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!

just a little note....

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

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

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

in short...I have FLOURISHED.

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

Dating Battle Stories: Sweetums - Part Two

{artwork by Roommate A}

Before we get started, I just want to point out to all you feed reader peoples that I changed my background. I haven't done this in a long time, mostly because I loved that cute little owl! However, I just decided I was bored with him. What do you think?

And now, as I am sure you have all been waiting on pins and needles for this, I bring you Part Two of the Recap on Sweetums. (make sure you've read Part One, or this is going to make NO sense whatsoever.)

So as I got on the plane to fly to Virginia - utterly exhausted mind you - I was very happy. I don't think things could have gone any better than they did. Sweetums and I didn't talk for several days (beyond a happy holidays text to each other) but that makes sense seeing as how we were both spending time with family - and there is a two hour time difference. We did talk about two days before I flew back to Utah and he asked some specifics on how I was getting home from the airport, what time would I land, etc.

When I landed in Utah and turned my phone back on I found a couple of text messages - one from Roommate R (who was picking me up) and one from Sweetums. He told me to give him call after I landed. So...I called him. Sweetums told me that I should gcome down to Elk Ridge where he was hanging out with Mighty Mouse and his wife, (you can search mighty mouse on my blog, i have mentioned him a few times and I used to have a huge crush on him a long time ago) SC and his wife (yes, the famous SC from this post) and SC's family. I agree to meet him down there - so off I go. It was an adventure getting to SC's parent's house - but I eventually made it.  Sweetums met me in the driveway and walked me inside. I met several new people, said hello to the people I knew and sat down to play some games.

Then...it was time to ring in the new year. We stood up to countdown and Sweetums and I are standing right next to each other. As the clock struck midnight and we yell Happy New Year, our married friends celebrated with a kiss and Sweetums put his arm around me. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "this doesn't change anything, but it is tradition" and then he kissed me. I have to say, I was very pleased with his tactic. I had thought earlier that day while sitting in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport for four hours that I would be okay with a New Years kiss, but I wasn't sure how to convey that to Sweetums. Luckily, he must have thought about it as well seeing as how he went about it that night. :o) It was a very sweet kiss - a very good first kiss in my opinion. I'm not going to lie, after kissing someone for 2+ years I was a little worried about kissing someone new, but I am no longer worried about that. :)

{this is pretty much how that kiss went down... :o) }

After that - I tried sushi (yes, I tried sushi. I wasn't a fan of the texture, but the flavor was good.) and then SC and wife, Mighty Mouse and wife, and Sweetums and I left to go to SC and wife's house. We had so much fun making jokes, laughing SUPER hard, playing scum and just generally hanging out. We stayed up until 3:30 in the morning at which point we all went out to our cars. I'd started my car a few minutes earlier so it would be warm, but Sweetums hadn't. So while his car was heating up, he sat in my car and we talked. We talked about everything under the sun. I shared some secrets with him, we talked about how we still planned on moving slow, we talked about the weather...you name it, I'm pretty sure we talked about it. I don't remember everything we talked about, mostly because by this point I had been up for 24+ hours. (having to leave my parent's house at 6:45a to get to the airport before our flight. ugh.) By the time Sweetums and I finally decided to call it a day and I drove myself home - it was 6 am. I was up for 26 straight hours. Crazy eh? I went to sleep and then spent the day with Roommate A, her boyfriend, and The Australian.

Since then Sweetums and I have talked a couple of times and have made plans to make plans. ha ha. His schedule is still being finalized, but once it has then we'll probably end up doing stuff. :o)

So there you go. My adventures with Sweetums are now up-to date. In fact, all of my Dating Battle Stories are up to date! I will have a new update after this weekend seeing as how I have my first date with the Blindman on Friday. :o) Woo hoo! Have a great day y'all!

Dating Battle Stories: Sweetums - Part One

{artwork by Roommate A}

Mondays are usually no fun at all. So, to make coming back from the weekend a little bit better I have my last dating recap for you! This one has to be my favorite - which is why it has been saved for last! :o) Today's recap is all about Sweetums. This story ended up being really long, so I've decided to post it in two different posts. :o)

so, without further ado - Part One.

