Ali @ DSC

You Are In Trouble!

2009-11-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that SOME PEOPLE haven't changed their blog lists to have my new blog on it which means you poor souls who haven't changed it wont be able to see when I update my blog! This is a friendly reminder to please do so. If you can't find the link on my below post, I'll even post it again for you! Thanks :)

http://missalicoop.blogspot.com/

New Blog!

2009-09-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

To all my old blog readers,

I've made myself a new blog!!

http://www.missalicoop.blogspot.com/

I figured I should probably do to that since I'm not at Dixie anymore. E-mail me at alicoop23@gmail.com and let me know if you want to be able to read it cuz I'm going private in a couple weeks!

Happy Birthday to Yours Truly

2009-04-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I, Ali Mace Cooper, had a birthday on April 16th!
I like to make my birthday last, so I make it a point to do a lot of mini celebrations all week long…even if other people have no idea they are celebrating my pre and post birthday.

Pre-birthday activity numero uno:

I went on an awesome double date where we went out to dinner, played some glow in the dark mini golf which my team won (Duh, It was my pre-birthday), played arcade games, watched a little of the Jazz game, and finished off the night with some Brian Regan. Here’s a picture of my date and I in front of the deal or no deal game where we (meaning he) won most of our tickets.

If you can’t tell, we won two parachute men, an airplane, an army soldier, and last but not least…STEWIE FROM “FAMILY GUY!”
Pre birthday activity numero dos:

My birthday wouldn’t be complete without a new pair of jeans. So, on April 15th, my dad bought me a new pair! Woo woo!! Thanks daddy-o. That night my friends took me out to spoon me and I got a free one because it was my pre birthday! That just adds to the many reasons why I LOVE spoon me!
The big day:

I started off my birthday waking up to the theme song from “The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air.” It definitely set the tone for the rest of the day. After humming myself the happy birthday song, I hopped out of bed to open my presents. :) All I have to say about that is THANK YOU THANK YOU!

The day was great, I went to lunch with my good friend Jennica, and I got a complimentary piece of cheesecake. Why? Because it was my birthday of course!

That night was our final ambassador banquet. I was happy it landed on my birthday because I love all of the ambassadors so so much. We ate at the Golden Corral. It was tons of fun and veeeeery tasty.

After the banquet I made the long drive to Salt Lake to go 80’s dancing with all my friends up there. I was having too much fun and totally spaced taking pictures, but just know that it was awesome.

Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday a great one. I loved all the texts, voicemails, cards, presents, Facebook comments, and phone calls!

There is a lot more I need to post about, but due to finals and lack of study time, I should probably save that for later. :)

Easter Weekend

2009-04-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

My Easter weekend was just what I needed before finals- RELAXING. I spent a lot of time with my family and friends from high school, had a little Easter egg hunt, colored eggs, made egg salad, and most importantly....my mom made peanut butter rice crispies! WOO!

With it being Easter and all, I thought I might share something with you.

Reflections of Christ

I went to a fireside a few weeks ago about the Artist, Mark Mabry, and WOW. After the fireside I came home and watched this sideshow about 5 times, NO JOKE! His photographs are amazing; they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! One day I want to have a big huge framed picture in my house...one day.

Pretty good eh?

You can visit his website at www.reflectionsofchrist.org

Weekly Would You Rather

2009-04-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

In light of my sister Amanda having a baby, I thought this week’s would you rather should probably have something to do with babies or child birth. :) Men, you can answer this question if you want, but I already know what you’ll say.

Would you rather….

Have men experience the pains of childbirth along with you?

Be able to eat anything you want without gaining any weight?

I’ve thought long and hard about this one, and the only thing that comes to mind is EPIDURAL. As long as I can have one, I’d be happy to give birth. Ok well maybe not HAPPY, but you get the idea.

I’d much rather be able to eat anything I want without gaining weight than make my husband suffer with me. Although that is a pretty entertaining thought…And depending on how good of a husband some may have, answers very well may change. Mwahahaha Ok that is just cruel.

So tell me, what would YOU rather?

Congratulations, Amanda! And Welcome to my new niece Taylor Jayce!!

p.s. I named her. Yeah I know, I'm kind of a big deal ;)

D Week

2009-04-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

D Week is definitely one of the coolest weeks at Dixie State College. Pageants, painting the “D” road, a carnival, free food, whitewashing the “D”, D Dance, and of course….The Great Race.

For those of you who don’t know what The Great Race is, you should definitely come and find out next year.I almost don’t want to tell you all that goes on because I might spoil the surprise…but I can at least tell you a little. It’s a HUGE relay race that includes the entire school and community. There were around thirty teams this year, mud pit, roller blading, running, swimming, trivia, and a lot more.

This post isn’t just about D week or about the great race. It is about something much, much more important.

TRUE REBEL NIGHT

In order to become a true rebel you must kiss someone in the fountain at midnight during either a full moon, homecoming, or at the “D” Dance.

I was asked to the dance by my really good friend Kaden. He’s on the X-club so for our date we climbed up the huge D on the mountain and burned that baby! Haha here’s a picture:

We had dinner up there with a group of people and it was really fun! After that we ran home and changed into our formal attire for the dance. It was a masquerade, hence the masks on our faces.

The dance was a blast, but I won’t lie, the thought of FINALLY becoming a True Rebel was in the back of my mind the entire time. It was getting closer and closer to midnight, the moment of truth. It was my last opportunity to become a true rebel. The announcement came over the microphone that it was almost midnight, and finally, my date said the magic words.

Date: “So Ali, you wanna become a True Rebel tonight?”

Me: “Well….of course....I mean…if YOU want to become a True Rebel. *cough cough*”

So we made our way out to the fountain with a group of other pre-true rebelers.

As midnight drew nearer and anticipation grew, I couldn’t help but notice everyone pulling out their gum and chap-stick in preparation for the big moment. Have you noticed what funny things people do right before they know they’re going to kiss someone? It’s hilarious….but I’ll save that for another post.

Eh hem

Our shoes came off, and we hovered around the fountain. Cameras were out and music played. Once midnight struck you could feel the excitement in the air. We placed our feet into the fountain that would finally give us the title of a True Rebel.

I won’t go into detail about hot steamy kiss I shared with my date or how we got so into it that we actually got ALL THE WAY IN the fountain or how afterwards we decided that we might as will just hitch a ride to Vegas and get married because the bond of True Rebel night was just too strong to be broken…. (Ok, Mom TOTALLY kidding….or am I? hehe) but I will post a picture of this, my true rebel card.

Finally, I have joined the True Rebel Club, and MAN it feels good!

A Kindergarten April Fool's

2009-04-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

I walk into work this morning to find THIS:

Freakin Hannah Montana body with a teacher head! AAAAAH!!! I seriously jumped back when I saw her. It just about scared me to death. For some reason Hannah and I have never really gotten along.

Suprisingly, the kids didn’t like her either.

“That thing is freakin me out” “She gives me the creeps!” “Get Hannah OUT of here!”

(Just some of the five-year-olds’ protests).

My April Fool’s went a little like this:

“Miss Ali! There is a monster behind you!” says one of the children during class.

“What? WHERE?!” I exclaim as I turn my head wildly in all directions.

The class busts up into laughter.

We do this about ten more times.

“Man, we are good! We ALWAYS get Miss Ali!” Someone says.

My favorite:

We were learning about money and it’s value when one of the little boys in my class says, “Hey miss Ali, did you know that they are coming out with a new coin…. in 2010… that its uh….its a penny but its worth um…..two cents? Yeah two cents. And sometimes it even changes colors and then it will be worth even more. Like maybe twelve-hundred cents….if you wanted. And that is A LOT of money so you’ll be RICH. Cool huh? Did you know that?”

“Wow Damien, I had no idea. That’s really cool! You said it was coming out in 2010? I’ll have to get me one of those!”

