He thought of us

As He prays in the garden, as He dies for us, as we sin so carefree, does He cry? When He rose from the tomb, when He was wearing the crown of thorns, He thought of us. Now we go on living, but do we think of Him? Do we thank Him everytime we pray, do we love Him each and everyday? Do we sing praises in His name? Did we think of Him enough today? He thought of us, let us return the favor.

Time to Be...

It's time. No more precious seconds to waste. No more "I'll try next time". That time is now. Time to live up to our birth right. Time to stand and not fall. Time to be a light keeper. Time to be a true example of the believers. My testimony of the Church burns in my heart every time I think of Him. Every time I think of those who don't know of it's truths. Every time I see a "light" break. Sadly, we cannot stop others from making disappointing choices, but we can be there for them. Teach by example this holiday season. Make Him proud to call you His child. Live up to your birth right. Live up to Him.

Mesa Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The peace one feels at the temple is amazing. Even on the opening night of the temple nights, with so many members attending to see the sacred ground light up, the calmness of it all is mind boggling. I suppose it does make sense, seeing that the temple is a place for peace and happiness. But the thing that always gets me is the imediate feeling of love once you walk onto the temple grounds. Something so simple as a building has been made holy by the meaning of it. To stand next to a place dedicated to Him and see it light up in the rememberance and happiness of His son is a humbling and inforgettable experiance. I hope that lights of the temple will help brighten all of your endeavors this holiday season, and give you one more thing to smile about. "I love to see the temple...".

These are a small porton of the lights that decorate the temple grounds

The manger scene with the temple in the background.

Some

Some people are born with natural talents. Others work at it for years to become exceptional at the skill. Remember when you were little and you were asked by your teacher to write about your talents? You would over think the question, and would end up writing about the talents you would want to have. The phrase, "everyone has talents", might seem repeated too often, but people say it for a reason. Having doubts? Feel free to read Doctrine and Covenants section 46: 11-26. This scripture talks about the many talents from being able to gain knowledge and having the gift of faith. Too many of us, myself included, think of talents such as being able to ride a unicycle, being good at a sport, or having a great memory. Although these are talents, I would like to invite you to start thinking more about the talents discussed in section 46, especially during this Thanksgiving "strong"- end. Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope you will light up someones day by telling them the talents you see in them!!!

New kid in town

Yesterday my mom and I drove back from a great vacation in Cali, and we brought my Papa with us!!! Even though I go back to school Wednesday, I am determined to have some serious fun with him, even if it means sitting in bed and whatchin the news while not saying a word to each other... Exciting right??? But don't worry, I've got my trusty iPod touch to keep me company. As us school kids dreadfully bury our Fall Break next to a tombstones labeled," forever missed", let's remember - their is always Christmas Break!!!

Fall Break!!!!

Starting this October I am now on Fall Break!!! In these two weeks of bliss and fun filled access I am planning on returning to my former homeland of California to visit family. For this I am excited and am eagerly awaiting the time for the trip to be scheduled. I don't ask though, my mom is sensitive about nagging!!! I hope that you can all have an enjoyable two weeks off from school work and educational labor of any sort. Have a great Break!!!

Taylor Swift - Mine

I really like this song, I think it's one of her bests! I have a hard time at the end, though, trying to believe she looks old enough to be a mom.

Sophie

Sophie Brooke is my little Chi-wawa who loves to jump all around! I felt the need to put her on my blog because Zeus is already shown, so why not Sophie??? This picture was taken at one of my cousin's birthday parties, so she was a little nervous. She is one of the sweetest dogs ever! I sleep with her every night, and she always wakes up excited to see me, affectionately biting my nose. Who could ask for a more adorable dog??? Being the only girl dog in the family, she defiantly demands attention - and she gets it!! Don't worry P.T. and Javier, we love you to!!!

Oops!

Yikes! So... do you remember the post about me growing my hair out? Well, I don't think it's working out too well. I cut my hair on Sunday! My long hair was getting too unmanageable. Sorry America! When I cut my hair I usually donate it to the Locks of Love organization which helps make wigs for people with cancer, but my hair wasn't long enough this time. Anyway... here is a link to the Locks of Love website.

Operation Beautiful

I found out about Operation Beautiful on tv after school today and I think it's a great idea. This video explains why they started it and what you do. It's not a thing you have to sign up to do or pay any money, you just leave kind notes in public places for people to see. Wouldn't you be happy if you saw a kind note on the Target mirror when you walked out of the bathroom? It sounds silly, but try it! Here is a link to the Operation Beautiful site.

