Ugly Sweater Contest!

Every Christmas Eve my family goes out to dinner at the Olive Garden. This year Josh and I thought it would be fun to start an ugly sweater contest. The ugly sweaters would be worn to dinner, during dinner, and home from dinner. Here are the contestants:

Aaron and Nicole with their Christmas spirit. If you look closely you can read Nicole's shirt "Ho ho ho.." Haha Just kidding! Love you Nikki!

Matt and Beca. If you are thinking that his sweater looks a bit femine, you would be correct, it is a womans sweater, needless to say he kept his coat on throughout most of the dinner.

Me and Josh. I actually got a compliment on my sweater from a 'matured' acquaintance at the restaurant, and the second Josh put on his sweater at Savers I couldn't stop laughing.

Mom and Dad. They left the price tags on their sweaters so that the people at the DI wouldn't have to re-tag them:)

Josh and I have reached a decision of who to declare the winner. We also have come up with a prize that we find to be enticing and encouraging for next years contest. After much ponder and thought we would like to announce the winner of this competition. The winner will receive a FREE 30 minute massage, redeemable at TradeMARK Massage, Washington Terrace location. and the winner is................

Matthew Andre Mark!

Congrats Matty, let me know when you can come over for your massage!!

Thankful Thursday

This post is so on time its not even funny! This week we have taken advantage of the fact that Josh does not have to go to school during the day. Therefore, we stay in bed until 11am or so and take our time with breakfast and lunch. I have never been one to stay up late, or to sleep in. However, Josh's sleep habits have worn off on me. I stay up late to see him when he gets home from work and he is usually pushing me out of bed the next day:) Sometimes I miss my 'early to bed early to rise' days but I would miss hanging out with him more so the decision isn't hard each night as I stay up watching Prison Break until he gets home. Speaking of Prison Break, I am on the 4th and final season of the show and its already got me hooked. This might just be my favorite season yet!
I have recently been rebuked for having a 'boring' blog with only words and no pictures. Personally I thought people grew out of the picture phase as they progressed through elementary school. As it was brought to my attention that this is not always the case, I will try to do better with taking pictures throughout the week and posting them. This week I would like to focus on this little sweet pea...

As you can see this little thing is quite the cuddle bug, (and I am not talking about the monkey) Shown above is a picture of Penelope Cronen and her best friend Monkey. They enjoy classical musical, long walks on the beach, sitting next to us on the couch, and most importantly ATTENTION! It doesn't matter if we want to give it to Penny or not, the second we move she is right next to us waiting to be pet. She is so much fun to have around she is the sweetest thing. Also she is probably the cleanest dog in the world! She is constantly cleaning her paws, her belly, and in between her legs. She even tries cleaning others, whether it be animals or people. If she smells something salty, dirty, or yummy she is more than happy to offer her cleaning services. And I am NOT exaggerating, we didn't even know when she went into heat because she keeps herself so clean. I don't think we will ever be able to get her fixed because she will lick her stitches right out!

Thankful Thursday...a few weeks late...

I am some what of a slacker. My sister Nicole has informed me of this many times as I have not been updating this as I should. So my deepest and sincerest apologies go out to my readers. But in my defense I didn't think that I had any readers to worry about.

The past few weeks have been pretty fantastic for the Cronen Club, (aka myself and Joshua). We have been so blessed and are excited to continue adventures together. As Josh's first semester back at school concludes the studying for his finals continued. The time has come and Josh survived ALL of his final exams! Now we have a couple of weeks that we will be able to spend out mornings together until the new Semester starts and we do it all over again. Oh the joys of college life:)

We are very excited to spend our first Christmas together as a married couple. I absolutely love this time of year. The crisp weather, the snow, the lights, the hot chocolate, and most importantly the spirit of it all. The whole reason for the season, the fact that Christ lives and is our Savior.

Stay tuned. Ill be back next week.....maybe.... :) OK OK OK I will be!

Thankful Thursday..a day late...again....

I obviously need to start writing this on Wednesdays because I never have time to finish what I am saying on Thursdays, thus another day late.


M-O-M

For those of you slow with reading  comprehension I will explain what a mother is. Dictionary.com definition #5 a term of familiar address for an old or elderly woman.....wait let me find another one that suits her better. # 8 a woman exercising control, influence, or authority like that of a mother: to be a mother to someone.
BritanyCronenKnowsBest.com defines a mother as A role model, an example, an influence for good. Teri Mark-the best person I know. She is so creative and is always so helpful and inspiring. It has been strange not living with her, we have such a good relationship and I miss seeing her everyday. We still have so much fun everytime we get together and still share a lot of laughs even when we are only talking on the phone. I really hope to be a good mother like her.

