Wednesday, May 12, 2010

It's a blessed life....

Ok! I am a terrible blogger! I know I know.  But I have great news to share! 1. I have the best parents in the world! 2. I am GRADUATING COLLEGE on Saturday. and 3. I am doing the last bit of homework/studying of my undergrad career tonight!!!! WHOOOO HOOO!

My last couple of months have been rough ones, but these last couple of weeks I am on top of my world! Getting my stuff together, finishing school, enjoying life, and my family of course.  I have realized how much the little things truly matter to me lately.  Like my parents.

I know it's not a huge deal, but my parents still leave me voicemails, which I NEVER listen to on time, I just call them back right?!?! Well yesterday, I was frantically driving to make it on time to my ortho appt and I decided to listen to all my voicemails on my phone.  ELEVEN to be exact, I'm such a slacker! Low and behold I hear my Momma's voice and Daddy's voice on most of them.  Here are a few of the voice mails they left me:

Dad: Hi Bittany! It's your Dad.  Your Mom wanted me to call you to let you know that there are 5 OH OH's (our secret word for cute boys ; ) at the gym pool lifeguarding.  Love you!

Mom: Hi B! It's your Momma.  I just wanted to let you know that your father and I are going to dinner and we want YOU to join us! Call me back! Love ya, See ya, BYE!

Dad: Hey Britt, Sorry I missed your call back.  anyways continuing our conversation...sometimes in life you just have to let it go and your path will be drawn out for you.  People will come and go and that's ok.  I know you are confused about what's next, but that's ok.  Anyways, I love you, Bye

Mom: Hi Hunnie.  I just wanted to let you know that I got you a new shirt and table clothes, and decorations, and streamers, and the menu, and everything for your graduation party.  We are SO proud of you. Love ya, See ya, BYE!

I'm so blessed right???!? I'm so glad God chose MY Mom and Dad to be my parents.  To add a little more family blessedness to the list, my brother, bless his heart. Has been working ALL week to finish the floors at our house, and the yard, and hire a cleaning lady, and make sure everything is perfect for my party.  I haven't told him this yet, but I am so thankful I haven't had to worry about the house AND studying for finals.  One more. My favorite cousin, who is like a sister to me, is flying in from Texas for my Graduation, for 4 days to help us and be with me! HUGE deal for her, as she is leaving her two little ones behind and for the first time coming all alone!

I cannot wait to see everyone this weekend and to graduate, the hard work has finally paid off! What a load off of my shoulders! Obviously I have some amazing people to hang out with this weekend too! 

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Change

I had the most amazing lecture today in my managing change class.  As many of the students in my class are graduating this semester, my professor took a day to lecture on self change.  Man was I inspired.  I'll post my lecuture notes in my next post, after all the projects I need to complete tonight : /  However it made my realize a lot about myself and the changes I'm going through. 

This short and sweet little post is about something I learned about ME today.  I, Brittany, am a master at hiding my feelings.  Many, many, many people will disagree, and say I am quite transparent when I'm upset.  The trick here is that most of the time if you can tell I'm upset, I want you to know.  However lately......when I've been going through some 'changes', really had some ups and downs and life altering decision making going on...NO ONE close to me knows where my head is at or what I'm feeling.  (no.....I'm not going to tell  you my favorite follower either....; ) Actually, I'm pretty sure no one has even realized there is something going on!

Maybe I'm growing up, maybe this is a phase, but I'm going through an alone time right now.  Dealing with some stuff alone and I'm not sure if I like it or not.  I LOVE that I have so many people to lean on all the time (bless all of my family) but this college graduate (almost) needs to figure out some stuff by herself without the influence of others I so heavily weigh most decisions on.  SO, these big issues (big to me at least....keep in mind how blessed my life is) are gonna be handled by MUAH!

Keep an eye out for my post on the change lecture...it's gonna be good!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Let it go

If I tried to write an official blog right now, it would be a scattered mess! BUT... Here is to my family who have pushed me through a couple tough weeks.  Here is to this week being MUCH better.  Last but not least, here is to letting go of what you cannot control and holding on to what really matters.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Ima Bee Ima Bee Ima ima ima Bee

Back to school this week! Last time I plan on saying that for a while : ) I've been a busy B over my break, getting caught up on some family time with my Aunt and little cousin in time, spring cleaning (SO fun, let me tell you), I even got caught up at work! I have to admit, I am going a little crazy about the next few months to come!

