Sad Examples For Young Girls

I would imagine that most of you have heard of the singer Katy Perry.  New Year's Eve, my Uncle Randy and cousin Randi Michelle visited my Memaw and Grandpa so my Mommy and I went there too :)
Randi and I spent the day together and we got on their computer 'cause she wanted to show me a Katy Perry video for her song "Firework".  Oh.My.Gosh.  Now, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but, it wasn't nice, that's for sure.
First, they show this girl take off her clothes to reveal a terribly small bikini (not that any bikini is right in the first place) and then what made me go crazy was zooming in on two guys kissing.  There's everything wrong about that.  First the fact that there are young girls (my cousin is only 9!) that like her music and possibly look up to her and what the heck is a 9 year old supposed to think when she sees two guys kissing and doesn't know what it means?  
I was glad when she said that it was 'nasty' and she'll never watch it again.  
I mean, come on?  Don't people think before they go putting that trash on a video or anything for that matter, that a child might see?  She didn't understand why they did it.  I couldn't tell her, just told her that's one of the reasons I don't like Katy Perry, because she's 'nasty'.  
Another singer is Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.  Wow, first of all, she claims to be a Christian, so far, I have never seen Jesus Christ in anything she has said, done, sung, or worn.  She might (that's a big 'MIGHT') have been cute at the start of her career but she totally went downhill as, it seems, most Disney actors and actresses do.  
So, this is the Miley that parents are letting their little girls be like:

Nice, right?  Wow, so wrong in every way.  There were other bad ones I saw but thought this would be fitting.


I looked for Katy Perry pictures but, honestly, it was too sickening and I couldn't bring myself to use any of them.  They were either (oddly enough) not revealing enough (for this post) or trash beyond trash.

Is this what we want then?  Our little girls to show everything?  Let guys like Miley's up there touch them in certain places?  I would hope your answer is 'no'.  
I'm sure that Katy and Miley and all other trash singers know that little girls look up to them: have they no intelligence? no common sense?  The pictures I saw, well, those things are quite clear.  They don't know so they don't care.
They don't care that little girls look at them with thoughts like, "I want to be just like her!", "I want to dress like her!", etc.  As long as it's about them, who cares, right?  Wrong.
The Bible tells us that, the older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.  We are to teach what is GOOD. (Titus 2:3).  Train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (Titus 3:4-5).
You know something sad?  Katy Perry used to be a Christian singer.  That's a complete turn around if I ever heard one.  The pictures, songs, videos, outfits, none of them say 'I'm a Christian'.
Not only is it awful that girls want to be like them, they look at them thinking they're not good enough and try to change to feel good enough.  
What about our men?  What about when they see a girl dressed (or barely dressed in most cases these days) like this?  It stirs up thoughts in their heads that no one should ever think.  It's the woman's fault that causes these thoughts and emotions.  I honestly don't understand how any parent could find it ok to listen to such trash and let their children see such trash.
Parents, how do you feel when your young men see girls dressed like that?  You can't possibly tell me you think it's ok.  How on earth would it be ok for a young man to see that?  How?
How do you feel when your little girls say they want to dress like these singers?  Do you mind that they go around 'showing off' everything?  Do you honestly, honestly not care?  How could you not?
Moms, even if you're not a Christian, you cannot honestly deny the fact that we are to teach young women what is good.  
Oh, Satan will do anything to warp our minds into thinking it's alright but deep down, we all SHOULD know, it's not.
You've no doubt heard of the show, "Toddlers In Tiaras" or something goofy like that.  What is that supposed to be?  Entertaining?  In my opinion, it's a sad show.  It's truly sad to think that those idiot parents encourage such absurdity just for money.  And, it's not for the little girls, it's for the parents, ALL for the parents.  They don't mind that their little girls are getting all messed up at such a young age just so they can get their money and fame.  As long as the parents have what they want, who cares about the child?  Let them scream, cry, whine, and whatnot, the audience will like it (for some strange reason), they'll enjoy it and think it's cute and continue watching.  Parents will get what they want, the little girls will miss out on being an actual child because they have to pretend to be grown up all because that's what their parents, make-up artists, and whoever else tell them to do.  Nice parents, eh?


Anyway, I've veered from my original subject:
Are we, as the older women, proud of the way younger girls are these days?  Are we doing everything we can to teach them what is good and what is bad?  What is right and what is wrong?  Does it bother you when you hear a little girl say, "Oh!  Katy Perry's new music video!  I love that song!!"?  Because that's pretty much what Randi Michelle said to me and I did not like hearing it at all.  I was relieved, though, when she had said earlier that she really doesn't like Miley/Hannah anymore.  She used to love her, so thankful that faze is over.


Katy and Miley are just two of the singers that I can't stand.  I'm no better than they but there are some things that a person should just know what not to do and say, especially if you're someone that almost every little girl knows and many look up to...and every guy sees.


There is probably still more I could say but this is already rather long.
Good night.


God bless and keep you!
Grace be with you!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

Hayley Westenra Video Reviews

As promised, I'm going to write reviews of two Hayley videos.
The first one is called "Tsubomi".  It's off of her album "Hayley Sings Japanese Songs 2".  I don't have it but how I wish I did for I just love this song!



I absolutely love this song and video.  She's so pretty and the setting is gorgeous!  I really love her voice on this song.  The color of her dress goes so well with the flowers in the video (I know, leave it to a girl to notice that;)).  One thing I love about this video is that she's always smiling, I like that in a singer :)  So yeah, everything about this song and video is perfect.  By far, my favorite Hayley video, possibly my favorite Hayley song as well.

