11:30 PM

Welcome to my life...

Where did all the people go???

Spiritual moment..

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"We should give gratitude from the depths of our soul for a plan of happiness that provides for escape from every personal mistake we have ever made and every dumb thing we have ever done. We should express eternal thanks for the pure, single-minded, diving goodness that can cover every concern, heal every wound, make up for every defect, and eventually dry every tear. That's the God and Christ and plan King Lamoni saw, and that is what stunned him so. It will stun us, too-by its strength an by its splendor-when our need is great enough, our faith strong enough, and our view clear enough to see it. In our hour of extremity, we will, if we keep our covenants, see the cloud of darkness lift, the veil of unbelief cast away by the hand of a Father who is eternally committed to our happiness."

February 28, 2012 Marriage and Family Journal

I really liked how we were reminded of how sacred and important the temple is. The blessings that come from the temple are extraordinary and unique; they are given by a loving Heavenly Father. I also really liked how we talked about repentance being a positive thing, a way out, a way to be happy. Many become discouraged and embarrassed by our sins and are scared to talk to the bishop (or even recognize them in general) but we really must take advantage of that opportunity. We are given second chances, even more than that, millions of chances. It is like at school, if we don’t perform well on a test and there is an opportunity for a re-take, or a better grade, we automatically take it. The atonement provides that re-take. It is not worth it to not confess. 

And those are the spiritual quotes of the day.

Sy officially became a Missionary tonight at 6:30 p.m., I am so excited for him and his upcoming adventure! 

birthday fun and farewell

Thursday: 

I was feeling super sick so I left the library early, met up with my lovely Talyn for some ice cream, then slept for 9 whole hours (I haven't done that in FOREVER.) I'm on the "black" list at Farr's (they call me when black licorice is in) so Talyn and I HAD to go. I got black licorice, salted caramel, and a little cake batter topped with cheesecake bites, cookie dough, and mochi. Yum.

Friday: 

I went to Jazz class (for the first time in weeks) and it was so nice! THEN it was time for my monthly massage which was AMAZING only I wish it was 2 hours longer! I met up with my friend Adrian for lunch at Guru's (sweet potato fries). Since it was Nordstrom's last day....I bought some shoes!

I also stopped in at Gap (I may have purchased a few items) then went to the library to get some work done.

Taylor took me out to dinner, we were hoping for Red Lobster but there was a long wait so we went to Macaroni Grill. I had their Mushroom Ravioli and it was super delicious. He spoiled me (like always) with a beautiful bracelet. He noticed that I didn't have any black jewelry to accessorize with so he found something perfect that I can now wear with my black! So thoughtful.

 

Saturday: 

Seth and Jenn came to town so I hung with them in the AM. Jenn opened her birthday presents (her birthday was on Friday). I cleaned and tried (unsuccessfully) to get homework done. Sy wanted to go to Sonic so him, Bain, Jenn, and I made a Sonic run (onion rings and cranberry limeade), then we stopped at the Sweet Tooth Fairy (Jenn and I got FREE cupcakes because of our birthday.)

 

We went to Ruby River for dinner. FREAKING DELICIOUS!! Best prime rib and horseradish EVER! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Then we made some dessert for our parties tomorrow.

Sunday: 

Sy's farewell was at 9 AM. It was a cry fest. Sy, the family pew, etc..all bawling. It was also PACKED-all the way into the gym (popular boy), such a stud. He did SUCH an amazing job! I am so proud of him. He leaves on Wednesday for the Provo MTC for 3 weeks, then he is off to Peru for 2 years. I'll miss that sweetheart.

The BOYS

Our Michigan Friends

Bainy and Her Friends

Aunt Leslee and Uncle Legrand

The Besties from Michigan

Family!!!

We ate yummy Biscuits and Gravy, fruit, and cake (carrot, banana, and chocolate), then we went to the Single's Ward where Sy spoke again. 

It was also my twenty-second birthday, so I celebrated with some friends/family and dessert!

my girls

Brick, Talyn and Colby

midget sandwich with Talyn and Kiara

 

22 candles-blew out 21...

supposed to have a heart shaped filling...

Smore's chocolate bar

Ipod speakers

A Lucky Child

Michael Kors watch (split with Granny)

J.Crew dress

Michael Kors shoes (split with Mommy)

(not pictured) Dolce and Gabbana "Light Blue" perfume

 Thank you to all my wonderful amazing friends and family who made this weekend awesome. 

This week will be miserable... didn't do homework for 3 days.. LOTS of catching up to do.. LOTS...