New Addictions

This week Josh and I have introduced ourselves to Prison Break, courtesy of Netflix. We rarely agree on shows that are not reality shows ironically. But Prison Break....This one is different. Josh doesn't find it completely predictable, and I don't find it crude. We have started to watch it when he gets home from work at night. Monday I made the mistake of watching an episode without Josh....I told him not much happened, I was then challenged to recall the entire episode and walk Josh through it. After a very LONG conversation I promised not to watch another episode without him.

So of course I had to come up with something else to preoccupy my time while Josh was at work and school. The answer, Lie to Me. It had been recommended to me many times and I finally decided to check it out. I absolutely LOVE the way they analyze facial expressions and body language, it makes me want to be more persistent in my daily endeavors. I look forward to continuing my obsession with these shows:)

Thankful Thursday...a day late...

This week I am thankful for the wonderful examples I have in my life. Namely, my big brother Matt. Wednesday morning he dedicated the grave of his son, Wyatt Harvard Mark. It was such a beautiful and spiritual experience. He has so much love for his family and dedication to the gospel. Baby Wyatt's casket was white with ripples going down the sides and it was SO TINY! It is strange to think that a person was inside of it. Below is probably the only family picture that Wyatt will be a part of in this life.

They had Brady saying 'Love you baby Wyatt!' it was adorable. The poor little guy couldn't understand why everyone was so sad and crying, 'Mimi (britany) you a little sad?' But he was being very sweet going around and giving everybody hugs. Afterwards we went to Los Hermanos for lunch. It was very special to have everyone together and enjoy each others company even tho it wasn't the most pleasant of circumstances.

Post Bachelorette Fun
Last night Beca, Nicole, Cozette and myself celebrated the marriage of Cozette and Travis with a dessert buffett at Red Robin! We never got a chance to do a bachelorette party for her before she got married so we had no choice but to do it after. We ordered SO much dessert, my personal favorite was the mountain high mud pie. But what I enjoyed even more than the dessert was the company. I am so blessed to have such great sisters. We all get along so well and have so many good laughs together all the time, I wouldn't trade in a single one of them. Not even for a life time supply of mountain high mud pies!

Thankful Thursday

This week I want to focus on my gratitude for the plan of salvation, and our nieces and nephews. Brady, Ryan, Camden, Kya-Mei, Pheobie, and Marlee. These little people always put a smile on my face everytime I see their chubby cheeks, hear them laugh, or give them hugs.

This post is somewhat difficult for me to write... Yesterday we found out that we would not be able to meet our newest nephew in this lifetime. This news broke my heart. My brother and sister in law annouced in July that they were having a baby in March. Last month they found out they were having a little boy. Last week at their checkup the Dr expressed concerns with something that was found in the ultrasound and sent them to a specialist. Yesterday they were told that the baby was no longer living, and she was going to have a miscarriage.

This was extremely painful news. There is nothing to be said to take away this pain and disappointment.... However, the understanding of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation is comforting. As Josh and I were saying our evening prayers he was telling of his gratitude for the afterlife and the fact that we will meet this sweet spirit when we leave this world. We will get to know him, we will play with him, laugh with him, and he will see how much he is loved and how much he was missed on this earth. It was so humbling and comforting to feel the spirit as Josh conversed with our Father in Heaven. I am so blessed to have such a great husband and such great siblings and parents.

Tho it is difficult to continue and move on with our lives, it is what we need to do. I am thankful for every single of one my nieces and nephews, including the one who was called back to Heaven so early. I know that he will continue to watch over his parents lives until they return to him in Heaven. I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the Gospel that I do. I love him, and I will miss him. But I know he will be with us always in spirit.

Happy Monday!

We successfully made it through Josh's birthday weekend:) Saturday morning we slept in until 11:30! I NEVER sleep in past 9 or 10 so that was quite the surprise. We spent most of the morning in the kitchen, Josh made a big breakfast for us and I made brownies and lemon bars (per Josh's birthday request). We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and stuffed our faces! I am in LOVE with the rolls and butter they serve there. Josh's family came over for dessert and hot cocoa. My grandma gave us a hot cocoa machine for our wedding and we have had a blast with it.

