Here & There & Everywhere

   Today is my first day back at work after my fun weekend home. Our plane arrived in Orlando on Thursday and we had to drive to Fernandina. We got home so late that we didn't have a chance to see anyone! 

Flying over Florida

    I was super happy that I was babysitting Lauren on Friday. I soooo look forward to my time with her. Keith and I took her to Target and she insisted on walking by loudly yelling, "WALK!" until we put her down. She is at the age where she repeats single words and will answer you when you ask her "What does a frog say" so I am trying to teach her to say "I love you" when you ask her "What does Aunt Brittany" say. So far she only has the "I" down.

I ain't smiling for nobody!

Ok...maybe one smile

   Friday night Keith and I were able to watch Karli and Lauren and they had the best time together! We threw them in the bathtub and they took turns dumping water on each others heads.

 Splash!

    Late Friday night I drove back to Orlando for work and Hannah came with me. She stayed at the hotel all day Saturday and read a book. (Big Surprise) Saturday night after work we went to Crispers for dinner and then came back to the hotel to do our couch-to-5k run. Hannah managed to slip on the treadmill about 2 minutes into the run. I laughed so hard when she fell that I had to recover for 5 minutes before I could run again!

Hannah taking a break...

Sweaty, but happy!

    Sunday Hannah came to the hospital with me because my shift was so short. We had fun checking out the Disney Pavilion.

The Little Mermaid was my favorite when I was growing up!

I wanna be like you-ooo-ooo

 

    After my shift on Sunday we drove back to Fernandina and Keith & I had dinner at Pepper's with our friends and then visited my cousins. Whitney & BJ are used to stopping by my aunt's house after our Pepper's dates and my family loves seeing Karli!

Me & Jenna

Having a stroke I think...

Lots of girls!

    Monday after a hair appointment and accountant appointment we had lunch at Barbara Jean's with family. I bribed Lauren by taking her outside on the deck which she loves!

BAD picture of me, but look how Lauren is laughing!

Blurry but beautiful!

All the ladies after lunch

    Monday afternoon was spent hanging out with my family and squeezing in as much time with them as we could! We got a little silly and snapped a few family pictures.

As close to a smile as you'll ever get from my dad

Snuggling on the couch

Jared took this picture and cropped off my head!

Tutus are perfectly acceptable on Mondays

    I actually cried when we got in the car to leave for the airport. I won't be home again until the last weekend in March. I'll miss my family so much! Lauren came outside to wave goodbye to us.

Bye Bye Britt Britt!

On our connecting flight from Baltimore to Connecticut we ate at a diner that had a mini jute-box you could play at your booth.

    The flight had WiFi so I was able to FaceTime Hannah from the plane!

Hi Hannah

    Today we got back to business at the hospital, but since there are so many pictures in this post I decided to snap one more of Keith & I working.

I do love this boy

   I know this post is short on words, but it's late and I'm off to do my couch-to-5K run! Until next time...

~xoxo, Brittany B.

Natural Born Worrier

    Today we will be hopping on a plane at 2:30 and landing at 5:30. Then immediately driving from Orlando to Fernandina and should arrive sometime around 9. Tomorrow is my only real day off, and I get to spend it babysitting Lauren (which is time I treasure!) and then plan to go to a club-esqe class with Whitney at 5:30. After the class I will drive back to Orlando so I can work Saturday & Sunday. Sunday after work I will drive back from Orlando to Fernandina and will get in around 8. Monday I have a very early appt. to "get my hair did" at 8:30 (thank you, Miranda!) and then Keith and I meet with an accountant at 10. Hopefully I can grab lunch with my family and chill for a bit before we catch our flight from Jacksonville to Connecticut at 5pm.

    I say all of this because I often think of life in "hours I can't get back." For instance, I'll spend 7.5 hours in a rental car this weekend just to go back and forth to work. 6 hours in the sky traveling to/from home.  16 hours working in Orlando. Only 18 hours will actually be spent surrounding myself with the people I love. Precious hours that I CAN'T GET BACK will be spent just going from point A to point B. 

