Last 12 Months Summed Up in a Video
Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by Holly in Holly Mann, Travel
Hi everyone! I wanted to say thank you for the birthday wishes – today is my 27th birthday. I wanted to wish JK Swopes & his wife Serita a happy 8th year anniversary! Today on my birthday, Josh made me a “cake” out of marshmallows, chocolate and jelly beans! I took a little time to reflect on the last year and created a short video (through Animoto) to sum up everything we’ve experienced (off-line) over the past 12 months. We’ve been living in Las Vegas and it’s been an adventure. It’s such a strange place to live – and not as glamorous as it appears to be on the strip. Since Josh is of school-age now, we’re heading back to get some stability in Wisconsin, live near family and have a home base. 
I filled up a moving POD with all our stuff, sold my car, and on Friday we will fly to Wisconsin. Things are very chaotic now (in a good way) with GVO and with the move. But I am trying my best to do these website setups and install for people before I leave (if possible for some of them). Anyway, I am happy we all have a project that we can proudly promote and profit from as well! Thank you guys for everything – and I hope you enjoy the video.
33 Responses to “Last 12 Months Summed Up in a Video”
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Royston
01. Sep, 2009
Happy Birthday and Best Wishes to you Holly!
I shed a tear of joy after watching the video. I am really really happy for you and Josh!
All the while I knew in my head that life should not be in exchange working for money. But after the video, I was touched and realized that in my heart now. Because life is meant to be spent with loved ones. And life is meant for us to enjoy the goodness and beauty of God.
Even though the video is about you and Josh, it touches me and made me realize some important things in life.
Thank you for that!
Today onwards, I will strive to let my family experience His abundance and joy.
Royston
Liz
01. Sep, 2009
That year in Las Vegas sure went fast. The video is wonderful. I honestly don’t know when you had the time to make it. I know you have been so busy with your big move, your new GVO endevour, packing and looking for a home for you and Josh. You are an inspiration to all! We are all looking forward to your move to the beautiful state of Wisconsin. Hope you had a wonderful birthday!!
Holly
01. Sep, 2009
Thank you!!! I Made the time to make it – this morning.
Making videos with Animoto though is really simple – just add the photos in some type of order, pick a song and they do the rest! 
Thank you for everything! 
I’m glad we’re going to live close to you again!
Bill Vlasak
01. Sep, 2009
Happy Birthday and at least 100 more.
So young and full of life with freedom to enjoy what life has to offer .Being able to pack up and go and not worry about a job or boss is wonderful when you are able to ‘work from home’.
Your virtual book is now in paperback also and will be a great success I am sure.Just think: Honest Holly the famous author.Tangible books create more fame than electronic ones
when they are of as high quality as yours is.
Soon you will be able to take Josh fishing for cold water fish and throw lots of snowballs to cool off those busy fingers away from the keyboard.
Keep us updated as usual; we as fans enjoy reading your exploits and also your small adventures along with what you do for a living and helping so many people.As Liz asks:’Where do you find the time?”
Answer: if you need something done right ask a busy person to do it.
PS: You and the rest of the Honest Marketing Forum made 2 families very happy as contest winners and I am hopeful that those who did not win enjoy with gratitude the fruits of the forum and the insightful help given by all the forum administrators on their blogs and websites.Certainly most of us are happy for the winners and wish all the best encouragement to those who did not win this time but will in the long term.
Bill Vlasak
01. Sep, 2009
Sorry–My 1st post popped up.And I say I am patient?
Holly
01. Sep, 2009
Thank you Bill for your comment!
I do hope I don’t have 100 more birthdays though! 
I don’t think I need to be around for that long! lol..I am really happy to hear about the forum winner today! I just checked earlier and now it is official! Congratulations to Josh and Garry! I am excited for them. And Happy upcoming Anniversary to you too Bill. 
Thank you for everything!
Kieran
02. Sep, 2009
Hey Holly
Lovely video.. very nice of you to share.. hope your move goes smoothly and you and your family transition well
Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY as well from New Zealand..
