saturday shenanigans in salt lake

i've been working hard this week and been trying to finish my summer bucket list before school starts! on saturday i drove up to salt lake with somers and decided to check off some stuff on my bucket list, mainly Temple Square. our trip was an adventure.

 spending almost 3 hours at the car dealership

somers almost buying a honda civic- black with tinted windows (because she is gansta like that)

wondering how car shopping can dehydrate you

stuffing our faces with Chick-Fil-A

people watching at the food court

my first visit to Tiffany's

getting a good deal at Gap

searching for a bathroom on Temple Square

talking to a cute Polynesian

. . .  and then stalking him secretly for a little bit

taking a bajillion photos of ourselves in the attempt to take the perfect photo

gazing at the Salt Lake Temple

ordering 4 waters from McDonalds because they wouldn't give us 2 big waters

planning adventures for fall

it was seriously so fun! i am so grateful that somers and i have gotten to be friends! she has been a lifesaver this summer and i am excited to have fun this fall. last night was a good reminder that i don't need to go on a date or have a boy in order to have fun! 

august

i know you probably all think i've fallen off the face of the earth, and maybe i have. but i promise i'm going to make a come back this month! i even had a friend challenge me to write more. so i'm going to. promise.
it's time for a recap of my goals for july. ready? ok!

spiritual
*go to temple 2x- done and done! i even drove out to Mt. Timp when the Provo Temple was closed.
*more meaningful prayers- this isn't exactly a quantifiable goal, but i feel like i increased the sincerity of my prayers.
* roommate prayers- we are usually good for the first part of the week but the weekends we are really bad at having them.

physical
*workout 5x a week for at least 30 min.- i actually did decent at this. i got some good new workouts that i like too!
*run 3x a week- fail. boo.
* no chips and salsa- i totally did this! and i didn't even miss them after a while.

financial/educational
*finish 7 habits book- i know i've been working on this for two months and it's still not finished! 
*save half of each paycheck- what with my laptop up and breaking, i didn't get to save anything. but now that i have two jobs i hope i can save some money and not go into debt when i start school.
* spend only $50 on food- again the budget was totally thrown off when my laptop broke. i didn't spend much money though.

social
*do 1 thing from Bucket List each week- i did this! it was great! 
* go to everything i'm invited to- i did this too! which is why i didn't blog much because i was partying a lot :)

it's august- the last month of summer! i can't believe it's almost over, but truth be told, i'm excited for school to start. this summer has been long, uneventful, and somehow boring. don't get me wrong, it's been a generally good, fun ride, but some days i have just wished to be somewhere else- even the library studying my brains out. here are my goals for the month! what are your goals for the last month of summer?

"you're a wizard harry"

as you should know, yesterday was Harry Potter's birthday. [the character, not Daniel Radcliffe.] i've been wanting to celebrate his birthday since. . . well the entire year, and it was on my summer bucket list. so i got together with Somer's and we made it happen! i made the cake and she made the butter beer. we invited a bunch of people and ate food and watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. it was brilliant!

Hagrid's birthday cake

party people

guyssss i love Harry Potter! but then you already knew that. and if you didn't then well just know that i do. so much.
the cake i made for the party was this tie-dye cake. it was so easy too! make the cake mix according to the directions on the box. then divide into six bowls. i used just regular food coloring and colored the batter in each bowl until it was as bold as i wanted it to be.

next pour into the cake pan, one color at a time. you don't have to swirl the colors, simply pour each color on top of the previous color.

finally, cook according to the directions on the box. it's as easy as that!

ps. it's august today! the last couple weeks of summer are upon me! i'm going to be much better about posting, i promise. i may even throw in a few posts about dating, per madeline's request :)

camping

guys i'm just busting through this bucket list of mine! booyah. one perk about never working is that i have time to do fun things. i'm trying to keep seeing the good things about not working instead of focusing on the bad things (my dwindling bank account...ahem).
this weekend i missed the opening ceremonies of the olympics (gasp) in order to go camping with my ward. i lurv the olympics, but i also lurv camping and it was on the old bucket list. i actually wasn't that excited about going and thought it was going to be super lame. surprise- it wasn't! we roasted hot dogs and i ate two. then we played games "olympic style." if these had been individual events then i would have boom roasted everyone. i'm humble. it's cool. and obviously not a team player. sorry. but our skit was stinking hilarious! later on we made s'mores and just chilled by the campfire. Kiersti and i retired to our beds under the stars and talked about the most important things in life- dating, obviously.

me and my awesome roommate

Kiersti and I

in the morning i rolled out of my sleeping bag, totally sore from the bajillion rocks stabbing me, but content. that's what camping does. i drank some hot chocolate (ie. swallowed tasteless water after burning all the taste buds off my tongue) and then we peaced out.

i love camping. there is something about being in the mountains away from cell phones and computers. something about sitting around a campfire with great people. something about fresh night air, unpolluted by cars or smog. something about staring up at a ceiling of stars and realizing that despite the huge universe, God loves you. something about waking up to crisp morning air. something about falling asleep to the sound of the breeze through the aspen trees and the creek running by. yes, there is just something about camping that speaks to the soul.

