The Hollisters

3 months!

2010-08-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can hardly believe my little boy is 3 months old!

I also can't believe how long it's been since I've updated the blog. So, for the 0.75 people left checking... ;-)

A few fun things about Micah these days... Smiles, smiles, smiles! This kid loves to smile and it is contagious. No matter how tired or frustrated I may be, if he smiles at me, I can't help but smile too. He is quite possibly the best baby ever. He's so laid back most of the time. He goes with me to the grocery store, out to lunch, to meetings at church... and just takes it all in stride. If we leave him with my parents for a few hours, he'll take a bottle (once he knows there's milk in it) - the books say if you want a baby to take a bottle you need to give him one every day or he might refuse it... but not Micah. It doesn't seem to matter even if it's been weeks since he's taken one. He's a good sleeper and so much fun to be around when he's awake.

It's so fun to watch him take in his surroundings and learn new things. For example... for 2 weeks he would spend a lot of his "playtime" staring at his right fist. Then, he discovered he also had a left fist so he would alternate staring at them for about a week. Finally, he figured out how to control them a little better and just last week he started sucking on his fingers. It is so cute! When he wakes up from a nap, I can usually hear him sucking on his hand before he ever starts to cry.

He is a people person. He loves for us to get right in his face and smile, make faces or funny noises, sing, or talk to him.

And now for some pictures of the little cutie:

I think he looks like he's doing his guitar solo in this one.

Doing tummy time with Daddy

Love that smile!

Here I'm picturing a beer in one hand and the remote control in the other. :-)

Having fun with Daddy.

I loved the looks on their faces so much in that one, that I decided to zoom in and crop it.

Passed out asleep on Grammy's lap.

I'm a big boy!

In his cute puppy dog hooded towel after bath time

Love this expression

All smiles in his "MVP" outfit. The shoes & wristband were a gift from our friends Joseph & Meredith, but unfortunately the shoes were too small for his feet when we did the photo shoot. Also in this photo I think he looks a little like my brother when he was a baby.

Practicing his modeling poses.

Asleep in Mommy's lap

"Oh, Mom, stop taking my picture when I'm sleeping!"

Sucking on those fingers. I love those cute little legs!

If he had more hair, I think he'd be twirling it with that other hand.

Apparently he can multitask: finger-sucking and nose-picking at the same time! (For the record, this was an accident... he hasn't discovered nose-picking just yet.)

SuperMicah in his cape! This is how I discovered him after his nap one day.

Holding his head up high during tummy time.

Having fun with Papa.

Party on

2008-07-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

Married life is so much fun. Troy and I are both becoming rock stars on the guitar! And, we are SMOKING other couples on the tennis court!

But I'm tired from staying up too late rockin' out. And my arm is a little sore from all the tennis.

I think we may need to go to Wii-hab.

Happy Birthday, Husband!

2008-07-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today is my Sweetie's birthday! And so I give you, in no particular order, 30 things I love about Troy:

He has the biggest servant's heart I've ever seen. He'll jump up and do something for someone before they even realize they needed it.
He is always kind.
He is very patient, even when I am being a crazy woman.
He uses big words in everyday conversation. Not because he's trying to impress anyone, but just because they are part of his vocabulary.
He's wicked smart. He would say he isn't, but he is. He can carry on intelligent conversations about a very wide variety of topics.
He is wise. He doesn't make rash decisions, and he thinks things through carefully from all sides.
He's really funny. Or should I say punny? Well, both.
We laugh together... a lot.
He's handsome!
He's hot. Literally. I can be shivering from head to toe, but it only takes snuggling up to him for about 30 seconds until I'm all warmed up.
He is clean. From what I hear, this is not the case with all men. I consider myself very blessed.
He puts God first above anyone (and anything) else.
He is faithful to his commitments.
He walks what he talks. The godly man you see out in public is the godly man I see day in and day out.
He is affectionate. He does things like holding my hand, or playing with my hair, that make me feel wanted.
He likes to do fun things, but also doesn't mind sitting around the house doing nothing with me.
He has a great voice. I remember when we very first started dating, he called me while I was out of town. I was sitting in a rocking chair on a porch and I think there were as many stars in my eyes as there were in the sky that night as I listened to him tell me stories.
He can sing pretty well too, although you'll never get him to demonstrate. I just overhear him when we're singing in church. Hopefully he won't stop singing in church now that I've admitted listening to him. ;-)
He makes fun of me (the kind that is fun, not hurtful).
He is an excellent leader.
He is gentle.
When he gets in goofy mood, he makes lots of fun faces and noises that totally crack me up.
I can talk to him about anything and everything.
He loves kids, and is very natural around them. One of the first times I started to "notice" him was when he was playing with the kids at a daycare we visited in Costa Rica.
He is an excellent teacher. He is patient enough to walk somebody through how to do something, or to explain something, and he does it well.
I learn a lot from him, both by things he teaches me, and by just watching his example.
He knows the Word, and is diligent in his study of it.
He's a really good cook.
He takes care of things. Like fixing things around the house, and setting up anything technology-related. There are certain things I don't want to know anything about, except that they work easily; he makes that happen!
He loves me and makes sure I know it. By his actions, and he tells me every single day.

