"Tonight, I find myself kneeling by the bed to pray.
I haven't done this in a while,
So I don't know what to say:
But, Lord, I feel so small sometimes in this big ol' place.
I know there are more important things,
But don't forget to remember me.
Don't forget to remember me."
~ Carrie Underwood

Friday sure flies by when you're at...Zona Rosa!!!

Yeah, that's right, I just got back from Zona Rosa! Catering class field trip! Pretty sweet right? I wasn't sure I was going to go because, I'm not gonna lie, I don't really have any friends in that class so I figured it would be super boring being down there all alone, considering we would have time to shop and all. And shopping for clothes, broke, by myself didn't seem all that appealing. Then I remembered, HELLO, there's a Barne and Noble! And that could definately keep me entertained for several hours. So, we had to finish our mock trial this morning, we won by the way, and then we headed to Zona Rosa. We hung at Barnes and Noble, we being my friend James and I from like 9:00 until 10:55. We were supposed to be at the restaraunt by 10:45, ooops! I pretty much read the whole time and listened to music, had some DISGUISTING Starbucks coffee, love coffee, hate starbucks! Anywho, we went to Bravo for lunch, which was the whole logic behind having the trip in the first place. We got a tour of the kitchen and some explainations about how stuff works, running the restaraunt and working there. Yeah, I like that place even more now! lol! Lunch was amazing, as I had predicted! MMM, I had some kind of pasta with chicken and veggies with this sauce, mmmmm, it was SOO good, I ate until I almost exploded and I still needed a doggie bag! And of course their out of this world bread with oil dip, I am addicted to that stuff! Then I had some tiramisu, oh goodness I love that stuff with a serious passion! So lunch pretty much rocked! Then we had more time to shop, I looked around a few stores, then just found a place to sit and read. *points to self* major bookworm today. Then we loaded up on the bus and I read the whole way home. All in all, very good day, especially a school day! lol! I'm still soooo full, oh man! How was everyone else's friday? lol *smirk*

ALI!!!! I'm so sorry I left you all alone at lunch!!! Did Justin tell you I wouldn't be there? He better have! lol. I'll see you soon, play tonight! Yay!

WANTED: Prayer!

I am having some major difficulty with my future plans, mainly college. Here's the situation: I had pretty much settled on KU, everyone was happy with this dicision. Well, I didn't want to live in the dorms my first year so that led to two options. Option #1) Live at home and drive to Lawrence EVERY DAY! Lots of driving time and LOTS of gas. Or option #2) Live with my Dad in Oskaloosa, drive 20 minutes to Lawrence every day and drive home probably 2 or 3 times a week, still, lots of driving time, and lots of gas plus missing my friends, my boyfriend, and my beloved dog, Zoe (yeah, I'd miss her like crazy!). Neither of these options were to appealing to me, but I figured I'd decide on one of them sooner or later. Then I got a thing from KCKCC, like I've gotten 1000 times before, but I just dismissed it, because my mind has ALWAYS been set on not going to a community college. I used to be little miss perfection when it came to school and my education, and I would have NEVER thought of going to KCKCC before. This year my prospects and priorities have changed dramatically, and although my education is still super important to me, it has slipped to a slightly lower number on my list. I still don't know what I want to do when I get out of college...maybe train animals, maybe work at a zoo or national park, maybe I'll pick up the chief idea again, I really don't know. None of these requires the rigorous college experience becoming a vet (like I had always planned to do) would have. This does open up KCKCC as an option for my first year of college and evey logical part of my brain is screaming, "DO IT!" I could live at home, still be around everyone I want to be, still be a part of Vineyard (which I would go crazy if I weren't) plus I'm sure I would have to pay NOTHING to go there, heck, they'd pay me to go there, so I could either work and save for college the next year with a little room to play, or not work at all. I know one year of community college is not a big deal, but there's one thing that is nagging at me: my dad....My daddy has always bragged on me for getting such good grades and my high ambitions for my life and I'm afraid of what he'll think if I go to a community college. I'm afraid he'll think I'm just scared to leave home or I'm immature for not putting what needs to happen before what I want to happen. Maybe I'm blowing this all out of proportion, maybe he'd have nothing negative to say, but I'm terrified of disappointing my dad. I know, this is my decision, my life, but still...I am up to my ears in paralizing frustration. So I would greatly appreciate some prayer on all this. Thanks a lot guys!

