Alright girlies! Ever have those days when you get up earlier than normal and you just feel like getting ready extra special that day? And you finish getting ready and you know you look good? Your hair is perfect (why can't we get it to look like that when we really need it to?!), you've done your makeup beautifully, and you have the cutest outfit on, and you feel like a million bucks! Then after all this effort, you have absolutely nowhere to go and no plans, so it all seems for nothing! Bleh! That was my day today! I must say, I was pretty pleased walking out of my house this morning! A song comes to mind... "I feel pretty..." ha ha! At least I had school today, but there's not many people (er..uh..boys) to impress there though. And then I had work! Woo Hoo! Yay for 16 year old courtesy clerks! LOL!
Anyway, I just thought I'd share that frustration with all you females! I KNOW you understand what I'm talking about!! Do boys ever have these kind of days? Hmmm...
My beautiful and wonderful family!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sweet Sorena
Sorena (soon to be) Casto
My cousin Ricky is getting married this week! Exciting stuff! His fiance's name is Sorena and she is such a great girl! She is super sweet and loves to have a good time! She absolutely adores Ricky and it is so cute to watch those two interact with each other! They are so funny! Last weekend we had Sorena's bridal shower and it was lots of fun! She was so cute with all the gifts she got, but I think we were all dying laughing when she opened her last present. My aunt Paula had a present wrapped beautifully for her and when Sorena opened it, this is what she found...
A hard hat complete with headphones, and a face shield! We were all cracking up because if you know Ricky, you know that he is just a little ball of energy and hyper activity! So the gift was meant as a way for Sorena to "de-Rickytize" whenever she needs to. We all got a good laugh from it!
Sorena decided to try it out when Ricky got home that night! Silly kids!
We love Sorena! She is so awesome and we are way excited to have her as part of our family!
My cousin Ricky is getting married this week! Exciting stuff! His fiance's name is Sorena and she is such a great girl! She is super sweet and loves to have a good time! She absolutely adores Ricky and it is so cute to watch those two interact with each other! They are so funny! Last weekend we had Sorena's bridal shower and it was lots of fun! She was so cute with all the gifts she got, but I think we were all dying laughing when she opened her last present. My aunt Paula had a present wrapped beautifully for her and when Sorena opened it, this is what she found...
A hard hat complete with headphones, and a face shield! We were all cracking up because if you know Ricky, you know that he is just a little ball of energy and hyper activity! So the gift was meant as a way for Sorena to "de-Rickytize" whenever she needs to. We all got a good laugh from it!
Sorena decided to try it out when Ricky got home that night! Silly kids!
We love Sorena! She is so awesome and we are way excited to have her as part of our family!
A Special Dedication
This last Thursday something pretty cool happened! My Grandpa Chapman, who passed away Oct. 2007, was honored by the school that he worked for. They were going to dedicate a tree to him and there was going to be a special program that the whole student body was going to be there for. My grandma, who is a librarian at the school, asked my dad and my uncle to say a tribute about him. I was excited about this. I was so close to my grandpa and I just thought it was so neat that his school was doing this for him.
There was also another tree to be dedicated which was for a boy that had gone to their school just a couple years before, went in to the Marines, and had died in Iraq just a few months ago. They had asked one of his teachers and his brother, who is also in the armed forces, to say some words in his behalf as well.
The program was laid out well. There was a choir who sang an old song, "The Embraceable You", and then my dad got up first. My dad is an excellent public speaker and can pretty much pull anything out off the cuff which I think is so awesome! Anyway, he talked about the man that my grandpa was and that he served as an example to everyone he came in contact with. It was a really neat tribute, very heartfelt and completely how I felt about him. Then my uncle got up and shared some funny memories he had about my grandpa.
After they were done, the choir sang another song called, "A Song For Unsung Heroes". Then the tribute for the boy at their school who had died, Juan, was given. His teacher said some neat things about him, but then his brother got up to say some things and he couldn't think of anything to say. He tried to say some things but nothing was coming to his mind and he just said that he really didn't know him that well and then invited one of his brother's friends to come up and say some words about him. I was so saddened by that. It shocked me that he didn't have anything to say about his brother. As I started thinking about that I started thinking about if I were put in that situation, would I be able to say some things about my brother? I know I would be able to. I know each of my brothers really well, we are so close to each other. I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with each one of them! I can never imagine not having that close of a bond with them!
The more I thought about it the more I also began to realize how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life! I could tell that Juan's brother was having not only a hard time in finding the right words to say, but also in finding peace. The tribute given to my grandpa and the one given for Juan were completely different in nature. The one for my Grandpa was uplifting and full of happiness with the memories we had of him, and that the kids at the school had of him. I couldn't really say the same of the other. It was just full of sorrow, and it was hard to listen to. I am so grateful for the blessing that the gospel is! It is a huge source of comfort to me and I am so grateful for the happiness that it brings into our lives. It's wonderful!
My uncle and my Dad right before they spoke
The plaque in front of the tree
All of us by Grandpa's tree
There was also another tree to be dedicated which was for a boy that had gone to their school just a couple years before, went in to the Marines, and had died in Iraq just a few months ago. They had asked one of his teachers and his brother, who is also in the armed forces, to say some words in his behalf as well.
The program was laid out well. There was a choir who sang an old song, "The Embraceable You", and then my dad got up first. My dad is an excellent public speaker and can pretty much pull anything out off the cuff which I think is so awesome! Anyway, he talked about the man that my grandpa was and that he served as an example to everyone he came in contact with. It was a really neat tribute, very heartfelt and completely how I felt about him. Then my uncle got up and shared some funny memories he had about my grandpa.
After they were done, the choir sang another song called, "A Song For Unsung Heroes". Then the tribute for the boy at their school who had died, Juan, was given. His teacher said some neat things about him, but then his brother got up to say some things and he couldn't think of anything to say. He tried to say some things but nothing was coming to his mind and he just said that he really didn't know him that well and then invited one of his brother's friends to come up and say some words about him. I was so saddened by that. It shocked me that he didn't have anything to say about his brother. As I started thinking about that I started thinking about if I were put in that situation, would I be able to say some things about my brother? I know I would be able to. I know each of my brothers really well, we are so close to each other. I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with each one of them! I can never imagine not having that close of a bond with them!
