Judy Hopps is my Soul Sister

I know that we're a little late to the game, but on Friday night my family and I finally watched Zootopia. A movie about a determined bunny, rookie cop named Judy Hopps and her unlikely partner, a con artist fox named Nicholas Wilde, who work to uncover a conspiracy ailing the city of Zootopia.

As a parent, I loved this movie for my kids. Of course it was cute, funny, and full of teachable moments, but more than anything it was inspiring. It showed humanity in the form of animals, and was incredibly honest. The movie ends with Judy saying, "Life's a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you."

And this I love.

There are two major themes I took away from this movie.

The first...

I want my kids to know that yes, they may only be one person, but they have a voice and it should be used for good. They should speak up for those that cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8), and never forget that they have to power to be courageous. We live in a world that is full of negativity and evilness, but yet in spite of that there are still good things here. Still beautiful moments and people and experiences, and we each have the opportunity to be a light in the darkness...to embrace who we are and soar.

(It's honestly a little difficult to believe the words above in light of this weekend's events in Orlando, Florida. On Friday, a beautiful, young, talented singer named Christina Grimmie was murdered after performing at her concert, and then on Sunday morning 50 innocent lives were stolen at the hands of an Islamic terrorist. It's unfathomable how so much harm was done in such a short amount of time, especially all in the same city! I'm absolutely sick over these vicious attacks...I just don't understand. I know that my God is bigger than this evilness and the only thing I find peace in is knowing that He is in control, and He is a just God, and those responsible for these horrific acts will face justice one way or another.)   

The second...

Another theme in this movie is sweet Judy and her "I can be anything!" attitude. Now, as someone that tries and fails often, I admired seeing a character so determined and full of gumption. (For the record, this may be my favorite word, as it literally means "shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness", and that my friend is me in a nutshell. Gumption doesn't mean you always succeed, but it means you try.)

Anyway, while Judy is determined to become a cop (the first bunny cop!), her parents have a different way of looking at things.

In case you didn't watch the video, here's the just of it:

Bonnie Hopps: Of course, it is okay to have dreams.

Stu Hopps: Just as long as you don't believe too much in them.

While Stu and Bonnie Hopps mean well, they are straight up dream killers. It's perfectly fine to be realistic and share your concerns with someone, but to spew negativity stating how you just know something will not work out, or that it's definitely not a good idea is just foolish. Because here's the thing -- these people don't know how things will turn out. Just because they don't believe it can happen doesn't mean it can't.

I know many people just like Judy's parents who eagerly share how awful my plan/dreams/goals sounds. And considering that I have many interests and goals and sometimes go overboard in executing them, I somewhat understand the concern...but why not offer support or encouragement? Why not have faith and believe in that person, or why not simply keep your lips zipped?

I don't know what my future holds, but I know that if animated movies like Zootopia give me goosebumps and inspire me to keep going, then that's enough for me. I'm so thankful for movies like Zootopia and hope that my children grow up to be as determined and persistent as sweet Judy Hopps. 

Lake Lure, I Love You!

Only a 4 hour drive from our home in Charleston, my family and I frequently visit the Asheville, North Carolina area. I've loved this area since the first time we explored it, and that's mostly due to the enchanting Biltmore Estate. 

During those first visits we stayed in Asheville at hotels, but have ventured further away from the city and into the beautiful mountains. From Black Mountain to Bat Cave to Lake Lure, each cabin and location offered something unique. However, our most recent trip occurred over Memorial Day weekend, and was hands down the best cabin trip we've ever taken. And the beautiful Lake Lure area gets all the credit for this accomplishment. 

Lake Lure is as unique as it is beautiful, with it's winding mountain roads, mountain and lake views, and small-town feel. For most of the year, only 1200-1400 people actually live in Lake Lure, but once summer hits nearly 10 times that amount spend their days in Lake Lure! I can absolutely understand why, as there is something here for everyone. To put this quaint area into perspective, have you seen a little movie called Dirty Dancing? Well, Lake Lure was the location of that film and it's just as charming now as it was when we watched Johnny get Baby out of that corner. 

We only spent 1 full day actually exploring the Lake Lure area, but were able to see the entire lake via boat tour (highly recommended!) and walked around the town center to the Lake House Diner for lunch (where I had an absolutely delicious burger). There was also an arts and craft show happening, and my sister-in-law and I stopped by to browse. We couldn't have prayed for better weather, and it was just the perfect day.

