My thanks, my life, my blogs, my Hilary Duff side, etc., etc.

Well, well, well, looks like there are more of you sneaky lurkers out there than I thought. I love you silent types. You just go from blog to blog, gleaning information until you are a super genius, and all the while no one even knows you're around. Then every once in awhile you are the ones who decide to show your learned faces to us writers, making us feel so important because we find out that, yes, there are people reading the words we thought we were just throwing out into space for all eternity. Now I know there are real people reading my thoughts, and I thank you.

I found this out because my super spy, google analytics, told me that a bunch of you went to our photography website through this blog. Oh man, you guys make me feel so special! I'm not sure if it's like a car accident that you just can't look away from, or if it's because you actually care about the projects and tid bits going on in my life.... either way, it really does make me feel like you all love me. :-) I feel like Sarah Jessica Parker, or gossip girl, or Hilary Duff in that one movie, or Doogie Howser (if there was Internet then).... either way, I get to do what I love and write my observations about life, and people read them! Now I just need to either get a pair of Manolos or a lab coat made for a 14 yr old and I'm set.

Since you are such loyal followers of my life, I want to commit to you right now to not allow this blog to be taken over by boring business stuff. It is hard because right now I am completely single minded and that IS all that my life is right now. I'm not committing to not mention it or discuss it or even slip in a subliminal message advertisement once in awhile.... I'm just promising you this blog will have other stuff on it too! I'm also trying to not let stories about wild children take over as well (even though that is the only other thing really going on in my life) because I know most of the time they're probably "had to be there" stories anyways.

I do want you to know that I now have another blog that I share with my wonderful husband. YES, it does HAPPEN to be connected to our business website, but so what?! We've decided to make it a fun one that lets our customers feel like they get to know the real us! So now, if I disappear here for a length of time, you can know that I'm probably hanging out over there. I mean why wouldn't I? That one sort of pays me to be there. I do this crap for free here! Anyways, you can look at it by going to www.radiantphotographyaz.com and going to the "Radiant Life" (new blog name) page. Ha ha, you thought I was going to give you a direct link to the blog, huh! Not so, sucka.... you have to go through our pictures to get there. How's that for sneaky advertising! This blog will still be more fun, because you know... I have to be somewhat professional over there. This is the place where you will get to hear the dirt about all the bridezillas I battle and all the cake toppers I rescue from impending doom. J/K, I will do my best to not gossip about poor girls who are stressed to the brim with all kinds of pressure building on them. Unless they're really mean to me....

Finally, actually, all the way.... finished!

OK so our new website is finally done........... um....... NOW!

Sorry for those of you who caught the "preview" before it was finished, I made my post about it a little prematurely! If you saw it before... you should see it now!

Big Biz news + some fun stuff

Alright, I know it's been awhile since I've written. That's because I've been writing CONSTANTLY for the last few weeks! But for.... another blog (gasp!)!! Not only that, I had 2 fifteen page papers due within a couple of weeks of each other. But even with all that, most of my writing skillz have been used for our new business endeavor. And along with that, I should tell you that our business endeavor is not even what you think it is (things change quickly in my world, I guess).

I know, I know, I announced we are going to now be called "Reflect Photographers". But alas, we decided to change the name we had just acquired! So now, for real, for real, we are going to be called Radiant Photography. We had about 2 days to completely design a website, facebook page, business cards, pricing sheets, and so much more! I think we are almost done (and I'm at least done with all the writing stuff. Seriously this involved staying up until 2, 4, or 6am on a regular basis (notice its 12 am as I speak) . I'm so sleep deprived, I'm not even sure if I'm speaking English. So, you know, just a casual hint, that maybe... you know.... if you feel like it. You might want to... I don't know.... go appreciate my hard work (notice the links!)!!

Umm.... let me think of something to tell you that's not related to business (hard since that's been our obsession lately).... Okay, I've got one....

On election day, a little 5 year old in our complex (keep in mind, he probably doesn't even know how to spell his own name) came up to Scottie and said, "Hey Scottie! Do you know who's gonna be the next President? I do! It's gonna be Rock Obama!" Scottie asked if that was who he voted for at school and received an automatic affirmative reply. Scottie told him that he voted for John McCain and the kid said, "I knowsed you did". Scottie (trying to stifle a laugh) asked how he knew. The kid replied, "cause you're white! The news said that white people voted for John McCain and black people voted for Rock Obama!" And they continued their political conversation about the candidates various positions, until the kid decided it was time for them to play the Disney Sorry game.
So funny.

"Bad News! Emergency!"

On Tuesday morning (OK it was afternoon, but still morning for me) we heard someone banging, literally banging, on our door while holding down the doorbell at the same time. Scottie calmly went to answer it, since this crazy attempt to get our attention is an everyday occurrence due to the common occurance of having visitors under the age of 8. Standing there is a 6 year old boy that we know well. He just looks up (way up) at Scottie and yells, “Bad news! Emergency!” When Scottie sought more information from the panicky child, he said, “Billy is trying to beat up Travis!” I still can’t help but laugh at the wide-eyed child stuttering out, “Bad news! Emergency!” The way he said it made me think we were being attacked by terrorists or something. Later accounts of this trauma as reported by the children included the part of the story where, “Jared ran up to Scottie and Breanna’s because of the ‘emergency’.” It was pretty funny.

Scottie went down to see what was going on and when I went down half an hour later, I saw Scottie by the playground with about 10 kids sitting around him in a circle talking. I have to admit, it was pretty cute to see this giant tough guy sitting on their level, trying to help them resolve the most important issue in their young lives. By the time I got there, it had already been decided that it was a misunderstanding because Billy thought Travis wrecked his sand castle (made up not beautiful beach sand, but rather of broken beer bottle and cat poop sand) but really it had been a different Travis that had done it. We spent the next hour listening to various accounts of the story (including a 4 year old girl's version that included the question, "can you play?" in the middle of every other sentence) and I do mean VARIOUS because of course they were all completely different stories. In one story, Billy was chasing Travis with a giant stake in his hand to stab him, in another Travis was beating up Billy's 4 year old sister, and other versions included a slew of middle fingers being thrown this way and that by all kinds of people around. And to think, I've been showing them Veggie Tales Movies about telling the truth!!

For the sake of peace, time, and our sanity, we decided not to go about figuring out the truth, but rather to focus on how we should handle anger and how we should treat people. Using examples of how Scottie and I fight sometimes turned out to be unproductive because that just instigated a bunch of stories about the domestic violence that goes on in their homes, with each story being meant to one up the last. Our attempt at getting them to sit down and participate for a full 5 minutes straight also failed, mostly due to well the fact that they are kids with short attention spans, but also to the "pouter" kid who quits everything that doesn't go his way. Since he was a key player, we had to draw him back in every 2 seconds and convince him that everyone wasn't against him, but that we had listened to his side as well. All in all it was a very frustrating experience for all involved (most of all for myself), but I think it was still the best thing we could have done for the situation.