So, I have to start off this story with a little bit of background by saying that Sweetums and I did, in fact, go to high school together. Our groups of friends overlapped, but I never went out with him or hung out with him on a regular basis in high school. After graduating we got to be better friends and talked online all the time. I developed a huge crush on him. During our first semester as freshman at BYU he would stop by my place of employment and say hi all the time. He took me on a group date with his friends once and then about a month later I took him to Fall Preference. It was tons of fun. Then, he went on a mission for our Church. He got back and I was kind of dating someone, then he was dating someone, then we were both dating someones. During this time (aka the past 3 years) we would hang out from time to time, see each other at friends' weddings, talk online, etc. Every time I saw him I was reminded of how awesome this guy is, but wouldn't do anything about it. (usually because of the current relationship status.)

About 6 weeks before SwingKid and I broke up, Sweetums and I had a really good, long conversation about life and what I was doing and how my relationship was going. I got the feeling that Sweetums wished I was single...but didn't dwell on that fact. 3 days after SwingKid and I broke up I got the feeling that I needed to call up Sweetums. Using my favorite social media site Facebook, I sent a message to Sweetums telling him we need to hang out. We talked about 4 days after that and had a really good long conversation that I vaguely mentioned here.

The second Saturday in December I had plans to get some Christmas gifts made for my ballet company, but those plans fell through when the supplies were giving me issues. Sweetums happened to see my online, asked if I'd be available and later called me to hang out. We got some food and then ended up at his place (with a real fireplace!) and roasted marshmallows, starbursts and played video games. Much flirting ensued. We also watched a Muppet movie. I vaguely mentioned this event in this post.

Right before I left to go to Virginia he and I made plans to watch a movie and hang out. I mentioned that here and here. That night was a blast. As I mentioned here, I ended up pulling an all-nighter. We watched the movie and then just got to talking. We were also hanging out with Roommate A and her boyfriend and ended up playing Guitar Hero for several hours. We made mac and cheese at 2 am (such a single thing to do!) and then watched Invader Zim for a little bit. As Roommate A and her boyfriend fell asleep in the cuddle chair, Sweetums and I cuddled on the couch. We ended up talking about a ton of different things and he asked me if he could kiss me. Unfortunately for him I had decided to not kiss anyone until the new year. (I had several reasons for this) We also talked about "us." Some might say we had a DTR. It wasn't meant to be that...but it's kind of what it turned into. Basically...we both admitted to feeling attracted to the other person (and having those feelings for a long time) and we want to explore the possibility of a relationship, but we don't want to rush into anything. I want to date lots of people and he said he wasn't ready to commit to a serious relationship yet. (key word being yet. :o) ) The evening (or should I say morning?) ended about 15 minutes before Roommate A and I left for the airport. Sweetums and I had tentative plans for New Year's Eve - and I knew he and I would be in touch. I was one happy camper getting on the plane that morning. :o)

...........to be continued..........

Dating Battle Stories: Mad Dog

Time for another Dating Battle Stories Recap!!!  Today's receap is all about my great guy friend, Mad Dog.  Some of you might recognize the name Mad Dog, and not just from the introductions I did at Christmastime. Mad Dog and I met swing dancing about 2ish years ago. I went to his birthday party once.

Anyways, shortly after SwingKid broke up with me Mad Dog and I were conversing on Facebook. (sidenote: I do a lot of chatting with friends on Facebook, but this doesn't mean that I am on Facebook ALL THE TIME. ok? ok.) Anyways, because I didn't make a big to-do about my sudden single-ness he hadn't heard the news. I told him and we talked like friends tend to do. He's an awesome friend and a few days later sent me a text.  We texted back and forth a little bit and it ended with him asking me if I'd like to go hot tubbing with him at his place. Would I ever! I agreed and a time was set upon and I drove over to his place to begin our adventure.

