Lists... And Clark Griswold!

I have heard many times that if you can't sleep, it is because you are thinking of too many things that you have to do the next day. So, my new habit is to sleep with a pad of paper and bed next to me so that I can write stuff down that I don't want to forget the next day. Man, it is the greatest thing in the world! I am a list maker, always have been, always will be. I seriously feel like writing lists is a drug to me because I can feel it instantly calm me down and relax me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE making lists of things to do, or things that I would like to do. Sometimes, I write lists of nothing just because... like a list of every room room in my house and every cabinet and every drawer that I need to re-organize and something in those drawers that I can throw away in each drawer. I do not get it how some people live without lists of things to do or lists of things to remind them what is going on in their lives. Thanks to my list, I had a very productive day... That always makes you feel good!

Here is my list for tomorrow...
-Choreograph for our Ward Talent Show (anyone who reads this that is in my ward better be at our Ward Christmas Party on Sat. at 5:00- obviously there will be a great show there thanks to the RS Presidency)
-Work on my lesson for Sunday (pray for me, I need it)
-Work on Stewardship Report
-Call clients from internship
-Wrap presents from my Black Friday shopping (I miss all my money that I spent...)
-Clean out Fridge
-Buy White Elephant Gifts
-Buy Ugly Sweaters


So, I thought that I had no pictures to share, but just remember that I do!

A week or so ago my very favorite nephew Dylan turned 2! He is seriously SO stinking cute! You can ask him what sound any animal makes and he can do it- it is SO cute! My favorite is...

Bird--- Tweet Tweet
Horse--- Nahhhhh Nahhhhh
Monkey--- Eeee Eeee Eeee

He is seriously So cute and I love him SO much!

...Blowing out his 2 candles...

...Look at his HUGE stack of Presents and Cute Pregnant Amy...

...Playing swords with Andrew...

...He's adorable even with bows on his head...

This picture of me and my sisters is from Thanksgiving- Yes, I am very thankful for them!



And this next beauty is from this last Friday when we put our tree up. If any of you don't remember our tree experience last year, let me refresh your memories...

We got a nice tree from Andrew's parents because they got a new one that is a nice pre-lit one. Me, being like I am wanted the biggest tree that we could so we used their old one that really is huge. You have to put on each branch by it self and it really does take a long time. THEN, put the lights on... Last year we had about 800 lights or so and ran out, so we went to Walmart got like 300 more and went home to finish, THEN, we got to the top of the tree and ran out of lights- SO, we went to Walmart for a second time, bought more lights and finally finihsed.

This year we used the same tree again, but didn't think it would be as bad because we still had all of our lights from last year AND, Grandma Hyde gave us 300 more because she was getting rid of some of her Christmas stuff, so we thought that we'd have like 1800 lights or so and we'd be Golden this year. This is how our tree ended up...


ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Did we REALLY have to go back and buy MORE LIGHTS!!! Yes, we did! So, now we have like 2000 lights on our tree! I can't believe it myself and if we burn our town homes down I am SO super sorry, but Andrew is to blame- he put the lights on it... Ha Ha! I give everyone permission to call Andrew Clark Griswold!

...The Finished Product...
(You can kinda tell in this picture where Andrew realized he was going to be out of lights and tried to thin them out... It's totally noticeable in this picture, but not when you are just looking at it... Ha Ha!)

...This is what our future house will look like when Andrew's finished...

The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!
-Buddy the Elf

Happy Birthday Grandma!

So my mom's mom just had her 70th Birthday! So exciting! My Grandma told my aunt Sundee that she had been "craving skating" lately and that she wants to go for her birthday! When I heard that we were going skating for her birthday I told everyone that I was leaving as soon as Grandma put her skates on, but she ended up having some helpers so I was able to stay the whole time! Ha Ha! Here are so great pictures of us skating it up!

-Porter, Heather, Emily and Stacy-

-Present Time-

-Em and Me-

-Meg and Grandma while Grandpa puts on Grandma's skates!-

-Meg and Em getting their blades on-

-Slow and Steady-

-Almost Falling Down!-

-We're Good!-

-Snowball with my Husband-

-Family Fun-

-Em, me, Carson, Brynn, Meg and STRANGER-
(This little girl kept getting on our little train and it was SO funny!)

-Looking Good Girls-

-Skating Sweethearts-

So I guess having a skating party is fun when you are 7 or 70! Ha Ha! We love you so much Grandma and are so happy that we got to spend the day with you!

Halloween!

So sorry that these pictures are a little late, I know you all have been dying to see what we were this year...

...Big Bad Wolf (Granny Style) and Little Red Riding Hood...

We got Andrew glasses from from the Dollar Store that made the costume look so great and to top it off we got him comfy little pink slippers to go with his granny nightgown!

...Andrew really looked so funny!...

