine people is one of the best vocal percussionists/beat boxers the world have ever heard, 2 of them are among the worlds best bass singers and they can hit low notes as easy as I breath; and then sit back and wait to see what happens. Would you care to take a guess? I know that even if you do you wouldn't come anywhere near the truth of what happens. But don't sweat it! Have no fear! The truth is now out! The answer is here!

It all started months ago when Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys saw Home Free on a TV show and was blown away. He reached out and the ball started rolling. Home Fries all over the world started speculating, hoping and dreaming for a collaboration between the two groups. We begged and pleaded for them to work together on ORB's hit song Elvira from 1981. In the beginning of the summer the ORB tweeted that they were about to enter the studio together to do exactly what we wanted.

That's when the real speculating started. We knew it would be nothing short of amazing. How could it not be? What we didn't know was HOW amazing it could, and would, be. We had no idea this result was even a possibility. We had no idea of the heights it would take us to. Even in our wildest imaginations and dreams, we had no clue what so ever.

And then there was a video shoot. Home Free loves keeping their fans up to date on what they do, and we love that they do, and they also love teasing us with snippets of what is to come, and we love it when they do. So we knew they were shooting the video, and we were told the song was awesome, but nothing, absolutely nothing, was told on when this, what must be pure awesomeness, was going to be revealed to us. We just had to wait and see. So we did. Patiently. Ok, I lie, very impatiently. We waited.

And after all this hoping, dreaming, speculating, teasing and waiting the day finally arrived. FINALLY!! It is here!

For the Home Free Patrons it arrived on Thursday, and boy oh boy do I love being a Patron (You can become one here) ! I am so proud to be a part of all this. It is so satisfying to know that I helped (as Austin might say). The rest of the world was first introduced to this epicness (I'm so making that a word) by Huffington Post. YES, a huge release in Home Free's career was shown to the world by a huge player on the online news market. Epic! Huge! And so right! Didn't I tell you a few weeks back that Home Free is having an epic summer?

So, what about the song and the singing and all that stuff? Well, it's ok.

Naaaaaaah, just kidding!

It is absolutely freggin' mind blowingly fantastic! It is putting my heart on fire! It is pure joy and love! It is far beyond my wildest dreams of what could be done with this song that I already loved. It is sweet, it is power! It is taking me to higher grounds, it is flying me to the moon, and it is one of the best things I have ever, ever, heard, ever. It makes me smile, laugh and dance. It makes put my hands to the sky in victory! I was sitting at my desk at work yesterday, listening to Home Free while doing some work, and I could see that my colleague next to me was looking at me with a big smile. Apparently I was dancing in my chair. I had already told her about the song so she just looked at me and asked if that was the song. Yes, yes it was. And so the day went on. Every time Elvira came on I noticed her watching me through the corner of my eye. Well, could for me for making her smile. Oh, did I tell you I was wearing ear buds so she couldn't hear what song was actually on.

We knew it was going to be epic, but this, this is so much more than just being epic.

The sweet, sweet harmonies are perfectly blended; the basses are, well, low and perfect together;, and the beat boxing is rocking everybody's world, knocking us kind out of our chairs and on to the dance floor. Seriously, Adam, how is it even possible to do what you do?

The fantastic arrangement is made by Tim Foust by him tweaking an arrangement made by Geoff Castellucci and VoicePlay (another brilliant a cappella group), and it let's the personalities of the two groups shine through. Not just the groups, the different personalities of all the members of the two groups. WoW! This is such a perfect arrangement! It shows a completely new, young and fresh take on this classic song without taking away from the original greatness of it. This is truly the perfect mix of old school and new school.

As for the video; it's just 9 guys sitting around, having fun singing this fantastic song. Nothing special one would think, but I love it, and you can tell by watching the video that all the boys love it. Both generations. It shows in their faces and their body languages. They are amazed by each other; Home Free probably by the honour of getting to do this at all, and ORB by the amazing talents of HF. The joy, the fun, the mutual respect. It is all showing in this great video put together by FifGen Films. Great job, as always, by them! My favourite part is when ORB is signing Austin's ORB t-shirt and Austin is looking like he just can't believe this is happening. Isn't that kind of what we are all feeling right about now? And here's more;

According to Duane Allen the ball is still rolling behind the scene's to get the 2 groups together for some TV and other fun stuff, but they are all very busy until after Christmas so we'll just have to wait and see. I have a feeling that from now on Home Free will be experiencing an avalanche of great things leading to even greater things. Mr Allen even mentioned the possibility of them all going on a WORLD TOUR - TOGETHER! Where can I get the tickets for that?