FOOD!!!

Listen up!!! You are about to see the BEST pictures in the world...

Food. We all eat it and we should, in my opinion, enjoy it. At my Aunt Pam's house, that's not a problem. As you can see, some of my cousins are feasting on pasta and bread sticks. These pictures were taken a while ago, but let me be the first to tell you, they still act that way when eating her food. No one can lie, it's just plain delicious!!! I love BBQ's there because they've got it all down! They perfect dips and chips, kool aid... the list could go on and on! I hope my cousins don't mind these pictures... ; )

Spring Break

Last Spring Break my mom and I went to California to visit some family. We had a blast, and I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

In front of the L.A. Temple

This is me sitting in front of the L.A. Temple. We decided to visit it last minute while we were driving around, so I was just wearing sweat pants! It was really cool visiting it, though. I'm glad we went.

Aaron and I on the beach

We also got up at five in the morning to watch my cousin, Aaron, go surfing on the beach where he lives. It was a ton of fun. My mom and I started to feed the birds and they kept coming at us! I felt like the bird lady in "Mary Poppins"!

We also went to...

Mom and I waking through Disneyland

DISNEYLAND!!!!! I got to go to the happiest place on earth with my mom and my Aunt Robin. I hadn't been there for years and it was amazing going back! We went on rides and went inside Mickey Mouses' house! I'd go back in a heartbeat! Before we left we ran into our neighbors in front of the "It's a Small World" ride.

Aunt Robin and I eating lunch in Disneyland

Then we went through a blast of the past as we visited one of the houses my mom grew up in. We met the lady who now lives there  and she was really nice, especially about the part where we are taking pictures of her house as she suddenly parks in the drive way!

Mom is front of her old house growing up

THEN... my mom and I went to visit Aunt Robin at work. Now, you might think of this as boring and typical, but, believe me, it was amazing!!! My aunt works on the TV show "The Middle", so we got to go on set and meet most of the people on the show including...

Patti and I

Patricia Heaton!!! Here is a link to their website if you want to check it out, The Middle!!!

Dream Goal

A few nights ago I had a dream that I was in my room looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a dress and as I looked closer in the mirror I noticed that I have amazingly long hair. Now, I used to have long hair, but since it's so thick I always end up cutting it short. In my dream my hair flows down to my lower back and is slightly crimped. It's red and golden color shines as I toss it back and forth, admiring it in my fantasy land.

It's weird to dream about hair, don't you think? But it's made me want to grow my hair out even more than I did when I first cut my hair. It's now one of my silly goals inspired by a silly dream. I can still see the picture of it in my head.

So, I want to ask you all a question, have any of you ever had a dream that you made into a goal (whether you accomplished it or not)?

This is a picture of me on Easter celebrating in my backyard with family. I'll try to upload a more recent picture to record my goal. I'll try to keep posting new picture of my hair every once in a while!!!

Harry Potter

Alright, alright. i know, Harry Potter, really??? but yes, really. what can i say? it is my favorite book series and the movies are super cool too, but now on to other fish in the sea. the harry potter theme park in Orlando, Florida!!! no, i have never actually been there, but I've imagined it enough! the park includes three rides, and most of the major settings such as the Hogsmeade Village, and of course Hogwarts. i wonder if hogs are J.K. Rowling's favorite animal... if any of you are at least a little interested, i would defiantly suggest visiting this website, it rocks!!! Click to visit Muggle Net.

The Band Perry - Hip To My Heart

I love this song!!!

Word Birds

after writing poems every day,

you start to think in that same way.

trying to get words to rhyme,

can be an awful good use of time.

but now let's be finished, with all these words.

let them fly away, like little birds.

Silence is Golden

Silence is golden,

duck tape is silver,

if she doesn't zip it right now,

I'll just try to kill her!

how can she go babbling about,

when we aren't allowed to whisper, much less shout!

she just happens to get her way,

any time, any place,

sure, she seems friendly, nice, and carefree,

but it all seems like a scheme to me!

just because we all don't go babbling about,

doesn't mean we don't have problems that we don't want to shout!

some of us just have good manners, you see,

so take some advice: zip it.

to: you, from: me

Hello!

Hi! Madison Brooke here. I'm super excited for all of you to see my new blog. I've always been big on writing and now I think I'm ready to share some of my writing pieces. I will be putting in poems (my specialty) and maybe even some short stories. Hope all goes well... Enjoy yourself!!!

- Madison Brooke