A little Thursday by my side...

guys. It's Thursday. It has been a long, long (emotional) week and I'm glad to say the weekend is almost within reach. I unfortunately work tomorrow, but that will lead to a long weekend, short work week and another long weekend, so I think I can handle it....ANYWAYS. let's get on with things shall we?

• Last night I got together with my besties from my time in AIDA for a little frozen yogurt goodness. Man, I LOVE those girls SO MUCH! they are just super awesome. I always enjoy talking with them. :o)

• I went to a State Liquor store last night with my Sister B and bought vodka.

• Yes, I bought vodka.

• No, I didn't drink it.

• INSTEAD! I made vanilla extract by slicing and scraping Madagascar Vanilla Beans. It was a fun adventure. :o)

• Also, I just like saying the word vodka. It's fun.

• Soldier Boy, his daughter and I are all going to the Brigham City Temple open house tomorrow evening. I am VERY excited about this.

• As mentioned above I have a 3-day weekend (YAY Labor Day!), followed by a 3-day work week and ending with another 3-day weekend. HAPPY DAY. Seriously, SO HAPPY.

• My mind is still trying to get settled and realize that I'm no longer moving....it's kind of a weird feeling.

• Also, I need to go to the temple, it's been far too long, that will happen next Friday - on my day off. FOR SURE. :o)

• I am making a meal plan for next month so I can do more bulk shopping at Costco. Any meal suggestions you want to leave are VERY welcome. :o)

• In other news....August ends tomorrow and I'm having a really hard time accepting the fact that summer is practically over. :(

that's all folks! have a great weekend!!

Thursday Things

Hey all. Look at me! Posting TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!! I'm so awesome. :o)

It's THURSDAY (which I love) so that means....

YAY!!!! Let's get this party started, shall we? :o)

• I'm not going dancing tonight at the normal Blue Tango venue, but instead plan on spending a relaxing evening with Soldier Boy, his daughter, and my wonderful swimming pool. :o)

• I don't think I've told you, but if we're pinterest friend you've noticed...I'm the chairperson for the Annual Company Family Picnic. I LOVE the family picnic and am SO EXCITED to be heading it up. We're having a Western themed evening/carnival with a Chili Cook-Off that should be fun times. :o)

• School is starting and that means there are back-to-school sales EVERYWHERE. It makes me wish *I* was going back to school so I could justify buying fun things. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY happy to be not in school. I just wish I could justify buying things....

• I have grand plans for my day off tomorrow. I am (fingers crossed!) going to have NO MORE BOXES to unpack by the end of tomorrow/this weekend. Good goal right? :o)

• Soldier Boy is taking me out on a date! on Saturday! granted, we tend to do things that could be classified as dates...but this is a for real, planned for, paid for, paired off date. :o) Just like Elder Oaks defined it. :o) I'm SUPER EXCITED. (It's all a surprise, but I'm 99% sure we're going to the cheesecake factory.)

• So...I may have mentioned that I'm maybe getting into audio books? but I'm not sure yet...ANYWAYS. the point of this bullet is to ask for suggestions for books to listen to...i know not every book is perfect for audio reading, so which ones are your favorites?

anyways, i think that's all folks...hopefully your weekend is as splenderific as mine. :o) I'm hoping to get in a trip the Gardner's Village farmer's market...but we'll see. CIAO!

M.I.A.

So....I've been missing in action the past week or so. For this, I apologize. Being sick really threw me for a loop. After spending all day Saturday in Ogden I had to play catch up at home with my chores/other responsibilities. I have a lot on my plate right now and I'm getting really close to the end of my rope. Here's hoping things calm down before I blow a gasket or something along those lines.

I have so many random things to tell you that I think we'll do a little  Friday Things! :o) Enjoy!

• I keep trying to participate in the photo-a-day meme on Instagram, but I have failed miserably for the past three months. Maybe when life isn't trying to kill me....

• The year-end show for my company is in 3 short weeks. I'm excited to get things said and done for this year, I'm beyond burnt out with teaching and I am very much looking forward to not teaching this summer.

• The next two weeks should be pretty awesome. I have a three-day weekend (yay for Memorial Day! Paid Holiday! WOO HOO!!) then a three-day work week followed by another three-day weekend (yay day off!) so the next week or so should be GRAND.

• I get to spend all this weekend up in L* I'm rather stoked to spend the entire weekend chillaxin' with Soldier Boy + daughter.

• I got a new phone last weekend! Nothing super fancy - I'm still in the world of non-smart phones. But he's pretty cute and I'm a fan.

• Yesterday was just awful. I had a horrid dentist call me at work and yell at me. It was not fun times.

• Oh! I'm trying to find a cute craft to do for Soldier Boy for Father's Day. He's the best dad ever and I want him to know that. If you have ideas, please share! Pinterest only takes me so far....

• Pandora and I have  been really good friends as of late. I've got a shuffle of the 80s pop station, Today's Hits and Contemporary Country playing and oh man, oh man. GOOD STUFF y'all! I'm in love.

• My visiting teachers visited me earlier this week. I love visiting teaching. It always manages to lift my spirits.

