356/365

356/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

It snowed for a brief moment today. That was after it rained. I liked waking up to the rain and watching a movie while it snowed, but I've been dealing with this really strange back and forth between brain and stomach lately. It has to do with hot chocolate.

Did you know that Jacques Torres in NYC has probably the best chocolate ever made? It's insane. The powdered stuff has nothing on it. Even my homemade stuff has nothing on it. My dilema is, lately I've really wanted hot chocolate in my head, but not in my stomach. I think, "Wow, it'd be nice to sit and drink hot chocolate right now" but my body is just not feelin' it.

I've been drinking from the same cup of hot chocolate for four days now. I keep re-heating it because I only take a few sips and that's all I'll want. I am so messed up.

I did get a kids hot chocolate from Starbucks today, but I couldn't handle it by itself. I immediately mixed it in with some 2-day-old coffee.

How am I supposed to figure out my life when I have issues like this? I need to synchronize my head and my tummy. And my heart, while I'm at it. Also, my feet. And my spirit.

Oh, I took this picture to document the fact that I did not document the brief snowfall.

You guys have got to be getting sick of me by now, right?

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200/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today is the first full day of camp. How I am finding time to blog about our safari last week, I don't know. It's lunch time so I'm fitting in all that I can!

We saw many, many herds of wildebeest. Our driver just plowed on through and I liked watching them run away. They're pretty skittish, unlike the other animals. They are very interesting creatures.

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199/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

The first game drive on safari we saw two 4-month-old cubs with their mother. I love this picture! I look at my mom this way. So much love and affection! Or maybe he's just hungry.

Safari was dirtier and longer than the ones I've been on in the past. We saw some amazing things and some really gross things...i.e. dead wildebeest and maggots. I don't know why I just told you that! I wanted to forget all about that!!! Yuck.

We stayed on a river bank where 200 hippos lived. There was only electricity a few hours a day and at night you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Makes you a little uneasy when there are 3 crocodiles living right outside your door. Literally.

I am so dirty right now. There is a layer of dirt covering my entire body. A six hour drive through the Mara will do that to you.

Anyway, now we are back in Nairobi and walked down to Java for late lunch/early dinner. Hopefully when we get back there will be enough hot water for 8 people to shower. There won't be. But...hopefully.

Please leave me comments or e-mail me even if you don't regularly! I love reading what you creepers have to say. It keeps me from getting homesick.

Hope to get a better connection and post more pictures soon!

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193/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Speaking of sky...

The moon is amazing. I don't know if I've ever seen it so close as I did tonight. And so orange. I tried really hard to get a good picture of it. I sat in the street for awhile and configured my body into very strange positions.

But this is the best I could do:



Sorry. Guess you'll never know how awesome it was.

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192/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

I took this photo with my iPhone. And I didn't edit it one bit. Isn't it amazing? The picture, yeah, but the fact that this sky existed tonight? New York deprived me of so many pretty skies and I just can't get enough of them here.

But I still miss New York. I wish I could just hate or love places instead of hate AND love places. Everywhere I go, there is something to hate about it and something to love about it. All this multi-faceted stuff drives me crazy sometimes.

But it's nothing a car ride at sunset with you friends and "Sweet Disposition" blaring from the speakers can't cure.

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182/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

I'm 25.5 today. That means I still have six months to get really interesting. And it's about to get really interesting.

Rachel and I begrudgingly climbed out of our luxurious hotel bed early this morning and drove home to Texas. It was a pretty sweet drive. I enjoyed it and I only felt really tired once. I was home for ten minutes before I got right back in the car and drove to wedding rehearsal no. 2. A few hours there, then I drove back home, picked up Rachel, stopped for an errand, and went out to Grapevine Mills.

As we were driving back from our 1.5 hours of shopping (we are efficient, I think), Rachel noticed a rainbow! Heck yeah! "That makes for an awesome picture of the day," I was thinking to myself. But then I asked Rachel what the date was. Please don't be the 18th. Please don't be the 18th.

And you know how that ends. So we came up with a great idea: me WITH the rainbow! And I thought it'd look cool to have a rainbow coming out of my chest like a Care Bear. Hearts and love everywhere! You color my world! Spread care! And stuff.


It's there.


Promise it's there.


This happened, too. Untouched photo....pure God right there.

Six more months, ya'll. Six more months.

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136/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

My family is obsessed with blackberries. We love them so much. They are like delicate little pieces of gold that you can eat.

Anyway, today mom and Lauren and I went and picked some at a farm in Arlington.


Black succulent treat.


Boxes of love.


I'd bathe in them if they didn't taste so good.

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127/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

I took a lot of pictures today.

I normally wake up with plenty of plans for the day and then find myself in completely different situations. I haven't allowed myself to do much but sew the last few weeks, but today I did get in the pool for ten minutes (seriously) and bake some bagels this morning. And I did go to three different snocone stands after dinner.


A much more sufficient puff than last time! The flavor was just like a plain bagel. Not as tasty as the others, but texture was perfect.


There are swirlies in our garden!


It's fascinating.


I bought flowers and key limes and Central Market a few days ago.


Something in me has awakened and I love plants. Growing them, looking at them, and eating them. Of course, the eating part isn't new.


It was another beautiful sky tonight. I can't get over it!

Our mission was to try the three different local snocone stands and determine the best based on taste, atmosphere and friendliness of staff.


First up was Granny's. Good for tiny ice, bad for atmosphere.


Next, Bud's. The one I grew up going to.


I love that yellow snocone light! That's Audra, Lauren's friend. She enjoys banana snocones and maybe bubble gum, too.


Bud's wins for having free doggy snocones!!


And finally, Bedford Snoball. Pretty much the local favorite. Gracey looks eager, but she didn't get anything this time.


Lauren loved the fifty cent tiny cups! We were pretty full on snocones by this point.


I think we all agreed on Bedford as the best in all categories. Tough call since I liked Granny's ice best and the nostalgia at Bud's, but something just feels good about Bedford.


It just looks like summer.

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126/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Yep. I posted that.

In all honesty, how could I NOT?

Grover woke up this morning ready for his first swim.


It wasn't so bad, but the diaper got in the way.

So...


Freestyle, baby!

He splashed around a bit but the reflection on the water was pretty bright.


This is when I noticed something very important and had to get a closer look.


That is some cottage cheese!


And that is one crooked creek!


And that is one squooshy toosh!


What a couple.

I am so proud that Grover took his first swim in our pool and that Claire made the inaugural swim - besides my dad's "cleaning the pool" swim yesterday. It's summer, y'all!

Now some quick updates:


Garden: growing.


Baby birdies: growing.

And to finish...


Babies getting some couch sleep.

But REALLY to finish, let's just go ahead and do this one more time:

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118/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Can you tell what this is?

I mean, I really can't. It looks kinda gross, actually.

But besides the poop and stuff, it's pretty cute! Those are birdie babies!

I was rather scared to try to get this picture. The last time I took a picture of newborn birds, things did not turn out so well.

I still can't look those geese in the eye every time I go run. They're scary squabblers!

This nest is on our porch and apparently it was there last spring, too. My dad let's them make it because the little birdies peep their heads out every time we walk outside and who doesn't like that?

They were a little nervous, so I poked at them while Rachel was on the lookout for the mother. I'm not interested in being pelted with beaks.


I hope I didn't poke any eyes out.

Hopefully I'll get a better picture later. They must have just been born because right now they're just fuzzy little things.

Another thing happened today.



Yeah...

I figured you might need a better explanation, so here ya go:

My sister is a freak. from Brittany White on Vimeo.

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103/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

The geese babies are still there but look who else I captured on our
run tonight! It's Mr. Beaver! He is much more friendly than Momma Goose.

Does it sound like I'm living in a Beatrice Potter book?

Yeah...I'm okay with that.

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99/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

I learned something about stamina and pushing yourself today.

I learned that no matter how tired, hot, and spent you may feel, you can always go farther. Even when you know you KNOW you can't go any farther, you can. And what else, you can probably sprint it.

I learned that today, but I also learned something else...chicks be CRAZY.

I decided to go for a 5 mile run this morning. I averaged a 9 minute mile pace which, for a girl who couldn't beat a 10 minute mile when she was 13 (and barely run the entire thing), I was feeling pretty awesome.

The loop that we run in our neighborhood has been featuring some interesting animals, lately. Normally it's just different kinds of birds, but my parents spotted a coyote and we saw a beaver the other day! Kinda crazy.

Today I noticed these little goose babies. They must have just been born because we haven't seen them before. They are so cute and furry and cute! Every time I ran around them the momma goose squawked at me a bit. Overly protective, I get it.

Well, I decided the last time around that I really wanted a picture. I was just walkin' my run off, feeling good but certainly happy with my walking pace.

So I pulled my phone out of my arm band and took a picture:



I wasn't really satisfied. You can't zoom on the iPhone (right?), so I stepped a little closer.



Cute, right?

Momma started squawking. But she squawked before and that didn't phase me much.

So I got closer.



And that's when she started rufflin' her feathers. Then she squawked louder and then she charged.

I mean, charged. Flapped her wings, opened her beak, and ran full speed right at me.

And that's when I learned my lesson about endurance.

I turned around and sprinted the opposite direction which led me right to....the water's edge! I was trapped! I turned around and she was still after me! DANG CRAZY CHICK!

So I put my arms over my head and ran against the water, hoping she'd let me go. I ran. Fast. For awhile. And I did not feel tired at all. I just ran five miles under the hot Texas sun? What? I felt like a spring chicken!

I think I found my new training regimen. And the good thing is, when the goose ceases to be scary, there's always gnarly dogs and wild hogs! Also, sex offenders and fires. There are lots of scary things to run from!

On the other hand, there are lots of good things to run towards. Maybe if somebody just held a piece of blackberry cobbler a few feet in front of my face the entire run it'd produce the same effect.

And then I'll make millions off my new book, The Blackberry Cobbler Diet.

You heard it here first.

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81/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Our front yard will never win any awards but I tell you what, our roses bloom perfectly every year.

I used to think roses were lame because my middle name is Rose. I love my middle name (from my grandmother, Rosemary) - don't get me wrong. I just used to think "Oh gosh, everyone is going to think I love roses since my name is rose and people are probably going to buy me roses ALL the time that is SO annoying!"

I told that to someone once and he said, "Well, I guess the person that really knows you will buy you daisies."

You want to know what? Turns out I was pretty full of myself. I don't know if I've received a rose or a daisy since high school. I mean, the last time I got roses I was so embarrassed and annoyed that I let them sit in my trunk for months - literally. And did you know that eventually roses can smell BAD? My tunk smelled like junk. There was junk in my trunk.

I think I've grown up a little since then. I'm not asking anyone to buy me roses, I'm just saying, if anyone did...maybe I'd at least have the courage to leave them in the front seat.