A Simple Testimony

3 weeks ago I had a mid 21st year crisis. Okay, so crisis isn't really the right word, but I was really stressed.

I'm the kind of person that likes to have a plan. Spur of the moment is not my strong suit.

My whole life I've had a plan set up for big stuff up until I'm done with school. Well, I'm graduating in about 7.5 months and not having a plan made me go a little crazy.

Everyone told me that I'd change my major in school at least 2 times. Well, because I knew what I wanted going into school, I did it in 3 years. Which gave me less time to decide what to do after.

I had about 4 options and the last 3 weeks I've been praying and studying and researching and making lists and talking to school advisors and my bishop and to see what one was right.

I'm not saying that anything is for sure, but, nothing felt right until last thursday. And since then, I've been doing even more research and even more praying and thinking and am so incredibly happy to say, I have a plan.

And a plan that has a million things I have to do now before the semester ends.

Anyways, I'm here to tell you of a simple testimony of mine.

Every time I have a problem in life that seems overwhelming, my Heavenly Father has been there for me even more than normal.

Prayers are answered.

It is so much easier to be confident in the future when you're on the Lord's side. You can't lose when you're on the same team.

Also, I'm so grateful for my parents and their support for me and giving me advice the last few weeks.

This is all.

I think for a while I'm going to be updating less frequently and putting a lot more time into everything I have to do now.

I'm so excited! :D :D :D

Trial.

All set up for a photo shoot for my color class.

Insert film into camera.

Camera rewound film.
grrrreat.

insert 2nd roll of film.

camera rewound film.
forreal?

search on internet why it keeps rewinding. Nothing.

take a few shots with no film in.

put new roll in camera.

camera tries to wind it right.

"err"

open camera.

film is just chillin how I put it in.

take film out

camera still says "err"

put film back in.

camera is still spazzing out.

Put new batteries in.

Nothing.

take lens off. Mirror is half open half closed. and kind of swinging.

really? I don't have time to have a broken camera! Nor the money to buy a new one!!

could everyone please cross their fingers my professor can fix this easily tomorrow?

In other words, I haven't shot for my project and my slide film i sent out still hasn't come back.

I'm dead. dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead.

Dead.

I foresee an all nighter happening sometime next week.

I have a freakin' ton of stuff to do for my photo classes.

8 months 'till graduation.

Drugs & big bums.

this next conversation is too funny not to write. in order to not embarrass anyone I'm using the name bob instead of this guy's real name.

" Oh Bob. He has a big Butt." -natalie
"hahahaha. He kinda does, huh?" -Me
"I've never seen a guy with a bigger butt!" -Natalie
"haha" -Me
"I'm not saying it's a problem, I'm just saying it's..... unique" -Natalie.

Maybe this is a "you had to be there moment" but it was sure funny.

Next funny.

You know you're professor is super chill when he starts out an email to the class

"Ok peeps,
I'm sick as poo, and your proposals are in a pile next to my drugs. I'll get to them when I can see straight again."

{goes on about some class info stuff}
then he says

"Again, I want a bumpin' discussion on Wednesday. I think it would be good for class bonding because it will bring us all closer together (after all, we have shared cookies together already, so it's time for the next step)."

And ends with,

"Cheers"

haha. brought a smile to face on a monday morning.

I have nothing else to say, except I really liked this quote one of my professors said. i didn't catch who said it, but i'm pretty sure it was a president of US of A.

"You're only a mediocre student if you don't surpass your master."

I really liked that.

Aunt- the best title I've ever had.

So yesterday was a great day. 

On thursday night I slept on Ash's couch because I was going to start watching Gemma at 7:30 in the morning. The night before {wednesday night} Ash said Gemma and her didn't get much sleep so when Gemma woke up crying at 1 am, I took her out of her crib and put her back to sleep. 

The look on her face when I took her out of her crib was priceless. It was a really confused look because she knew I was not her mom and I don't think anyone but nathan or ashleigh have gotten her out of her crib in the middle of the night. But she was fine cuddling with me too. 

