Memories...in the corner of my mind...

Scattered PICtures....of the way we were...

So on Easter, my dad had us all get together and sort through a bunch of old pictures and take the ones we wanted. We all left with stacks of them. I thought I would be so kind as to share some old pictures of me. Enjoy!

When I was 4, I got a Koala backpack for Christmas because I was going to Kindergarten that following fall. That koala became a permanent fixture on my back for the next 2 years.

Cookie Monster and hot dogs. My two favorite things as a 4 year old.

That's right. I'll make scary faces at you to get what I want.

My parents used to take us to CA every summer. In this picture I was 10, Amy was 13, and Anne was 16.

My awesome parents took me (and just me) to Hawaii when I was 14. They rock.

One year for Christmas I got feety pajamas! I wish I still had them!

In 9th grade I wanted to be an astronaut. And an artist. Here is my attempt at combining the two. It was short lived.

College day in 8th grade!

My beautiful mother and me. I was 21 here.

A day in the life of a missionary! This was me (on the far right) with my favorite companion (Alyssa Madden Cabrales, front left), one of our favorite member missionaries Brooke Hart, and our favorite less active member Bill. Those were some good times. I really loved being a missionary!

Book Review Time! The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

I am almost done reading all three books in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, so I figured it was time to make my thoughts known on the books and the author.

I can pretty much sum it all up in a few simple words.

The books are AMAZING and Stephenie Meyer is a GENIUS!

Seriously.

It all began with Twilight, which I first read about 3 weeks ago when my sister Amy suggested it to me. It seemed at first to be a simple story about a girl who moves to a new city and meets new, yet somewhat strange people. But it turned out to be so much more than that. It became addicting. Seriously addicting. I finished all 500 something pages in 3 days. (Yeah, I didn't sleep all that much...).

The way that Stephenie writes just keeps you captivated and wanting more. It's almost painful to have to close the book and go be productive! I'm not even exaggerating! So I finished Twilight, and couldn't WAIT to get my hands on New Moon.

Now I had been told by 3 people that New Moon was the slowest moving of all three books. Although they raved about it as much as Twilight, they all seemed to think that it was slow and somewhat uneventful. I didn't find that to be the case. I was just as much captivated by New Moon as I had been by Twilight. I will admit that the beginning of New Moon sort of crawls by uneventfully, but it quickly picks up and things happen that I didn't quite see coming!

This isn't really like me to get so caught up in a trend (I never read any of the Harry Potters or saw the movies, and I never will, and Lord of the Rings is the only movie(s) that can put me to sleep in record time). But there is just something about these books and the way Stephanie Meyer writes that has captured my interest and isn't letting go.

I am now 200 pages away from finishing Eclipse. In a way I don't want to finish it because I don't want it to be over! My sister said that she felt like she'd lost a good friend when she finished Eclipse! That's just how great these books are! Eclipse thus far has been the most eventful, and the most attention grabbing of the three books yet. Although you can't read Eclipse without reading Twilight and New Moon first. You just can't.

I know I'm not telling you much about the books themselves, about the plots or the characters, but I don't want to give it all away! No one had told me anything about the books when I read them, and I was definitely happy about that, because then I was surprised and more enthralled when certain things happen than I would have been if someone gave it all away.

I am VERY excited for the fourth book in the series that comes out in August of this year. It's called Breaking Dawn. And although I have an idea of what might happen in Breaking Dawn, I can't be too sure!

Not only that, but Twilight the movie is coming out December 12 of this year! They've picked an absolutely PERFECT cast for the movie. I couldn't have picked a better cast myself!

So, to sum up, if you're looking for a good series of books to read, and you don't mind being so consumed by something that you are WAY less productive than you're used to being, I ABSOLUTELY recommend the Twilight series to you!!

Now here is Stephenie Meyer's bio. For more information on the books or the movie, you can go to her website http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ and check it all out!

Because I love to talk about my Scottie!

1. What is his name? Scott Allen Warner

2. How long have you been married? It will be 2 years on June 23!

At the Mt Timp temple June 23, 2006

3. How long did you date? Well we knew each other for a couple years before we dated. We met in Milwaukee in Jan 2004 (his first day in the mission) and we kept in touch after I went home. Then we started dated Feb 2, 2006, about 2 weeks after he got home, and were married 5 months later!

This was the first night we hung out after his mission!

4. How old is he? He'll be 24 in August. I know. I'm a cradle robber

5. Who eats more sweets? Honestly it's about even. I would have to say he does a little more now that I've been trying to lose weight.

6. Who said I love you first? Scottie did. I wasn't expecting it, and it caught me off guard, but I knew I loved him too, so I said it back after a ridiculously long pause!

7. Who is taller? Scottie is. I'm 5'5" and he's just shy of 6'

8. Who can sing better? Well I have had training, but Scottie sings CUTER. It's SO stinking cute when he sings. Sometimes it's a little out of tune, and sometimes he makes up the words, but I love it. And he always asks me if it sounded good. It always does :)

9. Who is smarter? We definitely compliment each other in that area. Scottie is really smart when it comes to figuring things out and fixing things and what not, and I have the upper hand in English and Grammar, and textbook stuff. But we are both terrible at math.

10. Who does the laundry? We have a system. I start the first load, and then when it's done, he'll put it in the dryer and start the next load. Then I do the folding, then we both put it away! It works wonderfully.

11. Who pays the bills? I usually manage the finances, but we work together on financial decisions.

12. Who sleeps on the right side? That doesn't matter. I just have to be on the side closer to the bathroom!

13. Who mows the lawn? The maintenance guy. Gotta love living in a condo. haha

14. Who cooks dinner? We take turns. Scott is a really great cook. I'm not so great but I enjoy it.

15. Who drives? We also take turns there. Depending on what time it is and who is more tired.

I caught him off guard with this pic. Good thing we were at the bank and not driving down the road!

16. Who kissed who first? I LOVE this story. Ok. So it was our first date, Feb 2, and we were sitting on the front porch of my sister's house. We had been talking for a long time and he had his arm around me. He kept saying the funniest things, and I would laugh and kind of lean into him. His plan was to kiss me the next time I laughed and leaned torward him. So he said something to make me laugh and I leaned in but he hesitated. So I started talking and then he kissed me. Right on my TEETH! He was like, Uh, yeah, I didn't mean to do that. We both started laughing, and I told him he could try again if he wanted So he did. It was super cute.

17. Who asked who out first? Scottie asked me to be his first "post-mission" date, so that he could get into the swing of dating with someone he was comfortable with. He never dated anyone else.

18. Who proposed? Scott did. He surprised me by showing up at my apartment at midnight dressed in a suit with flowers and a ring. It was so beautiful!

19. Who has more siblings? Scott - he has two sisters and a brother. I just have two sisters.

L-R Scott's sisters" Becca, Laura, My sisters: Anne, Amy, My mom, My dad, Me, Scott, Scott's dad, Scott's mom, Amy's husband Sean, and Eric (Scott's little brother).

20. Who wears the pants? Well in a way we both do. But Scott is the priesthood holder and I respect that, and usually let him have final say. Unless I have a really strong opinion. Which isn't unlike me!

I hope you've learned a little more about why I love this amazing man! He's incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better husband.

Alison & The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Yesterday I had a really bad day.

It all started at 4 am. I was slumbering peacefully in my bed, with Jawz on my pillow as usual. I don't know if something just spooked him or what, but all of a sudden I was awakened by a searing pain in my forehead. I reached up to feel what it was, and covered my hand in blood. It freaked me out so Scottie took me into the bathroom. After we cleaned off the blood i saw a HUGE scratch from the top of my hairline down my forehead about an inch. It is SO ugly and awful and painful!

The picture isn't that good, but you get the idea I'm sure.

So along with that, I also got a sliver in my hand while we were moving some furniture, I choked on a cracker and lost my lunch, and then found out from the doctor that apparently I have asthma and have had it for some time, but just never knew. Go figure, eh? I just thought it was normal to not be able to breathe sometimes.

But anyway, Scottie took such good care of me. He bought me neosporin for my cut, helped me get the sliver out, and when I was sick and throwing up, he stood with me and comforted me and rubbed my back. Then he took me to bed and brought me tylenol. It's one of those days where you want to die, but at the same time you are thankful for what you have.

On a lighter note, the other day I saw a beautiful rainbow. I was on my way to the Mayan with my parents for my nephew's birthday, and the rain stopped and the sun came out, and there was this beautiful full rainbow across the sky. I loved it because you could see the whole thing. I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing, but I think this picture is really nice with the mountains in the background.

It's seeing things like this that remind me of just how beautiful this world can be. In spite of all the hate and evil that is found in this world, there can still be beauty if we look for it.

ALISON

I LOVE YOU

Jag and Jawz

Well Scottie and I are both feeling a little better. He went to the doctor and got a prescription for his throat, and I went to the grocery store and stocked up on orange juice and tums. And then we both took tylenol and slept for almost 12 hours. We woke up to the sounds of our neighbors walking around upstairs, and I had a cat sitting on my head giving himself a bath. So that has inspired me to write a little bit about our itty bitty kitties, Jag and Jawz.

Jag and Jawz are brothers (ya know, from the same litter...haha) and they were born on my mother's birthday, April 22. In May of last year we decided we wanted to adopt a cat. I'd been watching a lot of ASPCA commercials and videos and I just HAD to do something. I couldn't let one more animal fall victim to an abusive home or be put to sleep due to over population. I just COULDN'T. So we got in touch with a lady from No More Homeless Pets Utah and she told us she had some kittens that someone had left on her porch that desperately needed a home.

We went to her house and there they were - these two RIDICULOUSLY cute black kittens who were SO playful and happy.

