Halloween Fun!!

This weekend we celebrated Halloween since Scottie will be working on the 31st. We had a ton of fun!

Scottie makes a fabulous Hillary Clinton!

On Saturday morning I baked some Halloween cookies! They were fantastic! Then we went over to his parents' house where we had lunch and carved pumpkins! I love carving pumpkins! It's one of my favorite things about Fall! My pumpkin is pictured below. Scottie didn't do one this year, which surprises me, but he was more interested in painting his two year old cousin's face like a lion. That story would have to be it's own blog. I might just post the videos of that, because it was SO funny!

Michael kept rubbing his face, but I thought Scottie did a good job considering the subject - a squirmy 2 year old!

After the pumpkin carving, we went to a party at one of my mother-in-law's friend's house. We had homemade chili, popcorn balls, and more candy than should ever be consumed by any human being. Then it was off to the theater to see Saw V!

I know what you're thinking - only seriously twisted people like to watch the Saw movies. But it just happened to turn into a Halloween tradition for us when the third Saw came out. They're not as bad as people might think - a little creepy and definitely a little gory, but we don't mind it. After the movie a bunch of people came over to our house and we just hung out and chatted and played some games till about 1 am! I can't remember the last time we stayed up that late just hanging out! It was definitely a good time.

Today, Sunday, we went over to Scott's parents' house again for a fantastic dinner of steak and baked potatoes and salad. We watched a little Steelers vs Giants (Scottie is a diehard Steelers fan) and then came over to Scott's sister Becca and her husband Alik's apartment for some more scary movies! We watched Halloween (the new version made by Rob Zombie) which I gotta say, was a LOT scarier than the original 800 Halloween movies!! Then we watched The Glass House, which is really more intense than scary.

Fun times were had by all! Yay!

Looking back on my life, I realize that I really didn't enjoy Halloween that much as a kid. I mean, of course I enjoyed dressing up and going trick or treating, but something always happened - I'd get separated from my friends, I'd lose part of my costume, I'd get lost on my way home, etc etc etc. I've noticed that I enjoy Halloween a lot more now that I'm married. And I know I'm really going to have fun when the kids come along, although the scary movies will have to be put on hold!

Anyway, here's wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween!!

I was tagged!

I was tagged on a friend's blog, so I thought I'd do this one! It's the blog o' 8.
And if you are reading this right now, I tag YOU to do it. whahahahhah!

8 Favorite TV Shows

1. CSI (the original one, not NY or Miami)
2. Friends
3. Secret Life of the American Teenager
4. Ghost Hunters
5. Snapped
6. American Idol
7. Full House
8. One Tree Hill

8 Favorite 'Restaurants'

1. TGI Fridays
2. Apollo Burgers
3. Olive Garden
4. Texas Roadhouse
5. Wendy's
6. PF Changs
7. Gourmandise Bakery
8. Su Casa

8 Things that Happened Yesterday

1. Drove to work
2. Went to court
3. Addressed the court because my attorney wasn't there
4. Drove a lot
5. Discussed politics with a co-worker
6. Went to Astro Burgers for dinner with Scottie
7. Watched The Hulk
8. Went to bed late

8 Things to look forward to

1. Owning a home
2. Moving out of this hole I call an apartment
3. Losing weight
4. Being a mama
5. Having a better TV
6. Having new couches
7. Christmas!
8. Scottie coming home from work

8 Things I love about Fall

1. The perfect weather
2. Beautiful leaves
3. The feeling in the air
4. Crispy mornings, perfect afternoons, and cold nights
5. The best holidays come right after fall
6. Pumpkin pie
7. Carving pumpkins!
8. Daylight savings time - getting that extra hour of sleep is amazing.

The McAli's SEMwich!

I told you I'd post pictures, and now it's time to deliver!
Here is the McAli's SEMwich in it's beginning form and as the finish product!
Enjoy!

Hindsight is 20/20

If you didn't read my last post, the don't. If you did, then you'll be happy to know that I was SERIOUSLY over-reacting. I mean, I actually thought that someone didn't like ME! haha

Okay yeah. I had a nice lil chat with the person, and it was all kind of a big misunderstanding, mostly on my part. Although she was a little upset with me, but it was because I did something really stupid, and didn't realize it. She was very good to sit down with me and talk things out.

And now I have learned a lesson.

The lesson is this: Don't do stupid things. And when you do, rectify the situation as soon as possible. And if you did the stupid thing and don't realize it, then ASK someone if you're unsure.

Whew. So. I over-reacted. Big deal. I do that all the time. If anyone knows me really well, they'll know just how much like Monica from Friends I really am. And it's kind of embarassing. But funny at the same time.

Well, I'm settling into a new week, and school starts up again tomorrow for the next 6 week block. I'm kind of excited (to get it overwith) and not so excited for the homework and reading I'll have to be doing. But I desperately need a masters degree if I don't want to work for DCFS the rest of my life.

I've been getting up really early for work lately, and I gotta say, I absolutely LOVE coming in to work at 7 am - there's not many people here, it's quiet, the morning sun is so gorgeous, the roads are clear, and I get to go home earlier! I am making this a new tradition. I've been coming into work at 7 (when I don't need to come in till 9) and I've felt so good the past week!!

