My Friday Night...

I love Fridays. Especially Friday nights... school's over for the week, I can stay up late, and I have tons of fun. Seriously, what could be better than bursting Britt Nicole over the speakers and dance like no one's watching?... at least I hope no one was ;) ...And what could be better than watching Tangled in pitch black darkness, while I eat leftover lasagna? And what could be better than going outside under a full moon, and taking billions of pictures? I don't know, but I do know I've had a good night. Hope you have too.

<3, Brooke

Looking For Logos

I am currently looking at logos for my blog, but I haven't decided which one yet! All of these I made on ipiccy.com, and am going to continue to make more! Sometime in a month I want to update my blog to a new look. When I stated my blog a little over a month ago, I wanted to start blogging right away and didn't have much time to work on the look, but now I think I can spend more time doing that. To start, I'm planning on making a new logo! Does anyone have any suggestions for the logo or the look of the blog?

Lots of smiles :),

Brooke

Liebster Award

Emily, who has the awesome blog Sunshine Girl, has tagged me for the Liebster Award! Thanks so much! So how it works: I tell you 11 things about myself, answer 11 questions Emily asked me, and ask 11 questions of other bloggers who I think should get this traveling award... up to l1 bloggers that is ;) BTW, Liebster means "Sweetheart", "Dear", or "Favorite" in German depending on what  translation you use. Also, if you're awarded, no tag-backs!... and you have to tag a blog with 200 followers or less.

So first random stuff about me:
1. I'm the only girl and middle child of my family
2. I absolutely love McDonald's Frappes
3. I can not wait to get my driver's permit
4. I go outside and take pictures of random things for no reason
5. I used to have phone phobia, or whatever you would like to call it... basically fear of talking to people on the phone.
6. I am overly competitive
7. If you asked me to name my favorite singer, you might be listening to my list of favorites for an hour or two.
8. I loose and break my earrings really often
9. People often mistake me for my age, and I am easily insulted by it. ;)
10. I spend maybe too much time blogging, emailing, and Skyping.
11. All my journal entries sound the same

So next, my questions from Emily:
1. Do you play an instrument?
Guitar and Piano, although I don't think anyone would want to hear me play them ;)
2. Do you play a sport?
I am formerly a bowler, and will now be playing basketball!
3. Have you ever been ice skating?
Yes, I think twice. I love it, and am bad at it ;)
4. Can you blow bubbles with bubble gum?
I think... It's been a while since I've tried, but I'm pretty sure I can do it!
5. What's your favorite Bible verse?
I have tons of favorite verses. One I read recently in a devotional that I like right now is: "Live full lives full in the fullness of God. God can do anything you know- more than you can ever guess or imagine in your wildest dreams. Ephesians 3:19". I don't know what version of the verse that is, because in the NIV it sounds really different, but I like the verse anyway.
6. Do you sing?
Yes. I absolutely love to, but I sort of have the dilemma of I can sometimes sing really well, and sometimes I sound like a dying cat... Let's just say how well I sing depends on what I sing and how much I practice;)
7. Hot ice cream or cold apple pie?
umm, maybe cold apple pie? Ice cream will melt, apple pie will just be cold.
8. Dogs or cats?
COPLETELY Dogs.
9. Converse or flip flops? Converse are awesome, but I tragically don't have any! :( Therefore I will have to go with what I wear more often, flip flops.
10. Dresses or skirts?
I'd have to say I like dresses better, although I wear more skirts.
11. Computer or cell phone? 
Computer. I soooooo want a cell phone badly, but tragically I don't have one yet. Despite that though, there's so much more you can do on a computer.


Now questions for the people I tag:

1. What's your earliest memory?
2. What was the best day of your life?
3. Rain or Shine?
4. Would you rather watch a talent show, or sing in one?
5. What's your dream job?
6. If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?
7. What's your favorite part of blogging?
8. What word do you use the most?
9. What's your favorite instrument?
10. Early bird or night owl?
11. What color do you wear the most?

