Great is Thy Faithfulness

Without knowing it, Jesus came to me in the form of a woman today. Please understand when I say that I believe in my heart that God is a man, but His kindness and unfaltering love was shown to me today through a woman who will go without naming.

Today started out like any other day. I woke up, got Isabel ready for the day and even had time to bring my mom coffee before making the 30 minute drive out to Warm Beach. It wasn't until about 2 hours into my shift that a very real issue of mine had surfaced and I was faced with a decision. Do I continue doing a morally unsound thing, or do I turn and face the storm which will ultimately test my faith in my Lord's faithfulness? Well, I went with the second option and let me tell you, God is VERY faithful. * please note: no residents or staff were in any danger, it was purely internal conflict for me *

Not only did God create a way out of the pit of guilt and anxiety for me, but He was able to mend a relationship that was without knowledge of wrong doing. It was with a very heavy and desperate heart that I confessed and was forgiven by this woman. It was my moment of relief from God and it came in the form of tears from a woman that owes me nothing. She thanked me for my honesty and encouraged me to keep on keepin on. To this woman, you know who you are, I am thankful for your patience and grace. Today you showed me that Christ is faithful to me when I am not; that life goes on even when things aren't ideal and that I have a wonderful support system around me. One that I know can only come from my Lord. Thank you :)

¹² "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." Philippians 2:12&13

I got a small glimpse into the basic idea that with God, all things are possible. I had no idea how this would go over and I was desperate for help and God was there. As usual. Scripture tells us time and time again that it is God who guards our hearts and minds and will never leave us or forsake us. Even if the conversation had gone horribly wrong and forgiveness wasn't possible, God would have been glorified for simply providing my life a bit of relief. I can't begin to tell you how many minutes of sleep I have lost over anxiety these last few weeks! Today was the very last day for that. God made me a way and I so desperately needed it. 

Even if things are bad, anxiety driven, stressful or burdensome I promise you that God wants to show you the way out. I will never forget the kindness that was shown me today. How can you forget a moment of forgiveness when you needed it the most? And what else can I be sure of.....

 ^22"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
 ²³They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22&23


XOXO

Uncharted Territory.... Accessories.

So with the best day for shopping deals done and over with, black Friday of coarse, I have switched gears from make up must haves to accessories. More specifically, earrings. Please be warned that I have never been nor claim to be an accessory guru. Make up I can do, but bangles have never been my forte.

I had to go to Fred Meyer on black Friday for nothing more than cough syrup for Isabel, but found myself in the jewelery and accessories department before I knew what I was doing. I am just so glued to anything shiny and sparkley that when I saw a set of sparkley earrings and had to find out what was going on. When I finally made my way through the crowds, I was very pleased to see some of the most beautiful earrings and necklaces. Here is what I have purchased over the last few days....

I shouldn't say that ALL these items were purchased over the last few days, but a majority of them were. I don't know where or when I will be wearing these things, but at least now I have the option to accessorize. Bam!

There are more bangles to show, but they are Christmas presents!

XOXO

What do you want from me?

The Harold Song

I heart Ke$ha.

Love this.

This song reminds me of my bestie Alyssa. Love ya girl :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!! Well, I am a day late on the greeting, but I hope all of you spent Thanksgiving with family or friends and ate lots of Turkey (or ham if your Denise). The kids and I had a great time watching the parade and spending time with the Buells.

Isabel woke up with a fever and congestion, but I gave her some Ibuprofen and sent her over to her grandparents house in the morning. When she came back she seemed alright... Until we went over to Aunt Sherry and Uncle Larry's house. She didn't hardly eat and was very clingy. She did however come home from her grandparents house with a pillowpet and some Converse boots from her dad, so she wasn't too upset. Todd did great! He and his dad came with us to my aunt and uncles house for Thanksgiving and everyone had a great time! I am most thankful this year for how my children are doing without their parents being married. It is with a most thankful heart that I praise God for guarding my kids hearts and continuing to show them His love through the family that raises them. What a testament to God's unfailing wisdom being poured out to us, than to have Steve join my family for Thanksgiving.

I would like to give a shout out to the Lindsey family.... What an unexpected joy to have you back in my families life. Seeing you guys this Thanksgiving was so special to me. Isabel just couldn't stop talking about you guys all day and keeps asking me the next time she will be able to visit. I will say that she must be clear of illness before she can come back over, but she will be back! Thank you for being a joy in Isabel's life, it means the world to me. I love you guys :)

Watching the parade together :)

Happy Holidays everyone!!

The weather outside it frightful!!

So when I got up this morning, it looked like this.....

Then I got to work and it looked like this..........

Then as the day went on and it kept snowing, the weather looked like this......

And when I finally got into Marysville, it looked like this....

So the kids and I did this.......

Overall interesting and cold day, but now we are bundled up with cocoa with the fireplace on :)) 

Everyone stay warm and make wise driving choices!! 

XOXOXO

Oh. Em. Gee.

So my sister Sophie text me yesterday and asked if I would be interested in going out with her to get my Christmas and birthday gifts last night.... Of coarse I said YES!! I met her at her house at 7 and off we went to Nordstrom!! She and Grant surprised me with my very first bottle of Chanel Mat Lumier Foundation! I was so excited when we found the counter inside Nordstrom!!! Pardon all the !!'s, but this blog makes me really !!

