Sometimes I think... Couldn't they have been a little more creative?

Thirty day challenge day two: The meaning behind your name.

Gah, my name is so average, and common. You want to hear something that’s ridiculous?! When I was in six grade I once had a class with 7 other girls with the same name as me! Granted, the class had 60 or so people, but that’s really crazy! My name was also the number one girl name chosen the year I was born, GO FIGURE.

After researching my name, Brittany, and looking for its meaning, it’s been slightly a disappointing search. I once read somewhere that Brittany meant daughter of God, but I have been unable to find any further documentation or proof. My name is a derivative of a town in Britain. So basically it means to be from Britain. How boring is that? But further reading led me to the discovery that the name Brittany in Latin terms also means strong and beautiful. I’ll take that!

I then began researching my middle name, Ann and I actually expected to receive a good response, merely because Ann just seems to have more meaning behind it, or it could just be because Brittany is so common, and I really kind of don’t like it. Ann means favored grace. At first I didn’t really understand what that meant, but it relates back to Hebrew which led me to believe that it has a biblical reference to it. My second name basically means a gift of God's favor full of grace. :)

I’ve always been curious as to why my Mother named me Brittany Ann, it’s very similar to my older sister’s name, Tiffany Lynn. People often thought we were twins when I was in Elementary school, although she was almost two full years older than me. It confused me though because we don’t even really look alike and I was two grades behind her. I guess that would make me the dumb twin.

Even though I don’t know why my mother named me Brittany, I do know why she chose my middle name as Ann. I was named after my mother’s eldest sister, Carol Ann. :) Knowing that makes me extremely happy, Carol is a very kindhearted, genuine woman.

It's fun to think of what I will name my children one day. I guess I will never truly know until I get to that point. When I was younger I would always name my dolls Elizabeth Michelle, I always said that I would name my daughter that one day... then about ten months later I got a cousin named that! So I guess that name's out. I want something more unique and meaningful anyways. I don't want my child to have a name that's so common that they could possibly have a class with 7 other kids with the same name. That doesn't necessarily mean I want to give them a name that will ridicule them either, there's already enough Tommy Pickles in the world!

I'm actually rather a hippie at heart, so I am very tempted to one day name my child more on the "earthy" side, if that makes any sense, but no where near as hippie as naming my child Green Leafy Meadows. That actually did happen. My mother works in pediatrics and they have a patient named that! (They also have a Tommy Pickles too!)

The craziest one they have that I can remember is a foreign family that had two kids. The first name Abcde. Not even kidding. You pronounce it Ab-C-dee. The second one they named Fghi, and you pronounce it Figi. Crazy right?

At least their children can learn their ABC's and how to write their name at the same time!

I will more than likely name my child something biblical, you can't really go wrong with that. A name that is beautiful, AND has meaning. :)

BUT that is many, many MANY years from now!

Until Next time!

"Today, my friend and I went to use the bathroom in my school.

On the mirror someone had written with a Sharpie 'Don't worry. You're beautiful.'

The person who wrote that GMH"

Day one of the 30 day challenge? I got this.

Who has two thumbs and didn’t wake up until 12:30?? THIS GIRL.


That’s extremely late in comparison to when I normally wake up, but it’s totally okay with me because I didn’t go to bed until 4 or 5.

Today marks DAY 1 of my thirty day challenge. The task for today is pretty simple “tell ten things about yourself.” It’s simple not because it’s easy for me to talk about myself, because in actuality, sometimes it’s not (flashback to APO initiation night = AHHH!) but merely because I’ve done this one before. Out of facebook boredom, and in need of something to do at work I have achieved this task once or twice.

1. I have a little brother named Matthew. Technically he is my cousin. He is three years old, and he came to live with us in July. He is technically not my foster brother or adoptive brother, he just lives with us, but I consider him to be my brother. It’s strange to see my parents start all over, I will be 20 this year, and they are going back to having a child in the house.

2. Oh to see the world in the eyes of a child again…
Sometimes I find myself imagining my life as if I were still the little girl that I once was. It’s strange to think that in a few short months I will be twenty years old. I feel like there is so much I was never allowed to do as a child, and now as an adult I can’t do them, but it’s okay, because hopefully one day I will have kids of my own.

