New Blog

So I've never been good at blogging, but I'd like to be better so my friends and fam can stay up to date with us. Facebook is to vague for some people :)
I had to make a new blog account so I would actually blog, so try this one from now on:
www.thebrimys.blogspot.com
Can't wait to see you there! :)

Putting in the Miles

Well, I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I ran a half marathon! It all started after we miscarried and I was coming off all the hormones. I wanted to feel like I could do something for myself, something I could control about my health. So after talking to my friend, Jodi, (who was training for a marathon at the time) I decided I would do the one thing I never thought I would ever consider doing... run. At the time I could barely run only two miles.

I was starting to go for walk/runs with my friend, Alisa, (who just had a baby at the time). So I asked her to start training with me and before I knew it we were signing up for a half marathon with only three months to train. I was really proud of Alisa for taking on the challenge, her baby is just six months old now and she has already gotten down to her pre baby weight. She's awesome!!


It's amazing how in just a few months your life can revolve around your running schedule... what you eat, drink, how you sleep, and your social affairs. I used to tell everyone how crazy they were for working so hard on something that makes you hurt in the end... but now I know why.

The race was awesome! It was very small in the small town of Ocean Shores Washington. I think there were less than 100 runners. It was 6 1/2 miles one way to turn around and run back... I think because the town was too small to keep running forward.

There was a good three miles we ran on the ocean shore, and it was so beautiful! The other majority of the run went along beautiful authentic beach homes. It was so much fun to be so occupied by the scenery!

The weather was only 65 degrees and over casted, it felt so nice after being in 90 degree dry heat. There weren't very many volunteers or mile markers, so I tried to keep my enthusiasm by high fiving and cheering on all other runners & bikers who I passed or who passed me. My step dad, Tom, used to run the St. George marathon and I remember how much he enjoyed it because of his positive attitude- so when I started out the race I told myself I wanted to just enjoy it and take in the moment. I'll be honest, I was passed a lot the first half, but I also ended up passing a few people I tried to compare myself with in the end- so I didn't feel too bad about myself! :)

There was a point when I thought I still had probably close to three miles left and I knew I was okay to do it, but ready to see the finish line... that's when a volunteer let me know I only had a mile and a half to go!! WOOOO HOOOO!!! I jumped and screamed and my girlfriend got a picture of me in my enthusiastic moment :)

I felt pretty good throughout the race, and felt like I was keeping a good pace. When all was said and done I ended up running my goal time. It would have been awesome to have run a little faster, but I'm proud of myself for working toward my goals!


So I've discovered a few things through all of this... 1. I do have some competition in me, and it is me! I can win over myself! 2. Gu is my friend, I don't care how "gooey" it is! 3. Guns and Roses and Justin Timberlake can take me through a lot of miles, I don't care what anyone else says!! 4. It's okay to do things for yourself if it's going to help your own image of yourself! I have no desire to run a marathon, but I can certainly say that I'm all about the 13.1 miles... and I'm looking forward for my next and hoping to beat my previous time. I also have to thank my biggest supporters- Alisa, Julie, Heather, Jodi, and of course my Barty! Thanks everyone for pushing me and encouraging me when I didn't think I wanted to do it!
Way to go Alisa!! We rocked our first half marathon together, I can't wait to run another with you!!!

Hangin' in There!

