Introducing the Craigs

I just realized I have never talked about my family, so I just though I would give a little introduction: (p.s. this picture was taken last Thanksgiving)

Dain Atkin Craig - My faja! : Works in the radio business and is currently employed in Houston, Texas where he and the rest of my family still live. Enjoys skiing, hiking, Warren Miller movies, anything with Sandra Bullock or Amy Grant involved, dogs, music, drumming, scuba diving, spicy foods and Polynesian culture. He thinks he's Samoan. (I mean, he is Samoan...)

Lelani Pickett Craig - my madre! : Owns her own company, CommGap, that does interpretations and translations for over 100 languages! Sweet huh?! She likes yoga, pilates, working out in general, skiiing, scuba diving, driving really fast (when legal, right mom?) and will try anything at least once. She is super positive and loves adventure! She and I also share the same birthday, January 25th, with her dad!

Christian Alberto Craig - brother! : 17 and in his final year of high school. Crazy! He absolutely loves being in Marching Band, where he plays the clarinet. He is also extremely talented at the guitar and even writes his own songs. He loves hanging out with his friends, snowboarding, and anything that involves music. He's not home very much this year because he's always at school, band, or work (The Incredible Pizza Company, that's the real name, I promise). He's a sweet kid!

Emilia Lelani Craig (Emi) - sista! : 13 going on 35 and in the 8th grade. Emi plays the drums, which I think is super cool, and was the only girl percussionist in her band until this last year of school. Emi is super feisty and blunt. Trust me, you'll know if she doesn't like something. She's also a really hard worker, stubborn, determined, and what my dad likes to call a "sneeky charmer, a charmer that is sneeky". You can always count on Emi to know brand names and designers. She's fun to have around (when she's not grumpy) ha ha :)

Sassy - our Red Heeler. She passed away this past February from cancer and I still miss her all the time. She LOVED to play with her ball (or any of her toys really, but her favorite was her tennis ball). She enjoyed walks most of the time, but she let you know really quick when she was done. We rescued about her 7 or 8 years ago when she was days away from being put down at a local animal shelter. She's probably the sweetest dog ever and she is greatly missed. Her only problem was that she ate Dax's food and got fat while he got skinny. Silly dog.

Dax - our Catahula. or something like that. I'm not really sure. We got him about ten years ago. Dax is a super mellow dog. He doesn't know how to play fetch, which is kinda funny. He loves to lay in the sun and take naps. He is getting really old, so naps are pretty much all he has energy for these days. He's an awesome guard dog (when he could hear well) and absolutely loves walks! Dax is a good dog! We love him lots.

Well, that's my family. I don't get to see them often seeing as how they live in Texas and I live in Utah, but I talk to them often (thank goodness for technology!). I get to spend two whole weeks with them for Christmas, so I am really looking forward to that. They're the best family ever! It's great being a Craig!

TWILIGHT COUNTDOWN!

Please don't try this at home...or anywhere. ever.

Here's the story on this picture. That bright yellow stuff in my hair, yeah that's plastic that was melted and then hardened. Here's the story:
So this morning I was getting ready for class and decided to take advantage of the state of my hair (curly) and just add a few more curls to it before heading off to class. Well, my nice, hot curling iron got a little too close to my roommate Kailee's tote and some of the plastic melted onto my iron. I, being completely oblivious that anything of the sort had happened, proceeded to wrap my hair around the curling iron, and subsequently, onto the waiting melty plastic. When I tried to get it off, my hair wouldn't come off and when I got my hair to let go of the curling iron, I discovered the strand to have a few thick gloops of now hardened, bright yellow plastic. I frantically called my mom. She laughed and suggest I color it different colors to match all my outfits. I didn't find that too funny. She did try to help me but at the time there was really nothing I could do. My class was already starting and I had to get to school. So I parted my hair the wrong direction to cover the bright yellow plastic, pulled it into a pony tail, and went to school. My hair has been that way all day until I came home a little less than an hour ago and slowly pulled the pieces of plastic out of my hair, bit by bit. It was painful, not gonna lie. So that is my big adventure for today. You're welcome to laugh. I know that as the scar of this tramatic event heals, I too will look back and laugh. Right now, my head still hurts.

Insight into the mind of Alyssa

I'm not quite sure why I've been blogging so much lately but it's been a good outlet, so here's another one. I have a small confession. Or big depending on how creeped out you are by it. I am an observer. I notice things and people, which then leads me to believe that while I may know who someone is (and even some facts about them) they actually have no idea who I am. At all. It turns out that this is occasionally not true. Today in my English class, we were doing group work and during our conversation (that had nothing at all to do with our papers), it came out that during the course of the last couple of days, I had seen all four of my group members around campus and had not said hi. My group then decided that I must both hate them and be stalking them and tried to trade me off to a different group. They were joking of course, but it got me to thinking about why I didn't say hi to them. The reason I didn't do this is because I didn't think they would know who I am, so that would be weird. It turns out they do. And now they will be especially attentive and make sure I say hi. Maybe this is branching out for me or maybe it's some sort of lesson I'm supposed to learn about being friendly. Who knows? All I know is that now I am the group hater and stalker. Not exactly loving titles.

