Hi guys!

I have bad news.

I accidentally deleted a REALLY important file for this blog on my computer.
Pretty much everything to do with settings for this blog are toast...

It makes me so sad, because I really love this blog, and we just started it!

But we must move on!
Brantley and I are starting-yet again- a new blog! (hopefully this will be our last)

I have complied all the blog posts about Brantley and I's history from this blog, as well as my previous blog I had when Brantley and I were dating.  I posted them all on our NEW blog, so we can have them all in one place :) It really was fun to remember all those fun dates we had!

I hope you do not feel burdened by all the changes, but I'm hoping this will be the last one! :)

Thanks for your support!!
Love, Claire and Brantley

LINK TO NEW BLOG: http://hubbywifeybrooks.blogspot.com/

Halloween

Bert and Mary Poppins

We love Halloween! 

This year (our first married) we threw a little party! 

It was so fun to plan and just a fun time! 

My sister took these awesome pictures I will show you:

thanks fun friends!

fun batt tutorial: here

Happy Birthday Mom!

November 3 is my mom's birthday! 

She truly is the best mom in the world and I love her so much. 

Brantley and I wrote a little song for her on skype to the tune of "A boy named Sue" by Jonny Cash 

(ha)

she's the best

I have a mom and I call her mama Freeby

She is so darn good to you and me

I heard from a bird she's turning fifty,

You know what, I think that's pretty nifty

Oh mama dear you sure are loved

we wish we were there to give you a hug

you've taught me so much about love and trust

you even gave me rides when I missed the bus

So we wanna tell you on this special day

and really there is no one way to say

how awesome you are and how much you are loved

mother dear you're a gift from above. 

We love you mom!! 

Happy Birthday!

we love fall

This fall has been wonderful to us. 

The most perfect weather you can imagine.

It is slowly getting colder, but I love all the colors fall brings. 

Thanks Rexburg. 

Natural Grocers

Brantley and I had the AWESOME opportunity of going and learning about Natural Grocers in Idaho Falls, a 100% natural grocery store. 

The thing I found most interesting about the store is its founding principles. It is so different than any other business I have ever encountered. 

-Its a Family Store beginning with a simple nutrition book 

-Dedicated to provided nutrition education (they hold seminars 10x a year for their employees just so they are educated about health and nutrition)

-Everyday affordable pricing.  I was a little skeptical about this one at first.  Who knows of 100% natural foods as ever being "affordable" but as I looked around the store I noticed it really was! They can do this by saving money elsewhere (like no plastic bags or paper, only reusable-how awesome) so they can lower the prices for produce.

-committed to community.  They provide free classes and one on one private nutrition coaches weekly in the store.   

They have classes on...

Heart Health

Bone Health

Brain Health

Weight loss

Food Jungle (reading food labels)

Gluten Free Living

Meal Planning 

(and more)

(I really want to take their cooking classes made with all natural ingredients) 

-committed to employees.  They provide their employees with a "living wage" rather than a minimum wage.  It was cool to learn that when the company wasn't as big, the owners would take all the employees to lunch. 

Basically the whole point of Natural Grocers is to inform others of the benefits of natural eating so that they can then make better decisions. 

I love that. 

Trevor Benion is the Nutritionist at Natural Grocers and put on the seminar

I really enjoyed this seminar, partly because an AMAZING display of food was given to us. All made with 100% non artificial, organic and natural ingredients (that is HARD)

  

YEAH IM SERIOUS.  All of these things were delicious (which I did not expect to be honest).  It really is amazing all you can do with real ingredients.  and they taste normal and GOOD.  I don't know why we all don't all make these changes.  I would eat like this everyday. 

Top Left: Sausage and egg casserole 

Top Right: curry and BLT lettuce wraps (my favorite)

Bottom Left: Vanilla Greek yogurt with Brazilian nuts and raspberries 

Bottom Right: Dairy free blueberry cheesecake (so stinkin' good.)

I would recommend everyone go learn about making healthy alternatives and becoming educated in nutrition and other parts of your life! 

