Dating Battle Stories: Soldier Boy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 45th Edition

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 after the movie was over, Monkey Man and I sat talking for over an hour and I learned so many things and got to know him even more and I found something out - he's committed to me. I mean, he didn't SAY those words exactly, but we were talking about the holidays and things coming up and Monkey Man told me he'd go to my work Christmas party w/me (we got our save the dates yesterday) and he's already put into his phone when I'm going to be gone to see my family. He told me he'd love it if I took him to DC someday, we're going to do something on New Year’s, he put my birthday in his phone...etc etc. And while that is just a whole bunch of little things that could or could not happen it's a BIG deal to me, because I’ve had past boyfriends that don’t like to commit to things in the future. Lots of guys feel that way. They don’t like to plan for things to far in advance just in case “it doesn't work out.”  I HATED that about those guys (or guys who would never plan ANYTHING *cough Grizzly Bear cough*.) Because, so what if we're not together THEN at least commit now and show me that I'm important to you! And Monkey Man did that. He hinted about meeting his family (well...warned me that I had no idea what they were like yet...and then kind of told me about them. It was fun) Also, he just....is amazing. I could tell when we were talking and discussing things that he cares about me and he wants to plan on spending 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!

best weekend EVER!!!

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. ;)

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

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 because the 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

Dating Battle Stories: A girly story about Surfer Boy

 

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

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

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

So that was Friday. Moving on to Sunday.

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

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

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

disappearing act

so remember how I was SO excited about my date with BM2? Well he called me yesterday on my lunch break to cancel. Basically he told me he wasn't in a place to date right now, he doesn't want to lead me on so we're not going out this weekend or anytime in the very near future. We're going to stay friends because he thinks I'm awesome and stuff. Plus he said he wants to be ready to date soon and when he is we might try things out then. So for now...we're friends and we'll hang out in the future and stuff. (and before you freak out and say, "Why Alishka, why?" or "He's just stupid." He had very good, personal reasons that he shared with me that I'm not gong to share with you. so there.)

while I was initially very much saddened by this turn of events, I think it's going to be good. I told my mom and one of the first things she said to me was the following: "With as many guys as let you go suddenly, Heavenly Father must have someone very special for you that isn't quite ready."

I tend to agree with my mommy. She's usually right. ;) Also, my life has kind of been a crazy roller coaster lately. I've come >this< close to having an emotional break-down for the stupidest reasons, but then again, that's how I roll. See I let the smallest things - the tiniest thorns inbed themselves inside of me and then they fester, because they're small and practically non-existent, I ignore them. Before long there is a huge collection of thorns inside of me and then the stupidest thing will push me over and I'll just break. I was sort of there at the beginning of this week. I need to be better about not letting things fester, and it's a goal of mine to do this.

Anyways, the point of me telling you all of this is I'm not going to worry about dating for a while. In fact, I'm kind of going to just step away. I'm going to continue my friendships with people I know and I plan on doing fun things all the time. However, I need to find my balance again. The musical has definitely thrown off my balance and with the ballet school year in full swing I need to figure out how life is going to go. I have major responsibilitiesat church and work and I need o put some focus on those things and make sure I'm not letting any balls drop. This does not mean that I'm just going to stop dating - if a boy asks me out I'll say yes. I'm just not going to worry about it at all. Nor am I going to renew my subscription on the dating site I've been using.

I think that's all I want to say about the subject for now. :o) Have a great day y'all!

and then comes a flying wrench

You know how things are going well, or at least semi-well and you think you have life figured out and then WHAM! out of nowhere a wrench flies in to mess with your head, plans and life.

A flying wrench came yesterday by the name of Blindman2. You might remember him from WAY BACK when we went on a first date set up by Truit and her hubby.

Well, last night Truit and her hubby hosted a fondue dinner night. It was me, a mutual girlfriend of Truit and me and then Blindman2. Blindman2 had a really good excuse for not calling me...but there's still the fact that he didn't call me (that I'm not going to go into because it's long. it's valid though. completely valid). Anyways, we had a wonderful evening. he and I ended up next to each other all night. We ate good food, played Risk and 5 Crowns. We played footsies under the table - very flirty like and he kept my toes warm. We touched elbows, caught each other's eye and flirted verbally all night long. He walked me to my car at the end of the night and gave me a hug and promised to call this time. We'll see if he follows through or not.

