I’m about to complete 3 decades in my life. Kind of a milestone – like, a big one. A little project I thought I could do is put together a list of 30 different other “milestone” things that happened to me throughout the course of my lifetime that made substantial, significant impressions on me.
Yes, so 30 things (in fairly-poorly-chronological order):
1) I was born.
It was a race against the clock. My dad had a gargantuan dental school practical exam to take that morning, and it was Stress City, and I was very cooperative and came just in the nick of time for my dad to see me right before he had to leave to make it to the test on time. Also, my mom’s own sweet mom flew across several states to come meet me and be with my mom. I always absolutely love it when my grandma tells me the story of how she was the first person ever, aside from my parents, who ever met me, who ever laid eyes on me.
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| Me on my blessing day. |
2) The first time I ever wore lipstick.
ONLY because I was forced to. Dance recital. I was 5. It was the green recital outfit (which was so awesome). I had my outfit on, I was backstage, and I was hearing whispered rumors floating around that the makeup lady was coming around putting lipstick on the children... I tried running away and hiding, or maybe I just kept creeping around in the shadows so she wouldn’t be able to spot me, and she wouldn’t get the chance to snatch me to vandalize my perfectly-fine face before it was time to go on stage for our presentation. But I failed. She got me in her ruthless clutches. She grabbed my face and said, “We need to put some lipstick on you.” And I cringed, flinched, probably gave her the nastiest look ever. It smelled bad. It tasted bad. I felt completely ruined. She won. I lost. Crap. This was the first worst moment of my life. But I feel like, for some reason, it’s important to include on this list. I wear lipstick now, but it’s still not my favorite. I don’t wear it all the time. I am more than happy to go days without it. But for current television and stage purposes, I’ll do it. I’ll have it on. It does help me feel pretty sometimes, just kinda depending on the day and what I’m wearing and what style I’m sporting. But actually, in the deep depths of Alisonian actuality, I still think it’s really, really gross to see someone’s lipstick marks on a cup. That is so bad. I kind of die a little inside if ever I take a drink, look at my cup -- especially if it’s a white styrofoam cup – and see that I made a mark. BARF! I try to wipe it off whenever I can. (By the by, Mack Wilberg occasionally says, when he feels like we are sounding way older than we need to be sounding on a certain song – mostly when we use wayyyy too much wobbly vibrato (“wobblato” is the term he coined on 2/9/16 at rehearsal) - “It’s like putting lipstick on a child. It’s just wrong.”)
3) I was baptized at 8-years-old into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
At first I thought I didn’t remember a whole lot about my baptism, but the more minutes I reflect upon that day – and the days leading up to that day – I more I realize I remember quite a lot. I’ve written down the memories and I am keeping them elsewhere.
4) The day I got my ears pierced.
10-years-old was the usual age when our parents let us daughters get our ears pierced. I, however, was allowed to get mine pierced a week before my birthday, when I was still nine. Probably because we were at the mall anyway, and there was a Claire’s store right there, and so, “Ta heck with it, why not get it done now?” And so that’s what went down. Revisiting this memory, I am feeling that I must have always been pretty good at keeping my cool outwardly, even when inwardly I am shaking so bad in my boots it’s not even funny. Because I vividly remember freaking out at myself in my mind: Holy phreek this is going to hurt......... HOLY PHREEK that HURT!!!!!! It wasn’t the worst pain I’ve ever been in, but it was still kinda bad :)
5) My first babysitting job.
It was either 10- or 12-years-old when you were old enough to babysit, according to our family rules. I’m pretty sure my first babysitting job was for the Boneck family... It was either the Larsens or the Bonecks, but I’m leaning towards Bonecks.
6) The first and only time I ever cut my hair short.
Again, somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12. It was half-down-my-neck length.