The more I thought about it the more I also began to realize how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life! I could tell that Juan's brother was having not only a hard time in finding the right words to say, but also in finding peace. The tribute given to my grandpa and the one given for Juan were completely different in nature. The one for my Grandpa was uplifting and full of happiness with the memories we had of him, and that the kids at the school had of him. I couldn't really say the same of the other. It was just full of sorrow, and it was hard to listen to. I am so grateful for the blessing that the gospel is! It is a huge source of comfort to me and I am so grateful for the happiness that it brings into our lives. It's wonderful!
My uncle and my Dad right before they spoke
The plaque in front of the tree
All of us by Grandpa's tree
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Elder Chapman's Birthday!!
Josh had a birthday last week too! He is now 21! What the junk?! I seriously feel so old! I'm really not, but it just seems weird that two of my younger brothers are getting to the same point in life as I am. Kinda weird actually!
My family actually sang happy birthday for Josh at breakfast the morning of his birthday! It was kinda funny and to be honest I was half asleep and had no idea what in the heck we were doing until I was half-way into the birthday song and had to think about who in the world we were singing to! Ha Ha! What a goof! Anyway, we love and miss him but he is doing so fabulous and I am just so happy for him and the things he is accomplishing right now! He was just called to be zone leader which has really kept him hopping but he is loving every second of it!
Josh is such an incredible example to me! I can't believe he has already been gone a year and a half! Time has flown but it has definitely been slow at times too! I miss my best friend, my "big" brother, and just having him around period! But I know the day will soon come when he is home and I can enjoy him all the time! I can't wait! The only thing I have to say is that he better not get married too fast! I will have none of that happening until I have my fill of him first! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER CHAPMAN!!
My family actually sang happy birthday for Josh at breakfast the morning of his birthday! It was kinda funny and to be honest I was half asleep and had no idea what in the heck we were doing until I was half-way into the birthday song and had to think about who in the world we were singing to! Ha Ha! What a goof! Anyway, we love and miss him but he is doing so fabulous and I am just so happy for him and the things he is accomplishing right now! He was just called to be zone leader which has really kept him hopping but he is loving every second of it!
Josh is such an incredible example to me! I can't believe he has already been gone a year and a half! Time has flown but it has definitely been slow at times too! I miss my best friend, my "big" brother, and just having him around period! But I know the day will soon come when he is home and I can enjoy him all the time! I can't wait! The only thing I have to say is that he better not get married too fast! I will have none of that happening until I have my fill of him first! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER CHAPMAN!!
Benny's Birthday!
Ben turned 18 last week! Crazy huh?! I can hardly believe it! He is graduating in a few months! We made the observation that Preston is now the only one in our family who is not an adult and that he will be the only child left in public school starting next school year! That was weird!
I wanted to do something for Ben so I took him out for lunch when he got out of school and then we went to the mall and got him a couple shirts! It was way fun! I just love Benny! You know you are always in for a good time when you're with him!
Later that night we had a big party with the fam (of course! When do we not make an excuse to have a party with the fam?!) and had a ton of fun! Happy Happy Birthday Benito!! You are so loved!
Of course there was a ton of food! Do you know us? P.S. I made those things on the oven! They are called jalapeno poppers! Oh man they are yummy!
Benny getting ready to blow out ALL the candles!
Me and my sweet cousin Bailey! Oh I love this girl!
Here's Benny and Mal! We had a fire going that night and Ben was making up goofy songs with his guitar! They were hilarious! Oh fun times!
I wanted to do something for Ben so I took him out for lunch when he got out of school and then we went to the mall and got him a couple shirts! It was way fun! I just love Benny! You know you are always in for a good time when you're with him!
Later that night we had a big party with the fam (of course! When do we not make an excuse to have a party with the fam?!) and had a ton of fun! Happy Happy Birthday Benito!! You are so loved!
Of course there was a ton of food! Do you know us? P.S. I made those things on the oven! They are called jalapeno poppers! Oh man they are yummy!
Benny getting ready to blow out ALL the candles!
Me and my sweet cousin Bailey! Oh I love this girl!
Here's Benny and Mal! We had a fire going that night and Ben was making up goofy songs with his guitar! They were hilarious! Oh fun times!
Did I Mention...
So have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE jazz choir?!?! I believe that whoever knows me, knows I love jazz choir!! It has become the love of my life! It was funny, tonight I was going through some pictures with my mom and we found this one and I thought, "WOW! I really am getting into that!" Nothing could be more true! I love that choir so much! I believe that this picture is of me doing an awesome crazy high, very fun solo. We sang "Lady Madonna" and it is by far my favorite one we have performed so far! Anyway, just in case I never told you....I LOVE JAZZ CHOIR!!! :)
Me singin a solo at "Jazz Night"
Me singin a solo at "Jazz Night"
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
New Years Eve!
More family time!! I had to pass up some parties to be with the fam, but believe me, that was where I wanted to be! We always have New Year's Eve at my Aunt Paula's house which is always a blast! We all like to have a good time! I forgot to mention in my last blog that Ben bought our family a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) for Christmas! We love that thing! It is so much fun! Anyway, we took it to Paula's house for the party and you should have seen us being crazy on that thing! Aunt Paula, Uncle Rick and my dad got on it with all of us kids too! So much fun!
Dad and Mal Pal dancin' it up!
Ben and Paula and Rick "Movin' It!"
We were definitely having a great time! We also played Quelf!! YAY! Oh so fun! My aunt Paula and Uncle Rick had never played it before so it was fun to get to do it with them for the first time! They were so funny! Somehow Paula got out of doing a lot of the crazy stuff, but that's ok! We'll get her next time! Mwah hahahaha! :)
Holding hands with the person you were sharing a space with on the board.
