living on the edge

It was a risk. Better Homes and Garden magazine has spurred me on with ideas. As I envisioned my bedroom- I wanted it to be "girly". It's ironic because I pride myself on NOT being "girly". Hhhhmmm, there's something deeper there- maybe a later post.
Picking out color has been a blast. After one failed attempt on a brown for my bathroom and hallway book shelf, I landed on something a bit more bold and LOVE it.
My bedroom evokes guys to roll their eyes and girls say with perky eyes, it is great!
I feared failure with my ideas of stripes. Should the stripe be 11 inches? 13? No bigger than 15- I had no clue what I was talking about! Thanks to my mom and some friends, 15 inch blue sash stripes adorn a wall in my girly bedroom.
And fear has no walls. (that makes no sense but I thought it sounded cool)
I'm taking risks.

WEENIES FOR ALL

On any given day if you open my fridge, you'll find an old 2 liter of soda (I don't drink pop) and paint brushes and rollers and a ketchup bottle turned upside down.

If you were to open my fridge this weekend, you would find this. Weenies for all. The paint brushes had to be moved to accomodate the 600 hot dogs.

I am not going to have a contest to see how many dogs I can eat over a weekend. I can only eat a dog about once a year at a BBQ- that's my quota.

The reason for the over abundance of Hot Dogs? A near-by church is hosting a picnic for the apartment next to them and they needed an empty fridge.

Call Holly, her fridge is always empty.
The truth hurts.

go with the fro.

I am the youngest of four girls. They all have pin straight hair. They all have a colon. They all can walk.
Three out of three are a direct result of genetics. But two of them are the outcome of being the one out of four.
Whenever I feel sorry for myself they glare me down and say, "at least you got the good hair."

As you can see this is not "good" air. It certainly has potential.
Especially after I got my hands on this book.
I am a curly girl waiting for the potential.

These photos of my afro were taken on the first day of the rest of my life of healthy care-free curls. I can't wait until I can say with confidence, "at least I have the good hair" and proud to be a Curly Girl.

cross over the anger bridge

come over to the shore of friendship...

if you can name that quote, you win.

i do netflix. i love movies even though i forget them a couple of weeks later. the dilemma i face is finding enough "good" flicks to put on my queue. the other day i overheard my mom tell someone that she and dad had rented OPRAH'S 20th Anniversary DVD series. thanks to TiVo, i hardly miss and episode of OPRAH but the combination of my short term memory loss, my love for movies and my subscription to netflix, i added OPRAH'S 20th Anniversary DVD series to my queue.


i cried, i laughed, i was changed...I LOVE OPRAH!

one of her episodes she talked about ending the day by journaling five things that you are grateful for-
she said it will change your day.

and it has.
one of the things in my life that i am grateful for are friends. (why do i sound like a fifth grader at thanksgiving)
yesterday, amy brought these sunflowers and totally brightened up my home. (OPRAH says you should not have fake flowers. i'm not rich like OPRaH)
but she's right. the flowers add so much.

the shirt was a gift from barb (a friend from my drama team) who surprised me today in my office.

when i grabbed the shirt, the watch that was a gift from dear friend lynne, fell off my wrist as it broke. i loved this watch.

but more important than real flowers, fun t-shirts and cool watches are my beloved friends.

I am so grateful.

now back to the movie...
"SHAKE AND BAKE"!

storms.

pretty soon i am going to build an ark. i don't have two delsie's but you can be sure she would come with me, even though she hates water.
life certainly goes in cycles or another expression is that we are never satisfied- we always want more, it's never enough.
the whole summer you could hear everyone moan and groan about how it is so dry and we need rain so bad.
now that it has rained for the past week complaints are bellowed that all we need is sun.
we are never content.
in all due respect (i'm watching talladega nights), this photo was taken seconds before hurricane dean made itself known while delsie did her business.
kinda scary.
even though I LOVE storms.

his name is Monty and he is so nice....

