I'm so greatful for friends!

Overall this was a great weekend.

Saturday, Bryant had the day off and I didn't have to work until noon so I got to do my favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings... Sleep in!

Bryant brought me lunch at work, which was great because we went outside and I enjoyed being in the sun spending a quick half hour with the best man in the world.

That night, we went to one of my friend Sarah's apartment and we hung out with Miranda and Katie and played some games.

Sunday was really great. I've been really struggling with my primary class (if you couldn't tell from any of my previous posts.) And I just didn't want to go. Bryant offered to just go and let me stay home, but thats like throwing him to a pack of wolves, so I said I would tough it out and it was my turn to do the lesson, so I took a bit of extra time and really worked on it.

A lot of our kids were gone, which sadly, was a huge relief. It's just easier to manage, and I needed to take it easy yesterday or I was going to break down. But class went really well, Bryant was really good at keeping them entertained when they started to lose interest in my lesson and began to get rowdy.

After church, Bryant and I set to work on making lasagna for dinner with my family.

Isn't he the best?
Sorry for the gross looking hair...
Needless to say, the lasagna turned out awesome! Even my little sister, who thought she wouldn't like lasagna had two helpings!


After dinner, we went to my friend Janine and her husband Jon's apartment along with my friend Jessica and her husband Brandon and played games. We taught them how to play garbage, which is Bryant's familie's version of Phase 10 so to speak. But it's a lot more fun in my opinion and you just play with face cards. And of course, Bryant won :)

But the best part of the night?


Watching our husbands trying to fix the clock on the oven.

I know, I know, this is what married people do for fun I guess haha! And yes, I took several pictures but Bryant deleted them all (oh the woes of using his camera for everything) except this one, and no, he wasn't really sticking his bum out like that, he just did that when he realized I was taking pics.

Also, School ends officially Thursday! I'm excited to get started on some projects I've been planning and a yoga group I'm trying to start. Look for updates soon!!!

I married a hunk.

Isn't my husband one handsome guy?





He's such a bookworm...

He said he doesn't think he's a bookworm, so I call him a book caterpillar when he's around.

He doesn't like that either.

But just look at that picture. He hadn't even changed out of his shirt and tie from work yet. And he just started that book a couple of days ago, and as you can tell, he's almost done with it.

Bookworm, bookcaterpillar, bookmillipeed,
Whatever you want to call him, I think it's adorable.

Good thing I work at a bookstore right?

Braggin' Rights

So, I'm sorry, but I think I get to have some bragging rights today.

First off, I'm going to brag about this kid
This is my younger brother Sawyer, who had his state FFA competition today aaaaaand....


He took 5th individually and his group took 1st overall!!!!
This means that he gets to go to nationals in Indianapolis for free!
I'm so stinkin' proud of him! He definitely deserves it, he's been working hard for this. Great job Sawyer!!!

Now my turn :)
So all week I have been working on a 3,000 word paper for my South African History class. I did mine on animal conservation in the Kalahari desert and I got it done this afternoon!

Also, I got my last research paper back from my geography class on obesity (that one I blogged about a while back that I thought was due the next day so I stayed up all night writing it, only to find out it wasn't due till the next week?)

Yeah, I totally got 100%!
My professor said I was good at doing research. Thats always a good compliment for history majors. We do a lot of research...

All my classes are done! I just have one final that is a take home due next Wednesday and one art history final next Thursday.

Yup, it's awesome.

A very busy week

So Bryant just popped in the new Terminator movie (it came out the night before our wedding so we never went to see it) so this post will be short because I'm in need of some snuggle time with him (stress does that to me, it makes me needy...)

So I had a busy weekend. And here are some of the highlights.


This weekend I:

Went thrifting and found a new record and a pink and orange jacket, and as we walked out, Bryant took this beautiful picture of the overcast sky...
I bought new sunglasses (my old ones got a big ole' scratch in them)
Oh yeah, and gave myself bangs.

I went to the gym (and bought a month membership so I'll be more motivated to actually go.)

I went tanning (I know, I know, fake baking, but I need that base tan before I go outside more and more.)