After all agreed that we should NOT hit people and that we should walk away when we are angry (since fighting only results in Scottie and Breanna making them do "boring" things like sitting around talking for an hour) we finally decided to conclude our anger management training session. Feeling the wrath of all the children upon me for being the mean grown up who disciplined them, I immediately shouted, "who wants Popsicles?!" And then the wrath switched from their eyes to Scottie's because he had just cleaned the playground equipment. :-)

We spent the next couple of hours playing with them to prove that we were still cool enough to hang out with them and that time only built my frustration more and more. They spent the entire time going through one stupid, mean fight after another!! They fought like 10 times more than I've ever seen them fight! One time they were fighting over a tiny piece of a balloon, like a regular balloon that had popped. Seriously screaming and yelling over that. Are you kidding me?! After that they were rolling around in the grass trying to kick each other because the 8 year old wouldn't share(old enough to have that simple skill down), that resulted in a kid getting kicked in the back (hard), and tears. The kid was looking at me straight in the eye crying and I felt absolutely no compassion for him because I was so at my limit! Oh yeah and lets not forget the "pouter" who deemed everything "stupid and boring" as soon as he only 1/2 way didn't get what he wanted and then would go to the corner to pout (leading other kids to do the same).

That night Scottie and I re-capped the situation and it turns out he actually felt encouraged by it all. He said he thought we made a huge difference, where I just felt overwhelmed by the enormity of what we were dealing with. How do you tell a kid who watches his parents kick through walls, break glass on their spouse, get arrested for aggressive behavior, etc., etc. to control their anger?! Scottie eventually convinced me that we had done a huge thing for them that day simply because he said, "no one has ever done that for them and that alone is enough to make it matter significantly to them". And I suppose he's right. After all, this was the biggest "bad news-emergency" they'd had in a long time and it had to have made them feel valued that we treated it with as much importance as they felt it deserved. I only hope so, cause otherwise I don't know how many more times I can pull one kid off of another!

The Adventures of Lil' B

"All grown-ups were children first.

(But few remember it)".
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince) ~

Since I don’t think there is anyone reading this blog who has known me since I was a child (if there is, you’re a lurker!), I thought I’d fill you in on what you missed out on in knowing little Breanna. I say this, because I love little Breanna and I still feel a deep connection to her that I try to maintain throughout my grown up years because I feel like she is one of the most valuable parts to me. So let me introduce you... and for the sake of carpal tunnel syndrome, we’ll shorten her name to “Lil’ B”.....

To start with, Lil' B has long, light brown, wavy hair that goes to her butt (but she's young so its not all scraggly looking yet). She has lots of baby fat and tiny baby teeth (her grown up horse teeth haven't come in yet). Lil' B only tolerates the real world long enough to squeeze in her pretend world (let the psychoanalyzing begin!). She doesn't walk because she'd rather tap dance; she doesn't talk because singing is so much more graceful; and she doesn't go by her real name because "Charity Rose" is better.

Lil' B (aka Charity Rose) spends her days showing off her ballerina moves (totally made up), singing skills (she thinks she knows how to do vibrato by shaking her voice), and handstands (that only make it half way up) to the video camera while her mom films. Between pouts (because her mom insists on announcing her entrance the wrong way), Lil' B. flounces around in front of the camera in her leotard and whatever shiny accessories she found in the dress up closet that particular day, whether it be a pink feather boa, a princess crown, a tutu, or ruby slippers her mom made (shoes covered with shiny red cloth because that was before the Target empire picked them up).

When she is not being the center of the universe (pause to psychoanalyze again) Lil' B is playing with her cousins, Jeffrey and Bethany and allowing her little brother, Ross, to tag along if he does everything she says and doesn't ruin her plans. Their favorite games to play are: restaurant, house (Ross is always the dog), and who can forget "Amy Grant- Ariel-Mermaid" in which Lil' B is the REAL Amy Grant Ariel Mermaid and Bethany is her identical twin (poor Bethany always had to give in to bossy Lil' B). They often ride their bikes around the coldasac (Lil' B in complete costume of bathing suit, tights, a huge jacket, and jellies), jump on the trampoline until time for bed (or until someone starts bleeding- which ever happens first), or break from swimming to watch a dorky Christian movie while eating PB&J.

Lil' B has all kinds of hopes and dreams. Her ultimate goal in life is to be "a pretty and cool teenager who hangs out at the mall with her boyfriend" (direct quote from her diary at age 7). Beyond that, she hopes to be either a famous singer or pet groomer (you know, which ever one works out). These goals change whenever she reads a book or sees a good movie, in which case she wants to be whatever profession is highlighted by the characters; everything from a social worker to an interior decorator (impressionable you think?!).

On the rare occasion that Lil' B does live in the real world rather than in her own imagination, she spends her time helping her mom take care of her baby brother and picking once a month service projects that her mom helps her choose. Lil' B is often very worried about the people who don't love God and people who are sad and hurting in the world and her mom spends a lot of time teaching her how to help and care for these people. Lil' B is happy to do this because she knows it makes Jesus and those people happy and that makes her happy. She is very careful to always follow the rules so that she doesn't make Jesus sad (and because she is scared to death of getting into trouble!). In school she gets put next to the boy who always gets other kids into trouble by talking to them because her teacher knows she will go so far to follow the rules as to ignore him completely while he continues to talk to her. But that's OK because he is still her friend and she does not get into trouble. And as long as she doesn't get into trouble, she can still go over to her friend's after school to put makeup on each other. This activity makes Lil' B's mom worry because Lil' B always chooses the very intense teal eyeshadow to layer on solid from her eyelashes all the way up to her eyebrows and she insists on hot pink lipstick to go with it and that's alot even for the '80's (needless to say, her kind mother does not allow her out in public after playing makeup). I'm sure it scared her dad quite a bit too, but he was reassured that she was still his little girl because she still wanted to hold his hand when driving and play footsies with him under the table just to make sure that he was still near her.

So now maybe you can see why Lil' B is still important to me and why I try to remember her often. She is full of things that I never want to forget about myself.

Pictures of Lil' B
The only picture with an actual Halloween costume, is the picture of Dorothy at the top, the rest were just every day attire!

I bought dresses based on how much they would twirl when I spun around and by how puffy the sleeves were. You can't tell but this one had the best puffy sleeves!

