Beauty is Pain

So it's Christmas tradition that mom and me always get pedicures, and we get matching Christmas designs on our toes. So... yesterday we set out to the salon that I've been going to since I was 14.

I got red polish with snowmen... mom got red polish... with a flower. I'm not sure how it was miscommunicated that she wanted a flower and I was getting a snowmen. But now our toes don't match :(

Getting a pedicure is supposed to be this relaxing deal, right?? So...when they take sharp tools, pick and cut at my feet, scrub them with these tickly sharpy things and file me in places I didn't know filing was necessary... it sorta stresses me out! But my feet look so pretty when they're done!

Mom wanted me to get a manicure... apparently my fingernail polish was a little more chipped then normal. So... I got a manicure. I don't think I've ever had one.
So they pull out the same tools they used on my feet.... uh.... not ok! The lady starts picking and pulling at my cuticles... and 5 of my fingers were bleeding when she was done!!! So... after they pick and pluck and pull and file... they dump straits alcohol on your fingers... OW!!!!!!!!

What's wrong with them! You can see several of my fingers are bleeing and your going to dump alcohol on them!!! NOT OK!!!!!! I was screaming inside my head.

But I survived... and now my fingers look beautiful.

Man... the things we go through just to look pretty... it's quite ridiculous really!

But... it's tradition!



Live. Laugh. Love.
BML

This is a high maintenance fire!

So last saturday my dad and mom were standing in the kitchen and we were all talking about what we were gonna do that day. My dad said welp, I'm going shooting at noon. Mom and me decided that we wanted to go too!

So we headed up to four peaks with ammo, targets, and a few firearms!
We took Hank and there was snow on my mountain!
About twenty minutes after we got there... it started to rain.

Momma built a fire - and it was an awesome fire for being in the rain!
Mom was tending to the fire and she goes

"Man, This is a high maintenance fire!" I laughed because.... keeping a fire alive in the rain probably isn't an easy thing.

Then dad and me were shooting at this bottle we could see a few yards away. When my dad went to set up another target... he looked at the bottle and he said
"Don't worry it was just a propane bottle we were shooting at!" Quote of the day number two.

It was a fun day with my family. We haven't had a good outing like that in a while! :)

Live. Laugh. Love Arizona's Desert.
BML

National Competition.

Friends and Family.

I've finally done it. Crossing the next item off my bucketlist. Competing in a dance competition!

This is a national compeition for $5000. 50% of the decision is made from online voters. You can vote once a day up untill the 18th of December.

We worked really hard on this. We've spent countless hours doing choreography, rehearsal and more rehearsal!

http://www.danceyall.com/throwdown/player/nicholas-perkins

Just click the red button at the bottom of the video!


Thanks for all your support!!

Live. Laugh. Love.

Beware: Vent Session Ahead

I need to vent.


SCHOOL:  I feel like I'm going nowhere, fast. I love my job with my whole heart. But I don't make enough money there and that is a dead end job. I want to go back to school. I miss it. I should be graduating with my bachelors in may 2012. I only have my associates degree. I haven't been to school in two years. that's ridiculous. I loved school. I loved the social setting, I loved learning new things. The homework and tiny social life I didn't love. But it was worth it. I need money for school. I don't know how to pay for it. I can't get FAFSA money. My mom won't cosign on a loan for school. My uncle said he would help out with school. But I can't ask him to pay for all of it. I want to finish my degree and feel like I accompished something. I want to be a teacher.

 MONEY: I have been broke since May when I stopped working at the law firm. I afforded living on my own when I worked there. I didn't stress about money very often. I went through two jobs in one month after that. Then I started working at the school in August. So I was unemployed all summer. I have been broke since then. I don't make enough money at my job. All my money goes to gas. Christmas is coming up and I don't even know how I am going to get my parents anything. It sucks. I hate having to ask my mom for gas money. I am going to need new tires soon. My truck needs several new parts. I calculated how many weeks it was going to take just to get tires. Like 12. Without me spending one single penny. That's so unrealistic. I am going to need new tires before I can save up for them. I need a new fuel pump, new u joints, new rotors and drums/shoes, etc. The list goes on and on. It frustrates me.

