The Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to the 57 year old man who is healthier and sprier than most men half his age, and more ambitious and hard working than all men everywhere. :)

From diapers and "rocking chair friends"... 

To the day he stood as witness as I said "Yes,"

And so many times before and since then, my "Bigdog" has been there for me like any best Dad you could ever imagine would. I'm so proud to be his daughter and feel so blessed to have been born into the Briggs Family!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

(...Grandpa!)

Life at a Glance (pictures to follow)

Why hello again!

August 14th really wasn't all that long ago, but so many things have happened that it feels much longer than two weeks.

The last little bit of life, calendar-style.

August 11th - 1 year anniversary. Dinner at a restaurant we never go to. A great night at home.

August 15th - Our "celebrated" anniversary. Going back to Alaskan Inn and Rainbow Gardens for dinner. Wonderful night and I love how much we've become better friends in one year.

August 18th - Beth got home. FINALLY! I feel like my life is back in order with her nearby.

August 19th - Morning flight out of Utah to Vancouver, where we boarded a cruise ship headed up the Alaskan Coast. First Briggs Family Vacation since before Dan's mission! Meaning I was seven years old. 2/3 of my life ago--I'd say we were overdue.

August 19th-26th - One of the greatest weeks with the family ever. Floatplane adventure over the Misty Fjords. Hiking to Mendenhall Glacier after having the pleasure of riding Mr. Jantzen Deppe's tour bus. Touring Skagway and getting ripped off at a Subway in Canada. Playing games nonstop with all the kids, including Sardines on decks of the ship. Endless buffets and room service. Blake and I being the winning contestants in a marriage game show and winning a bottle of champagne. Riding a tour bus from Seward to Anchorage for ten hours. Waiting in the airport for another 5 hours. And finally a red-eye flight from Anchorage to Denver to Salt Lake where we jumped off the plane, into the car, and raced back to campus so I could make my classes on my last first day of school!

August 27th-28th - Trying to get a handle on school without getting too overwhelmed. With Blake's support and perspective, even the scariest mountains become climbable. Awesome hubster for the win.

August 29th - Another trip to the airport and red-eye flight. This time, it was Blake's brother Quinton who just returned from his mission in Bolivia. Meeting new brother for the first time. Loving the family I married into all over again. Loving life.

August 30th - Great day of school. First Zumba experience. Family barbeque tonight. First BYU football game. And who knows what other adventures the rest of the afternoon has in store... I'll keep you posted. :)

Dang, life's good.

Movie Reviews

I've always known I could never be a movie critic. Number one, I couldn't watch all the sleaze, gunk, and slash-em-up movies that they have these days.  Number two, I just don't have the killer critic instinct.  You know what I mean... Even on a movie that has four stars, a movie reviewer will throw in some cynical jab just because they can (at least that's the how the Standard Examiner guy does it). As a hypothetical example:  "Easily one of the best films of the year... If you can get past the sappy romance between Actor A and Actress B." See what I mean?  They've generally got to have the last biting word.

That's just not in my nature.  Even in the poorest movies, I'm more likely to try and smooth things over for the actors' sake.  Exhibit A:  Ella Enchanted.  Possibly one of the most tragic travesties* to ever cross the movie screen in my opinion. Seriously, it was hurtful to any lover of the book. If you haven't seen it, DO NOT. If you haven't read the book, DO, and imagine the perfect movie that book inherently could have been.

Anyway, I feel bad for the people involved with the movie.  It wasn't Anne Hathaway's fault--I'm sure she skillfully did as she was directed and filled her role with exactness. She didn't write the script and mess up the book, she didn't do the screenplay or whatever... And I'm sure their were a whole host of little girls who had never read the book that ranted and raved over the movie, put it on their Christmas list, and watched it every day for several weeks after receiving the movie.

Conclusion:  I couldn't be a movie critic.

