remember whens

I don't know if it's the semi-fall (note the word "semi". Utah is not pleasing me in this regard. anyways.) weather or maybe I am just missing my family. Fall and family seem to do this to me. Regardless, I am feeling very nostalgic lately. And nostalgia always puts me in a very list-y mood, hence the following: (also, sorry to be SUCH the lazy head, but there will be no pictures to accompany this massive post. DGP.)

1. Yesterday while I was listening to my iPod (shocker right?), Rooney kept coming on and it reminded me of my freshman year in high school, when I lived in Florida. I used to listen to that c.d. every day when I would go to the gym. Not very exciting for a workout mix, but I loved it. And want to hear the funny thing? I literally would listen to the c.d. As in, the COMPACT DISC. As in, I would strap my bright yellow cd player AROUND MY WAIST and then commence my work out. This took place both at and not at the gym, aka when I would run. Explain to me how no one ever stopped and laughed. I had a c.d. player strapped around my waist!! HAHA I am dying at the memory. That was the year the iPod came out, and needless to say, I purchased myself one the following summer.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.

2. Speaking of Florida, my freshman year was way awesome. My English teacher was the most liberal black woman who I have ever met. And she had a pet plant. I really loved her. My science teacher was equally as crazy, and she was only teaching for one year, in between her terms at Cornell and Oxford. NBD.
I also really loved my geography and math teachers. They would get in massive wars with each other, on a daily basis. Like once, my class stole my geography teacher's clicker for her projector and controlled it from another class room. So funny. Also, all the classroom lights were motion sensitive. So one time we convinced my math teacher to let us all sit on the floor in the corner, perfectly still, for fifteen minutes straight until the lights went out. And great news, it totally worked. That was a really great class period.
And don't even get me started on health. First, my teacher LOVED me, and I will shamelessly admit that because it made me feel really awesome. Second, the class was full of idiots (is that horribly rude of me?), so it made me look like a genius all the time. For example, I was once offered a joint... IN THE MIDDLE OF HEALTH CLASS. He was the idiot, and I, the genius. Oh the irony. Third, during our outdoor portion of the class, my dearest friend Saychelle and I would just lay on the track or the basketball court talking in weird voices and making up stories about people we knew. 100% productive, and 100% fun. Finally, Spanish and Yearbook. My Spanish teacher was capital A awesome. His name was Senor Borja, aka the most amazing (also maybe only) Ecuadorean man I have ever known. I also had this class with Saychelle, and everyday was a special adventure. Literally special. It was exceptionally fun when Senor would yell 

"GOOOOAAALLLLLL GOAL GOAL GOAL GOAL!!!!" 

every day in class, reliving his professional soccer days. And so my love for the language was born.
And I don't have much to say about yearbook except that we would only listen to Bob Marley, as per the request of the most-stoned-kid-I-have-ever-known-in-my-life, aka Todd. And I loved him. Needless to say, I was so naive that I had no idea why his eyes really looked like that. 

I just thought the poor baby was tired. HAHA.

3. My family was soooo obsessed with the everglades. I think we took like 5 airboat tours in just the year we lived there. Also went on a 15 mile bike ride straight through the everglades. 1 almost-rattlesnake-attack and 26 alligators later, I was really glad to be alive. Also, once I was with a friend on yet another tour through the everglades, and a vulture pooped on her face. 

HAHA I died. So disgusting.

4. We went to the beach for Thanksgiving. Need I expound?

5. Moving on from Florida... I keep thinking a lot about Georgia lately too. Also due to the music that keeps coming on my ipod aka something corporate, imogen heap, copeland, and jimmy eat world. Pretty much all I ever listened to during my stint in the south. Especially while I was riding the bus. How great is it that I didn't get my license until I was 17? Aka I rode the bus my entire junior year of high school HAHA. Minus the days that my cool friend with a lime green mustang would take me home. I'm okay with the whole bus thing though, I had my favorite music lovies to keep me company. Especially when silly freshman tried to talk to me all the time.

