"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit and all
Then accept it and live up to it."

-Walpola Piyananada

more more more

thirty girl power songs in honor of women's day (yesterday) :)


1. Cry Me Out- Pixie Lott
2. Who We Are- Hope Partlow
3. Crush- Selena Gomez & the Scene
4. 7 Things- Miley Cyrus
5. Every Time You Lie- Demi Lovato
6. She's Not Just A Pretty Face- Shania Twain
7. Never Underestimate A Girl- Vanessa Hudgens
8. Done With Like- Brie Larson
9. Nobody's Fool- Avril Lavigne
10. Irreplaceable- Beyonce
11. L.O.V.E.- Ashlee Simpson
12. The Day Has Come- Cheyenne Kimball
13. Just Fine- Cherryfix
14. Single- Natasha Bedingfield
15. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Miley Cyrus
16. The Best Dang Thing- Avril Lavigne
17. I'm Not Your Girl- Lalaine
18. Cinderella- Cheetah Girls
19. Suddenly I See- KT Tunstall
20. U Got Nothin' On Me- Demi Lovato
21. Ladies Night- Atomic Kitten
22. Life After You- Brie Larson
23.He Wasn't- Avril Lavigne
24. Have A Nice Life Baby- Dana Dawson
25. Potential Breakup Song- Aly & AJ
26. Since U Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson
27. Girl Can Rock- Hilary Duff
28. Everything Back But You- Avril Lavigne
29. Smile- LIly Allen
30. Everything You're Not- Demi Lovato

musical enlightment

some of you have told me i have good taste in music (thank you!) and asked me to jot down some of my favorite songs every now and then... so here's my first "song" post. :)
even if you don't think you'll fall in love with the song, give them all an equal chance with unbiased ears :)
let me know what you think!

1. Where Are You Now- Michelle Branch
2. Get Happy- Bowling For Soup
3. All I Really Want- Alanis Morissette
4. I Know- Drake Bell
5. Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner- Fall Out Boy
6. All Your Reasons- Matchbox 20
7. Shakin'- Rooney
8. Speechless- The Veronicas
9. Wondering- Good Charlotte
10. Thinking Underage- Teddy Geiger
11. Kiss & Tell- Selena Gomez
12. Sunday Morning- No Doubt
13. I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You)- Fall Out Boy
14. Number One- Skye Sweetnam
15. Cold Shower Tuesdays- Bowling For Soup
16. S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)- Jordin Sparks
17. If You're Gonna...- Natasha Bedingfield
18. If You Were Me- Lindsay Lohan
19. Two Days Old- Cash Cash
20. Things I'll Never Say- Avril Lavigne
21. Little Voice- Hilary Duff
22. San Francisco- Vanessa Carlton
23. Burned- Better Than Ezra
24. Julia- Fefe Dobson
25. Hey, Man!- Nelly Furtado

the ball from space

this is for my best best best friend hannah:

it was her soccer ball but i was totally the one who wrote all over it :)

2005

sorry this first part isn't about the jonas brothers, but getting this all out is really good for me.
i don't understand why some people hate so much. not just hating in general, but being mean and being a jerk to others. it doesn't make you cool to call someone names whether it's behind their back or to their face. and it makes it even worse when a generally jerk-y person says that you've been really mean and a huge jerk lately. every person has feelings just like you. so don't hurt them. especially when the person you hurt is someone you used to, at least pretend, to care about. and one more thing... i really wish people would have more respect. because disrespect is so not attractive OR funny.
that probably didn't even make sense, but i really needed to get that out there...phew! that is one of the reasons i despise school.

