So long, so long

Just channeling my inner Dashboard-Emo-Ican'tbelievesummerisover self today. 

OBVIOUSLY.

But seriously, senior year of college, starting Monday?!

Mind=blown.

But I'm grateful. 

So so grateful. 

I have had great learning experiences this summer. I have learned a lot about patience. About love. About the importance of family. About the blessing of close friendships. About service. About the aesthetically pleasing nature of sunshine and green trees. About my love for the swim/bike/run. About the hilarity of Modern Family, the awesome-ness of Park City outlets, the blessing of happy songs, the beauty of summer rainstorms, the bliss in Saturday afternoon pool-time, and the joy behind Sonic's happy hour.

Yes, this is my cup holder filled with Sonic straw wrappers. 

NO SHAME.

It's been a good 4 months. 

And although I am reluctant to say goodbye to the lessened responsibility and beautiful weather, fall semester is looking mighty good. 

SO BRING IT.

happy heart

Today I am grateful for lots of things.

But especially these things:

Nature

Taken on yesterdays bike ride up the canyon. So beautiful!

Good smells

My apartment wins this contest. 

So does my perfume. 

Isn't it interesting how much smells can affect our moods? 

I was so happy when I walking into our apple-cinnamon infused living room this morning. 

And drove my coconut car to work this morning. 

But then when I smelled someone's fishy pasta at work, I got all grossed out and irritated. 

Ah life is so hard.

Sleep

It's funny how you learn to appreciate things more when you lose them.

Or part of them...

Aka I got like 5 hours of rest last night. Typical Thursday.

Family

My mom especially. 

I am convinced that no one else in my life wants me to be happier than she does. 

Or gets as excited about my personal life as she does.

Or makes me laugh as hard as she does. 

Or works as hard as she does. 

Basically I will be lucky to KIND OF follow in her footsteps one day. She is the bomb.

Religion

And basically everything that comes with it. 

Words can't even begin to express how full my heart is in this regard.

So I'm not going to try :)

Isn't it interesting how sometimes the things we are most thankful for are also the most cliche and every-day?

I think those are also the things we often take for granted. 

Imagine what life would be like if we could learn to appreciate the mundane a little bit more....

postcards from far away.2

Dear fall semester, 

I have decided to come out of the closet and admit this:

I am actually getting excited to see you.

Maybe not in regards to the homework aspect (blurgh), 

but I miss being on campus. 

And I am beyond excited for football games,

crunchy leaves, 

seeing old friends, 

pumkins, 

the state fair,

and other cool, fall-ish things.

Beyond excited I tell you!

Plus, look how stunning!

Dear Rubios, 

Bless you and your fish tacos.
You are one of the few restaurants I wouldn't mind spending my money on very frequently.
Get in my beeeellllyyyyy!!!!

Dear Education Week,
I haven't decided how I feel about you yet.
On one hand, you are great because there is no school. Which  means far fewer students on campus.
And more parking spots.
And fewer people at the gym.
And fewer idiot student drivers.
And shorter lines at Yogurtland.
But you also bring a slew of crazy people, who apparently don't know how to drive or walk anywhere.
(I guess you can't escape the bad drivers...)
And the lack of parking in the morning is cramping my style.
"Why don't you just walk to work, Brooke?"
Because that would be the obvious solution to my problem. And I'm all about doing things the hard way.
Plus I get really sweaty walking up the hill.
And I'm saving that joy for when school is back in session.
YEEEEE.

Dear dejavu,
You are so weird. And you made a surprise apperance today while I was listening to Elton John at work.
Really? So random!

Dear Justin Bieber,
I am obsessed with you right now, and I don't even care.

Dear job,
We have been together a solid year now! My how time flies! And I am still crazy about ya!
Bring on the next few years!
(I love talking excitedly!!!!!)

Dear next weekend,
Please hurry up.
That's all.
Bai.

ode to a healthy life

I don't like to do things like this very often. 

Aka ever. 

It makes me feel like a prick.

BUT.

It's something I'm passionate about, and this is how I get when I'm passionate about something...