6. I just remembered the funniest thing ever. The very last day of my geometry class, I FAKED THE NOISE OF THE BELL AND THE TEACHER LET US OUT 10 MINUTES EARLY. You might be thinking "yeah right Brooke, she totz knew it was you, and she was just being soooo nice because it was the last day of school." FALSE. This woman was old and cranky, and she was all business, all the time. 

I fooled her, yay me.

7. Another funny story. I took trig/pre calc my junior year. At one point, I was really struggling in the class (aka I probably had a B- haha. Silly parents and their high expectations), so I met my teacher... 

at Starbucks. 

On a Saturday. 

For 4 hours. 

And worked on math. 

How was I so cool?

8. Every Halloween, my old Bishop would throw a huge fall fest in his massive back yard. Imagine this: hay rides, enormous bonfire, hot cider, lots of fall-y trees, children running around in costumes, carmel apples, lots of friends... it was the epitome of everything beautiful and fun that I love about fall.

9. Another funny story. I auditioned for show choir at the end of my sophomore year, and guess what song I sang. If you guessed "More Than a Feeling" by Boston, gold star for you. Yes I sang a Boston song for a choir audition. The best part is, I totally made it into the choir. 

Thank you Brad Delp, I couldn't have done it without you!

10. And one final story that I just remembered. One night, my family played a massive game of hide and seek through our house. In the pitch dark. It was pretty much really scary. And then, to top it all off, we couldn't find my dad for like an hour because he was such a sneaky hider. 

So sneaky in fact, that he had us convinced there was a murderer outside on our patio trying to come in and play with us too. More like hide and shriek (haha I am soooo punny). It was terrifying.

Well great news! 

I have thoroughly exhausted my nostalgia, and feel rather content now.
Huzzah for east-coast-lovin-high school years.

fanstatic things to be in love with on this happy friday

 Hoorah for another fall out boy themed post title.
Also panic at the disco? Yeah pretty sure they do it too.

So, It's Friday, obviously the best day of the week... and as such, requires unadulterated happiness from all... here is a list of things to be in love with today. Or at least, things that I am in love with today.

1. "Boy with a Coin" by Iron and Wine. It's so weird, and tribal, and underwater-esque. But wow I really enjoy that song.

2. "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" by Fleet Foxes. The beginning is so haunting! I just wish I knew the words so I didn't have to go around my apartment singing it like an Avox. Aka like I have no tongue because I just holler the whole time. I hope my neighbors don't mind...

3. "Africa" by Toto. I listened to it while walking to campus this morning and I felt like I was in an 80's adventure/romance movie. SO GREAT.

3. The Strokes. First, Julian Casablancas is insane talented. Also, sweet last name. ALSO, their music is sooooo great. Every song makes me uber happy. Especialmente Someday, Last Night, and You Only Live Once.

 Yeah, he is pretty cool.

4. Promise this is the last music related item that will be on this list... the James Horner pandora station. Talk about epic! It's really hard listening to soundtracks like Braveheart, Narnia, Harry Potter and Titanic while I am at work, mostly because they make me feel like I need to be doing something reaallllyyy cool aka not posting jobs and managing linkedin groups. ahhhh such is the life in the Hinckley Alumni Building haha.

5. How strikingly green the grass has been looking lately. This morning after my media writing lab, I was walking around campus and the grass was so bright it was almost blinding. And i loved it.

6. Wearing nylons even though it's really hot outside and probably inappropriate looking. Maybe if I keep pretending it's chilly, it will happen. Or not.

7. The pumpkin spice candle in my apartment. For only 3 dollars, it actually smells like fall IN OUR LIVING ROOM. I freaked out yesterday when I walked downstairs and realized it actually worked. I LOVE AUTUMN.

8. Roommate's boyfriends slash fiances. It's so nice to have built in man-friends like that. Plus they are usually really funny, and I can wear my pajamas minus makeup without caring a stitch. YES.

9. The websites "Stuff White People Like" and "1000 Awesome Things". Trying to have a really awesome day? Visit one of these, you will feel 100% better. I especially like the commentary about Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. SO true, and SO hilarious.

