Blinded.

by the white.

Everyone knows I love my job. I adore the children I work with. If I didn't get paid to do it, I still would.

But I'm not gonna lie, this day off has been something like heaven.

And I have almost 3 weeks off!

It finally feels like summer, so it's about time that I get rid of this skin that just so happens to be only a shade darker than paper.

I don't even know why I tan. All I do is get more freckles.
It's the redhead's curse.
But maybe, just maybe, more freckles will give the illusion that I have a brilliant golden tan..
One can dream, right?

After I got done tanning, Jake pulled me into the pool and made me swim around with him.
It has been such a fun, relaxing day.
And a little goofy!

Perfect.

Do you ever just feel really good after church?

Like nothing could ever go wrong again?

Like the whole world is rainbows and butterflies, and unicorns are our only means of transportation?

That's exactly how I felt yesterday.

I don't know why, but after church yesterday I had an overwhelming joy. I felt the Spirit so much for some reason. And nothing significant happened. There were no incredibly moving talks. No amazing lessons. Just being there was incredible. Just sitting in the Presence was amazing. And being with people who have the same beliefs as me, it was freeing.

"The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God."

*Qutote by CS Lewis.

I'm singing the song

as if buried within its lyrics are instructions, a musical road map to where i'm supposed to go and how to get there.

I really think I'm a reading junkie. I can't live without a hit of word choice and syntax throughout my day.

I spend my time on the computer looking for a new book to read after I'm finished with the one I've already half-way finished in one day. My list is very extensive.

This week, I read a book called If I Stay.

Synopsis: A girl gets in a horrific car accident, and is able to see everything that is going on around her. She has the difficult decision of whether to stay on earth, or leave forever.

Why I loved it: Not only did I think it was an interesting concept for a story, I loved that the author incorporated music, even though I thought she could have used more synesthesia throughout the story. Although my book says it will appeal to those who love Twilight, it is nothing like Twilight. It is just as much about family and friends as it is about love, and honestly the love story wasn't prominent, which I thought was perfect for the story. The ending definitely got some tears out of me.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

I give it four stars because it has quite a bit of mature language, and I think the author could have used music more often to describe things, since the heroine was so immersed in musical culture.

This book is definitely one of my favorites!

*Quote by Mia from Gayle Forman's If I Stay.

My boys.

I love coming home to this.

{the "Sirius face"}

Brightens my day, every time.

Thrifty, flirty, & thriving.

This weekend, Katie and I kind of did something a little crazy.

Something neither of us have ever done before.

And that friends and family were shocked to hear we had done.

We thrifted.

Calm down! We survived. More like, we sur-thrived.

I'll give you a little sneak peek of the things that I snagged while out thrifting with my besty.

1. This is the first thing I spotted when we walked into the "blouse" aisle, and I just loved the little buttons that came up at the neck.

2. The second beauty I spotted was a gorgeous silk front-tie shirt. I can't wait to wear this one!

3. Last but not least, my favorite of the lot, was this floral hunk of awesome with the classy pearl button at the top. I swooned over this, and once I sew it up I'm sure you'll be seeing way too much of me in it.

From our thrifting experience, we learned a few things.

1. Katie and I are allergic to thrifting. Seriously. Whatever that devil detergent is that they use to wash all the clothes made Katie itch all over and my lungs close up and suffocate me to death.

2. Despite being allergic to the universe, we actually enjoyed it and can't wait to go again!

3. $7.50 for 3 shirts?! Get outta town..

We also got free yogurt cookie sandwiches from Yodipity this weekend. Because we're thrifty.

The strange thing is, I don't think we were the most excited about these sandwiches of deliciousness.

Like in a fairy tale;

I was marrying the prince, I just happened to be in love with the pauper.

So lately I've been spending my reading time with these books, The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking.

Synopsis: A young girl finds out that her whole life is a lie, and has to adjust to an entirely new way of living. Honestly, I can't say much about this book without giving away some of the surprises you receive when you're reading it.

What did I think of it?: I'm really not one to dislike books. I've only disliked one book in my life, and that was Everybody Poops, because obviously girls don't do those things. Duh. But every time I pick up a book, I'm moved by it in some way because you would assume that the book was published for a reason.. And though I enjoyed some of the lines and some of the story, I didn't feel very good about the ending. I felt like the book missed the point of what I thought it was about.

Rating: ★

So there ya have it. A pretty cover, with an ok story inside.

But could you blame me for not wanting to pass up a book for $0.99? :)

*Quote from Amanda Hocking's book, Torn.

Also, thanks to everyone who commented yesterday and supported me. Love you all!

A year ago today.

I came home from camping early in the morning, expecting my dad to be at work and ready for some much needed shut eye, since I'm the worst at camp-sleeping. I walk into the house to my dad passed out on the couch. Gently, I wake him up and ask if he had the day off for some holiday I didn't know of, and he says, "no, I didn't want to go."

Tears in my eyes, I stormed to my room and slammed the door. I couldn't believe he was doing it again. He finally had his dream job, dream car, a completely new living room that we had just decorated, and he was throwing it all away again.

