There is light at the end of this tunnel.

This week has been good. Oh-so busy and occasionally disappointing, but good. 

There was the blizzard that soaked my hair.

There was the chance to meet Mitt Romney I missed because there was a mix-up with rides.

There were the cool names I found while indexing.

There were all the adventures I had with my roommates (most of them without leaving the house), including leaving my milk and eggs at WalMart and watching Saturday Night Live on Hulu until 4 in the morning.

There were the 6 hours I spent in the library on Tuesday preparing for my SuperLit mid-term.

There was the photoshoot/vegetarian stir-fry/movie night with my neighbors.

There was the fact that I'm caught up on my homework now! The end of the semester is in sight! My hair is cooperative! Life really is good.

Happy Moments

Yesterday I reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. (Well, we've been keeping track of each other. She's got a cute blog.) As we talked and went for a cupcake run and discovered quirks we didn't know we had in common, I remembered why we're friends.

Nerd is the New Cool.

Remember when I told you about how I love Thursdays? It's not just the case up at school. I usually have Thursdays off, so that's when adventures tend to pop into my life. Last week, that meant Disneyland with the family, followed by the midnight premiere of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Today* it started with grand plans. Mom and I were going to get up early, clean the house, and go out for lunch before it was time to pick up the boys. 

Instead, we watched the season finale of Glee. When the boys got home, we watched lots of Doctor Who. As we geeked out about it, my brother pointed about how nerdy we can get as a family. It's true. We love British TV and correcting each other's grammar. We like Star Trek, for crying out loud!

2007(?)

But little did they know how much farther down the rabbit hole I was about to go. I was almost embarrassed of how nerdy I was about to get at a friend's house. The whole concept was a little daunting and I didn't know if I could keep up, much less enjoy it. I decided I would at least give it a shot and see if it would grow on me.

And grow it did. Like kudzu. I'm excited (maybe even proud) to tell you that I survived my first D&D session. Yes, that's Dungeons & Dragons. It's right up my alley and you can judge me all you want because I think it's fun.

*I know it says Friday. Mind you, it's still Thursday to me because I'm a night owl.

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.

"How do you fight LOVE?"

A Capella Love Song of the Day #8 Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

Today I'm in an unusually good mood.

Maybe because I found this at the grocery store and I can make my favorite vegetarian tortellini soup like I do every Valentine's Day. 

Or maybe because my morning class is cancelled tomorrow.

Or maybe because I got a phone call from two of my favorite people.

(photo by Jill Rich Photography)

Okay, it's probably all of these, but most of all because of the knowledge I have that Christ lives and that to follow Him is to have a secure hope for the future. 

(The Master's Touch by Greg Olsen)

"Where did our hair go?" "NARNIA."

My roommates and I got haircuts over the weekend. We all look super cute, so on Sunday afternoon, we took to downtown Rexburg and took some pictures. I like shooting in the morning or on Sundays when I'm downtown, because I'm in love with the door to Sammy's and it's closed then. 

Noelle

Beth 

Me

Group shot! I love us. 

A Great Day at BYU-Idaho.

I finally figured out what career I want to pursue.

So allow me to introduce myself. 

(I was blonde when this picture was taken.)

Brooke Taylor, future attorney at law. When I grow up, I'm going to get the bad guys sent to jail. 

After a good french class (I'm finally beginning to remember everything I had forgotten) and an incredible devotional, I broke my no-sweets resolution by getting cupcakes with Rachel. Our moms were best friends in college and we were each other's first friends. When she started school here last semester, it was the closest we'd lived to each other since we were two, so she gets to be the exception to my avoidance of refined sugar. And I just LOVE every time we get together. She's sweet and straightforward and makes me want to be a better person. (Sorry, guys, she's also taken.) 

Christmas Vacation 2010

 We started Christmas off right--by going to Disneyland and getting annual passes! My parents and I surprised Jared & Noah. It was pouring down rain and we left early, but it was still fun and we're looking forward to going again and again and again (in better weather.) We took this picture in the parking structure.

