Winter Traditions

In my family we have more traditions than I can count. Some of my favorites are our winter traditions. Every year on the first snow of the season, anywhere from September to November,  we make doughnuts and soup of some sort. We always build a snowman. 

This year the first snow for me was different than my families, as I live 200 miles away. I still went and got doughnuts, though they were no where near as good as the homemade doughnuts my mom makes.

We spend hours every winter snowmobiling in the field behind our house and up the mountain. We all learned at a very young age to drive and my dad makes sure to take us every year.

One of our other traditions is cutting down our very own Christmas tree. This has evolved of the years as we have gotten older and more helpful. The day after Thanksgiving, commonly known as Black Friday for everyone else, we drive up the mountain and hike all over looking for the perfect tree. My dad then cuts the tree and we haul it back to the truck. We have had some very interesting experiences over the years as we have carried it up hills and over rivers. But it is one of our favorite traditions.

I am sure that these traditions will change and be modified as we get older and our family grows bigger. But traditions are what set each family apart. What are some of your favorite traditions? Comment below. #fourtoomanygirls #traditions #Christmas

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Finals Week

For those in need of a good laugh

Good Luck on finals! #finalsweek #fourtoomanygirls #collgelife

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Not Just the Girly Stuff

As much as we did all the girly stuff like playing dress up, playing the piano, cleaning the house and cooking; we did the boy stuff. Seeing as there were no boys, we learned to do what a son would typically do. We learned to mow the lawn, change tires, ride a four wheeler, play or work in the dirt, back up trailers, go hunting and fishing and we were taught to work hard and play hard. My parents were very diligent in making sure we were well rounded girls. I am thankful every day that I can pop the hood of my car and know a little bit about whats happening. I am grateful I water-ski and snowmobile. I am thankful I was taught to work hard and to work even harder for the things I want. I am grateful for all of the skills I have learned!
#fourtoomanygirl

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

A Fathers Role

   My dad is one of the most amazing men I know. He is so sweet and kind. I am not the easiest child to raise but some how he can always get me calm after having a fight with my mom. There was night just after graduating from high school when I had just had enough. I took off and it wasn't long until he found took me home and spent the next two hours with me on his lap just holding me and listening to me.
    I remember countless Sundays when he was home from work and he was the one that helped me get ready. He learned very early on the art of putting on a little girls full church outfit; from the diaper, tights, "frilly bottoms", slip, dress and the bows. He also learned to do pony tails, put in barrettes, and blow drying hair. But he has taught me so much more than I could put in one blog post.

                                   

   He has taught me to ride a bike, drive a car, water-ski, snowmobile and to change a tire. He danced with me a prom, was there when I needed a shoulder to cry, has bailed me out countless times whether I was stuck in snow or broke. He has taught me the importance of having the gospel be number one in my life.

   Every time I call and talk to my dad he always asks, "Are you happy?", "Are you smiling?" "Are you going to church?"  He is always looking for the best in the situation and in other people.

    I would be lost without this great man in my life! So here's a shout out to him! For being the greatest example of who I want to be and of what I want in husband! Thanks daddy! You are the greatest!!

#fourtoomanygirls #daddy #daughters 

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

ThanksGiving

In honor of thanksgiving I thought I would share some of my family's Thanksgiving traditions. We switch off years between having dinner with my mom's side of the family and my dad's side.  I don't know how exactly it got started but on my dad's side of the family we have Pie Breakfast. Everyone brings pies and we have pie for breakfast, though make sure you eat a real breakfast before coming. You'll feel so much better :)
Every year all of our family gathers together for a massive dinner. We eat the typical turkey, potatoes/gravy, stuffing, rolls, salad, and yams with pie for dessert. It is usually followed by everyone crashing for a nap and a movie later that night.

This year was a little different. Only mine and one other family were able to come, so our dinner was considerably smaller. I love thanksgiving and the opportunities it brings have get everyone together.
Happy Thanksgiving! #turkeyday #fourtoomanygirls #thankful

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Thank You

I normally keep my thankful posts and things to myself, but I feel as though I need to take a minute and tell you how grateful I am for my family. Yes we have had our hard times, our fights, and our conflicts. But we also have our late night talks, and someone to share life with. My family has always been there for me! I love them so much and I am so excited to spend the holidays with them. Its been almost four months since I have seen one of my sisters and 18 months since I saw one of my other sisters. I can't wait to laugh and tease them.
As much as living with girls and being a girl is hard, sisters make it all worth. They are your best friends. They won't stab you in the back or you leave to fend for yourself.  Its a bond that stronger than just a friendship. Its a friendship for a lifetime no matter what happens or what you do or where you go! Your family will always be there for you to come home to!
Thank you to my best friends in the whole wide world for being my best friends!!!

#fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Life Lessons Your Sister Teaches You

To all my sisters, I wouldn't be who I am today without you guys! As I have gotten older I have come to realize how much my sisters have taught me, whether they meant to or not. I found an article that was so sweet. 13 Pivotal Life Lessons Your Big Sister Teaches You.

Lesson 1: How to deal with Negativity. Like what you like no matter what anyone else thinks.

Lesson 2: How to Juggle. Going everything they have to do, plus helping mom and you and showing you how hard it is while making it look easy.

Lesson 3: How to treat Your Mom. Treat her well.

Lesson 4: How to Deal with Dad. Your dad isn't awful, but sometimes they can be a little off base on what it’s like to be a girl today.

Lesson 5: How to Apologize. It’s okay to be wrong as long as you recognize it and make it right.

Lesson 6: How to take care of your other Siblings. Be there for you family, especially when they need it most.

Lesson 7: How to Share. Respect other people's things and share what you can.

Lesson 8: How to give without expecting anything in return. The greatest gift you can give is giving to other people.

Lesson 9: How to be a Good Friend. Be there for people who are there for you.

Lesson 10: How to understand when it’s not "just kidding" anymore. You learn where the line is.

Lesson 11: How to take care of your own things. The value of things should be treated the way we would want our things to be treated.

Lesson 12: How to Keep Going. Some things are impossible, but you can work hard to make your own possibilities.

Lesson 13: What it means to be a Role Model. They show you how to teach others and how to save ourselves.

The whole article was really good and I encourage you to read the whole thing at the link below.  Feel free to comment on life lessons your older sister has taught you!  #fourtoomanygirls #sisters #lifelessons

13 Pivotal Life Lessons Your Big Sister Teaches You

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Living with Girls

The other day as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came across this article in Buzzfeed. Of course I opened it and started reading it. I didn't even get through the first paragraph before I thought I have to share this! It is a perfect description of what living with a girl is like.

 21 Things You Should Expect Before You Move In With A Girl

I laughed so hard! My favorite had to be the bobby pins and hair accessories. Feel free to share some of your thoughts below.
#fourtoomanygirls #girlprobs

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Taking A Chance on Fate-The Roommate Experience

  My whole life I have lived with girls even now in college I live with girls. And it is not easy. Living with girls its an estrogen filled battle ground with a low survival rate. Everyone hopes that they land the perfect set of roommates. Some do, some don't. My sisters all seemed to land normal and awesome roommates. Then there is me. I lived in my first apartment for four weeks.
When I first moved in, everything seemed fine at first and I was super excited. The girls I lived with were down to earth and nice. After the first argument the house was divided. I tried to stay neutral and out of it all but living in the same house and seeing my roommates every day was really hard. I got shoved to one side. It was four against two and I was on the two side. Switched around rooms and things seemed to settle down. A fight happened again and before I knew it me and my roommate, we will call her Chelsea, were given the silent treatment, had to walk everywhere went as neither of us owned a car, and were given the death glare around every corner. After speaking to the apartment manager and a miracle of sorts we were able to switch apartments.
    Apartment number 2 was a step up but still not the greatest. We lived with a delusional soul that took things that didn't belong to her, a lesbian, and then the most normal one, we will call her Abby. Abby and I had a lot of fun together. Unfortunately, Chelsea wasn't happy that Abby and I had hit it off so well. When the boy she thought she was going to marry dumped her, she blamed it on me and moved out before Christmas. The apartment that was supposed to house six girls was down to four. February came around and Abby's boyfriend moved to town and she moved in with him. We were now down to three living in shared rooms which ended up being private for the cost of a shared.The rest of the year was pretty mellow.
    Apartment Number 3-Set one. After the school year I decided to stay in town and work for the summer. I moved to a complex with four girls to an apartment and all private rooms with their own vanity/sink in each. Taking a chance, again, I moved in with three other girls I didn't know. Meg, Jen, and Hayley. Meg turned out to be a drug and sex addict and was kicked out before the end of the summer. Jen was engaged and always with her fiance. But Hayley and I became very good friends and still are.
   Apartment Number 3-Set two. As summer ended, Meg left town, Jen got married but Hayley and I stayed in the same apartment. Katie and Cali moved in at the beginning of the school year. I never see Katie. I don't know if she even eats, that's how little I see her. Cali is a major introvert, but if you get her talking she will talk until you go to your room and close the door, even then she still sometimes keeps talking to you through the door. Being that Cali and Katie stay in their rooms and are seriously socially challenged, Hayley and I spend most of our time in each others rooms hanging out.
   I have yet to find an apartment with girls that are all normal people. As much as I want that, I have learned a lot. I've learned to be friends with whoever my roommates are and if not go find other apartments to be friends with. You learn to put up with a lot. No toilet paper, dirty dishes, never cleaning, garbage overflowing, clashing personalities and values, and just about everything anyone can do to annoy you. Its all part of the experience and as hard as it is, at the end of the day you are just grateful you have a place to live. #roommates  #fourtoomanygirls #college #lifewithgirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Running My Weekend Away-5K Race