on to the jonas brothers. here's the story of my first jonas brothers concert a million years ago. i don't remember much, but there are some things that i can picture perfectly.
i had just turned 12 years old. i lived in maine, 3 hours north of the new hampshire border (a.k.a. the middle of nowhere) and i was visiting my friend lauren who had moved to new hampshire a few years earlier. we were trying to convince our parents to take us to an aly & aj and cheetah girls concert in boston, since we had both recently become hooked on going to concerts, and we loved both artists. our parents decided to take us to the one in providence, rhode island because it was on the weekend... we were thrilled. so the day of the show, my mom and i picked lauren up and we drove five hours to rhode island. we got there a little after doors opened, and took a picture by the sign that said providence performing arts center. the venue was beautiful... think the size of the shows on the nick j & the administration tour, and the look of the fox theater in detroit, if you've ever been there. we had signs for the two acts we came to see. haha i still have them. so we get to our seats, one was in the front row, one in the second, and i have no clue where the third was. lauren and i decided to share the front row seat so she sat on my lap. we heard that the opening act was the jonas brothers. i remember getting so mad, because i just wanted to see aly & aj, now. judging by their name, i thought they would be some old people band. i guess i was thinking of the doobie brothers or something... but i remember thinking that so clearly. so they come on, and i was like hey, they're not old. lauren and i stood up and completely stood out from everyone else in the crowd. we were surrounded by five year-olds, we were front row center, and we were tall. so it was almost like it was just us and the boys, from our view. i put on my glasses so i could see and noticed they were kinda cute... i liked the lead singer's shirt, which had a tie printed on it. i thought it was really cool for some reason :) so i really liked their music, stage presence, and well... them. my mom's seat was right behind where we were, and she tapped me on the shoulder and said, "i think he's flirting with you!" inside i was freaking out but i tried not to let it show. so i was like, stop it mom! and then i turned around because i was pretty embarrassed at that point. but it seemed true to me at least, like that the singer was flirting with us and stuff. but now i'm pretty sure it was just that he was giving us extra attention since we were the only kids over the age of 10 in the audience. at the time though i actually thought i had a chance or something with him so i got all self-conscience and stuff. even though i couldn't see very well i took off my glasses so i wouldn't look so nerdy. i set them under my seat and turned back to the show... which i couldn't see. but i looked a little better (even though i was such a geek in middle school...and high school :P) so it was all good. the next time i went to put on my glasses though, i realized that i had stepped on them and they were now bent... oh well! i really really loved the show. by the end of their set i didn't want them to leave. but eventually aly & aj came on, then the cheetah girls, and i loved them both. when i met them after the show, they said that they noticed i sang every word to every song, and holy poop was i excited about that :) haha. anyway, after the show i got to meet the jonas brothers. they signed a demo cd for me, which i would soon fall in love with, one for lauren, and one for my best friend hannah (joe wrote her name on it for her). i wish i remember what was said but i don't. all i know is that while lauren and i talked to the boys, my mom talked to mr. jonas. they talked about how yes, they are really brothers and that they're from new jersey, and about their backround & stuff. so when it was time to go my mom was like, "let's get a picture!" i was like, mom noo! because i was embarrassed, but i never imagined i'd look back on that picture and day and smile. and that that day would make such a huge impact on my life. in the past few years the jonas brothers have taught me so much... they've shown me that there are truly good people out there, reminded me to never give up, given me some of the best days of my life, and helped me see that my potential is so much greater than i'd ever dream. that day was one of the best days of my life for so many more reasons than i could have imagined.

on the way home from the show i listened to the demo cd- over and over and over. and then at home, i listened to it over and over. i fell so in love with it, with nick's sweet angelic voice, their poppy sound, everything. but most of all i loved nick's voice, i would always say it just felt so round, but i guess by saying that i meant that it was full and not airy. i truly loved it though and i needed more music from them than the 2 songs & 3 snippets on the sampler. and wow, was that wait until next august when their debut album came out a long one.

that's everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) that i remember from that day. i'm not sure if people will actually wanna read these things but let me know if you want more stories or just whatever you want me to write about! :)

xoxoxoxo

how to be happy

this post is for all of you who had a bad day, and if you didn't today, then you can refer back to it if you ever need to :)

for some reason last year i decided to be happy, and that really changed my life. i don't know why or when it started, but all of a sudden every problem i faced seemed smaller and i saw only good in everyone and everything. optimism is so amazing and it can turn everything in your life around for the better if you let it. (sorry for sounding so preachy.)