Alma 7:23-24
"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works."

How's that for a check-list!

have a little FAITH..

A few quotes from the talk I linked to yesterday (it's a good, quick read). Faith-the Choice is Yours.

"Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice—a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

• If confusion and hopelessness weigh on your mind, choose to “awake and arouse your faculties” (Alma 32:27). Humbly approaching the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit is the pathway to truth and the Lord’s way of light, knowledge, and peace.
  
• If your testimony is immature, untested, and insecure, choose to “exercise [even] a particle of faith”; choose to “experiment upon [His] words” (Alma 32:27). The Savior explained, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).
  
• When logic, reason, or personal intellect come into conflict with sacred teachings and doctrine, or conflicting messages assault your beliefs as the fiery darts described by the Apostle Paul (see Ephesians 6:16), choose to not cast the seed out of your heart by unbelief. Remember, we receive not a witness until after the trial of our faith (see Ether 12:6).
  
• If your faith is proven and mature, choose to nurture it “with great care” (Alma 32:37). As strong as our faith is, with all the mixed messages attacking it, it can also become very fragile. It needs constant nourishment through continued scripture study, prayer, and the application of His word.
   
  

nothing much.

It's been a long week. 

filled with chocolates.

homework. 

not enough sleep.

selling gorgeous wedding gowns.

fufu berry jones soda.

and.

some much needed relaxing. 

Coming up..

more tests and homework.

Jenn's Birthday.
massage.

Seth and Jenn visit.

Sy's farewell talk.

My 22nd Birthday. 

Sy enters the MTC. 

Since I have nothing else to post...here are some recent J.Crew pictures that I have saved to my desktop. LOVE the bright vibrant colors.

and happy sunday.

a thought from church..

"Don't let the busyness of life blind you from the pearls hidden in plain sight." 

and a recommended talk. 

Faith-the Choice is Yours

October 2010 General Conference

happy no-school tomorrow. 

although for me that just means, no class but I'll still be on campus ALL day studying...it never ends.

Grammy's + Emily

Just a shout out to my girls..

My lovely Emily got her engagement pictures taken! Congratulations Emily and Matt!! Here are a few of my favorites!

Valentine's Day Wish-List

1.  In my dreams: I would LOVE to be able to design/make/wear a formal gown out in the city to a restaurant or an event....the ONLY reason I wish I were famous is because I WANT TO BE ABLE TO WEAR FORMAL GOWNS!!!!! I am so jealous. This is a dream of mine. Wear a gorgeous gown to dinner with my Valentine and then come home, have home-made dessert (still dressed up) and then dance around the house...with candles and music... ah I am such a romantic.
2. My non-romantic side: Shopping spree at J.Crew (I just went through their website and somehow ended up with $2000 of clothes/shoes/jewelry in my wishlist..)
3. Currently, my ideal night would be: NOT doing homework, cuddling up on the couch to actually relax and fall asleep watching a movie with my sweetheart. With a nice warm blanket, guru's sweet potato fries, some chocolate (in any form-since it is snowing I wouldn't mind the hot liquid form) and maybe pass a couple love notes...
4. In reality: I'll be teaching Jazz in the a.m., then going to work, then going to class, then doing homework all evening. The library is my Valentine. Maybe I'll buy myself some chocolate covered cinnamon bears....

I'd be SO good at this holiday. Once I am married, my husband better watch out!! I love everything about LOVE so this holiday has my name written all over it. Showing people that I love them is literally my favorite thing. I love pampering those I love with goodies and kindness..

One day February 14th will be an amazing day. People hate this holiday but not me. I think it is wonderful. Yes we should show our love everyday but why not dedicate a day just to LOVE? I think it is perfect.

Pamper the ones  you love this season!

xoxo

love.

Marriage and Family reading assignment for this week.. 

Marriage and Divorce - President Spencer W. Kimball (speeches, 1976 (don't let the date fool you, it is all still VERY applicable!)) 

WONDERFUL talk. So many good topics discussed.

It's Valentines Day soon-read this with your sweetheart and see how you can make your marriage/relationship even better, filled with more happiness and love.

a couple quotes from the talk ...

Formula for a happy marriage:
*work hard
*be selfLESS
*keep courting/keep love alive
*live the commandments

" 'Soul mates' are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfullness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price." ((My teacher added- "Once you pick your partner, once you seal yourself to each other across the alter-they ARE the 'right one', they are then your soul mate"))

"Love is like a flower, and, like the body, it needs constant feeding ... And so love, also, cannot be expected to last forever unless it is continually fed with portions of love, the manifestation of esteem and admiration the expressions of gratitude, and the consideration of unselfishness."

a few more quotes (P.S. the Eternal Marriage manual is AMAZING-I recommend it (can be found at the BYU bookstore-and I'm sure-online..

