Video Adding and Shameless Endorsing.

(Whoa, I finally figured out how to add videos that aren't from YouTube to my blog...)

Now I am going to use this video adding opportunity as a launching pad for some endorsing of 4 super cool, absolutely crazy, and very, very talented people.

Their names are (in order as seen above);

'Hedge,' Nathan, Caleb and James.

They are a band and they call themselves

-VISITOR REBUILT-

And I am their friend/fan/photographer/photo-editing-slave/whatever else (complicated story...just nod and cooperate.).

About 2 weeks ago they did their first show at a charity fundraiser, and me, being a fan with prior commitments, only made it through 2 songs before having to leave.

I videoed most of their song "Ever Rising," but unfortunately the sound quality on my little camera didn't quite match the awesomeness of all that the song was. Drums (Jammmmesss....) sort of over-powered in the small room, so you don't quite get the full musical effect. The overall picture quality is pretty bad too. Surry, but it is the best we've got at this current time.

So, I guess you will just have to go to their next show.

Ladies and gentlemen; VISITOR REBUILT!

One spoonful is all it takes...?

This

morning

I

ate

a

bowl

of

cereal.

This may sound to you like I have run out of ideas to blog about, but on the contrary,my friends, on the contrary.

You see, I do not like breakfast cereal. I wholly agree with Willy Wonka (yes, the Johnny Depp one) that is is made of little shavings that are in your pencil sharpener. Then you put milk on it and it gets all soggy and then you have polluted milk and...it's gross.

I also do not like breakfast, in general. My typical breakfast consists of a black cup of coffee. That's all. That's it. I tend to only eat real morning meals when I know I have a day full of physical exhaustiveness, such as 5 hours of solo house cleaning, or a day full of roofing. Or when I am in the UK and it comes with broiled tomatoes. Or in Costa Rica where it comes with Gallo Pinto (black beans and rice! for breakfast! amazing!). On any normal day where I a) sit at my desk, or b) clean houses for a couple hours, any attempt of healthy morning eating leaves me feeling full up until like 2:30 pm.

But APPARENTLY eating breakfast is muy muy importante...? Or so they tell me. "It's the most important meal of the day," "food is fuel, Bella." All that. And google is telling me that people who skip breakfast have a 450% (yes. four hundred and fifty) chance of becoming obese and that if you skip breakfast you end up consuming 40% more calories throughout the day. And that your brain will preform better...something scientific about blood glucose levels and cognitive functioning...

So. All that being said, I ate breakfast today. Or...something. Apparently (again) a GOOD breakfast is around 500-600 calories. My breakfast, a bowl full of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds, was only around 200, milk included. Can't say I loved it, but...it is a start. And regardless of calorie level, it was 60% iron. which can only help my very anemic, vegetarian self.

I don't know if I can keep this up, though. I am trying to tell right now what my cognitive functioning skills are doing... I think I feel normal? Maybe I need a test.

Regardless, I am going to go out cereal shopping and buy me something granola-y, and hope it gets less soggy than the little flakey things I ate this morning.

But apparently (lots of apparently), I am on my way to a better me...? And I will be less... obese? (by the way, I am so not even kinda close. At all. Silly statistics.)

Please let me know when you see me if I seem more ...cognitive. And hopefully it will be on a day when I ate breakfast.

What I Stand On...

"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed!- tear up the planks! Here! Here!..."-The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe

No. I don't have a dead body under my floor boards. Just hold on a minute...

Tomorrow is the day I have been long waiting for. Tomorrow is RUG DAY! While that means nothing to you, to me it means there will be rug in my long un-rugged new room. And once the wall to wall gray rug moves in, I will soon be able to follow!

Now, what I do have 'under' my floorboards (or on them and they will soon be under my rug) is words. Powerful words.

Yesterday I spent an hour on my hands and knees, writing Bible verses, quotes, and song lyrics on my floor with black sharpie (It smelled "great" up there, mixed with the scent of polyurethane on the stairs...Yeah, don't try this at home, kids.). I am almost sad to cover them up after all that work, but the cool thing is that I will know they are there. I will sleep in my bed, sit at my desk, walk up the stairs and be standing on words which mean a lot to me.

