Brianna the Babbler

Do I Have Time To Shower?

2011-10-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to Duncle D. ...after all, it was his idea to blog about it, and amazingly enough my desire to blog again is starting to revive. :) Thought I'd start with a stolen idea!! Thanks to M's Splenda.

August 14, 2011, Sunday morning at 3:30 am:

Laying sound asleep (as sound as you can get when you are 12 months pregnant, yet still 11 days away from your due date), and my eyes pop open with a hard contraction.

Meh. (as Skyler would put it)

Another painful braxton hicks I'm sure.

I drift off to "sleep" again.

3:40 am POP, eyes open, another one.

Meh.

3:50 am POP, eyes open, irritation levels rising, another one.

Sigh. Meh.

4 am SIGH, painfully heave myself out of bed.

Thoughts: Okay, this hurts. Feeling the contraction in my butt and thighs, feels real, but I'm not gonna hope. Usually changing positions helps right? I'll go sleep on the couch. That will stop these 'false labor' contractions. Real labor would not be my luck.

4:05 am on the couch, twisting and turning, and yet another contraction. These continued 5 min apart until about 6 am.

In the meantime I gave up on sleeping. It was too early to wake anyone up, besides, how was I to know this really was labor??? Yeah right, I am NOT going to the hospital just to be turned away!!! I am making sure this is the real thing!!

So I putter around the house fixing the plant leaves and staring at the mess of a house I have that I have sworn I will scrub clean Monday and Tuesday so Avynlee will have a clean abode to come home to after the Thursday c-section.

6am-7:30 am, 3-5 minute apart contractions. Still there, pain increasing, shoot, I think this is it. FINALLY it is 7:30 and my kids wake up on their own. I decide, after 4 hours of labor it's time to wake up the hubby.

I announce we better get ready and go to the hospital. I tell Trevor all the evidence and that I have been up since 3:30 am laboring and it's getting worse (grunt, moan, urghhh here's another one). The first words out of his mouth are: "Do I have time to shower?" LOL, for real I thought that was cute, I said, "sure why not? I've waited this long."

He then proceeds to get ready, and I pack the hospital bag I never packed.

I call my parents, waking them up. I explain the situation. I ask my mom to come get the girls so we can head to the hospital.

The first thing she responds is, "Do I have time to shower?" hahhahaa! I say, "yes, take your time, I have already been waiting."

At 10:00 am we are checked into the hospital, after 6 1/2 hours of labor, yes it was real labor, I was dilated to a 4 1/2 and they prepped me for the c-section!! All I can say to myself is: Way to go Mama!!!! And, I really truly am glad that everyone had time to shower first!!! (The picture above is me just before we left for the hospital).

I'm back!

2010-11-13T21:53:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I am back to the blogging world!!
Guess I'll share a quick story. Last week I went to Fresh Market (I don't choose this store over others but I had three gift cards). I spent an hour finding the things I needed and when I checked out, the debit/gift card machines weren't working. Long story short they didn't handle it very well and demanded I pay with credit card. I left without groceries and was very frustrated. Well I put in a complaint with corporate, and the store manager called me the next day apologizing profusely, and she sent me a $20 gift card in the mail!!! AWESOME!! So Fresh Market totally redeemed themselves.
Okay, check out my family blog cuz I updated that too :)
Missed ya all!! -Brianna

A bit of me......and a bit of the two-headed blog monster

2010-01-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

okay here it comes......this has been a long time coming that's for sure!!! :)

Let's start off with some background.... I guess I have some weird part of me that will go through obsessions....wait a minute arent we all like this at one point or another?? ;)

I'll have months where all I want to do are puzzles. I'll do every puzzle I own and go buy a few more and do those. Then I get sick of puzzles (I start dreaming about them), and that obsession goes dormant for another 6 months to 2 years......depending on when I get through all the rest.

Then I'll get in a sudoku obsession and all my free time will be on sudoku....til I get sick of it/start dreaming numbers.....

Another one is scrapbooking......

And blogging got it's obsession era too......I even set up two blogs.....wow!! I'm so awesome!! ;)

And yet another is reorganizing everything in the house (currently on that one).

Around September my new obsession became Harry Potter. I never actually read the series. I read books one and two years back but I never kicked it into 'obsession mode'. So it died a slow death. But I'l tell you what kicked me into obsession mode. I saw the most recent movie half blood prince and I HAD TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF SNAPE....good or bad??? So I told Trevor (this was in September) I was going to read the whole series by Christmas. He laughed and said 'yeah right'. I finished the last book about ten days before Christmas!!!! My obsession and questions satisfied. (And I was dreaming about fighting You-Know-Who every night......all this to understand the pshycological workings of Snape....totally worth it!!!
So to sum it up....I get these obsessive hobbies that come and go and cycle through, and when harry potter took over my life, blogging went out the window.