Here's the thing - he's cuter than Percy when it comes to looks. He's taller, and nerdier. He's way more my "type" and fun to be with. Percy is fun too...don't get me wrong, but the only reason I find him attractive is becasue of his personality and how well we get a long. If I was looking at a book of pictures of Percy and Blindman2 I would definitely linger more on Blindman2 than I would Percy. sigh.

so what's a girl to do when she has  a group date this weekend and has tentative plans with Grizzly Bear that she doesn't want to happen? When said girl would love to see Percy again but would also really like to see the possibilities with Blindman2 but he's GOT to make the next move.

gah.  Stupid flying wrench.

Confusion

Hey there friends. I hope you had the most splendid of weekends. Mine was filled with loads of rehearsal, and a date with Percy.

I like going on dates, they are fun. However, they also manage to fill me with confusion on occasion. Percy and I went to my dear friend's wedding reception and then we went to Park City where we walked Main Street and poked our heads into the open galleries. It was great times and I really enjoyed our time together.

Last week I went out with Grizzly Bear. We went to Chile's to get yummy food and then watched a movie at his place. I've held strong and haven't let him kiss me again - but i do let him cuddle with me and hold my hand.

Here's my dilemma. I like Grizzly Bear - at least, I like how I feel when I'm with him, but I'm not sure I LIKE him. Ya know? I think it's more that he fills the physical affection void in my life. Whereas with Percy, I enjoy spending time with him. We always have the best time together, but we haven't crossed the psychical boundary yet. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good thing....but there's still an uncertainty to if a relationship between us really will work.

Grizzly Bear made loose plans to go out with me this coming Saturday night. Here's the thing  - with rehearsals and stuff the only time  I can go on dates is Saturday nights. Part of me does want to go with Grizzly Bear because I want to continue to get to know him, but I don't really see us in a relationship.  Where on the other hand, I really want to go out with Percy because I see the possibility. Maybe I should just flip a coin???

I think I just answered my own confusion - but any of your thoughts are welcome. How do I let down Grizzly Bear gently and nicely? I've never really been in this position before......

woah. information overload?

Are you ready for an INFORMATION OVERLOAD? good. because there is a TON of stuff that I have to tell you.

First off - THE WEDDING.

It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved every minute of the day of her wedding. And really, the days leading up to her wedding weren't that stressful, so that was good. Seeing my family was so fabulous. I love my family. I loved having them here in Utah. It was great times. I still can't believe my sister is married, but it is very happy so I'm okay with that.

NEXT: the show.

It was chaos. Like always. My students did fabulous, but the back stage managing was all over the place and insanely crazy busy. I was on my feet basically all day - until I took over calling the show at one point. Seriously, the day was VERY long and I almost died. But then I didn't.

Another THING:

Remember how I was auditioning for AIDA? Well...The audition went fairly well. I know that I wasn't the best singer, but man alive I danced my heart out. My good friend auditioned too which was excited! Well...I got an email an I MADE THE ENSEMBLE!!! I am SUPER DUPER excited about it all. In fact, I have my first rehearsal in just a short while. (Also, my friend who auditioned? She made it too!!!)

A BOY thing -

So....Grizzly Bear is still kind of in the same place.  He texts me...but we've been on like one date. sigh. some boys.

PERCY on the other hand....he is INCREDIBLE.  He called me on Sunday, but we got interrupted by my sister and her husband. I called him back, but he didn't answer. He texted me Monday morning to apologize and see if I was available for lunch - which I totally was! However, I realized that i was wearing the SAME outfit I had worn on our first date! I totally came home and changed (just don't tell him that...). We went out to eat at my favorite Thai restaurant right across the street from where I work. We had the most pleasant time.  Also, we set aside time for our THIRD date. I am excited for our third date. The last time I had one of those well...we all remember the Fryman situation.. Anyways, we communicated via text message late Monday evening and it was suggested that we'll go Canoeing and on a picnic. I am rather STOKED by is suggestion, we'll see if that's what we really do or not. Regardless I really like Percy and I'm very excited to spend more time with him.

