the time has come...

to end my adventures here.

See....this blog has finished it's purpose. (at least, in my eyes it has....)  I started this blog as a way to document my adventures through college, my adventures in dating, my frustrations and joys with ballet at BYU and really....all the cool kids (read: the writers/readers of the 100 Hour Board at BYU) were doing it, so I decided to jump on that bandwagon.

And you know what? I've moved on from all of those worlds. I'm not in school anymore (thank goodness!), I'm engaged and don't have crazy dating stories anymore (hurrah!), I'm not dancing as much these days and I no longer read the 100 Hour Board. Like ever. So...this is the end of love and war...at least it's the end of a battle. On to better and brighter things!

I will always be grateful to the 100 Hour Board and many of their writers for influencing me to start this here blog. It has brought about many GREAT friendships, killed at least one relationship, and in the end helped me to find a voice in writing.

I don't want to completely give up blogging, and while my new blog is NOT private, I'm not going to post a link to it here. If you want to keep following just shoot me an email, leave a comment, or look for the links that happen to show up on my Facebook account.

I really hope you'll want to keep following me, but if you're trying to weed out people from your Google Reader (is anybody else's as ridiculous as mine?! sheesh!) then now would be the time and I won't even notice.

Thanks again for a great 7+ years guys. You're awesome!

feelings on a Tuesday afternoon

this meme/idea stolen from the lovely Rasha over at and this is what She said.....

I feel... anxious

I want... for all the puzzle pieces to fall into place
I need... to stay calm
I wish... I could know when everything was going to happen. I like knowing the "when" of things.
I watched... my favorite tv show with Soldier Boy last night.
I am... trying to be patient. I'm not sure it's working.

I love... Soldier Boy. He is currently my rock when it comes to all the coming changes. He is so strong and wonderful to me.
I hate... having to keep secrets from certain people in my life. But some people can't know what's going on yet.
I hurt... knowing that I'm going to break some people's hearts this week.
I hope... that everyone can be understanding when certain things come to light...

What are you feeling?

 

p.s. I promise that I haven't forgotten about Tender Mercy Tuesday. I have been feeling a little off lately and haven't felt like I had things to share. I am going to start taking time to reevaluate what I have been blessed with in my life. I know it is important to share these things. Watch for a new Tender Mercy Tuesday post next week!

Favorite Things on A Friday

Dearest Friends.

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

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

OKAY! Favorite things today!

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

Truth:

I love life. It's so great.

I think I need to try out this recipe.

this quote. oh man. AMEN.

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

Anxious on a Thursday

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

It's not working.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marvelous Monday Meanderings

My dearest friends!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeff Stuckel

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

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

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

Words on Wednesday

so many words in my head right now.

Life is insane. Not that I would want to lead a boring life, mind you. BUT sometimes I wish it would be not so crazy and would just be....normal. Or something. But what is normal? Is there such a thing as normal? Probably not. Whoever tries to define normal is probably crazy. ;)

Life is hard. Yet again, I wouldn't have it any other way. An easy life? nah. How would one grow with an easy life? So when it comes down to it, a hard life is better than an easy one. In the long run. I'd rather be someone with lots of growth and change in my life then someone who is static and the same for a bazillion years. HOWEVER, this does not mean that I always enjoy the hard life. In fact right now? Right now it sucks.

Life is an adventure. Every day there is something new. Every day there are new things to try, new emotions to feel, new knowledge to internalize. I love this about life. I love adventure and the fact that MY life is an adventure brings me joy.

I need to remember that while life is all of these things - I don't have to go through all of these things by myself. IN FACT Heavenly Father has given me an INCREDIBLE family, the best friends in the world and a future boyfriend that I hope to make my everything.

Yes, life is insane, hard and an adventure, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

BRING LIFE ON!

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

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

Top of 2011

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!

Friday Things!

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 - 50th Edition

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!

"it's busy season!"

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!

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

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 42nd Edition

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)

Monday Madness

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

this weekend:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh thank goodness...

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

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

{hat: Target}

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Teaching choreography tomorrow morning.

• Cleaning the church building tomorrow morning.

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

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

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

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

• Watching the CES Fireside. love.

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

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

Thursday Things!

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

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

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

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

• I'm an awesome roommate, I promise.

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

• I have awesome friends. The end.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesdayness

In past years I haven't really been a fan of Wednesdays. They just aren't usually the best of days. Last Wednesday was a decent day - it was my first day off during the week that I'd had in a long time. Today's Wednesday has started off dealing with a ticked off customer and moved into lots of tasks to accomplish. I'm hoping the work day moves quickly so I can get into performance mode. Last night's show felt like a glorified dress rehearsal (aka a dress rehearsal with a sold out audience - well....almost sold out) but it went well for the most part and it's a different feeling inside the de Jong concert hall vs the outsideness of the SCERA Shell. I will say this - dancing on a real floor is nicer than concrete although it is different to turn on and I wasn't amazing last night. I will be better tonight!!!

