New Year Poster 2017

Welcome to our annual New Year's event at the Holley House!

Every year, we create a poster, and upon said document, we enumerate various goals that we hope to accomplish in the forthcoming year. (2016, 2015, 2014, which also lists 2013's goals.) The rules for our poster is that the goals have to be achievable in one year, and that they must be quantifiable--they have to be things that we can measure and check off. Let's review our goals from 2016:

James:

He obtained jobs for both his first and second summer (we're excited to be spending this upcoming summer in Utah!) He read 9 new books this year, so he's increased his goal next year to make up for the one he missed. He successfully changed the oil in both our vehicles, he read the Book of Mormon, and he joined the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy, which he is thoroughly enjoying.

Valerie:

I did not referee at the state championships this year (it was an overwhelming logistical nightmare, with a breastfeeding baby at the time, so I gave that one up). I read more than 5 new books this year. I successfully posted a photography blog each month this year. I read the Book of Mormon and taught Joel the alphabet. I also won NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNo in the summer, which was awesome.

Family:

We went on two family camping trips this year, as well as our trip to Washington D.C. We totally failed on making handmade blankets. :( We took Joel and Xander to two different zoos. We went on a date every week this year. We did attend the temple three times each, though one of those visits a piece were solo trips.

And now, for our 2017 goals!

Yes, it's blue. It was the only posterboard I could find at the time.

This is our first year including the children on our poster. We did talk to Joel about his goals, as far as he understands, but Xander's is definitely something we've chosen for him. It will be fun to include them more in this process as they get older. Presenting our goals:

James:
-Get a job for after school
-Lose 20 pounds
-Camp NaNoWriMo
-Read 11 new books (at least 3 non-fiction)
-Create a handmade item to donate to charity
-Daily scripture study of at least five minutes (He has committed to tracking this elsewhere.)

Joel:
-Read a book
-Potty train

Xander:
-Learn the alphabet

Valerie:
-Complete "The Seventh Guardian"
-Lose 20lbs
-Complete the 100 Poomsae Challenge
-Read the New Testament
-Win NaNoWriMo
-Complete a 52-week photography challenge
-Read 6 new books

Family:
-Create a budget
-Family camping trip
-Attend the temple 5 times
-Walk Shadow twice weekly
-Go on a date each week
-Practice taekwondo at home 2 hours per week


Obviously we have some repeats. Some of our goals, like attending the temple and going on dates, are so important for us to continue and hold ourselves accountable for. Some of our goals come from things we find ourselves slacking on, like walking our dog and losing weight. And some of our goals are true aspirations that we hope to achieve in the coming year.

For me personally, I'd consider my "big" goal of the year to be finishing my book. It's been a long time coming. If you look through our posters of yester-years, you'll see that it's been a goal of mine for a long time. Between new motherhood and post-partum depression, my progress on the book has been wretched, up until the past six months or so. But I am now ready and committed to finishing "The Seventh Guardian." I've set the goal with Sam, my co-author, to finish the first draft by summer. It's going to take a lot of my time and energy over the next few months, and I am excited for the challenge.

Summer plans

Last week, James was offered and accepted an internship for the summer with the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke. He will be assisting accredited lawyers as they investigate claims of innocence from convicted felons, and pursue the freedom of those they believe were wrongfully convicted. James is very excited about the work he'll be doing!

*I* am also very excited about this internship. I am happy that James is interested in the work he'll be doing. I'm also thrilled that it's local--James has been applying for a number of internships, and not all of them would have been as ideal for our family. For instance, another offer that he received was from a public defender about two and a half hours from Durham. While he would have enjoyed the work, the location would definitely have made things challenging! Plus, the internship at Duke is paid, which is a big plus for a first-summer internship!

James starts work on the 24th of May. That gives us a few weeks after his finals, and we're planning a trip out to Utah. We'll be driving, and we're taking a circuitous route to visit family in Louisiana and Texas, which will be really nice. 

We'll get to Utah the second week of May. James gets to stay for about a week and a half, and then he's going to fly back to NC. But I'm in need of a good long visit, so I'm going to stay in Utah for another couple of weeks with the kids before heading back. James is going to take Shadow with him on the plane. I'm nervous enough about driving by myself from Utah to North Carolina with two small children, let alone a dog!

Then we'll have the rest of the summer to spend with our friends here in Durham. We're also hoping to take a little camping trip to the Smokies, which we passed through on our move out here last summer. The mountain forests were so beautiful, we've been determined to visit ever since. We'll probably just take a little weekend trip sometime in June. 

It promises to be a great summer!

