Just for Laughs

Hello everyone! I was just browsing some funny pictures/memes today when I came across some I thought y'all might enjoy. Have fun!



Changing the light bulb. Like a boss.




"Because I have two bagels stuck to the sides of my head, that's why!"


Am I the only one who does this?!

And below: "Some days are just better than others."





Above - the father's face: priceless.



- "Hey, trashcan man! Yeah, you - third from the left. You do know you're wearing a waste basket on your head, right?
- "Whatevs, it's close enough!"



This poor box never saw it coming... *sniffle*



Frying Nemo. Complimentary dead clownfish with every kids' meal.



"It was DEFINITELY a stingray!"



Lion King all over again.



I'm not even going to ask.

Can't Think of Anythin' to Blog 'Bout

So...I literally can't come up with anything interesting to blog about. Any of you have some ideas? I scanned the news but nothing sparked my interest, and the proverbial cupboard (of post ideas, that is) is rather bare - and super boring. I'm wrackin' my brain but it seems all is for naught. Help me out, guys!

Mind. Blown. #CarlySonenclarXFactor2012

Mind. Blown. :O

Our family doesn't have cable, so we don't watch any TV except when we're at hotels or friends' houses.  Because of this, we aren't exactly on top of X-Factor news. But when a friend shared this video on Facebook, I decided to watch and was totally flabbergasted (in a good way). Since her audition, Carly has advanced in the competition and has appeared repeatedly on the live show, whipping out her ninja-power singing skills every time. As of today, she is currently in the lead, from what I understand. Keep it up, Carly! I would vote for you, but (tragically) "Verizon online voting is not currently available in your location." Snap. 

If Verizon online voting happens to be available in your location, I would encourage you to cast your ballot. Apparently you can vote up to 50 times. NICE.  Let's keep Carly at #1!

I Have Failed You, Anakin / Random Updates / Thankfuls

Guys, I have an apology to make: I'm super duper alley uper bounce* sorry for not blogging in, like, eons (okay, it was eleven days, but whatevs). Unbeknownst to you, my awesome readers, my family took a trip to Mexico for Thanksgiving - hence my absence. The busyness of life can get to you, know what I mean? So I wanted to tell you how terribly sorry I am. As Obi Wan Kenobi said to his backslidden** Jedi-apprentice-turned-Sith, Anakin:

"I have failed you Anakin [alternatively read as "blog readers"], I have failed you."

All that to say, mea culpa. I'll try harder.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now, to significantly more interesting stuff!

Let's see...

Well, our trip to Chetumal, Mexico, went well. We basically chillaxed, shopped, enjoyed the luxuries of Wal-Mart, Sam's, and a mall (albeit tiny). The hotel worked out well - turns out that it was only $36 a night. SCORE! 

I also realized that I completely forgot to share with you a list of things I'm thankful for. *facepalm* I have remedied that situation and added a belated Thanksgiving list:

I AM THANKFUL FOR... 

1.) My God. He gives meaning to my life, brings joy to my heart, fills me with peace even in the midst of chaos, faithfully supports me through my trials, never ceases to love me unconditionally, and sent the ultimate Gift to save me. There is none like Him (Jeremiah 10:6). 

2.) My family. They back me up, love me without reserve, listen to my concerns, care about me selflessly, and share in my struggles. My family is such a blessing in my life.

3.) My friends. I've got a sprinkling of them all over the world, frankly - Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Belize, India (if I didn't include your state or country, it's not because I forgot you - just your location!). Friends are the family you choose. I am so thankful for these people who love me and have touched my life. BTW, I might get to see some of you this Christmas! :)

4.) The blessings of living in a safe area, having a wonderful, spacious home, loads of great food, plenty of clothes, and a lack of any true worries. 

5.) The gift of education. I appreciate the sacrifices my parents have made to homeschool me and my siblings. Thanks for investing in our futures, Mom and Dad!

6.) The blessing of having a huge range of opportunities open to me.

7.) The knowledge that I am never alone. 

