Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

9.23.2014

HoltFamilyVlog 09.23.2014: First Day of Fall!



If you didn't know, today was the first day of fall!!! For us Hawai'i kids... This changing of seasons is a big deal to us.  I've always loved the fall/holiday season, even when I lived in Hawai'i.  I just loved the atmosphere and spirit it brought.  One of the main reasons for why we left all the sunshine for more overcast skies, is because we prefer rain over heat.  Chloe's never really played out in the rain before, but she's always been eager to explore outside.  It was no surprise to us that she totally enjoyed this sweater weather!


This rain gutter was even more interesting with all the rain water gushing out of it...

I love seeing them walk together.


Please enjoy today's vlog!  We all agreed that we're pretty excited for what this holiday/fall season may/will bring!


Are you and your family excited for this upcoming fall/holiday season?  What are some family traditions that you look forward to?
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9.17.2014

HoltFamilyVlog 09.17.2014: Crazy Christmas Lady!

Yesss... Crazy Christmas Lady strikes again!  To be honest, these sightings are probably just going to become more and more frequent.  I don't know how to explain how excited I am for this fall and holiday season!  Every time we leave the house I'm pointing out to Thomas all the trees that have leaves that are changing color on them. ^_^



Is anyone else this excited for the upcoming fall/winter season?! No?... Just me?... Give me sometime... I'll get you in the spirit! =]  Thanks for checking out today's vlog!

HoltFamilyVlog 09.16.2014: (The Beginning of) Autumn Leaves

Can you believe that summer officially ends in one week?! Also, Christmas is 100 days away (well technically 99 by the time this post/vlog is live).  But holy moly!!  Anywho... We spent today cleaning the entire apartment.  But we of course still managed to have a lot of fun with the Munchkin!  Please enjoy the vlog!





9.16.2014

HoltFamilyVlog 09.15.2014: Getting Ready for Christmas?!

Yesterday's vlog is a short but sweet one!  It's filled with a bunch of my favorite things: baby giggles, Thomas' mom, Target, and Christmas things!!  Yes... I'm one of those crazy Christmas all-year kinda people.  I just love the feeling in the air during the holiday/fall season... ^_^

Enjoy the vlog!




9.10.2014

Subjects I Could Talk About for Hours...

Today's 30 Days of Lists prompt was a fun prompt for me to think about.  Now that I'm typing out this post, I realize that these are topics that I truly have a passion for!  This year is about pursuing my passions and finding myself so it was a good reminder for me... This is definitely another one of my favorite prompts so far this month.



Luckily, yesterday's vlog goes very well with today's prompt!  It's filled with some of my most favorite things: my family, and food... more specifically, fall themed food!  Enjoy!


9.03.2014

If I had One More Hour in the Day. . .

I wish I could come up with something more profound than what I have listed... But I figured I'd just be honest with myself =]


At first I listed "clean my house..." but then I realized... Even if I did achieve that goal, we have a [very] mobile baby, who is willing to tear through anything to get to what she's trying to get to.  Hehe... But in all honesty, I'd probably just want to spend that extra hour with Thomas and Chloe anyway... That's always what truly makes me happy.  Please enjoy yesterday's vlog as well!  Christmas was in the air!!


8.31.2014

Good-Bye August 2014

When I first started to get back into blogging again... I was trying to figure out a monthly post that I could do at the beginning/end of each month to sort of recap things that we/I am currently into.  The main purpose of this blog is to document my growth as a mother and young woman... But also my family's journey through life.  We are at such an exciting point in our lives right now... And I want to be able to remember it years down the line.  One of my favorite blogs to read is Erica Castillo's To The Sea.  She does such a great job of documenting her family's adventures... She does an even better job at keeping up with an array of monthly posts that updates everyone on what's going on with her kids.  One of her latest posts is part of her "Currently..." series in which she answers a few prompts that quickly sums up what they're currently into.  I absolutely love this idea... It's something quick and easy enough to do but years down the road I can read it and transport myself back to that moment in time.

So!  Currently . . .

