Ecclesiastes 3:4

2011 has been full of ups and downs ever since December 2010. Starting with December 11, 2010 the day my brother and sister-in-law got married. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, like a Christmas wonderland. 

They left for Mexico on their Honeymoon and the day they got back, December 18^th, was the day Bryan proposed!

What an unforgettable day that was for Bryan and I.

We then quickly had to make many decisions within our Christmas break. The date of the wedding, what job Bryan will accept, where we were going to live, and not to mention our honeymoon destination! We said our last goodbyes and finished off our last semester of college both graduating in May!!! It was quite a whirlwind with wedding plans, and senior projects consuming our lives.

Then the end of May we found out my brother was having heart problems. He had a couple of holes in his heart and the doctors said he would need open heart surgery. It shook us all up. He was going to have to go to Houston for surgery and would possibly miss my wedding. Thankfully they were able to wait and leave the day after! So Bryan and I flew off to Jamaica and had a wonderful week relaxing by the water enjoying our pina coladas trying to ignore what was happening back at home. The flight home was the most stressful flight. I knew I would soon be packing up and moving 9 hours from home and finding out the results of my brother’s heart not to mention crazy turbulence. The second we landed in Dallas, I had an e-mail from my mom. My brother would not have to have surgery it had healed on its own. What a wonderful way to end our trip. God had truly blessed our family.

After living in Pearland for three months Bryan was put on a project in Baton Rouge. I wasn’t completely thrilled considering I just started getting places without my gps! However, I knew it was only temporary so I was going to think of it as an adventure. We did think it was ironic that my parents moved to BR when they first got married and our apartment is about 5 minutes from where my dad used to work! We have definitely taken my parents advice and have tried to explore as much as we can and have enjoyed every bit of it.

My first big holiday as a married woman was absolutely wonderful. Spending time with Bryan’s family and also getting to spend time with mine. I could never be more thankful. My mom side of the family usually gets together about once a year but usually with busy schedules someone can’t make it. This Thanksgiving God blessed our family once more bringing all 19 of us together.

Yesterday God decided to take my Grandpa home with him. He went peacefully with my Grandma, parents, and Aunt and Uncle there. What an amazing man he was. He lived to be in his 90s, a World War 11 veteran, lived to see two great grandchildren and had been married to my Grandma for 65 years. It will be a difficult Christmas for our family but we know he is with the Lord.

Through this whole year one verse has constantly been in my head which has gotten me through this exciting, stressful, joyful, and mournful year.

“For I know the plans for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”- Jeremiah 29:11

However, Ecclesiastes 3:4 fits this year perfectly.

“A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

All these events that have happened to me and my family this year have only made me stronger and I can only thank God for that. Another new year has come and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for Bryan and I as well as our families. Bryan and I are headed for Tulsa in the morning and Sunday, December 11th we will be celebrating Our 6 month anniversary, Clifton and Hillary's one year anniversary, and the life of my Grandpa. 

Another experience

Nothing too exciting has happened the past few days except for Monday. This is one experience I will never forget. So I was asked to be a stand in again but they needed someone for a different movie. Well I wasn't thrilled because I knew it wasn't a chick flick. It was a HORROR movie. I hate saying the word horror because I feel like it is a cuss word. Well anyway, they gave me the address and said I needed to be there at 6:15. Well I show up and get on the shuttle van with a crew of scruffy men. They asked if I came prepared for the rain and mud. Well of course I wasn't! I was wearing flats and a lightweight sweater. The high was 75! I had no idea we were filming outside in the middle of the woods!! I thought I was going to cry. When we got to base camp I was the only one not in rain boots and rain gear. I overheard someone say "someone needs to get her some boots and a coat because she won't make it out there!" As I was trying to hold back my tears all I could think was thank goodness I didn't wear my pink skinny jeans. I was quickly handed an over sized men's coat and men's boots and hauled off on the back of a dirty John Deere gator to the middle of nowhere with the closest bathroom being 15 minutes away. That's right, they wanted us to use the bathroom in the middle of the woods. I was wondering when someone was going to wake me from this nightmare. There was another stand in with me. His name was Brandon who had long hair and did covers for romance novels. I didn't know those people really existed. Well I quickly found a place to sit and wait until they needed me.

I sat right there on that log for 16 hours. Do you see the yellow caution tape? They were making "blood" and throwing it over branches to make it look like a murder scene. This movie is called Red Clover which is about a leprechaun killing people. The only actor I recognized was Billy Zane who played Kate Winslet's fiancee in Titanic. This is the last movie I would ever want to see. The leprechaun, who I sat next to at lunch, looked more like a little monkey monster. I told them I thought leprechauns were supposed to be bright green with a top hat. It looked nothing like that. Well, by the time lunch was over I thought I would be going home in a few hours I can make it. Well around 4 It started to down pour. I sat on my log which by this point was covered by an old tent with about 15 other men that were all smoking. Well thanks to the lovely rain it brought a million mosquitoes along with horrible humidity. Luckily I was covered except my hands and face so of course I now have about 10 mosquito bites just on my hands and face. At this point all I could do was laugh. Since Friday is their last day of filming they couldn't get behind and never even used me once. They continued to film until 10:30 that night. I had never been more excited to jump off my log and drive straight home. What an experience that was.

