Redirecting

I wasn't going to do it, I simply was not going to do it! This place, this love-affair-andy-and-brittney place was going to be my forever bloggy home. But alas. It wasn't meant to be. I close this chapter to open a new book--a new blog, actually. It promises to be more updated and interesting. It merges my life with my photography business and that makes me happy. It was time, dear friends... Time to get out of my rut....

So welcome to.... 

photo:britt

Tell me what you think and what paths you might like to see it go down. :)

Prayers and Love

... and my heart so filled with mixed emotion. Go to my photography blog to read about 

Addyson Grace, an Angel Going Home.

Distressed Painted Wall Shelf

Domestically Speaking is hosting the weekly Power of Paint Party today. I decided I better jump on the ban wagon for once since I do have a little painty project that I did recently and thought it was utterly fun and turned out cute, in my own humble opinion which has never claimed to be professional.

Let the record show that I am a vintage/antique/chic-y sort of freakazoid, which is entirely convenient due to the fact that it can be a very budget-friendly sort of decor style. I am also the type of person who cuts every corner she can find and uses what happens to be on hand, and sometimes that is a good thing while other times it is a bad thing. That's my disclaimer about why the following project is not created the way a professional would recommend and you may not want to do it the way I did it if you so happen to decide you're going to do such a project.

ALL THAT TO SAY:

BEHOLD THE BEFORE!

I am actually not exactly sure where I acquired this wall shelf. Probably for mere pennies on the dollar at Goodwill. My memory also fails as to what purpose I had in mind for this. My husband found it in my decor stash when he came home from Iraq and used it as a sort of make shift pistol display in his man cave. He dismantled it (he thought the metal piece with the stars was too cute-sie), pounded nails in various places for added support. When he no longer had a purpose for it, I nearly tossed it since it had seen its use and definitely showed it.

But then, I decided to hang on to it since Jimmy's room was taking on a sort of stars theme when I made him a crib set and incorporated some of Andy's old ACU's in it.

So, I went down to the basement, removed the hardware, found me a can of semi gloss wall paint, and a stiff, ratty paint brush and set to work.... (that sentence right there proves that I can't even try to claim to be a professional even if I wanted to!)

It took several coats (which is why it technically should have been primed), but that was ok. I had a work space set up in the basement so I could leave my project and take my time with it. The final finish was not necessarily something one would call smooth and sleek. It may have even been a little streaky. But that was all a part of my plan... 

After that final coat was dry, I pulled out my nifty little fine-grain sand paper and applied some elbow grease to get this result:

My heart has a tendency to go pitter patter over distressed wood.

Once I achieved the look I was going for, I reassembled the hardware and hung it up on the wall in Jimmy's room. 

Voila!

(Interesting tid bit: the "1" candle was the candle we used for Jimmy's birthday cake. It was also his daddy's first birthday cake candle. We will keep it for Jimmy's first child's first birthday... And that's what you call thinking waaaaay ahead.)

(train--$0.75 at a garage sale last summer. My heart skips a beat over wooden toys!)

So there you have it! My painting project for the year. My New Year's resolution is something along the lines of being a creative junkie / painting guru / crafty super mom / or something. 

Linking this to my homemaker heroes and virtual mentors :: 

Is It Really Odd?

Is it really odd that I absolutely adore the little evidences-of-himself my son leaves all over the house, even when I have just cleaned it? 

Is it really odd that I totally don't care that any drawer or cupboard within Jimmy's reach is not nor ever will be in perfect organized condition (not that the cupboards out of his reach are... ahem. I never claimed to be a perfect housekeeper!) and I kind of actually think it's cute?

Is it really odd that I--the one who used to think childrens' toys belong only in playrooms or nurseries--think his little car wash is absolutely adorable and goes quite nicely in the family/living/man cave room??

 Is it really odd that I purposefully leave his footwear on the rug just because it looks so stinking CUTE??

