Flakers and Fried Funnies

*Side Note: I happen to be a varsity athlete at the sport of dodging out on dates (dates mean getting to know someone = a possible relationship within 5 years = commitment = Beckie goes into anaphylactic shock)- but when it comes to actual plans and hangouts with my buds- I am all about it and I cannot stand what my friend Angela and I have coined- The Provo Flakers (initially when I typed that, it gave me the red squiggly misspelled thingy- but it's officially a word now). So annoying! If you want to do something do it- if you don't, say it and don't come, but don't flake- it's irksome. (Unless you are doing something really important like assignments...heh heh)
*SEGUE*
Last weekend Angela and I are thinking that we want to go do something fun. However, we know that this is going to be a difficult task because no matter how much you plan, you get ditched out on. It isn't even personal, it's just the Flakeritis (that one I kind of made up, but 67% of words you can add "itis" to and they are real...that is a 98% false statement). We decide on a BYU basketball game. And I'm pretty sure few things compare to my enjoyment at sporting events. But this also proved to be a task in itself as Stephan, Angela and I had to drive around for an eternity, park a million miles away and walk a marathon (exaggerating a little- but they run for a living not me...) to the Marriot Center (MarriOT or MarriET, you choose). But we got there and WHO did I run into? That's right, Robbie Hintze and Nick Heiman. We had a little chit chat moment and it was marvelous... Always so good to run into friends from home- especially after 5 years and especially ones that took you to prom, totally worth the trek :)

After the game, when James and Stephan had DITCHED us, the real adventure began. It began at Zupa's and somehow after hearing all the "BEST" cooking moments of Jean Paul's mission, we ended up deciding to make fried Snickers and Twinkies. We head to Albertson's to get our ingredients and then back to Jean Paul's house, then back to the store , where he was famous, because we needed oil and then back to begin our creation...Please see the the exhibit A.

Exhibit A

It didn't really work out as we had hoped. Worthy efforts were made several times, amidst scalding oil spilling/exploding everywhere, there were at least 3 or 4 attempts. But eventually we accepted out defeat and that Jean Paul was lying about that mission moment (double whammy- lying on about your mission!? jk jP) and we moved on to the Twinkie. Please see Exhibit B.

Exhibit B

You may not be able to tell from my incredulous expression- but it was actually pretty frickin fantastic! Much better than the plain twinkie itself. What is it about fat that makes that happen? So on a whim, we failed at deep frying candy bars, but we were victorious with the twinkie and had A LOT of laughs. But 2 main moral of this story:

1. Don't ditch out, you never know what kind of adventure you could be missing
2. Hillary- if you're going lose your twinkie innocence- do so to one that is *fried*.

Birfdays birfdays birfdays

Happy Birthday to two of my favorite friends in the world

Courtney Echols

and My James face

I have had an excuse to eat some amazing dinners this week thanks to birth of these two. And how precious is that, two of my best friends share the same birthday...cute.

Monday night we went to Mikado for Courtney's birthday dinner. She introduced me to this sushi restaurant months ago and since then, I have not been able to bring myself to partake of sushi anywhere else. Along with sushi, she has introduced me to Low, Joe Castor, a new admiration for Leo, an addiction to candy, the Fun Bus and many other adventures. We literally make a weekly trip up to Salt Lake just to go to Mikado. We like to stop at Wild Oats on the way and get our organic food or in her case- Tofurky Jerky-ew.

Dear Courtney-
happy birthday. I hope that it was the best.
Today is Wednesday which means that we get to have sushi again in 5 days.
yuuuuummmmmm.com.
Love,
Mom

Then last night we went to Carrabba's for James' 25th birthday. Kind of a big deal. It only happens once. Sure we made a reservation for 20 and there were 6 of us. Provo Flakers!!! But it turned out to be a blast and I had the most amazing pasta that I have had in months. I've tried to cut back on carbs but last night was bread, pasta, cake, all sorts of carby deliciousness.
James and I have been friends for about a year now...but it was recently decided that our friendship has reached all new levels of amazingness in the past few months. Some of my favorite moments have been shared with him in our Sally Talk Times- when we end up sitting in my car talking for hours. Sally holds many deep secrets...Sally loves James, she let's him drive her- which he actually isn't that good at because she is an automatic.

Dear James Face

You are now attending BYU (barely), so this could very possibly have been your LAST single birthday.
I am sorry that we have no friends and there were only 6 people at your dinner.
But nonetheless, I hope that you had a great birthday and always know that I LUFFFFFFFF YOU!!!

Love,
Beckles.

Lately there have been a few little materialistic things in my life that I have realized have a great deal of importance to me. Whether that be because of their utility or the simple pleasure that they offer. But I felt that they deserved a post. And nothing new has happened really... so if you care about me, you'll learn to love these too. heh heh.

I will start with this:

