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!

Fridayness

I am so happy it is Friday! The weekend is here again! I'm excited for the few plans I have this weekend, but first I must catch you up on my life. I really have been super busy, but no worries! I am taking the time now to blog about my life. I love life. It has been so great to me as of late. I've been thinking on how I want to do this - either by day or by subject matter, and I think we'll go with by day. Seems like a great way to go, in my opinion.

Friday, July 1st

I didn't have to work this day. I was so super happy about this! A four-day weekend just for me! (well, and half of my company...) Regardless, I was excited to have an extra day off. I started the day off by having lunch with my best friend from high school, her husband and her husband's best friend from high school. It was good times. They had really wanted me to meet this friend - to see if anything clicked. He seemed like a great guy, but not much clicked. It was all good though - I got to eat lunch with really fun people at the Pizza Pie Cafe so I was a happy camper.

After that I went to the Draper Utah Temple and then came home to eat some dinner before going to rehearsal. Rehearsal was good that night and I realized that I have to memorize the words to the songs I'm singing. I sort of forgot about that. I'm happy to report that since then I have memorized 1.5 of my 3 songs. GO me!

After rehearsal I went over to Grizzly Bear's house and watched The Adjustment Bureau.  I liked this movie a lot. I always love movies with dancers in them - the people who danced in this film were phenomenal. I loved watching it even if it was just for a brief moment. I enjoy hanging out with Grizzly Bear. We cuddled a little bit, but that was it. Since then we haven't really texted or anything. I think he's lost interest. I don't really know that for sure, but that's my guess.

Saturday, July 2nd

The only plans I had for this day were that of going to the Stadium of Fire with Percy.  I slept in that morning and then ran some errands and stuff. I also cleaned my room. I love having a clean room. Makes me happy.  I curled my hair super cute and Percy met me at my apartment just before 6 pm. We drove down to Cougartown and picked up a pizza at Papa John's. We then went to campus (where I found THE BEST PLACE to park in the whole wide world! Seriously! NOBODY parked there!) were we had a picnic dinner. Percy is a great conversationalist and I really enjoy sitting and talking with him. It's fun times. After our picnic, and after we had taken the picnic stuff back to my car we walked over to LaVell Edwards Stadium. We played a game of people watching (which I totally won. I think.) and then went into the stadium. We didn't have AMAZING seats, but they weren't horrid either.

The Stadium of Fire was AMAZING. I loved being able to see my friend The Whits perform (even though they didn't win) and David Archuleta was cute as always. My favorite performance of the night? Brad Paisley. Hands down! Not only does that man sing well, and is attractive as all get out - but he performs a great concert! He was fun to see and it was a really fun show. The fireworks that followed were incredible and I loved seeing them from inside the stadium. It had been 15 years since I last saw the fireworks from inside the stadium and I was much impressed. Percy put his arm around me and we sat there enjoying the awesome display.

We ended up going to Walmart together to pick up some things for our individual Sunday dinners and we just continued to have a blast together. He asked me if we could go out again and I agreed. A date hasn't been set because with my rehearsal schedule and his busy life we haven't been able to find a time that works. I'm sure that we'll make it work sometime very soon.

Sunday, July 3rd

This day was uneventful. Had dinner with Truit and her husband. Played games with friends. Went to church. Not necessarily in that order. ;)

Monday, July 4th

Happy Independence Day! I started off celebrating the day by sleeping in, cleaning my kitchen, and making some yummy food. Then Sister B, her husband, and I all went to Seven Peaks. We had a blast spending the afternoon playing in the water and riding awesome slides. After our adventures there we went back to their apartment and BBQ'd yummy food on their new grill and played Yahtzee. Such fun times!

So there you go. I had an amazing holiday weekend and I'm looking forward to some fun times this weekend as well. I have rehearsal tonight and then I plan on going to bed ridiculously early since I've been up way too late the past three nights. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up my Bountiful Basket, visit my sister and go to rehearsal. I don't have any solid plans for tomorrow evening yet, but if all else fails I plan on breaking in my brand new sewing machine by either making an apron or some new throw pillows for the living room. :o) I live a crazy life, I know. ;)

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!

