The desire to create...

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Here's what I've been up to the past few weeks.  Hopefully my mom doesn't read this (I don't think she does) because her birthday present just might be up here.

lots of baking!

 blanket for Alie, who's having a baby boy in a couple weeks!

 New camera!  Attempting to get better at taking pictures.

 earring holder, idea from about him + her

headbands!  love this one.

Rubber stamp cards.

Good Things

All the little things have been working themselves out in the past few days.  I have every reason to be grateful.  Examples:

I won two free tickets to the Hale Center Theater!
I found a lot of nice people who have been able to take all of my shifts at work while I am gone.
I was able to find a place to store my stuff while I'm gone and moved most of it in today.
I am going out to lunch with some family friends on Friday.
My iPod got wet and they were able to fix it for free!

Friday is the Talent Show and moving out of Cinnamon Tree for good.  And Saturday is off to Colorado.  Then California.  Then Carriage Cove.  Then Craig going to Jerusalem.  Bring it on, August!

Roadtrip!

Charla and I went on a roadtrip this past weekend! She wanted to visit a friend at BYU-Idaho and also go down to Southern California to go to her niece's baby blessing. As Charla is one of my best road trip pals and she is moving to Houston in a month, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. We spent a night in Idaho doing all of the best BYU-I has to offer: Craigo's Pizza, a tour of campus, Snoasis shaved ice, and hiking R Mountain.

On Saturday we made the 14 hour drive to Simi Valley, California. Somehow I didn't manage to snap any photos while were there! : ( We went to a baby blessing, had a barbeque, watched fireworks from the roof, swam in the pool, and got to hold baby Willow.

The drive home was eventful. The car had been overheating on the way down, but we had gotten it to cool down by turning on the heater and taking a break. A few hours in, the car started overheating. We let it rest for 2 hours while we took a nap in the car in a gas station parking lot, but it overheated again. We called a tow truck and got towed to Fillmore, Utah. At this point it was 6 in the morning. Charla and I were so tired, the wait for the tow truck seemed to take forever!Charla ended up staying the night in Fillmore, and I was lucky to find a ride back with Charla's roommate who was in the area.

Although Fillmore seems like a small town in the middle of nowhere, it is the very same place I met Kirby Heyborne my freshman year!

small talk

Bank teller: So what are you studying?
Me: I graduated.
Bank teller: What did you graduate in?
Me: Marriage, Family, and Human Development.
Bank teller: Oh, cool. I'm taking one of those classes next semester.
Me: Which one?
Bank teller: Oh, just the general how to be married and not suck at it.

Saturday
+ sunny weather =
bridal shower
+ ward slip n slide kickball
+ delicious free sandwiches from Chick-fil-A
+ surprise birthday party
+ bonfire
+ card games
+ porch sitting =
four different outfits
+ sunburn =
one tired but happy Alicia

Library

I love books.... I love to read. I went to the Provo Library yesterday to pick up a couple books. I hadn't been there for awhile, and I missed it.



Isn't it beautiful?

It was kind of funny, I was going through my list of books to read, and it is now dominated with nonfiction. I never really liked nonfiction before. All through high school, my favorite kind of book (I can't believe I'm actually admitting this) was cheesy LDS romance novels. The likes of Jack Weyland and Rachel Ann Nunes. It's still a guilty pleasure- those books are fast, easy reads, and I can relate to the main characters. And what girl doesn't like hearing about love?

Right now I'm finishing up To Have or to Hold by Josi S. Kilpack, and next up are Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood by Michael Lewis and The Observations by Jane Harris.

Scary

So maybe I don't have much experience with scary things happening, especially while driving (I have never been in a car accident), or maybe I just tend to exaggerate my emotions (especially while driving. One time I drove home from a mutual activity in tears because I was convinced that someone was hiding in the trunk of my car. I had some pants that I left in the front seat that weren't there when I came back. Obviously someone had stolen them, and then waited in the trunk of my car to attack me! In reality my mom had grabbed the pants before I left, and there were no stowaways or murderers in my trunk). Today I experienced what I feel like was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me.

I was driving up 500 West on the way to a work meeting. I slowed down for a stop light. And when the light turned green and I put my foot on the gas, nothing happened. Starting to get freaked out, I fumble through my thoughts and think, emergency blinkers! I turned them on, checked to make sure I was still in drive, and still, nothing. Who do I call? What do I do? I'm in the left lane.... I thought I had already tried the key in the ignition, but I tried again and that did the trick.

But by this time my emotions had gotten the best of me. And I started to hyperventilate. By the time I pulled into the parking lot, a block later, my entire body was starting to tingle and I was crying. It could have been worse. Luckily, there was no one behind me at the light, and when someone pulled up later they slowed down and eventually got in the other lane. But now I'm a little freaked out about driving, I never want to go through that again!

Pasta Car

Yesterday we had ward FHE. When the people in charge announced that we were making cars out of dried pasta, I was not too thrilled. I am not creative. I had no idea how to make a car out of pasta. Luckily, we got put into groups. But I'm pretty sure that my presence in the group had a negative creativity effect. We joked around and made a "car" that was just sticks of spaghetti with cannelloni pushed around it. A couple of people in our group attempted to make some other cars, but they weren't able to get them to roll down the incline. So we proceeded to go to the ward-wide race with our "car". Other groups had intricate designs complete with multiple types of pasta, wheels, and an actual shape and structure.