Oh the hideousness...

So I was talking Deborah and we got talking about Crocs. Yes, the hideous, plastic, awful shoes that should never in this world have been invented. I was trying to tell her how nasty they are while she was telling me that I am worldly. If being worldly means not buying ugly shoes that cost way more than they're worth, than so be it! I am worldly.
While doing research for this post, I discovered a whole new world of ugliness. Did you know they now have Crocs with fur inside of them?! FUR!!!! and they have these little charms you can attach to them, although why in your right mind you would attach charms to your shoes I don't know. But if you are the owner of Crocs, you probably are not in your right mind to begin with. Then there are Croc boots, Croc Sports shoes (gag!), Croc slips on and the categories go on and on. What I cannot believe is that these things are popular enough that they have expanded enough to create so many different categories of ugly.
During this discussion, our friend Lisa came by and joined in. She made the good point that Crocs can sometimes (and this is a VERY rare sometimes) be used, such as in the garden. Crocs are for those who do not care what is on their feet as long as their feet are comfortable. Price and looks (not to mention dignity) mean little to them. Also Deborah said that Crocs can be cute on little kids. I say that they are only cute because they are small shoes. Any shoes shrunk to the size of a baby doll's shoe is considered cute. But they loss their cuteness after the age of 5. That is the maximum. Period. Who are these people who at 54 are still wearing them? Why people? WHY?!
I have been told that this opinion on Crocs is harsh and unwarranted. Well, I'm sorry? Maybe not. I don't know. I just know that I think they are hideous and should not be worn. By anyone. Ever. The End.

18 Days and Counting...

Guess what's in 18 Days? Yes, the date is October 31st but I am not talking about Halloween or the HOWL. I am referring to none other than the beginning of the Aggie Basketball Season! Granted, it is only an exhibition game but it is nonetheless the first basketball game of the season! It marks the beginning of many hours in line, fighting the big, older boys to get in the door first, racing down the stairs to get to the closest row possible, winning (shallow I know but true) really loud crowds and many times of singing the Scotsman. It's fantastic! Definitely my favorite thing up here at Utah State!

UTAH STATE! HEY! AGGIES ALL THE WAY! GO AGGIES! GO AGGIES! HEY! HEY! HEY!

I'm Rockin' the Vote

Ok, I know I said I'd never do this and I still don't completely agree with it but someone very important told me I should so I am going to do the unthinkable. I registered to vote! There! I said it! I am now a registered voter and I am going to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Now, I want all you political fanatics to understand something. I am nothing! Not apathetic, just nothing. Not democrat, not republican, not blah blah blah blah blah. I will vote for who I want to vote for regardless of who you tell me to, so save your breath. I still don't think it will make any difference in the overall outcome (let's be honest, Utah has how many electoral votes? yeah...we're no California. Plus I'm not convinced at all that the people really chose the president anyway). And to be completely honest, I don't really like either candidate. But I dislike one less and that is who I will vote for. And I'm not going to tell you who it is. So there you go people, Alyssa Craig is going to vote. Happy??!!

What the hurricane!

So this last week has been pretty stressful for me because of a little something called Hurricane Ike. It's path was heading straight for my family (who live in Sugar Land, TX right outside of Houston) and that was just not okay with me. I was totally freaking out, even though both my mom and dad kept telling me to relax. I don't know how well you know me, but relax is not something I do easily. I am one of the most high stress individuals you will ever meet, so me? relax? with a hurricane pointed at my family? not likely. So my family got all their preparations done and all there was to do was wait it out. Dad had to be downtown at work, since he works for a radio station, so it was just Mom, Emi, Christian, and Dax at home. Luckily, the storm came and went, only blowing down part of our fence. Which is hardly a casualty when things could have been much, much worse. So now I can really relax and sleep well knowing that my family isn't going to be blown away or that I won't have a house to go back to at Christmas. But knowing me, I'll probably find something else to stress over. Like school...probably my stats class.

Guess I'll be American...

This is me, fulfilling my duty and blogging on the Olympics. I gotta say, I really do enjoy the Olympics. It's a time when the whole world gets together to play games. How cool is that?! I will make a list of my thoughts on the current Olympic games going on in Bejing, China.