 Christmas Eve brought the annual California Taylor family Christmas Pageant. It's always tough to cast. No one wants to be a wise man. 

They want to be sheep.

 Or the donkey.

Or the hay in the manger.

 The most coveted part, is of course, the innkeeper.

 But we always end up with a Mary and a Joseph. It's a cute tradition.

 We always get jammies for Christmas. Yep. Those are black and white camo print footie pajamas. They're awesome. Mine are way too big. 

 We got an ice cream maker! I'm so looking forward to using it. All the experiments we did before I left were the best I've had in a long time. And I was working at Baskin-Robbins.

It's probably because we're not just relying on the recipes that came with the machine...

The older kids all got iTunes cards in our stockings, so I got Paul Anka's album Rock Swings. It's big hits from the 80s and 90s in a swing style. It includes one of the best covers of Wonderwall I'm going to find. (Thanks for the tip, Rachel!)



Other non-holiday activities of mine included work, spending the night with my good friend Jenny, a rediscovery of my cat allergy, shopping and dinner with my favorite Yalie, and accidentally seeing a rated-R movie. (I was sure it was PG-13 at the time, I promise!)

Sweet is the Peace, Indeed.

Here it is. Finals week. Five days of frantic studying, project-doing, test-taking, cleaning--then it's time to go home. Both my roommates and many of my friends won't be returning. (Darn you, Fall-Spring track!) I was kind of panicking about it when I woke up Friday morning. I felt awful and busy and overwhelmed before I even got out of bed. My unworded prayer for direction was answered with an idea--you don't have class today--go to the temple before you study. I, for one, was down.

  (The only picture of the Rexburg Temple I've taken since I've gone to school here--what's wrong with me?)

 

One thing I know for sure I did wrong this semester was that I didn't go to the temple often enough. But returning first thing Friday morning set me straight. I ran into a friend from home (who has one of the sunniest smiles and cutest blogs I ever have seen). I was able to escape my normal distractions and just feel the peace that comes from slowing down and serving those who came before me.

Saturday is a Special Day!

It's the day Lyndsey and I had a photoshoot in downtown Rexburg! Here are my favorites out of the pictures we took of each other.

Saturday was also special because we celebrated Halloween! I was Lady Gaga, and Beth and Chelsea were my backup dancers. Beth made our amazing costumes. 

 (Chelsea does not like having her picture taken.)

Lists

Nicknames I've Accumulated Over the Years (And the people who actually call me that)

Brookie (Most people have at one point or another)

Brookie Cookie (The Morgan boys)

Cookie Brooke (A friend in high school)

Brookey Lou Who (Bethany)

Brookums (Connor & Liz)

Brookie Baby (Raelene)

Brooklynn (Teri & Kyle)

Brooklynn Wonderful (Alissa Terrific)

Brookis (My grandpa Taylor )

Brooksie (An elementary school teacher)

Brookamimi (Again, the Morgan boys)

Amazon Girl, or AG for short (Neil)

Honey Bee (Kasey, aka Sugar Face)

Energizer (Camp Taloa)

rBiF (other BiFs)

Fat BiF (Kyle)

Look-Alikes in My Life

Maddie, who is not my sister, but I will introduce her as such anyway...

...and a young Emma Watson.

Umm. That's about it.  I'm watching Emma Stone on SNL .  That's taking up my entire thought process right now. I'm so glad I got my homework done before it started.

Five Words.

Lyndsey and I watched the movie in preparation for this Tuesday. We loved it. The trick is to just take it for what it is--campy and fabulous.

Moments of Elegant Leisure

I have the rest of the summer off. For the first time in a long time, I'm deriving more pleasure from...well, everything. Especially:

photography,

eating,

(aren't I classy?)

dressing up,

I got dressed up for a wedding reception. My mom and I went grocery shopping right after, and I'm told the cute cashier was checking me out. Yeaaaaaah.

and just being with friends.