Long time no blog! I've been kinda busy lately so don't hate. It's so hard to believe today is the last day of 2011! It has been a pretty exciting year! We welcomed a new family member, our dog Tucker (who will be a year on the 5th of January), the Babcock family welcomed 3 new babies giving us a grand total of 15 nieces and nephews! I gained a new God daughter when my friend of 23 years gave birth to her beautiful baby girl Isabella! A lot of new additions! At the beginning of the year I had a pretty rough start, dealing with too many new stresses and emotions. I found myself in a dark place and really learned a lot about myself.
I got the privillage of going on a couple of vacations, with and without my husband (which he hated me for). Of course I travel around North America for work so that was normal. I got to go to Mexico with a couple of my teammates from last season and that was incredible! I got to travel to Myrtle Beach for a weeklong get away with my husband, his parents, my parents & siblings, my aunt and uncle & their kids and Ryan's brother and his wife. Carpooling down with Tommy and Kelsey was a life lesson, don't let the men drive! I also got to travel out to Calgary for 3 days when we placed 3rd! I also got to go shopping in Beverly Hills! Well, window shopping that is. Never in my life have I felt that poor! And Vegas for the athletes banquet weekend? I'm not gonna lie, I forget about most of the weekend!
Work brought several new changes for me. I started out the year playing for one team and am ending on a new team. I have made so many new friends this year and am finding this season much enjoyable! I've gone on so many roadies with the ladies on both teams and 2011 was the year for new experiences! In January our bus broke down on the way back home from Montreal and we stayed in the biggest dump I had ever seen! We had stayed at new hotels, went to new bars (the gay bar was the most fun I had in a while!), partied it up in New Orleans during Marti Gras again (I think I wanna go down yearly!), and let's be real, when we actually got free time in LA who didn't enjoy themselves!? I can only look forward to the rest of the season with my new team and build on what we have done!
So 2011 there was a lot of excitement! Chloe ran away from home but returned after giving me a heart attack for days! And a ton of other stuff. Mainly, a dream came true.... NKOTBSB BABY! My childhood loves, New Kids on the Block and my teenage loves Backstreet Boys came together and made the aPOPalypse! I know if your not a fan you don't get it, 'what's so special', but when your that little girl who was convinced you were gonna marry Donnie Wahlberg at age 3, and you were the one who would try and stalk Nick Carter around your city everytime he was in town, you'd get it. Both bands played a huge role in my childhood. I listened to their tapes and CD's everyday, their faces and hot bodies were plastered all over my walls, I knew every lyric to every song, I knew what their favourite colours were or what their ideal date was (I spent so much money on magazines!), and for me to see Donnie and Nick on stage together goofing off, was the best thing ever! This is my weird analogy on NKOTBSB... it's like losing your virginity. You find out their doing a tour together and you freak out! It's like getting your first crush on a guy, your so excited and can hardly wait until anything happens! Then you see them perfoming on TV, and it's like seeing them but knowing it's only a glimpse into the future. Then you wait to get your ticket (those were some painful months I had to wait!) and it's like waiting to hear the words from your crushes mouth, "I like you too." Then you finally get the ticket and the chior is singing in the background! It's like you scored the date! Then your seeing them more and more, just like your crush. Next thing you know it's the night before the concert and you can't sleep, your just so excited, just like the night you know your gonna lose it with him. You get there, your looking all nice, your so excited you go to the bathroom like 6 times to ensure you won't miss anything and BAM! They all come on stage (*tee hee*) and BAM it feels like your having sex for those 3 AMAZING hours! And then once it's over your like, "That was freaking awesome!" I know it sounds cheesy, but let's be real, when you think about it it's true! But the best part is that it was 9 guys (10 if you were at the LA show) and it was the time of your life staring at that penisstage waiting to see what they'll do next! There was singing, dancing, humping, sweating, fooling around, serenading, jealousy (if you were watching your fave bsb member serenading some other chick who scores a closer seat then you), happiness, a little tears, goosebumps, stripping, wet bodies (Fenway people!) and over all non stop excitement!!! It was my highlight of the year!
Another highlight of the year was meeting so many new friends on Twitter! After I got a follow (after how many freaking years of waiting!) from Donnie, I made so many new fellow Donnie girls! When I decided on making a pic for NKOTBSB, I made over 200 new followers and so many new friends with similar interests but yet so distant away. That's part of why I love Twitter. You make so many new friends from around the world and you slowly discover how many new people there are who are just like you! It was incredible meeting all of my tweetpeeps on Twitter! I love you all and you helped me get through a lot, so thank you!
Like I mentioned earlier, 2011 was a rough start for me and I learned a lot about myself. It's true, and I owe it all to my husband for getting me through the year. We celebrated our one year anniversary, which was a huge step in our marriage. I personally feel that the first year is so important in a marriage and we had a blessed one! Ryan is my best friend and my lover all in one. He is my rock. I trust him with everything and I know we will always be there for each other. We both had our quirks this year, as we do with anything, but we were able to not go a day without speaking towards one another. Let me tell ya, when we first got married I was not the cook, and I still sort of am not, but now I am so much better in the kitchen! Now I can fix something up and surprise him with dinner or experiment with new dishes and he can give me feedback or even help me out with everything. It's fun now that we can live off of other foods and not just pasta! And now that I'm home more I've become quite the housewife! I cook, clean way more, redecorated rooms in our house, take care of our dogs, do his laundry (before it was fend for yourself, now we don't even care) and overall I'm home more and can actually spend time with him. I love falling asleep and knowing I don't have to wake up at 3 in the morning and fly out somewhere, which I still do just not everyday. I also love welcoming home from work everyday with a meal on the table and arms open for a bear hug. (I know, it's corny).
