Beachy

originally uploaded by {damnittoby}.

Be back soon.

We're trying to sit and do nothing at the moment and Ive been told that also includes my blog. (*cough* nobody said anything about twitter though) Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. B&Free.

now its official

The Cherry Blossoms in Erie for your viewing pleasure

Freeland is now officially done with his first year of med school!! He worked so hard & he made it. 1 year under his belt and he is no longer a "first year" anymore. Boo Ya!

SOME say that the first year is the hardest. If this was the hardest it gets I can handle that. Not saying its always easy or that it wont get harder - but so far we have both made it work. (with the help of lots of great friends & support) Freelands done a wonderful job balancing life, school, studying, all the pressure, and our marriage all at once. And he still manages to help me clean, cook, and take care of all the other stuff. (Maybe he is the reason it works.)

So in honor of being done he is currently downstairs packing up our kitchen. And I am upstairs working. Great way to celebrate huh? Not to worry - the celebrating begins tomorrow when we head for Cleveland.. to then catch a flight to San Diego on Saturday. My dad was generous and booked a hotel for us in Cleveland on Friday night so we could go early and start celebrating. (it was also because he generously booked our flights at 6:00am so we would have had to leave Erie at 3:00am otherwise) but it worked out to be a huge blessing because we can go enjoy ourselves in Cleveland for the day.

The weather outside is BEAU-TI-FUL! Im absolutely loving it and so glad that soon we can actually get out there & enjoy it ourselves! Let the celebrating begin ...

PS - did any of you watch Glee???

done - ski

FREELAND FINISHED HIS FIRST YEAR OF MED SCHOOL TODAY!

Technically - he does have just one more exam tomorrow - so I will probably post the same thing tomorrow - but that exam doesn't count towards his grade ..

SO FREELAND FINISHED HIS FIRST YEAR OF MED SCHOOL TODAY!!!

Proud doesn't begin to explain how I feel. We're off to begin the celebrating.

PS - Have I told you about our new neighbors?

They moved in this weekend. And I finally figured out why God provided us a new place to live right when he did ...

DRUMS! ALL DAY LONG! BANGING ON THE DRUMS! OVER AND OVER!

Perfect timing. (someone banging on the drums while the husband tries to study doesn't promote the husband being able to study at home very well.. but in their defense maybe they dont realize we share a wall?! but thats a whole different issue if they haven't figured that part out! A guitar I wouldn't mind - but the drums?! I think he is just learning them too. I digress..)

Now - back to celebrating Freeland's very last summer ever starting!

This cant be comfortable

Oliver asleep on the stairs (the way he tends to do these days)







until someone wakes him up



Im not naming any names .. but ..







You should see how cute it is when BOTH dogs are sleeping there! And when Sam wakes them both up!

PS - does anyone know why all the font on my blog changed? I didnt do that!

WE MADE IT

photo credit: here

We have big news for everybody. And no Im not pregnant.. I dont think. Just Kidding! Im not. Sorry Im sure that gets old.

Okay, Im so excited to share the news (and Im still in shock myself) that in a little over a month we were able to reach our goal.. And now we are officially going to Africa! Praise God.

I was in tears the moment we received the final amount. (and pretty much every time we received anything!) Freeland had just put everything together and calculated exactly what we still needed that morning and that very day we received the exact amount (to the dollar) that we needed.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

I remember thinking we would never get enough & hoping that we would at least just get what we needed for Freeland to go. But that just shows how little I trusted God to take care of it. Because before we knew it people all around us were more than eager to help.

This experience (raising support) has been truly incredible & humbling. Even though it hasnt been easy to receive such a huge blessing from people & Im not one to enjoy being on this end. Im really thankful to have been on this side of it for just this once. Its worth it to learn how much every little bit really means, to see God provide, to see people who have never even met us & dont know us be so eager to give, to learn how to trust & believe for big things, to understand sacrificing, and to see God work.

We feel so overwhelmed and blessed from our friends, families, and all of you. Thank you SO much for all your prayers, support, and encouraging words. I wish I could write everyone of you a thank you note! (if you send me your address I will!) Im sure I will never know or understand the sacrifices people made to help us and the time people spent in prayer for us. But Im thankful for the glimpse we do understand & know.

So - as of today we officially leave for Africa in 22 days! Unreal.

PS - as of now my passport is staying how it is & we're trusting it will all work out. (since the organization told us it would) Thanks for all your advice!

PPS - Freeland also officially finishes his first year of Med School in just 3 days!

whoopsie daisy

So I got on to write an update about our trip. (a VERY EXCITING update too)

But it turns out that I have apparently made a mistake.

