Titus & LuLu giving kisses :)

Today is just one of those days where I feel content to do nothing. Since today is my day off, I plan to do exactly that! I hope you all are having a fantastic Tuesday :P

XOXO

~Brittany~

There is something to be said for a person who will stand by you no matter what.

A person who knows all the ins and outs of your past and loves you for it.

They have lent you their shoulder and wiped your streaming tears,

they have caused you genuine laughter until you could'nt breathe.

They have sat with you through the most boring of times,

and have been there through the ones you will never forget.

It is something that, though as hard as they may try, no one can break.

That is why we are called "Best Friends".

I have been blessed with two :)

Pete & Bri,

You have no idea how much I value your friendship. You are AMAZING girls and I love you so much.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When The Storm is Raging He is My Shelter

There is a song we sometimes sing in church that goes something like this...

When the storm is raging,

He is my shelter,

Wherever He leads me,

I will follow,

I love Jesus, and He loves me.

This song had been stuck with me for the past couple of hours and I just want to say how thankful I am that He is my rock. He is my strength, the lifter of my head.

Psalm 31:3

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Just Thinking...

  
      If you have ever been on Facebook, you know it asks you, "Whats on your mind?". The creator of Facebook should have been smart enough to know that the majority of us, really dont care to know what is really on your mind. This may seem rude, but you can't tell me you've never thought, "Oh boy, I really didn't care to know that!". Have you ever asked someone "How are you doing today?" and when the respond with "Oh, not so well." you thought, "Oh man I should have never asked!"? Yeah, that happens to me quite often. I was just thinking I am too wraped up in myself and what is going on with me and those that are close to me that I never take the time to converse with others. Im not saying that when a total stranger says they aren't doing so well today that you should offer to buy them a cup of coffee and talk about it, but maybe there is something you can do to make their day better. As a christian, we should shine God's love on everyone we meet. That may mean asking if you can pray for them, or inviting them to church. Maybe, it's just giving them a smile and being genuinely nice. Whatever it is I want to try to seize the day so to speak. Perhaps I can make someone's day a little better. Well, that is my thought for the day :) I hope all of you are having a wonderful one!
XOXO
Brittany

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Today is a very special day. On this day an unmentionable number of years ago my sister was born... God must have known I would need someone like her in my life. Someone who could show me all the In's and outs of the day to day life. To help me get through tough times. Someone to teach me all of the things that mom and dad didn't want me to know :P. I just want to say that I am so thankful she is in my life. I love you Amanda Renee'!

Too funny not to share :P

Okay, so I saw this on pinterest and I thought it was way too funny not to share :). Don't we all love auto correct? HAHA

OUTREACH!!!

Yesterday some of us young people drove to Gold Beach to help the church there invite people to church. We had tons of fun! Here are some pictures of our trip.

As you can tell it was WAY to early to be taking pictures lol. I was so tired I thought I might die.

This was our little group and these are the fliers we were handing out, inviting people to Gold Beach Apostolic Church!

After we were done at the church the youth group drove to Brookings to spend some time on the beach. This was on the way there.... Scary, I know lol!

Amanda and Briana.... I love them :)

Michael's action shot lol

AAAAAWWWWWWWW!

Charles, say cheese :)

Michael's modern day ark lol!

This was an especially fun day. I am so happy that I was able to go and help the church over there. God is so good!!

LuLu Montage

Here are some pictures of my baby Lu. I love her so much :)

Lulu and I this summer :)

Bath Time!!!!!!

