You win some, you lose some, but everything happens for a reason.

2006 was not the year for me, cars and driving.


In April of 2006 I was rear ended and was pushed into the truck in front of me. (I don't have the pictures to post at work, but maybe I'll add them later.)

That car was totaled and not too long after that I bought a car off of a friend of my Abueals.

In June of 2006 I was turning left onto 9th street out of my neighborhood. For anybody who has tried to turn left out of our neighborhood, well, you know how impossible that can be. So as I was attempting to turn left, I didn't see a car that was coming and I was t-boned. Luckily Gods holy angels were surrounding me and my car (Reminds me of Gramma.) and I walked out of that (after blacking out.) with miner cuts and sores.












Needless to say, 2006 was not a good year for me and cars.


I was then given a manual car from a friend while I searched for a new car, but I was not too keen on the idea, so my brothers took over that car and I ended up with a 1989 Toyota Tercel that they were given. Joy! ha! Oh yeah and did I mention it has no air? In Florida....


After 1 1/2, or 2 years of driving that beast, I finally got the car of my dreams.

Our friends, the Devines, have been keeping Barry's dads car, (a 2000 Volvo S80) since he has not been driving. It took some long decision making, they finally decided to sell it to me. :) I'm very happy with the car and so glad that it worked out.


The old:



and the New:


Everything happens for a reason. Patience does pay off... And gives you something to have to pay off. Ha!

NY trip.

It's now Wednesday and I'm just now writing about my trip to NYC. Oops.

Thursday morning mom and I had the alarm set for 6am, but for some reason I was up at 5:55am and ready to get going. (This is rare. But excitement does things to you. haha) So we visited a little more with moms family and we heading off to White Plains, NY.

We got to our hotel around 8:30 and checked in so we could leave our bags in our room. We made it in time to catch our complimentary breakfast at the hotel, so that was a plus. Next up we were driven to the metro station and we bought our tickets and waited around for our metro train.

The metro trains are really cool. I have never been on one and I thought it was cool. We both enjoyed the ride. Although we tried not to look too touristic. That was a hard thing to mask because mom had a fanny pack on, but oh well. ;)

The train ride lasted about 40 minutes or so and in no time we arrived at Grand Central.

Grand Central is so neat! You just stand there in awe exploring every bit of beautiful architecture. It was really neat to be standing there in person because I've seen it in so many movies and it was really great to be able to really experience Grand Central Station and how busy it was.

After we left GCS we started walking into the city. For those of you who have been to NYC you know you walk everywhere and it's insane because there are so many people there. You walk across the street and sometimes you have to run in order to not be hit by a taxi or a crazy NY driver. I'm not even joking when I say crazy. They drive so fast and don't care if people are walking. Forget about pedestrians having the right of way. Ha!

The city is pretty neat, the buildings are beautiful and huge, although the atmosphere is a little odd at times. There is a lot of interesting people wandering the streets of NY, but I guess that's everywhere. Central Park was beautiful too.

Near the end of the day we walked past Hard Rock Cafe and I wanted to go there and look around, so we decided to just stay and get a drink, (well mom did, but I had to have a shake.) and relax a little bit. We decided to get the collectors cup which was a 24oz cup, so mom drank 24oz of some alcoholic beverage. It was funny because when we left she said to me, "Well now I'm feeling a little sluggish.". It wasn't too bad because we were getting tired and I really only wanted to see Time Square before we left, so off we went.

Time square is really, really neat. It's exactly like what you see in movies and it's a very neat thing to experience in person. I took tons of pictures and loved seeing all of the huge movie posters and how many normal restaurants are just shoved into these buildings. It was probably the highlight of the day.


I have some pictures to share and you can kind of get a feel for our experience. Here are the links. It's not letting me post it the way I want, so I had to C&P the link.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=201100547&k=ZVFXQ3S435VM5ACCUCZZTR

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=201100547&k=Y6FX34P3UWYM5ACCUCZZTR

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=201100547&k=Y3F3Z3T2T5YM5ACCUCZZTR

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=201100547&k=Y4LT5WPZQ45M5ACCUCZZTR


We went to Albany, NY for a wedding. (That's why we were in NY in the first place.) So there are pictures from there as well. We had a great trip!! :)

In Connecticut...

