I could go on and on, but basically, if you stick with Colbie Caillat, Ed Sheeran, Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz you're all set for hours worth of acoustic!  I call it my happy jam... Maybe once you listen to these you'll feel the same :)

Dear You,

If you could pick one day of the week that you would just skip altogether, which day would it be?

I know my answer in a heartbeat: Wednesday.

For some crazy reason, Wednesdays are long and hard.  I dread them and make sure I'm in bed super early Tuesday night so I'll have enough stamina.

Wednesdays, I have something going on from 8 in the morning until 7 at night, and I seriously DON'T dig that.  I like my time at home, thankyouverymuch! (it's a homeschool thing, guys)

Wednesdays also happen to be the day with the best surprises.  GOOOOO FIGURE.  I pray "Jesus, give me strength!" and He plops blessings in my lap. Blessings like when that one guy texts me out of the blue (you know the feeling!).  Some of the best blessings come in the shape of $5 tips from sweet ladies, great parking spots, cool mornings, and chocolate frosting hearts.

 God turns everything I know about the words "satisfied" or "happy" on its head come Wednesdays.  Sometimes, I have to look a little harder for the blessings.  My worldly filter can be turned up super high, and I see God-blessings as just normal things, like the weather or a smile from a friend.  But when I stop looking through my limited perspective and begin the day by asking Him to show me what He wants me to see... gosh, it just opens up a whole new world. 

See what I mean??  The view is breathtaking!! 

I'll let you know that my Wednesday: it isn't all that bad.  I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  But I think you can probably relate when I tell you that this just happens to be the day where it's harder to remember that thankfulness is also a virtue ^_^ 

Maybe your "day" is Tuesday.  Could be Friday.  Quite possibly you have more than one!  I challenge you to look for blessings under every cushion of your couch, and when you find one, celebrate it and build on that.  I know God is waiting around the corner of every surprise and sweet moment, encouraging us to find our joy in Him and His gifts (because they're the very best kind, dontcha know!)

I hope your Friday was wonderful.  Mine was good, if you were wondering.  Friday isn't "the day", but it has it has definitely had its ups and downs, lots of impatience, much wondering about the future and boys and of course, lots of Jesus.  Trusting Jesus on the Wednesdays and the Fridays, good days and bad. 

Hope your week is just as wonderful as you are,

Chloe

My life philosophy :D (via Pinterest) <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14423693/?claim=z5w8gg2dvss">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I could gush on and on about this red-headed, adorable, terribly hilarious little group.  Some of my favorite scenes in the book happen when they're together.  What about in The Goblet of Fire, when they tease Ron about dancing with Mcgonagol?  Or when Ginny has a boyfriend and they have to "check up on him"? And let's not forget that time when Ron tries to get a discount and they respond like so:
Their family is just painted so realistically. The kids get in trouble, the mom is strict and yet makes sure they're all well-fed and safe beyond measure, the siblings fight and make up and fight again, and it's, well, bloody brilliant. 

YOU. GUYS.  These two are the sweetest because even though Tadashi is protective and "stricter" and tries his best to play the part of the parents for his little brother, he is still goofy and caring and says things like this:

Beth and Jo from Little Women

Jo was always my favorite character in this book (actually my first favorite character, period!). I secretly imagined I was like her, daring and fiery and tomboyish, when I was really more of a mix between Meg and Amy. 

The thing about an extreme personality like Jo's is that she needs an equally extreme personality to balance her out, which is exactly what Beth was for her! Sweet, patient, and the BEST listener when Jo read aloud her thrilling sagas. 

Jo was also very protective over Beth, promising her a grand piano and never letting the other girls make fun of Beth's family of abused baby dolls (read the book, y'all!). 

Jane and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice

I have a thing for sister friendships!  Don't judge :D

Jane and Elizabeth are another one of those opposites-attract pairings that I so adore.   Jane can't say anything nasty about anybody, and Elizabeth often has a hard time keeping her snarky wit and comments inside.  But they both love each other dearly, made obvious by the little interactions they have during the movie:

And now I'm going to ruin everything I've been saying because seriously: who needs sibling pairs when you can have a threesome like this one? There's so much going on here it's hard to summarize (and I'm bad at summarizing as it is!), but I love the honesty here. It's not easy sharing a house with sisters, and sometimes they do annoying things like this: 

But in the end, you protect each other and stand up for one another, even against creepy dogs and Cheetos that don't do what they're supposed to. 

So I need to know: Who did I forget???? Who are your favorite "cinema siblings"? :D

"It's A Chloe Thing" is my new baby, and it has officially replaced "Curious Ramblings". As sad as I am to see Curious Ramblings go, I'm totally jazzed to have a blog with a more specific title and purpose.  I mean it's just crazy to think that was my blog's name for three years, and that three years ago I was curled up on our couch brainstorming titles for my FIRST BLOG! I can't tell you how proud I was of myself ;) 

This blog has had so many ups and downs that some times, I've considered quitting. Starting from scratch. Leaving the blogging world altogether.

Thanks to my parents I'm sure as heck not a quitter, though.  There's also little whispers of promise and hope here and there, reminding me that this blog is not here for me; this blog truly is a God-thing.  I am so inadequate, and yet He still wants to use me, guys! I just don't get it :)

I can't promise I'll be posting super frequently.  I can't promise I won't mess up.   But bless you- I will sure try. 

I can't wait to explore all the new ways I get to reach out with stories, encouragement, and laughter over this messy journey. You with me for this? 

Holy buckets, it's gonna get good. 

