Things we learned in June

Sometimes the answers you're looking for may not be what you'd expect. Kelly is back in a boot! :(
It's hard going from 1000 to virtually 0 overnight, but we learned grace (and are still learning), and that sometimes, life makes us take a break to make sure we get ourselves where we need to be.

House-sitting (and dog sitting) is very time consuming. The next thing we knew we looked up and it was almost July and more than a week had gone by!! But it's gratifying to be needed, and to help friends of ours. Plus, kittens!

Again, life is short. A beloved Berea professor passed away mid June after battling an aggressive form of cancer. Life, whether it's shared, lived, or new, is a gift.

Having no internet is doable, but somewhat of an inconvenience. We love our local coffee shop and library as much as the next gals, but eventually being there for 3+ hours takes its toll.

We have some of the greatest friends. June was the month of Summerfest, cookouts, a birthday dinner to the Cheesecake Factory, and a surprise attack on Holly's room!

It's never too late. Holly's boyfriend got baptized the last weekend of the month. It was a beautiful evening, a beautiful moment, and a reminder that no matter where we get in life, no matter how big of a mess we make of our lives, God is right there waiting for us with open arms. We simply receive and accept His truly amazing grace. And if we seek Him with all that we are, He will be found by us.

Quite a busy month for us! What did you learn in the merry month of June? 

ALEP Mid-Summer: A continued family reunion

H and K: Howdy! You get both of us again!

It's been a little while since our last post.  Can't believe how June has just seemed to slip right through our grasp.  Heck, next week is the 4th! We've been rather busy, traveling and going here and there. Unfortunately we still have not heard any word on our house-to-be, but we are keeping the faith and holding out that we will hear something soon.

But enough of that. Almost two weekends ago we went back to the Shire! Yes, that's right.  You may remember how all of this ALEP craziness started back in September. This gathering was not official, not planned, just whoever was available to escape for a weekend of unplanned relaxation, conversation, and generalized merriment.  And all of those it certainly was!

It's hard to capture the atmosphere we've come to love in this ALEP group.  We all come from such vastly different walks of life, from vastly different parts of the country, even (a few traveled from as far as Virginia, Texas, and even Canada!).  But what's so amazing about this time, these ALEP reunions, is that, for just a few days, there is no worry.  No stress.  No negativity, pessimism, or stress of any kind.  It simply ceases to exist as soon as you see the signs welcoming you into the Shaker Village. The laughter, the cheerful conversations, the food (oh. my word!), the time we cherish and spend together...it's the best form of therapy that we can possibly imagine.

The next event is in April of 2016. While we won't be able to go for the entire weekend (these fun gatherings do cost money), we will definitely return for a day.  Because even just one day is worth it!

Until next time! :)

ROBERT!!!! <3 

:) 

Sunset in the Kentucky Shire 

Two will become three....and some crazy dives!

Holly: Well...it's the end of July, going into August, and it's an even numbered 4 year period, and you know what that means??

SUMMER LYMPICS!

Yep...from London this year (tears!!!!!! considering I was there this time last year...).  Anyway.  Enough of that.  The three of us (and two very uninterested felines) from humble Apartment #1 are pouring over the diving men's finals right now.  Wow!  Such poise.  And they're SO together!  It's practically perfection, flawless.  How do they do that?  And two guys from Mexico just did a 4 1/2 inverted somersault...so much spinning...perfect spinning!  Crazy!  Perfect!  But we always cringe when they jump off because they're so close to the board and I don't want to see lovely toned divers go splat!  We watched the Opening Ceremony when it came on, but I'm sad to report that we missed James Bond/the Queen parachute in.  But we did catch the bajillion-foot Voldemort and the crazy era music dancing montage.  And the doctors and nurses.  A bit odd, but still well done if I do say so myself.  Hopefully this evening on the beach volleyball front, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will pull another win....man, that stuff is just as exciting as Sherlock!