The next video is her and a singer dude, Jonathan Ansell.  I love this song but don't know if I can find it anywhere.



I do really love this song but I have a problem with it as well.  That problem is Jonathan Ansell (no offense to the guy, I'm sure he's a nice dude).  In my opinion, he doesn't have the best voice for this song and I don't find it very impressive either.  I'm most likely wrong here, but when he sings, I don't see real emotion.  To me, it seems like he's trying too hard.  Whereas you can hear the emotion in Hayley's voice, and see it on her face, and even in the way she kind of moves around.  It's a beautiful song and, once again, I love her dress :)  She has such power in her voice in this song, like the lyrics really mean something to her.  He just kinda stands there and moves his head and closes his eyes every now and then.  The young guy that I think would have the best voice to sing with her (even though it would be kinda weird for him to sing it) is Josh Groban.
So yeah, I don't mean to insult ole Johnny boy or anything, but I just don't care for his voice. 
I told Chris that I think it's like he's thinking, "Oh, I need to be like Hayley and show some emotion here" but he doesn't do a very good job at it.  I don't know, that's just my opinion.
I love the song and Hayley is just awesome in this video! 

I suppose that's all for now.  See you peeps later!

God bless and keep you!
Grace be with you!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans Are Like The Best Jelly Beans Ever!!

I mean, like seriously, they are...but that's not what this post is about.
So, the other day I was talking to my bff, Guitargirl, on the phone and was all, "I need to write a blog post but don't know what to write.  Tell me what to write!", so she (being the bossy person that she is, LOL, jk;)) told me to write a post about my favorite movies and why they are my favorite movies.
Well...I was going to write that but, there's been a change in plans.  You see, I had started writing it, but after about 15 or more minutes of not knowing what to write after the info-less review I had started writing, I decided to stop.  Maybe someday I'll get around to it, but don't hold your breath ;)
Instead I'm going to write something useless (the main reason I'm writing this is simply to update my blog) that I've been meaning to write for a long time because I wanted to revise my review about Celtic Thunder's CD, "It's Embarrassment!"...uuuhh, I mean, "It's Entertainment!".
The way I reviewed it was rather harsh so I'll be a little nicer this time :)
Ok, so, Paul's voice isn't really as bad as I said.  It's not that it is bad or anything, but the songs he sang just aren't suited for his voice, in my opinion.  He has a REALLY nice voice but I personally think he should stick to the opera stuff because his voice is perfect for those songs.  So ya know, love ya Paul, but please stick to the opera!
Then, there's Damian.  I must admit that when I first heard his voice a few years ago, I guess he was 14, I was amazed that a 14 year old could have a voice like that.  However, on their most recent album, he kinda does some weird things the way he sings and it's not very 'attractive', I guess.  Also, one of his first songs he sang was "Puppy Love" and it was kinda cute on their first concert DVD but on one of their newer ones, well, he's too old for that now so that should just be forgotten in concert.  I still like his voice, but ya know.  So yeah, Damian, you're a good kid.  One thing he's got goin' for him is he's a Manchester United fan and you can't go wrong there!
Umm, ok, Neil's song, "When You Wish Upon A Star", I'll stand by what I said earlier, that's just embarrassing and I don't think I could ever bring myself to listen to the whole thing, it isn't even on my iPod (Scrawny Ronnie).  However, I really do like his voice anyways...even if he wasn't an original member but ya know, welcome aboard Neil!
I'm still totally against a woman singing on their CD's, especially singing a whole song by herself, I mean, hello, it's guys.  I also find all this girl stuff in their concerts annoying, I mean, why can't they just sing normally without having to have all that goofy stuff goin' on?
Of course, I have nothing bad to say about Ryan, George, or Keith, seeing as they're my favorites.
Another thing I don't like about their concerts is the goofy choreography.  Why they can't just stand there or just walk around on occasion is beyond me, but instead they have to be dramatic and, at times, goofy about it all.  Oh, but on their first DVD, Damian sings "Young Love" (which I like:-D) and the other guys (save for George) do these kinds of goofy things that I find funny :)  Well, Paul's a little odd, but that's one of the reasons we love him!
When they're performing "Caledonia" they have to do this really disturbing thing where they're singing the part "let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time".  So, they're facing us and then they turn around and walk to the back of the stage and when they start singing that part they turn around to face us again and point at us....such a boy-band, disturbing thing to do!  I especially feel sorry for George because he's like in his late 30's/early 40's (plus, he's so cool!) and a man of his age should not be forced to do that.
Anyways, yeah, they're nice peeps, I s'pose.  I like 'em :)
Ok, well, there's that.

Seeing as I couldn't find a decent picture of the original 5 with Neil that I liked and then I couldn't find a picture of just Neil that I liked, this one will just have to do.  L-R: Paul, Ryan, Keith, Damian, and George.

Tune in for my next post when I review 2 Hayley Westenra videos!

Side note:
God has blessed us with a gorgeous day today and lovely weather!  It's breezy so it's a little chilly outside and the sky is just so beautiful!  Anyone who has never seen Kentucky's AWESOME sky before MUST come and see it!  Some days (like today), it's like you could just reach out and touch it!  God is so Good!
If I had my camera I would take pictures and show you.  Do you want to know WHY I don't have my camera??????!!!!!  Well, I'll tell you:
So, we ordered it a few weeks ago and the peeps that sent it to the people that are going to send it to us sent the wrong color!  They had to send it back and told us they would e-mail when THEY got the camera!  Have we gotten an e-mail from them???  NNNOOOO!!!!!!!
Ya know what's cruel???  The other day I sent a message to Hayley Westenra on MySpace and the next day I got an e-mail from MySpace saying, "Someone sent you a message on MySpace" or something like that...so I go there, it was a message FROM MySpace!  How cruel can ya get!  The message hasn't even been read yet.