Hi everyone!
I know most if not all of you have been wondering how we are doing since we started IVF (invetro infertilization), so I thought I would update you...
We did the procedure in January and even though my hormone levels were raising slowly, I was still able to get pregnant (which is new for me). Unfortunately I didn't carry past 5 weeks and miscarried. We both know it could have been worse- I could have been further along, but it was devastating for us to find out. If any of you have tried to talk reason with me in the last few weeks and I wasn't friendly or accepting, please forgive me! Not only was I having a hard time emotionally, but I was pumped full of A LOT of hormones. We allowed ourselves 20 days to be sad and upset, but we are now on the mend and ready to make decisions again. We will probably be meeting with the Dr. in a few weeks to discuss our options and what could have possibly went wrong the last time. We are sure we will try again, hopefully sooner rather than later, but money unfortunately is a factor.
I know a lot of you have asked and/or may be wondering why we don't consider adoption. I want you to know we have talked a lot about it, but it all comes down to the answers to our prayers- we just don't feel like that is the answer for us right now. I guess we still have lessons to learn.
I want to thank you all for your prayers. I can't begin to describe how much peace and comfort we have been feeling through these hard times and I know it has a lot to do with the constant prayers and our names being kept in the temple. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
We want to have our own children to raise unto the Lord, but if he has another plan for us we will accept it. We are happy and in love and have so many blessings in our lives. We really can't complain about the good life we live. Until then Major is still our baby and he doesn't mind at all! But I'm always up to just borrow your kids in the mean time! :)
Love you all!

The BAHAMAS!

HAPPY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO US!
We decided now would be the best time to take a little Vacation to celebrate our 10 years of marriage- since there's no kiddos to worry about and Bart is actually home and not off to a deployment or training of some sorts!
We enjoyed hanging out together and doing something we've never done before... the highlight was definately scuba diving!
This is Bart filming me swimming along the coral towards a shipwreck, and he added his two cents in with a big smile for you!

Bart was really good at it- a natural! No surprise there. I had a little bit of a hard time at first figuring it out, but the second dive we went on I did much better. We saw turtles, schools of fish, lots of neat coral, and a shipwreck! It was amazing! Now that we've done it, Bart is set on getting gear and becoming certified to continue... I've done it twice and that's all I need to do! :)


The rest of our time there we laid by the pool/ocean, ate yummy food that was available to us all the time, and we got to do a little sailing and island jumping as well. We had a great time and wished we could have shared it with all of you!

New Year's was a pretty crazy night, and a lot of fun! They had a parade they call the "Junkanoo", live bands and dancing. They had a seafood buffet like I've never seen before- all the grilled lobster and jumbo shrimp we could stuff ourselves with! It was fun being crazy and dancing the new year in with my sweetie!
Happy New year everyone! We hope yours is a promising one!

What's new?

It's been a little while since I've updated our post, so I thought this might be a good time to let you all know what's going on...
First of all, we moved in to our new home in Olympia Washington a few months ago and live has been a little bit of a whirlwind since.
We celebrated our TEN year anniversary on Nov. 20th, and we are going to the Bahama's in Dec. to really celebrate! We can't wait to have a real vacation and relax!!
We (and be we I mean I) had a week to unpack before we left for CA for a week to visit family. It was a great time and we really enjoyed just getting to hang out and spend a little one on one with everyone. But the day after we got home we had guests showing up for Thanksgiving week. My mom came and helped me get a few things put together so the house looked a little more presentable and comfortable... she's had a little practice so she was a good help. Then Kevin came so he could take Whit back home. And then my sister Chris and her Ian came to spend the holiday. It was really fun having everyone here and we had some good laughs! And I loved having everyone fit comfortably in my new home, and it was my first time making Thanksgiving dinner for family. It actually turned out to be a good dinner! If only we had more time to spend together!
Bart was getting ready to deploy with his unit when they started to make some changes that would affect his work, so he asked to be transfered to another unit. This new unit was scheduled to leave for Iraq the first of February, but got cancelled just as they started their pre deployment training. This was such amazing news to us... it's still almost too unbelievable! Especially since we will be doing invetro ifertilization (IVF) real soon. It's inevitable that he will deploy in the future, but for right now we are enjoying the time we have together.
As far as making babies- well, we are now in the process! We had a family fast and prayer day, in which many of you participated in, and we have had only peaceful and hopeful feelings! It will take a few months before we know for sure if it works so stay tuned!! :) We feel like we're in a good place right now, and we know the Lord has a plan for us either way.
Well, I hope this helps getting my post updated a little... I better go pack for the big Vacation!
Love you all!

