Our Sitting Room

I don't really have good "Before" pictures because it changed so much. But this is the closest one I could find....

And here is our new Sitting room!

Now I know you probably think we're crazy for getting white couches.  But frankly, the slip cover cost almost as much as the couch.  Plus, it's washable and we can just bleach out the stains.  We're really not that worried at all.  So....there you have it!  Once again, if you know anyone looking for a huge sectional couch, send them our way!  It comes with a 7 year warranty.

Last Minute Day Off

Last night, Eric had the idea of me taking off from work today so we could spend it together.  As it was a brilliant plan, I didn't know if it would go over well with my boss....being it so last minute.  So I called her cell phone and told her our ideal plan.  Thankfully and blessed, she said ok and immediately we acted like little, giddy children.  Our day off was more planned than you think.

This morning, we left at 8:30 to drop off Gavin at Daycare.  Then we traded my car with my dad's truck.  We went to Golden Bear for breakfast then we headed to Tampa.  We could not believe the traffic at 10:30!  Aren't people supposed to be at work?!  About 20 minutes of traffic in Tampa, we reached our destination....IKEA!

Yes, this was our third trip to IKEA this year but this time was different....we had a truck!  No joke, we literally spent 4 hours walking, looking, shopping, buying and loading.  PHEW!  We had a blast and we actually agreed on the decor of our sitting room.  I used to call it our back room but now that we bought a sofa and a chair, it is now our sitting room.  :)  It's gonna look nice and hopefully will remain that way.  Anyhow, after we left IKEA, we hit traffic again at 3:30.  So by the time we got home, I had to trade cars and pick up Gavin.  Our "day" was gone before we knew it....but like I said, we had a blast! 

I will take pictures once our furniture is up and lookin' nice.  We were able to put some things together tonight.  Also, we're trying to sell our Snoop-Dogg couch in the main living room.  It's sad, I know, but it has been our enemy when it comes to decorating that room.  We put it on Craigslist and we're hoping it sells soon.  :(  Good night and sleep tight!

Hide Me!

When I workout with my P90X dvds, I enjoy the comfort of my own home.  Knowing that I can wear as little as possible and not feel looked down upon by body builders.  So, before I pop in that dvd, I close the blinds in the front living room and even the back living room (because I KNOW the neighbors behind us can see me.)  Then I grab my bottle of water and hit the ground hard!

Well, I get a call today from my wonderful, ambitious husband.  "Hey Sweetie, do you want go to get curtains tonight?"  Not knowing the whole story, I said, "Maybe.  Do we HAVE to get them tonight because we don't necessarily agree on the decor?"  My daring, crafty husband then says, "Well, I tore down the blinds in the front living room already."  Hmmm....looks like we're getting curtains tonight!

Complete Honesty

I love the friends that tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  For instance, the comments about my blog's new look were brutally honest and I loved it!  I think it's easier to say honest comments through text than it is face to face.  But once you find those friends who are directly straight up with you, don't let them go! 

In my life, I have friends with all different kinds of honesty.  I have the kind that say, "Things are going good but I'm not going into detail."  The kind that say, "I am really depressed and here's what's going on."  And even the kind that say, "Brooke, what were you thinking?!"  When you find friends that are openly honest with you, you will have a tendancy to trust them more on a deeper level and maybe even seek their opinions and advice.  I'm hoping to be that kind of friend to others.  If I think you're doing something wrong or against God's will, I hope I can lovingly correct you.  If you're down in the dumps, I hope I can encourage you, not with false hope but with God's Truth.  And if you're baby is ugly, I will most likely say they're absolutely beautiful because God's creation is beautiful. :)

Oh Crap!

Two nights ago, our bathroom plumbing got clogged.  There was black sludge filling the tub while the toilet wasn't running.  Eric spent most of Wednesday night trying to fix it with our snake but did not succeed.  So Thursday morning, I rushed over to my dad's house to take a shower before work.  Thursday afternoon, Eric attempted to fix it again but with chemicals.  By the time I got home from work, it was still clogged.  Thankfully, we had dinner at Mema's house for Heather's birthday so we were able to use her bathroom.  :)  This morning, I skipped the shower and freshened up using the sink.  It's amazing the things we take for granted.  So, after the attempts Eric made, he finally decided to suck it up and call a plumber.  The guy showed up at 10:50 a.m. and left around 11:20 a.m.  Can't believe how quickly he fixed it.  Obviously he had the proper tools.  After I paid, what seemed like a reasonable price, I saw the nastiness that was left behind.  I was going to stay and clean but it was so digusting that I chose to go back to work instead.  I'm just thankful we're done with all that crap....well almost.  Anyone want to join us for a cleaning party tonight?!         

Exodus

Pastor Joe started a new sermon series a couple weeks ago.  We're going through the book of Exodus.  I cannot express how much I enjoy my pastor's sermons on Old Testament!  My heart just melted when we went through Genesis (which takes years to accomplish!)  And now that we're in Exodus, my hand wants to write down every word I hear because it's THAT good!  Thankfully, our church's website has a feature that allows you to listento previous sermons from the pulpit. 

If you go to Gulf Coast Fellowship's website you'll see a list of sermons.  My favorite non-Exodus topic was January 23rd about friendships.  SO GOOD that I got a little emotional!  Then at the top of the page, you'll see the actual Exodus sermons.  This past week's was phenomenal!  It was about God distrubing our comfort zone in order to achieve the greatest blessings He has to offer.  Sometimes we just settle for less than what God intends for us.  Just listen to the sermon and download the outline to follow along.  It's definitely worth a listen! :)  One thing Pastor Joe said was, "No time is wasted when you're with God."  AMEN!

