Kids these days....

How old am I, like 80?!? "Kids these days"... I say that all the time!

So, here is the deal. Most of you know that I have the honor and privilege of being in the YW in my ward. I love my girls! They are so so so much fun and so darling! They make me smile.

AND, they think I am pretty cool (except when I say stuff like "kids these days").

I am also pretty tight with all of the YM too. Well, because they are all pretty sweet little muffins!

Pretty Tight = Facebook friends.

Facebook has tons of quizzes you can take. Quizzes about EVERYTHING! Which Muppet are you? (Micah's personal fav). What Twilight character are you? How old are you? What color are you? Where should you REALLY live? What badass animal are you? Yada yada yada... The list is LONG!!! And, RANDOM!!!

In general, I do not take any of these quizzes! I do check FB most days, but the quizzes, well I leave those to PEOPLE.com. Facebook quizzes are not really my thing.

Lately a bunch of my young men have sent me requests to take some of these quizzes.

However, it seems highly inappropriate for me to take any of the ones they have suggested:

1.) What kind of kissing style do you have?

2.) Where will you get pregnant?

Just thinking about taking them for the benefit of my young men makes me feel like a cougar... or at least a puma!

Too Much Running!

Yesterday, my alarm went off and I rolled over to turn it off and I was almost in tears.

I thought in my head "I don't want to run anymore!!!"

I guess I have been feeling a little Forest Gump-ish lately.

I realized it was Sunday and I had to get up for my 2-hour correlation meeting before my 3 hours of church.

I don't think I have ever been SO happy to spend 5 hours straight at church...

at least I didn't have to run there!

I MAY be getting a little burned out... and I still have 11 weeks of training to go!

Envy!

A friend of mine is a week a way from having her 6th kid. All boys!

So, I sent her a quick message, but not to congratulate her, as I should have.

It said this:

"You have too many kids. Can I have this one?!?"

I MAY or MAY NOT have been serious.

News Flash!!!

Pei Wei has a frequent buyer card. Buy 10 get 1 free.

So, at this rate, Jackie and I should get a free meal every 2 weeks.

So, that's nice.

And, I think I have to find a new place to have my birthday dinner this year. Since I MAY be overdoing Pei Wei.

Do we think Cafe Rio will be open in Lake Forest by November?!? Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope!

My Unexpected Proposal.

Before you all get really excited about the title of this blog post, let me help you out, don't!

It is a rad story though!

Yesterday Marci and I had one kind of wonderful adventure. We TRIED desperately to get to the beach for a birthday party for a friend of ours. It was crazy busy by the beach! CRAZY! The party was by the Balboa Pier, which as it turns out is NOT the same thing as the Newport Pier and it IS a lot farther away! We left our house at 2 PM (it takes 15 minutes to get there). We parked at 2:45. We parked 26 blocks from the party! 2-6! And, we only had 1 hour parking. So, we booked it and after 25 minutes we got within 11 blocks of the party. We borrowed Marci's friend's car and drove back to get another hour of parking. It took us 10 minutes. So, we now had 50 minutes to go 11 blocks, find the party, drive the bikes back to 11th Street and walk 25 minutes back to the car! It was crazy. We never found the party! But, we spent the better part of 2 hours trying and another half hour trying to get home! It was crazy madness.

We were in super good spirits, because it was so so so entertaining. By the end of it all, we both looked like sweaty hot messes! And, we both got awkward sunburns! But, here was the raddest part - Marci's friend Michelle lives on 11th street above an older couple in her church ward. I had NEVER met this old couple. But, apparently the bikes we borrowed from Michelle were actually theirs. So, when we went to return them, the old man that owned them was in the yard where they belonged.

Old guy: Oh you guys caught me peeing. (Why was the guy peeing in his yard? No idea, his bathroom was about 15 feet from us. Luckily I didn't see him, poor Marci - first sign that the old guy probably had dementia).
Marci: Oh, sorry, we are just returning your bikes, Michelle let us borrow them.
Old guy: Are you married?
Me: Who me?
Old guy: Yes, you! What is your name?
Me: Ali, and yours?
Old guy: (He told me his name but, I can't remember it... which is the first sign that I might have dementia... but...) So, do you want to marry my son?
Me: With all due respect, you don't even know me!
Old guy: Well you're very pretty. And, I think that's all that matters. (dementia)
Me: That's what all guys think until they realize HOW crazy the girl they married really is! I am just saying...
Old guy: Are you mad?
Me: Mad, why would I be mad? Because I am red? I got sunburned.
Old guy: Would you like a cup of milk or something?
Me: Ummmmm, no thanks!
Old guy: Will you come in, I want to show you a picture of my son. He's 40. And, he needs to get married. Except maybe he's gay? What do you think?
Me: Ummmm, I don't even know your son, sir. I don't know.
Old guy: Ok come inside.
By this time Marci has abandoned me for her friend upstairs and I am stuck downstairs with the old guy. And, he pulls out a photo of his eligible son... who is 40. It's a Varsity basketball photo, the guy is like 17 years old in this photo.
Old guy: Isn't he handsome? I know he's my son, but don't you think he is good looking?
Me: Sure. He looks like a sweet guy.
Old guy: He's 6'4.
Me: I am in!
Old guy: Ok, good.

Did you say cake?!?!?

I have not had a single sip of diet coke in 3 days... but, who is counting?!?

