Style your soul!

Last weekend Jer and I went to the Chrome Music Festival here in town, it was a blast! We heard some wonderful music, especially enjoyed Matt Costa.

This festival is an event to promote Toms shoes - and the style your soul event. So Jer and I both got a pair of blank canvas Toms and went crazy!

We had such a great time, got some awesome one of a kind shoes, some awkward tan lines and got to listen to great music (which can be hard to find in Lubbock...)

Here we come summer!

Until next time,
Brit

Happy Earth Day!

I love the earth - its a pretty awesome planet. Today in this part of the planet we had beautiful 80 degree weather with rain and sunshine. Love it.

I think in celebration of Earth day I want to watch Earth



I love all the baby animals! cute!

Happy Earth Day!

Until next time,
Brit

Good Tired

Today was my first day in full teach with the 2nd graders...I am so tired, but its a good tired (The kind of tired you have after finishing a great race) Accomplished tired - the kind of tired you have because you have been so productive and you have accomplished so much that now you are just worn out. When you have this kind of tired you are content with being tired rather than frustrated because you are proud of the process that wore you out.

With the pregnancy I have realized that I am going to be tired almost always but most always I am frustrated by it - I have always been used to just going...always - Running, house chores, school, bills, the dogs, everything...now my big belly has become like a big stop sign that yells at me to stop whenever I get going. When I am faced with pain or fatigue I would normally accept the challenge and push through it, and in the end love the feeling of triumph over my bodies desire for rest - different story now.

When Jeremy and I bought the pregnancy test I told him in the car that everything was going to totally change - it wasn't about us anymore...no more being selfish. I have come to realize that same statement applies to my desires to push through the fatigue. Its no longer about me getting my To-Do-List accomplished at the expense of my rest, but about me listening to what my body (our baby's home) actually is telling me to do. Not an easy task-I don't like to listen when I am told what to do.

Rather than challenging the tired and enduring through the lack of rest, I am now challenged to accept my signs of exhaustion and endure through the unfinished To-Do-List. So for today I am enjoying my exhaustion...it is a good feeling today, a good tired.

Until next time,
Brit

smile

Most of the time commercials just make me angry, or frustrated - but these commercials warm my heart. I am still a little unsure about the product - I think for now I want to stick with my hard copy. But the commercials are A+ in my book :)





Hope your heart is warmed!

Until next time,
Brit

Eggplant Baby

I am 27 weeks with child and she is now as big as an eggplant!!! I can feel our little eggplant kicking all over the place in there! It is so reassuring, but beginning to become quite uncomfortable...she doesn't let me have poor posture or I get a kick in the ribs! I love to just sit back and watch my big belly ripple as she moves around - At night when she is most active Jer and I play "Guess that body part" Was that her head, or her leg, or an arm or elbow?

(Picture and info from here)

This week our baby is soaking up my antibodies and preparing her immune system for the outside world. Her eyes are nearly fully developed and she will start blinking soon! Her little heartbeat is becoming so strong that if you put your ear to my belly and listen really carefully you can actually hear her heartbeat!

The big day is only about 13 weeks away! Outrageous!!!

Until next time,
Brit

Excited!

We are coming up on a bunch of life transitions - and we are soo soo excited! Here is my excited list:

1. Having a baby in my arms...not my belly
2. Graduating!
3. Being a mom
4. Moving into full-time ministry
5. Moving to a town smaller than my pinky
6. A backyard
7. Summer with a pregnant belly in a bathing suit

I am so thankful for all that God has allowed us - I am so excited to see all of the things He has in store for us yet :)

Until next time,
Brit

baby bump

It has taken almost 6 months for the bump to finally make its appearance, but here it is! Very much loving the pregnancy comments from strangers, not very much loving the annoyance of bending over to tie shoes.

Until next time,
Brit

happy Tuesday

Hot Tuesday - I am so so excited! It was over 90 degree's here today, I am loving it now...who knows if that sensation will last when we have those days and much hotter back to back for months in a row.

To make my life even better Jer's doing the dishes tonight! Warm weather and a great husband...it really is a happy Tuesday!

haha!

Until next time,
Brit

Papaya Baby

I have gained a total of 12lbs! Exciting news for our household! The most current fruit sizing of baby is based on a time frame of 4 weeks now, so from 21-24 weeks she is about the size of a papaya! How fun!

