The Wonderful World of Alisa

Addition to my "trials" research haha.

2011-01-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

I am giving a talk in my singles ward tomorrow and I decided to make it about trials. I found a really good talk called "Adveristy" by Henry B. Eyring from conference of April 2009. This is a really good quote, and I thought I would just put it up here. I think since we've all been through trials we can all relate.

"With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. There may be periods, sometimes long ones, when our lives seem to flow with little difficulty. But it is in the nature of our being human that comfort gives way to distress, periods of good health come to an end, and misfortunes arrive. Particularly when the comfortable times have gone on for a while, the arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger.

"The anger comes at least in part from a feeling that what is happening is unfair. The good health and the serene sense of being secure can become to seem deserved and natural. When they vanish, a feeling of injustice can come. Even a brave man I knew wept and cried out in his physical suffering to those who ministered to him: “I have always tried to be good. How could this happen?”

"That aching for an answer to “How could this happen?” becomes even more painful when those struggling include those we love. And it is especially hard for us to accept when those afflicted seem to us to be blameless. Then the distress can shake faith in the reality of a loving and all-powerful God. Some of us have seen such doubt come to infect a whole generation of people in times of war or famine. Such doubt can grow and spread until some may turn away from God, whom they charge with being indifferent or cruel. And if unchecked, those feelings can lead to loss of faith that there is a God at all.

"My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants, to think as He thinks, and thus be prepared for the trust of an endless posterity to teach and to lead through tests to be raised up to qualify to live forever in eternal life.

"It is clear that for us to have that gift and to be given that trust, we must be transformed through making righteous choices where that is hard to do. We are prepared for so great a trust by passing through trying and testing experiences in mortality. That education can come only as we are subject to trials while serving God and others for Him.

"In this education we experience misery and happiness, sickness and health, the sadness from sin and the joy of forgiveness. That forgiveness can come only through the infinite Atonement of the Savior, which He worked out through pain we could not bear and which we can only faintly comprehend.

"It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. The Book of Mormon gives us the certain assurance of His power to comfort. And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.

.....

"I have seen faith and courage come from a testimony that it is true that we are being prepared for eternal life. The Lord will rescue His faithful disciples. And the disciple who accepts a trial as an invitation to grow and therefore qualify for eternal life can find peace in the midst of the struggle."

I just love Henry B. Eyring! Can't you just hear him saying this with his sweet voice and even getting choked up at times? Man, he is seriously so great! And he has a way of just putting things into great words and getting straight to the point. Anyway, just thought I'd share all that with you.

So, updates on my life haha.

I'm really going to try to write more, but yeah. Anyway, I work at 1-800-CONTACTS now and I love it! I'm trying to get a new position in the Rx department and my application is going in on Monday. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, it's nice to have a steady job and to be making good money so I can pay back my loans and still have some fun. :)

Also, nothing really new in my dating life haha. I've been on a few dates here and there but nothing serious. I'm interested in some guys, but you just never know how people feel sometimes, you know? I'm afraid I may have scared one of them away. But I'll be patient. I'm sure the guy I'll be marrying is so awesome that Heavenly Father is just making me prepare for it. He'll knock my socks off, I'm sure. ;) But let me tell you, he'll be worth waiting for.

Well other than that there's not too much to report. My family and I moved into a new house 2 days before Christmas and we totally love it here! It's a really new house, we all have our own rooms, and there's lots of space. It's really perfect for us! And my mom still can't get over how great it is haha. We have been truly blessed with anything we could ever need and so much more! We have lots of wonderful people in our lives that have helped us out and continue to help us without hesitation. Thank you all so much!

Oh, and MY BIRTHDAY IS IN A WEEK! WOOOOOT! I'll be 23, can you believe it? Land sakes! It will be pretty awesome, that's all I've got to say. I am super stoked and I even took 2 days off of work so that I could have Thursday-Sunday off to do whatever I wanted haha. Yeah, it's great. If any of you want to make plans, let me know!

Anyway, it's late and I really need to finish this talk and go to bed haha. I hope to hear from you all soon! Thanks for all your love and support! I promise I'll do better at writing now. :) Talk to you all later!

Long Time No...Type....

2010-08-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well well well. My life is certainly less bleak than it was the last time I wrote. Life is still hard, as I'm sure it will always have it's hard moments, but overall life is doing very well. There are lots of new things that have happened, so I'll try to update through bullet points:

-I'm now the activities co-chair in my singles ward and I'm totally loving my calling! I love planning activities and I have made a lot of new friends in my ward.

-I'm still looking for a job. However, I did go back for a few interviews for a job at my favorite bank as a teller, which is a job that I have wanted for a really really long time. Anyway, they said that they'd let me know hopefully by today, so I'm anxiously waiting to hear the results. I'll let you know what happens!

-I've been on several dates! Woohoo! Dating life is back on track! And I've been making a lot of new friends and guy friends, and that's always good.

-We've moved in with my grandma and grandpa who live over by the temple. That has been a little bit of a challenge, but I'm grateful that they let me and my family live there. Also I got the room with the king-size bed and I have a TV and DVD player so I can watch movies in my room and stuff now. That's pretty sweet. :)

-I get to go to the chiropractor today! I am super excited about that! I haven't been for MONTHS and I'm all out of alignment so I've been getting headaches all the time and it's been driving me nuts! So I'm going today and I can't wait to get out of pain! It will feel so great!

-Life is just great!

So yeah, there you go. I'm sure there's a few things I forgot, like the fact that I've seen Inception twice and it is like the best movie ever created! When it comes out to the sticky shoe, I'll be there every night watching it. Yeah, it's amazing.

Well I wish I had some new pictures on here for you but I don't. I'll take some tonight at my ward activity. We're going swimming at a member of our bishopric's pool tonight! WOOT!! Anyway, sorry this is short but I have a lot of stuff I have to do today. I have to send around emails and such to the ward to remind them of the activity and then go buy some treats for it. I'll do better at keeping this thing updated. I'll write again soon! Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a fantastic day! :)

Light in the Darkness

2010-01-31T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well I'm not really sure exactly what I want to call this post yet, or really where it's going to go...but here we go.

So this morning my mom and I were talking about how everything that's been going on has caused us to lose our security. For me it's made it difficult for me to leave the house and my mom especially. I'm alright when I go to work and stuff, but once I get home I don't want to leave her side. It's very hard for me to be without her. I feel like I did when I was a kid and I would just get so homesick that it would make me PHYSICALLY sick. It's just made life a lot harder than it needs to be. Luckily I think I'm starting to turn around with that. I still want to be home all the time, but at least I'm willing to go out and do a few things. Today I'm going to church with my cousin Courtney to hopefully start meeting new people and make a few more friends. But anyway, my security is still pretty low.

Also, a lot of things break your heart easier because your heart is already broken. One of my friends has recently left the church and decided to become an atheist. That's been really hard to hear and quite heartbreaking to know that he not only left the church but God too. Laura was in seminary a few days ago and they were doing a "getting to know you" kind of a thing. So this one kid got up and Laura asked, "Did you used to do wrestling or something like that?" after he said that he really liked sports. He responded, "Well yeah I used to wrestle all the time. But then my parents got divorced and I had to quit wrestling and start working." How sad is that?! He had to give up something he loved because of something that wasn't even his fault. I don't know if he had to start helping to support his family, but it's still incredibly sad. Before I found out my parents were getting divorced I used to feel bad for people who would talk about that but I never realized the pain and suffering that were behind the words "my parents are getting a divorce." It's just tragic when innocent people get hurt and their lives are forced to change, for the worse temporarily. I'm sure we'll get used to it and it won't hurt as bad after a while, but I didn't want this change. No one does. I never thought it would happen to my family, and anyone that knows my family will tell you the same thing. It's also sad to hear how frequent it is now. At Laura's job, most of the people she works with have divorced parents. How horrible! It's so sad to know that so many people have had to suffer like this. It isn't fair, but that's life I suppose.

Anyway, most days are better than others, but I had a rough morning this morning. I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately that make me feel insecure, scared, angry, depressed, and they remind me that that's how I feel. Last night my mom and I were talking about how when I was born I almost died and she didn't get to hold me until I was 10 days old. We cried together because it was so sad what she and my family had to go through. My mom said there were tubes all over me and it was just a sad thing to see. They thought I was going to be deaf, dumb, blind, etc., but I turned out alright. It just proves to me that I must be here for a reason and that I've got a special mission. So anyway, last night I had a dream that I was telling my friends Thomas about what was going on and my dad heard me talking to him. After Thomas left he got really mad at me and started telling me that he hated me and that he wished I would have died instead of lived when I was a baby. I must have been crying in my sleep because I woke up with my eyes practically glued shut and my face salty. Now, I know that that would never happen and I know that my dad loves me. But it just shows that I have a lot of insecurities right now. I know it was just a dream, but it sliced my already broken heart and I could barely take it. Even in a dream it's hard to hear someone you love tell you that they wish you were dead. Again, I know this isn't true, but my dreams seem so real. I'm still crying about it while I'm typing this. I'm just a lot more sensitive to things with all this stuff going on.

So as I'm sitting here having a bad day, it's hard not to question why I have to go through this? I did nothing to deserve what's going on. Why does my life have to be torn apart, even when I'm living righteously? This is a common problem for people who have left the church, and I'm glad that this isn't a problem with me. I know I touched a little bit on it in my last entry, but let me expound on why trials are important.

A few days ago in my scripture reading I was reading about the brother of Jared. The Lord is telling him that he and his family will have to cross the ocean to come to the promised land. In Ether 2:25 it says, "And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come." To me that just shows that the Lord knows the journey will be extremely difficult, but he also knows that it will be impossible to do without his help. He knows that the important thing to do is for the brother of Jared and his family to turn to the Lord and rely on him fro strength and guidance. I really feel like that is what my family and I need to do, and it's something that I've been doing already. When my burden becomes too heavy I call upon the Lord and pray to Heavenly Father. He knows that some days I just can't take it anymore, and that I need his help to take some of the pain and heaviness away from me. He knows what I'm going through and he knows that I need his help. I feel like the Savior is just waiting for me to call on him for help because he knows how much it hurts and how much I need the help. Sometimes it's hard to humble yourself to accept help and not to think, "Well I can do this on my own. I don't really need a blessing or anything; it's not THAT bad right now. I can just do this. I'll save up the help for when I REALLY need it and things get REALLY bad." Throughout my life I've caught myself thinking that, and this trial has been an opportunity for me to snap out of that thinking and realize that life doesn't have to be as hard as I think it is. The Savior suffered for my sins AND my sorrows. If I don't take advantage of that, it's like he suffered needlessly. He bled and died for me, so why shouldn't I take advantage of the fact that he has been in my shoes and knows how much pain I'm going through? It really all boils down to pride, and I find myself being humbled again and again.

It's been amazing to see how many people care for me and my family and offer their help. I've seen people that I wouldn't consider my best of friends jump up to the plate and become some of my biggest help. It's also been interesting to see who I turn to for help. Some people I thought I was great friends with I haven't even told what's going on, or even seen them for over a month. This trial has shown me how many people my family and I have touched, and that touches me in return. It's also easy to see who wants to try to talk to us just to get some gossip and who wants to talk to us because they genuinely care and are concerned. I feel so humbled to know how many people are willing to listen or even just pray for me when there's not much else they can do. I feel the strength from their prayers every day. It's also humbling when countless neighbors and friends have told us that they've been putting our names in the temple. The people at the temple must be thinking, "Who are these Cottrells?!" Haha. But I really do appreciate all the help and support. There's a book called The Five Love Languages for Singles and my primary love languages are acts of service, quality time, and gifts; so when people do those things that's when I feel the most loved. So with all this pain it's amazing how much I feel loved as well. So many friends have wanted to take me to lunch or to a movie or anywhere and it just touches my heart that they care so much. My birthday is coming up, and I have honestly not been looking forward to it at times because I want to be happy on my birthday and I haven't been sure if that's possible or not. But people have done so many things already to try to help me have a happy birthday that it just astounds me. My coworker took my shift so that I wouldn't have to work on my birthday. My grandparents are taking me out to lunch and then my mom and I are going to go watch a movie. Etc., etc., etc. The kindness and love just never ends, and it has truly been a miracle to witness that.

Ok, I feel like this is long enough, so let me end with a scripture of hope. In Ether 6, the brother of Jared and his family launch their "barges" and get ready to head towards the promised land. Let me share a few verses with you that tell me the Lord is looking out for me and will not leave me alone (Italics are added as emphasis)

3 "And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness."

(6-12) "And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.

"And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

"And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth by the wind.

"And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.

"And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.

"And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.

"And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them."

I feel like I am on the sea, traveling towards a better place and many great blessings. The Lord always blesses the faithful and the innocent. I also feel like sometimes I am under the water in need of fresh air and there is no possible way that I can get to the surface. But when I pray to Heavenly Father he brings me up to the surface to I can catch my breath and see the sun for a little while. But even when I am above the water I am still subject to the tempests and winds of this trial; I'm still suffering but I'm heading towards the promised land. I also found it interesting that in verse 8 it says that the winds didn't cease to blow upon them, but the winds were actually the things that were blowing them towards the promised land. So without our trials there is no way for us a get to the promised land. But even when I am suffering sometimes beyond what I feel I can bear, the Lord is still with me and brings his continuous light. Even in the darkness when I am under the water and nearly suffocating the Savior still brings his light to light up my boat. Even when my heart is "swollen with sorrow" (as Nephi would say), the Lord never ceases to shine his light on me. In fact, it's in the darkness that the light shines the brightest. God will not abandon me, my family, or anyone else who is going through a trial. He is always shining his light on us; it's just up to us to see it and let it light up our darkness. And then when we get to the other side of our trials and are able to look back over the journey we will thank Heavenly Father for all the tender mercies he blessed us with over the journey, and also the wonderful blessing of letting our trials push us closer to Him and eternal life.

The Refiner's Fire

2010-01-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well guys, as many of you know my family and I are going through a difficult time right now. First of all I would like to thank all of you for your prayers and kind words. It means a lot to me and my family to know that we have so many people who love, care, and think about us. Thank you all for your help so far and the help you continue to give.

It's really late tonight so I don't have time to write much, but I've found a lot of really good quotes lately and a lot of good scriptures to help me through this trial. I was looking around the internet and I found this quote by James E. Faust:

"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless."

I feel like this trial is a great opportunity for me to grow closer to my family and grow closer to the Lord. I know that even though it's only been about a month I have already become a better person than I was before. It's interesting because before all this happened I found myself frequently thinking that I didn't feel like I was as close to the Savior as I could have been, and that I didn't have as good of an appreciation for his atonement as I would like to have. Be careful what you wish for. ;) When I was in high school I was so good at writing in my journal every day and was more of what you call a "Molly Mormon." In high school I was made fun of because of that so I was a little ashamed of it, and I guess I turned away from being such a Molly Mormon. But I think that every day I am becoming more and more that way again, and I wear the badge of MOLLY MORMON proudly! I don't know how I would get through this without the priesthood, the scriptures, prayers that are now forever long, and sometimes I don't want them to end, family home evenings, and the Holy Ghost.

Even with all this stuff going on I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life and to have a strong testimony! I am so blessed to have a wonderful and supportive family and friends! I am so blessed to know that this trial is a hard one but that I will make it through and that Christ can heal my heart! Even though it's a hard time I still have so many blessings! Every time I read in the scriptures I keep getting messages of hope and love. My ultimate goal is to get to the celestial kingdom with my family and the Lord is refining me to help me reach my goal.

"Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance. Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling, we are being carried forward, though battered and bruised."

"Trials and tribulations tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for."

Both of these are quotes from Neal A. Maxwell. My mom read me an awesome one a few days ago that go more with what I was talking about but I'll find it later and post it here. These are good ones too!

Well I've gotta run. This post ended up being much longer than anticipated. I'm writing a book about what's going on, so I will probably post more things on here about my feelings and whatnot so I can just write it down. Thank you all again for your love and support! Have a great week!

Security Settings

2010-01-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Well as it turns out, a psychopath freak-of-nature has gained access to my blog and is apparently stalking my family and making ridiculous threats. I have therefore been forced to change my settings so that only a few people can access my blog. Just so you know. She's even tried to see Andrew on his mission. Like I said, FREAK OF NATURE!!! Anyway we're hoping that this all stops now but I guess we'll see. If not, it's all out WAR! No code of conduct or anything of the sort, and I will win. I WILL WIN!

Ehem.

Anywho, if any of you would like to be able to keep looking at my blog just send me an email or however you do that. That will be all.

FREAK OF NATURE!

Have a great week.

I'm Pretty Sure I Haven't Posted This Yet...

2009-12-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

Well today at work, Kassidee, Megan and I were talking about dating and how scary it is and whatnot. So then I started talking about the weird/horrifying/hilarious dating experience I had about 2 years ago with a guy named Steven. This is the journal entry that I wrote the day after it happened, plus I've added a few details that I forgot to add when I originally wrote it. It was pretty traumatic at first so I was mostly concerned with getting the basic story down. So this is for all of you guys who haven't heard the story before. Mostly Megan. ;) Enjoy!

Okay, so in October my friend Kat wanted to hook me up with her brother Steven. He’d just barely gotten off his mission and he hadn’t been on a date since then which should have been a big indicator that I shouldn’t go out with him but eh, oh well. At least I’ll know in the future right? So she said she was trying to set it up so I would have a date with him Thursday and he’d go out with 2 other girls on Friday and Saturday. So I told her I would (more as a favor to her) and that she’d have to pick me up at my friend Kristal’s apartment at Old Farm because we were going to watch The Office that night. So she agreed and I told her that we would just go out for ice cream that night. That way if I thought the date was terrible it was alright because I would only be with him for half an hour. If it went well then…great!

So Thursday night rolled around and I was really nervous because I’d never been on a blind date before. After class the day Kat and I talked she introduced me to him really fast (he was outside our classroom) and I thought he looked kinda funny, like his eyes looked like they were sort of bugging out. Anywho, so I was at Kristal’s house then he came and picked me up and we drove to Casey’s ice cream place with Kat and her husband. So we talked and he was funny and I actually really liked him. So we had fun and made jokes, then we left the ice cream place and he walked me up to my room. I gave him a hug goodbye and then he asked if he could call me again, I said yes, and he left.

So yeah it was another 2 weeks after that before he actually called me. We talked for about an hour and he kept saying, “This is so weird! We’re talking like we’ve known each other forever and we’ve only seen each other for like half an hour! It usually takes years before I talk to someone like I’m talking to you.” So yeah we had fun and I kinda started to like him. So then probably 3 weeks went by and then he asked me on another date. It was the same week that we had to live in Richard’s hall because the boiler room in our building blew up. So he picked me up and we watched Ratatouille at his house. And then we talked for a long time. He kept telling me to ask him questions about his mission. So I asked him a question and he answered it and he had some really cool stories. So after he answered one I said, “So are we going to play a game like I ask you a question and you ask me a question?” He said, “No, I just really want to talk about my mission.” So yeah, that was kind of weird. He just wanted to talk about himself and wasn’t interested in learning more about me……yeah should have been a sign of some sort.

So basically I was over there until about 5:30 in the morning. Talking about him. And his mission. Yeah, we talked for a long time. Then I had class at 7:30 and that was sure fun. Anywho, so I thought we had a big connection and I got all excited and thought it might lead up to be something more than just a friendship. But yet again it took him about 2 weeks to talk to me again so that was really frustrating. But when he finally did call me I was a little sick but I really wanted to go out with him again so I said yes. He wanted to take me to Walmart to go buy some ingredients and then he wanted to take me to his apartment and make me dessert. So he picked me up and I got in his car and after a minute or 2 he said, “So I bet you've been wondering why I haven't been calling you for the past few weeks. Well I want to tell you something but I don’t know how to tell you.” I was thinking he was probably going to tell me that he liked me or something, which I would have been fine with and kind of excited about. So I said, “Well just try, go ahead and tell me what you want to tell me.” So he took a deep breath and said, “Ok. Well, I’ve been praying about us ever since our second date. Normally when I pray about girls that I like I get a straight out answer like, ‘No she’s not the right one for you,’ or whatever the answer is. But when I prayed about you and me, I didn’t get that kind of an answer. I think we should just give this a shot. Actually, I think that we belong together, and I think that the Lord really wants us together. We just get along so well together and we have so much fun together. I’ve fallen for some really shallow girls and you have a great personality. So after praying about it and stuff, I think we should give this a shot. That’s why I’ve waited so long to call you because I was afraid with the answer and how you would react. What do you think about it?”

Well, I was pretty much sick to my stomach. He basically proposed to me. It would’ve been ok if he just liked me, but after all that I was just like….well I started NOT liking him right then and there. So I said, “Well, I do like you but I think we need to take this REALLY slow. I’m a really slow person when it comes to relationships and we need to get to know each other better and stuff before we make that decision.” He’s like, “Yeah, I agree.” Then he told me he had to drop something off at a friend’s house. On our way over there he kept going… “You know, I think we were probably best friends in the pre-existence. No actually let me change that. I’m completely positive that we’re soul mates. I think that matchmaking angels have been all around us and have finally brought us together. I can just feel that we belong together.” Um okay, I was about ready to throw up at this point. So he kept saying stuff like that the whole time we were on our way to Walmart. It was crappy! So then we get to Walmart and I kept my hands in my pockets the whole time. The last thing I needed was someone I didn’t like that much trying to grab my hand. So we bought some ice cream and some stuff he needed to make apple crisp.

Then we drove back to his apartment. I was like thinking I must be dreaming. It sounded like something from the Singlesward, like when that guy Deverl tells that girl with the headgear “I think we met in the pre-existence.” I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me! It made me sick.

So we get to his apartment and he just kept saying the same things that he was so surprised I wasn’t running away (ha ha ha…) and that he just feels like we get along so well. Then he started talking about his first impressions of me and girls he’d liked in the past. It was a long, long hour I was over there. He said, “I usually fall for the drop-dead gorgeous girls and you’re totally not even like that so this is so weird that I like you. You’ve really taught me that personality is a lot more important than good looks. I mean, I remember the first time I saw you, right when my sister first introduced us after your English class. I took one look at you and I thought, ‘Well, she doesn’t really look like the type of girl that I would be interested in but I guess I’ll give her a shot.’” Yeah he kept going on with stuff like that for a while. It was really fun to listen to. Comments like that will really boost your self-esteem.

So as you can imagine I wanted to get out of their pretty fast. He wasn’t really trying to hurt my feelings but that’s what he was doing. So anyway, I was glad when the buzzer finally went off telling us that the apple crisp was done. So then Steven got out the ice cream box and he had a hard time opening it. So I made a joke and said, “Oh we’ll just eat the box with the ice cream, it’s no big deal.” Then he said, “Well, I guess it would be a good source of fiber.” I was like, “Yeah…” Then said, “You know, on my mission I put fiber sure in my food every day. I used to be able to hold my stomach in my hands because my stomach kinda flopped of (um, sick!). But after having fiber sure every day I guess it got all of the junk out of my intestines and I lost a lot of inches. I went down about 3 belt loops. You know, you should use fiber sure every day, then you wouldn’t be as fat.” OH MY HECK! So I said, “Well I’m not THAT bad.” He said, “Well you could still lose a lot of weight. You should totally start using fiber sure.” Wow. Believe it or not, it got worse!

Well then he started dishing out the apple crisp and thankfully I just started eating. He just kept talking and saying stuff like that over and over, telling me again and again that I had really taught him that personality is much more important than looks. That didn't stop him from making a few suggestions on how to improve my supposed ugliness. "You know," he said, "you should really try to do your hair curly every once in a while. I'm sick of seeing it straight all the time, it needs to change. Also I think your hair color is a little too dark, so you might want to change that too." I told him that I did my hair curly sometimes but the times he'd seen me my hair had been straight. Then he said, "You know, you should really try to wear contacts instead of your glasses." I told him that I wore contacts during the day but my eyes couldn't stand wearing them at night. Since we only ever hung out at night that's why I was always wearing my glasses. So he said, "Well take your glasses off for a minute so I can see what you look like without them." So I took them off and he said, "Hmm...maybe not." So I'm sitting there, facing this sliding glass door, and I'm looking at myself feeling like the fattest, ugliest person in the world! It was terrible! I wanted to get out of there!!!
So then he started talking about my family. “I really want to meet your family,” he said. I was like, “Why?” He said, “Well honestly I really just want to meet your mom. I want to watch how she mothers your siblings. They say that daughters usually have the some mothering style as their mothers, so I want to watch her to see how you would mother our children if we got married.” Whoa, that was extremely creepy. Then he said, “Now I know your family is moving to Texas ‘cause you told me that a while ago. So after we got married, we’d have to move to Iowa ‘cause I got a job offer there when I was on my mission for $60,000 a year without a degree. So if I get a degree I’ll get more money. So with that money I’d make sure we had about a $20,000 a year to devote to traveling so that you could fly down to Texas a few times a year to see your family. But we would have to move to Iowa for my job.” Okay, so how he’s planning out our budget after we’re married? This was getting way too creepy. So I told him I wasn’t feeling good and asked if he could take me home.

So he drove me home, and we talked in front of my door for a while. Then I told him I should probably go inside and go to bed, so he said “ok” and gave me a hug. So I hugged him for a while and then I let go. You know how you can tell when the person you’re hugging is trying to let go? Yeah, I guess he doesn’t have that ability because he kept hugging me for like 10 seconds after I had COMPLETELY let go. I had to sort of push him away. Then I was like, “Ok, see you later.” Then he hugged me again and basically the same thing happened again. After he FINALLY let go, he’s like, “Sorry, I just don’t want to leave you anymore. It just feels so good to hold you! But I guess I should probably go. So I’ll see you later.” So yeah finally he left. Needless to say I didn’t answer the phone when he called me the next day.

So his sister was furious at him and told me that he says mean things like that all the time, so right then I decided I never wanted to see him again. Then later his sister was mad at me because she had talked to him and said that I had misinterpreted some of the things he had said about me. Um, please tell me how that could POSSIBLY be misinterpreted! So yeah she was mad that I didn't want to date him anymore. Wow, how does that make sense? So anyway, long story short, he called me, left me a message saying he’d talked to his sister and “apparently he freaked me out about some stuff.” So I called him back, and he asked if he could explain anything and I said, “No, you don’t have to explain anything. I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking and I’ve decided to go in a different direction.” He told me he didn’t blame me at all and we told each other to have a good day.

So yeah, that was the end of that. It really hurt my feelings for a few days but now I can’t even believe that actually happened. It’s pretty funny that someone would actually do that. After he proposed to me he kept telling me I was fat and ugly. Such a delight, that boy. Totally joking by the way. If I never talk to that kid again it’ll be too soon haha.

Anywho, that was it. Here's an update on Steven's life right now. He went on a blind date with someone, a month and a half later they were married. Yeah, I guess he found someone who was just as desperate as he was haha. I guess that's a mean thing to say, but I do feel sorry for whomever he ended up with. I wouldn't want to be married to that kid. Anywho, have a great week everyone! :) Christmas is almost here, so Merry Christmas! WOOT WOOT!

Graduation is Around the Corner!

2009-11-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

Woot woot! Graduation is practically here! December 12th, baby! My wonderful Aunt Kaye made these announcements and I think they're pretty awesome. There's a pink one and a blue one too, but I like these black ones the best. Anyway, it looks like I only have 12 more days until I graduate. It's going to be fantastic but I'll be sad at the same time. I really liked college, and I'll really miss taking English classes and talking about all that English stuff. *sigh* It can't go on forever though, right? It had to end sometime. At least I ended on an easy semester rather than a hard one.

Well I actually finished my final draft of my final paper about half an hour ago. Woohoo! I think I can honestly say that I won't miss writing tons of papers all the times. Not research papers anyway. It'll also be nice to have my Family Finance class over with and my Natural Disasters class. Now the only thing I have left to do is turn in my paper on Friday and take my finals next week. I'm looking for good books to read and stuff to do. Right now I'm reading My Name is Asher Lev (which is a fantastic book by the way) and working on my quilt project. But that will be done pretty soon haha. I'm also watching the 4th season of House because my roommate bought it this weekend. So yeah, I'm just looking for options on what to do. So if you have any ideas let me know. :)

Well I'm pretty excited for the Christmas holidays. I love everything about Christmas, and I'm most excited about spending a lot of time with my family. I was going to have to work the 21-23 of Christmas break but I knew I would get really homesick and stuff so I got someone else to take those shifts for me. Last year when I was up here by myself it was really hard and really depressing. When it's Christmastime, all you want to do is be with your family. So I was glad I got those shifts taken care of. I do have to work the 15th and the 16th the first week of the break, but it's only for two days and my roommate will be up there for those two days as well. So I shouldn't be too lonely up there, and I'll be working 8 or 9 hours a day. Life is great!

Well I only have like 5 minutes left of work so I have to go. I'll talk to you all later! Have a great week everyone! I love you all!

I Think I Have Officially Changed Teams

2009-11-21T10:17:00.001-08:00

Now if this isn't one of the sexiest guys you've ever seen, I don't know what's wrong with you but you'd better get your head on straight. He looks even better in the movie if you ask me. Anyway, onto my story.

So last night my friend Sam and I had a little adventure going to the midnight showing of New Moon and we stood outside for about an hour an fifteen minutes or so. We had fun talking about guys and just catching up on each other's lives. Anyway so we were chatting and then the next thing I knew this girl in a white jacket just bolted out of the door and ran through the parking lot. A few seconds later this guy came out the door and took off after her. I figured maybe she forgot something in her car, maybe they were flirting, I don't know. Then maybe thirty seconds after that a group of girls came out and asked, "Did anyone see a girl running out? Do you know which way she went?" So I told them which way she went and they also started charging in that direction. They went clear into the other parking lot and seemed like they were looking for her. Was she running away or something and her friends were trying to find her? Sam and I kept looking over in that direction to see if they found her or if they were coming back, but soon they disappeared and we never saw them after that.

Well we kind of blew it off after a while, but then about 5 or 10 mintues later the earlier showing of New Moon got out or something, and these two ladies came out. Sam and I assumed it was a teenager (like 13-14) and her mother; it could have been her older sister though, we don't know. So at first glance it looked like the mom just had her arm around her daughter. But then it looked like the girl was trying to pull away. Then we could clearly see that the girl was trying to get away from her mom and her mom kept trying to hold onto her. It looked like she was trying to run away too or something. So I think they must have gotten pretty close to their car because the mom kind of started walking towards one, but then the girl suddenly started trying to twist around and break free and then boom! She escaped her mom's grasp and took off running! Her mom charged after her but the girl was extremely quick. She almost got hit by a truck because she didn't even bother to check for cars while she was running. So after she almost got hit by the truck we didn't see either of them again. It was crazy! What was this movie doing to people?! We thought maybe the girl might of been mentally disabled or something a little bit by the way she was trying to get away from her mom. It really looked like something a small child would do, not a teenager. Anyway, I guess we'll never know. Last night was full of mystery.