“APRIL FOOLS!”

Gosh, I can’t believe I fell for it every time. Those kids are tricky little buggers.

You, Me, 8:30, Dinner.

2009-03-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

I consider myself a pretty nice girl.

I like to go on dates…

With NICE guys.

NOT Cocky guys.

I was asked on a date by an extremely muscular, (steroids?) very cocky individual who is just NOT my type. He would be the guy in high school who was mean to all the special ed kids who I always wanted to punch in the face or kick in the….nevermind.

Eh hem…

Here’s how it went:

I was leaving the gym, trying to avoid usual awkward conversation with hewhoshallnotbenamed, but to my dismay, he spotted me!

“CRAP!” I thought to myself as I quickened my pace.

“Hey, you” He says

I turn my head slightly and offer a quick wave and smile.

“You, me, eight-thirty tonight, dinner.”

I think I went into complete shock.

Do people seriously do that?

Do guys HONESTLY think that is attractive? Like, “Ok I’m just going to boss this girl around and MAKE her go on a date with me and she’s going to loooove it because I am super confident and cocky.” UGH!

Like I said, I think I went into shock.

All I could do was drop my jaw in complete and utter bewilderment, slowly turn on my heel, and walk swiftly in the other direction.

Advice: If my dream guy is out there somewhere, possibly reading my blog, please do not EVER ask me out like that….just don’t. Ever.

Weekly Would You Rather

2009-03-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS! You have just been nominated as the new NBA commissioner! As new commissioner

Would you rather institute…

A 3 feet tall maximum height rule

Or

Require all trash-talking be spoken in an English accent?

As funny as it might be to listen to pro athletes talk trash in English accents, I would rather watch a bunch of midgets (I’m sure that is not politically correct so forgive me….uh…little people?) play basketball and trip over their stubby little legs. Hehehe very funny indeed. Is that totally evil of me to think that? :s

So my people, what would YOU rather?

Spring Break Part III

2009-03-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Lake PowellAfter spending some time in Kanab with my family, a bunch of my friends and I got together to go to Lake Powell!! We stayed there for about four days and it was absolutely gorgeous.
Maddie was nice enough to invite us to stay on her houseboat, and Kaden brought his little boat so we had a blast! Here’s a picture of the girls laying out on top of the boat. The weather was perfect but the water….not so much. Haha
I got in the water a few times, but couldn’t last long enough to actually wake board! Some people were brave enough to take on the cold water, but not me! Here are some pictures of people wakeboarding.

Check out that back flip! We played beach volleyball, had awesome food, went canoeing, played games, ate s’mores around a camp fire, and just had an all around awesome time! I was smart enough to put on sun block so I didn’t get a burn, but unfortunately Quin kind of forgot about the whole sun block thing. Ouch!

I know I said I didn’t get in the water much, but when it came to cliff jumping I just couldn’t resist! It was soooo fun. We got some pretty cool videos and stuff. The boys were doing back flips! It was way sweet.

Now it's back to school, research papers, work, and the real life. I'm experiencing some major Spring Break withdrawal. :(

Spring Break Part II

2009-03-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Zion National Park!

Aka: my favorite place on earth!

My brother, mom, and I all hiked Angel’s Landing and we had soooo much fun! I seriously love love LOVE Zion. Here are some pictures from our day! The first would be our classic Peek-a-boo shot. I love the look on Dj's face.

They put this sign in the picture above right before it gets REALLY scary. Comforting, isn't it? And this would be the high point of the hike where Dj couldn't continue. He was all shaky and stuff I felt so bad! haha My Mom didn't even make it this high so I consider it an accomplishment for us! I can't even believe I leaned over the edge like this. It was SO high. There are more pictures, but we look like ants so I'll refrain from posting them.

It was another fantastic day in the park. I LOVE hiking and am so glad I have parents who have raised me that way. :)

Spring Break Part I

2009-03-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Vegas!

My friends and I decided to start our spring break off with a BANG by going to Vegas and going clubbing!

We were mucho excited as you can tell.

We got there and after eating at The Cheesecake Factory realized “We don’t have dresses!” So we decided to do what any poor college student would do…go to Ross. Did you know that there is a Ross on the strip? Go figure!
We found some dresses that were pretty cheap…and pretty skanky but what can you do, it’s Vegas!

We have some friends who hooked us up with a hotel suite in the Wynn and it was AMAZING. The picture above is my favorite because you can see our view of the city, part of our room, AND

our somewhatskanybutohsovegasworthy dresses. The to the left is my favorite part of our sweet suite...the bathroom!

We went to a club in the Palms (with our special VIP passes) and had an absolute blast! There was a big group of about 14 of us so it was super fun. It is spring break so the place was full of college kids having a good time. My favorite feature was the fire that came out of the ceiling and the bubbles they dropped from the roof!

I could’ve stayed there all night but 3:00am hit and my feet just weren’t having it anymore so we decided to go back to our hotel and take a nice luxurious bubble bath in our Jacuzzi tub.

*sigh*
That is just phase one of my spring break. You better believe there is more to come as the week continues!

I've Got A Fever!

2009-03-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

And the only cure for that fever is SPRING BREAK!

I have spring fever SO bad. I have a ten page research paper due soon and a math test that I need to take by Friday. Ask me how much homework I’ve done this week. Go ahead, DO IT….

Answer: NONE

Instead, I’ve decided to occupy my time with sleep, dates, tennis, being outside, mini golf, daydreaming about my spring break, pre St. Patrick’s Day parties, and more sleep. I tried to do homework today but instead decided to write about my spring fever. This is really bad you guys….REALLY bad.

Oh and to top it all off- I’m losing my mind.

Yes you heard me, LOSING MY MIND. Why? Well…..I kinda sorta lost my car keys and kinda sorta have come to the conclusion that I must have accidentally thrown them in the garbage which means they are now at the dump, which also means I am out a car key, flash drive, car unlock thing, sweet “Hooters” keychain, and my Gold’s gym pass.

Yeah. I know. What an idiot! I blame it all on my fever. Only a few more days of school left then I’m free!

The good news is I ACED my dance test and my tennis serve is improving a lot! THE END. Thanks for listening to me complain. :)

Weekly Would You Rather

2009-03-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Confession: I have a fetish with “would you rather” questions.

What better way to honor that fetish than to dedicate one day a week on my blog to a “would you rather” question?!

Here’s how it goes, once a week I am going to post a “would you rather” question and my answer. Then YOU can either answer it by posting a comment on my site, OR writing your own blog post to answer! Pretty sweet eh? Ok, here it goes!

Would You Rather….

Speak in the voice of possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist whenever talking to cashiers and retail workers

OR

Have “Starbucks Tourettes” where you randomly exclaim Starbucks orders?
(For example….”Hi, How are—DOUBLE DECAF ICED MOCHA FRAP!”

My answer:

This is definitely a tough one. After much deliberation I have come to the conclusion that I would rather speak in the voice of the possessed chick in The Exorcist when talking to cashiers and retail workers.

Why?

Unlike “Starbucks Tourettes” you can actually avoid shopping situations. However if you were faced with a shopping situation then you could always find the humor in TOTALLY freaking out all the retail workers, right? Then again, I've never seen the movie so....maybe some of you would think differently.

Besides, have you heard how long some of those drink orders can get? All I know is that I use to work at a coffee shop and DANG! There’s no way I would want to be randomly yelling out those orders.

Now lets hear it, what would YOU rather?

Week O' Fun

2009-03-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

I had SOOOOOO much fun this week! Ambassadors needed someone to go to Vegas for a high school career fair so I volunteered. I was way excited to go because my older sister Sarah just got a new house in Vegas so I really wanted to go visit her! I went down the night before, hung out with my sister and her husband, went shopping, and did my recruiting thing. It was an awesome little trip!