Aren't those earrings beautiful?! (Maybe that's what he's laughing at).

Yep, just another normal day at our house!

I specifically remember my mom telling me this "outfit" was too small to wear anymore. I specifically remember not believing her. Thanks for trying mom.

If you had a leotard with a bear in a tutu when you were little, you would've worn it every day too!

"Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: "What does his voice sound like?" "What games does he like best?" "Does he collect butterflies?". They ask: "How old is he?" "How many brothers does he have?" "How much does he weigh?" "How much money does his father make?" Only then do they think they know him.
If you tell grown-ups, "I saw a beautiful red brick house, with geraniums at the windows and doves on the roof...," they won't be able to imagine such a house. You have to tell them, "I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs." Then they exclaim, "What a pretty house!"
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince)~

The Children of the Corn... I mean, of our apartment complex

I think we have officially figured out what our niche will be in our apartment life ministry. And that is with the kids. Yes, those wild and crazy, unruly kids. They range in ages 3-9 and they rule our complex. I think people are actually afraid of them! They have a grand 'ole time. I mean, who wouldn't enjoy breaking windows; plugging up the Jacuzzis with rocks; having yard sales with the things you found in the trash (unfortunately for them, their clientele figured out the origin of these "treasures" pretty quickly because they had the sale directly in front of the dumpster); and climbing to the very tippy top of the three story high pointy, slippery roof above the jungle gym. Now add to that, going over to Scottie and Breanna's every 20 minutes and banging on the door until they answer (because you just know they're home and they probably can't hear you) so that you can use their "internet" (they think Microsoft Word is the internet). Sounds like the life to me!

Well needless to say, we totally love these kids. We love walking out our door and seeing a kid in a tree pointing a water gun at us and hearing his very stern voice yell, "freeze motherf***er!" followed by the immediate begging and pleading that comes with the apology of a terrified child who just realized they accidentally allowed a grown up witnessed their wrong doing. Btw: This is the same 8 year old who asked my mom a few weeks later, "what's church"? (Of course she explained that it is a place you go with Scottie and Breanna before you go to McDonald's).

These kids are just real and themselves, and we love it. Now for the part that I am excited about.... Here are 6 specific goals we have for these kids in the near future:

1. Take as many of them to church as often as we can (McDonald's included when the tooth fairy's feeling extra generous- j/k we'll sponsor one trip per kid).
2. Arrange a rewards system for them. Something like a star chart or possible where they can earn "beans" (Nanny 911 tip) in order to accumulate enough for a reward (like a camp out night or buying nick knacks in a store). This rewards system will also function for good Sunday school behavior. i.e. 1 star= McDonald's, 3 stars= Happy Meal!! (We have to start low because we'll just be excited if they get out of the negatives).
3. Work on a "Character Counts" kid's club. This will be using the public school's curriculum for this program. Each month we will gather to do fun activities all centering around a particular character trait using the acronym TRRFCC (Terrific): Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Citizenship, Caring). (yeah I think that acronym is a bit of a stretch too- no way does that spell "terrific"- but whatever, it works).
4. Spend time with the main troublemakers (the older kids) discussing leadership and the responsibilities that come with it (I'm so grateful to Spiderman's uncle for stressing this point- makes for a useful teaching tool). Then teaching them to use their natural leadership to create positive change in the world by working on traits that strengthen this positive leadership.
5. This one is my favorite. My husband had the great idea to work together with the maintenance crew to find easy jobs around the complex that he and the kids can do together (i.e. patch all the holes the kids have kicked in the walls). This isn't a form of punishment, rather it will be a time to make the kids feel special because they get to spend time with Scottie (they totally crave positive male attention) and they will get to feel proud of the things they do around the community, as well as seeing how much work goes into keeping it nice so they will hopefully think twice about destroying it. Plus, Scottie can reinforce all the things we talk about in the "character counts kid's club" while doing these activities.
6. And then of course, we want to just love on them. Just spend time with them, let them on the "internet", let them throw water balloons at each other off our balcony (I can't blame them, it works so much better from the 3rd story than from ground level!), do art projects with them, paint the girls' nails, and ask them to be helpers for our event (they love being made to feel important).

So now that you know our goals, I'm counting on all of you to ask how we are doing on them! They're not easy and they take a lot of time and MORE than a lot of patience. So please pray that we've got the stuff to get this done! Actually, we know we don't have what it takes, we count a lot on volunteers and people to support us so let us know if you ever want to help or if you have more ideas, supplies, etc. for us!

P.S. Don't worry, we know how to set boundaries too. We're going to make a red light/green light door hanger. Green light means, "go ahead and knock and we'll discuss it". Red light means, "leave us the hell alone."

Pics

Since I spent 10 hours this weekend organizing pictures on our computer (you have literally thousands upon thousands when your husband is a professional photographer), I figured someone should appreciate my hardwork. So now that I have finally found pictures of me and Scottie, I thought I'd share some of my favorites!

The People and the Place

I first realized that something was wrong when I pulled into my apartment complex and saw 9 cop cars blocking the entrance. However, the thing that caught me off guard, wasn't the fear of whatever bad guy was lurking outside my windows, rather it was the fear of what crazy person had taken over my head. I say this because the first thought that popped into my head when I saw this black and white ominous sign was, "man, I really LOVE my apartment complex!". My next thought was, "huh?! What's wrong with me!"

You see, it's not that I love excitement and danger (I rather loathe that actually) it's that I love the people inside these gates that these 9 cop cars are trying to protect. While I didn't love that there was a thuggish looking character walking around with a glock on his hip the other day, I did love that the kids who live here sought out my husband for protection when they saw this bad guy. And I can't say that I was particularly excited to see the hookers hanging out on my neighbor's porch, but I was excited that we got the chance to say hi and invite them to our next event. Of course the thing I am the least excited about are the stories that the kids around here tell about watching their mom cry in jail or hiding when the bad guys came looking for their dad with a gun, but I am so glad that I am here to listen to their stories and to help them deal with these things.

So while it is a scary place, somehow I am not afraid. I am so so so happy that I live in a place that challenges me; where the people are real, the cars are broken, and the kids are out of control. And for the first time ever when I was sitting on my porch overlooking my fairytale tree as I call it, I thought I how I really hope I never get a house, because I never want to leave this place!! Quite a change from my first few blogs about how I was so scared I would hate my new apartment, huh!

And as promised, here are the pics of my wonderful apartment (finally!)

P.S I'll put up pictures of my "Princess Porch" (as Scottie calls it) as soon as I get some taken of the finished product!

My mortal enemy... The mosquito.

