Featured Friday: My FRIEND-->JENNY!

"WAIT!.....Do you usually do a featured friday?".. I know that's what my 16 followers are thinking. 

And no... I don't. This is NEW.

    Okay. Now that's taken care of.

**

     In honor of her birthday yesterday....

JENNY ERTZ

 

                                          

She is BEAUTIFUL even while making silly faces:)        

       I met Jenny September 2007 in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

My first impression of her:

 

(She looked just like Katie Holmes!)

It took Jenny and I awhile to become friends. I was scared of her because she was really good at doing perms. She was FAST. and always got done FIRST! So, I assumed she was older. and stuck up. Because if your good at a perm that's what happens?! LOL! :)

anyway- The first time I really talked to her was when I needed help with a perm on an ACTUAL client.. so I went to the BEST and asked if she would come help. and after that.. it's HISTORY.

Our friendship grew fast. Our first real BONDING moment was the night we discovered something we had in common!

I was over at her apartment with some other girls...and Jenny was over in the corner by the door doing something and soon I realized she was looking at my shoes..OF COURSE I was like -OH NO- she is gonna notice my shoe size! But before I knew it.. 

she SLIPPED her foot into my shoe and yelled out.. " WHO's Shoe is this!?" 

"uhh.. Mine?" I said quietly. 

Jenny smiled and said.. WE WEAR THE SAME SIZE SHOE! 

PHEW! all my insecurity left....and there was a  BIG RELIEF.

I had never had a friend that wore the same size shoe as me!

To all you normal sized feet people...insecurites do happen here.

****

Jenny and I became roomates and were inseparable. 

We NEVER had a fight or disagreement. 

She kept me sane during that year of being in Fort Dodge. 

She was REAL. She didn't fake who she was. She wasn't two faced. She didn't feed into all the drama. 

She didn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do. She stayed by my side when I knew something 

 was wrong and she understood why I didn't do a lot of things that everyone else did. :)

She never questioned my belief in God or why I believe EVERYTHING that I believe. 

 

She is a TRUE FRIEND.

 I know God placed her in my life because there is no way I would have survived the year without her.

Thank you so much for being one of my best friends.

Never forget how Amazing you are. 

and never LIMIT what you can do.. or what you can be. 

I know that God has such an AMAZING plan for you.

Thanks for always being you!

(Look me in the eye's and tell me you love me!)

Friends are a Lovely thing, 

Brittany

My time in Master's and how I LOVED IT!

I know I already talked about Masters Commission and how I ended up going in a previous post. But I just wanted to share of how those 9 months shaped me and changed me.

                (The night of our COVENANT SERVICE. All our Covenant Rings:)


Many people questioned my decision of going to master's especially since it was in my hometown. They told me to leave and experience the "world" ( hello people, I lived in Fort Dirty (dodge)  for a year =)...Or they said that It would ruin my relationships with people around here(that didn't happen either:)..I didn't go to FLOYD MC because it was "safe" for me.

I went because I KNEW it was where God wanted me to be.

You see, I had gone MONTHS without peace and the moment I said "I'm going."

I had peace.

I'll never forget the first Monday morning of Master's and we had concert of prayer.I was standing in the sanctuary and again there was the SWEET ABIDING PEACE!

From the beginning I knew how bad I wanted this. I knew that I wanted to dedicate those months to God and just focus TOTALLY on Him. I left a full time job with financial security and gave it to God. 
I knew it wasn't gonna be easy and that I would have hard times. But If I really applied myself to it, and gave ALL of me that God would see me through. and those months would REDEFINE me.

and that's what happen.

I experienced God in a whole new way.
and I was stretched in ways I didn't know was possible AND I got to travel&&go places I had never been and that INCLUDED TEXAS!

In Texas we went to Master's Conference and there were Master's Commissions from all over!

That's where I FELL in LOVE with Master's!

It wasn't JUST Floyd master's anymore. We weren't alone.

                                         ( Us with another Master's Team:)


We saw HUNDREDS of MC students doing the SAME thing we were. They had the SAME heart and SAME goal!


 After Conference we stayed in Fort Worth for a couple days and did a service for a youth group.

and I will never forget that service because that was the service that my love for the ministry changed. I knew its what I wanted to do. I had this passion burning inside me. and I'm still not exactly sure what I want to do in the ministry but I know I'm supposed to do something with it and God will show me:)

                      (Some PRECIOUS kids from the youth group in Texas)


During those months God was always doing something in my life. But I had to be willing for Him to work in me. .Everyday I had to get before Him and say "Whatever is in me that doesn't bring You glory, Change in me. " and He was always faithful.

