a post in pictures

This guy

bought me these 

to say congrats {isn't that cute?}

and quite convenient considering...

this shelf that i think is pretty adorable is looking pretty lonely.

any ideas on creative crafty things i can make to decorate this wall space? Please share!

closer to having fall 2011 plans!

i have already told a lot of you, but this is such exciting news for me i have to document on my blog - i found out yesterday i was accepted into byu's english MA program!!  i was very nervous to open the {electronic} letter because less than half the applicants are accepted and i really wasn't sure if i would get in - i mean it's hard to believe that a girl who slept till noon and missed all her classes tuesday {the day i got the letter} could actually get accepted into a graduate program.
this means i will be a student for two more years, that i will get to teach freshman english classes and get paid for it, that we might end up living in provo for a while longer {this is the hardest part for me, i so badly want to move to salt lake and maybe we will still be able to - we will see}, and that i will become all the more smarter of course.  

the more i think about it, the more i think i will go. if nothing else, it feels good to have options. 

22!

my dad always tells me, "some people eat to live, some people live to eat - brighton, you live to eat."  so for my birthday, tanner and i made sure to stop at a few of my favorite restaurants.  we went to communal for brunch where i had a delicious tomato and spinach quiche, culver's butterburger and root beer for a mid-day snack {which is actually an iowa favorite that just opened in utah last monday, my life is complete!}, and pizzeria 712 for dinner where we splurged and had an appetizer, two pizzas and dessert.  oh, and the night before we went to takashi in salt lake for sushi with tanner's family.

other events included...

opening presents in bed

browsing anthropologie at the gateway

 birthday cake at elizabeth's

and arrested development till the

early hours of the morning 

{why was this show cancelled?

i am obsessed!}

all in all it was a wonderful birthday so thank you to everyone for all the texts, phone calls, facebook posts {and especially thanks to tanner} for making me feel so special.

hair dilemma

i've been growing my hair for about a year and a half now and sometimes i love having long{er} hair and sometimes i don't.  today i don't. for some reason in my head i think long hair  {and i mean really long hair} is so feminine & sexy and i have this vision of having long flowing hair and bouncing pony tails bike riding, hiking, and laying out at the pool in the summertime.  but...i used to have really cute short hair.

peak of short-hair cuteness...{mind you this was almost 4 years ago}

growing hair...

now if i had fuller, thicker hair and maybe a little bit more curl too {...and oh yeah if i didn't have one pesky cowlick} there would be no problem at all.  advice anyone?

no more soda, corn dogs, or chips

let's compare...

my schedule today:

10:00AM – 4:15PM class

6:00PM – 10:00 PM work

10:00PM – 12:30 AM homework {and i'm still not done...why school do you dominate my life so?}

tanner's schedule today: 

9:00AM - 5:00PM work

6:00PM - 10:00PM class

10:00PM - 12:30AM homework {which he finished}

about 12:32 in the AM i'm laying on his chest...

me: your heart is beating really fast. {yes i am an anxious hypochondriac...}

tanner: how fast?

me: this fast. {tapping my fingers to the beat of his heart}

twenty minutes later about i am sitting and looking at him...

me: you don't look so good, you look kinda sick.

tanner: i'm probably just tired.

me: did you eat dinner today?

tanner: {...thinks...} no.

me: so what did you eat today?

tanner: {...thinks...} a corndog.

me: and that's it???

tanner: and chips.

me: did you have anything to drink? did you drink any water today?

tanner: soda, no water.

while i am aware that i am a hypochondriac and definitely prone to obsessive sorts of anxiety, i want us to live long and healthy lives together!  it is time for some lifestyle changes.  to start, no more corn dogs, soda or chips!

happy love day

photobooth is so much more convenient for blogging than taking a photo with an actual camera. think about it.  after i take the picture i have to search for my usb cord, plug it into my computer, wait for everything to upload and then wait for it to post to my blog.  whereas with photobooth, two clicks away and voila! posted!  do i sound lazy?  well someday i promise i will upload my pictures from my camera that i believe still have {christmas} photos and share them with you.  for now, enjoy photobooth!  

anyway, here's to a very relaxing valentine's in bed wearing a spider man shirt and doing homework with the husband.  oh yeah, not to mention homemade meatballs and sauce, garlic bread + pasta, roses, and watching arrested development on netflix for hours on the couch.

nothing better than another good excuse to spend time with those you love.

and speaking of love, how cute is my little sister and her boyfriend?? ADORABLE.

happy v-day everyone!

oh the fire is so delightful!

some people have a fire place.  we have a heat dish...and four baseboard electric heaters that might as well not be there at all.  our electric bill is through the roof and if it were not for this delightful orb of apparently conservative energy, we would have probably already frozen to death.  we are hoping for an early spring, but it is hard to see through all of the snow and cold temperatures {that are constantly drafting through our windows.}  at least we have each other.

crafty

tanner designed {not coded} this website and i think it is pretty impressive.  check it out!

***Edit: if you have 3-D glasses, it's way more awesome.

a white shirt and tie is NOT the new black and other ramblings

no, i am not the newest deacon off to pass the sacrament, this is just my new everyday look for work.  a white button down {or is it button up?} and a black tie my friends.

i am a waitress.

i have worked in restaurants since i was 16, which is -count them- coming on {ewww!} six years any day now.   but when i think back to the days of greasy oversized polos, khaki pants, slicked back bangs, saucy southerners and singing the happy birthday song AT LEAST three times an hour, i feel  better about myself.  and then when i think back to the days of relentless heat&humidity, endless rows upon endless ranges upon endless blocks of shoot-bagging, sleepless nights dreaming of sneaky silks, itchy corn rash on my forearms, farmer's tans when not sunburnt, and mysterious bug bites {i'm talking about corn pollinating if you're not from iowa - informational video here} i feel way better about myself and even grateful.

anyway, thank you college.  maybe i won't be limited to the food industry and corn fields forever.  if i'm being honest {and i am}, i have to tell you that i say this with hesitation.  let me explain.  it's not that i don't know what having a degree can and will do for me.  i'm so glad i'm graduating with a bachelor's degree in april and i've enjoyed the process.  and it's not that i don't want to make use of it.  part of me really wants to use my degree to its fullest potential and the other part of me wonders if my fullest potential can be reached through education. maybe it can.  and it's definitely not that i have an undying passion to be a waitress forever {or -cringe- pollinate corn forever}.  but i don't know if i would call school and education, literature, and english passions either.  it's just that i'm not sure that my education will bring me to my fullest potential as a wife, as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend, as a mother {someday} - in general, as a human being.  to me, being human means more than what quantifiable successes can tell.  shouldn't a job just be a job?  of course i want tanner and i to enjoy and find satisfaction in what we do, but more than anything i want to pay the bills and spend the rest of our time living our lives together.  so maybe i will go to grad school, or maybe i will get an editing job, or maybe i will be a teacher.  or maybe i won't.  time will tell.  for now, i'll wear this ugly uniform and wait on people hand and foot and enjoy the rest of my time living.  {hi, my name is brighton, can i get you anything else right now?}