So. . . . I Guess I'm Moving

I came home from my little adventure last weekend to some pretty exciting news! My roommate Brittany is (finally) engaged and Katelyn got the perfect job for herself at Deseret Digital Media! Like I said, incredibly exciting news, but a little inconvenient for my life. I suddenly found myself with no roommates and there is no way I am making the rent by myself.  I had this playing through my head all week:

Please appreciate this clip because it took me all morning to make.

So, after weighing the pros and cons, I've decided to move in with some girls from my ward! I'll be living in a townhouse (Bridger Style, I think), which I have always wanted to do! This decision was made in a grand total of two days! Talk about a sudden turn of events!

I'm excited for the change, but not excited at all to actually make the move. If you know me, you know that I hate packing with a passion. I am known for not even starting to pack for a weekend trip to Utah until everyone else is already in the car ready to go. When I went to Europe, I didn't start packing until the night before, while everyone else had been packing for weeks. I also didn't pack for my move to Logan until the night before. I just really don't like it. But, what do you do? So, I guess I will be packing everything up and moving a block away. Thankfully, my mom is coming to help me out, right?  :)

And as a side note, here's part two of madi's wedding! Enjoy!

Homeless Aliens & Shoes

Last night I took my green blanket outside to lay on as I looked at the stars. The night was warm and I was waiting for my parents to call. I was enjoying the peace of the night when I suddenly hear

"Hey! What are you doing?"

This voice belonged to a little girl looking out her window on the third floor. I was a little surprised so I didn't say anything. Then she yells to her brother "Come over here, you've gotta see this!" 

Her brother joins her at the window. "What is it?"

The little girl knowledgeably responded "It's a person and I don't like it." Then she shouts, "Hey! Go away!"

"No, that's mean!" was the brothers immediate response. "Does he have a home?"

There was silence following this question as they pondered how I came to sit on the grass outside their window. I was thoroughly amused by the whole thing and wondered what would come next. I was not disappointed.

The little boy seemed to have figured out what was going on and told his sister, "We don't even know if it's a person. I think it's an alien!" 

Hahaha! I've said this before, but little kids are the best!

I decided to move so that I wouldn't disturb the children and give them nightmares of homeless aliens.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Tonight I went to leave and couldn't find my shoes anywhere! It was a little concerning because I rarely lose things, especially something like shoes. I asked Katelyn if she had seen them, but she hadn't. Where could they be?

I did the whole "where is the last place you saw them / retrace your steps" trick and the answer came to me - the homeless alien!

You know the weather is getting nice when I start losing my shoes. I honestly forget that I have them on and I walk away without them and don't think twice about it until 24 hours later! Such was the case from last night when I was talking to my parents. The shoes came off and I never even noticed.

Thankfully, I live in a pretty descent place and they were right where I had left them. 

Shoes = found!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The Moral of the Story: Don't trust your shoes to Homeless Aliens!

Family

My dad called me Friday afternoon as he was eating his lunch and asked what I was doing. I told him I had just finished getting ready for the day that I had no plans for and that I was about to eat breakfast. (we have very different lives) We decided to make a trip to Draper to see my grandparents and have a relaxing weekend with them, just sitting around and talking. Six hours later, we were knocking on their door for a joyous surprise.

I was happy to discover that Donny, Leslie and Troy were also in Draper that weekend! While we did do a lot of sitting around and talking (which is probably my favorite part of any time my family gets together) we also went to Alyssa's soccer game, Hunter's Clayton performance at Gateway where we also did some shopping, and In & Out (my first time eating there, and it was good - at least once we got my order figured out, haha)

We also watched a lot of basketball and I finally fount the basketball fan within me.
Go Oklahoma! Kevin Durant is the man, and Kobe Bryant drives me nuts!