Wednesday I gave my literature/math connection lesson in my math class. I had so much fun with it! I found a book called “Pigs Will Be Pigs” about money so I acted as if my classmates were 2nd graders, had them make piggy banks, and while we read the book they searched for money and put it in their piggy banks. I had a lot of fun with it and it made me EXTREMELY excited to become a real teacher one day.

Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday I went on dates! Haha I think it was the first time I’ve had date night for THREE nights in a row. The first night I went to a basketball game, to dinner, and was pleasantly surprised with my favorite bedtime snack of gram crackers and milk for dessert! Haha

Date #2 was fun too! We went to dinner at Don Pedros which is an AMAZING Mexican restaurant, to a movie which was terrible. “Push”….don’t see it. Haha We had fun making fun of the movie so that was still good, then we played around on Dixie rock!

Date #3 was definitely my favorite. My friends and I decided to go on a big group date to Pine Valley! We stayed at my Grandpa’s cabin and seriously had a blast! We made dinner, played games, went on a late night stroll, played more games, and watched movies. The next morning we all went to church in Pine valley and afterwards made a Sunday brunch casserole that was way good (if I do say so myself) took a little nap, watched another movie, and headed home around 4.

I just had such a good week and I’m still waaaay happy about it! I LOVE St. George, the weather right now is AMAZING! Above is a picture of all the girls (aka my future roomies) in the kitchen. :) I wish I would’ve taken more pictures but I think I was just having too much fun!

Put On Your D State Party Hat

2009-02-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

Everyone’s doin it!

This weekend was our very last DSC Retreat and we definitely went out with a bang!

Yes, we might be a little insane, but it’s the Dixie spirit I tell you! In-n-Out catered our dinner, but before I get into that I must warn you- I do not like hamburgers. I think they are GROSS. I especially don’t like fast food hamburgers and have never EVER eaten a full one because I can’t make myself do it. I was feeling adventurous last Friday night (and very hungry) and I figured, “Why not give it a shot?” Interested to find out the outcome?...

I actually liked it! I didn’t LOVE it, but I ate the whole thing which was a first for me! You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing this with all of you, but it was a very monumental moment in my life.

Anyways, back to the retreat.
We all went to the “Think Pink” basketball game which supported breast cancer! Everyone got sweet pink t-shirts and we all painted our faces! It was a grand ol’ time.

We stayed up till about 4 am (and I was soooo tired the next day) just playing games and whatnot. It was so much fun! Rosie was our “Princess and the Pea” for the night.

We had some mad seewhocanslidedownthebleachersfastestonamatress contests,

And partied all night playing pool, ping pong, rock bank, the wii, basketball, watching movies and of course…eating! It was a good time. The next morning we had a little presentation on admissions and scholarships and did a raffle. I’d say this retreat was another huge success.

Anyone who’s even considering coming to a DSC retreat next year, here’s a little advice: DO IT!

Lately

2009-02-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

I was auctioned off as a date to help raise money for children with cancer for the diversity center. When I was first asked to participate I was way excited, but as I got there and was getting ready to be auctioned I was NERVOUS! What if I was bought by a total psycho? They made us sign release forms and everything.

Here’s a picture of Kadin and I(and doug doing bunny ears) about ready to be auctioned. For those of you who didn’t know, Kadin and I are neighbors and he is the best neighbor ever! Lucky for me, I was bought by one of my friends and had a really good time on my date!

I got a presentation ready for school and had WAY too much fun being a superhero. Special shout out to Savannah, Alexis, Mom, Dad, Nicole, Matt, Emily, Amanda, Sarah, Jessica, and Deej for all your help!

Yeah, yeah I know I'm a dork.

For my extra long weekend I decided to head north to hang out with my friends up there, go 80’s dancing, and go on a blind double date for Valentine’s Day! I had a blast. :)

On my way back down I met up with my Dad in FILLMORE of all places and was pleasantly surprised to have someone else meet me there as well…..apparently I gave a good presentation. Mwahaha All in all, life is good….really good. :)

Storm of Controversy

2009-02-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a little update with whats going on with Dixie's new identity "The Red Storm." (Click on the link below)

http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20090210/NEWS01/902100324&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
Read the article, it's good!

Students here are NOT happy about the change and there was a huge protest Monday morning. I'll be keeping everyone updated with the happenings of the Red Storm.

You want my opinion? I think it's great that students here care so much about their school and that we are forming together to get our voice heard. As for the Mascot....it isn't my first choice but I honestly think it has possibilities. I like the name "Red Storm" alright, but I'm not a huge fan of the logo. Since when do bull's faces come out of tornadoes?

I would love to hear any comments, ideas, or even complaints!

P.s. A couple of my really good friends are running for Student Body President and Vice President so if anyone has any good, low budget campaign ideas, let me know!

A Night in Sin City with a Bunch of Underage Mormons :)

2009-02-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to think that blogging could be a bad thing. You see, I get into this habit of doing new blog entries when I know I really should be doing homework.

I try and tell myself, "Come on Ali, you really should be doing your homework right about now." but then I say to myself,

"Well....you can always do your homework tomorrow, at least you're doing something productive! And you may lose your creative edge if you don't do a blog entry THIS INSTANT."

So here I am, doing another entry. Gosh aren't you happy that I posted this now instead of waiting until AFTER my homework is done? You are all very lucky because after I do my homework I am usually not very fun, and who wants to read a non-fun blog entry? NOT ME!

This past weekend was by friend Cortni's birthday!

For her birthday she wanted to go to Vegas with some of her girls and by dang, that is what we did!

We checked into our awesome hotel at approximately 10:30 pm and the night began by us taking some sweet pics and getting Vegas ready worthy.

There's nothing more wild than a bunch of 20 year old Mormons in Vegas! (Sarcasm...if you couldn't tell)

The highlight of my night was when we went to Thunder Down Under! Those Chip N Dale Guys are HOT!

Haha ok ok TOTALLY just kidding, I'm not saying that I didn't want to go there....but you need to remember that we are a bunch of poor underage college students with virgin eyes!

Besides, who needs thunder down under when you have THIS:

Oh yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about! Vegas is always a good time, and the best part is that it's only an hour and a half away from St. George!

Jarah Got a little carried away on the slots so we had to call it a night around 4 am. You gotta love the college life!

There were six girls to a hotel room with only TWO beds. Our sleeping arrangements looked a little like this:

Honestly, I didn't even notice. I was too exhausted from the night before, I slept like a little baby!
We slept in really late then went shopping the next morning and to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch! I love that place. I would honestly drive the distance to Vegas, eat at the Cheesecake factory, drive home, and be a perfectly happy little camper.

Needless to say, I had an awesome time! I know that you all want to see more of my pictures from last weekend, and today is your lucky day because that's exactly what you're about to see! Yaaay!

Say Hello to the DSC Red Storm

2009-02-01T20:50:00.001-08:00

Dixie State College Red Storm....no comment, but I would LOVE to hear yours.

Check out this article http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901270337 for further information.

It has possibilities...right?

Ambassador Retreats

2009-01-28T14:28:00.001-08:00

So far this year the ambassadors have had not one, but TWO retreats. The first was our annual “get back from Christmas break and reunite at the cabin” retreat. As always, it was A LOT of fun. We did some leadership training where you split up into teams, blindfold everyone but the leader, and the leader was told to guide his or her team members to a certain location in the cabin WITHOUT using the words, left, right, forward, or backwards.

I know that it sounds pretty difficult and the truth is….it was.

There were people running all over the place, and for some reason I wasn’t too excited about the whole me being blindfolded while other people run into me and grab my legs thing. Nate was my leader, and he did a really great job!

We played the couch game, but this time it ended with a 2 am trip to the hospital and a fractured nose! Poor Whitney….I think that might be the end of the couch game for a while.

