The Call

Two Years ago today,

my mom came down to my room and told 

me that Grandpa Allred 

had just past away from 

pancreatic cancer.

There is a song by Regina Spektor

that I just absolutely love called

"The Call"

began playing on my ipod

which invited so many memories

of my grandpa

to overflow my mind.

And really,

I just cant say it any better than the song itself,

so here it is:

"It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word
And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back when you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war
Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget
Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
'Til they're before your eyes
You'll come back when they call you
No need to say goodbye
You'll come back when they call you
No need to say goodbye"

I am so grateful to know that my family is

together forever.

I know that I will get to see my Grandpa

again.

I know that he looks after me.

I have felt his love for me one countless occasions

as I journey through my life here on Earth.

I miss him everyday.

I miss collecting coins with him.

I miss him teaching us some of the simplest life lessons.

I miss him making grandpas juice.

I miss seeing him work so hard for my Grandma.

I miss his hugs.

I miss him putting my long hair on his bald head pretending

that he had long hair.

I miss him pinching my nose and pretending that

he had it in his hand.

I miss him yelling from inside of

the house for us to stay our of the flowers.

I miss him coming to visit us,

and to support me through the big decisions that I make.

I am sad that he wont see me get married

in the temple,

I am sad that he wont see me serve a mission,

and start college.

But,

I know that he has returned to live

with our Father in Heaven.

I know that he is happy,

and smiles down on me everyday

as I try my best to make him proud.

I will let my memories grow

stronger and Stronger,

because there is no need to say goodbye.

So until we meet again,

I love and miss you Grampa!

Dedicated to 

Ralph Lynn Allred
June 3, 1929 - 9:55pm April 27, 2011

A GOOD DAY

Because of the world we live in,
with the natural disasters, and tragedies,

I think we can all, at times, have a hard time finding 

good days coming our way.

Today was senior skip day!

A day well worth waiting for.

The day began with sleeping in which is always nice.

I woke up feeling good,

knowing that my God had given me a full nights rest.

I woke up to a clean room, and a bright shining sun.

I was meeting Anna and Sarah at 11:00 to go bowling

to finish up the last of my class.

And not going to lie, I was pretty bummed that I was gonna have

to spend Senior Skip Day doing homework.

At least that was the plan.

But anyone who has ever had a good day

knows that they never goes as planned

because they are filled with adventure

and some of the greatest memories and happiness can come from

things unplanned.

Although, I usually drag my feet bowling because,

lets be honest,

i'm just not a good bowler,

I was actually very excited to do something with Anna and Sarah.

Walking out of the house, 

I was already late meeting them, 

and had full arms.

I managed to unlock and open the door to my car,

and just as I was about to put my stuff down, 

a small dog that had been wondering ours and a few

neighbors front yards, was right at my feet and jumped right 

into my car!

At first I was like "What the?!"

but I picked her up and took her inside and my mom and I

decided to take her up to the street to the address that was on her collar.

Boy was she cute or what!

But I was happy to give her back to her family before they realized she was gone and began to worry.

Much later than we had planned,

Sarah, Anna, and I all headed to the bowling alley

to finish up this dumb class of mine.

But we had a blast,

with lots of laughter, pictures and mentos.

We then headed to the shops at Briargate for some lunch.

We sure do love Panera Bread.

It is so yummy!

But after eating and visiting for a while we

decided to walk around the shops.

We went into a store called Francesca's

which is a small little boutique with really cute clothes,

and jewelry, and just little trinkets.

(Which by the way happens to be hiring and doing interviews this week,

so I picked up an application and turned it in. So hopefully i'll get a call! I'll let you know.)

It's basically pinterest but all in a store less than 15 miles away from home.
The small homey type of store.

You know what im talking about??

After trying on dress after dress,

we headed out so that we could get Sarah to her 

job interview at American Eagle by 3:30.

We were about to walk out when we saw that it was blizzarding outside!!

It was crazy!

(Member I woke up to sunshine? It was supposed to be nice today!

