No Cord = No Blogs

I am waiting on a compuer charging cord to come in... mine broke. The only reason I am typing this now is because I am at school. Real studious, eh? :) I should be back soon all you bloggy ladies!!!

xoxo bri

You know it's Christmas when...

Elf is on tv!!! I absolutely love this movie. I can quote every single line... My former roomies will tell you how many times I made them watch this movie. Trust me, it's A LOT!!! And I can't just pick a single part in the movie that is my favorite, because, well, the whole thing is my favorite. Ha! There's a facebook petition for Buddy the Elf to host the SNL Christmas Special. That would be hilarious!! But, back to point. Tonight I was going to try to introduce Murray to this wonderful piece of Christmas magic. I was super excited when I saw that it was going to be on tv, since my dvd player is broken (thanks to a little 21 month old chick) and I can't just pop in my dvd anytime. So, we turned on Elf and I explained to her that this would possibly be the funniest movie she ever sees. And do you know what she did? She ran and turned the tv off. Not acceptable Miss Thang. I turned it back on and told her she would LOVE it if she would just be still and watch. So she watched for about a whole of 10 minutes, then cried to go to sleep. Now here I sit watching Elf alone. Oh well. I could think of worse ways to spend a night.

Oh speaking of movies, I have thought of something I want to do on Christmas Eve with Murray from now on. You know that movie Polar Express, right? Well every year my brother and I have slept in his room on the floor until the past couple years since I've had Murray. He stayed out in the Bungalow with me and Murray. We usually watch a movie or whatever because I don't really let Ian sleep haha. So, I want us to watch Polar Express that night. It'll be a fun tradition to start, and I think Murray will love it.  I hope so at least...

Today I am thankful for our (mine and Murray's) health. It was a rough start with my sweet little girl, being so small. Then we had the issue with her kidney reflux. But, now I have an amazing healthy little girl. Even though she has a cold right now...poor little girl!

Feel Good Friday!

Oh Dave you make me laugh!

Today I am thankful my brother is coming home! Not that I'll get to see him much. Plus, my Nicole is coming home next week and I'll get to see her!! YAY!!! I love the holidays! :)

So What?

This looked like fun and I decided to join in today!

So what...  if I am crazy a little obsessed with Twight. If I want to read the books 70x, watch the movies 5874x, read the blogs, and drool over pictures, then I am going to do it! How can I not obsess over this...

 

So what... if I color my hair all the time.  I like change (when it comes to hair color). 

So what... if I look forward to Murray having a nap. It doesn't always happen, but when it does I get to shower baby-free! Hey mama's you can't tell me you don't get excited too!

So what... if I drink too much coffee! Thank you Mom for the Keurig, because it fuels my coffee need.

So what... if I LOVE celebrity gossip... Did you know that Pink is pregnant (and it's so fitting, considering she has the song "So What" lol) and that Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are getting divorced. DRAMA!!! 

So what... if I joke around too much. Would you rather me be boring? I may have a lot of jokes and stories, but if you don't want to hear them, walk away :).

So, what are you So What's?  Go to Mama Dew's blog and play along!

Also, today I am thankful that my classes are almost over! I have a speech this week, a business test this week, and then I just have about a week left! HAPPY DANCE TIME!!! I can see the finish line this semester!!!! Go me!

Friends...even 9 hours away,

Do you have those people in your life who you can't imagine not knowing them??? Think about it...how many people came into your life and now you don't know what you would do if you hadn't met them! When I was dating my ex I got to meet quite a few amazing people who I love to death. Even though the situation with him ended badly, I am still thankful for most of what went on. ESPECIALLY meeting Mrs. Danielle! :) Honestly, she is one of a kind! I can't tell you how many times I've whined, complained, vented, laughed, joked, and obsessed about Twilight with her. She is just one of those people I have clicked with. I haven't known her longer than 6 months, but I feel like we've been friends out entire lives. I hate that she lives in 9 hours away, but that's ok... And even though we don't get to talk all the time, I know if I ever needed her she would be there to listen in a minute (and I hope she knows that I would do the same for her :)). So Danielle, you are awesome! Oh and check out her blog...she's an incredible blogger! :)

Thank You

To all those who are serving, have served, or gave everything for this country.