First there is the last round of finals : / and group projects, whew there goes that tight ball in my chest again.  I can't wait for school to be over, but I  have a feeling I'm going to need to start some new hobbies to keep myself busy.  Boredom never does anyone good.  I am SO looking forward to my graduation and graduation party on May 15th though! I just finished up the invites today.

Then comes SUMMER! My favorite memories are all from summer, I'm thrilled.  I have camping trips planned, lake house retreats, and I'm thinking I might splurge and go somewhere beachy with my girls, money permitting of course! OH and a wedding! I can't wait for the summer time!

Then theres October! I am going on an 8 day Carribean cruise with a girl friend of mine! (I know right?) BUT, there's this thing I need to start working on.... : / the BIKINI BODY. Hopefully I'll be there by July but October is the deadline, now if only I had the desire to get to that gym I'm paying for.

I'm working on getting these blog posts narrowed down to one subject, I just find myself great at rambling in them.  I'll have to start taking notes from the excellent bloggers I follow ; ) you know who you are!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spring Break and Heart Ache?

I know at some point on here I mentioned that I wasn't good at this sort of thing.....and the month (or couple of months ; ) that I haven't posted prove it! I'll admit it, I'm a bad blogger.  I'll work on it.  OH the things that have happened in these months, let me tell ya, there wasn't a lot of slacking involved.  I've lived, that's for sure. 

I officially made it through the first half of my last semester! WHOO HOO! No simple task I tell ya.  Now I'm on spring break, well, kind of.  I'm working all week. Someone's gotta pay those bills : ) I did however, play hookie from work today, the weather last night totally made up my mind.  I'm such a rebel right?! The day off (doing HW) and shopping with my Momma and Aunt totally set me back in check though.  God I love that woman.  That poor mall we took on too, it should be illegal for three women in my family to be in the same vecinity at the same time!

So to the heart ache on my spring break.  Well, I met a man, yes, a man, not a boy.  Step one.....CHECK! However, without going into details about the crazy complicated and hush hush situation, it's not going to work out.  Now, as much as this hurts, I'm kinda proud that I realize this, and am 'trying' to move on.  Not going so well, but I do have a great support system behind me pushing me right through it.  Let me tell ya, this dating world........not all it's cracked up to be.  Ladies, go kiss those husbands/fiance/boyfriends.  Most of what's out there is no bueno.  I however, have nothing but good things and prayers to say for the wonderful man that can't be in my life right now.

As most of my loved ones can tell you, I've been in a bad mood about this 'man' situation the last couple of weeks. SO, what better to do than to count my blessings and the things that I am thankful for.  That should set me right back on course.  Today I am thankful for: God, Momma, Dad, Brother, our health, my friends, the roof over my head, the food on the table, my college education (almost there:), heart ache, my job, and my Aunt being in town. 

There are SO many more blessings in my life, I just need to remember to count on those in my time of need rather than focus on the negative, but it's just so darn hard.  I guess it'll come with aging.  Are we aloud to do a shout out on here.  Well, i'm going to......TO: the one person who will probably read this  blog entry first..you know who you are.... keep your head up, remember to count your blessings, and remember I'm here for you even when you don't think I am. You WILL get through this and be stronger for it. Love you!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Busy Bee

Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower and Wedding OH MY! TodaOh the honor of being a Maid of honor! I've been having so much fun with the Soon to Be Mrs. She's doing such a great job putting all the pieces of her wedding together, even though she doesn't think so....but I am SO proud of her! I am pretty excited about my part too, but it's kinda stressful! Not that it's anything close to buying and completely remodling a house, while planning a wedding, and going to school, but hey....it's a lot for this B! I have all of the bachelorette party planned at last! The hotel, that has the restaurant in it that will let us crazy ladies have a bachelorette party and a lingerie shower all in the same place. Man did we have fun making those invites and I think they turned out pretty good! Next is the bridal shower....whew. I got the ok from my brother to do it at our house, so location.....(check). I did some browsing online and decided I wanted to use yellow (because I fell in love with this lemon centerpiece) and then the soon to be Mrs. and I went to hobby lobby and decided on some invitations and a black and white vintage theme. Black, white, and yellow it is, not to bad right?! I love this stuff, I really really do. It's totally in my ballpark. It's hard though, I don't want to leave anyone out, but with all this stuff on my mind.....I'm having a hard time!!! Thank goodness I have the big man ^ up there behind me for this one! (and all the other ones). I'll post pics of my ideas below!

