PS: I moved to Michigan?

That's right folks. Jared got a job in Walled Lake, Michigan as a mechanical engineer with a company called Williams International. They design jet engines. Or something like that. We had 3 blissful weeks together. And now Jared goes to work everyday. And I spend way too much time on Pinterest. However! It paid off. Look at our aDOORable new doormat:

I bought a plain coir mat at Bed Bath & Beyond, taped some stencils down, and went to town with a paint brush and some porch paint. It was super easy. **Update: I added three coats of an outdoor varnish to maybe help the paint last longer - I let it dry after each coat** And I'm so excited about it. Because now our apartment won't be covered in salt. Because it snows so much here, and everyone puts so much salt on the ground. And now people can wipe their shoes off on our handy little doormat before they come inside. I keep talking like people come over to our apartment often. They don't. So far it's been: The Relief Society president and her councilor, and the repair man.

In other news, I've crossed a whole bunch of things off my bucket list. Thanks to that handsome husband of mine. And, I'm becoming quite the cook, thanks to a cookbook my newly acquired sisters-in-law gave me. And there's a blog to match! Their recipes generally take a few ingredients that I don't already have, so some planning ahead is required. But boy! Do they turn out delicious.

Also, we recently took a trip to the Detroit Michigan temple - it was only 30 minutes away! It is the smallest temple I've ever seen. Our bishop told us it's called a parking lot temple. The stake center next door was bigger. But it was beautiful nonetheless. And the spirit was just as strong as it would be at any temple. What did Jared have to say about this tiny little temple? "I could jump and touch the angel Moroni."

We're selfie masters. Because we don't have any friends.

Guys. I have FIVE followers. So here's a shout out to you ;) Alright. Gotta go make lunch. Bagel sandwiches are on the menu. 

Get your date on. Utah edition.

Hi.

I'm Ali. I don't know if you remember me.

I've been a bit distracted the past couple months... by this:

Just to be clear, I'm talking about the boy - not the chicken.
   That's right, kids. We met, we dated, we fell in LOVE. Cool, huh? And you wanna know the very best part? We are getting married. On January 2, 2014 I will marry my best friend in the Draper Utah Temple. And we will live happily ever after.
   So, Jared and I dated up and down the Wasatch Front. And guys, we had to get creative. Neither of us are fans of just watching movies all the time, so we found lots of other things to do instead.

And now I present....
41 ways to date in Northern Utah. A compilation.

1. Pick out gross (as in ugly) clothes for each other at the DI, then go out to eat or bowling or to a movie. Just go somewhere public.
2. Driving range. Like, at a golf course.
3. Batting cages
4. Go Kart racing
5. West Layton Bird Refuge
6. Bear River Bird Refuge (my FAVORITE place in Utah)
7. Dinosaur Park & window shopping at Rainbow Gardens (both are just off 12th street in Ogden)
8.  Pepperidge farm factory (Logan)
9.  Gosners (buy their cookies and cream milk and drink it for me) (Logan)
10. Snow Horse Art Gallery (Layton - in the same building as the Davis Conference Center)
11. Go to a Bee's game. Seats on the grass are like, $3. (SLC)
12. Clark Planterium (SLC), movie in the dome theater
13. Look for shows at local bars - we saw Ryan Hamilton at Wise Guys once (SLC)
14. Baby animal days (Logan or Kaysville - in the fall)
15. Visit grandparents - help with yardwork
16. Hike Ensign Peak- don't worry, it's a short one. (SLC) Or the Wind Caves in Logan.
17. Rock Climbing - indoor or outdoor. I love the Rock Haus in Logan, or Weber Rocks in Ogden. You can rent all the equipment you need at either of those places.
18. Take a trip up to Park City - window shop, ride the zip line or the alpine slide, walk through their Olimpic Park Museum.
19. Go to an arcade. We went to one in Salt Lake, but there are several in Northern Utah.
20. We went on a ghost tour of SLC once (in May!), so look around for that kind of thing.
21. Go to a park. Play on the play ground or play Frisbee. Or fly a kite.Or have a picnic. Or look at the clouds. Or play croquet. Or play soccer.
22. Go to a Real Salt Lake game (Sandy)
23. If you ever get the urge to go to Idaho or Wyoming (we spent our summer up there)

• Bear World is cool. 
• Jackson Hole - there's an alpine slide there, too. And a shoot out each night at 6?
• Yellowstone
• Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. 
• Camp Loll (obviously had to throw that in there)

24. Shows/Concerts and Sporting events at different colleges (cheap/free if you are both students)

25. Check out Kilby Court, In the Venue, The Complex, or other concert halls for bands that are coming to Utah (SLC)

26. Utah State Fair (during the fall)

27. Shoot the Tube! It's so fun! Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Hzl_KCX2k. We even did it at night, and it was a blast.

