New Year 2018 // happy new year friends!! 2017 was rough, exhausting, and life-changing. There were so many times where I was more broken than I’ve ever been and struggled harder than ever to find the light at the end of the tunnel, and get back on my feet again. I lost some of my then-closest friends, experienced painful heartbreak, and dealt with a lot of difficult personal issues too. At times, I lost all of my self-confidence, strength to fight back, and every belief I ever had in myself. Too often, I (so-bad) just wanted to give up and throw away every dream, hope, and wish I had in store.

But you see, 2017 also came with some good. It was good that was a total pain in the butt to reach for and discover, but it was still good. Some of this good includes:

• Meeting and growing closer to some of the best people you could ask for
• Beginning a long-awaited year of “lasts”
• New adventures and experiences
• Lots of travels and shows for my favorite artists
• A bigger progression in my relationship with Jesus Christ and learner so, so much more about just exactly who He is

As I sit here now and write this blog, I think back to the three words I chose at the beginning of this year to live by. I remember that they were: let it go, and slowly now, it all begins to make sense. Remembering certain things we want to do or change or live by can be hard, and usually it’s even harder to apply them to our lives. This last year, I had a really hard time doing both, and honestly, often I didn’t at all. But here am, and it’s finally all adding up, every last piece. The past 12 months, I have forgave people I did not want to, I removed grudges when I wanted to do the exact opposite, I looked the other way when I previously wouldn’t have, and I picked up my feet and forced myself to move forward when the only thing I wanted to do in that moment was stay. The bottom line is that I let those things go, and set myself free. It wasn’t easy and might’ve came down to happening during the final closing days, but ultimately it did happen, and I can breathe.

I am ever-so relieved that 2017 is done. It taught me a lot, but I’m grateful it’s gone. I am so excited for this next year, and all that it has in store. There’s no doubt it will be busy and a thrill, emotional, and bittersweet, but nevertheless, beautiful and unique.

Here’s to 12 new chapters, 365 new days, a fresh start.

Cheers!!! And much love….

Davianne

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has thrown atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)**

Hello, hello!

November was full of lots of family time, too many good eats 😉 , and quite the load of sports games! Check it all out below…

November 4^th: This Saturday was another Husker gameday and this time I had the opportunity to take my close friend Diana, who’s never been to a game before! Although Huskers ended up losing at the end, it was still fun experience for us both!

November 5^th: Annual Cheer Xpress showcase for Em & Kat!

November 8^th: UNO Teacher’s Showcase! Such a fun day, learning so much!!

November 15^th: Shaylee’s 21^st birthday dinner with the fam at Las Margaritas!

November 17^th: First concert of the weekend! Matthew West & Jordan Feliz at Lincoln Berean! Such a wonderful night full of worship!

November 18^th: My momma surprised me with concert tickets to Chris Stapleton for just the two of us! It was such a blast and a special memory I will always have with her ❤

November 19^th: Emily and Katie’s second cheer competition of the season at the Mid America Center! And of course, dinner at the Old Mattress Factory

November 21^st: LIBA luncheon meeting with Jack! A new experience for both Kiley and I 😊 After lunch, we headed over to Nebraska Weselyan to attend the Rat Challenge Event for my Psychology class. The students participating there all had rats crawling all over them, in their hair, etc. … you couldn’t pay me money! Lol

November 22^nd-24^th: Last Thanksgiving Break!! Thanksgiving dinner at Brenda’s and Guy’s and then a little bit of Black Friday shopping with friends! Kiley and I also got to attend the yearly Huskers vs. Hawkeyes game this year on Friday for football, and then the Nebraska vs. Iowa volleyball game on Saturday! It was quite the busy weekend, full of good food and lots of sports!

November 26^th: Olive Garden with the family to celebrate grandpa’s early birthday, and grandma’s and Katie’s from a little bit before!

Make sure to scroll through the sweet pictures below! Thanks for reading…

Much love, Davianne

a beautiful sunset to wrap up the Fall

a refreshing sunrise to start the day

Matthew West & Jordan Feliz!