BASICALLY, this "summer" (aka the tie when I don't teach ballet) seems to be going EXTREMELY well and it just might be one of my favorite summers yet. I'm not counting any chicks yet, but I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed. ;)

Hopefully none of your brains fried with all that info. I hope I didn't forget anything. Any Questions??  ;)

the weekend before....

Guys, I might explode. I have a LOT going on next week. Granted, it's all fun stuff and I'm really excited about EVERYTHING that is gonig to happen, but there is a LOT on my plate. :o) I am trying to keep breathing and not worry about anything. I have faith that it's all going to go just swimmingly. Here's hoping!

In the mean time, I have a story for you! And guess what? It's a Dating Battle Story!!

My date with Percy was yesterday. It was the most fantastic time. He's VERY nice. Looks EXACTLY like his picture and his personality makes him all that much cuter. He was very sweet, we had WONDERFUL conversation during lunch and we just enjoyed each other. He told me that my pictures didn't do me justice and I told him he was too kind. ;) We decided that going out again is a must and he told me he'd call me next Sunday after all the craziness had happened and we'd plan something at that point. He sent me a text message a bit later telling me he loved meeting me and had so much fun that he stayed later than he should have and was late to his meeting. oops! HA! It was just great times. He also mentioned (in a text message) that I looked "incredibly beautiful." It was just a very nice thing for him to say and I've got to admit he's earned some major brownie points.

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 24th Edition

Hello there!

Today's tender mercy is simple (aren't those the best ones?) and that is the fact that I got asked to give the spiritual thought last night in our Family Home Evening activity. I love getting in front of people and I was excited when I was asked to present the thought. I planned out a thought from the talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson "Face the Future with Faith." I didn't realize how much I needed to really read and study that talk until after I had given the thought and I was overwhelmed with peace and the knowledge that what I had shared was TRUE. It was a good moment for me. :o)




P.S. Percy called me last night and we actually connected on the phone - a lunch date had been set for tomorrow at 1pm. However, he called me today and had to reschedule because of a rescheduling of surgery for his dad. (a totally legit reason!) So the lunch date is now on Friday.... I'm rather excited about it!!! :o) I'll be sure to post and tell you all about it since I'm sure you're just dying to find out.

Sixth of June

So...I sort of haven't blogged in five days. I apologize. I really do. See...Thursday was just very, very busy at work and then I was busy all night and what not...and then I just didn't get a chance to blog this weekend. :o) I was having too much fun! So...let's kind of do a little bit of a recap of what happened. I have more boy updates for you. I'm sure you're excited about that. ;)

So...Percy. Percy called me Thursday to reschedule our lunch date. See...he had a meeting come up and couldn't get out of it no matter how hard he tried. Unfortunately he called while I was at work and so we ended up playing phone tag all night, and we haven't connected yet. So, the date is on hold which makes me really sad because I do want to go out with him, so I'm hoping it happens sometime soon.

Grizzly Bear and I hung out Wednesday night and watched Beauty and the Beast and chatted. He also kissed me. Now, I have this set of rules for kissing. The main one being that I kiss someone when there's going to be a commitment involved. Well. I sort of kissed Grizzly Bear without having been on a date (ha. done THAT before!) and it was really nice. He's a really good kisser and I do enjoy it......but honestly? I'm sort of freaking out. A LOT. Now, we've been on a date since he kissed me. (I told him he had to) We went to a movie Saturday afternoon/evening. It was enjoyable. However, I don't think I'm ready to make some kind of commitment to him at this point in time. He's in my ward and while I don't mind dating in the ward I am not ready to tell the ward that I'm dating him (like by holding his hand or something). Anyways....I realize that it having been only a week, that I shouldn't worry about it defining what we are and what not right now. I think part of it is from dating SwingKid for so long and I want to be in the same place I was with him with someone else - but I don't want to go through the process. I sort of forget that SwingKid and I went through a process to get to the point of seeing each other every day, always kissing hello/goodbye, to understanding each others quirks....you get the idea. I want that same kind of thing (who doesn't! It's a wonderful thing to have!) but I forget that it CAN'T happen immediately and that's why I am freaking out. Part of me feels like I need to have it immediately although to be honest I'm not ready for that emotionally. I just like to have it. It makes me feel safe and so here I am sort of pseudo-dating this boy that I'm not sure is going to go anywhere. I realize that you have to take risk and move forward and TRY things...but I hate leading boys on. I feel like I should feel more for him (maybe?) then I am and I just have NO IDEA what I'm doing! To be honest, I really REALLY want the date (when it happens) with Percy to go well and have it lead to more dates quickly. Is it bad that I'm still wanting to date other people? A lot? And take The Australian....I still like him. I'm not sure anything we've got is EVER going to lead anywhere....but he's just so awesome and what not. Sigh. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't think I've really been in this predicament before.