Unfortunately, there are no pictures of our fun times, but my camera has been found!!! Now I just need to charge it up again and we are back in business! No more wordy pictureless blog posts! Everyone rejoice!
(Just kidding, I'm sure there will be plenty more of those posts, but hopefully not as many)

A few weeks ago my family was all in Draper for Madison's wedding, which was so much fun! Please feel free to visit my photography blog to see pictures! I love that our family is all so close and that we are so blessed to see each other so often! There are no age barriers, we all just blend together. They are some of my best friends.

allisonkayphotography.blogspot.com

p.s.  You can also visit my website that I desperately need to update. Especially if I'm planning on renewing it, which I need to decide by the end of this month....

allisonkayphotography.com

Happy Belated Mothers Day!

Everybody's Doing It....

Remember when I posted about this song?

Well, now everyone is remaking it!

Rock

Acoustic

Glee

Ingrid

Classical

One Man A'capella 

Dutch Choir

Hip Hop

Ukelele

Instrumental

Harp

Piano

Rap (sorry, not appropriate to link)

And of course, the original (Warning: It's kind of a scandalous music video. Don't worry, it doesn't show anything)

The list is endless!

Seriously.

I thought this version was pretty cool.

Music

Music plays an interesting role in my life, and I often contemplate the irony of it.

I enjoy music and I can't imagine my life without it, however I wouldn't consider myself a music "lover." I don't have the passion for it that others do.

When I'm driving, I prefer the silence. On the rare occasions that I do listen to music as I drive around town, it is usually The Sounds of Sunday. The only time I really like to listen to music is when I am by myself driving long distances. If I am a passenger, I almost always prefer to talk or sit in silence, even if it is a long drive. I listen to music at home as I am getting ready, editing pictures or playing tetris, but I still would not consider myself a "lover" of music. I once got an ipod for Christmas. I had it for a year before I finally put music on it. I probably listened to two songs and then put it away again. A year after that I sold it to a good home who actually knew how to listen to music. 

The irony? A lot of my friends are music lovers and are extremely passionate about it.

The result is that, although I don't particularly care for music, it has played a major role in my life.

I don't really like concerts, like the kind where everyone stands up and sings along with their hands in the air. I don't like large groups of people or loud noise. I usually put ear plugs in and find a relatively empty corner to wait in until it's time to leave.

Some of the concerts I have been to. All pictures were taken after the show was over and I came out from my hiding place in the corner.

The Irony? I have been to so many concerts that I don't even try to keep count. In fact, I have been in charge of, or been a part of putting on several of the concerts I have been to.

It all started when Krisann convinced Katelyn to be the managers over a show on campus called Grand Pianos Live.

(This video is the extent of my music ability. Haha, just kidding. But it's not too far beyond that)

Talent Board

As I got more involved with Talent, I made friends with the performers and Music became a natural part of my every day life. Not because I was listening to it on the radio or on my ipod, but because it was the activity of choice.

my favorite song  :)

Katelyn and I even got two songs dedicated to us!

This is the same song as above, but at the concert where they dedicated it to us.
(The other recording is better, but this is the proof. Also, this version doesn't cut the end off.)

 You might start understanding how much music was in my life at this point, but it gets better. I joined a band!

Haha, just kidding! As cool as this band was, I'm actually being serious.

We're Not Desperate, Just Lonely - I played the electric drums
The Realists - I played the tambourine

We weren't that fabulous, but it was fun to be together making music.

We threw this song together in two days. again, not amazing, but all things considered I think it's pretty good. They even requested that we perform in another show!

We should have made it into the Best of Guitars Unplugged with this song (we even had bands who did make it in tell us that we should have been in their spot and they were so surprised we hadn't made it) but unfortunately there were some Talent politics involved, so we didn't make it. Oh well.

having musical friends has it's perks.

I got the opportunity to be recorded singing on a Christmas album for The Climbing! 

(Which, by the way, I am still waiting to hear. I guess that's what happens when the recording person gets engaged.)

The good news is that my music ability did improve from all of this....

And the best news of all? I got a song written specifically for me!

