BGID

Thank you Clay Travis for coining this phrase! BGID stands for "beard getting it done" and perpetuates the philosophy that men with beards are more successful than men without beards. This was Brian's 2 1/2 week old beard that he got to enjoy in all of his post-deployment time off work. Alas, this morning, the beard had to go as it was back to work for him.

We have enjoyed our time together and it's weird already not having him home this morning... especially when there's a hurricane headed directly my way! Stay tuned to your favorite blog for weather updates and pictures!

One man's treasure...

Today is Day Two of the Multi-family yard sale we're putting on. For the past 2 mornings I have gotten up at 6am, pulled on sweats, and drug out all of our treasures into the driveway. We had been cleaning out closets and Tupperware bins full of things to get rid of, and finally started to accumulate so much stuff in the give away pile that we decided to have a yard sale a few days ago. We let our neighbors know so they could contribute to the effort as well.

Here's the thing though... yard sales have never been my thing. I hate watching people go through my stuff and debating over whether it's worth a piddly dollar. The items are worth so much more to me, that I can't bear to watch them be rifled through, or worse, sold to someone else! Dislike is not a strong enough word for my feelings towards yard sales... abhor is much more fitting. So I stand outside to be supportive (because hey, we're getting rid of stuff we no longer need and are making a little extra cash to buy grass seed, and a sprinkler system for our yard) but as soon as a customer walks up, in I go to take care of some "important" need. I warned Brian about my strong feelings of disdain for these things, so he was under no false pretenses before we began this shindig. He on the other hand does great talking to people and wheeling and deealing, so have at it sweetie. I'll be in here blogging if you need me!

Apparently once the yard sale is over, we have someone on Craig's List who's offered to come haul away what we don't sell, making one man's treasure, another man's trash!

Marking the day

November 6th, 1996 is a day that I will never forget. Just 4 days after my 16th birthday, my mom took me out of school early so I could go and get my driver's license. I passed easily, and to celebrate afterwards, we went to the mall to get lunch. As I sat across the formica table from mom, sunlight pouring in through the skylights of the food court of the Cool Springs Galleria, I realized something was wrong. As I looked at mom, I knew there was something she wasn't telling me, and when I inquired she finally broke down and told me that my cousin Mark had died that morning. She didn't want to tell me earlier because she didn't want to distract me from taking my driving test. Through the shock and sadness I realized that every time I stared at my driver's license, my happy face smiling back, that the date, November 6, 1996, the date my license was issued, would always hold a much different meaning to me.

Mark was a year younger than me, and had been diagnosed with brain cancer the fall of my freshman year. If I remember correctly, the doctors gave him 6 weeks to live when he got the diagnosis. Mark proved them wrong and lived for more than a year afterwards. His illness brought our family together in a way nothing else has since, or will ever do. My entire mom's side of the family dropped what they were doing in the fall of 1995 when Mark was fist diagnosed with cancer, and we all made the trip up to Wisconsin to visit with Mark, my aunt and uncle, and the rest of my cousins. The weekend was bittersweet because we were all together, but no one knew how much time Mark would have with us.

Summer of 1996 came, and we began a legacy of annual 4th of July parties. All of mom's side of the family made the trek down to Tennessee, Mark and his family included, and we swam in the pool, ate way too much food, and set off fireworks. The parties have happened every summer since then, with the exception of one, I believe the first summer mom and dad moved into the Franklin house. Now the parties are held in Cannelton at my aunt Lisa's house, but it's still a lot of a fun, and a great excuse for everyone to get together. Had Mark never gotten sick, we probably never would have began this tradition. Something greater came of this tragedy for me personally though.

When Mark passed away 13 years ago today, I was already a Christian, but like anyone I struggled with the difficult questions about life and death. Why are we here? Why do good things happen to bad people, and how could God could be in something so sad? I reasoned then as a teenager that God must have really needed Mark for some other special purpose, a purpose that could not be fulfilled on earth.

