Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Dave and Leslie Boy! And Daniel!

It's pretty neat that my family has three generations of birthdays on the same day.

Love you all!

Here is a short (very short) list of why they are fantastic!

Grandpa is caring, happy, loving, sings, gives great hugs, etc.
Leslie is a great sister, friend, style icon, aunt, lover of all things Disney etc.
Daniel is a pretty awesome little man!

Raise Your Hand...

My nephew likes to play the "Raise your hand if you like..." game. Below is the video of him playing a special game of it.


Raise Your Hand... from Alli Brown on Vimeo.


Be sure to read the post below entitled, "I'm Getting Old," it has pictures. Thanks!


Oh, and if you don't understand him, he is saying "raise your hand if you like Jesus! And raise your hand if you like Joseph Smith!"

I'm Getting Old

Man, I am getting old. I have a hard time staying up past midnight now! And if I do stay up past midnight, I get sick or am grumpy. I spent the weekend hanging out with my younger cousins and brother. They have much more energy than I do. They are only a few years younger, and I did keep up with them, but I am utterly exhausted and I can't shake this cold I came down with. 


Let's start with Friday afternoon (11-11-11). I got done with my reading guide group thingy and met up with Emily and Caitlin to get bracelets for the BYU vs. USU basketball game that night. After we got our bracelets, we bought shirts that say "Y don't U kiss my A." 

Then we went to Rumbi for lunch. And following lunch we went to the mall. Caitlin, Emily, and I went in the Hurricane simulator, and came out feeling dizzy and sick to our stomachs. Such a weird feeling. Then we went back to Grandma Pat's for a little bit before heading to the Spectrum to wait in line for the game! We waited for a little less than two hours in line, but it got cold and we started playing all sorts of games. The game was loud and crazy and Utah State came away with a win! WOO HOO! Below are some photos of the cemetery we walked through to get to the Spectrum.

We went to Fredrico's for an after game snack and just had a grand ol' time. Finally, I couldn't take staying awake any longer so Tony and I went home. 


Saturday (11-12-11) was Tony's birthday! It was a fun day. It snowed (not so fun) and Tony went to the football game in it. He sported a garbage bag poncho. 


Later on, we went shopping so Caitlin could buy the shoes she found at the mall on Friday. After the mall, we headed over to Texas Roadhouse for a cousin party for Tony's birthday! It was fun and we made Tony get on the saddle. (I stole the photo from Caitlin since my camera died right when he saddled up).

After dinner, we went over to Grandma Pat's for cake. Then Emily decided she really wanted to go to the Fun Park to play laser tag. Me, being old and exhausted, didn't want to go, but luckily I did and I had a great time! Laser tag is really fun when you are play with people you know. I spent a lot of time laughing and screaming. We played boys versus girls. The guy told us not to run, but once you get in there, you can't help but run. Tony ran into the wall pretty hard. After we played for ten minutes (in boots I might add), we were all tired and sweaty. (Again, I stole the photo from Caitlin).

It was a fun night. Oh yeah, Caitlin won 40 tickets playing Deal or No Deal and used them to get those neon friendship bracelets. We went to Snow Hall and talked for a while and then Tony and I went home. It was so fun to hang out with my cousins, but I am just getting old because I am always exhausted.

On Sunday (11-13-11) we went to church and then ate a great Sunday dinner. Tony and I headed down to Kaysville for a sibling birthday party. I am so grateful for having my siblings in Utah and it's a good thing we just love each other. Overall, last weekend was busy, fun, and insane. And now it's almost Thanksgiving! I cannot believe it. Crazy!

The Hunger Games Movie Trailer

I am so excited!!!!! I've watched this trailer multiple times and I still find new things in it! And it's only shows snippets from the first third of the book. There is so much more to the story! I can't wait until March!

Happy Birthday Tony!

Today is my brother's birthday. 


Here are ten reasons why I love him (although there are MANY other reasons besides the ones listed below)...

• He is witty.
• He is funny and reminds me of Jim Halpert from The Office.
• He comes and picks me up from campus almost every day.
• He sleeps over on campus to get a good seat for Aggie basketball games. (Well, he did for the USU vs. BYU game).
• He looks after me.
• He loves his family (even if we bug him all the time).
• He is a great uncle.
• He has great one-liners and is very skilled with sport-type activities (see photo below).
• He puts up with my endless questioning.
• He is my little brother and will always be my little brother, even if he towers over me and looks like he's my older brother. I will always love him no matter what.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER! I hope your day is great, and it should be since Utah State beat BYU last night in the Spectrum! GO AGGIES!

Eleventh Hour. Eleventh Day. Eleventh Month.

"On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as "the Great War." Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars." 

(via here)

I remember going to Arlington Cemetery in high school and seeing the Changing of the Guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What a sight. I also remember the feeling I had when I saw the rows upon rows of headstones. It takes your breath away. Freedom is not free. War is not pretty. I am grateful for the sacrifice of all the men and women in the military. 

