Fear and joy and Christmas

Holly: Merry Christmas, dear readers! I hope that wherever you are in the world that your Christmas has been full of smiles, laughter, good food and family, and the comfort of memories that will keep you cheerful for weeks and months to come.

Kelly had to work today so I spent the better part of the day by myself with the kitties.  To be honest though, it wasn't bad. Life has been busy and full of people and merry gatherings lately, and it was nice to have the day to myself with some Doctor Who and making a small but nice Christmas dinner. Of course that I wish that we could be in Ohio with our family, but that's life: full of obligations and commitments that we sometimes can't ignore. I've been reading a lot of negative stuff on social media lately. People getting frustrated over little things, people worried about what others think of them, people complaining about their circumstances, their job they hate, their living situation they hate...I think you know what I'm talking about.

Guys, it's Christmas. And yes, I know that this day and this time of year tends to inherently bring out the best in others, but what I don't understand is why it's just these few days out of the year that we're somehow obligated to be nice to those around us. We, and especially we as Christians, ought to be spreading Christ's love and joy all the time, regardless of whether or not we "feel" like it. It's sometimes a challenge for me too, but I'm thankful for grace, and for those in my life who are struggling just like the rest of us.

I'm going to end by sharing something that I wrote on my Facebook earlier today:

While sis is at work today bringing Christmas cheer to those at her work who no doubt need it, today it's just me and the kitties celebrating the holiday. This is the second Christmas we've spent in Kentucky, and while I honestly wish we could be in Ohio with our parents and brother, I realize that there are those around the world, and even in our neighborhoods, who also are unable to be with their families today, but for circumstances much worse than the temporary "inconvenience" of a job. It's easy to lament our circumstances, our funks, and celebrate negativity. It's easy to let fear, frustration, and disappointment steal our joy. But today I choose just that: JOY! How can I not? Today I choose, as was the message at Vineyard last night, to celebrate! Today I celebrate not just the birth of Christ, but all the ways, the sometimes seemingly insignificant, ways that God has blessed me! And once you do that, well....to me, there's no more room for all that other negative stuff.

"O come, let us adore Him!"

Kelly: I just got off work actually. I was a bit saddened at first upon finding out I had to work at first, because I asked for it off and didn't get it. Oh well. I accepted it and realized it was something I wasn't able to change. And with the exception of nearly having to break up a fight at the end of my shift, it wasn't a bad day at all. It seemed like the Christmas spirit hit everyone today, which was a good thing. Not to mention I wore jeans and my TARDIS kitty shirt! And time and a half pay...holla! Last night was wonderful as well; spending the evening with friends, new friends, and children. It was a bit loud at times, but it reminded me of how loved I really am. The gestures were not big and grandiose by any means, just simply getting invited to Christmas Eve service and then dinner with our pastor and family. Nothing fancy, huh? Again, feeling the love. 

At church last night, one of the things that the pastor said was "do not let fear steal your joy." Fear....fear of what? What in the world are we all so afraid of? Sis and I were talking about this not too long ago, and it seems like that society is crippled with it lately. And I came to the conclusion that if we let fear run our lives, then we'd never leave our houses. So as this Christmas comes to an end and eventually as we see the end of 2015, the question that was asked was this; what or who are we following? Are we following fear, something else, someone else, or Him? I know who I'm trying to follow. 

All for God's glory

Kelly: A friend of ours shared this article on her Facebook, and Holly mentioned that we should share it on here. So that's exactly what I'm doing!

I used to write a lot of poetry as a kid and draw. I had such a creative imagination (still do!) and have always loved music. Music, I've heard, is something to be felt, not heard. I could not agree more with that statement. So below is the article; give it a read. It's really good stuff!

Why Christians should paint, compose music, etc...

Enjoy!

It's a God thing!

Holly: So we're pretty happy this evening.  