Anyways, ciao!

God bless and keep you!
Grace be with you!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

I Love My Piano

Yesterday, I had my second piano lesson and it was great!  He gave me a beginners music book so I practiced that when we got home. 
He told us that you can go online and find online metronomes so Chris found one for me:)
He brought the lap-top downstairs and set it on the piano and let it go while he counted the beat for me as I played my song.  We had to do it several times because I kept messing up but he never said anything.  There were a lot of laughs, surprise, surprise, lol.  It's so sweet that he helps me with it.  He's like my second music teacher.  He also works for free, LOL! 
Mommy and I forgot my teacher's name, lol, so we had to ask him, haha!  I told him that since we forgot it, I've just been calling him the Piano Professor, he liked that.  Mommy said, it made him stand up a little taller, hehe.  He's so nice!  He's friendly and likes to talk (which is good because I'm the same way).
Anyways....
While I was practicing my piano yesterday, I heard my phone ring (which is "Beautiful Ending" by Barlow Girl), so I ran upstairs and it was a text....from my oldest brother, Tommy :-D  I thought that was so sweet!  The other day, I called him and we kept breaking up so the third time I called him back, I just said that since we were breaking up so much to just give up on the conversation, lol.  So, as always, we said 'love ya' and so on :)
Also, last night, Chris made some S'mores in the oven for him and me :)  They were really good!  A little while ago today, he made some more for Mommy, him, and me.  Once again, they were tasty.  We haven't had S'mores in forever!  Of course, I'm sure they're better over a fire, but these were dang good :)

Ya know the bad thing about putting videos up on youtube.com?  The stupid comments people write.  I have three videos on there.  One from FIFA'10 (a video game for those of you who do not know) and two I made at xtranormal.com.  Mommy checked my e-mail this morning and someone left a comment on two of my videos and she read them before I did to see what they said and they were trash so she deleted them from my e-mail.  I then went to my youtube and deleted them there without reading them.  Some people are so stupid.  Both videos involved Manchester United and Mommy said she guesses he doesn't like them....so yeah.

So ya know, lookin' forward to the coffee bein' done so Mommy and I can have some.
It's so cool, we have like an old-fashioned-ish coffee grinder so we grind our own coffee beans without the boring and extremely loud electric coffee grinders they have nowadays!  We also use a percolator instead of a coffee maker :)  Don't know if a percolator is old-fashioned but I LOVE doing things the old ways! 
We do our laundry mostly the old-fashioned way, but we do use our dryer after things have been out on the line for awhile. 
Oh!  How I would love to live out in the country!  Mommy tells us about how when you're in the country, the sky is just so full of stars and it's absolutely beautiful!  We live in a stupid subdivision so we don't get to see that beauty.  We, of course, do see stars, lol.  Anyways, I'm really a country girl at heart and could never understand why someone would want to live in the city, but that's just me.  In the country you can just run and run and run and it's so much better!  I hope we can move further out there someday and have a farm, garden, all that good stuff!!!

Yummy :)  Autumn-ish, farm-ish....home-ish.

I am thankful we like have a home though, lol. 

Well now, that was a random post.

Ciao, meu amigos!!

Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

July Blessings From God

Ola, meu amigos:)  I don't speak Portuguese, just to let you know.
I would like to tell you all about the exciting things that happened to me in July.
Early in the month, my Aunt Nana gave me her piano!  She had been trying to sell it for awhile but couldn't so she gave it to us.  I love it!  Every time I walk by it I have to touch it :)  It's so awesome to have something like this from my Aunt.  It just makes it better because her sweet fingers touched it which makes it so special.  I just like to sit there and play around (with my right hand, right now because that's all I can do, lol, my brother, Chris, calls me the 'one-handed wonder'), it's so wonderful!
As I said before, on the 10th, my cousin, Della, took me to an opera!  It was "Otello", I absolutely loved it!  It was great to go out to dinner and then to the opera with her.  We had such a lovely time together!
Mommy took me shopping for my new out-fit to wear and Memaw paid for it :)  One day when I get a new camera, you'll see me in my outfit :)
On the 17th, my bff/'sis' got married.  We weren't able to go to her Wedding, but I loved hearing about it from her!
We also found me some piano lessons!  Last Wednesday was my first lesson and I absolutely loved it!
The little music store opened like the day or so before my lesson.  Mommy and I had seen the sign in the windows a few days before and she called and left a message.  The next day the fella called her back and they chatted for awhile.  Anyways, I'm really enjoying it.  I can't wait for my lesson this week!
On the 29th, Mommy and I got to spend a little 'girls' day out', it was so fun!  We got some hair things at Meijer and then went to Cracker Barrel for lunch!  It was a really nice time and we were so happy that God blessed us with being able to do that!  She truly is my very best friend!
Even though today is August first, I want to share what we did today as well :)
Today, Mommy, Chris, and I went out for a bit.  First we went to Starbucks where Mommy and I got venti Cinnamon Dolce Lattes and Christ got a slice of pumpkin loaf.  We then traveled through the parking lot over to the Family Christian Store.  I went in to get Esterlyn's new CD "Call Out" but alas, the chick looked it up for me and they didn't have it :(  She didn't even know who Esterlyn was!!!  AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!  From there, we went to the grocery store and I went in to get lunch, which was fried chicken and Texas fries (I also got bagels but those aren't important to my story ;)).  From there, we came home and watched an episode of "Foyle's War".  After that, Daddy came home from work and blah, blah, blah.  I made coffee for Mommy and me, so on, so on, so on.  At about 9:40-ish or so tonight, Mommy, Chris, and I went out yet again.  We went to UDF to get Daddy and me a milkshake (he got Cookies & Cream and I got Peanut Butter & Chip) then to Frisch's to get Mommy and Chris a Fudge Brownie uuhh somethin' or other, lol, and get the 4 of us sandwiches :)  Oh, also, earlier tonight, Guitargirl and I were chatting online and she helped me put the new pages on my blog and add the Tweeter update on my sidebar :)  She's so nice :)  Isn't my Tweeter update thingy pretty??????  So, tell me, what do you think about my blog's new look?
Anyways, hopefully I can get Esterlyn's new CD soon and then I can tell you peeps about it :)  In the meantime, why don't you go visit my Esterlyn fansite:  www.weallneedesterlyn.webs.com :)
Oh, I also want to leave you with a video of one of my new favorite songs that Mommy got me likin':  Gary Puckett and The Union Gap "Young Girl":



