never have i ever

have you ever played the game "never have i ever?"
it's a fun one. i thought i was pretty good at this game in my youth. mostly because i felt like i hadn't done anything when really i had but it made for great gaming.

anyways, this weekend was a new "never have i ever for me." never have i ever embarrassed husband more. if you are jake you get to see your wife in some pretty good looking outfits, and by good looking i am being completely ficisious (big word to make me sound smart, it just means sarcastic). this weekend was a new moment. i had to pick husband up from a catering event that he was working. he is a rockstar husband who works extra jobs on the side of his ridiculously hard school load to provide for our family and i love him to the moon and back for it.

when i got the text that said "come get me!" i literally grabbed whatever was in sight to run out into the freezing arctic night chill. this was the outcome. not only did i wear his xxl tshirt along with capris, wuggs (wanna be uggs), and a sweatshirt zipped up to my eyeballs, but i grabbed this furry number AND another furry number named lucy to come along. little did i know it was going to be a much longer car ride then anticipated. so i, wife who doesn't think before she acts sometimes, took our dog and this crazy outfit to a very formal event to pick up my rockstar husband. rather then taking you through a series of events i'll just tell you that i saw many a people lookin my bestest and lucy decided to hop over the seat and create another disaster for me to explain when jake got in the car. all in all i learned two helpful lessons.

1. lucy is better left at home and much more loved within the four walls of our home.
2.don't wear crazy outfits when picking husband up at a place where you may have to get in and out of the car. it saves us all from embarrassment.

the end.

to my mother

who is fifty years young today! happy happy as you celebrate a life full of amazing accomplishments. 

(i know you just feel old but no on in this world would ever guess it.)

words cannot describe how much i love you and how grateful i am to have you in my life. i am also very very lucky to have you as my mother. you have taught me so much about life and have enabled me to become the person i am today. you've always been my number one cheerleader, support, friend, and many other roles. 

 i look up to you in every way and as i get older i am even more appreciative of the mother that you've been to me. you have taught me how to be better wife and friend, and someday a mother to my own children. you've taught me how to serve those around me with a smile on my face and how to love others unconditionally. you inspire me to be creative, no one can keep up with your endless ideas and enthusiasm. i envy your happiness in all situations and your drive that you have to do anything. you are loved by more people then i think anyone else i know. 

i love all of the memories i have of giggles and chats and words of wisdom from you. thank you for being patient with me and laughing with me in my moments of insanity. jake and i are both lucky to have you as a mom. he loves mom number 2. i'm so grateful for the way you have taken him in as one of your own. i love you love you mom, have a wonderful day. 

xoxo 

i really am

so glad that husband exists.

i just spent a few minutes watching this darling video of a very happy reunion. watching it gave me chills just thinking of the day when jake came home after two years. i know it seems silly but the day he came home ties close to first for the happiest day of my life. (obvi the other being our wedding day). i think they are so close because with out that day i wouldn't have my wedding day at all.

nothing can explain the contrast of feelings i felt that day. nervous beyond belief yet more excited then ever. questions going through my head yet nothing to say at all. too much time to waste but coming way too fast. i was a serious mess: sweaty palms, shaky hands, giggles, tummy aches, phone calls, texts, and tears.

it wasn't until i saw him that i realized how hard it had been to live with out him. yet i wouldn't have changed it for the world. we grew, we loved, and we learned. somedays i wish i could re-live that moment over and over again.

then i remember he's mine to keep for ever and ever. and i'm just so glad he exists, because if not i don't know where i would be. cheesy i know but he's become absolutely everything to me.

happy friday! make sure to spend time with those you love.

minted

(i'm loving this color right now if you can't tell)

 i feel like a big girl when:
i cook dinner most nights of the week aaand when husband tells me "you're the best wife ever" score.

my boss gives me big girl assignments to do all by myself. all by myself guys, like meeting with my own client. thats biggg.

they call me "mrs. cook" when i go to fancy schmancy places or "sister cook" when i am in my church settings. that makes me feel sophisticated and i love that i stole his last name and that it's mine too.

i go to ehs and i don't know anyone anymore except for the kids i used to babysit. i just feel old then. husband and i have our five year reunion this summer. wait what did i just say? oh that we are older then we think. but i'm ok with that too.

jake and i talk about the future and being mommy and daddy and one day having our own family to take care of and not just one another. i can't wait to see jake as a dad.

but then i giggle and realize that i'm really not a big girl or ready for that and i'm ok with that for now

wishes were fishes

my dad told me to stop wishing for fishes last night. i'm a wishful, hopeful, and dreamful (i made that word up didn't' i) kind of girl. it's one of my greatest strengths and also weaknesses. i had a special talk my dad last night. i'm definitely a daddy's girl, always have been.  he is so wonderful. his wisdom is one of the things that  keeps me grounded in life. nights like last are nights i will treasure forever. thanks dad for being one of my hero's. i love you. 

wishes: 

1. i wish i was an only child. except i'm thankful i'm not because that would be boring.