MY BODY: I worked so hard in June to lose almost 20 pounds. I gained the weight right back just like everyone told me I would. My pants are too snug and my shirts look aweful. I watch videos of me dancing or look at pictures... and I've gotten fat again. I hate it. I don't like feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. I'm going to start going to the gym again. and I might start that horrible aweful diet again. It is the worst 30 days ever. But... I'll be skinny. No body supports me. People judge me for it. But I like the feeling of being skinny.

DANCE: I miss dancing my butt off all the time. Now I go dancing, and I stand around. I'm lucky if I even break a sweat. I used to get the best workout. Now, no one hardly dances with me. I am not sure why. Michael doesn't come out much anymore, and he was the one that kept me on the dance floor all the time. Dance is my happy place, it's my escape and my stress relief. It makes everything better. But ... I haven't had that feeling in so long.

EVERYTHING ELSE:  Sometimes I feel like when I talk to people they tell me what I need to be doing or what I should be doing. Sometimes, I like to recognize the good things that I am doing. Right now I feel like I'm not doing anything right. I am extra down on myself because I am not where I think I should be. I am not unhappy with my life. Well actually I sorta am, that's a lie. I want things to be different. I picture how I want things in the future... and I'm not doing a damn thing to get me there. Things in my life need to change. I need to git goin where I wanna be. Cause everyday it feels a little farther and farther away. It shouldn't be like that.

That's all for now.

Live. Laugh. Love.

Black Friday 2011

Katie, Tiffany, Mom and Me went Black Friday shopping this year!








Tiffany got a 32in TV, a steam cleaner, and some movies for presents, etc



Mom for a microwave



I got a 19in TV for my room and a external harddrive. a whole Terrabite! yay. I don't know how to spell it.







Thanksgiving afternoon we always sit at the table and go through all the adds.



Sales started at midnight. So we took mini naps. Then we ventured out!



We were in bed by 3.







Walmart - everything flowed nice and smooth. No rushes no nothing. It was great!







I had lots of fun with family and friends this thanksgiving. I guess I should post about thanksgiving now...







Live. Laugh. Love.

Lately.

I've been working really hard lately on True Country stuff. (The dance company that Nick and I run). I'm trying to learn more about photography. I love my job at the elementary school. I am making new friends.

My cousin Katie is living with us untill Christmas. I love having her here. She is more like a sister to me. We tell eachother everything. Even when she is halfway around the world. There is nothing we keep from eachother. She never judges me for doing stupid things and we always laugh about how the same we are.

This boy Matthew, he is pretty adorable. We have alot in common. We can have serious discussions, or retarded ones. He is the cowboy sort that rides bulls. HOT!  He got my flowers twice in one week. I don't think a guy has ever brought me flowers. He even sat through Breaking Dawn with me and didn't even complain once! I was surpised haha

I have been sick alot lately. Due to working around hundreds of snotty nosed little kiddies. HOpefully by the end of the year my immune system will be stronger than fort knox. We shall see.

I have a circle of friends. Some are the same as they always have been, and some come and go. I wish they would all come and just stay. I miss my old friends. I love my new friends just as much though! But my old friends, were in my life for a reason, and I can't see everyone all the time. It would be nice to see them once in a while though.

This post is full of nothing important. That is all.

Live. Laugh. Love.
BML

I Like Shooting Stuff.

Veterans Day 2011

Matthew, Tiffany, Me, and some of Matt's friends went out to Four Peaks to target shoot. The weather was perfect.

Tiffany shot a hole right in the middle of a clay pigeon with the .22 rifle. Good job girl!

I sort of love this picture of Matt and Me!

Me, rocking at target practice :) not really. Jk I did ok.

