a laugh for you all .. its long but youre gonna wanna read it. its worth it.

ok. so i don't know how many of you have taken an ambien before. or how many of you know that i take ambien (for about a year and a half now). and for that matter, how many of you know what crazy crap you are capable of doing when you take an ambien.

for the most part, i am normal. i take it. it takes me about an hour to fall asleep. and im good. i may play a couple of weird games of scrabble on my iphone or add STRANGE names to my "baby name" list (once i woke up and had added the name Webster Harold Bolt...???) sometimes, i say crazy stuff to matt. but that happened a lot more when i first started taking it than it does now.

the thing i do the most on ambien is text. and they are usually always to my brother. i dont know why. my brother, the king of eating doritos, once received a text from me saying, "i just watched food network show and it said that doritos are the loudest chip. no wonder you're always crunchy crunchmeister all up in my ear. diggity." ...... that's just an example.

when people do those things on ambien, you cant compare it to a drunk, slurring, blackout person. matt says, when i talk to him and say things off the wall, like, "where'd she go? .... emily was just standing beside you and now she's gone" (in the dark of night laying in bed, and scare the crap out of him ... that i am totally normal. dont look messed up. dont sound messed up. just dead serious, normal person. and almost always i remember what i did, the next day and think it was a dream.

ALRIGHT . all of that was to preface my most recent ambien mishap. did i mention, that drinking alcohol, then taking ambien, intensifies these episodes? as you all know, i havent drank a drop in a long time!!! thursday night, lauren came over and hung out and i drank 3 beers. when i came up to go to bed i decided to give it about an hour until i took my medicine so it wouldnt cause trouble. i took it and fell asleep before matt came to bed.

he walks in to a sleeping brittney, fully clothed, lights on, and thought i was just watching tv. he says "baby?" i say "they wont stop arguing with me and its really making me mad!"
matt: "Who?"
me: "the pink flowers"

matt realizes what's going on and goes in the bathroom to brush his teeth, etc. and hopes i fall asleep. *he used to entertain himself by keeping me on the subject for a while and see what all i'd say, now he just thinks its shenanigans and hopes i fall asleep* anyway. he's doing his nightly routine, washing his face and all, and hasnt heard a peep from me and thinks i fell back asleep. he comes back in and im sitting up in bed with a mad look. he says "what now?"
me: "they still wont stop arguing with me!!! they think im a bad photographer, but im not! and denny knows it... i sent him an email!"

......... denny shortt. my wedding photographer. great guy. love him. DONT NEED TO SEND HIM AMBIEN EMAILS AT 2:30 AM!!!!!!!!!!! matt doesnt really believe me. gets my phone from me. and looks. sure enough, outbox, 2:13am.. to denny@dennyshorttphotography.com. email reads:

Subject: Duuuuuuude

Denny!
Let me be your apprentince/personal assistant!! I Iove errrthang about photography but I need to learn the ropes. Could you show me the ropes for a while for (free free free) then many somehow I can be part of the team. I'll do anything I Just love what you do and love being around yall wonderful people and the industry in general. I'm a good marketer. I'll spread the word on anything yall need me too!! Come onnnnn you know you wanna work with me :) i'm awesome! Love you denmasterflex
Sent from my iPhone

i dont think i really need to say anything else. but ill finish the story for you. after some more shenanigans and texting my brother the word "great" i finally fell asleep. matt wakes me up in the morning and says "do you remember writing denny an email last night?" me:" ............s***. i thought that was a dream." horrified, but glad i didnt send it to like, my cake lady or florist or something, i write denny another email...

Subject: WOW

You've heard of people doing crazy sh** on ambien. That was an example. Haha! Wow. I'm sorry! Out of control, I don't remember, Matt told me this morning and I was like omg.
Forgive?
Britt
Sent from my iPhone

denny writes back: "youre awesome!!!!!!!!!"