Hope you all are doing well!
God bless and keep you!
Grace be with you!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

CD Review: Celtic Thunder "It's Entertainment!"

A couple or so weeks ago, I purchased Celtic Thunder's new CD "It's Entertainment!", but what it should really be called is "It's Embarrassment!" LOL!  Most of the songs on this one are a few that have been popular within the past 30 years, so I don't really care for it.
Ya know, I always thought Celtic Thunder was supposed to be 5 Celtic guys singing Celtic music, but nooooo!  Not only do they sing these goofy songs (save for "Amazing Grace"), there's a WOMAN that sings an entire song by herself!  It's so weird.

Here are the track listings and how I feel about the songs:

1. "Home"-
Sung by Damian.  I don't particularly care for this song, he kinda ruins it at times, to be honest.  I've never heard the original but this is just blech.

2. "Life With You"-
Sung by George.  I actually don't mind this song because I like all of his songs.  He's got a really nice voice and sings this one wonderfully.  Once again I've never heard the original of this one either, but I like his.

3. "Lough Swilly Railway"-
Instrumental (written by the producer or whoever he is, lol, Phil Coulter).  This one is good, but it sounds too much like one of his other ones.

4. "Hallelujah"-
Sung by Keith, Ryan, and Neil (their guitarist).  I actually do REALLY like this song.  Their voices go so well together on this one and it's just really nice.

5. "Just Like Jesse James"-
Sung by Charley Bird (the WOMAN!).  I really do not like this one at all.  There should be no woman in Celtic Thunder.  Even though she's not really in the group, that's not the point.  In my opinion, no woman should sing on their songs or of course sing one by themselves.  I only listened to it to see if any of the guys sang on it at all, nope!  This song just needs to fall off the face of the earth, haha!

6. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry"-
Sung by Keith.  I love this song, he sounds really nice on it and I think he was the perfect choice to sing it.

7. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"-
Sung by Ryan.  This song is ok, Ryan definitely has the best voice suited for it.  The 'd' word is said during the chorus, though, so that's not cool, but it's a strange song, lol.

8. "Doo Wacka Doo"-
Sung by *gulp* Paul.  Oh gosh!  Terrible, terrible, terrible!!!  It's bad enough that they would put on such a goofy song but to have Paul sing it is a terrible mistake.  He has a sort-of operatic voice that soooo does not fit the genre of the song. 

9. "Amazing Grace"-
Sung by Keith, George, Ryan, Paul, Damian, (the original 5) and Neil.  I really like their version, it's soft and Neil sounds pretty good with them.  Nicely done.

10. "Hello Again"-
Sung by George.  Once again, you can't really go wrong with a 'George song'.  He has a really good voice and sings this song quite well.  Granted I've never heard the original, but I don't have to :p

11. "When You Wish Upon A Star"-
Sung by Neil.  To be perfectly honest with you all, I have never once heard this entire version.  I was already embarrassed when I saw they sing it but then to hear a little bit of it....well, I just went to the next song.  It was much too embarrassing and I really don't understand why they would chose that song, it's just weird!  So, I can't give an honest rating for this one since I've never heard the whole thing and I don't know that I ever will, it's THAT embarrassing!

12. "Standing On The Corner"-
Sung by Damian.  I don't like this song, it's weird.  I don't like his voice on it.  Mommy said that the way he sings it is how it is originally sung, but I think it's gotta sound better than his.  Oh gosh, I actually just heard the first few seconds of the song on youtube.com and immediately enjoyed a LOT better than Damian's.  He makes it annoying, if I'm to be truly critical here.  Now, I'm going to tell you all that the very first time I heard Damian's voice, I was impressed and liked it a lot.  It's still nice but he kind of, well, ruins the niceness of it. 

13. "Surfer Medley"- ("Surf City/Fun, Fun, Fun/Surfin' USA")
Sung, of course, by Keith.  I really like this song as well.  I love how Keith sounds on it.  In my own personal opinion, Keith should come out with his own Celtic music CD.  I love his voice the best and just think he's the best out of all five of them.  If I could convince him to come out with his own Celtic music CD, I would, 'cause, in my opinion, he needs to;)

14. "Sway"-
Sung by Paul.  Don't really care for this song, it's a little weird actually. 

