Ode to Belle

My whole life I have had to tell my older sister Ellie so many things. How she feels, what she wants......aka.. I've had to make all her decisions for her. (If you know her, you know she is the most indecisive person ever made.) She takes AGES to make a decision! She has often said to me, "Oh dee, just tell me what I want!"

In any case, today she called me up wanting me to go shopping with her. (She is decorating her house you see.) I was so very glad she called me! We had a lovely time. But let me tell you... I basically told her what she wanted the entire time. You might think this seems pushy...but no...I was right, of course! I knew exactly what she wanted. :) So we picked fabric for backing her frames and wreaths for her doors. We shopped for lamps and organizational baskets for her new desk. :)

We picked up a few shirts from target. She has finally boarded the Bohemian train. (I take credit for that. I also take credit for her fantastical side pony she has been sporting lately.)We spent around 4ish hours shopping.. :) It was lovely quality time. She is a dearest friend to me. I love me some belle.



HollyDee

P.s Growing up Ellen painted and she drew....she was hailed as the 'artistic one.' I can't paint or draw to save my life. However, I'm pretty artistic in other ways. I said to her, "You know, I hate you. My whole life you told me I wasn't artistic like you and I so totes am.. I've basically just decorated your whole house..." She replied, "You couldn't even write your name legibly till you were like 20." Baahaha so mean. But so...so true.

A few funny stories of little me

(At least.....this is how my parents tell it....;)

There was the time I poured out my Momy's foundation, mixed it with Vaseline and smeared it all over the brand new carpet in the Big House...

There was the time the big house was being built and my parents couldn’t find me.. I just disappeared! My Dad looked up and I was "30 feet up in the air" climbing on the scaffold. He had to climb up there and "rescue me"...

There was the time I painted the inside of our van....blue..

Then there was the time I found a bag of detergent and shook it out all over the inside of  the van....(Poor van...it saw a bunch of action...)

I remember holding a sharpie in each hand, stretching my arms out and markering all the walls going up the stairs...I remember being to little to reach both walls at the same time so I would have to swivel back and forth doing one side then the other.
hahaha

Apparently...I have been a 'handful' my whole life...a fact I contest.

HollyDee

Remember When

One of the hardest parts is going back home after funerals and everything is completely changed. You expect the whole world to stop and mourn with you and you don’t quite understand why everyone else is going on around you, happy, as if nothing had ever happened. I remember that feeling all too well. I was intimately acquainted with it. It is happening to some of my dearest friends now. People I have known for years.

The Funeral today was so very beautiful. It was centered on Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
When Jesus died on the cross He paid the price for all of it.  I am so very thankful for that. We have no need of 'Last rites' for God has forgiven us our future sin.

 One of the people who spoke reminded us how important it is for us to never live without hope. To never forget the hope we have in Jesus.
"But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation." 1 Thessalonians 5:8
"But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house-- whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." Hebrews 3:6
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;"
Hebrews 10:23

The God we serve is so great. (How does that old song go? ‘My God is so great, so strong and so mighty; there is nothing my God cannot do.’) He is powerful enough to heal our broken hearts. We have to remind ourselves every day that He wants good for us and He is bringing about further sanctification in our lives. Even if the events that get us there are most painful and terrible.

 I know so many of you don’t know them, but I hope you will continue to pray for the Singleton family.

Love always
HollyDee

Can I just make a "Not me" Tuesday?...

(Run on sentences are required)

Today... while at Abby’s birthday party....... Emma’s van did not die. 

 And I did not drive her to the rental car place.  

And while I was NOT stuck at the rental car place in a certain parking spot because of a very large salesman (who was helping another very large customer) who was NOT standing directly behind my vehicle.

And I did NOT turn around and stare at them waiting for them to move.

After they finally did move and were out of earshot, I did NOT yell across the parking lot to my sister Emma, “OH my goodness! I was just stuck in a parking space for ages and I could not get out because this sales guy was giving some pitch to some other guy and they just wouldnt move their huge butts!”

And after that...the costumer who had been behind my car was NOT standing by Emma in a place where I couldn’t see… And he did NOT yell across at me saying, “Can I at least know your name if you are going to stare at my butt?” .................................and I did NOT die laughing

No, not me

 

Love always

Hollydee

7 Years with Abby

Tomorrow is my dearest Babo's birthday. <3 7 years old tomorrow. TIME moves so quickly. I remember the day she was born and how I held that little bundle. She didnt know how much joy she brought with her. Kim is the oldest daughter and yet her two younger sisters got married before she did; a fact that was SO hard for her. BUT she had the very first grandchild :)

 Ivy and I cried as soon as we saw her.

The first time I held her!













Abby is a wonderful little sweetie. She is lovely. She is kind. Her facial expressions are truly hillarious. She is such a tease.

