30 Days of Writing: Some things you'd like to say to an ex

Holly: Well...this is kind of interesting.  Not because of any ill-will or hard feelings, but because that part of my life was practically ancient history. We haven't talked in a while.  I'm such a different person now, and I'm willing to bet that you are too.

It's silly, actually, because when I talk to other people about you I still refer to you as "my ex", only for the simple fact that even though that part of my life was so long ago, you're still the only boyfriend I've ever had. Do I still think about those days? Of course I do.  Even though the relationship was short, I was happy, and I really did care about you.  I mean, it's not like I was expecting marriage or anything.  Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting.  I was 16.  I was an immature, star-eyed junior in high school who changed her dreams about every five minutes.  I found my MySpace blog a while ago...I couldn't shut up about you.      Seriously.  It was kind of ridiculous, actually.  But it definitely made me smile.  I'll be honest, after we broke up, I was really hurt and really confused for a really long time.  I blamed myself.  I look back on it now and it's just silly...high school romances rarely last and it was such a short run for us.  But when I fall for something, I fall for it hard and it takes a long time for me to let go.  Eventually though, I did.  I built my own life here in Berea.  I'm so happy now, and I sincerely hope you are too.

I will say this: you were a really good friend to me, after it was all said and done. I feel dumb saying this, but I hope that there's no hard feelings, even after all these years.  I hope I was good to you back then.  You're going to be an amazing music teacher someday.  Like I said earlier, we haven't talked in a while...drop me a message sometime, I'd love to catch up.

Kelly: I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not who I used to be. This is hard, because I've...never really been in a serious relationship. I was a freshman in high school and two of my friends wanted me to go out with a friend of mine and a friend of theirs...who was 2 years younger than me. We knew each other through band but that was about it. Yeah we did the silly "maybe this will be something more" taunts, flirts and other things young kids do when they're in "love." Classic school boy and school girl crush; nothing really more to me.

I don't want to say too much for the fear of hurting people's feelings, but I will say this; I wasn't ready. I wasn't a good "girlfriend" at the time and I don't know if I ever would have been a good one. I was young; I didn't have much say in the relationship, and I didn't feel like I was in control. Maybe if I had more time things may have been different. Maybe if I knew what I was doing....I don't know. And now; we both have grown up. It's been a while...a long while since we've last had a conversation, and I still remember what the conversation was about. I didn't know what to say, but I do now. Please...don't wait for me, because I'm not coming home. I've made Berea my new home, and I have a life here that I love. You deserve someone who will give you everything that you need, and as hard as this is for me to admit I'm not that person. Perhaps you don't feel the same way now, and maybe you've even forgotten about me. Whatever the case may be, I sincerely hope that you are happy and doing the work that God has blessed you with. I don't regret the time in which we were together and the times we were friends in high school, not at all. In fact it's completely the opposite. If you want to get back in touch with me great, and I've tried as well. If not, that's ok too; I'm not mad or angry, and I hope you're not angry with me. If you do want to talk though you know where to find me.

30 Days of Writing: Bullet your entire day

Kelly: 
*6:50AM. Woke to a Furgus in my face (we're dog sitting this weekend) wanting breakfast and to go outside. Get up and take him out. Feed him his breakfast.
*Snooze on couch while Furgus eats.
*Crawl back into bed and wake up when alarm goes off (8:30).
* Get in shower while Furgus whines outside bathroom door. Holly gets up shortly after I get in the shower.
*Get dressed. Didn't take my clothes out the night before (we stayed up late and watched the Dark Knight while Holly was at work)
*Go to Sunday School. Have a good discussion and a good time. Met an incoming Freshman! :)
*Attend church. Men's Sunday. Didn't have to sing in choir today. Sad.
*Head home. Let Furgus out of his crate. Take him outside.
*Get jumped on by Furgus as I change my clothes.
*Make lunch. Salmon and Chickpea salad leftover from dinner last night.
*Take Furgus for a walk.
*Come back inside. Check Facebook and Twitter.
*Read Post Secret.
*Grab a Mountain Dew from the fridge. Browse HESI Content (this continues for over an hour). Put on Chris Tomlin's Burning Lights album on Spotify.
*Take a break from content review. Clean litter box. Take trash out.
*Check Facebook again.
*Check Moodle forum. No new posts.
*Check UK job site. No new jobs posted today.
*Check St. Joseph job site. No new jobs.
*Scold Furgus for getting in Wiley's face. Proceeds to lie by my feet and snooze.
*Grab a bite of birthday chocolate from the fridge. Continue with content review (about 20 more mins.)
*Browse Pinterest funnies.
*Got attacked by a Furgus while trying to type an email (lick and jump attack)
*Drove up to campus for a group meeting for class (meeting lasted about an hour)
*Came home. Ate some broccoli and carrots sis made for dinner
*Checked email to see if group member emailed article I'm supposed to read. Nothing yet.
*Check Facebook again.
*Sis and I decide we want to watch a movie. What do we pick? Dumb and Dumber.
*Load Dumb and Dumber on computer.
*While loading, sis and I go for a walk.
*Watched Dumb and Dumber. Laughed a lot.
*Cuddled with Wiley for a bit.
*Checked email for one last time to see if article was given. It was!!!
*Skimmed over article.
*Fed pet babies.
*Brushed teeth.
*Read a bit of my Bible.
*Went to bed. Woot!