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.

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!

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!!

Then and Now

One Year Ago Today:

photo taken by Aaron one year ago

Today:

photo taken by me. awesome right?

Quite the difference eh? Hard to believe my knee has come so far in a year...sigh. (stay tuned for a recap of my fabulous weekend. :o) )

Also - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

two years ago
three years ago

I give up.

I give up on trying to post my weekend recap with pictures. Especially since this weekend has now come and gone. So: Reader's Digest version: Basically my holiday weekend was filled with the sun, fireworks attacking people, a BBQ, and a celebration of love. SwingKid and I have been dating for two years now and I'm not going to lie, I love that we've had this long courtship. There's just something about it that makes me happy.

Anyways, this last weekend was not so much filled with awesomeness - besides our laser tag date which was AWESOME. loved that. Especially the part where we got soaked in the rain. Saturday was a meh day, but I found a cute dress that is a...size 8!!! YAY!!! Sunday was pleasant and all is good in the world. mostly.

Overall, I am happy with my life. i think. I wonder sometimes, but then I look to how it could be different and that's when I realize that I really do love where I am in life. Life is good.

Anyways. Today is Tuesday (ps...I get a 4-day work week so basically i only have 2.5 more days of work. HALLELUJAH!!!) which means it's time for some Ten on Tuesdayness. Enjoy!!

1. What is the worst movie you have ever seen?
um. I HATED Drag Me to Hell I thought it was so not cool. I really wish I could have that time back....

2. Do you have a favorite Disney/Pixar film?
I'm a die hard disney fan. I love Disney Princess movies as well as Pixar everything. My hands down, all time favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid and my favorite Pixar movie right now is Up.

3. Do you have a favorite movie from the 80′s?
hmmm...80's movies are full of great clothes and awesome dancing, i love Footloose and Dirty Dancing.

4. Are there any movies you saw more than once in the theater?
It's not often I'll see a movie twice in the theaters; however, I did see Star Trek twice. Once in the regular theater and once at the dollar theater.

5. What is one city/area of the US (or country you live if you do not live in the US) that you have not seen but would like to see?
Well...there are lots of places I haven't seen. I would love to see New York. cliche? perhaps. but it's true.

6. What are your favorite toppings on an Ice Cream Sundae?
I LOVE hot fudge and/or caramel. From there it depends on my mood. although, these days ice cream makes me REALLY sick so I tend to not eat it anymore. sigh. I also like sprinkles. lots of sprinkles.

7. How many proms did you go to? What color was your prom dress? If you went to multiple proms, what color was your favorite prom dress?
I went to three proms. I went my sophomore year w/a good friend and then I went to two my senior year with my boyfriend (his and mine). My favorite dress was the one for his prom that my completely made over from a cheap dress from DI. Best thing ever.

8. Is there a sport or extra-curricular activity that you didn’t get to try as a child that you wish you would have? (e.g. gymnastics, piano lessons, ballet, etc.)
All I wanted to do was dance. And that's all I have ever done since. I do wish now that I had played the piano or something.

9. How many siblings do you have? Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest?
I have three. I am the oldest. We create the alphabet: A, B, C, and D. two sisters and one brother. :)

10. Do you feel like you fit in with your age group? Or do you feel younger/older than your age group?
I usually feel like I fit in my age group. I also feel like it's easy for me to switch between hanging out with groups that are younger/older than me. So...yeah. I just fit in. I think it comes with being the oldest. maybe.

FRIDAY!!!

Well folks. I didn't post last night, and for that I am sorry. The question now is, do you want a recap from the holidays with pictures or without pictures??

Anyways..It if finally Friday and I am much excited by this. This whole coming in to work at 7 am has been really rough. For example, last night I went to bed at 9:45pm!!! Sigh. Early to bed, early to rise. That's me!!!

Anyways, I'll try to post again later today with a recap from last weekend since this weekend is basically here - but I make no more promises. ;)

Friday Fill-In!

And...here we go!

