Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I really enjoy getting my hair cut and colored. Why? Because it's always super soft and shiny after, it smells so good, and it's usually a subtle change which is fun. This picture is dedicated to Jamie because she won't get to see my hair in person until next year (which is only a few days away, but being in two different states makes it difficult to be around each other) anyway, two inches shorter with a  chocolate-brown with a hint of copper color, it's a new Alli! 

Enjoy the photo Jamie!!!

Frozen Snot

Well folks, I am finished with my second to last semester of college. WOOT! My TO DO list is all crossed off and it feels great! Being sick last week didn't really help with the stress, but I survived and now I get to look forward to my final semester as an undergraduate. I'm pretty stoked, yet scared out of my mind.


This morning Jamie and I each had a final at 7:30 AM. Do you know how cold it is early in the morning in Logan? It was a brisk -10 degrees as we made our way up to campus. My snot froze. It was cold. And then on my way back to the apartment after the final, I ended up with frost in my hair. It was odd. Luckily I changed out of my clothes back into my sweats and jumped into my nice warm bed (I left my electric blanket on... one the best Christmas present ever!) and just relaxed. It was so nice until I had to finish my last English paper and then get ready to go to work. My nose does not like this cold weather... the inside hurts when I breathe. It's probably because I have sharp ice-crystal boogers up there. Ouch. 

Oh, and NSYNC's Christmas album is the greatest. Yay for finals being over!

COUGH COUGH

I sound like a boy going through puberty.


And I have a nasty cough and my abs hurt from heaving so much. I have a lot to do before tomorrow, but I just don't want to do any of it. I just want to sleep and get rid of this cough. However, it gives me a good reason not to talk in class because you have to listen really intently to understand me. Good thing I have hot TANG, soup, and good company. 


The cough syrup I have is NASTY. I don't like taking it, but alas, I have to. I didn't go to bed till way late/early this morning because I was hacking all night. I'm so done with this cough and school.

No Voice

For some reason unknown to me I have lost my voice and inherited a sore throat because of it...

Good thing I don't mind losing my voice, I actually like having a raspy, low voice. It's a fun change. It all started in Vegas though. Perhaps it's from laughing too hard, or not getting enough sleep, or sleeping with the ceiling fan on, or walking in the smoke-filled casinos. I had a blast in Vegas. I always do. 

Tonight USU is playing BYU in the Spectrum. People camped out last night to get good seats. I love my school and its sports, but not enough to camp out! I like my own bed. Tonight will be crazy!!! And I will probably lose my voice even more. SCORE!


GO AGGIES!

VEGAS!

I get to go to LAS VEGAS tomorrow! WOOT!

It'll be a fun drive with Lindsay, Jake, and Parley. Today is going to be busy and so will tomorrow morning. I have to pack and finish some homework stuff. And tonight I am going to see New Moon in Ogden. Life is good.

I can't wait to see my family! Maybe we will play Oink, Piggy, Oink again... and DODGEBALL!

I love my family.

Happy Birthday Les-uh-lee!

It's my seester's birthday today! 


Here are ten reasons why I love my sister...


1. She loves LOTR and Pirates and Twilight just as much as me.
2. She is pro at Disneyland.
3. She is a great driver, even if she can't see in the dark anymore.
4. She and I are attempting to make Parley like us.
5. She is so much fun to be around.
6. She has great style.
7. She trips on her high heels on practically anything.
8. She likes to slide-tackle me after seeing money fall from the pinata...
9. She loves taking pictures.
10. She and I need sleep and food to not be grumpy! 

Love you Les! I hope your day is great!

Not So Normal

This week has just been a bad week. However, it is finishing up quite nicely despite the fact I could not sleep Thursday night, so I ended up getting maybe 5 or 6 hours of bad sleep which made me extra tired all day Friday. I finished some of my assignments, but was stressing out trying to get EVERYTHING done. I don't have to get EVERYTHING done right now. I have some time. I just need to remember to relax and have fun with life. John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." I think he means that we should live our lives to the fullest capacity and yes, planning is a good thing, but living is better. We can spend our whole lives planning and not get anywhere. 


