Sweet Jams Sunday postponed

Too tired for a Sweet Jams Sunday tonight. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm going to do it tomorrow and it's going to be Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now." Can't hear it enough!

Failure Friday

Hope

I think many times (OK, ok, all the time) I put my hopes in the wrong things. I put too much pressure on all of my relationships because of this. My imagination runs wild with the way I want conversations to go and when they don't happen the way I imagined, I become disappointed. I put my hopes in the wrong things.

Psalm 43:5 - Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

Jeremiah 17:7 - Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.

I'm Going To Bed With A Smile On My Face Tonight

Thank you.

Sweet Jams Sunday

Today, well, I'm just not motivated to pick a particular song and write anything substantial. Sorry dudes. But I do have an album for you.

The Glee Soundtrack Volumes 1&2 are great! I think Volume 2 is probably my favorite because it has "Smile" and "My Life Would Suck Without You." Even if you don't watch the show, you still may want to check out these albums because they are super fun!

Failure Friday

I think I may need to invest in this shirt.

101 in 1001 Update

1. Run 5 miles without stopping

Well, I did go running the other night and did 2 miles without stopping which is really not that big of an accomplishment. I mean, I HAVE run a 5k without stopping but lately I've been pretty bad at running.

16. Read 50 books (1/50)

Finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It was pretty good but it was so looooong. Those girls just talk and talk and it follows them through 50 years. I thought the story would end while they're still in their teenage years but noooo.

26. Laugh until I cry

CHECK! Tanner was moving his mouth while I was talking for him. It was so stupid but way fun!

28. Shoot a gun

I haven't done this yet but I have had a lot of offers for people to take me!

29. Get moleskine journals

CHECK!

35. Go thrifting

CHECK! I got a wolf t-shirt! Ha. I'm such a hipster now.

36. Say “yes” to something to which I would normally say “no”
I got an opportunity to do this on Sunday but had band practice so I still had to say no. Boo.

40. My room clean for a month straight (13/31)
Yeah! This is like some kind of record.

64. Start a slow clap in a crowded place
I've tried SO many times but no one wants to comply. I think I need it to be more crowded anyways.

84. Make an awesome mix CD for a random friend
CHECK! Trip is getting a CD with the following songs on it (You should definitely look them up!):

1. Abba Father - Daniel Doss Band
2. Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers
3. Bulletproof Weeks - Matt Nathanson
4. Can't Let Go - Landon Pigg
5. Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine
6. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
7. I'm Ready - Jack's Mannequin
8. If My Heart Was A House - Owl City
9. Just Let Go - Mae
10. Meteor Shower - Owl City
11. Mexico - Jump Little Children
12. Old Fashioned Letters - Jason Reeves
13. September 22nd - Nathan Angelo
14. Stay Awhile - Erick Baker
15. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
16. There Is None - The Working Title
17. Who I Am - Nick Jonas and the Administration

Thoughts? Any songs you love that I really need to hear?

Stay

I'm so impressed that he wrote a song for me before even meeting me. Don't worry, Nick, I'm in for the long haul.

Sweet Jams Sunday

Here we are again! It's Sunday, and let me tell you, I have a treat for you. Jason Castro's new EP just came out on Tuesday and it is AMAZING. You may know him as the acoustic cutie from season 7 of American Idol who was open about his Christianity. This dude can sing and play. I can't even pick just one song to promote because they are all so good. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go ahead and buy the EP in it's entirety! It's only $5 on iTunes, brother!



The music video is cheesy but, whatever, he's talented.

Who I Am

I don't think February 2nd can come fast enough! Seriously, even if you don't like the Jonas Brothers, you should check out Nick Jonas and the Administration.

What happens when Nick sees me?

This:

A Softer World

Some of these are really inappropriate but some, like this one, are hilarious! Please tell me you get it (all girls that were in middle school at some point should).

 

Failure Friday

Who are you when no one is around?

I used to try to be really cool with my music taste. I thought everyone would like me (or at least the people I wanted to impress) if I listened to semi-underground bands and singer/songwriters. And it worked to some extent and I've got to say, some of those artists are really great and I still really enjoy listening to them. Now, however, I have given up on being musically cool. Now I just listen to music that I can really relate to and makes me HAPPY! I know that many of you probably think that my fondness of a certain band is silly, and it is(!), but that's what makes it so fun!

