Tornado Alley

Wow!! I didn't realize how long it had been since I blogged, but today is a special day. Today is my son's 5th birthday. I can't believe he's 5. I actually have a child old enough to go to school...very strange! Well, on this special day I'd like to share a very funny story about my precious boy...

A few months ago, Jason and I decided that we wanted Jacob to have a playground for the backyard. We began shopping for one sort of like the the big Rainbow Playgrounds you see on the side of the road, but they were way too much...so...we decided to build our own.

Jason and I started building it last Saturday. Jacob was outside with us and when he asked us what we were building we just said, "Well, it's something for the yard since we don't have anything in it." Later that day after we had finished cementing the past holes in the ground, Jason said, "If there's ever a tornado we should get under here because it isn't going anywhere." Well, I guess Jacob overheard so from then on he thought we were building a tornado shelter. So we let him think that...until today.

This morning we finally told him that it was his playground. It was also the first time he had seen it with the ladder and the slide on it. I didn't think he actually realized what it was until we were all sitting down to breakfast and Jacob goes..."That isn't really a tornado shelter is it, it's really MY playground. You built a playground just for me!" He was so excited. We also showed him the steering wheel and the periscope that aren't on yet. It isn't totally finished and even if it were, it's raining here today so he will have to wait to play on it, but that will give Jason time to finish it. I'll post pictures when it's done.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!!!! I HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR TORNADO SHELTER!!!!

FREEDOM!!!

Tonight, Jason, Jake and I went to Austin to watch the fireworks. The ones in San Marcos were cancelled on the most beautiful night we have had since the torrential rain has resided over central Texas. We wanted to see some, so we went. We got there a little late, so we drove around to find a spot away from Zilker Park, because it was a mad house. Traffic was actually stopped on the highway because people were watching the fireworks. We finally found a spot on a hill at Park Hills Baptist Church in Austin. I stood there between 3 wooden crosses overlooking downtown Austin and watched fireworks, and while the fireworks were sentimental and all I wasn't really humming "The Star Spangeled Banner" in my head, instead I was humming, "Shadow of Your Cross" by Joel Engle, thinking how awesome it was that the three crosses were there, and how not only do I live in a free country, but I have freedom in Christ. Because Christ died on the cross, I am free! Free from sin. Free from death. I'll leave you with the lyrics. Thank you Jesus for my gift of freedom!!!

Lamb of God, Son of man how you suffered how You bled
With a crown of thorns pressed upon Your head
You chose the road of pain
You walked the hill of all my shame, all my shame

In the shadow of Your cross, I will live for all my days
How could I forget the price You paid
In the shelter of Your love I will give You all my praise
In the shadow of Your cross I will stay

Man of sorrows crucified pure and holy sacrifice
As the hammer hit the nail You offered up Your life
You gave up heaven for Your own
You took our punishment alone
You were so alone

O King of Majesty
Forever I will sing
Of the gift You gave to me
You gave to me

Bollinger Update!!

Just wanted to let everyone know what's going on with us currently....

Well, first, our friends have finally found a house. Praise God! This has been a really tough time for them. On June 1st, they will finally feel at home in San Marcos. Thank you Jesus!! (Oh yea and they aren't living with us anymore---they have moved on to bigger and better things :)

We have now lived in our house that God graciously gave us a year today. Thank you God again for your many blessings. We are very thankful!

Next week, our friends Norman & Grace Barnes from England will be staying with us. They are so amazing!! God has really blessed us with their friendship. Norman will be speaking at River Stone on the 20th. Please pray for them as they travel here.

Jacob will be finished with his first year of preschool in a few weeks. He loves school, but I think he's ready for a break. He has done really well, and learned a lot. Now if I could only get him to tie his shoes....

Jason and I are coming up on our 9th Anniversary in June. I can't believe it's been 9 years; 9 wonderful, amazing, emotional, hard, exciting, blessed, and fun years!!