Anyways, now that I've rambled on about that for forever....let's move on.

The wedding is in 10 days. EEK! Although really, everything is done for it and I think I'm good to go. :o) I finished the guest book last night and it is adorable!! I'm excited for my plans for my wedding gift to Sister B and her soon-to-be husband. :o) It will turn out super cute.  I found the most ADORABLE white shirt for the wedding. I'm very happy with it. I also got 2 other new shirts (all at JC Penny's) for a STEAL. I also went to the ModBod outlet store in Springville and got cute new shirt/jacket that is kelly green, a bright pink belt and a new swimsuit - all for $33. I am AWESOME.

Anywho, life is pretty good. I'm getting my hair done this week and I have a few other pampering things that are going to happen that I'm pretty excited about. :o) Hopefully I can just keep calm and carry on these next two weeks. I'm trying to enjoy the time as much as possible because I know it's going to FLY by me. :o) until next time my dear friends...ciao!

First of June

Can you believe that it is already the first of June? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it! Since SO MANY things are happening in the month of June and I feel like I haven't given you a really good, meaty boy update, this post is going to be a hodgepodge of everything awesome that has happened, will happen and should happen in the next short while.

HERE WE GO!

First! Some countdowns!

• There are 15 days until Sister B's wedding. I finished the centerpieces this weekend. Shoes have been procured. All that's left is to find a cuter white shirt, finish the guest book and finalize/purchase food for the reception. I can't believe the wedding is here. 

• There are 17 days until the end-year recital: Sleeping Beauty by AofB. I am so excited for my students to perform! They have been working SO HARD and they look so extremely polished. Makes my heart happy and proud.

• In 12 days my family will be here! The whole family hasn't been in Utah since they moved to Virginia. I'm excited to have them be here, even if it's just for a short little while.

• In one week I'm getting my hairs did. Have to look all cutes and stuff for the wedding. ha!

• In 18 days I'm singing a solo in church. I'm just a tad bit nervous about it. I practiced w/the choir for the first time on Sunday and it was a little scary. Here's hoping I don't croak or something. 

• I only have 7 work days until I start my week long "vacation." (Is it really going to be a vacation? Probably not.)

Second! Some updates on boys!

• Leviticus: We are still friends! We ended up at a mutual friend's BBQ on Monday and it was fun to see him and chat and such. We haven't been out in a few weeks, but he's so nice and helpful and such. A great friend truly.

• The Australian: After him telling me we couldn't "date" right now and just with life and what not he and I hadn't hung out in a long time. We decided to hang out this past weekend - and it sort of was like a date. He took me to P.F. Chang's and convinced me to try shrimp. It was a weird texture, but pretty good otherwise. Anywho, after that we watched Willow on my couch and enjoyed cuddling. That boy sure knows how to cuddle. I'm not sure if this means anything. Knowing him it doesn't. Pretty much I'm just enjoying him and our friendship. :-)

• Percy: He's the boy I mentioned here as a new "interest." After playing 2 rounds of phone tag we finally connected on the phone on Monday afternoon. He talks just as cute as he writes. He seems very genuine and that makes me happy.  We're going out to lunch on Friday (which is perfect since it's my day off!) and I'm rather stoked to see him in person. Now I just need to decide what to wear....

