Faith is a Choice . . .

I choose to have faith. Thanks to all for the emails, calls, texts, prayers, love, support, etc for the past 1.5ish years. (Maybe one day my life will be normal so you won't have to pray for me.) We are being very blessed. Here is a clip from the movie I made for Mom at Christmas. Get the tissues ready.

"Let's Talk About Memories!"*

*This quote cannot go unattributed. Jaime Mabray would always say that is a kid. Apparently she like talking about memories! (Who doesn't?)

I was sitting in church 2 weeks ago (yes, I'm only 2 weeks behind in the posting world . . . aren't you proud?) We sang this song. It made me laugh in my innards (people would have looked at me funny if I had laughed out loud . . . but people always look at me funny, so I guess I should have done it). Please bless all you King Henry women are currently singing the alto note of that song in your head. I will forever associate that song with our amazingly un-talented King Henry ward choir (no offense to Krista and all who participated - she really tried hard, and that's all that matters.)

And yesterday I went to Provo for an awkward baby shower (really, has there ever been a baby shower that wasn't awkward? Ok . . . I guess I realized there are mothers out there reading this who probably had quite normal baby showers . . . I was just too unfortunate to not attend any of them.) After the baby shower I had a few minutes to kill while I was waiting to meet up with a friend. So I decided to do a drive-by of all the places I'd lived. It was fun. I realized I had my camera with me when I made to the King Henry, but was much too lazy to park and walk up to the door to see if it's still "78" and to get a picture of it. (And let's be honest, I probably would have been towed or booted if I had tried.) So I took a picture of 78's backside. Knowing how much I love my own backside (shout-out to Towanda) I thought it was extremely appropriate. If you look close you can see the bunk beds from the middle room (Tiff/Crystal/Jaime's room - right?) Pretty sure they're the same bunkbeds our grandparents used when they lived there (did any of us have grandparents who lived there? I just made it up, but it would be highly cool if it were true).


So I was thinking . . . "Let's talk about memories?" What are your favorite apartment 78 memories? Here's a few I remember (and I apologize to those who never lived in apartment 78 - we had to start somewhere!)

• "Yep, still a brick wall!" - Crystal
• Abbey giving Joey a bloody nose (you rock girl)
• Talking to Crystal in the DR
• Playing "Trump that Succor!"
  
• Sweet Swaps. No one ever got married because of sweet swaps. Oh wait - Abbey, can we blame your marriage on a sweet swap night? (We had quite a few awkward ones.)
• 6 girls + 1 bathroom = messy. Even after it's cleaned.
• NO HEAT (remember those space heaters?)
• Clogging and doing lifts in the sky light
• Backstreet boys - the originals
• Speaking of boys . . . we were (and still are) really cute girls! How come Jaime and Abbey were the only roommates who got any action from a King Henry boy? (unless I'm forgetting someone . . . )
• My powdered milk. How embarrassing. I'm amazed you all still talk to me.
• 2
  
• "All I want for Christmas, is "STU!" (btw, I heard he just moved back to SLC)
• April Fool's jokes on the boys. I'll never forget Abbey grabbing a pile of dishes and putting them on some boys bed. They didn't get it.
• The smell. We never figured it out. Spent hours, looking and being paranoid. Found nothing.
  
• The awkward maintenance men who used our microwave.
• Mold. In our bedroom. Gross. (It's amazing we made it out of that place alive.)
• And last but not least, yelling for Tiff until she came into our room to answer awkward questions. Yes Abbey, cats do have periods! :)

Please add to the list!!!!

The Last Several Months in 10 Pictures or More

Hi. It's me. Alicia. I figure since just about everyone is married, and Jaime and Tiff fail at using the blog, this baby is kind of mine. Sorry, my life just isn't that exciting. Posting has been on my to-do list for months now. Things have been crazy. Whoops. In chronological order, here are some highlights of my life since . . . JUNE!

1st Texas Trip

I left the day after my students graduated (or something close to the day after - I can't remember anymore) for some R&R in the great state of Dallas. :) Everything really is bigger there. Except the roommates. And Abbey!!!! It was oh so fun to meet up with her and see cute Macy and Abbey's belly. Please bless I'm that small when I'm that pregnant. My attempt to have a trip romance failed miserably. But I DID get Jenn's computer working right so she could Skype with her fiance while he was living in Cali, which is close enough to a trip romance for me.

Christmas in July

Lots of babysitting of the cutest nieces and nephews in the world. And a new niece and nephew were born in August - they had the same due dates but were 6 days apart. I love babies! Anyway, I was given this gingerbread house kit at Christmas time. What a better way to bring it out than on a rainy July day? (Yes, the kids ate all the candy - only some of it was hard.)

Girls Camp

(I was going to show you a very embarrassing video of me dancing, but it wouldn't upload. I tried with all the nerd skills I could muster and it wouldn't work. Sorry!) No, Megan did not get to come, but she had fun helping me pack. Girls camp was fun as a young woman. It's even better as a leader. Minus the bear they had to shoot, camp was great. I love family wards.

Family Trip to Oregon

"Alicia, that doesn't look like Oregon! It looks like a nasty Motel 6 Bathroom!" Guess what? You're right! Why am I holding a pillow? I slept there. My dad's snoring really was that bad. I promise. Don't worry, I put the towel on the ground first. Whoever invented ear plugs is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. Really. It saved me the rest of the trip.

GOONIES!

We're still in Oregon here, folks. Canon Beach. Lots of Goonies filming occurred on this very beach. As did this picture of my parents and little bro.

The only sunset we had during our 10-day camping excursion. Just in case you were wondering, Oregon really is rainy and cold (but we didn't let that stop us from getting in the water).

