Monday, January 31, 2011

Weekend Fun

This weekend was jam packed with a ton of fun things!! Friday night I went to a Girl's Night Out gathering which I was really in need of! I guess I was having so much fun that I forgot to get out my camera so I don't have any pics, but it was so nice to sit down and just laugh with some of the greatest gals I know. Saturday, Chris and I tried a new restaurant out; Ranch 616 in Austin. The food was good and so was the atmosphere. We were seated out on a closed in patio next to a fire, so it was very romantic and a great place to just hang out and talk. On Sunday, we went to church and then had a youth get together. It's always fun spending time with the youth...never a dull moment! And then Sunday night we went to see Roller Derby with Faith and Greg. This was a new experience for me and Chris, but it was a blast. Once Greg explained the rules and we watched a few bouts, it was pretty easy to catch on to. If we weren't watching the girls skate, we were people watching, which was an event all in itself. We had a blast with Faith and Greg and we can't wait to go back. It was a great fun filled weekend surrounded by people I love!

On our way to Ranch 616
Youth event

Roller Derby!


This Green Leprechan would skate by during breaks and hand out freebies. We ended up with a CD from the band that was playing last night!



Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fun outside

The weather has been so cold and cloudy and wet lately, but on Saturday we finally saw some warmer temperatures and sun! We played outside all afternoon in the yard and then at the park. The boys were in much need of some running, jumping and getting dirty time! Here are a few pics!









Wednesday, January 19, 2011

MBR

My Boyfriend Rocks because...

he is so patient. I think patience is a life long lesson and, for me, I seem to have to learn it all over again in every area of my life. I am not sure if Chris has learned it over the years or if he is just a patient person, but it is a great quality!!

As a mom, I feel like since I am around my kids all day, every day, patience is something I always have to have with them. Not that I am perfect all the time, but most of the time it takes A LOT for me to raise my voice at them. Guys, on the other hand, aren't around the kids all the time, due to work, and for Chris it's even less since he is divorced, so sometimes I think they forget they have to put forth an extra effort to be patient with little ones. But surprisingly, for Chris this seems like it comes very naturally.

I have also seen Chris' patience with circumstances. In the last 8 months there have been countless times where I would have been a wreck with everything he had going on. Just this week alone is a good example. He has a sales conference all week long with meetings and vendor fairs and meet and greets so he knew this week would be tough. Then on Monday, he got a flat on the highway at 9pm at night and then this morning he slept through his alarm! Now, granted, the last one may have been his fault, but still when I talked to him today, he was in a good mood!!

And the last area I have seen Chris show patience is with me. I feel like I spent the majority of the time leading up to my divorce preparing myself, healing myself. So when the divorce was final I felt like I was in a good spot. It had been a while since I felt that confident and secure in my circumstances and in myself. I felt ready to date. Now that me and Chris are starting to get more serious I realize that I still have some baggage that is holding me down. As ready as I felt with my lists and wants and desires for doing things differently, I see that actually dating someone brings about a whole different set of areas that need work and I don't think that I could have anticipated any of them prior to dating, God knows I tried! I am now finding myself being stretched and challenged by God in areas that I hadn't even thought about while being single. This makes for a very "up and down" Brittany. But, lucky for me, Chris is patient, and not only patient, but he also loves me. He reminds me that this is a journey and we will strive to be better for the rest of our lives, and that's okay. I am so blessed to have a patient man standing beside me as I continue to grow because I have no doubt that a lesser patient man would have checked out months ago!!

Friday, January 07, 2011

Adventure?!?

So I don't know if I would classify this under one of the first adventures of 2011 or under super scary??

Today I had a work meeting in between work and me teaching aerobics, so I didn't think much about leaving McKenna outside, because that is what I do everyday, but I guess since I didn't return home until after dark she got scared or nervous and dug out. The boys and I returned home around 7pm and I could see the hole when I drove up. I was hoping she hadn't really been able to fit through there but she did. I loaded the boys back into the car and we rolled down the windows and started yelling 'MCKENNA' as I drove up and down streets for an hour. This part might be classified as the adventure part with Troy screaming McKenna as loud as he could and Teague yelling 'Tenna' right there with Troy! I finally gave up and decided to get the boys in bed. Troy was so sad and asked if he should cry, lol!! I told him that we needed to pray to God for her safety and for her to find her way home, so we did.

She had her tags on so I kept thinking that when someone found her they would call, but no one ever called. Of course, then I started to think the worst; did someone find her and decide just to keep her, was she just roaming the streets cold and hungry, or did she get hit? I even left the porch light on for her.

At about 2:30am an owl hooting woke me up and I once again checked the front yard and again, nothing. I got back in bed and prayed again. It seemed silly to be praying for my dog to come home, but I was convicted that nothing is silly to God, and if it matters to me, it matters to Him. He brought Philippians 4:6 to mind...worry about nothing, pray about everything...so I did. And about that time I heard the neighbor dog howl and then another dog bark. I swore it sounded like McKenna so I jumped out of bed and opened the back door and there she was!!! I was so happy and just thanking God over and over!! She was a little muddy and had quite a few cactus quills in her but once I cleaned her up she got a drink of water and went straight to her bed.

In the morning, Troy came downstairs and saw her and just started yelling, "mom, look, McKenna came home!!" I think he was more excited to see her than he was when Santa came!! We then talked about our prayer the night before and how God answered that prayer and we should thank Him. He told me he gave her a big hug because he missed her and I told him he should tell her 'never run away again!' (in a mean voice) and he told, "mom, don't be mean to her, we missed her" LOL!! He is so cute!!!

I am so thankful that she was smart enough to find her way home and that I was able to use this experience as another opportunity to teach Troy about God.




Saturday, January 01, 2011

2011

This year instead of making a New Year's resolution I decided I would participate in the One Word challenge. I had been thinking and praying about what my one word would be and thought I had an idea, but it seemed very much out of my character. So I asked God to make it clear to me if that is what my one word should be. Funny how you ask God to make something clear to you He will. I heard the word on the radio, on the TV and then again on one of the movies Troy was watching. So my word is...

ADVENTURE

The One Word challenge hopes that the word you choose will be the lens you use all year long to help you get to the change you want to see in yourself. I have been working on becoming the person God created me to be and in some of my reading I realize you can be in God's will and still not be who God created you to be. I think this will be a life long journey and lesson for me, but being more adventurous is something I desperately want in all aspects of my life. With two boys, I want to be the mom that goes along with the boys on their adventures and for them to be proud to have me come along for the experience. With my future spouse, I want to be less meticulous and more spontaneous, able to go and do on a moments notice and have fun no matter what we are doing. With my God, I want to be willing to go wherever He leads. I want my faith to be daring and bold and be able to confidently know that if He has called me to do it, then He will pave the way ahead, no matter how scary it may seem.

So here's to an adventurous 2011!! Happy New Year!!