Really, her name is Ali (okay, really REALLY her name is Alicia) but as was previously mentioned, I am the nickname guru. ChimChim’s other nicknames include: Whilma, Chimzie, Sal-ma-gal, Champ, and Sally Bally Root Cheet Pit Berry Pendlow.Ali is the sister between me and Megan, and is the only one of us who ALWAYS has green eyes (mine sometimes turn more blue). She married a fellow named STEVE who knows every way to fix anything (he’s an electrician).
Ali is smart. I’m talking SMART! She can sit down and read an entire book in one sitting. When she was a pre-teen, she decided that she wanted to be an engineer and create rollercoasters. That or maybe a doctor.
Here, you can see that she actually decided to become a pirate.
Ali is my adventure buddy. We used to do all sorts of crazy, spontaneous stuff. Like one time, I got home from my 17 year old job working as a Fred Meyer cashier (man, I loved that job!). I walked through the door, saw Ali, said, “Hey. Let’s go camping.” She shrugged and said, “Okay” and so at like 9:00pm we threw a couple of sleeping bags and a tarp in the back of Paco (my trusty grey Nissan truck), ran to the corner market store to pick up some donuts for breakfast and some red vines for snacking, and took to the hills.
Notice please, folks, that we did not pack a tent. Oh no. We were the under-the-stars sort of adventurers. And as we lie there all vulnerable amongst the trees, we’d tell each other stories of ghosts, bear maulings and rock crushings. GOOD TIMES!
I often miss those times.
Ali is always doing something new. Right now she’s learning all about how to give a really stellar massage. And she’s getting her passport so she can go visit Tijuana, where she might barter with baked goods.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ALI:
Hi, Ali, thanks for being with us, today.
Oh sure, I am always happy to hang out with my sista!
You and hour hubby Steeeeeee live in an adorable house with an adorable yard and HOW MANY adorable dogs???
Umm, well, we have THREE dogs.
Tell us how you wound up with so many!
Well, if you have met Steve, you know how charming he can be. He can pretty much talk me into anything he really wants. I can't help it, I don't know who had the more convincing puppy eyes, Steve or our three dogs :)
What does a typical Friday Night look like at the Cope household?
Most of Friday night is dark since Steve and I both work until 10:00 pm. But after we do get home, we usually sit down to catch up on our favorite TV shows. This is usually accompanied by Sushi (if we can get off early) or cold cereal.
Remember how we used to stay up all night playing Laura Croft?
Yes! I loved that. I talk to Steve about that all the time. We have had a few really late nights ourselves with video games, but nothing can compare to the awesomeness of Laura Croft! I have a new Laura Croft for the Wii. Think our husbands will let us stay up all night?
Do you ever miss ballroom?
Yes. Sometimes I miss it a lot. It was one of the funnest times of my life. It is one of those adventures I am very glad I embarked on.
You recently left your management position at 1-800 contacts and are now studying to be a massuse, right? How did you decide to get into the massage therapy field?
Great question! I am going to school to become a LMT or Licensed Massage Therapist. My decision seemed pretty crazy to a lot of people. I just had one of those moments where I looked at my life and said, "really? This is what I am doing? Do I really want this to be what my life is like?"
It turns out I didn't like the answer. I needed something that actually made a difference. I was tired of doing a lot and not making a difference where it really mattered. I realized that I wanted to be able to raise my own children. I needed a career that allowed me to be full or part time. I needed something that allowed me to help others. To help them do something that they cannot do by themselves.
Did you know that almost all of our major diseases are caused by our lifestyles and stress? With the way health insurance is prevention is becoming more and more important. With massage, I am able to help people stay healthy. Its so interesting. Since I have started receiving bodywork several times a week, even though I have more demands than I have had in the past, I feel calmer and I can handle my stress much better! I am so excited to be able to find a profession that helps people but also flexible enough I can still have a family!
PHEW! Sorry to go off like that. I can't help it. I just love it so much and think that everyone should get a massage!
Yeah, me first! So where is your favorite place to spend money?
My favorite place to spend money is for sure at the bookstore. I can never have enough good reading material!
What are you reading right now?
Right now I am reading 3rd Degree by James Patterson. It is the 3rd book in the Women's Mystery Club. I love the characters and the stories are impossible to put down!
You and Steve had an atypical courtship. Want to tell us your story?
Sure! It is a pretty crazy story!