Master's wasn't ALL easy. There were hard days. Days where I wanted to just go home an lay in bed. Days where I wanted to be able to do whatever I wanted. Nights where I wanted to stay out until midnight but since I had a curfew I couldn't.  There were times where we got assignments and they seemed IMPOSSIBLE to complete but once we applied ourselves we got them done :) YES, we had to go and do hard work But those were just little things that shaped us. IT WAS SO GOOD FOR ME!

OVERALL:
...Those 9 months were incredible....SO AMAZING!!

and I thank God that He gave me the desire to stay strong and not to give up or break the rules (except of course over sleeping a couple times:)

     (SLEEP is something you take advantage of in master's..Just don't get discipline because of it:)


He is so faithful and good and if I had to do my first year all over again..I would because my life was changed in the best way possible. . I mean, Seriously think about it..How could I not want to serve Him and do it all over again?!

Okay.. Actually...Speaking of doing it all over again...I should just throw out there that I will be going back to Floyd Master's Commission this fall as a SECOND YEAR!.. I'm so excited and cant wait to see all that God is gonna continue to do and to change me even more for HIS GLORY! :) 

                                        ( FLOYD: MC Team from the 2010/2011)


Life is lovely in Iowa and Master's, 
brittany 
 

the FIRST& worst MULLET I've ever cut.

It was halfway through my time at La'James International College (that's where I went for hair school) and by this time everyone knew me and my personality and how bad experiences to me and my humor turn out to be funny.  So, I am sitting in our classroom and over the speaker I hear "Brittany Bluhm Please come up front for a client." and of course I HATED hearing that because you never know who's hair you are gonna do. (a lot of times I think my teachers enjoyed giving me the sketchy people to get a good laugh- Shout out to my teachers. Thanks!)  

Anyway, like I was saying you never know who's hair you're going to do. Are they gonna be nice or mean? Will this be the cat lady? Will they be human? Is it gonna be a doll? (yes..some guy brought a doll) SO, You just NEVER know. 



 I get up and head to the front of the waiting area and my teacher has a smile on her face... and I just knew I was gonna have a story. I open the door for my surprise and there is a lady in her 50's sporting a HUGE MULLET!


   The first thing I do after I see her is start praying in my head because there is NO WAY I want to "freshen" up this cut or just "trim" it!


Training to be a professional you better be professional so I get my act together.......

 (this is not her, but very close! just take away the red hair and replace it with gray)
      


   
   So, I take her back to my area. She sits in my chair. I swallow hard and ask,  "What are we doing today?"

 She reaches into her pocket and right then I get a GLIMMER OF HOPE and I start to believe that she actually brought a picture and wants a NEW LOOK!

      "GOODBYE MULLET and HELLO NEW CUTE HAIR STY--- what?! NO!" *PANICK ATTACK BEGINS*  "That's not a picture of a cute hairstyle.....that's a CLIPPER GAURD!"

YES!..... a # 2 clipper guard. Do you know how short # 2 clipper guard is?! IT'S 1/4"...I REPEAT.. ONE FOURTH.....INCHES!

 
 My eyes FILL with tears as she tells me she wants the TOP part of her hair to be SHAVED the length of this #2 guard.


 I say to her....." The 2 guard is really SHORT. Are you sure this is what you want?"

 she says what I feared "YES".

So, I do what you should never do when cutting someones hair and do opposite because the #2 guard is SHORT. I take a #6 guard which is 3/4"  and I take the first chunk of hair of the top of her head. I stop and tell her to look in the mirror at the length and she says " THAT'S TOO SHORT!"

WAIT! What?!?!.....She wanted me to just do a #2 guard which is WAYYYY Shorter than what I just did. So I tell her what all just happen, how I did the 6 guard and she doesn't believe me! and....the client is ALWAYS right....So there I am. In shock...and I reason with her and she tells me she wants it a little bit longer than that. So, we move it up to a #8 guard ---> ONE INCH.

 At this point she is a HAPPY CAMPER.

Me on the other hand, Not so much. From where my chair and station are
I have a good view of my classroom. So I can see all my friends watching...some holding back laughter...some taking pictures... the nice ones watching with sympathy and I get emotional and I begin to CRY!..I am wiping tears away from my eyes before they RUN DOWN MY FACE!

 Maybe you are thinking...Why would you cry about this? Its because when she goes to the store or she goes to her best friends house they are gonna ask who did your hair? and she is going to tell them..................."BRITTANY FROM LA'JAMES!"


