Thursday Things

Well dear friends, it is Thursday. This week has felt way too long and yesterday I was wishing it was the weekend already. Didn't help that people at the gym were telling me to have a good weekend - when I plan on going to the gym between now and the beginning of my weekend. Stupid gym people.

Anyways, let's get this show on the road shall we? This is going to be a picture heavy Thursday Things, because I want it to be, so just deal with it okay? Okay.

• I have to go to the dentist today to get four cavities filled. I AM NOT excited about this in the slightest. I have shared my dislike for the dentist before and nothing has changed since last time. 

• There is a lot going on in the next few days. I am excited for my plans!

• For example, tonight (after the dentist) I'll probably stop by for the end of movie night and then go dancing. Unless I feel like I'm going to die because of the dentist. We shall see.

• Tomorrow night a bunch of friends and I are going up the canyon for a tinfoil dinner and dutch oven dessert extravaganza. I am SO excited. I'm hoping that the area looks a lot like this:

• Saturday consists of the 181st Semi-Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I get to go to the afternoon session with some people from my ward. I am so excited! I just love conference! If you are curious, there are many, many ways to participate. Check this out to find out more!

• Also on Saturday a bunch of my former roommates are getting together for a girl's night party. I'm rather excited to see everyone again.

• Another thing that is probably happening on Saturday - hanging out with Grizzly Bear per his suggestion. Will he step it up? Maybe. we'll see.

• Sunday is going to be filled with more General Conference AND I get to sing outside of the conference center in the afternoon. I'm very excited for that too.

• I think I need to make this dessert this weekend. It just looks DIVINE.

•  I am awesome and talented because I can read this:

•  I want to be this guy right here right now:

• and finally....I have decided I need to be more conscious of living this:
  
  
  

Have a LOVELY Thursday all y'all!! :o)

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 40th Edition

Yesterday was a very good day. It was filled with my favorite things - a quick work day, good food, a great workout and flirting at FHE. PLUS as an added bonus there was a bonfire and s'mores! Lovely!

Today....today is not a very good day. at all. I am struggling to be positive, to stay happy and focused. Part of me just wanted to skip over the Tender Mercy Tuesday, but then I remembered things that happened this last week and I couldn't skip it, no matter how terrible of a mood I am in.

You know how hard it is to think of something that has blessed your life when you're having a bad day? It's REALLY hard. It's so easy to focus on the hard things on life and to let that rule your emotions. I try so hard to not let this happen, but sometimes my emotions get the better of me. le sigh.

Anyhow, I mentioned this yesterday, but it is worth mentioning again because it has had SUCH an impact on me. President Uchtdorf spoke to the women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday evening and it was the most marvelous message. His thoughts were things that I had been thinking about a lot as of late and have been praying for guidance on daily. I am constantly amazed at the ability for one talk to touch SO many lives and answer questions for people in all wakes of life. This is a message that I know I'm going to return to time and time again.

And just like that the sun is shining just a tad brighter in my life. Here's hoping it continues to grow brighter.

Monday Madness

whew. What a crazy weekend! Work has been UBER busy this morning and I have gotten a lot done. It feels good to be productive. :o) I know you're all SO anxious to hear about my weekend so....let's do a bullet point recap here quickly, shall we?

this weekend:

• I rode in a car for lots of hours. It was very entertaining. We had several iPads in the car and at one point we played the Game of Life. It was festive.

• I stayed in a mansion. seriously. It was awesome. Sauna, hot tub, swimming pool...etc. LOVED it.

• I had the best Mexican food on Friday night. It was delish.

• The Little Mermaid was utterly fantastic. They did so many cool and ingenius things. I just sat there the entire time in awe.

• We went to Kneaders for breakfast and I got their french toast. Oh my gosh. That was the most divine breakfast in the entire world. I want more.

• I flirted. (duh. I always flirt. ;) )

• Watched a movie with Fryman. It had been a while since he and I had hung out. It was fun times.

• The movie? not my favorite. but oh well.

• Game night last was full of epic Apples to Apples fun. 

• My favorite part of the game? When we decided that getting married to senior to cash in on their social security would be a good idea.

• At one point I was laughing so hard that I rolled over (I was sitting on the floor) and I rolled over the box - it scraped me and this morning I have an awesome bruise. ha.

• seriously. SO much laughing last night. It was a total blast.

• The Relief Society broadcast was AWESOME. President Uchtdorf is a stud muffin. LOVE him.