So now we are going to talk about mosquitoes. That's right, those little buggers that fly around unsuspecting nature lovers, just waiting for the chance to suck you dry. I am sorry, but I now officially hate them. I know they're just trying to survive and get their daily dose of blood, but dude, indulge in moderation, puh-lease! Let me tell you why I hate mosquitoes.

My story begins with the story of my genetics. Apparently my father and I have a taste for the sugar. We are infiltrated with sweet juicy blood and the bugs, they love that. If we are in a room full of 10 people and 1 mosquito comes in, we will each get sucked on 8 times in 2 minutes, while everyone else leaves with the same amount of blood they came in with (well, depending on exactly what kind of activities these other 8 people are participating in). At least with my dad around, I had someone to share the burden with but you gotta leave the nest some time.

Now fast forward to my reminder of how much I hate mosquitoes. I recently went to El Paso (remember the Alamo) to visit my in laws, who apparently hate me because they just let me wander out into a mosquito plague without so much as batting an eye or uttering a warning! So there I am, skipping along to my ipod with my umbrella in hand, taking in the picture of the mountains shadowing over the fields and all that when I first see a member of my most hated species. He is on my arm and I decide to pretend it is just some gnat. I continue my stroll undisturbed and still happy until I see yet another "gnat". It is at this point that I realize there are plenty on me and they are all feasting away on my veins, which leads me to believe that they definitely are mosquitoes and they definitely have it in for me. I turn and run and end up in hysterics by the time I fly through the front door and verbally assault my husband for not protecting me from the monsters outside. Luckily Granny has the magic kinds of medicine that all grannies seem to have that make it all better. And my husband takes me into the bathroom like a 5 year old, to swat bugs off of me and to apply this magic potion to all my owies. This makes me a little less pissed and at least clearheaded enough to realize that this is not ENTIRELY his fault.

Oh and I may have forgotten to mention that I am actually allergic to these little villains as well! So the 17 mosquito bites that I received in the 4.2 minutes that I was outside, all begin to swell to the size of pennies. Luckily, I also have magical allergy medicine (at least it freakin better be magical for the amount they charge for it) and I was able to reduce them from major monstrosities to meager annoyances. But the war had begun...

I had thought I was over it. I had thought I had moved on with my life! But low and behold, they tracked me... They followed me... They found me... And they attacked me.

Last night I was sitting in the car talking with my friend and I noticed a bug fly in the window. I shooed him and continued my conversation, well at least I continued until I realized I had been itching multiple locations on my left arm. AHHHH!!! That does it!!! How can I be in a practically mosquito free state, sitting in a car for no more than an hour, with the tiny window rolled down slightly, when the one mosquito in all of Arizona finds me and proceeds to mutilate me?! How does that happen?! I was furious! If they keep this up, I'm going to have agoraphobia in no time! I will have to wear bee suits with full netting and all every time I have to walk to my car! How can something so tiny ruin the life of something so much bigger than it? (Might I mention that while I received 9 bites on my left arm, my friend escaped completely itch free!). I hate them and I am currently masterminding an evil plot to destroy them all (if any of you leak my plan to them, you're going down too!)

Great Blog

I just can't help myself, I have to share with you the best blog I know of. Her pen name is "Mrs. Spice" and she is the daughter of a wonderful lady that I work with. The reason I'm recommending her blog to all of you is because it is so funny, especially if you like little kid stories! She is the only person I am not good friends with in real life whose blog I read, just because it's so entertaining and hilarious!
The best part about it is that it is a total pick-me-up. She is somehow able to put a positive spin on every event in her life and she finds the humor in everything (a true inspiration to me!). Whenever I'm getting all Debbie Downer it's really good for me to get a little Spice perspective so I thought I'd refer all of you onto this since pure positivity seems to be rare in life!

To Return Soon

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been absent from the world of blogging. I guess I just haven't had any inspiration latel. But please don't give up on me, I will be back- pinky swear!

This week in a nutshell

You may be wondering what happened to me. I know you have all just been on the edge of your seats wondering what fantastic and zany happenings have been going on in the incredibly interesting world of Breanna. OK, so maybe not, but I'm back to tell you about it anyways. It's amazing how much work there is to do when you go from working 5 days a week to 2, it doesn't leave much time for blogging on the job!

Well my first week off was great. Of course, it's not a very good representation of what it will be like since both Scottie and I decided not to do anything productive and to not recognize that I've had a salary reduction, so we just hung out and spent money doing fun stuff! It was my little vacation at home! But it was much needed so I don't even guilty, I'm just happy about my new life! Here's the cliff notes to our week:

• Slept for 11 hours on a couple of different days and never got up before 10am.
  
• Rolled out bed just in time to watch Roseanne (my guilty pleasure that I usually reserve for sick days)


• Often went out on the town: shopping; to my favorite coffee shop, Inside the Bungalow (that has previously been closed during times I was off work but now has longer hours!


• Watched movies at home, watched movies at the theater


• Went to lunch with friends


• Stayed up late every night talking


• Helped my cousin make an Elmo cake for her 2 year old daughter's birthday party


• Went to the birthday party at a gym and watched 2 & 3 year olds roll around in leotards, attempting to stay on balance beams, jumpy things, and such (I think their heads are a little too disproportionate to their bodies for that kind of coordination yet- reminds me of watching kindergartners play soccer when every kid on the entire field somehow ends up in a massive dog pile at least 7 times during every game)

Are you jealous yet?

The downside to this flexible schedule is that my body is not used to waking up at a certain time (not that it ever did get used to 6am) so when my alarm clock didn't go off on Thursday for my first day back at work, I had no idea. I woke up to my boss calling me 30 min. after I should've been there! Good thing I work at a grace-based place, even if everyone there does think they're hilarious and enjoys putting little alarm clock signs all over my desk and mocking me for the rest of the day!

I also need to update on our first Apartment Life (Cares Team) event! We did "Popsicles by the Pool" which means we brought an ice chest down to the pool and watched about 10 unsupervised kids under the age of 7 (most of whom couldn't swim, mind you) drop their otter pops into the pool about 100 times and gorge themselves on Drumsticks. At one point a kid rode his 10 speed bike into the pool (I think on accident) but we were just relieved that he missed the gigantic Bull mastiff that was swimming with us. Can you just picture the chaos here!? It was a ton of fun though.
Later that night, some of our neighbors (2 out of the 4 grown ups that were at the pool helping us rescue drowning kids) planned an impromptu BBQ. Unfortunately, it takes several hours to get 8 totally wasted people in one place with all the right equipment. So at about 10pm we settled down for dinner, using the plant pot as our table (since there are no outdoor tables or chairs in our entire complex except for in the pool area and I don't think we'd be as successful at rescuing drowning adult-sized drunks as we were with the kids). Since sober adult conversation was out of the question, I spent the entire night playing with 2 little girls on the jungle gym, making up stories, and drawing hop scotches with sidewalk chalk. I have to say that my favorite part of the whole night was when I asked a beautiful 3 year old girl to tell me a story and she said to me, "Did I tell you about the time that a star fell out of the sky and hit me in the head?!" I am willing to have a child for the sole purpose of hearing her say that to me one day and I will consider that my success as a parent.