I don't read many blogs so I couldn't decide who to tag. I would tag Emily, but she tagged me, and I would tag Kryn, but she was tagged by Emily. Then after some reading, I found 3 awesome girls I'd love to tag!
Megan, who writes on Boundless
Talia, who writes on Girlz of God
Kinga, who writes on Quidditea
You all have really neat blogs, so you now have the Liebster Award! Have an awesome day everyone,
-Brooke

15 Things Update

 First off, thank you Emily for the Liebster Award! I'll make my post about that tomorrow.

 Well, it's been 15 days since I started  "15 Things to do before I'm 15" so today you get the progress report! Click here to see the complete list and summarized progress report.

3. Write 15 letters to my pen pals

I've written 4 letters to my pen pals Emilie and Heather so far. So only 11 to go!

5. Write 15 short stories/poems

Wrote 1 poem. I might have to share it on my blog sometime

6. Make 15 different desserts

The sweet things I have made in 15 days include homemade Frappuchinos, Chocolate cake, Cinamon-sugar soft pretzels, and chocolate chip cookies that decided not to rise... 

7. Paint my nails 15 different colors

So far painting my nails has been going the best on my list. I have painted them 6 different colors in 15 days including purple, light purple, sparkly hot pink, red, teal, and orange. Wow, I didn't know I painted my nails that much...

9. Meet 15 new people

So far I have met 2 girls at HEAT. Tieney (if that's how you spell her name) and Maggie who are both best friends. I also met 1 girl at Youth Group who I think is 17 maybe? So in all 3 people.

10. Read 15 books of the Bible

I have read 2 books so far including Titus and Hebrew. Titus is pretty short, but Hebrews was 13 chapters long or so... I've read about a book a day so far.

11. Draw 15 real people

Britt Nicole and Francesca Battistelli are my two. Let's just say Francesca looks TERRIBLE in my drawing, and so I really should redo her sometime...

14. Stay 15 days ahead in math for at least 5 days

SHOCKINGLY, I am 6 days ahead in math! That is an amazing thing for me to do in only 15 days. I must have had too much sugar these past weeks or something... I don't expect to get that many done the next week!

15. Try 15 new foods

I tried pumpernickel pretzel sticks which didn't taste great, but were okay. I also tried chilie lime crackers which tasted kind of weird. I had bean sprouts which I don't think I've ever tasted before, and I didn't care for either. Then I tried a liver patty which was DISGUSTING and I decided maybe I should take a break from trying new foods ;) ha ha. I think I just have been trying things I don't care for, so maybe soon I'll find something I like! I did also try these weird mini pickle which each pickle was like the size of a paper clip, and those actually tasted pretty good. :)

So as you can see, I have made some progress on my list. Oh, and today is officially 100 days till my birthday! So I think I'll be able to complete some of these on my list by then. Some of my goals I have not touched yet, but some of them are going well. 

XD,

Brooke

p.s. for those of you who don't know, XD is like a smiley face smiling soooo big, that it's closing its eyes. It also sort of-kind of means LOL, so it's a mix of stuff :)

Fashion Fix

I keep almost clicking the "Create New Blog" button every time I mean to just make a post!... anyways, onto what I actually want to post about ;)

I was looking online at clothing and found these tops! I thought all of these them were really cute, so I thought I'd talk about them.
I like the layers and color of the first one. The pink really pops out the white, and it's simple yet pretty.
The second top's pattern is really awesome. Love it.
I like the third one for the zebra stripes. I also like the style of tank top.
The final one's interesting. I like this blouse for the color, and the neat design on the front.
So basically, those are my thoughts on those tops. Which one's your favorite? I'd say mine is probably the last one, but I'm not sure- they're all pretty good!
Hope you all have had a fantastic Monday full of fun, food, and friends... mine was full of school, more school, and even more school. Ha ha. TTYS!
-Brooke

Lots of Lip Gloss

Recently I have been really in to lip gloss. I absolutely love it- and have started collecting it. Kind of a very small collection right now, but soon it will grow! I probably like it because I like sparkly things. I know that sounds funny, but it's true! Anything that glitters grabs my attention- like lip gloss! My favorite color I have of it is sort of like hot redish-pink. It's awesome! :) Do you like lip gloss? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

-Brooke

Bowling...

