Two More To Add

Two more things to add to my list of favorite things: The World Cup (obviously) and road trips. All day today I

prepared for my long awaited and long overdue road trip with my dashing school friend, Sydney. I will be sacrificing

one for the other though, seeing how we will be arriving back in Utah the day of the World Cup final… but there is

always 2014. That's right kids, I will be gone a total of eleven days. I am having the ultimate anxiety attack of

excitement right now. The plan is to leave in the morning for Washington. We will be camping for five days. We then

shall drive into Seattle for two days. After Seattle, we will stay in Vancouver for three days and drive into see Portland

one of the days. Once that is done, we will drive ten hours to Reno along the coast and finish out our adventure there.

*After this post we are officially halfway people. Can you believe it? Halfway through my goal of 365 photos. Thanks for sticking around.

Comfy Questras

Today was a very lovely day. I went to the temple, I took a drive through the canyon, I went to Ross with my peeps,

I made homemade pizza with said peeps and I got to watch a smidgen of 'Invictus'. To elaborate a bit: I went to Ross

with Moroni, Nikki, Leah and Aubrie. Not really looking for cleats, but I've been meaning to get some, seeing how the

World Cup has turned me into this soccer fanatic that I cannot control. Yeah, yeah, I know… all those who know me

are thinking 'Brooke, play soccer?' (insert uncontrollable laughing here). But for serious guys, I'm going to do this!

My Questra Adidas cleats have been broken in, along with my FC PORTO socks and I am ready to rock this thing,

just as soon as I get back from Seattle. Which I leave for on Thursday… GAH! I am ultimately stoked for it, are you?

The Girl In The Red Shoes Is Newly Red-Headed

This is Leah, isn't she lovely? Yesterday, Alishia dyed her hair red. I think she looks absolutely adorable as a red

head, don't you? Want to know another reason why she is so terrific? Well, tonight at FHE we had a BBQ and a

dessert tasting contest. Each FHE family had to provide a delicious dessert to submit. Well, we were running a bit

behind today, so last minutely Leah threw together a brownie mix and swirled in melted mint chips. As we placed our

dessert among the others, we looked a bit like the underdogs… can't compare to fancily decorated chocolate cakes,

deep fried oreos and strawberry cheesecake squares. So, when the announced the winners were the owners of the

mint brownies, we were just as flabbergasted as the owners of the elaborate desserts. The prize for our small efforts:

a box of fireworks! We plan to light 'em up sometime this week. Leah, you are the greatest… and the best FHE mom!

The Namibianite

This t'would be my cousin and smashingly talented roommate Alishia. I am staying up super late with her tonight

(as in not going to bed), because I will be taking her and all her camera bags/luggage at 6AM to her brother's

house. Why, might you ask? Well, this little lucky duck is going to Namibia… as in Africa with her brother, as well as

a few other selected students from UVU and a couple of Professors. They will be going to restore the country's

archives for the whole month of July. And what will Alishia be doing you ask? She will be taking pictures of them doing

it…yeah, taking pictures in Africa for four weeks and getting school credit for it. BAM. She is THAT awesome! I am

going to miss her to pieces, but nothing can top Africa. Unless you owned a pet elephant… that could be a close 2nd.

Proven Jet

It's official… I'm in love. And no, not with a man; and sorry Leah (pictured above) not you, at least not romantically.

No, I am in love with this wonderous vintage bike that was my Mother's birthday present long ago. Today, while in

Sandy, she told me that I could take it to Provo as long as I spruced it up a bit. So I cleaned up the blue metal,

replaced the back tube and took it for a gentle spin. Isn't it magnificent? And doesn't Leah model it so well? What a

perfect companion to Nikki's Shwinn Breeze vintage bike. Sad day for the U.S. team, maybe 2014? Also, I got my

hair all did tonight… more blue/black. Shout out to my wonderful colorist Megan and my 'keep company'ist, Stephanie.

SURPRISE!