15. "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"-
Sung by Ryan.  I really like this song a lot.  He sings it wonderfully and I think he has the best voice suited for it as well.  Very nice and smooth, it's a good one.

16. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"-
Sung by Keith, George, Ryan, Paul, Damian, and Neil.  This song isn't bad.  I like it better than U2's...then again I don't really like U2 anyways.  It's a nice ending to the CD....hopefully, it is the end to Celtic Thunder's goofiness as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes my friends, that is my opinion of Celtic Thunder's latest CD.  Please don't get me wrong, I really do like them and actually LOVE their first 3 CD's, but this is a total letdown.
I've been a fan of them from day one and they totally let me down here, not cool.  I'll keep supporting them, but I do so hope they get better from this stuff!

Cheers!

God bless!
Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

Picture Post

I have a lot of pictures that I want to put on here, 17, if I'm not mistaken, lol, so bear with me ;)

A book I was reading just because it's Christmas-y.  It's romance stories and I don't like romance so I stopped reading it.  There were 4 stories in it, and I only read two.  The third one, I knew who she was going to marry in the very first paragraph, so that was it.

What I'm reading now: "To Have and To Hold" by Mary Johnston.

A list of books I want to get out of the library after the New Year.  Books on those certain subjects.

What I was listening to, whilst reading and taking the pictures.

Chris moved my room around for me, so this is what it now looks like.  No, my bed does not have bedding on it. 

My little table with books and journals and other stuff...and a coffee from McDonald's :)

At Mawmaw's putting up her tree, with my Peppermint Mocha Latte from Starbucks!

An ornament my Daddy made when he was little!  No one really knows what it is, I don't even think he does, lol ;)

Mawmaw's tree.

The angel on top.  It was on my Daddy's tree when he was little :)

Another ornament my Daddy made when he was little.  Once again, no one knows what it is, but we like it :)

An ornament my Pawpaw made when he was little!

A photograph of my Mawmaw and Pawpaw on their Wedding day.  Sorry the picture isn't very good.

 

A book I got out from the library.

What I was listening to while looking through and reading the book. 

I was also listening to it while making these:

Aren't they cute??  I think the little red ones look like Rudolphs :)  I made them yesterday for Christmas.  The Barlow Girls made them and Alyssa had a picture of them on her Twitter, mine aren't made like theirs were but I couldn't find round pretzels and anyway I think mine look cuter :)

Our lovely, uhhh, Christmas decoration that Chris did.  Candy canes on a chandelier, hmm ;)  I do like it :)

God has blessed us with some snow these past couple of days and there might be like an inch or so on the ground, I can't tell if it's still snowin, though.  I haven't taken any pictures of it, maybe I will sometime today, I don't know.  It takes so long ya know, so strenuous to take a picture, lol ;)

In the mean time, I'm watching an Inter Milan game now and we're up 1-nil in the 32nd minute :)  The goal came in the 15th minute :)

Hope you all are having a blessed Sabbath!

Grace be with you all!

Alive because of His Blood,

Katie Bekah

Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas"

The other day, Mommy got me Andrea Bocelli's new Christmas CD "My Christmas" and oh! how I love it!
For those of you who may not know, Andrea Bocelli is blind (he has been since he was 12 from a Football (Soccer) accident, though he never had good eyesight since birth), but oh my gosh! what a voice!  There is so much passion and power in his voice.  It is honestly a passion I have never heard in anyone else's voice, simply stunning.  He also plays several instruments, God has certainly blessed him with spectacular talent!
His Christmas CD is the only one of his I have, but I might look into more sometime.
"My Christmas" is the perfect Christmas CD.  In my opinion, buying it just for "Angels We Have Heard On High" is reason enough!  Never have I heard such a passionate, glorious version of that song, my favorite ever!  Of course, I LOVE every song on the album, but: WOW!
I've never been a huge fan of the song "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" but Mr. Bocelli's version is wonderful!  Best ever!
His Christmas CD is definitely one to add to your Christmas music collection!
Mr. Bocelli's "White Christmas" is unlike any I have ever heard, gorgeous.  It's incredible to think of a man with no sight singing so passionately about something he will never see, I don't know how to describe it, but it's just, I think, inspiring.  I always wish for a white Christmas but if I had it, would it be taken for granted?  I know it seems silly to talk like this, but think about it: wishing for something you can see and someone singing about something they can never see, it's just spectacular.
Mr. Bocelli also sings "Jingle Bells" with The Muppets, that's another one of those songs that was never one of my favorites until he sang it.  In my opinion, it's the best version ever!
"My Christmas" is the CD that put me in the Christmas-y mood this year (to read about my previous mood, scroll down to the post below).
I think I will conclude in saying: Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas" is my very favorite Christmas CD ever (yes, even more so than Barlow Girl's!) and one, I think, should be added to everyone's Christmas music collection.  I give it a 5/5 :)
This is what the cover of his CD looks like:

Here is a video I found on youtube.com of him singing "Angels We Have Heard On High":

Until next time, fare thee well!
Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

My CD's

Hey there peeps!
It occurred to me the other day that I never did tell you all what my CD's are, so here ye be. I'll be starting from the top left.

