Hi!

So it’s somewhat late, I’ve had a long day, and I’m sleepy (read: boring). However, I wanted my first “real” post in half a year to be a little different so I made a few boring videos!

My face is hilarious in this one.

And because I feel really bad for being such a terrible blogger and friend I wanted to embarrass myself as a peace offering. Please excuse the fly-aways, sausage fingers, and giant zit.

When I see hilarity like this it makes me think to myself, “I might want a little mini-me one day after all.”

I crack myself up and can’t help but think my spawn would crack me up just as much, if not more.

Oh- and of course annoy, frustrate, and bring me to a slow death

(only kidding about the above, of course. Well… mostly anyway).

Anyway, what in the world do you think is going on in this picture?

A. Throwing a big fist in the air while jubilantly saying, “Yessss! Cookie Time! But wait! What am I going to do with my red balloon? I know! I’ll stick it down my pants! Great place holder.”

B. Throwing a big fist in the air while jubilantly saying, “Yessss! Cookie Time! Good thing I’m only two! If I were 26 and lived in Oklahoma and ate dozens of these every day while blogging and complaining to my blog friends about fatness my stomach would look like this red balloon here tucked away in my pants!”

C. Throwing a big fist in the air while jubilantly saying, “Yessss! Cookie Time! Let’s pretend like I’ve got a baby in my belly so I can pretend I need to feed her too!”

D. I have no idea. You should seek therapy.

E. Please feel free to insert your own observation here.

1. The weekend wasn’t as bad as anticipated.

2. Pictures are posted and I think they turned out pretty good. I think Will needs to wear a tux everyday.

3. I never became more aware of the fact that Will and I truly and seriously treat our dogs like real life children more than I did this weekend. I listened to all our family members with kids and the little common trigger phrases they said and thought to myself, “Wow… I say that too. To my dogs. I think Will and I need help.”

4. I actually thought about kids this weekend (as in maybe having them one day down the road) and sort of freaked out but sort of did not. Long story short- I saw a lot of couples this weekend with small kids that seemed miserable (not with their children, but with their spouse) and it freaked me out. At the same time I thought about how I also know a lot of people that seem even happier with their spouse. I guess some of that could have been because of the circumstance (um I’m pretty sure traveling and having to stay up late for a family dinner can make EVERYONE grumpy). What do you think?

5. I honestly wore more makeup than the bride this weekend and felt a little ridiculous. She’s very simple and I so should have remembered that. Eh- I don’t get to dress up much so I figured I might as well do it right.

6. The AC in our truck went out. Thankfully it went out on the way home and not on the way there. I’m certain Will and I would have ended up in marital counseling had it gone out before. Have I mentioned I turn into a raging psychopath when I get hot? Probably not.

7. I felt really old Sunday when I went to bed at around 8:30.

8. I like Will’s family- despite what I say on my website sometimes. I’m pretty lucky to have his family in my life. I could definitely have worse- and realized that this weekend.

9. I didn’t even get to dance with Will at the reception. :( Do you know the last time we danced was back in 2002 when we met in ballroom dancing class!? I thought I was getting a dancer, but um- notsomuch. The 3 or 4 times they had a slow song Will was helping to get the bride’s overnight bag into Dr. Vet’s car, or tagging the car, or something else. Will and I were going to dance to the last slow song they played, but Dr. Vet and Mrs. Dr. Vet snatched us up and we danced with them instead. Oh well. Hopefully someone else will get married soon?

10. I’m beyond behind on reading and commenting on your blogs. Therefore I’m turning off comments today until I catch up. Sorry I’m a sucky blog friend but I promise to catch up soon. 

The famous Gym Nazi bruise is posted to the right.

Disgusting.

I don’t know what’s more disgusting- the bruise itself or the fact that I actually decided to share it with you guys.

Probably both.

I almost embedded it within this post, but I have to draw the line somewhere, right?

Happy Easter <3

I know what you’re thinking.

I have a problem.

A drug problem.

That there is no such thing as “recreational” drug use.

That after one hit of Alli there is no going back.

You feel the high of controlling your fat intake because you’re terrified of crapping yourself,

the rush of oily farts as you think to yourself, “ Ohhh yeeahh, I am so addicted to this stuff. I <3 greasy gas."

You're right- that's exactly how it happened. Exactly how I became addicted.

It was that glamorous.

Okay not really-

after the first time I ate an order of mozzarella sticks, four cheese tortellini, half a loaf of bread, and a giant chunk of cheesecake I thought to myself, "I'll just take this one time."

One try won't hurt, right?

Before I knew it I was up to a three pill a day habit, figuring out when I was going to get my next fix. What I was going to eat- how much fat was involved....

trying to explain to Will how the hell the toilet was stained OSU orange…

before I knew it I was out of control!

