Holly!

Alright, I'm still relaxing (if you can call it that) and have no real motivation now to write a little message to you. But luckily, this lovely lady has got a voice and she is here to share it with you!!!

Give a Warm Welcome to Holly!!!

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Hello Ella's Readers!  

     My name is Holly, and I regularly blog over here at yourstrulyh.blogspot.com.  Ella presented members of 20sb with an opportunity to guest blog while she's away.  I sent her an email and we were instant buddies.  I asked her what kind of content she wanted, and she was pretty lenient. At first, I thought that was awesome.  Then...

I somewhat sort of panicked.  I was hoping she would say, "Give me 600 words or less about your favorite childhood memory" or "I need a 10 step tutorial on how to decoupage an old vase using only duct tape and dental floss." Done. and Done.  

But she didn't.  She said, "You have free reign."  

Holy cow.  

My friend Carmen says that the most important part of writing and journalism is having the ability to look at everything around you and ask yourself, "Is there a story in that?"  

fNo. wait.  

"WHERE is the story in that? "

And then (to make a long story short), I started thinking about toothpaste.  Actually, I started thinking more about the actual ACT of  brushing my teeth.  

    My husband and I didn't live together before we got married (I know, crazy, right!?!?!).  We bought a house and eventually moved all our "stuff" under one roof.  It took us a long time to transition.  We had duplicates of almost everything for a very long time (toasters, coffee makers, etc.).  I remember having two separate tubes of toothpaste and looking forward to the day we would finally be down to ONE tube.  For some reason, that was the the proverbial bottle to the ship, cutting of the ribbon, etc.  That would be the sign that we had officially started a life together.  

So, with that being said, here is a list of ways that love (romantic or otherwise) is like brushing your teeth.  

Sometimes I forget.  I forget that love and good hygiene are pursuits that have to be maintained.  That is the hardest of hardest work- the maintaining.  

Sometimes I don't want to brush my teeth.  When I am totally in a hurry and you smell kind of funny and I am feeling extra-grumpy- no. I don't want to love you and no, I don't want to brush my teeth.  

Love and teeth-brushing?  Well, you are always better off because of  it in the end.  

If you don't maintain a healthy set of chompers, sometimes it takes a long time for the consequences to come back and bite you (pun intended).  By the time you realize you have let things go South, its often too late to salvage very much.  

The more you do it, the more likely people are going to want to be around you.  

So, there you have it.  The story within the story of dental hygiene.  Next time you are doing something utterly mundane and everyday-ish, look for the story.  Chin up, there's a good journalist in you, yet.  

Love and minty freshness, 

H.