One Year Older...

Well, I had a birthday last week. I am now officially 27. I am frequently asked if I like having my birthday around Christmas and the answer is, of course, YES!!! I love that there are so many fun things going on around my birthday and I get to have the great Christmas spirit. Growing up, I always thought that all holidays were celebrated at this time of the year and I always thought that I was special because Santa ALWAYS came to my birthday party. While I have been home, I have worked a little bit on scanning old pictures into the computer and so I decided to do a fun birthday post with as many birthdays as I could find pictures for. Since haven't really had a scrapbook since I was in high school and I don't write in a journal as often as I should, I guess this will have to do.

Starting with.....

A few days after I came home from the hospital

3rd Birthday. I know that pictures of 1 & 2 are somewhere in the mess of pictures. I just didn't seem to get to them!

4 yrs. old. Yes, my Mom made me wear the same dress 2 birthdays in a row. How lucky am I to get Santa at my b-day party every year?!?

5th Birthday. I must have really loved my unicorn birthday cake. I was obviously really camera-shy at this age as well!!!

#6- I remember that my brother always tried to tell me what to wish for while I was trying to blow out my candles.

Birthday party for 7. I LOVED that NKOTB t-shirt. If I only had it now.....

8 years old. This is the day of my baptism. Me in my little Scottish plaid outfit.

Happy 9th birthday to me.

Super fuzzy picture, but this is my 10th birthday.

I couldn't find 11 or 12, but this is #13. I don't know what I'm doing with my face. I loved Winnie the Pooh then. I got all Winnie the Pooh stuff for my birthday this year I think.

14th birthday morning with Dixie- no more bangs

My 15th birthday slumber party

Sweet 16!!! I got an awesome Christmas tree ornament with Santa playing soccer before I went to school that day. I was really into soccer at 16 even though my team was horrible- it was still fun!

18th birthday party at Libby's house. Great people!!

I know that I have pictures of 19-21 somewhere, but I couldn't find them Here is #22 in Russia. WE had a mission Christmas conference on my b-day and I got this amazing porcupine stuffed animal as a white elephant gift. It had the stupidest little laugh and I used to squeeze it and throw it at my companions in the middle of the night to freak them out- I LOVED it!! :)

Birthday fun at the temple lights in SLC for birthday # 24

I couldn't find pictures of 25, but here is a post-birthday sushi trip for #26

AND finally... 27 yrs. old!! I had a great time with great friends. My roomies spent the whole day making these yummy cake ball thingies- they were delicious- thanks guys!!

As much as we all protest birthdays and getting older, I am really grateful for the chance that it gives me to reflect on what I have done with my life over the past year and celebrate the gift of life that we have been given. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that I am given daily to learn and become better and can't wait to look back again next year at the things that will have happened. Here's to 27 AWESOME years of life!! :)

Family Pictures

SO, I have an amazing friend named Stephanie. Not only is she an amazing friend, but she is a fantastic photographer. Over the summer, Derek and Sierra came to visit from Pennsylvania for Mom's birthday and Stephanie took family pictures for us. They turned out SO WELL!!! I can't believe I've never posted any of them on here, so here you go:

My mom always picks on me!!

My cute niece, Sierra

I have to have somebody to pick on!!

Even though it was like torture to get my family to take pictures, I'm glad that we did and some of them even turned out where my family was smiling!! MIRACLE!!! THANKS AGAIN STEPH!! You're the greatest! :)

Disappointment

In celebration of my hardest finals being over, I decided that I wanted to watch a fun Russian movie tonight. I get really excited and invited my friend Lane over to watch with me since he speaks Russian and would actually understand what was going on. The only problem was that, as we found out, my DVD player doesn't play international DVDs. We tried 6 DVD players- that's right- 6!!!! Finally- we gave up. I was really sad. I really wanted to watch the movie. I had to repeatedly move the TV and re-plug in cables for the DVD players. BUT, at least we had a good time trying to make it work. My roommate, Katie decided that I looked ridiculous doing that and took some pictures to document my disappointment. Here they are:


And this is Lane. He decided to take the camera from Katie and take multiple pictures of himself. Oh heavens.......

On a happier note- my finance and operations finals are over. I don't know how I did (probably not too hot) but they are OVER!!! I only have 2 left and I am actually looking forward to them in some strange sort of way. Only a few more days to freedom!!!!! :)

The joy of G-Chat

Here is the transcript from a G-Chat conversation that took place between me and my friend Michelle tonight. *Names have been altered to protect the innocent*. Enjoy!

