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March Goals: Accomplished?

April 3, 2016 Leave a Comment

Hello everyone, and happy (third day of) April!

I’m sure most of you noticed it’s been well over two weeks since I have posted any content. I decided to take a last-minute break from blogging during the remainder of March due to life being pretty crazy busy. Between birthdays (happy belated blog shout out birthday to my awesome sister, Taylor!), Easter, Spring, friends visiting etc. March was a pretty crazy month. I did some serious deep Spring cleaning around the house while my husband was gone for a few days traveling for work. Even he came back home and almost didn’t recognize the house himself. Ha!

Easter sort of snuck up on me this year and I wasn’t even a little prepared for it. I wanted to make Jordyn’s Easter basket myself, but like I said before, I was completely unprepared and ended up buying her one. It came with a basketball (which she loves) and some cute head bands, so it could be worse. Our awesome friends, the Jones’, were in town this Easter, and we threw together some last-minute Easter activities for the kids and an Easter dinner for a group of our friends.

For the month of March I almost completed all of my monthly goals. I fell short by ONE goal, my cooking Periscope broadcast, but it went hand in hand with me taking a break from blogging for a bit. I will try to do two Periscope broadcasts for the month of April to make up for the missed broadcast last month, though. However, all of my other goals were completed and I’ll share them below :-):

Date Night:

Our babysitter was pretty busy between school and work in the month of March which means we had a family date night instead of just a date night with the hubby and I. We went one of our favorite restaurants in town, Bert & Ernie’s, and had a great time eating yummy food. Jordyn is always added entertainment when we are out and about haha.

New Recipe:

I saw this delicious meal floating around Facebook and decided to give it a try while we had friends in town. It was SO good. The only downside was the Facebook video had no instructions or measurements besides the ingredients listed on the video. So thankfully it turned out so good!

DIY Project/Jordyn Activity:

Jordyn and I did another “joint project” for the month of March. During my Spring cleaning of the house I noticed the upstairs bathroom had too much empty space on the wall. I went to Michaels the following day and Jordyn and I bought some canvases (they were a BOGO free sale too!) and created these masterpieces. Mine is on the left, Jordyn’s on the right, and in case you’re wondering: yes, Jordyn’s looks better LOL.

Twitter Chat:

As usual, I participated in the #blkcreatives Twitter chat in March, regarding multiple streams of income. Although I could not personally contribute to the conversation, I still followed along with the chat, because I’m sure it’ll be useful to me one day in the future. It never hurts to learn more before jumping into things.

Natural Hair Style:

I did bantu knots for my natural hair style in March and they did NOT turn out the way I wanted them to which is why it was put into the ponytail on the right haha. A for effort, right? I’m not sure what happened, but hopefully my April natural hair style turns out a lot better.

Nail Color:

For March I chose my only darker green color for the theme of St. Patty’s Day. I love the sparkle of this emerald-green color. The color is called “Here Today…Aragon Tomorrow Suede” by OPI.

New Book:

I finally jumped on the John Grisham bandwagon (20 years later) and LOVED this book. Talk about changing your life and perspective of everyday life for people who are fighting different battles than ours. I highly recommend this book be read by any and everyone because we as a society so easily judge those in different circumstances than ours.

Workout Reward:

I actually worked out 21 days of the 31 days in March and felt so accomplished. I’m also only 22 seconds away from my half mile goal time. Seeing results always motivates me to keep going. I believe it’s also safe to say after three consistent months of working out, 20 days plus per month, working out has officially become a habit. Yay!

The goals I don’t have pictures of for March are my husband love/Kris appreciation gift and my random act of kindness. For my kind gesture for my husband I bought him some new hookah flavors. He loves his hookah and figured I would get him a gift he wouldn’t expect me to buy for him. Needless to say: he loved it.

For my random act of kindness, while at Dairy Queen one night getting my Oreo and Heath blizzard (it is amazing) I paid for the meal of the car behind me. I hope whoever was in the car enjoyed their ice cream/meal and pay it forward to someone else out there.

I hope all of your small and large goals you aimed to accomplish for the month of March were accomplished. Sometimes it’s hard to stay on track and work towards our goals but we just have to remind ourselves why we do it in the first place. I will be back next month to update you on my prayerfully 100% accomplished goals for the month of April.

Happy Sunday everyone and I pray you have a great upcoming week!

