the past few months...

i finally have time to put all this stuff on here! so bare with me!

september....

more dixie state football games...

belles and me at the traditional village inn nights with the freemans...

nikold - ali - harb

the boys invited me and gencho to go camping with them out past shivwits! so much fun!!

love her!

shmikey

finally got the boys to believe me that i know how to shoot the gun and gave it to me!

on the lookout for wildlife to shoot

mike decided he wanted to break the branch off that was hanging above the fire...

of course dalton had to join in the fun...

so they hung and bounced and swung forever...gentry asked them what they were going to do when it broke and they just said "fall in the fire and then jump out" haha

and that is exactly what they did!

this little trip with the guys helped us to understand why boys always get into trouble or come back from camping trips with burns and cuts all over them! ha

steve just a chilling in "mikes chair"

we thought we could fit in the chair comfortably...not so much...it was quite painful actually!

october....

THRILLER!!!

i go to this every year. it just simply is not an option for me to miss. this year i got to go with these three girls!

gentry - me - zombie friend - keilani - stefani

bubbles the clown!

this guy right here...he caused us some serious trouble that night..

right after we took the picture with him and all of us he started beating up on keilani!!

...this beating lasted for more than just a few seconds...

after keilani he moved onto to stef

matt as jason...he was on so you think you can dance so naturally genry and i are obsessed!!

brody - gench - meg - me - gabby

ambassador halloween party!

morgan - gabby - gench - fota - courtney

the three little indians and "where's waldo"

rebelette / cheerleader halloween party!

dillan was such a good sport

brynner :)

cassie..i absolutely love this girl! she is geting married in just a few weeks and moving to montana :( i'm going to miss her lots

garret's farewell..we were going to take this without him noticing and send it to him once he got to the mtc but...he caught us haha

we love elder christensen!!

elder sharp left in october too but he refuses to take pictures though so i don't have one.

welp..that was my september and october!

new desire..

recently i have had this new desire to have time to sew and do crafts. i see fabric and little ideas all the time and absolutely love dreaming up things that i can do with the fabric or the buttons..so on and so forth! sadly i most definitely do not have time right now to go through with these project ideas but come summer i want to be a crafting, sewing, and creating fool and i can't wait!!

be thankful...

this is one of my favorite songs and it fits awesome with this thanksgiving season rolling into the Christmas season!! sorry the video fits weird in my blog layout.

wouldn't it be great if we all lived like this all the time?? i think so! so at least...for this WHOLE WEEK be thankful!

today...

i am feeling very grateful for and quite content with my life. it's not that i haven't been happy with my life before today but this past week has really brought some things into perspective for me. i shared some very tender moments this week with a girl who has been a part of my life since we were in joy school. her mother is now in the heavens watching over us down here - she is our guardian angel! helping my beautiful friend through this hard time in her life really slapped me in the face with reality. i got to thinking about things..and i mean thinking A LOT. i have come up with these conclusions concerning life, i'm sure that other people have come up with these exact dame conclusions and that i'm not a genius for thinking about them but this past week helped them to really hit home.

1. there should not be a day that i wake up not wanting to do anything. i have a healthy, completely functioning body. yesterday i was dancing in the kitchen and in the living room and my dad said to me, "lys i haven't seen you dancing in the kitchen like that in ages." i went on dancing while i thought about what he said. i was pretty mad at myself after thinking about it for a while because i LOVE to dance, it makes me happy! i still cannot figure out why i haven't let myself dance in the kitchen more often. so today i went to rebelette practice with a very different attitude and when our coach told us we only had enough time to do the dance once more before we left i was disappointed and wished i could stay there and dance with those girls for the rest of the day!
2. embrace my life and how it is right this very moment.
3. learn to find a way to grow in every situation. my new guardian angel taught me this through her friends. there have been some things that other people have done that have left quite a mark and impression on my life. this week i have decided that i will never let those things get to me in a negative way again. after all, why should i? those experiences taught me a lot and even helped me realize who i am and what i want in life so today i am saying thank you for those experiences!
4. most importantly i have been thinking about how i want to spend every second of my life grateful for it and living it to the fullest! we never know how long life is going to be and i don't want to look back and have any regrets. i want to live so that when i am 80 years old and it hurts to get out of beds some mornings i can say to myself, "gosh Alyssa you sure danced those bones to a pulp way back when." and that i can be happy about it!

i am terribly sorry for all this word vomit but this is what i have spent my last few days thinking about and maybe, just maybe after reading this you might see some of these things could be useful in you life as well!

