Single Awareness Day

aka Valentines Day <3

I've never been a huge fan or dire hater of Valentines Day, basically I'm Switzerland when it comes to this holiday of love.
But tomorrow I and some of my friends have decided to watch a nice horror movie to celebrate this fantastic day of love! What better way than to get the bejeezers scared out of you with your best friends?? I can't think of one...

Here are some songs to improve your wonderful day!











HAPPY DAY OF LOVE!

The Brain

This week in Anatomy lab we learned about the brain and spinal column.
I even held a brain! And let me tell you folks, it was AWESOME. The brain is so extremely detailed and intricate and strangely beautiful!
My favorite part would be the arbor vitae which means "tree life" and the part actually looks like the tree of life!!

isn't that awesome?!

Another really cool part of lab this week is that they had a mid-sagittal (directly in middle) cut of a head with the face and brain all still attached, just halved! So we were able to see clearly how all the skull foramen (holes) and pieces all fit together and worked with the brain! I was literally sitting there with my jaw dropped in awe and gasping, it was probably one of the coolest things I have seen EVER.

ALSO, in my Anatomy lecture last night we were discussing the different lobes of the brain (frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, insula) and the topic of lobotomy's came up! And so we discussed that and after class one of the TA's had a video for those who wanted to stay and watch. Of course I did! And it was seriously crazy to see how they did lobotomy's back in the day, literally take ice picks from the freezer and jab them through your orbital fissure behind your eyeball and then mess around with your frontal lobe. The purpose of lobotomy's was to attempt to change personalities and many prisoners had them done in exchange for an early parole because they were so dangerous!


Here is the video we watched in class! It was shown on PBS so it's not too bad but it was rate TV-14, so BEWARE! :)

Hopefully this post doesn't creep anyone out but honestly, it is amazing how something made up of tissue and... "goo" can create memories and store so much information!

Yay for Anatomy! :)

peace out.

BFF Photoshoot :)

For Christmas I got my best friend, we'll call her Foy, a GREAT gift! I bought her a photoshoot with another friend :) And I didn't tell her until the night before so it was kinda a surpise!
So here are some photos from that day!!




happy happy :)

FOR MORE LOOK HERE

When Elmo is actually Alma

Take a moment and remember back to those days stake dances... dancing a slow dance with a cute guy, talking about you and your family when suddenly the music gets REALLY REALLY loud and you're practically shouting to each other. And then a question comes up that you didn't quite hear and you don't wanna say "HUHH????" so you simply nod and smile. Awkward....

These experiences basically describe my social life.

I am losing my hearing slowly (probably because I love to blast it, even as a cute little girl) but I hate admitting it. I simply love my music loud and no "hearing loss" is gonna make me change that! I also can't stand not having a song in my head or music playing. Complete quiet drives me BONKERS. (for example, right now I'm listening to "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles)

Alright so about Elmo,
Last week I called my new singing teacher about setting up a lesson time. She was super sweet and all that and was telling me what to bring to class and mentioned the "Elmo" lab in the HFAC. She explained how you can go there and play the piano and record what you play and get a CD burned for you. Pretty cool eh? So on my paper I was taking notes on I wrote down "elmo lab in hfac". Interesting name, I thought, but whatever.
Well lesson time comes around (yesterday - went GREAT by the way) and she mentions it again! But she also wrote it down on the paper she was taking notes on: "Alma Lab HFAC"... aw shoot... well I for sure wasn't gonna mention that to her!

All in all, don't be afraid to be wrong. MISTAKES MAKE YOU STRONGER!!!
:)

and by the way, i am LOVING all my classes so far - and i'm on top of my work and sleep (mom!)

Winter semester classes

So THIS is my schedule for this Winter semester!
If you have any advice on classes, leave a comment!

YAY FOR SCHOOL!!!!

Why I couldn't concentrate while taking my test

Yesterday I took my American Heritage final exam.
BUT I didn't take it in the Testing Center because some tests they have in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium. Awesome...
So I had to crawl over people and trip and whatnot just to get to an empty seat. And the desks are tiny. It was fantastic.
So I'm starting my test and I'm feeling alright about it. I'm in about 30 mins when I decide to take a mental break and glance around, stretch, and just chillax a bit. And I notice the guy in front of me. And on his neck there is a HUGE. BIG. JUICY. ZIT.
I almost gagged right there on the spot. Like people, this things was BIGGGGGG. And it looked ready to go.
To add to that image, the guy right next to me had really bad breathe and was coughing about every 20 seconds. So I was practically leaning on Megan sitting next to me (which she questioned me about later haha) just to protect my nose and stomach.
Now I wanted to put up a clip from "Osmosis Jones" of when Tom Hank's ginormous face zit explodes onto the lady's face but I couldn't find it. But just imagine it... :)

I'LL BE HOME TOMORROW!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

just a fun list of some big pet peeves

here is a list of some of my biggest pet peeves:

- when people talk on the phone while using the bathroom. especially public bathrooms.

- when people do not wash their hands after using the bathroom. again especially public bathrooms.