PS) Natural Grocers also has a "health and beauty" section. I was in heaven. 

October-the love month

On October 17, we celebrated
6 MONTHS
as husband and wife.
We went to Applebee's and reminisced about our adventure so far as a duo.
We both agreed it was pretty great. :)
we started thinking about all of our "firsts"

October 2013 was a pretty packed month for our "firsts" and I am so glad we wrote them all down :)

On October 1, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the day we met!!
Exactly one year ago on that day, we were in Room 214 in the Clark building in our Family Foundations class.
I had talked to Brantley once before on the very first class when he asked me if I was trying to add it (I was on the wait list and so was he) But we never had really "met"
(I also thought he was WAY too cute and I was like a little girl too nervous to look at him. true story.)

BUT on October 1, he came up to me while I was packing away my notebook in my brand new backpack
"Hey, is your name Claire?"
My heart stopped as I looked up and saw that cutie.
I also think I started sweating.
He complimented me on my blue flower dress and asked if he could walk me to the library.
What I thought: UM YES ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
What I said: "ya sure"
haha
He walked me to the library (actually showing me where it was-I still got lost on campus a lot)
 he asked me to "lunch sometime"
my heart was his right then.
I was so mad I forgot my phone that day when he asked for my number.
I had to wait TWO whole days before he texted me. But it was worth it :)
On my walk home from the library,
A voice came into my head
"This one is different, be yourself with this one"
I will never forget that walk home
It was the perfect day and I love that story and that man with all my heart. 

Our Story

October 1-First meeting 

see above

October 4-First date at the Haunted Straw Maze and cocoa bean(So fun. I was so scared and grabbed on to Brantley's arm a couple times on accident...maybe not on accident ;) We went with two other couples (first time I met either of them) and this year we went to the sealing of Ben and Kenzie! They are our favorite. We celebrated our one year anniversary of our first date with them by going back to the haunted maze and cocoa bean :)

sorry bad quality

October 8- First time I saw Brantley play basketball and met his parents.  

Oh boy I was scared for this one. 

Brantley invited me I think the day of, I think not expecting I would say yes 

(we were texting and I asked him what he was doing that night because I wanted to know if he was with a girl  

and he invited me!) and I was so there.

It was a 30 min. drive to Idaho Falls.  When we got there, I sat with his mom. 

That was so scary.

But I loved them from the get go! :)

I think this is when I really started liking him because his mom was telling me all these wonderful things about him :)

also he was really quite attractive making every 3 pointer he shot. 

I will just list them from here. I have way too many good stories about us 

October 12- Tennis and Subway date 

October 13- Talk at the Temple (PIVOTAL)--this comes into play when he proposes :)

October 15-attended first devotional together (at BYUI thats a big deal)

October 17- swimming date and we told each other we had crushes on each other <3 

October 18-Deep Love concert and 4-wheeling

October 20-dinner with family and holding hands 

October 25-26-Took a trip to Utah! (we stayed with separate friends) and this is where we had our first kiss in the BYU gardens in Provo :)

October 30- Boyfriend Girlfriend :)

As you can probably tell, from day 1 we spent all our time together. 

I loved October and all the months after :)

strands of rope

Hey! Its Brantley.  I am blessed to be in a Book of Mormon class at BYU-Idaho and for an assignment I have the opportunity to share on a blog a part of a lesson we have been learning.  So here goes!

Recently, I took a trip down memory lane and was able to watch one of my favorite childhood movies: The Three Ninjas. The premise of the movie involves 3 young kids who are training to be skilled ninjas from their grandfather. Every year, they spent their summer learning from their grandfather new moves, but more importantly learning from his wisdom.  One piece of wisdom he shares with them is that between the four of them, they represent four pieces of rope, which separately are not very strong but together, can hold the heaviest of burdens.

