visitors from the north

we were really lucky this weekend to be hosts to two of the most pleasant visitors in the world: my cousins aubrey potter and jake murphy! they are both hardcore basketball fans, and when they heard that we would be willing to get anyone into a duke game, they decided to make the trek down from new york and connecticut to try it out. we LOVE having visitors, especially ones who want to eat everywhere with us and are so easy to please.

we took them to all of our favorite restaurants, gave them a tour of duke (and a really shabby one of unc), and brought them to church this morning (where aubrey helped us out in sunbeams while jake did the normal grown-up thing). and most importantly, we went to the duke game yesterday! the greatest thing about the duke games is how EXCITED all the fans are and how into it everyone is. you can't help but get excited as well. the game was just nail-biting enough to be interesting the whole time, and duke won at the end of it all.

we only got a few pictures, but aubrey and jake took many with their iphones, so the trip was well-recorded anyways. and here they are:

in front of the duke chapel, of course.

decked out in all of our duke gear, inside cameron indoor!

and right before we dropped them off at the airport, we stopped by the temple.

it was really funny--while we were catching up with jake and aubrey all weekend, my mom was apparently watching a lot of our home videos that have recently been transferred to dvd. and a lot of them had our lovely guests in them, from when we were all little and all lived back in connecticut together. i wish i had a picture to show of how we looked then but since i don't, i'll just say that i LOVE that even after all this time and years of living on different sides of the country, these cousins are still some of the greatest people i know. and that they can come visit and we can have a really fun time together any time!

to all relatives out there: you're welcome to come visit whenever you want! we love and want more visitors! (and any friends as well, of course!)

new and improved!

my computer--wrapped up and ready for me enjoy after being fixed up.

i have the best tech-savvy husband ever.

he would be embarrassed to hear me talk about it, because he knows enough about techie stuff to know that he doesn't know very much. but i, on the other hand, know NOTHING and so all of his techie endeavors are incredibly impressive to me.

his most recent accomplishment was REFORMATTING MY COMPUTER--a project he'd been talking about doing for the last six months, but we were both nervous about it because it involves wiping your computer completely clean and then re-installing all of your files and programs back on there. i didn't like the idea because i didn't want to lose anything, and i wasn't sure i totally trusted the reformatting process.

but he convinced me, mainly because my computer:

-made noises reminiscent of a jet plan revving up any time it was running

-had a habit of freezing the windows task bar at the bottom of the screen, not allowing me to switch between programs, see how much battery was left, or click on the windows tab

-wouldn't let me create new folders (i developed the sneaky habit of creating new folders on tommy's computer and then using a jump drive to move them to my computer. WAY TOO MUCH WORK!)

-would die after 45 minutes of running without being plugged in because of how slow and jumbo-tron the system had become.

so this week, tommy watched a few videos about reformatting on youtube, commandeered my computer for two days, erased everything, and put it all back on. and when i nervously came opened it back up . . .

IT WAS LIKE MAGIC.

it's like a brand new computer. i don't even know what to do with myself--it's silent. it's fast. it's CLEAN AND SHINY AND NEW! we were planning on getting me a new computer after i graduate, because it was having so many problems, but now i really don't think we have to. i'm a little bit bummed to not get a brand new one, but a lot psyched to save $1000+. three cheers for tommy!

a sunday song

during the music minor i did at byu, i had to do university chorale four times. i did university chorale because it was the un-auditioned choir, and i didn't want to have to try out or commit myself to everyday practice like the women's chorus had.

i didn't love university chorale. too many obnoxious choir people, and i was burned out on that (hence not trying out for women's chorus).

but i did love some of the songs we sang, including this one.

enjoy the rest of your sunday.

good habits

i feel pretty good about all the good habits i've been keeping up lately. what with a combination of game on and a dentist appointment last week, i've been taking better care of my body the last week than i have for AGES!

good habits i've been doing the last week:
-taking a vitamin every day
-flossing and using mouthwash (with flouride)
-eating five fruits and veggies a day (or at least very close)
-writing in my journal every day and reading my scriptures
-not biting my fingernails! they look GREAT!

so now if i can just keep this up for the next 50 some-odd weeks of the year, i'll be golden.

Game On!