Doing the splits as low as you can go! Uncle Rick was pretty sore after this!
Doing a ballet dance for 30 seconds! Go Grandma!!
We played this up until midnight when of course we had the countdown, popped confetti everywhere, and drank sparkling cider and grape juice! It was fun!
Mal with her blowhorns! She even made up a little song for us with all three of those things! Ha ha! Silly Mal!
Cass and Me drinking our "mixers" Yummy!
Drinkin that sparkling grape juice!
Hugs all around for the new year!
Popping confetti and blowing the horns! Oh we love fun!
After that we finished up our Quelf game and then we hit the road! We were dead tired! So fun though! We had a great time together!
Dad and Mal Pal dancin' it up!
Ben and Paula and Rick "Movin' It!"
We were definitely having a great time! We also played Quelf!! YAY! Oh so fun! My aunt Paula and Uncle Rick had never played it before so it was fun to get to do it with them for the first time! They were so funny! Somehow Paula got out of doing a lot of the crazy stuff, but that's ok! We'll get her next time! Mwah hahahaha! :)
Holding hands with the person you were sharing a space with on the board.
Doing the splits as low as you can go! Uncle Rick was pretty sore after this!
Doing a ballet dance for 30 seconds! Go Grandma!!
We played this up until midnight when of course we had the countdown, popped confetti everywhere, and drank sparkling cider and grape juice! It was fun!
Mal with her blowhorns! She even made up a little song for us with all three of those things! Ha ha! Silly Mal!
Cass and Me drinking our "mixers" Yummy!
Drinkin that sparkling grape juice!
Hugs all around for the new year!
Popping confetti and blowing the horns! Oh we love fun!
After that we finished up our Quelf game and then we hit the road! We were dead tired! So fun though! We had a great time together!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Christmas!
Christmas was wonderful this year! I probably say that every year, but it is so true! I really had some wonderful memories with my family!
Our family has a tradition every year to make something for one of our family members. I had Josh this year and I made him a book full of letters from people that he was close to and that have been influenced by him. It was a pretty neat thing to put together! I was amazed with all the letters that came in and how much influence my brother has had on so many people! We always open the presents on Christmas Eve, and my whole family agrees that after that night we could just do away with the rest of Christmas because of the spirit that we feel from doing that one simple thing for each other. One of the cool things that happened that night was that Josh sent a package home and sent Preston his gift which was a DVD. "A Day In The Life of Elder Chapman." It was amazing! We got to see Josh and it was so neat to watch him in his mission element!
Then we got our traditional Christmas Eve gift! PAJAMAS!!!
We had my Grandma Chapman staying with us that night and she read my brothers and I a Christmas story before we went to bed. I loved it! We love our Grandma and how she always makes us feel so special and we have created some amazing memories with her! Well Christmas Eve was no exception!
The boys and I stayed in Ben's room and we had lots of fun! The boys tried to get me into a video game but I am no good at them so they finally gave up and we watched "ELF" which I had never seen before. We finally got to bed at about 2:30 in the morning! Then our grandma woke us up at about 5:45. She couldn't contain her excitement either! We took our showers and woke up mom and dad. Then we lined up down the stairs. That's another tradition we have is that we all go into the family room together. No one peeks!
We had fun! My big gift this year was a digital camera! I was so excited! I haven't had a camera that worked for quite awhile now and i was so excited to get one! Plus it was hot pink! How could I not love it?! The boys got some gaming chairs that have speakers in them and a vibrator and lots of cool stuff. They were having fun with those all morning.
After we opened our Santa gifts, we got the best Christmas present ever! We got to talk to Josh!! It was so happy! I was so excited to just hear his voice! He told us that he felt like it was getting harder and harder to get off the phone with us every time he was able to call, but we were just so happy to be able to talk to him for the 45 minutes we had. He was shocked by how much Preston has grown up. He almost didn't recognize who it was talking on the phone. Preston is taller than all of us now except for Josh probably but when Josh left a year and a half ago he was still little, shorter than me! Then of course his voice has gotten lower and he is just maturing alot more too! Crazy crazy! It was awesome to talk to Josh though! He just lights everything up and we were all just so happy to talk to him!
Then we opened up all our gifts from mom and dad and then we got ready for the whole family to come over to our house for a HUGE Christmas feast and more opening presents! I love when my family comes over! It is always so much fun to hang out with them and be crazy and loud and fun! My favorite thing ever! It's just so awesome!
One of the neat things that happened that night was that right before everyone left my grandma had us all gather in the family room and she talked about some special gifts that she was going to give us that were form her and from grandpa. She had a beautiful bag for each of us and she opened hers first. It was a teddy bear that had been made from one of my grandpa's shirts. It was so special! Each one of us had a bear made for us that was sewn out of a shirt that we had each picked out as our favorite that grandpa had worn. We had done this right after he had passed away and it was so special to have something like that to remember him by. Each one even had a little pocket in front with a pocket notepad and a pen, which was my grandpa's trademark! He never went anywhere without that stuff! My grandma also gave us a picture of the two of them. It was a really special moment for our family that I will not soon forget!
We had a full day! It was so awesome to be with family and friends though! I just loved every second of it! Nothing compares to being with family!
Our family has a tradition every year to make something for one of our family members. I had Josh this year and I made him a book full of letters from people that he was close to and that have been influenced by him. It was a pretty neat thing to put together! I was amazed with all the letters that came in and how much influence my brother has had on so many people! We always open the presents on Christmas Eve, and my whole family agrees that after that night we could just do away with the rest of Christmas because of the spirit that we feel from doing that one simple thing for each other. One of the cool things that happened that night was that Josh sent a package home and sent Preston his gift which was a DVD. "A Day In The Life of Elder Chapman." It was amazing! We got to see Josh and it was so neat to watch him in his mission element!
Then we got our traditional Christmas Eve gift! PAJAMAS!!!
We had my Grandma Chapman staying with us that night and she read my brothers and I a Christmas story before we went to bed. I loved it! We love our Grandma and how she always makes us feel so special and we have created some amazing memories with her! Well Christmas Eve was no exception!