1. "Valley of Vision" (Sovereign Grace music)
2. The Swift
3. Superchick
4. Starfield
5. Sovereign Grace
6. Scottish...uuuhh somethin' or other "Psalms"
7. Sanctus Real
8. Sanctus Real (I don't remember the names of either one)
(2nd line, starting on the left)
9. Relient K "The Bird and The Beesides"
10. Relient K Christmas
11. Red
12. Rebecca St. James (a live CD, I don't remember the name of it and can't see it well in the picture).
13. Rebecca St. James "Live Worship"
14. Rebecca St. James "Worship God"
15. Rebecca St. James "If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something"
16. Rebecca St. James "Pray"
17. Point Of Grace (some Christmas CD, don't remember the name of that one either).
18. Point Of Grace "How You Live" (I had all of their CD's at one time but ya know, don't anymore. Chris did burn my favorite songs on CD's for me).
19. Philmont "Attention"
20. NEEDTOBREATHE "Daylight"
21. NEEDTOBREATHE "The Heat"
22. "Muppet Christmas Carol" soundtrack
23. Mainstay "Become Who You Are"
24. Mainstay "Well Meaning Fiction"
25. Leeland (once again, don't remember the name of it).
26. Krystal Meyers (don't remember the name)
27. Krystal Meyers
28. Jump5 "Rock This Christmas" (autographed. I never met them, Mommy pre-ordered it for me when it came out).
29. Jump5 (their last one, don't remember the name of it)
30. Jump5 "Accelerate"
31. Jump5 "All The Time In The World"
32. Jump5 (go ahead and laugh, Guitargirl, but I don't listen to them anymore:p)
33. Josh Groban "Noel"
34. John Catchings
35. Jessie Daniels (haven't listened to that one for a long time either)
36. Jake
37. Jake "Army of Love"
38. Hayley Westenra "Pure"
39. Hayley Westenra"Odyssey"
40. Hayley Westenra "Celtic Treasure"
41. The Fold "This Too Shall Pass"
42. Falling Up "Captiva"
43. Family Force 5 "Business Up Front, Party In The Back (Diamond Edition)"
44. Family Force 5 "Dance Or Die With A Vengeance"
45. Family Force 5 "Dance Or Die"
46. Everlife
47. Everlife (don't know if those two have titles)
48. Downhere "Ending Is Beginning" (I think, lol)
49. Downhere "So Much For Substitutes"
50. Detour 180
51. Celtic Thunder "Take Me Home"
52. Celtic Thunder "Act Two"
53. Celtic Thunder
54. Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts"
55. Carrie Underwood "Carnival Ride" (I think)
56. Capital Lights "This Is An Outrage!"
57. Bethany Dillon "Imagination"
58. Bethany Dillon
59. Bethany Dillon "Waking Up"
60. Barlow Girl "Another Journal Entry: Expanded Edition"
61. Barlow Girl
62. Barlow Girl "How Can We Be Silent"
63. Barlow Girl "Love & War"
64. Barlow Girl "Home For Christmas"
65. Article One "Colors and Sounds" (Guitargirl got that for me, the CD is autographed:))

Since then, I have:
Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant
NEEDTOBREATHE "The Outsiders" (not the physical copy though)
All the bands are sorted in alphabetical order and then by my favorite CD's of theirs.
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Now onto some depressing news: Manchester United lost to Liverpool today:( That's all.

Bye folks!
Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

MakeShift3

I am friends with this band on MySpace called MakeShift3 (they're really good and you should give them a listen to. You can get their CD's at their MySpace for 3.99 each!) and they wrote me this long message and asked my opinion about it and this is the answer I gave them. I know it's long, so it's up to you to read it but I would appreciate it if you would.
So they asked me about being a Christian band instead of a secular band as Christians, this is my answer to them (they also asked me other stuff that's why this is so long and not all about that one question):
If we look at Thrice, they're not a Christian band but the lead singer is a Christian and sometimes the lyrics in their songs are more Biblical than many Christian bands (not speaking of any one band in particular). I'm not saying every Christian band should go secular, unless, of course, God leads them to do so.
To be a secular band instead of a Christian band should never be about money. As Christians we are to spread the Love of Jesus Christ in any way possible. It's not about how we do it, it's about actually doing it. We were not put here to make money or be famous or anything like that, we were put here to love God and to spread His Word with others that do not know Him, not everyone will be saved, but that doesn't mean we should give up and just not do anything about it. God has ordained who will and who won't be saved, (For He says to Moses, "I will have on mercy on whom I have mercy , and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion": Romans 9:15) no Christian wants a loved one to go to Hell and we can do everything we can to try to save them, but it is not up to us. (I am not in any way taking that lightly). Jesus Christ died for God's elect (And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.-Matthew 24:22: For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.-Matthew 24:24: And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.-Matthew 24:31: And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?-Luke 18:7: Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.-Romans 8:33: though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—-Romans 9:11: Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.-2 Timothy 2:10) and He calls us to be His disciples, to share the Gospel. We are not here for our own glory, but to glorify God in all that we do (So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.-1 Corinthians 10:31). All of us were conceived and born in sin, there is only one way to be saved, through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, but we can only be God's if He first loved us. You and I love God because He first loved us. We were dead in our sin and trespasses and yet God had compassion on us, not because of our works, but because of Jesus' shed Blood. Because of Him we can come to the Father in prayer, because of Him we were made Righteous. We cannont come to God unless Jesus intercedes for us and He will not unless we are saved (which, again, is not our choice). Isn't it awesome (in the true sense of the word) to be able to come to God because of Christ? As Christians, we are to be examples of God's abundant and beautiful love He has bestowed upon us, even to fellow Christians. God is Love, none can have real love unless God is in them, but we do not come to Christ on our own, God calls His elect to come to Him, in any way He so chooses. I long for my life to be a living sacrifice to Him and to have no glory saved for myself, He is deserving of ALL glory. God has ordained everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen all before there was time. He is Almighty, Awesome, Omnipresent, knowing all. Without Him we would have no life, without Christ we would be dead. Praise to be to God for giving us life to live forever with Him in eternity! Praise be to Him that we are not living dead. We are all unworthy of His love, by no work of ours can we be saved, it is all in Christ. Yes, non-Christians are living, but they are not living alive. Saying all of that, I am in no way saying that any of us is better than another, there is only One Perfect One, Jesus Christ. I am the worst of sinners and yet God loves me, a lowly, despicable being. The Lord of all loves me, those words are way beyond comprehension. Sometimes, I think about the whole universe and how God created it and He is so much bigger than all of that (unfortunately, not enough times), how Holy and Beautiful He is, how Majestic and Almighty, and then think of me....little old me, who am I that God would love me so much to send His Son, Holy, Spotless Lamb, One who knew no sin and then died as a sinner so I could have life and have it in abundance in Him, who am I? No one.
Yes, most of the time, as a Christian, life is not perfect, but Jesus Christ never said it would be easy, just that He would be with us through everything.
Sometimes, it is very hard to believe those words, but God's Word is TRUTH and we must pray for the grace to soak in and believe those Holy Words.
On June 16th of this year, my Pawpaw passed away and I don't know if he was a Christian. Oh, I always think, if only I would've witnessed more to him about the Love of God, but I didn't. You know why? Because I was afraid, I was afraid he would be angry with me, I'm not even entirely sure that I even knew exactly how to. You can't just go up to a person and say, "God loves you." because you don't know if He really does, you have to show them God's Word, you have to pray for God to speak through you and then pray for the person to whom you are speaking, God is in control. There is nothing we can do on our own. I remember the day he passed away, all I thought was, "Was he saved? Where is he?", I could cry just thinking about that. I love him and miss him so much.

