All's Fair in Love and War

Thursday Things

2012-01-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

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

2012-01-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

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

2012-01-25T10:01:00.002-07:00

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

2012-01-25T07:29:00.001-07:00

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 talkingoutside 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 aboutkissing. etc. (probably over shared. but that's how I roll. oh well.)

Well. At one point I sorta lean in (and I had thought aboutkissing 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 Isay, "yup." and he leans in fairly close and says, "penny forYOUR thoughts." and I was all, "uh-huh, I asked you first." andhe said, " I know. This is my response (moves a hair closer). Penny foryour thoughts." and the first thought I have is that I should kisshim. 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

2012-01-24T15:21:00.002-07:00

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!!

Day 2: Monochromatic

2012-01-24T07:32:00.001-07:00

Well...here we are Tuesday. I'm so glad you came, it sort of felt like you would never get here. sigh.

Anywho, today is Day Two of the Challenge: Winter Edition. :o) Last time I did a Monochromatic outfit I went with a bold color - green. AND.....I felt like I looked like a vegetable. I felt pretty ridiculous all day long.

This time around I went with something safer (and warmer!):

You can't really tell by this picture (stupid grainy ipod!) but this gray shirt (Forever 21) has a vertical stripe to it. I tried to wear a scarf, but it just didn't jive with my hair today. Also, I love these slacks (JC Penney's) because I can wear them with something tucked in or I can wear a pretty tunic/blouse over them. The only downside? No pockets. I hate pants with no pockets. Drives me batty. :P

So there you go, day 2! :o) Until next time!

p.s. I'm going to do my Tender Mercy Tuesday post separately a little later today, I feel like it deserves its own post. ALSO, a dating battle story is coming up and you're going to LOVE it. :o)

Day 1

2012-01-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

So...some of you might remember the 21-Day Fashion challenge that I participated in back in late August.

Well, the wonderful April is hosting a Winter Edition that is only 10-days long! I'm really excited about this because I have been getting bored of my closet, but I have a hard time doing something like this challenge on my own. (I know, I should be better and try to do it....but it's just HARD!)

So, today is Day 1: Layers.

So, I went with my white sheer blouse (Kohl's) from the last challenge (it was my mix-in item) with a white DownEast shirt underneath, my brown jean jacket (shopko? who knows, I got it in high school) with my skinny jeans (target) and my awesome brown boots (shoe carnival). I really like this outfit. I hardly ever wear this jacket. It is a tad on the small side - I don't think I could button it up if I wanted to, and it's very, very stiff which makes it hard to wear.

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

p.s. I had a wonderful weekend and time spent with this new boy toy of mine...I'm working on his 'nym and then he'll probably get a Dating Battles post. ;) Have a lovely Monday!

A day late and a dollar short......or something like that

2012-01-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

I had EVERY intention of posting Thursday Things yesterday. I'm not exactly sure what happened.

Wait. I lied. I had a 2-hr company meeting + a 30 minute department meeting followed by a TON of data entry that HAD to get done yesterday. So....yeah. That's what happened.

But here we are. Friday. Things. And boy, do I have things for you.

Blue Tango last night rocked my socks. It rocked last week too....it's just been good times all the way around lately at the Blue Tango. Love it.

I kissed a boy. And I liked it.

This boy does not have a 'nym yet. He's new. But he's not getting a 'nym until I figure out what's going on. I don't think it will be 100% a NCMO...but it might lean a little towards the fling side of things. And you know what? I'm okay with that and you should be too. In other words, I'm not suddenly in a relationship again. I'm just having fun with one of my friends...with benefits

He's a lot of fun.

And a really good kisser.

It's movie night tonight. Despicable Me. LOVE THAT MOVIE. hopefully I'm not too tired that I die watching it.

tomorrow is a Zumba day. YAY!

I am also working overtime to paint a new addition to our office space. That's exciting stuff.

THEN i'm going dress shopping with Sister B. I'm super excited and very hopeful that I'll find something adorable.

My Broadway station on Pandora is hitting the spot 100% today. Love it.

Basically, life is fun. I'm having a blast and it's great times.

a little bit of news and a request....

2012-01-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

As many of you know and have heard me talk about time and time again - I have NEVER been to Disneyland. Which is so shocking considering my love for everything Disney - especially the princesses. I mean, even my car is named after a Disney character!!

That is going to change in less than 2 months.

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

whew. Okay.

So yeah, I'm going to Disneyland. Well, really, I'm going to L.A. the 3rd weekend in March for my dear friend's runway show and while I'm there I'm going to go to Disneyland (as a birthday present to myself!). I'm so freakin' excited. Some of you know just exactly how excited I am - I get all giggly and excited and I turn into a little girl. It's quite the sight.

ANYWAYS

I need your help. I'm pretty sure that 90% of my readership has been to Disneyland at least once and I need your suggestions. I'm probably only going to have one day there - so what shouldn't I miss? Also, I like to be prepared for everything so any other tips or tricks would be great. The friends I'm going with (I'll post more about that later) already have connections for cheap tickets, place to stay etc so we're covered in that regard.

ALSO. I need your opinion. I know I'm going to want a bag or something of some sort to carry my ticket, any fast passes, chap stick (I'm addicted), water bottle (maybe?) and snacks. So....I figure I'll probably make one to cater my needs. The question is do I go with a sling type of bag like this one:

but possibly smaller in dimensions (I love all the pockets!!)

or something that attaches more firmly to myself (however hideous and tacky it may seem) like this one:

with really cute/fun fabric that expresses my personality....

Sigh. I just don't know. I might just have to make them both..... :o) (I really do have a VERY unhealthy obsession with bags. I love them oh so much!)

So, any suggestions, comments, well-wishes would be very welcome! I am so excited for this trip....it's going to take all of my (non-existent) patience to make it until the day I leave..... :o)

Love Always,
Alishka Babushka

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 53rd Edition

2012-01-17T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is my FIRST tender mercy post of the new year! Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long!

I have been really blessed so far at the beginning of this year with good friends, an understanding family and a Heavenly Father who loves me and is willing to guide me through my crazy moments. Answers to prayers are always the best thing, even when you don't necessarily want to hear those answers.

Life keeps on getting more and more exciting and I can't wait to see what is in store for me in the coming months. I'm rather excited about it all. :o)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

How I deal....

2012-01-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

I can usually handle a break-up pretty well. usually being the key word.

This time around has been interesting since I saw the other side of breaking-up. I have found myself still going through the same grief cycle and what not.

First thing that's always on my agenda? New shoes. Oh and did these new shoes deliver...please observe:

Hot, no? I am so in love with these gold glitter stilettos. They make me tall, add some pizzaz to any outfit and are just plain AWESOME.

Next thing on my agenda is to immerse myself in crafty projects and hang out with all my friends. Done and done. I finished my sister's wedding gift (a wedding album of everything from their wedding. I am so awesome) and gave it to her this weekend. I hung out with Surfer Boy and other peeps from my ward and basically just had a fun time.

The next thing that usually happens after a break-up is that I begin to miss having a boyfriend but don't necessarily miss the boy I was dating specifically. I am currently in that phase. It is always a hard phase to get out of, but I will persevere. :o) Today I'm doing that by reminding myself of the awesomeness through a few quotes. Enjoy and have a marvelous Martin Luther King Jr. Day (I SO wish I had the day off. :( )

a relief with sadness sandwich

2012-01-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

So. I'm currently chowing down on a relief with sadness sandwich. I know, it doesn't sound like the most exciting sandwich in the world, but it is one filled with everything that my mind, heart, and soul need right now.

Last night I broke up with Monkey Man. Sad, I know. But it had to happen. See....things just weren't jiving for me anymore. There's a whole lot of reason to why I broke up with him, but a lot of it is SO personal that I just don't feel comfortable sharing it here. I do know that it was the right thing to do - without a doubt. It was sad to see his face fall when I told him the things I needed to tell him, but he took it graciously and didn't put up a fight. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe more tears? I'm a really hard person to break up with and so I just figured it could quite possibly be like that. Luckily, it wasn't and after I left his house I drove down to see Sister B and her hubby. We talked a bit and finished a puzzle that's been on their table since Thanksgiving. :o)

After I got home I saw this quote twice in two different places within 5 minutes of each other:

While it isn't perfect, I do feel like it describes what I did. The courage that it took to do what I did didn't roar. And here I am tyring again....not in the same way - but I am not going to wallow. I am not going to throw myself a pity party because I KNOW that what I did was right. I KNOW that there are other things out there for me and I KNOW that I'm going to be okay. I just have to keep on trying. And try I will. My dear friend blogged about courage and having to choose between things that are "good" and things that are "best." Not always an easy choice as I have found out. Her words of wisdom rang true to me last night and this I know..... I will try again tomorrow. Until another time my friends, God bless.

Confuzzled

2012-01-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

You guys, I am very confuzzled.

This is going to be a post with lots of thoughts that might be incomplete. You might not know the whole story behind all my thoughts. I'm sorry if that's the case, but I feel the need to share with SOMEONE what is going on and I need to get this written out because maybe it will make more sense. Maybe. I make no guarantees. Also, you can feel welcome to post any advice, but don't feel offended if I disregard it entirely. Remember, you might not know the whole story.

Okay, that being said.....

I like Monkey Man. I really do, but I just don't know if I feel anything deeper. I thought I did, I really did. But then....I don't know it's like someone pushed a button and now I'm not really sure I feel that way. Maybe it's because the thrill has worn off a little bit. Maybe it's because I was super duper emotional all last week, plus I had a slew of extra hormones and the stress of a wedding, my teaching job giving me some grief and teaching relief society weighing heavily on my mind.

This past week there have been more times when I have felt impatient and frustrated with Monkey Man then at any other time in our relationship, but the thing is - we haven't been dating for a super long time. 2.5 months. Which compared to my relationship with SwingKid is like a drop in the bucket. Not that I plan on dating someone for a bazillion years before marrying them....but 2.5 months is not a long time. I know that I don't know everything about him and I realized that in the past few days. We treat different situations VERY differently. We have different thought processes on how certain things should work. It's not on anything that is a deal-breaker for me....but how many of those differences can one have before they equal a deal-breaker?

Before you ask, no I haven't talked to Monkey Man about this. For two reasons 1) I'm still not sure what all of my hang-ups are - I just know they are there and that they seem to be really really big. But that just might be my imagination and 2) I'm nervous that it's going to mean breaking up (or something maybe not! but i just don't know) and doing THAT scares me. Monkey Man is the sweetest guy in the whole wide world and I don't want to hurt him. (Plus I've never had to really break up with someone before. I suck at it.) We get along really well...it's just...I'm not sure if he's someone that I want to be with for forever. He's going out of town in two weeks for a weekend and I think that's going to be really good for me. (even though I just was away from him for 9 days for Christmas...it just....was different then. something changed. Seriously, some elf pushed a button.)

I don't even know what I'm asking, or if I'm asking anything. This is one of those battles in love that bugs me. I just don't know what to do, but right now NOTHING feels right. There's a small part of me that wouldn't mind going on dates with other people right now....and I don't know if that's just because I'm confuzzled and I want to run away from the situation - or if it's a sign that it might be time to move one from this phase of my life. The thing is....I know that if I say anything or suggest even the slightest thing is going to completely blindside this poor, sweet boy. sigh. Any wise words my friends? I certainly could use them.

2012's Word of the Year

2012-01-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

k guys. I've thought about this a TON. I've struggled to come up with a word. But I finally picked one.

I really loved my word for 2011: Flourish. It was so good to me and really helped me get over some hard things. It also helped me rediscover myself and the strength that I have inside of me.

For 2012, I had a different goal with my word of the year. I didn't want to be stagnant this year. I wanted to learn, grow, and achieve many things that will get me to where I want to be in the long run. Here's the thing though - I've noticed that lately I am SO focused on the END goal that I forget all of the small, short-term goals that will get me to my ending point. I haven't been living in the moment as much as I've wanted - but instead focusing on some point in the distant future. Some point that I don't even know where/when it would happen. That has got to stop. (in my humble opinion) So this year, my word is all about focusing on the NOW and living in the MOMENT while still doing things to get me to where I ultimately want to arrive.