2011 has also been a rough ending for me and my family. We just received news that my grandfather has been diagnose with three different types of cancer and he is having an extremely difficult battle with it. Knowing we don't have much time with him kills me, he's my grandfather and I'm so close with him. It pains me to see him go through this because he is such an amazing man, and I could only wish to spend more time with him. Hopefully 2012 will bring good news and an easier battle.
At the same time that has been going on Ryan and I found out WE'RE PREGNANT! Finally we are expecting a baby, and are due June 17th 2012, so mark it down people! We are thrilled to be having a baby. Both of us have wanted a baby so badly and we are blessed and humbled to finally be pregnant! We don't know what we're having and we plan to keep it that way, but we are both sort of hoping for a boy. Names? We can't decide and we have time to discuss it. So we are very blessed, humbled, thrilled, nervous, excited and hopefully ready to be parents!
2011 has been quite the year and I hope 2012 brings even more happiness and joy. May you all have a great new year filled with lots of love, happiness and laughter. Please be responsible tonight, don't drink and drive! And I'll get back to ya in the new year!
Happy New Year everyone,
Brittany xoxo
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Chloe!
So the last few days have been nothing but busy and emotional! Why? Because my dog Chloe ran away! On friday we had a BBQ with the Babcock's and around 10 we were saying goodbye to the last of the family, we normally hold Chloe during this time, but we didn't/ As they are walking out of the door, a thing of thunder went off, and Chloe, who is petrified of thunder, ran out the door and thru a huge bush that a person can't even jump over that leads to another street.
So Ryan had to run down the street and around, and by that time she was gone. I'm sorry, but she is 3lbs and black. How are you gonna see her at night? Ryan, his brother Tommy and his brother in law Dwayne all stayed up and looked while I made calls and all that stuff. We didn't go to bed until 4 in the morning! So yeah, we looked all day saturday and still nothing.
I was a mess, bawling, sobbing, all that stuff! At 1am that night we got a call from a family saying that they found her! Agailn, I did not sleep that night, only because I was so excited to get my baby home! The father had said that the kids wanted to say goodbye to Chloe and do the right thing themselves, and I was so happy to let them do that!
So at 10 am the next morning we went to the address that the family had given us. The first thing we saw after introducing ourselves was the 4 young kids holding and petting Chloe, and then they handed her over. It was so cute! It made me so emotional. I scooped her up and just held her. I'm sure the kids must've thought I was crazy or something. But anyway, I was so happy to see her!
Beth and Dean, the parents, let the kids say goodbye and explain what they had learned about this experience. They had said that they learned to do the right thing. They learned all the steps of what to do if they ever have that happen again and it was so amazing to hear how much they learned. Such good citizens at such a young age! I had also done a thank you speach to them and let them know how much it meant to me that they did that and took such good care of Chloe. We also tried to give them a reward but they wouldn't accept it, so we got the kids an icecream at the icecream truck that day, and are taking Beth and Dean to dinner. We actually got along so well and made new friends! Who knew!?
Thank you to all who sent their best wishes and prayers! Ryan and I greatly appreciated it! We are so happy to have Chloe back at home with us. We missed her so much! Ryan was amazing with me during those tough days. He felt bad that my baby was gone, especialy cuz he gave me her for Christmas so he knows how much she means to me. I still need to make him the most awesome sandwhich ever to thank him. That's just the way we are. We thank eachother by giving them the things we like, especially if the other person makes it for us.
Thanks for reading,
Brittany!
So Ryan had to run down the street and around, and by that time she was gone. I'm sorry, but she is 3lbs and black. How are you gonna see her at night? Ryan, his brother Tommy and his brother in law Dwayne all stayed up and looked while I made calls and all that stuff. We didn't go to bed until 4 in the morning! So yeah, we looked all day saturday and still nothing.
I was a mess, bawling, sobbing, all that stuff! At 1am that night we got a call from a family saying that they found her! Agailn, I did not sleep that night, only because I was so excited to get my baby home! The father had said that the kids wanted to say goodbye to Chloe and do the right thing themselves, and I was so happy to let them do that!
So at 10 am the next morning we went to the address that the family had given us. The first thing we saw after introducing ourselves was the 4 young kids holding and petting Chloe, and then they handed her over. It was so cute! It made me so emotional. I scooped her up and just held her. I'm sure the kids must've thought I was crazy or something. But anyway, I was so happy to see her!
Beth and Dean, the parents, let the kids say goodbye and explain what they had learned about this experience. They had said that they learned to do the right thing. They learned all the steps of what to do if they ever have that happen again and it was so amazing to hear how much they learned. Such good citizens at such a young age! I had also done a thank you speach to them and let them know how much it meant to me that they did that and took such good care of Chloe. We also tried to give them a reward but they wouldn't accept it, so we got the kids an icecream at the icecream truck that day, and are taking Beth and Dean to dinner. We actually got along so well and made new friends! Who knew!?
Thank you to all who sent their best wishes and prayers! Ryan and I greatly appreciated it! We are so happy to have Chloe back at home with us. We missed her so much! Ryan was amazing with me during those tough days. He felt bad that my baby was gone, especialy cuz he gave me her for Christmas so he knows how much she means to me. I still need to make him the most awesome sandwhich ever to thank him. That's just the way we are. We thank eachother by giving them the things we like, especially if the other person makes it for us.
Thanks for reading,
Brittany!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
News, news, news!
Ha! I'm updating! What what? Yeah, usualy when I say I'll blog about something in another blog, I never end up updating (like my wedding), but anyway, I am! So since we last left off I had recieved the news that Toronto is starting yet another team based out of the beautiful city and I was one of the very lucky ladies to accept the position! I will be playing libero, a position that plays only back row for usually the tall people who can't pass because they can't get low enough to pass, and is used as a free sub whenever they want for whoever they want. So yeah, that's me and what I do for a living.
