Reminder about Kelly Hornberger's Holiday Sessions

As you know (and if you don't, go back to my last post from Monday 8/27), I'm trying to win a holiday photo session with the awesome Kelly Hornberger  http://kellyhornberger.com  So this is just another blog post reminding what all my Facebook and Twitter posts are about everyday.  Stay patient, stay calm.  And in the meantime...fill your time with looking at Kelly's website and then talk yourself into signing up for one of her holiday sessions yourself  http://kellyhornberger.com/2012/08/the-holiday-sessions-are-coming/

Kelly Hornberger Photography

Hey everyone!  I know it's been a while but something sparked my interest so I have to blog about it.  I had the privilege of standing in 2 of my best friends' (Crystal and Anaise) weddings earlier this year.  Both were so beautiful.  But I had the pleasure of meeting the photographer for Anaise's wedding and just really like her style and personality.  Oh and I can't forget that her husband is part of her team as well.  I thought that was awesome....especially because it gave them a chance to spend some time together.  Ever since the wedding, I have kept up with her photgraphy Facebook page as well as her blog and I have to say...I was so impressed.  Again, I JUST LOVE her style and her personality.  She may not remember me as I'm just one of the bridesmaids but she made a very good first impression on me :)  Well, I always though...my ship has sailed, I'm married and we aren't having another wedding ceremony again so I probably won't get to use her as a photographer in the future because I thought she only shot weddings.  Well, that's just ONE thing she's really good at.  As of today, she announced Holiday sessions!  WHOOP WHOOP.  Most of you know that I LOVE HOLIDAYS, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's the time I feel closest to my family.  And I LOVE my family.  I've been wanting to get my WHOLE family (grandparents, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) together so that we can have professional pictures done.  My grandparents are getting older and I want nothing more than to have some treasured professional photos of them as well as the whole family.  But that's something that's not in the bank account to afford right now...as we're looking for a new home!  HOWEVER....Kelly has given me an opportunity to WIN a session.  OH MY GOSH, this would be PERFECT!!! I could FINALLY get my whole family together (I'm tearing up as I write this right now) for professional photos.  So these next few months, I'm going to work hard to win that session.  I hope you can all bear with me and be patient with my annoying posts because it's something I really really want.  At the same time....go check out her site and blog and hopefully you can sign up for a Holiday session for your family as well. On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com///#!/pages/kelly-hornberger-photography/132427280128389 or her website at http://kellyhornberger.com/ Enjoy! 

Crystal goes to Hawaii!

Remember the friend in my last post that helped get me over the hurdle?! Anyways, she is raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society yet again. This time she is mentoring a team for the first time in her life...helping them to raise money and going to Hawaii to finish the race :) How awesome is that?! She's already done lots of work to help her team fundraise money, so let's show some support for her effords and hard work and help her reach her goal. It's so easy to donate! So much harder to participate!

Thanks for your time and help!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/lavatri11/crystalp

All because of ONE friend who believed in and cared for ME!

In this blog it's all about my tranformation to finding the real "Brittany" again. You don't realize how much you change until it's slapping you right in the face! I knew I got that big but I didn't really "KNOW" how bad I looked. And no, this isn't to knock "big" people, this is about ME and ME only...ok and maybe Nicholicious too :) haha. I will forever cherish the first pictures to remind me that I don't want to be unhealthy again. I will not let "life" get in the way of living life! Hope that made sense. It does to me :) So, enjoy and please comment letting me know because believe it or not, I do still need encouragement because I still have a long way to go.

February 2010:

March 2010:

Serving others...what I love doing, at a Family Day at church.

With my friend Stacey.
With my beautiful baby brother!
Me and mamaw.
I could go on and on with more fat pics, but I won't bore you with those! haha

July 2010 (starting to transform to smaller...no more bigger):

Both Nick and I (look at our skinny faces) on 9-17-10:

TODAY 10-11-10:

I'm not even sucking in..NO JOKE! lol

Oh and THIS IS AFTER lunch!

I do still have those big tatas to get rid of, but I believe they will go last! Thanks alot to the "genes" in my family. lol

This blog is dedicated to the one and only Crystal Peal. We have been friends and grew up with each other since I was 4 years old. Her parents STILL live next door to my grandparents. We fight like sisters and love like sisters and I know now that nothing will EVER replace our bond or friendship. I love you so much Crystal and thank you again for believing in me and having faith in me! I can only contribute these last 5 months and my life changes to you...and to God :) But you're the human who helped light a fire within me...the fire that I thought was out. Not anymore....I'M BACK!

With Crystal at her triathlon in Galveston on April 24...where my fire was lit :) So proud of her!

Getting very nervous!

