A year full of miracles

A year ago today, my life was changed forever.

A year ago today, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

From that moment on, my life would never be the same as I was thrown into a whirlwind.

The call. The news. The fear. The hospital. The ER. The ICU. The tears. The shaving of the hair. The heartache. The surgery. The pain. The recovery. The healing. The tender mercies...

The miracles.

 

If you would like to read my story in greater detail, click on the following:

 

Oh, how life has changed...

 

And don't forget to read the spiritual side of things with this link:

 

The Aftermath

 

 

 

I truly am so grateful for the person I am today, because I have fought to become her.

My life has changed completely and I never would have guessed that it would have turned out the way it did.

But I am incredibly grateful.

And humbled.

My infinitely merciful Father in Heaven performed a miracle in my life in which my life was saved. I still have work here to do, and I know that without a doubt in my mind.

I will strive every day of my life to give back to Him what He gave to me--my life.

I love Him and am eternally grateful for His love, His wisdom, His mercy, and His miraculous hand.

 

Miracles really happen, and they happen today.

I am living proof.

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and helping me celebrate the miracles in life and the goodness of our all-knowing and loving Father in Heaven. :)

 

All my love,

Brianna

From Carmel, California to Reno, Nevada, and back to Home Sweet Home (Days 8 & 9)

My brothers and dad are huge golfers, so of course we needed to stop at the world famous Pebble Beach Golf Course.

 

Pebble Beach logo (in real life :))

 

 

 

Next stop: Carmel, California. An adorable little town by the coast.

 

There was a little shop which was selling the artwork of Thomas Kinkade. He was a phenomenal painter, and I bought an amazing calendar from there. Not just any ordinary calendar. A DISNEY calendar. How excited I was and am. :D

 

Another little shop caught our attention. It was a little bakery, and we ate lunch there. It had been a chilly day, so I bought a vanilla steamer with white chocolate covered biscotti. It was absolutely divine.

 

 

On our way out of California, we stopped at "Donner Pass". It is an amazing monument to pay tribute to the incredible Donner party that went through there. They were on their way to settle California, and the snow way as high as the monument itself--22 feet. Just under half of the 90 member party perished. What examples they are to me of enduring to the very end against impossible odds.

 

 

On our last night, we stayed in Reno, Nevada. "The Biggest Little City in the World". Basically Las Vegas #2. Ha ha :) It was like another world--quite an experience. How thankful it made me to be a member of this true church and to know who I am--a daughter of the Almighty God--and my purpose here on this earth.

August 10th, day nine of the trip, we drove about eight hours back home.

How good it felt to be back in our own house--truly our home sweet home.

 

Thank you so much for sticking with me and reading through my family's adventure as we embarked on this road trip. How thankful I am for them and their examples--I will forever cherish the memories made while we spent this time as a family.

 

As you travel through life, don't forget to make lasting memories along the way. And always remember to say 'I love you'.

 

"All I ever wish to do is travel through this life with you." (Mindy Gledhill)

 

Lots of love,

Brianna



Golden Gate & the Cali Coast (Day 7)

Have you been to California?

 

I just had to share that song with you because I was thinking about it our entire trip. :)

 

Our first stop was the Muir forest. It was pretty cool. Plus it had a bunch of huge trees.

 

 

 

Next, we headed to another lookout to see if the grand Golden Gate had made an appearance through the fog.

 

Alas, it had!

 

 

My attempted selfie with the Golden Gate. Yet another very, very windy day.

 

We drove across to the other side and found the place to actually walk onto the bridge.

 

It was amazing.

 

 

The view off of the bridge with the city in the background:

 

 

That occupied most of our day, and then we had to hit the road to drive to Monterey.

 

But along the way, we got to see with our own eyes the beauty of the California coast.

 



 

 

We stopped at one of the state beaches along the coast, and got out. I absolutely loved standing there on the sand, watching the majestic waves roll in.

 

 

I had some fun editing this picture with these song lyrics:

 

I really do love the ocean. It is so majestic, and powerful, and beautiful, and amazing. I could sit and watch it for hours. Definitely another highlight of the road trip.