First thing you need to know about me. I don't run. I don't like to run. Its not fun for me. I would rather do push ups and sit ups than go run. On the other hand is my sister. She is a runner. Has been for a long time. She loves it and spends many hours a week running. Somehow I got roped into running a race with her. She would run the 10k and I would run the 5k.  Second thing you need to know. Running a 5k is on my bucket list. So of course I say Great that sounds fun! Long story short I ran a little bit from the time I was told about it to the actual race day. Not the smartest thing I have ever done..

But it was something I surprisingly was okay with. The morning of the race rolled around and I was so nervous I barely slept and couldn't eat. The race started and we were off. The first mile was okay second mile was harder. Halfway through thy handed out a tissue. It was seriously the best thing ever! The last mile was the hardest. I was wheezing and people were walking faster than I was running. But I did it! I finished the race. I won't disclose my time because it was that bad! I made it to the finish line and that's what counts. If any of you want to do a 5k don't train in a day. It doesn't really work. 

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Weekend In The Dark-Power Outage

Most of my weekends consist of Netflix and homework. For some reason I don't understand this weekend has been one of the most eventful. Yes it was Halloween, but I didn't really celebrate it. Instead my roommate and I drove around three different counties looking for a fire burn zone for her Biology Project. Saturday I spent most of the day working on a group project at the library and Sunday we had our first snow and the power at my apartment complex was out all day.

What started out as a quick trip to a little town quickly turned into a five hour drive to three different counties. Normally me and my roommate celebrate Halloween, but this year we just weren't feeling it. I don't know if it was because it still felt like early September or what but instead of dressing up, we decided to go get her biology project done.  I have never been to so many places and on so many back roads in one day . It made for a great bonding experience and I must say I've never been so happy to see a Carl's Jr--just because then we knew where we were. We ended the night curled up on her bed watching The Other Woman. For those of you haven't seen it--you must! Such a fantastically funny movie!

Saturdays are quite often spent doing laundry or cleaning while watching Netflix, but due to schedules not matching up it was the only day my group could meet to do a project. Five hours later I am proud to say that the project is complete and Gorgeous! Then of course my roommate and I had to go shopping because shopping during the day is so stressful and crowded. Treated our selves to pizza and spent the rest of the night watching movies.

I woke up Sunday morning to snow and no power. Welcome to Utah! 70 degrees Thursday and snow Sunday!

 For whatever reason a power line right next to my apartment got knocked over. Lets just say getting ready for church was extremely hard!! And eating was even harder. All we had to eat was pretzels and nutella because we didn't want to open our fridge for fear of letting the cold air get out. Much to  our surprise the managers were right on top of it, though sadly the power company wasn't. We spent the day wrapped in blankets coloring pictures and making snowflakes on the floor. When it started getting dark we realized we owned a total for four candles. A quick trip to Walmart and we were now the proud owners of a bag of ice for our fridge and 8 new yummy smelling candles lit all around the apartment with the majority in the bedroom where we were coloring and finishing homework.

Definitely not how I expected my weekend to go. It was certainly an adventure!!! And one I am sure that will continue seeing as we still have no power and won't till tomorrow. My hair desperately needs a washing but doing that in the dark sounds a little sketchy so I will apologize to all in advance for my appearance tomorrow! #fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Happy Halloween Girl Style

Every year around this time I seem to travel back in time-to a world of fairy-tales and dreams. I can't tell you how many years we spent dressing up as a princess or fairy of some form or another.  As we got older and got tired of being a princess every year and a mix of football players, nurses and 80's girls appeared and we loved it!!!