Upon accepting the position on the team I have started my pre-season work outs. And let me tell ya, volleyball training is not nice! What happens when we do pre-season training is you baisically do cardio for an hour, do some running, stairs, eliptical, ladder exercises and bike. Then you do weights for an hour. Then afterwards you usually do a yoga or pilates class to centre yourself and gain core muscles and improve them, because passing uses a lot of your core. And that is every other day, and on the days we have off, we do 4 hours of practice. And that is what I do most days of the year.
As much as I love the work outs and feeling the pain, I really can't stand the pain the I get when I truley haven't done anything that intense for months. Your back begins to hurt, along with all your muscles and your mentally changing again to keep your focus. Our new coach is pretty good and we have a great technical staff and support team and trainers. Speaking of which, I would like to congratulate my trainer Dana on her first pregnancy! I am very happy for her and wish her and her husband all the best.
As for teammates, I am not sure who I have yet. I know I have Shrimpy on my team which will be awesome! I have Stacey, Paige, and Kayla also returning. Other than that, I am not sure what happens from here. All I know is I have fittings for uniforms and track suits and jersey's on the 8th and there I will meet everyone, and we start practicing. I am so stoked!
Not only has my life started to get back to the norm, for us anyway, I have been busy helping my best friend Katie plan her wedding! It's not until June but you know how it is planning a wedding. By the way, she is the reason why I am not going on the New Kids On The Block cruise, so you can thank her for that haha! I am her MOH, and am veryhappy for Katie. She's had some rough relationships and I am glad that she has finally found her true match!
Also most recently my one sister in law and I have been getting into it a lot. We have a long and bad past with eachother. She didn't like the fact that I was dating her baby brother and she had a problem with me. Words have been exchanged ovber the years and I really try to get along with her because Ryan and her get along great, but she keeps it up. A few weeks ago she said something that will haunt me forever and just a few days ago at a family BBQ, she apologized yet again, face to face, and is starting to show some improvement! I am thrilled that she is starting to try to get along with me. As I always say, for having 8 sister/brother in laws, and to only have one hate me isn't that bad.
So that is the big news! A lot is going on right now and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. Since my summer days are winding down, I think I am going to take advantage of what I have in my life. I tried new things this summer and had a blast! I am looking forward to a new season and can't wait to get back on the court. Sure Ryan and myself aren't going to be parents anytime soon, we are looking forward to doing things while we're still young that we wouldn't be able to if we had a baby. (ex. my job). It just gives me something to look forward to in my life, and a new goal to push for over time.
Thanks for reading!
Britt :)
Upon accepting the position on the team I have started my pre-season work outs. And let me tell ya, volleyball training is not nice! What happens when we do pre-season training is you baisically do cardio for an hour, do some running, stairs, eliptical, ladder exercises and bike. Then you do weights for an hour. Then afterwards you usually do a yoga or pilates class to centre yourself and gain core muscles and improve them, because passing uses a lot of your core. And that is every other day, and on the days we have off, we do 4 hours of practice. And that is what I do most days of the year.
As much as I love the work outs and feeling the pain, I really can't stand the pain the I get when I truley haven't done anything that intense for months. Your back begins to hurt, along with all your muscles and your mentally changing again to keep your focus. Our new coach is pretty good and we have a great technical staff and support team and trainers. Speaking of which, I would like to congratulate my trainer Dana on her first pregnancy! I am very happy for her and wish her and her husband all the best.
As for teammates, I am not sure who I have yet. I know I have Shrimpy on my team which will be awesome! I have Stacey, Paige, and Kayla also returning. Other than that, I am not sure what happens from here. All I know is I have fittings for uniforms and track suits and jersey's on the 8th and there I will meet everyone, and we start practicing. I am so stoked!
Not only has my life started to get back to the norm, for us anyway, I have been busy helping my best friend Katie plan her wedding! It's not until June but you know how it is planning a wedding. By the way, she is the reason why I am not going on the New Kids On The Block cruise, so you can thank her for that haha! I am her MOH, and am veryhappy for Katie. She's had some rough relationships and I am glad that she has finally found her true match!
Also most recently my one sister in law and I have been getting into it a lot. We have a long and bad past with eachother. She didn't like the fact that I was dating her baby brother and she had a problem with me. Words have been exchanged ovber the years and I really try to get along with her because Ryan and her get along great, but she keeps it up. A few weeks ago she said something that will haunt me forever and just a few days ago at a family BBQ, she apologized yet again, face to face, and is starting to show some improvement! I am thrilled that she is starting to try to get along with me. As I always say, for having 8 sister/brother in laws, and to only have one hate me isn't that bad.
So that is the big news! A lot is going on right now and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. Since my summer days are winding down, I think I am going to take advantage of what I have in my life. I tried new things this summer and had a blast! I am looking forward to a new season and can't wait to get back on the court. Sure Ryan and myself aren't going to be parents anytime soon, we are looking forward to doing things while we're still young that we wouldn't be able to if we had a baby. (ex. my job). It just gives me something to look forward to in my life, and a new goal to push for over time.
Thanks for reading!
Britt :)
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A New Direction in Life
Hey readers, if there are any, haven't blogged in a while, been busy lately. I've been keeping up with Zumba and being fit. Been spending a lot of time with family and friends and just enjoying the summer weather! This summer has been great and I'm sort of looking forward to going back to work.
During the summer I had received the news from Shrimpy that my contract for my team has been up, and that I'm a free agent, and now I need a new team. It is part of my job, I get that, but it's hard for me to leave Toronto. I was born and raised a proud Torontoian! I have all my family down here, and this is where my husband and I live. I don't want to leave him!
Toronto (where my team practices and is based out of) has not yet offered me a position back on the team. And as my teammates have said, "you'd think they'd want to keep their captain and best player". Well, best player-shut up, I am not, just the smallest. Since I am a free agent, I have now been getting offers from Boston, Pittsburgh (both teams offered me a spot after university), Arizona, and Montreal. Yes, that's close and in Canada, but that's the RIVALRY TEAM! Hell no I'm not playing for them.
