BRIANNA

Valentines Day Post

2012-02-14T17:45:00.003-07:00

So, sometimes i'm pretty domestic and do cute lil' things

in photoshop for Valentines day.

I don't really know how to do things half way when it comes to this kind of thing. So I tend to go overboard a little bit. So don't judge me and think I'm psycho.... But, I think they're fun. Here are a few of the 20 ish I did. {I shot these right before I went to bed one night at like 1 am and the only light I had was a little over head light and was too lazy to break out my tripod, therefore they aren't tack sharp like i'd like them to be.} {and yes, i know i'm incredibly cheesy. }

Hot wheels!

Dr. Pepper.

Deck of cards with one thing written on each card
This was probably my favorite one.

bouncy ball

conversation hear cover {i found this online... i didn't make this one.}

heart marshmallows. cute!

Tootsie Rolls

Should be put on a crush orange soda. but i didn't want to send a glass bottle in the mail.

the little package I sent Tay. Fun, eh?

Anyways, I can't wait till our date on Friday when I go home. :D

In other news, I dyed my hairs. But, I'll post a picture later.

Also, if ya'll could pray for me and the speech i have to give tomorrow. I wrote it yesterday, and today it magically isn't saved anymore. So while i should be memorizing it today i get to re write it and hope and pray that somehow i'll be able to memorize it enough to fake it tomorrow.

my car, left. her car, right.

Also, I'd like to take this time and thank my dear friend and roommate, Allison, for being such an amazing person! She totally came and saved me from stressing out even more today! And I feel bad because I have a photo shoot i have to do today when i told her we could do something tonight together because we're both cool and don't have plans. :( Love you AL!

p.s. Allison's car {Black Honda named bessy} and my car {black toyota Corolla named Calvin} are kinda in love. We decided they're valentines. Especially when we park right across
from each other like today.

So you can't see them very well. but in the middle
there, there's a little pot of mini roses too. and she
has a rose in her mouth.

And....... In case any of you didn't get flowers.... My roommate Natalie got plenty to go around. And I'm sure she'll get more tonight. Allison decided that one of them should be hers so she wrote herself a little love note and put on one of the vases. haha.

Love Quotes for the week of love.

2012-02-12T19:18:00.001-07:00

"Missing someone gets easier every day...because even though it is one day further from the last time you saw each other, it is one day closer to the next time you will."

"If you love someone more then anything, then distance only matters to the mind, not to the heart."

I have no idea who said those, but I LOVE it.

“Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as a wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.” -Rochefoucauld

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” -Heinlein

“The course of true love never did run smooth.” -Shakespear

“When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” -Dr. Seuss.

“You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly." -Same Keen

“You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip.” -Jonathan Carroll

“Women wish to be loved not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.” -Henry Frederic Amiel

All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me.
- William Shakespeare

In other news-

I was going through my rings in my jewelry box and found one that fits my left middle finger cause i wanted to change out the ring i've been wearing the past few months. I think it's kind of cute. So I put it on, and woke up this morning, and guess what? It's one of those dumb rings that turns my skin green. I kind of want to go buy a new ring. I pearl ring. that'd be pretty!

Sometimes

2012-02-08T15:12:00.004-07:00

Because I don't have enough "sometimes" posts.....

Sometimes my favorite foods are Craisins and grilled cheese.... not together you hobos!... although... maybe that'd be good?

sometimes you get random compliments from strangers that you look nice.... and it just so happens to be the day where you didn't shower 'cause you didn't get to sleep till 2:30 am and overslept because of a photo shoot and tons of homework you had, you just got done at the gym and you're pretty sure most of your hair has fallen out of the ponytail...

Sometimes ABBA songs play on my ipod and I feel like dancing on the treadmill but then when I do try to dance... I nearly fall off. This has happened twice now.

Sometimes guys shave their legs that work out and then I feel all self conscious cause my legs don't look as smooth as theirs....

Sometimes you are overwhelmed with homework and projects and having far too much to get done and not enough time to do it.

so sometimes you have to take a break and finish your valentines day things.

Sometimes you realize how wonderful it is that the Lord works in mysterious ways and you know that he is guiding your life.

because sometimes, if He didn't, you know you wouldn't be able to do the things you know you need to do in the time frame they need to be done in.

Sometimes you just have to think about all the things you've been blessed with and try not to worry and stress.

I Want to Marry a Stripling Warrior.

2012-02-07T16:31:00.001-07:00

I mean, there were 2 thousand of them. Can't I just have one??

Alma 53: 20-21

"20 And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for ^acourage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

21 Yea, they were men of truth and ^asoberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to ^bwalk uprightly before him."

I just copied and pasted that part from lds.org.

they sound like wonderful men. :D I'm a big fan of them.

Some goals of mine

2012-02-06T18:01:00.003-07:00

This summer, as you all know, I'm going to Europe. Well, I have been thinking of goals that go along with it.

Read the entire Book of Mormon while i'm there. I'll be gone nearly 2 months. This is doable.

While in Euorope i know that i'll be introduced to things that i've never been introduced to before and be tempted to do things i've never been tempted to do. I'll be away from home and with people I don't know as well as my friends and family here in utah. Along with this, it'll be the first time in my entire life that I won't be in close proximity to a man that holds the priesthood. Honestly, this makes me a little worried. If i've ever needed a blessing, I know there'd be someone very close that could give me one in less than a moments notice. I won't have that on my trip. Therefore, i know i'm going to need the spirit with me more on this trip than i ever have in my life. I know that reading the Book of mormon will help with this and I know will lead to an increase in my spiritual strength on this trip.

my physical healthiness goal. Not going to write exactly what that is up here cause it's personal. But, I've been doing really good at it this semester.

I want to be able to look back on the pictures i have of myself from this once in a lifetime opportunity for me to go on a study abroad and be proud of how I look. Right now, I can run farther, longer, and faster than I think i've ever been able to do, and i am actually enjoying it! {most of the time} I feel happier when i'm done, and I can start to feel like i'm actually accomplishing something. It's a good feeling.

Learn to make myself happy instead of basing my happiness on the opinions of other people.

I like to make other people happy. I don't think it's a bad thing... I just am realizing that by doing this, I make myself unhappy sometimes. How i'm going to do this, I have no idea. I'm still working on it. I think it's going to take a lot of work though.

This is all for now.

I LOVE being an aunt!

2012-02-04T22:08:00.003-07:00

I have a cute lil niece named Caitlin. She is just a doll. She'll be 9 soon.

I kidnapped her last night and took her to Yogurtland. She'd never been to one of those places and she was soo giddy about it all. we got some sample cups, and she was so cute about trying them and deciding precisely what she wanted. She ended up getting dark chocolate, double cookies and cream, and i think peanut butter? And then 4 {yes 4} scoops of choc chips, 2 scoops of mini reeses pb cups, 1 scoop of brownie bites and 1 scoop of cheesecake bites. I'm pretty sure she had more toppings than ice cream. And i'm pretty sure her eyes were bigger than her little stomach because she made me eat the last 4 HUGE bites of her ice cream. haha.

the ice-cream up her nose

Oh, at yogurtland they have 3 colors of spoons. green, purple, and pink. they gave her a purple and she insisted on getting a pink one too. Her two favorite colors. :D

We had a sleepover and I did her nails with the water marble art way. She thought it was so cool that she told me, "you should be a nail-doer after you're done with college."
I told her I wanted to be a photographer and she responded, "you could take pictures of the nails after you do them!" haha. Isn't she so smart??

Things i learned-

8 year olds are very impatient when waiting for nails to dry.
8 year olds insist on setting a timer for the exact amount of 6 minutes 'cause apparently that's how long it takes for nails to dry.
when they're not dry in 6 minutes, 8 year olds will make you feed them chips and then laugh so hard because you're hand feeding them that most of the chips will come back out of their mouths.
8 year olds will then want to do your brother's nails cause of how cool their own look. and he'll probably let you do one...
when taking a picture of them at yogurt land and you tell them to make a funny face, they'll purposefully rub ice cream on their face and then when they get it up their nose, they'll insist on blowing their nose and show you that they really did get it up their nose, even if you believed them in the first place.
8 year olds aren't that hard to put to bed when they're exhausted.

I really had a lot of fun with her! :D

This morning we had breakfast together and she was going to shower because last night she smelt her armpits and said, "i forgot to wear deodorant today, I stink!" {i'm pretty sure i did not wear deodorant at 8....} But then she decided she didn't want to shower so i just did her hair instead.

Today she came back over after my date with Taylor and she wanted to play 20 questions. First, she wrote out people, places, and things, on pieces of paper, then drew hearts around them and then made my dad cut them out. she put them in an envelope and we played with them. the people she had were- me, her, ashleigh, and emilie. the places were-costco, provo, utah, and texas. Her things were- hair, banana, and bag. haha. It was super super funny. After we were done with her heart ones, she wanted me to make up a person and she'd guess who it was. It was hilarious. That girl has some attitude and can think of things to say really fast!

We went to costco, and we looked at diamond rings, looked for samples {we were far too late} she picked out some socks for me, tried to do the code on the locks on the lockers on our way to the bathroom, and took 5x longer drying her hands after our potty break stop because the dryers were fun.

On the way home from costco she licked an envelope to seal it and she said, "I thought it'd be cool to lick this, but i don't want to do that again because it tastes worse than boogers!" haha. then for the next 3 minutes she walked around with her tongue out of her mouth beacuse she could still taste it. She always keeps me laughing.

quinton's nails.

Mom made cookie dough before we went to Costco and we snuck out to the fridge in the garage several times and snuck spoonfuls. we came back in and she said, "grandma's coming! hide it behind your back!" even though i'm pretty sure "grandma" already knew.

She is such a hoot! I wish I could play with her more often! but, I'm glad I got lots of time with her this weekend.

It makes me so excited for ash and Nathan's baby to be here in less than 2 months!! :D

Another niece. I can't wait!

also, I think i'm getting relatively close to figuring out her name. :D But she'd kill me if I posted even my guesses up here. so ya'll will just have to wait till end of March.

Sometimes I'm girly.

2012-01-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I paint my nails fun.

Allison's

left hand with tape

{watch video for instructions.}

pretty stellar if you ask me.

with the tape still on.

betsy decided that she spinning in
circles would help her nails dry faster.

one of my hands. i just need to clean them up a bit.

sometimes we're clumsy when doing nails...

Sometimes I do my hair curly

And sometimes my make up doesn't last all day...

Sometimes I put a cute lil' bow in my curled hair

sometimes i wear pearl earrings and a pearl necklace

Sometimes I'm jealous of all the girls who look like babe's at the gym when they're done working out. I don't know how they still look like girls when they're done. I am not one of the fortunate ones.

Sometimes I just want to be a domestic goddess 'cause I feel very crafty. Like tonight. I'm doing fun designs and sayings in photoshop and indesign for Valentines day! But, I'm not putting them up till after V day. Sorry.

Sometimes I wish Orem and Logan were best friends. {like next door neighbor type best friends}

Sometimes I hate being a girl. and sometimes i love being a girl.

Tonight is one of those nights that I both love and hate it.

College is a pretty spectacular place to have fun and try new things.

Need a good laugh? Or good pick me up? Look no further.

2012-01-30T22:28:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I don't feel very stellar. And I need a good laugh.
and then I found these gems.

For Allison.

this is how all the how to draw books are!

reminds me of Lauren

hehe

this is soo true! For PAPA anne.

never more true.

I love the salads i make lately!

6 girls in my apartment=six different colors of luffas.

Conversations on Facebook like this.

LOVE! in case you people are incompetent,
this is photoshop done in a cool way. :P

Clearly it goes over.