I wont have any CLIENTS! My reputation!

So as I am being humbled I'm thinking "I did this! I just gave this lady a GIANT MULLET.Worse than before. Why do I do hair? I didn't come here to give a GROWN lady- a MULLET! yes, maybe a Emo girl that wants a "stylish" one, or a teenage boy that wants to be funny... But not HER!



Do you know what this lady looked like when she left La'James International Beauty School?

    (This is not her either. But I PROMISE. This is EXACTLY what it looked like!)

And I wish that I made this all up....But FOR REAL- this is what the "CUTE NEW
HAIR STYLE" turned out to be.


My advice to you today is: 1. Stay away from the mullet and 2. ask your hair stylists if they have any good ideas of what would look good on you.


Life is not so lovely in Iowa with Mullets,
Brittany




.

a Blog for my "ROGERS" FAMILY:)

    It's that time of the year again and we've been doing this for as long as I can remember and it never gets old.  But, I think this year it may be a little bit different because not as many people are coming and my heart is breaking! && I'm missing everyone that couldn't come.

    I pray this NEVER happens again because this SERIOUSLY is the BEST time of the year. 

  YES! It beats Christmas and 4th of July! and that's saying a lot because those are my TWO FAVORITE HOLIDAYS! But there is nothing like this... and that is:

The ROGERS FAMILY REUNION

  

FACTS:

• This is my mom's side of the family. 
• She has a BIG family.     
• 12 siblings. 
• 13 kids including her.
• My grandma was pregnant 9.75 years of her life. 
• I have A LOT of cousins. 
• I stop counting after 40. 
• Our family is still growing. 

---------------------------------------------

I'm blessed to know my family. To know my cousins and to have that many cousins. 

I admire my aunts&uncles&cousins for always making an effort to bring their family to the reunions. (this year some of you are going be in trouble for not coming...but we will talk later) :)

 Things I love.

• The Humid/Hot weather everyone puts up with when coming to Iowa. 
• The green grass that my cousins from the "dry states" can admire. 
•  The bonfires. 
• The sound of my aunt's singing.
• The SAME memories we reminisce about every year.
• The NEW memories we make every year. 
• The talent shows we have. 
• The canoe trips down the river.
• The late night talks.
• Our night games ----> CAPTURE the FLAG!
• The fact that we are in our 20's & 30's and still play night games.
• The bond between us. How you can go months without talking..& then pick up where you left off.

 

*I APOLOGIZE for the photo's below. Some are really blurry. But its mainly just to give you an IDEA of what some things are like:) && to my family that read this- I'm sorry if you are not in any of the pictures. I only could find a couple that would work! But know that I love you SO MUCH!

My Grandma Rogers. The Lady who started it all =)

My Mom with all her siblings&mom at my Aunt Ann's wedding in 1995

             

My girl cousins JAMMED into Brook's room (some not pictured)...doing hair & watching Anne of Green Gables!

*this is what I meant by blurry!* 

Not everyone is in this photo..& we have added quite a few since then:)

My Grandma and her children

a "few" of my COUSINS =)

*The Next 3 pictures below are of some of my cousins!

                                                                               

                                                                              

<3

Well, this is all I have for now. I will be blogging this next week about this weekend's

2011 ROGERS FAMILY REUNION!

I Wish all of you that couldn't make it were here with us RIGHT NOW!

 I love you & I'm so proud to be apart of your family.<3

P.S. you ALL better COME NEXT YEAR...No EXCUSES! ;)

Refreshing comes from the presence of the Lord.

     Some days I look at my white legs and think "I need to get in sun and get a tan!" So, I go outside and as I  SOAK up the sun, I think " I'm GONNA HAVE A TAN!"  It's lame..but that's just how it goes:)

 Some days I look at my life {the things inside me that aren't pretty} and I know I need to get in the presence of God. So, I turn on my worship music, and begin to cry out to God..I pray that He will do work in me. That I will be changed and that the un-LOVELY things that are in my life, will be dealt with.

Just like me soaking up the sun to get a tan does work, so does soaking in the presence of God to be changed & to grow closer to Him.

So many times we view God as this FAR OFF GOD- and we haven't experienced the LOVE He has for us. or the Power He has. We don't trust Him with our lives. or have too much of ourselves to surrender to him ----> {pride}.  We just live a life of religion where we just wanna go through the motion's but don't want to change. If you want change...you need a RELATIONSHIP with God.