Now, onto the second big piece of news that's sweeping the nation...literally!  I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit series.  If you're not, I suggest you claw yourself out of that rock you're hiding under and remedy that as soon as possible.  Seriously, I have just recently seen the light and I have no clue why I waited so long.

ANYWAY....

As of today, the illustrious Peter Jackson (if you don't know who that is....oh geez, just look it up) announced today that the originally slated two part movie series of "The Hobbit" will now become a THREE part movie series!  Of course, I have some.....concerns.....with this:  First off, the book is only 271 pages.  Now, there is plenty of material for two movies, but even with some series drawing out, editing, tweaking, etc...it will be interesting to see such short of a book into 3 parts.  I mean, the LoTR series itself is WAY over 1000 pages, and each of those movies is well over 3 hours.  So that makes sense.

My second concern is that of the actors.  Kelly and I are now hopelessly "Sherlocked", and, of course, the illustrious actor playing the hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins is also the charming Dr. Watson in Sherlock.  I'm just wondering how that will work in terms of filming and production.  See, Sherlock's seasons are only 3 episodes, but they're 90 minutes.  Season 2 finished in January of this year, and Season 3 starts in January 2013.  The Hobbit (part 1) is being released at the end of this year, December 2013 next year, and now with part 3, theoretically summer 2014.  How will this work??????????????????

Until then, I shall wait anxiously for The Hobbit.  And Smaug.  Who is being voiced by the smooth-as-silk Benedict Cumberbatch (who is also Sherlock).  Can you say SPAAAZZ??? &^%@(*&P_)_)(#$(*&^@#^%$^&

Kelly: As I posted on my Twitter earlier, I stated that I was going to be cautiously optimistic about the fact that a 2-part movie is now going to be turned into 3. Though my concerns have nothing to do about characters, plot holes or material. The way I see it is simple; MONEY. Think for a sec; the LOTR trilogy pulled in over $2 BILLION. No...not million. OVER 2 BILLION DOLLARS. So really it seems like a no-brainer; die-hards will watch and wait for a 3rd movie. They'll wait and pay to see the three movies. Shoot, I'll wait and pay my dues to see the three movies as a recent Ringer. Like Holly, I too am concerned about the overlapping in Sherlock and this third Hobbit film. Again...cautiously optimistic.

And US just won a bronze in diving! TEAM USA!!! For what it's worth though the Chinese team were really good (they won the gold). Mexico completed the most difficult dive and they walked away with the silver. Let's see what is coming up next...YES. Beach volleyball! May-Treanor and Walsh are coming up next and taking on Czech Republic. We've been waiting patiently since Friday, so we are getting very excited. I really have nothing else to add so I am going to post this humorous picture that a fellow Sherlock fan of ours linked to me and Holly via Facebook. Enjoy the Olympics and don't shoot walls if you're bored.

Holly and I have friends. Sherlock doesn't. Except Watson. 

Oh hello there summer...nice to see you...

Holly: *dies*

Kelly: On a side note, I'm not really surprised to see this. We didn't even have a winter. :/

Holly: Update as of June 27, 2012: 102 tomorrow, 103 Friday, 104 Saturday, 102 Sunday.
Igloo anybody???

Potpurri post #3

Kelly: Cut myself shaving seven times tonight. UGH!!! This is going to be a very...very long summer. I'm already 2 weeks into my summer class and it's been somewhat interesting so far. I'll just be happier when that class is over and all I have to do is work. I plan on doing lots of reading, so if there are any book suggestions please let me know. I have a few that I would like to read; My Utmost for His Highest, Heaven is for Real, The Reason for God and the Case for Christ just to name a few. In the meantime, I will FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!