Unfortunately, hot tubbing wasn't meant to be as the hot tub was broken because some dork put detergent in it. Don't ask me why someone would do that...it's just mean. Mad Dog and I chilled in his apartment talking about stuff and ended up watching Inception with his roommate. It was a fun evening and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. (later that night I ended up hanging out with the Australian it was a very late night.)

About a week later - just a few days before I flew to see my family - I invited Mad Dog over to watch a movie at my place. We watched some awful movie with a very young Jude Law in it. That was the only good part about the movie. It was awful.

Mad Dog is a very big flirt. Which tends to work well for me, because I am a very big flirt as well. :o) It always leads to fun times. He's also extremely ticklish. One of the most ticklish guys I know! That is also great because I am so ticklish and I don't think it's fair when I try to retaliate and boys just sit and stare at me. sigh.

Anyways. Mad Dog and I chatted a little bit while I was in Virginia and when I got back we decided to hang out! So the first Sunday in January he came over to my place and we talked, watched Anastasia and just chilled in my living room.

Mad Dog is a great friend and I am SO GLAD he and I can hang out and stuff. It makes my heart happy to have a friend to do things with. I'm sure he'll make a few more appearances in this segment....but we'll wait and see.

When cleaning your room gets to be the "fun" thing you do on a Friday night

Today is the First Friday of the new year. I love Fridays. They make my heart oh so happy! I just wish I had today off. :o( Oh well. I am also sitting her wishing I had fun and amazing plans for my Friday night. Unfortunately for me, I've got nothing. I desperately need to clean my room seeing how I've barely been home a week and I still have piles of Christmas presents and dirty clothes in the corners of my room. Sigh. Since when did cleaning your room become the "fun" thing to do? sigh.

Anyways. There are few things that I wanted to blog about today. The first one being - my birthday! I love my birthday. It is a holiday all about me! At least....I like to think of it that way. :o) Today marks the 2 month countdown until my birthday. 2 months people! In 2 months I will be a quarter of a century old - GAH!

It is a big milestone birthday and because of that, I want to do something AWESOME! I would love to go to Disneyland...but as of right now I'm not sure that's going to happen. I do have another event happening later in March, but I am not at liberty to blog about it yet. I will when I can. :o)

So...the reason I am blogging about my birthday now my dear internet friends is because I need some ideas of what to do for my birthday that are not expensive and I can do them here in Utah.  I want to have an awesome birthday party to celebrate. I'm thinking a mocktail party would be really fun but any other ideas you might have would be welcome. I really want to have it be a "themed" party - like a fiesta party or toga party or something. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

The other thing I wanted to blog today is the Friday Fill-ins. It has been a long time since I have participated in Friday Fill-ins and today I am going to do it. :o) Enjoy!!

1. It's 2011; I am loving this fact. 2011 is rockin' it out hard core y'all.

2. Oh my gosh, I LOVE pickles.

3. Thankfully I have my cute shirt to help with the winter blues.

4. I love how the little things tend to be the best things in life.

5. I am so excited for my future. My future is bright yo.

6. I love eating a bowl of soup on cold days. Warms the soul.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cleaning my room *sigh*, tomorrow my plans include teaching, a teacher meeting, the gym, a bridal shower and date with Dr. Teeth and Sunday, I want to enjoy my stake training meeting and set up my visiting teaching appointments!

Dating Battle Stories: The Australian

{artwork by Roommate A}

So. I haven't posted ANYTHING about any of my Dating Battle Stories. I am quickly getting very behind in all the stories. So. I've decided to do a few posts in the next week or so to bring us up to speed on each of the cast of characters that I posted about on Christmas. Some of these characters have lots of stories, some have zero stories. One of these characters is most likely never going to be featured on the Dating Battle segment after his recap, a few of them will probably be around for awhile.

I hope you understood all of that.

So. Today. I present: Dating Battle Stories: The Australian.

