2012 in retrospect

sometimes you just need spontaneous roadtrips with your roommate. . . to the middle of nowhere

got back into running and ran the Thankful 13

welcomed one brother home from his mission. . . 

. . . and one best friend home from her mission

shot my first gun

got my CNA license

and worked at a nursing home for two months. . . 

before getting a job at the Center for Change!

went to the Festival of Colors for the first time

lived in Provo for the summer, with the best roommates i could ask for!

celebrated random holidays, like National Hamburger Month

swam in a lake

helped throw a couple baby and bridal showers

turned 22

met Jef Holm at a blogger meet up

finished reading the Harry Potter series and officially became a Potterhead.

celebrated Harry Potter's birthday

threw my Grandma her 90th birthday party

went boating with some pretty awesome people

went hiking a couple times

ran the Fourth of July 10K with my brother (the rest of the family ran the 5K) and PRed

cheered the BYU Cougars football games, and attended my last game as a BYU student

had an awesome Halloween costume

voted for the President of the USofA

got my best college GPA this last semester and applied for graduation! eek

said good-bye to a lot of missionary friends

but most importantly i learned: that my Savior takes away all pain; that it's ok to admit that you can't handle something; to let Jesus take the wheel; sometimes you need to throw all your plans out the window and hope that the Lord knows where you are supposed to go; building up expectations is the best way the get disappointed; you don't have to be like anyone except yourself; those pint-sized ice creams are the best invention ever; watching six seasons of Criminal Minds during the summer is acceptable; you never know where life will lead you; expect the unexpected; keep your heart open and your head clear; communication is key to a good relationship; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; there is no room for excuses; your family will give you good advice; it's ok to go out on a limb for love; no risk, no gain. know risk, know gain.

how was your 2012?

what did you learn?

throwback thursday

the recent Thanksgiving holiday had me thinking about what i am grateful for. one day i was just struck with how grateful i am for the ladies i lived with freshman year. it was probably the day after i saw Hadley, Amy's baby girl, for the first time. moments like that make you realize what you've got and how good life really is. moments like that make you wonder how lucky you are to have such wonderful friends.
i don't really want to write tons about each person individually, but since it's throwback thursday, here's a bunch of pictures from freshman year. you probably don't care about this if you aren't me or one of my freshman year roommates, but hey i don't care. enjoy perusing these four year old photos and laugh at how i look like i'm twelve.

literally the weekend we met- me, natalie and heather

powdered sugar fight- typical beka and heather

mary kay makeovers!

decades dance january 2009

football for FHE- got our game faces on. amy, me and kyli

yes we all squished onto those tiny heritage couches

loving the spring sun- natali, beka, heather

halloween- heather, natalie and me

homecoming game 2008- kyli and me

our future album cover

sledding for FHE

roommates for a year- friends for life

maybe ya'll are sick over the cuteness of this post. maybe i just need to get over my freshman year roommates and move on. but really! these girls are like sisters. we had fun times and some hard times freshman year. we have all grown and changed a lot since then, but we have all stuck together. i hope they each know how much i appreciate them and their interest and concern about my life! love you girls!

senior game

****dear friends: if you commented on my post on friday, or made kind comments of relating to my situation and wanting to help, please do not feel like i was peeved or upset at those comments! i truly appreciate your friendship and kindness! so keep commenting :) you are all great.****

last Saturday was my "senior game." in other words, it was my last home BYU football game as a BYU student. granted, i will still be here next year and i hope i can buy a guest pass for the games, but i won't be a student. weird. i remember the last football game i went to as a high school student. i cried afterwards. i didn't cry after this game. probably because my tear ducts were frozen shut. but still.
it was also the senior game for two friends- Preston Hadley and Brooke Renslow (cheerleader). they are both from my home stake and are awesome people that i have loved watching on the field each game. we made a sign for Preston because really he is such an amazing player! and also a great person.

the weather was freezing cold! like below freezing. i was totally bundled up and was still cold! we played idaho which really was an easy peasy team to beat. i left during the third quarter because i was so cold and had a long sunday the next day. however, for half the game we had awesome front row seats! (thank you people who left before me so that i could enjoy those seats for my last game.)

do you watch college football? 

who do you cheer for?

what are your favorite memories of BY football?

you know you've lived in africa for a long time when. . .

.  . . beans and rice is one of your favorite dishes

.  . . seeing two boys holding hands doesn’t even faze you (in Uganda, it is more common to see people of the same sex holding hands than people of opposite sexes. It’s just a cultural way of saying you are friends.)

.  . . you are used to cold showers (and you only shower twice a week. Oh, and forget about shaving regularly!)

.  .  . clothes you would never wear in the States start to look really cute

. . . you are really excited if the power stays on all day and all night

. . . you see a white person and have the uncontrollable urge to yell, “Mzungu!”

