Today the husband and I have been married for exactly 4 years. You know how people always talk about time flying? Yeah, this is one of those moments. The craziest part about this being our four-year anniversary is how much can change in only a matter of four years. To think of the two 23 year olds who got married in that church in, Evanston, IL four years ago, compared to the parents knocking on 30’s door year olds we are today…a lot has changed.Read More
Valentine’s Day 2016
Happy Monday everyone! It is the day after Valentine’s Day, and I hope this past weekend was a great start to your week. If you’re one of the lucky folks, you have today off for, President’s Day. We had a very simple but perfect Valentine’s Day weekend. We decided to go to dinner on Saturday evening to avoid the crowd on the actual day, and not only was the food good, but a couple we met while in line waiting for our food paid for our meal. I’m still smiling due to their enormously sweet gesture towards two strangers. We bought them a bottle of wine to thank them for their generousity. They insisted it wasn’t necessary but we wanted to let them know how much we appreciated what they did for our little family. They shared and spread more love to others and that is what Valentine’s Day is all about.
On Sunday we decided to hang out and relax as a family. One of my husband’s favorite foods is cinnamon rolls so I decided to make him some, from scratch, using a recipe I found on Pinterest. They turned out super yummy and took SO long to make! But he was happy and that made me happy. He bought Jordyn a teddy bear and a pink soccer ball for her Valentine’s Day gifts and she LOVED them. When she saw her ball in his hands, her face lit up, and she yelled “BALL”! It was absolutely adorable. Jordyn made her Dad a beautiful canvas painting with her hand prints and message saying “I <3 DAD” for his gift. Dad loved it. 🙂
Later that evening we went to the community center on base to play some basketball, and run around the gym with Jordyn, before we came back home to make/eat a homemade heart shaped pizza, and watch a movie together.
I got my Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby earlier this morning when I went to a local spa/salon to have a two hour, Caribbean Spa Treatment, done. I can’t think of a word strong enough to explain how amazing this treatment was so I’ll just use GLORIOUS. It was a much needed and much appreciated Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby. He is the best.
Whether you spent the holiday with a significant other, friends, family, or even by yourself, I hope you felt and shared love in the process. Valentine’s Day is all about love and there is more than one way to love, show love, and spread love. I hope you are all recharged and enjoying your evening. Have a happy rest of your day and even though it still isn’t Valentine’s Day, tell someone you love them, today.
Brie <3
[02.16.16]
January Goals Accomplished!
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]
Happy Veterans Day
I made the mistake of watching the video posted below before typing this post, so sorry in advance for any misspelled words and incoherent sentences while attempting to type through my tears. Today is the day we are grateful and thankful to all of the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve our country. I personally know many people who have served and continue to serve the United States of America. Out of all of them, my favorite military man in the whole wide world is my selfless husband, Kris. He serves in the United States Air Force and I couldn’t be more proud of him if I tried.
In addition to my husband I am thankful for all of our military family and friends and want to wish all of you a very special Happy Veterans Day as well. There are way too many of you to name, but you know who you are, and if you didn’t already know, you now know how much I appreciate and love you all.
This is my favorite military surprise homecoming video and I share it every year on my Facebook page. This year I’m sharing it on the blog so more people can see it and cry with me 😉
Thank you again Veterans! You are very appreciated!
Brie <3
[11.11.15]
8 Years Later..
Today my husband and I have been together for 8 years. It almost seems impossible for it to have been so many years. How does time move so fast? When did all of this change happen? And how? I guess time flies when you’re having fun. It also flies by when you’re busy, you know, living life. I was 18 years old and Kris was 19 years old when we started dating. We were children who thought we actually had life figured out for the most part. I know, it’s laughable, but doesn’t every 18 year old think their miraculous “legally adult” age makes them knowlegable about life. Go ahead and roll your eyes, then laugh at how hilarious and ridiculous we were at 18 years old LOL.
We were just a couple of college students who were counting the money in their bank accounts praying we had a enough to buy the Wendy’s we didn’t need and still be able to participate in weekend campus festivities. Ahhh yes, the young and in love college life. We spent a lot of days eating made to order meals from Loyola’s “Rambler Room” using my “Rambler bucks” considering we didn’t have any real bucks to eat elsewhere haha. Thankfully, the food in the Rambler Room was always good, and not cafeteria food.
I believe one of the greatest and hardest parts of being together from such a young age, is changing and growing with the same person over time. We both look back at how we thought about certain ideas and can’t believe we ever thought it to be okay. Don’t even get us started on the horrible fashion choices we made. We have way too many pictures to prove it too. For example:
I’m sure you’ve noticed Kris’ sliced eyebrows, and overly huge and colorful clothing. Now focus on my cheap but huge earrings, hair ribbon, and costume jewlelry. And we thought the other person was SO attractive in this attire too. That’s real love! LOL.
But out of all of the changes and growing we did as individuals, we somehow figured out how to grow individually, but with each other in the process. Sometimes we went through growth spurts simutaneously and other times we were on completely opposite schedules. As with any relationship, especially young relationsips, we hit quite a few bumps in the road. From learning who our friends were to learning how to love unconditionally, it took a lot of tests that we sometimes failed. Thankfully, in this love, we each found a person who believes in second and third chances to pass some of the tests we always knew they could with some extra encouragment. The beauty of multiple tests is, when you pass, the triumph that follows always makes it worth it.