Can it get any better than this? Well, guess what, it can!!

After you watched this joyful and epic video (a hundred times or so) head over to Home Free's store and pre-order the Deluxe version of their new album Country Evolution (to be released on September 18) and you will get an autographed copy. You can also head over to iTunes to put the pre-order in for the digital Deluxe album which will allow you to download 3 tracks immediately, including Elvira. How amazing is that!! Third option is to pre-order it from Amazon, just click the link on the top right of this page, this will give the "original" version of the album with 11 songs, the Deluxe version has 14 (the additional 3 tracks are not the same 3 you get when you buy the digital version on iTunes). This album is going to be epic. This album is going to change the way the world looks at a cappella and country music. But that deserves a separate post.

And do me and the guys a favour will ya'; share this post, share every article you see, share the video; on Facebook and on Twitter, on whatever social media you are on; with people you know and people you don't know. And if you share it on Twitter please use #HFORB and #ELVIRA as we want to get it trending. If you want to share it on Facebook, please use the Facebook video found on Home Free's page. It's all for viral reasons. Let's get Elvira

ELVIRAL!!

And now, finally, here it is;

Love/
Carina




Tuesday 18 August 2015

Spreading Health And Love

Yesterday the Norwegian side of the company I work for started kind of a campaign together with an organisation that raise money for cancer research and for helping cancer patients to a better life while they are sick. Since the Norwegian Customer Service is set in the same building as we (the Swedish Customer Service) is and we do most company related events together it was decided that we get to join them.

The way it works is that we, the co-workers, exercise and we log the activity that gets turned into points (based on the activity, the length you do it and the intensity you do it with), and the points then turn into money. The money we raise our company will donate to the organisation.

We are also divided into teams, department wise, that are competing against each other. The campaign will be going for a year. How cool is that??

I think this is a brilliant idea! It will inspire us to move and exercise more, as well as do good for people that are sick and maybe, in the long run, help prevent people from getting sick, also the company will have healthier and happier people working for them. It's a win-win-win-win-win!

I have been trying to find the inspiration to exercise more. I like exercising, but I also like being lazy and I always have a problem finding the right balance for me. I don't like it when exercising takes over my life, but if I don't exercise enough I will get bored and stop doing it. This will certainly help me. It will especially help me on those times and days when I don't really want to walk home from work (it's a 45 min walk); I will think about the good it will do for others, when the thought of what good it will do for me is not enough, and the chance of me actually walking home will be higher. In the weekends it will help get my bum up on the roof to do some rowing, at least when it's cooled down a bit. Yes, I still have the rowing machine I bought back in February and I still love it. It's just very hot up on the roof terrace this time of year so the only time of day or night I can use it without dying of heat stroke is at like 4 am, and I am asleep then. Most of the nights anyway. And even if I am awake I will not exercise. That is crazy.

This week I am walking to work early in the mornings ( I start at 7am this week so  I leave home at 6am), and today I walked home too. Next week I work late so I finish at 10pm and will be walking home, And, of course, I am listening to Home Free when I'm walking.

Are you doing anything to help less fortunate people (it can be a smile at someone homeless or lonely, or donations or anything in between) or to help yourself keep healthy and happy?

I try to remember to smile to someone I don't know every day, I try telling at least one person a day something nice about them and I say I love you to my boyfriend and son at least once a day. Every month I donate some money to different organisations, and I say thank you to the bus drivers or the person behind the till in the stores. All this doesn't only make them feel better, it makes me feel better, and it helps me have a smile on my face most of my day, every day. But the most important thing I do is to do what I can to find the silver lining in any situation. I tend to sometimes forget myself, especially at work, and when I do it will always make me feel worse which kind of works as a reminder to smile and be positive again.

I've been having this song in my head all day today so naturally I have to share it. And, well, it makes me smile so hopefully it will make you smile too. Actually, I find myself using it when I need to get back to being positive when I've lost my way. Do you have a way of getting back on track?

Smile at someone you don't know today! It's healthy!

Love//
Carina


Sunday 16 August 2015

One Year With Home Free!

