Of Church Notes and Ransom Notes Part Two: Hostages

Apparently, Dallin is NOT kind to his hostages.

Pictured left to right:
Timba, Fish, Elly

Look at those sad eyes . . .
I'll save you Elly

This means war. I will have to get creative with my torture methods. Watch out Snake Lord.
He won't know what hit him (though he'll probably know who).

Candidly,
Cookie

Of Church Notes and Ransom Notes

During church my younger brother Dallin passes me a note that reads, "We es gonna take Elly Elafant once and ferall."
Let me back up a little. Last night, Dallin came into my room, stole my stuffed elephant, Timba, and proceeded to strangle him with his plastic anaconda. I emerged from my room later that night to find an army of plastic snakes, scorpions and the like lined up and coiled outside my door, with the anaconda in the act of biting and strangling a small stuffed puppy. The message was clear, to me at least. "Give me your elephant or else we will kill the puppy."

Fast forward to the note he gave me in church. It was signed -

Taddy jr. (and other frogs) *these would be his real pet frogs*
Fuzzy lips *his nickname for Jacob's pet hamster whose real name is Little Dude*
Snake Lord *apparently the title of his anaconda*
Siclids *in the fish tank downstairs*
Stickers *the name of my favorite of the fish in my tank, an algae-eater*
Sir Squeeks *another bottom feeder in my fish tank*
Goldy *I didn't know the goldfish had a name. Apparently Dallin is only waiting for it to get big enough to use for live bate to fish with. Kind-a cruel to name your bait, I'd say*
Asasy Snail (and other tank snails) *so once upon a time my fish tank was overrun by an army of snails, so we bought an assassin snail to take care of them . . .*

Apparently all the animals in the house (living and plastic) were in cohorts against my elephant. I had to think fast. I circled Sticker's name and wrote beside it, "He's a traitor to your cause. He'll save the elephant" and signed it "Fish" (Fish is the name of my stuffed puppy. Why do I have a puppy named Fish? Because my brother named my fish Puppy, which was at the time the name of my Puppy. Well, we couldn't have that now, could we?)

Dallin took the paper and scribbled his reply, "He actually can't do anything. He's stuck to the edge of the tank." To this I replied, "That's what you think."
Dallin smirked as he took back the paper. "I used superhero glue," he wrote.
I circled the word superhero. "Yep. That's what he is. Oh whoops. I revealed his secret identity . . ."
Dallin writes, "He has Kryptonite in the tank."
I took the paper and wrote back, "That's not his weakness. Ha ha."
Dallin: "His red eyes are proof of his evil."
Me: "Or evidence of his supersonic x-ray vision."

Dallin took the paper and had it for a while. I was beginning to wonder what he could be writing that would take him so long when he handed it back.

This is what he had written:
Taddy (his real poison dart frog) has accidentally poisoned some of the others. The Sicklids got sick. Asasy Snail killed other fish and snails. Snake Lord: "Fuzzy Lips (the hamster) is yummy". Fuzzy lips: "squeak."

A bit confused, I smiled and wrote back, "Basically your team has defeated itself . . . (?)"
When he made no reply I assumed his surrender.

Then we got to the car and Dallin handed me two notes. The first note read,
Thes es nudder note from the anti-elly squad. We have suceded in capturing elly and are holding her *umm, Elly is a guy, thanks* ransome at the price of a game of Risk. From Taddy Jr and other frogs, Brown Fluff Ball *another name for the hamster, which I assumed to be dead . . . Apparently Snake Lord couldn't catch him* , Sicklids, Remaining Fish *okay, so the fish actually did get eaten. I'm impressed Asasy Snail could catch them*, Asasy Snail, and Snake Lord.
P.S. If you don't pay the ransom by tomorrow Elly is history.

This was followed by the second note which read,
Time is running away, so is Elly. We suceded in capturing her again, and our ransom is still in place. Her *once again, it's a he. Get it right* certain doom is drawing closer. Here is a picture of the doomedd elephant. *This was accompanied by a crude drawing that looked like a worm riding on two stumps, with a really long tongue and big eyes. The worm was crying, "Help me."* We are sure this will convince you to pay the ransom. Frum Taddy and other frogs, all aquatic animals, and Snake Lord.

When we got home, Dallin beat me into the house. I arrived at my room to find Elly was gone.
He *take note Dallin, HE, not SHE* will be returned when I win our game of Risk. Notice I said when, not if.

I missed playing with my little brothers. I hope they are kind to their hostages.

