Dried Flowers

It's the little things that can show you how truly beautiful life is. Flowers are a universal sign of romanticism. Romantic in the love sense surely, but also in something much more magical.

Merrian-Webster defines romantic as follows... Romantic: Marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized.

Oh how butterflies begin to beat within when we receive them. Our heart grows warm at the sight of a garden in full bloom. Spirits are lifted upon smelling their pleasing aromas. Take a closer look, still, and you see a magnificent work of art.

Each floral specimen is unlike another. At closer inspection, you can see all the intricate detail and perfection that was created with such love and care. The artist can be no less than a master craftsman. And He truly is that. 

What a treasure flowers are. A little gift to the world from the Creator of the universe. The thought makes my heart leap with joy.

                            (all photos by me)


I like to think that whenever I set my eyes upon a flower, I have just been given a gift. The King of the universe sent me that flower as a reminder that He loves me. He cares for my heart. All the days worries can melt away. He is there. He is listening. The ultimate romantic. 


Till next time.

Pismo

The weather has been incredibly wonderful and warm lately here in California. A few days back I headed to the beach with some family and we had a lovely time together.

This is Pismo Beach.  It is about a 25 minute drive from where I live and is part of California's glorious Central Coast. What a beautiful world we live in!! My Goodness!!!

This is my handsome brother, Matt, with his lovely girlfriend, Karly. They are looking out at the great Pacific Ocean from the Pismo pier. I am so glad that I was able to capture such a sweet moment!

We also ate at The Splash Cafe. It is a local dive. They have the most delicious clam chowder in bread bowls you will ever find. That is in my personal opinion. The cafe's clam chowder is award winning and completely deserves it. 

                               (All photos by me)

It was a lovely day indeed.

Till next time,

Amara

Plans For a Journey

This year needs to be a year of change. Holding back from moving foreword must stop. Procrastination must not be an option.  Laziness must be challenged. Fear must be fought...

Thoughts of inadequacy must be removed.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind
                                                                                                     2 Timothy 1:7

Growing must take place. Reaching new heights should be the order of the day. Let roots stay firm and strong. Fly and touch thy sky yet stay rooted in friends, family, and faith. Be courageous. There are many incredible things waiting to happen.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
                                                                                                    Ephesians 2:10

The beauty of a feather. Soft and lovely. Through the journey may there be that kind of gentleness and tenderness within my heart. And may I be able to help and encourage others, whose lives intertwine with mine. Kindness and soft heartedness are needed. Love is the key. 

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the waring of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

                                                                                                  1 Peter 3: 3-4

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

                                                                                                   Ephesians 4: 1-2

May this year be as beautiful and magnificent as a blazing sky. Like ever-changing clouds, may i continue to grow and change for the better. 

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

                                                                                                         Proverbs 4:18

       

     (all photos by me)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
                                                                           Psalm 119:105


Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight.
                                                                          Proverbs 3: 5-6


Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
                                                                        Philipians 3: 13-14


Till next time,

Amara

Hugo

It is 100% safe to say that I am completely taken with this magical film! Everything about it took my breath away and stole my heart! First of... (click the following names to view their IMDB pages)... Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, and Christopher Lee in the same movie?!? Perfection! The colors were breathtaking, so rich and beautiful! I mean, look at the posters above! The costumes, hair and makeup were perfectly and wonderfully exquisite! Give me 20's and 30's era clothing and I am a happy girl forever! And I am very much trying to suppress the urge to cut an oh-so-cute 20's bob at the moment, thank you very much.  The cinematography, the sets, oh so glorious! And don't get me started on the story! It was gorgeous and worthy of a tear or two! So yes! One and all! I loved Hugo! I have yet to read the book that the movie was taken from, but I am going to change that at the soonest possible moment; be sure of that. If you are a lover of the cinema and all its history, if you love adventure and are a lover of books, if you love gears, clocks, automatons and machines, or if you simply enjoy being told a sweet story, I highly recommend this film! There is so much more I could say, but I will let you create your own opinions now.



If you would like to learn more about Hugo, you can check out the official movie site here

Till next time,

~Amara~

Books, horses, and Kindred Spirits

I recently gave my blog a new header which I am in love with! It is a close up of this picture...

Last spring, three of my dearest friends (Gabrielle, Isabella, and Sarah) and I had a photo shoot. Sarah was graduating from high school and she wanted to have a photo shoot for her senior pictures. We ended up getting some incredible shots of her and afterward, we all decided to do a bit of a shoot together. I took a few pictures of Isabella, but for the most part Isabella was the one working the camera magic. It was such an amazing day. Here are my favorites from the shoot.