I wish we could all stop trying to impress each other! Wear what you want, listen to what you want, act how you want, worship God the way you want without trying to comply with social standards! Wouldn't life be so much more colorful? I think it would be so fun to know everybody for who they really are when their at home in their room. You would find out that I love to dance around my room, turn on songs that I sing well to so I can pretend like I'm auditioning for American Idol, talk to myself in a terrible French accent, and come up with questions I would use for one of my dream jobs of being a late-night talk show host.

Well, that turned into something completely different than I intended but I like it. What do you think? What are you like when no one else is around? What makes you HAPPY?

Haiti

These babies are sleeping outside tonight. Please pray for Haiti.

Haiti

Remember to pray for Haiti. If you feel led to give, please do!

101 in 1001 Update

Here's a little update on how my 101 in 1001 is going thus far.

29. Get moleskin journals

Tomorrow I am planning to go to Barnes and Noble to use the gift card I got for Christmas from my best friend to purchase my moleskins!

37. Go on a date with John Taylor

For those of you who don't know who JT is, he is the Jonas Brothers' music director and guitar player. My best friend and I decided on December 28th (right?) that we have 6 months to get a date with John Taylor and Greg Garbo (JB's bassist). Since we're pretty lame when it comes to dudes we have come up with a plan of attack. First we have a workout plan:

1. Work out 4x weekly

2. Twice weekly - Run/Stairstep/Elliptical for 30+ min

3. Twice weekly - Do something physical! Workout video/Wii Fit/Random Cardio

4. Daily - 20+ pushups, 50+ situps, 100+ jumping jacks/jump ropes/butt kicks/etc

5. Twice weekly 20+ minutes strength

Next we have a confidence building plan:

1. Twice weekly - Wake up early, do hair and makeup, wear a cute outfit

2. Have a meaningful conversation with a boy once a week

3. During the semester go on one practice date with a friend

4. Text one boy per week (at least 3 different boys)

5. No negative connotations--verbal or nonverbal-- about your body at all for the entire semester - every time you do, put $.10 in a jar

Yeah, we've totally got this in the bag. HA!

Garbo (left) and Joe (right):

Kevin (left) and John Taylor (right)

40. My room clean for a month straight (5/31)

Yep, I've kept my room clean for 5 days as of right now!

47. Get an internship in radio/tv/magazine/movies/photo

I was looking at some of these today which sound really exciting but are also a little terrifying! Many of them are in NYC and LA, so I would be very far from home.

84. Make an awesome mix CD for a random friend
Today I made 2 mix CDs for Breehan (bribing her to make me a CD with songs from Glee on it) and a few days ago I made one for another of my friends.

Did anyone else make a 101 in 1001 list? Resolutions? Are you keeping up with them?

Live with Nick and Kelly

Many of you know about my slight obsession with Nick Jonas; however, this may be news to some of you. Anyway, Nick is also pretty much in love with me too he just doesn't know me yet (a minor technicality) so I like to represent his future feelings for me using GIFs made by 14-year-olds. I have decided that all of my blog readers would LOVE to see these representations, so I will oblige.

I'll set this one up by saying that on Friday Regis Philbin had the day off so Nick Jonas co-hosted "Live with Regis and Kelly." Needless to say, I now call the show "Live with Nick and Kelly." Duh.

Kelly Ripa: "Hey Nick, look over there. It's Tori!"

Nick Jonas: "Wowza!"

Sweet Jams Sunday

Oh yes, that's right. It's Sweet Jams Sunday, and I'm not talking about the strawberry kind of jam.

Today I have to plug one of my absolute favorite bands of all time -- Leeland! These guys are spectacular men of God who really have a heart for His kingdom and His name to be known! Also, I would like to point out that I love Leeland's talking voice for whatever reason. As a side note, Jack Mooring (Leeland's brother) does short blog devotionals that relate to all the songs here.

The specific Sweet Jam that I'm going to tell you about is the band's third album's title track "Love Is On The Move." This is such a powerful song with great harmonies and a lot of instrumental build. I found this rad acoustic version with Lee and Jack. So pretty. Czech it out!

Failure Friday

I died laughing when I saw this one! Yes, that is a man and then the exact same picture of the man photoshopped onto an older woman.

On the Hunt

I will be graduating in exactly 5 months 4 months (so soon!). Most people would be really excited about this, and I am to some extent, but it also puts on a lot of pressure. I need to find some kind of job or resume building opportunity so I am on the lookout. I don't really envision myself doing anything conventional, like a 9-5 job but we will see. I'm trusting God to place me exactly where he wants me. Some places that I have been looking at for an over-the-summer mission trip/resume building experience are:

Baby Watoto: This is an orphanage in Uganda. They take volunteers for 1-6 months (I would probably do 1-2 months unless God wanted me there longer). They have two opportunities that I am interested in. The nanny position would have me taking care of 2-4 babies around the same age either in a day or night shift. They are sooo cute! You can see pictures of the little ones here. They also have a volunteer opening for a photographer. That would be super exciting. I would love to do that job, especially if I would get to interact with the babies to some extent!