Happy birthday, Troy! (I hope this post has not embarrassed you too much!)

Oh, and I almost forgot...

2008-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

We also picked up my rings on Saturday afternoon. They look so pretty and it feels wonderful to look like a married woman now! :-)

A Pretty Good Weekend!

2008-06-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, how wonderful it is to fill up weekends (and weekdays, for that matter) with activities that are not centered around planning a wedding!

Friday night we went over to LB's and packed up her kitchen for her move on Saturday morning. Troy pointed out that she saved us from having to decide what we were going to do on Friday night. We both agreed that it was quite rewarding to be able to help out a friend, and it reminded us both how nice it is to be able to spontaneously do things like that when you are not over-committed. (We are currently learning how to not be over-committers.)

Saturday morning we slept in and then made breakfast. Banana pancakes and turkey bacon... yummm!! I was quite proud of us for the banana pancakes, they were delicious! Troy made one with blueberries in it too, because we had batter enough for 1 more pancake after we used up all the banana. Oh, and maple syrup - can you say mmm mmm good?!?!

After breakfast I started getting rid of stuff - all the random junk around the house that I don't want anymore and all it does is cause clutter. I filled up 3 boxes to be donated! We spent most of the day just doing stuff around the house - laundry, cleaning bathrooms, cooking/baking stuff to take to our evening outing...

Which leads me to the evening. After swinging by to pick up LB and see her new house (sooo cute!!), we headed out to Pearland to spend time with a small group of some of our favorite peeps. Good food, good company. Very enjoyable!

Sunday morning we went to church, then to lunch at the Hobbit Cafe, and then we laid on the couch and watched TV for the rest of the afternoon. Oh my gosh, how good does it feel to lay around and do nothing for a few hours!

I love weekends that are both productive and restful/relaxing. Throw in some quality time with good friends, and you have the perfect weekend... which this one was!

Feeling naked

2008-06-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I took my rings to the jeweler to get soldered together today. I know, it took me over a month to get around to doing it... so I have been wearing only my engagement ring so far. The wedding band is carved out to fit perfectly around the engagement ring, so it doesn't really work to wear both until they are permanently joined together. Anyway... they won't be ready until Saturday! So in the meantime, my poor naked finger is feeling lonely. It has only been about 2 hours since I dropped them off and I have briefly panicked at least 5 times upon feeling the lack of ring on my finger. I miss you already, my pretty diamond and platinum friends! But, when they are ready I will be sooo happy to be able to wear them both and look like a real live married woman!

Happy Month-iversary to Us!

2008-06-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just noticed The Hollisters have not posted since May 13. I would feel ashamed but, come on, we've been a bit busy! This is, however, my first post on The Hollister Blog as Mrs. Hollister.

Actually I don't really have a whole lot to say right now, or maybe I am just being too lazy to write something. I will say that being married to Troy is the most wonderful blessing! Oh, and can you believe we've been married for a month already (today)?!?!?