I related this to my marriage (to the breathtakingly perfect Claire Brooks). I am so grateful that we have a strong  marriage. However, I learned a lesson this last week that I hope to never forget. Things were good, as usual, but on this particular night we decided to discuss our marriage. We began talking and as time went by, the conversation got deeper and deeper. We both shared things that we adore about each other and things that had been weighing on our souls. Before we knew it tears were flowing and we embraced realizing that talking to each other and seeing from each other's point of view is one of the best ways to bring us together.

After this experience, I was reading the Book of Mormon.  I read of Lehi and Sariah when they were put in a difficult situation.  At first glance, in 1 Nephi 5, I was almost sad to read that Sariah was murmuring when they were in such a difficult situation. But the truth of it is, she was asked to give up a lot of things: her spacious house, her wealth and riches, her friends that they left behind in Jerusalem.  And now what does she have? She is living in a tent? she does not know if her four sons will ever return from her journey?  Of course she would voice her concerns! No mortal can experience that amount of trial without feeling some measure of an overweighing burden.

Sometimes in life, we have a tendency to judge others for their lack of faith or "dignity" in hard times, but that is not our place.  We are not aware, fully, to what people may be battling inside.  Only our Savior who died for us and took the place for our suffering knows. We have no place to judge or to look down upon others when we do not understand the trial that has been placed upon them.

Striving to understand people's feelings will add an extra strand of rope to our relationships with our husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends, parents, etc.

-Brantley

sentimental

I am just feeling so super sentimental right now.  Its incredible how amazing life is and how amazing progress is. Just wow.

My wonderful Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law are coming tomorrow to visit us in Rexburg.  Brantley and I decided that such an honored visit deserved a clean kitchen.  We started to sweep and clean while singing 80's songs from the movie Guardian's of the Galaxy. (we love that movie)  While I was finishing sweeping, I looked around. WE ARE SO AMAZINGLY BLESSED. When we were applying for apartments in Rexburg, our best bed was a tiny studio apartment for $550 a month, which, by the end of two semesters,  would be almost all of our pelgrant money, leaving us with very little wiggle room. The day we decided to sign with them, Brantley's friend from work offered us a room in his house in exchange for only 10 hours of work a week.  At the time, I realized it was a blessing and an amazing opportunity, but I never thought about how it was a DIRECT blessing from our Heavenly Father.  I am awed at this beautiful place we get to live for such a little sacrifice. It is amazing

Then, I looked on Facebook and saw one of my best friend's mom post a blog about her adventures as a missionary.  My friend, Sister Knapp, is serving a mission in Scottsdale, AZ.  She and I used to talk for hours about being missionaries and getting married. I skipped the mission and went straight for the marriage.  I am so proud of her for going and being such an amazing missionary.  I miss her so crazy much.  I read her blog post and bawled.  She has been an example to me for as long as I can remember. If anyone needs a spiritual uplift, click here to read her amazing testimony. 

After I started missing Savannah, I started realizing how much I missed Kansas and my parents and my brother. (I see my sister everyday but now I miss her too right now!-haha) I have been so blessed to be raised in such an amazing family.  Wow I love them! They are the perfect amount of goofy, humble, wonderful, and happy.  Its amazing how amazing they are! I miss my Freebys! 

I am grateful for a million other things: byui (I LOVE THAT PLACE) a wonderful new family, my incredible husband who would do anything for me, and just the fact that I have the gospel and I can look forward to being better as I go.  Life is a wonderful thing. 

Surprise

Happy anniversary to us! 5 whole months! Found this little guy in my backpack this morning:)

Marriage is about...Doing each other's favorite things

We are learning a whole lot about this whole marriage business as we go through it. One of those things is learning how to do each other's favorite things. 

When we were getting to know each other, Brantley and I both agreed that we would try new things.  Maybe going to new places, trying fancy meals, or taking a leap of faith now and then.  When we got married, we started realizing that the "new things" in our life may be more of the little things the other has always enjoyed doing.  