BUTTTTTTTTTTT There are OTHER reasons why blogging went out the window!! (besides the fact i've had sick kids and a very busy calling and lots of other stuff going on..) But we will address some other reason: And here are my explanations and analyzations of the 'two-headed blogging monster' inside of me. (one head likes it and the other head doesn't yet they are attached to the same body..... just an analogy to explain my conflicting feelings)

it really is great to be in the 'loop' of peoples' lives. Some people you lose contact with if you drop the blogging and/or facebook world. But i don't like being 'bound by the cyber world to know what is going on with loved ones... yet this is the world we live in and it is convenient so even with my irritation of this I still really like it ha ha go figure ;)

I realize how many cute little precious details of our lives and what the girls say and do I record really well on the blog.......I do keep a journal however it seems easier to type
all the nitty gritty details, and i haven't computerized my journal yet, so writing it is cumbersome.

Not only is it nice to keep up on others' lives but it is nice to have a convenient way to let people know what is going on in ours.......convenient.....yet at the same time lonely.....do people REALLY care? If they did they would call.......but we're all low on minutes right? lol :)

Vulnerability is another thing. You put all your heart into a blog or statuses on facebook lol and for all you know a crazy person could be stalking you.......even someone you think you know could be turning crazy.......it has happened you know. And yet it is such a fun way to have a voice!!! :)

"Put all your heart into a blog" Some people really do this. They are genuine on their blog, you feel uplifted after reading their blog (even when they are negative on it) cuz you know they aren't perfect either and yet they keep on keeping on. But there are other blogs that only show part of the truth (not like blogs are supposed to reveal all....nor would we want them to) but you know what i mean, the blogs that you feel depressed after reading, the 'look at me i'm so talented and happy and perfect' blogs. The ones that you read and just felt like you wasted preciouus time reading it. Only to feel inadequate in all your endeavors.

And that brings us to the last point I have about blogs.....waste of time. Or is it? Everything has good to it and everything has bad to it. Blogging does have quite a bit of good in it....the problem I have is that I get these 'obsessive hobby' moments and have a hard time not spending too much time on one thing. Moderation in all things, Brianna, come on it can't be that hard!!! And yet it is for ME!! I feel guilty when I spend time on a "pointless, time-wasting blog" when my kids will only be young for a short while (same goes for any other thing that can possibly be deemed as 'wasting time')......when I need sleep so desperately, when I don't have much free time anyway beause of so many demands with family, community, and church........ but wouldn't it count as 'me' time.........but do i want a 'two headed blogging monster' to take up my precious 'me' time..??

So after all this analyzing.....I have determined to delete both blogs......JK!!!!!!!!! LOL!! total joke!! No I am actually going to keep both blogs because I have been able to record some precious memories and thoughts and feelings that I want to keep recording while my kids are young and I am a young mother. So when someday my girls are older they will have memories to review IN ADDITION to my very down=to=earth personal journal.
There is enough good to blogging that I am going to try and keep it up through all my random obsessive hobbies.......at least one post a month at the least.
One thing I do have to vent.....I AM SICK of SICK KIDS!! That has been one of the draining things I am sick of. Okay, enough of that, we are very blessed and through all our hard times we have been blessed by the sustaining power of the gospel. God always gives us strength even during the times its hard to feel it.
Okay there I got it all out. I've posted a post similar to this before. But guess i needed to rehash it all again ;)

Answers

2010-01-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

HA HA that was pretty funny!!

1. Brianna
2. Trevor
3. Trevor
4. Trevor
5. Alivia

No one got them all right but thanks for playing anyhow!!! :D

Guess who

2009-12-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

So I have written a few things down here and there that different members of our family have said at any given time during the last few months. We have myself, my husband Trevor, and my 4 year old who do the majority of the talking. Look at the statements and try to decide who said which. If anyone gets them all right I'll mail them a surprise!! :D

1. It looks like either you have eyeshadow on or your eyelids are slowly dying.

2. "Don't, don't, DON'T!!!" [pause] "Thanks for not don't-ing."

3. Your breath smells like high-octane stomach acid! If I lit a match you'd breathe fire!

4. I don't want to feel your foot cuz it feels cold and thick.

5. Soy milk tastes like beef salad.

Since it is late, I am only putting a few.

The Blessing of the Twin Egg

2009-08-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

I woke up and wanted an omelet so bad! A FOUR egg omelet, not a three egg omelet. Well, my predicament was that I only had SIX eggs left and needed, and I mean NEEDED to make cookies later on too, and that recipe required THREE eggs.
So I had to settle with a three egg omelet.
To my most PLEASANT surprise, One of the eggs was TWINS!!!! So, I actually DID get a FOUR egg omelet AND my THREE-Egg cookies!!!!!!!!!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(even if it is so busy i neglect my blogs ;)

Kids take things literally

2009-07-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

So we were in the doc's office yesterday and they had this cute little exercise routine poster for the kids to do while they wait.