EFY (awk)

After all these years of singleness, I thought I had avoided it-being an efy counselor. It was a volunteer thing, so I felt obligated. While I did love my girls, let's just say I was officially the Grandma Counselor and we'll leave it at that. (21-year-old boys + 19-year-old girls=40+flirting YSA's. I'm sure I was never that immature. Right?)

Jenn's Wedding!

No, that is NOT Jenn pretending to be that real strong male gymanst. That's Jenn's-husband's-BFF-from-the-mission-who-also-happens-to-be-friends-with-Pinky's-husband. Pinky set me up with him last spring. We went out. A lot. He got itchy. And then non-committal. And guess who spent all weekend entertaining him? Me. And Jaime's ex-boyfriend who was also in town for the wedding (they really hit it off - we thought it was appropriate). Yes, the seating arrangements at the dinner were awkward. And yes, it's confusing - read it slowly and it will make sense.

What? The bikes we just rode around on in the parking lot are the Elders' and not Jenn's fiance's? As Elisabeth said, "Our first hint should have been the tall seats. Clearly not one of 'the boys' bikes." (They're a bit lacking in the height department. But most of them make up for it in awesomeness.)

Kyle. Sigh. Enough said. And basically, Jenn's wedding was PERFECT. She was hotter than Texas on an August afternoon (and that's HOT! I apologize again for how much I sweat at the temple. How embarrassing. There is a reason I live in the desert.) I was so busy filming and editing the wedding video that I didn't get many pictures of Jenn. And the ones I stole from Pinky are still on my other computer. So take a look at Pinky's blog and then beg Jenn for more pics (I'm still dying to see the one of us jumping where we AREN'T showing our religion. If you know what I mean.) And Katie - it was SO good to see you!

Blind Dates

Someone must have decided to put me on a blind date blitz. One involved a hitch hiker. Another involved "the chair game." (It's even more awkward than it sounds.) Another involves a stabbing (sort of). And the list goes on. We'll leave it at that.

Jamie's Wedding!

No, that's not Jamie's baby. It's Shannon's beautiful Marlee! She's even more adorable in real life. Another perfect wedding. Sigh. Leaving Tiff, Jaime Mabray, and me to carry on the Singleness. (However, since Jaime got 2 the night of Jenn's wedding, things are looking up for her. Tiff - the race is on.)

Mom

I've left out a lot that's happened (despite how long this post is, I promise I didn't include EVERY detail of the last few months) but I couldn't end without this. My mom is amazing. And that is an understatement. While my sister was in town from Japan we took some family pictures. (Thank you Netell) She looks great, doesn't she! I dare any of you to look that great after going through as much chemo as she's had. The tests are bad and keep getting worse, but she is our miracle and has yet to spend an entire day in bed. (Your prayers are working. REALLY, they are.) Every.Day.Matters. Now that you're done reading this eternal post, say a little prayer of gratitude that your mom is still alive, and go call her and tell her you love her. :)

Another Beautiful Bride

Well, Jamie has been married for one month now. I don't have any pictures to post myself, but Katrina has posted some great ones to her photography blog. Check them out:

Teaser

At the Temple

Jamie in action

Happy one month anniversary Jam!

beautiful!

So I had to go through Kyle to get this picture but it is long over due to have these lovely ladies up here! JENN is STUNNING on her wedding day and the bridesmaids are beautiful as well! Wish I could have been there! ~ Love Shanna

Text Boy

I have an entire summer that needs posting, but before I do that I need your help. Read on!

I don't know about you guys, but often I find the boys I go out with naturally get nicknames. For example: Star Trek Boy, Zack Morris, Dr. Love - you get the idea. Well, this week's boy is "Text Boy." My wonderful aunt decided she needed me to meet her friend's nephew. "He'll be 23 in November" is a nice way of saying "he's only 22." (I'm more than a few years older than 22.) He wanted to know a bit about me, so my aunt had me email her a short paragraph. Already starting off awkward. His paragraph just happened to mention that he played on his high school football team all 3 years they took state. Whoa. NOW I'm impressed. Text Boy (TB) gets my number from aunt. Before he uses it he ads me on facebook. Now I'm even more impressed.

A couple of days later I get a text from an unknown number: "is this alicia"
My response: "Yes, should I know who this is?" (by the way, all spelling and grammar is real and has NOT been changed).
TB: "well no my aunt gave me your number and was wanting me to take you out. my name is andy"
Me: "Oh hi! Yes, she mentioned you might be calling."
TB: "hahah yeah hi i hope it didn't scare you to bad"
Me: "No, it takes more than a random text to scare me."
TB: "haha thats good. so i hear your a teacher thats got to be exciting"

At that point I decided this text conversation was way too awkward so I stopped responding. THREE days later (today) I get this:

TB: "hey its andy" (sent at 1:30 pm)
Before I can respond, he sends this beauty a few hours later:
TB: "hey so i dont want to sound wierd but i was just wanting to get to know ya some so if you want txt or whatever but yep"

Um, did this boy do anything besides play football in high school? Like learn how to form complete sentences?

Me (a few hours later): "Sorry - it's been a crazy day. I might be a bit old-fashioned, but I've never been one for long text conversations."
TB: "well i can call i just want for you to be okay with it and not like you know just doing it cuse someone said too. you know what i mean"

And now it's your turn to tell me how to respond. Thanks in advance for the help.

Another one bites the dust

Jamie's getting hitched!

September 5th, 2009

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

His name is Doug.

We like him.

Who will be next?

I guess that depends on who catches the bouquet. . .