Ah, l'amour

Nothing at All

(aka: one of my FAVORITE love songs EVER and the last song they played at prom!)

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart

Without saying a word you can light up the dark

Try as I may I could never explain

What I hear when you don’t say a thing

The smile on your face

lets me know that you need me

There’s a truth in your eyes

sayin’ you’ll never leave me

The touch of your hand

says you’ll catch me

if ever I fall

You say it best

when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud

But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd

Old mr. webster could never define

What’s being said between your heart and mine

That four letter word...

P-R-O-M! Yup, that was saturday and oodles of fun! I won't go into great detail about everything, the getting ready process would crash your computer, so I'll just touch on the important stuff. To our great surprise we were ready on time: dresses on, make-up done, hair up. Ali and I were a tad nervous (right Ali, a tad? lol). The guys looked awesome, and in my bias opinion, especially my date! lol! Tons of pictures were taken, which I hate because I hate pictures, so there ya go, IV league logic huh!? But I got to see some of them last night and there were quite a few good ones.

We drove down to Barry Road to eat at Olive Garden. There was a 35 minutes wait, which wasn't too bad. During this time we took pictures with this SWEET brand new black corvette that was parked right next to us. When the owner came out we told him we liked his car and he offered to let us take pictures...IN IT! So, we have pictures of, yours truely and Ali, Cody and Jon in said corvette! That was sooo awesome! Dinner was good, I was stuffed by the time we left but it was so good. I tried to remember my "fancy restaraunt ettiquet" but couldn't.

We got to the dance an hour late, but c'mon, who gets there on time? no one cool, right? lol. The room was beautiful, small, but beautiful. The first song we danced to (or attempted to, that was crazy) was the cha-cha slide, I love that song! As far as the music went, I was surprised by the variety! They had rap, of course, country, even 80's rock and ACDC! whoa! We danced to quite a few songs, just chilled out on the balcony for some of them, watched THE ENTIRE floor clear when they played BYOB at Cody's request! That was SOO funny! Ali and I requested a song that they happened to play as soon as the guys left to get their senior pictures! GAR! lol. They did play a few of my favorite songs, which I was happy about, and Shakira (yeah Ali, they actually played Shakira!) lol! However, the last dance was the best! They played one of my absolute favorite songs of all time. Yeah, that made me SO happy! lol! Cody might not have been thrilled, but he was a good sport about all those songs. So, all in all, the dance went really well.

We drove to Ali's to change, then to Cody's grandparents' for the guys to change and headed up to PR for the after party. After our initial disappointment at the lack of a velcro wall, we went through the inflated obstacle course, then watched the guys be thrown from the mechanical bull, and yanked backwards by a rope. Interesting....quite. Prizes were given away then we headed home, thouroughly exhausted. And that was prom.

Yesterday I went to David's soccer game with the Roberts and the G boys. They won and David was GREAT! We then went to the G boys' house. We trecked down by the creek, which was tons of fun, until I rediscovered how much I hate ticks! EHHH! man! I was freakin' out! Snakes don't bother me at all, spiders, as long as they keep to themselves, but ticks are so gross! Anywho, we headed back after about 40 minutes and lots of adventurous fun. Then we went to the pond and waded in. I sunk down to my knees in some of the mud, it was crazy, but awesome. I love mud!lol. So yesterday was really a lot of fun!

I slept in first hour, which still didn't catch me up on sleep, but I feel better. Still tired, but my eye lids have stopped planning to murder my brain for not letting them close more this weekend. Anywho, despite the weather, I'm in an absolutely sunny mood, and I will talk to all you lovely people later!

blah!

Hey everybody. How goes it? Good? Hope so. So..it's almost 9:00, I'm actually getting ready to go to bed. Early huh? I know! I committed to actually getting some sleep tonight since I've had way too many people comment on how tired I've looked this week. Prom's tomorrow. I'm excited, a little nervous, but no biggy, everything's coming together pretty well. I really don't have much to say I'm just super bored. Ali and I picked up the boutineers after school, then went to her house, then to the Harbor, then to Walmart and Bath and Body Works, then to my house to watch "10 things I hate about you" and the infamous reaction that is an absolute must (Ali, you're the only one who knows what I'm talking about!) lol. Anyway, Jack Johnson is keeping me company, I'm thinking of hanging out with Brad Paisley a little later. It'll depend whether or not he's free. LOL. I'm dilusional, sleep deprivation! lol. Anywho, how 'bout some more inspirational Jack lyrics, which I doubt anyone reads but they really should, cause they're pretty sweet.

