Today's To-Do List

(Things that actually got done are crossed out)

• Go to the bank
• Clean
• Write letters
• Practice
• laundry
• work out
• Edit photos

What Actually Got Done Today

(In addition to what I had planned)

• Weeded what will soon become the garden below (photo below)
• FHE in Claremont with good friends
• Honestly, lots of video games. I've never finished a full game of Pokémon and I intend to get all the way through FireRed this summer.
• Invented a disease called Taylor-Harmon-Whitehead Syndrome, which is best described as the unberable mutual missingness that occurs when there's an imbalance of Taylors, Harmons, and Whiteheads in Rexburg. (The proper ratio is 1:2:3, and is currently 0:2:3. So not cool.)  One day I'll be able to write a post and not mention how much I miss my roommates, I promise!

Ah, well. There's always tomorrow.

There's Always Money In the Banana Stand.

What? You've never seen Arrested Development? Quick, go watch the first season on hulu. But if there's no time for that, the opening credits will sort of tell you what's going on. It's very funny.

But this is just the background for the real story, which could be more vaguely titled "What I Did This Weekend."

My friend Bryan had his birthday party this weekend, and it was Arrested Development-themed. A lot of people came dressed up, and it was a blast. I brought my camera and quickly became the Party Photographer.

Bianca as Lucille and Hannah as Kitty

Tiffany and Bryan as Lindsey and Tobias

Lauren as Rita

The Cake

   The cutoffs are a reference to the show, I promise.

Everybody.

The family.

Okay, I haven't been completely honest about my summer.

I loved my job. I really did. But spending so much time by myself and my inability to handle stress  made me feel awful. I was doing great at work, but I still felt like I was failing, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong or how to fix it. That's when I got my sunburn. It didn't help the depression. Nope. Made it worse. I got behind and my body couldn't keep up with my brain or my to-do list. and my stress kept going up and up. It was a minor miracle I got out of bed and went to work every morning. A bigger one when I got caught up or made it through the day without crying. I moved back in with my parents about a month after the scary thoughts started.  But I didn't feel any better. I started getting up earlier to work longer hours, but I could never keep up. I was still alone. I stopped eating. My work got worse and the pressure kept building. I never told anyone but my dad what was really going on because I was ashamed. I thought it was pathetic that I couldn't keep up because I was stressed and sad. I thought that I should have been stronger than that, you know? I still don't think it's a good excuse.

Now that my workweek is under 50 hours and I have roommates again, I'm doing a lot better. I really am.  And you know? This summer really was a blessing to me. I earned enough money to pay for my own school this semester. I made good friends in an amazing ward. I got to know my Savior better. Hopefully, I grew up a little bit.

Lessons I Learned (or Re-Learned) This Summer

1. When there's a job to do, get it done. 
2. That said, it's still crucial to eat three meals a day and get more than 4 hours of sleep a night. Even when you think you're too stressed out to do either.
3. Crying is not a sign of weakness.
4. You don't need a whole lot of things. They cost money.
5. Singles wards are going to have their awkward moments. Embrace them--they'll be great stories to tell later.
6. Handle situations like a mature adult. 
7. Living alone isn't that great.
8. Daydreaming about the impossible is fine as long as you can understand and accept the impossibility.
9. The Atonement isn't just for sins, but for sickness, sorrow, and pain.
10. For the love of all that's holy, wear sunscreen.

To Catch the Last Weekend of the Last Week

One last temple trip. 

One last babysitting gig.

One last trip to the beach. 

All these "one lasts" are so bittersweet!  I've made friends and had experiences that have all changed my life for the better and I'm gonna really miss this. Don't get me wrong, I am ready to be back in school and get on with my life, but I'd also be happy if summer was just one month longer. Oh, well. I suppose that's what cell phones, Facebook, snail mail, e-mail, and Skype are all for.


(You get bonus points for identifying the song the title of this post is from.)

The Best Laid Plans of Mice, You Know...