Okay, moving on. Mason was kind enough to replace my rear brakes on The Gutless Wonder, so Leslie and Tyler could take it today for next week. Luckily, he had some free time last night and could work on it. I learned quite a bit about cars like, drum brakes are really stubborn and a pain to replace, I feel pretty cool when I have oil and grime on my hands, garages are much nicer to work in than out in the cold (especially with a space heater), mechanics talk to themselves, I called Mason a car dentist, and I got to help by holding the light. Woo! It was a pretty fun night, although not so normal. After taking the car for a test drive to make sure the brakes worked, we finally got to eat. Oh, but before that we were driving by Ellis Elementary when we saw a huge pile of glass, and being the kind citizens we are, went and cleaned it up. And right as we were finishing up, the man came back to clean it up. Good man. During this whole time, I was excited to go see New Moon with my seesters! It was so fun and it was a great movie. I don't care if you don't like the series or think I'm a screaming fan... I enjoyed it and I will always like it. I am fascinated by how they adapt the books to the big screen (Books are usually better than the movies). I think New Moon was a lot closer to the book than Twilight was, however, I like both movies and was thoroughly entertained. And I get to go see it again on Monday! Tuesday I leave for Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. I'm stoked. 


Here's to a not so normal week and having a better weekend! Cheers!

One of Those Days...

Today has been one of THOSE days... a day that just is stressful and crazy with weird things happening right and left...


I was a little late to work, I have a crazy amount of homework to do (but it's my fault because I keep putting it off), I was attacked by a door handle (it tried stealing my iPod and almost succeeded by launching it in front of me and keeping my earbuds on the handle), I had more liquids than I could handle, I found a hole in my shirt, my hair wouldn't cooperate, I almost tripped on my own feet three times, I sort of slipped on ice but luckily caught myself before anything hilarious happened, I scared myself into thinking I was going to get hit by a bike, I thought I had figured out what I was doing after graduation but now I am not so sure, I got a not so good but not so bad grade on a paper, I chickened today in class today by not speaking up, even though I really wanted to, my boss told me to get home before my carriage turned into a pumpkin (referring to Cinderella), tonight at the fieldhouse Jamie and I had guys watching us again (it wasn't as bad as last night though... eww) and on our way home we jumped at a kid running down Old Main, and now I need to write papers and read for tomorrow...


Yes, it's been one of THOSE days. Have you ever had one???

Go Read

Check out this website:

My Life is Average

It will make you laugh. 

That's all for this post. ENJOY!

Look Out!

INANIMATE OBJECTS ARE OUT TO GET ME!!!

This week alone I have run into countless doors, walls have appeared out of nowhere, the flat iron burned my finger (well I grabbed the hot plates instead of the handle), paper likes to cut me, stairs seem to trip me whether I am going up or down them, the Gutless Wonder needs new back brakes, my earrings are making my ears itch (there must be nickel in them), the phone that won't die likes to send blank texts and texts that aren't finished below is a photo of my burned finger... Jamie said it looks scaly and then I proceeded to walk around her room like a dinosaur. SCORE!







 










BUT



I am in a good mood. Even with all those silly, annoying, little occurrences, I am choosing to be happy. It's really me following my line "SMILE AND BE HAPPY." This is a random post, but I really believe it's those small moments that really make life worthwhile. You never know when you will help someone by just smiling or saying hello or waving. Like a wooden sign that sits on my door frame, "It's your choice," and it truly is. Have a great weekend everyone!

TOE-KNEE

My little brother is 18 today!

Here are TEN reasons why I love Brother:

1. He wears cool clothes, like my old cheerleading shirts and the rad VANS I bought him.

2. He is the only true blonde in our family.

3. He and I act like we are twins and everyone thinks he's the older one.

4. He likes to tackle me and that's one way I know he loves me.

5. He loves Arby's, KFC, McDonalds, etc...

6. He lets me take funny pictures with him.

7. He is my favorite brother ever and is like me in that he is pretty quiet, but if you know him, he is loud and talkative and says the most HILARIOUS things (Balderdash... 'nuff said).

8. He is liked by everyone and he is a stud.

9. He is the Senior Class President at Curtis Senior High School... we will get plan reunions together! Oh and he was on TV: http://www.kirotv.com/video/21544345/index.html

10. He will always be my little brother no matter how tall he gets and is the greatest brother anyone could ever ask for.

LOVE YOU TONY!!! Have a happy day!

The Eleventh Month on the Eleventh Day at the Eleventh Hour

I just wanted to say thank you to all those who fight to keep our country free. And am reminded how humbling it was to go to Arlington and see the thousands of headstones of those who died fighting. We need to remember and respect those who risk and have risked their lives for us.

THANK YOU!!!

So You Think You Can Dance?

I know the people on SYTYCD can truly bust a move. They are amazing!!!

Les and I went to Lindsay's first to play with the Parster. Who can resist him?! He is such a chubby little guy. We think he's going to have either green or hazel eyes...

