Thanks to G.D.N. (Girl's Date Night)

I wanted to thank the girls who have been spending G.D.N with me! I've had so much fun getting to know all of you, there's never a dull moment. It's really great having a group of people that you can count on and especially ones you really enjoy spending time with.

So far we've enjoyed:

 To come...December 3rd! I can't wait!

Let's keep this going! I really enjoy it. :)

Love,

Hollie

Hypocrisy and me

Jon brought to my attention last weekend that my having a blog is hypocritical of me when I talk about the uselessness of Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter. I understand the similarity between sharing my thoughts and some photographs on Blogspot and those of you who chose to do so on a social network. I understand the similiarity but my opinion is totally different. I don't have 500 friends on here and I'm not checking status updates every two hours. I use my blog as a channel for my energy and thoughts, that's about it. I am grateful for it because I have my own personal journal that won't ever be erased; I'm just not much for handwriting anymore. I wouldn't fret if I lost my three readers (Sarah, Tasi, & Krysten.. I love you) because in a lot of ways this is for me. I go back and read my posts a lot, it's just as theraputic as when I write them.
I have several family members and friends who are attached to a networking account and I don't think any less of them. My opinion of the situation is just that, an opinion. I'm not trying to force anyone else to agree with me or to see my way.
This post is to extend an apology to anyone I may have offended by my previous post. Don't be upset by my opinion. I don't care if somebody finds my having a blog and hating Facebook hypocritical, neither should you.

Love,
me

The Pollution of Privacy

I realize that 90% of our population is now involved, so please don't take this as a personal attack. I read something last week that hit a nerve. Although related in a minor way it got me thinking about our society and what we have become.

• I'm driving down the street and while passing the Moore's Family BBQ & Seafood Restaurant I notice their billboard says "Visit us on Facebook".
• I'm settling in to watch an episode of Sons of Anarchy when a Macy's ad appears and at the end of it they tell me to visit them on Facebook and Twitter.
• My father-in-law's wife runs into me at Wal-Mart and informs me of the family Halloween party coming up; she then tells me I would have known sooner if only I had a Facebook account, then she could have sent me an invite.

I've made it abundantly clear what these three topics have in common. It seems like within the past year, maybe two (I could be mistaken) we have been bombarded publicly with "status updates", "tweets", and the little thumbs up icons asking us if we "like this".


I'm gonna go ahead & dislike this.

It amazes me how quickly we've adapted to social networking; not only are adults spending their lives on the site, now companies are creating profiles and using it as a marketing tool. Look how quickly we began depending on something that was created by a 20 year old college freshman. Are we that senseless and insecure?


Facebook may be free, but I promise you everything comes with a price. Which is where I begin the second topic of this post.


Last week while I was reading the news I came across a story about a young, college going man on the east coast. This man was openly homosexual and had asked his roommate to give him some privacy while he spent time with his partner. He was unaware that his roommate had set up a web cam and was going to broadcast whatever relation the two males were going to engage in. He (being our roommate) then turned to our lovely convenient social networks and broad casted what he was doing and told everyone where they could watch. This happened not once, but twice. Due to technology and our society's sick idea of "acceptance" this young man jumped off the George Washington Bridge on September 23rd and ended his life. I am not positive, but 85% sure that throughout his short life he had to of encountered several acts of ridicule and torment, this act did not stand alone in forcing his suicide but it's probably what pushed him over the edge.


It angers me that this technology has created a disadvantage for many of us. As a society we have lost all sense of privacy and most importantly our younger generations have not learned how to warrant the privacy of others because they have been taught that it is normal to know what your colleagues are doing every minute of the day. That is not normal. In Entertainment Weekly it was written, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?" Has it really come to this? We have caved to the desire to intrude and even worse we allow intrusion. I graduated high school in 2004, Facebook was created that very year; somehow I was able to maintain a healthy adolescence without the convenience of the Internet. We communicated. I didn't even have a cell phone until I was 17 (only because my mother insisted since I started driving), now my 12 year old nephew has one nestled in his pocket. I fear for the future because of what we have already lost.


Save some face, you've only got one. And ask yourself this, how important is your privacy to you? Better yet, how important is it when it comes to the ones you care about the most. For the family of the unfortunate young man who took his life, I'm sure they are feeling how very important their son's privacy should have been right now.

With a bonny, bonny bone that I'll burry for me own...

...in my bonny, bonny bank in the backyard.


So...let me do my very best to explain; this one is going to be hard to put into words. A few weekends ago I was playing games with my siblings and their spouses while the kids watched a movie. The movie they chose was, suprise, Lady and the Tramp. I had not seen this movie since I was somewhere between 0 and 10; I was pleasantly suprised by the thoughts that were present in me as a result of seeing it again. It was taxing to take my eyes away from the television to continue kicking ass in the game, but I was settled once I asked Melanie (my sister) if I could borrow it and she said yes.
Because I had been so young the last time I saw old Jock burrying bones in his backyard upon seeing it again my memory only had one place to take me...my childhood. Memories of my childhood rushed my mind with a vengeance. I can't possibly relive those experiences with you, but what I can tell you is how incredible my young life was. Before I was somewhat grown and had the ability to mess up the innocence my parents had bestowed on me, I was just a little girl who depended on her family. The home my mother and father so delicately crafted for their children won't ever come close to being forgotten. I know that I haven't thanked them enough for the things they have given me. Holidays were always a big deal (and so special),...accomplishments or interests never went unnoticed, numerous vacations together, love surrounded us daily; I can't think of one moment where I didn't feel protected or safe in their presence. I never wanted for anything, a goal I'm positive wasn't easy to reach. In my eyes mom and dad appeared to do this effortlessly. Nothing is ever perfection; I'm not trying to paint an unrealistic picture but who are we kidding, compared to wonderful the tough times are much easier to erase.