Sunday we put our Halloween costumes together for Aaron and Nicole's annual Halloween party. Josh decided he wanted to be a red crayon, so naturally we dressed him in all red and then made a crayola sign to put on the front of his shirt. I wanted to be a punk rocker, I back-combed all of the hair on my head. Now that my hair is short a little back-combing goes a long way. Here is a picture of us at the party:)

After the party we came home and watched How to Train your Dragon. SUPER CUTE movie! I Love it. I think that was also the first movie Josh and I have sat through at our house sense we have been married. If you haven't seen it, we would definitely recommend it.

So concludes Josh's birthday weekend. One year older, and wiser two. Happy birthday Josh I love you!

Arizona Fun!

Tuesday morning Josh woke me up about 2:30 when he got home from work. We then ventured to Lindon to pick up Beca and Brady. 12 hours later we made it to Mesa Arizona, land of the cactus. Wednesday we went to the Mesa Temple to witness my brother Travis marry his beautiful Cozette. It was such a lovely ceremony and I only teared up one time!

While we waited for them to come out of the temple we took a few pictures:)

Soon enough the newlyweds came out for pictures!

The luncheon was next, where more pictures were taken....

The reception was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. My pictures didn't do it justice so I decided not to post any. I am sure that when they get there wedding pictures back they will share them. It was such a fun day, pretty long, but definitely fun! I am so proud of my brother for chosing such a great girl and so happy for their new life together. I cant wait until they move back to Utah:)

Its been a while....

Hello fellow bloggers. It has been quite sometime sense my last post! I have missed the past several 'Thankful Thursdays' as well as updating you on what is going on in our lives, so I will have to give a condensed version of the last month and a half of our lives.

October 7th Josh and I were married for time and ALL eternity in the Bountiful Temple. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, the people were perfect, and my husband was perfect. It truely made me so happy to see how many of our family and friends supported us at the festivities of that day. We are so grateful to have such good people in our lives.

We went on a quick honeymoon to Park City where we participated in some outlet mall shopping, ice cream eating, and movie seeing. It was so nice to just leave life behind us and be alone together for a few days. The trip came and went in the blink of an eye it seemed. But all that matters is that we are together, we have each other, and we love each other. Adjusting to married life has been a blast for Josh and I. We always have so much fun together and share too many laughs to count. We feel so blessed to have each other!

Tomorrow morning we will begin our road trip to Arizona to witness the marriage of my 'little' brother to the girl of his dreams:) We are all so happy that the two of them have found each other! Cozette fits right in with our family, and she is a good sport to put up with all of our teasing. They will be married on Wednesday afternoon in the Mesa Arizona Temple. I cant wait to see how things have come together. Travis, Cozette, and her family have put so much time and hard work into the preparations I'm sure that everything will be beautiful!

Josh and I will be driving down with Beca and Brady (and baby Quintin) which should be a fun 12 hours. Beca and Brady always bring a smile to my face, and we dont get to see them as often as I would like to because we live in Washington Terrace and Matt and Beca live in Lindon. It will be a quick trip. We will head out at 4am Tuesday morning, and come home Thursday morning. This is what we get for planning two weddings in the middle of the school semester, we obviously didn't think it through:) I will be sure to post pictures (with our new digital camera that my brothers gave us) from the wedding festivities!

Thats all for now!

Thankful Thursday

1. my mom <3
2. 4 weeks until the big day!
3. everything happening for a reason.

As some of you may know my mom was admitted into the hospital late Friday night after blood clots were discovered in her lungs. This was quite the scare to us, she has always been so healthy. I hated having her away from us. It just didn't feel right to be at home, sleeping in my own bed, eating food from our refrigerater, and knowing that my mom was all alone in a hospital bed. Luckily she only had to stay at the hospital until Sunday evening. The blood clots have not desolved, that will probably take months. She will likely have to be on medication for the rest of her life to prevent future clots. She has been able to stay home all week and just relax. I am so grateful to have such a strong mother. And so happy that our Father in Heaven has provided us with the capability to help her and spend some quality time with her this week.

4 weeks from right now Josh and I will be greeting our friends and family members at our reception. I can't believe time has gone by so fast! October 7th is right around the corner and we are almost ready for it. Josh will move into our apartment next Saturday. I am so excited to decorate and organize a place to call my own:) well technically I guess it would be 'our own' but you get the idea. We had our bridals/groomals taken over Labor day weekend, I can't wait to get them printed! They turned out so well. It was kind of fun posing for pictures in our wedding attire:) Its hard to believe that our wedding is almost here, but we still can hardly wait.