You can’t forget about Rock Band! Pat, Chelsea, and Cami really rocked it out.

We had our second DSC retreat last weekend and it was a BLAST! We had sooo many kids there and I really think that everyone had a great time. Here’s my favorite pic of the weekend:

This would be Wolverine (aka Jordan) and I after the scavenger hunt in the rain. I know that most people think that a scavenger hunt in the rain would be freezing cold and not very much fun, especially in January, but this is ST GEORGE people! It was awesome.

There were sooooo many cool things that went on during the night, and this is one of them.
Yes, that it a giant game of twister (compliments of Lyndsey Christensen), but look closer at the agony on Nate’s face. Hehe I love it.

We also went to a dance where I learned how to REALLY "pop lock and drop it," had some great food, (probably way too much of it but whatev) played basketball and bunch of other games, watched a movie, and gave away prizes which included clothes, and ipod, a playstation, and other Dixie merchandise.

All in all, I heart the ambassadors, and I heart Dixie State!

Our next retreat is on Febuary 20-21, so for anyone who's interested in coming to Dixie and wants to sign up, get on our website and do it!

My Semester from HEAVEN

2009-01-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

I got my associates last semester, so I don’t have very many classes to take until next fall when I start my program. Thus, the SEMESTER FROM HEAVEN came to be.

WELCOME…

I’m taking Yoga, Tennis, Latin Ballroom, Educational Psychology, Math 2020, and Technology for Educators. Educational Psychology is WAY interesting, and the technology class is pretty cool. Get ready for my next statement….

My Math Class is AWESOME.

I know you are all probably asking yourselves, “Huh? Did that seriously just come out of Ali’s mouth?” and the answer is yes, yes it did.

It’s math for elementary teachers and it’s great. Some of my favorite math projects so far have been making paper frogs and having jumping competitions in class (we used mathematical terminology while folding the paper and found the mean, median and mode of our jumps), the math SUCKers project, (we measured the circumference of our suckers after sucking them for 60 seconds, ten times, then graphed it), and when we graphed a picture of bugs bunny! I had no idea math could be fun. I’m seriously loving this stuff. Professor Cunningham is a genius I tell you!

I’ve always wanted to be a tennis player, so I figured, why not give it a shot? I’ve heard great things about our tennis instructors here at Dixie, and now I can finally experience their expertise first hand! Tennis is SO much fun and as for my instructor…A+!

Yoga is great! I’m not going to lie, when I went to my first class and the lady started chanting weird things in a foreign language, I was a little freaked out, but I’ve really grown to love it. It’s a nice class to take if you need a de-stressor during the week.

Last but DEFINITELY not least, Latin Ballroom. This is BY FAR my favorite class. Right now we’re learning the Cha Cha and it is awesome. I’ve danced most of my life, but surprisingly have never done ballroom before. Looks like I'm a natural though. Look what I can do! You can't really see my face but uh....you get the idea. ;)

OK ok thats totally not me. I know, I had ya fooled. Maybe someday though....in something more than beads. :)

Where I Come From

2009-01-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

A little girl comes running in from recess. “Teacher, Teacher!” She exclaims, “I got a hurt! It doesn’t look like a hurt cuz it’s not red or blue or green but it’s hurt I promise! ...It HURTS” She says in an exasperated tone.

The teacher then tells the little girl to go to the bathroom, put a wet paper towel on her “hurt” and it will feel better.

As soon as the little girl runs off to the bathroom, I over hear a boy in the class say to his buddy,

“I don’t know what she’s talkin bout, but where I come from, we call that an owie.”

I love my job. :)

The Somewhat Delayed Christmas Break Update

2009-01-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

My Christmas break was great! It was really nice hanging out with the fam and having some down time for a change. The highlight of my break was probably Christmas eve. My family does a progressive dinner every year and in my opinion it is ten times better than Thanksgiving, not kidding. Here are a couple pictures of my family and I during the night. I love the one of me and my brother. This is him sending out the message to the world that says, “This is my little sister, mess with her and I’ll mess with your face!” What can I say…he loves me. :)

Here’s a picture of me and Carl in front of my house on Christmas day. Check out all the snow we got! Carl the snowman was conceived a few days before Christmas. Did you know that most Americans gain around 15 lbs during the holiday? Well I guess snowmen are not exempt from that little statistic because he gained some definite poundage of snow overnight!

I just wanted to show everyone mine and Lex’s breathtaking cookie decorating skills. We’re so good we even made an Obama cookie! I put on an apron and everything!

My little sister Savy (She's the one on the left) got another knee surgery over the break. All I have to say is that she is one tough chick! I feel bad that she had to get surgery, but I am glad for the opportunity to keep her company so we could get this SWEET picture!

Hahaha Good times. :) Now I’m back in St. George having the semester from HEAVEN. More about that later. PEACE!

Finals Week Survival Skills

2008-12-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-10-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Day I Decided to Test My Pain Tolerance

2008-10-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

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!!

The Video

2008-09-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting the premier of Jodi's worm eating experience. WELL HERE IT IS! Just a warning- the screams are pretty loud so you may want to turn down your speakers. :) ENJOY!

Spoon Me...and Then Some

2008-09-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

I think this picture pretty much sums it up. No explanation needed. :)

Okay, Okay, I will explain. There is a new frozen yogurt place that just opened in St. George. Normally, I wouldn't have been so excited to try it out, but this place is called SPOON ME. Are you KIDDING? That is the coolest name EVER! Naturally, I had to try it! The yogurt was okay, but I'd have to say I enjoyed the spooning portion of the night more. :)

A couple weeks ago I went boating with a group of friends here in St. George. I had a blast! We all went tubing, wake boarding, and some of us even braved the air chair! Sadly, I was NOT one of the brave souls who tried the air chair….nor was I one who actually got up on the wake board. Hey- I happen to like my limbs and don’t want to lose any. Besides, I am a dang good flag holder/tuber chick. :)
Here's a picture of the girls hangin out on the boat.

It was my friend Nakelle's birthday last week so she invited about twelve girls up to her cabin in Pine Valley for the weekend to celebrate! It was soooo much fun! I give the MVP of the night award to Jodi for a couple of reasons...
#1. She clearly won the bubble blowing Contest. As you can see, poor Bryttni was pretty upset about it.

#2. She ate a real live WORM. Yeah....I know. It was pretty gross but SO COOl! haha Lucky her, she got $100 out of it. My camera died so I didn't get a video but as soon as I can get pictures from other people I'll post them because it was amazing.
Here are some pictures of us that night along with some others. One is kinda blurry, but you get the idea.

All work and No Play….YEAH RIGHT!

2008-09-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, my summer wasn’t just constant days of waking up at 4 am and feeding fire fighters. I did get some play time. Here are my top four activities of the summer.

1. Hiking in the beautiful Zion National Park

Zion is about 40 minutes away from St. George, and about the same distance (or less) from Kanab. I’ve probably said it before, but Zion is definitely one of my favorite places on earth. Here are some hiking pictures.

2.Going to the midnight release of the new Stephanie Meyer Book,
“Breaking Dawn.”

Yes, I am a total nerd. I LOVE Edward Cullen and all of the twilight books. That is why my sisters Amanda, Savy and I all came to St. George to attend the midnight release of the new Stephanie Meyer book, “Breaking Dawn.” We partied with this crazy crowd until midnight when the book was FINALLY released.

It was soooo worth it. Above is a picture of all three of us in our awesome shirts. On the front they say…

and on the back they say …

We’re awesome, we know.
3. Going to the Secondhand Serenade Concert!!
If you don't know who they are, then you need to GET to know who they are because they're definitely one of my favorites. :)
Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of it, but it was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Ty for taking me!
4. Veyo Day
Every summer since before I was born (no joke) my family goes to the Veyo pool to swim, eat, and hang out. It is ALWAYS a good time and something I look forward to each summer. Here are some pictures of the fun event.

