Becca: Making Christmas (is so fine!)

It's ours this time and won't the children be surprised?! It's ours this time! Making Christmas, making Christmas, making Chriiiistmas!

(So I've been known to be mildly obsessed with Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" ... that doesn't make me a bad person! ... right?)

So I always get really excited for Christmas! I haven't as much this year, but as it is officially Christmas eve-eve (yes, you got that right), I hereby give myself and the rest of the holly jolly world permission to be excited about Christmas! I have two days left to revel in Christmas carols and twinkle lights and Santa's face being on EVERYTHING.

Come on, people! "It's CHRISTMASTIME!! Hee-hee-hee-hee!!"

I get to go to my first-ever Christmas Eve service tomorrow night at my "new" church (which I joined in September), and I'm excited! You know, I've heard the Baby Jesus story more times than I can count, but it always becomes so much more real to me when Christmas is put in perspective; that Jesus wasn't born to be "Sweet Little Baby Jesus" for all time, but to be the Messiah, who ended up DYING for us. Not only dying - if he were just another martyr, I wouldn't be a Christian. But he sacrificed the love of His Father for us. He was the only human being to ever experience the absence of God, and He IS God! I don't know if that means much to many people, but for me, just knowing that God is always with me - not just "watching over me", but is actually with me - helps even when I can't seem to feel Him there. I can't imagine the terror and chaos and pain that would befall me if God were to turn His face from me for even a moment. And God's own Son took THAT blow for me? Along with taking on mortal human nature and living life in a world full of temptation and living a sinless life through that temptation and being abandoned by His friends and distrusted and hated by the very people He created and then being humiliated, mocked, cursed, tortured and finally killed ... can you even begin to imagine the kind of pain that an eternal, perfect, omniscient God must have gone through every moment of every day seeing His beautiful world fallen and in ruins, and having to go through it all just like everyone else did? I try sometimes to imagine what horror must have been His as He went through His day-to-day life knowing that so many of the people he saw and reached out to were going to spend eternity without Him, and then His own personal struggles with the temptation to rebel against God.

... It brings me a deeper sense of peace knowing that Christmas isn't about the presents, or the lights, or the cute baby sitting in a manger. It's about a God - THE God - who suffered everything that a person can suffer and then some, because He loved His people so much. He did all that and saved me, too, just so I wouldn't have to live another day of my life without His love. :) It's amazing how easy it is to lose sight of that sometimes. But Christmas is a good time to remember.

And yes, I still like the Tim Burton movie. So sue me. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love,
Becca

P.S. I never believed in Santa. o:

Heather: Christmas time!

Howdy to all 4 of you who actually read this!
Sorry its been awhile.. I'm gonna go ahead and blame that on my busy schedule.

ANYWAYS. It's a whoppin' two weeks and two days away from Christmas! :) Yayyyyyy for Christmas. <3 I am a BIG fan of getting people presents.. whether it's for Christmas, their birthday, or just cause I love them. They mean something to me, and I want them to know it (that's my logic for all the money I spend on gifts.. just fyi).
Well, this year I'm having lotsa fun shopping for everyone, and I'm almost completely done getting all my people's gifts! :D YAYYY! ..I'm somewhat proud of myself for this, in case ya couldn't tell.

If you haven't purchased x-mas gifts yet, that's okay. Don't feel TOO bad.. you still have a couple weeks. ;)

I wish I could tell you all the gifts I've purchased (and have yet to get), but sadly, someone very close to my family is muh partner in crime for this blog.. *COUGHBECCACOUGH* ..yeah. So, I apologize. 

BUT HEY. Tomorrow, the Hauer's are gonna have a family-putting-up-the-tree/ornaments/Christmas decor-day. :) Am I excited? Yes. I am. I love the general feeling that comes from everyone during the winter holidays.. with Christmas music filling the air, the delicious smell of candles, and sometimes even the smell of freshly baked goodies coming from our kitchen. :) I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I find that atmosphere comforting.

But, if for some reason your Christmas season is normally not that joyous, here are 5 tips on how to add a little happy to your holiday:

1) Make (and then share) cookies. Almost anyone you meet will smile at the chance to taste some homemade heaven.