Everything happens for a reason. Travis decided to come up last weekend for a football game. When my mom was admitted into the hospital he decided that he wanted to stay for a while to help out and spend some time with her. I don't believe it was a coincedence that he came up that weekend, or that he was able to stay another week. I know that everything happens for a reason. I know that these are not the most ideal circumstances for a visit, but I really have enjoyed having Travis here. I have really missed him and its been nice to hang out, play nintendo, make jokes, and laugh together again.

Thankful Thursday

Where to begin?

1. Lindsay Nelson Bullock. We have been best buds ever sense I can remember visiting Canada. She and her husband decided to go on vacation to Riverside California where Kyle (and Josh-ironic) served his mission. On the way down they came and spent the night at our house. I almost forgot what it is like to laugh so hard you think you might pee your pants! Lizzy is always a good reminder for that:)
2. Being the youngest child allows me to spread my things all over the rooms of our house. For example, we don't get to move into our apartment until the middle of September, so where am I to put all of the gifts I have been given, and the things I have purchased? My room? No way, I can't live in that kind of clutter thats just ridiculous! I put it in the room accross the hall, formerly known as Travis' room, formerly known as Matt's room.
3. Penelope and Stella. These girls always cheer me up when I am feeling lonely, or sad. They certainly do cause a lot of trouble sometimes but they are totally worth it. I am going to miss living with Stella, when we get married we can only take Penny. But I know that Stella will be WELL taken care of. You can definitely agree with that statement if you know my father:)
4. Thank-you notes. Yes I am thankful for thank-you notes. I just finished composing them for the generous people that celebrated with me at my first bridal shower! It made my hand hurt, I forgot what it was like to write so much!

Thats all for today folks!

showered with joy

Saturday afternoon I was showered with love, food, and gifts by my family members. I feel so blessed to have so much support from the people around me. I was given amazing gifts that will be SO helpful. The only problem is, our stuff is piling up but we don't move into our apartment until September 20th. So everything is just stuffed in extra bedrooms in my house and so NOT organized, its KILLING me!

Sunday Josh ended up having to work. So after church I went to his sisters house anyway so we could watch the season finale of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Sylvia got me HOOKED on that show! I am a total addict! It was defintely an entertaining season, and I must say I am very excited for the reunion episode. Jacquline is probably my favorite of the housewives, I feel as if I have the most connection with her. Caroline comes to a close second. She is such a good mom, aunt, sister, and wife. She always puts family first, just the way it should be:)

Today I had the day off. I enjoyed a relaxing morning with Josh and my dogs. Sadly, Josh had to leave for school, so we packed him a lunch, I gave him a kiss, and sent him on his way. I then met up with my good friend Rose to trade massages. She is moving to Guam on Septempber 10th. I am very happy for her and the exciting change in store for her and her sweet little family. I am going to miss her dearly but I am definitely trying so soak up all of her positive energy before she goes. She is such an amazing person and massage therapist, Guam is sure lucky to have her!

Thankful Thursday

Today started out just like any other. Josh came over, I made him breakfast, he did his homework. The usual routine I guess you say. We needed to go to Mr Mac to purchase Josh's suit for our wedding. I looked up the info on my phone and I could have SWORN the hours of operation said 9am-9pm. When we pulled up to an empty parking lot I realized I was mistaken. They do not open until 10am. So we find ourselves in quite the situation when we realized that Josh is either at work or at school during their hours of operation. However, he MUST get the suit before we get our Bridals/Groomals taken on September 4th. How do I react to this? panic! stress! anger! (towards myself, not Josh.)
Now I know what your thinking, "this isn't a very THANKFUL post." Well I am about to tell you how my day turned around, and what made it turn around.
1. Four letters, J-O-S-H. He has an amazing ability to cheer me up when I am down, he relieves me of my stress, and gives me hope to make me realize that everthing will work out ok. Josh will make time Saturday morning to go and get his suit fitted and the alterations should be done by next Saturday when we will be gettting our pictures taken.
2. I spent the rest of the day with my sweet big sister Nicole, and cute cute nephew Ryan. They can always cheer me up in times of stress. Nicole is a total crack up and Ryan is the cutest little guy ever. He repeats everything you say. (Good thing Nicole has cleaned up her potty language) he tip toes around the house babbling like a little angel, I LOVE it! I don't know what I would do without being close to my family. Its hard enough having Matt and Beca living an hour away, we are lucky they like road trips:) Nicole and I always have such interesting conversation, and Ryan always interupts it with such grace, poise, and....for lack of a better word cuteness!!
3. And lastly, but not leastly (Yes I know that is not a word, sometimes I like to rhyme. Using fake words. Sue me. No don't sue me because that isn't the point.) we got our engagement photos back today! They turned out really nice I think! I can't wait to get them printed and put in frames and decorate my basement apartment with them:)

