Bryan & Brittney Austin

Ummm, yeah I forgot.

Sunday, March 2, 2014 by Monkey and Britter Brit

So I kind of forgot I even had a blog for like a year. Whoops! A lot of has happened since last year. Applied to vet school this year and sadly was unsuccessful on my first attempt. Naturally I will continue to try and try to improve my GRE score and thinking about taking the MCATs as well to see if med school needs to be my fall back onto option. Over the summer we had a lot of fun. We went to Lake Powell for the first time and it was great. We also went to Twin Lakes in Idaho, the Uintah mountains, I got to take a guided fly fishing trip, I found employment with ALS laboratory, had a great holiday season, and added a new member to the family. No not a baby like we really want. Bryan and I both really want to start having kids but we are waiting to see if I get into vet school since we want to give our kids everything they need and then some. So since we can't have kids right now, we get pets. We added Dixie to our family in November. She was actually a foster fail. We have started fostering rescue dogs in our home again and we love it so much. We had two puppies, Sadie and Sophie, then Dixie. Since we have adopted Dixie we have had Gizmo and Princess as well and a couple that were going to come to our home but got adopted before we could even foster them. She is such a sweet little dog. We think she is a collie/black lab mix. She absolutely loves her ball and playing fetch. We are so glad to add her to our family.

Part of the reason we got Dixie is because sadly Chewy, our little guy, passed away last year. He passed away while he was sleeping one night. We think it was due to the small heart murmer he had. We miss him everyday and I will admit have had a hard time with his passing. He was such a sweetheart.

Aspen has shot up like a little tree. She has grown up so much in just one year. She is talking and walking/running. She is so adorable. We are very proud aunt and uncle for sure. I love showing her off to our friends. Here are some photos of her from the past year.

Such a cutie for sure. Below are some random photos from the year as well.

Henry , our cat loving life.

Rich, my cousin at the demolition derby at the eastern Idaho state fair.

Strut your mutt 2013.

Brown trout from my fly fishing trip.

Bad news about my wrist. I broke it when I was younger and unfortunately will have to have surgery again. Just putting it off as long as I can before I have surgery.

Bryan's cousin, Desi, got remarried in February to Blaine Hill. We are so excited to see two wonderful people in love come together.

All in all we had a great year. Hopefully I will remember to keep this thing up to date a little more.

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Graduation, Finally!

Thursday, May 23, 2013 by Monkey and Britter Brit

Well, it has finally happened. I graduated this month from Utah State University with a Bachelor's degree in Science in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science with an emphasis in Biovet Science and a minor in Chemistry. It was wonderful. I have enjoyed getting to come home again and be with my hubby and family. I have missed my pets as well and the way they are acting like little shadows to me right now, I would think they missed me too. I am leasing a horse for the summer which is proving to be interesting. Bryan is still in the academy and pushing strong. Not a long post because I still have to clean house before Bryan gets home from work but I will try to remember to come back and post all the pictures that we have been taking lately. This weekend will be no different being that it is memorial weekend and this year the family vacation is actually to Lake Powell instead of Twin Lakes. It will be interesting to go somewhere new but everyone tells me I will love it. We will see and I will post again once we return home and I load all my photos to my computer which should only take two to three days. :)

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Quick update

Sunday, March 24, 2013 by Monkey and Britter Brit

Well not too much has been going on lately in the Austin family. Bryan is doing great in the police academy only seconds off of passing his run at a mile and a half. He has passed on his push ups, sit ups, 300 meter run, he passed defensive take downs, and all of his written exams with flying colors. I am so proud of him. For not being a strong student in the past he has been an A student all through the academy and done so good. He is healthier, happier, and looking F I N E, FINE!! I can tell also that he is proud of his accomplishments so far. He is excited for his break in between the next block of classes. He will finish in August and be able to find work no problem with how well he is doing.

I have done well so far by the skin of my teeth. 19 credit hours is no easy task and with science classes involved too. I have finished half of the semester so far with only one class in concern. 6 classes with 5 labs is really wearing me thin for sure. But somehow I just hope to pass my classes and graduate in May.

I rode in Regionals for the equestrian team and found it to be a little disappointing especially after the judge admitted to me that I did not place well due to my current weight. She had nothing but critiques for the other riders and only had one for me. When I asked her why I only placed 4th she told me there is an industry standard that I do not meet and left it at that. I was happy to get the chance to ride for sure and it has helped me get back into what I love. I love being around horses and have deeply missed riding and being around the animals. I have found a trainer for the summer to keep riding and improving and hopefully start jumping soon.

Well I have at least started a new approach to my weight loss and have already lost 11.8 pounds. My mom made an arrangement with me that if I lose 50 by September that we could do something together and so far so good. I will just have to keep working at it and eating right to change my life back to what I want again, healthy and happy.

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Thursday, January 3, 2013 by Monkey and Britter Brit

Well it has been a little while since I have posted anything. I am such a slacker for sure.

