Lately...

I came into work the other morning to find this note stuck on my name plate.

Whiteboard behind my desk. One of the guys drew it for us. I added clothes, because it seemed more appropriate that way. Also - the cowboy boots. Julie and I both have cowboy boots. We don't say howdy though.

We had our first SEO Foosball Tournament! Both Singles and Doubles brackets. The Singles is done, but Doubles is still doing on. I’ve orchestrated the whole thing – and have loved it. I’m even known as Foosball Brittney now. Haha.

 

Everyone has gotten really into it, it has made it so fun. I printed huge copies of the brackets and teams and put them up accross from my desk, and update them as the tournament progresses. People will stand there and go over every scenario and every match… it’s too funny.

Singles Tournament

Doubles Tournament

For my birthday, Matt brought me an assortment of Rainbow Bright paraphernalia. I like Matt – he is great. Matt is also the guy who fixed my fridge. He got me Rainbow Bright post its, notepad, pen, magnets and black felt coloring thing.

I sat out in the sun and colored most of it yesterday. It was awesome. I felt kind of dumb, though, as my co-workers walked by and asked what I was working on. I wanted to say something serious/cool/work related, but clearly, this had nothing to do with work.

I finished coloring the rest of it this morning, while listening to music. I was completely in the Rainbow Bright/Art and Crafts mode. One of the guys I work with snuck up on me and yelled right next to my face – scared the tar out of me. I didn’t scream, luckily, but almost fell out of my chair. He thought he was pretty darn funny. It was, in all honesty, pretty funny.

The magnets! I put them on the side of my desk. Everyone said I now have the happiest/brightest desk in the office.

Basically, this is why I am so totally buff. Seriously, people - stop ordering stuff!

And this has been my work life, lately.

If you want something more personal, you'll have to call. HA!

Love,

Brittney

Secondhand Serenade

Saturday, while enjoy the bounties of 7 Peaks, I got a message from a number I didn’t know saying, “If you want a couple of free or half off tickets to Secondhand Serenade, let me know!”

I love Secondhand Serenade. Seriously – they’ve been on repeat lately. It’s just been that kind of month.

I immediately thought I would love for Ramzi to go with me – as she loves them too. We are seriously too much alike. Taylor wanted to come too – he’s never been to a concert. Plus an evening out with his sisters = bliss. April was at 7 Peaks with me, and she invited her *special friend* and his best friend. The more the merrier, right?

I got to thinking about who this unknown person could be… the number was 435 area code, and there is a girl I met at church not too long back who got my number and invited me to hang out once, and her number was 435. I forgot to save her name – and I thought, for sure it’s her. Who else could it be? It has to be someone know/has my number saved.

We text back and forth all day figuring out specifics. In the end, there will be 6 of us and 2 free tickets. Not half bad, I think.

On my way home from 7 Peaks, I call my friend to talk everything out – texting is only handy for so long.

A guy answers.

Whaaaat?? Who IS THIS? I thought for sure it was a girl. So I talk it out with him, pretending to know who he is. I mean – it’s a little late now to say, “Um, by the way, who are you?” On the phone he said I’d get the tickets from him. And he would sit with me for part of the concert.

How on earth do I meet someone I don’t know who is? I want those tickets – but somehow have to figure out who this guy is.

Plan: Give Camree his number and she calls him looking for “Faisal” and figures out his name.

Execution: His name is Luke.

I have no recollection of ever meeting a Luke. Great. I racked my brain, but there was nothing there to discover. I was completely at a loss. Best I can figure, I met this guy at a party and he got my number, but never called – thus me not knowing his number or remembering him.

Plan B: Camree calls him back and says she really needs to find Faisel – does he perchance get many calls for Faisel and know his number? Has he always had this phone number?

Execution: Luke has had this number for a long time, he is from Logan and he doesn’t know anything about Faisel.