My 3 1/2 yr old had me read to her each thing and then she'd do it.

For example, "dance like a monkey for 1 minute while you sing a silly song", or "do 20 jumping jacks. Now do them again only faster."

We came to one that said (and I read it exactly), "Stand on one foot and hop for 1 minute. Now stand on the other foot and hop on it for 1 minute."

She placed one foot on top of the other foot and proceeded to hop whilst "standing on one foot"!!!

ROFL!!!! (Rolling On Floor Laughing) :D

A Couple Shots in the Eye....Behind the EYeBall to be exact...

2009-07-10T15:06:00.001-07:00

(Today: one day after)

The day of..... there are more pics if you scroll down....

Pars Planitis

Ever heard of it? I hadn't 5/6 years ago when I was diagnosed with it. (Wow, I'm making it sound really bad ;). The above picture looks like I hate life and I really didn't :D.

It all started when I was newly married and camping with my inlaws. We had those cute "environment-friendly (not)" white styrofoam cups to drink from. I filled mine with water and sat there drinking when suddenly I noticed dirt floating ALL over in my cup!! "Who put dirt in my cup?!" No one fessed up. Finally Trevor looked in it and said "There's no dirt in your cup." WHAT?!?!?!!?

So to the Shopko eye doctor I went.

He dilated my eyes, took one look at them and said, "You need to get yourself to an Optometrist."

I headed to the Optometrist....wow...they were a lot more "eye-ish". Well this doc dilated my eyes and said, "You need to see a Retina Specialist"

A what? I didn't even know Retina Specialists exist.

So in I went.

My retina specialist gave the "pars planitis" diagnosis. It is simply an autoimmune response in your eyeballs and your eyes make all these antibodies that float all in your eye and can inflame it and blur the vision and even cause blindness cuz they rest on the retina, so you have to keep up on your checkups to try and prevent blindness if at all possible.

Ok. well that was fun. He had me get all sorts of tests to check for all these other diseases that can cause pars planitis, but all were negative. I guess this disease can also happen on its own.

He was debating giving me steroid injections behind my eye and then I got pregnant and we moved to Boise. So I ignored the whole "pars planitis" thing.

We moved back to Utah and I decided maybe I better contact my retina specialist and get a check up since it had been years....3 to be exact. He told me I better come in at least every 6 months because waiting longer could get me blind.

I used to have 20/20 vision but the pars planitis (which was more severe in my left eye) had decreased my vision to 60/20. So doc decided a month ago to give me my first steroid shot.

It was A LOT worse than I could have imagined!!! The two pictures on the bottom of me in the green shirt were after getting the first shot. The rest of the pictures are just from yesterday after getting my 2nd shot. The steroid shot is supposed to help break up the floaters and decrease the bluriness.

Description: the doc lifts up my eyelid and jams a q-tip up as far as he can to get it numb.....then repeats with a new q-tip. (oh and also gives my eyeball numbing drops). Then he holds up my eyelid while I look down as far as I can and he injects a needle up underneath my eyelid and in all the way behind my eyeball! then he says I'll feel some "pressure". Yeah okay, my eyeball felt like it wanted to dislodge!! Well, afterwards, my eye was droopy for a few days and it only felt like I got decked in the eye. (oh yeah and I got a migraine from it)

The first shot totally improved my vision. My left eye went from 60/20 to 25/20!!!! Wow!! I hated that shot but had to get the second one. The second one actually didn't give me the 'gag and throw up sensation' so I think my anxiety was more under control about it. But it sure was worse getting over it round two. My eyelid was bleeding underneath hence the bloodshot look.

Below are the pictures of the first shot about a month ago: (really not too bad....)

very dilated eyes :) but my eye didn't bleed like it did with the second shot shown above.

you can barely even tell...just looks a little droopy.

Clean house, well sorta, and slackened blogger....

2009-07-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been FOREVER since I blogged. With summer comes some extra things I don't get in winter, like walks, pool, park, library summer reading program......and in a month or so soccer.

Well, with all the stuff something had to go. I decided to be one of those moms whose on top of the house thing. I've been really good with getting great wholesome meals prepared, but keeping the house clean and training my girls to help me with it has been a great task for me. (Now I have Alivia emptying the dishwasher and cleaning the living room every day! Woo hoo!! When she's annoyed with me making her clean, she says "Mom, you're my Stepmother cuz you're making me clean!" She likes Cinderella a little too much I'm thinking.)