United States Army

United States Navy

United States Coast Guard

United States Marines

United States Air Force

I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Without you we wouldn't have the freedoms we have right now. God bless you and your families. I think I already did a post thanking the troops, but I honestly think they deserve a thank you every single day...not just a few days of the year. So today I am thankful for all those protecting us, past and present. My grandfather and 2 of my uncles are veterans, so thank you to them as well! Love you all!

Somewhat new look...

Well I was wanting a new background and I wanted it to be of owls...but I couldn't find anything!!! At least, I couldn't find anything free. I would LOVE a background made for me, but I don't want to spend $40 or more on one! But this one is cute and I made a new button. Also, did you notice the new title??? :) I told you I wanted owls. Ha. My life is a hoot. Murray has my sense of humor, so we laugh all day.

So what am I thankful for today? I am thankful for the ability to laugh. I laugh ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I do. I joke around too much a lot and I am willing to bet that it annoys some people. OH WELL. You can deal with it. :) I'm glad I can joke around in most situations!

I am dying to do a fashion show with all of Murray's cute new clothes, but I still have to get my new cord. UGHHHH!

So about that camera cord...

I was so excited when I checked the mail on Saturday and my new camera cord was there. I ran out to my house and opened the package. Beautiful! I could finally upload some pictures since I have a ton on my camera right now. I sit down and take the cord out of the package. Seriously, I was so excited. I take the little twisty tie that was holding the cord together all wrapped up. I plug the USB drive into the computer. YES! It was finally time to connect the camera. I grab the camera and lift the flap. Wait, it won't go in. WHY WON'T IT GO IN!!!!!! It is too big and it doesn't fit. Wonderful. I am so disappointed. Now, I have to get a new cord. Mega dislike. I guess the picture posts are going to have to wait a little longer.

Since I missed 5 days worth of being thankful, I'll catch up now. First, I am thankful for friends and family. This weekend we had a football party and it was so fun! Even though the Gamecocks lost, it was still fun! Second, I am thankful for the opportunity to go to school. It may not be fun, but it's worth it. Although, I have to admit that my public speaking class right now is a blast! Third, I am thankful for my church. I love it there! I was lucky enough to get to be there when Dr. Page was still there, now we have a great interim in Dr. Cloud. Even though he is leaving soon, our new paster Preacher Jimenez, is going to be awesome. Fourth, I am thankful for technology! I'm on 2 websites that I LOVE. Coastie Chicks and Gymbofriends. I may not know all these women in person, but you talk to them so much, you feel like they are some of your best friends. Plus, I really have met some of the greatest people through facebook. *TRACEY AND HILARY*. We may not talk much anymore, but I still consider them good friends! :) And fifth, I am thankful for my camera. The pictures I have are priceless and I can look back anytime and see how much my sweet little girl has grown in the past 20 months and 29 days. :)

No Camera, No Pictures

I really hate that I lose things so easily. I can't find my camera cord, so that means I can't show you any great pictures! I have Halloween pictures and pictures from Kevin's wedding and I'm going to have fashion show pictures of Murray tomorrow. I ordered a cord on the 1st, so hopefully it will be here soon! Then it's going to be picture mania!! Let's just hope I can remember all the stories to go along with the pictures.

25 DOT- Day 3

Today I am thankful for the cool weather. It felt amazing outside today! Nice and cold, just like I love it to be! Winter/Fall clothes are so much cuter too :)

25 Days of Thanksgiving- 1 & 2

Ok, so I saw on facebook a lot of my friends were posting something they were thankful for everyday until Thanksgiving. I started thinking and I was like this would be a great blog post! I have been slacking on my posts lately, so I need to start back. Since I missed yesterday, I am going to have two today.