Chris Stapleton with momma!

November nails!

my girl

Husker football!

Husker volleyball!

Congressman Don Bacon!

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has thrown atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)**

Heyo!

October is one of my favorite months out of the year, and this year was no different than every other year, with all things busy and Fall! Take a look at what all took place below…

October 2: Alivia Jo’s 1st birthday! This past year has flown by and ugh just ALL THE FEELS // To celebrate her birthday, momma, Shay and I took the day off from work/ school and went to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch! Once we got back into town, we spent the evening over at Michael’s house, celebrating her birthday with him!

October 3: my TCA class got to take a field trip to the Omaha Zoo and check out the Zoo school they have to offer there. A lot of people have no idea about it, so  if you’re one of them,  be sure to check it out! Super cool.

October 6: wouldn’t be October/Fall without some good ole pumpkin carving!

October 7: This Saturday was a busy day! It started out with the girls and I going to the Farmer’s Market, downtown. After that, we went to the Water Circus out at the Lancaster Event Center that was in town. And finally, I ended the night babysitting Hunter and Evelyn!

October 10: More teacher things! Got to go back to my old stomping grounds and job shadow at Humann Elementary! Super fun to be back there 🙂

October 15: Livi Jo’s 1st birthday party! So much fun!

October 17: One of Ki’s last volleyball games of the season/ever! The crew and I drove up there to Raymond Central to watch her play, and more importantly, win! We ended the night with some dinner at Village Inn.

October 19: Grandma & Grandpa + momma, Shay, Jo, and I hit the road and headed up to Burwell to take some pretty, pretty pics of me 🙂 And of course, you can’t go back to Burwell without eating at Sandstone, soooo that’s exactly what we did!

October 21: more volleyball games for Ki, but this time, home games at LCS!

October 22: GARTH FREAKIN’ BROOKS CONCERT AGAIN !!! LOVE LOVE LOVE

October 26: Ki’s volleyball game against Aquinas!

October 27: one of my favorite day of the entire year… Grandparent’s Day! The three of us started out our morning, bright and early, with some breakfast at Greenfield’s  and then finished our day at school! Bittersweet times as it was the final one for us all after 10 years, but thankful for all the memories!

October 30 & 31st: Ki’s final volleyball games!

Don’t forget to check out all the pictures below!

Thanks for reading…

Much love, Davianne ❤

some of my favorite pictures of Jo over the past year…

one year ago today, the tiniest and most beautiful baby girl entered the world and I became an auntie. 😊 over the past year, i’ve learned to love harder and in more ways than I ever imagined possible, and have been reminded to slow down and find joy in the littlest of things. 💕 happy birthday miss alivia jo, you will forever deserve the world and more. ❤ // “no matter how much I say I love you, I always love you more than that”

pumpkin carving!

alllll the punkin’ seeds 😉

farmer’s market!

water circus!

a little behind the scenes photos from our photo shoot

a little behind the scenes photos from our photo shoot

a little behind the scenes photos from our photo shoot

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has thrown atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)**

Hello hello and Happy Thanksgiving to you all! 🦃🦃 😊😊

There’s a lot of people I am so beyond blessed to have in my life, and I would love to give a shout out to each and every one, but if I did, we’d be here all day 😂 sooo here’s just a few that I spend almost all my time with and who hold special places in my heart, especially around this time of year 💕 ….