I am nearing my 25th week of pregnancy and can hardly believe it. Wowza time is flying by. Those little ones sure do ripen fast. Seems like just yesterday she was just a small little blueberry, a blob of color on the screen, a still hard to believe fact of how blessed we are. But now! She is a rambunxious little papaya jumping around all over the place in there!

Interesting to know, our little papaya's sleep cycle is starting to form - snoozing 12-14 hours a day. A little unsettling for me and the husband: She is most active in the evenings...just as we are settling into bed she is more active than any other time of day. We wonder what this will mean for her (and us!) outside of the womb...

Until next time,
Brit

Caution Hot

I have just recently started making homemade salsa. I love spicy salsa, and especially homemade, so the last few attempts I have been trying hard to get the recipe perfected to my tastes.

The first time I made it I was just excited that I actually did it, but the taste wasn't there for me - It was OK, but not nearly spicy enough. The next time I left in all of the jalapeno seeds and thought that would do the trick for spicing it up...still not hot enough.

Last night I made a batch that I was planning on taking with us for our potluck meal today at church. I was determined that I could make it spicy enough to satisfy my taste, soooo I threw in 3 habanero peppers. I chose to do 3 because they were 3/$1. I thought for a second about leaving out the seeds but they were just so little I thought it couldn't possibly make that big of a difference.

Needless to say I got all the spice I was looking for. I had to combine the spicy batch with a whole other batch of salsa to make it bearable enough to eat. We didn't take it for potluck today...we were a little nervous that we might possibly send someone into spice convulsions.

Lesson learned: the little guys pack a punch. Interesting to know they pack a punch of about 300,000 scoville units compared to jalapenos who only have 4,000 scoville units (a unit for measuring the hotness of a pepper)

We are now happily enjoying all of the spicy salsa to ourselves!

Until next time
Brit

(Image found here)

back to life...back to laundry

It has been a wonderful spring break thus far! I am so thankful for the break and I think it might just have been enough of a break to provide the endurance needed to push through the rest of the semester.

Here are some of my spring break highlights!

trip to Gainesville
sleeping in
pedicure
making breakfast with Jeremy
trip to the zoo
out to dinner with the G-ma
sleeping in
making dinner for G-ma
shopping!
Lord of the Dance!
trip to a different zoo
Red Robin!
finding jalapeno jelly
the Bonzai

There were a million things that made this spring break such a delight, those were just a few of my standouts. We are back home now though, and back to trying to accomplish an endless amount of laundry.

Please hurry summer!

Until next time,
Brit

my spring break anthem

Today was my last day in 5th grade. It was indeed bittersweet. I had such a wonderful experience with the little guys...but needless to say, hooray for springbreak!

This song has become my springbreak anthem - we just got the OK Go cd this week, and this particular song has been playing through my mind as I imagined my victory walk out the doors of the school on Friday afternoon.

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Cheers for spring break!

Until next time,
Brit

ps. just another reason its so cool - OK Go filmed this live along with the Notre Dame marching band. They are so cool.

quick note

Just got my PPR scores back and I PASSED!

Both certification tests have been successfully taken and passed...now just to graduate!

Feel free to celebrate on my behalf. This guy is.

(Found here)

Until next time,
Brit

Life in a flash.

Life has been busy. Aside from school, work, and sleep here is the condensed version of what we have been up to:

Purchased and moved in baby furniture!
Made it to 22 weeks of pregnancy both me and baby (1.1 lbs!) healthy
Made some homemade salsa (Yum)
Re-arranged bedroom furniture
Had some quality Wii time with the husband
Took the dogs for a walk
Cleaned out left overs from the fridge (Ew)
Tried cooking a new recipe - disappointing
Took my Pedagogy and Professional responsibilities (PPR) certification test
Got the car windows tinted
Had my first teaching observation - A+


3 days until spring break! Counting Down.

Until next time,
Brit

Banana Baby

Among all the business this week we had a Doctors appointment! Everything checked out positive...including my weight which is finally moving up! Gained 5 pounds and stoked about it! and our little girl is healthy and growing!

One of my favorite things throughout the baby bliss has been to watch how fast she really is growing, and anyone knows the best way to do that is by comparing her to a piece of fruit.

