Move over, Snuggie

Everyone has moments that define them. 5 minutes ago was one of those moments for me. There I was, sitting on the couch watching  a little TV when the King himself appeared, and I had one of the best laughs I've had in a long time. Now, before you call me cold hearted I just have to put it out there that I liked Michael just about as much as the next guy, but honestly, this is probably the most hilarious commercial ever. Just think, for just 10 bucks you can buy 2 AUTHENTIC MJ Lithographs with certificates, one in which he wears a "white suit as pure as his heart" (my favorite line) and one where he sports his "regal attire". But you must hurry, for the print plate will be destroyed in 30 days. 

Makes your heart race a little, doesn't it?

Wisdom Wednesday

So, I learned that in order to find a job there is one little secret.

WW22- It's not what you know, it's who you know. 

I'd never really been a believer in this little verse until today at about 8:04 AM when a job landed with a THUD right into my lap. Yes, you may now call me Custodian Alyssa. Hold the applause, please. 

So the whole long winded story goes like this: As you know, I moved in with good ol' savior Grandma last week to find a job and "adjust" to Utah before school starts in a month. Basically since I've been here I have been calling  jobs.byu.com home, sending out a plethora of emails, and taking all kinds of weird screening tests. To no avail, mind you. The whole time this was going down my grandma kept telling me to call this guy she knew who is over the Marriott Center on campus- basically the Taco Bell Arena of BYU. She had talked to him, and he sounded like he could score me a job. However, the two times I'd called he just didn't feel like answering. This was definitely not going to do for Grandma. She called him up again, and the next thing I knew, I was instructed to go down to Portal W of the MC and talk to him about getting a job. When my alarm went off at 7:30 AM I jumped up and was out the door only moments later. And only moments later I was sitting in an office being handed a job. No resume, no application, no interview. I think all jobs should be this easy.

Thanks, Grandma 

Wisdom Wednesday

This whole week has just been a great big busy blur due to the fact that I had to pack up everything I owned and move to Utah today- yep, I no longer live in Boise, ID... how weird is that? As of now I am living with my grandma- the best hostess ever- for the remainder of the summer, and then it is off to BYU. Woooh I am getting closer and closer to the edge of this cliff. It's kind of exciting.

Here is a little recap of the week...

which started with me taking down my entire room. If you've never seen it before, this is THE picture wall. It basically bore record of ever single fun thing I have done in the last 6 years. With that said, I am sure you can infer as to how much time it took to take down. Can you say about 5 hours total? Yeah.

and this is all the tape that was on back of all the pictures.

 however, don't feel too bad for me- I had some slaves- er, sisters, who just jumped at the chance to help me pack up all my stuff :)

The rest of the week was spent celebrating going aways with my best friends, as we are here, eating pizza and enduring the heat at Lucky 13.

Diana and I also made these great shirts for eachother which read, "someone in AZ (or UT) loves me!" Yeah... Diana went all out for mine, and I LOVE it. Who knew a paint penned cactus could be so stylish?! It is no exaggeration for me to say that I have been wearing it since she gave it to me... and it's a mystery to me as to when I will actually peel it off. :) If I had no sense for hygiene I would keep it on until Christmas- the next time I get to see my favorite girl, ever. Oh man- that is definitely the hardest part of leaving for college- knowing I won't be seeing my best friend for about 5 months. This is about the time I get on my soapbox about how grateful I am for twitter, facebook, skype, cell phones, blogs, and basically telekinesis. Speaking of blogs, I believe she was supposed to START A BLOG today. (I am still waiting for the link, woman!)

So, you may be wondering where my wisdom is. The truth? My life as of now, well, for the next month, is a big one of these

"?"

The current theme of my thoughts seems to be a broken record playing, "so, now what?" Your wisdom and comments would be much appreciated.

Currently

I am fulfilling bullets on my "to do" list.

