Idol Dish 02/29

Yup, it's that time of year again. Now that the 'oh so funny auditions are over, it's time to pick our favorites and uh' not so favorites. For me last night, my favorites from auditions are still my favorites. However, it's a huge cut this week so I'm not sure how confident I am that my favorites are also America's favorites.. guess we'll find out. My favorite semi-finalist guys are: Reed Grimm, Colton Dixon, Chase Likens, Phillip Phillips and HeeJun Han. I am undecided on Deandre Brackensick, Creighton Fraker and Aaron Marcellus. The performances last night just weren't all that great in my opinion so I'm a little on the fence but I'm hoping that was because it was opening night and nerves played a factor. Tonight, the girls had their shot at winning over America and like last night, I wasn't sold on the performances. I have to say, Mr. Tyler said it right about Skyler Laine, she's a pistol. I like her! I want to like Chelsea Sorrell so bad and pull for the home state gal but I am on the fence about her. I was teeter tottering during the auditions with her and I'm just not sold yet. I felt horrible for Baylie Brown, I loved her during the auditions but tonight was not good for her. Side note - I loved Brielle's dress, not sure how much I love her voice but that dress was super cute! I have to give props to my girl Hollie Cavanagh. She was a favorite of mine during auditions (not only because of her name either) and even through her nerves she killed her song. She's got to be one of my top picks for girls! I also thought Shannon Magrane sang her heart out and to be 16, she has got such a great stage presence. I hope she makes it past cuts as well! The girl is really won me over that I wasn't a huge fan of during auditions was Jessica Sanchez.. Man! She can sing! Closing out the show, Elise Testone also won me over and I loved the pretty flowers in her hair. All in all, it's gonna be tough tomorrow night for both the guys and girls. It'll be interesting to see if my top picks make it through. Idol season 11 has officially begun! <3h