Happy Anniversary to me! One year ago today my life changed. A Facebook friend of mine posted a video on her time line that showed up on my news feed. At first I ignored it, even though it caught my attention, but the third time it showed up a friend of my Facebook friend had commented on it saying that it looked like one of the guys from Home Free, the guys that had won the Sing Off the year before. To this day I still have no idea why that comment had me look closer at the video, But it did.



And I was hooked. As so many of us have done I spent the next few days and nights, watching everything I could find with this amazing bunch of Guys. I hardly slept, but I still had so much energy. I felt like I had found my one true love, and in a way that was exactly what I had done. I'm sorry, did I say "the next few days and nights"? I meant months. Heck, I'm still doing it; just not every day and night. 

A few days later I joined Patreon to get access to this gem (below), and a few days after that I joined one of the fan groups on Facebook. And I haven't looked back.



So what has this past year brought me, how did finding Home Free change my life? 

First of all; I have made a whole lot of new friends, and even though I still haven't met any of them in real life I know that I will when I get the chance to attend a show, or even just go for a visit anywhere near where any of them are located. I could probably sofa hop around the world staying with other Fries. How cool would that be?! 

Home Free fans are not like any other fan. They are loving and supporting, and they help each other out with whatever needs being helped with. They will give away a ticket to a show, or pick you up at the airport, or even do your grocery shopping if you can't do it yourself and they are in the area. They will send you gifts, and they will pay it forward (or Fry it forward as we like to call it). There are support groups for Fries that struggle with weight or that need emotional support, or prayers, during hard times. And they will support and encourage your creativity. I have seen so many Fries pick up their long lost passions of writing, drawing, singing, you name it! And they are all being cheered on by other Fries! Isn't all this what a friend should be all about?! At least it is to me! This is the feeling that the Guys of Home Free spread around them; the feeling of great friendships!



It also brought back my love for music. Before I would listen to music on occasion, but now not a day goes by when I don't listen to some type of music, and I listen to Home Free every day. I love music that makes me feel love and happiness, music that makes me smile and want to sing and dance. That is one of the reasons I love Home Free. Their music makes me feel all that and more. 



Thirdly it made me start writing again. I am one of those Fries that picked up my passion. Mine wasn't a long lost one, it was still present, but I was in a state of giving it up. And then Home Free came in to my life, and watching them, reading about the hard times and the struggles they went through to get to where they are today, following them, seeing and hearing how they grow and evolve, knowing that they never gave up no matter how tough the times were. THAT keeps me going when I lose my ground. And with all these happy feelings inside from listening to their music inspiration is growing and flowing more and more by the day. The belief in myself is increasing. And I know that everything will be OK. 



Finding Home Free did change my life, I am a happier person today than I was one year ago.

Thank you, Home Free!

If you have watched all these videos right now I bet you have a big goofy smile on your face. If not, go back and watch them again! 

Love//
Carina


Sunday 9 August 2015

Music Sunday

It's been a long time since I did a Music Sunday post, so I figured it's about time! Right!?

Back in February I shared the amazing mash-up of Thinking Out Loud/I'm Not The Only One with Sam Tsui and Casey Breeves. I fell deeply in love with Casey's voice the first time I heard it, especially his lower range, and have been following him ever since and yesterday he posted a video with another collaboration that blows my mind and speaks to my music heart. This time it's with the 2014 winners of Britain's Got Talent, the music theater boyband Collabro. Collabro is 5 guys that have backgrounds in music theater. When they had their first addition for BGT they had only been singing together for about a month, but they blew the judges away, because boy can they sing and build a song up. You will most certainly hear more about these guys in the future. They are still young and I am sure they will evolve and grow over the years to come.

The song they are singing with Casey Breeves is a cover of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love. There are 6 guys and a grand piano, and it will give you goosebumps. Collabro's second album, Act Two, was released in June and it is filled with goodies if  you are into music theatre songs. I know I am!

Collabro have a lot in common with Home Free; first of all they won a televised talent show, they are five guys that can really sing, their songs are built up with their voices and harmonies (although Collabro also uses instrumental backgrounds), their fans are passionate and range from the young ones to the elderly, they share an obvious love and admiration for each other, they seem to be honestly impressed when one of the others sings, and they don't seem to mind sharing the spotlight with each other so there is no obvious front person - they take turns.

