The Jungle

Cutting down our Christmas tree is a thanksgiving tradition. Always, always, always the friday after thanksgiving (also known as Black Friday) instead of getting up early to hit the sales at the stores, we head out to cut down our Christmas tree. We've been going to the same place for years now. It's a nice little place, about an hour and a half away but so worth it. All the tree's are spaced out evenly with enough space to see all sides of the tree and move around them easily. THe people that own it are nice, and they wrap up your tree for you, shake it so that all the dead pine needles get off of it and then help you get it up on the top of your car and tie it down. That was not so much the case this year. This year, we decided to go someplace new, someplace closer. Was it worth it...NO! My mom found it on the internet and it sounded all nice, with it's ads for FREE hot chocolate and FREE candy canes and the fact that ALL trees were only $22. I now know why all the trees were onlly $22. This place was a jungle. THe tree's were all grown together and so you had to beat your way through and make your own path. Once you got in the middle, there was no getting out. I got lost multiple times and only by listening to my mom's voice did i finally make it back out alive. Another setback was that since all the tree's were so close together it was hard to see around the whole tree to see if there were any holes in the tree. We finally found one that my Mom approved of, and we cut it down and dragged it out through the jungle to our car. Which was not an easy task seeing as it was just my Dad, Mom, Sister and I and the 2 little ones. So really it was up to Dad, Heather and I while Mom watched the kids. And that really translates into, it was really only my Dad doing all of the dragging. Heather and I just held back tree branches and cleared a path for him best we could. The saga doesn't end there though, after making it to the car we still had to wrap it up and attempt to put it on top of the car. Needless to say, that took awhile. It was an adventure. We measured the tree when we got home and it was a good 14 feet tall. When we were cutting it down my mom mentioned that she thought it wasn't tall enough! We only have 12 foot ceilings!! We had to cut some off and it made it a ton easier to bring inside the house, but the tree is still MASSIVE! It definitely made Thanksgiving memorable.

Death Sheets

Growing up, my oldest brother Brandon use to always complain about death sheets on his bed, we all made fun of him for it. seriously, how dangerous can bed sheets really be?!? Well since I've been home, I've been sleeping on his so called "death sheets" and let me tell you, they could probably kill a man. Every night so far I've woken up numerous times to being wrapped up in them! I'll put them back on the bed and try and secure them on tight but it doesn't help, i still wake up hours later to the being tied up by my sheets. So far I haven't found them around my next yet, but i wouldn't be surprised to fine myself choked to death by them some morning. I had trouble getting out of bed this morning because i was so tangled up. I know i talk in my sleep but i know for a fact that i don't move around in my sleep enough to tie myself up this much. These sheets are possessed by the devil.

Want a Taste??

Home...is but a few days away. On a sadder note, after winning our first two games of the tournament, my coed b-ball team lost tonight. It wasn't pretty. The other team really wasn't that much better than us. Luckily, it's double elimination so we still have a fighting chance to win "the t-shirt". Mind you this isn't just any t-shirt, it's the intramural CHAMPS t-shirt, a shirt that all BYU students covet because only the few and proud get one and can wear it. It's my goal, that before college ends, i WILL be an intramural champ and get a t-shirt. I will go to college as long as it takes. (luckily for me i won't be graduating anytime soon, so I've got plenty of time!)Which on a side note, nobody ask me about my major because it's a sore subject right now! haha.

So, after completing my half marathon back in September, I've decided to go all the way and start training for a marathon. There's always a ton of them in the spring time so I'm shooting at May or June or something like that. I think i can do it. If i can run a half marathon without any training, i can do a marathon with 7 months of training.

p.s.-My hula recital is scheduled for end of March beginning of April and ALL should attend. I will be hula-ing it up in 3 different numbers. It's a once in a lifetime experience you won't want to miss. Plus i get to wear some pretty sweet costumes. Don't be too disappointed, but there are no coconut bras are involved.

HOME!

It has been exactly 11 months since i last made the voyage to the place i call home! I did fly over it on the way to and from connecticut this past summer but that's as close i've been. I should have never left. Since i've been gone, my mom gave my room away and even before she did that, she took all the "brooke-ness" out of it by tearing down all my mural of magazines pictures on my wall that took so many years to put up and boxing my stuff up. Sad story, i know. Lucky for me, Heather now sleeps in there and lucky for her, she has 2 adorable kids that i like to call my niece and nephew, so there's no way i can truly be mad that i have no room left in my home. Anyways, back to the whole point of this post...i am so excited to go home!...and here are the reasons why:

Family, duh!-Everyone will be in Thanksgiving, except B and Ash, but this is as close as we'll probably get for awhile. An added bonus is that i get to see both my nieces and my nephew all at the same time. Score!!