So I ENCOURAGE you --> Get to God....Put on some praise&worship music. Pray. Seek Him. Read your Bible. He will take you as you are and you never have to be the SAME- He CHANGES lives...He Changed Me. . <3

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3:19

Surrounded by LOVELY things!

                                  WELCOME TO IOWA!!!! :)

     I have lived here for 22 years. That's MY WHOLE LIFE! and I've traveled a lot of places and seen amazing things. But like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz- " there's no place like home"


    I've heard time after time people complain about Iowa. How Iowa has NOTHING. and..." it's so boring to drive through because all they have there are corn fields"  and in most of our small towns we don't have stores that stay open past 9pm. & the closest Starbucks to us is 45 minutes away....and the list goes on....

    When you grow up in a small town Iowa- you learn to appreciate the small things! We always look forward to going to a BIG city for the day to enjoy shopping..and to get Starbucks coffee! What a TREAT:)

    In IOWA- our summer "breath taking" view is the STARS at night. We can lay out on the road and star gaze!..One night I counted 33 shooting stars!...it was so BEAUTIFUL!

    We have lightning bugs (Fireflies)....they go out in fields..(THOUSANDS of them) and they light up..OFF and ON.. OFF and ON....its all sparkly and looks like glitter! I LOVE GLITTER! 

      Just today I was driving looking at my view......of course it was-->  CORN FIELDS.... and they NEVER get old to me..perfectly lined up. All the trees, grass, corn, beans, & field land are a CRISP GREEN.. and to go with the green we have the blue sky with- WHITE fluffy clouds.

  Its all so beautiful to me.  and I'm always shocked when people think its not, or they say its boring.-->They haven't been paying attention to what we have here...its a form of Simplicity. We don't need tall buildings, Starbucks, Taxi's, Designer Clothes, Celebrities, Mountains, 10,000 lakes ;), Oceans, and so on..

 We have all we need here-& when we want all those other things...we will travel! (just like all you city folk will travel here when you want to get away from the busy "city life" :) 

 NOW! Don't get me wrong...I do love Cities... and I know they have special things about them... But this is my homeland...and while I'm here living I will enjoy the small things & take pride in them!



    Here are some pictures of my home.. and what I'm surrounded by daily. . . . 

     the mail box.

 

Vines that are growing onto our drive way.

     the side view of my home-

Our pond across the road <3

     another view

                              

Pond #2- The pond behind our house. I love the dock & weeping willow!

     One of my dad's gardens...

        a cute little shed that has been a recent addition this past year:)

    IN FRONT of our house.. we have a corn field- it fits PERFECT:)


  I encourage you today as you are out and about to notice your surroundings and to find the beauty in them. Look for the simplicity and take in all that God gave us to enjoy!





Living Lovely in Iowa,
Brittany

Here's my life, Lord...Consume me!

A few months back during morning prayer for Master's.... a question was laid upon my heart "What if we were ALL consumed with God?"...

what does CONSUME mean?  

	to engross or obsess
	to use up; expend:

This hit me so hard and became such a burden to me. . I had to just sit down and ponder this question and the potential it held and as I began to think about this,  I was overcome with weeping..because how many times do we come to this spot where we want to be this way.....where we desire to give God all that we have?...we want to walk in holiness....but then we SO EASILY go the other way and give into what Satan puts in front of us.

 When I read  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"......It was so easy for me to think "I went to Master's and gave up 9 months of my life just to pursue after God. OF COURSE I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART!".... I can tell myself that.. but how is my life really looking?  I need to daily ask God...."what is apart of me that is taking your place? and HE IS FAITHFUL to show us...He continues to bring things to the surface that are in my life and I am like.. WHAT?! that's still apart of me? yep..there are so many things that are so easily apart of us and we go day by day living with these things and not knowing that we are easily consumed by them. 

So many times we just want to be the comfortable Christian...who loves God with "ALL" their heart.. but in all reality....our sin says otherwise.

As we were made in the image of God, we were also made in the likeness of His character. The Lord said, "Be holy, as I am holy". "Be imitators of God". "... For God is love and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God". God does not merely want us to be casual observers of his character but partakers. He desires for us to be consumed by Him. He wants ALL of us!...He wants our HEART! He wants our LOVE.

 As much as I want to say that I'm Consumed with ALL of God... I'm far from it.. and here I am..on a journey..because I do long to be consumed with Him. and I want to encourage you to join me:).. JUST THINK- What if we were ALL consumed with God? What would our lives look like? what would our church look like? what would our community look like?...what would our Nation look like? and what about our world. :)