So after she went back to bed, I slept for a few more hours till 6:40 when she decided she was done sleeping for the day. I also got Caitlin up and ready so Ash could sleep in a little bit. It was great and I liked it, even though I was really tired. 

So thus began our day. 

Well, Gemma is staaaaaarving when she wakes up. So she guzzled her bottle and then we played for a while. 

At around 9 we decided we needed a nap. So we slept till 11:30. 

At this point she wanted to eat again and then I decided it was probably time to change out of our PJs. 

I was looking in gemma's massive amounts of clothes to find my favorite outfit and as soon as I saw the onsie I bought her, I put it on her and found some pants that semi-matched. {the child needs jeans} 

I had to go to walmart to get a gallon of vinegar, 2 gallons of distilled water, and 2 big bottles of hydrogen peroxide. {for a photo class}

I never realized what a babe magnet Gemma would be. She was sitting in the cart and her onsie read I love my aunt and everyone just assumed I was her aunt! it was great. 

3 guys in their 20's came and talked to me and to Gemma! {what???} It kind of rocked! And everyone keeps saying "Oh, she's so beautiful!" and other such things. It made me a proud aunt. :D 

We stopped at arby's and got curly fries, brought them home, and then we ate them. Gemma loved sucking on them till they were grossly soggy. Pretty much I'm the favorite. 

 

She also had some rice cereal. Most of it ended up on her bib though. 

We played for a few hours after that and then she took another nap. 

Ash came home from work and I got to shower! woohoo! 

Ash and Nathan and i and Gemma went to dinner and I let her play in some ice water.

 She was so funny with it. She was grunting at it like she didn't know what to do about her hands being so cold. It was funny. She kept looking at Ashleigh like "i know I'm not supposed to do this but Aunt bri says it's okay!" it was great. haha.

Then we played while watching "The Lucky one" and Ash made Gemma go to bed {even though she didn't want to cause we were having so much fun} and she didn't get up till 10:50 this morning!

Days with your aunt are exhausting days! :D We have fun together. :)

It was a tiring day! but it was so great! I don't know if I could do that everyday, but it's definitely good every once in a while. 

Not ready to be a mom, but being an Aunt is the best title I've ever had! 

My 9/11 story.

So, I wrote this 1 year ago today. Instead of re-writing the story, you can GO HERE and read it.

It's a good story, friends.

Anyways, I hope you wore red, white, and blue today.

 Also, go register to vote. Because, in case you live under a rock or in a hole, Election Day 2012 is coming in a matter of less than 2 months! And if you love America and your freedoms, you should probably research and vote. I totally did. Registered in Logan so I can vote non-absintee and wear the sticker with pride this year! Also, reading about politics is a great way to procrastinate your homework.

Just my 2 cents.


Loves and awkward Lauren hugs,
{have I ever told you that Lauren gives the best awkward hug? Well, now you know. Go try it out! She loves hugging!.... :P}

-Brianna

P.S. Emilie {my baby sister} turns 15 tomorrow! whaaa? Who even knew she wasn't 9 anymore? I thought I was 15 last year......? Time. It goes fast these days.

So go tell her happy birthday tomorrow. K thanks

The fun and not so fun

Not fun- waking up with 5 spider bites. {4 on my arm, 1 on my cheek!}
Fun- talking to your daddy on the phone
Not fun- reading your textbooks. Even if they are on photography.
Fun- COLOR FILM!
Not fun- when your groups color film doesn't turn out but the other 2 groups does.
Fun- wearing respirators.
Not fun- being at your apartment all weekend by yourself.
Fun- FHE
Not fun- having 35 girls and 3 boys in your family
Fun-Swing dancing.
Not fun- being scared to talk to cowboys.
Fun- seeing pictures of your adorable 5 month old niece
Not fun- not being able to snuggle with her and give her kisses
Fun- making zucchini bread for some guys in your ward
Not fun- dropping them off at the wrong apartment
Fun- having a clean apartment
Not fun- cleaning it.
Funny- when a girl asks Allison to dance at country swing
Not funny- the stomach ache you get by laughing at this.
Fun- watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix
Not Fun- doing all the homework you procrastinated.
Fun-writing this blog post
Not fun- having to stop to go read a chapter in my "Archaic and Classical Greek Art" book titled "Gay Abandon". Sigh. Pretty sure this ones going to be a quick skim.

