Hiiiiiiiii Everybody!!
I’m literally sitting here wondering how the HECK we’re already in 2016! Like, where did the last month go? Anyways, I hope that each and every one of you had the most memory-filled holiday season to date, complete with friends and family, good food and lots of laughter. I also hope you’ve had a great jumpstart to this new year of 2016 so far. We’re only a couple weeks in, and let me tell ya, I’m excited for what’s in store. Here’s to reaching more of our dreams and goals this year!!
So, I love the holiday season just as much as the next girl, but can I be honest here? The holidays are absolutely EXHAUSTING. I’m not sure about you guys, but the holidays for us usually involve a ton of traveling, which means packing and unpacking, and trying to fit everything and everyone in. And even though this holiday season was one I’ll cherish and remember forever, I must admit…I feel a bit like I’ve been run over by a train post holiday festivities. Anyone else starting the new year off already worn out?? I may be alone in this, but I gotta be real, I’m already feeling the need for a vacation! :)
I’ll try to recap my time over the holidays briefly and catch you up with how it all went down…
Caleb and I actually flew to Chicago this year to spend Christmas with my family and it was absolutely wonderful and full of amazing moments, but it also came with a pinch of chaos and stress as well. Growing up in the church (some of you may know) means giant productions for holidays like Christmas. In the days leading up to Christmas, we spent a lot time getting ready for the Christmas Eve service at my family’s church. So for those that don’t know, my dad is the Worship and Arts director at his church south of Chicago and they do an amazing service the week of Christmas Eve. They put on a production every year complete with their own rendition of Transiberian Orchestra Christmas tunes, a “stomp-style” garbage can beat performance led by my brothers, a video montage of their church members giving back to their community by buying people’s groceries and handing them money, and on top of it all, Caleb and I even got to be a part this year and we sang “Oh Holy Night” together. It was a really special service and we were blessed to get to be a small part of what’s going on there…
Needless to say, it was an incredible experience overall, but it came with a few hiccups…such is life, right? Most of you wouldn’t know this, but my dad has a kind of life threatening asthma that he’s dealt with his entire life, and when it’s not under control, it can get pretty scary. Well with the stress of the holiday season, combined with a nasty chest cold and his asthma, my dad landed himself a spot in a hospital bed in the early hours of Christmas morning. We woke up that morning around 8:30 and my parents were already gone to the hospital because my dad was having a pretty severe asthma attack. It all turned out to be okay though and they made it home before noon. We were still able to be together, have my mom’s “famous Christmas Eve brunch” and exchange gifts. There were many tears, laughs and memories made this Christmas, and I’m mostly just thankful that everyone could be together that day.
My fam from top to bottom, left to right:
My brother Tyler, my Grandma Sue, my brother Elliot, my brother Chad, my Grandpa George, my daddy Gregg, myself, my hubby Caleb, and my mama Tammy.
Anyways, after a family filled amazing time at home, we flew back to Nashville and a couple days later…I was turning 26…how am I twenty-freaking-six already?! So, most of my life growing up, my friends were out of town around the time of my birthday because it’s 4 days after Christmas, and 2 days before New Years. So my parents would always get super creative when celebrating my birthday and they always made me feel special, but it was difficult to throw a real party when everyone was out of town. Anyways, THIS year, my friends and my hubby had some surprises up their sleeves…
I was told by Caleb that the two of us were going to spend the day together, going out for lunch, doing some shopping, and I wanted to take Romo girl to the dog park for a bit too. So we did those things, and Caleb told me that evening, that he had made reservations for a special dinner with Chad and Fallon (some of our best friends) but he refused to tell me where we were going. We were supposed to be picking up Chad and Fallon at 8 and then heading to the restaurant together. So around 8…we get to the Grahams’ house and Fallon texts that she was running late and asked me to just come inside for a minute. I get to the door, open it and nearly passed out of fright when a giant group of people screamed “SURPRISE!” My friends from North Carolina drove down to throw me the biggest black light birthday bash of the century. I was wisked away upstairs to Fallon’s room where she painted neon paint designs on my face, and even had a outfit picked out for me to wear. Almost all of my favorite people got to be in the same room for my birthday and we had SO much fun dancing to my favorite 90’s music, having my very own comedy roast by two of my close guy friends, and cutting a specialized, monogrammed birthday cake. There was even a splatter paint backdrop for photo ops and lemme tell you, we took full advantage…
The two masterminds behind the surprise...Miss Autumn and Miss Fallon
Fallon, the hostest with the mostest, and her house-turned-blacklight-party deckout...
Needless to say, it was absolutely one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve ever had! What a HUGE surprise by such special friends in my life. I felt so loved and valued that night and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still having dreams about it… :)
Fast forward now to New Years…and all of a sudden it’s somehow 2016. It’s a brand new year with a brand new start, and I think we all have good intentions to set new goals for ourselves for 2016. Maybe you’re trying to graduate from high school or college this year, or maybe you’re goal is to start a new job in a field you’re passionate about. Maybe it’s a physical goal…you want to log more hours in the gym, or eat healthier, or maybe it’s to save more money this year. Whatever it is, we all have different goals and things we want to do better or differently this year. I think it’s super important to set specific goals in each category of your life. Dave Ramsey, “America’s trusted voice on money” has a plan for setting goals for yourself that my husband and I have implemented for this year.
Set for yourself:
- Spiritual goals
- Intellectual goals
- Physical goals
- Career goals
- Financial goals
- Social goals
- Family goals
It’s important when you're creating these goals for yourself, that you consider a couple things. These goals need to be measurable and they also need to have a timeline, otherwise you’ll never get around to reaching them. The other thing that will help you reach your goals is to write them all down. I took about 10 minutes at the beginning of the year to write down my specific goals for this year. If you’re like me, setting goals can be intimidating for fear of failure or not meeting them. Let’s not think that way, and just do the best we can. How ‘bout we kick 2016’s butt this year, and become the best we can be…we’re all in this together.
What are some of your 2016 dreams and goals??
All my love this year,
Kelsey
