Dear Vienna-
I'm very sorry I hated you. I'm sorry I called you names and yelled at the TV. I realize now I was jealous that you got to marry Jake, a beautiful man from Texas...lucky girl.
So you don't look like the other girls. Neither do 99 percent of the rest of us. Thank goodness for a little variety.
I felt bad when you tried to apologize and the other girls were rude. I know how hard it is to say sorry.
Good luck...that is all.
Everyone always seems to have stories about how their brothers tormented them. How their brothers stole their barbies or would sit on them and dangle spittle over their faces. (Seriously I've heard of this happening). Anyway I've always felt extremely blessed because my brother was never like that. Instead of tearing off my barbies heads he would build forts with me out of Lincoln Logs and then we would have battles with rubber bands. My brother was always there to give me a hug or anything else I needed.
As I've grown up and heard of even more horror stories (see spittle reference above) I've felt even more lucky. While my parents were gone my brother and his wife were like my second parents. They were always there to make me a meal, drive me around, or just listen to me.
My brother in particular is one of the kindest most caring people I know. I have spent many an hour venting my soul to him.
More recently there have been two things that have made me feel loved. So this Christmas I got on a major Xbox kick. More particularly the Indiana Jones Lego and Star Wars Lego Xbox games. Beating a new level of the games became my only purpose in life. And nothing was more frustrating than getting stuck on a level. Whenever I did my brother was there to beat the level for me. (He's got mad Xbox skills courtesy of the Army.)
One morning I awoke to my brother and his children playing Xbox. My brother saw me and asked, "Did you get stuck on the pod level last night?" (I stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning playing...Don't judge. Oh pod as in pod racing from Star Wars). To which I replied, "No". David said, "well I thought you did I wrote a note for you." And this is what I found on the top of the Xbox:
It says, "Melani I bet (he meant beat) this pod racing level for you. David" I don't know why but I just felt SO loved at that moment. My brother thought I was struggling so he took the time to fix it for me and leave this adorable little note. It may seem like a weird thing to blog about but it meant a lot to me. So much so that now I use that note as my scripture marker.
And the second time was the other night. I was at my parents house and fell asleep on the couch. I was half asleep when my brother leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "I love you Melani." And then he left. It was so cute.
I'm just so glad for the kindest brother in the world.
So you know in magazines how they show a room or outfit that is very expensive and then show you how to get a similar look for cheaper.....? Well even if you haven't seen that, now you will. I have decided to take this extremely cute outfit of Kate Beckinsale's and show you the affordable version.
First you must know the original prices for comparison's sake.
Gray T-shirt by Alexander Wang: 76 dollars.
A similar white braided belt by some Elise lady: approximately 99 dollars. (oh and that's with 40% off)
Boyfriend jeans by Citizen of Humanity Riley (weird name): $165.90, which I guess is a steal because they used to be $237.00
Similar white shoes by FLY: 142.97 (originally 259.95)
So in total this outfit comes to............ let me pull up the computer calculator........okay the total is a whoppin' $483.87! Yowzahs!
Now for the everyday person version.
Eddie Bauer Easy Fit Gray T shirt: $22.50
Strait City Trading white braided belt: $8.00
American Eagle boyfriend jeans: $29.50
And from Ebay white Mary Jane pumps: $16.99
And that is how to dress for less!
PS Isn't Kate Beckinsale gorgeous! I want her hair.
Bode Miller
Chad Hedrick 
Justin Olsen
Zach Parise
Jamie Moriarty
Steve Langton
And there you have it.
I lost 5 pounds then gained 2. So I hit the gym. I stayed an extra 15 minutes at the gym. Not because of the extra 2 pounds. Because I wanted to watch Christian Bale longer in the movie that was playing. I cover up the things on the bike and treadmill that say how fast your going and how far you've gone. One time I thought I was hot stuff cuz I was running 5.2 mph. I looked over and the kid to my right was going 9.2 mph. I looked to my left and the girl next to me was walking 5 mph. Now I cover the mph on my bike/treadmill. I saw a beautiful man at the gym...that helped me enjoy the gym experience a lot more. Thank you beautiful gym guy. I watched Batman at the gym today. I always cover my ears on the Joker's "why so serious?" parts. Turns out its hard to cover your ears in a public place, on a treadmill, without looking like an idiot.
I've had this finished for awhile, back the when Star Trek first entered my life. I don't know why this picture is kind-of fuzzy. Here's another one further back.
It has always been my deep wish to own a cottage or manor or castle (what have you) in England. Once I own this cottage/manor/castle I will fix it up and hopefully find lots of treasures hidden throughout said building. I spent a good deal of time this weekend looking for my future cottage/manor/castle. Here is one of the gems I stumbled upon.
Behold! The One with the Orange Door! (orange-ish, brown-ish door)
Isn't it lovely! I just love those vines crawling everywhere. And that wee little scrubby yard is delightful.
Here is the floor plan...I just love a good floor plan!
Through my intensive study of the British floor plan (3 hours), I have decided that Brits like many entrances into their houses. And they love sitting/drawing/living/family/sofa areas. Their houses are teaming with them. (I just realized this house has only one...but you just watch). They seem to also love rooms leading to smaller rooms from another, without any central location. Just try to get to the utility room from the "front door" in the sitting room. (use your fingers to navigate). That would be quite the journey.
Enough about that... here are some pics of the inside.
Aren't you kind of in love with that craggy old fireplace. I am. I like that rug but I would definitely slap some thick, rich hard wood floors in this dining room.
I love the exposed beams in this room! And I like how they used the ledge as a book shelf. But white sheet slip covers and matted pillows?! Really?! And that gi-norm mirror?! Hated it.
I love the floors in this bedroom! And that little sheep on the floor taunts me (in a good way). But that red wall, the random pictures and the pioneer bed spread sadden me a little. I like pioneer bed spreads just not in this context. 
And this is the little back yard/sort of front yard, depending on which door this is. Don't you just love it?! I can just hear the little birds tweeting and the British people saying "Cheerio!". (sigh) I just love how green it is too!
Well this is one of the many cottages/manor/castle I want to own. When I was looking these up Brandon would point to every single one and say "buy that one Aunt Melly." I just wish I could little Brandon...i just wish I could (there is a solitary tear making its way down my cheek).
Well, CHEERIO!