the ABC's of true happiness

This came to me as I was laying in my bed last night pondering the meaning of life, the blessings I have been given, and what I am supposed to become. Just a random babble of my thoughts organized into a simple saying.

A- a good attitude
B- believing in yourself
C- coming unto Christ

Attitude is everything. With a bad attitude, nothing will go your way. We must believe in ourselves. If we do not believe in ourselves how are we to believe in Christ? And lastly, come unto Christ. A step further than believing in him. Coming unto Christ will never make you feel like you have been cheated out of something. The odds between us and Christ are in our favor. He does so much. And asks so little. Love him, appreciate him, get to know him.

Saturday Smaturday

Saturday was a busy day for us! We went out house hunting for the ten-trillionth time, and finally found the perfect place. A cute little basement apartment in Washington Terrace. Its a spacious 1 bedroom apartment with a lot of potential:) Plus we are getting an AWESOME deal which is always nice! So we signed the lease and we will move our stuff in around September 20th. Josh will live there alone until we get married, and then I will move in.

Later that night we drove out to Saltair to get our engagement pictures taken. It was a lot of fun to pose with Josh and get some nice pictures to put on our invitations. I have never been out there before but it is absolutely beautiful. We lost light earlier than I was hoping but I think we will still be happy with the results. Our photographer was very professional and like I said, we had a lot of fun. We didn't end up getting home until after 10pm tho which was exhausting. We decided to make it an early night sense we had church in the morning.

One more thing to check off of our wedding to do list:)

count your blessings name them one by one

ring ring~ring ring
Caller ID: Mindful Women Day Spa


Britany: "This is Britany"
 
Caller: "Hi Britany this is Cammie, from Mindful Women Day Spa"


Britany: "Hi Cammie how are you?"


  Cammie (formally known as Caller): "I am good, I was just calling because I would like for you to come and work for us. Susan and I have been impressed with you from the very beginning and we would love for you to become a member of our team."


Freaking excited Britany (formally known as "Britany"): "Wow thank you so much! I have been waiting for your call all week long, you wont be sorry for your decision. What is the next step?"


  Cammie: "We would like for you to come in on Wednesday for training at 3."


Super-dee-duper excited Britany (formally known as "freaking excited Britany"): "Great! I will see you then, Thanks again!!"


end of call


Britany and Joshua engage in a high five, as Britany says, "Slap hands!"


Moral of the story. God is great. He has blessed me in countless ways. And I am so grateful to be his daughter.

ripe old age of 21

The day celebrating the anniversary of my birth has come and gone. It was definitely a good day. It started out with my sweet mother making me breakfast, she even made Josh breakfast when he came to pick me up for church. We spent three spiritual hours at church and I was wished a happy birthday many times. Josh and I are still pretty new to the ward so I was pleasantly surprised when so many people knew it was my birthday. My parents had us over for a nice dinner and then we headed up to my grandmas house where we got to see all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cute cute nephews. Thank you to everyone who thought of me on my birthday, I really appreciate all of the love.

Slight change of subject....

Mindful Women Day Spa
Today was my second interview at Mindful Women Day Spa and I gave the manager a massage. I was very excited to be invited back to the establishment for a second interview so the weekend seemed to drag on a bit and I could hardly wait for Monday at 1pm. I felt very good about the massage I gave her but I was still nervous to see what she thought. I wanted very badly for her to like my massage! She came out of the room looking very relaxed. She said I did a fantastic job and that it was just what she needed. She also gave me some awesome compliments on my massage. She has been in this profession for over 10 years and she said my massage was one of the most relaxing ones she has ever gotten. She also mentioned that she has never had someone work certain muscles the way I did. Coming from a professional massage therapist that was the greatest compliment! She told me she thinks I will fit it very well at the spa and she will definitely be in touch with me. Again, I feel truly blessed to have been given such an amazing opportunity.