1. Layers of sunscreen still didn't make a difference last weekend.

2. Sometimes I wish I had a lot of insight.

3. I'd be willing to bet hmm...I'm not sure what I would bet on right now. lame i know.

4. Sister B's cat scares the dog.

5. I'm fond of chocolate covered cinnamon bears. In fact, I could go for some right now.....

6. Sometimes I worry too much!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Laser Tag date night with SwingKid, tomorrow my plans include cycling, shopping, and cleaning and Sunday, I want to teach my lesson!

catch me if you can

editor's note: i started this yesterday and meant to post it. and then...life happened and I didn't. i'm sorry. So...pretend this posted yesterday. Although, I know I'm not going to be able to post again today. SO! a real weekend update probably won't be here until tomorrow. but at least it will be here!!

While my weekend was mostly relaxing, I really wasn't "around." I did check my reader a couple times over the weekend, but still ended up with a bazillion unread posts. I think I'm okay with that . Mostly. Gives me something to look at when I need a break at work - especially since I'm on a Facebook fast this week as part of my Day Zero goals. whew. Today was HARD, but I think it will only get easier. At least, it better....

So, I should really do a weekend recap, and I will I promise! However, I have pictures! (GASP! I know! real life pictures!) And they are so much fun and I want to share them with you oh so much, but right now I'm lazy and I don't want to get off my butt and go and get my camera. So...since it's Tuesday I'll leave you with a little Ten on Tuesday meme and then promise to post about all the fun that was had tomorrow. Okay? okay. loves.


1. If given the opportunity, would you choose a mediocre job that paid well or your dream job that paid poorly?
dream job. hands down. I actually do have my dream job - just another job to go with it too. My dream job definitely pays poorly. c'est la vie

2. What is your favorite thing about the 4th of July? (For the foreigners: What is your impression of the 4th of July?)
hmmm. I love how summery it is! It's everything that is summer personified into one big day. Most of all, I love the fireworks.

3. What’s the most random fact you know about American history?
um...I really can't think of a random fact right now. I'm not a huge history nut. at all.

4. What is the best fireworks display you’ve ever seen?
Well. I don't tend to remember the firework shows from years past. Except last year's awful one in cougartown. ugh. This year, I went to PG with SwingKid and his family (more deets laters!) and watched an AMAZING show. minus the part when the fireworks attacked the audience. but that's another story

5. Who taught you how to put on makeup?
my mom sort of did, and then i learned more when i was taughter by my ballet director and then my current roommate AF taught me even MORE. Now I'm pretty much awesome at my makeup. maybe.

6. Have you ever gone through a financial planning process? Tell us about it.
sort of. I currently use Mint to budget my finances. My parents were pretty diligent to teach me good budgeting skills as a kid too.

7. What was your favorite outfit as a kid? Bonus points for pictures.
hmmm. I can't think of my FAVORITE outfit. I don't remember clothes as a child. ha. I do remember wearing very 80s style outfits for a long time in the early 90s. I was awesome as a kid.

8. Do you prefer a beach, lake, swimming pool, or no water?
I've only been to the beach once. I think I would like it more if I could spend more time there. Otherwise, I love the swimming pool. Lakes seems way to icky for me. Unless it's some beautiful spring lake or something. maybe. nah, i still like pools better.

9. Do you recycle? If not, why?
at work we recycle paper and cans. i participate in this recycling.

10. What are your thoughts and feelings about the Twilight Saga?
well. i love the fluff of the books. the third book is definitely my favorite, and from what i hear it's the best movie as well. I hated the second movie and disliked the book. The ending is lame and cheap in the 4th book and if i was one of the movie directors i would rewrite the ending. especially since they've taken such liberties with the first two movies. sigh. i'm in love with MUCH better books these days.

FYI: I might die from butt-hurting

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know that I mentioned this a couple of days ago. This is still a possibility, although the probablity has lessened quite a bit. After sitting in a car for 12 hours on Friday, several hours on Sunday (church+graduation) and then another 12 hours on Monday...my poor rear-end is not happy. the good news is that sitting at work is getting easier.

