dusk and summer

Shout out to my boy Chris Carrabba, whose music got me through high school (emo much?).

ALSO.

Here is my deal lately. 

I cannot get enough of this Blues-ey, southern style rock-n-roll.

A la this song, BB King, John Lee Hooker, etc. etc.

And basically every other song written by the Black Keys
There is just something magical about that raw, distorted guitar that gets me right here  
*points to heart*

Picture this:

-A day at the lake or a walk down some random river bank with your friends

-Tire swings

-Barbeques

-Vegging at the park

-Popsicles
-Bike rides
-Fireflies
-Bare feet on hot pavement

-Sunburns

-The 4th of July

-Driving with the windows down

Has your heart exploded with joy yet? Yes?
That's what I thought.

I'm so happy summer is almost here :)

Also I have officially decided that as much as I loved my old roommates, I really really love having 3 SINGLE roommates. Like girl time? Totally uninhibited by men! Whodathunk? I didn't realize how much I have missed that. I am greatly looking forward to the rest of the summer and partying with my girls all the time.

Finally, I have been thinking a lot lately about the books I read as a child.
And I have the best memories with them, for serious.
Some favorites that keep coming to mind are Sammy Keys, The Little House on the Prarie series, Ginger Pye, Mary Poppins, The Princess Diaries, The Egypt Game, The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, Dear America series, Ella Enchanted, and of course Harry Potter.
Also, how funny is it that my 6th grade teacher made me read 20000 Leagues Under the Sea?
I WAS TWELVE, PEOPLE. 
I feel like he thought I was way more capable than I really was, because I definitely gave up on that book. At least SOMEONE believed I could do it, right?!

UPDATE: whilst stumbling today, this is the website it took me to. I couldn't have been happier. Thanks for being so good to me stumbleupon. You know me too well.

LOVE.

This video is making my heart feel almost as sunny as it is outside.

And how undeniably adorable is Marcus?

Smitten.
In every sense!

Also.
Is it horrible of me to order a 6 dollar bottle of salsa online? 
You can't get it anywhere but Arizona, and I am getting desperate.
I LOVE THAT STUFF MORE THAN HUMANLY ACCEPTABLE.
I mean really, feel free to send me some. 
Seriously. 

an ode of sorts

I have such exciting news. And seeing as how this girl doesn't have a blog of her own (BOO), I am taking it upon myself to make the following announcement to the blogosphere....

MY BEST FRIEND NICOLE ELISE MARQUEZ IS ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't get over it.

I have done this before, buuuuut.... 

here's a little history, just so you can understand what a huge deal this is:

- Nicole and I have known each other since we were babes, a mere 10 years old to be exact.
- We were in the same 6th grade class (shout out to Mr. Davidson, aka the bestest teacher EVER)
- We endured the painful experience that was middle school together

proof

- Participated in the ridiculous "Murder's in the Heir" dinner theatre together
- Spent countless hours reading Harry Potter, going to swim team, making cool pioneer movies and watching Lizzie McGuire

- Survived my move across the country, through which we still visited one another and kept in touch

- Were reunited for our senior year of high school, through which we listened to the hairspray soundtrack WAY too many times, visited Golden Spoon on a weekly basis, partied hard Christmas break of 2007, went to many a concert ("hey would you guys like a ride?", "AWESOME"), loved Best Buddies (cooooOOOOoool), swing danced our hearts out, watched Felicity, graduated, Lake Powell-a-palooza, and then prepared for our trek up to BYU.

- Queue freshman year, in which we roomed together, went on ridiculous bike rides, ate way too much cheese cake in the Cannon Center, suffered through Parker's Book of Mormon class, attacked our unsuspecting friend Kaylie Anne on a daily basis, were the best grandmas you ever did see, yelled at innocent bystanders from our dorm window (marshbeef forever), played tons of catch phrase (WORLD CHAMPS), loved Morgan Freeman, and stayed up really really late every Thursday night for some reason.

- Said goodbye again as I journeyed north for a semester at BYU-Idaho, during which we visited naturally (Wendys on a SUNDAY?!), and prepared for yet another reunion as I decided to return to Provo.

- Said goodbye AGAIN as she trekked across the globe for an incredible trip to Africa, and anxiously awaited the time we could party in Provo together once more

- Finally make it back to our little college town and begin fall semester, through which we may or may not have gone to J-Dawgs ten times during the semester, loved our boy Dave at our final Mae concert, stalked wedding websites (oh the irony), watched LOST, survived multiple heartbreaks, spent hours driving around Provo and up by the temple listening to "I Just Needed You to Know", pretended like we were going to take a Family Finance class together, went to basketball games, and finally ending the semester by saying goodbye one more time as she prepared to go home for the summer to be with her boo (and now finance!), 

Mr. Stewart Adair.

