Recent Projects

{one} 72 Hour Kits: Our bishop asked the ward to have our 72 hour kits all ready by the first day of school. It feels great to have followed his counsel and to have ours all finished! Next step: we are all supposed to have our 3 month supply kits done by the last day of school before Christmas break. We're on our way!

{two} Cash jars: Jess and I have started a money system to help better ourselves. Jess really wants this one new gun. I couldn't tell you what it is exactly because I don't know guns...at all. And I want a DSLR camera. DESPERATELY. So...we set up an awards system. I wanted a place to put our cash as it added up, but I didn't want it to be boring. That being said, I didn't have a lot of time to make something really cute. So I made these labels SUPER quick, laminated them, and glued them to the jars. It works for us! I also made one to collect our spare change lying around. 

**Side note: Once again, I'm asking for camera opinions. What is your favorite DSLR camera?! I'm looking for advice!

{three} Organizing the house: I've been doing pretty good at this. And it makes me happy.

{four} School: Classes started August 18 which means I'm once again a full-time student. My class list is as follows: 

English 379: Travel Writing

English 411: Writing the Modern Fairy Tale

English 498: My capstone project for graduation

Family Studies 301: Introduction to Parenting

Spanish 101: Introduction to Spanish

So far, I'm really enjoying my classes. But with my crazy, active son...this is going to be a tough semester! 4 out of my 5 classes are online which means I have to do the work with him by my side. It's very interesting to say the least.

Baby Ryan Isn't Such A Baby Anymore

Not too long ago I looked at my son and realized a simple truth:

My baby boy is growing up.

That's right. He's slowly transitioning from a baby to a toddler.

And it's happening much too fast.

In just over two weeks {yes, I said two} he will be 1. ONE. I can't even believe it.

Anyway, here is a rundown of Ryan over the past couple of months:

{1} He is walking. He began walking three days after he turned 10 months (though he first walked, as in took a couple steps here and there) at like 8 or 9 months.

(TWO) About a month ago, Jess and I made Ryan a homemade ball pit. He LOVES it. But what does he love more? Throwing the balls from inside it at Nash. That's right. One day Jess and I decided it'd be funny to throw one at Nash (so we might be a little twisted and think messing with the dog like that is funny). Well, Ryan thought it was HILARIOUS and started cracking up. So, naturally, we kept it up for awhile. Now Ryan constantly tries to do it himself (though his aim isn't quite as good as ours).

 [t.h.r.e.e.] He LOVES spaghetti. Or anything messy, really. Basically, as long as it's on his tray and he's feeding it to himself...he's happy. Which means I have LOTS of clean-up daily. But if he's happy, I'm happy. And Nash loves it, too!

And now I think I'm going to listen to Taylor Swift's Never Grow Up...again. 

Pete

Thursday night, my childhood dog of 14 years was put to sleep.

If any of you knew Pete, you knew that he was an amazing dog.

He was super smart.

He was friendly.

He loved kids.

He was protective.

He saved our house from burglars on more than one occasion.

He could do lots of fun tricks.

He loved to lick feet.

He got really excited when visitors came and would run laps over and over around the house.

He walked slightly sideways.

He loved food...especially eggs. Goldfish and popcorn were also preferable.

Pete,

I still remember the day I got you. I walked out on Christmas morning and there you were: a tiny, little mess of white fur cowering under the coffee table. I picked you up and you sat scared in my arms. You were the cutest thing ever and I loved you from that first moment on.

I'll miss you dancing in circles when you know you're getting a treat. I'll miss you laying on my lap because you think you are a small dog {you aren't}. I'll miss hearing you and Nash play together. I'll miss running around with you until I'm out of breath. I'll even miss fighting with you.

Thanks for always cuddling me when I had a bad day, keeping me warm when I was cold, protecting me when I was home alone and scared, listening to me when I needed someone to vent to, playing with me when I was bored, and licking food off me when I spilled it.

You were the best childhood dog I could have ever asked for.

Save a spot for Nash in doggy heaven! But you're gonna have to wait awhile--I'm not ready to give him up for years to come!

You were loved by many, Pete, and I'll ♥ you forever!

Love,

Britney

Superstition Review

I just realized that I never posted about my internship this past semester with Superstition Review.

SR is a national online literary magazine based out of Arizona State University. It's editor-in-chief, Patricia Murphy, is probably my favorite teacher at ASU. I've had her for, let's see, 5 classes so far. I'm currently enrolled in my sixth. She's amazing.