My Newest Hobby

A few weeks ago, a special package arrived at our house with my name on it. This newest arrival to the Holley household brought with it great excitement and anticipation:

My camera is a Canon Rebel SL1 Digital SLR. I currently have just the one 18-55mm lens, though I anticipate eventually getting more, when funds allow and my skill level has increased to the point where it would actually be worth spending said funds.

I have been taking an online class (which I got for half price--win! My sister-in-law ended up paying even less for it. The power of coupons!) and I have been thoroughly engrossed in learning how to use my DSLR. I'm still VERY new at this, but I am loving it.

It makes me a little nervous sharing my photos, which seems silly in a way, seeing as how I post photos I've taken all the time. However, there's something about having a "nice" camera that seems to raise people's expectations. I feel like my photos will be judged on a whole different level than when I was just snapping shots with my phone, despite the fact that this is my first genuine foray into photography. (I don't really count the one photography class I took in school, though I enjoyed it, because that was about 15 years ago!)

Still, this is an exciting new experience for me, and I don't want to keep it to myself. So, without further adieu, I present my earliest works with my Rebel SL1.

(Incidentally...none of the photos have been altered, cropped, or photoshopped in any way.)

One of my rosebushes started to bud last week, and when I walked out and saw the first blooms, I had to capture their fresh beauty.

This afternoon, Shadow was dozing on the couch wrapped up in one of our blankets. I just loved the way his head was poking out. The lighting was particularly nice for capturing his features.

I've had a lot of fun over the past couple of weeks practicing with my camera at taekwondo. This takes a whole different bunch of settings, to capture the high-speed motions of the students kicking and flipping.

Obviously I'm still working on it. But I feel like my ability to capture these moments is rapidly improving. These photos were all captured in the midst of regular classes, which makes it hard to get clear shots at the action without the background clutter. That too I will keep practicing.

 

Naturally, my favorite subject to photograph is my little Smush. I absolutely treasure these photos.

 

This has brought me so much joy just in the short couple of weeks I've had my camera. I can't wait to continue learning and experimenting! 


As always: all original images and original content on this site are the sole property of the blog author and may not be used, copied or transmitted without express consent.

Weekend play

We've had a couple of eventful weekends! Last weekend, we had plans to go camping with Patrick & Shaylee (James's brother and his wife). It turned out to be something of a catastrophe! First of all, we weren't able to get a campsite. There was a snafu with trying to reserve one, and by the time we all got off work, all the first-come-first-served sites were taken. So, we ended up camping in our backyard: "Camp Holley."

As we were getting set up, however, James and Patrick discovered that their tent (borrowed from Shaylee's parents) was broken. Guh. Fortunately I was able to zip over to my parents house and borrow one of their tents. Meanwhile, Shaylee was working on dinner, which unfortunately was taking forever--we discovered that the fuel on my campstove was running low, which was why things weren't cooking. However, it was getting pretty late by the time we got it all figured out--about the time that the boys finally finished putting up the tent, after a couple of tries. So, it was about 10pm by the time we ate!

Shaylee had made homemade fries to go with the burgers that James and I made. When she finished with the fries, we needed the campstove, but her pan of grease/oil was still hot. So she laid the pan down on the patio to cool while we continued making dinner, intending to dispose of the grease once it was cool. But after dinner, we went straight into our campfire--the one truly pleasant part of the evening. We roasted s'mores and Starbursts and watched birds (we think) flying back and forth in front of the stars.

James and I had already settled down in our tent when we heard Patrick and Shaylee rustling about for awhile--dealing with their belongings, I thought at the time. But the reality was a sad state indeed. It turns out that Shadow had consumed most of the pan of grease, and proceeded to vomit several times in the house, as well as in Patrick and Shaylee's tent. They hadn't noticed when they first went in and it got everywhere. It was awful, James and I were so embarrassed. After they got cleaned up, we got them settled in our guest bedroom for the night.

Needless to say, our "camping trip" did not turn out at all as planned. The next morning, we dropped the pretense of camping, and determined to just enjoy the rest of our time together. We had breakfast, played games, and hung out most of the afternoon, which was a much more pleasant experience than the evening's adventures!

Sunday evening, we had decided to make our first attempt at Chicken Bryan, our favorite dish from Carrabba's. We get the same thing every time we go. So we decided to try to make it ourselves! (And so maybe we can try other things when we go next time.) It turned into a very special evening for us. We got all dressed up. We ate from our wedding china and silver, with candlelight. And to our delight, our chicken bryan was delicious!

