If you could send this back to Valentine's 2009, I'd be much obliged.

Dear Brooke,

Good for you for telling that guy you had work today instead of letting him take you to a movie. You're right about him.

But don't think that means you're out of the woods yet. Prince Charming isn't going to be at high school because Prince Charming is, well, a man. You go to school with little boys. Even at college--I'll let you be surprised at which one you end up at--there will still be plenty of boys. Also, it turns out it's not common for a guy to be 6-foot-anything outside of California, so don't get hung up on appearances. Not that you do, but just keep it in mind.

Just be patient. Seriously. No one likes a bitter teenager.

You are onto something with that boy you like now, though. He's definitely your type, but it has nothing to do with his race, I promise you. Leave him be because he probably does drugs, but keep that type in mind.

Happy Valentines Day, do something fun!

Love,
Brooke

7 Things I Learned at the 122nd Annual Tournament of Roses Parade

1. The Marine Corps is too hardcore for mellophones. I don't have a picture (silly me!), but their band marched with French Horns. I was impressed. But then again, I am easily impressed by Marines in general. 

2. No one makes pretty guard costumes. I had pictures of the worst of them, but I felt bad later and deleted them. 

3. If it's too hard to make something out of flowers, you just coat things with flowers. Like these teddy bears.

4. Sometimes the floats are too big to fit underneath the freeway. These ones fold somehow.

5. Cirque du Soleil will always have the element of surprise.

6. The TV will never do the parade justice.

7. There's a reason I rarely saw Dallin or John while I was home.

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!)

Technical Difficulties

The plan was to return to Rexburg, edit all my pictures from the end of the semester and break, then do this big post about how awesome my California Christmas (and other holidays) were. But no. Billy's USB cord is nowhere to be found, along with my pillowcases. But when that cord turns up, I promise to chronicle:

• How the Marines are too cool for mellophones and other things I learned at the 122nd Annual Tournament of Roses Parade
• How I plan to not get diabetes in 2011
• Matching pajamas
• Jazz covers of songs like "Smells like Teen Spirit"

Independence Day 2010

 Since Independence Day was on a Sunday this year, Ontario held their parade the day before. The Upland Regiment always marches in it, and so we always go to see Dallin and John. (Regiment is the marching band.) We brought our newly arrived German exchange students, Stephan (below left) and Simon. 

 We also brought Séraphine!

She loved the parade. "Horsies! Horsies!"

 Dallin doing his thing. He was super far away, like in the middle of the street. Luckily, Billy has a 55mm lens, or a "paparazzi lens," as it's come to be known.

 The Lady Republicans actually got a man to dress up as Abraham Lincoln this year. Usually it's one of their ladies. (That's not their real name. Lady Republicans just sounds better in my book.)

 On July 4, we churched as usual and then went to visit my grandparents. We got back to Upland in time to watch the fireworks. This was an exciting experience photographically for me. With a normal point-and-shoot, your firework pictures come out something like this:

I actually took this one (and many like it) with Billy, but I still managed to get some really nice ones, like this:

 Yay America!

I Agree with the NyQuil.

But there are many approaches to the subject. They can be summed up in the work of those who've spent their careers writing about love.

Queen:       

"Seven Seas of Rhye" ("I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust.")

"Don't Stop Me Now"

"Somebody to Love"  

Intensely physical, defensive, incomplete. Queenly love is for swingers.

Swift:  

"Love Story"

"The Way I Loved You"

"Fifteen"

          This is for the young and hormonally charged. It's all about the turbulence and emotion of firsts. 

The Beatles: 

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

"When I'm 64"

"Yesterday" 

  For those who sit around and wonder and overthink every little thing before, during, and after a relationship. Not gonna lie, this is my style.

Nickelback: 

"Far Away" 

"How You Remind Me"

"Someday" 

Chad Kroeger, you poor Canadian. You just don't know what you have until it's gone, do you?

   

You'd need a really good playlist to "get it right."

"The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson

"Lucky" by Jason Mraz & Colbie Callait

"Happy" by NeverShoutNever!

"But I Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout Love."

I've been sick all weekend. I should have known on Friday night when I fell asleep during the movie. I never fall asleep during movies! (Though I was awake long enough to learn that my brown eyes would be about as welcome in Middle Earth as they would be in Hitler's ideal world. EVERYONE in Lord of the Rings has blue eyes.) But it didn't really hit until yesterday. Today I couldn't even go to church. This is more as a disclaimer than anything else. Any of the following could  be the NyQuil talking.

Valentine's isn't for a week, but today I'm going to talk about love. The topic really came to my mind this week when I learned that a very very young friend of mine fancies himself in love. I laughed. Romeo and Juliet were in love at his age, now weren't they?

There's more to being in love than Hollywood or the book publishers would have you think. It's more than butterflies and late night conversations. It takes work and the understanding that the hormones will eventually stop raging. And knowing what to do after that. It's better than butterflies. And it takes time to get it right.