1. My new digital camera! I was so excited to finally get a new camera. I have had the same Kodak Easy share since I was 18. The following pictures are courtesy of its greatest technological abilities.
Next on the list is 2. the NEW Special K Cereal! I love Special K...I could eat it for every meal. But in order to follow that miracle diet where you replace two meals a day for 6 FRICKIN weeks with it, you are only allowed to have 3/4 Cup of cereal! When I eat cereal, I either need 2 refills or a mixing bowl. But anyway, this cereal is fantastic! Blueberry Morning is one of my favorites, but this offers the same blueberry crunch with half the fat and twice the nutrition. Special K, you sure are s*p*e*c*i*a*l!!!Number 3 is not a new favorite. But it is one of so much merit, that it belonged on the post. Target's bags. That's right. 3. Target's plastic bags. You cannot see from the picture, but they are so considerate of you the customer and the WORLD that they list 10 Possible Ways to REUSE their bag. Bigger than Albertson's and about 10 x's stronger than Wal-Marts, Target sacs are a winner.
Now of course I could not leave Target with just a couple of their glorious bags...they had to have things in them. I mean, it's only right, if a store is going to be courteous and thoughful enough to provide such a amenity, I must support it. And so out I walked with 4. the CUTEST new shoes! And the part that makes them all the most enjoyable- $8.24. That's right. Originally $34.00 and the LAST pair in just my size. They are comfy, slightly fancy when I tell them to be and just cutesy all the time. Perfect!Now this is another old favorite. These 5. running shoes have been a huge part of my life for 3 years now. There was about a year long hiatus in between when they did not see much pavement. But the past 10 months they have treated me very well. We've been averaging about 30 miles a week together. And let me tell you, blisters are minimal (that first time hitting 7 miles was the only time!), foul smells are non existant and they make everything from sprinting to hour long runs a lot more bearable. Dirty and getting worn they may be, but they are loyal, red and with me every step of the way. ha.
Now this favorite is an oldy/new. I have always loved eye lash curlers. I have little asian eyes and it really opens them up! I have no problem going without makeup, but curled eye lashes are that one little thing that I prefer to always have. It is hard for me to find the right curler because of the shape of my eyes. I've tried all sorts, from Uma, MAC, you name it. But this 6. beauty find is $2.93 from Revlon and it is the perfect eye lash curler. So Revlon- thank you for helping me look a little bit more awake everyday! (Sort of a lame picture...it was a difficult task...)
Now my final favorite for the time being is 7. My Little Red Planner. She and I go everywhere together. She is full of plans, deadlines, post it's (ohhh a very good favorite), all sorts of cute, fun things. There are important plans, silly plans, tentative plans, plans that I plan on flaking plans...there are birthdays, dates that could lead to my eternal salvation, special occasions, maps, measurement tables, addresses, etc.
Did you know that you get get a "high" from chocolate? And did you know that the SAME high can be obtained from crossing things off your to do list? It's true. Somehow I still seem to need the chocolate, but there is something very thrilling about the organization and getting done attitude that a planner provides.Now as I mentioned before...the planner often contains things to do that I will not ever end up doing...for example, I have written on Monday Dec. 15th so send out all Christmas Cards and presents...please see below picture.
I really did have everything done in time, addressed and ready. I was so excited to be on time and send everything out. But then time got away from me and so many pages passed by in the planner that I forgot. So to those of you that these belong...I apologize. Next year. Just kidding. Cards will be wasted, but presents are still being mailed. So sit tight and quit sending me mean e-mails about it. I joke, I kid...

BABY- Happy 10 Months!

Here are some new pictures of baby as well. It is hard to believe that she is 1o months old today...

Playing with her Grandma's glasses and probably refusing to give them back.

I guess she inherited a bit of an attitude...

I warned them that she would probably have bad vision...

Merry Christmas!! Staying up and playing with her presents.

She is getting so big!!

A new year has already begun. I started this post thinking that I would post the highlights of 2008, but it was such a long, jumbled, messy year that it required too much effort.

Many good things did happen in '08, but I am looking forward to starting a new year. For New Year's Eve a bunch of us ladies went to Spark. This is what I call a Mormon bar. It's Provo's attempt at a hot, metro hangout/club. Where else can you go where they have a full bar that serves over priced juice and soda concoctions alcohol free? They also play some bumpin, edited music for your dancing pleasure. Why not ring in the new year at a fake bar, with fake people and fake alcohol, oh God bless Provo. :) Ok that sounds really cynical, because overall, I did have a good time. My friend Nicki came down too and we danced the night away for the first time since our days at Snow College. We'd spent the afternoon before shopping for modest party dresses- quite the task!!! Nicki has been my friend since my sophomore year of college and I just love her. It's funny to us because neither of us have many girl friends and we aren't girly kind of girls. But when we get together, no matter how long it's been, we're like best friends again. We talk about everything, spend forever getting ready, eat tons of junk food...typical girl things. Hopefully we will get to room together again soon! There were no New Year's kisses for any of us either and we all agreed, that was probably the BEST way to start out the new year!

It's only the 10th but there has already been plenty to do! I have been busy with my job, my schedule has been changing a lot. I recently had started working 4 ten hour shifts. They were tiring, but I enjoyed having the three days off. Then I was changed to working Monday through Friday. Believe it or not, that is something that I have never experienced!! Every job that I have ever had, was open on a Saturday too and so I have always had at least one day during the week off. It is exhausting to work every single day without a break! But hopefully I will not be there much longer and so it will not matter.
But in my spare time, in between waiting around for army stuff, working, sleeping and working out, I have been having a lot of fun with the season and my friends. The other night was freezing and so we hit up the bowling ally, then it was sledding, this week we are going skiing and ice skating. Hey, when in Rome.

New Year's Day was pretty fun too. My good friend Courtney and I both had to work, but because we were so slow, we got sent home. Instead we went to lunch, did some shopping and later to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I have realized that I should never see movies during busy times. Especially long movies. Unfortunately, my feet do not touch the ground in theater seats and so I usually sit Indian style, otherwise they just dangle there and start to ache. Due to the sold out crowd (a blockbuster Brad Pitt flick, in the afternoon, on a holiday...who would've thought?!) my poor little legs had to hang for 3 HOURS. My run that night was just painful!!!

Anyway, I am sorry that this post is so boring. I suppose that while I feel so busy, my life is rather uneventful for now. But I just wanted to keep ya'll posted on what I've been up to. I get addicted to reading other people's blogs and often times, theirs are kinda pointless too...but it's still so fun! I will come up with something better next time though, promise.