7) Testimony meetings at Girls Camp…
…always sitting around the fire at night, in the middle of the woods, with stars shining above. In my life, I have been in many, many, many testimony meetings. Those Girls Camp testimony meetings of my childhood, to this day, are still the very top cream of the crop in my testimony meeting world. It was always the very best night of the week. I looked forward to it not only all week long, but all year long. These meetings were pivotal in my growing up.
8) Three words: Dooley Elementary School
- Pogs
- Tetherball
- Choreographing Spice Girls “Wannabe” dance routine
- Mr. Reid pushing us kids on the swings
- Being jealous of kids who were good at double-Dutch
- Frequently being mesmerized by Jamie C’s baton twirling
- Making fun of Jessica G from afar because we thought it was way too weird for her to have a boyfriend with whom she held hands all the time
- Buying popcorn bags from the head custodian (Lloyd? Floyd? Floyd)
- Catching stray balls from Floyd that he’d find all over on the roof of the school (smorgasbord EVERY time!)
- Scott W losing my black&neon-orange soccer ball, and also the time when he asked me in earnest if I would be his bodyguard because I was so tall
- Me always seeking out the books with the blue covers on library day each week, because blue was my favorite color, and was obviously the only color of book worthy of me. My favorite blue book in the library was called Mine’s the Best by Crosby Bonsall. I was obsessed and I don’t know why. I’ll have to buy the book and reread it after 23 years
- Mrs. Resnick teaching us the concept of the comma always gets placed after every third zero. She did a conga dance every time, like legitimately: “One, Two, Three, COMMA! One, Two, Three, COMMA!”
- That one time during Field Day when I was perhaps acting like a hypochondriac and could’ve sworn I had swallowed a chunk of eraser. I’d decided I would like to go to the school nurse’s office. School nurse called my mom. My mom came and picked me up, took me home, and gave me Pepto-Bismol because, seriously, I could’ve sworn my stomach was going to…explode or something, and I was pretty sure it was because I ate an eraser... But now that I look back on this, I’m pretty sure I made up the whole thing, and the only reason I made it up was so that I could ditch out on Field Day for the rest of the day
9) First day I ever shaved my legs.
6th grade. Junior high. On the bus going to school. We were just sitting down. I remember exactly where I was sitting. I either liked to sit towards the very front, or towards the very back – depending on my mood, I guess. This time I was in the very back, right side, window seat. I had shorts on. There was this one super-snobby fashionista bully girl who was an 8th-grader. Pretty sure her name was Stephanie. She came and sat down in the spot directly in front of me, probably just because she wanted to bully me some more. She sat up, turned around to face me, looked down at my legs, looked back up at my face, and said in a valley-girl sort of way, “Sooo, do you shave your legs?” I either just shook my head or gave a quiet, simple “No.” Her face darkened in her common maniacal bratty fashion: “You don't shave your legs?” And then she laughed her snobby jerkface laugh (I think a couple of her hot jockey jerkface boyfriends snickered too), turned up her nose, turned her face away, and sat back down on her bum and faced forward. I didn’t cry, but I stewed all day over it. All. Day. Long. When I came home from school, the first thing I did was go tell my mom what had happened that morning, and I asked, “How old does a girl normally get when she starts shaving her legs?” My mom smiled and promptly taught me how to shave my legs, and I shaved them right then and there in her master bathroom tub. I remember it stung. My legs had never had a razor touch them before EVER. And it hurt! I was like, “Crap, Mom! Will it hurt this bad every time?” She kindly reassured me that it would get better.
10) I received my very first “state quarter” (as in, U.S. currency coin) as change.
It was Connecticut. I was 13 or 14 years old. I was in Carson City, Nevada, for the Brown Junior High “Nevadans Club” conference/competition (where we presented some sort of middle-school-age “business model” or something – I have no recollection of the details whatsoever… all I know is I still have my silver medal in my room, because we won 2nd place, against a whole bunch of other junior highs across the state). Anyway, we were at some restaurant/arcade mix of a place for dinner. I bought my food (don’t remember what it was – probably either pizza or chicken) and bounced up and down when I saw it……my first ever state quarter: CONNECTICUT! It was so surreal. These things actually existed. Do you ever wonder if the same singular coin has ever passed through your possession twice in your life? I often wonder if my hands have handled that specific Connecticut quarter ever again in the past gazillions of years.