Today was day one of my mini vacation.

Here's how our day went:

Mom and I got up this morning, gathered our things for NY and left the house around 9:15 to catch our flight at 10:40. We hadn't planned on checking in any bags since we were sharing a suitcase and we just had your normal carry-on bags. Oh how things change... We got to the airport and went through security only to then get taken aside because we had fluids in our bags. We ended up dealing with the most impatient lady I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. It was quite irritating. We were not able to go through until she went through our whole suitcase and removed all liquids and then told us to go ALL the way back to the main entrance to check the bag in... By that time it was getting close to 10 or after 10 so and we didn't really have time to get back to check it in and then come back, but had no other choice, so Mom ended up going back alone and by the time she got there (after running there.) they said she was late by 3 MINUTES and wouldn't check the bag for her. After all that she had to throw away our shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream and whatever else we had in there that was against the law. :P After that little hassle we were going through the gate to board the plane and we're told our suitcase it too big for a carry-on and the were going to check it right there. We almost lost our minds by then because we just threw away about $20 worth of necessities and they were able to check the bag right there. So they checked the bag and we boarded the plane and we were off to Newburgh, NY. :)


The flight was a little rough at times due to weather I guess, but it went by fairly quickly. We arrived in NY around 1:30ish and were driven to the Hertz car rental place to pick up our rental.

After that we went to Target which was very close to the rental place so that we could buy the items that were thrown away. Then we were off to Connecticut to visit Moms relatives.

The trip here wasn't too bad. About 2 hours and we had Dads GPS to help us, but for some reason I have a hard time trusting these things after watching that one episode The Office. Yeah, Michael Scott drove his car into a lake... Haha! It was fine though and we made it here and had a good time.

It's such a beautiful state and I wish we had more time to see more of the sights, but we enjoyed our night nonetheless. They took us out to this cool little Mexican style restaurant called Margarita's. The food was great and the area was beautiful. The weather is in the 60's here right now which is BEAUTIFUL and such a relief from Florida weather. I love it!

Tomorrow we're headed to NYC pretty early, so I better rest up for that. If there's free wireless in the hotel tomorrow night, I'll try to post a blog. Until then..... Goodnight!

"I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys 'R' Us kid"

Growing up is something we all must do at one point in our lives.

I think back to when I was younger and thinking of how I wanted to be older so badly. I just wanted the time to fly and become an adult instantly.

Now looking back at that, I don't get why. ha!

When you're younger you don't have to worry about much. You're so carefree and everything is routine and basically laid out for you, and time goes by so much slower.

When you're older, you have to make up your own routine. You have to juggle your friends, family, prayer life/faith and work. It all gets a little overwhelming when you sit back and think about all you do as an adult. Oh yeah, and time flies faster than you would like. I work Monday-Friday, 9-5 (forget about the time flying fast here.), and let me tell you, even if you're just sitting at a desk for that amount of time, it can become very boring, very quickly and you become quite sleepy. That right there makes you just want to be a kid again. Forget about nap time. ;)

I enjoy the outcome of course, that source of income that comes every two weeks, but then you factor in all of your expenses and you think, "Well, so much for that.". When you grow up and you have to do "grown up" things you realize everything your parents got so stressed out about when you were a kid. It makes you appreciate everything that much more.

Now being 20 I don't fully understand everything it means to be an adult, but I'm well on my way to that chapter in my life. I think about things more, I appreciate times with my friends and family and I can fully appreciate my faith.

People go through changes as they grow up, you move on from certain habits and people and it hits you hard at first, but then you think, well there must be a reason. God never gives you anything you can't handle and if you lose a piece of you that you believe you will never be able to live without, there will be people there to fill that empty space back in no time. He places people in and out of your life for a reason.

I'm thankful for the people God has put in my life.