Also, I'm working on a recap from my little trip. Some funny, funny things were said. At least, *I* think they were funny....so stay tuned for that little post that should be coming...eventually. Not being at a computer from Thursday evening to Tuesday morning meant I had 90 unread emails and 243 unread blog posts to read - and that was just my PERSONAL inbox. I had a work inbox to get through as well. It was quite the daunting task. :P

However, I do have on fun, new thing that I wanted to post. Have you heard of the Day Zero project? I found out through a blog that I stalk and decided to take the plunge and do it. What is the Day Zero project? Well, it's a project concept that was started by a blogger from New Zealand in 2003 that is meant to challenge, encourage and inspire you to set and achieve 101 personal goals and accomplish them in 1001 days.

This sounded pretty awesome to me because 1) 1001 days? that equals about 2.75 years. This means your goals can be short term, mid-term, or long term. and I liked that. A LOT. 2) 101 goals? Yes, it's a lot of goals...but that's what so awesome about it. Couple that many goals with the number of days and you'll feel like you're getting some things done in the next few years. Take it from me, a year out from college graduation and I'm STILL trying to figure out what I want to be doing short term and long term. I have an amazing job situation and a great boyfriend, but beyond that...what do  I want to be achieving in my life? This project is assisting me to do fun, challenging, different and interesting things by setting goals to complete in a certain amount of time. Instead of saying, "Oh I'll do that SOMETIME," I'm saying "I'm going to do this and have it done by THIS date." And that my internet friends, is AWESOME!!!!

Anyways, I HIGHLY recommend this project for anyone looking for a way to set, track, and achieve certain goals in a certain amount of time. My list can be found HERE. Feel free to steal some of my goals or just use them as inspiration for your own. Some of my goals may seem vague to you, but they make sense to me, and that's what matters. :o) I'm REALLY excited about this project and will try to keep you posted on my progress.

Armchair BEA: INTERVIEW!!!

Welcome all y'all to my interview of Florinda from The 3 R's Blog. I was really excited to interview her and read the other interviews with Armchair BEA because I don't know many book bloggers and today's day of interviews gives me a chance to meet more people who love to read! So without further ado - here's Florinda!

1. What is the book that made you fall in love with reading?

I'm not sure I can remember the book, to be honest. I've been reading since I was four, and that was many, many years ago - I can't remember a time I didn't have a book with me once I learned how to read by myself, and I've always read one book right after the other. But I do remember some of the earliest books I loved and read and re-read: the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, about girls growing up in small-town Minnesota in the early 20th century (the series follows them from elementary school through marriage and motherhood); the Melendy family stories by Elizabeth Enright; Eleanor Frances Lattimore's children's fiction set in both China and contemporary America; and, of course, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books.

2. I'll be honest - I'm more of a book blog stalker than writer, but I do read quite a bit. So,what do you enjoy most about combining reading with blogging?

I was never good at keeping a reading journal, but thanks to blogging, I finally have one! Knowing at the back of my mind that I'll be trying to capture my impressions of a book in a written record has helped me read more carefully and thoughtfully, and I'm glad that's happened. But what I really love is that I've found so many other avid readers in the book-blogging community - people who constantly point me toward new books to read, and who love to talk about the books we've read already!

3. I recently graduated from college and I didn't read much fiction during those 5 years of schooling. I remember feeling very daunted at jumping back into reading anything fun. So, what book are you most likely to recommend to someone who is looking to get back into the reading scene and has missed basically everything awesome?

I don't really have one "go-to" book recommendation - I try to base my suggestions on knowing something about the person and her interests. But having said that...in the situation you mention, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series is not to be missed - and since the final book in the trilogy is due out in August, this is a great time to start on it!

4. You participate/host a lot of fun memes/daily topics. Which one is your favorite and why?

I don't really participate in as many memes as I used to, but I've used some of them as jumping-off points for my own features. My favorite participation meme is the Sunday Salon, which I finally joined last year. I like it mostly because it's so free-form it really isn't a proper meme, but it does give me a good framework for a weekly reading recap and some discussion of book/blog topics. My favorite self-developed feature is the Week-End Review, which I usually post on Fridays. That's my place to share the great links I come across in my blog reading - which I love to do - and it's also place for non-book-related discussion and general stuff that I might not be able to build a full post around.