Do you remember when we first met
I sure do
It was some time
In early September
You were lazy about it
You made me wait around
I was so crazy about you
I didn't mind
So I was late for class
I locked my bike to yours
It wasn't hard to find
You painted flowers on
Guess that I was afraid
That if you rode away
You might not roll back
My direction real soon
Well I was crazy about you then
And now the craziest thing of all
Over 10 years have gone by
And your still mine
We're locked in time
Lets rewind

Do you remember
When we first moved in together
The piano took up the living room
You'd play me boogie woogie
I played you love songs
You'd say we're playing house
Now you still say we are
We build our get away
Up in a tree we found
We felt so far away
Though we were still in town
I remember watching
That old tree burn down
I took a picture that
I don't like to look at

Well all these times
They come and go
Alone don't seem so long
Over 10 years have gone by
We cant rewind
We're locked in time
But your still mine

Do you remember?

Whoa!

Bonjour y'all! It's second hour and I'm on the computer, this is supa sweet! We have a sub. so since we had practically NOTHING to do, I'm just chillaxin'. <--(chilling and relaxing) HAHAHA, I heard that from a show the other day, it stuck apparently. So youth group was pretty good last night. I'm glad our long lost youth pastor was there, he's become somewhat of an unseen legend as you all know. I am however quite bummed about the youth group arrangements for the summer. Granted, I know we'll still all see each other, those of us still here this summer, but still. And no worship?! All summer??!! That's breaking my heart. Oh well, I'll suck it up and get over it eventually. I think we should have a "hang out/ game night" once a month on wednesdays this summer, that way if we do that and meet over at New Hope, there'd only be two wed. a month we didn't have anything. We'll see what happens I suppose. And this financial thing..I'm kind of curious about. I am amazing with a budget, I mean seriously, my mom taught me so well that the student has indeed in this case surpassed the teacher (except with all the prom prep stuff). So maybe I'll learn something new, maybe I won't, I guess I'll have to go to find out huh. I'm in a totally neutral mood right now, which I hate. I would rather be in a really good mood, but I'm not today for some reason. And my loathing of neutral moods is actually putting me in a bad one. But my not good moods never last past 2:15 so I'm not concerned. And lunch with Ali will brighten my day as always. Later everyone.

The Adventures of Aley and Her Dog!

Easter Sunday, Aley decided to walk the trails at Weston Bend Park with her faithful companion, Zoe. After finding a parking spot, the last one, and receiving some evil glances from fellow parking spot hunters, Aley and Zoe headed through the trails. Immediately upon entering the woods, Aley noticed that the trees were swaying more than usual and creeking as if they would tumble over with the slightest invisable force. Zoe ran ahead, only returning to her owner's side when commanded to. So, the pace was fairly brisk for the human, Aley, trying to keep up with her energy-infected labrador. The scenary was beautiful, eveything was green and smelled wonderful thanks to the storm the night before. The storm would also account for all the fallen trees along the path. The trails were somewhat crouded, with families deciding to spend their Easter outdoors and together, and with aged lovebirds seeking a romantic afternoon. When the path ran into the pavement, Aley decided to take the path she had not taken her previous visit, hoping this time, she could finish without walking 6 miles. This path however, proved to be the wrong one as well, and terribly hilly. Even Zoe was growing weary after a few miles, so they backtracked, assuming it would be shorter than following this mystery path. Spotting a not horribly steep cliff, Aley thought perhaps she could see where the trail was leading if she climbed to the top and had a gander. This was not to be. Along with Zoe, Aley climbed to the top, slipping on leaf-covered rocks. Nothing could be seen from the top. Faithful companion Zoe stayed by Aley's side all the way down, allowing her to steady herself after a potention fall and both made it down safely. Finally, they came to the trail they have come from, or so they thought. Nothing looked familiar, even though Aley knew she had come from this way. She began to wonder if these were indeed the woods from The Brother's Grim! However, eventually the trail led back to the one they had originally taken and all was well, and TIRED!