• The Chinese are dirty cheaters! Why on earth would they put in 8 year olds to do their women's gymnastics! I'll tell you why, because they train those kids to do cart wheels out the birth canal, so by the time they reach the age of about 8 or 9, they are ready to compete. So they change birth certificates and what not and try and tell the world that these tiny, box shaped little girls that can't do their make up are 16. How dumb do they really think we are?! What's more annoying is that they won gold. Totally rigged.
  
• Michael Phelps. Great athelete, not attractive. I'm sorry girls of the world. I just don't get your obsession with him. You can fight with me all you want, I will not change my mind. End of story.
  
• Male Gymnastic - USA. These men celebrated and gloated way too much to end up with a bronze metal. I'm just saying.
• May and Walsh. Still awesome. They are definitely allowed to celebrate.
• As of right now, we are racing with the Chinese for the most metals won and they are beating us 35-34. We could still win this thing. Even though they're cheating.
  

That's all for now. GO TEAM USA!

Happiness. or not

What makes us happy? Yesterday in church, our bishop gave a lesson on this topic and the discussions that resulted really bothered me. So rather than stage a mutiny during Relief Society, I decided to first vent to my friends and then share it on my blog.
The lesson started out with the bishop asking us to make a list on the board of things that do and do not make you happy. First, he wrote $1 million under the "Does" list and asked if this was correct. Immediately some girls on the front row (figures. I was on the back row by the way) said No! I don't know about you, but I would be made extremely happy by $1 million. I could pay for school (including grad school), travel a bit, maybe donate some (in order to show some humility you see). They eventually decided to put the money in the middle of the two lists because they decided it wasn't necessarily a bad thing either. However, by the time we were done with our list, fame and fortune were both on the side of things that "Do Not" cause happiness. This made me very upset.
Happiness is a totally relative concept. It's based on attitude, situation, individual personalities, etc. What makes one person happy may not make another person happy. For example, I can tell you 100% that although watching Pride and Prejudice makes me very happy, it makes my brother want to kill himself. Not literally, but you get the picture. Plus, one thing that has always been a pet peeve of mine is when people insist that those with money and/or fame do not have happiness. Particularly those who aquired those things throught acting, musical, or athletic talent. That is bull. Just because a person has either fame or fortune does not mean they automatically are going to have a miserable life. It's the way you live your life, what you choose to do with that fame/money that will determine your level of happiness. And like I said before, it's all relative. So who are we to judge? That's my soap box on happiness.

Positivity...is that even a word?

So I was talking to some friends and realized that my blog is completely negative. It's funny because in high school, people used to tell me that I was such a positive person. But if you've read my blog, you've probably noticed that I whine a lot. This is not good. So I will do my best to be more positive on here, and in general. By the way, Celtics kick trash! Just thought I'd throw that out there. :)

Summer Fest 2008

Today I had my first experience with the Logan Summer Fest that everybody gets so excited about. There were so many people there! I didn't know there were that many people in Logan! ha ha But it was fun to see all the cool things that people have in their booths, ranging from pictures, painting, clothes, jewelery, even something called exotic spoons. Interesting. I ate some fabulous Cafe Sabor (taco salad to be specific) and then Holly, Janette and I set out to find the Henna tattoo lady so we could be wicked cool. However, our search was not fruitful and it left Holly ready to cry. I was crying on the inside. All the rumors of these awesome Henna tattoos at Summer Fest and now I don't have one. So sad. But then we just walked around, saw half A-Team and all of Logan, before deciding it was time to leave. It was fun and I will definitely be returning. I give it a B+, some points deducted for the lack of Henna. :)

Like Mother Like Daughter

Of all people, my mom tagged me. So here goes...

A- Attached or single? Single baby!!!
B- Best Friend(s)- Dang I have a lot. Julia, Lori, Stacey, Damron, A-Team girlies, E$, my mommy!
C- Cake or Pie? I would have to say pie. Chocolate Cream. French Silk. Yum!
D-Day of choice? Saturday. No school, just fun.
E-Essential item? Lotion. and water.
F-Favorite color? Right now, sunny yellow!
G-Gummy bears or worms? Ya know, they taste the same to me.
H-Hometown? Cottonwood Heights UT/Sugar Land TX
I- Favorite Indulgence? Reese Peanut Butter Cups
J-January or July?- January all the way. It's my birthday month!
K-Kids? Heck no. Not yet anyway. Give me lots of years.
L-Life isn't complete without? My friends. They rock.
M-Marriage Date? TBA
N-Number of Bro & Sis? 1 brother, 1 sister
O-Oranges or Apples? Gala Apples.
P-Phobia and Fears? I'm a scaredy cat, so just about anything dare devilish.
Q-Quote? From the movie Stick It. Fantastic
Hayley: "hey mina? will you tell joanne i got my GED when i was fifteen?"
Joanne: "hey! whats with all the closed captioning? i'm not mute. and GED? what does drunk driving have to do with school?"
R-Reason to smile? Because you're alive! and you have people who love you!
S-Season of choice? Fall all the way.
T-Tag Ten People? Dione, Whintey, Bri, Sarah, Loni, and whoever else happens to read this.
U-Unknown fact about me?-I'm VL
V-Vegetable?-Carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans!
W-Worse habit?- I play with my fingers and rings when I'm nervous
Y-Your favorite food? Umm..right now I like the breakfast burritos I make myself. :)
Z-Zodiac sign? aquarius