Well, i don't really fit that description at all...
but still, facebook thinks i could be a nun!

may or may not be true. Mint and chocolate
go together like the peanut and jelly,
like bert and ernie, like rain and bows.

this happens to me all the time!

Also, I need a good pick me up.

Here are some quotes i like lately from church, institute, conference talks, margins of my scriptures, and devotionals. {i didn't write down where some of these came from.... :(}

"the best relationships are based on faith and forgiveness" -elder holland

"True change only comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ"

"be okay with who you are no matter the circumstance"

"Be loyal to the best within us regardless to opposition and temptation" -Elder Holland fireside last night.

"Joseph Smith is the supreme witness of Christ in this dispensation." -Elder Holland

"When you feel the Holy Ghost, it means the atonement is working in your life." -Henry B. Eyring

"When we choose to believe a sin is not a sin, it's still a sin." -President Ezra Taft Benson. "Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus."

"Satan is a master of making us forget who we are."

"When you get an answer to a prayer that you can make the decision, it means that God trusts you. God loves all of his children, but he doesn't trust all of them"

"Look for a man that will think of you as the girl of his dreams every day" -President Faust

"Human Nature is to avoid pain at all costs, but, our sprit needs it to grow."

"Faith in God means faith in his timing."- Neil A. Maxwell.

"if you don't live by the letter of the law, you can't live by the spirit of the law."

I love quotes lately. :D

p.s. I'm going home this weekend!! I get to see my family.... And Taylor!! :D I decided I can't wait 3 more weeks for that.

soo.... 2.5 days till then.

And another pro- I can do my laundry for freeeeeee :)

Also I think Marjorie is the cutest lil lady there was. I want to be like her.

President Hinckley chose a great woman.

p.s. "Marjorie" is now added to my baby names list. I should probably blog about that again one day. And my kissing list needs updated too.

well.... i should probably go memorize my introduction speech for public speaking.

but first- Some good news! My first class was cancelled for tomorrow! Which means i get to procrastinate my homework some more! :D

OH! more good news!!! I get to go to the Frankfurt, Germany temple this summer!!! And I'm crossing my fingers for the London, England one too. :D

2 Decades Old

2012-01-28T01:05:00.001-07:00

I have officially reached the age of old.

I can't wait for the first time someone asks me how old I am so I can answer proudly, "I am 20 years OLD" :D

Quick! Someone ask me that question!

I woke up this morning with 8 texts saying something along the lines of "happy birthday" It was fantastic. :) haha

{HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDPA DICKERSON TOO!!}

I called my mom about how i'm buying my ticket to europe this summer!!

I went to a meeting {sad to do that on my birthday, but gotta be an adult sometimes}

I came home and Allison says, "I neeeed to go to Hobby Lobby. Will you come with me?"

I said, certainly. I had nothing else to do till a lot later. Well, ya know, minus skyping with Taylor before he went to work. But the bum hadn't even texted or called me that morning yet! {which is actually a lie because he called me at exactly midnight and sang me happy birthday. He was happy that he was the first to wish me a happy birthday and to sing to me. haha}

So we end up going to lunch and then to Hobby Lobby. She got the one item she needed and then said, "I think we should look at this whole store!" So we wandered around for like half an hour and I was done with the store. I said, we should go before you end up spending more money and then she said, "let's look at the stickers." haha. so then, we looked at the stickers and more things and then out of nowhere, two hands cover my eyes from behind me and I had absolutely no idea who it would be. I thought it'd be someone I knew from school but this person let go, and I turned around and Behold Taylor, in all his handsomeness. Both he and Allison said that my face was priceless. He told me like 7 times at least! I didn't expect that at all!!

He's told me since Christmas break that he wouldn't be able to come up for my birthday because it was inventory time at work!

He said, when he told me that he wasn't coming the very first time he was lying and was planning on surprising me but then it really ended up being inventory but he told his boss that he was taking the day off no matter what. Cute, no? :D

So, Allison took a picture of us and I really like it. It was just on my phone so I could send it to the whole world to show how amazing he is. Okay, more like 5 people.
Betsy responded this. {I thought her reply was funny. She obviously was in cahoots with him} "Oh my stars ethel! k, so here's the thing. you guys can do all of the stuff you were gonna do next weekend today. i told everyone to buzz off so you can be with him, so don't worry about hanging out with allison or lauren or whoever. the only thing you have to be with us for is dinner tonight. okay punkin? So you two just go and do whatever and don't worry about anyone else."

I liked that reply. like a lot. :D
and that we did.

except the thing i wanted to do the most when he was going to come next weekend we couldn't do because there isn't enough snow! :'( maybe next time he comes there will be.

OH! and then i bought my plane ticket to Europe this summer! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! CRAZY!

But, clear back beginning of november I took some film pictures of him and we developed the film, but we never got to enlarging them. So, we went to the darkroom and Did just that. Definitely not my best work at all, because we weren't taking our time cause time was not something we had a lot of today. But it was fun. And we had the advanced darkroom to ourselves because it's still the beginning of the semester.
we took some pictures in there when we were done. here's two-

He thinks he looks drunk in this picture. So we
went for like round 5. but i liked my smile so i put it up

this is the last one we took. and i think it's great. haha

It was so fun. At least, I thought so. I am a fan that he enjoys letting me show him what I love to do. He even did some of it on his own. One day, after we practice a little more, he'll be a dandy darkroom assistant to me. :P

then we went bowling. We attempted to bowl a few different ways {even though Taylor reeeaaaaaaly doesn't like to do that at all.}he says, "I take my bowling seriously." haha. But that didn't work so well because Taylor could get strikes on even the weird bowling positions.
p.s. He won. {but, if you remember from last time we went bowling, I beat him BOTH games}

Taylor's mom called me and wished me a happy birthday too. It was sweet. :D She's so nice.

We had a litttle bit of time before we were meeting the group and we decided to go to the fun antique store. It is a great store. I asked the owner if she'd let me do some photo shoots in there and she said she wouldn't mind at all. It was probably Taylor's keen people skills that made her say yes.
{have I ever told you how this kid get's jobs??? Here's the shortened version- Hi, I'm Taylor, are you hiring? person at store-no we're not. Taylor-blah blah blah blah etc. person at store-would you be interested in being my boss?? Taylor- when can i start? It is seriously not fair at all.}

Then we went to Olive Garden. yum. It was really fun! I love how birthdays bring friends all together. Dinner was great. I filled up on salad and breadsticks and only ate around 1/3 of my actual dinner....
the waiter was kinda funny. Also, Taylor felt picked on because he forgot about him the entire night. haha.

We left and came back to my apartment where my roommates had a little party.
There were cupcakes and a cake! haha. and there were going to be waffle cake too but we decided we'd do that for breakfast instead. lol

allison is too creative. :D

Melissa Q Whipple Hansen IV brought her wii and just dance. The best dance there was was the power ranger dance. all four that did that one were awesome! I really am awful at this game! I got 2 stars i think. At least i'm better at it than Taylor... he only got 1 star. :D

Lauren. I love the Camera. haha :D

Well, because Taylor's a real grown-up with real bills to pay with his real job he had to leave relatively early because he has to be to work at the disgusting hour of 5:30 am. sigh. I tried to postpone this goodbye for as long as i could. But the time came. We walked to his car. And said our goodbyes, errr.... cya in 3 weeks! {but hopefully less!!}. To which details will be written in my journal and not on this blog.

I came back to my apartment after calling my seeeester Ashleigh. And now I think I'm deaf from how loud all my GF's can scream. Kevin {the only other guy besides Taylor that came over haha} totally was freaked out by it. haha. what a trooper.

Also, at 10:10 P.M. {the time i was born} We had a little celebration.

I talked to my daddy and mommy cause they called and left a message and thought i'd better call them back. and called my little sister. {we shared a little secret. She's a cutie. i miss her}

And now, after everything died down, am writing this blog and in my journal about the very day i turned 20. A day I don't think i'll forget. And one i'll probably tell my future children about one day. haha.

Well, I'm sure I missed some details like every were. Like-how awesome my friends are, and the work they put into today. Amongst a lot of others.

But, now i'm going to bed.

So,
XOXOXOXO
-Bri {the one that is 20 years of age.....and other such things}

Old Main Hill sledding

2012-01-22T18:00:00.004-07:00

Old Main Hill sledding is a must when you're an Aggie.

there really is no excuse for one who lives in Logan who has never been sledding down Old Main Hill.

i found this on google image search.
i want to do this so bad!

none.

It's fantastic.

I've seen people take mattresses and sled down on top of them. and a couch once. McKenna used a garbage bag and poked 2 holes in it and wore it like a diaper {click here to see pictures},
we've used cookie sheets, broken sleds we've found there, and most recently-new sleds! :D Not many people came this time. It was kinda a bummer. But it was fun still!

Another pro of sledding down Old Main is that you seriously get your workout. It is a big and steep hill.

so you can get a little idea of the steepness.

i love this hill!

Yesterday we did a train sled. the Sled eric and I were on totally came out from underneath us so we were being drug along with nothing underneath us. even though we were wearing snow pants, we still got soaked!

Last night we tried a few new ways of going down.

and betsy and i went together a few times....we never made it very far.
it was really funny though.

snow!

a- this coat makes me look pregnant {i'm most definitely not}
b- Erick was not supposed to be in this picture
c-betsy and i are precious.

the best was when i wrapped my legs and arms around her and we went down and fell off. we rolled down a little and stopped with her face in the snow and i was on top of her but couldn't get off because my arms and legs were stuck under her body so she had to push herself up so i could untangle myself. We were laughing so hard.
When we get to heaven, this is a video i am going to request to watch.

Eric and I beat betsy and Jake going this way.

the train

I'm pretty sure this

never stops anyone.

we came home, drank hot chocolate, and then watched a sad movie {I don't even know why we chose a sad movie....} called 7 pounds. I like Will Smith. eric said, "does

Oh yes. and I went with Annie and a few of her friends to
clean the sink at Angie's on Friday night. :D Is she
not a babe???

A few quotes, cooking day, snow!

2012-01-21T17:08:00.001-07:00

If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, then it was never meant to be.

~Anonymous

{I can't remember where I got this one.}

‎"A woman's heart should be so hidden in God, that a man has to seek

Him just to find her." -Maya Angeloux

{Thanks Lauren}

"I am a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed." The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my presence makes sense and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, love with patience, live by prayer and labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up or slow up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and spoken up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner is clear: I am a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed." "

I found that last one on my friend Kelsey's blog. :D

"If you thought about yourself, tell it to go to hell because that's exactly

where it came from." -Brigham Young.

{this was on my friend, Annie's mirror.... whether or not Brigham really said that or not.... your guess is as good as mine. but it sounds good!}

I wish it would have turned out spicier.

also, I have been cooking ALL day. wanna know what I made??

Red beans and rice. mmmmm southern dish. It takes nearly 4 hours to cook.

Corn bread

dark chocolate peppermint cookies. {for the getting fat is fun party.... that sadly got canceled because the host is sick! :'( }

I haven't had this in forever! When i
make a southern dish, i usually will
make jambalaya. not this time. :D

I sometimes am too lazy to use my dslr camera
to take pictures after i cook.... I need to change
this. because these pictures aren't cutting it.

it feels so good to cook a full meal!! I haven't cooked/baked in a while. well.... 2.5 weeks since Taylor and I made cookies. But those are a piece of cake....err cookie.

This, this is what it is supposed to
look like in Logan in january.

In other news- IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to go sledding tonight. :D

The collodion process, and random fact about today.

2012-01-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

First things first- did ya'll know it's National Popcorn day??? Go eat some popcorn pronto! you only have a few hours left.