They are touring the UK next spring, and if I get the chance I might fly up there to catch them live.

I'll share three videos with you today. First out is the one already mentioned, the collaboration with Casey Breeves - Make You Feel My Love;



Here's their first audition for BGT, I swear I get tears in my eyes watching this;



This third video is a live video from Symphony Hall, Birmingham, this song is on their new album Act Two; Music Of The Night;


I hope you are enjoying your Sunday!

Love//
Carina


Thursday 6 August 2015

Now on Facebook

Hey y'all.

I just wanted to share my brand new Carina's Joys Of Life Facebook Page with all of my amazing readers! It would make me incredibly happy if you'd head over there and give it a like!

Here's the link to it!

And as a treat I'll share this video. I think it's beautiful!

(I'm busy writing so I can't stay any longer today, I'll see you on Facebook, or here in a few days or so!)

Love//
Carina


Wednesday 5 August 2015

Home Free's Summer = Epic Overload

The other day I promised you an update on what's going on the Home Free world, so here it is.

First of all they have finished recording their upcoming album, which we still don't know the name for. They've said it will be released sometime in the fall, maybe September, maybe October. Around half of the songs on the album will be new, original songs and half will be covers. Among the originals we know there will be at least 2 Tim Foust originals and the first Austin Brown original. I CAN NOT WAIT!! They've also said we will see kind of a different side of them. I am very eager to find out all about it!

They also recorded the classic song Elvira together with the famous Oak Ridge Boys, which ORB say is amazing. The video is already shot. We don't know if this song will be on the album or if it's one of their videos outside of the albums. Either way, I am sure it will be absolutely epic! How can it not be?!

Speaking of epic, Home Free is currently filming a video for a Christmas song collaboration. And let me tell you, not just any collaboration. This song is part of no other than the legendary Kenny Rogers' upcoming Christmas Album, and of course I am sure it will be out of this world. I mean; it's Kenny Rogers, and Home Free, and a Christmas song. Can it get more epic than that? For real, doe!

Well, maybe it can; on the 17th of July Home Free had what was, according to Austin, a top 3 moment in their musical career. They had their debut at the Grand Ole Opry. And it was totally epic! From the moment they walked out on stage with the audience cheering wildly, to the low notes, the high notes, the beatboxing, and the sweet, sweet harmonies, Home Free rocked the socks off of everybody at the Opry. They got standing O's and I am sure they lifted the roof off the building! They were immediately invited back, on their debut night, which from what I understand is not all that common. It is said that the Opry tour guide was way in the back of the building and he was wondering what the Heck happened when he felt Tim's low notes. How cool is that!! Epic as can be for sure! I was listening to it live, of course, even though it was 3,30 am here. Fries all over the world, no matter what time it was, were listening with huge smiles on their faces and tears of pride and joy. I am extremely happy I got to be a small part of this moment that for sure is already historic in the history of the Grand Ole Opry. Epic history!

So, what else is going on? Oh, the Guys have joined Periscope (a live streaming app) and every once in a while they will appear live on there, sharing their daily lives with us Fries. Yesterday we got to hang with them twice, first before their rehearsal for the new tour, and then in the evening when they were sitting around a ring of fire (yes, literally) at their music retreat location. It is really cool to see the more relaxed sides of them, hear them joke and goof around and get a glimpse of their more personal sides.

I mentioned the new tour already, I believe it will kick off in September sometime. In the States of course. We still don't know anything about their European visit that is said to be worked on for next year. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will all fall into place for them, and us European Fries!

The Guys are also busy filming more videos, most of them (maybe all of them) with the music video making geniuses that is FifGen Films, and attending fairs and doing other shows up until the time of the new tour starting. I am excited to see what they will come up with this time around. I am proud to be a Patron to help pay for the videos that is spreading the word about them around the world.

Wow, I get tired just writing about all they have been doing in just the last two months. They sure keep busy, and we as fans absolutely love it.

Ok, I think that is it, except for their latest video. This video is epic too. It's a medley/mash-up of 16 (although they have named only 15 there is actually 16 songs) of the past few years most popular pop songs. The arrangement is made by Austin and he has been working on for a couple of years, putting together a list of around 100 songs before he narrowed it down and put it all together. And let me tell you; it is sweet! And the video, it is hilarious! There are no words to properly describe it, but one of my favourite things about it is that it shows off the Guys different personalities.

