All things Halloween!

Holly and Kelly: Happy Halloween! If you are going out with your family/children trick or treating, please be safe and enjoy yourselves! Our parents are going to the block party back home...which will be interesting to hear about. Anyway, we had some fun this year. Yesterday, both of us had to work and we were allowed to dress up. It was a lot of fun; Holly went as the 12th Doctor and I went as a Hobbit. Also....me and a co worker had some fun with fake mustaches.

The Doctor will see you now. 

Took this when I got home. Furry Wiley too :)

This is probably why we're both still on the market :P

So like I said, we had a lot of fun yesterday. Today being the actual day, as per usual, we helped at an event at church called Hallelujah Harvest. It involves a lot of children packed into the fellowship hall at church with games, some food and a ridiculous amount of candy. It's amusing that a couple of weeks before the event everyone's always like "we need candy!" Yet there's always an abundance and we always have a ton left over, so we took some for us; that miniature hoard is now sitting at the kitchen table. And now Wiley is watching all the children around our neighborhood go trick or treating; we forgot :( Every year at Hallelujah Harvest, sis and I do a duo costume...makes sense, huh? A few years ago we did Holmes and Watson, and last year we did the 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler. Well, this year we were struggling to come up with something to do. Finally, at like 10:00 at night I was like "Holly, we should just dress up as each other." So she wore a set of my scrubs and I wore one of her Grow App shirts and threw one of her scarves on and we were opposite twins for Halloween. Now tell me, aren't I a clever girl? 

Honestly, we're not really into Halloween that much. We went to a Halloween party one year and had lots of fun, but we've never hosted one. It's just fun for us to dress up, be silly and get lots of candy. So in other words, we just act like big kids....which is what we do anyway. So there you have it. Have a good one, you all and remember to have fun and act like your kids too. 

Who knew twins were reversible? 

The meatless results (and a house update?)

H and K: It has been seven days since our last post, and if you remember, we took it upon ourselves to go one week without meat.  So...how did we do?

Honestly, we didn't find it too challenging.  Some days, it was hard walking up Main Street and catching a whiff of the cafe's burgers, or resisting devouring an entire order of chicken wings from Papaleno's.  We did have one "cheat" day, Saturday, in which we attended a cook-out sponsored by Kelly's work.  We didn't go too crazy, though, in the sense that we both had just one chicken wing. Fried rice became a good friend of ours. Our weight didn't really change either, which we kind of expected, but that's ok, considering that wasn't the end goal.  We were just curious...and a little bit broke.  So will we do it again? Probably.  We had to get pretty creative with some of our recipes, but overall we enjoyed incorporating more veggies into our diet. The drastically reduced cost of groceries for the week was a good incentive, too!

And this concludes our one week without meat.  We learned a lot, had a good time...but honestly, if anyone would care to drop off a couple of steaks or a rotisserie chicken, that would be pretty amazing.

Switching gears a little, and we're just going full disclosure here, because we can do that here.  In case some of you are a little behind, we are in the process of moving, this time into a house.  We do have a house lined up, although we've only seen it from the outside.  However, here's where the situation gets a little hairy: The family that is living in the house now is waiting on a closing date for a house they're buying.  Once they get their closing date, they will move out, and we will move in. We are not buying, we're renting (Just in case that wasn't clear).  We do not know when this closing date will be.  It's been two weeks since we first made contact with our eventual landlord.  When I called him last week, hoping to affirm my fear of him not giving the house away to someone else, he informed me that they still had not reached a closing date, but that he still had our contact information and would reach out to us when they closed.  That was a week ago.  We still have not heard anything.

Honestly...it's been hard.  Our many frustrations with our current living situation, for reasons we don't wish to discuss at this time, have nearly reached a tipping point.  Let's just say it's gone on too long. Period.  In addition, it's just the waiting...the waiting and waiting for a phone call.  My (Holly) hopes soar every time my phone rings, and plummet when it's someone else besides the phone call we're anxiously waiting for.  It's the doubt...the doubt of wondering, nearly agonizing ourselves, if this is ever going to happen at all.  It's discouraging- another day that passes with silence, with no news. But through all of this, we've learned a lot about grace, and we are thankful for that. I (Holly) read Proverbs 3:5-6 recently, and I've been heavily meditating on that, relying on that promise in God's word.  We've been praying.  We've been praying a lot.  And still waiting.

