happy heart & tan skin

so nick and i are house sitting in rancho bernardo for the family i work for.. 

they are away in hawaiian paradise

madison sent me this picture.. beautiful hawaiian waterfall

i want to go to hawaii so bad!!

so we are holding down the fort here and i'm enjoying a little paradise of my own. i am free all day every day and am taking full advantage of their house.. treadmill, bike, huge tv, infinity edge pool over lake hodges, spa, cabana, grill.. yep it's amazing. but what is better than all this.. friends & family to enjoy it with!! on wednesday my sister and her best friend road tripped down to stay with us for a few days..

i love those crazy girls.

this was day one of many

chloe likes to lay in the sun with me

perfect poolside snack

spa at the top with a waterfall that makes the most peaceful noise into the beach entrance pool

going to sushi with the girls

mochi. grosssss

old town!

FAMILY

sisters

my fav strawberry margarita ever @ casa de reyes

i loved having the girls down here!! i also got a visit from my sweet joshua friends, zach and hanna. they are precious and it was so refreshing to see them even just for a little bit.

then yesterday the saxmans came over and layed by the pool with us and swam and ate

stuffed mushrooms and burgers and watched a movie.

we're here for one more week and you can guarantee 

you will find me laying by the pool or swimming in it.  i love visitors.  

come lay out with me!

since it's father's day i think this is appropriate.

happy father's day to the best (and coolest) dad ever.

i love you!!

 

love & war

"You have been entrusted with the heart of another human being.  Whatever else your life's great mission will entail, loving and defending this heart next to you is part of your great quest.  Marriage is the privilege and the honor of living as close to the heart as two people can get.  No one else in all the world has the opportunity to know each other more intimately than do a husband and wife.  We are invited into their secret lives, their truest selves; we come to know their nuances, their particular tastes, what they think is funny, what drives them crazy.  We are entrusted with their hopes and dreams, their wounds, and their fears.  An incredible honor is bestowed on the one to whom we pledge our lives and a deep privilege is given to us as well."  {chapter two, love & war}

about a month ago  i went on a lunch date with my sweet friend michelle.  we ate sushi (i think i eat too much sushi..) and talked the afternoon away for three whole hours.  we talked a lot about marriage and our marriages and she recommended a book to me, called "love and war" by john and stasi eldredge.  i knew that they were the authors of "captivating" (which i started like 8 times and never finished) and "wild at heart" (which nick loved).  i didn't really have much of an expectation going into and had nothing to lose so i ordered two copies for nick and i to read together.  we had been talking about wanting to go through a book together and spend our time digging deeper into each other instead of posting up in front of the tv after an exhausting day.. which is too easy to get caught up in doing.
i am only three chapters in, but let me just say that this book has changed my life, the way i view marriage & nick.  after reading only the first chapter, my heart felt so full and i was so beyond encouraged.  i love when the Lord works that way and meets us right where we are, when He speaks through people to write books that speak straight to my heart.  these chapters are packed full of wisdom and john and stasi being so real and honest- no sugar coating.  since this book is so intense (and nick is one chapter behind) i thought i would take today to reflect on the first three chapters and really let them sink in to my heart. 
i want to share some of the parts that i highlighted.  (i'm a highlighter.. nick isn't. he feels too guilty to "mess" up the book :)

chapter one

in the beginning they recognize right off the bat how hard marriage is.  i went into it knowing it wasn't going to be easy, but that it, no matter how hard it gets, is worth it.  they share their early struggles and make you feel more sane for having some of the same ones.  

• "asking for your marriage to flourish without God is like asking a tree to blossom without sunshine and water."
• "because marriage is hard, sometimes painfully hard, your first Great Battle is not to lose heart"  
  chapter two
   
• "i prayed yesterday that God would come into our sexuality; I prayed that his glory would fill our marriage bed." i love this. why would we pray for this? it seemed kind of weird to me at first but, oh my gosh. God is the creator of sex and intimacy so why wouldn't or shouldn't we be praying for this?!
• "love and intimacy are the core of His being, and so He gives to each of us a heart like His.  When God does this, he reveals our deepest purpose- to love and be loved."
• "but love is more powerful than Satan thought.  God will not abandon his beloved, even though we have abandoned Him.  He comes for us.  He fights to win us back."
• "Christianity is the greatest love story the world has ever known."
• "The heart of a man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue... The heart of a woman longs for someone to fight for her, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to offer beauty... Notice how perfectly the desires of our hearts fit together.  Our souls are made for oneness in the same way our bodies fit beautifully together.  God designed us to bring one another passionate joy."  this might be my favorite.
• "I'll wager that 90 percent of the confusion, misunderstanding, struggle and disappointment in marriage is due to the fact that we do not understand what God is up to." 
• "God created marriage as a living, breathing portrait laid out before the eyes of the world so that they might see the story of the ages... It is a story of redemption, a story of healing; it is a story of love.  God gives us marriage to illustrate His heart toward us.  It is the deepest and most mythic reality in the world- that love is true, that God pursues us."
• "God uses marriage to bring us the possibility of the deepest joys in life; Satan tries to use it for destruction.  Without you, your spouse will not become the man or the woman that God intends him or her to be and the Kingdom of God will not advance as it is meant to advance... No one will have a great impact on your spouse's soul than you.  No one has greater access to your spouse's heart than you.  This is an enormous honor."
• "Of course loving costs everything- look at the Cross. But loving is always worth it... The devil hates marriage; he hates the beautiful picture of Jesus and His Bride that it represents."

chapter three

• "Marriage is the rushing stream God uses to shape us into more loving people."
• "He lures us into marriage and then uses it to transform us."
• "And what does learning to love look like?  Well, for one thing, it looks like compassion for your spouse's brokenness while choosing to turn from your own self-protective style of relating."
• "Understanding your spouse by understanding the unfolding story of their life is priceless."
• "What would happen in your relationship if you could both make the shift from 'changing you' to 'changing me'?" 
• "And we understand that there is no place on earth quite like marriage for the kind of transformation God is after."

 WOW. and that's just a little taste.

 after feeling so ministered to by words in this book i journaled..

One chapter in and the Lord is already speaking to my heart and giving me so much encouragement and hope.  I knew marriage would be hard, but I've never been married and so I didn't know what to expect.  Being married has brought out so much ugliness in my heart in the way i respond, it has surfaced my selfishness and put my immaturity on display.  as much as i try to deny it, i have fallen guilty to looking to nick for my happiness way more than i should.  nick is tangible and God is not which makes it so easy to stop trusting God sometimes.  i have always said that i will be a wife who loves the Lord more than my husband and i want so badly for that to be true...

When things get hard for us, or we get into an argument i feel so disheartened, i feel like a failure and i feel devastated.  i just want to be the best wife for nick.  i think one of the most beautiful things about marriage is that there is no hiding anything..  to nick, i am fully known and ever after all the crap is out there, i am still fully loved.  i have realized that love is messy and painful.. and refining.  God uses us to sharpen each other and the process more often than not hurts.  in order to keep Jesus at the center of our marriage we have to be intentional and it's not always easy to do but wow, when we let Him slip it's so obvious...

Nick's desires and mine are so different.  The way we both feel loved are completely different.  I want him to know me in and out, i want him to romance me, to be continually pursuing my heart, to validate my feelings and to fight for me no matter the cost.  i want to feel desired and beautiful.  i want to share every part of life and always be on the same page.  Nick needs to be validated as a man, and that he is good enough.  He needs to be encouraged and believed in, even in his wildest dreams.  He needs me to pursue and seduce him...

i feel a new season coming on, with so many unknowns, but i am really encouraged and excited about it.  i want to love nick like never before.  i want to become a better lover to him.  i want to keep learning him and everything in his heart.  i want to encourage and support him in a way that leaves no question.  i want to keep learning and growing."

as you can see, the Lord is stirring up a lot in my heart. 

people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest.  well, it isn't a cake walk but it's been the most incredible journey so far so if this is the worst then i can't wait to see what is to come.  between reading this book & spending the night at our wedding night hotel, listening to a million love songs, i have been pretty sappy and emotional the last few days.  i feel so honored to play such an 'irreplaceable role' in nick's life.  it's not something to take lightly and i have a lot to learn.  i'm so thankful for the handsome, patient, encouraging, loving, supportive, providing, and thoughtful husband i have.  the Lord has blessed me with a man with the most beautiful heart i have ever known.  i have fallen so much deeper in love with my husband and with the creator of love.

best weekend ever.

where to begin?!  i feel kind of weird writing out all the details of my amazing weekend thinking that someone would actually care to read it.. but i'm still excited about it so i'm going to anyways :)
on thursday night my friend faith spent the night with us because until she gets married on june 4th she is couch surfing and traveling back and forth to chicago and up to see her hubby-to-be in seal beach.  in the morning we got up way too early, started the day off right and went to the gym, then did some shopping!
also on thursday, my friend casey dropped off her adorable pup for the weekend so she could go cheer on her hubby for the padre/rockies series in colorado!  memphis was sooo much fun to have and he and chloe just had the best time together!  casey is the cutest little prego girl and she just blesses me so much!

on friday i spent the afternoon with vittoria & my friend kate who just moved to san diego for the summer!  we went to sushi then just hung out at home and watched date night.. i definitely think that movie is funnier the second time.  the first time i was so freaked out by it!
saturday was faith's bachelorette party.. we started at nicole's apartment with drinks, appetizers, crazy games and gifts.  then nicole's husband tony drove us downtown for a night of fun.  we went from place to place dancing the night away and enjoying a girls night out.  it was an amazing night that only got better as it went on!!

sunday was my favorite day of all.  so for a while now nick and i have been so busy with working (we have completely opposite schedules) and having so many things to do and places to be that we just sort of got into a routine.  i love coming home to him every night but by the time i get home he is exhausted :(  i'm dying to go on a romantic getaway or have a honeymoon round 2.. just to be somewhere else, with nothing to do but love on each other and relax and forget about all the demands in our everyday life.  also, since we got married we have been wanting to go back to the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night- INCREDIBLE.  It's called Se San Diego and it's in the gaslamp district downtown.  the other day on travelzoo they had a deal for that hotel and a bunch of extras thrown in so i went for it!  we stayed in the one bedroom king suite with a separate living area on the 15th floor with beautiful views of the skyline.. it was perfect.

our room was so amazing

for dinner we were deciding between a nice fancy steak dinner or...

sushi just sounded so amazing!!  it was great and we ran into the cute little walker family while we were there!!
after dinner we went back to the hotel.  it was the best feeling in the world to have nothing to do but each other.  yes i did just say that :)  among other things, we just got to hold each other without distraction, hear each other's hearts, talk about the future and what we want, and how incredible God is for creating this thing called marriage that we are so beyond blessed to have with each other.  the physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy is unreal.. and that is exactly how God created it to be.  as incredible as our marriage is we know there is more.. there has to be more.  marriage is a picture of God's love to us in the flesh and gosh, we are striving to love like never before and go deeper than we could ever think is possible.  i'm so thankful for the time we had this weekend to fall more in love and reach new heights in our relationship.  i love that it is only through Christ that nick and i can love each other the way we do.  i am so proud and honored to be nick's wife.  i'm feeling blessed today.. you should too :)

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

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!

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