BUT, I do have some movie reviews I would like to submit in hopes that you might reap the same joy/thrill/inspiredness/fill-in-the-blank that I did upon watching these.

#1:  The Hunt for Red October

WHY had I never seen this?!?!  I think it's because I thought it was a boring "Mom Movie" growing up. (Which is so ironic, because I've always been the one to watch Mom stuff with Mom--e.g. The Antiques Road Show, Nature episodes, Masterpiece Theater, etc.)  Anyway, Blake and I watched it the other night, and may I just say...

HOLY.   MOLY.

It's incredible! Not to mention it has Sean Connery in it!  I used to scoff at people (mainly boys) who gushed and mushed about Sean Connery being the manliest man alive, but I take it all back.  And the story line! I found myself desperately wishing that the story weren't fiction, but alas, it's based on a brilliant novel by Tom Clancy.  I've never read anything of his, but just from the plot of this movie, I'd say he's a captivating genius.

Give it a shot--I loved that it had the intensity of a suspenseful war movie, but lacked a lot of the gore and violence that I usually have to cover my eyes for. This was excellent.

#2:  Courageous

I think the best review I can give this is a quote from my Mom while I was watching it with her:

"Every person should be made to watch this movie."

Courageous is made by Sherwood Pictures, a film production started by a Christian Community out of Sherwood Georgia whose "goal from day one has been to make family-friendly movies that build on the Judeo Christian ethic and communicate the gospel without compromise." (For more, see here.) They're unabashed in their presentation of faith and truth, and unapologetic about their (and our) conviction that men and women are "have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. . . Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations."** Stated in the Proclamation on the Family, but supported in the media through Sherwood Pictures.

Producer Alex Kendrick said, “I want to make movies, but no church is going to let me stay on staff and do that.”  Pastor Michael Catt replied, “Why not? Bring me a script and a budget, and let’s see if God is in it.”  That was the beginning of Sherwood Pictures, and I can witness to you that God is in this film.
 
"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."***



Go and seek.  You can even find Courageous in Red Box these days.  This will certainly be worth $1.15 and a few hours of your time.  Let it change you and reaffirm your unwavering commitment to honor, duty, and virtue.


*travesty: a literary or artistic composition so inferior in quality so as to be merely a grotesque imitation of its model
**The Family: A Proclamation to the World
***Articles of Faith

What a Great Life

My life is awesome. 

Period.

Friends

(There are so many more people and pictures where these came from!)

Terrorizing FrontRunner Riders the day after Christmas - Kate, Franny, Me, Chels

Full Orch. Trip: "Where I found myself" :) - Kim, Sarah, Me, Chels

Kate and Chels. There for every important big day. :)

Roommates:

Fact: I had the privilege of living with 10 of the best girls in creation.

Here's a shout out to Sam, Jillian, Amy, Anna, and Becca

Melissa, Suzy, Natalie, Katie, and Madeleine

MLKJ Day - Spontaneous trip to the Fieldhouse and Rock Canyon

Roommate night at Brick Oven. (Ironically, Anna Dearest was on a date making pizza.)

Mliss, Nat, Suz, Mad, (KT), and Justin - There are debts to these girls that I can never repay. I love them dearly. I learned so much from them and grew in ways that were only possible under such a unique climate of amazing ladies.

Family:

Where would I be without them?

Who better to teach you to bowl than your Daddy?

Popcorn buddies. (Yes our popcorn bowl was a bedpan. Yes that's a super-long beard. Yes I love my Dad.)

Our favorite home-made Christmas stockings. Made and filled with love by Mom.

First school dance. Not sure how the girls without older sisters get through life.

The little moments.

You can only get away with stuff like this with a sister.

New sisters!

I'm getting to be a big sister for the first time in my life. And I love it.

Our family setup is perfect. Four boys then the two girls at the end to be best friends.

"Chums in joy..." -- Chums ALWAYS.