• Today is a ridiculously busy day as I get ready for my long weekend not in O-town. It's okay, I can deal.

• I feel like I'm forgetting to tell you something. :P oh well....

 HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND EVERYONE!! :o) Party Hard!

blergh

I seriously make the worst sick person.

When I was younger my mom would have to bribe me/tie me down in my bed to keep me home from school when I was sick. I was too responsible and loved school too much to want to miss it. I remember one particular year - sophomore year of high school I believe...it was spring time and I had strep throat for the third time that year. I had gotten my drugs that morning but wasn't cleared to go to school. However I had a test for my computer class that my teacher had warned us COULD NOT be made up NO MATTER the reason we weren't there. I went to school and took the test. My mom was so mad at me!

Fast forward to yesterday and today. Both days I woke up feeling awful. I knew I could function if it was absolutely necessary, but overall I felt icky and didn't want to move. I did what any grown woman does -  I called my mom. I needed her to tell me it was okay to stay home. :o)

So I've been home sick - and let me tell you - it sounds all glorified and stuff when someone else is the person that gets to skip out on work responsibilities and be home sick but when it is you? It sucks. Hard core. I've hated just lounging around. There's nothing good on tv, I don't have enough energy to clean the kitchen or be crafty and it's really hard to concentrate on a book when you're sick. So you do nothing but watch reality tv shows.

Here's hoping I feel better tomorrow. It's my day off so I can continue to get loads of sleep and hopefully feel well enough to get some tasks done and then play with the boyfriend all weekend. Speaking of the boyfriend, he's been so sweet to me while I've been sick. He took such good care of me last night. I'm a fan of him. ;)

Have a good weekend all! Stay healthy!

just a few things....

hey guys. remember me? yeah. i've been busy. sue me. I'm always busy. :P but it's the good kind of busy - I'm busy having the TIME OF MY LIFE!!! :o)

anywho. here are just a few things on my mind as of late:

• the boyfriend is awesome. Today we celebrate our one month of officially dating-ness. he is so super fantastic and I am so lucky that he is mine. so, so lucky.

• yesterday i spent the day with the boyfriend and his daughter. It was a great day filled with sunshine and happiness. the only downside was having the day end and both of us driving away from each other until Saturday night. :P

• if you haven't tried out e.l.f cosmetics you totally should. they have GREAT products with AMAZING customer service. just for example: i ordered some product and it shipped and what not, but it was missing an item. i emailed them today, they got back to me the SAME DAY and are shipping out the missing product asap. This makes me REALLY happy. OH and they are now selling select products in Target. awesomeness.

• I'm not going dancing tonight. I have too many things to get done. PLUS Soldier Boy isn't going...and I don't like going when he's not there.

• Blogging for work? It's awesome. I am in love with it. I want to do more of it.

• I am moving in July - but I don't know where to yet. It makes me nervous to not know details to certain variables in my life. sigh.

• oh. if you know of somewhere that is month-to-month renting, with an unfurnished bedroom north of orem and south of sandy available sometime in July please let me know? thank you. :o)

• after looking at my budget and looking at my loans - it has officially been decided that i will be paying off my car loan by the end of October. this is just 2 months shy of the three years that i have owned said car. I'm REALLY excited about this.

• my coworker just asked what we would like without eyelashes. hmm. interesting thought.

• I think I'm going to try out this manicure this weekend. Should be fun times.

and with that...i think i'm going to call it a post. have a great day y'all!

Monday Madness

hey kids.

I had the best weekend. Seriously, I wish that I could have just pushed pause on Saturday and stayed there for a very long time.

Soldier Boy, his daughter (suggestions for a 'nym?) and I had the best time up in his hometown. The sun was out, the skies were blue, and we spent a good chunk of time outside. :o) I got a little sunburned, but it was wonderful. We played on the swings, took naps (not intentionally for me), talked, watched a movie or two, rode the three-wheeler (SO MUCH WIN) and ate good food. Soldier Boy's sister and her family came up Saturday evening and that was really nice to see them and stuff. I didn't want to leave Saturday night and come back to O-town...but it was necessary. I had responsibilities to fill. :P

Regardless, this weekend was absolutely lovely. Soldier Boy surprised me last night and we had a great time together. I just love being with him! I can't wait until I can always be with him. :o)

Tonight we're going to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I am VERY much looking forward to this date night tonight. :o) We're just one step closer to summer fun times and I'm rather excited for summer to be here. Soldier Boy and I are going to have the best time. :o) woot!

Dating Battle Stories: Soldier Boy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 1

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

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

So, today is Day 1: Layers.

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

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

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

A Friday!!!

Hello dearest friends.

Guess what?

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

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

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

Holiday Hangover

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

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

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

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

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

it's official

I'm twitterpated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

best weekend EVER!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dating Battle Stories: A girly story about Surfer Boy

 

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

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

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

So that was Friday. Moving on to Sunday.

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

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

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

Good Morning!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. ;)

Thursday Things

• First off, it's Thursday. I love Thursdays.

• Yesterday I took a ballet class. I love taking class. I decided last night that I need to be more regular in taking classes - from anywhere really. I need to do my research and find classes that I can take with my schedule. Even it makes me extraordinarly busy.

