Take It Home

The wonderful Jenn Blosil recorded a song on the 2011 EFY album and I have been listening to it SO much lately. Why? Well, first off, her voice is my dream voice and second, it's just a genuinely beautiful song with a wonderful message. I invite you to listen to it:

Take It Home lyrics

What would happen if we took off our masks

Peeled back the labels

Tore down the walls we have

What would change if we just saw each other as

Children of our father

Out there it's easy to get caught up in our lives

Here we all can feel the sparks of truth ignite

We can keep this feeling burning inside

If we carry it … together

We have felt the way our hope and faith begins to grow

We have felt this light and peace to guide us as we go

We know we can take it home

What kind of difference can start with you and me

as we remember to live what we believe

A mighty change begins with small and simple things

We can share with one another

We have felt the way our hope and faith begins to grow

We have felt this light and peace to guide us as we go

We know we can take it home

Every single one of us here has a part

Inside our father's plan and this is where we start

We have felt the way our hope and faith begins to grow

We have felt this light and peace to guide us as we go

We know we can take it home

the one who

I wrote this a week or so ago on January 24th but didn't end up publishing it. I don't know why I didn't post it right away, I just didn't. However, my papa doesn't like it when I back post blog entries so here it is:
 

Six months ago today, I woke up but didn't really want to.
I was still living at home at the time so I laid in my comfortable bed for a while, listening to the laundry machine run and my Mom put away dishes from the dishwasher. Eventually though, I had to get up, shower, and do my hair. I opted for minimum make up because I wasn't sure if much of it would stay on; I was already planning on the tears, for today was the last day I was going to be seeing my boyfriend of 26 months for two whole years.
Missions are wonderful, truly, they are! But they're also hard. Including for those who are left at home. Me. I was going to be left at home. My best friend was going to be leaving me for 733 days with no communication but the snail mail system. This was the guy who cleverly helped me with my math homework without me realizing he was helping me, the one who kidnapped me for breakfast on each birthday but still managed to make it a surprise, the one who made me snowball with him at the roller-skating rink like a cheesy couple from the movies, the one who covered my eyes in the scary parts of movies, ate the tomatoes off my cheeseburger, believed in rain dances and would make me do them with him, and the one who made lying on the floor doing nothing the funnest thing in the entire world. Ever since the first day we met, Curtis had this power over me that I wish I could explain but it made everything else around me not really matter. All of a sudden, when I met Curtis, I found direction.
He picked me up around 11 and we drove to Kneaders while attempting to make small talk. There was an elephant in the room. A really, really, REALLY big, fat, neon yellow one. Once we picked up our food (his sandwich and my salad), we took it to our park and had a picnic. I ate as slowly as I could but eventually, somehow, there were no more lettuce pieces to be picked at or played with. It was time to go home.
My mind started racing.
Once we got home he was going to say goodbye and drive away. Why did he have to drive away? This was the one who bought footie pajamas because I bought footie pajamas, the one who ran through the sprinklers with me every Summer, who made me try new things like shrimp (Ew.), and who played a prank on me IN THE MIDDLE OF A HAUNTED HOUSE (and I pretend I'm still mad about it but secretly, it was pretty dang funny). You guys, he's the one who let me talk about Grey's Anatomy for hours on end when he didn't really understand what was going on-- or probably even care for it for that matter but the point is that he listened because I wanted him to. He listened about everything a lot.
Going home was bad because that meant goodbye. And I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the one who made me feel like the most me.
I made him come inside, and we headed down to the basement aka our favorite (and most common) hangout spot. No more would be the movie marathons or game nights down there. Our hushed arguments (that he would always let me win) weren't going to occur down there for the next 24 months. And though at the time of these little bickering's, I felt I could have been happy without them, minutes before saying goodbye, I realized I was going to miss our disagreements now that I wasn't going to be able to have them anymore.
We sat on the couch, didn't say much, just sat there, with his arms around this girl right here, ya know, the one that was curled up in a ball at the time, and he told me that it was going to be okay. And I believed him. He has always been the one who could turn my worst days into good ones and this included this dreaded day, because he was right. It was going to be okay. Maybe it wasn't going to be good, great, or perfect, but we were going to be alright.
After I made him promise to be safe and make good choices (ya know, the usual stuff), we went upstairs, stepped outside, made our way to his car, and I said goodbye for the final time to the one who kissed me for the first time under a shooting star, insisted on paying on all of our dates, taught me how to carve a pumpkin and throw a baseball, and always let me use his chest to rest my head on when I was tired.

