I Heart Christmas break...

I have REALLY enjoyed Christmas break. For the better part of last week I spent time reading, seeing friends and resting. On Thursday I left for Atlanta to be with the Jackson's. I've gotten to know them over the last 5 years. It was such a great time. It started with Hugh five years ago as I took him under my wing at TMC and a great bond has been built over the last five years. You could say he is a "younger" brother although he acts like the "older one" and has grown into one of my best friends. I LOVE this kid!
This is one of our first pictures together. Since then two more brothers have come to TMC: Houston and Hampton and I have grown to love them all! They are such a blessing in my life. I've gotten to know the rest of the family over the past few years and was excited to spend Christmas with them. Hadiya is the only girl in the family so we had a great time! We made dinner for everyone on Sunday night and my last day was spent with her giving me a manicure and straigtening my hair!This is a picture of the matching glasses she gave me for Christmas and the finished hair!

I loved my time with Hadiya and it was so fun having a little sister to hang with for a week!
I loved all the kids and my time with them. We went on a hike one day and got lost but it was so fun being together.

Another day I went with the younger kids on a bike ride to the park where we played around.

One of my favorite momements was coming into the house and found that I had my own stocking! Loved it.
It was such a great Christmas. I love you Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, Hugh, Houston, Hampton, Hamilton, Hadiya, Haywood, and Halexander. You are a blessing in my life!

Happy Birthday Ivy....

I love this girl! The Elliotts are up North for Christmas so I got to celebrate Ivy's birthday with her last week. We had a princess party at my house and 10 of her friends came over for lunch and fun. In the evening Hampton and I took Ivy and her best friend to Chucky Cheese for dinner. The girls had so much fun! Afterwards was a slumber party at Aunt Hollie's.

Ivy, I love you and wish I could be with you today. You always make me smile and I have so much fun when I am with you. I love love love you and hope your day is so special!

Intern Christmas Party...

This morning was our annual intern Christmas party at my house. I absolutly love the people I get to work with. They are a joy in my life and we have a lot of fun together. This morning everyone rolled out of bed and came to my house for breakfast.
We ate, laughed and did a white elephant gift exchange which always brings out a few laughs. We ended at 10:30 as a bunch of us headed to Fresno to cheer on the Mustangs in the National championship. I will post about that later. Today was a good day.

Congratulation Mr. & Mrs. Strong...

Tonight my beloved friend Kristin got married! It was a fun day that started this morning when Hugh and I took Johnny to Hollywood for breakfast at The Griddle. It is a yummy place that I love to go too with friends. It was John's 29th birthday and we wanted to do something special for him since he is such a good friend to many. I just love John! He is such a genuine, hard working, kind, caring, loving friend. (Happy Birthday Johnny. You are a treasure in my life)

This afternoon we headed to Kristin's wedding. She was a beaming bride! Kristin and Nate are one of the funnest couples I know as you can tell from the picture above. I have loved watching her in their relationship. She has been so patient and her day finally came! I am excited to watch her grow in her new role as wife.

Thanksgiving dinner....

I spent Thanksgiving over at my friend Lynn's house. It was so much fun. We ate too much, laughed a lot and I got a lot of snuggles in with her boys. (which is one of my favorite things)
After dinner we played Pictionary. Tat wanted me to win all the time so if someone was yelling out the correct answer he waited for me to say and then he would get all excited saying I won! Loved it. Afterwards Lynn came over for a little slumber party. Rest and relaxation! Thanks Lynn for such a great day. You are a huge blessing in my life and I love you so much!

Things to Be Thankful for...

I've been meaning to post the last two weeks but haven't gotten around to it. I wanted to post a couple pictures of Luke and Rebecca's wedding. As you can tell she was a beautiful bride.
This picture represents Luke to a tee. He is so fun and has been like a brother to me over the last two years. I am so excited for them as they start their life together.