And while I'm on the subject of feeling good, I'd like to share my new favorite breakfast with you. It's healthy, quick to make, and easy to take on the go. Here it is. I'll call it McAli's S.e.m.wich. (Sausage Egg Muffin)

Here's what you need:
1 Wheat English Muffin
2 Eggs (or the eggbeaters if you prefer)
1 Morningstar Vegetarian Sausage Patty
1 slice of cheese (optional, but it DOES keep it all together)
and a microwavable bowl.

Here's what you do:
Heat the sausage patty for a minute. Take out and let cool on the counter.
Put the muffin in the toaster, toast to your preference
Crack the two eggs into the bowl, mix with salt and pepper and then cook in the micro for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Place the sausage on the bottom of the muffin, then the eggs (which will be in a perfect little circle), put the cheese on top of the eggs, and put the top on. Then wrap in a paper towel and cook in the micro for 15 seconds. This melts the cheese which holds the whole sandwich together.

Now you're good to go!

It tastes SO much better than the McDonald's egg muffins, are MUCH healthier, and you can be proud because you made it yourself! If I remember to tomorrow morning, I'll take a picture of the one I make and I'll post it. Because we all know that a picture makes a recipe SO much better.

And by the way, Morningstar makes all kinds of amazing vegetarian meat products (that don't taste any different than the real thing). I like the sausage, the chicken patties, hamburgers and corndogs.
It almost makes it easy to eat less meat!

Okay that is all.

Oh the Random Ramblings of Alison

Have you ever gotten the feeling that someone just doesn't like you? Have you ever spent hours trying to impress this person, trying to get the to like you and you just CAN NOT succeed no matter how hard you try?

I've always thought of myself as easy to get along with, laid back, chill, personable and friendly. I've had a couple people in my life that I've clashed with, as most people experience (that reminds me of a Seinfield episode...you may know that one - George can't STAND that Jerry's girlfriend doesn't like him, etc etc etc). But I usually dismiss it, because they usually weren't people that made a significant difference in my life.

But what if this person held your future in their hands? And without warning, they could SQUASH you. Like a little bug that feels at home in your living room but is downright annoying and definitely not welcome. And what if this person disliked you more and more with every effort you made?

I know I'm blowing this WAY out of proportion. But there is a person in my life that I am getting this vibe from. And she's quite an important person in my life. I'm not going to go into detail about who she is and why I feel this way, because that's not the issue. The issue is the mere fact that I feel so stupid and totally don't know what to do.

I feel like all I do is annoy this person. I feel like no matter what, every time I talk to her, or see her, or even walk by her - she's annoyed. I've gone out of my way SO much this week - to the point of losing much needed sleep (while battling a cold), and going the extra mile when it wasn't necessary at all just to prove to this person that I am good enough. But why should it have to be that way? Ugh. I just don't get it.

Maybe as I've gotten older I've developed annoying habits or personality traits. Or maybe as I am a professional, I'm judged for my appearance. Or maybe, just MAYBE, I was wrong to ever assume that this person liked me in the first place. The fact remains that I am struggling with it.

Or it could be that she is having something else going on in her life. Which if that's the case, I wish I could understand it and help her out rather than feel shunned. Know what I mean? Gosh I'm such a baby.

Other than this minor issue...*sigh*...things are going quite well in Warnerland.

I've been doing well on my diet, except for a setback today when I had like 44395943 ounces of Dr Pepper. I went almost 2 weeks without it, and today that was all I wanted. But I've been good about only eating half of what I normally would - which has been awesome. I'm going to keep working on the whole eating right part of my life, and then when that's perfected, I'm going to move on to the exercise routine. I'm looking into buying a used exercise bike to put in front of the TV where I will have no excuse not to get on and pedal away whilst I watch CSI.

Financially things have gotten better. EVERYTHING is caught up, which rocks. We can finally start putting some into savings for our house fund. I am SO relieved about that. That 6 months of me working 1 night a week at a sleep lab totally screwed us over. Grrrrr money.

School is going well, and I'm excited to have met some of the awesomely cool people (like my BFF...you know who you are) and I'm SO excited to be going through this program with my sister. It's such an awesome experience to share with her. I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic sister.

I'm also excited that I've made some cool new friends at work. Who'da thought that social workers could be so...social??? With having Fridays off, we've been able to get together for some rockband playin, and game nights and fun stuff like that. This year has been a good one - bringing much needed people into my life!

I feel like I could ramble on forever. I have so much floating around in my lil wee brain, but it is something like 2 am and I really should sleep, so I can get through the last leg of this cold. I hope this was my cold for the season - I usually get only one per winter. If this wasn't it, then heads are gonna roll. For real.

Lastly, I just need to say that I am SO lucky to be married to Scott. He is such an amazing husband. He cooks, he cleans, he does laundry, he gives me massages, he scratches my back every night before I fall asleep, he works super hard - he's been picking up overtime so we can have the extra cash we've been needing. He does all his homework on time and goes to all his classes, he makes me laugh, he tells me I'm beautiful when he doesn't know I need to hear it the most, he keeps me warm at night, and he always keeps his promises.