So the Word of the Year for 2012 is....

(drum roll please......)

Occupy

the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Occupy as the following:

1: to engage the attention or energies of

2a: to take up (a place or extent in space) b: to take or fill (an extent in time)

3a: to take or hold possession or control of b: to fill or perform the functions of

4: to reside in as an owner or tenant

I plan on doing all of that. I am going to OCCUPY my life. I am going to take control of my life, reside in as THE owner, engage my own attention in said life and fill my life with everything good. This year will be the year of DOING things and not just dreaming or wondering. I am going to enjoy every little moment and try not to freak out when something awful happens that could throw a wrench into my long-term plans. Occupying my life will help me focus on the short-term goals that I have for myself and force me to live day-to-day. so....here goes!!

Top of 2011

2012-01-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

okay guys. Here's the deal. Busy is my middle name right now. Part of me loves it and part of me hates it. However, I just don't feel like I can move on and post other things (one of the reasons why I missed Tender Mercy Tuesday yesterday) until I get this out. It just....needs to get done. ;)

So, without further ado, the top 12 posts (one for each month. give or take) of 2011. I hope you enjoy! Stay tuned for 2012's word of the year, a New Year's Eve recap and a few lovely things I've seen lately. see ya on the flip side!

January - What a busy month! I was all over the place, but the thing I remember the most was being brave. :o) What a great way to start off a new year!

February - February always tends to just fly by in my little world. I think part of that is because it is a shorter month (although not by much this year!). I had a few favorite moments from this month, but performing definitely tops the list. Seriously, it was EXACTLY what I needed.

March - Always my favorite month of they year seeing as it hosts my own personal holiday - MY BIRTHDAY! While that's always a highlight in my life, the best thing was definitely the big surprise I had for my sister late in the month. That rocked.

April - Wow, I was really, really busy in April. Ha. I sort of forgot about April MINUS this one little event. :o) Definitely the highlight of my month. ;)

May - May was a good little beginning to my summer of fun in the (non-existent) sun. May was pretty hum-drum but this post pretty much sums up my entire month.

June - I'm pretty sure all hell broke loose in June. I had, hands down, the busiest week of the year that month. Whew. But through-out all the craziness, this little gem popped up.

July - Well....a lot of my summer plans went to pot when I was casted in Aida, but that was one of the funnest things I did during the summer. Add that to the LOADS of confusion from dating multiple people and you have one intense month. Plus I had to host a funeral.

August - This month was, by far, my "bloggiest" month. Meaning, I blogged the most in August. :o) Mostly I think this was because of the 21-day challenge that in which I participated. August was also full of performances and praying I didn't die from sitting.

September - Definitely a month full of me trying to figure out what I wanted in a relationship. That and my self-imposed challenge that has done good things for my life. ;)

October - The most important thing that I remember happening this month was something that has affected my life in a way I didn't think could happen again. :o)

November - November always feels like the beginning of the end to me. Best thing about November? Being twitterpated. (still am btw)

December - Always an insane month around here. Work is crazy, dance is crazy, life is crazy. EVERYONE is CRAZY! Basically, it was a normal month with lots of festivities and what not. :o)

Anyways. 2011 was a rocking year. I definitely feel like I lived up to my word of the year. :o) Have a great day y'all and I'll see you in the VERY near future with loads of THINGS to share with you!!! ciao!

just a little note....

2011-12-31T19:14:00.001-07:00

I was just sitting here thinking about how AMAZING 2011 has been to me. I normally like to do a recap of the past year...but I just haven't had the time to put something together. Maybe another time... ;)

in the meantime (and probably forever) here's just a list of things I feel I have accomplished in the past year:

I have grown. lived. loved. cried. laughed. planned. had adventures. seen new things. experienced. trusted. risked. jumped. danced. been overjoyed. dated. flown. spread my wings. sewn. decorated.

in short...I have FLOURISHED.

Enjoy your new year's eve celebrations. :o) And I'll see you next year!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 52nd Edition

2011-12-27T13:19:00.001-07:00

Today's tender mercy comes in the form of my family. I am so blessed to have the family I do. They are the bestest ever.

I have really been enjoying my time here in Virginia. I haven't had to be up at a certain time. We've gotten to play lots of games and get to know the newest edition to our family. There have been movies, lots of good food, and new traditions. My family is just awesome and they make life bearable when times are gray.

I am so thankful for my family and the support they lend to me constantly. I really don't know where I'd be in this life without them. :)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T17:32:00.001-07:00

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful time of year and the time you (hopefully!) get to spend with your families! I know that I am enjoying every. single. minute (all the while missing Monkey Man). Here's a little something that I wanted to share with you that will hopefully put you in the proper mood. Much love!

Friday Things!

2011-12-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hello my dearest Internet friends! I apologize that it's been several days since I last posted, but with spending a whole day on a plane/in an airport and then enjoying the lack of responsibility that I have right now, I just haven't felt like posting! However, I thought on today, this being Christmas Adam and all, I would leave you with a few things..... :o)

Being with my family is awesome. I haven't seen them since my sister's wedding in June and it's great to be able to spend time with them.

I am starting to catch up on sleep and it is wonderful. I really love not having to wake up to an alarm clock every day. :o)

Having the Brother-in-law around is...different. It definitely makes things more interesting. Not bad, just interesting.

I am intrigued to see what happens when there is more than one significant other around here. That will be fun times.

I wonder what the coming year will bring. While I had a year full of growth and flourishing - it still feels like I did a lot of the same old same old. I guess that's an adult life for ya....but I still wonder what next year will be like. I'm excited for it to come so I can see. :o)

I miss Monkey Man like crazy. When we said goodnight/goodbye on Tuesday night (really early Wednesday morning) I thought that the next 8 days were going to go by SO SLOWLY. But then we were talking last night and I realized just how quickly my vacation was going to come to an end. I think it helps that I'll still have a holiday and a few days before having to go back to real life once I'm back in Utah.

Monkey Man got me a great Christmas present: a really pretty brown infinity scarf + black hand warmer things. (like fingerless gloves without the finger parts) He did a great job for the first gift giving-ness in our relationship. ;)

I haven't been to the gym since Monday evening...but I'm going later this afternoon AND I am going running with my dad tomorrow morning. So that's good.

Virginia is not that cold right now. In fact, when I stepped off the plane it was balmy 63 degrees. I love it. The house is a little cooler than that - it's the way the house was built, but the fact is there is NO snow, NO ice, and NO need for crazy amounts of layers. I am totally okay with this this year. In fact, I prayed for it. ;)

Basically, I am really enjoying my time off and my first real vacation in a LONG, LONG time. I don't really count the week I took off for my sister's wedding or any of the times I took off for other reasons and had a "staycation" as vacation. This is my first REAL vacation in a year and boy, do I deserve it! I hope you all have the best Christmas weekend ever! I'll be in touch...eventually. ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 51st Edition

2011-12-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well m'dears. The fact that I haven't posted in a week should be a testament to how busy I really have been in the past week. Since last Tuesday I have:

gotten my hair done - it looks fantastic! I'm in love with it.
Played volleyball
Hung out with Monkey Man countless times.
Made pumpkin bread and white chocolate popcorn as gifts.
Done my visiting teaching.
Collected sub-for-Santa gifts from people in my ward
Sung in my ward's Christmas program
Hung out with Truit + Husband. They met Monkey Man. It was good times.
Went to temple square...again. :o)
Went to a wedding reception
Caught the bouquet without trying. (seriously. It fell into my hands. No jumping required for this girl!)
Had roommate Christmas
Have my bags 75% packed (checked bag is 99% packed, carry-on and personal item are almost done)
Checked into my departing flight :o)
Taught several ballet classes
Went to they gym and worked out with my trainer - twice!
Worked on my day off. :(

It's been a very busy past seven days. I still have a few things to take care of this afternoon/evening. But once my ballet classes are taught I should be go to go and then I'll get to hang out with Monkey Man all night and have Christmas with him. :o) I'm excited. I'm also sad to be leaving him for so long. Thankfully there is plenty of technology to help us stay in contact for the 9 days I'll be gone.

This is not the point of the post - the main point is to tell you about the most wonderful tender mercy I had this past week.

Life has obviously been really, really busy for me and I've been very stressed - especially the past couple of days. However, I have had times when the spirit of Christmas has been so strong and has blessed my life and reminded me why I do what I do at this time of year.

I've had the wonderful opportunity to help organize a sub-for-Santa for a couple of families in the home stake that feeds into our single's ward. It has been a wonderful experience to see people from my ward step it up and shower these families with generosity. These families that weren't going to have any kind of Christmas are now going to have a wonderful Christmas filled with love and laughter. There are so many wonderful people in the world and I feel so blessed to be able to know so many of them.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 50th Edition

2011-12-13T11:28:00.001-07:00

Hello my dears! I hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday. My brain is feeling a little on the fried side, but I had the most wonderful evening last night. After frosting cookies, Monkey Man and I along with some friends played with the xbox Kinnect. Totally counting that as my workout last night. The dancing game rocks my socks.

But let's get to the point of this post - my tender mercy of the week. Saturday was going to be an insanely busy day for me and I had 5 different things that I needed attend because of my responsibilities. However, as Friday evening progressed 2 of those 5 things got canceled. This made me so happy and honestly made my Saturday much more bearable.

It is always the smallest things that will make me realize how very blessed I really am and I am so thankful for all the blessings I have been given since I started this meme. It's hard to believe that it has been over a year already since the induction of this meme.

As I reflect on the past year (and get ready to do my yearly recap) I am blown away by the love that has been shown to me in SO many different ways. My word of they year - Flourish - has been so very good to me. I'm currently brainstorming different words for next year's word of the year. Any suggestions?

In the meantime....I'm starting to freakout about EVERYTHING that needs to get done between now and next Tuesday....I'm not really positive on how that's all going to go down :P Here's hoping I can be productive this evening! Ciao!

9 days and counting!

2011-12-12T16:05:00.002-07:00

I leave for Virginia in NINE days. I have so much to do between now and then I'm not sure how everything is going to get done.

Also, work is crazy busy and my brain is fried. I'm sure I was going to tell you something amazingly interesting (or not) but I can't remember what that might have been.

hmmmm.

Yeah, I gots nothing. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting. ciao!

A Friday!!!

2011-12-09T15:15:00.001-07:00

Hello dearest friends.

Guess what?

It's FRIDAY! Oh how I love that today is Friday. Tomorrow is going to be my busiest day of the month BY FAR, but I'm still excited for it to be the weekend. This is mostly because this is my last FULL week of work until the middle of January. (I have planned my vacationing/time off well..... ;) )

Last night Monkey Man took me salsa dancing. It was a blast. I loved every minute of it. He's a very good dancer and I enjoyed being in his arms throughout the evening. Loved it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Don't implode! ;) (that's my one goal this weekend - don't implode)

Thursday Things

2011-12-08T15:55:00.001-07:00

Hi guys. things are crazy. When are they not crazy right? but really....this time of year is always nuts-o in the office and this year is NO exception. I have just a few thoughts that I want to share with y'all today.

I went to the temple last night with members of my ward. It was so wonderful to be there with my friends. I love going to the temple and last night was no exception. I had a wonderful expereince and can't wait to repeat it sometime in the near future.

Tonight Monkey Man is taking me salsa dancing. :o)

I'm nervous and I think I know why. See...the last time a significant other took me dancing it was SwingKid and it was @ Blue Tango - a venue we frequented often when we were dating and a place I still frequent. (In fact, I'm ditching Blue Tango tonight for salsa dancing.) And I'm just nervous about dancing with Monkey Man. I'm sure he's a fabulous dancer...but it's still a little nerve wracking. I'm sure it will be fine, but for now I'm nervous.

I leave for VA in 13 days. I have WAY too much to do between now and then. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done in the next 13 days. GAH!

Have I mentioned that work is insane? Yeah. INSANE.

