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

Happy 6th Anniversary To Me!

Today is the 6 year anniversary of when I moved from Sweden to Spain, and I'd like to share the story behind it with you all.

A long time ago, when I was a young girl, I dreamed about living somewhere where it was sunny and warm and where there was water; lake/sea/ocean, it didn't matter. I never liked the cold darkness of the Swedish winters, and as I grew older I started to sink more into depression every winter. But, as with my dream of writing, it wasn't realistic and it soon became a neatly tucked away dream.

6 and a half years ago my dad got sick, with no hope of survival. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer that had spread more or less everywhere in his gut area. We got 2 months and a week after first diagnosis. It was hard, of course, but we made the most of that time. We made sure to say the things that needed to be said. He went peacefully with myself and my sister by his side, holding his hands.

When he was diagnosed I had just moved in with my boyfriend at the time, and his mother was also fighting cancer. And so, 19 days after my dad died, my boyfriend's mother passed too. It was 2 days after my dad's funeral, and of course things where extremely tough on all of us. In the midst of all this, I ended up having a huge, heartbreaking disagreement with someone very close to me, with the result that I lost yet another very important person in life.

Three months after my dad died my boyfriend and I broke up. And I was completely, and utterly, heartbroken. I just wanted to die, That was 3 of the most important men in my life that I had lost in as many months. Breathing hurt. Being awake was agony. It was a Sunday when my boyfriend and I broke up. I spent the Monday crying and sleeping, with friends keeping me company so I wouldn't do anything stupid, and I woke up Tuesday morning with the idea that now was the time to move away. For Real!

I didn't have many things in my possession, most I had already gotten rid of, and most of what I did own were things after my dad. My son had his own life, with his own place and I knew he wasn't going to hang around in our little town longer than necessary anyway. I had some insurance money after my dad. I didn't have a job, and I had to find somewhere to live. It was now or never! I didn't have the strength to resist my dream anymore.

But, where should I go? I had only been abroad once, to Turkey, and lovely as it was I knew I didn't want to live there. I started searching travel agencies just to get a feeling for something. An old friend pop up on Facebook, and I remembered that he now lived in Spain, but I had no idea where in Spain. It turned out that he lived in a town called Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. Perfect!!

The following day, on the Wednesday, I booked my one way flight. On the Sunday I took two big bags and one small bag and I took the train to Arlanda Airport. I landed at Malaga Airport at 22.54 that very evening. March 1st 2009.

I know today that it was my dad that gave me the courage to do it! During his last months he taught me that life is short and you never know how long you will have. Make sure to be happy, follow your dreams, make your own life. So I owe my happiness today to my dad!

The person I had the huge disagreement with was not an active part of my life for 5 years, but we are now reconnected which makes me very happy.

Sometimes life takes a different turn to what you expected, you will get the opportunity to take a side road to something unknown, And that is ok. Actually, in my experiences those are the best times of your life as long as you follow your heart's desire. Those are the moments that will take you to higher grounds. Everything Will Be OK. Always. If you follow your heart's desire.

I live every day of my life honouring my dad. I make sure to find happiness in everything I do, every day. It might not always be obvious, or easy, but it's my way of making sense of his death.

With this in mind, today's video/song choice was an easy one. My dad introduced me to this song once upon a time, and I loved it so much that he got tired of me playing it over and over. It always makes me feel close to him, and the lyrics are quite fitting too, don't you think?

Love//
Carina

Welcome to Carina's Joys of Life!

I have been wanting to create a new blog for a while now. It's been clear in my head what it should be about, and what I should write about and post on this blog, for some time. What has not been clear was the name. Which is quite funny since the whole time I've been thinking about this blog I've been thinking about it as my joys of life. That is what I will be sharing with you here. The Joys in my life. And still, the name didn't come to me. I'm sure I've thought about it, this particular name, and I think someone might even have suggested it to me. But it just didn't speak to me. And then, all of a sudden, there it was. THE NAME. And it feels just right. It's all about the state of mind and timing, I suppose. 

So, finally, here we are. 

I'm sure you are curious about what I will be sharing here. I'm anxious to get started so you ought to be anxious for me to start because it will be fun. 

I will be sharing some of my favourite things in the world. My favourite music, my favourite books, my favourite foods, my favourite moments, my favourite anything. Whatever makes me happy. 

I will write some flash stories for you to read, because I LOVE writing, and flash stories intrigue me. And they're short, very short. 

I will start out by sharing one of my favourite songs, by my all-time favourite band. You will be hearing a lot about them, but I assure you it is worth it. 

If you have not heard them before, let me introduce you to Home Free Vocal Band, also known as simply Home Free. They are a country a cappella group, meaning they don't use any instruments, although it is very hard to believe when you hear them. They do a lot of covers of all sorts of songs, not just country songs, and they put their own twist to them, but they also do original songs. You can tell that they love what they do in everything they do. 

They released a new video, to one of their original songs from their debut album Crazy Life, only a few days ago and it has a message that I love. Watch it, and let me know what you think. 

Until next time, remember to make someone smile everyday! :D