My color is Clair.

Then, while at Nordy's we went to the ever fabulous MAC make up counter. While there, I got my favorite 

concealer. Yes! I got the studio finish concealer in NW25. Bam! Then at Sephora, I got a Kat Von D lip gloss, Bad Gal Lash Mascara by Benefit and my beauty insider birthday gift (Sephora eyeliner in silver gray, black mascara and a highlighting eyeshadow). As if this wasn't the best gift of the year already, Sophie wanted to stop by Target on the way home!! While there, I got stuff for Isabel for her birthday, a ring and a necklace. All in all, this unexpected surprise made for a wonderful night with my best friend and sister Sophie. 

I am blessed to have such a thoughtful and loving sister :)))

   

Thanks again Sophie and Grant, you are the very best!

XOXOXO

I heart... my kids!!

I absolutely love these pictures of the kids. I set out to get the family picture for our Christmas card today, but ended up with some really cute, frame-able photos instead. Here they are!

They are getting so big! I love it. We will be spending Thanksgiving with our Aunt Sherry and Uncle Larry and the rest of the Buell clan and I was graciously given Christmas Day off! What a blessing! I have both kids for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!! Yahoo! Hope you like the pics :)

Happy Birthday Grandma Fishie!!

Great Grandma Frances, we wish you the best birthday today and send our hugs and kisses!! 

-Todd, Isabel and Brooke :)

Cookies, movies and a dash of hope.

So this late evening I began baking cookies for tomorrow's cookie exchange at work and now with almost a dozen left to do at almost 10:20 PM, I am tired. I still need to shower and then paint my nails before I go to sleep..... We will see what actually gets done.

Here is what I have baking in the oven:

1. Jam thumb-print cookies with coconut! These are the most delicous shortbread cookies I make and let me tell you.... the coconut adds a certain crunch to them and it is beyond delightful :)) I snagged the recipe from Ina Garten on The Barefoot Contessa, and they are a hit wherever I take them!

Yummmmmmm!

2. Then there is the ever delicious, but never attempted before, Hazelnut Chocolate Chip cookie. This would be from our friend Giada DeLaurentis from Everyday Italian. I had no hesitations that this cookie would be good to eat, because how can you go wrong with chocolate chips, oatmeal, nutella and toffee candy bits??? The only thing I didn't like was the way they flattened out when baked. As you can see in the picture, they are very thin but believe me, they are tasty!!

While they are baking, my brother Jason and I are watching Black Hawk Down and I forgot what an excellent movie this is! If you have never seen it before, please do! There are a ton of well known actors in it and it follows the true story of the battle between Somali militia and American soldiers who were in the country to capture a Somali warlord. It takes place in the capitol city of Mogudishu and is very intense. It also has horrid language, so watch it once the kids are sleeping... Overall great flick!

And lastly, I was able to come to terms with something tonight that has given me hope for the future. I'm not going into details on the bloggity blog, but I find myself rather hopeful for the future. Oh, and I got my bestie something for Christmas today that she is going to L-O-V-E!! I want to keep it for myself!!!

One more for the night... SMILE!!

I often get asked.....

Two things.

1. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning
and
2. What do you have in your make up bag?

The answer to the first question is 20 minutes for a shower, 10 minutes for skin prep and then 20-25 minutes for make up application. But lets be real, if the kids and I are running late in the morning I can be ready in 20 minutes TOTAL. Oh, and when I say skin prep I mean cleansing, toning (with time for the toner to dry) and moisturization. If I can go at a leisurly pace in the morning I will get a better finished product, but when push comes to shove I can get the job done in about 20 minutes.

The answer to the second qustion is... Everything you see in red box in the photo above. Rimmel Foundation Primer, MAC studio finish foundation in NC20, Boots highlighting cream, Number Seven loose powder, Lancome bronzer, Lancome blusher in Elegant Rose, Voluminous mascara, Sexy Curves Mascara, MAC Blush in Rose, Black eyeshadow form Revlon, Make Up Forever black liquid eyeliner and bisque eyeshadow from MAC. Now, I don't use everything in the box every day, but most items I use almost every day. Just today in fact, my order from Sephora came in and it had some Christmas presents for some very lucky ladies in my life....

XOXOXO

Nelly - Just A Dream

Would you give it all up? Could you give it all up?

Lady Gaga "Speechless" **She can actually sing!**

I can’t believe what you said to me
Last night when we were alone
You threw your hands up
Baby you gave up, you gave up
I can’t believe how you looked at me
With your James Dean glossy eyes
In your tight jeans with your long hair
And your cigarette stained lies
Could we fix you if you broke?
And is your punch line just a joke?

I’ll never talk again
Oh boy you’ve left me speechless
You’ve left me speechless, so speechless

I can’t believe how you slurred at me
With your half wired broken jaw
You popped my heart seams
On my bubble dreams, bubble dreams
I can’t believe how you looked at me
With your Johnnie Walker eyes
He’s gonna get you and after he’s through
There’s gonna be no love left to rye
And I know that it’s complicated
But I’m a loser in love
So baby raise a glass to mend
All the broken hearts
Of all my wrecked up friends

Home Made Hot Cocoa. Yums!

