Hello Monday

Hello to a Monday off of work but a long to do list to accomplish today

Hello to the month of August. It has come so soon. Too soon.


Hello to a new craft adventure with my mom. The time together is well cherished.

Hello to enjoying our flea market finds

Hello to a warm cup of coffee.

Hello Monday....

I Can't Believe It.

It's already Friday.

How does that happen every week?

The days just seem to get away from me.

I had some training at work this week which made the days feel long but I still can't comprehend that it is already Friday. I won't complain though. Because not only is it friday, its pay day. Double yes.

I don't have too many pictures from this week because working doesn't result in very many good picture opportunities.

If you follow me on instagram you will notice that I just began doing a "Thankful for" picture each day. I saw that another blogger was doing it and I thought it was a cool idea.


I tried out a new dressing recipe found in the Womens Health magazine.
I will share more next week. Delish

If you have ever worked at a flower shop, you wouldn't be surprised how many flowers get thrown away. These roses were about to get put in the trash, but I spared them the trip to the garbage compactor. They can thank me later

My grandma is still healing so when I visit she sits in her chair and I lay on the couch. We relax together. Its pretty nice...

Do you ever lay in bed and your mind just races? I hate that. I have been trying to write some brief thoughts down before bed instead of letting them fester in my brain. This girl needs her beauty sleep.

Just finished this book. I highly recommend it. Especially if you are looking for a light summer read.

And now I just started reading this...

Happy friday.
Follow me on instagram @storiesofagirl

Im linking up at life rearranged.

Embrace it, girl

Today I am embracing the camera with my favorite volleyball girls

Friends are so important aren't they?

We all recently joined a sand volleyball league. Thank god for the other two girls because I am no help at all.

I consider it a good game when I touch the ball as few times as possible. Like 2 or 3 times.

I usually have two decent hits, and then it goes all down hill from there.

But we have fun. And that's all that matters right?

Hop on over to one of my favorite blogs The Anderson Crew for Embrace the Camera



We all love taking pictures, but sometimes its important to be in front of the camera.

So try it. Please?

It just not meant to be

A few weeks ago, before we moved in with these crazy people, we were living in a rental place. The washer and dryer was in the basement (Something I will never do when I build my own place) and our room was on the second floor.

I was rushing out of the house one morning and I thought I would throw in a load of laundry. I piled some of my stuff on top of the dirty laundry basket and carried it down to the first floor. I took my stuff out of the basket and continued down to the basement. I threw in the laundry and started the washer.

It was mostly the bf's work clothes so I made sure that it was on high and hot.
I headed back upstairs, grabbed my purse, and got into my car.

I thought I would call my mother while I was driving so I reached into my purse to grab my phone. It wasn't in there. It was in the laundry basket. I did not remember taking it out before I threw everything in the laundry. I ran back in the house and down into the basement. The washing machine was full of water and I lifted all of the sopping wet and not to mention extremely hot clothes out. And there was my iPhone. Laying at the bottom of the washing machine.

I took it out and immediately tried to turn it on. NO. SUCH. LUCK.

The water was so hot and and it was so submerged that my beloved iPhone was a goner.

And of course water damage isn't covered by insurance. Luckily I was due for an upgrade and a new iPhone was only $150. I was having nightmares of using one of those chunky old flip phones. If one good thing came out of the situation it was that I finally got the white iPhone that I had been wanting.

Just when you think everything is resolved....

Enter this guy:

This is Beans. My bf's parents dog.

You may be thinking, "that is the cutest puppy in the world." Cute yes. Devil. YES

I walked into the house and my new white iPhone was laying on the couch. Pretty normal right?

And then I picked it up. And it was covered in slobber. Beans is part mastiff and slobber is an understatement.

I figured that he just slobbered on it. Until I took the case off. He chewed the screen.

Since when do dogs eat phones?

Luckily it is still usable and I am going to get the screen fixed when I get a chance.

Maybe ali and iPhones are just not meant to be....

So I just look at this guy.

My perfect little angel.
Haha.
Thats funny.
But at least he doesn't eat phones.

Maxwell St. Days

We have a little tradition here in Madison called Maxwell St. Days.
All of our little shops downtown have a huge sidewalk sale.

My mom and I ventured down this weekend and we went to one of our favorite little boutiques, Anthology and we stumbled upon our newest obsession. Curly Girl Cards.

We bought these 3

And there are hundreds more on the Curly Girl website. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Oh my goodness I could look at them all day. It's just one of those things that make you smile. They are so great to send to a friend, but my latest idea is to buy some and frame them for my dorm room next year. Speaking of dorm rooms... I have been swooning over all of the garland DIY's on pinterest. I bought some really cute paper while we were downtown but I wanted to do a "trial run" with some old card stock that I had....
I will be doing a tutorial later this week.

Insta Friday

No words just pictures today...

Happy Weekend.
xxxxxx

Its the little things

I talked here about my grandmas diagnosis with cancer. She had been staying pretty healthy and still getting out quite a bit until two weeks ago when we noticed that she wasn't eating and she seemed pretty confused. She was also having a hard time walking just a few feet.

Red flag. Something was wrong.

They did some tests and found that she had a urinary tract infection. That explained a lot. (The confusion, the dizziness, and the weak limbs)

The docs prescribed her an anti biotic. But something still wasn't right. They did a few more tests and found that the UTI had turned into a much more serious internal infection. This explained why she wasn't getting better.

We also realized that until she was cleared of the infection she wasn't capable of taking care of herself and we wanted to make sure she didn't get off schedule with her other medications too.

Every once and a while we notice her saying something that doesn't sound quite right. The other day I was giving her pills to her and she said, "What about grandpa." I didn't think I heard her quite right so she repeated herself. "What about grandpa." ((He died almost a year ago)) I let her think about it for a few seconds and then she said, "Oh wait. I don't know what I am thinking."

We all take turns hanging out with her. And as the days passed she was doing better and better. Finally the anti biotic was doing its job. I knew she was feeling a little better when she asked me to style her hair. She doesn't let anyone touch her hair. Ever.

She looks scared, doesn't she?


She even told me I missed my calling. I should be going to school for hair styling.

They say its a good sign when the sense of humor comes back to a person.

So in the time being we cherish the little things. Looking out the windows at passing traffic, painting toenails, watching Lawrence Welk and infomercials,taking long naps in the afternoon and looking at the Hibiscus plant that seems to symbolize new beginnings. With each new day a new bud forms.

Me, Myself, and I

Im trying out a new linky party today all about me, myself, and I.

Its all about learning more about your fellow bloggers, and for your readers to learn more about their favorite bloggers. Seems fitting because yesterday I was talking about how intrigued I am with learning about other bloggers.

Enter the me, myself and I linky party...
Here are the questions for this week:

What is your biggest phobia? I discussed this in yesterdays post, but I have always been afraid of being chased up the stairs. I don't like being chased at all, for some reason the stairs just amp up that fear.

If you could relive any day in your life what would it be? Well I haven't yet experienced getting married, or having kids yet, so when I do I'm sure those will be the days that I would want to relive over and over. You know how people always say "that was the moment I fell in love" well I don't remember. Dalton and I will have been together for 4 years this November. I remember when feelings started to become stronger but I would love to relive the day that suddenly my life felt different.

If you could live the rest of your life at one particular age what would it be?
The years seem to get better and better. Im not ready for life to stop getting better yet!

What celebrity do you get mistaken for? I've never been told that I looked like a celebrity. I can think of many that I would like to compare to but for now average ali is okay with me.

What songs are included on the soundtrack to you your life?
Anything Frank Sinatra. He is my hero.