The Brooklyn Bridge

Dear God, thank you for mommy and daddy thank you for a dis day please bless that I can have a little brover amen. Dear God, Thank you for mommy and daddy and baby sitser please bless that we will all have good dreams and be happy and know whats right, amen. Dear God, Thank you that I am so beautiful. Please bless that my sister wouldn't bug me so much and bless people who are poor. Please bless that it will be cheesy breadsticks at lunch tomorrow. Amen. Dear God, Thank you for this day and for the food. Bless me not to be so ugly anymore and not trip in dance so much. Please bless that McKenna and Rosie will let me play with them at recess tomorrow and bless mom that she won't be so bossy. Amen. Dear God, Thank you that I get to go to work with my dad like every day and have so much fun. What do you want me to be when I'm like older? A magician? A writer? A mom? I think I want to be a mom. Like the best mom ever who even knows how to sew. Amen. Dear God, Th...

Every girl needs to tell her cheesy story while flailing her hands around and squealing, so here's the transcript of how Jon and I decided to get married and stuff if you'd like to read it.  July 2015 - First Met As a missionary for the LDS church in the Japan, I first met Elder Tanner (code name: Jon Tanner) at a conference in Fukutoku, Japan, where we were welcomed our new mission president. We shook hands and ate delicious lunch with 145 other missionaries! For six weeks, Jon and I both worked in the Matsumoto Branch in November 2015. We were good friends there (riiiight, "friends" ;) [no really, just friends who both had not great haircuts] uh huh, sure), and it was a little sad to say Goodbye to him, just like every elder and sister who goes home. However, I did not expect to see him again. The following January, as a junior at BYU, he emailed me with a couple updates about "real" life, and how much better it is to be in missionary life. We ...

(so far) 1. Tears 2. Hugs 3. Extreme Overeating 4. Loss of desire to go to work 5. Premature feelings of missing your job 6. Random hymn solos 7. Tears 8. Extreme Happiness 9. Scripture Hunger 10. Insomnia 11. Oversleeping 12. Tons of Exciting Mail 13. Desire to kiss and cuddle always 14. Desire to never look at a boy ever 15. More eating 16. Getting up early to exercise and eating Lucky Charms instead 17. Writing every missionary you know daily 18. Loss of proper grammar usage 19. Making lists 20. Losing keys 21. Sudden need to enroll in every Institute class 22. Happy tears 23.  Loss of motivation to do anything that requires opening of the eyes or moving of the limbs. 24. Surges of Satan eating your brain 25. Surges of the Spirit hugging your heart 26. Constant itch to move out 27. Extreme rage and hatred for anything that dares to stub your toe 28. Elongating of bucket list 29. Inability to let go of your mother whilst hugging 30. Crying over simpl...

That's about as new as twenty-fourteen me gets, and that's my satirical slam on society for the day. I don't do New Year's Resolutions. I don't make them either. Now before you write me off as a snob hipster, which you're free and probably entitled to do, read my rant since you're already here and internet-wasting time. First, Nearesos seem impulsive. There is ALL THE MUCH going on in November and December such as recovering from Halloween's awesomeness, deciding how you feel about Christmas music, eating too much, NaNoWriMo, pretending to study for finals, frantically "shopping" for gifts even though you're broke as a joke (thanks Kate) and have no idea what your family could possibly enjoy, working ridiculous hours, deciding how to make your one party dress look different at each party, contemplating on conforming to ugly sweater day, and then shifting into quality family time mode and magically getting along with everyone. So by the tim...

It's finals week and that's every college student's excuse for everything ever. But…in place of a weekly blog post I've posted a no-sense-making video-blog. Complete with adorable thumbnail shot. You Tube just knows how to capture my best moments. Sigh. Happy Finals Week!

So. In true Brooklyn fashion, I committed to a project, started it a day late, made it look like I was going strong complete with pictures, and then waited until the morning it was due to finish it. Yay. Therefore, if any of you invisible audience members were looking forward to reading all my Thank You chapters, you should seek a new hobby. NO. I joke, I mean I'm sorry. Sorry. It's crazy to think I'm so blessed that I won't even be able to list MOST of the things I'm grateful for. I present, Chapter 3-28: Abridged. 3. Dear J.K. Rowling, thank you for the magical world my heart calls second home, and for creating a story about real magic. Love, Brooklyn. 4. Dear 1970s Clariol Kindness Hot Rollers, thanks for being there daily to calm the storm. Love, Brooklyn. 5. Dear Musical Theatre, Thank you for making my mornings theatrical,  letting me dance through high school, and making me cry at the gym. Love, Brooklyn. 6. Dear Clocks, thank you for giving me someon...