This is Joni while shooting for her Surf Land collection

At the University right now we have a visiting photographer, Joni Sternbach. She's pretty much a 19th century photographic processes genius! She and her husband the past 2 days have been teaching a bunch of us photo nerds how to do the collodion process. Which, if you don't know anything about really won't sound that cool to you. But, trust me, it's WAY COOL! Ever since my first photo 1 class as a little itty bitty 15 year old sophomore I have thought the history of photography was pretty fun to learn about. But, It is even more awesome to actually be able to create a picture in a way i've only read about!

I'm not going to really tell you step by step how to do it, because it's not like anyone who reads this has access to all the chemicals you need and what not, but i'll tell you about some fun parts.

Beth pouring her collodion

pouring a plate- in other words, putting a chemical on the piece of glass or tin. but not really "putting it on" you pour a puddle of the collodion in the middle and slightly tilt the plate to cover the surface evenly. When Joni showed us how to do it, she made it look super easy

Not that it was super hard, she just made it look easy to not have the chemical drip off the plate in all directions. After one gets collodion on their hands, it doesn't like to come off. It kind of looked like dried on honey and smelt like 4x stronger than nail polish remover. {I think i finally got it off my hands after washing them 4 times or so.} I had to leave the room a few times because it got so strong!

The silver bath sensitizes the plate so it will react to the light exposure. you're supposed to wear gloves for this part because 1-silver isn't that good for you and 2- it stains your fingers the color dark brown and makes it look like you have poo all over your hands. I wore gloves for 2 of the 3 plates i did. the 3rd plate, there were no gloves left. and i am lucky enough to have brown stains on both my hands. Don't worry, Joni's husband said it'll only take a week for it to go away. So, if you see my hands, don't think i'm a dirty person, i promise they're clean..... they just look really gross.

then you literally run {well... more like speed walk so you don't look quite so dumb} to the location where you're taking the picture

Heidi developing in the helper tray.

after taking a picture {our exposures ranged from 2-6 seconds which after seeing Joni's reaction made me think they were usually longer than that} you speed walk {run definitely sounds better} to the darkroom and pull the plate out and develop it. {and pray that it hadn't dried yet... which, the edges of all of mine did a little bit}

developing it was the hardest part to me. I couldn't ever get the shot glass of developer to cover my
picture evenly so i ended up with oystering pretty bad on one. but i think it makes it look older. :D

developing takes only a few seconds. at this stage, it looks like a film negative. after pouring water on really quick to stop the developing it goes into the fixer. Where, miraculously it turns into a positive!

nicole fixing hers

while in the fixer it's crazy cool to watch it change from a negative to a positive. the image does this weird thing that makes it look like it's almost not even there and looks super weird {one girl said it looks like your soul is leaving your body haha} and then you rinse it, then you varnish it.

i liked varnishing it. It involved fire and lavender oil. So it smelt really good!

and then you get to admire how cool they look!

the fire for varnishing.

i didn't take pictures of them after the varnish because they apparently take 2 weeks to dry completely. and these pictures aren't very good of them because it's with a camera phone. but, you can get the idea.

my tintype. it looks so awesome! I really like it. most everyone did serious faces...
but i just look mad with a serious face.

everyone's tintypes.

so you can't see it very well, but this is my negative.

one of the drying racks.

ambrotype on black glass.

the group picture. {i'm on the left middle row}

I really want to do these again one day!

p.s. It's the middle of January. {like you didn't know that...} But this is how it looks outside my apartment-

there is NO snow. it's gone. A week from tomorrow is my birthday! and I can't remember a time since I moved to utah when i was nearly 10, that there hasn't been snow on the ground on my birthday. WEIRD!

me and snow have a love hate relationship. I love it because it's pretty and you can have a lot of fun in it. But i don't like walking all around campus and life in it and freezing to death just walking a few feet outside to do laundry. Regardless, there is no snow and it's different.

Random countdown time-

7 days left of being a teenager
14 days Taylor comes to visit!!

and here's a random picture from the day before i left .

2 days till my friend, Heidi's, "Getting fat is fun" party.
1 Month till I'm going home for a 4 day weekend. {Feb 16-20. mark that on your calendars people!}
~82 days till I embark on my European photography summer study abroad!
2 months and 7 days till Ashleigh is due!

Well, I'm off to hear a lecture given by Joni herself! :)

XOXO
-Bri

My life in pictures from my cellular device.

2012-01-18T21:01:00.001-07:00

Sunday dinner with these people. I miss them!

i don't think that i ever told about taylor and i's last date before i came back to Logan.
we went to my favorite restaurant. Old Spaghetti Factory. And i got my usual- Mizithra and browned butter. Tay did too. It was a fantastic date.

When I got home i put the picture frame he got me for Christmas on my wall and put a picture i already had of us i had from summer in it.
I need a new picture of us that's not so close up for this frame. dontcha think?

Once Betsy braided allison and i's hairs together.

This is my very first french braid! not a lie. I've never been able to do them.

I am much better at doing this. I don't know what it's called. i just made it up one day.

And this is why i love my apartment.
just FYI. Allison isn't pregnant nor ever thought she was.
it was just a little funny. I hope she doesn't kill me for putting it up!

this picture kills me. It was at the Ryan shupe and the rubberband concert.
but the only reason why i posted it is because of the couple. haha

who cares how old and rusty and nasty looking your body is if you have cool wheels, right?

I'm going to post next about the awesome Collodion photography process I learned how to do by the amazing visiting artist and photographer, Joni Sternbach.

I'm going to go and do some homework. sigh. I've had too much fun the last 2 days in the photo labs that i haven't done a single thing this week!

Oh, ya know, just a few love songs and such.

2012-01-14T17:48:00.001-07:00

Last night I watched a movie called "one day" with anne hathaway. on the cover is a very very cute kiss. I kind of swooned over how adorable it was. In case you don't know what "swoon" means, click here. It's uraban dictionary. Which can kind of be sketchy sometimes, but I think this one is for the most part okay. Hopefully. I didn't read it all.

i just am a big fan of that kiss.

Don't worry, i'm just kinda a hopeless romantic at heart.

I was listening to Pandora on the station "Ingrid" and these 2 songs played back to back. and then I thought, "self, I like these songs" and so here they are.

to make you feel my love- Adele

Do you like the name Adele? I think it's cute. :D

I Never Told You-

p.s. Want to know something that totally rocks? Being able to use Taylor as a reference on my resume because he was my boss! haha. I think it's grand. :) I mean, out of all my references on my resume, he knows me best.

Also, I just applied for a job that I really hope I get. :D I'll tell you what it is if I end up getting it.

It'll Work Out

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

"Things work out, it isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out, don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in him, if we will pray to him, if we will live worthy of his blessings, he will hear our prayers."

— Gordon B. Hinckley

Because sometimes you need a "pick-me-up"

OH. MY. STARS!

2012-01-12T22:40:00.002-07:00

Do you have days where they're not really that great of days?
me too.
but do you ever have days where you're somehow really happy anyway?
me too.

little things that made my day today-

a potential job opportunity
talking to the girls in my major today. Really though. It was great! "give me his number, I'll ask him why!" "once you go for an idaho man, you'll never go back." "I can set you up, they could be here in a day!" it was really a needed good conversation.
one of my textbooks came!
Allison made french fries
looking at workbook.com photographers
wearing comfy clothes
Germany study abroad application in. BS'd the essay along with my friend, Beth, and joked about copying and pasting the same essay into both applications. haha
sneezing a bajillion times. {okay, i don't really like sneezing. but i did sneeze a lot today because I am fairly certain i'm getting a cold. naturally.}
Betsy proposing to me. again.
this quote from my grandma

"FOR GAMES CAN’T BE WON UNLESS THEY ARE PLAYED,

AND PRAYERS CAN’T BE ANSWERED UNLESS THEY ARE PRAYED….

SO WHATEVER IS WRONG WITH YOUR LIFE TODAY,

YOU’LL FIND A SOLUTION IF YOU KNEEL DOWN AND PRAY."

well... "I'm going to go..... shave" {name that movie}

-Bri

In case you were wondering.....

2012-01-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of my institute class.

Here are some things that stuck out to me in the lesson that were good reminders for me.

If we allow God to guide is in our lives, we can do much more with it than we can on our own.
This, my friends, I'll admit, is hard for me sometimes. I like being in control of my life and when things don't go the way I want them to or plans change, I have a hard time. But, it's always good to be reminded I can do more with my life if He's guiding me than I can do with the little knowledge I have.

Stop letting fear govern your life. Start letting your faith guide it.
I loved this! Life's kind of scary sometimes. I feel like the more you strive to have faith the more it will grow. I need to have my faith grow.

Don't choose to be happy based on circumstances, choose to be happy all the time.
Also one that I need work on. Especially this semester, I fear.

In all things commanded, the Lord will provide a way.
ALL things.

And finally,

Create a "to be" list rather than a "to do" list.

I have never thought of this. But I like it

I've never had an institute class as big as this! Although I'm pretty sure it's a fire hazard as to how many people are in the classroom! I think it's a class with 60 desks and is sort of like stadium seating. There were at least 15-20 people sitting on the stairs and in extra chairs around the room.} I guess word travels fast as to how good the class is! My normal institute classes from past semesters are usually around 20-25 kids.

some videos to make you laugh.

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

this one was made here at USU.

a spin on the one by usu. i love his fluffy duster thing on his mic. haha.

p.s. can you all tell that i am bored lately? I have too much time.

In case of lost camera.... here are my instructions for you.

2012-01-10T19:35:00.003-07:00

I saw this idea. thought i'd do it too. :D

First two days, blessing, and nothing to do but blog.

2012-01-10T15:27:00.003-07:00

"Spring" semester has begun.
woot.

no exclamation marks.

I don't think it's going to be a bad semester. And i so far feel like it's going to be easier than last semester.... but none the less it's school.

and I love school. But i am kinda having a bad attitude starting out this semester and really need to change that muy rapido. I feel like i can make my semester better if i'm actually {even pretending} to be excited about it. So, it's a new semester! WOOT!

That's better. haha

Yesterday was the shortest day i think i've ever had in the history of me going to school ever. i had 2, 50 minute classes. And one doesn't count because it's Institute. Which there is no homework in ever. Well, minus the normal reading your scriptures and such. Which isn't much different than any normal day.
Public speaking class. umm.... Yeah, public speaking and I will have a love/hate relationship.
why?
Because i want to be more confident in front of groups of people, i want to learn how present myself better, and i want to learn better persuasion skills. So, that is why i took this class {well... ya know, that and it fulfills 2 requirements in 1, and it's only a 2 day a week class which allowed me to have Fridays off of school.... but those were just a small deciding factor...}

Then i went to the gym. WOOT! This is going to be a normal occurrence to write on my blog now. Because i really need to start going more often. Betsy would try to get me to go with her last semester and usually it wouldn't work. But this semester, i'm going to go. Because i'm going to do it at the same time and day every week so it's like a class i'm in that i am going to tell myself i can't miss. Sometimes i use psychology on myself that'd never work if someone else tried to do on me.

I had nothing to do after 2. And i felt like i really needed to read my patriarchal blessing. If you don't know what this is, go here to learn more about what it is and how important it is. So, i went to grab it out of the manilla envelop i keep it in. but guess what? when packing this past summer i had grabbed the wrong envelope! instead of my blessing, it had a dumb high school award in it. So, instead of sending my mom searching through a box in the garage i called my grandparents because my grandpa made a copy of it to keep with other family's blessings. My grandma found it after a minute and read it to me over the phone. I laid on my bed, closed my eyes and just listened. I haven't listened to it since i got it on my 16th birthday {also the day president Hinckley died}. I'd read it several times, but never have listened to it. I love that every time i read it/listen to it i pick new things out that i'd never seen before. or some things have very different meanings to me. It was really really good to hear it and remember the blessings that are in store for me if i do what is right and keep the commandments.