Yoda has been with us for a week yesterday. It's amazing to me how far she has come since last Friday. When we brought her home, she didn't leave her cat carrier for a few hours. We were getting pretty worried, until she came out and started exploring. Wiley wasn't too pleased; he hissed and tried to attack her on a few separate occasions. Poor Yoda was banished in the downstairs bathroom when we had to leave. Within two days she was wandering around like she owned the place, and she and Wiley are buddies now! They run around and play, lick each other, but still haven't slept together. As I write this she is sleeping beside me on the arm rest of the chair. She's become quite the cuddle bunny. Still trying to work on leaving us alone while we sleep. The both of them try to come in the room; we have blankets in front of our bedroom door. That reminds me...I'll have to post some apartment pictures later for those of you who haven't seen them yet. That's about all for now. Really not much has gone on...Holly and I have been struggling to find something to blog about. Thanks for sticking with us though!

Holly: Kelly and I have been on a bit of an ER kick for about a month now.  Great show if you've never seen it before.  I'm a big Dr. Carter fan...have been for ages.  I just love his storylines and his character (next blog topic, sis???).  Right now I'm on Stumbleupon.  I still haven't "started" my job yet...silly HR still needs to get me into the system and make me a UK email address/web account so I can finish online orientation classes and thus start my job.

sldhfksjdflskdjflsasdkjfla

I'm currently reading from a new author: Patricia Briggs.  Recommended by my adviser last semester, it's a fantasy type series, but some are set in modern times.  Sort of like Harry Potter.  Sort of.  I've only read one book but I'm almost finished with it and I like it.  We shall see how the rest go.  Our neighbor's dogs are barking.  Our other neighbor across the street has a bajillion-year-old Mustang that he insists upon starting up at about 5 in the morning every morning, only it takes about six or seven times to actually get the car started before it leaves.  And it's not the quietest of cars either.

We're also working our way through the Harry Potter movies; just finished Prisoner of Azkaban tonight.  My favorite, personally: I love Professor Lupin and I think it follows the book the best.  I've also picked up knitting again for the first time in almost a year.  Yay.  :)

Back to stumbling.  Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend all!!!! <3

Internet, TV and Wiley; first apartment post!

Kelly: And at last, this small space is starting to feel like home. The three of us are on the newly installed internet, the TV is on and Wiley is running around playing. In case you don't know who Wiley is, he's our cat. And we all love him dearly. He loves to play...and wake me or Holly up at 2 in the morning to do so. He loves to cuddle too; there's nothing like coming home from a long day and seeing that furry gray face purring. It's as if he's saying "hello. I'm happy to see you. I hope you had a good day."

Yes, that picture is him. I love him. It's like having a child. Ok, enough about him for now. The remainder of this blog will most likely include something he did. You all have been warned. Anyway, I am really starting to get into the swing of being on our own. I'm actually enjoying it. I won't enjoy paying the bills that will soon be coming, but for now I'm choosing to enjoy it and focus on my summer class. Ew. Since the subject of my class is about humor, I'm thinking about doing my project about Whose Line is it Anyway. Thoughts? Let me know! :] Ok, now I've got to do some more homework. Life never ends for a student, doesn't it? And sis just popped me on google talk. Ahh, there's never a dull moment.

Holly: I just posted an album of pictures on Facebook titled "Post-Berea".  I provided the disclaimer that the contents will include mostly Wiley and our second cat Yoda, who has not entered our home yet, but will perhaps by the end of the week (trying to settle into a routine still...).  

As it stands life is pretty stagnant for me right now.  I am still not employed, but I have my third interview for a job on Thursday.  This involves a commute to Lexington, upon which I have never driven before but have been several times.  Prayers/good vibes would be greatly appreciated as I would REALLY like to have this job.  I'll post more about it later.  Until I become employed I'm just trying to relax and rest and keep the apartment clean.  

It's sort of strange being a Berea alumni.  I graduated almost two weeks ago and it's so weird being in Berea and not having the student mindset.  I don't have to worry about homework or tests or papers or any of that stuff, and I find myself growing bored and restless at times.  Yesterday I was on campus trying to find a printer for Kelly and I was just walking around thinking "Wow, I'm done.  I'm going to miss this place." Hopefully the internet and more campus visits will help.  I need to visit people.  I miss so many Berea College people, it's ridiculous.  

I'm getting loved on by a fluffy gray purring mass.  I hope all are well.  <3