My Summer as a Traveling Caterer

2008-09-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to inform you that after my long summer of feeding fire fighters, I am still alive!! I had a good summer but I was definitely ready to get back to the beautiful lands of Dixie. Most people have no idea what the life of a traveling caterer entails, so I will give you a little taste of my every day work life.
4:00 am: Roll out of bed. Aka: the foam pad and sleeping bag I liked to pretend was a real bed, put on glasses, hat, shoes, bra, and apron, and begin preparing breakfast.
No I did not serve breakfast wearing only those things, I just didn’t have the energy that early in the morning to put on anything other than what I slept in the night before.
4:30- 10:30 Serve breakfast to the hundreds of the ever so hungry fire fighters.
10:30- About 1:00 Clean up, make around 400 sandwiches, and sack lunches for the ever so hungry fire fighters.
1:00- 3:00 (The favorite part of my day) If we were lucky, we’d get to take a nap, and SHOWER. :D
3:30- 5:30 Prepare dinner.
5:30-10:30 Serve dinner to the ever so hungry fire fighters.
10:30- 12:00 Clean up.
12:01 Collapse into the foam mattress and sleeping bag
12:04 Fall asleep dreaming about serving food, counting plates, and asking, “Would you like oatmeal this morning?”
4:00 Roll out of the foam, and repeat. :)
Sadly, I didn't bring my camera with me, but here are some phone pictures...

Jenn and I in the serving wagon.

Beautiful lake near our camp site in Cali.

Clyde taping Jenn's mouth shut...
You’ll be happy to know that I did find some fire-fighting love this summer. That’s right, a fire fighter made me roses. Not just any roses, these roses were made out of toilet paper. It was magical.

Beautiful, aren't they?
My job really made me realize how lucky I am to have toilets that flush, air conditioning, a real bed, private showers, and a regular sleep agenda.
I would like to give a shout out and thanks to the caffeine association. Without it, I would not have been able to make it through the summer.
It was a great summer, but all in all, I am SO GLAD to be back at DIXIE STATE!!

Welcome to my Summer

2008-05-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it’s official; Finals are OVER!! OH YEAH BABY!! I walked out of the science building at approximately 12:48 Wednesday afternoon and did a victory dance because it’s officially summer vacation!! It feels so good to be free! This year at Dixie has been great. I have loved all my professors, all my classes, and ALL of the people I have met. I’ll miss it here but no worries- I’ll be back for fall semester. :)

A little preview into my summer:

I know you are all probably wondering, “Is that fire in that picture?” My answer to you is, “Why yes, yes it is.” The secret is out; I’m going to be a fire fighter this summer! Ok, not really. I’ll be feeding the fire fighters who would not be able to fight the fires without the fuel (AKA: Houston’s food) provided by me, Ali Mace Cooper. So in a small way I’ll be a fire fighter…right? Is it bad to be secretly hoping for a lot of fires this summer? My exact location of summer residence is currently unknown; I’ll go wherever the flames take me. The other picture is there because Cortni is clearly smashing my head, and for some reason Dani thinks it's funny. Ouch!

One of my best friends, Jori, got married last weekend! Some of my friends and I were bridesmaids so of course we took pictures. Wanna see? Good- because you have no choice.

Preschool graduation was so so soooo cute!! I am going to miss all of those kids a ton. Sadly, I forgot my camera. :( Just visualize a bunch of five year olds in red and grey caps and gowns, being the cutest little things ever.

Well blog readers…It’s been real, but I’m out of here!

I Took the Rebel With Me

2008-04-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so normally I don't dress like this, but for Paramore I'd do just about anything. That's right, last weekend my friends and I all went up to Provo for a Jimmy Eat World Paramore concert and it was AWESOME!! Best birthday present ever I'd have to say. As you can see in the picture, I definitely took the rebel with me. Below is a video of Paramore. It's kind of shaky but what can you expect, I had to go with the flow of the crowd!
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Another illustration of how I took the rebel with me:
My friends and I were driving when all of a sudden a group of guys on bullet bikes pulled up around us. We were talking to them and waving and what not when we were all stopped at a stop light. Being the friendly girl that I am, I rolled down my window to chat. "Want a ride?" One of the guys said. I looked around at my friends and their encouraging faces, shouted, "Sure!" and was out of the car and onto the bike! Now that I look back on it I wonder what in the heck I was thinking, but I don't think I've ever gone that fast before! I couldn't keep my eyes open we were going so fast, and I'm pretty sure that my cheeks were flapping in the wind. I'd say it was definitely worth the risk. Some of my rebel friends and I:
Next week is finals week and you know what that means! LOTS of studying which also means "lack of social life." I'm trying to go into everything with a good attitude and I'd say it's paying off. I have FIVE final exams which is a lot more than last semester. Oddly enough, I'm not as stressed as I was last semester. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing but we'll see once I get my grades back eh?
One more picture of the girls and I at dinner. Olive Garden...mmmmmm

Three More Weeks!! AH!!

2008-04-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

A friend told me that I never had a childhood if I had never fed ducks before. Apparently I didn't have a childhood because I honestly don't think I have ever fed ducks. I am proud to say that last Wednesday my childhood duck feeding dreams were fulfilled! We went out for ice cream, and afterwards went to make my dreams come true! Moral of the story- Ducks are evil. We were charged, sometimes the ducks wouldn't even eat the bread, and there was a big huge conniving duck who wouldn't move until our backs were turned, then he would slowly inch closer. Yeah I know, I was scared too! It was actually all hilarious. I had a lot of fun.

Above is a picture of us Friday night at the Colbie Caillat concert at Tuacahn. From L to R it's Lauren, Jon, Me, and Dewey. She was so so soooo good live and I had a really good time. Thanks Dewey for taking me!

Saturday my friend Lindsey and I went to Mesquite to meet some friends who were staying in Vegas for the weekend. I had no idea it was so close. We got there in about thirty minutes. Here's a picture of us waiting for the guys to arrive in a casino. Mesquite is like a mini Vegas. You have your drunks, the gambling, the dancing, and the crazies. Needless to say, I had a good time. :)

I'm sure most of you have heard the rap song ,"Pop Lock and Drop It." Well the other day I had the sweetest, most innocent looking little five year old girl bust out into that rap during class! What is the world coming to?!? haha It was absolutely hilarious. Maybe she'll be a famous rapper one day.

I'll just say it- school is kickin my trash. I'm sooo busy with EVERYTHING right now. I swear most professors think that I am only taking one class. Little do they know I have SEVEN!! School is just too stressful to talk about right now. I'm hoping it'll get a little better but I highly doubt it. I'm sure that the closer it gets to finals, the worse it'll get. Oh well, only three more weeks, right? If I can make it that long....:S

Red Sands

2008-04-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Ambassador Red Sands weekend and it was soooo much fun!! It’s kind of like a try-out for people who want to be an ambassador next year. We went to the Dixie College cabin in Pine Valley and had a blast. We played my favorite game EVER, the couch game. This game is intense. We usually stop when we draw blood or someone loses their pants….Here’s a picture of everyone playing.

Basically if you get winked at, you have to try and bolt across the circle while the person sitting directly behind you tries to take you out. It’s awesome. We had some people who were trying out pose for a “picture” where you make a bunch of weird faces as fast as you can, and we randomly snap a photo. What they didn’t know was that we actually took a video. Check it out!!

To the right is a picture showing how the funny face game should really work.
I didn’t go to bed till about 4 am and woke up at 7 am to listen to a bunch of impromptu speeches. We had questions such as, “If you could choose to be Brittney Spears or a Spice Girl for one day, which would you choose and why?” So it was pretty entertaining.

