The Light Does Exist!

Just when I thought it would never end, IT DOES!

Science classes have NEVER been my forte.

I admit it.

My motto for my science classes has always been

"KILL IT WITH KINDNESS"

and that's just what I have done.

Luckily for me, my major (Deaf Education/Special Education)

doesn't require a lot of science classes.

Did I plan that you may ask?

Well yes indeed my friend!

Here are the classes that I have been SO "blessed" to have taken...

#1

This class was SO hard!! ok...any science class is hard for me.

BUT...the problem with this class was that the teacher had such a passion

for anatomy that he would talk EXTREMELY fast and

would leave you in the DUST!

I would even type my notes on my computer but unfortunately it didn't really help.

The hardest part of this class was learning how

to pronounce the names of all the body parts.

Who ever came up with all those names is CRAZY!!

I just like things to be simple & sweet.

Forget about the long names that you can't pronounce.

Let's just call it an arm bone, a leg bone, a head, etc. (hahahaha)

Its a BEAUTIFUL idea right?! RIGHT!!

#2

Oh chemistry. I admit, this was a little easier for me.

Just a LITTLE.

My teacher was such a cute, old man who loved bird watching.

How would I know that, you may ask?

WHELP...he told my class.

I still didn't do too hot on the tests but I managed to muddle through this class.

#3

Ok, I've already told you enough about Meteorology so we'll keep it short.

I admit, the information I learned in this class was VERY interesting.

I never really understood how many things played into Meteorology such as:

Ocean currents

El Nino/ La Nina

Wind currents

Mesoscale winds

Plate Tectonics

Latitude/Longitude

ETC....

But boy, I'm SO glad this class is over because of this one issue,

my teacher only had 50 mins each class so to squeeze everything in,

she'd talk at the speed of lightning. LITERALLY!

I'd always leave this class with my brain hurting because well....

it was on information OVERLOAD!!

All in all, I'm SO glad my science credits are over.

I can now focus on my forte....

Deaf Education/Special Education

Oh how I love ASL. mmmm....

Let's Reflect A Little Shall We....

Lately I've been thinking a lot about families. No family is perfect and each is different in their own way. Heavenly Father put us with our family members for a reason and I think many of us tend to forget that, especially when we go through certain stages in our lives and when arguments occur.

I often reflect on my family and how much they mean to me. Our family isn't perfect but its perfect to me. We do our best at saying family prayers each night and we always do our best to have family dinner, which is always so much fun. Conversations range from how our day was at work/school to how our day was in general. AND THEN....sometimes we pull out some Brian Reagan jokes or we'll start quoting some other comedians like Bill Cosby.

So anyways, my point to all this...My mom was looking at our family scrapbooks this past week and later on I started looking through them as well and I couldn't help but

laugh when I saw some pictures. We were so cute and little and now we're so cute and tall...well minus me of course. haha. But as we've grown up, I can honestly say that my family members are my best friends.

My parents are more than I could ask for. My dad always shares spiritual insights and loves to watch Psych with me. My mom is always willing to help with any project, test, party, etc that we may be having. Beau (well according to the temple workers, is my husband) hahahahaha BUT he is such a great example of service and how to work hard. Skyler is so humble about his basketball skills and is so self-discipline. And Keaton...well in a nutshell he is a great example of what it means to be friends with anyone and everyone. And he always has the funniest jokes and

stories. Even though we may get in occasional disagreements, we are

a family and we love each other.

So without further a dew, lets reflect a little....

Best Christmas Gift on the Block

Ok, maybe its not the BEST but hey, its affordable and very cute! I've set up a blog where I'm going to be selling flower headbands and clips. They are handmade by yours truly and each one is unique. Feel free to check out the blog & if you'd like a custom one...like specific colors or what not, I'm all up for making something that you'd love! :) And feel free to spread the word to your friends and so on so forth :)

http://brooke-sweetnsimple.blogspot.com/

here's a quick sample of what they look like:

(this size of headband will fit a child as well. I normally will just put one

flower for a child headband but I can make smaller flowers if you'd still like two)

Weather Girl!!

