"declutter"

Ummm yea... so that is my room. It looks like this most of the time. I seem to have all this motivation to do everything else in my life besides clean my room. I just can't do it. It's even more sad that those are all clean clothes. I just cant get myself to put them away. A terrible habit. I am not a messy person when it comes to shared space, however if it is my space it usually looks like this. Sorry Robbie hopefully I will brake the habit soon. Doubtful though since I have been living like this for 22 years. When I lived in Mankato we always kept the house pretty clean. Whenever my roommate would come in my room she would just about have a heart attack. She couldnt understand how I lived with not only my clothes spead all over the floor but also starting to pile up since there was no more floor space. It is sad. The only way I can get motivation to clean my room is if someone is in it with me. I will often times call Kal and ask her if she can come clean my room. She is a neat freak. I usually just want her to sit there and keep me company but she gets so mad about all my clutter that she cant help herself but to help me.. Maybe I take advantage of her. I know she will always help!  Oh yea and that is my suitcase from Mexico. Let me remind you I got back from there February 16. It still isnt unpack.. Maybe I am subconsiously leaving there incase I need to take an emergency vaca back to paradise. Sounds nice right about now. I was reading Better Homes magazine and I found this article about decluttering your space. It had some helpful tips, maybe when I get my own place I can put them to use!

And lexi, poor lexi, doesnt even like to come into my room when it is this messy because she has no where to lay. Instead she is booted to the doorway until I make room for more than just myself.

I finally got an address book. I needed one since I will start to work on invitations soon for my wedding. It will be really helpful to have when I move away also. I will have all the important info I need about everyone with out having to call my mom for phone numbers or addresses to send out "thank you's." My mom on the other hand could use a new address book also. This thing is pretty beat up and beautifully designed with nailpolished eyes  and other random body parts.

Don't let this picture fool you... I can't cook for the life of me. But, I did get a recipe box. I have started writing down all my favorite recipes from my mom in hopes that I will be able to reproduce the food to half of its quality. If you have good recipes send them my way. My box is pretty empty right now, but I hope to have it mostly full by the time I move. Then maybe I can cook Robbie a real meal someday.

That is all for now. I am going to attempt to clean my room...

Some things just arent meant to be.

Sunday's would be much more relaxing if I didnt have to close at work each and every one of them. I can't complain though I need the money and I had a very successful weekend making it. I am happy to say that my meds for my sinus infection are finally kicking in. I hope by next week everything will clear up and I wont feel like I'm breathing with my face shoved into a pillow anymore. The headaches are the worse though, they get so bad that it makes my ears hurt! Sounds crazy I know. Also, remember, I am a HUGE baby when it comes to any kind of sickness... I feel bad for Robbie, my mom better give him some detailed instuctions on how to make me feel better. 

Saturday after I got off work I went to a friends house to celebrate her acceptance into vet school. I am so happy/envious of her. I wish I could work with animals everyday of my life...but I also realize that I would never be able to be a vet because I cant work with reptiles and spiders and rodents. They gross me out. It was fun being at their house because they have all sorts of critters. 3 ducks, a dog, a ferrit, and a cat.




Franklin the Duck


I am sure some of you are wondering how my "no beer drinking" rule is going... well its no longer existing. I had a beer. To tell you the truth I have had 5 beers between Friday and now. Some things just arent meant to be. And Briana not drinking a beer is just not natural. I was telling the bartender at work that I was trying not to drink beer and he said, "why its a part of life. everyone needs to drink beer it keeps them sane." I couldnt agree more. It is nice and relaxing... He then asked me if I smoked, and I said no, so he told me that its ok if I drink beer because I dont smoke I have room for "error" or I think he was trying to say that the less a person smokes the more they can drink... or I dont know. Im confusing myself now. But I can see what he is trying to say. I definatly dont plan to take his advice and start drinking more. Dont get the wrong idea.