This whole experience is putting a strain on my relationship with my husband. We have had several arguements about what we are going to do. Ryan has worked so hard to get to where he is now at work. He wanted a permanent position at a highschool where he could teach both his passions, and also be involved with coaching and being athletic. He finally received his wish a few years ago and I won't let him give all that up and go through the troubles of getting to where he needs to be again.
But he is saying that he wants to go with me and that he'll find a new job. But I'm not stupid, I know how the economy is. I had even suggested for me to just quit since I'm getting up there in age and most teams don't want "old people" on their teams. Tho I'm almost 26! I said that I would be willing to even come home whenever I can and we can try a long distance thing for a season. So we don't know what we're gonna do.
I don't even know where I'll be playing yet! If all goes as I would hope and pray, that I would get a last minute offer to stay with Toronto. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I would really love it if Toronto makes me an offer! There was a reason that I accepted their offer the first time, and I would take it again! Regardless, I am more than ready to get back on the court and continue with this chapter in my life, and see what happens next. Will keep you readers updated,
Britt xoxo
During the summer I had received the news from Shrimpy that my contract for my team has been up, and that I'm a free agent, and now I need a new team. It is part of my job, I get that, but it's hard for me to leave Toronto. I was born and raised a proud Torontoian! I have all my family down here, and this is where my husband and I live. I don't want to leave him!
Toronto (where my team practices and is based out of) has not yet offered me a position back on the team. And as my teammates have said, "you'd think they'd want to keep their captain and best player". Well, best player-shut up, I am not, just the smallest. Since I am a free agent, I have now been getting offers from Boston, Pittsburgh (both teams offered me a spot after university), Arizona, and Montreal. Yes, that's close and in Canada, but that's the RIVALRY TEAM! Hell no I'm not playing for them.
This whole experience is putting a strain on my relationship with my husband. We have had several arguements about what we are going to do. Ryan has worked so hard to get to where he is now at work. He wanted a permanent position at a highschool where he could teach both his passions, and also be involved with coaching and being athletic. He finally received his wish a few years ago and I won't let him give all that up and go through the troubles of getting to where he needs to be again.
But he is saying that he wants to go with me and that he'll find a new job. But I'm not stupid, I know how the economy is. I had even suggested for me to just quit since I'm getting up there in age and most teams don't want "old people" on their teams. Tho I'm almost 26! I said that I would be willing to even come home whenever I can and we can try a long distance thing for a season. So we don't know what we're gonna do.
I don't even know where I'll be playing yet! If all goes as I would hope and pray, that I would get a last minute offer to stay with Toronto. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I would really love it if Toronto makes me an offer! There was a reason that I accepted their offer the first time, and I would take it again! Regardless, I am more than ready to get back on the court and continue with this chapter in my life, and see what happens next. Will keep you readers updated,
Britt xoxo
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Importance of Family
Words cannot express the importance of family, and I can't say it enough. After being able to see some of my extended family that I don't ever see unless at wedings, funerals and showers, I truley realized how important it is to cherish your family, and the time that you spend with them.
It all goes way back to my family in Greece. My grandmotherand her family were both very distant from eachother. Especially because she married a Greek man (she was masadonian). Then everybody started to move to Canada. My grandfather had come up with his family, and at the same time, his sister came up with hers, and his brother with his. They al began to add more to their families since the move. My grandmother on the other hand never really kept in touch with her family back home. Eventually some of her family had come up to Canada, they could even live down the street from one another and they would never talk! My grandfather still calls his brother and sister in Greece everyday to keep in touch.
As their families grew up and soon started to create their own families (starting with my birth!) they had grown farther apart. My grandfather still met up often with his brother and sister, and even his mother when she moved up to Canada. I guess when I became a toddler none of teh cousins had really seen eachother. For the most part I had just seen my dad's 2 brothers and my grandparents, and from occasion, my great aunt and my great grandmother. As I mentioned earlier, we only really see the extended family on my dad's side at funerals, weddings and showers. It's a shame we don't ever see eachother outside of a church or a reception hall or restaraunt.
Then you look at my mom's side, where we see eachother all the time! She grew up with a group of her first cousins from both sides (two brothers maried to sisters) who were like her brothers, she had 3 sisters. When I was young and they were all in their early 20's they'd get together a couple of times a week to catch up and spend time with eachother. I think that's great! Sure they don't spend much time together nowbecause once they started having babies they had a new priority-understandable. They go on trips together, we go camping together and we always see eachother for big celebrations! But they always pick up the phone and say hello, or email. My dad's side is not like that at all, except for with his immediate family.
Ryan and his family are all extremley close! He's the youngest of 9, with only 1 brother 15 months older than him. He and his sisters call eachother at least once a week, he talks to his parents everyday, adn his brother all the time! He still see's his cousins from time to time, and is always making an effort to see them whenever possible. What is really nice to see though, is that Ryan really makes an effort to be close to all of his nieces and nephews, all 13! The kids love him, and consider him the cool uncle, and I am glad that I can be apart of such a big/close family! All of his nieces and nephews were extremly welcoming to me, and treat me like I've been around for their whole lives, which for some-I haven't.
And a close family is what I strive for! I know that I don't live at home anymore with my mom, dad, brother and sister, but I always try to get out as much as I can. I love my family to death and I would do anything for them! Even with such a big age difference with my sister (11 year difference) and brother (13 year difference), I make it a priority to be the best older sister that I can, and to be as close to them as possible! They were both in my bridal party at my wedding! (Oh my God my brother was the cutest thing on my wedding in his suit!).
