Back to Reality. Still Pursuing His Heart.

The truth is - yes, I'm back to reality. Back from an incredible few days of time spent on myself away from my normal everyday mommy/wife role, schedule, and commitments.  I've jumped back into a routine that sometimes, if not careful, can become overwhelming and way too busy to allow me to think about myself. 

The truth is - I needed last week. 

Every woman needs time like that. That time to get away from her responsibilities of everyday 24/7 mommy hood, her job, caring for others, making dinners, folding laundry, making sure that everything is done & just right. She needs that time to get dressed up, feel pretty, and have clothes on for more than 2 hours without fear that little dirty peanut buttery hands will stain her lovely dress. 

She needs to dress cute & feel pretty 3 times in a row. 

She needs that time to connect with like minded women. 

Build friendships.

Feel inspired.

Foster creativity. 

Be encouraged by the word of God. 

She needs time to pursue her goals in life. 

Not just her goals for her family, but the goals & dreams that her Lord has placed in her heart. She must learn to value that time to get away & continue to discover exactly who she is as a woman in Gods eyes.

Let me ask you. Influence attendee or not, woman to woman. 

Are you that woman who needs that time? 

Do you know your hearts desires?

Have you asked the Lord to share his dreams for your life lately? 

If not, I encourage you to grab a journal. Sit down & open your life & heart to the Lord on a regularly basis.

Maybe that time isn't going to a conference maybe it looks different. Perhaps its heading to Starbucks at 6 am twice a week to sit & talk with Jesus. Maybe its grabbing a sitter a few times a month so you can shut the door to your room & you can write out what is on your heart.

It might be setting aside a day/night every 3 months to grab a hotel room with some friends & talk about your dreams & goals in life. Time to reflect together if the direction God has for you, is what your heart is in pursuit of today.

Be encouraged and know this:
God loves you and that God is for you! (Psalm 56:9)
The Lord wants to be in a relationship with you. He wants to share his plans for your life with you. Plans that are amazing & incredible. Dreams that only he can give to your heart. Dreams that will seem totally out of your reach on your own (and they are) but with him he designs them with you in mind and places them at your fingertips. Begin to dream with the Lord & ask him to show you the plans for your life. (Psalm 20:4, Proverbs 16:3-9, Matthew 6:31-35)

I love that God gives me dreams, purpose, and a vision for my life. I'm thankful that as a woman who has a family & commitments that I still pursue God's other dreams for my life, aside from the ones he has already given me which are the ones that I hold the closest to my heart. Yes, I am back to my beautiful reality of life with my sweet family. It is an ugly mess of reality sometimes but it is truly wonderful.  

Yesterday Noah & I spent the day in the backyard playing in the leaves & mud with trucks. Noah ran around like crazy playing his version of baseball. He is precious.

Life is back to normal. Johnny is playing his guitar while I'm cooking, we are writing out the words that God places in our hearts, & putting them to melodies as Noah dances around us. Toys are strung across the house. The floors need to be swept & mopped. Life is busy.

Still God is speaking to my heart. Still I am pursing his dreams for my life. 
Happy Tuesday Friends. 
~Brit

Oh, Lets Get Real

I just thought it is best to be honest & confess about what my hair really looks like in the mornings. In all its glory. So if I go to sleep with damp hair I look like this (below) in the morning. My hair is in between curly & straight. I've got waves upon waves that just frizz out like crazy. My sister got the naturally perfect curls (like my dad). Me not so much. I can make it curly withs lots of product, but because I'm too cheap to buy all that stuff instead I go with the Lazy Hair Fix all. Rollers. Yep, when I'm too lazy to straighten my hair I always default to Rollers. 

Oh, yes sweet friends (& those of you stumbling across by chance) this is what goes down on most mornings in the Fall. The Fall because I can roll outta bed at 8:15, plug in rollers, have hair up by 8:40, take down by 8:45 & be at Mothers Day Out by 9.

 Just getting real. 

Plus in the Fall my hair will stay curled for 2 days. Meaning I don't have to brush it, straighten it, or wash it for 2 days. Its great. Don't act like you don't do that too. Unless you have really short hair, it is a process to wash. We both know we aren't washing it every day.

Noah ALWAYS gets a hoot out of my rollers. 

He loves Grammy the most with rollers in her hair. Ha! 