So there you go, that was basically my weekend. :o) I'm excited for FHE tonight because we're going up the canyon and making s'mores. Don't tell my trainer. ;)

Random Thursday Things

Here we are guys. Another Thursday. This week has felt rather long and arduous to me, but maybe that's just me. I'm rather excited that it is the weekend and I'm even more excited because fun things are happening. Let's get this party started shall we?

• I'm leaving early tomorrow afternoon to drive to St. George with Chilly and friends to go see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan. I am SO freakin' excited for this! I have been looking forward to this event ever since I purchased my ticket. woo hoo!

• I am also looking forward to getting some much needed sleep. I have been so exhausted this week and Alishka needs her beauty sleep!

• My trainer....is insane. He is kicking my trash. BUT I like it. Not going to lie. He's fabulous. I did my very first bench press yesterday. Granted, all I lifted was the bar (45lbs) and not even by myself, BUT! I did it!!! I feel really cool now. :o)

• The General Relief Society Broadcast is this weekend. I LOVE this broadcast. It always rocks my world. (someone else that I just discovered blogged about this too...her blog is AWESOME. go read!)

• I have noticed the leaves changing on the mountains...I think it is time to take a drive up the canyon! woo hoo!

• I am in a mood of anything fall. I think I need to make some fall-type foods and desserts. mmmm...yup.

• Remember how I was doing my challenge? Yeah. It is going SO well. I feel like I have more time to get things done and I don't just lounge around and read tv. Also, this will help me to read more. 

• I have been in a slight reading slump lately and as I visited Angie last night I picked up the randomest collection of books to read in the next few weeks. Definitely in a weird little reading mood.

• I have a new favorite band - Florence and the Machine. I realize they aren't that new, but I have recently discovered a love of their music.

• Also, I discovered this blog one day and totally went through and did the suggested things to my closet, MINUS a true remixing of outfits. I think I'm actually going to do a 30 for 30 Remix Challenge. I won't have prizes or anything, but I think I'll do it here - publicly showing my outfits and such. Maybe starting in October? Thoughts? Anyone want to tackle said challenge with me?

I think that's it for now. Wow. So many things happening and going through my mind! I'm pretty sure I missed a few things...but I'm tired of thinking.

Wordy Wednesday

I'm feeling wordy today, but the things that are going through my head are not things that I can share on the blog. yet. So instead I will share the following quotes that pretty aptly describe what is going through my mind. So here you go: a wordy insight to the brain waves of Alishka. :o)

{all prints found on Pinterest}

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 39th Edition

well, it's the 11th hour over here in Alishka-land. I should really be in bed right now, but I had to watch the season premier of Castle. I love that show.

Anywho. Moving on.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I got to go see the film 17 Miracles yesterday. What an amazing film.

I realized something yesterday. I am truly blessed to live the life I currently live. Seriously. I don't have to go digging for my dinner, search for buffalo chips to cook said dinner on, and I definitely don't have to worry about freezing to death in my sleep. I am blessed to live in a day where the fullness of the Gospel has been restored. Where I have the comforts of a roof over my head, a car that takes me places I want to go, and the internet to help me stay connected with people far away from me. I am so blessed.

And I'm going to try to never forget that.

just another....

MANIC MONDAY!!!

Seriously, it is crazy around here peeps. Work has just been one thing after another all day long. sigh. At least I can rest easy knowing that there are just two hours until my evening.

I have so much to blog about...I think we're going to need bullet points.....

• game night last night? EPIC. Seriously. At one point it was down to four of us and we played Go Fish! when is the last time YOU played Go Fish? (granted, this was a child version of go fish...with pictures of fishes and what not. not the real life GROWN UP version. WHO KNEW there was grown up version of Go Fish?!!) For me...it had been quite sometime. We had to read the rules. Also, we were hilarious playing this game. It was honestly one of my favorite moments of game nights so far.

• Surfer Boy....is my friend. And for now, i'm okay with that. At some point we might be more...but for now we are friends. Which is good. I want to marry my best friend. :o)

• I learned some interesting things about some back story on Blindman2 (remember him?). It makes me want to continue giving him a chance. I think I'll be seeing him in a couple of weeks with our mutual friends. We'll see what goes down at that point.

• I get to go to Tuachan this weekend! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I can deal with ANYTHING at work this week if only because I'll be "out of town" for a mere 24 hours. :o)

• We've started having "ward prayer" again on Sunday evenings. I just LOVE going to this. There have been times in my life where I have despised ward prayer and have refused to go. Not anymore!

• TV Fall Season Premieres are upon us!!! I'm rather excited for my two favorite shows: Castle and The Big Bang Theory. YAY for fun things again!!!!