I look up to all of them (yes, all, Aaron) and feel lucky I came last.

These kids are my first real experience prepping me for my own family. Dan and Karen, thank you for sharing the love. :)

And last but not least...

My Right-Hand Man

First picture together when he'd taken me home for General Conference to meet the family.

Summer Date to hike Timp Caves

Right after we both said "Yes"

Laughing at the position the photographer was making us be in. A total ab-workout.

On our Honeymoon in San Diego - The USS Midway

Top of the Conference Center

Beach + Blake = Happy Annie

One of our very favorite temples!

I love firsts. First winter, first time playing in the snow, first snow man (and the tallest one I've ever made).

Sending Grandma her "flowers" for Mother's Day. We're so grateful to be here in their home.

Yep. Awesome life.

More of life to come!

Happy Things

Sorry the grouchy post stayed at the forefront for so long--I've been busy with happy things and blogging hasn't been at the top of my list. What happy things you ask?

Well...

• Our first Father's Day (which happened to be the day after the grouch post, and yes, I scowled five zillion percent less... Success!) proved to be a really happy one. I already knew that Blake would be an excellent Dad someday, but somehow the official holiday seemed to underline, bold, and highlight that in my mind. :) (Must have been my primary kids singing Daddy's Homecoming in Sacrament Meeting...) I love all the men in my life--I have two amazing Dads, and a wonderful hubster. Blake's wonderful to life, wonderful to me, and he's the best decision I've ever made.
• On Monday, some of the Briggs Bunch went camping up in the mountains. What a lovely time! Dutch oven goodness, Navajo Tacos, motorbike rides, shotgun shooting, bushwhack-hiking (so like our family)... Life is good! Oh, and listening to "coyotes" (I still think they were wolves...) at night proved to be a most rewarding experience.
• Yesterday, I went to the dentist! Hooray! That probably sounds sarcastic, but I really have always loved going to the dentist. Especially now that I've been through the oh-so-glorious orthodontia adventure... Getting my permanent retainer scaled is always a semiannual highlight of my year. Best feeling ever! Oh, and to complete my report, I'm a No Cavities Kid. Woot!
• Also, yesterday Blake and I got our HSA set up. Scott Marsh would be proud. :)
• This morning, picked raspberries with Mom and have been doing odd, semi-booshy* jobs, like shop-vac-ing every square inch of the camp trailer. (It was my turn, Beth. I think you did it last time.) It's a great feeling to be busy, though!

There's just one downer. And it's a big one.  I'm sorely missing Madame Belladonna** who is on an internship in California having loads of adventures that just aren't as fun because we're not adventuring together. (How's that for presumptuous?) In all seriousness, it does stink to not have her around, but we're all glad she's taking advantage of this opportunity. Grab this experience by the horns and ride it like this, Stupe!:

"Yaah hoo! Howdy, howdy, howdy!"

The last time I watched this movie in its entirety, I was recovering from a tonsillectomy. Watching this clip is making me want to find another medical excuse to watch it. :)

Anyhow, have a lovely day, folks! (Especially you, Beth.) I think I might go make a Ramen Noodle Salad.

*For definition, see Beth, or make up your own. Don't bother googling it.
**Beth.
***And because I'm missing her like crazy, another triple-star tribute to Beth. Te amo, hermana!

Double the Fun

Meet Aubrie and Alaina. (Don't ask me who's who... their Mama was the only one who knew for several months!)  I needed to interview a multiple-birth parent for my Infant Development class and thought of my cousin Jill right off the bat. These are her two identical twins, and if those polka-dotted vests and furry pink boots don't just melt your heart, I'll be danged.

Jill has some unique perspectives on the transition to parenthood because she entered the Mom-scene with two bundles, not one. She has since had her third baby, Vivian, and has a lot of insights to offer a rookie like me about all things parenthood! I'm sure they'll come in handy someday.
 
I thought you might be interested to read a few gems as well. Enjoy!