 And apparently I am part contortionist.  Anyway...yeah, it's been a good day today! :)

Last night I wrote a post on my VISTA blog about VISTA turning 50 and what, essentially, being a VISTA means to me.  I shared it on my Twitter page as part of a social media campaign raising awareness for this celebration.  This evening I got this:

Yes, that is the AmeriCorps VISTA twitter page linking up MY blog for all the world to see!  They mentioned my blog! Say freaking WHAT? :D

I don't mean to sound preachy, but I can't take any of the credit for this.  It's all God.  He knew EXACTLY what He was doing when He sent me here, and I am so thankful and beyond blessed (and undeserving!!).  I don't know who runs VISTA's social media platforms, but it's humbling to realize that out of all the thousand some-odd VISTAs out there, they chose to showcase what God is doing for me and through me in wee little Berea Kentucky.  It's humbling to realize that people in Washington DC could read this, my own personal blog I started just so I could remember this year.  Yep...chalking this up to yet another pinch-me moment!

Kelly:  For me, my "God thing" most of you already know about, as my Facebook continues to blow up with likes and comments from today's status. Ever since I did clinicals where I work (which was like almost 4 years ago) and ended up on the substance abuse unit, I was like yes. This is the kind of nursing I can do and want to do and would be very happy there. So I'm where I am now and am thoroughly enjoying it while winding through the occasional bumps and valleys and all of a sudden another opportunity for an opening on such unit comes up. Except it's during the day and not on my shift (3-11). On a whim, I apply internally for it, which I did on Tuesday. And this didn't just come out of nowhere; I've been ready for a change in job for a bit now; not leaving where I work, rather just doing something else. Anywho, I come into work yesterday and the scheduler tells me the job is mine once my current position gets filled. I was like....really? I honestly didn't think I'd even get the job. You see, there was an opening on my shift on the same unit back in the fall. I applied for it but didn't get it, which I was pretty bummed about. My state of mind on Tuesday after handing in my application was well if it's meant to be then it'll happen. And it did. And it IS!!! I was talking to a co worker last night (whom I have appointed as my "work mom") and we were like if you work hard and do well it'll pay off. I then said that never in my life did I have anything handed to me; I always had to work for it.

I was reminded of a song from mine and Holly's BME days and some of the simplest words were "with God I can." And for me it's been with God I can....and I just fill in the blank. At our house, we have a God is Good because...board. Last night when I got home from work I wrote because He knows our desires and provides. With God I, we, you, can do what you dream to do. And if you're reading this and are discouraged with whatever is going on in your life, I encourage you to please hang in there. Keep the faith; the darkness and shadows eventually have to go away. You can do it! As for me, I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and this new position.

Joy unspeakable. Faith unsinkable. Love unstoppable. Anything is possible

The sanctity of rest

Holly: Holy smokes, we're already halfway through January!!!

In the midst of basically going non-stop since this year has started, and also because I've had quite a bit of time to myself these past couple of days, I've been thinking quite a bit about rest.  Which I guess is exactly my point...Anyway.  We are a society that thrives on activity: we're going from one place to the next, we're juggling 221 different things at once, we've throw phrases such as "on the go"  and "I'm so busy" into our vocabulary without even thinking twice, and before we know it, it's time to get just enough hours of sleep in order to function, only to wake up and do it all over again.  Hey, I get it.  That used to be me...and to a degree, it definitely still is.  But one thing I've really striven to incorporate into my daily routine is quiet time, that time to just...rest.  I've really grown to appreciate that just in the past few months- back when I was working as a lab coordinator I would get emails and phone calls constantly, most of the time well after hours, and sometimes I felt as if I was shackled to my cell phone.  I couldn't really relax.  But now that I've really adopted the mindset of "leaving work at work" (mostly now because I actually can!!), I savor those precious moments of rest.  For me, I try to set aside a few minutes in the morning, usually while I'm waiting for the coffee to finish brewing: I typically read a verse from my Bible app.  I also incorporate about 10-20 minutes into the evening, as I'm ready to go to bed for the evening.  Again, I read something from the Bible (usually a whole chapter) and sometimes I write in my journal.  My cats are usually there with me, so even then it's not entirely...restful, so to speak.  But lately I've found that if I don't get those few minutes in the morning, I'm really edgy and frazzled when I get into work in the morning, even though I know what I have to do and it isn't terribly stressful.  

I guess the point to all of this is that taking time to rest is extremely important.  It's foolish to expect yourself to just go go go all the time!  So go ahead, read an extra chapter (or two) in that book.  Watch one more episode of that Netflix show you've been binging on.  Turn that alarm off (but please still go to work on time!).  Write, pray, whatever you need to do.  Heck...even God took a day off!  