• I think I mentioned this the other day...but i'm totally doing my challenge for another week. It rocked my world last week, I'm going to make it rock again this week. :o)

• I'm going to go see 17 Miracles tonight. Don't be surprised if it shows up in my tender mercy post tomorrow. I have a feeling it could....

• I was visiting teaching this weekend and I read this quote in the message. It's how I'm going to live my life: “We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something less, perhaps something far less.” - Elder M. Russell Ballard

I'm not sure if that's everything or not. oh well. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

WooHoo! It's FRIDAY!!!!

Guys. This week has been insanely long and uber busy. I am so glad it is almost the weekend! I need this weekend. I realized last night while I was dancing the night away at Blue Tango that I never did one of my favorite posts of the week: Thursday Things!! I love doing it and I am so sad I missed it. So today....we'll do FRIDAY THINGS!!! :o)

• Dancing last night was EPIC!!!! The music was fantastic, I had some amazing dances, and overall it was the best time all week. :o) The end.

• I have a story about Surfer Boy...see below.

• Sometimes I feel like my life is just the same thing over and over again and then all of a sudden something happens and I'm reminded that each day is a gift.

• Work was absolutely insane yesterday. sigh. I'm glad that I only have 7 more hours to go until the weekend!

• We were supposed to be having company pictures tomorrow for my ballet company, but then....they got canceled due to the weather. (they were supposed to be outside) 

• The bad news with this is that I still can't sleep in because of picking up my bountiful basket. Had I known, I would have done a later pick up time. oh well. c'est la vie.

• The good news is that I can now help my ward clean the church building that morning AND then have ALL day to do errands and chores. 

• My poor house needs a good cleaning. AND fall decorations.

• FALL DECORATIONS! OH MY GOSH! I just realized I can put those up now! WOO HOO!!!!

• I just love fall. I am actually kind of excited that it is cooler in the mornings these days.

• BYU plays the Utes tomorrow. I'm sort of excited for this game. It should be fun, fun times.

• My challenge this week has been going REALLY well. In fact, I think I'm going to try it for another week. I feel so much better about myself and my productivity this week.

Okay, now on to the part that you're all really here for: the story about Surfer Boy.

So, after my little freak out Wednesday afternoon and trying to decide what I should do...I went to the gym. (PS NOBODY [besides my friend quoted in said post] gave me any advice. What is up with that yo?!) So, I'm at the gym and Wednesday was a weight day - so I’m doing a circuit with dumbbells and such and I glance over to the other area - where all the machines are - and I see Surfer Boy. I kind gasped inside, but kept going. I finished my circuit and had one thing left - the rowing machine. I had just noticed Surfer Boy go into the men's changing room and so I thought to myself, "self, if you get on the rowing machine you'll probably miss him leaving and then you won't get to say hi and you'll really feel like a stalker." so instead I took a 2-minute break to stretch my arms and such and stood by a half wall that I was using to stretch. (And it was conveniently right by the way to get out of the gym)

Anyways. I’m watching out of the corner of my eye and he starts to walk by...but doesn't notice me....but I decide to "see him" and glance up, say his name, and start to take out my headphones and we chit chat for a moment. so, we’re talking and he mentions that "we're thinking of doing a movie night on Friday" (we being him and another guy in my ward that hosted the last movie night) he continued "I’ve been talking about it with so-and-so and we're just deciding on the where and such right now" I was jumping up in down on the inside! I was so excited!! Anyways...I told him that sounded good and that I’d be in. :o) then he left, I did the rowing machine and went home a happy, happy girl.

So there you go. I haven't heard an exact plan for movie night yet...but I have hopes. I just have to restrain myself from texting him to ask about it....unless I haven't heard anything at like 7p tonight. :o) Here's hoping it's going somewhere....eventually. he he he he.

i know, i know

two posts in one. whatever are you going to do with me? BUT I just needed to blog right now, so here I am, blogging.

by the way, if you follow me in a reader - I changed things up around here and made it feel like Fall. I love Fall. I am very much excited to do Fall-type things in the coming weeks.

Also, I've mentioned before about how I get a kick out of reading my horoscope, and today's is no different. see:

Your dreams work out quite nicely in your head, Alishka, but the problem now is turning them into some sort of real life scenario. Be careful of taking too much of an intellectual approach. When it comes to relationships, things don't normally happen logically or rationally. You are going to have to leave a great deal up to chance, so just learn to deal with things as they come.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate chance? Let's get real here for just a moment. There's a boy. (It's always about a boy, isn't it? Deal with it.) His name? Surfer Boy. Surfer Boy and I have enjoyed several times together where much flirting has ensued (sometimes just the two of us, sometimes in groups) and I feel like there's a strong possibility that he's interested.  My dear friend Bagginswulf (I may or may not have mentioned him before. oh well...we met a long time ago and have a great friendship. He's my go to for advice on boys and I like to think I'm his go to for advice on girls. that may or may not be true. ;) ) and I were talking about this today. He said he thinks there are a few things that Surfer Boy could be thinking:

• Perhaps he's interested, but he thinks you're busy. 
• Perhaps he's interested, but he thinks you're not. (Unlikely.) 
• Perhaps he's not interested. 
• Perhaps he's somewhat interested, but he's not sure how interested yet. 
• Perhaps he's not interested, but he could be interested, given more time with you.

