PASS

That is the sweetest 4 letter word I have ever read!

That's right folks, I passed my MFT Exam!!

My letter FINALLY came in the mail on Friday.

Late Friday I might add. 

We were celebrating Michael's birthday that day, but I was a little preoccupied.

We went to a matinee movie...

and there was no mail when we got home.

So we went on a walk, and I saw the mail car driving around the neighborhood...

but there was no mail when we got home.

I watched a tv show and ate lunch...

there was no mail.

Finally, around 5:30pm Michael says, "Good news Brittany, the mail came!"

I made him run out immediately to check the mailbox, and as he was walking up the sidewalk he said, "It's here!"

My heart literally stopped.

I'm pretty sure it didn't start again until I tore it open and saw those sweet four letters.

PASS.

I did it! I passed!

I'm going to be a real therapist!

Michael and I both jumped around screaming for a little while, 

and then I started crying. Duh.

 I cried even more when I called my parents and got to tell my entire family the news while on speaker phone.

I have never been so emotional about one little piece of paper.

I mean, those 2.5 days of waiting were really rough on me,

but it was all worth it in the end.

Now all that stands between me and my future is a pesky little graduation ceremony.

 WOO-HOO!!!

*Note: I do not regret a single one of those exclamation points.

Usually I go through and edit them all out of my posts, 

but I feel like if any posts deserves to have them, its this one!

Waiting Game

One of my good friends pointed out to me that waiting seems to happen to me often,

and that maybe it is my cross to bear.

I have to agree with her, and though I may not like it, I should accept it.

So after stewing last night, 

I am going to choose to have a better attitude today.

A more faithful attitude if you will. 

This song is heavy on my heart today.

I am going to choose to worship while I wait.

God has gotten me this far in my field, and I am faithful that He will get me through the finish line.

So I will wait.

Oh Bridget

What do you do when everyone you know that took the MFT Exam has gotten their results (and passed) BUT YOU?!?

You cry, lots of tears because you are fairly certain you failed.

You eat lots of junk food - good thing I found these guys the other day!

And you watch not one, but TWO Bridget Jones movies,

because there is no greater failure at life than Bridget Jones.

And she's always good for a laugh.

The end.

Of this post, and quite possibly my life if I failed that stupid test.

Boots, Bar-B-Q, and Tim McGraw

Its that time of year again in Houston.

That time where the traffic near Reliant Area is constantly at a stand still.

The time when the scent of smoked meat and manure fills the air,

and the time when you could see an amazing concert every night for 2 weeks straight.

Michael and I have only been to the Rodeo once before, and we didn't really know what we were doing, or what the must-see things are.

This time, one of our old youth kids came along with us.

Curtis goes to the Rodeo at least 5 times per year, so he was an excellent tour guide.

My first stop was at the food stand for a fried Pop-tart.

 Unfortunately, it was not nearly as good as I had anticipated. 

There was way to much fried batter, and way to little actual Pop-tart.

 Next, Michael and Curtis went on the Haunted House ride.

They said it was totally lame, but the guy didn't charge them their tickets, which meant I got to play a carnival game.

All I had to do was was pop a balloon with a tiny bean bag to win a prize.

On my first throw, the bean back bounced off the balloon and flew about 20 feet in the air.

It wasn't looking good.

But luckily, the lady let me and Curtis combine our hits and I got this huge elephant!!

I have never won a stuffed animal at a carnival, so I was pretty excited.

I did not consider the fact that I would have to carry the thing for 6 hours...

We spent time walking around the carnival, took pictures, and then went to the indoor booths.

 The indoor booths at Reliant Center were crazy!

There were crafts, clothes, and even cars for sale, as well as this huge area of candy.

There was a livestock show going on and kids were showing heifers.

There was a petting zoo for little kids.

A gigantic incubator with chickens hatching.

And, maybe the best, a pig was giving birth to lots of piglets.

And we got to watch.

It was crazy, and awesome!

After walking around a bit we decided to get some dinner and I chose Bar-B-Q.

