Girl's night.

Can I just say that I missed these girls way too much? These are who I like to call my music best friends, the girls I spend every day (and sometimes night) with during the school year. They are amazing, crazy, funny, weird, and we are perfect for each other. I was so happy when I got a text from Amber asking if I was free for a girl's night, and I immediately replied heck-to-the-yeah I am! We went to dinner and came back to Amber's to gossip and make cookies, and by make cookies I mean eat all the cookie dough and get salmonella...what?

We took approximately 47 pictures of us laughing and doing all sorts of nonsense, so I sorted through them to find you the most attractive of the bunch. Whenever I see that last picture of myself I think "he has crazy eyes." If you haven't watched Kid History on Youtube yet, go immediately and come back and tell me how awesome you have become. But seriously guys, this was much needed for a married lassie such as myself, and I recommend a healthy dose of girl's night to all you fellow matrons out there!

Also, did I mention I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my lovely Laurenface's wedding? How cute are these?!

Instalovely.

I haven't really been taking many pictures lately. I went three whole days without taking one picture...and that's a lot for someone as addicted to Instagram as I am. I found this week that I wanted to take pictures of light, girly, lovely things as opposed to anything else. So that's what I looked for when taking pictures throughout my day. Girl power!

1. Ever since we got back from Legoland I've been looking for this...and no not the grapes, although they were a delicious nutritious snack. Maybe I'll do a series for little Lego Harry's adventures...who knows?

2. A bouquet that one of my kids made for me at work, they're so talented.

3. Kendall blowing me kisses across the table on our date night.

4. I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with my mousse. Does anyone have a kind that they like that leaves your curls luscious and delicious? I don't know about you, but that's what I want in a mousse..

5 & 6. Why did it take so long for us to get mason jars in our lives? I am appalled at myself.

7. Decorating with decorations from our wedding is such a good reminder of why we love each other.

8. Well played, fortune cookie, well played.

My friends planned a girl's night tonight, and I'm flippin excited to say the least! I'm definitely in need of girl time, even if it means husband is going to see The Dark Knight Rises tonight without me. Oh, the sacrifices we make...

Follow me on Instagram: Brittanylewwhoo

Blended.

It's safe to say that Kendall and I are obsessed with our blender. Every few weeks we go down to Superstition Ranch Market to buy fresh fruits and veggies so that every morning we can make a new kind of smoothie to delight our taste buds. Usually they turn out green because Kendall thinks spinach will make me healthier, but sometimes I'm able to convince him to make my smoothie an acceptable color, like today. 

Today, my smoothie was pink.

Brittany & Kendall's Raspberry Lemonade Smoothie

2 cups lemonade

2 1/2 cups ice

1/2 pint raspberries

3 drops natural vanilla extract

First, blend together lemonade and ice. I used Simply Lemonade because it is the closest to freshly squeezed lemonade as you are going to get...besides freshly squeezed lemonade...which you could do too...moving on. Then blend in raspberries and vanilla (if you want a sweeter flavor). We like ours pretty lemony, so if you want yours more raspberry-y, add another half pint of raspberries. Pour into mason jars, add straws, and viola! Delicious, natural raspberry lemonade!

Smoothies, to me, are a good way to be healthy without actually committing to being healthy. I still feel like I'm cheating and having a treat, even though I'm really having fresh fruits and water. Win win!

What are some of your favorite healthy recipes?

In which Arizona is bipolar.

Saturday, I was so happy to have the opportunity to spend the day with my best friend, Ms. Katie. Being married, it's hard to find time to do the things you used to do back in singular times, but luckily my husband understood my need and allowed me a pass this time. Katie happened to be house-sitting this weekend, so we spent the day lounging in the pool and tanning our hearts away. Then three things happened in very quick succession.

First, I'm tanning and minding my own business, when these ominous clouds roll in, threatening my radiant sun to be snubbed out. 

Second, I turn to my left and say, "there's a dust storm coming in." Katie, preoccupied with more important things (ahem, more tanning), says calmly "yeah, they said that on the news." "No really, there's a dust storm coming, and it's going to be here in 2 seconds." We made a mad rush for the protection of the house and stood at the door watching as the dust enveloped the entire backyard.

