December 31, 2013

2013

As I sit here trying to think of a post that doesn't sound full of excuses for lack of content, something that doesn't sound over the top with cliches about what a wonderful year this has been, I think about all the things that have happened this year. On December 31 of every year, we all review the past twelve months. The good, the bad, the difficult, the emotional, and every year I say "I learned so much" and "It was an amazing year".

The secrets of life are hidden behind the word "cliche". No one likes to use them because they're overused and just so, well...cliche. Things like "never give up", "just believe in yourself", etc... And so as I joyfully welcome in the new year, I'm going to be cliche. Because you know what? It's a wonderful life, and I don't care how many people have already said it!

My Cliche 2013...

A year of difficult changes.

A year of learning to be alone, and "on my own" more than I ever have been before.

A year of making new-ish friends.

A year of stretching myself.

A year of growing up.

A year of realizing just how small we are.

A year of contemplation. 

A year of smiles.

A year of even more tears.

A year of beautiful changes.

A year of stepping outside my comfort zone, inch by little inch.

A year of finding a peace that can only come from God.

A year of getting comfortable in my new shoes.

A year that went by way too fast.

This year was wonderful. It was incredible. I missed people. I cried a lot of tears. But I learned. I got tired of being alone and sought out friendship from people willing to give it, I just hadn't looked before. It was amazing. 

As I went through changes, I was afraid. No one enjoys the unknown bleakness of the future. But as I stepped into it, I realized that God is already there. I'm always nervous entering a new year because we don't know what it holds for us, but as I listen to the fireworks going off outside, I know... He's already here, too. The unchangeable. The steady. My rock and comfort.

2013 was a wonderful year. It's a wonderful life. May each of us resolve to make 2014 even better.

Happy new year, dear readers! :)







December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas!


We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Hello.
My name is Kelley and I haven't been blogging a lot lately.
I'll get around to it soon, please be patient with me!

December 3, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

Phew! I sat down to write this post a week ago. I was going to list all of the things I was thankful for, and things kept popping up and I ran out of time. Then I was going to do a recap of our Thanksgiving day(s), and once again, something else popped up for me to do. I realized today while I was out Christmas shopping that I need to do a November recap, but I'll get around to that sooner or later!

First things first: Thanksgiving Day and the day after. What did we do?

I slept in! (YES!) And then we put up the tree...


Then we ate, and we didn't stop for a good long while. Jacob smoked a turkey and it was the best turkey I've ever eaten - super moist and flavorful! Christine brought a pumpkin pie - hers is my favorite - and my mom provided all the rest! Mmmm...


After lunch Jacob and Christine took the boys home for a nap and we put up the rest of the Christmas decorations and our outside lights.


They came back over that evening for leftover turkey sandwiches and chips, and the boys got a bath in jacuzzi and put on their pajamas. They love the tree with all the "pretty lights". :)


Friday was spend in McMinnville with both sides of our extended family.  First was Mama's side for lunch at noon (aka 1:00). Full blown Thanksgiving meal for lots of hungry people! Grandma's dressing and rolls, Mama's hash brown casserole, Heather's cranberry salad....and I can't even remember what all else because I ate it so fast, but it was all so delicious!


For supper at 5:00 we got together with my dad's side of the family and filled our stomachs to their capacity with more turkey, dressing, corn, and dessert. Before we pray over the food, we all get in a circle and count ourselves, then we join hands and pray together. I wish I had a picture of it, but it's not a good time and my hands are being held anyway. We counted 65 or so, and several more showed up later. Out of the ten original children, only two weren't able to make it!



And then we went home, drank some 7-Up, and went to bed. ;) Just kidding. We went to WalMart and got some more icicle lights for the house, skipped all the Black Friday deals, and went home to bed.

Saturday was a day of catch-up around the house, but we called it an early evening and watched our first Christmas movie of the season, Holiday Inn - one of my personal favorites!! Every year around this time Bing Crosby comes on the radio and melts my heart all over again. His Thanksgiving song in the movie is "I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For" and I sure have plenty to be thankful for! An amazing, loving family, and all of you. Thank you for reading!!



