Skip to the Good Part

Can we fast forward the next 16 months and skip to the good part?

Pretty Please??

I Finally Figured It Out.

Ever since I've been up at college I have slowly but surely been gaining weight. It's tearing me apart. I hate going home and feeling like everyone is looking at me and thinking, "Wow. She really has put some weight on." I want to go home and have everyone say "Wow, Ali! You look great!" So it became my New Years Resolution.
For the past month I kept telling myself "I'm going to work out! I'm going to lose weight! I'm going to blah blah blah blah blah." Let's just say it's a lot easier said than done. But today, I realized something. I realized that every night I feel inadequate. Every night I regret what I did that day. I regret eating that dessert at the MarketPlace. I regret NOT going to the gym. I regret sleeping in through my 8:30 kickboxing class. I just regret the habits that I've made. And even though I continue to tell myself tomorrow, tomorrow, TOMORROW. "Tomorrow" never comes. It's like that sign on the side of the crab shack that used to be my the University Mall. "Free crab TOMORROW." But guess what everyone? It will never say "Free crab TODAY" until you actually do something about it.
As I was driving home tonight from work and feeling inadequate yet again, I realized I should go to the gym right NOW. NOW is when I'm actually motivated to do something. Tomorrow morning when I'm laying in my warm bed I'm not going to be able to get my fat butt out of bed and go to the gym. NOW is the time to do it.
I finally figured out that for me, sleep erases every emotion of the past day. No matter how badly I feel about myself every night, I will wake up and feel completely different. Not good, but not bad enough to do something about it.
So tonight I went to the gym. And guess what?? I LOVED IT. I forget how amazing it feels to actually work out. You know how people always tell you the exercising makes you happy?? Well guess what folks? THEY'RE RIGHT. I found my missing piece. I figured out what I need to do to be happy. And I hope that by reading this, you were able to find a little piece of your puzzle.  Love you all.

So I Missed A Few Days..

Unfortunately, I have failed to take a picture every day this year. But I am going to post the days I do have and continue to try a little harder to get one every day. Hopefully I can succeed a little more.

January 13--Allae and I

January 14--Cold Stone with the Roomies

Januaray 18--Fire Drill in the Snow

January 19--Self explanatory.

January 20--Allae almost spills her cereal but is able to pick it up with a plate so it doesn't all fall out (:

January 21--Waking up Jami!

January 22--Sunday Crockpot Dinner

January 25--London and I

PEEING MY PANTS.

Okay, it's not 100% sure yet but...

 I'm quite possibly going to Belize this summer for a humanitarian trip!! 

Ahhhhhhhhh! I could not be more excited! 

Hopefully it actually works out and I'm not getting excited for nothing. 

Cross you fingers. Because I'm definitely crossing mine.

BELIZE!!!

Picnik

For those of you who don't know what Picnik is, it's a photo editing program that you can use through FaceBook.  I recently got an email informing me that Picnik is closing in April.

 I could not be more disappointed. 

How the heck am I supposed to edit my pictures now?!                                                                  The plus side of it closing is that all the super cool effects that normally cost money are FREE now for EVERYONE! YAY! I will constantly be using Picnik for the next two months. Here are some past photos that I edited. 

Oh the memories. 

Picnik--You've been good to me.

Hey, I'm doin' alright.

It's just been one of those days. But I listened to this song and it made me happy. I am blessed so much more than I give credit. Its a great day to be alive ladies and gents. And don't you forget it.

I Am a Child of God

We had the best lesson in Relief Society today that I have ever had. One of my favorite people, Britnee Bromley taught it and she did a beautiful job.  This was one of the videos we watched during the lesson and it really touched me. I love the diversity of people in the video. The rest of the lesson was about how the Savior is our best friend. He knows everything we feel and is ALWAYS there for us. He is the only one that is always for us. He loves us. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. 

42.58

You may be wondering what the number 42.58 means. Welp, unfortunately it is $42.58 and it's the amount of money in my savings account. Awesome, right? After paying for text books, groceries, packages for Nic, and then tithing $42.58 is what it equals out to be. So much for my goal of only spending 40% of each pay check. Looks like I only have 40% left.