Q:  Obviously you wouldn't change a thing because you've got two darling girls at the start of your family, but do you think it would have been easier starting out parenthood with just one instead of two? What were the biggest adjustments you and your husband had to make as first-time parents of twins?

A:  I am 100% positive it would have been easier to ease into new parenthood with just one baby instead of two.  However, I am discovering that not all parents of twins have such a difficult time as I did.  Some twins are healthy and mild tempered which makes the only difficulty logisitcs--feeding two babies at one time, carrying them to the car, grocery shopping with two babies etc.  However, my girls were extremely colicky, which means that they cried ALL the time.  At home, in the car, at church, everywhere.  They also spit up constantly.  Not just regular spit up, projectile vomiting is a better description.  So I guess I'd say the biggest adjustment was never having peace...at least for the first year.  Someone was always crying...and honestly sometimes it was me.  

Q:  What are some differences you've observed in raising/caring for Vivian as opposed to the Aubrie and Alaina double whammy? :)

A:  It has been unbelievably more fun having Vivi than it was having the twins.  Of course I love them all the same, but here are a few differences:

I am able to pay much more individual attention to Viv.  With my girls, I had to hold them at the same time, feed them at the same time etc.  And it was much more a task oriented environment.  But when I feed Viv, or change her etc, I goo at her, I look right into her eyes, I tickle her, we have little conversations, little moments.  I'm sure I tried to have those moments with my twins, but I'm positive it didn't actually happen very often.  Also I let them cry it out in their cribs much more than I let Vivi cry it out.  It was just too daunting of a task to go in in the middle of the night and try to play that guessing game of "ok, what does this baby want?" and then play it all over again with the next baby.   

Q:  What has been the most difficult/challenging thing about raising two girls the same age?

A:  Never having enough...enough space on my lap, enough attention to pay them both, enough patience when they're both screaming bloody murder.  Just always that feeling of coming up short.

Q:  In your opinion, what are some of the advantages of having twins?

A:  I was just bragging to some of my girlfriends who are pregnant, that at least when you have twins, you get more bang for your buck!  You might be sick for 9 straight months, but you get TWO kids out of it instead of one.  It really cuts down on that amount of time you have to spend pregnant in your life!  :)  Beyond that though, once the colic calmed down and the girls started to be able to interact, they started having fun together.  Now that they're 4, they're inseparable.  They have a best friend who knows all their stories, and all their secrets and shares their passions for teddy bears and bugs and trains.  They wipe eachothers' tears away and laugh at eachothers' silly jokes. 

Q:  What is something that gets you through "rough days"?

A:  My personal coping mechanism is trying to find or create order.  Every single morning, the second I get up, I make my bed.  Then I go to the girls rooms and make their beds.  Then I go to the kitchen and tidy things up.  All of this happens before I get the girls' breakfast.  Too often, they'll throw cereal or spill milk or something and if the house is a wreck, I am more likely to lose my temper with them, but if I can have some small amount of order in my life, it helps me deal with the disorder that children bring.  Also, if I start off the day like that, it helps me let go of things later on.  I can just sit and rock my girls in the middle of a messy house if that's what they need me to do, because I know that that morning I had order, and the next day I'll have order again.

Q:  What do you love most about your girls? (Tough question, I know.)

A:  I guess I love that they love me.  I feel like I have these little best friends being molded right before my eyes, and that someday they will be my adult best friends.  I love that they forgive quickly when I'm impatient and lose my temper.  I love that they want to learn everything from Spanish to soccer.  I love how smart and funny they are, and oh boy, how I love how utterly adorable they are.

 Ain't that the truth:

Nine Months

Nine months ago, I was sitting with all of the people I love most in the BYU Skyroom watching Dan, Jake, and Aaron perform their Blake and Annie "Jolly Holiday" tribute. (For those of you who don't know, I absolutely love Mary Poppins. Always have, always will.) At that point, I was sitting in a white dress next to my best friend and brand new husband. What a jolly nine months it has been!