Well, here I am...only a week and a half away from leaving for San Francisco. The race is on Sunday October 17. Today is October 6. OMG...it's really hitting me now. Only T-11 days until I accomplish the biggest thing in my life so far...running across the finish line of a half-marathon. Wow, I MADE IT! I DID IT! You just don't understand what this has done for me. It has made me more compassionate, has made me get a jump start on better health, has pushed me to challenge myself more, has even finally helped my husband to get on the track for better health (even though we really thank Advocare for that but if I didn't start training for this marathon, who knows where we would be right now) and has made me realize that I've finally surpased the hump! The hump to me is the big mountain that I didn't think I could get over. The hump for me are the commitments that I never follow through with. I've always made plans, committments, ideas, etc. and never really followed through with them. Well, I can now stop saying that. I do believe that from this race on forward, I will start sticking to my commitments and I will continue to be compassionate and even do another race or 10 or 100 in my life! haha The "100" seems like a lot though. haha The other night, I had the pleasure of sitting in a room full of women that I truly admire and respect. They dedicate their lives to serving our country and veterans and their families. They do much much much more beyond that but their sole purpose is to serve veterans. The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 521. I grew up in the Legion and am now a proud 28 year member. No, I'm not 28 years old, but the day you sign up, you get a year tacked on :) My grandparents have been involved for yearsssssss so naturally I've been a member all my life. Anyways, I had the pleasure of going to their meeting (which I can at anytime, but rarely go) and standing up in front of all of them to tell them THANK YOU. The compassion hit me even more that night. All it took was humbling myself and taking time out to show them some gratitude for donating to my fundraising. You could tell that they appreciated that so much. I wish more people would show their gratitude towards these amazing dedicated women. By the end of my "speech", I was crying...I just couldn't hold it in anymore. The emotion overwhelmed me because there I realized how much I have done so far and the fact that others cared enough and had faith in me to donate their hard earned money to me. I just can't thank everyone enough again for their donations and their faith in me. So I ask you this...please keep me in your prayers on Sunday October 17 while I'm completing 13.1 miles. Oh, I did do my very first 12 miles this last Saturday. I'm not going to lie, it was long, painful and very tiring but I DID IT! Wish many of you could be there with me on that day but I am blessed enough to have my husband, Uncle Lou and Aunt Joan there to cheer me on...along with thousands of others from San Francisco. OMG, that all makes me excited! haha

Who's with me for next year's marathon? COME ON...IT'S LIFE CHANGING!!! :)

Impacting the Future

"Bind me to your side". I have the song lyrics stuck in my head! Maybe I need it today. lol

Last night, Nigel McNeill (a church family guest speaker) spoke to our church about Leah's (wife of Jacob in the bible) impact on the generations to follow after her. Because of her faitfulness, her offspring and so on ended up being rulers and kings. I want to have that impact on people I touch. I want to know that they did great things for God's kingdom, just because I was faithful in God.

You see, Jacob fell in love with Rachel at the beginning and wanted to marry her but her father said that he has to go to prison for 7 years before he can have Rachel. So he did. After 7 years, he asks to marry Rachel and the father deceived him and had him marry Leah (Rachel's older sister) instead. When he figured out that it was Leah, he asked the father why he did that. The father said because Leah was the older sister. He also told Jacob that he can still have Rachel, but he'll have to work for him for another 7 years. So he did. In the meantime, Leah had several children with Jacob. Once Jacob wed Rachel, they then realized that Rachel was not fertile. She couldn't bear children. After all that work and fighting Jacob did for Rachel, to realize that she's infertile. Nigel was explaining to us that the bible explains Leah as doey eyed. He said he looked up doey eyed and it means weak on the eyes. So what we're gathering is...Leah wasn't very pretty, not like Rachel. Can you imagine marrying a man and giving him what he wants, but him not wanting you back?! To feel unimportant and not wanted is such a lonely feeling. Well, I guess something happened and Leah finally got her man. He finally ended falling in love with her. Because of her faithfulness, her children lived to be kings or her children's children were kings. Somewhere down her bloodline, they ruled. How awesome is that?!

I know several people who feel unwanted by men. And I'm here to tell you...you're wanted, BY GOD. And he's a man! I promise you, the more you seek THAT man (God), the less you'll feel lonely. And I also promise you, the more faithful you stay, the more you'll see it run down your bloodline into your children, children's children, their children, their grandchildren and so on.

As I was driving into work this morning, I was listening to KSBJ. They were interviewing Israel Houghton. For those of you who don't know him, he's a very annointed christian artist who has originated from Lakewood Church. He was telling the story of how his mom was saved. Basically she was a young single woman who was 8 months pregnant, nothing going for her and battling drugs. She was walking down the street one day, remind you, 8 months pregnant and this woman starts waving her hands yelling out to her, "Hey, I want to share something with you". Long story short, that lady witnessed to Israel's mom. If that lady hadn't touched Ms. Houghton, where would Israel be today? SERIOUSLY! Think about it. He'd probably be another "statistic". Just that one witness has touched thousands, millions of people. Israel witnesses to many all around the world today. Recently him and his mom were able to find that lady and it was one happy reunion. It was nice to hear such a sweet story. What a great testimony. He asked that lady, did you know you were going to impact millions? She said, I had no clue. lol God is so good! And so are his faithful servants.