I joined a softball team with BryantAnd I hit a ball (but I got out at first) and I caught a line drive to 2nd and got the batter out. I felt pretty cool, even people in the stands and the ump told me it was a good catch!
Haha I caught him while he was blinking. He found those pants in a box of old baseball uniforms my parents had kept that were my two brothers. He went all out, socks and all. And our shirts my parents are going to print for us will be the same style has his but 3/4 sleeve and gray with blue sleeves.

I bought new running shoes (I realized I only own flats, heels, and flip flops)

I got started on my 3,000 word research paper on animal conservation in the Kalahari Desert.I did some much needed grocery shopping and helped Bryant make dinner tonight. He made steak and I made a side of homemade alfredo again with some garlic bread.

And I found a cat outside.
She had a collar and was way preggo, so she's probably not far from her house.But we left her some milk outside anyways. She didn't want to come in and would only let Bryant pet her.

So this post was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but apparently I was a lot busier this week than I thought. Well, I'm off to go snuggle and watch terminator...

I need to work on having patience

So do you know what I have decided?
That primary=free babysitting.
And the worst part?


It's for the kids whose parents I have never seen or met.


Super-ultra lame sauce....


I just want to go to a regular class.
Just once.
I'm desperate for friends here.
Please?



I really should get out of my pajamas. It's 11:30 and church starts in an hour and a half.



But I'm actually kind of having fun watching Bryant playing a video game version of Dante's Inferno. We have a really beautiful illustrated copy of the Divine Comedy at my work that I want.


Also on a brighter note, it's supposed to be 75 degrees outside today. So long winter! I won't really miss you that much, you over stayed your welcome. I'm taking my puppy for a really long walk this afternoon!

I can feel summer trying to creep in...

Summer is so close I can feel it.

It was 67 degrees outside today! It's pretty sad that that feels warm to me. Even Bryant said he can't wait for 90 degree weather.

Me either...

So today I had the morning and afternoon off so we decided to sleep in. Then Bryant suggested that we try a new pizza place my parents recommended.

And we all know how much I love pizza!

This is Pizzeria 712 in Orem, Utah.

I'm in love with the look of this place!


They even had Mexican Coke! Yum!
Bread and Hummus (no worries, there was a lot more bread, we just ate it too fast!)

Our pizza had house pulled mozzarella cheese, house made sausage, carmelized onions, and tomato sauce. It was supposed to have fennel on it but I'm not really a fan of fennel. It kind of tastes like licorice to me.

It was so good!

This picture cracks me up. It makes it look like I'm savoring the pizza (well, I kind of am) but Bryant got the picture just as I was blinking. (Also, I was definitely in a pizza mood, notice my kaleidoscope pizzeria shirt? Groovy huh?)

For desert, we got and amano chocolate tart (amano chocolate is a local chocolate made here in Utah) with creme anglaise and a pistachio brittle on the top. Yummy! It was so good we ate it up before I remembered to take a picture.

We both LOVED it and are definitely going back!


After we were done eating, we went to the store to buy me a new pair of sunglasses, I put mine on today and they had a big old scratch on them. We also bought Ace a new leash. The stinker chew through 2 of them this week!

We hooked him up outside so he could roam around and not go anywhere. 5 minutes later, we hear a wimper at the door and there stands ace with half a leash still attached.

Then my brother wanted to take him up to the foothills and he hooked him up so he wouldn't jump in the fire, and within minutes he had chewed through it too!

But we still love him and took him to a field to get his wiggles out this afternoon.

Her morning elegance

So I stumbled across this music video not too long ago.

I thought I would share it cause I'm a sucker for stop-motion and I like this song.

It's called her morning elegance by Oren Lavie.

Enjoy!

Next food network star anyone?

So for some really weird reason, I was craving alfredo like crazy yesterday!
So I made myself some for lunch yesterday.
The kind from a jar.

Then I went to work and the whole time I was craving it even more!
So I got a little adventurous...

I found a recipe for homemade alfredo sauce, headed to the store, came home and made it, threw some grilled chicken and lightly broiled some garlic bread and the result was...
delicious!

Even Bryant helped. :)

I owe my puppy a steak dinner.

