My son's photoshoot.

Just to let yall know, he was SO horrible during these photos.....he kept pretending to sneeze and the hat falling off his head and he just wanted to play.  Yet, we really were able to get some fantastic photos!!!  The hat is my Papa's hat, an original hat from England.....I love this little boy.  BTW he is officially 3 as of this month!!!!  Enjoy!!!

Wow!!! It's been FOREVER!!!!

I must admit, I am not a great blogger.  Hopefully one day I will get it incorporated into my daily routine; especially since the blog is called "Brittney's DAILY Talk"  hahaha.  Guess in my case it should be renamed to "Brittney's bi-annual talk".  :::giggle:::
     Well, on THAT note let me try to catch you all up to date without putting my business TOO much out there......So....separated from the hubby last year....ended up forgiving him because as a Christian, you are suppose to forgive.  Plus, I don't want to be a prisoner of all those negative feelings forever.  So I move on and find a wonderful job.  Although it is a "temporary contract", I am hopeful that it will transition into a full time position with this company.  I absolutely LOVE my job and all the people I work with, they are just wonderful....each and every one of them!  Well of course, like many divorce cases....literally the week I get my job, the husband loses his and has no income.  SHOCKER!  Well, he then goes to a car dealership (which I tell him, if you get this job you will never be able to see your child bc they work such long hours!!!) but of course he doesn't listen and a week later quits and therefore cannot get on unemployment.  Soooooo about a month and a half later, he is about to become homeless...like for real!!!  He gets in contact with an advocate for homeless veteran's and she finds him a place for $300/mth to live, but our son can never spend the night and you really don't know who the roommates are so could you really trust for your son to be with  homeless strangers?  I told him, you can stay there or you are welcome to sleep on my couch until you get some money and can move out on your own.  Well to make this LONNNNNG story short......he ends up staying for about two months and eventually ends up having a major bi-polar psychosis episode that required him to be in a mental ward for a few days.  I couldn't allow him to stay with me after that bc he was on sooo many medications that I can't have him stoned around our child, or if he drops ONE pill and my son thinks it's candy.....nope, don't think so!  Also, I am just not capable of handling the magnitude of his disorder!  He was so gone.....mentally.  And last week he informed me that on Friday he would be moving back to Arkansas, where he is originally from!  So basically my life has been one crazy roller coaster after the other and I am ready for some peace.  I would love to run away and just sit in a beautiful hotel room and stare at the beach or snow capped mountains for a week and do nothing, but that is unfortunately not reality.  I have to carry on and be strong, the best I can for my newly 3yr old son.  I will try and keep posting new blogs more up-to-date so that I don't go 6+mths without posting a new blog.  Next I will post some photos that I took last week my son from Picture People.  I LOVE these photos....

Been away for a while, just a little update!

     Sorry readers, I know that I have been away for a long time......there has been A LOT going on in my life these past few months.  Unfortunately, after 8 years being married...my marriage is done.  All I know is that I can say that I tried my hardest and it just wasn't meant to be.  Maybe I will get into that story on another post.....I don't know.  Maybe, one day.  It has been quite a shock become a single parent.  Not much harder than when my husband was here because I don't have to clean up after a man too....but it is very difficult being a single parent and VERY hard having to go without my child when he legally has to visit his dad.  I know a little boy needs his father in his life, but I don't like being without my angel baby!  He just brightens each and every second of my day! Anyways....off of my marriage and on to some other things. 

     Over the past few months has been just pretty much day to day routine, trying to get use to my new life along with church of course!!  I love being in the choir and actually has started singing for a women's group at my church as well!  I absolutely love it.  I recently received a comment from, Christian, who is our Worship Coordinator.  He said that I am "not singing just to get the notes right anymore that I am actually worshiping!!"  I remember him telling me this when I first sent in my audition tape for the women's groups worship team and he said to just "sing for God" and I just didn't understand it at the time.  I felt like I was singing to God, but honestly after everything that has gone on in my life these past few months I now know that I am "Singing to God!"  I finally understand the lyrics in the songs and actually feel like each song was personally written for me!  It is an amazing moment when this happens in your life as a religious person. 

Evolution is True, You Can See it Today's Youth.

