I'm Pretty Sure I Haven't Posted This Yet...

Well today at work, Kassidee, Megan and I were talking about dating and how scary it is and whatnot. So then I started talking about the weird/horrifying/hilarious dating experience I had about 2 years ago with a guy named Steven. This is the journal entry that I wrote the day after it happened, plus I've added a few details that I forgot to add when I originally wrote it. It was pretty traumatic at first so I was mostly concerned with getting the basic story down. So this is for all of you guys who haven't heard the story before. Mostly Megan. ;) Enjoy!

Okay, so in October my friend Kat wanted to hook me up with her brother Steven. He’d just barely gotten off his mission and he hadn’t been on a date since then which should have been a big indicator that I shouldn’t go out with him but eh, oh well. At least I’ll know in the future right? So she said she was trying to set it up so I would have a date with him Thursday and he’d go out with 2 other girls on Friday and Saturday. So I told her I would (more as a favor to her) and that she’d have to pick me up at my friend Kristal’s apartment at Old Farm because we were going to watch The Office that night. So she agreed and I told her that we would just go out for ice cream that night. That way if I thought the date was terrible it was alright because I would only be with him for half an hour. If it went well then…great!

So Thursday night rolled around and I was really nervous because I’d never been on a blind date before. After class the day Kat and I talked she introduced me to him really fast (he was outside our classroom) and I thought he looked kinda funny, like his eyes looked like they were sort of bugging out. Anywho, so I was at Kristal’s house then he came and picked me up and we drove to Casey’s ice cream place with Kat and her husband. So we talked and he was funny and I actually really liked him. So we had fun and made jokes, then we left the ice cream place and he walked me up to my room. I gave him a hug goodbye and then he asked if he could call me again, I said yes, and he left.

So yeah it was another 2 weeks after that before he actually called me. We talked for about an hour and he kept saying, “This is so weird! We’re talking like we’ve known each other forever and we’ve only seen each other for like half an hour! It usually takes years before I talk to someone like I’m talking to you.” So yeah we had fun and I kinda started to like him. So then probably 3 weeks went by and then he asked me on another date. It was the same week that we had to live in Richard’s hall because the boiler room in our building blew up. So he picked me up and we watched Ratatouille at his house. And then we talked for a long time. He kept telling me to ask him questions about his mission. So I asked him a question and he answered it and he had some really cool stories. So after he answered one I said, “So are we going to play a game like I ask you a question and you ask me a question?” He said, “No, I just really want to talk about my mission.” So yeah, that was kind of weird. He just wanted to talk about himself and wasn’t interested in learning more about me……yeah should have been a sign of some sort.

So basically I was over there until about 5:30 in the morning. Talking about him. And his mission. Yeah, we talked for a long time. Then I had class at 7:30 and that was sure fun. Anywho, so I thought we had a big connection and I got all excited and thought it might lead up to be something more than just a friendship. But yet again it took him about 2 weeks to talk to me again so that was really frustrating. But when he finally did call me I was a little sick but I really wanted to go out with him again so I said yes. He wanted to take me to Walmart to go buy some ingredients and then he wanted to take me to his apartment and make me dessert. So he picked me up and I got in his car and after a minute or 2 he said, “So I bet you've been wondering why I haven't been calling you for the past few weeks. Well I want to tell you something but I don’t know how to tell you.” I was thinking he was probably going to tell me that he liked me or something, which I would have been fine with and kind of excited about. So I said, “Well just try, go ahead and tell me what you want to tell me.” So he took a deep breath and said, “Ok. Well, I’ve been praying about us ever since our second date. Normally when I pray about girls that I like I get a straight out answer like, ‘No she’s not the right one for you,’ or whatever the answer is. But when I prayed about you and me, I didn’t get that kind of an answer. I think we should just give this a shot. Actually, I think that we belong together, and I think that the Lord really wants us together. We just get along so well together and we have so much fun together. I’ve fallen for some really shallow girls and you have a great personality. So after praying about it and stuff, I think we should give this a shot. That’s why I’ve waited so long to call you because I was afraid with the answer and how you would react. What do you think about it?”

Well, I was pretty much sick to my stomach. He basically proposed to me. It would’ve been ok if he just liked me, but after all that I was just like….well I started NOT liking him right then and there. So I said, “Well, I do like you but I think we need to take this REALLY slow. I’m a really slow person when it comes to relationships and we need to get to know each other better and stuff before we make that decision.” He’s like, “Yeah, I agree.” Then he told me he had to drop something off at a friend’s house. On our way over there he kept going… “You know, I think we were probably best friends in the pre-existence. No actually let me change that. I’m completely positive that we’re soul mates. I think that matchmaking angels have been all around us and have finally brought us together. I can just feel that we belong together.” Um okay, I was about ready to throw up at this point. So he kept saying stuff like that the whole time we were on our way to Walmart. It was crappy! So then we get to Walmart and I kept my hands in my pockets the whole time. The last thing I needed was someone I didn’t like that much trying to grab my hand. So we bought some ice cream and some stuff he needed to make apple crisp.

Then we drove back to his apartment. I was like thinking I must be dreaming. It sounded like something from the Singlesward, like when that guy Deverl tells that girl with the headgear “I think we met in the pre-existence.” I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me! It made me sick.

So we get to his apartment and he just kept saying the same things that he was so surprised I wasn’t running away (ha ha ha…) and that he just feels like we get along so well. Then he started talking about his first impressions of me and girls he’d liked in the past. It was a long, long hour I was over there. He said, “I usually fall for the drop-dead gorgeous girls and you’re totally not even like that so this is so weird that I like you. You’ve really taught me that personality is a lot more important than good looks. I mean, I remember the first time I saw you, right when my sister first introduced us after your English class. I took one look at you and I thought, ‘Well, she doesn’t really look like the type of girl that I would be interested in but I guess I’ll give her a shot.’” Yeah he kept going on with stuff like that for a while. It was really fun to listen to. Comments like that will really boost your self-esteem.

So as you can imagine I wanted to get out of their pretty fast. He wasn’t really trying to hurt my feelings but that’s what he was doing. So anyway, I was glad when the buzzer finally went off telling us that the apple crisp was done. So then Steven got out the ice cream box and he had a hard time opening it. So I made a joke and said, “Oh we’ll just eat the box with the ice cream, it’s no big deal.” Then he said, “Well, I guess it would be a good source of fiber.” I was like, “Yeah…” Then said, “You know, on my mission I put fiber sure in my food every day. I used to be able to hold my stomach in my hands because my stomach kinda flopped of (um, sick!). But after having fiber sure every day I guess it got all of the junk out of my intestines and I lost a lot of inches. I went down about 3 belt loops. You know, you should use fiber sure every day, then you wouldn’t be as fat.” OH MY HECK! So I said, “Well I’m not THAT bad.” He said, “Well you could still lose a lot of weight. You should totally start using fiber sure.” Wow. Believe it or not, it got worse!