Guess what? I got it! Ok well not all of it but its coming along. I just want to show you some maps that I can understand now. HAZZAH!! Today we were forecasting for VA and some other states & my teacher made the comment of "How cool is this?! You're forecasting!" My reply was, "Yes, but it hurts my head!" haha. Its good to know that my brain is growing.

This map shows the warm front, cold front, an occluded front, the current weather conditions, the air pressure, the current wind speeds and direction. YAY that's right. All in this map!

Ok...this map basically shows similar things as the previous map BUT I just wanted to add it because...whelp it looks nifty.

Ok, you see this bad boy well...I drew a map like this today in my class. Holy hannah it was beasty! Just look and admire. You can see the air pressure, wind direction and speed, the dew point, and temperature.

Its definitely not art though...its a weather map :)

Weather Women here I come!

Its that time of year again

I am a HUGE fan of Fall.

Maybe that's a biased opinion because my birthday is in October but STILL!

I love it.

The crisp air

the crunch of the leaves as I stomp on them on the way to the bus

Having a plethora of candy corn

racking leaves & then jumping in them

wearing scarfs to school to keep my neck warm

the smell of autumn

handing out candy on Halloween

watching the Charlie Brown Halloween movie

admiring the beautiful mountains whenever I'm driving

eating squash

AND MOST OF ALL...

carving pumpkins!

Look at the amazing colors these trees have. Gorgeous.

In a few weeks I'll be racking some of these leaves into a pile.

Its weird to think I'm 22. The last year has been such a blast!

I'm excited for what awaits this year.

And my birthday couldn't have been better.

My mom made a delicious dinner,

I got rain boots, an insulated mug and the new David Archuleta CD

AND THEN...

my mom made me a very yummy neapolitan cake.

After that my family played Mario Party together and had some good laughs.

Seriously what more could a girl ask for?

I love my family.

Its All Happening At The Zoo

Labor Day has now come and gone.

It was such a great day because...

WE WENT TO THE ZOO!

The photo on the left are some Fruit Bats. The employee made sure that none of us had eaten fruit in the last few hours before we entered their exhibit. Come to find out, Skyler had but luckily the bats didn't notice. Also, above is a picture of a Rhino. We definitely got an up close & personal look with this Rhino. Luckily for us, there was a

glass window separating our communication.

Then while going through the zoo we found these nifty Chinese hats.

It was a must that we got a photo with these amazing hats.

Just disregard that my face is rather white due to the sun. haha.

But I dare say we look quite lovely. We were so ready for some Chinese food, more specifically some chow mein. Oh we craved that all afternoon. I blame the hats for reminding us of some fabulous food.

We just loved the zoo and seeing the wide variety of animals.

If this video works, you'll see the best singing monkey I think I have ever seen.

I could have watched this monkey for hours.

Then the very best part of the trip was seeing Zuri, the baby elephant. She has such a spunky personality. For example. The picture above is of her trying to sit in a garbage container. She was funny to watch because her trunk is too big for her to handle so she'd trip over herself and just sway as she would walk. haha.

By the end of the day I thought of the song by

Simon & Garfunkel "At The Zoo"

So enjoy some of their great music. Man, I have missed them in my life.

After the zoo we went to the Stewart's house for a BBQ &

it was great to spend time with my family.

Another great Labor Day has come and gone. Until next year...

Swiss Days and More

Today was a life changing day.

I went to Swiss Days with

my mom, my Aunt Vicky, my Aunt Bonnie & my cousins Haley, Shyanne, Tawnya & Shontel. It was definitely a girls day to say the least. :)

Swiss Days is held up in Heber City which is kind of near Kamas

(where Oakcrest is located)

so I LOVED visiting Heber for the day with my family.

There was a lot of cute crafts and here are some of the things I bought:

These headbands tie in the back and they are SO cute!

I told the lady that created these headbands that it was a brilliant idea.

If I can figure out how to make the roses then I could make

some of these nifty headbands.