10. Cereal concoctions. Like my breakfast this morning. A combination of 1 banana, 3 strawberries, go lean crunch, and blueberry happy sunshine supreme (or something kind of like that. i hate when a cereal has a retarded name, bt dub.)

Now I am even more happy then before.
Viva Friday!

Viva España. OH WAIT.

Oh hey me and my Latina roots.

So I am in this Spanish class right now. 

And it's terribly frustrating for several reasons.

A. I don't even need the stinking class, so it's 4 credits that I am taking, worth NOTHING. And I still have to take calculus next semester blegh.
B. I have learned all this stuff SO many times, but what? I am still incompetent? The ridiculous thing is I can read and understand it pretty well, but then I have to speak and my mind goes blank. No. Less than blank. And then I start to think I can't do ANY of it, and I freak myself out... 

ALL THE DAY BEFORE AN EXAM. That's bad news with a capital B folks.
C. We don't listen to any Spanish music, ever. Come on profe, hit me with some Mana, or Juanes, or even Shakira or Ricky Martin for goodness sakes! Anything to make the class more exciting. Also, add to my repertoire of cool spanish songs.

Ok so that's only three things, but still. The combination is enough to make me go crazy. 

Mayyybee I will skip on Friday.....

In other (and contrastingly positive) news, here are some great things I have been thinking about lately. Buckle up, it's about to get disjointed in hurr.

1. I LOVE JDAWGS. Provo's greatest local joint by far, and you get a full meal for only 5 bucks. AND last week when I was there, MAE came on. While I was with Nicole. It was the most inspiring/epic moment of my whole month probably.

2. I was really  disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to go to the football game this Saturday, but then I remembered "Oh wait. I have tickets to the actual Relief Society Broadcast, and BYU's football team isn't doing so great right now." So really I am in luck. Plus, how much does the relief society broadcast with the roommates call for a trip to ice cream afterwards? Let me tell you. 100%. Which is obviously exciting.

3. I keep wanting to watch a movie of epic proportions. As in pretty much make in an every day habit. Something along the lines of LOTR/Harry Potter/Narnia/Australia/Hook/The Last Samurai/A Beautiful Mind/Gladiator/Master and Commander/Cinderella Man (Russel Crowe trend much?). Yes yes I know these movies are all very different, but they all have fantastic scores and beautiful plot lines. Which obviously makes for an epic movie-watching experience.

4. Fall is coming. But freak, I wish it would come faster! The only good thing about the weather taking a long time to cool off is it means that winter will take longer to get here. Which is really good I guess, because I am not ready to handle Jack Frost and all his minions yet.

5. My bad dreams have stopped! (For the time being). Por ejemplo (how's that spanish practice for yeh?!)... the other night, I had a dream that I was at the zoo, playing with baby elephants, AND puppies. It was so much fun. And now that I read what I just wrote, it was also pretty gay apparently. But mostly fun. That's the important part.

Look. baby me with baby elephant. 

JOKE.

6. Since I got all mono-ed at the beginning of the summer, I have been incapable of running more than a mile at a time. PATHETIC. But I have great news. I conquered the pavement this morning and ran just under 3! That is a huge feat. Soon, I will be up to par again and I won't feel stupid talking about the menial mileage I run in the morning.

7. I really love my roommates. Like really. Like we have all agreed that we each definitely prayed our way into our apartment. And it has been a party ever since. Trying to stay up until 3am every weekend? Come on over.

8. I turn 21 in 40 days exactly. Basically I am really excited. Even though 21 still sounds really young to me. Which is ok I guess, it's not like I am trying to age super fast aka Benjamin Button style. Except not really Benjamin Button style because that makes no sense. (p.s. I still get grossed out when I think of him saying "I'm 7... but I look a lot oldah." I much prefer the real Brad Pitt to the shriveled old man version of him. GAG)

8 is a pretty good number so I am going to leave it at that. And now, despite my argling about Spanish, I feel much better. 

¡Haga un día lindo estar vivo!

since I am really good at talking about my dreams lately...