While there's tons to do, perhaps the most enjoyable thing was sitting on the deck at our cabin and enjoying the solitude. The cabin was located in a private community with access to a lake, picnic area, and trails. With three toddlers in tow (my 2 and my sweet nephew) we didn't utilize the amenities, but instead enjoyed being in the middle of nature. I can't explain how peaceful it was, and how peaceful I felt.

It was quiet.

It was calming.

And I felt closer to God than I have in a long time. 

We did have access to the internet and television, but we didn't watch TV a lot and barely used the internet. We basically had a technology detox and it was fabulous!

The following day we headed to Biltmore, but I'm going to save that post for another day. I don't know when we'll visit Lake Lure again, but I'm praying that it is sooner than later. :)

**Below is a list of cabins we've personally stayed at and recommend if you're interested in visiting this wonderful area!

2 Bed/3 Bath Cabin that I talked about in my post. :)

3 Bed/3 Bath Cabin located on Lake Lure with gorgeous views! We stayed here in January and it was stunning.

Unfortunately, the cabin that we stayed at in Black Mountain overlooking the river is no longer available, but if you can find a similar one I say book it! There's nothing like waking up to the sounds of the river paired with a mountain view.

Book Review: Love & Gelato

A few weeks ago I had the most vivid and beautiful dream. Everything was crisp and it felt so real. Luckily, Keith, the kids, and I were in Tuscany and then Cinque Terre, and I woke up on cloud 9. The next day I brought the kids to Barnes and Noble‬ and I happened to find Love & Gelato sitting on a table. I knew that I not only had to purchase it, but read it immediately.

My hopes were high, as my yearning for Italy has grown over the last few months (if you can believe it), and I was actually hoping to find a fiction novel based in Italy that day at BN. I began reading Love & Gelato last weekend on our way to Lake Lure for a weekend getaway, and finished a few days later.

I am pleased to report that this book easily met my expectations, and I loved exploring Florence with Lina and Ren. While this book is considered a Young Adult book and is for readers 12 and up, I thought it was a perfect summer read. (And technically, 30 is still considered "young adult", right? ;)) Another reviewer of this book stated, "I have a hole in my heart shaped exactly like Italy, so this was a delicious story to sink into to." I wish I'd said this, because it's exactly how I feel. 

Love & Gelato is written by Jenna Evans Welch and is her debut novel. (!!!) So, what's it actually about?

From Amazon.com:

A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure. 

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. 

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself. 

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

So besides beautiful Italy, what's so great about this book? For starters, I love Welch's writing style and her ability to paint such detailed pictures of Florence. I love how the relationships between characters blossom and how the reader is able to get to know each person personally. I enjoyed laughing out loud to different parts of this book, and felt empathy for sweet Lina as she navigated life without her mom. And to top it off, my favorite quote was used in this story: "A life without love is like a year without summer."

Overall, I highly recommend reading Love & Gelato and anything else Jenna Evans Welch writes!

Weekend End Wrap-Up

This past weekend was one filled with tears (the good kind), exploring, resting, and relaxing.

On Friday, Keith and I headed out on an early date and saw the movie that I've been looking forward to for months, Me Before You. Having read the book, I knew what I was getting myself into, but that didn't stop me from sobbing the last 30 minutes of the film. This story is one of love and loss and is hauntingly beautiful, and I highly recommend watching it. However, maybe check it out on a Sunday afternoon instead of on a big Friday night. After the movie, Keith and I went out to dinner and both felt a bit exhausted and heavy after watching the ever delightful Louisa Clark and the handsome Will Traynor.

Silently sobbing makes for a good swollen face :)

We awoke on Saturday to a bright and sunny day, and decided to take the kids out and explore a bit of Charleston. While we always say that we live in Charleston, we actually live 20 minutes from downtown and don't venture out as often as we'd like. One of our favorite places, Cypress Gardens, was damaged during last year's massive flood and has yet to re-open, so we're always looking for new places to go with the kids.

Keith mentioned heading to Fort Moultrie, which is located in Sullivan's Island about 40 minutes from our house, and I hesitantly agreed. The only time we visited was years ago during the winter and we froze our butts off. However, this time around we had the most wonderful experience!

Arabella has been taking very unpredictable naps and ended up sleeping for most of the time, so she missed out on exploring the fort and checking out the cannons. We ended up wandering around the front of the fort and discovered a path to Sullivan's Beach!