Can't believe it's already been six months.
Praying for the next 18 to fly by.
525 left.
I can do this because it's worth waiting for the one who makes you the most happy the most of the time.

MTC

The Elder Boyfriend sent me some pictures from the MTC (he entered in July and left in September) that I thought were so adorable I just had to share! In case you don't know what he looks like, just look for the cutest guy in the picture and that's him.

All his friends who are on missions have sent this shirt around and they have all signed it. 

Pete, from high school.

Curt and 3 other guys sang at a huge missionary meeting.

Boom. The number of people (seats) he sang for.

Friends from high school, Jesse and Pete.

xxx

Part 1 of 2:

^^^ 17 year old Alex ^^^

20 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About 20 Year Old Alex:

1. Someone once told me I reminded them of Liz Lemon from the show 30 Rock MINUS the funny part. I think they were trying to insult me but it was actually one of the best compliments I have ever received since I look up to Liz Lemon (So what if she's a fiction character) for embracing who she really is and not caring what people think about her.
2. In 8th grade we played the game of "I Have Never" on the first day of class. The game starts with each person holding up both hands and all the fingers. One by one everyone goes around and says things they have never done. For example, "I have never gone skiing!" And all those who have gone skiing have to put a finger down. The last person with the most fingers still up wins! And now I shall continue. Back in 8th grade... one of the 'I have never' comments was, "I have never peed in the shower." I didn't put my finger down even though, the truth is, I have peed in the shower. You know you all have to. Little kids do it all the time! And every single one of us has been a little kid at one time. So, to my social studies class of six years ago, I am sorry for lying.
3. On the bus to Epcot there is a stretch of road that is extremely bumpy and no one really likes it... except for me. I think it's super fun to bounce up and down so it's always the highlight of my bus ride to work and I look forward to it every time I have a shift at Epcot.
4. In 3rd grade I had a dream that Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) was my boyfriend. His rat, Scabbers, and my hamster, Ginny, were best friends and it all felt so real! When I woke up and realized we weren't actually dating, I cried.
5. I used to work at Victoria's Secret and when I first started working there, I thought all the mannequins decked out in their 'PINK' attire looked so stupid. I mean, who wears PINK sweats, PINK shirts, PINK sweatshirts, PINK skivvies and even PINK socks? Can you say, 'trying to hard?' However, as I write this, every single piece of clothing I am wearing is PINK. I have become one of those girls.
6. Last week my roommate and I went to Magic Kingdom and decided to splurge on lunch. We went to one of their 'nice' restaurants and the truth is that it wasn't very yummy food, but it was fun to have the characters from the 100 Acre Wood come to our table visit us. However, since it was so expensive, I probably shouldn't go grocery shopping for a while. But that's okay, I have enough food, it's just really random. For example, today for lunch I had, beef jerky, dried cranberries, and a rice krispy treat. What a meal. 
7. I hate it when people ask me what I do at Walt Disney World because the truth is, there's not much I can say about it. I wish I could brag and tell them all the fun stories that have happened to me but in order to protect the integrity of Disney, I cannot. Therefore, when people ask me, I have to be rude and give one word answers. It's the pits because I'm not a rude person, I promise. 
8. I have seen a couple R-rated movies in my lifetime. It's unfortunate, but true. But what's more unfortunate is that the R-rated movies I have seen have been huge disappointments! What a waste. Just stick to G-PG 13, Alex. C'mon! 
9. My new roommates are from a place in the world that has very hot temperatures and so anything below 85 degrees is freezing cold to them. Because of this, they have the heat on ALL THE TIME. I have tried to compromise with them but either they don't understand me or they're not willing to settle (Truthfully, I'm not sure which one it is at the moment). Consequently, I wake up each morning super sweaty and gross, try to cool off by taking a cold shower, but when that doesn't work, I always end up not wearing a sweatshirt to work but since most bus rides are an hour long I'm always freezing cold by the time I make it to the parks.
10. I shop at Walmart and so I will normally buy 'Great Value' brand if it's available. However, I have never and will never buy the 'Great Value' brand of my ketchup. Ketchup is probably my most favorite thing in the entire world and the 'Great Value' version of it isn't bad, but NOTHING will ever compare to HEINZ. Ever. It's basically heaven in a bottle. 