I will relay the latest in my imagination's creations.  
rhymie limey.

So last night, me and a bunch of other people (including close friends and family... i am just unsure of the specifics...) were being held captive in a giant inflatable raft outside of an insane mansion slash haunted house. Sounds SLIGHTLY normal right? LIE. Everything was an insane color... like I am pretty sure the sky was a pulsating purplish black color, and everyone's skin was hot pink. It felt like we were in some kind of techo-cosmic-Avatar land. And then a crazy Jaba the hut-esque man came crawling out of the house laughing about how we were his prisoners. Flash forward, I have somehow escaped, everything is a normal color now, and I am hiding in an upgraded version of my apartment with my family.

Here's the kicker

I HAVE A BABY.
Except, he is more like a toddler because he is walking and calling me mama and stuff. Soooo cute. (although that sounded 100% sarcastic, it was not. I love babies.)

look at the little guy. this is most likely what he looked like in my dream
Cute right? Well.
Here's the second kicker.

HIS NAME IS KEVIN.
HAHAHA baby Kevin
Nothing against anyone with that name, I have met plenty of decent Kevins. But sorry, I am NOT naming any of my children Kevin. eeshka.

Here's the third kicker.
Guess who the baby's daddy is. OH WHAT? A friend of mine who is serving a mission

HAHA.

And the fourth kicker (because of course there's a fourth kicker) you ask?
I somehow know in my dream that even though I have a child with this missionary, we did NOT do what it requires to make said baby.

Ahhhh dreams. Always defying the laws of... everything.

So I guess the main point of explaining the whole dream is this. Even though it STARTED bad... it ended pretty well!  

(YES I know it sounds like I had an illegitimate child with this man. I am not a devil I swear. It just made me gobs of happy in my dream to see the adorable baby and adorable man all in one place. also maybe a little happy in real life too)

So huzzah for my happy *hopefully not too far in the* future family, and a bad dream ending happily.  

Things are looking up in dreamland!

pancakes and waffles and crepes, oh my! like really, OH MY!

This morning I realized something lovely. I mean, SOOO LOVELY.
So I rolled out of bed, but instead of heading straight to the shower as per my usual routine, I decided to get all comfy and go downstairs to eat breakfast first. Lucky for me, one of my roommates was also up, so we got to chat and eat together. So I'm sitting there on the stairs,

and you know what dawned on me?
(haha dawned. because it was morning.... i'm so punny)

I LOVE BREAKFAST TIME.

First, it's really nice to connect to people in the morning. Everything is so fresh and new. And there is something about pajamas and bed head that makes people seem so much more endearing, and almost vulnerable. It is really refreshing to take some time at the very beginning of the day to just talk with the people around you. Like taking care of the most important thing before anything else. It's especially nice when everyone can recall their dreams from the night before and relive them with everyone else. Bonus points if they are funny. It feels really good to laugh at 7:30 in the morning when you would soooo rather be sleeping.

AND UM, LET'S NOT FORGET THE FOOD.

Whoever said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, forgot one key detail: it's the most important and DELICIOUS meal.
Let me put this in perspective.

-French toast
-Pancakes
-Eggs (whichever you prefer... including omelet style, which I think is the best)
-Waffles
-Oatmeal
-Hot Chocolate
-Crepes
-Cream of Wheat
-Yogurt and Granola
-Toast
-Bacon
-Sausage
-Cold Cereal
-Donuts
-Cinnamon Roles
-German Pancakes (probably a fav of mine. such a staple in my house)
-Hashbrowns
-Fruit
-Smoothies
and hey, even the occasional...
-Cold pizza. LOVE.

I just drooled a little after re-reading this list. So not only is breakfast time a really wonderful time of the day, but it also includes an incredible plethora of delicious eats.

WHO DOESN'T LOVE THAT?

think about THIS the next time you feel inconsequential

can I get a woop woop for a good dream?

No but seriously.

I think that a little cheer might help me out. And why do I need a cheer to help me out? 

BECAUSE I CANT STOP HAVING BAD DREAMS.