The boys and I stayed in Ben's room and we had lots of fun! The boys tried to get me into a video game but I am no good at them so they finally gave up and we watched "ELF" which I had never seen before. We finally got to bed at about 2:30 in the morning! Then our grandma woke us up at about 5:45. She couldn't contain her excitement either! We took our showers and woke up mom and dad. Then we lined up down the stairs. That's another tradition we have is that we all go into the family room together. No one peeks!
We had fun! My big gift this year was a digital camera! I was so excited! I haven't had a camera that worked for quite awhile now and i was so excited to get one! Plus it was hot pink! How could I not love it?! The boys got some gaming chairs that have speakers in them and a vibrator and lots of cool stuff. They were having fun with those all morning.
After we opened our Santa gifts, we got the best Christmas present ever! We got to talk to Josh!! It was so happy! I was so excited to just hear his voice! He told us that he felt like it was getting harder and harder to get off the phone with us every time he was able to call, but we were just so happy to be able to talk to him for the 45 minutes we had. He was shocked by how much Preston has grown up. He almost didn't recognize who it was talking on the phone. Preston is taller than all of us now except for Josh probably but when Josh left a year and a half ago he was still little, shorter than me! Then of course his voice has gotten lower and he is just maturing alot more too! Crazy crazy! It was awesome to talk to Josh though! He just lights everything up and we were all just so happy to talk to him!
Then we opened up all our gifts from mom and dad and then we got ready for the whole family to come over to our house for a HUGE Christmas feast and more opening presents! I love when my family comes over! It is always so much fun to hang out with them and be crazy and loud and fun! My favorite thing ever! It's just so awesome!
One of the neat things that happened that night was that right before everyone left my grandma had us all gather in the family room and she talked about some special gifts that she was going to give us that were form her and from grandpa. She had a beautiful bag for each of us and she opened hers first. It was a teddy bear that had been made from one of my grandpa's shirts. It was so special! Each one of us had a bear made for us that was sewn out of a shirt that we had each picked out as our favorite that grandpa had worn. We had done this right after he had passed away and it was so special to have something like that to remember him by. Each one even had a little pocket in front with a pocket notepad and a pen, which was my grandpa's trademark! He never went anywhere without that stuff! My grandma also gave us a picture of the two of them. It was a really special moment for our family that I will not soon forget!
We had a full day! It was so awesome to be with family and friends though! I just loved every second of it! Nothing compares to being with family!
Catch up time!!!
WOW! I haven't written in quite awhile! Life has definitely been busy and I haven't had lots of time to devote to writing a blog post for awhile, but I'm excited to catch up a little bit! Well, the first big thing I remember happening since I last wrote was that my family went to DISNEYLAND!! So much fun! We spent a couple days there and we also spent a day at Sea World which was a lot of fun too! I really enjoyed both parks!
Here we are on Main Street at Disneyland!
I got to touch this dolphin! So awesome!
My favorite part of the day though would have to be when we got to touch the Bat and Manta Rays! I seriously could have stayed there for hours!
No matter how cool Disneyland and Sea World were though, I will never forget the experience we had as a family at the San Diego temple. It was absolutely gorgeous inside and the experience we had there was equally as beautiful and special! What a neat blessing and opportunity to go there all together!
Then that following Monday when I got home we had our first choir concert which was a blast!
My lovely Vocal Jazz Group! The Denton Dozen (Plus 4) :)
Oh Yeah! Ben got to sing the national anthem with his choir for the Diamondbacks Game! They did so so good!
Preston and I watchin' the game together!
Ben on the big screen singing his heart out!! (He's the one on the very end on the right side)
We went to Ben's amazing Madrigal Feast where he played the main role!! He did a fantastic job!
Preston had an incredible band concert! One of the best I've ever been to! He is only in middle school and his teacher is phenomenal! I loved watching Preston play! You could tell he loved the music they were doing and he was just having a lot of fun up there!
I had a Christmas concert where I got to sing a solo! It was so exciting! It was one of those solos that you always dream of getting and I got it! I was thrilled!
We moved into a new house in the middle of the crazy holiday season, so the first thing we had to do was, of course, put up our Christmas tree!
Things were a little crazy and hectic towards the end of the semester! There was definitely a lot going on but all of it was so good! I ended up with 3 B's and all the rest A's for my final grades in my classes and I was ecstatic about that! It was a very trying semester in the school department but with ALOT of hard work it all turned out wonderful! I am so glad!
Looking back on all these fun things I've been apart of this last semester has really made me realize how much I am blessed with an incredible family and I am so grateful that we are so close and that we love to support each other in the things that we do. I love my family soooo much! They are just my favorite people in the whole world!
Here we are on Main Street at Disneyland!
I got to touch this dolphin! So awesome!
My favorite part of the day though would have to be when we got to touch the Bat and Manta Rays! I seriously could have stayed there for hours!
No matter how cool Disneyland and Sea World were though, I will never forget the experience we had as a family at the San Diego temple. It was absolutely gorgeous inside and the experience we had there was equally as beautiful and special! What a neat blessing and opportunity to go there all together!
Then that following Monday when I got home we had our first choir concert which was a blast!
My lovely Vocal Jazz Group! The Denton Dozen (Plus 4) :)
Oh Yeah! Ben got to sing the national anthem with his choir for the Diamondbacks Game! They did so so good!
Preston and I watchin' the game together!
Ben on the big screen singing his heart out!! (He's the one on the very end on the right side)
We went to Ben's amazing Madrigal Feast where he played the main role!! He did a fantastic job!
Preston had an incredible band concert! One of the best I've ever been to! He is only in middle school and his teacher is phenomenal! I loved watching Preston play! You could tell he loved the music they were doing and he was just having a lot of fun up there!
I had a Christmas concert where I got to sing a solo! It was so exciting! It was one of those solos that you always dream of getting and I got it! I was thrilled!