Saturday was THE BEST day I've had in a while. It was totally a girls afternoon! One of the bridesmaids and I went shopping for the bachelorette party (embarassing) and then we wen't wild for animal print (theme for party)......I picked the perfect time for this animal print theme, there's so many options out there! Afterward, we met up with the Bride and Groom for lunch, then we stole the Bride away for more girls time. It was so nice to have real girl time sitting on the floor of Border's in the wedding/religious isle. The Lord was in full force that day too, he brought both of my girls a little closer to him and I was thrilled to experience it. I then went home to experience more painting and decorating....whew i was wiped out. This re-doing my brother's house is tiring. I've finished a couple of rooms, it's just hard to do a lot with what these previous model home designers did......they sucessfully made it look nice by doing things half (you know the word). sheesh.

Another long week ahead of me, it's going to go by so quick.......ok, maybe I won't post pictures...because I can't quite figure out how too! Soon though.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Make it FAST!

Whew! What an interesting first week back at school! I feel like I've had a permanent smile on my face all week long! What's wrong with me?!? I think it's that it's my last semester for this degree, and I LOVE my classes with the exception of one, AND I love my schedule! I go to night school on M and W and two classes in the middle of the day on T and TH. I can work on those half days for a bout 4 hours OR I can stay home and catch up on the little things I'd usually leave behind!

I did a little soul searching with my Dad on the way home from work the other day. We talked the whole way about what's next for me, and he really put me at ease! I had my mind set on bills bills bills, responsability, full time working, no vacation, no fun!! I was really starting to stress myself out. Funny how a little 'hunny it doesn't all happen at once' comment from the man I love the most in this world completely calms me down! Yet again, I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents.

Well, I do have to make this one fast. I am trying to blog a little bit more on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I have the quiet time at the computer, HOWEVER, the cute boy in my managing change class is just calling my name right now. ; ) Hopefully!


P.S. Yay! I have two followers now! Thanks Momma D!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Shop Till You Drop

SO, I'm not very good at this blogging thing. To be honest I forget about it, oops! I am trying however!

So, this last weekend was an absolute blast! I took Friday off of work to do last minute cleaning, errands, and what not. The kicker is my Momma took it off two. It's not too often we get to spend the whole day together, and we had a blast! I got my car detailed (it's like driving a new car now, seriously, it was that bad). I also did something huge! I ORDERED MY BOOKS AND MY GRADUATION INVITATIONS! Oh man, I am almost done with my first degree. Who knows what's next for my education, but I cannot believe it's my final semester! 4 long years of hard work are finally going to pay off, until.......well grad school that is, but I think i'll live it up a little before then!

Anyways, after my mom and I went shopping all day, we FINALLY found outfits for our family portrait session the following day, and we went to play volleyball for my brother. HAHA, here's a story. My mom and I and not reallly blessed with the talent it takes to be good at volleyball. I'm much to afraid of the ball flying at my face and duck down all the time, and she has a bad knee. However, being the wonderful mother she is, when I was forced to play because there were no other girls to play (and there has to be at least one girl) I asked my mom to go with me, and she did! We were comical, but were able to keep our humor about it. Six games and six losses later, we treated ourselves to a little Target therapy : )

Saturday, Momma and I got to hang out again and get out hair done for the family portraits my brother and I bought my parents. I love getting my hair done, I leave that place feelin like a million bucks! No joke. Then we went to the family portrait session in Washington Park. I have to say, we're a pretty cute lil family! If I can figure out how to post pictures on here, I will. Thanks KRISTOL! (oooh and thanks Momma D and Cat for the idea!)

Then Sunday came around and my winter break slowly came to an end. I cleaned all day long and ended the day with a nice dinner on the couch with my best friends and a SUPER EXPENSIVE trip to Wal-Mart. That's what a girl gets for putting grocery shopping off for three months!