• I’m thankful for Kiley. Ki, you are my very best friend. This past year, these past few months, have been unreal. We have experienced some of the happiest and some of the hardest things, but yet you’ve stood by my side through it all. Thank you for that.
• I’m thankful for my mom. Momma, I am such a brat and put you through a lot of unneeded stress. I know raising me is the least of easiest jobs. Thank you for never giving up and continuously giving me too many “second chances”.
• I’m thankful for my sister. Shay, you and I couldn’t be more opposite and I don’t think there will ever be a day we agree on everything, but you are still my sister and at the end of the day, there is one thing we will always have the same – the same roots and the same blood. We’ve been through a little more than the typical others, but even then, we still came out on top. Thank you for showing me how to be strong and never giving up. And for always being there to remind me who I am, what I’m made of, and that I’m an independent woman who don’t need no man. 😉😉
• I’m thankful for my dad. Even though I never got to the chance to spend time with him here on Earth, I’m thankful for the time he got here, the people he touched, and the impact he had. More importantly, I’m SO thankful this world is not permanent, and one day, soon, I’ll get to be with him forever. How cool is that?!

• Most importantly, I’m thankful for our God we serve and just how good He is. I’m thankful that He never leaves our side or gives up on us, even after the countless times we give up on Him.

Once again, I am so blessed by each one of those people and more! I’m thankful for each one of you and the precious time you take out of your days to read my words. I appreciate it so much and I’m thankful for you and for this more than you’ll ever know 💕

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and got to eat lots of good food, surrounded by your loved ones! 💛💛

Thanks for reading…

Much love, Davianne

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has thrown atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)**

Hey guys,

The past few weeks have been weird. Really, really busy and fast moving, but somehow in the midst of it all, things have somewhat found a common ground and slowed down just a wee bit. Typically, something that calms such a rapid flow is something exciting, something big, something to celebrate. But this time, not so much. You see, the common ground this time happens to be death. Not so big, happy, and exciting, huh?

As most of you know, the concept of death is nothing new in my family. As sad or unfortunate as that is, death is very much a reality in our lives. It doesn’t make us okay with it or cold-hearted, but rather more aware of it, the impact it can have, and all that it will indeed do. With that being said, obviously death is something I associate with often, but there were a few specific things that trigged my mind to really ponder on it this time.

Last week, towards the end of the week, three different things took place. On Thursday, a multiple-vehicle crash took place out by Norris, taking the life of a beautiful, young girl and really hitting home for a lot of different people I know. The next day, on Friday, I was eating breakfast with my grandparents and the waitress mentioned the loss of her husband. And finally, the day after that on Saturday, my best friend Kiley’s grandma unexpectedly passed away. Too easily (and I understand why), we forget just how real death in our world is today.

The lady serving us that Friday morning said something that really made me think. She put it into words something I couldn’t have said better myself. She said, “Thank God death here is just temporary and we get to see them again, because I tell ya what, death can really mess a person up”. And she was so right.

First off, death can really mess a person up and let me tell you, it always does. It’s very much a depressing, scary, painful thing. But how great is it, that it’s not the only option we have. That, because this world is not our permanent home, we will see our lost ones again and get to be with them one day, forever again. What a beautiful, beautiful thing.

I’m not writing this here to depress you all or make you sad about the realities of this life today, but rather to remind you all just exactly how precious this life is. As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy for us all to get caught up in the busy flow of our day to day lives and “get used to” tragic concepts, like death, around us. I’m not saying we should walk around on eggshells and constantly worry, but rather treasure and embrace each moment we get. Don’t hold anything back, but instead really live each moment like it could be our last.

I’ll leave you all with a quote I heard on the radio the other day that goes like this, “Live each day like it’s your last…. And one day, you’ll be right.”

Thanks for reading…

Much love, Davianne

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has thrown atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)*

Hi-ya!

September was busy, but here’s a short version of some of the bigger things that took place….

September 1: Northeast vs. Northstar football game @ Seacrest with friends!

September 5: Kiley’s volleyball game at Lincoln Lutheran!

September 23: Husker football game vs. Rutgers with Kiley and then afterwards, we headed to Ellie’s house for a class party!

September 29: A bunch of girls went out to my friend’s Abby house. While there, we ate delicious food her momma made, rode horses, played games and just hung out together. It was so, so much and I’m so blessed to have each of those ladies in my life!

September 30: Vala’s Pumpkin Patch with friends! One of my all-time favorite things to do each year!

Thanks for reading!