Well then he started dishing out the apple crisp and thankfully I just started eating. He just kept talking and saying stuff like that over and over, telling me again and again that I had really taught him that personality is much more important than looks. That didn't stop him from making a few suggestions on how to improve my supposed ugliness. "You know," he said, "you should really try to do your hair curly every once in a while. I'm sick of seeing it straight all the time, it needs to change. Also I think your hair color is a little too dark, so you might want to change that too." I told him that I did my hair curly sometimes but the times he'd seen me my hair had been straight. Then he said, "You know, you should really try to wear contacts instead of your glasses." I told him that I wore contacts during the day but my eyes couldn't stand wearing them at night. Since we only ever hung out at night that's why I was always wearing my glasses. So he said, "Well take your glasses off for a minute so I can see what you look like without them." So I took them off and he said, "Hmm...maybe not." So I'm sitting there, facing this sliding glass door, and I'm looking at myself feeling like the fattest, ugliest person in the world! It was terrible! I wanted to get out of there!!!
So then he started talking about my family. “I really want to meet your family,” he said. I was like, “Why?” He said, “Well honestly I really just want to meet your mom. I want to watch how she mothers your siblings. They say that daughters usually have the some mothering style as their mothers, so I want to watch her to see how you would mother our children if we got married.” Whoa, that was extremely creepy. Then he said, “Now I know your family is moving to Texas ‘cause you told me that a while ago. So after we got married, we’d have to move to Iowa ‘cause I got a job offer there when I was on my mission for $60,000 a year without a degree. So if I get a degree I’ll get more money. So with that money I’d make sure we had about a $20,000 a year to devote to traveling so that you could fly down to Texas a few times a year to see your family. But we would have to move to Iowa for my job.” Okay, so how he’s planning out our budget after we’re married? This was getting way too creepy. So I told him I wasn’t feeling good and asked if he could take me home.

So he drove me home, and we talked in front of my door for a while. Then I told him I should probably go inside and go to bed, so he said “ok” and gave me a hug. So I hugged him for a while and then I let go. You know how you can tell when the person you’re hugging is trying to let go? Yeah, I guess he doesn’t have that ability because he kept hugging me for like 10 seconds after I had COMPLETELY let go. I had to sort of push him away. Then I was like, “Ok, see you later.” Then he hugged me again and basically the same thing happened again. After he FINALLY let go, he’s like, “Sorry, I just don’t want to leave you anymore. It just feels so good to hold you! But I guess I should probably go. So I’ll see you later.” So yeah finally he left. Needless to say I didn’t answer the phone when he called me the next day.

So his sister was furious at him and told me that he says mean things like that all the time, so right then I decided I never wanted to see him again. Then later his sister was mad at me because she had talked to him and said that I had misinterpreted some of the things he had said about me. Um, please tell me how that could POSSIBLY be misinterpreted! So yeah she was mad that I didn't want to date him anymore. Wow, how does that make sense? So anyway, long story short, he called me, left me a message saying he’d talked to his sister and “apparently he freaked me out about some stuff.” So I called him back, and he asked if he could explain anything and I said, “No, you don’t have to explain anything. I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking and I’ve decided to go in a different direction.” He told me he didn’t blame me at all and we told each other to have a good day.

So yeah, that was the end of that. It really hurt my feelings for a few days but now I can’t even believe that actually happened. It’s pretty funny that someone would actually do that. After he proposed to me he kept telling me I was fat and ugly. Such a delight, that boy. Totally joking by the way. If I never talk to that kid again it’ll be too soon haha.

Anywho, that was it. Here's an update on Steven's life right now. He went on a blind date with someone, a month and a half later they were married. Yeah, I guess he found someone who was just as desperate as he was haha. I guess that's a mean thing to say, but I do feel sorry for whomever he ended up with. I wouldn't want to be married to that kid. Anywho, have a great week everyone! :) Christmas is almost here, so Merry Christmas! WOOT WOOT!

Graduation is Around the Corner!

Woot woot! Graduation is practically here! December 12th, baby! My wonderful Aunt Kaye made these announcements and I think they're pretty awesome. There's a pink one and a blue one too, but I like these black ones the best. Anyway, it looks like I only have 12 more days until I graduate. It's going to be fantastic but I'll be sad at the same time. I really liked college, and I'll really miss taking English classes and talking about all that English stuff. *sigh* It can't go on forever though, right? It had to end sometime. At least I ended on an easy semester rather than a hard one.

Well I actually finished my final draft of my final paper about half an hour ago. Woohoo! I think I can honestly say that I won't miss writing tons of papers all the times. Not research papers anyway. It'll also be nice to have my Family Finance class over with and my Natural Disasters class. Now the only thing I have left to do is turn in my paper on Friday and take my finals next week. I'm looking for good books to read and stuff to do. Right now I'm reading My Name is Asher Lev (which is a fantastic book by the way) and working on my quilt project. But that will be done pretty soon haha. I'm also watching the 4th season of House because my roommate bought it this weekend. So yeah, I'm just looking for options on what to do. So if you have any ideas let me know. :)

Well I'm pretty excited for the Christmas holidays. I love everything about Christmas, and I'm most excited about spending a lot of time with my family. I was going to have to work the 21-23 of Christmas break but I knew I would get really homesick and stuff so I got someone else to take those shifts for me. Last year when I was up here by myself it was really hard and really depressing. When it's Christmastime, all you want to do is be with your family. So I was glad I got those shifts taken care of. I do have to work the 15th and the 16th the first week of the break, but it's only for two days and my roommate will be up there for those two days as well. So I shouldn't be too lonely up there, and I'll be working 8 or 9 hours a day. Life is great!

Well I only have like 5 minutes left of work so I have to go. I'll talk to you all later! Have a great week everyone! I love you all!

I Think I Have Officially Changed Teams

Now if this isn't one of the sexiest guys you've ever seen, I don't know what's wrong with you but you'd better get your head on straight. He looks even better in the movie if you ask me. Anyway, onto my story.

So last night my friend Sam and I had a little adventure going to the midnight showing of New Moon and we stood outside for about an hour an fifteen minutes or so. We had fun talking about guys and just catching up on each other's lives. Anyway so we were chatting and then the next thing I knew this girl in a white jacket just bolted out of the door and ran through the parking lot. A few seconds later this guy came out the door and took off after her. I figured maybe she forgot something in her car, maybe they were flirting, I don't know. Then maybe thirty seconds after that a group of girls came out and asked, "Did anyone see a girl running out? Do you know which way she went?" So I told them which way she went and they also started charging in that direction. They went clear into the other parking lot and seemed like they were looking for her. Was she running away or something and her friends were trying to find her? Sam and I kept looking over in that direction to see if they found her or if they were coming back, but soon they disappeared and we never saw them after that.

Well we kind of blew it off after a while, but then about 5 or 10 mintues later the earlier showing of New Moon got out or something, and these two ladies came out. Sam and I assumed it was a teenager (like 13-14) and her mother; it could have been her older sister though, we don't know. So at first glance it looked like the mom just had her arm around her daughter. But then it looked like the girl was trying to pull away. Then we could clearly see that the girl was trying to get away from her mom and her mom kept trying to hold onto her. It looked like she was trying to run away too or something. So I think they must have gotten pretty close to their car because the mom kind of started walking towards one, but then the girl suddenly started trying to twist around and break free and then boom! She escaped her mom's grasp and took off running! Her mom charged after her but the girl was extremely quick. She almost got hit by a truck because she didn't even bother to check for cars while she was running. So after she almost got hit by the truck we didn't see either of them again. It was crazy! What was this movie doing to people?! We thought maybe the girl might of been mentally disabled or something a little bit by the way she was trying to get away from her mom. It really looked like something a small child would do, not a teenager. Anyway, I guess we'll never know. Last night was full of mystery.