This past weekend started off with a trip to the Call's new house. A few days ago, I posted a plea on Facebook--James and I have wanted to go swimming all summer, but it just hasn't happened. We finally made some time, but lo and behold, it turns out that the pools have limited their hours because school's in session, and we wouldn't be able to go. Fortunately, we have awesome friends! The Calls were very kind and invited us to their house to swim. Their pool is warm enough that Joel got to give it a try! He was not a fan of the life jacket, as you can see, but once we took it off and just held him in the water, he enjoyed splashing for a few minutes.

After classes on Friday, we got to visit with our friends the Estradas. It's been AGES since we've all hung out, since before Joel was born, in fact. We had a blast playing games and whatnot. But one of the best parts of the evenings was watching our babies interact! Savannah is 2 1/2 months older than Joel (though he's bigger!) and just on the verge of crawling. They were so cute together!

Saturday was a day that James and I have been eagerly anticipating. We had tickets to the national tour of WICKED, playing up in Salt Lake. We were so excited to see it! Of course, there was some nervousness attached--we had a babysitter (non-family) for the first time. I was a little anxious about it, but everything turned out great. The show was amazing, and we came home to a happy baby.

It's just nice sometimes to have a great weekend. =) That's all!

Summer Happenings

It's been a busy summer so far, and whenever I think it's going to slow down for awhile, more things come along to keep us hopping!

The summer kicked off with Joel's baby blessing on June 1st. We finished our deck project just in time to have our family and friends over after the blessing. It was a beautiful day! The blessing that James gave to our son was perfect. And it was a delight to have so many loved ones join us at our home.

The second week in June, we went camping with my parents and cousin Ben. We went to Payson Lake. My parents have a canoe, and we all enjoyed paddling around the lake (except maybe Shadow). We played games at the campground, and enjoyed being outdoors. Baby J did awesome. We took his pack 'n play, which fit remarkably well in our tent, and his little swing for him to hang out in. It was a blast!

The week after that was perhaps the most stressful of the summer thus far. At our taekwondo studio, we have a daycamp each summer where students can earn their next belt in a week (Belt Jump Camp). It falls the same week as our regular Color Belt Testing, which takes place in the evenings during that week. But this year, these took place the same week as the Utah Summer Games, a tournament down in Cedar City. That meant that in addition to everything else we were doing, we had an additional 6 hours of demo team practice that week. We were at the studio 10+ hours almost every day leading up to the tournament, and then headed straight down to Cedar City for the event--where we were busy the entire time. Poor Joel didn't get to see much of his parents that week, though he made lots of new friends!

Then it was our "week off"--from the studio, at least. James started Summer Term that week, so he didn't really get a break at all. I keep busy too, with meetings with my coauthor and editor about our third book, with cleaning our poor neglected house, and with prep for the following week. That weekend, James ran in the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay with his father, brother Matthew, and the rest of the "Ragnar Ruh Roh" team. James was totally beat by the end of it, but had a great time. He's trying to talk me into doing it with him next year!

James and I took on a big responsibility this year of planning our studio's Leadership Conference. We took our Leadership Team to Bear Lake, where in addition to camping, swimming, and playing, they received 8+ hours of instruction on a variety of leadership and life skills. We had a great time, and learned a lot.

We had a day at home, during which we celebrated Independence Day (James almost set our fence on fire with a stray firework) before I took off to San Jose, California for the USA Taekwondo National Championships, where I worked as a referee for three days. I'll admit, I had a really hard time leaving James & Joel. (And trying to pump while refereeing was nightmarish.) But I also had a great time refereeing. I got to meet new people, see old friends, and see some excellent martial arts. 

James did great with the baby while I was gone. Though he does say that he appreciates me more, he kept up very well--he took care of the baby and the dog, watered the plants, did the laundry, bathed the baby, and kept up with his homework. He said it was "excellent father-son bonding time."

 

And here we are! We have lots more fun things planned for the summer, including some more camping, a family reunion, play tickets, and our Black Belt Overnighter that will launch us into our testing cycle for my 4th and James's 3rd degree Black Belts, which we'll be testing for in January. We're looking forward to having a great time!

Life of Late

Some of the things that have been occupying the time of the Holley family lately:

-I attended the inaugural Salt Lake Comic Con with my co-author Sam Stubbs, where we occupied a booth for three days promoting our books. It was awesome!

-James is back in school at BYU, enjoying some of his classes (being bored by others). While the transition was difficult (I was soooooooo spoiled having him to myself for two months this summer) its been good because....

-I've started actively writing my third book again. Seeing as how Book Two is being released in November (two years, four months after the release of the first book) I am eager to complete the trilogy in a timely manner.

