Allie's Blogizzle

Photoshop Love

2010-02-09T17:51:00.001-08:00

Which one is the original? You tell me. :)

Budgeting, Haiti, and Chili

2010-01-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

So, I'm growing up, I guess... I'm slowly discovering the world of self-reliance... of course, if I were fully submerged into a life of self-reliance I would no longer have a car or a cell phone, each of which are equally important, as I'm sure you'd agree. I can still remember when my mom encouraged (forced) me to apply for my very first job at Fritz's (Fred's) Frozen Custard, now known as Paradise something or another. The memory of having my mom drop me off for my first interview (I was 15 *cough-AUBREY-cough*) will forever be engraved in my memory. Here is a tid bit of what I can recall...
I'm sitting here looking blankly at this piece of paper that is asking me about where I've gone to school and my past work experience. I can't figure out if I'm to put all 27.5 schools that I attended while living in Georgia, how am I supposed to remember all of those addresses, and does babysitting and mowing lawns count as work experience? Oh yea, and I'm pretty sure I'm a citizen, right mom? Thank goodness for mom's. She helped fill out the application and answer all those tough questions. She even gave me an idea for what to write at the very end where they give you some extra lines to write anything else you'd like. "Tell them you love ice cream!" So, I put the finishing touches on my first application and next thing I know I'm sitting at the desk of the Fritz's owner listening as he gives me a 30min lecture about how it's not ice cream, it's frozen custard! duhh... Thank goodness for mom's, huh?... haha.

Well, all I really wanted to write was that I found an excel template online yesterday for a monthly budget and I had too much fun filling it out for February. I've just been thinking a lot about how blessed I am to have the jobs I do and that got me to thinking about my first job. I really think budgeting will help me to be more conscious of where I'm spending my money and at the end of the month I'll be able to tell where I'm overspending. It even has all the formulas already logged in so when you put in what you actually spent it subtracts it from your budget and turns red if you went over! How cool is that?! Ahh, it's the little things in life that make me smile!

Click here for a link to the template I used! It's free!

On to the next.... Haiti.

There are so many people around the world and in our own country who need help in many different ways. Sometimes I feel guilty for not offering more of myself to humanity. With the devastating tragedy in Haiti has come the opportunity for me and everyone to HELP. There is no excuse for any of us to say, "I want to help, but how can I make a difference?" or "Well, I'm just a poor college student, there isn't much I have to offer." Haiti needs our help and it is absolutely our responsibility to do that in anyway we can. I know there are campuses and organizations across the country that are trying to raise money for Haiti in many different ways. If you feel that you have nothing to offer of material, offer your prayers. Pray for our Haitian brothers and sisters that they might find moments of peace through their devastation and loss. Many of you may have watched the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon where many different artists performed in hopes to raise money. If you saw it and loved the performances, all of which were powerful and moving, or if you didn't get a chance to tune in... go buy the album on iTunes for $8 bucks! That's it... 20 songs for 8 dollars! All the proceeds will go to helping Haiti. Again, the most valuable thing we have to offer is prayer.

Lastly, the reason I decided to even post anything to my dusty blog was because last night I made homemade chili and I enjoyed cooking so much and was so proud of how it turned out that I wanted to post a picture of the creation! Click here for the recipe! It was so delicious and I had leftovers today and they were even better!

Twenty-One Years Completed!

2009-10-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'll never forget my 21st birthday. I had the chance to go to Salt Lake and attend General Conference at the Conference Center. It was amazing. There were so many different people there of different nationalities. I went with my aunt and cousins to a session on Saturday and Sunday. My aunt went early and stood outside asking for tickets and she got plaza tickets for the second session that we went to! Which is one of the sessions that President Monson spoke at! He is such a great man, and it was as blessing to be in his presence. It was a blessing to be with all the people there.

When I talked to my parents on my birthday they both told me what they were doing on their 21st birthdays. My dad was on his mission in California and had the chance to baptize a family on his birthday, while my mom was pregnant with ME on her birthday! Ha! I can't even imagine having a baby right now. My parents are so amazing. I like the way I got to spend my 21st birthday.

Life Is Still Good

2009-10-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been way too long. I have so much to blog about! I'm not sure if I should do a big re-cap of my entire summer or if I should start fresh. I'll have to ponder about that one....

BE READY FOR A MUCH NEEDED AND I'M SURE ANTICIPATED UPDATE COMING SOON!

Love, Allie

Is It Really Summer Again?