(Don't mind Scott's black hair in that picture, he was going through a phase). So anyway, one of them came up to us and with big green eyes silently begged to come home with us. We couldn't resist. We instantly picked him up and agreed to adopt him. But then his brother came and as a woman (and it's well known that women are given the ability to read cats' facial expressions) I knew that he was upset about being left behind. So we decided to take him too. We couldn't seperate two brothers who obviously had a special little bond!

When they were teeny like in the pictures, they looked SO much alike, it was hard to tell them apart. We named the larger one of the two Jag, as in Jaguar, and the other one Jawz, because he's a biter. Not just a clever name, as you can see here:



















Now they're older, and tons of fun. Jawz loves to sleep on my pillow with me and often mistakes my head for the pillow, and Jag likes to sleep inbetween us on the bed. They have a lot of fun together and I am so glad we didn't seperate them. I know it would have been heartbreaking for them. I know this is way cheesy, but I love my cats like they're part of the family! They're my itty bitties!



That's Jawz yawning with his big mouth, and Jag with the remote and the soda. He takes after his owners. Fo sho.

SICK! Ugh!!

So last night I got to deal with a little bout of the flu. How exciting is THAT? What I had thought was a ltitle innocent cold turned out to be the FLU. GRRR. And the worst part was, Scottie was at work from 4-midnight, so I was home all alone with no one to whine to. He finally came home bringing me sprite and a handful of Tylenol PM and I was finally able to break the fever. Of course with all the meds in my system I had crazy dreams, like being a part of the Friends cast (I think I watch Friends just a little too much) and taking helicopter rides over Southern California with a fist full of Dum Dum Suckers that I was trying to pass off as a black light so the cool girls wouldn't get mad at me.

Can we say my subconscious is trying to tell me that I'm NUTS??

So anyway, this morning Scottie woke up with a fever and a sore throat. He's really good at catching strep throat, and then passing it on to me. He's going to the doctor in a half hour and he won't let me go with him. Even though I make him come to the doctor with me. Apparently he's a "big boy" who can go to the doctor by himself. I do admire that in him. I can't go to the doc by myself. I'm too much of a baby. But he's made me go by myself the past couple times and I think it might just be making me stronger. haha

I hope Scottie gets better though, because I feel so bad when he's sick. He's so tough, though, and he won't admit that he's really in a lot of pain. He's a great guy. I love him mucho.

And that's all I have to say....about that.

Nothingness

So this morning I woke up and thought I had experienced a miracle! I could SEE! I came out from the bedroom and could see the tv from the couch which I haven't been able to experience since I was 10. Well, as it turns out, I had simply fallen asleep with my contacts in, and now I have a terrible headache.

Yesterday I thought I would be charitable. We had new neighbors moving in upstairs and they had a u-haul full of boxes. It's an older couple (not like elderly but just older....haha) and the man was doing all the work. I offered to help, not really thinking about what I was getting myself into. Because halfway through the process it started to snow. And I was only wearing a Tshirt and jeans. When we finally finished and I came inside, my skin burned like the dickens and not even the hottest cup of hot chocolate warmed me up. I woke up this morning with a terrible cold. If I died today, would I get a one way ticket straight to Heaven? Ugh. I hope so. I guess it gave me a whole new meaning of selfless service.



If you haven't noticed already, this blog is titled Scott and Alison. But really I just get on here and ramble about random stuff that doesn't really even interest myself. I kind of just get in the stream of consciousness mode and whatever is in my mind comes out through my fingertips and there it is. In a way it's kind of theraputic. Kind of nice.



So here's a little adoption update: We will be starting our home study in May, so that come June, we will be ready to apply. That means we could have a baby as quicky as December! I can't imagine a better Christmas present! The only preference we have is right now we really want a boy. We don't really have a preference on ethnicity. I am just excited to actually have a child of our own. I had another doctor's appointment on Friday, and at my followup appointment we will have a better idea of what's preventing me from getting pregnant. Right now it could be anything, so it will be nice to narrow it down and also to find out if there is going to be a possibility of having our own children. But of course we are going to adopt, because we both REALLY want to. I have wanted to adopt since I was a teenager.



I found all my old journals from middle school up to my mission, and it's been really interesting to read all of them. From my plans for the future to boys I liked, to friends I had and things that happened, I realize just how much I have changed in the last 10 years or so. My life now is completely different from how I'd planned it, but I wouldn't change a thing. Well, except of course my body, but that'll never be how I want it until after I die! haha



I'm really grateful for the friends I've had throughout the years. Each one of them has played a vital role in my life, one that without which I wouldn't be who I am today. I don't think any of them know just how much they all mean to me, especially because I'm so terrible at keeping in touch. That's something I always vow to work on, but I know I probably won't. So I apologize for that.



Okay well there's a really ridiculous movie on right now that's distracting me from writing. It's the kind of movie that you can't help but watch, even though at the same time it makes you want to stab yourself with a dull rusted spoon. I'm sure you know what I mean.