aerobics, pranks, books, and other things that might kill me

Thomas Edison once said, “All I ask of my body is that it carry around my head.” Well, all I ask of my body is that it learns how to do stupid step aerobics. Have you ever tried step aerobics? Like at a Gold’s Gym class? Don’t judge. I know it sounds old ladyish, but it’s not. It’s kicking my butt. Like if aerobics was some living entity, it would be shoving its size 11 foot right into my butt. But I kind of like it. I’m sore. That’s a good feeling. Like I’m accomplishing something.

Random quote that made me laugh: “I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.”

Recently I have been thrown right in the middle of a prank war, and it’s turned into a let’s-torture-Alyson marathon. I know, we’re all really juvenile. I’m not going to explain all the pranks, but last night at about 3 in the morning there was this really loud dinging sound. It gave my heart a little jolt, and I was completely disoriented for a while. My roommate looked under my bed and there was a box that was shaking. We couldn’t get the box open because it was glued shut. Finally we got it open and there was one of those really annoying, old-kind of alarm clocks where you twist some nobs in the back and a little hammer thingy goes back and forth hitting two metal bells. We couldn’t get it to stop because on the back they had super glued things over all of the nobs that would make it shut up. Even when we ripped some of it off we couldn’t get it to stop. So we broke the dinger thingy (I don’t know if it has a name). Apparently, one of my roommates has gone rogue and put the box under my bed yesterday when I wasn’t home. I was so worked up I couldn’t go back to sleep for about an hour. If any of you have any good prank ideas, let me know.

In other news, I finished the book, The Book Thief. I really enjoyed it. It’s about a girl living in Nazi Germany, and it’s told from the perspective of death. As in, Death is the narrator. Doesn’t sound very cheery, I know. Well, that’s because it’s not. But I really loved it, and even though I cried when I read it, I certainly didn’t feel depressed when I put it down. The author is Markus Zusak. I went to a book signing with him not too long ago, and he’s really nice and down to earth. He grew up in Australia, but his parents grew up in Nazi Germany (or maybe they lived in Austria), and then they immigrated to Australia. Even though this is a fiction novel, a lot of the images and stories stem from things his parents witnessed. More than anything, the characters are wonderful. I highly recommend this book.

My new nephew, Eric, and my niece, Noelle, are the loves of my life. I know this doesn’t seem to go along with the title of this post, but it does. I love them so much, I could die. (Quiz – the previous statement is what? A. Cheesy B. Cliché C. True D. All of the above – If you guessed D, then you got it right.) And I have another nephew on the way. Little Michael, if life gives you melons then you may be dyslexic. We’ll love you anyway.

If I Die Young

Hey,
So my roommate introduced me to this song. I've never fancied myself much of a country fan (though Garth will always hold a special, nostalgic place in my heart)but I love this song by The Band Perry. I think it has pretty lyrics, and I love the music video, not to mention the shout out to Lady of Shalott by Tennyson. So watch and enjoy.



Beautiful, right?

Words

I love words! In my creative writing class we're doing a unit on poetry. And I'll be honest, I often struggle trying to interpret and analyze poetry. But I love it because of the way the words sound when they are put together in a crafty and imaginative way. We watched this video in one of my English classes, and I loved it. I'm not sure how to upload a video, so this may be old school. Don't judge!



Do you get how one word goes into the next, first play and then blow, etc? It's from NPR. Cool, right? Well, that is all . . .

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

So the title of this blog comes from a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called "Ulysses." It's the last line of the poem. Funny I should choose this poem, because it's definitely not my favorite from Tennyson. Eh, it just sounded profound.

I don't really know what to blog about. I just thought to myself, "Why do I have a blog if I never update it?"

School is good. Normal. I really like most of my classes. I just finished "Hard Times" by Dickens and really enjoyed that. I love Dickens. I think that he is really funny and clever. I am taking a creative writing class and had to write a creative non-fiction piece. I wrote about my fear and dislike of cats. I'd like to say it is entertaining and kind of funny, even if it's lacking in some profound underlying meaning. When I work-shopped it with other students in the class, one of them said, "I like it. But what does it mean?" And I replied, "I have no idea." Does it have to mean something? Another classmate said, "Wow, I love the recurring images of dangling and hanging. That's deep." And I was like, "Yep, I totally meant to do that." But I really didn't. I thought that maybe I was a good writer, but this class is helping me see that I am not. It's fun though. My professor is insane! I would say that a good majority of the English teachers I have had (EVER!) have been insane. So what does it say about me that I chose this major?

My friend Kathryn and I got passes to Gold's gym. I know what you're thinking: WHY ARE YOU SPENDING YOUR MONEY ON A GYM PASS WHEN YOU CAN WORK OUT AT BYU FOR FREE? First off, the BYU gym kind of sucks. Second, I want to be able to add variety to my workouts (I just get so bored). And third, if I don't go with someone, I'm not likely to go. So signing up with Kat (who is not a BYU student) is going to help me be motivated to go. It's Wednesday and I've worked out every day this week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Kat and I go to the gym at six in the morning. It's kicking my tushy, but I already feel like I have more energy.

Finally, Eric Robert Fullmer II (my new nephew) is the cutest little boy in the world, I don't care who you are. He has Nina's nose, but he really looks like Tanner. He also has the Fullmer brow bone.



















This is me holding Eric the day he was born, 3 February 2011. He is sticking his tongue out!














This is at Nina's and Tanner's apartment. He was really alert. I love cuddling with him.














Eric is jaundice so he has to be in these lights to get his bilirubin to go down. He's doing really well though, and hopefully he will be off them for good very soon.

Well, that is all. Oh, I have recently watched two movies. The first is The Young Victoria, which is about Queen Victoria. I LOVED it! The second is called Bright Star, about John Keats, the romantic poet, and it's really sad. But I liked it.

I had the most embarrassing experience of my life last Sunday. I thought I sent a text about a boy I like to my friend, but I accidentally sent it to him. So now he knows I like him. It was funny, but I was mortified.

Little Eric

I have a new nephew! He was 6 pounds and 9 ounces, and his name is Eric Robert Fullmer II. Way to go Nina and Tanner! I'm so excited to see him!

Pride and Prejudice

It's been a while since I've posted. Nothing too terribly exciting is happening right now in my life. I got a 3.8 gpa my first semester at BYU, and my first since the mission. On New Years Eve I rear-ended a van, and my dad said a couple swear words when I told him. (A few choice words may have escaped from my mouth as well.) Classes have started up again and being in a creative writing class has really made me realize how badly I suck at writing creatively. Oh well, it's fun. My sister-in-law is going to have a baby soon (shout out to NINA and Lil' Eric!). And my sister is also pregnant again. I went and saw True Grit over the break and loved it! Last weekend my sisters and my mom drove down to Provo. We saw BYU's production of Peter Pan, then we went out to dinner. At Olive Garden I met a woman from Madrid (our lovely, old server) named Julia, and I loved speaking Spain Spanish with her.

As for the title of this post, I have started reading Pride and Prejudice. I have read it several times before, and each time I read it I love it more. I love Jane Austen, I think she is funny and witty. One of my favorite lines from the book is when Eliza says, "Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all." We're reading it for my Brit Lit class, but I am getting a head start. While it's certainly not in my top three favorite books, it may be somewhere in the top ten! I think I will read Persuasion next, just for fun. I have never read it. Opinions on that one? Anybody?