So of course we had to makes some funny faces. Oh I just love kissing his little self! So after only 10 minutes I can take those suckers out of my hair and have.... 

the lazy brittany hair style, add some biosilk & ta-da controlled curls & no frizz.  

This is my confession for this week. Do you have one you would like to make? I'd love to hear it! 

~Brit

Linking up with

Dancing in the Rain (Literally)

Noah really enjoying himself 

Dancing in the rain with my baby boy!

Monday evening we had such a beautiful rain. The kind that is heavy but quiet at the same time. The sun was shining & the rain was perfect. It was 6:30 pm and I was quickly trying to send a few emails & get ready for Java after Jammie's (coffee with sweet ladies from my church). Noah was really wanting to go outside.

 It was raining... but we decided to let him play...

and we are so glad we did. Noah had a blast! It was so fun watching him dance in the rain. Johnny & I were laughing so hard & I'm sure we had smiles plastered across our faces. I got my hair kinda wet & frizzy but it was all good. I still made it to Java after Jammies & had such a fun time there, like always. I'm so thankful to have opportunities to just stop & enjoy being a mommy and really live in Noah's world. Everything is so new to him. It is wonderful watching his reactions to feeling the rain on his tongue, getting his clothes soaked, and dancing freely. Moms make sure you are enjoying your babies, even if that means you have to get uncomfortable or alter your schedule. 

It is worth it! 

One more thing before I go... 

this morning I was watching The Today Show, which is rare because I prefer Good Morning America (they seem nicer, ha) & this guy started to sing. I shazamed it on my Iphone & now I love this song! Have you heard it? I posted it on instagram last night & a friend told me he won American Idol.  I had no clue.

Happy Wednesday!

~Brit

The Mom & the Word

The life of a mom can sometimes be overwhelming for many reasons. Reasons that I'm pretty sure we all know & understand as a mommy. I've made the choice to be a stay-at-home mommy, which on most days I love, however there are those days that I seriously re-think my decision. The first year of Noah's life I was in school full time & then for 3 months did an intensive internship while in school to graduate, so I understand what its like to be a working mommy too & the challenges that presents. 

But being a stay at home mom means 

very limited "me & Jesus time".

One thing I have learned as a stay-at-home mommy is that I've GOT to read God's word every single day. If I don't my everyday life begins to get way too chaotic. My son's disobedience is enough to make me go nuts, by the 3rd trip over the puppy I'm barking at her, I snap at my husband for silly things, I'm not a good friend, making dinner seems like a horrible chore, coffee becomes a drug instead of a treat, if blueberries end up on the living room floor one more time I might scream, getting to church on Wednesday night is a workout, and by the end of the week I lose sight of being Gods hands & feet because instead I'm just a grumpy mommy trying to make it to the weekend so her husband can join the fun! Just being honest. I say all of that to say this get into the word because the workout that life can feel like is probably a result of not spending time with the Lord. At least for me, this is always the result.

I've been having a lot of friends ask me how do I find 10 minutes to read a book or the Bible, let alone scripture journal or spend time with God. So let me share what this looks like for me... 

By 10 am on most days I prop my Bible & journal out on the counter with my drink of choice (coffee or tea) and jump straight in usually while Noah watches Curious George or plays choo choos. Most likely I'll be interrupted 30 times & the word waits patiently for my return while I care for my little one. 

 Often I'm outside sitting on a step while Noah becomes a sandy mess while I scripture doodle ....

I participate in She Reads Truth Bible Study with many other women. You should join us here!

Sometimes Noah is creating his own masterpiece while his mommy gets lost in a few scriptures.

Yes, sometimes I get distracted by reading & doodling to find my 2 year eating a breakfast bar that he has dropped on the ground outside. Guess what? He's always fine.

and yes often he is covered in mud....

or has sand on every inch of his little self... 

but thats why I'm so thankful for clean running water inside our home! We can play really hard & get totally dirty & then get all clean. Its great!

How do you find time to read the word

 & spend time with God?

~Brit

Last Night

There was this moment last night that completely made my week. Made everything seem lovely & perfect. Everything that seemed chaotic, out of place, or sad even - all suddenly perfect.

I'll tell you about that moment in just a minute. 
First, let me share this. 