In her pumpkin costume lol

Drinking from the pond :)

My all time favorite!!!!!! Love :oP

Yes, yes I know I am terrible at updating this thing, so here goes. Well, lets see, whats new. On Wednesday I got my tax return and I was so excited! The first thing I did was rush down to the at&t store to buy the new iphone 4s. When we get there we are informed they are out of the white and don't know when they will get anymore in and blah blah blah... So I ended up driving to the otherside of town (which was fine by me lol because I really wanted the phone) to get one. I asked Siri (the phone's voice) "whose your daddy?" She said "You are, can we get back to work now?" LOL! I am having a blast with it :). I havn't had all good days tho. Remember in my last post I said I was going to have to have my tires replaced? So I took in my car to have them switched out and have an alignment done, only to find out my car has some kind of condition that makes the wheels tilt inward (I think) and it is rubbing the inside like 2 inches off of my tire super fast. So basically the guy at Les Schwab said I would be buying tires every year for the rest of the car's life. I was sooooo upset! My dad called the Mazda lot and asked them about it and thankfully there is a kit that can fix it. Only down side is that I have to have another alignment... Oh well, I guess it's better than spending 600 on tires every year! On the other hand I am so excited about what God is doing at Truth Tabernacle! We have had visitors every night and people getting the holy ghost, getting baptized, and getting bible studies faster than we can blink. God is AWESOME! Thats all for now...
XOXO
~Brittany~

GRRRRR TIRES.....

Okay, so here I was having a good day off and I think to myself, I should go get my tires rotated. So I go to Les Schwab and they put my car up on the lift and it turnes out I have needed a 4 wheel allignment for sometime now and I have most likely ruined my ties. Makes me so mad and sad :(.

ZUMBA BABY!!!

Lol so this is a song we did in Zumba tonihgt :) I have it stuck in my head haha!

Karaoke at Yogurt Hut!

   Yes, the title says it all! After all of the Birthday parties on Saturday Briana, Amanda, Shaikell, Stormi, and I decided we wanted ice cream so we went to Yogurt Hut. Little did we know it was karaoke night lol! So as we pull in we see this guy and he has a microphone in his hand and was dancing and stuff. It was so funny we decided we have to go back and take more people LOL!
That's all for now!
XOXO
~Brittany~

Happy Birthday and some other stuff :)

Okay I know I haven't posted in over a week now , and I was suppose to be writing about the people who inspire me. Well, so much has happened in the past week I really haven't had time to blink. I do want to say a little something about some more people so I will just mix it all up in one post.

Mom& Dad~ When the Bible says to train up your children the way the should go and when they are old they wont turn from it, I know you guys took that to heart while raising us. I know I don't say this very often, but I am thankful for you guys and I love you so much!

Brandon~ I am so proud of you! I know you can accomplish whatever you want as long as you stay close to Jesus and let Him be your guide. I love you little brother :)

Shaikell~ My Shaikelly Belly! I love you so much. I am so happy God brought you into my life, you are an awesome person and I am blessed to have you as a friend.

Michael~ Eat Fudge! Hahaha. You make me laugh more than anyone I know LOL! If it wasn't for you I would be really bored :) Love you dude!

Stephanie & Koko~ I love you girls, I hope you always stay close to Jesus. I will have the rest of your birthday presents soon lol sorry they are late :(

Shanon & Sabrina~ My Aunt Bebe & Uncle Nene, I love you guys so much. You are truly inspiring. I know your not perfect, but that's what makes you so real. I watch the way you are with each other and with the kids and you are such an example to me. I love you guys so much, more than I can say on here. Thank you for being there when I need you guys.

Papa & Granny~ I wish you guys lived closer!!!!! I miss those weeks I spent at your house and running all around town with Pops. You guys are awesome Grandparents, I could never ever have asked for better. I love you sooooooo much!!!!! XOXO

Laura, Tamara, & Kelly~ You guys are some AMAZING moms! I sometimes think you have super powers :). I look at the way you are with your kids and I think, "That's what I want to be to my kids someday.". I just want you to know I love you all and all of your kiddos :).

I also want to say Happy Birthday to Raleigh and Shakota (AKA Koko). I hope you both had fabulous birthdays and parties :)

Well, that's all for now. Time to get ready for church. I expect God is going to do an awesome work tonight. Love you all.

XOXO
~Brittany~

Amanda Renee' Elbert

         It's day 2 of my journey. Today i'd like to tell you a little bit about my sister, Amanda Renee'.