I am pretty sure there are more things that I was going to share with you. Unfortunately, my brain is not working very well these days. I think it has something to do with a) the insanity at work and b) being twitterpated. ;) Hope you all have a great evening. I'm pretty sure I'll be back tomorrow. ;)

thoughts of my heart

2011-12-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

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Tender Mercy Tuesday - 49th Edition

2011-12-06T08:30:00.001-07:00

Hello dears.

It has been a week FULL of tender mercies. It honestly has been one thing after another and I have been so blessed in so many different ways.

I think the one that stands out to me the most is in relation to my calling. Being over so many sisters and needing to know their needs and concerns so that I can help them can be very overwhelming at times. This past week has been full of small moments of me being given ways to help these sisters and feel like I am, in some way, assisting these sisters to learn and grow. It's a good feeling to know that these sisters are being watched over and that Heavenly Father is working through me to help His daughters that he loves so very much.

How wonderful this gospel is to be full of light and happiness and a Heavenly Father who truly cares about each and every one of His children. It's amazing.

"it's busy season!"

2011-12-05T12:46:00.001-07:00

that is our go-to phrase here at work these days. My coworker is super cute when she says it to justify our three-week lead time on our product. The months of November/December are always crazy in the office, but this year it seems to be amplified 100x or so. Life is INSANE around the office.

Anyways. Seeing as how it's been almost a week since I last posted I figured a bullet-point list would be the best way to catch you up on my awesome life. (seriously, life is uber awesome.)

Monkey Man is the sweetest guy in the whole wide world and I'm the luckiest girl ever. Seriously. I catch myself staring at him all the time and thinking to myself, "how did I get so lucky?" things are good.

Went to Temple Square on Saturday night w/Monkey Man and another couple to see the lights, go to dinner (Z'Tejas @ Gateway. okay food. not my favorite restaurant) and then party it up at the Clark Planetarium. We took fun pictures on the moon and mars. It was a blast (although VERY cold).

Had the annual Christmas tour day for my ballet company. that was a day full of driving and stuff. Nothing bad happened and it was a pretty good day overall.

Made Aebelskivers last night w/Sister B and her husband and Monkey Man. Also, we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and played games. It was fun times.

during the course of this week, Monkey Man and I have something together to do/attend 5/7 days. :o) I'm very excited about this.

I'm finding it hard to believe that it's been a year. Part of me is shocked it has only been a year. At times it feels longer.

I'm addicted to cherry coridal kisses and m&ms. :o) yummy.

I haven't been very good about going to the gym the past week or so. My trainer is going to kill me.

I get to party it up with my ballet girls tonight. I'm rather excited to see all my friends. It's been awhile.

I leave for VA in 16 days. EEK! Christmas is going to be here before I know it. :P

I need an idea for a mass gift for my RS sisters. Any and all ideas are welcome. a DIY project is not really feasible at this point, but I need to keep cost down as well....so yeah. Please suggest something. ;)

My office was a brisk 56 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. SO COLD. Stupid next door office that controls the thermostat and doesn't leave it on during the weekends. :P

The world is very, very small. Roommate R (one of my favorite persons EVER) is friends with someone that Monkey Man knows as well. Insane how small the world is. ESPECIALLY in Utah.

Basically, I'm really busy with life in general but I'm super happy, twitterpated, and joyful as an elf. :o) Have a wonderful day!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 48th Edition

2011-11-29T08:39:00.001-07:00

As I sit here remembering my past week I can think of one huge tender mercy in my life.

My parents.

Someone commented (to someone else, but I heard about it) about some of my actions. I had done a good deed without really thinking anything of it, but it really impressed some people that didn't really know me. I can honestly say that it is because of the way I was raised that I too the actions I did that night. My parents are so super awesome and have always been there for me through everything that I've had to deal with in my life.

Today I am grateful that my parents are my parents and I am just realizing how many of my tender mercies in my life come back to my parents. They are so great. :o)

p.s. I made things festive here on said blog - Happy Holidays!

Holiday Hangover

2011-11-28T07:31:00.001-07:00

I am not wanting to be at work this morning, I have an awful holiday hangover. It's definitely a Monday morning around here and I'm hoping that I don't die from the insanity of it all.

I had the most lovely Sunday yesterday. I waxed domestic yesterday and made a pot roast in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots. I also had prepared a green salad, my favorite holiday jello salad and a pumpkin pie. OH! And crescent rolls. I had a major craving for those. So, I made a lot of food. :o) Then, I invited Monkey Man and a couple that are really good friends with him. (I like them too, for the record.) We had a blast eating good food and playing Ticket to Ride. It was fun times. After the friends left Monkey Man and I decorated my Christmas tree.

I rather enjoyed decorating my tree with someone. It was fun. After we were done, (it didn't take long, it's a tiny tree) we were sitting in the glow of the tiny twinkling lights and we started talking about the month of December. Now, December is a busy month for anyone and there's always so much going on and as we started discussing the different activities (i.e. parties, wedding receptions, date nights etc) that we had planned we both pulled out our planners and started writing everything down. We are very busy in the month of December. :o) However, I am so excited. Monkey Man definitely wants me involved in his life and that makes me happy.

Also, we talked about New Year's Eve. We have an idea of what we want to do. It is a crazy idea, but it could be a lot of fun. I don't want to tell you what it is yet in case I jinx it and make it so we can't go....but let's suffice it to say that it would be my most adventurous New Year's Eve ever. :o)

Anyways, it's been a good weekend. I am thoroughly enjoying my relationship with Monkey Man and I know that the next 3.5 weeks are going to just FLY by and I will suddenly find myself in Virginia celebrating Christmas. :o)

This happened yesterday:

2011-11-26T15:03:00.001-07:00

Christmas threw up in my living room. here, i'll prove it to you.

yup. definitely a disaster zone right now. so what do I do to combat the disaster that I need to deal with?

I made a mail organizer. (I tried to follow this one tutorial, and then....me being my mother's daughter I tried to guesstimate on my own measurements. This mail organizer is one of THE ugliest things I have ever made. but....it's functional!)

made a pumpkin pie. I did not do any pie baking for Turkey day (we ate dinner @ Mimi's cafe...that story coming later!) so today I did a little baking here and there.

made my favorite jello salad. I'm cooking dinner tomorrow night for Monkey Man (and maybe some friends? we'll see) and I'm rather excited about it!

danced around in my kitchen to the wonderful sounds of Michael Buble and She & Him Christmas albums (seriously, they rock. go buy them! The She & Him one is only $5 on Amazon MP3 Downloads right now!)

went and bought fun new Christmas floral things. as if i didn't have enough Christmas stuff to begin with...

and now I'm contemplating making some new pillow covers for the holidays.

and yes...the mess is still in my living room 24 hours later...ha ha ha ha. I promise it will be gone....eventually. ;)

Thursday Things - Thanksgiving Edition

2011-11-24T13:40:00.001-07:00

I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for this beautiful Thanksgiving Day. Here are just a few things that I am grateful for today:

My family - they are have always been supportive of me and my dreams and for that I will be eternally grateful.

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I seriously don't know where I'd be in my life without it.

My sweet boyfriend. I was not feeling well last night, at all, and he took time from his busy schedule to bring me chicken noodle soup and sit and just hold me. After he left I felt tons better. He's amazing and I am the luckiest girl in the world to call Monkey Man mine.

My jobs. I work for the best company by day and do what I love by night. Not very many people are as lucky as I am in that regard and I feel so blessed to be able to do it all.

My church calling. As hard as it can be sometimes to be over so many people and have so many responsibilities, I love it. I love the joy that comes from being able to serve those around me.

My apartment and roommates. I live with the best girls in a great apartment. I am so glad that I found this place 2.5 years ago.

Technology and other comforts that come from living in the 21st century. I am very blessed to live in this day and age.

I really am so very blessed in so many different ways. I hope each of you will take some time today to be thankful for everything you have been given. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Tender Mercy Tuesdsay - 47th Edition

2011-11-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

BEST Tender Mercy ever was given to me this weekend you guys.

So remember last year when I got to perform and it healed my heart, body, and soul?

Yeah, I remember that too. :o)

Well, it's happening again this year! Wahoo! We're doing a director's piece to Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. We're not dancing to the entire six minutes - the music will get cut.

I am so excited at the opportunity to perform. I think it's really important for our dancers and their parents to see the directors dance. They get the chance to see that we really are skilled at what we do. :)

Dancing has always been such a great place for me to release my emotions and what not and I feel so blessed that I am still able to perform.

We had our first rehearsal last night and these girls that I get to dance with they are just....AMAZING. I love them so much and getting to spend time with them on a fairly regular basis is going to keep me so happy.

it's official

2011-11-21T09:21:00.001-07:00

I'm twitterpated.

You're all probably going, "um....duh Alishka. You've been twitterpated for weeks now."

And this is true...but it's a much deeper twitterpation.

You see, the more time I spend with Monkey Man the more I discover all the great and wonderful things about him. I wouldn't even know where to start in telling you everything that I enjoy about him. I am loving where our relationship is right now and really enjoy having someone call me theirs.

In fact, last night someone said, "I need to find myself an Alishka," and Monkey Man said, "well you can't have this one, she's taken." It was so sweet! sigh. He's just so wonderful and I feel so blessed to have him in my life right now.

We had a very low key weekend, but it was so much fun. I am really looking forward to spending lots of time with him this week. There's volleyball night, dinner with his family, (oh yeah, did I mention that I am eating Thanksgiving dinner w/his family on Thursday night? Well, I am. I'm rather nervous about it) movie night, basketball (maybe) and possibly ice skating and bowling. We'll see about those last two. :o) It's going to be a great week! I'm so excited!!

Hope all of you had a great weekend! :o) Have a lovely Monday.

Happy Dance!

2011-11-17T16:18:00.001-07:00

guys. I love love love Thursdays. I always say that because it is oh so TRUE! :o) This week has been just awful in many ways and I am very glad to have weekend just about here. I have a lot of random things, so let's get this party started shall we?

BLUE TANGO! TONIGHT! I am so excited to go dancing! One of my favorite peeps to dance with is going to be there tonight and I'm rather excited about this.

Tomorrow is Date Night. In fact, this last weekend Monkey Man was conversing w/someone from the ward about Movie Night and the next movie we were going to do and where and such and the topic of when came up. This other person mentioned how we could do Friday and Monkey Man said, "Friday night is Date Night. You can't mess with Date Night." I was SO EXCITED to hear those words come from his mouth. I love Date Night. On the agenda is dinner, apple pie making and the annual lighting festival at the Riverwoods. Sounds festive right? :o)

I am going to be crafty this weekend and I am just so excited about this. I'm going to make a new bag for my church stuff. :o) It should be pretty sweet. Maybe I'll take pictures and tell you about it. Maybe.

I got whacked in the face with a volleyball last night. Got whiplash. WORST headache EVER. but it was a fun night regardless.

Also, last night I had a training meeting with the General Relief Society board. It was a wonderful board. I took so many pages of notes of things that I can be doing better. Part of me LOVES these meetings and another part of me hates them because afterwards I just feel so inadequate. There is so much room for improvement.

I am just so happy these days when it comes to Monkey Man. After an emotional breakdown (over things that have been building up for some time now) on Tuesday evening, Monkey Man let me gripe and complain. He lent the best listening ear. The conversation led to other topics and his philosophies on life and the gospel are so well aligned with mine it is sometimes scary. I really really really really like him. I think he's the bee's knees and love being able to spend time with him any way I can.

My cousin is blessing her baby up in L* this weekend. Sister B, Brother-in-Law T and I are all going up to spend time with them. Monkey Man may or may not be coming depending on his schedule on Sunday. Regardless, I am excited to spend time with my cousins.
I really love going to the gym. SO GREAT.

I'm really excited for the Holidays. They are going to be so much fun this year.

Also, what does when get a boy they've been dating for a short time (*cough Monkey Man cough*) for Christmas? I'm thinking maybe I'll make a stocking and stuff it with cute, fun knick knacks, but I'm not sure. Your ideas are welcome.

Have the most fantastic weekend ever friends! Loves!

just a thought....

2011-11-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 46th Edition

2011-11-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hello Tuesday! I am so glad to see you. Mostly because it means that I only have two more days to work this week. :o)

I am so very blessed. Honestly, I can't believe how wonderful my life is sometimes! I am continually thanking my Heavenly Father for all of my many, many blessings.

