FUN TIMES!

The last several days have been a whole lot of fun, and unlike last week I have pictures this time!

Saturday I got to go to the Astros game with my friends Leigh Ann, Brad, Brandon, and Leigh Ann's dad. This was a real treat because we had the best seats any of us had ever had all thanks to Leigh Ann's cousin. Here's a picture from my seat. Jealous? Leigh Ann even spotted Jeff Bagwell just in front of us in the next section. The Astros ended up losing in 17 innings, but I was on my couch by that time. We left after nine innings since 8 month old Brandon was done for the night.

Sunday was time for more fun...My sister and her two kids came to visit! I took off on Monday and Tuesday so we could have lots of fun. Monday we went to the pool at the Y. Abby had fun getting in and out and playing in the splash pad. Nathan had fun being his crazy self. Before the pool we stopped by Target to get some goggles for Nathan. I waited in the car with Nathan and Abby. While we were waiting Nathan said "There are just a bunch of ladies coming out. Its a lady parade!" This was one of many funny things he said while they were here.


Monday night we went to Target again. We go at least once every time we're together. Abby was looking especially cute by the time we left to head home. Whenever we in the car and passed a Sonic, Abby would either yell for French Fries or a Slush in her sweet little voice before anyone else had even spotted it.

Tuesday we ate lunch at Fuddruckers and went to the mall. Lunch was a little crazy. I said to Anita, "Its a good thing God gives you babies when they're tiny and sweet, because I don't know if I could handle poof, here's a 5 & 2 year old." Before leaving the mall, we had to stop at the play area for a little fun. Nathan was not interested in having his picture take at all this trip, but here's an extra cute one of Abby at the mall.Tuesday night we got to have dinner with our good friends and old neighbors the Shoemakers. It was good food, but more importantly lots of laughter and good visiting. Tuesday was also my first time to wear maternity clothes, so I made Matthew and Anita both take pictures with me.

IS IT JUST ME?

Is it just me or does anyone else feel like this week was two weeks in one? The holiday in the middle of the week really threw me off, but here's a little of what's been going on if you care.

• On Tuesday we had a "Third of July" lunch at work. It was good food and lots of fun. I think I almost gave James a heart attack when he saw my plate of dessert. I'm still using the defense that there was a lot of fruit making it appear larger than it really was.
• June 22 was our 5th anniversary, but because of Matthew's schedule we were not able to celebrate until Tuesday. We went to dinner and stayed downtown at the Doubletree Hotel. Dinner started with some yummy fried calamari and ended with some ho hum dessert. That's a big disappointment for this elf.
• Wednesday morning I got one of my favorite treats in the world...ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST! French toast delivered to my room, what's better than that?
• Wednesday afternoon we went to the Astros game. They lost big. It wasn't so fun.
• At the game we saw Kim, Elise, and Hayley on the big screen. I hope you're reading this Kim.
• Wednesday evening we went over to our friend's house for fun times and burgers. We stood out side and watched everyone else's fireworks. That was some fun free entertainment. It was fun watching Colby (2 yrs old) get excited over them.
• Thursday I had went to the doctor. Everything is looking great for Little Britt! We'll have the big ultrasound and find out what this baby is at the next visit (August 14th). I can't wait! Yes, we'll be telling as soon as we find out and we'll probably have a name for this little one then too. :)
• Today I went to the funeral for my friend Theresa's mom. It was neat hearing about her and her life.

Well, that was my week. Its a shame I don't have any pictures, especially since I had my camera in my purse all week! I'm on vacation Monday and Tuesday. My sister and her kiddos are coming to visit. Maybe I'll have some pictures then.

On a side note...I'm watching the Astros game now and just saw a lady picking her nose. If you're sitting on the first row behind home plate you should really be careful.

Whooooo Are you? Who? Who...Are You?

No, this isn't a blog about CSI. I put a counter on my blog over the weekend. I really didn't have high hopes for the counter. I thought I would try it out for a few days and then get rid of it because it was still in single digits. Well, the last time I checked it was at 87. But, the thing is I haven't gotten any new comments the last few days. So my question is, "who are all of you sneaky readers?"

ps. In case you're wondering about my CSI reference, my title is supposed to be sung like the theme song from CSI.

Tagged!

I got tagged by Kellee to answer these questions. Thanks Kellee, I was feeling left out since Anita tagged you and your sisters instead of her own sister. :)



First memory - My fourth birthday party. It was a breakfast party at McDonalds.



First real kiss - Jason Barzona. The next day he said "That was your first kiss, right?" That made me feel real good.