It's important to me to be close to them, and to let them know that even thought I'm out on my own with a husband, that they should never be afraid to come over, or call. Heck-my brother calls Ryan all the time to talk! Besides, Ryan is his brother now (haha!). And for Ryan to be so close to them means the world to me. And for being almost 28, he sure can act like a kid sometimes! I'm even glad that he get's along with my family and vise versa. I also want to be there for my little cousins, and be around with them to see them grow up, like I would've if we were closer in age.
So my point of this blog is; stick with your family, their all you got and you need to cherish your time with them! You never know what's around the corner. You don't want to have a distant relationship with your family. You should stay in touch as best you can. Sure people come and go, or change, at least make the effort, and if they don't put the effort in, at least you gave it a try! When my aunt was dying of cancer, my mom went to the hospital every single day to spend time with her, even with young toddlers at home, because she knew that time was limited. My great uncle told me today, "I made a mistake for being so distant with my family for all these years. I should've gone and visited or phoned but I never did. And now that we're all getting up there and everyones passing away, it is my biggest regret." Thos words wil forever stay with me. I don't want that in the future.
Life is short, break tghe rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truley, laugh uncontrollably and never regreat anything that made you smile. Make memories and cherish them! Family is forever,
Brittany xoxoxoxo ♥
It all goes way back to my family in Greece. My grandmotherand her family were both very distant from eachother. Especially because she married a Greek man (she was masadonian). Then everybody started to move to Canada. My grandfather had come up with his family, and at the same time, his sister came up with hers, and his brother with his. They al began to add more to their families since the move. My grandmother on the other hand never really kept in touch with her family back home. Eventually some of her family had come up to Canada, they could even live down the street from one another and they would never talk! My grandfather still calls his brother and sister in Greece everyday to keep in touch.
As their families grew up and soon started to create their own families (starting with my birth!) they had grown farther apart. My grandfather still met up often with his brother and sister, and even his mother when she moved up to Canada. I guess when I became a toddler none of teh cousins had really seen eachother. For the most part I had just seen my dad's 2 brothers and my grandparents, and from occasion, my great aunt and my great grandmother. As I mentioned earlier, we only really see the extended family on my dad's side at funerals, weddings and showers. It's a shame we don't ever see eachother outside of a church or a reception hall or restaraunt.
Then you look at my mom's side, where we see eachother all the time! She grew up with a group of her first cousins from both sides (two brothers maried to sisters) who were like her brothers, she had 3 sisters. When I was young and they were all in their early 20's they'd get together a couple of times a week to catch up and spend time with eachother. I think that's great! Sure they don't spend much time together nowbecause once they started having babies they had a new priority-understandable. They go on trips together, we go camping together and we always see eachother for big celebrations! But they always pick up the phone and say hello, or email. My dad's side is not like that at all, except for with his immediate family.
Ryan and his family are all extremley close! He's the youngest of 9, with only 1 brother 15 months older than him. He and his sisters call eachother at least once a week, he talks to his parents everyday, adn his brother all the time! He still see's his cousins from time to time, and is always making an effort to see them whenever possible. What is really nice to see though, is that Ryan really makes an effort to be close to all of his nieces and nephews, all 13! The kids love him, and consider him the cool uncle, and I am glad that I can be apart of such a big/close family! All of his nieces and nephews were extremly welcoming to me, and treat me like I've been around for their whole lives, which for some-I haven't.
And a close family is what I strive for! I know that I don't live at home anymore with my mom, dad, brother and sister, but I always try to get out as much as I can. I love my family to death and I would do anything for them! Even with such a big age difference with my sister (11 year difference) and brother (13 year difference), I make it a priority to be the best older sister that I can, and to be as close to them as possible! They were both in my bridal party at my wedding! (Oh my God my brother was the cutest thing on my wedding in his suit!).
It's important to me to be close to them, and to let them know that even thought I'm out on my own with a husband, that they should never be afraid to come over, or call. Heck-my brother calls Ryan all the time to talk! Besides, Ryan is his brother now (haha!). And for Ryan to be so close to them means the world to me. And for being almost 28, he sure can act like a kid sometimes! I'm even glad that he get's along with my family and vise versa. I also want to be there for my little cousins, and be around with them to see them grow up, like I would've if we were closer in age.
So my point of this blog is; stick with your family, their all you got and you need to cherish your time with them! You never know what's around the corner. You don't want to have a distant relationship with your family. You should stay in touch as best you can. Sure people come and go, or change, at least make the effort, and if they don't put the effort in, at least you gave it a try! When my aunt was dying of cancer, my mom went to the hospital every single day to spend time with her, even with young toddlers at home, because she knew that time was limited. My great uncle told me today, "I made a mistake for being so distant with my family for all these years. I should've gone and visited or phoned but I never did. And now that we're all getting up there and everyones passing away, it is my biggest regret." Thos words wil forever stay with me. I don't want that in the future.
Life is short, break tghe rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truley, laugh uncontrollably and never regreat anything that made you smile. Make memories and cherish them! Family is forever,
Brittany xoxoxoxo ♥
Friday, July 22, 2011
Reflection & my grandmothers 1 Year!
Today is the one year anniversary for my grandmother, or as I called her, my bubba yaya. Bubba means grandma in masadonian, and yaya means grandma in Greek. I can't believe that it has been a year since her passing! So much has happened in a year! Most importantly the birth of the final grandchild Zach, a week after her passing.
To think that a year ago today I was at training thinking about my grandmother, I had gotten a call from my mom to go over and see her, so I went over with Ryan. We walked in, and my little cousin Lucas was there and greeted us. We were happy to see him and be greeted by the little cutie. Then my mom came out with it telling me that she passed away. I immediatly bawled. My dad, being the jokester he said, and supposedly this was true, "Wow, she reacted faster than all of us. She cried instantly, we all at least waited." People in Greece knew before I did! I was the last to know! So of course, my aunt was there with my mom making plans for her outfit and flowers, while my dad and his brothers planned other things with my papou (grandpa in Greek).