We'll see...

Now this flower clip is SO neat. Guess what its made from? Go ahead, Guess!

Its made from pop cans!

Its such a great idea as well. Seriously people are so inventive these days.

AND speaking of inventive....I've been in a crafty mood lately

and here are some of the things I've made/refreshed:

#1

I bought this white board back in 2008 for Oakcrest.

After Oakcrest I never really used it because well...

the markers would never erase very well.

It has sat in my room for the past 2 years & finally I decided

that I wanted to turn it into a memo board SO...

after using modge podge, ribbon, clothes pins, and paper

I have a MEMO BOARD!

#2

Now I won't take the credit for thinking up this nifty headband.

My cousin Haley has a headband like this and I really liked the idea

so I came home & the next day, wa-la I have a new headband.

I made it out of a shirt, a bandanna & a headband.

It adds a fun, spunky taste to my attire.

#3

Now I don't know what it is about me & headbands lately BUT

I thought about this idea one day so I came home and whipped out a few.

Its just those old-fashioned headbands made from cotton fabric

with buttons hot glued on the side.

These are fun to wear, especially when I just want my hair out of my face.

I can't wait to go to Swiss Days next year and see some

more cute ideas from very creative ladies.

A New Page Has Now... BEGUN!

I now have a new school & a new adventure.

Since I graduated this past May from SLCC (which I will always love) I decided to transfer to UVU for my Bachelors Degree. I will be going into Deaf Studies, hopefully certify as a state interpreter and then who knows what from there. Yesterday was my first day and man oh man

the campus is HUMONGOUS!

I think I asked 20 people for directions.

And don't worry, I carried around my map the WHOLE day.

Some highlights are as follows:

*Got a FREE Institute shirt

*Ran into a couple of friends from High School

*Signed up for a few committees at the Institute

*Met new people in my classes

*Caught my bus with no sweat because it came 40 mins LATE.

*Decided that I'm going to pack a pillow so I can sleep on the bus

on my way home.

*My teachers are SO friendly and approachable. That's a relieve.

*I admired the glass elevator in the Business Building. its SAWEET!

SO...

now my blonde story of my first day of school goes like this,

I go to my meteorology class. I'm super excited to learn about the stars and how to find specific stars when I go stargazing. The teacher asks us to get into groups and write down why we want to take this class. The whole time I'm thinking about the stars. stars, stars, stars. I LOVE the stars. Then as she starts asking for answers I notice that everyone is relating it to the weather. THEN...it hits me.

Meteorology isn't about STARS....its about the WEATHER!! duh!

I'm still excited and GUESS WHAT?!

By the end of the semester I'll be able to look at a photo

(similar to the one below)

and tell you what is exactly happening.

That's right, I'm going to become a WEATHER WOMAN!!

This will become my new home.

This is the UVU Institute of Religion.

I'm taking 2 classes here this semester & I love it so far!

The teachers that I have met thus far are SO nice!!

But my goodness its HUGE! To put it into perspective for you,

I'll give you this following stat:

SLCC's institute had roughly 1,800 people last semester

AND...

UVU's institute had about 6,000 people!!

Let's pray I don't get lost too many times.

My Sweet Cousins

I love these girls so much & GUESS WHAT?! They are starting college this week! I'm so excited for both of them & know they will do great!! You know why?! Because they are my cousins! Shyanne (the one of the left) is going to Snow College & Amanda (obviously on the right) is going to BYU.

I thought I'd share some flashback photos of these beautiful girls with you:

I've been talking to both of them about how they feel about college and man I remember being in their shoes just a little bit ago. I remember feeling everything such as:

• All my friends are all moving away.
• I'm the only one living at home.
• I don't want to replace my high school friends.
• I'm scared for the homework load that college will bring.
• I don't know anyone going to my school.
• How do college students even act?!
• What if I get lost on campus?
• My guy friends leaving on missions and they'll be gone for 2 whole years!