So my goal was that I would have no computer time (that means no blogging, facebook, emailing, geneology, etc.) until my house was first clean. Well, pretty much that meant NEVER!!! Cuz I clean and I clean and I do laundry and dishes, and more cleaning, and in between it all try to raise my girls and yeah, the computer time never happened except an occassional checking of the email. (oh yeah , and with all of this I've been trying to get to bed at a decent hour).

So I've missed out on a lot, and you all have missed out on a lot. So here's time for maybe some catch up. Uh yeah we'll try. :D

I guess I've learned a few things: I hate cleaning, I hate having limits...like having to sleep..., I hate how dirty the house gets right after cleaning it, I can never have perfection (darn), and above all, I'D MUCH RATHER HAVE HAPPY CHILDREN WHO I READ TO EVERYDAY THAN SPEND ALL AND I MEAN ALL MY EXTRA TIME CLEANING AND DOING DISHES AND DOING LAUNDRY. TO HE** WITH CLEANING!!!!
(dRaMa aDdEd) :P (were you thinking I wanted to cuss, cuz i was actually picturing in my mind the word 'heck'. ;)

I'm a magazine....

2009-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Trevor said I should be a magazine cuz I have so many issues!!!! ROFL!!!

Okay that was pretty funny. :oD

So maybe I should be 'Brianna the Magazine' instead of 'Brianna the Babbler'!!!! :D

Good books, and a good laugh.....can cure most ailments!!!

2009-06-01T13:45:00.001-07:00

Below is the Finding Faith book cover on the left and the Having Hope cover right.

Seriously, if you need a good laugh go visit terriferran.blogspot.com!!! She is my mom and she is also an author of Finding Faith and Having Hope but ya know, just reading this little blog post she put sure made me laugh, go check it out! http://terriferran.blogspot.com/

She also has a third book coming out in August called Alphabet Soup: A Crockpot of Wit for Grannies, Moms, and Moms-to-be. (It goes something like that) :D

Luvs Update

2009-05-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your suggestions!!!! They were all awesome!!! Since Krista totally looked up that customer service number for me (THANK YOU!) I just lazily picked up my phone and dialed (that's all i had to do! thanks Krista you made me laugh you are so great!).
Customer Service at Luvs handled it well and were very glad to hear about the NINE defects!!!!
They are sending me a $10 off coupon in the mail!!! Woo hoo!!! That was SO worth it!
(i'll still be sending them the NINE diapers back since they are sending a prepaid postage mailer holder thingy majig. :D haha is that even how you spell majig? ????

Have a GREAT day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duct Tape?

2009-05-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

So there is no update on the Luvs thing yet. Ever since you made the comment, Gen, about the power of duct tape I have been debating using those diapers and the "power of duct tape"!!!!!

After much thought I brought the idea to Trevor and he STRONGLY thinks I should mail the diapers back to LUVS.

What y'all think?

(Duct tape on the diaper.........or haul the kids to the post office and make Luvs aware of their ISSUE????)

Dear Luvs,

2009-05-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Luvs, I have been your fan for quite some time.

Let me tell you. I have a system when it comes to diapers. When they are newborn....for sizes newborn and 1 and 2, I buy the Pampers Swaddlers....they are SO GREAT!!! They snug right on the newborn bum so well, they are so soft, and they hold in the 'mustard' pretty darn well.

For sizes 3 I alternate between huggies and luvs. I really like both. Honestly, and I debate every time which to get....I'll end up getting the cheaper of the two or else the one I have a coupon for.

So, since my little cute one-year-old is in size 3, I got a large box of Luvs this time.

Now, every once in awhile in a package of diapers you may find one diaper (maybe, just maybe, two) that is missing a tab. When that happens it's very annoying: "Like what the heck, there goes a dollar down the drain or however much that one diaper cost!!!! What's your prob quality control person?"

Then you forget about it or find a way to 'safety pin' it or throw it away or give it to your other kid to use as a play diaper, or whatever.

Well in this most recent pack of Luvs I had NINE, yes NINE.......that is 9 diapers missing a tab!!!!!!!! N I N E!!!!!!!!
What the HELK????????????????

So you can guess what I'm going to do. (I had pictures but my scan disk errored and I lost em so I'll have to take more and post them). I'm going to mail those 9, yes NINE diapers back to Luvs and kindly ask them to right this wrong.

Quality Control Person, HELLOOOOO McFLY??????? EARTH TO QUALITY CONTROL PERSON........ ARE YOU THERE???? DID YOUR MIND WANDER FOR QUITE SOME TIME WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING THOSE TABS??????

Sincerely,
A Used-To-Be-Slightly-Annoyed-Mother-Who-Is-Now-Severely-Annoyed-And-Now-Has-To-Drag-Her-Kids-To-The-Post-Office-And-Pay-Postage-To-Mail-You-Back-Your-NINE-Tabless-Diapers!!!!!!