Kelly: In the midst of writing this, I'm actually quite tired. This is my on-call weekend at work and I've worked 18 hours total this weekend...which actually isn't too bad compared to the last one I did. But it's been a long few days and I'm ready for it to be over. The constant driving to and from is what's killing me. Anyway, so rest sounds like a really good thing right now. My take on rest is different from what Holly described. Lately, I've had this itch of wanting to do "something more" with my time. I've juggled about a zillion and one different ideas of how to scratch this itch, mostly to the tune of finding another job. Not leaving mine, rather finding another job on top of what I already do. I kept telling myself "I want more experience" or "I just need a change," but I think what it is is that I'm just used to being this go go go type of person and when my time off comes I'm just like "why am I just sitting here? I need to be doing something else." And while I've ruled out finding another job, I haven't ruled out like volunteering or something to that nature...if I can just find the motivation. The thing of it is I just...enjoy my off time so much. And you know what? I am finally realizing that that's ok!

I think sometimes we get so stuck in this perpetual trap of having to fill our time with anything and everything because if we have down time then we're missing something. Yeah, I take some time out of my day to read a devotional, journal, pray silently (or out loud), but I enjoy my me time. My me time to read, watch something on Netflix, whatever. I understand that we have busy lives and all, trust me. We have busy lives. But don't forget that God doesn't want us all running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Take some time for YOU.

Three cheers for H and K!!

Holly: Ach!! That magical all-elusive date has come and gone again!  How time just seems to march right on by.

Yesterday was August 20th, THE THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OUR BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D YAAAAHHHOOOOOOYAAAAAAYYY!!!

I still can't believe we're chuggin' along, and that we are.  They say "what a difference a year can make" and what a year it has been!  It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 2 years of this blogosphere of wonder and now here we are again, 3 years strong.  3 years of not running out of stuff to talk about.  Imagine that! So much has happened this year and we still have so much more to look forward to!

I think we're going to keep at it.  In fact, there is no "I think"; we ARE going to keep at it.  Thank you all, once again, for chuggin' along with us.  Here's to many more years!

Kelly: Trying to type this with a kitty on my lap (a Yoda kitty to be more specific) will be most interesting. Like I say every year when this comes up, I never thought it would make it another year. This has been the first full year of our lives we are both working "full time" and neither one of us are in school. It's been fun and awesome and by far the most crazy! Hard to believe how fast the time seems to go, and it feels like this year went by the fastest. But yeah. 3 years. This blog idea was born after the two of us came home from our respective abroad endeavors and decided this would be not only fun for us but a bonding experience too. We have enjoyed coming back to this blog, even though we haven't been able to post as much in a while, but still. This isn't just for us, but all of our readers too. We want this to be a safe place to read our thoughts and to explore your own thoughts on the topic at hand. We don't do this to get it out there and see how many people will follow it in one day, no.

That's one of the great things about this blog and the fact we write it together; there's always something to talk about! Often I see stuff on the news or hear something on the radio and still after all this time tell myself "that would be good to blog about." And we do this too with conversations we have. So there you have it. Three years! Here's to hoping we'll have a four year post next year!

August 20, 2011- date of blog launch

August 20, 2012- one year after blog launch

August 21, 2013- two years and one day after blog launch

Today! August 21, 2014- three years and one day after blog launch.  With Yoda :)

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.

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

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

Have some rent

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

Patrick and Ian in New York


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

Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit.

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

Fish fingers and custard

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

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

Procrastination

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! :)

A Bad Egg

Kelly: On the way to campus this morning, Holly and I were talking about bad days. Like I said in an earlier post from Facebook this week, it had been no surprise that I have been sort of a grump these past few days.   That has since changed and I'm not a grump anymore, but I found myself wondering why I was grumpy. Well, I had a lot to do in a short amount of time, things at work were a bit hectic as we were trying to get ready for our open house tomorrow night, and of course my clinical schedule. That in of itself is like having an additional job on top of my already job. Anyway, I soon realized that it was a lot of little things that were happening throughout the week but not on the same day. Murphy's Law kind of week I suppose. This morning I was a bit on edge as well, as I haven't been feeling the greatest all day. Going to the doc tomorrow. But I was talking to Holly and I said "you know, despite all that's going on,  I can't even remember the last time I had a bad day." Then it had me thinking...what constitutes a "bad day?" Is it the whole day or just a part of the day?