YUM!

That was some good Bar-B-Q, and an amazing potato!!

After dinner, it was time for some rodeo.

Last time we went to the rodeo we had awesome seats due to the fact that we went to church with the President of the Houston Rodeo.

Since we haven't talked to him in 2 years, we decided to get our own tickets and they were not as good.

We still had a great time watching all the rodeo events though, and then it was time for TIM MCGRAW!

Rodeo

Setting up the stage

Tim McGraw

He put on a really good show!

He even spent half of it out in the stands with the audience.

And though Faith didn't make an appearance, and he sang a few too many new songs that I don't know, I still loved it.

I was amazed that he still looks and sounds like he did 10-15 years ago.

 It was such a fun day, and I'm so glad that we were able to make it this year!

Can't wait to see who the musical guests will be for next year!

1-20-13

Did I really not post about my sister's wedding??

You could count this post, and I did say I would post more later with the real pictures, I guess.

I think that at this time I was lost in the black hole that was the MFT exam,

and when I came out, I could barely remember my own name.

So here it is now, a post about Bailey and Jon's wedding!

We started Sunday off perfectly by having a small family devotional at the wedding venue.

My cousin led us in some songs, we had communion, and then my Uncle gave a wonderful sermon.

It was a really special time with my family, and the best way to start wedding day.

After the devo, we got right to work on decorations.

Those took about 30 minutes, which left us the rest of the morning to just hang out and relax.

We had lunch at the venue, and then it was time to start getting ready.

One of my good friends was so sweet and did all the girls' hair!

And she rocked it!!

Seriously, we all looked awesome!

I love this picture of the girls watching her finish Bailey's hair.

And here is a shot of Bailey right after she was finished with make up. 

Wow.

She looks amazing!!

Just breathtaking.

Bailey got all of the bridesmaids robes with our initials on them as a Thank You gift,

so we had to show them off in some pictures.

 Then it was time to get in our dresses.

Bailey had the super cute idea of adding sashes to our dresses...brilliant!

Unfortunately, I was the ONLY one that could tie them.

Which was fine, until everyone was all ready, looking cute and sash-y, taking pictures,

and I was still holding my sash in my hand.

Luckily, the good ole groom knows how to tie a perfect bow and Jon fixed it up for me!

 I really love this picture from the boys dressing room of Jon getting ready.

Once we were all dressed and ready, it was time for the couple's first look.

Can you say "Happiness"??

This picture is just too cute.

 After the bride and groom spent some time together, it was group picture time.

The biggest struggle was getting our two little ones to participate.

Sometimes they did.

Sometimes they didn't.

But no matter what they did, they sure looked adorable doing it.

Once the guests started arriving, the girls went back to the bridal suite to relax.

Or, if you are Bailey, you used this time to panic.

Sister does not like attention.

She HATES being in front of people.

Since this was her wedding day, there was obviously going to be an abundance of both.

So she panicked a bit, and possibly shed some tears.

So we all said a little prayer for her, Jon, and their marriage to encourage her.

While on this topic, I must say that I was honored to be the one to do this.

I know I was the Matron-of-Honor and everything, 

but it meant so much to me to be the one to go before God on behalf of Bailey and Jon on this very special day.

So then I shed some tears...

and Bailey still wasn't calm, and we were all trying to cheer her up to no avail.

In the meantime, I decide I should go shut the curtain that covers her as she walks to the stairs to make her entrance.

When I went out there I heard some music that sounded a lot like her wedding video I made.

Turns out they had started the wedding and forgot to tell us!

Awesome!

I run back into the room (after closing the curtain, of course) and yell "The wedding started!!"

Chaos insued.

I grab Bailey's train and run her out the door to the stairs where my Dad is waiting.

Run back to get my bouquet.

When I get to the door, the other bridesmaids hand me Bailey's bouquet, which she had forgotten.

I run that back to the stairs where the groomsmen are standing and say,

"Can someone who's not in heels run this down to her??"