On Halloween my mom makes a special meal. One made for the holiday. We often ate witches nails-sunflower seeds, seaweed and slimy guts-salad and dressing, frankenfurts with blood and guts-hot dogs with ketchup and pickles, boiling brew-apple cider and many many many more. The menu only listed the weird gross names but we always ate normal food. Its one of those traditions I love and have missed since moving away for school!

We carved our pumpkins the night before. And often mom and dad did most of it. In the later years when there got to be only a few of us living at home, my mom and dad each joined in craving their own. We would go trick or treating around out neighborhood and then watch a Halloween movie. 

Halloween at my house was always fun and never scary. But it was Halloween none the less! And perfect just the way it was and something I hope to do with my own kids. 

 Happy Halloween from the dozens of Princess/Fairies that cover my past! #fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Camping Requirements

One adventure that has always been a struggle for my family is camping. Every year camping comes up as something we should do as a family for a weekend. Then of course the next question is where. Stipulations come to no dirt, no bugs, and an actual bathroom. There was even a year my dad commented, "Then why don't we just stay home?!" We then of course laughed and ended up in a very nice cabin. Some years this isn't always the case.
We occasionally get out in the dirt and bugs with our camper. My dad so generously made a toilet out of bucket. Great idea actually it works fantastically. We still deal with bugs and the dirt, but its a great time to hang out with family. Though we still insist on eating real food and no fish.
Camping is always an adventure with girls. No dirt, no bugs, a toilet and books.
#fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

House Rules for Girls

All other families have house rules. These are a few more that my family has that are unique to our home. We have learned that we often have to be reminded of these rules. we have come to think of them as gentle reminders. A little insight to our family and how we run.
*Be Nice to Your Sister-One all families have but since there were no boys it was just sisters. and this one is one that was expected to be followed no matter what the other did. 
*No Reading when you're Supposed to be Sleeping, Doing homework or Playing the piano. This one caused lots of trouble. Using flashlights under the sheets, laying on the couch in the piano room, hiding in some forgotten corner. Yes all were used so we could bury our nose in a book. Books were read from Romantic Fantasy, to Mystery, to Sci-Fi. All were secretly read when other things were supposed to be getting done.
They are odd, funny and we love them. "Rules" seem to be a little harsh, but we love them! Its what makes my family us. #fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

Kitchen Rules for Girls

Most families have the typical house rules like help out around the house, no complaining, tell the truth, clean up your mess and so on. For my family things were a little different. Of course we had the typical rules but as we got older, we realized there were a few more that needed to be stated. No high kicks in the kitchen, no singing/humming at the table, eat like a lady, be nice to your sister, no reading when you're supposed to be sleeping, doing homework or playing the piano and if that cat doesn't get fed neither do you.

Needless to say not all of these rules were always in place.  Many of them came because of random experiences that have happened while growing up.

*No singing/humming at the table-This one started very early on. Being very chatty little girls, talking quickly turned into singing. When told to not sing at the table it turned into humming-hence the rule was born.

*Eat like a Lady-My moms favorite and one that's rarely followed. When it comes to those rare fancy dinners where there's more silverware than I can count, I've got that mastered. Start from the outside and work your way in. Someday it will no longer be just the seven of us at the dinner table and all of those hours spent teaching us to act like a lady will finally show.
*If the Cat doesn't Get Fed, Neither Do You-One thing you should know, My dad does not like cats. So if we sat down for dinner and the cat was sitting in the window meowing his head off my dad promptly sent us outside to feed him so he would stop. It quickly turned into if the cat doesn't get fed neither do you.

*No high kicks in the Kitchen-This came due to me and my sisters practicing our high kicks for various reasons and almost taking off my moms head, knocking over stuff or taking pictures off the wall! Its possibly my favorite rule-perfect for a household of girls.

I know it seems strange to most people, but I guess its part of the whole living in a family of girls experience. #fourtoomanygirls

Sincerely,

BriaunaLou

The Beginning of An Adventure

Hey Guys! I want to share some stories about living with girls. More specifically four sisters. But I am getting ahead of myself. First let me introduce myself. My name is Briauna, am currently 19 and in my second year of college. I grew up in a family of 7 being the fourth child. My dad, my mom, Cami, Jena, Kelli and my little sister Jill--all girls...This of course has made for quite the childhood! With so many stories to share. Of course it doesn't help much that I now live in apartments with girls as well. So for a good laugh, tips and advice on living with girls, turn here! Thanks guys and I look forward to many giggles with you!