While Freeland was reviewing everything & talking with BWO today he realized that somehow I told them my passport says Brooke Ackley when really it still says Brooke CHISUM!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY BAD!

No big deal right. Just get it changed - and fast. Only problem - we already booked our tickets!

So now we are in quite the predicament. We're figuring it out though. And I know it will all work out. Ive put in a call to see if its best for me to change my ticket to Brooke Chisum (because I still have ID's that are current & valid and show Brooke Chisum) or expedite a new passport .. and pray for the next 2 weeks that it gets here fast!

That is if they haven't already changed my plane ticket to Brooke Chisum.

Oh jeez. Of course.

THE FUNNIEST PART ABOUT ALL OF THIS IS - Freeland has taken care of EVERY single detail of this trip. The planning, the dates, the shots, the tickets, the money, the phone calls, the paperwork, the emails, etc. etc. etc.

The ONE .. seriously .. THE ONE & ONLY thing I have done to help with the details was to tell them what my passport said.

So the one thing I was in charge of is the only thing that has gone wrong! Lesson learned - Im never helping again. I will always and forever leave every single detail to Freeland! :) Sadly, he kind of agrees with that idea too!

Another funny note: I noticed the address hadnt been updated on my passport months ago and worried about that. Never did it occur to me that my name wasnt right!!

I'll keep you posted. I know one way or another Im getting into that country! (I hear I should be more worried about being allowed to leave though!) Whoopsie!

zach & vanessa's (first of many) trips to visit us

As you are all fully aware Zach & Vanessa were here this weekend. And in the chance I didnt already mention it - we had such a great time & I already miss them being here!

Here are some pictures from their trip to visit us. (And a long run down of our activities.) If you dont want to read just feel free to make this a photographic essay and scroll through all the pictures instead. Its fine - I understand.

First we were all reunited in Cleveland. We spent the day playing there and then picked up Vanessa and then headed home:

On Friday Freeland had class so it was just us 3. We hung out, met Freeland for lunch, took them to see our new house/neighborhood, drove around erie, ran errands for dinner that night, (which means we played in Wegmans & Sams) and we also went to a bunch of the local flower stores/farms & picked out some more herbs to plant in our pots outside.



That night we enjoyed homemade pizza & drinks on the patio. Oh and we made peperoni rolls - so they were also introduced to those! (thank you erie peeps for introducing us to them)



We also caught up on The Office since we all missed it on Thursday. I loved just having them here to hang out again.. and do absolutely nothing! We thought about going out - but realized thats never what we did together. We always just stayed in and did nothing for hours.. so why do anything different now? It was such a great night. Oh they also got to witness the deer that run through our backyard! Bonus!




Then Saturday was crazy fun! We ran around everywhere (after all sleeping in a bit) First stop was the peninsula. While we were driving out to find a spot to stop & walk around we passed TONS of people bird watching. Apparently there was a big event going on. So we joined in on the fun. Im not too sure anyone else was "watching" these kinds of birds (since they watch the exotic ones) but they missed out because seriously look:



umm they were adorable! There were TONS of them all around. (i just got pictures of this group) At first they started walking towards us. We thought they wanted food. But I think in the end we all agreed they were about to attack us. There were TONS all around us and before we realized it we were surrounded by them.





I also want you to know - those pictures werent zoomed in. Thats how close they were. After we were pretty much attacked by 100's of birds we went out to walk on the beach and found the light house.















After we spent some time out at the peninsula we headed to Waldameer Park!



It was opening day and Freeland & I had never been! (thanks for the recommendation Christie!) We seriously had SO much fun here! For those who dont know - Waldameer Park is an amusement park here in Erie. You can either pay 1 price and ride unlimited rides, or pay just by the ride, or just hang out at the park & not even pay anything! How FABULOUS is that! Can you imagine if Six Flags did that?



We rode the Ravine Flyer - which BTW was Voted Best New Ride in the World for 2008 by Amusement Today! (I would compare it to The Texas Giant for those of you in Dallas.)



It was SO much fun! Much better than I expected. When you get to the top you can see the best view of Lake Erie!



You should know that after the 2nd ride (their new one - that one in the background of my last picture) we thought we were all going to throw up. (except Zach since he is the only smart one who didnt ride it) so I guess we arent as young as we all thought we were! We had to take a few minutes out of our day to sit so we didnt pass out! How sad is that? We were about to die and the kids next to us were riding the ride for the 5TH TIME IN A ROW?! To be a kid again..

AND THEN we headed out to the northeast & hit up some of the wineries.









Phew! We went to a few other wineries but it started raining so I didnt take our camera into those. We went to a new one that I loved though! You get to pour your own samples! Yes Please! It was a blast!

