This Is Living

No matter what we do, it's called living.

Because we're always alive,

The ones who can talk and write and read and think and move and exist.

We're living.

 But some people don't act like they are living.

Some people don't appreciate their life.

Don't be one of those people, okay?

Appreciate your life.

Because whether you like it or not, you are living.

And thats something to be happy about.

That's something to be proud of.

Be proud of your life, and if you can't be, make your life something to be proud of.

It has purpose.

 

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28

 

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. "

Jeremiah 29:11

This may be an overused quote, but it's still very applicable. :) I'll be straight up honest here, this post doesn't stick to a theme. Not today. I have things to say and I have pictures I want to share. So that's what I'm going to do.

However, I want you to enjoy this post, and life in general, so grab a cup of Joe while you read and relax a little. I wanted to say sorry if I haven't caught up on ya'all's blogs . Yesterday, I was only on blogger to post my post and that was about it. I had a major huge test yesterday and had very little time to study for it in the morning. Afternoon came, and I had the big Government test, and my Anatomy class. Then afterwords, I spent some time with my little sister watching the 3rd Lord of the Rings, had dinner, went to church, became a spy, came home and watched Nashville with my Parents and "hit the hay" so to speak.

Today is the last day of February and I am kind of stoked about that. I'm looking forward to March and Spring. This weekend is the last soccer game(s?) of the season. If we beat our team on Saturday, we'll go on to the championship game on Sunday. Wish us luck! It's sorta bittersweet cause I enjoyed the team and playing so much. It'll be sad once its over. Friday, my friend Heidi and I are going to the mall and hopefully we'll get a chance to make these bad boys too:

I'm sure our creations won't turn out quite like that but eggo waffles, and neopalitan ice cream still sounds like a good combo to me. :) Spring break is coming soon! As soon as my Friday speech class is done, Spring Break will begin for me. However, I still have an essay, a take home exam, and anatomy homework assigned over the break. :( Booo. Hopefully, I'll still find a way to make the best of it though and have some adventures and enjoy freedom from boring classrooms.

Lastly, I've really been realizing the importance and beauty of music. Sometimes music makes me want to cry, dance, act crazy, scream, hug some one, smile, ponder life and more. Music is crazy. I love it. I've been getting my 'ole guitar back out and putting some chords to my writings, and boy does it feel refreshing to feel callouses on your fingertips and songs in your lungs produced by you and you alone. Even if the bedroom walls are the only ones who will appreciate and hear your work.

Though, I'm also one who believes in fairytales. Fairytales can also be known as miracles though. And I've seen miracles happen. So I know they exist. And even if I hadn't seen them come true and happen, I think I would still believe. Because I have faith, trust, and pixie dust. But more than that, I have my Savior who gives me good reason to believe and hope.

I know the world's a broken bone,
But melt your headaches call it home.

--That's all I got. You can go back to whatever you were doing now.--

Dormant

Dormant.

I don't want to live a dormant life.

 

I don't want to watch it go by day by day by day.

 

I don't want to fall into a rut and get used to the things and people around me.

 

I don't want to get stuck on one page of a book.

 

I want to be audacious.

 

Audacious.

 

 I want to live my life every single second I can.

 

I believe in wishes and dreams but I don't want my life to consist of me sitting here wishing and dreaming.

 

I want to do something about it, I want to be something.

 

I don't want to be dormant. I don't want to be stuck.

 

I want to do something with the life given to me.

 

I don't want to be dormant.

I want to be an adventurer.

 

I want to be audacious.

 

There's a whole lot more to life.

 

So think outside the box. Color outside the lines.

 

Let your veins surge with a vengeance for excitement and life.

 

Let your heart pound, your arms fly, and your future run.

 

Blaize trails, Make Forts, and Believe.

 

And do.

 

Don't just sit there while time passes.

 

Do.

 

Be.