It was a hard week that week. She passed on a thursday, and a week later we were going to Newfoundland! So we were crunched for time. The day before the viewing I had found out that one of my previous coaches lost her fight to breast cancer (she was re-diagnosed & it had also spread). That night my whole family, minus Ryan and my aunt and cousin, all watched 'Death at a Funeral' to prove that the one for my grandmother won't be like that. It also gave us a chance to all be together and have a good laugh. The day of the viewings was very busy. I had to play in a beach tournament (I'm sorry, I earned $2,000 just for playing!) and I really had no choice, me and my partner threw the tourney so I could make it to the second one. I missed the afternoon one, and was lucky to make it to the night one.
The funeral was a long day! Greek funerals always are. There's an early morning service, our priest was late because he was sipping coffee downstairs. There was also drama because the cake had different icing on it, that was meant for the 6 month service. The bakery had messed up on it, and my uncle got blamed because he picked up the cake. My thia (aunt) is a very opinionated person and really yelled at him! Throught out the day there was fights between my aunts-go figure- and let me tell ya, I was in the middle always!
A tradition in the Greek church is that you have wine, wheat and bread. I got the honour of bringing them all up to the front of the church during the church service. My thia from my greek side was the one carrying this big bowl of wheat to the front and a candle. My aunt on the masadonian side (my grandmothers sister in law) said we had to wait until the casket get's there. My thia was half way to the aisle, while my other aunt was holding me back, and yelling at my aunt. They were pulling me back and forth! There was more to it than that, but still, it was insane!
The priest also messed up during the service, embarassing the living crap out of me! He was saying, "Stella was a daughter, a sister, a sister in law, a mother, a grandmother and great greatgrandmother." Everybody looked at me because I am the oldest and was a newly wed at the time. My aunt, who was 2 weeks over do from her due date was like, "Uh Britt," I had to mouth to my whole family, I'm not, he messed up. My dad looked like he was gonna have a heart attack! His face was actually priceless. Then when the family was walking by sending their condolence, everyone was like congratulations. Ryan and I had a good laugh, sorta.
It was nice to see my extended family because we never really see them. I even got to meet my cousin who I've never met before! The restaraunt part was interesting. I had to do a speech saying that I wasn't pregnant, and the priest apologized. Also, the restaraunt knew that there was 4 grandchildren at the time, and the one was bringing someone (Ryan). So the waitors brought over a plate of a kiddie meal to Ryan and myself! They thought we were kids! My grandfather laughed so hard. It was delicious, I must admit! Never thought at 25 years old that I would get a kiddie meal.
So much has happened since my grandmother passed away. There's not a day that I do not think about her. I miss her so much! I am glad that you are no longer in any pain and are up there with the angels watching over us all proudly. I love you and I miss you so much!
So now this weekend we have to go to church to celebrate her 1 year. I feel better now that I have reflected on her funeral, it definatly makes me feel better about everything and makes me remember that funerals and deaths are a bad thing, but you always make new memories after they are gone. I feel glad to get that out. I know it sounds weird, but talking about thing's or writing about things make me feel better.
Thanks for reading!
Brittany x0x0
To think that a year ago today I was at training thinking about my grandmother, I had gotten a call from my mom to go over and see her, so I went over with Ryan. We walked in, and my little cousin Lucas was there and greeted us. We were happy to see him and be greeted by the little cutie. Then my mom came out with it telling me that she passed away. I immediatly bawled. My dad, being the jokester he said, and supposedly this was true, "Wow, she reacted faster than all of us. She cried instantly, we all at least waited." People in Greece knew before I did! I was the last to know! So of course, my aunt was there with my mom making plans for her outfit and flowers, while my dad and his brothers planned other things with my papou (grandpa in Greek).
It was a hard week that week. She passed on a thursday, and a week later we were going to Newfoundland! So we were crunched for time. The day before the viewing I had found out that one of my previous coaches lost her fight to breast cancer (she was re-diagnosed & it had also spread). That night my whole family, minus Ryan and my aunt and cousin, all watched 'Death at a Funeral' to prove that the one for my grandmother won't be like that. It also gave us a chance to all be together and have a good laugh. The day of the viewings was very busy. I had to play in a beach tournament (I'm sorry, I earned $2,000 just for playing!) and I really had no choice, me and my partner threw the tourney so I could make it to the second one. I missed the afternoon one, and was lucky to make it to the night one.
The funeral was a long day! Greek funerals always are. There's an early morning service, our priest was late because he was sipping coffee downstairs. There was also drama because the cake had different icing on it, that was meant for the 6 month service. The bakery had messed up on it, and my uncle got blamed because he picked up the cake. My thia (aunt) is a very opinionated person and really yelled at him! Throught out the day there was fights between my aunts-go figure- and let me tell ya, I was in the middle always!
A tradition in the Greek church is that you have wine, wheat and bread. I got the honour of bringing them all up to the front of the church during the church service. My thia from my greek side was the one carrying this big bowl of wheat to the front and a candle. My aunt on the masadonian side (my grandmothers sister in law) said we had to wait until the casket get's there. My thia was half way to the aisle, while my other aunt was holding me back, and yelling at my aunt. They were pulling me back and forth! There was more to it than that, but still, it was insane!
The priest also messed up during the service, embarassing the living crap out of me! He was saying, "Stella was a daughter, a sister, a sister in law, a mother, a grandmother and great greatgrandmother." Everybody looked at me because I am the oldest and was a newly wed at the time. My aunt, who was 2 weeks over do from her due date was like, "Uh Britt," I had to mouth to my whole family, I'm not, he messed up. My dad looked like he was gonna have a heart attack! His face was actually priceless. Then when the family was walking by sending their condolence, everyone was like congratulations. Ryan and I had a good laugh, sorta.