2) IFYOUHAVEAFIREPLACE, start a fire. In the fireplace. Not in the middle of the living room.. that would be a bad idea. But a fire going crackle-cackle is always a nice relaxing sound. :) ..in my opinion, anyway. And no, I'm not a pyromaniac.

3) Smile (nicely) at a stranger! Yeahyeahyeah, I know. "People are scary!".. they probably think the exact same thing about you. So, go out of your comfort zone, and bring them a little holiday cheer. :)

4) Start singing Christmas songs! It doesn't matter where you are. If you're at home, in a treacherously long line at Wal-Mart, sitting at your desk at work, IT DOESN'T MATTER. Singing is just a recipe for joy. ..And if your voice isn't half bad, other people might start singing along too. :D

5) Last but not least, get someone you know a gift. Gift giving shouldn't be about winning someone's love or favor, it should be a gesture that shows them that you love THEM. Honestly, and I know this is probably gonna be a shocker, they probably forgot to get you something this year. Don't hold it against them! Their schedule might be just as (if not more) busy then yours. Let them know you think about them, they'll appreciate it. 

So there ya go! I hope and pray all of you have an excellent Christmas, and a happy new year! :)

You're blessed. <3

Becca: Things Just Got a Little Out of Hand ...

Hey, everybody! (All. what, zero of you?)

So - we haven't posted in a while. I'll take the brunt of the responsibility for that. I've moved and had to start looking into getting ready for college next semester and working on and off at a local car dealership, and wallowing in self pity, and getting adjusted to a new schedule, and wallowing in self-pity, and ... well, the list goes on. I've been neglecting my personal blog, too [insert unashamed plug for my personal blog here: click!], so don't feel like you're the only ones being ignored! You're not. I've been ignoring everyone equally. :)

(You're welcome.)

Butanyway - did everybody have a good Thanksgiving? My favorite part of Thanksgiving this year was the three-hour one-on-one conversation that I got to have with my grandmother (on my mom's side), which is something I've never done with her before! And it made me happy, and two days later I'm still feeling awesome about it! Thank God for family, you know what I mean? Especially thank God for family who puts up with you (coughMEcough) and loves you (coughITWASMEcough) even when you're (coughI'Mcough) a hard-headed teenager. ;)

So yeah. That's all I've got for tonight, except that I think everybody should go look up the bands AWOLNATION and Florence + the Machine. [insert unashamed plug for my favorite bands here] Actually, you should also look up at least one of the following: The Vitamin String Quartet; Mumford and Sons; Poets of the Fall. And you should also to listen to at least ONE song by Lady Gaga. She deserves the respect, if only because she is an affront to ... pretty much everything. ;)

Note: Listening to "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga, "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons, "The Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine, and/or "Sail" by AWOLNATION does NOT count as sampling any of those bands. I recommend trying "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga, "Feel The Tide" by Mumford and Sons, "Rabbit Heart" by Florence + the Machine and/or "Not Your Fault" by AWOLNATION if you're going to "try" any of those. Never start with the most popular/well-known songs. It gives you a false representation of the artist/group/band/whatever.

Okay, rant done. :)

Keep smiling!
(Becca-roo)

We're special.

I don't think we ever appreciate anything as much as we should.
And I'm not accusing anyone, either. I'm not near as thankful for my life as I should be sometimes. It's just very sad how little we actually think to ourselves: "You know what, I'm thankful for today." And there are so many things to be thankful for, too! SO many things.

Take a look outside! Today it was raining (WOOHOO!), so it was obviously wet. Have you ever thought about just how many rain drops it takes to create a puddle? How thick the clouds have to be to get that dark? And then I think to myself, God knows the answer to both those questions. ..How cool is that!

And then the next day comes around, and it's sunny! I mean the birds are singing, the sky is so blue you'd bet that God just took a huge paint brush and a big bucket of bright blue paint and repainted it the night before JUST so that we could be dazzled by its color again.

