"You come here a lot don't you?"

Even though I claim not to like soda- I really do love Cherry Limeades from Sonic. My roommate and I go right before they close and get a medium cherry limeades with extra lime (that is an extra .10- it is not complimentary)! We only go once or twice a week, and there is this one server who if we get every once in awhile and the other day when he brought me our drinks he said, "you come here a lot don't you?" Is it bad when they start to recognize you?!

I am just waiting for him to recognize my voice and have my order memorized!

Spring Break second 1/2

I do not know what is wrong with me- I hardly take pictures anymore! I have no pictures documenting spring break after my friends left- sorry family!

I am really short!

I had a great second half of spring break with my family! I got some necessary things out of the way- renewed my drivers license, sent a few packages, got a pedicure, slept in, read and almost finished Scarlett, and got to see Elaine for a quick visit over Easter!

Since then...

The last time I sat on this bench I was 18 and honestly thought my life was over- I had just had my heart broken, I was more homesick than I could imagine, and there were tears streaming down my face, it was probably quite a site for anyone who saw me! Obviously my life was not over because 2 1/2 years later I was able to come back and sit on the same bench without any tears streaming down my face! Now I look back at that girl and wish she could have more easily seen the bigger picture! I know I have said this before, but it is amazing how things change- I try to be a supporter of change, which is a good thing because nothing ever stays the same!

I have come a long way since I was last sitting here- I think this photo is a good reminder to me to move forward and remember that life will go on!

NYC

Two of my friends came home with me for spring break, and over the weekend we went up to NYC. It was the first time I had been back since I lived there- it took me about two minutes to realize I want to go back as soon as possible! We did a lot in less than 48 hours- survived the Greyhound bus ride, Port Authority bus station, Central Park, Empire State Building, saw a Chorus Line, ate at Carnegie Deli, Times Square, shopped Canal street, shopped Manhatten Mall, and Cara and I shopped for senior banquet & graduation dresses while they visited the Statue of Liberty!

Utah meets NYC
Sisters!

I also packed lighter than I have ever packed before in my life- one exra shirt, nothing more! Impressive? I think so!

Wake-up Call

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people are irresponsible- especially with not waking up on time. Not that it matters, but I have woken up to an alarm clock since I was in 4th grade- not really so much to be responsible but more that I am really cranky when people wake me up and it is better everyone involved if I can wake up to beeping. Since I have been doing this for so long I do not understand when people tell me they slept through their alarm or just could not wake up. I understand that on occasion this may happen- we get sick, we go to bed a 4AM and need to be up by 6AM but really, an everyday/bi-weekly occurance? This morning my roommates alarm went off a bunch of times but I was already getting ready to go to the gym so I did not try to wake her up- plus is that really my responsibility? I came home from the gym and she was still asleep- so I continued getting ready for my day and made a lot of noise in an attempt to help her wake up and finally she woke up and was not happy that she was running late. Somehow this was partially my fault. Right... because I am your mother and know your exact schedule. My bad.

This is a really similar if not the same as my 1st alarm clock!

Note: She woke up when she was supposed to be at the school- wouldn't you just hurry put on some clothes and a hat and run? Oh no... no you would take your usual 1 1/2 hours to get ready.

If there is one thing I want to teach my sisters/friends/future children it would be responsibility, because really I think everything else follows! This was more of a vent than a post... just needed to share!

Spring Break- Round 1

The McNeils invited me to stay with them in Zions for part of their Spring Break! I of course accepted the invitation and wish I could have stayed longer! The weekend began with a shopping extravaganza at Wal-Mart, an all girls car ride up to Zions, lots of laughing, talking, some hiking, eating, and of course NERTZ!

The greatest thing about the McNeils is that no matter how long we have been apart we pick up right where we left off and they love me no matter what- and they have known me my entire life!

Do you think people think we are one family?
I was imitating something from Saved By The Bell- (Buddy Bands episode)!

Thank You McNeils for such a great weekend! I also loved Pizza Factory on Wednesday night!

Red Dress Gala!

I had so much fun having my mom here for the 2nd annual Red Dress Gala! It is the final event for Philanthropy week- it was a great success! My mom has heard me talk about Alpha Phi for the past year, and she was finally able to see it all in action! The evening consisted of a dinner, silent auction, guest speaker, and of course lots of talking and taking pictures!