Oh my goodness! Today was a wonderful day. I spent it in Sandy (love). I went to the dentist this morning for my

check-up: no cavities… boo-ya. While there, I got to watch the World Cup: boo-ya times two (Haroo for Spain…

finally). I then came home and had the most magnificent nap of my life. After waking up I prepped my house for a

party I had planned. Much to my dismay, only a few people showed up and it was hardly at the same time. In the

hour and a half time table that no one was at my house, my Dad told me that he had a surprise for me and led me

outside. Then he said "Oh, I forgot I put the motorcycle in the garage.". Now, this really confused me, because I

hadn't asked for anything having to do with the motorcycle, but it intrigued me so. We then went out to the garage,

walked over to his motorcycle and he used his key to unlock his side cubby. Inside was a New Egg box. I knew

exactly what it was: this bad boy! A one terabyte external hard drive. Yum. I am an absolute nerd, but I cannot even

contain how excited I am to start backing up my computer. Because then, when I leave for Seattle next week, Luke

is going to whisk my computer away and tend to it's poor illness of chugging. It does NOT run properly. Oh excited!

Don't you just love early birthday presents? hmm… I wonder what I should name him… lol.

SchPotty Lady

That's right, I JUST named my backpack that. Does anybody even name their backpacks anymore? Did people ever

name their backpacks? I mean, people name inanimate objects all the time: their cars, sometimes their powertools

and their dogs. So, I'm doing it… for realsies. Well ladies and gents, today I didn't have to get up early, go to school,

or carry this little lady around on my back. And I wont have to until the 25th of August. Even then, I probably wont

take it; I mean, c'mon it's just the first day of school. I love my DAKINE, it's treated me well, and it's GREEN!

True of False…

…this looks like the sunrise? True. True of False… this is the sunrise? False. That's right my friends, this t'would be

the moon; please note the stars. The moon was close to being full tonight, so Alishia and I had the brilliant idea to go

and take pictures of the moon out at the lake. Only to our dismay, we found that it was closed. So, we headed up to

Woodland Hills to get the shot and this was the result. Magnificent. Do you want to know what else is cool about this

picture? The moon has the American flag on it… relevancey: the U.S. soccer team won today! Finally; instead of

tying, as usual. Do you want to know what else is by the moon? Satellites (love that song)… relevancy: my site is up

and done with. There are a few more tweaks here and there I want to do over the summer. But for the most part it is

done and I am done with classes until the 25th of August. I cannot wait to sleep in tomorrow.

Sister Movie Burger

Sounds scrumptious, eh? My tubularly awesome little sister caught a ride down to Provo today with a friend to last

minutely spend the night at my house. I told her before hand that it was the night before my finals and I probably

wouldn't be very fun. But she knows plenty of people here and obviously there is Nikki and Alishia. While waiting for

Nikki and Alishia to get home we had a living room picnic: Carl's Jr. eating while Chick Flick watching. I watched

about 5 movies today while I coded my site. I can't wait to be done tomorrow at 2PM. I have a feeling I will be up late

again tonight, but hey, what's new?

Bee-Eee-Dee…

…spells bed. Yes this is my bed and yes it has not been slept in for the passed couple of nights. I have been working

so hard on my homework (my portfolio website) that my poor bed has been neglected. Last night I was at Angie's

working until about 8:30 this morning. I took a small nap before going off to school. When I got home, this little baby

couldn't have looked better. I took a nice long nap, then woke up around seven and went to Sydney's for some more

website working. So much for the longest day of the year… I slept right through it, and I don't feel bad.

Happy F-Day

I love that this comic says Happy F-day. I know they are referring to Father's day, but it definitely could go the other

way as an expletive. Not that I swear or anything, and I hate the the F-bomb, but I feel as if this phrase could

definitely go that way on this day. For I fear my homework is laughing in my face and saying to me sarcastically

'Happy F-day', as in 'good luck getting all the load of coding you have to accomplish by the morning'. But enough

about my lack of efficiency… This day is about Dads and how completely awesome they are! My dad is the greatest,

this comic says it all… oh Happy Day Father and I'm sorry that I couldn't see you this day because my homework

has consumed my life. Good thing we're allowed to appreciate our Dads all year long and not just on the day the

world says we should.

Please note: I love my Dad very much and I in no way meant this post to be more about the expletive than me wishing my Dad a happy

day. It's been a long day and I am not entirely completely comprehending things.