Soon...

...I will catch up on here! I have so much going on so i have so much to share but I just don't have the so much time that i need quite yet! So..hopefully during fall break I can get back...hopefully.

Addicted...

...to these things right here!!

i refer to them as healthy candy! these are by far my very most favorite item from Costco. if i let myself i would polish off the whole bag in one sitting! i am not normally a dried fruit fan but these are an exception! have any of you ever tried them? i highly recommend it they are delish!

FINALLY!

I have been trying to figure out how to vamp up my blog for a while now. Although I have successfully wasted an hour and a half of time I could have used to study I am quite pleased that I finally got things to look how I wanted them to! Yes I know that this is pretty pathetic but this has not been my first attempt and all other attempts ended in frustration so finally I am satisfied!

don't worry....i got my dancin shoes on!

on Saturday we got to perform at our first football game of the year! it was so much fun!! as much as practicing on the field in one hundred degree weather sucks its all worth it. not everyone will understand this but those dancers out there can back me up when i say there is nothing quite like getting to perform! we did a fun little routine to Austin Powers complete with go-go dresses and boots!

me and shortney showing our red storm spirit with red lips and headbands!

(don't mind the sweat shined foreheads)

shaylee is a fellow team member and i LOVE her to death! she is a complete doll!
here we have shaylee-me-jacky coming out of my head-court-and nicole!
i am so looking forward to the rest of the year with these girls a just love them!

{brother time}

i just absolutely love these two! i took this picture sometime in the summer and just found it on my camera and it compelled me to do a little sisterly bragging about my brothers!

karston (9) - anthony (15)

aren't they handsome?! i sure think so! especially with those boston hats on! anything red sox makes everything better, right?!

i love this picture because we took it on fathers day and i can't help but think that one day these two boys will be dads and i will get to be a very proud aunt of some good looking little darlings. i know i am getting WAY ahead of the times here though so lets focus on the now....

this kid is a sophomore in high school now...weird!! anthony is a stud who is dang good at baseball! he is such a hard worker and has the biggest heart! even though he is my younger brother he watches out for me just like an older brother would. i have even pulled him out of bed late in the night a few times to come run an errand with me because i didn't want to go alone! i used to be able to wrestle him and keep him in a headlock...then he grew six inches and gained twenty five pounds and now i can only get him to the ground when he decides to let me. nevertheless..i love him just the same!

here is karston! he is a little genius and is ALWAYS thinking about things and coming up with "inventions" and ideas. i found him sleeping like this onr morning and couldn't help taking a picture because he looks like he is pondering about something while he sleeps...it honestly wouldn't surprise me! he is an absolute goon and is constantly looking for ways to make anyone around him laugh. on sunday he taught me how to fart with my armpit haha i haven't laughed as hard as i was in a LONG time! he hates shirts and when i say hate i mean it. the second he gets home from school he drops his backpack and peels his shirt off instantly. just another thing that makes him kartson!

they love fulfilling their "brotherly duties" of teasing me and trying to bug me and sometimes they do a really good job! i can't ever stay mad at them for long though because if i do they show up in my room and start singing me some absurd song or find some way to make me crack a smile! they are always there to give me some love and for that i am forever grateful! i sure do love my brother time!

{Lake Powell}

The past four years I have had the invite to spend a week at Lake Powell with the Rogers! I have become quite addicted to the feeling of Powell and being a lake bum for a week! I just got back from this years trip today and it was just as great as all the past years!

Mike . Court . Me

Capn Curtis!

the beautiful Roger sisters

we did quite a bit of fishing off the docks to kill time! we were pretty dang successful!

shmike getting some air!

lookin fresh like always at the Lake! Another thing I love about the week in Powell...no doing your hair or make up!!

Our poor catfish buddies. I swear we caught the same three or four fish every time!

Me and my "sister sue" Court! This girl has put up with me for a good six years now! I am so grateful to have her as a best friend!!! She is amazing! Love ya Courty :) xoxoxoxo