Christmas time is here!

Finally, I am all caught up in the things I needed to do/wanted to do! Last night Bryan surprised me with beautiful flowers that matched our comforter perfectly. He said he did that on purpose but I am a little skeptical. ;) We then went to one of our favorite places for dinner, Tsunami Sushi. Then he volunteered to go to the grocery store with me! I jumped on that idea considering it was an extra set of hands to help me haul them to the third floor. I am thankful I don't have to walk to the grocery store though ;). So today I was able to mark that trip off my list and was able to do all the laundry, iron, clean, put away fall decorations, and set up Christmas! Woo Hoo!

I had to add a makeshift mantel so I can hang our stockings (that are not made yet).

Of course it took awhile to warm Bryan up to the idea of buying a tree since we won't be here for Christmas but he finally caved. Also, we have a "countdown-'til-Christmas" calendar that you change the number each day but I have changed it to our "countdown-'til-Tulsa" calendar. 14 days and counting! Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and GO POKES!!!!

Mission accomplished!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted but it has been surprisingly a busy week! Bryan and I got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving in Dallas with Bryan's family. I am so blessed to have two families to call my own. I was also so thankful to get to see my family, including my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins (19 of us!) the day after Thanksgiving. In Bedford with Bryan's family I felt so at home and had a blast shopping, eating, and relaxing. I even got my first experience at Black Friday shopping! What fun memories we made that week. Being away from family for so long definitely makes those moments together more special. We left around 11 Sunday morning and didn't get back until 8 that night. I think it was just preparing us for our long drive to Tulsa for Christmas! We quickly unloaded my car and went to bed.

I then began my week early Monday morning working with the movie again. I got to "base camp" at about 6:15 to be a stand in for Brittany Snow. While I was waiting to get checked in, a short skinny guy came up to me and introduced himself and asked if I was from Baton Rouge. So thinking he was just another extra I told him the long version of how I got to Baton Rouge. Nice guy. Well later a guy came up to me (another stand in) and asked if I had any idea who I was talking to which I had no clue, Chris or something. Well he then told me that he was Mclovin from Superbad. 

Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Well I had never seen the movie so I had no idea who he was but I was still so embarrassed. Well anyway, the rest of the day I basically sat around the set and waited until they told me to go sit in Brittany Snows seat. All I do as a stand in is stand or sit in the same place they do so the camera men and lighting crew can measure from the camera to my head and then they would tell me to close my eyes while they point a red laser at them. Haha. Monday was the last day for extras so that night I got to be an "auditioner". I just sat in the audience with other people. That day I had to listen to Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" about 100 times! But it was very entertaining! I was asked to come back Tuesday and Wednesday to be a stand in again. Compared to an extra, stand ins get treated like royalty. We get breakfast, snacks whenever we wanted, and we are considered part of the crew. Anna Kendricks stand in was telling me about Esther Dean, one of the actors that plays a Bella, and how she has wrote songs for Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Katy Perry, and many more. So I googled her and saw that she was from Oklahoma! Well, that night on the van going back to base camp I was sitting next to her and told her that I was being a creeper and saw that she was from Oklahoma! She was so nice and said she was born in Muskogee and raised in Tulsa!

Yesterday, I was a stand in for Anna Camp who plays Aubrey. They had me do all kinds of stuff so they could get cameras and lighting ready. I had to do spirit fingers and walk around in a circle and I had to run up and down bleachers. I was glad I had comfy shoes on. Well as I stood in place while the camera man Julio Macat marked my place and I asked him what other movies has he done. He said he did all the Home Alone movies, Wedding Crashers, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective! I was in awe. I wanted a picture with him as much as I did with Brittany Snow. Well anyway, I took a couple of pictures on set but I got in trouble! Oops. So I probably won't be getting many more, but they give us the scripts to follow along with which I think is strange that they would let us keep them! Anyway, last night while we were watching rehearsal, Esther Dean got a phone call that said she was nominated for a Grammy! Everyone went crazy and started cheering! It was a very fun experience. They wrapped around 11pm and everyone headed for the vans to go back to base camp. A production assistant opened the van door for me and Brittany Snow was sitting inside. My heart was beating like crazy as I stared for a second and then got in and sat next to her. I was thinking ok this is my chance I must get a picture with her! So I asked and she said that's fine so I asked the other stand in sitting behind us if she could take it considering I didn't want to ask Anna Kendrick or Anna Camp who was sitting in front of us. The whole thing was just super awkward. I told her thank you and that my sister and I are big fans! Haha! She then asked what my name was and said "nice to meet you, I'm Brittany". 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Now my goal is to get a picture with Rebel Wilson who plays Fat Amy. She is probably the funniest person in the movie. I laughed out loud during one part and they had to cut. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one that was laughing loudly though! So that was a fun ending to my night. Now I am finishing up laundry and getting our Christmas decorations together. Tonight Bryan is taking me out to dinner and then we are decorating our new Christmas tree. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!