(Unfortunately, MySpace doesn't have spell-checks so I just re-read this with the spell-check and I messed up a couple words, oi, how embarrssing! I'm really particular about that sort of thing.)
I do not want to start a debate or anything, I am just giving my own opinion. I hope to not offend anyone either.

Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

NEEDTOBREATHE

I've never gotten a CD before that the songs are exactly what I need to hear at a certain time of my life even if some of them don't apply to me at all. However, NEEDTOBREATHE's CD "The Outsiders" is different. Although some of the songs aren't applicable to me at all, they're still just perfect.
The songs God has used to speak to me the most are as follows:
"Through Smoke"
"Lay 'em Down"
"Garden"
"These Hard Times" (that's the main song)
"Something Beautiful"
"Let Us Love" and one I just love even if the lyrics don't apply to me,
"Valley of Tomorrow"
Not exactly sure why "Valley of Tomorrow" but it's just an awesome song.
You know, it's funny, something that just occurred to me is that on all 3 of their CD's there have been songs that were just what I needed to hear, even still when I listen to them, they're the right words.
There's just something about NEEDTOBREATHE that's different, in a good way, of course, than any other band, in my opinion. Their lyrics, sound, Bear's voice, it all just works perfectly. God has certainly blessed them with wonderful gifts and talent. It seems every time I got their CD's I loved them even more. In my opinion, "The Outsiders" is their best yet!
If you don't have any of their CD's or have never even heard their music, I highly encourage you to listen to them, they're just so dang great!
My favorite bands are Family Force 5 and Esterlyn, now NEEDTOBREATHE are definitely up there with them.
Thank you Bear, Bo, Seth, and Joe for blessing us with your awesome music and wonderful lyrics!
(I don't really think they'll read this, but why not say it anyway, aye?).


(Oh gosh, Guitargirl, look at Bear!!!!! LOL! Unfortunately, we don't see Seth's teeth, haha!!) Ya know, I really wanted to keep this serious, but I just had to put that in there for Guitargirl:)

Onto other news, someone got Family Force 5's Christmas CD yesterday and that someone loves it and thinks everyone should go out and get it, that someone is also me:) Yes folks, it rocks, go get it!


Tharrrr's da covarrr of da CD!

Today was my brother, Tommy's, 25th Birthday so he came over here and we made him supper, we also bought a pre-made apple pie at the grocery store, there's a reason I didn't make one, but I'm not going to say. We had a good time with him, we always do!

Good night, peeps!
Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

Churros & Hot Chocolate Recipe

Here's the recipe for the Churros and Hot Chocolate (hence the title of the post;)).

Churros:

• 8 cups vegetable or olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

Hot Chocolate:

• 4 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Churros: 8 cups vegetable or olive oil 1 cup water 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

Hot Chocolate: 4 ounces dark chocolate 2 cups milk 1 tablespoon cornstarch 4 tablespoons sugar

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 360 degrees F.

To make the churro dough, heat the water, margarine, and salt to a rolling boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the flour and stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, approximately 1 minute and remove from heat. Beat eggs until smooth and add to the saucepan while stirring the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star tip. Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into the hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and roll the churros in the sugar mixture. Set aside until ready to serve.

To prepare the hot chocolate for dipping, place the chocolate and half the milk in a saucepan over very low heat and cook, stirring, until the chocolate has melted. Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining milk and whisk into the chocolate with the sugar. Cook on low heat, whisking constantly until the chocolate thickens, approximately 5 minutes. Remove and whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate into cups and serve with churros.

If anyone has a stupid stove like we do, you'll probably have to whisk it for like 15 or so minutes, lol;)

Anyway, seeing as how I can't think of anything else to say at the moment, I'll just leave you a video of NEEDTOBREATHE's new song "Lay 'Em Down". The song is off their new CD "The Outsiders", hope you enjoy!

