Hi! I am Holly, and here at my Blog I hope that you are encouraged and motivated to love your life fully. I hope to share messages of hope with you through my honesty. My mission is to build up women by inspiring them to be better through sharing life and learning together!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Day One.



I am taking a personal challenge to connect with God for 30 minutes for 30 days. After a long night of Ashton’s monitor having a major malfunction and beeping all night, and Mia having a nightmare about alligators and sharks, I was very tired. The last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed at 5:50 to start my commitment of 30 minutes focused on God, without distraction. However, in the stillness of the dark I felt God leading me, telling me you can do it and it will be worth it. I rose up, went straight to the kettle, made hot tea, and spent a few minutes listening to loud worship music and walking around my living room. It worked; I had woken up my body and my soul. I was ready. I dove into the word, and felt God surrounding me and even giving me joy for a Monday. What Joy for a Monday, does anyone else think that this is almost impossible? However, God did it; he honored my time and perseverance and gave me such a gift of Joy for this Monday. I woke up made homemade blueberry muffins, which for me is a miracle in it itself. I lit candles, and when my family woke up, I said, do you know what today is, it is Monday and God is going to give us joy today. In Psalm 1 God tells us, that people who seek him and his word are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do. I am thankful for God in my life, and that today he made me a tree that had much fruit to bear for me and my family.



Saturday, September 1, 2012

We cant wait to meet you!



Let the countdown begin…
I am nine months pregnant and within days of seeing my baby boy. After a very lengthy process with two very particular people our son’s name will be Ashton Blake Barton. We are in love with this name and I feel like it already fits this growing boy inside of me. Between the two names it means: Strength, Bright, Fortunate, Blessed and happy, which are all things we hope for our son. We had so much fun decorating his room. Reed and I both agreed that we wanted to do a very peaceful ocean theme room. What better place to find stuff then my Grandfather’s collection. He is a major collector and I have free reign into his stuff. I was able to get most of the pieces for his room there and create a very serene space that we love! This summer on my Birthday, at my favorite beach in Nags Head, we wrote his name in the sand and created the art work that is hanging over his bed. I also was able to scoop up a very old Outer Banks Map that fit in really well. Our furniture that we are using was passed on to us, used by a very special little boy named Cameron, who is my God Son, then Mia, and now Ashton. Reed and I love this space and can’t wait to have the best part in there, Ashton!







Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Finding the Majestic in the Snow....

This week I am thankful for the majestic in my life. The last month has been pretty hard for this Stay at Home Momma!! Winter brings many fun things; warm fires, hot chocolate and even cozy movie days, curled up with the ones you love. However, winters also bring nasty viruses that last way to long. Unfortunately, the Barton house has had nasty viruses and a dose of croup that have kept us up all day and night. Having to stay at home, staying up all night, being the one that gives the around the clock, with no time or energy to recharge, its gets tiring and lonely quick. The mundane days start running together. I have felt worn out lately by picking up messes, and cleaning up after a very sick family, while being sick myself. I was feeling down and did not even really know it until yesterday morning, when I woke up to a mild snowy Wonderland. Now it was not a ton of snow but just enough to cover my neighborhood and make it look beautiful. I took out the snowboarding gear and as soon as Mia got up we geared and went out in our small NC blizzard. I took a long walk with my sweet baby girl. It was magical and a gift from God. The Sun was rising and there was a peaceful quiet that lay over our streets. Mia was so excited about the “Smow”, and finding the birds and the cows. We even found some small birds that were singing in a small tree right at Mia’s level. I felt a peace come over me in this Small Winter Wonderland. I felt like I could breathe easier and could release a huge burden that I was carrying and did not even know it. It was such a sweet reminder from God that he is and has been with me this last month. I also felt reminded that these small things mean so much to him. He sees me persevering in these small moments, when I have absolutely nothing left to give but I go to the crib and gladly scoop up my little girl and rock her little sick body. God has given me exactly what I have needed and I just did not recognize it, but yesterday I did. I even come home and did a snowflake craft with Mia, and we laughed a ton and turned out to be a great day.
 For anybody that is asking these same questions, am I in God’s will, feeling like your days are just running together, is what I am doing enough, where did my joy go?, I would encourage you to just stop and find the majestic in your life. It may be very small but I believe you will find it like I did yesterday. Be encouraged that you are not alone, God will give you the Joy that you need….

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Monday, September 5, 2011

Our Summer……

The Barton Bunch had a great summer. The summer was full of a lot of traveling and summer activities.  There are some special moments that we had this summer. We were able to go to Myrtle Beach for nine nights with some of our family and we were able to soak up the sun and relax. Mia loved the beach and the pool and loved to say One, Two, And Three and then jump in the pool.
I also was able to be part of a Breast Cancer run with some of my friends. This was a first for me and really loved running for such a great cause.  Mia had some fun firsts this summer. Mia checked out her first library book, built her first tent in Hurricane Irene, planted her first plant and had her first Yoga class. It has been so great to share these moments with her.
Reed and I have been able to have more time for ourselves now that Mia is older. We both have been taking time to get back into shape, do the things that we love, and focus on our relationship again. We both were able to have weekends away hanging out with friends, just being Reed and Holly. I was able to have a great weekend in Richmond with some of my favorite ladies. We did some intense wedding planning for my cousin. We laughed and had such a great weekend. Now that the summer is coming to an end we are really looking forward to the fall. Some of the highlights that I can’t wait to share more about are our six year anniversary trip, and our 60 day insanity workout program. Until then, happy fall, love The Barton Bunch!