Adventures

I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus this month. I'm not sure why. Maybe school has a lot to do with it, maybe I'm just lazy. Yesterday I got back to Provo after a great week at home in California with my family. Getting there was a bit of a hassle, because I flew out the night of a blizzard, and this is what the airport looked like:

And then when I finally arrived in Sacramento at 12:35 am, I found out Delta had left my luggage back in Salt Lake. Awesome! It felt like a scene out of "Meet the Parents!" But being home was so great. We had a delicious turkey dinner, watched the parade as a family, and played PS3. Who knew my dad liked a video game? I'm so excited to go back in 3 weeks. Hopefully it isn't the adventure I went through to get there last week. As fun as it was, sitting in the airport for 8 and a half hours isn't my exact idea of a great way to spend a day!

Life right now is kind of feeling like a Carrie Underwood song. I'm not sure what I'm really doing and I'm not sure of the direction in my life right now, but I'm just going with it to see what happens.

"Play On"

Whatcha gonna do when the show is over?
Whatcha gonna sing when the song ends, yeah?
How you gonna cope when there is no closure?
Where you gonna reach when the goal gets higher?
How you gonna make it through when you think you lost your chance?

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Even when the floodgates swing wide open
Never let current take you down, no
Even when you're not sure where you're going
Swimming through a mess and you can't get out
Just going through the motions and trying not to drown

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice

Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Even through a storm on the darkest night
Don't you ever give up the fight
Even when you feel you're all alone
Play on, play on

Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Play on
Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na

November November November!

I'm so excited that it's finally November because that means Christmas can actually start! Don't roll your eyes and start a debate with me about how it shouldn't begin until after Thanksgiving. No. It starts November 1. I am already listening to Christmas songs on Pandora at work. I never get sick of Christmas music or decorations. I only get sick of snow. Which luckily it has only done once here in Provo, and I'm hoping maybe it'll stay that way? This Christmas will be my first one back in California in a long time, and I'm excited to have a green one!

But anyway, Halloween has come and gone, and it was fun! The beauty of having Halloween on a Sunday means that us Mormons can party Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! Which I did. With a different costume each night. I'm not very creative, which means my costumes consisted of what I had in my closet and a few borrowed things from friends, but it was perfect. Ward parties, parties with friends, and a couple of scary movies completed my weekend. Now it's time to bring on the holidays! 21 days, 9 hours, and 30 minutes until I go home for Thanksgiving. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Costume #1: Thank you, Tim, for helping me be a weaponless soldier. Fierce.

Costume #3 (no pictures of my cowgirlishness) Freshman besties reunited as a soccer player (Brazilian, no less), girl hit by a car, and little Miss 60's. We're cute.

Things I'm Lovin'

Here's a list of things I'm loving on right now, in no particular order.

Favorite thing about this week: it's over

Favorite thing about today: Good hair. No, GREAT hair.

Saying "like a G6" at the end of every sentence.

Favorite new song: Phoenix's 1901. So what, I'm behind the times.

My Halloween costume options. Endless!

Favorite happy thought: I'm going to California in a month.

Favorite not-so-happy thought: I have to plan my future. I think I'm going to get in my car the day I graduate and just drive. East? South? Want to come?

Happiest time of my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: English 451 and ELANG 325. For obvious reasons which will only remain obvious to me.

Favorite new discovery: I can have curly hair in Utah. And I can rock it.

Worst new discovery: I can't function on 4 hours of sleep each night. Also, I have the worst case of senioritis ever.

Discovery of the week: "The 6th Sense" is not scary. I've been lied to for so long.

Sweater of the week: Stripey gray cardigan.

Food of the week: Frosted Mini Wheats. I'm such a college student.

Happy song: "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift. Her new CD comes out in THREE DAYS!!!

Goal of the week: Don't get discouraged with people. Some of them just aren't worth my time.

Texas is the Bestest

This past weekend I was able to fly to Dallas to spend the weekend with my favorite family, the Trythalls. My family has known them for about 10 years. I spent junior high baby-sitting two of their kids, Kennedy and Alec, before both our families moved, and Sister Trythall was also my Beehive's advisor, so we all go way back. :) It was a great trip. Basically, I got to spend 3 days playing with 4 kids, eating delicious Tex Mex, and being disappointed as BYU lost to TCU. I thought maybe me being in Texas with the team would help them, but I guess not. Good thing I don't care much about football! It was a great trip, and I think the pictures below will explain how much fun I had more than I can!And like always, I never take enough pictures. I wish I had more!

Ryan the cowboy

Me and my buddy Matthew


Alec being silly!

Ryan covered in guacamole from Uncle Julio's


Showing off our muscles!


Kennedy and I in our matching watches.

Sweet little Matthew. Can you beat that smile?

My flight made a pit-stop in Oklahoma. Whatever they say about Oklahoma, it's probably true. Thank you, Trythalls!!

Thank you, airport stranger

So, I'm doing this 10-Day challenge that the Women's Resources Center at BYU is putting on. Basically, each day, they give you some sort of challenge, whether it's listing 10 things you love about yourself, doing fun exercising, or not judging yourself or others, to help women become more confident with themselves and their bodies. I think it's a great idea! My friend Rachel is doing it as well, and she's been awesome about writing her experiences down. Read about them here. It's been a good experience for me to really know that we're all beautiful in different ways.

Which brings me to my story. Yesterday I flew home from my wonderful trip to Texas (more on that later with cute pictures of cute kids), and I had a 2 hour layover in Denver. So I got something to eat and sat at my gate. There was a plane at the same gate taking off to Detroit before my flight to Salt Lake City, so a group of people was sitting around me. I had my laptop open with my headphones in, not really paying attention to what was going on around me. The passengers for the Detroit flight were told to line up to board, so the people around me started to get up and walk past me to get in line. As they did, this guy, probably somewhere around my age, walked up to me and tapped the top of my computer. I took my headphones out to hear whatever he was going to say. And he says, "I just wanted to let you know you're very beautiful." And then he walked through the gate to get onto the plane. I was shocked! But can I tell you something? I'm pretty sure I had the biggest grin on my face until I boarded my plane. I'll never see this kid again, but he made my (very tired, crazy curly hair, flip-flopped feet) day.

Why can't we all be like that? If we all were to tell someone each day that they are beautiful or handsome, and sincerely mean it, I think the confidence level of the world would increase. So that's my story. Thanks for boosting my confidence, airport stranger!

Dear God...

It's me, Alexa. I have a favor to ask you. I was wondering if, just maybe, you could give me more than 24 hours in a day, just this week and next, so that I stop going like this...

And have more time to do this?



And this?



No? Okay. Then I'll just live on this...


And these...



So that I can stay awake at the library. Or maybe just make the next 6 days go fast so I can get down to 80-degree Texas and out of Provo. Thanks!!

Baby Blue Eyes

This last week I went with my roommate Ashley to the Hanson concert. Remember them (Mmbop, long hair, circa third grade)? Anyway, it was really good! They're all grown up now, and their songs are great, their hair is amazing (much better than 13 years ago), and it was fun! But I really liked the band that opened for them, A Rocket to the Moon. Because I'm on this music kick right now, here are a couple of their songs, my personal favorite being the one called "Baby Blue Eyes." Enjoy!

"Like We Used To" video