5. What's your biggest guilty pleasure?

At this point in my life, I'm really working on not feeling guilty about my pleasures! But most of the ones I have aren't book-related. There's definitely some music on my iPod that I might skip past if I'm not alone, because I don't want to be judged on it - and since I know I judge other people on their (questionable, to me) musical tastes, I tend to expect the same! TV is a big source of my guilty pleasures too - for the last couple of years, my prime one has been Smallville on The CW - but since next year will be its last season, I guess I'll be looking for another one soon!

6. Are you a good boy or a bad boy kind of girl when it comes to books? And who is your favorite good/bad boy?

I can see the allure of the bad boy, but I'm past the point in my life where I have much patience with them any more, so I go for the good guys in fiction - and in real life, too. And I can't pick a favorite - I've met too many of them in all my years of reading!

and finally...

7. If you had the opportunity to go to BEA which author would you want to meet and why?

I probably wouldn't have had an answer to this question before I started working on my own Armchair BEA posts, since I really didn't even know who'd be there - but now that I've checked out the list, my #1 choice would be Jon Stewart, for reasons that have little to do with the fact that he and the Daily Show writers have a new book coming out! Since I get tongue-tied and stupid when I meet authors, it might be for the best if I didn't actually try to meet and talk with any of them, to be honest...but after reading her blog and three of her books, I'd like the chance to meet Beth Kephart.

Thanks so much for answering my questions Florinda! Be sure to stop by her blog to learn more about her and read her great reviews! Also - don't miss my interview over at Tales of a Capricious Reader and the other great interviews can be found at Armchair BEA Central!

A little recap and some funny things

SO!! I was trying so hard to be vague about my weekend plans because I know my parents read my blog and part of my weekend plans included a HUGE service project for my mom's Mother's Day gift. It turned out PERFECT. Go to this blog: http://radishtinkle.blogspot.com/ to see what my sister and I did for her. It was a ton of fun and worked out splendidly as our gift. :o)

This weekend also consisted of me making a few new recipes, some good, some not so good AND getting to enjoy family dinner with SwingKid's family. They are so awesome and we had a lot of fun hanging out on Sunday evening.

I also read a book this weekend. Well, I read a book on Sunday. It was the second in the Raine Benares books. If you like fantasy and fun times, you should DEFINITELY check them out. I'm a little bit into the third one and I'm loving every minute of it.

Finally, I saw this via a blog I  stalk and I highly encourage you to watch it. It's fabulously funny and if you have the Monday Blues, you should watch it. Right now.




HA HA HA. I hope that made you laugh as much as it made me laugh. :o)
one year ago

Birthday Recap

Well, I'm back at work after my long, wonderful 3-day weekend. It was honestly one of the best weekends of my life. I rather enjoyed my entire weekend.

The wonderfulness began on Saturday afternoon when SwingKid took me to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D by Tim Burton. It was rather enjoyable and my first 3D movie experience. The movie was great and I loved it.

Sunday morning came and I woke up for Stake Conference and my roommate and I went down to my car to drive away, but found it filled to the top with balloons. SwingKid was super sneaky and completely filled my car with balloons. I couldn't open the door without having balloons attack me. It was so great and I LOVED it.

After church I ate a grilled cheese sandwich and took a nap. Then SwingKid and Sister B came over and made me dinner. It was my favorite: chicken cordon bleu and a spinach strawberry salad. SO YUMMY. This was followed with yummy cake made from scratch by Sister B.

Monday I took a holiday because I decided I deserved a holiday for my birthday. It was probably the best thing I have ever done for myself. I slept in, woke up to sunshine streaming in through my window and took a wonderfully long shower before getting ready. I wore a fun sequined top and went to lunch with HiccupMel and Chillylint. I love those girls! We went to P.F. Changs, got yummy food and fabulous desserts! After my luncheon with HiccupMel and Chillylint I did some shopping at several stores and then met Sister B for my free SpoonMe. I also got to see SwingKid for a few minutes before going to the studio to teach my ballet class.  After teaching I ate yummy food, went to the gym (2.6 miles!!!) and then over to SwingKid's for some Castle and chillaxin' on the couch.