I do know that it is NOT really odd that I adore being his mommy....... Who wouldn't??

November Remembered

Migrating Geese

Puppy Love

Jimmy's Constant Companion

Thanksgiving Portraiture. (I didn't quite make it into the self-timed picture.) Epic.

Baby Sign Language

Today I am over at my photography blog talking about baby sign language.
I do not claim to be an expert, I just wanted to share my experience so far with Jimmy and encourage other parents to utilize this great avenue of communicating with their small children.
It is so fool proof, so easy, so fun to watch them learn, and waaaay tooooo cute.

.....Promise.
..........Cross my heart.
...............Pinky swear.

Go over and have a look and please tell me what you think!

Let's Talk Baby Talk!

Deer Hunting

So there we were... Gun season. Jimmy, who normally sleeps until about 9 am had everyone up and at 'em by 5. The hunters got ready, had coffee, gave Jimmy kisses and left. Jimmy went back to bed. Me? I had coffee, and more coffee and some more coffee. 

Two monster bucks down before 9am. It was profitable for the hunters. 

Jimmy and me? Well, we just snuggled and were lazy and stuff.

Love That Man

I love my husband.

I love spending time with him.

I love that his job allows us to be together a lot... usually.

I love that we don't get sick of each other.

I love that he loves having coffee with me.

I love our life together.

I love that if ever there was a perfect marriage, it's ours.

I love that he would much rather I ignore house work when he's around.

I love that he changes my facebook status every chance he gets to say cute things about me 

(it's embarrassing and endearing all at the same time).

I love that he loves our little boy.

I love the look in his eyes when he watches Jimmy accomplish something new.

I love the way they play together.

I love his random gestures of sweetness.

I love that he thinks I'm beautiful.

I love that he loves me.

I am so blessed. 

This post was originally composed in my head to explain how I love mornings like this... Calm, beautiful, quiet... The baby is still sleeping, the man is hunting. My phone is buzzing off the hook, as they say, with text messages about the 10-pointer my sister got... An eagle is soaring over the lake... The house is clean, my coffee brewed with pumpkin spices is tasty... So to preface my thoughts on such pleasantries due-to-the-man-being-gone this early morning, I was going to make sure everyone understood how I adore him. And then, I couldn't stop. And at the end of it, I am missing him... Here's to hoping he gets a 12-point monster or bigger. 

EDITED TO ADD: within 45 minutes of Hannah shooting her buck, Andy got himself a large 9-pointer. Not quite as big as Hannah's, but the rack was wider and if you're like me and have no idea what that has to do with coolness, just trust me. I think that makes it close to being almost as cool as Hannah's. Though, Hannah's still has his beat by approximately 10 inches in the scoring. If you don't know what that means, don't feel bad. I didn't either until recently. I just may put a photo up of the two of them later....

Thinking About It

My house smells like baking pumpkins and a dirty oven. Ahh... So cozy and Autumn-ish. But I think I am going to need to quit putting off cleaning that oven since I am really tired of setting off that darn fire alarm. The last of the six loads of laundry is in the process of being folded and making me feel virtuous and on top of things (although, if you think about it, SIX loads of laundry for a family of three attributes to a great supply of procrastination around these parts).

If we're being honest here (which clearly we are considering I just admitted my faults which include dirty, dirty ovens and Mount Washmore as they say--among a host of other things I didn't mention, but that would cost me all day and possibly an appointment with a therapist at the end of it), I would have to say that the thought does frequently cross my mind in what this blog is really all about. Is it just me, or does it flounder?

It flounders, don't even lie.

I happen to believe that the things we do should have a purpose to them. God created us with a purpose in mind, and it is up to us to live to the hilt what He wants us to be. And there I go preaching a sermon as a big fat hypocrite. But really, as in life we frequently wonder, what is our purpose? What are we here to do? How do we better the lives of our future generation? Thus I wonder about my blogging. Is there a purpose for it? If so, what? ...Should I keep it as a neglected online journal of-sorts, documenting the life and times of our little family? BOOORing. ...Should I use it for recipes, crafts, DIY projects? Um, me? the expert of NOTHING??? ...Should I give it up? Yep. I just asked that. I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW! What do you think?

