c'mon get happy

I love life.. and look forward to everyday, sometimes more... sometimes less. BUT! I cannot help but be excited for April to come.... because I've been sick 3 TIMES in March. That's ridiculous... but hey, I came out of the triple-threat o' sickness

Regardless... back to loving life. Here's a quote I just stumbled upon..

"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."
-unknown author

There's such back-to-basics wisdom in that, whether it's a legit quote from a child or not. I love it.. and I love having that mindset with how I tackle each day.

( m e a n w h i l e )

Anybody else hear that mysterious sonic boom about an hour ago? I assumed it was Langley-AFB-related... and nearby.. but apparently it was heard all around the peninsula and even in Maryland. A meteorite? Aliens?? A really epic high-five???

Time will tell....

childhood throwback

"Where The Wild Things" has been made into a movie! I remember reading this book when I was just a mini J-Holla..... and it definitely added to the imaginative crazy-random fun I had as a child (and still do... haha)

Here's the teaser trailer for the movie (bummer.. it doesnt come out until Oct 16th)

sweeeeet victory

This clip came to mind today, from back when I used to watch Spongebob all the time..... and it's still one of my fave cartoon moments ever. Really, though... only watch the first minute & a half to get the true feel, because I think this clip was extended & re-used the footage to fit the whole song in.

Anyways, enough talky-talky... more watchy-watchy



p.s. - twitter.com/jakeholla (follow me if you're a fellow twitter fool)

jake - 1, sickness - 1

I rarely ever get sick... maybe once a year, and it can range from a small cold to a bed-ridden nasty sickness. SO for me to have been sick TWICE already this year? Unheard of! I gave myself 1 point in this battle versus illnesses.... because I fought off the first cold by just going about my daily routines as usual, giving it the old "cold shoulder" treatment.. if you will.

I guess I should have at least acknowledged the sickness by acting like it affected me, maybe even taken some medicine to fake it out like I was unable to fight back.... cuz I think I hurt it's feelings. The 2nd attempt came it me like an act of revenge.

Out were the sniffles & coughs.... in came the stomach virus o' doom! I had boldly sat in the face of my mother's sickness Friday & Saturday, keeping an eye on her and lending a helping hand when needed.. and proceeded about the rest of my weekend as usual. Fast forward to Sunday night... relaxing amongst friends & watching movies, when the sickness (or what I presume was the sickness) joined forces with the good-intentioned home-cooking of my good friend's sister... and totally ravaged my stomach. First I was merely tired & less-than-talkative.. which I shrugged off because I was slightly tired already. Then came the dizzyness while I sat on the sidelines using the internet, as the gang battled it out on the XBox 360.. which I also shrugged off as staring too long at the screen. But it finally hit home, as soon as I logged out and got off the laptop... that I was down the steps and into the bathroom, losing my lunch & dinner in one fell swoop. It struck again @ 4am, long after I had returned home to recover... and left me down for the count all of Monday and some of Tuesday. I'm still feeling the side-effects of trying to catch up on sleep, get back on my regular eating habits, and getting back in the swing of work. There ya go, team sickness... 1 point for you.

So yes, lesson learned. I can't always shrug these sicknesses off like buzzing lil mosquitoes. I am *takes a deep breath*.... merely human. There! I said it!

Okay... I should really be sleeping if I'm to be taking this recovery seriously haha... g'nite!

stumbled-upon poetry

I came across this poem last nite while using the previously mentioned Stumble web-browser thingie... and it's rather amazing. Enjoy!


When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I am saved"
I'm whispering "I get lost!"
"That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are too visible
but God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority.
I only know I'm loved.

-Author Carol Wimmer - Copyright 1988

where my head's at

just felt like throwing out some random stuff about my state of mind today, and as of late

-music is essential to my days, thus why i dislike the radio... because it rarely matches up with the mood i'm in, or more importantly the music i even enjoy in the first place

-change is good. pushing out negativity/worrying in favor of optimistic & uplifting reactions to what each day throws at you. changing habits, like less soda & more water.. or just taking a step back to just say no sometimes, for your own sake.. and being able to take a breather for some quality me-time

-i still struggle sometimes with just being content overall... there's days i rely far too much on other people, or on the weather, or on what song gets stuck in my head... or any number of things that are all well-and-good, to an extent. i love the days where i'm able to brush all that to the background, and just enjoy me for me.. because it's how God intended me to be

-i love my new phone, but the battery life is rather frustrating... looking into getting an extended battery. or just not using the stupid internet on my phone haha. that may also help

-complaining is another thing i'm working on. i only seem to really do it while at work, and that has such an adverse effect on how my co-workers see me. i've built such a good standing with so many of them, and had so many amazing conversations about my faith.. my relationship with Mary.. and so many other topics in life.... i'd hate to tarnish that by my nonsensical complaints about the dumbest things

-speaking of Mary.. I've never known someone who's kept me so grounded, and brings out the absolute best in me like she does. i feel so comfortable & not pressured in any way when i'm around her. i feel like i had lost hope in someone like her ever coming along, or that someone could ever see so eye-to-eye with me on how we react to life itself. the seamless transitions between the randomness & laughter, to the deeper-connections and amazing conversations we have... its still hard to fully put into words. i thank God daily for having her in my life, and how undeserving but completely blessed I feel

-outback steakhouse is delicious. i had almost forgotten how good their food was. 'nuff said.

