Welcome to our new home!

Holly: Hey everyone, it's just me today! Kelly is currently day 5 into a 10 day mission trip in Huancayo, Peru! She will tell you all about it once she returns.

I'm on my lunch break right now, and since taking a break outside really isn't much of an option thanks to all the bloody rain we got last night/this morning, I figured I would share a few pictures of our new place. Aside from having to come home to just myself and the kitties every night for the past almost week, I am quite pleased.  We think it's an older building, and it has a few quirks, but again, I am pleased! The location is very ideal- I can make it to work in just under 20 minutes, same will be for Kelly too. It's about 5 minutes away from the first Richmond exit off the interstate, which is where a lot of our Richmond favorites are located.  A little more than 5 minutes the other way, and you're in downtown! We're pretty fortunate! :) Plus, it's QUIET, and it's a beautiful neighborhood! I've been there almost a week and haven't heard a peep from our neighbor, and the only other noise is perhaps a few late-night rabble rousers out hooting and hollering, but that is it! Now if the cats would stop getting into stuff in the middle of the night, I'd be golden.  The unpacking process has been slow, but it'll get done when it gets done.  It's liveable right now, which was my goal from the start.

Anyway, onto the very brief tour.  More pictures to come once more gets unpacked and put away! :)

This is the living room as of Monday evening, so barely 48 hours after everything had been moved in. It's a little small, but it's cozy. This is the view from the bottom of the stairs that lead upstairs.

Living room as of yesterday! A bit more has been unpacked, but not too much has changed, with the exception of some Time Lords and hobbits on the wall :) Notice my two helpers completely unaware they're getting photographed.

Living room from the kitchen view. This still isn't all of it.  Again, small, but cozy.

The kitchen, which is the perfect size, honestly. I was not sold on the border at first but now it's growing on me. I love the cabinet colors too!

The bedrooms aren't pictured yet; there's 2, and they're HUGE. They're also still full of packed-up stuff, so stay tuned! There's also a little patio space (currently occupied with empty boxes and totes), and a little side yard.

So there you have it, folks, our new little humble home! God gave us what we need, even if it isn't necessarily what we wanted at first! In the long run, we'll be saving money, which is always a good thing, and we hope to have people over soon.  If you would like our new address, let me know :)

A Richmond chapter begins

Disclaimer: There is a lot of talk about God in this post.  We believe we can ONLY give the credit to Him! Once you read this, you will see why. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to speak to us privately about them.  Otherwise, enjoy the story, and if you feel inspired, praise with us! :)

H: Wednesday we found out that moving into the house was no longer an option, without any real concrete explanation.  Disappointed and frustrated didn't even begin to scratch the surface as to how we felt.  I wrote in my journal for a long time, pouring out my frustrations and anger to God.  Yes, I was angry.  I don't like being angry, and I even apologized.  There was no holding anything back.  At one point I wrote, "I've learned in the journey of becoming a follower of Jesus is that we still have an obligation to show Your love, even if we don't feel like it."  Quite frankly, I didn't feel like it.  We had spent the last two months praying, putting our faith in people following through, only to be left empty-handed and disappointed.  I went to bed unhappy that night, utterly defeated and spent.  I'm surprised I got any sleep at all.

Kelly was due to come home from Ohio Thursday, so I shared with our house church members that we would not be there, so we could spend the evening catching up, relaxing, and discussing our next steps.  But what I didn't mention was that Thursday morning, I heard that still small voice, something, in my gut say, "You shouldn't go to church tonight."  I couldn't explain it.  (That was the first God moment, although I didn't know it at the time)

We went out for Chinese and we'd barely been home five minutes when Kelly got a Facebook message from a co-worker of hers, saying she had spoken to somebody about a duplex available in Richmond (God moment #2). On the phone, she said that a couple was going to look at it the next day, and asked if we could look at it that evening.  We dropped everything and drove up there.  Yes, it was that split-second of a decision! We had no trouble finding the apartment and were immediately taken to the location and the quietness of the neighborhood, despite it being right off the interstate.  Kelly's co-worker arrived a few minutes later and we asked how she knew the landlord.  This was her response (another God moment):

"Oh, I just talked to her on the phone just now.  I've never met her before.  I was just driving through here and I saw the sign out front, and I thought 'This is for Kelly. I want her to be in a safe neighborhood.'"

We were like ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME.

Jennifer, the landlord, arrived a few minutes later.  In addition to her infectious personality, she mentioned that a police officer lives down the street and that her niece works at the preschool nearby (Remember the talk about a safe neighborhood?) We helped ourselves to looking around, and, admittedly, it is a downgrade in terms of size and space, but we've learned over the last year that we've had too much space.  The rent is more than $100 LESS than what we're paying now, and the place was near immaculate, there was new carpet, a small patio outside, plenty of parking, a washer and dryer hooked up (!!!), and, most importantly, Yoda and Wiley are welcome! :) Needless to say, it was not a difficult decision.  By the end of the night, a key was given to us and we had signed the lease!

The drive home was a combination of a daze and utter exuberance. God had shown up! Big time.  If we had gone to church, we would have missed the Facebook message and, ultimately, the phone call, the apartment would have been shown tonight and probably taken, and we would still be stuck waiting until the end of next month.  But now, there is no more waiting, and we have a cute new duplex in Richmond waiting for us.  All thanks to God!