Real Hope For Haiti: This is a rescue center in Haiti which houses both children and adults with medical problems and children that are waiting to be adopted. They don't actually have a volunteer program but I have thought about emailing them about such opportunities.

Other opportunities I have considered are getting an internship with magazine/tv station/movie production company/radio. I would really love to get into some kind of media like this but I have very little training in any of these areas except for my Writing for Print Media class my sophomore year and The Tori and Breehan Show.

If you have any ideas, I will gladly accept them! Also, if you would pray that I would really listen to God, that would be awesome! And since a blog post is dull without a picture, I will leave you with this. This is from the Sapp New Year's Party:

101 in 1001

1/7/10-10/4/2012

If anyone wants to join me for any of these or help me out with any of these, that would be awesome.

1. Run 5 miles without stopping
2. Send more letters to friends
3. Go to the west coast
4. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
5. Learn to cook
6. Make a new friend and keep them
7. Go camping
8. Go on a road trip with no intended destination
9. Learn to play guitar
10. Send thank you notes for small reasons
11. Dance with a boy
12. Cliff jump into water
13. Move out
14. Leave the country
15. Lose X amount of weight
16. Read 50 books (0/50)
17. Watch the sunset from my hammock alone
18. Watch the sunset from my hammock with someone
19. Drink only water for 30 consecutive days (0/30)
20. Randomly bake a dessert for a friend
21. Go to a play
22. Donate blood
23. Participate in an organized 5k
24. Send a postcard to Postsecret
25. Write a song I’m proud of
26. Laugh until I cry
27. Cook dinner for a friend
28. Shoot a gun
29. Get moleskin journals
30. Fill 3 moleskin journals (0/3)
31. Meet at least one Jonas Brother
32. Play an acoustic gig
33. Hold hands at the movies
34. Go to the Blue Hole
35. Go thrifting
36. Say “yes” to something to which I would normally say “no”
37. Go on a date with John Taylor
38. Memorize a chapter of the Bible
39. Get a picture published
40. My room clean for a month straight (0/31)
41. Buy a camping sleeping bag
42. Be able to do 20 standard push-ups consecutively
43. Graduate with a 3.5 GPA or higher
44. Volunteer at an orphanage
45. Go rappelling
46. Smoke a pipe
47. Get an internship in radio/tv/magazine/movies/photo
48. Get a mani/pedi
49. Get a massage
50. Go to NYC
51. Go to L.A.
52. Read 3 missionary autobiographies/biographies (0/3)
53. Finish knitting something
54. Have a big hair day
55. Do something completely embarrassing and memorable
56. Do an abstract painting, no matter how stupid
57. Print a canvas of one of my pictures
58. Design a t-shirt, just for kicks
59. Learn calligraphy
60. Fit into a single digit size of clothes
61. Learn to play Guitar Hero on hard
62. Give someone the perfect gift
63. Learn to do a cartwheel
64. Start a slow clap in a crowded place
65. Go to an NBA game
66. Learn the “Single Ladies” dance
67. Pet an intense animal - tiger, elephant, giraffe, rhino, etc
68. Get a picture with Bucky
69. See Coldplay live
70. Face a fear
71. Memorize 1 John
72. Learn to sew
73. Re-learn how to read music
74. Buy a piece of art
75. Sell something on Ebay or Amazon
76. Lean how to cut hair
77. Get a puppy
78. Use a hammer
79. Babysit for my niece or nephew (Tanner and Tiffany need to hurry up with that)
80. See Cartel and/or Mae live
81. Be picked first for Ultimate Frisbee
82. Dress up in some kind of mascot costume
83. See the redwood forest
84. Make an awesome mix CD for a random friend
85. Redo my bulletin board
86. Demolish something big
87. Cruise to Alaska
88. Acquire at least 5 vinyl records (0/5)
89. Sleep under the stars
90. Go to the drive-in
91. Get a job
92. Buy a Mac
93. Visit friends at JBC
94. See the Grand Canyon
95. Pet a penguin
96. Play in the rain and get completely soaked
97. Fly alone
98. Get a world map and some push-pins and chart everywhere I have been
99. Have a deep conversation with someone I just met
100. Sit/lay on a roof
101. Go caving