Still – nothing. This information doesn’t help at all. At this point, I really don’t know how to proceed. I can’t call him up and tell him I don’t know who is – I’ve texted him all morning thinking he was someone else, and talked to him. I can’t just show up and agree to meet him to get the tickets and to sit with him, having no idea who he is or who I am looking for.

The Unexpected Resolution: Luke calls Camree. He is distressed about her predicament. Maybe he CAN help her find Faisel! He tells her, I know lots of people from Saudi Arabia.

Camree thinks, JACKPOT! This is how he knows Britt.

Luke finishes – “I had lots of roommates from Saudi in college at Logan. Maybe they know Faisel and can help you find him! (Because all Saudi’s know each other, naturally)

Ok – so the connection is lost. This is not how I know him…

Camree continues, fishing for any information that will help me figure out Mystery Man’s identity.

*This whole time, we are getting ready and arranging to meet the guys at concert, while still having no idea who this guy is or how to get the tickets or if this is even legit? What if it's some huge hoax?*

So Camree figures if she mentions the concert, maybe it will bring some helpful information about.

Camree: “Faisel told me he could get me free tickets to a concert tonight, and I told my friends they could have them. I am not sure if I’m going to the concert, but I really need to get a hold of him to get those tickets.”

Luke: “I have free tickets to Secondhand Serenade! Maybe Faisel heard and told you, and gave you my number so you could get them from me! Do you want 2 free tickets to the concert?”

Haha… oh man. Camree doesn’t want to say yes, since I already have 2 free tickets from him, and he’s planning on sitting with me there. Camree picks tickets up from him too, and it’s possible he will realize we’re sisters and there together, and we’ll have to explain the whole situation. We won’t be able to sit together, that's for sure.

So she says no to the tickets. How seriously uncanny that he knows people from Saudi? Oh man… but luckily, him saying he had roommates from Saudi FINALLY triggered my memory and I figured out who he is.

I did indeed meet him at a party, and he got my number. Tall and cute – my favorite.

Anyways, we figured out a plan to get those other 2 free tickets from him and not have him figure out we were all coneeccted. So in the end – we got 4 free tickets. Saaawweeet.

He even took me behind the ropes, and I knelt down in the grassy area directly in front of the stage and snapped a picture. It was with my camera phone which is crappy, and it was night, so the picture is horrible. But it is taken from about 3 feet away from the band. All in all, good day.

Camree and the Boy and I chilled and rocked out. I love my siblings. When I left to go with Luke to the stage, Camree overheard the guys we were with say something to the effect of, “they are brother and sister, right? That's weird…”

HAHA.

Heaven forbid you hug your brother and sway to the acoustic sounds of Secondhand Serenade together.

In their defense, our parents think we are weird, too.

Oh well.

Postastickundance and the Grandiloquent Dictionary

I love words. I love to read. I love the English language. I love old speak – I wish we spoke like that now - “Pray tell” – being one of my all time favorite terms.

Speaking in the olden days was an art. Words and sentences were constructed carefully, and were eloquent to say the least.

Now we barely speak.

“Whr R u?”

“IDK”

“TTYL”

Bugs me.

Anyways, one of the guys I work with knows my love of words and he came across a fabulous find:

The Grandiloquent Dictionary

Yeah, baby.

I’ve had a ridiculous amount of fun going through the words. My favorite so far is:

Oculoplania - Letting one's eyes wander while assessing someone's charm.

Now that is a good word. It completely describes, in my opinion, the dating/ boy/girl scene.

I’ve also learned there are a million different forms of divination. My favorite thus far is:

Omoplatoscopy - Divination involving a shoulder blade which has been charred or cracked from a fire.

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!? I love the divination words. It makes me think of the witch hunt days, and the fact that this really must happen - or there wouldn't be a word for it.

I also learned I suffer from:

Obdormition - The feeling one gets when a limb "falls asleep"

and

Obesophobia -The fear of gaining weight

and I do not suffer from:

Omphalopsychite - One who contemplates their naval

I highly recommend perusing this fantastic compilation of words.