I think that being a Colorado weatherman is the only job that you can be hundred percent wrong

a hundred percent of the time, and still keep your job! Seriously! Haha)

So there we were at the front of the store,

planning out how we were gonna get to the car,

as we were in capris, sandals, and of course no jackets.

We decided to just go for it.

It wouldve worked if my phone didnt fall out of my pocket!

It fell out and as it hit the ground the back of it fell off,

and the battery fell out!

Anna yells, 

"Stacey your phone!!"

I turn around and realize its in the three pieces in the street,

so I run back to pick it up and just as im about to get to it, 

the back and my battery begin to blow away because of the wind!

(I am seriously dying from laughter right now, I just still cant believe how funny this whole scene was to us!

I cant imagine what it looked like from a strangers perspective!)

So I scream, "Oh no!"

and Sarah who I guess was clueless to this whole thing was like

"What??"

I get to my phone and catch the battery before it got too far,

but the back to my phone was literally flying through the air like a kite!

So im sprinting after it, screaming, and Sarah is running after me, screaming!

All in the snow that is coming down so hard,

it seriously might as well have been a blizzard.

Im sure it was just quite the scene.

So I chased my phone back all the way across the parking lot,

and Sarah finally yells,

"What are we doing?! What are you even looking for?!"

And I yell back to her that the wind picked up the back to my phone,

as we reach the street.

We are standing in the grass looking at the street as cars are coming

both ways.

But both cars coming from each direction stopped out of confusion

because these two girls in capris, sandals and no jackets,

are so carefully trying to examine the road even though

we couldnt even keep our eyes open because there

was SO MUCH SNOW!

Sarah finally saw it on the other side of the road and

ran to pick it up and we book it back to car,

which is on the other side of the parking lot.

Running against the wind in our sandals and laughing hysterically about

the whole situation made it

extremely difficult to make it back to the car quickly.

When we did make it back to the car,

anna was just sitting in the back seat texting!

Hahaha it may not be very funny,

but the whole thing was absolutely hilarious!

Tears are in my eyes from laughing right now.

Anyways,

we got Sarah to her interview

and she felt really good about it afterwards so hopefully

she gets it.

We then took Anna to work at Chick la fe, 

and decided to head home after

quite the eventful afternoon.

Even though the original plan to spend the whole day doing homework

didnt happen, 

I am so glad that I got to spend the day with my two best friends.

All through high school we have said

that we will be 

"Best Friends To The End."

The "end" being the end of high school.

But I know that there really wont be an end to our friendship.

Our friendship will last well into the rest of our lives,

and years from now we will be telling our kids of 

all the crazy things that we did,

like the time that we got lost and drove around for almost 

five hours looking for a hike only to find out that it's only 

40 minutes away from our house,

Our trip to New York City,

and of course running all the way across a parking lot trying to catch the

back of my phone.

There's a quote that I just love,

"Memorires last forever, never do they die. Friends stay together, never say goodbye." - Unknown

So even though we are all going to seperate colleges, 

I am so excited to see where they end up in

life and to celebrate with them the accomplishements that come their way,

for they are truly two of the greatest friends that I have ever had.

As you can tell,

it didnt go as planned,

but today was

A GOOD DAY.

And I dont think I could ask for anything more.

Another Hit

I'm not sure that I will be able to successfully express what's going on

in my head right now, but I will certainly try my best.

I am feeling heart broken, sad, happy,

blessed and grateful after this week.

Like any other year, the Boston Marathon was going great.

Runners from all over the world were participating.

 But little did anyone know,

it wouldn't end like they were hoping. 

Unfortunately, America has taken another hit.

Three of four bombs went off,

killing two people at the scene and leaving hundreds injured,

of which many are in critical condition.

So my heart is aching for the people that were 

affected by this awful event.

We live in a sad sad sad world..

You might be wondering how in this world am I am also feeling happy,

 blessed and grateful on a day like that.

I am feeling happy because I am so blessed 

enough to be close to my family today...