P and I split a bottle- driving to every single Walgreens and CVS pharmacy trying to get our next fix- only we couldn't find any.

We began shaking and experiencing uncontrollable sweating and hallucinating- we were so addicted that we even drove to another city to secure another bottle of these little fat loss miracles.

As we split a "starter pack," ensuring we threw away the evidence in a dumpster three blocks away I felt a sense of peace. The shakes and scary flying goblins left my mind and I felt like myself again.

It was at this point- after driving to another city- that I realized I had a problem and I needed help.

Or maybe it was when P and I began to run low on our stash and actually contemplated cutting the pills open and using a credit card to separate the pills to get two hits out of one.

It could have also been at the point in which P and I turned the noun Alli into a verb- "Are you going to Alli after you eat that cheese pizza?"

"Are you going to Alli after scarfing down those three donuts?"

"We should probably Alli if we're going to eat these giant hamburgers at 1 AM."

Yeah, that might have been my low point.

My name is Brittny and I have an Alli-ing problem.

Not to be confused with the Alli side effects:

(sidenote: um- that’s pretty much freaking hilarious)

Yeah- it was at that point in which I decided I needed to get a hold of myself. Eating an occasional cheeseburger was far more desireable than crapping one’s self. Right?

I thought so too.

So, I got a hold of myself and became a “recreational” Alli user. It’s a lot easier to control- I’ll tell you that much! (ha ha!)

So there you have it- my drug problem and how I became a “recreational” user.

Anything weighing you down (if so- maybe you should “Alli")? Go ahead and share!

I know you’re shocked, but I’ve dubbed the road to year five The Year of More Changes.

I can’t imagine why.

This year was so different than I ever would have imagined. I never thought we would have been back in America. I honestly thought we’d be in Kuwait for a couple more years. Ha- and here we are, almost in America for a whole year!

This year was such a whirlwind, full of many changes.

From resigning, to two weeks later being back in America, and two weeks after that finding our house- to almost losing it to other buyers- to getting it again and then finally moving out of the in-law’s house and into our own place- and an awesome 20 day cruise somewhere in the fray!

It was full of learning a new job, housing guests, and getting used to the American life. Oh- and buying two pups which have quickly turned into horses.

And who could forget expensive gas, no maid, and taxes!?

It’s been quite a year of changes, and yet again we’ve adjusted and plowed through- although this year was sort of a tough one. I guess life can’t always be easy, right? If only!

This year has been full of lots of things, both good and bad. I miss my family a lot. This has been the first time in my life in which I’ve lived away from them. I also miss living in a foreign country. I really enjoyed living overseas. However, I must say life in the slow lane definitely has its perks. I forgot how many things I missed.

It’s been full of adjustments and getting used to different things, and it has continued to grow us. This is our life, and this is the life we have made for ourselves- together as a team. We have become a team- albiet a team that doesn’t get along very well when needing to do home improvement projects- but nonetheless a team. It’s almost like I can’t remember my life before Will. It’s always just been us, and I’m thankful for just “us.”

I have no idea what the road to year six will be dubbed. I hope it’s the year of Winning Five Million Dollars, or the year of Inventing Something and Retiring or even another year of Fun.

I have no idea what this year will bring our way- but I’m thankful to God for the things He’s brought us through thus far. I look forward to the road to year six with Will, and I hope you stick around to share the trip with me.

Tonight will consist of making dinner and hanging out on the couch together at home- so thrilling I know. The secret truth is that we’re major home bodies and I’m very excited about our “big” Friday night anniversary plans. Tomorrow we’re going to Zios for a late lunch (um yum!!) and then we’re going to hear Dave Ramsey (google him) speak! I’m excited about our date night. Like I said- we’re not very exciting, even when it’s our fifth anniversary.

Happy Five Year Anniversary, Will. It’s been a really interesting run full of lots of twists, and I’m so glad we’re in it together.

<3

I have to double up on today since I was a slacker on Monday and didn’t start the week out right.

The road to year three was sprinkled with adjustments, but by that point we were pretty much pros at handling the scorching Kuwait heat, the annoyances of the job, and any new changes that came our way.

I like to call our road to Year Three The Year of Honesty because I think it was at this point that Will and I got really close and began to really grow into each other and our life. The dust had finally settled long enough for us to get used to something and adjusting to life the way it was. I feel like being overseas made us really rely on each other. We shared and we confided. It was a year in which we really began to search within ourselves about our future together, our plans in Kuwait, and everything in between.

The road to year 3 we spent a long vacation in America during the fall, going to all the big OU football games. We also made a trip to Miami in 2007 to watch the Colts win a Super Bowl! It was a lot of fun. Oh- and who could forget our trip to Dubai in May of 2006!? That was such a great trip-and I almost forgot!