You see, part of my hang-up with the whole thing is that I have changed so much in the last several years, as anyone who has known me for any length of time can attest to. That's what happens when truth meets grace and you know freedom. But what's more, I still am changing. The metamorphosis stage has been a long one for me. Therefore I'm uncertain with the outflow of my heart and mind. Folks, I'm still getting to know me.... And that's what happens when you don't know how to grab on to grace.

And then on the more practical side of things, somehow now that I'm a mom on top of being an aspiring photographer, homemaker (maybe I should put 'aspiring' in front of that word too. Haha.), and most of all wife, my free time for pleasantries such as blogging is so minimal. Nap times only last so long!

So this is me being real and candid with you. I'm not sure if blogging is supposed to be my thing. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't me, I wouldn't even follow my blog. I'm so open to suggestions. How do I set this blog apart from other blogs? What makes me unique? 

While you think about, it let me move on to lighter topics since I'm in the mood to be random (although, if you're anything like me you would have quit reading a few paragraphs ago since there's not even a photo in this post. Yet.)...

Guess what? JIMMY IS WALKING! Last Saturday he got up from a four hour nap and took a step. Within a couple hours, he was walking all the way across the living room. It was a grand feat, and I was tickled to death for a couple reasons....a.) I'm so happy for him.You can just see it in his eyes, he loves this new mode of transportation. b.) Andy and I had bet back rubs about this topic the weekend before--I said he would be walking by the end of that week, and Andy said he would be walking by the end of the next week.With mere hours left on the clock for my bet, I was sure I had lost. But my boy came through for me! Ha.

Veteran's Day was a special day. I'm so proud to be married to an American hero. Seriously. You have no idea. Said-hero took this girl out on the town that day. A day-long DATE with Mr. Sexy Handsome! Yessss! A pair of Vietnam vets at Applebee's apparently took a liking to us and paid our bill. How sweet is that?

Deer hunting gun season is nearly here. That means there will be lots of just Jimmy and me time... And some girl time with my sister in-law Anna and baby niece Kailyn... And perhaps some extra blogging time. I don't know. It will hopefully be fun and not too lonely.

With every bit of that said, me thinks it is time to wrap this up. I am pretty sure the batteries in the fire alarm need to be changed. It should have gone off long ago....

Our One Year-Old

11::11::11

I will never forget the day Andy left for Iraq. I was heartbroken. 

And then I saw all the heart-broken children around me, begging their daddies not to leave. It made my insides hurt.

SAYING GOODBYE

The day Andy came home I was beyond euphoric. 

And then I saw all the excited children. My heart melted. I was so happy for them. Their daddies made it home. Safe. And they threw their arms around their daddies' necks and kissed them and cried on their shoulders with joy. 

DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!

Today I remember our veterans. I'm grateful for them. I think of their families... their sweethearts, their children.

I also remember the fallen. I pray for their sweethearts and their children. My heart aches for them.

I don't forget. I will never forget.

Pinterested

Shortly after my discovery and addiction to Pinterest, I promptly told you about all of its awesomeness. The trap with Pinterest, however, is you could literally spend hours pinning all sorts of wonderful things and ideas to store away for a future time, but those ideas never come into fruition. 

 Sad. 

Because, then all those hours you spend on Pinterest end up being a waste. You have to take some of those ideas and do something with them! And yes, that probably means cutting into the time you spend on Pinterest. But that's a good thing. If you don't, the simple truth of the matter is pinterest is a bad idea for your life. 

I did something about it though.

 Pinned.

Created.
(and, out of the leftover yarn, the boy got a scarf out of the deal too.)