So how does one decide what to do when there are so many perhapses in the equation?! It's like there are 5 variables and I only know what 2 of the variables equal! I know from my great expansive knowledge in the world of alegbra that if you have more than one variable and you don't have values for all the variables, it's mostly impossible to solve for all the variables - at least not with a real numbers! (i'm not sure that makes sense. I don't care. Mvoing on.)

Bagginswulf told me I just have to weigh "1.) How much you want to be asked out vs. 2.) How much you want to spend time with him."

Sigh.

My biggest problem is always figuring out what I WANT. Well....I know what I want....but trying to figure out what is more important to me when I can't have exactly what I want is HARD.

Sometimes I wish there was either a) a magic wand that I could just wave and get what  I want or b) someone to tell me what I should do in this exact situation. Instead I'll just ask for the blogging world's opinion. I may or may not do what you suggest.

Ready. Set. Go!! ;)

The Versatile Blogger

Today I feel  very honored. Maggie B. from Finding Myself awarded me with this little blog award. In all of my six years of blogging this is the very first award I have ever received!

There are some rules to this whole award business and they are as follows:

1. Link back to the blogger that originally awarded you
2. List out 7 things about yourself
3. Give this award to 15 other *newly discovered* blogs

 I have posted several get to know you things over the years and as I sit here thinking of 7 things I'm not sure if I've told you these things in the past or not. However, it's my blog and I really don't care. ;) ha. so there.

1. I love to eat cake for breakfast. When it's my birthday and I make (or my sister makes) a cake I always make sure to have some leftover for breakfast the day after. :o) I don't care if it makes me fat. I'll run an extra mile for that cake.


2. I love running through the grass barefoot but 9 times out of 10 I prefer to wear socks when in the house. Odd, I know. 


3. I have to always have chapstick with me. Preferably of the Natural Ice variety. I think I have about 5 sticks right now all in different places so that I always have some within reach.


4. I can totally get ready in ten minutes or less. I might not look amazing, but I can do it.


5. Try as hard as I can, I can't seem to make a boy wait for me when he comes to pick me up for a date. Seriously, I'm such a good time manager (humble I know) when it comes to getting ready that I am ALWAYS ready JUST as they are ringing the doorbell or even 5 minutes before. I even TRY to start getting ready later just so I can make them wait just a little bit...it doesn't work. Even when I was dating SwingKid it didn't work. 


6. I have a thing for gorgeous shoes. I love shoes. A lot. 


7. Lately there are some days that I really wish I had a boyfriend and then there are other days when I am SO glad that I am single. 

There you go. Seven, VERY random things about me.

And now for me to dish out this award to other people. I admit, that I am very much stalker when it comes to reading blogs. There are so many random people I follow. Now, I am bending the rules just a little bit. Like Maggie, I don't have 15 versatile, *newly discovered* blogs that I felt like I could award this blogging award to at this time.So, I'm only awarding this award to four people. I know! It's not very many and not even a third of the "required" amount. But....I don't think there is any blogging policemen out there who are going to come and take my award away and really this is a great way for YOU to meet new bloggers! Exciting, right?! s (also, some of them I may or may not have been following for a while and they may or may not know that! ;) ) so the peeps I'm giving this award to are as follows:

1. Meg from "The Adventures of Me" This girl...I find her so full of awesome. She's straightforward, honest, blunt and tells her stories THE BEST WAY. Love stalking reading her blog.


2.  jessie jean from "messie jessie." I LOVE this girl. She's a former ballet student of mine (HI SWEETIE!) and I've just "come out" and let it be known that I read about stalk her life. She'll appreciate that I'm sure. ;)


3.  Rasha from "and this is what She said" I might or might not have commented on her "tell me a secret tuesday" meme and I amy or may not have commented before...regardless I love her thoughts and little notes she posts. she's adorable.


4.  Kayla from "Freckles in April" She recently hosted my favorite part about the month of August - the 21 Day Challenge (maybe you saw some of my posts on that? ha!) I think she's a great example of someone who is a mom and stays up to date on fashion and what not. Also, she's super nice!