November 8, 2013

hello, fall ♥ october recap

I know it's been awhile since I posted, I apologize, and I'll leave it at that. ;)

October 1 - 5 we were still in Arizona. Those last few days were spent relaxing, going to Hoover Dam, visiting Sedona (no pictures from that), eating at Chipotle, conquering Flagstaff X-treme (all of those pictures are on my dad's phone and he's out of town right now), going to Bearizona - a drive-through wildlife park, and then we flew home on the sixth. My personal favorite restaurant we went to was called the Lumberyard, and that's why I have the collage of food. Plus I love food and I wanted to make a whole collage of just food pictures. My dish was the hot wings...shoowhee! So GOOD!

 
Between Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Caillou, adults and children alike were able to while away the airport hours!

October 6 was our annual church picnic. Well, it's usually a picnic, but it rained this year so we had it inside the gym. It's just a lot of fun to get together and hang out with our church family. Everyone brings a covered dish - potluck! - and we just eat together and enjoy the fellowship!

 
October 10 was Tanner's birthday - the "baby" is two years old now! And by the end of January, he won't be the baby anymore. Where did the last two years go? While I was downloading these pictures I ran across one from last year and I almost started crying! Two year old's are the most excitable creatures in the world, and Tanner is no exception. He has one of the best personalities, too - always overly animated whether happy or sad, and this day, he was very happy! He kept saying "Dant-oo!" (thank you) over and over, making sure we all heard. "Mama, dant-oo!" "Lolley, dant-oo!" "Onewall, dant-oo!" (translations on the last two names - Kelley, and Stonewall - aka, Jackson)

 
October 11 was Amie's 19th birthday. I made her feel so good about it too, reminding her this was her last year as a teenager... ;) We aren't as good at taking pictures of nineteen-year-old's as we are two-year-old's, so that's why there aren't as many. She asked for Mississippi Mud - a family favorite - for her birthday dessert, and by the end of it Jackson had "Missy-Missy Mud" all over his face. :) 

If you're wondering why she's crying in one picture, it's because my dad had written her a poem, and she was crying before she even started reading it. She handed it to me to read out loud to everyone, and I had to try very hard not to laugh while doing so. We respond very differently to our emotions. My mom snapped a picture to remind us of that, I guess.

Bottom right - what we call the "Tanner face". It's hard to catch on camera but it's one of my favorites. He makes it a lot!
We were going our separate ways on her birthday and I wouldn't see her until that late afternoon, so I sent her this the night before to see when she got online that morning.

October 12 was our annual Fall Festival at church. Also known as "Old Fashioned Day" because we wear old fashioned clothes and play old fashioned games and it's a lot of old fashioned fun!

As you can tell, we are very modest about being from the South.

October 24-26 was Antioch Baptist Church's missions conference. I only went the first two night because I was getting progressively sicker and by the last night couldn't make it. It went so well though, and they doubled their Faith Promise giving! Please pray for this church as they continue to grow and be a blessing to others!

October 27 we had all of the teens from church over to our house after the night service. We ate soup and played games and it was a lot of fun and I have no idea how we all fit in three rooms but we did! For almost three hours with minimal complaining! :)

My parents got involved in the Taboo game!
Good job, girls!




And at the end of the night, we said hello to Faith...


I feel like I'm really leaving something out, but I can't think of what it is! I think October just went by so fast I wasn't able to properly take it all in. ;) Are y'all ready for the holidays? They've really snuck up on me this year, but I've been feeling very festive for several weeks now...resisting the urge to listen to Christmas music! I don't start that until Thanksgiving Day!!

I hope each of you have a wonderful and safe November!







October 10, 2013

wait, what? ♥ september recap

Recapping nine days late, I know, but I was out of town for a week at the beginning of the month and left my laptop behind. I barely even knew September was here before it was gone, but this is the month recapped as best as I can remember! :)

September 1 - 4 was our annual Labor Day Meeting, which I oddly have no pictures of. Bro. Travis Alltop was our guest preacher and the meeting was tremendous!