If you are interested in listening to/watching the original songs in this mash-up you can head over to my friend Rachel Cheng's Buzzfeed Blog where she has them all listed.

But first, have a listen and a look at Home Free's video. And let me know if you can find the Stealth Chicken (I will tell you the history of it in an upcoming post).

Here's COUNTRY FRIED POP MEDLEY! (Don't forget to listen with headphones with a good bass, it will make all the difference in the world when listening to Home Free).

Love//
Carina




Sunday 2 August 2015

Catching Up Medley 2

It's been a few weeks since my last post. A lot of things have been going on, both in my life and in the Home Free world. To begin with I was going to put it all into this post, but then I decided to separate the two. So here is what's been going on in my life the last couple of weeks;

I had a week's vacation/holiday/vacaciones/semester the other week because I had visitors here from Sweden. They didn't stay with us, but I wanted to have the chance to hang out with them as well as do my own things around the house. We had a fabulous week filled with field trips, adventure golfing, nice (and sometimes not as nice) food, beach, bathing, sun and lots of laughter. I got to spend 7 days in a row with my little sister and I can't even remember the last time that happened, I think maybe when I was 17 and still lived at home. That was like 10 years ago, or maybe 28. Wow! It was also the first time I spent that many days in a row with any of the other people that came here with her; her husband, their 16-year old son, their best friends and their 16-year old son.

One thing I did around the house was to finish building that table for our roof terrace. I am very happy with the result, but I think I might stain it before the end of the summer. I'd like it a bit darker than it is.


We were nine people seated around it without it feeling tight with space. I am very proud of myself. Next thing I'll build is either a bench to sit on by the table, or a desk for me. One thing is sure, I will build something more.

One of the places we went to is a town called Ronda which is set up in the mountains; it is thousands of years old with a whole lot of history. Ronda is divided by the El Tajo gorge (canyon, ravine) which steeps 100 m from the town. The views are spectacular from up there, and from down the gorge as well, although we didn't go down this time as it was way too hot a day to do that. The walk down is not too bad, but the walk up is a killer even without the heat. I didn't get many pics from Ronda, but I got this one of some of the view;


This is a pic I took a few years ago from halfway down the ravine;

Gorgeous isn't it!


As a writer I find inspiration in the fact that both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells spent several of their summers in Ronda's Old Town writing. Maybe I should take my laptop with me and go stay there for a couple of weeks sometime.

My family and friends all left a week and a half ago, I went back to work for two days and last weekend I got the worst stomach flu I've ever had, luckily I didn't vomit but it was still the worst. I am still not completely recovered, it will take a few more days to build up the energy. My boyfriend and son were quite worried about me for a while there, apparently I looked awful. I lost 3 kg (6 lbs) in 3 days, but I'm up most of it again. Hopefully I can keep the last kg off to make it somewhat worth the while. Tomorrow it's back to work, and in a few weeks my eldest nephew are coming for a 10 day stay. I think the plan is to go to Ronda again then, and we will go to Gibraltar and Tarifa, but I will tell you all about it when it happens. Maybe we will go down the gorge if we go to Ronda.

So, how about my writing? Well, I am writing on my book, even if not as much as I would like to. I find it hard with just getting to it, but when I do sit down and write time flies and I love it so much. If you support me on Patreon for as little as 1 dollar per month you can find the first 2 chapters (rough drafts) of my book there. Maybe I will put some more up there. My plan is to have the book ready for release before the end of this year. Your support would surely help inspire me! Thank you!

Also, I am trying to get my fingers out of my butt (i.e. stop procrastinating) and do my next assignment for the writer's course I am doing. It's been almost a year since I did the first assignment and I've been mentally stuck with this second one. If any of my readers out there know of any publications; magazines, e-zines and such; that publishes short stories (I need to be able to find them online, though, and they need to be in English) would you please give me a shout. It is part of this assignment. Thanks!

By the way, there is not many things better than listening to Home Free while traveling on a bus on a road climbing around the mountain, like a snake, with green valleys below you. Soothing and comforting. So, shockingly, here's a Home Free video to get you ready for my next post about what is happening in the world of Home Free. You can expect it within the next couple of days.

I hope you are all well and are enjoying life!

Love//
Carina