Blake's best friend (Justin) is getting married August 3. My two best friends from high school are getting married August 10 (Kate) and August 17 (Chelsea). It'll be a really fun, happy three Fridays in a row, with our first anniversary tucked right in the middle. The other day, Chelsea posted this on facebook:

"I promised myself I wasn't going to be that bride who counts down the minutes and seconds to her wedding. But I realized something today that made me smile. 100 days!!"

This sparked my interest and I counted the number of days Blake and I were even engaged. Let's put it this way... Blake and I got married 122 days after our first kiss. (Granted, he had to wait about a decade for that first kiss. "Are you gonna kiss me or not?" was our theme song for several weeks.) In any case, that just makes me laugh and shake my head. To be young and crazy is a wonderful thing. :)

So... what are we up to nine months later? Today, Frosted Minispooners and Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast, Blake's at work for a few hours today, I vacuumed our house and cleaned the shower way better than I ever did for cleaning checks (having a shower wand is so nice for cleaning!), and later this afternoon Blake and I are going to go do a session in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. We didn't plan our temple trip to be on the eleventh, but it's a nice coincidence all the same. A little later, we might keep listening to Harry Potter on tape. It's our new favorite pastime together.

In short, life is good.  There are surprises, adventures, challenges, and mountains to climb, but it's a great journey that I'm glad I'm taking with Blake.

Memories of St. Patrick's Day

Dad was always a faithful pincher growing up. He'd run up the stairs in the morning to wake us up; if our pajamas or underwear (if you're Aaron) didn't have a visible speck of green he'd pinch us awake and continue pinching as we'd run squealing to our closets to put on the first green thing we could find. 

I remember the first or second year Dan and Karen were married, St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday and we had gone down to their Wyview apartment to see them. Dan and Karen both didn't have any green so as Dad chased Dan, I quickly pulled the green scrunchy out of my hair to have her put around her wrist like a bracelet. :) 

Hope you wore green today! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Caucus Raucus

Kind of sad that those words look like they rhyme, but actually don't. (I guess some people say "rock-us," but I'm a "ruck-us" girl myself...)

On the bright side, the caucus was great last night! I've been to a few caucuses before and I could not BELIEVE how many people were there last night! The turnout was thrilling and exhilarating. Parking was a very happy nightmare, and our precinct alone had 239 voters!! Things were much more heated and energetic than the caucuses I've been to in the past, and I'm so glad I was there to give my vote. It was fun to look after the fact and see that Blake and I voted for the same three candidates to be state delegates. *Enter some mashy, gushy, MFEO line.* All three of our choices were voted in--woot!

Also very exciting: in my hometown, my dad was voted as a state delegate and Aaron is a county delegate! I was very proud of the Briggs boys last night. :) Blake and I have decided that it'd be a really neat experience to be delegates one of these years. (The county convention was the Saturday before finals and the state convention was the Saturday of finals, so we decided this year would probably be a bad idea.)

Hope you got the chance to go exercise your right to vote last night. (Or on Tuesday.) It did great things for my patriotism and made me want to get even more involved and more informed!

Mr. Dad and Mrs. Mom!

No, I'm not pregnant... :)  But cute little ultrasound picture, huh.  (*bwa ha ha*)  I'm not pregnant, but I am becoming a mother of 5 overnight. (6, if you count the one in Bolivia, but I'd say his Mission President is much more his parent than I am!)  Blake’s parents are going on a trip to the Philippines for a week and a half. Odd vacation destination, you say? Pishposh. Why wouldn't you want to go? If nothing else, go for the unbelievably fine gourmet.  Nothing says "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey" like a fertilized chicken egg.

Behold:

Yes... Someone decided that was edible.

