26th Birthday: Baltimore and Washington DC with Jordan

For my birthday this year I went out to visit THIS guys below. :) He lives in Baltimore for the summer and I didn't want to do anything but see him since he lives so dang far away!He was super sweet and took the day off work to spend with me and we went to DC. With no air conditioner so we sweat the whole time!

We shopped at Georgetown - Love that area!

And went to Arlington National Cemetary.

And went to dinner and then had a photo shoot.

Despite the heat it was such a fun day! Thanks Jordan for making my day so special. Now if only I could see him more often...:)

St. Louis!

I am in the great state of Missouri and I can't believe I'm saying this but I am LoViNG it right now! We're in a really cute part of town and had dinner outside on the patio. It kind of reminds me of Paris!! It is amazing to be in a place where it actually cools down at night!

We have meetings tomorrow and Wednesday but I am going to make sure to get up and run around Forest park. I haven't run in months because it is always soooo hot. Gotta love Arizona in the summertime...:)

Another Funny Dating Story....and John Mayer

I hope you all can get a kick out of this! Because I sure did.

So on Sunday, this guy text me and was wanting to get together. He seems fairly impressive on paper, and I have only met him once, but after a bunch of texts Fri-Sun, Sunday night he asked me when we could get together. I told him I would have to check my schedule and get back to him.

To which he texts me:

"Alright I'm off to bed. Well let me know when I have to put up with ya."

PUT UP WITH ME?

Oh gosh.

So I didn't respond.

Then he text me on Wednesday to ask to me to play tennis with him, his buddy and his buddy's wife.

I couldn't, so I turned him down. I said, "I'd need a practice round on you first!"

and he said," Fair nuf. Well you say when, smokey."

Me: "Well how about Saturday?"

Him: "Night or day?"

Me: "Night" (I'm thinking we're talking about a real date, not just tennis.) Mind you this is a BIG deal for me to offer up a weekend night to a guy for a first date! Remember - he looks GREAT on paper.

Him: "You really think you deserve to monopolize my Saturday night?"

EXCUSE ME?? Oh. My. Gosh. What a jerk!

If there is one thing that is a COMPLETE turn off for me it is arrogance. I dated a guy who was arrogant before and I have ZERO tolerance for it!

So my response: "Wow. You know what? I'm good with us not going out ever..."

His response: "Hahahaha I'm playing!"

"I would be more than happy to have you monopolize my Saturday night, ma'am."

Well... I wasn't playing. And I was completely turned off. So I didn't respond.

What a dufus.

And then today, this song below popped up on my shuffle today, and it's kind of ironic!

It reminded me of the dufuses that I have been going on dates with. (There are a couple good ones, just maybe not the right one for me.)

AND I am sitting here at home thinking about how all I want to do is stay home! Nothing is going on and after a week of work, I'm kind of worthless on a Friday.

AND the first line of the song is "staying home alone on a Friday..." :)

As a single girl - I definitely relate to this song! I'm not super lonely, but I AM tired of being alone! I'm ready for love to hurry up and get here! :)

In 7 Days I Will be Here...

To be honest, I don't typically get excited to go home to UT. I am not quite sure why, but I have always been the type that when I move forward, I don't really like to move backward.

BUT. I LOOOVE Utah in the Summertime! There is NOTHING better! The mountains are green, the weather is warm, but cools down at night. (Not so here in AZ - 105' at 9 PM last night.)

Plus it's the 4th of July which is one of my favorite Holidays! We'll be spending that in Park City.

First Stop - MISSOURI. St. Louis and Kansas City for work, then straight on to SLC!

I think I'm going to need a Snoasis when I get there....:) Anyone remember those?!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Tuesday night I went to MY happiest place on earth, the temple.

There really is no other place where I feel so much peace, and God's love for me so strongly than the temple. Right when I walked in the hymn "Be Still My Soul" was playing and it really just hit me that I need to be still and trust in Him. He truly always has guided my life and loves me so much. He has answered my prayers about numerous things that have guided me to where I am now. From helping me know where I should go to school, blessing me with success with dance stuff and enabling my career so far, it has all been because of my Heavenly Father.

I am so incredibly grateful.

I am anxious for change in my life right now. 4 years in one place is a long time! And I am ready to move. But I have to be patient and trust that it will all happen in His time, which is the RIGHT time.

And so for now, I am working on enjoying each day and just being STILL.

The Mormon Bachelorette

Well I know a lot of you know, but I applied to be the next Mormon Bachelorette!!

I figured why not? It would be an amazing experience and if it results in me finding someone, I feel GREAT about that. If not, then it will be fun.

You can see the video here:

http://www.themormonbachelorette.com/2011/04/introducingalisha.html

Lastly - TOMORROW starts the official voting on the blog: www.themormonbachelorette.com.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!

Also, my super talented friend Cami Dunn took some photos for me. She is SO talented!! And a sweetheart. I <3 Her.

Thanks all!

xoxo

Wedding Crashing...

It seems like I've been going to a lot of weddings these days. And it's been really fun, actually!