11) The day I spontaneously auditioned for Basic High’s Madrigals (the top choir) after school one day, got accepted in less than 5 minutes, and life ever since then has been a delightfully wonderful out-of-control musical slippery slope.
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| BHS Choir Gals. 2002. Oh, how fun! |
12) My first date.
It was either one or two days after my 16th birthday (16 is typically when you can start dating in the Mormon culture). Spencer E called me up. It was awesome. Here’s how it all went down (I actually wrote a blog post about it a couple of years ago).
13) The group fasts my ward and community did together, particularly when Brent and Keith had their individual accidents. I learned that fasting together with people you love, in heartfelt support for other people you love, in the name of God, is such a beautiful and life-changing experience. I’ve never been the same since those times in my youth. We all witnessed some amazing miracles.
14) When my best friend Kristina passed away (when we were both 18), followed by her sweet mom a couple of months after.
These two amazing daughters of God were and are so special and most-beloved to many people. In late 2001 (I believe that’s when it was), Kristina was diagnosed with cancer, and immediately there sprouted a magnificent support system of friends and family who loved Kristina and her family so much. And to be able to follow along with Kristina on her long journey – and to walk side-by-side with her family – did divine wonders in uniting the hearts of entire neighborhoods. The years-long journey with Kristina and her family taught me more about the Plan of Salvation and Happiness than I think any other experience possibly could. The journey was perhaps the holiest era of my entire life thus far, not because of any amount of holiness I possessed within my own self, but because of the countless number of times I sensed the Holy Ghost’s comforting and instructive presence so very prevalently and graciously.
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| Lauren, Sarah, Deb, Kristina, Alison. |
15) College.
Idaho. Rexburg. Ricks College is its old name. To move away from home, and move to a place where you do NOT know 99.9% of the people, is by far one of THE most growing-up experiences a young person can EVER have. I highly recommend young people to do it. There is pretty much literally an infinite number of favorite memories from my Brigham Young University – Idaho life, and I’ve decided to just not even begin counting them here in this blog post. To put it briefly, college was like that old Alan Jackson song, “Chattahoochee”: “But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was – a lot about livin’ and a little ‘bout love.”
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| From when I went to visit my alma mater a couple of weeks ago, 8 years after graduating. |
16) When I got older brothers when I was 15 years old. Both my older sisters got married in the same summer. I had never had older brothers, and to acquire two older brothers-in-law was marvelous.
17) When I got a younger sister when I was......um...how old was I? I was 27? I think so? She married my “little” bro (who towers over me). Sooooooo happy.
18) When I got nephews and nieces (they come gradually, probably obviously not all at once, when there are 10 of them......because for one person to have dectuplets would just...kinda suck). They are my pride and joy.
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| Me and the eldest of my nephews and nieces. This sweet boy loves going to Lagoon for his birthday each year. I was overjoyed to be his date this past year! |
19) When James Valentine – lead guitarist of Maroon 5 – met me for the first time.
We were in the hallway after church let out. We chatted about Lincoln, Nebraska, and how we were both born there, in the very same hospital. I remember the exact spot on the exact wall in the exact hallway of the Mormon church building where this conversation took place. In attempting to accurately recall which side of me he was standing on, I now realize I must’ve switched sides of him myself. I was originally standing to his right, and when we let our respective sets of parents talk amongst themselves, I walked over to his left side, and we continued forth. There was only about 12 inches or so between us, maybe less. There were many mutual smiles. His long hair was dreamy. My dress was red. Flutters everywhere.
20) My first kiss.