We moved into a new house in the middle of the crazy holiday season, so the first thing we had to do was, of course, put up our Christmas tree!
Things were a little crazy and hectic towards the end of the semester! There was definitely a lot going on but all of it was so good! I ended up with 3 B's and all the rest A's for my final grades in my classes and I was ecstatic about that! It was a very trying semester in the school department but with ALOT of hard work it all turned out wonderful! I am so glad!
Looking back on all these fun things I've been apart of this last semester has really made me realize how much I am blessed with an incredible family and I am so grateful that we are so close and that we love to support each other in the things that we do. I love my family soooo much! They are just my favorite people in the whole world!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Kids...gotta love 'em!
Well, school has been a lot more intense than I had originally thought it would be. It's actually been a little stressful, and I'm definitely not complaining (it's good to be challenged!), but work has become a type of sanctuary from the rest of my crazy life. I actually look forward to being there and having fun with all the little kids that come in! I have one little girl who is there every single day i work except for Saturdays. Her name is Cassandra. She is 5 years old and she is so much fun! She LOVES to make me laugh! Her favorite thing to say to me is, "Brittney, you are such a laugher!" It makes me laugh even more. She is very extroverted and so she automatically assumes that other children should be just as friendly as she is. We'll have some really shy kids come in and she has a hard time with them not wanting to talk or play with her, so she'll come and ask me what to do about it. So I'll usually make a suggestion of playing a game or playing "tea party" to help them start playing together. It usually works and Cassandra always wins them over in the end. It is fun to be around her! Her favorite game is "Cooties". Did you know there was such a game? Well the condensed version of how to play is that you build bugs. She loves it and we have to play it every time she comes in. I always make mine with a tongue that sticks out. After we're done building them I try and make the bug "lick" her. She thinks that is the silliest thing and she just laughs and laughs so hard. Another thing she likes to do is see if she can scare me. She'll try and be sneaky and come up behind me and say "BOO!" But most of the time I'll turn around and scare her before she gets the chance and she'll get these really wide eyes and start laughing hysterically. I love it! She is just a bundle of fun! Her Grandpa (who is grumpy a lot of the time) came to get her right as we were laughing about something and he started laughing too. I had never seen him do that before!! He told me, "You are having just as much fun as she is aren't you?" I told him I most definitely was and he just nodded his head and said, "I like that!" It was funny that that made me so happy but I really was having so much fun with her!
A little boy came in to the cub house and his mom told him that he needed to watch out for his younger sister who was also coming in. He is probably 4 years old and his sister is 2. So anyway, he walks into the Cub House and he is so excited. He can't even get the words out of his mouth because he is stuttering so much. Can I just say adorable?! I'm sorry but I think that stuttering is so cute, I can't help it! He wanted to do the project so we sat and did it together while his sister colored a picture. Now, the project that day was "Edible Dirt" so every kid that came in was excited to make it. So I got him a bag with two graham crackers, and a couple of oreos. Then I got him a roller (more like a thing to use for hammering!) to break up the cookies to look like dirt. He loved it! He was goin' at it like no other. Then he told me that he needed to do his sister's for her because she told him she wanted him to (ummm...OK, seeming how she hasn't even talked to you the entire time she's been in here, but OK...), so he did hers too. After they smash up the "dirt" they get to stick in a couple gummy worms. He was just so excited about it he asked me if he could make his mom and dad one too. I just laughed and told him we needed to save some for all the other little kids that were going to come in later. He looked so sad when I told him that, so what do I do? I give in!! Who in their right mind could make a little kid sad like that? :) Anyway, so he did two more and then he wanted to start in on grandma and grandpa's dirt too. I finally had to draw the line, but it was so fun to see him get so excited about something so simple. That is the coolest thing about kids! They like the little things. I think that the most popular toy in the cub house is the birthday cakes. They are these little plastic cakes that have holes in the top for candles. That is the first thing to be pulled off the shelf, they just love it, even amidst all the really cool toys we have in there, they just want to play with the birthday cakes.
I love being with those kids! They teach me new things all the time. They teach me how to be silly and have fun, they teach me patience and understanding, and they teach me that sometimes less is more, the simple things are the best things. I just love being with them! They are all my little buddies and I love them to pieces!
A little boy came in to the cub house and his mom told him that he needed to watch out for his younger sister who was also coming in. He is probably 4 years old and his sister is 2. So anyway, he walks into the Cub House and he is so excited. He can't even get the words out of his mouth because he is stuttering so much. Can I just say adorable?! I'm sorry but I think that stuttering is so cute, I can't help it! He wanted to do the project so we sat and did it together while his sister colored a picture. Now, the project that day was "Edible Dirt" so every kid that came in was excited to make it. So I got him a bag with two graham crackers, and a couple of oreos. Then I got him a roller (more like a thing to use for hammering!) to break up the cookies to look like dirt. He loved it! He was goin' at it like no other. Then he told me that he needed to do his sister's for her because she told him she wanted him to (ummm...OK, seeming how she hasn't even talked to you the entire time she's been in here, but OK...), so he did hers too. After they smash up the "dirt" they get to stick in a couple gummy worms. He was just so excited about it he asked me if he could make his mom and dad one too. I just laughed and told him we needed to save some for all the other little kids that were going to come in later. He looked so sad when I told him that, so what do I do? I give in!! Who in their right mind could make a little kid sad like that? :) Anyway, so he did two more and then he wanted to start in on grandma and grandpa's dirt too. I finally had to draw the line, but it was so fun to see him get so excited about something so simple. That is the coolest thing about kids! They like the little things. I think that the most popular toy in the cub house is the birthday cakes. They are these little plastic cakes that have holes in the top for candles. That is the first thing to be pulled off the shelf, they just love it, even amidst all the really cool toys we have in there, they just want to play with the birthday cakes.