My Work best Friend, Katelin makes for a great Wedding Date. :)

Our General Mills "Fab 4" with the gorgeous bride, Jesse!

In fact, these weddings have been so much fun that I've been Whipping my hair back and forth...;)

Amen Garth!

To be? or Not to Be? I'm Taking a POLL!

I want to hear your comments! Since really the only people who read this blog are trusted and loving friends:

Should I apply to be The Next:

MORMON BACHELORETTE?

www.themormonbachelorette.blogspot.com

Or should I not?

I welcome your thoughts. :)

I'm Digging "This". Have you heard this song yet? It's AMAZING!! :)

Mr. Tandem

Thanks so much for all your comments! I am all for people setting me up, so if you know of anyone I am totally open to that! :) AND I have some GOOD NEWS!! Mr. Tandem text me on Saturday and said, "Hey just so you know I really wanted to take you out again this weekend, but I've been pretty sick the last 3 days. It's been pretty crappy. Just laying in bed all day watching movies on Netflix." Woo hoo! So I told him I hope he felt better soon and to give me a call when he does. Oh, and I added a :) so he knows I'm still interested. Man the games we have to play to win this battle we call love... That reminds me of a song by my girl Jordin Sparks...:) ENJOY and HAPPY MONDAY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suPlYwJ3YvM

The Up-DATE

Since this is a Single Girls' blog, I should probably write about the thing that is most prevalent to a Single White Female...

DATING.

I figure, in ten years when I'm married with children, (and at times I'm sure I'll yearn for my single days, just a little bit), I better document these funny experiences to give me some laughs later on down the road.

Well folks. These days I am striking out in the love department.

Not looking for sympathy or words of encouragement, just want to make light of it!

Exhibit A:

Just picture it now. I head out to a Glendale party with my girls to meet all the boys in Medical and Dental School hoping to score me a good one! It's a black and white themed party, so of course we are rolling in the appropriate fashion. As I'm walking down the stairs, carefully paying attention to each step so I don't twist my ankle, the guy that I have been eyeing a little bit compliments me on my shoes in a very straight man kind of way.

We talk for probably an hour. About a wide variety of things. He's funny, so I'm laughing. We have a great time.

He gets my number. (Smart boy.)

He uses my number that night and texts me. (Yet again, being a smart boy.)

Adds me on Facebook. (He is three for three right now.)

Texts back and forth a little about a fun conversation we have about Lucky Charms.

A few days later - asks me out for Friday! (YES this is looking promising!) I'm excited, looking forward to it. AND I don't get excited about dates too often.

and THEN. Texts me the morning of to cancel because "he's sick" and says we'll reschedule.

Feeds me all sorts of lines about how he'll come to church on Sunday. Or reschedule and make it up to me.

Yep, you guessed it - The dude never rescheduled.

And for the first time in a long time, I was a little bit bummed. That doesn't happen very often!

Exhibit B:

http://www.themormonbachelor.com/2011/01/date-12-alisha-white.html

You betcha! I went on the Mormon Bachelor!

My friend Aubrey found her husband by being the Mormon Bachelorette, so I figured, "Why not?"

Well obviously we had a good time, and we were going to go out again, but January and February were probably the busiest and most stressful months of my life at work. SO it didn't work out. But he found a great girl and I'm so happy for him!

EXHIBIT C:

My sister Sarah texts me: "Alisha, I have the perfect guy for you! He's my friends' cousin's cousin." Or something like that.

Me: "Ok great! What's his name?"

Sarah: "Exhibit C."

Me: "I know him, actually! We went on a date when I first moved to Arizona. He is nice and good looking. I can't really remember why we didn't go out."

Anyway, he starts texting me that his cousin was trying to set him up with me too!

So we start texting. Right before Valentine's Day.

If you remember, February was one of my busiest/most stressful months of my life, so what do you think I did on Valentine's Day?

• I WORKED UNTIL 8:30 PM. Then I went for a 7 mile run by myself BECAUSE I WANTED TO.

Exhibit C wanted to come to my house and spend the evening together. Really? Valentine's is for couples/relationships/etc. Not to spend with an acquaintance!

EXHIBIT D:

I was chatting with my mom one fine Monday, when she says, "Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind but I gave your number out."

ME: "Um, what? to Whom? For what reason?"

Mom: "Oh, to Sister Knowlton so she can set you up on a date."

ME: "Ok. Can you please tell me about this guy? At least give me his name so I can FB stalk him?"

Mom: "Oh darn, I don't remember. I think he's a Doctor though in Arizona!"

Sooo Homeboy got my number. We chatted. We're going on a lunch date on Thursday. Thank GOODNESS it's a lunch date.

Rule #1. If it's a blind date - meet him for lunch and meet him THERE. That way the expectation is short and sweet, and you can ditch out whenever necessary.

EXHIBIT E: (I promise this is the last for now.)

Dating is EVOLVING ladies and Gents.

This Gem added me on Facebook. We had a lot of mutual friends and I thought he was attractive, so instead of adding him and letting him see my whole life, I sent him a message. Sure enough, we end up talking and flirting for about a month.

We finally meet up. (He's cute in real life too! Not just in FB world.)