First love - Aaron McCarty. My senior year of high school. I went off to Harding and it only lasted a few months after that. He tried to track me down later, but I dodged him.



First thing you think in the morning - just one more snooze.



First pet - my only pet was the goldfish, Blinky, I got at the Northland Fall Festival. Mom fed it too much one day while I was at school and it died. I buried it behind our garage.



First question you'll ask in heaven - I honestly have no clue.



First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation - I'm there!



First best friend - LaTesia Pinson...my friend from the womb. Monica Erwin came along very quickly too. Still 2 great friends.



Last time you dressed up - other than church (I don't think that rally counts) was Tiffany's wedding last March.



Last thing you ate -watermelon...more on that below.



Last CD you bought - Daughtry. It will probably the last one for a LONG time now that I buy music on iTunes



Last good book you read - The Guardian and True Believer, both Nicholas Sparks.



Last time you cried -I'm so weird about crying I have no clue. I did come close last week after Bunko when I want to come home and have a bowl of cereal and discovered we were out of milk.



Last time you told someone you loved them - this morning . . .to Matthew as I left for work. He was still sleeping. That makes me so jealous every morning...he doesn't go to work until 2pm.



Last really funny thing you did - Today work we had a office breakfast. There was a bunch of watermelon left over. We were gathered in the kitchen this afternoon eating some of the left overs. I think I ate at least twice as much as everyone else. Everyone thought it was pretty funny seeing me pig out on watermelon. What can I say, watermelon is very important in my family.


Last thing you watched on TV - Just finished up Little House. I'm a huge fan just like my sister! We can both thank our ability to type to our love for Little House. Our dad decided one summer that if we wanted to watch tv we had to spend an equal amount of time practicing our typing with Mavis Beacon on the computer. I think he made us a deal for Little House. 30 minutes with Mavis got us 60 minutes of Little House.

I tag Erin, Tara, and Tiffany. No sisters for me, but Tiff was my Phi Lamb big sis.

MONEY WELL SPENT

I got to have lunch with my friends Kim and Tina before my doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Kim wanted to make sure I blogged about our lunch since she doesn't think she's been in a blog before. It was a great time for some good food plus fun and laughter with friends.

Kim brought me the copy of To Kill A Mockingbird that's in this picture. You can see from the picture that this is a VERY well read book. Kim was returning it to me because it started out as my sister's book. Since Anita read it, it has been read by myself, Anthony, Laura, Tara, Elise, Haley, Lara P, and some girl named Cynthia Sanchez. Everyone's names are written on the book somewhere except for mine and Anthony. I guess Anthony was too cool to sign it and I was only #2 to read it so I didn't realize the significance at the time. I don't know who Cynthia was but she wrote a note to Anita inside the back cover saying "Best damn book I ever read."

I'm sure my mom didn't spend much money on the book 15+ years ago when she bought it, but I think we got her money's worth out of it.

12 WEEKS

We went to the doctor this week for the 12 week nuchal translucency screening (I think I got that right). We could see the baby's arms and legs moving around, it was so amazing. Everything checked out perfectly! I don't expect to have another ultrasound until 20 weeks when we will FINALLY find out if its a boy or girl. So until then this picture will have to to. Enjoy! I think the baby must have Matthew's nose because if it had mine it probably wouldn't be big enough to show up on the ultrasound.

We had to wait a while to see the doctor. I think she was doing an emergency c-section. Matthew was getting a little bored while we were waiting. Here's a picture of him amusing himself with his camera phone. He calls the picture "Oh My!" I call it "Do something about the glare off your bald head."

I MAY HAVE BEEN HALLUCINATING TODAY

It's June, so its really hot in Houston. Today I ran to Kroger on my lunch break to get some groceries. As I was driving off, I saw a lady get out of her car wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and and turtle-neck! Either she's CRAZY or the heat was causing me to see things! That get up would be overdressing for some January days in Houston.

Not 5 minutes after this I was on my way to take my groceries home. When I turned the corner onto one of the streets going into our neighborhood, there was a truck coming straight at me. (He was on the wrong side of the street not me). I stopped. He kept coming, but with a weird look on his face. I honked. He slowed down, but still kept looking at what I'm sure he thought was the crazy lady in the street. When I started waving my arms and pointing to the other side of the street, he finally clued in and back up so he could get on the right side of the median. I think the craziest thing about this is that when I told Matthew, he had no response. Like trucks drive on the wrong side of the street all the time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

God has blessed me with the best sister I could have asked for. We may have had some rough patches growing up (Cry, Marcia, Cry), but now that we are grown we couldn't be better friends. Tomorrow is her birthday, so here are a few pictures of us over the years.