After a LONG day running around Zach & Vanessa treated us to a homemade meal! How great is that - our guests cooked for us! They made her Grandpa's secret recipe. And it was definitely amazing! And of course - a yummy dinner can only be followed up with Ice Cream so we ran out & grabbed Ice Cream.

Came back home & played with the dogs.



Popped in a movie.



And Freeland ended up making a pallet under the table halfway through the movie because he was so tired & passed out. I dont blame him.

But we had a blast! Im so glad we were able to squeeze in so much while they were here.

Sunday was bittersweet. We took them to eat at Hyatt's and played around for a little bit taking pictures then headed to Cleveland. Once I go through all the said pictures that we took on Sunday I will post them.

Thank You SOOO Much for coming to visit us Z&V! PLEEEAAASSSSEEEE come back soon! Or move up here! We miss you guys!

outlet

this is currently serving as an outlet for me to be distracted.

This weekend was wonderful. I was heart broken when we took Z & V to the airport yesterday. It was so refreshing having them here. It seemed just like we were back in Waco. Freeland & I noticed that when we are around them we kind of forget everything else going on. Like we get sucked into our own little world with them or something. Does that make sense or is it just creepy? We squeezed a lot into one weekend & had a blast!

Now that they are gone the freaking out process has begun.

I woke up this morning overwhelmed with what is to come in the next 2 weeks. So I just went back to sleep! Oops! I think I talked myself into the idea that I need to get up every morning at 5:00 to get it all done. (that wont actually happen but it would be nice if it did)

We haven't packed one single box for our move. SO that's the first big thing that needs to start. Freeland is studying hard for his last few test (and counting down the days until his first year of school is ov-a forever) Work is - work. You all understand. Its busy and Im continually always behind. I want to just stop everything and focus on our trip. Pray about our trip. Find more time to "be prepared" if you could ever really be prepared? And then there all the other stuff.

But we all have stuff going on. So I will stop.

Anywho, once I get "caught up" at work I will post some pictures from this weekend.

Speaking of pictures, we also convinced Zach & Vanessa into letting us take pictures of them. I say "we" because Freeland knew I was way too nervous to take that first step myself so he came up with the idea and did it all with me as I took the first baby steps in this process. Point is: I officially had my first photo shoot ever. And I'm L-O-V-I-N the pictures and how they turned out. (more on all of this later) But I just wanted to say thank you for all your continual encouragement. It really is sweet & means a lot. Ive really taken what yall have said to heart.

Again once I get at least 1 thing on my to do list done .. or pack 1 box .. then I will post some of those pictures.

Here are a few other thoughts:

• Mary had her baby - Joy is doing amazing! What an answer to prayers. Check out her blog to see pictures! (and the story if you dont already know it) God is good.
• I don't know how I feel about the "followers" thing that Blogger added to the dashboard. I love knowing the people who follow the blog. BUUT today I saw that I lost one follower and it made me really sad. Why dont they "follow" anymore? Where did they go? Was it something I said? Silly I know.
• Will someone come clean my house - or even just the top of my desk?
• Maddie & Oliver totally remembered Zach. It was sweet watching them reunite.
• We both get more shots tomorrow.. and Thursday
• I havent seen Henry in waaaaaaay too long.
• I ordered myself early birthday presents. (a book & camera strap if you must know)
• Sam is cuddling with Freeland at the moment. Its sweet. He is giving her kisses and Im pretty sure he is also having a conversation with her too.
• We (meaning Freeland) just set up all our utilities to be transferred to the new house. Check that off the list of overwhelming things to do in the next 2 weeks
• SNL this weekend was funny.
• Freeland & I meet some fabulous photographers last week who took our pictures (more on that later) It was a blast and I loved getting to see how they set up shots and "work their magic" I learned a lot.
• OH MY GOODNESS - I need to update you on our trip. Soon! I pinky promise!

dear friday, i love you.

oh me oh my Im so glad that its Friday. Aren't we all?

But more importantly I am SO excited that Zach & Vanessa are finally here!

I almost peed me pants yesterday I was so excited picking them up from the airport. Zach got in at 12:30 and then Vanessa came in at 9:30 so we just spent the day in Cleveland running around.

Since there aren't any some stores in Erie - when we go to any of the cities around here (Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh) we always end up running around to all of them trying to get as much done as possible. Normally I am returning things. (shocker)

But yesterday I am proud to say I actually bought stuff (with gift cards - thats another story for another time - but I have a problem actually using gift cards so I end up keeping them for years while I try to decide what to spend them on.. okay well that was the story so I guess I dont have to tell it another time)

Funny side note: One of the things I bought with a gift card - is the exact same thing I returned to receive the gift card a year earlier. Did that make sense? I have a problem.