Let the next chapter begin

My turn to blog while my gorgeous baby gets some much needed rest following a stressful Monday. When you read this Hollie, I hope your headache is gone, that you feel better, and I want you to know that I love you very much. Now it is time to turn to the focus of my blog, Hollie and I had a big weekend and a big Monday that she didn't touch on in her previous recap blog post. So allow me to do the honors. As some may know, I currently reside in Kansas City, MO and my baby and my family live back home in North Carolina. Being in a long distance relationship is tough and the distance can put a strain on even the strongest relationship. What makes Hollie's and my relationship truly amazing, is the fact that although we are roughly 20 hours apart, we continue to fall in love and become closer each and everyday. That being said, it has been a huge goal of mine recently to eliminate this distance between us. Not entirely to be with her everyday, but also to reconnect with my mom, dad, sister, and family that remains in North Carolina, who I have grown somewhat distant from ever since I moved away a number of years ago for college. I remember being dropped off for college and seeing my family leave me in that dark and cold dorm room, and I must admit it was the scariest moment in my life. The closest person I knew on that day was at least 4 hours away. I didn't know anyone on my floor, or even the person I was sharing a room with was a complete stranger. I would call my Mom and my family everyday for support and to restore some familiar voices and to take my mind off of being truly alone. I would have nightmares and stressful thoughts about breaking down, or becoming injured, and not being able to call my family or even find the hospital or repair shop in this new town. Slowly but surely, things changed when I started to make friends, I slowly began to fit into college and meet new friends, and have that support structure and dependability that I needed. In return I began to become more distant from my family, not because I loved them any less or thought about them any less, but because at that time, in order for me to suppress the home sickness I needed to pretend that everything back home in NC was just how I left it, and one day I could return to the same family and home that I love. But what I realized lately and what I missed throughout my years in college, is that my family was also adapting and moving on to life without me. They were becoming closer with one another, and although they didn't cast me out as a black sheep or anything. They were all forming a close bond and continuing to grow without me. This is not a bad thing, this is just life. This is also something that my sister, or anyone who has never had to live a great distance away from home won't realize or have to go through. I have always seen my future as moving back home to North Carolina, and being close to my family, but in my head and in my dreams, I saw my family as being the same way it was when I left for college. As we all know life goes on. So what does this long boring back story have to do with Hollie and I? Well as you may have read from my first blog, Hollie is my future, she is the reason I smile, and she is the first girl I see a real future with. I see marriage, kids, and us continuing to grow our relationship and start a beautiful family. I always knew family was the most important thing, meeting Hollie just gave me the kick in the pants that I needed to fix my own family and become closer to my own family. I want Hollie and Laekyn, and her family to grow and expand by uniting with my family. I want our families to come together and have cookouts and get together, and be there on that wedding day whenever that may be, and be there to hold our new child when that day happens. That is what life is all about, not money, not having the best job, or possessions.
So to announce the news, I have officially submitted my 2 weeks notice into my current job here in Kansas City, MO so that I can move back home to restore my relationship with my family, and continue to grow my relationship with my Hollie(the most beautiful girl in the world). My original plan was to apply for jobs in North Carolina, conduct some phone interviews, and have a official job offer lined up before I moved back. That way I wouldn't have to spend possible months on end of being unemployed.  Easier said then done, I had a few offers for interviews, but once I told them about my plans and that I can't come mid week for interviews, it really set me back in the job hunt as far as being competitive with the other applicants who were currently local, and could come in immediately for an interview. In reality I was able to accept a part-time job with Best Buy. Although it isn't the full time employment that I want and will need in the future, it is a start and is definitely enough to get me back home to where I want to be. Another interesting twist to the story is that when I told my current employer of my intentions to move back home, they strongly supported me and are even going to consider allowing me to work from home and keep a position with my current team. So in the end, I have my bases covered, and I am damn excited to move back home and start this new chapter in my life. Hollie and I have been dating for a little over 2 months, but we haven't had that normal dating experience like everyone else gets due to the distance in our relationship, I can't tell you how excited I am to see her beautiful face everyday, to kiss her and not wonder when my next chance to hold her again will be. We did discuss about the possibility of me moving back home and instantly moving in with her, and after a great discussion between us, we decided that although we both really want to live with each other now this instant, it shouldn't be rushed into. Getting me back to North Carolina is the most important thing right now. It is best for Laekyn(I love her to death), for me to ease into her daily life, and to not go from one extreme of her not seeing me but once or twice a month, to the other extreme of her living with me. Although Hollie and I are waiting a bit before we move in together, we will still see each other everyday and get to experience that chance at normal dating that we both crave. We can't get enough of each other, and I can't help but smile at the chance to see her beautiful face everyday,, and not have to worry about leaving on Sunday to fly back to Missouri. I can't wait to build and continue to grow my relationship with Laekyn as well. I love her very much, and she already has me wrapped around her little finger, you should see the smile that comes to my face when her adorable little voice tells me that she loves me and when she grabs my hand or wants to sit with me on the couch. She is amazing, and I definitely want as much time with her as I can get. I can't wait to be there to tuck her in, to be there to take her to the zoo on the weekends, or to the park, and to always be there when she needs me. So in the end, LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!-K

Let's Recap!

Well, I guess you could say we've been a tad slack this weekend on blogging. I guess that means there is no better time than now to recap what's been going on.

Friday, Laekyn and I spent our evening listening to music and relaxing. Well, I relaxed while she jumped and danced around the living room. Kasey's Friday night consisted of sitting on the phone listening to our music and the off tune of our singing when we decided to sing along, ha. Doesn't seem like much fun but for some reason, he didn't want to do anything different.

Saturday was absolutely beautiful but the sun was deceiving.. it was chilly! Laekyn and I went to Chick Fil A for breakfast and then spent our afternoon at home. Zach's team had another game that Kasey went to and this time, they lost. Saturday evening, Laekyn and I went to a pot luck dinner and concert at a Church one of my grandmothers' friends attend. The food was delicious and the concert was also really good. Laekyn got hugs from all of the guys and even their autographs. At the end of the concert, the drummer gave her a drumstick and one of the guitarists gave her a guitar pick. She also met a new friend with the same name as her. All in all, it was a wonderful night. The concert was Taylor & Chad. The link to their Facebook page is here and I highly recommend you giving them a listen!