I met The Australian on the second Monday of December. I came home from running 2.75 miles and there he was sitting in my living room with Roommate A and her boyfriend. He was definitely cute. We exchanged a handshake, names and a smile. Some flirting commenced. Now, due to my sudden change in social status I was a little worried about how well I really could flirt with someone new. I needn't have worried. I left the living room after chatting for an hour to go take a shower. Just before getting in the shower I sent my roommate a text saying "Don't say anything but The Australian is SUPER cute!" and she replied with "He thinks the same about you, but you didn't hear it from me."

I took a super fast shower, and went back into the living room to join the gang for a movie. The Australian was sitting in our ever famous blue cuddle chair, the roommate and her boyfriend on the couch. I had two options - sit on the floor, or sit with The Australian. I offered to help complete the awesomeness of the cuddle chair and the Australian accepted. What followed was a 2 movie marathon cuddle session. It was awesome and fun and as the Australian left I knew that he would be a fun person to hang out with more.

Fast forward a few days. Sister B and her boyfriend invited me to go to Temple Square and see the lights with them. I agreed and after agreeing decided that I didn't want to be the third wheel. I tried two of my friends - both were unavailable. Then...Roommate A decided that The Australian should go with me. She texted him and after waiting TWO days to get a response (during which time Dr. Teeth and Sweetums both offered their services) he agreed! Off to Temple Square we went! We had a blast!! We flirted, held hands, and teased Sister B and her boyfriend. It was a very pleasant evening. We then came home to drink apple cider and hot chocolate and watch the Claymation Christmas Celebration.

Fast forward another week. I come home from hanging out with Mad Dog (more about that later) to find The Australian in my living room. I sit down next to him and finish watching whatever he and my roommate and boyfriend were watching. It was fun. He needed a ride to the airport two days from then and I said I could take him. So I did.

Then it was Christmas break. I didn't talk to him at all. He was in Australia after all.

New Years Day. After getting a pitiful 5 hours of sleep (more on THAT later too) Roommate A, her boyfriend and I were out grocery shopping. The Australian declares he is back in Cougartown. We drive to his house and kidnap him. We watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and then played video games. I took him home. It was fun. We cuddled more...etc etc.

Two days ago he declared on Facebook that he is in a relationship...with some girl. Roommate A hates her. Her Boyfriend doesn't like her either. But apparently...The Australian likes her. So...needless to say The Australian was fun while he lasted, but I probably won't see him again for awhile and when I do? Nothing will probably happen. Especially if he still has a girlfriend. Oh well. He was a fun little fling that I am counting as my "rebound."

So there you go. The Australian. Short lived mini-romance that really didn't go anywhere - but that's okay! I'm not sad or depressed or anything. I never thought anything would happen there anyways. He is 3 years younger than me and just getting going on his undergrad. :P

p.s. if you made it through that entire recap I am much impressed. kudos to you!

New Beginnings

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I hope you had an enjoyable evening with lots of friends, fun and whatever else makes you happy.

I have been looking forward to the new year for several weeks now. Approximately a month ago I had several "ah-hah!" type moments and I knew there were things that I wanted to change in my life for the year 2011. I have already begun working on several personal matters and I am excited about the difference they have made in my life.

I have several plans for the year 2011. Each of these plans revolve on my living up to my Word of the Year that I have picked for 2011. My word for 2011? Flourish. Merriam-Webster defines flourish as several things but the on I am going with is the second one: to achieve success.

So how am I going to flourish? Let me show you a little peek at my plan for flourishing in 2011.

FIRST:

I will continue to work on my Day Zero goals. I have kept these in the back of my head, but I am going to make a dent in them this year. It is going to rock.

SECOND:

I am taking my personal finances in hand - some of my Day Zero goals address this but I have sat down with my budgeter (mint.com) and I have a plan! By the end of 2011 I will have 2 payments left on my car and one year left on my student loan.  I will also have a solid amount of savings in my bank account.  

THIRD:

I have lots of FUN things I want to do in 2011, but these are not FOR SURE things. These are things that I am going to save up for and if nothing bad happens and the timing works right I will do these things. These things are: go to L.A. and Disneyland (hopefully for my 25th birthday!) and go to the Dance Teacher's Summit in July.  Like I said, there are other variables for these things to happen, but they are definitely in my radar.