• Grizzly Bear: So named because we clicked while at FHE last week at the Bean Museum while next to the bears. Ha! Also, he reminds me of a teddy bear. :o) Grizzly Bear and I texted most of the weekend, I said hi to him at church and have basically been my flirty, cute self. We watched Gnomeo & Juliet last night and snuggled on his couch. He walked me to my car, kissed me on the cheek and sent me on my way. He's already determined that we should hang out again and I agreed. No plans yet, but it will be fun regardless I'm sure. :-)

Third! A cute little something that I am liking this sunny, Wednesday afternoon. Loves!

click to enlarge {source}

Dating Battle Stories: a boy named Leviticus

PREFACE

Last Sunday, the 24th of April was our 2nd Sunday as a "new"-ish ward. (this is the Sunday after Fryman kissed me) I was standing in the hall after church talking to my friend Rocky (who was new to the ward, but we grew up together) and there were a few guys standing there too. Some from the ward from before and some new peeps. One of the guys, Leviticus, was there (he's new) and he was a friend of Rocky's. Anyways, we got to know each other a little bit and as I left the group (because i was SO hungry and i needed lunch) Leviticus shakes my hand and says, "Alishka, you have the cutest personality, it was great to meet you have a great Sunday." I thanked him and went home. Then the whole Fryman thing went down.

FAST FORWARD….

Saturday, April 30th. I had no plans that evening. In fact, I had just gotten home from visiting a friend and her newborn in the hospital and was cleaning my kitchen. I decided I wanted to do fun things so I texted some of my guy friends asking if anyone wanted to go out and do something exciting. Well, no one wanted to, in fact I got ignored and rejected. It was sad times. So then, fast forward like 20 minutes and I'm sitting on my couch checking facebook when I get a message from Leviticus - and it says "Hi!"

I respond in kind and then proceeds the FUNNIEST conversation ever. There was mention of secret training, secret bowling alleys, and covert signals for seeing each other. It was awesome.

So yeah, THAT happened. We went bowling and I had the best time ever. It was a blast. :o) THEN we were just sitting in the bowling alley talking and we somehow got talking about moose and elk and which was bigger and why and we decided that we should go find out...without the internet. So off on adventures we went...we ended up at the BYU HBLL (the ONLY library still open at 9pm at night on a Saturday...ha ha UVU was closed because they just had graduation) So we decide to try not to use the computers to look anything up. We make our way to the science section and find some encyclopedias and look up stuff on moose and elk. It was hilarious. Then Leviticus decided we should do yoga in between the shelves. So...we did yoga in the HBLL. Then he gave me an assignment to find a book on a subject to learn something, and I did the same to him. We both ended up with books, sat in a collaborative area in the HBLL and learned new things together. It was awesome. After that we went and got taco bell and sat in the parking lot talking until 2 am. It was awesome.

THE NEXT DAY

Sunday, May 1st. It was so hard for me to get up that morning. We have church at 9 am...and I had a meeting before church...so I only got like 5 hours of sleep. I got ready and went to church. Now, because we're still transitioning, I've been doing my calling AND leading the music in sacrament meeting (I volunteered to help them out). SoI'm sitting up on the stand and while leading the music I don't see Leviticus. Well, after church I’m out in the hall and Leviticus is there! He slept in, but he was there to catch the tail end of our meetings and then was going to a different ward that afternoon. So we’re standing there talking and he asks how I had slept. I hadn't slept extremely well, about 30 minutes before my alarm went off that morning my smoke detector’s battery started to die and started beeping every 2 minutes. I have 12ft ceilings in my apt and could BARELY reach the smoke detector while standing on a chair and books to get the battery out. So I tell him this and how I don't have a battery and he's all, "Alishka! What if your house catches on fire and your smoke alarm doesn't work!? You need a battery! And a ladder!" So then he proceeds to tell me he thinks he has a battery.

Later that afternoon I wake up from a really deep sleep of a nap and look at facebook (trying to wake up) and I see this facebook message from Leviticus: "I have a battery that may or may not have power. Do you want a battery change service?" I respond in the affirmative and he comes over after saying "we'll send a technician right over." He came over, changed the battery effortlessly and then stayed to chat. Then he left because he had something else to do that evening, but he accidentally left his phone (it escaped his pocket) so I sent him a message and 30 minutes later he comes back and STAYS until 11p or so. We had the best time chatting and such. Also, on Saturday I told him about how I'm working on family history and on Sunday he asked me to show him what I have and what I'm looking for right now. So we spent a couple of hours together, on the couch just looking up stuff on my laptop for family history. Amazing.

AND MOST RECENTLY….

Monday night for FHE we had a ward BBQ. It was awesome. Leviticus sat at our table, along with a whole slew of other guys. It was awesome. I floated around, met new people, talked, played volleyball and ended up back at the table Leviticus was then sitting at.