Some pictures of my masterpiece;

Directly at the top of the stairs. (And in case you missed the post in which I explained these words, they mean "Glory to God alone" in Latin.)

Exactly on the spot that my bed will sit. All 40 verses of my favorite scripture passage; Psalm 37. I spent a good 45 minutes writing this out word-for-word. And the lines are even straight-STRAIGHT!!!

In the center of the room under the fan (because I didn't know where else to put it...); chorus lyrics to So In This Hour, by The Rocket Summer. Great song.

On the spot where my keyboard will stand.

Under my desk; the area where I will spend most of my time.

So in the next few days my sister and I will be transferring all of our stuff from one floor/side of the house to another. Obviously pictures to come. Ridiculously excited.

General Larry Platt, bringing the truth to America

Okay. First let me say I am not an American Idol fan. I don't watch it unless someone else is making me. Idolatry just isn't my thing...

But I have to admit the auditions tend to be hysterical. Although, it is a little sad that the friend's and family's of those people lied to them enough to let them make fools of themselves on national television...

Anyway, a little over a week ago my friend 'Mopeeps' sent me this video in an email and we (and the rest of America) have been singing it ever since. General Larry Platt is...a hero.





Is that not one of the funniest things you have ever beheld?
And if you so "hood" that you wear your pants below your waist...or knees...go buy a belt. :)

Definition of me.

If there were a dictionary defining people and I were in it, this word would accompany my entry.

ar·dent (adj.)
1. Expressing or characterized by warmth of feeling; passionate
2. Displaying or characterized by strong enthusiasm or devotion; fervent
3.
a. Burning; fiery.
b. Glowing; shining

*Disclaimer: my name actually means 'Consecrated to God' but 'ardent' is who I am.

Quote-ables (delayed, but not forgotten!)

Book recommendation time!

Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper. Pretty straight forward title. At the recommendation of two friends, and on loan from one, I am now experiencing it for myself.

This book will challenge you right out of your average, mediocre, lukewarm Christian existence. If you take action...

We were all created for a single purpose; to passionately live to glorify God. No matter our age, no matter our occupation, no matter our background.

There are a lot of Christians who use God as "fire insurance" or as some sort of good luck charm when times are tough. It is wrong. God didn't just create us, and send his Son to save us, just so we could be exempt for eternity in hell. We are to glorify Him here on earth in EVERYTHING we do.

...but let me get to the quoting part of this post.

In the second chapter of the book Piper begins to talk about the life of a man named Jonathan Edwards. You've probably heard of him. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) played a huge part in the Great Awakening of America. Though his life was abruptly ended by smallpox, the years that he lived, he lived with intentional purpose and passion. In his twenties Edwards wrote a list of 70 resolutions which he was going to live by. Go read them. If you can get past the outdated language, you will find they are pretty radical.

In his book, Piper quotes several of them.

"...5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

...17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die." (he also quotes #22, but I am focusing on these 3)

Now, you might find it rather depressing that I am talking about death at my mere 18 years of age. But actually, I am talking about LIFE.

No one has promised me 80ish years of living. No one has even promised me tomorrow. I, like Jonathan Edwards and John Piper, have come to a point where I have determined to live now, with all I have, to the glory of God. Jesus died for me to have life to the full (John10:10). While I am still sucking air I am going to take full advantage of what is already mine.

In Philippians 1 Paul, who is in jail at the time, writes this;

"...On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.
As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work for me to do..."(the message)

I am guaranteed life eternal. But I refuse to sit around waiting for it to occur when I die.

As people get older and think they are nearing death they begin to formulate "bucket lists" of all the things the suddenly feel are important for them to accomplish before they die; utterly ridiculous, and rather sad, in my opinion. I am going to live now, until the moment I stop breathing, in such a manner that there will be no bucket list for me to formulate. When I die I want my life to scream "SOLI DEO GLORIA" (Latin, Glory to God alone).