Our little Bella Reese woke up to see one of favorite places (if not her favorite!) and loved hanging out in the water. After spending time at Ft. Moultire, we stopped for lunch and ice cream, Toys R Us, and headed home to relax for the rest of the evening.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling a bit sore and had a pretty intense backache. I think the combination of walking a little too much and riding in Keith's lifted truck made this happen, but I was still feeling okay. Then, my sweet Gavin tried to give me a kiss and accidentally head-butted me in the nose. Now, as a mom I've been head-butted plenty of times before, but this time was incredibly painful. I immediately burst into tears and checked for blood, because I was sure that my nose was broken. Luckily, there was no blood and if anything my nose is only bruised, but the headache it caused lasted for most of the day. :( Gavin felt horrible but I assured him that it was okay, but I was pretty much useless the rest of the day. We did get to watch Djokovic win the French Open (GO DJOK!!!!) and that was awesome.

I also watched the Miss USA pageant and really enjoyed seeing how diverse and intelligent this year's contestant were. Pageants get a lot of heat for being just "beauty pageants", and yes these women are beautiful, but they are also strong and intelligent and fearless. I follow a lot of the contestants and pageant sites on Instagram and my favorites going in to the competition were South Carolina, South Dakota, and Hawaii. After the initial introductions, I was also rooting for D.C. to win because I admire her service in the Army. 

District of Columbia, Hawaii, South Carolina, and South Dakota

All of my favorites made it to the Top 10, except South Carolina who made it to the Top 15. Each year I watch this and it is clear that you must have confidence and poise to make it to the interview, but if you bomb said interview then you're toast! Alabama and California were fan favorites and doing so well, and then their answers were lacking and a bit painful to watch and they did not move forward. 

It does seem a bit convenient that the military contestant was asked a question about the government allowing women to fight in combat, while Hawaii was asked who she was going to vote for (Clinton vs. Trump...really????). Both contestants handled the questions well, but I do think Hawaii had an unfair advantage that may have cost her the crown. 

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and I am so thankful that I get to do life with these people!

How was your weekend? 

What did you do?

Hello Again!

After a few months writing at my new blog, A (Lindsey) Christmas Story, I've decided to jump ship and start again at My Dolce Vita. I've written at MDV for years but felt that I needed a fresh start on a new site. Well, I was wrong. That fresh space felt cold and unwelcoming, and I'm SO glad to be back here with all of you!

I only posted a handful of times over at A (Lindsey) Christmas Story, and I imported those posts to this site so that nothing is lost. (Well, comments posted on the other site were lost, but only because I was unable to successfully convert the Wordpress file to a Blogger format :/) Looking back at what I've written here on My Dolce Vita, my heart is warmed each time I read a post from the past. I started blogging after moving to South Carolina in 2009, and this blog has seen everything from becoming engaged, wedding planning, getting married, pregnancies, babies, and so much more. While not everything written was rainbows and sunshine, it's all a part of my journey and I love reminiscing.

So, why did I name this blog My Dolce Vita?

Anyone that truly knows me knows of my love affair with Italy, and My Dolce Vita seemed like a perfect fit. "Dolce Vita" means "sweet life", and while my life isn't perfect it sure is sweet. :) Although I've yet to visit Italy, I'm waiting and praying for my evening in Roma. And when it finally happens, it is going to be a dream come true.

A bit of a life update since writing consistently...

* Keith and I have now been married for a little over 6 years

* Gavin is 4 years-old and Arabella will soon be 3

* I've just earned my Masters degree in Human Services Counseling with a Criminal Justice Cognate

* I haven't made it to law school yet, but I haven't given up

* We still live in Charleston, South Carolina after living briefly in Atlanta, GA and Mooresville, NC

* I am the big 3-0 and I'm loving it

* After trying to get pregnant for a year, it finally happened in November '15, but then we lost this sweet child by miscarriage in December '15. We named him/her Hayden.

* Only two months after the miscarriage we were blessed with another baby, and I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant and due with a sweet boy (Ethan Elijah) in November

* I've fallen head-over-heels in love with the Biltmore Estate

* Now that school is over I've been reading for leisure, and it's brought immense happiness to my life. I used to be an avid reader, and hope to keep making time for this hobby.

* In 2015 I restarted my wedding videography business and renamed it in my grandmother's honor. I'm currently filming weddings in South Carolina and Georgia and I'm very thankful to carry on her legacy.

I think that's pretty much it! I'm looking forward to writing here and sharing more of my story with all of you!

After the Storm, There is a Rainbow

It’s taken awhile to write about this miracle blessing, partly because I’ve been protective and partly because I didn’t know what to say…but only two and a half months after miscarrying our sweet Hayden, I saw the words “pregnant” on a Clear Blue pregnancy test.

It was three days before my period for February was due, and for a few days prior I had been experiencing symptoms associated with implantation bleeding. As much as I wanted to deny these symptoms, I know my body and I know when things aren’t normal, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Losing the baby we tried all of 2015 to conceive right before Christmas was devastating, and I was still struggling greatly at the end of February to cope with this loss.