I was 20, mere days away from being 21. It was in 2007, and it was either March 23 or March 24. One of those. It was at night and under the stars and I will not say more. But the first kiss should always be on a person’s “30 Most Important Events Of [Their] First 30 Years” list, and that is why it is here on mine.
21) When I went running with Sara Diane Smith that one late-afternoon in the early autumntime.
We ran loops near BYU and the MTC. This late-afternoon/early-evening was such, such, such a turning point in my life – I’m not sure Sara has any idea! This was the day my body realized it really did like running (after eons of feeling convinced that it didn’t like running). Shortly thereafter I ran my first half marathon with her and our friend Melody, and It.Was.Awesome. The rest is history.
22) When I went skydiving for the first time, with Tess and Jacelyn.
23) The temple. Growing up going to the temple. Every profound experience I've ever had in the temple. The temple's continual powerfully positive role in my life.
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| This is the temple I received my endowment in. Many other very touching experiences happened in this temple for me. Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple. |
24) My 2008 summer internship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Office of Public and International Affairs in Washington, D.C.
Just...everything...about that summer:
- Being employed on what was technically the same street the President of the United States of America was employed on
- Working first-hand with embassies and personally (face-to-face) networking with actual foreign Ambassadors and U.S. Congress(wo)men
- Living thousands of miles away from home, in a land where you initially literally knew literally no one
- It was the most diverse city in which you had ever lived
- You had never ridden on a subway before, and now subways would be your everyday routine
- Diving headfirst into a whole new age group, where you were definitely one of the very youngest (when you had been so used to people who were all either your age or younger), but because you were so abruptly thrown into the “older kids’” way of life, you learned to do LOTS more growing-up reeeeeeally fast. That whole summer was reeeeeeally incredible
25) When I got a taste of the 2008 national economic phunk and spent months trying to land a job.
Got called in for interviews at many places, but got turned down a lot. Because I experienced this, I feel for people who face it. Whoever you may be, you have my moral support, and I mean that most sincerely. It can be a rough and dark place to be in, and although I definitely wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, it truly can be a place for positive personal growth, and you learn a lot about yourself, and you can learn a lot about leaning on the Lord as you press forward, even though sometimes it feels like trudging forward.
26) When I landed my CSB Nutrition Corporation job, following my 2008 phunk.
These four-and-a-half years at CSB were filled with so much Alisonian growth, I don’t even know where to start. The friendships I built there are incredible. My friends there may not know it, but I bawled hysterically for two solid hours as soon as I hopped into my car after work on my last day and drove away (and cried more later that night).
27) When my current Church job basically fell into my lap.
I didn’t even have to fill out an application or write a cover letter. This job is a wonderful, fascinating, rewarding dream every day, and over the past three years I have undergone oodles more instances of Alisonian growth.
28) When I – yes, I – flew an airplane from the copilot’s seatover actual breathtaking glaciers as well as Sarah Palin’s house. I saw Russia. It was 11:30pm and the sun was just barely setting. All my friends in the back of the plane were freaking out, “YOU’RE FLYING US OVER WATER!!” Mwahaha I had them in my clutches.
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| This plane jaunt was very spontaneous -- not planned at all -- and it happened in the first city we stopped in while on our Jenny Phillips Choir tour, 2013. |
29) The late-night when there was not a soul in sight and I was sitting alone at my dining room table, with my car dealership’s website up and open on my laptop screen, and at the insanely simple “click” of one measly button, I paid off my car. One of the most peaceful and beautiful moments of my lifetime.
30) When I got into the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the first try. And every amazing MoTab-related experience I ever had in my 3+ years so far.
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| My suuuuper sweet and tooootally rad baby brother Austin n' me. |
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| MoTab tour, 2015, Yankee Stadium (where we sang the national anthem), practicing our "Ah! El Novio!" clapping . . . which I still am cruddy at . . . |
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| Some of my favorite MoTab girls! Sequins rock! |