This week was just so out of the norm. I felt miserable (better now) with the whole tooth ordeal. Didn't do much of anything, literally. If you know me, you know this drives me insane. (I'm a busy bee & always need creative outlets) Lately I've really been missing my mom & family. Johnny had an opportunity to do the worship for a church event the last 3 nights in a town about an hour away so he's been busy. My mom, sister, niece & nephew were here for a few days & I love having them here. Really miss them. But they had to leave after church yesterday. My heart is always so sad after they leave but I'm so thankful they came. Honestly, I don't think living far away will ever be easy. 

It has been such a mix of really bad & really good this week. If that makes sense. It has just been different. One of those weeks that just really makes you stop & think about all kinds of things in life. Such as where you've come from, where you're going, and what you are doing now. Perhaps I'm the only one who has these moments. I appreciate them & think it is important to have them. It keeps your life in line, your heart in the right place, and you in motion. 

The moment.
As I went to lay Noah down on the couch in the sitting room (he fell asleep while we were watching the Olympics) on the way back up from laying him down, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It was interesting. I had this moment where pure gratitude & disbelief came over me as I saw my reflection. Seriously. I just felt kinda in awe that life has been so wonderful to me. Regardless of how weird & off the week was life is so good. God is good. For real, I mean I'm standing in a room that is devoted to sitting, reading, relaxing, & listening to music & I'm laying my sweet baby on the couch to nap. Love the little things in life that make you realize the bigger things God is doing. 

What are you thankful for today?

Happy Monday. 
~Brit

Pictures can be Misleading

Today I was planning to share some fun pictures from my week & not really write much but as I started to do that I thought to myself, um not so much, because the pictures would totally be misleading in regards to how my week actually played out.  Here is why, the pictures posted would only show the really fun & good times from my week instead of telling the story behind them. 

This week has been the hardest week I've ever had as a stay-at-home mommy. Seriously! This week Noah has not played with his toys, really at all. Usually his days are filled with playing cars, choo choos, airplanes, and the soccer ball. This week, nothing interested him. Also, he would not take a nap until after 4 pm every day making it a very long day for the both of us. Plus, this week was probably the most I've ever had to put him in time out. Time outs now have turned from sitting in the chair in his room for 2 minutes into him screaming & crying for 10-30 minutes in his room. He just loses it anytime he hears, "time out" to the point that he needs to throw a long drawn out fit in his room. Noah has been testing how far he can push before he gets into trouble, fun times. Adding to all of this, Johnny was pretty busy all week so we really haven't seen too much of one another, making it a very long week at home with Noah. In the evenings, I've had a lot of commitments & things going on. With all that said, this week was seriously exhausting. 

Don't get me wrong there have been some really great moments this week with Noah that dont include whining, crying, fits, and time outs. Plus this week was filled with lots of hanging out with friends. Not to mention, I totally went all Pinterest mommy over here & actually made a ton of stuff from my toddler board. I made 7 activity bags filled with things for Noah to do. I'll have to take a picture & share them next week. They really came in handy this week with Noah not wanting to play with toys. Last week we tried out painting with water colors & this week we did a whole lot more of that. Its been fun sharing art with him. 

Anyhoo, so instead of just posting all of the fun times from this week I decided to go ahead & share the not so fun stuff with you as well. Here's to hoping that next week is way better & that this weekend is great!

Happy Weekend Friends!

~Brit

Pas un Bon Jour

Pas un Bon Jour

Translating, yesterday...

was not a good day. 

Noah woke up a bit earlier than usual & in a funky mood which was quickly putting me in a bad mood. I decided to combat that by getting us both dressed & outta the house by 9 am. Grabbed Noah a doughnut, my coffee, & headed to where else? Target! Of course.

 I returned these shoes...

for these.

same clearance price & cuter. not gonna lie, this lady needed a new pair of shoes. sandals more than anything. although, I am positive you will still catch me wearing the old ones. sorry babe, who really dislikes my sandal choices. 

After exchanging the shoes, I wandered around Target for way too long somehow resisting the urge to buy things I didn't need.

 (Thats an accomplishment in itself.) 

Then this is when the day really started to go down hill.Fast. 