Okay, so there are a few other reasons to go besides the chicken eggs.  Blake's grandparents are there on a mission so Mom and Dad are off to see Elder and Sister Hull and all the other beauties the Philippines have to offer.

Let's all go, shall we? I feel like everyone should, at some point in their life, see a sunset like that in the flesh. I've never been to the Philippines, but I have witnessed several breathtaking sunsets like this one from Buffalo Point on Antelope Island:

For those of you who don't know, Antelope Island is the big hunk of land in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.  As much as it is mocked and disrespected by those who live nearby and have to deal with the stench every time it rains and the brine flies all summer, it really is a pretty fun place.  Make a point to hike Buffalo Point at sunset sometime when you're in Utah. (But take bug spray!)

Wow... I digress. I was just telling you about how I'm inheriting five kids. Truth be told, I'm a little stressed about it. When Mom sent me the schedule of everyone's lives and I realized that I'd be in charge of orchestrating it all, I had to take several deep breaths. Honestly, it sounded pretty fun, but the only thing that makes it tough is doing school on top of it all. I'll be relieved when this collaborative research paper is "safely six feet under."

Anyway, thanks for being my stress-reliever tonight, dear little blog... I needed a sanity outlet.

Good night! See you bright and early at 6:00 A.M. for family scripture study! :)

As of late...

My apologies for a month-long absence (with the exception of that lovely humanities rant the other day)--I've been working on this post for a while. It has been a very busy few weeks!

Here's what we've been up to the last little bit.

First off, we finished the Star Wars Saga, and my goodness, what a shame. I wish there were another batch we could enjoy. New life goal: train to become a Jedi.

Shortly after finishing Star Wars, (as in, a half hour later) we piled in the white Suburban for a Thanksgiving Trip to Bryce Canyon and Zion's National Park with the Briggs Bunch (minus Aaron, who thought snowboarding all week would be more fun (inexcusable), and Dan, Karen, and the kids, who decided a hiking trip with five little kids didn't sound like a relaxing holiday (understandable)).

Mom and Dad navigating

The group at Bryce Canyon

We decided to hike down into the canyon. Holy smokes, mud like I've never experienced, but it was definitely worth it! Beth's shoes say it all:

After Bryce, we continued down to Zion's. We hiked every day, including Angel's Landing. If you're interested, do a google image search to see a little more what the hike is like. After some switchbacks that rival the hike to the Y in intensity, the hike has a good solid chunk of the hike like this:

And this:
(yep, the trail is only that wide... so is the mountain)

The hike puts you up at the level of all the peaks and cliffs at Zion's because you're ON one of the peaks:

Good heavens, Mom! Please act your age and not like a scout! ;)
Just kidding--Mom is quite the adventurer. And this picture really captures just how much altitude we gained. (The little curvy thing at the top is a road. It's about the level the hike started.)

Even though there were a few points where I thought I was trying really hard to act tough and not look a little scared, it was a great experience and we were all glad Blake convinced us we could do it. It really wasn't too bad of a hike, nor was it grossly long like Timp. When you're down in Southern Utah, make a point to do it! (Unless you're prone to vertigo, in which case, most definitely do NOT attempt it.)

All in all, it was a great week! We enjoyed hiking, playing games in the hotel together, pulverizing our muscles in the hot tub, having our own "Continental Breakfast" every morning provided by Dad, and watching all of the Lord of the Rings. (Anyone who knows me will be shocked to hear that. Verdict: truly the greatest epic of good versus evil that I've ever encountered. I'm not sure I'd watch them again, though...)

Consider it the first of many family trips together, Blake!

In other news...

Blake's 23rd Birthday! He worked late, but he was off in time for us to go out for steak with Beth and her friend, Jake. I'm excited for a birthday when he's not working until 6:30 and I don't get home from campus until 6:00. :)

I had my exit interview for my internship at Courtyard at Jamestown. It's amazing how much you can grow to love someone by helping them with their basic needs. (i.e. eating, drinking, mobility, etc.) I'm going to miss my Alzheimer buddies.