Life is good.

Thankful Thursday

I have decided to dedicate one post a week to acknowledging our blessings and to show our gratitude for them. Throughout my life I have found that it is impossible to count every single blessing that you are given, however it is still important to acknowledge and give thanks for the little things in life. They may seem minor or unimportant to the rest of the world but as long as they mean something to you, they are worth mentioning.

1. I have not had a single regret with my decision to leave my previous job and dedicate my time, focus, and energy on my career as a Massage Therapist. Yesterday I went to an interview at Mindful Women Day Spa, a very beautiful and classy Spa in the area. This is a place that I have been longing to work at from the time I was in High School. I would love to have experience working at a Spa in addition to the experience I currently gain working at Me Salon and Fashion. I feel truely blessed to have had the chance to meet the Spa director and the manager over the massage therapists at Mindful Women. I feel honored to have been asked to come in and discuss the possibility of me working there in addition to working at the Salon. I feel very good about the interview and the conversation I had with those two inspiring women. I was told that I will be contacted later this week to schedule a second interview. Tho I do not know what the Lord has in store for me in the future with Mindful Women I am truely grateful that he provides me with such great opportunities. Of course I hope that they decide to pick me and let me join their team, but I am prepared for either outcome. If they do not hire me I will remain happy that I was given a chance to meet with them and be considered for the position. If they do hire me I will take full advantage of the priveldge I am given to work there and I will do my absolute very best. They will also allow me to continue to pursue my own business in addition to building up theirs.

2. Josh and I have been able to spend more time together than usually now that I am no longer working for Hydro Air. He comes over in the morning and I make him breakfast, we read scriptures, play with our dogs, and sometimes just bum around. But who wouldn't want to spend time with their best friend every chance they get? If I don't have appointments to do around dinner time I am able to go visit him at work and bring him dinner, or if I am feeling lazy we just go out to eat somewhere near his work:) I try not to take advantage of the time we get to spend together because I know that I am truely blessed to have someone like him in my life. We make each other so happy, and we drive each other crazy, but we are insanely in love so it all works out.

3. The wedding plans are still coming along smoothly. I am so happy to have such wonderful people in my life helping me along with all of this stress. So many friends and family memebers have offered their help and I truely appreciate them wanting to help and keeping me in mind. We have 9 weeks 1 hour 14 minutes and 16 seconds until we will become husband and wife. I love and appreciate every moment I have until then but at the same time I am doing my best to prepare for the future.

Welp, I have to admit that this post ended up being longer than I expected but I am happy with what I have written. I feel as if I am being somewhat repetitive in this post but there is nothing wrong with sincere gratitude and sharing my sincere gratitude. If you don't like it, don't read my posts on Thankful Thursdays.

Leap of Faith

As some of you may know, I started a job recently selling air filtration and purification. I thought this would be a great opportunity to make some extra money and save up for what life will be like after October 7th. It has now been three weeks, tho it is not an ideal job I really wanted to stick it out. I do not particularly agree with the way they conduct their business, a lot of their practices are misleading. I tried to stay positive and tried to ignore what I didn't like about the job, my managers, and the owners. This week the job has taken a tremendous toll on my attitude, emotions, and body. It was difficult for me to come to the realization that the company I had agreed to work for did not intend to follow through with their promises regarding compensation. They made sure to tell me things a certain way to make them sound good, but also leaving themselves room to make excuses and create loop holes. Through thoughtful prayer and advice from some of the people I respect the most in life I decided to quit this job and focus on my own business, TradeMARK Massage.

This may seem irresponsible. Here I am, getting married in 9 weeks, 5 days, 18 hours, and 22 minutes (I have an app on my phone, I did NOT calculate those numbers myself) And I am leaving a full time job that has promised me X amount of dollars, for a job that is no guaranteed paycheck. On one hand I feel like a fool and a failure for not seeing this in the beginning, I just tried so hard to be positive:( The problem is, they can't give me the appointments they promised. I can't get paid unless I do appointments. But I am expected to be on call all the time in case they have an appointment for me, leaving me hardly any time to pay attention to TradeMARK or continue to build up my clientele.

On the other hand I know that I am a daughter of God, he has blessed me with so many things in life and I know he will make sure I get taken care of somehow. Whether it be with random side jobs for extra money, or an increase in my clientele at the Salon.