On the way home Noah had such a big melt down about wanting to go to the church to see daddy. Normally, I would have gladly gone but I knew that Johnny was busy & I didn't want to interrupt. Oh my, his little attitude was out of control for a bit. All of the sudden we were home, eating lunch, & in a bad mood by 11:30. 

I love my sweet little boy so very much, but yesterday I literally had to keep making the choice to not get frustrated. to stay calm as he continued to be defiant & in a crummy mood. I had to continue to remember that as the mommy, I set the tone for the day, not my son. This is always the most difficult thing for me to remember during a rough day. 

I set the tone. 

I choose joy. 

Honestly, I failed to remember this yesterday 

& let most of the day get by being kinda crummy.

Nap time rolled around & Noah wasn't having it. I'm usually not that sleepy, but of course today I was out of it. So the puppy & I snuggled up for a nap while Noah wandered around the living room. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but it just kept happening. whoops!

After a few more tantrums & time outs Noah crawled up in my lap a little after 4 pm & passed out.

 Goodness. 

Long day.

 Late nap.

Wish I could say that we had a fun filled day with lots of fun activities & whatnot, but it just wasn't one of those days.

5 pm rolled around & all I gotta say is that I'm thankful for a husband who understands that some days life as a stay at home mommy is hard. Glad he is so good to me. I think he knew it was going to be a rough day because he was sweet to bring me a caramel light frap before leaving for work at 8 am yesterday morning. 

Plus every Monday night Johnny is so sweet to watch our little boy so I can go fellowship with other women. Last night my not so good day ended nicely with me escaping from the house to visit with some sweet ladies at Panera Bread for Java after Jammies. I ALWAYS look forward to every Monday night to visit with friends. 

How do you make a crummy day better? 

What gets you through?

~Brit

Sharing My Heart, Now Share Yours.

Love making silly faces in the mirror with my little boy.  

I adore snuggling up with Noah during his nap time. 

I loved family time while washing the cars. 

I love sharing Jesus with him through coloring. 

I loved dancing around the house to Frank Sinatra all morning yesterday.

I am one blessed momma. 

Noah is one blessed child. 

But if we were sitting across the table from each other this morning enjoying a cup of coffee I would share with you that my heart is broken. I would share that last week while in Haiti my heart grew in so many ways through the love of the Lord. 

One of those ways is for the children who are missing out. Missing out on parents who adore them, get to spend time with them, share with them how much Jesus loves them, affirm them that they are wonderful & precious, and to simply make silly faces in the mirror together. My heart is broken for all children, not just those in Haiti, but those within the states & locally as well. My heart does break for the sweet children in Haiti that I personally was blessed to spend time with them last week. My heart today is heavy for the moms who do not invest joy, happiness, love, kindness, gentleness, fun, and the LOVE of the Lord with their children every single day. My heart is heavy for the errors I've made as a mom with Noah. Not showing him how to be patient sometimes when the silly stresses of every day get in my way or when I make the choice to get frustrated instead of show grace when I've said "no" 5 times in a row. 

Today I would share with you that I'm thankful to have a broken heart. To be broken hearted is good, because brokenness brings change. My heart more than anything has grown for the moms who are not loving their children the way the Lord calls mothers to love. My heart has grown for the mom who just need to be encouraged here & there that she is doing a wonderful job as a mother.

Moms enjoy your babies today. Encourage other moms to love their babies the way the Lord calls us to. 

~Brit

Today I've enjoyed linking up with 

Rags to Stitches Blog & The Wiegands 

Meet my Sister!

Today I am excited to introduce my sister, Jen, to you! She has the sweetest little family & I'm very thankful for her! 

Hi there friends of The Happy Times, my name is Jen and I ramble to a handful of friends and family over at honestly every so often. I have been married to my sweet husband for 5 and half years. We have a 2.5 year old little girl named Abbey and an almost 8 month old baby boy named Tucker. I spend my days taking care of the little people and learning of my need for Jesus more and more. 

I'm also Brittany’s older sister so it’s extra fun that she’s asked me to be a guest blogger while on their mission trip to Haiti. Plus, “guest blogger” feels pretty fancy for someone that doesn’t necessarily consider themselves a “blogger”. 

