"O"cean

So after putting that picture into my last blog, I was excited to put another picture into this one. But the big question was...what should I post a picture of? I turned to my handy dandy Google Image toolbar and typed in the letter "o". I needed some calming down because of studying for CLEP testing, so I clicked on "ocean". Up popped hundreds of pictures of the beautiful ocean. I figured they might make you as happy as they made me, so I'll share them with you.






I've only had the privilege of visiting the ocean about 3 times. I wish I had the opportunity to live near one so I could frequently visit it. The crashing waves, the sand between my toes, the sound of the sea gulls...I love it all. I've always wondered what it would be like to live on an island. I'm thinking it would be a lot harder than it looks on Survivor. But maybe having to depend upon myself to survive on an island would teach me some important life lessons.

And so...there is yet another thing to add to my bucket list: survive on a deserted island.

"R"ecipes

So I like the letter "r". It's the second letter in my name, and I liked what the Google search bar brought up when I typed it in. I am a big fan of cooking and baking food. I like to think of myself as my Grandma Betty's apprentice. The first link that came up led me to a website called "All Recipes". The recipe that caught my eye was Coconut-Lime Cheesecake with Mango Coulis. Sounds fancy, but sounds really tasty. So here is the recipe if you are interested in trying it:

Prep Time:35 Min
Cook Time:55 Min
Ready In:9 Hrs 30 Min


Original Recipe Yield 1 9-inch cheesecake
Ingredients
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
3 tablespoons melted butter

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (10 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon coconut extract
2 cups cubed fresh mango
1 teaspoon white sugar, or more to taste
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2.Combine the coconut, gingersnap cookies, and melted butter in a bowl; mix until evenly moistened. Press the cookie mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared pan.
3.Bake the crust in the preheated oven until browned and set, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4.Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
5.Beat the softened cream cheese in mixer bowl until smooth. With beater set to medium-low, slowly pour the condensed milk into the bowl, mixing only until just blended, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs, individually, allowing the first to blend into the mixture before adding the second; again, scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
6.Pour about half of the cream cheese batter into a separate bowl. Stir the lime juice and lime zest into the portion in the new bowl; pour the batter over the crust in the springform pan, smoothing into an even layer.
7.Stir the coconut extract through the remaining cream cheese batter; pour over the lime-flavored batter in the springfom pan, smoothing into an even layer.
8.Bake in the preheated oven until the top of the cheesecake springs back when gently pressed, about 45 minutes. Turn oven heat off, but leave cheesecake inside with oven door slightly ajar until the oven cools completely. Refrigerate until completely chilled.
9.Prepare mango coulis by pureeing the mango with sugar until smooth. If too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time, using just enough to make pourable. Drizzle over cheesecake when plated.



So this brightened my day just thinking about how amazing it would be. Now imagine if you actually had it to eat. It would make me want to sing that old Coca-Cola song..."Put the lime in the Coke you nut and drink it all up. Put the lime in the Coke you nut and drink it all up." Ahhh...refreshment.

"D"isney Channel

Oh, the title says it all. Some people may not like the idea of Disney Channel and call it cheesy television. I will agree with them on all accusations except for when they attack the movies shown on the channel. I am more specifically talking about the High School Musical movies. Personally, I am a huge fan of all three of the movies. I concede that at times, there are cheesy moments in every one of the movies. But that does not give others the right to call the entire movie cheesy and dramatic.
I'm not going to lie...One of the best parts about those movies are the actors. Zac Efron and Corbin Bleu are especially good actors who make their characters seem believable. Their good looks are not a bad asset either, which make the movies so popular.
On the opposite end of the spectrum of the High School Musical series lies the Hannah Montana series. What I want to know is how the viewers stay intrigued in the show now that Hannah's HUGE SECRET is revealed. In all honesty, Hannah Montana is definitely more cheesy than HSM and the content of the show is in no way constructive to the young minds who are watching it. At least in HSM, you learn the lesson of following your dreams and being honest (not lying to the world that you're Hannah Montana when you are really Miley Cyrus). To all those Disney Channel fans out there, be careful what DC shows you watch. They could be lying to you like Hannah Montana.