2. i wish sam and court were coming home soon! i'm thankful that they are having such amazing opportunities and experiences, but i miss them lots. 

3. i wish sleeping in was part of my job. i'm thankful it's not because then i would never get a thing done in my life, wintertime makes me sleepy but i keep telling husband i just need extra beauty sleep. 

4. i wish i had a freeze button for life so i could live in the sweetest moments longer. i'm thankful i don't because it helps me appreciate those moments that pass by so quickly. 

5. i wish it was friday so husbands "weekend version" could come back, he's really fun then people. i'm going to be honest there is no thankful here. ok maybe i'm thankful it's already wednesday!

6. i wish life weren't so hard sometimes. i'm extremely thankful for my trials, it's those moments where i learn the most about myself and my life. 

7. i wish i were better at 30 for 30 pictures. i'm thankful that i'm continuing the challenge, just terrible at the documentation. eek. i'm working on it. 

jackpot

three things i learned this weekend. not in order of event, but all individually something i'd like to remember. 

i'm a stellar game player. not just your typical game, i'm talking arcade games. the games where you pour endless amounts of money into a slot. a little different then gambling, but i'm thinking i'd be pretty good at that too just sayin. the machines that take your nickel spiraling down a twisted road while you hope and pray you land on red or black. really you want black because that means jackpot but red will do just fine too because that means ten tickets, and that's like two whole jolly ranchers in trade. let me tell you something, i am good at these games, just ask husband. i think i exceeded a new level of impressing him when i scored five jackpots throughout the night. no big deal. you wouldn't think it possible but guess what it was. and it was awesome for us.

husband is not a procrastinator. it is lucky and really the biggest blessing for our future babes because i am such a procrastinator. i'm that girl who throws something together basically as its due, not a shining moment for me. gluing at 4 am, quizzing five minutes before the test, throwing the salad together as everyone is dishing up the main course, oh i don't know maybe blogging for the day at 9 pm. but this guy not a procrastinator, he's got it all figured out. he's the guy who comes home from school and sits in his office to study for four hours like it's nbd and he is also the guy who finishes a paper the week before it is due, it's a fine trait of his i've just recently discovered. so i impress him with my game playing skills and he makes me fall in love with him all over again when he's so on top of his studies. we're really a match made in heaven.

i tend to laugh in dangerous situations. isn't that kind of the opposite thing you should do? friday i was in a car on my way up a majorly snowy and somewhat steep road and we began to spin. to the right, to the left, back to the right, then a 180 to the left and then down the hill into, luckily, a snow bank. 1 mile later and we would've been off the cliff of the mountain. rather then screaming or being calm i laughed. giggled in fact and then when we were stuck i laughed really hard. it wasn't kosher to be honest, but hey i took light of a situation and din't make the driver feel uncomfortable which was probably best.

four year olds don't forget. words of advice-don't make promises unless you plan to keep them because four year olds will remember. four year olds will also remember when you don't close your eyes in the prayer, four year olds will remember when you sneak a treat with out giving them any, four year olds will remind you when you have "something on your face" (oh that's just a zit wait ten years or so and you will experience the joy four year old), and four year olds will most definitely remind you that you promised a ctr ring to them if they completed your challenge. so don't expect them to forget because you won't get away with it. i love my primary babes they are a huge highlight of my week every week.

black and white and red all over

remember that riddle?
(it's really "read" all over and the answer is newspaper!) 

i really liked my wednesdays wishes last week. it helped me be thankful when i was being a little wishful. really a little more like whiny. so here are my wishes for today: 

i wish i didn't have to clean my house so often. 

luckily i do, because it smells yummy and sometimes husband comes to help with the floors and makes me dance with him in the kitchen. i die for that. 

i wish that in the mornings when i got to the car there wasn't ice covering every window. hi i'm brooke, i live in utah and i don't have an ice scraper. 

luckily that this winter hasn't been too bad. i hope i didn't just jinx myself, because i will have no motivation to leave my home and jake would not be thrilled. 


i wish that i had someone to make dinner for me every night. like a celebrity. how nice to dream of what you want to eat and have it prepared right then. ahh the life. 
luckily my mother reminds me that it is good for me. but only sometimes. and luckily husband makes dinners too. i love his version: plain pasta, butter, parmesan. best dinner ever, don't judge we are five. 


