birthday weekend.

thank you to everyone that reached out to wish a happy birthday to me this weekend. it was a great birthday. here comes the sappy stuff.

i woke up to find little notes all over my bathroom mirror from j and then a bag full of all of my favorite snacks. including a nice big pack of these

i love these to go packs of peanut butter. i could just eat them with a spoon...but as that is generally found odd in public, i use crackers or apples. j was so sweet to think of all my favorite things.later at work we had a mini birthday treat time and they ordered the BEST pumpkin pie cake. it is soooo good. and then these beauts were delivered to me. i blushed, i giggled, i was awkward, i pretended like i get flowers all the time, secretly-i was elated.

i came home to a few more lovey presents and surprises and then we hit the road and went to a cabin in pine valley with j's family. sure we had to drive through an arctic blizzard and the crowds of ignorant drivers, but once we arrived in one piece (always say a prayer before you go on a road trip),  it was so much fun just hanging out, eating yummy meals, playing games, 4 wheeling, playing with the kiddos, and getting to know more of his family better. i was surprisingly comfortable around all of the strangers and was happily eased into the walker style family game nights. i have a feeling that thanksgiving and new year's will be very interesting...

unfortunately my phone had no service up there and so i didn't see any of my birthday messages until sunday night, but they were appreciate nonetheless.

but i also received a couple other perfect presents. 

i love working out with kettleballs. but i did not own one. so now i have one to add to our "workout center", also known as the family room. 

and then j, being the generous man that he is, surprised me with one more gift.

a brand new, hardbound copy of atlas shrugged. i am repeatedly referencing this book and telling him that he must partake of this gem.  but my first copy i turned into a wreath... the second copy has been lent out to a friend and appears to have gone the way of the earth (i am betting that when he realized it was over 1500 pages, he gave up on the idea and just never returned the book...stinker).  so this was the perfect present. i cannot wait to read it again. 

it was a good birthday. it was a great weekend. and mama and dad are coming this weekend to play some more and to meet j. luckily they have spoken before...but this is still...kinda...huge.

oh speaking of mama, she is also now on pinterest. and when i asked her what she would like for christmas- she replied with an email containing links to online stores with the wii games and accessories she would like....this would equal out to me having the coolest mama ever.

katie's birthday.

the original boys and girls got together for that pink haired girl's birthday. 

katie's husband so lovingly prepared an evening of bowling, games and sushi in celebration of her birth.

my run that morning and the upcoming timp hike (at 1 AM...yeah don't run 10 miles that morning...) was a little too much for me and so i sat out the bowling. but i would like to toot my own horn and announce that the one time that i did go in b's turn- i got a spare. hell yeah. don't worry, he thanked me. 

the roberts sisters, husbands and babies combined with beckie, carrie, brandon and spud- make for a pretty good birthday night dacia- we missed you more than you know. feel better and stop being married people busy all the time.).  we also made a quick stop to kk's favorite place,

as if she needs to get any sweeter. the place is downright adorable. it seems to be ut county's way of providing a dc cupcakes. not quite as good, but we'll take it.

oh and did you know that you can become a VIP member to happy sumo and get half off every friday and saturday night?? best/worst news ever. hello edmame and wasabi.

and being 25 only makes riding a carousal that much better. especially when your ride looks like maximus. 

it was so much fun to hang out with this group. there is always so much love and laughter in our moments together. i love my best friend, katie. we have celebrated many birthdays together now and i happily anticipate many more to come as we continue to add spouses and babies.

and... i am becoming more and more nested into my new apartment. sure the stacks of boxes are strewn everywhere... and with a lot of deep ujayii breathing, i am getting through it. our landlord agreed to have it professionally cleaned this week and my room is almost completely beckiefied.

and lookie what i did today.

1. used a coupon and price matching to get this bad boy for $8 (courtesy of katie's tactics and prompting)

2. built it all by myself.

3. only 2 screws leftover which i am SURE were just spares.

4. it is still standing.

5. it may be a plain, mass produced, particle board, bookshelf in a box, but i am still so proud.

harry pothead.

this harry potter glossary will be the death of me.

this was my fixed facial expression (apparently iphone cameras are actually pretty decent) for 2 hours of agonizing harry potter synopses from my friend sammy sam today. bless his heart, i think that he was just dropping by to say hello and return my book but i figured while he was already here and such a fan, he might as well help a girl out.

i am still completely sleep deprived from last week and have wisely decided to attend the david gray concert and then go straight to the midnight showing of harry potter. yep. the 3 hour film finale of the legendary series that i know nothing about. what can i say, i strive to be cultured.

