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!

showered (again!)

my neighbor and long-time family friend rachel threw me a bridal shower along with my grandma and great-aunt (…who may be the classiest person i know; british accent and all!). it was held on my great aunts property and there were beautiful flowers, delicious food, and a slew of (refreshingly appropriate) gifts to aid me on my journey to domestication. oh, and there were strippers. lots of strippers
mckenzie approves of the strippers, apparently?

p.s. thanks to everyone who came and showered me!

engagements.

i hate to be all gushy-face, but man oh man do i love this boy! i am seriously counting down the seconds until we get married (okay, lies; that would be tedious!) and am so, SO excited. the other day i asked him what he was most looking forward to about being married (ha…) and he said, “just watching television and sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate from over-sized mugs!”

…our future looks bright, exciting, and…over-sized? ;).and…done!

*all photos were taken by my amazingly talented friend kylie while we were in california this past weekend. she is such a good little photographer and makes you feel so comfortable! (though i still felt a tidge awkward taking the “kiss jeff!” command from her– i didn’t know if we were still abiding by the no p.d.a in front of friends unless it’s prom or a mostly-scary movie but still, keep it minimal please! rule? no? guess not?)

p.s. SIXTY FOUR DAYS! EXCLAMATION POINT, CAPITAL LETTERS!)

solar eclipse extravaganza.

when jeff marched (with such masculinity!) into my kitchen on sunday afternoon and announced that we were going to the solar eclipse extravaganza in cedar city, i packed up a containers of berries and melon, grabbed my camera, and followed him out the door. 300 miles later, we arrived! i figured that we were the only people that were going to be at this extravaganza but, oh, how wrong i was! cars upon cars upon cars were parked on the side of the road with hundreds of people holding handmade eclipse-viewers and welding masks up tho their eyes. there were telescopes and overpriced hot dog stands and police men to oversee everything. we decided to park up at a church on top of a hill and watch this ‘once in a lifetime event’ (sadly we learned that eclipses happen annually…but, still…we won’t see it here till 2023!). it was…anticlimactic? nonetheless i screamed and cheered with jeff because he was so, SO into it (he was just having a particularly nerdy day; on the way there he explained to me the entire lord of the rings trilogy and on the way back, he reenacted the first three star wars’ movies…). three cheers for eclipses and adventures with the top person on my ‘list of favorite people whose names start with j and end with f’ (it’s a very extensive list).

utah.

…let it be known: utah is beautiful!

happy mother’s day!

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” //Washington Irving happy mother’s day to all mama’s out there, especially my own! i am so thankful for the profound influence that she continues to have on my life. she is such an example to me and makes motherhood look like the best job in the universe. she truly is the poster-child for selflessness (in the words of robert brault: “[she is] most likely to write an autobiography, and never mention herself…”), love, and kindness (but the perfect amount; she can still tell some killer jokes and tease you to a near-death).

…and she gave the ‘curvy’ gene, so…

a million thanks, mom! you’re the literal best.

*original image via