So BASICALLY, I had THE BEST birthday in a long time (or at least, it feels that way) and I really enjoyed my time off. Everyone should get a holiday for their birthday. It's awesome.

p.s. this was going to have some pictures...but I haven't gotten them from SwingKid yet. I'll work on that though...

my weekend recap...

let's see. i had one goal right? 3 C's - craft, clean, cook.

I crafted. my apt. is starting to look a little more v-dayish and it makes my heart happy.

clean - uh...not so much. sort of, but not really. i might try to do better about this sometimes this week. maybe. no guarantees. life is busy.

cook. um. i cooked a TINY bit. but...i didn't make the treat i was going to make. maybe some point this week? again with the maybes...

one thing FOR SURE! I have the clearance to run on my knee. SO. tonight is back to the gym night. i am so freakin' excited. i will be running to my little hearts content all while watching Big Bang Theory. My favorite show ever. WEE!!!

also - SwingKid ended up NOT having a shift Saturday afternoon/evening so we spent the evening watching the US figure skating championships (women's long program) and i cut out hearts out of paper. it was SO fun, and very relaxing. I really enjoyed just SITTING next to my boyfriend. After that we had a nice, long conversation. Sunday I went to a couple church meetings with him, and again it was just nice to be with him.

ANYWAYS....my weekend turned out pretty fabulous. I even worked a little overtime. This next week should be 100x better than last week, especially because SwingKid and I are going to Tucano's for his birthday tomorrow night.  I'm pretty much going to starve myself tomorrow so that I can eat my full.  YUMMY.

2009 in Review

so the past couple of years I've gone through a month-by-month review of my entire year. I don't feel like doing that today. So I stole this little jewel from a blog I enjoy, Ramblings and Randomness to do instead. I hope you're okay with that, because it's what you're getting.

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

Graduated. Bought a car. Got a full-time job.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions?

I don't remember making any. so YES!

What are some of your resolutions for 2010?
I have one. To make a meal plan for each month and stick to it.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
um. not really.

Did anyone close to you die?
nope.

What countries did you visit?
Zero.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
a disneyland vacation.

What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
oh man, there are many. the  day I graduated from BYU, the day I signed the papers for my new car, the day I found out I tore my ACL, the day I had surgery, flying to VA. too many dates to remember if you ask me.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating from BYU

What was your biggest failure?
i can't think of one at the moment.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
torn ACL. not fun people. not fun at all.

What was the best thing you bought?

my car. my iPod. my new camera. Christmas presents.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
um. no one in particular.

Where did most of your money go?
car payments. school. surgery.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
MY NEW CAR. GRADUATION.

What song will always remind you of 2009?
um. the good ones.

Compared to this time last year, are you: much happier, richer, nicer?
happier - for the most part, yes. richer - yes. i actually have money in savings. yay. nicer - i could only hope.

What do you wish you'd done more of?

dancing. running. vacationing. traveling.

What do you wish you'd done less of?

rehab.

How did you spend Christmas?

with the fam in VA. see  below for recaps

Did you fall in love in 2009?

Every. Single. Day. ;)

What was your favorite TV program?

Big Bang. Castle.

What was the best book you read this year?

oh my goodness. I read SO MANY books after graduation. I have too many favorites. TOO MANY.

What did you want and get?

a new car. happiness. a diploma. an iPod. a new camera

What were your favorite films of this year?

Star Trek. Up. Avatar. Harry Potter #6. My Sister's Keeper.

What were your least favorite films of this year?

Drag Me to Hell. ugh. hated it. for the most part.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

let's see. I turned 23. My ballet girls "kidnapped" me and we had breakfast and cake. SwingKid and my roommates took me minature golfing and then SwingKid and I went to Tuchanos. Yummy.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
um. not having ACL surgery. That would have made it 10x better

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
find shirts that make me look skinny. also accept the fact that i look great in skinny jeans and then wear them.

What kept you sane?

