A Reminder.

Heavenly Father loves you.

In Relief Society today each of us got a copy of this letter:

"Dear Daughter,

I remember well the day you left my side and wandered through the veil, venturing forth to fulfill your earthly mission. I had a tear in my eye as I clothed your spirit in a cloak of love and sent you off to school. Be assured that my thoughts are with you now, as always.

I love you with all my heart. I know your life; the good, the bad, your grief, your disappointments, your unrewarded efforts, your frustrations and your temptations. But always remember - all that I have is yours if you will only come home again.

Daughter, realize that in you I have placed a bit of heaven, no one was exempt. I love all my children. You have some blest gifts, some talents, and some little part of me in you. Search for it. Develop it. use it, and most importantly, share it with others. If you really love me, then help others to find themselves, and lead them back to me. Show your love by serving others.

Repent of your failings and humble yourself. Make yourself ever teachable and continually strive to improve. I gave you weakness to help you be humble. Don't condemn me for that. I did it because I love you. Be full of hope; don't let discouragement engulf you. I'll come when you need me.

Daughter, cease your idle contentions. Be a peacemaker, for it breaks my heart to see many of my children fighting. If they could only see what I have hoped, planned, and desired for them.

My heart breaks as I watch them. but you, my faithful daughter, are my hope. It is through you that my work must proceed. you haven't much time, and there is much to be done. I beg you to get stated. Accomplish the mission I gave to you before you left me. I'll help you. I'll never be too busy or too far away to come to you. I'm nearer to you than you might suspect. I have so much that I would like to tell you.

Come to me often in prayer. I love to talk to you, my beloved daughter. be diligent in my work and my kingdom shall be yours. I'd love to take you in my arms, but I must wait patiently until the time comes. until then, I leave you my peace, my blessing, and a my love. Never forget that I am nearby whenever you need me.

I love and miss you so much. How I am looking forward to your return to your mother and me.

All my love,

Your Heavenly Father."

This was a really good reminder for me. To remember I am loved and being kept track of. I matter. YOU matter. Remember you NEVER walk alone.

Hope this brightened your day.

-Brookie

Photography: it's all about finding the beauty.

I am a photography junkie. I absolutely love looking at photos others have taken, as well as take my own. From my late grandfather's own dark room he'd develop his photos from in his basement to Photography art shows in Spain... Photography has always been something that fascinates me. Behind every photo there is always a story that the viewer can only try to imagine. Maybe that's one of the things so captivating about photography to me. How every single frame, every photo can have a story and personal meaning to the photographer.

So many beautiful moments go on unnoticed and simply passed by because they are not seen. It's up to the beholder to find that hidden beauty, capture the moment truly SEE the amazing simplicity Heavenly Father's creations have. It's all around. Taking the time to notice and see it is the hard part. It takes a trained eye to notice the little things that can make an amazing photograph. I hope someday to have that trained eye so I can find the beauty in the unnoticed more often.

I have an obsession with photographing flowers.

I took this in San Francisco on a wandering walk with my family in one of its beautiful neighborhoods. It was about 10 in the morning and a resident had just watered their flowers. I actually walked past the flowers before stopping in my tracks, turning around and kneeling down on the cobblestone to get a good shot. My family kept walking and turned a corner without me, I ended up getting lost for a short while. Worth the photo.

This Photo was taken in on of the gardens of Hampton Court Palace, London. Hampton Court Palace's gardens are incredible. There is this huge rose garden that is only in bloom a few certain weeks per year. We were lucky to be there when the roses were in full bloom. You can see the palace in the background.

This photo was taken in my own yard, believe it or not. My Dad takes great care of our yard and it always looks fantastic. On this certain day I remember that I'd had an awful day at school for whatever reason. I was sitting in my room trying to think of something to cheer myself up. I saw my camera sitting there and grabbed it to go take photos in the yard. Cheered me up almost immediately. The lighting was perfect. Turned my day around.