2009-05-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, time is flying! I received an email and picture from some of my friends in New York yesterday and it's so hard for me to believe this time last year I was moving there! I didn't know anyone besides my aunt and uncle when I moved to New York, but I left with lifetime friends that I will never forget. I can't wait to see them again!

Last summer was an amazing experience living in a big city and this summer I am doing quite the opposite! I'm staying in Southern Utah, but moved to a small town named Hurricane, which is about 20 minutes from St. George. I moved in with my friend and teammate, Brandi, and her family. When I look outside the first thing I see are cows, horses, then lots of mountains and red sand. Oh, gotta love the desert! It's quite a change from my surroundings last summer, but I have to say, I think I'm a country girl at heart. I enjoy the wide open spaces and being able to see the stars and moon every night. Both the city life and country life have a lot of offer and I'm thankful to have been able to experience both! Who knows where I'll end up next summer!? Spain? hehe, I wish.

Beautiful Oregon

2009-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

It has been WAY too long since I have updated my blogizzle! So many exciting things have been going on in my life, where to start!? Well, hmm, I have been out of school for about 2 weeks now! Yay! I finished the semester strong and I absolutely love not having to think about homework every night. Just the thought of homework was stressful enough for me, so I rarely added the stress of attempting it. After my last final I treated myself to a roadtrip with some friends to Oregon! I've always wanted to go there and I'm so glad I did, even though it wipped my bank account dry... it was worth it! Oregon is absolutely beautiful, the colors there are so vibrant and GREEN! Southern Utah is gorgeous too, but it's beauty doesn't compare to the beauty of trees and grass and hills! It reminded me of Missouri.

While in Oregon I stayed with my friend Lauren's family. They were so amazing and kind! We mostly relaxed at her home and enjoyed our first week off, but also took a trip to Portland and the beach. The trees in the Oregon forests reminded me of TWILIGHT! Yes, I'm a little obsessed and I'll never deny it. Being there helped to realize why there are so many "treehuggers" in Oregon, the trees are irrisitable and you can't help but want to hug them, haha, seriously! Especially after not seeing one in so long! It rained everyday we were there except for the day we went to the beach, perfect! I really enjoyed the rain since I'm currently living in the dry desert, which is also wonderful!

Well, enough with the typing! The pictures speak for themselves. My words and lack of vocabulary won't ever be able to explain the beauty my eyes were so blessed to witness. I will be updating again soon because there are so many great things I need to share with everyone, the next post will probably be about my two new jobs! So, stay tuned, haha. I miss you all and can't wait to make my next visit home! Lots of love...

Pictures: Double rainbow, late night bike ride, Portland Temple, Portland waterfront, Twilight tress, and first time on the West Coast!

Sewing Sunday

2009-03-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a wonderful Sunday! I've had this idea of making a pillow case out of my old t-shirts for awhile and I've finally found time to do it! Basketball season ended last week and as of last Friday at 3:00pm I've been on SPRING BREAK! I've got a whole list of things I want to do with this much needed and wanted free time. Now I can officially cross one of them off!

I had most of my t-shirts packed in boxes and stored in the basement at home. There were way too many of them to bring with me to school, but I just couldn't let go of them, way too many memories wrapped up in those worn-out cotton tees. I knew I needed to figure out something creative to do with them sooner or later or they were going to get tossed! So, one night while looking at my rugly pillow cases an idea came to me and I wrote it down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget. I had heard of people making blankets out of their old tees, so why not a pillow case? It was a lot of fun to make, and took no time at all! I spent last night cozzied up in front of the TV watching Notting Hill and cutting a bizzilion 5x5 squares. Oh yea, by the way, my dad was kind enough to bring me all of my t-shirts when we met in Colorado for a doctor's appointment. Thanks Dad! Anywho... a girl in my apartment complex was brave of enough to trust me with her sewing machine. So, today after church and watching My Little Princess and nap I began sewing!

After a few machine/user issues, google, a lot of wasted thread, a broken needle, and a couple calls to my aunt and grandma... I ended up with a pleasantly soft, meaningful, colorful, fantasgreat, one-of-a-kind, homemade pillow case!

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!

Abigail Ruth Campbell

2009-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

My uncle and aunt, Ben and Jill, just had another baby girl!!! She is adorable, just like her big sister Molly! I miss them all so much and cannot wait to meet Abigail! I spent the past summer with Ben and Jill in NY and nanny-ed for them... Molly and I had a great time together and I miss her company so much! I'm sure that Abigail is just as pleasant!

My First Website!