The Bostons and The Browns (well, Nielson, Denning, and Brown) had a blast at the SYTYCD Tour. Anyway, we went to the E Center and ate pasta for dinner... yes, we got pasta at the E Center. We were just too excited to go looking for anything else because we got AFTER SHOW WRISTBANDS! We thought they may be a scam, but lo and behold, we got to meet the dancers! Holy Moley. I was awestruck. We got pictures with our favorites: Jason, Jeanette, Evan, and Phillip. He is an AMAZING dancer. And he was pretty cool about all the craziness that came with the HOT TAMALE TRAIN shirt group...

Les got her shirt signed by Jason. He is extremely good looking. And he always had a huge crowd of women around him.

The dancers are all so TINY!!! I mean, if you think I'm little, you should have been by these dancers. The show makes them look so much bigger than they are in real life. It was just amazing. I am still in shock we got to go backstage.

I took a lot of videos too... I will have to post them when I have a faster internet connection. Thanks for such a fun night!!! Oh, go to Erica's blog for more of a recap and photos.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my Mom and Dad's 28th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary you two!

I am so thankful for my parents! I am one lucky girl to have such great examples in my life. I have my dad's body in girl form-it's true, I do, just check out my calf muscles and compare them to my dad's, along with my monkey arms, frog toes, long fingers, etc... however, I am told I look like my mom. I guess I am lucky and get my looks from both of them. I get my love of reading, being independent, and my womanly charm from my mom. My parents are the greatest parents ever! They love me unconditionally, are always rooting for me, and give me such great advice. They are awesome, I could go on for a long time, but if you know my parents, you know how rad they are, and if you don't know them, then you should understand how much I love them.

I am a momma's girl and I will always be my dad's Alli Girl.

I LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

Yikes!

I am all registered for my last semester of my undergraduate career.

Insane? Yes. Thrilling? Yes. Scary? Yes. Curly or Regular? Yes. (inside joke with my family)

I can't believe I'll be graduating in May. Time flew by WAY fast. I feel so old sometimes. I was looking at a department page on the USU website, and came across this photo:

Look closely at the girl on the left side on the picture... It's me on my way to Snow Hall after working out freshman year with my friend Christine! Cool? I think so. I've been in Utah for over three years now. Wow.

Today, someone thought I was engaged... I wear a CTR ring on my left middle finger... it made me laugh. I'm not even dating anyone. I laughed a good while about it. It was more funny if you were there... oh, a side note, I am going to grad school... sometime... I need to focus on finishing my undergrad degree first. Life is busy and crazy, but I know I will accomplish everything I set out to do... eventually.

Snow

It snowed today... and it's still snowing...

That means it's too COLD for it to rain. Dang it. I am such a rain girl. I would much rather have it rain than snow. I guess it's because I am more accustomed to rain than snow.

I am still congested but sleeping for ten hours seemed to help. Tylenol Cold Nighttime medicine gives me interesting dreams. Yeah... enough said there. I also put up my old shower curtain over my window to try and 1) keep out the light while I slept yesterday afternoon and 2) to keep out the cold air that likes to come into my room. We still haven't turned on our heat. It's a brisk 64 degrees in our apartment. I have on a nice warm jacket and my slippers.

Stay Away!

I am coming down with a cold... at least that's what I hope it is!

My roommate had one and is getting over it, so I think that's where I got it. My boss sent me home from work today, I guess it's better to be safe that sorry. I slept for a couple of hours. I feel fine, I am just congested. I sound worse than I feel. I will see how I'm feeling tomorrow and go from there. I may or may not go into work. We will see. The doctors can't give me anything for a cold, so I am taking Tylenol Cold medicine. It's great.

So, stay away from me until I figure out what I have. And I'm sorry to those who have been around me. I pray you don't get sick!!!

Wow.

I got to hear President Henry B. Eyring and Elder M. Russell Ballard speak today in the Spectrum. I also got to listen to the words of Ronald A. Rasband and Cheryl C. Lant.

One word.

AMAZING.

The gospel is true. It's as simple as that.

I have a lot to work on, but I am going to be better and do what I need to do to accomplish that goal. Some of the main points (what I got out of it) was that we all face challenges and issues, but we need to stand strong and put the Lord first. We are all pioneers in our own way. Temples are Houses of the Lord and we should go whenever we are able. Every choice matters and obedience is important. And finally, we are loved by our Heavenly Father and we should love him back.

