sometimes we are gross...

last night after a nice 2 hour workout, we were starving. we decided to go to mcdonalds for a snack (naturally, work out and then go get fast food?!). i rarely ever go there, let alone really ever get fast food. but like i said, it was just a snack.

have you ever tried these? they are so good. cheaper than jamba and healthier. in fact, on the way home from our very first date, we stopped at a drive through and ordered these.

besides, after an hour of cardio, a cold smoothie sure does hit the spot (and luckily, they are small enough that there isn't enough lactose to hurt my tummy. fab.).

while jared was outside picking a redbox movie, i went in to order our smoothies and that was all we were going to get. but then i saw a sign for these:

McDonalds finally has a small chicken nugget type option on the value menu! the regular is $2 and we shared one. they were surprisingly good as well.

so if you are in a gross mood and want fast food or find yourself forced into a drive through situation, i recommend you give these a try. 

presents 1.

i put this picture on my facebook page a few weeks ago.

which makes me feel rather guilty to post about all the presents and cool things that i received over the holiday season...but i am doing it more out of grattitude for the thoughtfulness of my friends and family.  plus...i can say with all sincerity of heart, that my favorite part is getting presents for other people. christmas shopping can be emotionally and physically exhausting but only because i always want to get the PERFECT gifts, not because i hate the gifting, that is the most fun part! sometimes i forget to show my excitement when i receive presents because i am still just so excited for people to see what i got for them. 

these are some of the things that i received this year (not including those from jared, that will be in a separate post).

i was given a lot of things that i needed and had actually asked for. i already showed you my new gold watch. and that blanket has been my best friend since the moment i opened it. i am wearing a little juicy and my organic sweatshirt right now and i cannot wait to wear my cute new shoes to church on sunday...plus my teeth are sparkling. it may seem lame to be excited about getting toothbrush heads for christmas, but that is one $23 expense i can spare myself. perfect. i love my running jacket (it is a rain slicker!), yoga mat bag and my water bottle has a credit card, cash and key holder in it! and who doesn't like monies and gift cards...not to mention when your parents pay for your plane tickets. i am spoiled. but i do love and appreicte the things that were given to me and will use every single one of them....well maybe not the disgusting gag gift (a gaudy, freaky clown pin).

the day after christmas i went to hobby lobby with my family to snatch up some deals and crafts to do with the kiddos....lookie at what we found:

someone stole baby jesus. seriously. i asked them. so they had to mark it like 80% off and sell it as is. take that how you will but it struck me as rather interesting. luckily i have a great mama that put together a cute little nativity skit for our whole family to participate in. it was really good to see the kiddos get so excited to be a part of it and to see how they are learning the story more and more every year. of course the wrapping paper explosion happened immediately after, but the efforts are definitely there.

anywho...it was a great time of gift giving and receiving and spending time with everyone. just wait until you see what j did for me...

wait, what? christmas has already come and gone? and new year's?  somehow i missed this. ok not really. but it all happened so suddenly and so quickly that it sure feels like it.

colorado was a great visit. spent the first few days playing with my sisters, the kiddos and hanging out at the little mountain homestead. it was the first time that i had been there since the parents got back from fiji. while they were away, they had some friends living there and they did a lot of cool improvements on the house. including a better wood stove, new counter tops and my favorite:

i know- who cares. but i love the little details in hardware pieces. the bathroom sinks have these killer vintage pump style faucets and i am pretty sure that i washed my hands 37 extra times just to play with them. 

like these knobs:

they are so great. i just wish that i had more places to put them. and by more places i suppose that could mean furniture that is my own, not crappy particle board that comes with my overpriced apartment.

speaking of the little pieces, i also received this for christmas:

i had been wanting a large, goldtone, menswear watch for quite some time. but as they are far more pricey than my average time pieces (do $10 running watches count? or the watch of the person sitting next to me?) i have been hesitant/too cheap to invest.  i rarely wear anything more than a pair of pearl earrings and pinky ring for daily accessories. but this little piece adds something fashionably functional and i love her.