Brie <3

[04.03.16]

Super Bowl Sunday-Funday

February 7, 2016 Leave a Comment

The day is finally here ladies and gentlemen…Super Bowl Sunday! I don’t know about you guys but this is one of the first Super Bowl match ups I’m excited to watch because I love both of the quarterbacks. I can honestly say whether Superman Cam walks away with his first ring or Peyton walks away with possibly his last ring, I will be a happy lady! However, what is any super bowl without the delicious snacks?! My family and I have our usual favorite get together/party snacks, but some snacks are so super bowl worthy they have to be made for multiple occasions. Here are the snacks I have prepared for today’s festivities 🙂

Chips & Queso:

I found this recipe on Pinterest a few years back and it’s actually quite popular. Most grocery stores even have an entire display dedicated to the popular “chips and dip” during super bowl time. However, for my dip I use Velveeta’s Queso Blanco and add 1 lbs. of seasoned ground beef (or turkey). Guys…it’s SO good. The instructions are easy: brown 1 lbs. of ground beef/turkey in a medium sized pot. Add your block of cheese cut into three pieces to the cooked meat. Constantly stir to prevent the cheese from sticking and burning until it has all melted together. Take your can of Rotel and mix into the cheese and meat. Pour into a bowl and serve!

BBQ Root Beer Chicken Wings:

YES- these wings are as yummy and delicious as they look in the picture. My husband saw this recipe on Tasty’s Facebook page about two months ago and it’s one of our favorites. If you would like to give it a try, head on over to Tasty’s Facebook page, like them, and try out this recipe (along with many of their other delicious recipes)!

The wings were still in the crock pot so I couldn’t get a picture with the sign lol.

Root Beer Floats:

These are pretty self explanatory. When are root beer floats NOT a good idea? Exactly. They’re easy, fun and delicious which are all the right description words for a successful dessert following yummy snacking foods. I am a huge fan of the individual IBC root beer bottles so guests don’t have to share, and wait to use one 2 liter bottle of root beer.

Banana Bread:

This honestly has nothing to do with the Super Bowl. I had overly ripe bananas and didn’t want to throw them away/waste them. Why not make some delicious banana bread to send home with our guests to eat for breakfast throughout the week? We’re already having root beer floats for dessert so the banana bread would be overkill. If you would like to make this delicious banana bread click here for the yummy recipe.

In addition to these delicious snacks for our Super Bowl get together our friends are bringing homemade quesadillas and nachos. It’s going to be a great evening in the Jamieson household and an even better food “cheat day” for me! Haha. What are your go to snack foods for Super Bowl Sunday? Feel free to comment and share below.

Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday and I hope whoever you’re cheering for wins!

Brie <3

[02.07.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary

January Goals Accomplished!

January 31, 2016 Leave a Comment

At the beginning of the year I shared a post outlining 12 goals I am striving to accomplish every month of 2016. Click here to read the post if you haven’t already. As of earlier today, I have accomplished all 12 of my goals for the month of January with one day to spare! Yeah, go me! I will share a picture of each goal for the month of January below.

Date Night:

While my Mother in law was in town the husband and I went on a few date nights this month so that was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of us at a stop light on our way to see the Hateful Eight for a day time date. 🙂

New Recipe:

I follow the Tasty page on Facebook and decided to make the shepherds pie stuffed baked potatoes for my new recipe to try for dinner. It was an instant hit and I’ve made it twice this month for dinner!

DIY Project:

I actually almost forgot to do my DIY for this month, but thankfully earlier today I was bored and decided to do one anyway. How about that timing? I re-purposed an old t-shirt I never wear into a workout shirt.

Twitter Chat:

Thanks to a good friend who is a social media strategist I learned about the “My Creative Connection” monthly twitter chat. Not only did I love the Q&A but I learned so much from the first chat to help better my blog and brand. They do this #BlkCreatives chat on the second Monday of every month. It’s safe to say they have a loyal monthly chat customer now. 🙂

Natural Hair Style:

This month I did a nice and easy, wash n’ go, natural hair style but it looked great! It has been my favorite wash n’ go result thus far. Talk about a selfie worthy hair style. 😉

Periscope Cooking Broadcast:

I did my first ever Periscope broadcast (@BrienneJamieson) for cooking. The first meal I shared on Periscope was my yummy Potato Corn & Bacon Chowder. I know it’s yummy because my family loves it and I have gotten some excellent reviews from fellow followers and readers who have tried it out. Thanks again to those of you who watched and tried the recipe!