I love being with those kids! They teach me new things all the time. They teach me how to be silly and have fun, they teach me patience and understanding, and they teach me that sometimes less is more, the simple things are the best things. I just love being with them! They are all my little buddies and I love them to pieces!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sustaining
Yesterday I got a phone call just as I was going out to lunch with some girls in my jazz choir. It was a guy from my ward, Sam. He is the ward mission leader. I have gotten to know Sam a little bit and he just a really super neat guy. Very happy all the time, and he is very intelligent so it's fun to talk to him about things. Anyway, he called me and asked me if I was the visiting teaching supervisor for a girl in our ward who just got baptized. I was and so he asked me if I could help find a couple girls who might be able to go to a new member discussion that evening at the church, since she can't be alone with the missionaries. I told him I would so I got home from school with about 20 minutes to spare before I had to head to work. I started calling all the girls in my visiting teaching group and none could go, so I was trying to think of anyone and everyone I knew in my ward who could possibly go. I left lots of messages and told them to call me and let me know if they were available. I had to get back to Sam soon if things weren't working out, but I was determined to figure it out. I got a call from one girl saying she could go, and then a text from another girl. I was so happy that things were coming together for the discussion that night. I called Sam and left a message on his voicemail telling him not to worry and that I had it all worked out. He almost instantly called me back. I answered the phone and he just said, "Brittney you are my hero!" I just kind of laughed because I was just doing my calling and trying to help him out but he appreciated it so much. He just kept thanking me and then I told him that I would be more than willing to help him out anytime he needed something. For some reason that impressed him. But the thing that I got from this experience was the importance of sustaining others in their callings. We all need each other, that is for sure, but I haven't ever really recognized me helping others out as "sustaining" them. It was just kind of a cool realization for me. This is an incredible work that I am apart of and I am just happy to do anything it requires of me, because in all reality I'm getting more from it than I am ever really giving.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
An AMAZING birthday!
WOW! Talk about fun! This birthday was definitely one to remember! I'm now 22 years old! Holy Cow! It seems so weird to think I am that old! And looking back on things that have happened in these last few years since high school I have realized that I have done a lot! I have experienced many things and I am so excited to experience even more!
Anyway, my birthday was last week on the 3rd. The night before that I was a little sad I must admit. No, not with pre-birthday "oh-my-goodness-I'm-getting-old" blues, but I was just a little sad because I hadn't heard from Josh. I really wasn't expecting anything from him (he's on a mission for heaven's sake!) but I was still just missing him like crazy and wanted to hear from him. So I went to bed that night and my wonderful sleep was soon interrupted by a phone call at midnight! What in the world?! So I got up, rather groggily, and I saw that it was a number I didn't recognize. Hmmm...should I just ignore this call? Well I answered it and the conversation went something like this:
"Hello?"
"HI! HOW ARE YOU?!" It was a guy!
"Uh...I'm fine...how are you?"
"I'm great! Is this Brittney Chapman?" At this point I could hear a very heavy French accent...
"Yeeesss...Who in the world is this?"
"This is Elder Cheung!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?!"
Lots of laughing..."Yeah!" Now an important thing to know is that Elder Cheung was a "mini-mission" companion to Josh. He was only with him for about two weeks. He is a convert of about a year and a half and he lives in France.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe this!"
More laughing..."Well Brittney I have a message for you. I just left Josh today from being on my mini-mission with him and he made me promise him that this would be the first thing I did when I got home. He was very adamant about it. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you and that he feels really bad because he wanted to send you something but he knew it would never get there in time because the mail system is so slow here in France. He said to tell you that he hopes you have a wonderful birthday."
I was in complete shock! WOW! For Josh to even think of having him call me was so thoughtful! I couldn't even believe he had Elder Cheung do that! I just kept telling him thank you over and over. We had a great discussion about some of the things he had experienced while he was with Josh, and while we were talking he said, "Brittney, your brother is the man!! He is amazing!" I told him I knew that. I said, "I don't know if Josh has talked to you about his relationship with me but we are pretty tight and he has always been someone I've looked up to. He is amazing!" He told me about a girl that was baptized just that Sunday before, that Josh had baptized her and that everything he said was absolutely perfect and that everything went the best it could have possibly gone. He just kept telling me how wonderful Josh had been. It just made me so happy to be able to talk to him and to feel of the excitement he had. It was so neat! What an amazing way to start my birthday huh?! I was set! I felt like I was on top of the world and I was just so happy! My birthday was already perfect as far as I was concerned! I was so excited I ran into my parent's bedroom after the phone call and told my mom all about it! Of course she was way excited too! It was just awesome!
Then at 6 in the morning I woke up and had breakfast with my family, scrambled eggs with bacon in them, and English muffins! Yummy! Then I opened presents which was fun!
As I was walking out to my car later that morning to go to school I saw my car and wow! My friend Jillene had painted all my windows! It was so fun! It said things like "What a Babe!" "Honk I'm 22!" "Happy Birthday!" And then I had a "frame" painted on the driver's side of the windshield. It was so cute and how special was I?!
Then I got to the school and somehow everyone knew it was my birthday! Holy cow! Everyone was coming up to me and wishing me happy birthday and giving me hugs and making me feel so special! It was so neat! We started jazz choir that day so I went to that and we had a blast in there! Right before class I decided to treat myself and buy a "Naked" juice. Oh my! I love those things! Way too addicting! Anyway, so I went and got one of those, and was talking to everyone in the room before class started and one of my friends started to walk into the classroom. I was so excited to see him I yelled hi to him before he walked in and he smiled at me and kind of motioned with his finger for me to go outside with him. He was hiding something behind his back and he pulled me behind the door (which was open by the way). He said "Happy Birthday Brittney" and then he pulled these gorgeous flowers out from behind his back! What?! This doesn't happen to me! How sweet is he?! I couldn't believe he was giving me flowers! WOW! I just kind of half screamed half gasped in shock and just wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug and just kept saying thank you and that I appreciated it so much! He just kind of laughed at me and said "You're welcome" and we walked into class together. As I walked in I realized that everyone's eyes were glued to the door. Remember that the door was open? Well they pretty much heard everything I said and at least saw half the "action" I was giving him behind the door. I almost just started busting up laughing when everyone just looked at us like something was up. Ha Ha! Believe me! It was nothing! This guy was actually my husband in a play I did this summer and we had just grown to have a really neat friendship. Anyway, for some reason during class I was just on this super big high and I was just a crack-up if I do say so myself! I was just plain goofy! Even more so than normal, but it was fun! We had a great time in there and everyone sang me happy birthday. I just felt so special! Then I came home and my mom asked what I was doing the rest of the day. I didn't have plans til that evening so she asked if I wanted to go get a pedicure for my birthday. FUNNESS! My mom got me the deluxe package which came with amazing bonuses during the pedicure. It was amazing! We had 4 different massages on our legs! We had a salt scrub, a mask (it smelled like chocolate!), then they put massage oil on our legs and used hot rocks (oh my gosh! That was one of the greatest things ever!), and then they rubbed in lotion too! I definitely felt pampered! Then of course they did my toenails and painted on this amazing flower design with glittery stuff. They were just so cute! Then I also got a manicure! I can't even remember the last time I painted my nails! So that was a fun treat too! We had a great time together! Another fun part about it was that my mom had never gotten one before so it was a first time experience for her so it was great to be with her for that!
