Tag: Family

• Post Vacation Blues

  Posted at 9:40 AM by Brittany, on January 6, 2014

  I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of an aircraft to take me from a place that looks like this..

  

  Brown, dry land.

  To this..

  

  Green, snow-capped land.

  Airplanes are fascinating, but that is beside the point of this post. Despite the wonder that was the fog line on the evergreen trees upon my arrival in Washington, this post is dedicated to some of the amazing adventures I encountered while away in Arizona.

  

  This will never get old. Fog laying on the tree line is my favorite.

  One blogger meet up. I met up with a fellow plant based blogger and had a lovely time talking blogs, food, life, and of course…coffee. =)

  Two big decisions. I researched and purchased my first DSLR camera and it should arrive in my arms sometime this week. I also set up my 401K..boom, big girl pants ON.

  Three  mountains climbed. Self explanatory.

  

  Four trips to Sprouts…in less than a week. We don’t have one in Washington!

  Five toppings on my grilled pizza. Spinach, pineapple, potatoes, rosemary, & brussels sprouts. It’s January and I was able to stand outside by the grill in shorts/tank top.

  

  Six packs of sugar in my dads coffee. I was one proud daughter when my dad attempted to get away from Splenda after I told him real sugar was “better” (your body recognizes real sugar and can properly digest it, fake sugar..not so much), however we need to figure something else out because six packs of sugar for one small cup of coffee is not good!

  This article breaks it down perfectly. I’m just happy he tried..baby steps. Love you dad!

  Seven family members attending The Sound of Music together.

  

  

  This is why I bought a DSLR..this quality is horrific.
  

  Eight Harry Potter movies watched. After a complete HP marathon, I have finally seen EVERY movie and after the last one ended I felt a piece of my soul die. I’m still recovering.

  

  Nine *plus six* miles run with my Garmin. Gary held out for 15 miles of casual running.

  Ten days without my retainers. If you know me, you’ll know I wear my teeth huggers EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. Very rarely do I miss a night, and when I discovered I left my retainers on my bathroom sink in Washington I was DISTRAUGHT! Convinced my teeth were being shifted by tiny gnomes every night, I was so happy to be reunited with them.

  Until next time Arizona, keep it classy.

  Q: What was the last vacation you went on??

  

  | 54 Comments Tagged Adventure, Arizona, Family, Hiking, Random, Running, Vacation, Vegan

• 57 Children

  Posted at 8:05 AM by Brittany, on January 1, 2014

  The older I get, the less interested I am in staying out late and partying with my friends. Don’t get me wrong..I love to go out with my friends, but it’s rare for me to want to stay out past 10PM. I like my sleep, and I like waking up feeling refreshed, not dead. Last year on NYE I went to my first hot yoga class, played bingo with some fellow old souls, and was back home by 9:45PM. All I was missing was some prune juice and pants up to my waist.

  I thought that was great, until this year.

  

  This year I went with my dad, and my two younger siblings to help package enough food to feed 57 children for an entire year in the Philippians. As Ron Weasley would say, that’s pretty wicked.

  

  A non-profit organization called Feed My Starving Children has multiple locations, with one location out of Tempe, AZ. I had never done this before, but my copilots had and said it was a lot of fun. For two hours we swapped stations and packaged around 20,000 meals.

  

  How’s my hair?

  I started with the rice and soy station, then moved to the bagging station, then found my way to the packaging station. We were tucked into a warehouse with music blasting and laughter all around. It was quite an experience and I would love to do it again.

  

  This experience challenged me to step outside of myself and think about other people. I’ve never been one for resolutions, and the last two years I only set small goals (2012 was the year I would run my first half marathon, and 2013 I wanted to run four. I ran three in 2013 and I am so pleased with that) that I knew were attainable.

  This year I want to not only continue to better myself in my fitness/nutrition endeavors, but I want to put my focus onto those around me. I started to focus on others throughout December and it was very rewarding..the perfect way to end one year and start another. My goal for 2014 is to adapt a lifestyle where I am more selfless, helping others whenever I can. The range for this is endless, anything from helping a family in need of Christmas dinner, to helping my mom clean the dishes when she feels tired. Anything that helps.

  

  2013 was the year I started to discover who I am, it was a roller-coaster of emotions for me and I was challenged to persevere when I felt like I was falling down a black hole. 2013 opened the door to many new adventures I have yet to discover, and I learned how to find peace withing myself when my mind felt like a stormy sea.

  I have a lot more to learn about myself, but 2013 was the push I needed to start thinking about how I want to live my life. I want to better myself as a person, and to accomplish this I want to take the focus off of me. I don’t mean putting my needs, desires, or goals to the side, but when I feel the internal “me, me, me” monster flaring up at any moment I want to handle myself better and think about those around me too.

  The more I take myself out of the center, the happier I feel. The less I worry, the happier I feel. The more I give, the richer I feel. Cheers to 2014.

  Q: What’s ONE big goal you have for 2014?

  

  | 55 Comments Tagged Adventure, Family, New Year, NYE

• Sometimes

  Posted at 11:26 AM by Brittany, on April 29, 2013

  Sometimes I take pictures that make me feel really freaking awesome. I pretend I am a professional feline photographer for a feline magazine. I call this, “Dreaming of a better life.” In reality though, he is really spoiled and comes home within 20 mins of being let out.

  

  Sometimes I edit pictures that make me feel really freaking weird.

  

  This is what my cat would look like with a human face. Or so I assume. I couldn’t decide on which one to post so I posed three different versions. I think I like the goober, simply because it best describes my inner personality.

  Sometimes I fight my cravings for cupcakes and satisfy my sweet tooth with something easy and quick. It’s never the same, but the sugar rush is similar.

  

  Adult version of ants on a log. Minus the log. Sub chocolate for raisins  So really this is nothing like ants on a log..scratch that all together.

  Sometimes I surprise myself with a good run. 6 miles at a 9:31 pace is about a minute faster than my average pace. I’ll take it. Still undecided if I am going to run my third half marathon next month though..I take it day by day with my knees.

  Sometimes I get wild and give into my cravings for what I really want and build myself ONE cupcake. If I make more than one, I eat more than one. Problem solved-bake one.

  

  No recipe for this yet, it still needs some tweaking. It did satisfy my craving though..so job well done funfetti like cupcake. I made a sprinkle cupcake to celebrate the missed birthday of my blog. Oops..I forgot that last week was my two year blog birthday. I can’t believe it’s already been two years. I should have known with a first post like this I would be here for a while. The weirdness hasn’t changed, I can tell you that much.

  Sometimes my family makes me smile.. OK more like a lot of the time. My younger sister has started an art blog. If you like to draw and want to participate in her contests check her out over at: Order of the Pencil. YAY! I wish I could draw, but really my skills are as bad as a monkey trying to sing. My talents include twisting my arms to look like Frankenstein and making faces that would frighten small children. I’ve been blessed.

  Q: What’s your “sometimes” for the day?

  

  | 64 Comments Tagged Cats, Cupcake, Family, Peanut Butter, Random, Running, Vegan

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• BRITTANY- Self proclaimed minimalist "granola" striving to maintain a balanced, healthy life with good food, long hikes, strong relationships, exploration, lots of broccoli, and laughing like it's my J.O.B. Currently living and working in Germany, join me on my adventures abroad!
• Contact: blissfulbritt@yahoo.com

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