New Look

I'm testing to see if my blog's "new look" will either make me happy or just flat out annoy me.  What do you think?

Valentine's Day for Others

Last week, Eric was able to talk to his good friend, Frank.  Frank and his wife, Kathleen, live in New York and travel a lot with her being on Broadway.  When Eric asked, "What are you guys doing for Valentine's Day?", Frank answered, "Oh, well, we got invited to a Cinderella Ball.  It's being catered with fancy food and champagne.  Everyone will be dressed in ball gowns and tuxedoes.  It's actually being hosted by (or at least they'll be there in attendance) Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker.  It should be a fun time!  What are you guys doing?"  Eric's response, "Um....well, I think Brooke found a coupon for the Super Buffet."  Frank's comment, "What's that?"

Best friends in two totally different worlds!  :)

Stinky

The other night, Gavin was soundly sleeping and Eric had a headache so he went to bed.  However, I stayed up and watched a movie.  It was called You Again?  Cute movie!  Well, I like to snack a little when I'm watching a movie.  I went to the kitchen and we had NO snacky foods!

I checked all the cabinet shelves.  Nothing.  I checked the hanging fruit basket.  Wasn't interested.  Then I opened the fridge and I saw a tupperware container.  The contents were screaming at me, "Eat me!  Eat me!"  What were they?  Rings of raw onions.

Now my first thought was to just eat one or two.  I grabbed the container and sat down to watch the movie.  Each bite was even tastier than before!  To be honest, I'm not sure how many raw onion rings I actually ate.  All I do know is that I had to get rid of the stench in my mouth before I went to bed!  Movie was over and I was in the bathroom brushing, scrubbing, gargling, swishing and spitting.  But to no avail, the stench remained.  I was too tired so I went to bed.

Next morning, I could've sworn the smell was escaping through the pores of my body!  I wasn't going to say anything until Eric noticed.  Thankfully he didn't.  I waited until I got to work to text him what I did.  I was so embarrassed!  He responded with, "Ew!  Gargle with baking soda and water."  Interestingly enough, it kinda worked.  Hope you're taking notes:  Do not eat A LOT of raw onions before you go to bed....or at all.  But if you do, gargle with baking soda and water.  Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for my family!  Such a small word for a mass so great.  I lumped them all together in this blog because Thankful Thursdays could go on forever if I named them one by one every week.  Remember my Thanksgiving guest list? 

We love our family.  We may not see eye to eye on a lot of things but that doesn't make us love them less.  We may not see each other every week or even every month but that doesn't mean we don't think about them.  And we may not know what's going on in their lives because we're not on facebook but that doesn't mean we don't pray for them.  We definitely love our family.

One huge thing we're grateful for is that we have babysitters everywhere!  I'm not quite sure what we would've done without our family.  They are our main support group.  So Family....we love you and we are so thankful for you!

Gloomy Days

Lately, here in Florida, we've seen some very gloomy days.  Some gloomy days call for laziness, some call for sickness, others call for parties!  Laziness seemed like a good idea but we had a very dirty house to clean.  Sickness sorta came our way but we're fighting it with all we got!  And we didn't necessarily have a full-blown out party but we did have our friends come over for the SuperBowl.  We really enjoy their company. :)

Updates on Gavin:  we KNOW for a fact that he's trying to say certain words but no joke, they sound like curse words.  He's called me an asshole and a bitch on more than one occasion!  ...not that he's completely wrong but still...  I'll try and get it on video because you probably think I'm lying.  His favorite word is still "No" and he says it with such attitude (not sure where he got that from).  But for the most part, he is very obedient and very playful.  I'm enjoying the fact that we can turn a cry into laughter in an instant.  The power of tickling! :)

P90X is going alright.  I cheated on one dvd (Yoga)....I did 15 minutes of the 90 minutes workout.  That one is so boring and so long!  So this week, I will be substituting it with Plyometrics (one of the most hated workouts of all!)  Another thing I did this week was switched two days.  I rested on the day to do Kenpo and did Kenpo on the day of rest.  This week should be better....especially with my eating! :)

No updated pictures or videos just yet....but you know they're coming!

Accountability or Friendly Competition?

As some of you know, I have re-started P90X (the Lean version this time).  My first day was February 1st.  Now you're probably asking, "Why are you starting on a Tuesday?  Most people start working out on Mondays."  Well, if you don't know me by now, I'm not like most people and basically I just wanted to start on the first of the month.  So far so sore. :)

So....I get an email from my friend, Brandi.  I wrote about her son, Gabe, three months ago.  She asked if we could have a friendly competition with P90X and I immediately said, "Yes."  We're recording our "before" measurements and taking "before" pictures.  We will check in our weight weekly and our other measurements monthly.  At the end (which is May 2nd), we will take "after" pictures and our final measurements and compare.  Not exactly sure how we're going to see who the winner is because I could gain 5 pounds but lose 3 inches.  So we'll figure that out in May.

A friendly competition like this is more of accountability and encouragement more than anything.  Brandi and I used to do Boot Camp together and every time she would get ahead of me for just a moment, I would push myself even harder.  Now, our circumstances have changed quite a bit since having babies but I am so glad she is joining me once again!

So Brandi....I've got two words for you, "BRING IT!"

      

Media Update

Here are some pictures of my first Gasparilla experience.  If you'd like to hear stories about that day, please stop by because you would get the full effect if we were face to face.  :)

Then here are some videos of Gavin: