friends=blessings

the last two days i have been so overwhelmed and feeling so blessed to spend time with such wonderful friends.  yesterday morning i went and spent the day with my sweet friend nicole who just got home from her honeymoon.  her and her new husband went to hawaii.. needless to say she was ridiculously sun-kissed and was just glowing!  their apartment in point loma is so adorable and PERFECT for them and she is just so anxious to get everything in it's place and make it their home.  i definitely know the feeling.  once you become a wife something clicks and instead of wanting to go by a new pair of jeans i found myself spending way too much money on decorative pillows and being thrilled to get things for our home. 
we spent the day talking about life, love, marriage, honeymoon adventures, laughing, reminiscing & snacking.  she was just the most precious little hostess.  i am just so blessed to have nicole in my life!!

five years ago!

we look like babies!

now she's all grown up and married!

 

 

and i am too :)

last night we had justin & teale over for dinner.  teale was our incredible wedding photographer but our relationship with her goes further back than that.  i only met her two years ago but her and nick have been friends for about ten years and i can say that she is one of the reasons nick is my husband!  when nick's family was traveling out in san diego singing at churches he met teale at foothills church and she encouraged him to check out san diego christian college and the Lord had his hand over nick's life and here he is!  justin, teale's new fiance, is from northern california and we know a lot of the same people from home which has been so cool to talk about!! they are such an incredible couple together and i am so thankful the Lord brought them together!  they have one of the coolest love stories i have ever heard.. you should check it out @www.justinandtealegunter.com. 
they are just an incredible team together and i can't wait to see the many ways God is going to use them!!  we had such a great night talking about marriage-the ups and downs, being engaged, the future, their wedding plans, and the excitement of us all doing life together as married friends!  it was so precious how last night worked about because the men planned the whole thing.. teale and i had nothing to with it.  on top of them planning it, they cooked too!  we had spaghetti, meatballs, ciabatta cheesy break, salad and my favorite wine.. red velvet by cupcake vineyards!  after spending so much time with them and ending the night after midnight, i feel so encouraged and thankful for them.

so blessed to be apart of the proposal (you can see me creeping behind the U) haha

 

 

 

on october 15th of this year they will become husband and wife and nick and i are just so excited for them and to grow in our friendship with them!

this morning i woke up and drove to la jolla to spend the morning with one of my favorite friends in the world.  faith held me when i cried after i said by to my parents when they dropped me off at school.. both faith and nicole are so special to me.  we all met the very first day we moved in the dorms and just clicked instantly.  faith is my next little bride to be and i can't wait to watch her marry alex on june 4th!  i love spending time with her and just being so real and honest about what is going on in our lives and in our hearts.  through my lowest points in life, faith has been there loving me, encouraging me, and calling me out in my sins.  we ran along the water and past the place nick and i got married.. i love going back there!!  then we walked the streets of the village and she took me to la jolla presbyterian church where she is getting married and then we walked over to the darlington house where the reception will be held.  it's seriously going to be such a BEAUTIFUL wedding!!  then we went to my favorite smoothie place ever, juice kaboose and got yummy pitaya (dragonfruit) smoothies.  after spending time with faithers i just feel so refreshed.  my friends are such gems and i am just so happy!!

freshman year @ point loma

i feel like i have said how thankful and blessed i am like a thousand times.. but i am!
i've always known this but i am reminded that friends are blessings and God is so good for creating us to have community with each other.
xo, britt

iron mountain

lately nick and i have been super into hiking and loving being outside exploring the beautiful places God created. so far our fav hike is iron mountain in poway.  it's absolutely beautiful!!  it's 6 miles round trip and took us about 2 hours to do- hiking up and running down.  i love hiking because it is just so refreshing and who better to do it with than my best friend.  i love how friendly the people are that you pass by.  EVERYBODY on the mountains have a big dog.. we can't wait to get one someday and can't wait to do this hike again!

view from the top

ohh la la

so beautiful

he is not here for he is risen

after going to israel, the reason that we celebrate easter and what jesus did for us is so much more real to me.  i walked the streets that jesus walked and sat in the places that he did his ministry.  i would love more than anything to be able to go back there and experience it with nick.  the resurrection of Christ is the solid foundation of our faith, and without that we have nothing.  i am just so overwhelmed and thankful for His love and his sacrifice for us.

the boat we took on the sea of galilee

getting baptised in the jordan river where jesus was baptised

amen.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live


There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ


No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

........................................................................................................................................................

this easter nick and i spent it with our second family.. the picones.  my best friend vittoria's family have adopted us into their family and have loved on us like no other.  when i barely knew them they welcomed me into their home and let me live with them for months.  everytime i go there i leave feeling beyond blessed and so thankful to have them in our lives.. i truly feel like a daughter to them and it's so comforting since my family is so far away.  we had such a wonderful day of fellowship and eating yummy italian food, followed by church, and a not so traditional sushi dinner afterwards.

precious little cousins.. they thought cesar was their personal horse

vitt & jon

chloe & dominic, the brother i never had

mama p.. i love her!

papa picone.. love him!

we had such a blessed day and just feel so loved :)

from the hitch kitchen..

since getting married, i obviously have been learning many things about being a wife.  one of these things is that making your husband's favorite foods is a VERY good thing.. so i have been getting creative and experimenting.  i wouldn't say that i'm the best cook in the world, but i'm learning!  i'd been pretty intimidated to making anything for nick for a while (given that he was a line cook when he was like 11) but i've gotten over that!  after trying a whole bunch of new recipes these last few months i was losing track of them and wanted to get organized so i had the bright idea of actually using a recipe box.  most people would say that's common sense, but i've never been too quick on the common sense thing anyway.  after playing around on photoshop the other day i decided that i now wanted to make my own recipe cards.. and this is what i came up with.

since i now have my own recipe cards i'm gonna share the recipe of nick's favorite breakfast that my sweet mother in law passed to me!