So the movie itself? AMAZING! Much better than Twilight. Now, I love the books but I really didn't like the first movie. I watched it once when it came out and I was very disappointed. Also I don't think Robert Patterson is that attractive and he's a pretty big slob too. We watched him on Jay Leno the same night I saw Twilight and his hair was so greasy and his clothes weren't even straight. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He said that he didn't like the way his hair felt after it was washed so when he took a shower he rarely washed his hair. Look pal, let me tell you something. You can't play Edward in Twilight and then act like a slob in public. I was so disgusted! Yeah, and in all honesty I don't think he's a terrific actor. Here's a picture of the guy that I wanted to play Edward.


Well I was actually looking on IMDB and he was Humphrey on Star Dust. I had no idea! THis guy's name is Henry Cavill, and he's a hunk! Anyway, this is who I pictured as Edward and I think that this is who Stephanie Meyer thought should play Edward as well. Anyway so yeah, I wasn't too happy with the Edward they picked but hey some people really like him and that's great.

So anyway, when I was reading the novels I was always team Edward, hands down. I didn't understand how there could even be a choice, like how could anyone possibly think that Jacob could be the one to end up with Bella? Edward was clearly the obvious choice. But after seeing New Moon last night I feel completely the opposite. Edward was so pathetic and an idiot and weak! I couldn't see how she could pick Edward over Jacob! Sam and I were talking about this after the movie and we were both so conflicted and felt exactly the same way! We were crying when Edward left Bella at the beginning, but I cried even harder when Bella lowered the boom on Jacob. It literally ripped my heart out. I hate Bella! She's such an idiot! Ugh! Anyway, so it was very sad. Sam reminded me, "At least we know that it ends up working out for him in the end." *sigh* It's true, but I'd never thought of Edward as second choice. Or really no choice at all. But yeah, Edward never seemed so needy, whiny, and useless in my head while I was readint he novels. Unfortunately that's exactly what he was in the movie.

So my decision has come to this: for now, when it comes to the novels I am ALL team Edward. But when it comes to the movies I'm TEAM JACOB! Woohoo!

Anywho, so there's my story. Hopefully later today Sam and I and a few other people are going to go watch 2012. That should be pretty fun. :) Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm All Excited for the Holidays!!!

Well here I am again. As you can see I changed my blog layout and I LOVE IT!! I kinda got sick of the one that I had because I've never had anything different. So I searched around and my awesome friend Megan showed me and I found this great background! It's http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ and I love it! Woohoo! They had adorable looking blog templates and it was easy to put them on my blog. Woot woot! Yay for easy!

So on Wednesday I had a pretty awesome experience. As some of you may know, I've been taking classes from my favorite professor (we'll call him Dr. M) throughout my college years. I am currently taking my 4th class from him and it's a class on Jane Austen. I love it! He's going to teach this amazing theory class next semester. They'll be reading amazing books like Alice in Wonderland, The Hounds of Baskerville, Hamlet, The House on Haunted Hill, etc. It's going to be a really psychologically mind-bending writing class, and I actually considered putting off graduation for one semester just so I could take that class. But then I remembered I don't have another couple thousand dollars to spend haha.

Anyway, so on Wednesday after that class I went into his office to talk about a paper. Before I could say anything, I sat down and he said, "So there's absolutely no way that you can take the theory class from me next semester?"

Me: "Well no, I wish there was but I'm graduating this semester."

Dr. M.: "Oh graduating. Well that is a problem." (pause for 5 seconds) "What if I failed you?"

Me: "Haha. Well I need this credit to graduate so I guess if you failed me I would have to stay another semester."

Dr. M.: "Well, problem solved. Cancel all of your graduation announcements, I think we have a solution. I'll just fail you in this class and then you'll have to stay another semester and take that class from me."

Haha I was laughing pretty hard. So then he said, "Here, let me show you the books that we're going to read for that class next semester." So he rolled over on his swivel chair and showed me all the books I listed above and more. Then he said, "I tried to pick books I thought my students would like; you know, the ones that have taken classes from me for a while, like you. So when I was trying to think of what books to use for the theory class I was thinking, 'What kinds of books would Alisa like to read?'" So I was bummed. I told him that a lot of those books were on my reading list of books I want to read. He said, "Well, you can always read those books outside of a class." But seriously guys, that's not nearly as fun. Especially when you've already taken a mind-bending class from Dr. M. like my Don Quixote class. Anywho, so what we figured out was that he would email me the class discussions and I could follow along with the readings and the discussions. Anyway, I was just really touched that I made such a good impression on my favorite professor that he wanted to have me as a student for one more semester. Also it was nice to hear that he tried to pick novels that I would like (I'm sure that he had other students in mind as well). But yeah, it was a big compliment that he wanted me to stay. I really admire and respect him, and it always feels good to get a compliment from someone you admire. :)

Well it is FRIDAY and only a few more days until I get to go home for the Thanksgiving break! WOOHOO! I am so excited! Plus I finished all of my homework for the rest of the semester so I can do whatever I want during the break! Then I will come back after the break for a week of classes, then have two finals the week after that, and then I will be graduated on December 12th! Yes! Then I have to work here in Logan for about a week or so, and then it's a big long Christmas break for me. Yippee! Then I have to look for a job and all that, but right now I'm just focusing on Thanksgiving break! I am so excited!

Anywho, that was just a brief update. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I also hope that I will start writing in this more often. I love you all!

Candy, Chili, and a Woopie Cushion

Well, there you have it. My Halloween costume. My friend Kristy lives in North Ogden and we went down to her place on Halloween to go trick-or-treating. Yes, that's right, we went trick-or-treating. We only went to houses of the people that knew Kristy so we didn't get a bunch of weird looks. As you can imagine, I was quite popular with my costume. I got lots of attention and candy. It was great. Kristy's mom just had a bunch of random costumes for us to choose from and I think I made the right choice. :)

So another thing that helped us get away with trick-or-treating as "adults" is that we had two Chinese foreign exchange students named Alex and Paul. So we kept explaining to people that we were giving them the American trick-or-treating experience. People got all excited and loved asking them how they liked it and everything. So yeah if you don't have any children to take around trick-or-treating, then find some foreign exchange students to take around and it doesn't matter how old you are. It really was so great, and half the houses we went to had full-size candy bars! Yeah, overall the trip was successful.

After we were done trick-or-treating we went over to Kristy's grandparents' house to enjoy some chili and rolls. It was fantastic! We were pretty exhausted after walking up and down several hills so it was nice to sit down and have some dinner. But we all ate way too much and we were extremely tired. So once we got in the car Alex and Paul fell asleep and Michelle, Kristy and I just stayed up talking all the way back up to Logan.

So after we dropped off Alex and Paul we three girls went back to Pine View and decided to watch a movie. But while we were sitting there trying to decide which movie to watch, Michelle and Kristy fell asleep on the floor. Then I told them that we could watch a movie another time, but as soon as they got up they said, "Wow, I'm really not that tired anymore. I think we could watch a movie." So it was about 11:00 when we got back and we didn't start the movie until closer to midnight. We decided to watch Frequency and they fell asleep a little bit at the beginning, but after the first 20 minutes they stayed wide awake the whole time. I was really impressed haha. But I had to watch them walk across the lobby to their apartment to make sure they made it back safely. They were walking like they were drunk haha. But yeah that's how the night ended, and it was fabulous!