So, this week's tender mercy comes from just the other day. Every 2nd Sunday I have an early morning Stake Training meeting for my calling. It's at 7 am at my church building and it is always a wonderful meeting to go to. I just love it. The night before I had watched a movie with Monkey Man and some of our friends from the ward. I didn't get home from said movie night until one in the morning. Smart, I know. Well, as I was getting ready for bed I had the prompting to get everything packed and ready for my meetings the next day. Now, I had set my alarm and had left myself plenty of time to get ready, but I just felt like I should have everything packed up. So I packed my church bag and set out my outfit for the next morning. Now, I normally set out my outfits for each day, but I set out every little detail of my outfit down to my nylons and shoes and then I went to bed.

Normally when I set my alarms I set two on my phone to go off within three minutes of each other and then I set another one on my iPod touch that is a music alarm to help continue waking me up while I snooze the other alarms. :o) Well, my music alarm goes off and I doze in and out and then start to realize that my phone alarms aren't going off, I finally get out of bed to see what's going on and it's 6:58am. Needless to say I freaked out and started getting ready SUPER fast. Lucky for me, EVERYTHING was laid out and ready to go and my hair looked just fine from the day before. I felt so blessed to have been able to receive and follow inspiration. I think it is amazing that Heavenly Father helps me with the big things in my life as well as with the little things.

Life is amazing. I hope you all have a great Tuesday!

The Grandest Wish of all....

2011-11-11T08:31:00.001-07:00

At 11:11 today (11/11/11) I will be driving to Spanish Fork whilst on my lunch break to take care of a stupid ticket from my car accident on Halloween. pooh. BUT it means that I probably won't miss this auspicious event. :o)

All morning long I've been thinking of what I should wish for because a wish made on such a day as this is bound to be pretty amazing AND I would think it has the highest chance of coming true. :o) So...what does one wish for on this great event?

I have no idea.

While I continue to ponder my wishes so I can make that great wish in just a matter of hours, I want to take this time to thank all of the veterans - including both of my grandfathers. They have done so much to help keep our country safe and I'm grateful for their sacrifice. The world would be a much scarier place right now without them.

And finally, a little jovial Friday Fill-ins for ya today. I hope this day brings you the most happiness possible. Loves!

1. Turkey is delicious. I love eating turkey - especially turkey sandwiches!

2. I love pumpkin pie. And plan on making plenty of it this year. :o)

3. On and on and on we go day in and day out.

4. The last time I saw my good former roommate Peximus Maximus was three years ago - until Wednesday afternoon! It was so fabulous to get to see and visit with her. She makes my heart happy.

5. Can you believe there are less than 2 weeks to Thanksgiving? This year is going to be over before we know it!

6. I need a personal assistant. There are too many things that I need to take care of that I just don't want to deal with right now.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my dinner date with Monkey Man, tomorrow my plans include rehearsal and cleaning my house and the Ward Dinner + Talent Show and Sunday, I want to make something yummy!

Happy it's Thursday!

2011-11-10T10:01:00.001-07:00

Wow. Is it just me or has this week been eternally long? Honestly....Yesterday felt like it should have been Friday and yet it was only Wednesday. Also - work has been absolutely insane and I think I'm slowly going crazy.

Anywho. Let's get this show on the road before the phones ring again and I have to get myself to a meeting....

I burned myself with my 3-barrell curling iron on Saturday. :(

I have a dinner-date with Monkey Man tomorrow night. I'm very much looking forward to that.

There's Blue Tango dancing tonight (like always) but I'm not sure I'm going to go. I might come home and go to bed instead. We'll see.

I'm subbing for another teacher tonight so I'll be teaching later than normal. That is one of the reasons why I might not go dancing. Plus...I am really, really tired right now. But maybe I'll have more energy later?

I know last week I hinted at doing a post on my trainer...it's coming. Promise.

I think I need some cupcakes. I really like cupcakes.

I have a girl's night out coming up next week and I am just SO excited about it. PLUS I love the girls that I'm hanging out with which means that that evening should be just utter fantasticness.

I have too many craft projects that I want to do. :P

So I think I might need to have a crafty afternoon where I don't worry about how clean my house is - but instead I just craft away my day. Sounds like a good plan right?

I'm pretty sure there's something else I was going to mention to y'all today, but seriously? My brain is fried and the phones haven't stopped ringing. It seriously has taken me all day to post this. sigh. maybe tomorrow will be better??

Cloud 9

2011-11-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

I just may float away....here are some prints that express my thoughts perfectly for today. :o) Have a great day y'all!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 45th Edition

2011-11-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I was so sad to have missed Tender Mercy Tuesday last week, but I'm back this week! I have had a good past couple of weeks filled with so many different tender mercies that it is hard to pick which one(s) to share with you.

Let me start with last week - Last week we had Stake Conference and it was the most wonderful thing. It was exactly what I needed that weekend and it lifted my spirits and answered questions for me in my life.

My other tender mercy comes from last night. I had to make a decision whether or not to spend some one-on-one time with Monkey Man and most likely stay up late OR go to the gym and get to bed at a decent hour. I had told myself when I got into a relationship again that I didn't want to drop things that I like to do (like going to the gym) just to hang out with my significant other. However, last night I felt like it would be more beneficial to me AND my relationship with Monkey Man if I stayed and hung out with him.

BEST. DECISION. EVER.

Even though I only got 4.5 hours of sleep last night (i know, i know), the benefits of getting to be with Monkey Man were TOTALLY worth it. We watched a movie and afterthe movie was over, Monkey Man and I sat talking for over an hour and I learnedso many things and got to know him even more and I found something out - he'scommitted to me. I mean, he didn't SAY those words exactly, but we were talkingabout the holidays and things coming up and Monkey Man told me he'd go to mywork Christmas party w/me (we got our save the dates yesterday) and he'salready put into his phone when I'm going to be gone to see my family. He toldme he'd love it if I took him to DC someday, we're going to do somethingon New Year’s, he put my birthday in his phone...etc etc. And while that isjust a whole bunch of little things that could or could not happen it's a BIGdeal to me, because I’ve had past boyfriends that don’t like to commit tothings in the future. Lots of guys feel that way. They don’t like to plan forthings to far in advance just in case “it doesn't work out.” I HATED that about those guys (or guys whowould never plan ANYTHING *cough Grizzly Bear cough*.) Because, so what ifwe're not together THEN at least commit now and show me that I'm important toyou! And Monkey Man did that. He hinted about meeting his family (well...warnedme that I had no idea what they were like yet...and then kind of told me aboutthem. It was fun) Also, he just....is amazing. I could tell when we weretalking and discussing things that he cares about me and he wants to plan onspending time with me, and I love that so much. So there you go. A little insight to my current relationship, and while we haven't sat down and had a "DTR," I feel like I know where things stand based off of his actions and to me that is much better than any kind of DTR conversation we could have right now. :o)

Basically, I'm happy. Monkey Man and I are dating and it's so great. It's gone so smoothly and effortlessly that I can't help but wonder what is in store for us in the future. It's just GOOD and I like it.

Have a great Tuesday y'all!

Today has been....

2011-11-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

officially declared "stupid people day." At least, at my place of work it has been. Today has been ridiculous when it comes to stupid people and their stupid requests.

ANYWHO. The good news is that today is THURSDAY and I just love Thursdays. (I think I say that every week, but it's so very true that I'm okay with saying it every week. :o) )

onward and upward!

Not only is today THURSDAY, it's my FRIDAY. My weekend starts as soon as my company class is over tonight - 8pm. I can do this!

I am sleeping in tomorrow. My Friday schedule is a little different than past Fridays and that includes sleeping and sleeping until I can't sleep no more. Or 9:30 am. Whichever comes first. ;)

I'm going to the temple with a dear former roommate (Roommate LZ) on Saturday morning. I'm so excited to spend time with her in the best place ever!

I haven't been serious grocery shopping in WEEKS. That is being rectified tomorrow. I even have a meal plan for several crock pot meals to make this next week. I'm excited. I hope they turn out...

I have a post in the works about my gym trainer. He's a rock star (literally) and I can't wait to tell you all about him.

Speaking of the gym...I'm going tomorrow AND Saturday. I'm just that cool.

I also get to practice being a mime on Saturday for a show in April. Again...I'm just that cool.

Monkey Man is adorable and I'm quickly falling head over heels for him...and yet I'm very calm about it. (most of the time) It's a very interesting ride and I couldn't be happier.

I love Greek yogurt. ESPECIALLY Greek yogurt by Yoplait. mmmm....yummy.

Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away! WOO HOO! I love holidays.

the pile of sticky notes that have been used this week is ASTOUNDING. It has been so super busy this week. ai yi yi

I played volleyball last night and at one point I chest bumped the volleyball. It was AWESOME.

There was A LOT of laughter at volleyball last night. SO MUCH FUN. I loved it.

Sometimes being a Relief Society President is hard. I do love it, but it's HARD.

I have some fitness goals to share with you...but they're not completely finalized yet (which is bad of me...but deal with it.) I'll probably share them in the near future. Get ready for THAT awesomeness.

I just realized the year is drawing to a close and I'm noticing how many things have helped me flourish this year. I need to start brainstorming a word for the year for 2012. 2012 is going to be good....I can feel it.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...but this has been a very long Thursday Things already, so I think I'll be done. For now. Until next time my dears, STAY HAPPY!!

WEDNESDAY!

2011-11-02T09:42:00.002-07:00

So....I missed Tender Mercy Tuesday. I'm sorry! I had a great one planned in my head...but after a CRAZY Halloween night (car accident :( [my fault. so sad] and a party w/Monkey Man) and a VERY busy day on the phones....posting just didn't happen.

BUT I'm here today! The party with Monkey Man was so much fun. I love spending time with him and getting to hold his hand. :o) Everything is still very surreal to me. (a very good surreal though)

Tonight is going to be busy, but should be fun.

My brain is scattered, so I'm going to leave you with this AWESOME YouTube video that I shared via twitter earlier this morning and call it good. Happy Hump Day all y'all!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

2011-10-31T10:23:00.001-07:00

Hello my dears! I hope you are having the most splendid (or spookiest) Halloween ever! Mine has been pretty spectacular so far. This weekend had it's up and it's downs - but unlike Nottingham, the ups have definitely outweighed the downs. I've been trying to figure out how to best tell you all that has gone on...I think we'll do a day-by-day update. okay? okay!!

Friday

Friday was the "down" part of the weekend. I was ornery all day long, I was exhausted and I pretty much felt like crap. I've been fighting cold symptoms all week long and I just felt icky. I picked up a free pizza that I earned from Papa John's and sat on my couch moaning the demise of my BYU Cougars to the TCU frogs. sigh. I went to bed at 9:20 pm and slept for 10.5 hours. BEST THING EVER.

Saturday

I woke up feeling SO refreshed. I ran my 5k and did SO WELL!!!! I don't know my exact time (yet) but I know that it was better than the last time I ran a 5k. I'll be sure to post my time once I get it. ;) After that I came home and did a few pointless things before going on a TRIPLE date that I put together last minute.

See....I had this Groupon for miniature golfing for up to 6 people. (it was only $9!) It expired on 10/30 and so when SwingKid and I were driving home from the race I asked if he and his new girlfriend (who was in his Master's program. She's so nice and I'm happy they are dating) wanted to go. He asked if it would be weird, I said no. So plans were made. I asked Monkey Man if he was available and he said YES! THEN looking for 2 more people, I thought of Surfer Boy (who has just started dating A* a girl in my ward who is one of my best friends and I just love that these two are dating!) and texted him, and him and A* were definitely in! So, if you were paying attention...I went on a triple date with my former crush and his GF and my ex and his GF. Weird? Not at all. ha ha ha ha. I didn't warn Monkey Man prior to this excursion that my ex was going to be there, but it did come up at one point. He laughed at me and told me that I had a weird relationship with him. I concurred with that statement. However, it was great fun being with two other couples doing something as simple as miniature golfing. After that triple date there was Stake Conference (which I will probably talk about more tomorrow) and then after THAT I went over to Monkey Man's place and we watched Captain America. :o) SO MUCH FUN! It was a great Saturday. :D

Sunday

I got to sleep in a little bit (no extra meetings!) and then went to Stake Conference. Monkey Man sat by me and at one point during church I looked over and thought, "oh my gosh. I have a boyfriend." It continues to amaze/shock me that I'm dating someone. It just sort of happened. And while I am not complaining, I am constantly finding myself in awe of the fact that I am dating someone. Has this ever happened to anyone else? I mean, really?! How does one just POOF find themselves in a relationship? Anyways, it feels nice to be with him and yet I don't feel this overwhelming dread when I don't see him. I am still me, still doing my own thing but with someone that I can share things with and I think that is the best possible thing EVER.