8.) The gift of life. The gift of a strong body. The gift of good health. Don't take them for granted. 

9.) The blessing of the simple pleasures of life - getting a good night's sleep, a hot shower (I really appreciate this one: only recently got hot water; it has been out since August!), eating chocolate (!!!!)...

10.) Great, clean music! I know that all the other thankfuls I listed were rather deep, but c'mon - gotta love some good tunes! Crankin' Christmas songs right now. ;-)

That list barely scratches the surface and is pretty general, but it is a nice start. 

Gosh, I can't think of anything else of interest to write about. Oh, I had this idea (saw it on another blog, actually) to set a side one post per week to list some of the awkward and awesome moments of the week. Should we run with it? Tell me what you think. 

BTW... I totally understand y'all's*** aversion to commenting; I'm a blog lurker myself. But I seriously doubt any of you are literally allergic to posting a comment. Gee, you can do it anonymously, for goodness' sake! What I mean to say is, please feel free to comment. I would really appreciate it. 

Blessings, everyone! Stick around for some more posts, and don't forget to subscribe.

~*Brielle*~

P.S. I am considering starting a YouTube channel. Should I go for it?

*Yes, that is a quote from Tigger of the One Hundred Acre Wood. I'm weird like that. Oh d-d-d-dear. 

**Apparently "backslidden" isn't a word. Oh, well... *presses "add to dictionary"* ... "Problem solved, Rico!"
***Y'all's. 'Cause that's how I roll. Yee-haw!

Guess Who Worked Here...

Hahaha!

"I've tried playin' it cool...but when I'm lookin' at --- the bakery where Harry Styles used to work before he became 20% of One Direction?!"

Oh My Goodness Gracious!

Okay everyone, I have some crazy news...my family and I are going to the U.S. this December!!! As most of you probably know, we currently live in Belize, Central America doing missions work. This summer we forewent (past tense of forego?) our planned summer furlough, but we just discovered we will be visiting for Christmas! Well, actually, it was us kids who recently discovered the fact - my parents obviously decided, LOL. You can see how excited I am...after all, we haven't seen our family or friends in nearly a year! (We did visit last winter because Josiah had a health issue.) I seriously cannot stinkin' wait.

Our parents just announced it to us yesterday. We were all sitting on the couch and they threw us off by first telling us we would be visiting a different church meeting, so we didn't expect their second declaration. It went something like this:

Mom and Dad: "The other thing we wanted to tell you guys was that we're going to be visiting the U.S. this December --"
Us kids: "Are you serious?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
Mom and Dad: "Yep."
Joy and I: *turn toward each other and begin screaming hysterically like obsessed fangirls at a One Direction concert while gasping for breath and gesticulating wildly*

^^^That's how it happened. The hysterical fangirl part is especially accurate ;-).^^^

As you can imagine, we basically strangled our parents by hugging them.

So, to all my Stateside readers...I might see you in a few weeks!!! :D

Blessings!

~*Brielle*~

Shout-Out to My Readers

Hey everyone!

Yes, I am aware this is my third post today, but I don't care. I am writing this to let you guys know how very much I appreciate you. Y'all are my inspiration and my encouragement. You are the reason I write on this blog. I am so thankful for your readership (apparently that is a word), and I hope that my blog is a blessing to you guys. I just want to shout-out to each of you:

To my 92 readers in the United States,

To my 40 readers in Belize,

To my 5 readers in Germany,

To my 3 readers from the UK (60% of One Direction? ;D),

                                        India,

                                 and Vietnam,

To my 2 readers in Canada,

To my 1 reader in Mexico...

Thank you. I love you guys. 

For those of you who are returning visitors, why don't you follow my blog by email? Scroll down this page until you pass the "Top 5 Posts of All Time" gadget, and you should land at a little box that will allow you to subscribe. Simply type in your email address and press send, and you will receive all new posts directly in your inbox!

Again, everyone, thanks for sticking around. I told you it would be worth it! ;-)

Blessings!

~*Brielle*~

Reaction Buttons!