3. I got a Charlie Brown Christmas Pageant nativity scene for Christmas from my Mom. It’s pretty adorable. Especially considering I was in that play when I was in fifth grade. Did I actually get cast in a speaking role? Nope! Even though I was in gifted and talented for acting. It was all about the “popular kids” and the suck ups, and I just didn’t meet the quota... I thought my gym teacher, who was the director, (weird, right?) was a jerk anyhow. I really didn’t like her. Now, she seems pretty sweet. She also has three children now, and one of them has a medical condition that I can’t quite remember, but things like that put a new perspective in an individual’s eyes.

4. I really want to apply for FUGE camps, but there are so many things that are leaving me hesitant. I don’t know if I am fully qualified. I feel as if I have fallen away from the person I have used to be, I don’t know if it’s just because I am growing up and I see so many things of the world differently, or the fact that I don’t have a strong bible study, or close knit group of Christians at the moment. Another thing is, I’m afraid to be away for three months. I know that is crazy and selfish, but it’s true. Especially because I will miss my little brother, and Nathan. Also, the fact that you can’t choose where you will be. I worked for Boone’s Creek last year, I loved it so, but I don’t know how I feel about it anymore. Last year was definitely not what I expected. It was a hard summer, and I’m still being criticized by others for it. God had it be the way he wanted it to be though, and I still have lasting relationships with some of my campers, so that’s all that matters.

5. I haven’t been to the beach since I was around the age of 8, and I am currently planning my FIRST spring break trip EVER to the beach. I am so so SO excited!! I really hope that it all works according to plan and that no one bails on me so it will pan out smoothly. I have a friend who is currently living in Orlando and her parents have offered us not one but two condos for an entire week at only $100 each! That’s craziness right there! I just have to start saving money after I get all of my bills paid, which may be awhile.. But in 9 WEEKS I will hopefully be ON A BEACH, probably getting burnt as crap, because I’m so white. Haha. BUT YEAH.

6. I once had a funeral for a mouse. It wasn’t even a pet mouse. It was a mouse that had been hiding out in my room and giving me issues for a week or so. My mom made me put out rat poisoning and the next day I found the mousey dead. I felt so bad, so I called my friend Gabbi and she said a few words for him, and then we laid the (very stinky, smelly, half ripped open dead carcass) mousey to rest in the black abyss of a garbage bag where he spent the rest of his days on earth.

7. I “met” an extremely good friend of mine, Kelsie, through the Omegle website one day last year, when I was uber bored. We talk for hours before we actually introduced who we were, and now I consider her a good friend. The sucky thing is the fact that she lives in Canada. I hope to visit her someday and meet her precious son Kevin, who of which is due to be born soon! <3 It’s kind of funny that It happened that way. But I am definitely glad it did!

8. I have the absolute worst luck with phones! They never seem to last long with me and I don’t know why! AND IT SUCKS! I just bought a new one a few days ago, hopefully it will be here by New Year’s but I don’t really know. Fingers crossed at having it last longer than the three months of life that my phones generally have. I'm getting the phone to the left. It's a pantech link. It will probably not work out, because they never do. But It was on sale, and in my price range, so that's why I picked it!

9. I love to cook, but I rarely actually get to. I look forward to the day when I have a kitchen of my own, and hopefully the money to buy the food I wish. I also love to bake. I make a pretty mean banana cream pie from scratch. I haven’t made it in awhile, but I hope to do so someday soon. I want to learn more about cooking and get better at it. Yay food.

10. I will be buying my first car in a few months. A very good friend of mine, Sarah is letting me buy her first car for a very small sum of money. I am so excited. I hope that I can finally get all of my aspects of live together and actually get to drive it sometime soon. I need my license, I need a car. I need an escape. Life will seem a lot less trapped once I have my license, I can tell you that right now!


Well originally this was supposed to be fifteen things about you, but I condensed it to ten. I didn’t think anyone really wanted to sit there and read more so I stopped. This thirty day challenge seems like it's going to be a breeze, I guess I will find out.

Until next time...

"Today I was helping deliver goody bags to kids at an inner-city school.

One of the items in the bag was a pair of socks. When a little boy saw them, a smile lit up his entire face.

He took off his shoes and placed them on his bare feet. "Ooh, so warm!" he said.

Kids who feel grateful for the things others take for granted GMH.

The gauntlet has been thrown. Thirty Day Challenge, you are going DOWN.

