Angelina Holmes – Actor, Dancer, FOCUS Missionary

This is an amazing testimony from one of the FOCUS missionaries serving at NYU. Very inspiring!

I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1998 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. I then moved to Los Angeles where I worked as an actress in TV commercials, TV shows, and film. I grew up performing at the St. Louis Muny Opera where I recently played the role of Martha Cox, a hip-hop dancer, in Disney’s High School Musical last summer.

After living in L.A. for nearly eight years, I came to the realization that I had done everything I wanted to do out there. I was at a point in my life where I was maturing in my faith and it seemed that I needed to be in a community that would challenge me more in that area. As an actress, I was auditioning for TV shows that had great potential for being hugely successful. I often found myself down to the final two and they would always go with the other girl. Reasons from the casting directors would often vary, but the result was always the same. People in L.A. kept reminding me that “It’s a numbers game. The more auditions you go on, the more likely you will be able to get a job, so you have to persevere. It’s only a matter of time.”

As I continued to think about the possibility of landing one of those TV roles and considered the idea of making a whole lot of money, I became increasingly disinterested. It just didn’t matter to me anymore. I wanted to learn more about my faith, grow closer to Christ and, God willing, meet a good man and get married. This didn’t seem possible in L.A. I knew that if I ended up with an offer for a TV show I would not be able to say no, so I had to move. In addition, I really missed studying and teaching dance. This combination of newfound desires led me back to the University of Illinois where I would ultimately receive my master’s in dance. While there, I immersed myself in the Catholic community of St. John’s and developed more as an artist while teaching hip-hop for the University and choreographing many works. My philosophy as an artist began to synthesize with my Catholic beliefs and spirituality. [Read more]

Sleeping Purity

It’s always been a dream of mine to be Sleeping Beauty. Out of all the princesses, I think she has to be my favorite.  Why Sleeping Beauty? I mean she doesn’t do anything but sleep, right? That’s very true. She sleeps. She’s beauty. In Frank Pilhofer’s interpretation of the story of Sleeping Beauty, he does well in illustrating the truth that the princess is not only made of physical beauty but also of internal beauty. Here’s Pilhofer’s portrayal of how the prince felt when he stood in the presence of the sleeping princess:

For a long time he stood gazing at her face, so full of serenity, so peaceful, lovely and pure, and he felt spring to his heart that love he had always been searching for and never found.

Sleeping Beauty has a purity and an innocence that makes her so enchanting. Many princes tried to reach Sleeping Beauty because they knew that what she had to offer was worth fighting for. So we can see what made Sleeping Beauty so extraordinary. She was pure. But think about it for a second. Purity is something we can live out even now in our day and age. By possessing the virtue of purity, we possess something that princes will find is worth fighting for. Princes will want to fight for us because we will be extraordinary. We will be pure. We will be beauty.

Vanished

Check out this video. Pretty powerful, huh? If you want to see more videos like this, go to www.virtuemedia.com.

The fame change

Yesterday I was listening to the song “Twisted” by Carrie Underwood. It struck me that when American Idol takes an average person and makes them a star, that person is longer who they used to be…what so ever.  Check out this video of Carrie Underwood at her audition for the show. She was pretty different back then.

Burberry’s “The Beat” can’t be beat

Burberry’s newest fragrance, “The Beat”, is very nice. It’s aroma is very subtle, yet pretty and classy. So I love it and want it, but don’t have it. Haha, why don’t I have it? It’s really expensive. The smallest bottle is running at $65. But my best friend owns it and so whenever I go over to her house, I steal a spray! Right now I am using the fragrance, “With Love”, by Hilary Duff. This fragrance has been out for awhile, so it’s running pretty cheap right now. The last time I checked the price (about two weeks ago) it was $15. The aroma of “With Love” is very striking! So it’s best to spray very lightly.

Another reason why I am really into Burberry right now is because they just hired Emma Watson as a model. I love her look. She is so classy. Here’s a picture of a Burberry advertisement in London. Emma Watson is the model in these photos.

“Echo In My Head” – Marie’s latest song

Here’s a demo of a song Marie recorded in Nashville. It’s called “Echo In My Head”. The song talks about liking a boy, and making up illusions in your head of what he might say and do to you.  Haha, I hope you like it!

echo-in-my-head

Breakthrough- A good album

Marie just bought Colbie Calliat’s new album, Breakthrough. We’ve quite enjoyed it’s melancholy and chill feel. One thing I don’t love about the album though, is that 85% of the songs are sad love songs. Did she just have a break up or something?