Funniest text I've ever gotten from my sister

This is the text I just received apx 10 minutes ago. Pretty funny. It made me giggle. I have the weirdest brother ever.

"I wish you were home right now!!! Quinton is being so annoying and he's been trying to hug me while I'm on the computer. He put his hands through his shorts to the bottom of them then pulled his pants up all the way yp while his hands are still at the bottom of his shorts and tried to hug me!!! Then he said I'll give you three kisses if you get on pinterest so that was enough to get me to not go on there! Then I was already on facebook when he told me if I got on Facebook he would give me twelve kisses and hugs. I told him don't do it then he started kissing me so i quickly logged off!!! And he kept kissing me so I got off the computer then he stopped!!! Please come home and rescue me! Or better yet, let's ship him away!!"

Anyways, I can totally see this happening. It's so funny.... Unless your the one being tortured by him.

Happy sunday tomorrow!

Some awkward stories and cool photo pictures.

I'm so good at awkward.

If being in awkward situations/ doing awkward things was an olympic sport, I'd probably be a silver medalist. {I like to think there's someone else more awkward than me}

for instance-

On monday, I was driving to the bishop's house for FHE and there was a bird on a beaver in the middle of the road. So naturally I honked at them to leave so they wouldn't die. So the bird flew away and the beaver just stayed there. So I honked again and then my roommates said, "why are you honking, it's dead?"
So, I was at a complete stop in the middle of a road honking at a dead animal to move.... and there was a truck behind me who probably got a big kick out of my misfortune.
And then I decided it was weird that there was a dead beaver in the middle of a road. And after looking for the seconds I was at a complete stop while honking, I decided it was a rooster or chicken. Probably a rooster. And my one roommate thought it was a cat.
Regardless, I honked at a dead animal in the middle of the street. I would do that.


Next instance. So there's this song by a famous youtube video guy {that will remain nameless as I don't want anyone to go youtube this song and be corrupted like me} that I'd heard this song via my roommate's iPod. Well, this song is catchy tune and easily gets stuck in my head. So I was singing it in the photo lounge {yes, we photo kiddos have a lounge now!!!} and So when I told them what I was singing, i naturally wanted to play it for them. So I YouTubed it and when they {i wasn't watching} were watching the video, apparently the song becomes inappropriate when played to what's going on in the video. And then they decided it'd be a prime time to educate me on things that I definitely did not need to/ want to know. You guys, it was awkward.
And this song doesn't even seem bad!! Why do people have to put meanings on words that mean something harmless to begin with to be gross stuff??? It just makes poor old street dumb Brianna even more awkward.

Next story. {yeah there's another}

Tonight at Country swing dance night. So here i am, so excited to be there. 'cause it'd been like 4.5 months since I've been. we'll start with the part of this story I didn't see happening-
3 girls ask Natalie to take their picture and hand her their camera.
Okay, now we'll go to the part I was present for.
Natalie says, "Hey, Brianna's a photographer, you can take the picture"
So i take the camera and what did I do? I point it at Natalie and Allison because I thought this was Natalie's camera. And right before I take the picture, 3 girls behind me start busting up laughing while Allison and Natalie looked at me like I was insane. So then I laughed because what else is there to do in this type of situation? And I also took their picture for them.

Allison asked me tonight if I really was a blonde. How rude!

I'm just grateful that my skin doesn't blush as easily as some.

I'll keep you posted if anything else happens.
it's been a great adventure these past few weeks.

And because I'm sure you want to know a little bit about what I do at school, here are a few pictures from today's photo classes.

Note the gas mask. intense stuff.

This makes it look more legit. 