"W"al-mart

Upon typing in the letter "w" in on the Google search bar, I clicked on the first item that came up, Wal-mart. I clicked on the "official Wal-mart website". Up at the top, I saw a button that said "Click here for the Value of the Day!" So naturally, I clicked it. To my dismay, it was nothing I would be interested in buying. It was and Iron Man DVD with action figure for $19.00.
Hoping to restore my faith in Wal-mart's values, I clicked on the Clearance tab on the toolbar. Ironically, the first item on the Clearance list was and "Ironman 1850 Elliptical" workout machine. After a heavy sigh of disappointment, I scrolled down to the next item. It did not help. The product was a rocking chair, which is not a bad idea. But upon reading the product description, I realized that the cushion for the seat was made out of camel hide. How depressing.
The next item thankfully did bolster my faith in Wal-mart products. It was a Convertible black Lounger Couch/Bed. I started to think that maybe this product would fit perfectly in my college dormitory next year. But then came the price. For a broke working student, I can't afford $250.00 for a piece of furniture.
Upon my exploration of Wal-mart products, I think I'll stick to buying shampoo and gum.

"L"ife Quotes

As I typed in the letter "l" in the Google toolbar, the suggested searches included lowes, lady gaga, lyrics, limewire, and life quotes. I'm in an inspirational mood today, so I figured I might as well pick life quotes. I chose the third website result from the top. Here are two of my favorite quotes:

Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.
A Sachs

Life is like an onion; you peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.
Carl Sandburgs

In response to the first quote, I completely agree. There are people who go through life just moving from day to day. There is no purpose and no meaning in their lives. Some fill up their days with work and activities, leaving no time for family or friends. I once heard a quote that said, "It's not how many moments we live, it's how much life we have in every moment." I think this parallels to the first quote in that we need to live life instead of just going through the motions.
The second quote reminds me of a Shrek reference. When Shrek is explaining to Donkey how "Ogres are like onions", Donkey tries to relate Ogres to cakes by exclaiming, "Onions have layers and cakes have layers!" I think Shrek was intelligent in refuting Donkey's assertion. Yes, Ogres are complex creatures with many "layers" like onions. But their lives are also filled with sadness and tears sometimes from being looked down upon. We may not be looked down upon in life, but sometimes life does make us cry.
Just some food for thought. No pun intended.

"Z"umba

As I typed in the Google search bar the letter "z", a list of possible searches popped up. This list included zappos, zip codes, zumba, zodiac signs, and zombieland. I figured I'd pick the one I am least familiar with, zumba, and research a few facts about it. The first search result read "Zumba-Ditch the workout, join the party!"
After looking through the search results, I found I was not going to encounter anything interesting unless I Googled "random facts about Zumba." So I did. A website came up with 5 random facts about it that I thought were interesting:

1. 5 million participants take Zumba classes every week.
2. You can burn 500-800 calories in a one hour class. Some report burning over 1,000!
3. There are over 550 Zumba instructors and over 400 classes each week within 25 miles of San Jose, CA.
4. Zumba workouts are taught at over 40,000 locations in 75 countries.
5. The word Zumba is Colombian slang for buzz like a bee or move very fast.

As I pondered these facts, I came to realize that Zumba is a new fad. But I also realized that if so many people are exercising this way, and continue to do so, there must me some merit to the class. In fact, after reading these persuasive statistics, I might have to go try out a class for myself. =]

Sources: http://www.southbayzumba.com/2010/03/5-fun-facts-about-zumba/

Smile

Just the other day, I was listening to Uncle Kracker on the radio singing his song "Smile". This song always makes my day better when I listen to it. My favorite part of the song is definitely the chorus which compares his everyday actions to random objects:

You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed, sing like a bird
Dizzy in my head, spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile

When I hear this song, I always think of a guy who is liking a girl, but she doesn't really know that he likes her. She is the sunshine in his life, yet she doesn't even realize it. I think this is kind of sad in a way that she has no idea. Maybe if the guy told her how he felt, there might be some mutual feelings.
There is nothing more crushing to a girl than a guy shielding his feelings from her. He may think that he is making it obvious to her, but sometimes girls are oblivious to the signals he may be sending. It would be terrible if a guy were to hold back his feelings for such a long time that the girl felt he didn't like her and moved on to another man. Imagine if the girl were to find out about this situation after the fact. How depressing.
Thanks to Uncle Kracker for writing such a sweet and uplifting song. But if you are feeling like this and don't outright tell the girl, there might be some hurt feelings on both ends. Guys, be confident enough in yourself to make yourself vulnerable to the girl you like. You may just end up with a story that ends in "happily ever after."