i also like little things like,

nasty phone pictures with baby bugaboos. we went on a few snow hikes, saw a couple movies, ate non stop, played wii until we were sore, read books, and took naps. it was fairly ideal. including having jared come spend time with us (thanks mama and daddy for flying us home). this was the first time that i have ever had a boyfriend (notice that is ONE word. meaning we like each other...not just a friend that is a boy...ok moving on) come to my house, meet my whole family and spend an entire 4 days with us. it all went smoothly and was a lot of fun seeing him interact with everyone. em and josh were especially gracious and spent a lot of time with us and catered to our boredom with a lot more food, kids, laughter and games. it was great.

oh and mama made these for part of our christmas feast:

olives, carrots and cream cheese... in penguin form. vegetable appetizer perfection. nancy is the best.

i will have to do another post about the rest of the christmas gifts that i received, because this was definitely a good year. and those gifts deserve a post for themselves. i was so happy to spend my holidays with my family. it was just what i needed. lots of love and jesus and food. what else do we really need.

"my mama always said

life was like a box of chocolates. you never know what you're gonna get".

well thank you mama gump.

this is the typical demise of a box of chocolates that comes my way,

a tiny piece gets broken off each one so that i can tell which ones i want to eat or not. orange cream, coconut cream, anything cream, see ya. caramels (which i now know are the milk covered square ones and i always take those asap) are mine mine mine.

BUT this is no longer going to be the case (at least not all the time).  one of the duties of my job being an executive assistant includes opening and distributing all of the daily mail.  as of late, this has included a various array of christmas (or shall we say holiday cards for the sake of political correctness...naaa screw that. manners and politics are toast anyway) cards and gifts.  

today we received a lovely box of chocolates.

this is what they looked like,

they were even the good kind. i am not a huge chocolate lover, but i had to admit, they smelled nice and looked appealing. however, they were ALL milk chocolate squares...thus poking a black hole into my caramel distinction theory.

well low and behold, we were not only given a box of goodies, but also a gift of brilliance.  the bottom of the box showed this:

there is a tiny design on top of each truffle...it looks like someone just drizzled the last drips of chocolate. but no. there is sheer genius behind that finishing touch.  each one is actually in a distinct shape to indicate what flavor is beneath the chocolate exterior!

no more of those crappy paper thingys that never make sense anyway.  this was so much prettier, less paper waste and stuff. utah has done something right. way to go.

yeah...i was that excited about it. but in my defense, so was b. i ran into his office to show him and usually 

when i shove my discoveries in people faces i get 1 of 2 looks.

1. the "seriously? how old are you? do you have no life? this excites you? you're kinda retarded huh? guess i should smile and pretend i care" look.

or

2. the "beckieee...this came out like 4 years ago.. where have you been? why are you excited about something that is so obvious... but again, you're kinda retarded so i guess i will smile and pretend i care" look.

this time, my show and tell was received with wide eyed agreement.

thank you and goodnight.

awesome.

has your life been blessed by the website, 1000 awesome things yet?

maybe it is because i am obsessed with lists or maybe it is because realizing that i am not the only one that appreciates the absurdingly amazingness of the platypus or seriousness of rock-paper-scissors blows my mind- either way- it is just that. friggin' awesome. i scroll through a couple on my google reader every day and it is the cause of many bursts of laughter. today's made me laugh because it was #240: being single (welcome to the comedy which is my life). the point that made me laugh in particular:

"9. Own your bed, own your life. When you’re single the entire bed is yours and you can test a variety of Starfish poses, Chun-Li leg kick positions, or even the extremely bold diagonal sleeping. (Rarely done.)"

hillary can attest to what it is like to share a bed with me at night. let's just say that you never know if i will be spooning you or accidentally breaking your face. i am a very active sleeper. so for the time being, i shall embrace having a bed to myself.