Love Love Me

You know you've either grown up or you're going crazy when you're sick of not having a job. ha ha I've been looking for one the last couple of weeks and it hit me today that not only do I really need a job, but I really want one too! So weird. I never thought I would look forward to getting another job.
I just watched 13 Going on 30 and it really made me think. (Here comes Nerd Alyssa for you). We all try to grow up so fast. We want to be older, more mature, and be allowed all the privileges and activities that come with growing up. But let's take a step back and really consider this. Wouldn't we all love to be care free again? Not have to worry about money, school, and life in general? And as great as all that sounds I would have to say no. I wouldn't ever want to be younger. Although I am not in any hurry whatsoever to grow up (unless of course, I could get out of school faster), I love the life that I have. I love being on my own and creating my own life with the people that I choose to include in it. I am really enjoying all the learning and growing that I am doing, even though most of the time you'll hear me complaining about it. I think that people need to be more content with who they are and how their life is now than to wish they were older, younger, or whatever else. Love who you are. That's the bottom line. And quit trying to grow up so fast dang it!

Bad days would be so much worse without amazing friends.

So Tuesday was a terrible day. I had my first SOAR day and it was less than great. It was even less than ok. My Transitions to College Presentation went really poorly and I was completely flustered and nervous and it definitely showed. Then, after a long day when I already was ready to cry, I got to my car and found that I had been booted. So I had to call the Boot guy and have him come take them off and pay him $7o!!! I would have to say the only good part of the experience was Deborah, Monica, and Kaili going off at the guy for like twenty minutes. I have such great friends! But I was just so stressed out and had already been having a rough day so when I got home I just broke down and started crying. It was not good. But about an hour later, some of the girls made me go to Le Beau's for staff sanity (at this point there was very little actual forcing to do because I was starving!). And I am so glad they did because it really cheered me up. And my tummy was happy. :) These are my A-Team girls. I don't know what I'd do without them.


Left to right: Desiree, Perla, me, Monica, Kaili, Deborah

Whine Whine Whine

I have been sick today. Definitely not fun. I woke up and pretty sure the first thing I thought was "I feel like crap". And it really hasn't gone away all day. I have taken my temperature twice and both times I was normal but I definitely think I had a fever during packet stuffing this morning. You can ask the girls I had feel my forehead, it was hot. Other than that I have sort of had a sore throat but mostly I've just been really achy, like when you are getting over a sickness. Hopefully this was a one day thing because I have retreat for A-Team tomorrow through Saturday and I've been looking forward to it so much! I tried to call my doctor for an appointment but of course she was full and so I tried to go to the Student Health and Wellness Center here on campus, but it closes at 12:30 during the summer. Which is totally ridiculous but what can you do? So I came home, took an ibuprofen, and laid down and watched Now and Then, a fantastic movie. I am still feeling the same which sucks because I thought maybe the rest would help. Maybe it's too soon to tell. I'm just going to kick back for the rest of the day and hope that by tomorrow I will be better.
I have a secret to tell. Which I guess by putting it on the internet makes it much less of a secret. ha ha I don't know if you've been able to tell by this entry or not but I love to complain. I don't look for excuses to complain but when I have one I use it up. That is super selfish of me and something I definitely need to work on but I guess it gives me comfort to be able to tell a lot of people about my problems and get their sympathy. It's pretty pathetic I know. Definitely something to work on.

Welcome!

Hey! Welcome to my very own blog! So I am writing this from home (Texas) but starting next week I will be documenting from Logan, UT where I am going to school. I will be up there working hard all summer so that I can make lots of money and afford to continue attending college. I am currently on the staff that conducts all the new student orientations (The A-Team) and am looking forward to starting those. I am also really nervous but I think I'll catch on quickly and really be able to just have fun with it. I will also be getting another job to do on my off days so that I can make as much money as possible. One thing that this past year has taught me is that EVERYTHING costs money! ha ha So I hope you enjoy my blog and I will do my best to keep it updated with my life.