First of all... I know I am in trouble. I have not made any postings since I started my blog months ago. I have no excuse - only to say that I am busy. However, I know that is a terrible excuse. Second of all... Don't you love the new title of my page (Holla'). Kelsie (my sister) and I were trying to think of title's for my blog - and once this one came up we couldn't even think of anything else. We were up way too late and laughing way too much and we think the title is pretty dang hilarious. I understand that the rest of you probably don't understand - but everytime I read it now, all I have to do is picture Kelsie saying "Holla'!!!- from the Holloways" or "What you want girl" - anyway - we are pretty retarded - but I hope you all enjoy it.

In other news - This blog will probably be pretty long - seeing how I have months of catching up to do. For starters the summer was mostly filled with the usual - work and school. During the few weeks in between the summer and fall semesters we took a trip to Wisconsin to visit Dave's family. We started the trip by flying into Chicago. It was beautiful!!! We camped at a KOA and did lots of things during the days that we were there. We visited the Museum of Science and Industry and saw a real submarine up close (it was huge). We went to Lego land (and spent WAY to long there in my opinion) but all of the boys loved it. We went to 6-flags where Dave got his wallet stolen and I got sick from riding the tea-cups four times in a row. We went up 100 floors on the Hancock observatory to view the city at night and watch the fireworks they set off on the pier. We also took a trip down to the pier where there was a lot of people and food and shops along with a giant ferris wheel.

This is a picture of Chicago taken at night - it really doesn't do the city justice.

This is a picture of the pier where the ferris wheel is and where they shot off fireworks.

This is a picture of Dave and his brothers (minus Joe).

Once again... not a very good picture - it is kind of out of focus. We have got to learn how to work with the night shot on the camera.

These are the sweet cars we saw while traveling the streets of downtown Chicago.

This is the bracelet that Dave bought for me while we were there. It was actually very sweet. We were walking through a store and we saw it. We both commented on how pretty it was, then we went upstairs to another store. Once we got to the other store Dave said he had to use the bathroom and he left. He was gone forever and I was thinking to myself (I hope he didn't fall in because I am not going in to help him). After a long time he found me and took me off by myself and gave me the bracelet. I love him!!!

Just the two of us...
Dave and I have been married for over a year now.... can you believe it? We were married on March 17th 2007. Our lives are extremely busy and crazy and full of love and laughter. I am currently attending school at the University of Utah and just finished my first year of graduate school. Yay!!! Only one more year until I graduate with my masters degree and become a licensed speech language pathologist. School is overwhelming and exhausting, but I love working with my clients and learning how to help other people. Dave is also attending school right now. He is in his junior year at Brigham Young University where he is majoring in business management and marketing. We will both graduate next year in April...we are so excited. Dave is currently working at a company called Sunstone Engineering where they make and sell spot welders. Dave is in charge of all of the marketing for their products and is loving his responsibilities there. I am working as a speech language pathologist graduate clinician for an elementary school in Payson.

Our Story...
Dave and I met while we were both attending BYU. We were in the same ward and lived around the corner from each other. Before dating we were friends for a long time. Pretty much best friends I would say. We hung out all of the time. I think that is why things worked out so well between us. Because we built this great friendship based on being ourselves exactly the way we are before we started dating. We played and laughed and talked about anything and everything. We shared our goals in life, our passions, and our fears. Once we started dating our relationship was much different than any other relationship either of us had ever had. In fact, we dated for four months before even kissing. We had pretty much decided we wanted to be married before we even kissed. I remember telling my parents about him, telling them I thought I wanted to marry him - and that we had never even kissed. My dad's response to that was "well what is wrong with him... why haven't you kissed yet?" I couldn't explain it then and I can't really explain it now - but it worked for us. We fell in love spiritually, emotionally, and mentally before making any kind of physical commitment. In fact ... I have a video that was taken when we were dating before we kissed for the first time. I also want to post the video because Dave looks like a freaking babe...


My Husband...
Dave is such an amazing person. He shows love and selflessness every single day in our marriage. He is a great example to me. He refuses to become angry with me over anything. He is kind to me when I do not deserve it. He teaches me everyday how to be better. I am so grateful for him – for what a wonderful friend he is to me. I am grateful that he listens to me and tries to understand me. I am grateful for his patience with me. How did I get so blessed? How do I deserve this? All I know is that having such an amazing blessing just makes me want to do so much good in my life. It makes me want to be such a better person. I love that feeling – that motivation and purpose. Thanks Dave... for everything.

My Testimony...
I know that our happiness is in direct correlation to our obedience of the gospel ordinances. I know that my testimony is growing everyday. I know that the Savior died for my sins. I know that – and I know that that means that I don’t have to suffer for my own sins. I know that I can feel peace in knowing that I am not perfect – but be repentant everyday for every little thing I do wrong. I know He can make me clean and perfect and worthy in the eyes of the Lord. I know this. I know I have never been happier than those times in my life when I have embraced the gospel fully. I know it is true – I cannot doubt it. I know that my Heavenly Father watches out for me. That he loves me so much and wants the best for me. I know he wants to help me when I fall. I know I can do anything when I turn to Him. I once heard a quote read in sacrament meeting that said something to the effect of – If you even had a glimpse of the kind of person God wants you to become, all your fear would be gone and you would know that anything is possible. That is amazing and comforting. I know God expects a lot out of me. I know that I want to fulfill that expectation – I know I can, with His help. Life is amazing – life is good. I am so happy!!!