Tomorrow, I start school up again. I can already feel the stress at work, but I am pushing through. Pray, pray, pray, for these next few months to go by smoothly for I have so much coming up to be thankful for!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sicky B

Oh this weekend has come and gone oh so fast! I feel like I didn't do anything! I have successfully managed to catch a sinus infection ( i think) but I haven't been able to get to the doctor because aparently they like weekends off too, who knew! Anyways, I started getting sick on Thursday, I blame my co-workers btw, and my genius self decided I would go out for ladies night with all my best guy friends to the Grizzly Rose. I know, I know, but we had been planning to all go our for over a month, so I had to right!? Wrong, but I did. I had a blast out and about with the boys ( a few friends from work and my brother/landlord, hehe) however, I overdid it! That was clear when I woke up Friday morning feeling like I got hit by a bus. Oh man and the worst part is that my dad was picking me up early, because he had to pick me and the carpet cleaner up so I could clean the office carpets after work! (I wanted a quick way to pay off Christmas, so I volunteered). Two hours into the dreadfull Friday at work, I went home, much to my fathers dismay, but I had to get some shut eye! I did go back to work to clean the carpets though, and after 6 hours of hard labor and the machine breaking down twice on me.......I finished them! You can bet i'll think twice about doing it again though! Not my cup of tea!

We did get another step ahead in the laundry room re-model this weekend though! The painting is all over, and we have successfully purchased the crown moulding to cover the ceiling where the wallpaper was. Now I have to vent about then builder of my brothers beautiful home! It was a model home and very very beautiful at first. However, the little interior designer that I am becoming, I have figured out that they did a lot of things cheaply or half (A##) For example, they placed wallpaper in a TON of the house. Now, I am not a fan of wallpaper anyways, but there are ways that it can be tastefully done! They didn't do it tastefully, so!, I took it out of two of the rooms, and plan to only leave the bathrooms they did, with wallpaper! So in the Kitchen, we placed a backsplash of beautiful tile over the wallpaper! Oh man did it feel good! BUT, when I went to remove it from the bedrooms and the laundry room, I discovered that they didn't texture the walls underneath the wallpaper! This makes no sense to me! It takes more of an effort not to texture these area then to smooth it out! I like the challenge though. I have to come up with out of the box ideas for these three rooms! First? The laundry room! Like I said, I finished painting, which is no easy job! Now I need to get the spray paint out for the accessories I am using to decorate with and we have to put up the crown moulding! That's where my out of the box idea is in the room! The wall paper was 5 inches thick, and most crown moulding is only 3 and 1/8 inches thick! So with the help of Lowe's, we bought traditional crown moulding, and traditional baseboarc moulding to go underneath! It's not up yet, but I'll post a picture when we are done! It looks amazing though when you hold it up! Kinda creates a thicker moulding, for cheap! Oh how I love this stuff.

Up next!?! I plan on doing some creative work for baby shower floral arrangements! I am going to use Mason Jars, my new favorite decorator tool! I am also going to use them in the backyard I am hopefully staging for a rehersal dinner for the BF! OH the many things I can be creative with right now! I just have to be careful not to take on too many projects, I do that, and they don't get finished!

Back to this weekend! We went back out to the Rose last night, and stayed until it closed! I love country dancing and actually met some really cool people last night, but the little sicky that I am right now, once again overdid it and went out to breakfast afterward. We got home at 4 am! No joke, I took my nightime cold medicine and it wiped me out! I literally slept in later than I ever have in my life! 2:30 in the afternoon! What a waste of a beautiful Sunday! I was planning on doing so much, but ended up settling on taking down the Christmas decorations, and cleaning up the basement!

Back to work tomorrow! ..........I have a feeling that I'll be posting more about designing on here than I will about everything else. BUT one more addition to my bucket list.......

I want to devote more time to volunteering for a better cause, especially animals....and breast cancer awareness (for my Aunt and Grandma)!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

THE BUCKET LIST

This is a working list of all the things I want to do more of in life and/or do before I die! If you read my BFF's blog some of these will look familiar to you, and that's because we are freakishly alike in a lot of ways! (I love how I say that when the only person who's following me is my acutal BFF, but hopefully there will be more soon :)

