5 Things To Do While You're Single

What? Another article not written by yours truly? It's okay, you'll have a full post from me eventually, but for now enjoy this wonderful list of things to do while you're single from Jarrid Wilson.

Being single isn’t a disease, it’s an opportunity for you to grow, learn, and experience life in a way that you won’t be able to when you are married.

Here are 5 things to do while you’re single:

1. Be firm in your faith. 
- Build your faith on a foundation that cannot be shaken, no matter whom you encounter. This will not only bring you peace during your season of singleness, but will also help you in your journey of finding the person you plan on being with for the rest of your life.Don’t let your beliefs change depending on whom you’re trying to impress. This tactic will always come around to hurt you in the long run.

2. Get grounded in your personal identity. 
- Know who you are before trying to explain it to someone else. Be confident in your purpose, your body, your identity, and your life choices. Relationships will not fix your identity problems, but they can be an added bonus to who you are as a person.

3. Focus on school, or starting you career. 
- You have a lot of time on your hands. Instead of spending it wallowing in your singleness, GO MAKE SOMETHING OF YOURSELF! You are worth more than what sitting on a couch waiting for your significant other makes you out to be. Step out into the world and take maturity by the horns. Start building your future instead of simply dreaming about it.

4. Learn to be independent until needed otherwise. 
- There is nothing wrong with aspiring to be a stay at home mom, or even being a man who works from home. But until either of these opportunities come into play, you need to make sure you are doing everything possible to provide for yourself, your future family, and your future aspirations. Don’t live day-to-day. Plan for the future, and look forward to the possibilities. You owe it to yourself to mature in all. 

5. Stop dating people you know aren’t right for you. 
 - While you’re single, stay away from mindless dating experiences. If you know they aren’t your type, don’t give them the time of day. All you are going to do is hurt them and eventually confuse your heart. Stop dating the wrong people and start focusing on becoming the right person.

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~La vie est belle, Bri~

Amazing Ideas

Have you ever thought up an idea, on a whim, and then completely and utterly fall in love with it?

Yeah, that happened to me this past couple of weeks. Four times. It’s kind of ridiculous. This would have fit perfectly with last month’s theme. Did you realize it’s March and that means there’s a different theme? Kudos to you, I didn’t, which is obvious by my last couple of posts containing the title “Change”. Let’s just assume that it was supposed to be like that, okay? Okay.

Anyway, I digress. The four perfectly perfect ideas I came up with, in the order which I came up with them, are;

1. We should go to Disneyland this fall. 
2. I should do gymnastics and figure skating when I return home this fall.I should also find somewhere that teaches how to use those giant silk things.
3. I should go to Paris next year, or in 2014. With Renaye. 
4. Dude. I SHOULD WORK AT DISNEYLAND AS A PERFORMER AND A PRINCESS. 

Um hello, how amazing are these ideas? Guess what the best part is. They are all achievable.

My parents suggested they drive down with the family and pick us up, and on the way back we’d stop in Disneyland and have some magical fun. I then called my mom back a week later to confirm that this was indeed happening, and that I was seriously looking forward to it. So now that is a plan. I plan on saving lots of money this summer, to enjoy Disneyland as much as possible. Food, souvenirs, etc. I am SO EXCITED. I freaking love Disneyland.

As for gymnastics and figure skating, that’s really not hard. Except the fact that I might die of over exertion. I WILL PREVAIL. (Note that ballet and other forms of dance will also be taken.) I just need to find somewhere that teaches how to use the silks...
The whole inspiration for this is Disney on Ice. Just look at it...so amazing.

 Okay, you might think that traveling to Paris is kind of impractical, and you’d be right. But it’s also worth it. I’d probably want to raise somewhere around $6,000-$8,000 so I’d have plenty of spending money and as well as money for museums and trains and such. But hey, that’s not so bad. It’s pretty accomplishable.

HELLO. IS THIS NOT THE MOST AMAZING AND FANTASTIC IDEA EVER?! My plans were always go to college, possibly get married, open a dance studio. That sounds pretty vague, but for me it was kind of a straight shot. Accomplish this, then that, and then this. But how BORING is that? I mean, I enjoy teaching dance and dance in general, but how incredible would it be to perform at one of my favorite places on earth, helping create the magic that happens there? I think on a scale of 1-10, it’s probably in the millions. That’s how excited I am about this. I’ve looked up tips on how to get hired, positions being offered, college programs…you get the idea.

WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS?! IT'S THE BEST JOB EVER.

I want to be a part of one of those families who goes to Disneyland every year or so. Not enough to wear out the magic, but it enough to make it special. I’ll probably spoil my little girls rotten with princess things. I want to own ALL of the Disney movies, and AHHH can you just IMAGINE?

Better marry a rich guy. Ha ;)

Anyway, there’s my thought for the next couple of days.

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Adventures in Public Transportation

I went into Anchorage with Renaye on Monday for her orthodontist appointment among other things. You wouldn’t believe how fun that was. We were going to meet Beka Miller, my amazing wife, later that day, but see, Renaye couldn’t stay in Anchorage, so she just dropped me off at Helen’s after her appointment (and after we ate at Taco Bell and decided that the peach ish pink color on the walls is called bludgeoned salmon). So, Helen and I act all crazy and hyper, and we have an amazing time at Barnes and Noble with Beka and then Allister and it was just an overall fun day, right?

