on brothers (younger ones, specifically)

on my LNW (late-night-walk) with avery, we talked about how we so badly crave the attention and approval of people who don’t really want to give it to us– people who think we are lame, weird, or obnoxiously good-looking (what? me?). over the past few years, my younger brother chad has fallen into that category of ‘people who think brooke is lame’ — it was such a subtle, slow-moving process! he began to laugh at my jokes less, dodge my ultimate-high-fives, and shy away from my compliments (YOU GUYS! he accused me of ‘hitting on him’ last time i visited– i can think my brother is cute, right?). WHAT HAPPENED? i thought i was automatically ‘cool’ because i was his elder–isn’t that how it works?

but i still seek after his danged approval! and how! 

while jeff and i were home earlier this month, chad celebrated his birthday with a SURPRISE! slip-n-slide birthday party and a family dinner. we decided to anti-roast him at dinner and tell seventeen reasons why he was rad (truth: i never say ‘rad’ in person, is that weird?). mostly it was about how he is the funniest, outgoing-est, party-starting-est member of the family. because he is, duh. you just want to be apart of his club, you know? 

anyways, happy belated birthday chadwick! sorry for hitting on you and holding your hand for far too many years, i am sure that was scarring. i will continue to try to buy your love forever. as long as it can be bought with a bed bath & beyond gift card.

the new rule...

there’s a new rule: i have 30 seconds to take a picture! 30 seconds! my hands tremble at every kodak moment; fumbling to get my lens unscrewed and the scene in focus. 

 

jeff implemented the rule last night while we were late-night grocery shopping (there’s something so therapeutic  about being in a sifted-through walmart almost totally alone)(besides the crazy coupon queens stalking up for labor day– you guy, mom pants!). we were in the parking lot and he was waiting for me to pop the trunk and he was looking so handsome! so pleased and content and happy. perhaps it was because we had finally, finally sold our coffee table with the lion legs? or maybe it was because we had just gotten over that two day back-to-school hump? the pecan-pie diet we started after my mom sent us one? the kick-butt dinner i made?

or maybe it was ‘us.’ at walmart. with the couponers. laughing over ‘cardio butter.’ yeah, let’s pretend that’s it.

also, sidenote: monday was out to get me. i waited in a line of 34 back-to-school shoppers, only to get to the front to realize i didn’t have any form of payment. and my bike tire popped on me. but at least jeff looked content?

side-side-note: can someone get me a baby or a pug already? jeff can’t take all these pictures!

honeymooning.

i almost titled this post ‘honeymooning…each other’ but then i thought it’d be weird for everyone and didn’t. but now i just told you so…now you know.  jamaica was probably my favorite place that we stopped. i loved the atmosphere, the scenery (…it was really pretty…we just didn’t take any pictures of it–when i have the camera, all i take pictures of is my handsome devil man-boy), and the people (do i sound well-traveled or what?!). though we did get suckered out of $40 in jamaica. jeff is the second sweetest person in the world and can’t say ‘no’ and i freeze in times of confrontation so…

at least we got some beads we will never wear and mini-statues with our names on it (too bad the guy spelled mine ‘b-r-o-o-k-k’ …almost right?).

…and that’s the extent of the honeymoon details. ha.

side note: traveling with a husband, particularly a jeffy-husband, is the literal best. i think i fell in love with him 435263 times over.  you can borrow him sometime?

life as of late.

for the past two episodes of netlix’d parks and rec (can i be couple-friends with will arnett and amy pohler already?)(…couple friends…eeeek…), i’ve been trying to  figure out the correct onomatopoeia to describe the sound of a deep inhale through the nostrils. my front-runners: ‘mmmm’, ‘ffffffff’, and ‘huuuurrrff’

maybe? kind of? are you feeling it?

now, enough of onomatopoeia, and on to me. that’s what we are all here for, right? (unless you are here for the other simply brooke–a fan fiction author that writes for digimon)

onwards: i’m married, you guys! and to answer the next question, it’s been great. people keep asking us if we like it and, if we are being truthful, we don’t really know yet. if being married is cruising, free meals, parties centered around your love, and a surplus of tagged facebook photos, then we are old pros. marriage is easy. ha. (…we have actually had a hard time adjusting from the cruise-life to real-life; we have to refrain from ordering 3 entrees and just leaving our garbage everywhere)

we do know that we love each other, though. it has been so fun to have him around 24/7 and to adjust to being married (answering to ‘brooke stapleton’, controlling nighttime gas, de-hair-ing the shower after use, and remembering that the crimson wave is a completely natural bodily function that happens once a month…to reiterate: i. am. not. dying.).

so here’s a little catch-up a la pictures (my life just looks better in the instagram ‘walden’ filter…) and a list (i’ll talk alllll about the actual ceremony later!):

one: we went back to my neck of the woods in northern idaho! we got all northern-idaho-y and rode the hiawatha trail (recommend! recommend!).

two: can you get over that sunset? me neither.

three: vegas, baby! we didn’t really mean to. nor did we want to. but we ended up in the crazy hot las vegas with my family and had a blast! i forget all the details and can’t really expound on this point but…it was a blast! exclamation point!

four: registering for a marriage license was sort of stressful. i thought that they were going to ask me really in-depth questions about him that i would have to know the right answer to (favorite color? elementary school crush? allergies?!). thankfully, they didn’t. but they did ask me my age…twice. “nine…teen…” (something about that ‘teen’ word evokes instant eyebrow raises?)

five: more lake time. but this time post-marriage…you know what that means! shared checking accounts! but really. jeff is slowly becoming me with the bowl of soup and can of ice-cold diet coke. and i am slowly becoming him with occasional showering and clothes washing. oy.

six: you know when you are apart from something for a while and you realize how much you actually love it? distance makes the heart go stronger? it’s like that one time i didn’t eat hot dogs for a year, just because. or when i haven’t seen my sisters in a while. they’re funny people, you know?  (and cute. and smart. and…another endearing adjective.)

seven: jeff and i have a problem. we both still think we are juniors in high school. we threw chad a surprise party (SURPRISEEEE!)(okay, side-note: all the kids hid in the bathroom to surprise him. five minutes before, i went into the bathroom and…relieved myself. thoroughly. ha. when they went in there, i heard someone say: “SICK! who farted?!” hahahaha…oops), and we both couldn’t help but try to impress everyone. i even overheard jeff telling a few of the boys about his high school football days that ended abruptly because he “got kicked off the team” (…you GUYS! he simply didn’t fundraise enough and broke his femur…dirt biking…cool points restored?).

eight: …we didn’t adjust well to a wedding event that wasn’t centered around us. like, what was that about? (only kidding. it was GREAT to not have to be paraded around– no strained smile muscles here!)

nine: hi hanna’s face and a plate full of brownies! when we got back to provo we realized that we live right next door to my morgan, hanna, avery, and maddy friend. mooching score: 1, us. thanks for the dinner, morgs ;) (eww. i never call her that. why did i just do that?)

ten: call us jim and pam! no really, please? i was on a quick job-scramble and applied everywhere…and ended up scoring a job at jeff’s place of work. ha. they have FREE fountain drinks there and chairs that spin and a softball team and everything! we work in two different departments but it’s still so fun having someone to carpool with and to kanoodle at the water cooler.

eleven: …and to take lunch breaks with, too. isn’t he handsome?

twelve: jeff’s brother shane is living here now! and they like to match and change tires together and stuff. (there’s your shout-out, shane. you happy?)

…school’s tomorrow. sleep tight!