tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59236122024-03-14T03:01:19.849-07:00Notes in the Key of LifeThe blog of radio personality and voice-over artist Cindy SwansonCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.comBlogger1777125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-31860366174198157742016-11-14T11:50:00.000-08:002016-11-14T11:50:35.511-08:00Day 3: My Trip to London and Ireland
Charming London street
My sister Lisa and I had planned all along that we would go to a West End (British version of Broadway) play while in London. On Tuesday, we headed out to find a place where we could supposedly get a good deal on tickets. That done, it was on to more sightseeing.
Westminster Abbey
Our agenda for the day was Westminster Abbey, Churchill's underground Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-55452203726749316752016-11-08T10:40:00.004-08:002016-11-08T10:40:53.079-08:00Day 2: My Trip to London and Ireland
In front of the famous Eros Statue in Picadilly Square
Lisa and I woke up refreshed and ready for a full day of sightseeing. After a continental breakfast, Job One was finding out exactly where to get on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus.
That done, we set out in a light mist. (The very light rain didn't last very long, although the skies remained mostly overcast that day.) I loved how the Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-51448417350373465182016-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:002016-11-08T10:43:51.784-08:00Day One: My Trip to London & Ireland
On September 3, 2016, my sister Lisa and I set out on a journey I had dreamed of most of my life, but never really thought would happen.
We were off on a 10-day trip to first London, then Dublin, which would be our home base for some amazing day trips into the Irish countryside.
The trip was a Christmas 2015 gift from loved ones, so we had been planning it and talking about it for months. &Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-13966584824689557732016-07-01T10:57:00.001-07:002016-07-01T11:30:40.559-07:00What if you weren't allowed to appreciate beauty? (Thoughts on a movie)
Christian Bale as John Preston in Equilibrium
Recently I watched a movie called Equilibrium that made a huge impression on me.
Wikipedia sums it up:
The film follows John Preston (Christian Bale), an enforcement officer in a future in which both feelings and artistic expression are outlawed and citizens take daily injections of drugs to suppress their emotions. After accidentally Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-17793020013011284222016-06-08T09:54:00.000-07:002016-06-08T09:54:13.730-07:00Five of My Favorite Hymns
photo source
My musical taste is wide and varied, but I confess, I do love hymns. There's something majestic and soul-stirring about the great old hymns. I believe they lend themselves to worship in a very real way.
Like many Christians, I'm concerned that the hymns are being lost in the avalanche of modern praise songs. While I have nothing against those, I believe we stillCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-76629666675795879692016-05-23T08:53:00.000-07:002016-05-23T08:57:15.875-07:005 Reasons You Should Go to Washington, DC
Probably my favorite of the pics I took in Washington DC on my recent trip
For many of us Americans, the phrase "Washington DC" leaves a bad taste in our mouths. We picture big government encroaching on our lives and sleazy, dishonest politicians.
If that's your image of Washington DC, try pushing it to the side. If you've never gone, you need to go to Washington D.C. Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-26365742457138810382016-04-24T19:03:00.002-07:002016-04-24T19:11:42.266-07:0010 Things About Those Home Renovation Shows
Drew and Jonathan, the charming Property Brothers
I have to admit, I'm a big fan of home renovation shows. I just recently blogged about my addiction to Fixer Upper. I've been known to binge-watch House Hunters Renovation, Property Brothers and Love it or List It, too.
Having watched so many episodes of these shows, I've learned a thing or two. I thought I'd just share Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-90727830662646254232016-04-15T07:18:00.001-07:002016-04-15T07:20:45.556-07:00Ten Bible Baby Names You May Have Overlooked
My newest grandson, Landon
(It's Friday, so maybe you'll forgive me if I post one from the archives! This was originally posted March 2014).
The Bible has always contained a wealth of inspiration for baby names, and people have been taking advantage of it for hundreds of years.
Take Michael, which has been on the list of top baby names for decades, and was still at number 14Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-24902591646801217542016-04-14T06:59:00.000-07:002016-04-14T07:27:21.250-07:00What you might not know about pecans
Photo source
Today is National Pecan Day! That fact immediately made me think of my late mother, who loved pecans. A little Google research yielded some fun facts about this popular nut.