So the movie itself? AMAZING! Much better than Twilight. Now, I love the books but I really didn't like the first movie. I watched it once when it came out and I was very disappointed. Also I don't think Robert Patterson is that attractive and he's a pretty big slob too. We watched him on Jay Leno the same night I saw Twilight and his hair was so greasy and his clothes weren't even straight. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He said that he didn't like the way his hair felt after it was washed so when he took a shower he rarely washed his hair. Look pal, let me tell you something. You can't play Edward in Twilight and then act like a slob in public. I was so disgusted! Yeah, and in all honesty I don't think he's a terrific actor. Here's a picture of the guy that I wanted to play Edward.

Well I was actually looking on IMDB and he was Humphrey on Star Dust. I had no idea! THis guy's name is Henry Cavill, and he's a hunk! Anyway, this is who I pictured as Edward and I think that this is who Stephanie Meyer thought should play Edward as well. Anyway so yeah, I wasn't too happy with the Edward they picked but hey some people really like him and that's great.

So anyway, when I was reading the novels I was always team Edward, hands down. I didn't understand how there could even be a choice, like how could anyone possibly think that Jacob could be the one to end up with Bella? Edward was clearly the obvious choice. But after seeing New Moon last night I feel completely the opposite. Edward was so pathetic and an idiot and weak! I couldn't see how she could pick Edward over Jacob! Sam and I were talking about this after the movie and we were both so conflicted and felt exactly the same way! We were crying when Edward left Bella at the beginning, but I cried even harder when Bella lowered the boom on Jacob. It literally ripped my heart out. I hate Bella! She's such an idiot! Ugh! Anyway, so it was very sad. Sam reminded me, "At least we know that it ends up working out for him in the end." *sigh* It's true, but I'd never thought of Edward as second choice. Or really no choice at all. But yeah, Edward never seemed so needy, whiny, and useless in my head while I was readint he novels. Unfortunately that's exactly what he was in the movie.

So my decision has come to this: for now, when it comes to the novels I am ALL team Edward. But when it comes to the movies I'm TEAM JACOB! Woohoo!

Anywho, so there's my story. Hopefully later today Sam and I and a few other people are going to go watch 2012. That should be pretty fun. :) Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm All Excited for the Holidays!!!

2009-11-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Well here I am again. As you can see I changed my blog layout and I LOVE IT!! I kinda got sick of the one that I had because I've never had anything different. So I searched around and my awesome friend Megan showed me and I found this great background! It's http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ and I love it! Woohoo! They had adorable looking blog templates and it was easy to put them on my blog. Woot woot! Yay for easy!

So on Wednesday I had a pretty awesome experience. As some of you may know, I've been taking classes from my favorite professor (we'll call him Dr. M) throughout my college years. I am currently taking my 4th class from him and it's a class on Jane Austen. I love it! He's going to teach this amazing theory class next semester. They'll be reading amazing books like Alice in Wonderland, The Hounds of Baskerville, Hamlet, The House on Haunted Hill, etc. It's going to be a really psychologically mind-bending writing class, and I actually considered putting off graduation for one semester just so I could take that class. But then I remembered I don't have another couple thousand dollars to spend haha.

Anyway, so on Wednesday after that class I went into his office to talk about a paper. Before I could say anything, I sat down and he said, "So there's absolutely no way that you can take the theory class from me next semester?"

Me: "Well no, I wish there was but I'm graduating this semester."

Dr. M.: "Oh graduating. Well that is a problem." (pause for 5 seconds) "What if I failed you?"

Me: "Haha. Well I need this credit to graduate so I guess if you failed me I would have to stay another semester."

Dr. M.: "Well, problem solved. Cancel all of your graduation announcements, I think we have a solution. I'll just fail you in this class and then you'll have to stay another semester and take that class from me."

Haha I was laughing pretty hard. So then he said, "Here, let me show you the books that we're going to read for that class next semester." So he rolled over on his swivel chair and showed me all the books I listed above and more. Then he said, "I tried to pick books I thought my students would like; you know, the ones that have taken classes from me for a while, like you. So when I was trying to think of what books to use for the theory class I was thinking, 'What kinds of books would Alisa like to read?'" So I was bummed. I told him that a lot of those books were on my reading list of books I want to read. He said, "Well, you can always read those books outside of a class." But seriously guys, that's not nearly as fun. Especially when you've already taken a mind-bending class from Dr. M. like my Don Quixote class. Anywho, so what we figured out was that he would email me the class discussions and I could follow along with the readings and the discussions. Anyway, I was just really touched that I made such a good impression on my favorite professor that he wanted to have me as a student for one more semester. Also it was nice to hear that he tried to pick novels that I would like (I'm sure that he had other students in mind as well). But yeah, it was a big compliment that he wanted me to stay. I really admire and respect him, and it always feels good to get a compliment from someone you admire. :)

Well it is FRIDAY and only a few more days until I get to go home for the Thanksgiving break! WOOHOO! I am so excited! Plus I finished all of my homework for the rest of the semester so I can do whatever I want during the break! Then I will come back after the break for a week of classes, then have two finals the week after that, and then I will be graduated on December 12th! Yes! Then I have to work here in Logan for about a week or so, and then it's a big long Christmas break for me. Yippee! Then I have to look for a job and all that, but right now I'm just focusing on Thanksgiving break! I am so excited!

Anywho, that was just a brief update. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I also hope that I will start writing in this more often. I love you all!

Candy, Chili, and a Woopie Cushion

2009-11-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

Well, there you have it. My Halloween costume. My friend Kristy lives in North Ogden and we went down to her place on Halloween to go trick-or-treating. Yes, that's right, we went trick-or-treating. We only went to houses of the people that knew Kristy so we didn't get a bunch of weird looks. As you can imagine, I was quite popular with my costume. I got lots of attention and candy. It was great. Kristy's mom just had a bunch of random costumes for us to choose from and I think I made the right choice. :)

So another thing that helped us get away with trick-or-treating as "adults" is that we had two Chinese foreign exchange students named Alex and Paul. So we kept explaining to people that we were giving them the American trick-or-treating experience. People got all excited and loved asking them how they liked it and everything. So yeah if you don't have any children to take around trick-or-treating, then find some foreign exchange students to take around and it doesn't matter how old you are. It really was so great, and half the houses we went to had full-size candy bars! Yeah, overall the trip was successful.

After we were done trick-or-treating we went over to Kristy's grandparents' house to enjoy some chili and rolls. It was fantastic! We were pretty exhausted after walking up and down several hills so it was nice to sit down and have some dinner. But we all ate way too much and we were extremely tired. So once we got in the car Alex and Paul fell asleep and Michelle, Kristy and I just stayed up talking all the way back up to Logan.

So after we dropped off Alex and Paul we three girls went back to Pine View and decided to watch a movie. But while we were sitting there trying to decide which movie to watch, Michelle and Kristy fell asleep on the floor. Then I told them that we could watch a movie another time, but as soon as they got up they said, "Wow, I'm really not that tired anymore. I think we could watch a movie." So it was about 11:00 when we got back and we didn't start the movie until closer to midnight. We decided to watch Frequency and they fell asleep a little bit at the beginning, but after the first 20 minutes they stayed wide awake the whole time. I was really impressed haha. But I had to watch them walk across the lobby to their apartment to make sure they made it back safely. They were walking like they were drunk haha. But yeah that's how the night ended, and it was fabulous!

So yeah, there's my Halloween story. In other news, I will be graduating in 6 weeks! December 12th! HOLY CRAP! What am I going to do with my life, you may ask? I'll tell you.

I don't know (picture me saying it just like Tevye on Fiddler on the Roof).

My plan right now is that I am for sure moving home and looking for a job. But I may be looking into going to grad school next fall. But we'll see what happens. I've got some pretty difficult decisions to make. But yeah right now I'm just looking for a good job. At least I'll have a degree so I won't have to do any more pathetic jobs that I took during the summer. Now I can actually pick and choose the job I want instead of just taking whatever I can get. Yay! Anywho, I'll keep you updated on what happens; right now I'm just trying to focus on school, getting good grades, and just getting excited for the holidays. HOORAY FOR HOLIDAYS! Have a great week everybody!

Back to My Life

2009-09-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well I do have a lot more to that story, and I actually had a majoy breakthrough a few nights ago with it. But I think I'll start writing about my life again, since people seem to respond to that more. If you'd like me to keep you updated or email you the rest of what I have then email me or comment on this and I'll send you a copy.

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've written about my life. Too bad I wasn't writing about my life this summer because I was working at the Utah State Developmental Center and there were a lot of funny stories there haha. For those of you that don't know, USDC is a place right across the street from the Mount Timpanogas Temple in American Fork and it's a place where they house over 200 handicapped individuals and take care of them. It was a very very hard job, but I had some pretty good laughs along the way.

Also this summer Andrew left on his mission to the New York City, New York South Spanish speaking mission. He's been there for over a month now and he's been gone probably almost 4 months. It's actually gone by relatively fast, for me anyway. So he's in Long Island right now teaching those people and his apartment is about a 5 minute drive away from where my dad's office is located. Poor Dad! He says that he sees missionaries around all the time and he's always afraid that he'll see Andrew. Oh by the way, for those of you who didn't know, my dad flies over to New York about every other week for his job. Then when he's home for a week or so he just works at his office he has in American Fork or at home. Anyway, so that's been hard for him but he'll be ok.

Another exciting thing is that it's my last semester of school! Woohoo! Graduate in December baby! Really it's not as exciting as it sounds. I mean don't get me wrong, I am terribly excited and proud to be graduating from college but that means that I have to deal with real life now. It's been nice being able to say, "Yeah I'm just going to college right now," and not have to think much farther in advance than that. But no I have to decide what to do. I've thought about trying to get a teaching job at a charter school (I'm an English major with an emphasis in creative writing), going back to school and getting a degree in nursing, going to grad school in either human resources or literature, etc. I don't know, there are a lot of options here. The trouble is that I'm just too good at too many things and I'm interested in too many things. But for now I just keep praying and reading my scriptures and such, waiting for the Lord to direct me in what he wants me to do. Who knows, maybe I'll end up dating somebody and get in engaged, HAHA! Yeah I know, that would be crazy!

Well anywho, I have to study for a test in my Natural Disaster class. It's my first test of the semester actually. I've been pretty lucky indeed! I'm only taking 3 real classes: Natural Disasters, Family Finanace, and a Jane Austen class (LOVE THAT CLASS!). Anywho so this semester has probably been one of my easiest so far. That's nice for my last semester, especially when comparing it to my previous spring semester where I had to write hundreds of pages in my writing classes. So when I have only 2 papers in my Jane Austen class that total 13-15 pages, I'm pretty thrilled. So yeah there you go. :) I will update some more later, and I'm excited to start writing about my life again! Woohoo! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Next part! Sorry it's taking so long!

2009-09-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ariana and her friends barely said a word to each other once they were in their barracks. It was painful for Ariana to see the worry and fear in their eyes. Even Sarina and Aiden were just as frightened as the rest of them. After they got dressed in their night clothes, they all said goodnight to each other and crawled in their beds.
Ariana had a hard time sleeping that night. When she was awake she would just stare at her friends, wishing she could protect them somehow from what they were about to go through. When she fell asleep, she dreamed of moments of all of her friends wrestling with agony while she was forced to watch. The entire night was filled with relentless torture and the band on her wrist seemed to slowly tighten all night.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Ariana heard the familiar beep of her wake-up call. Her eyes darted across the room at her friends, and it was obvious that their night hadn’t gone much better than hers had. No one looked at each other. Everyone just went to their lockers for their clothes then to their dressing rooms to change. As they were getting ready, the female voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Attention all teams. Please put on your provided uniforms and wait in your barracks for your instructions.”
Moving at a slow pace, they hoped to put off the time of their instructions as long as possible. Once they’d done everything they could do they all wandered aimlessly to different parts of the room. Hoping the scenery would take her mind off of things, Ariana walked toward the window. The trees were all black, as if the shadow of the night never left them. The black mist from the previous night was now a grey fog that filled the sky and crawled across the ground.
Ariana didn’t know how long she was standing there, but she snapped out of her trans when the door swung open and Steinblik yelled, “Everyone in a line NOW!” He caught everyone off guard but they formed a line as quickly as they could. Ariana and her friends stood there, and Steinblik flashed Ariana a crooked smile. Ariana merely rolled her eyes as she stood in line.
“Alright,” Steinblik said calmly, “Galina will be here soon with her instructions. She and I were up for a while discussing how we should test you today, whether we should start easier or just go straight to torture. Unfortunately, protocol doesn’t allow me to share with you what level we picked for you today. On the bright side, you will soon find out.” He chuckled softly to himself. “Now, everyone stand up straight when Galina comes in and listen carefully to what she has to say. You will need every bit of information you can get your hands on for this task. Now shut up and stand there!”
Suddenly their door quietly opened and Galina quietly entered the room. Everyone stood up straight with pits in their stomachs. Galina spoke in a soothing voice. “I understand your fear, but take courage in the friendships you have here and take comfort in the arms of your friends. You will all suffer; such is the way of everything. But these friendships will lift your team up higher than you ever thought possible. Do not seek peace in solitude; it will surely lead to your downfall. Seek peace with your companions as you are all tried together. If you pull together you will not fail.”
They stood there sheepishly, embarrassed that she had to inform them of why they were friends and why they needed each other. She continued in a voice with a tone of authority, “Your task today will be a difficult one. It will be your first taste of what you will experience here every day. Captain Steinblik and I have been talking about who your team leader will be. He or she will have a very difficult job. In the end of your discussions it will be his or her job to make the final call. When the days come where your team is tested person by person the team leader must watch each of their teammates suffer through their tasks to see how their strengths and weaknesses could help or hinder the team. They will carry the weight of the team on their shoulders.” She paused to let them all take in the new information she had given. She then took a deep breath and said, “After discussing this with Steinblik, we have both concluded that…Ariana should be the team leader.”
Ariana felt her heart drop to the floor.
“Ariana,” Galina rescued her, “I know you are overwhelmed with this new responsibility. But I will be here to help you, as well as Captain Steinblik.”
“Right,” thought Ariana. “Like a fox after a wounded chick he’ll help me.”
Galina continued, “You will receive separate instructions from your teammates and you can only share this with one person when absolutely necessary. We’ve chosen Merric to be your second in command.”
“Well,” thought Ariana, “At least I’ll have some help. Merric is better at all that tactical fighting stuff than me anyway.”
Galina stood up straighter, looking more solid. “Today for your first task you will need to make your way through a castle, facing whatever you find there. Then you must find the secret way out and go through to the next challenge. You will receive more instruction there.” Galina glanced over at Ariana. “Stay close to each other and take direction from Ariana. She will have more knowledge and understanding of what is occurring than the rest of you. Trust her.” She paused for a moment and then turned to Steinblik. “Alright Captain Steinblik, they’re all yours.” Then she turned and gracefully left the room.
Once Galina left the room, Ariana felt discouraged and hopeless. Maybe if she wouldn’t have been so sarcastic to Steinblik at first she wouldn’t be in this terrible position right now. But something inside told her that she probably would have been chosen anyway for some other reason.
“Ariana! Do you intend on standing there all day?!” yelled Steinblik. “I said to go get into your uniforms!” Ariana jumped at his harsh yelling, and then hung her head slightly. “Sorry sir, I’ll get right to it.” She started to walk to her locker, wishing she could just crawl into her bed and cry until she could go home. Ariana started taking her clothes out of her locker. She turned to go to the dressing rooms only to find Steinblik in her face.
“You know,” he said “for a team leader you’re really starting off with a crappy first step.” Then he snickered, “I’m going to love watching your team crash and burn all because their team leader can’t even stand up and get ready without nearly crying. You won’t last more than a day in this test. You can’t even take charge of yourself let alone your friends.” Ariana looked away, but Steinblik quickly grabbed her jaw and pulled it right to his face. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being,” he spat out.
Ariana looked into his dark eyes. A sudden rage boiled up within her. She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter. With one swift move Ariana smacked his arms out of her way, grabbed his shirt by the neck and shoved him against the wall. She pointed a finger right to his face and said with a dark tone in her voice. “If you ever touch me again I won’t hesitate one second to break your neck.” She held him against the wall a few more seconds then let him go.
Ariana started walking off when Steinblik yelled, “Seeing as I am your leader it is my right to touch you whenever I darn well please!” Ariana stopped where she was, turned around and said, “Do you want to bet your life on that?” With that she turned and walked into her dressing room.