Sunday Funday!! I absolutely love Sundays, it might even be my favorite day of the week. Reason behind this is the fact that I am around my Church family not only once, but twice! The relationships I'm building at Pinedale mean the absolute world to me and it's just such a feeling to leave a service or study group with the feeling of wanting more. I just can't get enough! I literally thirst for the worship during SOMA and for the discussions during the home group. So today after Church, Laekyn and I met some of my family at Olive Garden for lunch. Laekyn absolutely loves the salad and breadsticks! My sister and her fiance were there with their little girl, Riley. My mom and step-father was as well along with one of my aunts. We enjoyed the time together and then once lunch was over we parted ways. Laekyn and I came back home and she got on the Wii fit for a little bit while I sorted out bills. Laekyn laid down for some relaxation time and then before we knew it, it was time to head back to Church. During our 40 day devotions I have spoken about in a previous blog, the adults participate in a HAG. HAG stands for home accountability group. We were given the opportunity to sign up for a home group where we'd go for Sunday evenings during our 40 day study and we could discuss the weekly devotion topics with each other and fellowship. The most rewarding thing for me is not only discussing the topics but the relationships I'm building. It's a great way to meet others in the Church and build those relationships within your Church family. After the discussion and reflection, we eat and fellowship. Those that have children can take them to the Church where they will also do activities reflecting their XL studies and will also have dinner then pick them up after your HAG. Laekyn and I really have enjoyed it so far! Again, if you want to do the daily devotions yourself you can access them here and print them off each day.

As we embrace the start of a new week, let's remember how precious our time and relationships really are. Time doesn't stop and you cannot get it back. Our relationships shape us and give our lives meaning. Think of how you can make a positive difference in someones life. Try and minister to someone who might not know God and maybe even invite them to Church, the worst they could say is no. If you don't have a home Church yourself, I'd love for you to come visit Pinedale! I hope that I can do both of these things this week, actually I don't hope I can.. I'm going to make it my personal goal for the week. I want to always make a positive difference in others lives and be a walking example of someone who believes in and loves Jesus. It's something great to strive for. I hope that the commute back to work goes smoothly and everyone has a great Monday. It will only be as great as you allow it to be! <3h

Guilty Pleasures..

..we've all got 'em, right? I guess it might help to define 'what is a guilty pleasure?' A guilty pleasure is something someone enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it.

I have to admit, my guilty pleasure involves television.. my soap opera 'The Young & The Restless' and those dag gum not-so "reality" shows, which there are WAY too many to list since there are a couple going on at a time during all 4 seasons of the year. See, I even labeled the soap opera mine.. They just suck me in and when I say suck me in, I'm serious. As in, I get attached to these shows and feel I know the cast members. Yes, I'm that crazy chick who sits there and gets emotional over them as well. Sad, I know but I enjoy them. So there you have it - that's my guilty pleasure, what's yours? <3h

High Ground

The Church I attend is currently in our third week of '40 Days Devoted to Spiritual Growth' and I must say, taking 15-20 minutes out of your day to focus on the Lord is such a refreshing feeling. I used to go on day to day, the same hustle and bustle and always think I didn't have time to read my Bible or I didn't have the time to sit down and read a devotional but the fact is, I do as long as I make time. It's made such a difference in how I feel emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. The devotion book was created by members of Pinedale and the children were also given a version for themselves titled 'XL' with memory verse flash cards.

