Brother-Sister Date

If you've been following me for a while you should know a truckload about my brother Evan, who is 15 months younger than myself and only a couple grades behind me in school. He was up in Provo going to BYU at the same time as Ryan & I, so we got to spend a lot of time with him before he left for his LDS mission in Villahermosa, Mexico. 

This is my brother Jesse, he is 5 years younger than me {although some of my friends have mistaken him for being older & flirt with him...haha} and now that I'm living in SoCal for the summer I made it a point to spend more time with him because we are finally in the same state! 

Last week he took me out on a brother/sister date to go see "The Great Gatsby" {which we LOVED by the way}, then we spent time just talking about life & eating our pizza at BJ's. It's funny how some siblings will go through life and not take the time to really get to know one another. I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to form a stronger relationship with Jesse before he leaves on his own LDS mission! 

{Btw, he will be available in 4 years for any adorable girls who want to be my sister-in-law ;)}

How To: Coach Our Guys

The guys in our lives are awesome...but sometimes they just need a little push in the right direction.
I don't know about you, but my husband grew up with all brothers and no sisters,
so I've taught him what kinds of girly things/experiences make me happy.
{Aka, I like coming home to a clean house after work, love shopping at Anthro, reading Glamour or InStyle when I'm sick, etc}
This is a guide on how to coach our guys so they feel comfortable being spontaneous with gifts or acts of service that will sweep us off our feet and make us feel loved.
No more making our guys mind read!

1. Don't say "I'm training *insert guy name*"
 It's Always Referred to as COACHING
I made this mistake once & Ryan retorted that it sounded like I was teaching a dog how to pee.
Now it's coaching, because it sounds like I'm helping him with the playbook!
{Much more manly}

2. Subtle Isn't Going to Cut It
I don't know if you've noticed...but guys like to mentally check out.
If you like a particular dress or necklace, point it out and say something to this effect:
"This is totally my style and I think it would be suuuuuper cute for Valentines!"
To us girls, that seems completely obvious and over the top.
Our guys will read this as subtlety, and mentally file it away for later.

3. Short & Sweet
After I point out something that catches my eye, I give a short & sweet explanation as to why I like it.
If it's a flower arrangement?
I point out the particular flowers and colors that I like & educate him on the topic.
That way, he feels more comfortable going solo and picking something out for me that I'd like, instead of him being scared to even go in the store for fear of not knowing what to get or even where to start.

4. It's All About Affirmation!
When Ryan goes out of his comfort zone to get me something cute from Anthro or to take me to a girly movie, I make a point to genuinely thank him for surprising me and tell him what I loved about the gift, experience, or act of service.
Yet again, he will file this away in his noggin and keep in mind to do something like that again.

5. Re-Group
If Ryan is a little "off" this time around, I don't lie to him!
I commend him for his thoughtfulness and give him more pointers to work with.
We make a date out of returning something and having him help pick out what I get next :)
When you are out on dates make sure to be short & sweet & to the point!

a perfect d-land day

I just realized that I haven't posted any pictures from my California trip from almost two weeks ago!

That's what happens when school is about to start, I'm cleaning the house whilst figuring out not only my school & work schedule, but Ryan's too!

My brain is frazzled & I'm losin' it. 

Time for a Diet Coke?

I was uber bummed that Ryan couldn't come with me to Cali this time around, but he promised me next time to take me on another romantic Storybook ride at night.

{It's his favorite ride, random huh??}

But my brother Evan, offered to drive and go with me to Disneyland.

Sometimes I wonder how I'm so blessed with such an awesome family.

Seriously.

Evan made sure I was fed, he drove, and we hit up practically every ride!

It was such a good day for D-land.

It wasn't too flaming hot, there was hardly anyone in the park, and we got to do all the main rides!!

Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, the train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, and we got our favorite...

DISNEYLAND CHURROS.

Sooooo good 

Now that you have had a sufficient D-land picture overload, happy Friday :)

<3 Bri