Home Updates

Well, here it is, in the making! After months of looking for a home to buy when we got out here we finally found the one. It wasn't our dream house, but it is nice and will be good for resale (we hope) in 5 or so years from now when we move again. Bart and I hadn't been able to pay our tithing in a few months when we first got here, and after a month of not finding a home we could agree on we both realized we needed to pay our tithing and give to the Lord to receive this blessing. It wasn't 24 hours later after fast Sunday when we paid our tithing that we found this house. Everything has gone pretty good so far with the building, choosing colors together, deciding on upgrades and not, and we still really like each other which is a bonus!!
We have already met with the loan officer and we close the end of Oct. We are super excited to be moving in to our own home and to hopefully be starting our family here. Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers, we have felt very blessed these last few weeks. Nothing new or exciting as far as doing any IVF (invetro fertilization), but we have begun the testing and will be meeting with our Dr. again next month to discuss "the game plan". We love you all & hope you'll come to visit... we will have plenty of room!

THE HOUSE

Well, we're picking out colors and upgrades and stuff for the house, and everything seems to be working out so far. We're really excited to finally have something that belongs to us that we can make our own! We don't close until November (our choice) since we're locked in a rental agreement, but it should be done before then...
It's been stressful, but we're trying to enjoy every bit of it since we are so blessed to be in a position to even be buying a home during these hard times.

Looking UP!!

I just wanted to update you on the previous Dr.'s appointment. We are on the list for January to do IVF (invetro firtilizion). Instead of them putting us at the end of the list next year... I'm a little "high risk" so they put me in the soonest they could. This is good for us. So between now and then I have a lot of testing to do, a lot of needles poking me, a lot of hormones running crazy, and a lot more Dr. appointments. BRING IT!!!!
We are also thinking and getting ready to put a down on a house being built, this is our first so we don't have our hopes too high, but wish us luck- I'll keep you updated on that one!
Thanks everyone for your support and prayers, they're finally beginning to work for us!!! :)

FORKS

I'm finally starting to have some fun out here. It was record hot in the state of WA and miserable since there is no A/C around... except for my car.
Bart had to leave for trainings and I went to UT for a few days for a family reunion. It was nice to see family, but the most exciting part was that I got to bring my niece Whitney home with me. She's up here to go to school and will be staying with us until we kick her out :)!! Her sister Bailey came up with us to hang out and do some fun things for the summer... it's been so fun to have them both!
Since we got back from UT it's been beautiful WA weather- rainy and low 70's! I'm loving it!!! I guess I've grown out of my Southern Utah skin, I don't mind the cooler weather.
Since the girls have been here, we have been to Seattle to see the sights. Pikes Peak Market was neat, but crazy crowded. The fish stand was fun, and the fruit was to die for!! We are planning to go tomorrow to the top of the space needle and have lunch before we do a tour of the under ground city.
We also went yesterday to Port Angeles, Forks, and La Push were we got all the Twilight obsession we could out!! It wasn't quite what we thought it was going to be, but a fun experience nevertheless! These girls have been so awesome to bring my spirits up about being here. I love my nieces, they are such a good example to me!

GETTING SETTLED

Ok, Ok! I'm finally updating our blog... sorry it took me so long, but I haven't had access to the internet long enough to update until now. We've been pirating off someone else's internet (did I just say that out loud?)
So we found a place to rent in Puyallup WA while we continue to look for a house to buy. Bart has about a 45 minute commute to and from every day, which stinks for him. Especially since we lived just off the gate in GA (2 minute commute). The ward is nice, but I haven't had anyone call me randomly and become my friend in 45 minutes... Hannah! We still miss our old ward. The house is decent, it just has fusia pink carpet throughout the whole house!!! Who does that?? It's ugly. Oh well, hopefully we will be out of here before the holidays! Major is happy because we are in our own element, and he has a yard to play in again. He misses his buddies though! We have trails right next to our house we like to run through, and that keeps him happy too. I am trying to keep up with his shedding these days... I'm wondering what a bald lab would look like? It's driving me crazy!
The summer has been beautiful here! We've seen only a few days of rain since we got here. We've had anywhere from upper 60's to low 80's so far and it's been beautiful! Bart is definately getting his fishing in, and has made some quick friends because of it!
Bart's job is awesome. He really seems to like it, even though it's more work than he's getting paid for... hopefully it will help with an early promotion?? I can only hope and pray. They guys who work with him really like him. They have a good time in his shop! And his commanders are really easy to work with too. It's nice to see him come home in a good mood! :)
I am still working on getting my license to do massage here. It's been a project to half way unpack for me... you know me, I'm a little crazy about that stuff. My brother Jess and his girlfriend live in Seattle, so every Sunday we get together and do dinner. It's been super fun to have him around again, I've missed him bunches!
As far as anything fun... we really haven't done much yet! We did take a drive to Port Angeles one day! It made us both car sick because the roads are very curvey, but there's so much to see it was hard for us to keep our eyes on the road! Once we got there... there really wasn't much to see. :( Of course I was with Bart and he really didn't care to do the Twilight search, I don't know why!!! But we let Maj get out and swim for the first time in the ocean... he wasn't sure what to think about the waves coming at him, but he loved it anyway. That's a picture of Bart and Maj with down town Port Angeles in the back ground.
My niece Whitney is coming to live with us in August... We can't wait! She's such a great girl and will bring some fun to the house. I'm excited to have a girl to go do some Twilight exploring with!
Well, I hope this novel makes some of you happy. I miss you all & can't wait to see you again!
Love ya!

Stay Tunned

I know some of you are telling me I need to post a blog to update you on the move, but it's not happening until we actually get to Washington! I haven't seen much of Bart in the last few weeks, he's been fishing & I've been hanging out with friends, sisters, nieces, & my mom! I guees I've needed my girl time! It's been an eventful travel so far, but stay tunned for the details! :)

The Masters

I had the opportunity to go to the Masters last Saturday, and it was a once in a lifetime AWESOME experience! I wish I could have been able to take a camera in with me, but of course I couldn't so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say it was BEAUTIFUL!! I could live there in the outdoors and be happy. It was the cleanest outdoors I've ever seen!
I had to get up early to beat the heavy traffic, so I got there early enough to walk the grounds before the first tee-off. I took it all in and found where I wanted to watch the game, since I wasn't really interested in following a particular golfer (like those crazy Tiger fans).
Before the first tee-off, I went and stood at the putting green where all the players go practice before they all tee-off. I got to see all the golfers come through before they began their game. It's neat to see them interact with each othere and to see that they are pretty normal. Steve Flesch's caddy gave me a few balls, and that was fun. I didn't dare ask for any autographs, and that's my only regret.
I spent a few hours at the "Amen Corner" to watch most everyone come through, and then I spent the final end of my day at the 18th hole to watch everyone come in.
It was a gorgeous day, and I had the time of my life. The only thing that could have made it better would be to have my dad there with me, I missed him so much.
Thank you Honey, for giving me that opportunity. You really do love me :)

I've Been Enlightened!

After Conference weekend, I realized I can't feel sorry for myself because I don't have children of my own... it's my test in life, and I need to endure it with faith and patients. Bart once said to me "maybe we don't have kids because the Lord doesn't want to give us the trial of raising them"... he was joking and trying to make me feel better, and it worked. I giggle every time I remember it. But as long as I don't have my own kids I want to make the best of it. I do have the best of both worlds right now. All my friends and family have kids, and they are usually more than willing when I call and ask to "borrow" them, but when they start to get grumpy, stinky, tired, or hungry I get to send them home! I don't have to worry about potty training, attitudes, diapers (for the most part) etc. And I get my quiet time when I want. Don't get me wrong, I will be more than happy to accept these responsibilities when/if the day arrives, but for now I get to enjoy where I'm at in my life. I love your kids, and I love that they love to hang out with me. I love getting to do fun things with them, that I wouldn't normally get to do on a daily basis. I admire all the mom's out there who have to use that much brain energy every day to answer the "but why" questions all day!!! I admire that you have to practice patients, and be creative all the time to help them stay busy and happy. Thank you for sharing your kids with me... I really enjoy them and they all have a special place in my heart!

