Life's Little Blessings~ Day Four

Overcoming Fears and Obstacles

I'm linking up with Megan, for 7 days of blessings.  Check out her blog!

Today I feel blessed to have experienced unexpected changes in my life... things that I never thought I would do.  Places I thought I would never see.  Things that I never thought I could handle.  People I would have never met.  Sometimes we think we have our life all figured out and The Lord throws us a curve ball.  I think we can all get in a comfort zone and become afraid of change.  Change is a good thing.  We all need to mix it up every once in a while...


I am Alabama born and raised.  I went to school with the same people for 13 years.  I went to college with some of my best friends.  Back home, I can go to the grocery store and see at least 5 people I know and usually many more than that.  I worked at Winn-Dixie in Childersburg all through High School and College.  Pretty much my whole family lives in that area or within 40 miles.  We had a beautiful home in Alabama.  We had a Siberian Husky that we loved dearly.  We had plenty of house to welcome our new bundle of joy...

Our "plans" quickly changed.  We moved to Oklahoma in October of 2011.  670 miles.  Let me just tell you, I am a Momma's baby.  I love my sisters and I was leaving behind my best friend.  It was hard.  I cried a lot.  The first several months were bad.  I was pregnant but we had not told anyone yet.  I was sick...constantly.  Nausea/ vomiting around the clock.  Josh was out of town a lot in the beginning.  I wasn't working yet.  I just wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear. 

I started a new job the end of November.  I feel so blessed to have met several good friends through this job.  One in particular, Tiffany, has helped me so much.  She has been such a blessing to me.  She said after she first met me that, "I was going to be her friend, I just didn't know it yet!"  We bonded right off the bat.  She has made me feel so comfortable here and I feel like I've known her for years. I think God places certain people in your life at just the right time. 

New house + new town + 1st pregnancy + husband gone all the time= a very sad and depressed Brynn.  You can't just hop in the car and drive home to see family.  We are talking a 12 hour drive.  We finally told our families that I was pregnant the end of November.  I was so glad to be able to at least talk to my Mom over the phone about things.  I just wanted my Momma. Although talking to her on the phone was nice, nothing can replace actually seeing her, face to face.  I wanted her to see my growing belly.  I wanted to go shopping with her for baby stuff.  I needed support.  We had tried to get pregnant for so long.  It finally happened and we moved nearly 700 miles away.  (I found out I was pregnant 6 days before the moving truck came to pack up my whole house)  I only saw my Momma 3 times during my whole pregnancy.  We lived by picture texts of my belly and videos of my ultrasounds sent via text message. 

My Mom was able to stay for a week after I delivered Eli.  I will never forget taking her to the airport.  That was the worst goodbye.  Here I was with a new baby and I felt so clueless about how to care for him.  I needed my Momma, but guess what?  I survived.  I took care of sweet Eli just fine.  It wasn't easy, but I did it.  Another fear conquered.


Although this has not always been easy, I feel very blessed that The Lord chose us for this journey.  I think it has taught me so much.  I feel closer to Josh.  I feel like I am easier to come out of my shell and talk to people that I don't know well. I had to completely start my life over here.  New house, new job, new friends...but again, I did it. I have embraced a different culture.  It's not "coke" here it's "pop."  It's not a "buggy" it's a shopping cart.  Mexican food is very Tex-Mex here.  People do not talk with that Southern drawl that I am so used to.  In ways it's a different way of life, but it is our life and I am loving every minute of it.  I don't know if some people could be up for a challenge like this.  We have conquered it.  We love Oklahoma.  Our son was born here.  It will always hold a special place in our hearts.  I'm so glad that we conquered fears of the unknown and just jumped right in...that is a very special blessing.

6/8/12 The day we met our sweet Eli for the first time!

My sweet Mommy with Eli

My sweet friend, Tiffany!

Friday Favorites Vlog

 

 

I'm linking up with Holly and Emily for Friday Favorites Vlog! 

 

 

Let me just start by saying that I was SO nervous about doing this!  I actually decided not to do it but I hated to miss out on this!  So, I know that I look like a total moron...but I'm ok with it.  I can't wait to hear what my husband has to say about this one :)  Here goes nothing!

 

 

 

 

And there you have it.  Can't believe I just did this :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

The Road to Tulsa

October 19th, 2011

I had already bid farewell to all my loved ones...except my Mom.  Thankfully, my sweet husband offered to let Mom ride out to Tulsa with us and he would pay for her airline ticket back home!  This helped my feelings tremendously...she would be such a big help to us!  She shuffled her patients around and managed to get 3 days off of work to join us in the 12 hour drive.  I don't think I have ever laughed so hard as we did on that LONG drive!  We made horrible time...we stopped for ice cream, shopped at the grand opening of the Dick's Sporting Goods in Conway, AR, had an hour long lunch at Wendy's and  filled up the tank 3 TIMES!!!  But the memories are so worth it! 

 The "Captain"

Captain and Co-Captain ;)

Mom's job was to just lay down and keep her lips zipped...she excelled at her job!  Just kidding!  I took a few naps myself!

 

Pyramid Arena in Memphis, TN

Wonderful snack basket that Megan made for us!  It was a lifesaver on the long stretches with nowhere to stop!  

 

 

 

My Mom stayed with us from Wednesday until Sunday.  We dropped her off around noon and it almost killed me.  I am so glad she got to come and help out.  We got a lot accomplished but I think we had more fun than anything!  From our notorious late night Wal-Mart trip to cooking up some chicken and dressing, it was a wonderful bonding experience with her!  Can't wait for more family to come and visit us!

Bittersweet Goodbye's

Well, the time had come to say farewell to everyone.  Moving day was coming, regardless of if we wanted it to or not.  I said my goodbyes over a 2 day period of time.  I think that it helped not having to tell everyone "bye" at the same time. 

This is my Gentiva family.  I said goodbye to them on September 22nd at our weekly meeting.  They had a lovely surprise party planned for me!  I will miss them all.  Such a good group to work with.

 This is one of my many lunch dates with Megan before I left.  We brought along the kiddos this time, Bella (Megan's daughter) and Peyton (My sister's daughter).  We ate at Old Town Grill and it was so good! 

 I said goodbye to Peyton the night before we left.  I think I had the hardest time telling her goodbye.  She is such an angel.  I can't imagine life without her!

My sweet sister, Shelby.  It was so hard saying goodbye to my sisters.  We have always been so close, I know that won't change.

 My sweet sister, Lorrie.  She came home from Auburn to tell me goodbye.  So sad :(  She is my baby.  

 Joc.  What else can I say?  He is so funny!  He keeps me laughing and I will definitely miss him!  By the way, this is Shelby's boyfriend and Peyton's dad.

My precious friend, Megan.  She came by on the morning that we left.  I'm so glad she stopped by!  I will miss her so much!  She is my lunch buddy and phone pal.  The phone calls will not stop.  We just won't have so many lunches together (and probably save a lot of money!)

Saying goodbye to the people I love was not easy.  My new saying is "I'll see you soon then", taken from one of my favorite movies of all time, Dear John.  When I talk to my family, I try to end on that note...I'll see you soon then.  It helps me, at least a little bit.  I didn't capture all my goodbyes on camera but they know who they are.  I'm already planning on coming home the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I hope it works out, I can't wait to see everyone!

A New Chapter

All of my life, I have lived very close to family and friends.  That is until October 19th, 2011.  I grew up in a small town in Alabama.  Four traffic lights, usually a good high school baseball team, usually a not so good football team, and lots of small town gossip!  I swore that I would get out of Childersburg as fast as I could. Well, that didn't happen.  I married the love of my life and we settled in Childersburg.  A couple of years later, we migrated to Alexander City, Alabama and loved it! It was far enough away from Childersburg but still close enough to visit whenever I wanted.  In July of this year, my husband was offered a job he could not turn down.  The only problem... it was 670 miles from home.  On October 19th, 2011, we picked up our life and moved to Oklahoma!  What a change from the small town life I have always known. 

This is our lovely home that we left behind in Alabama

Our basement, or as my husband would call it "man cave", where we would have football parties.  ROLL TIDE!

 The love of my life, Josh

From left to right:  Lorrie (sister), Me, Mom and Shelby (sister)

My precious niece, Peyton Jayde

 My best friend, Megan.  

I know that God has great things in store for us!  I don't know the plan yet, but I'm sure He will show us in time.  This has been such a big adjustment for me.  I hope this blog helps me to stay connected to family and friends, anything to make me feel like I'm still close to home.