Next part

2009-07-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long, but I'll post this up right now. Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me in my writing and tell me what you think. I love you guys!

They all got there gasping for breath and looked at the scene surrounding them. Surprisingly, there were not as many people as they thought there would be. There were still hundreds there, but not the tens of thousands they'd expected. The stadium seats wrapped around an open stage at the front of the room. They saw their team leader, Steinblik, and hurriedly sat by him. They started chit-chatting for a little while, but they were hushed as someone walked across the stage.
He was older than any man Ariana had ever seen. His eyes had a grey glaze over them. His hair was silvery white with hair down to the middle of his back and a matching beard that flowed close to his navel. He had boney fingers and his nails were sharply pointed. He had surprisingly fair skin for his presumably old age. That is, other than the scar that swept across his right eye. He wore an old, pale blue cloak down past his feet. He walked slowly and shakily to the center of the stage with a staff in his hand. When he got there, he turned to face the audience and stood straight up. It was easy to see that he was tall now that he wasn’t hunched over. He opened his mouth to speak and everyone leaned in to hear.
“Welcome my young warriors,” he said with a loud, raspy voice. “Today is the beginning of a new life for all of you. Everything in your life will change. You will see others around you change when faced with experiences they’ve never had before.” While he paused to prepare for what he was about to say, Ariana thought how much more fascinating it was to hear this coming from him compared to everyone else she’d heard it from over the past few days.
“This test is not for the light hearted. It will test every aspect of your souls. You will face your worst fears imaginable. It is imperative that you learn to work together as a team and help each other survive. I have seen many suffer and die because of the lack of support and teamwork. Let us avoid having problems of this sort at all costs.” He paused again, and then vaguely pointed his finger out to the audience.
“You may have noticed that those in your groups are your close companions throughout your lives.” Everyone exchanged looks of encouragement and smiled. He continued, “You may think this will make your test easier, but in thinking this you could not be more mistaken.” Murmurs were heard throughout the auditorium. How could it possibly make things harder? Friends know how to work together. Everyone had the same expression of confusion and they were all talking to their friends.
When the noise continued the old man yelled, “SILENCE!” and pounded his stick on the stage. A yellow, icy mist spread throughout the auditorium that shocked every into silence. As Ariana breathed in it felt as though her vocal cords had been frozen.
The old man cleared his throat and spoke again. “I can see that none of you believe me. But let me ask you something and I want you to really think about it. Have you ever seen a friend suffer beyond anything you can imagine? What do you think that would do to you to see all of your close companions suffer in such a way?”
A silent feeling of fear and dread instantly filled the auditorium. Pictures of all kind of torture played through Ariana’s mind. There was no way to know what inexplicable horrors awaited her and her friends, or how it would affect her to see them happen to her friends. Not only would she suffer on the individual scale but those closest to her would suffer the same amount if not more. She slouched in her seat and got that sickening pit in her stomach again.
The old man smiled slightly. As he paused, his eyes gazed off somewhere into the distance, as if his mind was seeking as escape from the mental burdens he must carry. He looked at everyone with his heavy eyes. “Unfortunately, I can tell you no more of what to expect. There is no way you can prepare for what is coming any more than you’ve already done. This will be an unforgettable experience for you, in positive and negative ways.” He then stooped over and shuffled across the stage. “Good luck to all of you, and may God watch over you.”
Everyone sat there, too shocked to move a muscle. Ariana’s mind infected itself with terrifying images. She had a deep, foreboding feeling inside that she would soon learn for herself what true suffering was.
Ariana wasn’t left alone with her thoughts for long. Soon a young woman softly walked to the center of the stage, almost gliding it seemed. She had fair skin like the old man. Her eyes were bright blue, almost bright enough to be luminescent. She was tall and thin with a long, silky white dress on that flowed beneath her as she walked. She spoke with a clear, angelic voice. “You have just met Gerick, one of the greatest men in the universe. My name is Galina, and before you leave, I need to give you some information on this test.
“You are no longer on your planet, Earth. You are on a different planet, light years away from Earth called Crotela. We have been in an alliance with your people for hundreds of years. When Earth’s population was nearly overflowing your planet, we suggested to your people that some of them be moved to another planet, the one you call Valtino. With Earth’s resources depleting, your people had no choice. Once it was decided to move some people from Earth to Valtino, we then had to decide how to choose who would go to Valtino and who could stay on Earth. We could have done it through random selection, but we needed to make sure that those who were on Earth were worthy to stay there. Valtino is not the most terrible place to live, but you will definitely have a higher quality of life on Earth. Valtino is a large planet not unlike the planet. It is dry, dusty, and has severe temperature differences between its coldest and hottest temperatures. Unlike Mars, however, the air there is definitely breathable. But because you were not raised on Valtino your bodies will react strongly to the differences between it and Earth. I don’t want to go into too many details about what will happen to you if that’s where you are sent, but suffice it to say that your life expectancy will not be quite as high as it would be on Earth.
“So you can see clearly it wouldn’t be fair to send random people to live at Valtino and then another random group to stay on Earth. After long discussions with your leaders, we had the idea for this test. It took us many years to design, but for several generations now your people have been taking this test and we have been successful in our quest ever since.
“Now that you are here, there is no turning back. If you stop now you will have no hope for a future and you will be sent to Valtino or be killed with no hope of returning to Earth for any reason. There is no way of escaping. You’re on a different planet, so where would you go?” She paused for a while, allowing what she had said to sink in, and then continued.
“You will begin your testing tomorrow. You and your teammates will be asked to complete a task. There is no time limit on these tasks, but you will want to get them done as quickly as possible. Some shouldn’t take more than a day while others will take up to a week or more. You will be given instructions on what you are to accomplish, but nothing more. There are no hints or secrets to get you out of your task faster; you will be completely on your own. Your group leader will be with you but only for observation and nothing more. Every night I will discuss with your group leader how you did on tasks and what positions you will have. I have no say in what goes on, but I will see you every morning to get your instructions for the day.”
Galina then looked seriously at us, as if she was staring each of us individually in the face. “This is not a game,” she said in a dark, looming tone. “Your lives will be at stake every day. The things that will be after you are real, and just like any other animal they will attack you. They will not use pity or mercy. Nothing will stop them other than the actions you take to defend yourselves. Your survival depends entirely upon you and your group members.” She paused and pulled back her dark voice. “Now, you must go to bed. You’ll need your rest for tomorrow. Best of luck to all of you.” With that, she walked gracefully off the stage.

Next Edition

2009-04-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Ariana jumped out of her bed the next morning when she heard a loud beeping noise over the loud-speaker. Everyone shot up in their beds and held their ears tightly. The noise was loud enough where they thought their ears would burst. Then, the noise stopped and a female computer-like voice came on:
"Attention all teams: report to the auditorium immediately for your orientation. Your new clothes are available in the locker with your name on it. The lockers are located at the back of your rooms. You may put your other clothes in the incinerator slot. You have fifteen minutes."
As soon as the message stopped, a big, burly man stormed into the room. All the faces turned sharply towards the door. His face looked stone solid, and Ariana didn't know what to expect. They all stood there and stared at him. After several long moments passed, he spoke in the same voice Ariana recognized as the one she'd heard the night before. "My name is Captain Steinblik. I am your leader for your long and painful test. I am merely here to watch you. I seldom offer help, if at all, and I am not here to solve the problems you will face. I have all authority to do what I want with you. I am not your care taker, I am your superior and I WILL be treated with respect no matter what the circumstance. If anyone even begins to question my authority they will be punished severely." Captain Steinblik stood and paused, still solid in his stance. "Now, you have thirteen minutes left to get ready, so I suggest you do so. If I do not see you in the auditorium in precisely thirteen minutes there will be sore consequences to your actions."
He then glared at Ariana and said, "And unless you would like to see what hell on Earth I can give you, I would get ready quickly."
Ariana gave Steinblik a look of sympathy that he couldn't threaten her better than that. Steinblik’s face turned red at my sarcastic gesture, and then a slow smile crept across his face. "Oh I'm going to have lots of fun with you," he said. Then he looked around at everyone else in the room and yelled, "Get going!" He then left the room and slammed the door.
Everyone in the room scrambled to get to their lockers to get their clothes on. Ariana wasn't really paying attention, trying to get over the slight homesickness she felt. She sighed as she got out of bed and turned towards the lockers. She began to take her new set of clothes out when she heard a familiar voice call to her. "Ariana! You can't just walk away without saying 'hello.' How dare you?!" A huge smile came to her face as she turned and saw her best friend's face. "Merric! I didn't know you were on my team! I didn't think we'd even see each other."
Merric smiled and laughed with her. He gave her a big hug and said, "But I'm not the only one here, you know." He stepped aside revealing Ariana's little group of friends. Marcellus stood there with his red hair and usual baggy clothes. His freckled face smiled at her as he stood there with his hands plunged into his pockets as usual. Then she saw Aiden with his curly black hair and sarcastic manner just waiting to make a joke. Kendra stood next to Aiden, her short stature painfully obvious. Her dark brown hair made her face look pale and she smiled weakly. Last of all was Sarina, and her bright smile outshined everyone else’s by a mile. Sarina giggled to herself and gave a quick wave. Tears slowly appeared in Ariana's eyes. She wouldn't be alone after all, and they could all help each other. She felt hope and courage spring into her body, and she laughed with excitement.
"Hey, this is all fun and everything, but I'm thinking we should get dressed if we don't want our heads on a plate," said Aiden. With that, they all got their clothes and went to their dressing rooms to change. Then they all headed towards the auditorium, running to make sure they were on time.

And We Continue On

2009-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ariana’s eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the light. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was exactly. Before she could come to any conclusions, she noticed someone standing by the door. "Mom?" she asked in her croaking morning voice. The voice she heard next she didn't expect at all. She heard a deep, foreboding voice chuckle. Then he said, "You won't be seeing your mommy for a long time. You've been laying there for two days, and you'll be here a lot longer than that. And you won't have anyone like ‘Mommy’ the entire time you're here." He then slowly walked up to her in the bed, and got within inches of her face. He gruffly spat out, "So I suggest you suck up whatever you're feeling because it doesn't matter to anyone down here, understand?!"
Ariana sat up in her bed and looked straight into his bloodshot eyes. "Whatever, Sarge." She responded coldly. He glared back at her, as if he was trying to warn her she was messing with the wrong person. Then, he turned around and walked out.
Now that he was gone, Ariana had time to look around at her surroundings. The room she sat in was small and similar to a hospital room. It was filled with a few other beds with people who appeared to be her age in a similar state of mind. Some of them were still sleeping, while others were sitting up looking as confused as she must have looked. Now that Ariana had woken up, she realized it was dark outside. The sky wasn't twinkling with stars, or even black with cloud cover. There was a looming black mist throughout the sky that she could feel just by looking at it. The trees on the ground looked like they were trying to crawl closer to her room as the dark wind blew across its branches.
Allowing her eyes to browse the forest, Ariana stopped when she saw several pairs of beady red eyes. She had no idea where she was and therefore couldn’t possibly know what sort of wildlife could be out there. As she sat there watching, a massive black wolf came out of the wood a few feet from where the eyes sat. He went slowly, as if he was stalking a helpless animal. His eyes looked hungry, and his teeth were sharp and dripping with fresh blood. His snout was long and thin, which added to his freakish face. His body was bulky, while his forelegs were surprisingly scrawny. He chillingly crept across the open grass. As Ariana tip-toed to the window to get a better look, the wolf snapped his head right in her direction. She gasped not at his sudden movement, but his hypnotic yellow eyes. The window was at ground level, and the wolf must have been no more than one hundred feet away from her. He bore his teeth at her and Ariana saw drool slowly dropping from his angry mouth. She froze where she stood, too terrified to move. She scrunched her eyes tightly, preparing for whatever she could. She had to be brave, no matter what happened. Ariana decided to open her eyes just a sliver, and as she gradually opened them she saw that he was gone. Ariana looked everywhere she could but didn't find him. Not even the little red eyes she had seen in the forest were there now. She stood there for several minutes, trying to calm herself down. Suddenly a huge wave of exhaustion came over her and she lethargically shuffled to her bed, rubbing her hair band.

Second Part :)

2009-04-06T15:15:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! I'm so excited you liked the first part of the story. I will now post the second part right before I head to my fiction class haha. Enjoy!

Ariana’s eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the light. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was exactly. Before she could come to any conclusions, she noticed someone standing by the door. "Mom?" she asked in her croaking morning voice. The voice she heard next she didn't expect at all. She heard a deep, foreboding voice chuckle. Then he said, "You won't be seeing your mommy for a long time. You've been laying there for two days, and you'll be here a lot longer than that. And you won't have anyone like ‘Mommy’ the entire time you're here." He then slowly walked up to her in the bed, and got within inches of her face. He gruffly spat out, "So I suggest you suck up whatever you're feeling because it doesn't matter to anyone down here, understand?!"
Ariana sat up in her bed and looked straight into his bloodshot eyes. "Whatever, Sarge." She responded coldly. He glared back at her, as if he was trying to warn her she was messing with the wrong person. Then, he turned around and walked out.
Now that he was gone, Ariana had time to look around at her surroundings. The room she sat in was small and similar to a hospital room. It was filled with a few other beds with people who appeared to be her age in a similar state of mind. Some of them were still sleeping, while others were sitting up looking as confused as she must have looked. Now that Ariana had woken up, she realized it was dark outside. The sky wasn't twinkling with stars, or even black with cloud cover. There was a looming black mist throughout the sky that she could feel just by looking at it. The trees on the ground looked like they were trying to crawl closer to her room as the dark wind blew across its branches.
Allowing her eyes to browse the forest, Ariana stopped when she saw several pairs of beady red eyes. She had no idea where she was and therefore couldn’t possibly know what sort of wildlife could be out there. As she sat there watching, a massive black wolf came out of the wood a few feet from where the eyes sat. He went slowly, as if he was stalking a helpless animal. His eyes looked hungry, and his teeth were sharp and dripping with fresh blood. His snout was long and thin, which added to his freakish face. His body was bulky, while his forelegs were surprisingly scrawny. He chillingly crept across the open grass. As Ariana tip-toed to the window to get a better look, the wolf snapped his head right in her direction. She gasped not at his sudden movement, but his hypnotic yellow eyes. The window was at ground level, and the wolf must have been no more than one hundred feet away from her. He bore his teeth at her and Ariana saw drool slowly dropping from his angry mouth. She froze where she stood, too terrified to move. She scrunched her eyes tightly, preparing for whatever she could. She had to be brave, no matter what happened. Ariana decided to open her eyes just a sliver, and as she gradually opened them she saw that he was gone. Ariana looked everywhere she could but didn't find him. Not even the little red eyes she had seen in the forest were there now. She stood there for several minutes, trying to calm herself down. Suddenly a huge wave of exhaustion came over her and she lethargically shuffled to her bed, rubbing her hair band.