So there you go! I plan on Flourishing this year. I can already tell that it is going to be a great year and I am very excited to track my progress and keep you, my lovely internet friends, posted on said progress. Do YOU have a word of the year? New Years Resolutions? Please share!

2010: The Recap

For the past few years I have done a recap of my year and the highlights of said year (2007, 2008, 2009).  This year I don't feel like putting as much work into a recap (much like last year). Mostly because reliving my past year will bring up some sad feelings in my heart and I'm not wanting to do that to myself.  SO! Instead I've decided to give you my favorite post from each month. I do like looking over the past and seeing what I've accomplished. So here you go...a recap of Alishka Babushka and her life.....

January

The best part of January (that month always seems to suck, ya know?) was the fact that I hit my 3-month mark in ACL recovery. Awesome-sauce.

February

impending doom is never a fun thing, but it does lead to some fun conversations with on-line friends. it also leads to fun blog posts.

March

March was kind of a crazy month and some interesting things happened. I had my birthday and that rocked...but I also got a little confused (though that's no surprise to some people).

April

April was a REALLY good month. However, the best part was easily the day when I got told my knee was good as new! woo hoo!

May

May was a roller coaster month. But there was a gem of a blog post that appeared. Makes me happy.

June

June was a fairly eventful month and I had a hard time choosing a post that was my favorite. I really liked the month of June.  However, I forgot that I read one of my favorite reads of 2010 in the month of June. I shared a review of this book with you in conjunction with my Day Zero goals. Go take a looksee!

July

July was a crappy month overall. I'm surprised I survived it to tell you the truth. The best post is probably the wordiest one of the month...i warn you though, it's not necessarily cohesive.

August

well...It seems my summer months were just kind of lame when it came to posting! I think I know why...but anyways. I guess the best post would be just one of mum-drum ones of the month...that's all i seemed to post! Oh well...Moving on.

September

September was a better month, although I did suffer from some nightmares....

October

October was an interesting month. I celebrated the one year anniversary of my new ACL, but I also struggled to find motivation for working out. I have since found said motivation...but it's interesting to me to see when I finally kicked it into gear. :o)

November

The beginning of the holiday rush. I happened to have a good November and was sunny, spunky, and stealthy. :o)

December

this is a hard one. Obviously, the biggest thing to happen to me happened at the very beginning of the month, but my favorite post so far has been the introductions...guess i'll just leave you with both of them. :o)

Well...there you go. A glimpse of 2010. I am already making plans for 2011. I have dreams and plans and so many other things. We'll see what all comes true...but come back tomorrow to find out my Word of the Year - aka my theme for 2011. :o) Happy New Year!

the last Thursday Things of 2010!

Well dear friends, it's the last Thursday Things of 2010. Hard to believe that the year ends in just one more day. Here are some final thoughts before my recap tomorrow.

• My vacation is almost over. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Virginia. It has been a nice break from reality.
• I will not miss my perpetually cold toes and nose. That has been that least fun part of my trip.
• Tomorrow is New Years Eve. I will spend most of the day on an airplane or in an airport.
• I brought the perfect amount of books with me. I love when I guesstimate correctly how much I'll read.
• I think flirting is fun. Makes me giggle.

Hope you all enjoy your final hours of 2010!!

A Christmas Gift to you - Introductions

My dearest Internet friends. I hope this Christmas morning finds you in places you love most with the people you love most.

I love giving presents.  This year, I was most excited for my gift that I gave my parents.  You see, life has not been very easy for them with still having two houses and the such - and I wanted to do something special for them.  So I gathered up my siblings, we all pitched in and purchased a gift certifiacte to the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia. I made my mom tear up (which was totally the goal) and they are excited to use their gift. The greatest thing about it was that when I purchased their gift certificate I entered the drawing for their monthly giveaway....and then I WON! So...My parents got double the amount they would have originally which made it even better. :o) Happy Day.