(p.s. that was definitely a Chloe thing) 

(2) Bring homework. No, but seriously. When else are you going to have hours of time where there's nothing/nobody else clamoring for your attention? Use this time to study, so that when free time comes up you don't have to chisel out most of it for school. Trust me, been there and done that! 

(3) Do you have quite a few thank you notes you need to write but never seem to get to? Bring them along and crank it out. 

(4) Take time to talk! You can talk to God, talk on the phone, even (shocker!) to the people in the car with you. I think we're all guilty of vanishing into our own little world of entertainment on trips and don't take the precious time to even ask what our sister is thinking about vacation.  Ya feel me on this one?

(5) Listen to a CD of verses put to song.  Whether you focus on the lyrics or not, they will get stuck in your head!  Pros and cons, pros and cons :) I'd recommend Seeds CDs; catchy, but not redundantly so.
 
(6) Seriously, car trips are the best times to catch up on your audios.  Listen to a podcast! Two of my favorite speakers are Jennie Allen and Louie Giglio.  And hey, while we're on the topic, shoot me your favorite podcasts in the comments below!!  I'm always on the hunt for more!

(7) Write posts!  Whether you do it on a notebook, a computer (I'm impressed) or type it on your phone, DO IT.  For once I'm actually following my own advice and this post was started during a car trip!  I'm brilliant, I know.

And here's where the brilliance ends because..... you guys, I'm drawing a blank.  Um.  Eating is good, albeit a little counter-productive.  So is texting your friend and snapping 103 selfies (sorry snapchat followers!).  If you were so inclined, you could even do some good ol butt-crunches!  They start to burn after the first fifty, trust me. 
 

Some trips, I just devour books and snacks.  Seriously, how do you think I got to Florida?  But when I have trips back to back to back (love you, sports season!) I like to mix it up.  These are a few of my go-tos when I know I have a long sitting time stretching ahead of me. 

Hope your Tuesday is as terrific as you are,

Chloe

My heart breaks for this crazy, busy, fake-cinnamon roll world.  

Watching people swirl past me, leading busy careers and busy social lives that  have absolutely no eternal imprint on the world they will soon leave. 

I was reading an article one day about how to help someone who is in a tough place (because couldn't we all use a little more encouragement for our tough places?), and I stumbled across this sentence that left my jaw hanging:

Did you know that flying by yourself is scary?  Walking away from my girls and getting into a line with people who had eyes only for their phones and barely acknowledged the fact that we were taking our shoes off on a GRIMY floor is a little terrifying.  

 

Not to mention the fact that the entire time I'm inwardly panicking and certain that a security guard is about to come over to tell me I'm doing it all wrong and yup, they'll have to cart me away kicking and screaming to some little room where I'll have no way of contacting my parents-!!! 

 

The possibilities are endless.

 

But so is the potential.
 

 

So when I stuck my precious purse through the conveyer belt and moved mechanically through the line, I had Jesus' name on repeat in my mind.

 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

 

What a beautiful name!  It's in the terrifying times of life that I so acutely feel my need for my precious Jesus.  The funny thing is that I think he puts us in those situations just for that.  All the potential is there, and I only tasted a little bit, but lemme tell you-

 

it was beautiful.  The minute I stepped onto the plane, the most incredible feeling of LOVE literally vibrated through me. Even though that fear of the unknown still hovered at the back of my mind, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jesus was here and that He was keeping me.

Simple as that.

 

With that in mind I was able to sit down and eat my peanuts in peace, not bothering to hide the gigantic grin on my face.  I even got a few selfies out of it.

  

 

To be needed is such a wonderful feeling, you know.  A dear friend of mine and I were just talking about how we all as humans crave that feeling of being desired or wanted.  It only makes sense that we channel our love of being needed into a need for Christ. 

Flying is scary, and life is terrifying, and both just might bring out the needy part of you. It all depends on what you do with that.  Literally or hypothetically, taking flight will pull you and test you and give you a great reason to take a few pictures. 

So wherever you go, however terrified you are, don't you forget that Christ created us to need Him and that this is where He can shine if you will just let him.

And when He does....just save me some peanuts, will you?
 

Hiya! Aimee here. I’m going to start by extending hugs and thank-yous to Chloe, the lovely owner of this blog, for having me guest post today. It’s pretty awesome of her. I’ve been a fan of this blog for a while now, and it’s a bit of a miracle that I’ve been released into the wild for long enough to write a guest post of any kind. So much power. Aren’t you all so lucky to have me today?

Let’s hop right into this post.

Writing blog posts is hard. Really hard. If you know anything about it, you’ll know that even the fun ones take time, and effort, and lots and lots of thought. We all have different methods of typing up blog posts — some of us write them the day before, some at the beginning of the month when we schedule them all at once, or however else you prefer to do it — and today, I’m going to use gifs to put you people in my blog-writing shoes. This, folks, is a method you can definitely attempt at home. (Assuming you want to blog on the edge, in a near-constant haze of deadlines and last-second panic.)

Step 1: The Idea

It all starts with an idea, doesn’t it? You’re thinking and thinking and thinking and bam, that idea hits you out of nowhere. “That would be a really cool blog post,” you think. “I should blog about that.”

Step 2: Trying to Plan

Planning is an important part of blogging. You have to know what you’re going to post when, you have to figure out how you’re going to turn that idea in your head into a coherent post, and you have to pick a time to post it. Planning.

You’ve got plenty of time. Easy, right?

Wrong.

Step 3: Last-Minute Scribbling

This is the point where all that procrastination comes back to bite you and OH GOSH WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO MUST WRITE POST. This is a regular occurrence in the world of blogging-like-Aimee.