First, I am thankful for Murray. She is the funniest, happiest, smartest child! I love to hear her laugh and see her smile. She laughs at everything! She talks all the time and I love it!

Second, since today is Election Day, I am thankful for our freedoms and our privileges we have. I am thankful we have the freedom to vote for who we want to and aren't forced to live in a country where we aren't allowed to choose.

Halloween Time

I haven't blogged in a week!! Crazy! I had a lot of school work this past week. I had a speech this past Thursday and I had originally picked the topic of polygamy because of the show Sisterwives. (Oh BTW, did you see the Sisterwives shocker about how one of them was married to the other's brother for a while???) Well after I basically had finished it, I decided to change my topic... 2 days before the speech. Yeah, not a super genius idea. But, I got it done and I think I did ok. I was really nervous for some reason. Next week that class is going to be so fun.. we get to dress up and I'm going as Snooki! Yep, I am gonna be Snooks. I can't wait!

Saturday night Paige, Hannah, Murray, and I went to Halloween Hoopla in Downtown Greer. It was pretty fun. Murray looks sooo cute in her costume... just look! She had glasses too, but at that point in the night she wouldn't wear them anymore.

Yesterday we went to Boo in the Zoo at the Greenville Zoo. I think she had fun, except for the little kid behind her who scared her with his mask. She hates masks. Everyone kept telling her how cute she was. Rotten child.

 

Gap Casting Call

I entered Murray in the Gap Casting Call!!! Please go vote for her!!!! I would really appreciate this! You can vote once a day.
VOTE FOR MURRAY

Also, can you vote for my friend's kiddos too??

Lanie 

Harper

Harper's mommy's blog is great...I mention her often on here! Find her here!!

Also, thanks to Danielle

Manda

and Liz

    

for voting for my friend Hayley's bracelet.

Thanks for voting for Murray and her friends!!! :)

Feel Good Friday!

It's a Hootie & The Blowfish kind of day! :) Happy Friday!

Go Vote!

Trollbeads is hosting a contest and a friend of mine has a bracelet she designed that is a FINALIST!!! If you all wonderful bloggy readers of mine could go and vote, it would be AWESOME!!! If you go and vote, please leave me a comment and I will mention your name in my blog and on my facebook so you get more followers :). Thanks!!! Here is the bracelet. It's beautiful!

VOTE HERE

SwagBucks!

Ok, who here has heard of swag bucks? Well if you haven't (or even if you have but not signed up) let me tell you a little about it. Swagbucks is a search engine, just like Yahoo! or Google. You use it the same way, except when you search you earn swagbucks to use towards prizes, such as giftcards towards Amazon, Paypal, Target, and Barnes & Noble. It's so fun and easy! I have earned $25 in Amazon Gift Cards so far that I am using for Christmas presents! I promise it's as easy as it sounds. If you want to know more leave a comment and I can tell you more. If you want to sign up click the banner I'm posting and you can sign up today!

The Weather Channel and Braves Baseball

it when things remind you of when you were little (not that I'm very old now haha). Last night I fell asleep with the Weather Channel on mute. When I woke up this morning it was like deja vu. When I used to stay at my grandparents house when I was little, this is what I woke up to. My nanny would be in the living room drinking coffee and watching the weather channel on mute with the lights off. It just made me think of that this morning!

A couple weekends ago I got to go to an Atlanta Braves game. It was awesome!

 I went with my Uncle Eddie, Auntie T, and Megan. It was a sold out game because it was the Bobby Cox tribute. This is (was) his last season so it was crazy packed! We saw some batting practice and I got to see Jair Jurrjens....ahhh. He waved at me and I told him I loved him. Ha. My aunt told him I was his future wife lol. It was funny. This was his reaction :)

 

We had lunch at a restaurant in Turner Field, and then we went to find our seats. There was a Bobby Cox tribute because this is (was) his last season. There were about 60 former players and coaches there to honor him...including JAVY LOPEZ, my alltime favorite player!!!