Third, it poured. And I mean, a huge bucket of water was released from the sky. Katie and I grabbed our DPs and parked our tushes on the patio outside to watch the downpour.

I'm not going to lie, this definitely did not ruin our day, but it made our day that much more enjoyable. 

Arizona is crazy, but where else can you tan all day, then be covered in dust and rain within minutes?

The Dark Night.

Last night, as my best friend and I headed toward the theater to see the movie event of the summer, I planned out everything perfectly. Kendall had waited for this movie for months, and while he sat in line for us I surprised him with a Batman t-shirt and Chipotle for dinner. We sat in line and in the theater, watching people walk by in costume, one eerily dressed as Bane, all the while excited for what we knew would be an epic fiction adventure.

But for some people last night, the horror became a reality, as fiction became a real life nightmare before their eyes.

At first, I had everything planned out. Take pictures of Kendall and I at the theater, take pictures of Katie and I, take a picture of the ticket stub, blog epic movie fun, the end. But life has a strange way of turning itself around on you. The man I mentioned before, dressed as Bane, gave me a sick feeling in my stomach, and all through the movie I was irrationally worried that something bad, a Bane-like nightmare, might happen in the theater. Little did I know that hours away that was truly unfolding.

The mass murder in Aurora, Colorado has been on my mind all day. I can't seem to shake the sorrow I feel for all the families and community members affected by this tragedy. This has been the largest mass murder in the history of our country, and I would feel awful if I didn't do all I could to help. All I can do now is pray, pray, pray. All I can do is hope that people look at this tragedy, the message it sent, and know to continue to believe in what is right and what the Batman movies stand for.

This was truly a dark night in our history, and like the Batman, America will rise.

Small factoid.

FACT. I've been looking a lot like this lately.

Hair in buns, ponytails, braids, glasses galore, and no makeup. Basically, this week I haven't really wanted to show my face anywhere. Why, you ask? I think I'm superwoman and can take on any task that anyone throws me. Go to work? Sure! Feed the dogs twice a day for a week? Sure! Type up two journals by Thursday? Sure! Go running every night? Double sure! Get bit 8 times by ants, which you happened to be allergic to, and puff up like a balloon? You betcha.

Oh, and it doesn't stop there. Tonight, Kendall and I have tickets to go see the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises with Katie and her man Isaac. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited as heck, and this movie is going to be off the heezy fo sheezy (I heard that cool kids say things like that), but it's TWO HOURS AND FORTY FOUR MINUTES long. And you know what time we have to get up for work in the morning? SEVEN. If you did the math right, we're only getting about 4 hours of sleep tonight. Awesome.

But seriously, The Dark Knight is going to be awesome and you should be jealous that I'm going to go see it.

The end.

Back to school, back to school.

By the end of the summer, I usually start itching to get back into school. Mostly because I like shopping, any form of shopping, even if it's just for school books and writing utensils. Another thing about being married...it's like you're double shopping. Not only do I get new school stuff for myself, I also get new school stuff for Kendall. 

So this weekend, we're out getting printer cartridges filled and using up our OfficeMax coupons, and I turn to Kendall and I say, "hey, let's get you a laptop!" First of all, if you're in college, a laptop is a necessity. Second of all, sharing is only kind of caring, until you're done caring and you want your laptop all to yourself. 

Anyways, ever since we bought Kendall a laptop (like two days ago), I'm suddenly obsessed with getting a new laptop. Mine is about 4 years old, which is basically a dinosaur in computer years, and I think I deserve an upgrade for my senior year of college. These are a few I've been looking into, basically based on price and cuteness, which probably isn't the best way to decide on a laptop. I'm asking you adorable computer savvy bloggers to help me out with this one.

1. HP

Ooooo, ahhhhh!

So this is the same laptop as Kendall. We like to be a matchy matchy couple, and I seriously fell in love with it as I stared at his smiling face exploring it's undiscovered lands. But, do I really want the exact same one as my husband? In the exact same color? Hm.