The rest of us girls made it to the back of the room with plenty of time,

and I spent that entire time pep-talking my nephew Oliver, and coaching him on how to walk down the aisle. 

 Turns out he is quite the little pro.

Him and the flower girl all but stole the show from the rest of the bridal party - they were so cute!

And then I shed some more tears when I saw this.

Absolutely gorgeous!

I should not have looked, but I did look, and was flooded with emotions.

She was stunning.

And not nervous-looking at all!

A very special aspect of the ceremony was the fact that it was Michael's first to offiate.

He was pretty nervous about it, but he did an amazing job!

The entire ceremony was so beautiful!

Ow-Ow!

First kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Brooks!

We took a few family pictures after the ceremony, so of course I have to share those.

Then, it was time to party!

There was lots of dancing, mostly by Bailey, Jon and their friends.

Bailey even forced convinced me and Michael to get out on the dance floor.

By the way, this was our first dance together. Ever.

Last but not least, a wedding is not complete without the little details,

so here are some of the things that tied it all together perfectly.

- The Guest Book Board that Jon made and painted himself.

By the end of the night, it was completely full and looked GREAT!

- The beautiful and delicious cakes.

- And the most beautiful bouquets I have ever seen.

It really was the perfect day, and the perfect wedding.

I still have a hard time believing that my little sister is a married lady.

It seems like just yesterday she was the little girl with a bowl cut sleeping on the bottom bunk, 

or "the down part" as she fondly called it.

I am so happy that she has found the perfect partner to spend her life with.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving sister, and even more blessed to have such an amazing new brother!

I love you so much Sister!!

Wishing you and Jon many years of happiness and love! 

(and babies ;)

The Power of YouTube

Every couple needs a good cruise YouTube every once in awhile.

It all started for us with a simple statement from Michael about Akon being in the song, It Wan't Me.

Well, if Akon were here he would say "It wasn't me" because he was not in that song.

However, the statement led to a little dance party when I played Right Now, by Akon.

(You should know, I love this song!)

Was it a little after midnight? Yes.

Was I already in bed? Yes.

Did that stop us? NO!

From there I went to YouTube to show Michael the really annoying diamond song by Rhianna,

but I never made it there because I got sidetracked by the Popular page.

Some of these are pretty awesome, so I thought I would share.

First, there is the juggling-Rubix-cube-solving guy, first posted on Fabebook for my watching by our friend Trey.

(Please excuse the language)

Next, there was this video of the most gigantic rope swing ever.

I was scared just watching.

You may also want to watch this video of the same rope swing.

Just to get a better idea of what it actually is.

 

Somehow from there it went to the Les Mis performance from the Oscars,

which led to this video of the wonderful Jennifer Lawrence.

You should go ahead and watch more videos of her from the Oscars,

because they are all completely hilarious!

Then there is this gem that has been floating around the fashion blogs.
Too funny! And sad at the same time!

 

Lastly, I had to see what this screaming goat business was all about.

Its just as weird and scary as I thought.

But this is getting funnier with each view.

 

There you have it.

Hope you have enjoyed this little look into our lives.

We are so interesting, I know!

Ready to Rodeo

Earlier this week Michael told me that he had a special day planned for Friday.

Well, he kinda spilled the beans a little early, 

and told me that we were going to Cavender's for me to pick out boots for an early graduation present!

He had even talked to a youth kid about the good brand to buy.

I was so excited!

We went Friday afternoon, and let me tell you - it was a disaster.

1) The store was CRAZY.

It was so packed full of people, you couldn't even move.

2) No one was helping us.

I mean, I now know how Julia Roberts felt in Pretty Woman.

"They were mean to me."

"No one would help me."

It was awful.

3) Since I obviously know nothing about boots, I had to leave.

We went to a different Cavender's today though, and I was successful!

 The store was still completely packed, 

but the women's boots were not.

And they had a MUCH bigger selection of the brand I wanted.

There was even a worker that helped me find the right size.

So here they are, my very own cowgirl boots!

 

 Now I'm all ready for the rodeo and Tim McGraw on Friday!!