28. Go star gazing in Mantua. 

29. Play games with your family. (Jared and I did this almost every Sunday)

30. Hogle Zoo (SLC)

31. Drive around Antelope Island - Hike Frary Peak!

32. Crash wedding receptions

33. Spend a weekend in St. George! Go hiking in Zion.

34. Black Island Farms (Syracuse? West Layton?)

35. Trampoline park (they are all over the place now)

36. Ice Skating

37. 25th Street Gallery Stroll (Ogden)

38. Go tandem bike riding - you can rent them from Utah State University (Aggie Blue Bikes)

39. Go to The Leonardo! It's way cool! (SLC)
40. Go curling at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City - might be a winter only thing? (one of my all time favorite dates!)
41. Desert Star Dinner Theater (Murry) or Pickleville Playhouse (same thing as Desert Star, but in Garden City)
42. Drive through Logan Canyon and around Bear Lake.
43. The Pumpkin Walk in Logan is super cool. (seasonal... obviously.)
44. Drive into Idaho and buy the $1 scratch off lottery tickets (must be 19 years or older. Or 18. I don't remember).
45. Rent a canoe, kayaks, or paddle boards from Utah State University and head up to 1st or 2nd dam. You can also rent them from Weber State and drive up the Canyon to Pine View
46. Rent gear from Weber State and hit the slopes!

**Also, here is an extra lil' tip for you: GET GROUPON. Plug in your city, and it will tell you what is going on & give you good deals. Groupon is our best friend (but pay attention the the expiration dates).

Alright. There you go. Enjoy. Date your heart out. Bye.

Listy-ness

Okay, I just found this. And I think it's funny. It's probably from March or April.

My all time favorite thing to do right now is to think about things I hate. Okay, maybe not my all time favorite, but it's up there. And so I give you my current...

 Top 10 things I hate:

1. SLOTHS.

2. Spiders.

3. Earth worms.

4. Snow

5. Being hungry 

6. Trying on pants

7. Running

8. Chapped lips
9. Shaving my legs
10. Not wearing a watch

Guys. I seriously hate Sloths.

Guess what else I love to do. Organize things. Like my bedroom. And the Barton Reading and Spelling program materials in my classroom. I just finished a beautiful filing cabinet chalk full of beautiful blue Barton stuff. Some times, I just sit there and stare at it, and I don't even care about anything else.

Ooh, I feel another list coming on!

Top 6 things I should be doing right now
1. Cleaning my room
2. Laundry
3. Taking a shower
4. Not eating an entire bag of goldfish
5. Planning my primary lesson
6. Looking for some chapstick

My mom and I tried to make cookie bowls tonight. We could definitely submit it to that "Pinterest Fail" page. And possibly win first place... if they ever have contests.

And even though this is from several months ago, most of those things on both of those lists still apply. Except the watch one. I don't really wear watches very often any more. They give me a bad tan line...

Okay. bye.

If you're going to eat a brownie, eat it cold

And if your going to eat a frozen burrito, make sure you heat it up all the way.
Sometimes I sing to my dog, okay? It happens.
Fine, when I'm home alone I sing pretty much everything.
And I sometimes dance, too.
Yeah, all this snow was cool... at first. Now it just kind of sucks.
That is also how I feel about my orange glasses.
And several TV shows.
And black olives.
But not crunchy peanut butter!
Kids, listen up: crunchy peanut butter IS better.
And now teenage girls: If you're driving in bad weather, and your breaks aren't working... DOWN SHIFT.
It really works.
As does hairspray if you are trying to remove permanent marker from plastic.
Sometimes, I really just wish I was Zooey Deschanel, like... really bad.
It's like, how weird is The Bachelor, right? <3 it.
And garden salsa sunchips are pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to the world.
This just happened:
Mom: Will you please walk Zoe?
Brother: Mom! I just ran 2 miles on the tredmill!
Mom: Son...
Brother: Okay fine, 1.5 miles, you caught me.
I love my family.
Idk why I left their names undisclosed.
And the green smarties ARE the best. Despite all you naysayers who claim they all taste the same.
Girls cry SO much. Like, holy cow.
Anyone else out there love the taste of NyQuil? No? Just me?
This post has taken me longer than any other to write. jsyk.
Now off to bed I go!

I love you all.

Maybe?

Hey, it's only January, and this is crazy, but I love summer, so be June, maybe?

Thanks.

I can't stop watching How I Met Your Mother. I've watched every episode at least 3 times in the past 2 months (wow, that's embarrassing).