I am incredibly thankful the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Books

I live in an alternate universe sometimes... I need to come up with a name for it. Good thing I like books and learning, although books have given me a certain expectation for the experiences in my life. Sometimes I compare my life to the book I'm reading and wish my life was more like the book... Yes, I'm strange, but if you know me, you should already know that little fact.

Most of my "spare time" is devoted to reading, whether it be books, blogs, text messages, old journals, newspapers, etc... you get the idea. I would much rather read a book just for the fun of it, rather than looking for a literary analysis and a deeper meaning. I just get bogged down in trying to figure out what the author was "really meaning" when he or she wrote the book. It's getting on my nerves, but alas, that's what I get for majoring in American Studies. Don't get me wrong, I find everything FASCINATING that I read, but I don't like having to regurgitate all the information back to my professors. It's a great cycle of resentment and enjoyment. So goes my life.

I guess what I'm trying to get at for this post is that I love books and will always love books. I have my mother and grandmother to thank for that. I just wish I had more time to read what I want to read. I can't wait until I have "spare time" to be entertained by books and not instructed how to read them or think about them.

We used to have a Bernstein Bear's computer game... the librarian would sing, "I love books! I read them every day. I check them in, I check them out. I want to know what they're all about. So give me a book to read, a book to read is what I need. I LOVE BOOKS".

Not So Good Sleep

I knew the other night was too good to be true!

I woke up in a bad mood this morning, luckily it wore off eventually during the day. And now I'm not in a bad mood.

I got to climb Old Main TWICE today and I usually only have to tread up it once a day. The first time was to get to class this morning (which I was a tad late because of not looking at the clock and just meandering around my room until I realized I'd better get ready for the day otherwise I was going to be WAY late) and the second time I had to literally speed walk from my first class, back to the apartment, and back up to Old Main to work all because I forgot a book for english class Edgar Huntly or Memoirs of a Sleepwalker (if any of you were curious). That book is so dang confusing and weird.

Anyway, I am going a little crazy with everything I have to do, but hey, that's a college student's life for ya. I hope I get some "good sleep" tonight since I am silly and made an appointment with a professor before I go to work in the morning tomorrow. Early bed time for me tonight!

Oh I am supposed to blog about my weekend in Kaysville... I will be short and to the point. IT WAS GREAT.

I got to hang out with Linds, Jake, and the Parster. Thursday night we had Chinese food and watched TV. Friday we just chilled around the house and their jeep had to go into the shop, so the Gutless Wonder was our transportation while Jake was at work and even when he wasn't, I know it felt good for it to be used to carry such precious cargo. Friday night we went out to Rooster's and it was mighty delicious! And Saturday we stayed home again and I finished a couple of books for my classes and got ready for Witches Night with Lindsay and her friends. It was way fun! We went out to The Old Spaghetti Factory and ate dinner and then headed over to Gardner Village, well we turned WEST instead of LEFT and ended up at Jordan Landing. But once we figured out where we needed to go, we got there and it was fun. Practically everyone was dressed up like a witch. I even saw the Sanderson Sisters, plus a witch with a pumpkin bra on. Crazy. I found a scarf that Lindsay bought that is pretty cute. Sunday we went to church, forgot Parley's binks, but made it through Sacrament Meeting, well almost. Lindsay taught a great lesson and I felt strange going to Young Women's because I still look like I'm in high school. It was a fun, relaxing weekend. THANK YOU LINDSAY AND JAKE!

Time to go do more homework... it's a ongoing process, but at least it keeps me busy!!!

Good Sleep

I got one of the best night's sleep I have had in a LONG time last night.

I haven't slept very well since I moved into the new apartment, but last night, oh man, once I fell asleep, I slept till 6 and was so happy that I could sleep for two more hours! I love it when that happens. I got about 7 hours of "good sleep" versus 8 or 9 hours of "bad sleep" where I wake up every couple of hours. It was hard to get out of bed though this morning because I was so calm and peaceful (I usually wake up stressed about what I have to do that day or about something that happened, but not this morning... so weird).

And boy, did I need "good sleep" especially with my crazy life. I now need to finish a couple of papers and reading for tomorrow and Friday. I am trying not to procrastinate as much, but alas, I am blogging. HAHA.

Okay, back to writing about My Antonia and Enrique's Journey. Adios.

Whoops

I tried fixing my cellular device because the screen popped off again...

I ended up putting too much superglue on it and now I can't use the right button on my phone. So if you get a weird text or something it's because I can't clear and go back to fix my mistakes. I need a new phone. Someday.

I had a great weekend down in Kaysville! It was so relaxing and fun. I'll blog more about it later.