Amanda Renee' Elbert.


       You know, having an older sister sometimes means they want nothing to do with a younger sibling like you, and I am sure we've had our times like that, but for the most part Amanda and I have always had a good relationship. She has had to kick me in the butt more than a few times, but im thankful that I have her to do that for me :).She has always been there whenever I needed her. She most likely has more embarassing stories to tell about me than anyone else in the world, but she still loves me. It was her who woke me up when I thought the rollie pollies were eating me in my sleep. It was her who tought me not to care what other people think, it only matters that you are happy and God is happy. She probably doesn't even realize the impact she has had on my life. When I was younger Briana and I would pretend to be the girls who were older than us and I would always be her. It's lame I know, but hey, we were like seven! I know as much as she wants to kill me sometimes she has my best interest in mind. I am so thankful God gave me a sister like her.


Amanda,
I want you to know how thankful I am to have you as a sister. You know, I have always looked up to you and I always will. You are a beautiful person inside and out. Thank you for always being there when I need you. I love you more than you will ever know.
XOXO,
Brittany

Briana Shanaye Murphy

      Okay, so here is the deal. I have decided to take a couple of days and dedicate them to certain people who inspire me or make my life better just by being who they are. So, today starts my journey.




    Briana Shanaye Murphy.

       Okay, so I was thinking of all of these fancy words and sayings I could use, but that doesn't describe us at all. Briana and I are 9mos and 1day apart. Needless to say we have been friends since day one. Like all good relationships we've had our good times and bad, but I can't really remember a time where we actually stayed mad at eachother for more than a day. I remember all of the friday nights she spent at my house (almost every one!). We slept in a tent in the back yard and wrote in our diaries about cute boys. We sang at the top of our lungs to our favorite songs, and danced without shame in the middle of the road. There was never a dull moment! I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown. It seems like just yesterday we were complaining about a nasty boy, who didnt brush his teeth, chaising us around in 3rd grade (Bri knows who im talking about :)). Now we are grown ups and have to face the real world. The world of jobs, and bills, and inistead of a nasty boy, she is dating a guy who loves her and God more than anything else. It makes me so happy to see her happy and to know that God has her in His hands and is guiding her through these next steps in her life. I am not sure what else to say, tho there is so much more that could be said.

Briana,

I am honored to have you as a friend. You inspire me to be a better person. I am so excited to be able to stand next to you and be there for you through these next steps in your life. I know the day is coming soon where I wont be able to see you whenever I please, but no one can take the memories away. I will always have those :). I want you to know that you are special and loved always. I can hardly wait for Saturday!   

Love,

Brittany.

Wanting A Vacation!

My feet are itching for some new soil! Last year, well I guess you can say year before last because it was Dec of 2010, but anyway... My family took a vaction to SanFransisco California. That was one of the best vacations ever!

We visited Alcatraz,

and that was so interesting!

Here are a few more pictures of our trip. Enjoy!

This was one of my favorite pictures! I laughed so hard!

Yes, he was a crab! LOL jk :)

I love you Amanda Renee`!

Well, thats all for now!

XOXO

~Brittany~

January 21, 2012

          This is an old picture, but it's one with some good memories. ~Love you guys~

    Okay, so today started off with Amanda waking me up to tell me that the water wasn't draining in the shower(AGAIN!). I guess mom was brushing her teeth and the toilet started to make noise... Needless to say, Amanda and I washed our hair in the kitchen sink today. The plumber came out and what do you know... The toilet fixed itself! Go figure, right? Oh well, I guess it all worked out for good :).

We had an awesome move of God in church tonight. I am so thankful for what He is doing!

This song seems fitting. LOL!!!
Thats all for now. XOXO
~Brittany~

Dr. Seuss

I am so thankful for the people who show an interest in my life and take the time to help me decide which road is best for me. I love you all!