I am the queen of errands, that is for sure. There is no greater joy in the world than writing down all the tasks needed to be completed for the day on a yellow note pad, carting it around, and as completed, crossing them off the list. 

This current bullet has to do with sitting downtown on Tully's patio, and dowloading the held cd's I've been waiting for FOREVER. Today's finds? Josh Ritter's "Animal Years", DCFC's "Narrow Stairs", Sondre Lerche's "Phantom Punch" and an obscure mix I can't wait to musically indulge myself with. This is one of the things I will definitely miss when I leave for Utah tomorrow- the Boise Public Library- not only the mecca for a surplus of books, but the home of basically every single CD I never wanted to pay for. All I know is that my first task upon arriving in Utah is getting a library card at the Springville Lib. And maybe the Provo one, too. 

So, with that I will continue my uploading and web surfing in the shade of the hovering buildings of Bodo, catching waves of conversation from Boise's own Desperate Housewives, while a urban soundtrack serves as white noise. 

Wisdom Wednesday

I am a 2+ year vegetarian.
NO- I am not doing it for the animals
NO- I do not become squeamish when they're eaten
YES- I don't like meat all that much.
When I first break it to people that I don't devour cows, pigs, chickens, hot dog animals, and the like on a daily basis, most get all big eyed and almost frightened looking. And, with a typical furrow of the brow, the interrogator will always ask the burning question,
"but, what do you eat?"
I'm glad you asked.
WW21- GARDENBURGER. It's what's for dinner.
I used to not be all hip on eating it, however this summer there has seem to be a rebirth inside of me, and all of a sudden, this heaven sent bit is all I want to eat. It is just that delicious! Ask my parents- I think they like them, too. It was definitely a landmark of a day when I came to the dinner table and found that we were eating the cheese/soy/rice/veggie patties for dinner. My father, the king of all things steak, can stomach them, and that in itself speaks for the tastiness, in my opinion. So, that is my word. Go to the grocery store and pick up some gardenburger- all the varieties are good. They're next to the tofurky. :)

During The School Year

I have a lot of excuses. However, when summer rolls around those nagging details seems to kind of fade away for me- I mean, you know it's summer when your to-do list for the day consists of

1. Going to the bank

2. Going to the pool

3. Doing laundry

So, if you're like me, follow the wisdom I've been trying to use myself so far this summer.

WW20- Read

I commonly lose sight of how much I like books. Maybe I suffer from acute ADD or maybe I am just lazy, but I will be the first to admit that I don't read enough books. This summer I've been trying to get back into the swing of reading, and my love has been rekindled. The latest book I've got under my belt is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It was good- I recommend it, and now I am moving on to... something. I am not sure what, but when I find something excellent, I'll let ya'll know. Until then I back up Arthur and all of Elwood City when they quite proudly sang that, "having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card". How true that is. 

.. and after I wrote this I had the urge to find that Arthur Musical Episode... so I youtubed it, relived my childhood, sang every word, and then I thought you might like reveling in it's glory, too. :)

AP Repercussions

I just paid 8 bucks to hear a 10 second recording of my AP grades.

Highway robbery? I think yes. I guess that is the price you pay for being impatient and not wanting to wait another couple days until the scores get mailed out. 

Turns out I got a three on both... which is fine for Spanish I guess, but a 3 in Stats gets me absolutely nothing at BYU. What a pity :(

So, with that little bit of info I will continue to try to fanangle myself into Spanish 205, Honors American Heritage, BOM, Honors Writing, Bio 120, and.... we will see. 

If you need me, I will be on my date with myMAP. 

Well, if my last post wasn't a bit of a downer

I don't know what is! 

Let me lighten the mood with a story I am sure you will enjoy. It has to do with the day of our nation's independence, explosives, and narcotics. Yes, you are in for a good time. 

