I love to see the temple.

Attention, attention everyone: I just got a carabiner for my ATC. A real life, hard core, locking carabiner. I am now well on my way to having a full rock climbing equipment collection. Did I mention how excited I am about my carabiner? I was in Ogden with my dad and he told me I could choose between getting ice cream and going to the new rec. store. Yeah, guess what I chose? If you are ever in Ogden (which I always spell O-d-g-e-n...) you must stop by Recreation Outlet. It's this new hip recreation store. It's on the street above Grant Street and south of the Ogden LDS temple. I also got a free key chain carabiner with the purchase of my real life, hard core, locking carabiner. Seriously. Check. It. Out. The store, I mean... and my carabiner. PS. There is a guy who works there and he is from New Zealand. And that makes the store infinitely cooler. 

Speaking of the Ogden temple - I went there today with my dad. It was kind of like, coming home. I didn't realize before today how much that temple means to me. And now, in just a couple weeks, it's going to be torn down and rebuilt with more modern fashion. If anybody wants to get married in the Ogden temple before the first week of April, let me know. I'll marry you. 

So, I've come to the conclusion that my little brother has more of a social life on school nights than I have during the weekend... or while I'm on Spring break. Seriously, he was out with his friends until 11:30-ish tonight and I was home making cupcakes. That's basically all I do these days - make cupcakes. My BFFLBWASH, Kaleigh (who can play guitar hero on expert, as I found out tonight), was with me - but we've known each other so long that she doesn't really count toward me having a social life. I used the same recipe that I used last time, but I made cream cheese frosting this time. I'm normally not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but this stuff was good. I kind of feel like Martha Stewart now... 

Cream cheese frosting recipe:

Ingredients (Makes about 2 cups)

•         8 ounces cream cheese
•         8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•         2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
•         2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add butter, and beat until fluffy.

2. Reduce speed to low; gradually add sugar, and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, and mix to combine.

***Also, you should probably refrigerate it before you use it. Maybe that's a common and well known fact among cream cheese frosting fans... but I didn't know that. AND the cupcake recipe can be found here: http://alihancey.blogspot.com/2011/01/welcome-to-my-friday-night.html

So I'm watching Sahara right now. I seriously love this movie. The book is much better, I'll admit that, but as far as books-turned-movies go, this one is pretty good. And now, I'm going to leave you all with some quotes from my favorite part:

Dirk: Al, did you bring any of the the explosives from the cars?! (whatever)

Al: Couldn't find um'!

Dirk: Al!

Al: Didn't have time!

Dirk: Al!

Al: Of course I brought the explosives!

Advocate For Life

I was head-butted by a four year old today. I cried - she didn't. I'm pretty sure I was crying from laughing so hard (right in the middle of sacrament meeting), but I'm not 100% positive... Also, I cut my finger tip open with scissors last night. It was weird. I knew that I was bleeding, but I had to literally stop and think about what I was supposed to do to stop it. You'd think after watching all 6 seasons of Grey's Anatomy in a month and a half, I'd know right off the bat to put pressure on it... Like I said, it was weird.

You want to know something pretty cool? In 2007, my dad anonymously donated one of his kidneys (he did end up meeting the recipient). In 2009, I wrote a poem about it for a creative writing assignment. And now, in 2011, my dad's inspiring story AND my poem are going to be published in a book about organ donation. I'm a pretty big advocate for organ donation and to this day, what my dad did amazes me. The recipient, Melanie, and her mother, Kris, are from Australia. In 2008, when I was a mere 16 years old, I was able to go to Australia and spend a month with Kris. It was an amazing experience and I met amazing people down there. It was amazing to see all the lives that my dad had changed by donating his kidney to Melanie. I was  introduced to everyone as, "Ali, daughter of the donor".

It messes with my formatting if I try to add captions to the pictures, so I gave up on that. The top right picture is of my cousin Alysha, me, and Kris at Byron Bay on Kris' birthday. The bottom right picture is of Alysha, Franko, and I at Byron Bay. Franko worked with Kris and he was kind of like our Austalian dad. The bottom left is a picture of Melanie and Kris. And the top right... yeah, I just like peacocks. Also, my parents donated their truck to Kidney Cars. I guess there are a number of ways that that helps fight kidney disease. I posted a couple of links below. The first one is a link to the Kidney Cars website (if you are interested in that). The second is a link to my dad's story about his experience donating a kidney. It's kind of long but so inspirational and so worth it. The third is a link to my poem... which is posted on this blog (November, 2010).

http://www.kidney.org/support/kidneycars/donation.cfm

http://uradvocate4life.comxa.com/index.php?p=1_8

http://alihancey.blogspot.com/2010/11/kidney-shaped-cuff-links.html

Wake up and smell the fabric?