September 6 was the wedding of Tom and Hannah. My sister was a bridesmaid and I did her hair (hence the hair picture). It was a beautiful and special wedding - they've been together since she was fifteen! She was one of the first to go straight from our teen group into marriage, so everyone was very involved in either the ceremony or the reception. The ceremony was very moving and the reception was lighthearted and fun. (Also I caught the bouquet! ;))

Me fixing A's hair, Hannah D. fixing Grace's, and the two of them getting ready to be beautiful bridesmaids!
 
We Skyped Faith in PNG during the ceremony :)
The snapchat I sent Faith when I got home that evening :)
September 7 our family gathered at Grandma and PawPaw's for a cookout.
My uncle, Nathan, my mom, Aunt Carolyn and Aunt Janice
Jackson climbing the same trees us older grandchildren used to climb. They have shrunken substantially. ;)
Taylor, Amie, Aunt Carolyn, Jordan, Bethany, Will, and me
Amie with our cousin Will and his girlfriend Taylor
Me and Tanner doing what we do best :)
September 11 - 15 we kept four children while their parents were out of town. The only pictures we have are on my mom's iPad using the photo booth app. I suppose I should start taking more pictures...

September 21 Stephen and Tara flew down and we met them for supper at Cheddar's. We didn't have much time because my dad was preaching that night and we were all singing at the church. They were only in for 3 days because Tara's beginning to have interviews at hospitals in this wonderful state of Tennessee - just a few more months and they'll get to move back for good! Her residency will be over sometime next June.

Well, I was obviously distracted :P
 September 28 my parents, Amie, me, Jacob and Christine and Jace, Jackson, and Tanner flew out to Arizona for a week long vacation - the first family vacation we've had in I don't know how long. Stephen and Tara weren't able to join us because of her work schedule and we missed them, but we had a wonderful time regardless! I'll post some pictures soon, but here's one of all of us at the Grand Canyon.

Don't you just love being the only adult not doing what you're supposed to be doing? Tanner and I, we can't get it together.

SEPTEMBER SNAPS:

1. What is known around here as "Prayer Letter Week".
2. Practicing braids and updos for the wedding.
3. Amie and Jace - aunt and nephew, piano teacher and student.
4. The day I got to hold someone's baby for an hour and it was part of my job. Best job ever? I think so! ;) (This baby's mother was saved that day which makes it especially nice!)

September 26, 2013

Summer Bucket List recap

Well, I did not to as well as I had hoped, but Summer came and went so quickly I didn't even realize it was over until the Pumpkin Spice Latte was out and people were saying "Happy Fall!"

What?

So here's my Bucket List recap, and I'll do one for Fall....maybe....and try to complete some of the things I didn't get around to on this one! :)

finish five books by only reading them outside   
way more than five!

make homemade donuts
yes, and they weren't that great but I made them!

eat fruit every day 
kind of? I didn't make it a priority in my mind, therefore I don't know if I had it every single day, but close to it!

start running (again-ish)
haha 

catch a jar full of lightening bugs with Jace and Jackson
We caught lightening bugs, but they didn't want to put them in a jar because they can't breathe ;)

have friends over for a cookout and games
coming this fall :) 

buy a bike
nope, I couldn't justify it right now

go camping 
sad face

buy colorful tennis shoes
once again, couldn't justify it. I bought a pair of Sperry's though, so that counts for something! ;)

journal every night
I did this for about a week, but then I began choosing to read instead of write.

blog once a week
I crossed this one out because I sort of did this. Not every single week, but most weeks! ...right?

complete a DIY 
yes!

play whiffle ball and win
didn't even play.

take the boys to the park
Nope. :(

go on a picnic at Defeated
Um, kind of?
 
go to the zoo
I wish! I love the zoo!