Some people lose their faith in times of crisis, but my faith in Jesus is what got me through that experience, and facing that crisis strengthened and shaped my faith more so than any event has in my life. I could not fathom a world where life or death does not matter, and there is no afterlife, or purpose for living, and so the pain led me to Christ, and solidified my belief that He is in everything, even if we don't understand it. As I have matured in my faith, I understand that while God does have his hand in everything, He doesn't necessarily cause something to happen, but we can't know His mind or His purpose. Instead we must trust that He is in control, and that we do have a purpose. God created us to glorify Him, and by following His example set by Christ, that others may know Him, and know their purpose in life as well.

Every year on this day I think about Mark, and think about how old he would have been. But I also cling to Jesus and remember that I am not in control, and surrender my life to the one who is.

V of Nov

Today is the fifth of November.... every year on this day I think of the movie V for Vendetta. The film begins with Natalie Portman narrating this line:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason, and plot.
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

It's based on a graphic novel, and I don't usually gravitate towards those kind of movies, but this one was incredible I thought. Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving were great in their roles, cinematically it was a very beautiful film, and I loved all the symbolism and the use of the letter V and number 5 (a V in Roman numerals).

So there's my short blog for the day in honor of National Blog Posting Month, and my plug for this film! Happy Thursday!

Recapping my 8th 21st birthday

Well it's official. I am in my last year of my twenties, and I must say, that the birthday was such a great one, that I didn't mind the number associated with it.

Sunday night Brian and I left the house to go on a date. He knows how much I love going to the movies, and it's something we rarely get to do, so the plan was to go to dinner at Chili's and then to see Zombieland.

On the way there Brian faked stomach problems and stopped at a CVS store to try and "relieve himself." In reality, he killed time walking around the store while I sat patiently (hungrily) in the car. When he came back out to the car and asked apologetically if we could go home and said that he wasn't feeling any better, I tried to be the sweet supportive wife and not be too upset that our date night was ruined. Besides the fact that I was starving, I had showered and gotten all cutsied up for nothing! My one request was that we stop and pick up something for dinner on our way home. I suggested several restaurants to Brian, but in the end he said that his mom (who was watching Bradley for us at the house) had ordered a bunch of Chinese food and that we could just eat that. That was definitely not my first choice, but I kept my mouth shut and resigned myself to an evening at home.

When we opened the door, the house was completely dark, and before I could ask where Ann and Bradley were, a group of people jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" I was totally shocked, and thought the whole set up was hilarious! You can see in my face how shocked I truly was!

This is me in my birthday tiara, opening my present from Wes, Jess, and Wesley. The card was one of those musical ones, and it occupied Bradley the next morning while we were waiting for Chef Brian to finish our french toast. I loved that everyone gave me pink gifts in pink gift bags with pink cards. Good thing I wore my signature color that night!

Here's the delicious homemade chocolate birthday cake made my Ann and Brian's aunt Brenda who was in town this past weekend.

Here's the whole group shot of everyone who was there. L to R, Wes & Jess (Wesley made an appearance, but he was already in bed at this point); Tyler & Felicia, and their baby girl Nevaeh; Ami; Birthday Girl, Bradley, & Brian; Mark; Ann; Kim & Andrew; Paul, David & Catalina. Tyler & Felicia also had 2 friends there with them from out of town, but they didn't jump in the group photo.

Later on, hanging out on our back porch, me, Kim, and Ann

The morning of my birthday, Bradley woke up at 6:30am due to daylight savings. Thankfully I pulled him in bed with us and he fell back asleep til 9am! Brian made us french toast for breakfast, and afterwards I opened the rest of my birthday presents. Bradley got me a new blender to make awesome smoothies, and Brian got me a new fuzzy pink robe, and a creative spa-day-in-a-box kit, complete with a celebrity gossip mag to read, chocolates, new slippers, bath beads and a loofah. Among other things I was very excited about the HP movie from Laura, and the boots from mom and dad.

I spent the afternoon organizing my closet and switching out my summer and fall wardrobes. The weather was sunny and mid 70's so it was truly the perfect day.

That evening, Brian and I went out for dinner (a real date this time!) to Cactus Flower Cafe, a locally owned California style Mexican restauant.