The Second Sibling Shin-Dig (and last one our little Autumn Apartment!) including a spectacular Christmas surprise for Mom and Dad and gingerbread house making. (Of course we kept with tradition and watched the second Star Wars, even though Blake and I have seen it recently.)

Annual family outing to the Festival of Trees -- so great to have Blake with us this year!

Birthday Dinner with the Hulls on Sunday and watching the Christmas Devotional with Grandma and Grandpa Hull before they head off to the Philippines! What an adventure!

One of my dear roommates got her mission call to Guatemala City!

End of semester projects and papers including Jackson Polluck rice krispies for humanities.

An entire day of reviews on the Reading Day (9-10, 290; 10-12, Personal Finance; 12-2, Humanities; 2-4 (slash the moment I sprinted out the door to meet Courtney in Orem at 4), Biology.)

Pike Family Get-together to honor our deceased WWII veteran--Grandpa--and his war bride. (And by "war bride," I mean married and twenty days later he's off to Germany.) Merry Christmas, Grandma!

A perfect last Sunday in our little Apartment in South Provo with my very best friend.

Finals starting today and going through Thursday (for me) and Friday (for Blake).

Oh, and moving out today... Hmm, are we seeing a trend here? Last semester/term, we got married on the last day of finals. This semester, we're moving our whole life from one location to another on the first day of finals. What a party!

Things we're looking forward to:

Finals being over.
Getting settled in our new, borrowed home.
Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert!
Hull Extended Family Humanitarian Project.
And of course...
Christmas!!!!

Life is Good

As a followup to the Monday, November 7th post:

Again: Life is good. Always.

Blake went to a review Monday night and came home with these in hand. Thanks for always helping me remember how little there is to worry about in life, Blake. Life is so good. I love you.

This week, I picked up a pretty nasty cold. I been fighting it like a fierce dragon (lots of sleep, tons of water, treating symptoms, etc.), but after several days of extreme chest congestion, even while on an expectorant around the clock, I decided I had to pull out the big guns.

Let me introduce you to a Briggs invention that my dad lovingly christened, "Steam Dungeon." (With Dad, everything was dungeons and monsters growing up... Poor Beth.)

The Steam Dungeon

I remember many times growing up sitting on the tall office chair, listening to books on tape with a box on my head with steam from a tea pot shooting into the box. I vowed I'd never do it once I was grown up, but look at me now! No tea kettle, no book on tape, and no baler box, but I did the best I could with our little saucepan and Langers Apple Juice box. I knew you'd be proud, Dad. :)


In addition to heaven-sent inventions like the Steam Dungeon, let me introduce you to one of the most angelic mortals alive. (No exaggeration.) Meet Beth:

Mhmm. I just saw your jaw drop to the floor. Don't worry, that's normal. :)

Get to know her and find that she's even more gorgeous inside than she is outside. I know what you're thinking... "Is that even possible?" Ordinarily, no. But Beth Briggs is no ordinary girl, my friends...

After class on Thursday, Beth and I walked home to her place, she drove me back to my apartment, and she let me rest while she made the most perfect vegetable soup and cornbread in creation so I wouldn't have to cook. Oh my goodness. I am so grateful for sisters--I know I wouldn't be half of who I am today without mine. Thank you, Beth!! You will be remembered in heaven for the vegetable soups, pedicures, shared salads in high school, and all the times I needed a shopping trip ally or a haircut buddy. You are one supremely sweet peach!

The aforementioned 'peach' was with me on my very first date when I was 16, and on Friday night, we got to be date buddies for the first time since I was in high school. Blake and I doubled with Beth and her friend from elementary school, Jake. He seems like an uncommonly great guy and we all had a ton of fun together! I wouldn't mind doing that again soon.

Life has been a little crazy this week, but it really has been great. It always is, right?