- when girls walk in a way that makes their booty sway. for real? can't you just walk normal?

- girls who shriek and laugh very shrilly and loud.

- people who only talk about themselves. and who bring anything you say back to themselves.

- people who brag.

- people who bail on previous plans made.

- girls who always have to look cute. always. i mean come on! there's gotta be a day you don't wanna take 2 hours to get ready in the morning!

- girls who flirt with any and every guy.

- people who tell secrets and inside jokes around you and won't fill you in.

ummmm i'm sure there's many many more but yeah, that's it for tonight.

fill me in on some of your big pet peeves! :)

Last chance ya'll

YO YO.
This is my last week here before I come home :) :) :) :) :) :) :) can you tell I'm excited?!
So that means that this week is when I'm buying gifts!
So family (and I guess whoever wants a present who I'll be seeing over break), this is your final chance to tell me what you would like!
I know I got a lot of peoples stuff but if you wanna add something here is the chance to do it.

By the way, I'm super super super super excited to see you all!

<3
ali

An apple a day...

So today in the Wilk (Wilkinson Center) there were stands of people everywhere handing out nice shiny apples to students and wishing them good luck on their exams. I do not enjoy confrontation so I snuck on by. But later I was sitting and enjoying my lunchable and watching Dave Barnes youtube videos when a man came up and offered me a delicious-looking apple saying "Here's an apple to eat with your lunch! Good luck on your exams!" so I smiled and said "Thank you!" and he left.
This is what I was expecting:

I happily bit into my apple and noticed a little brown spot but thought to myself "I will not be picky and I will enjoy this apple" so I bit into it again. And had to spit it out because this is what I saw:


So of course my next thought is "I wonder what this says about how my exams will turn out... dang it...

A BYU Curse?

There are approximately 30 million students currently enrolled at BYU. I would say that at least 1/3 of them are either engages or married. Now you may be thinking that I'm going to talk about the curse that this is the "marriage school", FALSE.
The curse I am talking about is the one that affects pretty much all single female students here.
Scenario:
You walk into class and see an open seat by a really cute guy so you sit in it. You introduce yourself and you both start talking. He seems to be a great guy and so incredibly nice you can hardly believe it. Class ends and you are getting up to leave. That's when you notice his left hand. And the little band he has on his ring finger there. DANG IT.

This is the curse. It seems that anytime I meet or even see a cute guy I now automatically look to his left hand to see if I'm even allowed to be attracted to him. Darn you girls who got to them first.

christmas time is here

hey family,
i know it's mostly you guys who read this anyway so i'm addressing this to you.
because i am poor and i have no means of getting "real" presents, i need some ideas of things you might enjoy receiving.
maybe some pretzels? or gushers?
but just comment and throw out some things you like, whether or not i can get them for you, it'd be interesting to see!

love you all

less than three,
ali


p.s. credit given to bryan for the "less than three"

Oh the trials of life

College is much harder than I was expecting. And by "much" I mean, it's a lot harder than I was expecting. Classes are (sometimes) interesting and the professors are pretty cool but the TESTS! Oh those tests... make the whole learning experience that much harder. And the tests aren't even that long, usually 40-100 questions, but it's simply the material and the way the teachers attempt to apply that material. So extremely difficult...
BUT as quoted in Galaxy Quest: Never give up, Never surrender.
And as quoted by someone at a devotional here: Exceed your own expectations.
I have learned that while these classes and tests may be difficult and extremely stressful, it can't last forever. I know I'll benefit from them. And I have a fantastic family and great friends who help me through them :)

quick story:
the last two weeks had been very difficult for me academic-wise. i received a letter from a friend on a mission who continued to share his even harder times he was having while out there and he shared this scripture with me that helped me tons --> Alma 7:11-13 :)

(i also recommend reading the praises of david in psalms when feeling down. they're the best!)

NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK

well everyone. the time has come.
that's right, it's NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK!

and that's all i have to say about that...

FACEBOOK FAST

i admit it. i have a facebook addiction.

the reason i believe i have it is this: when i wake up in the morning, it's the first thing i open. along with my email, but facebook is always first.

i think i developed my addiction later in high school because i didn't own a cell phone and so it was my only way to communicate with my friends when we weren't all together. it became such a habit that even now, when i do have a cell phone, i still check it constantly.

and so! there is a facebook fast going on this week. from oct. 11th to the 15th. i'm only doing it from the 11th to the 13th because 5 days is too long for me... but i'm super nervous.

so any good advice is greatly appreciated! send me emails to keep me busy, call me, talk to me, anything to keep me from thinking of facebook and what i'm missing! :)

college is cool, by the way. very hard... but cool.

peace out.

<3 ali

byu provo student

today is my 3rd day of classes,
they are hard.
and have lots of homework.
but i love it.
i love feeling independent.
i love knowing that I have the decision to make it i want to do my homework or not.
or what time to go to bed.
i love my "own place".
i love walking around campus.
i love the AWESOME WEATHER here!
i love my teachers.
i love my new friends i've made, and i love my old friends that are here.

basically, college is a great and fun experience so far.