• I know I haven't posted about my weekend. The story is coming. I'll probably make it my Friday special or something. Sorry it has been so long in coming! I know you're waiting!

• Blocking rehearsals are interesting. I loved watching our director and see the wheels turn in his brain as he decided who to have enter and where. Fascinating.

• It reminds me of choreographing a dance. Only with this there are words and songs to take into account.

• My sunburn is itching. sigh. (oh yeah...I got sunburned this weekend. You probably didn't know that because I haven't told you any stories. HA!)

• I think I'm going dancing tonight even though I have to work tomorrow. Dancing makes me whole and I really like going there. So yeah...I'll probably be extra tired tomorrow. oh well.

• I have no plans for my weekend currently. Minus rehearsals.

• Rehearsals will take over my life starting Wednesday. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Although, with the show opening 4 weeks from today I'll probably be happy we're rehearsing so much. I'm just glad I'm not a lead. I probably couldn't handle having to memorize so quickly.

• There are times like today when I wish I didn't work so that I could watch the Harry Potter Live Premiere video streaming.

• I can't believe Harry Potter is ending. So crazy!

• I still have my free massage I won from work that I have to use by the end of August. I need to make that appointment pronto.

I think that's it for now folks....stay tuned for holiday weekend update. :o) hugs!

TGIF

Seriously guys. It has been a rough week. I haven't gotten much sleep (purely my fault) and work has been absolutely nuts and I've been going crazy!!!

My plans this weekend are low key, but I'm excited for them.

Ugh. I'm having a hard time wanting to blog today. Like I said, it's been a rough week.

How about some Friday Fill-ins? ok? Ok!

1. I know that this week was just a fluke. Next week will be better.

2. I want to get lots of sleep tonight, if at all possible.

3. This weather has been great for picnics in the park..

4. I still need shoes for my sister's wedding. This could be a problem.

5. I'm really happy I have the ability to dance. Makes me happy to just let loose sometimes.

6. I'm wishing for a remote for life so I can fast forward the crappy parts, or something to that effect.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cleaning, laundry, and Disney movies, tomorrow my plans include rehearsal and former-Roommate E's wedding reception and Sunday, I want to read a book on a blanket outside!

in the meantime...I wish I had someplace like this to runaway to....have a good weekend loves!

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Tender Mercy Tuesday - 21st Edition

Here are dear friends. Another Tuesday. Yesterday was a not so fun Monday at work. I was swamped with purchase orders and going crazy with everything else being piled onto my desk. sigh. It's never ending around here, ya know?

Anyhow, I had the most splendid weekend. I went hiking and got sunburned. I had adventures in Salt Lake and losing my purse (it was found, but not after lots of deep breaths and holding back tears). There was an awkward first date from a guy from the internet, hair practice for the wedding and ballet rehearsal. I painted my nails bright pink, wore shoes to match on Sunday and made cheesecake and hung out with Leviticus on more than one occasion. Speaking of Leviticus he is a great friend. I've decided to not stress about it going anywhere, because honestly, it does not matter right now. I just want to have fun and play. The end.

Anyways, my tender mercy comes from losing my purse. I freaked out, but not too bad...Leviticus was very calm about the whole thing and helped me think about where it could have been left. Too bad the chick at Panda Express really didn't look where we told her it could possibly have been....it was found with no repercussions and I am SO blessed. :o)

Last night I went to FHE up the canyon. We had a bonfire and roasted the normal bonfire types of things. I had so much fun meeting people, talking and....I ended up giving my number to two different boys. I can't remember the last time I gave my number to a guy in such a situation. It was definitely a confidence booster. :o)

Here's hoping the rest of the week goes swimmingly...I have fun plans with different friends all week long and I'm very excited to play!

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Sunshiney Adventures!!

Hi guys! It's Friday AND it's my day off! ALSO it is SUNSHINEY and supposed to be absolutely GORGEOUS today. :o) The plan is to clean my house a little bit (the kitchen and bathroom especially) and then go on a sunshiney adventure. Maybe a picnic in the park? A hike up a local canyon that is not too intense? Regardless of the adventure it will be fun; especially because Leviticus offered to join me when we were talking last night. So...there you go.

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Speaking of last night, I went to Blue Tango like I do sometimes on Thursday nights and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!! I loved it. I came home exhausted, sweaty and tired, but I can think of no better way to fall asleep then after having danced the night away.

Anywho, I'm here to leave you with just a little thought for the weekend. I hope all y'all have a most splendid one!!

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ribbit

hello dear friends. did you have a nice weekend? I sort of did. Mostly I was sick and didn't feel like doing anything. Went to bed at 9:30p on Friday night, sat around all day Saturday (after teaching) until my date that evening. Yesterday I felt better but man, I sounded like a frog! I'm still talking like a frog today, but it isn't as bad.

I think I'm going to take this evening for myself - after the gym I plan on cleaning the kitchen and my room. They so desperately need it.

anywho - I saw the funniest thing today and I needed you guys to see it too. Enjoy this little gem, perhaps it will perk up your Monday. Mine is definitely perkier now that I've watched this. :o)