Before the legions of you pass out, let me explain why in the world I would do that. In 95 days (but, again, who is counting)... I am going to run the Chicago marathon with my dear friend Seth. (P.S. Seth are you training yet!?! You better be! I am totally counting on you!!!) And, I am pretty sure that this will be my final marathon. (But, I think I have said that twice now, so you never know!)

Anywhoooooo... since this *may* be the grand finale race for me. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to run it under 4 hours... which is not easy for me. Thus, I feel the need to be in tip top shape! I even ALMOST got talked into doing a cleanse (that's how serious I am about this). Luckily my gag reflex would not allow me to drink flax seed meal or fish oil, so I opted out and have been eating a lot of sugarfree popsicles instead!

But, I HAVE decided that for the duration of this 95 (+3 =98) days, I will not drink any coke, nor will I eat any candy or cake (or any other sweets basically). This tactic is supposed to decrease the amount of friction I have to deal with! Rick Roberts is calling it the "aerodynamic diet." I like it! (The name, not so much the diet.) We all know I have some crazy love for anything with the word diet in it (but, I only have that love for about 5 days)!

So, anyway... this is what happened in my office today, I walked into Jackie's office with a 1.5L bottle of PLAIN OLE' REGULAR NO-GOOD WATER and had a very sorry looking expression on my face...

Ali: Jackie, at what point do you get any sort of praise if you're an alcoholic?"
Jackie: Why? Who? What are we talking about? Who is an alcoholic? She starts naming some people!
Ali: No. That's not what I am talking about. I mean, like when you're an alcoholic and you abstain from drinking, don't they give you like some sort of a coin or something?
Jackie: Oh, you mean because you're not drinking coke anymore, you think you need a coin?
Ali: Yea, kind of.
Jackie: Well, I think there are all sorts of milestones, like 30 days, and 60 days and 90 days or something. But, the best part is, I think they have a ceremony. And, I am pretty sure they always serve cake!

That ALMOST makes this bearable... almost!

A San Francisco 4th of July!!!

I have some MAD LOVE for my roommates. But, although we share a house, we all have such crazy hectic lives, that we really don't see each other as much as we should or as much as we want to.

So, when Marci asked if we were game to go to San Francisco to stay with her sister Joni, we were in! What better way to celebrate the 4th?!?

Joni was so sweet to let us stay there. She lives right in the city, so her apartment was tiny. Our air mattress took up the entire kitchen! It blocked all walkways, closets, cupboard, the fridge and the sink... it was rad!

We had a great time. It was the perfect little get-away. And, we all needed it (ok, mostly just Marci and I, because Diz is ALWAYS out-of-town, but she still had fun, too much... maybe!)

Neither Diz or Marci had ever been to the city, so we had to do all things San Fran and we didn't have much time to do it all.

We started by taking the bus (eeeekkkkk) to Union Station.

And, we did a bit of shopping, of course.

Then we hoped on a trolley...

... and headed down to Fisherman's wharf, to eat soup out of bread bowls and look at the boats and statues of pirates and firemen. Diz really wanted a "fireworks boyfirend." And, she did get chased down by an Asian guy who kept hitting her in the face with the Hello Kitty doll he had purchased just for her. Finally, he settled for placing it on the sidewalk for her and letting her know that it was there when she decided to pick it up. I have no idea why she didn't want to keep that guy, but whatever!

After the wharf we hit up Ghiradelli Square and shared a Sundae.

That night, we drove to half moon bay, picked up some delicious hot chocolate and layed on the cliffs overlooking the bay to watch the fireworks. Marci fell in LOVE with Half Moon Bay and tried to push us off so that she could have it all to herself, but that didn't work!

We also saw the Golden Gate Bridge, drove over it to be exact, but Marci had the child locks on the windows and for some reason thought Diz was kidding when she wanted them rolled down, so we didn't get a photo. But, I promised Diz that with 3 witnesses as proof, she would be fine just telling everyone about it.

Thanks for a wonderful weekend roommies. You both know how much I LOVE LOVE you... a ton more than I even love San Fran (or even Vegas).

A girl should ALWAYS listen to her mother.

Mothers ALWAYS know best. I am serious, it's just plain logical and intelligent thinking to admit that. They birthed you. They HAVE to love you. They just do. They want your happiness! (Because as your parent, your unhappiness is both terrifyingly sad to them... and kind of a burden too, right?!?) I mean, even a mother doesn't want to hear about you making the same ridiculous decisions ad nauseam.

Trust me, it's better for everyone involved to just heed to the counsel of your mother. Of this one thing, I am sure!

Fortunately/Unfortunately for me, my mother trusts my judgment and decisions so fully that she often just tells me that I'll know what to do, and I'll do what's best for me, and that she believes in me... yada yada yada.

And, the truth is that I appreciate that confidence and advice more than I could ever express in words.

But, I was really quite grateful that Jan (my mom) also gave me some legitimate and concrete advice the other day.

"Als, I am so proud of you. You are so incredibly emotionally mature. I think you should go buy yourself a present."

Since she's my mom, she has to say the first sentence. And, the second sentence is the 'feel good about yourself' sentence. But, the last one! That's the one that makes my mom MY mom! And, I LOVE my mom. She is truly one of my best friends.

Mother dearest, I will have you know that last night I stimulated South Coast Plaza in a way that only you would be proud of... and maybe Obama... maybe.