     Yesterday, I stopped by my grandma's while her childhood friend Karen was visiting.  I went to assist with papa a bit so she wouldn't have to wait on him hand and foot; as she normally does.  Women, you know how men are...especially when they are sick, they want your constant attention.  I was there just to help her a little so he didn't bombard her while she got her once in a year visit with a friend.  It was great to walk into her home and see my grandma, my great-grandma and my grandma's childhood friend sitting at the dining room table cackling like chickens while "Looking for a city" was playing in the background.   Brought a smile to my face to have such young-at-heart grandparents and great grandparents.
  Later in the day, grandma and Karen were relaxing in the front living room reminiscing on memories past and it amazed me to hear how innocent they were as young girls.  Talking about "all night" church revivals was the place to be and how they would "make eye contact" with boys as their flirtation.  Absolutely adorable, yet strange to think of my grandma flirting with a boy and giving eye contact.  Although the conversation did switch to how "back in their day" getting married for life was a normal act.  When Karen made that statement, I replied with amusement..."Yeah, that is a Disney movie now!" Well, it's the truth! It is easily comparable to a Disney movie because these days the average American marriage now lasts eight years, yes eight years; according to the U.S. Census Bureau.   People don't want to fight for their marriage, we have all gotten use to the motto, "There's plenty of fish in the sea."  Another factor that came to mind when this topic was being discussed was; the mystery of what made marriage sacred isn't practiced anymore.  Majority of both men and women have had sexual relations before they get married, and more than half of this group have had numerous sexual partners before they are married.  I have known girls (plural) that weren't even legally allowed to buy a scratch off, yet their sexual partners were past fifty people!!  That was unheard of back in my grandma's and Karen's day!  Women and men, both, remained pure for their spouse and maybe that is correlated with the longevity of marriage...who knows.  Another factor that came to mind was women dressed so much classier back in those days.  This is a photo of my grandma when she was about my age with a normal, for her, dress.  No cleavage, the length is past her knees; not showing too much leg, just pure class.  I don't even need to post an average woman now-a-days.  All a person needs to do is go to Facebook and view random pages.  It is considered "sexy" now if you are wearing your boobs popped out for everyone's pleasure, your clothes as tight as they can possibly get...no matter what size you are, and shorts and skirts that are barely there.  Sometimes you can even see a person's butt cheeks!  This dress is now normal for teenagers, obese women and married women. 
     This isn't the only thing that was discussed that made me think about how our generations are evolving...Karen and I started talking about technological development since they were my age.  She mentioned that she had a very small television when they first came out and I presumed that they must have been pretty well off to have one at the time.  Grandma added that all the neighborhood kids would come over to Karen's house and they would huddle around that television to watch Flash Gordon and Captain Mac Adventure Trails after school.  I don't know much about either show, but according to Captain Mac's website they advertised milk, meat and 7-up.  These days $15-17 billion is spent by companies advertising to children in the US.  Over $4 billion was spent in 2009 by the fast food industry alone.  This is a far cry from the mid 1950's when Captain Mac urged children to go to Sunday school and drink milk! As children grow older, they have materialism ingrained in them.  They grow up and then start watching shows with such adult themed subliminal messages.  If you have time after reading my post, you should really check out the "subliminal messages" link.  It is quite shocking to see what is in some television shows and movies.  We wonder why sexual promiscuity has gotten out of control in the past few decades, it is constantly thrown in our faces...just inescapable.  On a side not with children and television, the average child will have seen an average of 8 murders by the time they are out of elementary school.
     Another topic that was brought up during the visit was cursing.  I stated that I found it hilarious when my grandma would get super mad and say the word "shit."  This still cracks me up to hear her say this curse word!!  I laugh at this curse word coming from my grandma's mouth, yet Karen would be petrified if she heard her mother say "Hell's bells!"  This was a sign to Karen, I assume, that her mother was way past angry!  "Hell" isn't even considered a curse word in this day and age.  They do censor by bleeping curse words to some degree, except the GD word.  I will not say it on my blog, but it severely bothers me that this word is in pretty much every movie these days and constantly on television.  The MPAA's guidelines on the movie rating system seems to get more lenient every few years.  Now they actually allow a brief partial male nudity in PG rated movies!!  I found that fact shocking.
     With the progression of promiscuity, cursing, and materialism at the rate it is growing...I cannot even imagine what our country is going to be like when my son is my age.  I can only assume how things will be, but it doesn't seem to be evolving in a decent and moral direction. 

