Finals Week Survival Skills

For anyone attending college or about to attend college, here is some advice that will help you out with your finals. I know I know, you are very welcome. :)

I wouldn’t have been able to get through my finals week if it hadn’t been for the pre, mid, and post finals fun. With all the studying, testing, deadlines, and more studying involved in finals week, it is extremely important that you do things to take your mind COMPLETELY off school in order to maintain sanity. I think I definitely did that this semester…maybe a little TOO much. Hehe

PRE FINALS HELPER
I did a few things to prepare myself for finals before the hardcore studying came in. The first was ice skating.

With me almost falling on my face numerous times, it was hard to think about anything BUT my balance and coordination, which made it absolutely impossible to stress over the six finals I would be taking the following week. Genius, I know.
We also had an ambassador Christmas party which was a lot of fun. The white elephant gifts this year were AWESOME. We had slippers made out of…well….you can see, some of life's essentials,

(black panties and hand cuffs) and even a pet tarantula named Punjab!

My MID FINALS HELPER was a service project!

A bunch of my friends and I got the names of a couple families who needed a little help with Christmas, and we provided that help. These kids had an awesome Christmas complete with new clothes and TONS of new toys.

POST FINALS HELPER
I wouldn’t have been able to get through my last final if I hadn’t known I would be making gingerbread houses that night. It was the thought of those little gingerbread men and their desperate need for a home that got me through that torturous two hour final.

Now I bet you are all wondering, “Did Ali’s de-stressing final mechanisms work?” The answer is:
Four A’s and two B’s…you decide!

Aaah, to be Five Again

For those of you who don’t know, I am a reading tutor in the Kindergarten at East Elementary school. My job is AWESOME. I just love love LOVE the kids. They say and do some of the cutest things. Here are my two favorite conversations this semester in Kindergarten:

Every single day after recess, Vivian goes to the bathroom. The bathroom is in the back of the classroom so every day around 1:30 we all get a personal concert by Vivian starring the Disney Channel. She sings at the top of her lungs for a good five minutes or so, until someone goes to get her. It was my turn, so I went to the bathroom and knocked.

“Vivian?” I ask.
“Yeah?” she says in return.
“It’s time to come sit on the rug, are you almost done?”
“Yeah,” but within the next ten seconds, the singing begins once again.
“Vivian?” I say as I knock on the door again.
“WHAT?!”
“You need to come out and get your projects done, bathroom time is over.”
“Okaaaaaaay, I’ll COME in a MINUTE. I’m POOPING!”
Hahahaha It took all I had for me to contain my laughter.

I love when I get the chance to sit and listen to the kids’ conversations. I get to hear things like “Booya Sista!” and “My dad is stronger than your dad because…” but this was one of my favorites:
“Guess what?” said James,
“What?” said Sammy.
“I went out in the woods and got my own Christmas tree.”
(Sammy didn’t look impressed, so James went on.)
“All by myself…” said James.
(Sammy STILL wasn’t impressed.)
“And I chopped it down with a real SWORD!”
“AWESOME!” Sammy said.
I’m guessing he finally got Sammy’s approval, although I wonder what James would have said next if Sammy hadn’t been impressed!

Thanksgiving Break

I spent the majority of my Thanksgiving break in one of my favorite places on earth…Pine Valley! It was my Pratt Family reunion so there were around 56 of us who stayed at the Dixie College cabin, my Grandpa’s cabin, and my Aunt Mace’s cabin. I hadn’t seen some of my family members for almost ten years so it was great to catch up and become reacquainted. Due to the stresses of finals, I don’t have a whole lot of time to explain in detail about how much fun we had, but just know that my family is hands down, the best family anyone could ever ask for!

Beware, here come A LOT of pictures! Here is Matt cutting one of the FIVE Turkeys we made.

Cousins Laura and Collin, SO CUTE!

The fam. Poor little Gavin, welcome to a world of mostly women! hehe



My sister Nicole entertaining the kiddoes.