-and in closing, i need more sleep. i don't believe i have insomnia, because i can fall asleep at any time of the night... it's just a matter of turning off the tv, or the laptop, or whatever i'm reading.. and just having some self-discipline for my own sake. it's unhealthy and the lack-of-sleep has alot to do with how easy it becomes during the day to fall victim to complaining & negativity

(aaaaand i'm done! for now... haha)

70-ish degrees = perfection

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus

Okay maybe we're not in the depth of winter right now.... but this sudden return of warmth definitely reminded me how much I prefer this perfect balance of temperature. I'm a very happy-go-lucky person, rain or shine, but i'm definitely at my... uh.. happiest-go-luckiest (??) when it's sunny and warm outside. I wish I could push the pause button on yesterday's weather, and keep it that way. I spent the late afternoon/evening down @ the oceanfront with Mary, her brother, her cousins, and some of my ridiculous crazy fun friends (such as fellow bloggers Josh Haynes & Matt Wiggins). It was the best way to finish out the weekend... which overall was downright amazing. I love weekends the most, because I get to see alot more of my girlfriend than usual... and it was an additional plus for college spring break to start & long-distance friends return home to the 757 for some hang-time & chaotic fun.


BOOM! Now it's picture time. Enjoyyyyy



traveling on-foot to the boardwalk
















beach antics with j-holla & mary-e












most of the gang hangin' out on the railing

















Adam finally earned his wings





















aaaaand I love this picture, with the sunset in our faces

crazy magnet

I was rather inspired by Rob's blog entry the other day about encounters with crazy people. If you've been around me long enough, you've probably heard stories of at least a few of the crazy weird people I've crossed paths with in my life.

Here's 2 stand-outs from the crowd....

Crazy # 1 - We'll call this one "the Gas-Pump Hobo". I was leaving the 9:30 Club in D.C. after a Relient K/MXPX concert.. and was in dire need of fuel for the ride home. (It should be noted that the club & nearby gas station were not in the nicest area of town) So I get out & proceed to pay the attendant, and as I'm heading out the door back to the car... I'm approached by a rough looking individual (the aformentioned Gas-Pump Hobo) who proceeds to spark up conversation about himself, about the club/concert-venue I was just at, and his relationship with the club's owner. I offered him $5 to pump my gas for me... hey, why not. He first pulled out a small McDonald's toy of a man... that had a muscular chest that would puff out when you squeezed the legs together. He said that this toy was a representation of him... and asked if I'd ever heard of Robin Hood.. because he's Robin-the-Hood (.... womp wommmmmp). The scary/random moment came when he said that the club owner @ the 9:30 Club called him derogatory names... so he pulled a knife on the guy. That didn't sit well with me.. and luckily he was done pumping my gas... so I was outta there reaaaal quick.

Crazy # 2 - This guy will be referred to as "the Man With A Million Brains".. or MWAMB for short. It's hard to describe how this guy looked... but he had very nappy fro-like hair, tied up by a bandana, with a hood over top of it all. The looks in his eyes was enough to prove that he wasn't all there... and definitely on something. He wandered into my Sports-Appreciation class last fall, and left not long after. We were taking a test at the time, and after finishing it I hung around in the hall with 2 other students to talk about the test we just took. The previously mentioned character, aka MWAMB, was wandering aimlessly around this small hallway... and had stopped & stood staring into the small alcove in the wall where the water fountain was. It was perfectly timed for when we had a lull in our conversation about the test.. when he suddenly turned to us and asked "... what if you had a million brains??". Without a beat, I responded "you would have a rather heavy head". Mistake. Don't interact with a crazy of this degree. He proceeded to go on a rant for a good 15 minutes about his plans for investing, storing money in foreign bank accounts, in-depth plans for getting rich written out on unrelated pamphlets that had blank space to write on, and much more. He then went into detail about what some of these brains would do... what they're sole purpose would be. One was going to calculate all the savings, another would work on figuring out how to make the human body take in energy from the sun like plants do, and yet another was going to cure all diseases with some genius planning. The peak-of-the-craziness came when he mentioned that one of the brains was going to perfect the process of human cloning. 1 of the guys standing with me chimed in saying ".. man, that's playing God". MWAMB looked at him for a second, with the craziest look in his eyes, and then made the following statement : "WHAT?! I am the son of God." That moment was enough for all of us to realize we're in over our heads with this one.... so we quickly & precisely scattered towards our cars in the parking lot. I can only imagine what the Man With a Million Brains is doing nowadays.....

welcome to dreamland

I actually woke up 2 hours ago, and was really bummed... because I immediately forgot about the dream I had just woken up from. Luckily I fell back asleep until 10 minutes ago.... and WHAM! Fresh batch of weirdness in dream-form. Here's some highlights.