K: While reading this, I thought of Holly. Gave up a UK, full-time benefited job for what she does now for the sake of being happier and less stressed out. I also think about getting my first job; that moment and time when I was just ready to give up was when I got the magic phone call. That's what happened here last night; God gave us what we needed, not what we wanted. I remember so many times praying "God just get us this house. Just get us this house." I'm not going to say it was as if my prayers were falling on deaf ears, because I don't believe that. Rather I just felt that this house we were seeking so hard for was just not going to happen. I always had this small notion in the back of my head that it was just going to not work out. Perhaps that was God's way of saying that He had something better for us. Because let's face it, the last thing we actually needed was MORE space and more money to be given for rent.

I truly believe that God talks and shows us what we need in a lot of mysterious yet awesome ways. I remember walking into that duplex and was like "this is it." That "aha!" moment. I don't believe in coincidence. I think coincidence is just one of the many ways God speaks to us. Though I can't hold claim to actually hearing His voice, I can hold to the fact that His fingerprints were ALL OVER THIS. There's really nothing more I need to add to this. It's all been said. We are excited to begin this new adventure and see where else He will take us. My ending is this; if you're waiting for something and feel like throwing in the towel, that's usually when a corner will turn. Sometimes it's not a good corner, but in our experience it usually is. Keep the faith, and remember that God is good.

Food, Cheer and Song

Kelly: So before I went to bed last night, I wrote a thing. It's kind of a long thing. Bear with me, for sometimes when God speaks, He speaks volume!

If more of us valued food, cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. 

Thorin Oakenshield utters those words to Bilbo as he takes his final breath. Prior to these words being spoken, a great battle took place in Middle Earth. But in this battle, no winner was declared. There were no victories to be celebrated. And this battle was over what? A pile of coins and perhaps a teeny bit of redemption. How often do we do this in our own life? Fight over and sometimes for things that in the end leave us with nothing? I know I have many times before, and like Thorin, I'm questioning my choices to God, because others like Bilbo along the way have showed me how much greatness God has given me. God promises us food that will never leave us hungry! In His word, constantly, all the time. His word is always there and we can go to it anytime and our hunger won't return void. It's never ending food, full of promises from THE ultimate Provider.

Philippians 4:4 says to rejoice in the Lord always. God has given you and me plenty, and over and over He has proved to me just how worthy He is. Like Gandalf says to Bilbo near the end of their journey "for you are one small hobbit in a wide world." Bilbo's response is "thank goodness!" That's exactly how I feel. I am so humbled by His grace and grateful that He is God and I am not. Thank goodness that God knows exactly what He is doing, because if it were just me on my own, I don't even know. There is absolutely no way all that has occurred in my life is mere random chance. Absolutely no way. It's God and God alone, because to me nothing else makes sense. So I have no choice but to thank Him for all He has done for me and will continue to do for me, because I sure as heck don't deserve it.

Psalm 100 says to shout for joy to the LORD all the Earth, and to worship the Lord with gladness. We are to enter his praises with thanksgiving. I've had people say to me they know I am a Christian and admire me for the way I handle certain situations. And I say it's not me; it's God in me. The way I see it is this; I can hold onto all my junk that comes my way, be angry, swing at anything that moves and hoard all my anger, frustration, bitterness, whatever, just like Thorin did with his gold. He refused to part with it, even though he promised to share in the wealth. And look what happened! He went nuts! He doubted himself, his mind, and even his own family. He reached a point where nothing or no one could be trusted, even himself. It's not easy sometimes, but instead I resound to do my best to lay it all down to God's feet and let Him deal with it. Because we can't carry all our junk to Heaven anyway, so why not do our best to just let it go? Trust me, I'm writing this for myself as much as I am to anyone who reads this. We are called to store our treasures in jars of clay so they don't collect dust or moth balls, and that we don't end up like Thorin. What treasures do you have in jars of clay? What do I have? What would you like to have stored that would please God?

These words are what Tolkien's work has done to me. Exploring hidden theology in a movie or book by digging deeper into Scripture and examining my own walk with God. I think that God wires us to like what we like. Seriously. And there are foundational reasons for our likes, but I think in everything there's perhaps something a bit deeper as well. And I think it's true when they say God is in all things; all we have to do is let Him in to all of our things. Even our love for Bilbo's adventures.

The Car Wash Guy

Holly: Today I'm going to share a simple reminder of trying to find the joy in life.  Because, let's face it, we all ride that struggle bus sometimes.

Every day on my way home from work I drive past a fairly busy intersection in Lexington- for those of you who may be familiar, it's Richmond Road/New Circle.  A few days a week, there is a man who stands under the New Circle overpass, and he wears a sign advertising for a nearby car wash.  He is so animated, with the biggest smile on his face, that you just can't help but smile, honk your horn and wave yourself.  Like I said, he's there a few days a week, but not every day.  One particular day I was just struck with this thought: here is a man, who is wearing this big bulky sign, and he stands and waves at traffic for hours and hours and hours, day in and day out.  I've seen him when it's been 90+ outside, I've seen him in the rain, I saw him during the RIDICULOUS cold.  And yet, he's always smiling.  Always.  I can't imagine that would be the most stimulating and glamorous of jobs, but yet there he is, always smiling.