So yeah, there's my Halloween story. In other news, I will be graduating in 6 weeks! December 12th! HOLY CRAP! What am I going to do with my life, you may ask? I'll tell you.

I don't know (picture me saying it just like Tevye on Fiddler on the Roof).

My plan right now is that I am for sure moving home and looking for a job. But I may be looking into going to grad school next fall. But we'll see what happens. I've got some pretty difficult decisions to make. But yeah right now I'm just looking for a good job. At least I'll have a degree so I won't have to do any more pathetic jobs that I took during the summer. Now I can actually pick and choose the job I want instead of just taking whatever I can get. Yay! Anywho, I'll keep you updated on what happens; right now I'm just trying to focus on school, getting good grades, and just getting excited for the holidays. HOORAY FOR HOLIDAYS! Have a great week everybody!

Back to My Life

Well I do have a lot more to that story, and I actually had a majoy breakthrough a few nights ago with it. But I think I'll start writing about my life again, since people seem to respond to that more. If you'd like me to keep you updated or email you the rest of what I have then email me or comment on this and I'll send you a copy.

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've written about my life. Too bad I wasn't writing about my life this summer because I was working at the Utah State Developmental Center and there were a lot of funny stories there haha. For those of you that don't know, USDC is a place right across the street from the Mount Timpanogas Temple in American Fork and it's a place where they house over 200 handicapped individuals and take care of them. It was a very very hard job, but I had some pretty good laughs along the way.

Also this summer Andrew left on his mission to the New York City, New York South Spanish speaking mission. He's been there for over a month now and he's been gone probably almost 4 months. It's actually gone by relatively fast, for me anyway. So he's in Long Island right now teaching those people and his apartment is about a 5 minute drive away from where my dad's office is located. Poor Dad! He says that he sees missionaries around all the time and he's always afraid that he'll see Andrew. Oh by the way, for those of you who didn't know, my dad flies over to New York about every other week for his job. Then when he's home for a week or so he just works at his office he has in American Fork or at home. Anyway, so that's been hard for him but he'll be ok.

Another exciting thing is that it's my last semester of school! Woohoo! Graduate in December baby! Really it's not as exciting as it sounds. I mean don't get me wrong, I am terribly excited and proud to be graduating from college but that means that I have to deal with real life now. It's been nice being able to say, "Yeah I'm just going to college right now," and not have to think much farther in advance than that. But no I have to decide what to do. I've thought about trying to get a teaching job at a charter school (I'm an English major with an emphasis in creative writing), going back to school and getting a degree in nursing, going to grad school in either human resources or literature, etc. I don't know, there are a lot of options here. The trouble is that I'm just too good at too many things and I'm interested in too many things. But for now I just keep praying and reading my scriptures and such, waiting for the Lord to direct me in what he wants me to do. Who knows, maybe I'll end up dating somebody and get in engaged, HAHA! Yeah I know, that would be crazy!

Well anywho, I have to study for a test in my Natural Disaster class. It's my first test of the semester actually. I've been pretty lucky indeed! I'm only taking 3 real classes: Natural Disasters, Family Finanace, and a Jane Austen class (LOVE THAT CLASS!). Anywho so this semester has probably been one of my easiest so far. That's nice for my last semester, especially when comparing it to my previous spring semester where I had to write hundreds of pages in my writing classes. So when I have only 2 papers in my Jane Austen class that total 13-15 pages, I'm pretty thrilled. So yeah there you go. :) I will update some more later, and I'm excited to start writing about my life again! Woohoo! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Next part! Sorry it's taking so long!

Ariana and her friends barely said a word to each other once they were in their barracks. It was painful for Ariana to see the worry and fear in their eyes. Even Sarina and Aiden were just as frightened as the rest of them. After they got dressed in their night clothes, they all said goodnight to each other and crawled in their beds.
Ariana had a hard time sleeping that night. When she was awake she would just stare at her friends, wishing she could protect them somehow from what they were about to go through. When she fell asleep, she dreamed of moments of all of her friends wrestling with agony while she was forced to watch. The entire night was filled with relentless torture and the band on her wrist seemed to slowly tighten all night.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Ariana heard the familiar beep of her wake-up call. Her eyes darted across the room at her friends, and it was obvious that their night hadn’t gone much better than hers had. No one looked at each other. Everyone just went to their lockers for their clothes then to their dressing rooms to change. As they were getting ready, the female voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Attention all teams. Please put on your provided uniforms and wait in your barracks for your instructions.”
Moving at a slow pace, they hoped to put off the time of their instructions as long as possible. Once they’d done everything they could do they all wandered aimlessly to different parts of the room. Hoping the scenery would take her mind off of things, Ariana walked toward the window. The trees were all black, as if the shadow of the night never left them. The black mist from the previous night was now a grey fog that filled the sky and crawled across the ground.
Ariana didn’t know how long she was standing there, but she snapped out of her trans when the door swung open and Steinblik yelled, “Everyone in a line NOW!” He caught everyone off guard but they formed a line as quickly as they could. Ariana and her friends stood there, and Steinblik flashed Ariana a crooked smile. Ariana merely rolled her eyes as she stood in line.
“Alright,” Steinblik said calmly, “Galina will be here soon with her instructions. She and I were up for a while discussing how we should test you today, whether we should start easier or just go straight to torture. Unfortunately, protocol doesn’t allow me to share with you what level we picked for you today. On the bright side, you will soon find out.” He chuckled softly to himself. “Now, everyone stand up straight when Galina comes in and listen carefully to what she has to say. You will need every bit of information you can get your hands on for this task. Now shut up and stand there!”
Suddenly their door quietly opened and Galina quietly entered the room. Everyone stood up straight with pits in their stomachs. Galina spoke in a soothing voice. “I understand your fear, but take courage in the friendships you have here and take comfort in the arms of your friends. You will all suffer; such is the way of everything. But these friendships will lift your team up higher than you ever thought possible. Do not seek peace in solitude; it will surely lead to your downfall. Seek peace with your companions as you are all tried together. If you pull together you will not fail.”
They stood there sheepishly, embarrassed that she had to inform them of why they were friends and why they needed each other. She continued in a voice with a tone of authority, “Your task today will be a difficult one. It will be your first taste of what you will experience here every day. Captain Steinblik and I have been talking about who your team leader will be. He or she will have a very difficult job. In the end of your discussions it will be his or her job to make the final call. When the days come where your team is tested person by person the team leader must watch each of their teammates suffer through their tasks to see how their strengths and weaknesses could help or hinder the team. They will carry the weight of the team on their shoulders.” She paused to let them all take in the new information she had given. She then took a deep breath and said, “After discussing this with Steinblik, we have both concluded that…Ariana should be the team leader.”
Ariana felt her heart drop to the floor.
“Ariana,” Galina rescued her, “I know you are overwhelmed with this new responsibility. But I will be here to help you, as well as Captain Steinblik.”
“Right,” thought Ariana. “Like a fox after a wounded chick he’ll help me.”
Galina continued, “You will receive separate instructions from your teammates and you can only share this with one person when absolutely necessary. We’ve chosen Merric to be your second in command.”
“Well,” thought Ariana, “At least I’ll have some help. Merric is better at all that tactical fighting stuff than me anyway.”
Galina stood up straighter, looking more solid. “Today for your first task you will need to make your way through a castle, facing whatever you find there. Then you must find the secret way out and go through to the next challenge. You will receive more instruction there.” Galina glanced over at Ariana. “Stay close to each other and take direction from Ariana. She will have more knowledge and understanding of what is occurring than the rest of you. Trust her.” She paused for a moment and then turned to Steinblik. “Alright Captain Steinblik, they’re all yours.” Then she turned and gracefully left the room.
Once Galina left the room, Ariana felt discouraged and hopeless. Maybe if she wouldn’t have been so sarcastic to Steinblik at first she wouldn’t be in this terrible position right now. But something inside told her that she probably would have been chosen anyway for some other reason.
“Ariana! Do you intend on standing there all day?!” yelled Steinblik. “I said to go get into your uniforms!” Ariana jumped at his harsh yelling, and then hung her head slightly. “Sorry sir, I’ll get right to it.” She started to walk to her locker, wishing she could just crawl into her bed and cry until she could go home. Ariana started taking her clothes out of her locker. She turned to go to the dressing rooms only to find Steinblik in her face.
“You know,” he said “for a team leader you’re really starting off with a crappy first step.” Then he snickered, “I’m going to love watching your team crash and burn all because their team leader can’t even stand up and get ready without nearly crying. You won’t last more than a day in this test. You can’t even take charge of yourself let alone your friends.” Ariana looked away, but Steinblik quickly grabbed her jaw and pulled it right to his face. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being,” he spat out.
Ariana looked into his dark eyes. A sudden rage boiled up within her. She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter. With one swift move Ariana smacked his arms out of her way, grabbed his shirt by the neck and shoved him against the wall. She pointed a finger right to his face and said with a dark tone in her voice. “If you ever touch me again I won’t hesitate one second to break your neck.” She held him against the wall a few more seconds then let him go.
Ariana started walking off when Steinblik yelled, “Seeing as I am your leader it is my right to touch you whenever I darn well please!” Ariana stopped where she was, turned around and said, “Do you want to bet your life on that?” With that she turned and walked into her dressing room.