San Francisco (Day 6)

August 7th, day six. The day was spent in San Francisco. Probably my favorite day as a whole out of the whole entire trip.

 

We set out that morning, SO beyond excited to see the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We drove to a lookout along the side of the coast, and to our dismay, the bridge was completely covered in a thick fog.

 

 

Despite our disappointment, we decided to attempt to see it the next morning. We hopped back into the car and drove across the bridge into the mesmerizing city of San Francisco.

 

(This was the only shot of the bridge I got that day.)

 

San Francisco is an amazing city. Some of the streets were incredibly steep, and I couldn't believe it. Thankfully mi padre is a magnificent driver, so we made it in one piece. I would describe it as scary, a little stressful, exciting, difficult...but most just an adventure. :)

 

We got to drive on the famous Lombard street--the one with super tight corners and looks like a snake.

 

A bird's eye view of Lombard (I did not take this photo ;)) :

 

 

My view of Lombard:

 

 

That was quite the adventure, and most definitely a unique experience I had never had before.

 

Eventually we made our way to Pier 39.

 

 

It had all these fun shops, and outside was a lovely fruitstand...a very expensive one I might add. ;) We paid more than we wanted to for those strawberries, but let me tell ya, they were the best strawberries I had ever eaten in my entire life. So it all worked out. :)

 

 

The most amazing thing was occupying space on Pier 39.

 

This staircase.

 

 

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost died. A piano staircase. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. :') And it gets better. When you walk on it, it made sounds. Like a real life piano. It was fantastic. 

 

It was time for lunch, and after walking for a little while, we stumbled on this cute little pizza parlor.

 

 

I ordered a slice of veggie pizza...behold it's sweet glory.

 

 

And now behold this lovely *cough* picture of me sinking my fangs into my prey...wow, that sounded gory. Nonetheless, it was delicious. :)

 

 

My family and I eating our delicious pizza...never mind my hair was whipping around in that San Francisco wind. Ha ha :)

 

 

My family are HUGE chocolate fans, so we just HAD to pay a visit to the original Ghirardelli chocolate factory. It was just lovely.

 

 

And we just HAD to order a few things off of the menu.

My brother and I shared this beauty:

 

 

An ice cream cookie sundae. It. Was. Absolutely. Delicious.

 

Behold my excitement to be standing in front of the ORIGINAL Ghirardelli chocolate factory. It was wonderful. :D

 

 

The Bay Bridge (so beautiful lit up with all of those lights :))

 

 And that, my friends, concluded day six of this road trip adventure. If you ever get the chance to visit San Francisco, do it. You won't regret it. :)

Driving to Windsor (Day 5)

August 6th, day five, consisted of more driving. We finally made it to Windsor, California. We stayed in a beautiful Worldmark Resort, and it was fabulous. That night, my mom, dad and I watched a movie called "Leap Year". It was basically absolutely adorable.

And I loved it. So much. :)

 

Yosemite (Day 4)

Tuesday, August 5th. Day four. Yosemite National Park. Amazing.

 

 

Bridalveil falls....that is, if there were any falls to be falling...haha :)

 



I've got a thing for bridges. So I just had to get a picture by this lovely bridge. :)

 

El Capitan:

 

 

Mariposa Grove:

 

 

See those tiny little people next to that humungous trunk?

Yep, that's me and my two brothers.

Yosemite was an adventure I loved and it was so amazing to see some of Heavenly Father's most incredible creations.

Bass Lake (Day 3)

Day three consisted of driving to Bass Lake. This is the extent of the magnificent view out the van window... *cough cough* Ha ha :D Not the prettiest, but hey, that's okay.

That night we ate at a restaurant called "Miller's Landing" and it was at the south end of Bass Lake. The food was pretty tasty. Check out the sweet menu (they were on these slabs of wood made to look like a surfboard--they were awesome) :

The fam...except Dad. Ha ha :)

 



Lake Tahoe (Day 2)

On August 3rd, day two, we drove the route around the renowned Lake Tahoe.

It was absolutely beautiful.

 

 

Later that night, despite the fact that it was Sunday, we were indeed on vacation and in need of dinner. A friend recommended a little restaurant in Tahoe called "Sprouts". The food there was really tasty. :D