Gabrielle is the adorable redhead. Isabella is the beautiful blond. Sarah is the lovely brunette in the plaid dress. And the Gorgeous creature above my head is Zoe. Gabrielle and Isabella are sisters and Sarah is their cousin. I sadly am no relation to these amazing women, but I have been deemed an honorary cousin. We are kindred spirits through and through.

We took these photos in Gabrielle and Isabella's yard. It is a beautiful peaceful place that I adore. This creek runs through their yard and it had rained a few days before the shoot so we were able to have a bit of flowing water. It was perfection! As for the horse friend, Isabella is a horse woman and she has five beautiful horses. Zoe is one of her five beautiful gals.

This last photo is my absolute favorite shot of the day!
Till next time,

~Amara~

Maestro Beethoven

 Hello everyone, It's the night owl here. This past weekend was wonderful. I am in the choir at my college and we had our concert this past Saturday and Sunday which went wonderfully. For the past 12 weeks we have dedicated many hours to learning Beethoven's Mass in C. It is a glorious piece for choir and orchestra. We joined forces with the San Luis Chamber Orchestra and had a magical time. This piece was written by Beethoven in 1807 as a commission from the Hungarian Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy II. The piece was poorly received and Beethoven was said to have stormed out of the palace outraged. It sounds so crazy that the Esterhazy's wouldn't think this the most glorious of sounds. It is Beethoven for crying out loud!

The Mass in C is one of Beethoven's least performed works and highly under-rated. It was such an incredible honor to perform such a magnificent work of music. I am getting chills just writing about it! The work is 5 movements long and runs approximately 40 minutes. Quite a vocal workout! And for your listening pleasure, here are my favorite movements of the Mass: the last half of the Credo and the Agnus Dei which are the third and fifth movements respectively. Now humor me... here are a list of the parts that tear at me heart strings every time i listen. Watch out for them.

Credo:
You may have to watch this one on youtube. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is my favorite version of this movement.
2:35- 2:59 (The harmonies and the way they weave around one another... glorious!)
4:30- 4:44 (Listen specifically to the horns in the orchestra. Its extremely epic with the chorus over top!)
Agnus Dei:
In its entirety, the Agnus Dei is my favorite but here is one bit to watch for...
1:20- 1:40 (After the chorus ends I just love that bit of orchestra. It sounds a bit circus like and that appeals to my ears. haha)






So Glorious! and if you liked it you can head over to youtube and hear the rest. It would even make great study music or cleaning music. Can you tell I love it and want the whole world to hear it?!?
If you made it this far, I send you my deepest thanks.

Till next time

~Amara~

Eisley

So it seems as though this blog of mine is morphing into something entirely different than what I first anticipated. At the creation of this blog I thought that I would be strictly fashion blogging. Most of the blogs I read are fashion blogs so it seemed very logical. This blog had other ideas though. And so I am glad to say that this place is now formally a music inspiration blog. A music blog with fashion and photography and my other various hobbies sprinkled about here and there.

I have been an adoring fan of this weeks musical artists for many many years now! They hail from Tyler TX.  If you are not yet acquainted, meet... Eisley

    Eisley is a family affair with the three ladies and the gentleman on the right being siblings and the other gentleman a cousin. They are Chauntelle, Garron, Sherri, Weston, and Stacy DuPree. I love that they are related! It makes them feel really genuine. They have instant chemistry.  The seeds of the band were planted around 1997 when they were just youngsters and the inspiration for their name is just as amazing. If you are a Star Wars fan you probably already know. The name Eisley was inspired by Mos Eisley, a location from the Star Wars universe. And, what makes me love them even more is that they were home-schooled. For you see, I was home-schooled and I loved every minute of it.

Eisley is a rock band, but be warned that they are not your average rock outfit. In my own words I would classify their sound as fantastical, dream-like rock/pop.  They have three full length albums out and multiple EP's.  Their first album (Room Noises) is filled with dream-like tunes with lovely and magical lyrics of rabbits and being lost at sea. It is very youthful and full of lovely imagery. Moving ahead to their newest album, (The Valley) you can really see a new level of maturity. Their lyrics are less fantastical and are filled with the difficulties of life and heartbreak. Though the lyrics are not as magical as they once were their music still sinks into the soul and is magic to this girl's ears.

I have loved them from the moment  I first heard their music. So here is a bit of a listen. The first video is from their first full length album (Room Noises). The second is from their newest album (The Valley). The third is just one of my favorite songs from Eisley off of their 2006 EP (Final Noise).









The portraits in the last video were taken by the girls with their little sister. I hope you all enjoyed Eisley.
Till next time.

~Amara~