I'll post the next bit soon, I just have to run to class. Thanks for the comments! I love hearing what you think. :)

First Little Part of a BIG Story I'm Working On

2009-03-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been looking at a few blogs and I guess people like to post things that they've written. So, I've decided to post the first little part of my "novel" or whatever. I mean there's a lot that needs to be done with it and I haven't even written half of it (only the first 18 pages) but I've gotten more motivated lately to write more in it. Anywho, I don't want to overwhelm you guys or anything so I'll only post the first little itty-bitty bit for now. More will come later, but I'd just like to see if you guys like it or not. Also, the title for now is "The Test" but that will definitely change. Anywho, here it is! Let me know if you'd like me to post more! (And yes, I've always loved Ari's name so I used it as the name for my main character, only altered the full name slightly. I hope that's ok :) ).

"Ari, it's time to go," her father says, watching Ariana brush her hair. "We don't want to be late; you don't want to miss your instructions. It’s no way to start your test." She wiped a tear from her already tear-soaked face and picked up her bag, the only thing they allowed her to bring.
As they drove, she couldn't help but wonder what the next little while would do to her, how it would change her life and the way she lived. She had been training rigorously for the test ever since she could walk. Would she become a completely different person after everything was over? Would she be better or worse that she was before? What would she learn from the test? And, the most important question, would she be able to survive? These were questions she’d been asking herself her entire life, but they held more significance now that she was merely hours away from the beginning.
Ariana and her parents arrived at the place everyone was told to meet. It was a strange building she had never seen before. Shaped cylindrically and made of brick, the building appeared to be spiraling upward, reaching towards the sky to escape. She'd never seen a building made of brick before. The architecture didn’t particularly amaze her other than that, though; just a plain building with doors. Ariana expected something that was slightly more elaborate in its design than this seemingly boring building. Nevertheless, her parents assured her that this was where they were supposed to be. So, reluctantly, she followed them in.
The inside was nothing spectacular either. The walls were plain brick with no pictures, posters or windows of any kind. Her parents slowly led her to an elevator. But instead of approaching the entrance of the elevator with her, her parents stopped about five feet away. Ariana looked to see how many floors there were, but there were no numbers, only an arrow pointing down. She turned around and asked, "Aren't you coming with me?" Her mother's eyes misted as she said, 'No, Ari, we are not permitted to go any farther with you. We will see you soon, but from here until you are finished you must continue on your own." Tears poured freely down Ariana's face. She couldn’t leave them, not yet. She thought she'd at least have an hour or so with them. Ariana felt a knot in her stomach as she looked at her parents for one last time, and wondered if she would ever see them again. She leapt into her mother's arms, "You'll be home soon," she said. "This test will be hard for you, but it is for the best. We are so proud of you for your willingness to take this test." Ariana quickly shot a, "Thanks, Mom," as a tear trickled down her cheek.
She then turned to her father. He took her in his arms, and whispered in her ear, "You'll be back before you know it. We will pray for you every day." Then he pulled her away and looked her in the eyes. "This test is very rigorous, and will change your life. I've seen you in your training, and I know you will succeed. Never lose faith in yourself and what you're doing. You will survive if you just remember that and how much we love you. It will be hard, make no mistake about that. But the experience and knowledge you will gain will be irreplaceable. Your mother and I couldn't be more proud of you." Then he slapped her on the behind and said, “Now go out there and show ‘em what you’re made of!” Ariana laughed at the butt-slap. Her dad was always knew how to put a smile on her face. They all embraced each other for the last time in a long time. "I love you so much," Ariana sobbed out.
"We love you, too, Ariana," her father said. "Oh, before I forget, I brought you something.” He pulled out a dark brown hair scrunchy and put it around her wrist. “I thought you might want at least one of these,” he said, “in case you get sweaty. I know how much you hate that. Stay strong, and remember why you're doing this. We will see you soon." He gave her a quick wink, put his arm around his wife, and walked out the front door.
Slowly, Ariana stepped into the elevator and pushed the down button. The doors slid closed, and the image of her parents holding each other was seared on her brain. It was then that she broke down. She slid down the walls as the elevator glided downward. Then she let herself cry without any shame or refrain. Her entire body shook with each sob, something she had never experienced before. But no more than ten seconds later, the elevator started to slow down. Then it felt like it was going sideways. She stopped crying out of confusion. An elevator going sideways? Then it seemed to go back up. What? What on earth was going on?! After about two or three minutes of all these direction changes, the elevator finally stopped. Ariana sat as still as she could, preparing herself for whatever came next. Then she saw some sort of bluish gas leaking into the elevator. She panicked and tried desperately to get higher. It was no use, there was no way out. The gas climbed up. Ariana’s blood left her face. Was she going to die right then and there? She tried to hold her breath, but soon found herself breathing in the fumes. Oddly enough, Ariana couldn’t really smell anything like she had expected. After a few breaths of it, she started feeling dazed. She found herself losing focus and control. The walls appeared to be moving before her eyes, even though she knew very well they weren't moving. Ariana found herself feeling more and more tired, and the last thing she remembered was the flickering ceiling light of the elevator.

Alrighty well, there it is. Hope you enjoyed it! That was only like the first 2 pages or so, so if you'd like me to keep posting this story let me know! I hope you guys have a great week! Love you all!

What Kind of Candy DO You Like?

2009-03-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I'm so sorry I haven't kept you updated lately. It's truly a travesty, one of which I intend to correct at this very moment. I will save the candy story for last, but here are some recent developments that just make me laugh out loud.

**I ran into Seth yesterday and we just started talking a little bit about life and stuff. Then I brought up Steven (that guy I dated for a while and then he told me he'd prayed about me and the Lord wants us to be together, told me I was fat and ugly, etc, etc. Haven't heard that story? E-mail me, it's too big to post. It's really quite funny to read). Anywho, so I had heard that Steven had gotten engaged to another after only knowing her a month, so I asked Seth about it. "Oh, Steven got married last week," he said. "I think they just got back from their honeymoon." "So, they've only known each other for over a month and now they're married?" "Yeah," he shook his head. "Yeah, that's right." Wow, that made me laugh. Good for him though, way to go. After that Seth wanted to hear my side of the story about Steven and me dating and so I got to retell a short version of that lovely little adventure. Always a joy to see others react to that one haha.

**I was talking to Eric's brother Mark yesterday and I found out that Eric is coming home from his mission on May 26th. That day is, in fact, the same exact day that Taylor gets home from his mission. So hopefully they're mission homecomings aren't on the same day because that would make me physically sick. Anywho, they're both coming home in just over two months and I'm so excited about it! Woot!

**I only have 5 1/2 weeks left until this semester is over and I can move back home! I move home officially on April 30th and that will be so great! I'm pretty excited about it. Also the new X-Men/Wolverine movie comes out the next day, so it'll be a pretty great week for me. :) Mmmmmmm....Hugh....

**Andrew got his mission call to the New York, New York South Spanish speaking mission! He leaves on June...3rd I think, and we're all pretty excited for him. His mission is about 10 miles from where my dad works in New York. My dad won't go and visit him or anything, but my mom is pretty excited because my dad can just deliver packages to the mission home so we can save money on postage. ;)

**Thomas comes home 5 months from Friday! Well I mean he LEFT on the 20th of August so I don't know the exact day he's going to be coming home yet but I'm just going with the 20th for now. Yeah, I'm pretty excited and my family is pretty excited as well. For my birthday he sent me a birthday card and then his gift to me was his testimony written inside. Yeah, I know, he's awesome.

**Oh yeah, I turned 21 February 5th and that was pretty exciting. :) It feels nice to be a little older. That means that I'll graduate college at age 21. Wow, awesomeness!

**One of my professors read a piece that I wrote (like a story) and suggested that I enter it in to one of the school's contests for publishing. That was pretty cool so we'll see how that goes.

**My friend Zac came home from his mission and that is pretty exciting. We're planning on playing Street Fighters on the Super Nintendo on Saturday and he thinks he can beat me. PSH! Bring it ON, Zac!!! ;)

**I'm doing Weight Watchers again, starting to count the points. I'm also looking for a workout class or something I could take during the summer this year, so if you know of anything let me know!

**I'm probably going to help teach a Creative Writing course with an awesome lady from my ward this summer, so that should be totally awesome! I think she's planning on us teaching kids from 9-13, but I think I'll see if she's interested in teaching an adult writing class as well. That would be pretty spiffy. I don't know how many people would take it though, but I've had a few takers. :)

**CANDY STORY!
So my friend Bonnie and I were at Albertson's last weekend, loading up on sleepover candy, and we started talking about how women shouldn't wear bikini's unless they have a body of a super model, and even then it's disgusting. Then I saw some Peeps (those marshmallow Easter candies) and started talking about how disgusting they were as we were in the check out line. My dad is the only one in our family that likes them and I almost bought him some Peeps flavored chapstick while I was at Target the other day (I can't imagine what THAT'S like to taste all day...barf...). Anywho, so then I hear the cashier say, "So what kind of candy DO you like?" in as sexy a voice as he could muster. "Um...Sweet Tarts, Gobstoppers, basically everything we're buying." Yeah, he kinda looked like he was thinking, "Yeah I guess I could have just looked at what you were buying." Anywho, so it was a little awkward, but only lasted for like 2 seconds then we left and he said, "You ladies have a great night...(again, attempted sexy voice)." So yeah, there it is. The candy story. I should have said "Man candy" but then there might have been a phone number exchange of somekind and I really wasn't looking for that. Anywho, it was great.

Well this time I promise I will really try really hard to keep this updated. I'm so sad I haven't written in it for a while, especially since all my journal entries I've written the past few months got deleted when my hard drive crashed. Yeah that wasn't any fun, but lucky this awesome guy at the help desk fixed it for me since I know him and only charged me for the new hard drive! Yay for awesome people! Anywho, talk to you guys soon! Feel free to leave comments. :)

Too Long it has Been...

2009-01-31T20:56:00.000-08:00

Forgive me my fellow bloggers. I have been so busy since this semester started that I have had a hard time finding time for me to even just relax and take a breather every once in a while. Life updates are as follows:
-My work cut back on hours so Ionly work 15 hours a week now. We used to be open from 7:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. M-F, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. But now we're only open from 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. M-F. So yeah, I've been having to adjust to a huge cut back in how much I'm used to every 2 weeks and that's been pretty hard. But I pay my tithing and all that good stuff and the Lord hasn't failed me yet. :)
-I'm taking all writing classes and it is much more intense than I had initially anticipated. I've had tons of things to read and papers to write but I've finally got my schedule figured out so it's not as overwhelming as it used to be.
-I am taking The Miracle of Forgiveness class in institute this semester and I am totally loving it! I'm learning so much and my teacher is hilarious and totally awesome!
-My birthday is in a few days and I will be turning 21. Whoa, I know, it's crazy! This year will be a great year in life for me though, I can tell. :)

So yeah, there's the little updates. I do have a funny story to tell you that my institute teacher told our class the other day. He said that one day his friend (they were teenagers at the time) was talking to his mom and his mom asked him to take the trash out or something like that. So, not really thinking clearly, he swore at her. Then he immediately covered his mouth and feared how she might react. But she looked at him and said, "I'm not going to deal with this. You're going to go to your room and then, when your dad gets home, he'll come up and have a talk with you." Now anyone who's ever been in trouble knows that it's no fun when Dad has to come and tell you what's what. So he sat there in agony for an hour (usually the waiting is punishment enough) and then he heard the garage door open. He heard his mom and dad talking in hushed voices, and then he heard his dad's footsteps head towards his door. His dad opened the door and sat down in a chair, facing him while he sat on the bed. So his dad said, "Son, if we went out on our boat in the lake and our boat sprung a leak and we were sinking and I had to choose who to save between you and your mother, who do you think I would choose?" He thought for a second and said, "Mom?" His dad smiled and said, "That's right. In fact, if I had to kill you so we could use your body as a floatation device to save your mother I wouldn't hesitate to do it." Then he patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Alright, I just wanted to make sure we understood each other." After he said that he left the room.
Oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard! It's sweet that he loves his wife so much but at the same time I'll bet that kid thought twice before going on the lake with his family without a life jacket. ;)
Well I'm sorry I haven't written in a while but, like I said, I have been so so so busy that sometimes it's been hard to handle. But I will try extra hard to keep this up at least once a week. I hope you all are doing well! Love you guys!

The End is Near...

2008-11-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the end is coming. Only 8 more days of school left for me. It's getting close, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My movitation is decreasing, but it's a good thing I'm one of those people who has to have things done like 2 weeks in advance otherwise my grades would be in big trouble!
So basically this week I picked up 30 extra hours of work. Luckily most of those shifts are at night and not many people call at night so I just do my homework. Monday I worked for 3 1/2 hours and 3 of those hours were spent writing poetry that isn't due until December 5th. I wrote 10 poems and my professor is going over them with me today to tell me if I need to make any changes. Then yesterday I was at work for 7 extra hours. So the first 3 hours of that were used to do research on my Don Quixote paper (yeah, I'm taking a whole course on Don Quixote and it freaking rocks!) and finish my entire paper. Sometime this week I'll be meeting with that professor to discuss any changes that need to be made on that paper. Then, I took a one hour break and the rest of the time (between watching House and Fringe) I finished my other paper for my nonfiction class. I had to write a paper on my nose, and that was pretty interesting. Anywho, so now I am officially done with all of my papers and just have a few petty assignments left to do before I'm all done with the semester. Yay for being an anti-procrastinator!
Also, I went to Walmart the other day and was looking at their Christmas movies to see if I wanted to get any. I was looking back there and they had yet another Christmas movie collection. I already have the collection with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town and all that stuff so I decided to see what other options this one had. I was so excited to find out that it had pretty much all the other Christmas favorites of mine that weren't in the first collection were in this collection; and it was only $25! I called my mom to tell her about my exciting find and I saw that it had 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, that cute little mouse version that I grew up on. Once I read off all the movies it had my mom told me to buy her a copy and we were both really excited. So the next day my friend Kristal and my roommie Richie and I all sat down and watched a few of them movies. The best one out of the ones we watched was the mouse 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I was even singing along! I don't know what it is about Christmas movies, but they always put me in the Christmas spirit and make me want to be with my family. Kristal and I are pretty much family, so that was good ha ha. Anywho, here's the list of Christmas movies I now own (and I am a proud owner *wink*):
(In the first collection) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, Cricket on the Hearth, and The Little Drummer Boy.
(In the second collection) How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Leprachauns Christmas Gold, The Little Drummer Boy Book II, The Stingiest Man in Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus: Deluxe Edition, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
(Other movies)
A Christmas Story
The Polar Express
The Family Man (I guess that's considered a Christmas Movie)
Christmas Vacation (VHS form)
And probably some other movie that escape me right now.
So, if you're looking for a good Christmas movie watching time, you come straight to me! I'll be more than willing to let you watch them with me or you could even borrow some for a few days. Anywho, I was pretty excited. Well, I hope you all have a great day! PLEASE WRITE ME COMMENTS!