i wish sometimes i wasn't a grown up in the real world. 
luckily husband lets me forget about the real world and be a kid agin with him sometimes. he knows how to make it fun. love him for that. he also reminds me of the good things of being a grown up. 


i wish sometimes i could eat desserts bigger then my head every day. 
luckily i don't because i would look ridiculous. 


i wish we were going on our cruise next week. 
luckily we aren't because husband and i are not in our tip top good lookin' smokin' hot cruise shape. husband gave up sweets today. i admire him for that, we all know what that would take for me. 


i wish i lived inside the story of some of my favorite tv shows. 
luckily i don't, that might get boring, and crazy, and scary, and silly, and i just like my real life. but sometimes i like to think of being inside of them. 

just as i promised. i've got to get on this posting thing so that i can get the 30 for 30 moving right along. don't you love where i've decided to take my photos? it's really original huh? and exciting? i'll get better. 

we really like to eat greasy food on the weekend.

1. Yes, it's pathetic, that we went not only once to get greasy hamburgers and fries this weekend but twice. Husband is having crazy cravings. We went to crown burger on friday night. Just look at my excitement to eat that chocolatey goodness of a mess and husbands concentration on how to get that burger in his mouth! We are very focused and enthusiastic eaters, don't mess with us and our food, haha. Then came Saturday and we went to one of our ultimate fav's Pace's. If you haven't been you must, even if you only order a peach rainbow. oh me oh my delicious.

2. 30 day photochallenge on instagram (follow me! Sarabc)  Ok just because I’m saying it’s pathetic doesn’t mean I don’t love it. Here is the deal: every night I remember that I forgot to post a picture. I resorted to taking a silly picture of something that really doesn’t work or make sense. So I decided that i failed miserably and too many challenges at once is not good for me. The end.

3. Lucy pup has been taking naps on the bed. Gasp. I know I know, what a terrible and pathetic habit to start. She’s only a 75 pound lab that sheds brown hair and we have a white comforter, who enjoys running in mud, super fun when I see that all over the house. But honeslty have you ever seen big brown puppy dog eyes? Kill.us.now. We are both the biggest suckers on the block. I keep telling husband that we are doomed once we have a little one running around. Heaven help us we can have some control! 

4. The fact that on Sunday it was like everyone we know who was coming home from a mission or leaving for one decided to have their talks on the same day.  Don't get me wrong i love my Sunday's but it was a looong day. 8 am to 4 pm. So very proud of them all. Welcome home Elder Jones and good luck Elder Hinson and Elder Divver! I really should get an award for being the most supportive cousin and friend out there so: yellow star for me. 

5. This 30 for 30 clothing challenge, not to be confused with the photo challenge. I know i've whined more about it then i've actually delivered so i'm going to let you know that i will be posting days 2-5 tomorrow. Possibly a pathetic decision but I am kind of enjoying it to be completely honest. The best part is that it's making getting ready a speedy process believe it or not. I may do this every month. Don't mark my words by any means. 

6. The long weekend. Too perfect. Why can't we have Monday's off every week? Thank you MLK for your contribution, and being so amazing that i get to play with husband all day so that we could do whatever we want. Highlights included: grocery shopping together, that never happens (yes we are old and married) running errands and shopping and nordy's, cleaning our house and making it smell oh so scrumptious, watching our favorite shows with friends, and just being together. 

7. It was pathetic that with all the time i had yesterday i didn't blog, it just slipped away from me and i put it off until much too late. But i do have to say so myself that i've been doing much better and i've even been sticking to a few of my new years resolutions, finally. 

sometimes

lucy decided to be part of the 30for30. she loves fashion. especially high heels.

sometimes i like to whisper in husbands ear and i ask him to  tell me a story. sometimes i make up silly words that stick and become part of our daily vocabulary. sometimes i ask husband what his dreams are for us and giggle with excitement. sometimes i talk him into saying our bedtime prayers two nights in a row so i can hear the sweet things he is grateful for and the moment where he expresses his love for me. melts my heart every time. and sometimes i get all flustered inside because i really love the man. so gosh dang much. can't wait to spend the weekend with him! 

xo happy friday everyone! 

