it's not like he'll...you know?? by hannah

that was a line from the conversation my aunt and my mother are currently having. i have absolutely no idea what the conversation is about, except that my mother keeps saying "none of us are perfect" and my aunt is talking a lot about her job. not sure now that connects, but see what you can come up with!

the past few days have been drama free but not so boring- yesterday I went shopping with my little sister and some "kids" I used to babysit who are no longer kids. Oh wait, there was some drama. There were 5 of us girls, I was the oldest by 4 years and the youngest was the other Hannah, coming in at a mere 12 years of age...anyway, we went to Dillard's or JcPenney's or something and the other girls (aged 12-16) wanted to try on fancy prom type dresses. Remember when you did that?? So we went into the dressing rooms, and about 5 seconds later there's a knock on my door. It's the lady who works in the department, coming to ask, and I quote "do you all intend to make a purchase today?" I looked right back at her and said "That's why we're trying things on. To see if we want to make a purchase." And she said, as if a ghost had whispered in her ear, "someone told me you had a camera." I told her no, and shut the door. Me=mad!!!!!!! We left without making a purchase, and I left without trying anything on.

Today my aunt and uncle from Kentucky rolled in, to celebrate post-Christmas style. We went to Old Navy, and we ran into approximately 137 people I knew, the last of whom I can't really claim to KNOW, necessarily. It was the mother of my first significant crush, we'll call him...Jay, and....Jay's...WIFE. How weird is that?? It's not like it matters, but doesn't going home make you all weird and nostalgic anyway? Not that I am in any form nostalgic about those days- I think I was 11 and and best word to describe me was...well, there wasn't just one. I was too tall, and all of my limbs were too long, as we my ears. And we lived in a rental house in READYVILLE. DON'T EVER GO THERE. YOU'LL GET LOST AND OUR LANDLORD WILL SHOOT YOU WITH HIS GUN THAT HE HAS IN HIS TRUCK. Scaaary.

Tonight we went to a great little resteraunt downtown and ran into yet another person I haven't seen in something like 3 years. Then we came back here, and hilarity has ensued. My younger sister was bestowed with sandalwood incense, which she promptly lit. About 3 minutes later my insaaaaane uncle opened his gift, a pair of gigantic sunglasses (they were a joke, thank God), and exclaimed "Holy shit! They're perfumed!" He didn't even get it when we explained the "perfume" was the incense he had given my sister....

So...I have to get back to that. I leave in 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!

PS That picture Rachel posted is scary??? What the heck is it Rachel??

stefan walked back! 

holiday chaos by rachel

Jaime is okay. Thank God Jaime is okay. He and Nahree are in Thailand until the end of January, and we were all so worried because of the tsunamis.

So, Christmas has been good... and as Jonas so kindly pointed out, this wonderous season is not over yet. I have spent a lot of time with family and friends. My Great Aunt Norma - she is crazy - there is nothing more to say about that (except that she makes fabulous sweet tea). I saw my Great Uncle Jack in tears because his daughter bought him a new truck for Christmas... it made me want to cry, too. Sam and I have been having fun together, writing songs, playing worms, etc. Good times. This week (though it is only Tuesday) has been the week for reunions. Yesterday, I went to lunch with Drew (who has Hugh Hefner's cell #). Today was lunch with Kristina, Jim, and Daniel. I hadn't seen Jim or Kristina since I graduated so it was weird but extremely good to see them. Neither of them have changed much, which is fine with me cause I love them both the way they are. Daniel has been off having adventures in New Zealand, and it was good to hear all the stories. Tomorrow is Kimrey! Yay! Oh, and I apologize to Christin for the mean gift my boss and I sent to her... who knew a plastic rat in a skull could cause so much drama! You know I love you! :)

Sooooo, coming back from my Aunt Norma's house on Christmas evening, Mom began a new tradition I like to call, "stealing toys from kids yard." Yeah.... we were driving back and Mom said she had seen what looked like big plastic chicken legs in a ditch along side of the road. Sure enough, we saw it, so she pulled off and Dad ran to get the mysterious object (which in itself was entertaining to watch). He threw it in the trunk and upon further examination at home, we realized it was part of a hot wheels set. Why hot wheels makes a track that resembles chicken legs is beyond me, but whatever. So, it now sits in our garage and scares me everytime I walk in there.

And I miss all of my friends...

It is almost New Years... what are your resolutions?