As you know, Brantley loves guitar.  loves it, and I love that he loves it! What amazes me more, is how he can play a guitar for hours and never get tired of it.  The only reason he stops is if there is dinner or we have to leave or something. One of his favorite places (in the world, I think) is the "Guitar Center." It has every type of guitar you can imagine, as well as Brantley's favorite, the Taylor Guitar. When Brantley has some extra time in the evening after work, he always wants to go there, even if he does not say it, I just know by the way he is listing off other things we could do that that option is in his mind.  We go a lot :) Its fun for me to see him in his favorite place, playing guitars we cant afford and telling me all about them.  Its his favorite thing and I'm glad I get to experience it with him :)

Tonight, Brantley treated me to one of my favorite things :) Two actually! That boy spoils me :) When I picked him up from work today (a little early since we had a prior engagement) He told me he had a surprise for me! We got in the car and drove a little ways, I had no idea where we were going. When we pulled into the nail salon parking lot, I about jumped out of the moving car. I have been wanting to get my nails done for a while since we have been in California. That guy is too sweet.  When we got to the front desk, however, he surprised me even more by signing up for a pedicure himself! Oh man that was the best to have him do it with me :) He loved it too! haha :) What the sweetest thing was was that he wanted to do one of my favorite things too.  I married a good one. 

Marriage is about doing each other's favorite things. It may not be your favorite, but because it's your sweetheart's you do it anyway. You do it to see what makes them happy and experience it for yourself to grow closer and happier.  Thats what I learned about marriage today. 

We love Sundays

I love Sundays for a ton of reasons, one huge one is that I get to be with this guy all day. He lays on the couch and plays the guitar with his eyes closed, smiling every now and then. At the music he is making. Just another reason why he is my favorite 

Stinkin alarms

Do I have a story to tell you.

This happened 3 minutes ago, mind you, so I'm still a bit worked up. 

So I love that Brantley sells security systems- he is awesome and I'm proud of him. He sells awesome alarms that get the job done.  

His office, which is on the first floor of our apartment complex, which is unlocked most of the day, has one of these systems so that the employees can have the app and show their customers how it works.  Normally it is not armed....

B and I had a great thought that I could take up my insanity again there! It seemed perfect! It was on the first floor where I wouldn't bother any one (still a little embarrassed about that) and it offers free wifi so I could get school stuff done there all in one little trip!  (The bosses were ok with it too so we weren't breaking any rules or anything, just fyi)

I did insanity again for the first time yesterday and was going to go do it again tonight! I go down with my laptop and water bottle ready to sweat when I see the light on in the office apartment. Normally it isn't on so naturally I wondered if someone was there. I knocked, but no one answered. 

so I went in

bad idea

I hear this fait beeping coming from the security panel on the windowsill. 

crud

the beeping got louder and louder and then a lady's voice said, "put in the code to disarm your system."

CODE?! Kay, no idea about a code. 

after about 10 seconds she came back and said "front door intrusion" 

I am pressing every stinkin button on the stinkin panel as the loudest stinkin alarm came on. 

I then get smart and call my husband who knows the code, thank goodness.  He answered and then sounded paniky as he heard the alarm.  He told me the code, but it was a good 20 seconds after the alarm went off....

I got the heck out of there.  

and now I'm by the pool enjoying the free wifi where I don't have to worry about the cops getting called on me. (I'm not sure if they are going to show up or not...hope not) 

I'm probably never going back there again.  

***best part*** There is a camera set up in the office as well.  we will get to enjoy that treasure of a video later. 

temples

Sometimes, I forget to realize how amazingly blessed we are.  It is absolutely amazing what the Lord is capable of doing for us. I am so grateful to Him.

Today, Brantley and I attended the temple.  What a beautiful building!! Neither of us had been to a temple since our wedding, so it was so special to go and remember that wonderful day :)

We are blessed to only live 30 minutes from the Redlands temple. I loved this temple!! The spirit of the Lord is so strong in all of them.

I feel so blessed to have been married in the Temple to Brantley. He is my everything and I am so glad for the knowledge that families are forever. 

To learn more about temples, visit here

Insanity is loud.

So...today my lovely husband called me during his day of work...

apparently, our downstairs neighbors do not really appreciate my constant jumping and loud insanity moves.

Whoops.