In honor of MLK, I give you my dream. Except, like, a literal dream... about Martin Luther King Jr. I took a 4 hour nap today, and I do my best dreaming while I'm napping. So, I was going to a missionary farewell, and a whole bunch of my friends showed up at my house because they need directions to the farewell (the dream could have ended right there and been pretty funny). My friends were all waiting in the drive way for me to get ready (which was taking me forever - I had a lot of cute shoes to choose between). While I was getting ready, my dad made all of my friends come inside so he could lecture them about MLK. When I was finally ready, I went into the living room where my dad was lecturing, and cheered him on while wearing my MLK t-shirt and an emerald green skirt with blue and white stripey shoes. It was cool.

Also, I should probably delete my budgeting post because I suck at budgeting. Like, I truly suck at it.
And one of my second graders told me I was his Valentine today. Adorable. And that is why I love my job.

This is quite possibly the only time I will ever say anything about politics, so pay attention. Nah, just kidding, you don't have to pay attention. You can actually skip this if you want (that's what I would do if I was reading someone's blog and they started talking about politics). Okay, enough of that. So, I work with 2nd graders at an elementary school, and the other day we were learning about Martin Luther King Jr. For the activity, the students were instructed to write down their dreams for the future - just like MLK did in his I Have a Dream speech. While they were doing this, one little girl in my class came up to me, and asked me how to spell Obama. On her paper, one of her dreams was "No Obama". It blew my mind. She's 7 years old, she doesn't know anything about politics, or Obama. I couldn't believe it. It was like her mom was standing in the room telling her what to dream about for the future. It was crazy. And it is my firm belief that you should respect the President of the United States no matter who he is or what party he is affiliated with. That is the only political view I have.

And I got a twitter @ali_hancey. Just in case you are interested. And I promise I'll never talk about politics.

Adios amigos.

Confessions of a bored girl who likes to over share information about herself.

I am bored and in the mood to confess some super awesome things about myself to the world wide web.

When I'm alone in my car, I listen to the same song on a CD over and over and over again. For weeks. No joke, the same song. Confession within a confession (confession-ception?): I don't just listen to it - I blast it super loud and sing along. It's one of my more flattering attributes. Jk, it's actually really unattractive.

I am a master justify-er. I can justify my way out of/into anything. Stats class tonight? I'm really tired, and I can look up the concepts on youtube. Besides, it's snowing, and I hate driving in the snow. Attractive guy working at the grocery store? I am in great need of chapstick. Super cute coat not on clearance? Well, I didn't spend that much on food this month, so I can afford it. Seriously, if you ever need anything justified, give me a call. 

I love hot fudge. Homemade hot fudge. Plain. Sometimes I sit at home and eat bowls of homemade hot fudge while watching reruns of HIMYM or Grey's Anatomy. Like tonight. That just happened/is still happening. It's actually like, any sort of liquid chocolate (not hot coco, though. Like, thick liquid chocolate). One time, I melted some Hershey's candy bars in the microwave. Delish. 

(This one is newly discovered) I am incredibly self conscious of my voice. As in, I think I sound like a man pretty much all the time. When I'm sick, when I'm tired, after I yell a lot, when I loose my voice, when I sing, etc. I think I'm going to make a goal to not be so self conscious of my voice (it's really that bad).

I watch the same TV shows over and over again (just like music... wow). For example: I've watched all 8 complete seasons of Grey's Anatomy at least 4 times. How I Met Your Mother, Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, I watch them all repeatedly. I can't help it, I guess I just like routine? If anyone has any TV shows they enjoy, I would love some new suggestions. 

I am normally a nice person. The exceptions? When I'm hungry and when I'm stressed. I should probably just wear a sign on my forehead that says "I apologize for any unkind words spoken out of stress or hunger." It's really that bad. If I ever speak unkindly to you, I am probably either very hungry or very stressed, so please be patient with me. When I do get upset, I don't stay upset for very long (like, a half hour is my record).

I buy an orange julius like, at least 3 times a week. 

I am so scared of spiders to the point that they actually make me cry. I was hiking in Zion and I saw a tarantula. Cue complete meltdown... in front of 14 other people - friends and strangers alike. It was horrible and terrifying. The only thing on my "Future Husband Must Have" list = the ability to kill spiders.

I definitely over use the words "lovely", "oh man", "no kidding".

If any of you have gotten this far (even my closest friends have told me that they "kind of skim" my blog - it's cool), then I think you are lovely (see, I told you). And now it is bed time. Good night, loves. 

PS: I am fully aware of the fact that I used the phrase "it's really that bad" at least twice in this post. 

Together again at last.

The Five Stages of Grief (Part 1)

The Five Stages of Grief: denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, acceptance.

We meet again.

Denial has been taking over my mind for days now - maybe even weeks. Your Grandma is not feeling good. Your Grandma is not eating. Your Grandma is having a hard time breathing. She'll be fine. She'll get through this - she always does. Your Grandma is only going to get worse. Your Grandma only has a few days left - it could be tonight even, or tomorrow.

