to the best dog ever.

last night my parents had to put down our family dog, griffey.
as many of you know, i am not an animal person. however griffey was the only animal i'd ever touch without thoroughly washing my hands after. he was that great.
we got grif in the summer of 1996, right around the time we we acquired my sister, lindsay.
he had so much personality and spunk, yet was loyal and obedient and well mannered.
except when he peed on the flower plants. and the sides of the house. and children's legs. (kidding)
in these days, my mom simply referred to him as, "that damn dog".
it was endearing, i promise.
i remember him swiping food off the counter
inching onto the carpet and off his designated hard wood.
he'd climb up on top of the doghouse and bark early in the morning
ruin our trampoline cover when he jumped on it
jumped over fences
shrink at the sight of the broom. (no we didn't beat him with it)
and run away to visit neighboring girlfriends at the most inconvenient times.
he had the worst breath, and i was always yelling to have lindsay take him out.
lindsay was his best friend- this picture was swiped off her facebook.
he was obviously he had his moments, but we loved him all the same.
he was in our family pictures (to my mother's disproval)
was a loyal running companion and obedient "heal"er
in his old days, he was cute, senile, and lovable. he let damncat walk all over him, and they were friends.
grif, it was great growing up with you. thanks for being the best dog ever. we love you.

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

the makings of a fabulous valentines day consisted of;

a. sugar cookies for breakfast
b. working and listening to my coworkers talk about their husbands and one of them play her twilight themed card from her husband over. and over.
c. having a nine year old boy come in with symptoms of "acting drunk"... yeah, it probably isn't that funny... but it is.
d. a delicious mint brownie for lunch
e. signing the xed line on my new apartment for next year. happy valentines day to me!!!! looks like me and provo are in this for the long haul.
f. shortened microbiology lab/ some good insight in mission prep
e. apple crisp for dinner (and some stir fry too... come on people, i have more class than that!)
f. hearing high pitched squeals coming from downstairs. engaged on valentines day? really? another one bites the dust. i like it
g. and a looooooooooooong run to get the ol' heart pumping... you know, something really festive!

love love love. happy valentine's day!

soy amada

Happy Valentines day fam, friends, and stalkers!

The day has been good, the weekend has been excellent.

If there is one thing I do love, it is these loooooooong weekends- and I like them even more when Britni and Hailey can come down and partake of Provo.

that's all for now. lately I have been bad at getting my thoughts on here... but I'll be better.

Now speaking of something else I love.... it's time for some family dinner.

now go tell somebody you love 'em

Love List

My mom posted a list of the things she loves, and tonight I figured I would be a good daughter and follow her lead. Here we go... the list of things that please Alyssa.

I love:

That Diana and Emily religiously read my blog.
Getting letters
Competent people who care about the world, and have a slight interest in others
Making money (and HOARDING it. Spending it is on the hate list)
Boise- Camel's Back at night, the North End, the Boise River, the Greenbelt, EVERYTHING.
Knowing where I am going to college
The paper chain that tells me how many more times I have to go to high school
When Lindsay makes cookies
Writing in my journal
Speaking Spanish and getting a whole phrase correct!
Semi-frozen raspberries
Realizing I have been spelling raspberries "rasberries" for the last 17 years...
Getting my hair trimmed and having it STRAIGHT across
Going to the dentist and getting my teeth cleaned
Straight teeth
KateSaunders... the fish in Kurt's locker.
Running outside when you feel good and your shuffle is GREAT
Going to Idaho Falls
Writing in my agenda and seeing a full schedule
The perfect pair of jeans (well.. I haven't found them yet, but I know I WOULD love them)
Pretending.... :)
Going out to eat with my parents
The HILARIOUS things that come out of Brother Hulme's mouth
Rico Suave... my bike
Playing Brick Breaker on my phone.. and beating Eric Roisum
Pictionary.. the board game
Sleeping outside
Facebook
Being left handed and smearing pencil all over my paper
Cheap things... and free things
Chapstick. NOT lipgloss
Knowing the words to an ENTIRE song
Hearing the rain outside as you fall asleep
Peanut Butter
Reminiscing my childhood and the 90's
Good people.