My parents gave us Schlitterbahn Season Passes this year, so we will be spending most of the summer there, which is good, because I desperately need a tan. Jacob is so excited. And to be perfectly honest I am too.

Well, I guess that's all for now. If you have a moment, let us know what's going on with you too!

Bling, Bling!!!!

My sister is engaged......YAY!!! I'm so happy for her. :)

(That's her ring by the way)

Perspective

God always has a way of putting my life in perspective. Last Sunday night I had the worst night I have had in a really long time. Probably since before Jacob was born. I was just done. I needed a break, so I went to my parent's house for a few days to just get away, to rest, and to refuel to await the next time my tank is empty. I rested, had a lot of time to read my Bible and pray uninterrupted, and really just did nothing. It was great!!!

One of those days I was laying on the floor in my parents bedroom and God basically handed me exactly what I needed. I was laying on the floor looking at books on my parent's bookshelf and I saw a book that captured my attention. So I opened it and it was a Bible Study guide to help women learn how to live at peace in the midst of every day stress in their life as a woman, wife, and mother. The best thing was, that it was empty and my mom didn't really even know she had it. So I stole it because I felt like God specifically left it for me to find. Everything this week has just clicked for me. The Bible Study I found, what God is showing us through the teaching at church, scripture I was already reading, and through songs I was listening to. I think God used last Sunday night to just sit me down and allow me to rest in Him this week. If it had been a good night, I probably wouldn't have taken the break I so desperately needed.

Last night (a week after my bad day) we had a guest worship leader, Lindsey Kane. If you have never heard of her you need to. She has a huge talent, and the sweetest spirit you will ever know. (www.lindseykane.com or www.myspace.com/lindseykane2) Anyway, God summed up my week last night in one song she sang called, "He Knows". It isn't even out yet, but she sang it last night. It was basically, he knows everything we go through, he hurts when we hurt, and he just knows, cares, and loves us.

God used little things each day to help me re-gain my perspective. It's so awesome that the God of the Universe takes time out to share life with ME, and walk beside ME, and love ME even when I don't deserve it, and especially when I needed it the most. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to rest in You this week!!!

8 Is Enough!

Right now we have 8 people living in our 1600 sq. ft. house. They have been here a little over 2 weeks, waiting for word on a house they have a contract on or until they find a new one. They have 3 children; a 5 year old son, and twin (almost 2 yr. old) daughters. There's a lot of screaming, a lot of fighting, and well...a lot of people. It's crazy trying to coordinate food menu's, getting laundry done, etc., but we're managing. It's just a REALLY good thing we are very close friends. We haven't killed each other yet, but I'll keep you posted!

My Husband's Blog

www.fullnessofgod.blogspot.com

I Wanna Be a Cowboy Baby. . .

It was Cowboy Day at Jake's school yesterday. I thought I would share his adorable picture. Enjoy!

This Never Happened Before

So something really random happened to me yesterday. I was opening a can of Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup. I popped the tab, hadn't pulled it back yet and it blew off and literally exploded in my hand. My hand swelled up, turned purple and red, and I couldn't move it for about 3 hours. Slowly it started functioning again, but it is still a little swollen today. It was the strangest thing. The can didn't look abnormal, it wasn't dented, nothing. It just blew up!

Anyway, I was told to call the local Health Dept., so I did. They put the incident on record and told me to call the State Health Dept. and then HEB where I purchased the soup. I called both, and HEB is now sending the can off to be tested in their Quality Testing Dept and placed the incident on record as well. The State Dept. said I did the right thing by contacting the grocery store. We also contacted Campbell's Soup and they are sending a refund and some coupons. It's not much, but they were also willing to pay if I needed to go to the doctor, so that was nice.

The moral of the story is: Buy a can opener that opens pull tab tops so it doesn't explode in your hand. . .

My Best Moments

I was watching Scrubs the other night, (yes I love Scrubs) and the episode was about their best moments as doctors. So, I thought I would post some of my best moments. . . .here are my Top 10!


