Our 1 year anniversary!

Seth and I have now been married a year! Seems so crazy to think it's been that long already! I guess time flies when you're having fun, right? It has truly been the best year of my life, and I am so excited to think of all the wonderful times we have ahead of us! Since this is an anniversary post, I get to be a little gushy and no one can get annoyed at me for it, so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity! I am so so grateful that I have Seth in my life. He is seriously my very best friend. It is so nice to know that I ALWAYS have him to come home to and tell him all about my day. I love falling asleep and waking up next to him. I love that when I get mad he always knows how to make me laugh and forget why I was ever upset. I love the way he always teases me and picks on me ( most of the time, anyways!). I love that he works hard to take care of me. I love that he sees the good in everyone. I love that he has never raised his voice at me and that he always treats me kindly. I love how safe he makes me feel. I love that he is a genuinely good guy that would help anyone out. I love how supportive he is of my efforts in school. I love how sweet he is to my baby niece and nephew and how I know he will make a great daddy someday. You get the idea. I just LOVE him. Ok, that's enough mushy gushy to last me a year, but I needed to put it out there! So, holidays are a big deal to me. Not so much to Seth. So I was a little nervous he wasn't planning anything special for our anniversary. But I shouldn't have worried because he went all out. After my half marathon Saturday morning I kept asking Seth what we were going to do that night to celebrate, and he acted like he had no idea. Needless to say I was annoyed. But then he told me to pack a bag with cute clothes and get in the car to go to our "activity." I quickly hurried over to my friend Diana's house to raid her closet for a cute dress and we headed off. I had no idea where we were going, and I almost always figure these things out. We ended up pulling into this super cute place called Homestead Resort where Seth had reserved a room for us to stay the night. It was so beautiful, and I was so excited. They also have this place called the crater which is a natural hot spring in this huge crater that we got to go swimming in. It was so cool! Then, we got prettied up and headed into Park City to go to an Italian restaurant for dinner. The food was really good, and we left feeling very full. Then we rented a movie and went back to the room for the night. The next morning, I woke up deathly ill. I won't go into details, but I have never been so violently sick in my life. It was awful. I don't know if it was the food or a virus, but on our actual anniversary I was so sick. Seth was sweet and took care of me, and I feel much better today. But there is nothing like being sick on your anniversary to make it memorable! I was just so glad that we were able to enjoy Seth's cute date the night before without me being sick. Despite the sickness, it was a great anniversary :)


In the garden before dinner

Seth at the restaurant that could or could not have made me the sickest I've been in my life haha

Me at dinner :)

Babies...and no I'm not pregnant!

So recently I have been thinking a lot about babies. Ok, so I'm lying I have always thought a lot about babies. Particularly Seth and my babies. I imagine what they'll look like, if they'll be boy or girl, blonde or bald, brown eyes or green. I wonder if they will grow into more reserved, logical people like Seth, or impulsive and hyper like me. I wonder if they will like sports or by some miracle be musical. I wonder how it will feel to be pregnant and feel tiny kicks from inside, little reminders of the miracle growing within me. If you haven't noticed I am not only baby hungry, I am baby STARVING! But Seth and I have both agreed that I need to finish school before we start having babies of our own. I know it's the right thing to do for us (particularly for my sanity), but it is so hard! And it is only getting worse the longer we've been married. It's embarrassing, honestly. It is not unusual for me to start crying in church when I see a pregnant lady or a new mom. Or just a Gerber's commercial. It has become a sort of joke between Seth and I, but let's be honest it's just pathetic. Admitting you have a problem is the first step though, right? Oh well. In the meantime I will just daydream about when I can finally be a mom. Just for kicks let's play pretend.


Let's say this is my little boy. And let's say his name is Boston Seth Merrill.

OR


I have a little girl, Ansley Grace Merrill. And yes my little girl will be in pearls before she can walk!

Ok, so let's be real. I hope my babies are that cute! But make believe children are not going to satisfy my need to hold and spoil a cute little baby. I guess I'll just keep on spoiling my perfect little niece and nephew! They are the only reason I can hold out til graduation! Love them so much!