Much love, Davianne

apple cider / yum n the tum

KI ON A HORSE !!!

LITERALLY CRYING

group at the pumpkin patch

my favorites

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has throw atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)*

Hey, hey!

Wrapping up the summer with all sorts of things taking place in August! Check it all out below…

August 12: lake day out at Branched Oak with friends!

August 14 & 16: back to school!

August 18: senior retreat out at Camp Rivercrest with the class of 2018!

August 19: Kiley’s volleyball scrimmage and then ice cream and hanging with friends afterwards!

August 20: August 20th was a busy day! It started out with Kiley coming up to Omaha with my fam for the Fall Festival Kickoff at our church. After that, we ate lunch at Big Fred’s Pizza , which is always good. Finally, I ended the night going to the Gregory Allen Iskoav concert with Kiley and her parents at the Slowdown, but not without eating at The Old Mattress Factory, first.

August 27: celebrating Emily’s birthday with lunch and family time at the Boden’s!

This month was short & sweet, but I’m beyond ready to really kick our feet in and get knee deep into Fall and all it has to offer! Thanks for reading, Davianne.

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has throw atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)*

Heyo!

The month of June was PACKEEDDD with lots of trips and lots of family time… but I wouldn’t have it any other way. ❤ Scroll down and check it all out below..

June 4-10: was our annual family vacation down to Branson, Mo! Here’s what we did and a few major highlights from our days spent there…

• Breakfast at Greenfields
• Conner/ I switching off driving Grandma, Grandpa, and Emily down there and back (no tickets or wrecks wooohooo 😉)
• Lunch at Pizza Hut on the way there & T-Bell on the way hom
• Osceola Cheese stop
• Minitaure Golfing in the dark
• Lake Day on the boat and jet-skis
• Ice cream from Dreami Cremes with just the “kids”
• Fritz’s Adventure Park
• Watching the sunset go down with Em
• Billy Bob’s Burgers
• The Escape Rooms
• Shopping
• The countless hours spent at, in, or near the pool
• “SIX”- the show
• “The Haygoods”- the show

June 11: Father’s Day 2017! We went to church in the morning, lunch with the fam at Legends in the afternoon, and then took flowers out to dad’s grave that night.

June 17: new phonesss woooo lol

June 29- 2: Shaylee, Alivia and I took a quick trip all by ourselves and drove up to spend some time with our sisters, Kolbi and Randi! Some of our highlights from that trip were…

• WHITEY’S ICECREAM OF COURSE
• Watching Kolbi play volleyball
• Seeing Randi’s new house/ it being built
• Seeing Randi’s chickens lol
• Getting cherry cokes from Candy Kitchen
• Seeing Kolbi’s booth/ shop FINALLY (ps- it is seriously just as cute in person as is it is in pictures!!!!)
• Going to dinner on the river with Barb and Tim and all the “aunts” 😉 + their husbands
• Dinner at Barb’s & Tim’s
• RIDING THE RHINO
• Shopping & scrapbooking with Kolbi
• Hanging with Nate & Bayla
• Checking out/ exploring the mill
• And just getting to be back with Kolbi and Randi again ❤

Thanks for reading. Much love, Davianne

professional jet skiers 😉 // also peep the floating heads in the back hahaha

team work makes the dream work 😉

okay but we actually almost fell in soooo many times hahahaha

escape room… fam minus grandpa!

SIX!!

watching Kolbi play volleyball!

sleepy kids 🙂

shopping!

HEAVEN IN A CUP

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has throw atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)*

Hi friends!

Here’s what took place during the month of May…

May 6: Jeffery’s graduation! So, so proud of him and all that he has accomplished and excited to see where his future takes him! ❤ 😊 After his graduation, my momma, Shaylee, Alivia and I grabbed a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Seward.