So that's where we are right now.  If you feel led to pray for us, please do so.  And pray for the family that is waiting on a closing date; it's probably just as frustrating for them, if not more so, than it is for us. But we KNOW that something better is coming, and we KNOW that God is faithful.  It's just that some days are easier than others, and we thank God that He can handle our joys and our frustrations as well.  Thanks for following along with us, as always.  We hope to hear something soon.

The H and K Food Experiment: 1 week of Meatless

Holly and Kelly: On the way home from grocery shopping, in which we grossed in approximately $56 for about a week's worth of food, we decided to partake in a wee experimentation of food challenges. The first one? One week with no meat. However, it's not entirely without meat; we currently have two meals planned, one with fish and the other with eggs in it. Other than that, no meat. Nothing. No chicken, no red meat, no bacon, nada. No. Meat. You might ask, why are ya'll doing this? Well, we've read numerous web studies and through word of mouth have heard that not eating meat supposedly makes you feel better, have more energy, and not to mention meat is expensive these days.

We're just not eating meat. We're not changing any other of our activities of daily living, which means Holly is still going to walk to work and we're still going to do ReFit on Monday nights. And we're going to a work potluck for Kelly's work and have decided to not eat meat there, which we are certain will be quite challenging. So there you have it. One week without meat. At the end of the week, we will report back and see how it went. How we felt, how tempted we were to sneak in a cheeseburger, that sort of thing. We're going to see if our weight changes as well. Wish us luck; the challenge begins tomorrow!

Colin and Brad: Take 2!

Holly and Kelly: A lot of you have started following us just within the last few months, so if you would be so kind as to allow us to indulge in a brief trip down memory lane: So remember way back in the day when we were a bunch of young college kiddos completely stoked out of our minds because we met Colin and Brad in Richmond almost four years ago? (In case you didn't remember....this may help jog your memory).  We thought for sure that this gut-busting night of improvised hilarity would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Make that twice-in-a-lifetime.  History repeated itself last Friday night.  Well...almost.

We packed a bag and road tripped down I64 to the city of Ashland, KY, so close to both West Virginia and Ohio that you can see it.  Yes, the dynamic duo of humor were doing a show there that night, and thanks to our awesome trip-planning-guru of a dad, we scored a nice hotel literally a stone's throw away from the venue.  But not before hitting up local eatery Fat Patty's.  Man oh man, that was one glorious open-faced roast beef sandwich! And our waiter was really nice and super awesome. Once we got to the theater we had to wait a bit for the stage to open. We had to buy our tickets separately, so our seats weren't together initially. Right before the show started though, we orchestrated a plan to move a few rows back to some empty seats so that we could enjoy the show together. So we did. And it was glorious!!!!

The sign! 

It was a really funny show! If you read when we saw them in Richmond, you'll see that Holly went up on stage for a game called "Fill in." Whenever prompted, the stage goer had to fill in an incomplete sentence with a word, phrase or whatever. The results were pretty amusing. Well, this time, Kelly got called on stage for the very same game! (There is a video but Holly has it). Then they did the Sound Effects game, which if you've seen Whose Line is it Anyway, you know how that game goes. But if you haven't seen it, you can figure it out. Anyway, our section got to do Brad's sound effects! (see video below). But it was utterly hilarious; and let me tell you having had the experience it is extremely difficult to come up with something clever right on the spot, know that we have both had the experience of attempting to do so. Then like they did in Richmond, they did the "Crime" game, in which Brad (without his prior knowledge) had to guess a crime he committed, verbatim, with a little help from the audience. The crime was as follows:

He duct taped a penguin to the ceiling, lit a cloud on fire in Paducah, KY at Terry's Polar Bear Shaving & Tires & Tubes with a ping-pong paddle. Ya'll, we are not making this up. And yes they did the mousetraps game again. And yes we cringed a lot. Unfortunately, they did not stick around at the end for meet and greets like they did in Richmond, but that's ok. We still had a really awesome time, and it was great for us to road trip, laugh and enjoy each other's company. The time we get to spend together is a treat for us, and we don't ever take it for granted. God has blessed us with a good relationship in which we share a lot of interests, including lots of funnies.

One Last Time

Holly and Kelly: Dear readers, we apologize for not updating in a while. It has been a very crazy month of going here there and everywhere. But we are fine, all is well and now we are back. Thanks for hanging tough and bearing with us.

