greetings from the desert

I am thrilled to be welcomed into the Mraz Women blog. I wish I would have found you all sooner! I thought for my introduction I would combine a few ideas from previous blog entries, so please forgive the length.

My name is Brandie, I am 26, a single parent, chronic laugher, truly happy, peace seeking, jack of all trades, and very long-winded. My 4 year old took this picture of me a couple of weeks ago. She's an excellent photographer, and for all intensive purposes is known very affectionately as the tatertot.
I love the idea of a Gratitude Journal and feel that everyone should keep one. My story of gratitude begins at birth. I will forever be grateful to my mother for giving my twin sister and me up for adoption. Without that selfless act, I would have been born into a life of nomadic homelessness. Much gratitude is given to my foster parents who, at the time, cared for 4 children under the age of 2. And the utmost gratitude must be given to my parents for taking my sister and me into their family. They adopted us after their oldest daughter was killed in a car accident (I'm also very grateful for her sacrifice everyday). Without them, nothing in my life would have ever happened. I am very blessed and often give thanks for my beginnings.
I have been listening (astutely) to Jason since 2001-2002. I randomly heard "The Remedy" on the radio, and at first the song annoyed me because it sounded so much like John Mayer, who I couldn't stand, but I couldn't get it out of my head furthering the annoyance. The song stuck with me throughout my freshman year of college, and it wasn't until Fall of 2002 that I finally heard "You & I Both."

I'm pretty sure that song changed my life. It's definitely one of those moments in life when you will always remember where you were, what you were doing, what you thought and felt. I distinctly remember hearing it for the first time on a mix CD my best friend had playing in her business. Luckily for me, and fortunately for others, the store was empty so I was free to play the song over-and-over for 4 hours straight. The song brought me to tears. It felt like Jason had been in my head and wrote that song from my memories and experiences. As briefly as I can say without rambling too much, for me it was about love and loss, and overcoming that loss through understand the old adage, "it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all." It is still one of my favorites by Mr. Mraz.

My fascination with his music has maintained its fervidity since that fateful moment. I couldn't believe it took 3 years for "Mr. A-Z" to be released, and I soaked that album up like a sponge. Its release coincided with my pregnancy, and the message of love that emanted from that album spoke to me on such a personal level I will never adequately be able to describe. I patiently waited for a third album, and I never thought it would come. When "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things" came out in 2008, I can honestly say my love for Jason reached epic proportions.

Last year for my birthday, my best friend bought me tickets to see Jason in concert and made me this card. I saw the card, knew what was inside, and digressed into insanity and had a "shut up!" moment much like The Princess Diaries. For real, I did exactly that, in a restaurant, at a table of 20 people. Everyone thought I found something in my food or was having a complete mental breakdown.

"I'm Yours" was another song that stopped me in my tracks, and the second time I'm almost positive Jason was in my head. In general, I love people readily, but I have never truly given my heart to anyone besides my daughter. If I ever truly fall in love, my idea of love can be found in the lyrics of that song: uncomplicated, fated, nonsensical, divine intervention...