ps. this girl is really cool and one day soon i'm going to actually meet her. but you should go follow her blog because it is one of my favorites!

reason utah is cool #423 [pioneer day]

in an attempt to be a better blogger, i decided that instead of sitting around being lazy and eating four cookies (too late for that), i'd write a post about Pioneer Day. that's why utah is cool because instead of just one holiday in July, we have two. Pioneer Day commemorates the day the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. basically it's another excuse to go out and eat lots of food with your family and then have a firework show. i'm cool with that though. here is my celebratory (ha) day in a nutshell:
- french toast breakfast with my roommate and some friends
- hiking Bridal Veil Falls with Somers
- Pizza Pie Cafe with Somers
- chilling at Somers' pool
- Hunger Games with Somers and some other friends

in other news, i am looking for a job. this CNA thing is not working out. i didn't get any shifts for all of july and i am not scheduled for any in august. i can pick up shifts, but i like to have some normalcy and regularity in my life. oh and money is good. so if you know of any jobs in the Provo/Orem area would you let me know? i really will do anything just so i can earn money. it's getting bad folks and as much as i love relaxing, i need to save money. let's just say that summer has not turned out how i wanted it to. i wanted to save a couple thousand dollars and i definitely need the money. 

and there are other things on my mind, but i'm not ready to talk about them right now. maybe another day. i feel pretty good about this post. sorry if it's horribly boring. welcome to my life. 

i'm not dead

i promise. i know i've been kind of mia these last few weeks. my laptop broke and then i was so behind on posting that i got overwhelmed and didn't post. i even had cool stuff to say. now i don't have anything to say, really. i'm still trying to decide how much i want to talk about certain things (ie. dating) on this blog. my brother says it might be a turn off for boys when they read my blog. what do you think?
that's all i really have to say. but here are pictures of some of the adventures i've been up to the last little while.

lunch with these cute girls

boating with Abby and my ward

first trip ever to Ikea

country dancing

grandma Arnesen's 90th birthday party

comedy sportz with the funnest people

also. . . 

the batman premiere- best movie of the summer!

trying to get used to my CNA job (another post on that)

counting down to Spencer's home coming (30 DAYS!!!!)

cleaning my home in PG to earn money 

dessert nights with Julia

it's been a crazy couple weeks! but i hope to be back with more regular posting tomorrow! but, since it's a holiday- go out and have a wonderful Pioneer Day!

xo, beka

weekend rewind

this weekend consisted, basically, of three things.
1. Spiderman- did you guys know that when i was little i snuck and read all my dad's spiderman comic books? yeah i was totally hipster back then too. so on friday i went to see Spiderman. this is the legit spiderman. i don't know why we ever thought Toby McGuire was spiderman. i didn't like any of his three movies and this new one totally blew them out of the water. i loved it! Andrew Garfield is the perfect spiderman, plus he is verrry attractive. and let's all talk about how much we love Emma Stone. i also went with a date! it was fun and that's all i'm saying about that. i highly suggest you go see Spiderman now.

2. Michelle's Baby Shower- my old roommate, Michelle is having a baby boy in a couple weeks. we kind of dropped the ball about planning her a shower until this last week we threw a surprise shower together. it turned out wonderfully! the only awkward part was getting mistaken for being a mother of a baby while at Baby Gap. not yet people. why does this happen to me? i don't think i look pregnant or like i have had a baby... i am so grateful for my wonderful girl friends who are always there for me! we have so much fun when we are together and they still think to include me even though i am not married. they are great examples to me of happily married couples. i'm excited to meet baby Luke in a couple weeks!

3. Work. i worked from 6-2 again on saturday. it was busier than the previous training session but wasn't bad still. i did a lot more things on my own this time which gave me more confidence for when i am not training anymore. now if they would just give me some dang hours! please?

oh i also crossed another thing off my summer bucket list this weekend- homemade popsicles. i simply mixed coconut milk and blueberry yogurt. i think they turned out pretty great!

aaaand there is only 6 weeks until Spencer gets home!!! my paper chain is getting so short. can't wait!

baby you're a firework

1. after the Freedom Run. hyrum and i did the 10K and everyone else did the 5K

2. another post-race photo.

3. playing cards and waiting for the fireworks to start

4. fireworks!!!

july

what the. . . ?! it's july! summer is flying by! i am frightened and excited by it. i realized that i love learning and i am ready to be back in school. i know i will be saying the same thing come october, but right now i am really excited to be back in school. however, i want to make the most of the rest of my summer and live it up! i also want to take this time to improve myself and become the best me that i can be! here is a quick recap of my june goals and how i did.

Spiritual
Go to the temple at least 1x: i went exactly once, but i am glad i got to go at all! what with being insanely busy with CNA classes and then having a bit of a hard time with dating, i needed to get the peace that the temple brings.
Make morning prayers a habit: this will be a continuing goal, but i found as i studied scriptures in the morning i remembered better to say prayers. i want to make my prayers more natural and more personal though still.
Finish the May Ensign: i am proud to say i finished it on Saturday the 30th! I have loved reading the Conference addresses and i am so grateful for the words of our Apostles and Prophets.