this page contains the top "awesome things" and it blows my mind how many are on there that i totally agree with. bottoms up to people that know how to love and celebrate the little things in life that go unnoticed by most .

something else that is awesome? the band explosions in the sky. they are one of those bands that is becoming more and more mainstream which is a little strange to me, but i still love em. this song is part of my nightly routine

the gods must be crazy.

why am i so lucky lately? i don't know. but for some reason, i have just been having the greatest things happen to me. the previous post will attest to the wonderfully fun weekend that i had and that outstanding group of friends that i am privileged to be a part of. and did i mention that i still have straight a's? just a braggy beckie boo moment, but come on... things are just going so well.

i love the new book that i am reading, i am realizing that the whole world should go vegetarian because it is such a great lifestyle, daylight saving's time has kicked in, i am still a size 0- even in skinny jeans,  i finally found out the name of the song that was killing me, this week is payday and i get my tax returns, i am 2 chapters ahead in my psych class and thursday is st. patty's day- 2nd best holiday ever.

and the super fabulous blessing of the day:

i arrived home absolutely ragged from the day around 6 pm. i sat down to read (should be noted that i was in my bed...never works) and was out for about 20 minutes when all the sudden vale knocked on my door and informed me that someone was here to see me:

it was my joely friend. believe it or not- it is a lovely sight to wake up to.

the little punk "forgot" to tell me that he would be stopping by before his flight home to iowa.  we went to cpk and shared a vegetarian pizza (see, he supports my lifestyle... why did he have to leave me?!) and had interesting conversations (hairy nipples, radiation poisoning, breastfeeding toddlers, our married friends' ex lovers....you know- all those really dinner table appropriate kind of topics). so maybe i had been feeling a little out of sorts and lonely as of late.  maybe i had been missing my confidant and beckiesized buddy. and maybe i had prayed a little to feel a little less lonely.  and look at what i got. awesome. now if a couple more prayers could magically beam my sisters to me...come on scotty...show me what you got.

remember when.

Tonight was awesome. But not just because I-1) had amazing food at Shoots or because 2) I was able to spend time with my favorite wardies at 3) Borders Books.

What really made the night was my spur of the moment outing with Vale. Tomorrow we are hosting a bridal shower for our friend and roommate Lauren.  We decided to go to the market for the supplies tonight as opposed to stressing about it in the morning.  Well, little Vale has a big problem.  She is addicted to $1 diet cokes at McDonalds. Well lookie at what we got while made the crucial stop:

bigger smiles happen when they are only $2.99.
Call us pathetic, but we were really so happy.  Carrying our little boxes out to the car induced a nostalgic warmth and excitement.  We felt like kids again with our cardboard happy meal boxes. Well, my mama rarely let us have McDonalds or fast food (because she was a good mommy), so it was always a big treat to get a happy meal (but we still had to get hi-c, no soda. good mommy). Now they use paper bags and while it probably produces significantly less waste, it just is not the same. Kids these days just didn't know what they missing out on...UNTIL NOW!  

smile.

only the best roommates relish in these moments with you.

We did get the "girl" kids meals and were again, absolutely gleeful upon opening our toys.  They were the typical, cheapo, made in china, pieces of plastic that we had in the 80's. awesome.

Aryan barbie dolls. they salute and everything. princess sparkle has new friends.

McDonalds has made a lot of improvements to their menu.  Especially by ways of making healthier foods more appealing.  But while the apple slices and yogurt are a great idea, no improvements surpass the original happy meal box.  Thank you Ronald McDonald for making mine and Vale's night.