Admittedly, life is not easy.  That's just the reality of it.  But something I've learned over the years being on my own is that we really don't have it as bad off as we think we do.  Sometimes we just get SO bent out of shape over what someone says, what someone does, traffic issues, and for what?  Hey, I struggle with this myself...still.  I truly believe we are called to be spreaders of joy and life, and you just can't do that when you're all bankjbhakljdhfbaw over some silly little thing (Sorry to burst your bubble, but sometimes we just need to get over ourselves, am I right?).  Now that doesn't mean that you have to be happy-go-lucky-ray-of-sunshine-puppies-and-rainbows-24/7-even-when-life-stinks-out-loud.  No.  It's ok to be frustrated.  But sometimes, you just have to put on your big old car wash sign and just SMILE.

Kelly: So much we could learn from this guy. Seriously. Here's a man, literally doing the job nobody else wants to do, but he's doing it without complaining. Perhaps he's complaining on the inside, but that's not what we see. How often do we complain about things in our life? About our jobs? About what's going on in the world? I know I complain, sadly, about my job a lot, mostly about things I have no control over whatsoever. But the thing is, I can change my attitude about the situation. We live in a world full of choices, and if your day sucks and there seems to be no way out, there's a choice of how we can exercise that. If I come home after a long day and the kitchen is a mess, there's shoes and stuff all over the floor and the cats are running around like some of my patients off their meds, I can choose how to react. I can be really pissed off and yell at the cats and leave some sort of passive aggressive note on the counter or text message to Holly for not cleaning up the kitchen, or....I can calmly tell the cats to please stop acting like idiots, clean up the kitchen and the stuff on the floor. Again, full of choices. Or if we have a crappy day, we can either be bitter and fume about it all day or just let it go.

I'm not saying it's not ok to ever be angry, frustrated, wigging out, whatever, because it is. It's going to happen. But we can always choose to not be angry, frustrated or wig out. We can take it how it comes, and like the car wash guy, just smile. Hey, I'm saying all of this just as much for myself as I am for anybody out there who may read this. Something I try to remember when I'm angry or frustrated about something is this; is this a bad day or just a bad moment? Is this situation/person/whatever really going to ruin my entire day? Yes, we will have days where we're sweating and running around like mad with no end in sight, and some days it will be cold and gray. Just remember though that there might be a guy in Lexington with his car wash sign, standing there with a big smile on his face. Yeah, he's there because he has to be, but nobody asks him to smile and be friendly I'm sure; I'm sure he just DOES that. If he can smile through any weather, so can we. So can I.

A break from Who: E-Town Wedding Weekend Adventure

Holly: We are taking a short break from our Doctor Who challenge, mostly for two reasons: 1. because we are dinguses and picked a really, really bad month to do a 30 day challenge, hence the reason why we are so flipping behind, and 2. because we wanted to share the tale of the awesome weekend we had.  We will resume our challenge starting tomorrow.

Yesterday morning Kelly and I woke up semi-earlyish and traveled to Elizabethtown, in the midst of some spotty rain and some fairly windy roads.  The occasion: a wedding that we've known about for quite some time now.  The bride is a friend of ours from Berea, and she worked with Kelly for a while at the Learning Center.  We weren't sure of the goings on in E-town, as known by Kentucky folk, so we left early and arrived at our hotel at about 11.  The wedding wasn't until 2:30.  Our first eyebrow-raiser is that we did not have cell phone service.  ANYWHERE.  Naturally, we needed something to do for a few hours, so we asked the front desk for a mall or something in which to occupy ourselves.  En route to said mall we found a Goodwill, so needless to say, we stopped.  Pretty rockin' Goodwill if I do say so myself.

We got to the mall and Kelly took it upon herself to try to find an outlet so she could plug in her cell phone and try to find where we were going, since, at this point, we still did not have cell phone service (it wouldn't be until just outside of Danville coming home that we finally got back in range).  We ate at an Italian express place and then shopped around for a bit.  Pretty decent mall; nothing like Fayette, but it got the job done and we enjoyed ourselves despite our lack of contact with the outside world.

Kelly: I will continue this story. After we left the mall we decided to make our way to the church, after writing down directions on how to get there. We were on this main stretch of road and the directions told us to go on a bypass, so we found one and were like "uh...is this the right one?" We went on it, not really knowing if it was the right one, but after about a mile or two we started seeing signs for where we were supposed to go. Not going to lie, we were pretty amazed. So then we arrived at the church, watched the wedding, celebrated and then decided to check into our hotel. We checked into our hotel, which was a very lovely Best Western in Elizabethtown (the wedding was in a small town outside of the city) and went from our hotel to the reception. Unbeknownst to me at this point, I left my wallet in our hotel room. The wedding and reception were very lovely and we had a blast at the reception! Lots of good food, a TARDIS cake and lots of dancing. We're still sore from yesterday, needless to say. It was then I realized I left my wallet at the hotel and was worried that I left it at the desk when I checked in. We stayed at the reception until about 7PM, then decided to go to Target and malinger around. We got back to the hotel around 8 that evening and relaxed in the hotel, watched Big Bang Theory and got milkshakes from Wendy's.

This morning we woke up in our hotel, had breakfast and left around 10:15 this morning. While we were driving yesterday it dawned on one of us that we should stop in Danville on the way home to poke around. So we did. It was a lovely day today, a bit warm, but a nice breeze and the sun was out. We walked around Centre's campus, had lunch at a local coffee joint and enjoyed the nice day. We've been home since 2 this afternoon and are still reeling from this really fun and awesome weekend. I don't think either of us are ready to go back to work tomorrow. I like living here in Berea; I love my church, my friends and my job but sometimes it's nice to just get away, especially since we haven't really had the chance to in a while. We always enjoy our getaways when we get them, and this one was no exception.

