Themed Post: Thanksgiving Playlist

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought to get more into the thankful feeling of the season, I would do a post about things that I am thankful for and then relate them to songs. This post will be a little bit longer due to all of the wonderful things in life I am continuously thankful for.

1. Songs That Twist the True Meaning...:

Forgot to Laugh - Bridgit Mendler
Blonde - Bridgit Mendler
Everybody's Got Somebody But Me - Hunter Hayes ft. Jason Mraz
Unfriend You - Greyson Chance

2. Self Empowerment:

Postcard - Bridgit Mendler
Gold - Britt Nicole
Warrior - Demi Lovato
Loser Like Me - Glee
Man in the Mirror - Glee
Take a Look At Me Now - Greyson Chance
The Fighter ( feat. Ryan Tedder) - Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder
Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves
Hall of Fame - The Script ft. Will.iam

3. Travel:

3000 Miles - Emblem3
Better Than This - Hunter Hayes

4. Youth:

Teenage Kings - Emblem3

22 - Taylor Swift 

5. Music:

Sing - Glee

In A Song - Hunter Hayes

Dancing Through Life - Wicked Cast

6. Good Times: 

Gold Forever - The Wanted

Millionaires - The Script

Long Live - Taylor Swift

Not the End - Glee

Good Riddance ( Time of Your Life ) - Glee

7. The Future:

Don't Stop - Glee

8. Sad But Beautiful Songs:

Fix You - Glee

All Too Well - Taylor Swift

Rainy Season - Hunter Hayes

9. Growth and Achievement:

Roots Before Branches - Glee

Believe - Justin Bieber 

Forgiveness - Matthew West

10. Faith:

Faith to Fall Back On - Hunter Hayes

11. Silver Linings:

Silver Lining - Kacey Musgraves

12. Beautiful Days:

Good Morning Baltimore - Hairspray Cast

It's a Beautiful Day - Michael Buble

13. Dreams: 

When You Wish Upon a Star - Michael Buble

14. Friends:

You've Got a Friend in Me - Michael Buble

15. Love 

Wanted - Hunter Hayes

Close Your Eyes - Michael Buble

I've Got it Easy - Michael Buble

This=Love - The Script

I hope that you enjoyed today's blog post because I really enjoyed writing it and sorting through all of the things that I am thankful for. A lot of time, I take things for granted and forgot how lucky I am. There is always so many things to be thankful for and I think it's important to recognize how lucky we are. I hope that you take some time to recognize how fortunate you are, too.

New Artist Alert: Jake Miller

 

If you enjoyed Jake Miller make sure to also check out Emblem3, who let me just mention, are hands down, one of my favorite artists,

This blog is somewhat like a written version of my mom's favorite website Pintrest. It's the place where I get out my ideas and most importantly, I blab about my interests and no one thinks I'm crazy for it.
That said, I would like to share with you a new artist that I just discovered a few days ago. His name is Jake Miller, and he is a 20-year-old artist and musician. Now, I don't know many of his songs though the one that I will be highlighting today, I really thought was inspiring in a unique way.
This is Jake Miller's A Million Lives, which talks about Miller inspiring people with his music. It features a very empowering theme and even though it's rap, it isn't too obnoxious.
Currently, Miller has signed a record deal with Warner Brothers Records and released his debut album ,Us Against Them earlier this year (2013).
Take a listen and tell me what you think!

Life Update and a Look Back in Time

Recently, I have had a very looming question about my future. What am I going to do about high-school? For most teenagers the answer would be really simple. It would be something along the lines of, "I will go to my district high-school with my friends, lock myself in my room all the time, and just be me." To be honest with all of you, that is how my future plans were looking too.

If you know me, than you should know that I am a very focused and at times, somewhat ambitious. That said, I feel like I should do more in life than just simply the stereotypical high-school experience. I want to travel, go to school overseas, learn a 2nd language, blog and vlog, write, sing, dance, and generally live life to its fullest. I don't want to miss a minute of my life. That's why the question of which high-school has been somewhat of a blur.

Our local school system is a really great public school system. My school that I am currently attending is amazing and I have a couple of  very close friends. One of those close friends wants to go to a school outside of our district that is strong in their math and orchestra programs. My two other friends want to go to our district school together and are trying to convince me to join them. Those three friends, plus a couple of others, have constantly been trying to convince me to go to high-school with them at their separate schools.

This is all reassuring, except for the fact that my eyes are on a completely different school across the small city of where I live. This school is older and is on the "rougher" side of town but has an I.B. Program and also lots of diversity. Both of my parents think that it would be a great opportunity for me but I mostly want to attend this school because of its educational values. Since it has the IB Program, this means that the day you start school, you will be with people who also care a lot about school too. Most likely, you probably won't have as many people in your classes who don't give a crap about their futures. Thank goodness.

My sister and I visited this school for the first time yesterday morning and from that moment on, both of us have been convinced we want to attend this high-school. For now though, I'm going to just focus on getting through the rest of this year.

 

My family has also been busy remodeling our kitchen and basement. In our kitchen we now have new flooring and counter tops. Both of my parents have been working very hard on this project and I think, when they are finished, all of the long work will be completely worth it.

Another thing that has come up recently in the news is the gigantic typhoon that just swept through the Philippines. As you know, I have previously lived in the PH and I have been thinking a lot about my friends who still live there. This made me also think: this time last year, where was I? For the sake of fun and memories here are some pictures of where I was and what I was doing this time last year.

November 2012: Singapore

Yum! Dinner!

At the breath-taking Singapore Zoo.

My sister and I.

 I hope you enjoyed today's blog post. I will try to keep you updated on my life when I think it is necessary or when, like today, I feel the need to reflect on a certain personal subject.
Thanks for taking time off to read! :)

Music Review: Union J and The Vamps -- Performing Live and Acoustically and Answering the Looming Question: Are They Really the Next One Direction?

I sometimes find myself judging an artist by their performances live and acoustically. There are artists who can't pull this act off but than there are people who can. One of these people or more like peoples are the young men of Union J. Admittedly, I was very surprised when I first heard their acoustic versions of their new songs Beautiful Life, Beethoven, and Where Are You Now. Fortunately, it was a pleasant surprise. Yes, Union J may be a boy-band and yes, they may have formed because of The X Factor like band One Direction, who they are constantly being compared to, but the fact that Union J can perform live/acoustically with almost no mistakes, has to say something. I highly hope that Union J will not get to the point where they are so sugar-coated they forget how music doesn't always have to be electronic pop.

Another band who is constantly seen being compared to One Direction are the new yet experienced group, The Vamps. I hate penning The Vamps as just another boy-band but it is very hard to be tempted not to. The Vamps consist of the 4 members Brad Simpson, James McVey, Tristan Evans, and Connor Ball. They span between the ages of 17-19, and their first single could very easily be heard on a modern day Top 40 radio stations. But. There are a number of reasons I dislike calling these guys a boy-band.

• They play all of their own instruments. 
• Several of their covers of artists like Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Austin Mahone are performed acoustically.
• They formed the band themselves--without the help of trainers or publicists.
• They actually swear in their single. "I talk a lot of sh** when I'm drinking, baby..." They don't actually say the word though there is a pause where the word is implied.
• There are no Irish dudes.
• Their voices are not perfect.

The Vamps aren't for everyone though, they most definitely have a large successful future in for them.

Union J and The Vamps perform great acoustically, are English, and yes; very attractive but are they really the next One Direction?