***random side note.
I have missed the laughter of my roommates. Natalie has the BEST laugh out of anyone i've ever heard. she'll seriously laugh over nothing and her laugh is so contagious that i will always, always always etc etc etc start laughing a lot over watching her laugh. I've missed that. My stomach has already hurt over laughing so hard from this twice in the last 2.5 days. haha. As much as i wish i was back at home right now, i really have missed my awesome roommates. It's so fun living with these girls and i'm glad i get the opportunity to have them as friends. :D***

today. I woke up with plenty of time to get ready. knowing that i had plenty of time made me take my time. and guess what, i ran out of time and didn't finish my top romen for breakfast. {don't judge, i love non-breakfast things for breakfast} and still had time to get to school on time. but guess what? some big shot who runs the Aggie Bus shuttles thought they'd pretend it was April fools day and cancel one of the busses on south campus express. {just kidding i don't really know what happened} but here's the thing. that was the bus i needed to take! and i would have taken the other bus that goes close to the fine arts building but the bus for campus loop didn't show up either! so here i am, thinking for sure the bus would come for 20 minutes. finally, i decided {at 5 minutes after my first class started} i'd just walk. and right when i started walking up the hill, the bus decided to come. so now, i look like some 7th grader on the first day of junior high running to their classes, trying to catch the bus because it'd end up being faster, instead of a dignified {haha....} junior in college gracefully taking the bus to her photo portfolio class.

let me just tell you. i wasn't too happy. why? because not-a-once have i ever been late to a photo class. why? Because i hate being late. the phrase "fashionably late" gives me the shivers. especially to things that matter like photo classes where i feel like i always have to show my professor that i really do deserve to be in the program.

so, first day of class. i walk in. the class is full. and of course, the only desk chair thing that is available is clear in the back so i have to walk through everyone. So not the best start to a semester.

This class is probably going to be my hardest class this semester.

Art history {second half of the survey of western art} I believe it's called "Renaissance to post-modern" or something like that. Which is really code for- want to fall asleep in class but can't because then i'd fail. I don't understand art history. Okay, so it's kinda cool to learn about old art, but what i don't like doing is analyzing it and comparing it and telling the symbolism and importance of it. {yes, i know, as an artist i'm supposed to "find the deeper meaning" in everything art.... but i just CANNOT.} Regardless, my professor talked today about "art historiography" which is the study and history of art history.
correct me if i'm wrong, but art history is bad enough... why would anyone in their right mind WANT to study the history of art history. Seems a little... off... to me. I guess everyone has their thing... i'm just glad mine is different than art historiography. haha

next class- independent projects in photo-alternative cameras and processing. or something like that. This is going to be kinda cool. i get to build my own cameras! I feel as if it's going to cost me a lot though. but, i'm determined to spend the very least amount of money i possibly can this semester. going over the syllabus for this class took like 20 mins max, which leads me to why i'm blogging.
Because art classes are 3 hours, i have had a 2.5 hour break with nothing to do and didn't really feel like going home just to come back in a little bit.
my last class of the day is modern photo history. I like learning about photo history. it has something to do with what i am doing. Art history has little interest to me because i don't really care that much about drawings, sculptures, paintings, etc. except looking at them if they're pretty. I'm really excited to learn more about modern photo rather than about tin types and daguerreotypes and old processes. which are really cool {and am taking a class next semester learning how to do them all} but i'm interested in the newer stuff more probably.

Well, I'm off to go watch the bachelor on HULU because i still have tons of time to burn because i don't have homework beside textbook reading. and no textbooks have come in the mail for me yet. Which is bad, but i guess good too. cause i'd rather not read them yet.

p.s. i need a good adventure up here in Logan. Does anyone have any ideas?? I have way too much time right now which makes me go into Brianna's mode of over analyzing and stressing about things i don't have control over.

p.s.s. i had a pretty good dream on sunday night. :D

welp, I'm sure i'll blog again soon.

XOXOxoxo

also, in case you were wondering, it is apx 16.5 days till i'm 20 years old. *big smiles*

Last Week of Freedom

2012-01-08T02:12:00.000-07:00

Where to begin. First off, since i've began blogging more regularly about a year ago, my journal writing has suffered. I've written every day in my journal since the end of 9th grade. That hasn't changed. but what has changed is how well i write in it. My blog has become my journal of sorts. a lot of time i'll put a lot of detail into my blog and then when it comes to writing it in my journal I am extremely vague. I think it should probably be the other way around.....? So this year, i think i am going to work on this. I am still going to blog.... not because a lot of people read it or because it keeps my family updated on my life, etc.
But, because i honestly enjoy it. I'm a memory keeper. It's a part of the definition of Brianna. I think i've always been a very sentimental kind of girl and one of the most important things i have are memories. I hate goodbyes {and change [which is one reason Obama and i could never be friends....]}and writing things down and taking pictures help me hang on to those memories for forever. {there really is no better major for me than photography} Blogging just happens to be a way to keep them.
I want to print my blog into a book. I've heard of people doing that, but i don't know where to look. And i don't have a lot of money. {Ya know, because i'm going to germany! :D}

That was probably too long of an explanation, but, that's what i'm going to try for.

This past week has been a great one. It has gone by in the blink of an eye and for that, I am really sad. Christmas break was 3 weeks. Much has happened, i've had some great times, and tons of memories were made.

But as they say {whoever "they" are} "all good things come to an end" which is a statement i would like to prove very wrong someday. In fact, i WILL prove that wrong someday.

next item.

It's about this kid.

Is this not a handsome picture of him?

It seems that everyone has been asking me about "who Taylor is" lately {which i guess is a natural question} so I will tell you a little about this amazing man named Taylor.

I met Taylor the summer after i graduated high school. He was my new boss at work. And by far the most favorite boss I've ever had.

anyways, we gradually became really great friends over the next year. And now a year and a half later, I'd consider him one the best and greatest friends i've ever had and probably ever will have. When I'm in Logan we talk everyday on the phone. Usually for the time of hours, not minutes. Which always interferes with the recommended 8 hours of sleep i'm supposed to get, but I'm used to it now. When I'm home in Orem I'm pretty sure i take up most of his free time that he's not working and still talk on the phone the other times but i don't think he minds. And when none of those 2 are happening, we're usually texting. Thank heavens for unlimited texting.

Random facts about Taylor that I find interesting-

He despises the taste of lemon in his water. At restaurants where you get your own water out of the pop machine, he'll let the water run for a good 20 seconds before filling up his cup because the water thing is always with the lemonade.
He's a horn honker in his car. He literally will honk for fun because he likes the sound of it. I always get embarrassed.
He loves his mom more than anyone i've ever met. Not kidding you. It's something I admire greatly about him. And his mom is darling. I am a fan of her too. He has what he calls "mommy and me day" with her once a week or so. {p.s. it's quite entertaining to see them watch judge judy together}
you will never see his feet. In the year and a half I'v known him I've never seen them. And he assures me that I probably never will {don't worry, i will one day. It's a goal of mine}. Opposite of me. If i don't need shoes, i don't wear them.
He served his mission in Toronto Canada and is beyond faithful to that country. Canada is brought up far to often in our conversations and I think that i may be able to sing you their National Anthem. yes, all 4 verses. I'm pretty sure if this kid ever got a tattoo, it'd be the red maple leaf.
He has funny phrases that are 100 percent unique to him and loves to annoy me by answering my questions with questions of his own. And i catch myself saying them every once in a while.
his favorite ice cream is Huckleberry. Which i got lucky and bought that one time cause it sounded good and then when i offered him some he got excited because it was his favorite.
He sings all the time and has a great memory when it comes to memorizing things.
Dr Pepper and french fries are his cravings. guess what? Those are mine too.
His favorite color is purple. And anything that is purple becomes his interest for that moment. Doesn't matter what it is. I've seen it from cars, to ugly dresses, to towels, to him talking about how he'd make the sky and grass purple if he could.
His car always smells so good. Like a mixture of his cologne {acqua di gio [yes, i do know this]} and air freshener from his {purple} air freshener owl thing in his car. I don't know how he keeps the smell. I feel like my car's air freshener lasts all but 2 weeks. if i'm lucky. He must be talented.
That i hardly ever take pictures of the things we do. My mom asked me why that is and i said "I have no idea. I think he just distracts me." {Taylor: we're going to work on this.}

Anyways, there's some info about this Taylor guy that I seem to talk/blog/think about a lot. The only other thing I'll say is about how happy I am when I'm with him And how sad I am when i have to say bye at the end of a date or night or when heading back to Logan. Except, Goodbye is not really what i should say in any of those cases because within about 2 minutes of him leaving or me leaving, my phone rings and it's him. Without fail. I love it. {the one time this didn't happen i thought he'd been in a serious accident and died a tragic death}

Anyways, I won't bore you with more about that. Although i could write a 200+ page book about it. haha But best stuff is going in my real journal. Because it's what means more to me. So, at 2am the morning i go back to Logan, i bid ado.

p.s. Ashleigh and I finally got a taste of Louisiana at Bucket o' crawfish.

we're secretely models because we are just
that attractive in pictures like this.

Next post will undoubtedly be about school. Sorry...

What Women Want. {not the movie} + Wedding Bouquet.

2012-01-05T23:02:00.001-07:00

I saw this as a comment on a friend's post on Facebook and literally liked it.

"I've decided what women want. Women seem to want contradictory things in a man.

Women want a man who is ambitious, an achiever who is successful both professionally and financially… who’s not materialistic.

Women want a man who is solid, steady, consistent and reliable…. Who is fun, unpredictable and spontaneous.

Women want a strong-willed, decisive man who takes a stand and does not waver… as long as he flexible, open minded, and can admit when he’s wrong.

Women want a realist who is romantic.
A guy who’s serious… but playful.
Who’s confident…but humble.
Who’s horny {i'm changing this to romantic}…but faithful.

Women want a man who’s career driven…but family oriented.
Women want a man who’s smart… but not nerdy.
Caring… but not needy.
Affectionate…. but not clingy.
Protective,… but not possessive.
Emotional…but not neurotic.
Funny…but not a clown
Dominant,…but not domineering
In control…but not controlling."

I don't see the problem....

I feel like the in-between in all of those would = the most perfectly imperfect man.

p.s. Ask me how sad I am to have to go back to school on Monday.

In case you just talked to your computer screen, the answer is "way sad".

p.s.s. {or is this supposed to be p.p.s. ??} because I stalk a lot of photo blogs..... the following should not be weird to you-

I found the future bouquet for my {in the verrry far away future} wedding. I had this idea in my head for about 2 years {please don't ask me why}, but have never seen anyone do it. Kind of made me sad that someone else has done it, but then again happy to know that it really does look pretty beautiful. I'm somewhat leery to post a picture because then all of my friends {what seems to be about half of them are engaged or will be shortly... weird} will steal my idea of my future bouquet. So I hereby say, "no touchy" because I really want to post a picture{s} of it and don't really want my idea to go "viral" as they say when it is in a youtube video. so, here goes.

i think maybe a few more billy balls in there though, and i want lace wrapped around the stems, not ribbon. but, other than that i love it. Deep deep purple carnations with yellow billy balls. my dream.
don't you think purple and yellow are good colors for a wedding?

well, there's the random "p.s.s." that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on in my life right now. But none-the-less, it made me happy tonight to find it.

Taylor's Half Birthday Adventures

2011-12-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

I like half birthdays. I think they're fun. Fun to surprise people too!