Candidly,
Cookie

Impressions of Home

These weren't my first impressions of home, nor were they my only. Neither do they constitute home. They are merely a random compilation of observations.
First of all, I seem to grow shorter every time I see my "little" brothers. The only way I can win when we wrestle is by tickling them. Some may call it cheating. I call it wise. (Okay, maybe a little desperate).
Also, I'm going to have to get used to my new spot at the dinner table. Come to think of it, I'm going to have to get used to having a spot again, period. I don't think I ate in the same spot twice in the cafeteria. I suppose I did eat dinner a couple times at my desk chair or in my bed, but that doesn't really count.
Then there's the shower. Oh, the shower here is beautiful! In the dorms, you had two options: a firehose, or a trickle. I usually bent toward the firehose. The shower here is a perfect in-between, like a summer's rain. Beautiful.
Need I mention the humidity? It's humid enough here that my halo of curls has reappeared. I didn't think I'd ever miss them, but I seriously did. Lovin my crazy curls.
There is one thing that didn't change, and that is the amount of space between the back of my desk chair and my bed. Or maybe it would be more correct to say the lack of. But that's how I like it.
Speaking of beds, my bed here is HUGE and so soft. I remember the first time I jumped onto my bed in the dorm room and my first thought was "ow". My bed at home is as soft as a new layer of mulch and the air here smells so green.
I loved driving around this morning after the rain and smelling beautiful green Georgia. I didn't realize how much I missed my spunky little truck too. Driving home from a job interview with the windows rolled down, blasting Tangled, Frozen, and Tarzan soundtracks . . . almost as good as singing in the shower (which I definitely did not do in the dorms *wink, wink*).
Coming home is like coming home to a musical. There's always laughter, noise, and music of some sort or another.
If song is vocalized joy (and it is) then I've got one of the happiest homes around. I love it.


Candidly,
Cookie

Heading Home

Okay, so here is where I would attach cute roommie pictures, but that would be pictures of just myself and I'm not about that.
College year one can be checked off the bucket list. Talk about bittersweet. I lost a good friend and made some wonderful new ones. I cried myself to sleep and laughed so hard my stomach ached. I ate cookies and ice-cream for dinner and went on midnight runs with Laura. I studied for almost twenty-four hours straight and spent hours lying on my bed utterly exhausted but unable to fall asleep. Seriously guys, my bed is a magical place where I suddenly remember everything I should be doing. And I suppose the guilt that comes with knowing there is more you should be doing but aren't never really goes away. That's why even our happiest moments are called guilty pleasures. And I'm definitely guilty of those too.
Most would remedy this with a heaping does of justification, and in truth you can justify just about anything, but you still might feel guilty later. The true and only real remedy is forgiveness. Forgiving yourself daily. Forgiving yourself for pressing the snooze button, grabbing ice-cream after class . . . twice . . . in one day, watching a movie when you should be studying -- that's all easy enough. Forgiving yourself for falling short of your desired score on an assignment you studied so hard for, for not having the perfect group of friends, nor the largest, for the innumerable faults that, given enough time, you could name endlessly -- that's hard.
Sometimes it takes courage to forgive. It takes courage to make new friends, to join an editing staff, to ask a guy on a date, to be yourself, to not set limits and accept when you don't reach your lofty goals, to realize that you made it father than you thought you would just by trying.  That's what college is about. Forgiving. Discovering. Trying.
And may I add to that list perhaps the most important element: Faith.
When I found out I was going to get an A- in my British Literature class I thought the world was going to end. But you know what? It all works out. An A- is not the end of the world, as it turns out, (I know, mind blown) and it's not enough to keep you from a scholarship either. Thank goodness.
Some of you who know that I have been planning to serve a mission this summer may ask what happened. I'll tell you. It wasn't that I didn't want to go. I had my papers all ready to turn in and God told me to wait. It was the night before scholarship applications were due, I hadn't decided a major, I hadn't looked at classes (which I would be signing up for in a few days), I'd missed the application deadline to work as a Writing Fellow, and I hadn't looked at a place to live next fall, but I had to trust it would all work out.
I got most of the classes I wanted and am satisfied with my schedule for fall semester.
Though it's still unofficial, I've switched my major to English Language. I got a scholarship. I found a nice place to live. And though at times my stomach sinks when I consider that I'll be living with five other girls I don't know yet, that's part of the adventure. Besides, I'm just so excited to have a roommate again (in case you weren't aware, my past roommate moved out in January).
It's strange to think that yesterday, when my grandma asked me if I wanted her to drop me off at home, she dropped me off at the dorms, and now, less than twenty-four hours later, I am headed home to Georgia. And I can't wait.

Candidly,
Cookie

What if I fall?

Near the very beginning of this school year while talking with a friend, I took notice of a beautiful little drawing she had on her wall. It was a quote, beautifully depicted and it spoke to me.

Eight months later, I get a note slipped under my door that reads, "Hey Brooke! I was cleaning my room and found this and was wondering if you would want it? I drew this quote at the beginning of fall semester when I hit a rough patch and wanted to pass along the message that sometimes life is scary and we think we are doomed for failure, but really we should be focusing on the chance of success and flying. Happy almost Summer! I wish you the very best as this semester winds down. Best wishes and love."

Along with it was her precious drawing. 

Candidly,

Cookie