My Three Mother Figures In My Life....

2009-04-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

My MOM:

I know that I can ALWAYS count on my Mom. ALWAYS!!!! She has been my best friend my whole life. She doesn't judge me, she knows my heart is good, and she will forgive me for my dumb mistakes in a heartbeat.
I have learned SO much from my Mom. First of all, she is ALWAYS giving of herself to help others. She has been that way my whole life. There are many many many instances I could list where she has helped others but it would take too long! :)
I've also learned that TOUGH HORRIBLE things happen in life, but what are you going to do about it? Sit and cry. Well, yes, of course. Then when your done crying, find the humor in it. That's how you cope. Cry and then laugh. And of course, learn what you can from the situation.
In everything she has gone through she always comes out stronger.
Now the thing that's tricky with her is that she doesn't give herself the credit. She often doesn't realize what an AMAZING person she is!!!! I know God has a great mansion already prepared for her!!!
Another big thing I have learned from her is the importance and ability to communicate...even when it's hard or damages your pride. One thing that really really bugs me is when people play dumb mind-games and don't just COMMUNICATE. Or even APOLOGIZE. But those are two things my Mom is GREAT at!!! Every time she and I have been in an argument or mad at each other for WHATEVER reason, she is always the first to come and apologize and communicate and repair!!! THAT IS VALUABLE. It has helped me in my marriage and in every other relationship I have.
I value and LOVE my Mom dearly!!!! She is a hero in my eyes. She has accomplished so much because she has embraced the gospel no matter what life throws at her!!! I love her SO much!!!
There is no one that can compare or take the place of you Mom, you mean so much to me!!!! You have made such a great impact for good in my life that this measley little blog post seems lame to try and show my gratitude.
I hope to be such an amazing Gran as you are to my kids someday when I have granbabies of my own!!

My Grandma Sue:

I have a lot of memories that bring smiles to my face everytime I think of all the fun times G-ma Soup and I have had!!!!! She always slept on the trampoline with us, let us build forts, encouraged us to be better people, and took care of us when we were sick!!
My parents took us to stay with G-ma Sue at least a full week out of every year. I learned so much from her. One time I remember barfing all across her living room floor as I failed to make it to the bathroom. Not one harsh word or word of complaint came from her mouth. She lovingly made sure I was okay and then cleaned it all up.....and it took her awhile.
Another time that really stands out, is one day after shortly becoming a young woman, she asked me if I had worked on my personal progress at all yet. I thought it was kind of dumb and rolled my eyes (at least in my mind) and said no. She told me to get my book and I did. She proceeded to show great enthusiasm as she encouraged and helped me to get started. She was the encouragement I needed to start my personal progress which I eventually completed and am SO grateful for!
Gma Sue also is a fantastic listener!! Anytime I need someone to talk to she will listen with care and concern. She has taught me the value in listening as well!
She, too, has been through A LOT in life. And through it all she has EMBRACED the gospel!!! She knows God answers her prayers and it shows in her attitude! She has such a strong testimony and I admire her cheerfulness!
Ever ask her how she's doing? She'll smile a genuine smile and say something like "terrific!" or "fantastic!" Someday I hope to show that kind of cheerfulness and be able to come out of life still holding true to the gospel with the same devotion she shows!!!! I love you G-ma Soup!!!! :D

Vicki (my MIL):

When most people mention their mother in law, they roll their eyes or have great horror stories to tell. NOT ME. I grin and say "I have the best MIL I could ever ask for!"
I am SO BLESSED with the WONDERFUL MIL I have!!!!!! She, too, has been through HECK and back!!! And yet she clings to the Gospel as well!!! If she can help in anyway she jumps to the opportunity. She has a very tender and caring heart. If she hears of anyone going through a hard time her heart goes out to them. She is VERY caring.
A huge thing I have learned from her is her amazing ability to listen and not judge! So many times I have struggled with something or some issue in my life and when I talk with her she really honestly listens to my problems and cares. She really cares. And she doesn't judge me. I have had some really hard things to deal with and everytime I talk with her about them I find myself wondering 'how will she respond?' or 'what is she thinking about the crazy girl who married her son?' But EVERYTIME she is very kind in her responses and gives such wonderful advice!!!! I have only known her for about 6 years, but those 6 years have been more blessed because I know her!!
I am SO thankful she perservered through motherhood with her 7 young children! She raised such a wonderful son, Trevor! I am constantly amazed at the qualities of perserverance, tolerance, love, and forgiveness he shows to me and I know he learned them from his mother. I am eternally grateful to Vicki for her wise choices she has made in her life because it has afffected my eternity and blessed me with even more of a wonderful eternal companion!