A Slice of Heaven!

Recently, I started baking; especially bread.  I have have been baking just plain white bread and having all those refined carbs haven't been very friendly to the numbers on the scale...so I bought some whole wheat flour to try out.    Also, my frugal self doesn't normally keep honey on hand because it is pretty pricey so I replaced the 4 tablespoons of honey with 4 tablespoons of sugar.  It turned out beautifully and SO yummy!  Such a soft loaf of bread; it is just pure perfection!

Yield: 

2 loaves

Ingredients: 

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoon milk
4 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons sugar (originally honey)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Instructions: 

1. Combine warm water, sugar and yeast in bowl and allow to proof.
2. Mix in milk and oil
3. In separate bowl mix together flours, salt, and brown sugar.
4.  Slowly mix in the dry mis of flour, salt and brown sugar into the wet mix until it forms a sticky dough.

5. Flour the counter top and hands and knead dough to form a smooth ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top ----->  Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
6. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then roll and slice into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Rotate about 15 minutes in.
8. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

I Don't have a wire rack, so I use a removable piece that goes to my son's high chair!  I know I am goofy!  ha ha.  Now enjoy your warm bread with some butter or my favorite is with some Nutella! 

Got my home smelling frugally good!!

I ran across a homemade air freshener on some website and decided to try it because it seemed so simple.  I just grabbed my Magic Bullet and poured a little baking soda with a few drops of Peppermint extract that I had in my spice cabinet and mixed it well.  Then I placed about 1/8-1/4 of a cup in a coffee filter and tied it with a bread tie.  I hung one under a side table, one under my bathroom cabinet....where my cat litter box is at, then one in the window seal of my sons window and then one behind a photo in my bedroom.  My home now smells of a beautiful peppermint aroma!  Especially my bathroom!!  You cannot even tell that I have a cat littler box in my bathroom, and I have a tiny apartment bathroom so it is always pretty noticeable, as much as I try to camouflage the fact.  The website said that if the smell starts to weaken, you just shake up the little ball and it will be strong again.  Needless to say, I will keep you updated on the progress of these and the strength and longevity of the air freshener.  But I already had baking soda on hand and peppermint oil (you can use any flavor of your choice!)  So it was approximately about a quarter for my air freshener! 

Who says "Nothing in Life is Free"?

     In my apartment complex sometimes people will leave things out by the road that really aren't trash worthy.  Well....tonight I found a gem!!  There was a really nice chair that was in great shape, smelled really good and reclined perfectly like it was suppose to.  It seemed like a wonderful yard sale find that I would have purchased for a discounted rate, and for it to be just sitting on the side of the road...I had to have it!!  I have a outdoor screened area in my apartment and thought this would make the perfect chair out there.  Right now, it is way to hot to just sit outside during the daytime, but once Fall and Winter arrives, this is going to be such a wonderful escape to get some quiet time or sit outside and chat on the phone.  I love finding free things, especially when I don't have to do anything to them and they are a nice addition to some part of my home.  So I put this chair in the back of my SUV and headed back to the apartment.  When I pulled up I noticed that a woman upstairs was moving out and she asked me if I was moving out as well, I replied "No, I am just extremely frugal and found this while taking my trash out."  She stated that she had two chairs that were similar that she was going to donate to the Salvation Army and I could have them if I wanted.  So I went up and to check them out because there is no harm in just "looking", right?!  Well I loved them and had to have them!  I put one in my bedroom for a "Reading Area", it doesn't have a dent in the seat, I just sat on it before I took the photo so it has some dimples.  The other one I put outside with the other chair to complete my screened in "porch" area.  Boy, this is going to be nice when Fall comes to sit outside and relax looking at the pond view that I have!  I absolutely LOVE my free finds.  Although, no more chairs for me.  I am full up on chairs for my home.  Now I need to start finding wall decor.  Also, a note: Both the chairs below are actually the same color.  The one that is in my bedroom, looks to have more of a creamish tint to it, I believe this is because of the indoor lighting.  Both of the chairs are actually the color of the photo on the top.  This just has better lighting because it is outside natural light.