So this is my big leap of faith. Supporting myself by doing what I love the most, Massage. Though it may not seem like a big deal to you, it is a big deal to me. I am scared of not knowing what Heavenly Father has in store for me, my business, and my life for that matter. But I trust him with all my heart. He has blessed me with so much in life, including a wonderful man that I will be spending the rest of the eternities with. Josh has always been so supportive of me, my decisions, and my business. His support means so much to me I don't know how I could do this without him, I am just glad I don't have to:) Whatever path the Lord leads me to, I know that I can venture it. Whatever challenge he gives me, I know that I can conquer it. And whatever he continues to bless me with, I will be eternally grateful.

Bear Lake Bear Lake Bear Lake!

The annual Bear Lake trip! Every summer the whole Mark clan gets together for a Bear Lake adventure. Activities include, but are not limited to; soaking up the sun, relaxing in the hot tub, playing on the beach, and renting wave runners for the day. This year was especially fun because everybody was able to come, including the two people who will become official members of the family this October.

It all started Friday morning. Josh and I had to drop our dogs off at the sitters. Penny was staying with Josh's mom, and Stella with my friend Amber, and her two weiner dogs:) We made a pit stop at Beez Cafe in Roy. Mmmmm Mmmmm good was the breakfast we ate their. If I were to ever have a Cafe of my own it would be yummy like Beez, and the decor would be cute like Beez.

We made it to the resort safe and sound and decided to go to the beach and cool off. Unfortunately it was a lot 'cooler' than we would have liked, after a lot of personal pep talk, and people threatening to throw me in I decided to just go for it! People say that you get used to the water if you keep swimming around and keep your body moving. However, I have found personally, that the only time the water feels warm and/or refreshing, is when its splashing me as I drive the wave runner. LUCKILY we all survived the cold water! (Even Cozette, the Arizona girl) Saturday we had the wave runners for 4 hours. Years ago, those 4 hours would fly by and we never seemed to have as much time with them as we wanted. Now that I am reaching the ripe old age of 21 my energy level just isn't what it used to be. When our time was up, we were all more than ready to crash back at the condo and take a nap. We continued our fun with some Bache (spelling?) Ball, and of course Bear Lake FAMEOUS shakes!

Like all good times, the end must come.... Sunday afternoon we packed up Josh's Mazda and ventured home. The dogs were happy to see us. Penny more so than Stella. Stella is a lot more independant than her sister. Penny wouldn't know what independance was if she was slapped with it in the face. Once we got the girls in the car, Penny wanted nothing more than to love on her daddy:)

My baby girl Stella is six years old today!

Six 'Stella'isms

1. her little waddle

2. jumping on my lap just to roll over so I will rub her tummy
3. wining at the bottom of the furniture if she cant jump up on her own
4. running to the 'petting couch' as soon as I get home
5. curling up in a ball to take a snooze in the mid day sun

6. giving kisses

Ever sense the day I brought her home she has always been the sweetest and most precious girl! We love to go on walks together, take long naps, and wag our tails. OK OK so I don't have a tail but if I did, we would wag them simultaneously. Where would I be without Stella? Who knows... But what I do know is that my life is so blessed to have her be a part of it.

Wedding Update!

Hello fellow bloggers! Just wanted to give you an update on the plans we have set for the wedding. We officially have all of the basic stuff arranged. I say arranged, but what I really mean is that the basic stuff has been promised to be arranged for us on our special day.

• The Bountiful Temple will be reserving a room for us at 11:15 A.M.


• Tt's have been crossed, and the i's dotted with the owner of The Victorian for the reception to be held.


• We have signed a photography contract with Hollie Kippen from Unique Photography. She has a beautiful portfolio, and her pictures are absolutely breath taking, check her out at www.uniquephotographybyhollie.com. She is extremely talented and very reasonably priced!


• Josh's sisters have kindly offered to plan the wedding luncheon that will be held after the ceremony. I am not sure what all will be involved but I know that if its something they are planning, it will for sure be fun and VERY tasty:)

Some days it feels like October 7th will never come. But as plans are made, it begins to feel more and more real:) Stay tuned for more of our stories and adventures!

My Love for July 7th

WARNING WARNING!!!! MUSHY LOVE STUFF!!!!