Nail Color:

I have a drawer filled with nail polishes I haven’t worn in over a yea,r or ever, for that matter. I decided to try one of the colors I have never worn before. It’s called Russian Navy by OPI and I loooove it! I had to show it off with my lovely workout gloves while at the gym haha.

New Book:

The book I read this month was The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I love Jodi as an author so it shouldn’t come as a surprise how much I enjoyed this book, but I was still impressed and emotionally drawn in. If you are looking for a tragic yet relatable book to read I highly recommend this one.

Jordyn Activity:

Although Jordyn and I play and have fun all day everyday, I made it a point to do something each month that we’ve never done before. This month we built our first “fort” and we both had a great time eating snacks and watching TV/movies. It was the perfect cold and snowy day to do so too. 🙂

Workout Reward:

I made a commitment of having to workout at least 20 days of each month in order to reach my post baby body goals AND buy myself a reward of $25 or less to keep me motivated. As of Friday night I hit my goal which gives me two off days before starting again on Monday for the month of February. I was happy to achieve this goal!

The last two goals of the month were performing a random act of kindness and doing something nice for my husband. I didn’t take pictures of either of these “acts” because 1) I didn’t even remember to do so at the time and 2) some things don’t have to be shared through pictures. However, I will share what I did for each. While out running errands, and buying dinner for the family, I randomly decided to stop and buy some pizzas for the cops who guard the gate on base. It put smiles on their faces which made me super happy. For my husband, while out running those same errands, he had accidentally broken one of his PS4 controllers earlier that day. I bought him a card that very sweetly said “I love you” in mushy card ways and I put a Game Stop gift card in it. It made him smile and tell me how much he appreciates me so I think he loved it. Making people smile always makes me smile and that’s what it’s all about.

What goals did you set for yourself in the month of January? Did you accomplish them? If so, congratulations and I hope you have a great February as well. If not, what can you do to make sure you adjust and execute for the month of February? Feel free to share below.

Have a great Saturday evening and rest of your weekend everyone!

Brie <3

[01.30.16]

All Posts, Family Love

See You Later, Grandma Toni!

January 10, 2016 Leave a Comment

Kris, Jordyn and I were lucky enough to have my Mother-in-law a.k.a. Grandma Toni, here in Montana with us for about a month and a half. We really enjoyed having her here and we are so sad she had to leave us. Jordyn especially loved having her Grandma Toni here to follow EVERYWHERE like she was her little shadow. Jordyn adores her Grandma Toni (because Grandmas are always the superstars) and I’m sure she’s wondering where she is, and why she didn’t get to see her this morning.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the classic Mother-in-law horror stories, but I’m one of the select few who can brag about not only having an awesome mother-in-law, but a great relationship with her as well. As always when we’re together we always have such great, in-depth, conversations about life in general. It was especially nice to have an adult to talk to during the day while Kris is at work and I’m hanging with the munchkin. All of my fellow SAHMs (stay at home Moms) understand what I mean! Oh, did I mention how much she HELPED us around the house. I think I’ve done the dishes and laundry ONCE since she’s been here, and I’m not going to lie…I got spoiled rotten. While she was doing the dishes last night I said to her “I’m going to have to start doing my own dishes again” in the most pathetic sounding voice ever LOL.

From bath time, to potty training, to hanging out in the man cave watching movies on the projector and sharing popcorn together, Jordyn and her Grandma were able to create a lot of fun memories. I’m sure the little munchkin will expect Mom (as she calls me) to keep most of these fun traditions up now that Grandma has gone back home. However, she will surely miss Grandma Toni’s cell phone (and sharing Sesame Street videos to Grandma Toni’s Facebook wall LOL) because Mom isn’t as willing to let her play with hers since she broke Mom’s last phone -_-.

One of the hardest parts of being a military family is being based so far away from family and friends. You would think as many times as we have visitors we would get used to the “see you laters” but in all honesty they only get harder. Being married, and even more so, being parents, you learn exactly how much family means to you, and how much you took them for granted when they lived up the street. Thankfully, it is 2016, and we have amazing technology that allows us to be closer to loved ones even when they’re hundreds of miles away. There will be plenty of Facetime calls and Facebook posts until we are able to see each other again. (Prayerfully sooner than later!)