Applesauce Muffins~

I just made these AMAZING muffins and I thought I would share the recipe with you.
========================================================
~APPLESAUCE MUFFINS~

Ingredients list:

2 medium eggs.
4 cups of flour.
2 cups of unsweetened applesauce.
2 cups of sugar.
1 cup of chopped nuts.
1 cup of butter.3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
2 teaspoons of ground allspice.
2 teaspoons of baking soda.
1 teaspoon of ground cloves.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Powdered sugar.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).

Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time.

Mix in the applesauce, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

Sift the salt, baking soda and flour together, then add to applesauce mixture and mix thoroughly.

Stir in the chopped nuts.

Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for about 15 minutes.

   

While still warm, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
==========================================================
http://www.muffinrecipes.net/applesauce-muffins.html

Thats all for now!
XOXO
~Brittany~

~Friday the 13th~

    
      Today was a fabulous day! I had the weirdest dream last night. Its way too much to blog, but ill gove you the short version. Okay, so, it started out in a Sunday night service at church and there was a guy on the platform that I didn't recognize so I asked Amanda who he was. She went on to tell me that his name was Snowball and she was going to marry him! Yeah.... talk about weird! She ended up marrying him after church that night... So odd!  So yeah after I woke up I talked Brandon into buying pizza for lunch (yum!!) and then went shopping for salad ingredients for our family potluck/birthday party for my cousin Shyanne.

   My Grandpa made fortune walnuts (he takes the walnut shell and fills it with candy and a hand written family saying or something silly). My quote was "Live the life you dream." Amanda got "There is more to life than romance." That is what my great Grandfather use to say to all the kids.... Something good to remember.  My dad got "place half the walnut shell on each ear for better hearing." LOL I think his was the funniest!

                               I LOVE this song! Give me Jesus!!!!

Well, thats all for now.
XOXO
~Brittany~

       Okay, I know I havnt blogged in a few days so there is a lot to tell! I finally got my perscription (after running all around town and trying to restrain from telling walmart off!) and am feeling a little better everyday. So, on Tuesday after babysitting I threw my yarn bag on the front seat of my car and drove home. When I got home I didnt pay much attention, just grabbed my bag, slammed the door and started walking to the house ( a good 20ft.). As I got close to the front door I noticed my yarn was pulling on something. I thougt maybe my hook had cought on the pocket of my sweatshirt, so I gave it a tug. Nope, that wasn't it. I turned around and there was a string of yarn stretching from the inside of my car all the way up the front porch of the house!! I laughed so hard!!! Thankfully, my hook had cought on the last stitch I had worked and held it secure so I didn't lose any of my work. This is the finished blanket I made for Stephanie as a belated birthday present (SHHHHH she doesn't know yet!)

    On Wednesday I babysat Jackson and Cameron. We had a FUN day! Cameron and I made Peanutbutter cookies :) so yummy! Jackson was too busy playing his Xbox to help lol! Boys and their toys....

Cameron and I also had a tea party! Girls are so fun!

    Today I hung out at home and crocheted! Such a good day :) I finidhed Stephanie's blanket (see above picture) and got a good chunck of Shakota's done (pictures to come :))! Well, I think that about sums up the last couple of days. More soon!

XOXO

~Brittany~





Sniffle Sniffle & A Dog in Church



       Ok, so lets start with Sunday. While we were at Sunday School I looked toward the back and on the very last pew was a lady and her dog! It startled me! I leaned over to Amanda and said "There is a dog in here!" She said "Oh, what a stuffed one?" Me: "Nope, a real live one! Haha look on the back pew!". Needless to say it was the first time we have had a dog sit on a pew through church with us. :) Some days are just interesting!

    Today I didn'd do much of anything. I have been coming back down with a cold/sinus infection, so I took the oportunity to just relax and get some crochet done. I am working on 3 Birthday presents and 1 just for fun present! I have my work cut out for me!!! I called the Doc and she called in a prescription for me, but when I went to pick it up they were out of the medicine. So I am waiting to hear from the doc to see if I can get it changed. That is pretty much all that happens in the random life of me. :)

XOXO
~Brittany~

Beer Battered Fish N' Chips!