 

Beautiful!!!! Haha. So the game didn't go in our favor, unfortunetly. We actually lost pretty bad, but it was still fun!

 

Oh yeah... and we tried to be in as many pictures as possible on the Braves website...I think we got to 5 or 6? It was so fun! :)

Some Pumpkin recipes for your enjoyment :)

Yesterday I made quite the fall meal! A roast in the crock pot, pumpkin mac & cheese (yes you read that right), creamed corn, and pumpkin, bacon, carmelized onion muffins. Now, before you say eww or gross to any of these, let me tell you about them!!! Oh and I made homemade pumpkin puree, which is waht I used in these recipes.

The Pumpkin Mac & Cheese was a recipe I found off of Food Gawkers. It looked so good and Murray loves mac & cheese so much I just had to try it!! The recipe came from THIS blog. Lauren is the name of the girl at this blog and she has some great recipes. Her recipe called for nutmeg and cayenne pepper, but I can't stand nutmeg and I didn't want the pepper so Murray could eat it. I added cinnamon instead, and it was amazing. Here is my slightly altered version of her recipe that I used:

8oz penne (or whatever you prefer) pasta, cooked according to box
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup whole milk
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
3/4 cup colby jack cheese
a few dashes of cinnamon

-Whisk together milk and pumpkin over medium heat.
-Add in cheese and whisk until all melted. reduce heat to low.
-Stir in cinnamon until mixed.
-Add pasta, stir. Let stand if not thick enough. Serve and enjoy! :)

Now for the muffins, oh man. They were delicious! It smelled so good cooking! They came from THIS blog. Now, it's in French and it has a translator on the site. BUT, just to make to make it easy on you, I'll post the recipe right here! :)

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp dried thyme ( I omitted this)
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• Pinch of salt
• 2 medium onions, chopped (I used half on one, but it could have used more)
• 1 tsp tablespoons butter
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• ⅔ cup milk
• 1 tsp table vinegar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 cup pumpkin
• Pumpkin seeds 'sweet' n spicy "(optional)

In a small bowl, pour the milk and vinegar and let stand for at least 30 minutes, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and herbs and set aside.
In a skillet, heat butter over medium heat and will break down the onion and bacon together, for about fifteen minutes.
Transfer into a large bowl.
Add the reserved milk curd, oil, maple syrup and pumpkin puree and mix well.
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until moistened (do not overmix!).
Complete all 12 holes of a muffin pan lined with boxes of previously paper or lightly buttered, this unit each muffin and sprinkle a few pumpkin seeds 'sweet' n spicy "if desired.
Bake on center rack at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean.
* Makes a dozen large muffins.

And today, I made Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with a cream cheese icing, but they are from an old Betty crocker recipe book so I'll have to type it out when I get a chance! Enjoy!!!! :)

I Love Fall!

This weekend was great! Friday night we had a get together with some friends. It's always fun when we do stuff. We had a ton of food. I mean literally, a ton. Spaghetti, wings, ham delights, pigs in a blanket, chips, garlic toast, cheese danishes, and volcano cake. Seriously, that's a lot! Not that the guys didn't have any trouble putting down most of it! Anyways, after we ate we played Guesstures.. So fun! I need to get this game!

Saturday, Mom, Paige, Murray, and I went to Niven's Apple Farm and let her play and get a pumpkin. She had fun running around, but boy it was hot!!! It shouldn't be that hot in October. She picked out a little pumpkin, and I got a regular pumpkin. But more about that later :).

After the apple farm, we all went to our friend Tiffany's house so we could watch the CAROLINA GAMECOCKS whoop up on the Crimson Tide. Murray loves playing with her boys Clayton and Colton. She was wide open! Once the game started we watched it. My #19 (then) Gamecocks beat the NUMBER ONE RANKED Alabama... So now, the Cocks are #10! WOOT WOOT!!

Yesterday we went to church and then I cooked with the pumpkin. I can't wait to tell you what I cooked! :)

I love Fall!