   I think that becoming a nurse caused me to think this way. When I work at the bedside I see life at its most fragile and vulnerable state, but even when I'm not at work I view life like that. It's also because I'm a natural worrier. I worry about flying, landing, driving in traffic. I worry about if I'll be on time to work. I worry about things that probably won't even come to pass. I worry about the past, present and the future. I truly envy people who have a carefree existence and spend their lives just living. Not thinking about time being wasted... just enjoying the moment they're in.
  Lately I've made a conscious effort to spend more time enjoying the present, but today I've fallen back into my worrying habits. I think it's the stress of the plane ride. Everything will be fine again once my feet are firmly planted on solid ground in Fernandina. 
~xoxo, Brittany B. 

Soda...The Other Love of my Life

How Soda Impacts You

    Many of you may not know, but I am a former soda junkie. I LOVE Soda, Coke is my all time favorite. Is there anything better than a large fountain coke? I think not. It's not like I would just have a soda every now and then; I had one with breakfast, lunch and dinner. If it wasn't soda it was sweet tea. When I started working in Orlando I found out the campus only sold Pepsi products (insert disgusted sigh here.) I had to quickly find an alternative to the Coke I loved so much; it came in the form of Mountain Dew. I went from drinking 3-4 sodas or tea a day, to 4 glasses of Mountain Dew. I didn't know it at the time, but Mountain Dew has about 50 calories more per serving than coke does!

    After a few months in Orlando I stepped on the scale and realized I had put on 4 pounds. WHAT! That can't be right.... but it was. Yes, I went out to eat frequently, but I would be willing to bet money that those sneaky pounds came from the soda I was consuming. I decided I wanted to cut out soda and tea once and for all!  I knew it would be hard because I consumed so many sodas a day that I would get terrible caffeine headaches if I didn't have a drink by 10am. I was also the most irritable and cranky person you have ever met (no exaggeration) if I couldn't get some caffeine in my system early. After seeing the above graph one afternoon I decided that I would power through the headaches and quit drinking the stuff. I've always known how bad soda is, I'm a nurse for crying out loud! After two days of near-tear inducing headaches I smartened up and had one Excedrin in the morning (just one of those has more caffeine than a can of coke!) After two weeks I stopped taking the Excedrin and found that the headaches were gone.

   I'm happy to say that yesterday marked 2 months since I've had any soda. I won't even drink diet soda because they are just as bad but without the calories. Now I only drink water, and on occasion diet cranberry/raspberry Snapple. I do miss the taste of Coke, but I no longer crave them like I did when I drank them all the time. 

   I have so much more energy since giving it up, and I get more sleep at night. I also think my bones, teeth, and heart are very appreciative! I'm eating healthier and exercising and I've replaced my standard soda can with a hhhuugggeeee bottle of water. I really do feel an amazing difference.

                     Say what you want, but Fiji water really is the best!

Bottom's Up!

~xoxo, Brittany

Things I miss...

 Traveling is one of the best things about my job. I love that I've been able to spend time in different places and experience things that I normally wouldn't. Since June of last year Keith and I have spent more nights away from home than I can count. For this year we have been checked into a hotel for 55 nights, and there have only been 49 days in the year so far. (Some weekends we are in different locations.)

  I'm very lucky that I am able to travel home as much as I do to see my family and friends. My heart goes out to everyone who is away from their family and can't visit like I get to! Every time Keith and I are home for a weekend we rush to see everyone we can in such a short amount of time, and we never make it to see everyone we wanted to. 

Look, I'm a Panda!