At 21 weeks our baby is the size of a banana!

(Image and Info from here)

Also interesting to know she is developing taste buds. Seems our little girl is a spicy banana, can't get enough of the jalapenos, spicy salsa, and hot wings. Yumm...

Until next time,
Brit

Another absence from blogging. Last Sunday I got the unfortunate phone call that my Grandpa had passed away. Jeremy and I spent most of the week in Gainesville TX with the family for the funeral and memorial services.

No death is easy, but this was particularly difficult for me. My Grandpa holds a very special place in my heart. Grandpa was my biggest supporter, protector, and buddy. For me he would pull the world on a string. He built me my very own playhouse and even a Flintstones car. We spent many tractor rides together, and I always helped him mow the lawn with my own bubble making lawn mower.

Grandpa's birthday was on April 1st, which was suiting for him being such a kidder. When I was little he had a birthday party and all sorts of his friends came over. Instead of him visiting with the company he hung out with me the whole time...I only had one April fools joke: "Grandpa! There's ants in your hair!" he laughed and played along every single time I told him that same joke.

When I started college we made a trip out there and in the process got a warning from the GPD for a broken license plate light. The next morning he tried to go to the police station to take care of the ticket he thought I had gotten...he figured out eventually there was no charge, but left the warning to display on their fridge for everyone to see.

One of the most special things Grandpa and I shared was our trips to the donut shop. We did this forever until we couldn't anymore. I was in my booster seat the farthest back I can remember going. He would get a donut and a cup of coffee, I would have donut holes and OJ, and we both would have fun.

So many moments, lessons, and laughs shared with him.
The memories are endless.

I'll love him forever.

Until next time,
Brit

baby room!

So excited to get the baby room going! I've got all sorts of ideas flying around my head...and speaking of flying thats the theme i'm falling in love with: Birds!

One of my favorite bible verses and most needed is in Matthew 6:25 -

"Do not worry... Look at the birds"

It seems like in this fast paced, scary world there are so many things for us to worry about in our lives. This verse is such a reminder that I was created by God with reason! With reason much bigger than the worry that I waste too much of my time with. It seems like such a simple concept...

Between Jer and I we bring too much worry into our lives - when one of us sees the other falling into that pit, we remind each other to "Look at the birds" its become a common saying for us.

I want our little girl to grow up in an environment where she can focus on loving and being loved, not with worry. So I want her to be reminded to always Look at the birds!

Here are a few of my favorite baby room finds so far:

All birds found on etsy.com

Look at the birds :)

Until next time,
Brit

i miss you snowboarding.

Jer and I are Olympic crazy. Jeremy a far greater amount (understatement) than I. We both get so excited every two years when we get to hear the bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum...Olympic song.

The winter Olympics have been so great to watch this year, but it has created a little bit of dismay in our household: skiing/snowboarding withdrawals. Jer is the skier, I am the snowboarder. We both LOVE to go, but living in Lubbock the last 4 years has made making it out to the slopes a little more challenging and harder to find.

This Christmas we had a trip planned to head to a certain mountain in CO and get in a quality week long skiing trip.........then there was a positive pregnancy test. We got over not getting to hit the slopes (A baby is way cooler than that anyways!) but we sure are missing it - and those dang Olympiads seem to be mocking us out there in the snow.

Go USA!!!

Until next time,
Brit

sick me and the computer.

Our computer came down with a virus this week, and so did I. I blame the computer for me coming down with the yucky. Well in my departure from blogging I have had an Epiphany of smell!

Smell is one of my most favoritist senses, that and taste...both of which have been tainted by the pregnancy. Usually I love adding new scents to my home, but as of late, I have gotten rid of them all! The smells that used to woo me, now send me running to the bathroom.

Finally halfway into this pregnancy I have found a smell that is soothing rather than suffocating.

Coconut Lime Verbena

Since you can't attach smells to blogs I'll do my best to translate the scent into images. Enjoy!

Until next time,
Brit

tuesdays

I've got nothing good to say today. I spent the day in a mostly quiet room doing benchmark testing all day...it can turn your brain into mush.

The only intelligent thought I have for this Tuesday is a joke that was told on the morning announcements - those morning jokes always start my day off well. Hope it treats your Tuesday well!

Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

Because he had not guts!!!

Until next time,

Brit