After church my roommate and I worked on her Halloween costume. I sewed a detachable wedding dress train to a shirt and then we went outside and trashed said wedding dress. It was AWESOME. I even drove around the block with the dress hanging out of my car. BEST THING EVER. She's one awesome zombie bride today! I finished off my evening with Ward Prayer and The Little Mermaid. :o) LOVE that movie so much.

So there you go. A not so little nutshell of a weekend...but fun none-the-less. Tonight Monkey Man is having a Halloween Party that I'm going to and all-in-all it should be a pretty good day. :o) Have a spooky kind of day!

Happy Friday!!

2011-10-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

I am SO happy that it is finally Friday. This has been one VERY long week and I am very much looking forward to my weekend of Halloween celebrations!

So without further ado...Friday Fill-Ins!

1. Beware of spiders and other spooky creatures..

2. I am definitely not ready for the snow.

3. And since we are on the subject, I've decided I need to learn how to snowboard this winter.

4. Do you believe in supernatural spirits?

5. Where there is chocolate is where I want to be right now.

6. Any kind of soup is one of my favorite meals when it's cold out.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a couple of Halloween parties, tomorrow my plans include running a 5k, doing some baking and enjoying Stake Conference and Sunday, I want to enjoy the fact that I don't have any extra meetings and I can take a nap!

Thursday Things

2011-10-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hello my dears! Yesterday was quit the craptastic kind of day and I am soooo glad that it is finally Thursday! Thursdays are usually really good days in the office - plus they always consist of fun things for me in my personal life. :o) Even though I have to work tomorrow (ick) it will be all good because it is finally the weekend! So let's get to this shall we? I have lots of fun things to tell you!

Like I mentioned earlier yesterday was a really awful day. I came home from work and instead of getting myself to the gym like I should have - I took a 1.5 hour nap. That was WONDERFUL.

My Halloween costume consists of me using my superhero costume from my birthday. However, since going to the temple it's a little short for every day wear and seeing as how I want to wear out in public....yeah I added a purple ruffle to the bottom. It's 90% done and looks AWESOME.

Speaking of Halloween....I have SO MANY different things going on TOMORROW alone! I have to choose and decide what I am going to go to, but I just feel cool that I have so many options.

Tonight I'm dressing up for ballet class AND for Blue Tango's Halloween Bash. :o) I'm excited to dance in my costume. It's going to be GRAND!

Last night I played volleyball and Monkey Man did show up. I got teased endlessly by several ward members but it was all good. We left at the same time and were able to talk for a little bit in the parking lot. He's a sweetheart and while nothing is "official" we did talk about how fast we want this relationship to go - and we're both on the same page with wanting it to not fly out of control. I feel good about things and I don't think I'll be going out with anyone else for a little bit... :o) I did get a couple of kisses goodnight. I forgot how nice it is to kiss someone goodnight.

Seriously, I slept VERY well last night and I am attributing about 50% of that nice sleepingness to the good night kisses I received before going to bed. ;)

We don't have any set plans for the weekend....but I know he's not about to back down, I'm just not going to see him every day at this point. And like I mentioned to him - that's what I am trying to work on. See....when SwingKid and I broke up we had been dating for 2.5 years. We were at the point where I did see him every day, talked to him throughout the day and went through withdrawals when those things didn't happen. So I have forgotten how to gradually get to that point. I told that to Monkey Man last night and to be patient with me. I'm trying really hard not to get too crazy and to keep doing all the fun things I've been doing without a boyfriend and once we decide to get a little more serious then I'll see him more often and we'll incorporate each other more into our lives. Until then though....I'm NOT going to freak out and I'm going to continue to enjoy my life with a little added bonus of someone that I'm dating. ;)

We have Stake Conference this weekend and I just love Stake Conference. It is always SO GOOD. I'm looking forward to not having any extra meetings as well. :o)

I am feeling really good about today. It is going to rock. Hard Core.

I'm running in this 5k on Saturday with SwingKid. I'm hoping my time is better than the last 5k I ran unknowingly on a torn ACL. :o)

The work day started with me finishing putting out a fire that was discovered yesterday while listening to Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. Nothing can go wrong when that is the first song on your Pandora station.

My hair looks cute today. The end.

I'm wearing a comfy sweater today - see....nothing is going to be awful about today! I KNOW IT!

Pretty much, life is much better today compared to yesterday and I'm a happier camper for it. here's hoping everything continues to go swimmingly.

Have a great day everyone! :o) I know I will!!!

Wordless (-ish) Wednesday

2011-10-26T06:56:00.001-07:00

{it explains every bruise on my body}

{this is me this week. too many spiders}

{every. single. time}

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 44th Edition

2011-10-25T06:13:00.001-07:00

I have the best Tender Mercy to share with you today!

Back when I was learning to drive (many, many years ago), my dad would take me on back roads from Spanish Fork to Payson to help me get used to going faster without any cars around me. I remember that being so scary! (going fast - not the back roads. ;) ) Well, yesterday that knowledge of back roads that my dad shared with me finally paid off! I missed my exit (well...more like it was closed and I didn't realize it) on my way to Spanish Fork to teach my Monday night ballet class. The next option was to take an exit that put right in the middle of the back roads my dad used to take me on. I was surprised at how quickly the knowledge of these back roads came back to me - it was seriously like riding a bike again. I was pretty sure where to turn and once I made that first turn everything was surprisingly clear to me. I am so grateful that I have a father who would teach me things that I don't think are necessarily important or useful, but then they end up being for my good.

Our Heavenly Father is like that too. He teaches us lessons and skills that we don't think we need, or that are there just to spite us and make us sad; when really, all of these lessons truly are for our good. Heavenly Father doesn't just randomly decide to teach us something. He has a plan for us and He knows what we need to know and when we need to learn it so that we can use it later for ourselves and for the betterment of others. How cool is that?!

Anyways, that's what I am so grateful for today. I definitely have some amazing men in my life. The End.

best weekend EVER!!!

2011-10-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

hey you guys! (every time I say that phrase I say it like THIS. ha ha ha ha)

I hope you had the most fantastic weekend. Mine was, to quote Monkey Man, "sublime."

Friday was just fantastic and filled with great things. Saturday was also great (two straight days of sleeping in? Yes Please!) and was made even better by BYU winning their football game without question.

THEN. Then, there was Ballet West's Dracula. This ballet was absolutely exquisite. The brides of Dracula were very ethereal, creepy and yet gorgeous at the same time. The special effects added to the charm of the storyline and didn't feel like they were there just because they could be there. (If that makes any kind of sense.) Monkey Man had never been to a ballet before and I just love being able to indoctrinate people into the awesomeness that is ballet. :o) He really enjoyed it, which is a good thing.

So, he held my hand while at the ballet and basically on our entire date. ;) There's just something about holding hands that is so great and it makes me happy. I wore a new top that I found shopping with Roommate A with my long brown skirt and I felt so pretty. After the ballet it was decided that we would go grocery shopping, so we swung by my favorite local grocer and did some shopping. I love grocery shopping and I think it's a lot of fun to do with a guy (for some odd reason.) After that, we went back to his place to take home his groceries and then he walked me out to my car.

Now, here's the deal. I have learned from some very trustworthy sources that Monkey Man has not kissed a lot of people. So, by this point in the evening I was convinced that a kiss was not going to happen (which I was fine with, I mean, I would have been fine either way to be honest) and so I didn't think about it as we were saying good night. So, we say thank you, and as we go in for a hug (i think) I realize about 2.2 seconds too late that Monkey Man was going in to kiss me. GAH! I felt so bad! He kissed me on the cheek and I realized that I had just shafted this really cute, sweet boy. I felt so bad, and so I returned the favor and kissed him on the cheek as well and as we pulled back a little bit he looked at me and then went in for it and this time I didn't shaft him...and we kissed. Just a sweet little peck. a few times. It was adorably sweet and nothing like any other guy I've ever kissed.

See...I feel like when other guys have kissed me it has been leading into the possibility of making out. And not that making out is a bad thing (I do rather enjoy it. TMI? Perhaps?) BUT it was very refreshing to just have him just kiss me.

Now....here's where I wax all philosophical. See....Monkey Man is nothing like any guy that I have ever dated. In fact, when I get to this point in a relationship with a guy, 9 times out of 10 it's because I've been crushing on the guy for quite some time and I've made things known that I wouldn't be opposed to dating said guy. Well....with Monkey Man he sort of came out of nowhere. Not that I didn't like the kid, we were friends before all of this happened, but I hadn't been crushing on him, or sending signals or anything. HE has done all the work. HE has made all of the initial moves. (Now, I have encouraged him....but still.) So...I'm sort of freaking out on the inside. Not on the outside...but definitely in the inside. This relationship is different than ANY relationship I have EVER had and the reason that that is so scary is because people (i.e. every married person I know, including my SISTER) has said that that's how it goes! It's the person you're NOT looking for, the person you DON'T expect to date that gets you married. sigh. I'm trying not to over think things...but let's be honest. I'm a girl. I over think EVERYTHING. So right now...I'm just trying to enjoy this crazy, wild ride that I have suddenly found myself on. So...if it ever sounds like I'm freaking out - just tell me to chill out. k? okay.

REGARDLESS. I'm really, really all sorts of giddy, twitterpatedness over here in Alishka land. Hopefully I can focus. ;) Have a great Monday Y'all!!!

ps. If you read this to the very end then I am very impressed and you deserve a gold star. So consider yourself starred. ;)

Thursday Things

2011-10-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Good Thursday Morning lovelies. I hope you're having a FANTASTIC day in the neighborhood. I know I am! :o) I'm rather excited that it is finally Thursday. Around here it's Friday because I don't work tomorrow. Halleluiah. :o) Let's get to the good stuff shall we?

My date with Monkey Man was a BLAST. Seriously. So much win. My pumpkin carving skills are awesome AND Xbox Kinnect? TOTALLY WICKED!!! Seriously. SO MUCH FUN!

I'm really excited for my weekend. It starts tonight after my ballet class with a hair appointment. super stoked for THAT tonight. THEN I'm going dancing. Will get my flirt on...etc etc.

Tomorrow I'm sleeping in, going to the gym, helping my sister changer her name on her driver's license, going to the temple, rehearsing my ballet company and going to movie night. (Star Trek anyone?)

Saturday includes sleeping in, going to the gym, being crafty, watching BYU Football and THEN going to see Ballet West's Dracula.

My date for the ballet? Monkey Man. yup, I asked him last night after our date got over. He wasn't sure he could go because of previous plans...but then his friends canceled said plans. So our ballet date is a go!

Monkey Man was really cute last night...he held my hand again - but it was cute how anxious and unsure we both were and trying to read the other person on their thoughts of holding hands...yeah. He's cute.

Here's an interesting fact and something I discussed with my coworkers this morning - I have a crush on Monkey Man, but it's not the same as other crushes (i.e. Fryman, Surfer Boy, Grizzly Bear, etc); with past crushes I have imagined how everything would play out (dating, to kissing, to getting engaged, to getting married, etc) because I am a girl and I fantasize about EVERYTHING. I haven't done that with Monkey Man at all. My one coworker thinks it's because I'm not having to do all the work (not that I always do all the asking with other guys...but I do do a lot of encouraging/inviting etc). I think she's right. She also told me that's how it worked for her and her husband and another former coworker of ours and her husband. They never really thought of their husbands as potentials until after they started dating. So...I'm not forecasting anything, I'm just making an observation. ;)

In other non-boy related news, Katria sent me this link to an AMAZING dance performance. YOU NEED TO WATCH IT. Even if you don't really like dance, WATCH IT. It's INCREDIBLE.