1. Becoming a Christ-follower. . .
2. The day I was married to my wonderful husband. . .
3. Leading worship with my husband for the first time. . .
4. The day I found out I was pregnant. . .
5. The day I had my beautiful son. . .(see picture)
6. Witnessing miracles. . .
7. Watching my son say his first Bible verse. . .
8. Hearing my son pray for the first time. . .
9. Going to England. . .
10. Hanging out with my 4 great friends (you know who you are). . .
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What are some of your best moments?

Our New Old Car

God is so good! A year and a half ago we needed a new car, and we found this dumpy truck, and paid $2000 cash for it. It was a '92 maroon, Ford Ranger, single cab truck with a not so good paint job, but hey it got the job done, and Jason had a car to drive around. Well, a few weeks ago we knew it was about time for the truck to leave us. We knew some things were about to go wrong with it, and lo and behold, the clutch went out.

Well, a new friend and wonderful lady that has started coming to River Stone mentioned over Christmas that she had a car that she needed to sell. We told her we were very interested, and she said that was great, and she was in no rush. So when our truck went out, we knew it was time to purchase a new car. She had a '97 white, Nissan Maxima. It's 10 years old, but it looks almost brand new. She has taken incredible care of it. It has power everything, leather seats, a sunroof, and it's a stick which is better for gas mileage. It's a fun car to drive and it's in great condition.

She told us she was praying that God would let her use this car to bless someone else, and we really needed a car. She gave it to us for what we sold our truck for which was $1500. We bought a crappy truck almost 2 years ago for $2000 and we were blessed with an incredible looking, very nice car for $1500. God is so good!!! Thank you Mary for letting God use you to bless us. We love our new old car :)

The best present ever!!!!

Our friends, Lance & Christina, got us the best Christmas present ever - Scrubs, Season 1 DVD Set. Jason and I have been watching it almost every night. They are kind of like potato chips, "you can't eat just one", well you can't watch just one episode. We have already finished Season 1 and moved on to Season 2. It is our nightly stress relief. This show has got to be the funniest show. We love it and we will continue to watch it every night until whatever Season is last---not real sure. So I just want to give a shout out to L&C, it really is the best present ever!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!

It Begins. . .

Jacob started preschool this week. Jason and I both took him his first day and a little while after we were there and helping him get settled in he looked at us and said, "I'm ready for you guys to go now." I always thought I would be the Mom that held it together their child's first day of school and I was doing okay until then. I didn't cry but I teared up a little. My little boy is growing up! Doesn't he look so cute though? He's wriritng his name! Adorable!

Holly The Just

If you knew me, you would know I am all about justice. My husband even calls me Holly the Just! I hate it when I see injustice being done. Well. . .over Christmas my family and I were treated very unjustly. . .keep reading. . .

(Sorry this is so long)

My cousins took us to a place in Fort Worth called Edohana's. It's exactly like Benihana's, where they cook the food at your table. Very fun! Anyway, we had made reservations for 7pm since it was Jason's birthday and we had 12 people there. We got there at 10 'til 7, which if you knew my family, is a huge miracle. We are never early. So we arrived and went in. We waited 25 minutes and still no one came to ask us who we were, why were there. . .nothing. Finally, I told my cousin Sherry she should go talk to someone because by this point I was getting a little mad. (Not only am I all about justice, I'm not a patient person---not a good combo).

So. . .she went and told the guy we were here, and did he seat us? No! He seated about 3 other tables before us that didn't have reservations. What about this is far? Nothing!!! So we waited and waited and waited until about 8:30 when we finally got seated; an hour a 40 minutes after we arrived. We were not happy. I was the unhappiest (is that a word) of all.

Finally we were sitting down; so you'd think that we could order at least a drink, OH NO!! It wasn't that simple. We waited 25 more minutes, until finally I was so mad and so thirsty that I grabbed the closest guy walking around and said, "Can we order some drinks now, we have waited 25 minutes." What happened next? He sent the waiter to another table to get their drinks. IT WAS THE WRONG TABLE!!!