Silence

On my way to school on Friday, I was running a little bit later than I usually am. Around 7:50 a.m. is when most of the radio stations are playing commercials and no music. While I am driving, I love to listen to music; not commercials. I seem to have a better day when I can let out some emotion in the morning by singing loudly to an audience of one. Usually my sister accompanies me on the drive to school and sings along with me.
There always has to be some song on the radio, even if it is a totally random one that we don't know. A random song beats commercials any day. But on Friday, there was not even a random song to be found on any station. I searched desperately for anything that even resembled a song, like a commercial jingle such as "Five dollar...five dollar...five dollar foot long...", but still nothing. Becoming increasingly frustrated, I turned the volume of the radio down altogether.

And then there was silence.

I began to think about this over the weekend. Silence. It's a strange phenomenon that rarely occurs anymore. Even now as I sit in Panera, there is constant noise. Background music...the rustling of a newspaper...the hum of a refrigerator...voices of conversations...the clinking of a fork. Are these noises all necessary? No. Yet they are all present. Why? People like to hear sounds; they don't like the uncomfortable feeling that comes with silence. They want something to occupy their mind other than their thoughts. But what is so terrifying about being alone with your own thoughts?
I think being alone with your thoughts gives you the chance to examine your life. Examining your life can lead to finding flaws about it. Finding flaws about it can lead to wanting to fix those flaws. And wanting to fix those flaws will force us to admit that our life is not perfect and we don't have it all together. We don't want to seem vulnerable on the outside, even though we are on the inside. This fear of being exposed as vulnerable has us scared to death of being alone with our thoughts and taking those first steps to improving our flawed lives. In the words of James Thurber, "Nowadays most men lead lives of noisy desperation." We are so desperate to avoid finding flaws in ourselves that we fill up available meditation time with useless noise.
I have started to take time every day to just sit in silence. My busy life has little room for a time of meditation or taking a break to do absolutely nothing. But since I have started to utilize the gift of silence, I have come to appreciate it more. Some may view it as a thing that should be avoided like the plague. But I feel as if everyone should take the time to enjoy a little silence every once in a while. Maybe then, more people would be turning down their radios and thinking about their lives.

Then there would be silence.

God Of This City

On Sunday morning, I was singing along to the song "God Of This City" by Chris Tomlin. This song is so powerful, and it urged me to think about how it applies to my life. Usually, I just use a part of the song, but this whole song is relevant to my discussion. The song goes like this:

Verse 1:
You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are

Bridge:
For there is no one like our God
There is no one like you God

Chorus 1:
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Verse 2:
You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all kings
You are

You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You are

Bridge: repeat

Chorus 2:
For greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
When glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city

Chorus 1: repeat

This song has really provoked me to think about how the words of it are true in my own life. The first part that really makes me stop and think is the line that says "You're the hope to the hopeless, You're the peace to the restless." I just attended a meeting on Sunday dealing with a mission trip to Mexico I'm going on over Spring Break. As we were talking about the work we are going to be doing down there, this song came to mind. As ambassadors for God, we are going to Mexico to be hope to the people who have no hope. We are also going to be "the love to the broken" and "the joy in the sadness" to the people who live there. As lights for God, we will show them how to love as Jesus loved and walk as Jesus walked.
It is amazing to think about the burden of this task. It's not even a burden as much as it is a responsibility. We are called by God to share the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. This mission trip is an amazing opportunity to answer His call, and I am so excited about it! =D

Sissy's Song

On Friday, I was driving to school an hour late (no I'm not a class skipper), and the voice of Alan Jackson started to play over the radio waves. Immediately, I thought about my Aunt Sue. This song was played to a slideshow of pictures at her funeral this past year. It made me think about mortality and what might happen after we go from this world. The chorus especially caught my attention:

She flew up to Heaven on the wings of angels
By the clouds and stars and paths where no one sees
And she walks with Jesus and her loved ones waiting
And I know she's smiling saying
Don't worry 'bout me

My thoughts flashed back to the funeral service held in honor of my aunt. She had battled cancer for years, so her passing was not a surprise. It was more of a relief knowing that her suffering was now over. The words of this song comforted me when I first heard them. The atmosphere of the funeral home was somber; I felt like there was nowhere for joy to take place. But this song made a place for it. It reinforced my beliefs that she was going to Heaven. The imagery in this chorus allowed me to envision her flying up to Heaven and reuniting with her loved ones that went before her. This also gave me hope that my family and I will see her there someday too. To Alan Jackson: thank you for writing something people can relate to and believe in.