Concentrated Sugar

Last weekend Mom and Tony came into Utah to switch cars. I am so glad to have the Gutless Wonder back in my possession and I am eternally grateful to Aunt Sue for letting me borrow her car while I was waiting.

Anyway, it was a whirlwind of activity. Friday night we went out to eat at Juniper Take-Out. Mighty delicious. Then we went to Joann and Mike's house. It's so cute. We stayed up way too late and I got up earlier than I should have Saturday morning. We drove down to Kaysville for a belated baby shower for Lindsay and Parley. It was way fun to be around so much family. After the shower, we went out on the town and ate pizza and salad. I always get fed so well when I'm doing family stuff. Once dinner was over and Parley was taken away for bath time (he loves being clean. Imagine that) we had a little too much fun with candy corn... why does my family love concentrated sugar and sweets so much?!

And I got to take more pictures of my little nephew. I can't get enough of him!!! I get to go see him this weekend again since I don't have school Friday. YAY for fall break. It'll be nice to take a short vacation from school although I need to read a couple of novels, but hey, I am a bookworm, so it's no big deal.

After the festivities on Saturday, we stayed up late again watching TV. I had to get up early to get ready for my cousin's little girl's baby blessing. It was tough to wake up with only 5 hours of sleep PLUS I had to say bye to Mom and Tony. Good thing I will see them in November! Sunday was a busy day and it was weird being on the other side of the party (just attending rather than throwing). It was a nice change. I just love my family and concentrated sugar. YUM!

The Little Man

I just LOVE this little man!!! He is so precious.

I think Leslie took this picture and it ended up on my camera... so thank you!

THRILLER

I get to go see Thriller tonight! WOO!

I'm pretty stoked and I get to go with Jamie! Double WOO!

Jamie sent me a text this morning that reads:

...And though you fight to stay alive your body starts to shiver for no mere mortal can resist the evil of the... Thriller!

And then I started to do the dance (not well mind you) and singing the song and thinking of 13 Going on 30...

Monday, Monday

Today has been a productive Monday (well so far).

I had to go to work early today to cover the front desk because everyone had a meeting today. I got some studying for the midterm I have tomorrow started... I still have much to go. I also have a paper and annotated bibliography due tomorrow and loads of reading. But oddly enough, I am feeling optimistic about accomplishing everything before I go to bed.

I had a great weekend, although it was way fast! I will post some pictures of the Parley Boy when I upload the photos. He's just so adorable! I am looking forward to fall break this weekend. Knowing that I won't have to work or go to school on Friday is making this short week all the better, even if I have my Friday classes on Thursday. Oh well.

Have I ever mentioned that I love my family? Because I do.

oops

I haven't been very good at blogging every day. My bad.

Lately I have been thinking about change. I don't really like it, but for some reason I am ALWAYS looking for some sort of change. So weird. Maybe it's my way of dealing with stress. I don't like change but I wish I did. Maybe it's time to suck it up and deal with whatever is thrown my way (I pretty much do that already, but I need to be better at accepting things).

The one thing of life that I know is that change is inevitable. It will always happen and you can't stop it. The only think you can do is accept it and move on with your life. So, that's what I'll do. I will take what is given to me and just smile.

Oh and get this! I had three papers due around the same time. I got three different grades for each of them. What the heck? Maybe it's a backwards way of my professors telling me to step up and do better. So crazy. I am so glad it's the weekend.

Happy Day

People are fascinating to me. Today I got to hand out DUM DUMS for Tuition Freedom Day. People really like candy and if you give it to them with a smile, they will smile back and say thank you. Maybe I should just go out every day with some candy and a smile to meet new people. It's awesome.

We as students only pay 13% of our tuition, the rest comes from donors and government funding. How crazy is that?! I am grateful for the people who pay my tuition. I am blessed to be able to go to school without incurring debt.

Today is going to be a good day despite me stressing out about everything. I got quite a bit done last night at the library but will be going back there tonight. Yay for school! I am excited to be done with this week! WAHOO!

AHH!!!

YARGH! I had to get that out of my system.

I have so much to do this week... it's not even funny, well I guess it kind of is if you aren't me. Feel free to laugh. I have a midterm on Thursday about stuff I don't really understand, I have to write a paper that is due next Tuesday, do an annotated bibliography, finish three novels, study for another midterm on Tuesday, help plan my sister's baby shower, and try not to freeze! The weather has taken a turn to the darkside... it's COLD. It doesn't help that I have a low body temperature to begin with.