For my Intro to Special Education class I’ve been putting in hours in East Elementary’s special education program. Because of this, I’ve been missing my Monday/Wednesday preschool classes. I love working in special education, but I’ve missed the preschoolers! Yesterday I was able to go to my Monday class, and it was great. I was welcomed back by having about 10 kids run up to me,latch onto my legs or jump into my arms and scream at the top of their lungs, “ALI! ALI!! You’re back!! We’ve missed you SO much!! ” Ah…It’s nice to be adored. ;) Hehe I’d say that was one of my favorite days in preschool.

I got new glasses. I like my glasses. A preschooler, Spencer, doesn’t.
Spencer: “Ali?”
Me: “Yes?”
Spencer: “When are you going to take those glasses off? You’re freakin’ me out!!”
I laughed and told him I couldn’t see without them so I had to wear them that day. Today I wore my contacts and he told me, “Ali you look really pretty today.” Nice. :)

Can You Say "Spring Fever?"

2008-03-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

My my my it has been a while since I’ve updated!! I guess my unmotivation to do my school work has also carried over to my blogger duties. You’d think that spring break would give you a nice time off from school so that when you come back you are ready to get back to work, right?? SO WRONG!! Spring break was great, but I’ve been having a hard time getting back into the whole “school, studying, work, and homework all the time” mode. I didn’t do anything TOO exciting over the break. I basically went home to take care of my poor little sister who just had knee surgery, and spent a lot of time with my family. It was great!! Over the break I went bowling with a bunch of my friends and here’s a pic!

We had a good time, and I’m getting better! Haha The weather in St. George is soooo nice!! I want to be outside all the time. I have Spring fever BAD!

Survival and Celebration!

2008-03-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

I made it!! I took all my tests and got above eighty on every single one of them so I’m a pretty happy camper this week. All of my studying definitely paid off. Ah, life is good. Once I get my two final mid-terms over with, life will be even better! I’m not too worried about my English midterm, English has always been a strong subject for me. I just need to do a little more studying for my Geology class and I’m all set! After my week of midterms I came to the conclusion that I needed to celebrate, and what better way to celebrate than go DANCING?!?! I did a lot of dancing this past weekend. One night I went to the Electric Theatre and did line dancing and swing dancing! It was so much fun. I don’t know all the dances yet, but I’ve decided to become a regular at that place and become pro! I also went to a step concert this weekend. For those of you who don’t know what that is, ever seen Stomp the Yard or Drum line? It’s something like that. Here’s a little video I took of the drum line.

Pretty sweet, eh? I LOVED IT!! Most of the people who performed were from UCLA, but I’m pretty sure some were from Vegas. There was a dance afterwards so of course, I went. :)
I also had a BBQ with a bunch of my friends while we watched, “The Office.” That show is absolutely hilarious. I’d have to say Dwight is definitely my favorite. I think this calls for a tribute.

Man love this guy.

Aaaah, Midterms

2008-02-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

I bet you are all wondering the same thing, “Is that ‘Aaaah’ in Ali’s title a scream? Or is it a sigh??” I know the suspense must be killing you so I’ll just tell you…It’s a little bit of both! But I must admit...it's mostly a scream.
The many stress faces of Ali Cooper...

I scream because I have midterms this Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday. Can you all say the word STRESS? I sure can…But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there. I also have midterms next Wednesday and Friday. Yikes, I know. I took my math test today. I have nothing against Professor Hunt at all. Actually, I love the man. He is easily the best math teacher I have ever had. I do however, have something against math. I walked into the math building today feeling as if I was walking to the gallows, and I walked away feeling as if I had just been hung. A little graphic yes, but it’s the truth. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I had completely flunked my test, but when I got my scores back approximately twenty minutes ago, I was pleasantly suprised to discover that I received my very best math test score of the semester!! Of course I am happy about this, but one thought won’t quite leave my head…

If I did so well on this test, (which I was very ill-prepared for) How come I didn’t do as well on my previous tests, when I thought I knew what I was doing? I guess that shows you how much I know about math. :)

I sigh because…it’s midterms!! MID meaning half way through the semester, which also means that spring break is coming soon! Don’t get me wrong, I love school, love all my classes, my professors, work, and all the fun people I meet every day, but I need a break. 18 credits, school, work, ambassadors, and my crazy social life is all beginning to wear on me.

I’d have to say my favorite event of the weekend was the AWESOME concert my brother put on. He should be a rock star I tell you! To the right is a picture of him in action and above is a picture of us rockin out.

Savy even got into it with her crutch!

My friend Jon asked me on an “X-Date.” The X-club is kind of like a fraternity/service club on campus. They are all way cool guys. Something they do in the X-club is take girls on dates once a month. Lucky me, I was chosen.  We all had a barbeque, played games, and watched movies. I had A LOT of fun.

Confessions...

2008-02-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

I am addicted to Rock Band
I may be a hippie
I had not one, not two, but FORTY Valentine's

First things first- ROCK BAND. I hung out with my sisters the other day and we played rock band FOREVER. Then the next day we played rock band....FOREVER, and I never got sick of it! My voice was pretty tired by the end of our rock band marathon, but it’s all for the music man...ROCK ON! haha I think we got a little TOO into it. We had a band name, we went on tour, had matching outfits...yeah I know, you're jealous. As if the marathon wasn't enough, last weekend I had another one with a bunch of my friends here in St. George.
Next is my hippie confession. If you can't tell that I'm seriously contemplating hippie-ness in the above picture...then you obviously didn't take a look at the awesome fanny pack I am sporting. I went hiking with my Dad on President's Day and...I just love the earth. We hiked up by red mountain and went to an overlook that was SO beautiful. Here are some pictures of the view.

The best part is that it's all here in St. George! It is so gorgeous here, I love it. It was a nice little daddy daughter date. My Dad is the best hiking partner ever!! I love that man to pieces! I'm now determined to hike as much as I possibly can this summer.

VAENTINE'S DAY!! One might label a person whom has forty valentines as a....well...we'll just use the word "player" (Even though there are much better terms). Not me! I had forty valentines all under the age of five. (I'm not a pedifile either, just a preschool teacher who loves her job)! :) We had a Valentine's party at preschool and it was a blast! The kids were so cute. One even brought me a teddy bear and a box of chocolates! Truthfully I was dreading the holiday but it was one of my best Valentine's Days ever. That night I went to Cedar City and hung out with a bunch of friends there. Good times...Here's a picture of SOME of my family at my Grandma's annual Valentine's Day party.

I went on a date last weekend that was really fun. We went to dinner, went mini glow in the dark golfing (sword fighting, dancing, and trick shots included) got some hot chocolate and hiked up around DIXIE rock. I did part of "the crack." It's a teeny tiny slot canyon that I almost died in because I'm somewhat claustrophobic. I'm determined to go all the way through someday though. Hopefully it'll be easier in the light!!

Let It Snow!

2008-02-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Snow in St. George...WHAT?! Thats right folks, snow it good ol St. George, Utah. For some odd reason I decided to take snow to the next level last weekend and travel to Provo to visit my best friend for the weekend. The snow travel was definitely worth it because we had a blast. I went ice skating for my first time ever and I wasn't too bad! I didn't fall once, so I consider that quite an accomplishment. :) Here's a picture of a couple of us showing off our skills.

After ice skating we went to this place called "Comedy Sports." Its a live show, kindof like the T.V. show "Who's Line is it Anyway?" It was HILAROUS! Those guys are extremely talented and creative. Sunday was the SUPER BOWL!! I was back in Southern Utah for the game. I didn't particularly care too much about who won, but I didn't want the Giants because they beat out the Packers and I'm still hurt about it. I can't believe they won!!

School and everything else is going really well. I'm just busy...like always!

Conversation with a four year old:
"My dog is having puppies and my dog is a boy!"
"Oh really? Well how is he going to have puppies if he's a boy?"
"He's going to lay an egg, DUH!"
SO CUTE! I love my job. :)

Ride Em' Cowboy!