So, for the time being, I think I will need to move to the gym until I can find another place to be insane. (haha)

Insanity-day 8ish

I am a bit of a sickly right now.

I have a bad cold and cant really breathe out of my nose...but its all good

I have to rewind a little bit on my insanity.  I accidentally misread the calendar and I wasn't supposed to start my recovery week for another two weeks-whoops! I got a little spoiled with that one. I got back on track yesterday with Cardio Power and Resistance. I actually really like that one for some reason.

However,

Today was Pure Cardio.

Enough has been said. 

Lunch time!

Wow. This selling stuff is rough. I'm not sure how B does it all day, but he is amazing, always with a positive attitude no matter how many people turn us away. That's one reason why I love him so stinking much. No sales yet, back to knocking!!! 

Take your wife to work day

We are matchy matchy today! 

I have the opportunity to go out and sell with Mr. Brooks today!! I'm very excited to see what he does all day and how I can support him more! It will be a fun day!! 

Insanity- day 7

mkay you caught me.

I skipped a day.

BUT i'm back on track today!

Its my "recovery week" so I am just doing "Cardio Abs and Balance"

I like this one! Its hard but its more muscles hard, not so much I'm totally out of breath.

The hardest part is the ending.

what we do is we squat real low and then move our arms up and down while straight out

and then up and down
and then front and  back
and then circle back
and then circle forward

And it hurts like crazy!!! But as always, I'm feelin good :)

Insanity- day 6

Cardio Abs.

Today was fun.

I actually really like this exercise for some reason! It makes me feel like I'm making a physical difference as I go.  Its super hard, as always, but I enjoyed it a little more today!

I am starting to notice some physical improvements! My legs are more firm and I have better endurance!


Today Brantley did the most wonderful thing for me!!
I sometimes sleep a little longer than he does (working on that) but today I woke up to the yummy smell of pancakes in my bed :) mmmmm I love that man! THEN all today I have been finding super cute notes all over the house from him.

I married the kindest man ever I'm convinced.

Love you Brantley! Can't wait for our movie date tonight!!!

Insanity- day 5

Pure Cardio

Shaun T is nuts.

Nuts I tell you.

I dont understand what was going through his mind as he made this workout...but I think he had some extra motivation to make it super hard.

As we were warming up, I was realizing that the warm up was getting easier! I was super happy.  As we were stretching, however, Shaun T said the most disturbing thing

"I'm super nervous for this workout y'all...I gotta be honest"

WHAT?!

Shaun T. you are super buff and never have a problem with the workouts I die from and you say you are nervous for this workout?? I was about to turn it off right there.

But I understand now why he said it.

apparently, there was no room to take breaks during this intense 30 minute work out.  NOT ONE BREAK. I kept waiting for one but it never came. holy smokes. This guy is motivated, props to him

When it was over, I was so tired.  I don't think my body has every worked that hard.

Now that its over, I'm glad I did it. But holy cow whoever can do that workout with all the proper form is my hero.  Good job!!

I found this on Pinterest...hahaha

Brantley gets home a little earlier tonight!! I can't wait!

Insanity- day 4

Cardio Recovery

Its Monday.

I took a break on Sunday from working out because Sunday is a day of rest for our family and its also the only day I get to spend with my gorgeous husband.

But today I started back again and I was relieved to find that it was a recovery day.
The workouts were still hard, but not nearly as bad as the other days.

The thing that got me the most were these epic squats we did. We went super slow and super deep and just held it there. Oh my heck that hurt. There was a lot of stretching and balance in this workout, but it wasn't bad! I was happy I did it and felt good about myself!

Funny story from yesterday:

Last week I looked in the fridge and saw this pork I had made a week prior.  I was thinking about throwing it away. I yelled to Brantley:

"Hey Honey, can I throw this-"
Brant: "Yeah!"
Me: "Wait this-"
Brant: "Yeah I know what you are talking about go ahead!"
Me: "ok!!"
(the conversation was like that a little longer, us just assuming we knew what the other was talking about)

So I threw it away.