"If one really loves another, one would rather die for that person than to injure him."-Elder Spencer W. Kimball

" ... the kind of respect that regards one's companion as the most precious friend on earth and not as a possession or a chattel to be forced or compelled to suit one's selfish whims ... This respect comes of recognition that each of us is a son or daughter of God, endowed with something of his divine nature, that each is an individual entitled to expression and cultivation of individual talents and deserving of forbearance, of patience, of understanding, of courtesy, of thoughtful consideration. True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being of one's companion." -Elder Gordon B. Hinckley

"True love is a process. True love requires personal action. Love must be continuing to be real. Love takes time ...  Love demands action if it is to be continuing ...." -Elder Marvin J. Ashton

"Be quick to say, 'I'm sorry.' As hard as it is to form the words, be swift to say, 'I apologize, and please forgive me,' even though you are not the one who is totally at fault. True love is developed by those who are willing to readily admit personal mistakes and offenses." -Elder Joe J. Chirstensen

"First and foremost, nothing except God Himself takes priority over your wife in your life-not work, not recreation, not hobbies ...." -President Ezra Taft Benson (here is a link to the entire talk 'To the Fathers in Israel')

"How Do I Love Thee?" -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (another GREAT great talk!)

"... I believe that second only to your membership in the Church, your "membership in a marriage" is the most important association you will have in time and eternity..."

some notes from class...

(Journal entry) I love that we are talking about revelation right now because, like we discussed, it is a blurry topic. It is essential to know that revelation rarely gets you into an easy situation. Satan is there, he intervenes with revelation. Doubting and fearing are scaring things, and it is hard not to think of them as a “wrong answer” sign. It is important to remember that doubt and fear of from Satan and not God. Revelation will never come as fear. We also must remember that revelation does prompt us to do difficult things. 

We also learned the formula for distinguishing the Holy Ghost;

1. Test of Receptivity: How am I doing with keeping the commandments? How likely am I able to hear the Lord if He IS trying to tell me something? Am I fasting, praying, worshiping (church, meditation, temple)? How is my mental alertness? Am I serving? Do I ever have time where I am free from distractions (lust, anger, greed, noise, confusion, etc.) and available to listen?

2. Test of Bias: Do we ask for guidance to do God's will? or for approval of our will? 

3. Test of Content: Is our revelation in line with what has been revealed to the prophets?

If the process is broken-we won't get revelation 

Happy loving.

And remember..all the things you did to catch your sweetheart-you  need to continue to do in order to hold on to them.

There is no "falling out of love." -Brother Dorius (my teacher)

autobiography

          My name is Bree Lena Woolstenhulme, I will be twenty-two this month and I spent the early years of my life in Commerce Twp. Michigan. When I was three my family moved from Oklahoma to Michigan and we lived there until I was ten. Growing up I spent my days doing gymnastics, by the time my family moved to Utah I was in level eight (of ten.) Due to many injuries, one being too permanent and painful, I had to quit. I started competitively dancing when I was in junior high and did so through-out high school (at the same studio that my sister currently dances at.) I was on my high school dance team and was the Sterling Scholar for Dance. Another major aspect of my life developed in high school, sewing. I realized my love for designing and creating clothes, especially formal dresses. I designed and sewed almost all of my formal dance dresses as well as some for friends. It became my passion. I decided when I was a junior that I wanted to go to school in Manhattan, The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), to study fashion design.

                I graduated from Orem High School in 2008 and was accepted to Brigham Young University. I decided to start at BYU rather than heading straight to New York City because FIT had a one-year accelerated associate’s degree program that I was planning on applying for in the fall of 2008. In order to be accepted, I had to take many liberal arts classes here at BYU that would transfer to FIT; I applied in November and received my acceptance letter in March. The application process was intense and I was technically supposed to already have a degree in order to do the one-year program, but somehow I was one of fifty chosen for the accelerated program and one of 250 who are accepted into the fashion design program out of 2700 applicants. God knew that is where I needed and wanted to be. I completed Fall, Winter, and Summer semester here at BYU and while going to school I worked at a retail boutique and started my own company headband business, selling on consignment to boutiques, on etsy.com, and through house parties, to earn money for Manhattan.