My little and my big!
My mom and I!!

Thanks so much for coming mom! I really had a ton of fun with you! Everyone was very impressed that you would come all the way across the country! What can I say?! I have a great family!

Big Sis Reveal!

For the past few weeks I have been giving my little sister gifts and trying to get to know her without giving away that I was her "Big". It has been so fun. On Wednesday I texted her and she asked me if I could take her to get her "Big" a gift for Thursday- well not wanting to say "no" and give it away I agreed (plus I know what a drag it is to not have a car). So I took her shopping for a gift- for me. I tried to kind of just go to the opposite side of the store and let her do her own thing! So I thought I was being so slick and really she was trying to figure out if I was her "Big" by asking if I could take her. Well I fooled her!

To "reveal" ourselves each of the "Bigs" was given a ball of yarn to wind around the entire room and then the "littles" were given an end to follow through the room until they got to their "big". Mine finished first and she freaked out- I wish we had it on camera! She honestly had no idea- it was the cutest thing. Nobody could beat her reaction!

Long weekend!

I love long weekends- not just because I get a day off of school but because I usually am able to leave Cedar City-special thanks to my parents for letting me use THEIR car out here :) I was able to drive up to visit both sets of my grandparents and see a mix of aunts, uncles and cousins! It is nice to be taken care of every once in awhile! So thank you to all who took care of me this past weekend!

Little Sister Gifts

I have a new little sister in Alpha Phi this semester! (My one from last semester dropped right before initiation) I have had so much fun putting together her little gifts...

Sour patch kids (her favorite candy) and strawberry lemonade (her favorite drink is strawberry smoothies- I know that these are not even a close second so I wrote her an IOU!)
Pin box
Completed pin box
Bag for her pin box!

Happy Late Valentines Day

I have decided that Valentines Day is one of those holidays that I think you either LOVE or REALLY DISLIKE... I remember when I was in high school I was complaining about Valentines Day and my mom told me that its not just about having a boyfriend or husband to love but its about loving friends, family, etc. I think I probably rolled my eyes and went back to really disliking Valentines Day and wishing I had a boyfriend! I would like to believe that I have matured a lot in since high school, and now I can look back and see that my mom was right (she always is)! Valentines Day is celebrating LOVE of all types! I am happy to say that I LOVE Valentines Day (and I am very very single)! So this year when I heard so many people complaining about Valentines Day I tried to put a positive spin on whatever they said! It was quite the task! I decorated the cutest Valentines Mailboxes for two of my friends- sort of 2nd grade- but they turned out really great and they loved them! We also made sugar cookies and decorated and delivered them in these really cute tins (I love Family Dollar)!

Happy Valentines Day!

"Move Your Phi't"

This was the first of many events going on this week for Philanthropy Week! Alpha Phi organized a 5K run around campus- it was the first 5K our chapter has ever done, I think it is going to become an annual event!

I helped set up at 6 in the morning- it is really really cold at 6 in the morning! I wore Under Armor (I now understand the Under Armor appeal- I am thinking I now need to own some!) a t-shirt, a jacket, a sweatshirt, a new 5K t-shirt over the sweatshirt and blanket, plus leggings, grey sweat pants and navy blue sweat pants over that! It was quite the look.

There were white,red, and black balloons all over campus- it was the cutest 5K I have ever seen! I did not actually run in it, I passed out the water.

I wish you could have seen my outfit in full!
"Safety Phi"
Some of our Alpha Phi participants!

Dear Mom,

I think this basically sums it up! I am so excited to see you in 2 weeks for the Red Dress Gala! I hope you are excited too!

Love,
Your daughter

Field Trip

I went on a Field Trip today to SLC! (I think the last field trip I took was in 6th grade- well actually 8th grade to Kings Dominion but anyways...) My Meetings and Conventions class (yes- it is an actual class!) went up to Salt Lake today and took a tour of the Salt Palace and of the Marriott across the street! We met and talked to the GM and two of the people who do events and catering. I have never been so sure about what I wanted to do with my life- I know exactly what career path I need to take!

I was able to meet Elisa, Bub, and Miriam for lunch at The Gateway!

Bub has grown since I last saw him in August!

I love Miriams new hair cut!

Thanks so much for meeting and treating me to lunch Elisa!

A Girls Best Friend!