There are a lot of things that I am thankful for but I will bring some things to mind from the last couple weeks since I posted.
1. My office. We have been spending a lot of time together lately and they are such a joy in my life. We genuinely love one another and enjoy being together. They really are my family.
2. Kelli, Matt, Lucy and Ivy. I don't know what I would do without them here in California.
3. Getting to talk to my brother and his family. I miss them.
4. The Rents. Love them.
5. Getting to spend some time with Tricia. They don't come more faithful than her.
6. An afternoon catching up with Jen Sharp. Love it and much needed.
7. Hugh working out with me even when he doesnt want to just to help me and push me.
8. A chai massage with Kristin. An experience we won't forget.
9. Dinner with Lynn and Holly. Love these girls.
10. Laughing with Johnny. So glad he is back!
11. Hamilton finding a cheap ticket to Atlanta. Thank you brother.
12. Getting to talk with Sean. Back from Afghanistan. I love you Sean and am glad you are home safe.
13. Getting to celebrate with Patricia and her upcoming wedding....a few short weeks.
14. Getting to catch up with Voda. Get to see her for her wedding in two months!
15. The gift of Joy.
16. That the Lord would choose ME!
17. Getting to see Jenny with Tricia. A GREAT time.
18. A new blessing in my life. Crystal Keating. Thank you Lord.
19. A great Thanksmas party hosted by Denise. so thankful for her.
20. I'm thankful that I could list a 1000 more things to be thankful for.

Visiting Jenny in Yakima....

Tricia and I had such a good time visiting Jenny. I met Jenny about 6 years ago through Tricia and she quickly became one of my best friends. Tricia and Jenny have been such good and faithful friends to me over the years. I am so thankful for them in my life. Jenny got married three years ago to a GREAT guy and moved to Yakima, Washington. As excited as I was for her...I miss her and hanging out with her everyday!

Three years and two kids later, Tricia and I headed to Yakima to see Jenny and her family. It was so fun to see the places she has talked about and get a glimpse of what her life is like. It was so great to be with two of my closest friends again and just be together. I LOVE these girls.
These are the two additions to Jenny's life. Olivia and Malory. They are too cute. Olivia is two years old with the vocabulary of a four year old and the energy of an eight year old and Malory five months is super chill.

It was a great weekend of good food, fun AND my favorite....fellowship!

A Rocky Road.....

Tricia and I have wanted to come visit Jenny for quite awhile. We got a really cheap ticket through Virgin Airlines and decided to go before she had her baby in March. I was so excited to fly Virgin Airlines as I heard they had great ammenities and good service.

I was loving our flight for the first two hours. I was instant messaging with friends, going through work emails and watching television. Then it came time to land. The last half hour was the worst travel experience ever! We started going through turbulance and I was starting to feel VERY sick. I was trying to take deep breathes so I wouldnt throw up and every time I looked at Tricia (who is six months pregnant!) she had a panicked look on her face. I couldn't even talk to her for fear I would throw up (sorry for the graphic detail!) All the sudden after 15 minutes of this I see lights, hear the landing gear go down and keep praying that I can make it to the ground before anything comes up. Next thing you know the pilot pulls up and we begin to go back into the air. I'll admit at this point I had a little fear creep in but that was overtaken by the sick feelings within me. The pilot came on saying we had to try it again from another direction in order to have a safe landing.

As we went up it was still very turbulant. My arms from my elbows down began to get numb and tingly. That was freaking me out a bit. I look at Tricia who started to cry and throw up. At that momement God was gracious to me and I was able to comfort her a little. I kept telling her to take deep breathes as I was doing. There were a few momements I thought I was going to pass out but about 12 minutes later we landed. You could other people on the plane crying and gagging!

I have never been so glad to be on the ground! I am so thankful that the flight wasn't my first time flying casue I would never do it again! God was so good to give us a safe landing and I can tell you I am NOT looking forward to getting back on the plane tommorow. More about our trip to come!

Happy Birthday Madison...

Madison, I wish I could be there with you to give you snuggles and celebrate your birthday today. You're getting so big and pretty. You are such a brave little girl. Your Aunt Hollie loves you and hopes to see you soon! Have a GREAT day.