Taylor had no idea it was his half birthday. That is, until the waitress at Milagros brought out his meal on two plates. half on one, half on another. :D

I'll just give the quick version of what we did. no need to bore you with the exciting details of the day. :P

First i collaborated with his sweet mom to make part of this work, then we fed the ducks. Got Dr. Peppers, Bought ring tones for his new iphone, went through the car wash, picked up a treasure chest, went to the provo temple, reminisced about lots and lots of memories, more DP, Half a cake, his mom helped me sing happy half birthday, drove around orem a bit, visited his mom at work, FYE, went to temple square and saw the lights, good conversations, JB's restaurant, more lights, free six dollar parking, Denny's milkshake/smoothie, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. etc.

I really enjoyed the whole day! 11 am to 1 am! new record? sadly no, but still a really good day filled with one of my favorite personages ever! here are a few pictures of things throughout the day. I didn't take that many because Taylor doesn't really like getting his picture taken candidly. I know, i don't know how we survive together. Most of the people i'm with a lot probably feel like i'm the paparazzi because i take so many pictures of them. But not Taylor, he's some what camera shy. haha you can probably tell in these few pictures that he doesn't really enjoy it. Thanks Tay for being a good sport... sometimes. ;) And thanks for letting me surprise you and not trying to figure out what was going on before i told you. :D {and for guessing the color right.... again! I don't get how you do it! so please tell me! :D}

they put a fence up around our ducks!!
and they wouldn't fly over it. :(
it was funny to watch them slide on
the ice of the pond chasing the bread.

half a cake, for a half birthday. :D
you can't really tell, but the candle in the
middle is only a half. :D

the cake before i cut it in half.

memory chest.
yes, i did watch 5 youtube videos on how to make
this kind of bow. I feel as if it turned out well....
for having to use super glue instead of wire..... :D

temple square. love the random guy in it with us.

Well, there's some of the day. It really was a fantastic day. I'd do it over again if i could. :D

Christmas Post

2011-12-27T01:05:00.001-07:00

you know, it's hard to keep a blog going when you worked 40 hours in a week. Among other things....

Anyways, Christmas this year was different. Mainly because the weather felt more like fall or spring and there was absolutely no cold, white, fluffy, stuff on the ground. Which was some major disappointment for me. I have no idea how people can feel like it's Christmas every year that live in places where it never snows. It was just a really bizarre experience to wake up to a bright sunny day.

But, I can say that I honestly really really miss Christmas as a kid. When my parents played Santa and the stairs were blocked off to go downstairs to the living room so we couldn't peak, and the elaborate displays of our plates {we have plates instead of stockings. always have. It's a German culture thing that my grandma did in her family and passed it down}, etc. it was so so fun to wake up at 5 am and be so excited to see what i got for Christmas. Now, i pretty much know what I'm getting. I think Christmas is better when there are kids present. I'm excited for Ashleigh's baby to be big enough to know what's going on.

But, I have good news.

You know how I love pearls? And how they've been on my wish list to own a pair of real ones for like 5 years? Well, they're no longer on my wish list because that's what Taylor got me for Christmas! *big smiles* He is such a winner! I love them. :D

aren't they BEAUTIFUL!?
they even came in a pretty box! He did good. :)

We were at a store looking at jewelry randomly one day and I was making googly eyes at the pearl earrings. Anyways, he bought the EXACT pair that i had fell in love with that day. I had no idea how very much he pays attention to things I say and do until yesterday. It was happy. He also bought me this knitted headband that i liked one day at a different store, and bought me a really cute picture frame! I told him i'd probably put a picture of us in it and he said, "good, i was hoping you would!" Do you people reading this realize how much i love picture frames? i own like 50+. I'd say that Taylor knows me pretty well. haha. Oh, and thank you to Taylor's mom for wrapping them because his least favorite part of Christmas is "wrapping the sides of presents." haha i laughed really hard when he told me that.

I wrapped one of the things i got for Taylor in a ton of different sized boxes. all of them were wrapped individually. It was great. Quinton helped me with it. He's good at that sort of thing.

the last part of him opening the many boxed gift.
It was a CTR ring. Because he doesn't own one. But now he does. :D

This was the first Christmas in a long long long long long time that i didn't get to spend it with my Grandma and Grandpa Cobb. It made me really sad. But I did talk to them on the phone for nearly an hour. :D I love them. I can't wait till they move here! {hopefully this summer!}

and here are a few random pictures from Christmas.

Grandma Cobb gives all her grandsons a
new bathroom reader book for Christmas.
Nathan even got one. I guess he's officially
welcomed to the family now. haha

he loved the book ash got him. re-gifted
from a white elephant trade.

fam picture in front of the tree after church.
{minus ash.} My hair was having a trial.

We're practicing posing for awkward fam photo.com.
I think we finally captured one worthy enough.

ems opening something. Kandi smelling for Chocolate.

look at the snazzy socks my dad got from grandma cobb.

In other news, it's one month till my 20th birthday! Taylor reminded me of this just a few seconds ago. :D sorry it isn't really that much of an update of what i've been doing lately.

p.s. Taylor says "hello" to all my blogger readers

Since I've been home.

2011-12-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

My life is rather ordinary at home.
There is not that much going on round these parts.
well. For me.
you see,
I have worked 8 hours every day this week.
and my feet are hurting me,
but
i'll have a nice pay check.

so here's a bulleted list {because i'm real good at them} of things i've done since i've been home

Em's band concert
ear wax candle with taylor {weirdest experience of my life}
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert
gateway mall
Church
Dinner with grandma and grandpa Dickerson
walmart mouth wash run to Walmart with Taylor
brought my pregnant sister Huckleberry Icecream
Dressed Elmo up with Taylor.
Slept in several days
Long phone conversations
lunch with Betsy
work
work
work
work
work
made rice a roni
laundry
thought about going on a run
took my fingernail polish off
missed my down comforter and electric blanket every night.
wrapped presents
snuggled with my puppy, Kandi.
etc.

ta ta

Ugly Sweater Making Photo Shoot

2011-12-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

i made "ugly sweaters" with Lauren, Allison & Betsy yesterday. :D they took forever. but they are stylish and waay cute. {not ugly at all} we got so many compliment all day from them. :D

well, they were so cool that we decided to go to the studio and take some fun pictures in them real quick.

so here are a few. I didn't edit any of them because I don't have time. But, fun still, none-the-less.

we were attempting some "awkward family photo" style posing in some. FUN! i enjoyed them.

The most Christmas decorated house i've ever been too!

2011-12-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

Allison and I went to Brigham City on Sunday to visit her grandparents. And her grandma is crazy when it comes to Christmas decorating! I have never, ever, ever in all my life seen anything like it. Al told me that i should prepare myself for it. yeah, i had no idea. here are the pictures i took. {which does not do it justice in the very very very very least. this MAYBE covers 1/3 of it. MAYBE. but you can't even see the details of any of it.}

looney toones tree.

i swear, every one of the ornaments does something cool. they're not just sit there look pretty stuff.

the Disney tree.

full of Christmas stuffs.

why yes, that is special Christmas toilet paper.

have you ever seen a bathroom this decorated??

cute lil allison.

she had her whole bedroom decorated too. but i figured no one wants pictures inside their bedroom taken....

also, she makes these extraordinarily elaborate dollhouses her self. and they all sport Christmas decorations as well. Allison said she changes the decorations in the dollhouses for different holidays. She had an entire bedroom full of this dollhouse village!

this is ONE tiny little room inside ONE of the doll houses. look at how incredibly detailed it is! and ever room is like this!

here you can see a little of the village.

even has a green house with real dirt!

love the wrap around porch. :D

and a school house.

and a barn. WITH A REALLY COOL SADDLE! :D

i didn't take any more pictures after this because i felt embarrassed to take more.

but you get the idea. I can't imagine how long it would have taken for all the set up! i'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Well, i'm off to bed.

but i finished a present tonight! One that i spent a lot of time on and is really neat. :D

Good Song and Funny yet scary Dream

2011-12-11T09:11:00.001-07:00

My apartment watched Anastasia last night. This is the last song in the movie (which is ironic because it's title is "at the beginning"....). I have always liked this song. Super cute. And also I'm a sap.... but you already knew this. So here 'tis.

A few nights ago I had a really bad dream. I can't really remember the last time i had a nightmare. Anyways, i was working in the darkroom and i heard gun shots. So naturally, one would go search for where these sounds were coming from. Okay, a normal person would not. But it was a dream. Nothing is really ever logical in dreams.

So i go out into the work area of the photo lab. And then i saw the gunman. and guess what?? he SHOT me! have you ever died in your dreams before?? I had NOT! and it was so freaky! Well, i woke up and kinda had this weird gasp/ sit straight up in bed thing happen.

So, because as true as my name is Brianna, I analyzed said dream. {i've had a lot of dreams lately that i do this with....} And here are the things i came up with-

I love the photo lab so much i want to die there one day
the photo lab will be the death of me
I'm searching for death
gunmen don't scare me
i'm really stressed out because of photo and feel like dying when i'm there.
i'd rather die than continue working in the photo lab.

i haven't really figured out which one it is yet... probably #2.

but, if things were easy, they wouldn't be worth it. This is what i tell myself a lot lately. In lots of areas of life.

Stats, Fights, Blown-Up Factory, Christmas, Surprises

2011-12-10T20:42:00.001-07:00

First things first, STATS. this is the last time i'll do this. because everything will be zero in a few days. I just wanted to show you how much i have accomplished this week! :D

tests- 0

projects- 0

classes- 0 {2 if you count final critiques as a class}

class days- 0

photo shoots to do- ZERO!

costumes i still need to find for my shoots- 0. more like- costumes i need to give back now.

pictures to edit- ZERO!!

pictures to print- 20 ish.

Darkroom pictures i need to print-4
final portfolios- 2 {that i'm combining into 1 big one.}

days till i go home- 5

Second. I went to my first ever USU hockey game. here is what i noticed-

they smell waaaay bad.
people cheer when the players smash each other into the glass.
when there aren't many fights, the fans get irritated.
there's a lot of swearing.
it smelt bad.
we won 4-1
nearly everyone on our team is from Canada {don't say "Canada" in front of Taylor because he'll break out in the Canadian anthem. All verses. I learned (well... i'm working on learning this) this the hard way. I pretty much have it memorized myself now. I think he loves that country or something. ;) i guess that's what serving a mission in a place for 2 years does to someone. haha}
it smelt really really bad.

third-

today i finished shooting for my portfolio!

alright, i'm sick of numbering. so i'll just write the rest.

I went Christmas shopping a little today with Allison! first of the season. Allison and I came out of a store and the whole outside smelt SO bad! We decided that it smelt like a poo factory blew up. Honestly, i have never felt a more foul smell outside. It smelt like this for over an hour too! I really want to know what made it smelt so bad though..... or maybe i don't. who knows what it was.

I got something really cool today. I can't say what it is, because it's a present for someone. but now i'm excited to finish this present. I love presents that are unique and individual. I'll take a picture of it when i'm done and then post it after Christmas. So, get excited!

click here to see some pictures from my 80's shoot.

wanna know what i've done in my 3D design class this semester?

this is a camera. i don't have a picture from the other side though where you can see the lens. .

Good news of my day- I got to see my roommate, Melissa Q W H III !!!! i haven't seen her since she got married on 11-11-11. So it was a happy day! i love that girl!

So i think i'm going home on Thursday now instead of Friday. :D So this'll be good too.

I have to decide by January 20, if i am going to FOR SURE go on the study abroad to Germany trip. I want to go sooo bad. But i just need to make sure i'm going to have enough money for it. It's going to be close. If anyone needs pictures taken for anything i'd love to do them! If i booked several photo shoots soon it'd make things easier. haha.