Our little wheel did pretty well- it went down straight and relatively fast. We won the award for sturdiest design. And we were so proud of ourselves that we took the award, taped the car to it, and put it up on our fridge.

This morning, we discovered that the car had fallen off the fridge. We found it on the floor, BROKEN into pieces. Oh the irony.

Dating Diaries

I've been reading Blogger Brawl over at Mormon Times lately, and it got me thinking what I would write about if I were to write a dating blog. Here goes.

One day, my freshman year of college, my roommate Alex and I decided to donate blood for the first time. We were both sitting in the Cannon Center and filling out the paper work when I started to get a little nervous. The guy next to me started talking with me. He was cute. All I remember about him was that he asked me if I had eaten breakfast that morning, but when he asked he kind of tapped my foot with his foot (purposefully). I can't explain it, but that foot tap (and possibly the comfort and ease and friendliness that he did it with) had some kind of powerful effect on me. Right after the foot tap, they called me back to donate and afterward I looked around for him but he wasn't there anymore. I knew his first name and tried to find him on facebook, but couldn't. More than three years later, I still regret not getting his number or ever seeing him again.

A couple weeks ago, I had a similar experience. Craig invited me to come along to a bonfire and gave me directions. Alyssa and I got to the parking lot at the same time as a car full of guys about our age. As we passed, they asked what we were up to. We said hi but kept on walking, but immediately I felt like, "Man, those guys were trying to hit on us! Why didn't we talk to them?" We kept walking, and I was still feeling kinda regretful. The trail kept going on, and we came to a fork in the road. I was on the phone with Craig, trying to figure out where the heck they were. And guess what? Those same guys came up on the trail behind us. Sensing that we didn't know where we were going, they said they knew exactly how to get to Johnson's Bowl and told us they would take us there. I was a little excited that somehow fate had brought them back into our paths. We talked for a bit as we were walking, and they seemed cool. Until I noticed one of them with a six pack of beer. What I had thought was fate giving me a second chance was kind of humorous when I saw this. Who knows what would have happened if fate brought foot tap guy and me together again?

Graduation!

Although I finished my degree in December of 2009, I got to officially graduate this week.


Alyssa also graduated, and since we have similar majors, we got to walk and sit together at the Commencement and Convocation!


My aunt and uncle and parents all came out from California to come see me! Thanks!


Ringing the Victory Bell!


The Family :)


Yay! I did it!

Oh, the perks of being graduated and single

April 7
8:00 Pm. Get off work. Eat some dinner, play B.S. and Idiot with friends (Alyssa, Devon, and Devin).
9:00 Pm. Go to another friend (Jared)'s house for brownies, "dancing", games, and conversation.
11:00 Pm. Head to In'n'Out with the roommies Alyssa and Jilleun.
Midnight. Go up the Canyon to look at stars with Charla.
2:00 Am. Safely back at home.

April 8
Up early for work, but come home and take a nap!

Yay for getting to see friends every night because I don't have homework! And I have tons of free time thanks to only having a part-time job! I suppose I just might be ok if this lifestyle lasts a bit longer...

If I Were a History Teacher....

..... this is how we would learn about the Declaration of Independence!



Oh, how I love youtube.

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

A summary of the past half year of my life:

Bought a bike
Johnathan came home from his mission
Got a passport
Dressed up as an old lady librarian for Halloween
Went caroling with llamas
Graduated from Brigham Young University
Visited Peru for ten days
My hard drive crashed and I lost everything
Lots of job interviews, no job offers
Went to the temple on January 23rd; this date apparently set a record for the most ordinances done
Took an Institute class at UVU
Ran into my ex-boyfriend at the confirmation room in the temple
Went to a Dr. Seuss party
Went to a funeral

ex-boyfriends

One of my favorite websites is the 100 Hour Board (BYU website with writers that answer any question you ask them in 100 hours). I like to read random questions and sometimes just search for things. One day I came across this question, "How long does it take for an ex-girlfriend to stop being bitter?" I came across this a little after I had gone through a breakup, so I was curious to see the answer. You see, I'd been through some breakups before, but for one reason or another they just didn't affect me that much. This breakup was different. I felt like I still thought about him after I should have been over it. Or maybe I felt like I was over it, but still bitter. Looking for a way to stop feeling bitter, I read the responses, which range from, "I don't think they ever do" to "As long as it takes to find a replacement." Great. I was looking for a way to help me stop feeling these bad feelings anymore, but it seemed like this was just going to go on forever (or as long as it takes to find a replacement, which at times seems like it will be forever). Anyway, long story short, I dated this guy last summer and I thought I had stopped feeling bitter towards him. Until. I found out that he has a new girlfriend. Ugh. Why do I care so much? Stinkin ex-boyfriends!

Sarali

I've been working at my current job since January 2009. Sarali is one of the first clients that I started working with. Sarali has a happy personality and it was easy to develop a friendship with her. Sarali was born with spina bifida and has been paralyzed from the waist down for her whole life. Despite her physical and mental limitations, Sarali had a great happy attitude. Sarali passed away yesterday on March 17. I cared for her a lot, but I know that she is in a better place- she can run around and dance and play and all of her pain is gone. She is in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And I know that someday, in a long, long time, I will get to see her again. I've got lots of happy memories of times that I spent with her.

Just Another Day in Paradise

After watching this music video over again, I realized it's super cheesy. But I love this song.

I can't wait until the day that my life revolves around my kids and husband.