(i've decided to wait till next week to return to "friday's fav's"

there just wasn't the time this week.) 

hey its ok

• it's completely fine that caitlin's puppy sloane is the most darling thing that you will ever see. oh me oh my look at that puppy face. 
• it's ok that i signed husband up for the closing prayer in sacrament meeting this week instead of myself when the bishopric called. 
• it's ok that for breakfast i ate hershey's chocolate nuggets and wasn't even a bit concerned. 
• it's ok that while i was in office max this morning i blurted out to the cashier that it was "spooky quiet." really? spooky quite? guess so. 
• it's ok that i played a funny joke on husband this morning when he told me i was the last in bed so naturally it was my turn to make the bed. but being the trickster i am i lured him back into bed to snuggle for five more minutes, didn't take too much talking. i really did mean it, swear it. but i snuck out first so he was the last in bed. hehe pretty funny. he caught on right as i was crawling over him and tried to keep my feet from touching the floor. i think i'm still stuck making it later. 
• it's ok that husband found a moth in the pasta box last night when he poured it into the boiling water. oopsies. hope it doesn't scare you away from coming to dinner at our house. 
• it's ok that i worked out last night for the first time since before christmas. so much for that resolution.  i took a spin on my parents tour de france bike oooo lala. but my bum is feeling oww lala.
• it's ok that i pinned 200 pins today at work. don't even care, good inspiration. 
• it's ok that i spent 45 minutes distracting husband from his studies yesterday. he loved it secretly, i layer on the floor in his office (yes his office, he is very official thanks to his wonderful wife-thats me btw) making silly comments and being completely obnoxious. it didn't work too well but i did get some kisses out of it. 

ahhh justification. 

makes me feel so much better about myself. 

As for the 30 for 30 day challenge...i've officially begun. it took me a good hour last night carefully selecting what to use. i only picked 28 items in case i desperately want something one day. the final run down. five shoes: boots, heels, flats. three skirts. ten shirts and tops. three sweaters. four pants. two vests. and one jacket. hope it was a good selection because it's official. 

wishful wednesday

our good friend beth came over last night for dinner, so lucky to have her company. she also asked for seconds, i didn't even have to offer. she's a winner of a friend i tell ya. i made sweet potato lasagna. interesting combo i know but i had something similar at the wonderful red rock restaurant and tried to make my own. no recipe so i was really going out on a limb. 

husband came up for thirds and kept telling me it was "mmm mmm good." he loved it and thats good enough for me. 

score: happy proud husband, i'm feeling pretty good. 

my list of wish's because its a wednesday:

i wish i wouldn't have began the 30 for 30 day challenge. i didn't realize what this may take for me to actually plan out my outfits for 30 days. 

luckily husband is going to make me stick with it. 

i wish we didn't have construction workers pounding on our house at 7 am and not letting our puppy go outside.

i'm thankful our house will be much warmer in the future. 

i wish that money grew on trees. 

i'm thankful i have a job and get the satisfaction of working hard for the necessities of life. 

i wish i could've left my christmas decorations up a little longer. i really don't like the bare look of our humble abode. 

i'm thankful i don't have pine needles and glitter all over my floors.  

i wish that husband didn't have so many stinkin years of school left. but i'm so proud of you for never complaining. i know you hate the first week of school, i hate it more. 

luckily that means we have a few years left to be by our families and friends even if we are in small lake city. 

i wish that it could be warm and sunny again like it was last week. 60 degrees and sunny in january folks.

luckily we have a mexican cruise coming up in just a few months to look forward to. yes, months but i'm still excited. 

i wish that it were already friday. gosh dangit hurry up already weekend. 

luckily it's wednesday and we are halfway there.

happy hump day! 

new challenge

according to my iphone, here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately. 

yesterday i was having big problems, big. you see normally i'm full of lots of energy and i love to stay up late. but last night while watching tv with husband i fell asleep at 8:30, 8:30 people! could be due to that fact that we were watching THE most boring football game in history and it was even the ncs game. for those of you who don't know football that means: national championship game. anyways, you see in the past i would consider myself a night owl but lately not so much.

problem. i hadn't even taken the christmas tree down, and the tree clean up was in the morning. oh the woes of a seasoned procrastinator! i hustled upstairs and began to happily (no no i lied, i was not excited) take down the christmas tree. i was wishing we had a fake tree reallllly badly...but then husband became a rockstar and walked up BEFORE the game was even over to help me (i don't care how boring the game was that is a big sacrifice) ohhh i love him. and he even did the most hated part for me-the lights! and man did i string those babies well this year. to top it off he carried the tree out, vacuumed the mess up, and vacuumed the rest of the rooms and he is not a night owl people.  how did i get so lucky?

well i don't know the answer to that but somehow i did. thanks husband you are the bestest in the westest.
on another really quick but really exciting ramble i have a new challenge for myself. see, me and a good challenge aren't always the best match up but this time i have a good feeling. a friend of mine told me about this challenge last week and i've decided to see if i can do it.

i'm calling the challenge 30 for 30. i'm almost positive it's been done before unless she made it up but this is my official coined name. do it with me i dare you. i'd love it if you join so i can see your pictures.

rules of the game: the day before the challenge (that would be today smarty pants) you pick out 30 items and only thirty items, don't be a cheater. that includes: shoes, tights, pants, skirts, dresses, tops, etc. you get the picture. da da da....then you have to wear only those 30 items for the next 30 days, so pick things you like! i'm going to do it. even if i hate myself for doing it in the end.