. . . waiting for up to an hour for a meeting or a class to begin is normal

. . . your day is made when you poop solid

. . . you find a rock in your food and you keep eating

. . . you see a dead cockroach in your bathroom and you leave it for a few days

. . . you think your clothes are clean when they don’t smell

. . . you start to argue over twenty cents

. . . you cancel your meetings when it rains

. . . you compare your chaco tan lines with others

. . . you think you’re really tan and then you shower and suddenly you’re not as tan as you thought

. . . all your clothes are crunchy because washing by hand you never get all of the soap out

. . . you have to drink all of your soda at the place you bought it because they charge you extra if you take the glass bottle

. . . you’re riding in a taxi and a random African sits in your lap and you’re okay with it because the 14-seater taxi only has 18 people and not 24

. . . you’ve had at least fifteen marriage proposals in the last week

. . . you sit on a motorcycle sideways (if you’re a girl), even when you’re wearing pants

. . . its normal to hold hands with a stranger when you first meet them

. . . you bargain over every price, regardless of what it is

i wrote this a year ago today while i was in Uganda. if you want a snapshot of what my day to day life was there, enjoy this and then go check out my blog for Africa here.
Co-authored by Sarah Blackhurst, Suzanne Whitehead, Whitney Smith, Devin Wengert and Beka Arnesen

22.5

today is my half birthday. you should probably know i love birthdays. really i just love parties and celebrations. so what have i done today in lieu of celebrating?

 i worked for almost six hours. . .
and watched three episodes on Criminal Minds.

guysss my life is so exciting right now!

i have a hankering for boating. and since my road trip for the weekend just cancelled i would die of happiness if i could be on a boat all day on saturday. literally.

so while i decide if i am going to go buy myself an oreo cheesequake blizzard from DQ (i got one yesterday too. don't worry about it.), i'm reminiscing about my half birthday last year. it was definitely the best half birthday i've ever had!

sarah and i went to chat n chino to "work on stuff for the leadership project" and she surprised me by buying me a coke float! what a good friend :)

Richard and Marissa made french toast with pseudo buttermilk syrup for dinner. delicious.

later than night we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores thanks for the american supplies becca brought with her. let me just say that cadbury chocolate is the best chocolate to use when making s'mores. and never did s'mores taste as good as they did cooked over that small coal burning stove in uganda.

now it's my half birthday again. time really has flown. i wish with all my heart that i was in that place again. i would give up my modern conveniences and nice clothes, just to be back there again with those amazing people. 

and celebrating isn't very fun in provo when you are all alone.

that's all.

time for that blizzard.

through my bedroom window

i feel nostalgic for Uganda. sometimes the most simple of things come back to you and you miss them like you never thought you would. for me, one of those things was lying in my lower bunk, my "cave," next to the screened window, listening to the sounds of dusk- and of dawn.

at home, i never slept with the window open. but in uganda, i didn't have that option. all our bedroom windows simply had screens. uganda was hot, and when things finally cooled off in the evening, i loved lying in bed, just feeling, listening, experiencing. i would listen to music or write in my journal. and when the power was out, as it so often was, i would simply lie there and let the cool night air sweep over my hot, sweaty body. sometimes the afternoon rain would extend into night, and i would listen to the steady, drumming drops as they cooled off the hot day, leaving me feeling drowsy and content. there is something about night in Uganda. it is quiet. it is loud. sometimes as i would drift off to sleep i could hear the soft sounds of our South African neighbors, drinking away the night. or the jarring sounds of wild dogs would suddenly wake me as i slept. but always, the sweet breezes would let me sleep.

i never saw the sun rise in Uganda. but i felt it. heard it. there were these birds- at first their call was disturbing and annoying. but after time, i became accustomed and recognized their call as the "morning welcome." i awoke to other sounds- frogs, insects, occasionally a monkey- i'm not sure of which sounds came from which animal. i would feel the warm sun sparkle through through the screen and my mosquito net and jump onto my face and hands. the days got warm early and sometimes i would hear our guard as he finished up his duties and went into his guardhouse. those early morning moments, when no one else was awake, i would relish. lying in bed, knowing that i was awake but didn't have to quite get up yet. before the hustle and bustle of dressing, making breakfast, exercising, and getting off to town for the day. sometimes i pulled out my scriptures and read; other times, i would simply stare through my window at the green foliage, drying laundry, and blue sky. 

those moments, experiencing Uganda through my bedroom window, i cherish. i didn't realize that they would become sacred to me. yet, they have. what i wouldn't give to go back.

revel in the small things. remember them. drink every second in. find beauty no matter where you are. remember that the monotony of every day is what makes each day so perfect. take time to appreciate where you are in life, because today will not be here tomorrow, and next year we want to look back with fondness on this year. remember the past, but don't live in it. live in today. be real. be you. 

this place {impact school}

dear students, do not forget me, but more importantly do not forget what i taught you. remember that i believe that you can change your life! remember that i love you from across the ocean. remember that you are important to me- and to God. 

love,

Beka