It isn't everyday that something so perfectly triggers moments in your life that made you extremely happy. It's not that it had so much to do with Lady and the Tramp, but that was my trigger. I watched it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, Jim dear. ;) One day I will own a bloodhound just like Trusty and so help me I will name him Old Reliable. I would love to know where my avid love for animals (dogs especially) came from. It was very theraputic and emotional for me to go through the experience of seeing a childhood favorite Disney of mine. If you are aware of something that can trigger a happy time in your life for you, go for it. If you've yet to find that trigger I hope you do someday soon.
It got me thinking about the children I may have someday and how I want their lives to be. There is nothing I want more than to grant my children the life I was so successfully given. I hope that I can be present the way my mother was and even the loving provider my father was. I am so grateful to learn from two amazing examples. In a way this is a tribute to you, mom and dad, for everything you blessed me with. I love you more than you will ever ever imagine. I could not have picked better parents than the ones God chose me for. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have such a tight grasp on family and nothing will ever loosen that grip.
Jon has given me the enlightenment of a new family, one I created and I am forever indebted to him as well. We are just two peas in a pod, exactly; our life is not on a leash. Look there’s a great big hunk of world down there with no fence around it where two dogs can find adventure and excitement, and beyond those distant hills who knows what wonderful experiences. And it’s all ours for the taking, Pige. It’s all ours. I couldn't have said it better myself. Jon and I are our very own version of a Lady and a Tramp. (no pun intended Jonny)

I can't express something I hold so dear, but for your sake I hope that you, darling, can at least relate to whatever I was able to describe.

Love,
Hollie Katina

Love of a Lifetime

Check out our new blog!

http://www.jonandholl.blogspot.com/

I will be keeping both updated so keep following Sweet Surrender too!

Thank you.

Love,
Hollie

I am human and I am wasteful.

Have you ever felt like you are missing something? Was there something you should have done, something you should have said, should you have held onto a moment for longer than you did? This feeling has come over me several times and it’s a hard one to shake. Its like from your earliest memory to where you are now the events in my life surround me and run past me in panoramic view. I can see being a little girl-holding my Daddy's hand while he takes me trick-or-treating, to my teenage quirks and mistakes (or lessons) that have lead me to where I am now. To pivotal moments with my loved ones, moments I’ve lived and would re-live a thousand times over if I could. It’s an overwhelming thought to think about how quickly your life slips through your fingers. Moments come and then they are taken away. Something shattering and life altering could happen to me tomorrow and what would I remember? Would I have done everything in my power to make the days I’ve lived worth while? My mother recently shared with me that a dear friend of hers has been given his last six weeks to live; like I said a few sentences above I’ve felt these emotions towards my life before but when she told me that something clicked. If I were told I had six weeks to live I would ____________ (fill in the blank). Flip out and completely lose myself? That’s the first thing that comes to my mind. Instinct. I can’t tell you what I’d do. You could say I’m grateful-when my life experiences envelope my mind I see beauty. But this is the unanswered question I ask, have I seen? Did I revel in what I was created for, my purpose? It feels almost like time has rushed by and I haven’t had the chance to see. Let me go back and pick up the things I left behind that I should have kept hidden in the box that I call my very own. What moment placed itself right before my very eyes that I completely missed? I want to know. I am human and I am wasteful. I’m always pushing for tomorrow, but what about today? I ask myself all these questions but I have yet to find an answer. I cannot be told, I can only find them. I have seen beauty-golden fields of grain, friendship, green mountaintops so high, never ending rivers going to places they only know about, a child being born, a family so close, the sun shining in my wondrous eyes, the warmth of it on my skin, love, and loss. I fear that I will forget. This nervous thought that I’ve missed something important is triggered in me at the most random of times. I wish I knew, so I could change tomorrow. What am I missing?

Summer 2010 Update

Summer is whizzing by! I can't believe we are nearing the end of July. Jon and I have been enjoying our summer and keeping busy. It has been the best possible year, I couldn't ask for anything greater from our relationship right now. We had a blast on our week getaway to Bear Lake and Jackson Hole over the 4th and after. Now we are taking a break and spending time working around the house. Last weekend we refinished our deck and it looks awesome! I planted some herbs and flowers that look so cute around our house. One day I'll have a big enough yard for a huge garden! We are counting down the days until our Lake Powell trip in September and really just couldn't be happier.

Spending time with eachother, our family, and loved ones is the ultimate best. Happy summer!

Independence!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend with family and friends; have a safe and memorable time!

Happy Fourth of July!