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Thank you Kieran! I hope it goes smoothly too. How’s the weather in New Zealand? I have heard so many wonderful things about New Zealand. And what type of martial arts are you into?
Kieran
03. Sep, 2009
Last few days, weather has been fine and clear following on from a bit of a windy storm that flooded my garage on Sunday.. grrrrhh. Spring just arrived this week, so days getting longer – time to go mountain biking again.
Martial arts not actually my thing, although I was blogged about as “the ninja who sells e-books.”
It was for a fun fancy dress party with good crew of my friends. Yes, NZ would love to have you downunder. You’d meet loads of friendly Kiwis 
Crikey – just read your Las Vegas experiences below. Sounds like a mad house. So whats Wisconsin like then? Big trip between the two cities. Much more amiable on your lifestyle for you and your Josh I hope!!
Jacinta Dean
02. Sep, 2009
Hi Holly,
I do hope you had a very Happy Birthday and have spent the week celebrating in the mist of moving!
It sounds like you have a very exciting new chapter beginning with your life.
Enjoy the journey and keep teaching and inspiring!
Kind Regards
Jacinta
(Down Under Aussie!)
P.S Your video is amazing.
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Hi Jacinta! Thank you so much for the comment! I just took a look at your site and I really like it. Thanks for mentioning me on there too. That is very nice. Are you going to that dream conference you mentioned? And, I also wanted to say that your name is beautiful and you look a little bit like my sister!
Kristen
02. Sep, 2009
Loved the video! What a perfect soundtrack! I can’t think of a better place to raise a child that Wisconsin (except southwestern Virginia!) – I’m so excited for you both that you’ll be able to settle down and have some real stability in your lives. (Okay, so I sound like the Grandma that I am – oh, well! You’re just a couple years younger than my oldest daughter.) School will be fun and exciting for you both – what an adventure ahead of you!
Keep us posted on how you do and above all – have fun!
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Hi Kristen and thanks for your nice comment! It’s ok if you sound like the grandma – you are right! The stability will be wonderful, to be near family will be too, and also Josh definitely will love to be in pre-k school! I will keep you posted and hope you are doing well. Thanks again Kristen!
Luca Di Nicola
02. Sep, 2009
Hey Holly, happy birthday. Wow only 27 – you’re doing great for a young pup. It feels like I’ve been reading about your for ever but I guess It’s only been just over a year that I started learning about online businesses.
Love the video and wish you all the best with the move.
Holly, I’ve read your posts as well as Anna Williams post about GVO but I’m still not clear about the program. I’ll check into it further.
I use Aweber right now. If I move to GVO would I be able to move my subscriber list to GVO
Anyway – go enjoy some marshmallows, chocolate and jelly beans cake
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Hi Luca! Thank you for the nice comment. If you have some questions about GVO please feel free to ask. Your first question -about aweber, is a very good question. I will look into this for you asap and let you know. With most autoresponder programs, you are capable of importing your list or exporting it into another program.I will try to find out for you. You can also ask this here if you want a faster reply: http://gvoteam.ning.com/
C. Robert Dillon
02. Sep, 2009
Nice video Holly!
Can’t believe you are leaving Vegas! Think of all you are going to miss:
1) You won’t know what to do while waiting in restaurants, grocery stores, and laundromats without all those slot machines (I still hear the mysterious slot machine noise once in awhile in my sleep)
2) The hookers in front of you at the convenience store who are just calling it a night at 10am
3) Trying to figure out the easiest route from Summerlin to Henderson on a Friday afternoon at 5pm…. (hmmm don’t want anywhere near the strip, but not going through the spaghetti bowl either)
4) All the abandoned commercial building projects
5) Always keeping your guard up that anybody you deal with is trying to rip you off
6) The view (actually I do miss the mountains… mornings in the valley were beautiful)
I look at my time in Vegas as like when I worked at an amusement park. Once you know what goes on behind the scenes, the magic is gone. I used to get excited when I’d see Vegas scenes in the movies or tv, now it’s just… eh.
