Boredom buster on a Saturday evening: H and K play MASH.

Holly and Kelly: We were perusing a list of topics for when in a blogging "rut".  This is the idea we agreed on.  Does anybody remember this game????????

We are also 24 years old and have absolutely no shame.

Holly, round 1: Just for clarification, Mr. C is Benedict Cumberbatch and DT is David Tennant. 

Kelly, round 1

We laughed more unnecessarily than should be allowed on planet Earth.

At the conclusion of round 1, Kelly's preteen indeterminate make believe future was she was to be living in a shack in Edinburgh, with Mr. C as her hubs, getting around in a golf cart, with 2 kiddos and working doing what she does now.  Not bad.

At the conclusion of round 1, Holly's silly, faraway yeah right preteen future was that she was to be married to Rory (from Doctor Who), with one munchkin, getting around in a BMW, living in Sydney and working as an author.  Pretty sweet.  

Needless to say, we decided to play another round.

This is Holly's post round 2 future: getting around in a Fiat, married to K9 (again, from Doctor Who...she'd have to get used to be getting referred to as "Mistress"), with 2 kiddies, living in New York City and working as a florist.  Oh, and living in a shack.  Domestic bliss at its absolute finest.

Here is Kelly's post round 2 future: living in a house in Glasgow, with Robert Downey Jr as the hubs, driving a Tesla, working as a social worker with 2 kiddos.  Again, not bad.

There you have it, folks.  Some 24 year olds meet up with friends and go out for drinks or go see a movie.  Nope.  We play MASH.

Spring (and change?) in the air

Holly: It goes without saying that spring is my favorite season.  Ahh, ok...scratch that.  I love fall.  But spring is a very, very close second.

Isn't that just beautiful????

One of the reasons I love spring is its transitions.  Think about it: We're in all this cold, dreary, snowy, wet crap, and then we're into warm breezes, blue skies, birds singing, flowers blooming, almost as if life is reawakening once again.  To me, this burst of new life and color is also symbolic of something else: change.

Change can be scary and unpleasant, and, to be frank, bring out the absolute worst in people.  I remember the summer before our senior year of high school.  I and Kelly and several other upper-class students met one afternoon, just prior to the start of our marching band season, and had a bomb dropped on us: our director had resigned and was leaving.  I was totally devastated; I had grown up with him, my entire marching band career had been with him, and now someone else was going to be taking over.  Of course, there was an array of mixed emotions, but one that surprised me was anger; students were angry that he was leaving.  I was shocked; of course, I was devastated, but he was doing what he believed was best for him and his family, and the school was unpredictable, at best; I couldn't resent him for that.  But many did.  And when the new director arrived, I'll admit, things just fell apart.  We weren't the same band we once were.  I didn't expect to be, of course, but I didn't expect what happened to happen either.  Some just weren't ready to accept...the change.

Tomorrow is Easter.  Our church choir has been practicing for months now and tomorrow we will share our music with the congregation and thank God for His son and for the new life found in Him.  We will worship together.  Inside, though, we will be terribly saddened: we are losing a major foundational member of our choir family (see this post here).  Tomorrow is his last "official" Sunday.  We all thank God for him and what has become of our choir family, and we are all preparing for this change.  I was telling Kelly after our dress rehearsal this morning that I sincerely hope we don't fall apart, much like our senior year of band.  But I know we won't.  We owe it to this ministry to give whoever God gives us to lead us EVERYTHING we are, even though it will never, ever be the same again.

Yes, change is in the air.  But I challenge you to see whatever changes you have coming in your life as spring, rather than something to be scared of.  Spring is new life, new color.  Easter is death overcome and a promise of new life!  Can you see why I love spring so much? :)

Kelly: I think of the verses in Ecclesiastes 3 in where it starts "to everything there is a season." And it's true. Sometimes we have to change either support a family, ourselves or to follow what one believes is God's calling. Holly and I have had to do all of the above, and at times it hasn't been easy. But I've found that when I trust God, really trust God, those changing seasons are a little easier to weather. I remember being that frustrated high school senior and hearing my peers vent their anger in the situation. They were mad he was leaving, but I couldn't be. My feelings weren't going to change the circumstances, and neither were theirs. 

Now that Easter is over and the singing and praising is done....well...no. The praising and singing is never done if you're a follower of Christ. It's a very noble and sincere cause when someone does something for His cause. I've known people who've given up everything to do what they feel He has called them to do, yet some are living for Him right from the comforts of their home. And that's been the cases in the two experiences we have mentioned in today's post. In my life I get reminders often that I am where God wants me to be. He changed me in so many ways to get me to where I am right now, and I praise Him for those changes. Yes some of them were bad, but I think that that has to happen sometimes, that way you learn to stretch those faith muscles. Yesterday was Easter, and what a blessed time it was. Quite an emotional day, but in a good way. During one of the songs at church, I was deeply moved quite suddenly. Sometimes, like Holly said yesterday, God just grabs me at random times....hard. I consider it a privilege that He does that to me, to all of His followers. Reminds me what He's brought me through and how good He is to me. 

Oh the blood of Jesus washes me

Oh the blood of Jesus shed for me

What a sacrifice!

That saved my life. 

Yes, the blood. It is my victory. 