here's my strategy to happiness.

first, you have to love. everything. it sounds so stupid but it really works. hate is such a burden and it just brings you down. plus, it's pointless and hurtful. so when you feel hate coming on, replace it with love.... find the bright side of that situation, person, or thing, and focus on that. or you could just ignore hate, that works too.

you also have to love yourself though. that's REALLY hard, at least for me, but if you don't love yourself then you can't really love anything, really. for me, i have issues with my appearance. but nothing's going to change the way you look, so why hate on it? everyone looks different, and everyoneee dislikes something about their appearance. not even celebrities are perfect. the things they don't like about themselves are things you probably don't even notice about them. which brings me to my next point: you're the only one who sees your flaws as flaws. no one else stares at you in a mirror like you do yourself, and you certainly (well, hopefully) don't walk around staring and judging everyone else's flaws. so instead of focusing on something you don't like about yourself, accentuate and focus on your best features.

a great way to feel good about yourself is to make other people feel good about themselves. try giving out a few compliments each day at school, and see how happy you are afterward :)

another tip is to let things out. don't keep all your emotions inside of you, growing worse and worse. talk to your parents, siblings, friends, or even write in a diary. any form of expressing your feelings is great. (besides violence, obviously:)

eat healthy. you can take baby steps or just plunge right into it, but getting all your nutrients without the mcdonald's and junk food makes you feel sooo goooood :) your body feels good (and is thanking you) and YOU feel good for eating so healthily. just make sure you're not starving yourself.

do what you love and what makes you smile uncontrollably. for me, it's things like watching spongebob and ridiculous funny things like that. it's also playing guitar, dancing like a crazy person to my favorite songs, eating my favorite foods, and playing with my puppy. find what makes YOU really really happy and do at least one of the things you've found daily. :)

here's a list of 94 songs that make me smile, and hopefully will make you smile too. some of them are ridiculously cheesy and/or not be your style, but they're worth a shot :)