2009-02-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone! So, in my Intro to Internet Development class we had an assignment to build a website about anything we wanted! It was really hard and frustrating... but overall a LOT of fun. I wanted to do a site dedicated to all the places I would love to see in the world, but by the time I was through figuring everything out I didn't feel much like researching each continent! So, I just picked random places and the actual content of the site isn't all that exciting...

Anyways, let me know what you think! Any feedback on the design is wanted!!!

Click here to check it out!

(And yes, I forgot the "c" in "discover"... shouldn't surprise anyone that knows me)

Thanksgiving, Vegas, Snow...

2008-12-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a good while since I've updated.. surprise, surprise. Since I'm on Christmas break and I am findingI have a lot more free time on my hands, I thought I'd just through some pictures up from the last couple of months!

I wasn't able to make it home for Thanksgiving, butI made a trip up to Salt Lake and spent the holiday with my friend Kelly and her husband's family. It was a great time!

We ate a TON of good food. Now, depending on how you look at it, me getting the flu the next day was either unlucky or lucky. Of course, at the time I thought I was on my death bed and feeling very unlucky. However, now looking back... I probably got out of gaining a couple pounds from all the delicious food I devoured the day before, which makes me kinda lucky, eh? :) I also got the chance to shoot clay pigeons (nope, not actually bird figures made out of clay) for the first time! It was surprisingly a lot of fun and something I'll definitely have to do again!

St. George is about 2 hours from Las Vegas, so I think it was inevitable that I end up spending a little time there! I went down

with my friend Bridgette and her husband, Ben.

We met their Grandma Cookie there who was kind enough to provide us with a room in the Mirage hotel! Cookie was one of the funniest old ladies I've ever met. Although, I can hardly call her an "old lady"... she had so much energy and made me feel old! The best part of the trip was without a doubt the Beatles Love Cirque de Soleil show, unforgettable. Overall, Vegas was quite the experience and I even got to gamble a few quarters away!

Here a some fun pictures from the snow we got in St. George finals week. It doesn't snow often (and I'm not complaining)... but it did force us to stay up late playing, which took our minds off school for a little bit! :)

Home Is Where the Heart Is

2008-11-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

I was able to come home for Fall Break this year! I flew in on a Wednesday night. On Thursday everyone was at work and school. I just couldn't stay in the house, I had to take advantage of every moment I was home. It's funny... the older I get... the less I desire to live in my house, but the more I love coming home. Nothing compares to the feeling of driving past the Welcome to Missouri sign or stepping off the plane at the St. Louis airport, nothing. Ok, so since there was no one to hang out with during the day Thursday I tried to think of something I hadn't done in awhile. One look at my ponytail and I knew a haircut was very much needed, must be something in the water in St. George 'cause my hair grew like 5 inches! After I was beautified at Hair Engineers West, I still had lots of time to waste. It's hard to believe, but I realized it had been over two years since I walked through my high school doors, well besides to watch a couple of basketball games. So, I drove right over there, marched right in and went straight to the guidance office! Saw some of my favorite secretaries (Mama Clark) and counselors. After chatting with them I headed straight for the Spanish hallway! My favorite teacher in high school was easily my Spanish teacher, Ms. Wright. I hadn't talked to her since graduation, and it was so great to see and talk to her again! I will always remember her and how much I enjoyed her class. It was exciting to tell her that I am taking Spanish in college and that I'm going to attempt at getting a minor in it! :) Maybe next time I come to visit her I will be able to impress her with my Spanish skills!

Wow, I can write a lot. Only if I'm in the mood... guess I've been in the mood lately! Soon enough I'm sure this blog will go untouched for another 3 months. Haha. I hope everyone is enjoying this, but I don't blame ya if you just scroll to the pictures (that's what I would probably do after seeing this huge message).

Nope, I'm not done. Just a little more....

The rest of my break was... a dream. I had an unforgettable and unrepeatable visit home. I got to spend time with friends that I don't get to see often, but that I will never forget. Went to a sculpture park in St. Louis, to the Cheesecake Factory, to a movie, to a Rams game! Lots of fun! :) Here are a few of the fun pictures from the sculpture park...

Run, Mary, Run!

2008-11-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

My cousin, Mary, runs cross country for Utah Valley and a couple of weeks ago she came down to Cedar City for a race. Cedar is about 45 min. from St. George, so I got to see her run! It was so fun, because Big Mary made a surprise visit from Missouri and Anna and Sarah came down, too! I had fun cheering Mary on and spending time with my aunt and cousins. :) Oh yeah, and Mary WON!!! She kicked butt.

Picture: Me, Big Mary, Mary, Sarah, Anna (The Nothum girls!)