Holly: 
*Woke up at 8:30
*Showered and got ready for the day
*Got dressed for church
*Got to church: realized I left my driver's license/etc at home, ask Kelly to drive home too
*Sunday school: good discussion, yummy food (as always), met a new friend who will be coming to Berea in the fall :)
*Church- Men's Sunday today!  Very inspiring
*Chatted with people after church, dropped off a small Mary Kay order
*Got home
*Changed clothes while Kelly takes out the Furgus
*Ate lunch: leftover salad from last night
*Took a long walk with Furgus and Kelly
*Checked Facebook, Twitter, Post Secret, etc, while Furgus snoozes
*Watched some funny YouTube videos from Pinterest
*Cleaned up the kitchen
*Had a cup of iced coffee
*Checked on a couple of potential job opportunities mentioned at work last night
*Pondered a job opportunity at the Living Arts and Sciences Center in downtown Lexington- decide to apply tomorrow when I have more time :)
*Checked UK's job website.  No surprise there were no posts today (it's a Sunday...derp)
*Received a text from fellow Old Navy copadre asking if I can cover her shift tomorrow night- can't.
*Wished Kelly had her own car so I could cover shift tomorrow night....oh well.
*Received a phone call from Brian, saying he and Tiffani are on their way to pick up the Furgus!
*Decided to make chicken nuggets for dinner
*Showed Kelly a picture of a ginormous bullfrog my class found when I was in herpetology
*Said goodbye to Furgus
*Saw Kelly off to her meeting
*Put some vegetables on the stove and some chicken nuggets in the oven
*Told the kitties that Furgus was gone; they're still a little unsure! lol
*Nibbled on some pistachios
*Got loved on by Yoda :)
*Had a lively chat with Yoda in the kitchen while I got dinner going
*Picked an episode of ER to watch
*Watched ER and ate dinner--Kelly got home shortly after
*Sister and I collectively decided to watch "Dumb and Dumber" after going on another shorter walk
*Sister and I collectively decided to create a Facebook page for our blog.  Stay tuned! :D
*Went on another walk
*Came back and got myself a bowl of ice cream :)
*Watched Dumb and Dumber.  Laughed a lot.
*Brief cuddle with Wiley
*Took out trash and recycling
*Cleaned up kitchen dinner dishes
*Got ready for bed
*Pre-bedtime Bible reading
*Time for sleeps!

30 Days of Writing: A book you love

Holly: It took me a long time to come up with this one because, like Kelly, there are so many books I love.  Originally I was going to talk about "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", but a friend who we are inspired by chose that...didn't want to steal her thunder.  You should read that, though.  I mulled over a few more (eventually deciding to scrap "The Hobbit" too) until I decided on this:

It tells the story of a young student (the author) who is called to the bedside of a former mentor and professor of his, Morrie, who is suffering from the debilitating end stages of ALS.  They had not seen each other since the student, now an accomplished newspaper columnist, had taken classes from him almost 20 years back.

It's a very short read (about 100 pages...I can read it in a day), but full of insight, wisdom, poignant and touching moments.  Have a box of tissues handy.  For me, it made me think of the professors and mentors that have influenced me and my life.  I haven't read it in a while but I will again.  A must-read for everyone! 

Kelly: Well, this one is tricky. I mean, there are a lot of books I love. I could talk about The Bible, which would be an obvious choice, I suppose. It is a good book if you haven't had the chance to read it yet. I was going to talk about The Hobbit, but we all know I could give my LOTR/Hobbit likeness a break. So I figured I'd talk about the best of both worlds:

Walking with Bilbo; A devotional guide through The Hobbit 

Holly and I found this book through our recommendations on Amazon. Having not heard of it, we decided to give it a try. We read and discussed two chapters/week, which took us about 3 months to get through the entire book. Even though it was about The Hobbit, I really enjoyed it because it helped us see so many of the Christian themes that are associated with Tolkien's writings and it connected them with Scripture. If you are a Tolkien fan, then this devotional I would definitely recommend!