Go to Belmont Mansion or Bel Meade Plantation
Went to both!

decorate my corner of the office
Yup! Still have a little ways to go, but it's getting there! Pictures soon. :)

get some hydrangeas
By the time I got around to it no one had any.

help clean up the pool area
Yep! It looks good, too! (Although I only did about 3% of the actual work.)

make a dress with my mom
No. I have enough dresses.

Kelley, do better next time!

September 11, 2013

Today is September the Eleventh

September 11.

9/11.

You wrote it on your school paper this morning, or you dated a check. You glanced at the calendar as you planned your day, and you stopped. And you remembered.

Twelve years ago on this day, where were you? I'm guessing that if you were older that six or seven when it happened, you remember. I was eight, and I remember. Vaguely, but it's there.

I was at home with my older brother doing school and my mom was out running errands. She came in and had heard it on the radio on the drive home. We didn't have a television, so we went down the road to the golf course. We sat at a round table in the club house and watched the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. We watched it over and over and over. Disbelief? Yes. Fear? Yes.

A third plane crashed into the Pentagon. More lives were taken. And America wept. America was stunned. America was afraid.

In one day, nearly 3,000 people were killed within the borders of the land of the free and the home of the brave. Our nation began to pray.

Fast forward twelve years. When you open your computer and go to Google, you will see the black ribbon reminding you of what today is. The YouTube homepage may be featuring tribute videos to 9/11. You might even watch the live coverage of the memorial services at Ground Zero and the Pentagon. Bloggers, just like I am, will be writing about it, video bloggers will talk about it, and everyone you follow on Pinterest will pin an inspirational quote or something about never forgetting, all of your social media sites will be reminding you - today is September the eleventh.

And you needed the reminder. Because we don't think about it every day. We don't dwell on that dark day in our history. Not even a year ago was the shooting in Newtown, less than six months ago was the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Terrorists forced their way into our country and killed our people. And we can't even think about the shooter.

But the people who lost loved ones? The families who are missing one of their members? They haven't forgotten for one day. Every morning they wake up and they remember. They can't forget it. Their losses won't let them.

Those were our losses, too. Not as personal, but our losses just the same. 

So today, don't just be another person who shares an inspirational quote, another person who cries a little and says, "Oh, it was so sad!" Another person who scratches the surface of sympathy. Pray for those families who are still hurting. Keep them in your prayers, and not just today. As many days as you remember.

And do something about it. Tell the people in your life what they mean to you. Say it now. Don't wait until you're in an airplane that's about to crash and you have to make a frantic, panicky phone call because you never once said "Mom, I love you." Say it NOW. Don't wait. 

"I love you. I don't ever want to live without you in my world. You changed my life." Say it.
 
"I love you. Thank you for molding me into the person I am today. You are everything to me." Say it.

Take a moment and look around. Love your life. Love the people in your life, and tell them. Did you say it? Because it could all be gone tomorrow.

Today is September 11, and we will never forget.


September 5, 2013

calm before the storm ♥ august recap

Oh August, how kind to us you were. Cooler temps, a few rainy days, and a week or two with nothing to do but the normal. Rest before the crazy month of September attacked us with a roar!

August 1 we spent the evening at our county fair. Our church had a booth where we witnessed to people as they passed, and I believe the final count was 6 saved. What a blessing! Some of us teens/young adults went one night and ate fair food, walked the midway, ate funnel cakes and fried Oreos, free Popsicles, and rode 1 ride.


August 2 Jacob and Christine took the two older boys to the fair and we got to keep Tanner. It's rare that we have just one boy at a time, so it was a lot of fun and Tanner really enjoyed being the center of our attention.


August 4 they drove Amie and Leah up to Indianapolis and dropped them off for three weeks so they could attend Noteworthy, a music school at Verity Institute.


August 11 we had a farewell fellowship at our church to send off a family who has been with us since the beginning, but they have recently retired and are moving to VA to be near their parents.