Then, yesterday, I saw this old blondie bar I had tried to make like the first week we were here.  I was thinking about throwing it away. I yelled to Brantley:

"Hey hon, can I throw away this blondie bar?"
Brant: "....I thought you already threw it away..."
Me: "...no I threw the sweet pork away."
Brant: "oh no I wanted that!"

haha he thought I meant the blondie bar and I thought he meant the sweet pork. we laughed about that for a long time haha

Bragging rights

Can I just take a minute to brag about my awesome husband? 

He is seriously so cool.  

I am so impressed at his dedication and perseverance.  When he sets his mind on something, it gets done. 

When Brantley told me about this idea of coming to California and him selling security systems, I was pretty nervous.  What if sales don't come? What if this or that bad thing happens? But holy smokes I had nothing to worry about.  Brantley is amazing.  Even if he never made one sale this summer, I would still feel this way about his character.  He comes home every night from working 12 hours in the California sun, happy and positive about the day he has had.  He talks about things he is learning and how he is learning to not give up at the first 'no' someone gives. Yesterday he made two sales and is in the running to be the top rookie salesman in his office. THAT IS MY HUSBAND RIGHT THERE. 

I am so incredibly proud of that man.  He is teaching me so much about honesty and just being happy with life. Every day he tells me to try and make someones day better, and prays to find people to serve. He is amazing and I could not ask for a more wonderful companion.  

This is a picture from about a week or so after we started dating.  We were helping his friend in a photography class. It felt like we were taking engagement pictures haha :)

Insanity- day 3

Cardio Power and Resistance

Wow!! This workout is awesome. It hurts and I hate it, but its awesome.

I did not want to do this today. like, at all.
I have been eating healthy for the past week, but I was strugglin not to eat a cookie this afternoon.
After some more Pinterest motivation I decided it was time.

When Shaun T started pumping us up, I was almost dreading it more.

The warm up was as hard as usual, but we did some new exercises that I really liked
When the work out started, I could feel tears coming.  It hurt so bad. The pain was not like a normal physical pain I usually feel when I work out, it was like an inner pain, almost like a combo of being scared and being sore.  That was a rough moment and I wanted to quit right there.  I even paused the video and sat down, discouraged.  I am no good at this.  Its hard and I don't want to do it.  And then I thought of my awesome mom who got up at like 4 in the morning to workout and then help me get ready for school with no complaints.  I thought of the person I want to be and how I want to feel good on the inside and the outside and I decided to try again.

It was still way hard but I realized it was hard for every one of those super fit people on the screen in the beginning, and they got better!

I will get better.

When we started the first few circuits, it hurt like crazy...but as we went to the second and third, I started focusing not on the pain but on my technique.  I stopped watching the models on the video and focused on me.

When the last set of Globe jumps came (This is an exercise where you squat to the floor and jump back, squat, jump forward, squat, jump right, squat and back again a million times) I was powered up! I was doing them and doing them well!

Then the very last exercise came: four deep squats jump back and do eight pushups.   I hate pushups.  When I jumped back, however, I did them! I did them all without my bum in the air.  I did them right and I felt awesome.

When it ended, I was happy I didn't give up in the beginning. I felt empowered and strong.  I look exactly the same, but I can feel myself getting stronger.  Wahoo!

this is  Shaun T. 

He yells at me to keep going and I'm grateful for it

Insanity- day 2

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Today was a killer

I was excited to work out today because I felt good when Brantley came home and was proud of me for starting Insanity, and I know he is always proud of me but I like it when I have something to really show for it.

When I started  the warm up, it was the same as yesterday, super hard and  I was drained by the second time around the warm up exercises.  The warm up was slightly different with a lot of stretching. I am hoping to increase my flexibility as well over the next few months.

As I was working out, I could feel the muscles in my legs working crazy hard. I had to take a lot of breaks during this video, but at the end I felt really good.  Sorry I'm not more detailed, (I actually did this yesterday and was just behind on my posts so I cant remember everything)

I took some time to look up some fitness motivation on Pinterest....haha I love Pinterest

Here was one of my favorites:

And its true! I'm really no expert (for reals I've been doing this for 2 days) but I went to bed last night feeling awesome! I want to keep it up!