Have a blessed day!

Grace be with you all!

Alive because of His Blood,

Bekah

Hot Chocolate

For those of you that don't know me, I LOVE chocolate, just love it! I make a very good (if I do say so myself) hot cocoa! Well, actually what I do is either use Nesquick in hot milk or homemade hot cocoa mix in hot water and then my part is.....the toppings! Observe:

This is Mommy's cup, running over, that's the best way to have it! It has a layer of marshmallows, homemade whipped cream, mini chocolate chips, freshly ground cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg!


This is just a close up.

Here's mine, it's the same thing but not as running over-ish, lol!



Here's a close-ish up pic of it.

Now, to a hot chocolate that I didn't come up with, but now love! Chris and I were watching the Travel Channel the other day and Samantha Brown was in Madrid, Spain and this is one of the delicious things she got! I unintentionally found the recipe online. Of course, mine doesn't look near as good as the one she got and it most likely isn't as good, but it was still tasty nonetheless. Let me go look for a picture of the real thing online! Here we go:

Doesn't that look delicious????? I don't know whose hand that is by the way;)

Here's mine:
I know it looks kind of pitiful compared to the real thing, but it was good:)





Anyway, that's my Madrid-y hot chocolate and churros! Of course, Chris and I want to go there someday so we'll still have to get it;)
Oh, another thing about my first hot chocolate, I also like to put ice cream in it sometimes, like mint chocolate chip.
I'll give the recipe I used for this one soon, I need to go to bed now:)

Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah

My "Love & War" Barlow Girl Shirt

Ok, so I don't really like this shirt on me but I wear it anyway because it's Barlow Girl-y-ish and I want to support 'em. I'm going to put a picture up of me wearing it even though I really don't want to, but I'm doing it because my bff, Katie, wants to see it, so here it is:
Have a blessed Sabbath!
Alive because of His Blood,
Katie Bekah

Peace & Quiet And A Second Post In One

The other night Mommy, Chris, and I watched an episode of "Planet Earth" (we are young earth creationists, so just watch it to learn about places and animals) on a DVD from Netflix.
They were somewhere in Antarctica, I believe, where no man has ever walked and at a time of the year where no animals were around. It was breathtakingly beautiful and looked so peaceful. The first thing that came to my mind is how quiet it would be if someone was to go there during that time of the year.
Just think: with all of that quietness how perfect it would be to go to a place like that (fully prepared, of course) and spend time with God. No distractions, just you and God.
There is so much noise where we live that it's very rare to have some moments of peacefulness, so to be in a place like that for even just a few days, I think, would be wonderful.
It almost seems like in this would we live, we have to have some sort of noise for one reason or another but sometimes pure quiet and peacefulness would be lovely.
Oh! To have a Quiet Time with God with no cars driving by or anything like that, would be glorious.
I do enjoy listening to music and stuff like that but there are times when I like it quiet, but that's just me.
My idea of pure peacefulness:


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Now, onto the second post within a post (one which has nothing to do with quietness;)).

Last week, Philmont came out with a new CD called "Attention" which I purchased and LOVE. I give it a 9/10. Umm, Tuesday, NEEDTOBREATHE came out with a new CD called "The Outsiders" which we got on iTunes and I LOVE it too! I give that a 10/10. Barlow Girl's CD "Love & War" comes out on the 8th but a few weeks ago Mommy pre-ordered it for me and my package came today:) It comes with a T-shirt, a necklace (which I do not have yet because it is on backorder), a key chain, a poster, an immediate download of their new single "Beautiful Ending", and their new CD, autographed. I've listened to the CD twice already and love it. I give it a 10/10. It's a bit 'rockier' than their other ones, I think, but I still like it a lot. Plus, Lauren sings more on it which makes it even better. So, if y'all are lookin' for new tunes, I highly recommend these CD's. Of course, you still can't go wrong with Esterlyn which I also give 10/10. Give 'em all a listen to and be sure to recommend them to friends and family. Esterlyn especially, because they are an indie band and they need a LOT of support and they're totally awesome! Check 'em out here: www.weallneedesterlyn.webs.com .


Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah

Barlow Girl

Hey there peeps!
As you know, my favorite girl band is Barlow Girl.
It's funny because lately I have been in a Barlow Girl mood and what happens??? They release a new video today for a new song called, "Beautiful Ending" offa their new CD which will be comin' out September 8th and it is called "Love & War". So, when it comes out....y'all better buy it!!!!!!!
Another funny thing is that, obviously Lauren is my favorite, and I was thinkin' how they really need to make a video of a 'Lauren song' and guess who sings this one??? Yep, that's right folks, Miss Lauren herself!!!! Wahooey!!! She's so cool:)
So, I wanted to share the video with y'all. The song is called "Beautiful Ending".




I just think it's such a pretty song, especially 'cause Miss Lauren sings it:) Y'all need to leave me a comment and tell me what you think. If you don't like it, then don't say anything mean, please. In fact if you don't then maybe you shouldn't say anything about it. You can still comment about somethin' though, if you like, just be nice. You'll see the 'rules' to commenting in the little 'leave a comment box';)
Anyways, I suppose I could now leave a picture of all three of them instead of just Miss Lauren;)


I've never seen this picture before, just goes to show what all you can find when you search online:) This is my new favorite picture of 'em:) Left to right: Miss Becca, Miss Lauren, and Miss Alyssa.
They're soooo cool:)
Laters!
Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah