Summer= Almost Over :(

I can't believe summer has come and gone so quickly! I only have about 2 1/2 weeks left before school starts again! Although I am not ready for it to start, I am excited (and nervous) that I will be student teaching 3rd grade all day M-F. And, I am also excited that I will be graduating in December! Wow! I can't believe it has already been 4 years! 

Anyway, I haven't posted much lately so I thought I would follow my friend Brandi's lead and post a little about what has been going on these past few months, Enjoy!

Got out of school the first week of May and my summer began :)

I watched one of my cohort friends get married to the love of her life!

Turned 28 at the end of May. Still can't believe it.

Joey & I joined a gym and really started working out. I have already gone down one size! We definitely need to work harder at it though.

We also started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University which I highly recommend!

I went to a seminar on teaching literacy with my cohort coordinator and a couple of girls from my cohort and watched uncomfortably as an argument grew in intensity between one of the teachers and the man giving the seminar. It was crazy!

Went to the hospital to see/hold one of my good friend's precious new baby boy!

Babysat a couple of times.

Went to lunch or dinner, and several movies with my best friends on multiple occasions :)

Went shopping with my mom & my sister which is always fun!!

Took Miss L out for fun around Austin.

Had SO much fun with my nieces, Miss L & Miss J, when Miss J came to visit. She moved to Maryland last Oct. and we hadn't seen her since!! 

Burned my arm on a hot casserole dish right when it came out of the oven :(

Helped out w/ a garage sale at my mom's house in the heat & humidity.

Survived 40-something days of 100+ degree days.

Cried when our pastors lost their son. Mourned with them at the memorial, viewing, and funeral. 

Spent time with my family and time with Joey's family. Felt good to love on everyone!

Sat around playing Pictionary Man with my family---a total riot! You NEED to play this game!

Joey & I helped out at my mom's house ripping up carpet & padding, and installing hardwood. So.Much.Fun.Let.Me.Tell.You. ......... HA!

Created a baking/cooking blog! 

Shared some special moments with friends & family---cried together, laughed together, prayed together. 

Slept late...alot! 

Ate...too much. 

Swam...not enough. 

Read...lots of books :)

Relaxed...as much as possible.

Here are just a few pics from my awesome summer that I wish was not coming to an end...

Miss L and I waiting to ride the train @ the park

Mmmm, cupcakes!

Yum!

Miss L & Miss J--- i LOVE my girls :)

New Recipe Blog

Hi!

Just wanted to let you all know I decided to start a recipe blog just for fun! I LOVE to bake (and cook) and thought it would be fun to share recipes and ideas!

I will try to update it as often as possible, but it will just depend on how much I bake, and how much time I have!

Thanks for checking it out! Love y'all!

http://brittsbaking.blogspot.com/

Show Us Your Life--Wedding Dress

I absolutely love Kelly's Korner blog! Have you ever read it? She is so funny and SO sweet, and a wonderful example of a Christian as well. I read her blog everyday and love to see pictures of her adorable baby girl Harper!

Well, she did a tour of homes for awhile where you would share pictures of the different rooms in your house but I never posted, just looked :) However, since she has finished with the homes she has decided to keep the blog-link party going! So, this time she has decided to call it "Show Us Your Life" and today we are sharing our wedding dresses! I just couldn't miss out on this one because I LOVE looking at wedding dresses. I know I have been married for over 4 years now, but I can't help it. They are just so gorgeous!

So, without further ado, here are a couple of pics of me on my wedding day :)

I love this picture! My photographer was with me from the moment I started getting ready so she caught me staring at myself in the mirror! I have such a pensive look on my face, I remember thinking that I still just couldn't believe that this day had finally come! (sorry it's so grainy--I scanned it onto the computer several years ago and it didn't come out very well)

(Sorry about the pic again!) Here is my mom walking me down the aisle. I LOVE this picture because I am wearing my mom's veil from when she married my dad :) (My dad died when I was 4, so this was very very special to me)

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my wedding dress! Have fun looking at all of the others!!

Gone Too Soon

It is with a very heavy heart that I come to you and ask for your prayers.

A little over a week ago our pastors were on vacation with their three teenage children when they got the news that our pastor's father had passed away. He went out on his sailboat in Florida and slipped overboard and drowned. They rushed from their Alaskan cruise down to FL to be with the rest of their family. They came back to Austin last Saturday and we all grieved with them on Sunday when our pastor courageously preached after just having lost his father.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck again yesterday. Their middle son, Caleb, who was only 17 died in a car accident. 

Can you imagine what this family is going through? My heart is completely broken for them. It was sad enough that pastor's father died, but then his son? Not even two weeks later? 

I am not saying that losing anyone older is not still painful, because it is. However, losing a child is completely different. I personally have never experienced this type of loss, but I have dear friends that have and I know that it changes you forever. No parent is ever supposed to out-live their children. It's just not right.

Our church family is devastated. We are struggling to understand why, but there are no answers. Only God knows. 

