want another video? this ones for the holidays

I'm pretty jealous of everyone in this eating area. (and now that i know how to put in videos, i might have to do it more often...)




And a late Merry Christmas and early Happy New Years! I hope everyone had so much fun and ate a ton of delicious food (I definitely did!).

Christmas with the family was so much fun. I have missed them so very much (especially my darling niece, she's the cutest. and i'm not even kidding, so adorable). We were all poor this year so presents were minimal and very creative, which actually was a lot of fun. It really is the thought and effort that makes the holidays special. We ate so many delicious home-cooked meals, mostly just hung out and relaxed. Exactly what I needed. Thanks fam for the presents and love :) and thanks roomies for the cute presents (you're basically my family too)


To top it all off, after the stress and frustration (remember the not-fun money issues?) somehow everything has sorted itself out in the past week. It's kind of funny how it was all taken away (enter: frantic ali), and then all given back again a short time later (enter: very happy and grateful ali). All I can say is, what a relief. And holy cow do I feel blessed. So grateful that things work out when I least expect it.

There's pretty slim chances I'll be posting again until after the new year since I've be traipsing around town with that silly boyfriend of mine. We got to do Christmas all over again because we weren't together for the real thing. He got me some really cute presents. He knows how to shop :) And I think he liked what I got him.

I'll be back next week, probably droning on about how hard school is. haha, but hopefully with some fun stories and pictures.

On a completely unrelated note...I need a haircut. bad.

Thought of You

Just wanted to share.

This video was made by two faculty members, one in animation and one in dance, at BYU. Amazing is all I have to say. love the music. love the animation.





Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

 

non mi piace snow

(or "i don't like snow", in case your Italian skills are rusty ;)   also, "snow doesn't please me" if you're being literal)

It snowed all day yesterday. and I was hoping for just rain today......but oh no. It snowed all night, leaving A LOT of freaking snow everywhere. Oh, and it's snowing right now. It may never stop.

I guess that wouldn't be so bad, only because it would mean Ria, B, and i (and Derek too) could finally make a sweet-awesome igloo/tunnel on our balcony. but that is the only good thing that can come from this snow business.

I took the bus today to escape having to drive myself on the terrifying roads. Now if only the good city of Orem would shovel their sidewalks so i wouldn't have to stomp through a foot of snow to get to the bus stop. enter: moon boots, which made the stomping somewhat entertaining.

I wrapped Christmas presents last night. I feel like I should apologize for the wrapping, and not just to those who receive gifts from me, but to anyone who values good wrapping. You see, I didn't have wrapping paper, and because of previously mentioned snow, there was no way i was going to go buy some. So i used what i had: pink tissue paper and a ton of bubble wrap. I'm not a very good wrapper anyway (not for the lack of much instruction by the parents), so this proved to be pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to watching people unwrap them.

If only the gifts inside made up for that, but i'm pretty terrible at buying gifts for people. I should also be apologizing to anyone who has ever received a present from me. No, your present doesn't mean i hate you, i just didn't know what to get you that adequately shows you how much you really mean to me (which is a lot). I'm trying to get better at this, promise :)

I forgot how much there is to do when school isn't taking up every crevice of my life. I reorganized my room, fixed up my closet and my desk, went through a bunch of old papers, did laundry, used super glue (yeah...that was a big mess), finally changed up this old blog (better? worse? did you even notice? fess up), and wrapped presents :)

Life is going to be so nice for the next two weeks. Christmas couldn't have come at a better time. I was seriously beginning to forget what the real world was like. I've been so consumed with school and doing well and working harder than ever and trying to please my teachers and worrying about money and time and on and on. My mind literally has not been able to breathe and think about things (kind of like being in a tornado for 4 months, and then finally being flung out. and you think, oh yeah, that's what it's like to be still. grad school=tornado); which I've sadly only realized was the case now that school has been out (but, better late than never i suppose). I'm not stressing or thinking about anything related to these things for the next two weeks. I'm just relaxing and remembering how great life is, and how much i love my roommates (and how much i miss hanging out with them), and how excited i am to be with my family for Christmas and with Jantz for New Years :)

grateful

welp, my first semester of grad school is officially over. I turned in my last project today (a 21 page paper, 30 with pictures and bibliography. my other projects included a museum exhibition critique and 30+ page annotated bibliography. oh and paper grading :) .

i am 1/4 of the way done. whoa.

so yes i want to celebrate. and yes i definitely want to get all those piles of books (along with anything resembling school) out of my room, so i can have two weeks of forgetting i even started grad school (because really, who does that?!). and yes i want to go home and lay on the couch and do absolutely nothing. and yes i want to be happy and smile all the while. 

but, instead i sit here, so frustrated i want to bop people on the head (ok maybe not, but that would be funny right?). i'm rarely a big money-stresser, but when i am, i am in a big way and it's not a pretty sight. and it doesn't help when decisions are involved (we're not very good friends either).
 
But details aren't the important part, this post titled grateful for a reason. and that reason is named jantz (aka the best boyfriend ever). he's the one who is always on the receiving end of my disgruntled-ness. he hears every bad thing i have to say about anything and anyone (which isn't a lot, promise). and he most especially is always the one who has to put up with my bad moods when any of these things occur. he's a good sport, to say the least. and today is no exception.

i'm grateful for his kind words. his assurance that everything is going to work out, not just because he can say it, but because he knows it's the truth. i'm so grateful for the unconditional love he somehow has for me. no matter how angry or sad i am, somehow he always calms me down. and he deserves a big thank you, for reminding me to smile, and to be grateful when i really don't want to :)

alright

first of all, remember when i started going through my Europe trip with pictures, but then i only got through Greece (the first place we went)??? yeah, i'm pretty ashamed. maybe i'll finally get around to do it after finals. mostly i just want to relive all the amazing places i went. i miss traveling around to museums everyday.

secondly, i may have bought a new bed yesterday. i've wanted a new one since i got home from europe. i finally saved enough to buy a really nice one for a really good price (really). after way too many years of sleeping on a twin, i think i deserved the upgrade to a queen. even if it does take up twice as much space. haha. i might just have to post pictures.

but really, SO excited.

and lastly, seriously people, i need to change up my blog. even i don't want to look at it anymore. no more posts until i start! (any ideas for a new title?)

Song-of-the-Week (almost forgot you existed): If I Die Young by The Band Perry. really like this song. the end.

Just a bit more dwelling on being one year older

I must admit I can't believe how fast time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I turned 21, which is when I think life became really exciting (well, exciting/scary/terrible/amazing). Really though, life has only gotten better, even if that has included many failures and wanting to give up on numerous occasions, the good definitely out-ways the bad.

I like that my birthday comes close to Thanksgiving because it gives me extra time to think of all that I'm grateful for. (when i was younger I hated having a fall birthday because it meant i could never go to Seven-Peaks for a party). I really am so grateful for my life right now. School is rough and takes up a lot of my time and energy, but it really is fulfilling. I have the best friends i could ever ask for, including the best roommates Ria and B (we live in the perfect apartment because you are the perfect roommates) and a boyfriend who makes me laugh every single day and who has kept me happier than i ever thought possible.

My year of 22 has been so full. Lots of changes and new things. I finished projects I never thought I could get through, I somehow made it to graduation (still weird to have a diploma), and I even went to Europe (seriously changed my life). Basically, 22 treated me very well and I can't wait to see how 23 turns out.


Is everyone ready for Christmas? for once I am haha