Feel Good Friday!

Happy Friday!

<3bri

Thursday 5!

I've been missing my favorite post the past few weeks, so I wanted to get in on it again today. If you wanna join in, just copy these five words and then link up at Mrs. Gambizzle's blog.

Happy

Thankful

Joy

Glee

Giddy

1. I am happy it's almost the weekend! I've had alot of school work this week, so I am glad it's almost over!! Plus the GAMECOCKS are playing Alabama this weekend...GO COCKS!

2. I am thankful that the weather is changing. Even if it is just a little bit, at least it's getting cooler! Yay for fall!!!

3. I am joyful that I get to see friends this weekend! Sarah M and Nicole I mean you two!!!!! :)

4. Glee =

5. I am giddy because Murray's halloween costume is so dang adorable!!!!!

Hey Dave!

Who doesn't know how much I love Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz? Well it definitely isn't a secret! Look.

 

These two are from the concert we went to back on Labor Day.

 

This was last year. I could post a million pictures of Dave. One problem. I have NO pictures of Matt! And I've seen Matt 3 times now!!! So I have a plan. Since I am buddy-buddy (said like Mossimo does in The Wedding Planner) with Dave, I am going to get him to introduce us. Good plan, right! I mean it sounds perfectly logical to me!!! Dave tells his BFF Matt there is someone who wants to meet him, and BAM. He meets me. Who thinks this will work? I could just keep on and on about this. If Ellen Degeneres can work her way onto the cover of "O" magazine by constantly calling Oprah and talking to her about it, I can manage to meet Matt through Dave! Ha! :) So..... In order to get my campaign in full gear, I made a button. Post it everywhere :) Dave and Matt need to see this!

<a href=”http://brittanyandmurray.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j282/bluberri17/matt.jpg”></a>

Feel Good Friday

One of my favorites! :) Happy Friday!

<3bri

He rocks!

I had to post this because this song is so dang cute! I love it!

The Great Car Key Fiasco

I've been a terrible blogger. I know. I'll try and do better.

I'm going to tell you all a story tonight.

Monday night I had to work. It was rainy and cold, but I love that weather so it was great. I walk into work and go to put my keys in the drawer where I always keep them. I opened the drawer and I thought I broke some glasses because they flew out at me... I still don't know what they were. Anyways, I placed my keys in the drawer and went about the rest of my night.

I go to leave at the end of the night and I grab the last set of keys in the drawer.I walk out to my car (in the pouring rain) and I go to unlock it. Mind you, I park at the end of the parking lot. I get to my car, but something was wrong. The keys weren't mine...ok no big deal! I was just going to walk back inside and get my keys. But wait, remember I said those were the last ones? Well, I was right. There were no other keys in the drawer. What could I have possibly done with them? Did I lock them in my car? Did I drop them somewhere? No. That couldn't be it! I remember putting them in the drawer!!!! Someone had to have taken them! I go back outside and wait for Paige to come get me since I can't get in my car. Did I mention that I thought my spare key was in my purse inside my car? Smart move.

Tuesday morning a friend text me saying she had a slimjim I could use to unlick my doors. The only problem is that my car has power locks, and apparently it's hard to use a slimjim on those. My friend David came to help us try and get it open. The slimjim wasn't working for us. A couple other people tried to help, but no luck. What was I going to do? Pop-A-Lock is expensive and I didn't want to call them! David decided to call a friend of his to see if he knew how to use the slimjim. He got there and tried to use it for a while, but yet again, no luck. Then he tried something else. He got an antenna and a screwdriver. Pop! It was open! Yay! Thank you David's friend. Now I had the task of finding the spare key.

My car is not neccessarily the cleanest car out there. It's just I am on the go a lot, so my things pile up in there. I was fairly certain the key was in my purse. I looked, and nope. No key. I looked in the other purse. STILL no key. I searched the car and there was no key to be found. Now what?

