30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 21

Day 21 - A Photo of your Family and 5 facts about them

I couldn't just pick one picture, so I made a little video of pictures. However, after waiting for an hour and 30 minutes for the video to upload I decided to post without the video. I will try posting it again later or I will try to make a collage!

Here are my 5 facts about my family:

1. I hope that someday my children will look up to me the way I look up to my Parents. Their love and the way they love us and put our family first is something so inspiring and I am so blessed to be their daughter.

2. The top chefs in the world don’t even compare to my Grandma. She is the most amazing cook and one of the most amazing women I know. She has always been my cheerleader and her belief in me has always helped strengthen my belief in myself.

3. Grandma Krysl really taught me to keep my faith in God strong. When I was a little girl I remember her telling me “always remember that God let’s bad things happen so that even better things can happen,” and that kind of faith has helped me through some of the toughest times in life. She’s right, better things always come out of the bad. It was my Grandpa who helped me find my voice when I was little and he made me want to sing. Singing at church on Sundays or listening to my Grandpa sing on Sundays always fills my heart with joy.

4. My sister and brothers are amazing. We love, respect and understand each other and we always know how to have fun together. They have taught me so many things and I love them so much!

5. My aunts, uncles and cousins are awesome!! We always make it a point to get together to celebrate the little and big things- birthdays, holidays, and of course, Husker games! We also enjoy going on trips together and some of my best memories are from being with my family.

30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 20

Hello Everyone!! I am happy to be back!! Helen, my good friend who lives over 3 hours away from me gave me a to-do list and updating my blog was task number 1, so I decided to start back up by finishing my 30 day challenge!!

Day 20- A Photo of Something You Love

I was born a Husker!! Being born in September meant I "watched" my first game when I was 6 days old!! Ever since I can remember my family has had season tickets to the Husker football games, which means for as long as I can remember my family spends home game Saturdays during football season tailgating! If it's an away game, we get together at someone's house to watch the game. When I started college at UNL my family's tailgate became the gathering place for me and all my friends. When I graduated and was on the road traveling for AXiD my friends would call me and ask if they could go to the Krysl tailgate even though I wasn't there. The tailgate is known for the good food but more importantly the great times with great people. We even have our own little tailgate mascot, BobToBob, who has over 100 friends on facebook! Football season brings together two things I love- Husker football and tailgating- while bringing together the people I love to spend time with! If you are ever in the area be sure to stop by and say hello!! GO BIG RED!!

Happy 25th Birthday Dustin!!

Happy 25th Birthday Dustin!!!

You are the best and I am the luckiest!!

There are so many things that I love about you but I want you to know that

I love your love the most!!

Happy Birthday & All My Love,

E

30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 19

Day 19- A Photo of Something Cool

My baby brother, Colin, being awarded the gold medal in the 100 Fly! My Aunt Kolene took more pictures of the whole day, I will have to post them later! We are do proud!! Love you, Colin!

30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 18

Day 18- A Photo From Your Favorite Holiday

This is a tie between Christmas and Thanksgiving. Christmas for my family has always been a 3 day event spending Christmas Eve with my Grandma and Grandpa Krysl after going to church, spending Christmas Day at my Grandma Padilla's with my mom's side of the family and spending the day after Christmas with the whole Krysl side at Grandma and Grandpa's again. Padilla Christmas consists of opening presents all together in Grandma's living room and eating her famous spaghetti with her homemade sauce and homemade meatballs. Krysl Christmas consists of lots of noise, we usually play some games, a dance show (yes, we, the cousins, make up a dance and show it off) eat Grandpa's homemade soups and chili and if you are over 21 you can participate in the Santa Steal Exchange.

This year, I also was excited to add a little more to my Christmas celebration by spending time with Dustin and his family! We spent Christmas Eve, Eve with his mom's side of the family and Christmas Eve with his dad's side. It was a lot of fun and I was so thankful that I was included!

Thanksgiving is also one of my favorite holidays! When I was born (I am the oldest and was the first grandchild born on both sides) my parent's decided to start hosting Thanksgiving for my mom's side and my dad's side, at their house. As the family has grown so has the table and this past Thanksgiving there were 36 people at the table for the holiday! The food is delicious (everyone brings something) but what makes the dinner even more special is our grace. Everyone shares something they are thankful for and then we thank the Lord for the food and for being together and we ask him to bless our meal and time together. It is a special tradition and I love the time together.

Valentine's Day is another special holiday for my family, but I don't have any pictures of our family's Valentine's Day tradition. Ever since I can remember, my mom has always made a Valentine's Day breakfast, complete with a red table cloth on the table, heart shaped pancakes, red cranberry juice, a little goodie bag and a Valentine from her and my dad. For my family, Valentine's Day has always been about taking the day to really celebrate the love we have for one another. Now, don't get me wrong, we celebrated love everyday in my house, with "I Love You"s, hugs and kisses, but Valentine's Day we celebrated it even a little more, by taking the time to eat a special breakfast together as a family. This year, all of the significant others were included in the Valentine's Day breakfast, which meant a lot to my parents and to each of the siblings who are dating those significant ones! :)

Well now you all know all about my favorite holidays! Thanks for reading!!

Love,

Em

30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 17

Day 17- A Photo of Something That Has Impacted Your Life Recently
I am the Chapter Advisor for my sorority which means every Monday night I head to the AXiD House for their weekly Chapter Meeting. A few weeks ago one of our alumnae members, who is now a marriage & family therapist, came to the meeting to do an educational program on love, relationships and marriage. It was awesome! She gave us all note cards to take notes on and above is a photo of the front of my card. Her program was all about the 10 most important things you must have in a relationship in order for that relationship to become a successful marriage someday. Her purpose was to help us, as women, understand and identify those things you must have in your relationship if you are thinking about marrying that person. She said if you didn't have those things, that is a red flag and you need to take a step back an evaluate that relationship.

The program really impacted me because it made me realize how much I've grown and learned in the last few years. As I sat there listening and taking notes, I realized that for the first time in my life I am in a healthy and loving relationship that has true potential to turn into a healthy and successful marriage someday. I am very thankful for the lessons I've learned, thankful for the heartbreaks, and thankful for the mistakes I've made because they helped prepare me for the relationship I have with Dustin. Grandma always said that God lets bad things happen so good things can happen. I've always known she was right, but even more so now.

30 Day Photo Challenge- Playing Catch Up!- Day 16

Day 16- A Photo of Something That is On Your Bucket List

One of the things on my list is to visit a foreign country, and Ireland is the country I would love to visit someday!!