I’ll be honest; I never really gave much thought to how I’d be at domestic things as a wife. I think I just assumed I’d be pretty decent at it. Over the past five years of marriage I have learned many, many things about myself and one of them is that I’m probably not as concerned about things being neat and tidy as I always thought I was. A few months ago I was visiting my parents for a few days when I began to realize just how many things I do differently than my mother around the house. Maybe it's a personality thing, maybe it's generational or maybe I'm just lazy :)

• I do not separate laundry. This came up when my mom was folding laundry and made sure to reassure me that she did in fact wash the underwear and the towels she was folding in 2 separate loads. You know, so I wouldn't freak out over the thought of the two mixing in the wash. Um, I don't separate underwear and bath towels. In fact, the only sorting of laundry I do at all is to ensure that clothing and underwear are not mixed with any kitchen towels. Occasionally if I am washing a bright colored item for the first time I will be careful with what I throw in along with it.
• I stack towels on the floor while I fold them. Evidently this is quite controversial. I don't have a laundry room or any other place to stack clothes while folding. Plus, I like to use it as down time to watch t.v....so the floor works. 
• I use sponges and not dishrags to clean dishes. I know, sponges trap germs but dishrags get gross so fast and I can't be washing 4 loads a week! I microwave the sponges and switch them out often. Nonetheless, I know this fact makes my mother cringe. 
• 99% of the time I vacuum my hard surface floors instead of sweeping them.  It's just easier.
• There is no such thing as non-dishwasher safe kitchenware. Now, if we are to ever obtain kitchenware of any real value I am sure I will change this. Right now, everything we have is super cheap and I can't say I'm too worried about the damage my dishwasher may be doing to it.
• I put almost all my "dry clean/hand wash" only clothes in the washing machine. Does this really need an explanation? 
• I make my bed about 3x a week not every day.  This has definitely been one of things that has come as a result of having children. I used to make my bed every morning. It only takes a couple of minutes after all. Now, I typically don't wake up until I absolutely have to and have just enough time to visit the bathroom and brush my teeth before going to rescue my kids from their rooms. 

So there it is. My confession of laziness. Feel free to bring your disinfectant and clean towels when you come to visit if it makes you feel better :)

But, just so you don’t you get the idea that I'm all carefree and laid back about everyday things, I will confess to a few things that I kind of obsess over.

• Dirty dishes in the sink. This makes me CRAZY. The dishwasher in our house has been broken since we moved in a few months ago and we have no plans of getting it fixed any time soon. SO, I wash dishes all.day.long. I absolutely cannot stand to wake up to dirty dishes in the sink. It stresses me out. I wish I could let this go.
• The shower curtain should be closed at all times. Really, it doesn’t need to be open so the shower can dry or to hang a towel over the rod to dry. Just close the shower curtain. I do not want to look at the inside of the tub. 
• On that note, I have to rinse the shower out before I can get in it. This really just means I run the water a little before hand and move the nozzle around so I can make sure the tub is cleaned out before I get in.
• Toys. Oh toys, how I wish we could make it through life without you but you do serve a purpose unfortunately. It really bothers me when the toys are all mixed up with parts that don’t go together. We have bins for the toys that live in our living room. I can’t handle seeing puzzle pieces mixed in with baby doll accessories. It just isn’t right.

So there you go. 

Anyone else feel like sharing their non-mom approved habits? Or the little things that you just can’t stop obsessing over?

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A Little Change

 I wanted to share this fun post originally posted on March 2, 2012 on my former blog. Currently we are crazy busy getting ready to leave for Haiti TODAY!


My Day in Pictures

Love my little Noah 

My mom & i went to this wonderful vintage shop down the road. This place was incredible. The entire place was a cross between west elm, pier one, and world market. It was pretty great. WAY out of my price range, but a wonderful place to dream & get inspiration. 

This kid cracks me up. ALL week he’s been sitting like this.

Today my parents had automatic blinds installed into the top 3 windows in their living room (their ceilings are crazy high) to easily block out some sunshine during the day. Noah was so excited but very scared at the same time.

He is so precious, he continually tries to explain that the man came with a ladder & put them up saying, “man ladder cool”.

Today I got my hair cut….

I had 7 inches cut off! Craziness. I was in desperate need for a hair cut. I enjoyed it being long & a little darker, but was ready for a little change. Since we’ve moved I have been unable to find anyone that I really like, so I waited & waited to get it done until I finally just got it done where we use to live.

time to sleep, good night.

~brit