2008-01-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

First things first- The Rebel Retreat last weekend was a huge success. For all of you who didn’t come, you definitely missed out. Everyone arrived on Friday night and we had dinner, went to an entertainment Dixie, had a huge bonfire with ambassadors, rebel retreaters, and college students, then went back to the College Inn to hang out and have even more fun! Below is a picture of a few ambassadors and rebel retreaters at the bonfire. Notice the fire in the background. It was HUGE.

The next day we had a presentation that told more about scholarships, admissions, and the ROTC. Then we had mechanical bull riding! I thought I would be brave enough to ride, but once I saw someone get flipped off I decided it definitely wasn’t for me. After the bull riding we took people on campus tours. For anyone who hasn’t had a campus tour… COME GET ONE! They are way fun and very informative if you’re thinking about coming here. Saturday night at the basketball games (which both boys AND girls won) there was a bull riding contest which one of the ambassadors won. GO CRAIG! Here’s a picture of the champion in action. :)

In preschool today one of the little girls told me it was time for me to get married because, “You can’t live without a husband, and you are a big girl now.” Haha The children are SO cute. I absolutely love working there.

Busy...

2008-01-23T17:40:00.000-08:00

Hello my fellow bloggers! I’ve decided that my theme for this semester is BUSY. Work and school and everything is going well. Sometimes I just think it’s a little too much. That’s why this past three day weekend was really needed on my part. I stayed at a friend’s house all weekend and we had a blast. We went ice skating, shooting guns (I shot on AK 47…its BIG)! I went to a dance party, met a lot of new people, watched the packers game :( and even got some studying done. I also saw the movie “27 Dresses” and for anyone who hasn’t seen it- GO SEE IT! It’s the best movie ever. I’d have to say its definitely my new favorite film. The highlight of last week was when I met a guy, Kaden, and church and he took me flying! I’ll admit, when he did all the turns and drops and stuff I felt pretty sick, but after the flight he said I was awesome…I guess I hid the nausea well. ;) Here’s a picture of us up in the sky…

And the view!

I’m way excited for this weekend because it’s the Rebel Retreat. For anyone who doesn’t know what that is I’ll tell you a little more about it. Its an event where a bunch of students from all over the nation come to St. George to check out what Dixie is all about. We’ll be doing a lot of fun activities as well as informing student about scholarships, admissions, and anything else they want to know. Its January 25th and 26th, it costs $40 and anyone reading this who has even the slightest interest in coming to Dixie at all should totally come because its going to be a blast!! Even if you aren’t really interested in Dixie…come anyways because if not you’ll be missing out. If you have any questions you can leave me a comment with your e-mail and I’d be happy to respond. Have a wonderful!

I'm Back!

2008-01-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've updated and for those of you who were wondering if I was still alive...fear not! I am here at last. ;) I passed all my classes with A's and B's so Hallelujah for me. I'm now taking Math1050, LIB1010, English2010, Education2010, and Geology1010. All of my classes are in the afternoon because in the mornings I am working at the best job EVER...the preschool! I absolutely love it in there. The children are all adorable, they make my day every day, Monday through Friday. I've never in my life looked forward to going to work so much. The preschool is in the FCS building on campus so it's very convenient for me. My break was great. I spent a lot of time with my old friends, and of course my family. Here are a couple pictures of my holiday fun! Below is a picture of my sister Sarah and I at our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner. Aren't we cute? :)

Two Down, One to Go...

2007-12-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I had two of my finals this morning back to back and let me tell you...MY BRAIN HURTS! I'm definitely relieved to have them over with but I won't be completely relieved until I actually know my score. We shall see! Hopefully I did ok. :S I wish I could kinda tell if I did alright or not but as I look back at it I don't think I can remember one question on either test....is that good or bad?Hopefully I was just really in the zone. My last final is on Wednesday and I can't wait to get that over with. I'm definitely ready for Christmas Break. Last week we had our ambassador ugly sweater party and it was a blast!! Some people had the best outfits ever. It was lots of fun. Below is a picture of a bunch of us at the party in our awesome sweaters.
And Nate!!! You gotta love him. :)

Weekend Get-A-Way

2007-12-03T16:38:00.001-08:00

This weekend was great. Why? Do you ask? Because My best friend Cortni and I got a cabin in Zion for the weekend. It kind of started out as a joke, "Lets just get away from everyone this weekend so we can study for our finals without any distractions." haha Yeah right. But it really happened! We wore our robes and high socks all weekend, sipped hot cocoa, and watched the snow fall from our front porch. It was perfect. We got the studying done that we needed, and had a great time! It was nice getting away for a while. I wish I had pictures but Cortni and I both forgot our cameras!! NOOOOOO! I snapped a couple pictures with my cell phone so we'll see how those look...

Thanksgiving Break OOOOHH YEAH!

2007-11-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

My Thanksgiving break was so great, and soooo needed! I had a blast just hanging out with my family and old friends from high school. The best event had to be the Thanksgiving dinner OF COURSE! I was so full afterwards it was ridiculous, but so wonderful at the same time. I'd have to say that my favorite thanksgiving dish has got to be my Mom's mashed potatoes. Mm Mm Good! Sorry no pictures this week. My batteries for my camera died and I didn't have time to replace them. Today has been kind of a frustrating day for me. I promise I'm not ditsy but today was just embarrassing! I fell up the stairs in front of a bunch of people and my stuff spilled all over the place, i made it all the way to the testing center WITHOUT my student ID,(for some odd reason I grabbed my lotion instead) I forgot my test seat number card in the testing center, I swiffered my whole bathroom WITHOUT the swiffer sheet on, we had cleaning checks for my apatment and of course I get the job I hate the most-scrubbing the tub. YUCK! Ok now I feel better. I think I just needed to vent. haha The good news is that I feel like I did well on my Nutrition and Human Development tests this week and only two more weeks till finals!

Zion National Park

2007-11-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I went to Zion with some friends and let me tell you- It is absolutely amazing. Zion has got to be one of my favorite places on earth. We went on the Hidden Canyon hike. I Had never done that hike before but I'm soooo glad I did! The leaves right now are beautiful. Above is a picture of Cody and I on the hike and below is a picture of us with our two friends Tony and Bethany. We all had a blast.

I also went to another Entertainment Dixie. It was a comedian/magician guy and he was pretty good. Other than that I've been completely swamped with school stuff once again. The end of the semester is coming up and its really starting to get to me. I'm sooo ready for this Thanksgiving break. Only one more class then I'm off for the rest of the week. OH YEAH!! Ok one more picture of Zion...I just can't help it, it was too pretty. :)

Well Hello Again...

2007-11-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

These past couple of weeks I have been super busy, so I neglected my blogger duties. Oopsie...to catch up on a few things last week was homecoming. I was busy with things such as floats, pageants, rock the mall, parades, and football games! It was crazy but somehow I made it through the week. It was also Halloween and I was super woman! Mwahaha Here's a picture of Cortni and I before going to a bunch of Halloween parties.

We Had lot of fun. I've been completely swamped with school work lately. I swear all my teachers just decided to schedule a bunch of assignments and deadlines on the same day to make my life more interesting. Ugh! It's kind of frustrating. Good news- My friend Jori had her baby, and I put her into labor!!! We uh...had her drink a little mixture of beverages with the major one being... eh hem...Castor Oil. :) I even documented everything.

And the next morning....

Vualla! Welcome Carson James Shelley!

