Lately

1. Flowers. So pretty. I'd like to see a show of hands. Who has a husband that decides a purple section of plants would look perfect against the house? Yes, this wife. Right here! Never loved him more. He gets me.

2. And speaking of planting...earlier this month Mr. B and I planted our garden. As of right now, with all the high 80-degree weather, we look like geniuses.

3. It's National Thank Law Enforcement Week. And today is Police Officers Memorial Day. Please, hug a cop. Okay, if you know one really well (like, if he's your husband, wink wink. actually, he's a deputy, so he gets more hugs, wink wink) have at it. They keep us safe. They see people at their worst. EVERY.DAY. I can't get into this topic too much, with what's been going on in our country as of late with the media and law enforcement and such, because I break down in tears every time, but I just want to say instead of pointing accusatory fingers at the cop, why not look at the criminal the cop was up against. The number of times that person has been in jail. What kind of human being that person was. And then decide if you're brave enough to interact with that on a daily basis. If you could handle that every day. What would you do in that one split second when it comes down to you coming home to your family?

4. Oh, and we stained our deck. That was quite the adventure. Epic. But it looks, oh so GORGEOUS with our new table umbrella.

5. So.... I have a spa day tomorrow planned with my bestie, thanks to my anniversary gift from Mr. B. I'm more than ready to be pampered, adored, and to mark off one of my bucket list items.

6. And this. Starbucks. It has kept me entertained. Daily. Oh, the names. I wish I had taken a photo of every name I ever received on my cups. Laughs for days.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Lately

1. [Wo]man down. These instant temperature changes have me down. Allergies have me down. I missed three days of work... but hey, I caught up on sleep. Go me.

2. And during those three days I parked myself, quite comfortably, on the couch with nonstop episodes of Hawaii Five-O. Re-watching all my favorite episodes. <--- read: all of the episodes. Oh, Steve McGarrett. :)

3. Every day for my afternoon snack I have a La Croix and a rice cake smeared with light cream cheese and all natural almond butter. I. CAN'T. STOP. It's my daily power fix. My guilty pleasure. The day is perfect for 10 minutes. Y'all should try it.

4. Mr. B has been quite the busy bee. He's painting doors, building chicken coops, taking me to Lowe's almost every day (with promises of swinging by Target --- side story, while I was sick he actually asked if I wanted to go to Target to restock my La Croix supply and to get me Starbucks to make me feel better...he's sweet.) where I promptly wanted to buy every piece of deck furniture I laid eyes on. Can you tell we're excited for spring?

5. And the heavens opened up. The angels sang. And I got my new coffee pot. Wait. You mean coffee pots don't take a half an hour to brew six cups? I feel spoiled. Stop it.

And it's programmable! Hello, to waking up to the smells of tall, dark, and strong.

(Oh, and a mug of steaming coffee. ....Of course, I meant Mr. B.)

6. Ummm, this pup will be ONE next week. What?!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Currently

I'm currently....

Watching.... The Immigrant. Jeremy Renner's indie movie, which came out last year in other countries, never hit theaters here and it yesterday became available on Netflix. After waiting over a year for this movie, I was super excited and got up extra early this morning to watch it before heading into work. No wonder it never made it to theaters. Not enough JLR that's for sure. And I don't think the plot line was solid, and there was way too much unnecessary showing of...stuff that I fast forward most of the movie. And he's not even in it that much!!! Definitely a movie to skip...grrr. Thankfully, JLR's Kill the Messenger will be hitting theater's this October.

Eating.... fruit and sandwiches. Can't.get.enough. I just had the juiciest peach of the year for a mid-morning snack. OhhEmmGee. I've been all over Peach Caprese lunches and putting berries in my mugs of fresh lemonade, and the sandwiches at Starbucks are deeelicious. Hello, Summer.

Planning.... the finishing touches on our new deck, which demolition removal started today!! FINALLY. It's been an irritating five weeks.

Reading.... Ugh. Ever his a reading slump? Well, I never have past two books. That's been my previous running streak of must-abandon-because-I-don't-have-time-for-this-awful-writing-excuse-for-a-book. Until this past month. If it's not a non-fiction book about food/health or a children's literature book, then it's been completely awful and I abandoned every one. I'm talking a bad five in a row here, one of which included the highly-praised The Goldfinch. What?! Who ARE you people that think this was 5-star great?! One of my co-worker's agrees. I'm picking up Fangirl next, and hoping to get out of this rut.

Inspired by.... my yoga programs at work. Especially my tween one last night. These young girls are definitely inspiring, not just in their attempts at practicing yoga, but in their dreams, journaling, goals...just hearing their chit-chat. Gah, I love my job.

Excited about.... MY BIRTHDAY!!! It's my birthday month, week, weekend! Woot. Woot. Celebrating with the family all weekend, which is exactly what I'll need once this hectic week comes to a close. Six programs in five days. In the midst of Summer Reading. Who was I when I planned this schedule back in April? Just stick me with an espresso IV.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Seriously?! and a List {Blog Series}

Y'all will never believe what happened! Don't worry. I took plenty of pictures.