*Today I am thankful for my two year old neice Madison!

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"Would you rather limit yourself to TV viewing of ONLY QVC for a year for $30,000 or NBC only viewing for $5,000?!"

*Today I am thankful chocolate cake.

Gotcha Day!

Happy Gotcha Day Ivy! It was three years ago that Ivy was offically adopted! I was out of the country that day and was unable to attend the court hearing but what a special day it was for all of us.
I can't imagine how different everyones lives would be without her. On Sunday I called Ivy and told her that I couldn't come to her Gotcha celebration because I had to work. I asked her if she would like to have some special time with with me on Monday where we could go to lunch and do something fun. Her response was, "Hollie I would love to do that but i need to ask my mom first." I just loved it.
When I picked her up today I asked her where she would like to go and she told me she would like to go to the mall. She wanted Mac & Cheese and she wanted to go on the carousel. We did just that. She also wanted to go into some stores to "just look" for Christmas. She has become my little buddy and I love talking to her every day and love watching her grow up.
Ivy, I love you so much and am so glad you are my family.

Would You Rather Wednesday?!!?!!?

"You are in an extreme blizzard and could be stuck for up to three days would you rather have a blanket and 2 candy bars or cell reception?!?!"

*Today I am thankful for pumpkins.

Congratulations to Trevor and Patricia!!!!

Last night I went to a Suprise Engagement party for my dear friend Patricia. She has been such a HUGE encouragement to me over the last year and a half. I call her my blessing from God cause it was completly HIM who brought us together. We sat by eachother in church one Sunday and afterwards she started talking to me. She was so kind and we soon found out we were both single and going through the same things in life. It's crazy how fast we bonded. The first night we talked on the phone it was like we had been friends for 15 years. Her friendship came at the perfect time and I am so thankful for her.
She met Trevor last Spring at Grace and she was smitten right away. He proposed tonight and then took her to this restaurnat where we were all waiting for the happy couple. I was just talking to her Saturday about marriage and she was hoping this was coming soon. :) Patricia, I am so happy for you and thankful that the Lord blest you with Trevor. He is going to be one HAPPY husband. HOLLA SISTA!

Kelli found this frame for me at a garage sale and gave it to me. It was perfect for my bathroom. I had this paper and it fits perfectly on the wall.

This frame I have had for about 6 years and almost threw it out. It was originally yellow and I painted it black a couple years ago. It has been behind Ivy's toy box for the last two years and I decided to use a little paper and modge podge to see if it could be saved. I love how it turned out. Now I am just trying to figure out what to put in it.

My Creativity Sets in...

Last weekend was a busy one. On Saturday 7 friends and I went to the Hollywood Bowl for a Jason Mraz and G Love concert. I love the Hollywood Bowl. It's such a great atmosphere and we had a great time. Afterwards Tiffany Seston came over and spent the night as we were heading to the the Rose Bowl swap meet the next day. I was really excited to go with Tiffany becasue she had never been before. (http://www.stephenandtiffanyseston.blogspot.com/) We had such a good time. We walked around for a few hours, let out creative juices flow, and had such a good time together. We also found some GREAT purchases. I had been wanting to find a table or chest to make a little coffee bar off my kitchen. I found the perfect thing and got it at such a reasonable price.

This is my new coffee bar. I am still working on it a bit. Tiffany suggested I get some cute hooks and then cute mugs and hang them and that's what I am on the look out for.

This was my next find. I got this frame for $10 and it matches my room perfectly! I just put some paper behind it and it looks awesome in my room. I have had a creative bug lately and will post pictures of them soon.

*Today I am thankful for fall smells.

Fall is coming and I am excited. I have been real busy at work and havent had a chance to write. A lot is happening. My parents came out for a visit, Mandy moved back to the East Coast (boo), my sister in law Becca, came out for a sisters weekend which was a blast, the Iowa Hakeyes are 7-0 (holla), and I have spent time with good some good friends. It's been fun.

