Favorite Things on A Friday

Dearest Friends.

Is it just me or has this past week felt FOREVER long? I am so grateful that it is finally Friday. Now if the work day will fly by then I will be a happy camper. :o) I'm very much looking forward to date night tonight and then spending the morning (post-rehearsal) and early afternoon with my sweet boyfriend. THEN I'm going to go to the temple tomorrow night. It should be good times.

Before I share a few favorite things with you, I'm sure you have all been waiting with baited breath for the outcome of my doctor's appointment yesterday. First of all, I was there for TWO HOURS. Seriously, longest wait of my life. Sigh. Oh well. The news is: GOOD! there's nothing seriously wrong with my knee. The popping is fairly normal - the grinding I feel behind my knee cap can be helped with a brace that the doctor gave me and he confirmed that my graft/meniscus all look fantastic. So that was good. I'm glad to have gotten it checked out and to have that worry no longer present. :o)

OKAY! Favorite things today!

I have a thing for brownies right now. mmmm...

Truth:

I love life. It's so great.

I think I need to try out this recipe.

this quote. oh man. AMEN.

Finally - a little bit of the Piano Guys awesomeness to kick-start the weekend the right way. :) Enjoy!

Anxious on a Thursday

I'm sitting here at work trying so VERY hard to stay on task.

It's not working.

But shh.... don't tell my boss. sigh.

As I mentioned yesterday I'm off to see my orthopedic surgeon today. Why might you ask? Well...my knee has been feeling funny.

Here's what I'm telling my doctor about my knee: it will sometimes pop constantly....but not a good pop but lots of little grinding pops never feels better unlike when i pop my hip or something THEN sometimes it feels like it needs to pop - there's all this pressure and it won't pop, but instead feels like there is a partially blown up balloon - you know the kind that you can't squish and pop but you squish and it just changes shape? yeah. my knee feels like that sometimes.

sigh. Here's hoping my doctor has some answers for me.....

Let's move on to other things to keep me distracted shall we?

• Soldier Boy is the BEST boyfriend. I like him lots and lots. Last night he asked me if I'd go on a date with him Friday night. ;) I said yes, of course. 

• My bright pink shoes? Yeah...they're AWESOME. see for yourself:

• I get to blog for work now. If we're real-life friends you've probably seen the links on Facebook. I'm cool like that.

• I'm kind of loving social media everything at work right now. It keeps me sane.

•  I'm not going to lie: I've been loving the super nice, super warm weather we've been enjoying round these parts. I hate to see it go in the coming days.

• The Tulip Festival? So much win! Loved it!

• This weekend is going to be fun....I hope. ;) I'm just excited that the weekend is basically here. :o)

So there you go. Stay tuned for the post-appointment update. :P Prayers would be great! See you on the flip side!

half way

hey there. it's been a long week so far, and it's only Wednesday.

Yesterday was rough. I'm sorry I didn't get to a tender mercies post - I haven't done one in a while and I think I need to remember to take time to pause and reflect on the blessings I have been given as of late. So hopefully you'll see something next Tuesday. :o)

Last night my classes were missing over half the students. In both of them. With only seven weeks until the show and the year-end dances no where near being done...I'm starting to get a little stressed out. gah. That's the one thing about teaching advanced classes - the girls are all older and in high school and trying to do everything under the sun because they CAN and because they want to have the best possible resumes to get into colleges. bah. This is when I am grateful my mom made me choose just ONE thing to focus on. :o) Hopefully I have all the girls in class in the coming weeks. :P

I bought some bright pink sparkly TOM knockoffs....they are uber adorable. :o)

I get to go spend the evening with Soldier Boy tonight. I always look forward to my evenings with him - they rock my world. :o)

My coworker and I are sitting on exercise balls at work today. :o) It's fun. For now. Hopefully this bodes well for my figure. ;)

Finally, I'm going to go see my orthopedic surgeoun tomorrow. Remember him? He gave me bad news....he gave me good news. I'm hoping for good news tomorrow. See...my knee has been doing this weird popping thing as of late.

Monday Madness

hey kids.

I had the best weekend. Seriously, I wish that I could have just pushed pause on Saturday and stayed there for a very long time.