Cuales cosas les gusta? <3

We Love You Sara

[Sara is third from the left]

Oh, where to begin. At the end, I guess. As I sit here, it's kind of hard to piece together what I want to say, except to make a tribute to the most gifted runner I have ever, and probably will ever, know; Sara Shields.
Last Sunday I woke up to one of my friends calling me, letting me know that Sara was missing. We had just returned from Bend, Oregon the previous night, and she had gone home, told her parents she was going to Fred Meyer to run an errand, and didn't return. I was so confused. Sara? Diana told me that some of our teammates on XC were going looking for her, asked if I wanted to go, but I said no- I figured we would just be more people in a car that had no idea where to look. A few minutes later, Diana called me again, and told me our friends had found Sara's car up near Lucky Peak. Without hesitation we decided to help them go look for her.
As we were driving up there, our minds were pretty much racing. I couldn't imagine Sara doing anything rash, so this was just all so surreal. Diana called Kaitlyn, one of the girls who was up looking for her, and she told us that they had found Sara... but was hesitant to tell us that she wasn't breathing. We hurried to drive up, and followed an ambulance and cop to the scene, a place I won't soon forget. Sara's car was parked at the turn out near a bridge over Lucky Peak. When we got there we waited for news, confused, anxious, and scared. Sara's dad came over, and gathered us together. I thought he'd just tell us that they were bringing her up, or thank us for coming, but instead, he just said, "she's gone." Isn't it funny, how words and emotion can be so intertwined, how two simple words can change the course of the day, the week, life in general. There were so many questions, so many tears. Time froze as the six of us wept for the loss none of us understood, and today continue to question. Our coaches came, we tried to comprehend what was going on, and I just prayed and prayed that we could feel the comfort of the Lord, that Sara would be safe, that her spirit would live with us.
The rest of the day and week was just like driving up a windy road up in the mountains. Sometimes I would stare blankly out the window, sometimes I tried to sleep, thinking it would make the trip pass faster & drown out everything, and then other times I just wanted to throw up. My parents came to the scene, and after talking to a social worker, we were told to a place where we would all talk to an investigator who would try to piece everything together. I didn't have much to offer there; she'd seemed fine at Bend, we'd played games, had a dance party after our run, and I had seen her reading her Bible the night before. The only thing I had really realized was that she had slept quite a bit on the way home, but then again, we had all done that.
The rest of the day was spent with my XC team. Strength in numbers has really taken on a new meaning during this week, and I guess one good thing that has come out of this tragedy is the uniformity, the cohesion, and the family that our scrappy team has become. The kids have become my heroes.
So, I know you may be wondering exactly what may have happened to Sara. I guess we'll never really know, however they suspect suicide. I can't imagine Sara ever taking her life- I mean she was so passionate about everything. 5 time State Track and Field Champion, artist, extreme sports god, the list goes on and on. We have so many question, so much we want to know, so many things I will never understand.

However, amid all the haze I do know one thing, and that is that Sara did not live in vain. She touched as many lives in her life as the number of girls she passed in races, she led by example, and humility was the queen of her character. She has taught me lessons I will not soon forget, and I will live my life parallel to how she ran- having no concept of giving less than 100%, lengthening my stride throughout the race, competing amid aches and pains, and, most importantly, always being up for a dance party at the end of the race. :)

It's times like these you learn to live again,
It's times like these you give and give again,
It's times like these you learn to love again,
It's time like these, time and time again.
-Foo Fighters

ANTONIO

Yes, yes... the time has come. I have been with so many others, and none have stuck with me for more than a few months. The love always fades... either they "die", just get lost, or I just get bored with them... and so on Monday when I had enough with the last one, I met Antonio... the BlackBerry. No, no I am not talking about MEN in any way, shape, or form. (for my luck with them is even worse than my luck with phones :D) I am talking about the new love of my life.. the one that will go with me everywhere, let me press all the buttons, and keep me company in the long hours of the night. *sigh*

Okay, you can all stop drooling now! Before I go any further, just let me explain why I named my phone Antonio. First off, ever since I was young I have liked to name things... I was always Felicia in house, I frequently had to write new stories because I had thought up the perfect name for one of the characters, and so on and so on. When we purchased my truck, I knew he was Rusty... right away, and after only a few days of buying my cruiser, Rico Suave basically named himself! (for it is an unwritten law that all cruisers must possess Hispanic nomenclature!) So anywhoo, when I got Antonio, for a whole day he was nameless... in fact I didn't even know his gender, until I was bored at work, and then it it just came to me.. dang. Naming my children is going to be cake!
You may ask, Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks does this girl need a phone with GPS, internet, e-mail, bluetooth file transfer, music player, and such... and the answer? Well... I don't really know.... You see, my upgrade was due, and I just thought, what the hay... let's do it! While getting to know a new phone is a little stressful, Antonio and I are having fun getting to know each other... and while his buttons are a little misshapen, his powering up time a little slow, and his transfer rate unpredictable, we all have our kinks, don't we? :)
... I have 14 days to figure out if he has a place in the next 2 years of my future or not. Oh the pressure!