Baby Anita sometime when she was "living peacefully" with our parents before I was born. She actually wrote this in a school project once.

This was sometime when we lived in Holland. Maybe me grabbing at her swim suit was what disturbed her peace.

When I was a junior and going to the prom for the first time, she made she was home to help me get ready for the big day. Were we really this skinny back then?

The next year when she got married I got to serve as her maid of honor and help her get ready for her bigger day. Five years later when I got married she was there as my matron of honor for me on my big day.

This was the only recent picture I could find of the two of us where we weren't putting up a Christmas tree or floating in the pool in our swim suits. Since Mom never was too happy about our two pieces I didn't put that picture here on the internet for all the world to see.

Happy Birthday Anita! I love you.

So far being pregnant has made my appetite almost completely disappear. A lot of things I usually like just haven't sounded good to me. This could explain why I've lost a few pounds rather than gained any so far. Well, I just found something that could change this. I just had the most delicious bowl of blue bell homemade vanilla with fresh strawberries and hot fudge! It was the best thing I've eaten since I don't know when. I wish I could share a bowl with all my friends that might be reading this, but I finished off all our ice cream. Don't worry, there were only about 2 scoops left. I WILL go to the store tomorrow for more ice cream, so come on over.

When I was on Blue Bell's website I saw a list of all their flavors. I had recently been remembering one of my favorite flavors, Chocolate Decadence. It was so good. Dutch chocolate with chocolate chips and whipped cream I think. Sadly, its not on the list. :(

I saw this on Holly's blog and it looked like fun.

The rules: grab your ipod, put it on shuffle, use the title for each song to answer the question. No cheating. Whatever song comes up, you have to use for the answer.



How do you feel today?
One of These Days - Tim McGraw



What's your outlook on life?
Dancing Cheek to Cheek - Frank Sinatra (I don't think there could be a more opposite description for my life)


What does your family think of you?
Fly Away - Sugarland


What do your friends think of you?
What More Do You Want from Me? - Diamond Rio


What do your exes think of you?
Swallowed in the Sea - Coldplay


How's your love life?
Don't stand So Close to Me - The Police


How will your love life be in the future?
Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae


Will you get married?
In My Place - Coldplay


Are you good at school?
I Thought I'd Seen Everything - Diamond Rio


Will you be successful?
That's the Way - Jo Dee Messina


What song should they play on your birthday?
I'm Ready - Tracy Chapman


What song should they play at your graduation?
Day In, Day Out- David Kersh


The Soundtrack of your life?
Mountain - Steven Curtis Chapman


You and your best friends are?
Speed Of Life - Sugarland


Happy times:
No One Loves Me Like You - Jars of Clay


Sad times:
I Don't Even Know Your Name - Alan Jackson (it would definitely be sad times if this were my life)


Every day:
Steal My Kisses From You - Ben Harper


For tomorrow:
Fields of Grace - Big Daddy Weave


For you:
Do You Believe In Love


What does next year have in store for you?
Walking in Memphis - Mark Cohn


What do you say when life gets too hard?
Jesus, Take The Wheel - Carrie Underwood


What song will you dance to at your wedding?
Another lonely Day - Ben Harper (good thing we didn't have a dance if that's what we would have been dancing to!)


What do you want as your career?
God of Wonders - Caedmon's Call


Your favorite saying:
Wild Angels - Martina McBride


How will you die?
Song of the South - Alabama



Please play along! Let me know if you play. Its good for a few laughs.

IF THIS IS A PREGNANT THING...

I have been having the CRAZIEST dreams the last few nights. Two nights ago I had a dream my mom and I were at Target. Her total came up to over $10,000. I told her that maybe she should have them check over her receipt, she didn't think that spending 10K at target was a problem

The same night I had another dream that started with me being back in high school. It ended up with me driving my car from college while sitting in the back seat and getting pulled over by a cop on stilts. Since I was so low and he was so high I had to open up the sun roof to talk to him. He told me he had gotten several complaints about me driving recklessly while talking on my cell phone. I pleaded with him to look at my phone because I hadn't been on it all morning. I woke up with my heart racing at this point.

Last night I was in some sort of alternate universe where I was spending time in Iraq as some sort of exchange program. Saddam was still in power. My friend Monica was there with me. Our job was to plan a outing for Saddam when he came to visit the US. We also tried to to escape into the forest in Baghdad, but there were too many guards and dogs. It was insane. I woke up this morning thinking that there probably aren't any forests in Baghdad or all of Iraq.