Yesterday was the final hurrah. The big finale. The movie to end all movies. The Battle of the Five Armies. And it was glorious.  It was also a time of gathering. As you all know, in September we attended ALEP (see our post on ALEP weekend here!) and met some pretty awesome people during that time. It was discussed at that time that there was a group who usually met up in December to see the current Hobbit movie in Nicholasville (about an hour from Berea). This group met up at Shaker Village the night before for a merry gathering, since it's almost Christmas. So needless to say we jumped all over that! We stayed at the village Friday night and got to meet up with some of the folks we met in September for snacks, conversation, laughing, a long slideshow and a little bit of tasty wine. Come Saturday we rolled out to Brannon's Crossing in Nickyville and gathered at the theater for pictures and a bit of singing, such as Misty Mountains and I See Fire- which was pretty incredible. Before we knew it there were other people taking pictures and videos of all of us, as the majority of the group were in costumes. It was awesome. Truly awesome. We kept saying "I love us." This group, these movies, as Kelly said, it was a celebration of the Christmas season, the love of Tolkien and Peter Jackson's work, how the books/movies have impacted us and our lives, and celebrating each other.

Now for our movie opinion; we LOVED it!!! We don't want to give too much away, because that's just not nice and we went into this movie having read no reviews, not viewed any clips, or seen anything else other than just the trailer.  We expected a few things, naturally, just because we're fairly familiar with the book, but it far surpassed our expectations!  There were quite a few moments that really surprised us, and of course, there were things that we weren't too thrilled with (but that's the case with the previous 2 Hobbit movies, and even LOTR too).  But what really made this movie special, aside from it being the last Middle Earth hurrah, was the company that was able to witness this cinematic adventure with us.  Many we met from AL3P, but we didn't get to have as many in-depth conversations and fellowship as we had wished (though there was still plenty!!), so it was really memorable to share life with these people.  We all come from such different walks of life, such different parts of the world, and when we all come together united by this love for Tolkien, wonderful things happen.  Now every time we see Five Armies, we'll think of this group, this family that we've been so fortunate to be welcomed into.  Plus...Billy Boyd's closing song is complete perfection to the end of an incredible movie series...and to our parting.  We will see each other soon, though.  There is no such thing as goodbye!

So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where light has never shone
By silver streams that run down to the Sea
Under cloud, beneath the stars
Over snow one winter's morn
I turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me, I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day to bid you farewell

One Last Time! (Photo c/o Kelly Gable) 

Growing up is hard to do

Kelly: As you all know, yesterday was Thanksgiving. I had to work, so as a result we went back to Ohio last weekend to do Thanksgiving then. One of the things I've learned about being an adult in the real world is that sometimes, actually a lot of times, it requires sacrifice. Time away from family and loved ones, and sometimes it involves being away from your family and loved ones when you really really want to be with them. That was me yesterday; driving on the way to work and instead of working wanting to be snuggled up on the couch under the roof I spent 18 years of my life, smelling the aroma of turkey and pumpkin pie while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by the National Dog Show. Memories. Fun-filled and joyous memories. If there's one thing I've learned though about being away from the home you grew up in is that some people end up finding another home away from home. That's how we are still here in Berea, because this has become our home away from home. And part of finding your home away from home is finding your family, whether or not they are related by blood or not.

One of my "grown-up" lessons I've held onto the past 6 years I've lived here is that no matter what the circumstances, how old you are, or whatever is running around in your head, you should never feel ashamed or uncomfortable to tell your extended family "hey, life is great right now" or "you know, things are just sucky and I need prayer or a hug" or "oh my gosh I love each and every one of you." And when it comes to family, sometimes it turns out they need you too. I don't really know how to wrap this up but with this; I have grown up a lot. Circumstances and changes have somewhat in a way forced me to. But one thing is for sure, in an ever changing world is an unchanging God who gave me a big ol' Earthly family. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember to keep thanking God for your many blessings.