When Mandy moved I didnt know what I was going to do but the Lord TOTALLY blessed me AGAIN and my landlords lowered my rent so I could stay here without a roommate. I had a lot of people praying for me and this was such a blessing. I am living in a sweet 2 bedroom guesthouse and I love it here. I also love my landlords and enjoy getting to know them even more. They are a great Christian family with three cute boys. It's a blessing. I've been creative too and will include pictures as soon as I can find my camera!

*Today I am thankful for a fun afternoon with Tricia.

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"Would you rather have Swiffers for feet or venetian blind style eyelids?" Death is not an option.

*Today I am thankful for FALL!

Happy Birthday Kelli...

Happy Birthday Kelli! I hope you have a great day today. I love you and am so thankful for you in my life. I am so excited to see what God is doing in your family and I am so excited that I get to be a part of it. I am so thankful you are my Sister. I love love love you!

*Today I am thankful for Kelli.

I HEART the Fullans...

I can't even begin to say how much I love this family. I grew up with this family and got to know them through church. It wasn't until I graduated from college that we became real close. Debe has become like an older sister to me and the boys have become my brothers and I can't describe how much I love them. When I went home in August I drove to Dubuque, Iowa where the boys are going to college to see them with their parents. Sean is fighting over in Afghanistan so he wasn't able to join us. Love you Sean! The picture is me and Debe (mom), Jesse(left) and Aaron.
I forget how much I miss them until I see them. I felt like a celeb on their campus as most of their friends knew who I was due to a song they wrote for me. I will try to post that later. I'm hoping to get them out here to visit me soon. They were raised to Love the Lord and be true gentlemen which they are! I am so glad I get to be a part of their lives. They are such a faithful family in my life. I know they love me and pray for me daily! A BLESSING TO ME!!!!

*Today I am thankful for the Fullans!

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"Would you limit yourself to speaking 500 words per day for one month in order to gain $15,000?" Things to consider women speak an average of 20,000 words per day and men speak on average 7000 words per day.

*Today I am thankful for the nice big window in my office.

I Am Back....

After a much needed Blogging break I am back. I had a really busy summer and I just couldn't keep up with everything. It makes me feel out of touch with everyone and after numerous comments everyone has felt out of touch with me. I have a lot of things I could blog about right now but I am going to do some highlights of my summer. I've attached ONE picture from the top of my summer list. This is Ivy and HOPEFULLY the soon to be Lucy Ann Elliott. She is so precious! She is tiny and not even two weeks old yet.

Things I am thankful for in no particular order:

1. Lucy!

2. Time with ALL my neices and nephew in Iowa.

3. Vacation: Vegas, Cruise, Iowa and East Coast.

4. Second trip to Iowa to see Voda, Fullans, Powers and delzells. (mom and dad too!)

5. Country Music: Lady Antabellum and Gloriana.

6. My roommate Mandy.

7. Tricia is pregnant WAHOO!

8. Malory McCown.

9. Weekend with Heidi Keller in Newport Beach.

10. New additions to the Admissions Office (PTL it's done!)

11. Hope and Joy through Jesus.

12. Engagements: Luke and Rebeka, Kristin and Nate, Summer and Denny!

13. Talking to Ivy every morning on the phone driving to work.

14. Seeing my Sin and repenting.

15. The Love of Friends and Family.

16. My walks and talks with Hugh.

17. Staff retreat in Ventura...FUN!

Hard Things:

1. Mandy is moving to the East Coast...I lose my roommate in less than 30 days.

2. Seeing my Sin.

3. Time management.

4. Sinus infections.

5. Air quality from the fires.

6. My $332 speeding ticket...Serious?!?!

7. Gaining 6 pounds.

8. Did I say Mandy is moving?!

9. Missing my brother and family, Heidi, Jenny and my Iowa peeps.

10. Trusting God.

11. Gebhards moving.

12. Megan Schenk moving to Texas

*Today I am thankful that Kelli, Matt, Ivy and Lucy got to come over for dinner.

Iowa 2009...