Thanks again for spending so much time with us, Grandma Toni. We are surely going to miss you around here. Safe travels back to Illinois, and we all love and miss you already. Try not to be too sad, because although it’s extremely hard to be so far away from each other, we’re blessed to have people to love and miss as much as we love and miss each other.

We love you!

Brie <3

[01.10.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary

2016 Monthly Goals

January 8, 2016 Comment : 1

We are now 8 days into the new year and I have already shared my 16 goals for the year. If you didn’t get a chance to read them you can click here to check it out. I took it one step beyond the yearly goals and decided to plan out 12 personal monthly goals. The goals range from self care (which was discussed in my first blog post of the year) to taking care of those around me. The goals range from pure fun to helping spread love to complete strangers, and I think I am thoroughly going to enjoy aiming to accomplish each goal every month. You’re probably wondering “is she looking to accomplish 12 different goals every month”? and the truth is…yes, I am. It sounds a lot more daunting than I believe it will be.

My 12 monthly goals to accomplish in 2016:

1) Date Night

My husband and I have done a terrible job of going on date nights since having our daughter. We’re new parents, who live far away from family, so we don’t trust many people with her. Thankfully my neighbor is awesome, amazing with children, and loves Jordyn too. My goal is to go on one date night a month.

2) New Recipe

I thoroughly enjoy cooking. I also enjoy discovering new delicious recipes. Every month this year I will try (at least) one different recipe a month. This already sounds delicious.

3) DIY Project

As most of you know from previous posts I love do-it-yourself projects. It’s a great down time and allows me to find my creative side. I will aim to do one new DIY project every month.

4) Twitter Chats

As a blogger who is looking to make my blog a profession, I need to get more involved on social media to work on/promote my brand. There are plenty of blog chats held by other blogging Twitter sources who give tips and exposure. Twitter chats will help increase my blog traffic.

5) Natural Hair Style

I’ve been natural since August 2007. As much as I love my natural hair it takes a bit of work. I usually opt for the easier flat ironed hair, thrown into ponytails and buns 98% of the time. With the theme of taking better care of myself this year, I will try at least one different natural hair style every month.

6) Cooking Periscope Broadcast

I’ve had Periscope for a few months and I used it all the time when I first signed up. For some reason I have hardly used it as of late, and one way to get me going again is to start live broadcasting. I love cooking so why not broadcast Jamieson Diaries recipes, live? It will be trial and error, but hopefully it’s as fun as it sounds.

7) Nail Colors

I haven’t painted my nails in over a year and a half. So every month I will paint my nails a different color to go along with the seasons. It may be small, but I’m looking forward to this!

8) Random Acts of Kindness

Have you ever had someone randomly pay for your meal? Or even do something as simple as let you skip ahead in line? When people show us kindness it makes us feel good so why not be the person spreading that same joy to others? Don’t expect to see this part posted on social media much, if at all.

9) Read A Book

I will read one new book every month this year in conjunction with reading my Bible more. I love reading and always have loved reading. I haven’t made the time to sit down and read lately a.k.a. I’ve been watching too much TV. I’m super excited to get back into my books!

10) Workout Reward

I’ve been trying to keep a steady workout regimen going. The ultimate way to get yourself to do something is knowing there’s a reward for you at the end. The catch: I have to workout at least 20 days out of the month. Say a few prayers for me that I remain disciplined and engaged.

11) Jordyn Activity/Craft

I love creating adorable crafts with Jordyn. Not only are they fun, but they’re engaging. I want to do at least one new activity or craft with her every month. From the Children’s Museum to homemade Play-doh, the possibilities are endless. Plus, anytime I get to spend having fun with my munchkin is time well spent.

12) Love For My Husband

I love my husband and we make a pretty awesome team. In learning how to take care of myself I also want to take care of my husband/marriage. My husband knows I love randomly buying him gifts occasionally, but why not do something sweet for him each month? It can range from a gift card to his favorite restaurant, to a simple card saying, “I was thinking of you”. Whatever it may be seeing him happy makes me happy.

It made me happy to write these goals out and see the changes to come this year. I believe these goals will for sure work on my goals of the “you, us, we” model I’m wanting to follow this year.I will also be posting pictures and videos as I can of my goals on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have any goals you are looking to achieve in general? If so, comment some of your goals below, and how you plan to hold yourself accountable. If not, and you would like to set some goals, it’s never too late!

Happy Friday!