Holly: If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that most of my "wisdom" has come from my observations of just watching those around me live.  I've never been much of a crowd follower, and it really irritates me...actually, makes me sad...that so many my age are still acting like they're stuck in high school.  Don't get me wrong, 99% of the time I'm a complete goofball.  But what in the world is with all the DRAMA? Still?! If the worst thing that happens in your day is that you're pissed at your parents or someone "told you off", then you still have it pretty well off, in my opinion.  I'd love to be pissed at my parents sometimes, even if it meant that I got to spend one more day with them.  As it stands now we're lucky to see our folks 3-4 times a year.  If that.  I don't mean to whine, but it's like what Kelly said earlier: being involved in the real world means sacrifice sometimes.  Also part of my "wisdom" is perspective: there is always someone who has it so much worse than you do, and when it's all said and done, we have a lot more to be thankful for than we realize.

I have an amazing support system, serve an amazing God, have the best parents a girl could ask for, a job that I adore, and yes, I'm still single and enjoying that as well.  Society thinks female 20-somethings should either be in a serious relationship or married with kids by then.  Something else I see so many my age doing is just bouncing around from one relationship to the next...it's almost as if singleness scares them.  IT SHOULDN'T.  Ok, I've been jumping around a lot, but there is a point to all of this, I suppose: I had someone tell me last night that Kelly and I are admired because of our attitudes regarding our circumstances.  Yeah, life is hard sometimes, and yeah, sometimes it's easier to mope and feel sorry for ourselves, but it's a choice: how we feel about it, how we react, despite how we may be feeling.  Heck, it's a choice to breathe a prayer of thanks to God for what you DO have despite how you may be feeling.  Is it easy?  No.  No, sometimes it really isn't.  But one last thing about growing up is that you do not have to be a victim of your circumstances, and you have the power to choose who remains in it for the long haul.

What are some lessons you have learned over the years?

Just for fun, here's H and K at 17

ALEP: More than just a long expected party

Holly and Kelly: I would also add sister bonding, music, weekend, unity and silly things to the labels part of this blog, but the label section cut me off after 200 characters. So much for that. Anyway, YES. This was the weekend of ALEP: A Long Expected Party. Now what was it? Fun, fellowship, geeking out, costumes, music, food, dancing, skits, workshops and PEOPLE. Lots of people! From all over the country and in some parts of the world...mostly Canada. It started this past Wednesday and concluded yesterday, and most people bought passes for the entire couple of days. As for the two of us, because we didn't know what we were going to be doing work wise and schedule wise, we opted for a Saturday day pass (bear in mind, we made these reservations 18 months ago. Not even joking. You wouldn't believe how fast spots filled up) And we're going to try and get some friends to come with us in 2017!!!!

We arrived Friday night around 7PM and checked into our room. Little did we know that's when the adventure would begin. We stayed in the West Lot Dwelling, which if you've ever been to Shaker Village, you know that....well, it's kind of out there. A mile and a half out there, away from the main part of the village. By the time we arrived it was starting to get dark. We got in the car and drove to the house, couldn't see the sign (which we figured out later that that was it) and then realized maybe we missed it and drove back to the main part of the village. We walked around for over an hour, going into the different houses where people stayed, desperately trying to find our room! Then, it dawned on me, maybe the building we saw the first time was it. So we drove allllllllllllll the way back out there (and it was dark by this point) and went to the first building we found, and sure enough, that was it. Holly's room key had two keys on it and mine only had one; the check in person at the desk said that she didn't need the second key but said to just keep it there so they wouldn't have to worry about it. We got to the West Lot house and the door was locked. I told her "try that other key the desk person said was useless" and sure enough, that spare key opened the side door. Thank GOODNESS we had it, otherwise we would have been stuck. So we moved all our stuff in, got settled and drove BACK to the main area, chilled out at the Dancing Pony, met a few people and that was the end of Friday. There were lots of catchy drinking songs; yes we have videos but they are too big and Blogger doesn't like that.

Saturday was a beautiful day! We got up early and I (Kelly) went downstairs to the kitchen and fumbled around trying to figure out how to use the complimentary coffee maker. It worked, after about 5 minutes of tinkering with it. Once we got to the main village, we just walked around, since nothing started till 10 in the morning and we got up there at like 9ish. It was nice to look around, explore and actually see all the sites in daylight! We ran into a few people we met the night before and bought some cool little trinkets (and I bought an Evenstar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Right before lunch time we went to a workshop by an artist who showcased various paintings and sketches of Middle Earth from the beginning of it until the fourth age (the end of Middle Earth). Oh. My Goodness. Beautiful and stunning artwork....kinda wish we would have snagged some pictures of them. After lunch was a bit of chill time before we decided to join the Hobbit choir. Our selections were May it Be and The Road Goes Ever On, which is from the musical. Yes, there is a LOTR musical and apparently will be world touring next year. Wee.