Soldier Boy, his daughter (suggestions for a 'nym?) and I had the best time up in his hometown. The sun was out, the skies were blue, and we spent a good chunk of time outside. :o) I got a little sunburned, but it was wonderful. We played on the swings, took naps (not intentionally for me), talked, watched a movie or two, rode the three-wheeler (SO MUCH WIN) and ate good food. Soldier Boy's sister and her family came up Saturday evening and that was really nice to see them and stuff. I didn't want to leave Saturday night and come back to O-town...but it was necessary. I had responsibilities to fill. :P

Regardless, this weekend was absolutely lovely. Soldier Boy surprised me last night and we had a great time together. I just love being with him! I can't wait until I can always be with him. :o)

Tonight we're going to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I am VERY much looking forward to this date night tonight. :o) We're just one step closer to summer fun times and I'm rather excited for summer to be here. Soldier Boy and I are going to have the best time. :o) woot!

Thursday thingies

I'm uber swamped, running on 4 hours of sleep and hoping that I can get everything done that needs to get done. ha. but...here we go.

• I have the best boyfriend ever. We might have stayed up too late last night, but it was because we were having the best conversation. I love talking with him.

• dancing. tonight. be there or be boring.

• i'm hoping all ten members of my company are in class tonight. We only have 8 weeks until the show...we need to get crackin' on choreography!

• we got badges/swipe cards for our new security system at work. I love them. 

• I'm spending time with the boyfriend and his daughter this weekend....I'm REALLY nervous about it.

• Seriously, I'm ridiculously nervous.

• Although Solider Boy did say the sweetest thing when I was telling him about this fear. He said, "Alishka, you have nothing to worry about. Honsetly, [daughter] is not going to remember a time when you weren't a part of her life."

• See? sweetest boyfriend ever. Totally put me at ease.

• BUT it's still a new facet to our relationship. guess we'll see what happens.....

• It's going to be SO SO SO pretty this weekend. I'm stoked to play outside and stuff.

• ALSO my Beckybob is in town AS WE SPEAK and we're playing tomorrow and i am just OH SO EXCITED. Truly. EXCITED!!

that's about it. :o) Have a great weekend!

One week....

I realize today is Tuesday and that usually means that I post a wonderful Tender Mercy Tuesday post about blessings in my life. I do have lots of things to be grateful right now, but honestly I'm still riding cloud 9 as I think about what happened one week ago today.

Speaking of one week, every time I think of that phrase I think of this fun song  by the Barenaked Ladies. Also fun fact: the theme song to my favorite tv show The Big Bang Theory? Sung by the Barenaked Ladies. I knew they were awesome for a reason. ;)

Anyways. I had a great weekend - it was filled with zumba, dinner with friends, and Ballet West with Soldier Boy aka my boyfriend. (I don't think I'll ever get tired of calling him my boyfriend. *grin*) I'll post a recap about that later - I was slightly disappointed with parts of it and wowed with others. :o) In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that I'm dating the sweetest guy in the entire world. :o) Have a great tax day folks!

Friday Things....

Hey dearest friends! It's been quite the week over here in Alishka land. I've been so busy and trying to get  things done - it's been crazy! I'm very much looking forward to my weekend and the weeks to come...but for now let me express some of my thoughts that are in my head....

• It's Friday the 13th. EVERY time a Friday the 13th rolls around I can't help but think of that one Friday the 13th in which I tore my MCL.

• being able to call Soldier Boy my boyfriend is the best thing ever.

• I burned my finger curling my hair yesterday. My finger still hurts.

• I love chapstick. It's amazing stuff. I wonder who invented chapstick?

• Thank you Google.... the inventory of chaptstick

• I get to go see Ballet West's performance of Emeralds (and Petit Mort and Paquita) this weekend. I'm ridiculously excited!

• I'm getting very excited for summertime. Soldier Boy and I have lots of fun plans of things we want to do together and with his daughter (hmmm...I might need to give her a 'nym!)

• I don't think I've told you this yet....but my sister is making me an Aunt at the end of September! I'm really excited to be an aunt and have a cute little niece or nephew to spoil. :o) It will be fun times.

• There's a family reunion coming up...in July! I'm excited for that fun times. My family is pretty cool and I'm excited to introduce Soldier Boy to them all.

• I'm trying to decide what to wear to the ballet on Saturday...I'm thinking of a little black dress I have...or my brown skirt w/teal top. We'll see how I feel on Saturday. ;)

• I'm wishing I could go to Disneyland again. Right now. That would be awesome sauce.