I think I originally got this recipe from the Hershey's web site, but can't be for sure. We've been making it for a while now that the recipe is stuck in my mind. Hope you give it a go!


1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Hershey's Cocoa Powder
Dash of salt
1/3 Cup Hot Water
4 Cups Milk
3/4 Tsp. Vanilla Extract


In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and water. Bring to a rolling boil and continue stirring over high heat for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and let the milk get hot, BUT NOT BOILING! Once desired heat is reached, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Serve with mallows or whipped cream and you are set to drink the most yummy and rich cocoa you've ever had!!
*I never really measure, I do it by sight on this recipe and it turns out great every time!

I have a new email....

So this last week I have been receiving the strangest reply emails from people in my contacts that say they arent interested....

I wasn;t sure what this meant until someone gave me clarification tis morning. I have been hacked!! Please send all emails to bizzybrooke@gmail.com!

xoxo,
Brooke

This is my blog on pain meds......

As some of you know, I recently had oral surgery done to extract a shattered tooth 2 days ago and have been absent from my life since. I had almost forgotten what mouth pain was like and how crippling it can be when you have dental work done.... and then I went to the dentist on Thursday. The procedure took no more than an hour and I was able to drive home when I was all done, so nothing major the day of the procedure.

Then I got home. Lets just say the last few days have been full of bleeding, puking and sleeping and we will leave it at that.

While I have been in bed I have been able to catch up on some of my favorite shows and watch some movies that I purchased a while ago but have never had the time to watch. I watched (well drifted through) Lost season 3, watched lots of Pixiwoo makeup tutorials and finally finished watching The Assassination of Jesse James with Brad Pitt. I am going into work tomorrow so i thought it best to spend sometime sitting up and doing something, since I have been in bed for the past 2 days. So here i blog.

Please be praying for my dog Angus as he is having to be put on an aspirin regiment for pain, The poor dog is old and this might be the beginning of the end.

Time to go eat more mashed potatoes. Blog more soon.

Party Time!

So, as I was telling you guys in the last blog post my brother Jason just turned 16! Traditionally we as a family have a family dinner every, if not every other, week on Sunday. Now that its football season, we watch football and eat for the better part of the day. Well, this last Sunday we had a birthday/family dinner gathering at my sister Sophie's house! Let me back up for a breif moment...

Jason turned 16 on Friday. We planned a surprise dinner for him on Sunday afternoon and spent most of Saturday purchasing and prepping the food for the meal....

The menu was:

1. Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard courtesy of Rachel Ray. These are covered in sour cream and onion chips for an extra crunch! They are so yums!

2. Ham and cheese in puff pastry courtesy of Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa. This was a total hit!

 3. Sweet and sour meatballs.

4. Polish sausage pieces in bbq sauce. Easy and delicious!

5. Nachos with black beans, salsa verde and cheese. SO GOOOOOD!

6. Hawaian sweet rolls with butter.

7. Twice baked potato skins. This recipe was kind of taken from the Neely's on the Foodnetwork, but this is an easy thing to make anyways!

and for dessert..... Individual Mud Pies!! Easy as 1,2,3. Bake a chocolate cake mix in a loaf pan, serve with chocolate pudding, whipped topping and crushed oreo over the top. Bam!

All in all I think I rolled close to 50 meatballs and dredged over 3 dozen chicken tenders. I got nothing but great reviews on the food and was totally full by my last bight of cake. What a blast!! Now, down to my party outfit.....

Got the shirt from Target for 12.99 on sale with black leggings :)) It even had pockets!

Here we are at Safeway the morning of the bash picking up the last of the items to cook with.

Jason and his mom and dad :)

Serving up!!

Hungry girls!

Nice.....

Me, Shayna, Jessica and Sophie. My sisters :)

Uncle Deno (Dennis) and Conner

Adam and Isaboo.

Almost time to leave....

We had a great time!I hope you all attempt the puff pastry dish. Think glamorous hot pocket.... Yums!

Party planning makes for one tired sister!

So yesterday, the 5th of November, my brother Jason turned 16 years old.... I still remember changing his baby diapers and spoon feeding him! Man how time flies! So last night we went out to dinner and I forgot to charge my camera before we left!!! (note to self : always have the camera charged before putting it back in the purse) We had a nice time and when we returned home, he got some of his presents from the fam. 

Got the golf bag from Mom and Mik

Golf balls from Isabel

Art store GC from the Neases

Shoes from Lovejot

Sweater from Todd.

New skateboard deck from someone else.

Slippers from Derek.

Now for the planning part.... We have something coming up for him that had me at Wal-Mart this morning with my two kids. Please keep in mind that its Saturday and Wal-Mart was nuts!!! I actually told the lady behind me to cool it. Then we got home and I had to clean out the fridge and now the kids are sleeping on the couch with Shrek on the tv and here I sit blogging.... Brooke, you must have better time management skills!! I will post what happens next and how it turns out, wish me luck!!