Merry Christmas from rachel (and hannah, i'm sure)

This is the irrational season

when love blooms bright and wild.

Had Mary been filled with reason

there'd have been no room for the child.

~ Madeleine L'Engle

PS by Hannah

Oh yeah, the next day after all that, my mom and dad were helping me move all of my stuff out of my dorm, and we had to avoid the huge chunks of half frozen peanut butter all over the sidewalk.

the other side of the atlantic??? by hannah

so, when we said that we would be posting from opposite sides of the atlantic, we didn't mean imediately. Right now we're both in Tennessee. Unfortunately, those homes are about 4 hours apart. Or maybe more, I have noooo idea. And Rach and I don't really get to see each other, which is sad, because we are 4 hours or more apart, and Rachel's all busy working, and I'm all busy...not working (aka sleeping, Christmas shopping...) I MISS HER.

Things are weird here, good, but weird. The last few days in Berea were very sad, as expected. After dinner on Wednesday night Rachel and I didn't do much. Jonas and Clay called around 1, I think, to say that they were downstairs. I took peanut butter because I didn't want to take it home with me. When we got downstairs we found Jonas, Clay, Nahree and Jaime on our front porch. The next few minutes are a blur, but I remember the funny Russian couple in the lobby making out and Clay going inside and standing RIGHT in front of them with a cookie (??) and Jaime and Jonas throwing around the open jar of peanut butter. I think the words "peanut butter football" were uttered. From there we piled in Jaime's new car and went to Clay's to get a movie or something. Not much happened there, except that the movie was not found, and we all had to clear out because of an unfortunate vacuum-hose-down-the-pants-incident that involved Jonas and Clay. Well done boys!

We took Rachel back to our dorm and headed north (after a stop at Clay's van for entertainment and the Speedway to make sure Jaime hadn't won the lottery. He didn't) to Cincinnati, to take Jaime and Nahree to the airport. The drive up there was pretty uneventful. I tried to see over shoulders to watch "Fight Club" which I had never seen before, and tried not to fall asleep. After dropping them off at the airport and a run-in with the video camera (a slightly scary Jonas telling the future audience that we were "dropping off Jaime and Nahree in Thailand") we went to Steak and Shake for coffee and breakfast. My eggs had a hair in them, and that was gross. On the way home we finished "Fight Club" and watched the entire Tom Petty video history. WOW what a rockin' good time. There was talk of a hotel room, but it was quickly dispelled. Again...well done boys!

The goodbye was sad, but maybe they're coming to Nashville before I leave for good??? We'll see.

I'm off to clean my room. Imagine that. It's only because my mom makes me :)
I love you Rachel and I misssss youuuu

The Much Much More of being home... by rachel

How could I have ever thought that being home = being bored? *Sigh*

So, I went to church yesterday morning. In sunday school/youth group, they told me the story of "Mad Gab." Apparently a few days ago, they all got together to play the game Mad Gab. If you don't know what that game entails, you read aloud a bunch of nonsensical words that to someone who is just listening, sounds like a word or phrase. The actual answer to this specific card was "A bowl of sugar." Diana repeated the words on the card and everyone on her team strained to listen. After a few minutes, Mary Frances pipes up full of confidence and vigor, "A POLISH HOOKER!" Ryan (my youth minister) rolled around on the floor he laughed so hard.

Anyway, back to church. Samuel decided it would be a good idea to bring a gag shocking pen with him. He got everyone to fall for it. Jennie had an especially good reaction, although Diana did throw the pen across the room after being shocked. Samuel's been on a roll the past few weeks as I understand it. Two weeks ago, he stapled my dad's bulletin shut. Last week he used a glue stick and glued it shut, and Dad still couldn't figure out what was going on. Samuel had the whole church watching him. Haha.

Yesterday, during the service, the choir performed their cantanta. They were surprisingly good! There were a lot of solos. Sam had 2, which of course blew the congregation away. Beth had a long one that was superb, and then, shock of all shocks (no pun intended), my DAD had a solo. And he ROCKED it!! I was sooo proud. I think he really surprised everyone... no one knew (not even me) that he could sing like that. Woot!