So obviously, we haven't really gotten to the whole spiritual part of Apartment Life! But we've had a lot of fun getting to know all the residents around there, and I still don't think we could've picked a better place to live. I have to remind myself of that every time I vacuum up 50 dead baby cockroaches at a time from my living room floor.

I promise I will have pics of our apartment up very soon!

Reefer Madness Revealed

So why do I need to pay $1,000 per class or so at seminary when I can get all the learnin' I need from cable TV?! This morning I watched a highly educational show while I was getting ready for work called "Reefer Madness". Ever seen it? It is a movie that was originally made in 1936 by a church group (excellent production quality for a Christian flick I might add) to warn people against the dangers of smoking marijuana. Some guy found it and turned it into an exploitative film by adding a few more scandalous scenes so it would rake in more money and in the 70's some other guy bought it and turned into a college classic comedy.

Wow, what can I even say? I am sure glad to know that smoking a joint will turn me into a raging serial killer with schizophrenic tendencies! After all, that one kid DID murder his whole family with an axe while high on pot. And just so all of you know, apparently, marijuana is more of a risk to our young people than either heroin OR cocaine. I wonder where meth falls on that scale? It's got to be a close second since, according to the film, they make you behave exactly the same way. Anyone remember that episode of Saved By the Bell where Jessie was taking caffeine pills, only by the way she was acting, you would think it was speed?

Oh, you can only laugh I suppose. People are so fearful. You can read my blog ranting about the effects of this film (and other drug propaganda tools) on kids and our drug culture here if you are interested. I have to warn you though, that blog is a lot less light hearted and a lot more real life.

Gift Giving Cheats

OK, well maybe it doesn't officially count as cheating, but it does take a lot of the work out of it. I'm talking about several cool websites I have found recently that have been lifesavers for me when it comes to gift giving. They have been so helpful, I thought I would share my treasure...

1. www.gifts.com/finder- This website is absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The only explanation I have for how well it selects gifts for people is that there must be tiny magical green men who use secret fairy dust to determine which gifts would be right for which people. Basically you answer a few simple questions about the person and it gives you a ton of gift ideas. The crazy part is that I have always found them to be right on and they are super creative and unique suggestions. I put myself in there to get ideas of things to put on my Christmas wish list and I built most of my list of their ideas because I loved everything they suggested for me (plus they made me feel cool because they called me a "hipster").

2. http://www.perpetualkid.com/ - This site is just like all the trendy and clever little nicknack's they sell at Urban Outfitters, but there are thousands of them instead of like 50. A lot of the stuff is very funny too.

3. http://www.wearyourmusic.org/ - This is for the music lover. You can purchase bracelets made out of actual guitar strings that were used by your favorite musicians. They have everyone from Bela Fleck and the Jimmy Buffet to John Mayer and Avril Lavigne. They are kind of pricey ($100 - $200 or so) but would make a very special gift! All profits are donated to charity.

4. http://www.knockknock.biz/ - This one has less options but they are still interesting none the less. I'm not sure how to explain it, so you just have to check it out.

5. http://www.club-offers.com/ - For my birthday I really wanted someone to get me into a "Flowers of the Month" club where they deliver one bouquet every month to your house (I didn't get it). This doesn't have to be cheesy old lady stuff (like "crocheted pot holder of the month") they have "Beer of the Month", "Movie of the Month", "Dessert of the Month", etc. I think it is a fun gift.

6. http://www.hipstercards.com/ - And for all you cheapo's out there who like to give free gifts ( btw, the thought only counts like a couple of times and after that we want presents!) here is a free e-card site that actually has cool e-cards. Some are funny, some raunchy, and some artistic.


Feel free to add suggestions in your comments. Happy shopping!

Home Sweet Home

So for all my bellyaching, you may be surprised to find out that I totally FREAKING love my new apartment! The interior is more like 1989 rather than 1983 like the model had and there is a ginormous tree that shades us, gives us privacy, and makes me feel like a fairy princess. It's also the most happenin' place in the neighborhood to hang out (if you are an 8 year old). There is tons of storage in our place, new carpet, full size washer and dryer (Scottie was thrilled that his towels no longer smell like mildew the way they did when we had a half size set), and best of all the neighbors are some of the best people I have ever met! They are not just cordial, they are like, "hey new best friends, come over and have tons of fun with us!" So cool! It just couldn't be better. I'm totally surprised that I am so happy considering that I usually view any change as only bad. It's great, or at least it will be once I can walk without stubbing my toe on boxes! So here are the awesome stories so far (I'm sure there will be plenty more).

First of all, when we were moving in, Scottie bent down to pick up a box, only to turn his head to the side and watch a little kid standing about 4 feet away, pull down his pants and pee on our step!! So funny!
The next morning when I left for work, there was cat puke on the steps, and when I returned there were used Q-tips laying all over the place. The steps are D-I-R-T-Y to say the least, but I love how random the crap on them is!

On our first full day there, Scottie called me and said, "well, it's our first day in our new place and so far I stole and I looked at porn". Apparently, some little kids found some "adult" playing cards and when they walked away Scottie stole them and threw them away! At least I think he threw them away.... j/k.

Pee, porn, thievery, puke, and earwax. Now this is the life!

P.S. So far the best part about living in a poor neighborhood is that you can get cheap and delicious fried stuff almost anywhere! Frybread, Mmm....

Most Spiritually Significant Films

Here are the movies that Relevant Magazine named, "The Most Spiritually Significant Films of the Last 10 Years" They define that as films that transcend entertainment and speak to deep truths...

• Oh Brother, Where Art Thou
• Big Kahuna
• American History X
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• American Beauty
• Crash
• The Green Mile
• No Country For Old Men
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• The Royal Tenenbaums

I don't think there are any that I specifically disagree with, but I don't remember being that struck by the themes in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou". And I haven't seen "Big Kahuna", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", or "No Country for Old Men". But the first two are going on my Netflix list now.

Here are the movies I would add to this list (some might be older than 10 years)...

• Fight Club
• Into the Wild
• Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Magnolia
• September Dawn

I thought it would be interesting to get opinions from all of you. Do you agree with the list? What movies would you add or take off?