  I miss everyone in my family more than they know! Hannah has always been my go-to person to take with me to Target, run errands, go to the beach with, or just do nothing at all with. I miss her company all the time! Lauren is probably who I miss the most; I love snuggling up to her every chance I can while I'm home. When she's very, very sleepy she likes to lay her head on your shoulder and bury her head in your neck, one of my favorite times to be around her. She's smart, stubborn, determined and reminds me a little bit of me ;) I face time her every chance I get, but it's not the same as being with her in person. I also talk to my mom all the time on the phone, but hardly ever talk to my dad or brother because they are always working or busy.

  Keith and I are incredibly blessed to have the jobs that we do, but no amount of money in the world could ever make me as happy as my family does. It helps a lot to know that the jobs/locations are only temporary, and that our house is waiting for us right where we left it. I also can't believe how fortunate we have been to travel together for the past several months. There may come a time when we land separate contracts, but for now our project is scheduled to last through June.

  I know that I'm going to have a blast traveling to the fun spots Keith and I have picked to visit on the weekends, but the trip I look forward to the most is the one going home every month. Until then, I hope my family know how much I love them (pretty sure they do!)

Sunset from above the clouds on our plane ride last night.

~xoxo, Brittany B.

Thank the Lord for Ugg Boots...

Well Internet, 
   I've been a busy girl. Monday was my first day in Connecticut!  I got in very late Sunday night. Keith was so proud that I made it off the plane and had all my bags together that he snapped a picture:

All grown up...

Pretty Church I found.

     Keith had to work 7-5 Monday so I was left to fend for myself. I'll admit that I was a little worried; I thought that I was going to be in a big city with traffic and cranky yankees. Turns out, Southington is the complete opposite. This is farm town! Hartford is a tiny city and it's surround by sleepy, rural towns with lots of open fields and barns! Don't worry, I found a Starbucks...

Love, Love, Love...

    Yesterday was my first day at work here, and there is a LOT of work to be done. This hospital is very far behind where they need to be so I will be pulling long shifts. Bonus... I had to get a badge picture ;)

YUCK!

   Also, yesterday was Valentines day (in case you're living under a rock!) Keith & I exchanged gifts Monday night and he really went over the top this year. Sometimes I do love that boy...

Tiffany, Ugg & Vera...A girl's best firends...

      We didn't make dinner plans and ended up at Red Robin. It's seriously the best Vday dinner I've ever had. I haven't had a hamburger or french fries in a month. (ok, so I did have half a hamburger in Naples...) It was so good!! Of course I had a freckled (diet) lemonade, there must have still been some sugar in it because I was bouncing off the walls for a solid hour after I drank it. Keith thought I had maybe snorted a line or something.

At Red Robin! How dare Keith not instagram this photo!!

    Then we went to the mall to get the chain on my necklace customized, but Tiffany was closed so we wound up in LensCrafters. I've needed new glasses for a lllooonnnggg time! Keith liked these:

Isn't he cute!

 One plus side to the 20 degree daily temps is that I get to rock my Ugg boots all the time. They keep my toes ridiculously toasty. I wish I could wear them to work. Notice I'm freezing in the picture below:

Keith told me to take off my puffy jacket. See the mountains in the very back?

 

 

    We had a yummy dinner tonight in the cute shopping district of West Hartford. You don't know how happy I was to be in the "city!"

Kiss for you!

   After dinner I came home and did my couch to 5K run. Thankfully it's getting easier! Tomorrow we work again and then Friday we are off together. Sadly  have to catch a flight back to Orlando to work the weekend.
  Now I'm going to bed since I have to be up in a few hours!
xoxo~ Brittany B.

Connecticut!

Internet,

     I have exciting news....I will be living in Connecticut until {hopefully} June! Keith left for Hartford last Monday for an amazing work opportunity and I was lucky enough to land the same contract. I'm very excited because living in CT for a bit will provide us with the ability to visit some fantastic spots (NYC, Boston & Niagara Falls are all high on my list) and we can take a train to most of them. The remainder of February will be tough because I will be flying from CT to Orlando every Friday to work Sat & Sun. Then I'll fly back to CT on Sunday night for work on Monday.

