Time for Change

Change is good and I've always been a person who adapts well to it unlike the majority of society it seems. The point of this blog was to update you periodically on our journey through life, together along with my daughter. However, as time has gone on we've gotten a little off that point and I've posted more posts just regarding random things that I'd like to post about.

After much thought, it was decided that I create a personal blog for those such posts and keep this blog for it's original intent. Please continue to follow our blog and I'd appreciate it if you'd consider following my personal blog as well, Freckles & Prayers. Hope you'll follow! :) -Hollie

K-Love

I wanted to take a minute and share with you something that has made such a positive impact on my life in many capacities. That is, K-Love. For those of you who are unfamiliar, K-Love is a contemporary Christian radio station. On a daily basis, I choose to listen to K-Love both while I work and in my car. The testimonies heard will truly touch you and open your eyes to the many ways that God moves in our lives. The songs always seem to play at the perfect time for me and whatever is weighing on my heart or whatever I'm faced with, it's really amazing how I can turn this station on and instantly feel a calmness.

For any of you who are struggling, feeling overwhelmed, feeling as if you cannot take anything else or even those of you who feel your life is going as perfect as it can, I challenge you. I challenge you to take what K-Love calls the '30 day challenge'. That challenge is committing that you'll listen to nothing but Christian music for 30 days whether that's on CD's, your iPod, radio station, on the internet.. however you can access it, just listen to nothing but Christian music for 30 days and see what kind of impact it can have on your life.

Tonight, I have been listening/watching 'A Night of Hope and Healing', a concert available via livestream for the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy just a day over a month ago. I'm telling you what, it has been emotional and tugged at my heartstrings many, many times. It's currently still going on as I'm typing this and will be on a little longer so if you're interested in catching some of it, access the link off the K-Love website at www.klove.com. I cannot begin to imagine what the families and friends of those taken way too soon are going through but I do know one thing and that is they have many, many people all over the world praying for them. Prayer is a powerful thing and I know that Jesus is going to watch over them and provide them comfort.

I hope that K-Love will impact your life as much as it's impacted mine and that you'll be open to the opportunity of it doing so.

Myrtle Beach, SC

At the end of December 2012, we made a spur of the moment decision to take a mini vacay. Our destination, Myrtle Beach, SC! We got online, booked a room, packed and we were on our way once we left a birthday party.

Talk about great weather, we couldn't have picked a better weekend in the winter to go. Where we stayed there was an indoor lazy river, two indoor jacuzzis and an indoor heated pool. Little miss sure did take advantage of those, her favorite being the indoor lazy river.

We were there for 4 days, 3 nights. The evening we arrived we walked to a place called The Loco Gecko for dinner. Mini had a ball there, they had a Wii dance game hooked up and the kids were doing that off and on (along with myself at some point). On Sunday we spent the day at Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing. Broadway at the Beach is probably one of my favorite spots around the Myrtle Beach area. We shopped and found some really awesome deals.

Laekyn had a BABW gift card that she redeemed that day. She picked out a bear that is line green with different colored palm trees and flip flops and on the bottom paw, 'Myrtle Beach' is embroidered. She named her Sandy.

Monday we went to Ripley's Aquarium. That place was awesome! Laekyn and I both touched a sting ray and we all just truly enjoyed it. If you haven't been to one before, we highly recommend going at least once! During the visit, you stand on this motorized walkway and on both sides of you as we'll above you is a tank filled with sharks, gorgeous fish and a giant sea turtle. That was the coolest part about it for me. If you do plan to go, plan to be there a good amount of time. We enjoyed being surrounded by the sharks (while they were in tanks) so much, we did that part more than once. They have a little snack diner if you get hungry (we didn't eat there but it smelt good) and a gift shop for souvenirs. All in all, it's worth the admission prices and if you have a coupon off the tourist books, even better!

Monday night we went to Broadway at the Beach for fireworks to celebrate the new year. Everyone lined the bridges that surrounded to lake and we watched the fireworks. They were beautiful over the water! We brought in the new year at the hotel and watched fireworks on the beach while sitting on our balcony. It was definitely awesome saying goodbye to 2012 and welcoming 2013 while at the beach.

Tuesday, we went to the Tanger Outlets and boy oh boy did I have a blast. Poor Kasey woke up that morning not feeling well but he was such a trooper he insisted on me shopping at Tanger before we headed back home. Once it came time to head home, he even wanted to drive. The weather was gorgeous as we left for home. Laekyn and I napped some but when we woke up and were about half an hour away, it was pouring! I sure love rainy days but at that moment, I was missing the beautiful beach weather we had enjoyed all weekend.

All in all, I love spontaneous vacations and was incredibly thankful we decided to and were able to take one. Looking forward to the next one! :)

Happy New Year!

2012 has come and gone. As we reflected on last year, there were many emotions that we endured but through it all we are now stronger than we've ever been (both individually, as a couple and as a family), we have grown and learned so much and are forever grateful for the year The Lord provided for us. Through all of the trials and tribulations, even some that we thought were 'the end of the world' serious were simply obstacles that our God already knew the outcome of.