(hence the 98,000 music posts. no shame)

...I must talk/blog about it. 

So here we go.

I'm doing a triathlon in approximately 19 days, and running the Halloween half marathon in October.

(!!!)

And here is what I've learned over the last 2 1/2 months as I've been training with loves Jburk and Abbers:

- I've learned (or re-learned) to love exercising. It's so cool to see an improvement in strength, endurance, mileage etc after working hard for weeks.

The burn, the sweat, the blood, the tears. It just plain feels awesome! 

(Ok maybe there hasn't been blood involved. But I like to pretend it's that intense.....)

- I've learned it's so important to be conscious of what we put into our bodies. 

Like maybe it's not a good idea to go run after eating $4 worth of frozen yogurt.

*voice of experience*

But when you eat a ton of protein, gobs of vegetables, fruit, good carbs, and a workout supplement or two, WOW your run/bike/swim gets taken to a whole new level!

It has taken me a while to learn, but you really should consider the effect of your food on your workout.

It makes a big difference.

And when you do decide to eat that much frozen yogurt 

(I'm an advocate!)

you better plan on running like 3 days later.

- I've learned that sleep is also a HUGE determining factor in how well your workout goes. 

Also learned this the hard way, more than once.

It's basically the worst thing in the world to run and feel like you are going to fall over the whole time.

Couple exhaustion with aforementioned frozen yogurt-eating, and you might as well be dead. 

- I've learned that strength training is also incredibly important. 

Say goodbye to sore knees, hips and shoulders... and say hello to POWER!

- I've learned that it's great to pick an event (like a tri) to have an actual goal you are working towards. 

It makes workouts seem even more important, and it's especially fun if you can get friends involved too. 

So basically it's important to set goals, eat consciously, sleep lots, lift weights, and ENJOY IT. 

Life lessons that have taken me a few months to nail down, but man. It's so worth it!

So take it from Nike, and:

things that make me happy today

- This picture I took at Lagoon last month

Unreal, right?

Summer at her finest.

-Yesterday.

It was just one of those days, you know? It started out and I was tired.

Everything was irritating me.

I was depressed that I had to go home to an empty apartment.

I didn't want to do anything basically.

(How awesome do I sound right now?!)

Thankfully though, after some good reading and a little time spent up at the Provo temple, I felt a bajillion times better. 

I hauled my lazy behind out on a 26 mile bike ride (SAY WHAA?) with Abbers, 

talked to a few of my favorite people on the phone, laughed a lot, cleaned my room, 

and had a much better night than I was anticipating. 

I'm so thankful for things like that. 

- BOGO at Yogurtland tonight. I am obsessed with that place.

Also, a trip to the coolest park in Orem.

Epic evening ahead, lemme tell ya.

- The fact that in 14-ish days, my loves will all be back in Provo!

These two weeks cannot go by fast enough....

Basically it's just another great Friday at the beginning of another great weekend. 

Booyah.

warning: this is a post about josh groban. and other nerdy things.

Really folks, I owe him a lot.

Let me explain.

I will begin by telling you a story about myself.

One morning when I was 12 years old, I woke up and heard the most interesting song coming from my kitchen.

My initial reaction went like this:

"What the crap, since when do mom and dad listen to opera music? Weirdies!"

Oh the wisdom of a preteen......

As I lay there listening, I realized something.

It was like the voice had reached out and grabbed my heart with an iron fist, and vowed to never let go.

And that moment was when I fell in love with the ever so dapper Josh Groban. 

Seriously though, my obsession was a little out of control.

His music had such a powerful effect on me that I filled an entire journal with rants about how I was going to walk to L.A. and meet him.

Either that, or just become a famous singer and woo him with my talent. 

(Both being very practical goals, obviously)

Also, I used to sign my journal "Grobangurl" every time I wrote.
And joshgroban.com was the first website I ever surfed.

I know, my cool meter is just off the charts!!

Through my deep love for Josh Groban was also born a love for Charlotte Church. 

And in my desperate effort to be a singing powerhouse like her, I decided to audition for the advanced womens choir in 8th grade.