Do you ever get really mad over really little things? I do. Like not being able to donate plasma, for example. I went to the store with my room mate after the plasma people turned me away. She could tell that I was mad... actually, anyone could probably tell that I was mad. I felt like I had just been told that I couldn't have children. My room mate, being the sweet girl that she is, tried all sorts of things to make me feel better. As we were walking down the shampoo aisle, she would pick up different bottles of shampoo, hold them up to her nose, take a big whiff, and then tell me to smell them. I angrily told her that, "I already know what they smell like", and carried on with my horrible attitude.

I have three tests this week, so naturally, I'm not going to be in the best mood. Well, I was talking to my mom today about applying at a restaurant that's going to be opening next month. I was telling her that even if I got a job there, I would just have to quit after two months because I'm moving back home when school gets out at the beginning of May. She told me to go and apply anyways because having a job for two months is better than not having a job at all. The whole situation was stressing me out, and then I remembered all the studying I have to do for my exams this week which added even more stress. I tried to tell my mom that I just didn't have time to go to today and that I would just do it later this week. However, she finally convinced me to just get it done today. I discovered when I got there that a Jo-Anne's fabric store is right next door to this restaurant (I also found out that you have to apply online...). So naturally, I went inside. You know how smelling shampoo doesn't make me feel better? Fabric does. Touching it, looking at it, smelling it. Ahh, the smell of new fabric! I also love looking at scrapbook paper and Jo-Anne's has a wonderful supply of that as well (they even have Disney Princess paper!).

The moral of this oh, so wonderful tale, is that I spent my afternoon walking up and down the aisles of a fabric store when I should have been at home studying. And I would do it again in a heart beat. Yep. Good story, huh? Oh, PS I did get an application to Jo-Anne's... so at least my afternoon was a little bit productive.

Pah-Las-Ah-Mah is dumb.

Don't you hate it when you go in to donate plasma or something, and the people looking for your vein's can't find any and then they tell you that you can't donate plasma because you don't have enough vein's? I do. I also hate grocery shopping. I wish there were such thing as a drive through grocery store. I actually wish that my fridge would just magically stay stocked and that I wouldn't have to spend money or leave my apartment whenever I want food - but I figure that a drive through grocery store will probably be invented before a magical-self-stocking-fridge. I know, I set my sights high.

My brand new bright and shiny ATC!

Last night my room mates and I introduced ourselves at ward prayer. We each brought five items that represented us. I brought a PS2 paddle, a scout uniform, a boomerang, a Japanese fan, and an ATC (for rock climbing). We had all of our items laying on the table at the front of the room with cards by them that gave a description of what they were. We split our ward in to two teams and had one person from each team  alternately come and pick an item, then their team would have to guess who it belonged to. A couple minutes into our game, one young man came up to the table to choose an item. After assessing all of the things on the table, he picked up my ATC. Now, a little thing about rock climbing equipment: hardware - like carabiners, ATC's, quick-draws - cannot be dropped. If they are dropped from a certain height, they get micro-fractures and can never be used again. So, this young man picks up my ATC and starts spinning it around his finger as he read it's description. This is a guessing game, right? His team was supposed to guess who the ATC belonged to. However, before he could even finish reading the card, I panicked and yelled, "Oh my gosh! Please be careful with that!" The whole room went kind of silent for a split second and then his team all started shouting, "Oh, well now we know who that belongs to!" Embarrassing, huh? Yeah, it was. But at least I stopped him before he tossed my ATC (that I haven't even used yet!) across the room.

i heart art

[Snow Horse Gallery] About three years ago, my dad came up with the idea of putting an art gallery in a big empty hallway located in the Davis Conference Center. Today, after three years of hard work, the Snow Horse Art Gallery had its grand opening. Nine different artists had their work hanging in the gallery. Prices of paintings ranged from under $600 to over $5,000. The Mayor even made an appearance and cut a ribbon. That's right, there was a ribbon cutting. It was a big deal - well, at least to me it was. My parents always say to me, "If you want something badly enough, there is nothing stopping you from getting it." Throughout the course of the past three years, my dad has asked many different people to donate their money, time, and skills into this gallery. With help and encouragement from my mom, my dad made this happen. He worked hard  until this gallery was complete. I know that what my parents always say to me isn't a really complicated concept, but now I understand the amplitude of it. My dad didn't let thousands of dollars and countless hours of work get in the way of his gallery. He didn't let anything stop him from accomplishing this. I have people tell me all the time that I got all my weirdness from my dad. I’m going to reach deep down inside myself and find his motivation. Here's a link to an article in the Standard Examiner about my dad and the gallery: http://www.standard.net/topics/features/2011/01/20/wsu-art-grad-inspires-snow-horse-gallery [Brandi Carlile] Seriously, check her out. Lately, I've been pretty obsessive over three things: One - blogging. I just can't get enough of it! Two - Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Gotta have that six pack by June! And Three - Brandi Carlile. I listen to her while I blog AND while I work out. Oh, and while I'm walking home from school and while I'm doing homework and while I cook and while I eat and while I clean and even while I brush my teeth. But not while I'm sleeping. I highly recommend Norah Jones for that, though. This is weird. I'm not normally one to rave and rant about music - THAT'S how much I love Brandi Carlile. She is a little different, though, so beware. And be ready to fall in love.