Sarah, Jessica and I cutting the potatoes...don't mess. ;)

The Potato Peelers

Gavin and I! (The newest addition the family)


Just a FEW on the many kids there

This is my all time FAVORITE picture. My dad and I after the feast. We ate entirely TOO MUCH.

Now it's back to school for me. Finals are next week and I'm just really excited for them to be over. I have SIX finals which sounds like a lot, but I feel confident about most of them. I can't believe the semester is almost over! Where does all the time go?!

High School Kids, Vampires, and Old Fogies

This week started off with a bang with our Career fair! I was in charge of it so needless to say….I’m glad it’s over. There were about twenty different high school senior classes that came to Dixie to check out different career options. OF COURSE I was in charge of the assembly and OF COURSE I had a cold so OF COURSE I sounded like an IDIOT over the mic trying to talk to everyone. Oh well, it all turned out really well. I am just glad that I had the help of 40 ambassadors and the career center department. You guys rock!

Next we had our ambassador old fogie bingo party. Basically, we all dressed up like old folks and partied like rock stars. It was way fun. Here are some pictures of the event.

Then came the best night of my life…TWILIGHT!! There are no words to really describe my love for Edward, so I’ll just leave you with this picture of my sisters and I in our awesome shirts. Thanks to Savy for making them.

On the front they say “I love Edward Cullen” on the arm they say “Runs with vampires” on the other arm they had our names, and on the back they say “Jacob sucks!” mwahahaha Yes, we are cool, and yes, we know it. :)

It is officially Thanksgiving break and is it SOOOO needed. I have been trying to get rid of this cold and go to school, work, ambassadors, do a bunch of papers and assignments all while acting like a regular human but it hasn't been working out too well for me. Last night I had my first migraine ever. I had no idea that someone's head was capable of hurting that badly. I just kept thinking, "If I just chop off my head, it will all go away." Yeah, it was that bad. I don't wish migraines upon ANYONE, and I have a new sympathy for anyone who experiences them on a regular basis. I locked myself in my room and layed on my bed in the complete silence and pitch blackness for about 11 hours. I layed there in a ball with my head under the covers trying not to move or cry too hard while I waited for morning to come....or death, whichever came first. UGH! NO FUN!

Thank goodness for Pilgrims. :)

Mini Golfing Blues

Last week we had a hypnotist come for Entertainment Dixie. It was absolutely hilarious. Just to give you a little taste of what went on, imagine this:

Hypnotist says to the person being hypnotised, "Go out into the audience and find someone you have never met before. A complete stranger. Now, when I count to three, you are in a Broadway show, about to plant the biggest, juiciest kiss on the person whom you are sitting on. You are going for the Grammy award and you want this to be the most passionate kiss ever. One…..Two…..but wait! As you go in for this kiss, you realize that there is a two inch glass between you and the person you need to kiss….THREE!"

Once upon a time I thought I was an ok mini golfer. After the hypnotist I came to the realization that I am the worst mini golfer ever. Don’t let the pictures fool you, we may look like we are a couple of happy little golfers but I definitely underestimated my opponent...

Yeah I know, he was ruthless. It was a good humbling experience.

Happy Meal Shakes

A couple weeks ago Savy and I went to an All Time Low concert in Las Vegas and it was AWESOME. They were waaaay good, and I might have fallen completely in love with the base guitarist.

As I watched them play I found myself thinking things like, “I could live a rock star life style. So what if I’m LDS and he’s probably wild and crazy…we could make it work. Listen to that voice, he could totally serenade me to sleep every night….mmmmmmm” Once when he was standing on an amp jamming, he looked at me, and it was basically love at first sight. Not kidding. Wow. My heart is all fluttery right now just thinking about it!


Who wouldn’t love that face!? Not to mention the bod…. :) The Maine, Mayday Parade, and Every Avenue were the other bands there so it was all in all an awesome night. We fought ourselves up to the front right in the middle, and after the concert I got my picture taken with the lead guitarist from Mayday Parade! Check it out. I’m pretty sure he loves me. Something about a guy who is musically inclined just makes me melt!