Physical
Start marathon training: fail. but i did run a little more in the last two weeks of the month and feeling better about things. 
Workout at least 30 min/day: i did really good at this! even when i was in CNA class and working i made sure i worked out every night. i think i've found some good circuits. i just need heavier weights now.
No ice cream: guysss, i love ice cream so this was hard, but i did it! there was only once that i had ice cream because my friend chantelle bought me an ice cream cone and you can't say no to gifts right?

Educational/Financial
Pass State CNA test: well i haven't taken it quite yet, but i am going to take it asap. as you may know i did get a CNA job so i am super excited for that!
Find a CNA job: check (see above).
Save at least $300: apparently i fail at saving money.... boo. i didn't save anything! ok well i did get a paycheck yesterday and i hope to save $100 from it.

Social
Go to all church events possible: i think i did this. i mean i couldn't go to very many. . . but i tried. i even started going to ward choir!
Do my visiting teaching: i am proud to say that i did this within the first two weeks of the month. booyah!


july is going to be an interesting month- getting a new job and everything. i'm not sure how it is going to fit in with everything else in my life. but i know that i can juggle everything to make room for the most important stuff. here are my goals for this month!

CNA class

once upon a time i didn't get an internship with Make A Wish. and i was devastated. so i stayed in Provo for the summer, and decided to get my CNA certification. i learned a lot in that class, mostly non-academic, but still a lot. [but more about that in another post.] i don't really know why i had to stay in Provo for the summer, but i do know that the people i met in the two week course are amazing! i am so glad i got to meet them.

after our last day of clinicals

after getting up at 4 am last Wednesday and Thursday for clinicals, i was so ready to "sleep in" until 7 on Friday. after we took our final in class [i only missed two- booyah] we had a fiesta. it was a blast- mostly because my camera was commandeered by Laura, Cody and Jillian. I now have like a bajillion awesome photos of them. i am really grateful i got to meet these awesome people!

best. row. ever.

i feel like Cody is making fun of us

Alyson, Jessie, Jaycee

these pictures. kill me.

i've got more than these ha ha

cute

even cuter

these girls saved my life in this class

only like the most posed picture ever. we look so formal.

not david archuleta- david jacobsen

the gang

i am a little sad class is over not gonna lie. but i hope the summer just gets better from here on out! 

june

it's june! summer can officially start. didn't you think that may went by waaaay to fast? i only get to live with allison for two more weeks and i'm really sad about that. i have zero idea what i will be doing come July. heck, i might even peace out and move away for a month and a half. probably not. i'm going crazy these next two weeks taking my CNA class so posts might be sporadic. however, i need to make some goals for the month of june. so here i am, reporting on last month's goals and making some new ones.

Spiritual
-finish the Book of Mormon: i finished it at 11:30 pm on May 31. although i cut it close there at the end, i am really glad that i finished. sometimes having a time to have it finished helps me read more consistently.
- go to the temple at least twice: i think i did just that and it was great! i love the temple.

Physical
-no eating at Cafe Rio/Costa Vida: for the first few days of may i sorely missed it, but i got used to it after a while. i ate at Rio once- but it was on a date so i think it's totally ok!
- go running at least 15 times: i didn't quite make it that much, what with my knee being jacked up. but i ran more than i did in april, and i had some real good runs. i also started working out every morning and every night and it's been real great!

Educational/Financial
- save $600 ($300 each paycheck): this did not happen. i think i saved $300 dollars. having to pay for gas and other stuff still adds up. i think i spent my entire second paycheck on tithing, rent, and gas. lamo. 
- finish The Seven Habits: sorry i got involved in other books and have not touched the 7 Habits.
- walk to work, not drive: i did good at this, especially since it's been so nice. i am going to walk a lot more once the CNA class is over (because i'm spending so much moola on gas).

Social
- get to know new ward: i've made some friends, but i still need to work on being more social and actually hanging out with people. maybe flirtations can occur?
- have a happy attitude at work: ummm i think i do this. except yesterday (but that was june so doesn't count).

weekend rewind

i don't really want to do a weekend rewind. i'm so freaking tired. working 20 hours a week and going to CNA class 40 hours a week (we literally get zero breaks- not even for lunch- welcome to the world of healthcare) has left me utterly pooped today. not to mention that when i left class i found out that my speedometer and gas-o-meter (i can't remember what that's called) had broken. urgk. and i have a headache. and mom, i wish you would remember that i hate mayonnaise. thanks for letting me rant for a second.
here's to the freaking weekend. that was so wonderful and i am so glad that all the people who came were there because it was just so fun! i am so thankful for the Brown's for letting us come up and for putting up with the crazy stuff we did. i'm thankful i got to make new friends and new memories! i'm thankful we had a huge bonfire. i'm thankful we ate lots of good food. i'm thankful for the beautiful Wyoming vista. i'm thankful i jumped into a freezing lake with the Allisons. i'm thankful we sang Disney songs the whole way home.

take me back.