Nicole found a frozen egg and obsessed over it for a while.

Stacey showed us this awesome way to separate egg white from the yolk.
suck it up with a plastic pop bottle!

sometimes i take this camera to a park and take pictures.

this was my group. we were using a Hasselblad {not that exact one, but it's still legit!}!! And it pretty much rocked! Anyways, we were taking color slide film images.

we use hand mixers to make crazy albumen emulsion stuff.

So, it's been a great week.

cookin', studyin', playin', dancin'.

let me ask you a question. Why is it that every time I put my skanky shorts and a t shirt on to relax in the comfort of my own apartment, a cute boy {boys} come over? My stars, the whole male population at USU probably thinks I'm a disgusting creature...... sighs. The only time they come over too.

Ya know, it's fine. I was making chocolate chip zucchini bread and will bring some over to them. So instead of remembering me looking like a disaster, they'll fall in love with my cooking. *crosses fingers* :P

Anyways, speaking of cooking, I've been doing a lot of it lately. Okay, a lot ish. 

here's some pictures. 

this is my favorite dip. sour cream with taco seasoning. yum! 

not fancy, just fast and good!

I don't have much to report on here, just crazy busy now with school and photography.

but, I do have an awkward story.

So I went to the institute dance {because I like to dance even though I'm horrible at it}
And normally I just dance weirdly next to my friends, but this guy, we'll call him bobert, kept asking me to dance with him. I think it was 4 slow songs in a row till the end of the dance. And he was a good dancer, like he was teaching me all these crazy dances like the tango and cha cha. Anyways, the dance got over {lame} and he was just talking to me. well, If a guy asks you to dance 4 times and then lingers at the end to talk to you, what is a girl supposed to expect is coming? For him to ask for your number, right? Wrong. Apparently I should have thought he was going to say this. "Well, I'm going to go pick up my girlfriend from work."
haha. My life. Has this happened to anyone else, or am I just blessed with super awkward situations?
Okay, but let's be honest, I wasn't that bummed out that he had a girlfriend. He was kinda weird. And that's the truth. I'm not being sarcastic. {and by me saying that it made it sound sarcastic, but this is serious.}

anyways, have a great week.

remember who you are.

XOxo
-Bri

Nothing in particular

Random tidbits from the last week:

The engineering building is where ALL the boys are kept on this campus.

My bishop's wife is pretty cool. Also, she's in my printmaking class. So that's kind of fun.

handle bar mustaches are IN! {I've seen 3 at school in 1 day.}

I jumped the band wagon of colored jeans today. I got a dark purple. Kind of the color Barney the dino is. Okay, I just made them sound lame. They're not. they're pretty sweet looking.

Remember how since I was like 12 I've been in love with cowboys? yeah, that's still true. Only, I think I've all but given up on that dream of mine. I just don't really see that in the future anymore. Sad, I know.

Color reversal film is too expensive. Too too expensive. Good thing it's so darn beautiful otherwise I might just cry a little bit.

Print making is going to be so legit.

I'm scared to death about gradumatating in May.

Cleaning the sink is still as delicious as it was the first time.

I found a dead spider in my bed. And it freaked me out.

I love dancing. Especially country swing dancing.

Sometimes my neighbors get arrested.

I love a good rain storm.

I still love the scoreboard chant!

my pearl ring I got in Berlin broke. the pearl fell off. :'( I have the pearl, but super glue doesn't hold it. Does anyone have ideas on how to fix this?

Also, go read this. It pretty much made me love Ann Romney. What an amazing woman.

And Finally, have you met my attractive family? I Took these all a few weeks ago. I quite enjoy them. If you want to see more of them, visit my Facebook photography page here. And then go ahead and "like" it, if you like them.

Also, Allison and Natalie are screaming right now while trying to kill a millepede in the bathroom. grrrrrrrrreat.

and!!!! 

I finally got to know my room roommate, Jamie better. !! It is grand. She's great. 

ta ta.

Have a fantastic Fast Sunday tomorrow ya'll.

XOXO

Bri