Hiatus

We are currently taking a short, unplanned hiatus from writing.  Nothing bad...our internet has just been mistakenly disconnected at our apartment.  We are moving to our new apartment on May 1st and hope to be back online then.  Thank you for your patience and cooperation.  We miss writing!!!! Thanks for being our dear lovely readers/followers.  :)

30 Days of Writing: What you wore today

Holly: Not doing too much of anything today, so decided to go with green Berea football t-shirt and blue fleece crops from Old Navy (a-hem).  

What can I say, I like my clothes! (Notice my emptying apartment behind me).

Had on my Chacos, but thanks to the rain, they are now soaked.  My hobbit feet slippers are packed, so time to warm up my footsies! :)

Kelly: Didn't take a selfie of what I wore today, but I wore my "Our Berea" shirt from the Presidential Inauguration Run/Walk. It's purple. Also wore jeans. Yay for a full day of NCLEX Live Review. Tonight is also the Senior Banquet that the college throws; pictured below is what I'm wearing. Notice anything? I'm sporting the same dress Holly wore to hers! Just happened to work out that way :) Plus, it's a nice dress and I think I look REALLY good in it!!

Ready for senior banquet! :)

                                           

30 Days of Writing: My body and how I feel about it

Kelly: I feel that this can be a touchy subject for some. I'm surprisingly not one of those people. Overall I am very comfortable with myself and the way I look. I feel good about myself and the way I look and feel. Of course some days are hard; with my ongoing ankle problems it can damper my self-consciousness sometimes. Big bulky braces really do cramp your style and are definitely NOT the most glamorous.

But ever since I started taking care of myself better, I have been impressed with what has come out of it, even though I haven't really done anything crazy. But the results speak for themselves; I have more energy during the day, some of my clothes are fitting looser, and my daily walk with sis is something I genuinely look forward to each day. Also, I am a child of God; He didn't create the "perfect" person. I've learned that He created me for just the way I am, and sometimes it's discouraging because you want to be "pretty" and "beautiful." What does that even mean anyway? I'm not sure, but I love the way I am and that's not going to change, big ugly braces and all. I've attached a video at the end of this post; I saw it today in my nursing leadership class. For those of you struggling with body image and self-esteem, please watch it. Even if you're not struggling, please watch it anyway.

Holly: 9 times out of 10, I am happy with the way I look.  I'm down about 10 pounds since I graduated almost a year ago.  I can fit into smaller shirts and dresses.  I take up walking with Kelly and I think that's helped with the way I look, but it's a good time for us to catch up and talk.  I eat A LOT healthier; I don't crave pop as much as I used to...I nowadays drink it maybe 2-3 days a week, sometimes less, sometimes more, but not every day.  I look at pictures from back when I first started college and I can tell a big difference between now and then.

But then again....I'm a 20-something young woman, and of course there are things about my body that I want to fix.  I'd love to lose 10 more pounds, although many argue I don't need to.  Which they're probably right...but that doesn't mean I still don't want to.  I'd love to fit into single-size pants again, something I haven't been able to do since before high school (but I think I'm getting pretty close...some of my 10's are getting a little loose!).  I am of childbearing age and know I need to start taking folic acid, even though I'm years away from wanting children.  I always need to drink more water.  I can't stand the fact that I'm so fair-skinned; it doesn't take much for me to get burned.  Blame it on the Scandinavian genes.  But do I obsess over these things? Of course not.  I'm not about to go on a crazy diet and work myself exhausted (which doesn't work, by the way.  Sorry).  I know what I need to do, what's working for me, and for now, I am happy with what I am.  :)

30 Days of Writing: Five Guys You Find Attractive

Holly: Man, we JUST had a sermon about lust yesterday, too! lol.  Rest assured, my thoughts are entirely tame.  These are in no specific order, by the way.

1. Martin Freeman.  Not only because he's the perfect Bilbo (I'm sorry, he is.  Your opinion is not valid), but he's really funny, even though he does swear a lot.  Plus he loves his family and he loves what he does.  And he's good at it.  Seriously...check out some of his stuff.

2. Benedict Cumberbatch.  Because his name is awesomer than you ever will be.  And he has a pretty voice.

3. Wiley.  I mean, come on.  He's pretty much a stud on four legs and he knows it too.

4. Elijah Wood.  Or, more specifically, Elijah Wood's eyes.  And he's vertically challenged, like me! :D

5. All the Big Bang Theory guys.  ALL of them.  They're nerdy and cute and have the best lines.  I would like to personally give them all high fives at some point in my life.

Kelly: 

I'm not going to waste precious blog space, because mine all are pretty much the same. I'm going to add Adam Brown to this list too. Because Ori is every body's baby and he's adorable!

And of course, here's Wiley. We love him dearly.

Come on, how could you not love THIS face?! 