I took this photo at my Grandfather's funeral. These are my Grandmother's hands. This was shortly after the last shot was fired. Being at this funeral was a new and different experience for me because it was the first funeral I had ever been to. I remember feeling uncomfortable being around crying people and feeling sad myself, so I distracted myself by taking photos throughout. So even in the sadness I found something beautiful. This photo. And I hope to someday be as an amazing a photographer as my Grandpa Veryl.

I love the stories behind photos. I love trying to find the beautiful around me. what can I say... I love photography! and like I said earlier....

Photography: it's all about finding the beauty.

Hope you have a lovely day.

loves!

-brookie

Why Do We Do Things That HURT Us?

why do we do hard work outs that push us and leave our bodies hurting the next day?

why do we stay up late completely sleep deprived studying?

why do we give blood when it leaves us nauseated and dizzy?

why do we work for hours in the yard/garden when its blistering hot?

all these things have one thing in common: they are all things done for a higher cause. They are all things done for a good ending in mind; they are things done with faith that there WILL be a pay off and reason for the struggle.

so... with all this in mind., why do we love?

I'm not going to pretend like I am an expert at this sort of thing, because believe me... I'm most definitely not. I am simply expressing my thoughts based on both my own experiences and what I have observed around me. Not meaning to sound like a downer, but with love... there aren't always guarantees. Sure there aren't necessarily guarantees in the things above either. The blood you give in hopes that it will go towards saving a life could be given to someone who ends up dying the next day in spite of the donated blood. Or maybe the late night studying doesn't help your test score... the extraneous exercising leads to injuries... and the garden still doesn't work out despite the hard work..maybe there's a drought? But the BOTTOM LINE: these things most definitely do have a stronger sense of consistency.

Love can be both intangible and gratifying at the same time. Love is inevitable, yet sometimes we go out of our way to avoid it. But why would we try to avoid something so unavoidable? Without love what is the point of life? The answer? ...For fear of pain. The fear that the pain experienced due to loving someone WON'T have a higher cause, that it won't have a happy ending.. THAT'S what holds people back sometimes. The fear that if you keep holding on, the other may let go first. So to save yourself the possible affliction... YOU simply let go. To keep yourself safe. Or you never really completely hold on in the first place. ...But are you really saving yourself? Or are you just holding yourself back from happiness?

Sometimes there is the opposite. A fearless perseverance and a hope inside of us that keeps us reaching and fighting for that ever so elusive butterfly called love. Sometimes there is an internal determination that moves us. Sometimes we actually let our HEART lead our feet. When this happens, when we aren't letting ourselves hold us back.... we take a leap of faith. And hope that someone will be there to meet us halfway through that leap.. to catch us. We pray that leap of faith that leaves us completely vulnerable will be worth the risk in the long haul. That it will bring us that sense of security, knowledge that we are loved in return.

Sometimes when that leap is taken for naught and we end up free falling, it can be hard to bounce back right away or at all. Now our memories of the past are what keep us hesitant from making such a move again. But that hesitancy CAN be overcome. and MUST be overcome if we ever hope for true happiness in life. Standing at the edge of the ocean with one foot half heartedly in the water will not bring joy. It could bring safety... but we will always have the 'what if' factor in the back of our minds... of what COULD have been. "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were built for..."

We know we must take the risk at some point. We must open up completely to experience that undeniably genuine joy. But I believe that no matter what hurt and trials we must first overcome before finally getting hold of that ever so elusive butterfly called LOVE ..no matter how long it stays within our grasp....no matter how long it takes us to muster up that confidence to step outside of our comfort zones.... it will undoubtedly be worth the leap. It will be worth the pain. It will be worth the fear.