One thing I was FINALLY able to do was to 'let go'. It sounds so simple but yet I struggled with this until the later part of the year. I found myself crying out "Lord, I surrender and give it all to you. Please take of the situation and make do with how you want it to be, not how I want it to be. No matter the outcome, even if it's not what I want - I am trusting in you. I cannot do anything without you." I prayed this over and over AND still do! There is now this sense of peace after I speak that prayer that I really can't describe. All I know is that I now can understand the full meaning of just letting go and letting God.

Well, we decided to take a spur of the moment vacation to the beach. We booked a room Saturday morning, drove down and came back today (Tuesday). The weather was absolutely perfect and then we get home to some nasty rainfall. Good for me that I enjoy rainy days so it wasn't one of those depressing moments although I did miss the beach weather we had enjoyed the last 3 days. It was incredibly awesome to say goodbye to 2012 and ring in the new year at the beach. "Toasting" with some sparkling grape juice put a huge smile on my mini's face at midnight. The fireworks over the ocean were such a beautiful sight. All in all, our spur of the moment decision I think was a huge success and I'm so glad we went. I am thankful that we are blessed and able to do things like that! Regarding what we did while there and pictures, I'll save that for another blog entry. We look forward to going back.

I started this entry with the thought of keeping it short and sweet but to no surprise, I've done just the opposite. Seriously though, our hopes for you and yours this new year is that God will bless you abundantly in all aspects and areas of your life. We do a daily devotion together, attend Church, pray before meals, etc. but one of our goals as a couple is to continue to grow closer to God and allow Him to be the center pointe of all aspects of our lives both individually and as a couple. I know that this year is going to be an amazing year and I couldn't be more thrilled to get it started.

Here's to a wonderful 2013 and I pray that everything you set your heart to, that God blesses you way beyond you initially imagined. As always, thanks for sharing in our journey. Happy New Year!

Disney on Ice

This year, Laekyn and I got to experience Disney on Ice for the first time. Kasey was so excited to purchase tickets and take us. We kept it a secret from Laekyn until we literally sat down in front of the ice. She was so excited and surprised! We sat rink-side and was amazed at the entire show. Such a fun experience and we're definitely making it a tradition to attend each year. I recorded clips from the show on my phone and posted them on my You Tube channel. You can view the clips by clicking here. Laekyn also got a snow cone that was in a fairy cup, she slurped it down!

If you haven't been, I highly recommend going!

Me as a mentor

I was incredibly honored that a high school senior asked me to be their mentor for their senior project. Being a mentor included being interviewed, providing hands-on type "training", being available for questions and spending 8 hours with the senior. It was a lot of fun working with her and I wanted to share some photos taken of Kasey, Laekyn and myself during our session together.

These photos were taken by, Halie  - enjoy!

Back at it... hopefully!

It's been awhile since I've sat down and had the opportunity to write. For some reason, my schedule seems to stay on go and yet I continue to add more to it. Sometimes I think I just need to learn to say, no! Ha. It's alright though, I enjoy my life and everyone in it so there definitely aren't any complaints.

Kasey wrote the most sweetest blog to me for our 10 month anniversary. Here we are now a month later, celebrating our 11 month anniversay. Where has this time gone? It seems just like yesterday when I pulled in his mom's driveway for the first time and saw his handsome face in person for the first time since we were kids. Our relationship has grown stronger each and ever minute since. I am so incredibly thankful to have him in mine and Laekyn's life. This is only the beginning :)

So I know you'd probably rather hear everything we've been up to instead of all that mushy stuff about our relationship so I'll get right on it. In October, we joined a small group at Church and have really enjoyed it when we've been able to attend. This time of year is horrible for us, we're always battling some kinda sickness. I've had a number of photo sessions (a charity golf tournament, wedding, two birthday parties, Halloween community event and a portrait session). It's been a busy time behind the lens and on my editing screen. Laekyn's cheerleading season came to an end, a couple games and her first ever cheer exhibition.

 I cannot describe enough how proud I was of her and the way she went out there and did amazing. She flew in a stunt and was all smiles! The clip of her stunting is here, just click on the link and it'll take you to my You Tube channel. In the pyramid, she's the flyer in the right group. Proud mommy moment! In October, I also began my listening of Christmas music. Some people think I'm crazy for how early I start but I just love it. Kasey surprised me with a new Christmas CD, too. We also visited pumpkin patches and I got to experience parent/teacher conferences for the first time. In Kindergarten they didn't do them at her school but I was super proud of the things her teacher had to say about my little mini. Towards the end of October we attended fall festivals and went Trunk or Treating! Laekyn dressed up as a 3D Nemo this year, Kasey was a crayon box and I was a pink crayon. Kasey and I also went to a Halloween party at the home of our small group leaders. We had a ball! In the picture, the little dalmation is my neice Riley. Precious!

As you can tell, we've been our typical on-the-go-selves. My goal is to get back to writing blogs more often, we'll see how that goes. Thanks for always being faithful in reading our posts, happy Friday!