To be able to give them tight hugs, 

and to know that they are all safe.

 And for that I am extremely grateful.

I am grateful to know that in order for things to get better,

they must first get worse.

I am blessed to know that my Heavenly Father has a plan.

He knows what he's doing.

And although it may, at times, be scary to not know 

what's gonna happen, 

I am comforted by knowing that he knows me and has a plan for me.

My prayers go out to those in Boston.

I pray that they might find out who is responsible for this.

I cannot even imagine what some may being going through.

We read a story of a participant who was running,

and as a result of the bombs,

he lost both legs.. I just can't imagine...

What it would be like to listen to a doctor telling

me that I would never be able to sing ever again.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said,

"Please understand that what you see and experience now,

is not what forever will be." 

And I think that can bring us a great amount of comfort right now.

Let us all keep the faith to carry on and to be united as a country.

Spring Break 2013

This last Spring Break was so much fun!

And what better way to post about it than in pictures?

After all, a pictures worth a thousand words!

It started with making some very yummy peanut butter balls on a snowy day

(we were actually supposed to leave that day for Utah,

but a blizzard had come in so we had to wait until Sunday to leave).

We headed to Utah on Sunday and for the most part the roads were clear,

and we made pretty good time.

We spent a little over 24 hours in Utah,

where I got to see Robin!

Laurie even let her skip school so we could spend the day together.

We had a great day shopping and went to Chili's for lunch which was very yummy!

I even found a prom dress at NPS!

(Now I just need a date! Haha)

Later that evening,

we went out to dinner to a mexican restaurant

 with the Allred side of the family

and then headed back to grammas house

to see Stephanie and Jeremy and Taydym.

She is just such cute and happy baby! 

 Love her!

My mom thinks she looks alot like me when I was little,

I think she is just so cute!

On Tuesday we headed up to Idaho

While in Idaho,

we stayed at Kyle and Carissa's house.

And boy, do I sure miss them!

Mom got Kyler a new toy for Easter and he absolutely loved it! 

It was the perfect thing for his tiny little hands.

 "Excuse me?"

His sassy face is so cute!

Going to town on that orange!

He puts everything in his mouth! 

Because I am officially going to BYUI,

it was only appropriate that I load up on all things BYUI.

I got a sweatshirt that was on clearance (score),

a tshirt and of course a water bottle.

I also got my housing all figured out while I was there!

I am so excited to live in the new Kensington Manor!

It's so beautiful, and has so

much storage space which is awesome! 

I also got to see Kreestaa!!

Oh how I have missed her so much!

She is such a great friend to me,

and I am so grateful for our lasting friendship!

Twinners! Carissa is such a great sister,

and I am so grateful for her example to me in all things.

I even did homework on campus,

which are completely different stories!

But it made me feel like a big kid!

The week was filled with fun adventures,

quite a few games of trains,

some games of bowling for my class,

and just all around fun with family and friends!

I cant wait to get up to Idaho in the fall!

I love the campus so much,

its absolutely beautiful.

The trip definitely did not help my senioritis,

I did not want to go back to high school,

but I have decided to finish  the year off strong making the best of everything

that comes my way!

So here's to finishing high school strong,

and here's to COLLEGE!!!

HOLLLEERRR!!

Hope yall had a fun filled and safe spring break as well!

The Right Time

I am so grateful for tithing.

It is such a blessing in my life.

Things always seem to work put when I pay my tithing.

And I know that my Heavenly Father blesses me for doing so.

But although there has been blessings of all shapes and sizes,

some small and some big.

I don't know if I have ever been more grateful for it

then I am now.

As college is just around the corner,

of course money is a going to be a worry.

But because I have been obedient in paying my tithing

I won't be paying even half of what some of my friends will be paying.

Tithing goes to many different places,

and included in that are the church's schools.

Being a private school, I dont have to pay out of state tuition

which is a even greater blessing because

in some states it is so expensive.

I know that paying tithing can bless your life at the time

but I have learned that it can bless your life years and years down the road.

