Nashville Experience

Wow! So this is what it feels like to really live inspired (in-spirit). This has been such a wonderful experience for me in Nashville this week. I’ve been dreaming of recording some new songs leading up to the making of our dream album for a very long time now, and I can tell you that every moment of being in Nashville just felt right. It was as if I had contemplated myself being back there so many times, that it was almost second nature. We stayed with our really good friend/singer/songwriter Sarah Matthews along with her sweet Mom Belinda while we were out there. Belinda and I are both Virgos and I can’t tell you how many times I went wide eyed and so ecstatic when she talked about cleaning, organizing, or something that I just totally resonated with and loved hearing from a fellow virgo :) Soul Sisters. Sarah just bought this pretty home in Green Hills filled with some other incredible musicians/singers/producers so it was cool just to be in that kind of artistic environment. So many funny conversations over Jelly Beans & Constant Music!

This trip was a lot about reconnecting with our Nashville roots in every sense. Alexa and I started out in Country Music and were known as a little duo named “Two Steppin’, the days of singing Shania Twain and Leanne Rimes covers. Alexa started writing music at 8 years old, and through the group ‘SHeDAISY’, we were introduced to their producer at the time, Jason Deere. It still blows my mind that he would even give two 8 and 10 year old girls the chance to work with and write some music with him. Well, we ended up recording an entire album with him & 5 songs resulted in platinum hits overseas.. I think what was entirely more special than the hits in Brazil though was the overall experience and relationship that we formed with Jason at such a young age. Alexa and I feel so grateful for him being our mentor in a way and introducing us to the music world. Nashville really did feel like a second home for a minute there! Over the years, we all kind of drifted apart. Lex and I were finding a new sound to match our growing teen years, wanting to mature a little musically apparently, and Jason became successful in MANY other areas of his life. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but now looking back, I can see how all of the time that it took to get back to this moment was divinely perfect and absolutely necessary to propel us to this creative and inspired place. 

I would say this is the first time Alexa and I really did get to get the ‘Nashville Experience’ recording on Music Row. It was a shorter trip, so we met up with Jason on Thursday evening (after getting lost on the North side of town. So here we are in our Red Camero at the corner of 16th Ave and MeHarry, no joke that was the streets name!)

The next morning we grabbed Starbucks on the way, and started tracking in the studio. These musicians are insanely talented. We brought them 5 rough demos of the songs we wanted to record, they listened to a song ONCE and began tracking. After hearing even one of our songs with these guys, Lex and I just looked at each other and got chills. This is it. The songs became magical with this genre of music! Country/Pop/Rock is Falk. These guys played on a lot of records from everyone like John Mayer to Keith Urban, and Taylor Swift. I was in awe of their playing, but also just how humble everyone was. We all went out to lunch and passed around photos from our iphones of their kids and a photo of Lex and I when we were little. They said we looked like we should be in a rock band even then! A little Beatles I would say... hahah

Anyways, after finishing up in the studio, I was more energized then I was even going in. We had been there from 10 to around 8 at night, but the energy I felt going home was incredible. That's when you know your on the right path. Always trust your feelings. The next day we had some time off from music, so we wanted to meet up with our long time friend Trina Harmon. We were introduced to her by Jason when I was around 11 years old when we started songwriting together. The rest is history, and now she is an inspirational Artist Coach for Alexa and I. She has been such a key person in progressively helping us in growing spiritually, musically and in our sister/family/working relationship. We met up with her for coffee, talked, laughed, and created new inspired ideas for this next chapter in our lives. Like I said, this was about reconnecting with our Nashville roots in every sense, and it feels great! This is just the beginning, and I feel now more than ever so inspired to continue doing what we’re doing.

Drummer Near & I dancing to our new song called "Don't Wait."

Imagine: Remembering John Lennon

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'Happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life." - John Lennon

I believe that people bring with them to this life a message and a sense of purpose for their Being to share with the rest of us. Our ultimate goal here I believe is to remember the spirit within and the beings of light and unconditional love that we are; to bring a kind of heaven to earth. The more I study John Lennon and understand his levels of success, the more I realize that this is of no coincidence. When I look at some of the greatest most successfull artists in the world, (Michael Jackson and Bono for example), their levels of success always point to the same thing; their messages of love and peace that they share through one of the most powerful mediums we know; music.

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as ONE 

The more I gain a sense of Self and further realize just how connected we all are, lyrics like this become so much more profound and powerful from that persepective. A lot of the time, these artists are labelled ecentric and weird for their messages, but I believe that it's our Ego mind and the collective choice some of us make everyday to stay seperate from one another that views them in this way. Well I wanted to write this blog to honor the man that brought to the fore front of his music what I believe we are all envisioning for our planet. I believe in love. I beileve in peace. And I IMAGINE a world that is just that.