 She is a girly girl and loves makeup parties. this is one of my favorites of us. I was fixing her up for Belle's wedding.

 

She is very sensitive. she loves the Lord. Half the time I forget I am talking to a 6 year old because she seems so grown up. Momy always says that is just how Kim was. I have to be super careful because I know she is truly just a tender little girl and she needs to be nurtured and loved. She and I have always been close and I love her with all my heart. I am so glad God sought fit to put her in our family. <3 I hope I can be a good influence and a source of godly wisdom in her life.

Tomorrow we will be getting together for lunch to celebrate. :) All the cousins I know will have a blast playing together. I LOVE YOU DEAREST. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABO!



Love always
HollyDee

Made for Eternity

O to live in a world where pain, sorrow and suffering were things that no one had ever experienced or even knew about. Today I learned one of my dear friends from high school had her sister pass away. I am terribly sad and hurt over this. Death is such an enemy. It is strange, all morning I was thinking about the promise of our resurrection from 1st Corinthians 15 and then as soon as I got home I learned of sweet Olivia. God was already encouraging me all morning even before I knew. Death is something that is very hard for me to bear.. Having lost someone and been through it at such a young age.. I feel the pain of others because I remember just how hard and dark of a time it is. God's promise is sure.

My Pastor was talking about suffering and saying, “Sometimes we suffer so that we ourselves can benefit but other times we suffer for the benefit of someone else.” I hope so many people will be reached because of the death of this young girl. I remember there were over 1400 people at Kelsey’s funeral. I hope that if Olivia knew or had friends that were not living correctly that this death of hers will benefit them and that they will turn from their sin and live for God.

 I've been reading "A Sweet and Bitter Providence." It is a wonderful book that centers around the book of Ruth.  In it John Piper talks about how we are to deal with difficult circumstances.

 “Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.” -Piper

 I believe that with all of my heart. God has His hands in everything. Every circumstance. Every situation. I learned so early that this life is temporal. But I also know that we were created eternal beings and we were created for an eternity with our Lord. Olivia is in the arms of Jesus.

 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” –John 11:25-26

 “They will hunger no longer, now thirst anymore. Nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to the springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Rev 7:7:16-17

 
This is our promise. God's covenant with us. Ivy says whenever someone dies she just thinks that it means there is more of a welcoming party for her when she goes. I know the other saints in heaven welcomed Olivia’s soul home just as they did for Kelsey those 5 long years ago. Pray for the Singletons as their pain is still so fresh. Pray that the Lord will show himself so sweetly to them and comfort their broken hearts. He is near to the broken hearted and to all who call out to his name. We serve a great, loving and powerful God.

 
Love always
HollyDee

Random things

I check people.com everyday. I call it, "staying informed with the world around me."

I Brush my teeth while in the shower...Some of you might call that gross. I call it multitasking

I think Gatorade is a miracle drug.

One day while trying to describe myself (in a particular area..not all the way around mind you  ;) I invented the word 'AnalRetentious." It is a cross between Anal Retentive and Contentious.

I love the stage but I hate being stared at. It makes no sense that I went for a preformance degree

When I sleep I tuck my thumb in between my pointer and my middle finger. I have no idea why.

Around 1 every night i get terrible hunger pains and I have to run to the kitchen because I feel like I might die otherwise.

I can belly dance.. I specifically rememeber learning how whilst sitting on the potty doing potty training. haha (TMI ?) Sometime later my sister ellen drew a flag on my stomach and I laid on my side and made it wave hahahaha

When I was little I could pop my belly button in and out...IT only stays in now..if you were wondering....

I think it is very important that you remember where you have been. The sins you have commited. You know what they say about history being repeated. That being said, I would love a do over. I have heard people say they dont want do overs. They will say, "I wouldnt be who I am today." (Which i think is idiotic. I mean who wouldnt want to take back the sin they comminted against a perfect god?!) But if I had the chance to take back pain I have caused others I would do it in a heartbeat.

I fancy myself a 'go with the flow' sponteneous person

I have been called Dee my whole life. I still find it strange when I hear people call me holly.

I suppose I dont know if I have ever been in love. Love isnt supposed to end. Is it?

Pearl Harbor is one of my favorite movies. I start crying in the openeing theme. OKAY I know it is a pretty lame movie..(and Ben Afflecks acting has come a heckuva long way buttttt) One of the reasons I love it is because I used to watch it with Kelsey before she died.

Today my sister likened me to a fruit, 'Right for the picking.' hmm...Thank you?.. (You know who you are)

I sneeze when I eat peppermint or spearmint.

I have to sleep with my fan on. Rain, shine, snow.

Totes random but I thought I would share that with you all. (Mostly for ivy. Just so i could say i blogged.. :)

HollyDee
Love Always