The Titanic

So, I will give you a brief summary of the Titanic exhibit. Basically, when you get there, you get a "boarding pass." This boarding pass has your name on it. The name of a real passenger who had boarded the Titanic. You role play here. My person was a Countess. Her name was Lucy. Her middle name was Noel which was highly ironic since my middle name is Noel as well. She got married on April 19th which is also slightly ironic since April 19th is my birthday. She boarded the Titanic to go see her husband who was planning on purchasing for an orchard in Florida which the state where I live. She was a survivor. Apparently she was one of the few women who actually knew how to sail, so she basically saved all the people in her lifeboat as she was the only one in her lifeboat who knew how to manage a boat. I found this all very fascinating. They also took us through different rooms built similar to those found on the Titanic. It showed us their dining menus, their bedrooms, their hang out places. There were numerous pictures, and numerous artifacts. Towards the end they even had a room with a freshwater iceberg there. It was freezing. And freshwater icebergs are not as cold as saltwater icebergs. Most people on the Titanic died from Hypothermia.  The last thing they showed were all the names of people who survived, and those who didn't.  I'm sorry that I couldn't include too many pictures. Only the ones of my boarding class. I wish I was able to share with you more than just words.

Other stories:

There was the one old lady around the age of 65 who refused to get on a rescue boat. She was there with her Husband and she refused to leave him. She said; "Where you go, I'll go." As the ship went down, others said they overheard the couple whispering their wedding vows over and over again.

 

There was this one lady with two children and a baby. She couldn't find the baby so she stayed on board with her two children searching for it. She didn't survive and neither did her two children all because they were searching for the baby which someone had taken without informing her and was actually on a life boat. The baby survived.

 

The orchestra players did play music the whole time the ship was going down. They were all male so they knew they weren't going to be saved anyways so they played music to comfort the passengers.

Facts:

- The Titanic sunk at 2:20 am on April 15th, 1912. On Sept. 1st, 73 years later, it was discovered 2 miles beneath the North Atlantic.
-5,500 artifacts had been recovered.

- There were dishes, portholes, 1st class chandeliers, nickelpots, screwdrivers, rivets, rulers, postcards, leatherbags, brushes, toothpaste, glass jars with the poweder still in them, teacups, and countless other things that were recovered and unperished.

- 705 people were saved but 1, 523 people were lost.

Don't take life for granted people.

This exhibit was truely moving.

This event was truely tragic.

But lets not forget that we aren't invincible.

The builders of the Titanic thought this was a ship that God himself couldn't sink.

God proved them wrong.

And our lives are fragile waves in the sea.

Remember that.

The Truth of the Matter

The truth of the matter is that I have a lot of thoughts going on right now, so I suppose I'll share them. :)

 

1. My weekend was superb. On Friday I went to the Titanic Artifact Exhibit, which many of you sounded interested in! It was interesting and I couldn't take pictures inside the exhibit but I was able to take a picture of something I found pretty cool from the experience. I want to go in depth about it because I heard remarkable stories and facts that I want to share so I decided to save that for a whole seperate post instead of cramming it into this one. So, tune in tomorow to hear more about it;) lol. After the exhibit though, me and my family walked around DownTown St.Pete until we found a cute place to eat called Midtown something or other. It had delicious food and an old jukebox inside it.

 

2. I got to see Finding Neverland(starring Johnny Depp!!!!!!!!! and Kate Winslet). It's about the life of J.M Barrie and honestly, it's one of my favorite movies now. First off, most of the plot was highly accurate and on the ball regarding the life of J.M Barrie(the author of Peter Pan). And J.M Barrie himself is a remarkable person with a remarkable story. If you're interested, I can share with you his life story if you want to hear it? But not only this, but Johnny Depp is amazing and the movie is clever, cute, and well put together. I love it.

 

3. On Saturday, I FINALLY got to see Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was also highly amazing. The actors/actresses were perfeeeect. And I got to hang out with my friends  Nora and Natalie.We went on an impromptu adventure to the grocery store, picked up ingredients to make homemade ButterBeer and made some and used twigs as wands and pretended to use some of the spells from Harry Potter.(Like Expelliarmus, or Accio, etc.) It was a lovely evening.