ps last night was spud's bday. we went to dinner at chili's (where else would the group go now that tgifriday's is gone) and what do you know- for some reason the waiter gave my meal to me for free. how nice. 

how do i know this man??

because i know and love this lady with all of my heart.

 our times with these boys go so far back. it was great to spend time with them again and celebrate the day of spud's birth. he is a triathloning, disney watching, katie loving guy and i am so glad that we are friends.  thank you for being such an amazing husband to my best friend. love you both.

life without school...for now.

i managed to stop turning the pages of my book for a little bit (but of course i am that nerd that brings it with me everywhere i go, i just never know when i will get bored.) and enjoy the past couple days of my "vacation". and by vacation i simply mean that i am not in classes for this spring term. the summer season has begun and work is piling up. but all is well.

yesterday was kyle's birthday. we took the typical provo route and went to dinner (oh, and to all you vegetarians out there...do not go to a steakhouse and ask what their vegetarian options are. because even if you do so as nicely as possible, they will not like you and your options are lettuce or empty carbs. nice.).

it was a grand time of wardie bonding and birthday boy love. i just love kyle hemming. and his mama. he is the best neighbor and such a wonderful friend. he can make make me laugh myself into a stitch and de-stress my life with a late night parlay and earth fruits run. and mama hemming sends us treats. does not get much better.

it then turned into a sport filled evening, beginning with a game of some hardcore hoops,

and then the first intramural kickball game for the kicking kittens (i thought that ball busters would be a better team name...but byu did not agree). 

byu intramurals are amongst some of the most ferocious competition (i am serious... something about that championship t shirt...god is not on those fields, byu or not) that i have ever participated in. even though this is an elementary game, i am prepared for things to get brutal. not that i am competitive or anything.

today was in the seventies and perfect. just perfect. birdies singing, flowers blooming, not a cloud in the sky.

what's a girl to do with a free afternoon and a day like this??  load on the spf, grab a a buddy and  take off for the mountains.

ang and i have resolved to do this every week. she is one of my best and only girlfriends, and though stolen away to matrimony, she makes a pretty valiant effort at spending time with me. but Z is great, so he could come too and we would have just as much fun.

i will admit...i was a little nervous about this hike. ang texted me and said "let's leave at 3. and bring your headlamp." ummm...it doesn't get dark until after 8pm now... but ok. safety first. suffice it to say that we have had some really interesting hiking adventures that involve off roading, free climbing, ending up in different cities...but it is all part of the adventure.

upon returning home i realized that i was quite starving and i really really really really really wanted some avocados. i figured that i would take advantage of the nice weather and just walk to the grocery store...well i pushed my luck. they were fresh out of the green goodness i was craving. i was stuck with carrots. good thing i love carrots, huh?

best weekend.

this past weekend was without a doubt, one of the best weekends that i have had this semester.

it began on thursday: kyle came!

we went to the quarry and climbed for hours. we got cool t shirts. we tried harder courses. we choked on chalk. we caught up on the last year of our lives. it was wonderful.  there is something so spectacular about the sport of climbing.  indoor will suffice for now, but i cannot wait to get out into nature and attack some real climbs this summer. 

after climbing we went to guru's for some late dinner (best veggie burrito in the world) and music by my friend john allred.  it was actually really good and the best- he ended singing hallelujah. one of the most tragic but breath taking songs ever.

kyle and i established our friendship over a decade ago. many adventures, letters, years, a couple financees, some crazy relationships, jobs, school, etc- we remain great friends. i am so glad that he came out to visit.  my life has been blessed by his kindness and friendship over the years and it is always great to actually see each other and just sit and laugh and talk like old times. 

 friday everyone was able to go snowboarding but i was stuck at work. boo.  though i find that on fridays, in anticipation for my weekend, i have extreme amounts of energy and i am ridiculously productive. so i was able to complete all of my tasks ahead of time and spent the rest of my time finishing:

my friend, andrew, brought this to me last week and i absolutely loved it. the writing, the information, the presentation, all of it- it was such an engaging read and truly enlightening. i highly recommend it. later that evening (after watching the byu game, of course), vale and i went to watch the "floating bagel bites" dominate their inner-tube water polo game.  it was intramural sports entertainment at its best.

saturday was the day that we actually really celebrated kenny king's birthday.  kenny is the king of my heart.

yes his legs are really that skinny but he does great at yoga...
few men on this earth can make me laugh like he can.  i cannot even begin to describe my love for kenny. he always a gentleman, a fun date, a good cuddler, a yoga buddy, a strong priesthood holder and great man all around. and just a little plug for his greatness-- one night we were playing pretty late and when i asked him to come play with me, he said that he had to study and would have to pass because "i love my future family too much to play right now". solid.
after dinner, we went and saw Tangled:

it was adorable. i had heard so many things about it, but just had not made the time to view it for myself.  i am so glad that he choose that movie because it was such a fun, happy movie and i left the theatre in a fit of giggles and smiles. ps: i love kenny.