 

I've only made it through the O's - and already I've learned so much.

On a side note, Julie and I found a need for a word describing our current work situation – the state of being overrun by Post-It notes.

So, we created our own word:

Postastickundance

We feel it clearly articulates our desk space/work environment.

The question now, I suppose, is how to make it an official word? Maybe the Grandiloquent Dictionary will add it.

Proverbs From 1st Graders

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first-graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!


1. Don't change horses until they stop running.


2. Strike while the bug is close.


3. It's always darkest before Daylight Saving Time.


4. Never underestimate the power of termites.


5. You can lead a horse to water but How?


6. Don't bite the hand that looks dirty.


7. No news is impossible


8. A miss is as good as a Mr.


9. You can't teach an old dog new Math


10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll stink in the morning.


11. Love all, trust Me.


12. The pen is mightier than the pigs...


13. An idle mind is the best way to relax.


14. Where there's smoke there's pollution.


15. Happy the bride who gets all the presents.


16. A penny saved is not much.


17. Two's company, three's the Musketeers.


18. Don't put off till tomorrow what you put on to go to bed.


19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and You have to blow your nose.


20. There are none so blind as Stevie Wonder.


21. Children should be seen and not spanked or grounded.


22. If at first you don't succeed get new batteries.


23. You get out of something only what you See in the picture on the box


24. When the blind lead the blind get out of the way.


25. A bird in the hand is going to poop on you.


26. Better late than Pregnant

24

This is how I feel about my birthday:

I’m terribly excited. 24 is going to be a good year. I can feel it. I don’t know what all that will entail, but I’m ridiculously excited nonetheless.

24 is a multiple of 8.

8 is my favorite number.

24 is 8x3 – and as everyone knows, 3 is uber lucky. And charmful (as in 3^rd time is the charm).

Today’s been fantastic. I wore this ridiculously cute blue and white striped dress with buttons and ruffles on the bodice.

Mom put “Happy Birthday Ninnie!!” Signs up all along my path from where I was sleeping to my car. Plus – these cute earrings taped to a sign stringing the stairs.

They matched my dress.

My hair curled nicely today. No frizzies, and none of those weird undesirable curls. Plus – I even had multiple “perfect curls”. If you know me, you know that’s a big deal.

Julie decorated my desk, and some of the guys helped by providing big brightly color balloons. 

She even got a big cake that said Happy Birthday Brittney. We ate cake all day.

I left work early, and we had a BBQ. Best meal ever… grilled chicken in a homemade cilantro/mango/avocado sauce, grilled pineapples, corn on the cob and watermelon. Most of my favorite things all at once.

We had Cold Stone cake for dessert.

I blew out all my candles.

Presents rocked. Especially the cow Webkinz Bob and Ramz gave me that they bought for my birthday last year but didn’t give me, and then said it was for Christmas, but didn’t give to me. After a year of anticipation – the cow Wenkinz is in my possession. Too bad during that year’s time, Bob stopped playing with them – so the whole draw to having one is gone. Oh well.

It may not sound like much – but to me, it was the perfect birthday. Tons of laughing and fun and low-key.

I’m excited for this next year. So much to look forward to.

I don’t have the birthday pictures yet… but I wanted to have some pictures on here to document what I looked like on my 24^th birthday. This may seem vain - but hey - this is my blog, and I use it to document my life and happenings. 

Roommates

Once in a while you find,

A friend so dear,

One of a kind,

Someone you’ll always hold near.

We’ve been through a lot, friend, it’s true:

Movies, homework, It Came To Pass, Large underwear incidents,

Oh the things we do -

Park meetings wearing all black and a suicide attempt (HA!)

Laughing till we cry,

Friday nights in,

We were so shy

We became just like kin.

 Time has passed,

But we still remain tight,

Some friendships just last

Hang on with all your might.

Time passes for each so differentely,

But we’re all just a phone call away

Together in heart we’ll always be

Forever and always, I pray.

LOVE YOU GUYS!