By this point we were all wondering if we were being Punk'd or on Candid Camera or something. It was too ridiculous for the average person. We finally got our drinks about 30 minutes after we sat down. Then came the soup/salad that we also had to wait on forever.

Around 10:15 or so I told my cousin that if the chef guy starting pushing a little food cart to the table next to us, who sat down 30 minutes after we did, then I was going to say something. Well lo and behold, that's exactly what happened next. They were going to let the table who got there 30 minutes after us eat before we did. OH NO!! I was livid. I jumped out of my chair, grabbed the little Japanese guy who had had too much Sake, and asked him why all the tables who came after us have eaten before us, and I insisted that we eat before that table did. It wasn't true justice for everything that had happened, but it made me feel so much better.

You would think this is the end of the story. . .but no!!! The guy went over to the other table, apologized for the inconvenience, sent the chef to our table, and then gave the other table FREE APPETIZERS!! Can you believe it? Did we get anything free? Were they sorry we were inconvenienced. NO!!!!

So finally the chef came to cook our food, and guess what, the grill wasn't turned on. No one had turned on the stupid grill. By this point we had to laugh in order not to cry. About 10:45 we finally ate our food after waiting almost 4 hours.

Remember we were there to celebrate Jason's birthday. Well when it was time to finally sing to him, make him wear a silly hat and bang the gong and drum, the lady who was singing and banging (if you could call it that) said, "Okay everyone, It's Jason's birthday, let's all sing to him." THERE WAS NO ONE THERE BUT US!!! We were the last ones there. Finally, after he had had a few more sakes (I'm assuming) the guy asked if we would like one free bottle of sake. We took it! We were so mad and didn't care by then. We just wanted to leave.

We got there at 6:50 and left at 11:15. That was the injustice done to my family, and my personal night of hell. Happy Birthday Jason!! Sorry it took 4 and 1/2 hours. Thanks Sherry & Steven for paying and for putting up with my "Holly the Just" attitude!!!

The Santa Clause

Typically, you know The Santa Clause as a movie, but did you know there's a real Santa Clause?

Here it is. . .

If your child wants to see Santa at the mall, and if you want to take a personal picture. . .then you must pay at least $20 for the pictures they take of your child.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!!!

Longing for a Savior

I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but I wanted to wait and write something for Christmas.

This year at our church, Jason is preaching a sermon series called, "It's A Boy!" Last Sunday he talked on "Longing." People longed for a Savior, but when he came in the form of a little baby, everyone missed it. They missed the Savior of the World.

This year, Jacob has been longing, waiting for Christmas to be here. Every day he wakes up and asks, "Is it Christmas Day?" Last week he woke up one morning and asked me that and I told him "No, not yet," and he replied, "Well, let's just go check," meaning: if there were presents in the living room, then it was Christmas Day! This is the first year he has really understood Christmas. The other day we made a paper chain for him to count down the days until Christmas because he cannot wait.

We should feel the same about our Savior. We shouldn't be able to wait to meet with him every day, not just celebrate him because it's Christmas, but celebrate him every single, grace-given day He gives us. Please don't miss the Savior this season. He longs to be with you as well!!

May you experience all the fullness of God this Season!

Merry Christmas!!
Holly, Jason & Jacob

HE FINALLY DID IT!!!

JACOB IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!

It is a very exciting time. I can't believe it took 4 years, but I should of expected it. He usually does things a little late. He likes to take his time and really get it right I guess. We celebrated with CARS the movie and McDonald's. I'm very proud of him. He doesn't even tell us anymore. He just goes. YEA!!!!!

GOOD JOB BUD! Mommy is so proud of you!!!