So my friend, Annie, just came by and gave Betsy and I the funniest re-enactments of how she kisses. It might have been the funniest/grossest/ nastiest thing i've ever witnessed. best quote from it- "and that is a sign for "let's have some fun!" " haha. love that girl. p.s. we both got the exact same amount of points in our Family Finance class {hmm... i wonder how that happened} we congratulated ourselves on our grade of an "A" today. You know you have a really easy class when you end up with an "A" in the class and the only thing that you ever did in class was watch movies and T.V shows. I'd recommend this class because of it.

Here is a little Christmas we have in our apartment. i love our little tree. :D

i put little lights on our stair rail.
It takes longer than one might think.

Dec. 28. It's going to be a great day. Once again, this is a surprise. But i have some grand plans for this day. I am so so excited. And Taylor had better get it off work. 'Cause if he doesn't, i probably really will cry. He has no idea what's going on either, but i do. :D But really, you're going to want to come back on December 29th and read about what i did the day before. :-) 18 days. wowzas! not far away.

well, until we meet again, good luck on your finals! :D

Funniest email i've ever received from a professor.

2011-12-07T15:33:00.001-07:00

My English professor is a pretty funny guy. i got the most random email from him {that went to the whole class}

here are the funny parts from it.

I love how chill he is.

the middle was just the section that had the information that was boring business.

1/4 of 1000= 225. How eating an apple is bad.

2011-12-06T22:36:00.001-07:00

That's right, people! This is my 225th post.

Betsy thought i should just leave it at that.

But i have some trials and wo's to write about today.

Problems with working in the University Reserve Mac lab on editing pictures-

Eating an apple is really hard to do quietly so people don't stare at you while eating it.
After eating said apple, one needs dental floss and i don't have any in my backpack this year..... you think I'm kidding. not so. I did last year.
When listening to Christmas music i want to sing really loudly... and I feel like this would cause everyone to run for the hills.... which let us be honest, wouldn't be a bad thing. I like editing my pictures in solitude and loud singing from my vocal chords.
The huge screens make me want to watch hulu. Okay, once again, let's be honest. I just watched the latest episode of Hawaii five-0. Don't worry. The end confused me to the max too. I strongly dislike wolfette.
It is freeeeeezing!!

A week and 2 days till I'm done with my THIRD semester of school! :D

New Stats. And how my apartment building is cooler than yours.

2011-12-05T10:02:00.001-07:00

tests- 1

projects- 1

classes- 11

class days- 4

photo shoots to do- 7

costumes i still need to find for my shoots- 5

pictures to edit- 30 ish

pictures to print- 35 ish

final portfolios- 2 {that i'm combining into 1 big one.}

days till i go home- 11

papers- 1/2 {how does one cite the "For the Strength Of youth" pamphlet? Who is the author?}

presentations-1 {i have it done, i just have to present tomorrow}

freak out/stress sessions- i'm only giving myself 2 more.

I'd like to dedicate this part of my blog to "my ______ is cooler than yours because______"

tonight you get two! You lucky people!

My apartment building is cooler than yours because when sitting on the toilet you get to be in the rain.
why?
because apparently when the snow melts off the roof it comes through the vent in my bathroom in the form of cold rain. So there is a permanent puddle on top of the toilet lid. it's grand.

my car is cooler than yours because not only does it get ice on the outside of the windshield but the inside as well! Double the scraping = double the fun!

Also, i'd like to take this time to tell you how good at match making i am. If you need a match made, ask me. Cause i'm pretty good at it lately! There's just one stipulation- you have to name your first born child {both male or female would do.... brianna could be a good male name, right? RIGHT!} after me if you end up getting married. Which probably could most definitely maybe happen!

This is all. i have to go work on a Christmas present for someone special to me. :D

p.s. do you remember my kissing list? well i have a few to add to it. But this will be for another time.

It's time!.....

2011-12-05T00:05:00.001-07:00

Time for some pictures on my blog with little words. I know, I know. Usually there are lots of words when I blog. But I just typed out an English presentation and my little fingers need a break.

remember that one time taylor and i developed in the darkroom? well i found a
picture of it on my phone. He looks good in my Photo Guild apron.

Lauren sang this song for Betsy and I last year and i'd never heard it! and then i found this at walgreens with Taylor forever ago and also, found this picture on my phone.

here at USU, we're really good at making icicles.

4th year in a row buying this. :D

Ashleigh and i made limeades at her house with all freshly squeezed limes. soo good!

my dad is in the high counsel of a BYU singles Stake. and they make these for the people! ahaha!

sometimes Q and i do speed scrabble together and come up with this. Mostly him. the waleeeeee was my idea.

Sometimes my apartment makes snow flakes for the windows. :D

betsy and I made cupcakes tonight for Tara's birthday tomorrow!
happy birthday TARA!!

I edited the language. you're welcome. i found this online randomly.

I want to text this to someone and see what they say. :D

in case you can't read this, it says the skinnamarink song. Betsy left it for me on my bed before she left for the weekend. :D i just put the pictures together a little.... but they look weird. but it's better than having 2 separate pictures. right? right.
p.s. although this is my bed, i am not hiding a dead body under the really warm, soft, fluffy down comforter. :D

i'm sorry i didn't rotate the pictures. If you're on a laptop- rotate your laptop. not that hard. if you're not on a laptop, rotate your head. A little harder. but doable. :D

xoxo.

tomorrow you'll get the stats again. :D

The life of a photo student during finals

2011-12-02T23:45:00.001-07:00

both yesterday and today I spent nearly every waking hour in either the studio, lab, location, or darkroom. {well...minus the 1.5 hours on the phone with taylor yesterday and today too.}
it was great. :D

I got a lot done. But, i think editing all my shoots and perfecting the around 40 images I have to do for my final is going to be a lot more time consuming than I even thought. I honestly think I've bitten off more than I can chew. But, i'll figure it out.
I had a little talk with myself yesterday it went like this-

self-i can't do this!
self- get a grip of yourself!
self- you're right.
self- yes, and you can do it.
self- i can do it!

and ever since I had a talk with myself, I've felt better. :D

But, go here and look at a few i've done very rough edits of. what do you think?

In other news, after my fifth shoot in 5 days, i treated myself to a Dollar Dr Pepper from McDonalds. :D it was great.

words to describe my apartment-

FREEZING.

i think this sums it up.
i guess we could add "lit up" too. because we have lots of twinkle lights up that i put up while no one else was home and i was procrastinating writing a paper and a powerpoint {which i still haven't done yet...}

there's some good news and bad news.

bad news- i hurt my back and i feel like i need to borrow someone else's for the next 2 weeks.
good news- Taylor taught me some stretches to help it {he's pro 'cause he has a bad back}
bad news-it only helped for like 3.4 minutes. max

but they were a good 3.4 minutes. :D

xoxo

12.5 days till i'm home for nearly a month!

The Stats

2011-11-30T09:11:00.001-07:00

until the end of the semester-

tests- 1

projects- 3

classes- 23

class days- 7.5

photo shoots to do- 12

costumes i still need to find for my shoots- 12

times i'll have to charge/change batteries in my camera-probably 5 for digital, 2 for film.

pictures to edit- hundreds

pictures to print- 30

final portfolios- 2 {that i'm combining into 1 big one.}

days till i go home- 16

papers- 1

presentations-1

freak out/stress sessions- 64 {that gives me about 4 a day}

So, i guess i'll go work on my presentation instead of continue blogging. but don't worry, I'll keep the stats updated every time i blog. :D

loooong weekend adventures!

2011-11-28T23:23:00.001-07:00

number of times i went to bed before midnight?
ZERO
number of times i went to bed before 1?
ZERO
number of times i went to bed before 2?
ZERO
number of times i went to bed before 3?
One
number of times i went to bed in between 3 & 4?
One
number of times i went to bed between 4 & 5?
Two
number of times i went to bed after 5?
Two

It was a great weekend. clearly. I got more sleep last night then i did nearly all nights of the break. haha. so much for catching up on sleep this weekend!......

some highlights-

*playing the organ and Piano with Taylor and singing my favorite Christmas song ever to him playing. {the Nativity song out of the children's song book} I'm pretty sure i could listen to him play for a long time. I like it.

*peanut butter bars run to Maceys at 2 am

*going to the mall with Em and 3 of her friends to Macys in the mall for a reason i'm not saying on here. But it was a good one. :D And i'm really glad i did.

*not doing any homework

*photo shoot

*dinner with taylor w/ ash & nathan at zupas

*hairspray music jam out session. classic

*modern family marathon

*scum, super scum, tub scum, with the fam

*running errands with dad

* animal fries with taylor. finally. we haven't done this since august.

*making dinner with mom.

*going to a movie with Q which he cried in!! and i did not.Christmas Miracle? i think yes.

*when taylor surprised me after he got off work with a DR. pepper and some good conversations till nearly 5 am.

*Deseret Book CTR ring looking.

*volcano bath fizzer.

*listening to Q speak in church

*listening to Em play a piano piece in church

*sunday dinner.

*bringing dinner to Taylor at work.

*etc.

I sincerely doubt that i'll be blogging all that much the next 2.5 weeks because i have a ton of photo shoots! but... then again, i blog to procrastinate doing a lot of what i need to do. so....

here are some random pictures from the weekend-

saying bye to Charlie before he goes on his mission

my doggy loves Nsthan

family games

we do really cool things at walmart...
see the lady worker on the left? she thought we were insane.... pishaw.

here is taylor and i trying the volcano fizzer thing we won more than a month ago.
it was really anti climatic..... to say the least...

Do you ever.... 'cause I do.

2011-11-26T17:52:00.001-07:00

Do you ever-

miss a certain smell?
because it brings back the memory
of someone/some event?
I do. {Sometimes I feel like
going to a perfume store and finding
one that smells a certain way.}

not do your hair or makeup

because you know you're

not doing anything that day?

I do. like today.

get sad when you're really looking

forward to something

and then it ends up not working

the way you wanted?

I do.

get frustrated with yourself for

not saying what's on your

mind because it's scary?

I do.

wish you were someplace else ?

I do.

wish you never had to say bye?

Or are sad when you

don't get a proper goodbye?

I really do.

have days where everything

you do reminds you

of something else that

makes your mind in a

completely

different place?

I do.

get really happy over

talking on the

phone and just

a simple hug?

I do.

wish people were more

honest about things?

I do.

wish you were Braver?

I do.

I'm really sad that I am leaving home tomorrow. This semester has probably been the hardest semester to be away from here.

All I want for Christmas is....

2011-11-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

youuuuuuuuu uu uuuu baby! :D

Well, it's "Black Friday" and if you're going shopping, you can look for these things for me. ;)

Here is my un-realistic list-

A stainless steel Kitchen aid Mixer

Nikon D3x

Real pearl earrings.

4-door jeep

a horse drawn sleigh ride {Taylor told me that if I tell him this one more time then when he becomes president he is banning sleigh rides. ha ha. I've only told him like 2 times. maybe 6. So I can't tell him my dream of riding in a sleigh anymore. :'(}

A new portrait lens

Carbon Fiber Manfrotto tripod with ball head.

here is my realistic List-

Jesus the Christ book

Passport

A new scent of perfume from V.S. {maybe lovespell?}

Headbands

neutral-colored scripture case

itunes gift card

cute socks

little miss matched. There stuff is cool!

soft, cute, slippers

love the buttons on these

I don't really want/ need that much. I'm pretty chill this year. :)

Thankful Post

2011-11-24T18:36:00.001-07:00

i'm thankful for-

My family-

Mom

Dad

Ash {and nathan AND baby girl}

Ems

my puppy, Kandi

G&G Cobb and Dickerson

Aunts and Uncles

Cousins

My really close friends. Especially

Betsy & Lauren.

Taylor

and my roommates from this year and last year-

Allison, Anna, Melissa, Tara, Ashley, Natalie, Michelle, Shanna

The people in my major. They keep things interesting.