20 minutes

8:57 PM me: Edward* is over here and he just asked us on a date- and vocally admitted that we are a last resort because he has already asked other girls who turned him down!!! He is still explaining his plan

8:58 PM Michelle: you had better as heck shoot him down

me: direct quote from him- "that way everybody is happy"

Michelle: any guy that straight out tells you that you're a last resort deserves to be shot down

8:59 PM me: this is possibly the funniest thing I have ever done- he can't decide who to ask right now- it's between me and Lindsay

9:00 PM Michelle: hopefully he'll ask you, you'll shoot him down, then he'll ask lindsay, and she'll shoot him down too

me: :)

that would be the greatest thing in the world- I haven't laughed this hard in a lng time (as I try to suppress my laughter and still carry on a conversation with this guy all while G-Chatting with Michelle)

Michelle: honestly, that's pathetic of him

me: he just said "so should this be a real date or a pseudo date!!" (What in the world is a pseudo-date anyways????)

9:01 PM Michelle: oh wow

me: I almost peed my pats cause we talked about it this morning (Michelle and I had talked about how guys really seem to like doing this "pseudo-date" thing lately and we don't quite get it- it is a date or it isn't- how old are we???)

Michelle: seriously, that's a riot

me: you would be dying

Michelle: men have issues!!!!

me: seriously

9:02 PM oh heavens- he is now on the phone with Jacob* and trying to figure things out before he asks us on a date- IN FRONT OF US!!!

Michelle: unreal

9:03 PM me: Oh- this is SO BLOGWORTHY!!!

Michelle: hahaha

Definition of a pseudo-date, courtesy of the online urban dictionary: when one person asks another person to do something and only one person knows that it's a date.

So there you have it. This is definitely not the first time something like this has happened at apartment 27 aka "the fly trap". It actually happens quite frequently. As a follow-up- he is a nice guy and we are all really good friends. It was just REALLY funny!!! Gotta love my life!!!!!

Addicted to Projects!

I might have a slight problem. I might be addicted to doing projects that I make up for myself. I am sure that my roommates are SO sick of it by now, but like I said, it's an addiction. I have always been kind of stubborn. When I get something in my head that I want to do, I have to do it. For example, about 4 years ago in the summer, I decided that I wanted to buy a barbeque. I went about my day and tried to forget about it. But, I couldn't. Everywhere I went, there was a dumb picture of a barbeque in my head. I HAD to have it. So, since I didn't have a ton of money, I went to DI and bought one. Luckily there was a pretty nice one there for only about $20, so I didn't feel too guilty- AND it lasted for quite a while until I threw it in the garbage a few months ago. But, that is how I am. When I decide I want to do something, I do it. Whether it's a BBQ, applesauce, strawberry jam, or business school, I just go with it. This addiction seems to get worse around finals, too- go figure! :)

This week I had a few projects in my mind that I wanted to get done. The first one was a wreath for our front door. I had a picture in my head of a cranberry wreath hung with a sage-ish green ribbon. I couldn't find the wreath I wanted at any of the stores, so I had to make it. I bought some fresh cranberries, toothpicks, and a round foam wreath form and went to work. I think it turned out really cute. It's exactly what I wanted.

My next project was stockings for the roomies. I wanted to make some Christmas stockings out of white linen-type fabric and use old handkerchiefs for the top, but I couldn't find any old handkerchiefs. So, I found some muslin cloth and some cute lace and a few doilies and put these together. I wish that I had more time to embroider a monogram onto each of them with the first letter of each of our names, but it didn't happen, so this is what we get:

I have been listening to this book on CD that my friend let me borrow all about eating whole natural foods and the health benefits associated with that. It is actually really interesting, but I decided that I wanted to try making some of my own things that wouldn't have preservatives. So, I decided to try my hand at making butter. I had never done it before but I heard that it tasted so much better than store bought butter. We made some whole grain bread to have with it. It didn't rise super well (if anyone has a great recipe for whole grain bread that rises well, please pass it my way), but it still tasted pretty good. Here is the butter making process:

whipping the cream

the butter and the buttermilk in the bottom

DELICIOUS homemade butter

So, this is what I spend my time doing when I should be studying for finals. What can I say, I am the queen of avoiding things that I really NEED to do. Life is great!! I can't wait until Christmas.