My hypnotic paintballing cluish week

2007-10-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hey-Oh! I'm amazed at all that's happened this week. First of all, we had an ambassador party and it was soooo much fun. The theme was CLUE so everyone dressed up and had parts and there was even a murder during the night! It was insane. Here's a little taste of what we were all dressed up as...
Pretty sweet, eh? On Thursday night I went to The Electric Theatre for a concert. Five different bands played and I'm really glad I went because they were all good, and I met some new people. Friday night we had an entertainment Dixie and it was a hypnotist! It was probably the craziest thing I've ever seen. The hypnotist had people thinking they were Nsync, aliens, ballerinas, naked...and a lot of other things! It was absolutely hilarious.

Look at all these beautiful ballerinas!!

Saturday I went paint balling with a group of people. I had never been before and although everyone else didn't know I was super nervous... I WAS! For some reason I was freaking out in my mind but once we got started I had a blast. It was fun acting like James Bond and shooting people. I actually didn't hit anyone...but that's not important. ;) I do have some pretty sweet battle scars though! Below is a picture of Cody and I getting in the zone for our battle. We're hardcore, we know.

Best Semester Break EVER

2007-10-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

As much as I absolutely LOVE going to school all the time, ;) this break was definitely needed. On Wednesday after my classes seven other ambassadors and myself went to Vegas for the recruitment fair. Above is a picture of everyone. We're crazy-I know. The recruitment fair is a big convention where colleges and universities from all over the nation come and represent their schools while high school students walk around and check out all their options. Not to brag or anything, but Dixie State definitely had one of the best booths there. I had a blast talking to people about Dixie. It really made me realize how great it is here, and how much I love it. Also this week there was a Halloween carnival. Below is a picture of Bree dressed as a bumble bee, Carley as a work out barbie, and me as a jungle woman. You gotta love it. :D

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in Vegas and Friday night I went camping with a big group of people. It was really fun because I hadn't been camping in a while. I had about a billion s'mores and they were absolutely delectable. Here's a picture of some of the group. We had soooooo Much fun.
Although it was hard to do, I got up Saturday morning and went to Kanab for my friend's baby shower that I threw for her. I had never thrown a baby shower before but I'd say it was a huge success. Here's a picture of my friend Jori (prego) and my other friend Cortni before the shower. She's due in three weeks and I'm way excited for her.

Till next week blog readers!

I <3 My Professors!

2007-10-08T19:46:00.001-07:00

Hey all! Last week was awesome. Can I just say that I love all my professors? Because I do! Here's a little example of why- My friend and I handed in our assignments for nutrition, but somehow they never got to our teacher. You'd think that a normal college professor would just say, "Forget you, You're probably lying, Do it again." but no! Mrs. Demaree Johnson searched high and low for our papers, called the other professors and was finally able to find them. Even though she found them late, we both received full points. I thought that was extraordinary of her because honestly, she didn't have to go to such great lengths for us, but she did because she cares. I'm very impressed with all of my teachers here at Dixie. This weekend I went to the volleyball game against BYU Hawaii. We lost :( but we put up a good fight. I went on a date to this Greek restaurant called Basili's (or something like that) and the food was amazing! I've never had Greek food before but that restaurant has now converted me. I also went night bowling with a big group of people and it was a blast. Basically...I LOVE IT HERE!

Viva Las Vegas

2007-10-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

This week was once again...a blur. School and homework all just seemed to run together. Its taking some getting use to living with five other girls. Yeah I know, I'm insane. Luckily I have my own room or else I seriously think I might die. My roommates and I made a sign that says, "Chores are like boyfriends, NO ONE else should be doing yours!" I thought it was pretty dang sweet, and hopefully we got our point across. :S I went on a date this week and it was a blast! We went golfing and let me tell you-golfing is hard. I have a new respect for anyone who can hit that stupid little ball that doesn't ever move. haha This weekend was really fun. I went to Vegas with my two roommates and best friends in the whole world! We shopped, at dinner (mmmmmmm) and walked the strip observing all the crazy things that go on there. Above is a picture of us being Egyptian for some odd reason and below is a picture of us in front of Caesar's palace. (Left to Right--Random drunk man, Me, Katie and Cortni).

I <3 Dixie!

2007-09-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! This past week was full of studying and homework. I think I had tests in all of my classes but one. :S It was way crazy, but I'm pretty happy with the scores I received. In my human development class we had our first "College Friend Day." It's where the college students get to go into the preschool and play with the kids in there! Mine was so much fun. Our theme was "Going to the Zoo" And the kids absolutely loved it. I can't wait to be a real school teacher. :) I spent most of my weekend in Cedar City visiting a friend from high school. I had plans to go to the Goo Goo Dolls concert but it didn't work out for me in the end. Someone gave away my tickets!! Grrrr Even though I didn't get to go to the concert it was still nice seeing my old friends. Speaking of old friends- my friend Katie decided to move to St.George(Who wouldn't?!) and live with me! I'm soooo unbelievably stoked to have her here, its awesome. This week I went to a pool party/barbecue with the ambassadors. I also went bowling and got a 109..yeah I'm awesome I know. haha It was really fun though. Well I guess that's it for this week! Much love blog readers.

Time FLIES!

2007-09-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I update this blog thing weekly right? I updated it last Sunday right? It's already Sunday again??? Time FLIES! This week was another busy one for me. I had a couple tests, LOTS of studying, and of course you have to add the social aspect of life. All in all it was a great week. I went home for the weekend (to Kanab) because a friend of mine had his mission farewell, it was homecoming, there was a wedding reception, and all my old friends were coming home too. It was so good seeing everyone again, but definitely weird staying in the "guest bedroom." It was my Mom's birthday weekend, and my siblings and I got her a very special gift. There was a ring at the place I worked at all summer that my mom had her eye on. She came in to look at it about a billion times, and told me "I've been looking for a ring exactly like that for the past ten years." but she never bought it. One day I came home from work and she asked me if it was still there. "It's gone!" I told her, and she was absolutely devastated. What she didn't know was that my siblings and I decided to go in and buy it for her for her birthday. Since the time we bought the ring, (about two months ago) my mom said more than once how much she wished she would've just gotten the ring herself. When we gave her the ring you could only imagine how surprised she was! The look on her face was absolutely priceless, and I managed to snap a picture of it! haha

My Pine Valley Week

2007-09-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

This past week was another great one here is St. George. My Grandpa built a new cabin in Pine Valley, so I was out there quite a bit. To the left you'll get little taste of what Pine Valley is all about. I've basically decided that I want to live in Pine Valley for the rest of my life because it is SO GORGEOUS! I absolutely love it, and it's only about 45 minutes away. Friday night there was a thing called "Battle of the Sexes" at the college. Basically, its a big competition, boys against girls, where you do crazy things like see who can sit on a block of ice for the longest, or find the oreo in a sea of peanut butter...with your MOUTH! Even though the boys won, (BOOO!) it was still a blast. Saturday I went to a service project for the SHE club. Did I mention that I'm in the SHE club? Well I am...and its awesome. :) There is a medical help center here in town that badly needed a new paint job. On Saturday morning 12 other SHE's and myself painted about 18 rooms in the help center and many hallways. Even though my arms were pretty sore afterward, it was SO worth it. Service always makes me feel good about life. I had a math test this week that I was pretty nervous about. Math has never been my favorite subject but I actually did really well on it! I think its because my teacher is hilarious and for once in my life I don't dread going to math each day. Below is a picture of some of the SHE's and I after the Battle of the Sexes!

A Little About Me

2007-08-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm Ali and I'm 18 years old. I'm a freshman here at Dixie State and I'm loving it so far. All my classes are great, and my teachers are awesome! Right now I'm working on my generals, but I'm thinking about majoring in Elementary Education or Nursing...we'll see! I have been dancing basically all my life, and I absolutely love it. I did drill team, played basketball, and ran track in high school, but I love all sports. I especially love the Atlanta Braves. :) I am an outgoing person who really likes meeting new people. I try to always have a positive attitude and make the best out of every situation. I am really looking forward to this year at Dixie. WOO! Go Rebels! :D