Kasey and I do our High Ground devotional each day together over the phone and then we individually do the reflection questions, as those are a chance for us to reflect individually to each daily topic (this week's topic is family). I can't sit on here and brag about how much it's impacting my life without trying to get you involved as well. Whether you attend Church or not, these devotions are available for you. You can get them by visiting the Pinedale Christian Church website and clicking on '40 day devotions' on the left hand side. It's not too late to get started so what are you waiting for? <3h

"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

-Philippians 2:10-11

Nosebleeds

Okay, I know this seems to be a rather strange topic to be blogging about. Fact is, I suffered a nosebleed today and realized that since I don't have them often I didn't know the best way to get it to stop. It ended up lasting over 10 minutes. So, I thought if I blogged about it after doing some research then I could probably not only help educate myself but maybe someone else, too! So, here it goes..

Why do nosebleeds occur? After reading many articles, I found that the most common reason for a nosebleed is dry air. The other reasons I ran across were chemical irritants (cigarette smoke, ammonia, gasoline, etc.), nasal congestion and high blood pressure. There were a few others but these were the most common that I came across.

What should you do to stop a nosebleed? I remember growing up that I was always told for a nosebleed, tilt your head back. Well, this isn't necessarily the best way to stop a nosebleed because tilting the head back can allow the blood to drain back into your stomach or lungs causing other issues. The best and most effective way I kept running across is to lean forward and pinch your nostrils together for a good 5-10 minutes, breathing out of your mouth. For frequent nosebleeds or those that last over a long period of time, it's suggested you see a doctor as their could be an underlying issue.

A few of the sites I visited were:
Livestrong
Health-Bytes
MSN

I hope this was somewhat helpful and reassuring that nosebleeds are common. Thanks for reading! <3h

Happy Monday!

Normally, I am not a fan of Mondays.. the ending of the weekend, the mini heads back to school and the hustle and bustle of the work week kicks in full force. Today was a tad different. The sunrise over the snow covered roof tops was absolutely beautiful. See for yourself..

Not only was the sunrise beautiful but my doorbell rang this afternoon and I was greeted with these beautiful flowers from my sweetheart. 

What made them even more special was the simple fact that they weren't for any special occasion, they were just because or as Kasey said "Happy Monday!" :) He has such a great heart and I am such a lucky gal! Not much really went on today other than the usual. After doing our devotionals tonight, I watched The Bachelor. I will have to vent on that show within another post, I don't have the time for it tonight. Ha! All in all, it turned out to be a great Monday and full of smiles for me. Hope it was for you, too!

Oh!! Quick side note: Zach's team won their game on Saturday regardless of the fact that Kasey went to go watch, ha. Way to go, boys! <3h

I Found my Special Purpose.....