Hey guys, like my story? It's a TRUE story! I know, crazy huh!? I'm in a good mood. I'm so excited about SOOO many things!!!!!
Tonight: An all NEW Gilmore Girls! YES! SWEET!
Tomorrow: Youth Group! 'Nough said!
Thursday: The usual....veggin' at HL with Ali!
Friday: Dunno yet, but school will be over for the weekend, so what do I care?
SATURDAY: PROM! Yeah, I'm a little excited about this one..only a little. LOL! Yeah RIGHT!
Graduation
Summer

Oh yeah, I have much to be excited about! No more high school, no more LHS, all summer with my best best friend in the world, my out of this world awesome boyfriend, and the rest of my super crazy cool friends! PLUS, CA!!!! I can't wait! Oh goodness!

I had a mock trial today. Not bad, I think we did fine. We'll finish it up on thursday. I actually had to get up and look NICE for school!!!! Whaaatt?!?!!?Nice for SCHOOL, what on earth do I need to look nice for school for? Beats me, but it's the rule with mock trials, so to save my grade, I gave into the man, yet again.

And now, the Jack Johnson lyric du jour:

"We got everything we need right here

And everything we need is enough

It's just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms."

~Banana Pancakes

Blackjack tables and bungee basketball

Whoa, computers suck and if I have to attend one more lame, manditory assembly I'm going to melt into a pool of bored remains. Anywho...today has been, kinda bad, but I'm still in a super mood. Amazing huh? I know, I should be studied. I stayed up late last night studying for my law test, I had 4 pages of notes (front AND back, lol) and I still only managed a C+! What's with that??!!?!?! No I'm sorry, that's unacceptable. But, to counter my dispicabley average grade, our teacher announced that the end of the year project (which I've done nothing but selecting my topic, by the way) is no longer required, but extra credit! EXTRA CREDIT!!!! That's 200 points of extra credit possible! SCORE!!! So, that brought a smile to my face. Then senior survey was lame, I'm sorry people, but if you're a senior and you need help with your thesis statement...no, that does not fly. GOSH! lol. Catering I did...nothing? Yeah, that's right, nothing. lol.

I need to finish my last weekend recap before I have to recap this weekend! Ok, here goes:
I left off with the lawn mower I fear I possess an unusual amount of affection towards. Anywho, after mowing, I did nothing. Then Cody and I headed up to my daddy's house. The ride up there was....muscially frusterating *rolls eyes at self and Cody* LOL! My stepmom was cool as a cucumber, as I had predicted. My dad was...uh...a little cold at the get go, luckily he warmed up a little after Cody wowed him with his mad "skeet shooting" skills. Skeet shooting...interesting sport, but nonviolent so I'm all for it. However, it's going to take a lot of persuasion to get me to hold a shot gun half as long as I am tall. NO THANK YOU! lol. We watched the essential Pro Bull Riding before dinner, which amazingly I enjoy, or I'm numb to it because I have to watch it EVERY time I'm there, lol! Dinner was fabulous, steak, homemade fries and Sue's special rolls, mmmm, typical dinner at dad's. Followed by heaven with ice cream, apricot chewy! Then we pulled out the Phase 10. Now, usually, I kick major butt at this game, for real, I won hands down the first time I played. BUT, that was not to be on this particular evening. I stayed on phase 1 for, how many was it Cody, I'm SURE you remember! lol! So to make a long story short (woops, too late) Cody beat us all pretty bad, but I was TOTALLY catching up! Oh well, I'm not bitter....really...ok, maybe a little....or a lot, ok fine I'm a flippin' cranberry! lol! So, all in all, saturday was good a mon avis!
Sunday was lamo, fo sho. Church was fine. Then I went to KC avec my mom and Angie. We went to the Great Plains Mall and I got to look at NOTHING! lol! Then I got dragged to Sam's club...not fun. BUT there were really yummy samples and listening to Fallout Boy all the way there and back saved my sanity! Thank you! lol. Then I got another Jack Johnson cd along with one by someone you guys have never heard of (country, ewwww, I know I know). I spent the rest of the evening listening to Jack and contemplating the ways of the world, while sitting outside for 2 hours..all alone..in the dark. Yeah, Jack has odd effects on me. lol.
And there you have my weekly weekend recap that I know you're all absolutely addicted to! lol! It's thursday/friday and I'm super excited for tonight:Harbor Lights, Movie Night, Sleepover with Ali and Hannah! YAY! PARTAY!!! See y'all later!