My work outs have been going well. I went 3 times last week. I am also going bright and early tomorrow morning with a friend. If I make plans to go with someone it gets me there and it makes me work hard. Good motivation. I am also thinking about trying out the Zumba class. Its every tuesday night, and I just so happen to have tuesday's off. Perfect. I'll let everyone know how that goes.

Saturday is Shauna's reception. Should be really fun. Unfortunatly, Robbie cant come home for it like we are planning on. I wont see him until March 30th. That will be 2 months without seeing each other. So long! I miss him so much. But atleast we finally have a date set to see each other again. (details about the trip soon to come).

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

A lot of nothing.

A lot of nothing going on lately.... My new obsession... Dexter. I have watched 3 seasons of it in the past week and a half. I need to get a life. Besides that I have just been working, the usual.

Robbie and I had a big talk about the wedding last night and I told him how stressed out I was that I have to do everything "alone." I sent him a big list of things to do and he has started it right away, he has much more motivation than I do! He is so sweet though, he is trying really hard to help me (love you!) and keep me sane in this stressful process. It doesnt help that I have a sinus infection and it feels like my head is going to blow up any second, which leaves me with a short temper. I just want to get better.. I'm on a big dose of meds twice a day for two weeks. Hopefully I'll get better soon, for everyone's sake. 

I just started my wedding diet and work out. As of March 1st I will eat healthy, go to the gym atleast 5 days a week, and not drink beer. Sounds terrible doesnt it? Anything to look good in my dress though :)  I am giving myself a little cheat room though.. Like St. Patricks day I will drink guiness and go out for Jenna's (Marolt) birthday! Other than that I am going to try to be strict on myself. We will see how it goes, wish me luck! Also, I am making it a "March 1st resolution" that I do yoga atleast 3 times a week, to release this stress. And if I have time, go to a work out class atleast 1 time a week.

My Mom, Aunt Karen, and Grandma, and I are planning a trip to go see Robbie March 30- April 3. We are going to rent a house on the beach in North Carolina! I am so excited to go, I hope everything works out okay. The only bad news... I wont be able to see him until then. That means that we are going to go the longest we have ever been apart, EVER. (2 whole months!) I am not happy about this because I miss him soooo much. I think I would be a lot less stressed if I could see him soon. But, I will have to suck it up and wait... Still not happy about it. Only a month to go, did I mention I am not happy about it?? Just trying to be clear!

Enough ranting for one night.

Continued...

"As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. you just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back."

Beautiful Bride and her Bridesmaids

Mr. and Mrs. Bjornstad!

some of the group

Mom and Sister

Oh how I love you Mexico

Dear Mexico,

Although you have stolen one of my best friends from me, you always know how to make me happy again when I am with you..

Love/Hate,

Briana

Shauna and Andrew's wedding went perfectly! Everything was absolutely beautiful. I highly suggest a destination wedding to anyone. Shauna said that at times she wishes she was able to hang out with everyone more than she got to, but she has no regrets. The pictures were amazing. We stayed at the Dreams Resort in Puerto Vallarta. It was an all inclusive and I can safely say that I got my moneys worth of drinks while I was down there. We saw whales everyday from our hotel. Sometimes they were just surfacing the water and you could only see the water blowing up from their blowhole (is that even what its called?) other days they were breaching out of the water and slapping their fins making huge splashes. It was awesome. I played a lot of beach volleyball which was a lot of fun, and not to mention probably one of the only forms of exercise I got all week. I ate AWESOME seafood. Its always a treat when you can actually eat fresh seafood that is seasoned perfectly instead of reaching in the freezer for the box of fish sticks. We shopped in the flea markets, buying too much like always. They had amazing pottery so I bought some hand made bowls (which I can put in my OWN kitchen someday) they are very bright and the details in the painting are amazing. I went kayaking...but then we saw a whale so we went back to land where we were safe from being launched in the air by a blowhole (we have wild imaginations). Other than that everyone got a lot of R&R, which was much needed. We would stay on the beach til just about sunset each night. It was so nice. We also had awesome weather, 80 and not a cloud in the sky. I am seriously depressed being back home. Not to mention the 10 inches of snow we are getting right now. Ughhh I needed like 3 more days down there. I miss my mexico family!