And don't even get me started on all the plants and animals that are spread all over this earth! Even the tiniest flea has a heart, brains, and a bunch of fun internal organs that I can't even name! And a stupid FLY knows exactly who to annoy at what time! I mean seriously, how could there not be a God.

Guess what? That's just during the day. If you ever look at the stars, straight above you, there are MILLIONS of those giant fire balls that look all pretty and sparkly right where you're looking! You know what else? That's just earth. Earth is itsy bitsy compared the sun, and the sun is minuscule in size compared to the universe it occupies, and there's more than one universe! Yeah, and if you don't feel small yet, GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THAT. Yeah. And he loves you. And me. And we don't even take the time of day to thank that God (who made it real convenient for us seeing as though we can talk to him at any time) for the food we eat, and the clothes we wear, and the fact that we're even alive.

But that's just what I think.

Now, I'm gonna share some lyrics to a song I wrote a couple years ago.. I thought it kinda fit the mood I was goin' for. ;) 
____
Made Specially -Heather Hauer

Do you ever get a feeling that starts in your heart,
The feeling that this life just isn't it?
Yes the world is very real, but I think that when we die,
there's a God and a heaven waiting for you and I

(chorus:)
Here's the best part: God loves you, and God loves me
And heaven is a place where we can spend eternity
God created everything, from the clouds to the stars
From the oceans wide to Venus and Mars
To the tiniest flea, but you and me, he made specially.

If you've never had a father that loves you like he should
Then I know someone for you that would
He knows your every feeling, he knows your every thought
He'll never leave you, no matter what
(chorus)

I know it's hard to believe, but please try and see
That when you get down on your knees and say: "Please, love me!"
He is pleased, and he will love you forever
'Cause he made you specially!
____

You're blessed! <3
 

Becca: The Eleventh Commandment

The unspoken 11th Commandment is as follows:

Thou shalt not unplug the fan in Becca and Heather's room.

The story is this: Heather and I were having a discussion during one of our late-night runs (we run together at night now - yay for exercise!), about PMS. 

Note: Yes, guys, you can gag or snicker, I don't care; we're girls, and as such are allowed to discuss these things. That does NOT give you permission to ask us "It's PMS, isn't it?" every time we get mad at you. The answer is probably yes, which means that you DO NOT want to make us any more angry by bringing it up. Just a word of advice.

Anyway, we were talking, and she told me that the evening before she had had a moment of, "I want to KILL Becca right now. She's not doing anything, but ... she's just ... I HATE HER ...". 

Note: Yes, guys, we have those moments. Beware.

We had a good laugh over it, and then I realized, if this was the time to come clean, I had a confession to make. It went something like this: "Well, Heather, the other night I wanted to go to bed early, and I was already kind of mad, and I went into our room, and I tried to turn on the fan, but it wasn't turning on. So, I looked at the cord, and you had unplugged it and plugged in your keyboard, and I had a moment of, 'OH MY GOSH. She did NOT unplug MY [which is actually her] FAN!! Where is she?! I'm gonna rip her HEAD OFF!!' ... and yeah, I didn't kill you, but I wanted to. Because the fan ... was unplugged ..."

And we laughed for a good five minutes over that one. Well, now it's a great big joke that I am that touchy about a fan (which I'm actually not, it was just a surge of hormones and hatred that needed to be aimed at something, and Heather happened to be available at the time). That is all well and good, because I can laugh about it just as much as she does, but it went a little too far last night, after we had both crawled into bed and realized that we had forgotten to turn the fan on.

Me: "Uhg."

Heather: "What?"

Me: "... we forgot to turn the fan on."

Heather: "... oh, shoot."

Me: "I'll get it ..."

Heather: "No! I'll get it! *scrambles to get up first*"

Me: "I'm on the bottom bunk, I'll get it! *gets to the fan first*"

Heather: "Aw, man ..."

Me: *clicks the button on the fan* *nothing happens* "Hey, the fan isn't ..."

Heather: *snicker*

Me: "... turning on." *checks cord* "... YOU!"

Heather: "I UNPLUGGED THE FAN!! ON PURPOSE!! BAHAHAHAHA!!"

