braxton bargeron | seven years old.

Our boy is SEVEN years old today!

He is mild and strong, with a heart for people and adventure and following rules and keeping things in order and questioning everything. He thinks of things I don’t, and his little mind is already light years beyond mine in retention. He would live off of fruit if I’d let him, and his favorite meal is my special chili beans recipe. He loves to play and talk about baseball, golf, and football, and one day he may very well be a sports trivia champ. He thrives in social settings with friends and family he trusts, and he gravitates towards people who might otherwise not have anyone to hang out with. He is a million wonderful things, and he is part-owner of my heart.

Today, as I reflect on all that these seven years have held, I feel all kinds of conflicting emotions at once. Thanks to him, I became a mother, and I am quite confident that he has taught me much more than I’ve taught him. One of my favorite parts of being his mama is our nightly bedtime “nuggles,” and I hope these quiet moments we spend together helps him always know that I am with him and for him and present in his presence.

Happy birthday to my angel boy, Braxton Michael!

No words could ever truly the paint the picture of how amazing he really is. But I’ll never stop trying to help the world see him for who he is — because he genuinely is the best, and I love him with my whole heart.

Highlights from year seven:

-He was baptized on July 4th, 2021 surrounded
by family and friends (praise God!)
-His second basketball season
-His first trip to the Georgia Aquarium
-Spring Break at the beach (woot!)
-His third t-ball season
-His first season as bat boy for the RGS baseball team
(under Coach Daddy's leadership)
-Lots of hikes and pool days
-His first trek up Table Rock on his own two feet
-His second trip to St. Augustine, FL
(first time at the beach there)
-A week with Mimi and Pops while TJ and I
celebrated our 10th anniversary in FL
-His first season of golf (and won the championship!)
-He started 1st grade (with the best teacher)
-His first NFL game (Go Panthers!)
-8 miles on the Swamp Rabbit Trail on his bike
-His 4th camping trip
-His first Clemson game (a win vs. Wake Forest)
-A wonderful Christmas season
-A trip to Gatlinburg and Dollywood to end 2021 the best way

travel rewards // 2021.

 In mid-2019, I discovered a new hobby: travel hacking. It sounded too good to be true, but I was intrigued. Save thousands of dollars and see the world using credit card points? No way.

But I researched anyway. Curiosity has always been a close friend of mine.

And six months later, we had opened our first card. We booked our first trip in January of this year, and it was a simple overnight trip. But that was enough to confirm that this was going to 1) be addicting and 2) change our lives in terms of travel. We were hooked.

I always get so many questions when I share about this, so here are a few FAQs about our personal journey:

-We have no credit card debt.

-We pay off our cards in full every month, and have not paid any interest since we started.

-We utilize credit card signup bonuses to earn points towards travel.

-We both have credit scores in the 800s.

-We are very organized with our cards, and that is an overflow of being very organized with our finances.

-We have slowly waded into the world of travel hacking as we have felt 1) comfortable and 2) competent.

Here is where travel rewards took us this year:

Atlanta, GA // March 2021

A quick trip to visit the GA Aquarium!

// 1 night in a hotel //

Fort Walton Beach, FL // July 2021

A special gaetaway for our 10th wedding anniversary!

// 2 round trip flights //

//5 nights in an ocean front hotel // 

// 80% savings on a 5-day Mustang rental //

Gatlinburg, TN // December 2021

A quick overnight trip for a trip to Dollywood for Christmas!

// 1 night in a hotel // 

Total saved by travel hacking our adventures in 2021:

$3,923.69

AMAZING!

We already have trips planned and booked for 2022, and I anticipate this number being substantially higher next year. Cheers to new hobbies and financial literacy: a pair that makes dreams come true!

see // 2022.

 2015: trust.

2016: healing.

2017: growth.

2018: discipline.

2019: new.

2020: rooted.

2021: release.

and this year?

2022: see.

instead of leaning on our own limited perspectives and understanding, we desire to see as our Creator sees. we don’t believe that we will perfect this discipline on this side of eternity, but we believe that Holy Spirit is calling us into deeper awareness of what He is up to at any given moment. and we don’t want to miss it! 

so often, we spend our lives taking things at face-value instead of looking deeper. we hope that 2022 will be the year that we begin to really see beyond what our eyes reveal — like, when a loved one says (and may even act like) they’re okay but they’re not. what fruit can come by seeing the world in focus, with empathy and compassion. 

there are a list of physical places we want to see in 2022, too! 

here is our why: 

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18‬ ‬

these lyrics to a worship song from a decade ago keep bouncing around in my head, too:

“Oh look and see our God and celebrate

The power of the cross and empty grave

And now we're free

Let the redeemed lift up your heads

Oh look and see our God”

we are choosing to look, linger, and see as our way of life in 2022. 

we want to desire the eternal things of the Kingdom of God, not the things that are fleeting and temporary. because even our worst days and deepest pain and sufferings have eternal value, if only we offer them to the One who sees all things.