Around 1 a.m. this past Wednesday, Mr. B and I were alarmingly awoken by a drunk driver running into our deck. Praise the Lord no one was injured and the house (other than siding, gutters, and minor window scrapes) wasn't damaged. All of the neighbors were out conversing with the police and firefighters, while a paramedic warned us to not come out our front door. After heading out the back door and assessing the damage, we are very thankful we had a deck in the first place. If not, I'm sure the car would have landed in our living room and halfway up the stairs.

Apparently, the drunk driver came flying out of the park entrance across the street and forgot the road ended. Instead of turning, he came straight into our neighbor's yard, crashed into our deck, restarted his car, took off through the rest of our yard, and into the other neighbor's yard before making it back onto the street and fleeing the scene. (Be thankful for your neighbors.) Not only did this kid take off, he then walked back up to the scene and tried to give the police false information. The police followed him back to his house, which is caddy-corner to our own house(!), and discovered the damaged car hiding in his garage. Yes, he was heavily intoxicated, refuse to take a breathalyzer, and has four other accidents on his record, along with prior arrests for drug possession.

To top it all off, he is driving with stolen plates and NO CAR INSURANCE. Y'all, these winners are hard to find.

How is he still allowed to drive?!

FAN-freaking-TASTIC.

Needless to say, we are not happy campers over here. After multiple conversations with our insurance, we're in the process of making a claim, waiting for the insurance people to come out and take pictures, and finding a contractor to rebuild our deck. Oh, and the deck is beyond repair and needs to come down completely. We were informed this cannot be done without cutting into the siding of our house. There is a very high possibility that are particular color of siding is no longer available. Therefore, we may have to get new siding for the ENTIRE house.

It's very hard to observe this pleasant young man and his mother across the street every day, and neither has had the decency to even contact us to apologize or anything. Mr. B's desperate self-control is admirable.

But what's most important here is no one was hurt. The house is fine. The deck and grill can be replaced. Thank you, Jesus!

Ai. Yi. Yi. The joys of home-ownership.

On a lighter note, I stumbled across another list gem while catching up on Jessica's blog. You know me and my lists, especially lists about what's going through my head as of late. After this week's events, I'm not sure y'all may want to know. But, alas, I need focus elsewhere. [It's more of an extension to my "Currently" posts.]

Eating / Corn on the cob and a lot of it. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. And juicy peaches perfect for cobbler.
Drinking / Two things. Homemade Strawberry Lemonade. Cashing in my free drink reward and splurging on a Venti Caramel Frappy with 5 shots of espresso and praying the barista is kind and gives me my extra cup of overflowing goodness because.I.desperately.need.it (see above scenario).
Practicing / yoga yoga yoga. one of the only thing that makes me feel sane. <--- borrowing Jessica's exact words. You would not believe how little I'm able to fit in my mat time between the new puppy, Summer Reading craziness, and the unfortunate demolition of our deck. Mr. B has, on more than one occasion, found me in tears. When asked what's wrong I admit my stress is quite high and I haven't been able to practice for more than 5 minutes. I'm really needing to just head out and hit up a yoga class ASAP. However, these less than 10-minute pilates videos are great for my business.
Mastering / a handstand. I'm participating in the #summersplits2014 yoga challenge and while the whole point is to master the splits, I'm realizing mastering the handstand first would be quite helpful.
Learning / to LET go. and to LET GOD. Seriously need to work on this (which is usually what I'm doing when I'm practicing my asanas).
Trying / to choose easier and faster weeknight meals. It's summer and I should be happy just throwing together BLTs and salads. But my inner cook wants to always try something new...ugh.
Playing / volleyball in our backyard. Mr. B, I think it's time the net goes up!!
Finishing / my intention was my summer bucket list, now it's a new deck before summer ends. Reading / Written in My Own Heart's Blood. Drop everything. Put every other book aside. The newest Outlander installment has been released and found it's way onto my desk yesterday morning. Now, to find the time...I'm sure sleep may be sacrificed!
Remembering / life is short. Things could be worse. Material things don't matter. GOD IS GOOD.
Wearing / SUN DRESSES!!!! Sun dresses GALORE!
Cooking / grilling up some pizzas. It's too dang hot to cook. Oh wait, we are currently without a grill :(
Working / Summer Reading programs. This may be the only time I will actually get my yoga in! I'm excited.
Traveling / to Maine this October. Mr. B and I really need to sit down and decide where exactly we'd like to go. Any suggestions?
Wanting / more hours in the day. But realistically, more coffee and ice cream would suffice.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

This winter we made time to brighten up our basement walkway with a beautiful and cheery Lemon Ice...however, I think it looks more like lime. LOVE IT.

I love being surrounded by books all day. It's the best job in the world. Yet, finding the time to read them, or peruse through them, is another issue altogether.