I don't know where I'd be without him.

ALRIGHTY THEN.

If you read this far, then you're a diligent soul.
Thanks for stopping by!

What a Fabulous Week!!!

This was a wonderful week! So many great things happened and I feel so much less stressed (WAY less than when I wrote my last post!). Let me start with the weekend. Saturday was an interesting day. We got up, cleaned the house, and watched the morning session of General Conference. And then we got a phone call - someone wanted to buy our Sunfire!! We were so excited - because the sale of the Sunfire meant we would be able to buy the Toyota pickup from my sister - the Toyota that belonged to my brother-in-law. The truck that Scott would have given anything to own, rather than see it go back to the bank.

So we sold the car. We took it over that night! We then stopped by a church so Scott could see one of his favorite people from this mission - Scott Taylor. Scottie was SO excited to see him! After that, we drove to Heber to spend the night at my parent's house and watch General Conference.

I have always loved General Conference. No matter what, I ALWAYS feel like there is a message written just for me. And that rang true once again. I loved Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, and I absolutely LOVE Joseph B. Wirthlin. I also love the spirit that I feel when President Thomas S. Monson speaks. He's always such a compelling speaker - and as the Prophet, that spirit is just magnified SO much! It was another really great experience for me.

That night Scottie brought his new truck home!

Last night, Scottie and I went to see Weezer in concert! I had seen them before in 2002, but Scottie hadn't seen them yet, and Weezer has always been one of Scott's favorite bands. He was truly giddy when I got home from work. I had promised him this past Spring that we would go see Weezer if they ever came in concert. We ended up getting a great deal on tickets and we had pretty decent seats! And Scottie got to see another friend from the mission - Mark Taylor and his wife! I love that Scottie and I know the same people from the mission! It was so great to see the Taylors.



It was hard to get any good pics at the concert because our camera is being fixed, so we just had my phone!


Weezer put on an amazing show, as usual! Angels and Airwaves opened for them, and they're a great band as well. We had a blast, and I was glad we could take some time together and just do something fun! It feels like it's been way too long since we just spent some extra money and just plain had fun. Of course the concert went way too late and neither of us got much sleep last night!! But it was well worth it.

Yay for good weeks!!!

STRESSED OUT.

I don't know if it's just today, but I am ridiculously stressed out!!! I've been trying out new and improved ways of coping with stress, but so far nothing has really worked. The stress of these new coping methods not working is adding to my stress level, and I feel like I'm just going to EXPLODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here's why I'm stressed.

Since I started working for DCFS, my life has changed drastically. I used to spend all day at home, being able to keep the house clean and organized, cook dinner, have the laundry all done, etc etc etc. Then I would go to work a couple nights a week at the sleep lab. I got to see Scottie a lot, since he worked at nights also, and we'd have all day to be together. I also had no homework, no stress of school, and although our financial worries were still present, they weren't overbearing.

But NOW - I work four 10 hour days - from 8 am to 6 pm Mon - Thurs. I get home Monday nights at 7, just in time to scrounge something for dinner and try to tidy up what I can before going to bed at 10. Tuesdays I get off work at 5:30 and go straight to U of P where I'm in class till 10:00 at night. Wednesdays I get off work and go spend time with my Grandmother till 8 or 9 at night (which is usually the highlight of my week because my Grandmother is an amazing person) and then Thursdays I usually end up staying late at work to prepare for things on Monday. Fridays are my one day to get things done. Laundry, cleaning, shopping, and the random things that ALWAYS seem to come up. Not to mention homework.

Scottie goes to school Mon, Wed and Fri from 9 am to 3 pm and then goes straight to work till 11. I'm usually in bed when he gets home. He works Tue and Thur from 7 am - 3 pm and then goes to school till 6 pm. I feel like I never get to see him. We do get Thursday nights together for a couple hours, and then Sat and Sun, but we're always going somewhere doing something every weekend. The house seems to always be a mess. There's always dishes or laundry to do. And for some reason, now that I'm making more money, things seem to be more expensive. There's always a random new bill that just shows up. Or there's an ER visit when someone sprains their ankle playing Rockband on the Wii (I wonder who did THAT?!?!!) *cough* SCOTT *cough*

On top of that, my job is incredibly stressful. Not only am I stressed about the things going on in my own personal life, but I have 16 kids to worry about - 16 kids whose parents just don't seem to be gettin it. 16 kids that depend on me to keep them safe and help them with everything they need. 16 kids that only want to be loved. And I don't get why their parents can't do it!!!! Granted, they provide me with job security, so that's the silver lining in the world of DCFS, as sad as that is.

Whew. Okay. Venting session now over.

Now that you probably think I'm absolutely crazy, I was hoping for some stress relief advice. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way - all of you have lives that are just as busy, and more - because most of you have kids!! I can't imagine how you do it - the thought of being a mom right now is ridiculously overwhelming, and I admire each one of you superwomen moms!!!

So what do you do to relax? What gets your mind off the stresses of everyday life? I would love to know your secrets! So do tell!!!

Thanks for stopping by!