everything is right in the world.

it had been just too long, and this long distance thing just wasn't working out.

after 2 long springs apart, rico decided to hitch a ride with my family, and move in with me.

he's been living in my living room for the past couple days, and i take him out to go to the gym or whatnot, just hoping and praying that no one steals him seeing as right now i am lock-less.

today i rode to school and the sun was shining high noon and my hair was wild, and luckily none of the bike cops were out, seeing as rico isn't registered. and i was riding on campus, which is a big no no. 

i have spring fever. more like get class done quick fever.

more like all i want to do is ride my bike. and listen to this american life. 

and not do research for my 6 page spanish paper. 

it's that time of year again

when all the zoobies come out from all parts of utah, idaho, and the surrounding area to join together and throw chalk at each other while some hare krishna guy who used a little too much ganja back in the day croons hare krishna over and over. it's great. in the words of my then-chalk-virgin friend,

"so we're just gonna pull up and they're gonna throw some chalk on us?"

yes hailey, indeed they are. and that is just how it went down.

(after my gps got us completely lost and heading in the opposite direction of spanish fork)

although the weather was less than adequate and the riff raff the festival attracted this year grew exponentially, the colors were just as vibrant as ever and it was still a great time. 

i mean, who doesn't love to go to church the following day with pink hair and blow purple snot out of their nose for days to come? 

in other news, it snowed today, and i have this theory that it only snows when i wear a certain pair of boots. (it's been tried and tested, let me tell ya) anyways, i am taking one for the team and putting them in storage. it's just not worth it anymore!

i took my last midterm til finals today. yessssss my motivation is becoming increasingly miniscule. if that even makes sense.

this weekend i did a lot of cooking with britni. you must make these delicious recipes for :

chocolate chip banana pancakes 

snobby joes

and chocolate chip banana oatmeal cookies.

honestly, they are all to die for i tell you! 

happy monday (only three more mondays for the semester!!)

mi cumple

if you didn't know, it was my birthday on sunday.
the celebration went on all weekend, beginning with a big ol package from my family. actually, when i initially saw it laying on the table when i got home form work friday, i thought someone had just gone to costco or something. good thing i didn't put it in the fridge...

they sent me all kinds of good stuff, and especially really great cards. my favorite part was when payton said, quote, "Alyssa, this marker sucks I am gonna get a new one. happy birthday! i'm glad you're my sister and that you got into a good school"
later on we went to this place:

and ate lots of this. (can we have some chips with our salsa?"

i ate the whole thing. ...then polished it off with some fried ice cream. mmmmm ambrosia

saturday i pulled myself out of bed before the sun and went to shirley's for a cinnamon roll and starbucks for a white hot chocolate. can you tell it's birthday weekend by my eating habits?

i scanned all morning and listened to episodes and episodes of this american life.
later on anita,  cameron and i went to hunger banquet, where we were in the 90% of poor people who had to sit on the ground and share a plate of rice and beans with a tortilla. and some dirty water.
they told us it was chocolate. i was not about to try it.
after walking out i came up with 2 conclusions. a. the world has some problems. b. the travel bug is becoming chronic

sunday i woke up and it was my birthday.

kelsey and jordan and sam had redecorated the house, invited over some friends, and made crepes. basically it was the perfect morning. but when bananas and nutella are involved, what isn't perfect?
i opened some great presents and squealed with joy upon unwrapping my beautiful square plating plate and potato masher and whisk. kelsey gets me!

we went to church. we came home. all my great friends called, text, or said hi on facebook.
i ate great food at my grandma's house and did microbiology homework. the cherry on top of a perfect day.

ps having people sing happy birthday to you is just about one of the most awkward moments of life. what exactly are you supposed to do when it's going down? sing to yourself?
after 20 years i still have not a clue.

you know it's monday

when you accidentally hook up the bunsen burner to the water spout instead of the gas pipe.
then turn it on and spray 2/3 of the class before realizing it.
i couldn't really tell how ticked people were- i was laughing too hard. just one of the graceful moments in my life, ya know?
kind of like another moment i had last week when i almost set our apartment on fire.
 you see, it was just another day of playing "try to make up something to eat", and when i found some corn tortillas in the fridge, i decided to try my hand at broiling some chips. things went smoothly up until i had flipped them over and went to check on them a couple minutes later. i opened up the oven to pull em out, and it was like dante's inferno in there. my chips were on fire! all of them! i yelled to my roommate, telling her i didn't know how to put out a fire and to get the fire extinguisher. then the bright idea came to me that i should swat at them with the oven mitt to get rid of the oxygen in the oven, so i proceeded to do that while jordan filled up a cup and doused the remaining flames with the water. ayyyy it's a good thing all we have to do to dismantle our fire alarm is to press a button on it. i think my roommates are becoming used to coming home to the smell of burn.
and don't forget exhibit c. it happened yesterday while my roommates were making birthday crepes. i was just doing my part, helping them along when i set my oven mitt on the stove... and it started smoking/almost flaming. someone didn't turn off the burner (not me! not me!) and my reputation continues to develop.
i am definitely starting 20 off right.