   I'm already begging Keith to take me to NYC for Valentine's Day, but since it's a 2 hour train ride and we will be working until 5, I don't think that will happen. A girl can dream, right?

Couch to 5K...

Ok Internet,

     Today I put my husband on a plane & it made me very, very sad! I don't like being away from him at all. I actually shed a few tears when I dropped him off at the airport. I knew I needed something to take my mind off of him being away for a bit & since I'm trying to get healthy I had a great idea (or so I thought.) I know several people who did the couch to 5k program and loved it so I thought I would try it. 

    At the risk of this being the biggest understatement ever - I'm wayyyyy past being out of shape. Way, way, wayyyyyy past. Despite that, I've convinced myself and my sister that we can complete the couch to 5k program so that we can do  The Color Run which looks like so much fun! In keeping with my vow to be more active I also went to a club-esque class with my friend yesterday and pretended like I know how to dance and I walked with my speed-walker of a mother this morning.  And now? Now, I think I might die. I hurt everywhere! I'm glas that tomorrow is a "rest" day! Hannah & I are going to keep going with the torture!
   Another thing that cheers me up is Lauren, so I went to see her. We had a lot of fun together today with my mom and grandma.

  Lauren ate a pop-tart as we walked this morning, which is counterproductive to weight loss. Who knew!  ;)

Want some pop tart aunt britt britt?

   One thing I did not do today is have a Publix Cookie with my niece...because she wouldn't share with me.

No cookie for aunt britt-britt...

   We also made a pit stop by another grandma's house. She lives across the street from a small farm and I let Lauren feed the baby goats.

 All of this helped to take my mind off my hubby. Now if my anti-inflammatory would just kick in I might get some sleep tonight!

This is TRUE!

~xoxo, Brittany B.

Just Like You...Only Prettier ;)

 

Oh Internet,

       Last night my sister & I had a blast at the Miranda Lambert Concert. I found out last week that she would be in Orlando and really wanted to go! Since Keith refuses to go to any concert where females might walk away feeling empowered, I called my sister. My parents brought her to Orlando yesterday and before the concert we all had an amazing dinner at Hillstone, one of our favorite restaurants in Winter Park. Everyone's dinner was oh-so-yummy! Even though I'm trying to eat healthy and lose weight, we followed it up by sharing a slice of banana cream pie and a 5 nut brownie. Delicious!

The view at Hillstone

With Hannah-Banana

With my hubby outside at Hillstone

Very bad picture of Dad, Hannah and the banana dessert.

 After dinner Hannah and I headed off to the concert. We only to a few wrong turns thanks to the GPS.We sang our off-key hearts out to every Miranda song we knew (and didn't know.) Her songs "Famous in a Small Town" and The House that Built Me" are some of my favorites. Here's a quick video from last night of another one of my favorite songs, "Only Prettier"

And a few more pics of me and Hannah:

Matching T-shirts

 Every song was over-the-top good. The concert was amazing & I'm so glad I got to spend this time with my sister! She's one of the sweetest people I know!

~xoxo,

Brittany B.

Hi There

Hello Internet,

      If you asked me why I was bothering to start a blog I'd probably answer, To remember. There are so many things that happen everyday that I never want to forget. Some are silly, some are important and some just need to be shared. For instance, I have the best husband ever. We spent all day on Sanibel & Captiva Islands looking for shells and chasing after stingrays. I walked down the shore line and watched as Keith slowly crept out towards those stingrays, not appearing to be scared at all, and announced that he was going to "Go all Steve Irwin." I kept a very safe distance...most sane people would. Later we searched for perfect shells and looked out at the pristine turquoise water on Captiva Island, slightly awed at how beautiful the scenery was. If every day was like today, I would be so happy my heart swell. Most days I AM so happy that my heart does swell, having the best husband ever will do that to you.

Captiva Island

This little guy didn't have a tail.

This one DID have a tail.

~xoxo,

Brittany B.