It honestly doesn't matter how great of a day I had, or how happy I am when I fall asleep, or how positive I have been thinking. Nope, as soon as I close my peepers, the bad dreams start flooding in.

Like last night for instance.
My family was on a trip in some tropical paradise. Sounds good right? NOT. So my mom and I were swimming down some water-filled hallway when all the sudden she yells "Oh no! There IS a shark around this corner!" (Like we had been debating it or something...) Before I know it, she is gone and I am left battling this horrifying man-eating primitive beast. Then, I hear my mom's disembodied voice yelling at me from somewhere in the distance "Just punch it in the face! PUNCH IT IN THE FACE!"

No mom, I am not going to punch this *%#n shark in its *%#n face.

 this is a snapshot from my dream. or also maybe a snapshot from google.

Needless to say, I sustained a lot of wounds and was left to my own devices as I wandered around trying to find the shark bite ward. I REPEAT. THE SHARK BITE WARD.

Why are we here on vacation again?

Anyways, I finally drag my bloody mess of a body into the room and oh what? Everyone else there is just as bloody and messy and shredded as I am. It was so morbid! I am disgusted that my brain came up with those things!

So that was just last night's dream.
Then the night before that, some crazy man was chasing me and my brothers all over the country trying to kill them.

Then on Saturday night, I dreamed I was dating this guy, and I wanted to take him home to meet my family, but instead he kept turning in to weird creatures and trying to run away from me. But when he was normal, he still acted like he loved me. Event though I knew he didn't because in reality, I was dating some sort of shape-shifting psychopath! (According to my roommate, I was talking very frustratedly in my sleep during this dream. Wonder why)

Then last week, every night but one, I had some sort of dream about being chased by an unknown psycho/killer/kidnapper/rapist/other character featured on an episode of law and order. Either that, or having to defend my family and friends from them.
And THEN, every time, I wake up terrified slash pissed for about 2 and 1/2 minutes because I think it's real.

I am starting to get worried that someone really is out to get me.

Maybe it's time to consider becoming an insomniac.

Then I would have the credentials to write cool techno songs about bugs and then becoming uber famous, all over a free download on itunes! 

Oh wait, am I Owl City?

Dearest Sexy Rexy,

Well hiya.

It's Brooke again, this time comin' attcha from the BYU in the not-so-dirty south aka Provo.

So I keep meeting people down here who also braved your campus at some point in the past. And it has been making me think about you more than usual. And the other day whilst doing that, I realized something.

You may have been freezing.

You may have been SO freezing that the first week of class, the inside of my nose froze. completely.

(Thanks for that new experience by the way)

SO freezing that I had to wear the most insane coat possible, which in turn just caused a sweat fest as soon as I stepped inside the sweltering buildings.

SO freezing that nothing besides hanging out in my apartment on the weekends was fun.

You may have been tiny.

You may have been SO tiny that to drive from one side of town to the other, only took 8 minutes.

SO tiny that even Idaho Falls looked exciting. Which in real life is SO not the case. Unless you are going to Cafe Rio, but that is the only exception.

You may have been boring.

You may have been SO boring that all my roommates and I could do every weekend was rent 7 movies... and watch them all.

You may have stolen three and a half months of my life.

and

You may have even given me Mono.

But
you were also a lot of really good things too.

Thanks to you,

I met my dear friends Share Bear, the real life Pointer Sisters, and Sara, Ashley, Andie and Josh. I also got to spend time with old friends, like Chris and Jessie. Thanks to you, I learned NOT to run outside when it is really icy. Which to be honest is a really good lesson to learn. Thanks to you, I fell in love with my media classes, in turn getting me even more pumped for my advertising minor.

You also helped me enjoy new things.

-Like Taco Time and chicken cesar burritos.

-Feeding the ducks and walking random dogs when there is nothing else to do on holidays off of school.

-Tackling snow men at 11 pm like it's our job.

-Watching movies in the freezing lounge... but dealing with it because of the insane t.v. screen and crazy comfy couches.