(This has been my number one post since it went up, and the movie never even worked! For all you who viewed and were disappointed, here it is!)

Anyway, the point is that music and I have an odd relationship.

I'm grateful for the good friends who have exposed me to such great music experiences and made me a well rounded music appreciator. 

Why an I posting about this? I guess because all my musical friends are gone now, and I feel like there is a little empty place inside of me.
I miss being surrounded by musical talent.

It was fun

:)

Sorry my Life is so Boring

I just posted a really long, nobody cares post. 

So to make up for it, here's a really short, post that I liked.

I am so excited for summer! I can't wait to be outside again!

Office Entertainment

Today at work, a three year old girl came in named "Ellie." (all names have been changed)

A few facts about Ellie:
- She is adorable
- She is not shy at all
- She has two voice levels: loud and louder
- I wouldn't be surprised if she had ADD
- She is at that lovely stage of a million and one trillion questions a day.

These are the conversations I witnessed between her and her mom as they waited for Ellie's brother and sister to finish their appointments.

Ellie is playing in the play area talking to herself and she suddenly says to herself, "I think I'm going poop...." She then continues to play.

I am, understandably, concerned about the situation because I seem to be the only one who heard this and I don't want to clean up a child's poop!

I'm saved from my anxious contemplation of what to do when Ellie suddenly runs out and announces, "Mom, I have to go potty!"

The following conversation occurs in the bathroom.

E: "Is this a girl bathroom or a boy bathroom?"
M: "It's both"
E: "But is it a girl bathroom?"
M: "Yes"
E: "But is it a boy bathroom?"
M: "It can be, but right now it's a girl bathroom"
E: "But can I use this bathroom?"
M (worried about the ticking time bomb of her daughters bladder): "Yes, stop playing 20 questions and go to the bathroom."

(Questions continue to be shouted - her only voice level - but I gather that she is now going potty)

M (for the tenth time): "Shh, we have to be quiet."
E (yelling even louder): "I'm being quiet!"
M: "Shh"
E: "Why do we have to be quiet?"
M: "Because we're in here"
E: "When we go out, are we loud?"

I thought it was a pretty reasonable question.

After the bathroom incident, "Blanch" came in for her appointment. She is an older lady with a spunky spirit. Her white hair is spiked straight up, her cain is sparkly purple and today her fingernails are french-tipped sparkly purple with a white swirl (she gets them done regularly). She came in yesterday and brought us two dozen doughnuts, and a gallon of orange juice, complete with napkins and red solo cups. She is an office favorite.... if we had favorites  :)

Anyway, Blanch starts talking to Ellie about her prize that she got and being a little monkey, etc. Ellie is very friendly. Blanch is called back for her appointment and she goes back.

Ellie turns to her mom: "Mom, she has a big butt!"
M (Imbarrased): "I'm not claiming this child."
E: "But, mom, she has a big butt!"

M: "Ellie, don't say that! That's not nice."

E: "Why?"
M: "Because I have a big butt too."

Later, I'm checking out "Lindsay" who is preparing to go on a mission, but the office has decided she will stay and marry Ben, our hygiene assistant, who got off his mission about a month ago. Ellie comes up and starts showing Lindsay the toothbrush that she got. Lindsay, of course, thinks that she is adorable. Ellie returns to the couch (after some coaxing from her mom)

Mom to Ellie: "I think she wants to keep you!"
Lindsay: "I would, she is so cute!"
M (joking after an hour at the dentist office with an active three year old): "You want her? I've been meaning to clean some kids out." Then to Ellie, "What do you think?"
E: "But.... then you wouldn't have an Ellie!"
M: "You're right, I can't be without my Ellie! Maybe we should get rid of 'Matthew' (brother)?"

Ellie refused to get rid of any of her siblings. You don't get much cuter than that!

By the time they left my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing.

She kept the whole office quite entertained  :)

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

This song has seemed to be continually running through my head for the past few weeks now. 

Thanks for sharing, Chloe  :)

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.