Anyways, hope you had a great birthday, have a safe to Wisconsin, and welcome back to the Midwest!
Rob
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Thanks for making me laugh Robert! The other strange things I noticed here are: many people don’t know how to drive and they get extremely angry when you do what you can to stay alive. Example: every time I’ve driven on the strip (and off as well) I have been nearly hit by another vehicle (the driver is usually obviously intoxicated) and I honk (to spare our lives and give the guy a notice that he is inches from driving into the side of my car) – the guy gets ENRAGED! Can you imagine having your lovely old relatives visiting and enjoying their stay, when this happens and suddenly we’re in the middle of a racing match on the strip. This happened a few months ago with my aunt and her family visiting. Someone almost killed us – so I honked but just to spare our lives (not out of anger) and the other van full of people became so angry they were following us, screaming and yelling at us and chasing us around. It was scary. I didn’t look at them.
The other thing I noticed while being here is something silly. Many women (and strangely even young girls) I notice do not carry purses, rather they store their cell phones in their bras. Suddenly you’re chatting with someone and then their shirt starts ringing so they dig in there to pull out their cell phone!!!! How strange!
Another thing that I think is sad in a way, is that a large majority of the people I know who live nearby, are alcoholics. It makes me uneasy to be around it (at the pool). I see grown adults much older than me, early in the morning, drinking some heavy liquor. I’ve seen several people stumbling around, hitting their head on the handle/pole going into the pool and also a woman fall right in with all her clothes on (bobbing up and down, not knowing what was happening). All of that stuff makes me uneasy.
Other than that, living in Las Vegas also means you will see a lot of people leaving stores with grocery carts and taking them miles and miles down the street to their homes or leaving them wherever they want. And everytime (I mean 98% of the time) I go to a store (like Walmart or Smiths), I get stopped by a suspicious-looking person who says he needs money, or his car needs gas, or some other thing. The people ALWAYS spot me and practically run across the huge parking lot to hone in on me. That, I avoid at all costs now. I don’t know what these people are capable of or who they are. I carry my stun gun on me because of that and because some of the people are very aggressively assertive in their request for money.
Last thing – every time I’ve gone out at night (which wasn’t that many times while living here) I have been yelled at by some random person on a bike or walking in the street. This is sin city and at night time it seems like in the local areas that craziness is rampant. Last time I had a craving for an ice cream with Josh and we went out around 9 pm to get them. I handed josh his ice cream and heard screaming and yelling.I looked to the side of my car and a guy on a bike was yelling something. I missed half of it and then I heard “yeah you know what I’m talking about,” and he continued to yell stuff at me. I don’t know what I did to him. And then he proceeded to ride his bike in and out of where I was driving. Those are my strange tales of Las Vegas. To me, living here isn’t my ideal situation at all. There is too much chaos and the “culture” of the locals is also interesting, yet a little too out there for me!!! Any other experiences Rob?
Dave in Larryville
02. Sep, 2009
Happy Birthday Holly! (belated… was moving)
Wow… you don’t mess around. Wisconsin is an awesome state… some of the friendliest folks in the U.S. there and in MN, and ND… cold weather/warm hearts? Could be
Have a great move.
Warm regards to you and Josh.
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Thanks Dave! And you just moved as well? Wow lots of moving going on. I hope yours went well too. Definitely right about the cold weather/warm hearts!
Nonthawat
02. Sep, 2009
I hope the next 12 months brings you as much happiness and joy. Wisconsin looks a great place!
Best wishes,
Nonthawat
Michelle Crofts
02. Sep, 2009
Such a lovely video. Good luck with the move!
Holly
02. Sep, 2009
Thanks Michelle and thank you Nonthawat!
Jenny
02. Sep, 2009
Great vid Holly, Josh is certainly handsom:) Have a great trip to Wisconsin! Thanks for the comments and your emails about GVO.
I really appreciate that you keep me ( and other) even with your busy schedule:)
Irish Tom
03. Sep, 2009
Well Holly,
The time has come for your next big adventure up to Wisconsin. I have seen some video footage of the area and it is actually very like Ireland. Greenery, Seasons (snow and rain), friendly people and a great place to raise Josh.