T-t-t-tommy!

I go through these “anti-facebook” phases every couple of months. I realize that I spend way, way too much time on that dumb site, and then I resolve to not get on for at least a week. And it works. I’ll go a week or more without getting on facebook and I always feel so accomplished (I feel like I’m talking about a drug addiction or something). Well, I missed my friend’s birthday because of my “anti-facebook” phase and it really made me start to think. I didn’t realize how much I’ve come to rely on facebook.  I have to have it remind me about my friend’s birthdays instead of writing them on my calendar myself. Or when someone gets their mission call! I don’t know this for sure, but I bet that one of the first things they do after they open it is go and post it on facebook. Yeah, it’s a great way to let everyone know where you are going, but it’s so impersonal. My friend got his mission call a couple weeks ago and he called me and told me where he was going. Believe me – that is so much better than seeing it on facebook. Just one more thing about facebook and then I’ll be done. I just watched The Social Network last weekend. They mentioned how people say things like, “Facebook me!” Since when has “facebook” become a verb? Okay. I’m done now.

You know how girls write letters to their “future husband”? Well, normally, I think those are weird. However, my adorable roommate Allie wrote one and posted it on her blog and I read it and LOVED it. So I asked her if I could post it to MY blog and she graciously allowed me to. So, here it is, by the ever lovely Allie Marie.

 Husband, I want to show you that there's a reason to be sick with love. I want to show you the magic we'll feel when our lips touch. I want us to dance together to our own madness. I want us to skip along those fine lines in life. I want us to play video games together. I want us to go against the flow. I want us to kiss in the rain. I want us to enjoy the simple things in life. I want to cuddle next to you. I want to be able to never get enough of you. I want us to get lost in our own world. I want our hearts to skip a beat very time we hear each other say "I love you." I want us to be an unstoppable force. But most of all.....I want us to find each other.

Isn’t it great? I especially love the part about playing video games. Mostly because I love video games. Okay. If I say anything else, I’ll probably ruin it.

Just one more thing: “T-t-t-tommy!” is my FHE pa. I went rock climbing last night and I love rock climbing and I love looking at people’s calf muscles when they are rock climbing and I saw Tommy when I was rock climbing – I wasn’t looking at his calf’s though – and I love saying “T-t-t-tommy!” Try it. It’s fun. Also, I got to use my brand new harness last night. And then I wore it to cold stone. And I love Stephanie Dansie. And I love that she loves to go rock climbing. And now I have someone in Logan to go climbing with. And I don’t care that haters in Provo have passes to climbing gyms and get to go all the time. And I’m not bitter or jealous about it. At all.

Also, my blender got stolen today.

YOU had a bad day?!

   Normally, my life is pretty darn good. Even not normally, my life is pretty good (it makes sense if you don’t think about it too much). However, on those “not normally” days, I feel like my life is over and that giving up right then and there is the best option. Well today, a “not normally” day, I had an astounding epiphany. Allow me to explain.

·         I found out today that I didn’t get a job that I had applied and interviewed for.

·         I realized today how out of money I really am. People say that money doesn’t buy happiness... but if I had money, I would be pretty dang happy.

·         I noticed today that my car is nearly out of gas and because of my “out of money” realization, I can’t afford to fill it.

·         I forgot my wallet today when I went to the grocery store. All I needed was some milk and some toothpaste and I forgot my wallet.

·         I was told today that I have to wait until October to get my associates degree (which really isn’t that big of a deal – although, now I’m going to have to revise one of my resolutions…) and that it will cost money – money that I don’t have.

Okay, now on to the epiphany!

   I called my mom when I got back from the grocery store. I was upset and frustrated and stressed. I just didn’t know what to do. I was seriously ready to “give up right there and then”. My mother is much more level-headed than I am, and she told me repeatedly that everything was going to be okay and that I need to not “give up right then and there”. She gave me names of people to talk to about getting a job; she told me not to worry about the associate’s degree and that it doesn’t matter when it comes, just as long as it does; she offered to help me out financially until I get a job. Basically she saved me.

   Around 9:00 tonight, my roommate came in and told me that our friend’s mom had just passed away. I honestly felt guilty for thinking that my day had been so horrible. If I wasn’t able to talk to my mom today, I probably would’ve chopped all my hair off, slashed my own tires, and purposely started my apartment on fire – you know, like a “Wild Child!” I would’ve given up right then and there if she hadn’t been there to talk some sense in to me. I realize now that, no matter how bad my day was today – no matter how frustrated or stressed I was – other people are out there dealing with bigger, harder things than a dumb old empty gas tank and a belated associate’s degree. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve finally realized how much I take for granted – like a little bit of advice from my mom, or the peanut butter and honey that I can’t stop eating (not on a sandwich – just off of a butter knife. Delish!).

   Okay. That’s the end of my epiphany. I’m going to try real, real hard from here on out to stop taking things for granted. Maybe I should add that to my constantly increasing list of resolutions…