Girls like us..

It has been quite sometime since I have last written a blog. The past month has been a crazy whirlwind.. a LOT of changes have taken place in my life.

EVERY.SINGLE.ONE has brought blessings!!!

Yesterday many thoughts flooded my mind and a particular one has been weighing on my heart. You know there can be something you think of and that thought just wont go away?.. That is exactly what it was..

Let's fast forward to the point of this blog...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.H.I.P!

Take a minute and ask your self what it means to you?!

Through my life, I have had any type of friend you can imagine.

loving
caring
compassionate
convenient
lifelong
instant
trustworthy
faithful
giving
sharing
respectful
supportive

This list could go on and on... as I stated in a previous blog, I have been blessed!

To me the meaning of friendship is so important. Having a friend means being a friend in which I STRIVE to do every day of my life.. TO ANYONE!!

I have many, and I mean MANY, friends who mean the world to me and if you are reading this you know who you are.. or I hope you do anyways.

Each friendship I share is so special and I truly take pride in all that I have.

They all are unique in there own way..

More than 15 years ago I found a friendship that I know will last a lifetime.

 It will be one of those that I can look back on years from now and laugh at the many memories we have made.

Through the years we have had many adventures from shopping trips, rodeos, waterparks, beach trips, and concerts, to countless hours riding up and down dirt roads.

December 6, 2012 we took on an adventure as roommates.

Being 20 years old, I was scared, nervous, and really didn't know what I had gotten myself into. This was my first time moving out of my norm, aka my parents house.

My roommate however was 23, had lived on her own, and had more experience than I did.

The "new" lifestyle soon became normal for me and proudly I can say I made everything work.

We were inseparable through this phase in our lives..

Family dinners= we were both there, together.

Parties= we were both there, together.

Late night McDonalds runs= we were both there, together.

If one saw us without the other, the question "Where is your roommate?" always arose.

We experienced things together that not everyone gets to experience in their lifetime.

Shopping Trips

usually revolved around having an excuse for a Sushi Date.

Concerts?

 I'm really not sure that I can count how many we experienced on one hand..

Oh Jason Aldean is in Tallahassee? Lets go...

Now he is in Athens... yep, we're already there!

"Eric Church will be here in March- let's go for your birthday"- yep, we went!

(We drove my daddy's dually and busted his fender trying to park on a curb in Tallahassee... You guessed it, Donnie wasn't too happy!!)

Then there is Luke Bryan's Farm Tour in Valdosta....

What better way to tailgate in the middle of a pasture and have a place to stay than take my horsetrailer and campout?!

Yeah, we did that!

We sang John Deere Green with Joe Diffie at the top of our lungs at the Sasser Flea Market. 

 

Andddd to top the concert list off...

We experienced Garth Brooks together!

Matter of fact, we have the t-shirt to prove it!!

"Beach Bound.."

showed up a lot on my Facebook status with my roommate a lot during those summers.

The Dirty Bird, beer, tan lines, beer, The Lookout, and beer... played roles in these trips.

(By the way, I'm still needing that trophy key, ma'am.)

My first trip to Disney World... 

Yep, she was there! 

My first trip to Lane's Peach Orchard.. She took me! 

Deep Sea Fishing-✔️

Braves game- ✔️

Weddings-✔️

Birthdays-✔️

Halloweens-✔️

Oh the memories...................

While living together, I can count on one hand just how many arguments we had... ONE!

That was only because she poured dirty water on my clean dishes..ha ha!

(Completely Accidental)

We swapped wardrobes a lot.. if only we wore the same size shoes it would've been even better.

When tears were shed, she was there to wipe them away.

When I needed a confidence booster, she was there to give me one.

When I faced challenges that knocked me down, she was there to pick me up.

When good news came my way, she was there to celebrate with me.

Our house was divided, but we were thick as thieves! 

The list could go on and on and on...

We knew that the time would come when we would have to go our separate ways..

Which also means GROW UP!

You know the whole thing about having a "serious relationship" and your boyfriend now does everything with you that your best friend used to do... yeah that!!

So when that time came, I was unprepared. Surely I had thought about the changes we were going through, but maybe I had just pushed it to the back of my mind to avoid the reality of it.

I can honestly say the first few days got the best of me...

You're probably thinking "Oh what a baby!" but really.. it did!!

Not only the fact that I no longer would live with my best friend... I was facing the reality of LIFE.

The growing up portion of it.

Living on our own... Separately!

Now don't get me wrong, I have lived on my own and I have done for myself, but this is the part where you know you are an adult..

All of the talks about settling down, getting married, and having a family aren't just "talks" anymore.

Knowing the next few years of our lives could be the crucial ones where all that comes true.

That "REAL LIFE" pill sure was hard to swallow.

To my Roommate aka Best Friend, Extra Sister, Role Model, Partner in Crime, MY PERSON!

Thank you for it all!

Thank you for being my room mate.

Cleaning out the lint in the drier if I forgot.

Caring for me when I was sick. 

Washing dishes if I cooked.

Thank you for being my best friend.

For listing to me rant. 

Wiping my tears. 

Making me laugh.

Thank you for being my extra sister.

I got 

3x the advice.. 

3x explaining myself.. 

3x the love no matter what.

Thank you for being my partner in crime.

LATE NIGHTS AND EARLY MORNINGS

is all I need to say!

Thank you for being my person.

Most importantly, you ARE my person.

At times, I think you know more about me than I know about myself. You've been there through some of the hardest and most difficult times of my life. You have supported me, believed in me, and been one of my biggest fans. You have brought laughter, smiles, and joy to my life. Through it all you have been the friend that everyone desires to have.

All the memories in that double wide, out in the middle of nowhere, sitting on a hill will forever be cherished! 

Through the next phases of our lives, I know there is so much more to experience together.

I am thankful to know I will have you walking with me every step of the way.

All of these words could never truly express just how lucky I am to have you as my best friend!

Take this for what it is and know, I don't know what I would do without you.

I love you!

Always,

Boo Boo

Sweet Blessings

What a week it has been...

Please excuse me while I brag for a minute... or two!

 

Saturday, March 28th 2015:

My middle sister Brittani married the love of her life.

 

Wasn't she beautiful??

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 31st 2015:

I celebrated my 23rd Birthday!!

 

Wednesday, April 1st 2015:  

My daddy celebrated his 59th Birthday...  

 

 

And my oldest sister, Brooke, gave birth to her second child.

 

Gentry Reese Jones 

4/1/15 11:43 A.M. 6lbs. 4oz.

 

 

 Let me start off by saying... I have been truly blessed!

 

Brittani has waited many, many years on her prince charming and her perfect wedding day. After this weekend, I can honestly say she got just that. From all of her hard work, as well as help from family members over the last few months paid off. I don't believe it could have been more perfect. The entire day was beautiful.. from the hair, makeup, dresses, tux, flowers, and rings, to the ceremony that joined two families as one. Not only did I gain a brother-in-law that day, but I also gained another beautiful niece and two more nephews.

 

Britt- I am over the moon happy for you. You were the most gorgeous bride and the smile on your face exemplified just how much happiness Chris brings to your life.  As your little sister, I knew this day would come and you would have your happily ever after. It warms my heart to know that you as well as Bree and Bryson will be taken care of. They are so lucky to have you as their mama and to have a father figure like Chris in their life.

Chris- Thank you for loving my sister and giving her all the happiness that she is so deserving of. Thank you for taking such good care of the kids, putting up with our entire family, and being a big brother to me. I am thankful to have you as my brother in law.

Alex, Kaden, and Jesse- You three already mean so much to me. I couldn't be more excited to be y'alls' Boo Boo, too! I love all three of you more than you know!!

 

 

 

Wednesday was such a special day!

As many of you know, I have always been a daddy's girl. Growing up, having my birthday the day before his has always been so special to me. This year his day changed a drastic bit. Little did we know that my sister would go into labor on my birthday and our family would welcome a beautiful baby girl on daddy's birthday.

 

Gentry Reese Jones made her grand appearance at 11:43 a.m. on April 1st, 2015 weighing 6lbs 4oz. and 20 inches long.

Mama and baby are doing great; daddy and big brother are too!

I am looking forward to loving her and spoiling her as much as I possibly can.

 

 

As I stated in bold italic letters above,

"I HAVE BEEN TRULY BLESSED!"

 

 

The day I entered the world 23 years ago, my mama and daddy had two of the kindest, selfless, beautiful souls waiting on me, my two big sisters, Brooke and Brittani. Through the years, we have fussed, we have faught, hugged, cried, and had some of the greatest times of our lives. Being their baby sister has taught me so much. They've taught me a lot about life, love, trust, forgiveness, and faith. They've been my strength, my biggest fans, and my extra eyes and ears when needed. 

Today, they are two of my best friends. Our bond is so rare and extremely special to me.

 

 

To witness the two of them become wives and mothers has been some of the greatest blessings of all. Never once did I ever doubt their ability to be loving wives and mothers, but they have gone above and beyond the call of duty.  

My brother-in-laws are two LUCKY fellas!

 

Twelve years ago, a beautiful, blue eyed, princess came into the world and named me Boo Boo. She was the one who introduced me to the world of "AUNT LIFE" and I can say my life was forever changed. Bryson came along seven years later and then little Turner man three years after that. Alex, Kaden, and Jesse joined the pack Saturday and now Miss Gentry falls in as the caboose. 

 

That is... "BOO BOO x 7"

 

I have said it so many times before, but being an Aunt is truly the greatest gift I have EVER received.

 

As I reflect over the last few days...

my emotions are running rapid, I am overwhelmed, but filled with

 joy and happiness.

There has been SO much that has happened in such a short amount of time. 

I thank the man above for all He has given me and our family!

 

 

xoxo,

Brandie

Why I Chose to Blog

Recently I have found myself reading blog after blog after blog. Blogs that are completely irrelevant to my life, blogs of inspiration, blogs that match my life to a t, blogs that make me laugh, cry, smile and the list goes on and on. At some point in my daily routine, I look at Elite Daily. Whether it is with my morning coffee or clicking on an article while scrolling through social media. I find myself nine times out of ten clicking on an article and instantly requesting my iPhone/iPad to open it in Safari so that I can read it at a later date. Just last night, my roommate also known as my best friend (WARNING: you will hear that a lot) took a Snapchat of me and I had no idea until I later checked my phone. My head was down and the caption read “Blogging it up!”  Normally, when I have the time to read blogs that I have previously ran across is when I finally wind down and crawl in the bed every night. Okay, maybe not every night because I LOVEEE to sleep, but I do it often. Last night, while the roomz and her beau were watching Tosh.O I chose to be glued to my iPad reading interesting blogs (I've never been a huge television person.) A few months back I had a thought about starting a blog but that’s all there was to it.. it was just a thought. Silly me, I have a million of thoughts that flood this brain of mine every day of what I could do with my life, so of course I pushed it to the back of my mind. As the time has passed since I first had that “thought," I have continued to read everyone else’s thoughts and opinions on this “oh so wonderful world we live in," the “20 Reasons to date a bearded man,” JUST TO NAME A FEW, and at times felt like I was living the life of the blogger and his/her daily adventures. I suppose I never gave it much thought because I doubted myself and my writing ability. Will my blogs be interesting? Will anyone even read them? What if I do not use the correct punctuation or I use run on sentences? After all, I have a few of my High School English teachers as friends on Facebook.

            Let’s clear something up before I am corrected on grammatical errors and all that comes with correct English. By no means am I some professional writer nor am I trying to be. I am not pursuing journalism at the current college I am attending nor am I trying to make myself known to maybe one day land a job as a writer. No, absolutely not, but I have always enjoyed writing. From love letters as a kid (WE ALL DID IT), to interesting papers as a college student.. Go back and read that sentence again, I said INTERESTING papers… Give me an assignment to write a paper on “How did the Roman Empire fall?” and more than likely, I will procrastinate as long as I can before I give it any more thought. Maybe that should interest me a little more than it does because it is a part of history, but to be honest with you, it does not strike my fancy. Now, if a professor assigned a topic to me such as “Financial Aide in Colleges Today” I can guarantee you that I would be fired up and ready to research it right away.. Why? Because that interest me, it probably does not interest you but that is not where I am going with this. I have my opinions on it, and I am sure you have yours, however, that is a topic for another day. My point is, once again, I love to write. I love to express myself.  For instance: If you are in my family or a close friend of mine, you better believe on your birthday you will get at least a 3 sentence shout out along with a picture on one of my social media accounts. Birthdays or special events are an excuse for me to be able to put into words what the relationship we share means to me.

            As of today, I read a blog by Alexis Bloomer. She is a beautiful, 21 year old college student from Texas, who has such a bright future. She is the host of “Alexis Bloomer Live” and “Alexis Bloomer, Off the Record” on Sirius XM Radio. I have heard her last name around the rodeo circuit for quite sometime now.. If you know anything about the horse industry more than likely you've heard of Bloomer Horse Trailers, that is her family. I follow Alexis on twitter and obviously read her blogs. She is a normal young woman, pursuing a degree in Mass Communications and is currently making an impact on the world at such a young age. From what I have read and what I see, she is a beautiful person inside and out. Please do not confuse me acknowledging her success as me wanting to live her life or being weirdly obsessed with her. Would it have been extremely awesome to host MY very own talk show a year ago at 21 years of age? Well heck yes but that is not why I have mentioned her name. I am mentioning her name because of one reason. The beauty in her post has inspired me to create my own blog spot. This morning her most recent blog was flooding my Facebook from rodeo friends from all over sharing it which is titled “Why Rodeo is One of the Most Marketable Sports, but Still Not Mainstream.” If you know me, you know that this interest me. Of course, I clicked on the link and asked my phone to open it in Safari so I could read it when I had a spare minute. It has been a while since I last looked at her blog site so after reading that blog, I scrolled through to catch up on what I have missed. One post of hers that instantly grabbed my attention was titled “Stop Living in Fear." Just the title struck my interest and actually has placed me at this keyboard, writing a blog.. my FIRST blog tonight. My heart is beating at a rapid pace and I continue to hit the backspace….. probably more times than you or I could count. I am going out on a whim here and I’m going to take a shot at expressing my feelings and writing blogs whenever I have the time about topics that interest me. Yes, I am scared of failure in every aspect of my life, I have always been that way, but today I am facing the fear about being a “blogger," not a "professional blogger” but a "successful blogger" 

            Bruce Lee once said: “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” That my friend is exactly what I am going to do.  I am going to be myself in every blog I post, I will express myself, and I will have faith hoping that my thoughts and feelings may touch the life of someone else in some sort of way just as Alexis’ touched mine. If you do not agree with my post, that is okay, but please keep the negative comments to yourself. I will write on my own life experiences and my personal opinions. I have already jotted down topics that I cannot wait to write about and I am stoked to see where this journey takes me.

Don’t Stop Believing,

Brandie

PS. If you may be interested in following Alexis I have listed her blog below.

https://alexisbloomer.wordpress.com/