So that's it! Huzzah for getting an award!!!! :o) Have a great hump day all y'all.

Tender Mercy Tuesday: 38th Edition

So, today's Tender Mercy directly relates to my challenge post yesterday. I didn't turn on the TV yesterday. AT ALL. I was tempted to, but I never did. Instead, I read a book. Yup, one book in its entirety. I didn't plan on staying up late last night, in fact, I WANTED to get to bed early, but instead I stayed up reading  this really good book entitled, "Birth Marked" by Caragh M. O'Brien. Now, right now I'm wishing I had gone to bed and not stayed up to finish reading sid book, but at the same time I'm really glad I did. Here's the reason why: I feel completely justified in living up to my challenge this week. See, last week I would have just turned on the TV in the evening and probably stayed up just as late, but just laying around watching some random show. INSTEAD, after I got out of my shower from my workout I read a good book. I need to read more good books. I forget how much I love to read until I start doing it after a dry spell. So this is me, committed to my challenge and hoping it continues to bless my life like it did last night. :o)

In other news - I did assisted pull-ups on the Assisted Pull-up machine. I really liked that part of my circuit last night. :o) I don't think I mentioned it, but I got a gym trainer with my gym. He's great. He's really pushing me to become a better me and that makes me excited. :o)

And finally, I saw this today on Pinterest and I have decided that it is going to be my motto for the rest of the year. I think it pairs nicely with my word of the year. ;)

CHALLENGE

I am going to tell you all about a challenge I am giving myself. Why? So that I'll report somewhere and you can hold me accountable in a way that only you, the blogosphere can. :o)

This week (i.e. from Today until 9/18 - the next 7 days) I am going to refrain from MINDLESS TV WATCHING. 

What is "mindless TV watching?" I am defining "mindless TV watching" as that of turning on the TV to flip channels until something suitable turns on as "background noise." It might be something you've seen before, or it might be something you've always wanted to watch but haven't seen before. It could also be something that you saw the beginning, middle, end of but not the rest of it. How many of us do this "mindless TV watching?" Am I the only one? I always turn on the TV during lunch, while making dinner after I get home from work and on Sunday afternoons while I take a nap (or evenings while I work on a project). As I sat on the couch last night mindlessly watching TV trying to unwind from a long day of meetings I realized that I was wasting precious moments that could be better spent doing projects that are lying around unfinished, reading books that need to be read, or visiting with friends and family that I love. (also, this was partly spurred by the CES Fireside in which Elder and Sister Oaks spoke to the youth of the church. Sister Oaks' words really hit home for me several times.)

So there you go. I didn't turn on the TV when first stepping into my apartment today for lunch. Instead, I continued talking to my mom, ate lunch, and read one chapter from a church book and a few chapters from my fictional read for the week. I feel very accomplished. :o) I will only watch TV that I PLAN to ahead of time to watch. I won't just turn on the TV to "find" something to watch. So, pretty much the only thing that I will probably watch this week will be the BYU-U of U football game on Saturday night. ;) Bored on a Friday night and want to turn on the TV? I will either browse the TV guide online FIRST or I will do something else  better with my time because I have thousands of projects and articles to read that will be better for me compared to mindless TV watching.  If I want to watch a movie or something, I'll find one that I haven't seen in my drawer not waste my time flipping channels.

so here goes,

wish me luck!

Foggy Brain

I had the most wonderful weekend dear friends. I did everything I wanted to and then some! I was saddened to watch my BYU Cougars lose (by one point!) to the Texas Longhorns...but, you win some, you lose some and then you move on.

Today I feel tired and foggy, that probably has something to do with my extremely long day filled with meetings and the such. However, I do feel that things are going in the right direction with everything that I'm working on, so that's good news.

Also, I'm wanting a date this weekend. Will it happen? Who knows. I don't want to ask a boy out...I want a boy to ask me out. (there is a very specific boy that I want to ask me out. will he?  I don't know. should he? most definitely. ha ha ha.)

In a sort of related way, Fryman and I were texting back and forth last night (he and I are still friends, I run into him at church all the time even though he's not in my ward and I think we might hang out this week.) and at one point he told me that I was hot, no scratch that, sexy hot. It made me laugh, but then it also made me feel pretty good about myself. What girl doesn't like to know that she's sexy? Sometimes I just like to be beautiful and cute can be good sometimes too, but to know that I'm sexy? I just think that's awesome. :o) Now if only all the other boys (or just one specific boy) felt the same way and ACTED on those feelings and took me out on dates, then we might be going somewhere!