And the list could go on & on. BUT now that I've been in college for 3 years I realize that college is FUN!!! Here's my 2 cents for some of my favorite cousins:

• Don't be afraid to meet new people!
• You will always have your high school best friends, don't worry! They will return to visit or you can visit them :)
• Read your textbooks & study to the best of your ability.
• Don't let the homework load get you down. YOU CAN DO IT!
• Don't be afraid of your professors. Deep down they really want you to succeed. So feel free to talk to them.
• Get involved at school. Go to dances, activities, tailgates, etc.
• Be yourself! You don't have to be a serious college student. Its ok to have fun! :)

There you have it. If you need help with ANYTHING, you know my number. I love you girls!

The Joys of Life

Well its been about a week since my last post & I can't fall behind because whelp...fun things occur everyday & you shouldn't miss out! :)

Item number one:

I work for Sandy City Recreation, right? right :) Well yesterday kicked off the first day of the soccer season. I've forgotten how cute the little kids are as they dress up in their uniforms and race after the balls. My favorite league to watch is the Pre-K (pre-school) children because they have no idea what is going on except that they need to kick the ball. Its pretty much jungle ball. I LOVE IT!

Item number two:

This past Thursday was my grandma's b-day. She turned the big 80 and she's a healthy as ever. We all gathered at a park near my Aunt DeAnne's house and had a nice dinner. Its always such a blast when we get together. I've also forgotten how BIG our family has become. There were kids running everyone, teenagers throwing balls and such & then the parents were preparing the food

and chatting as well. We sang "Happy Birthday" to my Grandma & also my Uncle Clair (because they share birthdays) and then my Grandma opened her gifts. She was so sweet and started crying after she saw that we gave her a nice scanner to help her with her genealogy. Bless her heart. She is one amazing grandma. I feel blessed to have such wonderful grandparents both here on this earth and on the other side. I'm so grateful to know that I'll be with my family

forever.

These are older photos & is only a fraction of my family on my mom's side but its better than nothing. :)

The Parable of the Princesses

Have any of you read this book, "The Parable of the Princesses" by Jenny Phillips? I love, LOVE, LOVE this book! Whenever I feel like the cares of the world are too much, I pull this book out and my perspective is put right back into place. Of course I read the scriptures everyday but this book has a different angle of life and its reminded of why I read the scriptures, why I need to stay close to Lord and helps me realize even more so what matters in life.

Its a story about these 3 princesses: Rose, Ebony & Hazel. Jenny actually wrote this book after having an overwhelming feeling that her baby daughter was actually "a royal spirit-- a daughter of a true and powerful king." And that she could see "the incredible purity and divinity" within her daughter. Here is part of the summary that is located on back of the book:

"Jenny Phillips tells of the journey of three princesses-- daughters of a king-- who are charged with a special task by their father. Almost immediately, though, the princesses are faced with temptations and trials, dangers and deceits, challenges that will test their resolve and their commitment. Who will remain faithful and receive her father's approval, "Well done, my good and faithful daughter"?....Young women of all ages will identify with the princesses and rejoice with them as they discover the limitless power of God's grace and love."

I love Jenny's reflection of this book and how it correlates with our lives. She says that each of us are given a choice of what we will do with our lives." And then shares the scripture in 2 Nephi 2:27-28 where it states that we have the choice to choose eternal life or captivity and death.

The 3 princesses are seen so much in this world today. I see them all around me and it astonishes me how easy it is to forget our divinity. How easy it is to just go with what the world is telling us is right instead of turning to the Lord and finding eternal happiness and joy through his gospel. We ARE children of a king and we DO have great potential. And even though life may seem hard and we may want to take the easy road and just follow the world, which ya we may be happy but it will not last for eternity. Therefore we must NOT follow the world.