Looking Forward To: Winter/Fall!  Thomas and I have lived in {the ever beautiful} state of Hawai'i for our whole lives.  Every time we tell people where we moved from we're often met with confused looks, "Why would you leave paradise to come to... Washington?!"  But to tell you the truth... We're really looking forward to experiencing change (in so many other ways besides just the weather too).  Our family doesn't do too good in the heat:  Chloe will still sweat here in WA on an 80 degree day... and Thomas starts to feel claustrophobic if it gets too hot (which the occasional 90+ something day with humidity in Hawai'i can feel like)... and I love the rain a whole lot more than the heat.  Besides rain... I also love the feeling and atmosphere that the fall and winter brings!  Thomas is beyond excited to find a pumpkin patch for Halloween, and to cut down our own Christmas Tree!  Oh, and go google Leavenworth, WA Christmas (I'll wait while you click the link...).

But in case you didn't...

http://www.creatingalifeyoulove.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/christmas-in-leavenworth.jpg
It's seriously something off of a postcard or out of a Christmas book.  Neither of us have seen snow before (up close at least) so we are very excited to go {safely} exploring this winter, well at least as much exploring a 9-months pregnant momma can handle.

Feeling: Blessed... Words can't explain how grateful I am that we have been able to have the opportunity to move to the mainland to really pursue our dreams (whatever they may be).  When we found out that we were expecting Chloe, Thomas and I realized that we had to grow up and start making decisions for ourselves and for our family.  Growing up in Hawai'i the importance of family is firmly engrained into all of us from a very young age.  We're taught to take care of one another, and to always help each other out.  An important lesson that Thomas and I have learned over the past year is that we will never truly be happy if we keep trying to think about what will make everyone else happy because "[ . . . ] those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind".  We had to stop putting our goals and what could truly make us happy off on the back burner.  A lot of hard decisions were made... and a lot of prayers were said... But at the end of all of it, we've learned that if you always follow your heart (with good intentions), and ask God for the guidance and strength to do what needs to be done (or the strength to turn away from a door that He closed...), you'll end up where you need to be.  The sky is the limit for us and we're young... There really is no better time for us to follow our dreams and make something of ourselves... for our family.


"We must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong."


Excited About: All the projects, plans, and goals I have for this blog!  Our babies are only going to be babies once... And after having Chloe, I totally understand why mother's always look at their husband's with those longing eyes whenever they hold a newborn/baby.  There's just something about holding a little baby (that you helped to make and bring into this world)... And I want to be able to capture those feelings and all the other precious moments for our family (but especially for me and Thomas).  I'm excited to meet and learn so much from other bloggers and vloggers who are equally as passionate about their work and family as I am.

Dreading: The huge pile of clothes (that keeps growing) that needs to be folded and put away...  I've been seeing a lot of "I guess that's a sign of growing up" posts from my friends lately on social media.  So I've been joking with a lot of them that "you know you're growing up when you just accept the fact that there will always be dishes to be washed, clothes that needs to be washed and put away, and a house to clean".  But, of course, with that... Comes so many other joys and blessings. =]

Needing: A nap... I'm not sure why but I woke up with a headache this morning (it happens every so often during this pregnancy...)  Food and naps seem to make them go away/feel better ^_^

I love when she falls asleep in our arms... She's so independent and full of energy now, she's always scooting off our laps.  So we always try to enjoy a few minutes of when she [rarely] falls asleep in arms...


Wanting: A good book to read!  I absolutely love to read.  I'm one of those people who can spend their whole day curled up on the couch with a really good book.  Another good thing about having Chloe is I can't finish a good book in one day anymore... (Yes, I'm also one of those people who gets sad when she reaches the end of a really good book/series).  I'm really willing to give anything a shot... maybe something non-fiction for now?

Watching:  Thomas and I love finding a good TV series to watch together on Netflix.  We just finished Fringe (if you like Criminal Minds/Heros/Lost/X-Files... you'll like this show.  In fact, I believe the people who worked on Lost and Heros also worked on this show?).  We're also watching Under The Dome.  Thomas has Amazon Prime so we get to watch the episodes for free a few days after it airs on TV!  We're also waiting for Supernatural and The Walking Dead to come back this fall (another reason to look forward to fall).