30 Days of Writing: Something you feel strongly about

Kelly: Freedom, if used appropriately. Now what do I mean by appropriately? Well, take it as a judgment call; if you feel it's a good time to speak up, then do so. If not, then for the time being keep quiet. This is something that I particularly struggle with at times, but it is something I'm doing my best to work on. It's so simple to sometimes just blurt out whatever is on our hearts or minds. Yet we have the freedom to do that...and sometimes that can bite us in the bum. We also have the freedom to choose; how we think, how we feel, what we say or don't say, what we do or don't do, and how we treat others. We also have the freedom to listen or to turn the other cheek and ignore. It's all a choice. We also have the freedom to have our opinions, yes, even if they hurt others. Hence why I feel about using freedom appropriately.

We also have the freedom to accept Christ as our Savior or not. He gave us that choice. Heck, he gave us the freedom for ALL of the choices we have in life. Either way I won't force my beliefs down any one, but I will freely love all people, no matter what race, color, gender, sexuality, or relationship status. I will freely choose to speak words of love and kindness, especially to those who wrong me...because in my opinion they're the ones who need it the most. I will freely think positively of others and do my best to give people the benefit of the doubt; we don't know what burdens the world is carrying at any given time. Simple, but difficult at the same time.

Holly: Love.

I believe that love is one of the most powerful forces on this planet.  People do all kinds of things in the name of love.    But I think love goes beyond just being nice to people, which we should be doing anyway.  Imagine how the world would change if we intentionally did things for other people, not expecting anything in return, but because we ought to love those above ourselves.  I think wars would stop from things like this.  We aren't on this world to live for ourselves; we're here for God, and for others.  It's kind of hard to love others when you have the me-blinders on.  Loving people, for me, means putting other people's well-beings, feelings, and needs above my own, but also meeting them right where they are, regardless of my feelings, beliefs, opinions.  I believe love and acceptance go hand-in-hand; I think it kind of has to.  To truly love someone is to accept them regardless of ALL their flaws, weaknesses, difficulties...I mean, Jesus does that for us every single day.

Some of you may not agree with me, and that's ok.  But sometimes I think we get just being nice to people and loving people mixed up.  I know I still have a long way to go, trust me on this one.  But like I said before, imagine how vastly the world would change if we simply did things for others.  Love is acceptance.  Love is cooperation.  Love is smiling at a stranger, even if you're having a bad day.  Love is holding the door for someone when your own hands are full.  Love is reaching out to those who are hurting, even if you yourself feel stuck in an abyss of neverending darkness and loneliness.   Love is being the first one to say you're sorry.  Love is trying to find a way to work through international issues, instead of threatening nuclear missiles at one another.  Love is laughter.  Love is holding your kitty in the kitchen first thing in the morning.

To me, love wins.  It always should.

30 Days of Writing: Five Ways to Win Your Heart

Holly: I was inspired by a friend...well, two friends actually, who both have amazing writing talent.  For a time Kelly and I used to write.  When I was in England I took a writing class.  Maybe something will happen from this.  But for now, I think we're just going to kind of roll with it and see where it goes! :)

Day 1: Five ways to win your heart

1. Love Jesus.  Pretty self-explanatory.  But Jesus set the bar for love and life, essentially.  The way I see it is you can't fully love someone unless you realize the perfect love that only Christ can give.
2. Have a sense of humor.  Life is too short to take anything seriously.  Laugh at things.  Laugh at yourself.
3. Be genuine.  I know this is so cliche, but it's so hard to find these days, especially with such a superficial society.  Being yourself gets people a lot farther than they realize.
4. Have goals, even if they're small.  Everyone needs something to work for.
5. Don't be afraid to let people know you're with me.  Hold my hand.  Hug me for just a second longer.  Kiss me in public.  Don't be shy.  Love is nothing to be ashamed of.  Oh, and like hobbits too.  :)

Kelly:

1. Love Jesus before myself. If you love me you have to love Him first too.
2. Love Lord of the Rings. I really don't need to go into any more detail.
3. Be true to yourself and be true to me. I have a heart for honest people; people who are honest about themselves and TO themselves. This goes for me too; be honest with me. Always. I can't tell a lie to save my life, so don't do the same to me.
4. Love other people. It's my duty as a Christian, human being and future RN.
5. Invest. Do the little things more than what's expected. Don't go to bed angry with me. Kiss me good morning every morning. Smile, especially when I'm sad. I will give 110% to whoever God calls me to be with; I expect 110% out of the relationship too.