A Missionary's Planner

The missionaries in my singles ward here in Florida use their planner for everything. EVERYTHING. I know my sissy did too while she was on her mission in New Hampshire. So you can imagine that when Elder Curbs sent me pictures of his planner, I was very flattered.

And then I was double flattered when I saw the back of his two name tags. Hey look who's on it! (Not me, no sir.)

He's so cute.
I just loooooooooove him!

i am so thankful for modge podge.

As I've mentioned before, Elder Boyfriend sent me the sweetest birthday package. It contained lots of cutsie princess stuff including a 750 piece puzzle of a few of the Disney princesses. I am not a big puzzle-r and though I thought it was sweet, I set it on my desk and excitedly read the talk he sent me given by President Uchtdorf last conference with all of his cute little missionary insights.

It wasn't until the next day, though, that I opened the puzzle box and saw little words on the back of the pieces. Wait a second, am I getting asked to a high school dance? Nope. Nope, Alex, you are not. Instead, you are the girlfriend of a cutie patootie (and creative) missionary who had a lot of free time on New Year's Eve.

At first I was overwhelmed by such a big puzzle but then I remembered my Mama is a puzzler extraordinaire! How lucky am I.

So we got out the puzzle mat, sorted the pieces in to edges and middles and then by princess. Honestly, I mostly just sorted since I'm usually the one who shoves pieces into the picture that don't really fit. So though I didn't do much, I'd like to think I was a cheerleader for my Mommy.

Brannigan was also a cheerleader. And sometimes too much of a 'helpful Henry' but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

Branni-boy.

Look how pretty the finished product was!

I am so grateful for Modge Podge.

Tiny writing.

The end result was the sweetest letter EVER. Remember how my boyfriend is better than your boyfriend? (Just kidding, that felt mean. And I'm not mean; biased? H yes I am. I freakin' love this boy.) It was so nice of him to remember my birthday, send me a gift and even prepare it a whole two weeks in advance, WHAT?! Who's a lucky girrllllll? Me. I'm the lucky girl.

Thanks, Curt.
You rock.
See ya in 18 months, okay?
BAMMM.

Words with Friends

I got to see a few friends while I was visiting my home sweet home last week.

DJ:

Look who signed his new hat!

Melissa Jane (that's Elder BF's sweet, sweet sister. She showed up to lunch with a bouquet (pictured on the right) and said that Curbsy had emailed her that week and asked her to pick up some flowers and give them to me for my birthday. Seriously???? How kind are they!)

I saw Alyssa, who is not pictured unfortunately and then last but not least, I also saw Stiney.
And then I made her hold up the shirt I got her and tie a bow in her hair.
That's why she's the best.


It's weird to think that life goes on for all my besties while we are nearly 3000 miles apart but I am grateful it does because life is wonderful. They are all progressing in ways we couldn't have guessed a year ago.

Thanks for taking the time to see me, my lovelies! I'm sorry to my friends who I didn't get to see, please forgive me. I guess all y'all will just have to come visit me in the sunshine state sometime!