i typed out an entire post, then succeeded in losing it.

and now i just want to bang my head on the keyboard and lay there.
booooo

oh well, the rest of the day was real great. lets move on to my favorite things for the week:

1. broiled peaches. seriously it's like cobbler without the poundage. cut one in half, sprinkle on some sugar, then broil for 4 minutes. add in a couple blueberries, honey, and greek yogurt. whoa
2. soaking beans. tonight we cooked, of course, but this time we got crafty and soaked and cooked our own black beans. oooooooooh paired with a some roasted sweet potatoes in a corn tortilla, there is simply nothing better. nothing! (besides #1 above)
3. urban outfitters vnecks. on saturday i got three and i have worn them every day since. three shirts, five days... you do the math.
4. the random/mostly awesome monsoon that hit provo today.
5. this hilarious video. oh jbeibs.

justin came to the boise town square mall to advertise his fragrance....somedaaaaaaaaay

i've got all these mental posts written in my head right now

greetings from back here in the beehive state! i had a great weekend full of food, fun, friends, excitement and family, sunburns, shopping, etc etc and obviously hardly anything written on here. bear with me, okay? and get ready for a smorgasbord of posts this week.

this guy is the main reason i headed up to boise this weekend. ladies and gents i give you elder skyler larsen straight outta france! he is so great. and yes, that cardboard cut out may or may not really be mr. barack obama.

his homecoming was full of cheeses and baguettes. i highly doubt there is anything better. it's fun/weird to have friends coming back from missions. it makes me feel old as the hills and, not gonna lie, pretty unproductive in the last two years. anyways, great to see old friends and have high school reunions in the best city ever.


as for the highlights of monday? i have three for you. 
so this weekend i learned to make almond milk and i may or may not be kind of obsessed with it right now. life was so much better this morning with a little bit of that drowning my cinnamon life. it makes waking up sooooo worth it... i am already excited to wake up tomorrow and feast on it. 

i am pleased to announce that after working almost a full year at my current job i now officially have my very own name tag! it is cool.

 and i went grocery shopping, which makes me happy. the food items i am most excited about? peaches, bananas, broccoli, a lime, some avocados, yada yada mostly i just feel bad for the checker (and people in line behind me) whenever i go to winco because she usually spends about 15 minutes adjusting her glasses and trying to key in all my bulk foods.
i'm real difficult.  
now off to bed! another day, another dollar. have a great tuesday

simple things

move over, toms

there is some new footwear in town

and this sweet corn dominated dinner the other night, obviously.

boise is so great.

 more pics and words to come, but at another date when time is not so much of the essence.

note to self

it's a bad idea to chop onions and jalepeños then rub your allergy stricken eyes.
it's like a fiery inferno up in my eye socket right now.
but hey, at least i can blog about my misfortunes from my back porch with griffey wandering aimlessly around the patio.
i love being home.

do a little good

done any good in the world today?

if you're like me on most days, the answer feels like a no


BUT. you can change all that right now if you click here.

Now I Can is a provo based organization that helps children with club feet and other physical ailments get the therapy they need. tonight a group of girls in my ward went there to learn a little about their program and help out their cause.

vivint, another provo based business, is holding a contest here, and to make a long story short, the charity with the most votes wins. so vote for Now I Can! it's easy. click the link. log onto facebook (like you aren't already logged on) "like" vivint and vote for this charity.

you can do so every day until august 27. help them win 250,000 bones to help children get the physical therapy they need! it's worth it. it'll make you feel good.

and happy first day of summer. how did you celebrate the summer solstice? i got yogurtland, then ate a sizable amount of pineapple. mmmmmm. i also tired out "turbo kick" at gold's... not for me. i left early. even the elliptical is better than pretending to punch air.

going home tomorrow and gonna have to make a conscious effort not to speed, i just wanna get there asap.

the good monday

i really don't think here is anything much better than a day like today.

work was calm- again, people complimented me on my "hasn't been washed in three days" hair. i am beginning to think i should do this more often. and buy more bobby pins. britni and i discussed this the other day, in fact. we know it's time to break down and buy a couple packs of bobby pins/hair ties when we see them on the ground in parking lots and are tempted to pick them up.

my work out was fantastic- RIPPED is the best class at golds, hands down bar none. one day i will be able to do all sets, all reps, all circuits, yadda yadda yadda. i sweat like a beast and it's awesome. my legs burn and i sometimes almost fall of my bench. i highly suggest it. recently the gold's just a stones throw away from my house quit doing classes and dropped their prices, so it's a mad house in there every. single. day. what's a girl to do? go to a different gym, that is what! i've converted to gold's in orem and i don't plan on looking back anytime soon.... even if it's overrun with uvu kids who are usually just checking themselves out in the mirror and drinking their weird protein drinks between reps.