Next part

Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long, but I'll post this up right now. Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me in my writing and tell me what you think. I love you guys!

They all got there gasping for breath and looked at the scene surrounding them. Surprisingly, there were not as many people as they thought there would be. There were still hundreds there, but not the tens of thousands they'd expected. The stadium seats wrapped around an open stage at the front of the room. They saw their team leader, Steinblik, and hurriedly sat by him. They started chit-chatting for a little while, but they were hushed as someone walked across the stage.
He was older than any man Ariana had ever seen. His eyes had a grey glaze over them. His hair was silvery white with hair down to the middle of his back and a matching beard that flowed close to his navel. He had boney fingers and his nails were sharply pointed. He had surprisingly fair skin for his presumably old age. That is, other than the scar that swept across his right eye. He wore an old, pale blue cloak down past his feet. He walked slowly and shakily to the center of the stage with a staff in his hand. When he got there, he turned to face the audience and stood straight up. It was easy to see that he was tall now that he wasn’t hunched over. He opened his mouth to speak and everyone leaned in to hear.
“Welcome my young warriors,” he said with a loud, raspy voice. “Today is the beginning of a new life for all of you. Everything in your life will change. You will see others around you change when faced with experiences they’ve never had before.” While he paused to prepare for what he was about to say, Ariana thought how much more fascinating it was to hear this coming from him compared to everyone else she’d heard it from over the past few days.
“This test is not for the light hearted. It will test every aspect of your souls. You will face your worst fears imaginable. It is imperative that you learn to work together as a team and help each other survive. I have seen many suffer and die because of the lack of support and teamwork. Let us avoid having problems of this sort at all costs.” He paused again, and then vaguely pointed his finger out to the audience.
“You may have noticed that those in your groups are your close companions throughout your lives.” Everyone exchanged looks of encouragement and smiled. He continued, “You may think this will make your test easier, but in thinking this you could not be more mistaken.” Murmurs were heard throughout the auditorium. How could it possibly make things harder? Friends know how to work together. Everyone had the same expression of confusion and they were all talking to their friends.
When the noise continued the old man yelled, “SILENCE!” and pounded his stick on the stage. A yellow, icy mist spread throughout the auditorium that shocked every into silence. As Ariana breathed in it felt as though her vocal cords had been frozen.
The old man cleared his throat and spoke again. “I can see that none of you believe me. But let me ask you something and I want you to really think about it. Have you ever seen a friend suffer beyond anything you can imagine? What do you think that would do to you to see all of your close companions suffer in such a way?”
A silent feeling of fear and dread instantly filled the auditorium. Pictures of all kind of torture played through Ariana’s mind. There was no way to know what inexplicable horrors awaited her and her friends, or how it would affect her to see them happen to her friends. Not only would she suffer on the individual scale but those closest to her would suffer the same amount if not more. She slouched in her seat and got that sickening pit in her stomach again.
The old man smiled slightly. As he paused, his eyes gazed off somewhere into the distance, as if his mind was seeking as escape from the mental burdens he must carry. He looked at everyone with his heavy eyes. “Unfortunately, I can tell you no more of what to expect. There is no way you can prepare for what is coming any more than you’ve already done. This will be an unforgettable experience for you, in positive and negative ways.” He then stooped over and shuffled across the stage. “Good luck to all of you, and may God watch over you.”
Everyone sat there, too shocked to move a muscle. Ariana’s mind infected itself with terrifying images. She had a deep, foreboding feeling inside that she would soon learn for herself what true suffering was.
Ariana wasn’t left alone with her thoughts for long. Soon a young woman softly walked to the center of the stage, almost gliding it seemed. She had fair skin like the old man. Her eyes were bright blue, almost bright enough to be luminescent. She was tall and thin with a long, silky white dress on that flowed beneath her as she walked. She spoke with a clear, angelic voice. “You have just met Gerick, one of the greatest men in the universe. My name is Galina, and before you leave, I need to give you some information on this test.
“You are no longer on your planet, Earth. You are on a different planet, light years away from Earth called Crotela. We have been in an alliance with your people for hundreds of years. When Earth’s population was nearly overflowing your planet, we suggested to your people that some of them be moved to another planet, the one you call Valtino. With Earth’s resources depleting, your people had no choice. Once it was decided to move some people from Earth to Valtino, we then had to decide how to choose who would go to Valtino and who could stay on Earth. We could have done it through random selection, but we needed to make sure that those who were on Earth were worthy to stay there. Valtino is not the most terrible place to live, but you will definitely have a higher quality of life on Earth. Valtino is a large planet not unlike the planet. It is dry, dusty, and has severe temperature differences between its coldest and hottest temperatures. Unlike Mars, however, the air there is definitely breathable. But because you were not raised on Valtino your bodies will react strongly to the differences between it and Earth. I don’t want to go into too many details about what will happen to you if that’s where you are sent, but suffice it to say that your life expectancy will not be quite as high as it would be on Earth.
“So you can see clearly it wouldn’t be fair to send random people to live at Valtino and then another random group to stay on Earth. After long discussions with your leaders, we had the idea for this test. It took us many years to design, but for several generations now your people have been taking this test and we have been successful in our quest ever since.
“Now that you are here, there is no turning back. If you stop now you will have no hope for a future and you will be sent to Valtino or be killed with no hope of returning to Earth for any reason. There is no way of escaping. You’re on a different planet, so where would you go?” She paused for a while, allowing what she had said to sink in, and then continued.
“You will begin your testing tomorrow. You and your teammates will be asked to complete a task. There is no time limit on these tasks, but you will want to get them done as quickly as possible. Some shouldn’t take more than a day while others will take up to a week or more. You will be given instructions on what you are to accomplish, but nothing more. There are no hints or secrets to get you out of your task faster; you will be completely on your own. Your group leader will be with you but only for observation and nothing more. Every night I will discuss with your group leader how you did on tasks and what positions you will have. I have no say in what goes on, but I will see you every morning to get your instructions for the day.”
Galina then looked seriously at us, as if she was staring each of us individually in the face. “This is not a game,” she said in a dark, looming tone. “Your lives will be at stake every day. The things that will be after you are real, and just like any other animal they will attack you. They will not use pity or mercy. Nothing will stop them other than the actions you take to defend yourselves. Your survival depends entirely upon you and your group members.” She paused and pulled back her dark voice. “Now, you must go to bed. You’ll need your rest for tomorrow. Best of luck to all of you.” With that, she walked gracefully off the stage.