What are YOU living for? What in your life is worth dying for?

Go buy a copy of this book. Read it. And live it. You've got one life. Don't waste it.

Love for the land of green.

"Bella is irish. Perhaps not by blood and heritage, but by choice and desire."---Bella's best friend, Emily.

Today I found myself thinking about and missing Ireland. I don't know why, but I can't get it off my mind.

Back in 2007, I was previledged to be able to not only go there, but to compete on an international stage amongst some of the best Irish dancers in the world. A goal and dream of mine since I started dancing. My dad and I, a team of dancers from my dance school, their parents, and my teacher all spent about 6 days in the Kilarney area.

And in the middle of it all just so happened to fall my 16th birthday. Couldn't be any more perfect.

You have to know that this was more than just a trip for me. More than just a competition. I have a passion for all things Irish. Those 6 days are now looked back upon as 6 of the best in my life.

Technically there is perhaps a wee wee wee sliver of me that is actually Irish (I sort of would like myself to be Irish/Korean/Jamaican...but that is another story...) but it is such a smallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll portion that it doesn't really count. I pretend I am Irish. And it has worked pretty well so far.

Ireland is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Everyone welcomes you in their utterly amazing accent. You drive down the road and BAM, there is a castle in a cow pasture to your left (which is also the side of the road you are driving on.). Another couple kilometers and there is a castle standing on a golf course or just outside a housing development. As an American with no castles hanging around it was...magical. Strangely enough the people there are totally used to their castles ruins...

And people always talk about how everything is green; well it is. I was there in February and still everything was unusually bright.

While I was there I not only got to compete with a team of 8 girls, but I also got to fit in a good deal of site seeing with my dad. We visited 2 castles (well, we "visited" a good many of road side ones, but we officially toured two)-Bunratty and Blarney (and yes I kissed the stone. I actually kissed it twice). Saw the Cliffs of Moher, filming location for the Princess Brides "Cliffs of Insanity." Hiked to a waterfall called Torc. Ate lots of traditional "pub grub." And did a whole lot of walking about and shopping.

Some pictures.

My dad and I got of the plane around 5:00 am, having had no sleep, rented our car and headed out into the early morning fog to find some breakfast. In the UK they give you broiled tomatoes for breakfast, which is always one of the best parts to any of my trips to England or Ireland. And I don't even like breakfast.

What not to do at the Cliffs of Moher...

Cliffs.

Imagine poor Westley climbing these. Imagine him fighting Inigo at the top. Imagine...INSANITY!

Bunratty Castle in Shannon, wee hours of the mornin'.

Roadside castle...

Oh look, another one...
Oh look, one amist a golfing green...

I love trees. And Ireland has some fantastic trees.

Small look out tower outside of Blarney.

The legendary BLARNEY STONE. Or at least the opening that you hang out of to kiss it. It is hard to see the actual stone in the picture. They say that those who kiss it will receive the gift of eloquence...can't say I agree with such shenanigans, but it is always fun to have an 80 year old man dangling you by your ankles off the side of a castle so you can place your lips on a germ covered rock. The question is do you get more eloquence if you kiss it twice, or does it somehow negate? Hmmmm...

The legendary castle itself.

Kilarney National Forest in which Torc Water fall was located. I felt like I was in Fangorn or something out of Lord of the Rings.
Steps in the mountain, going up to Torc Waterfall, on my birthday. Not the greatest picture, but one of my life's greatest memories. We all went out to eat at a local pub on the night of my 16th birthday (by the way a pub isn't at all like a bar. totally different.) and my dad some how got the waitress to bring me candles in my dessert-Banoffee- and had the guy singing traditional Irish songs get the entire pub to sing me happy birthday. Definitely once in a life time.
The INEC (Irish National Events Center) where the competition was being held.
GlenEagle Hotel, connected to the INEC.
My dance teach, Dede, and I in the airport waiting to fly home.




...Now that I have posted all this, I only want to go back more.