Oh PS:  Lloyd is growing at a feverish pace and looking as chlorophyll filled and scrumptious as ever!

i am so excited.

i am so stinking excited.  why?  because i have a new plant.  and according to research, even i cannot kill this one.

yes i just got back from running and doing yoga...
His name is Lloyd (all things of intrinsic value deserve to be named). He is in the beginning stages of germination and well on his way to full, beautiful vegetation! See, I even know the proper stages of plant growth.  My implementation is a bit sketchy when it comes to aiding the process, but I am learning.  No really- I have a book and everything.

he is just so happy and snug in there.
Why I named this plant Lloyd, you ask?  And what kind of plant is he??  Well I will tell you.

When my little sister was about 5 years old, she came home from school with a styrofoam cup (it was before i was aware of how awful that stuff is, of course) filled with soil and grass seeds.  She took such good care of this little cup of grass and named him Harry.  When we moved to St. Louis, my parents not realizing how much Hillary loved Harry, made her plant him the Wisconsin woods before leaving.  She was devastated. Cried. Broken.  Harry is still a sore spot.  Well.... I am not growing grass per say, but I am growing Wheatgrass!!  And it just seemed insenstive to name him Harry (or even Harry II).  Seeing as how Lloyd has always been Harry's better half, it was only appropriate.

you cannot really seem them, but they are sprouting, big time!
My green thumb of a friend, Arthur, came over last night with Lloyd and taught me the ropes.  We have a juicer, I have google (in case something goes wrong...murphy's law is my life when it comes to plants...), and my body is ready for it's daily intake of wheatgrass shots. Feng Shui would require some plant life in your house, so now I have it. And it is much more economical than spending $4 a day at Jamba for the stuff. It is right at my ready for pennies a day and a free bonding experience with mother nature. sweet.

This is A's. Hopefully Lloyd will grow just as beautifully. 

so. excited.

small things make me happy.

ps: ALWAYS check the clearance endcaps at Target!  If someone returns an item purchased from online, they have to mark it down 75% and usually an additional 15- 30% for repackaging.  Example:

This was an online purchase that someone returned to the store, plus the repackaging discount and holiday discount...I am now the proud owner of a mini food processor for the outrageous price of $2.64. BAM.

Guacamole anyone?! :)

you're never too old for...

a fabulous fort.

or pretty popsicles.

or toes with bows.

or a kiss goodnight.

or to blow the dandelions.

or to have your own cup. or to call your parents. or to color. or to vent to your roommate. or to take a nap. or anything else that you freaking want to do. 

what a terrific tuesday.

Listen to just how great this Tuesday was:

• slept in until 6:20 AM (felt like a superstar and hadn't even eaten my Total yet)

• showered, had a good hair day, at work and clocked in at exactly 7:00 AM (hit all red lights on the way and wasn't even mad)
• work (productive and quite entertaining and I left 1 hour early)
• temple with my Lilikins! (I have been to the Timpanogas temple several times, but just walking around outside on summer evenings. First time inside and it was beautiful!)

• We completed over 30 names (a real perk of going to a less busy temple in the mid afternoon and bringing a bff with you)
• Lily and I went to institute and learned to love our bodies (meehhh, kinda...)
• off to dinner (so so so yummmmm)
• arrived at the Truman Charity Show after it was over (was totally bummed but got to have some one on one face time with  Ben T. such an adorable sweetheart with vocals of an angel)

• went home, had some adventures with Lily (making many phone calls to track down my lost phone, praying that the internet would work so she can START HER BLOG, Smiths, painting nails, talking about men...we laughed. a lot.)
• scriptures read and in tucked in bed (that rhymes) by midnight.

Terrific?  Yes, I think so. No men (we give up), no sugar (Lent), no music (missed the concert)...but still the best day that I have had with one of my best friends in a long long time!  Thank you Heavenly Father for my Lily friend and please bless that she can get internet so that she can create her blog!)

my lovely Lily friend :)

SO Many Reasons.

I love this dress. I just love this photograph. Her hair, the coloring, her neck, the eyes, but mostly, that DRESS! (the ball actually kind of creeps me out.)

Black.

Lace.

POCKETS.

Ladylike.