After that I had to hurry home and get dressed up. I was going to dinner with one of my best friends that night. Cassi! She wanted to take me out so we got all cute and dressed up really nice and I told her I wanted to go somewhere I'd never been before so she was going to surprise me. We went to "My Big Fat Greek Restaurant"! It was AMAZING! WOW! They had these huge tumblers that our lemonades came out in and then we had an appetizer. Greek Fries! Can I just tell you that it was a completely new taste experience for me! It had this sauce on top of it that we figured out was vinegar and a melted sharp goat cheese. It had garlic and fresh oregano and feta cheese on it too. Really good! Then I ordered the "Award Winning Greek Platter" which was slivered Gyro (roast lamb) with lemon pepper potatoes, fresh squash, pita bread, and a sauce for the lamb to be dipped in. It was amazing! There was so much food though! I hardly put a dent in it! Cassi got Mousaka (if you've seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' you'll definitely remember the line "Moose Caca?!" Yeah, it's the same stuff!) It was layers of eggplant, zucchini, a spicy meat, and sauce with a hugely thick piece of cheese melted on top. She liked hers as well! We were both so full that we were dying but our waiter came and brought us two completely new silverware rolls. He said, "You are going to need these. I'm bringing you out a special treat!" I looked at Cass and she just put up her hands in surrender and said, "I promise I didn't tell them it was your birthday!" Anyway, he brought out Baklava. Oh baklava, how I love thee! It was seriously one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had in my life! It was like 27 layers of philo dough with layers of hazelnut, chopped almonds, honey, and cinnamon in between. It was all melted together atop a platter drizzled with honey in this criss cross pattern, with two dollops of whipped cream on either side of the platter containing a mint leaf for garnish. It was so elegant looking! WOW! Anyway, it tasted just as amazing as it looked! We were both in heaven! It was AMAZING! Then we came back to my house and we both fell asleep on my couch waiting for our friend Jason to come over to my house after he got off work at 11:30. Once he got here we talked for about 45 minutes and then we all decided we were too dead to be awake any longer, besides the fact it was a school night!
All in all it was an amazing birthday! I had the greatest time with my family and friends! I also have to say that my family and I had celebrated my birthday early since there was a holiday weekend, and we went out to eat and went to the movies so that was a lot of fun! And then we also had a big family party on Saturday night! It was so much fun! I really enjoyed being with everyone! We celebrated my little cousin's birthday too! She is turning seven this month and so we combined our birthdays. She is such a cutie! She was even sweet enough to let me blow out the last candle on our birthday cake! She is so cute! We had a fun time! I just love my family! They are just the greatest!
Well there we go, my birthday update! Also I have to thank everyone who wrote on my facebook and gave me a call! I had so many people do that for me and I so appreciated it! It was just so great to feel so loved all day! What fun I had! It was definitely a great time!
Anyway, my birthday was last week on the 3rd. The night before that I was a little sad I must admit. No, not with pre-birthday "oh-my-goodness-I'm-getting-old" blues, but I was just a little sad because I hadn't heard from Josh. I really wasn't expecting anything from him (he's on a mission for heaven's sake!) but I was still just missing him like crazy and wanted to hear from him. So I went to bed that night and my wonderful sleep was soon interrupted by a phone call at midnight! What in the world?! So I got up, rather groggily, and I saw that it was a number I didn't recognize. Hmmm...should I just ignore this call? Well I answered it and the conversation went something like this:
"Hello?"
"HI! HOW ARE YOU?!" It was a guy!
"Uh...I'm fine...how are you?"
"I'm great! Is this Brittney Chapman?" At this point I could hear a very heavy French accent...
"Yeeesss...Who in the world is this?"
"This is Elder Cheung!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?!"
Lots of laughing..."Yeah!" Now an important thing to know is that Elder Cheung was a "mini-mission" companion to Josh. He was only with him for about two weeks. He is a convert of about a year and a half and he lives in France.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe this!"
More laughing..."Well Brittney I have a message for you. I just left Josh today from being on my mini-mission with him and he made me promise him that this would be the first thing I did when I got home. He was very adamant about it. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you and that he feels really bad because he wanted to send you something but he knew it would never get there in time because the mail system is so slow here in France. He said to tell you that he hopes you have a wonderful birthday."
I was in complete shock! WOW! For Josh to even think of having him call me was so thoughtful! I couldn't even believe he had Elder Cheung do that! I just kept telling him thank you over and over. We had a great discussion about some of the things he had experienced while he was with Josh, and while we were talking he said, "Brittney, your brother is the man!! He is amazing!" I told him I knew that. I said, "I don't know if Josh has talked to you about his relationship with me but we are pretty tight and he has always been someone I've looked up to. He is amazing!" He told me about a girl that was baptized just that Sunday before, that Josh had baptized her and that everything he said was absolutely perfect and that everything went the best it could have possibly gone. He just kept telling me how wonderful Josh had been. It just made me so happy to be able to talk to him and to feel of the excitement he had. It was so neat! What an amazing way to start my birthday huh?! I was set! I felt like I was on top of the world and I was just so happy! My birthday was already perfect as far as I was concerned! I was so excited I ran into my parent's bedroom after the phone call and told my mom all about it! Of course she was way excited too! It was just awesome!