-James and I are both facing a slight change in our schedules at the studio. This past week, I took on a new class: coaching the school demo team. I'm eager for the new challenge. Starting in a week and a half, James will also be taking on a new class, his first "curriculum" class (he's been teaching Weapons for some time, and working as an assistant instructor in several other classes). Even though I will be there as his assistant, it's exciting, for me at least, to see James really growing into his own as an instructor.

-We've started preparing for Halloween. More on this once we actually start decorating and whatnot--which cannot come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

-Oh yeah, it was my birthday a few weeks ago. It was lovely. My birthday was on Sunday, so on Saturday, we went on a double-date with our friends the Pages, on Sunday my mother made birthday dinner, on Monday we went out to dinner and I got my first present from James, a printer, and on Tuesday, I got my second present, a couples massage, which was heaven. I felt very spoiled.

-We have been thoroughly enjoying our Shadow puppy. He is darling. We've had a few mishaps, but pretty minor stuff, considering that he's 6 months old and new to our family. He and I go on walks when James is at school, and he is the most curious creature I think I have ever encountered.

That's the bulk of it. We stay busy teaching and learning at the studio, plus school for James and writing for me. That and enjoying one anothers company. And Shadow's company. :)

Shadow McSneezsters Holley

When we bought our house, James and I decided that we wanted to adopt a dog. We determined that we would wait until after our cruise, so as not to abandon a new pet for a week. And so, Monday after returning from our cruise, we visited the Humane Society of Utah. :)

We wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter. This made it difficult to know exactly what we would end up with. James wanted a big dog. I was nervous about getting a big dog. Especially where we're planning to have children in the near future, I was hesitant to get a dog that could knock over my toddlers. We figured that we would get a "medium" dog. 

When we arrived at the Humane Society, we walked through the Small Dogs room first. There was this little black dog in the first kennel that caught my eye. (Besides him, there was a little terrier, and then the rest of the room was full of chihuahuas. Oy.) But we moved over to the Big Dogs room. We walked a pit bull named Alaska. She was a pretty dog, and VERY enthusiastic. A little too enthusiastic for me, actually. She about knocked me over. James really liked her, but I again expressed my worry about having a big dog while we have small children. We looked around some more, but there were really any "medium" dogs there. They were all big, or small. That's about when I asked James if we could go look at the little black dog again. :)

I fell in love immediately. So immediately that the worker told me we had to spent at least twenty more minutes with him before we'd be allowed to adopt him. I was happy to spend more time with this little pup. Soon enough he was on the way home with us!

We named him Shadow. He's a Dachsund mix (mixed with what, we don't know!) about 6 months old. The Humane Society rescued him from a shelter in L.A. that was going to euthanize him. Can you believe that? A 6-month-old puppy, as sweet as can be. But apparently this shelter, like many others there, has a 3-day turnover. Three days, and if nobody claims the dog, they euthanize. So sad. The Humane Society sends their people down frequently to rescue dogs. And we're so glad they did!

Shadow turned out to be an apt name for our baby, not only because of his coloring. Shadow follows us around everywhere. It is amazing how fast he has bonded! And he is one smart cookie. He's only had one accident (at James' parent's house--he was mortified!) and has been very good about going potty. He is darling with kids--he likes to lick their faces--and hasn't nipped or growled once. He has nipped and growled at other dogs, mostly when they come near me. He's a little possessive of his mommy!

He also figured out how to use the kitty door all by himself. We left him outside when we went to work the day after we adopted him, and it rained while we were gone. I was so worried! But he figured out the kitty door--which we had thought was too small for him. It's pretty funny to watch, he has to contort himself to get through. We'll probably invest in a larger door at some point, but for now, the kitty door works!

Shadow has little quirks, of course. At the moment he has kennel cough. The coughing itself is so sad, his whole little body shakes. The worst part is actually his sneezing--he sneezes constantly and often violently. Ergo his nickname "McSneezsters."

He loves laying on soft things. It's not often that he will simply lay on the floor. He prefers laying in our laps, but he'll settle for anything comfy. His favorite spot has become a rocking chair in our front room. Most afternoons, he claims the chair for a nap. I find it incredibly cute.

Yesterday we went to the Holley's for dinner. Upon arriving, we learned that James's youngest brother Daniel had just gotten a new puppy, a little cocker spaniel he named Birdy. We were worried about how Shadow would get along with the other dogs there. We had the little accident, which might have been the result of Shadow's first interaction with a male dog since we've had him--their Corgi named Pooka. But Shadow did just fine with little Birdy--she followed him around all over the place, barking at him half the time, and he basically ignored her. I actually really enjoyed watching them together.

Birdy & Shadow
Photo courtesy of Shaylee Holley.

At any rate, our little Shadow is a delight. He makes me very happy, and I love his company. He's just a complete sweetheart!