The big party was at the site where our house was we were staying at, so we took naps! The party site looked pretty much dead-on to Bilbo's birthday party in Fellowship. There was also a Bag End site that was built by two of the coordinators of ALEP. Let me tell you it is a SPOT ON replica (pictured below). Holly also did a Bag End painting about a year ago...it's in our den :)

So anyway, thus the party began. It was all outside and there were tables and chairs set up under lights and paper lanterns. Like I said, it looked exactly like Hobbiton. We were joined at a table with the only person we knew at the time and met lots of other awesome people! What was so interesting was that we were some of the youngest attendees, with the exception of a few families who brought their young children. At this party, there was AWESOME food, music (major kudos to the Great Hobbit Jam Band) and a HILARIOUS skit near the end. I would post my video, but Lord of the peepers took over and its sound quality is a bit rubbish, but I still have it for my enjoyment. Holly has a video as well, but its watchers may endure a grand mal seizure in an attempt to view it. Anyway, after the sun went down it got a bit chilly but there were gracious individuals who were warm hearted...and also had a few matches to spare for some lanterns that had tea lights in them. After a final parting song, we made our way back to the Dancing Pony again where we chatted, nibbled and had some lovely tea and used our new tea pots. Then it turned into a mini bar where a bit of drunken foolishness occurred and we left. This was at about 1AM and we got back to our room and craaaaaaaaashed. 

Sunday was very lovely. We arose a bit early, packed up our room and drove to the main village again. Debbie, who we knew and goes to our church and told us about this in the first place, led a mini church service so to speak. None of us were expecting a good turnout but actually about 20 people showed up! We sang, prayed and Debbie shared a devotional that she wrote, and it was lovely. After mini church, we stayed around for a bit and watched a fan made movie called The Hunt for Gollum. For being done by fans, it was really well done! The cinematography was stunning! Then we drove home, and on the way home my GPS got a bit wonky and we ended up driving through Danville. It was a nice detour to say the least. So there you have it. ALEP in a nut shell. Overall, the time was too short. It was too fast. We met a lot of awesome people, some only briefly, but there is no doubt we will meet again. It was more than just a bunch of costumes, dancing and food. It was a retreat, so to speak. A revamping of it all, not necessarily an escape, but a respite. It was different and special. And on that note, we will close with this: 

I (Holly) wrote this in my journal last night, and I think it captures the spirit and mentality of the weekend perfectly.  Until 2017...

I met so many wonderful people, all from such vast and different walks of life.  And yet, despite our differences, backgrounds, characters of choice, we were all bonded and united by this one love of this brilliant soul and his magical world that will forever captivate us...I pray for a continued, prolonged sense of wonder, that we will establish our own Shires, wherever we may be, and that we will never, ever lose sight of not only the time spent together this weekend, but of the One who made it all possible in the first place.

How three 23-year-old working world roommates spend a snow day

Holly and Kelly: We go sledding.

The company you keep

Holly: This weekend was Berea's homecoming.  We got to see several of our friends, some that we haven't seen in a year or so.  We all went to lunch and as we were leaving, one of our friends asked if we would be getting together for new year's, because that's likely when we'll next see each other.  The reply was, and it didn't really hit me until just now because it was basically laughed off, was something to the degree of  "We can have a thing at our house since we're not into the going out and drinking."  This morning Kelly and I were talking about this, and we came to this conclusion: That is the reason why we aren't into "that" scene- because our friends really aren't either.  And let me tell you, that makes it a million times easier to not give into it.  Don't get me wrong, I've never been one to follow the crowd, but that doesn't mean the temptations aren't there.