On being 24

Holly: 23 was a rough year for us.  I found myself, at 23, in various up and down stages of my life: I watched my sister graduate from Berea, all the while celebrating my first (whole) year of being a Berea alum and not a college student.  We moved again, and don't see ourselves moving for a long time.  I started my first full-time job.  We allowed an alien time traveler from Gallifrey to enter our lives and take us to places we'd never imagine.  And then there were the downs: a friendship coming to an end, some difficult family circumstances that I'd rather not mention (God knows and things are great now, but will never be the same), working multiple jobs and struggling very much so financially, to the point of almost moving back home, and losing Grandpa.

I woke up at my usual time this morning, but with a bit more pep in my step, so to speak, as I am always grateful for my birthday.  It's suffice to say that birthdays are usually a lot less exciting when you still have to go to work, but I digress.  This year, I'm 24.  24 is my favorite number.  And while I'm another year older and I celebrate that and thank God for that, the day didn't go without its share of sadness.  Today also marks the one year anniversary of Grandpa passing away.  One of the things that inspired me the most about my grandpa was his faith; Jesus was at the center of his life and he lived, breathed, spoke that reality every day of his life, right until the end.  I was driving on the interstate, praying and thanking God for my grandpa, listening to K-LOVE and an acoustic version of "I Can Only Imagine" came on.  Knowing that my grandpa was with Jesus and his family, living out what I can only dream of (being with Jesus eternally), I started crying and wasn't sure I would stop.  It was a mixed moment: I miss my grandpa more than words can express, but I rejoice that he is with the One whom he loved more than anything.

24.  Another year older, and the first year without my grandpa.  I'm looking forward to being 24, and I'm open to new possibilities and opportunities.  I'm praying for clarity; God has a plan, and He knows my heart and my desires.  I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be; God has brought me through so much and I find myself craving more time spent with Him.  I pray that God will open doors and strengthen my faith as I start my 24th year.  I truly believe the best is yet to come.

Kelly: I don't look it, but some days I do feel myself getting older. Woke up this morning with a few aches, but I woke up. God has been very good to me. This past year of being 23 years old was without a doubt one of the hardest years of my life. Some very good things happened though; I finished nursing school, graduated, moved again, took/passed the boards, got hooked on Doctor Who and started my job that I am currently holding. However, I also endured my fair share of hard times; losing my Grandpa (on this day of all days), said goodbye to an almost 10-year friendship, saw my family be (almost) ripped apart, struggled with a lot of anger and frustration and at one point or another thought about throwing my potential career away. 23 was a very difficult time, but out of those difficulties God really taught me a lot about not only His grace but showed me how much through Him I could handle. And let me tell you, I can handle a lot now. He made me a stronger, better and happier person because I got to a point where I let things fall into His time. If it wasn't for His time I'd still be holding onto a toxic friendship and a lot of other things. I'd be miserable. But today, as I sit here and write this, I am far from it.

I'm not sure what being 24 will hold, but I know God has a plan and that it will be good. And the year 2014 in of itself is already promising to be a good and interesting year. I've found myself starting to think about things I normally didn't have the time to think about while I was in school. I know it's a rubbish excuse, but being out of school really does free up so much of your time. You think about things you don't normally, you do things you used to do but couldn't (I've been READING so much more!) and you get to see and enjoy yourself more. Seriously. But one thing I've been finding myself thinking about is the idea of relationships. I'm at that point I believe in my life that God is planting a seed that could potentially blossom into either a really great friendship or something much more beautiful than that. Either way, I'm very happy. And this person knows that I'm happy he's in my life....and no I don't feel the need to constantly broadcast it all over every social media site every single day. But our relationship...is a very unique one. God is up to something, but I'm just not sure what it is yet. Anywho....yeah. A year sure goes by fast. I'm not the same person I was, thanks be to Him. I am so blessed and pleased with where I am right now. I'm thankful that this past year has taught me to grow despite of my struggles. I'm also thankful for new places, faces and experiences. 24 will be better than 23, I am determined to make it so.

Something funny....or a few funny things.

Kelly: So today we thought it would be funny if we tickled our funny bones. Not that either of us have had a bad day/week, but still. Sometimes you just need to post some random funny things. Plus we just watched a pretty intense episode of Doctor Who...go figure. MOFFAT! The first funny bit is from a series 5 episode titled The Lodger. It was my favorite from the season, but overall I thought the season was just kind of meh. I thought this episode was witty, fun and cute. This bit made me laugh so much.

Have some rent

Then today, I re-watched the movie Holes, which is one I watched often growing up. I remember seeing it in theaters when it came out with Holly and our mom. GET ME A WRENCH, READ MY LIPS, GET ME A WRENCH! So many good one liners. Found myself quoting it often, but yes. An all around good movie. Ok so most of our funny stuff is pertaining to Doctor Who, but oh well. Enjoy it anyway. I also stumbled upon something on Facebook that was trending. Apparently Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have been in New York for quite some time working on a play....sadly I can't remember which one. Anyway, they posted this ridiculous but hilarious compilation of pictures from their trip. I have posted the link below.

Patrick and Ian in New York


Holly: I like laughing.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  We hope you enjoy our funny things :)

Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit.

And this (fun fact: the first season with the Eleventh Doctor, as I just learned, aired four years ago TODAY.  Wow, time flies.  We were still in school)

Fish fingers and custard

I haven't stopped laughing at this in about a week.

This last video was from a sermon a few Sundays ago.  But it's so relevant to life! 

Procrastination