We thought my car was one that had to be programmed to get a new key. If that was the case, it was going to cost almost $400 to get one made. Seriously? I couldn't afford to do that! Well, it turns out that my car didn't have to be programmed, so we could just get a key made. That was still going to cost $47. Now that's a lot cheaper, but still it's a lot of money for ONE key. My dad went and got a key made... and take a guess at what they charged...$14!!! How awesome is that?!?!

I was still frustrated because I didn't have any of my other keys. I didn't have a house key, my grandparent's key, or Paige's key. At least I had my one key I suppose, I just really wanted MY keys back. Why would someone take them in the first place!!! Well, fastforward to about 9 pm Tuesday night. I was back at work (even though I spent the majority of my day in the OG parking lot) and I was getting ready to leave. I was cleaning up the bathrooms when someone told me someone needed to see me. I go to the front and a girl I work with had my keys in her hand. my mouth dropped to the floor. Did she really stand there and have my keys like it wasn't a big deal? It was a very big deal. She apologized and said she just realized that she had them. Seriously? 24 hours later and you just realize... Come on now.

Regardless, I am very thankful to have my keys back after a very stressful two days. I am so glad this week is almost over! :)

<3bri

Yummy in my Tummy

My dad and my grandmother both had a birthday this week. In fact, today is my nanny's birthday. Happy Birthday Nanny! :) Anyways, I decided to make a carrot cake for my dad. This was the very first time I had attempted one, and I must say it was surprisingly easy. I got the recipe from Marzipan Mom and it was so delicious. She said it was the best carrot cake, and I believe she was right!!! I'll go ahead and give you the recipe here too.

5 ounces (1 cup) dark raisins

1 pound carrots to make 4 cups shredded, firmly packed

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons double acting baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

4 large or extra-large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

5 1/2 ounces walnuts, cut into medium-small pieces

Cream Cheese Icing, recipe follows

a handful of pecan halves, for garnish (I used walnuts to garnish with instead...)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray, line the bottoms with parchment, and spray the parchment.

Grate the carrots using a food processor (I used the disc with largest holes, but you can grate them more finely if desired) or a standing metal grater. Measure and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs. Add the vanilla, both sugars, and oil, and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed only until combined. Stir in the carrots, raisins, and nuts.

Divide the batter evenly among the three pans and use a spatula to even out the batter. Bake the pans for 35 to 40 minutes or until the tops just spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip and the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and let stand 2-3 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack. Run a small knife around the perimeter of the cake and invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. It is not necessary to remove the parchment from the bottoms of the cakes at this time.

Brush any stray crumbs from the sides of the cakes and transfer the cakes to the freezer, unwrapped, for at least an hour, or until cakes are firm enough to handle. If you wish to freeze the cakes longer, wrap the frozen layers in plastic wrap and return to the freezer until you are ready to frost the cake. Do not thaw the layers before icing.

When ready to ice the cake, prepare a large, flat cake plate by lining it with four strips of wax paper to make a square. This wax paper will catch any crumbs and icing while frosting the cake. Remove the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes. Place one cold and firm cake layer upside down on the plate. Spread a thin layer (2/3 cup) of the icing evenly over the cake. Cover with the second layer, also upside down. Spread another 2/3 cup icing over the second layer. Place the third layer on top, also upside down and spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake. Remove the wax paper strips carefully. Garnish the cake with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for a few hours or for a day or two. Serve cold right from the refrigerator.

 

The icing was the best part to me. I LOVE a good cream cheese icing so I made a batch and a half. It was a good thing too, because I needed almost all of it for the cake.

16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cheese and butter until soft and smooth. On low speed beat in the vanilla and sugar, and then on high speed beat for a few moments until smooth.

 

Once again I only had my phone to take a picture with, so they aren't great but you can see it at least. I am pretty much the world's worst cake icer, but I think i did a decent job!

 

Right now I have a pie cooling in the oven, so expect a blog about that later :)

<3bri

Feel Good Friday!

happy friday!