Day One

Good afternoon, dear friends! This morning I began Day One of the Young Living Nutritive Cleanse. Each day you follow the same routine. For breakfast , lunch, and dinner, you take one Digest and Cleanse softgel thirty minutes before drinking the Balance Complete shake, then drink 2-4 ounces of Ninxia Red. There are certain snacks allowed but it is my goal to stick solely to the cleanse itself. 

I'm about to make my lunch portion of the cleanse in a few minutes but wanted to update y'all on what's happening! 

I'll post again tomorrow on Day Two!! 😊

Young Living 5 Day Cleanse

Hello, all! My Young Living 5 day cleanse came in the mail this afternoon! I plan to start it tomorrow morning. I am interested to see my results after the five days! My weight as of this morning : 152.6 pounds 😱😱😱😰😰😰

I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) in November. One symptom is difficulty losing weight. I've been swimming pretty regularly up until Christmas break last month. I'm hoping to start back tomorrow!! 🏊🏼

2015 Year Review

Hello, dear readers! 2014 and 2015 have been eventful years for sure. Caleb and I are now living in Fayetteville, Arkansas since he accepted a teaching position in fall of 2014 at the University of Arkansas. I found a job watching three wonderful children for a local family. I truly love it. 

I also got a membership to a local gym and have been swimming a lot, which is great. I was able to get my mile under 35 minutes!! 

My new nephew arrived in February 2015. Theo is so happy and snuggly. Cara and Felicity are growing up very fast. I'm thankful that we are only about 4 1/2 hours away from them!! 

My 25th birthday was Monday. Caleb had a necklace made for me with a blue topaz that he kept for 15 years. I love it. He has always given me thoughtful presents.  

Im looking forward to what 2016 will hold! 

Change of Plans

Well, Caleb and I had a wonderful Christmas break visiting our families! We were able to stay the night with one of our friend's parents who live in Denver so we didn't have to leave our apartment in the wee hours of the morning! I was so excited to be able to see my family that I didn't get a good sleep (I woke up at 1:30 am and could not go back to sleep!). 

Poor Arwen had to stay behind alone at the apartment. One of the women from church checked in on her to make sure Arwen had food, water, and a clean litterbox. Arwen was SO happy to finally have us back; the first night she would not stop "making biscuits" on my shoulder. 

The first day Caleb went back to his job, he found out that he wasn't rehired for the subsequent year. While we knew this job was a one-year contract, we were expecting to be in Gunnison for at least another year. We were both devastated by this news. The next day I wanted to make a nice meal in the CrockPot using a recipe from my cookbook that I got for Christmas. (When the cookbook says to use a 4 quart CrockPot, don't use a 7 quart CrockPot!!!) Needless to say, the pork chops burned and I cried buckets of tears. I just wanted to make something nice so we could enjoy something during this turmoil. I felt like the worst wife ever because I tried to comfort my husband and failed miserably. 

It's now March; Caleb has been applying to colleges and universities almost daily. I'm praying and hoping that we hear something positive soon. We really would like to move closer to family. 

Love to all! 

So Much Stuff!!!

Since my husband and I are moving at the end of the summer, I have started to go through my clothes, books, shoes, and various other items that we haven't used in more than 6 months. So far, I have decided to get rid of 4-5 dresses, two hoodies, one jacket/coat, lots of magazines, 3 books, lots of plastic cups we got for free, a candle, two unused tubs of coffee creamer, lotions, body washes, and body sprays, and nail polishes. 

I'm really not looking forward to moving our books; Caleb has a lot of textbooks that are thick and heavy. If people help us pack, I'm going to delegate that task to them. Maybe I should start packing books and other things we haven't used now? I'm also not looking forward to moving a fish and a fishtank across the country. 

I think the first thing I'm going to do when we move in to our new apartment is organize the kitchen. The next thing I'm going to do is make the bed. I don't care if it sounds ridiculous; having an organized kitchen and a bed that is made makes me feel so much better!! 

Colorado or Bust!

I am a terrible blogger! I really hope to get better about blogging soon.

Well, since you're reading this, a few major things have happened:

1) Caleb and I celebrated our two year anniversary on Tuesday. We went to Russell's Beef House in Corinth, MS, and were going to see Iron Man 3 until Caleb looked up the reviews on a Christian-based values website. So, no Iron Man 3 until it comes out at the Redbox. Dinner was excellent; we both had the rib-eye steak along with a baked potato. 

2) I did not graduate in May. I had to deal with some personal issues I was facing, which slowed down my academic career. I do plan on finishing college, though! I'm slowly getting on the right track again. 

3) Caleb has been applying to jobs since his doctoral graduation in December. He had a phone interview with Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska. Since that interview went well, the college decided to fly him out for a face-to-face interview in April. He got to stay with his sister and her family instead of in a cold, lonely hotel room, which was wonderful. I picked him up from the airport in Birmingham after Wednesday night services and drove home. It was so good to see him again. I don't sleep when he is gone. About a week after he got back, he was expecting a phone call to inform him whether or not he got the job. He was told to expect a call on Monday; the call didn't come until Friday after he called the person in charge and asked about the position. So from Monday until Friday afternoon, he was kind of grumpy and fed up about having to wait for this phone call. Caleb found out the position had been filled, and was very gracious in taking the bad news. His mood seemed to get better since now he knew that he needed to apply to more jobs (a task he vehemently stated to me that he disliked). 

A few weeks later, he got an email from Western State Colorado University requesting a phone interview on a certain day and time. He informed them that he was not interested in staying at their institution permanently. I did not think Caleb would get the job since he said he wasn't interested in staying permanently; he had the same thoughts. 

Well, on Wednesday, Caleb, Benjamin, and I walked over to the local donut shop for breakfast. After breakfast, we decided to visit the Handy Man rental store next door. The owner asked Caleb how close he was to finding a job and Caleb said that he had a phone interview with WSCU a couple of weeks ago. I walk into the health food store next door and start up a conversation with the lady working there, who also asks about Caleb's job hunt. A few minutes into our conversation, Caleb walks in and says, "WSCU offered me the job! I told them that I would talk to you about it first, though." I said, "Take it!! A job is a job!" Caleb asked if I wanted to think about it more and I said, "No! There is a sound church about an hour away. I've looked at apartments. There is nothing else I need to know!" So, we walk back to Caleb's parent's house and Caleb calls his friends and family to let them know the good news. I call my mom and tell her. She congratulated Caleb on finding a job.

Life will be changing at the end of July for the Holloways! I definitely need to buy some wool leggings and other warm gear! 

Update Post

     So, my last post was in OCTOBER of last year. Obviously since then, there have been lots of things happening in my life but I haven't gotten a chance to post about them!

     I got one of the best Christmas presents ever...my second niece was born on Christmas Day!! 

     My husband has been applying for post-doctoral positions in mathematics. So far he's applied to around 22 colleges and universities. We'll probably be moving sometime over the summer. However, we don't know where we'll be moving TO...

     This semester is my last at the University of Alabama. I'm set to graduate in May! :) 


   Well, that's basically what has happened over the past few months. I really hope that I can at least do a monthly update this year! ;)

-RCH