USU. Aggies. Best school EVER!

electric blankets

Christmas time

church music and playing the piano

photography

my beliefs and the church

laughing

my cameras

my freedoms

etc

happy Thanksgiving!

steamy car, snuggling, and no scoreboard!?

2011-11-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

let's start out on Friday night.
i went on a blind date that Anna set me up on. I am VERY hesitant to go on blind dates now because i've had 3. All three were super awkward and not pleasant at all. But, Anna was kind of persistent and finally decided i'd be fine with it.
and guess what? It was a most excellent blind date. By faaaaaaar the best blind date i've been on {not that that is a hard task.... but i'm not saying it wasn't good either, cause i had fun}. Best part of the night- we were waiting for a table at Texas Roadhouse and waiting and waiting. Just talking away and guess what? we missed our names. So then they had to put us back down on the list. it was really funny. Definitely a good story.
moral of the story- blind dates can be so good that you talk so much you can't even hear your own name.

yesterday kind of was fantastic.

first off- i think i am going to go to Europe this summer! The study abroad to Germany with the photo department. :D Guess what this means? I need to get a passport PRONTO! which is kind of cool! i've never had a passport. I've never been out of the country except to Canada {and that was before you needed a passport to get in} so this is going to be fantastico! I'll keep you updated for sure.

Last night, i went to my very first FULL basketball game of the season! I LOVE AGGIE BASKETBALL! It is the straw to my berry, and the peanut to my butter, and the bert to my ernie, etc. I live for 3 cheers we do. the first goes as follows {at the very beginning of the game}

guys on front row- I.
crowd- I
GOFR- i believe
c- I BELIEVE
GOFR- I believe that
c- I BELIEVE THAT
GOFR- i believe that we
c-I BELIEVE THAT WE
GOFR- i believe that we will
c- I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL
GOFR- i believe that we will WIN!!!
c- I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone- I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! x 25 more.

it's a great cheer. you can watch it here.

the next is the scotsman.

only here is how a cooler way to sing it is-
show me the scotsman who doesn't love the scotsman dog.
show me the Englishman who doesn't love the English muffin
show me the true blooded Aggie from Utah, who doesn't love the spot where the sage brush grows.

and the last.....
....
...........................
....
.
.........

THE SCOREBOARD! it is the best cheer known to universities universe wide. and we do it EVERY game i've ever been to. except,.... last nights! what in the world?? it was SO sad! I was really disappointed.
but, watch it.

McKenna and Lauren and Betsy and I came back to my apartment and did some funny things.... haha. umm...

and then McKenna was lame and went home. but lauren and betsy and i got a pizza and bread sticks and went to the spot known as "the make out bench". only it was waaay too cold to get out so we parked my car and all jumped in the back seat and snuggled while eating our pizza. it was great. but, it's kind of a busy street... so i'm pretty sure after our hot breaths fogged up the inside of the car, every car that drove past thought we were making out. but, alas, we just snuggled. it was a great night. here are some pictures

so you can't really tell that well, but the front
seats were pushed all the way forward and down to make more room. haha

and betsy decided she was cold so she put her jacket on like sweat pants earlier today. it was great.

More things

2011-11-19T16:05:00.001-07:00

Here are some random things i enjoy. {sometimes i'm too much of a girl}

The smell of a guy with good taste in cologne. {*heavy sigh*}

Lace things.

PEARLS

Fun nail polish colors

decorations

having cute shoes but preferring to be barefoot when possible

if i don't have these shoes when i get married i may cry....

the contrast between white snow and dark branches of trees

head bands

halo earrings/rings

soft, cute blankets

picnics

men that drive 4-door jeeps *heavy sigh*

ambition

journal writing

card making

cooking in cute aprons

a good joke

snuggling

x's and o's

fluffy down comforters

memory foam mattresses

dreams

warm, natural light

bay windows with cushioned seats

Old love songs

cute houses with personality

baby clothes

black and white photography

loofahs

lilacs

etc.

I made this for you!

2011-11-17T22:19:00.001-07:00

in honor of christmas coming {even though i do not like listening to christmas music till after thanksgiving} here are a few funny songs for you. {allison showed it to me}

and i love this song too.
and the puppets just add to the greatness.

have a happy thursday night!

in case you were wondering....

2011-11-16T23:33:00.001-07:00

in case you were wondering the good newses of my day-

i finished my 8-10 page research persuasive essay today. :D guess how long it is.
8 pages and 2/3 of a line. i was NOT writing any more than i had to! clearly.

i ran for 30 minutes straight. the treadmill said it was 3.5 miles.... but i think it was a slow treadmill. but still, if the treadmill was correct, it was a personal record.

my throat no longer hurts, i just sound like a smoker. {it's really attractive, actually}

i watched a movie

my cute visiting teachers came over. i am a fan of them.

i got to talk to Taylor on the phone before he went to work. Which usually doesn't happen cause i am in class before he works.

i made potato chips.

i only wore a light jacket around campus compared to the big coat i've wearing for a week now.

the benadryl i took last night caused me to sleep through my first class. {yes, a good thing. becuase i needed that extra hour and a half!}

the institute lesson was made for me and what i needed to hear. i love it when this happens.

i got a donut and hot chocolate for FREE!

i had a little time to finally talk to my BFF Betsy. Which sadly, rarely happens anymore. :'(

i ate some chocolate M&M's

I didn't wear makeup

I didn't do my hair.

I looked drop dead gorgeous...... JOKE! but it's okay. some days you just need a break from putting make up and looking like a girl.

this is all.

xoXOxo

-Bri

Patience is a virtue

2011-11-15T20:49:00.001-07:00

patience is a virtue;

.....................a virtue I wish I had.

I wish for patience-

for my cold to go away

for the right time

for an answer to a question

for my turn

for the semester to be done

for another question to be answered

for my 2oth birthday in January

for bedtime when all my homework is done.

for a phone call I want to receive

for my niece to be here so I can hold her and kiss her cute lil' face off

etc.

It's a girl!, attacking ducks, catch up, registration.

2011-11-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

In case you all live in a hole, ASHLEIGH IS HAVING A GIRL!! I predicted it. And apparently those of you who voted in my pole did too. :D Good work, team. Now, i get to look at baby girl clothes ever time i go to the store. :D yay! I can't wait for her to get here. :D I still want them to name her Paisley. {their first official date was to Brad Paisley concert and their first dance was to him as well... their first child might as well be after him too!}

This weekend was fantastic. first off, USU beat the cougars sad hind ends! :D it was pretty fantastic! here is what happened. i watched it with my ma and pops. i did all the cheers that the student section did and was yelling like a mad woman at the t.v. and then mom and dad both left the room and watched in their bedroom instead. i have no idea why! and then my BFFFFF Betso called me during the "scoreboard" cheer. it was probably the best part of the game.

tara, william, annie, melissa, betsy, me, and anna

OH! Melissa Q. III got married too! insanity!! her wedding was pretty. she looked drop dead gorgeous! What a lucky man William is.

Saturday i slept in. Taylor and i brought Ash lunch cause she was having a rough day. And then i dusted her piano and Ash used Taylor's muscles to lift a heavy box. haha.

We went bowling at Jack and Jill's bowling alley. I had never been there. pretty fun! and guess what! several big things happened. 1-i used an orange ball. 2-i got a strike right away. 3-then i got 2 more in a row making it a turkey!! 4-i beat Taylor in the first game! 5-i got a strike on a granny throw. 6 i beat taylor in the second game too!! it was awesome! :D 6. i think it was because i used an orange ball and he used purple. and clearly orange > purple. :D

this isn't even half of them. i couldn't get them all
in a single picture.

After this was a whirlwind of random things. Sunflower market, target {we looked at baby clothes cause ash is having a babay!} costco {samples, lotion looking, diamond and jewelry looking} walmart {ice cream buying for ashleigh's party} ashleigh's birthday/gender announcement party. then.... the best part! we went to "our" park. The park we went to all the time this summer. we were trying to think of what to do and he suggested a park. i said "yes!" and he said "which one?" i look at him seriously and we say in unison- "our park" haha. it was grand. we got a loaf of bread and fed the ducks. only, these ducks were not your normal stay-in-the-water while getting fed ducks. they were insane! they were fighting for the bread and came out of the water and came right up to us. ALL of them! so taylor and i kept backing up until we were on top of the play ground and all the ducks were on the wood chips under the play ground quacking at us. well, our loaf was gone and then we went to walmart and bought 2 more. and this time we led them around the park while feeding them and even got brave enough to feed them from our hands. it was awesome! Taylor said they are now our pets that we have to go back and visit. which is hardly a hard task as it is "our park". haha. he wanted to catch one and take it to my house and put it in Emilie's room.

taylor throwing some bread. :D

then we danced on top of the pic nic tables. really fun. then he took me home early {midnight ish} cause he had to work super early sunday morning. usually we stay out waay past midnight. We had a conversation at my house and ate a doughnut. haha. then on his way home driving, he called me. of course. It just wouldn't be the same if he didn't! :D

i slept at ashleigh's house saturday night and had a conversation with her and nathan. Nathan told me if i don't do something soon i'm going to be an old spinster. :( sad! I'm not brave enough for this "something" apparently. So, spinsterhood-welcome.

there are a lot of babies in their ward! i just wanted to hold them all. i can't wait to hold my very own niece!

went home and took a nap with my puppy, kandi. :D she's a good snuggler. except she's kind of a bed hog to the max! but she really liked my pillow so she laid by my head instead of on top of me this time. love that dog!

Went to taylor's house for dinner! FINALLY got to meet his dad and brother. I've met his mom before. They're fun. i texted my family and told them "his family is much more quiet than ours" and Quinton responded back and said "i am pretty sure all families in this world are a lot quieter than ours." true statement. I left utah county and headed back to logan.

which ends me posting about this weekend.

so here's what happened last weekend-

Tay came up to logan for the institute dance on friday. it was probably like the best day ever! One of my favorite parts was sneaking into a room at the institute and he played songs for me on the piano. hymns from the hymn book, except not just how it's written. he is one of those people that can make it into a musical number without trying. i could listen to it all day.

funny story- after we partied it up around town till 2 we came back to my place. we were talking. i asked him some question and he didn't answer. {i was writing in my journal.} he started snoring and i was just about to head up to bed {he was sleeping on the couch} when he randomly answered the question i had asked and then continued snoring. When i started laughing he woke up. it was so great.

this post is long enough, i won't bore you with the rest of the wonderful things we did. just know it was a rockin time.

but, meanwhile i'm going to register for classes at midnight. joy to the world. my favorite thing. not!

Thought Thursday turned Recipe Wednesday

2011-11-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Natalie and Allison cleaned our fridge out and re-organized it.
they kept opening it up to look at it because they thought it was pretty. haha

here it is. in all it's cleanliness.

meet Glen. We made pie tonight.

we're kind of cool like that.

then i made oriental salad. mom makes it all the time, but i never have in college yet.

here is the recipe-

1 head of cabbage chopped fairly fine.
1 package of romen noodles crushed up
6 green onions
1/3 cup oil
1/3 vinegar
1/3 sugar
1 chicken top romen seasoning packet

combine oil and vinegar and sugar and top romen chicken seasoning together
pour over cabbage and green onions and top romen noodles. stir, and eat. :D

there was extra pie crust so he baked it with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.

final product. looks good, no?

Recipe Wednesday turned Thought Thursday + pictures

2011-11-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

My grandma sent this to me. I liked it.

