Saturday, September 29, 2012

yesterday...

...the 28th of september 2012 is a day that I will never ever forget. and yes, now is an appropriate time to say never justin beiber. ha. i met miss carrie underwood. ahhh. eeee. weeeee. OMG. holy cow. yep yes that really happened ali.  

my mind and stomach still cannot believe it, but this is how the story goes...

carrie is playing in Fargo today and so everyone knew that she was going to be in town. little did we know that her hotel was just across the street from intelligent insites

after our duties as accounting interns ended, we headed to the rooftop of our building where all of us employees gather each friday to celebrate the end of another work week.  we got up to the top and saw a line of men leaning over the railing gazing across the road. they told us that they "thought" they saw her. no way? are you serious? what is she wearing? i did not believe them. 



sure enough out the door of a little health boutique (underneath her hotel) she came trying to be all sneaky in workout apparel & giant sunglasses, but with that big blonde hair we knew it had to be her! eeeeek! my mouth dropped in awww and star struck syndrome kicked in. "we have to go down there and run into her somehow" i kept saying. everyone thought i was crazy, but two more ended up being crazy enough with me and off we headed down the street to casually bump our way into her. 


unfortunately, we had lost her by the time we got down the street so we ended up having to check inside each store that we passed and looked "carrie worthy", act like we were actually shopping, then quickly make an exit into the next one. after about 15 minutes of doing this little maneuver in and out of stores, i started to lose hope. the lovely brita then suggested as a last resort that we head to "Beyond Running," a fitness shop because Carrie obviously likes to workout.  heather and i were like why would you come to Fargo for workout clothing, but hey it's a cute shop and was worth a shot. 

we entered the store like the past three we had been in and began our pretend shopping when all of a sudden i heard the two of them saying oh my gosh she is right there.

 heart. almost. stopped. beating. 

i continued to pretend shop as i contemplated just how exactly one approaches a super famously beautiful lady trying to enjoy her "day off". she was sitting on a bench in the store reading her phone with her sunglasses still on, hoping to remain unseen. i was so nervous. the idea sounded so much better as we were walking around looking for her. 

when you are actually in that moment it is crazy i tell ya. just plain nuts. 

i knew that i couldn't leave that store without a picture, but i also didn't want to bug her because she was trying her very best to hide. her friend was checking out and so i needed to act fast. that's when i proceeded to awkwardly look over at her and luckily at that exact moment in time she looked up (yes!) and in question form i said "Carrie? Hiiiiii,"as she sort of still didn't want to acknowledge that fact that we found her. she stared in an angry/nice way regretting her decision to make eye contact with me & i walked over and shook her hand while almost hugging/petting her at the same time. it got even more awkward when the only thing i could think to say was "you're the first celebrity i've ever met". 

we have to work on this whole meeting celebrities thing.

i then asked if we could take a picture and around the clothes rack came heather and brita, "can we too"?!! she was nice and had her friend take the picture of us and we even got her to remove those darn sunglasses. 

we then thanked her & i apologized for bothering her with annoying super fan-ness.

a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. 

we told her to enjoy Fargo & she said that they already were. 

thanks for making our day, week, month, and year Carrie & again we apologize for revealing your cover. 


Brita, Carrie, Me, & Heather

Friday, September 21, 2012

you are beautiful

yes you.  you are beautiful & not alone in feeling inadequate according to the world's views on beauty.  but you are not ugly, nor should you feel ashamed of your appearance and body type.  you were created to be just who you are, perfectly crafted by the maker of heaven & earth.  he is who i bring my feelings of inadequacy to.  he lifts me up and reminds me of how beautiful i am each and every time that Satan attacks.  we must run away from the norms of the world and its emphasis on outward appearance every single minute of every single day.  our world is filled with such hurt and pain and suffering because everyone believes the lies.  you will not be the norm if you begin to live inwardly, but i can promise that you will be happy.  play this song & know that there could never be a more beautiful you. like ever ;) 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

a headache

{my accounting book is ginormous in case anyone was wondering}


dear lee,

last night you were about to leave my apartment after two hours of listening to me whine & complain about school and studying, but as you were leaving i told you i had a headache- in my exact words, the worst headache ever & yes i know i can be exaggerative at times, but really for real i meant it and you rubbed my little ole forehead until it felt 100% better. thank you for doing that. thank you for putting off the sandwich & ranch wheat thins for my hurting head. thank you for reminding me that school isn't everything. thank you for loving me during these busy weeks of mine. i really appreciate it. 

ali

Sunday, September 16, 2012

europiversary

Already one whole year ago today a not so brave girl flew half-way across the world to Belgium to begin a european study abroad adventure through 9 countries. The trip changed me in all sort of ways that I can't even begin to explain (including the brave department). Life is so much simpler over there, a great reminder to my always busy brain to slow down and throw all your worries out the door. So today, as I sit inside my room studying for a gazillion classes (joy), I am feeling very thankful to have gone to so many locations that most people will never have the chance to experience. The only thing missing from the trip was Lee :) Here are a few of my favorite pictures (& a video) in honor of this day.





































































































Until next time Europe,  I will be basque-ing in your beauty from my computer.