 

4. I watched the Oscars and saw the Les Miserables cast blow it out of the park with their musical number.

 

5. I saw the Dead Poet's Society and that movie inspires me so much. It's a beautiful movie, you should see it. Now.

 

6. I have realized, that I have so many loves and passions and I'm pretty much a total fangirl. I just love all of these books and movies so much and it's really fascinating the lessons you can learn from them and the emotions you feel. I could rant for ages about these movies because they are THAT impactful. It is crazy though. I mean I LOVE Lord of the Rings. I LOVE Les Miserables. I LOVE the Twilight series even. I LOVE Harry Potter. I LOVE Perks of Being a Wallflower. I LOVE Disney. I don't get how I can love so many of them all at once. But I do!

 

7. Okay. Some of those Oscar dresses! REALLY.  I mean... really. How come they get such gorgeous dresses?

 

8. I realized the importance of having adventures and seizing the day. Carpe Diem. Honestly, I'm realizing that one should always have at least one adventure a day. I'm not saying I always have one adventure a day, but I should. It makes the day more eventful. But I've definitely been working on my adventureness. Like for instance, I got impromptu marshmellows for the heck of it the other day. Sometimes you need to do small, little things for yourself (like buying marshmellows) or with your friends(like making butterbeer and twig wands) and taking pictures of it. Recording it for keepsakes. I think it's very important to dream and makes the dreams come true by having adventures. I think it's important to create memories. I think it's important to Seize the Day.

 

These are the truths of the matters.

Thats been this weekend.

How was your weekend?

What's in your mind?

What's in your wallet?

(Just kidding, I don't really care for an answer for the last Q.)

 

Also, it's midnight when I'm writing this and I'm tired and this post is a bit hectic and One Day More is playing in my head right now.

The Random Life

Random thoughts and facts from the mind of Sophia Noel Ando. Also, known as Ringo, or more commonly known as, Sophie.


1. I have blisters on both my big toes. Thank-you dance classes and soccer. My feet love you.

2. Today, I'm going to a Titanic artifact exhibit.

3. Afterwords, I'M GOING TO CONSUME THEE AMARETTO EXPRESSO SHAKE OF MY DREAMS FROM THE BEST GELATTO PLACE IN THE WORLD. I have mentioned this to die for shake before. It is thee best, THEE BEST milkshake I have ever had and I'm not exageratting in the least. Needless to say, I AM PYSCHED TO CONSUME THIS HEAVENLY CREATION.

4. I've injured my knee cap and it's swollen and bruised and pops in and out. I think that's a bad sign.

5. Tomorow, tomorow, I'm going to FINALLY see Perks of Being a Wallflower with two of my bestest friends, Natalie and Nora. :) I'm also bringin Peanut Butter Oreos which makes it officially awesome.

6. Did you know that there was a woman who went to disney world and got in line for an autograph from Aladdin and he wrote his phone number in her autograph book and that's how they first met, and eventually they got married and had a kid and named her Jasmine. Who says Fairytales aren't real people? Like for cereal.

7. Speaking of cereal, I can't wait for March. Because March makes me crave Lucky Charms. (Due to Saint Patty's Day and All)

8. I secretly wish I had green eyes. Well, not so secretly now.

9. My upcoming birthday in April, will be my golden birthday. I'll be 19th on the 19th.

10. Time is weird.

 

 

And passing.

Always.

In every breath, sneeze, glance, tap, hope, thought we make, time is ticking and passing.

Still amazes me.

 

 

 

It still amazes me.

We really gots to be careful how we spend our passing time.

My Humanities professor doesn't think things happen for a reason.

He said he knows a lot of people think that their lives mean something but they really don't.

He thinks life is just random.

I feel very very sorry for him.

That's one of the saddest thoughts I think a person can have.

I think he must be a very sad guy if he thinks life is meaningless.

Maybe he thinks he doesn't care, but that's sad too.

You should care.

Cause your life does have meaning.

I hope you know that.