...These are our pumpkins...

I actually hated my pumpkin this year! Mine is the one on the Right, and the picture looked So cute on the paper, but it really didn't turn out how I would have hoped... O well, I'll just have to do a really really awesome one next year cause Andrew wouldn't go buy me a new one to do a redo this year- mean, I know!

So I am having a major life style change in 5 weeks and 2 day and I can hardly wait. I. . .

GRADUATE!!!!!!!

14 months ago I remember almost crying to my dad and telling him that I just want to quit school and that all I want to be is a stay at home mom so why would it matter if i graduated or not if I am not planning on working... At the time I almost died when he said, "Ali, it's only 15 months away, that'll go by fast!" I did not believe him, but now I really can't believe how fast it has gone by! I feel like I just moved up to Logan and started going to school and really, it was 3 years ago that I moved up here- that's NUTZ! Anyways, that is all that is on my calendar in the next little while that is worth talking about... Love Ya!

My Motivation

So I don't know where I got this. . .I want to take credit for it, but you know how when you are writing a paper or something and all of a sudden your writing starts sounding a lot like the research you just did- some how it seeps into your brain and you don't know how or where it came from. . . Anyways, I've had this thought for the past week or so and it has litterally changed my life (at least for this last week) so I thought that it was worthy of a post. . .

My thought is. . .

What can I do today to make tomorrow an easier day?

Now, I know that you have probably all heard of a quote like this and are laughing that I think that I might of made this up, but seriously the way that it has changed my life I could care less.

It has motivated me to not procastinate for even a few hours- and then after I get my task or chore done I feel so much accomplishment. . .I think that is what I love the most about it!

FOR EXAMPLE... I do my laundry on Sunday- I know this is not the best day to do my laundry, but it literally is the only day that I am home long enough to get it done. So, putting the laundy in the washer is easy, switching it to the dryer is easy, putting the second batch in the washer is easy, but when the first batch is done drying and is ready to be folded...this to me is like death! I HATE HATE HATE folding laundry and putting it away! I hate it so much that I have left clothes in the dryer til the next Sunday just because I didn't want to fold them! (This has only happened a few times... I think!)

So, when that does happen how horrible is that next Sunday when I have double the amount to fold! So, this last week I decided that as soon as I heard the dryer beep at me I was going to fold it and put it away! I almost died at how AMAZING I felt when I did this. I seriously had to sit there and think about why I was feeling so good and it was because I had just made my tomorrow easier! Not only was it going to be easier because I wouldn't have to fold laundry, but I woldn't have the guilt weighting on me that I never folded that dumb batch of laundry!

I really love my new out look on life and hope that this helps at least one person! Please try this and see how you feel. . .

I promise you won't be mad at yourself for being more on top of things!

Families Can Be Together Forever...

So about a month or so ago my grandparents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary! What an accomplishment! It was a great day! We went to eat at the Copper Mill, then went to their house and had a photographer come and do family pictures! I really don't think that that side of the family has ever done family pictures, so we were definitely over due for some pictures! We got lots of cute pictures and my aunts had a bouquet for my grandma that was like hers 50 years ago and had a cake made that was exactly like the one they had 50 years ago. It was really cute! And, it was so fun to watch my grandma throw her bouquet!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

The Whole Family minus Rip's family ; (

All the cousins minus Rippie and Olivia

Boys and Grandpa

Girls and Grandpa

Girls & Grandma

Siegfried Family

Siegfried Kids

Siegfried Sisters

Cutting the Cake

Bouquet Toss

I really am so blessed to have such a great family! Whenever we get together it is SO much fun and so wild and so loud and so crazy, but we always have the best time! Love You Guys!

Long Time No Blog

So I know it's been a long time since I posted last, but I'm blaming that one on my little sister Emily because I let her borrow my camera for homecoming, then left for Logan and forgot that she still had it... Well, I have it now and will be better. Here are a few pictures of Emily at Jordan High's Homecoming. She looked SO beautiful and her dress was SO SO SO cute!

All the Sisters, aka Slaves for the Day!

Grandma Moby and Emily

Emily and Taylor

A few weeks ago me and Andrew got to baby sit our favorite nephew Dylan! I have to call him my favorite while I can cause we've got another one on the way and will greet us with his presence in January! Yahoo! Amy and Tyson make beautiful babies!

THEN, I had a birthday! October is a pretty busy month for the first few days with my family...
Oct. 1- My birthday
Oct. 2- Coleman's birthday
Oct. 3- My Parents Anniversary
Oct. 4- My uncle Val's birthday and my childhood Bestest Friend Whitney Waltman's birthday!

Ever since Emily borrowed my camera it has been acting funny and
that is why this picture is blurry.

I love sharing my birthday cake with Coleman! This is the only picture that is ok to be blurry cause it looks like we are actually blowing out our candles!
(Coleman looks like Chloe to me in this picture!)