(Side note: how do you pronounce pecan? I say it as "pe-CAHN," but I know some people go for "pe-CANN, or even PEE-cann.)
Thanks to the website Ilovepecans.org, here are some fun facts Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-62799383687649145462016-04-12T07:01:00.000-07:002016-04-12T09:01:46.752-07:00The Joys of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Photo credit
Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. Is there anything more deliciously simple than a grilled cheese sandwich? Bread with cheese, a little butter, heated up. And yet what comfort and satisfaction is the result.
According to the website:
Melting cheese on top of bread is a culinary concept that has been around since the time of the Romans, but grilled Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-78762476612796604312016-04-11T07:21:00.001-07:002016-04-11T08:09:18.294-07:00How Being a Cubs Fan has Changed
Today is the Chicago Cubs' home opener at Wrigley Field.
A few years ago, that would have barely elicited a yawn from me...although hope sprang eternal for my lifelong Cubs fan husband.
But I have become a real fan. I care about each game, I look forward to experiencing the excitement of a game at Wrigley Field again, I check the scores, I have my favorite players.
No, I Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-87387010555320796802016-04-08T06:00:00.000-07:002016-04-08T06:00:00.073-07:00My Love Affair with Fixer Upper
Chip and Joanna Gaines of TV's "Fixer Upper"
photo HGTV
Since I do a good deal of my TV viewing on Netflix, I'm always on the lookout for a good series. I don't remember how I stumbled on HGTV's "Fixer Upper," but I was instantly hooked.
What's not to love about this show?
First of all, it's based in Waco, Texas. If you know me, you know I have a deep love for Texas. Most Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-63710568756143733102016-04-07T08:39:00.000-07:002016-04-07T08:57:01.983-07:00Enjoying Bluebonnets and More!
My little grandson among the bluebonnets
Yes, it's been a while!
I decided to come out of blogging Missing In Action-ness to post some pictures of Texas wildflowers, taken on my Easter visit to my family in the Austin area.
We actually made it toward the tail end of bluebonnet season, and many of the bluebonnet fields were being overtaken by the equally pretty orange-colored Indian Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-29491201995928287512015-09-29T08:38:00.000-07:002015-09-29T08:38:29.094-07:00Five Health Reasons Not to Quit Coffee!Yes, this is one from the archives, but with today being National Coffee Day, I thought it was worth resurrecting!
via
I love coffee! I consider it one of the creature comforts of life, even though I usually limit myself to two cups in the morning. So when I read this article , I knew I had to blog about it.
I'm going to just hit the high points here...be sure and go to the Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-52235592447953518492015-03-23T07:48:00.000-07:002015-03-23T07:48:55.632-07:00Adventures in Hair Drying...or, how do you dry your hair?
Reminiscing about my complicated "hair routine"
Recently, my blow dryer bit the dust. Yes, just stopped working. I went out pretty much immediately and got a new one, because even though I sometimes let my hair air dry, I can't let the top and bangs air dry...it ends up looking ridiculous!
Thinking about what I used to go through to dry my hair really makes me appreciate the hair dryers ofCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-39078278832066456132015-03-05T10:08:00.001-08:002015-03-05T10:09:53.121-08:00In honor of World Book Day: My top 25 books of all time
Today is World Book Day...so I thought it would be a good time to re-post my list of my favorite books of all time.
By the way: this list doesn't include the Holy Bible, which I feel goes without saying is the greatest Book of all, and actually is really much more than a book.
Here it is, originally posted in October 2005:
CINDY'S TOP 25 BOOKS OF ALL TIM
(in no particular order)
1.LittleCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-68960581870671263142015-02-16T09:25:00.000-08:002015-02-16T09:37:17.902-08:00Sandra Byrd's "Mist of Midnight"--a Gothic Victorian treat
I've become a slightly more impatient reader in recent years. If a book doesn't grab me fairly soon after I open it, I have trouble making myself keep reading.