*pats self on back* great job brittney, great job. happy tuesday, folks. :)

B

recap

weekend recap. friday, we went to dinner at ruby tuesdays (ha) and came home and rested a while then did p90x. hardest workout, plyometrics. ugh. it's still really hard but very rewarding, and we haven't become unmotivated (is that a word?) yet. we're still very into it, esp matt. :) then saturday we went up to glassy chapel for our friend's wedding. it is so pretty up there! we had a good time! i learned how bad im in need of a tan.. haha. here's a picture of jordy, sarah, and me at the reception at Cliffs Valley. We got home fairly early because the wedding was at 4 and matt and i did our workout. it is hardest for me to do it on the weekends. esp when you get home at 9 from a wedding and just want to flop on the couch and watch a movie. needless to say, it was difficult lacing up my tennis shoes that night, but we made it through.

sunday we went over to my mom's house for dinner with the whole fam. linds had her friend in from california and tyler and janey came. we had a good time. taught mom and trav about p90x and they are starting it this week. its fun when other people are starting around the same time as us. i like being able to talk about it with people who know what we're going through :)

even though monday was FREEZING im glad that the weather is really coming around. trees and flowers in bloom and grass turning green. we cant wait to get out in the yard and work! we have a lot of plans for it.

i am feeling SO much better. not sure if its the medicine, exercise, etc. but i know i feel better. i haven't driven alone yet but im starting to think it may come next week. today was another small feat, i *finally* got my hair cut and highlighted. it looks SO much better. much better than in the picture posted above :) anyway, mom dropped me off but it was the first time ive been ALONE somewhere. in a public place. by "alone" i obviously mean, without anyone i know. (friends or family). i got a little panicky when i first realized it but quickly calmed down and made it through the rest of the time. gives me a little more hope each time i do something like that. anyway.

no really interesting news. just blogging to blog and give wells something to read while she's bored at work in the morning :) * i love you little!*

hope everyone's having a good week! oh! and i made fish for dinner tonight! we've never had it! it was crab stuffed tilapia.. rice and broccoli, and a salad. it was really good, i was surprised at how much i liked it. we will have fish more often.

cant wait to be done with p90x so i can show yall the before and after pictures weve been taking. we're only on day 13 and you can see LOTS of results in the pictures already. yay! ok. im done. happy wednesday!

b

short and sweet

today was st. patrick's day. and i had a beer. first one in ages!!!! im not really supposed to drink with the meds im on but we made it out to Tsunami for dinner with Matt's mom and Don, so I just said, "heck it's st. pattys and i feel the best i have in a long time, gimme a blue moon" haha. it was delicious!!!!!! p90x is going well. today was our resting/stretching day. last night was Kenpo X (aka kickboxing) i nearly died. right back into it tomorrow with chest and back. results are worth it so far, we've been taking a few progress pictures and already seeing changes! also, a small milestone, i drove yesterday. i havent driven since february 3rd. although my brother was in the car, it felt really good and i think maybe by next week ill be at it alone!! i knew i could do it :) thanks for your prayers and support! my medicine is really doing the trick this time.

we got out in the yard yesterday and played with the dogs. then dad and susie brought over their little baby, Frosty, and we had tacos and played Wii. It was a lot of fun, and a good sign of the cookouts and summer nights on the porch! cant wait. exciting spring/summer/wedding season to come!!!

P90X

This isn't that interesting, I am mainly writing for our own records and for those of you who are considering the program. We love it so far, but it is far from easy!!! For those of you who don't know what it is, here is the definition from Wikipedia because I could never explain it this well in words:

P90X, or Power 90 Extreme, is a home exercise system developed by Tony Horton in conjunction with Beachbody, which aims for an improved physique in 90 days through rigorous interval training. The program emphasizes full-body fitness, and consists of cardiovascular, strength training, and stretching exercises divided into three 30-day phases, combined with a nutrition and optional supplementation plan.

P90X stresses the importance of "muscle confusion" (a term for adding variety through cross-training and periodization), so it switches the order of exercises and incorporates new movements during each phase.^[1] According to Horton, muscle confusion prevents the body from adapting to exercises over time, resulting in continual improvement without plateaus.^[2]

SO Matt and I have been doing a different workout everyday, targeting different muscle groups. That's been a plus because when your chest and arms are so sore you can barely move them, the next day you have a legs or abs workout that doesnt absolutely kill your sore muscles.