May 12: Tim McGraw & Faith Hill concert! This concert was at the arena and my momma, Shaylee and I all went. It was our second time seeing Tim and first time seeing Faith for Shaylee and I (my momma saw them many many moons ago before they were even close to being this big), and the whole show was unforgettable. Primarily because, FREAKING TIM MCGRAW WALKED DOWN OUR ROW RIGHT FREAKING NEXT TO US AND MY MOTHER TOUCHED HIM AND WE HAD NO IDEA AND IT WAS AWESOME. Okay, I’m done yelling 😉, but for someone like me, who is a country music die hard and goes to concerts constantly, this was something new and pretty flippin’ sweet. Ha 😊

May 13: Sierra’s graduation!

May 14: Mother’s Day 2017! We went to church in Omaha and then came back and went to a late lunch at Legends with the fam, downtown in the Haymarket!

May 20: March of Dimes Walk 2017 for Team Livi Jo! This walk is dedicated to raising awareness for premature babies, and after experience this first-hand, I couldn’t be more proud or grateful to be apart of such an amazing thing! The day was a little cold, but still lots of fun! The walk was in the morning, and then right afterwards, we all went out to lunch at Buffalo Wings & Rings downtown. 🙂

May 24: Def Leppard Concert! It’s always fun to embrace my inner rock side 😉 every now and then and let me tell ya, Def Leppard has definitely still got it!

Lots of fun pictures and a video close-up of Tim below, so make sure to check those out!

Thanks for reading. Much love, Davianne

TIM MC FREAKING GRAW

Team Livi Jo 2017

Team Livi Jo 2017

Team Livi Jo 2017

click here to see the amazing close-up video of Tim 🙂

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has throw atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)**

Hey hey,

Here’s what all happened during this month of 2017…

April 2: another Sunday in Omaha for church, a Baby Expo for Liv Jo, and Spaghetti Works for lunch! April 2^nd also marked Jo’s 6-month-old birthday (wait whatttt)!!!

April 9: this Sunday was another trip up to Omaha for church and shopping, but this time Sheridan joined us! 😊 also, we loved Spaghetti Works so much, we went back for more!

April 10- 14: was our Spring Break 2017! There wasn’t anything too exciting that took place, but I did get to go out to my grandparents’ house and stay with them for a little bit. While out there, I got to see Jeffery ❤ and then Shaylee and Liv drove out and one morning, we took off early with grandma and grandpa and drove out to North Platte to get my dress! The weather was beautiful that day and really the trip wasn’t too bad of drive at all.

April 16: Easter 2017! We started off the day, bright and early, and had breakfast as a family over at the Boden’s. Then, we came home and got ready for church. We ate lunch at the Garden Café and on our way back from Omaha, we stopped out at the Holy Family Shrine. It has always been something we have wanted to do as a family, and since the weather was perfect, we decided to finally go check it out. That night, I finally got to see Kiley again and hear all about her trip to Mexico.

April  21: Bowling with friends!

April 22: Prom 2017!! Prom this year was at the Sheldon Art Museum, with post-prom at the UNL Rec Center. The night was lots of fun, with lots of pretty pictures, so make sure to check those out below!!

April 23: Saturday night, the night before, I stayed over at Kiley’s and, so this next morning we got up, got ready then hung around for a while. Later that afternoon, we went to lunch and hung out with friends! A wonderful weekend, overall!

April 28: my good friend Ana, threw a sweet, little get together at her house for us… so fun!

queen.

north platte bound!

church & coffee

Easter 2017! Jo is so spoileddd

Holy Family Shrine

lunch before prom night with my momma

friend party at ana’s!

HAHAHA she loves meeee

these are just a few of my favorite prom pictures… to see them all, click here

Thanks for reading! Much love, Davianne

** First time on my blog? Well, welcome! Thanks for checking me out, I truly appreciate it! To get to know who I am and what this blog is all about a little bit better, click here. I would love to get to know you and hear all about what this crazy adventure called life has throw atcha! You can reach me at peaceful.simplicity@yahoo.com or via any of my social medias (click here) or just by simply commenting on any of my posts! Thanks again for checking me out, happy reading! :)*