Right.

After getting back to Helen’s house at around 11:00ish, we upload some pictures, and then we go to sleeeeeeeeeep…at around 11:30. We wake up. We eat amazing food. We joke around. We’re silly and amazing. Just roll with it.

I can’t stay all day, because we have to drop Helen off at dance around 2pm. Exeunt Helen. Mrs. Lindamood kindly drives me over to my cousins house. Enter Kalayna. We act like idiots, of course. And we have fun, and joke around, and yada yada. Then, we go to see the snow sculptures. First, we stop at Uncle John’s office, where we split into two cars. Layna is driving the little car. Kalayna gets lost, and we all laugh at *cough* I mean, WITH her. We found our way to the sculptures at last, and we look at them. They were perty. And we voted. I liked the one with the polar bear playing the piano.

Anyway, to my point. I have to take a bus home.

I have three bags with me; my camera bag with super expensive camera, my green bag, and my backpack. So, my cousins drive me up to the curb and I grab my stuff out of the back. They tell me to call them if I miss the bus. Don’t even mention that possibility please, it makes me queasy.

Here’s the thing; I’ve been on one of these public transportation buses ONCE. And that one time I had Kimber to worry about the details. If I followed her, I was okay. But on my own? *gulp* I was more than a little apprehensive.

So, my cousins drive away, and I turn around to take in my surroundings. It smells like cigarette smoke and cold air, my nose is turning red from the cold air and my toes are freezing through my converse. I hear swearing and honking and every other city sound. People mill around as bus after bus makes its way to the curb. I quickly ask the first bus driver where her bus is going. She tells me she’s going around back, and pulls away.

Thanks lady, real helpful.

Then, I hurry to the next bus that pulls up and ask her which bus would take me to Wasilla. She said I’d need to take the Valley Mover (I know this already, but where IS the Valley Mover?), and tells me that they pick up around the corner and across the street. I look over that direction. I see a pink and white bus. Wait…THAT’S MY BUS.

I start running as fast as I can with three bags bouncing up and down on my arms. Right as I get to the curb, the bus pulls away and drives off.

So, here I am alone downtown at the bus station. I was totally not freaking out. At all. Okay, yeah, guess who started praying? I called my cousins and told them I’d missed my bus. Fortunately, they were just two blocks down looking at the ice sculptures. I walked over there. My feet were frozen, I was traumatized, and I was ready to be home.

Unfortunately, my mom thought it was too dangerous (?) for me to stay and wait for the next bus, so I ended up spending the night at my cousins.

So there you have it. I don’t like public transportation buses.

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Can you believe it?

Can you believe the year is nearly over? Christmas is almost here, and I'm sad that we missed out on several things we usually do this time of year. Twelve Days of Christmas (boy, could I tell some great stories), ward Christmas party, pictures with Santa (I can't remember the last time we did that), and just relaxing.
It's been pretty hectic.
I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It just snuck up on me and is tapping me on the shoulder, brewing excitement in my tummy, Marshall. We have family coming tomorrow for our annual Christmas party, where we'll perform the Nativity, and exchange a couple gifts. We'll eat and sing and laugh and in general have a good time. A child or two will break down, fall into a sugar coma, and the older kids might play Ghost in the Graveyard outside.
Life is good.
I'll post pictures from tomorrow, I swear (it'll probably have to wait until after Christmas though, but it WILL get done). For now, good night.

~La vie est belle, Bri~

Five and Ten Year Plans

In Five Years I will have…

• Graduated from high school in the spring of 2014
• Been accepted to a college (an arts college or BYU) and attended my Freshman and Sophomore years (2014-15, 2015-16) studying dance, business management, and creative writing.
• Attended church diligently 

I could have…

• Taught at a local studio of dance for extra money
• Visited my family for holidays
• Gotten tan 

In Ten Years I will have…

• Graduated college with a (doctorate? Bachelors?) in dance.
• Gotten married in the temple.
• Opened a dance studio (with Renaye?) in (a state that’s not too warm but not too cold). 

I could have…

• Held a calling in the church.
• Visited with old friends.
• Watched Helen perform an amazing ballet piece with a ballet company.

Meet Ziva

Meet Ziva, my new camera. Or, my mom's new camera that is for my use.

Yeah, I like the sound of "my camera" better. My camera is a Nikon 5100 DSLR. perty amazing, right?

 

Here's some pictures I took of Katie the day after I got the camera, edited in Photoshop. 

  

 

~La vie est belle, Bri~

The Man of My Dreams

Another "click on the picture to see the post" from my Auntie Amy. She is by far my favorite Aunt in the world, and she inspires me so much. I love this post about her husband, and hope someday I'll be lucky enough to find someone like him :)

~La vie est belle, Bri~

I'm an Auntie!

I'm an Auntie!! This little boy is Kimber's, Kaleb Charles born 1am on October 19th. 8lbs 7oz, 21 1/2".

~La vie est belle, Bri~