This song has been used a lot lately for comfort to those who have had loved ones lose their lives too soon. I wanted to create this in hopes to touch those people. I have included names of friends we have lost over the last several years.
Those names are: Kyle Ryan Casey, Addison Hope Casey, Jonathan Crawford Peedin, Grant Williams, Joseph Michael Ellis, Spenser Terry Garrison, Malia Porter, Baby Jax, Kayne Warters, Bo Goff, Josh Howell, Bobbie Marie Guy, James Will O'neal, Wren Farmer, Teghan Skiba, Tony Daniels, Josh Davis, Brent Wiggins, Matthew Stewart, TJ Atwater, Jessica Johns Chapman, Tyler Daniel Lancaster, Colton Ayscue, James Cook, Josh Best, Brandon Baker, Ericka Ealey***(I am soo sorry for the misspelling in the video!), Tracy Dwayne Deans, Lucas Currin, Lindsay Brandle, Adam Moser, Caleb Eargle, Grant Torkleson, Dexter Wall, Josh Strickland, Kevin Wise, Jason Thompson, Andrea Head, Mark Bradley, Jason "Reid" Lee, Isaac Gaspard, Macy Carter, and Jaykob Craft.
If you would like, PLEASE share the name of a loved one that has left this world too soon in the comments. I want this to touch everyone, without leaving one story untold.
I love you all and hope that you can use this as a source of comfort.
Holy cow guys! My audition is seriously right around the corner! I wanted to say thank you again to those who have helped me raise some money for the trip expenses, and remind the ones who are still planning to help out that I will be closing donations on either Monday(27th) or Tuesday(28th). The website normally takes up to a couple days to send the money to my account I have set up for the trip, so I want to make sure it gets transferred before I leave Friday morning. Also, those of you who said you would rather send the money through mail or another way, you can message me on Facebook for more information, or email me at holly_bug43@yahoo.com.
Thank you so much everyone who has supported me in ANY way. Some people are not able to donate, but have provided so much support otherwise. And I want to say thank you to you as well. All of the encouragement; it means more to me than any dollar amount. I need to hear that you guys are confident in me, and you have certainly not failed in that aspect.
I also wanted to take this time to reach out to everyone reading this, and ask for a lot of prayers. Please pray for me as I travel to Nashville. Pray that God will calm my nerves, so that I can represent my talent he has given me as clearly and beautiful as possible. Pray that if I am not chosen to continue to the next audition, I will be strong enough to accept it and realize that this just wasn't MY opportunity.
I love you all so very much! Thank you Thank you THANK YOU!
I am only 30 days away from my Nashville audition for The Voice! Words cannot describe to you my excitement! I have been singing since I was little and now is my shot to show my talent! I wanted to share some photos with you guys... I've been looking back at them and thinking of how much I have been inspired by music. It's truly a gift from God.
Can I just say how thankful I am for puberty? This picture is so old, and I am proud to say I am past that awkward stage in my life. Good thing this is blurry too. I am sharing this photo because it is from when I was first singing with my daddy's band. The man in the photo was the leader of the band, Greg. I considered the members of the band family.
I went through a HUGE karaoke phase. My aunt owned a local bar/pool hall and they had karaoke every Friday night, and you better believe I was there. These photos are from my 18th birthday party... karaoke was involved, of course. Eddie(singing with me) really broke down my voice and let me know what he thought... I am thankful to have met him, because he played a big part in the development of my voice.
Another year has come and gone... Woah, it's like Deja Vu; I feel like we were JUST ringing in the new year of 2013. Where has the time gone?
With every new year, we all go through a list in our minds of things we plan to change, and a lot of times we make goals that are nearly impossible to achieve.
Why? Why set yourself up for failure? Why not make your New Year's Resolution something that isn't such a big change, but would be good for you and possibly others?
Taking that into consideration... This year, I have a simple list of 3 goals for myself to work toward in 2014. Just by achieving these 3 things, I will be so much happier in 2014.
1 I want to show more love to everyone around me. I want everyone I love to know that they mean the world to me. I don't want to leave people with an impression that I don't care about them. Being negative towards people (whether it's to their face or behind their back) will not make you any happier. I believe that if we all saw each other as normal people, through all of our flaws (because we ALL have them), that there would be less judging, less hatred, and less DRAMA. The only drama we should know of is that on TV and movies. If you have issues with people, sit down and think. Why do you dislike that person so much? Is it jealousy? Is it the way they look? The way they act? Think about it and ask yourself; Is that reason really worth the stress that comes with disliking that person? If the answer is no, |get over it| and MOVE FORWARD! 2 I want to be healthier. I don't want to lose a certain amount of weight, and I CERTAINLY do not want to eat rabbit food all the time. I DO, however, want to continue going to the gym (and maybe not skip so many days), take more walks with my dog, drink more water, and cut down on my stress. Mental health is just as important as physical. I am not setting any goals that require me to "hit a certain number". Those goals are more likely to turn into failed attempts. By setting goals for yourself that do not require you to reach a set number or level, you will more than likely find yourself successfully achieving those goals, and possibly even surpassing previous goals you would have normally set for yourself to reach.
3 I want to sing more. I have loved singing ever since I could make a sound, but after my Nanny passed away, I haven't had much of a song to sing. 2014 is going to change that. I know that Nanny would roll over in her grave if I ever stopped singing completely. She was my biggest fan and always made sure I had somewhere to sing, even if it was just in front of family. So look out YouTube, Facebook, friends & family! 'Cause I WILL be heard in 2014.
What are YOUR New Year's Resolutions? I wanna know!
***Everyone have fun tonight ringing in the New Year, and PLEASE... BE SAFE! You want to say goodbye to 2013, not to your life here on Earth!***
Ever since I can remember I've always had an obsession with music. My dad was always in a band growing up and I couldn't get enough of it! I loved hearing him sing and play the guitar. I loved watching all of the people he played for, applauding him and whistling and screaming for him, and I knew I wanted that to be me one day.
When I was about 11 I got the guts to get on the stage with him and sing along with another girl to "Mama He's Crazy" by The Judds. I got really comfortable with that so we started singing more songs together. Eventually, I wanted everyone to hear ME. Just me.
The following family reunion, my Nanny (grandma) asked me if I would sing "Daddy's Hands" in front of the family... So, I did. I was a little nervous to sing by myself, but the reaction I got from everyone would soon fire up my passion for singing. Everyone was in complete awe as I sang my little country heart out. They all started screaming and clapping for me, and I knew from that moment forward, I wanted to do this; I wanted to sing.
I practiced that song with my Daddy at home to get all the kinks out, and then... The next Saturday night, I went solo on my first song at the Red Barn where the band played. I got on stage and once again, everyone was in awe. They knew I could sing, but could only hear my voice mixed with the other girl. When they all heard me sing that song by myself, I thought I would never make it back to my seat. They were all so eager to come up and hug me and tell me how great I was. The best part about it? They all talked about how I got it from my Daddy. Growing up loving to watch him, and then hearing that I was like him, just made me want to do it even more!
I continued to sing more and more at the Red Barn, and when I turned 16, I auditioned for American Idol. Now, some people seem to think that when you audition for one of these shows, you're automatically one of those people on TV that everyone loves or laughs at. No.
These singing competitions typically have 2-3 rounds of auditions before you ever make it to the televised auditions. If you think of how many people go out to the first audition (thousands upon thousands) you would realize, all of those people can not be on the televised auditions. The show would never end.
So I went to Atlanta, Georgia and auditioned at the Georgia Dome, and was turned away at the first audition. However, dude beside me in a "fat suit" made it to the next level. That was when I realized that I didn't want to be on a show that allowed people on just to get laughed at. I wanted to find a competition that was looking strictly for talented singers.
I continued singing at the Red Barn until I was about 19 and eventually, Dad quit the band. I didn't really sing much after that, other than occasionally in church and at a few military events. And when I lost Nanny, I truly had no song to sing.
Nanny was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer around late July-early August of 2011. The doctors gave her 3 months, but by September 9th it had spread to her liver and she left this earth to be in Heaven.
It has been over 2 years since she passed away, and it's still extremely hard for me, but I know that if she could be here, she would NOT be very happy with me if she knew I had stopped singing.
So, on February 1st of 2014, I will be in Nashville, Tennessee... Auditioning for The Voice. I started a fundraiser to try to raise some money for a hotel, gas, food, etc... Because I have to be prepared to stay there from Friday to Friday, in case of a call back audition. If you don't know... That adds up to be very expensive. I will sleep in my car if I must, and I will eat sandwiches from home... But I will be going to Tennessee on the 31st of January, and I pray to God I get to stay for that second audition!
If anyone would like to help out, you can go to my GoFundMe page to make a donation. Anything helps!