Birthday Twins!

Cole got a new bike for his birthday so he got a helmet too!
Lookin' Good Buddy!

As you noticed Andrew wasn't in any of these birthday pictures... Sad I know. It's cause these were actually the day before my birthday. I went down to Salt Lake for my friend Aubrey's wedding that was on my birthday, but my family wanted me to come down the night before. So, on my actual birthday I got my hair redone, went to Aubrey's wedding,


went to lunch with Lindsey Knudsen (thanks Lindsey! I wish we lived closer!) then came back to Logan to celebrate with Andrew! He is SO sweet! He got me so much stuff, but I only got a picture of my favorite...

MY OWN SNUGGIE! Even better, it is the Wild Side Zebra Snuggie! Andrew is such a dork and I laughed SO hard when I opened up the blanket with sleeves! Ha Ha!

AND, he baked me a cake! Not just any cake- a double layered cake! I've never even done that! He is so great!

And when he started putting candles on he asked me if we really had to put 22 on there, but he stopped at 3 beause he thought that was enough... I can't wait to see how many I get next year...

Thanks for everyone who texted me Happy Birthday on my B-day! I tried to text people back, but then couldn't remember who I did and who I didn't, so sorry if I didn't text back... and even more sorry if I texted Thank You to anyone twice... Love Ya!

18 Months!!!

HOLY COW!!! I can't believe that we have been married for 18 Months today- it seriously feels like yesterday! Here is a list of 18 things that have changed since March 8, 2008...

1. I turned 21.
2. I changed my name to Alexandria Ann Siegfried Hyde- I know it's a mouthful!
   
3. Andrew turned 23.
4. Andrew turned 24.
5. I cut my hair VERY short... didn't last very long
6. I learned that the sound of Sports Announcers can make me cry depending on the day.
7. Andrew observed his first live ballet class.
8. We got a nice big kitchen table instead of TV trays pushed together.
   
9. We learned that couples really start to look a like- we end up wearing the same color shirts a lot and we usually don't even notice it and then get teased by friends.
10. We are both the RS and EQ Secretaries- apparently we appear to be organized people.
11. Andrew declared his major as Business Administration.
12. Andrew decided that he is going to do the MBA program at USU.
13. I got my first ballet teaching job.
14. We filed joint taxes for the first time as a couple- Thanks to Andrew's awesome dad!
15. Andrew likes to fall asleep to movies like me- I knew I'd get him to like it!
16. I know more about Sports Center than I ever wanted to know in my life!
17. We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple and put over 1,000 lights on our tree!
18. We sent our little Wesley on a mission!
    

Thanks for the best 18 months of my life Sweetheart- I love you!

Thanks for the NIghtmares...NOT!

I have a great story for everyone, for me, it was terrifying, but Andrew got a good laugh about it after the fact, so I thought I'd share. This story will serve two purposes 1- making my friends laugh at me and 2- to let everyone know what they CAN and CAN NOT put on their blogs... SO this nightmare of mine happened because my cute friend Brekke put a picture of a Bat on her blog that she found outside of her apartment- YIKES!!! After stalking her blog a few times to see her cute little boy the bat really started to bother me. Last August (2008) a week before we went to Jackson Hole I had two nightmares in a row that I woke up screaming about Bats attacking me! Well, you can kind of guess what happens next... Yes, I had a horrible nightmare about another bat attacking me! Here is how the horrible nightmare went....

I was in my bathroom doing my hair and in my dream above the door their was a hole in the wall that an air conditioning vent was supposed to be on, but it was missing in the dream so I could look out and see the ceiling light in the hallway. So, while I was doing my hair I looked at the whole in the wall and saw that the light was full of rats, rabits, bugs and yes... A BAT! This bat was so mean and scary looking and kept trying to get into the bathroom with me! So, in my dream I got Andrew on the phone and was SCREAMING for him to get home and kill these animals! In my dream he was at my fabulous friend Crystals apartment a few down from ours helping them move furniture, but said he'd come right home. So, while I am combating these bugs and bats, the rabits and rats were eating away at the light fixtures in the hall and there were sparks going everywhere!

At this point I was sitting up in bed and freaking out that bugs, bats, rabits and rats were attacking me! Andrew was like, "Babe, you're ok, lay back down, it's ok..." Now, I knew that I was having a dream, but I was like half a sleep and half awake, so I kept asking Andrew, "What would you do to get rid of the bats and rabits? How would you kill them?" Again, he answered, "Babe, you're ok, lay back down, it's ok..." I kept asking him and asking him, but I guess eventually just fell back asleep. Because I knew I was half a sleep and half awake I really did want him to answer me and tell me what he would have done, so I could of finished out my dream and have him do whatever he would have done to get rid of these monsters! He could have saved me a lot of grief if he would have just told me he'd shoot them because then in my dream I would have had my knight in shinning armor return from Crystals house and get his gun and kill those horrible animals!

