Thursday Things

It has been one insanely crazy day at the office, but I just wanted to leave you with a few things before taking off for the weekend. (you'll probably still see my outfit post for tomorrow, but that's about it!)

• Soldier Boy called me last night. It was another 2ish hour conversation. I'm a fan of him.

• Work is crazy.

• changes are coming to my job at work - I get to start helping out and collaborating on everything social media for my company. Facebook, Twitter, Blogging (!) - I'm REALLY excited about it.

• I was on the phone a lot at work today - it was ringing off the hook

• During my (later than normal) lunch break, Solider Boy texted me with this remark: :) 6 hours!!! 

• To say I was giddy about seeing that text was an understatement.

• I've been counting down for the past day.

• Things that are happening this weekend include: dancing the night away with a really cute boy, getting a good night kiss, shoe shopping (desparately needing new black flats), and dress shopping.

• Also, I think we're going to the some hot springs somewhere local. We'll see if that goes down.

• Dress rehearsal at the studio is happening on Saturday. Joy. :P

• ZUMBA! Saturday morning! If you want details on the FREE class that my 2nd counselor is offering, let me know. ALL are welcome! (unless you're a creepy stalker. then probably not.)

Sounds fun, right? I'm just excited to get to spend more time with Soldier Boy. Our phone conversations in the past couple of nights have been FANTASTIC and I know that this weekend is going to bring good things. :o) catch ya on the flip side!

Day 4: Channeling

Today's challenge was to Channel Someone. Oh dear. I had the hardest time coming up with someone to channel. I kept thinking of what was in my closet and wondering HOW in the world I was going to channel some sort of famous character or person and make said outfit work.

Enter Soldier Boy. (he's the new boy remember?)

He and I were talking on the phone last night and I was trying to explain this challenge to him and then I asked him to give me someone to challenge. His answer? Brittany Spears. I know, right? You're all thinking, what the heck Alishka, really?!

Well.....here's the deal. I thought it could work. So today I'm channeling Brittany Spears a la her "Baby One More Time" video. Specifically:

So here's my outfit (again, 2 parts!)

As you can see I tried to channel the prep school girl kind of look. So I'm wearing jean-washed slacks (JC Penney's), a gray button up cargo shirt (Target) and one of my dad's ties that I  borrowed ages ago and never gave back.... (LOVE that tie.)

THEN I decided to do just a little more Brittany channeling:

I saw this hair-do on Pinterest the other day and new I wanted to try it. My hair is NOT quite long enough to take this braid as far over as I would like, but I still like it.

So there you have it. A channel success? Perhaps. I do like my hair today....

Day 3: Embrace a Trend

I'll admit that I struggled trying to put together my outfit for today's challenge. Who's to decide what is "in" right now anyways? Also - I always seem to be behind on the times when it comes to trends. Woefully behind.

Anywho, I went with three (sort of 4) trends in one outfit (call me crazy) and I think I like it. Most of it.

Here is my main outfit of a polka dotted shirt (roommate's), heathered-gray/black pencil skirt (JC Penney's) and my green tights (Forever 21). (I promise those tights are green AND that they look really cool with my outfit. It's just the lighting in my room/stupid iPod camera. :P)

then we have my hair:

a high, ballerina bun. Now here's the dealio as to why this isn't my favorite trend. I am a ballerina. I grew up dancing and had to have my hair in a bun, EVERY day. So...I don't normally want to put my hair up in a bun. However, I thought Id give it a go as a fashion statement and I actually think it worked out fairly well for me. I'm a fan.

So just to review here are the trends I decided to try out today: 1) polka-dots (LOVE. I'm a huge fan) 2) pattern mixing ( this is one that I made up. I feel like everywhere I turn there is HUGE amounts of pattern mixing. I realize this will be a challenge another day...and I'll do something cool that day. but bam. pattern mixing) 3) colored tights. (I LOVE colored tights. I'm just always SO nervous to wear them. But like I said earlier, I think they work with this outfit. and my purple or pink ones would probably look just as cool. something to remember) and 4) the ballerina bun.

Overall, today was a win. Go me! :o)

[ps don't miss the dating battle story below - an introduction/quick run down of all of our adventures in the past week. :o)]

Dating Battle Stories: Soldier Boy

So in case you missed it, I kissed a boy the other day. Well, more like a week ago. And I really liked it. A lot. A few facts about this boy, who we shall hereafter call Soldier Boy, before I tell you a few of my favorite stories that have happened since our first kiss:

• he's in the military.
• he's served a tour of duty in Iraq.
• he taught Salsa dancing in Iraq.
• I know him from Blue Tango.
• He's my favorite dance partner.
• We always have the best dances.
• I've crushed on him for a long time.
• He's divorced and has a daughter.
• this doesn't bother me
• by the time I see him tomorrow night it will have been ~94 hours since I last saw him. I can hardly wait.
• I'm grateful that I am always so busy in the evenings. It's TOTALLY making this easier.
• He lives 2ish hours away.
• Him living 2+ hours away isn't an issue yet....and hopefully it won't ever make it to "issue" status. I think we can make this work.
• We spent all weekend together. ;)
• Last night we talked on the phone for 2 hours without any lack of conversation topic. It was actually one of the best phone conversations I have ever had.