So I started working at Winger's in Lehi when it first opened during my Jr year in High School. My mom even checked me out of school so I could go interview during the middle of the day. Who knew that she was helping me meet the love of my life! Anyway, I worked at Wingers forever. During my first year of college Steve transferred down from the Winger's in Logan. The owner of the Lehi Winger's had a daughter going to USU and she worked at the Winger's up there. She was friends with Steve, so when he transferred down to UVSC she arranged for him to work at Winger's in Lehi.
At Winger's everyone was talking about this young man who was going to be transferring down. Naturally a man working in a predominantly single female workplace created a lot of excitement. So at first we never seemed to work together. Then we finally did. He was promoted to Team Leader within a week or so of being at the Lehi location. This made me pretty frustrated since I was one of the more senior servers (there were only a few other originals left) and had been working towards that position for a long time. Our first shift together, he was checking off my side work and didn't like the way I did something. He gave me a hard time and I was so frustrated I started to cry. Not like sad sobbing, like I am so mad right now I could throw something but instead I am crying.
Anyway, he felt bad he made me cry so he wrote me a note that said something like "I'm sorry I made you cry, but if you did things the way you should you wouldn't have anything to cry about :)" I responded back with a letter "Thanks for the apology but you shouldn't be such a jerk because you never know what is going on with people." As you can see it was love at first sight :)
So after awhile things changed. Steve was a flirty guy but he never flirted with me. Determined to be Scarlett O'Hara I refused to be left out. So one day while he was talking with the other girls about how he would love to take them rock climbing, ect. ect. I boldly walked up and said, "So when are you going to take me rock climbing" (eyelash fluttering). He replied "Well I don't have your number..." to which I replied, "That's because you never asked me for it." So at this point we are all thinking he will take the hint and ask for my number. Well we are all wrong! Instead he walks away to go check on his table. He finally comes back and says "Well you wouldn't give it to me if I asked" (which between you and me might have been true before I felt left out, but you never know ;)) so I responded "I wouldn't have said something like that if I wouldn't give you my number" So now you are thinking he will ask for my number... WRONG AGAIN! He walks away AGAIN! Finally he comes back and hands me his server notebook and says "will you write your number down here?" So I do.
Now the next thing you would expect is that he calls, right? WRONG. Even after all of that he doesn't call in over a week! One Friday night I am closing at Wingers and he comes in and says to me "Hey Ali, all my other plans fell through. Do you want to do something?" He immediately recognized that what he said came across pretty badly and immediately tried to correct himself. Anyway, I said yes and we got a group of work people together after we closed up shop. Only in college is it perfectly logical to start something at one am. We all headed back to my apartment to watch a movie. Steve and I ended up talking clear until five am when I had to get ready for work (I was opening breakfast). I got ready and he slept on the couch for 30 minutes. Then I went to work. For the next week we spoke on the phone almost every day. The next weekend was Labor Day so Steve headed down to Jacob Lake to work as a Server during the Holiday weekend. I tried not to miss him (he didn't have a cell phone) at the same time I tried to convince myself that I didn't feel as strongly about him as I did.
Well he stopped by on his way home late Monday night. When my roommate opened the door and I saw him standing there I couldn't help it. I knew that I couldn't pretend like I didn't love him. The next morning he came to my apartment early with flowers. We drove up the canyon and just talked. I knew that I was going to marry him (it scared me like CRAZY). We hadn't even had our first kiss yet, but I knew that this was big. I felt it inside me. Being with Steve just felt right. It felt like going home after a crazy day and finally being able to relax, and be safe.
After this point we both decided to try to take things slow. I was in my first semester of college after all. We didn't get engaged until October, and got married in June. Sometime I'll have to tell you about how he proposed. It was so romantic!
When your husband is going to take you out on the town and you want to feel extra pretty, what's the thing you reach for?
Humm, good question! I would say some nice Jewelry. Steve gave me pearls for our wedding, a sapphire and diamond necklace for our first Christmas, and a ruby and diamond necklace this last Christmas. I love things that sparkle!!!
What is one of your favorite strengths?
I can make salads that look like they are out of a magazine! I know that may sound silly, but since I am not very domestic I am very proud of myself.
That is so true! When we're dibbying up food assignments for whatever family shindig is coming up, I always secretly hope you get Salad. You make the BEST fruit salads, and your spinach salad - DAG!
Alilicious!
Okay I know that isn't a real word, but that is as good as it gets!
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