But, with all the stuff I have to accomplish, I am so EXCITED because I get to see Mom and Tony! Woo! I wish Dad was coming as well, but I will get to see him in November. I will get the corolla back this weekend. I have missed the gutless wonder. I also got a letter from a missionary that couldn't have come a better time. It really boosted my day. Gotta love it when that happens. Today will be a good day. And the library will be my friend this week. WOOT!

It's Friday!!!

It was quite chilly this morning on my way to work...

Once I got up the Old Main stairs, I was greeted with a GUST of wind that took my breath away (imagine how jumping into a freezing cold lake or pool). I then proceeded to laugh which made it harder to catch my breath and I had to text Jamie to tell her what happened and she just laughed. So my morning was started off with laughing. Always a good thing. The rest of the day wasn't half bad either.

I finished hand addressing over 350 thank you postcards today! WOO! I started them yesterday. I feel quite accomplished. I also got to run the whole office this afternoon... I was all alone. It was kinda weird. It made it super easy to finish doing all those postcards though. No distractions and I felt important knowing how to everything. It's great.

Tonight there is a USU vs. BYU football game in Provo. GO AGGIES!!!

To all the BYU fans... win or lose, you still live in Provo. 'Nuff said. One of my co-workers said he was on his way to the Provo and was not happy about it. I asked why. He simply said: "Because it's Provo." It made me chuckle.

Also, tonight is Curtis Senior High School's Homecoming game! Go Viks!

October!

Well, seeing how it's October 1, I thought I would blog and do another month of every single day blogging. Maybe it will help me stay sane and relieve stress. It's crazy to think I've been through six weeks of school so far. Time is always moving, no matter how much you don't want it to, it just keeps lurching forward.

Logan received its first touch of snow on the mountains yesterday. It was pretty cold. But it's supposed to get warmer (imagine that). Some other things that have happened to me lately... a random guy let me walk under his umbrella while it was snaining (snowing and raining put together) really hard up Old Main. I killed a HUGE fly on my window and it's still there because I don't want to touch it. Yes, it's nasty, but I really don't want to touch it. My CTR ring fell off my finger in the Albertson's parking lot crosswalk and I had to chase it down (I was laughing pretty hard and was embarrassed, but what can you do?) I got to go see GI JOE and it was actually pretty decent. My friend I went with and I thought it paralleled Star Wars... but it was a sci-fi action movie and there was a part that took me by total surprise. I have a paper discussing the real cause of the Pleistocene Megafauna extinction due on Friday and I need to go buy a ticket to Thriller. I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and it's kinda freaking me out. So many options and decisions to make. Life isn't as easy, but it's worth it. I need to keep reminding myself of that.

Time just keeps moving forward... it's a good and bad thing sometimes. Smile and be happy!

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Today is my sister Lindsay's birthday! YAY!

Here are ten reasons why I love my sister...
1. She is a great example to me.
2. She knows how to make cool crafts.
3. She has great taste in decor.
4. She will braid my hair if I ask her to.
5. She is always willing to listen to me.
6. She likes the Twilight Series.
7. She is an Aggie and comes up to Logan to visit quite often!
8. She likes to play fun games.
9. She puts up with me being her little sister.
10. She is the mother to my nephew... PARLEY BOY!

LOVE YOU MY SEESTER! I hope your day is wonderful!

Listen...

to...

GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE

They are great. Laid-back, chill, awesome listening music. My favorite song is Endlessly.

I haven't purchased music for a long time! I usually just get the free downloads from iTunes, but when I heard this song, I couldn't resist buying the whole album.

I hope you like it and if you don't, oh well, I will like it enough for the both of us.

Note to self...

Do not get into a fight with a MacBook...

It may cause injury... then again, I am pretty clumsy. But that peeled skin was most definitely inflicted by the edge of my MacBook. I need to be more attentive on how I sit down on my bed when my laptop is there...

Who Needs Sleep?

If I didn't have enough problems sleeping... now I have a kink in my neck that does not allow me to turn my head very quickly.

I slept with my neck in a weird position I guess.

Oh sleep. You used to bring great happiness to my life, now you are just a flicker of memory of when I used to get enough of you.

At least it's the weekend. Woot!

It's a Bird. A Bir-dah.

I have a problem...

I wake up at 4:00 am almost every single day.

You want to know why?

There's a bird outside the window that likes to chirp. NOT FUN. Especially for someone (i.e. ME) who doesn't do well with outside noise while trying to sleep.

I try to go back to sleep, but most of the time I'm in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours. Not cool. So, if I seem a little less energetic than usual, this is why. A bird. Silly bird.