A lot has happened as usual. Well I have made a full recovery from my gallbladder surgery. It was not pretty and it hurt for sure but I at least feel tons better than before. I do not have nausea and I am not vomitting anymore which is wonderful. I have some small scars but not bad and the only thing that has sucked about it all is now when I have to go to the bathroom, I am not held responsible for me taking anyone out to get there. It is inconvient but better than being sick all the time.

The school semester was not much of a success for me but Bryan did great. He passed all his classes with flying colors including As and Bs and only one C. I am so proud of him. Working full time and being a full time student. He gets some major kudos for that. It is no easy task for him and with a little help from myself and his mom, Jolee, he got everything done and turned in on time. Because of my surgery being three weeks into the semester and the first three weeks of the semester being sick as a dog, I did not fair so well. I passed all my classes but that is about it. Not a single A for me and only Bs and Cs. Ugh, that makes me cringe. I am no C student and I cried this semester trying so hard to fight for a C in a class. Genetics, one of my all time favorite biology topics I barely passed all because I fell behind in the first quarter of the semester. It sucked.

The next semester will definitely be interesting. I am actually taking 19 credit hours which is the most I have ever taken. I know that by the end of the semester I will be pulling out my hair and be bald by finals. It will be fun.

Bryan is waiting to hear back from the school whether or not he will start this spring semester in the academy. I sure hope he gets the opportunity because he wants it so bad and he would make an excellent officer, I just know it. He is Mr. Social Butterfly and would love to work with the public more. Also he is absolutely obbsessed with police stuff and already have bought a lot of supplies he will need for the classes and working as an officer, including the hand cuffs which are kind of fun ;)

Aspen Sue has gotten so big. She is not 8 months old and starting to talk. In fact last night she started crawling and is well on her way to walking. She is a lot like her mom in that she will not hold still and just wants to go. She gets so mad when she cannot figure out how to move forward or sideways and she just wants so badly to be able to do it all.

Aspen in Aunt Pattie Cakes outfit she got for her. The John Deer looks good on her :)

Aspen in her Halloween outfit!

(Aunt Brittney picked it out and got it for her)

Aspen meeting Santa Clause for the first time. She was so cute and just wanted to play with his beard. Most kids scream and do not like Santa but she just loved him.

I got to spend an entire day with Aspen just me and her. We played with her toys the whole day. She was a little upset each time she got tired but I just laid her down and she would go to sleep.

There were a lot of weekends of just studying and lazing about the house. This Bryan and Gretchen just chillin while we took a break from studies.

I had a good semester minus the surgery and classes. I placed well at each of our shows for the equestrian team and even pointed up into walk, trot, canter meaning I get to ride in regionals this year. Sara and I (a friend from the team) participated this year in the club calf helping out. This is George. He was our calf that we worked with. He was fun and very mild. He was kind of a sweety.

Sara and I with George working with him. We work with the calves by halter breaking them and getting them used to human contact. We brush them, bathe them, and lead them around to get them used to life as a cow.

One of the things with the changing weather is it takes longer for the horses to cool down after practice. We put coolers on them and wait after practice and Sandra, Andy and myself were the ones who got to stay our last practice with them. This is Sierra. She is one of the riding lesson horses of the school's. She is so much fun to ride. She has a pretty bumpy canter but she is great otherwise. She was falling asleep as we played with her and made her Rocky. She slept to the Rocky theme song as we waited for her dry.

This is Laura. She is one of my room mates. We have a good time together for sure. She is sitting on the chair because we had tied the door shut of Andy's closet while she was in there. We wanted to ensure that there was no easy way to escape. Unfortunately our choice of string did not withstand and Andy was able to escape. I enjoy hanging out and goofing off with my room mates. They have made this year so much better. I do not mind coming home now and hanging out with them versus last year my room mates were kind of not that much fun to be around.

This Christmas Eve we went for our usual carriage ride downtown. It was wonderful. I am so glad that I get to have such fun traditions with the family that I have and to have such a wonderful family. I love my parents so much. My sister and I share a bond that I share with no one else and I love getting to spend time with her, Danny, and Aspen. They are so much fun to be around and I love them so much. Also, Bryan. He is perfect for me. He treats me right and shows me love everyday. Even when we are mad at one another we still never stay mad long and within 15 minutes to an hour we are teasing each other again and loving on one another again. I had a great Christmas with my family and I am without a doubt the richest and luckiest girl in the world to have them all.

We got to go to the zoo lights with Aspen, Danny and Darcy. It was fun to see and the lights were really cool. I personally enjoyed them more than the temple lights because of the animal shapes :)

We had a great Christmas and I had a great birthday. I got clothes, lots of hats (which I love), books, a lightes mirror (a makeup one), some new perfume, dickie coveralls for school and vet school along with some new muck boots. Bryan spoiled me this year and I wanted to kill him for going over budget but he argues that I deserve it with all my hard work. Mom and dad really spoiled me this year with a half day guided fly fishing trip on the provo river. I am stoked. I cannot wait to go fishing. I have missed fishing and getting out to fly fish. It will be a blast.