On the flip side of this, I know several people who are into "that" scene, and guess what....typically so are their friends.  Coincidence? I think not.  Is that a bad thing? No.  Not at all.  But contrary to popular belief, who we associate with GREATLY influence us, and that could definitely swing one way or the other.  I am at that age and time in my life when I can determine basically who stays in my life and who doesn't.  It sounds blunt, I realize this.   Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way just this year when an almost 10 year friendship came to an end- I'll make a set of very long stories short and just say we weren't the same people we once were.  She became a different person (entirely not for the better, I must admit) and Kelly and I just didn't understand.  But I digress.  I, long ago, set boundaries, guardrails, for my life, and I have enough respect for myself to hold to them.  Anyway, if you're into the drinking/going out scene, then by all means, please have a good time (but please be safe as well).  As for me, I am much more inclined (and so are me and my friends) to go have dinner and go see a movie.  In the instance of this weekend, it happened to be Cheddar's and Thor: The Dark World, both of which I highly recommend.  :)

Kelly: In this day and age, it's so uncommon for a young adult of my age to do what I do...or don't do in this case. A typical get together involving my close friends usually involves going out for lunch/dinner, going to someone's house (usually our friends in Lexington. Many of our friends have cat allergies), talking, hanging out, watching a movie and snacking on popcorn or the new healthy snack of the week (these same friends introduced us to Orgain shakes. They're quite good). :) But over time, the people you spend a lot of time around BECOME one another, without ever really intentionally meaning to do so.

Some of our close friends are Christians, but most of them are not. They know I am a believer in God and do not hold that against me or make fun of me for it. I sincerely hope that my friends can see Christ in me. They are supportive of the good choices I make, as I am of the good choices they make. If I don't want to do/try something, they drop it. I remember when I was in Scotland and I was a flat-sharer with 5 other girls. I was the oldest, which already put me in an awkward position. But they were the typical party girls and often tried to get me to come as well; I soon learned realized this was their lifestyle choice at their home universities. I politely declined because I'm not really into that kind of thing. At all. One on my roommates asked me "so do not drink because you're a Christian?" Number one: rude. Number two: the generalization that all Christians are thumb-twiddling Bible-thumping hermits needs to GO! It was at that moment that I missed being back in Berea, because in my circle of friends I'm loved and accepted for who I am and what I do or don't do. I love all of my friends like my own family and I would do anything for them. I'm happy that God put them in my life and hope they are happy I'm in their lives as well. 

The Band Years

Kelly: Maybe it's because it's Christmas. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm graduating college in almost four months. I'm not entirely sure why, but Holly and I have been thinking a lot about our marching band years. We strapped on ridiculously hideous and hot uniforms, piled onto a small school bus and traveled all across the state to football games and/or competitions. And we did this willingly. Every Friday and/or Saturday from the end of August until the beginning of November for 6 years. And we LOVED it.

I remember when I was a little girl, getting dragged to high school football games. I would only go to see the band play. "Mom, I want to be in the band!" I remember seeing the local college at their homecoming parade. "Mom, I want to be in the 110 someday." In 7th grade, Holly and I both had a choice to make. Prior to 7th grade, we had both done gymnastics for a few years. The choice was ours; either continue with gymnastics or quit and pursue marching band. When I look back on it now, I realize that the choice was obvious...since I didn't think I was that good at gymnastics. I was not meant to be a gymnast; I was meant to be a band geek! So many fond and wonderful memories of high school were usually associated with the time I did marching band. The places we traveled to, the conversations we had, the sometimes drama that occurred, the friends I made and the experiences I gathered. Nothing can even hold a candle to what I experienced for those number of years. It's sad to say though, now that I'm in college I don't think about band as often as I used to; I haven't picked up my clarinet in almost four years. I'm not even sure I'd remember how to play it. As I look it's still sitting in its case behind my bed. It's not that I've forgotten about band, but I'm sad to say that that part of my life is over and has been for quite some time now. But I have not nor will not forget all that I did and the wonderful fun times I had. When I graduate in May, I'm writing something very special on my hat that I have carried with me.

"DO IT!"

Holly: We managed to summarize six years of insanity into a navy blue three-inch binder, packed with programs from competitions, our show music, pictures, random fliers, etc.  We call it our band book.  It's in our pile of stuff that's going back with us to Berea.