Matthew and me. That mountain in the back ground... is mine. It's called Four Peaks. I love it.

Here's Tiffany and Me. I've loved growing closer to her. She really is a sweet girl and I cherish our friendship. I look forward to building our friendship more.

It was a great way to spend veterans day. Target practice is always fun. Expecially with cool people!

Jump Street

I've never been to Jump Street. But a whole warehouse with wall to wall trampolines... SIGN ME UP!

We made friends with one of the workers... after we already snuck into the foam pit. They only allow two people in at a time, and you have to have a special pass. We didn't follow any of the rules. But he let us stay in there for a little while! It was really hard to get out of. Those dang o things rip off your socks!

Lots of my friends have never been here either.

Jumping on trampolines for two straight hours is definately a work out!

I can't wait to go back!

Fake ID

A crew of us learned the line dance from the new footloose movie. Fake ID is the song, and then it goes into footloose the eighties song.

This night was SOOOO fun. I had a blast learning the dance, and getting to know some of these great dancers!

Live. Laugh. Love. Line Dance.

BML

Pumpkin Fight!

I went to the Nuttall's this year to carve pumpkins. Steph's son Morgan and I got into a pumpkin fight. I wish I could show you the video.

First we were dumping pumpkin guts in eachother pumpkins as we were trying to empty them out. Then we started wiping it on eachother. Then we started throwing it at eachother.
Then it was dumping it in eachother's clothes. Morgan started chasing me and his pants were falling off so I dumped it in his pants, and he dumped it down my shirt.

It was hands down, the most hilarious food fight I've ever been in. Only it was pumpkins not food.

It was very slimy.

Live. Laugh. Love.

BML

Some Campout Thingymabob

In October we went camping up near Woods Canyon lake.

Jakeb and me on top of the rim!

Nick is really good at cooking eggs :)

Cami and me

Steph and me! LOVE HER!

Gnomeo, me and the quad.

For some unknown reason the quad wasn't starting, but the boys kept push starting it - what a work out!

There was mud. THis was the first time I got my truck muddy :) It was a blast! Cami and Steph kept screaming everytime we would romp thru something lol

We shot some targets and stuff.

Cami made a coke float...using the entire jug of ice cream, awesome!

Overall it was a great trip! I slept great that night. We had lots of fun during the day and good campfire discussions at night!

Live. Laugh. Love. Camp.

BML

Arizona's Best Fest

7 Days after going to Flagstaff for Easton Corbin my friends and I hopped in the car and took off to Prescott to celebrate thier anniversary. Did you know that Prescott is the oldest city in Arizona? Now that's something to celebrate! It exsisted even before Arizona was a state. There was a Jordin Sparks concert, lots of food, dancing, and plenty of picture perfect moments.

Cami and I on Whiskey Row

Cool old car?

Starting at me - going left

Me, Cami, Nick, Don, Hannah

Planking picture of the year. Done!

This is our night summed up by one picture.

We had a great time. I love dancing at Matt's Saloon in Prescott. Thier dance floor is like heaven to my boots. It is fantastic!

Thanks to my friends for making it a good time!

Live. Laugh. Love.

Easton Corbin

On September 10, 2011 I got to go to the Easton Corbin concert with Cami, Nick, and Jeremy. It was tons of fun! We headed up to Flagstaff that afternoon and back the same night.

He's such a cutie!

Thanks Jeremy! (He bought my ticket)

The concert was tons of fun! On the way home we drove through an AWFUL storm. We had to change the windshield wipers while it was pouring rain. That was hard. We made it home in one piece, thank goodness!

Live. Laugh. Love. Music.

BML

Kinder Stories: Lunch Time

One of the many special parts about working in kindergarten is they can't even eat lunch with out you. They can't write their letters without your help. They can't tie their shoes without you. They can't open thier juice boxes without you.

Everyday I start at one end and work my way down to the opposite end. I open thier milks, make sure they have a spoon, make sure their applesauce is open, unwrap thier burritos or grilled cheese sandwhiches, etc.
Some of them sit patiently while others immediately start ripping into thier food making it near impossible for me to open.