After not practicing in over a month and feeling really tired today, you can assume I didn't do fantastic in the bowling tournament I was in today, but I still had fun! :) My friend Andrea and I were just a lane apart so we were easily able to see each other during the 3 games. I didn't make it to the next round after my third game, but my brother Matthew did, and so we have to wait to find out the results. He might have won, or at least gotten close to it, but we don't know quite yet. It was a long morning being at the bowling alley from about 9:30 to 1:00, but it still went pretty well. When Andrea and I got eliminated and weren't bowling, we drew a picture of a weird person, played tic-tac-toe, and took funny pictures... oh, and we also bowled in slow motion on an empty lane without our balls. ;) We also bowled backwards, and bowled in fast motion, so we were kind of having too much fun. ha ha :) That was probably my last tournament for this year since I'll instead be playing basketball, but maybe I'll come back to bowling in a year or two... but then again, I think I have more fun talking with Andrea then I do bowling. ha ha :)
-Brooke

Foil Things

Has anyone ever been to Makotos? We hadn't been in 5 years, but we went last night. I always have enjoyed that restaurant. If you've never gone, you need to. They have good food, and it's fun... it's not just the food, but also the experience. They cook your food in front of you, they make the best salad dressing in the world, and I love the atmosphere. When you leave, instead of putting your leftover food in boxes, they put it in foil which they make into animals. It's pretty neat. In the picture I'm holding my food, which has been made into a seahorse. My mom's food became a swan, my older brother's Scott's became a cobra, and my brother Matthew's became an alligator. I remember the first time I ever went to Makotos when I was much younger I went home, pulled out the foil, and was convinced I could make these things. Then I realized that that would waste tons of foil, and that I also was not talented in the foil designing business. Ha ha :) 

Have a great night,

Lots of <3, Brooke

Attempting to Draw Britt Nicole...

This was my first attempt at drawing Britt Nicole on the cover of her new CD, "Gold". I think the picture looks better in real life, but at least you can kind of see it on here. :) The problem is every time I took a picture of it, it squashed her head, so I can't get it exactly but it's good enough. I also made her eyes and nose too pig, and her head is the wrong shape, so it could use a little work... maybe I'll draw it again soon and see if I can improve. I also tried to draw Francesca Battistelli which is NOT going good... once it actually looks somewhat like her, I'll post it here! Do you like to draw? Your comments are awesome!
Have a fabulous day,
-Brooke
P.s. I'm changing a goal on my '15 things before I'm 15 list'. I'm changing the 'Draw 15 people I know' to 'Draw 15 real people'. I think I'd be better at drawing people I've never met, because they never have to see the picture if I absolutely clobber it. So I think I might stick with stuff like this ;)

First day of HEAT

Today was my first day of Debate and Writing at the homeschool group HEAT. In writing my teacher asked if anyone had a blog. I raised my hand... there were 15 people in my class, and I was the only one who blogged, and so he asked me to give an example of something I've blogged about! Uhhhhh.... My mind went blank... I sure don't think anyone wanted to hear about the crazy shoes I posted ;) Ha ha. So I didn't quite talk about that...
Besides that, nothing too interesting went on today. Maybe next time I'll have something more of note to say :)

-Brooke

Car Rides

Riding in the car is awesome.
The longer the trip, the more fun the ride is in my definition.
Besides watching out the window and talking, I LOVE to listen to music. I go through fazes where I listen to certain songs over... and over, and over, and over, and over again. This month's listening list includes "Me Without You" by Toby Mac, "All This Time" by Britt Nicole, and "You Lead" by Jamie Grace. I've also been watching the music video for "Hold Me" by Jamie Grace and Toby Mac like a million times, but I haven't bought it yet- plan 2 soon :) What do you like to do in the car?... and if listening to music is also what you like to do, what songs are on your listening list? ;) Please comment!