Now, I have a gift for each of you!!!  Today I am going to introduce you to a new group of characters on my blog and a meme that I would like to call Dating Battle Stories.  Each time I have a fun adventure with dating I will bring up this fun meme.  It won't be a regular weekly thing like my other two memes, but a meme regardless.  Also, each of these Dating Battle Stories will feature a different picture - thanks to my awesome roommate who likes to draw stick figures of me and fun situations with boys.

So...let us begin with the Introductions of the cast of characters from some dating battle stories that I have had as of late. The next couple of weeks will be me playing catch up on the fun times I have had in December and then you can look forward to the occasional Dating Battle Story in the months following as I date and flirt (because I'm really good at doing those things.)

Without further ado....

{artwork by Roommate A}

The Characters:

Sweetums - Named not becuase he looks anything like the muppet....but he does love the Muppets. I know Sweetums from High School. He loves music, pumpkin spice egg nog, and road trips. He's very nice and gives the best hugs. I've crushed on him in times past, but the timing has never quite worked for us.

The Australian - Named because he was born and then lived in (for a few years) Australia. He just got home from his mission in Japan, is Roommate A's boyfriend's friend and is the nicest person ever.

Mad Dog - I've known Mad Dog for years and when I first met him swing dancing that is how he introduced himself. He had a hand in creating Blue Tango (my favorite dancing venue) and has crushed on me for a long time.

Blindman - I haven't met Blindman as of yet. Roommate A is setting me up with this person. All I know about him is that he's "cool" and that he lives with Roommate A's boyfriend.


So there you go. The cast of characters for future Dating Battle Stories. I hope you're looking forward to them. I know I am! Now...I must go and run off that apple pie from last night.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Forgotten

I had a post idea for today, but now I can't remember what I REALLY TRULY wanted to say.

I have lots of stories. Well. Maybe only two stories. They are about boys. (yes, boys, plural) Said boys need 'nyms. I am not feeling up to coming up with creative 'nyms. I might just use random, weird names. When I do, I will tell the stories.

I have semi-plans for New Year's Eve. What I really have is a girlfriend picking me up from the airport and a boy (from the stories) that wants to hang out and do stuff. We need a game plan. Suggestions for free stuff for New Year's Eve?

I have found music that sort of describes my feelings on how things are now that SwingKid and I are no longer dating. However, one of the songs could be classified as an angry girl song. I am not angry, but the lyrics work. But i wonder if people would really understand if I shared it here.

I am happy.

Utah is having a warm spell. I'm hoping this means VA will have a warm spell when I get there in 9 DAYS.

the end.

tender mercies

So. I have decided to institute a brand new meme around here. I'm calling it Tender Mercy Tuesdays where in I tell you all about the tender mercies that I have been blessed with in the past week. (or maybe just some of them. but you get the point.) Wonder what I'm talking about when it comes to tender mercies? Read this amazing talk by Elder David A. Bednar - an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

This week's tender mercies:

1. the hymns in sacrament meeting that we sung were my favorite and the ones closest to my heart.
2. I found out last night about something a friend has been doing - without knowing why - and it touched me.
3. My awesome roommate who introduces me to awesome movies.
4. New friends.
5. I completed my workout last night. Felt awesome.

What are your tender mercies?

p.s. I'll still sometimes participate in Ten on Tuesday. Not today, but sometimes. :o)

editor's note:
also. I'm bored of doing the links to past years. while it's nice to link to what happened and reminisce...I tend to forget to do it. Sorry. maybe i'll do it more, but I'm not going to guarantee on anything.

weekend: the good and the ugly

things that happened this weekend that i WANT to talk about:

• i bought new boots. really really cute boots. and they were on sale and then even more on sale when i got to the cash register. which was seriously the best thing ever.

• my sister spent the weekend with me. she's awesome. the end.

• i got a blue-ray player as my christmas bonus from work this year. i'm excited to get it plugged in.

• i bought a router for my apt to get wireless internet and i WAS having issues with it, but i am so smart that i figured it out and now i have wireless. yay yay yay.

things that happened this weekend that i DON'T want to talk about

• the ridiculousness of some people (who will not be named) from the studio i teach for. ugh. politics.