 

Sometimes I would rather an empty calloused cavity than have a heart. Because I'd rather have that then to feel pain and sadness. But sometimes it's neccessary to have a heart and it's neccessary for it to bleed too. Just as long as you remember to let it heal as well. And you know where you can get unlimited healing and comfort from. I'm not super sad, but I'm kind of down right now. I'm thinking of the death of a my friend's girlfriend. She passed away almost a year ago now. She was in a coma for 7 days before she died. She's been on my mind this week, but I've been trying to mimic the empty cavity thing. Because it's easier to try to not think about it, not because I'm cold hearted or anything. I tried not to think of her and I tried to avoid things that reminded me of her. I tried not to think of the sad pain that fills the family's hearts as they miss her. But I guess I realized that sometimes it's necessary to acknowledge it and to feel. And to be sad. As long as you be okay again too. So, tonight. I'm sad. I'm sad the world lost Hannah. I'm sad for the family, and her boyfriend, and her bestfriends, and her friends and all the lives touched by her. But I'm also happy that she's in a place with no more pain, no more grief, no more tears. I'll touch more on her story in another post. But for right now, I think that's all I want to say about this.

 

Last night was Shamrock Shakes, Oreo Donuts, Swingsets, Obscure voices, Flying Off Tunnels, and Adventuring In the Dark. Unfortunately, today is Supination, Merkels and Meissner cells, Stratified Epithelium, Addison's Disease, Langerhaun cells, and all that good stuff. Yeah, we all have to go back to the real world. Such a shame though. However, on the brightside, I think I passed my Anatomy test. Or at least I should have since I studied my butt off.

 

---

 

I think that's all I got from me today. Sorry, cause I took a break from reading people's blogs yesterday. I just had a lot going on. I'll try to be catching up on them. I also tried to end this on a lighter note. Because I'm not really super sad, and I don't want you to be sad either. I've actually been doing remarkably awesome. A lot of things have been going swell for me. Just as I mentioned, sometimes you have to ackowledge things and not ignore them. Just as long as you remember to be okay afterwords.

Time doesn't exist here.

Right now.

Don't look at a cellular device.

Those don't exist either.

Close your eyes.

Where are you right now?

Tell me.

Are there clouds and shining stars to whisper your hellos for you and never utter a goodbye?

Are there fireflies playing and Summer air breathing in your lungs?

Are you the ocean's tide coming up to greet the shore?

Where are you right now?

You can be anything.

Close your eyes.

You can be something else the second time you closed your eyes.

You could be somewhere else. Y

ou could be someplace in the galaxy right now and the moon might be looking for you.

Do you hear that?

Thats the sound of your breath.

You finally took one.

You can go a long time without breathing here.

Did you know that?

You do now.

Here you can do anything you want.

You can dream about anythings and nothings.

And no one.

No one.

 Has the right to tell you can't.

Those type of beings aren't welcome in this place.

The doors are closed on tears unless they are tears of happiness.

Where are you right now?

Are you asleep or awake?

 Or are you both?

Some people never know.

Some people will never know.

A lot of people have names for this place.

Some people call it the Imagination.

Some people call it Neverland.

Some people call it Fantasy.

Some call it Dreamland.

 Some people call it Reality.

But very few do that; only the really weird people.

But if you are one of those people, don't get offended.

Often weird people are brilliant people.

A lot of people have a name for this place.

I don't have a name for it.

I don't.

But if I did, I may call it something simple.

Like Bob.

But I kind of like the thought of not having a name for it.

After all why would it need a name?

 Here, I don't need a name.

You don't either.

But you could have one if you wanted to.

It's up to you I suppose.

Close your eyes.

Do you see now?

---

 

 

---

Don't open your eyes just yet.

You'll open them soon enough.

You'll go back to the real world soon enough.

You'll face it all again.

But for now,

become a master at pretend.

There is no real world.

There are no problems up ahead.

None of that exists here.

Tomorow doesn't exist and Yesterday doesn't exist.

Today was never here.

 But it was, and it is, and it will be.

