7 Random Things....

my sweet, precious friend, Leslie made a post on her facebook about random things about herself so i thought it would be fun to put it on my blog. these are probably random things you could care less to even know about me but hey....it's the random, little things we wish we knew about people sometimes!

1. i have a bad habit of not hanging up my clothes each day so when i finally break down and spend time doing it; it usually takes an hour!
2. i sleep with 8-10 pillows every night depending on how many end up on the floor by morning
3. i love flashy and big necklaces
4. i grew up playing kickball and still dream about when we won state 3 years in a row
5. i would give anything to be a kid again and make mudpies while playing in the rain
6. the one thing i absolutely hate with a passion is having to stick my hand down the garbage disposal in the sink when something is stuck...UGH!
7. i LOVE to cook, however, don't do it.....it's SO HARD to cook for ONE and I hate leftovers!

Okay, Steph....I'm ready to read yours next :)

Okay...well, life has definitely been chaotic the past two weeks. UGH! Do you ever think that "busyness" is a subtle way Satan enters our lives??? I do. This past weekend the Lord really showed me something in scripture and it's what I needed for my own heart....so here it is for you....Psalm 50:10-12 says, "God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails..." The Message

So....think about it! "Shape a Genesis week...." just puts an immediate peace in your heart doesn't it? It did mine....it allowed be to rest and revel at the reminding thoughts of when God created this amazing world we live in....HE knows the plans for our lives! EVEN IN AMONGST THE CHAOS!

Part of my chaos has been the below....part of the loving, fun chaos in my life. It truly is my therapy but this was A LOT of work! My sister wanted to give all the Senior cheerleaders a scrapbook as a EOY gift at the Cheer Banquet tomorrow night so here's a little peak at what it looks like when you're making 7 of the SAME thing which includes over 60 pictures in each BOOK! YIPPEEE....it was fun but I'm SO GLAD I'm DONE....now onto my next project!

You can probably see my "comfort, keep me going" drink in one of my pictures! A Route 44 Sonic Drink.....keeps me going every time :)

Just HAD to post these....

I just dumped the pix on my camera and just had to share these. A couple of weeks ago my sweet Wells girls were in town and they spent a day shopping and having fun with Aunt Holly while Mom and Aunt Nannon went shopping with Lolli. We had some fun at Sweet-n-Sassy of which I have never been to. It was the neatest little girls place EVER! They got their hair done, made their own lip gloss and took a stroll down the cat walk!

I've been tagged....

My dear friend, Steph, from Conversations with Grace tagged me with this meme.

The Rules (slightly altered):
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere

4. Tag more blogs with links if you want.

Okay, I've tried hard to come up with only six words but I simply can't....so here's my EIGHT word memoir.... and i have two pictures not one :)

LOVE WHAT YOU DO.....LOVE WHO YOU ARE!

I tag Jennifer, Joshy and Charity. Have fun. :)

Thanks, Steph! LOVE YA!

Creative Juices....

Well....if you don't know me well then you may not know that I absolutely LOVE to be creative and find it actually not just a hobby but therapy!

I have quite a few projects going on right now in my "craft room." Unfortunately anyone who stays with me when sleeping in my guest room is surrounded by shelves of colored paper, glitter, paint, scrapbooking supplies, paper cutters, etc.... Often enough the entire room is a mess but it's a fun and crazy mess.

This month is Pastor Lewis' 5th Year Anniversary at Great Hills and the Preschool/K Ministry wanted to do something special for him including kids so......Erin, our Preschool/K Assistant, and I began to put our minds together about taking pictures of the kids holding letters that spell "we love pastor lewis." Erin took the pix (turned out great by the way) and then I went to work on the shadowbox! It was so fun to do this for him....I hope he enjoys it.

I'm also working on 7 Varsity Cheerleader scrapbooks for my sisters friends, mother's day projects, and a fixing a picture clock I had made for Kent & Brooke for Christmas that was broken when a dear friend of mine who will remain anonymous (Rhiannon) wanted to investigate and figure out how I created it! Rhi and I are always going back and forth with our ideas.....love it, love it! My favorite time with Rhi is visiting local scrapbooking stores together and enjoying the latest and greatest tools, ideas, and making things for others! I will post more projects as I complete them!

At times I always feel personally left out of my projects b/c I rarely make things for myself and am more than SO BEHIND in my own scrapbooks but I made a decision a couple of weeks ago that it's OKAY to be selfish about this AND b/c this is my 30th year of birth that my goal is BEFORE my 31st birthday that I make a "30" page scrapbook about my life, my favorites, my likes/dislikes, friends & family, etc....that is representing of my 30 years of a blessed life! SO, here's my accountability....I have ONE page done :) and of course it's about my LOVE for scrapbooking. It's only a must that I start out with that!

The Smell in my House

I know from the title many of you are jumping to extreme conclusions....there are many smells that can fill a home.....the smell of something good cooking; a bad diaper; a new leather couch; a candle; a sink of dirty dishes.

Well, my house right now is blessed to have the amazing smell of FRESH flowers! My precious friend, Johnna, is having a birthday tomorrow, however she's celebrating in Alabama with family. Last night her husband took her out for a night on the town and her father-in-law sent her these beautiful flowers. Since they were leaving town when she came to pick up William from Parents Night Out she gave them to me!

At first I told her I couldn't take them and she insisted on me to enjoy them since they were leaving otherwise they would die. WELL.....let me tell you I'm thoroughly enjoying them!

The smell extravagantly amazing not to mention that they are just beautiful which is why I figured I'd share them with everyone!

Thanks, Johnna! I'm so glad you were born so I could enjoy your birthday flowers! HA!

Idol Gives Back.....