Birthday Surprise!

An unmarked box with no recognizable return address!
A note from my BFF Elaine- good thing we have telepathy or else I may not have known who it was from!
I would recognize this color and ribbon from a mile away!

The necklace is so so cute- it has my initials engraved on the back and everything- each picture I took of it came out funky! I will post it later!

Elaine! Thank you so so much- you completely out-did yourself! I love you! (Not just because you bought me a Tiffany & Co. necklace- because as we learned that does not prove anything!) Oh but I need to know, are yougoing to break up with me in a month?!

Birthday Week!

I am all about celebrating for as long as possible! I was able to spread my birthday out for an entire week!

Shar and I at Wingers!
Tiff, Jess and I ate at Lupitas and they sat us at both #21! (Coincidence? I had to take a picture with the number!)
My "fabulous" birthday cake!
Me and my fabulous birthday cake!

Thanks for the sweet cards, calls, e-mails, and gifts!

Peace. Love, and Alpha Phi

We had our Alpha Phi Bid Day party today! We had a great RUSH and were supposed to have our party on Monday but it got postponed because of a crazy snow storm! Which meant that our room got changed, so our entire set up got a little messed up! I along with another girl were the "day chairs" for this day! We did all of the planning, decorating, setting up, etc. It was so much fun! Here are a few pictures I took... I wish I had taken more!

"Peace Love and Alpha Phi"

Our Spring 2008 RUSH theme

Centerpieces
Balloon holders- I used glass jars, put the extra fabric inside, glued some ribbon and tied the balloons on top!
A few of the girls waiting for the getting to know you game- don't you just love those?!

It was such a success- I was so thrilled with the outcome! It was exactly a year ago that I received my bid for Alpha Phi and was at my own Bid Day party!

**Thanks Cristin and Mom for helping me with ideas!!**

Gordon B. Hinckley

Today in my Institute class my teacher had us write down where we were when we found out about his passing away, and also our favorite memories and things we want to rember about him. My teacher also shared some of his memories which were very neat because he was called as a Mission President and a Member of the Seventy by President Hinckley.

Here are a few things I wrote down so I will not forget them...

Where I was when I found out...

I was at the Alpha Phi house waiting for our meeting to begin when someone received a text message telling them that President Hinckley passed away. At first I did not believe them, but as the meeting went on I kept receiving the same text message. It is so sad but at the same time it is amazing to know where he is and that he is reunited with his sweet wife. Yesterday was our ward conference and I was able to sustain President Hinckley one last time, which I am grateful for.


One of my very favorite Talks is from the closing remarks from the October 2001 General Conference
I re-read it this afternoon and it seems perfect for today.

He was the driving force for the building of dozens and dozens of temples there are now over 120 temples all over the world.

He stressed education for everyone, "It is so important that you young men and you young women get all of the education that you can..."

"Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, and be prayerful."

Happy Birthday!

Happy 13th Birthday Emily!

Hope your birthday is even cooler than monkey on a stick!

I hope you remember that joke from a few years back!

My bad...

I had a family newsletter written and everything- I just sent it to someone else! So now somebody knows all about my January! That is what I get for sending stuff late at night! Well... here it is! I figure that the readers of the newsetter are the same readers of my blog!

Dear Family,

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday and a great first week of the new year! I had a busy December with finals, projects, etc! It was nice to have a break! It was great to spend time with my family. We got all of things in that I needed to do- ribbon outlet, scrapbook store, Target, American Eagle, all of the important stuff! I think one of the best highlights of my break was finishing my A-Z family scrapbook for my parents! I think my mom is going to blog it! I started my new semester on Monday. I love all of my classes, really I do! I think my favorite so far is my food and beverage class! My teacher is still trying to figure out why her class last year was not excited about learning how to brew their own beer- she said it was a hit when she taught at UNLV! I am still busy with Alpha Phi- I applied for a position and now am Director of Administration! It is great to be involved! I was asked to be a day chair so I am in charge one one of the days during our Rush week, which is themed "Peace, Love, and Alpha Phi! It was so much fun to plan- I will have to take pictures of my day! (Thanks Mom and Cristin for ideas!) Hope you all are doing amazingly well! Love you all!

I loved reading the newseltter this week! I read it tonight in the library and it completely made my night!

New beginnings!