Yesterday at church they had the chapel open for people to come pray for the family. Joey & I went when he got off work and met a friend of ours that works at the church when we got there. We walked to the chapel and as soon as we entered the tears came easily. We wrote a note to the family and then went over to some chairs to pray. As we sat there, tears flowing down our cheeks, I turned around and saw that the oldest of the three children was there. The tears came faster and harder. I can't imagine how he is feeling having just lost his brother. We went over and hugged him. I didn't know what to say, and having been through a tragic loss before I know that no words really help. So, I just hugged him tight and said "I'm SO sorry." 

We normally have a service every Wednesday night at church, but tonight will be tough. Tonight will be a special service dedicated to Caleb. I don't know if our pastors will be there or not, I don't know if they are ready to face everyone.

I do know however that they have a church family that absolutely adores them and are lifting them up in prayer. And so I ask that you please join me in praying for this precious family. The Koke family of Shoreline Christian Center. www.shoreline.net 

I couldn't stop crying yesterday, and just thinking about what this family is going through brought back so many memories of times I have lost someone in my life. I feel so incredibly helpless, but I know that God can and will provide them with comfort and peace that surpasses all understanding. I believe that we will see a testimony right in front of our eyes as this family heals and continues to praise Him in the storm. 

Please pray for the Kokes and our church family. We desperately need to see God in this.

Please Pray for Kate

Here is her CaringBridge page:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Dear Dad,

I'm not even sure where to start. I sit here looking at that picture of us on my 3rd birthday and am filled with so many emotions.

I wish I could sit here with you today, on Father's Day, laughing about silly things from the past.

I wish the memory of mom trying to brush my long curly hair and me screaming out for you, only to have you run and wrap me in your arms, didn't seem so far away.

I wish things had been different that day and that someone else would have told you to put your seatbelt on, just like mom did.

I wish you could have been there the day I had my two bottom front teeth pulled in 1st grade. I'm sure you would have taken me for ice cream afterwards, just like mom did.

I wish you were there when I had chicken pox during Spring Break in 2nd grade. I'm sure you would have put calamine lotion all over my itchy spots, just like mom did.

I wish you could have been there when my beloved dog Muffy died in 4th grade to hug me and tell me it was ok, just like mom did.

I wish you had been there when that stupid boy teased me and tormented me in 7th grade to tell me not to pay attention to him because I was absolutely beautiful and intellgent, just like mom did.

I wish you could have driven me to my first day of high school and told me everything would be ok even though I was SO nervous, just like mom did.

I wish you would have been there when I made drill team and I screamed out in excitement and took me to celebrate afterwards, just like mom did.

I wish you could have been there when I walked across that stage after making it over some major hurdles and cried with me, just like mom did.

I wish you had been there when I decided not to go to college after high school and told me that it was ok because I would succeed at whatever I decided, just like mom did.

I wish you would have been there when I went looking for love in all the wrong places to hold me and dry my tears, just like mom did.

I wish you had been there when Joey got on one knee and asked me to marry him and give your permission, just like mom did.

I wish you could have seen me on my wedding day, wearing the same veil mom wore at your wedding, and walked me down the aisle, just like mom did.

I wish you could have been there when Nikki had her baby girl, and talked her through it letting her know how much she was loved, just like mom did.

I wish you were here to hold me everytime a pregnancy test comes back negative and I break down in tears.

I wish you could see me walk across the stage in December, the first to graduate college in our family.

I wish I could spend just one day with you, as an adult, and hear you say you love me and are proud of me.

I wish you were here.

I love you daddy and I miss you more than words can say.

Love,

Britt

A Mommy in Waiting

To all of my fellow mommies-in-waiting, I know this is a tough weekend. All of the commercials on tv, all of the store displays... everything is a reminder of what we do not yet have. However, when our time comes, we will be amazing moms and cherish every single moment because of what we have endured. Know that even when you feel that you could not possibly be anymore alone in this journey, you are not. We are all in this together, and none of our tears go unnoticed. Even though it is hard, please do not give up. Hold onto your faith and hope, and remember this:

"But you—you serve your God and he'll bless your food and your water. I'll get rid of the sickness among you; there won't be any miscarriages nor barren women in your land. I'll make sure you live full and complete lives." Exodus 23:26 (The Message)

"He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD." Psalm 113:9 (NIV)

Here is a poem that Kelly posted on her prayer blog that could not be more true:

I have longed and waited.
I have cried and prayed.
I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.

I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep,
explore,and discover.
I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold, and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. 
My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child.

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love.

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend, and sister because I have known pain.

I know disillusionment, as I have been betrayed by my own body. I have been tried by fire and hell that many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.

I have prevailed.
I have succeeded.
I have won.

So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.
I listen.
And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely.

I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth when life is beyond hard.

I have learned a compassion that only comes by walking in those shoes. I have learned to appreciate life.

Yes, I will be a wonderful mother.

I love all of you ladies and if I could give each and every one of you a hug, I would. May God bless you all.

With love,

Britt