This weekend was the Rebel Retreat and it was saweeet. There were about 30 high school kids from all over who came to experience the life of a Dixie College student. We had dinner, a huge bonfire, and battle of the sexes. I am proud to say that the GIRLS WON THIS YEAR!!! Wooooo baby! There were different competitions such as ice cream eating, jump roping, hand stands, ice block sitting, sprite chugging, and my personal favorite…


eating a HAPPY MEAL SHAKE. Disgusting, I know. They blended a hamburger, fries, and sprite together and made people eat it. I’m surprised no one threw up. We stayed the night in the gym, and played basketball, volleyball, rock band, pool, and ping pong all night.
There are two more rebel retreats this year on Jan 9th-10th and Feb 20th-21st. That means any of you prospective DSC students should go to our website at www.dixie.edu and sign up!

P.S.

I went on a big group date last week and we went to mesquite to go bowling and eat dinner. It was WAY fun. The best part was that my date was just as bad as I am at bowling, so we had a grand ol' time with the bumpers.

Oh and we went a little crazy in the gift shop...






So WHAT if college kids still like to play dress up?!! We needed a warm up for Halloween anyways. :)

So Much to Blog, So Little Time

Luckily I don’t feel like doing my math homework, multicultural education paper, history reading, children’s literature paper, OR my education 1010 studying or else you guys might not be hearing from me right now! If you can’t tell, school has really picked up the pace in these past few weeks. I like all my classes so I can’t really complain, but there is just SO MUCH TO DO! I swear I’m barely getting by, and I’m definitely a little sleep deprived. Now on a lighter note…
Fall break was great. For some odd reason I had a half birthday party. One of my friends said to me, “Hey Ali, your half birthday is on Thursday, and we should have a party!” So…we did. :) The party was a huge success! The place was packed and we all had a really good time. We had a half birthday cake, half cookies, half pieces of licorice, and other cool “half” refreshments. Here’s a pic with my awesome half cake.


Everyone even sang me HALF of the happy birthday song, and I blew out 19 and ½ candles. It was great.
My Fall break was extended because I got to go to Vegas with some ambassadors for the recruitment fair on Monday and Tuesday. Here’s a picture of some of us…

I’d say we are some good lookers, wouldn’t you? The fair was great, and once again, we had one of the best booths there. We had other recruiters coming up to us asking questions about our presentation and whatnot because we were that awesome. One of the guys in charge of the whole thing came and told us he had been watching all the booths, and we were kicking everyone else’s butt by far!

I’d say going to the recruitment fair is like baring your testimony or better knows as your “Dixiemony.” The more you talk about it and the more you tell others about it, the more you realize for yourself how great it is here, and how lucky you are to have it! My “Dixiemony” definitely grew over the break.
Alright, I’ve officially put off my homework long enough. More later…

Homecoming Week

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to announce that this was possibly one of the best homecoming weeks EVER. There is waaaay too much that went on to cover it all, so I’ll just write about my favorite events.

POWDER PUFF FOOTBALL

Just look at that football team, check us out! No wonder we won, right?
The game was awesome. We ended up winning 20-0. Aaah, victory is bliss. I’ve always kinda liked to watch football, but I loooove to play it. I discovered that I like to hit people. Don’t believe me? Check out these pics...



Yeah you better believe that this offensive line didn’t let anybody by!
Here is another picture of some of us with our B-A trophy. :)


ROCK THE MALL

Rock the mall is where all the different clubs and organizations on campus sing the school song in different, crazy ways. This year the ambassadors sang the school song as pirates. Needless to say, we did an awesome job, and apparently the judges thought so too, because we won!! We were taken out to lunch at the pasta factory, and during the drawing, I won two free sandwiches and a free manicure!! Yay for me!

PARADE


Despite the chilly weather and 8:00 am line up time on a Saturday morning, the parade was great. We decided to stick with our pirate theme, so we made our float a pirate ship! It was fun, we got really into some of the pictures as you can tell...
These are the craziest pirates at the parade...just go ahead and call me Mrs. Smarrow. :)



Classic looking off into the distance...towards where we sail. :)

Nick had no idea we were about to chop his legs off. Seriously.

Julie and Maddie have been bad, so Nick and I decided they needed to be punished.