Brie <3

[01.08.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary

Modern Day Celeb-session

January 21, 2015 Comments : 2

It doesn’t matter if I turn on the television, open one of my countless social networking applications, or walk past the magazine section in any store, it is damn near impossible to avoid seeing headlines about celebrities. I’m not talking about headlines such as “______ gives money to save school from closing” or “_______ tells us about the importance of education and family,” I’m talking about headlines such as “______ joins Twitter!”

SO. THE. F. WHAT?

I like to call this the modern-day celebrity obsession or “celeb-session” as I have personally named it. What worries me about this ridiculous obsession is the fact that people ACTUALLY care about what these celebrities are doing. And I don’t mean caring about them being awesome people, I’m talking about them caring that they use the bathroom and eat food like us regular folk. You know, because it really shows how down to earth these celebrities are when they sleep in beds, and pump their own gas just like regular old me! [I’m currently rolling my eyes]

I remember going back home to Illinois a few summers ago to visit, and watching the 6pm news with my Grandma. One of the big news stories was “Katy Perry visits Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL.” At first, I thought, “hmmm random that she is in IL to go to Six Flags, but Six Flags is awesome, so sure.” Once they went into detail of the story, they elaborated on her being there for a concert for her biggest fans. No big deal, but I get why they would mention it at the end of the 6pm news hour. What ended up making me realize how sad people are was HOW they ended the segment. After giving details about happy fans enjoying the concert, they ended the segment saying something along the lines of “after the concert, Katy got on rides, and even enjoyed a plate of funnel cake just like the rest of us.” [insert corny new anchor smile and fake laugh here] I just stared at the screen and was trying to figure out why Katy Perry eating food and getting on rides painted her as a “human being.”

I had known for some time the obsession with celebrities was going waaaaay overboard in my generation, but it has become even more evident, today. A few months back, I remember getting on Twitter during my lunch break at work, and seeing people retweeting and/or personally tweeting that Rihanna had joined Instagram again. Oh, and don’t let these celebrities announce pregnancies. A new king or queen is being born to some of these folks the way they react. A simple “congratulations” doesn’t suffice anymore. Now, it’s “OMG! So-and-so is pregnant! They’re going to have the greatest baby in the whole world and nobody else better hate on them.” You know, because women don’t have babies everyday, but whatever. One of my favorite examples (favorite as in the terrible way) was a story about two weeks ago. There was a picture going around of Beyonce and Jay-Z taking pictures with their phones of some scenery while they were on vacation (I’m assuming). I-kid-you-not…the caption read “look guys- Jay and Bey are tourists just like us!” If you think that’s bad, the comment section made me want to throw up. “They are so real and down to earth,” or “see I knew I was like Beyonce somehow lol.”

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

Does my generation (and younger) seriously lack THAT much self-esteem? Do we lack real life hobbies? Do we lack the understanding that we were created to be our own person and not imitate someone else? Do we lack being able to see these PEOPLE who just happen to be rich as regular people? Do we lack knowing the difference between being a fan of someone’s talent vs. worshiping said person with the talent as some deity? I see these little girls trying SO hard to act or be like Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, or the Kardashians (this one STILL blows my mind), that they are going broke trying to live a lie. I know so many young people who don’t have enough money to live on their own or pay for necessities without the aid of their loved ones, but they would sell their blood to buy concert tickets or spend $300 on shoes and/or a purse because someone famous has their name on it. Don’t get me wrong, these are tough times, and there is nothing wrong with needing help from others, but it becomes an issue with your personal goals and priorities when you’re more worried about a celebrity vs. getting your own life on track.

I used to go crazy for celebrities when I was in elementary and middle school. You know, the Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, B2K, and Lil’ Bow Wow days. Or when I was “young and dumb” as they like to say. At 26 years old, if any of you EVER see me talking or putting these celebrities on a pedestal for simply existing, you have my permission to slap me and tell me to act like a grown woman with common sense. I have heard people say “well so-and-so wears this brand” or “so-and-so likes this color” so naturally they have to as well. Maybe it’s just me, but when people say these things out loud, I immediately feel sorry for them, because that is an exhausting and mindless way to live.

I can’t be mad at the people who report the stories, because they are only reporting what is in demand. They are only telling what people actually want to hear. All I’m asking is we all become better at educating ourselves on what really matters in the world, because knowing every single detail of some celebrity’s life isn’t it.

End rant.

Brie <3

[01.21.15]