Thank you to all those who have served, are serving, and will serve the United States. God Bless America.


P.S. It's 11-11-11 today. Pretty neat.

Snot Funny

This week started off on a rough note (succumbing to a head cold with a faucet for a nose), but there have been some bright points. Just read the list below.

• I couldn't fall asleep Sunday night.
• I had weird dreams about fairy-tale characters and running out of time to do things.
• I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and headache.
• I almost missed the bus Monday morning because it came so early. I also I had to stuff my breakfast bar in my mouth before I got on the bus. Do you know hard it is to chew a whole breakfast bar? It's hard.
• I couldn't focus on anything at all this week.
• I spilled my FULL water bottle all over my front side. 
• Tuesday I woke up with aches and pains. I had a hard time getting out of bed.
• The bus came later than usual which meant I got to stand outside in the cold weather (with a cold, stuffy nose, and headache) for a longer period of time.
• I tend to feel better when I am outside and not inside.
• I got done with a lot of my work for my jobs. 
• This is a good week for me to be sick because it has been one of the lightest school weeks I have had this semester. 
• I've been sniffing and sneezing all week.
• Who knew that one person could hold so much snot? I blew my nose a lot this week.
• I got to read Crossed by Ally Condie (the next book in the Matched trilogy).
• My school work was very light this week (thank goodness).
• I slept for 9 hours straight! That's amazing for me.
• I was huffing and puffing while walking up stairs (thank you plugged sinuses). 
• I got a new calling in my ward and got my visiting teaching assignments. 
• I downloaded Snow Leopard on my MacBook.
• It's only Thursday and I am exhausted, but looking forward to the weekend.
• That's a lot of "I's" on that list... I need to change that.

As you can tell, this week has been eventful yet uneventful at the same time. Life is grand.

Seriously?

This happened a few days ago and I started writing about it, but I am behind in my posting, so here it is now, in all its glory.


I am swamped with assignments and work is super busy. I always feel more calm and can think better when I run. So, I went to the Fieldhouse to get all my frustrations and stress out of my system for a short three miler. I would go running outside, but it is usually dark by the time I can go running and my family doesn't like it when I run outside in the dark. Imagine that. 


Anyway, I changed and headed up the stairs to where the treadmills are. Now, do you remember me mentioning how the Fieldhouse has creepy men that like to stare on my last blog? Well, they are still there, and I think there may be more than there used to be. When I got to the treadmill I planned on using, the place was pretty empty, I mean there were people there but there were plenty of machines not near me that were not in use. Do you know where my story is going? Where do these smelly, sweaty guys decide to run? If you guessed a couple of treadmills away, you would be wrong. 


I had to complete my run inhaling sweat smelling air and one of the guys had really bad breath on top of that. Not my favorite thing to do. But if it keeps snowing and is dark and cold, I will be going to the Fieldhouse more often.

Have a Nice Trip? See ya Next Fall!

I couldn't help myself with that post title. It's punny. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

I've made pumpkin bars and apple crisp. And I only have a photo of the apple crisp.

I went to a football game with Grandma Pat, Tyler, and Leslie. We lost. But it was still so fun to go with them. And say "It's another Aggie... FIRST DOWN!"

We actually had a fall this year! Amazing. I got to go hang out with my seesters (and nephews) for Fall Break and it was fun! I bought some boots and we went to Gardner Village and looked at all the "tare me witches" and cute little shops. 

Dewey (not my nephew's real name but it's a funny nickname) didn't come with us, but this was his church outfit on Sunday. He was a happy boy! And he looks a lot like his older brother when he was a baby. Isn't he a doll?

It didn't snow until November and I got to see all the leaves change colors and drop. I got to help rake leaves and took some fun photos. This is the carpet of leaves in the backyard. It was a pretty cool sight to see!

I love these colors! And it's so fun to step on all the crunchy leaves. Fall is great.

 Oh, and Tony did a cool trick... watch below.

Leaf Jumping from Alli Brown on Vimeo.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

I saw these on a blog, and I thought I would give them a whirl. They didn't turn out the way I saw the pictures, but they are dairy-free and extremely delicious!


Basically, you are supposed to take a white cake mix (did you know that most white cake mixes have milk in them?) and make some of the batter yellow and some orange. Then you put the yellow batter in the cupcake liner first and then the orange. You have white frosting and viola! Candy corn cupcakes.


This is what mine turned out like...

I guess it's not that bad for a first attempt. I couldn't get the colors just right since I started with a yellow cake mix instead of a white cake mix. Also, I made homemade Vegan Buttercream Frosting. It made quite a bit of frosting and it was mighty tasty.

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Today is my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. I am glad they got married because then they had an AWESOME family. Someday I hope to get married and have as many adventures as they do. They are great examples to me and my siblings. I just love my parents. So here's to you Mom and Dad!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! I hope you have more adventures and continue to love one another! Thanks for everything you do. Don't you just love this photo? I sure do!