I had a great trip back to Iowa. It was so fun being with my brother and his family. MY parents came on Saturday and stayed with us through Sunday. My brother, sister and sister in law all went out to dinner last night and had a great time together while the grandparents babysat. I wish they lived closer to me. MY neices and nephew are growing way too fast. The pictures are of this weekend.

I HEART GAVIN!!!

Tonight Kelli, Becca and I went to the Des Moines Art Festival. They were having a free concert with Collective Soul and Gavin DeGraw. When we were walking in Becca spotted Gavin and I asked him if we could take our picture with him. I told him I loved his new album and I just saw him in San Diego and he high fived me. HOLLA! It was a great concert. He played a lot off of his first two albums. It was hot, humid and sprinkled drops of rain but it was SWEET!!!

*Tonight I am thankful for Becca and the time we got to spend together today! Love you Sister!

Travels...

I have not been in the blogging mood and am taking a nice little break this summer. I have a lot going on the next couple months and will be doing some traveling. i already went to Vegas and last weekend I took a cruise with three dear friends.
Here are some pictures from the cruise. We had a great time relaxing, eating a lot, and just being together. I leave tommorow for Iowa and can't wait to see my brother and family. Kelli and Ivy get to go too so it will be extra fun.

*Today I am thankful that in a few short hours I get to see Kyle, Becca, Mayah, Mason and Madison!!!!YEAH!!!!

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"Would you rather have your eulogy delivered by Barrak Obama or Brad/Angelina?"

*Today I am thankful for a cool breeze.

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"On a cross country flight would you rather sit next to a heavy breather or a 2 year old child?" Death is not an option.

*Today I am thankful for the SUN!

Would You Rather Wednesday?!?!

"Would you rather be able to highlight with your finger or be able to induce nosebleeds in people on live TV?"
Death is not an option. Things to consider: political debates, news anchors and NBA games.

*Today I am thankful for peanut butter filled pretzels.

Happy Birthday Kyle...

Happy Birthday to my brother Kyle. I love you and am so thankful for you. I am so proud of the husband and dad you have become. I love the way you care for, provide and love your family. Wish I could kick it with all of you today. Can't wait to see you in two weeks. LOVE YOU!

Would You Rather Wednesday?!!?

"Would you rather live without your cell phone for 30 days or have no access to computers/internet for 30 days?!?"

*Today I am thankful for all the days my computer DOES work.

A Favorite....LOVE .....a GREAT show! It was awesome. This was also a picture that Mandy, Jeff, Justin and I took in an elevator....i thought it was cool!

*Today I am thankful for the gift of life.

A Favorite....

I have a new favorite restaurant. It's called Granville Cafe. There's one in Burbank that I've been two a couple times and then I got reaquainted with it in Glendale (Americana) and I love it. It was voted Best restaurant in Glendale and Burbank 2008. It's a casual gormet cafe that has gourmet sandwiches, salads, soups, pasta, premium coffees and desert. It's a casual but upscale environment. It is sweet so if anyone is wanting to change it up CHECK it OUT!!!

*Today I am thankful for summer!!!

Happy Birthday Pops...

I love my Daddy-o....I wish I could be with you today on your birthday!!

Dad, I love you. I love the way that you look out for me and my best interests. I love the way that you are consistently pointing me to the Lord and what His Word promises me. I love that I can call you to talk about nothing but you always leave me with something. I love that when I am REALLY sad and need encouragement you are the one that I really want to talk too knowing that you will be truthful and tell me not what I want to hear but what I need to hear. I love that you are faithful to pray for me. I love that you REALLY love me! I can't wait to have a date night when you come out this October. I love you Pops and am thankful for you!

Happy Birthday Mason....

Today is my nephew's birthday. He is turning four! I can't believe how fast it goes.

Mason, I LOVE you! I wish i could be with you today to give you lots of squeezes. I am so excited to see you in a month. I hope your birthday present comes in the mail. You are such a tender-hearted, kind and loving person. I am so glad we are family. Love, Aunt Hollie