It was decided to go to my place to watch a movie (my roommate, a good friend and major flirt of mine and I decided this) I convinced Leviticus to come.

We hung out and colored in coloring books. It was awesome.

My flirty friend left about after the movie. I was a zombie at this point because of my fried brain from work. Leviticus stayed until 11:30 or so...and at one point played with my hair (he did that Saturday too now that I think about it). We just hung out and talked and stuff. It was very nice.

So there you go. My very long story about a boy named Leviticus. I think we shall have many an adventure this summer. :o)

{source}

Dating Battle Stories: a THIRD date!

Lines of Happiness - check
Waves of Awesome - check
Cloud 9 - double check

Fryman took me out on a third date this weekend. (first of all, this was kind of a big deal/sort of scary for me. I haven't been on a third date in a LONG time.) (second of all, i'm not going to tell you about the date with the Argonaut after all. It was okay. I knew I didn't want to go out with him again a week ago and had already decided that that night would be our last date. Needless to say I was happy to get home after the date.)

ANYWAYS back to the THIRD date with Fryman!

We had a blast going out to eat (i'm pretty sure we could just sit and talk forever. we always are at restaurants for ages) and then we went back to my place to dye Easter eggs. Then we decided, sort of last minute, to go see The King's Speech (PG-13 version) at Thanksgiving Point. It was being shown on the Mammoth screen. That screen is HUGE. It was a lot of fun and the theater was basically empty, which was all sorts of coolness.

After the movie we came back to my apartment and did some low-key cuddling while talking on the couch. He stood up to leave and I gave him a hug. We had a moment and then he kissed me goodnight.

Yes, he kissed me.

Last night he came over for dinner. We had some great conversation, actually went down to BYU campus to walk around the duck pond and the cute new trail they put in. We have really good communication and we talked about what kissing means to both of us and have decided to be exclusive in our dating. So I guess you could say I have a boyfriend. :o) ha. that sounds weird. Anyways, Fryman is great. He makes me feel wonderful and I want to be a better person when I'm around him. He calls me beautiful and compliments me and my many talents.

And that folks, is why I am full of happiness while being awesome on Cloud 9 right now.

Dating Battle Stories: Marathon of Dates Part Two

see part one here

Date #4 - April 16th

My best friend Truit married this great guy. I am really good friends with this couple and I love doing things with them. We have dinner on some Sundays, they went to the temple with me, basically these guys are awesome-sauce.  Anyways, about two-ish weeks ago I was hanging out with them and Truit's husband mentions how he has single friends - specifically his classmate that he studies with all the time. I ask him why he hasn't set me up yet and he promises to get right on that. last week he calls me and we set up the date. Let's call my date Blindman2 (original right? ha ha).

So, I met Blindman2 at Truit's apartment and all four of us went off to Macaroni Grill. I got the same dish as the last time I was there and it didn't disappoint. :o) conversation flowed nicely at dinner and Blindman2 was nice. He's definitely a nerd - but a nice one so it's okay. After dinner we opted to go back to the Truit's apartment and played a few games while chatting. It was fun and Blindman2 was great company. At the end of the date he got my number, which I take as a good sign. He hasn't used my number since, but it has been finals time so I'm not too worried. We'll see what happens. I'm open to having a second date, but who knows.

In the Works:
 
Tonight I have a date #2 with Fryman and then tomorrow I have date #3 with the Argonaut. Also, remember this post where I mentioned this boy? Well, I finally got BRAVE and sent him an email via Facebook (gotta love Facebook - plus we were friends b/c of the concert) basically asking him to go out to dinner with me. Well...he replied and said.... YES! So, I'm not sure when yet, but we're going to get together and get to know each other better. I'm all sorts of excited about it.

Also, I asked the Australian to go on a real date with me, and he told me he likes me and loves hanging out with me, but he's not in a place to really date me for reals right now. So...we're going to stay friends. I'm okay with this. I'm glad I took the risk to ask him and luckily for me it hasn't changed my friend with benefits (sort of) status that we have. Ha.

Anyways, life is peachy, work is nuts, my sister is getting married in less than 2 months and I am very ready for Spring to be here.

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 19th Edition

Life is great my friends. SO great. I was talking with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while and they asked how I was doing and I couldn't contain my joy for life. It's been the best feeling ever. Life is just so splendid. I'm not sure what I've done to deserve this and sure, sometimes I get down on myself but I think the fact that I am learning and growing to be closer to my Heavenly Father has helped immensely.