This is my first blog ever on my first blog site ever. Man am I behind the times of what is cool these days. There is only one person I can thank for bringing me into the modern times of tweeting and blogging, and that can be credited to my beautiful girlfriend Hollie. Although Hollie and I are the same age, I feel she is miles ahead of me when it comes to technology and what is new and cool. She has took me from that old man who doesn't know what a tweet is, to a Facebook, Twitter, and now blogging fool. Thank god for my technology angel, if you would have asked me what "blogging" was before I met Hollie, I would have told you it was a job or occupation performed by lumberjacks.
But regarding the first topic for my first blog, this post is about my special purpose or meaning to my life. Alot of people don't know the answer to the meaning of life, or why we are on this earth, and for 27 years I couldn't have answered this question myself. But a few months ago, I found my secial purpose, and it can me summed up with 3 simple words. My special purpose, and the reason I was created is TO LOVE HOLLIE. Before meeting her I thought the key to happiness was obtaining great materials and wealth. As far as relationships went I never knew what true love was or felt like. I always heard that there is a special someone and one and only for everyone on earth, and I thought what a load of crap. I used to think Love was like a mythical creature that didn't exist, and was hanging out with Bigfoot and the Lochness Monster, people would claim to have found love or seen true love. But when I used to hear this, it made me think of the video of a blurry bigfoot in the woods walking in the distance, yeah it could be bigfoot, but it could also be a man in a costume, a really hairy hippy, or a number of other possibilities. So I thought when someone said they found true love, that yeah it could be love, but it could also be lust, a fear of being alone, settling for someone, or a number of other feelings that are masking itself as this true love creature. I did date throughout highschool and college, but I never loved or felt any future for anyone I was ever in a relationship with. Then a few months ago, through the technolgical wonder of Facebook, I met Hollie and or the first time ever, I felt those butterflies and jitters in my heart and stomach that I have heard about. Her and I reconnecting is by far the best thing to ever happen to me. She is the only girl, and the first girl that I think about when I wake up, throughout the whole day, and when I dream. On a side note she has an impressive dream streak going in my dreams, I haven't stopped dreaming about her everynight since the moment we were reconnected. With Hollie, I see kids, I see marriage, and I see my future, and happiness. Thats right everyone, I Kasey Edward Montgomery have fallen in love, and I fell hard. I found that mythical bigfoot love, and it has me in a headlock and showed me to my one and only. When I saw Hollie's black honda with her pink license plate pull up to me for the first time, I was so nervous and felt like a little boy again waiting to see her after 16 plus years. When I saw her climb out of the car and smile at me. I knew from that moment that I was staring at my wife. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and she was always my dream girl even when we were kids. I was surprised that the whole world didn't hear my heart fall for her, she is the only girl that has made me too shy to even speak, and she is the only girl that I could spend hours with doing nothing but staring at her beautiful eyes and smile.
The moral of the story, and just like Navin Johnson from the hilarious movie "The Jerk", I too have found my special purpose. My special purpose is to love Hollie forevet and evet, and just so you know forevet and evet is 3x longer than forever and ever. My special purpose is to never leave her side, always protect and hold her,always make her smile, tell her how I feel about her everyday, to take care of her, to give her all of me and all that I have, and love her like crazy for the rest of my life. I have found my one and only, and who would have thought that she was my childhood crush. I LOVE YOU HOLLIE

The Unknown

Have you ever had to wait patiently for something and not know when exactly what you're waiting for would take place or occur? Have you ever had to go days, weeks, months or possibly even a year or more not knowing when you're going to see someone that you love dearly again? I have and it isn't something easy to go through. I am one who doesn't have much patience. Well, I guess in some ways I have patience but in others, I fail miserably.

I hadn't seen my niece Lana in years because when my brother and Lana's mom split up, they moved to Maryland while my brother remained here in NC. Knowing I was going to see her for the first time in a long time tonight, I experienced many emotions. I didn't really know what to expect but all in all, we had a great visit and I loved the time we shared. Giving hugs before she left was difficult because it goes back to not knowing again. Not knowing when I'm going to see her sweet little face, not knowing when I'm going to hug her and kiss her. Not knowing when Laekyn will get to see her cousin..

It's tough to remain positive in those times of the uncertainty. It's that way with Kasey and I as well right now, we don't know when we'll see each other again because currently, we don't have a trip planned but the thing that keeps us going is our faith. Our faith in our love and in each other.

That's what I feel is the best tool to survive the unknown.. by having faith. Have faith that you will see that loved one again and right when you're meant to, have faith that whatever you're waiting for, it will happen if it's meant to and if it's not, have faith that you'll know that as well. <3h

 "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

-Romans 8:25 NIV

Double Take

Meet our miniature's :)

Braylin is Kasey's 5 year old nephew and Laekyn, is my 5 year old baby girl. They both look identical to Kasey and I when we were kids. Looking at them is like watching ourselves, quite weird sometimes! These pictures were taken when Nickie, Kasey's sister and I took the kids to see Arthur's Christmas.

The two of them get along so well and will hopefully grow up to be great friends. These two are such fun to be around and always so full of energy. They definitely bring a smile to our faces! <3h

Sixty degree Saturday

Here we are, still in the season of winter and having a beautiful semi-warm Saturday. It's forecasted to reach over 60 today which with how the rest of the winter has been so far doesn't seem so unusual. They are also forecasting some rain and snow tomorrow but we'll see and I highly doubt it would amount to much of anything after the warm day we're going to have today. I love winter, when snow is involved.. anything other than that, I'm ready for spring and summer!