Next Edition

Ariana jumped out of her bed the next morning when she heard a loud beeping noise over the loud-speaker. Everyone shot up in their beds and held their ears tightly. The noise was loud enough where they thought their ears would burst. Then, the noise stopped and a female computer-like voice came on:
"Attention all teams: report to the auditorium immediately for your orientation. Your new clothes are available in the locker with your name on it. The lockers are located at the back of your rooms. You may put your other clothes in the incinerator slot. You have fifteen minutes."
As soon as the message stopped, a big, burly man stormed into the room. All the faces turned sharply towards the door. His face looked stone solid, and Ariana didn't know what to expect. They all stood there and stared at him. After several long moments passed, he spoke in the same voice Ariana recognized as the one she'd heard the night before. "My name is Captain Steinblik. I am your leader for your long and painful test. I am merely here to watch you. I seldom offer help, if at all, and I am not here to solve the problems you will face. I have all authority to do what I want with you. I am not your care taker, I am your superior and I WILL be treated with respect no matter what the circumstance. If anyone even begins to question my authority they will be punished severely." Captain Steinblik stood and paused, still solid in his stance. "Now, you have thirteen minutes left to get ready, so I suggest you do so. If I do not see you in the auditorium in precisely thirteen minutes there will be sore consequences to your actions."
He then glared at Ariana and said, "And unless you would like to see what hell on Earth I can give you, I would get ready quickly."
Ariana gave Steinblik a look of sympathy that he couldn't threaten her better than that. Steinblik’s face turned red at my sarcastic gesture, and then a slow smile crept across his face. "Oh I'm going to have lots of fun with you," he said. Then he looked around at everyone else in the room and yelled, "Get going!" He then left the room and slammed the door.
Everyone in the room scrambled to get to their lockers to get their clothes on. Ariana wasn't really paying attention, trying to get over the slight homesickness she felt. She sighed as she got out of bed and turned towards the lockers. She began to take her new set of clothes out when she heard a familiar voice call to her. "Ariana! You can't just walk away without saying 'hello.' How dare you?!" A huge smile came to her face as she turned and saw her best friend's face. "Merric! I didn't know you were on my team! I didn't think we'd even see each other."
Merric smiled and laughed with her. He gave her a big hug and said, "But I'm not the only one here, you know." He stepped aside revealing Ariana's little group of friends. Marcellus stood there with his red hair and usual baggy clothes. His freckled face smiled at her as he stood there with his hands plunged into his pockets as usual. Then she saw Aiden with his curly black hair and sarcastic manner just waiting to make a joke. Kendra stood next to Aiden, her short stature painfully obvious. Her dark brown hair made her face look pale and she smiled weakly. Last of all was Sarina, and her bright smile outshined everyone else’s by a mile. Sarina giggled to herself and gave a quick wave. Tears slowly appeared in Ariana's eyes. She wouldn't be alone after all, and they could all help each other. She felt hope and courage spring into her body, and she laughed with excitement.
"Hey, this is all fun and everything, but I'm thinking we should get dressed if we don't want our heads on a plate," said Aiden. With that, they all got their clothes and went to their dressing rooms to change. Then they all headed towards the auditorium, running to make sure they were on time.

And We Continue On

Ariana’s eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the light. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was exactly. Before she could come to any conclusions, she noticed someone standing by the door. "Mom?" she asked in her croaking morning voice. The voice she heard next she didn't expect at all. She heard a deep, foreboding voice chuckle. Then he said, "You won't be seeing your mommy for a long time. You've been laying there for two days, and you'll be here a lot longer than that. And you won't have anyone like ‘Mommy’ the entire time you're here." He then slowly walked up to her in the bed, and got within inches of her face. He gruffly spat out, "So I suggest you suck up whatever you're feeling because it doesn't matter to anyone down here, understand?!"
Ariana sat up in her bed and looked straight into his bloodshot eyes. "Whatever, Sarge." She responded coldly. He glared back at her, as if he was trying to warn her she was messing with the wrong person. Then, he turned around and walked out.
Now that he was gone, Ariana had time to look around at her surroundings. The room she sat in was small and similar to a hospital room. It was filled with a few other beds with people who appeared to be her age in a similar state of mind. Some of them were still sleeping, while others were sitting up looking as confused as she must have looked. Now that Ariana had woken up, she realized it was dark outside. The sky wasn't twinkling with stars, or even black with cloud cover. There was a looming black mist throughout the sky that she could feel just by looking at it. The trees on the ground looked like they were trying to crawl closer to her room as the dark wind blew across its branches.
Allowing her eyes to browse the forest, Ariana stopped when she saw several pairs of beady red eyes. She had no idea where she was and therefore couldn’t possibly know what sort of wildlife could be out there. As she sat there watching, a massive black wolf came out of the wood a few feet from where the eyes sat. He went slowly, as if he was stalking a helpless animal. His eyes looked hungry, and his teeth were sharp and dripping with fresh blood. His snout was long and thin, which added to his freakish face. His body was bulky, while his forelegs were surprisingly scrawny. He chillingly crept across the open grass. As Ariana tip-toed to the window to get a better look, the wolf snapped his head right in her direction. She gasped not at his sudden movement, but his hypnotic yellow eyes. The window was at ground level, and the wolf must have been no more than one hundred feet away from her. He bore his teeth at her and Ariana saw drool slowly dropping from his angry mouth. She froze where she stood, too terrified to move. She scrunched her eyes tightly, preparing for whatever she could. She had to be brave, no matter what happened. Ariana decided to open her eyes just a sliver, and as she gradually opened them she saw that he was gone. Ariana looked everywhere she could but didn't find him. Not even the little red eyes she had seen in the forest were there now. She stood there for several minutes, trying to calm herself down. Suddenly a huge wave of exhaustion came over her and she lethargically shuffled to her bed, rubbing her hair band.

Second Part :)

Hey guys! I'm so excited you liked the first part of the story. I will now post the second part right before I head to my fiction class haha. Enjoy!