I laughed at your piece on living in Vegas and also Robert’s list.
I have visited Vegas maybe about eight or nine times and I agree it is a strange place.
My memory was doing the old “pub crawl”…well Casino crawl and passing the crazy people on the streets and the happy hookers. One approached Cheryl and myself to see if we wanted a threesome…all we could do was walk quickly away laughing our heads off. Only in Vegas.
So what about the Soap you were going to do based on the appartment complex?? This would be a fun project in book format. I bet it would sell.
I loved the Animoto video. It really is a nice memory to have.
Anyhow, have a safe trip and I wish you all the very best in the next step in your adventure with Josh.
I know you will keep us posted as to your progress.
Best of luck.
Tom
PS. I know you are a big fan of Guy of DDD and I remember he hit a few good diners up in the WI area. He has a new book out showing the places he has visited. I have sent for it so on our next road trip up to Wa, we can try some of them.
Emily
03. Sep, 2009
Hi Holly! Good to hear you will be back in Wisconsin! Where specifically are you heading?
Holly
03. Sep, 2009
Hi Emily! Is this Emily Waller?
We are moving to the area around Whitewater …we are not positive yet where we will live but it will probably be around there. My brother and kids live near there and we plan to live closeby. Shouldn’t be too far from our family in Milwaukee either. 
What city are you in now?
Cary Bergeron
03. Sep, 2009
Very nice video, thank you for sharing it.
After listening to the song attached to the video I want to go to Vegas for some reason…
Russ
05. Sep, 2009
I’m glad that you are able to resolve the issues that drove you from WI and go back. May you find yourself a good nest that allows friends and family to be close.
I’m happy that you got out of Vegas. As you said, it’s a very difficult place to be honest.
The way you balance all of your choices, the velocity in which you implement them, and your experiences is amazing.
Look forward to talking to you again soon….
Holly
05. Sep, 2009
Thank you Russ! I’m excited about the future and I am ready to settle down. It’s also great to be near family.
Jacinta Dean
09. Sep, 2009
Hi Holly,
I do hope the move and transition is going well.
OMG on life in Las Vegas! It sounds like life here in Australia on the Gold Coast at night. I lived there for many years.
Thank you for popping by my site and no worries on mentioning you. I do very highly recommend you to every one I speak to about creating a business online both on and offline.
Your book was one of the first books I read about internet marketing and creating a business online just after I had my bubba and realised I needed to create an income for her if I was going to provide her with any kind of decent future.
What draw me to you was your truth and your honesty as a marketer and most of all was that you are a mother trying to provide for your child. Over the last few years I have come across so many of the so called gurus with their aggressive marketing and it really annoys me, plus they will only tell you so much before they want you to spend thousands which is just wrong!
The industry definitely needs more women like you!
Yes I am going to the seminar this week end. I will be jotting down lots and lots of notes and hopefully doing write ups on my blog. I will let you know as soon as I do.
Thank you for saying I look a little like your sister
I am definitely old enough to be a big sister 
Remember to be good to you and thank you for helping me to start to achieve my dreams.
Keep inspiring and keep smiling!
Kind Regards
Jacinta
John T
20. Sep, 2009
Great video, Holly! That reminds me that I’ve got to check out that Animoto website – looks like it makes making videos easy and lots of fun! Belated (but better late than never!) birthday wishes!
Annie T. Baxter
11. Oct, 2009
Hi Holly! On one of your earlier posts you mentioned visitiing family and looking at property in Wisconsin. I was so hoping you would find a way to be closer to your family there. Silly, since we’ve never met, but you and Josh looked so happy in the photos you posted that it just seemed like a positive place to be!
My husband and I recently moved into our new home…moving is hard work, isn’t it? Or actually, maybe it’s the packing, unpacking then deciding where to put things ad such? Anyway, looking forward to hearing how you are getting settled!
Until next time…Annie
Lock
18. Jan, 2010
Nice video…I’ve been looking for something like this to post to youtube