I have been contemplating my next blog all day, and many different topics of interest have crossed my mind, but they flew by just as quickly as they came leaving me unable to grasp a hold of the thought before it faded into oblivion. I am attempting to really try and achieve my goal of blogging on a regular basis, if not even daily. That’s when the thought of the thirty day challenge appeared. I’ve seen the thirty day challenge numerous times from many different social networking sites, such as, facebook and tumblr, and I have decided that it may very well be the perfect thing to get me into the swing of blogging. Merely this is so because basically it does the work for me. It gives me a topic to speak about, every day, for the next thirty days. Although it is the thirty day challenge, let’s hope that one doesn’t assume that I am going to actually do them every day for the next thirty days, I will try to do everyone of them though, it just may not be EVERY SINGLE DAY in a row or anything. Or that I will only blog of such, because who knows? Maybe I will have something very important that I need to get off my chest, which then of course I will more than likely side track from the thirty day challenge, we will face that when it comes.

I have compiled a list of thirty subjects/topics/questions from the numerous thirty day challenges I have seen over the past year, and hopefully I will enjoy this enough to finish it.

Day 1: 15 interesting facts about yourself.
Day 2: The meaning behind your name.
Day 3: Share a recipe.
Day 4: About your friends.
Day 5: A photo of something you really hate.
Day 6: A song that makes you cry.
Day 7: A hobby of yours.
Day 8: Something you hate about yourself.
Day 9: Your definition of love.
Day 10: Your best friend.
Day 11: A letter to one of your exes.
Day 12: About your family.
Day 13: Something you feel strongly about.
Day 14: Something you love about yourself.
Day 15: Something you want to do before you die.
Day 16: A photo that makes you smile.
Day 17: A photo that makes you want to cry.
Day 18: A letter to someone you miss.
Day 19: A habit you wish you didn’t have.
Day 20: A letter to your parents.
Day 21: Short goals you wish to fulfill by the end of the month.
Day 22: Your nicknames & why you have them.
Day 23: What you would find in your bag.
Day 24: A song that makes you smile.
Day 25: How you found out about blogger & why you made one.
Day 26: First 10 songs to play on shuffle on your iPod.
Day 27: Your fashion style.
Day 28: What attracts you to someone.
Day 29: Future plans/goals.
Day 30: Who are you?

By the time I get to day 30, maybe I will have a little more insight on myself, and others. ALSO: Hopefully I will have continued my blog for thirty more entries!

This is one of my shorter blogs, merely because I’m leading up to future blogs to come, but I most definitely cannot end it without at least sharing some thoughtful words, or even giving of a little hope.

People always look down upon my age and generation.

What they don’t seem to realize… not everyone is the annoying punkster walking through their front yard killing their fichus.

“Today we had a pep rally at my high school.

A special needs boy that has a senior brother on the football team stood up and sang and dedicated the song to his brother.

The whole school stood up and sang along with him and I have never seen so many high school students and football players crying.

My generation GMH”

Give a stranger one of your smiles, it might be the only sunshine they see.

Today has been such a frustrating day. I woke up to a screaming three year old, who in return received screaming from a 25 year old, and who in return thought it’d be fun to scream at me. WHOPPEE. Bye, bye good mood that was viciously sucked down the drain.

People often say that I let things get to me far too easily, but having constant issues with my family it gets kind of tiring. You expect your home to be the place that you can be yourself, happy and loved, but the sad reality is that is rarely the truth… for anyone these days.

What happened to home is where the heart is? Or home sweet home? It seems like a fake wish that rarely anyone strives for anymore. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love my family, and I love being around them, I just don’t like being here for long periods of time. I feel trapped here. Nothing I say is the right thing, I rarely do the right thing, and I feel constantly as if I am doing wrong.

It definitely takes a toll on someone when they are reminded, verbally, or sublimely on a daily basis that they just aren’t up to par. More often than not the person delivering these messages of inadequacy they don’t even realize how much of impact that are making. An impact that one day could potentially end up negatively.

I read a story a few weeks ago, and have wanted to share but have yet to find the right opportunity.

One day a man a man jumped off the golden gate bridge. When the police went searching through his house they found a note.

“Todαy I will wαlk to the bridge. If αnyone smiles αt me, I won't jump.”

I don’t know if I believe that the story is true, but either way I make it a point to smile at everyone now. Or at least I try to. Its simple things like that, that possess such a power and the ability to touch someone’s life and we don’t even realize.