Turkey Trot- My sister, Heather, and I use to run the turkey trot every year on thanksgiving day. And since neither one of us has been in the same place as each other these past couple years, we havent had the opportunity to run it. BUT...this year the tradition continues! I think Jess and maybe Aaron are running it with us too, i could be wrong though. To be perfectly honest, i can think of no better way to start off Turkey Day by getting up early and going on a run! In reality, it's the best way to start off anyday.

Castlewood- To put it frankly, i miss castlewood like a fat kid misses cake. More than a fat kid misses cake actually. That park and I have so many great memories and it just wouldn't be a complete trip home if i don't go there.

Dad's Bike Rides- I use to detest be awoken at the crack of dawn to go on looooooong bike rides with my dad but it's the best part of coming home now! I desperately miss having a bike and have already reminded my dad numerous times that a bike ride while i'm home is essential. (It will probably take place at Castlewood!)

This list doesn't even begin to touch upon all the reaons i can't wait to come home, but it will have to do. Ahhhhhh 12 days!!!!!!!

An Old Love Rekindled

In highschool and back when i lived at home, I fell in love with snacking on frozen blueberries. I don't remember quite when it happened but there was a time when i would go through bags a week, luckily my mom kept our freezer well stocked! They are the perfect snack for anytime! They are sweet and healthy and studies have shown that blueberries help boost your memory and we all know i need help remembering things. Well when i left for college, i was thrown into the real world and found out that frozen blueberries are not too cheap. And so since then i only have them on rare occasions. But today, i was once again reunited with frozen blueberries and despite the fact that they are cold and frozen, eating them makes my heart melt! Oh how i've missed them! Too bad i still don't have enough money in my budget to splurge and really let loose on my love of frozen blueberries.

Constant Truths for Changing Times

With so many things going on lately I find it really easy to get caught up in life. With the elections and all the political changes going on i found myself checking and reading CNN.com at night and giving less time to my scripture study. And not only with that but in all aspects of my life lately i've found myself relying more just on myself and less on the Lord when it should be the total opposite. It's amazing how easy it is, even at BYU, to get caught up in the world and forget some of the reasons we're really here on this earth and lose our eternal perspective. I read this article from April conference of 2005 by President Monson and it just gave me such clarity. So i urge everyone to read it! Constant Truths for Changing Times

With it suddenly getting cold and the recent snow on the ground yesterday i got a huge craving for my mom's cooked wheat! It's one of my favorite cold weather foods! It's the best thing waking up in the morning with the knowledge that there's hot deliciousness waiting for you down in the kitchen. Sprinkle a little sugar on it and your good to go! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I use to think I was neutral on this issue but i had a moment of clarity at work today and i've come to the decision that peanutbutter isn't made to be creamy...it goes against the laws of nature.

The end.

This post goes out to you Mom...

Mom, i just want to say Thanks for being you. Thanks for being clean and organized. For always keeping our house spotless. For forcing or i guess a better word would be instilling in, me the importance of having a clean house and keeping it tidy. Yes, I have teased you numerous times about your sometimes seemingly OCD tendencies, like when you came to visit Aunt Leslee and ended up cleaning out her pantry for her. That's okay if you can't go anywhere without cleaning up a bit. I am grateful for that. Why is it that i have suddenly come to appreciate this great trait of hers? Because i have seen and been to the dark side. I'm helping Hannah babysit her professors 4 kids while they are on a cruise for 10 days. It wouldn't be so bad, but their house is a MESS! You know those shows on TLC where they go in and clean up dirty and messy houses?? This house could be on one of those shows. Everything about the place just makes me shudder. I walk in and immediately feel hte need to shower, but not in their shower, i always drive back in the mornings to my apartment to shower, because i feel like i'd get MORE dirty if i showered in their shower. There are just piles of stuff everywhere, I don't think they've done their laundry in month, it's just sitting in piles on the ground, and i don't think their house has ever seen a vacuum. There are few things i can't stand more than a dirty kitchen, so Hannah and I cleaned up that and it looks a million times better. Sleeping in their bed has been one of the worst experiences of my life. Even though we put on clean sheets, Who really knows if they are truly clean or not? Both nights i've slept there so far i've woken up multiple times throughout the night from being so anxious about sleeping in a dirty bed. Plus they have a cat and i swear i just inhale cat fur and dander all night long. We were both so grossed out that we've been wiping everything down with clorox wipes and spraying everything with some antibacterial spray, even the bed and pillows that we sleep on. I would rather suffer death by too many cleaning chemicals than by filth. I am by no means as anal about cleaning as my parents are but i am truly grateful i grew up in a house where things were too clean rather than the opposite end of the spectrum. I don't know how people can live like that. Not only is it probably a health hazard but i feel like emotionally it would be harmful and it definitely takes a toll spiritually. What's that scripture, "cleanliness is next to godliness" or something like that? Besides the house being a den of dirt, the kids are pretty cute. A little too rambuxious (sp?) at times especially the youngest, but altogether good kids. Needless to say this will be a loooooooong week and while i'm sure i'll learn a lot, i'll definitely be glad to get it over with.