The Crack

2008-11-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I found out that I needed to have another knee surgery. Just a knee scope, so it wasn't nearly as serious as my first surgery, but still no fun. I had my first surgery at home and my mom was there to cater to my every need, thanks mom! This time, however, I wasn't able to come home. I thought back on how I felt after my first surgery and knew that I didn't want to go through it alone. Thankfully Kelly, a friend from Missouri living in Salt Lake City, was kind enough to drive down for about 5 days and take care of me! She came down a couple days before the surgery so that we could have some fun. She used to live in St. George, so she showed me the city a little bit. We drove around and looked at some of the beautiful homes, made treats, watched lots of movies (love redbox), and she took me to The Crack! The Crack is just what it sounds like... it is a crack! Kelly described it to me as a tiny split between two huge rocks, and we were going to climb through it. Sounded fun! When I first saw The Crack, I was suddenly not so sure how fun it was really going to be. I thought I was going to get permanently wedged or one of the rocks was going to come tumbling down on me. Kelly wouldn't let me turn back though. I went first and at times I was unsure if I was going to make it out alive, haha. Once I reached the light it was a celebration and it was all worth it! Kinda like life I guess... it's scary, unpredictable and at times we feel like backing out. If you keep your eyes on the light of Christ and work faithfully towards His light with support from family and friends you have strength to continue. I imagine that making it through life will be a celebration much, much bigger than getting outta The Crack! :) Well... there was some thoughtful insight for ya!

Anyways, here are some pictures from our Crack adventure!

Those Summer Nights

2008-10-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

(Yes, it is the last day of October and I am posting pictures from the summer!)

I was able to spend my last 3 weeks of summer at home with family and friends! It was a great end to an unforgettable summer. I made it home just in time for the Washington Town & Country Fair. I can't pretend that this has ever been something I looked forward to since my preteen, middle school days! Somehow, every summer I am suckered into going. Who wants to stay home while all your friends are out!? Not me. I'm just not a fan of standing in humid, loud areas with lots of people, I guess. Surprisingly, I had a BLAST at the fair this year! Being able to spend time with friends from home is a very precious and rare opportunity for me since I don't go to school in Missouri and spent most of the summer in NY. I have to make the most of every time I am home and the fair surpassed my expectations! The best part was spending time with those friends who mean the most to me, even while sweating (unless I am wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts, I'm not big on perspiration). One of the highlights of the fair was dancing with Carmen, Erin, Adam, Matt & their friend Mark in the entertainment tent! Things were beginning to get a little boring for me (standing, talking) and us girls heard some good music and went to dance! Of course the boys followed ;). We had some good laughs and took some fun, sweaty pictures! Can't say we look our best in the pictures, but looking good was the furthest thing on our minds... we were TOGETHER having a blast.

So, enough of me writing, the pictures speak for themselves! There are also some pictures from Table Rock Lake. I was lucky enough to go down there with the Wood family and Carmen. It was an amazing trip! :) OOohh those summer nights...

Some friends...

Dancing & singing! You can see the boys behind us coming to join!

Look at Erin's face between Carmen and I.

Hello Brooklyn

2008-06-23T13:33:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday Moni, Raquel and I took at trip into the city. We took the subway to Brooklyn and then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. By the time we made it over the bridge our feet were KILLIN' us. The walk over the bridge was a little over a mile long, but we walked around the city quite a bit, too. We were very thankful that church wasn't until 12pm the next day, because we were POOPED and needed to sleep in! It was an adventure! Takin' a trip across the Brooklyn Bridge

Me gettin' started!

To the right of me it drops off to the highway... scary!

Veiw of the Manhattan Bridge

BYEBYE BROOKLYN!

NY Harbor Cruise

2008-06-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

I went on a cruise around New York City with Moni and Graham (two friends from church). We had a lot of fun dancing (even though the music wasn't always "danceable?") and the city and water are beautiful at night.

Here are some pics!

We stopped at Coldstone for some ice cream afterwards, YUM!

It was a fun night in NYC with two very fun people!

Dream Job

2008-05-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

It was TOO beautiful outside today... I had to take Molly to the park. She is just so darn fun to be with, I don't mind spending my days with her. And she LOVES to sleep, so when she is snoozing I clean up and then read or blog! Man, what a hard job I have.....

Sliding...

Swinging...

Laughing...

I LOVE IT!

The View!

2008-05-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the view from the apartment.... we are on the 18th floor and it's beautiful!

A Picture That I Love...

2008-05-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

YEP, That's my knee! I tore my ACL in a game on Dec. 1st and had surgery Dec. 27th. Needless to say it was and still is a painful, tough recovery. I'm getting through it though and should be playing by the end of the summer. If everything goes well then I will be ready for basketball season, if not I will red shirt and have an extra year to get back to where I was.