Just Peachy!

This Saturday was a busy one. Aunt Sue, Jamie, Joann, and, I with the help of two little helpers canned peaches, made cheery jam and strawberry freezer jam! It was way fun and I didn't even mind getting all sticky. The best was getting peach juice in my eye and having my hands smell like fruit all night. It's kind of fun to think about how my relatives canned so much! I can barely do it for a day. Good thing I am going professional--- although after a while, you get into a groove and it becomes really easy. Oh, I am also having a fun time with my MacBook and editing all my photos to look "antiqued". Woot!

Fam-arh-ree

CAUTION... A VERY LONG BLOG POST AHEAD...

I truly do have the greatest family ever! I had the opportunity to drive up to University Place with Tyler, Leslie, and Grandma Pat for the Denning's (it's still kind of weird to say that) Open House. They have been married for a month now! We left around 4:30 pm and arrived around 4:30 am. The drive went pretty fast, minus Tyler and I's little detours east instead of west. Oops. We made it safely and that's all that matters. After sleeping for a few hours on Friday morning, we got up and went on a walk. You guessed it, Chambers Bay Golf Course. It's such a good trail to walk. My legs didn't even feel like jello after... it must be from climbing Old Main Hill every single weekday. Then we showered and got ready. I think after that we went on errands and started getting some things put together for the open house on Saturday.

Oh, by the way, it was either raining, drizzling, or cloudy with a sun break the whole time we were up there. It was way fun still. Saturday morning was a frenzy. We got all the tables, chairs, tents, benches, and food for the open house. We were so busy none of us got ready until 5 (the open house started at 6). It was a mad house but we thrive in organized chaos. Anyway, it was raining really hard up until 6 and stayed "dry" till around 8:30. Our family must be blessed or something. It was cold, but we had a space heater and really fun people. Kelsi and Mary came up for the festivities as well! The food was good (fresh salmon, chicken skewers, Caesar salad, fruit, chocolate cake, and cheesecake with lemonade or water to drink). Pretty darn awesome. And I got to see Ashlee! That was wonderful. After we cleaned up some of the stuff, we changed and watched 17 Again. It's HILARIOUS! I was cracking up the whole time. I really enjoyed it. We were late to church the next morning because it was a DOWN POUR outside and it just took a little more time to get to the car than usual, but it was fine. I miss family wards. There is always noise and you don't have to worry about being too loud. Dad bore his testimony... I have pressure on me now. Thanks Dad :) Oh and thanks to Dad for some of these photos!

After church, we were going to head to the Oregon Coast, but it was pretty miserable weather and I didn't pack for temperatures below 60. My bad. So we ended up going to Portland, which turned out to be just as fun. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Tigard. I got to sleep on the couch cushions in a sleeping bag on the floor. I slept pretty well oddly enough. But before we went to sleep WAY TOO LATE, we ate at The Cheesecake Factory. YUMMERS! That food is always delicious. On the left is strawberry cheesecake and on the right is red velvet cheesecake. Oh my goodness was it tasty!

BALDERDASH. That's all. Kidding, that game gives your abs a good work out with all the laughing that occurs while playing, especially with Tony. He is so funny. I don't remember the exact phrasing for some of the answers, but let me tell ya, they were hilarious! I can't believe what some people will write, but it makes for a very interesting game. We ate a tasty breakfast the next morning and then started getting ready... the shower broke after three out of seven people showered. Thankfully, we got to go into another unoccupied room to shower. That was an insane morning as well. We went shopping at Washington Square and saw some fascinating people. Then we headed home to clean up the majority of the wedding stuff, although there is still quite a bit up there! Sorry Mom! I got about 2 hours of sleep before we had to get up to catch our flight at 6. Delta, you know better. I like Southwest even more now. Let's just say, this morning was rough and I am quite exhausted. But my weekend was a very busy and fun one! I should have done more homework, but oh well. Live and learn. I will just have to put a lot of work into my studies to catch up. I can do it though. Anyway, if you are to this point of the blog post, you get a gold star! Congratulations!

And here are some photos from the Portland Temple that I took. My favorite is the last one.

I hope you survived reading this post because it was SUPER long!!!

Remember 9/11

This a picture from NASA's Image of the Day Gallery from the fateful day on September 11, 2001. Here is my blog post from last year.

Remember and never forget. God Bless America.

Whew...