Funny Happenings at Work

2008-11-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so first of all I am NOT a fan of anime drawings. Kudos to those of you who can draw it, but I don't call it art. They're all the same, nothing creative whatsoever in them, and they're all meant for Pokemon and Dragon Ball-Z or what have you. Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone here, I'm just not a fan of the generic Chinese type of drawing. Anywho, you'll see how this ties in in a second.

So yesterday my friend Whitney and I were at work and she told me a very interesting story. She said that someone called in on Tuesday and said, quite properly and official-like, "Good day, I'd like to be sent to the art department for the university please." So she, of course, sort of smiled and sent him on his way. She got a call back a few minutes later from the same guy, once again in his pompous voice, said, "Okay, I need to speak to someone else other than the art department. You see, I am an artist and I've been doing some very good work lately. I even have my own 'myspace' page for my artwork. So I'm interested in displaying my artwork in the art museum on campus, but the art department you sent me to doesn't want to display my artwork. So could you please send me to the theater arts department? They might be interested in displaying my artwork." So she tried really hard not to laugh and sent him on his way.

So obviously posting your artwork on myspace makes you a legit artist and fully authorized to display your artwork in a prestigious art museum for a university. So his artwork could have been that little anime drawing up above. Using that logic I must be a published writer because I have a blog upon which I write my funny stories and hilarious happenings in my life. So there you have it, you know a famous, published author because my work is officially spread on the internet. I'm printing off pictures of myself as we speak and will gladly send a signed photograph of myself to all who are interested. Thank you, and good day.

The Pink Predicament

2008-10-30T10:13:00.001-07:00

So yeah, I had a school assignment to write a piece about a color. So, I chose pink. I think it's pretty funny, so I'm posting it for all to read. Let me know what you think!

Pink and I have a love/hate relationship. I really didn’t have an opinion at all about pink when I first encountered it. I was the first girl grandchild on both sides of my family, so naturally my relatives felt the need to bombard me with pink everything from bonnet to bootie. I of course had no objections, all I cared about was that my tummy was full and had a clean diaper. Once I got old enough to actually see color I developed Swiss-like neutrality for pink. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it, but I knew that if one day I felt like wearing a pink shirt, Pink would have no objections. Those were the good ol’ days. But then came high school, and Pink and I have never been the same.

It all started with a girl named Lindsey, a name I frequently use for the villain in the stories I write. Lindsey and her toadies were those stereotypical cheerleader types that prance around in their short shorts, hot pink shirts and even hotter pink purses, thinking they were God’s gift to the world and the epitome of all men’s dreams. Oh you’re not a cheerleader type? Well then you’re fat and ugly. Let me affect your self-esteem for the next 3 years or so by letting you know that every once in a while. It keeps me from realizing what a loser I am. Isn’t this fun? It was easy to detect when they were headed your way. You’d catch a blinding glint of Lindsey’s blond hair from the top of the crowd and then see the flood of horrific pink trotting down the hall.

It didn’t take long for her to stop heckling me. She and her pink paraphernalia were no match for my whit and intelligence, and once she realized that it was all over. Girls like that don’t like being reminded of what they really are. But unfortunately my color scheme preference was scarred for life. It seemed that every girl I’d ever met that thought they were better than everyone else had some sort of pink accessory. So naturally I associate that loathsome characteristic with the color pink, tragic and unjust as it may seem.

Luckily, Pink has adapted to the situation and developed lighter shades that aren’t as obnoxious as self-centered. This light baby pink has become Pink’s redeeming hue, and is something that I treasure. My dad has a thing for that color. He bought a cashmere sweater in baby pink and proudly wears it to church and any other occasions he finds appropriate. Pink looks ridiculous on some people, but my dad pulls it off with style and finesse. Whenever I see that shade of pink I immediately think of my dad, and thinking of my dad always puts me in a good mood and makes me love my life. My dad is one of the best people I know, and he can always make me feel better no matter what stupid thing I’ve done. Light baby pink reminds me about how much my dad loves and cares about me, and that alone is enough to lift my spirits on any rainy day.

Amazing isn’t it? Pink can either make my day or break my day. Darker pinks make me angry and irritated beyond all reason, but lighter pinks make me happy and inspired. If Pink wasn’t adaptable and unique in its monochromatic spectrum I don’t know where we would stand today. But as it stands today, Pink and I understand each other. Pink doesn’t get angry and upset when I shudder in disgust at a hot pink purse, and I admire Pink’s versatility and beauty when I see my dad’s pink cashmere sweater. It’s a love/hate relationship, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Another Fun Video

2008-10-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Some of My Favorite Homestar Cartoons

2008-10-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

2008-10-23T10:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, first of all let me just say that I'm really upset that I didn't come up with this first. My friend Taylor (who is on a mission right now) could've totally been the muffin man in this video, and he would've done it even better. But, unfortunately, he will not be with us until late May, so we'll have to wait for one of our spectacular movie creations to hit the big screen on YouTube. But don't you worry, it will be spectacular!!! Enjoy the movie anyway. It cracks me up. I especially like the cartoon muffin. Looks delicious!

My Love Affair with Diet Coke

2008-10-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

So, I thought that Diet Coke with Bacon would actually be pretty disgusting, but I thought it was a pretty funny picture and worthy to post on my blog.

Ah Diet Coke. What else is there to say? The crisp click then fssst of the luscious soda drink just makes my mouth water. The constant sound of bubbles floating to the surface of the can containing this heavenly liquid makes me daydream of the first time I ever laid eyes on my love.

My grandpa has always been a Diet Coke fan. We go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house every Sunday and they'd always let us have a can of pop once we arrived. When I was a child, and not mature enough for the taste of Coke, I used to drink Sprite and let my popcorn float on the top of the cup of my Sprite. Then, one fateful Sunday, my dad asked me to grab him a Diet Coke. I walked outside to the refrigerator and decided to be adventurous and try a Diet Coke myself. I gave my dad his drink, and then I walked over and sat on the couch. I opened the can, took off the opener (as was the custom of soda-drinkers in those days), and let the divine liquid trickle down my parched throat. And the rest is history.

Ever since that day Diet Coke and I have been inseparable. We take long walks in the park together, laugh at each other's jokes and funny stories of the day, and simply enjoy each other's company. We have the occasional romantic candle-lit dinner where Diet Coke and I prepare the most wonderful sweet and sour chicken. We'll go to the park and he'll push me in the swing or I'll hold him in my lap while we try to swing over the swing set. He even comes to visit me at work occasionally. He'll just sit there and smile sweetly as I answer the phones with a cheerfully, "Utah State." He makes me want to be a better person, which is really the type of person you want to be around right?

Our 6-year anniversary is coming up this November. We've had our ups and downs but we've always remained faithful to one another. The only time I ever have Diet Pepsi is when they don't have Diet Coke or when the Diet Coke in the gas station is tainted with the smell of Indian Oven. We both agreed that if I can't have him in his best form I will have to settle for second best. We're so compatible it's insane!
I'm sorry I haven't written in my blog for a while, but not a lot has happened since that baby shower. So I figured I'd tell you all a little bit about myself that you might not have known.

It IS a Small World, After All...

2008-09-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I have had the most interesting week this week. First of all, my grandma has been trying to set me up with a guy she's never met before but it's her neice's brother-in-law and she's been trying to set us up since the week before I left for school. Anywho, so Thursday night rolls around and she calls me and asks if she can give Celeste (her neice) my number to give to the guy that they're trying to set me up with. I was like, "Yeah, sure, that's fine." So she said she'd call me when she finished talking to Celeste and let me know what was going on.

So I'm just kinda sitting there in my family room watching TV and just playing around on my computer and then my phone rings (it was about half an hour later). My grandma says, "Ok, so Celeste gave me a number that he'll probably use to call you. It's his roommate's number though because he doesn't have a phone. His roommate's name is Steven and his name is Seth." So she gave me the number and I told her I'd put it in my phone so I'll know it's him when he calls me. She said that I should maybe consider calling him first, but I'm not brave enough to do that haha.

So I got off the phone with her and I entered the number into my phone. It said, "You already have this number in your phone." I was confused, and concluded that I must've entered the number in wrong. So I entered it in again and it said, "You already have this number in your phone. Would you like to look at your address book?" So I pushed ok and I looked to see who it was and...

...it was the same Steven that took me out on 3 dates last winter and on the third date told me he'd prayed about us and said that the Lord wanted us together. Then he proceeded to tell me how he usually falls for prettier girls than me, gave me tips on how to look better and gave me tips on how to lose weight. Yeah, so the guy my grandma was trying to set me up with was roommates with him....(if you haven't heard that story, let me know and I'll be happy to email you the journal entry of that one so you can really get a feeling of what that 3rd date was like, haha).

So I was freaking out a little bit when I found that out and my grandma called and gave me his house number, another number with which he might call me. So I put that in, went to dinner with my friend Jessica 'cause I needed to get out, and then tried to calm myself down about it.

But that's not the end of the story.

So on Saturday, my frien Kristal and I went to a baby shower of a mutual friend of ours (it's Steven's sister, Kat). We were chatting with some of the older ladies, telling Kat how excited we were for her to have her baby, and all that stuff. So there was an older lady that I didn't know across the room and she asked Kristal and I where we were from. Kristal said she was from Centerville and I told her I was from American Fork. She said, "Oh, I'm from Lehi so we're practically neighbors!" So I said, "Yeah, I actually have a lot of family on my mom's side from Lehi. Actually my grandma is trying to set me up with someone who lives in Lehi. Seth (last name omitted), I think his name is." The lady paused for a second and said, "Well, do you want to meet him?" I was a little confused by her comment, and then she said, "I'm Seth's mom, and Seth is actually here right now. Seth! Come on in here!"

Um, I think I died for a second there. He came out and he was cute and really tall. REALLY tall (of course everyone's tall compared to me, but that's beside the point). So when he walked in his mom was like, "This is the girl that Celeste is trying to set you up with!" So he stuck out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you. You're name is Alisa, right?" "Yeah, haha," I said, laughing nervously. Then everyone was like, "Oh, should we move so you 2 can sit next to each other?" Kristal was like, "Yeah, I can move if you want." I really about strangled her then, but I knew she was just teasing me. So he sat across from me and didn't really look at me or say anything the whole time, but I don't blame him because it was an all around awkward experience. To add to the awkwardness everyone kept talking about how it was a coincidence that we met at a baby shower and how small the world is and all that stuff. I really wanted to talk about something else. I felt like I was going to pass out.

So aparently Seth's mom and Kat's mom are somehow related and his mom came up to visit and go to Kat's baby shower. Well Seth's mom wanted to spend more time with him so she told him to come to the baby shower so they could spend more time together before she drove back to Lehi. Anywho, so after about half an hour they both left, and I told Seth it was nice to meet him.

So yeah, terribly awkward experience. After that I just tried to slow my heartbeat down for about an hour or so. Why is my dating life such an interesting thing? I was talking to my friend Jessica and she and I both agree that I should publish a book about my funny life experiences and I'd be a millionaire, 'cause everyone enjoys hearing my stories. My mom said, "Lis, your life is like my soap opera. Thanks for adding some flavor to my life through your life." So for all of you readers of my blog out there I hope I've entertained you or at least put a smile on your face. My life is truly a unique one, and one that people should laugh at. So don't be embarrassed, go ahead and laugh. I do it every day. :) Love you all!

Just FYI

2008-09-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all you happy people! Now I have been getting a lot of people who want to see pictures of my finger and all that good stuff. So, if you want to see what my finger is like, go head on to Facebook and I uploaded the pictures from my cell phone. Just thought I'd let you know, for those of you who want to see. Anywho, that's the FYI. Have an awesome day! I'l lwrite something else soon, I promise.

Mulligans, Cops, and Luck

2008-09-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well this past week has been an interesting one as far as the law goes. First on...Wednesday I think it was, I was coming home from school and spotted a golf cart parked right in front of my apartment (it didn't look like this golf cart, but I thought this golf cart was pretty spanking awesome and deserved to be on my blog). So anywho, I didn't really think anything of it, I figured it was someone for maintenance or something of that nature. Well, my friend Kristal and I sat down watching one of my fantastic movies (X-men I believe) and then we hear a really loud knock at the door. So I got up and answered the door and a big intimidating cop lady in a white uniform was standing at the door with her sunglasses on. I hate it when they have sunglasses, I hate not knowing where they're looking. She said, "Do you know what happened to this golf cart?" I could feel her eyes trying to penetrate my very soul, and I answered, "No, actually I didn't even notice it was here until I got home from school today around 3:00. I left at about 8:00 and I didn't see it when I left for school." The officer smirked a little bit and she said, "Well the girls next door said they left around 8 and they saw it this morning." Then she turned to her "assistant" or whatever and was like, "Do you think the girls were lying?" I could detect just a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as if she was questioning my integrity. However, if she had been able to really penetrate my soul she would've seen that not only was I telling the truth but that I was also incapable of stealing a golf cart.
Anywho, I guess someone crashed it and then parked it in front of my apartment, but after the officer could tell I was telling the truth she let me go back inside to enjoy my movie.
Well, after that I left for home on Friday afternoon. My roommate Jessica and I were heading through the canyon and it was really annoying driving because my breaks weren't working the right way so I had to keep pumping my breaks to slow down. Anywho, every once in a while I'd catch myself speeding but I'd hurry and slow down. Sardine Canyon is really hilly so it's really annoying to break and then rev your engine every 5 seconds.
So then I pass a cop coming the opposite direction and I slowed down as quickly as I could. After he passed we were right into Brigham City, where the speed limit is 55. But there was so much traffic that there was no physical way I could go faster than 30. Anywho, a cop car pulls right behind me and I said to Jess, "Great, this is just what I want, a cop on my tail." Then the light turned green and the cop turned his lights on, signaling for me to pull off to the side of the road. I roll down my window, thinking that maybe my break lights are out or something like that. He says, "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" I said, "Um...I think like 30." He sort of laughs like, "Oh you stupid child," but says instead, "Uh no, you were going 71." I'm like, "71, really? Oh, I thought I was going 30." Anywho, then he asks for my license and registration and I've never been pulled over before so I have no idea what I'm looking for. I know what my license is, and Jessica found the insurance thing, but we couldn't find the registration.
So he sort of sighs and says, "Ok, let me tell you something here. You never tell a law enforcement officer that you're going 30 when you were going well over that over in the canyon." I said, "Oh I'm sorry, that was my mistake, I thought you were talking about how fast I was going when you pulled me over, not back in the canyon. That was my mistake, I'm sorry." Then he's like, "You also need to have your registration and insurance easily accessible so that I don't have to wait while you look for it. And you need to make sure that you HAVE it in your car. And also, you have a flat tire and you need to get that pumped up." I told him that I was glad he told me that he told me that 'cause we tried to get that fixed but that I'd take it in the next day to make sure that they got it fixed. Anywho, he told me to go to the nearest Chevron and pump up my tire before I headed back out, and then he let me go. Don't get me wrong, I was relieved that I didn't get a ticket - I mean I'm a poor college student, I can't afford a ticket right now - but did he have to be so rude? I think that it really must be a requirement for them to be not tactful in the way they say things. That's probably why people cry sometimes when they get pulled over: they know what's coming and they're very sensitive.
Anywho, I'm glad I didn't get a ticket, and I drove pretty slow in the canyon on my way back up to Logan and I didn't get pulled over. Actually, Annie called me when I was about 10 minutes away from home and she's like, "Did you get pulled over yet?" and started laughing. Well, I managed to avoid getting arrested twice this week, so the Lord must really want me up here in college learning and not in jail. *wink*

Just Call Me Stubs

2008-08-11T08:06:00.001-07:00

Okay, for those of you with weak stomachs you might not want to read this. I'm just warning you, it's not a pretty picture...