AND THEY TURNED ON ME!!!

Haha yeah...we were there a little TOO early and needed a way to kill time. A pirate photo shoot seemed to work quite well. :)

THE GAME

We WON!! It was a really good game, and the weather waited until after the game to decide to rain, so it was perfect. Here is a pic of some of us wearing our sweet T-shirts we made the night before at 3:00 am. The "g" in "Go Dixie" hadn't arrived yet... but you get the idea. :)

Second Grade Observation Day

A couple weeks ago I had an observation day for one of my elementary education classes. I'm not sure what grade I want to teach yet, but somewhere between kindergarten and third grade for sure. I figured I'd choose to observe second grade because it was in the middle. What did I learn from the observation day?

Second Grade Is NOT For Me.

I didn't even like second grade when I was IN second grade, I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up. Don't get me wrong, the kids were great...for the most part. They really enjoyed having me there and over all it was a good experience. It was just a very WILD class. Here are some of the highlights of my day, but remember I am using fake names.

1. Booboo gets sent to the office for misbehaving.
2. Lola pees her pants.
3. Booboo gets sent to the office for misbehaving, again.
4. Jane won't come out from under her desk.
5. Booboo gets sent to the office for misbehaving AGAIN.
6. I discover Timmy has pink eye.
7. Jane discovers Timmy has pink eye and begins crying saying that, "My eye isn't pink, but it hurts."
8. John asks me to marry him.
9. Booboo gets sent to the office...AGAIN.
10. Tiffany spends most of the day talking to the "spirits" in her ring because, "they are the only ones that really understand me."

After all of this, I decided that if you did not enjoy the grade when you were in elementary school, don't even THINK about teaching it. I think God was trying to give me a sign when I was eight. Apparently he didn't get his point across well enough. Thank goodness he succeeded this time!

Halloween Is Going To Be Rough This Year!

The Day I Decided to Test My Pain Tolerance

Test Number One: Waxing
I hate hair. I hate hair anywhere on my body except my head. The easy solution to this problem would be to shave, but I also hate shaving. Since laser hair removal was out of the question (there’s no way a normal college student could afford that!) I turned to the only other option….WAXING.
One of my best friends is attending the skin institute here in St George, and said she’d wax me. “Perfect!” I thought to myself. As I laid on a table with nothing but a towel-dress wrapped around my body, watching Katie apply the hot wax to my poor little arm pits I realized, “This is going to hurt.” Long story short, I was right. The first rip of the wax definitely hurt… A LOT.

To the left is a picture after the first arm pit was done. (Notice the redness on the left) OUCH! And yes, I did have to let my hair grow so it could be waxed. That would be why the right armpit resembles a man's. :) YUCK! As my older sisters told me while doing my hair as a child, "Beauty is pain."

Considering the fact that I didn’t scream in agony, I would say I passed my first pain tolerance test, and my smootherthanababy’sbottomarmpits couldn’t agree more.

Test Number Two: Donating Plasma
“Everyone is doing it,” they tell me. “It doesn’t hurt,” they tell me. “You can get up to fifty dollars a week for doing almost nothing!” they tell me. I guess I am a sucker for peer pressure. Here's how it works:

Ok Ok, just kidding. If you have any questions about plasma, just visit http://www.biolifeplasma.com/index.html
Despite the horror stories I’ve heard, (I won’t even get into those) my plasma donation experience was definitely a positive one. I think my first phlebotomist was a little nuts. After poking my veins for about ten minutes and speaking to herself about how she was really nervous to stick me, I told her she was making me nervous, and I didn’t want to make her do anything she wasn’t sure of. That was my nice way of saying, “You better get someone who really knows what they’re doing to stick me with that needle or I’m gunna freak out!” She then proceeded to get someone else, and everything went perfectly! I even took a picture of my arm.

Pretty huh? I’d say I definitely passed test number two.
Between waxing, plasma donations, and powder puff football practice, (which I can't talk about because I don't want to give away how wickedly AWESOME we are) I’d say I have a pretty high pain tolerance. SUCCESS!!