today, sunday, was perfect. fast and testimony meeting was lovely, my sunday nap was rejuvenating and just in time to wake up for selection sunday. oh and i got a new book to read for the week which i am absolutely elated over.  then tonight was probably the most fun game night that we have had all year.  risk is my favorite board game, especially with kenny's apartment, they are just such a fun group of boys to play with (and they all give amazing amazing back rubs). it was a great precursor to this summer's upcoming evening activities. i have not laughed and played that hard in so long. i have such great friends.

oh la la.

I am the best, worst kind of person to work with.  And it has nothing to do with my experience (who wants to brag about knowing summer sales like the back of her hand?  ew.), professionalism (hahahahaha) or work ethic (I'm asian, we are just born with it).  It is because I love to bake.

baker's joy is aerosol non stick perfection.
I am a decent cook (depending on the mood, resources, and reason) but I am quite baking savvy (except for sugar cookies.  i am awful at those, they don't even look good.)  My specialty has always been cakes and cupcakes.  The other day my neighbor, Michelle, gave shared her amazing recipe for pudding filled cupcakes with me.  SO YUM.  ***The best part about cakey things- they are just so cute.  
I feel like cupcakes and frozen yogurt are all the rage here in UT County (froyo and overpriced cutesy cupcakes are equivalent to starbucks and alcohol in normal cities).

One of my favorite christmas presents was from my little sister.  She put together the cutest cupcake making package for me.  Including:

and yes, she made that potholder! kinda... :)
But when you are single girl and you only have two roommates that you don't see that much anyway, the goods have to go somewhere (esp when you a girl that eats a lot more than she should and cannot have a million dainty calories sitting on the counter for too long).  So when I happen to fall into Domestic Beckie mode (literally fall, it comes out of nowhere and goes back into hiding without warning), co workers reap the benefits.

Tomorrow is my boss' birthday.  

And birthdays are my favorite. So why not make some charming, sugary treats to share?  Like I said, I am the best worst kind.  Who doesn't love free treats (except for your butt)?  Esp just on a whim (by whim I mean, you never know when I will have a stressful day and decide to go into a baking frenzy)??  I even shared my secret to good teeth with my team at work, so I don't even feel guilty about sharing this saccharine love.

golden bday.

today is josh's bday.

some people- ourselves included- are puzzled by our friendship.  

we sure have our ups and downs.

 but he remains one of my very very best friends and has done so much for me.

we have our own way of doing things and we have a lot of fun.

i am proud of you puppy.

thank you for always making me laugh and being my best friend :)

ang wag war

once upon a time i met one of my favorite and few girlfriends. her name was angela.

she could run really really fast. she was the bee's knees.she liked adventures and talking and sports and eating and other cool things. we would do everything from sledding to skinny dipping to craft nights.

we were just meant to be friends. she napped in the middle of the floor during rock band and broke a sled with me. perfect match.

but then one magical night a total dreamboat came bowling with us and it was history from there.

next thing I knew, I had two new roommates.

but he was clean, sweet, patient and coached tennis. Eventually it turned into forever and me with no roommates.

so now, sadly, the most recent picture i have (because married people disappear) with my buddy is

But today is her bday. And she is super great. and sometimes we do still play just like old times. and she is probably one of the coolest married people that i know. she has seen my weird eating, sleeping, working, schooling habits.  she has watched my cycle through a bagillion men.  she sings country music super loud. and she still runs uber fast. and ang, for your bday, i owe you some yozone and chat time.

happy bday, love you!

hey there gramps.

There has been some confusion. Monday was not special because of black people stuff.  Much more importantly, it was Gary's 31st birthday (which really is not that old, but it sure is entertaining to make fun of him anyway. He just bears it so well!).  

he is a sports enthusiast and a happy birthday boy.

What a night. He had started out the day snowboarding (sadly I missed out on the mountain fun, being responsible and doing homework) and then we went to the his first Grizzlies game which, though we lost, it was a great time.  Lacy was her typical awesome self and hooked the group up with second row tickets.  There was minimal fighting, but we got to see the Grizzlies give em hell a couple times.

when you need this many candles you stop buying multiple boxes and just go with the actual numbers :)

The old man nearly had a heart attack when we got back to his little surprise party with some of his family and good friends. Games, eating, arguing (we are all somewhat competitive) and laughs ensued and overall, in my opinion, he had a pretty good bday.  But Gary is on my top five for Best Guys in the World.  He has blessed my life with friendship, support, laughs, honesty and so much more for several years now.