-Eating at Craigos and LOVING the desert pizza

-Driving down the hill towards Applebees and listening to great music

-Having dance parties with roommates instead of studying

-Watching all season 10 of Friends with Sharon in 3 days

-Eating my weight in cereal and rice milk on a weekly basis

-Theraputic trips to the Cocoa Bean

-Walking through the falling snow listening to the Narnia soundtrack

-Getting over old boys

-Cooking in my crock pot

-Middle Eastern Culture

-Late night Frosty runs, where they give you the ones the size of tic-tacs

-Getting sucked in to Heros, and then unsucked because it wasted way too much time

-Finally seeing grass and getting over SAD as warm weather approached

And a lot of other really great things.

Basically I am trying to tell you this.

I think I love you now.

I may have been disappointed and hated you a little sad at first :) but in retrospect, I really had a lot of fun with you.

I am glad to be back in my dearest Provo, but you added a chapter to my life that included many a funny memory and many more a learning experience.

Thanks for teaching me patience, and especially for letting me come home in one piece.

It's been real.

Smooches,

Brooke

you know how everyone has their wierd things? yeah well these are my weird things.

How much was that title like a fall out boy song? You know how all of them are like fifteen words long?

Anyways. Let's not waste time.
also forgive me, but i am about to get all self-centered. happens to the best of us.
 
My weird things

1. I almost always use the handicap bathroom stalls. And that "almost" only exists because there are weirdos like me who also use those stalls and make them unavailable when i want to do my business.

2. Did I just put something minty in my mouth? There is a 98% probability that I will sneeze.

3. I am super OCD about where the silverware goes in the dishwasher. Aka I put one thing in each slot at a time. So that they are all evenly dispersed. Makes for cleaner utensils in the end. Swear.

4. I am really nosy. Like, people watching= an all time favorite hobby. Done on a daily basis. Sometimes I also ask people questions about their lives that may or may not be my business. Oops. Also I love stalking. Facebookstalking, blogstalking, googlestalking, cannoncenterstalking... all manners of stalking. I used to feel creepy about it, but now I realize that I just love people. Their habits, their tendencies, their emotions. Love. All of it. Plus sometimes other people's lives are just way more interesting than my own. So I don't really mind admitting this.

5. I cannot fall asleep in bed unless I am on my stomach. However, I have fallen asleep in a Sports Authority on a bench, on a couch in a public bathroom, on the floor of the cultural hall in a church building, and other various places. Explain to me how this works.

6. I am hyper sensitive to smells. And anything REMOTELY foul smelling triggers my gag reflex. OH GREAT. How am I ever going to handle being preggo?!

7. I am a sucker for a great slash epic music video. Like the 30 Seconds to Mars music video for "Kings and Queens"? I may or may not have cried. And watched it 6 times in a row.

I

it helps that Jared Leto is SMOKIN' too. Just sayin :)

8. I cannot walk around bare footed in my apartment. When mystery items from the floor are suddenly sticking to my foot, I almost lose my lunch. And if it's hair? Forget it, I'm a goner. Or should I say, my lunch is.

9. Speaking of things that make me vomit.... I cannot eat a whole chicken breast for the life of me. Unless it is midget size and smothered in seasoning, 4 bites into it, I am done.

10. I have eaten a whole jar of pickles in one day. Yes the zesty dill kind. One case of bad breath and a stomach ache later, I was the happiest person alive.

11. I can drink a glass of water at light speed. Only one person has EVER beaten me. And no I don't want to talk about it. Observe the following pictures and just bask in my skill. (I am only kind of kidding)

I don't even know how this was all captured on camera. HAHA

12. I used to pretend that I liked waking up early and that I was above sleeping in until 10:30. Finally I gave in, and now I get 11 hours of sleep on the weekends. Judge me, I probably have more energy than you anyways.

13. Jelly Bellies and colored Tootsie Rolls are two of my favoritest candies EVER

14. And since apparently I love talking about food.... Did you know I eat frozen peas by the handful? For real though, they are SEW good. Like little frozen green balls of happiness. Betcha never thought of it like THAT before, eh?


Alright that's about all the weirdness I can handle.
so without further adue...