Post day-in-the-car, post mall trip, post realization-of-no-cell-phone-service, post more-driving, exasperated that we actually made it to the church and actually made it ON TIME! 

A prayer for the new family :)

"You may now kiss the bride." 

The best groom's cake in the history of groom's cakes

Us and the blushing bride.  Apologies for the grossness; we had all just finished dancing like mad :)

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

Holly and Kelly: We go sledding.

Happy (belated) birthday blog!!!!

Holly: Ladies and germs, we are totally stoked to announce that yesterday (August 20th...we're a day late, ya know.  Jobs and stuff) was the 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAUNCH OF THIS BLOG!!!!!!!! :D *insert cheesy applause*

It still amazes me that it's still going strong.  We recently launched it on Facebook and, personally, I love sharing our posts there.  Facebook is a great platform.  But once again, we're not concerned about how many followers we have, how many comments we get- we just love writing and sharing life with people.  So if you like what you read, great.  If you want to leave a comment, great.  If not, we're going to keep writing, even if we just keep writing into nothingness.  

Life has changed for me so much in just the past month alone that I simply am beyond eager to see where this time next year will bring me.  I thank God every day for what I have.  I dearly appreciate all of you who do follow along with us on this crazy journey called life.  So keep having your coffee dates, keep seeking the joy in your life, keep praying, keep having faith, keep laughing, smiling, breathing, living! :)

Kelly: In 2 year's time, we both have graduated from college, moved twice, met Colin and Brad, got into Lord of the Rings and Sherlock, went through 3 roommates, adopted two cats, lost a friend (not by death but by other choices), lost our Grandpa, had a slew of jobs and downfalls and now have landed full-time (well...sort of for me) jobs and a lot of goodies in between.

WOW!!!!

It's surreal and amazing at how fast the time goes. Really. It's incredible! Like Holly said, we've done this for the last two years not to get "fans" or likes, to gain readers as fast as we can or ask for a slew of comments and shares. No. We do this for us and all of you! It has been our goal for us to discuss a topic so that someone out there can read it and say "yes! I've been there" or "well, not exactly, but this is what I think about it." The comments, views, shares and likes don't matter to us at all! I must say, it has been a blast looking back what has gone on in our lives the past 2 years. The growths, challenges and developments we have gained has been nothing other. We are humbled and blessed that there are many of you going on this journey with us! Thank you all so much for ANOTHER year! Here's to two more and many to come!

August 2011: Taken shortly after publishing our very first post.

August 2012: Taken one year exactly after the publication of our very first post.

August 2013: Taken 2 years and one day exactly after publication of first post.  We look sleepy :]

30 Days of Sherlock: Free for all #3

Kelly: Ya'll, I am so freaking tired it's not even funny. I started the paperwork for my new job today (!!!!) and ended up driving across town to get my new employee physical/drug test done too. Waited at work for 30 minutes, spent 20 minutes doing paperwork, drove 5 mins to the urgent care center, waited OVER AN HOUR to get my physical done, then left. I. AM. TIRED. I can't even think right now, like seriously. So please enjoy this picture.

Holly: I have no job-related complaints.  It's just hot out.  And humid.  Really really humid.

Kelly: Apparently Holly really likes the above picture. :) 

30 Days of Sherlock: Free-for-all #2

Holly and Kelly: This just in fresh from Peter Jackson's Facebook page this morning.  Needless to say, we could not resist sharing.  Have a happy Friday and weekend to all! :)

30 Days of Sherlock: A picture that makes you go :D

Kelly: This entirely sums up Sherlock. In a nutshell. Plus, this scene sequence in Belgravia is my favorite dialogue in the entire series! It's silly, ridiculous and hilarious. It just goes to show you that even though Sherlock is indeed brilliant, he has his Honey Badger moments. You also get to see a bit more of the brotherly relationship between Sherlock and Mycroft. When I first saw this I was like that is SO me and Holly!!!

Holly: Yes, that's really what it says in the description.  I like this picture.

From what I remember about it (I found it on Pinterest), this was taken from the Sherlock set.  I like this picture because they look so chill.  They look like more than just co-actors on a show; they look like friends.  Plus, Martin Freeman has coffee and I like that too.

A true Berea gem

Holly: I'm actually getting a little sad writing this.  Tillie really is one of a kind.

We first met Tillie our junior year at Berea.  Of course we had heard about her: she was the dog that would come hiking with you at the Pinnacles (random side note, if any of you non-Berean readers ever find yourself in this charming little town, you must explore the Pinnacles; they really are extraordinary).  While she did not accompany us on our hike, I remember her quiet, gentle presence on the grounds, taking drinks from student's water cups, laying patiently as she was swarmed with children.

We've seen her a few times since then, and nothing has changed.  Unfortunately, her time on earth is coming to an end.  The entire community is rallying around her.  It's amazing how one dog that was just a grungy, skuzzy stray has charmed her way into thousands of hearts.  I'm sure her spirit will live on in those mountains and woods.  Kelly and I are hoping to make one last pilgrimage to pay homage to this special creature.  She is an angel, in my not so humble opinion.  Or perhaps a guardian.  Or both.

Kelly: When I was last up there, which was in March, she did not accompany us. However, when I was there in October, I noticed she had found her way up the mountain with a small group. Only once did she actually accompany me while I was on a hike; that was my junior year. I was on the college's orientation team and was with some freshmen hiking up the Pinnacles. Most of them opted for the more demanding and steeper West Pinnacle; I chose East. But before we split and departed, I managed to capture this shot. Tillie opted to follow the West group, but I remember it being particularly warm that day. She was a bit thirsty and soon made a new friend.