Things about G:

* His eyes are two very different colors (but he is not immune to zombies!)

* Is obsessed with the Yankees (he is flawed, but forgivable).

* Loves the number 13.

* Is a great cuddler.

* Served his LDS Mission in STL (has since gained quite the appreciation for the Cardinals and wonderful people of the midwest).

* Has a ridiculously huge shoe and hat collection (and he always coordinates the two).

* Never sleeps in his bed (even though it is huge and super comfy).

* He likes to hang out at the mall (hence the huge shoe collection).

* Has near death experiences a few times a year (totally serious...it is ridiculous).

* I have been told he is a great kisser...

* Is much better at taking care of people than accepting people's help (he refused to plan anything for his bday or ask for any gifts. too bad).

* Drinks dinosaur servings of Vitamin C.

* Has admirable taste in music (we have many of the same pandora stations...yes, that means he has good taste).

So those are just a few things about my gary friend.  I am so glad that he has survived all of those deathly experiences and is there to keep ample supplies of laughter, winks, and sarcasm in my life. He makes the other boys be nice to me, he keeps me full of snacks, he is humble in his spirituality, tells me the BEST stories, tells old man/dad jokes like a seasoned pro and though some may think this bad- no one understands my commitment and ridiculous dating life like him. He is the one of the most down to earth and giving men I know. And yes he is single...but I could only possibly recommend him to the very very best.

Happy happy birthday, Gary. Hope that it was wonderful "neurogasmic"!

bloggy blog.

So it has been a little minute since I have shared anything with the blogging world. You know that point when so much time has passed that even a simple task seems like a completely overwhelming undertaking (love how those two words can work together)? 

(Eg: when I have not written in my journal for a time, I feel like there is so much to write that I should just abandon ship all together... or another example....there is a guy that I have ran next to at the gym for over two years. We exchange hellos everyday and small talk- but have I ever posed the basic quandary of what his name is??? nope. And now it just seems silly.)

Well here it goes:

Books: 

it is raw and not for everyone. but i loved it.


• Hunger Games Series. Good and bad.
  
• The Glass Castle. Stellar.
• Ron Paul's The Revolution.  Enlightening.
• A couple church books, the entire Book of Mormon, the Cycling magazine that my friend has subscribed me to, a few hippie books (being a vegetarian midwife will take a lot of educating).

Men:

i am going to miss my joely so much. but no fear, he will be back in january (hooray for T and Lauren getting married!!) for a visit and then to Reno i go in feb. I only cry a little when I walk by his empty parking space.

• I have the best guy friends in the world.
• Am I getting married to any of them in particular?  That is still to be determined.

Dates have been fun.  Winter provides a lot of fun outdoor opportunities to get to know people.  Take a look at this sexy man...(he was only slightly excited about the resorts opening)

yep. that's blakey and he is adorable and keeping Sully alive while I am home for Christmas....at least he better be.

Family:

driving to CO.

baby aves sleepin like a doll. a squishy doll.

Nastia...truly enjoying that Wyoming scenery...

sleeping like a rock and dreaming of john mayer.

• I am home! My family is spectacular. I have finally spent some time with the babies, my sisters and my fantastic parental units. We have a fun, busy, snowy week ahead of us. 
• Plus, welcome our little Russian, Nastia!  Utah got the best of her and she has gone blonde... luckily you can always dye it back. But she is a gem.
• Speaking of parents: They are going to FIJI for their mission in January!  Fijian Christmas 2011? Sure.

Um and tid bits:

• My birthday was amazing. seriously one of the best ever. We literally sold out Pantruca's. Much to their delight of course. They are so good to me. The whole day was just fabulous. I received some stellar presents too. The best: my coloring books and my hour and a half long full body massage. bliss.
• Thanksgiving with the Murphy's was more than I could ever ask for. Let's face it, I am a pseudo murphy and we all know it.

so...at both my christmas and birthay party the male to female ratio was about 6:1. Like I said...awesome guy friends. still lacking on the female end. But making progress!

White elephant was extremely successful.

• Our christmas party was a total bash. Cops came and everything. seriously. it happened. 

bit of a flour explosion when baking 6 dozen sugar cookies for the party.

some of the party guests' artwork.

• Basketball is in full swing, work is steady, school is out for another couple weeks, and I love it.

I am just so happy.

geez you're old enough to be my dad. ok, not really.

you have made everything good possible. 

thank you for all that you have done for me and others. 

this is as mid thirties as it gets... get married, or at least a dog. please.

happy happy birthday, Adam! :)

xoxo