SUM IT UP:
To be clear, these women are heros in my life!!! I feel like no matter what ever happens, they will always be there for me and my family. They truly do care and love and they hold to the Gospel with all they have!! They are examples to me!!! Even though each one of them is not perfect (like everyone else in this world) they ARE perfect in KEEPING ON. They KEEP ON KEEPING ON. That is the key.
Like most women, these three women don't give themselves enough credit for all they do! Well you guys do SO MUCH!! Thank you!! I love you!!!
Life can be horrible. That's just what it does. How else would we learn and grow? How else would we realize that we CANNOT make it without our Savior? We have to go through hard things to know Him better and to know how to put all our trust in Him, and to know how to help others better.
I have learned that from these women, and I want to thank them for being three of my best friends. You guys really do make a difference and I will be forever in your debt for loving me and teaching me and for choosing the right!!!

Dude....

2009-04-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

I really need to think of something to blog about on this here blog......I almost had something eh ur uh yep LOST IT. It was good it really was. What a shame. A great thought process lost in deep space........

Okay, good night....just you wait...the thought will come back and IT WILL BE AMAZING!!!!!

Here's a little quote to keep you going for the day:

"Life begets life, energy becomes energy, It is by spending oneself that One becomes Rich." -Sarah Bernhardt

BLUE BUNNY ICECREAM ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the two,.....yes TWO blue bunny coupons for a free carton of DELICIOUS Blue Bunny icecream each!!!!!!! Thank you so much Blue Bunny!!!!

Farr Icecream is the icecream company that messed up (see previous post "Dear Farr...") and so I compared them to Blue Bunny cuz Blue Bunny actually HAS WONDERFUL chunky-ness like they show on the front of their carton. I was ECSTATIC to receive these coupons as promised and Blue Bunny didn't even have to do that!! They made up for where Farr failed!!! How can a company be this good? And yet they are!! GO BLUE BUNNY!!! (P.S. These pictures are of the two cartons we ALREADY had in our freezer...yes we LOVE Blue Bunny icecream! I CAN'T WAIT to restock for free!!! Hooray!!!!!!)

Thank you thank you thank you again Blue Bunny!!! If any of you out there have never tried Blue Bunny icecream, give it a shot!!!! A quality company with quality products is a rare find indeed!!!

I Used to Be excited...nOw I'm just pAranOid....

2009-03-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the 'SCOOP' LOL yes this is actually about icecream.

Awhile ago I wrote a letter dripping with disappointment to Farr.....well it was actually a post on this blog.

Anyhow the Public Relations person at Blue Bunny LOVED that I spoke so highly of them. So the guy/gal offered to send me free coupons to get more BLUE BUNNY ICECREAM. YUM!! I was SO excited.

Trevor and I researched to see if this guy/gal was legit. Well seemed to be. So I emailed him/her a shipping addy. (Not my home).

Have we received the coupons? STILL WAITING.

Am I getting a little ANnoyed? WELL NOT REALLY. THEY WERE FREE.

Am I getting a little PARanoid? YES. WHAT IF THIS PERSON IS REALLY A 'HOO HOO' OR 'LA LA' AS ANDREA WOULD PUT IT.

wHeRe aRe My fReE cOuPoNs???? :( :( :( :( oh and :O for the paranoid part.

As my 3 1/2 year old would say:

2009-03-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

"CLOUDS!!!!??? WHY CAN'T YOU LET SPRING COME??????"

What the KEIFER?????

2009-03-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is what KEIFER looks like. Leave it for a few more days and it curds up quite well leaving a liquid underneath the curds.

You are then supposed to strain the liquid into some sort of smoothie (add bananas to kill the taste) and drink it.

That, my friends, helps to regulate the bowels, give you more energy, and build muscle mass (good source of protein).

This is basically what I call a "super-power yogurt-curd-like substance"

If you want a start....let me know. LOL

(Disclaimer: I am not usually a homeopathic typa person, but uh okay I tried it and so far it seems to be a 'super-power yogurt' .......then again, could it just be I am drinking smoothies more often, thus getting more amounts of fruit, therefore feeling 'regular' and more energy and better muscle mass?)

Yeah, UH, WHOOPS!!!!!

2009-03-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

So we had some family visiting from out of town and of course I wanted to make my famous yummy, sauce-made-from-scratch, lasagna!!!! We came home from church and I slaved away making this yummy meal!! After getting the sauce to the PERFECT taste I began to put the layers in the casserole dish. My bag of mozzerella cheese didn't have enough in it so I grabbed another bag from the freezer. All the while the others took a nap, awaiting a melt-in-your-mouth meal:

To my surprise, after being in the oven for 45 minutes the cheese STILL hadn't melted!! WHAT THE?!?!?!?!?!?