*Somehow, I ended up with a go-kart... and I was riding it around the McDonald's/7-11 area outside of Poquoson near Magruder... in a field and then in circles in the road before I broke down in front of some old man riding crazily in an off-road golf-cart. He stopped & stared as I tried to turn the go-kart back on like a lawn-mower, with the rip-cord not working at all

*No clue how the dream transitioned to me being at work, but it did. I was serving an older couple at one of my tables, and it was time to pay. They handed me their driver's licenses (for whatever reason) instead of cash or credit cards.... and the rest of the dream was spent showing my co-workers these terribly fake driver's licenses. They both had pictures & fake info taped on top of the license itself... and the man's license looked like was part of a page out of the Driver's handbook from the DMV, cut down to license size... and it randomly listed that he was bilingual, had visited Delaware once, and was 6 ft 3 inches tall

Welp most of this isn't even sounding coherent to me right now.... since I'm still not fully awake... but uh, there you have it! Weird dreams from the mind of Jake.

a day in the life

I've definitely had a more noticeable skip & hop in my step this week (for obvious reason... see previous posts in case you're out of the loop). It's such a breeze... just coasting along through a shift @ work, humming whatever song is in my head.. or playing in the restaurant @ the moment. I was swarmed by almost everyone there, asking what slapped the big stupid grin on my face that wasn't going away... and I gladly filled them in on the blessing of having Mary in my life, and just the joys of life in general. While talking to one of the bartenders and the finance manager, we actually spun off talk of my relationship & started talking about God & religion. It was amazing... and very interesting hearing their perspectives on life, and letting them know what I thought in terms of my personal faith in Christ. People are constantly seeking for some sort of direction. These types of conversations are too spaced out, few and far between, and need to happen much more often. I love knowing that God's love is evident in my life without saying anything, and being able to use that when co-workers & people in general ask why I am the way I am. It's all God and none of me in the equation.

Welp, the work day came & went.. then it was time to face the frigid cold. Headed home to relax & power-nap for a few, then started on more LU-related shtuff before heading out to a friend's pad for some hang-time & cinematic enjoyment. Now here I am back @ home... catching up on all the usual online fun of facebook/myspace/blogger & all my music & movie news.

Mary & I have been talking about our crazy dreams alot lately... so I'm going to attempt to jot mine down & blog about them too (we'll see how well that goes... I'm gunna try! don't hold me to it just yet haha).... but just know that they tend to be very epic in nature... and VERY random & scatter-brained.

I'll close out with a video I came across today (props to Timmy B) that absolutely made me laugh quite hard. Enjoy!

must've done somethin right!

So as you may have picked up on (with the previous blog post)... there is indeed a special girl in my life, and she tends to go by the name Mary-Elizabeth Sturtridge! This blog will serve as an official introduction for any of you caring & loving blog-subscribers & anonymous readers haha. It would take all night to try & describe in words how this relationship came together... and even then it still wouldn't have scratched the surface... but just know that God is amazing, and He carefully plans & orchestrates events like this in our life. It definitely took me by surprise, and I feel extremely blessed to begin this new chapter in my life. His timing & planning is superior, and it's such a constant blessing knowing He's in control if we just let go and give Him the reigns. I've learned so much about myself lately... and grown so much in my patience & understanding as I've come alongside Mary in figuring out why God allowed us to cross paths at this time in our lives. Thus, the Relient K song lyrics in the previous post. Stay tuned... life's waiting to begin =)

the best thing

props to Relient K for these lyrics!






















It’s been a year
Filled with problems
But now you're here
Almost as if to solve them
And I can't live
In a world with out you now

All my life
I've been searching for you
How did I survive
In this world before you
Cause I don't want to live
Another day without you now

This is the best thing
The best thing that could be happening
And I think you would agree
The best thing is that its happening to you and me

All I want to have
Is all that you can give me
And I'll give right back
Everything I have in me
Cause nothing ever felt as right
As this does right now

I'll go back
To before we met
Try and erase the past
Try harder to forget
Cause nothing will ever be as good
As here and now

Cause when I looked into your eyes
And you dared to stare right back
You should've said nice to meet you, I'm your other half

I always knew I'd find someone
I never dreamt it'd be like this
Cause you've surpassed
All that I'd hoped and ever wished
And I'm trying so hard
With all my heart and mind
To make your life as good as you've made mine


right back at ya, mary-elizabeth =)

ultimate time-waster

I was recently told about this website (stumbleupon.com) that just might be the most effective way to waste time ever. Once you sign up, you personalize your account by checking off things that interest you. Once you're done, you install a toolbar to whatever web browser you use (Internet Explorer... Firefox... Safari).. and then you simply click the button that says "Stumble!"... and it finds random sites around the internet that it thinks you would like. If you like the result, you click the thumbs up button. If you don't... thumbs down button. The more you give it feedback this way... the more accurate it is with finding random sites that you'd find entertaining.

I just clicked stumble on mine... and this is what it found












I've had it find web sites dedicated to cute fuzzy animals, random internet games, weird illusion pictures, internet cartoon shorts (just found me one of a giraffe in quicksand.... ??? lol)... and so much more

Check it out if any of that made sense.... and prepare to be amused