-Brooke

Scary Shoes

The shoes I wear to church are totally breaking and  I need new ones, so I decided to look for them online. I didn't find anything, and instead found all these weird shoes! I didn't know that that many strange shoes existed...

So honestly, I don't think I could wear any of these to church... nor would I want to. ha ha :) Well, wish me luck on my search for shoes! I REALLY don't want to end up wearing those neon green heels... or the hot pink shoes... or the ones which look like cheap brightly colored plastic... you know, I don't think I'd want to wear any of them! So I SURE hope I find shoes I can actually wear soon ;)

-Brooke

New and Strange Abbreviations

I use the word LOL a ton when writing... is that even considered a word? Or is it just considered an abbreviation? Or both!? I don't know. :) Anyways, I've decided to come up with my own abbreviations! I know that's kind of weird, but there are some things I like to say which could be shortened ;) My first abreviation:

TSM which means 'Thanks so much!"... if I signed that at the end of a letter or something though, no one would have ANY idea what TSM means, and so perhaps I should keep that out of my vocabulary...

WTYL which means 'Write to you later'. There's already TTYL which is talk to you later, but if I'm writing on my blog, I'm not talking! I'm writing! So hopefully some people will remember what it means if they see me write that ;)

YPHNIWTASF... it means 'You probably have NO idea what this abbreviation stands for'. You know, that is the most POINTLESS abbreviation ever. No one's going to get it!!! It speaks for itself- so maybe when I want to sound smart and totally confuse someone I'll use it ;) ha ha... on second thought, maybe not.

TAP which means 'Totally Awesome Person'. If I said to someone "You're such a TAP!" they would probably stare at me awkwardly, so maybe I should keep these weird abbreviations to this post... ok?

If you can't tell, I'm MAJORLY bored today... I have SO many better things to do then this ;) Oh, and also if you can't already tell I'm MAJORLY hyper! YAYAYAYAYAY! I think I had too much sugar... LOL :)

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading about my some-what pointless, kind of weird, a little funny, both interesting and boring abbreviations :) ha ha... oh, and does anyone have any GREAT abbreviation, unlike the weird ones I posted? I love your comments! :) Please tell me any you make up!

WTYL (ha ha), 

Brooke

Extreme Chocolate Cake

EXTREME CHOCOLATE CAKE:

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar 
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
•  
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2. Use the first set of ingredients to make the cake. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Stir in the boiling water by hand. Pour evenly into the two prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.
4. To make the frosting, use the second set of ingredients. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa and confectioners' sugar alternately with the milk and vanilla. Beat to a spreading consistency.
5. Split the layers of cooled cake horizontally, cover the top of each layer with frosting, then stack them onto a serving plate. Frost the outside of the cake.

Mmmmm.... is it just me? Or does that look good!... I got the recipe off Yummly. I have to say I did end up having some and it was REALLY delicious! I love chocolate, and cake, and especially frosting, so I liked it :) 

Have a good day!

-Brooke

Too Much To Do, Too Little Time!