It Must Run in the Family

I love Thanksgiving. It is so great to go to AZ and spend some time in the absolutely PERFECT weather with people that I know and love. I don't know if it gets much better than that. Over Thanksgiving I realized a few things, though. Most of the things that I get made fun of for are not my fault. I learned that I inherited the shopping gene from my mother. Even though she always ridicules me for my intrinsic desire to shop- it came from her. She made me go with her at 3AM on Black Friday, that's right, 3:00 AM to get a good deal on a new TV for my parents' family room. We also spent all day Friday and Saturday shopping. It's NOT my fault. I can blame genetics. Besides, it's a good thing to embrace the things that your family loves, right? It brings you closer together! :)

I also get made fun of for falling asleep during movies. I know that I do it, I just can't help it. On Saturday I took 2 of my favorite little people in the world- Joshy & Kaila- to my friend Stephanie's family's annual puppet show. We went to get happy meals and then went to the show. Joshy was glued to the stage for the longest time. He was so excited to see all of the puppets. About halfway through the show, I looked over and he was out. He was sitting straight up in his chair, limp neck, head in his chest and out cold. I tried to wake him up, but it didn't work. I got to carry him to the car at the end of the show. It isn't quite as easy as it used to be! He is a tad bit heavier than he was last year. I guess the whole narcoleptic thing must be a Riggs family gene, too. Kaila and I loved the puppet show, though. Every time Stephanie came on stage, Kaila would point and say, "look, it's Stephanie!!". IT was really fun.

Stephanie, Kaila, Joshy, & I after the puppet show. So much fun!!

Saturday night I got to spend some time with my wonderful friends. It's so great to see everyone. We all got together over at Stephanie and Israel's super cute house and had yummy fondue. I love how although we are all in such different stages of our lives, when we get together we are still just best of friends. That is priceless. I am excited to see everyone at Christmas again. I'm out of here in exactly 3 weeks. I think I can handle the cold until then!

Everyone at Steph & Israel's house. I love these people!!

Super Mom Becky!

So I might be a grandma....

When I tell people about some of the things that I find enjoyable, they usually laugh at me. That's ok. I totally understand that I'm an odd duck. My friend Michelle came over on Saturday and found me in the kitchen peeling apples to make applesauce. She wouldn't quit laughing at me and said that she didn't know of any other 26 year old girl who liked to spend Saturday canning. I LOVE homemade applesauce so when I saw that they were still selling apples at the orchard around the corner from my house, I had to buy a few boxes. My mom and I used to make homemade applesauce when I was little and I have never really liked commercial applesauce because I was spoiled from a young age. I decided to make strawberry jam on Friday because they had strawberries on sale at the grocery store. I think it's really fun to have these little projects to work on. I just worry that I may be getting the spinster image since I do these things for fun. Oh well- what's a girl to do. I am resigned to the fact that I am practically a grandma!

Here are some of the finished goods.

Yummy strawberry jam! I'm such an old woman!!

Midnight Madness

I must preface this post by saying that I am NOT a fanatic. I did not wait in line to buy tickets to the midnight showing of New Moon 3 months ago, nor did I even plan on going to the movie in the first week it opened. It just worked out that way. :)

I hated Twilight, I didn't want to have anything to do with it, then Michelle made me watch the movie with her. 9 days later, I had read every single page of the whole series. I kind of liked it. So, I was mildly (ok, very) excited to see this new movie. My mom and I were planning on going over Thanksgiving while I was in AZ- we still are- and that was soon enough for me. I even watched Twilight last week and got even more excited for the upcoming sequel. Late on Wednesday, Pete (a great guy in my group at school) told me that his wife wasn't going to be using her midnight New Moon tickets anymore and asked me if I wanted them. I thought about it for a second and told him that I'd love to have them. I had never gone to a midnight movie before and I figured that this would be pretty entertaining with all of the girls and grown women screaming at the theater waiting for it to begin. The tickets were for the 12:43 showing and Michelle and I went a little over an hour early to make sure that we got a good spot in line. To our surprise, when we got there, this is what we saw:

The whole parking lot between the movie theater and the mall was full of people waiting to see New Moon!

total pandemonium!! I had absolutely no idea that they would have people corralled in the parking lot in freezing weather. There were TONS of lines outside for each of the showings- 12:01, 12:03, 12:06, etc. and we had to wait in line forever before they would even let us into the theater. We got in line right behind some people dressed as Edward and Bella (didn't get a picture of that one). Michelle and I decided to just embrace it and get excited. The movie was good- I liked the first one better, but I can't complain. The whole story revolved around Jacob's chest- big surprise- and there were definitely some cheesy parts, but overall- it succeeded. I felt like a teenager in love. What more could you ask for??? Michelle and I had a blast and are so excited to see it again with our moms over Thanksgiving. Gotta love it!!

Michelle and I leaving the house. She made us an AWESOME sign that we put on our front door! We were so excited :)

The line that we had to wait in

Wrapped up in a blanket waiting to get into the theater. It was SO COLD!

THANKS for coming with me Michelle- I had a blast!! :)