Me: *seethes* "Well, fine! You get down and plug it in!" *gets back into bed*

Heather: *climbs down and plugs the fan in and gets back up, laughing*

The cruelty, readers! Oh! - the cruelty! Do you not sympathize with me? DO YOU NOT?! Oh, I suffer ...

Well, there is my story for you. Don't touch my fan.

Keep on smiling!

Becca: It Wasn't My Idea

I don't like The Beatles. We've been over this. The thing of it is, though, I would almost like to like The Beatles, because, to be honest, it seems like a pretty cool thing to like.

I'm not all that into coffee. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either. I like it some days, but mostly I just tolerate it. However, I would LIKE to be one of the people who just loves coffee, and knows the actual difference between light and dark roast and knows what their favorites order from Starbucks is, because being a coffee junkie is just hipster enough to be neat.

I like movies, but I'm not a movie connoisseur who knows the names of actors and dates of when such and such won such and such an award. Now, that is actually something I wish I was really into, because THAT is pretty stinking awesome, but no, I'm not really that dedicated to Hollywood.

Isn't it funny how you can like the idea of liking something more than you like the thing itself? I have a list:

• The color purple*
• SteamPunk art
• Edgy fashion
• SteamPunk anything!
• Indie music
• Ale 81
• Art in general
• Poetry
• Computer ... stuff
• Johnny Cash
• Cars and/or Motorcycles
• Classical music
• etc.

Seriously - I love the idea of having interesting interests, just for the sake of having interesting interests to talk about with those who have similar interesting interests! But not so much. Politics, mythology, alternative rock (which isn't even really all that alternative) and photography. And some other random stuff, like Disney movies and scrap-booking. Woo. Hoo. So stinking interesting.

But yes. I like the idea of being interesting based on whatever interests I could choose to be interested in, whether or not I'm actually interested in them. I like the idea of liking many things more than I actually like them, which makes me wonder why I want to like them in the first place, and why it matters whether or not my interests are "cool".

And, furthermore, why have I adopted the thought process that anyone who has unusual interests is automatically "cool" (read: someone I would want to attempt to emulate)? And what makes the unusual unusual in the first place, and why, OH WHY, do I even care?

So yes. What do you wish you liked so that you could be interesting for having interesting interests?

Keep it real! ... or, virtual! Whatever. :)

Becca out.

Note: The original prompt for this idea came from Eddguardo Deevachinski. Or something like that. ;D Thanks for the text, E.

* I LOVE the color purple, but it isn't my favorite color, but I wish it was, because it sounds so much better than "burnt orange". True story.

The deliciousness of brewed coffee beans.

It's Tuesday, folks!

Aaaaand it's raining outside! For those of you who don't really know me that well, I. LOVE. THE RAIN. <3
If I wake up in the morning and it's raining, my day is automatically a good one. Seriously, I spring out of bed and dance around the house singing. And smiling. It's kind of scary.

Anyway. Coffee. A favorite hot beverage of mine here on the planet earth.
But, you know, some people don't like coffee. ...Let's give them a moment.

*Heather pauses.

Moment over.

I guess I sort of understand how a person couldn't like coffee... kind of.. ish. But hey, more for me, right? xD
Right. So, all you coffee-haters out there, bring ME your unwanted coffee. I will drink it....and I might share it with some of my favorite coffee-drinking people. Maybe.

Oh! And guess what! Drinking coffee on a rainy day is a automatic win times TENTHOUSANDMILLIONANDABUNCHMOREBIGNUMBERS!!!!!!!!! Yay. YAY.

Yupyupyup! I'm just rambling now, so I'll be nice to you and end the post. :) 

It's time to say toodles, don't spray paint your poodles, and don't forget to smile! :)

You're blessed.

Take me out to the ball game. Please.

Here! The video that I promised you on Monday, is here. On Friday. Don't hate me forever!

So, yes. I hope you enjoyed it.
Now, onto the promised "typing/post/thing".