Do you ever feel like you have TONS to do in a day, and not much time to do it? That's how I feel this afternoon. With no school you'd think I'd have plenty of time, but instead I'm hurrying around as I forgot about a LOOOOOONG list of things I need to do. I did decide though, I could probably squeeze in a short break to blog. :) So, since it's my mom's birthday today, I baked her a cake this morning. I will have to post the recipe tomorrow, as it was really good... well, at least I hope it is!... I haven't tasted yet, but it looks pretty, so I think it will taste good. To me at least, the prettier it looks, the better it tastes. LOL :) OK. So anyways, my experimental cake baking took place this morning, for lunch I had McDonald's (yum) and this afternoon I feel like I've been doing so much! I realized that my favorite white blouse I was going to wear to our small group tonight was dirty (oh no!) and so I had to hurry and wash it. I then came to realise that I also needed to finish writing a script for group tonight!.... You see, after small group is over, and everyone's just talking, I and the other girls have been working on a play we plan to put on for everyone in our small group next potluck. The girls preforming in it are ages 6-12, and another girl my age and I are directing it... and I totally forgot, but I said I would try to finish writing the scripts by tonight. They are written, but I sort of have a problem with writing anything short... I honestly don't think a 6 year old can memorize a 24 page script, and so it obviously needs MAJOR cuts, which I'm supposed to be doing this afternoon. As I was about to start working on that, I realized I had forgotten completely about all the chores I had to do today!... and then I realized I had also forgotten about something else... and something else... and something else, which added to the long list of other things I had to do. So put simply, I've been VERY busy this afternoon! Oh well :) Hope you've all had a great day!

-Brooke

Designing Your Nails

What you need:
Nail Polish,
Nail Art Pen,
Clear Nail Polish
Step 1. Paint your nails in your favorite color. No, hot pink is not my favorite color, but it looked better with the design. ;)
Step 2: Once your nails are dry, use a white nail art pen to put an 'X' pattern on your nails. I start with an 'X' on the bottom, and then connect the next one above it. You can buy nail art pens at Target, but they're pretty expensive for just a pen... about $7!... and since I don't want to spend too much on my nails,  I found mine on clearance at Tuesday Mornings for $2, which was a much better deal :)
Step 3: Wait about 5 minutes, and then paint over a top clear coat. It will make the design last much longer. A tip for painting, is that you don't want to brush over the clear polish too firmly. It can smear the design, and so I suggest brushing over the clear very lightly.

You now have a fabulous design on your nails! There are tons of other designs you can do with a nail art pen, but this is just one of them. Be creative, and have fun!

-Brooke

Homemade Starbucks

 The pictures above are of delicious homemade Starbuck's Mocha Coconut Frappuccionos. They were soooooooo good! I couldn't help but share the recipe, as I adore Starbucks. I got it off Yummly.com. They weren't quite like the real ones (since I wasn't using Starbucks coffee) but they were pretty close, and just as good! :)

Starbucks' Mocha Coconut Frappuccino

@ Email  Print

12 cup shredded coconut 34 cup coffee (strong, chilled) 1 cup low-fat milk 13 cup chocolate syrup (hersheys)

3 tbsps granulated sugar 2 cups ice 12 cup whipped cream (canned)

1	Preheat oven to 300°F
2	Spread shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast coconut in the oven.
3	Stir the coconut around every 10 minutes or so for even browning. After 25 to 30 minutes the shredded coconut should be light brown. Cool it off.
4	Make double-strength coffee by brewing with twice the coffee required by your coffee maker. That should be 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per each cup of coffee.
5	Chill before using.
6	To make the drinks, combine cold coffee, milk, 1/3 cup of the toasted coconut, 1/3 cup chocolate syrup, and sugar in a blender. Blend for 15 to 20 seconds to dissolve sugar.
7	Add ice and blend until ice is crushed and the drink is smooth.
8	Pour drinks into two 16-ounce glasses. Garnish each drink with whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate, and a pinch of some of the remaining toasted coconut. Add a straw to each one. They were pretty easy to make. We had no whipped cream so I had to make mine without that. I also used whole milk instead of low-fat, and added more ice to make mine thicker. Besides that I followed the recipe. I also made the mistake of accidently forgetting to put the top on the blender when blending the drinks... oops... but four yummy Frappiccionos later, and one messy counter later, they were worth it! ;) Oh, and no, i did NOT drink all four by myself, but I would have been happy to LOL :) I don't think my mom would be so happy about that though...or my stomach... To a fantastic day full of Starbucks, -Brooke

Too Much Fun...