It was nice to see my extended family because we never really see them. I even got to meet my cousin who I've never met before! The restaraunt part was interesting. I had to do a speech saying that I wasn't pregnant, and the priest apologized. Also, the restaraunt knew that there was 4 grandchildren at the time, and the one was bringing someone (Ryan). So the waitors brought over a plate of a kiddie meal to Ryan and myself! They thought we were kids! My grandfather laughed so hard. It was delicious, I must admit! Never thought at 25 years old that I would get a kiddie meal.
So much has happened since my grandmother passed away. There's not a day that I do not think about her. I miss her so much! I am glad that you are no longer in any pain and are up there with the angels watching over us all proudly. I love you and I miss you so much!
So now this weekend we have to go to church to celebrate her 1 year. I feel better now that I have reflected on her funeral, it definatly makes me feel better about everything and makes me remember that funerals and deaths are a bad thing, but you always make new memories after they are gone. I feel glad to get that out. I know it sounds weird, but talking about thing's or writing about things make me feel better.
Thanks for reading!
Brittany x0x0
Monday, July 4, 2011
Family Camping!
Well another Camping Trip with my family has ended. Usually I always look forward to camping, this year I was a bit hesitant in going. My cousins are all at that stage in their lives where they rather go hang out with friends or go clubbing than go camping with their family. And addicted to their blackberry, or phones. So I wasn't sure who was going to be there, and how social they were going to be. Sure enough, I was wrong.
Getting up there after about 3 hours (listening to Backstreet Boys the whole way), we quickly set up our tent and was ready to relax. Just getting to catch up with everybody and see everybody is so nice. My grandma's sister and my grandpa's brother married eachother, and their family of 3 boys was like brothers to my mom and her 3 sisters. So for years now they have gone camping together with their families. It gives everyone a chance to see eachother, catch up, do something different, and get away from civilization so to speak. So baisically we just talked all day, and had a kick ass camp fire at night. It was also freezing that night!
Also, we brought the 2 dogs up! (For those who don't know, we just got a new 5 month old puppy named Tucker!) Everyone knew and loves Chloe and were happy to meet Tucker. He is at an awkward stage in his life, he's only 5 months and still developing. His hips are pathetic (like mine), and he's so clumsy! My aunt and uncle have a dog so we were introducing them. Then, the damn dog started to attack Tucker and jumped ontop of him! Tucker is under a table trying to get up and I was ready to kill my aunt and uncles dog! That's my baby! So anyway, while this is going on Chloe was barking away, trying to beat up my cousins dog! Chloe is 3lbs, Tucker is 40lbs, and my cousins dog is 30lbs! She's a fiesty one alright!
Saturday was a hot one. The day started out over cast, and was calling for thunder storms all day. After an hour of over cast the sun was bright and shining. My mom, uncle, cousins, nanny, great uncle, great aunt and myself all played horseshoes. We are all competitive so it was pretty funny how into it we got. My one cousin had to work and her older sister was going to a party that night so they had to leave unfourtunatly. My mom's sister, her husband, and 2 oldest kids had to leave because my cousins best friends mom passed away and it was the day of the funeral. Totally understandable! So they would be back at the end of the day.
Next we went down to the pond where everyone else was fishing away. Ryan had no worms to use, so he put a grape, that's right, a grape on the end of his line and no word of a lie, 30 seconds later he caught a 5lbs fish! It was the funniest thing! We always fish when camping and now have a fishing trophy that the winner get's to keep for the year and then brings it back the next year for the new winner. So far we were winning!
The rest of the afternoon, my uncle's 2 kids (I hate the one of them) came up for about 3 hours! The point was to stay up over night, not 3 hours. The female cousin talked to us for about an hour then went in a trailer alone for the other 2. We were playing Botchie Ball and Lawn Darts. Ryan was really having fun with the kids, aka my brother and my twin cousins his age. My cousin and her boyfriend had to leave aswell, so again, my cousins were all leaving. My great grandmother and great aunt came up for the day aswell.
Once everyone was really starting to leave and get dinner started, me and my cousin/teammate Shannon went on a walk down the street. We were both not impressed that everyone was leaving so we both vented. She also wanted to leave because she had to go to her summer job the next day, but felt like she had to stay since no one else was. She is one of my cousins closer to my age and we grew up together, so we've always been close. If it wasn't for her being there I would've died. Yes I talked with my aunts and uncles, but I'm not that close with them, and it was sort of awkward at points.
For dinner we had a huge BBQ and everyone provided something. It was so nice to have everyone that was there eat a meal with eachother. For dessert my great grandmother made Rice Pudding and once it was brought out all of my mom and her cousins raced to go get some like savages! It was so funny. While they were all fighting for some food, all of my generation was like 'what the heck is so great about Rice Puddin?'. The rain clouds came, but no rain yet so we all quickly cleaned up! It always rains when we're camping so we're used to it. We had thunder and lightning but no rain. Just my aunt and uncle came back, leaving their older two at home-thank God-they don't socialize what so ever so it's not like we were missing them that much. Supposedly there was a huge storm going on and everyone was texting us, and we had nothing but a few bangs, and lightning!
We had a short camp fire. But while that was going on, the prank war started! My brother and twin cousins put a frog in my fucking tent! And it was in my fucking bag! I hate bugs and frogs and snakes (which we all saw!). So they got it out. Then before my brother and the twins bed time (they were all in a tent together), Ryan snuck into their tent and jumped out and scared them! I had a great laugh! In the morning when we were cleaning up Ryan threw a fucking dragon fly in our tent and held the zipper so I couldn't get out! What an asshole! (We love eachother so much haha!).
We ended up staying longer then planned, went canoeing, floated on a raft, and Ryan won his fishing trophy, he was the only one who caught a fish! We left, got ice cream (I love brownie ice cream!) and we stopped in at my great grandmother's for a bit. Then we got home. It was nice being away but damn I missed my bed!