Okay....so, yes, I'm officially an American Idol "JUNKY!" I absolutely LOVE that show and have faithfully watched since Season 1. I have to say that one thing I've enjoyed is the Idol Gives Back that they started last season and tonight's was absolutely PHENOMINAL!

Of course, almost 6 years ago I left a piece of my heart in Africa on a mission trip so I'm a little partial to the time spent there helping the children with AIDS and Malaria. I think it is an amazing and awesome thing that they have started with American's "Giving Back." In a way I see it as a small touch of the Master's Hand even in amongst "the world." I can't say anymore other than the last performance of the night with the final 8 singing Shout to the Lord! My, oh, my.....what a way to go out!

Did any of you catch where they removed "My Jesus" and said "My Shepherd?" I think it's quite humorous that they remove such a "controversial word", as was probably the reason, and put such a powerful word in its place! Bet they didn't think through that one very well. Our "Jesus" is our "Shepherd!" I'll say an Amen to that! Hey.....my thinking is....take the word "Jesus" out of the song if you want to but you definitely didn't remove JESUS' presence from the Kodak Center and in the homes of millions of Americans!

If you missed American Idol click on this link and watch......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o

A "DAY" with Blessings....

Well, it's official...my little sister will be a Red Raider come Fall of '08! Yes, she is the big SENIOR and will be going away to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech. I knew it must have been official when I picked her and my mom up at the airport yesterday and she was all clothed out in Tech Gear from the local campus Spirit Shop as well as surprising me with a t-shirt myself (shown here)!

I'm thrilled beyond words of what she is becoming! The Lord has such great, awesome, and mighty things planned for her and will only grow her into an even more amazing young woman as she heads off for college in the fall. Of course, I'm sure there's more to come in the saga of Hillary leaving for college but we'll savor the moment for now!






Okay...so, yesterday my socks were completely blown off by Angie and Tracey surprising me that I'm going to be an Aunt again...well, actually it would be shocking me! Number 7 is on its way! OH MY....my pocketbooks will be mighty thin! I just love my kids....so much so another one is a total BEYOND blessing! Attached you will see some recent pix of the kids and then on the top of my blog they are in the very middle. For those of you who don't know they are not my "blood" nieces and nephews but they don't know the difference and I love them like they are. I've been in the delivery room and held them ALL when they were just a few minutes into this world! Garrison is the oldest and will be 12 this year....he is just an amazing young boy and a fabulous big brother! We'll see...boy or girl...hmmmm????

20 years ago....

So, last night at the gym while I was walking on the treadmill I was listening to a Podcast of Leonard Sweet's and he said something I have not been able to get out of my mind today....I believe it's beneficial for all of us so I'm sharing.


Saying….“I am thine, Lord, other than
'here I am' is a position of the heart

Think about it. It's almost as if saying the first puts you in a completely humbled position and is giving the Lord COMPLETE control over your heart where as the latter can almost be a have to with a reluctancy of really wanting to. Anyway....ponder on it!

Tonight I was completely beyond blessed by getting to go cheer Scarlett on at her Kickball game. Beth and Peyton were at Lincoln's Championship Basketball game so Scarlett needed someone to cheer her on. It was cool for her to have her "Sister" (that's what she calls me) cheering her on in the stands. She wanted to introduce me to everyone. WOW! The memories flooded me of when I was 7 and played Kickball. I absolutely LOVED watching her play. We went to dinner afterwards and I could tell something was bothering her but she wasn't wanting to talk about it. I just love how the Lord always puts me in positions with children to teach them a truth about His love and especially a truth out of His Word. After a little bit of questions about her day she began to tell me about a friend at school that was making fun of her today and that it really hurt her feelings. It made my heart sad that her little heart had been hurt. She sat at the table and these big tears began to fall off of her face with her saying "I just don't understand because I didn't do anything to her to make her say that to me." It was such a great opportunity for me to first tell her that I was sorry that someone hurt her heart and that I knew exactly what that felt like. Secondly, I was able to praise her for not falling into the trap of getting angry and saying something back to her friend that was unkind but her simply walking away and not saying anything was exactly what made Jesus proud of her. Third, we memorized a Bible Verse together. When I taught Kindergarten, our class scripture was out of Ephesians, "Do not let any hurtful words come out of your mouth, only those which are good and pleasing to Jesus." Of course, that has the 'Miss Holly' twist on it but you get the jest! So tonight was my opportunity to share that with Scarlett. I've come to never underestimate the power of God's love and care that can be so evident to even the youngest of hearts. Scarlett took the verse and it enabled us to have a lengthy discussion about kind and unkind words, showing Jesus to our friends, and remembering what Jesus thinks about us is what counts the most. He continues to amaze me and teach me through HIS littlest. Attached is a picture of Scarlett on the Kickball field....where 20 years ago I played! WOOHOO!

Late on a Monday Night.....

Okay, so here I go again....I committed a year ago to do a blog and wanted to SOOO bad but have clearly failed since I only made a total of two posts. I have now been inspired again as I read some of my friends blogs (JOSHY!)....so, I, Holly Hilderbrand, on March 24th, 2008 am re-committing myself to entering blog entries. I desire for this to be a place where I can "share the moments" whether it's with pictures, stories, or my latest craft project! It's probably more of a place for me to talk to me and record memories but hey, I believe I'll enjoy it!

For my first post in 2008, I'm going to have to say that I'm totally in LOVE with Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC. If you have not seen that; you MUST watch! It's in a new season right now and I have watched it since the kids were little. They are nearing 4 and are just the cutest kids! I could not ever imagine raising sixtuplets and a set of twins! They are my heroes! They are very grace-filled parents and I'm always encouraged when I see the Bible Verses on their kitchen cabinets!

I posted several of my friends blogs on my site....check them out!