If you can't already tell, I was having WAY too much fun taking photos with the webcam today. I look weird in most of the photos, but oh well. ;) Today I checked how many webcam photos and videos I had taken since July 1st. Yikes, I've diffidently been taking too many photos!... There were almost 500! How could I possibly have taken THAT many photos of myself!!! Most of them looked the same. LOL :) I need to go through them and delete almost all of them soon, but until then I will continue to take many more photos ;)

Have a fantastic day, Brooke <3

 

15 Things Before I'm 15

I added a new page to my blog! CLICK HERE to see it. It's a list of goals to complete between today, August 13 and December 6, when I turn 15. I'm not going to stress over them, but I'm going to try to complete them! Wish me luck! On August 28 I'll post my first progress report to tell you how I'm doing ;)
Have a fabulous day everyone!
-Brooke

Last Day Of Olympics

I can't believe the Olympics are almost over. It seems like it just started! Oh well. It was fun to watch! I personally spent most of my time watching track, gymnastics, and swimming but the other sports were good as well... except a few... it might just be me, but is water polo REALLY boring?.. I can't believe how much they showed it!... and their headgear was REALLY weird looking as well. They looked like bonnets with headphones on their ears! They were kind of funny ;) I also don't like equestrian very much... I feel bad for the horses! The people are the ones who get the gold medals, but the horses do all the work. LOL :) Of course, I don't know what the horses would do with the medals if they got them. Now I loved to watch synchronized swimming, but was also creeped out by some of the people who did it... especially a two person swim done by Russia, where they were dressed up as dolls with tons of makeup, and scary faces. They were kind of scary, but fun to watch. What are your favorite and least favorite Olympic sports? Please comment!
-Brooke
P.s. Oh, and thanks so much to everyone who has been commenting!

Stuff I'm looking forward to...

In exactly 10 days, 17 hours, and 45 minutes I'll be starting HEAT classes!

In exactly 74 days, 7 hours, and 45 minutes I'll be joining Heat's Basketball team!

In 117 days, 17 hours, and 44 minutes I'll have my Driver's permit!

I know that was really random, but I decided you might as well know when I do certain things ;) So onto the topics, I am thrilled about starting HEAT classes. I am taking debate and writing (which some of you already know). To me, I LOVE competition, making debate a great class choice. I also love writing, and so that should be fun as well. 

I am convinced that basketball is the best sport to ever be invented, and have been asking to play with HEAT for 4 years, so I am also very thrilled to be starting that in Fall!

Finally, I REALLY want to drive, and am planning to get my permit the day after my birthday, and so I am looking forward to that as well!

<3, Brooke

P.s. Sorry this is such a random post ! ;)

Cookies !!!

These are the giant Snicker Doodles that are freshly baked. I was at first going to make fresh soft pretzels, but we were out of flour. I was then going to bake cinnamon rolls, but I realized we still did not have enough flour for that! I tragically had to turn to the boxed cookie mix route with homemade icing, but thankfully they still tasted really good. To me, any cookie is worth making except for oatmeal cookies, and so I enjoyed these. I also liked them, because I look the word Snicker Doodle. That's a good reason to bake cookies, right? ;) Have a fantastic cookie-filled day!

-Brooke

The Crazy Weird Things I Do:

Presenting the list of Crazy Weird Things About Me: Yes, some of them are just really strange. Prepare to learn a bunch about the weird stuff I do:
1. One of my hobbies is clobbering my bracelets. Yes, clobbering them. I love bracelets so I wear them a ton, but I also love tareing them apart... You see, I play with my bracelets, roll them in hands, stretch them, slide around the beads, and the next thing I know they're either too stretched out to wear, or a pile of beads on the floor.
2. Whenever I have the hicups, I drink a glass of water with a paper towel covering it. Surprisingly, it works! ...And my hiccups do go away, but it's weird if you think about it.
3. I don't like eggs. Scrambled, sunny side up, omelets, hard boiled, and every other type of egg is disgusting to me! I don't know another person who doesn't like eggs besides myself, but I always think eggs smell like moldy socks, and taste like garbage... eew.
4. I am convinced that if I check someone elses blog, it's going to change every time I look at it... meaning I find myself checking someone's blog fifteen times a day, expecting them to have posted something new fifteen times. I told you these things were weird ! ;)
5. I get on phrases which I use all the time. Right now I say 'Do you get my point?' when I don't think someone understands what I say... and that happens often... ;)
6. Whenever someone asks me to choose something (like what we should do), I almost always say I'm 'indinfrent' 'anything's good' 'i don't care' or 'whatever works with me'. I never noticed that I barley ever have an opinion in what I choose until one of my friends pointed it out to me... so recently I've been trying to have more of an opinion, but I still find myself saying those words often :)
7. Sometimes I feel like I have to wave to every person who goes by our street, and since we live in the very front of the neighborhood tons of cars come in. Well, whenever I feel like I have to, and I'm shooting baskets outside, I'll often hide behind the car, to prevent people from seeing me. I have NO idea why I do that.
8. Occasionally I'll spray my nails with butter cooking spray after painting them, because it supposedly makes them dry faster. Yes, they do dry faster, but then my hands are all greasy and my fingernails smell like butter for the day.
9. Whenever someone asks me to pull weeds, I automaticly volunteer to clean the bathroom... you might be able to tell that weeds and I are NOT friends... not that scrubbing the tub is a friend of mine either...
10. I am convinced that everything is a finger food including green beans, asparagus, carrots, and baby potatoes... except one time I also wanted to try to eat my mashed potatoes with my fingers... that did not go to well... be thankful I've never tried that again... ;)
11. Whenever I have nothing to do, I go on the computer and do nothing... literally, I click on websites, and close them down the second they come up since I'm bored... how fun. ha ha.
12. There are a very few certain people who whenever they ask me a question, I freeze up and give an absoulutely STRANGE answer. Be thankful you're not one of those people, or you would probably not like me too much...

So I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the several weird things I do! Hopefully some of you won't feel as bad about little things you do, when you read my list ;) Oh, and I'm really not as weird as I sound... then again, take that back. LOL :)

-Brooke <3

Everything I've Done...

The long list of things I've done today:

Emailed

Blogged

School

Took Photos

Went to a Friend's House

Wrote in my Journal

Wrote a Story

Played Piano

Read

Played Wii

Listened to Music

Talked

Watched Olympics

Doodled

Talked on the Phone

So basically I've just been busy today with tons of stuff. Maybe next time I'll have something more interesting to write, besides everything I've done today ;)

The Girl Who Has Done A Ton,

-Brooke

The Way I Like to Waste My Time...

After exactly 456 pages in a little more than a year, I think I can say I like to journal! I like writing down EVERYTHING in the world in my journals, and reading them later. I am currently on my 4th journal (The one above) and one of my goals for 2012 is to make it to a 5th one by the end of the year. While I like reading everything I write, I doubt anyone would ever want to read them! LOL :) Honestly, they can be on the boring side... but then again, some entries are interesting...I don't know. So my journals are somewhere between interesting and boring... ha ha. Oh well. I know that Journaling has nothing to do with anything on my blog, but I couldn't decide what to post, so I guess it's good enough. :) BTW, my goal is to post a blog entry every day for the rest of the year. That's a big goal, but I'm not tired of blogging yet, so hopefully I won't be tired of it in the future!

Does anyone else like to journal? Please comment! :)

-Brooke

School

Today I officially started school. My first day of my freshman year (Wow, I can't believe I'm already a freshman!) was good and bad at the same time. Great in that I'm officially a high schooler, great in that math was a piece of cake, and great that overall school wasn't too hard today. It was bad, in that I found out I have to memorize 27 definitions for my first Biology test! I have a BAD memory when it comes to something I don't want to remember (like science definitions), and so I'm a little nervous about science this year... hopefully it will get better! Then I looked at module 6, and found I have 45 definitions, so I changed my mind about that first thought ;) Oh well, it probably won't be too bad... I hope...