Princess Kitchen

So remember how our walls are super bare? Well Alishia has come up with the most lovely idea on how to fill the wall

above our kitchen table. Last Sunday, she got out her Disney Princess coloring book and her pack of crayons

Moroni, Aubrie, Leah, Nikki, Alishia and I all colored a different princess without even planning it and put them up in a

row. (columns left to right: Nikki, Leah, Alishia, Me, Moroni and Aubrie). Then we slowly added to our column

throughout the week; this is how it looks as of today. We're going to try and fill it entirely by the end of the summer,

Fabulous, eh?

Please note Nikki's vintage bike down in the corner that she received from our grandpa… I'll definitely need to do a photo shoot with that

in the near future, that is, if she'll let me.

Nice Day For A Weddin'

Remember Rick and Marnae? Well this is them… all gussied up in their wedding attire. Marnae's dress was stunning

and Rick was wearing a snappy three piece suit complete with a green vest. I got to spend the whole day with the

wedding party… it was a blast and a half. They are absolutely hilarious and I wish them the best. Oh, and Nikki

caught the bouquet… look out gentlemen, for she is next. Wootness for weddings-I've got 5 more this summer… yum.

Everybody FLASH Now

I hope when you read the title of this post you have "Everybody Dance Now" stuck in your head.

Tonight was the much needed Flash party hosted by our very own Sydney. And when I say

Flash, you're probably

thinking streakers or super heros, but alas to a graphic designer that means

coding and tweening. A bunch of us

from our Flash class got together: this included everyone sitting

in a comfy basement watching movies (Pirates of the

Caribbean, Star Trek and P.S. I love you) for

background noise and gluing their hands and eyes to their 15 inch

macbook pros. Please notice the

pizza and pop cans. Graphic Design homework bingeing rocks, especially when

thrown by Sydney.

Due to our homework binge I should have my very own site up next week… oh finals, I loathe

thee

at this very moment in time. But, after the 23rd, I'm a free woman… anyone up for some good ol' tennis?

Sports Update: The Lakers won… whoopie. They need to be stopped. Argentina won, definitely no surprise there. Greece and Nigeria,

that was a fun one to watch. And boo to Mexico for winning; I so wanted the French to win. I'm stoked for the U.S. to blow away

Slovenia tomorrow, if they don't I will be sorely disappointed. Oh my goodness, I am such a nerd right now! I am my mother's daughter…

sports updates galore, I'm sure she's proud.

GOAAAAAL!

This is what I see every night before I go to bed. T'would be my Goal poster… Nikki says that if you constantly see a

visual of your goals they are more likely to come true. I ran out of wall space, due to my conversion of my old

'awesome' wall to my new one. Speaking of goals… ever heard of the World Cup? Yeah, I've never been that into

soccer; I think we can all owe my new found interest to my intramural soccer friends. I'm really glad that the U.S. tied

with the UK (on a whim), but the thing that flabbergasts me so is Spain's loss to Switzerland… really Spain? Second

team in the World my eye… oh well, at least Uruguay won today. Sorry South Africa…

Subliminal Message

Tonight I drove up to Sandy for a much needed break with my 'Hillcrest' buds. Kyle and Becca decided to last

minutely throw together a barbeque in Becca's backyard. It was super windy, but that didn't stop us (Becca, Kyle,

Jessalyn, Andreas, Justin, Tolman,Stephanie, Barrow, Charlie, Jordan, Megan, Mandy and I) from having good

times. Kyle brought a 24 pack of pepsi as his contribution. He ended up leaving it there and I decided to take it off of

Becca's hands and bring it here to Provo to share. When I got home (pretty late) I was feeling a bit discouraged, for

summer school finals are next week and I don't feel at all prepared. Then I looked at the box and saw this… good job

Kyle, I don't know how, but you got it right, I WILL 'Do Good', my very goodest…

Random side note: as Charlie and I were leaving my parents house (we carpooled), she suddenly squealed and jumped out of the

car. There was a hamster scurrying up the sidewalk, slowly but surely. She really wanted my Dad to take it inside, I just laughed.

A hamster would never make it in the Duncan household. I wonder what my Dad ended up doing with it… 'hmm I also wonder'.