South Carolina Trip

I got to go home for a much needed visit with my family and friends two weeks ago to be in one of my best friend's, Katie's wedding. It was so nice to escape the cold, rainy weather in Utah for hot and sunny weather there! I even talked my mom into letting Madi and Logan skip school one day so we could all go to the beach! I LOVE the beach. I don't think there is anywhere more peaceful. It's one of the many things I miss about SC. My trip was so fun, and Katie's wedding turned out beautifully. I am so happy she found such a good guy and is so happy. After the craziness of the wedding festivities, I mainly just hung out with my family which was so nice because I miss them so much it is ridiculous. I love how when I come home it feels like nothing has changed a bit. My family is so awesome, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Running with Mom, playing baseball with Logan, talking with Madi, and being held by my daddy was great. We all have so much fun and laugh tons when we're together. It's pretty great :) The only thing that could have made it better was having Seth, Ty, and Amber there with us! But luckily my wonderful parents got a beach house for a week in August, so we will be able to be all together soon! After a week trip I boarded the plane (with a tan) and headed home to the hubs. He was such a good sport playing it solo while I was gone, and I was so excited to see him! I hate that I have to miss someone in my family no matter where I am, and I hope that one day we will all be at least within driving distance of each other! But in the mean time, I will be flying across the country as much as possible to see them! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip! And thanks Seth for extending my trip and cleaning the entire house while I was gone! :)

Arizona!

So Seth and I decided last minute to take our overdue trip to Arizona last week. The freezing cold weather in Utah most likely influenced our decision the most, though! Anyways, the 12 hour drive was worth it! It was such a fun trip, and the weather was perfect! We got to go to the Easter pageant at the Tuscon temple, meet all of Seth's family from both sides, enjoy the sun, go to an ASU vs. U of A baseball game, visit Preston (Seth's youngest brother) at Eastern Arizona, shop, and eat LOTS of yummy Mexican food. Overall, a really fun trip! I didn't take a ton of pictures (imagine that), but here are a few!


Us on Easter Sunday...Seth's grandma struggled on taking the picture a little, but it turned out pretty good :)


With Preston after they played basketball


At the baseball game. My head is leaned back because it's big, and Seth's is leaned forward because it's small. Funny, I know. Haha


One of the many catuses/cacti in Arizona. I was somewhat obsessed with them because I had never seen a real one. There are literally forests of cacti there. It's really cool. Haha.


One of Seth's faves. We literally ate there 3 times this past week. 3 times of yummy, greasy, goodnesss that is!

All in all a fun trip! We were hesitant to come back to the freezing weather, but I was definitely missing these two cuties, so it made it a little easier to come back!


Baby Cooper


and little miss Ella
And the hugs and kisses at our return were worth it :)

At last...

This post will probably cause some of you, ok most of you, to think I am a complete nerd. But something monumental happened to me this past week. Monumental mainly because it remained so elusive the past three years. Let me introduce you to my arch enemy-the A-. In South Carolina there was no such thing as an A-. The grades were simply A:93-100, B:85-92, C:79-84, D:70-78, and F:anything below 70. But after coming to BYU I was quickly introduced to a grading system which does not allow you to take pride in earning a 93, but instead puts a minus at the end of your A, denoting that you were almost great, but didn't quite make the mark. Minus. Negative connotation. So in my mind an A- equals failure. Despite my intense aversion to the said grade, I nonetheless ALWAYS seemed to make one. I would work so hard to get the 4.0, but no, the A- would creep in there and knock it to a 3.93. So frustrating! But, at last, I have conquered my foe. This semester Brooke Makell Gibbons Merrill reigned victorious. Straight A's. Take that A-.
P.S. Please note that there is no such thing as an A+ at BYU. Discrimination? I think so.
P.P.S. Nursing school is even more ridiculous and awards anything below a 95 with a minus sign. Not cool.

Life Lately...

I suck at blogging. It's a fact. Maybe someday when we have kids I will be better. So for the next two years you will have to bare with me. However, there have been many happenings in the life of Brooke and Seth.
1. This perfect little guy was born April 5th. I am so excited to have little Cooper in the family! I can't imagine loving anyone more than I love Ella and Coop!


2. Misty and Tanner are having a baby! I'm sure I am going to be just as googoo over their little baby as well! So excited for them!

3. I made it through march madness without getting divorced! Haha! Just kidding, but really. I like basketball, but it is nice to have my husband's full attention again :)

4. We ditched our cable. Biggest news of it all...Seth was the one who decided to do it. I was shocked, but we both decided we will be much more productive without the TV distracting us. Yay for no ESPN! :)

5. I am running a half marathon in June! I never thought I would say this, but it really has not been too bad training for it. I have never felt more in shape, and I think it has been a great stress reliever (not to mention the 10 pounds I've lost from it). I'm only up to seven miles though, so we'll see if I end up changing my mind!