Insanity day 1

The fit test

Here we go: I got my water bottle and headband and I am ready for some insanity. I put the DVD in my computer and set it on our table in the living room. All of a sudden, this super intense music accompanies a ton of super hot people yelling and running in place like they were running toward the last ship off the titanic. All of a sudden this super huge guy comes to the camera and yells

"THIS IS INSANITY" 

Oh dear. 

It breaks and now the guy is smiling with two other super fit instructors.

"Hi I'm Shaun T, welcome"

Not sure what the "T" stands for

The fit test, as Shaun T explained, was to help track your progress over the 60 days of the program. 

A little more intimidated than before, I started the warm up.

Normally, I can do a workout warm up without too much difficulty, but as we started the second circuit of it, I was wheezing and drenched in sweat. 

Brantley And I did a few of these warm ups together after our honeymoon, but for some reason it was easier with him cause I was trying to impress him, but now it's just me, Shawn T and the stitch in my side. 

As we began the fit test, I realized quick that I wasn't "fit" according to these standards, but it did feel good to see that I could actually do what they were talking about, just not as many repetitions as the pros.

When we got through the whole test, it felt good! I felt empowered and like I was doing something right!

Then I took a nap.

DAY 1 DOWN

Insane

Here is the update on the Brooks fam:

Brantley sells security systems as a summer job (that is why we are in California and not Idaho, where we go to school) he is gone from noon til 10:30 every day. 

Claire is currently looking for a job, with little success (just got turned down from target...again). So I (Claire) have been trying to find some things to do other than napping and reading. I decided to try and use this summer to get in shape and try INSANITY WORKOUT PROGRAM. I knew I would probably not stick with it unless I had something holding me accountable so for the next 60 days I am going to write about my experience here! WOOO! Lets get goin!

Divergent Craze

Ok. Lets talk about this book.

Its amazing people!!!

Brantley and I read it on our honeymoon and road trip to California.  Its absolutely incredible.  If you have not read it, READ IT. Its one of my new favorite books.  To top it off, the movie follows it SO WELL, aside from one scene which I'm a little mad about but its ok.  

I wont give anything away, but if you do read it, you are not going to be able to put it down.  Enjoy!

Mr. Brooks

Brantley as described by Claire

-This guy is the best

-Funny

-Plays guitar

-loves to smile

-reads Sherlock

-Supportive

-Patient

-Loves Pizza, Chicken Cord on Bleu (is that how you spell it?) and mashed potatoes 

-Basketball pro

-Laughs a lot

-flosses every day

-Looks at the up side

-reminds me to use mouth wash

-likes to cuddle

I love this guy and I am so grateful to be his wife.  Love you Mr. Brooks!!

The Names (part 2)

My Sweet mother texted me some great ideas for the name of our blog.  I accidentally deleted the text before I could make a post, but here are the ones I remember

-Brooks' Nook
-Follow the play Brooks
-Follow the yellow Brooks road (that ones pretty dang good)
-Love Brooks


I'm so sad I cant remember the others....Mom! Leave them as a comment so everyone can see them :) Love you so much!

The Name

For a good hour now, Brantley and I and my lovely mother-in-law Deridee have been trying to think of the perfect name for our little blog.  These have been some of our best: 

"Ballin' with the Brooks"

"Crossin the Brook"

"Brooks Ohana"

"Basketball or bust"

"Brooks enjoyin' the journey"

"The Brooks Expedition"

"Brant + Claire = forever"

"Chillin' with the Brooks"

"Believing Brooks"

"The Russell WestBROOKS"

"Brooks Inc."

"b+c" 

"Welcome to the Brooks"

"B.I. and Freedom"

and my personal favorite: 

"A brook, a river, a stream: The Brooks' family chasing the American dream"-Brantley Brooks

So far, none have stuck.  We are still working on it!  

For now, 

We are The Brooks.