So if its at the time or years down the road,

when the blessing comes,

I know that it will come at the right time for me.

And to think that God knew how this would bless my life the whole time,

because it's part of His plan

is truly remarkable.

I am also very grateful for the GI Bill.

It should pay for just under three semesters of school if i do it right.

When I look at everything I need to pay for in college,

its a little nerve racking,

but I know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me

and that everything will work out the way its supposed to.

I am so grateful to be going to a school

where I will be surrounded by other members of the church.

While I was on campus over spring break,

it quickly became a holy place.

I felt comforted and confident that it was where I am

supposed to be for college.

And I absolutely cannot wait to get up there in the fall and to move into my

beautiful apartment! 

Hope you've had a great General Conference weekend!

Try to Remember

As the past few weeks have gone by so quickly,

 rehearsals have gone later and later each night.

My sisters can't come see Honk!, which is a bummer.

Brielle always jokes about skyping

with my parents on the iPad during the show and

I always roll my eyes and say no way!

Can you imagine sitting and enjoying a show

and then all of a sudden an iPad pops up like a daisy

from the seat right in front of you!

So I told them no.

But, I have been really bummed that they can't come.

Sometimes I would play the

"I went to all of your events and none if you come to mine." card.

Sometimes it's hard being the youngest by so much.

But I am guilty of forgetting

just how blessed I am to have the technology

that we have to communicate so quickly and easily from so far away.

Even from hundreds of miles away,

we can send a text and they it will be received just seconds later.

We can put pictures up on facebook to watch old friends and family grow up.

We can get on Skype and within a few minutes 

we can see them at home in their living room. 

So although we may be far away from family and miss them
a whole heap,

may we always try to remember that in this day and age

we are extremely blessed to communicate with them so easily as we do.

I know that if Brielle and Carissa could come see the show,

they would. 

And for that im so grateful!

I sure do love them and can't wait until I can see them again
cause I miss them like crazy!

A Little Bit of Spring

What a beautiful day today!

Today in the Springs, we are 66 degrees and were only supposed to get warmer!

Seriously Colorado is just beautiful. 

I love seeing the mountains frosted white from the snow, 

and at the same time the sun is shining bright with a cool breeze.

Ladies and gentlemen. I do believe its that time of year again! 

Spring is in the air! 

I just love the spring, although i will admit that sometimes I do 

have separation anxiety from the winter only because

I get super cute sweaters when they are like 75% off

(justifying that i will need them in the fall of course - they dont call Rexburg The Iceburg for nothing!),

but in all reality i just want to wear them now! 

In addition to getting super cute new clothes, there is the part we all hate.

Which is spending the entire afternoon going through your closet. 

And yes sometimes it really does take all afternoon.

I have a hard time getting rid of clothes because i always think,

well what if I decide I like it in a few months,

which then turns into a year and another year after that. 

Either way, I still end up never wearing them.

But even knowing that, I dont think that makes it any easier.

Like I said, today as well as the past few days have been absolutely beautiful!d

I am so grateful for the nice weather while every other student in the Performing Arts Department

at DCC are in Disney World.

They left very early on Monday morning and come back on Saturday.

The week started off really hard.

It was an awful day at school, and having all of my friends gone just added to everything else.

But luckily the week got much better. 

Ashley Miller and I have hung out everyday after school,

Emily and finally had time to skype,

She is coming to see Honk!, I cannot wait to see her!

The college shopping trip adventures continue

and because Sarah Lyman did not go to Disney either,

we have been pretty productive on our AP Psych Child Development Project that is due next week.

Plus, my mom has been really awesome and has let me skip a lot of school,

given half my classes are gone. Haha.

But in all reality, 

it is so nice to have a break from everyone and be personally productive, not just on

my homework but in things for college, 

and the end of the year.

And to have extra time to run lines for the show.

Overall it has been a very productive, yet somehow relaxing week.

And for that, I am so grateful.

[For some reason this one didnt get posted until now.. Sorry!]