Another UPDATE: I'm transferring to play basketball at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah! Dixie is also a Division II, NCAA school. A fun fact about Dixie: a few of the teams within the conference are in Hawaii, so YES... I'll get the chance to play in Hawaii! :)

Don't worry, my knee no longer looks so.. ugh. All that is left is a couple of ugly scars that I'm quite proud of.

Takin' a Lil' Bite Outta the BIG APPLE!

2008-05-26T11:06:00.002-07:00

OK... So, I'm not the most dedicated blogger and you can't even compare me to Em, BUT.... I'm coming for ya Emily Broadbent! haha.

In case anyone is wondering where I'm at these days... I recently moved to New York to live with my uncle Ben and his wife Jill for the summer. Why??? Well, who wouldn't take an opportunity to live here? And I'm going to be their nanny! They have a 1 year old daughter, Molly, (words can not describe how adorable she is) and I am so excited to spend the summer with her!

Ben and Jill live in New Rochelle, NY, which is right outside of NYC... the city is just a train ride away! They live in a beautiful apartment with just enough room for all of us. Molly gave me her room and she seems to be satisfied with her parent's closet, haha.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I knew I wasn't in the Mid-west anymore! There were people EVERYWHERE, and nobody seemed to be speaking English except for the airport employees yelling for everyone to 'BACK UP' and 'let these people off of their plane!' I was rolling over toes with my small suitcase and when I would say sorry (even though they were in my way) they would just glar back... and I couldn't help but laugh. I like to people watch... so I knew this place was going to be fun! Ben met me at the baggage claim and we were off! The highways were just like the airport. Cars everywhere, horns beeping and to put it lightly... aggressive driving.

Even though everyone around me here seems to be going a million mph everywhere they go.... somehow I feel like my life slowed down and my days are more enjoyable because of it. Up until about 4 days ago (when I arrived to NY) I would go to bed late and sleep in as long as possible, and somehow I was still feeling sleep deprived. Well, now my sleeping habits are improving whether I like it or not. (...I like it)

The HUGE window in my room now replaces my Lion King alarm on my phone. Everyday I wake up between 7 and 8 with the sunlight shinning in my face forcing me to get out of bed. To my surprise it's not all that bad! I get a lot done during the day and then go to bed at a decent time also... it's quite enjoyable. :)

I don't have very many pictures to put up right now, but I'm not too worried about seeing everything at once...I'm going to be here for 3 months! Although, there are a lot of things I want to do and see!

A couple fun things I've done:

Jill, my aunt works for the U.N. and so this past Saturday Ben, Molly and I took the train to the city and had lunch with her there. I forgot my camera (won't happen again), but the U.N. buildings were pretty cool to see and Jill took us into the big room where all of the countries meet!

The church building is only a 5-10 min. walk and so yesterday I walked to church and it was so nice outside. The building is home of 2 wards, a Spanish speaking ward and then the English speaking ward. Sacrament was packed and everyone was so nice. The building is beautiful and only a couple years old.

Anyways.... Don't expect me to write this much everytime! :)

White Water Raftin' in Wisconsin!!!

2007-09-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

At Upper Iowa there is an outdoors pursuits club and a couple weekends ago some of the basketball girls and our assistant coach took an 8hr trip to Wisconsin for white water rafting! It was a lot of fun.... road tripping, camping, cooking, rafting, swimming, making s'mores!

YUMMY!

Some of the basketball girls!!! (above)

Ok, so it wasn't real camping! haha

Getting ready... I wore a pink Disney Princess helmet that was too small!

The whole group before heading out!

A veiw of the last rapid we went down. It was a class 4 rapid, and a 10 foot drop... EXCITING!

I risked my life for this picture :)

Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all! My parents and aunt Cinnamon are coming up this weekend for Family Weekend! :) They are going to take me to the mall and Wal-Mart... two places I havn't seen much of in awhile! Then we are going to just hang out and visit, can't wait to see them!!!

Dorm Life

2007-08-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

This blog is for all my family and friends! I thought I would join the club and 'blog it up!' I want to update you all on my life and the fun things I'm doing here at Upper Iowa University! I'm extremely busy with school and pre-season right now so it's hard for me to find time and call all the people I want to! I'm not sure how much I'll actually update this, but I'll add new pictures often! Love you all. Miss you all.

These are some pictures of my dorm and my wonderful roommate Chelsea! (she is also on the basketball team and from Minnesota)