Friends...

This week I have had the over-arching theme of 'Friends' running through my life. Especially my thankfulness for the awesome friends that God has given me. Both new friends and old friends, friends nearby and friends from far away.

Tonight I went out with an old friend--a friend I've had for years--11 of them actually! All 11 we've been close--even though we haven't always lived close together. How great it is to have a friend (or two or three) to know and who has known me for so long--not just an acquantince or surface friendship-but one that goes deep. How thankful I am for that.

In the mail this week I got a gift--a gift that held within it words of encouragement, support and friendship from friends I left in Minnesota when I moved. That gift got me a little misty-eyed and reminded me how God had blessed me with amazing friends in MN--friends that don't go away just because a few miles are between us. Makes me wonder if I'll ever meet new friends that come close to comparison in Chicagoland.

But new friends I DID meet this week in Chicagoland. I carpooled into downtown Chicago with Emily, a girl I met 30 seconds before getting in her car to carpool. We are both newbies in the kayaking club, and live close to each other, so it makes sense to be carpool buddies! After an hour and a half in Chicago traffic, we had great conversation and I knew she'd be a new friend of sorts; but that new friendship was put to the test when I promptly locked her keys in her car when we arrived at Lake Michigan! I was mortified, but she was totally cool about it, and AAA had her car opened up in less than a half hour and we hardly lost any kayaking time at all! Leave it to me... :o)

I have seen God place friendships in my life--both the deep and the light, the old and the new, the near and the far--as blessings, encouragement, inspiration and a glimpse of His Love.

Love all you friends reading this right now! You rock!

Love,

Holly :o)

Paint 'n' Process...

So I have had this apartment renovation thing going for a couple months now. I'm actually living there now, which is great. But it is still very much a work in progress. So after a month of serious daily painting I took a break to unpack and set-up shop, so to speak--get my apartment settled in to. Now that is pretty much done--so it is back to painting. Yesterday I painted two items of furniture--so they'd coordinate--and they actually look really great. Today I painted trim in the kitchen and am getting ready to start on the cupboards. That will be a task. You may think that by this point I would totally detest painting. But that isn't true. In fact, at this point in my life all this tedious painting has been really good for me. During my painting time I think...and think...and process life and thoughts and decisions that have been made or are yet to be made. With all the changes that have gone on in my life in recent months, there are certainly plenty of things swirling in my head to process through. Sometimes I come to brilliant revelations during my painting processing time, and other times I simply ruminate and remember--but it is all beneficial in learning, in healing and in growing. So I am thankful for the paint.

But don't get me wrong--I'll be glad when the painting jobs are done!

On a totally different note--there are two things that happened today that really excite me! Actually, make that three.

1. I have been working out and eating healthy lately. Once a month I measure myself. Today was measurement day and I learned that I have shed nearly 14 inches off my body in the last month! Yippee! I don't know how many pounds that equates to because I have no scale--but that is really irrelevant b/c 14 inches lost means I'm smaller and that a new wardrobe is in my future! :o)

2. I signed up for my first event with the Chicago Kayaking club that I am joining. This Friday evening I will be doing a Rescue Clinic with them to learn some new techniques (actually ANY techniques will be good for me!)

3. I have found a church I really love in the area--today was my second Sunday there--and I loved it as much as the first. I will write more about why in a future post. But I got some information this morning about a missions trip the church is doing to Ecuador in September. I would really love to join the team--and I think I will if my work will give me the time off (I haven't exactly earned that much time off yet, but who knows?!). So I am excited about the possibility!

Alright...back to painting!

Later taters!

Holly :o)

Living What Life?

I have thought about it for a while--having my own weblog--blog, as they call it. It makes sense anyway--because I love to write, and I've always kept a journal of 'living the life' so to speak anyway. So why not do it online and share it with others?

Okay--so here it is...the Holly Lou blog! Read it, leave messages, whatever you want!

I called my blog 'Living the Life'. Living what life, you may wonder. No, I'm not exactly living the high life--nor living the low life. In fact sometimes I ask myself the same question...living what life? This life! The life God gave me! The life I'm living--at least trying to live--in accordance with His plan. I never know what this life is going to bring--it has been predictable and boring at times, and it has been flipped upside down other times!

But 'Living the Life' is what my blog is about. I'll post from time to time about life--mine or others, what's been happening or what I've been thinking. It'll be good sometimes, boring others, but that is what it is like when you are Living the Life!

Love ya!

Holly :o)