Also incredible? This non-traditional version of Swan Lake. SWEET CRAZINESS. I thought my jaw was going to fall off. So amazing.

This article about BYU and the Big-12 was very interesting. I learned new things.

My little bro turned 19 yesterday. He's getting to be SO grown up! I just can't stand it. :o)

Finally, let me leave you with this awesome print I found on pinterest. :o)

Have a great weekend folks! :o)

Dating Battle Stories - introducing.............

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile now hasn't it? But the time has come for an introduction of a new player in the Dating Battle Stories of my life....

so without further ado let me introduce:

Monkey Man. (ps thanks to beckybob for the 'nym!)

Monkey Man is in my ward (yes that does bring the current number of NAMED crushes on this blog from my ward to three. I'm a player, it's okay.). He helps organize/attends game nights that are sometimes held after ward prayer. He's a complete sweetheart and very genuine.

There's a little background - but now for the fun part. the STORY!

I was sitting at home Saturday night, not doing much of anything, when Monkey Man called me. I figured he was calling to see if we were going to do a game night the next night, but I was wrong! Instead, he asked me if I was available on Wednesday night. Fortunately, my plans were changed and I was in fact available! He asked if I'd like to go on a group date w/him to carve pumpkins and play Xbox Kinnect. I said yes, and so now he's picking me up at 7pm tonight.

BUT WAIT! That's not all folks!

Last night for FHE the plan was to meet at the church and then go from there to a corn maze at Thanksgiving Point. We're standing around outside and Monkey Man and I are standing by each other just chit-chatting and the opening prayer is said and THEN it's time to carpool up...so I say "I have room for 4 in my car!" and Monkey Man turns to me and says so fast "I'm coming with you!" and i was all "sweet!" and then my car filled up with three other girls from the ward and off we went!

So we get to the corn maze and Monkey Man and I are waiting for the rest of the ward to show up and it was MUCH colder than I had anticipated (i.e. i didn't bring gloves or hat and all i had was two lightweight sweatshirts to keep me warm). So I lean into into Monkey Man and tell him he's going to have to keep me warm and he says, "only if you keep me warm too!" so then we get our wristbands, I chit-chat with the bishop for a moment about some concerns (YAY for being the RSP ha ha ha) and then I skip over to Monkey Man and we start walking towards where the corn maze is at. Here's the thing about the Thanksgiving Point corn maze - there are a TON of fall activities to do besides the corn maze. lots of fun things. So we're walking across the field and Monkey Man leans in and says "I'm going to hold your hand to keep mine warm okay?" with a cheesy grin on his face. ha ha ha. I say okay and off we went! we held hands the entire night. There were times where we'd let go of hands to do something, come back to standing by each other and HE would grab my hand again. it was adorable. So....I like him - which is funny becausethe like/crush sort of came out of NOWHERE. but last night...it was so fun. :o)

My other favorite thing is that he made it clear last night that he is going to come and pick me up - he's not having me just meet him at his place. This is a BIG deal to me and has been a sore spot in past relationships that I have been in.

So. There you go. The newest player in this game/war of love that I'm very involved in right now. ;) I promise to give as many details as I feel like after the date tonight. he he he he

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 43rd Edition

2011-10-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

I had some very wonderful experiences this weekend. Honestly, it was a wonderful weekend filled with lovely things. My favorite part of the weekend though was the fireside that we as a Relief Society Presidency put together for our sisters.

There is a new book that has come out for all of the sisters to use as a reference to studying the scriptures and for us to learn more about the history of Relief Society. It is an AMAZING book and I just love it. It is called "Daughters in My Kingdom," and if you click on that title it will take you to the online version of the book. ;)

ANYWAYS. Our Stake President (who is seriously a ROCK STAR and I LOVE listening to him) really wanted us to make this book SPECIAL and not just hand it out randomly. His wife is a member of the General Relief Society Board and was part of the committee that put this amazing book together. So we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to her tell us a little bit of how this book came about, why it was put together and what we might learn from its pages. She was an inspiration to listen to and the Spirit was so strong during her talk. It was a lovely fireside and I was so pleased to see so many sisters in attendance and see them soaking in the words of our leaders. It was a great opportunity for us and one that I will always treasure in my heart.

(ps...stay tuned for a Dating Battle Story tomorrow [it's been a while since I've had one!], you won't want to miss it because this is a great story!!)

a little insight....

2011-10-17T07:07:00.002-07:00

so one there's a friend of mine that posted this Psych test that evaluates your personality and what not. It gives you your top ten personality traits and is very interesting.

ANYWHO. It only took like 3 minutes to take, and the evaluation (while simple) describes me pretty perfectly. I laughed a little inside when reading my report, because really? It's all very, very true. So...for your reading enjoyment this Monday morning (and because I'm exhuasted and don't want to think hard) here are my results. Go take the test yourself if you feel so inclined and let me know if you do! I'd love to read your results!! :o)

Friendly

You would rather hang out with others than spend time alone, and you'd far rather be doing something with your friends than just sitting around. You're happy in a crowded room, club, stadium, or auditorium.
You're not a private person who is ill at ease in a group; you don't view excessive socializing as a waste of time.

Assertive

You behave in a confident and forceful manner, take charge of the situation, raise your hand in class, stand up for what you think is right, and lead others. Among those who have a high score on the "assertive" trait, many have jobs in which they are valued for their organizational skills as well as their talent for supervising others.
You are not interested in fading into the woodwork, leaving everything to fate, taking more time than necessary to accomplish a task, or avoiding confrontation.

Poised

You tend to feel at home wherever you find yourself, even in unfamiliar settings, with new people. It takes a lot to rattle you, and when rattled you recover quickly and gracefully.You are usually not self-conscious or nervous when you're in an unfamiliar environment or with people you don't know.

Accessible

You're comfortable expressing yourself in words and actions, with no self-censorship. You believe that if someone doesn't like what they see it's not your problem, but theirs. A high score on the "accessible" trait suggests that you have a lot of friends, socialize often, and enjoy rap/hip-hop music.
You don't see the need to keep your thoughts to yourself, or to have a zone of privacy that encompasses only yourself and a small circle of friends and relatives.

Optimistic

You are a "glass half-full" kind of person, always on the lookout for the silver lining. Your happiness is contagious, which is why others like to be around you.
You do not feel that the world is an intrinsically depressing place; you are not the kind of "realist" who thinks that only fools find joy in life.

Extroverted

You are ready to talk at the drop of a hat. Whether you're in the office or at a party, you're likely to be found gabbing away in the middle of a group of people. If you have a high score on the "extroverted" trait, you are probably among those who enjoy communicating with their friends (on the phone, on line, texting…), hanging out, and finding the best parties.
You are not shy or unwilling to spend a fair amount of time socializing. People you meet generally do not feel they have a hard time getting to know you.

Outspoken

You like to talk. Luckily, you always have something to say, you tell a good story, and people generally enjoy listening to you. It's no wonder that you're often the center of attention.
You don't tend to keep your thoughts to yourself, and you don't feel you're imposing on others when you share your thoughts and opinions with them.

Warm

You have a genuine interest in other people. You're a natural host, and are always thinking about how you can increase the happiness of those around you. When friends have problems or are in trouble, you're usually the first person they turn to for aid and comfort. Scoring high on the "warm" trait suggests that you are among those who enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.
You don't always say exactly what you're thinking; you don't like the idea of causing anyone pain because of your criticism.

Scrupulous

You are an honest, fair person. You don't lie or cheat to get ahead. You treat others with respect and hope for the same in return.
You do not feel that you are above the rules that everyone else follows; you are definitely not willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

Tender

You are gentle with others, both physically and emotionally. You are careful not to upset people and go out of your way to find the nicest way to say something. You naturally focus on the fact that the world is full of wonderful people, places, and things. More often than not, people with a high score on the "tender" trait enjoy spending time with children, love romantic movies, and are enthusiastic about making the world a better place.
You don't think of yourself as tough-minded or gruff, nor do you need to be seen as some kind of objective source of truth and rationality.

whew

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure this week was twice as long as normal. whew. I am SO looking forward to the weekend - although I'm not sure it's going to provide much relaxation for me...but at least I don't have to sit at my desk for long, extended periods of time!

1. It's easy being green. or not.

2. Hello, my darling.

3. Once upon a time, I discovered that this phrase gets used a lot around here.

4. It has been a crazy week, my brain hurts, I am teaching Relief Society this week and I need to refine my lesson, and my brother broke his foot last week ... the end.

5. What is the best kind of pie? in your humble opinion? (my favorite is pumpkin. ;) ).

6. I think I would like a boyfriend sooner than later.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to an AIDA reunion!, tomorrow my plans include shopping with Sister B (I need new pants!), the BYU football game, dinner w/Grizzly Bear (maybe?) and getting things DONE and Sunday, I want to not stress out too much!

Thursday Things

2011-10-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

in order to keep myself sane I just had to post a Thursday Things. Yesterday was absolutely nuts at work. The one CS rep is still out of the office (down to 2 people running CS) and then the front desk receptionist person was out...and CS is responsible for covering the front desk...so there were two people covering 4 peoples worth of work. NUTSO. Seriously, I thought I was going to go crazy. :P

sigh. moving on....

I'm on the hunt for a date to go see Ballet West's Dracula next weekend. So...yeah. Need a date.

My contemporary piece for BU2 is going to be really cool. I'm rather excited about it. Now if only I could figure out more choreography for it....

I get to see all of my AIDA friends tomorrow night. I'm rather excited about this. I love them!

I think I'm going to dinner with Grizzly Bear on Saturday...perhaps....

Even though I'm uber exhausted, Blue Tango WILL happen tonight. I need the emotional release dancing gives me.

I love vegetables.

I got invited to a Halloween party yesterday. I can't remember the last time I was invited to a Halloween party. I'm rather excited. :o)

I'm wearing green today. I love green.

I have a lot going on on Sunday. It will be a busy, busy day.

I am having an In-n-Out burger for lunch today. I'm sort of excited about it.

That's it folks. Life is crazy. Does anyone want to be me for a day so I can just sleep for 24 hours straight? :o)

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 42nd Edition

2011-10-11T14:45:00.003-07:00

Well. Today has been nothing short of ridiculous. It has been insanely busy and I might go crazy by the time I get home today. We've been shorthanded at work for the past week because of a medical emergency for one of my coworkers. I'm ready for her to be better. :P

Anyways, I do have a small, little tender mercy today. texting. Yes, you read that right, today I am grateful for texting. I've been texting a few friends and they have been keeping me sane throughout the day. Thank goodness too, because otherwise I might light the phones on fire. (that's how busy it has been. barely a moment of peace and quiet today. SO MUCH paperwork to do too! ugh!)

Anywho, I'm grateful to be able to text people and have to have friends who will text me and keep me entertained. The End. :o)

mish-mash of my brain

2011-10-10T15:32:00.001-07:00

so. my brain hurts. I have so many thoughts. I just don't even know where to begin. This is where pinterest comes to my rescue. Here's a little taste of my thought process today:

i want this print in my house:

i want to live IN this house:

i love Lucy:

I am pretty sure I need this outfit:

I sort of want to be doing this right now:

so there you go. that's not everything going on in my brain right now, but it is a very good chunk of what is happening in my brain right now.

poof!

2011-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

It was just like that - POOF! Suddenly, summer was gone and all the was left in it's wake was a horrible tan line that never went away and the wishes of more sunshine. This weekend was filled with loads of cold temperatures, cloudy skies, rainy (and a little snow!) days and lots of indoor adventures.