In the end I had a great weekend and want to go camping again! Family is so important and I can't stress it enough how much you should take these opportunities while you have them. I know it may not seem as cool to hang out with your family, but it's all you got in the end. It gives you a chance to catch up, see people you don't usually see, do something different and have a great weekend. Not to mention get a tan! And mosquito bites....my bum is covered (the one place I didn't spray!). Both Ryan and I loved it!
Thanks for reading my blog and finding out how my long weekend was! I hope everyone had a great time with their families this beautiful long weekend! It's time for me to take a break from this blog, and prepare for my surgery tomorrow morning. It's nothing big, just fixing a plate in my nose (long story!). Can't wait to catch up with you all soon,
Brittany xoxo
Getting up there after about 3 hours (listening to Backstreet Boys the whole way), we quickly set up our tent and was ready to relax. Just getting to catch up with everybody and see everybody is so nice. My grandma's sister and my grandpa's brother married eachother, and their family of 3 boys was like brothers to my mom and her 3 sisters. So for years now they have gone camping together with their families. It gives everyone a chance to see eachother, catch up, do something different, and get away from civilization so to speak. So baisically we just talked all day, and had a kick ass camp fire at night. It was also freezing that night!
Also, we brought the 2 dogs up! (For those who don't know, we just got a new 5 month old puppy named Tucker!) Everyone knew and loves Chloe and were happy to meet Tucker. He is at an awkward stage in his life, he's only 5 months and still developing. His hips are pathetic (like mine), and he's so clumsy! My aunt and uncle have a dog so we were introducing them. Then, the damn dog started to attack Tucker and jumped ontop of him! Tucker is under a table trying to get up and I was ready to kill my aunt and uncles dog! That's my baby! So anyway, while this is going on Chloe was barking away, trying to beat up my cousins dog! Chloe is 3lbs, Tucker is 40lbs, and my cousins dog is 30lbs! She's a fiesty one alright!
Saturday was a hot one. The day started out over cast, and was calling for thunder storms all day. After an hour of over cast the sun was bright and shining. My mom, uncle, cousins, nanny, great uncle, great aunt and myself all played horseshoes. We are all competitive so it was pretty funny how into it we got. My one cousin had to work and her older sister was going to a party that night so they had to leave unfourtunatly. My mom's sister, her husband, and 2 oldest kids had to leave because my cousins best friends mom passed away and it was the day of the funeral. Totally understandable! So they would be back at the end of the day.
Next we went down to the pond where everyone else was fishing away. Ryan had no worms to use, so he put a grape, that's right, a grape on the end of his line and no word of a lie, 30 seconds later he caught a 5lbs fish! It was the funniest thing! We always fish when camping and now have a fishing trophy that the winner get's to keep for the year and then brings it back the next year for the new winner. So far we were winning!
The rest of the afternoon, my uncle's 2 kids (I hate the one of them) came up for about 3 hours! The point was to stay up over night, not 3 hours. The female cousin talked to us for about an hour then went in a trailer alone for the other 2. We were playing Botchie Ball and Lawn Darts. Ryan was really having fun with the kids, aka my brother and my twin cousins his age. My cousin and her boyfriend had to leave aswell, so again, my cousins were all leaving. My great grandmother and great aunt came up for the day aswell.
Once everyone was really starting to leave and get dinner started, me and my cousin/teammate Shannon went on a walk down the street. We were both not impressed that everyone was leaving so we both vented. She also wanted to leave because she had to go to her summer job the next day, but felt like she had to stay since no one else was. She is one of my cousins closer to my age and we grew up together, so we've always been close. If it wasn't for her being there I would've died. Yes I talked with my aunts and uncles, but I'm not that close with them, and it was sort of awkward at points.
For dinner we had a huge BBQ and everyone provided something. It was so nice to have everyone that was there eat a meal with eachother. For dessert my great grandmother made Rice Pudding and once it was brought out all of my mom and her cousins raced to go get some like savages! It was so funny. While they were all fighting for some food, all of my generation was like 'what the heck is so great about Rice Puddin?'. The rain clouds came, but no rain yet so we all quickly cleaned up! It always rains when we're camping so we're used to it. We had thunder and lightning but no rain. Just my aunt and uncle came back, leaving their older two at home-thank God-they don't socialize what so ever so it's not like we were missing them that much. Supposedly there was a huge storm going on and everyone was texting us, and we had nothing but a few bangs, and lightning!
We had a short camp fire. But while that was going on, the prank war started! My brother and twin cousins put a frog in my fucking tent! And it was in my fucking bag! I hate bugs and frogs and snakes (which we all saw!). So they got it out. Then before my brother and the twins bed time (they were all in a tent together), Ryan snuck into their tent and jumped out and scared them! I had a great laugh! In the morning when we were cleaning up Ryan threw a fucking dragon fly in our tent and held the zipper so I couldn't get out! What an asshole! (We love eachother so much haha!).
We ended up staying longer then planned, went canoeing, floated on a raft, and Ryan won his fishing trophy, he was the only one who caught a fish! We left, got ice cream (I love brownie ice cream!) and we stopped in at my great grandmother's for a bit. Then we got home. It was nice being away but damn I missed my bed!
In the end I had a great weekend and want to go camping again! Family is so important and I can't stress it enough how much you should take these opportunities while you have them. I know it may not seem as cool to hang out with your family, but it's all you got in the end. It gives you a chance to catch up, see people you don't usually see, do something different and have a great weekend. Not to mention get a tan! And mosquito bites....my bum is covered (the one place I didn't spray!). Both Ryan and I loved it!
Thanks for reading my blog and finding out how my long weekend was! I hope everyone had a great time with their families this beautiful long weekend! It's time for me to take a break from this blog, and prepare for my surgery tomorrow morning. It's nothing big, just fixing a plate in my nose (long story!). Can't wait to catch up with you all soon,
Brittany xoxo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