Ariana’s eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the light. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was exactly. Before she could come to any conclusions, she noticed someone standing by the door. "Mom?" she asked in her croaking morning voice. The voice she heard next she didn't expect at all. She heard a deep, foreboding voice chuckle. Then he said, "You won't be seeing your mommy for a long time. You've been laying there for two days, and you'll be here a lot longer than that. And you won't have anyone like ‘Mommy’ the entire time you're here." He then slowly walked up to her in the bed, and got within inches of her face. He gruffly spat out, "So I suggest you suck up whatever you're feeling because it doesn't matter to anyone down here, understand?!"
Ariana sat up in her bed and looked straight into his bloodshot eyes. "Whatever, Sarge." She responded coldly. He glared back at her, as if he was trying to warn her she was messing with the wrong person. Then, he turned around and walked out.
Now that he was gone, Ariana had time to look around at her surroundings. The room she sat in was small and similar to a hospital room. It was filled with a few other beds with people who appeared to be her age in a similar state of mind. Some of them were still sleeping, while others were sitting up looking as confused as she must have looked. Now that Ariana had woken up, she realized it was dark outside. The sky wasn't twinkling with stars, or even black with cloud cover. There was a looming black mist throughout the sky that she could feel just by looking at it. The trees on the ground looked like they were trying to crawl closer to her room as the dark wind blew across its branches.
Allowing her eyes to browse the forest, Ariana stopped when she saw several pairs of beady red eyes. She had no idea where she was and therefore couldn’t possibly know what sort of wildlife could be out there. As she sat there watching, a massive black wolf came out of the wood a few feet from where the eyes sat. He went slowly, as if he was stalking a helpless animal. His eyes looked hungry, and his teeth were sharp and dripping with fresh blood. His snout was long and thin, which added to his freakish face. His body was bulky, while his forelegs were surprisingly scrawny. He chillingly crept across the open grass. As Ariana tip-toed to the window to get a better look, the wolf snapped his head right in her direction. She gasped not at his sudden movement, but his hypnotic yellow eyes. The window was at ground level, and the wolf must have been no more than one hundred feet away from her. He bore his teeth at her and Ariana saw drool slowly dropping from his angry mouth. She froze where she stood, too terrified to move. She scrunched her eyes tightly, preparing for whatever she could. She had to be brave, no matter what happened. Ariana decided to open her eyes just a sliver, and as she gradually opened them she saw that he was gone. Ariana looked everywhere she could but didn't find him. Not even the little red eyes she had seen in the forest were there now. She stood there for several minutes, trying to calm herself down. Suddenly a huge wave of exhaustion came over her and she lethargically shuffled to her bed, rubbing her hair band.

I'll post the next bit soon, I just have to run to class. Thanks for the comments! I love hearing what you think. :)

First Little Part of a BIG Story I'm Working On

Well, I've been looking at a few blogs and I guess people like to post things that they've written. So, I've decided to post the first little part of my "novel" or whatever. I mean there's a lot that needs to be done with it and I haven't even written half of it (only the first 18 pages) but I've gotten more motivated lately to write more in it. Anywho, I don't want to overwhelm you guys or anything so I'll only post the first little itty-bitty bit for now. More will come later, but I'd just like to see if you guys like it or not. Also, the title for now is "The Test" but that will definitely change. Anywho, here it is! Let me know if you'd like me to post more! (And yes, I've always loved Ari's name so I used it as the name for my main character, only altered the full name slightly. I hope that's ok :) ).

"Ari, it's time to go," her father says, watching Ariana brush her hair. "We don't want to be late; you don't want to miss your instructions. It’s no way to start your test." She wiped a tear from her already tear-soaked face and picked up her bag, the only thing they allowed her to bring.
As they drove, she couldn't help but wonder what the next little while would do to her, how it would change her life and the way she lived. She had been training rigorously for the test ever since she could walk. Would she become a completely different person after everything was over? Would she be better or worse that she was before? What would she learn from the test? And, the most important question, would she be able to survive? These were questions she’d been asking herself her entire life, but they held more significance now that she was merely hours away from the beginning.
Ariana and her parents arrived at the place everyone was told to meet. It was a strange building she had never seen before. Shaped cylindrically and made of brick, the building appeared to be spiraling upward, reaching towards the sky to escape. She'd never seen a building made of brick before. The architecture didn’t particularly amaze her other than that, though; just a plain building with doors. Ariana expected something that was slightly more elaborate in its design than this seemingly boring building. Nevertheless, her parents assured her that this was where they were supposed to be. So, reluctantly, she followed them in.
The inside was nothing spectacular either. The walls were plain brick with no pictures, posters or windows of any kind. Her parents slowly led her to an elevator. But instead of approaching the entrance of the elevator with her, her parents stopped about five feet away. Ariana looked to see how many floors there were, but there were no numbers, only an arrow pointing down. She turned around and asked, "Aren't you coming with me?" Her mother's eyes misted as she said, 'No, Ari, we are not permitted to go any farther with you. We will see you soon, but from here until you are finished you must continue on your own." Tears poured freely down Ariana's face. She couldn’t leave them, not yet. She thought she'd at least have an hour or so with them. Ariana felt a knot in her stomach as she looked at her parents for one last time, and wondered if she would ever see them again. She leapt into her mother's arms, "You'll be home soon," she said. "This test will be hard for you, but it is for the best. We are so proud of you for your willingness to take this test." Ariana quickly shot a, "Thanks, Mom," as a tear trickled down her cheek.
She then turned to her father. He took her in his arms, and whispered in her ear, "You'll be back before you know it. We will pray for you every day." Then he pulled her away and looked her in the eyes. "This test is very rigorous, and will change your life. I've seen you in your training, and I know you will succeed. Never lose faith in yourself and what you're doing. You will survive if you just remember that and how much we love you. It will be hard, make no mistake about that. But the experience and knowledge you will gain will be irreplaceable. Your mother and I couldn't be more proud of you." Then he slapped her on the behind and said, “Now go out there and show ‘em what you’re made of!” Ariana laughed at the butt-slap. Her dad was always knew how to put a smile on her face. They all embraced each other for the last time in a long time. "I love you so much," Ariana sobbed out.
"We love you, too, Ariana," her father said. "Oh, before I forget, I brought you something.” He pulled out a dark brown hair scrunchy and put it around her wrist. “I thought you might want at least one of these,” he said, “in case you get sweaty. I know how much you hate that. Stay strong, and remember why you're doing this. We will see you soon." He gave her a quick wink, put his arm around his wife, and walked out the front door.
Slowly, Ariana stepped into the elevator and pushed the down button. The doors slid closed, and the image of her parents holding each other was seared on her brain. It was then that she broke down. She slid down the walls as the elevator glided downward. Then she let herself cry without any shame or refrain. Her entire body shook with each sob, something she had never experienced before. But no more than ten seconds later, the elevator started to slow down. Then it felt like it was going sideways. She stopped crying out of confusion. An elevator going sideways? Then it seemed to go back up. What? What on earth was going on?! After about two or three minutes of all these direction changes, the elevator finally stopped. Ariana sat as still as she could, preparing herself for whatever came next. Then she saw some sort of bluish gas leaking into the elevator. She panicked and tried desperately to get higher. It was no use, there was no way out. The gas climbed up. Ariana’s blood left her face. Was she going to die right then and there? She tried to hold her breath, but soon found herself breathing in the fumes. Oddly enough, Ariana couldn’t really smell anything like she had expected. After a few breaths of it, she started feeling dazed. She found herself losing focus and control. The walls appeared to be moving before her eyes, even though she knew very well they weren't moving. Ariana found herself feeling more and more tired, and the last thing she remembered was the flickering ceiling light of the elevator.