Technically, I should have waited to test on Thursday, February 25th, but I was anxious and decided to test on Monday, February 22nd. I’ve never had a pregnancy test come back positive that early, and in fact Hayden’s test didn’t register positive until the day I missed my period. But there it was, that big fat PREGNANT written on the Clear Blue test.

February 22, 2016

 I immediately cried, and felt joy and fear and thankfulness all at the same time. I ran to Keith and told him our great news and he was overjoyed that we were pregnant again! I called my doctor and they had me go in that day to check my hCG levels. I went back on Wednesday and Friday of that week, and my numbers jumped from 14 to 47 to 146, and then the following week we tested again and the hCG number was 2,560. 

We waited a week before telling the world about our newest blessing, but those closest to us knew right away.

Since February 22nd I’ve had quite a few prenatal appointments and one ultrasound. So far, everything is looking really good. I will be 13 weeks on Thursday and thankfully entering the 2nd trimester. I have felt very tired and hungry, and have had a constant uneasy stomach. Up until week 8, I craved nothing, could not eat any meat, but was always hungry. (Thank God for saltines and ginger.) Since then, my stomach is still uneasy but I am craving organic oranges (because they are sweet, juicy, and freaking delicious), tomatoes in Italian dressing, pineapples, and dill pickle chips.  I’ve been able to eat meat again, but I’m taking my time adding this back to my diet because one wrong move and I’m nauseated for the day! Also, I've had to remove dairy from my diet because anything from cheese to milk to yogurt upsets my tummy. 

Rainbow Baby Christmas at 6.5 weeks

Gavin and Arabella are incredibly excited about our new family member, and Gavin often kisses my tummy and talks to the baby. We’ve told him our baby names and he loves them all, and he also likes to stick things down his shirt and tells me that he’s having a baby, too. 

Rainbow Baby at 12 weeks

As for me, I am thankful for this new life. I have not forgotten about Hayden and sometimes I even feel guilty for being happy and not dwelling on our loss, but I’ve read that’s a normal feeling to have. It’s strange to think had Hayden lived, this new baby would not exist. As a mother, I will always mourn the loss of our sweet Hayden, and even now I can’t stop the tears just thinking about him/her. I had a dream recently and there was a beautiful, red-headed baby with a button nose in it. The baby was happy and smiling, and while I’m not sure, I think this was my Hayden. And my heart broke a little, but I do feel peace knowing that my baby is with Jesus.

This new precious life growing inside of me has helped heal my wounds from the miscarriage, and I like to think that Hayden helped pick this baby out. I will never question God’s plan, but will count my blessings as they are given. We are only a few weeks out from finding out the gender, and either way, we are so thrilled to welcome our newest Little Christmas.

30th Birthday Recap

The day I turned 30 was truly one of the best days of my life. It was the kind of day that you want to revisit over and over and not change a single detail. It was spent at one of my favorite places with my favorite people, and was practically perfect.

We awoke bright and early and left our cabin in Lake Lure at 8:00am and headed to Asheville, which was about an hour away. The winding mountain roads mixed with the morning light made for lovely ride. I spoke with sweet friends and family, and we arrived at the Biltmore around 9:00am. After stopping at the Will Call desk to take our season pass holder pictures and pick up our equestrian tickets, we headed to Antler Hill Village to drop off my dad and the kids. Then, Keith and I headed to Deer Park Barn where we had reservations for an hour-long trail ride!

 This was my first time riding a horse and I was a little worried about how this ride would go, but I’m happy to report that we had a fantastic time! Our trail ride leader, Caitlyn, was so friendly and knowledgable, and we really enjoyed riding through the forest and learning about the Biltmore. My horse’s name was Leo and he was a sweet, fast-walking, while Keith rode Diesel, who was a slow and gentle guy.

After our ride, we grabbed my Dad and the kids and headed to the Estate! For only $20 you can valet park your car, and that it what we do every time we visit. (The convenience outweighs the price by far!) We made our way to the Stable Cafe, which is a restaurant located in, you guessed it, an old horse stable. While it might not sound appealing, it is in fact a lovely restaurant with excellent food! I recommend the estate-grown burger and potato soup.

After lunch we walked the grounds in front of the house and enjoyed the view of the beautiful architecture and mountains in the distance.

Next, we stopped to take in the gorgeous mountain view that frames the Estate, then headed inside for an audio tour. 

After our day of exploring, we headed back to our cabin in Lake Lure and relaxed, ate some cake, and thanked God for our blessings!