....."IT" will be worth everything.

loves! -brookie

la la laughs in the library

ohhhh the joys of finals week. hallelujah for this semester almost FINALLY being over! Only a few more days and i will be home for almost an entire month with the fam damily in good ol' springville. haha. Well anyways, so Kaitlyn and i were in the library just trying to study for our U.S. Institutions final and kept having to look up things in wikipedia to freshen our memories up of things we had forgotten. (I probably shouldn't be admitting I still use Wikipedia... but oh well. don't judge.) :) Well this picture of this one annoying lady kept popping up. She's... well.. see for your self.

Okay Wikipedia is it REALLY necessary to have these creepily smiling and staring-into-my-soul people on your website? But every time dear sweet Maryana Pinchuk showed up on the screen we'd just bust up laughing for a second. Before I'd quickly scroll down to hide her face. About the fourth time this happened I guffawed really loud (no it STILL hadn't gotten old, okay?!) and the man sitting further down the couch to the left of me gave me a death glare. Woaah okay sorry dude. Sorry you have no sense of humor. But if you saw the way Maryana Pinchuk was staring at me on my screen you would probably be laughing too. Not to mention this sweet gentleman was wearing the ugliest sweater ever. What a winner. But I bet his mom loves him. hahaha.

So although we may have annoyed a few people in the hallowed library.. those few laughs were definitely great little breaks amidst the long studying. Wish me luck on my last two finals!

But really quick here are some things for laughs:

Hahaha I hope these made you laugh! I know I did! The last one is totally something my mom would do. haha:) loves!

Brookie

Heart on my sleeve;

"someone who shows and displays their emotions and feelings openly."

a weakness?--

some would say yes.

usually i say definitely.

i leave myself exposed;

i put myself out there.

i let my walls down easily.

my emotions are impossible to hide

i am so trusting of everybody.

i am completely sincere and put my whole heart into everything i do.

and sometimes

all these things make me the target--

..make me the one most prone to pain.

difficult times that have occurred

have made me sometimes question

the way i am.

if i wasn't so open,

so forgiving,

if i kept walls up--

and was very selective

about who i let in--

maybe i wouldn't get so hurt.

but maybe,

i would lose out on other experiences.

the more important ones,

the meaningful ones.

those memories that stay with you through the years

and continue to teach you,

and make you smile

while others fade.

like that time i was the one

brave enough to first say what

we were both thinking:

i love you.

or when i was told after my soccer game by a complete stranger that he watched me for only ten minutes but knew from those few minutes that i had

a deep passion for the game,

and a boatload of

heart.

this "weakness" is the way i see and

respond to the world

and those around me.

this "weakness" is who i am

and the way i've always been.

wearing my heart

on my sleeve

is so me.

so Brooke Elizabeth Larsen.

maybe at this moment in my life

the pain that results from it can sometimes seem to outweigh the goodness.

but life has it's rough patches.

and i'm not going to change anything

because of anyone

or for anyone.

I'm me.

and my heart's on my sleeve.

and the goodness is going to come out conquerer over the pain.

#exposedbutstrong

A BEST FRIEND.

Do you have someone who knows you inside and out? I mean, really TRULY knows you. Someone who knows the little things about you. The things others don't even notice.

Do you have someone who you can sit in silence with and be content? Someone who can tell exactly what's on your mind with just a look? Someone who will sit and listen to you talk and vent your face off? Someone who is patient and kind with you even when you are being impossible?

Do you have someone who is ALWAYS there for you? Do you have someone who you are absolutely crazy with and do the most fun and spontaneous things together? someone that you have about a BILLION inside jokes with? (PUKALINI!!!, "FJ", hahabahba, "Isn't that NEAT?", "give it to me! No, not cake!" ....etc...)

Do you have someone who has blessed your life so strongly you know God put them there for a reason?

I Do.

Thank heavens for them; BEST FRIENDS. :)

Everyone needs one.

"The family unit is fundamental not only to society and to the church...

but to our hope for eternal life."

-Elder Henry B. Eyring

how blessed I am to be in the family that I am.

I love them more than words can express, and look forward to spending eternity with them.