it's a birthday party of epic proportions

Dear birthday guy,

You are beyond intelligent,

You are extremely hilarious, 

You are amazingly patient, 

You are the hardest worker I know,

You talk in weird voices... weird voices that I love,

You are SO handsome,

You love Coldplay a tremendous amount (but thankfully you love me more!)

 And you are my best friend.

I am lucky to have you in my life, and I can't wait to marry you in 2 months!

Feliz Cumpleanos, amor!

Dear birthday girl,

You are resilient, 

You make me laugh harder than almost anyone,

You have an immaculate eye for decorating,

You are just as obsessed with Keith Urban as I am,

You are selfless, 

You are beautiful, 

You are a shining example, 

And you have always been my biggest fan in life.

I couldn't have asked for a better friend and mom.

And I love you!

Happy Birthday to two of the best people I know!

on hard work. or lack thereof.

The other day I picked up a book that my 6th grade teacher gave me years ago.

In it, he left the note:

"To Brooke, for all the hard work and dedication you exhibit daily in your life."

It got me thinking, long and hard actually.

Sometimes, my life is the exact OPPOSITE of hard work and dedication. 

I will be the first to admit that a lot of the time, I am a significantly lazy person. 

Super stressed with homework one night, Brooke? 

Probably because you procrastinated. Again.

Feeling rather sluggish?

Probably because you didn't get your lazy butt out to exercise. Again.

Spiritually slumpy? 

Probably because you couldn't manage to wake up 20 minutes early and read your scriptures. Again.

Tummy ache? 

Probably because you were too lazy to make real food, so you ate ice cream for dinner. Again.

My point is... 

A lot of my frustrations in life stem from being lazy and not taking care of the necessities. 

No matter how boring they are, or how tired I am, or how much I just DON'T want to assume my responsibilities, I am always 1000% happier in the long run when I do. 

That note really struck a chord with me.

And I am hereby taking it upon myself to find better ways to incorporate hard work and 

dedication into my life.

Raise your glass to happiness, folks. 

fin de semana

This weekend, we:

- Enjoyed a lovely date night with wonderful friends Steven and Claira, which included homemade pizza, games, and brownies and ice cream. Love good friends and even better company.

- Attempted to watch Captain America, during which I passed out and Christian less than enjoyed the underdeveloped action plot. Weird, those type of movies aren't usually like that..... OH WAIT....

- Had a little crepe making party and got reacquainted with my love Nutella. Bad idea. 

- Went to Zumba for the first and second time.

I. AM. IN. LOVE.

- Worked, worked, worked, worked.... and WORKED. 

Maybe I said I was going to give up Diet Coke. 

Maybe that will happen next week when I get more than 5 hours of sleep per night.
It's whatever.

- Got this fortune:

Good signs for my impending marriage ;)
Also I promise my thumb doesn't normally look like a toe.

And now today I get to celebrate all things LOVE-ly with my better half.
So even though sometimes you are so tired you can hardly function, and you cry a lot after work
(psh... this is hypothetical dudes)
Things are still pretty happy.

tuesday thankfuls

Today, I am immensely grateful for:

- Working brakes. We have spent the last month cringing at the metal-on-metal sound that inevitably comes every time we have to stop.
Imagine dumping a bunch of screws into 10 blenders and then turning them on. Yeah, it was THAT bad.

I have honestly never been more thankful for a working car.

- Caffeine free-ness. As much as I love Diet Coke, I decided have THE worst caffeine crashes known to man. I am giving up that nasty and sticking with the elixir of life..... aka water!

*we will see how long this lasts....*

- Nail polish. My hands have been sans color for a few weeks now.So last night, I painted them a happy pink and now my whole world is just blissed out to the MAX!!!!!

(ok so maybe nail polish doesn't make me THIS happy..... but almost....)

- Sunshine. I have come to the conclusion that I can deal with the cold, 

as long as Mr. Sun makes an extended appearance. Those cloudy, depressing days just KILL me. 

- Gym classes. Especially ones that come after Zumba so I can stand outside watching everyone
get their groove on.
Middle aged white men in a latin-based dance class?
FUNNIEST.THING.EVER.

- This cutie patootie.

Not only is he Captain America, he is also MY very own superhero!

*cue involuntary gagging from audience. yeah, I know*

Happy Tuesday