I can not believe it is already time for a new semester to begin! I am pretty excited for all of my classes- I am sort of a nerd! I love new semesters because I feel like I have a fresh start. I have set some new goals and have have a bunch of projects and things I want to do! Here's to 2008!

Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for....

Autumn
Family
Babies
Transportation
Friendship
Nertz

I have been so so busy and I have so many things I want to blog... they will have to wait a few more days!

Haunted Hospital

Last week I was able to work at the Sigma Nu Haunted Hospital... it was fun but so scary! It was cool to see all of the behind the scenes kind of stuff that goes on! It actually takes place in the old hospital that has been abandoned (no electricity, or heat!), and is rumored to be haunted. The guys who do it do a really amazing job- last year they made over $25,000, most of this money is donated to a charity. The Alpha Phi's had a room set up like a house- which is why we are in aprons and dresses.

BEFORE

AFTER
My flash is so bright- it was really dim in the actual hospital which made it even scarier!
I had to sing a lullaby as the people passed by- and then I would follow them through the room! In our room there was also a woman in a kitchen, someone watching a static tv, a woman ironing, and someone who stepped out from behind the curtains.

Letter to Me

I heard the song "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley the other day on the radio. It is a cute song and it gave me something to think about while I drove home. Here are the lyrics (listen to the song- someone made a video of the song-ignore their typos)

If I could write a letter to me

And send it back in time to myself at 17

First I'd prove it's me by saying look under your bed

There's a and a no
one else would know you hid

And then I'd say I know it's tough

When you break up after seven months

And yeah I know you really liked her
and it just don't seem fair

All I can say is pain like that is fast and it's rare

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

She wasn't right for you

And still you feel like there's a knife sticking out of your back

And you're wondering if you'll survive

You'll make it through this and you'll see

You're still around to write this letter to me

At the stop sign at Tomlinson and Eighth

Always stop completely don't just tap your breaks

And when you get a date with Bridgett make sure the tank is full

On second thought forget it that one turns out kinda cool

Each and every time you have a fight

Just assume you're wrong and dad is right

And you really should thank Mrs. Brinkman

She spent so much extra time

It's like she sees the diamond underneath

And she's just polishin' you 'til you shine

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

Tonight's the bonfire rally

But you're staying home instead because if you fail Algebra

Mom and dad will kill you dead

Trust me you'll squeak by and get a C

And you're still around to write this letter to me

You've got so much up ahead

You'll make new friends

You should see your kids and wife

And I'd end by saying have no fear

These are nowhere near the best years of your life

I guess I'll see you in the mirrorWhen you're a grown man

P.S. go hug Aunt Rita every chance you can

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

I wish you'd study SpanishI wish you'd take a typing class

I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be

I'd say have a little faith and you'll see

If I could write a letter to me

To me

How great would it be to have a letter from yourself 5, 10, 15 years down the road? I would love to have a letter from myself 5 years down the road!

I wish that this 18 year old Alicia

This picture was taken the night before I left to go to my freshman year of college

knew what this

20 year old Alicia knows now...

I did not realize this picture had such a glare!

I wrote a letter to myself... and here are a few things I wrote

I gave myself some advice: (somethings I did and somethings I wish I had done)

When you heart gets broken do not cry for more than a day about it.

Even though you hate school take advantage of living in NYC. Soak up the culture, and love it.

Swallow your pride, please do not think that you failed or even made a bad decision, because you didn’t.

Do not date anyone you work with, no matter how cute they happen to be and no matter how much they flirt with you.

Take advantage of living at home again, offer to help mom cook and clean, you might just learn something.

Be nice, work on smiling and being friendly.

Value the time you spend with your family.

Give yourself some credit, you are smarter than you think. Have a little faith in yourself.

Everything is going to work out.

I think we all would love to have a letter telling us what or what not to do, or just reminding us to have a little faith and that everything will work out in the end! I wonder what my 27 year old Alicia would tell me...

I'm a Big Sister!

I now have a LITTLE SISTER in Alpha Phi!

These are a few of the little gifts I have made her...

A paint can filled with candy

A flower vase with her name

Pin box

I have had so much fun putting everything together... we have Big Sis/Lil' Sis reveal next week!

I am so excited!

Homecoming shirt!

These are our Alpha Phi homecoming shirts!

They are soo cute!