Mist of Midnight, by Sandra Byrd, offered no such problem. As soon as the reader meets Rebecca Ravenshaw, then finds out her extraordinary quandary, you're in.
This from Amazon.com:
"In the first of a brand-new series set in Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-13576951041485923072015-02-13T10:25:00.002-08:002015-02-13T10:26:36.446-08:00The Most Famous Lovers of all Time in History and LiteratureDigging into the archives to repeat one of my most-pinned-on-Pinterest posts ever...
In honor of Valentine's Day! From listafterlist.com, the most famous lovers in literature and history.
OK, so unless you're extremely erudite or well-versed in literature and mythology, you may not have even heard of some of these. Others you'll know from famous movies. Here we go:
1. Romeo andCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-45363824352668717942015-02-05T09:58:00.001-08:002015-02-05T10:32:11.014-08:00The woman who never smiles (and why that's so wrong)I recently read about Tess Christian, a 50 year old woman who claims she hasn't smiled in 40 years in order to avoid wrinkles.
Never. Not even on the most joyful occasions, like when she got married or when her daughter was born.
Apparently it's second nature to her now; she has just trained herself to keep her features neutral. She just never smiles.
Tess Christian
The result? Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-25205233161706983332015-02-03T11:59:00.003-08:002015-02-03T11:59:51.159-08:00Go to sleepy, little baby: the backstory of a lullaby (from the archives)
Rocking my baby grandson to sleep
Since my three children and two grandsons were tiny, I’ve been singing them a lullaby:
Go to sleepy, little babyGo to sleepy, little baby
When you wake, we'll patty patty cake
And ride a shiny little pony
That was all I knew of the lullaby, which I could vaguely remember my mom singing to her own children and grandchildren. I found myself Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-73443167777643591002015-01-30T11:48:00.001-08:002015-01-30T11:48:12.766-08:00LungLeavin' Day: Putting a face to a big, scary word
If you're like me, the word "mesothelioma" was just something you heard in attorney's commercials on television and radio.
I knew that it was a cancer commonly assoicated with exposure to asbestos, but that was about it.
Then I got an e-mail the other day from a man named Cameron Von St. James, whose wife Heather (pictured left), actually has mesothelioma.
Cameron asked me and other Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-77840027404477102202015-01-29T10:46:00.001-08:002015-01-29T10:46:56.751-08:00I love big fat magazines (from the archives)
No, this isn't a real magazine, but isn't it funny?
My love affair with magazines
via
My love affair with magazines actually began when I was a little girl and my parents were missionaries in Beirut, Lebanon.
My mom subscribed to several children's magazines for us, including Jack & Jill, Calling All Girls (later titled Young Miss and then YM), and a small Christian magazine I Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-13253601207151670192015-01-28T11:10:00.000-08:002015-01-28T11:10:22.828-08:00I'm a voice-over artist! Hire me! (a blatant plug)
As I've mentioned many times here, I am a free-lance voice-over artist.
Right now my main form of VO work is recording phone surveys. If you've ever taken a phone survey for anything from Jason's Deli to Comcast to Auto Zone, you've heard my voice.
However, I'm experienced in many more genres of VO work, and I want very much to expand my career. I would love to get an agent to Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-40080689757814577442014-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:002014-12-16T12:02:10.820-08:00The favorite books you got as gifts
This adorable tabletop book tree was featured on Pinterest. The original post/ohoto is here
Yesterday I blogged about giving/getting books for Christmas. I shared what some of my favorite gifted books were as a child, and asked my readers and Facebook friends to share some of their favorite book gifts.
Here are some replies:
Dorene Hostler A very dear friend bought me a beautifulCindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5923612.post-62776905927038501812014-12-15T13:19:00.000-08:002014-12-15T13:19:31.728-08:00Give a Book for Christmas!
Read this post for more about this book
I can't remember a single Christmas in my life when I didn't either give or receive at least one book.
Books make wonderful gifts...and they don't have to be expensive. They don't have to be 50 dollar coffee table books (in fact, even those gorgeous coffee table books often go on sale, deeply discounted).
I'm trying to build up my personal Cindy Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14090693362997103412noreply@blogger.com6