This may seem like a complaining blog, but I didn't mean for that. Those of you who are older will realize what I'm getting at and it'll make sense.

Don't worry, I'm glad to be "growing up".

What's the point.

I don't get all of the Jonas hate. These 3 brothers work there butts off every day to bring good fun music to the world, but yet they get so much hate. The Jonas Brothers are great Christian people that are trying to bring moral standards back to our sick twisted world in which we now live. They have taken a vow of chastity until marriage and proudly profess and stand by that. Yes I am aware that Britney did the same thing and look where she ended up, but I am willing to bet on them. They have a great family based music career and a love for God which is rarely seen in Hollywood today. I've grown to enjoy and respect these boys for what they do and I support them full on. I really don't care what people thing/say about them anymore. I will like who I want to like. :)

Their latest James Bondish music video.

6 months?

Today is June 24th, to you it may seem like just another day in June, but to the Bauer family it is more than just that.

6 months ago today, my Grandfather passed away.

Christmas morning is when my parents called the the 5 oldest (still living at home at the time.) into their room to tell us the news. It was not the type of news we were expecting because when my parents would have to "tell" us something, it usually would be to tell us they were expecting. It wasn't the case this time. It was to tell us that a great husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather had passed on to be with our Father in Heaven. There was no doubt about him being in Heaven. He was an amazing and holy person.

I thought a lot about my grandfather on this day and I will say the prayer on the back of the prayer card that we handed out at the funeral before I go to sleep. In memory of him.

I pray that I may become more like my grandfather, minus the sometimes cheesy jokes. :) haha!

I love you grandpa and miss you!

Rock Band.

I'm sure most have heard of the game called Rock Band. For those of you who have not, I'll explain.

Rock Band is one of the best video games out there. (In my opinion at least.)

The game comes complete with a drum kit, microphone and guitar.


The object of the game is to hit each note as it appears on the screen.



When playing the guitar you hold down the green, red, blue, yellow or orange buttons and strum. (Sometimes it's more than one button at a time.)

When playing drums you have to hit each pad. (which is either red, yellow, blue or green. As shown above.) At times you have to use the bass pedal.

When you sing, you just have to hit the notes. :P

We have friends that own Guitar Hero II and we use the guitar from that game as well. So we our band consists of a bassist, guitarist, drummer and singer.


My brother Chris bought this game a couple of months ago and it is so addicting. We somehow always end up playing this while at their apartment with friends. It's a blast!

It takes team work and practice, because it's hard at first. You have to work together in order to pass each song without failing. When you do fail you can save your other bandmates by lifting the guitar. (if you're doing well enough on the song)

It's a lot of fun and I highly recommend this game.

(Yeah, I'm a nerd. I blogged about a video game.)

Some pictures of some of us playing Rock Band.


Chris, Jack, Ryan and Christina rockin' it!


Chris, Brianna, Ryan and Jack.


Nina, Chris, Joey and Chap rockin'.

Summer fun 2008

So aside from working 9-5 M-F, I will have some fun this summer. :)

Summer plans '08 (So far):

July 2nd-6th - Trip to New York.

Mom and I will be traveling to New York on 7/2. We will be driving to Connecticut to stay with her family Wed. night and then we'll get up really early Thurs. to travel to the city for some fun in the Big Apple. :) I'm really excited because the last time I went to NY was in January of 2001 and it was COLD and snowy... We didn't get to see much of the city, so I'm looking forward to going back. We'll be going back to Newburgh area Friday to pick Michael and Chris up from the airport and then all of us will head off to Albany for a friends wedding until Sunday. I'm really excited!!

July 31st-6th or 7th - Road trip with Christine and Stephanie P.

My first road trip with friends. We'll be heading to South Florida and we'll stay with family and family friends of Christine and Stephanie. It's going to be fun. Maybe I'll add more on this later because I'm not too sure what the exact plans are yet....



Summer/Fall Concerts:

6/25 - Rooney!









7/25 - Look Mexico!










8/30 - John Mayer!










9/4 - JONAS BROTHERS!!










11-7-08 - Coldplay!