We got Bradley fed and in his jammies, and he went 2 houses down to play with Catalina and Andrew while Brian and I enjoyed our grown up dinner complete with tasty wine margaritas.

It was such a great birthday, that I don't think I'll mind turning 21 again next year!

Spooky sentiments

This was technically Bradley's 2nd Halloween, but it was his first to dress up and go trick or treating. Two thoughts crossed my mind tonight (well, two among many, but two that were "things that make you go hmmmm" thoughts anyways):

1. I never knew how much more fun Halloween could be when you have kids and get to watch them dress up and get candy.
2. It never occurred to me as being weird before to knock on strangers' doors, take free candy from them, and leave, until tonight.

This is what I like to call the Money shot of the night- Bradley in his elephant costume before going trick or treating. At the end of the night, he looked so cute in his costume that he went to bed a whole hour late because I couldn't bear to take it off him!


Here's all of us in our costumes. Brian and I are zookeepers/elephant hunters- Take your pick.

Bradley with Grandma Anna. She stayed at our house and passed out candy to all the trick or treaters.So easy, it's like giving candy to a baby... at least, I think that's the way the phrase goes...
Here's Daddy and Bradley walking up to a house to get candy. Bradley has learned how to knock, so he helped us out there. A couple of times he tried to go in the house once the door opened. I suppose he hasn't really gotten the concept of trick or treating yet! One older man answered the door and thought Bradley was a bunny. I promptly showed him Bradley's trunk and explained that he was clearly an elephant.
See our appropos tropical setting? Gotta love Florida. It was cool tonight- in the 50s- so it felt like fall, but it wasn't bitterly cold the way I remember some TN Halloweens being.
The whole time we were trick or treating it never occured to Bradley that the loot he was gathering was actually edible. He picked out the candy and dropped it in his bucket never bothering to pay attention to what it was, so I opened up a package of mini m&ms for him once we got home. Here's Bradley with all his candy, and his pumpkin with his name on it, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa B. After the m&ms, he had a whole Reeces cup, a dum dum sucker, and some Smarties. Ann and I both heard Bradley say "smartie" clear as day after I gave him the first one, but he wouldn't say it again. It was so plain that our mouths dropped as we looked at each other!
We Skyped with mom and dad so they could see Bradley in his costume, and I know that made their night. At that point he was eating the Reece cup and "sharing" his sucker with Grandma, holding the dum dum up to the computer screen.

Finally, the Halloween aftermath- with chocolate smeared all over his face, trunk, and sleeve! As soon as he dropped that sucker on the floor and wasn't paying attention, into the trashcan it went! That didn't stop B from peering into the trashcan every now and then though. He's no dum dum! We had so much fun going through the neighborhood that I can't wait til next year when he can go even longer!

Happy Halloweenie!

Happy Halloweenie, everyone! It's a cool 62 degrees here today, so I guess Fall has decided to grace us with her presence for Halloween. We carved our pumpkin last night with Kim and her munchkins, and are taking Bradley out trick or treating tonight for the first time.

This first picture was for you, Lu!

Here's me, carving our pumpkin- what would eventually turn out to be a ghost saying "Boo"
Our friendly neighborhood pumpkin carving event (only 2 of the 4 kids shown are actually Kim's!)

Behind Bars

The finished pumpkins

all lit up
Kim, Andrew, Catalina, me, and Bradley

Ok Grandma B, this is proof that I let Bradley have some of the candy you sent him!

Last but not least, this is a video I like to call, Trick or treat smell my feet. It will make you smile, I promise!

Calendar Calamities

Random bit of complaining for the day: It stinks having a birthday at the beginning of the month. Why, you ask? Because I have no chance to write my birthday on a calendar or in my planner, and get to look forward to seeing that date in ink for a month. Instead, I have to wait until November rolls around, wipe clean my magnetic dry erase calendar on the fridge, flip to the new page in my desk planner, and see my birthday taunting me in the past-tense for the other 28 days of the month. Not fair. And this year I can't even "cheat" and go ahead and mark my birthday on my current October calendar because the month goes all the way through Saturday, so there are no "open" days at the end of the month to fill in. Boo.