Man, this was a bad night and all because of a little picture! SO, I hope that everyone that reads this will not post pictures of the following if you care for me at all...

-Bats
-Spiders
-Rabits
-Rats
-Snakes


If you must post those grotesque pictures please do what Crystal did and give me a little preview of what is coming before I scroll down and see the picture- Thanks Crystal for the heads up so I didn't see the big spider!

Enjoy my Nightmare!

Honey Pack You're Bags!

SURPRISE! So ever since I met Andrew he's always talked about going to an NFL game. I thought that it would be fun, or at least an experience, so I decided to make it happen! Back in June I started looking up the 49ers Schedule and trying to figure things out, but I tend to get ideas in my head that never end up working out cause stuff like Life usually come up and you know how it goes. So, I am absolutely horrible at keeping secrets because I have to talk and tell people about everything, so this really was an accomplishment for me. Here is how he found out...

About 2 weeks before we left for San Fran me and Andrew were laying in bed and he was checking his work schedule on line. Being the genius that I am I had my mother-in-law call Andrew's work the beginning on July and get him work off- I felt like they would respect her and be nicer to her so I made her do it- Thanks Gay! SO, he's checking his work schedule and I knew he was going to find out, but seriously my heart was pounding so hard I thought that he could hear it! Then he noticed that it said "REQUESTED OFF" for August 13- August 16. I could tell he was confused and wondering what he would have asked work off for, but had no idea. Finally we was like, "Work is so stupid- they said I requested off all these days and I never did... I'll just talk to them and tell them they made a mistake and I can work." Being as casual as I could I was like, "Oh, that's weird... what days are they?" He told me and I was like, "Oh ya... don't worry about it." Then I couldn't stop smiling and I didn't want to give it away and hid under the covers and pillows. Then he was full of questions, but I told him if he asked one more question then he wouldn't be going. Ha Ha!

That threat worked very well for the next two weeks and off we were...

So once we got to the airport we checked my big bag and he saw the tickets said San Fran and then kinda figured it out. He has the cutest little boy grin that I just love and pray every night that our kids will have that little grin too!

DAY ONE- August 13, 2009

We tried to do a night tour of Alcatraz, but the tickets were sold out til next week so we just got on a ferry boat that took us out to The Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz a few times. It was cool! Then we walked around Pier 39, Fisherman's Warf, ate some great seafood at Bubba Gumps and went up to Ghiradelli Square and got some yummy chocolates!

...Pier 39...

...Fisherman's Warf...

...After eating delicious food at Bubba Gumps...
...Golden Gate Bridge......Alcatraz...
...San Fran...

...Ghiradelli Square...

...Getting back to the hotel on BART...

DAY TWO- August 14, 2009

We went up to Chinatown. This was fun, we had good Chinese food, road the Trolly and then, the big event... The 49ers VS. Broncos Game! This is Andrew's version of the Celestial Kingdom! 49ers won 17-16! It was really fun! We got cute shirts, had great hot dogs and seriously the best Churro I've ever had in my life!

...Chinatown...
...On the Trolly...
...Eating our hot dogs...
...Football Head...
...At the game...

...Here they come...
...Fun, Fun, Fun...
...Niners...

DAY THREE- August 15, 2009

This was my favorite day because we went to Union Square. Union Square had every shopping store you can imagine! This is my version of the Celestial Kingdom! They had a Juicy Couture store that was 4 floors! The top floor had baby and children's clothes that were to die for! And... A STROLLER! I know I don't need one right now, but come on- who couldn't use a Juicy Stroller! I seriously was high on Juicy the rest of the day! Andrew said he's not willing to take a loan out for a stroller... he obviosuly has no idea how awesome it is! After we visited all of the good shops we went back to Fisherman's Warf and had some really good sea food from Joe's Crab shack- not crab... shrimp!

...OUR TOWN...
...I got me some Gangster Glasses that I LOVE...
...Andrew got a new Posh Style...

DAY FOUR- August 16, 2009

Since we had to leave this day we didn't have a whole lot of time, but we did squeeze in time for Ripley's Believe it or Not! It was fun! I've never been in a Ripley's museum and I've always wanted to so I was so happy that we finally got to! There was some crazy stuff in there!

...We met up with MJ at Ripley's...
...Tried to swallow our noses like this freaky man...

...Kaleidoscope...

...Fisherman's Warf...
...San Fran Airport...

I am SO happy that we got this opportunity to go on one last vacation before school started and fulfill Andrew's dream of going to see his beloved 49ers. We haven't been on a vacation alone since our Honeymoon so this was really fun to have it just be us and not worry about anything else!

Thanks for reading!