                The Fashion Design program was the hardest thing I have ever done, but it was amazing! I learned so much, not only about fashion, designing, and sewing but about myself. It was the most rewarding and satisfying experience I have ever had and though I slept an average of only five hours a night I would not have given up the experience for anything. I learned how to be independent and rely on my Savior. I met two of my best friends that year at FIT, we all attended the same singles ward, and we all live here in Utah now which is such a blessing.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude from FIT with my Associates Degree in Fashion Design in May 2010.

                That summer I had the opportunity to do a Study Abroad with FIT to Paris and Milan. The purpose was to study the specialization of your choice, for me that was wedding gowns. I got to travel the cities admiring wedding gowns and fashion-that was my homework! It was during this program that I designed my first modest wedding gown collection. It was there that I decided that I wanted to design and create fashionable wedding dresses for our unique Latter-day Saint market (because we need it badly!) I returned home for my brother’s wedding and continued making headbands before heading back to NYC for one last semester.

                I was not quite ready to leave the city so I took a couple extra classes at FIT while working about twenty-five hours a week at J.Crew (J.Crew is my favorite company of all time and if I decided to do fashion in the industry that is the only company I would work for.) While I was living in NYC I also had the opportunity to intern with Avenia Bridal at the Fall 2009, Spring 2010, and Fall 2010 Bridal Market.

                I moved home Christmas of 2010 and started back at BYU Winter semester of 2011, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management was next on my agenda. Since I have been back in Utah I was hired at Avenia Bridal (who I interned for in NYC) as a bridal/design consultant (seamstress when needed) and blogger. This summer I was asked by one of my best friends (one of the girls I met in NYC actually) if I would make her wedding dress and I definitely agreed to it! It turned out perfectly and I cannot wait until I get the chance to make more.

During Summer semester I was hired as a Teacher’s Assistant for Jazz 131 here at BYU and starting Fall semester I began teaching Jazz 131 and 231. I am on scholarship so I am required to take at least fourteen credits and I work two jobs (ten to twenty hours a week at Avenia Bridal and currently I am teaching three jazz classes) so I am extremely busy. I am applying this semester for the Business School and will be graduating in April 2014.

* I had to write this for my Marriage and Family class-so I thought I'd share. 

weekend with the family

Seth and Jenn were in town this week..so we had some fun.

Friday at 7 a.m. we all went to the temple. It was the first time my whole family went together, it was also the first time I had the opportunity to do family names. My mom did a little family history work and was able to find some of her ancestors who have not had their temple work done. It was such an amazing experience to be with my whole family at the temple and to perform baptismal ordinances for our family (including my mother's grandma, my great aunt (who I have inherited some amazing clothing/fur/jewelry from), and my mother's grandpa who Sy's middle name is named after (Emmett).)

 

 

We went to Magleby's after (the breakfast burrito is SUPER delicious, and so is their new french toast that comes with banana's and strawberries. Yum)

I then got my hour massage... lovely.

Seth, Jenn, Mom, and Dad were going bowling at BYU-so I decided to play 1 game before heading to the library. 

After 5 hours in the library...

We went to watch Bain perform at her high school's basketball game.. she did good, they won. 

I introduced Seth and Jenn to Guru's sweet potato fries!! AMAZING. Then we got a cup-shake and cake-bites from the Sweet Tooth Fairy.

After I caught up on my One Tree Hill watching (it is the only show I make time to watch-I was 2 episodes behind).....last season. depressing.

On Saturday I did homework, then went to work. 

I bought myself an early Valentines/Birthday present. Michael Kors.

I'm in love

 I got my Valentine's weekend date-for Saturday. with Bain. We are going up to SLC to watch Romeo and Juliet performed by Odyssey Dance Theater.


Then I hung out with Talyn and her friends (here is the picture I was talking about earlier)

 

meet Colby (Talyn's BF). He's tall, I'm not. haha. by a lot.

Now it is Sunday. and we are currently watching Madonna ROCK the halftime show. and eating. lots of food! yummy!!

AMAZING fruit dip, Vernors (a Detroit favorite), Mama Gwen's Salsa, Veggie plate, our famous Rice Crispy Treats, Jenn's 7 layer dip and guacamole.

Little sausages, wings, and ribs.

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

and to end this post... two outfits.

Outfit 1: Thursday (school)

Sequin shirt, cardigan, and shoes: J.Crew

Pants: Banana Republic

Earrings: Nordstrom

Outfit 2: Saturday (work and play)

All J.Crew

and here is another picture of my gorgeous watch

and a little spiritual quote since it is Sunday-
(my mom found it floating around FB)

dang straight!

(I will add woman OR MAN to this quote)