On July 7th, 2009 I heard the three most precious words as they rolled off of Josh's tongue. "I love you." Simple words? Yes. However, that day changed my life in a way. I was never a non-believer of love, I just never thought it would feel so real and mean so much to me to know that he loves me.

We have always had so much fun together, our laughter is contageous, and our love is real.

I love and cherish every moment I get to spend with Josh. I can't wait until we are husband and wife and we get to be together all of the time. I can't wait for him to come home to me every night after work.

I can't wait to be his, officially, no questions asked, no exceptions, never ending. Josh means the world to me. He is my best friend, my favorite goodnight kiss, and my future husband. What more could I ask for?

If you are reading this and you haven't found your own 'Josh' I promise you that he is out there. Waiting for you. The journey of life is long, try not to endure it, but try to embrace it. I have had a truly blessed life.

I consider Josh to be one of my greatest blessings. We are not perfect, but we are perfect for each other.

Josh has taught me so much in life and I can hardly wait for what the future has in store for us.

Getting Closer!

Ok we are officially getting closer to making a decision with where the reception will be held at. I took my mom the the Victorian today and she thought it was absolutely GORGEOUS! But who wouldn't?! The other option is the Farmington Community Center, which is also a very beautiful place. We are still trying to figure out if we will be able to save money by reserving the community center and hiring our own caterers and decorators. So we are waiting to hear back from a few contacts and we will hopefully make a decision by this weekend.

We have also been getting lists together. Josh's mom has been so sweet to diligently contact family members and friends that she wants to invite and get their addresses. I myself have been a slacker! But in my defense I do have a file that lists the names and addresses of the people we invited to Matt and Aarons wedding, so I am not a total slacker because I have taken a glance at the list:)

Saturday I have a fitting for my wedding dress and afterwards Josh and I are going to go ring shopping for him! It will be quite the adventure I think, when I ask Josh what he wants, "I dunno babe just whatever is fine." Haha boys boys boys, can't live with them, can't love without them. And THAT ladies and gentleman is a Britany Mark (soon to be Cronen) original quote!

Getting Lazy...

Greetings bloggers, WOW I have only been a blogger for a short time and I have already gotten lazy with it. My apologies.

No set plans with a reception center yet. I absolutely LOVED Tuscany Gardens and also the Victorian, but my wallet doesn't appreciate them as much as I do. Rude I know...

We are also looking into having the reception at the Farmington Community Center. Josh's sister works for the city and could get us a great deal. If we go that route we will be hiring decorators and caterers, so if you know of any good ones, let us know!

Everybody has been so kind in offering to help with the planning and everything I greatly appreciate it. When I get a bit more organized I may start making calls:)

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Planning!

October 7th may seem like just an ordinary day. However, a lot of planning a preparation must go into the events of October 7th. Saturday I accomplished a very important task in regards to the day of interest. Thanks to the opinions and perspectives of my three beautiful wedding gown consultants, I purchased (or should I say my mom purchased) a wedding dress!!!! That's right ladies and gentleman, I will not be wed naked. I will be wearing a beautiful gown from Allyse's Bridal, a place which I highly recommend to any woman considering clothing options for her nuptials.

This week, the planning begins as we write up lists of people who are going to be invited to the ceremony and reception. One key point in the planning is where the celebrations with our guests will be held. Today Josh and I began to our hunt for reception centers. The first one we looked at wasn't too impressive. So the search will continue. Tomorrow we have appointments with two other reception centers. I have saved my personal favorite for last, We've all heard it said, "Last the best of all the game." I will not be revealing the names until we have made our decision. So in order to find out, you must stay tuned.

Getting Started

Create Account--ChEcK

Name Blog--ChEcK

Brosh--Britany and Joshua

Bonanza--A source of great and sudden wealth or luck

Choose Template--ChEcK

--Knowing what to write for my first posting--

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On February 6th, 2009 Josh attended a party at Weber State with his friends, it was there that he met me:) He took me to Jamba Juice on our first date 10 days later, it only took a few weeks until we just couldn't get enough of each other. On July 7th Josh told me he loved me for the first time, and now I hear it everyday and it never gets old.

On June 12th, 2010 Josh proposed to me in front of the St George Temple right at dusk, which is my favorite time of day. It couldn't have been more perfect. Josh and I have always have so much fun together and the fun will continue throughout the eternities. Josh has taught me so much in the short amount of time that we have known each other. It is because of him that I am a better person. We are a silly pair and the laughs just keep on coming:)