After a whirlwind weekend trip up to Washington, I am exhausted! I will blog more about my trip another day, seeing how I have to write a 5 page paper tonight and read quite a bit. WAHOO! School is great! (Note the sarcasm in that last sentence) I love learning, but when I have to write a book review about a book I don't particularly want to write about, it's a little tough. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight. Scratch that. I will get some sleep because if I don't, I will be Grumpy Alli tomorrow and that is no fun.

Oh, and I just contacted a school about graduate studies... we will see what happens. Until next time...

Good Thing I'm Not a Hand Model

If I were a hand model, I wouldn't get paid much. In the past couple ofdays, while at work (I'm stamping, stuffing, and sealing over 600 letters), I have received multiple paper cuts and one stamp roll cut. I'm pretty used to getting paper cuts, so it's not a big deal, but my hands are pretty nasty looking. The paper cuts go fabulously with the gross burn on my pointer finger. Tired Alli + HOT oven = BURN!

Let's just say my first couple of weeks back at school have been insane and getting these small injuries has been nothing compared to the workload I have. I am so grateful for my ability to go to college and learn. It's fun (except for reading textbooks that aren't too terribly interesting, although I am beginning to find out that practically anything can hold my attention in school if I relate it to something I like). Like my dad says, boring people get bored or boring people have no imagination. I refuse to be boring. People always look at me funny when I say I don't get bored, but it's cool. If only they could get inside my mind, they would realize WHY I don't get bored. I have so much going on in my little brain that I can go from one subject to another in seconds. So, while I am sitting in class, I usually twist what the professor is saying into something that makes sense to me. It works except sometimes I just totally zone out of what the professor was saying because my mind took me on a whole other tangent. I think it's funny. I hope you enjoyed a look into my mind (well, sort of).

I am back to my even more crazy college life. I will be super busy, but I like it that way. I am excited to see where this year takes me... Graduate school? Internship? A REAL LIFE JOB? We shall see... until then, enjoy!

Senior Year

It's my last year as an undergraduate! It's pretty gnarly. I don't know what exactly I am going to do after, but I guess that's the fun part of life-you never know what's going to happen. Today is my second day of classes and let me tell ya... they are going to kick my butt for sure. I will survive though. The library will be my friend for sure. I had to drop a class and it made me sad. But I found a class that will be just as interesting. My schedule includes American Writers, Anthropology of Sex and Gender, Utah Archaeology, Period Studies in American Literature, and Studies in the American West. Sounds fun right?! It will be a lot of reading, writing, discussion, and trying not to fall asleep. It should be a fun semester.

SARA JAN

This post is dedicated to my cousin Sara! Woot! Here are some reasons why Sara is so rad...

• We are the same age (well technically I am six months older, but people born in 1988 are the coolest! The eighties are pretty rad.)
• She is going on a mission to New York, New York South Spanish speaking! ¡Que divertido!
  
• We made an ice cream cake for her birthday one year. It didn't turn out how we wanted it to, but it was still a fun memory.

• We lived together in Aunt Sue's home after our first year of college and it was probably one of my favorite summers I have ever enjoyed.
• She loves sports. Tony was nice and gave me a baseball from Safeco Field in Seattle to give to Sara.
  
• She and I went to many Hyrum Hornet games during one summer and she was the best cheerer ever! Oh and she would go chase the foul balls with the little kids so she could get a piece of candy. (this photo is not of the Hyrum field, but it's a baseball diamond!)
  

• She is taller than me (wait... most everyone is taller than me!)
• "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" makes her happy, just like it makes me happy.
  
• She worked at the D.I.
• One summer she, Jacque, and Jamie came up to University Place and we had lots of fun. The alarm scared us to death... Read this.
• She introduced me to Japanese Soccer and laughs at The Mysterious Ticking Noise
• RAGNAR! Burninating the countryside! Alli's take. Sara's take. (Click on the links if you want to be reminded about RAGNAR!)
  
• Transformers, The Hulk, BATMAN, Wolverine, X-Men... do you see a pattern?
• She loves the Disney channel and we learned the "We're All in this Together" dance. Pretty fun.
• I think she should become a professional cotton candy spinner.
• She dances very well.
• We take crazy pictures on Macs.
• She's PARANOID! hahahaha!
• She screams LOUD when we are on the molecule. I have the video to prove it!
  
• So You Think You Can Dance. 'Nuff said.

Sara is AMAZING! These are only a few memories/things about Sara. The list could go on and on. Anyway, I am grateful to have Sara as a cousin. She is such an example and I love learning from her. I hope everyone enjoyed this list! She leaves for the MTC next Wednesday! So crazy! Love you Sara!!! Good luck. You will be a fantastic missionary!!!