I love them. Lunch time is a fun time when we talk about thier weekend, or what they're excited to do at day care. They tell me silly things and make up jokes.

Yay for kindergarten.

Kinder Stories: 27,28,29

I was counting with one of my girls today and her counting went something like this.

19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019

Her method was right! I like kids and the way they think.

Kinder Stories: Jackrabbit!

I will be sharing several kinder stories. I love my kiddos and they do hilarious things. I need to record them.

I was picking up the class from P.E. and one of the little boys came running up to me and he plows into my stomach and the convo went like this:

him: "Ms. Brittany You smell awesome! Not like a jackrabbit"
Me: "What does a jackrabbit smell like"
him: "dirty, but you smell awesome!"

I laughed.

I love my kiddos.

Hank.

It finally happened.



I got a truck!!!!!


He's a 1999 White Dodge 4x4 5.9L V8


He's perfect and I love him so much!!!

I sold my PT Cruiser and got my trucky. yay!

Mom and me took him 4 wheeling last weekend. He did great! We went out to the jungle at queen valley.

The only thing that stinks is the windows are so tinted I can't see crap when theyre rolled up. especially at night. So I mostly drive with the windows down.

I love having a truck! Love love love!!!! He makes all my dreams come true :)

I've got my dog and my truck. Boyfriend? please. no thanks!

Live. Laugh. Love. Play in the mud.

BML

Cute Boys.

So today I was out and about. Running several errands. I thought to myself... how come on the days I don't get ready... I go the most places and see the most cute boys. It's got to be the universes way of telling me that I need to get ready at the beginning of the day no matter what!

I need to do my hair. and wear make up. everyday. I need to wear cute outfits. I don't feel like I have any cute clothes. I have v necks and jeans. I wear my flip flops or my boots. Everyday.
I don't really have a clothing style. I would like to start rebuilding my wardrobe when I get money from the job I haven't started yet. I have sen several blogs where girls post what they wore that day. I am still debating doing this or not becuase I"ll probly fizzle out doing it. It's a pain to get online everyday just so you can see what I wore. But... maybe it'll cut down on my facebook time??

I think it might force me to get cute everyday if all my bloggy stalkers have to see what I look like. WHo knows. I'll maybe give it a shot.


PS - lately I'm loving air drying my hair. No blow dry. just air dry. I got it cut and it has some really cute layers!!


PSS -
My sister, her husband, and my neice and nephews are in town! I don't have many pictures of them. But I sure love having them in town!! :)
Live. Laugh. Love.
BML

Captain America

Last night Cami, Dustin, Jessie, me and Brycen (dustin's son) went to the drive ins to watch Captain America. We we 30 minutes late because we had to go pick up cami, her car is still broken.

The movie was lame.

It didn't help that I was distracted thru the whole thing. BUT half the movie looked like cartoon animation, and a lame attempt at that.

He was cooler in the comics.


Live. Laugh. Love.

Don't Stop Dancing.

I owe a lot to my dance partners. I am lucky enough to dance with some of the best in the valley. I constantly go dancing with them so to me it's normal... but when I go other places and I don't see anyone else dancing like we do... I realize how fortunate I am to be lead by some of the best.

I found some of these dance quotes that resonate with me!

Enjoy.

“Football isn't a contact sport; it's a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.”

“When you are dancing with your partner,

for that two and a half minutes,
you are in love with each other.
 You're corresponding with each other by the moves that you make.
It's a love affair, between you and your partner and the music.
 You feel the music, you feel your partner, She feels you and she feels the music.
 So there the three of you are together.
You've got a triangle, you know. Which one do you love best?”

"Dancing is just like conversation between two people, Talk to me"

"In Swing, Whatever works... is right"

"Never Critisize your dance partner"

Anthony is an amazing dancer! He makes me look amazing. He is always complimenting me and he doesn't get frustrated when I mess up!