Ha, okay. that wasn't meant to turn into a mini rant. It's over. No worries.

This week is going to be busy. However, next week I'm going to Tuachan to see The Little Mermaid. I'm rather excited about that fact. I'm VERY much looking forward to it. :o) Anywho, here's to hoping the week flies by and the weekend has exciting adventures. ciao!

My Favorite Kind of Thursday

• Today is my favorite kind of Thursday: the kind where I don't have to work tomorrow. AKA it's my FRIDAY!!!! 

• HUZZAH!!!!

• Can you tell I'm really excited about having the day off tomorrow?

• I have a very long list of things to do in the next three days, but I'm so excited!

• Not one of those things has anything to do with any boy....but I'm okay with that!

• Are you ready?

• I'm going to the temple, the gym, and Color Me Mine.

• I also am going to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables, rehearse 2 ballet companies and watch BYU Football.

• I'm going to clean my room, the bathroom and organize my kitchen.

• I'm also going to do some dinner prep, make cookies, and eat something from a crockpot.

• Tonight I'm going to teach ballet, go dancing, and flirt with cute boys.

• I plan on sleeping in tomorrow morning, eating some good food, and enjoying some "me" time.

• I REALLY hope I can get my to-do list done. I have high hopes and a time schedule for said list. Hopefully it works out a-okay. ;)

• I went to the dentist yesterday. Hate the dentist. I have cavities. grrr. This means I have to go back. sigh. One of these days I'll actually make it through a 6-month check-up without having to go back again for another 6-months. 

• Yesterday was my half-birthday. Nothing of note happened.

• I want cupcakes.

What are YOU doing this weekend?

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 37th Edition

So...I totally got thrown off by the week and really truly thought yesterday was Monday for the longest time. In reality, it was Tuesday and I forgot to post my Tender Mercy. I really want to share this with you so...we're going to keep pretending like it is Tuesday for just a few moments this morning, okay? Okay. ;) (it's my blog, I can do what I want, so there.)

It was my responsibility to teach our Relief Society lesson on Sunday. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, there was no set lesson plan and I was left to my own devices on deciding what it was the sisters needed the most. I came across several ideas in my studying and wondering, but finally settled on a lesson on self-worth. Now, I used several different talks and ideas and pulled many different things for my lesson. Basically, what I learned and taught was this: We are all of infinite worth, we are all special in our individual ways (and no, that's not just a way of saying no one is per Dash from The Incredibles [and yes, I quoted The Incredibles in my lesson.]) In order to build our self-worth we need to build our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We can do that most by utilizing the basics and doing three things: 1. Make goals 2. Have Daily Personal Prayer and 3. Read and study the scriptures.

I challenged my sisters to make three goals, find a way to have that personal conversation daily with their Heavenly Father and finally, to read the Book of Mormon in 100 days (between now and December 31) using this program I found online.

Teaching that lesson was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I know it was the right thing to teach on and that everyone that was there needed to hear what I said. There were several times when I was relating experiences or sharing quotes that I knew that the Lord was using me as a spokesperson. It was honestly a very humbling experience. I was so worried and concerned leading up to giving my lesson, but I stood up and the Lord just took over. Looking out into the eyes of the sisters I saw them soaking up what was being taught like little sponges. I am so grateful for the gift of revelation and being able to teach something that was needed to the sisters.

Dating Battle Stories: A girly story about Surfer Boy

 

The title is not meant to meant that Surfer Boy is girly. No, what it means is that I am very girly and what I am about to post is full of me being a girly girl and reading into every little thing that happened this weekend with Surfer Boy. Okay, maybe not EVERY little thing, but close. :o)

Okay. Starting at the beginning - Friday. Movie night. Hosted by Home Teacher (a boy who is my home teacher and will be referenced as such) he invited several people to his house to watch a movie that we would vote on. Movie night was slated to start at 7 pm. I texted Home Teacher to let him know that I would be late...I don't get done teaching until 5:45, and I had run earlier and so I needed to shower and such. I get to his house at 7:30p. This is who was there: Home Teacher (sitting on a 2-person couch on the left side of the living room) Mr. Toad (a guy in the ward, he's a nice guy, but just a friend and he was sitting in a lazy boy chair) and then Surfer Boy (sitting on a 2-person couch on the right side of the living room). So yeah, me and 3 guys. Awesome. I was still a little sore from my workout and so I sat in the middle of the floor and stretched and such. Shortly into our movie (The Incredibles) I scooched towards Surfer Boy's couch and put my back up against it. About 20 minutes after that, I jumped up into the couch. Next to Surfer Boy. and more next to Surfer Boy then not next to Surfer Boy if you get my drift. ;)