For many I know, it's a part of the day. For a while that was my definition too. There's one tiny part of the day that goes sour and then boom. The whole day suddenly sucks. After a while though, again, like many of these posts with the label "perspective," mine changed. Why do we always let one moment ruin our entire day? WHY? It's like getting feedback on a paper or presentation; there's one negative comment and a lot more positive comments. But what one do we always focus on? The one negative. And then we dwell on it and dwell on it...or at least I do. What is it about negativity that attracts us? So what I'm trying to do is not let the one negative thing constitute as a bad day in my book. Why let one small bad egg ruin the rest of the batch? It doesn't have to!

Holly: Trust me, this used to be me.  One thing would go wrong and I'd be all "well that's it now today just sucks!"  Life doesn't have to be that way.  We are not in bondage to all those stupid little things that go wrong in life; we are in control of how we deal with them, and I think the way we deal with such things says a lot about our character.  You can completely lose your crap, or just take it in stride, let it go, and move on.  Because in the grand scheme of things, we really don't have it as bad as we think we do.

Why are we so ingrained on focusing on the bad, but not the good?  It's like you get a review at work or something, and you can have 32345 GOOD things said about you and then ONE bad thing, and what do we immediately focus on...the ONE bad thing?  Bad things are usually not personal, they're usually someone on the receiving end out to get you.  Seriously.  Trust me on this one.

I'm with Kelly on this one...I honestly can't remember the last time I had a "bad day".  Want my advice?  That one thing someone says/does that gets under your skin? Forget about it.  That little snide remark someone made about you? Laugh it off.  That person you're holding a grudge against?  Let it go.  Negativity is POWERFUL...I believe any time that we are mulling in our negative junk we are being robbed of time that we could be spending laughing or spreading positive energy to others...or just simply being freaking happy!  Don't ever let anything or anyone steal your joy in life!  We are so much more than that!

"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.

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.

An Open-Ended Letter to BC and MF....ok, and to the rest of Team Sherlock. And the fans too. Wow, this is a long title.

Dear BC and MF,

nah, scratch that:

Dear BC, MF, and Team Sherlock,
.................

one more time:

Dear All who love Sherlock (but mostly to BC and MF because that's why we watched the Emmys last night),

Hi.  Guess we gave it away now.  So we watched the Emmys last night.  We hates them.  I mean, don't get us wrong, of course we weren't born under rocks.  We're familiar with the big shows that were on: Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Homeland, etc etc etc....BUT.

What happened last night is the very reason why we typically don't watch shows like that.  Because ONE show usually sweeps all the wins.  It's nothing more than a popularity contest.  We're not trying to bash television...obviously, because the American people deem the aforementioned shows worthy of such an honor.  But SERIOUSLY...

Mad Men had 81 nominations.  EIGHTY. ONE?!?!? What the crap?  That's insane. Wasn't even aware that you could be nominated for an Emmy in 81 different categories.  Jeebus.  Despite all of this, despite all of this big-name shows, stars, etc, that's not why we stayed up to watch the Emmys.  We had one reason and one reason only:

Team Sherlock.

We waded through TWO HOURS of awards before they finally came to the "Miniseries/Movie" category.  Oh, you would not believe the tension and excitement we had.  Literally on the edge of our seats.  But...no.  Nothing. 

Should we be surprised?  No, I guess not.  Because, like I mentioned, it's a glorified popularity contest and not much else.  In the grand scheme of things, we're not really sure if you all were bummed, surprised, nonplussed, whatever, that you left empty handed.  But then we got to thinking: at least you all were THERE.  In LA.  Next to big time stars, shows, etc etc.  And for a show that has a predominantly British audience that only started a couple of years ago, that is pretty awesome. 

But we know that there's more to Sherlock than just Emmy nominations.  For us, it's taken us to entertainment in a level that we never knew existed.  It's taken us to new places emotionally, physically, we've never related so closely to characters as this.  It's more than that.  You helped us to believe in true friendship, loyalty, the power of the human mind, the fragility of the human spirit, that even the most stoic and complex of individuals can be shaken to their very core and reach out to their one and only friend in their hour of need.  We've laughed, we've cried, we've run down the streets of London and Baker Street right beside y'all.  And we, the fans, will wait, eagerly, perhaps even a little frustrated, anxious, angry, and tense, for having to wait a year to see what will happen next.  We are waiting.  We are Sherlocked. 