This summer, I participated in Smorgasbord Studios 2011. IT WAS EPIC. The play we did was called Our Town, and it's possible you've heard of that production before! It's performed I think... 3(?) times a day, somewhere in the world. Which is pretty cool, if you think about it!
But anyways.
I didn't really have a "real" part, but I was part of the barbershop quartet (full of women) that performed two songs during each intermission. Super cool = us. One of the songs we performed was Take Me Out To The Ballgame. ..Thus the reason for the title of this blog post.

It was REALLY fun.

And if any of you like acting, or hanging out with super-awesome-mega-cool people all summer, Smorgasbord is the place for you to be. :) Just sayin.

Well, I did leave you a video... and words to read... so I think you're pretty much set for today.

I love you all! You're blessed. <3

Becca: Teh Awesome Randomness

Aloha, mi friend-os. (I do so love butchering Spanglish.)

So, today I was waaaaaaay to lazy to actually write up a comprehensive blog post, so you get a video instead! Huzzah for you! (Rejoice, darn you!)

One of WhatYouOughtToKnow's Funny Videos 

I hope you guys have an awesometastic day/night/morning/evening/whatever. :)

Don't forget to smile!

~ Becca-roo

Late Saturday Post About POP-ularity. Sorta.

Hey everybody. Becca and Heather here. Well, actually, Becca is being the typist today ... tonight ... yeah. Anyway, TECHNICALLY, this post was done yesterday, Saturday, when it ought to have been done. The thing of it is ... we kinda-sorta forgot to put it up. So here's the thing; you forgive us, and we won't stalk you to your grandmother's on Thanksgiving! Deal? Deal. :)

We love you! You're blessed!

P.S. ... okay, so neither of us actually cares enough about your opinion of us to stalk you anywhere except to Starbucks, but the point must be made: you should be afeared of us. A. Feared. That's all. ^_^

P.P.S. Monday, October 10: Okay, so we ended up having to use YouTube after all. Yaaaaaaay.

You're welcome.

Becca: Hey, everyone! Or, the one or two of you (our friends) who are reading this right now. First things first - I love you more.

Heather: ...She's a liar. I love you the most.

Becca: (Whatever.)

Heather: *Looks at Becca*... *Feels sorry for her.*

Becca: Ahem! Well, anyway - alright, this is our first REAL attempt at a joint ... thing. We've been talking about doing "The Adventures of Becca and Heather" videos for about a year now, and we've done a few, but it's not as easy as we thought it was going to be ...

Heather: What she's trying to say was, they were lame.

Becca: Not exactly, but close. Basically, we don't want to mess with YouTube and editing right now, so while we were walking around today, we came up with the idea of writing a blog together, and putting vlogs (video logs, for you brilliant people who don't know what I'm talking about) up whenever we feel like it. We even made an email account! Woo. Hoo.

Heather: We're pretty proud of ourselves. ^^ Obviously.

Butts. HA!

 Becca: Oh my. So yes. What is going to happen from here on out is this:

Monday: Heather Posts a Blog/Vlog (whatever she feels like, don't judge her!)

Thursday: Becca Posts a Blog/Vlog (whatever I want, judge me if you must)

Saturday: We (both of us, yes, be afraid) Post a Blog/Vlog (you get the idea - whatever we want)

Any Other Day of the Week: There may be random posts from one or both of us at any given time, especially as we're getting started! You should feel privileged.

Heather: Super awesome? Why yes. Yes we are. 

"But Heather!"(You say), "Today is Thursday!" ....Yes. It is. I look at my calender too, and I am not mentally retarded. But Becca was a dear, and let us post together! (Sharing, children, is a wonderful thing.)

Becca: (FYI, at first Heather typed "Sharing children is a wonderful thing", without the comma, so we had a good laugh over the idea of sharing our children. Scary thought? Maybe a little. We're okay with scary.)

Heather: Well, we need to go write a Bio/Description...

Becca: ... slash a couple of paragraphs where we are allowed to brag on ourselves and no-one can call us self-absorbed ...

Heather: ...Right. So, toodles! Don't spray paint your poodles, and smile! :)

Becca: And we love you - but I love you more ...

Heather: ... Lies. 

Becca: ... but Jesus loves you more! :)

Heather: ...TRUTH! :)

You're blessed! <3