Tonight Chef Elbert (AKA Dad) made some awesome fish n' chips! They were suppose to be beer battered but, Amanda got ahold of the beer!!!

Just kidding about the beer ;) It really did go into the batter (well, most of it anyway hehe).  Dad (or ahem "Chef Elbert") cut his own "chips". They were so cool!

After dinner Amanda, mom and I went to work off our food at the gym. I think I may be dead in the morning!! :(

Matthew 7:9-12

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This passage just reassured me that God has our best interest at hand and knows what we need before we even ask. I am so thankful I know Him!
Thats all for now!
XOXO
~Brittany~

TheBest Things in Life Aren't Things.

Today started off on the slow side. Amanda and were reading our Bible passages for the day and I couldnt believe how (In Genesis 12) Abram told his wife Sarai to tell Pharaoh that she was his sister, and Pharaoh took Sarai to be his wife. Now, I understand he was scared for his life, but to watch as another man takes your wife? Seems weird to me lol. Anyway, after that Amanda and I went into town to have lunch with Briana and Shaikell. Mucho Gusto is AMAZING!!!!! We also did a little shopping (It's what we do best!).

I have been looking for a saying to post on my bedroom mirror and I finally found one I like. It says "The best things in life aren't things.". This is so true! I know in every post that I have made on here I have said something about how thankful I am for the people around me, but i just cant say it enough. I hope having this saying posted somewhere I will see it everyday will help remind me not to just be thankful for all of the material things, but for the people who make my life worth living. They inspire me to be the best that I can be! Thats all for now.
Sweetdreams,
~Brittany~

The Bible in A Year~

       At church on New Year's day Pastor Murphy gave us this program he wanted us to start. It was a daily program to help us read through the Bible in a year. I had tried before to read the Bible and  I always got discouraged, but I decided to try again. I switched from reading the KJV to reading the NIV. This is a huge difference, and for me it is much easier. I knew I wanted to try this program and be diligent at it, so Amanda and I decided to do it together.  Being the procrastinators that we are we started it today :(! So needless to say, today we have read the first 10 chapters of Genesis, the first 5 chapters of Matthew, and are working on the first 3 of Psalms! For some reason I feel like I could sit down and read the whole Bible through in one night! For the first time it is intriguing and interesting to me. I am excited to see what is in store as we take on this program! Well, thats all for tonight.
XOXO!
Brittany~

A Day Full of Babies!

Yesterday was such an awesome day, but by the time I got home I was too exhausted to blog. My day started early. I got up at 5am and went to the gym with my mom. At 7:15am I was starting my "fill in nanny" job. This is the best job in the world :). Sam and I had so much fun together!

After nannying all day, Amanda and I went over to our friend Carol's house. She has a 4mo. old little boy named Liam. He is adorable! We ate yummy pizza and played a game called Snortz. I dont think i have laughed that hard in ages!

Little Liam loves Amanda. She could just look at him and say "Hi!" and he would start laughing! 

Yet again I think of how blessed I am to have the friends I have. My life wouldn't be the same without them!
 XOXO! Brittany~

So Thankful!

Wow, I have so much to be thankful for, and I think it's always a good idea to start something out with being thankful. A new year is here and as I look back on what 2011 had to offer I am ovewhelmed by how blessed I am. In March I was able to buythe car I have wanted for years, but of course you cant have good without a little bit of bad on the way. :) In September I backed the car that I love right into my dad's truck! Never the less the good out weighs the bad. I have the best family in the whole world. A sister who has been through poop with me and still loves me, (litteraly poop, mouse poop!).  And some awesome friends. Briana, who is always there when I need her. Money cant buy that! Of course I couldnt forget my baby!!! Lucky Lou :) She makes my days worth living and snores my nights away lol! Well I am off to the gym so thats all for now!