i am pretty much out of food... but i am going home on wednesday, so i figure, what really is the point of grocery shopping? however, with that said i did break down and buy apples and bananas on my lunch break. i am so addicted. sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, apples, and bananas. those are the foods i am smitten by right now. anyways, i've been getting real creative with the leftovers. those are the best meals, i'd say... a burrito with an egg, random pico i made this weekend, and pinto beans, eaten standing up over my stove because i just couldn't wait? delicious, i tell ya.

only two days til i can go back to boise. oh i might have to start counting the hours. what am i most excited for? gold's temple. large counter spaces to cook on. sleeping in a huge bed. frozen yogurt. seeing the whole family. it's gonna be good.

can't wait to see these chilluns again

happy father's day

to this guy

there is something about old pictures. (and floral overalls.) this picture was probably taken after my dad cracked me up with some joke about "ever being in a turkish prison" or telling me to "stop hittin yurself". what a crack up. fond childhood memories, right there.
 my dad is pretty great. he's wise and funny, thoughtful, and has a knack for somehow always being right. he is sincere, and ready and willing to dish out some wisdom whenever i come asking. he loves my mom and us kids and i've never questioned it for a minute. i'm quite indebted to him (literally and figuratively) for all he's done for me. i'm lucky to call him dad.
i love you, dad! happy father's day to you!

favorite things this week

1. hoodies

2. tastespotting.com/ foodgawker.com

3. pay day

4. blueberries

5. the one hair tie that i own

6. this video:

and the behind the scenes is great, too.

i want this job just so i can come home and tell my husband i just threw food around all day and photographed it.

have a great weekend!

nice to meet you

hi. my name is alyssa bell.

i guess this is what happens when fourteen year olds are in charge of selling season passes to water parks. or something. when i the girl she messed up, she got all worried and huffy and i told her not to sweat it. if they id me, i will just threaten to turn them in for violating child labor laws. (i swear they employ all of provo junior high). take that seven peaks!

anyways,yep, that's right i am now one of those people. those people who cave for unlimited fun at water parks (i just want to rid myself of lily white skin, okay?) and trafalga, too. i am going to get my mini golf on... all year long.

yesterday i went with brittany and we sat out by the wave pool and people watched for a couple solid hours. the best people can be found at water parks!! jiggly women, gingers who swim in long sleeved shirts, guys who flex as they strut around, guys who wear their underwear, and, my personal favorite, the awkward girls who wear one pieces with board shorts. ay. it is going to be a great summer.

my awkward face right after somebody i know noticed me and started talking at me mid cheese.

not much to report this week, just been working and cooking, running and keeping busy as a bee listening to these podcasts. if you have some time, listen in, then check out her blog. you'll be satisfied... and so will your stomach. one of the highlights of this week was grocery shopping. i spent way too much money at winco. i just couldn't pass up the blueberries! they were calling my name! i made apricot pistachio granola so good i wanted to weep.

i almost did weep when my entire container of blueberries fell out of the fridge and on the floor this morning. it was tragic. however, i just scooped them up and put them back in the fridge. i swept last night. it counts.

as for the rest of life, it keeps plugging along. 13 days until i go home for a couple minutes! boise will be dreamy.

here's me a year ago from this week playing in barcelona **cue nostalgia**

keep it real.

happy birthday dear britni

look what i found deep in the confines of facebook:

this was britni and me at her sweet sixteen four years ago. 

please admire my hemp necklace a boy in my algebra class made me and my tie dye tank top i made myself. what a gem of a high school experience i had

and this is us today. look out provo, somebody just turned twenty! 

britni is my roommate. she is a real gem, i will tell you what. i''m so glad she skipped out on rexburg and decided to move to provo to live with me this summer! (because she moved here just for me, obviously.) this summer marks the, oh, 8th year we've been friends, however it still feels like yesterday that she walked into my CTR 12 class at church and something inside of me decided we had to be friends. 

although we both had to work all day today, i'd say tonight was a success. we went to malawi's to partake of the perfect birthday meal,of course, saw xmen (so great!) and ate this cake a la emily.

twenty sparkly candles did the trick, and no apartments were burned down in the torching lighting. (thankfully)

i hope all of her wildest wishes come true. 

twenty looks great on you, britni ward. 

things i am loving right now.

1. one dollar ice cream cups from cafe west. aka utah valley hospital cafeteria. aka why didn't i think about coming to the hospital to eat their ice cream and steal their internet more often?
2. schoolteacher buns on the very top of my head and only washing my hair every three days. i'm gross. then having people ask me how i did my hair. ha!
3. pistachios. stealing one out of the bulk foods bin at winco that fateful day definitely was the start of something beautiful...
4. pinterest.com. i can't stop pinning... mostly food. always food. (and sneaking peaks at style boards... i wish i had great style)
5. sweet potatoes. i really don't think this wallflower vegetable gets enough face time. i'm going to make this sometime in the near future.
5. writing june instead of may on things. summer! happy june first