My day will consist of some early 'spring cleaning' and just enjoying the day at home. I rarely have days like this and I'm going to take full advantage of it! Laekyn, my 5 year old whom I haven't blogged about yet but will be (trust me!) has her first ever father/daughter gala at school. I guess it's like a prom for elementary girls. The mother's have one with their sons later on in the year as well. She's pretty stoked about it and to be honest, I'm looking forward to the few hours of quietness as well.

Kasey is currently headed to his little cousin's basketball game. The team seems to lose everytime he goes to watch and the last couple games when he's been here, they've won. It'll be interesting to see if they win today now that he's back in MO. Go Zach!! Ha.

Today is my friends' little boy, Kingstin's first birthday. She has a blog with another friend of mine, Aletha and has blogged about Kingstin's birth story. You can read/follow their blog by clicking HERE! They've got some interesting things to share. Afterall, they were my true motivation to blogging myself.

I guess it's time to get this 'spring cleaning' underway.. make it a wonderful day! <3h

Once Upon A Time

We were kids in a neighborhood located in King, North Carolina. In this neighborhood, most all of the kids were friends and would ride bikes, roller skate and walk up and down the roads of our neighborhood without a care in the world. Most all of the neighbors knew each other by first name and would watch out for each other. Growing up in this neighborhood, we (along with our siblings) spent a lot of time together. We both had that childhood crush on each other and we'd flirt (the best way a little kid knew how to) but it didn't ever amount to too much of anything. I was too involved in cheerleading and Kasey was too involved in basketball. After all, we were kids.

When we were around the age 11, my family moved to Lewisville, North Carolina while Kasey's family remained in King. As young kids and not having the social media networks that we have today, we lost touch. Years went by, our individual lives kept going. Then, on the oh' so lovely Facebook, Kasey's sister found my sister online, found me and sent me a message seeing if I was in fact 'the Hollie she cheered with from King'.. After that, Kasey and I became friends on there as well and it's not been the same since.

We began commenting here and there on each others' posts and pictures. Then, we began writing back and forth through the private messaging where we then exchanged numbers. Once we began texting and conversating through phone calls, we clicked. Kasey is currently living in Missouri while I am still living in good ole' North Carolina. Kasey had plans to come home and visit his family for Christmas and we discussed plans for us hanging out while he was in town.

To fast forward through all the minor details, once Kasey got in town I went to see him. I was so nervous driving to see this guy who I hadn't seen since I was 11, not knowing how things were going to go. I was that giddy, nervous little kid all over again. I pulled up, got out of my car and saw the door open. Out stepped that adorable face I remembered as a little kid only now, he was grown and handsome. He was still just as shy as I remembered him to be and I still swear to this day if I hadn't said something, we'd still be standing there in silence. Ha, oh a serious note.. we hugged and it was as if time stood still. We have literally been as inseperable as inseperable can be living 20 hours apart. Kasey has flown home a few weekends and he flew me to Missouri for a weekend that I will definitely be blogging about in the future.

This photo was taken on Christmas Eve, 2011 before we had to say our 'farewell for now'

All in all, I would have not ever imagined 16 years ago that I would be in love with my childhood crush. Things sure do have a way of working out and I look forward to making many more memories and seeing what the future holds. Our journey has been nothing short of a fairy tale so far and it's only the beginning... <3h

Here we go!

After reading a few other blog sites, I felt inspired to start one myself only a better idea came to mind.. starting one with my significant other. We have a love story that is far too great not to share with the world. However, our blog won't be just about us (I know, I know...sigh) but, it will be about our everyday journey through life both individually and together. The ups, downs and everything in between. I ask that you be patient with us as we are new to this and still trying to get our blog just the way we want it. Welcome to our blog, we hope you enjoy it! <3h