Our story begins at the end of the Fourth Of July. That's right, firework time! In Idaho Falls, everyone, their dog, and their grandma comes out for the festivities. Some people camp out by the river to stake out their firework viewing spot for days prior to the 4th, but those people definitely do not not include my friends. This is

 why we were really surprised to stumble upon a stretch of green coveted grass in a sea of blankets and Old Navy 4th of July Tshirts last night. Without a second thought we pounced upon it, laid out our blankets, and set up camp.

 As we got settled, we suddenly heard a booming voice spouting colorful words.... at a small child, telling him to "please let his father know where he was going before he left" to put it in nice terms- let me tell you, by the tone of this guy's voice, even we thought maybe we should tell him where we were going before we left the blanket! Feeling a bit uncomfortable, we all looked at each other and panned our surroundings. While walking to the river and people watching earlier, I had jokingly commented that IF was 98% Mormon and 2% Riff- Raff- I sensed some irony as my eyes settled upon this sign.

We were amid crack babies and meth heads. However, it was no big deal for us- we just kept a close eye on our belongings, ignored the chiding of the mulleted man behind us, and enjoyed coexisting. In fact, some of them even invited us to an underground rap concert!

and we were safe because we had Chayden to protect us

And in the end the fireworks were great... as the "fireworks" setting on my camera clearly shows.

Definitely a memorable 4th of July.

A Portion Of My Heart

belongs to a town called Idaho Falls.

When I tell people I spend some of my summer there, most just kind of raise their eyebrows and wonder what would possess me to drive over there and actually stay. For fun. They just do not understand. It's been 4 summers now since I fell in love with a neighborhood called Woodland Hills, a gas station called Speedi Mart, the family that lets me come over whenever I please, and a group of kids who live in the place. It seems that every time school got out I always craved the place, and even tried to persuade my parents to let me live there a time or two... or five. :) They quickly declined each time. (I now thank them for that.) I have made so many friends there, had so many... experiences, and have definitely made enough "remember when" moments to last a lifetime. I've got a feeling that as I go through my life I will frequently go back to those summers in IF, stop, sit, ands smile. 

Today I returned from what very well could have been my last extended Idaho Falls trip, seeing as I move to Utah in two weeks, and my friends there are all going their separate ways to school, to missions, to marriage. (shudder) 

So now I am feeling rather nostalgic over the last four years of my life- I feel like I am standing on a cliff. I can see the edge, I know I am supposed to look out there- into the next chapter of my life, gazing into the hills and valleys of what is to come, yet as the time gets closer my palms get sweatier and I just want to stop and sit. I want slow my stride, maybe take a closer look at my surroundings, and perhaps get the rocks out of my shoes. I like knowing what is going to happen next, and now I really have not the faintest idea. It's the weirdest feeling! As I sit here, the wisdom of Steve Carrell in Dan in Real Life keeps playing in my head when he says, "if you're going to prepare for anything in life, prepare to be surprised." 

Oh, I am prepared. 

EWW

Even the classiest of Idaho residents must renew their driver's licenses...

Wisdom Wednesday

It is official- I am a pool rat. I have the becomings of green tinged hair to prove it, and it seems all my swimsuits and towels will be forever damp and hanging on my door knob. We do not have a pool in which I can swim, so I found a new way...

WW19- Steal Pool Keys.

Whoa, whoa hold on. Before you think I am some kleptomaniac, just listen for a minute. So the family I babysit for a lot moved to Oklahoma, and I was in charge of cleaning the house. Upon cleaning, I stumbled upon their coveted Surprise Valley pool key. Without a second thought I swept it into my hand and clicked it on my key ring. I had to- either I took it and got some use out of it, or it would just sit and gather dust.

Dust is the last thing this key has had to worry about.

I've been milking my access to the pool for all it's worth, for as my skin gets darker and my hair turns greener, I know the day of reckoning is coming.

The new family moves here next week, and I have a feeling I'll have to return the key to it's rightful owner. Oh well... it's been fun. :) So if anyone's up for going to Surprise Valley until next week, you know who to call!

Diana and I take full advantage of our VIP Access. :)