Happy New Year

Happy New Year From Our House to Yours! Another 365 days have come and gone and once again I find myself a little shocked  at how rapidly it went. I hope that you all have had a blessed 2014.   Here is a quick Massey ‘year in review’ from 2014.

This is the first year in many that Scott hasn’t gotten a stamp in his passport… Poor guy. He started working with LabSource in June and has enjoyed working through some of the challenges and growing pains that come with moving to a new company. He has kept his travels to his division in the Southeast which isn’t a bad gig. Even though 2014 has stretched him, he has become more optimistic and more at peace knowing that God will always give us our daily bread and supply what is needed. He got to go back to his Citadel homecoming this year and catch up with most of the people he knobbed with. It was great hearing all the stories. Things haven’t changed all that much. As life has been refining Scott’s skills in patience and endurance and giving him that arctic blond look, he keeps busy working on his heavy-bag skills and staying in shape which is talked about amongst some teenage boys. He is becoming well-known around town for his “Words with Friends” skills, and now he gets challenged by young adults in his knowledge skills playing “Trivia Crack”. He has also shown me some handyman skills that I didn’t know he had these past 21 years. All this time I thought we don’t own any tools because he didn’t know how to fix stuff… The man’s pretty smart!

This year for me has been a “bad news, good news” kind of year. Bad news is, in April I broke my jaw and had it wired shut for 6 weeks and rehabbed it for another 3 weeks; the good news is, I lost 22 lbs and I learned a lot about myself, not to mention I became a pro at speaking clearly with clenched teeth. I don’t recommend the jawbreaker diet to anyone who is seeking to lose weight quickly even though it is a 100% guarantee way to lose it… I gained all the weight back as soon as I started eating solids again… In June, I watched another child of mine walk across the stage to get her High School diploma. It’s truly exciting to see her spread her wings, yet the reality of seeing my kids leave our nest is a tough one on this momma! Bad News is I found out that Kaitie really doesn’t handle surprises well, HA! That was a BIG surprise for me! But good news is, I found out that I can keep a secret from her, and the surprise party we gave her was fantastic after she got over the shock. It was fun planning it, having our house turn into a Kaitie shrine for a few days, and having so many good friends and family come and show their love and support to her! In Oct. I challenged myself by riding my bike for 8 days down the coast from Nags Head, NC to Hilton Head, SC. Bad news is, I wrecked my bike at the end of the trip cracking it’s frame.  Good news is, I’m alive, I made it all the way too Hilton Head before I wrecked, and I can say I completed my 550 plus ride minus the last two miles. So, Yay me! It was a great experience even though it ended poorly. Other than those few things, I ran a half marathon in Feb, I got to shoot the USC vs TN game in Nov, I made a little pocket-money from the newspaper I shoot for and off my website of the different sports I shoot, I went skydiving again, I got to see my girlfriend from Germany, I was able to go to my brother’s wedding and see all my siblings at the same time, and I got to go to CA, NV, TN, and NC to satisfy my yearning for travel and beauty. The greatest thing I did, though, this year and really enjoyed was just being a mom to two college students and a high schooler. They are the everything to me.

Derek (20) likes the life of a sophomore at the Citadel a lot better than when he was a knob. In April he completed his knob year with a bang as we were all there watching him push himself to the limit and beyond on Recognition Day.  A proud day for all of us.  In August he went back to the Citadel as Mr Massey holding the rank of Cadet Corporal and is the Company Armor guy, which means he gets to train the knobs, is in charge of the weapons for his Company, and gets to carry the Big Red flag in some parades (which I love because I can the pick him out of 100 plus look-a-like cadets in his company.) He made the Dean’s list this semester, and he will be pursuing an Army contract this next semester. He kept himself busy during the summer working for a landscape company, going fishing, and hanging out with Taylor, his girlfriend of 3 years, and his friends. During hunting season he makes trips home from school during some weekends to sit in a tree stand. He is one of the luckiest hunters I know. He wakes up late, talks loudly to his brother walking to his tree stand and shoots the biggest buck that has been shot on that property in years within 10 mins of him showing up… Crazy lucky!

As a parent it is fun to watch your young adult go from the carefree days of high school to taking charge of his/her future their freshman year of college. This transition for Kaitie has been seamless. This year has been a really good one for Kaitie (18)! She graduated from high school earning herself a scholarship and then started her first semester of college this summer and did wonderfully. She is the type of person who if she wants it, she will get it. I love that kind of passion she possesses. She chose to stay home for her fall and spring semester and is taking classes at Midlands Tech. She is in the process of applying to The College of Charleston for her sophomore year majoring in Health Sciences. It has been great having Kaitie home this semester as she brings so much balance to our family with her humor. I personally have needed her around to keep the estrogen level normal around here…She has acquired the cutest pet ever! Stella, the hedgehog, is a prickly little thing with an attitude who sleeps 22 hours and eats and exercises the other 2 hours at the obscene hour of 3 am, a perfect pet, what more could a girl want. When Kaitie isn’t studying or waking Stella up from a deep sleep, she keeps herself busy with her friends, shopping, watching a series on Netflix, taking her brother places, shocking her friends with her Trivia Crack skills, or standing in the parking lot at Starbucks or Sandhills waiting on a locksmith… that guy must be good-looking because she has locked her keys in the car 4 times in less than 3 months. Yes, we have USAA on speed dial now and they answer “where is her car this time?”

We are now all being chauffeured around by our youngest, Aidan (15). He got his permit in Sept. Woohoo! Another person to run to the store for me! He now looks slightly down at Derek and eye to eye with Scott. Scary! I get swallowed in his man arms and have to ask him to not hug me so hard. He is doing super in school like in past years. His baseball season was full of injuries this year from his thumb to his knee and then to his back. But being young, strong and super confident, he overcame them quickly and didn’t let it slow him down; he continued to maintain a top ranking in the state of SC. He has enjoyed being a part of Youth Corp, which is a private leadership development organization. He has gotten to see all the major components of how a community works. Pretty cool stuff. He is now in the process of learning how to run his own business and is the CEO of the company called “Sweethearts.” Speaking of sweethearts…. his phone still blows up with multiple girls texting him. He, however, keeps himself free, so that he can do his own thing.  Smart guy.

May the Peace that passes all understanding be your strength this New Year! Hope y’all had a wonderful holiday season!

Happy New Year!

Be Blessed,

Kt

Derek

A i d a n

Kristy Ann

Scott