 

---



“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be”

--Roald Dahl

The Downfalls of the Beauty

Sometimes, writers have downfalls. Those poets who write really deep and meaningful posts with every bit of their heart laid out on the ribcages of their writings? They probably are the kind of people who get sad from thinking too much and who stay up late at night because they can't fall asleep and have more issues with theirself than they will let on. Sometimes photographers have downfalls. They are probably often too busy capturing the moments of life instead of living it. They might forget to look at life through their own eyes instead of closed lenses. They also could forget the actual beauty in the people in the photographs, instead of just the beauty in the photograph. Sometimes, artists have downfalls. They can erase the flaws in the people they are drawing instead of note that flaws can add to the beauty in one. They can lose their sense of reality with blurred lines of abstract. They may dream so often that they forget to make the dreams come true. We all have downfalls. Let's not forget that. Because sometimes I think people look at the talent and beauty from the talent and envy the talented person when sometimes they aren't to be envied. Sometimes the naive viewer will look at a piece of art, a photograph, or the poem and appreciate the beauty of it but forget to think about the person behind it. They'll be jealous of the talent and won't give thought to the background stories behind them. They might be envious without realizing that the talented person may be jealous of you.

(A sad but beautiful book. It will make you think. It will affect you.)

Yeah, so those were my thoughts today. I guess I kind of thought about it when I read this young girl's poetry. It's so sad, but it's so beautiful. And everyone admires it and compliments her on it. And I guess it just kinda struck me on how her life might be a mess, and yet all these people are complimenting this beautiful piece. I mean, im not saying its wrong to compliment because it's not. I guess it just reminds me that some of my saddest times I've had, I just write poetry. Because I'm in a sad mood from thinking too much and thinking too much is usually when I have the best poetry/descriptions and analogies. And sometimes I share the poetry and I get complimented on it even though its really those times where I just wish I wasn't sad and wanting to write poetry to feel better. If that makes any sense. Sometimes I just write poetry for fun or because I'm bored. So, i'm not saying its all cut and dry because it isn't. I'm just saying sometimes I think we forget the feelings behind people's writings, art, photography, talents. We forget that the people who wrote them have a life and backstory for each piece of work and sometimes it's not all happy go lucky and sometimes it's better for us to be us than to wish to be them and write like they do or photograph like they do or paint like they do.

 And that sometimes there is more than just beauty there.

La Weekenda's

Basically thats fake Spanish for the Weekends.

Though, I'm quite unsure why I made it plural.

But hey, let's roll with it.

 

So the Weekends. Want to hear what it consisted of? I'ma tell you!

 

Unexpected chocolates. Freezing Soccer Game on Saturday. Tropical Smoothie. Daddy Daughter Dance. Watching Cars for the first time. Getting up at 7:00 am for a soccer game on Sunday. Feeling bruised and battered but accomplished. Nap Taking. Dark Mocha Lattes and Brownie Batter Donuts. Astro Skating. Bonfire.

So live. And live it full. Live it well. Leave your mark. Leave a legacy. Be far from ordinary.


I really like my life. I like the people in it. I like the small little things like getting a cup of coffee and a donut at Dunkin Donuts. I like adventures and I like planning for exciting things and I like dreaming. I like being happy. :) I'm still looking up info on the Disney College program, I'd really like to take part in it. If anyone knows a lot about it, has been apart of it/ is apart of it, or knows of people who have been/are apart of the program, please let me know. I would appreciate to hear your thoughts on it, what job you had, what you liked/disliked or if you haven't done it but know people who have, please let me know what they think, their job, what they liked/disliked, etc. I just am quite unsure of my future uphead after I finish out my AA and this really sounds like something up my alley. Thanks.

I'll leave it at that.

 Short, simple updates.

 

 How was your weekend?

What'd you do?

 What's your favorite mystical creature?

Superheroooo

If I were a Superhero, there'd be a list of things you should know about me. Unless you are a villain, in which means please avert your eyes to my list of Superhero flaws and strengths. I highly doubt you'd listen to me, being an evil villain and all, but hey one can always try, right?

Things you should know...

- My Superhero skill would be flying. Because, I mean really, who wouldn't want to fly?