Make you banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend now...

Mmmmm, mmm, I love banana pancakes. So what's the haps with everyone? Good, everyone good? I'm great, fabulous, way beyond good! lol! and hyper...just a tad. This past weekend was pretty good. I won't brag on the movie, b/c you've all seen it now and the quotes will be flowing for years. So friday was good except for the depressing weather which accounted for my moments of silence.
Saturday was neat, yes, I ment to put "neat." I layed around all morning, watching tv. My daddy came over and brought us a lawn mower. I learned how to work it then spend the rest of the morning on it. Man, it was so much fun! I love it! I can't wait for the yard to grow again so I can mow it again! lol! It's like a really slow quad! ok, yeah, I know I'm wierd! BOOOOO! Pride assembly, more later.

You don't know Jack!

These are some of my favorite lyrics from my new Jack Johnson cd, yeah, it's pretty sweet!

Without you I was broken
But I'd rather be broke down with you by my side

But if I had a minute for every hour that I've wasted
I'd be rich in time, I'd be doing fine

If you've got two drumsticks
Give one to your friend
Make one beautiful rhythm
Share a beat that never ends
And if you're feeling lonely
Share time with your mom
Share some milk and cookies
And sing the sharing song

So when you're so lonely lying in bed
Night's closed it's eyes but you can't rest your head
Everyone's sleeping all through the house
You wish you could dream but forgot to somehow
Sing this lullaby to yourself

Maybe it's up with the stars
Maybe it's under the sea
Maybe it's not very far
Maybe this is how it's supposed to be

Blogging at light speed

Ok, this is going to have to be really really fast! I have TONS of calc and crud not quite as..uh...cruddy as calc to do. BUT that doesn't mean I don't love each and every one of you....some more than others...lol! Ok, enough small talk.

Monday was flippin' awesome! I woke up at 10:30, very well-rested. I watched tv ( I won't say what to avoid mockery) and ate breakfast and had some wonderful coffee. Ali called and I through on some cloth someone sewed together and decided to call clothing. Clever huh? Ali and I did homework for an hour or so then decided our sweating brows were evidence enough to deserve a break. We kidnapped Hayden and went to the Metro Cafe. YUM, that's all I have to say about that. Their fries are OUT OF THIS WORLD good! MMMMMM! Anywho, then Ali came over and we watched a movie. Still proud of you Ali! lol. Then I went to Cody's and met *dun dun dun* the stepdad! He doesn't seem all that horrible, at least that's my take from the 2 minute encounter I had with him...not a terribly friendly guy. Then I receieved a first-class tour of the farm, which I enjoyed immensly (did I spell that wrong?, probably, no time for spell checks)! I got kissed by Chester the goat and got an evil glare from a goose I mistakenly addressed as a duck. My bad! Tally took care of him for me though...or it might have been the other way around. We watched "White Noise", decent movie, hard to follow, not scary. Then, something scary DID occur. Those crazy birds were up in the trees! It was like seeing a bunch of chickens in trees! Ok, maybe it's because I haven't been on "real" farms that often, but I have never seen anything like that. Those birds (or poultry, lol) are freaky, crazy, insane, take your pick. Yeah, I don't like those guinnie things at all. Wierd. But other than the birds, the other animals are awesome to say the least and Tally could entertain me for hours! I love that dog! Anywho, monday was pretty awesome, cool, fantabulous, take your pick. (that's right, it's reader's choice today on "Aley's Blog" ....*applause*)

Anywho, nothing happened tuesday. I went to the c.c. and was mistaken for some chics daughter then proceeded to listen while said lady told me over and over how much I looked like her daughter. She showed me a picture...uh...slight resemblence at best...I didn't really see it, but apparently it's uncanny! Then Cody and I worked out. But the weight room was freakishly quite and annoying loud at the same time, so we scurried out of there and walked 10 miles! Ok, fine minus 8. Then I went home and ate pasta! YUMMMM! And watched Gilmore Girls. Just chillin'.

And today, nothing but BAD pda, and by bad, I mean, same gender and it's weirding me out severely! STOP ALREADY!!!! GEEEZ! What people do in their own personal...enclosures is between them and God, but why do they have to display it for all to see!?!?! MAN, I can't WAIT to be out of LHS!

See y'all tonight, can't wait! Only 3 1/2 hours! lol