So I’m going to share something really goofy and personal with you guys-

every year of marriage (except for the first :( ) Will and I have made a short little video capturing what’s going on in our life. Check out our third anniversary video:

I’m such a goof. I like doing this though. It’s not too long- and just captures a glimpse of something I will always want to look back on as we go farther down this journery of marriage.

The road to Year Four I’ve entitled The Year of Not Much. Nothing really too big seemed to happen. We just sort of coasted. We worked, we vacationed (at home again woo hoo!), we tried to enjoy the weekends (when I’d actually get one). Not too much happened. We made a trip to Jordan, which was amazing, and we went home for Christmas.

While we didn’t know it at the time, I think the Lord was preparing us for the road to Year Five. We just didn’t know it. Sort of funny to watch this video knowing what we know now, right!? And yes- we will most definitely be taping from a different “venue” this year. ha ha

Tomorrow’s the big day! 

Without a doubt, the road to our second year of marriage was what I called The Year of Changes. In April of 2005 my mom and sister followed my dad over to Kuwait, and in May of the same year we did the same!

It was a whirlwind of a move (and you can read all about it in my spring/summer 2005 archives!).

We began our stay living with my parents in an apartment. It was tough, but when I look back on it I’m thankful for it.

Will had a job, but I had yet to get one. My sister and I spent that whole summer of 2005 literally locked inside the apartment day after day with nothing to do- but when I look back on it I’m thankful for that too.

We even took our first trip together, spending about a week in Qatar (um- once again, you can read about all that in the archives).

We went back home for Christmas that year and made a pit stop at the Mall of America and even caught a Packers game. It was lots of fun.

Will and I had a lot of adjustments to get used to- a new job, living with my family, eventually a new apartment, selling our condo back home, a new country, new customs- it was all so new!

But we managed- and came out stronger for it.

The road to year two was full of so many transitions and changes, all which I’m so thankful for. It was so fun moving to Kuwait and experiencing everything for the very first time. In fact- I’m starting to miss it just typing about it!

The road to year two was full of lots of fun- but most of all- lots of gigantic changes. It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come!

Hi guys!

So it’s been a few days since we’ve last talked. I’m sorry about that.

I’m back and better than ever!

This week is mine and Will’s “anniversary week!”

I’ve never really given Will and I an official “week,” however this Friday (ha ha, yes, Friday the 13th) will mark our fifth year in marriage. While it doesn’t seem like an eternity compared to those married for 25, 30, or 55 years- it still seems like somewhat of a milestone!

With that said, I thought everyday this week (ahem- I’m already one day behind. oops!) I’d post something about each year of our marriage! So- let’s get started.

For some goofy reason I’ve labeled each year of our time together. Year one was what I called: The Year of Fun.

We had such a great time our first year of marriage, it was the best.

Here are just a few things I’d like to share.

Will and I stayed in the Poconos on our Honeymoon- Caesar’s Palace Resort to be exact! It was the greatest honeymoon and we had so much fun.

Our first year of marriage Will somehow managed to save our money and surprise me with our very own beautiful Christmas tree! I got home from class one Friday afternoon and when I opened the door Christmas music was playing and our beautiful tree was all lit up. It was the best surprise.

Our first married Easter Will remembered how when I was little my parents would make this whole big ordeal out of finding our Easter basket- complete with candy trails and everything. He was so so sweet and thoughtful and it was the nicest surprise.

We got OU season tickets that summer and went all the home games sitting in our overy own seats.

Will surprised me and took me to the Quartz Mountain Resort the first summer we were married. It was such a sweet surprise.

I was laid up with my foot surgery for our first anniversary, so that was a bummer (you can read about it in my March 2005 archives if you get bored). We still managed to have fun.

Year one was so great. When I look back on it I’m always full of such joy and love.

The road to year two will be tomorrow. I suppose I’ll double up on one of the days since I slacked off and didn’t post yesterday!

<3

Today Miss P begins her last year as a teenager.

Gosh- that now seems like quite a while ago for me!

Happy birthday my love. Can you believe this is the first birthday we’ll spend apart from each other? How much does that suck right?

I miss you. The Village or Bust.

Since I still have her gift in the states I infiltrated her email account with literally like 15 different birthday cards. ha ha I’m hilarious.

Given that P is one of the three readers that frequent my blog- she is sure to see this post. Don’t forget to wish her a Happy 19- and offer lots of last year teenager advice.

My last year of teenagedom advice is don’t get too hasty to be out of your teens. Enjoy putting the “teen” on the end of your age this last year. Oh- and don’t date boys your age. “Teen” may be good for you but notsomuch for them. ha ha

Love you <3