Love, Natalee

Happy Cows ♥

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Mahatma Ghandhi

Yes, it’s true. I recently declared myself a Vegetarian. Some of you have been really supportive of this new change for me, but for the most part, I’ve had to learn to laugh at some of the comments that I receive daily; especially from my carnivore family! I never thought myself that I would give up meat, ever, but after studying about the energy of food and how a lot of these animals are treated before they’re killed really opened my eyes to what I feel I was contributing to by eating meat. I am still learning about Vegetarianism and why so many people are turning to this kind of a lifestyle, so I’m not an expert yet, but I really feel good about my decision to lessen my meat consumption.  

I consider myself a very spiritual person, and the further I read about and learn from our spiritual leaders, the more I learned that a lot of them chose to give up meat and stick to natural food sources; and here’s why. I learned that everything, down to a quantifiable level, is made up of energy. Everything in the physical world that you see is just energy slowed down; our bodies, tables, mountains, food... etc. When animals are killed, a lot of the time it’s done in a very inhumane way, and often the animals experience a great deal of pain, fear, anxiety and panic. I believe that the meat we then consume is also calibrating at those energy levels transferring those same frequencies into our bodies and our own psyche. I’ve read a lot of blogs about people who became vegetarians who have said they lead a much more peaceful life after they gave up meat for that reason alone. That is initially what started me on this new path; to help attain a level of inner peace. Then I researched a little more, and after learning about animal cruelty, it affirmed my every reason for giving up meat on a whole new level. 

I love animals. I believe they are here to teach us about love, compassion, playfulness, and patience. It’s so sad for me to learn that over 16 billion animals are killed every year for meat consumption and are treated so cruelly in the process. These animals are every bit as capable of feeling pain as dogs or other animals that we cherish in our homes. I still have a lot to learn about factory farms, but from what I have studied so far about killing animals is that often times they are neglected, mutilated, genetically manipulated, put on drug regimens that cause chronic pain and crippling, and killed in gruesome and violent ways. They’re also injected with hormones and shoved into disease filled slaughterhouses going days without water or food. This was really sad for me to learn about, and I felt that by eating the meats that come from these factories, I was in some way contributing to this kind of cruel treatment to our animals. 

 

I’m so new to this kind of lifestyle, and to be honest, it hasn’t been easy making healthy choices for myself now that I don’t have meat for my primary source of protein. I’ve had to find alternatives, and sometimes, not the healthiest choices without being fully educated on how to get the same nutrient value without meat. I have an acupuncturist in Salt Lake who is absolutely amazing and has an incredible gift to heal the body! I completely trust him when it comes to my overall health and educating me about my body. I told him about my Vegetarian choice and my reasons behind it. He let me know that he himself became Vegan/Vegetarian for about 3 years after practicing Buddhism and it’s principles on “respecting all of life.” I was like, yes! He knows exactly what I am looking for to help me on my own path. But, instead, he told me that it really wasn’t healthy for me to go without meat completely.. He let me know all of the ways in which my body will be deficient without this beneficial food source.. So by this point, I was feeling really disturbed. We talked for a while about the nutritional value and different meats I should be eating to ultimately help my body. His work is based off of the study of energy and he too believes animals should be treated respectfully and in a humane way. So we talked, and after wrapping my brain around the fact that I will be eating meat again, I wanted to know how he is able to consume meat again after being Vegan for so long. Understanding energy and how it works, also being aware of animal cruelty, he makes sure that wherever he gets his animals sources, the farms on which the animals were raised treated them with respect, were grass fed, raised naturally, and ultimately happy animals... That to me is making such a powerful statement. Care for our animals, care for our bodies, care for our quality of life. I do care greatly for my body and attaining optimal health, so if there is a way to find balance and still have love for animals and bless the life they gave, that makes me feel so happy. Therefore, by carefully choosing my food sources, I am choosing happiness.

 

 

I guess that I no longer can consider myself a vegetarian, but I will always consider myself a lover of animals hoping to help improve their quality of life as well as mine. 

Love, Natalee

What isn't already a part of ourselves... doesn't disturb us -- My first blog

All of those feeling of unworthiness.. that’s just been my own perception of myself. It’s kind of sad if you think about it. The reason we choose fear is because we’re not able to see ourselves for Who We Really Are. People always have a way of showing you the parts of yourself that are still lacking love & only you can be the one to fill those empty spaces. It sucks because you’re going to want someone else to give that love to you. You will. And it will feel good for a minute. It will. But ultimately, that feeling will still be with you when you wake up in the morning.  It doesn’t matter if it’s people, or substance to help you escape yourself for just a minute. You will still feel it. Sometimes other people have helped me in a way that opens my eyes to see my own beauty, but always looking to anything outside of yourself is not going to fix it. The key is knowing that the validation we seek exists no further than within our own hearts. 

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Bahamas!

We recently spent a couple of days in the Bahamas with our family at the Atlantis Resort. Simply Amazing!!