Oh.

This is real. This is happening again. Anger. Raging anger. Because your Grandma is gone. Because this women you have looked up to for your whole life is actually gone. I've always noticed that bad things tend to happen to good people. Dad, doesn't that make you wonder when it will be our turn? Now. Our turn is now.  Here is a horrible, difficult, impossible part of life. Now deal with it.

But not without God's help.

And that lessens the anger a little bit.

Bargaining is not part of my grieving process - it never has been. It feels... tacky. Everything happens for a reason, so why questions God's motives. Instead, just cry. Cry, and cry, and cry. Cry until you think there are no tears left. Cry because you miss your Grandma. Cry because your dad just lost his mother. His mother. Cry because you are so grateful your mother is still here. Cry until you fall asleep. And then wake up and continue crying. Let the sadness consume you, because being sad is better than being numb.

And then suddenly, you're done crying. You feel loving, warm, familiar arms around you - even though no one else is there. And you remember how much your Grandma missed her loving, sweet husband, and how happy she is to be with him again - forever this time. And it's hard to be sad or angry when you know how happy she is. And she's standing with her husband, and her parents, and her siblings at the right hand of God - and they are all smiling, and waiting for the rest of us to join them in Eternity. They're happy. So this wasn't horrible and impossible after all. It was marvelous, and wonderful! And she's happy! And it's okay for you to be happy that she's happy, because that is what she would want. And acceptance comes easier, and more quickly because you know that you will see her again someday.

Next week we will be laying to rest my dear, sweet Grandmother next to my loving Grandfather, and we will be rejoicing in the knowledge that they are together forever at last.

Zona Allen Hancey (1930-2012)

OGDEN – Zona Allen Hancey, 82, passed away peacefully Thursday, November 8, 2012 of causes incident to age. She was born on April 19, 1930 in Portage, Utah to John and Louisa Allen. Zona was one of five children, all of whom dearly loved one another and were proud of their heritage and hometown. The people of Portage lived quiet, simple lives of faith, testimony and service that found a welcome home in Zona's heart all her days. Charity, the pure love of Christ, was the lodestone of virtues that governed her life.


Along with her sisters, Helen, Mary and Eloise, and brother Jay, Zona looked after the family home and their mother while their father herded sheep in the hills surrounding Portage. She refused to leave her mother alone and would frequently forgo trips into Tremonton or Malad with friends so her mother would have company and help with the chores. The friends she made there and in Ogden, including her co-workers at the IRS, remained the kind of friends who understood what's important in life and remained true and faithful to one another and their Savior even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Zona loved being a mother. She chauffeured, cooked, made and mended clothing, tended to illness and injury and cheered her family on their way. Her canned fruit, hand dipped chocolates, "waffle cookies", quilts, crocheting and gathering the family for dinner every evening made her house a home her children and loved ones would return to again and again. She vigilantly ensured everyone had a full stomach, was well rested, had some money in their pocket and most importantly – had her unconditional love. She was and will forever remain our angel mother.

Trips to Yellowstone, winters in St. George, the Bar J Wranglers, the movie and play South Pacific, hummingbirds, giving and receiving greeting cards and the hundreds of tulips and daffodils that bloom in her yard each spring were some of her favorite things.

Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was always an important part of her life as she faithfully magnified her many callings especially as a missionary companion to her husband Chuck and as a visiting teacher. Her neighbors, friends and family knew she wasn't one to wait around to be called to serve. "Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord. I'll share Thy love again, according to Thy word. I shall give love to those in need; I'll show that love by word and deed: Thus shall my thanks be thanks in deed," were words to a hymn she sang and more importantly – words she lived by. None knew this better than her posterity who gratefully received the very best of her service as mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

On February 8, 1952 she married her eternal companion, Charles Ray Hancey, in the Logan LDS Temple. The eternal legacy of love and family they started lives on the lives of their children, Shauna (Dave) Christiansen, Ogden; Jana (Craig) Manscill, Lindon; LaRaun (Dave) Nielsen, Harrisville; Heidi (Lyle) Bauer, Calgary, Canada; and Chad (Tracy) Hancey, Layton; 28 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Chuck; parents, brother Jay, and three sisters, Helen, Eloise and Mary, and twin granddaughters.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 11 a.m. at Ogden LDS Stake Center, 1000 East Suncrest Dr., Ogden. Friends may visit with family on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist's North Ogden Mortuary, 2140 N. Washington Blvd., and Wednesday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church.

Interment, Lindquist's Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Combe Road.

Special thanks to the caregivers at Pine View Rehab, The Gardens Assisted Living, and our angels, Heidi Sines and Camille Schmidt from Intermountain Homecare and Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Primary Children's Medical Center, 100 Mario Capecchi Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84113. 

I'll love you forever, Grandma.