So how does this book even connect to my life you may ask? Well...I've been praying for answers to certain questions I have and I've been trying my best to stay in tune with the spirit so I can receive those answers. I'm trying to be like a particular princess within this book and turn to my Savior for guidance. Never before have I needed his guidance as much as I do now. Being a young, single, 21 yr old girl is not always easy BUT I know that the Lord would want me to be happy and to live life to the fullest. I know that as I, and you, turn to the Lord for guidance, he will bless our lives with comfort, peace and happiness. And I know that he has GREAT things in store for us if we will just patiently wait. And on that note I have a wonderful poem that my dear friend, Snooze (from Oakcrest) shared on her blog and I absolutely LOVE it! Enjoy :)

WAIT

Author Unknown

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, 'wait'!" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

hangs in the balance and you tell me to WAIT?

I'm needing a 'yes' a go-ahead sign,

or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, you promised that if we believe

we need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry,

I'm weary of asking, I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting....for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,

And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun,

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want- but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save (for a start),

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,

But, oh the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft' My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT'."

I know my answers will come.

I just need to patiently wait and know that God is very aware of me.

Bennett Reunion

This past weekend we had a Bennett Family Reunion up by Driggs, Idaho. We stayed near the Tetons. I loved being with everyone because we don't all get together too often because we are all scattered across the country. We span from Utah all the way to Georgia. Above is a picture of all my cousins and then their kids as well. Our family is growing ever so fast and even though our grandparents weren't able to physically attend this reunion, I have no doubt that they were here spiritually.

This is my Dad with my cute cousin, Garrett.

I believe he has a new best friend.

Wesley is such a cute kid.

On one of the days the little kids were given a bottle of

bottles to play with and Wesley kept trying to drink the bubbles.

Bless his heart. If only he knew. One day.

Then on Saturday morning a bunch of us went to hike Table Rock.

Here are some interesting facts about this hike:

The trailhead starts at over 7,000 feet up. After the trail leaves the creek, there are plenty of switchbacks. In less than a mile, you will rise 1,000 feet through switchbacks. The final uphill climb is rather steep. By the time you summit, you have gone 4,000 feet up and covered about six miles of trail. The top is 11,000 feet.

This hike literally almost killed me. The change of elevation really had an effect on me. I had the biggest headache. It was very similar to the nasty migraines I used to always get a few years ago. But I was SO close to finishing so I just kept going. However, I literally had to take 20 steps and then rest to catch my breath because I felt like I was going to pass it. It was rather intense. Luckily I had a great group of people hiking with me so they were very encouraging.

Above is a picture of the "watermelon snow" Its pink snow because of

a certain chemical that is up on the mountain top.

Ok, this patch of rocks was absolutely DEATH!! On the way up it didn't seem too bad

but on the way back it seemed like 5 miles long. However, as I proceeded to cross

this rock patch I couldn't help but wonder what was underneath all of the rocks. Does it go down to the middle of the Earth? Does it just go down to a layer of dirt? I guess I'll never know.

This hike had GORGEOUS flowers. I mean they had Indian Paint Brush, pink flowers, blue flowers, you name it. They were so beautiful. The only down fall of this hike was how many mosquitoes they had. Before we left for the hike I thought, "oh its the day time, I don't need bug spray." WRONG! By the end of this 7 hour hike I had about 14 bites on my face/neck, 8 on my arms & a few on my legs. It is SO crazy! They all itch SO bad but I can't itch them because I don't want them to scar. My mom said that it looks like I have acne which means it looks pretty bad because I never really had acne growing up. I luckily, for your sake & mine, don't have a picture of my lovely face but you can just use your imagination.

This is Abby & Keaton walking back down the switch-back of the trail. This part was an hour down the mountain but guess how many hours they have left?.....like 4 hours. BLISS. The hike was worth it though, even though we were all pretty sore afterwards.

Oh my cute cousin, Jackson, had a brilliant idea to dig a hole to catch squirrels. So this picture is to show how proud he was of his hole &

then Izzy just jumped in the photo to hold the beloved shovel.

Its time for marshmallows! What great family time!

What sweet kids!

And these are just my cousins (minus their spouses & kids). Even though we may not all see each other very often, when we get together it feels like we've never been apart. I'm so grateful to know that I'm going to be with my family for eternity. What a great family!