things that made me happy.

this week brought the potential of five tests, reviews, work, and minor dramatic moments. i'm mostly just happy i got out of it alive.

passport application: submitted! the line was long and the conversation was, well, post office line conversation. but it's done!

celebrating bryn's birthday din din. then watching her get her ears pierced. twenty years old and her piercing viriginity is finally stripped!

having a really rough night and having my grandma call me and make everything seem okay. my grandma is better than your grandma. i love her lots.

passing my calc test with one try left. and getting exactly the 80% necessary. goodbye 9 am class! proud to say i only skipped once. (don't worry those lower scores don't count on my grade, it's pass/fail and all you need is one 80) :)

noticing i have homework for my study abroad prep class. tell me that isn't exciting? tell me i'm not lucky to be excited about homework? yeah. thought so.

seeing a best friend find her wedding dress. i may or may not have teared up. #iloveweddings

talking to my brother sam and asking, "is there anything else you need to tell me?" and him responding, "just that i love you."

splurging and getting a new skirt at h&m. no, it was not necessary but yes, i am very happy about it.

finding the silver lining in this week.. i have many blessings to be counting :)

amore.

v day. you either love it or hate it. i'm not sure if i have enough unbiased experience with the day to choose my side, but this year i enjoyed valentine's day completely. no, i don't have a lover.. i have lots :) this year surprised me and made me realize you don't need a boyfriend to like v day, all you need is love. (yep. i just said that tacky statement.)

v day kinda started monday night, when we threw jaxon a surprise birthday party. he was completely surprised (my favorite thing) and it was a lot of fun. he even got lucky..

i love this boy lots. he's one of a kind.
then after a long day i came home to a package from my awesome family/mother. yes please. the usps delivered this time.

i slept in the living room (don't ask questions) and listened as one of my roommate's secret admirers taped a rose and note to our front door. i then woke up to these beauties on our kitchen table. 

i assumed they were for my roommate alex, who is engaged. nope. just from the boys/jaxon, who provided a gerber daisy for every girl in madison five. try and tell me my friends aren't the best.

the rest of the day was filled with ding dong ditching and pleasant surprises all around.

i doodled this in class then realized i didn't have anyone specific to give it to. disappointing? surprisingly not. :)

and nothing's more festive then some heart nails! yeah, i went all out.

bryn my forever valentine surprised us all with these bows and notes. she's the best. (how do i keep up when i have so many cute friends like this? it honestly is rough. i feel so inadequate.)

who needs a valentine when you can have lots? i think i'd prefer it this way for now. it's safe to say this one goes down in the books as one of the best valentine's day. it was ended at the vow. how did you feel about it? i liked it, but i was so mad most the movie.. it was depressing. oh well. we all know i'll see it again.

hope your v day was filled with lots of v's and lots of love. :)

i am a believer.

christmas has just been grand. i've given and received much to my delight. i am SO happy i am the oldest and have two siblings that are still leaving cookies out for santa and writing him letters. it makes christmas so much more fun. i'm grateful i know santa will be coming to my house and i will have presents under the tree.
presents aren't what christmas is all about, but this christmas presents taught me a lot. santa and my parents definitely take care of my family. i always have something to look forward to and barely any of it is something of necessity. i say presents taught me a lot this christmas, and really they taught me everything.
this year my family picked a family to create a christmas for. what would it be like to not expect anything under the tree, and not even have a tree to begin with? this is not something i've experienced ever. a family in my ward is a set of grandparents, parents, and their kids all living together. their living conditions are minimal and nothing i would ever hope for. there are many young children in the house, three, five, ten.. ages that christmas magic is most important at. i wonder what kids who don't expect santa think when before christmas it's all most kids talk about, then after christmas break everyone is listing their presents and they have nothing to say.
throughout the week we did chores to earn money for presents for the family, then friday we went shopping for them. it was so exciting! i loved picking out outfits and trying to find something that would make them excited. after doing all of that it made me feel so greedy to be asking for so many things that were so unnecessary. i think i'm this desperate college student that barely scrapes by, but when compared to them i'm doing great. comparing yourself to others i thought was never helpful, but when i compared myself to others less fortunate than i am, in hopes of bettering their conditions is what made christmas special for me. yes, i know my parents put out the presents on christmas eve and eat the cookies, but not everyone has parents who can do that. the magic of santa happens when we grasp the spirit of christmas. christmas could be the most selfish, materialistic holiday if we forget what christmas is all about. of course, we are celebrating Christ's birth, but i also think it is important to remember the spirit of giving and looking out for others.
i'm so glad i was able to help provide the magic of santa for a family, which then reminded me of the spirit of christmas- making this christmas one i will remember. i look forward to many more seasons of giving to come.
:)

crafty wafty.

pinterest party. party of.. one. 

for those of you who don't know, i'm a pinterest addict. i can proudly say that i didn't pin during finals week though! but that just means i've been pinning triple the past week to make up for it. and thus i am inspired to actually pin something from my "ideas, ideas" board. if you want to just on the pinterest wave, click here and follow me! 

