AND SO I COME TO THE END OF ANOTHER SUMMER...

* * * SIGH * * *

As yet another summer of my life comes to a close, and I prepare to head back down south to the lovely city of Provo, I can't help but think back on how great my summer has been!  

It was kicked off by a trip to Vegas with the girls, followed by a fabulous cruise to the Caribbean.  I built up quite a nice tan...and then headed to EFY where it faded right back to white!  7 weeks of EFYing with some of the most amazing people I could ever meet, I came home and slept.  Followed by more sleep.  And then added a little more sleep on top of that.  

After sleeping a little bit more, I begin to look forward to the next chapter of my life.  I will be starting my 3rd year of college at BYU, and it suddenly dawned on me when I saw the word "Junior" next to my name that I am no longer one of the young unexperienced ones!  I'm a JUNIOR!!!  After a slight freak out moment, I calmed down and decided that I'm really not a junior, but I am a "junior."  While it may be my 3rd year, I won't be graduating for another 6 semesters (or another 3 years).  So I felt better about life, knowing that real adulthood is 3 years, not 2 years away!

Here is some more pictures from my summer...

Oh yeah!  I'm going to Disneyland next week for the first time since I was about 5 years old or so!  YIPEE!

Me and Brooke baking some of her FaMoUs CuPcAkEs!!!!

Painting the deck...and myself...

Aren't we so American?  My, my Mommy, and Brooke sometime between the 4th and 24th!

More of Brooke's FaMoUs CuPcAkEs!!!

 Me with my niece, Ivy, on her 1st Birthday!  My sister-in-law, Jamie, and her mom, Pam, did a great job making such a cute party!

IT'S THAT TIME FOR ME...WISDOM TEETH TIME!!!

Today I found out some FABULOUS news as I went in for my routine once-every-5-years dentist check up...I HAVE TO GET MY WISDOM TEETH OUT!  Not only that, all 4 of mine are impacted! :(

Ok, so these aren't really my teeth, and mine aren't that bad, but still!  I would like a little sympathy for the painful experience that lies ahead of me!

MY SUMMER THUS FAR...

Ok....WOW!  This summer has been so busy and I have neglected my blog for much too long!  For a little update, I went on vacation on a Caribbean Cruise and it was soo fun!  Then I started work for EFY as a counselor and it has been so great so far.  I have a week off this week (which will be very nice) then I will have two more weeks in Rexburg.  

Here are some fun pictures of what I have been doing with my time lately!

This is me and my friend Elora in Maegan's Bay in St. Thomas

Me in beautiful Bermuda

My EFY group from Rexburg.  We were called "In the Dark" but the kids liked to call themselves simply "Darkness" instead

Like my new frames???

My EFY group called "Might Be"  Sometimes also called "The Mighty Bee's"

"Until the End"  They never changed the name :)

Meeting up with old friends for a camp fire in Mueller Park!  So fun!

So far, my summer has been awesome!  I can't believe it's already almost July!  Before I know it I'll be back at school wondering where all the time went!  

PS - I just found out I am going to be an aunt again!  Congrats Nichole and Travis!!!

  

ADIOS MUCHACHOS!!! (I have no idea what muchachos actually means!)

WOW! It has been quite a while since I have updated my blog!!!  Surprisingly, I actually have things to update on!  

First of all - I finished the semester on April 22, and I am no officially on summer break!  It wasn't easy, however.  During my last week of classes and into the first part of finals I was sick as a dog with the flu!  (not the swine flu though...but ya never can be too sure!)  I was unable to get out of bed or even study, but luckily I was well enough when finals week started that I was able to do everything I needed to!

Second of all - After finals, I went on a little girls trip with my mom, sister Brooke, and friend Elora to Vegas to see Phantom and shop.  The play was AWESOME, and the shopping was equally as fun!  

Third of all - I also just got back from a LONG road trip to Denver and then to Oklahoma to go to my Nephew, Ross, first birthday party!  I just can't express how fun it was to be able to spend time with my brothers, sisters-in-law, and my CUTE CUTE CUTE niece and nephews!  They always are SO much bigger every time I see them!  And on Ross's first birthday I got to be there as he took his first steps!  It was a moment to be remembered!  

Finally, Lastly - I AM LEAVING FOR MY CARIBBEAN CRUISE TOMORROW!!!!  If you can't tell I have been looking forward to this for a LONG TIME!!!!  We fly into San Juan tomorrow and then board our Ship (The Caribbean Princess) on Sunday.  Then we stop in Antigua, St. Thomas, and Bermuda.  We are going to go on a fun zip line through the jungle, and go kayaking in Bermuda and spend a lot of time laying on the beach and on the boat deck being served all the Diet Coke I can drink!  Ahhhhh...it's going to be positively marvelous!

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!! 

I HOPE I DONT GET ALL OF MY SILVER WARE MIXED UP ON THE CRUISE!!!

 

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER

So my mom has this obsession with American Idol that I don't share quite to the extent she does. So when she wanted me to watch this video from Britain's Got Talent I was expecting it to be pretty much like everything else she shows me all the time. However, all I can say is...WOW! This is truly AMAZING!

This is a woman who is from a villiage in Scotland. She has never been kissed, she lives with her cat and spent her life taking care of her late mother. Her mom always wanted her to go on this show, but she never did. When she first shows up, I thought what I'm pretty sure everyone else thought...that she was just going to embarrass herself. But she sure shut me up!

Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Why do any of us have to be so mean and unkind to others? Why can’t all of us reach out in friendship to everyone about us? Why is there so much bitterness and animosity? It is not a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ." After seeing the amazing talent this women has, everyone treated her with respect and stopped the laughter. But what if she couldn't sing? She still would be the same person who deserved the same respect! It is so sad that we treat people like that and don't think a second thought about it.

Stepping down from my soapbox now...but I hope this video teaches you the same lesson it taught me, because I think we probably all could be a little kinder to all the people around us!

EVERY TIME I THINK I MIGHT BE A GOOD DRIVER, I REMIND MYSELF, "NO ALI, YOU ARE NOT"

It is safe to say I have had my share of adventures on the road with my good 'ol 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Accidents, tickets, running out of gas, breaking down, simply refusing to start, boots (thanks to Provo parking), and many other things.  However, my latest incident was the strangest one yet.  First of all, I do not have a parking pass because I mostly just take the bus to school.  Yesterday, I was going to go back to school to do some studying, and I just drove my car.  I was trying to find somewhere that I could just park on the street, even though those spots are rare.  I found the perfect spot.  It was even wide enough that I could just pull in instead of having to attempt to parallel park.  I did notice that there were some random orange cones on the sidewalk next to it, but they didn't seem to be accomplishing anything by sitting there, so I figured it didn't matter.  About 6 1/2 hours later, I came back to my car to find all of the orange cones surrounding my car, with a hand written note that said "Please don't move the cones.  -BYU Grounds."  I was thoroughly confused, and simply moved the cones out of the way and drove away!

Can you make sense of what happened here?

PAY IT FORWARD

I saw this on my sister's blog.  Basically, the first 3 people to post a comment on this post will at some point in the near future get a scrumptious homemade treat from yours truly!  The only catch is that you have to pay it forward as well by posting your own pay it forward as well!  May the fastest posters win!!!