2. Sony Vaio

This is probably my favorite of all the ones I've been looking at.. It's adorable, and looks like diamonds. I heard once that diamond laptops are a girl's best friend.

3. And of course, Macbook Pro.

This is a little out of my price range.. but if I sell my other laptop and save up I can definitely do it. I'm a little scared about having to learn how to use a Mac, but everyone tells me they're so much better than windows computers. But it's expensive. And really expensive.

See my dilemma? Input? Go!

Instalife lately.

Lazy post time!

So I haven't done one of these in, uh, forever; therefore, I have way too many Instagram pictures to post. Whatever shall I do?! Oh yeah, pick my favorites. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

OVERLOAD.

1. After getting back from California, we were tired and our poor little feetsies hurt. This is how we lay on the couch and give each other foot rubs. Also, I didn't even have to ask him for it. Win!

2. Bow in my hair, thanks to my good friend Kelly!

3. Kendall's family had a party and we crafted cute little scripture bookmarks. A couple people asked to copy my colors -- sage green and blush.

4. Our spontaneous date night to go see The Amazing Spiderman. UM. Please tell me you've seen it. And if you have not, don't come back until you have! (Ok, I'm being a little dramatic, but it's seriously one of the best superhero movies of all time. Ever. Ever ever ever.)

5. Monsoon season means dancing in the rain with my handsome husband.

6. ...and also not dancing in the rain because I did my hair that day.

7. My friend Kayla let me, Kendall, and the kiddos we work with into Sea Life Arizona for the day. I held a starfish. We found Nemo and Dory. It was righteous, dude.

8. Family Home Evening at Zoyo. Seriously, loving this place. If I didn't feel bad enough cheating on Yodipity as it was, I also gave Zoyo my old Yodipity punch card so I could get more punches at Zoyo.. yikes.

9. Have you been to Superstition Ranch Market in East Mesa? I don't know why anyone would shop anywhere else. We got three bunches of bananas for 15 cents. FIFTEEN.

10. Healthy happy dance! Me and Kendall have been motivating each other like no other, and that's one of the best parts of being married. He's my partner in everything and my biggest fan.

Now that you're eyes are bleeding from reading about my awesome life, feel free to follow me on Instagram: Brittanylewwhoo. See ya there!

The days of the week.

Hey hey hey!

So, we just got back from a huge adventure up in San Clemente, California. Ok, we didn't just get back.. We've been back like a week. But I'm a blog slacker and we all know that. And my camera wouldn't charge while we were there so all of my pictures are on my phone, and I honestly didn't feel like I had time in my busy schedule (ahem, watching 4 hours of Dateline yesterday) to send each picture one-by-one to my e-mail. Today is the lucky day that I finally got off my bloggin lazy butt and decided to write a post about it so I can get on with my life. Our adventure begins on a Sunday, when we left with the family we work with for a week long vacation in beautiful California.

Sunday - We left hot hot Mesa for beautiful, sunshiney San Clemente. We arrived and headed straight for the beach to watch the sunset and play a little bit, but the beach was sucky and rocky. We made a mental note not to go back there for our beach day.

Monday - We went to Legoland! Which was so awesome for the kiddos. Best part? Guessing how much time it took the Lego nerds to build those things out of Legos. Seriously, who has time to put together a structure out of 5 million Legos? I'd like to meet him.

Tuesday - This was my favorite day, because me and Kendall got the night off to do whatever we wanted. We headed down to Laguna Beach for a date night.

Wednesday - Happy Fourth! I'm definitely glad we decided not to go to San Diego. Even though the San Clemente pier did catch on fire, it was nothing compared to the excitement of the 5 second firework show there!

Thursday - The kids we work with are obsessed with science, so this day was dedicated to the Discovery Science Center. I'm not gonna lie, the science center was awfully close to Disneyland. And I mean awful. As much as I loved nerding out, my heart was romping through the temple of doom with Indy just a few miles away..

Friday - Beach day! Oh how I love thee, Oceanside!

And that was our week, well, last week! I adore the family I work for and I'm so glad we got to go with them on all these fun trips! Now, just to convince them to take us to Disneyland next time.. ;)