i think the theme for today's projects was color. i love love love color. ok well who doesn't? my high school art teacher was a great mentor and showed me how the most basic colors can be mixed to make the most brilliant colors, that color doesn't limit it to one tone, and that you don't need a new brush for each color. i've never been able to just pick one color.. maybe you'll see all this in my projects.

ornaments! my adorable little brother sam had made the ornament you see in the top left at school and was so excited to give it to my mom when it got home. she opened it and accidentally broke it. i could tell sam was crushed (ha) so we made a new one. it was so fun! the snow men are made from his fingers. the rest are ornaments we made from pouring the paint inside and swirling it all around. 

then guess what? before there was the finished project of those cute snow men, he broke the ornament again! i remembered i had saw the idea on pinterest of putting the broken pieces of ornaments inside of another, so i did that. (top picture) but then that was too boring because all of teh pieces were blue, so i added some silver on the outside. then remember the mustache stamp from my last post? yepp. had to use that on one of my ornaments! 

i love my next project. anyone who loves color would. i just took paint and blobbed it down on a canvas. inspiration was found here and originally here. i chose two colors + white and just mixed and made my little heart happy. i did a turquiose and a purple on the first, then purple/ the left overs of the first and red on the second.

it's funny what you get when you try and mix two colors in as many different ways as possible. do try!

then the last project doesn't match.. at all. i got my idea here. i covered a palate in hexagons, but decided that was too boring so i added the word inspire on there. i traced that with hot glue, then covered that in white paint. i like it okay, but can't decide if i was to retrace "inspire" in a color. a pale yellow maybe? too tough to decide. suggestions welcome. :)

the addiction has been fed. if you have any more ideas.. please share!

sincere apologies.

i've been HOME.

with these people.

watching these people score baskets.

and this kid.. just doing his thing.

(+ maggie. don't forget maggie. no picture of her yet.)
while i do things like this..

some things are still the same, thank goodness.

happy christmas y'all.


ps- if anyone has any expertise with baby showers.. holla at yo girl? k i'll stop switching languages.
i'm supposed to be hosting a baby shower in a week and i am SO out of my league.

dear ol' dad.

tonight i got to interview my dad for an "article" i'm doing for class. it was great to get 20 minutes of uninterrupted conversation and for the most part just listen. he's so busy that we don't get too much of that, so i appreciate him taking the time to help me with an assignment, and all he does for me and all those he leads!

i'm blogging from a car.

can you believe technology? i am on the internet while driving home from st. george. a- mazing. and pretty sweet and productive :)

 the provo bubble was popped thursday night when b-dog and brittany took off to head south.

this little gas station saved our lives. um. just know that if you are low in gas on the way to st. george GAS UP IN CEDAR.. if not you may have some technical difficulties. let's just say that our gas tank got very low for a very long time, according to the gas light.  how low you ask?

we are poor.. so we put five dollars in to get us to st. george (we were four miles away) and the gas light was STILL on. i am happy to report we made it safely. (barely.)

both friday and saturday night i worked the closing shift at ace. why do i love it so much? i don't exactly understand it.. but i like it and it pays so i think i'll keep picking up these shifts when possible :) i saw some of our "regulars".. one almost didn't recognize me when i was in the store that day without my vest!

i worked both shifts with this kid (breckon). he's underage so don't get any thoughts. we're just work besties. it's a love/hate relationship but on a good day i can get him to do the cleaning for me :) he started this summer and was just a little trainee and now he's earned the rights to the keys over me! so proud.

after work i made an appearance with bryn and brit at my aunt's halloween party. it was rockin'. everyone (except for us) was in full costume. dj lex was there (apparently he's a big deal) and every now and then a zumba instructor did a dance with everyone.

somehow my clever cousin ethan constructed a robot head thing to be like the LMFAO guy. his eyes even lit up! he's a keeper.

after we went to the haunted corn maze at staheli family farm.  not too scary but fun, and it was cool to meet new people. thanks for the facebook tag kortney!

sunday i went to church with my grandma, uncle, and cousins. i got the pleasure of taking kennedy out when sacrament meeting was getting long for her.

it reminded me of old time with my siblings :) we went around and look at all the pictures and talked about them. i just want to be a primary teacher! stupid YSA wards.

now i'm provo bound. i had the perfect weekend of family, friends, catching up, shopping, and work :) almost home!  we were driving and kennedy found part of her brother's costume from last night (he was an old man) and put it on. below is the result.

happy halloween!

sophie visits madison five.

alright. i go to college. young children are sparse in my neck of the woods. this is a fact that i struggle with, because for some reason kids make me so happy. i have so much fun babysitting or hanging out with younger siblings, cousins, and neighbors. not to mention, i made some great cash in high school babysitting. and i enjoyed almost every second of it. today i had the pleasure to bring this cute girl home to the apartment with me. she's sophie, my cousin. a current kindergartner, she enjoys drawing, dancing, puppies, and apparently my bedroom.

i kept trying to find activities to keep her busy, but after she got bored she always wanted to go back to my room. she was content just watching me do my homework, but just wanted to be on bed, preferably with the sheets on, and she always wanted the door closed- for privacy of course. i was expecting some deep girl talk. i didn't get that, but i did get some great drawings on my dry erase board.