  • Actually do things from my Bucket List
  • Learn to Say no and not feel bad about it
  • Spend more time with my dog, who brings me nothing but joy
  • Figure out just how I am going to balance my priorities, I never seem to be able to do this!
  • Spend more time in the mountains during the summer (before I move) camping, hiking, swimming, 4 wheeling, climbing, running, etc.
  • Travel!! Oh the places I want to go (next in list)
  • Visit Greece, Rome, Mexico, the Bahamas, Australia................
  • Snorkel (even though I am afraid of fish, all of them)
  • Visit New York City, Florida, and California more.
  • Tell people I love, that I love them more often
  • Visit my family in upstate NY more
  • Attempt moving away from my beloved family, to TEXAS!
  • Spend less time worrying
  • Develop my relationship with God. Until 2008 I would define my relationship with Him as one that I was raised to have or a 'born Christian' relationship with him. Last year in my bible study I really filled myself with knowlegde and studied His words. I have come to a point where I have chosen my faith, not someone else. OH the ways God has made my life so beautiful with a healthy family and friends surrounding me. I want to continue to follow the path He has created for me and dig deeper into the book to fill my thirst for knowledge of His ways.
  • Bungee jump!
  • Go to my gym more!
  • Eat healthier foods

Well, that's all for now! I'm sure I can come up with more in a couple days!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Hello January

Oh the first week of the year is always my favorite! (Not!) This week has been nothing but files at work. Put the 2008 files in boxes and move them up to the rafters. Move the 2009 files into the 2008 file cabinets. File the remainder of 2009 paperwork. Make 28 pages of labels for the new 2010 files, place those 28 pages of labels on some 800 file folders, and place the file folders into the hanging file folders in the 2010 file cabinets. That right there is three and a half (most likely) days of boring work. I leave work completely exhausted! To top that I realized that there are less than two weeks left before I return to school! OMG, where does the time go lately. However, this did promt me to take next friday off of work! ahhhh



Next on my list?! School. I need to get my books, which usually adds at least $700 on top of my tuition! Thank God for my parents and the wonderful gift of an education they have given me. I am eternally greatful to them for providing me with all the tools to start my life in the real world, and debt free too : ) I would be half the person I am without them! With that said, I am ready to be done though! I have a severe case of senioritis and a HUGE void when it comes to designing and decorating!



To fix this, I am getting a sewing machine! That's right! I am going to learn how to make pillows, curtains, duvet covers, and much more! I am also going to start looking for a job as an admin or something in the interior design industry! I have my first connection so I am going to run with it! After I Graduate, I think I might go to ACC for my interior design AA, if I decide I am that crazy, but I have to chase this dream! I have this creative side and I need to explore it!



Recently I got to help stage my BFF's house for a family dinner she was having! Oh did we have some staging to do! I felt like I was on an episode of trading spaces or design for a dime, I was TOTALLY in my element and loved every minute of it! I also explored the art of making invites to a bachelorette party and they turned out ADORABLE! I am so proud of us (me and my best friend) for our DIY efforts.

DIY in my future looks pretty darn good. In the next 5 months there is a lot to do! Bachelorette party, Bridal shower, Wedding, Graduation! YIKES! I have also decided that after graduation, simply because there really isn't much time in between now and then, I am going to make a modified 'bucket' list! Things that I want to do more of, and things I want to do before I die! It's a long one, but I think I'll knock at least 3 or 4 off of it a year! Starting this year I am going to really start living! How exciting it is to not know what my future holds at this point and know that I have complete control of what happens. Well, God has complete control ultimately, I cannot wait to see what he has in store for me next!

Be on the lookout for my next post: The Bucket List! ; )

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Welcome 2010!

My first blog! Oh how proud I am of myself. SO, a little background information on me! I am a second semester senior in college (that's right, 4 months left!!), and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. My blog, the life of a B, is just what it says, my life! B is what every important person in my life calls me, so I thought it appropriate. Here you will read about ME, and my life as B!

Hello 2010! Oh the things that will happen in 2010! After 4 LONG years I will finally graduate college!!! Only to return to chase after my dream (i hope). I am completely horrified! For the first time in my life, I don't have a plan for what's next. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner, big time. Not having a plan stresses me out, but I must admit I am kind of excited at the thought of it. In the months to come my life will be consumed with school, school and did I mention school? : ) However, theres one small detail I left out, MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED. I feel so old saying that. Yes, my best friend of 7 years will be walking beautifully down the aisle. Wedding planning has all but knocked the poor girl on her feet, but she's a tough one!

One thing that 2010 will bring me is 'No's' That's my new year's resolution! I am going to start saying no more often without feeling bad! It's something I am terrible at, which in turn signs me up for too much, and me not being able to follow through with my commitments! Sheesh! Hopefully it works!