This is my 9th grade notebook cover which I designed. I took out my last name on the picture (if you can tell) but that's basically how it looks :) To me the cover makes school seem so much more inspirational... sort of... but anyways, I made it up of a bunch of pictures I found with stuff I liked, and stuff that looked cool. What I'm still wondering though, is what on earth is that green circle thing with a black outline on the bottom? I haven't figured it out, but I'm determined to! I liked the color, so I put it in LOL :)

Hope everyone else who has started school already has had a good first school day too!
-Brooke

Sundays

I love Sundays. Church in the morning, free time in the afternoon, and bible study in the evening. Tonight I don't have bible study, but usually I do. In my free time this Sunday I have been taking tons of pictures (including the flower above), swimming, and have also been spending a generous amount of time on the computer. Something I also love about Sundays is that they always feel happy. I don't know why, but they always seem like a nice new start to the week!

-Brooke

The Wonderful Color of Teal

As many of you know, I am thrilled with the color teal, and so you can probably tell that I took the following pictures.

My new earrings in my favorite color!

A bracelet that I made, once again in my favorite color 

I painted my nails to match my earrings and bracelet, and so they are also painted my favorite color. LOL :)

So as you can see, I have REALLY been into teal lately! I just like the color SO much!

The girl who obviously has a favorite color,

-Brooke

Summer Memory #5

I have soooo many more favorite days from the summer, and only today left to post them, so I decided I would make a list of some of my favorite summer memories (This list does not include the memories I've already posted)
SOME OF MY FAVORITE SUMMER MEMORIES:
1. Bowling every Wednesday this summer
2. Helping out with VBS
3. Sunday night summer bible study at my church
4. Potluck at our small group
5. Sleeping over at my friend Lynnae's house (Also making 10 topping sundaes with her wasn't bad either :) )
6. Finishing Driver's Ed.!
7. My brother Matthew's 12th Birthday
8. Going to Starbucks :)
9. Watching the Summer Olympics
10. Going swimming a ton!

So those are just some of my many other favorite things I've done this summer! :)

I can't believe I start school this Monday! I've started Spanish already, and have done a little bit of science, but for me I have to start doing everything this Monday. Oh well, I had a good summer... and I also do have a lot to look forward to this fall... like starting classes at HEAT, and playing basketball for HEAT!

 Missing summer, but still looking forward to fall,
-Brooke

Summer Memory #4

The 4th of July was a blast! My friends Emily and Andrea and there families came over in the afternoon and stayed through the evening. We had LOTS of fun. We went swimming, took tons of photos, ate delicious food, launched rockets, and watched fireworks! We did a bunch of other stuff as well, and so I had tons of fun! I've officially decided that we need to celebrate 4th of July with them every year ;)

-Brooke

Summer Memory #3

In early June, my brother Scott graduated from high school. His graduation was awesome! My cousin Sarah, Scott, and one of his friends shared a small graduation at our church. While there were only 3 graduates, there were tons of people! I think about 100 people showed up. The days before graduation were busy, and the day of graduation was even busier! It was funny- it was an hour before the ceremony began, and I was running back and forth through the courtyard in heavy rain, attempting to help with everything that was needed! After much work, the ceremony began. It was really nicely put together, and afterwards the reception was really fun! It was like a lot of people I knew, all at the same place. My friend Allie was there, my cousins were there, and my friend Breanna was there! We left the church at about midnight, and headed back home... but that wasn't the end of the fun. :) Breanna and her family came back to our house, and we did all sorts of stuff till about 2am! It was an awesome night, and was the best of the summer!

This picture is of my cousins Elizabeth, Kristen, and Sarah as well as Breanna after the ceremony. Oh, and see the balloons in the background? I believe that was 2 dozen balloons. Well, after the reception was over I had to carry 4 dozen balloons from one building to another! You would NOT believe how hard it is to shove 4 dozen balloons through some doors! LOL :) I'm glad Kristen and Sarah were there to help me, by pushing the balloons through with me.

Well, have a fantastic day!
-Brooke