It took me some time to gather up the courage, but I knew there was no other way. I opened my door and walked determinedly down the hall. In the most confident voice I could muster, I said,

"If you don't stop drinking, I'm leaving and I'm not coming back. What you're doing to yourself makes me sick, and I am so disappointed in you. You can throw everything away, but I won't be a part of it."

Five minutes later, we were on our way to treatment.

A year later, I wake up at 4 AM to get ready for my day. I dress in a nice skirt and head to my dad's house. I'm a little late, which a year ago would have pissed my dad off to the point of taking everything away from me. Today, he laughs it off and buys me some chocolate milk at Circle K.

Jake meets us at the AA meeting, where my dad recieves his year chip. As he talks to the group about his experience, all my experiences from a year ago flood my memory.

Joyous. Scared. Alone. Sad. Happy. Angry.

I remember how scared I was the first night sleeping by myself in an empty house. How Jake stayed at my house almost every night to make sure I wasn't scared anymore. I remember sneaking my dad Pepsis because all they sold at the clinic were Cokes. I remember going to family therapy and not knowing how to tell the therapist how I felt in front of my dad. I remember crying, a lot.

Most of all, I remember my dad talking about his love for God. Somewhere in the place, it just clicked to him that he'll never be alone in this life when Heavenly Father is with him.

I'm so grateful for all those that were there for me and my dad during that time and continue to be there for us! He deserves this more than anyone, and I'm so glad that I finally have my dad back.

Congratulations Daddy, I love you so much!

Cleaned up, clean cut, and clean shaved.

Aren't you glad I'm talking about Sirius?

Before.

After!

He's so proud of himself.

Sirius Black Lewis has been feeling sick lately, so we thought we'd treat him to some pampering to see if it made him feel any better.

Always works for me.

Tomorrow, he is off to the vet.

Wish us luck!

Kindle.

No, not the fire kind.

And no, not on the beach either.

But this is pretty much what I've been doing for the past few days.

I got my new glasses, which I will blog about later, but honestly I haven't felt like taking pictures.

I brought my ukulele and guitar home, but I haven't felt like learning any new songs, or recording them.

So I've been reading!

I went to Barnes & Noble with my grandma a couple days ago, and I realized that I really do judge books by their covers.. And I picked a couple books I wanted to read because their covers were so dang pretty!

So far, I really like this book:

I'm the kind of person that likes almost any book, and I'm not a book snob either. I don't only read what everyone else likes or just the classics, if it has a good story and decent writing, I'm all for it!

And it was only $0.99, so that helps.

When I finish it, I promise I'll write a review. I just felt like I needed to blog!

And I have nothing more interesting going on in my life.

Happy weekend!

Can I please?

Be as cute as Zooey Deschanel?

{via}

{via}

{via; horcrux?}

{via}

Let's just say, I can't wait to get my new glasses tomorrow!

For myself.

Sometimes, I just want to do something for myself.

This week was stressful, as usual, and all I wanted all week was something that I could do for myself without worry what anyone else wanted me to do or say. Hopefully, after I get used to working so much and taking care of my grandma, I'll have more energy to do more for myself, and the list will grow week to week!

1. I made dinner! I love cooking, and I'm pretty dang good if I do say so myself.

2. I kind of splurged, but when I heard that Wal-mart was selling these beauties, I just couldn't resist.

This is seriously the best nail polish ever ever ever. It dries so fast and stays on so pretty. Their selection of colors is amazing! Lapiz of luxury, coat azure, water melon, French affair... I just can't stop raving about them.

This is the watermelon color. I'm not very good at painting my nails, so don't make fun of me! I'm just so in love with this color, it's the perfect color for summer and hanging out by the pool.

You should get some on your nails, like now.

3.I guess boyfriend wanted to jump on the "doing something for Brittany" bandwagon, because he brought me a little present!

It's no Yodip, but it sure was delish! Yogurtland will suffice.

Now I'm off to play some more Mario Kart!

Can't wait to read about your weekends.

95 degrees.

Today I was driving in my car, and I looked at the dash to see that the temperature was 95 degrees.

I immediately got unreasonably excited, because it is the perfect weather to roll down the windows instead of using the air conditioning.

Only an Arizonan would think that way.

Being able to roll down the windows and let the wind blow through my hair is just one of those things that keeps me happy in these stressful weeks.

Along with:

Taking grandma to lunch, and making healthy choices.

...and not so healthy choices. Unless you count being healthy for my soul. Which I do.

Stacks of books for me to delve into every night.

Pwning in Mario Kart. Yes, I said pwn.

This face.

And this face reading The Hunger Games!

He was kind of mad about me taking this picture. Through those glaring eyes, he said, "Don't take a picture of me just so you can make fun of how I don't read on your blog!"

I reassured him that I would not, however, say that. Just that I'm glad that he is finally reading one of the best book series of all time.

I'm crossing my fingers that he'll finish before the movie comes out in 2012. :)

I hope your weeks are going swimmingly!