We endured horrendously hot uniforms, unflattering polos that were at least two sizes too large, uncomfortable shoes that were at least a size too small; shoes that felt every crack, crevice, stone, and grass.  We waited on "the band guy" whenever there was a ding, scratch, or missing key in our instruments (I particularly relied on him after I literally fell on my flute.....THAT'S another story! lol).  We heard the Mountain Dew story about 15 times.  The crazy weeks at band camp, staying up way too late and doing stuff that need not leave the walls of the dorms.  Blistering sun, pouring rain, snow, hail, freezing cold...sometimes all in the same day (Riverview, anybody???).  A concession was deemed good if it had something other than hot dogs and burgers (Cowtails, large dill pickles, and Sour Skittles were our favorites).  If your throat wasn't sore and raw by the end of a competition night, be it from screaming or laughing, you weren't doing it right.  We bagged on Waterford all the time.  Our leadership meeting senior year wasn't much of a meeting...it was comprehending how in the world we were going to carry on our Fed Hock band legacy without our "Big Papa" and his tent.  It was at a football game in Belpre my junior year when I found out that one of my best guy friends liked me back.  We met our best friend through band; almost 10 years later, we're still friends.   The small door of the RCA Dome in Indianapolis opened for the first time as we stepped onto the field for our pre-show at Bands of America Grand Nationals, and all of us wondered how we ended up there.  That dang dog whistle will forever be the bane of my existence.

I don't really know how to close all of this, other than the fact that the stories we could tell would go on for years on end, and the memories will last even longer.

A Three Dimensional Glimpse of Our Childhood

Holly: Missing the Richmond shuttle was the best thing to have happened to Kelly and I last night. 

My overly gracious and amazingly awesome roommate saved the day by driving us up to the theater to partake in what Kelly and I saw as "reliving our childhood": Yes, folks, we watched The Lion King in 3D!

We aptly called this Friday night adventure "reliving our childhood" because this movie came out originally in 1994...we were FOUR years old!!! Crazy to think back on that! From the first opening sounds of "Circle of Life", I had chills everywhere and, almost instantaneously, I was five years old again.  Watching it again at 21 made it much more surreal; the 3D just completely captured and perfected this Disney classic that I will probably watch again and again, even when I become old and decrepit.  Also interesting and sort of awesome to note: Many of the children that I saw in the theater last night were probably seeing that movie for the very first time! CRAZY!

What really sold me this time was the music!  Never in the umpteen times that I have seen this movie have I ever been so captivated by the music; I was singing along to every song in the theater (nonetheless probably pissing off the people in front of us, but, hey, I paid a small fortune for this ticket and I was going to get my money's worth!).  I was so much so captivated by the music that when I returned home to my shoebox Berea dorm I proceeded to download several Lion King tracks, including a few from the second movie!

Bottom line: If you get the opportunity to see Lion King 3D, SEE IT! Do not miss it!  Period! 

Wait, there's no mountain too great...hear these words and have faith, have faith!

Kelly: (this is straight out of my journal. I wrote this this morning)

He lives in You, He lives in me. He watches over everything we see. Into the water, into the truth, in your reflection, He lives in you. 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

Growing up, the Lion King saga was by far my favorite Disney movies. I don't know what it was about them but that's just the way it was. I knew all the words to every song and would watch the movies over and over. Rewind to last night; seeing the first one in 3D. It was as if I was watching my childhood all over again right before my eyes. Last night when I was alone in my room listening to music from the movie, I suddenly remembered my favorite song from the second movie, titled He lives in You.

Sure, it makes sense. A young prodigy in the shadows of her king father. Anywhere she looks, her father is inside her. What occurred to me was that, hey...this is what being in a relationship with Christ is like. That's the sheer beauty of it; everywhere I am He is in me. When I look at myself in the mirror every morning, He's also there looking back at me. Maybe there was a reason that as a child I enjoyed that particular song so much. Maybe that was God trying to tell me something. I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

I will cherish last night for the rest of my life; such a captivating experience to relive wonderful happy times of my youth. But let me tell you; the thoughts that I have included in this blog I will cherish as well. I love that God's works and mysteries are in every aspect of my life, including cherished childhood movies.   And now, for your listening pleasure, I have attached our favorite Lion King songs. Enjoy and have a blessed weekend/week to come! :]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjfM6NiMGG4 (He Lives in You, from the second movie!) :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcOJTCSyvx8 (We Are One, from second movie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOf78z3Hi4U (score from first movie)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uYB9T_GlY (Our favorite...if you don't get goosebumps at 4 minutes onward then you are crazy!)

Five big hot air balloons go by...

Holly: We'll let the pictures do the talking...