CBC Charter Members


August 14 was my mom's 53rd birthday. I made a copycat recipe of Longhorn Steakhouse's Parmesan chicken, Outback's ranch dressing recipe for the salad, we cut up my mom's homemade bread, and Christine brought seasoned oven fries. For dessert she wanted ice cream, so we had 4 different flavors. 


August 20 my mom and I went to Belmont Mansion and Bel Meade Plantation. I loved it SO much and would go back right now if I could. We're planning to go sometime this Fall with my dad and Amie, and then when Faith gets back we're going to go for Christmas. It's beautiful.


August 23 we went to Amie's concert and brought her home. They sang a song she had written for one of her assignments, a Bible verse she put to music.


And except for a few other piddly things, that was our August. Relaxing and slow. We just finished our annual Labor Day meeting at church. Bro. Travis Alltop preached and did an amazing job. It was a wonderful meeting, and I wish it was still going on! Tonight we have a wedding rehearsal for Tom and Hannah, Amie's really good friend. The wedding is tomorrow night, and Saturday we have a cookout at my grandmas house. Next week we'll have 4 house guests for about 5 days, and then after that one week until our family vacation. September is full, but it's full of fun!

I hope everyone had a great August and is sliding into September and the upcoming new season very well! Thank you so much for reading. :)

August 22, 2013

Moments

Quirks. We all have them, we all know people who have them, and we can point them out in everyone else. I have a quirk. Or maybe it's not so much a quirk as it is something else I can't think of a name for.

Sometimes, when I'm trying to write, or I'm thinking, or planning, or I'm in that strange place between sleep and awake, I'll imagine moments in my future. Wondering when I will experience these moments, these events, what will be going through my mind when I do. And sitting there or laying there, I tell myself, "Remember this moment." Remember this moment, the rain on the car window and the soft music my family is listening to. The seat belt over my waist and the head rest pressing into my head. Remember all these things when you finally get to that place you're dreaming of in your future.

And some of those moments have come to pass. When we were on the plane to Germany, my mind went back to when I was packing, folding a scarf and wondering if I would be able to sleep on the plane. "Remember this moment." And I did.

Once it has passed, it is gone. I don't always remember the moments because they are for a certain point in my future. I did that yesterday. I don't remember where I was or what it was for, but one day, that moment will probably come back into my memory, and then it will be gone. It's the remembering, if only for a second, that is worth so much.

When change comes, we try to make moments happen. I don't think the importance of memories really hits us until after we graduate high school. Maybe a little as we prepare for this huge step in our lives, but we have a whole summer ahead of us. The freedom of our recent accomplishment, and most likely, friends to share the sunshine and summer with. And then the fall comes, and the change with it. And college is one month away, and whether you're going, or your friends are going, you're lucky if it hits you a month before the goodbyes. It might hit you a week before, or maybe just a couple of days. And you cram as much as you can into the time you have left. Normal things that you do all the time, but suddenly, it's not so normal anymore, because you know this is the last time for a long time.

And you begin creating moments, grasping at the average because you aren't prepared for this. And you tell your parents, "It just hit me that my friends and I are going separate ways. We'll only see each other on the weekends and we'll be too busy to talk all the time. It's just going to be so weird." Be prepared for it to "hit" you several more times before, during, and after your life shifts.

You won't always have a camera to capture a candid smile, a recorder so you can replay the  laughter, or a video cam so you can re-watch the bonding. You don't need those things to remember. You just have live in the moment, you take a deep breath, and you allow it to saturate your heart, to stamp that memory inside you and not forget.

And the goodbyes come, and maybe you'll be the one leaving, going to experience a new adventure that is yours alone, or maybe you'll be the one staying, wondering what's next and crying as your friend leaves you behind. The new chapter of your life is beginning, and all you really want to do is re-read the previous paragraph because it was just so, so good.