I don't know if I'll ever see this beautiful creature again. I hope I get the chance to. But I hope that her owners realize number one, how lucky they were to have her for as long as they did. And number two, I hope they realize how lucky we were to have her as well. At the bottom of this post I have attached a news link from one of the local TV stations. Enjoy. 

Took this in October. She took a snooze after I gave her a cup of water. 

People make Pilgramage for one last hike with dog

We're saaaaaaailing....to yard sales!!!

Kelly: In the past week, Holly and I have been to at least a dozen yard sales! Our quest: porch furniture! We have had no luck thus far, but we've managed to snag some pretty good deals along our journey. It was my idea to go yard saling this morning, so we packed up around 10:45 this morning and got home about 20 minutes ago (it's 5 after 3 according to my computer clock). Plus we were bored and needed something to do; our trip also involved a sudden need to venture to the laundromat for some last-minute laundry doing. (If anyone would like to help us hook up our VERY HEAVY washer that is currently sitting in our garage so we don't have to keep shelling out copious amounts of quarters...not that we mind...but yeah, please let Holly or myself know). I don't want to waste any more space, so here's some pics of some of the deals we found!

Holly: 

A lovely GE hand/stand mixer.  Needs new beaters, but I'm sure we can find some.  Isn't it awesome? Can't wait to bake yummy goodies with it! :D

ALL of the Narnia novels in one book! 

Two skirts (left and middle) and a dress.  The skirt Yoda is sitting on is from Gap! 

Do any of you yard-sale? If you've found any smashing deals, let us know! :D

30 Days of Writing: How you hope your future will be like

Kelly: To be honest, I don't know. I mean, God holds my future in His hands, so I'm going to just let Him decide where He wants me to be and what He wants me to do! I hope that I will still be maintaining my healthy eating/walking habits and will hopefully someday have a place of my own to call home...not that I mind living with sis now! ^_^ I hope that I will be happy with someone eventually, I just don't know who he is yet and when I'll meet him or where I'll meet him. I hope to have a dog, yes. A dog is a must. Other than that, who knows? I just want to be working as a nurse, loving God, loving on some sick people and happy with my life. I'm not picky!

Holly: Still striving and continuing to live like Jesus!  Being called "mommy" and "wife" (although I'm still YEARS away from that, trust me on this one).  Doing work in my field that I enjoy doing (although I love my job right now), or working for my alma mater in some capacity.  Adopting some critters from a shelter.  Having my own place to call home (although my home can't get much better than this right now).  Becoming more active in my church.  Sticking with my healthy habits.  Still keeping in touch with old friends (Skype is a wonderful thing).  Traveling, hopefully overseas again.  Reading.  Definitely need to read more! :)

30 Days of Writing- First 10 songs on shuffle

Kelly: 
1. Love (with Watoto Children's Choir)-Chris Tomlin
2. The Universal-The Royal Philharmonic
3. Solsbury Hill-Vitamin String Quartet
4. Anywhere Is-Enya
5. Fountain of Youth-4HIM
6. That's When The Angels Rejoice-The Penny Loafers (!!!)
7. These Are the Days-Sugarland
8. Shine-Newsboys (!!!!!)
9. Dreaming of Bag End-Howard Shore (Yes....I have The Hobbit soundtrack on my iPod)
10. Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)-Chris Tomlin

Holly: 
1. My Hope is in You- Aaron Shust
2. Be Thou Near to Me- Selah
3. Eight Days a Week- The Beatles
4. Freedom- Michael W. Smith
5. Your Love- Brandon Heath
6. Remind Me Who I Am- Jason Gray
7. The Captain- Kasey Chambers
8. I Have a Hope- Tommy Walker
9. Only You- Yaz
10. Here Goes- Bebo Norman

Little bit o' errythang! :P

30 Days of Writing: Your views on mainstream music

Kelly: For the most part, I don't listen to mainstream music anymore. It's not what it used to be, and to be honest 99.9% of the time I find it disgusting to listen to. I can barely get through a mainstream radio station without lyrics involving sex, taking clothes off, "bumping a ho" or whatever. HACK!!! And then the rest of it I find to be just obnoxious. Yet this is what young children are "into" these days; as for me I like K-LOVE and Air1. Much safer and definitely friendlier on the ears! :)

When I think about the type of music I listened to while growing up, I think about what my dad would play. Bob Marley, Dire Straits, Steve Miller Band, all those. Then of course I listened to N'SYNC and Backstreet Boys as a kid. And now? Now we've got "Beliebers," Nicki Minaj (uh...REALLY?!) and in my opinion just really gross and distasteful music. It makes me wonder why this paradigm shift of music has occurred. Who started it?!

Holly: In general, I'm not a fan.  Granted, I do work at Old Navy and hear the same obnoxious pop music about 389230 times a week, so it's hard for it not to get stuck in your head.  I do have a playlist on Spotify with music such as this; call it a "guilty pleasure", if you will.  But most of what we hear now on the radio is either screechy (as my mom would say), involves artists that do nothing but autotune themselves, nothing but the same words over and over and over again, has so much bass that you practically go deaf, or every word is "eff this", n-word that, ho this, "bumpin' and grindin'"....I mean, KIDS listen to this stuff!  I'm horrified by some of the stuff I hear on mainstream stations.  Horrified.