6. First year of nursing=complete. Well, after finals that is. I am so glad to be that much closer to graduating! I am so anxious to start living what I like to call, "a grown up life." Which in other words means, having a baby. But I am not one of the women who can play superwoman with a kid in school. So, I wait, but not very patiently. I do enjoy the time Seth and I get to spend just the two of us though, so I try not to take this time for granted. Here's a pic of some of my nursing buddies and I practicing shots :)


7. My family came to town to visit the cuties in update number one. It was so fun to be able to show my family my little home and spend time with them. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with such a great family, and I am so grateful for them in my life!

8. I turned 21. I know huge deal and all considering I don't drink. But whatever, I still feel grown up!

9. I am currently searching for a summer job. If you know of anything good, hook a sister up.

10. Seth and I have been married for 10 months now. It seems crazy because it seems like it has not been that long, but I can't imagine my life any other way. He makes me so happy, and I love him a little bit more each and every day. So grateful for all the support, patience, and sweetness he shows me. I think I'm a pretty lucky girl :)

Vegas Trip

So picture this. Seth and I sleeping in late, him watching a game, me reading something from my loads of nursing homework. I look out the window at all the freezing snow, and I have an epiphany. I look over at Seth and tell him I have a great idea. Usually it turns out that after rational thought and planning my wonderful ideas end up being wonderfully unrealistic. But of course that doesn't stop me from sharing my idea. I tell Seth that I'm cold and bored, and I want to just throw some stuff in a bag and drive somewhere warmer. He laughs for a while until he realizes I'm serious. This time, however, he goes along with my scheme and I'm getting excited. He starts looking up hotels and I tell him we don't have time for that we need to start out adventure right away. So we pack some stuff, grab some music, jump in the car, and go. We ended up in Vegas that night...with no idea where to stay. I get another grand idea and we pull up to a McDonald's (free wi-fi) and pull out my laptop and start looking for a hotel. Well, let's just say we hit the jackpot. We saw a really good deal at the Palms Casino for 2 nights, free dinner, and 2 passes to the spa. So we buy them, and navigate ourselves to the hotel where we are pleasantly surprised with a free upgrade to a suite. Our room was AWESOME. Our dinner was AWESOME. Our shopping was AWESOME. Basically, our trip was awesome. Plus, we got to see one of my best friends, Kylie and her cute husband Jason while we were there. It was such a fun trip, and best of all, it was seventy degrees! Needless to say we were sad to come home, but we were so glad we got to take a little trip just the two of us. Here are some pictures of our room and our trip.

Home for the Holidays!

So Seth was the best husband ever and got us tickets to go to SC for 2 weeks over the holidays. I was so excited I almost didn't complain on the LONG plane ride there! We were so happy to be able to spend time with my family since it had been 6 months since I had seen them...way too long. But when we got there, Seth had a burning up temperature and was really sick. I had never seen him so sick, and I figured it was the flu because none of us were sick and he was the only one who did not get his flu shot, despite my begging (he says he never gets sick). Seth said he'd just tough it out and participated in all of our activities, including an over night trip to Charleston with me. After about a week he was still running a fever, so we figured it was time to get some help. After one day on antibiotics he was feeling so much better. Then, on Christmas Eve he told everyone he was going last minute shopping, but was gone for four hours. If you know my husband, that is a little long for one of his usual shopping trips (by about three hours). Well, we were all sitting around when the doorbell rang. My mom opened the door and there was Ella! My mom screamed so loud it almost gave her a heart attack, and then Amber, Ty, and Seth came around the corner. They were not supposed to be coming home and had surprised us all! Best surprise ever! After that we spent the rest of the time all having fun together despite our close quarters. I was so sad to leave home, and I can't wait to go back again! Some of the fun things we did were: going to the zoo, going to Hopeland Gardens for Christmas lights, making Christmas candy trains a new tradition Seth introduced, going to Charleston where we went on a ghost tour and ate yummy food and shopped, going to Grandmother's house, going to the Roberts' house for Christmas dinner, going to a USC basketball game with the siblings, spending time with old friends, going to Bouncy Brats, teaching Madi to drive, Logan teaching me to skateboard (I loved it!), having a New Year's party at our house, and much more! Thanks Mom and Dad for having us! Here are a few pictures from the trip...


Us in Charleston overlooking the harbor.


My Christmas train


Seth's train.


The girls at Bouncy Bratz.


All the kids at the basketball game.