the movie continues. Surfer Boy leans into me and whispers "touch my shirt" okay, then. Don’t have to ask ME twice! I touch it. SOFTEST SHIRT EVER. Surfer Boy tells me it's Egyptian cotton. I swoon. I touch him again. Several times. (Throughout the movie of course. he laughs at me) Surfer Boy and I both get up at different times during the movie to grab a drink, or use the bathroom, or get a treat or whatever. Every time we come back, we sit next to each other. Like our whole sides were touching, but we weren't holding hands or anything. I was trying to mirror him. At one point he had his hand on his knee, very much open for hand holding. HOWEVER, I wasn't going to make that first move. But, I sat very similarly to him. ;) (I like to think that if it had been just the two of us and there hadn't been two other boys in the room he might have held my hand.)Also, he put his hand on my knee at one point to just pat it in regards to something I said. I’m pretty sure I swooned in that moment too. ANYWAYS, it was good times. I liked it. We got to talking about weekend plans, and I mentioned how much I wanted to go to the zoo...and so it was decided we would go to the zoo on Monday. Probably followed by a shooting expedition (since I’d never been. plus they claimed it to be fun.)

So that was Friday. Moving on to Sunday.

After Ward Prayer a bunch of us always gets together for a game night. I sat by Surfer Boy and played with him. This is when I discovered that Surfer Boy is VERY ticklish. Like, just as ticklish as me. So, I had fun with that and he promised to get me back on Monday at the zoo.

Monday - the zoo. With Grizzly Bear and Surfer Boy (and others). Not going to lie, I probably ignored Grizzly Bear a little bit more than I should have. He tried to pay for my ticket to get into the zoo, but I wasn't about to let him make it into a date. It would have been just awkward to have him pay for me. So I told him no. Probably hurt his feelings, especially when I didn't really hang out by him so much at the zoo. The zoo was me, Surfer Boy, Home Teacher, Mr. Toad S and Grizzly Bear. so...yeah. Definitely walked more by Surfer Boy than anybody, but overall just had a blast. We went to lunch and then Cabela's and THEN the boys took me shooting. Well, first we had to go get Surfer Boy's truck and guns and so he asked if anyone wanted to ride with him and I said, (after waiting a few seconds) "I will!" so...I did. LOVED that I got that little bit of alone time with Surfer Boy. We drove down to Springville and went up the canyon and I learned how to shoot a pistol and a shotgun (2 different kinds) I have a bruise on my shoulder forming from the shotguns, but it was SO FUN. Also, Surfer Boy kind of did the whole, hold my arms and help me thing. It was cute. I sat by Surfer Boy at FHE, but that was it. My plan: to not worry about him. I will flirt with him on Sunday, but I know he has some family coming into town this weekend and his roommate is getting married. So basically I'm just going to chill and hopefully he'll ask me out sometime in the future. I know we'll have some more movie nights (there are so many movies I haven't seen that he wants me to see). I'm just hoping we get to watch a movie again but just with the two of us. Heaven knows I need to not ask him out again for a while though. I really hope things sort of go somewhere so I can feel okay about asking him to go to the ballet with me at the end of October. :o)

so there you go....my weekend of adventures. I REALLY like Surfer Boy. LIKE A LOT. I just hope he has taken note of my flirty nature with him (cause it's mostly different compared to my flirty nature with other boys.)

Day 21 - FINAL DAY

I am going to miss posting pics of my outfits all the time! I have loved this challenge!! It has been so fun to step out of my comfort zone. :o) Today's challenge was to take everything we learned and put together an amazing outfit.

Today was my day to teach Relief Society so I wanted something comfortable, cute, and that an outfit that I felt confident in. I even woke up early enough to do REAL makeup. In other words, I actually wore base and stuff today. Go me. I got several compliments today on how pretty I looked and I felt good, so that's all that mattered.

So without further ado: my outfit

{skirt: JC Penney's as a gift, white DownEast, sweater: JC Penneys, belt: Target, Flower: made by me}

So, I went with a black pencil skirt (that i LOVE) and a gray sweater with a white undershirt for a mostly monochrome kind of look. I paired this with my sexy 5" (yeah...I was tall at church today. It's fun.) and felt awesome! I belted, tucked, monochromed, and accessorized. ha! It's amazing how much I've learned so much about putting together outfits and I'm excited to practice the things I've learned on a regular basis.

I have a VERY girly story for you about Surfer Boy that just might get expanded after the zoo trip that is happening with a group of peeps from my ward. :o) So look for that at the beginning of next week sometime. :o) HAPPY LABOR DAY!!