In the days to come, all of the changes will "hit" you again, and again, and again. You will get into a new routine, and when you're eating breakfast on the run because you overslept and you grab your books and your mind is filled with all the new things you're learning, there will be a second when everything freezes. You know the feeling, the realization, the moment it "hits" you again. The same thing that happens when you're getting ready for work, washing the sleep from your eyes and putting on your nice clothes because you have to look like somebody. You look up and meet your own eyes in the mirror and....this is now. This is your life. This is what you prepared for, what you wondered was going to be like. And it is here. It's amazing and confusing, it's life and it's yours. It has begun, you've started reading the next chapter. It's wonderful, you love it, but sometimes, all you want to do is go back, read the beginning again, and your heart will crack a little because you know there is no way to go back, no way to recreate precious experiences.

But you will have moments to remember. Sitting at Sonic at 9:30 at night, you sipped your raspberry sweet tea and shared onion rings with your friend and you looked around the picnic table, at the laughter and the sarcasm, the humidity thick in the air, and you thought about how in just a little while, your friend was leaving everyone for six months, you would only be able to talk to her on very sporadic occasions, and you remembered that moment. And you remembered it again when you saw a picture of her with a little baby in the clinic, and the memory was even sweeter.

You remembered the moments, the tang of strawberries and the sweet cream cheese on the fruit pizza your friend brought over for your last non-sleepover sleepover before her wedding, and you knew, in just one week to the minute, you would be standing on a platform, witnessing the biggest change in her life to date. And, one week later, standing on that platform in the pink dress you helped her shop for, fighting back a flood of tears as you watched her kneel and pray with her new husband, you remembered that moment. And were so thankful for it.

So to my friends, to whom these experiences and goodbyes are coming in the next few weeks as some of you go to college, one of you gets married, and the rest of you go back to school or continue with your jobs, remember the moments. Playing volleyball after church in our awesome "new" gym, hanging out on Google, going to lock-ins and birthday celebrations. Remember it all. All the moments, and if you have to, create them so that when you say goodbye, when you sit at church or Sonic and someone is missing, you can transport your mind back to the normal things that are now special occasions. Because yes, what was once something you did all the time now has to be planned, there are time limits and schedules, and each moment becomes sweeter and more special. Capture them. "Remember this moment."




August 20, 2013

Bel Meade Plantation

Another item to cross off my summer bucket list! Today my mom and I toured both the Belmont Mansion and the Bel Meade Plantation. We went to the Belmont Mansion first, and since we were the only two taking the tour and it was all indoors, taking pictures would have been a little awkward. The only one I have is this one where we were sitting in a gazebo waiting for the tour to begin.


We then headed to Bel Meade, which was my favorite because I knew more about it. I'm going back around Christmas, and I'm already excited, it was that much fun. :)



 I don't like pictures of just things, but I don't like standing beside something and just smiling, either - it's like awkwardness level 200. So I decided to make the pictures so awkward they weren't awkward - posing with the props like I lived or worked there. No pictures were allowed inside the mansion, so these were taken on the grounds and outbuildings surrounding it.


the slaves cabin
the dairy barn

the smokehouse
the garden shed
the pump

the carriage house
those horses wouldn't give me the time of day
Like I said, it was a really, really fun day! Bel Meade also has a cafe, and I think offer carriage rides, I want to ask about that. I love love love history, and this is my state, so it was a perfect day for me. :)

I asked questions on the tours, which made me feel awesome because I don't normally talk in public, but I did this time, mostly because the tour guide didn't cover something I wanted him to so I asked. At one point, he covered something about the former owners I knew and I wanted to say "Oh, I know! I know!" :) Always read about a place before you visit, it makes the experience 100 times better, I promise you!

Yay for Tennessee and yay for history! :)


Summer Bucket List: finish five books by only reading them outside; make homemade donuts; eat fruit every day; start running (again-ish); catch a jar full of lightening bugs with Jace and Jackson; have friends over for a cookout and games; buy a bike; go camping; buy colorful tennis shoes; journal every night; blog once a week; complete a DIY; play whiffle ball and win; take the boys to the park; go on a picnic at Defeated; go to the zoo;  go to Belmont Mansion or Bel Meade Plantation; decorate my corner of the office; get some hydrangeas; help clean up the pool area; make a dress with my mom