Remember this list? This great list of things I wanted to do this summer? Out of the nine specifics, I've done three. Only three more are plausible. (Seriously, $15 just to PARK at Disneyland? No thanks.) But I believe I've done generally awesome things, too.

picture by jill rich

Like get to know these fabulous ladies better. You guys all know Seraphine by now, but her mom, Sabrina, has become a really close friend. We can get together and just talk for hours on end. I don't know how I would have survived the summer without her. 

Ohmygoodnessilovethepeopleinmywardtheyaresoawesome. 'Nough said.

Running a business almost on my own has been one of the hardest and most stressful things of my life. But I've learned a lot from it and it's paying for school.

In short, I have three weeks left of my summer. I'm going to make an adventure of it. 

I have no formal post. Just captions for pictures.

 This is my dad fixing the pipes. They're partway through redoing the kitchen, and it's going to look great!

 There's a clothesline in the backyard of my new place. 

 I plan to take unnecessary amounts of pictures of my clothes drying this summer.

 I actually plan to take unnecessary amounts of pictures in general, because now I have a real camera for the first time since November! I bought a Canon EOS Rebel XSi for my photography classes. Huzzah.

I was home alone with nothing to do tonight, so I got started making chocolate hazelnut gelato. 

 Side note: I made the bacon ice cream earlier this week. It was really, really good. My family loved it, too! (See? I am neither pregnant nor crazy.)

I wore an apron and everything!

It's not finished yet, though. It has to chill for a lot longer before it can go into the machine. But it'll be worth the wait. 

So Brooke, What is it Exactly that you Do?

This summer I'm working for Belvedere Designs. I make these.

That's not paint. It's a vinyl sticker. The whole operation is run out of the other side of this very room. Since the bosses (Brother Joe and the favorite Canadian) are spending the summer in Europe, I'm running it. And I get to stay in their house.

And use their car for business purposes.

And I don't know if you remember,  but it's all protected by Broadview Security.

Get It or Get Murdered

I showed this video to the people whose house I'm living in this summer. When I moved in today, I found this on the back door.

The Pros and Cons of Living Alone

 Pro:

• I'm not very likely to have psycho roommates. (Never had one before, but it's always a concern.)
• I can make up embarrassing choreography to Lady Gaga songs without being judged. 
• I can listen to and appreciate Lady Gaga music without being judged.
• I don't have to consider anyone else's preferences, allergies, or schedule when making meals.
•  The only people who around the house are people I invited and therefore want to be there.
• I don't have to share a bathroom.
  

Con:

• I have to go out of my way for human interaction. (Because putting it that way doesn't make me sound like a jerk.) 

They Stab it With Their Steely Knives, but they Just Can't Kill the Beast.

On Monday I started my first full-time job. I'm a slave minion making pretty things for your walls.

(I checked the spelling for "minion" and discovered that it comes from the French mignon--cute. Go figure.)

I'm still learning the ropes, but so far it's much better than scooping ice cream. It's fun to hang out with people with degrees in political science and their two-year-old (who could've been my prom date.) He likes to give me lego flowers and if he leaves for a play date or something, he won't leave until he gives me a kiss and a hug. (Men of the world, learn from Reagan!)

It's still strange to be in California, though. I'm indoors all day and don't notice the heat. Today I took off my cardigan and kept it off for the first time in who knows how long because I wasn't cold anymore. It's still going to take a while before I even think about wearing flip-flops or shorts. They need to work their way back into my schema of appropriate clothing again the way bare arms took almost a week to do.

I also returned to find my family replaced by Trekkies. I like it. We watch reruns of The Next Generation together and got First Contact from Netflix. That's another way we know the world won't end in 2012--warp drive will be invented in 2063.

Now then, who wants ice cream? How about a cupcake? Yeah, me too.

One More Reason to Survive the Rest of the Semester

 

found this image here.

"My Summer in the Village." Sounds like an adventure, doesn't it?

 Of course, it won't be all exploring little shops and taking pictures in the most beautiful city in the general vicinity of my hometown (in my humble opinion). There's gonna be two jobs to work and all that jazz. 

But still. The Village. It's not exactly Paris, but I'm excited.