Our tests and triumphs are what make us who we are. For us in particular, it’s what makes us, Brie and Kris. I often hear people say “I wouldn’t change a thing..” about their past life encounters, but I don’t think this is true. I believe if we were able to change some things in our lives we would go back and make the decision to erase all disappointment, hurt and pain. However, what we learn over time is, changing the past wouldn’t have taught us any lessons. It is because we know what disappointment, hurt and pain feel like that we fully appreciated what happiness, joy, and thankfulness feel like. Without the bad days we can’t appreciate the good ones. I think this is the one particular lesson we have continued to learn and appreciate over time, and even more so now in marriage.
A marriage, and child later, we are always learning new ways to love one another and challenge one another. We’re learning 8 years later nothing is ever the same. We already know year 8 will be different from every year past and every year to come. However, the one thing that remains the same 8 years later, and always will, is unconditonal love is always the correct answer to any test thrown our way.
I’m so happy I get to spend another year unconditionally loving someone who loves me unconditionally.
Happy anniversary babe! I love you.
*picture on the left is from our first date and the picture on the right is Christmas 2014*
Brie <3
[08.31.15]
Happy 27th Birthday, Kris!
You’re an old man now, ha! Just kidding…sort of :-). Today, my crazy, hilarious, and wonderful husband turns 27 years young. It’s crazy to think you were 19 years old when we first started dating. The age makes it sound like forever ago, but it feels like it all happened yesterday. Here is a little throwback picture of you on our second date. How could I NOT fall in love with this guy?! Hahaha.
We’ve known each other most of our lives, but somehow, I honestly think you get better each year. I won’t repeat that ever again for the sake of your ego, but just know it’s true…LOL. In the midst of this crazy life, I am grateful God made you for me, and me for you. Let’s be real, the whole Caribbean pride we feel and share with one another is simply a match made in heaven, right? 🙂 I’m grateful for not only knowing such a caring, selfless, and hard working man, but being blessed enough to call you my husband. My forever. I’m even more blessed to call you Jordyn’s amazing father. You already know Jordyn loves you beyond words, and probably wouldn’t know what to do without her “Da-da-da-da.”
I hope you enjoy yourself to the fullest, today. I pray all of your aspirations, hopes and dreams come true this year. I pray God blesses you to see many more birthdays, and I pray I’m blessed enough to share every single one with you.
Happy birthday, baby! Jordyn, Ares and I love you SO much.
Brie <3
[05.22.15]
“Sunday Morning”
This song came on while I was in the car the other day, and as usual, I sang my heart out like I do every time I hear it. This is my favorite Maroon 5 song. Adam sang the hell out of this song, and it is a bucket list goal to meet him, and have him sing it to me in person. It helps that he’s quite easy on the eyes too 😉 I just got so happy thinking about this happening LOL.
But in all seriousness, this song is so special to me, because it always makes me think about my husband. The lyrics below pretty much say it all..
“Fingers trace your every outline,
Paint a picture with my hands,
Back and forth we sway like branches in a storm,
Change the weather still together when it ends“
Have a happy and blessed Sunday, lovely people!
Brie <3
[03.22.15]
“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”
Kris has dubbed this as our “Anniversary Week” and I felt it is only right to share one of our favorite songs. This has been one of our mushy couple songs since we started dating back in 2007. It is a song that never gets old, because who could ever NOT want to hear Aerosmith sing about love the way they do in this song?
Oh, and since it’s Thursday, we can call this a #TBT (throwback Thursday) all wrapped up in one.
Have a happy and thankful Thursday! 🙂
Brie <3
[02.26.15]
Happy 2 Year Wedding Anniversary to Us :)
Two years ago, today, I said “I do” to my best friend, my husband, Kris. It’s crazy how fast time flies when you’re living life and having fun in between. When I was younger, I never quite understood what adults meant about time flying as you get older. I am for sure seeing and understanding what they meant by that statement now that I’m a little older.
In two years so much has happened I would need to write a book to talk about all of it. I would have to say, and I’m sure my husband would agree, if we’ve done nothing else “right” in this marriage, Jordyn Denise is proof we’ve done at least one thing, perfectly. It’s interesting how a child makes you love your spouse so much more. Watching Kris with her melts my heart every single time. I don’t think it will ever get old and I am beyond OK with this constant heart fluttering. She is Daddy’s little princess, and he is slowly starting to replace Mommy as the “favorite” parent. Siiiigh. I’m holding on as long as I can! Lol.
As in any marriage there are the great days and not so great days. If you’re blessed to have married the right person, the great days outweigh the not so great days by a long shot. I never knew I’d want to be with someone, for the rest of my life, who is able to make me SO happy and SO angry. When you say it out loud it sounds pretty crazy, but I promise it works. I was watching the talk show “The Real” the other day (it’s pretty much my favorite talk show right now) while they were discussing gift/anniversary ideas, and one of the hosts, Jeannie Mai, brought up an idea I decided to elaborate on for Kris and I to do this year. She said every year on her and her husbands anniversary, they open up about one thing they would like the other to improve on. I thought it was a pretty neat idea for opening up more communication. I decided to put my own little spin on it though. Instead of just concentrating on the negative, and the other person, we will answer a three-part question. 1) What can your spouse improve on? 2) What does your spouse do that you appreciate and would like them to keep doing? 3) What can I improve on for my spouse? I think these questions will be fun, and informative, because it’s human nature to not really stop and think about these things until they blow up into bigger issues. I figure, why not talk about them and put them out there when we’re both in the right state of mind to have a healthy conversation about it? It’s all coming from love and that’s what matters.
To my husband, here is to two amazing years together. With two years being this great, I’m pretty excited to see what forever holds in store for us.
Happy Anniversary Baby!
*Fun fact- those are our wedding bands, in my bouquet, on our wedding day, in the header photo 🙂
Brie <3
[02.23.15]