I bravely picked off a piece to taste it just to see if it went bad or something. To my HORROR, it didn't taste like cheese at all!!! It tasted like a potato!!!! ACK!!! I put HASHBROWNS instead of mozzerella cheese!!!!!!! In spite of my horror, disappointment, and embarassment I grinned for the camera as I thought of the blog post this could turn out to be. (Most of it ended up being hashbrowns, but some was indeed cheese.......)

Well I got the table all set and woke up the crew to tell them the sad tale as to why the 'cheese' didn't melt. BLESS THEIR SOULS they ate it ANYWAY!!! :) And it actually tasted pretty good :) lol!

POOP BLESSING:

2009-03-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

I DON'T LIKE CLEANING!!! For those of you who do, more power to you!! I love to have a clean house but just don't like the cleaning part. Cleaning with a 3 1/2 year old and a 10 month old running/crawling around makes it even harder!!!

So to the subject of SPRING CLEANING. After catching a few nasty viruses this winter season I decided our household needed some DEEP SPRING CLEANING.

However, due to my dislike of cleaning, my procrastination, my laziness, and my already exhausted self from getting over kids' bouts of sicknesses, I was NOT finding motivation to do this DEEP SPRING CLEANING.

Then one day, SOMETHING HAPPENED. Let me start this by saying we have been blessed that my 10-month-old has NEVER pooped in the tub. Well, it happened, and Trevor wasn't home to clean it up. I picked her up to clean up the MESS.

Little did I realize (sorry to be a bit graphic here) but the poop was not so solid and the water didn't help. When I picked her up, without realizing it, A LOT OF POOP got on the bathroom rug and I STEPPED IN IT. AND NO I DIDN'T REALIZE I STEPPED IN IT CUZ I THOUGHT THE RUG WAS SOPPING WET FROM GETTING HER OUT OF THE BATH!!! ACK!!!!!!!

It wasn't until I had walked through the house several times gathering some towels to put in a load of laundry that I started to notice streaks of POO on random places of the carpet. I cleaned them up wondering HOW DID POO GET FROM THE BATHTUB TO THE CARPET???

I went into the kitchen and was so sick of stepping on the letter magnets on the floor so I sat down to pick them up. It was then that I noticed MY FOOT COVERED IN POOP!!! EWWWWW!!!!! AND IT WAS DRIED ON!!! YES, that's how long it took me to FIGURE OUT that I had STEPPED IN MY KID'S POOP!!!

I went to the bathroom to clean off my foot and saw the smashed poop in the RUG. IT ALL MADE SENSE NOW!!! ahhh!!!!

THAT'S WHEN THE POOP DISASTER TURNED INTO THE POOP BLESSING!!!
I was SO SICKED OUT that I suddenly found MAJOR MOTIVATION to do some DEEP SPRING CLEANING.

I blockaded the girls in a room while I disinfected everything with lysol and clorox, the toys, the doorknobs, deep cleaned the bathrooms, washed all the rugs, opened all the windows to air out germs, washed all the blankets and beddings in the house, deep cleaned all the floors, you name it I pretty much did it. I WAS SICK OF GERMS......FLU GERMS, COLD GERMS, RSV GERMS, AND NOW THE POOP GERMS.
TOTAL HOURS OF DEEP SPRING CLEANING: 5 1/2!!!!!
OH HOW MY HOUSE SHINED!!!

My fellow bloggers. The lesson here is that LIFE IS FULL OF 'POOP DISASTERS'. BUT IF YOU GET THROUGH IT AND MAKE THE BEST OUT OF IT, THOSE 'POOP DISASTERS' JUST MIGHT TURN INTO BLESSINGS!!!!!!

YAY!!!!

2009-03-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

SRING!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO happy Springy weather is here!!!! I cannot stand the winter months! Hooray!

Here's a thought:

"It's better to shoot for the stars and land in the tree than to shoot for the tree and land in the mud!!!"

Nothing to do with Spring, but I like that quote.

ANGER

2009-02-24T21:14:00.001-08:00

Anger, ever sat and thought about anger?

Well Anger is an interesting thing we experience. I've had to come to terms with what anger is and why the CRAP we have to deal with it. :) No I am not taking an anger management class, no I don't have issues....oh wait :).

If you want a good book to help you understand anger try reading "Letting Go of Anger: The 10 Most Common Anger Styles and What to do About Them" by Ron Potter-Efron, M.S.W. and Pat Potter-Efron, M.S.

I went through the book's anger survey to find out what style of anger I am. I have several actually. One that really provoked some thinking (yeah it hurt a little, lol) was to find out I am and Anger Avoidant style. Wow, I didn't think I actually avoided anger.
I learned something new that I had never thought of before: Anger is a natural emotion. It is OKAY to feel angry. Feeling the anger emotion is not BAD it just depends what you do with it once you feel it. You can't just repress it. You have to choose to deal with it wisely.