Poor little Ace.
It was about that time to get him neutered so we made an appointment for him this morning at 7am.

We had kept him in last night and usually he does really well if I let him sleep on the bed, but he is just too big now (He kicks ME out when he sleeps). So we moved his pillow to our bedroom and he was up all night.He wasn't allowed to eat past 5:00 the day before so i'm sure he was starving because if I let him, he would eat 24/7 until he exploded.
So he whined and whined and whined! When the alarms went off at 6:30, Bryant and I got up to get dressed and ready and so what do we find when we walk back to the room?
Ace completely zonked on the bed.
The little stinker.
So we get to the clinic and we are the first people there, and Ace is a little nervous. Then people started pouring in with cats and dogs and he got REALLY nervous. He was so scared, he hid behind Bryant and curled up. One cat that hissed at him made him nearly jump out of his skin!

Finally, a lady comes out with a leash and slips it over his head. She made it halfway to the door when he wiggled out of it and ran and hid under the bench and wouldn't come out.

Finally, we get him out from under there and the vet puts the leash back on and Ace lays completely spread-eagle style on the ground and she had to slide him all the way to the back room.
I felt bad, but it was pretty funny.

I had to go into work for a bit this afternoon so Bryant went to pick him up and took him home. When I got home, he just came up to me and it seemed like he was giving me his version of a doggy-hug. He leaned his body against my legs and just sighed.

He's been pretty out of it all afternoon. And he's tired but he can't seem to get comfortable anywhere. One minute he wants to sit between Bryant and I on the couch, then he wants to cuddle with me on the bed, then he wants to be on his pillow, then the wood floor.Unfortunately, Ace doesn't photograph well because he's so dark, but this moment was too cute to pass up. He fell asleep for a bit on the couch, curled up next to his stuffed football. (And yes, that football has arms... It had legs too but Ace chewed them off)

Poor guy, I feel like my own kid just had surgery and I didn't get to be with him.

My brother Colter says I owe him a steak dinner, and I have to agree. He's been such a little trooper.

Auntie Brooke

This was A great weekend!

It started on Friday, when Bryant told me that I got to pick whatever I wanted to do (which made me so happy cause I had been up until 4 in the morning the night before writing a research paper, only to find out it wasn't due until this week... Lame sauce)
So after school, I made Bryant come to the craft store with me where I bought fun stuff to make a new hair clip to go with the skirt and shirt Bryant had also bought me the day before (I love my husband!)
He found this giraffe hat and I love all the foliage behind him, it makes it look like he's in the jungle.

Afterwords, We went to a store to buy my new niece an outfit, and then all of a sudden, I was really craving Italian food, so we went to Olive Garden for dinner. While we were there, I realized that their dishes are beautiful! I couldn't help but take pictures.
Not to mention, they gave me a HUGE plate for my food, It actually made my food look small because it didn't fill up the whole plate.Saturday, Both Bryant and I had to work until about 3 (Bryant was supposed to get off at 6 but I came home to him doing laundry and packing, such a great husband! He had gotten off early.)

We quickly packed up some stuff and headed off to Rexburg Idaho to visit my brother-in-law and his wife. They were blessed last week with the most beautiful baby girl!Check out those adorable cheeks!
They named her Jayden Rachel Stokes, and she was 8lbs 3oz!
She is such a good baby, and I love that when you hold her, she just sits and stares at you.
I am so in love with her! And I'm so excited to be an aunt!

The trip was short but it was really good. Bryant's parents were there and his sister Chantel was there for her next semester of school. It was like a mini family reunion. We had a great Easter and I really enjoyed watching conference.

Monday, we left a little earlier than we had originally planned because Utah was going to get a huge snow storm in the late afternoon. Thankfully, we missed the worst of it, We got tons of rain in Salt Lake and crazy hail when we got around the point of the mountain.

I was worried when we got home because I ordered a pizza and it took an hour and a half for it to be delivered. I thought the driver got stuck in the snow, but come to find out, he had locked his keys in his car. I wasn't too upset that my pizza was cold, I'm just glad that my craving for dominos didn't cause an accident.