THE END.

hint: it starts with "h" and rhymes with "dairy botter"

Sometimes I think I am going slightly craysee.

Like this morning, my alarm was set for 7am, seeing as how I had a 9 o'clock class. However, somehow when it rang I still managed to sleep another hour and fifteen minutes, thinking that it was Wednesday and that I actually had a class at 10. By the time I realized it was actually Thursday, it was 9:15.

So much for New Testament this morning.

Maybe I shouldn't take Niquil tonight.

I do have an 8am lab tomorrow after all. GAG ME.
Or maybe this wretched cold should just "...go away!!!!" 

(said in nasal-y voice, with a harsh British accent. NAME THAT MOVIE.)

still guessing? see given hint.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I clearly need some remedial "do-nothing" time. 

OH AND P FREAKING S. 

I have great news. After much deliberation, and quite the amazing/revealing advertising class, I have decided to change my major from Communications tooooo....

Marketing Management! With a Communications minor!

*and the crowd goes WILD!*

Yes, I know this means I will have to apply to the business school, yes I know this means I will probably be at BYU for another 3 years (give or take a year. most likely give), and yes I know this means I will be up to my eyeballs in yucky business-like classes. But I don't care, because this is the best I have felt about anything I have chosen to study thus far. 

Huzzah!

...and then she turned 20

That's the latest installment in the Nicole Saga.

 

"Why is there a Nicole Saga" you ask?

Well. There is a Nicole Saga because we have known each other for like, EVERS. And it is only fair that I document the latest happenings... which just so happen to be her birthday! ARRIBA!

(Yes, even though her birthday was all the way back on THURSDAY. Sorry, I was so tired from all the schooling and working and partying.)

Ok now just let me explain how wonderful this woman is.

 

1. She is ultimately hilarious, makes me laugh ALL the days, and acts like an idiot with me 150% of the time. I mean that in the kindest way possible, and I am sure she will agree. I mean let me put this in perspective. Sometimes, we put nylons on our heads and attack our unsuspecting roommates and friends. Other times, we hang pictures of Morgan Freeman all over our dorm wall because we really, truly love him. Then there are times when we play the game "Christian Bale or..." in which you have to decide what you want more than Christian Bale (nothing has ever won. Except POSSIBLY Jake Gyllenhal. Anyways). Then sometimes, she repeats all the funny things we say 800 times in a row with me, and it never gets old aka we still laugh like its the most hilarious thing ever. Other times, she takes lots of really great photo booth pictures with me, and we die laughing. Exhibit A. This pretty much embodies our relationship.

2. She is gorgeous AND smart. Studying the arduous world of PoliSci? You betcha! Still managing to look like a JCrew model everyday? Of course! Whoever nabs her will be one lucky fella. Proof.

3. She is rock solid. And kind. Freshman year, she taught Sunday school and everyone LOVED her class. And then this summer, she spent two months doing humanitarian work in Uganda, simply because she wants to make a difference. Uh-mazing, if I do say so myself.

4. She is such a sister to me. From surviving our painfully awkward preteen stages, to obsessing over Harry Potter and Backstreet Boys, to making husband qualification lists, to swapping books and music, staying up late having movie marathons, biking through the desert in matching shirts, eating lots of bean salad and texas caviar, jet skiing around lake powel and gorging on ben and jerrys, getting in to BYU, living together, being grandmas, laughing, crying, giving advice, to now making it halfway through college, Nicole has been in my life through most significant events. And she has been a star through it all.

Basically what I am trying to say is that I adore you Girl,
and happy belated!

inspiration. food for thought. just plain goodness.

"If anyone can change the dismal situation into which we are sliding into, it is you. Rise up, O women of Zion, rise to the great challenge which faces you."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

Such amazing counsel and encouragement, that is SO relevant.
Also, I am reading this book right now by Sherri Dew called "No Doubt About It", and it is
I N C R E D I B L E.
If you are in desperate need of comfort, encouragement, inspiration, motivation and peace (who ISN'T?), then read this amazing book. It will not dissapoint.