That was a new thought for me. I guess I always thought anger was bad bad bad. So now my life experiences and my reactions to them make sense. I really do avoid anger. I repress it and when the anger emotion tries to lurk its way in I push it away with a 'that's bad' thought, until finally all the repressed anger explodes (apologies to anyone who has witnessed my exploding moments).

To sum it all up, anger is a part of life. Just cuz you feel it doesn't mean you're bad. Allow yourself to feel it, deal with it appropriately and then let it go.

To make sure I don't sink back into old habits of repressing anger I try to allow myself a day here and there to be my 'angry day'. So I sit and think of all the things that make me angry and process them and then let them go. It has helped. :)

There are many different anger styles: avoidant, sneaky, moral, deliberate, habitual, addictive, shameful, paranoid, sudden, and hateful. Check out this book to find out which one or several fit your style..........
Have a good day!!!!!!!!!! :D

Dear Farr.....

2009-02-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

Does it ever occur to you that maybe when you put a picture of your product on the front of the product and the customer purchases that product that they will be expecting that picture when they open the package????!!!

Such was our plight one late evening. After a VERY rough week I headed to the grocer to pick up some groceries. Due to tight budget restrictions I was very lucky to even purchase icecream!! Usually my first choice is Blue Bunny. Farr, maybe you should go visit the Blue Bunny factory to learn what the word "chunks" means.

For those of you who like chunks in your icecream, you will know that chunky icecream is not only a preference but also a way of survival.....a way of CHEWING the stresses out of life. There is NOTHING better than a good creamy icecream with lots of CHUNKS.

When I saw that the price of wonderfully chunky delicious Blue Bunny had sky-rocketed, I wandered down the aisle to see if I could get my money's worth. There I saw the picture. The picture of Farr's Cookie Dough icecream....ON SALE!!!! The picture showed amazing amounts of beautifully arranged chunks. I thought, "Okay Farr, let's give you a try....you are on sale...."

After unloading the groceries my husband and I sat down to watch a movie. He pulled out the icecream and dished it up. He griped and complained at the lack of chunks while he dished it. No amount of complaining or griping could have prepared my cookie-dough-aching teeth for the vanilla icecream with black SPECKS in it. That's right....I said SPECKS (not chunks)!!! And was the icecream creamy? NO!!! It tasted like frozen yogurt!!! I had to double check the carton to make sure it wasn't frozen yogurt!!!!! Nope it was real icecream. Did it have cookie dough chunks? Spread throughout the entire carton was about 1 TEASPOON of cookie dough!!!!!

Farr, I am disappointed in you. We haven't even finished the carton of icecream because we are still SO traumatized. At a moment when we needed you to pull through the most you weren't there for us Farr. As 'Farr' as we are concerned.....Blue Bunny gets the vote!!!!

With Saddest Regards,
The Hansens

BRIANNA: a definition of.....

2009-02-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

First off I want to say WELCOME to my new blog that is not going to be private! :) The fam blog is private but this one is just my way of babbling about life so as not to lose my sanity! :) (For family updates you can check the spidermanclan blog). So here's to my first post on this blog and it's ALL ABOUT ME!!!!!! LOL!!! :)

I got tagged....sort of...by AUnt M!!

The idea here is define who you are - what seven things, traits or qualities make up who YOU are?

BRIANNA

1. SOFT HEART: Yes, okay I admit, my heart is soft. Things affect me quite a bit. I try to get a hard shell and brush things off but it doesn't work really. So here I go living life with my soft heart. But it might be a good thing when it comes to getting into heaven????? :) We hope.

2. DRAMATIC: I don't know why, but for some weird reason everyone says I am a little dramatic. I don't know what the crap they are saying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm NOT DRAMATIC YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (heheheheee)

3. CHARISMATIC: I don't have much to say on this other than Trevor says I am. So I'll trust him, even if the charisma is what he only can see :)

4. CREATIVE: Just get to know me and you might hear sayings or ideas that you've never heard before!! (whether you want to or not)

5. OVERANALYZING: That's what I do, it's what I live for.....

6. SPIRITUAL: I like religion I really do, and it takes over my every thought!!! THERE IS A GOD. Don't ever question that!!!!!!!!!!!

7. SELF-PERFECTIONIST: I'm always making lists in my head of ways I need to improve, goals to accomplish, and failures to overcome........now if I could just get this trait to turn from a thought process to action!!!!!!!! LOL!!!

Now, I tag......hmmmm....I don't know of anyone reading this blog yet. I guess I tag Mom, Maria, Tisha, Krista, Sarah, and Stacie.......good luck!!!! Teach me about you!!! :)