Now I have to share my own personal testimony with you because it ties into all of those stories. My dad's parents are christian. They were pentecostal for so many years. Now are non-denominational, but still a little pentecostal in them :) Anyways, my mom didn't really grow up going to church. I'm sure she heard about God before and I'm sure my mom's parents took her to church every once in a while, but it wasn't like my dad's parents did. My dad's parents were and still are very faithful servants of God. When my mom and dad met, they weren't at the right place of their life but they decided to have me anyways :) Well, because of being young and immature, things didn't work out with them and my dad decided to go his seperate way. I pretty much was raised without my dad in my life. But I will never say that I didn't have family growing up because ALL of my grandparents and aunts and uncles definitely stepped in and loved me so well. Growing up, I've seen other families that are single parent families and if the dad is no where around, neither is his family. And that's so sad. That hurts me because I didn't have to experience that. I still got the rest of my family. Anyways, when I was probably in about 2nd grade or so, my mom decided to take me to church. We started going to a non-denomination church in Pasadena. She was very faithful. Started reading her bible, going to bible studies, church every Sunday, tithed faithfully, prayed, etc. After a few years at that church, we joined First United Methodist and I then was raised there until my college years, where I decided to go my own way...back to my roots, non-denominational. Well, I say my roots are Methodist because that's where I was "raised" but for now, I call the non-denominational church my roots. Once out on my own, I wasn't perfect and I definitely acted like a young immature adult would and had fun in life. Not the fun I should have been having though! lol However, I never dabbled in drugs, got pregnant when I didn't need to, didn't go to jail, get in trouble with the law, etc. I didn't join a gang or murder anyone. I DIDN'T BECOME A STATISTIC. You want to know why?! Because it all started with my grandparents (dad's parents) who were faithful christians. They didn't give up on me or my mom. Then my mom became a faithful servant to God and never gave up on me. Now I'm married to a man of God who loves playing christian worship music and am involved with my church when I can. My heart is bigger than what it physically shows because I have a passion for people that I've never had before. And I KNOW THAT'S GOD. I could have been another "statistic" because I had a fatherless home, but I wasn't because of my faithful family. Now I pray for my future family and how they impact the world. I fully believe that what I'm doing now, will only carry on into my future.

Thank you Lord for the stories that keep living on today. We need those to teach us and remind us how we're supposed to be carrying out your will. Amen!

*Nigel McNeill http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Flower-Mound-TX/Revival-Fire-Ministries-Nigel-and-Cathy-McNeill/110909328964677?ref=ts

*Israel Houghton http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/IsraelHoughton?ref=ts

One of the best feelings ever...

When I first started training for the half-marathon, 13.1 miles was a far distant thing in my head. I honestly didn't "KNOW" if I could do it but I was going to take 1 mile at a time and see how far my body and mind would allow me to go. This past Saturday August 28, 2010 was a life changing moment and one of the best memories that I'll never forget. I can now say that I have accomplished a distance of 10 MILES!!! Can you believe it?! I don't even know I can still believe it yet but I DID IT. I started feeling really good on the way back and actually got a little pep in my step and started to run a little bit more than I normally do. It felt good. And the route we took was so much nicer this time than we are use to. This time we had beautiful homes and the galleria area to look at. That helped! lol Plus, running through some sprinklers helped a little too. There was one point where I was hoping that someone that I knew would drive past me, only while I was running though (lol) and honk and cheer me on. So when I have to do 12 miles before the big race, I'm going to make sure everyone I know has a map of my route! I expect SOMEONE to come cheer me on to get me through those long distances. lol Just kidding. BUT, it would be nice ;) Hint hint. I do have to say though, the last 2 miles were pretty hard because my body was starting to wear down and was hurting pretty bad. I've been having a hip issue since I started the training and now it's affecting my foot. BUT, I won't let it get me down. I WILL FINISH!!! I've come this far to not give up now.

Another exciting piece of news I'd like to share with everyone. I MADE MY FUNDRAISING GOAL. Woohoo Well, I couldn't have made it without all of you. Your help, your donations, you're encouragement, etc. I seriously can't tell each of you thank you enough because without all of that, I couldn't have even came close to where I am now. So thank you guys! God does say "I will bless those who bless you..." Genesis 12:3. So I believe and I pray for those who have blessed me, that you may be blessed seven more times than I was. God is good and he LOVES loving and blessing people.

Like I said, 13.1 miles was a far distant thing in my head. It was hard to imagine that I could finally one day get this close to finishing a half-marathon and to have raised $3,500.00 as well. Those are both very big numbers for me. And this is one selfless thing I'm doing FOR SURE. Cause if I wanted to be selfish or STAY selfish, I wouldn't be training for this and have raised money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. So it feels good to say that I'm doing this for SOMEONE ELSE. I found a scripture to help me out a little bit. "Don't get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don't give up." Galatians 6:9

I wish I had some pictures to post of my new excitement but I haven't taken any. When I get up to do the distances on Saturday mornings, I'm waking up at 4:30 a.m. so I'm not thinking about taking pictures. lol Hope I can start taking some soon so I can keep you guys from getting bored. lol