There's this awesome thing that occurs called  NaNoWriMo , short for "National Novel Writing Month." A completely haywire and wonderful attempt to get to 50,000 words of novel in 30 days. I've always started and never finished, so here I am, with a goal similar to the past: finish! Pretentious as you may see this, I'm going to write a novel about 30 things I'm grateful enough for to write about. Not that anyone has to read it, but it's something I always kind of wanted to take a swing at, so here's to it. Also, it's not too late to sign up and start your own novel! Go for it, and let me know if you do! Dear Art, Thank You! Love, Brooklyn. I am so grateful for feelings, passion, agency, and the dire need we have as humans to express it. Some might say art is lovely but we don't really need it, like we need science or water or something. I think we need art, at least I certainly do. A wonderful artist created us, and this earth and all its c...

Scrape Day finally came! If for some bizarre reason anyone isn't sure what Scrape Day is, it's the first day after summer has ended in which you must scrape frost off your car. And if that bizarre reason is that I've made up the holiday, that's acceptable. Anyway, despite the sudden requirement for early-morning exercise, it's one of my favorite days of the entire year. It means my favorite period of the season has alas arrived. That cold, dark, chillingly breezy, dreary, cloud-invaded day that might be suddenly sprinkled or snowed upon. I know you wish I were writing saracastically, but truly. I think it's beautiful. Right at the beginning of a wonderful period of the year, so much promise, joy, and work to come. I really am glad warm weather is so popular, and it makes me happy that if it makes you happy, and I am sorry if the cold bothers you. But thanks for letting me have my favorite moment. :)

This weekend's magical endeavor was Colorado's best convention! It was my first time at Magic in the Rockies and I had a blast! I met some majorly radical magicians like Walter "Zaney" Blaney, Autumn Morning Star, Danny Orleans, Duane Laflin, Losander, Becky Blaney and Arthur Stead! They are fabulous performers with very successful and entertaining careers. I had so much to learn from them and had the opportunity to chat with all of them. Amazing! I also performed in the showcase which was so fun, especially because I received so much useful feedback. My whole family got to come, which was awesome. Family bonding time for the win. I'm so excited for every upcoming day. Thanks to the incredible MITR committee for making this extraordinary weekend happen! Check out my eccentric vlog of the weekend: Or, for a quieter approach, the photos below(click to view full size):

This is definitely me at the present moment.

"This is it, I have found it. I am in hell." This journey is an absolute gem. It has all my favorite feels in it. Steel Magnolias is the story of six friends who give their story to the audience through visits to Truvy's salon. Shelby is about to be married, her mother M'Lynn is like any mother-of-the bride, widow of the mayor Clairee enjoys watching all of it unfold, Annelle is a brand new stylist and scared to death, and Ms. Ouiser Boudreaux is just about every cranky loud grandma you've ever met, combined and magnified by 18. As their lives and love change, we see the beautiful strength in these women. This is one of the plays I am most grateful for. I hold an overwhelming appreciation to my director for trusting me with the gift of Ouiser. She's a nut, like me, but I can't believe he actually believed in me that much, and for that and many other lessons he taught me, I'll be indebted to him in my entire life. I had so much fun in this wonderful...

"Phineas, when did you change your shirt?" This was definitely one of the silliest, cheesiest, and most fun plays I've been in. I was such a little sophomore and felt so proud of my first "female romantic lead" when really I was they only one who actually wanted  to do it. Ha ha! This was the cutest play written in part by one of my favorites, Carrie Finlinson, making light satire about our city of Murray and small quirks of our church. It's a really sweet story that spins off of Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors." Phineas and Phineas were separated as infants when a tractor hit their tour bus, sending Dad and Phineas into Preston, Idaho and Mom and Phineas into good old Murray, Utah. The boys grow up, Mom and Phineas in the church, but he's having doubts because he's gotta maintain that Legend-In-His-Own-Mind Image. Phineas of Preston seeks out to find the rest of his family, meets the missionaries, finds his mother without realizi...