Alright, well you know how I've been quilting a lot lately? Well my friend Bonnie and I were working on her quilt on Saturday. We were making good progress! She'd sew 2 pieces together and I'd cut off the excess material. So I was just kinda talking to her, not really paying close attention to the rotary cutter, and then I feel a stinging sensation on my left pointer finger. I knew I'd cut my finger, but as I looked down I realized that I had sliced off about a 1/4 of an inch of the tip of that finger completely off. Not wanting Bonnie to panic, I said, "Uh, I cut my finger, I gotta go upstairs." So she's like, "Ok, take your time." Then she told me she was kind of sewing and she looked over at the cutting board and saw the tip of my finger just kinda sitting there. Then she realized it was a pretty serious cut.

So my mom came in from weeding the back yard and she was freaking out. I wanted to start crying so I started laughing to avoid the crying. Anywho, we drove to the doctor's office with my finger tip in a cup of ice, but the doctor called a plastic surgeon and he said to just not reattach my finger. So they bandaged it up and it's been that way since Saturday. Today I have to go to a plastic surgeon and he's going to take a look at it at 1:30, but before I go I have to soak it in half water half hydrogen peroxide for AN HOUR. So yeah, I've been nauseous for 3 days and totally not looking forward to the doctor. I nearly passed out when they started wrapping it up, so I'm pretty sure I'll pass out when they take off the bandages. Barf.

Anywho, I would write more about the experience but I'm already nauseated enough as it is and I'm typing much slower than normal and it's driving me crazy! So let this be a lesson to all of you guys out there: be careful when you're quilting, especially with a rotary cutter. Those things will cut things off!

Oh, by the way, my dad starting calling me Stubs on Saturday. That's where stubs came from. :)

The Pictures I Promised

2008-08-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Updates on My Life

2008-08-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well people, it's been a while since I've written anything and I'm sorry. :( I'll quickly update what's been happening this summer and I'll post some pictures on my next entry. I promise. :D

Okay, so I worked on a few baby blankets after I lost my last job, hoping to sell them so that I could make some money for the rest of the summer. Well, I'll show you pictures of them later, but I'm not going to sell them, 'cause they're too stinkin' cute! I am going to give some away when friends have babies or something, but yeah that are way too cute. I can't wait for you guys to see pictures of them!

So anywho, the day after we bought all of the material for the baby quilts I got a call from the staffing service that hired me and they told me they had a job for me to work at a call center. WOOT! So yeah, I trained there the 16th and the 17th of July and started work there full time Friday the 18th. It was 7-3:30 and $9.50 an hour. So yeah, that was totally great.
So I bought all my textbooks and felt really really good about life. I was still working on the baby quilts (let's face it, quilting is my new passion), but not as much since I was working. So my job was basically to answer the phone when it rang (which sometimes would be 40 minutes between calls). The "account" was for the L. L. Bean credit card, so all these old retired people would call in wanting to apply for the new L. L. Bean Visa card and I would just fill out their applications for them over the phone. It was really quite easy, and the people were really really nice. On my first day this old guy told me that I was a sweet and wonderful person and that life will get hard but I'll get through it and have a wonderful life because I'm such a nice and awesome person. I seriously almost teared up when he said that. He was seriously one of the sweetest old men I've ever come across. He told me a lot of things, like that his wife was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, even though he and she are 90 now, and she's just as beautiful as the day they got married. He's like, "Some men don't know a good thing when they got it, but I'm no fool, I know I've got the best one around." It was so cute! Anywho, I think I only had one angry caller the whole time I worked there, and they never raised their voice, they just calmly complained. It was a great job. Yes, you heard right, was.

Well first of all, my second Monday working there rolled around there, and I"d had bad allergies that weekend. So I was working for an hour and I had the hardest time breathing and talking. So I decided to go home and I went to the doctor and he said i was having an asthma attack. Yay. Anywho, the attack ended up lasting for 4 days, so I had to miss 4 days of work. So I get back on Friday and I'm really excited because my awesome friend Bonnie and I and also Laura and my cousin Emily are going to go to the midnight release of Breaking Dawn (the 4th book in the Twilight series) later that night. So I get to work, everything's going great, I'm finishing reading Eclipse and the people calling in are just as nice as ever. So then they called a meeting, and they told us that not enough customers are calling so they don't need the temps that were hired (including me). So that Friday ended up being my last day. Blast! But oh well, I made enough money to pay for my gas and my textbooks and a little play money leftover.

So Friday I went to Borders in Provo and went to the releasing of Breakin Dawn. I'm on page 600 right now, but it is one of the most amazing books I've ever read in my entire life! LOVE IT! But if any of you talk about the ending or anything about close to the end before I finish it you are all dead meat. Just thought I'd give you a fair warning. Anywho, the party wasn't the greatest, but once they lined us up to get the book the pressure and tension was unbearable. People were walking out with their new books and walking past the people still in line, and I seriously think they were trying to commit suicide by flaunting their prize around. I'm surprise no one died that night. In fact the tension was so thick that the next morning my friend Bonnie's and also my neck was sore and stiff and my shoulders were aching for a few days. Yeah, really tense. Anywho, so this book is amazing and I totally recommend it to anyone!

So anywho, after that my friend Bonnie and I decided that we would start making a quilt together for her and it's totally amazing! So I'll post pictures of that as well when we get her quilt done. It'll be freaking amazing!

Well most recently I weighed myself this morning and since I started Weight Watchers again at the beginning of the summer I've lost 17 pounds. Woot! I guess I should probably post some recent pictures of myself on here, shouldn't I? Ok I'll get that done as well.

Well I'm just getting ready for school other than that. Even though I'm unemployed I am still loving life! Ok now I've gotta go take those pictures so I'll post those up later today. Thanks to the rest of you for keeping your blogs up so I can read about your lives! I love you all!

Easy Come, Easy Go...

2008-06-14T19:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm out of a job again. The job I had was great and I loved being there, but they decided that they needed someone who would stay for longer than just the summer. Also I got accused of lots of things I didn't do, which wasn't too much fun, but whatever. At least I get to sleep in for a few more mornings, right? Plus, the staffing service that I'm working with is really awesome and they really like me so they keep recommending me for little jobs. Yesterday I worked as a receptionist at a realty place (they only needed me for one day) and all I did was answer the phone and read my book. That's it. I got paid $10 an hour to read my book and answer the occasional phone call. It was GREAT! If only I could get a full-time job like that, then my summer would totally be set haha.
Anywho, so now that I'm out of work again, if you know of any available jobs then please let me know. I really need to be making money. Hope all of you have a great week!

By Popular Demand

2008-06-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess this is proof that my blog is just too popular. Annie was reading what I wrote about Josh and was wondering why there is nothing written about her on my blog. So yes, here we go.
Well Annie is the youngest in the fam, so naturally she's the most grown up for her age. She keeps the fam going by making sure that everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing and loves to take charge. She really likes these neighbor kids we have and loves to play with them and watch them while their mom takes care of their new baby. She's always really helpful and always "looking out for the little guy." If I was her age and I was looking for a friend she would be the first on my list, and that's the truth. She is so loyal and will stick up for what's right no matter what! You can tell that she knows the church is true and she's willing to do all that's necessary to choose the right. She's really sweet, and very thoughtful. When I was at school she would call me at least twice a week asking when the next time was that I was coming home. Sometimes she'd make me "welcome home" signs when I'd come and visit for the weekend, and that always made me feel great. I love taking her out for a snow cone or out to Parker's for ice cream. I hope that she knows how much I love her and how much she means to me. She is actually my new roommate. She sleeps on a spare mattress on my floor next to my bed, and she loves reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid to me at night(one of the books I bought for she and Josh to read) and I'm always impressed with what a good reader she is. We have fun laughing at the funny things that happen to Greg in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and if you haven't read that book I highly recommend it. My roommates and I would cry because we were laughing so hard just reading that book.
Anywho, work has been going great and I really love working there. It'll be stressful at times but it'll be a lot of fun even through the stress. So everyone have a great day!

Victory!!!

2008-06-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so yesterday I had a job interview with a phone company. It's a telephone company that sells phones to other businesses. Anywho, earlier in the summer I was hired by a staffing service and they set this interview up yesterday. As the interview went on, the kind of person they wanted was exactly the kind of person that I am! And the job they needed me to do was really similar to what I did last summer, only it's telephones instead of heating and air conditioning this time. So yeah, as the interview progressed the more and more I really wanted to work there. It was a really nice office, casual environment and the people that interviewed me were so extremely nice!
So after the interview was over I drove home and I was just praying that I would get that job. So about 15 minutes after I arrived home (did I mention that this job is in American Fork and it only takes about 5 minutes to drive there?!), I got a call from the staffing service. They said that the company just loved me in the interview and wanted to hire me! WOOT! They said that they had 2 other interviews the next day but they decided to cancel those 'cause they just loved me so much! So yeah, I was pretty ecstatic! Plus they decided to pay me $11 an hour because I have experience and I'm working Monday through Friday from 8-5! DOUBLE WOOT! Anywho, they wanted me to start today (Thursday) and I told them I was babysitting my siblings while my mom was at girls camp and my dad was on a business trip. They said, "That's fine, we understand, can you come in from 1-4 on Thursday and Friday?" So I was like, "Heck yes!" So I'm getting trained part-time this week and then next week I start full-time. So they were really easy going and understanding about me babysitting and they seem just as excited as I am to work with me, so I am just totally excited to get working there today!
So yeah, the Lord answers prayers and he is always watching out for us! I really wanted a job at Roberts a few weeks ago and I was praying so hard that I would get it. But they only pay $7.50 an hour and only hire part-time mostly. So imagine if I would've gotten that job, then I wouldn't have had this great opportunity to earn much more, enough money to make up for the fact that I haven't worked for almost a month, and in an office environment (which I love) with people that I know will be totally awesome to work with! The Lord really knows everything, and I am so grateful that he has been watching out for me. Because I got this job and not the one at Roberts I will be able to pay for my housing this summer. That means I can keep my job at Utah State, another job that I absolutely love with people that I absolutely love to work with and I can do my homework and stuff while I'm working there! I'm just in awe about how much the Lord loves me and how he really knows my needs and wants. Never doubt that the Lord loves you and knows your needs and wants as well! Have a great day!

My Silly Little Brother

2008-06-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Alright, the picture above is something that you may be wondering about. What is it? Is it a primitive form of a slingshot? Is it a restraint for your jaw so it doesn't have to work so hard? Is it just a decorative piece for your house? No, my friends. It is, in fact, Josh's wonderful creation:

A fart machine.

He brought this lovely specimen into my room one night a few weeks ago. He said that on the internet he had learned how to make one of these and it was guaranteed to make a noise that sounded like you were farting. Well of course me, being the skeptic that I am with such things (I have always been a firm believer that the real fart is really the only thing that sounds even remotely close to itself) I asked him to demonstrate how it works. So, he wound up the washer on the rubber bands pretty tight, but not so tight that it would break. Then he sat on the bed with the fart machine underneath, lifted his bottom, and lo and behold the farting sound broke forth!!! It was amazing, and brought a tear to my eye. Never had a fake sound of a fart sounded so real! It was truly a magical moment.
So, Josh of course was very proud, and we laughed about it for quite some time. He explained to me that since he is in 6th grade and he is never going to see most of his classmates or his teachers ever again he was going to use it on his last day of school. But we tried the fart machine on a hard surface and it sounds terrible, so I told him that his seats were hard and that it would sound terrible. He smiled and responded, "Oh, I've already got that problem figured out. I'll just bring a hoodie and then I'll sit on it and that'll make the sound. I've done it before, so it'll still work." Haha oh man that was funny. I was surprised he'd done it before.
So he decided to make a lot and try to sell them at school. He was telling me his selling tactic, explaining that once he demonstrated how the device worked they'd be selling like hot cakes! He said he'd set up an area on the playground where he would sit down and people would line up to buy one. They'd ask, "Well how does it work?" He'd smile and respond, "Well, friend, I'm glad you asked!" Then he would shift his weight, lift a leg, and let 'er rip! Then he'd say, "How many can I set you up for today?" Oh baby oh baby, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
So he came home from school that day and I asked him how business was going. He said it was good, he'd sold a couple and made a couple of bucks, but he'd spent most of recess sitting on the curb asking people to pull his finger. He said that random people would come up to him and he'd say, "Hey, pull my finger." Then they'd pull his finger and he'd let the fart machine work its magic. Then I said, "Well Josh, after you made the fart noise you showed them it was fake, right?" He said, "No, I just let them walk off and think that it was real." Oh man, that was hilarious!
Well, Josh still uses the fart machine every once in a while, but the big hype was just before school got out. If you want instructions on how to make one, you can look it up online or I'll tell Josh and he can sent you instructions haha. Josh let me tell this story on one condition: that I tell you he was obsessed with farts. I didn't think it was necessary to say that, but he insisted. Anywho, my family and I have been laughing about this ever since it happened. My dad was even crying with laughter. If only you guys could have been there to witness the magic, your lives would never be the same. Anywho, I'll write more later. I'm still looking for a job if anyone knows a job that's available. Sorry it took me so long to write again, but I've been helping my mom a lot. Anywho, hope you all have a great day and had a good laugh!

Job Searching

2008-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that lovely time of year again. School is finally over, I've got all my grades (one A, 2 A-'s and a B+), and it's time to look for a place of employment. What a joy that is...

Job searching has always been one of my least favorite things in life. Can't I just get paid to stay at home with my mom and help her clean the house and run errands? PLEASE?!?! *sigh* Well there are many problems with finding jobs. Allow me to provide reasons why it's hard to find a job for the summer (particularly this summer):

1. I refuse to work fast food (like Wendy's or McDonald's).
A. The fact that they're cooking fast food makes the working area inside actually hotter than the air is outside.
B. I need more money than minimum wage.
C. I stopped smelling like a high school student about 2 years ago.
D. Occasionally I like fast food and I don't want my tastes to be influenced by things I've seen go on behind the counter.

2. Employers absolutely love it when someone comes in for an interview and says, "Oh, by the way, I'll only be here for the summer then I'll be moving back to Logan to return to school." Right about then the employer says, "Thank you for your time, we'll be in touch." I'm out of the office before I can even get the seat warm.

3. On top of the fact that I will only be here during the summer, my family is also moving to Texas this summer and I am moving with them. Unfortunately we are not sure when we are moving exactly, so I could have to leave a job anytime throughout the summer. Try telling that to an employer.

4. I want a job where I won't have to travel much. Last year I had to drive to Provo and back every day which cost me about $200 a month in gas. Money that could have gone to food, books, more tuition paid, etc. Plus my mom and Andrew had to share a car last summer and I can assure you that neither of them would be too eager to do that again. So yeah, local job would be really nice.

Well, there you have it. Four reasons why it has been hard for me to find a job. I am going to an agency that will help me find a job today, so hopefully that will be good. Anywho, I'm sorry I haven't written in this for a while, I've been running errands with my mom and trying to find jobs and stuff (go figure). But don't you worry, I'll keep you all updated on what's going on in my life. My life is just too funny not to let you know what's going on. Have a good day!

Way to go MOM!