In other news it is Day 3 of the 21 Day Challenge. Today's challenge? Mixing patterns. Oh man was I ever so nervous for this challenge! Like my dear friend Hilary, mixing patterns scares the bejeebers out of me. Something I realized last night as I was planning my outfit...I don't wear a ton of patterned clothes. At least, not patterns that can mix with each other - meaning they are completely different color schemes, etc. BUT! I did find an outfit that I actually like quite a bit and I'll probably wear it again in the future. So without further ado.....I present my Day 3 outfit

skirt: custom made by my mommy, top: Kohls/downeast tank

So this is a pale blue skirt with emobroidered flowers all over it - the thread goes from white light blue, to teal, to dk blue to black. The top is teal, blue, yellow, aqua and white. I love both these pieces but usually pair the skirt with a plain blue, teal, or black top and the top I usually pair with black slacks or pencil skirt. As nervous as I was for this outfit, I very much like it. I feel confident, sassy and cute. I would have paired it with my awesome teal heels, but my feet are tired from the show today so instead I went with my black gladiator sandals instead. :o)

Happy Wednesday all y'all! Have a great day!!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 34th Edition

Hello dearest internet friends. Here we are, another

I just love Tuesdays. Sometimes. Tonight is our first night performing at BYU in the de Jong concert hall. I am SUPER stoked to get to perform in this venue. We were on stage last night for just a short while and it definitely felt different.

My tender mercy this week has been the fact that last week was temple week. Temple week was the most marvelous thing for me and I spent time both at the temple, in the temple, and at home studying. Having my focus being on the temple last week was wonderful. I got to spend time with several of my friends at the temple both outside just sitting on the grounds and then in the temple doing work for our ancestors. Such a wodnerful week. I hope to have more weeks like that in my future. It will be great times.

In other news, today is Day 2 of the 21 Day Challenge. I'm sorry if you get sick about hearing about this and you don't come here for fashion. BUT I'm trying to do the whole challenge and one way I'm keeping myself honest about it is by blogging about it. Don't hate okay? :o)

Anywho, today's challenge is to tuck it in. I'll be honest. I hardly ever tuck a shirt in. I just don't like to do it. 90% of my shirts are tunics/blouses that I just wear untucked. (because I think they look best that way) I struggled trying to pick a shirt that I thought would look good tucked in and finally picked the following outfit:

{shirt: JCPenny/DownEast tank, skirt: Walmart (i think?) Belt: I have no idea}

So yeah, this shirt is a half-sleeved snap (i love snaps!) up shirt that is super cute and tailored and I have never worn it tucked in...until today. The great thing about this is that I wore a belt - which I don't do often because you'd actually be able to see it! I through on some flip flops with this outfit...also, pretend I made my bed this morning okay? And there we go! I think Day 2 has been a success and now I know I can tuck a shirt in and I won't die! :o)

THURSDAY!!!!!

oh my goodness gracious. It is an insane Thursday around these parts. I just might go crazy by the end of the day. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes! (name that movie! ;) )

Anyways, there are some random things I want to make sure to mention, so let's get this week's edition of Thursday Things going!!

• first off, Kayla from Freckles in April is sponsoring this 21 Day Challenge.  BASICALLY what is going down is Kayla is going to post outfit prompts and inspiration to help us all look more put together and such. I LOVE this idea. I browse Pinterest all the time and find great outfit ideas, but then I can never figure out how to make my own closet work for me. I'm hoping this 21 day challenge will help me out. ALSO she's been working with some AMAZING companies and will have several prizes for participants. So, you should get on the band wagon yo, or not and let me have more of a chance of wining! ;)

•  Next up is a reminder that the next three days are our last performances of AIDA at the SCERA Shell. :o) This show is incredible and you definitely need to come and see it. Just a reminder, we will be performing at BYU Education next week, so if for some reason you've already got weekend plans...just come next week! woot!

• Let's see....what else? Oh yeah! I have plans this weekend! I am so excited about said plans. I have a temple trip tomorrow with people from my ward, a lunch date, and then some of my FAVORITE people are coming to the show tomorrow night and we're going out afterwards. I am really excited about that!

• I didn't have a show last night, but that didn't mean I wasn't busy! I did, however, get to bed earlier than what has been "normal" and I loved getting an extra hour or so of sleep. 

• Auditions for my ballet company are on Monday and I'm really excited to see the talent that will be coming into my company for this next year. :o) Huzzah!

• What else is happening that I wanted to tell you about..................oh yeah! I've been thinking really hard about hair ideas for my next appointment. I've loved my hair for the past little while but I'm just....bored with it. So I think I'm going to go for something like these pictures:  

I like the color for the one on the left, and the cut for the one on the right. thoughts?

•  Today it was a person's birthday at work and his family brought him an awesome birthday package that included pop rocks for him to share with the company. I haven't had pop rocks in AGES. They are SO FUN!!!

I think that's all for now....Have a great rest of your Thursday dear friends!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 33rd Edition

Good Morning friends! It is Tuesday and I am wishing that I could still be in bed for just one more hour of sleep. That sounds like heaven to me.

Since it is a Tuesday morning, that means we have another lovely edition of Tender Mercy Tuesday. I am feeling so very blessed today. Last night we performed our show and while it didn't feel perfect to me, it was a good show nonetheless. My favorite part, and I think this is true for every kind of show I have ever done, is seeing people I know after the show is over. I had several friends come last night, some that I knew were coming and some that I didn't know were coming. I love knowing that there is someone in the audience clapping specifically for me. It's just very thrilling for me. While I didn't think it would be a big deal if someone wasn't there to see me specifically, I have found it to be a big boost to my attitude/energy if I know someone is watching me. Anyways, basically I feel very loved with all the people who have already come to the show and those who have told me they are coming in the next few days. It is a great thing to be loved and I hope that someday I can return the favor.