I prefer to listen to Christian music.  And no, it's not just because I'm a Christian, although that is a part of it. I prefer it because it's uplifting, it's encouraging, it makes me happy and want to sing along to praise God...it's a booster shot, if you will.  :)  Now don't get me wrong, I do have some mainstream stuff on my iPod, but in general, I will listen to Christian music.  Or acoustic-y, guitar-y, pretty stuff.  Give me Mumford and Sons or Chris Tomlin any day of the week!

"Dwarf" Invasion

Holly and Kelly: We are still deep in the trenches of the Hobbit fandemonium, so imagine our utter giddiness when we stumbled across this gem of musical happiness.  If it doesn't make you laugh (which it does for us, on many occasions) then we hope it will, at the very least, bring a smile to your face.

The band is from Wellington, NZ, by the way.

Top Ten Tunage

Holly: So Kelly and I were inspired by this:

http://twopaddocks.com/team-tunes.shtml#BenedictCumberbatch

Yes, it's Mr. C.  Sue us.  But we were browsing through the rest of the lists and we just kept thinking, what would be OUR top ten songs??  So here they are (these are in no particular order):

1. Who You Are- Unspoken
I first heard this song on a radio station I don't normally listen to, and the words just really spoke to me.  It just resonated with me that no matter how far gone you go, God is still there.

2. Holland Road- Mumford and Sons
Ok, essentially ANYTHING by them is good, just very recently got into them and love their music, their instrumentation, etc.  But the rhythms and driving melody is just...aah!  My ears are happy.  And the words are really powerful.

3. Can't Stop Loving You- Phil Collins
Like Mumford, I'm a huge Phil Collins fan.  HUGE.  It's very hard to find a song by him that I don't like.  But this is just one of the most beautiful love songs in existence, in my opinion.  If I ever get married I will play this song.

4. Solsbury Hill- Peter Gabriel
Just makes me think about life, memories, good times.

5. River- Enya
I listen to this if I can't think of anything to listen to.  Beautiful music.

6. No Not One- Brandon Heath
Probably one of my favorite songs ever.  Great reminder of God and His love and power.

7. Tonight is the Night- Outasight
Don't judge.  Makes me want to dance.

8. Ticket to Ride- The Beatles
Catchy.

9. Hide- Scott Grimes
Yes, Dr. Morris on ER can sing.  And he does it well.

10. Into the West- Annie Lennox
Still gives me chills to this day.  Hauntingly beautiful.

Kelly: (my list changes daily. I love all kinds of music)

1. Caledonia-Celtic Woman. 
I first heard this song when I was in the Highlands last summer in Scotland. It's a beautiful song about making a return journey home. There are many versions of this song; I just like Celtic Woman's the best :]

2. Broken Crown-Mumford & Sons
There are a few explicit words in this song, but a friend of mine pointed out how much passion there is in it. There really is. Just listen to the words. And the music is terrific too

3. The Memory of Trees-Enya
This song...is so beautiful. I love a lot of Enya's work, but after a long day this song is so relaxing.

4. One Thing Remains-Kristian Stanfill
Just a reminder that God's love is always with us. It never fails, never gives up, and it never runs out. Power! What power! Currently playing on repeat

5. All This Time-Britt Nicole
I call this my theme song. For real. Sometimes I forget that God has been there walking beside me through the hard times. And He still is!

6. Voice in the Wilderness-David Nevue
Found this song through Pandora. It's gorgeous! I love calm piano music, mostly hymns.

7. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)-The Proclaimers
I just always want to get up and start dancing when I hear this song. I play it after I get something done and want to celebrate. Plus, they're twins...from Scotland! :D

8. Joy to the World-Hillsong
Yes, yes. I know it's a Christmas song. But it's my favorite arrangement of said song. Take a listen.

9. Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da: The Beatles
Because it's awesome. That's why!

10. Free-Dara Maclean. 
Another whoop whoop song! Just got introduced to this not too long ago. Such true words! Great for walking early in the morning. :]

Let us know what you like or what you like on this list! Cheers!

Tips for being happy, healthy and wholesome!

Holly and Kelly: It never fails that over and over again we get asked how we maintain a positive attitude. If you know us, you notice that we are usually have very bubbly personalities. Sure we get angry, sad and stressed and we don't automatically dismiss them when those emotions come along. Our personalities have often been described as "contagious." The secret to how?  We have compiled a list of "how Holly and Kelly carry their contagious positive attitudes" on a seemingly daily basis. Now we are not robots. Some of these things are harder/easier than some, and we fall constantly in one or more of these things. But we're really trying to make an effort.

Take intiative. Take a chance. Sometimes that means you have to pick up the slack. I struggle with this a lot, especially at my job. There's a pile, no...a MOUNTAIN of dirty dishes in the sink. Nobody is assigned to clean the kitchen at my job; we have an honor system...that usually works. Sometimes it crashes and burns. But what do you do? Leave someone else to do it? Assume someone else will take care of it? Yeah I do that sometimes. But other times I just do it myself. Then you always feel better when it's done.

ASK for help when you need it. Face to face! This simple truth took me 9 semesters of college to reach. It's a pride thing, for sure. Since I've taken this 100 level Biology class, I've learned more by going outside of class and talking things over that I don't understand. It makes me more confident. And confidence=happiness.