BC and MF, if there was an Emmy for passion and versatility, then you would win it, hands down, no argument.  The obvious passion and versatility for your job and your utter brillance and talent you bring to Sherlock is nothing to be matched to the Emmy speeches we saw last night.  If there was an Emmy for Sherlock fans, we would win it, hands down, no argument.  The fan base that we see on a regular basis can't top some of the big-time shows and stars we saw last night.  Because the two of you are REAL.  You're RELATABLE, you're BRILLIANT, you're so GENUINE, it's refreshing to us, us that are so sick and tired of fake, plastic, superficial.  So please, please know that we, and so many others, were rooting for the two of you so hard at the Emmys last night.  Even though you ultimately didn't win, we are still SO PROUD to continue to root for you, to be your fans, to wait and see whether Sherlock survived the fateful hospital plunge. 

Thank you, both of you, for reminding us what true talent and TV is.  Oh, and just a warning to the entertainment world:

You's about to get your FACE rocked off.  Bilbo Baggins.  Bilbo.  Baggins.  That's all we have to say about that. 

Very truly Sherlocked,

Holly and Kelly

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"

Phony Cabbage

Kelly: Happy Friday readers!!!! It's raining here today, and I had to get a flu shot this morning! And it didn't hurt as much as the last time I got one, which is good. Now I have a cool superhero band-aid (thank you Holly's roomie!!) ^__^ Anyway, the theme of this blog is not about shots and superhero sterile strips, rather our lovely church, Berea Baptist. I started attending a little over three years ago when I was a first year student at Berea. I went with a friend of mine who's aunt went there when she was a student at Berea. So we walked into the sanctuary and I even remember the first thing I said when I walked in..."there's a lot of people here." Ok, church background; my church at home on a good day has 25, maybe 30 people. Berea Baptist on a good day has about 300 people! So yeah, I thought that was a lot of people. Anyway, the service went on and that was it. I fell in love with EVERYTHING about it; the music (very contemporary), the people, the sermon and the pastor!

Shortly after attending, I decided I wanted to contribute more to the church because it brought me such great joy every time I go (and it still does!!!!). My sister, the pastor and I had a series of talks about what it means to become a member, so we did and enjoyed those talks. Then, on May 3, 2009, we made it church official and became members. And I've never been the same ever since.

Fast forward to...today. I'm a member of the worship choir (which is super fun) and I still attend every Sunday, or at least try to. Seriously, I get sad if I don't go to church, and in 2 weeks I'll have to miss church, but that's ok because it's for a happy occasion!!!!!!!! :] In addition, this year, the church introduced a new college student ministry specifically for meeting the needs of fine individuals such as us. So last night, there was a cereal and game night. What happened was I was only planning on staying maybe an hour...needless to say I didn't get into my room until 10:15 last night! Good times though, and I love my church and church family. I'll let Holly explain more about last night. Cheers!

P.S. look out for a new blog post from MY blog...coming tonight. :]

Holly: Ohhh...the joys of Apples to Apples.  It was probably the most fun I've ever had playing that game (and I've played it more times than I can count)!  Memorable combinations included "sensitive firestorms", "magical toasters" and "phony cabbage."

But in all seriousness, being a member of Berea Baptist has completely transformed who I am as a person.  Never have I been exposed to a place so welcoming, so loving, so WILLING to hang out with stressed-out college students.  It's rare as someone my age to not only consider the pastor like a second father, but also a dear friend.  You know it's also a good church when your relatively-not-really Christian parents say that if they lived in Berea they would attend!!! And that's saying something!  It really is a unique special place that is very close to me. 

Anyway, I'm really hungry, and food circus gets insane right around 11:45, so early lunch it is for sis and I.  Oh, and on a seemingly random note, I only have one class today.  Hooray for science profs going on a retreat!!!! Which they completely deserve, by the way.  Ok, lunch!  Cheers and blessings to all! :)

P.S. 8 MORE WEEKS UNTIL COLIN AND BRAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!