Some Serious Humor

As I've looked around lately, I've seen more and more people who are just really down right now. I recently asked one of the wisest women I know (props to Sharon S.) if she thought this was a normal thing to experience around my age. She told me that she thinks it has less to do with my age and more to do with the climate and culture around all of us right now. I don't mean, "oh we live in such a sinful world" and all the stuff you normally hear. I am talking about things that are really particular to right now.

To start with, we are in an election year which I guess means that everyone goes to every extreme to try to convince us all how horrible the world is because they think that will make us elect our favorite super hero to come in and fix everything. But stop and think about the kind of common discussions you hear lately. Gas prices making people fearful and forcing them to give up their normal pleasures in life; global warming out to singe us all; a neverending war that is killing tons of our friends and family; the foreshadowing of a possible economic depression; terrorists that are banging at our door just itching to get in and slaughter us... and the list goes on. Crisis after crisis. It is a climate of fear and discouragement.

Wise Woman then proceeded to talk about how now might be the time that we all need to focus on hope and just take life a lot less seriously for awhile (I am really really trying to keep this from turning into a "remember the little blessings in your life" email forward). It did make me think though about how maybe I need to try to have a little more fun and not get my panties all in a bunch over little nothings. I completely WASTE so much time and energy worrying, being fearful, obsessing, etc. And maybe I just need to stop. I need to stop and laugh at myself and probably at a few South Park episodes because they are the masters at putting some twisted humor on these serious issues (Don't judge me!).

Secret- Sometimes I feel like laughing at something way longer than is socially appropriate- after everyone else has already stopped. From now on I think I'm just going to risk it and laugh until I'm done!

Connections made

This weekend I had an incredible experience. It is hard to explain because it was just one of those times when everything in my life just molded together to all make sense as a whole. It all started when I was sitting in my old Starbucks reading and I kept feeling like I should talk to the guy next to me. I recognized him as one of the regulars that was around when I worked there, but I didn't think he recognized me. He had already said a little bit to me when I first sat down and he had mentioned his wife right away, so I felt like he wasn't going to be some creepy psycho with bad intentions or anything!

I started talking to him and we ended up talking for 2 hours! He told me all about his 15 year old daughter's cocaine addiction. He talked about various rehab experiences she's had, how it has affected their family, the various stories of all her friends, etc. etc. It was so amazing. The awesome part was that I just made the decision to simply listen to whatever he wanted to talk about and to devote all of my attention to him (you have no idea how difficult this is for me to do).

I am always amazed at the results that come from doing nothing more than active listening and really getting your heart and mind involved in someone's story. I mean, here I am in Starbucks with a grown man tearing up in front of me telling me about his weaknesses, vulnerabilties, and challenges. Just because I decided to listen. Not to talk, not to teach, not to preach. Just to listen, to get involved in his life, and to love. God is love right? This experience just reminded me of some things I once knew. Sometimes it is OK for Christians to just love people. We don't always need alterior motives. We don't always have to be looking for that one pause in the conversation to spring the 4 Laws on them. We can just love for the sake of loving. For the sake of representing Christ to someone. The results of that on our world are astounding. (So apparently, NOW is my time for preaching- that's what blogs are for I guess!).

It's hard to explain the significance this event had on me because there are so many tiny little details that happened through this conversation and so many connections that were made in my head about my own life. Things I've been thinking about and considering sort of joined together to make me see them in a new light. Things I've just recently been getting passionate about (mainly teenagers and also abuse recovery work) were highlighted. No new revelations actually came to me, it just kind of made me know that God is working and he has something ahead for me. I haven't felt like God has coordinated events in my life in such a detailed and specific way like that in a long time, so it made me really excited. Plus it made me remember how much I thrive on meeting new people and getting into their lives like that (which makes me even more excited about Apartement Life). I usually feel too tired to ask questions or too busy to spend the time. Now I know what I'm missing out on . This rejuvenated me and reminded me of the kind of person I used to be and the kind of person I want to be.

Babe, I'm Leavin'...

Today the big news was announced that I am officially quitting my job at Phoenix Seminary. Well I guess that is not really true I just like to shock people first and then explain. It looks like we're going to try and work it out for me to stay on for 2 days a week (instead of the 5 I do now). This has let me to discover that it is a lie- you CAN have your cake and it eat it too (what a strange phrase that is)! This will allow me to maintain the absolutely beautiful relationships that I have built at the seminary and it will provide a little bit of that extra green that we need every month so that we don't have to raise support for our ministry like we were considering doing. Plus it will give me the time I need to do apartment life, help babysit my new niece, and work a little with Scottie's 2 companies so I can build up the High School Senior portrait portion of Visionyard Studios and help the management aspect of Reflect Photographers. So if I ever forget, you can all help remind me about how God is amazing and he's a better coordinator and planner than I could ever be for my own life!

La Vida Loca

This has been an absolutely crazy 2 weeks to say the least, with all kinds of unusual things happening! It all started when my little brother became a dad (that's weird for sure), and I didn't go to work for half the day Monday just because I needed to sleep after staying up all night watching the birth (I've never got to not go to work just because I was tired before).

2 days later, I took a day off of work and school to go look at the new place we are going to live and to celebrate our anniversary by having a little photo session (you don't move, have a 3 year wedding anniversary, and get to be a model every day). Later that night my eyes swelled up so much that I might have been mistaken for Rocky Balboa, so I missed work the next day because I looked scary (sorry, there is no way I'm posting a picture of it) and I needed to go to the Doctor.

Over the weekend I shot a wedding and went to a bridal show all day (these definitely count as unusual weekend activities for me). Then on both Monday and Tuesday I only went to work for 6 hours because I had to go to the Dr. to get stabbed in the back with 100 needles (literally) all for the purpose of making me scratchy and miserable (and the side benefit of finding out what I am allergic to) I've spent 2 years thinking I am allergic to garlic, only to find out that I am not (I am so weirded out but very happy).

When I went to leave for the Dr. on Monday I went out to my car only to find my window smashed in. So I drove around for the next few days with about 2,000 tiny pieces of safety glass being held in my window by tinting alone. I am happy to report that they at least didn't get in to my car and knowing that he left my car disappointed with his spoils, leaves me with a satisfied feeling. And it was nice to drive around knowing that at least the people on my right side couldn't see me singing at the top of my lungs through my shattered windshield.

When I went to the Dr. yesterday I found out that I am a death risk (apparently) because they gave me an EpiPen! I never in my life thought I would ever need that. Bizarre and eventful times in the life of Breanna, huh!? So I guess I will have to let you know how the rest of this week goes. As long as it doesn't entail actually using my EpiPen I think I'm good.