" Forget about the boy, Dillmount! Get yourself a canary." Thoroughly Modern Millie is one of those super-fun musicals with a great, stick-right-in-your-head score. Millie is a spunky little farm girl that decides to change her entire image by moving to New York and marrying her new rich boss. But of course, through her roller coaster of love, jail, an insane hotel manager and stenoging, she realizes that her green-glass love is so much more than the emerald image she was running for. I played the completely flattering Ms. Flannery. This was one of my favorite roles because of her cranky volume and all the tap dancing we got to do. Our costume designers were amazing, they made almost everything on stage! Who doesn't love dressing up like a flapper? So many fringes, so many bad wigs. I mean look at that beehive. I'm pretty sure it weighed three pounds. What a blast!

The arts have been a blessing and quite integral part of my entire being. I'm grateful for every show I've been in and the directors willing to trust me with parts. I truly don't want to forget any of the wonderful shows I've been in, so I want to do a little article about each of them. So, the blog will be a bit theatrically clogged for a while, but isn't it always, anyway? "Get your red-hot cheongsams here!" The classic Disney story of Mulan came to life on our stage with interesting new music, a rather philosophical script, and lots of black hair dye. I played the "cheongsam salesperson" and lots of chorus roles. It was my first musical and I couldn't have been more neurotically excited to be a part of it. The legendary Camrey Bagley was our Mulan, and our ancestors were really cool. I'd say it was a really different show than any classical musical theatre.

Sometimes we do assignments in English and it's fun. He's a tastefully tacky one I wrote, to express a majorly passionate love. There is a man, whose words are nice to hear. They might make you laugh, or even shed a tear. The play's the thing, all the world's a stage, His wise words move without exclusion or age. So all I have to say, is thank you, William Shakespeare.

Don't be angry. At least try really, really, really hard not to be. Don't be angry or anything representative of angry. And if you've tried to be everything but angry and you're still angry...then I think you can be angry, but n0t at who made you angry, and especially not at those who didn't make you angry that have to constantly be around you. Because I don't think anger really fixes anything. Honesty does, though. But I think if you try hard enough you can be honest without being angry. You should always be fully honest, but honesty should be consistently accompanied by solicitation. Relationships need honestly, they must and absolutely have it. That applies to any relationship you care about in any minute way. Obviously, you should be honest daily and regularly to your significant other if you have one. And if you don't, a lot of people around you or people you meet could become you significant other someday, so starting off any relationship with honesty...

Hello! One of my favorite words. So, welcome to 2013. Actually, it's already May. Sorry for the eight-month abandonment, invisible audience, I know you're non-existently disappointed. Don't worry, Harry Potter is still the Bee's Knees. I may even post one of my favorites pics in honor of its magical radicality. It's a word now. One of my favorites. Shelby blogs now, which is probably why I'm finally writing another boring post. I've learned a lot about love lately. I still don't know very much. But I know that it will always be a part of everyone, because everyone either loves or is loved or both. No escaping the love. Embrace the love! Share the love. Peace, Love. All you need is love! Cry over the love. Cry over the love because you don't have it how you want it. But chances are you have it how you need it. I'm also graduating high school quite imminently! Which also qualifies me as knowing next-to-nothing about love. I was also a sophomore o...

"If you can explain it, it's something other than love." "That will be the time I will mentally give birth to 55 puppies." "Is it a bribe or a gift?" "Ah, such a splendid little war." "No. White chocolate doesn't exist." "Brooklyn, people like you laugh at a joke three times. Once when I tell it, again when everybody else gets it, and once more when you get it four years later." "My birthday is Octujocember 38th. In other words, none of your nosy business!" "I am always so happy when I'm not the most OCD person in the room." "If at first you don't succeed, just be a bad example."

It's become a phrase popular enough. Why is it that people feel "awkward"? What is awkward? Are we slowly evolving into less and less personal communication that when confronted with a challenging situation we blush and tweet about it? Or do we simply like to chuckle at our fairly sarcastic lives once in a while? Nevertheless, this was a list worth gathering and conjuring. Some are experiences of my own, others from dear friends of mine. Feel free to add on; to be continued. That awkward moment when... 1. You say "Happy Birthday" to someone a day early. 2. "You try to pass someone in a narrow hall, and both of you keep choosing the same direction to pass." 3. "You say goodbye to someone, and make it way sincere, and then both of you leave in the same direction." 4. You don't understand why your hair isn't curling, then you plug in the iron. 5. "You're about to make a comment about someone when you see they're still in the...