Well I will think of more to write later. For now, I am going home to enjoy a lovely evening with my sweet, amazing, awesome husband.

Sometimes it's the little things...

2008-05-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

For a while now, I have been reading some "newlywed" blogs. I enjoy reading them because they help me see past the wedding plans and look forward to married life. Some of the things I am really looking forward to are:

Going to the movies... just because
Getting settled (or should I say "resettled") in our home
Sleeping in... together
Getting into a routine
...a routine that does NOT include saying goodbye to each other every night
Trying new recipes
Taking trips together

This list obviously is not exhaustive, by any means. Just a few "little things" I have been thinking about as I dream of a time that is not crazy with wedding plans, a time to make a home with my husband as we start our life together.

How did I know? - Part 1

2008-04-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

A question that vexes many single people is "How do you know when you find 'The One?'" The traditional response to this type of question tends to be "When you know, you know." I asked a married friend of mine once what he thought about this. My friend said that he couldn't explain it any better. He said that this is just true. I have always rejected "You'll know when you know" as a non-answer. Now that I have found "The One" for me, I have spent considerable time reflecting on how I have come to know that Erin is "the one for me." In this post, I want to share what I have found.

There are two things that need to be addressed before I can begin. First, this blog post is only applicable if you are seeking a mate through the process of dating or courting. If you are in a pre-arranged marriage situation, then the decision has already been made for you. If you are not depending on a match-maker, then you will be seeking to involve yourself in a relationship with someone with the intent of evaluating this person as a potential marriage partner. (For our discussion, labels such as dating, courting, etc, are irrelevant.)

The second item to address initially is to set aside the debate between "there is one person God has intended for you to marry" and the various "you can choose" theories. The position you hold on this debate has a bearing on how you determine whether you choose to marry someone, but this debate is beyond the scope of what I want to address in this post. Regardless of which position you hold, if you are seeking a mate, you will eventually be faced with the question "Should I marry this person?"

Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, here is the first critical piece to determining who "the one" is. First of all, Erin is my best friend. We didn't start off that way. But, as we got to know each other, our bond of friendship grew rapidly. Not everyone will experience as quick a bonding as Erin and I did, but you should look for this. Our bond of friendship is different from what you might call "attraction." You can be attracted to someone you do not know, but you cannot be friends with someone you do not know. I won't go any deeper on this topic because most people are familiar with the concept of friendships.

Another indicator involves refinement. When I spend time with Erin, I find imperfections are exposed in my life. These imperfections could be of one of two kinds. The first is the superficial. This category contains things like my sense of style or my organizational skills. Erin will point out things that I can do to dress better or to be better organized. These can be important things, but I call them superficial because they have little eternal significance. This is the second type of imperfections that are exposed. When I am with Erin, I find things like selfishness, hypocrisy, and a lack of willingness to forgive are exposed within my heart. It can be uncomfortable and painful to find these things lurking in the depths of my character, but they need to be cleansed. Erin does not purposefully expose them. In fact, she seldom knows when she does unless I tell her. But, as we spend time together, God uses our interaction to show me things in my life that need to be purified. I have never had one individual be so involved in my purification like this before. It has been surprising, and is quite amazing, actually.

This post is starting to get long, so I think I'll end it here. I have more to add on this subject. I hope to post the rest of my thoughts soon.

Engagement pictures!

2008-04-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Check them out!

Dreams Come True

2008-04-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

It seems like over the last few months, I have encountered several topics in which the world in general seems to be trying to tell me that the reality of marriage is going to sadly disappoint every dream I have ever had of it. It's never anything major, just the general statements like "marriage is hard" and "you'll need all the help you can get in that area" and offerings of 20,000 books we should read so that our marriage will not fail. Okay, yes, I am obviously being overly dramatic and exaggerating. But, seriously? Am I naive to think that we might actually... ENJOY... being married?

I am by no means a naive dreamer. I do not picture a perfect life filled with never-ending starry eyes and constant romantic background music. I know that being married will have it's challenges and hard moments... because that is true of EVERY relationship, and because well... life can be hard. But, I refuse to give in to the mindset that marriage is not wonderful and a blessing. For several reasons...