I do know where my very very young friend is coming from. It's just that the one time I really thought I was in love with someone, it didn't turn out well at all. 

Because I can't tell you from experience what being in love really is yet. I've got time to figure that all out.

Songs to Sum Up 2009

"We don't live in a in a single song. We move from song to song, from lyric to lyric, from chord to chord. There is no ending here. It's an infinite playlist." ~David Levithan in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Heroes and Thieves--Vanessa Carlton
Empire State of Mind--Jay-Z
"Coronation" Mass in C K.317--Mozart
Gravity--Sara Bareilles
Larger Than Life--Backstreet Boys
Magic--University of Chicago's Voices in Your Head
White Houses--Vanessa Carlton
I've Just Seen a Face--The Beatles
In-N-Out (Animal Style)--We the Kings
Home--Vanessa Carlton

Grown-Up Christmas List

Yesterday  I mentioned my (occasionally) weird celebrity crushes. Here are a few of them.

Matt Bomer

(White Collar)

Jimmy Fallon

(Late Night)

Jason Sudekis

(Saturday Night Live)

Will Ferrell

David Boreanaz

Seth Meyers

(Saturday Night Live)

Anyone else see a pattern? That's right-most of them are wearing gray suits! Just kidding-nearly all of them are comedians. But I DO love when guys wear gray suits.

Also for Christmas: I'd like to not be allergic to this beautiful creature:

But remember kids! Christmas is about this guy:

I'll Be Home for Christmas.

Los Angeles as seen from The Griffith Observatory

While I'm home, let's: 

1. Go to the beach!

2. Go to Disneyland!

3. Grab a Vanilla Crème at Starbucks!

4. See The Princess and the Frog!  

 

5. Get me street legal!

6. Have the Taylor Christmas Pageant at Bill and Carin's on Christmas Eve (as per tradition!)

7. Get some allergy medicine into me so that I can sleep in the same room as my beloved Minnie!

8. Have all the Morgans come down for Noah's baptism!

9. Shop at Target!

10. Not worry about school!

A Minor Setback

Before I can begin, I must apologize for the horrible pun in the title.

I can't pick a minor. I'd been planning on journalism at the beginning of this semester, broadcast a week ago, and now I really don't know.

But it's all good. I've got a good schedule for next semester that covers general ed foundations and my major requirements. (At least I'm sure about my major. I almost died of happiness when we talked about the Constitution and government in Book of Mormon class today.)

In other news, I'll be home in 4 days! Huzzah for Thanksgiving!

BREAKING NEWS: these are Candy Corn Kisses from Hershey's. They are perfect and they are making my day.

How Vogue Saved My Life and Halloween Adventures

I bought the November 2009 Vogue tonight whist grocery shopping at Albertsons. I like Vogue. Their writers are fantastic and it's fun every now and again to see what the classy rich gals are wearing. (That's the difference between Cosmo and Vogue-class.)

Then we loaded up McKell's car with our groceries. She put hers into a cooler in the back-and something in there is going bad. Carolyn and I were about ready to die - until I opened up the magazine, flipped to the Trésor by Lancôme ad, and smelled the heavenly perfume sample.

Speaking of Vogue, I felt like I belonged in it on Halloween night. I had just dyed my hair red again (and I feel like myself!) and I loved how everything came together.

I was a 20s gangster.

It's been awhile since I've taken tons of pictures of myself. But tonight was a good night to do it.

I went to a few parties. It was fun, but nothing too memorable.

My favorite costumes of the night:

(If you're clueless about this, you're probably a good parent and don't let your kids watch Nickelodeon. But The Fairly Odd Parents is still an excellent show.)

Halloween & My Voting Guide

Halloween was pretty bomb, you guys. The day before, my friend Crystal and I painted faces at Sierra Vista Elementary's Family Fun Night. WE painted each other's faces before we started, and we used our arms to wipe off the excess paint...



That night, I changed my mind about my costume. I had been planning to be Sarah Palin, but I was too lazy to get up to poof my hair. So, I wore jean, high heels, and Dallin's Scout shirt! No, I wasn't a boy who scouts. I was a girl who scouts for boys. ;D
That's me and Andrea the gypsy running the cupcake walk at the ward trunk-or-treat.



After the trunk-or-treat, Andrea and I kinda drifted between my house and hers and hung out until midnight. We had a great time.

Well, we're TWO days away from a big election. And I love politics and care about what's going on in the world. Even though this is so, I'm not old enough to vote. =[ If I could, this is how I'd vote:
President: John McCain (the least worst)
Prop 1A: NO
Prop 2: YES
Prop 3: NO
Prop 4: YES
Prop5: NO
Prop 6: YES
Prop 7: NO
Prop 8: YES
Prop 9: YES
Prop 10: NO
Prop 11: YES
Prop 12: NO