SwingKid. always.

Who did you miss?

My family and some past roommates.

Who was the best new person (people) you met?

oh man. Probably the people at my current place of work. THEY ROCK!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

Don't skip dinner. It will make me ornery.

What are you most excited for in 2010?

Possibly, Disneyland, Disneyworld or England. Haven't decided/figured out which one of those will work. :o)

What are you least excited for in 2010?

You know what, I have no freakin' idea. There isn't anything that I can think of to hate on right now.

The Day After

So...the surgery went well.

My gown was actually pretty covering AND guess how cool it was? It had this place for a tube to insert into my gown to keep me warm or cool or whatever I needed at the time. :o) THAT was one of the best parts.

I don't even remember them putting me under. That was good. the first iv did hit a nerve and that wasn't fun at all, but the second iv went in great and was pretty fabulous.  I guess I went under about 7:20 and was out of surgery at about 8:40 or so, but because I was so tired and because they gave me some Benadryl for my cold I slept until 10 am or so. When I came out of it, I couldn't believe how sunny it was! (it was SO SO SO dark yesterday morning.) I wasn't feeling anything on the top of the knee thanks to the fabulous femoral nerve block they gave me. I did however feel pain in my hamstring on the back of the knee. They gave me some morhpine and then they took me back to post-op and then SwingKid appeared. How i love that boy. sigh.

my nurse was a very nice, funny man. I don't remember his name. I want to say George. But I'm not sure. Let's pretend his name is George. George was nice. He gave me more drugs and at one point he asked how I was feeling and I told him I was feeling very woozy. Woozy was my favorite word. I think it's because it was fun to say. Woozy. just let it roll off your tongue.... he he he

Then George made me get up (after me getting some cookies and apple juice. followed by cranberry juice. yummy) I didn't want to get up, but at the same time i had to pee so Truit followed me with the wheelchair in case i fell over, George held a belt around my waist, and SwingKid was on my left cheering me on carrying something and I was on crutches. It was like a little entourage. I made it to the bathroom and back again but at that point i was SO SO tired. I slept for a little bit and I think SwingKid studied. But then George the murse (man-nurse) made me get up and walk a lot more. THAT was not happy. In fact I'm pretty sure I told him No way. Ha, but he was full of good humor and put up with me. We walked a much further distance where I used another bathroom w/the aide of Truit (i love that girl SO SO much) and then back again. Then I got to put real clothes on (definitely an adventure) and eventually i got to be released and then they put me in a wheelchair and i got to go on a little ride to the car and then it was off to Costco to get drugs. I did throw up once in the parking lot of Costco (sorry costco people) and after drugs were procured we drove to my apartment. And Let me tell you, getting up the 18 stairs to my apartment was an extreme adventure. I would hop up them on one foot heavily leaning on both banisters. I would hop 3 or so, stop and breathe and then hop up some more steps. It was quite the adventure. :o)

Yesterday i slept a TON and read a little. Lots of sleeping. I eventually went to bed and slept all night, waking up every 4 hours to take happy drugs. They make sleep nicely, although i've done a pretty good job of ignoring the tired part of them here during the day. or something.

anywho....i'm pretty sure my favorite part of this whole thing is the fact that 1) everyone wants to take care of me and i get a TON of attention. 2) FLOWERS! My family sent me pretty flowers. a TON of gerbera daisies. I love them they make me happy. 3) yesterday, my favorite thing was the morphine they gave me. That was super happy.

And now! pictures of my awesome knee.

This is my torn ACL. I'm not sure what angle this is at exactly, but all I know is that the doctor said this was torn completely through. FUN!

I'm pretty sure this is the torn meniscus? or it's the torn ACL? I'm really not positive. lol

This is my new ACL!! Yay!! I'm hoping it works better than the new one.

So, if you're still reading this, then you're a trooper. It's been quite the long post. I hope you have enjoyed my recap of "Knee Day." I can't think of anything else to say and I'm sure I've said way too much already. ;)  Anyways. If you have any questions, pop them into the comments and I'll answer them when I feel like it. Because I can. Catch y'all later!!