(Women's? Really? We were 13 and 14 years old...)

As luck would have it, I made it into the choir. 

And thus, my love for ensemble singing was born.

You thought this was going to be a rant entirely about Josh, didn't you? 

Tricks. 

It's actually a rant about choir too. And how much I freaking love it.

New York City, circa 2006. 
Best choir ever.
Just a little snippet to give you an idea of what I participated in on a daily basis.
Doesn't this picture just ooze sassiness?!
So I have been listening to Eric Whitacre radio on Pandora for 2 days now, and it's filling me with so much emotion.  First, because the music is just outofthisworld beautiful.
Second, because it makes me miss my music-filled days.
How lucky was I to be surrounded by people who loved singing as much as I did,
and all through high school?
Answer: pretty darn lucky.
So really, all I have to say is I am incredibly passionate about chorale music.
And I miss it desperately.

Just listen to this, and maybe you will understand why.

RIGHT?!

lucky moments

You know the kind I'm talking about. 

The kind that make you step back and go

"WOAH, I am so blessed"

I had about 50 of those last week while I was home.
At Nicole's reception, watching so many people I know and love celebrate the beautiful event.
Laying in bed talking to Kaylie, about everything under the sun.
At dinner with my family on Saturday night, crying because we were laughing so hard.
On the beautiful drive home listening to awesome soundtrack music.

I feel like I say this a lot, but I am so thankful for those moments.
They always seem to come right when I need them, and have a perfect way of reminding me that life is so sweet.
And really, when do we NOT need to be reminded of that?

And on a completely unrelated note, listen to how sad this is:
Josh Groban will be here in concert in a few weeks. And for the first time since I was 13,
I will not be going.
My heart is breaking. The legacy is over!
Ok maybe it's not that sad.
But kind of. A little bit.

And finally, just because this is sweet:

Noah and the Whale at Lollapalooza.
Love.

weekend (give or take a day) highlights

(Please forgive the ensuing picture assassination. I'm feeling very ambitious today)

Here are some awesome things that have happened over the last week. 

- Road trippin. I have really learned to love southern Utah over the last 6 months. 

Aka I have driven this 11 hour stretch back and forth three times now. NBD.

 

Obviously Abby and I were very in-touch with our childhoods during the drive.

- Pool and shopping time with friends and brothers. 

 

yeah, that just happened. Also, his hat has cookie monster on it. I was dying.

- Wedding festivities!!!!

And there you have it. 

Some of the hottest, busiest, and funnest days of Summer 2011.

Viva.

things I have learned in the last week

- As much as it probably shouldn't, retail therapy 

(aka shopping. calling it "therapy" dissipates the guilt a little bit...)

makes me feel so much better about life. 

Especially when you find smokin deals. And really cool moccasins.

- When you want/need to feel hardcore about life, just listen to your workout mix. 

By the time you actually have to go run/bike/swim, you will be so pumped that you can conquer the world. 

Maybe this has been my routine for 2 weeks now....

- Sometimes it's cool to skype with your dog.

REALLY cool.

After all, whose NOT trying to look at this face all day long?

- As much as I love how much certain music is associated with certain memories and people,
I really DON'T like this:

When you feel like you can't listen to certain songs or artists because they are associated with said people and memories. Some things just leave a bad taste in your mouth, you know?

- I really miss teaching and taking piano lessons. My inner classical pianist is slowly dying....

And I can't believe I just admitted that.

- I have seen my family a TON this summer. 

But that doesn't change the fact that I am stoked out of my mind to go home tomorrow.

Just cross your fingers that I don't melt before I have to come back to Provo....

- On a more serious note, I have learned that patience really is a virtue. And one that I need to work on, as was made apparent to me on multiple occasions this weekend. 

I am thankful for things like that. 

- I really like not knowing what is ahead of me at this point in my life. 

I am excited for fall semester. 

A new ward. 

New friends. 

New classes. 

Lots of new relationships.

As well as plenty of old familiar faces.
Basically I'm just very happy with where I'm at in life. 

And I'm excited for whatever lies ahead.