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!! :)

Mr. James

Today I was a little bit antsy at school. I don't know if anyone else gets this way, but every once in a while I just have to break my routine. I can't handle it anymore. SO- today after my HR class, I left and decided to go up to SLC to visit my dear friends Sara and Spencer and their new baby, James. James was born about a month ago- 3 days before we went to Thriller- premature. Sara went into labor on her anniversary and had Mr. James the next day- 29 hours later. He was only 4 pounds when he was born. Today he weighs in at a whopping 6 pounds- one day before his due date! He was in the NICU for a while and when he got home, I was really sick so I wasn't able to go up and visit him. Now that I feel like I am completely over my cold, I decided it was about time that I go see my little grandbaby! (Sara was one of my greenies on my mission) He is just the cutest thing ever. He makes the funniest little noises and has the most adorable little smile. I held him for almost 4 hours straight. I didn't want to let him go. Luckily, Spencer was home today with James and Sara so I got to see them all and chat for a long time. I just love those guys and am grateful for being antsy sometimes because today it allowed me to spend time with one of the most precious little guys on the planet!!

Me and James- proud Тетя Ригз!

Stretching!

Stevie, James, and I- big smiles

He covers his little eyes when he's eating- could it get any cuter?

it's 11/11!!!!

A few years ago, my roommates and I started a tradition of having a party at 11:11 on 11/11. We got sparkling cider and made wishes at precisely 11:11 so that all of our wildest dreams would come true. I thought it was lots of fun and have continued the tradition. So has Emily, apparently! Tonight we had a little party and celebrated 11:11 11/11 with roommates and great wardies. Maybe I am a little bit to eager to have parties, but hey- who doesn't need a reason to celebrate, right? I'll take any chance that I can get!

Katie, Michelle, Britt, Melissa, Jeanette, Tessa

Ward Temple Trip

On Saturday morning, we took a trip to the Draper temple with some people in our ward. I have gone there once before, but it was great to go back. I just love starting out my morning at the temple. It was definitely the highlight of my day. I came home and slept most of the rest of the day thanks to the miracle-drug of NyQuil! Michelle and I made some delicious Chicken Enchilada soup for dinner (super easy and really yum!) and watched Enchanted in our PJ's. What a great way to spend a Saturday!

Here's the recipe (Stew's mom gave it to us. She made it for us when we were up at his place shooting)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

2 cans canned chicken breast

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can evaporated milk

1 can chili beans

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can nacho cheese soup

1/2 cup diced green peppers

1/2 cup dices red peppers

(we added corn and tomatoes, too)

Mix everything together and heat on the stove. Serve with tortilla chips. So GOOD!!!!

Britt, Pat, Troy, Rebekah, Ruth, Brett, Kristen, Lynette, Michelle

We're so small next to the temple!

Beautiful Draper Temple

MBA Women's Flag Football

This semester I was a part of the MBA Women's Flag Football team. We may not have had the best record in the league, but at least we had fun. We had amazing powder blue t-shirts with grenades on the back and knee-high skull socks. i learned that I am really NOT that good at football and the only thing that I really like to do is throw and catch the ball. I don't really like the whole "game" thing. So- I think I'll just stick to playing catch from now on. Here are a few pictures from our last regular season game. This is the only one that we actually won!! The other win was a forfeit. Even though I had to talk myself into to going to every game, I had a good time once I got there and I am really sad to see it go. :(

Here's the team (L to R): back- Erin Page, Malorie Lewis, Nicole Whitehead, Connie Clements, Chloe Andersen, Kate Lindsay; middle- Jasmine Palmer, Britt, Kristan Brooks, Heather Archibald; front- Michelle Blood, Emily Tanner

Words of wisdom from our coach

the "almost" touchdown. OUCH!

Nobody's getting past our line

Cows & Cake

Last Saturday, for Halloween, we went up to our friend Stew's house up by Park City to go shooting and just hang out. We had already gotten our fill of costumes, parties and dancing on Friday night, so we decided to just shoot some old Jack-O-Lanterns and celebrate Halloween with guns. :) It was really fun. There were some cows around us that were not too excited by our decision to shoot on their land. Two bulls kept coming closer and closer and freaking us out. Michelle, Lindsay and I jumped in the cars when we thought they were getting a little too close. It was just like Jurassic Park- farm style. After shooting, Stew's wonderful mom made us dinner and we just hung out in the hot tub for a while. Great Day!

Last night we had a little birthday party for John, a great guy in our ward. I think that everyone had a good time. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

The whole birthday crew

Blowing out the candles

Watch Out!

Michelle's first time shooting

the crazy bulls that were trying to get us

COWS!!!!

Linds kicked everyone's trash in the clay pigeon contest

get those pumpkins

Brandon's proud of his guns

Britt & Linds

we were a great firing squad

take that, pumpkin

Brandon, Linds, Josh, Stew, Britt, Michelle

gotta get rid of those pumpkins!

Check

Why am I not at school this morning, you ask? Well, our wonderful professor gave us a day off from his Strategic Human Capital class to work on our take-home midterm. Bless him! So, you would naturally think that I would be working on that, right? Absolutely not. I am sitting on my lovesac at 11AM still in my pajamas thinking about how I should have gotten that midterm done this morning before I have to go to my operations class at 12:30. Oh well. What else is new. I really need to learn to be more on top of things. At least I still have all afternoon and evening to get it done. On a happier note, I actually passed accounting. Yes, you heard right, I PASSED. Not only did I pass, but I got a "B"!!! Who would have thought that a person could get a 45.8% on the final and still pass with a "B". I'm am not going to complain. The best part is that I definitely did not get the lowest grade on the midterm like I was certain I would. I am so grateful that accounting is over with- at least for this semester. So now I can cross that one off of my list.

1- Not have to retake accounting- CHECK!

2- Get back on top of my life- Still trying to figure that one out!!

All Hallow's Eve Eve

The night before halloween it seemed like there were tons of parties to go to, so we decided to dress up on all hallow's eve eve. Two of my roommates, my friend Michelle, and I dressed up as the teenage mutant ninja turtles. I had wanted to be a ninja turtle for a while and then saw a picture of one of my friend's ninja turtle costumes from last year- so we decided to use her costume as a pattern and go for it. The costumes turned out amazing and we had a ton of fun. Lindsay dressed up as a spider because we couldn't find anything good enough for an April O'Neil costume.
We won second place in the stake costume contest at the stake halloween party. Everyone loved us. I rode the mechanical bull as a ninja turtle- quite a sight. We even had weapons that we could fight with. I had such a good time being a ninja turtle.
Heroes In A Half Shell- TURTLE POWER!!!

Our carport and our whole house reeked of spray paint!

gettin' ready

Lindsay- aka Charlotte from Charlotte's Web

Michelle, Michelle, Lindsay, Britt, Katie

I bet you've never seen that before!

Britt- aka Michelangelo

Michelle- aka Raphael

Michelle- aka Leonardo

Katie- aka Donatello

COWABUNGA!!