BAKED OATMEAL 

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups oatmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Pour into oiled 8x8 in. baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-60 min.  It should be firm when you shake the pan.  Serve with warmed milk if you like.  You can also at nuts or fruit to the recipe too!  It is so delicious, like having dessert for breakfast :)

nick thinks this whole, decorating the house, cooking, blog, recipe, nesting this is cute.. i just think it's fun.  it's late and i'm not even sure if half of this made sense so it's time for bed.  my hubs is sound asleep next to me and he just looks so precious. time to join him.. goodnight!

faceLIFT

in the last few months nick has really gotten into web design.  first i got him a macbook pro for his birthday, and with that in hand, the possibilities are endless!  luke, my brother in law, has a web/graphic design business {Oleander Web Design } that is really starting to take off and now he has nick on board.  nick has been so determined and persistent to learn everything about photoshop & coding.. i am so proud of him!! so between the three of us we made this blog look awesome and gave it a little facelift.  it's kind of lame how excited i am about it, but i'm okay with that.
xo. britt

tony & nicole are married!!

yesterday we went to the wedding of one of my sweetest friends. nicole was on my hall our freshman year at point loma and we instantly clicked.  being around nicole you can't help but laugh and smile. she is so sweet, silly, joyful, fun, adorable, and has the best whine i've ever heard. hahaha.  i just love her to pieces.  a few years ago she saw a cute boy on the soccer team, fell in love, and yesterday she became his wife.  tony is such a lucky guy to have nicole as his bride, and nicole, too, is extremely blessed to now have tony as her husband.  i seriously could not be more thrilled for them! i love going to weddings, especially those of my dear friends, but i would be lying if i said i wasn't extremely jealous that this week they will be laying on the beach in hawaii!  i want to go on another honeymoon! anniversary? maybe!
tony and nicole said i do at the beautiful casa romantica overlooking the water in san clemente.  it was so perfect, romantic and intimate. the view at the ceremony was unreal and so breathtaking and the weather could not have been more perfect.
the reception was also incredible.  the inside of the casa was gorgeous and 100% spanish between the tiling on the floor to the little white arches between rooms.  it was so much fun to dance the night away with all my old point loma friends, some who i see all the time, and some who i haven't seen in YEARS!  here's a little glimpse into this beautiful wedding of my dear friends..

one of my best's faith & her fiance alex.. it's their turn on june 4th!

here's to the newlyweds, mr. and mrs. mercuriali
xo. britt

yeeeee haaaaaw

tonight nick, havilah & i went to the lakeside rodeo.  nick lit up like a little kid because he got to pull out his cowboy boots and have a little taste of home.  i have gone to many rodeos but to go with two nebraska natives is a completely different experience.  i was definitely the city girl with the stupid comments and questions.  for example, (i can't believe i am admitting this) a beautiful horse was trotting by in front of us and it's tail was beautiful and in my mind i said "pony tail" and at that moment it clicked that that's why girls have pony tails.  that just may be my worst blonde moment of all time.
we had such a fun time and the people watching was definitely top notch.  the few pictures that i have are pretty poopy quality because i forgot my camera so the phone had to step in.. it's better than nothing!

my hott cowboy

xo, britt

take 2

back in december i decided i wanted to blog and i gave it a shot and FAILED.  it was a challenge to myself to actually do it and document our life. since then a lot has happened and i haven't documented one little bit of it.  we went to vegas, nebraska for christmas, vacaville for new years, had a 19 hour drive home in the worst traffic of all time, i (britt) got a new job, we have gone hiking a lot, tried to get a new dog (that our landlord so cold-heartedly shot down), had many fun lunch dates, redecorated our house, discovered my inner baker and chef, went to one heck of a bachelorette party and so so so much more.  that right there catches you up to this week.  my family came down to visit us and also so my sister could look at some colleges and now my sis in law havilah is down here visiting before she goes on a mission trip to mexico (not the safest place right now.. be praying for her!)  our little house has turned into the hitch hotel.. or hitch hostel may be more appropriate, it's pretty small.  we have lots of fun things coming our way so stay tuned.. this time i'm not kidding :)

here's some pictures from the last few months..

vegas

nick's christmas cookie

chloe's first trip to the beach

happy birthday to nick!

happy valentine's day to me!

homemade sushi with friends

nick's 2nd painting ever

mustache march. yuck.

my inner baker

pretty hike

nick the explorer

the dog we wanted. i was going to name her ziva or daphne.

my sweet little sister turned EIGHTEEN

throwback picture of dad

obsessed with our new room

typical day on the job.. best job ever

my sis in law havilah enjoying the sun.. she's thankful shes in sd instead of nebraska right about now, they're expecting lots of snow tonight!

nicole's bachelorette party downtown!

xo, britt