On our way out of church, Dad, Samuel, James, and I walked out the side door towards the van. Samuel got hit by a snowball and turned around the give James heck for it. Then, from behind us, we hear giggling. We all turn around and there is an older man from our church, Jack Gardner with more snowballs in his hands. He pelted us as we ran screaming in laughter down the sidewalk. Aaaaah, church. :)

Right now, I am snowed into my house. It took Dad and I a full hour to drive home from the toy store last night because of the weather. The annual youth group Christmas service (and consequently Santa's visit) were cancelled. :( We spent the evening watching "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" It was pretty funny. The whole time, the spaz kitten was attacking everyone. We locked it in the bathroom where it proceeded to turn over its litter box. Dad threatened to kill it and make a banjo out of it.

OH YEAH... AND I found out, very nonchalantly I might add, that our cat Figaro is dead. Thanks for telling me! They claimed they already told me, but I think I would have remembered that one.

So, it is no longer the 1.6 degrees it was when my mother woke up... in fact in might even be up to 3 now... so I think I'll go sunbathe.

home sweet home by rachel

I woke up this morning to my brother standing at the foot of my bed playing guitar and singing one of my favorite Ben Harper songs. :) It was a good way to begin the day.

So far, being home has been a lot of fun. I got here late Thursday night and on Friday, I unpacked (sort of) and then went to work at Turtle's Nest (which is only the coolest toy store in East Tennessee). Even after not having worked there in about a year, I remembered how to run the cash register. My boss and I were both pleasantly surprised. As usual around this time of year, I met some crazy holiday shoppers. One fellow was searching for a gift for his 7 year old son... I would point out a gift idea and he would reply with, "That's right, that's right, show me more." It was strange. After an hour of showing him everything in the store, he called his wife to see what she thought, and ended up leaving without buying anything. Sigh. Husbands. I did get to see some old friends though, so that was good.

Today, I did not work. I actually wrote a lot. I'm working on a story that I pray with all my might does not end up being yet another dud. I'm really enjoying it so far, and it felt good to write for my own purposes rather than an assignment.

The new kitten, Enrico, is in the house for a few days because he (and we just found out for certain it is a he) was spayed. It likes to jump up and hang on your butt when you are trying to be a good daughter and wash dishes. It's going to be a long few days. And it is on sedatives. Ha!

During dinner, Samuel had entirely too much fun with the fortune cookie. I got it all on video, don't worry. Oooooh, a big congratulations to him on getting first in the TCTC singing competition. He gets to perform at the conference in January, and I get to be there! Woot!

In other news, I miss Hannah. A lot. We've talked on the phone for a few minutes once or twice, but it is not the same. I did find a cool shirt today when I was going through a box of winter stuff that made me think of her. It said, "Me, my elf, and I." She is my only Elf #1. Too bad my mother is attached to the shirt. She won't give it up even though I have addressed and signed and sealed two billion Christmas cards. Sometimes I think they only let me come home for Christmas because of my handwriting...

I...I love icecream... 

How does that work anyway? 

Don't look back by, for the last time for awhile, Rachel AND Hannah

Before we begin this blog we would like to be sure to appreciate the support of Erin H. and Aaron H. in all of our blogging endeavors. This one is for you guys!

We are feeling nostalgic. Tonight we went out with our boys, all (hang on... we have to count) five of them (although there were seven total) and some girls too. The night is still young, but we have said goodbye to some of our best friends for quite some time. And did you know that Rachel is Clay's hottt girlfriend? We didn't either. How does that work?

Whether they read it or not (JONAS), we would like to thank those five boys--Clay, Jaime, Josh, Jonas, and Booger-- (and Jesse, but he's not here anymore...) for making our college experience exciting thus far. Berea's not going to be the same without you. And England is just going to be totally different.

Next in this drippy blog we must thank ProcreKate for our spectacular Christmas gifts. We never expected a stick pony! Or a trashy romance novel for that matter. We love you more than words can say. (PS Rachel's watching "The Sicilian" RIGHT NOW!!!!)...Keith we love you sooo and thank you for our wonderful pillows. Rachel's little woman looks just like her, and Hannah's little neck thingy looks just like her butt.

To end it we want to remember...good...things.

Remember when we used to sit out in the lobby all the time? Or the Hanson concert last fall...the infamous pimento cheese sandwich war...all playing the same game of worms from our seperate rooms...trying to see how many people would let us write on them with permanant markers all in the name of "social harmony"...making scenes at foodservice...DONNIE!!!!...Jonas' skunk story (One time, there was a skunk in our backyard, but NOT ANYMORE!!!)...watching Jim Henson at Clay's...the itsy bitsy sticky fingers...the great rubber band and pencil mechanism we hung from our fire alarm...getting high on the plastic bubble stuff...stomping on ketchup packets..."Hold me Bat Boy, love me Bat Boy"...headless women art in the lobby...bowling way too much...there's so much more.