Reason one: my parents. I lived with them for almost 20 years of my life, and have spent a great deal of time with them during the other 10. I see two people who are best friends, enjoy each other, and after more than 30 years of marriage are still passionately in love with each other. They laugh together, they flirt with each other, enjoy "doing life" together, and have faced challenges together. And, I have actually overheard them respond to the saying "marriage is hard." Their response? "Yeah... we always hear that, but we've never really understood it."

Reason two: So far, everything I've ever dreamed about regarding how things would go when I met the man of my dreams, has been exceeded in my relationship with Troy. Why should I start expecting to be disappointed?

I think I have other reasons too, but this post is getting to be longer than I intended. I did run into a friend recently who got married in the past year. She is absolutely glowing, and she said "Marriage is the greatest blessing there is outside of salvation." She said a single friend had told her that since she got married she had 'dropped off the face of the earth.' Her reply was "Yes I have, and when it's your turn, Jump! Becuase it is worth it!" What a breath of fresh air to hear!

Anyway... all that to say, I've decided I am going to keep dreaming my dreams, thank you very much. I'm more excited than I can express in words that I am marrying Troy, and if anyone thinks I am naive for that, well, let them think it. We'll face the hard moments when they come, but I am not going to sit around looking for them. I am going to continue enjoying our relationship, and expecting beauty and joy, and all those "crazy" things that so often accompany gifts from our perfect God.

Prince Charming? No, thanks.

2008-03-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Prince Charming ain't got nothin' on my man. Work has been busy the last few weeks, I've been working until 7:30-8:00pm almost every night (I know that's nothing in comparison to the hours I used to work in my former job, but it's still a big difference from my normal 5:30ish) and the demands of the day have been leaving me much more tired. But I am well taken care of. Troy has been hanging out at my house until I get home. If I call when I'm leaving work, he'll have dinner ready when I get home... or at least almost done, giving me enough time to change my clothes and wash my face (which he makes me do instead of helping him finish dinner). After we eat, he is always asking me "what can I do to help you relax?" I usually am at the point where I don't even feel like having a conversation, and I feel like I have nothing to offer him. But he doesn't mind, and he even seems to be happy to just be there for me and help me get relaxed so I'll be ready to go to sleep when he leaves. Pretty amazing.

He always amazes me with the little details he takes care of. Several mornings I have stumbled down the hall to get my coffee ready, only to discover he had already prepared it for me the night before - all I had to do was hit the on button. I'm not sure I ever realized how much such a simple thing could make me feel so loved. There I am standing in my kitchen, staring at the coffee grounds, feeling like he's standing right there saying "I love you." And he doesn't make a production of it, as if he were trying to get "points" - he just quietly does it, as only a true servant would do.

These are just a few examples. All the time, he is amazing me. I am so thankful for him, and so excited to become his wife in only 57 DAYS!!!

Reflections

2008-01-24T11:51:00.001-08:00

Today is exactly 6 months since we went on our first date. It's almost hard to believe how far we've come in just 6 months. I remember our first date and how nervous I was... I could barely even eat (but I did anyway... I do have the Bayles genes, after all!).

We went to a restaurant called The Raven and then to the Cullen Sculpture Garden. That was really cool - a little outdoor park with all these sculptures. We walked around and tried to figure out how the titles related to the sculptures, and what we thought they were... it really brought out how we think and different sides of our creativity. I also told Troy possibly the worst joke ever, except it always makes me laugh.

Fast forward 6 months to today... We are planning for our wedding, and our marriage!! I'm still as excited about him as I was then, except without all of the nervousness. We've become so comfortable together, like we've known each other for years. And even though I was already crazy about him by our first date, now it is much, much deeper.

I can't wait to see where we are in another 6 months (especially since we'll be married)!!

2007: The Year of Completion

2008-01-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

This is a story that I have been treasuring in my heart since early in our relationship, but I didn't feel free to share it until we were engaged. So, now I am excited to get to share it!! It is long, but I think it is a really good story. So, wait until you have a few minutes, and then settle in for story-time.