(last post of the night. tommy's busy working and i'm obviously busy NOT working, which is why i'm writing so many blog posts.)

along with our new year's resolutions to exercise more and eat healthier, tommy and i joined with many myres family members to do the GAME ON! healthy living challenge. here's what that means:

-exercise (at least) 20 minutes every day

-eat five small meals every day, each of which has a protein, carbs, and a healthy fat (plus vegetables and fruits), two to four hours apart

-no eating white flour, sugar, or butter

-drink half your weight in ounces of water per day

-sleep 7+ hours every night

-develop a good habit that you do every day

-eliminate a bad habit

and that's about it. ha.

it's REALLY HARD.

it's supposed to last four weeks. this type of eating is just NOT sustainable. (although, yes, i know that's sad, because this is how you should be eating and living ALL THE TIME. gimme a break. i can't live without white flour. IT'S TOO GOOD.)

it's not so much the things we're eating, it's the things we can't eat, and the having-to-plan-five-balanced-meals-and-take-them-to-school-every-day that's really hard. i thought the water would be hard, but that's not too bad. the sleeping part is easy (we always get enough sleep around here, pretty much). but man, it's only been four days and i've spent most of the time dreaming about pizza. i don't know what it is, but i'm obsessed with pizza lately. really good pizza. we get two meals off a week (plus one whole day) so tomorrow we're going out to pizza for dinner.

but hey. i think it's actually working. and just so you know--team bob and jillian ARE OUT TO WIN this competition! GAME ON.

new year's resolutions

i also wanted to share (some of) my new year's resolutions:

spiritual:

-read the BoM before i graduate

-read one church-related (non-scriptural) book a month

-go to the temple three times a month

physical:

-exercise five times a week

-take a vitamin/calcium pill every day (the doctor at the student health center said i was NOT getting enough calcium)

-eat five servings of fruit/veggies per day (or at least up my veggie intake)

-keep track of the meals we make into a personal cookbook

intellectual:

-read 100 books this year (and blog about them) (see sidebar--i made a reading blog to keep up my critical side)

-graduate with a 4.0 in my master's

-find some new hobbies once i graduate

i know this is a lot. but compared to last year i think they're pretty doable. i had some dumb ones on there last year, like "dessert only once a week." NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. but i'm on track with the book of mormon, the temple's really close, we already exercise a lot and are working on eating healthy, and my reading is going great. i feel really good about it!

back to school, back to school

i would also just like to announce that i just had my last first week of school--ever.

it was a rough week. but it is over (i only have classes T-Th) and ONLY 15 MORE!

this semester i am:

-taking two classes

-doing an internship (eight hours a week at cary magazine. never heard of it? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?)

-teaching one section of english 101

-writing my capstone project

so i am busy. but i think it will be good.

also, after a few weeks off, i am totally rejuvenated about teaching. the first two days have been FUN! a fresh new semester is SUCH a great feeling! nobody's failing yet, nobody's tired of the class yet . . . let's see how long this lasts.

carry on!

thanks, mom

after austin opened his mission call, my mom sent out some photos from our one family trip to quebec to show that austin had actually BEEN there before. this was a part of really cool trip that my parents planned--we RVed around the whole northeast and into canada. but i was a teenager, and was very unhappy about most of it.

unfortunately i was still in some photos. even more unfortunately, she sent these out to the entire extended family.

let's remember thirteen-year-old alyse for a moment. i warn you--it's painful. (but more funny.)

this one isn't bad:

awww! cute family!

BUT, saving the best for last:

check out those SUNGLASSES that string-bean genie-pants-wearing giant is wearing. i'm not even smiling. i was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool.

text conversation with camille about these photos:

camille: did you see the picture that mom emailed out of us outside the montreal temple?? hahaha i have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. it's awful

alyse: I KNOW. I KNOW. i tried not to look at them. my sunglasses.

camille: hahahaa it's like the matrix... stupid awkward phase. if it makes you better i'm wearing a bucket hat. proudly.

alyse: ugh. that trip REALLY was the height of all awkwardness for me.

alyse: no wonder i was in such a bad mood the whole time.

this is why our wedding slideshow did NOT actually have any photos for a five-year span of my life. i looked like this.

first broseph going on a mission

remember how i said austin had just submitted his mission papers? well, he GOT HIS CALL, in RECORD TIME! this was him opening it last night. he was pretty smart and used some video website that allowed anyone who wanted to to steam him opening his mission call. i was on the road heading home from school, so i was just on the phone, but it was still really exciting to hear him open his call and read . . .