As human beings we strive to know that we are not alone, that we are not crazy, or insane in the membrane, that there are other people out there that think as we do, live as we do and love as we do. To know that we are accepted just the way we are.

Let me give you something to ponder… If you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, majority of the time it’s not because they enjoy being alone, It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them. But here’s the thing… When you have expectations of others, and those expectations don’t pan out, that’s when you fill yourself up with disappointment. Don’t expect so much of others; instead think of the little things they do, and cherish the thought and time may have spent to do them.


"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles, it might be the only sunshine they see."

One day, I was walking in the mall with my friends when the lady in front of us turns around and says to me "You have on the cutest outfit today." Smiles then returns talking on her cell phone. The part that gets me the most is that she stopped dead in conversation just to give me a compliment. The world needs more people like her. Random smiles GMH.

Forever has to start somewhere.

It’s Crazy. Simply crazy I tell you. What is crazy, you may be asking? Well the fact that I haven’t updated my blog in such a long time, practically three quarters of a year! I am slightly disappointed in myself for once again failing at this thing called blogging.

There’s no telling how many times I started a blog though, there have been countless moments of me beginning one and never finishing it, or finishing it and not submitting it. I don’t get. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore the whole idea of blogging, I just simple can’t stick with it.

I really, really hope that one day I will be able to though. I love the ability to get my thoughts down and have them to share with others. Also, it archives a certain point and aspect of my life at the time that I write it, I can look back on and reminisce on with new eyes. Eyes that slightly are bit wiser and understanding of the events that were happening in my life that at that point in time I may not have understood.

My last blog was a tough one. One that I sometimes don’t even want to read because it reminds me of things that once used to be. It was a blog that held a sense of hope of a better tomorrow, but underneath the facade of the words I wrote I was filled with a broken heart, and sorrow. I felt as if I were in a rut. I was at the point of my life where I knew that things were really not as bad as they seemed and that they would one day get much better, it was just the whole waiting process for that day to come that I was having difficulty with.

Looking back on that time in my life now, I do not have any regrets. I don’t wish to go back and change the way that things ended up. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize the way my life is now. Things are finally starting to come together it seems, although there are still times when I feel as if my life is continually falling apart. I can now say with confidence, for the FIRST time in my life, I feel as if I have found that one person that I am truly meant to be with. That’s so strange and surreal to me. For once things just fit together wholly and naturally. I have found someone that loves me for me. Someone who I know is never going anywhere. Someone that no matter how many times I screw up, or do terrible things, still cares about me and helps me through any obstacle I face.



Sometimes I feel as if I push my limits merely to see if he will leave, or if things really aren’t as great as they seem. That’s a terrible flaw of mine. It’s hard to consistently keep faith in something that has always been dreamed of but always remained foreign. That silly little word called love.

A true and working relationship requires so much work, and I am so glad to say that I have found someone who thinks that I am worth the effort. Nathan Joseph Underwood. <3

He is my rock, my supporter, my best friend. He is who I go to when I’m in need. He’s who I go to when I want to have fun. I thank God as often as I can for him, but nearly enough. We worship Christ together, and I love it. It’s really the simple things that we share that make me love him more and more each day. I am so lucky to have him, and I hope I never take that for granted.

Next month will be our six month anniversary. I can’t even believe it.

I was so hesitant coming into the relationship. I had no idea what was in store for me, whatsoever.

It was a GIANT leap of fate, and he caught me, telling me that “Forever has to start somewhere.”

Things are always ending. Whether it is a day, the month, the season, the year, or simply just life, so the thought of forever constituting the fact of having something that never ends? It scares the poppycock out of me.
Or maybe the thing that scares me the most is…

He’s right.
Forever DOES have to start somewhere.

And now it’s my turn to take my writings of my previous blog and apply them to the here and now.

Nathan Joseph Underwood, I, without a doubt in my heart and soul would just like you to know…
You are my second.

Who cares if we have so much more life ahead of us? Who cares if everyone thinks we’re crazy? Who cares if my heart and mind have battled long?

It’s our time now.

I thank the people in your life that have loved you. I thank the people in your life that you have loved. I thank the people that have crushed you. I thank the people that have made you who you are so that you are able to love me.

I leave you with this:
Love is the most dangerous and addictive drug out there, but it leaves you with a high like no other. One that is worth all the risks of this world.

"Remember when I said forever and always, I meant it. I will always love you, no matter what."

Your unconditional love throughout everything GMH.