thankful thursday

Today, I am immensely grateful for:

- The frank conversations that Christian and I have.

That he can tell me it drives him crazy sometimes that I'm such an emotional person,

and I can tell him it drives me crazy that he tends to talk quite loud, 90% of the time.

And instead of being offended or getting feelings hurt, we are both dying of laughter by the end of the discussion. That is how it SHOULD work, all the time.

- Getting to meet new family members this week.
I never get sick of spending time with so many wonderful people

- Random meals at Tucanos.
And relishing in the deliciousness a few days later.
(Maybe that means I am still full... maybe it doesn't....)
 
- Cadbury eggs.
The best kind of chocolate happiness that only comes once a year.
And how much does that make me sound like a lardface?

- Swim suit shopping.... and the fact that warm weather is right around the corner!

- Speaking of warm weather...
The adorable flowers that are dotting the trees all over Provo right now.
I must admit, when it's not freezing outside, I'm quite fond of this little town.

And that's all.
Happy Thankful Thursday :)

little love letters

Dear bartlett pears,

I can't stop eating you right now.

Thanks for making breakfast exciting.

Also for requiring me to floss after eating... but that's another issue.

Dear general conference,
I feel like I have never needed anything more than I need you right now.
I am greatly looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.

Dear brothers,

I miss you TERRIBLY right now.

I am so excited to come home and see your handsome faces,

and in just 3 weeks!!!!

Dear Utah,

We only have a few weeks left together before Christian and I get our east coast on.

For 8 months.

I'm still reeling at the thought.

But I have to admit...

I am very excited for a little break from you.

Dear daffodils,

How have you not been my favorite flower until now?!

You are freaking adorable, and seeing you in front of my apartment complex makes me extremely happy. 

Dear Tuesday,

You are one of my favorite days of the week.

You know why?

Taco Tuesday.

Great gym classes.

And I get to spend many an hour with my wonderful man, also known as Christian, 

also known as my future hubs.

That alone makes the day wonderful!

Dear Zumba, 

Oh em gee, I seriously CAN'T get enough of you.

So much so, that I might have created a Zumbalicious pandora station the other day.

I know, my obsessions are out of control.....

Dear BYU,

As cheesy as this is, 

I can't help but feel extremely grateful to go to such an outstanding and uplifting university.

Happy Tuesday all!

happiness is....

- Making the trek to H&M, and then having it turn into a trip to Sephora.... In which my adorable fiancé again proved his superhero status by smelling cologne and perfume with me for an hour straight.

- The end of a self-imposed Cafe Rio and diet coke famine.

- Planning your future home via Target wedding registry, and stealing lots of secret flirty kisses in the isles when people aren't looking. This is hypothetical, of course.

- Finding the allusive birthday cake oreos (!!!)

- Switching places in the "who is going to fall asleep first during the movie" game. I was the reigning champ until Friday night. Props to Christian for stealing my title.

- James Morrison pandora radio. Mmhmm yum.

- Spending ALL DAY on Saturday with this cute face. Even though the biggest chunk was at a sales meeting (we are basically seasoned Vantage reps...), it was still such a treat.

- Finalizing honeymoon plans!

- A new, adorable dress. So happy to wear warm weather colors again!

Sorry the majority of these happy thoughts are of the omgimgettingmarriedalsoilovemyfiance sort.
That's just life at the moment.

And let's not kid ourselves. That man makes me unadulteratedly happy and it would be a crime not to recognize it ;)

weird things you probably never wanted to know part 3

- Looking at color pallets brings me unnatural happiness.
No, not just happiness...
More like and unadulterated bliss-seizure.

Seriously the website www.design-seeds.com is like my version of crack.
(And my google search stats just got a lot sketchier...)

- I haven't gone longer than 2 days with unpainted toenails...

SINCE 6TH GRADE.

Hi, my name is Brooke, and I'm addicted to nail polish.

- My favorite books are Harry Potter, the Fountainhead, and I Capture the Castle. 