Early in the year, when I started praying in 2007 as the Year of Completion, I sort of jokingly said to the Lord, "You know, God... if you wanted to end my season of singleness in 2007, I would be ok with that..." You know how sometimes you pray things like that, and then you and God have a good laugh about it, as if He's like, "I love your sense of humor. And... no." But, for some reason, it didn't feel like that this time. Something in me was saying, go ahead and pray that.

I thought about that for a minute. Really? I have always been reluctant to pray prayers asking for specific timing, even though I have heard of the Lord leading people to pray that way at times. So, I began to pray about praying it. I said, Lord, if You seriously want me to pray this, let me know. And if this is my idea and not Yours, please please please let me hear You telling me not to pray this. I want it to be Your idea.

I continued like this for a couple of weeks, and still felt confirmation from Him to pray it. So, I did. I started to pray that the Lord would bring my husband to me in 2007. My prayer was basically this: "Lord, I don't have to be engaged by the end of this year, but I would like to be with the man I will marry, and to know that He is "The One" by the end of 2007."

Over time, this prayer became even more specific. I began to pray that I would know the man by my 30th birthday (in June) and that I would be dating him by the time my brother got married (in July). I don't know exactly where those dates came from, I just know that the more I prayed, the more specific the prayers became, and I continued to feel the Lord's peace about praying this way so I kept on.

Just before my 30th birthday - literally the week before - a guy popped up in my life. He was a nice guy, but I kind of just knew he wasn't right for me. But, because of what I had been praying, I thought maybe I needed to give him a chance. What if he was the answer to that prayer? The more I tried to convince myself that could be the case, the more restless and fitful I became over the situation. Finally, 2 days before my birthday, the Lord said to me SO clearly, "End this RIGHT NOW. This is not the plan." It was kind of strange to me, because usually when God tells me no about something, He gives me a couple of days to get used to the idea. Not this time. There was an urgency to it, so much that I was physically sick to my stomach and having trouble breathing. I knew it had to be NOW. So, I ended it before it had even begun.

The next couple of weeks after that were hard. Really hard. As the first milestone (my 30th birthday) came and went, and God had not answered my prayer, I really had a test of my faith and trust in God. Even though He had not answered, did I still trust Him? Did I still believe that He is good and loving and faithful? There were a lot of tears and a lot of pain. I didn't know if He would answer the rest of the prayer, and that really confused me because I had been so sure He was going to. Slowly but surely, though, I came to know that even if He did not... even if I did not understand... I still trusted Him and knew that He knows what is best.

What I didn't know, was that God was working "behind the scenes." Troy and I had started getting to know each other on our trip to Costa Rica in late May. We had become friends after that, but I literally had NO IDEA there was anything else there. It had never even crossed my mind. (More on that in another post, another day.) Exactly one month after my 30th birthday, my eyes opened to him in a new way. I don't even know what triggered it, except that it was time. It felt like God just flipped the switch on my heart and, suddenly, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Two days later, he asked me out. Important note: that was one week before my brother's wedding.

Because of my brother's wedding, we weren't able to go out on our actual first date until eleven days later. However, we had 2 "pre-dates" before I left town, and we spent a long time on the phone while I was gone. Even though it wasn't official, I think it is safe to say we were "dating" before my brother's wedding. And, may I point out that he was at my 30th birthday party. I love how God did answer my prayer, but didn't let me see it until after I thought He hadn't. There was a lot of growth in that.

Within weeks, I knew Troy was the man I was going to marry. As far as I was concerned, all of the prayers had been answered. But, isn't it just like the Lord to go over and above? On December 14, Troy proposed to me! So, not only did I know, but we had committed to marry each other, by the end of 2007. Praise the Lord!

Thinking about this story makes me think of one of my favorite verses - Ephesians 3:20: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!!"

Introduction

2008-01-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so "technically" we are not The Hollisters yet. But, we will be soon! We've talked a lot about the testimonies the Lord has built in each of us individually, and how He has begun to build a new (and continued) testimony in us. So, we decided to create a new blog. We'll keep our individual blogs too, but this one will be a place where we can tell our story and share some of the things the Lord has taught us through our relationship.

Stay tuned....