• SwingKid and I broke up. I'll probably be MIA for the next few days. I'm just trying to live each day as it comes...because for now that's all i can do.

(comments off. sorry.)

thoughts today

• my running program is treating me so well. I need something similar for weight lifting. After this program ends, (and I start it again at a faster speed to reduce my 5k time) i hope to add strength training to my workout so I can trim down some fat.

• I really want to dance again. another director and i are hoping to do a "directors" piece this year in the gala. we'll see how that goes down.

• tonight is my work Christmas party. It should be fun....although they are serving fish and I hate fish. so that sucks. but the party itself should be fun. :o)

• i'm going dancing tonight. hurrah! i haven't been to Blue Tango in several weeks and I am much looking forward to tonight's dance.

• I don't work tomorrow, but I don't feel like I have the day off. See...tomorrow my cute company girls are presenting "Clara's Nutcracker" along with a bunch of jazz Christmas pieces at 4 different elementary schools. It should be fun.

• Three weeks from yesterday I fly to VA. 20 days. CRAZY!!

• I bought SwingKid's present today. I think he'll like it. I sure hope he will.

• My parent's gift is going to ROCK! I got some amazing news about it yesterday but seeing as how they both read this we'll keep it a secret. If I remember, I'll tell you about it after Christmas.

• I decorated for Christmas and my house looks SO CUTE. I love Christmas decorations

• Have I mentioned how GOOD  I feel lately? I attribute it to my running program. It is doing amazing things for me and I am SO SO SO happy I decided to do this couch to 5k program. :o)

one year ago
two years ago

Things

Thing 1: it is VERY COLD outside and my toes are freezing. (still)

Thing 2: I ran the required 2.5 miles as part of my workout program last night. I am awesome. When you add in the warm-up and cool down my total distance was 3.05 miles in 40 minutes. I'm a little sore today, but it feels GREAT.

Thing 3: Pumpkin Pie for breakfast is like THE BEST thing ever.

Thing 4: I bought a Christmas Ballet CD the other day. I'm rather excited to teach with it. :o) Should be festive fun.

Thing 5: The countdown has begun. I leave for VA in 23 days...that is CRAZY.

Thing 6: Ten on Tuesday. Woo hoo!

1. Where are you from? Have you lived there your whole life?
I am from Payson, UT and no, I have not lived there my whole life. Seeing as how my family has moved 15+ times since I was born = many different homes. Also, my family is no longer in Payson, UT.

2. How would you classify your clothing style?
Uh...Comfortable, Chic, and Cute.

3. What kind of car do you drive?
A 2002 Toyota Camry. :o)

4. What would your dream home look like if you could have it (or already do!)?
hmmm. I definitely want a nice kitchen with lots of counter space. I also would love lots of storage space and a decent sized bedrooms.

5. Do you have kids, and if so, how many and how old were you when you had them?
I have zero kids.

6. What is your favorite hobby?
hmm. I love dancing and cooking/baking. oh and if kissing can count as a hobby I love kissing.

7. Are you going to have any New Year’s resolutions for 2011?
I have a lot of goals...but I always have a lot of goals. So I'm sure I'll have some new ones on January 1, but I'm not speaking them out loud. At least...not yet.


8. What is something, if anything, that you’d want to change about yourself?
hmmm....there are several things I would love to change...but then I wouldn't be me anymore.

9. What is something that you love about yourself?
I love that I can be self-motivated (sometimes) and that I DO set goals for myself.

10. Pick one of the following: Someone to cook for you, someone to do your laundry, or someone to do your dishes.
hmm...I love to cook, but having someone to cook for me on occasion would be nice. Laundry isn't the end of the world...and dishes...well. I can get in the mood for dishes, but in the long run - i'd go with someone to do my dishes. :o)



one year ago
two years ago

drum roll please....

and the winner is.... (via random.org).........

commenter #4!!! Which just so happens to be HiccupMel!!! Yay! I'll get your email address off to CSN and they will get you your $35 gift certificate. :o) Enjoy your prize!