Make a plan and stick with it. Seriously. What I've been doing in regards of school work is writing weekly to-do lists and crossing things off as I finish. I wish I would have done this last year during my hardest year of school. But better late than never. Also, Holly and I are planning on returning to Europe in 2015 (our 25th birthday European hullabaloo). We've ALREADY started planning....like little stupid things. But hey. Little stupid things turn into great big things if you keep building on them!

Pray. Constantly. Not just for the bad things but praise for the good. And be honest with God. You ain't going to hurt His feelings! If you're happy, tell Him. If you're pissed off, tell Him. If you're unsure about what He's doing in your life, tell Him. I feel like God was real with us when He sent His son Jesus to die for us; I feel it's the least we can do.

Pace yourself. This is the one who tries to do 666634513049852341452345819574 things on a daily basis. It's so easy to get caught up in this, that the other and XYZ and heeeey macarena that you're on the floor at the end of the day collapsed with exhaustion. This holds true for me with my ankle problems; i INSIST that I can do all the things! I have to remind myself that sometimes I have to take a step back, slow down and just take a break. I relate this also to academia; I'm slow. Not a slow reader, but slow as in the MASTER PROCRASTINATOR. So like my weekly to-do lists, I also write to start something earlier than its due. Saves me a lot of cramming and disappointment when I get that paper back that I worked on the night before and see how crappy it really is. Been there, done that. Not doing it anymore.

Say "no" sometimes. And this is hard. This is really hard because I am such a people person and I love hanging out with others and having fun. My friends mean the world to me and I love spending time with them.  But if you know you have something due or if you're just too busy, you may not get to do those fun things. Or if you don't have the MONEY to do those fun things because you've got those bills due that aren't going to go away. Ever. This has been especially hard for us this year since we're on our own now, but it gets easier. It does.

Don't settle for anything less than your best in ALL areas of your life. Yes, this means I've had to be ok with "D's" sometimes because I walked out of there knowing I did my best. I always tell people "yeah I'm not a straight A student and I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. But you bet your bottom dollar I will work SO HARD and will never give you anything less than 110%." Easier said than done, but the outcomes definitely outweigh all the tears and blood spilled to get to those outcomes.

Be open minded. I really don't think I need to go into any more detail.

TRY!!!!! When we were younger, our mom would always make us trying food before we decided we didn't like it. And we have kept that same mentality now that we are in our 20's. You never know unless you try. Sure your photograph didn't win the contest. Doesn't mean you should stop photographing. Giving up and quitting has never done any good for me. If I had given up my dream of going to Berea, I'd be probably still living at home going to a local college. And I'd be miserable. If I hadn't listened to my friend when she gave me the GlobaLinks catalog, I NEVER would have discovered Scotland. What's the worst that can happen?  Or be like me (Holly) and take that crazy risk and be a Mary Kay consultant!!! I've only been going at it a week and I have SO MANY ideas and so much support and I can't wait to see what God is going to do with this thing that I have now.

See people. I like faces. I have fostered some of the best relationships here at Berea simply by putting myself out there. Going to a new church with a new denomination. Going abroad. Being AT Berea exposes you to so many different people, and I hid most of my freshmen year because I wasn't used to well...everyone being all up in your business. Then I realized that not all people want to be all up in your business; they just want to love you and they want you to do the same.

Act and don't just speak. We have based this largely on our new healthy habits plan. For years we would tell  ourselves "we should eat healthier" or "let's try this exercising thing" or whatever. We would try those new habits and new exercises for a while, then slowly slip back into our old routines. Finally, this May, we made it simpler and made goals more attainable. The results have spoken VOLUME. We feel better, we're not as tired during the day, we have more energy, our clothes are fitting looser, and we hold each other accountable and keep each other on track. And we don't get bent out of shape if we slip; we get back up and start trying.

Fake it. This is similar to just trying. Some of the times when you see me and I'm happy and bubbly that does not mean I woke up that way. I used to be miss crabby face when I would get up in the morning, but I faked being happy and cheerful. And eventually me faking be happy and cheerful turned me into a happy cheerful person. This happened in BME a lot when our fearless leader would say if we didn't feel like singing or worshipping, fake it. Eventually you just would get lost in the music and let God open up your mind and heart that you would really feel it and let Him in. If I wake up in the morning and I'm tired or grumpy for some reason, I just tell myself: "I do not have to feel this way. It is not going to do me any good to be a Debby downer for the rest of the day. I am going to at least TRY to smile and be happy." Then I pray. It is amazing that when I try this how I change from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. Friends, this isn't always easy. In fact, it's never easy. But it is worth it.

Get up and MOVE every once in a while.  Kelly and I do something that EVERY SINGLE PERSON should know how to do (unless you're a baby): walk.  We walk.  Every day.  Not for long, but still, it's something, it's exercise, it's our time to talk and catch up and just connect with the outside world and nature and God.  If you're on a track to lose weight it is absolutely imperative that you exercise!!! Changing your diet alone does not work! (Trust me, we've tried).  And Kelly and I don't even need to lose weight, we're just simply trying to be healthier.  If you're physically healthy, then all the other "healths" will be strengthened too.

Take a break.  I made a New Year's Resolution back when I was still in school that when times got stressful, break out into bad dancing.  Obnoxious pop music optional.  Sometimes while I'm cooking, or at work standing in the hallway with a dog, or just sitting in the living room I blast loud music and just start dancing and acting stupid.  It's a great release! (Kind of goes hand in hand with getting up and moving.....).  Sometimes you just have to break down your barriers and walls and just act stupid with no regards.  We shouldn't take ourselves too seriously!