Take time to think-it is the source of power.

take time to read-it is the foundation of wisdom

take time to play-it is the secret of staying young.

take time to be quiet-it is the moment to seek God.

take time to be aware-it is the opportunity to help others.

take time to love and be loved-it is God's greatest gift.

take time to laugh-it is the music of the soul.

take time to be friendly-it is the road to happiness.

take time to dream-it is what the future is made of.

take time to pray-it is the greatest power on earth.

our quote wall is growing

i want to do this with the license plate!

i made guacamole. well, technically i guess Glen made {smooshed} it.

the start of my light for 3D design

bread bowl and soup at ward Halloween party

picture i printed today in darkroom.

another one

someone i know got this announcement in he mail, and i
love the time of the reception! 6:05-8:20?? random!

cowboy corner in my room is growing. :D

ignore the stuff on her arm. it was wet and made a weird design.

another one. i really liked them all.

a new sign in the photo room. gotta love it!

have a most excellent night!

xoxo

-Bri

Cool Pants, Pearls, Ashleigh's baby, and excited for Friday.

2011-10-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

So today i went to my friend's sister's roommates's work party. {Not kidding} and there was the most adorable baby girl there. {like newborn} and i just wanted to hold her the entire time. It made me even more excited for my sister to have her baby! i just really want a little girl. If {on friday!} she finds out it's a girl, i'm going to learn how to make really cute baby headbands with big bows and flowers.

Every time i go to a store i want to look at all the cute baby clothes. This isn't even MY child and i'm kind of in love with it a lot! I love that little baby sooo much already and i don't know it's gender. I think about it all the time, and their not even close to being done baking in the oven. *sighs* I can't wait to be an aunt to this {no doubt} darling baby. I hope it has red hair. I honestly don't think i've ever in all my life been more excited about anything than i am about meeting this little one. :D

Dear end of March-
please get her UBER fast!
love,
an excited {and the favorite} aunt .

in a different note:

Dear Friday-
please get here super fast too. I can't wait for the institute dance amongst other reasons. If you take forever, i will not be a thrilled personage.
love,
Bri

So today is Halloween. I dressed up. and walked around campus in my costume. ALL DAY. and guess what? no one dresses up. but i did. why? because i got a lot of extra credit in my 3D design class. so it was worth it.

I love these girls lots and lots and lots.

i didn't wear this outfit today, this is what i wore on saturday for the halloween party i went to. i'm a fan of my pants. I wore an awesome dress today! everyone is really jealous of it.

Tonight i went to my ward's halloween party. and it was wonderful! super super fun. My friend {and roommate from last year} Anna, had this on her facebook page- ‎"I miss the days when Halloween was about showing off your costume rather than your cleavage" so true. Amen. Agreed. Etc.

This weekend was really good. It was stake conference. I almost didn't go to the evening session saturday night, and i am SO glad that i did. Ya know those talks that seem to have been written for you? Well every one of them were written for me. and sunday's session too! It was like the happiest thing ever. I literally had a few tears fall because of it. I love church. :D I love the overwhelming feeling i get sometime that i know i can handle everything i'm thrown. It was comforting. :D

also, it was my 3/4 birthday last week. so if someone wants to buy me some real pearl earrings i'd be fine with that. I'm a big fan of pearls. And i'd be an even bigger fan of you if you bought me some real pearls

Betsy is struggling through her math homework and i just keep having to help her ;) so i finally told her "Betsy, you're going to have to figure this one out on your own, you'll learn more if i don't help you with this one." and she busted her gut. It was pretty funny {for those of you who don't know, betsy is a math major, and i don't know math at all.}

I love you all. Why? i have no idea. JOKE! because you read my blog! But here's the thing, everyone tells me that they read it, but no one follows it. So your challenge of the day is to go push follow. Cause it'd be nice to know who reads it.

alas i am done writing.
xoxo

-Bri

Recipe Wednesday turned Thought Thursday

2011-10-27T23:16:00.002-07:00

So yesterday was too busy to make anything. so i made mac & cheese. for those of you who don't know this, this is my favorite breakfast food. yes, breakfast. I love soups and leftovers and anything non-breakfast for breakfast. If i'm going to have breakfast food, it'll most likely be for dinner. I know, i'm weird. no need to tell me this.

So i made jambalaya- for 2 reasons. 1-because i needed me some spicy southern food. and 2-because i told my friend, Garin, that i would make him something sometime. only all of the food i cook would kill him. Cause he's deathly allergic to milk. So. this proposed some serious problems. did you know that margarine even has butter in it?? i did not. anyways, the other day i was thinking about making jambalaya and a light bulb went off in my head. jambalaya has zero milk. :D i had a polska cheese sausage that i usually use and had to go buy one that didn't have the cheese, but other than that this was a little easier to do than i thought it would. Don't get me wrong, i was still highly paranoid and kinda freaked out because i didn't want to kill the kid on accident. I'm pretty sure if i had to cook for him full time i'd get stomach ulcers from the stress. geez. haha. Although he assures me that it won't be scary after the first few times. i think he just wants me to keep making him food.... :P

anyways. jambalaya is not too hard to make. mainly you just need the right spices and you'll be fine.

here's the simplest way-

use a package of zatarans jambalaya seasoning and add rice. {the smaller amount you use, the spicier it is. and then dress it up with more peppers and some chili powder and Polska sausage and chicken and tony sacher's creole seasoning, or shrimp, or if you are lucky and can find them, CRAWFISH! mmmm. Love that water creature. One day, i'm going to go crawfish hunting again and then have a huge crawfish boil and eat those things till my lips burn so bad from all the spicy spices! The worst part is your fingers have the spices in them for days and every time you wipe your eyes they feel like they're on fire. anyways... i need to stop talking about crawfish because i want to cry that you can't get them here.

I should have taken a picture before we ate and cleared
off the table. but alas, i am not doing so hot at taking as
many snap shot pictures of my life this year. :'(

i made cornbread too. which Garin couldn't eat because the mix said "may contain milk"....

Jambalaya. it's one of my favorite things. I want to make a king cake again. because those are my favorite things in all the world. but, they kind of take a good 6-8 hours of work. so, next time i make them, instead of making 2, i'm making at least 4. at least.

So there is southern food Recipe Wednesday on a Thursday.

Photo Midterm Pictures.

2011-10-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the pictures I printed for my photo midterm. :D

gotta go finish my image journal. :D

my favorite

Midterm

2011-10-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

I just got out of a demo for location lighting and have a half hour till my next class. to start anything in the darkroom i would need no less than 1.25 hours {yes, for reals. i've calculated it} so therefore instead of working on my mid term i will be blogging. :D

here is the list of things that i have to have in my midterm {in fancy words, my words and an easiness level from 1-10 [hard] }-

Part A {controling subject contrast/tonality}-
1- photograph one white and one gray card with the proper subject contrast/tonality {meaning-make the gray and white cards look gray and white. easiness level-5}
2-photograph one white and one gray card so that they both appear the same GRAY subject contrast/tonality. {make the white card look gray using the frennel lights. easiness level-9 {not kidding! i have probably worked harder on this number than on any other one on this list} }
3-photograph one white and one gray card so that they both appear the same WHITE subject contrast/tonality. {now make the gray card look white using the frennel lights. easiness level-2 {but this is only a 2 because as soon as you get number 2 all you have to do is change your exposure 3 F-stops. but if you were doing this without number 2, it'd be a 9 as well.} }

Part B {light fall-off test/inverse square law}- {if you don't know what the inverse square law is and you think you're a photographer, you would be incorrect. it's kind of a BIG deal}

1- photograph the bumbers 2 and 6 cards at their respective distances {2= 2 feet from the light and 6=6 feet from the light easiness level-6. it's doable. it's easy to get it to do what it's supposed to, the hard part is making the light even on both the cards with only one light}
2-photograph the bumbers 10 and 11 cards at their respective distances {10=10 feet from the light and 11=11 feet from the ligh.t easiness level-6.}

{we had a different one here instead to begin with and then as soon as i shot it and printed it, he changed it to this one... naturally that'd happen to me. So i'm going to write this one out too because i did it already- we had to shoot a mirror on a white surface and couldn't get any reflection of anything in the room in the mirror we shot. -
1-make the mirror light gray and keep the background white {easy}
2-make mirror white on light gray surface {keep in mind that the mirror has to stay on the original white surface the entire time. easiness level-6}
3- make mirror white and change background to look black {insanity! easiness level-not recordable. i'd say like a 15!}
4- there were a few others i don't remember exactly what they were

Part C {illustrating shape and dimension}-

take a simple light toned object {a white sphere is what i used} and photograph it on a white background. Use the following lighting combinations.

1- Side light {hard and soft} with the light source close. {shoot the object with it being lit from the side with a reflector and a soft box. easiness level-4}
2 Side light {hard and soft} with the light source far. {shoot the object with it being lit from the side with a reflector and a soft box. easiness level-4}
3-Front light hard and soft with the light source far. {have the light be behind your camera when you shoot. Which he told us would NOT create a shadow. Which it did. which made me have to do the picture over again. which is not easy because it's film. Which added about 6 hours more of work. i'm not upset about this though. {easiness level-6.5}
4- Top light hard and soft with the light source far. {get a "BOOM" set it up, tie weights to it, drop weights on toe, cry a little {okay so i didn't do this, but someone in my class did}, act like a strong man and hoist the light up 30 feet into the air. climb on ladder, adjust light, nearly fall to your death, have boom fall over, nearly smashing your sphere, but luckily caught by girl you're working with, snap picture, say a prayer of gratitude for not dying. easiness level-8}
5-Back light hard and soft with the light source far {self explanatory, easiness level-7 because we had to not get lens flare from the light going directly into the camera and therefore had to use a "hood" }

the hardest part of Part C is not shooting, it's printing. This so far is the hardest one i've had to print.

Part D- photographing transparent objects {like glass}

1- Bright field lighting {white background but the edges are supposed to be black}
   a-backlighting with softbox {the soft box is the background easiness level-6}
   b-front lighting with a hard light and gobo {cool word, no? easiness scale-9! ridiculous. do you know how hard it is to get zero reflections in a glass and no flare, and nothing but pretty "sexy" glass as my professor calls it?? HARD!}

2-Dark field lighting {background is black but the edges are white}
   a- backlighting with a softbox {easiness level- 7. i don't think i did this one right.....
   b-front lighting with a hard light and gobo {9. I hate front lighting pretty much. this picture we had to take a picture of a glass and it was in like a tent. Everyone had to duck and the entire studio had to be void of anything at all reflecting. Including cell phone lights. insane}

3- lighting for refraction through a liquid. {i like this one. it looks cool. easiness level-7.5}

4- side lighting with fill card and transparent object "prepared" on a gradient background. (prepared object =object that the back is sprayed to make it not totally transparent. this one looks super cool too! after you have the light set up for number 3, it's not hard. it's the same lighting, you just have to do something different to the object}

5- photograph 2 different creative applications using the techniques applied in the above section. the final images must be generated with a 4x5 camera and printed as wet lab enlargements. be certain to use the full extent of the large format camera movements. {i hate large format. it's the bane of photography. it's beautiful, it really is. It's just a pain. And REALLY expensive. it's about 4 dollars for every picture you take {just in the film.} and uses a lot more chemicals to develop too. easiness level- 7 in taking the picture, in developing the film-9}

Part E- photographing Chrom
first attempt-was our first assignment. we did it digitally. mine kind of rocked. you can take a looksie at them here.
second attempt. i took pictures of more silverware in the studio. kinda pretty.

Part F- photographing a replication.
I chose Immogen cunningham's picture of fennel.
my first attempt i shot cabbage.
second attempt i shot the actual thing. and it took 6 hours to figure out how to get it even close to what it looked like. This one is my favorite that i've done. it's SOOOO pretty. :D

I'll put pictures up of all my stuff probably by thursday. but if not, don't shoot me. there's a lot to get done.

well, night people. :D xoxoxox
-Bri

oh, and betsy wanted me to tell you that i love her. which is true.