In other news...

I still dont exactly have a date set to see Robbie next but we are hoping that he will be able to come home for Shauna and Andrew's wedding reception which is the weekend of March 12. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Robbie is moving down to North Carolina next weekend! I am very excited to go visit him there, a new chage in scenery is much needed.

I am slacking on my wedding planning. That is what is on my agenda for this week. No excuses I need to get a lot done!

I feel like this post isnt complete, but I am getting tired (and Lexi is crying because she wants to go to bed too!) I will post pictures tomorrow...

Stay tuned!

Goodnight.

It's the small things in life...

Today was a stressful day, well, I thought it would be stressful.. My morning started off a little rocky. I am not embaressed to admit Shauna and I got in an argument over stupid things (whenever we fight it is always stupid things). My boots suck on the bottom so I slipped on my driveway..or im a clumsy, either way I fell. I had to send an e-mail back to Robbie's church saying I agree to their crazy rules and guidelines that we need to follow if we use his pastor at our wedding. AND I had to work. Ohh work. Never know what I am going to get when I walk in that door. I could be closing, I could be cut right away. I could make $5 I could make $100. I cant wait to have a real job. Anyways. I was talking to Robbie throughout the day. He is sitting in Virginia with nothing to do. He is just waiting to start another school in North Carolina. He literally is sitting in a cold little room with nothing to do (well, he got the internet back today). I was talking to him and he said "I am making today a good day. I had a good work out, I ate, and I'm watching a lot of episodes of Lost." WHAT? Thats a good day... the he said "It's the little things in life." and it made me think.... why was I getting mad at Shauna over these stupid things! I mean she only gets married once, it needs to be special. Why don't I laugh at myself when I slip on the driveway for the 10th time this winter, I should know not to wear those darn black boots. Why do I get mad that I have to work? I need the money and I should be thankful I have a job in the first place.  Why am I so worked up about the church's stupid rules? Can't I just do something for someone else.. cant I just give Robbie the okay with using his church.... And I figured it out, I think.. I am just too stubborn. I want things my way. I dont like when life is unpredictable. I want it layed out in front of me. My own little life itinerary. But from now on I am going to take Robbie's advice and I am going to try to enjoy the little things in life like catching up with an old friend, taking a nice hot bath, or reading! Oh how I miss my books!!! Sorry for the small rant, but then again, thanks for listening!

And so I realize.... This "stressful" day is not so stressful at all.

Enjoy the small things. Each day brings new beginnings. Strive to be a better you.

These days...

Alright, there is a lot to catch up on so I will just write randomly until everything is covered. Excuse the hodge-podge of words.

Grooms Dinner/ Bachelorette Party..

Where to begin. Both were a crazy fun night. I would assume that Shauna had a blast at both because I sure did and I think everyone else I was with had fun too. Grooms dinner started at Buca and then we went over to Wild Bill's after. It was a rough morning.. I swear everyone lost something that night, and of course I lost my camera. again. for the millionth time. Atleast Kal, my memory for the night, found my camera in her car! So, we are blessed with some crazy pictures from that night. Maybe ones we dont want to remember but Shauna can be the judge of that! The bachelorette party was also very fun! We played some good games. Not the cheesey games I am used to playing at wedding showers! I am glad so many girls could get together to make the night unforgetable! Shauna was sad that the two big parties were over with and she was saying how everything fun is over now... I had to give her a little reminder of what was coming up. We still have Mexico, the wedding day, and the reception. I told her it was just the beginning. That kind of scares me thinking back to how these last two Saturdays have turned out! However, I couldnt be more excited. 8 days til we leave!