Time with the kiddo's

We spent a day at the Zoo, and had a great time... the kids were great!! I haven't been to the Zoo in years! My favorite was the gorilla who happened to really like sitting by the kids and watching them admire him! Emma wasn't so sure about being so close.

The next day was "Movie Day" so we went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens. It was cute, and the kids really enjoyed it! We also did some crafts and had McDonald's for lunch! If it weren't for these guys, I wouldn't have had so much fun! Lilly made sure the boys new who was boss, and the boys didn't want to upset her, so they played really well together for the first time!

AUTOBOTS ROLL OUT!

This was Jodi's code for "I'm in labor", so I was thrilled to finally get the text! I just want to congratulate the Peterson family for a healthy baby girl, Molly Rebecca. She's adorable, and Jodi looks great!

I am so greatful to be a part of thier family away from family. I'm glad the boys and Kimmi can feel comfortable at my house to sleepover while their parents are away. I'm so glad I got to be a part of their plan and get to be the first to see the baby... she's so sweet, but the girl has a set of lungs!!! Wow!

Congratulations friends! Thanks for letting me be a part of it all! Love you!

Happy Birthday!

Major turned 1, and we envited his favorite friends over... who don't mind as much when he plows over them to say hello! Really, this was just a good excuse for cake and ice cream last minute! But thanks to Major's little friends, especially the ones who like to ride him!

Bart Graduated!

Good Job Honey! I'm so proud of all you do for us! I know this picture stinks, but it really is my Barty there... :) I love you!

SPRING ALREADY?!

I'm certainly not complaining, but I have to admit how surprised we are that it's 80 degrees outside and it isn't even mid March! Bart and I went out fishing in SC last Saturday, thinking this was a fluke thing and we needed to take advantage of a beautiful day together. So he fished and I read New Moon... out loud to him, and Major went for a swim or two in between his naps in the sun. It was warm, and we were happy, and then the sun went down and we both realized we were BURNED!!

It's been a few years since we've been in that kind of sun so naturally we weren't as prepared as we should have been. We will not be making that mistake again! Especially since it looks like the spring is here to stay and we will be making more trips out to the lake together!

The Popcorn is Popping on the trees and it makes it seem so surreal! We love it, but we are also very glad we will be moving just in time to miss the extreme humid heat!

We are so super excited to be moving to Washington just when the weather will be getting nice there! The problem about moving is... moving! I love getting things set up and put away and everything feels new and you get to start all over again... that's my favorite part. But having to find a company, pack your things, and hope your furniture doesn't get destroyed in the mean time is so stressful. Some of you may be wondering why we are moving ourselves since we're in the military and they should be moving for us. Well, it's a long explanation I don't care to blog, but $ is the answer to most things if that can make any sense. Hopefully it will be worth it in the long run, Bart assures me it will!

My Baby Is Growing Up!

Isn't it so sad when our babies grow up so fast? I think I'm ready for another one, but then I reflect back on the potty training and raising them up in this world. We've been lucky with our first, but will the next be as good as Major is? Wasn't he an angel? I'm sure all of you know exactly how I'm feeling, only you don't go through it with your dog :)

DELAY DELAY DELAY!

Well, I should have known better by now, but I always get so caught up in the moment that I want to get things going NOW!!
We just found out that we will not be moving as soon as we thought. It's a good thing, don't worry. Bart will be doing another training here that will only benefit him in the long run. He's glad he gets to do it now instead of having to leave me for six weeks to come back here. It makes sense in the long run; however, I was very excited and ready to be proactive to the move.
I'm ready to start our new life in WA, get a job, see a Doc and move on with making babies, and finding a house we can actually live in for more than a year! I love my friends here, they have been awesome. So without them I think I would be frustrated with the delay... but they make it a lot easier to hang around until Bart's training is complete!
I think part of Bart's plan to getting us to stay is so he could get spring fishing in here... apparently it's the best time!
I'll keep you updated on when we are scheduled to move... again, but I can't make any guarantees!!