Alrighty well, there it is. Hope you enjoyed it! That was only like the first 2 pages or so, so if you'd like me to keep posting this story let me know! I hope you guys have a great week! Love you all!

What Kind of Candy DO You Like?

Hello All!

I'm so sorry I haven't kept you updated lately. It's truly a travesty, one of which I intend to correct at this very moment. I will save the candy story for last, but here are some recent developments that just make me laugh out loud.

**I ran into Seth yesterday and we just started talking a little bit about life and stuff. Then I brought up Steven (that guy I dated for a while and then he told me he'd prayed about me and the Lord wants us to be together, told me I was fat and ugly, etc, etc. Haven't heard that story? E-mail me, it's too big to post. It's really quite funny to read). Anywho, so I had heard that Steven had gotten engaged to another after only knowing her a month, so I asked Seth about it. "Oh, Steven got married last week," he said. "I think they just got back from their honeymoon." "So, they've only known each other for over a month and now they're married?" "Yeah," he shook his head. "Yeah, that's right." Wow, that made me laugh. Good for him though, way to go. After that Seth wanted to hear my side of the story about Steven and me dating and so I got to retell a short version of that lovely little adventure. Always a joy to see others react to that one haha.

**I was talking to Eric's brother Mark yesterday and I found out that Eric is coming home from his mission on May 26th. That day is, in fact, the same exact day that Taylor gets home from his mission. So hopefully they're mission homecomings aren't on the same day because that would make me physically sick. Anywho, they're both coming home in just over two months and I'm so excited about it! Woot!

**I only have 5 1/2 weeks left until this semester is over and I can move back home! I move home officially on April 30th and that will be so great! I'm pretty excited about it. Also the new X-Men/Wolverine movie comes out the next day, so it'll be a pretty great week for me. :) Mmmmmmm....Hugh....

**Andrew got his mission call to the New York, New York South Spanish speaking mission! He leaves on June...3rd I think, and we're all pretty excited for him. His mission is about 10 miles from where my dad works in New York. My dad won't go and visit him or anything, but my mom is pretty excited because my dad can just deliver packages to the mission home so we can save money on postage. ;)

**Thomas comes home 5 months from Friday! Well I mean he LEFT on the 20th of August so I don't know the exact day he's going to be coming home yet but I'm just going with the 20th for now. Yeah, I'm pretty excited and my family is pretty excited as well. For my birthday he sent me a birthday card and then his gift to me was his testimony written inside. Yeah, I know, he's awesome.

**Oh yeah, I turned 21 February 5th and that was pretty exciting. :) It feels nice to be a little older. That means that I'll graduate college at age 21. Wow, awesomeness!

**One of my professors read a piece that I wrote (like a story) and suggested that I enter it in to one of the school's contests for publishing. That was pretty cool so we'll see how that goes.

**My friend Zac came home from his mission and that is pretty exciting. We're planning on playing Street Fighters on the Super Nintendo on Saturday and he thinks he can beat me. PSH! Bring it ON, Zac!!! ;)

**I'm doing Weight Watchers again, starting to count the points. I'm also looking for a workout class or something I could take during the summer this year, so if you know of anything let me know!

**I'm probably going to help teach a Creative Writing course with an awesome lady from my ward this summer, so that should be totally awesome! I think she's planning on us teaching kids from 9-13, but I think I'll see if she's interested in teaching an adult writing class as well. That would be pretty spiffy. I don't know how many people would take it though, but I've had a few takers. :)

**CANDY STORY!
So my friend Bonnie and I were at Albertson's last weekend, loading up on sleepover candy, and we started talking about how women shouldn't wear bikini's unless they have a body of a super model, and even then it's disgusting. Then I saw some Peeps (those marshmallow Easter candies) and started talking about how disgusting they were as we were in the check out line. My dad is the only one in our family that likes them and I almost bought him some Peeps flavored chapstick while I was at Target the other day (I can't imagine what THAT'S like to taste all day...barf...). Anywho, so then I hear the cashier say, "So what kind of candy DO you like?" in as sexy a voice as he could muster. "Um...Sweet Tarts, Gobstoppers, basically everything we're buying." Yeah, he kinda looked like he was thinking, "Yeah I guess I could have just looked at what you were buying." Anywho, so it was a little awkward, but only lasted for like 2 seconds then we left and he said, "You ladies have a great night...(again, attempted sexy voice)." So yeah, there it is. The candy story. I should have said "Man candy" but then there might have been a phone number exchange of somekind and I really wasn't looking for that. Anywho, it was great.

Well this time I promise I will really try really hard to keep this updated. I'm so sad I haven't written in it for a while, especially since all my journal entries I've written the past few months got deleted when my hard drive crashed. Yeah that wasn't any fun, but lucky this awesome guy at the help desk fixed it for me since I know him and only charged me for the new hard drive! Yay for awesome people! Anywho, talk to you guys soon! Feel free to leave comments. :)

Too Long it has Been...

Forgive me my fellow bloggers. I have been so busy since this semester started that I have had a hard time finding time for me to even just relax and take a breather every once in a while. Life updates are as follows:
-My work cut back on hours so Ionly work 15 hours a week now. We used to be open from 7:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. M-F, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. But now we're only open from 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. M-F. So yeah, I've been having to adjust to a huge cut back in how much I'm used to every 2 weeks and that's been pretty hard. But I pay my tithing and all that good stuff and the Lord hasn't failed me yet. :)
-I'm taking all writing classes and it is much more intense than I had initially anticipated. I've had tons of things to read and papers to write but I've finally got my schedule figured out so it's not as overwhelming as it used to be.
-I am taking The Miracle of Forgiveness class in institute this semester and I am totally loving it! I'm learning so much and my teacher is hilarious and totally awesome!
-My birthday is in a few days and I will be turning 21. Whoa, I know, it's crazy! This year will be a great year in life for me though, I can tell. :)

So yeah, there's the little updates. I do have a funny story to tell you that my institute teacher told our class the other day. He said that one day his friend (they were teenagers at the time) was talking to his mom and his mom asked him to take the trash out or something like that. So, not really thinking clearly, he swore at her. Then he immediately covered his mouth and feared how she might react. But she looked at him and said, "I'm not going to deal with this. You're going to go to your room and then, when your dad gets home, he'll come up and have a talk with you." Now anyone who's ever been in trouble knows that it's no fun when Dad has to come and tell you what's what. So he sat there in agony for an hour (usually the waiting is punishment enough) and then he heard the garage door open. He heard his mom and dad talking in hushed voices, and then he heard his dad's footsteps head towards his door. His dad opened the door and sat down in a chair, facing him while he sat on the bed. So his dad said, "Son, if we went out on our boat in the lake and our boat sprung a leak and we were sinking and I had to choose who to save between you and your mother, who do you think I would choose?" He thought for a second and said, "Mom?" His dad smiled and said, "That's right. In fact, if I had to kill you so we could use your body as a floatation device to save your mother I wouldn't hesitate to do it." Then he patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Alright, I just wanted to make sure we understood each other." After he said that he left the room.
Oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard! It's sweet that he loves his wife so much but at the same time I'll bet that kid thought twice before going on the lake with his family without a life jacket. ;)
Well I'm sorry I haven't written in a while but, like I said, I have been so so so busy that sometimes it's been hard to handle. But I will try extra hard to keep this up at least once a week. I hope you all are doing well! Love you guys!