Other than the less-than-desirable time spent waiting in line/crowds/bunches, the hot air balloon experience was still pretty cool!  Probably won't do it again, but now at least we can say we have! :)

After a nap, shower, a tasty lunch from our favorite local place, and a parade that never happened, Kelly and I ventured down to the festival (for information about that, please see this post)

First off, could not have asked for a more perfect day: sunny, not too warm, nice breeze!! Usually when we go we just wander around, which we did.  But I saw a purse that I decided I could not live without (greedy, vain, I know.....), so after a hill-heavy walk to the nearest ATM, I bought the purse.  I was expecting to pay $15 but it was only $10!!!!!!!!!!!!! I left the booth feeling like I had just won the lottery! :D 

Today was an awesome day...good company, food (kettle corn...yummy!!), and a good deal! What more could a girl ask for? :)

"The purse" I decided I couldn't live without!

Kelly: A great day indeed. The only downfall is my stupid camera stopped working!!!!! ALL CAPS RAGE. grrr...will be investing in a new one before Colin and Brad show. All the better to take awesome pictures with! ^__^ Anyway, I think this day was a great beginning to almost nearing....midterms. AAAAHHHHH!!!! I know, it's so unbelievable, already this semester is off to a speeding start! I too also invested in a new purse. Before I talk about it, I must confess I am a huge sucker for handmade goods. Having recently started a handmade craft, the time and effort going into them is something you cannot put a price on. My craft of choice is bracelets, which I do take requests for at anytime. All I ask is for 4 colors and somewhere where I can send them :] Ok, enough of my shameless bracelet pitch, back to the purse. It's a quilted purse that was sewn together like a patchwork. It also came with a matching wallet, and it is just rock-on awesome. 25 bucks for the whole lot, now in my opinion I don't think that's bad at all!

I really don't know what else to talk about, except about the moth that flew and landed on my glasses! Before Holly had enough time to get her camera out, it flew away.  It was definitely one of those moments that I will think of forever because the odds are like 1 in a trillion that it will happen again. Still, definitely worthwhile and it made me happy. *big cheesy grin* Now that our fun day is over, sadly I now must depart and do some homework Groan. Well, that's what we get for being full-time students. Until next time, cheers!

Purse :D

Great picture. Great day

Spoonbread, spoonbread, we adore thee....not really

Kelly: My apologies if I go off on strange tangents, but I am sick. Have been since Wednesday. But I'm going to just take it easy and let whatever this is run its course. No, I do not need an antibiotic. Anyway, onto the purpose of this post. Tonight, here on Berea's campus kick started the annual Spoonbread Festival. It runs tonight till Sunday early evening. Now some of you are possibly wondering; well, what is spoonbread? I will tell you what it is and then I will tell you how I feel about it. Spoonbread resembles cornbread, except you...get it in a dish and eat it...with a spoon. So in layman's terms, mushy cornbread. And that's how I feel about it. Personally, I think the stuff is disgusting, and the only way I like it is if I put tons and tons of butter on it. So now not only is it disgusting but incredibly unhealthy. Bad cycle. So I just don't eat it. But here in Berea, there is an entire weekend festival all about this spoonbread. However, the festival itself is quite enjoyable; sis and I have attended at least one day out of the three years we have been here.

Tomorrow morning though, we are going on a mini adventure! During the festival, usually on the first full day, the day starts with a hot air balloon ride. Well, Holly and I have never been in a hot air balloon, so we're going to give it a try come tomorrow morning at 7:30. Stay tuned for that; we will probably post about it tomorrow! I'm actually really excited, despite my wee fear of heights/falling from up high.  Now I'm going to watch some Whose Line and laugh my butt off. Cheers!

Holly: Ah, Spoonbread.  My opinion of the liquefied cornbread is basically the same as Kelly's...well, the connotation of "liquefied cornbread" basically just explains my opinion! lol

The one thing I find amusing about the stuff is that locals absolutely despise it, but out-of-towners LOVE it.  Riddle me that.  Anywho, early morning hot air balloon ride tomorrow is sure to be an experience, but I'm actually pretty pumped about it, considering Kelly and I decided to go for it somewhat on a whim.  No, seriously, the extent of the conversation was something like "Hey, there's going to be hot air balloons, want to go?" "Sure."  End of story.

I shall now participate in some great and fantastic humor-watching laughs of Whose Line.  Never gets old.

blessings! <3

P.S. Is it possible to be overtly excited about...well, anything, really?? No.  Ok, well, here it goes:

NINE. MORE. WEEKS. Until Colin and Brad Show hits up EKU! Kelly and I are beside ourselves with excitement!