2008-04-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Monday was my dad's birthday but he was gone to Texas. So last Friday my parents went on an overnight trip to Salt Lake just to celebrate his birthday. So anywho, they were on their way home and they had to go on this weird route or something and someone was getting arrested for car theft. So my dad rolled down the window to see if he could catch anything about what was going on. So then my mom leans out the window and yells, "Make better choices!" Haha yeah that made me laugh.
So while my dad was telling this story he told another story of when my parents were first married. They were driving around looking at houses and stuff and then some kids started throwing apples at their car. So of course my dad pulls over and he starts giving the kids a talking to. He says, "You know, what if you would've dented my car? Would you have wanted to pay for the damage to the car?" The kids kinda hung their heads and were like, "No." Then my mom yells out the window in the car and yells, "Yeah! Next time throw apples at someone else's car!" Haha my dad was like, "Well honey that's not really my point, I'm trying to get them to stop throwing apples all together but yeah..." Haha it was hilarious! Man, I love stories like that.

Math Placement Exam

2008-04-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, guess who gets to take the math placement exam today? ME! Ok, so I haven't taken it yet, I'm just waiting until 1:30 to take it, then I'm going to grab something to eat and go to work. So, I suppose you're all wondering why I need to take a math placement exam? Well here's why:
Okay, so there's a credit I need to take to graduate called a quantitative intensive course. So I want to take Math 2020, which is basically 4th grade math, or so I've heard. Well in order to get into this class it says that I need to have a satisfactory result on the math placement exam or a 25 or higher on the math portion of the ACT. Well, I took the ACT when I was a senior in high school (about 2 years ago) and I got a 25 on the math portion, but it still wouldn't let me into the class. So I called one of the math advisers up and asked her why I couldn't register. She said that my ACT information is only good for a year so I need to take a test to see if I'm as smart as I was when I took the test. Yeah.

Anywho, so I ended up taking the test today, but it was quite the process. So I got out of class at 11:30 and instead of going home then coming back to take the test at 1:30 I decided to stay at school and eat at the HUB and just kind of wander around. So I went to the Geology building and kind of wandered around for like an hour or two, and then I headed to their lab at 1:30. So this lady named Angela and I were waiting there and then no one showed up. So I called the math department at 1:45 and I asked why no one was at the lab. The receptionist said, "Well that's because it's Thursday and we don't do the lab on Thursdays anymore, ok?" So yeah, I was mad 'cause I'd wasted my whole day waiting for this test. So Angela and I went to the adviser for the math department and asked her if we could schedule another time for the test. She said, "Oh, you can just take it in my office right now if you want to!" So yeah, it took us a while to set up the test and everything but she set it up for us, I took it, and she got onto her computer as soon as I was done with the test and let me register for that math test I needed! WOOHOO!!! That was really nice of her to do, and it really turned my horrible wasted day completely around. I love people who care about other people!

Well school is almost out! Next week is my last week of school until this fall, and I'm pretty stoked! I've already finished all of my papers and such so I just have to show up to class and stuff. So yeah, life is pretty easy right now. A week from Monday I'm going to pack up all of my stuff and then the next day, Tuesday the 29th I believe, I'm going to be moving home! WOOHOO!!! "I'm coming home, baby." (quoted from Michael Buble for those of you who didn't know). Then I have to figure out the job situation and everything, and I'm really not looking forward to that at all. *sigh* Oh well at least I won't need to worry about assignments for 4 months haha. Everyone have a good day!

Stupid Office PHONES!

2008-04-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, registration is next week, so the phones will be pretty hectic at work. For those of you who don't know, I work as a general operator for the university. So we get a bunch of calls and we transfer them to where they need to go, give them directions, all that good stuff. Anywho, registration is next week, and the office that takes care of registration has, conveniently, decided to change their phones for the rest of this week and next week. So that means that the week of registration they will not be answering their phones because their phones will be getting changed. So, guess who gets to take care of all the angry callers that will be calling next week because that office won't be answering their phones? Yeah...me. I'm excited.
I personally think that everyone in the world should have a customer service job for at least a month or two so they get a chance to deal with a few difficult people. That way no one will be difficult on the phone because they know what it's like to deal with mean people. Anywho, it may be just a dream, but I can dream, can't I?
So anyway, I'm pretty happy because I got all of my papers done on Tuesday so I have absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the semester except go to class and turn in my papers and give a few presentations on my papers. WOOHOO! And I'm moving out on April 29th! I can't wait to go back home!
Anywho, this is short but I had to write something right? I'll write more when something else exciting happens haha.

I'M ENGAGED!!!

2008-04-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

Oh my gosh guys, I'm so excited! James and I are finally engaged! I mean, I know, it happened a little fast for me too, but I am so excited! I know that he's the one for me. He is smart, funny, and he's SO romantic. The way he proposed to me was so sweet! He plays the guitar, so he actually wrote a song for me! He asked if I would go up to Logan Canyon with him. So of course I said yet, even though it was freezing cold. So we took a little nature walk, just talking and laughing together like usual and then there was a little fork in the trail that led up to a tree stump. The little trail had rose pedals all the way up to the tree stump and his guitar was leaned against the stump. So he led me up to the tree stump, then he sat down and started playing the song he wrote me. It was so cute, I just started crying. Then he got down on one knee, took my hand and asked me to marry him. It was the sweetest moment of my life, and of course I said yes!
Actually the truth is that didn't happen haha. Happy April Fools Day! And that's not my hand either. But I'll be sure to let you know when I eventually get engaged to someone haha. But do you know what did happen to me and my roommate this week?
Okay, so yesterday my roommate Mallory and I were driving to go buy some groceries. We were jamming out to her 80's music and having a good time. Well anywho, we didn't see the light turned red and we rear-ended someone. It was like a replay of the accident I was in with my family a few years ago, so yeah I was pretty terrified. So the guy gets out of his car, and Mallory and I realized that we'd hit a "little person" like on that show "Little People, Big World." Anywho, so I was pretty terrified at this point and he started pounding on Mallory's driver-side window, yelling at her to roll down the window. So Mallory rolled down her window and he said, "I'm not happy." So I said, "Oh really? Which one are you?"
Haha, yet another April Fools joke. Anywho, Hope you guys have a great day!

Spongebob. What Else is There to Say?

2008-03-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well, Spongebob is pretty much amazing, I just thought you all should know that. Spongebob Squarepants is one of my favorite shows of all time, and I always get a laugh out of that show. This poster actually hung in my dorm room all year last year, but I've now passed it onto my siblings so they can use it for inspiration in their lives. Let me give you some examples of quotes that always bring a smile to my face:

I can't see my forehead! -Patrick

We'd better do what he says. He knows how to grow food. -Patrick

You can't fool me! I listen to public radio. -Squidward

Squidward: "Spongebob, I actually DO like you!"
Spongebob: "Squidward I used your clarinet to unclog my toilet!"

People talk loud when they want to sound smart, right? -Squidward

You know, if I were to die right now in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend.....well, that would just be ok.

I know a lot about head injuries...belieeeeeeve me! -Patrick

I wumbo, you wumbo, he she wumbo, wumboing, wumbology, the study of wumbo...it's first grade, Spongebob! -Patrick

Squidward: Has anyone ever played an instrument before?

Patrick: Is mayonnaise an instrument?

So there you go, funny guy, that Spongebob Squarepants. Go and watch this video to behold a part of one of the best episodes of Spongebob: the Band Geek episode. This is like one of my favorite songs to, and if any of you know who it's by please let me know. Anywho, enjoy, and may Spongebob fill your soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX5oqEfAydg&feature=related

You Want Me to What?!

2008-03-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like sometimes there are those teachers that just want to make you miserable? Yeah, me too. But I have a sort of self-righteous teacher for my fiction writing class. The class has been annoying up to this point, but I've had fun with it laughing with my classmates when she says something stupid. I mean, I have to take the class if I want to get a degree in Creative Writing. Well whenever we write stories if she doesn't like the way it is we've got to change it. She even docked me points on my last story because she didn't like the title. The funny thing is that she TOLD ME to change it to that title to what it was because she didn't like the one that I'd chosen. Yeah, ironic. Anywho, the way she teaches class and the way she looks really reminds me of Professor Trelawney off of Harry Potter, so let me provide you with a good visual of her:

Anywho, so we turned in our second story on Monday this week, the last one we'll have to turn in this semester. Anywho, she wanted our stories to be primarily based on research. So I thought it would be fun to see if I could write a good horror story so I wrote a story about a Ted Bundy wannabe and I thought it was pretty good. So I researched him and all that stuff and it took me 6 hours to write my 8-page story. So anywho, I walk into class yesterday (Wednesday) and Professor Stark walks in and tells us that our stories were full of stupid cliches. Then she took a line from everyone stories and put them up on the overhead and had us all read them and said things like, "Be original, this is crap! I've heard it all before, this is worthless! This one I put lots of cliches that you had but I also put some spelling errors up there because I thought that was sort of ridiculous." So she's basically telling us we're no good, and most of us are aspiring to become writers. So after all of that, she's like, "I need to see all of group five (which I'm in) and a few other people (then she listed off the names)." So I went up to her after class and she's like, "Alisa, your story is really good so don't burn it or anything, but it's what I would consider genre fiction so it doesn't fulfill our purpose for this class. Now if there was a genre fiction contest I would enter that one, but the characters are flat and stuff and it's cliche so you need to write a new story.

I was pretty shocked, and really mad. So I asked if maybe I framed it differently if that would work and she said, "No I want you to completely do a new story. You have until next Wednesday." So yeah, I wanted to cry 'cause I'd spend 6 hours on that stupid paper all together. So I thought about writing a story about a student that really hates her professor because she's making her redo an assignment, but I decided against that in the end for obvious reasons. Anywho, so I spent about 4-5 hours writing a new 8-page paper yesterday and um...it was pretty annoying. So yeah, this entry is in red 'cause I was pretty furious about it.

So anywho, blue is my favorite color, so I'll end in this color. Quite the contrast. It reminds me of those really good blue popsicles that we get all the time in the summer.

I personally preferred the rootbeer ones but blue is fine too I suppose. Anywho, so today I also totally fell on some ice while I was texting a friend of mine. Yeah, I have nice bruises to prove it. Then about 5 minutes later I hear this "FOUR!" and I looked up and a frisbie was about a foot away from my face and I dodged it just in time. Yay for funny accidents!

Easter Egg Hunt: War of Candy

2008-03-24T14:20:00.001-07:00

Well, it's that time again: Easter time. Okay, so Easter was yesterday, I understand that, but I didn't have time to type it yesterday.
So I don't know about the rest of you, but my family takes Easter egg hunts pretty darn seriously. I'm not joking when I say it' s a war. Everyone is very protective of their Easter eggs, especially the one we have every year at my grandparents' house because money is involved. Now, a few years ago there were enough youngsters where the little kids went first for about one minute (which let me tell you, it seems like an eternity to us older kids), then the older kids were allowed out to search for the eggs. But this year the youngest child to hunt for eggs was my sister, Annie, and she's 8 years old. The next ones up were 12, so my grandparents decided to let us all go at once.
Never before has so much adrenaline surged through my veins. My cousins, the boys who are all younger and bigger than me, taunted me, telling me they would get to the eggs sooner than I would, and then they'd speed off in front of me. My competitive side took over and, no longer caring if i looked like an idiot, I ran from egg to egg, not caring how easy or hard they were to get. If someone saw an egg I raced in that direction to try to get the egg before them. The English have their "hunt" of foxes and other such animals, but the Easter egg hunt is my "hunt." Maybe next year I'll rent some dogs that have skills in sniffing out Easter eggs. Yes that will be fantastic!
Ok, so the hunt only lasted about 5 minutes tops and then everyone headed inside. I didn't get as many eggs as I wanted but I did get $6 and lots of candy! But even after you get your candy in a bag and all that the war is still not over. It's a well-known fact in our family that you've got to hold on to your Easter candy or it'll be gone before you know it. You can be sure that I always had an eye on my candy. I have many cousins who wouldn't hesitate one second to eat my candy. Unfortunately, I took my eye off of my candy for just a few minutes and came back to find that all of my favorite candies had been eaten by my cousin. CURSES! Maybe next year I'll learn.
That was Saturday. Even on Sunday my family was eager for hunting the Easter eggs the Easter bunny had left. So when we came downstairs, Annie had just picked up eggs she had seen on her way downstairs and already had about 15 eggs in her basket. We kept calling her a cheater and stuff, but my dad told us not to make such a big deal out of it. If he only knew how important that candy was to us, he'd understand why we reacted the way we did. Everyone knows that the candy the Easter bunny leaves is always the best candy of the year. But everything turned out alright. I got The Cat in the Hat (the cartoon) and Green Eggs and Ham (including The Sneetches, The Zax, and Grinch Night. Also a cartoon). Plus lots of candy.
Anywho, I hope you all had a great Easter! Mine was great!

Christian Bale is so good looking!

2008-03-18T16:21:00.001-07:00

Christian Bale is one of the best looking actors on the face of the earth, and one of my favorites right now. I mean I look at him and sometimes I just get sick 'cause he's so good looking! Ha ha, just kidding. Anywho, just thought I'd put his picture up. Have fun admiring him, he's just so good looking. I'm sorry, I can't get over it....that and I felt like I needed another picture on my page ha ha.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

2008-03-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well I'm just sitting here at work and I'm overly excited that EASTER IS COMING!!! First of all one of my favoritest cousins is coming to sleepover at my house and doing the Easter egg hunt and everything. It will be fantastic!
So with Easter coming up, my mind is prone to wander back to the days of my childhood. Have any of you seen the movie Peter Cottontail? Um if you haven't you're a loser and you're childhood is greatly lacking in fun and joy. It's made by those people that do those Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movies (if you haven't seen those I don't know how you got through life and lived this long). Anywho, it's pretty much one of the best movies ever. The main song goes, "Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way! Gifts for every girl and boy, baskets full of Easter joy....something....something....happy Easter DAY!!!!" Yeah, it's a good one. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Anywho, I'm going home on Friday and I can guarantee that I will be watching that movie this weekend. It brings on the Easter spirit. "In Spring the Easter Bunny never SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPS!" Thank you, thank you! If you could really hear my voice singing that I'm pretty sure you would be crying.

Random Picture Day

2008-03-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's day 2 of my new blog, and I was just trying to look through some of my pictures so that I could have some sort of visual on my page and this is what I found! Lots of people ask if that is my eye. The answer is no, but my eyes are just as cool and beautiful as the one in the picture. *wink* If you look closely you can see the planets and stuff in the eye. Anywho, it's a pretty awesome picture, and I thought someone might want to take a look at it.

Also, there was a time in my life where I just loved pictures of roses and pictures of roses so here's one of my favorites. I was always looking for blue roses too because I'd heard that they existed but I've never seen one. But yeah, I really like dark blue and stuff, it's my favorite color. Plus this picture is pretty much awesome so that's another reason why I decided to post it. I'll try to get some pictures of me up there but all of the pictures that I have of me are actually at home, so you're going to have to wait until spring break. HA! Anywho, enjoy the pictures, and have a great day!

Hello!

2008-03-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well this is fun! Hello everyone! This is my first blog ever in the history of the universe, so all of you reading this are witnessing a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now pat yourselves on the back! Anywho, this probably won't say much, but I figured I had to post something! Today has been relatively awesome except for the fact that it's snowing again. I was talking to my roommate earlier about the snow and it reminds me of this kid that I really don't like. I said, "This snow reminds me of Lecates. Both he and the snow don't realize when they're not wanted!" Yeah that was a pretty awesome moment for me in my life today. Anywho, I look forward to posting many other strange and amusing stories. :)