twenty on twenty!

well, as of 5:48 i am no longer of the teenage variety! this weekend was great, the birthday was fun, and i didn't get any luggage (or cry. i have a history, you see).
i will write more later but right now i am in a cabury mini egg coma and i need some sleep. i also need to do my homework, but i must prioritize my life. and sleeping is what sounds like the best option right now. plus it's my birthday so i can do what i want.
a big shout out to my wonderful friends and family who dropped happy birthday phone calls, texts, and facebooks. you are all wonderful!

on my mind

coconut m&ms

cadbury mini eggs

the velvety shorts i bought
by polishing off last year's birthday giftcards.

  i never want to take them off.

the beautiful spring weather outside. 

boy life gets better when the temp gets over sixty.

my tax refund

learning when it comes to eyeliner,

 you get what you pay for.
wet n wild 88 cent just doesn't cut it.

failing my cleaning checks AGAIN

 and having the cleaning lady tell me

 i need to scrape the crap off the stove
 with a spoon. boooo

engaged people. 

(congrats to BRITTANY!)

a summer job dealing with food prep.

fighting the crowds at gold's tonight. eek

great mexican food on friday. 

hunger banquet on saturday. 

turning twenty on twenty. 

costa rica and summer.

holstee manifesto

thoughts for wednesday

the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. 
-st augustine
i haven't really gotten sick all winter, but i have come down with a bug as of late.
the travel bug. and the fact that tix to costa rica are under 470 right now is not doing much to break this fever. isn't it ironic that the best time to travel is when you're young and single, yet you have no money when you're young and single?
so many opportunities! so much time! so little moolah.
time to find a second job.... or seek out that estranged multimillionaire great aunt i keep praying will come out of the woodwork

8 minute update

this weekend:
jordan got engaged. her ring is beautiful. her and stefan are a great couple, and i want him to pick out my wedding ring, too cuz maaaaaaan he has the choosing skills! their date is july 28.... so let the planning begin! i'm glad i am just a spectator in this sport.

we went to power progressive tumbling for brittney's birthday a little early because she is going to mexico on the real day. it was great and i woke up feeling like i'd been hit by a truck the next morning... but it was fun nonetheless.

sunday was the longest day ever! we got up before the sun and drove to slc for kelsey's cousin's baby's blessing (haha do you follow me?) then came back for church, then went to eat with the family, then came home and vegged and did no homework or anything productive. it was great.
and now my time is up and i must whisk myself off to a beautful morning at work. happy monday!

mi ciudad

one of my spain friends posted this on facebook tonight.
i don't expect you to watch it, i only want it here for my own selfish reasons.
so that i can find it and watch whenever i want to see the best city in the world. this video makes me miss it with just about every fiber of my being. i can't believe it was almost a year ago that i walked down those roads and shopped in those stores and almost got run over by the cars crossing those intersections.
it makes me so terribly happy. and nostalgic. and almost sick to my stomach.

i am now accepting donations for my next trip... tba.
viva madrid

march first

i like the sound of that.
march is a great month, but i mostly like it because of it's name MARCH. to me it says, "pick yourself up out of your wintery depressive state and let's get going to spring/summer!" now who's with me? don't worry though, it will snow again. i'm counting on it.

i found a new library level: the 5th one. i like it because it's got maximum windows and minimum freshman. (and so far no gingers and/or couples feeding each other. promising) it gives me good luck on my physiology quizzes too, especially when i don't think i have a prayer.

did you know that it is national PANCAKE day? well, it is. that means free flapjacks from ihop. (this year i am going to stick to my guns and not buy anything. mostly i usually feel bad for taking advantage of them and not donating to their childrens foundation, but this year will be different. the cold heart this winter helped me to develop has yet to thaw, even though it's now march.

just some good ol' pics from me introducing pancakes to my family in spain. they loved em. 

okay i'm kidding. i will donate to their foundation. i'm really a good person. but really, i can't wait. i love ihop, even if the pancakes my mom makes are tenfold better.

well, back to the grindstone. the aortic arch is calling.