Quantico, VA

I love when I get to spend time with Robbie! DeAnn (Robbie's mom) and I went out to VA last Tuesday til Thursday. It was a short trip, but it was awesome. On Tuesday we arrived around 6:30 and went out to dinner to a pub in DC. I liked everyone's food but my own, I tried a shepards pie...which was ummm very bland. I did like Robbie's guiness burger and DeAnn's fish and chips. I would def. go there again. We drove 40 mins back to the hotel. Robbie and I decided to go to a bar that was right next to the hotel and grab a few beers and have some alone time. I love him! We talked all night and it was so great to be with him again! Wednesday we had to be up early I think like 6... and we were on base around 745 to start the activities planned for the day. The "activities" were cool at the beginning and then we realized there was nothing else planned. Since it was raining we didnt get to shoot all the big guns, but we did get to hold them and learn about them! After we spent about an hour and a half doing that we went to Robbie's room and hung out in there for like 3 hours since he wasnt allowed to leave yet. What a cold 3 hours it was. His room was freezing and we were wet from all the rain! Gross feeling. We finally left base and did some shopping at the exchange store. I didnt buy too much which I was proud of myself for. They have a lot of brand name stuff for really cheap. I some how didnt buy anything Coach which I was planning on doing. Maybe my little concious was reminding me of how poor I am right now! We went out to dinner and back to the bar from the night before! Oh and I got to eat fried pickles! Soooo yummy and a nice treat since I only get them once a year at the state fair usually... ohhh sad, I wont be able to go the state fair anymore :/ I realize little things like this all the time. Anyways, Thursday was supposed to be the graduation ceremony day.. There was a "big" snow storm that came through and everything got postponed, and graduation was cancelled. I swear if there is snow anywhere than the midwest the towns shut everything down. They need to lean how to toughen up. We thought it was funny. Also, there was maybe one plow for the entire city! Me and DeAnn did some shopping while Robbie was on base transferring into a new room which he will be in until the end of February. Then he is off to North Carolina. (Wow I can not stay on topic). So, Robbie called us when we were shopping and he said they decided to have a ceremony but only spouses were invited. Scary thing is, I am close enough to a spouse to be allowed in. They ended up letting family in too so DeAnn got to see the ceremony also. It went fast and was on topic. I am glad it was so quick because we all know graduation ceremonies are not the most fun thing to attend. After graduation we did more shopping, more eating, more talking and then sadly, we had to leave. It was a short trip, but sooooo nice to be with Robbie. I cant wait to see him again.. We dont have anything planned yet. We have to wait to decide on a time until he goes to North Carolina and gets his schedule. I am very excited to visit somewhere new though!

Sickness

Unfortunatly, I have been feeling like crap lately. Marisa is home from school today. I think we have some sort of bug going around our house. Lexi is cuddled up next to me in bed and I dont think either one of us plan on moving with in the next few hours. What a wonderfully relaxing day (besides being sick). I love my cuddle days with my little baby Lex. Speakiing of Lexi, my mom is seriously thinking about letting me and Robbie take her with to Cali. I will update when I know more. Still in the discussion process. I just hope this "bug" gets out of our systems before we go to Mexico. I do not feel like sounding like a man, and feeling like my head is going to blow up for more than a week. Good health please come our way!

Lists

Thanks to my good friend Katie Anderson I have become an expert list maker! Most productive thing I have ever learned. I love making lists. I almost make a list once a day. Right now I have like 8 lists in process just waiting to get scratched off or getting the little uneven box I draw next to the item checked off. They keep my organized. I wouldnt have gotten everything done in college if it wasnt for my handy dandy lists. I recommend them to everyone. My lists consist of wedding stuff, things I need to do today, things I need to do this week, things I need to do before I die, things I want to make sometime soon, things I need to buy...etc etc. I dont know why I am talking about lists, its just what came to mind.

Wrap-up

Nothing too spectacular on the agenda this week. Just trying to get better and a lot of working. I picked up some shifts this weekend so I am doubling on Friday and Saturday. I need the extra cast especially since Mexico is right around the corner. Wednesday I am getting my hair done by Jenna, much overdue. Thursday I am making dinner for my Grandma and haning out with her. Thats about it. Oooohhh almost forgot! My wedding dress came in last night! I need to make an appt. to go try it on and figure out alterations!!!! So happy!