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One more thing...

Monday, October 1, 2012 by Monkey and Britter Brit

ASPEN!!

She has gotten so big and is so cute. She is laughing, trying to crawl, and loves to stick her tongue out at people. She is adorable and I cannot wait for her to grow up a little more so I can be the Aunt I want to be which includes filling her full of sugar and sending her home, going to movies, and spoiling her of course.

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Idaho funness again!

by Monkey and Britter Brit

Well a lot has happened just in the past few weeks. The biggest news of all is Bryan and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past month. For 5 wonderful years I have been lucky enough to be married to the love of my life who even though we do not always see eye to eye on everything (like the fact I don't really want the treasure hunt of finding Bryan's dirty socks around the house), it has been a wonderful 5 years and I cannot wait for the rest of the years we get to spend together. I love the moments we share, the laughter we share, and of course the memories that we make together. Thanks Bryan for some of the best memories of my life.

I had my gallbladder removed on the 12th of September. The little bastard decided that it was time to leave the nest and did not want to even let me know why until he left. I do not think we will be able to keep in contact after this little ordeal. It just caused me too much pain to have him around and see him leave. I started having problems a few months ago with nausea and vomiting. After a visit to InstaCare, the emergency room, doctor's office visits, numerous blood draws (I was starting to feel like a human pin cushion), a very long scan, and a visit to the surgeon we finally determined the problem to be the gallbladder. I had the gallbladder removed and went home for a few days before coming back to school. It has been a long three weeks but I feel so much better now and have no nausea or vomiting. I am a happy girl. I have even been able to the past few nights sleep on my stomach again which was a big sacrifice of sleep on my part right after the surgery.

Because of the surgery, I was no shape to really celebrate out anniversary on the 15th like it was. I could barely sit up straight, was eating very little except to take pills, and it hurt to leave the side of the ice machine we waited until this weekend to go celebrate our anniversary. We went to Idaho for the weekend. Friday night we hung out with my cousin Rich, who is still the most hilarious person I know and have ever met. We went and had Indian food at a cute little place in Pocatello, spent some time just chattering before we headed to my Aunt Pat's house where we spent the night Friday. We got up the next morning, got a small breakfast, dropped in to say hi to Grandma before heading back to Pocatello. We then got to hang out with my other cousin Nick and his wife for a little bit while we waited until we could check into our room for Saturday night.

We ended up staying at the Black Swan Inn. It is a themed suite place that is was so cute and so fun. We got to stay in the Egyptian Suite which was so cool. It was fun and interesting to try somewhere new and a place that was so different from what are used to. It had this upstairs area where the bed was, the bathroom and tub were downstairs, and had these huge pillar statues that were holding up the television. It was so cool, I cannot emphasize how amazing it was. See the pictures below to see what I mean when I say it was over the top.

This is the view of the bed upstairs.

The tub. I loved the tub. It was huge, jetted, and the water went into the tub from the mouths of the golden cobras mouths.

We were pretty impressed with the room. After we checked in an I took a nap while Bryan watched t.v., we then met up with Nick and Andrea again to go watch Andrea play a 'bout with her roller derby team. It was fun to see her play again and she did really amazing. She is so tough and looking at her you would not think she could do what she does. She is amazing!

Since Bryan and I did want time to ourselves, we ended up going to dinner alone with one another and we found this good little Italian place called Buddy's that was kiddy corner to our place. It was a good place that served kind of family style Italian. We really enjoyed it and got happily full.

We got up the next morning and headed back after having a delicious breakfast at Nick and Andrea's house. Bryan came back with me to Logan and met all of my room mates for the first time. It was fun to get to relax and just hang out with my hubby in Logan. I rarely have him there with me and it was wonderful to get to spend more time with him since going to school in Logan has really put a damper on our time spent together.

When I was home last weekend though we did get to go see a movie. Bryan went for his nightly run (preparing for the academy) and when he got back he was full of energy and wanted to see a movie. So we went and saw End of Watch. It was a really good movie the only thing I did not like is that some of the camera angles being first person view made me and Bryan a little dizzy at times. Other than that the movie was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. It is a good one just the language is a little strong for those that are sensitive to foul language.

All in all a good weekend and I am starting to feel like my old self again. I love life right now just to survive the next month. It will be a busy one at school with tests, papers, and presentations all due this month.

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Picture funness :)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 by Monkey and Britter Brit

Got some pictures to share. I recently switched phones with Bryan and I now have the iPhone and I freakin' love the camera on it so much. It is awesome!

My niece Aspen, smiling big for the camera.

Needless to say this is Grandpa Randy's favorite picture of all being that he is a huge Boston Red Sox fan. So cute!

The hubby and I chillin on the bed watching the olympics together.

I saw this and just laughed at Aspen's face. Then I looked closer and realized Happy Gilmore on the t.v. in the background. Could not have timed that more perfectly. Haha!