I interned with SR for the first time in the spring of 2010 as a nonfiction editor. I loved that position. Basically I got to read all the nonfiction essays that were submitted and I helped decide which ones to publish in the magazine. I also had the opportunity to interview Scott Russell Sanders. You can check out the nonfiction here and the interview here.

In the spring of 2011, I interned with SR for the second time. This time, I worked as an interview editor. This was the greatest position to have. In fact, I think it's been the greatest experience I've had thus far in my career as a writer. It was absolutely amazing. I got to interview seven different authors:

Diana Joseph, author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way was great to work with. I love her honest writing on womanhood and the male influences in our lives (interview).

Jackie Shannon Hollis has written some of my favorite short stories ever. I love her work and I can't wait for her novel to debut. She's wonderfully talented (interview).

John Grogan, author of Marley and Me, is such an inspiring writer. It was so great to work with him. He was pleasant, kind, and I still can't believe that I got to interview him (interview).

Kazim Ali, author of The Disappearance of Seth, is a beautiful poet and wonderful fiction writer. I loved that in The Disappearance of Seth (a novel set just after September 11th), he used such beautiful imagery and such stark, emotional characters that made the story seem so real (interview).

Kevin Prufer, author of National Anthem (a book of poems), is one of my favorite poets. I could read his poems all day. He uses the perfect words and images to enhance his work (interview).

Marge Piercy, author of The Crooked Inheritance, is another one of my favorite poets. I couldn't put her book down. Her poems cover such diverse topics and her choice of words is perfect to convey emotion (interview).

Sloane Crosley, author of I was Told There'd Be Cake, is downright hilarious. She's witty and smart and real. I recommend this book of essays. I loved every word of it (interview). 

You can also check out my guest post on the SR blog about writing here. 

I loved having the opportunity to interview these inspiriting writers and work with Superstition Review. You should check it out!

Oh, California. Why did you have to go so soon?

This past week, Jess and I went to visit the great Cali-for-ni-a! Can I just say how much I LOVE Cali? It's pretty much the greatest place. And I enjoyed myself even more knowing the HIGH was 72 degrees and the LOW was 64. Can you say perfect weather? Yeah. It was amazing!

We left on Tuesday around 4:30 and made the trek over to Oceanside arriving late that night. We settled into our room and talked until we fell asleep while listening to the waves of the ocean. Mmmm...perfection!

Wednesday we just hung out. We walked around Oceanside and went shopping. We went to Captain America. We chilled and relaxed in our room. We spent lots of quality time together as a family just laughing and playing.

Our original plan for Thursday was to go to the San Diego zoo. We figured Ry would love to see all the animals! But, late Wednesday night we changed plans. Thanks to Chris and Tara (our cousins) we were now going to Disneyland. And I don't regret that decision one bit. We woke up super early and left for Disneyland at 6:45 so we could be there right when it opened. We went on a ton of rides and Ry did so good! Disneyland is so much fun when you have a kid there to spoil and watch. I'm so glad we went and I can't wait to go again sometime!

Why yes, we did buy a giant stick of cotton candy and hand the entire thing to our 11 month old son. Don't judge. It made for awesome pictures.

And he LOVED it. Plus, he only ate like 2 small bites anyway. If that--most of that made it onto his face, hands, and clothes.

Right before he started crying {the only time of the whole day}. Mr. Toad scares him, apparently.

Dad had way too much fun while Ry was asleep. Notice that with each picture, the gun gets bigger...

I think Woody was trying to take his break. But I bombarded him and got a picture anyway. You can't turn down a baby on his first trip to D-land!

I didn't even know there was a petting zoo at Disneyland until this trip.

Ryan hated the carousel. He kept trying to get off.

Friday we slept in and chilled again most of the day. And that night we went to dinner at Ruby's on the pier. Then another movie.

And Saturday, we finally braved the beach. We'd been putting it off because we figured Ryan wouldn't like it much. Plus, we didn't want to have to continually get the sand out of his mouth that he would inevitably repeatedly place inside it. But he LOVED it! He made it over an hour before he got cranky at all! Even if he kept eating the sand...

He had lots of fun playing with his cousin. The two of them were absolutely fascinated by each other. It was too cute.

After the beach, we went to the aquarium in San Diego. It was pretty cool and Ry liked the BIG fish. But he still thought his new friend (his cousin) was more entertaining.

**I don't have pics from the aquarium because I accidentally left my camera in my beach bag. Dang.
 

And then we went to the mall and dinner with the family.

Sunday morning we traveled home back to reality. The week went by way too fast!