Alright so far:

Day 1 - Chest and Back . We had no clue what to expect for day 1 and it was definitely a killer. starting off with pull ups (we got a removeable pull up bar from wallmart for $20 in our doorway) and push ups was pretty much a disaster for me, as i've never really had any upper body strength. But as tony continually reminds you "do you best and forget the rest." so we both did what we could. we know the rep counts will improve over time. and hardly anyone (so we've researched) can even do most of the workouts in the first few weeks. youre lucky if you get 60% of the way through.

Day 2 - Plyometrics. Closest to what kind of "workout" we're both most familiar with, plyometrics is basically what any of you who were ever on a sports team called "conditioning." Including tons of jumping, squats, ab killers, etc. This is probably the hardest workout p90x offers. At one point, we were both pouring sweat and feeling like our hearts would explode any minute, i looked up at the tv to see 40 minutes left onthe clock. "40 more minutes of this?!!?!?" i said to matt. we both just looked at each other like it was impossible. somehow, we finished, and i laid on the floor staring at the fan for a good 30 minutes after it was over. we are both just as sore as we knew we'd be.

Day 3 - Arms and Shoulders & AB Ripper X - this was hard ... esp for matt with giant dumbells. but not really for me as my dinky little dumbells are only 3 lbs a piece. I have got to get some heavier ones. AB ripper x destroyed us. Our neighbors were probably contemplating calling 911 as they were hearing screaming like someone was just murdered coming from our house. it hurts!! but its one of those things you hate and love. it felt so good when it was over and having sore abs makes me know i did something productive for them.

Day 4- Yoga. DONT UNDERESTIMATE IT! matt's favorite so far. this thing had us sweating BUCKETS. using muscles we hadnt really used before and trying to hold poses we'd never done. it was SO different than anything we'd really done before, it was like a really bad, difficult, game of twister. if you read about the workouts, supposedly Yoga X burns the most calories of any of them.

That's all we've done so far. Ill update again when we're done with week 1. We love it. We are eating healthier and feel better over all. I had a really good week heart wise too. Doing WAY more than I've done in a really long time. We're taking the dogs on their walks on days when it doesnt rain and we're getting out and about! So happy spring is nearly here and nights are lasting longer. we've been grilling out and some daffodils are sprouting in the back yard! :)

that's all for now. check back soon.

b

house update

SLOWLY but surely, we're updating our house and giving it a facelift. my latest project: the kitchen. we painted the kitchen 3 times since we moved in!! First, we painted it green, and it looked like nickelodeon threw up. it was SLIME green. way too bright. so then we painted it a cream color called "antique lace." we had it up for a while but it just looked a little drab. and i didnt like the curtains. so, most recently, we painted it "colonial beige" the same color that our foyer is. its kind of a greyish-green. hard to explain. but mom and ive been searching for just the right thing to put on the wall and we finally found it!!! it may not be your taste, but i LOVE it. its the first thing we've decorated with that everytime i walk in the room i smile and it makes me so happy!! last thing to do on the kitchen is the mosaic tile backsplash that matt and mom are going to install, but we've got to find a wedding-free weekend sometime this spring to do it. but for now, here is a preview of one side of the kitchen! new curtains, new art, and a bowl of matt's oranges that i expect to be gone within a couple of days... :) sorry its a little blurry, ill take a "real" pic of it later.

a good day

nothing significant happened today. i slept late, had a chicken pot pie for lunch, watched ellen, cleaned the kitchen, got picked up by jordy and went to sarahs new apartment, and we all ate dinner and watched the bachelor wedding. though i didnt have a milestone day like going to the grocery store or driving or anything, today is the first day ive felt like me again. i dont know what made it different, if the medicines are working, if i would have been alright to do "difficult" things like be alone, but i do know, your prayers are working. i didn't have one instance of feeling uneasy or nervous. or have a palpatation or sinking feeling. though i didnt feel like wonder woman, going out and conquering the day, i felt normal.

also, matt and i are starting to exercise, finally. saturday and sunday we went for a little over a mile jog with the dogs! they love it and we've found ourselves feeling really good, too. wednesday we are starting P90X. I'll keep you informed on our progress... spring is coming and im finally feeling positive and optimistic about 2010

...now if only my best friend lived here, and not in australia :)