He doesn't need me

In the recent weeks, God has been telling me something very odd. What makes it more odd, is that he told my husband on the exact same day. He has told both of us "He doesn't need us." I'm not sure what it means exactly, but I might have received a little clarification about it after Jason's message Sunday night. He said that the paradox of God is that Jesus was fully God, yet he humbled himself to the point of a servant. He emptied himself. He also emptied himself on the cross the day he died. HE WAS GOD!!! Yet, gave up his life for all of us. Again, emtpying himself. In order for us to have the fullness of God, we have to empty ourselves. Maybe the statment God made to us, "I don't need you," was one of humility. He doesn't need us to necessarily be doing, but he does need us to be serving. Serving each other, serving people, serving our church, and serving HIM. He doesn't need us!!! We are mere humans and can't comprehend the thoughts of God. The thoughts of God "are foolishness to man". We have to be humble servants, and let our Master lead us.

I'm still not exactly sure why God told Jason and I at the same time, and continues to tell us. He could be preparing us for something new, or it could have simply been what we needed to hear that day. Whatever it is, I will give it to him, because he doesn't need me, but I certainly need Him.

My Neighbor, the Witch!

This past week has been crazy busy and super stressful for me. I barely got any sleep. . .I was so stressed. Between last Monday and last Thursday I got 14 hours of sleep. That's almost what I need a night!!! Seriously!!! Well, today about 7am it began pouring in San Marcos. It didn't let up until about 5:00 this afternoon. After I woke up, I decided to try and do some work before meeting Jason at his office. When it got time to leave, everything in the world happened to me (not really. . .I'm just still stressed so it seemed like it). The shirt I wanted to wear was wrinkled so I had to de-wrinkle it in the dryer. It was muggy so my hair wasn't fixing quite right. I couldn't find my new raincoat. When it came time to leave I discovered that Jason had taken my car and left me the beat up old, two-seater truck, with no carseat. I had some stuff I needed to take to the church, but it wouldn't fit in the truck. Jake and I barely fit. So. . .I called Jason. . .broke down a little, and decided to just go ahead and go. By this time it was almost 4:00 and neither of us had eaten lunch. . .so I was also really hungry!!! I was having the worst day or so I thought, until I backed out of my driveway. I backed out and backed up to see the front of my neighbor's house. He had decorated his entire yard, in the rain no less, with tacky Halloween decorations. (I think decorating for Halloween is tacky by the way) He was standing in the driveway wearing a wife beater and shorts with a witch's hat on that had orange hair attached to it, and he was waving at us. It was so stinking funny, it just made my day. Jacob also pointed out that since he was misisng a few teeth, he kind of looked like a real witch, which also made my day.

10th High School Reunion

I know I said I would write about my London Trip, and I will. Jason and I are working on a Travel Log so everyone can read our thoughts. Until then. . .

Last weekend I went to my 10th High School Reunion. It took me forever to decide if I was even going to go or not. The tickets cost $70 per person. Too expensive if you ask me. My friends and I decided that we would go, but go solo. We couldn't afford to go ourselves, let alone take our husbands with us. So we all went as a group.

Now I grew up in Burleson, very close to Fort Worth, so where was the reunion you ask, in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Yes, not even a nice place. We walked in and got our nametags. Then we began mingling and talking with old friends. Then we kept mingling, minlging, and did more mingling. THAT'S ALL THAT WAS PLANNED. . .MINGLING. There was no agenda. There was a slideshow. . .in the back corner. . .and if you wanted one. . .it was an extra $10. The food was a horribly set up display of cold fajitas, that included runny refried beans. I thought the whole point of refried beans was that they "stuck to the spoon". Well, these didn't. . .gross!!! Then to top it all off, they had packaged pecan pralines for dessert that they probably bought at a convenience store on the way there. They just threw them on the drink table where they had plastic cups filled with tea, water, and barely any ice. If you wanted an alcoholic beverage you paid $5 per drink.

So basically, we paid $70 to mingle all night. The food was horrible. . .no free alcohol. . .nothing. . .nada. . .zip!!! I was so disappointed, not to mention that there was nobody there.

It was fun to hang out and see old friends, and get caught up, but it wasn't worth $70, and a trip to Burleson and back. I did have fun with my friends, and it was great to see them and talk about old times. We should have just done that!!!! Maybe our 25th Reunion will be better. . .if I go?