10 pathetic but perfect from the weekend

1. Little brother and sister left for college. Wait what did i just say? Babies going off to college, my parents are way to young to be empty nesters. Too pathetic, not so perfect. If you see my mother, don't mention it to her because she will turn into water works. Bless her heart. 

2. Is it pathetic that while husband was away skiing for the day I stayed in bed until 11:20 (I promise I wasn’t asleep until then but I may have stayed in my jammies and taken little naps in between stalking some of my favorite bloggers)

3. Our Christmas decorations are still up. Don’t worry its only January 9^th, not a big deal right? I mean aren’t we supposed to stay in the Christmas spirit all year round? We are just trying to give ourselves a constant visual reminder! Okay okay I’ll take them down tonight, I swear.

4. I wanted to feel very healthy and fit on Saturday after sleeping through not one workout class but THREE. Instead I put on cute work out clothes and decided to go shopping instead. Whats a girl to do when her partner in crimes off for the day on the slopes?

5. I’ve turning into a fair weather skier. Insert gasp here. I know it’s a tragedy. There were those days where I would do anything just to be on the slopes-I lived for it (ok i could have been just trying to impress husband while we were dating. hey, girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?) so today it was snowy-and the mountains looked cold-and even though I know husband would have love love loved me to go (right jake?) I decided to give him a day with the boys. Such a good wife I am.

6. Lately I’ve been having a lot of pathetic emotional brookie moments, husband lives for them. Haha no he doesn’t. The i’m tired-need attention--give me a nap-i need a treat-moody-emotional-need a diet coke- and a treat-give me a moment to complain- tell me what I want to hear comfort moments. And I’ve been saving them all for husband, lame. Silly how he gets the worst of me even when he deserves the best. But he’s a rockstar and talks me through it every time, even when I have to tell him to do so. Husband I love you more then I love anything in the whole wide world. Thanks for loving me always.

7. The fact that I asked husband on Friday night if we could re-celebrate new years eve this saturday (hehe he got a kick out of that ) because, I- Sara Brooke Cook have failed miserably at new years resolutions. Not only did I not complete them, but I also didn’t put one, yes you heard me not one into action. Holy moly pathetic. Not even ones as simple as drink more water. So we rang in the new year at ten pm with martinelli's and a midnight (ten pm) kiss all over again. I swear I didn’t plan it for that reason, ok maybe a little bit I did. I told you I love nye. And husband is an excellent kisser. Fun fact- he was my first kiss! Ladies and gents he taught me everything I know.

8. 30 day photochallenge on instagram (follow me! Sarabc)  Ok just because I’m saying it’s pathetic doesn’t mean I don’t love it. Here is the deal: every night I remember that I forgot to post a picture. So I resort to taking a silly picture of something that really doesn’t work or make sense. The end. 

9. watching the sunday night fireside with jay e. jensen in our basement on the laptop after we searched for the building for 25 minutes. it was lovely. you can watch it here. 

10. staying up wayyy past bedtime so that we could watch funny youtube videos together in bed. oh man i love afv. gives me and husband a good belly laugh every time. and i loveee that laugh, hands down most contagious laugh in the world. 

10 1/2. Husband has been home for 2 years now. Where does the time fly? One of the best days of my life. So happy he is home and here every day of my life. 

a little letter

dear blog:

goodness gracious you are looking a little empty. 2011 was an improvement from last, but i'm working on making you lovely for 2012. hopefully you will not get neglected for months on end and that this can become a daily routine in documenting husband and i's daily lives. working on figuring out a new layout and more. get excited it's gonna be good! well the best it's been so that is good. it may take me the entire weekend, i'm a beginner. hopefully this year you will see much more creativity.

new years resolution number 1: be more creative each and every day. use a blog as a way to document and keep track of new ideas and a creative outlet. and a place to journal about all things beautiful, tasteful, and worthwhile. and possibly a few things that don't quite fit in but that's ok too.

it's going to be the best thing that i ever did for myself, my creative mind that was feeling ignored. if you are looking for ideas on setting your new years resolutions take this as a template. mind, body, spirit, relationships, creativity, and passion. make sure you have set goals to fulfill each important area in your life.

 see you soon friends!