Here is the weird part. 

I bought I Capture the Castle when I was 16 because my movie star idol Emma Watson claimed it was also one of her favorites. I know. I am still laughing about that.

- I sneeze when I eat minty things.

- I am an ambassador for the cancer awareness group SuperSibs!
And I will be organizing anf speaking at 2 public events this year.
Gasp, I am such the celebrity.

- I can't eat a whole banana to save my life.
I'm sorry folks, but the whole weird texture thing is just too much for me to handle.

- When I was in 3rd grade, I won 2nd place in a national art contest.
What happened to my skillz?!

- Once I ate a whole jar of pickles in one sitting.
Okay, maybe that has happened more than once.....

- When I was younger, I used to skip school to practice the piano.
TALK ABOUT ENTHUSED.

- I have NEVER been skiing or snowboarding.
And I live in Utah, home to "the greatest snow on earth"
Oops........

And lest I bore you any further.....
THE END.

in love

This is my favorite song these days.

Just plug in your earbuds and enjoy this Brazilian-style Justin Bieber treasure with me.

Isn't it just the greatest?!

this is a post about Harry Potter

 Cool scooters, guys.

I'm obsessed with the books.

Obsessed with the characters.

Obsessed with the movies. 

And pretty much everything else associated with the wizarding world.

(Obsessed might not even do my love justice)

So I am rereading the books for about the 10th time.

Thus, my brain is in constant Harry Potter mode

(ps. if you are ever looking for a sure-fired pick-me-up and you are a Harry Potter-head like myself, reading those books is the best way to turn any normal day into the BEST day ever)

I came across THIS the other day and just about died of laughter. 

Pay special heed to all the captions with the pictures... and sorry in advance for some marginal crude-ness.

Enjoy!

sometimes

I watch guilty pleasures like Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. 

Honestly, you would think I would get sick of watching him eat another "game-y bull testicle".
But it NEVER gets old folks!

I'm glad it's warm outside because my mood goes up with the temperature!
Seriously, I ran outside today for the first time in months. Talk about unadulterated bliss.
Plus, I am just really tired of wearing the same coat every day.
My wardrobe needs some serious rehabilitation. Thanks to the weather, this is now a possibility!

I wish I could just pay someone good money to go to work for me (ironic much?)
 Seriously though, can't I just sit at home, read Harry Potter, and cook all day?

Sheesh.

I love discovering unexpected movie gems like Men in Black. I don't know what it is, but that movie makes me laugh SO HARD. Quoting Edgar never gets old.
(You probably don't even know who Edgar is. It's ok... you also probably haven't watched that movie and absurd amount of times)

I feel like a 5 year-old when Christian and I talk to each other. Seriously, our ridiculous voices are out of control. There is a reason why we don't use them in public.

At least very loudly.....

I feel like it's one of the world's great injustices when my alarm rings before 6 in the morning.
Seriously world? Such an ungodly hour.
Hence the reason why I never shower before work these days.
Don't come too close....

I write a blog post and realize that I'm pretty boring.
And sometimes I annoy myself.

Also, that I have turned into one of those women.
You know, the kind who unfailingly and incessantly talks about their significant other...
(or soon-to-be-husband. whichever title works...)
...all. the. time.
I'm sorry, blogosphere. But when your engaged to a man as incredible as I am, it would be a crime NOT to talk about his amazing handsomeness. Maybe it will wear off one day.
Or..... maybe not ;)

I feel inspired to be a better person when I read my old journal entries.
Like, 9th grade kind of old.
I have always been a religious journal keeper
(seriously, of epic proportions)
and it's tremendously helpful when I can go back and read about a happy or hard time in my life, and seen how I have been able to pull through.
And not just pull through, but do it SUCCESSFULLY.
It's very comforting to realize that if your 15 year old self used the scriptures for guidance,
SO CAN YOUR 22 YEAR OLD SELF.
Sometimes we need those self-propelled reminders, you know?