MONTREAL, CANADA! french-speaking! and he leaves on may 30!

these are all good things.

1. Canada: who goes there? i had NEVER considered canada as a mission spot. for some reason, it just totally blows my mind that he's going there. which is awesome!

2. French: no murphy has ever learned french before. i'm excited to hear how it goes. and when he's done, tommy can practice his high-school french with austin.

3. May 30: my graduation is on may 12th (and sarah and alec's wedding is on may 4th), which means i will DEFINITELY be able to go to austin's farewell! these three events have been lining up for a long time, and i have not been sure if/when i'd be able to go to all of them. SO GLAD!

anyways, i am SO proud of austin. he's going to be a champion missionary. what a kid.

new year's in utah

december was a kind of crazy month for us. we finished our semester, went to seven different states (driving down to florida added three, and then all of our christmas traveling), and for most of the month avoided all of our work. but we are finally back in north carolina, filled with mixed emotions--glad to be back to a regular routine and real life, but not glad to have to get back to work (not to mention missing our family). i just wanted to post a few pictures from our week and a half in utah, where we got to see a lot of the people we love most: family, extended family, and friends who are pretty much family. we always have such a short amount of time when we go to utah, so we never get to see everyone we want to--but we had a great time this year.

on to the pictures! (which i just posted on FB as well, but i wanted to include them here too.)

the leiningers--six out of the nine kids were there for most of the week, but we were missing shane and kiley (in california), lindsay, travis, and the gang (in denmark), and kurt (on a mission in uruguay). we played HUNDREDS of games of killer bunnies and bohnanza, thanks to kenzie (the gamemaster in the middle, with jet) and had a great time relaxing and talking. we also got to meet jet, the new puppy (and kenzie and callie's bff). next time we see them, most likely, melissa and james will have a BABY! and we will be aunt and uncle all over again.

and unfortunately, although we spent most of our time there in ogden with them, this was one of the only pictures we took while we were there. we are so bad at pulling out our camera when we should. dang it!

WKWWL reunion! these ladies were my family for a few years of my life in provo, and this was the first time we've all been in the same room together since we took THIS picture THREE YEARS AGO:

a few things have changed since we took this picture. four are return missionaries now, five of us are married and two are engaged, and one has a baby! (mr. calvin was the cutest little guy i have ever seen, and whitney is a really great example as his mom.) six are graduated with the final three graduating in april, and all are moving along with awesome plans. although we've all moved farther apart than the two apartments we used to live in next door to each other, i still love these ladies, look up to them, and am so glad we get to see each other occasionally. seeing them was the BEST! i just wished i could have lasted longer.

we got to see austin twice while in provo. he's a rockstar byu freshman, and he just turned in his mission papers! we'll be hearing in a few weeks where he's going to be going, and we just can't wait for him.

dinner with the myres cousins and grandparents, which was awesome. we even took a soccer team picture, complete with poses. this is one of the things i miss most about living in provo--not getting to go to cousin dinners with my cousins on both sides. they are awesome people. (we also got to see grandma and grandpa murphy but FORGOT to take a picture with them! gahhh!)

and last but not least, a picture with two of my favorite boy cousins, who i've grown up with all my life, and their two lovely fiancees. one is my best friend and one shares my name, so i don't think this could have gone any smoother. i really enjoyed getting to meet alyse (tanner's soon-to-be wife) and spending time with the very happy sarah and alec. HOORAY!

and now, for the anticlimactic ending--we're back in north carolina, unpacking and trying to buy a lot of healthy food for our game on! competition with the myres family. we play to win, and to lose all those holiday pounds. Team Bob and Jillian!

2011 books

one of my new year's resolutions for LAST year in 2011 was to read 30 books throughout the course of the year. 30 is not an especially high number for me, since i am (and always have been) an obsessive, committed reader, but i always fall out of the habit when i'm in school and always working on homework. so i thought 30 would be a reasonable goal to have. but i blew through book number 30 sometime back in april or may and ended up at 86. i am THRILLED to be back on the book-reading train, after a few years of being too focused on school and too out of the habit to read books that i wanted to for fun. my goal for 2012 is to reach 100 books for the year--should be easily done, since i'm graduating in may and have NO PLANS beyond that.

some of the books i especially enjoyed in 2011 were:

-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: i had never actually read this book. i was supposed to when i was in high school and i only read the spark notes because i thought it was SO BORING. but i listened to it on audiobook early this year and couldn't wait to get back to the car every day to finish it--the narrator was great and the story was excellent. i am a fan.

-Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand: an absolutely INCREDIBLE story, and written so beautifully. i really appreciated how she wove all of the facts about WWII into the narrative about louis zamperini's life. i give this book five stars and would recommend it to anyone.

-Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: i heard about this book probably two or three years ago and thought it would be SO DUMB and the english major in me avoided it with high-minded dignity. but i found it as an audiobook at the library and needed something to listen to for the week and i just could NOT stop laughing as it was going. so many of the lines come straight from the original Pride and Prejudice, intertwined with gory zombie scenes and elizabeth's ninja training. it was hilarious.

-East of Eden by John Steinbeck: the actual storyline of this book is so heartbreaking and depressing, i won't even describe it to you. but the lesson and the SYMBOLISM is so inspiring. it's totally mormon doctrine.


-Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sherry Wudunn: it really is incredible to read about real women's situations throughout the world today, and to hear about how progress is being made to help them become more independent. i kept trying to explain how powerful this book was to my freshmen and they were not super impressed--but i loved it.


-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver: i just finished this in hawaii, and i keep telling everyone about it. i read a lot of food books this year, and this was the one that finally made me actually interested in really changing the way i eat (who knows if i'll actually go through with it, of course). she makes me want to eat more vegetables and learn how to garden, and i love thinking about the new options for eating and shopping she introduces. i want to be more food-conscious this year, thanks to her.


there are many reasons why i've been trying to be more committed to reading the last year, but one of the major ones is because i always feel like there are SO MANY BOOKS out there that i've never read and will never get the chance to read. i want to read all the really good books out there that i've always heard about (huck finn? i'd never read it before? are you SERIOUS?) and keep improving my mind, even while i feel like i'm wasting away in pointless work in school or at home. when i read, i don't feel like i'm wasting my time or being lazy, which i ALWAYS do when i get off the computer after spending too long surfing the internet or facebook. i'm so excited about all the books i'm going to read this next year.

2011 in review

while we were in line for a ride at epcot, we started making a list of our Top Things of 2011, things that defined our year and made us happy.

1. song of 2011: December, 1963. play this song on repeat and you'll have a soundtrack of our year. pretty much.

2. movie of 2011: Harry Potter 7, Part 2. how many movies do you get to go see the EIGHTH part of, at midnight, in theaters? it was the end of an era.

3. person(s) of 2011: Leif and Joel Sevy. these babes pretty much dictated half of our activities this year. we drove up to d.c. six times this year to visit them, and even flew halfway across the world to get a few more days with them. they are the cutest, and THEY ARE STARTING TO WALK! (and we won't get to see them for another year and a half, most likely--which is why we were so determined to spend so much time with them this year.)

4. book of 2011: Sherlock Holmes, the collected adventures. we read/listened to all of them this year, and loved them! i was so sad to reach the end.

5. domestic trip of 2011: the Outer Banks. this was the most relaxing and needed trip, coming at the best time for both of us. i want to do this every year--i'm hoping to plan a trip out there with some ward friends next year. it was the BEST.

6. international trip of 2011: Denmark. see #3 above. babies, ancestors, tommy's old mission--what's not to love?

7. exotic food of 2011: shawarma/gyros. we ate them in three different countries PLUS the morocco exhibit of epcot this year (and the trusty baba ghannouj restaurant in durham). we're going to learn how to make them, because we're OBSESSED.

8. dessert of 2011: Cook-Out shakes. you must all come to visit us and get cook-out shakes with us. we hadn't discovered their goodness last year while we were here, but they have changed. our. lives. most nights we spend our time debating whether we should make the 15-minute-trek to the closest cook-out to get shakes. 'nuff said.

9. homemade food of 2011: pizza! we made about three different types of dough, twelve different types of pizza, and i'm feeling like we should make it a more regular tradition (like every friday night or something). i LOVE homemade pizza, and can't wait to make it more.

10. puzzle of 2011: Starry Night. seven months after we started it, we finally finished.

thank you, 2011. you were a pretty good year. on to 2012--and GRADUATION!