I'm sorry I sort of disappeared the end of last week. Thursday was just insanely busy and I never got around to posting and then I had Friday off, which ended up being so very busy and Saturday was much the same. I did finally choose and begin the contemporary piece for BU2 (thank goodness!) and now I get to start the process of finding music for my ballet class in Spanish Fork. I start that class in one week and I want to start choreography (or at least learn some sections of the choreography and teach them so the students aren't shocked by said choreography) in a month...and then I'll actually teach the dance w/formations to them in the beginning of the year. We are to do a dance on discouragement. Any music ideas you might have would be greatly appreciated.

I finally got my new computer at work. It is sooooo pretty. I have a HUGE monitor that I love, Windows 7 operating system that I'm still getting used to and Microsoft Office 10 that is making me think very hard. ;)

In other news I need to ask a boy to go see Ballet West's Dracula with me in less than 2 weeks. I have been thinking about asking Blindman2 OR I might ask this one guy in my ward. sigh. I just don't know who to take.

In other news, life is busy. Actually, that's not really news, especially if you know me in real life. I'm just always doing things. This week is no exception.

Anywho, this is a very boring, mundane post. I'll try to be funnier in the future, but I make no promises. ;)

Tender Mercy Tuesdsay - 41st Edition

2011-10-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is going to be quick because I am uber busy and swamped at work, plus my external activities have me stressed to the nines (you DID see my crazy schedule yesterday right? if not, it explains everything. Look below.) Anyways, I was at Family Home Evening last night with people from my ward and we went to our stake's Family History Library. There we learned about the importance of Indexing and how to do it. Now, I already knew how to do it and after Elder Bednar's talk on the importance of it, I knew I wanted to recommit to doing it more frequently. Well, last night I did a batch while at the library and I plan on doing at least one batch a month. I can handle that, right? It was so calming, relaxing, and spiritually uplifting for me that I really need to remember to be doing it on a more regular basis.

And today, that's MY tender mercy.

Also, because I LOVE Chelsea and I haven't participated in Ten on Tuesday in AGES I thought I would take the time to do it today. ( I know, I know, I said this was going to be quick) I couldn't pass it up because it is the 100th week of T o T!!! (You should totally go participate. T o T is so much fun!)

1. How do you take your coffee?
I don't drink coffee. In fact, I don't even really like the smell of it. :P

2. Do you prefer soft or crispy chocolate chip cookies?
straight out of the oven - ooey, gooey, mess of a cookie. That's the best way to eat a chocolate chip cookie, in my opinion.

3. Do you wear a belt everyday?
Not at all. I've recently been converted to more belting of various types...but I by no means wear one every day. There is only one pair of jeans that I really like wearing a belt with, other than that it's no belt.

4. What is your favorite color combination?
hmmm...I love the look of cider/burnt orange with just about anything. Also, I love Black + Red and Pink + Teal or Green. sigh...I just like color.

5. Do you like sour candy?
I love it. I thrived on it as a kid. The Lemon war heads? Yeah...I could totes handle those w/out puckering. :o)

6. How often do you do laundry?
usually every 7-10 days. It depends on if I need something that's dirty or not. I don't love doing laundry.

7. Did you ever wear braces?
nope. should i have? probably. Will I? Probably not.

8. Are you good at Roman Numerals?
yes, actually. I am. Once, when I was in D.C. with my dad and brother we saw this old building with a ton of Roman Numerals on the outside and I totally figured out what year the building was built. I rock.

9. What is your favorite form of social media?
hmmm. This is hard. I really only use blogging, Twitter and Facebook. Sometimes I love Twitter more than Facebook, but I have more friends on Facebook.

10. How do you feel about chin dimples?
um...cheek ones are cuter, but dimples are dimples yo.

busy week

2011-10-03T09:34:00.003-07:00

in case you were wondering what "busy" means to me take a look at my calendar for the week:

normally I wouldn't go as far as to schedule in all the little things I need to do (like eat, shower, etc) but I have SO MANY things that need to get done this week with gym time, appointments for my church calling, get-togethers with my friends...that scheduling the little things had to happen this week so I can make sure I don't let something slide. Looking at my week I am wondering how in the world everything is going to get done...and yet according to my schedule, it's all going to work. A LOT of the white space (especially m-f) is for travel time to and from my events...sigh. SO BUSY.

In other news, I had a marvelous weekend filled with girl time, loads of wonderful messages from leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some time spent with Surfer Boy and a couple other guys from my ward. Nothing went down with Grizzly Bear and I honestly don't have time for it this week. Life is just way too busy. I mean...look at that image above! Insanity I tell you!

Anyways, that's my life in a nutshell right now. This is me hoping I can plow through this week and make it to Friday without dying. :o) Happy Monday all y'all!

Thursday Things

2011-09-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

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....

2011-09-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2011-09-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

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 dumbbellsand such and I glance over to the other area - where all the machines are - andI see Surfer Boy. I kind gasped inside, but kept going. I finished my circuitand had one thing left - the rowing machine. I had just noticed Surfer Boy gointo the men's changing room and so I thought to myself, "self, if you geton the rowing machine you'll probably miss him leaving and then you won't getto say hi and you'll really feel like a stalker." so instead I took a 2-minutebreak to stretch my arms and such and stood by a half wall that I was using tostretch. (And it was conveniently right by the way to get out of the gym)

Anyways. I’m watching out of thecorner of my eye and he starts to walk by...but doesn't notice me....but Idecide to "see him" and glance up, say his name, and start to takeout my headphones and we chit chat for a moment. so, we’re talking and hementions that "we're thinking of doing a movie night on Friday" (webeing him and another guy in my ward that hosted the last movie night) hecontinued "I’ve been talking about it with so-and-so and we're justdeciding on the where and such right now" I was jumping up in down on theinside! I was so excited!! Anyways...I told him that sounded good and that I’dbe in. :o) then he left, I did the rowing machine and went home a happy, happygirl.

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

2011-09-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

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:

Link back to the blogger that originally awarded you
List out 7 things about yourself
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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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:

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.

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. ;)

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.

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

2011-09-13T09:03:00.002-07:00

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

2011-09-12T14:35:00.002-07:00

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

2011-09-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

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 assuch) he invited several people to his house to watch a movie that we wouldvote on. Movie night was slated to start at 7 pm. I texted Home Teacher to lethim know that I would be late...I don't get done teaching until 5:45, and I hadrun 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 leftside of the living room) Mr. Toad (a guy in the ward, he's a nice guy, but justa friend and he was sitting in a lazy boy chair) and then Surfer Boy (sittingon a 2-person couch on the right side of the living room). So yeah, me and 3guys. Awesome. I was still a little sore from my workout and so I sat in themiddle 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 againstit. 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 myshirt" okay, then. Don’t have to ask ME twice! I touch it. SOFTEST SHIRTEVER. Surfer Boy tells me it's Egyptian cotton. I swoon. I touch him again. Severaltimes. (Throughout the movie of course. he laughs at me) Surfer Boy and I bothget up at different times during the movie to grab a drink, or use thebathroom, or get a treat or whatever. Every time we come back, we sit next toeach other. Like our whole sides were touching, but we weren't holding hands oranything. 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 thatfirst move. But, I sat very similarly to him. ;) (I like to think that if ithad been just the two of us and there hadn't been two other boys in the room hemight have held my hand.)Also, he put his hand on my knee at one point to justpat it in regards to something I said. I’m pretty sure I swooned in that momenttoo. ANYWAYS, it was good times. I liked it. We got to talking about weekendplans, and I mentioned how much I wanted to go to the zoo...and so it wasdecided we would go to the zoo on Monday. Probably followed by a shootingexpedition (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 bySurfer Boy and played with him. This is when I discovered that Surfer Boy isVERY ticklish. Like, just as ticklish as me. So, I had fun with that and hepromised to get me back on Monday at the zoo.

Monday - the zoo. With Grizzly Bear and Surfer Boy (and others). Not going tolie, I probably ignored Grizzly Bear a little bit more than I should have. Hetried to pay for my ticket to get into the zoo, but I wasn't about to let himmake it into a date. It would have been just awkward to have him pay for me. SoI told him no. Probably hurt his feelings, especially when I didn't really hangout 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 thananybody, but overall just had a blast. We went to lunch and then Cabela's andTHEN the boys took me shooting. Well, first we had to go get Surfer Boy's truckand guns and so he asked if anyone wanted to ride with him and I said, (afterwaiting a few seconds) "I will!" so...I did. LOVED that I got thatlittle bit of alone time with Surfer Boy. We drove down to Springville and wentup the canyon and I learned how to shoot a pistol and a shotgun (2 differentkinds) I have a bruise on my shoulder forming from the shotguns, but it was SOFUN. Also, Surfer Boy kind of did the whole, hold my arms and help me thing. Itwas cute. I sat by Surfer Boy at FHE, but that was it. My plan: to not worryabout him. I will flirt with him on Sunday, but I know he has some familycoming into town this weekend and his roommate is getting married. So basicallyI'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'tseen that he wants me to see). I'm just hoping we get to watch a movie againbut just with the two of us. Heaven knows I need to not ask him out again for awhile though. I really hope things sort of go somewhere so I can feel okayabout 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 ALOT. I just hope he has taken note of my flirty nature with him (cause it'smostly different compared to my flirty nature with other boys.)

Day 21 - FINAL DAY

2011-09-04T22:47:00.002-07:00

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

2011-09-04T22:38:00.002-07:00

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...

2011-09-02T06:57:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-09-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

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!!

oh the joys....

2011-08-31T06:41:00.001-07:00

There are so many things I could complain about today, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to not complain and instead think happy thoughts while I share with you my outfit for today's 21 Day Challenge. It's Day 17 and the challenge was to take something from your repair pile, fix it and then wear it.

Problem: I don't have a repair pile. I have had one in the past...but the last item in said pile was my favorite black pencil skirt. It didn't last more than 5 days in that repair pile. That was a month ago. (I think I'm just lucky right now nothing needs fixing or anything.) So what's a girl to do when she can't really heed to the challenge set before? She emails the founder of said challenge! Kayla was fabulous and offered an alternative challenge: Break a fashion rule. Oh man. I was all excited to do this...and then I started googling fashion rules. There are so many variations on fashion rules and what's okay and what isn't. However - I decided to break the one fashion rule that makes me shiver whenever I think about breaking it - wearing black and brown together. Now, I've read a lot of things in the past 24 hours and there are many fashionistas out there that say this is okay. They're both neutrals, wear them together, be brave. And...well...I can't help but think that said fashionistas are a little CRAZY. I even bug my mom for wearing black and brown together - and she does it subtly with just a brown belt and a black skirt or something. She's going to roll her eyes and then say I TOLD YOU SO when she sees today's outfit...so without further ado: my fashion rule breaking outfit


{leopard print top: JC Penney's black shorts: Banana Republic}

So there you go - brown leopard print (I swear there is no black in that top...AT ALL) top with a black tank top and black shorts. I paired this with some brown accessories (watch, bracelets, flip flops) and off I went. I'm feeling....okay about it. Will I do this on a regular basis? Probably not. Am I worried what people think when I'm out and about today? A little bit. Will I still mock my mother for wearing brown and black together? Probably. ;) It's just the way I roll. Also - let's make note of this style of shirt - I have like 5 shirts in this style all in different colors, patterns, and slightly different necklines. I LOVE this style of shirt. I super cute in it and I KNOW it makes me look good. That's all. ;)

Have a great Wednesday y'all!!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 36th Edition

2011-08-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

My tender mercy comes from my run last night. I rolled my ankle (not badly) about half way through. There was some pain, but as I walked it out, I considered just calling it quits and going home. It was my first run outside in a long time and I was mad at myself for not being more careful being outside. However, as I was walking in a circle, I decided that the pain wasn't that bad and that I could move forward and finish my planned run.

So I did. My ankle is still a little sore this morning - but there's no major bruising and the swelling seems to be non-existent. I feel like this is a huge tender mercy. I'm trying so hard to get myself into good cardio shape and to just be healthy overall. I very easily could've blown my ankle injury out of proportion and allowed myself to give up, but I didn't. I am so glad that I had the strength and the confidence to run it out. When I finally got back to my car, it felt good knowing that I had finished what I had set out to do.