ADD and Dr.'s update

i guess you can all tell by now.. i get bored easily, hence, revamping my blog like, every week. sorry if im making anyone dizzy, but i just like changing it a lot! :)

so i went back to the doctor yesterday. good news and bad new. good news: he switched one of my medicines from a beta blocker i was taking, to a blood volume agent. which helps your body to retain salt and water, therefore increasing blood volume, therefore increase blood pressure. :) so.. besides the fact i may get swollen ankles, we'll keep our fingers crossed that it works. bad news: i have to do the tilt test again in about 6 wks. to determine whether or not the new medicine is working. Basically, if i pass out, the medicine isn't working and he'll know he doesnt have to change it. and if i dont pass out, we know it works and problem is solved, hopefully. more bad news, i prob will have to take this medicine for the rest of my life. BUT i would rather do that, than live a nervous wreck of a life. so. we'll see how everything pans out.

i have made another step. tuesday i went to charlotte with my aunt to go look at bridesmaids dresses with my cousin, who lives there. i made it through at both bridal shops pretty easily!! only a couple times having to sit down. so, another happy step for me! we also spent the night there bc of the snow and drove back wednesday morning. so i made it spending the night somewhere else too!! like i said last time, baby steps. but im making it!

i'd love to write about all the other exciting fun things i've done lately, but sadly, there are none. haha lately my life's consisted of doing laundry, watching matt play punch out on wii, cleaning out the closets, and yelling at the dogs. at least im getting some work done around the house. come spring we are going to start a new hobby..working in the yard. we're going to plant blueberry bushes either this week or next... and have a lot of plans for flowers, a new tree, etc. im really excited for it to warm up so we can get started on it!!

also. matt and i are starting P90X next week. A lot of you probably think I'm joking, but we're really going to give it a shot. Matt will prob last longer than I will, but I really have the willpower to do it. Exercise is good for my circulation and Matt wants to "get his high school body back." IF we're successful, I'll be sure and post our before and after pictures :) haha wish us luck!

2 small feats

Well ... not that eventful of a weekend. Friday night was lame-o. Matt had a major disaster at work and was at his desk from 7:30 am friday morning until 2am that night (with a short, 30 minute break to go get Arby's which was delicious). Poor thing. But I do want to say I am so lucky to have a husband that works from home while all this crazy health stuff is going on lately. I have a really hard time being alone and just knowing he's upstairs and can hear me if I call out makes me feel safe. That being said...

I had forgotten I had told the lady I babysit for, a long time ago, that I could babysit on Saturday night. all the sudden saturday was here and i panicked. I can't even go to the grocery store..or drive.. or walk out to the mailbox by myself, for that matter, how was I going to babysit a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old and feel anything close to responsible?? So I thought I could get a friend to go with me, but given the short notice, no one could make it. Matt to the rescue! again. My sweet hubs came with me. And he did great with the 3rd old. not so much the baby, as he's terrified of diapers (great.) but he watched scooby doo with the little girl while i put the baby down, and when i came back in the room, she was in the midst of asking him to put her lipstick on her! he is going to do great with girls if we have them :) (a long while from now)

So we spent saturday night babysitting. came home and beat the Super Paper Mario game on Wii that we've been playing for about 8 days straight now. what a treat! it's REALLY fun game if any of yall have a Wii! This morning matt had to work again. I woke up and let the dogs out and fed them and played with them for awhile while Matt slept in (for once!) and then he went and got us Bojangles breakfast! yummy. biscuits and gravy! then i took a nap. THEN came the two small feats...

Jordy came and got me and we went to the mall! I havent been to stores really in several weeks and was really nervous about it. We didn't stay long, but when went and got what we needed to get and I made it through. It's small things that I accomplish like that that help me to go on to the next one, knowing "well i made it through the mall, maybe i can make it through dinner tonight." So then tonight, we went to Tsunami with Cindy and Kelleigh (my mother-in-law and sister-in-law). and i made it through that too! not to say i didnt feel weird at all during dinner but i got through the weirdness and felt really good about myself when we got home tonight. knowing i went to the MALL and DINNER today!! thats like, more than ive done in the past week.

baby steps. im going back to the doctor on wednesday and thinking he's going to switch up my medicines and be able to tell us a little more details after further reviewing the test results in a little more detail. ill keep everyone posted! thanks for continuing to pray :) prayers are working. have a good week everyone!!

-britt