Anywho - Im off to get some work done before our dear Texas friends wake up! Then its off to spend the next 3 days doing as much as possible and trying to convince them not to leave! Have a great weekend! Brooke

Real Life Twitter

I saw this on twitter.. from linsey krauss. it cracked me up. So here I am sharing it with you. BTW: I added a little button over there to my twitter page. Do I feel lame-o for doing that? yes.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

somebody get some speed stick up in here STAT.

sadly, the umm "everyone look at pictures of my cat" hit home a little hard.

Our current casa

as promised .. here are some pictures of our current house - a year later. Lets pretend its a tour for those friends & family who havent been able to come up & visit yet.

We've very much enjoyed living here. Of course there are a 1000 things I would change.. or set up different.. or blah blah blah.. but we're on a budget and Im happy with the way it currently is so there you go. Like I have said I am excited to move but honestly I will miss this house. Specifically the tree's behind it, the pantry, and our spice cabinet, I love that its so easy & quick to clean, oh and the 2 bathrooms. (and lots more) Strange that we have only lived here a year but I feel like there are already so many memories here!

and as always - I preface it with this - our house was clean when I took these .. but not cllleeaaannn... so this is just me being real with you. Dont get me wrong - it gets LOTS messier than this.. but its also cleaner than this (at times). I just went ahead and took the pictures because I knew if I didnt - it would never happen. But if you were to actually come visit - I would clean it.

since you have seen the front of our house before .. lets start in the back. if you were to pull in the back you would walk into this..

our garage. (Freeland was about to grill out)

its well - storage for the time being. if you could only see the hidden boxes packed from floor to ceiling .. and the furniture that is shoved in all the corners since we dont have room upstairs!



This is our "basement" which is the size of a closet (because we opted for the garage instead of large basement) but this is where the laundry is washed, pups are fed, and all the appliances that dont fit in our kitchen are stored. (its also the place where piles grow of random stuff) To be honest I never really come down here. I go in & out - but this is my least favorite place in the house. I think I tell Freeland at least 3 times a week - "I hate it down there" dont know why - but I do. guilty.

Its also where the dogs beds are. But dont be confused by that - they dont sleep down here. They sleep upstairs with us. (not in the bed) but this is where they chillax while they are waiting to go outside.

Thats enough explination about the darn basement. Moving along.. lets go upstairs:



walking walking walking... turn..



and boom! We're in the living room. This room is for l-i-v-i-n in.

and thats about all there is to the 2nd floor. yep - its that tiny.



Oh wait - there is also a kitchen. Which I enjoy.



Lots of light. Big window/sliding door. all that junk isnt always on the counter tops. I just hadnt put it all away yet.





And it has a pantry which is something we will not have in our new house .. and its something I will miss dearly. (im also going to miss our turning cabinet door thingy that holds all our spices.. moment of silence)



please dont let me fool you. this is organized because my family got us these containers for Christmas. But if you remember - I have been wanting them for some time now!

oh and before I forget - this is our guest bathroom downstairs:



I do my make up down here for some reason. Back to the living room..



and to answer your question - no, we never get curtains for our windows. I always put it off and then before you know it - we're moving again!

if you were to walk in our front door you would see this view:



so you get it? You come in the garage you have to go upstairs. the front door - you're in the living room. Capeesh?

and if you go through here & up the stairs you can see where the magic happens.



Magic being - where we work and study all day long.



This is the umm office. Its the room I dread going into all day. Its the room that if we have guests over I dread showing them. But thats not because its the office and where I spend way too many hours every day - its because its SO darn uuuugggglllllyyyyyyy. Well its not "ugly" its just not really a room that makes me feel creative or that I feel like looks like "us" get what I mean?



My work gave me those desks. We had every intention of painting them. But umm they are really heavy folks - so once they were moved up here there was no moving them to paint them!



But, as you all know - were moving. So you know what that means? These desk can finally be painted!! Which also means the office wont be so ugly any more - which also means I wont hate our office anymore.

I cant wait. It will be so nice to walk into a room and enjoy it again.

Enough with the office. Back to the "hallway"



This is our bathroom. Its umm a bathroom so not to much to it.


that sign says "my heart is full" I love it very much.

And this is our bedroom.



That bed spread was only $20. So that also makes my heart happy. And I wanted to share that with yall. We switch it out now with the other one yall have seen in the rest of our pictures before. Ignore that every time I show you our bed there is laundry on it! (it will probably be that way if you ever come over too!)



and thats it .. this is how you leave our bedroom:



Oh shoot - I forgot to show you the inside of our fridge and our cars like they do on cribs! next time.

thanks for touring the Ackley casa.

Now its time to start packing..