- My secret Superhero skill (because flying is so obvious) would be my super duper excellent surprise attacks and punches. If a villain came near me, they'd think I was weak and never trained a day in my life(which I wouldn't have because I wouldn't need to) and they would think I was an easy target but then BAM I'd surprise them with my mad skillz and buffffff muscles.

- My SuperHero name would be Ringo. Because it has a nice Ring-o to it.

-One of my flaws that I could use to my advantage would be my bad puns. They might also scare off novice villains.

- I may occasionally turn people into unicorns but you can't really hold that against me.

- "You're a sad, strange little man." would be my famous saying to the villains I face.

- My greatest weaknesses would be apple pie, its my literal sweet spot, and Peter Pan. If I saw him, I would go with him to Neverland in a heartbeat and leave you to fend for yourself. Without meaning to. I'd just be so distracted! So don't get offended, I'm sure you're a great person and all...but Peter Pan.

- My trusty side kick would be my dog Frosty. But I'd just call him Sire. Because it sounds more professional.

- Occasionally, I'd make my own raps about saving the world. It'd be my theme song.


Well, that was fun.

The time I dressed in Superhero wear.

(May seem random but I'm demonstrating Vintage Mickey and Minnie in which I'll talk about down there...)

So, I made an Alice and Wonderland themed lunch and desserts for my little sisters because they were watching Alice and Wonderland. I made it themed like a tea party. It was fun. :) Also, one of the things I love about the blogger world is the holidays. Whether it's free donut day, mardi gras cakes, valentine's gifts, Christmas goodies, you guys are so creative and so talented and you insprie me with all of your ideas. It makes the holidays so much more special. So thanks guys, you are awesome and inspire me and I enjoy reading all of your posts. Also, I got a dog tag necklace yesterday for free and I was able to pick my inscription. So, I chose; "If you can dream it, you can do it." I really love how it turned out. Also, my Mom got me a Vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse tin with chocolates in em. They were milk chocolate so I didn't eat em but I loooove the tin so much. In fact, she saw me eyeing it in the store the other day. I just really love vintage things and Disney. So yeah, it was pretty awesome. :)

  What did you all do?

Love,

Sophie

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just wanted to take a brief moment and remind you all to read 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. The Love chapter. I just wanted to remind you that today is another day to live and enjoy it's beauty and be in love with the World, your Creator, your Life, and express your love to your friends and family. So be happy, cheer up, look at all the wonderful things going for you. And go eat chocolate. :) I already wrote an in depth post of how one can spend a Valentine's Day so I won't repeat the speal, however if you missed it, you can find it here;  http://thewaytimeworks.blogspot.com/2013/01/valentines-day-thoughts.html                    .

Yesterday, my sister, my friend, and I, baked pink chocolate chip cookies for the girls at our dance studio that we get to see today. It was loads of fresh yummy goodness fun and I'm quite happy that we get spread some love on V-Tines day. :)

It was delicious and I love Winnie the Pooh.

 I have such a weird nose.

 

I  included some of the self portrait rejects back when I was doing self portraits a day and then failed at it. To be honest, my life is just waaay too busy to capture photos of me every single day especially considering that I look like crap the majority of the time because I have early classes or I have soccer practice or dance class or I'm at the gym or I'm going for a run and the other half when I look halfway decent it's usually because I'm out somewhere doing something. Maybe during lazy summer I'll have more time for selfies. But basically what happened was I'd take a bunch of photos on one day to master the self portrait I wanted. But then the next day I'd get busy and I would have photos but none from that day to post. So thats why I'll give you the leftover batch of photos taken, but I'm not doing anymore self portraits of the day.

Anyways, Happy Valentine's Day! I made cute little Valentine's Day cards for my sisters, Mom, and Dad filled with Les Mis valentine puns, My Little Pony valentine puns, and turtle Valentine puns. I also picked up their favorite candy at 7/11. I'm pretty pysched to give them their little gifts. :)

Besides that, I'm just gonna enjoy my day today. How about you? What are your plans?