And now here we are.
Looking back on all of that, I can honestly say that I have never been so grateful for a friend.
She is my soul sister.
My partner in crime.
My bffaeaeaeaeae for realz.
And on top of all that, she is gorgeous, incredibly intelligent, motivated, hard working, athletic, a great sister, outofthisworld hilarious, has impeccable fashion sense, is a great listener, and basically one of the coolest and most amazing people you will ever meet.

And after all the years we have spent talking about getting married, it's finally here!

Stewart, you got yourself a good woman.

Viva marriage! I am so happy for you guys!

Confessions. And no, this isn't an Usher song.

Want to know something absurd? 

Also something I am pretty proud of?

I just finished my third year of college, and had never played ultimate frisbee.

SAY WHAAAA?

Yeah, pick your jaw up off the floor, it's true. It was sort of my personal goal freshman year to avoid getting sucked into the ever-popular, especially in the LDS culture, sport. 

Well.

Last night I broke my streak, 

and joined the ranks of players of ultimate.

And let me just tell you.

I loved it.

I probably sucked a whole lot more than I realized, but I don't even care.

I have this thing where I get super into a sport 

(all through high school, it was capture the flag. LIE. it's still capture the flag. I am in love with that game.)

And I just run around like a loon, trying my darndest to be intense, but usually failing.

I'm sure it's pretty entertaining. But I don't care, I just love running around like said loon. 

And with summer so graciously peeking its head around the corner, I have a feeling I am going to be doing a lot of that over the next 4 months.

*QUEUE DEEP SIGH OF CONTENTEDHAPPINESS*

Also, it feels incredibly weird that I am not home for the summer.

Especially that I am not home working at my beloved car dealership.

Basking in the glory of the early morning sun.

Driving 30 minutes on the 202, both ways, every day.

Sweating my brains out as I walk from the employee parking lot.

Drinking way too much free Diet Coke from the cafe.

Going to Baja Fresh and Last Chance with dear Tiff on my lunch break.

Socializing with way too many car salesmen.

That's been my life the last 4 summers.

It's bittersweet to kiss it goodbye.

How cool and retro right?!

And finally, as if I needed something to propel my Harry Potter obsession 

(I may or may not have read books 3, 4, 5, and 6 eight times. NBD)

LOOK AT THIS

I am dying. This makes me want to start the entire series over and read from the beginning. Just as an excuse to use this. Ridiculous? Yes. Awesome? MORE YES. 

Anyways, it's a beautiful day. And I'm off to enjoy it.

Peace up, atown down.

(oh hey Usher)

wanna know what i did last night?

I may or may not have watched movies and a LOST episode.

With my dear friends.

For 5 straight hours.

I feel like I need to learn about this thing called "moderation".

It should go something like this:

"Brooke, just because you didn't have a tv for the last 8 months doesn't mean you should all the sudden waste all of your time in front of it. Even though it has a lot more appeal than you ever realized"

Secretly though, I don't feel bad at all. Everyone needs to indulge sometimes right?!

So basically here is what's going on:

- I drove back from Arizona on Saturday. Honestly, I love that drive. Especially when you go the back way through Payson. My sweet desert state is so BEAUTIFUL this time of year!

- I bought the new-ish Cake album while I was home. And listened to it 4 times on the drive. Yeah, it's that good

- So naturally, mom and I watched the Royal Wedding pretty much all day Friday. PROBLEM: It has sent me into an "iloveweddingsandallthingsromantic" frenzy. Basically I'm just really ready to date someone right now. You should be proud of me. Given my prior semester, that's kind of a big deal. Also, I stumbledupon this quote yesterday.

“Mamihlapinatapai: A look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.”

How sweet. And semi appropriate.

- Yesterday was the first day of church with the newcomers, basically everyone staying for Spring and Summer term. It's hilarious to watch people frantically socialize aka mark their territory in hopes of finding a mate. Sometimes I feel like I live on the African savanna instead of an apartment complex. Noises included.

- So I got in a little bit of a car accident while I was home (don't even worry, it wasn't that big of a deal actually), and it postponed my return to Provo by about 4 days. How precious is it that my brothers kept saying 

"I wish you had wrecked your car even more so you could stay even longer"

I am so in love with them, it kills me.

- I just checked the 10 day forecast for Provo and GUESS WHAT. It's supposed to be up to 75 on Thursday. Guess who will be spending the entire evening outside? (hint: it's me)

- Finally, this song is really nice. And appropriate feeling for some reason. 

That's all.