He finally gets my number.

Two days later he asks me out. (I'm excited about this one!)

We went on a really fun St. Patrick's Day date. Tandem bike riding on ASU's campus and up Mill avenue during the Beer Drinking festivities. Got Oregano's for dinner and then biked by Tempe Town lake. Oh and we laughed and talked and flirted. A LOT.

And guess what? In real life he's fun, cute, and graduated from college in business. TOTALLY my type. and I'm interested. (which doesn't happen very often.)

Of course the next day I head out of town for the weekend and so does he.

And despite the fact that I was 110% sure that he was into it from all the work he had to do to earn my FB friendship and get a date, get this...

HE HASN'T CALLED.

Thank goodness my sister taught me not to be "THAT GIRL.

The other best piece of advice is to NOT CRY OVER SOMEONE ELSE'S HUSBAND. So I'm already over him. Exhibit E who??

So there you have it. My up-DATE.

As my Dad always says, "Onward and Upward."

Here's to Upward!!

Everything Will Fall Into its Place

LOVE this advice from Elder Busche of the 70. Thanks to my dear friend Rachel and Andria for introducing me to this talk/video.

Kind of answers my thoughts from the previous post.

'Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.'

'When you cannot love someone, look deep into their eyes long enough to find the rudiments of the child of God in them.'

'And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also, that as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.'

25

I don't think I've ever done a post without pictures, or a post on the more serious side, but these thoughts have been on my mind for a couple weeks. I had to get some of these thoughts onto paper.

25 has been quite the pivotal age for me. When I was younger and I looked ahead, I thought I would HATE being 25 because I would no longer be in my early 20's. But I have LOVED it. I don't have a problem with getting older. Each year I continue to have more and more great experiences. With my job I have been able to see new places and experience things that I never would have if life had gone according to "my plan." And I know that they are the experiences that I need to have and learn from as I continue on my journey through life. My life isn't 100% what I had planned, but I am for the most part really happy.

I think the biggest difference about 25 is that I have transitioned from being the one taught to the teacher and leader.

And that, my friends, is a little overwhelming.

I guess I've proved that I can take care of myself, (or something) and now it is my turn to take care of others. I feel very honored that the Lord has entrusted me with developing others. In fact, I feel a little like these roles of leadership both at work and in church are to prepare me for parenthood.

We had a leadership training meeting with our Bishop a few weeks ago, and it was really encouraging to hear about other leaders from history that made some big difference around the age of 25.

• Alexander the Great won a big war at about 25 (Sorry I should know more but I don't.)
• Patton's First Command was at 25
• Captain Moroni lead 130,000 into battle at 25
• Elizabeth the 1st became Queen at 25
• Cleopatra conquered Caesar at 25
• Jackie Kennedy married JFK at 24
• Emma married Joseph Smith at 24
• Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 25

Not that I match up in any way to these great people who went before me, but these are some big things that happened at the age of 25, slightly similar to the leadership roles which I have taken on now.

I hope that I can continue to develop my leadership skills and help the people that I have been entrusted to lead. I definitely NEED to. It's kind of scary.

BUT, I know that more and more, it's not about me....and I'm glad about that.

Face Lift

Although I have been reading and following a few blogs, I haven't updated my own in the past 10,000 years. And it's time for a face lift.

A lot has happened in the past six months:

1. In September, I moved to Scottsdale! I decided after 3 years of living in Mesa and driving 30 minutes to work, I would move closer to the office and I LOVE IT. I love the Area in which I live. So safe, kind of posh and old at the same time. It has been a much needed upgrade to my place in Mesa.
2. I got a promotion at work in October. This has been such an amazing experience, but at the same time it has been a lot more work. I went from busy season with my old role to being crazy busy ALL the time. And I manage people. Which is an investment in time as well.
3. I got called to the Relief Society presidency of my ward. It's crazy how I am not scared of this calling at all, but I am really excited! The girls in my ward are outstanding and I feel so lucky to be able to serve and get to know them.

And just a few interesting facts about 2010 and moving forward to 2011:

• In the past 52 weeks I have been on 50 plane rides on Southwest alone. That's almost a plane ride a week! No wonder I have a love for the PHX Sky Harbor Airport!
• I decided I'm going to do my first race this month! The PHX Ragnar Relay. Look it up - it should be really neat! I think all in all I'll run about 13-15 miles.
• I went on The Mormon Bachelor and went on a date with Rick Buck. Such a cool experience! He's an amazing guy. We were going to go out on a second date, but with my crazy traveling schedule, we weren't able to make it happen. I am just grateful I got to meet him! We have each other's numbers, so you never know what will happen, right?

Anyway, I am SUPER excited because on Thursday I'm going to Dallas, TX for work. Then I'm going to stay the weekend with my sister Ellen, and hopefully see some of my best Cougarette friends, Maddie and Lindsay. It's amazing how people spread out and move to different locations and how because of my work, I have been able to reconnect with them.

I think it's time to begin again and get back into posting some thoughts on this bad boy. And some pics. Because while I work a lot, I play a lot too!

Here's to 2011!

xoxo