Thanks, faithful readers. Hannah and Rachel will be keeping this up from opposite sides of the Atlantic, starting on January 4th!!!

"A little voice inside my head said don't look back, you can never look back...those days are gone forever...we should just let 'em go."

the three stooges 

Do you ever just look at yourself in the mirror and start laughing? by us both (and a little bit of IntoxiKate)

There is a midget loose in the room. I just found her the other day. She looks kind of like a clown, but with pretty hair (that is kate talking...you can try to ignore her, it won't work).
PS everything in pink is Kate pleasantly interrupting us as we type. Or as hannah types. We're not both typing. That would involve Rachel sitting on Hannah's lap, or Hannah being the left hand and Rachel being the right...which might work out pretty nicely now that we think about it.

We have a great story to tell: Okay, a friend of a friend of a friend told us this. It might be true (I HAVE a liver, shut up! Don't tell me to go to AA!), it might not. We think (you guys think???) it's kind of an urban legend, but it's sooo entertaining (legedend! I feel like so special!!). Okay, a college aged girl goes to babysit (-pregnancy breathing-) for some kids who she's never met before. When she gets to the people's house the parents are all ready for her, they've left cell phone numbers (that's funny...), where they'll be, when they'll be back, what time the kids should go to bed, etc. The parents leave, and the first thing the babysitter notices is that there's a freaky clown statue in the corner of the living room. She really hates clowns (Me no likey clowns. Hehehehe.) so she takes the kids upstairs. They stay up there until she puts them to bed, and then she goes back downstairs to the living room. She REALLY hates clowns, and she feels like this statue is watching her with it's EYES, so she goes to call the parents to see if she can move it to another room while she's watching TV or whatever in the living room. And what do they say? THEY DON'T HAVE A CLOWN STATUE. It turns out that this "statue" was actually a CLOWN MIDGET that escaped from the circus!!! He had been living in their house for something like 5 days, and the kids had been telling their parents stories about the clown--"the clown played with me to day" or "the clown jumped on the bed with me." And guess what happened to the little clown midget? He got put into a mental institution. The end.

Blarg. Okay, now onto more pressing issues! Onward, ho! Hi ho Silver! Bannockburn!
WTF knows what that means??

You silly sausage patty! Millimeters millimeters good!

Rachel and Hannah were relieved to find that Jonas and Clay weren't on the radio this morning since we FORGOT. So, this Thursday we get a second chance to not suck at life and be the die hard fans we know we can be. Hardcore!!!!!!!!!!! Dammit. So tune into Lexington's KISS FM on Thursday around 7:30 am to hear Jonas and Clay be the...smart ones we know they can be. Good luck with that boys!

Hannah found an old shopping list in the back of her "stuff" drawer last night. It said, and we quote:
"The boy (marked out)
Kleenex
CDs
Food."
She doesn't know what it means either.

Very nice.
Gooooooooooooodnight.
Holy Mother! Glazed doughnuts! Aw, dang it, I've been censored.

The best Christmas pageant ever 

End every sentence with "Christmas 209B"

We promise the update you've all been clamoring for will be arriving soon! It's being shipped overnight!

Because our site is so popular we wanted to shamelessly plug our friends' play: all you Berea people need to head over to Phelps Stokes on Thursday (Dec 9) or Friday (Dec 10) around 7:30 or 8:00 for the John Goodfriddle orignial "Christmas 209B." Not only will you be entertained greatly by our crazy friends, but you will see Rachel's Chamber singers AND Elf #1!

The real Minnie 

Mini Pearl by Hannah

My new favorite game is to create nicknames in pairs for Rachel and me. Some of the latest: Platypus, Armadillo and Anteater for Rachel, Kate, and I (I can't remember who is who). Mini for Rachel (you know, since she's so tiny and some people know this) and Pearl for me. Get it??

Happy Monday...updates coming!

Tonight: Last night of Berea buddies with the coolest kid ever, Cheyenne, then more homework. 10 days and counting till I'm outta Berea for 9 whole months...!!! As I type this, I am filled with tingly excitement at the prospect.