every time someone would come in they would leave the door open, so sophie would have to jump down, go shut the door, and climb her way back up. my bed is the same height as her, so it was quite an adventure/entertaining thing to watch.

soph started to get hungry, so naturally i suggested we make brownies. i am a great example of healthy eating habits. i did get her to eat a couple frozen strawberries! i love this picture of her sneaking a little batter :)

she poured it in the pan all by herself! i can't take much credit for much. she's an independent woman at five.

after we put them in the oven, sophie reaped the rewards of the bowl and mixing spoon's leftovers. score!

after brownies sophie started showing us some of her tumbling tricks. it was at this point i noticed the brownies and sugar intake were probably not the best idea. rachel went outside with us and they ran around the grass. soph was showing off to all the liberty square residents! it was great. it was at this point i noticed running around was only contributing to the energy level. pretty soon after her dad came and picked her up and we had to pry her away from rachel.

thanks for visiting sophie! we had so much fun! i miss being around kids like you with spunk and bright smiles everyday. come back soon :)

happy.

this week has been a good one. i don't know really why.. when i actually think about it nothing has went particularly awesome, i've just been really happy. 

one thing that's been a major contributor is my school. i used to be a hater. i didn't even want to apply to byu.. but here i am! and i can't imagine it any other way. 

one thing that really "got me" was tuesday at devotional.. neil a. anderson from the quorum of the twelve was our speaker- i've never appreciated how great he is! 

right off the bat he told us how the first presidency send their love and how president monson is proud of us and they talk about us frequently, etc. he said the same for the entire quorum of the twelve apostles. to be honest i almost started crying. we are so lucky! a prophet of the Lord thinks and prays for us and our school is under his direction. not many people can say that.. i'm a pretty lucky girl. 

in utah i'm family-less, but not really. i have real family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, as well as fake family. on friday i went with brynley and her grandparents to a little town somewhere in the middle of no where to watch her brother, davis, play football. we met up with her other grandparents and parents. i felt like part of the family, it was fun! i love being with the andersons!

bryn, aimee, and i trying to keep dry. i was wearing her grandpa's sweatshirt, don't even worry about it.

i'm loving living with alex and rachel this year! it's so much fun. i particularly enjoy our spontaneous sonic runs, as seen here.

i'm currently on my way to st. george for the royal wedding, aka jared and elizabeth's wedding. i'm in charge of the photobooth. the props are here.. thank goodness we have boys like these to test them out.

can't wait for a weekend of family and wedding bliss!

rewind. review. continue.

so here's what's going on, according to my iphone picture timeline.
ST GEORGE

this baby is on sale. its literally a baby. a baby grand that is. got it up and running on craigslist while i was in stg. k none of you probably cared about that.

i started on the photo booth for jared and elizabeth's wedding. this is the bunting.. you like?
DRIVE TO PROVO

listened to this song. i just liked that it said this on the little thinger. (oh yeah, recently i discovered i used the word "thinger" for just about everything.)
WORK IN HEBER 

i saw this and just couldn't help but wonder.. is this a utah/mormon joke? only the utah/mormons will get this.

i visited the local favorite, well apparently state favorite, dairy keen. yummm chocolate strawberry and coconut shake.

 this was my favorite work project. i mostly did inventory but on the last day lynne (my boss) had me make a sign for the barn. i'm not going to lie to you, timberline ace hardware is pretty country. we sell ifa goods. don't know what that is? me either. its stuff for your farm. represent.

in between work days i got to spend lots of time with the cousins. the clarks are the greatest and i stayed with them for two weeks. i took over sophie's bedroom and everything. one night i went up to salt lake and babysat this kid and his siblings. i love them all!
DRIVING

in the past few weeks i've probably driven around 800 miles. actually i might dare say more 900 to 1000. a trip to st. george + heber every day for work gave me lots of alone time i guess. and i became slightly obsessed with the utah skyline, aka the mountains.

PROVO

meet my new home. cozy right? ha. it'll do. i'll have to do a before and after once i get settled. but this is what we (hayley and i) started with. ps hayley is my roommate. i'll introduce her soon. she's basically the best thing ever. i scored.

i won't lie, my eating habit were HORRIBLE before i went to the grocery store. yep, this was my dinner one night. can't say i minded it. but now i have some sweet peas and strawberries, and good stuff like that :)

let me just tell you a little secret. this is how you make me happy.. invite me to froyo (rachael kohler) and then give me a froyo coupon (molly flanigan). ps.. here's a shoutout to good ol' chaych.

that's her in the middle. she's twenty. yeah. old. so. anyone who needs to get married soon... kidding :) ps the crazy on the far right is on his mish! ah. miss ry reich. all these boys are just leaving left and right! i guess i should say something about kels too.. kidding. i love her lots. and am so glad we're reunited. just like old times. for realsies.

confused by this picture? its the view from my bed on friday night/ sunday morning. yep. outside. nope.. i wasn't in the woods camping. just outside my window in the parking lot trying to get a parking pass. got one. better be worth it!

and that's all.
classes tomorrow.
do i have any of my books? nope.
great start.
peace and love -alexis halladay