30 Days of Writing: Your Family

Holly and Kelly: For today's post, we thought a combined one would be easier. We'll start off with our blood family; our parents and our older brother. We were born and raised in southeastern Ohio in the town of Athens. We lived in the same house our entire lives; never moved until we came to Kentucky to start college. That was in 2008, and we haven't left Kentucky since! Since last May, Holly and I have created our own little family in our own place since last May. It's been an incredible journey; developing the skills necessary to live with each other and maintain our sanity, as well as our budget. Prior to that, we had lived on campus as Berea students, and I think that REALLY helped us grow up and live within our means. Granted, it has not been easy, but the thought of being on our own doesn't terrify us anymore, and being away from home had a big role to play. Of course we missed mom and dad, but I think it's something every child should do for college...just my opinion. 

Anyway, our current apartment came with Wiley. His previous owner couldn't keep him because all of her family was allergic, and she was just going to take him to a shelter. We of course decided to keep him. A few weeks later we adopted Yoda. Yoda came from a former professor Holly and I both had. She was scared of everything for the first few days we had her, but she warmed up to us and has wormed her way into our hearts. We absolutely love our pet babies! But soon, we will be packing up our family and moving yet again. Not out of Berea, just across town. More space, costing a bit more, but we'll be with a dear friend of ours until she graduates in the summer. It's going to be a bit scary at first, but we are excited to see where this journey will take us !

And last but not least, Holly and I thought it would be important for us to mention another edition to our family: our church family. I first attended Berea Baptist in August of 2008. My friend Tim and I made the trek, and I fell in love instantly! I dragged Holly with me the following week, and she too fell in love. And we've been there ever since; we officially became members in May of 2009. We've since then joined the choir, fostered some wonderful relationships and have greatly improved our relationship with God. We are truly happy and blessed to have such a large family, both blood related and Christ related. Thank you all for being a wonderful family. We love you all!

Our wonderful parents! They raised us to love others, ourselves and so many more lessons! 

We of course can't forget miss Nala. :) 

Our first home! 

Wiley. He's a sweet boy :) 

Miss Yoda. She likes Tolkien too! 

Berea College from above...became our home away from home! :) Came here 5 years ago and haven't left yet!

Church choir family. This pic is so old, but captures us well.  We love them all dearly!  God has greatly blessed us with such a wonderful church family! :)

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: How important you think education is

Holly: You've probably heard the saying "knowledge is power."  I find it to be true.  Not literal, brain-esque power.  There are thousands of people around the world who want to attend school but simply can't.  I'm thankful each day for my Berea College education.  I wish all young women my age could have had the college experience I did.  Sure, I gained textbook knowledge, I learned how to write a decent paper, but I learned so much more than that: how to be independent, how to think critically and for myself, how to manage my time (sort of?), how to ask for help, how to properly communicate with people different from me...the list goes on.  Education helps you to gain and recognize the potential you have.  It becomes a part of something that's bigger than yourself.  It drives you, gives you something to work for.  At least it did for me.  Like I said, my Berea College education is worth a lot more than the piece of paper hanging up in my living room.

Do I think it'll give you a leg up in the world? Maybe.  I suppose it depends on where you end up.  Do I think all who are able should go to college? Yes.  But it's your choice.  I just think any education, especially college, teaches things about yourself that a mere job or other life experiences can't.  Education also opens doors: if I never went to high school, I never would have gone on my mission trip five years ago.  If I never went to college, I never would have been able to study abroad.  Because of those two educations, I saw parts of the world that I probably wouldn't have been able to otherwise.  Yes, school is difficult, yes, it is stressful and time consuming, but I would go back in a second if I could.

Kelly: Though I think education is very important, I feel that it is a choice of the individual. People argue that good jobs require a college degree, and while I agree in part to that I have friends who are doing fine in the world without one. I'm not going to sit here and force feed some "you need to go to college" to my future children if I have any; I will leave the choice to them. I will strongly encourage going to college, because in my opinion I think it makes you a better person. At least it did for me. For me, I'm going to not only talk about why I think education is important, rather why I think a Berea education is important and the impact it has had on me.

In almost 2 weeks, I'll be graduating from this place. Since I was 18 years old, I have called Berea my home, and still continue to do so. I've known I wanted to go into nursing since I was probably around 14 or 15, but little did I know how much of a challenge it would bring me. And yes, I have been challenged greatly, but I'm better for it. There have been times where Berea has completely knocked me down flat on my face. I remember one time last spring, sitting up late on my computer researching the process of changing to an independent major. I had a backup plan; I was certain that nursing wasn't going to work. But one of the major parts of me nearly completing my journey at Berea has been my walk with God. God has moved mountains for me to finish here, and I would not be where I am without Him. Berea is a unique and special place in my opinion, and it's by His grace that I ended up here. Sometimes I think about where I would have possibly ended up if I didn't end up here; probably still at home or close to home. I'd probably have my ADN degree and working somewhere around there...who knows? Not that I'd be miserable, but I know that my experiences would have been a lot different. Like going abroad; would I have had the opportunity to do that? I don't know.

Yes, this road has been long, tough and very VERY difficult. I have no regrets though. None. I wouldn't trade my education here at Berea for ANYTHING, and it saddens me that some did not have the same positive outcomes and experiences that I did. I will walk across that stage knowing that I did my best, I trusted God and I came out a better, stronger and wiser person.