Then at 6 in the morning I woke up and had breakfast with my family, scrambled eggs with bacon in them, and English muffins! Yummy! Then I opened presents which was fun!
As I was walking out to my car later that morning to go to school I saw my car and wow! My friend Jillene had painted all my windows! It was so fun! It said things like "What a Babe!" "Honk I'm 22!" "Happy Birthday!" And then I had a "frame" painted on the driver's side of the windshield. It was so cute and how special was I?!
Then I got to the school and somehow everyone knew it was my birthday! Holy cow! Everyone was coming up to me and wishing me happy birthday and giving me hugs and making me feel so special! It was so neat! We started jazz choir that day so I went to that and we had a blast in there! Right before class I decided to treat myself and buy a "Naked" juice. Oh my! I love those things! Way too addicting! Anyway, so I went and got one of those, and was talking to everyone in the room before class started and one of my friends started to walk into the classroom. I was so excited to see him I yelled hi to him before he walked in and he smiled at me and kind of motioned with his finger for me to go outside with him. He was hiding something behind his back and he pulled me behind the door (which was open by the way). He said "Happy Birthday Brittney" and then he pulled these gorgeous flowers out from behind his back! What?! This doesn't happen to me! How sweet is he?! I couldn't believe he was giving me flowers! WOW! I just kind of half screamed half gasped in shock and just wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug and just kept saying thank you and that I appreciated it so much! He just kind of laughed at me and said "You're welcome" and we walked into class together. As I walked in I realized that everyone's eyes were glued to the door. Remember that the door was open? Well they pretty much heard everything I said and at least saw half the "action" I was giving him behind the door. I almost just started busting up laughing when everyone just looked at us like something was up. Ha Ha! Believe me! It was nothing! This guy was actually my husband in a play I did this summer and we had just grown to have a really neat friendship. Anyway, for some reason during class I was just on this super big high and I was just a crack-up if I do say so myself! I was just plain goofy! Even more so than normal, but it was fun! We had a great time in there and everyone sang me happy birthday. I just felt so special! Then I came home and my mom asked what I was doing the rest of the day. I didn't have plans til that evening so she asked if I wanted to go get a pedicure for my birthday. FUNNESS! My mom got me the deluxe package which came with amazing bonuses during the pedicure. It was amazing! We had 4 different massages on our legs! We had a salt scrub, a mask (it smelled like chocolate!), then they put massage oil on our legs and used hot rocks (oh my gosh! That was one of the greatest things ever!), and then they rubbed in lotion too! I definitely felt pampered! Then of course they did my toenails and painted on this amazing flower design with glittery stuff. They were just so cute! Then I also got a manicure! I can't even remember the last time I painted my nails! So that was a fun treat too! We had a great time together! Another fun part about it was that my mom had never gotten one before so it was a first time experience for her so it was great to be with her for that!
After that I had to hurry home and get dressed up. I was going to dinner with one of my best friends that night. Cassi! She wanted to take me out so we got all cute and dressed up really nice and I told her I wanted to go somewhere I'd never been before so she was going to surprise me. We went to "My Big Fat Greek Restaurant"! It was AMAZING! WOW! They had these huge tumblers that our lemonades came out in and then we had an appetizer. Greek Fries! Can I just tell you that it was a completely new taste experience for me! It had this sauce on top of it that we figured out was vinegar and a melted sharp goat cheese. It had garlic and fresh oregano and feta cheese on it too. Really good! Then I ordered the "Award Winning Greek Platter" which was slivered Gyro (roast lamb) with lemon pepper potatoes, fresh squash, pita bread, and a sauce for the lamb to be dipped in. It was amazing! There was so much food though! I hardly put a dent in it! Cassi got Mousaka (if you've seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' you'll definitely remember the line "Moose Caca?!" Yeah, it's the same stuff!) It was layers of eggplant, zucchini, a spicy meat, and sauce with a hugely thick piece of cheese melted on top. She liked hers as well! We were both so full that we were dying but our waiter came and brought us two completely new silverware rolls. He said, "You are going to need these. I'm bringing you out a special treat!" I looked at Cass and she just put up her hands in surrender and said, "I promise I didn't tell them it was your birthday!" Anyway, he brought out Baklava. Oh baklava, how I love thee! It was seriously one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had in my life! It was like 27 layers of philo dough with layers of hazelnut, chopped almonds, honey, and cinnamon in between. It was all melted together atop a platter drizzled with honey in this criss cross pattern, with two dollops of whipped cream on either side of the platter containing a mint leaf for garnish. It was so elegant looking! WOW! Anyway, it tasted just as amazing as it looked! We were both in heaven! It was AMAZING! Then we came back to my house and we both fell asleep on my couch waiting for our friend Jason to come over to my house after he got off work at 11:30. Once he got here we talked for about 45 minutes and then we all decided we were too dead to be awake any longer, besides the fact it was a school night!
All in all it was an amazing birthday! I had the greatest time with my family and friends! I also have to say that my family and I had celebrated my birthday early since there was a holiday weekend, and we went out to eat and went to the movies so that was a lot of fun! And then we also had a big family party on Saturday night! It was so much fun! I really enjoyed being with everyone! We celebrated my little cousin's birthday too! She is turning seven this month and so we combined our birthdays. She is such a cutie! She was even sweet enough to let me blow out the last candle on our birthday cake! She is so cute! We had a fun time! I just love my family! They are just the greatest!
Well there we go, my birthday update! Also I have to thank everyone who wrote on my facebook and gave me a call! I had so many people do that for me and I so appreciated it! It was just so great to feel so loved all day! What fun I had! It was definitely a great time!
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