Well there you have it. Secret's out!  It ain't rocket science.

Happiness and Joy: trying to reclaim them both.

Kelly: Earlier today, Holly and I were driving to get our electric bill straightened out. Not to worry...just a wee bit of confusion, but all is well now. Anyway, while we were in the car, we started talking about church yesterday and the sermon. Though its entirety was quite excellent, there was one particular part about it that we talked about, which talked about reclaiming the joy in our lives. For me it required a bit of thinking: where is the joy in my life? What makes me happy?

So I started thinking about it. There are A LOT of things that make me happy, but the joy in life comes from having God in my life. This morning I woke up, still dead tired but I uttered half-asleep but half awake "God. Thank you that I woke up this morning to live another day." Simple. And despite hearing some rather frightening news, I've been ok. I got out of bed happier and was not grumpy today. At all. Not even a bit. Well...no. No I wasn't. And that was God. That was all God and nothing else. Now I'm not trying to preach, but it's really true. I think that finding joy in your life involves making choices. Some choices will be big, others just small and subtle. But if you really think about it, in my opinion it really isn't that hard. You can choose the minute you wake up what your attitude is going to be like. If you wake up grumpy and pissy, then you're going to be grumpy and pissy until either the day ends or you eventually snap out of it. Harsh truth, I know. I'm not trying to be harsh, just genuine. So anyway, there actually is a point to all of this. For me, I think about things or people that make me happy and focus on them. There's too much negativity in the world as it is, and I'm trying to not let the weight of it bring me down. So far I think it's working. And trust me, people DO notice. Sometimes not right away, but they do. I cannot tell you how many times people have told me that I am a joyful person. Someone once said Holly and I have "contagious" personalities...interpret that however you wish.

One of my favorite movies is "The Bucket List." If you have not seen it, please do. Anyway, one of the last spoken lines is actually a letter that was written. One of the lines read says this simple phrase: find the joy in your life. Simple? Yes, actually it is. Another favorite movie of mine is Amazing Grace. Again, definitely worth a look. One of my favorite parts in the entire movie is when William Wilberforce is sitting on the dewy grass in his backyard, despite the fact he has a busy day. Anyway, he's about to start a prayer when he is interrupted by his butler or cook. He asks if he's ok, and Wilberforce's response is this:
It's God. I have 10,000 engagements of state today but I would rather prefer to spend the day out here getting a wet arse, studying dandelions and marveling at...bloody spider's webs. His butler then replies "You found God?" Wilberforce replies "I think He found me." Joy. Joy from the simple things even if you have a crazy day ahead of you. My challenge for me is to let God find me so that I may get lost in the joy of life and the little things around me.

Holly: "My challenge for me is to let God find me so that I may get lost in the joy of life and the little things around me."  I could not have said that better myself.

It's suffice to say that Kelly and I have A LOT of apartment-related issues/things not getting taken care of.  Aka absolutely nothing to do with us and entirely out of our hands and control.  While on our short drive Kelly and I were debating on what we think the difference is between joy and happiness.  To me, happiness is sort of just a feeling.  Like I see stuff that makes me laugh, or a dog at work licks my arm...oh, that makes me happy.  But joy is more of a choice. I was saying that it's a choice...DESPITE all the ^%@#$%^& going on, I'm choosing to have joy because the joy of God is my strength.  I also gave us a new mindset challenge: to look at every day as if it is a miracle...because....if you really get down to the nitty-gritty of it, IT IS!!  Back at Berea when Kelly and I were in our gospel choir (we've blogged about it many times), our learless feader/phenomenal woman of God would always say that we have to look at each day as if it is precious, because somebody went to bed last night and didn't wake up to see the new day.  Somebody didn't wake up this morning.  Somebody didn't make it home from work this afternoon.  Some little kid didn't make it home from school.  That's just the sad reality of it.

Earlier today I learned that a dear friend, mentor, and mother figure of mine had a heart attack last night.  I had just spoken to her yesterday morning at church.  My heart stopped, and it made me realize that life is way too freaking short and precious to have a bad attitude all the time.  And it all comes back to joy.  And people do notice.  It sets you apart from everyone else.  You become a light in such a dark world, and people reach out for just a glimpse of that light.  Make sure to not burn it out!  

I have a challenge for you: Have joy.  Yes, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in your life, and I won't bore you with the details of mine.  But I urge you to look at each day, and thank God/whomever you thank.  Look to each sunrise and say "Thank you for a new day, a new start.  I'm still HERE!"  :)

We're still here.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."  -Thorin Oakenshield, "The Hobbit"

Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power

Kelly: Haters gonna hate, but love will overcome. This is very pertinent to the events of today. In the choir that sis and I are involved in, some words that were spoken have stirred some controversy. I admit, when I first heard what was spoken, I was offended. But, because like the negative comments that have been said, I was misunderstood. I can say proudly that I am not anymore. God was THERE yesterday, whether or not people accept that. He. was. THERE.

That being said, I am keeping my end very simple. I am not going to feed into these negative comments that have been said, or lack thereof. If there is a problem, I believe in facing it. I hope that these people who have been saying these negative comments no longer misunderstand us and what BME is about. But if not, I hope they at least know that God loves them, no matter what. And...I am finished.

Holly: Without beating a dead horse, I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said.  I don't think we've seen the end of this.  But I sincerely hope that our beloved BME choir will hold tight and strong to our mission, to our integrity, to the hope in the lives that we have changed.  I think that is stronger than the impact of any words.