Guess what?! I have solved the problem of the lacking "like" button! I have added customized reaction buttons so you can send feedback after reading any blog post. Currently there are only two: a "like" and a "dislike." I know some people are reluctant to comment, but c'mon - there's nothing easier than pushing a button! It is totally anonymous and a fun way for me to get feedback from you guys, and y'all can see the results, too. I don't intend to keep these same buttons forever, but I preferred to start with them since I had just ranted about the need for a "like" button. If you have any ideas for other potential buttons, please comment! I would love to hear back from you.

Blessings!

~*Brielle*~

Random News From The Annals of My Life

Sorry for the temporary blogging hiatus; I've been pretty busy lately. I've written a few blog posts but haven't yet published them for various reasons. I'll try to catch back up.

Here's a few random bits of news to update you on life.

Harry Edward Styles - the hamster - passed away yesterday. We don't know what was wrong with him. The day before his death he was quite chipper and energetic...just his usual self. The following day he was lethargic and limp, breathing intermittently, couldn't walk, etc. It was really sad when he passed away; I was participating in a live online class session, so I couldn't be there, but apparently Harry was crying and squeaking as he died - he had never made any sound before. It was rather tragic, especially because we had Harry for only a short period of time: today would be the one-week mark of his life with us. Still, we are glad we had him at all, even for such a brief time. The comforting thing is that Harry had a happy, loving home during his last six days of life, instead of dying at that pet store without ever having a family. Rest in peace, Harry. I'm sure you are looking down on us from hamster-heaven ;-).

This isn't related, but it is some big news: Ruth left today :(. For those of you who don't know, Ruth was an intern from Mexico who has lived with us for the past four months. She came to help with the ministry here on Caye Caulker, and she really was a blessing to us all, especially to the kids she helped teach during the youth meetings. We are going to miss Ruth a ton (with just the six of us the house feels so empty!), but hopefully we can see her again soon if our family visits Mexico! <3

The rest of this news could hardly be classified as "major", but I figured I might share it with you...

I'm memorizing the Gettysburg Address this week! Maybe, once I learn it by heart, I can post it on here (and I promise I won't just copy and paste it - I will type it up by the sheer ninja-power of my own brain!).

By the way, I saw this video that I am convinced is probably the cutest and most romantic proposal ever. The first part is the best, if you don't want to watch the whole thing. Check it out:

Another random thought, now that I just posted the above: can Gangnam Style really be the number one video on YouTube? I mean, you're kidding me, right? Wow. Just...wow.

And while I'm on the topic of randomly picking subjects - I seriously think that Blogger should create a built-in (but optional) feature so that readers can "like" a blog post, a la Facebook. How useful would that be?!

Lastly: I noticed on another blog that each weekend the author posts links to various different articles, videos, or photos that relate to the blog's topic. The readers can then explore the assortment of interesting pieces. Of course, if I were to do this you can just imagine the randomness, since I don't necessarily have a narrowly defined focus for this blog. Oh, well - maybe all give it a try. If you guys like this idea, PLEASE comment below. Seriously. I'm basically begging you. See:

That's a bit dramatic, but I really am asking you to comment. If you don't know how, scroll to the bottom of this post. It will say "posted by Brielle Autery at [time]," and to the right of that there is a clickable phrase - right now it will say "No comments," but that status might change if you click on it and write something :D. Again, thank you; I uber appreciate it. 

...Okay, this has been a very eclectic post, but such is life. I will try to get in another blog post today. Keep your eyes pealed! (Is it just me, or does that phrase make no sense?! And, NO: I do not have ADD - oh look, a bird!)

LOLz and blessings!

~*Brielle*~

Photo credit: http://houseten.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/begging-dog.gif

A Classic Case of Engrish

This is absolutely hilarious!

Photo credit: www.engrish.com 

Disclaimer: In sharing this I do NOT endorse the aforementioned website in any way. Engrish.com has various photos and memes with content that I am unwilling to promote. Thank you for understanding. Please browse (the web) responsibly.