• I hate taxes - they are retarded.

• Life is an amazing gift and I feel SO BLESSED right now.

ANYWAYS. I hope all y'all have a great weekend - hopefully this Friday the 13th isn't too crazy for you. ;) 

NEWS!!!

dearest lovelies.....

I have the best of news.

the future boyfriend (Soldier Boy) is now officially my real-life boyfriend!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything that we were waiting for to go through is signed, sealed and delivered. This makes me so ridionkulously happy!

The story of how I found out is amazing. Are you ready for this?

SO. It's Spring Break round these parts so I only had TWO ballet students in my class and three in my choreography class (out of 5 for both of them) so...we goofed around a bit and whatever. So earlier in the day Soldier Boy had texted me asking when I get out of class so he knew when to expect my call (legit question, although slightly suspicious) and then just as I was getting out of class he texted me and asked for my roommate's phone number. also a little suspicious, but oh well. (btw I never see him on Tuesdays. I don't get done w/teaching until 8:15 putting me at home around 8:30 or so...it's just not worth it right now)

So I'm driving home talking to him and like 5 minutes into our conversation he tells me he has to go, but he'll call me right back. Within 5 minutes he does. we're talking and whatever and I'm walking up the stairs and as I get to my apt door, there's a HUGE bouquet of flowers (see pic below) and I'm all "someone left me (i think?) flowers..." and Soldier Boy doesn't say a WORD. then...as I'm opening the door, he hangs up and there he is walking towards me. He grabs my face....and kisses me. and I kiss him back. and drop like half the things in my arms (not the flowers) and then I pull away and say "it's all done then? signed, sealed, delivered?" and he said "yup." and then we proceeded to make out like rabbits. Okay, maybe not that bad....but there was a lot of kissing. and then he told me he wanted to take his girlfriend out to dinner so I quickly changed out of my teaching clothes and we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I couldn't stop looking at him. I mean, kissing him before for that one week was good and all....but this. THIS was amazingly better because now there's all these feelings we've developed through real conversations.

So there you go. I am officially off the market (probably for the rest of my life) and I couldn't be happier.

the beautiful flowers my BOYFRIEND gave me last night. SO PRETTY!!!

Marvelous Monday Meanderings

My dearest friends!

It has been FAR too long since my last (sort of depressing) post! I apologize for that! So many amazing things have been happening and life is splendidly wonderful and I have a rosier/happier outlook on life. Granted, there are still hard things BUT they are suddenly more manageable. Funny how that happens.

FIRST off, there was the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a wonderful weekend where I was spoiled with lots of quality time with my future boyfriend, Soldier Boy. We also had the wonderful opportunity (thanks Chilly!) to go to the Afternoon Session in the conference center, which is ALWAYS a treat. We had a blast.

SECOND off, we (Soldier Boy and I) got GREAT news this week and it puts us one step closer to being in a real-life, public relationship. :o) I can't wait to kiss that boy again. He drives me crazy (in a good way) and I can't wait until I can call him mine for reals.

THIRDLY, one of the two studios I teach for had their year-end concert this weekend: Emotions are in Motion. I got to be a mime and it was REALLY fun! I enjoyed my moments on stage and got a kick out of playing with the audience. Good times. Also, this means that I am done teaching for said studio. HUZZAH for open Monday evenings! I'm so excited about this, I'm not quite sure WHAT to do with myself! :o)

MOVING right along.... I found this amazing quote from the ever brilliant wily brunette and I just HAD to share it with you.

"You're going to discover that conversations are best at 4 am. The heavier the eyelids, the sincerer the words. Those are the talks you'll remember. It's okay not to know the answer and silence is not awkward. It's shared, so share it more often than not."

Jeff Stuckel

There is truth in this statement yo. Soldier Boy and I always seem to have the BEST conversations in the early morning hours when we're so tired and really should be in bed. I love it.

FINALLY, I promise to be a better blogger. Or at least TRY to be a better blogger. Then maybe this whole catch up thing wouldn't seem so daunting because everything would be current. Have a lovely Spring day!

P.S. You should check out my friend and her blog post that went up yesterday about Sparkling. She's a lovely writer with a lovely thoughts on life and she's constantly reminding me to be the best person I am. Seriously, I don't know how I would get through some days without her. :o)