(Courtesy of YoungPeopleinLove)
And there you have it.
"Sometimes" part 1.

east coastin'

This handsome dude had an interview a few weeks ago for BYU's Washington Seminar program.
He couldn't decide if this outfit looked appropriate or not...
(Pardon the low-quality cell phone picture. We are too cool for school... and cameras too apparently)

Heck YES it's appropriate! Especially if his goal is to "give fiance a heart attack."

Also on a side-note: 
he got into the program!
Now he is just working on securing an internship.
It's official...
We will be in DC in the fall!

i've got sunshine

There's something about a beautiful day that is just intoxicating.

Especially when it follows a wonderful evening.

Last night Christian surprised me with a trip to the Chocolate to get a cazookie.

(We have been trying for weeks now, but it's always WAY too busy to handle. Here's the trick... go at 6:30 instead of 10:00 pm!! Get in mah bellayyy!)

Followed by another surprise... a dollar movie! It makes me holla, honey boo boo!

(We saw "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". What a well-done movie.)

Here is a secret. 

A few weeks ago we went and saw Sherlock Holmes.

At 10:30 pm. 

I may or may not have slept through the entire movie.

In the theater. 

Pathetic, I know. 

So Christian was really considerate and took me to an earlier movie so I could actually watch it this time.

You just really don't want my problems.

Afterwards, we went to Walmart, bought a puzzle and a few movies. 

Maybe we came home and started watching "Dances With Wolves"

Kevin Costner rocks that handlebar mustache.

And we are movie-watching pros. 

Today has also been rather nice. 

I got to hang out with fiance in the morning, then I went and danced my life away for an hour at Zumba.

I am in love with that class. 

Driving home was just bliss, because this weather is just STUNNING today as well. 

Tonight we are looking forward to some laundry, grocery shopping, homework, puzzle-doing and maybe some more western-movie-watching. 

Bless Saturdays. They are the best.  

and queue the contented sigh...

Today, 

I am feeling refreshed.

Happy.

Enthused.

Yesterday was marginally unpleasant. 

On top of being exhausted out of my mind, I had a meltdown at work.

As in, I sobbed for a good 5 minutes. 

(Hence my previous post. WHY DO I CRY SO MUCH ALL THE TIME?)

And not only did I cry, but I did it in front of 6 teenage girls, who I'm sure thought I was loopy.

secret: I WAS

So yesterday when I got home, I took a bath.

Read Harry Potter while soaking in aforementioned bath.

And then I watched 3 episodes of Bizarre Foods.

This was all followed by an evening of snuggling with fiance while he attempted to do his homework.

When that got boring, we decided Lord of the Rings was way more entertaining.

And that was my day. 

And because it was so chill, I am feeling like a million bucks today.

Sometimes you just need a night to recoup.

A night NOT to cook.

A night NOT to go to the gym.

A night NOT to stress about work, school, or wedding plans. 

A night to just lie on the couch, and BE.

 I am very thankful for things like that.

paradox

I have noticed something that has me kind of stumped. 

I am a pretty emotional person, but I have never been a crier.
However, ever since Christian and I started dating last summer, I feel like I cry about EVERYTHING. Literally....... 

ev-er-y-thing
Happy, sad, bad, and everything in between.

It's like he has sent my every emotion into an overdrive that my tear ducts just can't handle.

*which I guess could be considered a good thing??*

 To put it in Kristen Bell's words, "if I'm not between a 3 and a 7 on the emotional scale, I'm crying"

Anyone else experience this?

And the more important question....Does it ever change?

Or am I bound to be a blubbering, cry-baby wife for the rest of my days?

Because if that's the case, I feel like Christian needs some kind of warning....

Either that, or an instruction manual.

(Which would include things like:
"Proper care and feeding includes but is not limited to: copious amounts of chocolate, moose tracks ice cream, foot massages, episodes of Bizarre Foods, flowers, shopping and kisses". But, you know, those are just a few ideas)

And for your viewing pleasure, to credit the aforementioned Kristen Bell...
And simply because this video is hilarious...