You Belong With Me

Friday on my way to school, I was listening to my least favorite singer of all time, Taylor Swift. Her voice greeted me as I prepared for the last day of the school week. Her song in no way brightened my day, but it was the only song on the radio at that moment.
"You Belong With Me" is a song about Taylor Swift being jealous of this guy's girlfriend. She describes the other girl as "wearing high heels, short skirts, being cheer captain." Obviously she has some resentment against this girl, and she may not even know her. She is basing her accusations solely on what she has perceived of this girl's outward appearance. The basis of her hatred is jealousy no doubt. She wants this guy to like her instead of his "superficial" girlfriend. At the end of each chorus, she sings the phrase "Why can't you see you belong with me? You belong with me." I don't know about you, but this sounds like Taylor Swift has a creeping problem on this guy. She is obsessed with having him as her boyfriend and has written this song to let him know about it.
An obsession to this degree does not seem healthy in my opinion. Taylor may need to take a step back and examine her motives here. She may think her endeavor of writing this song is romantic, but it is quite the contrary. To the guy for whom this song was written: run the other way. To Taylor Swift: give up the creeper image, because it's not attractive.

Live Like We're Dying

On my way to school on Friday, I flipped through the radio stations to be greeted by the familiar electric guitar sounds of Kris Allen's song called "Live Like We're Dying". My favorite part of that whole song is the first clause:

Sometimes we fall down, can't get back up
We're hiding behind skin that's too tough
How come we don't say 'I love you' enough?
'Til it's too late, it's not too late

I agree with him that at some time in our lives, we do fall and we feel like nothing can bring us back up on our feet again. But his next words explain why we can't bring ourselves back to normal. We're hiding behind skin that is too tough. We tend to put up a facade for the rest of the world to see; we don't want them to view the real person that we are. The reason that we become stuck in this pit we can't escape from is that we don't ask others for help. We feel that if we ask for help, we become vulnerable. The word vulnerable has always had a negative connotation, but it doesn't always have to have a negative meaning.

The next line in the song is built upon vulnerability. Saying 'I love you' is a huge step in your relationship with someone. By saying these words, you make yourself extremely vulnerable to the person on the receiving end of your exclamation. Once those words come out of your mouth, it is up to the other person to decide what to do with them; reject them or accept them. The last line goes along with the third line asking why we don't tell the ones we love that we love them until it's too late to do so. I think we begin to take our loved ones for granted once we've been around them for a long time. Even though they may know that you love them, it would be nice to remind them every once in a while that they do matter to you.

'It's not too late'. Kris nailed his point on the head with these four words. We don't know how long we have to live, but we do have this moment to live in. His main point in singing this song is simply this; we must live like we're dying because we are not guaranteed to live another moment.

Replay

On my way to school on Friday, I was listening to the radio, quite disappointed with the song selection being played. But my disappointment soon disappeared as the first notes of "Replay" by Iyaz sounded through my ghetto stereo system. I cranked up the volume and did a little dancing, but not so much as to be unsafe while driving. The first words of the song caught my attention the most:

Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay

From these few words, I can immediately tell how this song is a huge hit, especially among the ladies. Every girl wants to know that some guy is thinking about them, likes them, loves them, etc. Iyaz's approach to letting this girl know that he is into her is flawless. What girl doesn't want a guy singing to her, telling her that she is all he thinks about?
If I were on the recieving end of this heartfelt tune, I would have been quite flattered. Having a talented vocal artist sing such lyrics to me would have melted my heart into a little puddle. I think all guys should take some pointers from Iyaz. His method to get a girl's attention is to appeal to her emotions, which happens to be pretty effective. Appealing to a girl's emotions will earn you some brownie points in her book about 99.9% of the time.
In conclusion, Iyaz has achieved success with this song. If a girl didn't start liking him even a little bit after he wrote this song, I'm sure it would have been her loss.

Big Girls Don't Cry

On my way to school this morning, I turned up the radio volume to be greeted by the sound of Fergie's distinguishable voice. "And big girls don't cry..." rang out as she started the repeat of the chorus for the last time. I began to ponder this portion of the song. Do big girls really not cry?
I think I must disagree with the message of this song. She is talking about moving on in life even though she will miss this guy that she's leaving behind. I don't know about you, but I would definitely shed a tear or two if I had to leave my man behind to move on with my life.
I think Fergie is putting on a facade of being a tough girl. She thinks she doesn't need a man by her side to move on to the next chapter in her life. Maybe this is true, but I feel her emotions are being left out of the equation. She may think she won't be affected by parting from her lover, but I believe she is seriously mistaken. Throughout the song, the sound of her voice becomes increasingly choked up with emotion. I wouldn't be surprised if she had burst into tears after recording the last note of the song. So all I have to say to Fergie is this: big girls do cry.