Working On:  Adding little personal touches around our home... and our YouTube channel and this blog. Oh... and a name for Peanut.  We're taking suggestions =]

Our baby yogi.


5.24.2014

Simply Real: Happy Memorial Day!

So... It's official.  Our little family is staying.  We absolutely LOVE it here... especially in Tacoma.  Now now... before anyone goes smack talking Tacoma and throwing around the phrase "Tacompton"... I've heard the stories and honestly, what place on the mainland doesn't have their bad parts.  Luckily for us, God put us right where we needed to be.  We're [I kid you not] 30 seconds away from the Tacoma mall (which by the way... Thomas was told it was the most [excuse the term] ghetto mall... But when we walked in we were like "Woooooow!" [said like a kid in a candy store]).  Our favorite store, Target, is 5 minutes away.  Our bank... 10 minutes away.  My doctor's... 15 minutes away.  TONS of eating places... minutes away.  You get my point...

We're ones to look and count our blessings, we're just so thankful for the opportunity to give our dreams a shot.

Anyway... Our first 11 days went by super fast (hey... that happens when you're having fun right!).  But that meant that it was time for Thomas to return to Hawai'i... to bring a final close to the previous chapter in our lives.  If you're a new reader... Thomas and I have been together since middle school.  We started living together about four years ago (I honestly can't believe it's really been that long already).  That meant that the night before our wedding was the first time in three years that we spent apart.  I was an emotional wreck that day (but give me a break! I was pregnant at the time too... I cried watching The Last Holiday as well okay?!).  I thought that was hard... hard was saying good bye to Thomas and feeling like I was leaving a part of me behind at the airport as I drove away.  *cue the tears again...* I'm such a baby...

But I would really want to take this time to dedicate this post to all of our service men and women... Past. Present. And future.  It was hard for me to say good-bye knowing that Thomas will be back in eleven days.  But families are forced to say good-bye to their loved ones all the time as they leave on deployments and for training.  Luckily for my family and I, our family members who served made it home safely... but my heart truly goes out to those of you who's loved ones made the biggest sacrifice.  I hope everyone takes the time to truly enjoy the blessings we all have in our lives... and take the time to appreciate the ones you love the most.

Until next time!

One of our favorite things to do as a family back home was go for walks.  It's so beautiful here in Washington!

One day out of no where, I noticed Chloe making this face to herself in the mirror.  Then she just started doing it all the time! She's so cute...


Here's a video of her making the faces at us during dinner the other night.  Her personality really has blossomed over the past few weeks.

We found a farmer's market!  Chloe had a blast looking at everything and waving at everyone.  (Yes... that's a lollipop...)

FaceTime with daddy!!!


4.23.2014

Simply Real: Happy Easter!

Sorry for such a late post!  Easter was such a fun packed day.  We spent most of it at my step-sister's house.  Since we weren't sure when would be the next time we would ALL be together we decided to take advantage of the occasion and we took some family pictures!  That's another reason for why this post is a bit late... I was having so much fun looking through all the pictures and showing them to Thomas.

Anyway... Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had a blessed weekend with those you hold dearest to your heart... I know we did. <3  Enjoy some of the pictures from Sunday!



Mom, Uncle Paul, and all of the siblings.

One of a billion attempts to take a picture of Gramaw, Papa, & all the grandkids + 1 great grandchild.  But look at my mom and Chloe smiling perfectly!

Another attempt at a grandchild/great grandchild pic.

The Brady Bunch!

"First, we had each other; then we had you.  Now, we have everything." 
Words cannot express how much our lives have changed since we knew you were on your way... Thank you God for all your amazing blessings.

"Families are like fudge--mostly sweet, with a few nuts."  
Or in our case... a whole lotta nuts! >.<
Our nieces and nephews had a blast decorating eggs!

Checking out how much loot she made out with!

Easter baskets!

Meticulously calculating...

Even the big kids had fun! =]

Have a great week everyone!