Top 10 Greatest Moments so far

On Wednesday Scottie and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary! I think that means we're not newlyweds anymore. According to Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, you're not newlyweds after 2 years (or at least that's when they decide not to renew your contract for a third season) but what do they know anyways, they're divorced!

So as we were reflecting on our married life so far, we decided that we've had quite an interesting time together so I thought I would share our moments with all of you. This is when I wish that my entire life had been videotaped because this would make an awesome montage. I guess you just have to picture it as if one scene after another is just flying by with the sliding PowerPoint transition to the theme song from Laverne and Shirley. You know... "We're gonna make our dreams come true. Doin' it our way..." http://www.sitcomsonline.com/sounds/laverneandshirley.wav

Scottie and Breanna's top 10 Greatest Moments so far:

10. One night we were loitering in a parking lot with our friends and we were riding together on the long board Scottie built (meant to hold 1 person at a time) and we totally wiped out with gigantic Scottie landing on top of me.

9. Once we took turns slapping each other in the face because we wanted to know what it felt like to slap someone like in the movies.

8. During our first year of marriage we were so poor that when Scottie's only pair of flip flops broke, he used a hammer and nails to put them back together.

7. For about 6 months, we always went to the grocery store after 10pm and never fail we would end up having major laughing attacks that would end with me sitting on the floor in the middle of the frozen food aisle laughing too hard to stand up.

6. When Scottie was in charge of the college group at Scottsdale Bible Church we went on stage to talk about sex, love, and dating and we ended up spontaneously joking around about our sex life in front of 85 college students.

5. Our biggest fight still remains to be the one where Scottie was playing video games and I started nagging him about it so he suddenly got so mad he ripped the door off our entertainment center like the incredible hulk (totally abnormal behavior from cool and calm Scottie- that's why it's funny and not sad).

4. One December we decided to go jump into the freezing pool at 2 am just because we had never done it before. It was cold but the hot tub was a treasured reward.

3. When my favorite band (Smashing Pumpkins) reunited, we uncharacteristically spent our savings to fly to San Fransisco to see one of their first shows. The ironic part is that they came to AZ 2 months later and we saw them two more times.

2. One night at midnight we decided to go camping right then. So we loaded up the truck, laid out in the desert for about 2 hours, then drove home because we wanted to sleep in our own bed.

1. One of my favorite nights together was when we stayed up super late singing 70's rock songs together. "Hold me closer tiny dancer..."

I guess the moral of the story is if you want to have fun, stay up past 11pm with Scottie and Breanna.

Happy Anniversary to us!

The Quest

When we first got married we decided that we wanted to go away every year for our anniversary just the 2 of us. Being that this year we are pretty broke- we are going camping! But don't feel too bad for us, because we are going in a super tricked out pop-up tent trailer that we inherited from my parents! Well it's not tricked out yet, but our "pimp my trailer" plans will be put into effect as soon as my handy husband fills the the bb gun holes (apparently expensive tent trailers make great target practice) and repairs the roof (it seems it was repeatedly jumped onto from the top of our house by someone's un-named brothers). But THEN we will cover it with tacky bumper stickers, paint it hot pink and black, put some shag carpet in along with purple velvet wallpapering, or do something like that! OK, maybe not that elaborate, but it will be awesome eventually and probably slightly tacky since you can do that kind of stuff to a trailer- unless you live in it!

Anyways, we are going for a full week in July. And while, Scottie is oh so entertaining, I have a good hunch that there will definitely be plenty of moments of boredom. So I have decided to begin a quest. It is not the most noble of quests, but it is an important one. I am on a quest to find the best fiction book of all time! Actually, I don't even need the best, I just want one of those books that you never want to stop reading and that makes you sad when it's over. I want something that is totally going to enthrall me and that I will remember for years to come. So the purpose of this post is to get ideas for some books. I want to hear anyone and everyone's suggestions of the best fiction books ever! Anything that you totally loved, even if you are not sure why you loved it. You can check out my list of books that affected me to see what I have already read and to get ideas of the kind of stuff I like and then just post your recommendations as a comment (I am also accepting tent trailer decor ideas!). This is also the part where we will get to find out if anyone actually reads my blog, or if any of my blog readers read anything else!

P.S. The picture is me on our last camping trip.

Let Me Introduce You

So it is official, I am now a real-live auntie! (that's pronounced "anty" as in a cute way to say aunt, not as in "onty", the British way to say aunt- very important distinction because saying it the right way makes me a fun aunt and saying it the wrong way makes me a 60 years old mean aunt who makes you sit up straight!). My new baby niece, Kylee Reagan McDaniel, was born on Sunday, June 1st!

The name had been kept a secret so I was very happy when mama Sara announced it the first time she held her because honestly, I was expecting an awful name that I would be embarrassed to say like Izzy or Skiz or something like that. I thought the purpose of the secret keeping was to make sure that no one could argue with it and would have to accept something they didn't want to. Needless to say I was relieved and pleasantly surprised by the beautiful Kylee announcement.

One of the coolest things about it all was that I got to witness the birth! I was so honored that she wanted me to be in there with her (and that she felt comfortable enough with me to really get to know ALL of her that way!). It was unbelievable and I was so glad I was there. I was really proud of myself because I watched the whole thing and I didn't get grossed out at all and I even watched the afterbirth (which, if you don't know, looks like guts coming out of her) and I was fine! I feel like a tougher human being now who is capable of like saving tons of lives in an emergency situation because I can handle disturbing things and stuff (even though in reality I would just end up curled up in a ball rocking back and forth in the corner during a traumatic event).

Ironically, while I was in the delivery room, my alarm on my cell phone telling me to take my birth control was going off in the waiting room. My family in there expected me to burst in and take 2 pills at once after what I witnessed. But I was fine! In fact I was very encouraged by the whole experience. Once she had her epidural, she was a pretty happy camper she even wanted to watch the movie Clueless during her labor! So in between pushing, her and I discussed how weird looking Brittany Murphy is in that movie. Throughout the whole experience she passed the time by cracking jokes with us and making small talk with the nurses. We actually had a lot of fun in there (well, I'm sure Sara had a little less fun that the rest of us) and we spent a lot of time laughing; I guess we welcomed in Kylee with our family's own personal style! That may be the first time in the entire history of the universe that a baby's first visual outside of the womb was that of Alicia Silverstone prancing around in platforms and a plaid mini skirt. Overall it was a terrific experience. When I went to see them the next day Sara stilled looked totally fine and not all traumatized like I would expect someone who just pushed out a baby to look. So I'm like, "oh, labor must be really easy nowadays!" And no one disagrees or argues because they're all holding their breaths in hope that I will one day have my own baby. And who knows, after being around this awesome little girl enough, I just might!