Day 20

So, this was outfit was for Saturday. I didn't wear it for very long (only in the evening for a bit) mostly because I was in workout clothes for a good chunk of the day. However, i did wear it and I was happy with it.

The challenge? to wear Sunday shoes on a not Sunday. I LOVE doing this. I love wearing heels with just about anything and I do it quite often. I also made this my third and final time of remixing my item. (see outfit 1 and outfit 2)

I love this belt and I paired it with my hot pink heels (which I LOVE.) I think next time I'd tuck in the shirt...but I'm not sure how I'd like it and I really didn't take time to check it out. :o)

Oh thank goodness...

I am so extraordinarily happy that it is Friday. Life has been crazy, but I've been able to live and let live and not complain too much. :o) I'm just excited that I get a 3-day weekend, a 3-day work week and then another 3-day weekend. Go me! ha ha ha.

It's day 19 of the 21 Day challenge dear friends. Today's challenge is to wear somethign on your head. Now, Kayla told us it could be absolutely anything - even a flower clip! However, I wear ribbons, flowers and headbands on a very regular basis, but I have two hats that I just don't wear that often. I decided to bust out one of the hats and push my comfort zone a little bit. I have a hat I love that my mom gave me for Christmas that I don't wear very often, at all, BUT my hair wasn't going to cooperate with that hat. So instead, I went with this:

{hat: Target}

cute, huh?! I paired it with this new top and jeans:

{sweater shirt: JC Penney, tank: DownEast jeans w/belt: JC Penney}

I couldn't get the colors to come out right on my iPod touch w/instagram...but the sweater shirt is a really pretty cider orange kind of color. And my new jeans? Love them. They are so comfy! and I love a good dark wash jean. :o)

It's Labor Day weekend y'all. Officially the end of summer, or something like that. It's starting to feel like fall a little bit around here. The weather has definitely been cooler in the mornings and evenings, and I love it.  Here are just a few things that I'm doing this weekend:

• Going to the gym and running tonight - meeting with my trainer tomorrow morning. I'll probably be dead by the end of it.

• Watching a movie with friends and then going to a dance party tonight. I think.

• Teaching choreography tomorrow morning.

• Cleaning the church building tomorrow morning.

• Watching my BYU Cougars. Oh how I am excited to see them on the field again. They make my heart happy.

• Helping my roommate sort out kitchen stuff. It will be fun times, I'm certain of it. :P

• Hopefully making some good headway on Sister B's wedding gift. I want to get it finished.

• Teach my Relief Society lesson. Here's hoping it goes well....

• Watching the CES Fireside. love.

• an adventure of some sort on Monday - maybe the zoo?

Should be a busy weekend. I'm rather excited. Have a great weekend y'all!!

Thursday Things!

• Friends - the workplace is CRAZY today. Seriously. The first of the month is always insane, but today....today is majorly insane. Just sayin' - not complaining. ;)

• It's Thursday. I love me some Thursday. I'm rather excited about Blue Tango tonight. It should be good times y'all. :o)

• I need to do laundry. I should work on that.

• Roommate A is moving out - anyone need somewhere to live in UT county and want to live with me?

• I'm an awesome roommate, I promise.

• Going to a movie night tomorrow night. Will cute boys be there? Possibly. Am I excited? hecks to the yes yo.

• I have awesome friends. The end.

• I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday. I'm a tad nervous about this.

• Went to the gym last night - ran and walked 2+ miles. It was awesome here's the results (including my warm up/cool down)

• I'm loving my pink running shoes. They make me feel awesome.

• Played volleyball last night. In my pink running shoes. See above statement. yup, it was the best game ever.

• Today is Day 18 of the 21 Day Challenge. It is so quickly coming to a close! I can't believe it! Today's challenge? Statement Jewelry! I was uber excited about this challenge. I had bought some earrings w/Sister B last week - hoping that I could pull them off, and then I found out that today's challenge was statement jewelery...yeah they totally fit that category so, without  further ado, my outfit:

{yes, i'm wearing giant feathers. LOVE them - JC Penney's}

{I also wore this necklace again. JC Penney's}

{the whole kit and kaboodle! pants: Target, shirt: JC Penney's/DownEast}

•  It is September First y'all! I LOVE the month of September. My littlest sister is turning 16 - and that's just insane!! Also, my half birthday is this month. woo hoo!

• I am ready for the change in season - I just hope that fall lasts a LONG time and that winter doesn't just go forever and forever like it seemed to do last year.

I think that's everything. Life is good. I am very very busy these days, but that's okay. I like busy. :o) Have a great Thursday y'all!!