Michael never lets me feel anything but confident. He makes me feel like the best dancer on the floor.

A few nights ago I was frustrated with my dancing and this is what he said...

"Brittany... you are an amazing, beautiful woman and your a great dancer. People stare at you wishing they could be you when we dance. You're incredible, I mean that not only as a dancer but as a person. You're my dance partner and I need you to make me look good out there. You really are born to dance and I love dancing with you my dear"

Awww Thanks Michael!!

Next Quote!

"Want to spend lots of time dancing with the ladies? - Impress them with how good they are"

"A man who knows how to dance can make any woman feel good"

"Dancing is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!"

"Dancing cheek to cheek is really a form of floor play"

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else, I simply try to dance better than myself"

"Great dancers are not because of thier technique, they are because of thier passion"

"To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak"


I love the people I dance with. We have a great group and I am humbled and grateful each time I get to dance with them.


Live. Laugh. Love.
BML

Blurry!

This week was kind of a blur. It was a good week. A very productive week. But long and blurry nonetheless.
I was house sitting in North Scottsdale. Tuesday I had the day off so I hung around the house all day. Wednesday we had a dance team meeting. Cami and I help out Heel Clique on the non-performing side. After that I went dancing. Billy and Megan were there and Michael and I had fun dancing! Payton and Chelsea were there too! I haven't seen them in a long time.
Thursday my car was having trouble and it wouldn't start. We worked on some Tshirts and ran some errands. Nick tickled me to the ground in Target. After that we went to Warren's Jazz Bistro in Gilbert. There was a tiny dance floor and so we danced in between eating! Nick bought Cami and I dinner. Each plate was like $20!! Way expensive. Thanks Nick!! It was yummy food and we had fun dancing :)
Friday I had no car! Cami was nice and drove me around! We taught a great class Friday night. When I was dancing with Michael my nose touched his nose... and he just had nose surgery so that was extremely painful for him. I felt aweful. My hair kept whipping him in the face and so finally he was like... Ok... I'm done dancing!
Saturday morning we got up early to go hiking. We were coming back at noon. or so we thought.
Fossil Springs is gorgeous! We swam and had a blast! We brought Gnomeo and took pictures with him :)
Dustin brought his underwater camera and I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out!
Nick, Cami, Me, Jess, Dustin, and Mona went together. There were a few other people going from the valley so we all caravanned up there.
On our way out of the canyon... Nick was driving Cami's Honda Pilot... and we broke the back axel...
We were stranded. In the bottom of a canyon... and tow trucks would cost at least $400 to get us out. So we waited for a couple hours and hitched a ride home with some of the other people from the valley. Thanks to them for getting us home!
After that we had to rush to a photoshoot for Country Swing Dance Az/True Country. I was the photographer and I was super stressed! We got lots of pictures and our models did awesome!
I will psot those soon! Jessie let me use her truck to get back to Scottsdale since Cami's car was stuck in the bottom of Fossil Springs. They went back Sunday with Billy's trailor and Dustins truck to get the Pilot.
I went to Grahams Central Station for the first time! It's awesome! Sonny gave me the grand tour. There are 4 different bars. The biggest dance floor in all of Arizona. There's a 80's and 90's room, top 40 room, Country room (the biggest) and a coyote ugly bar in the middle of all of them. I love it! The dance floor was amazing! It's not as crowded.

Michael and I were rocking the dance floor :)
We found a few more people to come to our classes! I always have a blast when I'm dancing. Jessie's friend Mona came with me because jessie and Dustin were on a super date. I was so glad she came out with me! She looked great out there and lots of guys asked her to dance. Billy and Megan were there and Michael and Alisha came. It was way fun!

This week was super busy. I'm sure I left out alot! I'll post pictures/videos when I get them!

I realized this weekend that I have amazing friends. I knew that before but Out group of friends really will go to the ends of the earth for eachother. That means the world to me.


Live. Laugh. Love.
BML