:o)

In other news, today is Day 16 of the 21 Day Challenge and the prompt for today is: Menswear. I thought about this one a lot yesterday afternoon/evening. I own a "boyfriend" shirt that is super comfy, but it's half-ish sleeved and just not something I want to wear when it's going to be 90+ degrees today. Instead, I dug into my closet and pulled out a tie that I borrowed from Dad ages ago to wear to school one day, and never gave it back. I love this tie, but hadn't worn it in a long time so I figured it would work for today's prompt.


{shirt and pants: Target tie: my dad}

The pants are a brown plaid with a hint of teal to them and the shirt is an awesome steel gray. Pair that with the maroon skinny tie and I feel like this outfit is a winner! I didn't button up my shirt all the way, mostly because I wanted to have that relaxed feel, plus I hate feeling like I'm being choked. :o)

Good Morning!

2011-08-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone!!! Even though I am saddened at the thought of a 9-hour work day, at my desk, inside....I had such a GREAT weekend, that I'm happy. Also, I've decided that I'm going to work on one of my Day Zero goals this week: Don't complain about anything for a week. I'm a pretty optimistic person, but there are times when I complain about EVERYTHING! So...this week I'm going to consciously make an effort to not complain about work, my love life, or the weather. I think I can handle that. I am allowed to voice my complaints on how sore I am after working out. ;) But basically I want to not be a sour puss, or a pessimistic person this week. I think it will be a good exercise for me. :o)

In other news, I have a new crush at church. His 'nym: Surfer Boy. :o) We went to a concert in the park randomly Saturday evening and then back to his ADORABLE house (that he owns!) to watch a surfing movie. He also came over to game night last night. Some of you might be wondering about other men in my life. They've pretty much all fallen off the face of the earth - although BM2 might resurface and Grizzly Bear is....confusing. It's okay though! I'm having the time of my life and it's great fun. :o)

Today is Day 15 of the 21 Day Challenge. I am going to be sad to see this challenge end. It has been such great fun to use style prompts to get ready in the morning. It has definitely helped me to add variety and newness to my wardrobe. Today's challenge was to do something new with your hair. I LOVE experimenting with my hair. I was using Pinterest one day and I discovered this blog with lots of cute hair ideas. I couldn't watch her tutorial for the hair do I went with and I wasn't wanting to pay for it...so I just looked at the picture and did my best to recreate it. I like how it turned out. :o) A great way to hide very dirty hair that I didn't feel like washing this morning....shhhh...don't tell anyone. The result!

{3 buns! I love it. A great summer hairdo!}

And for your viewing pleasure, the outfit I wore with this hair do:

{plaid shirt w/belt: JC Penny paired with a brown shirt from Walmart, shorts: thrifted and cut off by yours truly}

For cute, right?! :o) I am a huge fan of JC Penny's these days. It's one of my favorite places to shop - but not for dresses. I want a cute new dress, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. It might just have to wait until Christmas though. sigh. C'est la vie.

Well....that's all from me dear friends. I hope you have the best Monday in the world. and just as a reminder...there are only 5 days until BYU Football kicks off their first season as an independent! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!! Have a great day y'all!

Day 14

2011-08-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

What a Sunday today has been! So busy! I do love it, but it is very tiring at the same time. My weekend pretty much seems to have disappeared, but I have had a blast. :o)

Anywho, today's outfit prompt was to copy someone. I've seen a lot of this one style and when I went shopping with Sister B I wanted to add this outfit to my wardrobe. So, I sort of cheated and bought most of my outfit today, but here's the deal - I have plans on many ways to wear the top/accessories that I went with and I'm okay with the fact that I bought this shirt and necklace yesterday and made it work.

So, I've seen a lot of people wearing things like the following:

{a shirt like the one here}

{a necklace like this}

I've always wanted to try it. So...when shopping with my sister i tried on things that reflected the images above and styled my outfit like so:

{top and necklace: JC Penny, skirt: roommate's from Gap}

So...I really LOVE this top. Also, I was never sure if I could pull off this style of necklace, but I took the risk...and I'm VERY happy with result. I wore this shirt over a blue downeast top, but I could so wear it with jeans, paired with boots, oh so many ways! Also, it came with a belt, but I ditched it by the time I got home from church. I was just done with wearing a belt at that point. ;) I think it looks cute both ways! Go me!!

Day 13

2011-08-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today's outfit for Day 13 went pretty well. I went with a black neutral base and a pink sweater accent. Very chic, me thinks. :o)

Day 12

2011-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

I just love my days off. So far today I have: slept in, gone to the gym, and watched Project Runway. Which, if you didn't see, my sweet friend who was booted off in week 2 is back again! This made my heart SO SO SO happy. :o)

Also - the gym? It was hard. Day 2 always is, but I rocked it out and finished strong. Week 4 day 2 was the same workout as Day 1, so my results are basically the same.:

I'm pretty happy with myself!

As far as the 21 Day challenge goes, today's Day 12 challenge is to jazz up the jeans. I love jeans. I really do. I wear them all the time. :o) So...here's my outfit!

{shorts: thrifted and altered by moi shirt: JC Penny}

I'm pretty happy with the look. Chic, but casual. :o)

I hope all y'all are having the most marvelous Friday. The weekend is here (or almost here for some of you) and I hope you rock it hard core! Still on my agenda: a visit to the temple, get my car inspected for registration, get my car detailed for its birthday present, drop off a birthday card for Grizzly Bear and decide on what I want to do with my evening - because I have options!! :o)

Love all of you. Hugs!

It a new day, a new dawn....

2011-08-25T07:46:00.001-07:00

and I'm feelin'.....good! Oh my. I just love Michael Buble. He makes my heart quiver with joy. He's the best. :o)

I am seriously feeling so good right now! Part of that is because I got my hair done last night and I just love it. I went a dark, chestnut brown with red highlights and new bangs and it just looks fantastic, if I do say so myself. Let's move on to some Thursday things shall we? I have plenty for ya!

Not only do I have new hair, but on Saturday I am going shopping with Sister B to get a few new items of clothing. Life will be good with new elements to my wardrobe. :o)

Speaking of wardrobe, I am LOVING the 21 Day Challenge! It has been SO fabulous for me and I'm discovering new ways to wear things that I already have in my closet. It is rocking my socks!

Speaking of the 21 Day Challenge, today is Day 11 and the challenge was to wear a dress or skirt. Easy enough! I love wearing skirts, especially during the summer. Keeps me cool. :o) Today I not only wore a skirt, but I went with remixing my item from Day 1. So without further ado, my outfit:

{skirt: my roommate's from Gap, shirt: Kohls/DownEast, belt: Papaya}

I sort of love this...Tucking in this shirt does feel weird and I feel like it does funny things...sort of. Overall, I like it. I added a pop of color with my bright pink heels (which you can't see). I almost wore my pink belt that I have...but it just didn't flow right.

I love pencil skirts (which is what I'm wearing today.) They make my heart happy.

I don't work tomorrow. This makes me SUPER happy.

I am teaching my company for the first time tonight and I'm rather excited. It will be fun times for sure.

I've mentioned this a few times this week, but I just can't contain my excitement. I'm going dancing tonight!!! Oh yes! This just might be the highlight of my week!

I'm in love with Instagram. It is so fun to play with.

I went grocery shopping last night and then made taco meat. I froze some of it for future meals and then ate a taco salad. Yummy.

Work is insane. It's driving me crazy.

This week's running schedule is sort of crazy. I'm trying to decide what is going to work best. It's a little up in the air.

However, going running means I get to wear my awesome new, bright pink running shoes and that just gets me all excited.

I have tickets to a UVU Volleyball game tomorrow night. I want to go, but not by myself. I need to find a friend to go with me.

I think that's all for now. Pretty much, I am loving today - even if work is insane and driving me to be slightly cynical. :P Oh well...c'est la vie!

FINALLY!!!

2011-08-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

I am so happy today is finally here! I have been waiting impatiently for today for 3 weeks now! See...3 weeks ago today I was supposed to get my hair done. That's my normal 8 week time period and I'm usually ready to get my roots taken care of by then. However, three weeks ago I had the final dress rehearsal for AIDA and was unable to go to my hair appointment and so I had to reschedule. Because of the show and my hair dresser's schedule...the next available appointment was tonight at 5:30pm. I am SO so SO excited to finally get my hair done! I haven't really done much with my hair this week because I've been hating on it. I'm excited to feel cute again!

In other news today is Day 10 of the 21 Day Challenge. Today's challenge was to find a "closet orphan" aka something that you never wear and save it. Well....here's why this challenge was hard for me - about 7 months ago I went through my closet and turned all the hangars one way. In the next few months Every time I wore a shirt - I turned the hangar the other way so down the road I could see what shirts I wasn't wearing. I then, in May or so, went through my entire closet and got rid of everything that was, basically, a closet orphan. The only exception to this was my work shirt and a few skirts that are super fancy that I don't wear that often, but still fit and I still love. So what's a girl to do? Well...I went with my work shirt. It's a Land's End shirt and when I got it, it was very much too big for me. I had my mom take it in for me, but it still fit funny. I can count on one hand how many times I've worn this shirt in the past 2 years. My biggest beef with this shirt is that it seems to ride up when I'm sitting, so I'm constantly readjusting and that's just annoying. Since doing day two, though and discovering that I can pull of the whole tucking in thing, I decided to try that to see if I can love this shirt more seeing as how I'd love to get rid of it, but probably shouldn't. Here's the result:


{shirt: Land's End w/work logo, pants: JC Penny} {I realize it's sort of cut off the collar...sorry, I was in a hurry this morning - running late!}

I actually really like this outfit and I definitely like this shirt more now that I see it on my tucked in. I've always loved the color, so maybe now I'll wear it a little bit more often. ;) I think pairing it with these higher waisted (no pockets, HATE that about these pants) gray slacks definitely helped out. I feel super long and lean, which I'm not on a normal basis - so yay for me!

Anywho, there you go! I'm loving this challenge. It's definitely pushing me, and my closet, to new heights. Now, here's hoping the work day goes quickly and smoothly so I can enjoy sitting in the salon tonight. :o) Ciao!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 35th Edition

2011-08-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot the past few days on what I wanted to post about for my Tender Mercy Tuesday today. I was struggling with finding something to share that would be appropriate, but nothing was coming to mind. Then yesterday happened. Friday was a really awful day at work and I was not looking forward to coming into work yesterday. However, I knew that we should be fully staffed and that would make a huge difference from Friday where I was the only customer service specialist in the office. Well...my one coworker called in sick. So we were only partially staffed yesterday. It ended up being an okay day - and I attribute it to the fact that I was able to find the good in things as the day went on. This isn't always the easiest thing in the world to do, but finding the good in life has always been a talent of mine and I was glad I was able to put it to good use yesterday. blessings. :o)

In other news: I bought new running shoes last night. They are hot pink and full of awesome. See?

I think they made me run better last night than I would have otherwise. :o) After a 2-month hiatus from the gym, I got my butt on the treadmill and pounded out Day 1 of Week 4 of the Couch 2 5k program. With my warm up/cool down this is what the treadmill said I did:

I feel pretty good about that. I'm a little sore this morning, but as I saw my pink shoes on the floor of my bedroom, a part of me wanted to go running again today! Even though today is not a running day. :o) I think the pink shoes are going to be good for me! huzzah!

Finally, today is Day Nine of the 21 Day Challenge. I took a HUGE risk today and I'm pretty sure I look like some sort of vegetable today, but I wanted to push the envelope on Monochrome outfit day. So...without further ado, my outfit:

{skirt: made for my sister's wedding by my mom, jacket: BYU bookstore, shirt: DownEast bracelet: Gardner Village. not pictured: headband sash made to match skirt and earrings: green discs from claire's}

I'm pretty sure I look like a green bean, or lettuce or something. I am not sure I'd ever wear a monochrome outfit like this again...but who knows. maybe? I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I can wear mostly black, mostly brown all the time, but any other color and it makes me nervous. sigh. Anyways. There's Day 9!

It's Tuesday, and that means first day of ballet classes! woo hoo! Here's hoping you all have a great second day of the week! ciao!


{skirt: my roommate's from Gap, shirt: Kohls/DownEast, belt: Papaya}