Anyways, I have some great tender mercies for you today!

• I have been very blessed to be able to be friends with ex-boyfriends. There are rare times that I haven't been able to stay friends with ex-boyfriends, but really, in the long run I've totally stayed friends with ex-boyfriends.

• I have been a dating machine as of late (a Dating Battle Stories post coming tomorrow!) and this has been SO FUN!

• I have been BRAVE. (more details on that later)

• I have the best roommate who helps me be brave.

• I have a roof over my head far away from any possible flooding.

• I have a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was strengthened this week at my normal meetings.

• Technology is amazing.

• I have a great job - one where I celebrated being at for two years now this past weekend. :o)

• It's been rainy and I love the rain. It's so moody.

Anyways...I am very blessed and life is good. What is making you grateful today friends?

p.s. I find it hilarious that it is the 19th edition of Tender Mercy Tuesday on the 19th of April.

p.p.s. It's my grandpa's 90th birthday today! rock on!

Dating Battle Stories: Marathon of Dates Part One

please ignore Sweetums...he was in the original prophecy, but since he has a GF....

So I had a marathon of dates set up, some of the plans have changed, but I figured I needed to post part one soon so that you guys wouldn't be too far behind in my life.

Anyways! Here we go!

Date #1 - April 9th

This date was for Ballet West's Bolero with Norsnob. I wore my sister's Prom dress from two years ago. It's teal and sparkly. Perfect for both me and the ballet. :o) I picked up Norsnob and off we went to SLC. We first stopped at the best pizza place ever: Settebello.  Seriously, you need to check it out. It was sooo yummy. Perfect dinner place before the ballet. Then it was off to the ballet. We were a little bit late and missed part of Sinfoinetta. In the end I was okay with this. It wasn't my favorite part of the program, but was still beautiful. Next they performed Chaccone. This Balanchine classic was AMAZING. I truly loved it. (then again, I love everything about Balanchine). Finally they closed with Bolero. OH MY GOODNESS. I don't know what to say about this ballet other than it seemed to be about 2 mintues long even though it was more like 12ish? I think? I have no idea...all I know is that it was AMAZING. I loved EVERY MINUTE of this piece and the ending...oh my the ending. INCREDIBLE. I hope to see this piece amongst Ballet West's repretoire in teh  future. It was just THAT good. Walking into the lobby of the Capitol Theater we both looked at each other and Norsnob says, "Alishka, I can't stop thinking about Bolero!" I completely agreed. It was just so good. Overall this date was a major 10 on a scale of 1-10 of awesomeness. I saw him at a church activity the next day and he sort of touched my arm and i went to touch his back and it was awkward and he shook my hand and basically it was so full of awkwardness that all I could do was laugh. Roommate A approves wholeheartedly and wants us to go out again. We shall see.

Date #2 - April 13th

This date consisted of me going out with Fryman for dinner. We met on a dating website and wanted to meet in real life. Real life meetings are the best after all. Earlier in the day Fryman texted me and we decided on a Thai restaurant in North Orem. I love Thai food so much. We split some spring rolls and pineapple curry (my favorite!) We were at the restaurant for almost two hours and enjoyed our conversation a lot. I texted him later that evening with a post-date text. We've been texting a lot since then. :o) We already have plans to go out next week and he's already told me how cute he thinks I am. He's definitely interested, no question. We'll see how things go; I don't want to get my hopes up to high seeing as how my past experiences have taught me that when I get high hopes the boy gets a girlfriend.

Date # 3 - April 14th

I was supposed to have a second date with the Argonaut tonight. (remember? the duck pond?) He texted me last night to say he's very sick and asked if we could postpone our date. We're now going out next Thursday.
 anyways...as much as I like the guy (he's a great guy) I'm not necessarily super excited to go out with him, but I'd already agreed and I can't back out. I'd look like a flake.

Anywho, Date #4 is Saturday night (as long as it goes through) and I already have 2 dates lined up for next week possibly a third....so yeah. I'm sort of a dating queen right now. Ha. I love it though. I'm really enjoying not being in a relationship and enjoying the slew of men chasing me :o) Until part two my friends....