So...for the time being I will be living off of top ramen and popcorn. Woop woop! I think the envelope system is in my near future. 

Cleaning the Sink at Angies

First off, I would like to welcome McKinsie Barker to Logan! WOOT WOOT!

 So excited to have her here! 

In Logan, there is one thing that every college student must do to REALLY be able to call themselves an Aggie. And that is... drum roll please...to clean the sink. Angie's (a local restaurant) challenges anyone who eats there with the famous kitchen sink which includes: 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream, 4 bananas, massive amounts of thick whipped cream, and topped with cherries and 3 toppings of your choice. Steven and McKinsie had never accomplished this amazing task and received the coveted bumper sticker, so Allie and I thought we should take them for their first experience. Here are some pictures.

This is ONE of the SIX attempts at a serious picture. I thought I should spare you the other ones. haha

Finally! 

Kinsie was really excited! 

Seriously though. SO MUCH ICE CREAM. 

Steven was getting boxed out the whole time. I'm pretty sure Allie was on her knees so she could have some leverage on the ice cream. It was hilarious. 

YUM.

So pumped to have her up here in Logan with us! 

Steven finishing it off with a straw. Obviously I was disturbed.

So those of you planning on visiting Logan anytime soon, go to Angies and clean the sink! Its guaranteed to provide good memories, laughs, and stomach aches. You know you want to.

ROOMIES!

YAY!! We're back up at school and most importantly we are back TOGETHER!! 

Don't worry, we missed each other so much we put all our beds in the same room. 

In the process. This is what happens when four girls try to move extremely heavy beds. ha.

Needless to say, I love them and I couldn't be more excited for them to be back in Logan so I'm not living by myself. Yay Hooray!

Guaranteed Laugh.

hahahahahahahahaha This is honestly the funniest thing EVERRR. Guess who it is singing? Yep. You guessed it. Elder Nicholas John Searle himself.

Disconnected.

Lately I feel like I've been living 2 lives. Two lives that are completely disconnected. One of them involves living in Logan, working at Kneaders and going to school. But whenever I visit home (Pleasant Grove) I feel like the girl that was living in Logan wasn't me. I feel like I'm two completely different people. It's the weirdest feeling ever and I'm really not sure what is causing it.
Maybe I feel this way because I feel like the next year and a half away from my best friend are almost...well, worthless. I know that is a horrible thought, but it's hard not to think it. I want him to be here with me experiencing everything so I'm afraid to do anything too exciting.
I guess I need to just be happy where I am. I need to always remember to serve others before myself, keep God involved in all that I do, and to never stop taking chances. I need to learn that it's okay to have experiences without Nic. I need to remember that we'll have plenty of memories to make when he gets back and that this is our time to grow on our own and figure out who we are individually so we can grow together once we are reunited.

Now that it's written down, let's hope my brain can actually remember it. 

Days 1-5

HOOOLLLLAAAAA! We have made it through the first 5 days of 2012! And I have been successful with my goal of taking a picture every single day this year. Here is the first 5:

January 1st--Watching Josh open his mission call 

January 2nd--Tiff and her friends hanging out in the kitchen

January 3rd--Went to the temple with Kelsie Daniels to do baptisms. Missin' our Missionaries!

January 4th--Being artistic in my room. ha. 

January 5th--Went and got Tiff and her friends (Maddy and Kylie) to go to JCW's for lunch. YUM.

Lately.

Here are some pictures from the family reunion this past week:

Twinners!

We kinda like oranges.

Cute little Kels

Skiing with Carly

At Soldier Hollow 

Seesters

Ash was really excited to see me? haha

Carly, me, and Gail

Annual Ali Carly picture!

Most of the kids  at Soldier Hollow

The kids at a frozen yogurt/hot chocolate place. DELICIOUS.

Tonight, January 1 2012, I had the amazing oppurtunity to watch one of my best friends open his mission call. Josh Gibb and I have been friends since 5th grade and we've always been super close. Now I have a missionary and he has a girl that will wait for him while he is on his and we're all grown up! Crazy how that happens. He was called to serve in the New York Utica Mission and I couldn't be more proud of him. Love ya, Josh!

Josh and his lovely gal!

You could call us the 4 musketeers. 

And of course, we HAD to get a normal picture.