23 years of memories

Holly and Kelly: We turned 23 today! :)

Hi! :)

For Kelly, just another day of classes and stuff...it's funny how birthdays become a lot less exciting when you get older.  We started off the day with the newly inaugurated president of Berea College, his lovely wife, and a few students at the walk/run club that's been going on all year.  Figured we'd start off our new year of life on the right foot.  Holly was inspired by a conversation with Ms. Laurie (the First Lady) about giving back to your alma mater, and in a very hobbit-like spirit of giving to others, made her very first...and not last...23rd birthday donation to Berea College.  Not a large one, mind you, but sincere.

We met up with a very dear friend for lunch.  This dear friend has become like a little sister to us; she will be graduating with Kelly and will be on to bigger and better things in her life.  :)

The spirit of the day, however, was the receipt of news that we've been expecting for a few days now: our 91 year old Grandpa went to be with Jesus early this morning.  We are all at peace with the situation, and although we are sad of his passing, we rejoice that he is now free of suffering,  with the Lord, and reunited with our grandmother (she passed when we were five years old) and his siblings and parents.  We remember him teaching us how to ride bikes...with much protesting on our part.  He was probably one of the first people to tell us about Jesus and how much He loved us.  He was the epitome of a servant leader: worked hard for what he had, loved his family, loved the Lord.  There will come a day when we will see him again and we long for it.  The outpouring of love, prayers, and support has been absolutely overwhelming and awesome, and we thank you all for it, from the bottom of our hearts.  It's people like you and the good times we do remember that will make this loss easier to deal with.

We turned 23 today.  23 is just a number.  God is good and He is faithful.  He has a plan for us and our lives are changing.  Of course we couldn't do it without Him, but as we said earlier, it's the support of our Berea family and friends that keep us strong.  We are blessed to be a part of your lives and hope for 23 more years of friendships, love, and growing ever stronger in Christ.

Thanks for putting up with us!

Schtuff twin girls say, volume 2

Holly and Kelly: Figure we would make this a regular habit.  Guaranteed laugh.  Enjoy.

"And that makes 4 loads of laundry. (Starts singing). 4 loads of laundry and a partridge in a pear tree. HEEEEEY MACARENA." ~Kelly

"I KNOW DOLLAR OFF DEALS END TOMORROW, OLD NAVY! I WORK THERE!" ~Holly (while reading her email)

Kelly: This is weird, but sometimes I just crave cream cheese.  I think I may have pica or something.
Holly: Lol.  At least you're not eating your computer.

driving home from Richmond:
"UK was saying.....yellow car!" ~Kelly

"Your phone is done.  Please uncharge it."  ~Kelly, to Holly

Kelly: I'll probably watch it on my lunc break....lunc break? Wow.
Holly: Lunc break? *laughing*
Kelly: Wow, I quit at talking.
Holly: That would be interesting.

Kelly: And I can't watch BBT (Big Bang Theory) at lunch.
Holly: Why?
Kelly: Because Martin Freeman didn't win an Emmy.
Holly: Oh.
Kelly: And there's a workshop.

(reading Jeopardy clues):
Holly: Three words that translates to "Ireland forever."
Kelly: Beer.

"My desktop thermometer is broken." ~Holly

(While eating an Aero bar)
Kelly: These would be good in a Blizzard.
Holly:...STOP!

(Eating a potato side for dinner)
Kelly: PO TAY TOES!!!! Boil em mash em stick em in a stew.
Holly: Potatoes. Get in my belly.

I'm pretty sure if the Pope walked into Domino's, his order would be the most important. Does the Pope even eat pizza? -Holly

If I got elected into an important office and they told me I could eat whatever I want, I would say I would like a large piece of cheesecake and a Mountain Dew, please. -Kelly

(in regards to a job application)
Holly: Apparently I applied within the last 180 days and I gave the wrong answers.
Kelly: There's wrong answers in a job application?????

(while talking on Google talk)
Kelly: I just did something really bad.
Holly: Oh dear. What happened, sis?
Kelly: I went to CPO to get stamps....and I got a Stella Jane's donut. And I'm not sorry.

Kelly (to our mom): It's like when you come here I forget how to be a big girl.

Holly: This is really good dinner. I guess I was hungrier than I thought.
Kelly (stuffed up nose with about 1/4 of food left on plate):...I can't breathe.

BONUS FROM OUR MOM:
"Plushie Bilbo is cuter in real life."

(picking Kelly up from clinicals):
"You smell like bacon." -Holly