Stonger (Back On The Ground)- Nick Jonas & The Administration

Shining Star- Jump 5

The Anthem- Good Charlotte

Shut-Up And Smile- Bowling For Soup

California- Metro Station

Keep It Real- Jonas Brothers

Fallen For You- Drake Bell

I Want You To Want Me- KSM

Bounce (feat. Big Rob)- Demi Lovato & Jonas Brothers

I Just Want To Celebrate- Rare Earth

I'd Do Anything- Simple Plan

Wondering- Good Charlotte

Dreamer- Hilary Duff

Dental Care- Owl City

Up!- Shania Twain

Choo Choo- Diane Birch

I Should've Been After You- Rooney

All I Can Do- Jump 5

I Can't Wait- Hilary Duff

Stay Away- Rooney

Popular- The Veronicas

Play My Music- Jonas Brothers

Us Against The World- Play

Hoedown Throwdown- Miley Cyrus

Na Na- Superchick

Party- Demi Lovato

Underdog- Jonas Brothers

We Rock- Camp Rock Film Cast

Rock With You- Honor Society

Shakin'- Rooney

Jack- Pixie Lott

Who Will I Be?- Demi Lovato

No Average Angel- Tiffany Giardina

Come On Eileen- Dexy's Midnight Runners

Why Not- Hilary Duff

The Way You Make Me Feel- Michael Jackson

Don't Come Around Again- Rooney

Sing For You- Honor Society

Year 3000- Jonas Brothers

Why Can't We Be Friends- Smash Mouth

Read Between The Lines- KSM

Crush- Selena Gomez & The Scene

Infatuation- Jonas Brothers

I Am- Hilary Duff

Lifestyles Of The Rich And The Famous- Good Charlotte

Everybody Wants Ya- S Club 7

Party In The U.S.A.- Miley Cyrus

Spiderwebs- No Doubt

Conspiracy Theory- Nick Jonas & The Administration

Smile- Lily Allen

Supermodel- Taylor Dayne

Welcome To The 60's- Nikki Blonsky & John Travolta

You Make Me Feel Like A Star- The Beu Sisters

Time For Me To Fly- Jonas Brothers

When Did Your Heart Go Missing- Rooney

What Dreams Are Made Of- Hilary Duff

That's Just The Way We Roll- Jonas Brothers

Drama Queen (That Girl)- Lindsay Lohan

As A Blonde- Selena Gomez & The Scene

Makes Me Happy- Drake Bell

Summertime Anthem- Jonas Brothers

The Bird And The Worm- Owl City

Fergalicious- Fergie feat. will.i.am

These Words (I Love You, I Love You, I Love You)- Natasha Bedingfield

Mandy- Jonas Brothers

Signed, Sealed, Delivered- Stevie Wonder

Number One- Skye Sweetnam

What Did I Do To Your Heart- Jonas Brothers

Don't Come Around Again- Rooney

Out Of This World- Jonas Brothers

Unwritten- Natasha Bedingfield

The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)- Atomic Kitten

True To Me- Metro Station

Got Me Going Crazy- Jonas Brothers

Hey We're Gonna Be Alright- Nicholas Jonas

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough- Michael Jackson

Size Matters- Natasha Bedingfield

All Your Reasons- Matchbox 20

I'm Gonna Getcha Good!- Shania Twain

Crazy Kinda Crush On You- Nicholas Jonas

Much Better- Jonas Brothers

Lollipop- Tiffany Giardina

Hello Goodbye- Jonas Brothers

BB Good- Jonas Brothers

Did You Hear About Us?- Lalaine

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Miley Cyrus

Sorry Sorry- Rooney

She Said- Brie Larson

What I Like About You- Lillix

1,2,3- Nicky Cleary

I'll Believe You When- Matchbox 20

Start The Commotion- The Wiseguys (feat. Greg Nice)

Tonight- Jonas Brothers

You Can't Stop The Beat- Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron

hopefully this helped someone :) i did my best.

p.s. i need suggestions what to write about.... :)

xoxoxoxoxo sara

just me

i was told i should start a blog by a few people, so...here it is.

i'm not sure where to start, or what to write about really. so if you want me to write about something specific, just ask! i know i'm going to get a lot of jonas brothers things, but it'd be great if they weren't allll about that. (:

first i'll introduce myself, somewhat.

i'm sara. i'm 16 years old and i'm tall and blonde. i love a lot of things and i hate very few (i don't even use that word so i guess i really don't hate anything). music has taken over my life. in school i daydream about my future concerts, at home i listen to and play music constantly. it's my everything, and it's a pretty amazing thing if you think about it. EVERYONE can love and listen to music, no matter where they're from, what they've been through, or who they are. and it's the best constant in the world, your music will always be there for you.

anyway, here's an extensive list of things i really, really love so you can hopefully get to know me a little... music, acting, my best friend hannah, california, family, my puppy (she's the BEST!), chocolate, guitars, modeling, strawberries (fruit, in general), animals (especially dogs & koalas), urban outfitters, helping people, not eating meat, singing, optimism, new york city, traveling, helping the environment, happy movies, the 80's, books that make you think, salads, rainbows, sweet potatoes, foreign languages, obama, fuzzy socks, writing songs, walt disney, concerts, life, and inspiration.

and here's a few songs i think you should deffffinitely take a listen to.... since i'm a music person, i though it would be appropriate. :)

Just A Ride- Jem

In My Head- Anna Nalick

Somehow- Drake Bell

He Wasn't- Avril Lavigne

Suckceed- Rooney

I'd Rather Be With You- Joshua Radin

Jack- Pixie Lott

Valentino- Diane Birch

Nobody's Fool- Avril Lavigne

Full Circle- Cheyenne Kimball

xoxoxoxo, sara