ONE MONTH UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY! WOOTNESS

Shaving Walls

This was made by our very own Aubrie Glenn... using only shaving cream and food coloring. For this was the FHE

activity tonight:

12345Take a baking pan and spray about 1 inch thick of shaving cream into the bottom.

12345Smooth it all out using a spatula of some sort, or whatever you like.

12345Then drip food coloring (use only 2-3 colors) onto the surface of the cream.

12345Using a fork or knife (plastic of course) marble the colors into a cool design.

12345Take a piece of paper and press firmly into the surface of the cream.

12345After doing so, pull it out and scrap off the excess cream with a piece of card stock… and viola!

All of us put our masterpieces up on our walls, which are in fact, super bare and in dire need of awesomeness.

Thank you FHE mom, Stephanie, who will be missed. She is moving this week up to Wyoming for the rest of the summer… au revoir!

Ice Cream Sundays

What do you get when Nikki's parents have a homemade ice cream maker in their D.I. pile and a lazy Sunday

afternoon? 'Ice Cream Sundays'… that's what! Leah made the most delicious ice cream using Nikki's ice cream

maker: strawberry/lime and blueberry. And did you know that Leah owns a waffle cone maker? That's right kids. We

plan on setting up shop, these babies were that good; maybe we'll turn Nikki's truck into a temporary ice cream truck.

We've officially dubbed every other Sunday as 'Ice Cream Sunday' and have special guests: today's guests… home teachers.

Charlie + Jordan

Aren't they fantastic? I got to spend five hours with them today, and I loved every minute of it! Jordan called me a

couple of hours before the photo session to let me know that he had just received Charlie's ring setting that day. He

wanted to re-propose to her and get some candid shots; He came up with a code word: oreo cookie. This is right

after he put the new ring setting on her. She was ecstatic and I was so happy to be there and capture her 'Charlie'

reaction. You have no idea how bad I want to edit this photo… but no means no-I can't edit any of my blog photos…

they'd never get posted. They will be wed the first week of August and I am going to miss it for a family trip that has

been in the works for some time. Bittersweet, but I feel so priveleged to be able to have done their engagement photos.

Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away, Now. -RHCP

Tonight was the beloved Rock Band party that I have been looking forward to all week long. It was grand; they had

regular Rock Band as well as Beatles Rock Band. Yum, a great way to start the weekend. And tomorrow I get to do

an engagement session: (contain the excitement within). Charlie and Jordan-totally awesome couple… are you ready?

Skip It Double Time

Nikki and Alishia went out and got some summer toys tonight. Nikki already owns a skip it and a hula hoop. On their

outing Alishia bought herself a skip it and a lovely frisbee. When they got back we all went outside with the many

different toys and put them to work. While doing so, we attracted plenty passerby's attention. Skip its are quite the

work-out. Then we moved onto the hula hoop and ended the night with the classic: hands up, stands up. I love

summer maximumly… this weekend I plan on raiding my parents garage for more summer toys.

Failed It!

Dear Apartment 457 refrigerator,

You fail at keeping our food at a substantial temperature. Thank you for being a bit bigger than our Apartment 37
refrigerator though, I'll give you that much. I just wish you wouldn't drip on Nikki's sauce and make a weird frozen

sculpture on top of it. So much so that we cannot open it and we have to let it defrost in the sink for an hour. Thank

you for your time and I hope these suggestions make it through that thick shell of yours. Good day refrigerator…

I SAID GOOD DAY!

Yours truely,

Brooke, Nikki, Alishia, Leah, Aubrie and Sasha

Dreamin' and Relaxin' …Drealaxin'? …Reamin'?

I absolutely LOVE this movie! We watched it today and I can't get over how much I love it. My mom gave me this

movie and soundtrack back during my freshman year of college. This movie makes me wish I could belt it like

Jennifer Hudson, work it like Beyonce in every look from eras between 1950-1970 and buy all that retro furniture to fill

my L.A. flat. I may be made fun of by some people for liking this movie so much, but hey, I know the people who will

love me for posting this will want to sing and watch this movie over and over again with me. (we also watche Stardust

today… another really really great movie.)