In my attempt to promise my friend, Tiffany, that this complete stranger on the phone from North Carolina with a cute accent was the sweetest guy, I suddenly was aware at that given moment how blessed I am.
Let me back up a bit to make a little sense...I have had a hard weekend. The time in life when things don't feel like they could possibly get any worse and then your new stove breaks or the air in your car doesn't work and its 95 degrees and humid. The moments when you think you may have been the one that wrote "the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day".
I was feeling sorry for myself. People were letting me down left and right. No one was saying anything that was remotely helpful. I wanted to scream, "DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW I AM HURTING? I AM SO SAD AND DOESN'T ANYONE CARE???!"
This is when the blessing comes in...the words from my friend of 18 years, "you've got guts, Holly. I am so proud of you. You just hit a snag...
What may seem like such simple, meaningless words to many, were words that touched me deeply. and opened the dam.
I began to weep. I mean the ugly cry. No holding back. The snot and mascara dripping kind of cry...
This time in my life is just that: a snag. I will get through it. He promises that. He reminds me of that through friends like Tiffany.
I am the one who is proud.
proud to have the Tiffany's in my life.
and blessed...even in the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.
It's just a snag.
and I promise, Monty is nice.

I've cried three times today. Let me clear up any speculations before I continue: it is not that time of the month. (TMI, I know but a very common assumption) It may be due to the fact that I was awake for three hours in the middle of the night. During the three hours I was able to document a situation that totally seems out of my control. I also was able to stare out my huge family room window and watch the storm with thunder and lightening refresh the parched ground.
I did spend a brief time repeating the name "Jesus" over and over, longing to feel His presence.
I am parched myself. I am only hearing the sound of the crash of thunder and can actually feel the sting of lightening. Things aren't going my way and I am sad.
The truth is, I can't see the big picture. I am not able to witness the benefits of the thunder and lightening. Yet. It's an operative word; yet. A word filled with hope. A word that doesn't allow a period at the end.
Things aren't going my way and I don 't like it. I cry out of selfishness. I cry because I am not living by faith. I cry because I am uncertain of the "yet" and consumed by the now.
Odd photo in this entry. It doesn't really make sense. But it makes me laugh. (maybe cry today)
The innocence of my 4 year old nephew, doing the jig. Making me laugh...keeping life in perspective.

1 years old!

Happy 1st birthday, Danika Jo.



I am so glad I can answer her age in years. I get so confused about the month thing.
If I EVER have a baby, I would be blessed to have one like Danni.
This photo represents her well- and it was taken as she was miserable with a fever of 101...
the party must go on...

SLA

In 2005, Matthew McCougnahey won the SMA (sexiest man alive) and as a result received a brass belt buckle that read, SMA.

After spotting my dad out of my front window this afternoon while setting my sprinkler in his painting wardrobe, I think I have found the SLA.

Sexiest Legs Alive.

(drum roll please) This years winner of 2007 SLA goes to Rich Le Blanc.

The brass belt buckle will be in the mail soon, dad.

baby ruth.

you can't see her- but i promise she's there. baby ruth came into this world on the 30th. as our
bible study visited her the day after she was born.
as i think back to this night, it makes me laugh. we were so engrossed with each other that we hardly acknowledged the miracle before our very own eyes!
yikes- how often do i do that in a single day?
welcome, baby ruth.
you are a gift from God.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I used to be the proud owner of a water bed that I found and purchased with my own money while I was in high school. I LOVED that thing. I lugged that thing around for four moves. The baffles were broke and what finally nailed the coffin was that it started to leak - through the duct tape that sealed the rips over the six years of bliss.
However, no one told me that if you are a proud owner of a water bed, you have no sense of style. I was reminded of this simple fact every time I had to purchase water bed sheets. (you can't use normal ones)
Th same dilemma is true for those in a wheelchair. If you are in a chair, you must not have style. I won't succumb to this pressure. Call it vain but I will go as far as but a pair of pants because they will look "cute" in the chair. I also have to keep in mind whether or not shirts will lay right and pants won't be too short as my life consists of "sitting".
This holds true for the bag on the back of my chair. If you are able-bodied, I am quite sure you have never even noticed bags on the back of wheelchairs. Start to take note. Typically, they are black and boring.
Thanks to Mary Jo, I can wheel around with pride. This is the bag that she created out of a mini-skirt and dress that she purchased at Goodwill.
Yep, I am proud to be in a chair. A chair with style!