Okay, so now that you know just a little bit about Soldier Boy let me tell you my  favorite moments from this weekend.

Starting with Thursday - hands down my favorite part was kissing him. And yes, *I* kissed him. Not the other way around. I had NEVER done this before...until 6 days ago. :o) Let me just say, going in and kissing someone is scary, but really, really fun. And it's led us on a great adventure so far. So, you're probably wondering how that happened right? right. Well. After dancing on Thursday night he walked me to my car. It was already late and I had to work the next day, but as we’re talking outside of my car, I offer to drive to him to his car (on the other side of the bldg etc.) and we ended up talking in my car for hours. About everything. Random stuff. We talked about kissing. etc. (probably over shared. but that's how I roll. oh well.) 

Well. At one point I sorta lean in (and I had thought about kissing him at this point several times) and he gives me this look...and I say "penny for your thoughts." and he says "right now?" and I say, "yup." and he leans in fairly close and says, "penny for YOUR thoughts." and I was all, "uh-huh, I asked you first." and he said, " I know. This is my response (moves a hair closer). Penny for your thoughts." and the first thought I have is that I should kiss him.  I sorta lean back a tad, had a quick little battle with my mind and my heart...and then I leaned in and kissed him with every part of my being. Guess what? He kissed me back. BOY did he kiss me back. [ps he's a really good kisser. let it be written. let it be done. or something like that] moving on....

Saturday - Soldier Boy had drill all weekend up in SLC. So, he was closer than normal on the weekend and we took advantage of that closeness. He took me on a date! We went to dinner, swing dancing on BYU campus and then back to my place to watch Tangled. We had a wonderful evening and got to know each other a bit. He admitted to having had liked me for a long time, but then Monkey Man got in the way for a short bit. However, here we are making this something happen.

Sunday - after a few texts and a cute snow angel made especially for me, Solider Boy showed up on my doorstep....in uniform. [insert girly squeal here.] Seriously, guys, I know everyone always says how a guy in uniform is the best thing ever. IT'S TRUE. Soldier Boy is cute, but man alive he is even cuter in his uniform. I liked. Anyways. Back to the moment. I made dinner and then we watched Megamind. He totally fell asleep while holding me (something about staying up to late the past couple of days. have no idea why that would be. *wink wink*) and it was awesome. We had some more good conversation where we talked about family and stuff, and then we had to say goodnight/goodbye. sigh. There is a HUGE part of me that hates how far away he lives, but at the same time it's going to be good that he lives far away. It means that when we DO get to spend time together, we're really going to make it count.

Monday - While I was at work late Monday afternoon I got a text message from my roommate of a picture of a long-stemmed rose with a note attached. It was for me! Normally on Mondays I leave straight from work and drive to the studio in southern Utah county to teach at 5:30p and then I don't get back until late in the evenings. Well, this particular Monday I had left my iPod at home and so I run home to get it before teaching and so when I was home for that brief moment, I was able to read the sweet little note that Soldier Boy had left me with the rose. It said "Just Because.  P.S. Smell it [it was a fake rose, but smelled like a man's cologne. very good smelling cologne might I add.] P.P.S. I wasn't sure a real one would survive the cold."  Sweet right? sigh. Seriously the most adorable thing I think any boy has ever done for me. We texted back and forth during the evening a bit.

Tuesday - aka last night. He called me - but I was in the shower following my workout that I had had earlier in the evening. I called him back and we talked for 2 hours. This entire conversation was wonderful and filled with all sorts of new information about each other and it was just really, really good. I know the timing is right for this relationship right now - it wouldn't have worked out a few months ago if this had happened then (we both agree on that fact) but here we are. Having a long-distance relationship. Is it what we planned on? Heck no. Are we okay with that? heck yes. It's going to be a fun adventure and I just can't wait to continue on this little path of ours. :o)

so there you go. Soldier Boy. I'm not sure I can (we haven't talked about it) call him my boyfriend yet....but I wouldn't go out with another guy if he asked me out right now. So there you go. :o)  Have a wonderful Wednesday y'all!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 54th Edition

Well, here we are. Tuesday afternoon. Today has been fairly good to me. I've been pretty much happy all day (I've also been fairly distracted all day - but more on that tomorrow) and that's been a great thing.

For my tender mercy today I wanted to share something that I read in the Ensign [a magazine The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints puts out every month] the other day that has really stuck with me.

In the article called, "Recognizing God'sHand in Our Daily Blessings" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, there was a quote shared by President N. Eldon Tanner (1898–1982):First Counselor in the First Presidency, which said:

“As we reflect on the value of resolving to do better, let us determine to discipline ourselves to carefully select the resolutions we make, to consider the purpose for making them, and finally to make commitments for keeping them and not letting any obstacle stop us. Let us remind ourselves at the beginning of each day that we can keep a resolution just for that day.”

How brilliant of a statement is that? That little reminder - to remind myself daily that I can keep a resolution for just that day is what it is all about. Stephen R.Covey talks about taking "baby steps" in order to do the things that will get us accomplishing big things and creating habits in our lives. That reminder came at a perfect time for me and I'm reminded that I need to keep on taking baby steps every. single. day.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!!