I just woke up from a nap that involved some sort of crazy dream with mountain bikes and selling real estate.

I just want to sleep without these insane dreams!!!!!!!! If this is a pregnant thing, it better not last another 31 weeks! Did anyone else have this problem?

A LOT OF GROWING IN THREE WEEKS!

Yesterday we got to go back to the doctor for an 8 week ultrasound so my specialist could release me to my regular ob. Matthew did not get to go with me for the first ultrasound, so we were very excited that we both got to go. I actually told Matthew recently that I wished I had a window with a light just like an oven door so we could peek in on the baby whenever we wanted. Since there is no window into my womb, we'll have to settle for this picture.

It was amazing how much change there was in three weeks. On my first ultrasound, you could just see a fuzzy circle that was the yolk sac. Now, you can actually see the head and tiny little body. We could even see the spine and the heart beating. The doctor said that this baby must be reading some textbooks because everything looked perfect! Then she turned up the volume and we could hear the rhythm of the heartbeat. I think it was 175 beats per minute. It was all so amazing. God is so good!

Afterwords, we went to Chuy's for some mexican food. I think that when you eat mexican food, you NEED some bubbles in your drink. Water just wont do. So, I celebrated with a real Dr. Pepper. It was the first real one I've had since finding out if I was pregnant. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOOOOD!

SO, WHAT'S NEW WITH US?

Nothing much except for the little speck in this picture:

That's right, I'M PREGNANT! We found out 3 weeks ago today and are still smiling. It was such an amazing surprise for Matthew and I since I have a filled prescription for fertility medicine that I was waiting to take. We are so thankful to God for our "Little Britt".

We've had so much fun telling our family and friends our news lately. Its been great seeing everyone's different reactions. Tara gets the prize for being the loudest. My mother-in-law was the teariest. Erin was the i-knew-it-est. Laurie was the calmest. Anita was the most shocked.

So far I'm feeling pretty good. A little tired at times, but not too bad. A little queasy other times, but still nothing too bad. My due date is January 1, so don't count on us for any wild new years eve plans.

We got back to the doctor next week, so hopefully I'll have a better picture then.

ICE CREAM ANYONE?

I was going through the coupons in the Sunday paper today and came across this ad for Baskin Robbins. They are having a special promotion this Wednesday. You can get a scoop of ice cream for only 31 cents. Since this is almost as good as the free pancakes at IHOP, I had to share it.

When I went to their website to get the picture, I saw that it is part of a fundraiser to Fallen Firefighters. Sounds even better!

How can you pass up this deal?

SAN FRANCISCO

Here are some of the highlights from my trip with Monica to San Fran. We spent the first two days by ourselves exploring the city and seeing as much as we could. The last three days of the trip, we had our tour guides Shalou and Eric giving us the insiders view of things. We had a blast the whole time!

Day one: Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and Alcatraz.

We rode the boat to Alcatraz for the tour. The ride was FREEZING! There's no way I'd consider swimming across the bay.

Day 2: Rode a trolley car and then walked all over the place.

Monica found a prince in Chinatown.

We walked from the top of Coit Tower...

to the top of Lumbard Street.

Day 3:
The Painted Ladies

The Atlantic Ocean

This was Good Friday. We ate dinner at the Last Supper Club.

Day 4:
We visited the Farmer's Market for breakfast and then headed to Napa.

On our fourth trip across the Golden Gate Bridge the weather was finally clear enough for us to actually see the bridge! It really did exist!!!

Day 5:
On our last day, we had a late breakfast and then treked to the top of Bernal Hill. This was in the middle of Shalou and Eric's neighborhood and had some excellent views of the city.
And of the three of us!

And last but not least, we went to the Giants game. It was such a beautiful stadium with the views of the bay. It was a great way to cap off our trip with our friends!

If you have time (there are 100+ pictures)and want to see all my pictures, here's the link.

If you have time (there are 100+ pictures)and want to see all my pictures, here's the link.

San Francisco

With Matthew being a police officer, people often ask me if I worry about him when he is working. I respond by say no, because I know God is watching over him and that worrying would only make me crazy. Tonight at Bible study, Beth Moore read a verse that I don't remember reading before. It totally described these feelings.

"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord." Psalm 112:7

What words could be more comforting than that?

I promise to post more from my trip. Until then, take a look at this video and laugh.