Man, I'm stoked....

Hope everybody has a great summer!!

Rainy days = home haze.

So it's been a while since my last post and my cousin Katie asked me to update, so I'm listening. haha! I'm also bored at work, so why not?!

Alrighty, so not a whole lot has happened since my last post. I finished my spring semester at the end of April and began working full time instead of my regular 9-5 M,W & F. So now I'm working 9-5 M-F, which is different, but that's life.

Ah-ha! I have a story!

I guess one crazy thing that has happened in the Bauer household is that the roof that hangs over our patio out back has recently had some trouble with leaks. The house was built back in the 70's, so that's not a huge surprise. My Dad had planned to fix the roof with replacing all of the plywood and adding new shingles.

Saturday, 5/31 was the day Dad, Jack, Michael, Chris and Andrew were to begin the fun process.

Saturday morning the construction began and after basically all day they finally finished tearing the old would out, and putting the new wood on the roof. All but the shingles had been done..... Dad figured since there was only a 10% chance of rain that the roof would be ok until they put the shingles on Sunday afternoon.

Well when it rains it pours. Literally...

Sunday after the family came home from Mass, it started to get dark and eventually started to rain. The ceiling in the kitchen began leaking. At first it was just one stream of water coming from a light fixture, so I reach under the cabinet and grabbed a bowl to catch the water. Not long after that there were many more "streams" from various fixtures and we had to run around the house to find buckets. It was a crazy and time consuming experience, but we got through it and luckily we had a lot of hands and the kids were taking buckets outside and dumping them and that kept them occupied. Well needless to say, there is some water damage and a few repairs will be done to the house, so that is kind of stressful for my parents, but we'll get through it and all will be ok. I hope. ha! So anyway, that's my story.

Jonas Brothers Video

Elizabeth, Barbie, and Brianna in a Jonas brothers video! :)

Theology of the Body.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a seminar given by Christopher West and I would like to share a few things with you all.



Christopher West is a man that travels the world teaching the truth of God's true intention for our sexuality. He is brilliant when it comes to this teaching and helping all to understand the Theology of the Body. I learned a lot, but not of why I should choose to remain sexually pure until marriage (I already know why and it's a personal choice.), but why we were given our gift of sexuality in the first place. Pope John Paul II had 129 talks on the Theology of the Body that were given over the span of 5 years. JPII goes into great depth of why we were given this awesome gift and why we must cherish it like we cherish our most prized material possessions. If we loved our gift of sexuality and respected and treated it with such care as we do our television, car, or even computer (To name a few.) what a different world it would be today.



It all truly makes sense when you take the time to understand why we were made the way we are and if you date all the way back to the beginning of time you will see why this gift is so special and why we should act as though it is a gift and not something to be treated so frivolously.



There is so much that can be taught about our Theology of the Body, but I cannot go into it all. I highly recommend either checking out Christopher West's website (http://www.christopherwest.com) and possibly buying his CD's and/or books to get a better understanding of what the Theology of the Body is really about.



I want to end this for now with a wonderful quote from JPII:

"If freedom is not used, is not taken advantage of by love, it becomes a negative thing and gives human beings a feeling of emptiness and unfulfillment". - Pope JPII



***I really would like to add more on this, but I am exhausted from the weekend and I can't think of all of the great things that I learned at this moment. I may add to this later on when I can gather my thoughts.

Here we go.

Hello family, friends, or anybody that may stumble across this blog.

My name is Brianna and I am 19 years old. I decided to hop on the "Blogspot" wagon because I enjoy writing and I thought this would be a great way to allow people to be updated with what is going on in my life.

I am one of 11 children. [Yes, you may be thinking, "Oh my gosh... No way." Well, yes way.] I love having a big family despite all the stress, lack of quiet time, and anything else that is associated with growing up in a "huge" family. I love all of my family and would not trade them for anything. I am proud and fortunate to be a member of the One True Faith, the Catholic Church.

I love hanging out with my family and friends and I am a sophomore in college and I work part time.


Alright. So here we go.