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Adventures of Crystal and her son Avery in their journey through life discovering challenges and obstacles while building bravery, confidence, and resilience.

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Growing up, we had real Christmas Tree's in our home every year. I'm not sure where my Dad would get these tree's from but I remember one year our tree had Japanese Beetles living inside of it and my parents had to throw the tree out! - I also remember stories of peoples trees catching on fire. Our tree never caught on fire but my Dad did love to light the fireplace and one year when I was about 5 years old, our living room went up in flames. - It was like a scene from the Color Purple. My Dad, who had just got out of the shower, stood in front of the fireplace with a towel wrapped around him squeezing lighter fluid into the fireplace. My Mom stood nearby thinking this is not going to end well. He threw the match in the fireplace and whoosh, there was a fire alright. It was everywhere. - Me and my sister were jumping up and down on the couch chanting "fireworks, fireworks!" And my brother, who was 10 years older than us rolled back and forth on the floor in front of the fireplace saying "Stop, Drop and Roll." He has a fire patch burn on his shoulder to this day b/c I think he was rolling himself into the fire and not away. Haha - There were patches of fire on the couch that me and my sister were jumping up and down on and the curtains near the window were on fire and burning. - My Dad, who had just got out of the shower took that towel off and started beating the flames down. I don't remember the fire department being called or anyone coming to our home to help with the fire. Somehow my parents got it under control themselves. And until a few years ago, we've never had curtains in our home. - Do you have any crazy Christmas Tree stories? Please share below! I'm so curious.

I planned for this to be our Holiday Card this year. I planned our outfits, picked the perfect overcast day to shoot on, and drove out to the Christmas Tree Farm for the session. - Then I got home, started looking through the photos, hated what I was wearing and decided we needed a do-over. Good thing I'm the photographer right? - I still really love these photos but I swapped the Sherpa jacket for a red sweater and I'm so much more pleased with the outcome. - I know it's late but I finally mailed out our Holiday Card over the weekend to our family. Do you mail out holiday cards?

I stumbled upon this post by my friend @naomicampbell_esq and it resonated with me so much. I had just watched @michelleobama talk about this exact thing a day earlier on @oprah and here it was again on my timeline so now I’m going to share it with you. - “This morning I told God “ I can’t do that”, and He quickly responded with “says who?” In that moment I realized that failure begins and ends with me. Failure is conceived in the mind. It is cultivated in the spirit and then it gives birth in the natural. Meaning, the only way you fail, is if you first FAIL TO BELIEVE. God doesn’t place limitations on us, so who are we to place them on ourselves? When your faith and trust are truly in God nothing is an impossibility for you. PERIOD. - Reference Mark 9:22-23 NLT: “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, “If I can” Jesus asked. “ANYTHING is POSSIBLE IF a person BELIEVES.” So the next time the lie of “I can’t do that” comes into your mind, cast it down in your spirit with the Word of God (Mark 9:23), BELIEVE that through Christ you CAN do it and watch success (instead of failure) become your reality in the natural.” I hope this connects with you and helps you get that doubt out of your mind today.” - Tell me something that you’re having trouble with right now in the comments. Then if anyone has solutions, please comment and let them know. Let’s turn the comment section into a supportive community for today!

I have a really close person to me who is going through hardships in her marriage similar to what I recently went through after having my son Avery. - Things are not looking good and she’s feeling pretty hopeless. She asked me how do I get up, continue to smile and do things with my son. - What I told her may shock you. Because getting up can be VERY hard for me on most days. Smiling is even harder. And wanting to leave the house and face the world is the last thing I want to do. - But I told her that I believe in faking it until you make it. It works in business and it works in life. I want to project happiness into the world so that I can receive it back. I want to manifest greatness for my family so I plant seeds daily. - It’s not easy. It’s actually the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I think it may even be harder than suffering from my kidney failure a year ago. - But I deserve to be happy. My son deserves to be happy. And we deserve a good life. It’s really easy to sit around and be sad. And sometimes that feeling wins. But I try everyday to choose happiness, faking it til I make it if necessary. - Have a friend who needs this little pick me up? Tag her below.

The JellyFish exhibit was my absolute favorite. Have you guys seen the movie Seven Pounds? Okay, if you have please don't ruin it for me. I still haven't finished it. I know, I know.. - But I imagine that my love for Jellyfish is just as strong as Will Smith's was in the movie. If the opportunity ever presents itself, I'm definitely getting a fish tank and filling it up with these beauties. - What is your favorite sea creature? I watch #SharkWeek religiously and finds sharks so interesting but I think my all time fav would have to be the jellyfish. How about you? - Peep my stories for video of the mesmerizing jellyfish exhibit. It’s not what you’re expecting!

I couldn't have planned this even if I wanted too. When we entered this exhibit it was immediate apparent to everyone in the room that Avery matched the tank perfectly! - Because we were visiting the @GeorgiaAquarium, I thought it would be fitting for Avery to wear his fishy outfit. I mean how appropriate right? Every other place that we had visited during the summer didn't match this outfit as great as the Aquarium did. - This little exhibit was pretty cool because it had several tanks that were the width and length of the wall that they were built within with many varieties of sea life including fish and coral. - Avery ran around this little room so much that everyone quickly began to know his name and laugh with him as he approached them. - One thing about Avery is that this kid is pretty fearless. He makes friends with just about anyone and gets his feelings hurt when he has to leave their presence. - Do you guys have fearless babes or are they afraid of strangers? Sometimes I wish Avery was more afraid but being afraid has its downsides too.

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