Stats:

7 lbs. 10 oz.

19 3/4 inches
Favorite movie: Clueless

Ranking: In the Top 10 list of the most wonderful babies ever.

Future band name: "Attitude From The Womb"

And for those of you who were holding your breaths I am happy to report, NO, she did not inherit her father's webbed toes! :-)

Under Construction

I'm trying to make my blog cool, so that means it has to be lame for awhile while it is in process (ironic). Just ignore when it says weird things, except for the ones that I personally write.

And just imagine it...
One day you'll just be all sitting at your computer like normal, googling away when you decide to click on my blog. Then out of nowhere you will suddenly get blasted right in the face with a huge gust of awesomeness and you will just sit there stunned, blinking awesomeness out of your eyes. I hear you're never the same after getting wind-whipped with awesomeness.

If I Could Create My Own Heaven

This one is for all you downers out there. A good exercise for me when I'm all sad and mopy is to think about how I would want things to be if I could make them exactly perfectly the way I wanted (regardless of the time/space continum, gravity, or any other limitations that might otherwise get in my way). It is times like those that I will write a story called "The Best Day Ever" or "If I Could Do Anything for 1 Month" or something of that nature. It always puts me in a much better disposition. This post is one such story (written awhile ago- don't worry, I'm not all sad today). And now, for your viewing entertainment (if you promise not to make fun of me) I present...

If I Could Create My Own Heaven

If I could create my own heaven, this is how it would be…

To start with, the weather would be like Seattle rainy one day and San Diego sunny the next. It would just change randomly between the two. It would be in a big city like San Francisco or Seattle , but safe of course and when you turn certain corners you could just walk right into the wilderness. Around the corner on Pine St. for example, you could walk a few feet and step onto a beach and around the corner on Broadway Rd , you would end up in a grassy meadow by a lake. But for the most part, I would reside in the city. I would probably venture to the more natural parts on the sunny San Diego days. During the rest of the time, I would dance-walk all around the city while listening to my “sky” ipod. That means that it would work just like an ipod (I can choose the songs, and only I can hear it- unless I want others to), except there would be no actual ipod, the music would just come from the sky like on a movie soundtrack. I could skip around to the music and no one would think I was weird. And it would never break and I would always have the songs on there that I wanted in the perfect playlists.

I would read tons of books and they would always be the best books ever and I would never get impatient about reading- I would savor every minute of it. I would curl up on my cozy pillow chair by my window overlooking the city, with the grassy meadow and rolling hills in the distance and read while it was raining outside in the afternoon. When it started to clear up, I would get dressed in a flowy, swirly skirt and skip-dance to my sky ipod over to the beautiful flower coffee shop to meet one of my friends. We would stay and laugh and talk about books and music for hours. And then Jesus would pop by and sit with us for awhile, answering all our questions about those darned "grey areas" in life and about philosophical issues that went over our heads during life, but that we can now understand with flawless precision (I do realize that only putting Jesus into a couple of hours of my Heaven makes me quite unspiritual, I know all of you would write stories about how you worshipped him for hours on end until your vocal chords got swollen shut and then you would continue to worship him through your fasting ritual until your stomaches shrivelled up- yes, you are all more holy than I am).

Then we would go over to another friend's house and decorate cupcakes with the window open, listening to the rain. We would have a funny girly movie on that we would run in to watch at our favorite parts. When the cupcakes were done, we would take some canvases down to the very green park along with our yellow and pink umbrellas and we would paint the tiny birds that hopped along the grass by our feet. After that we would go back to my friend's house and fall asleep just listening to the rain. After waking up from my nap, I would then skip along home with my sky music and take a hot bath.

Scottie would then return home from his day of fishing at the creek with his best friend and we would get ready to go over to the pizza stand for dinner. Along the way, we would start laughing so hard that I would have to sit down in the middle of the sidewalk just to try and breathe. We would take forever to get where we were going because we would keep getting distracted by places we wanted to go and people to talk to along the way. We would finally get our dinner and go to the top of a grassy, rolling hill that is just around the corner from Main Street where, we would watch the sunset.

To end the day, we’d walk back into town and go to a dance party with all of our friends in a garden on top of a 10 story building in the city. We’d break from dancing only to take pictures, sip our smoothies, or play with our friend’s monkey, Charlie. Then we’d go right back to dancing to the music from our sky ipod that everyone could now hear.

Home is Where You Make It

So it looks like "Midtown on Main" is going to be the place we call home. Well either home or work depending on how you look at it. We will finally have a 2 bedroom (tiny as it may be) so that Scottie has an actual office, rather than a wall for his workspace and we will be working for our keep (aka free rent) through the CARES team program. That means we will be planning events for our apartment complex community in exchange for this free apartment. It is a great incentive for us to be doing what we should already be doing anyways- loving our neighbors. We can count up to 10 hours of volunteer time towards our hours every month, so please get ready for BBQ's, movie nights, swap meets, etc.! Aww, come on, it will be fun I promise! :-)

Both Scottie and I could not be more excited about the complex manager. It is so obvious that she cares more about the people and using our program to help them, than she does about resident retention, getting rent paid on time, etc. She is also working very hard to clean up the property and undo a lot of damage that was done by the last management company.

The people there seem pretty awesome as well. They are a wide variety of people and the manager said they are completely thrilled by the smallest efforts put forth towards doing something special for them. They almost had an aneurysm when free Popsicles were handed out to them. Nothing like being appreciated for the ministry you do! We figured that in the other complex we were looking at moving to, the people probably wouldn't eat free Popsicles unless they were sugar free and organic. So we seem to be going to the right place for us and we wouldn't have it any other way... Well unless of course there was a complex available with the same cool people and WITHOUT the mustard yellow appliances, fake wood panel cabinets, and tiny rooms! Looks like I'm going to have to learn to live in 1982 and like it.

Here's the complex! Learn to love it because we expect you all to be around reminiscing about the about the 80's decor with us quite frequently!

Welcome one and all to the exciting world of grown up Breanna...

It looks like I am growing up. I have moved from myspace (bypassing the facebook stage) straight into blogging. I am not sure who will actually read my blog because most of my friends are still spending their time posting "what's up?!" comments to 135 people they haven't seen in in 8 years. But you are here for whatever reason and to that I say, welcome and thanks for taking the time to read my blog!
I don't have any kids, I have lived in the same city my whole life, and I have not watched any new TV shows in the last 5 years. All that to say, this blog may prove quite boring. But I'm hoping my writing style will mask the lack of content and you will all have a wonderful time following along with my clever rhetoric and distracting yourselves from work or any other annoying tasks that are waiting for you back in your own life.