Comfortable.

Low Cut (yet modest- you can barely see it, but there is material there).

Tiny waist.

Full Skirt.

I love it.

Victory.

I would just like to share a moment with you. Sometimes I feel the need to relish in my small, but happy, victorious moments. Earlier this week I did 3 loads of laundry. One of which was a HUGE load of whites. This load consisted of 22 pairs of socks. When all was said and done and I was folding my fresh, warm, snuggly items... I had 22 MATCHING pairs of socks. Take that Sock Monster. I may be too old to believe in monsters, but I know that you lurk down there in that dark space between the washer and dryer...

This Week:

Beckie: 1

Sock Monster: 0!!!!!!

Lifetime:

Beckie: 1

Sock Monster: a bagillion $$ worth of socks.

It's all about the little things.

Sometimes Life is Like This:

I am behind in blogging...sorry. I will catch up this week!

I Just Can't Get Enough.

And here is why:

· Keeps your brain healthy
· Regulates body temperature
· Flushes out toxins
· Decreases risk of heart attack
· Raises your metabolism
· Promotes fresh and healthy skin
· Helps you lose weight
· Combats common ailments (headache, fatigue, back pain, etc)
· Enhances your mood
Other facts:
· Muscle consists of 75% water
· Brain consists of 90% of water
· Bone consists of 22% of water
· Blood consists of 83% water
· Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells
· Moisturizes the air in lungs
· Protect our vital organ
· Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better
· Protect and moisturizes our joints

Wes' first love notes to me were always addressed to "H2O Girl". Not that I am always seen with a bottle of water...

It tastes better than soda, has less (NONE!) calories than juice, is free, doesn't stain when spilled, makes your pee clear...I mean really, does it get any better! Oh yes... if you add some lemons :)

Sunday Post IV of Grattitude.

Sunday: General Conference was such a wonderful experience. Already posted about it, but modern day prophets are something that I am definitely grateful for. And a nice GPS in case you manage to get lost going to Temple Square...??!?!?

Monday: Playlist.com. This allows me to have an online playlist that I can use for the first 4 hours of work! Often times I prefer silence, but sometimes it's nice to have the option.

Tuesday: Having your own washer and dryer- amongst the finest amenities student housing can offer. I will never go back to a laundry mat. I refuse!

Wednesday: I love Pamprin. A lot. I feel bad for women in the olden days.

Thursday: Free NIGHTS! I never talk on the phone unless it is to my family, and they can attest that even that is not usually for very prolonged periods of time. But I ended up talking to a friend for over an hour and half and it was really nice to communicate with someone without texting, facebooking, pigeons, emailing, smoke signals... etc.

Friday: My Autobot pumpkin!! Dallan came down from Bountiful and we had an amazing night and let me tell ya... put a ring in pumpkin like that, and I'm yours. Oh and Bonus: I discovered that we have a COAT CLOSET!! Not that I am OBSESSED with jackets or anything...

Saturday: Mama and dadda. Mom's saving furniture for my future married life, dad talks random environmental things with me and supports me with honesty and love. Pretty much, my parents are incredible...

Sunday Post III of Grattitude.

Sunday: We had Ward Conference and there were such great lessons! I like my ward a lot and I am so glad that the average age is above 21!! Sometimes it blows my mind how much someone my own age can teach me.

***JOSH CAME HOME*** He totally suprised me!!

Monday: I went to FHE with my group for the first time and it was really nice. Everyone in my ward is just so friendly!

Tuesday: Josh helped me move some more things at my old apartment, we were very fast and found some silly things.

Wednesday: I started my new job! I have a big, shiny, pretty desk all to myself, no headset and my own extension... I feel so important and responsible!

Thursday: Maverick had mini 100 Calorie Crasinet packs for $.50. SO HAPPY.

Friday: First hot cocoa of the season!

Saturday: General Conference and sleep. Good day.

Kids Are So Silly!