In other news...I have a 3-day work week this week. I am really stoked about this. I have plans to go to SwingKid's family's house for Thanksgiving and it should be so much fun.

That's about it. Life is pretty good right now. The end.

two years ago
three years ago

space case

i'm a space case.

i totally forgot to post something yesterday! I fail. oh well.

yesterday was a busy day, but successful. I bought two new adorable shirts, finished a sunday school lesson, went grocery shopping, and delivered something to Sister B.

that is all.

Today has been good. My sunday school lesson went really well and I'm really happy with how it ended up turning out. Now I get to go to choir, get visit taught and enjoy some reading before dinner w/SwingKid and his family. woo hoo.

Enjoy your sabbath.

p.s. Today's the last day to enter the giveaway. don't forget!!

two years ago

yawn

I am soooo sleepy. I have had too many late nights with SwingKid this week. (late night = 11pm or later bedtime)

I have lots of plans to get lots of sleep tonight and tomorrow night and the next night....etc etc etc. We'll see how this really works out for us. :o)

Also. It is Thursday and so far it has been crazy in the office. I'm going to die I'm sure of it.

In other news SwingKid was supposed to be on a plane this morning to meet his family in Disneyland....but he missed his flight. We're crossing our fingers hoping he'll still make it so he can enjoy a few days in the sun but it is not looking good right now. sad day for him. :o(

finally...I have some awesome things planned for the next couple of days since SwingKid was going to be/hopefully will be in Disneyland. Dinner with a friend, sister bonding time, sleeping....:o)

That is all. Random thoughts I know. but I'm tired. that's what you get. Randomness.


one year ago
two years ago
five years ago

Tuesday!

I am rather excited today is Tuesday! Tuesdays are awesome because they are not Mondays (which aren't ever SUPER awesome. They don't suck, but they don't rock either.) and they are not Wednesdays (and we all know how much I hate Wednesdays).

I teach a ballet class on Tuesdays that I LOVE and I'm excited for my lesson plan tonight.

Also, tonight I am getting my hair done. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do...but I'm thinking something between this:

and this:

 I am thinking the bangs from Rory Gilmore and the Haircut from Veronica Mars. We'll see though. I always ask my hairdresser's opinion first (and she's always super honest with me) so we'll see what she says. Also, I have ZERO ideas on color. I think I'll let her surprise me when it comes to that. :o)

Finally. Because it is Tuesday, we've got the Ten on Tuesday meme below. Enjoy your Tuesday y'all!


1. Who makes your Thanksgiving dinner?
well. It depends. the past couple of years I've gone to a family friend's house for dinner. Last year I also made my own dinner the day after for SwingKid because he had to work on Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what's happening yet for this year.

2. What is your favorite recipe the includes pumpkin? (bonus points for including the recipe)
oh i love love love pumpkin crumble. It is delish. I also LOVE my mom's frozen pumpkin pie.

3. What are 5 things you want for Christmas?
a nice hair straightener, a blender, many books, some new ballet music for teaching, and.....some new clothes.

4. Does your family draw names or do you buy for everyone?
well. we "draw names." but this year (and probably every year here on out) we're going to just rotate names, so that we have someone different every year and get everyone at some point.

5. How do you feel about motorcycles?
sigh. I think they are hot and sexy. they are fun. SwingKid loves them and wants one REALLY REALLY bad. They do make me a little nervous, but overall I think I'm okay with them.

6. What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy Saturday?
cuddle on the couch next to SwingKid watching a movie and drinking hot chocolate.

7. What is the coolest thing to do in your city?
well...there are some fun things to do depending on what you like the most. Personally, I like going to artsy events.

8. Do you paint your fingernails?
Yeah. I do. Although nail polish just doesn't seem to last very long. I'm trying to figure out how to fix that.

9. Who is your favorite actor over the age of 50?
um...I really suck at the favorite actor/actress business. I don't really have a FAVORITE. Although I always did have a thing for Robin Williams growing up. He's just SO funny!

10. Do you have a high school letter jacket?
nope. I didn't care about it enough to do it.


one year ago
two years ago