My parents new puppy dog, Gibbs. He's a rescue, part mini pin and a few other breeds in the family pool.

Bought myself a few treats for Valentine's Day.

I figured since I started the post with snow it's only fitting to end with more snow. That's this winter's theme: More Snow. And, no, I do not have a problem with that :)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

House Update: The Kitchen

Y'all, it's been one year and the kitchen is almost finished!!!

These last few weeks Daddy has been up installing the new counter tops and, my favorite piece, the island. It's beautiful and completes the kitchen, while providing storage for pots, pans, jars, AND my cookbooks! My father does amazing and gorgeous work; he is unbelievably talented at his craft. Mr. B and I have done so much to this kitchen, not because it needed it (other than the fact that the wallpaper needed to come down) but we wanted to make it our own, or I should say my own since I'm the one actually in the kitchen.

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

 

Ughhh....other than the wallpaper, the kitchen was absolutely fine. There wasn't anything wrong with it, we just wanted it updated. To make it our own. We updated the refrigerator, mainly because it kept freezing our food, and Mr. B surprised me by installing a new microwave while I was in Chicago. He was tired of looking at the messed up door. We drew out a plan and a timeline on what we wanted to do with our new home, saved up the money, and now--one year later--my kitchen is complete (almost). Once Mr. B and I finished painting, Daddy came up to install the back splash, which I love.

But the counter tops, I despised. They had to go. I mean they were okay, but I know what my father can do. I watched him build and supply many, many customers with beautiful cabinets and counter tops over the years, and I knew (finally!) it was my turn. And it's absolutely perfect. I am in love with my kitchen.

Isn't it beautiful?! I keep smiling like a little schoolgirl with a crush every time I walk into this kitchen.

I continue to be in awe of what my father can do at his craft. It's absolutely flawless, and his attention to detail is superb. He really keeps in mind what the customer wants and he delivers. When he was asking me questions about the island, at the time, I had no idea which side I wanted to display the cookbooks or the storage doors. It makes you really think about your space. And that's what he does. Daddy makes you think about what works best for you. How I actually use my kitchen, what's convenient to me, where do we walk, how much space do we need to open the fridge and the dishwasher....He's brilliant.

And if you're interested, visit his Facebook page, Creative Woodworks, for an estimate, or to contact him with any questions. (There are also pictures of his other beautiful wood works, so check it out!)

And, now, a sneak peek at the dining room....

Here's a closer look at my new coffee/tea bar!!!















We re-purposed the old island by turning it into the coffee bar I have longed for desperately since I was in college. Eventually I plan to paint it and strip the wood, and possibly have my father install a shelf, or drawer, of some sort in place of the stools. Also, I'd like to put a shelving unit above the bar along with some coffee and tea decor. It's a work in progress. But more importantly, I'm loving the free counter top space!

One room at a time....

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

A Photo an Hour

7 AM

8 AM

9 AM























10 AM

11 AM

12 PM

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

4 PM

5 PM

6 PM

7 PM

8 PM

9 PM

10 PM

Yes, this was my yesterday in a nutshell. I had the day off, so my best friend and her little boy spent the day with me. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I put the finishing touches on my preschool yoga program which is on Saturday (today, actually). Once here, Myles had fun exploring the house and our huge backyard and then we headed over to the park across the street, where Jessica and I proceeded to wear him out on the slides, swings, sandboxes, and lots of walking. We took a timeout for his lunch (check out his new lunchbox; he starts daycare on Monday...eek) and shortly after we headed back to the house for his nap. And, yes, Jessica brought the wine and a special treat, lemon bars, for us to enjoy while we caught up. I miss seeing this chick every day. Actually, I've missed seeing her every day for the past five years...really, it's been that long since we lived together?! Geez, where does the time go? BTW, Siamese was not at all happy I had guests over. She let Mr. B have an earful when he came home from work. I spent the rest of the night relaxing with a book, football, and catching up on the latest Duck Dynasty episode. Oh, and I had to clear off my counters because Daddy is installing our new counter tops and sink tomorrow! (I mean today....) *Thought that photo would need a little explanation.

This girl is excited.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Lately

Sooooo, here's what I've been obsessed with lately......

But first, let me give a shout out to my mama.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

I hope everyone is celebrating their own mamas today, spoiling them with food, flowers, love, and gifts. Or maybe dinner out. Or a pedicure. Or a new tumbler.

Or maybe you're having a Very Vera Mother's Day like a few mamas I know.....

Anyhoo, here's a look at what has been going on at Sweet B's lately.

New running shoes.

Gardening. Slowly.

Cleaning up messes like this at work. Ai. Yi. Yi.

Neighborly baking. The little girls next door made us a delicious plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Extra space at my library. I can finally (!) purchase more CDS and audio books for my collection.

Landscaping and growing grass. Haha.

And a fantastic Pinkalicious Tea Party.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi