Some cool giveaways.

Hey guys! I found a couple of cool giveaways going on, and wanted to share them with you!


An adorable bracelet giveaway
And an iPad giveaway!

Check them out! :)

It's Autumn Time... But not for much longer!

Hey everyone,

So, it's been four months since my last post. How lame am I? Oh, well, better late than never!

Things have been going really well for us these past few months. We've been very, very blessed. A few highlights:

- Clay did really well on the LSAT - a 174! We are so excited and relieved. It certainly frees us up for more options as far as law school is concerned. We are not sure where we will be headed, but at this point BYU is probably at the forefront.

(Never have to see one of these again!)

I had a really fun birthday weekend consisting of fun gifties, an awesome dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world, and a visit from the Cook family.

- We celebrated Clay's birthday in September, and I made him the cake of cakes: a Reese's peanut butter cake. It was epic, and delicious.

(Not the actual cake I made, but it looked exactly like this!)

- We started our LAST year of college (which is freaking me out).

- Halloween wasn't too eventful... such is being an adult, I guess. We watched a movie, and that was about it. 

- Provo has hit an early winter - it's freezing. 

We're not too far from this, I'm afraid.

- Clay's cousin Court is getting married. We are super excited for them, and to hit up every reception they're holding in Utah and California. Woohoo!

That's about it for now. Hope all is well with you guys!

Much love, 

Brittany (and Clay)

An Exciting Week

Several exciting things have happened for us this week.

First of all, I finally got rid of my facebook! Now I won't have to worry about all the idle time I spend looking at other peoples' pictures (and sometimes friends-of-other-people's pictures... who knows why I got so caught up looking at those) and reading comments. The worst part is when I would cycle, or check my facebook five minutes after last checking it. What was I thinking? Now I can devote my time to more worthwhile things, and I am very excited about that.

Second, I have a calling in my new ward: 2nd counselor in the primary presidency! I can't express how excited I am about it. I was actually hoping I'd get called in primary, and I've been able to spend a lot of time these past two days looking up ideas and resources for sharing time, achievement days, and opening/closing exercises! These are things I haven't participated in since I was in primary over 8 years ago. I'm hoping I can remember enough for this upcoming Sunday, when I start officially. I am very excited for the chance to share my testimony with the cute kids in my ward and strive to help bring them closer to their Heavenly Father.

Third (this is more exciting for me than Clay probably), Clay is giving a talk this Sunday on "Our Pioneer Heritage." Clay always gives wonderful talks and I am excited to hear what he comes up with. I'm sure he will put lots of time into making it special, and that it will turn out wonderfully.

Fourth, it's Pioneer Day this Saturday, and because of it, we get Friday off, making this a short work week! That's always good news. No, great news. It gives us a chance to catch up on all the sleep we missed during the week (usually a lot). I'm excited at the chance to reflect on our pioneer ancestry and the sacrifices they made to allow us all that we have today, especially, and most importantly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fifth, we finally have air conditioning! This may not seem like all that exciting, but our apartment has been BAKING in the heat these past few days, so this really is a wonderful change. We don't sit there sweating and tired anymore, but cool and refreshed! We love it. AND our new place doesn't have crickets! This is perhaps the most exciting news of all (just kidding. Sort of).

RIP my Jeep, 2002-2010

So my beloved car, the Jeep Grand Cherokee that I've driven since I was in high school, has met a sudden, tragic end. We were driving it one day last week, when all of a sudden the car started making a loud whirring noise and wouldn't shift from second to third gear (it's an automatic). We thought that was weird, but it eventually went back to third gear and ran normally. We took it into the car shop, and they thought it was just an oil problem, but that afternoon called to tell us that the transmission was literally falling to pieces (in big metal chunks) and it would take several days, and $2800, to fix the problem. This made us quite sad.

We've had to quit driving it since, since now it won't even shift from first-second, and will hit a max speed of 20 mph before clunking and grinding noises begin to sound from under the hood. We took it into a repair shop today, and thankfully, they quoted us at a lower price than the other place. So now it's there, in the shop, and we are carless. For the past few days, though, Clay's EQP has been nice enough to let us borrow their second car, so we've been able to run essential errands, like grocery shopping.

Still, I am so sad about my Jeep. I have driven the car since high school, and it has always been reliable, which is why its sudden demise is so shocking. It literally stopped running in two days. But we are getting it fixed up with a new transmission, and hoping to sell it and get a different car. Wish us luck!

Crickets, Honeymoon, and General Life Update

It's been a while since I updated! Life has been a little hectic as of late - Clay and I are both working; he has a job in the Law School and I have two, one in the School of Accountancy and the other as a research assistant with the BYU Positive Behavior Support Initiative. He's studying for the LSAT, which is his other part time job right now. And we're moving. Again.

Our little apartment that was so endearing to us at the beginning has become a nightmare. There were SO many problems with it when we moved in. To name a few:

- the bathroom sink was totally clogged. Water would sit there for hours before draining, plus this black water gunk kept gurgling up from the pipes when not draining.
- the heater would not turn on. And it was REALLY cold when we got back - in the 30's at night.
- in fact, the pilot lights in our entire house go out several times a day (in the heater, oven, and stovetop). When this happens, the entire house ends up smelling like gas.
- the previous tenants had the brilliant idea to, as the bedroom gets lots of sun in the morning, to PAINT the bedroom window - solid black. It looked super ghetto. We mentioned it to the manager, who didn't do anything for several days, so we went to Home Depot, spent $25 on things to try and take it off ourselves, then spent 2 and a half hours trying to scrape it off. Just in time for the manager to tell us that he had called a window cleaner to come do it for us the next week.
- oh, and another little problem I like to call the "Cricket Infestation from Hell." Our apartment is infested with big, brown, hairy crickets. We find them everywhere - in the bedroom, in the bathroom, in the living room (bouncing across the couch and coffee table), and in the kitchen - crawling around on our dishware. It. Is. DISGUSTING.

, 

(Near actual size)

We've found over 20 of those little dreams around the house over the past few weeks. I repeat: dis-gusting.

On a happier note, I am finally putting up photos from the wedding/honeymoon! First, some shots from the week before and pre-wedding behind-the-scenes shots.

I spent the week in Torrance, while Clay visited his family in Porterville.  Of course, I got in some quality time with my family, which includes the dogs, Roxy and Chloe.

(Chloe got to wear a veil for a night since she never had a real wedding of her own.)

My dad, grandma and I got to go to the Los Angeles Temple to do an endowment session together, which was very enjoyable. 

I gave Courtney and Emily their presents to thank them for being my bridesmaid and junior bridesmaid.

Eventually, the day before the wedding rolled around. Mom, Courtney, Emily and I had a "girls day" going out to dinner and getting our nails done.

We spent the night before in a beautiful hotel in Newport Beach. I woke up at 7 a.m., definitely unable to go back to sleep. It was time to start getting ready anyway. We had a makeup artist come and glamorize us before the photos started.

Courtney helped me with my hair, and Emily helped me get my dress buttoned up.

We took a few photos in the hotel room and around outside before heading over to the temple. 

(For all the photos of the wedding and reception, check out my facebook albums).

Clay and I had a wonderful couple of days in Long Beach, California after our reception.We spent Saturday exploring our hotel, the Hotel Maya, and the afternoon at the Long Beach Aquarium, then had a really nice dinner at a cool place on the marina called Parker's Lighthouse.

The Maya was beautiful, and very modern. Maybe a tad too modern at times (as evidenced by this firepit of orange glass chips). But very pretty, and very clean. We had an awesome view from our balcony window.

And made sure to take superhero shots next to our building. Because we could.

They even left us newlyweds a gift consisting of a disposable camera and sparkling wine. Which didn't do much for us, seeing as how we don't drink. But a nice gesture nonetheless.

We hit up the Aquarium, and it was so fun. AND we made sure to take lots of pictures.

The next day, we went to church, and hung out for the most part.

Monday, we hit up the Queen Mary. It was interesting to learn all the history behind the ship. We even did the audio tour.

Clay with his history face on.

Us being gross. :)

Tuesday, we went to the L.A. Temple and did a session together. 

That night we went to Mulligans to play mini golf. I stomped Clay in the go-karts... but he stomped me in everything else. We took a short trip to the beach to enjoy the sunset and read a book together.

We went to Benihana for dinner, which was SO GOOD. Definitely one of our favorite dinner locations.

Wednesday, the last day of our honeymoon, was spent at Disneyland.

Thursday was our reception in Porterville. Putting on my dress was a little bit more difficult after a week of eating out at delicious restaurants. :)

We've been back here for about a month now. We'll be moving again soon to Wymount. We're hoping it all works out soon! And I'm going to try to be more regular with the blog to keep everyone updated on our goings-on. :)

Wedding Planning is Fun

Contrary to popular opinion, wedding planning is not only super fun, but also one of the LEAST stressful things I've got going on right now. To lay it out visually, here is a list:

Food (check)
Venue (check) - The Reef Restaurant in Long Beach, CA

(Yes, that's the view from the restaurant)

Dress (check)
DJ (check)
Hotels for honeymoon and honeymoon location (check) - Also in Long Beach

 (The Hotel Maya in Long Beach, conveniently located 30 feet from the venue)

Invitations sent (check)
Bride-to-be's dorky wedding reception dancing face (good to go)

Awesome, supportive family (double check)

Best husband-to-be in the world (check)

I think we're set.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Because I'm an R.A. in Helaman Halls, twice a week I attend a Student Development class designed to help us understand how to better meet the needs of our residents (and keep ourselves from going insane). This last Tuesday, we had a lesson that really stuck with me.

We talked about the impact that positive and negative thinking can have on our attitudes, moods, and even behaviors. We discussed the 11 Common Errors of Negative Thinking, thinking errors that we all make at one point are another and that are destructive to ourselves and those around us. I'd like to share these common errors, because I think there are 2-3 that we all make a little more often than we'd like. Then, at the bottom, there are ways to combat negative thinking. It's certainly helped me and has become something I want to work on.

The 11 Common Errors of Negative Thinking

1. Catastophizing - you predict that the worst possible outcome will happen; when something bad does happen, you tell yourself it is unbearable, awful and catastrophic.

Ex. If I fail this test, I will flunk out of college and my life will be over.

2. Filtering out and discounting - focus on negative aspects of the situation while filtering out positive aspects by ignoring or minimizing them. 

Ex. My parents’ compliments don’t matter – they have to say that

3. Shoulds and Musts - you have rigid and sometimes unrealistic expectations of yourself, others, and the world. If these expectations are not met, you become upset. 

Ex. I must get an A; I must never get attached to someone again, because I might lose them

4. All or nothing - See things in black and white, either-or terms.

Ex. If he doesn't want to hang out with me today, he must not want to hang out with me ever.

5. Self-Blame; It's all my fault - see yourself as the cause of something bad that happened when you actually had little or no influence over what took place. Or, you assume excessive responsibility for others' feelings or lives and and blame yourself for falling short.

Ex. If it weren't for me, this never would have happened. My roommate is sad, and it must be because of something I did.

6. If it feels true, it is true - you take how you feel about something as proof that it is true.

Ex. I feel worthless, so I am.

7. Then is now - you respond to a current situation as if it were a traumatic situation from your past.

Ex. I can't trust men because he hurt me so badly.

8. Self put-downs - you put negative labels on yourself and tear yourself down

Ex. I'm such a loser; No wonder he won't go out with me, I'm so fat.

9. Over-generalization - drawing big, sweeping conclusions from limited evidence. If something is true once then it will always be true. Extreme words: always, never, everything, nothing, everyone, no-one, completely, totally, etc.

Ex. No one cares about me; I always let people down.

10. Foretelling the future - You assume that you can predict the future, and treat your prediction as an established fact. You predict something bad will happen, and act accordingly - a self-fulfilling prophecy. Blame yourself for not preventing something bad that happened.

Ex. I know I am going to fail this test; I can't forgive myself for not being there to save my friend.

11. Mind reading - You assume that you know what other people think or know (especially about you) and treat your guess as an established fact. 

Ex. Mom didn't call me right back, she must be mad at me.

How to deal with negative thought patterns:

1. Become aware that you are having a negative thought - it lowers your energy level, makes you gloomy and bitter. Recognize you are having a bad thought.

2. Label it - "I am experiencing a negative thought" - identify which type of negative thought.

3. Find the evidence to support what you are thinking may or may not be true.

4. Reframe it - Look for ways to positively reframe the thought that supports the evidence you found.

Engagement Photos

When Clay and I were in California over Christmas Break, we took some family photos and then some of just the two of us as potential engagement photos. We decided to use this one as the official photo, the one you will be seeing on invites.

There were a couple other cute ones as well.

The Search Is On

Yes indeed, the search is on for decent married student housing. Today, Clay and I did a little apartment shopping around the south side of campus. We actually found one we really, really liked, in a complex that is called something like The Cami Lindsay. It's nice and well-kept, moderately priced, and the location is GREAT: right next to Brick Oven, so right below campus and a 10-15 minute walk to our classes! Awesome! I'm really hoping we get it. :)

Anxiously Engaged

After eight months of dating, Clayton and I are engaged! It's still very fresh, and super exciting, and since so many people are asking about how it happened, I thought I'd share the story here so anyone who wants to can read about it.

 It all started back in April. I had just moved to Monticello Apartments after a period of time in a complex called Chatham Towne, which was nice, but in the end, not really my style. I decided a change of scenery was in order, and also a change of budget, since Chatham Towne is a bit expensive. In any case, Monticello seemed like a nice choice: across the street from campus, about $155 a month, and had a reputation for being exceptionally social. It's also right next to this sweet duck pond, which I'm pretty sure has a current population of about 6,000 ducks. You'd think that the cold (and passing cars) would have killed more of them off by now, but those are some resilient ducks.

Anyway, I moved into Monticello in April, set to start classes and continue working for the BYU Men's Soccer Team. I decided to join the intramural soccer team, after determining that I needed a way to both stay in shape and meet people in the ward.


We had our first game a week later, and I remember trying to learn a few names beforehand so that on the field I didn't embarrass myself by calling people the wrong name (even so I think I spent the first few games calling one guy Connor when his name was, in fact, Colin, but oh well). There was one guy playing defense that I didn't know, so I asked him what his name was. He told me it was Clayton. I introduced myself, and we kept playing. I think that I got a ride back to Monticello with him after the game, but the details are a little foggy.


Not too long after that, my roommate Jeannine threw a party for her boyfriend Jon in our apartment. As is often the case in Monticello, pretty much the whole ward was invited and was in our apartment at one point or another. I was excited, because it afforded another opportunity to talk to people. At one point, I recognized the guy from the soccer team named Clayton standing over by the stove eating some cake, so I went over to join him. We talked in standard BYU fashion for a few minutes (Where are you from? What's your major? Where did you serve your mission? etc.), and then he had to go. I remember thinking he was nice, and seemed funny and smart. I made it a point to get to know him better over the next few weeks.


After church the next day, we walked back together. Later on, after ward choir, I told him to drop by my apartment, because I had something to ask him. When he came by,  I told him I was throwing a cupcake-and-movie party that night, and he should come, and invite his roommates.


Ok, so that was a total lie. I hadn't been planning some fabulous cupcake party, and he was the first person I had actually asked.

You may think that's pathetic, but it worked, so it's all good. He and his roommate Court came over later, and (after my apparently failed attempts to hastily invite a few more apartments) ended up being the only two who came. But that was fine. At some point Court had to leave, so Clayton and I had a chance to talk and get to know each other better.



We went on our first date not too long after that: Extreme Croquet at Rock Canyon Park with one of Clay's mission buddies, Lorrin, and his girlfriend, Amy. It was a blast. Lots of trash-talking went on between Clayton and I, but all in jest. At one point I jerked his mallet out of his hands and playfully threw it to the ground after he made a particularly brilliant shot. He laughed, and I could tell he got my sense of humor, and was DEFINITELY a good catch.

The next night we went to the ward bonfire together, and he put his arm around me. Something like two days after that, we had what I think was possibly the easiest DTR ever:

So, what are we?

Well, I like you.

I like you too!

Let's date.

Ok.

Yep, that was pretty much it. After having to be apart for two and a half months during the summer, which sucked, we got back to BYU for Fall Semester, and have been hanging out ever since.

As for the proposal itself, Saturday afternoon, Clay picked me up outside Helaman Halls (where I currently live as a Resident Assistant in a freshman dorm). He said we were going on a little drive. We arrived at Rock Canyon Park, the very site of our first date, and headed shakily up a hill of solid ice to a nearby picnic bench (not at all aided by the fact that I was wearing my new high-heel ankle boots, which I guess was poor foresight on my part).

When we got to the bench, Clay pulled a binder out of his bag. I had dubbed this binder "The Clay and Britt Files" and given it to him for his birthday back in September. In it were various journal entries I had written about us when we first started dating, some photos, stuff like that. He told me that he had updated it. Inside were a couple journal entries that he had written about us over the previous months, along with a ridiculous "quote wall" we had started of funny/ridiculous things we had said, and a list entitled "Things I Love About Brittany," which was really cute.

After the journal pages were a bunch of blank sheets. He asked if I knew what they were for, and I said I didn't. He said they were for all the memories we'd make over the years, and that he wanted everything that happened in his life to go into the Clay and Britt Files. That was when he got down on one knee, in the ice, and asked me if I'd marry him. I said yes, of course, and he put the beautiful ring on my finger, and now we are engaged! :)

So this blog will serve as a way for us to share the next little while with anyone interested in reading it, especially family members, since we have renounced our self-imposed status as the Worst Photo Taking Couple Ever and are determined to post lots of pictures.

Thanks for reading. More to come soon, I'm sure. :)

Britt