We went to the Giants game on Sunday before catching our flight home. This guy was sitting on the end of our row. He danced like this all by himself when ever they played any music.

This was him after he danced. Yes, he is talking into a recorder. We couldn't hear him, but could only imagine that he was making notes on his dance moves and how they went over with the crowd.
This was after the game. If you look closely, you'll notice about 4 disposable cameras by his feet. In his lap is the cassette tape that he his labeling with the date. I guess he does so much dancing like this that he has to keep his notes separate.

He was probably the strangest character we saw in San Francisco, except for our friends on the 49 bus everyday.

Be Still and Know

Tonight I got to do something I haven't done in several years. I got to stand in a room with a group of ladies and sing "Be Still and Know that I am God". This took me back to my time in Chi-Os at Harding as this was our club song. We sang it at all of our meetings. We also sang it at ring ceremonies as we watched the engagement rings circle around while we waited to see who would blow out the candle that night. Leaving Harding to transfer to Tech was such a hard decision because of the great friends I met there. I never regretted leaving Harding (I did meet Matthew my third day in Lubbock!), but I definitely missed the friends I made there. So tonight I'm thankful for a song that could bring back such sweet memories and for blogger reconnecting me to some fellow chi-os.

Begging on her blog didn't work for Tiffany, but I thought I would try anyways. Can someone convince my husband to take me to the Jimmy Buffett concert next month in Houston?

My slide show wasn't working so here's another try.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

I've been missing from the blogging world for a while. Partly because I've been lazy, but also because of the fun I've been having. Last week Matthew and I took advantage of his 3 day weekend and our entertainment book and went to San Antonio for a couple of days. We didn't do much of anything while we were there, but it was great! We stayed in a nice hotel, walked onthe Riverwalk, did a little shoppng, and did a lot of eating. It was the first time we've fone somewhere since we were married that wasn't to visit friends or faily. We're not sure wy we waited this long.


We ate lunch at an old deli on Monday. This moose had his eye on us the whole time.







Here's a shot of our hotel room. The entertainment guide definitely paid off with this discount.






This was the view outside our window. Looks like we just missed Taylor Hicks and the Soul patrol.







A few days after we got back, it was time for some more fun. My sister and her kids came to visit us for the long weekend. We had lots of fun with each other. On Thursday & Friday we did our usual shopping at Target and Old Navy. They came to visit me at work and play on the playground then we we to lunch at Chick-fil-A of coures. On Saturday we took Nathan and Abby to the Livestock show to see the animals. The rest of the time we hung out here at home. Nathan and Abby played. Even though Abby had a fever the whole time it was great!

I put comments on these pictures, but they're missing now. Anyways...here are a bunch of pictures from our trip to the stock show. Just imagine your own comments.

HARD AT WORK

You can probably see that I've been hard at work today. I saw Ashley's new blog layout and was inspired to make mine a little more cute. Wow! I had no idea how hard this would be. The instructions made it sound so easy. Well, about 3 hours later...its done. Now if only I could figure out how to change all the blue font to a different color. I soooo do not like blue!

One of my most exciting additions to my blog is my count down. I've seen these on myspace for ever, but I never had something big to count down to. Well, now I do. In just under a month I get to go to San Francisco with my best and second oldest frien Monica! We spent yesterday afternoon looking at books and making our list of places that we have to go. Any one have any tips on places that should be on our list?

We also saw Music and Lyrics yesterday. We both loved it. We laughed a lot. We left the movie singing "Way Back into Love" and doing the signature POP dance moves. If you can, grab a girl friend and so see it for some fun.

I GUESS I'M NOT CRAZY

I think my least favorite part of my job is every Friday when I have to fold the pewsheets. We have this dinosaur of a folding machine. Its big. Its heavy. Its brown. Its loud. And its very particular. I dread this part of my job because I'm stuck there for 10-15 minutes feeding 750 church bulletins in to this loud machine. I can't talk to anyone and I can't go anywhere.

To make things worse it has a label on it warning not get any hair, jewelry, loose clothing, or body parts in the machine while its running. When I'm stuck there watching it fold my mind starts to wander. I read and reread the warning. Every week my mind starts to image my hair getting caught in it. I have vivid images of my hair being ripped off. Its not pretty!

Well, I just read an article online from yahoo about a boy 5 mi from here getting his hair caught up in a machine at his work place. The article said he was life flighted to the hospital. Neat! I guess my imagination wasn't that far off in what would happen if my hair got caught.

Does anyone have a rubber band for my hair, its time to go fold!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/kprc/20070302/lo_kprc/11153191