Pigeons: 3 Micah: 1

Enough said...

FINALLY!!!!!

I'm done! I officially graduated on Friday.


This is a picture of my Dental Hygiene class. We have become really close over the past 2 years.


Graduation really didn't mean much to me. Why? Because I still had one more board exam to take. As of 2 hours ago, I am done!!! Now I just have to wait a month to see if I passed or not...hopefully I did. I do not want to spend $1200 more on another test.

My favorite thing

SWAGBUCKS!

If you don't know what it is...you should. You sign up for free and earn swagbucks through searching the web, shopping online, and other things you probably do anyway. With these swagbucks you can get gifts cards and other awesome prizes. My goal-pay for Christmas with swagbucks only. Let's see if I can do it. While I'm at it, why don't you see if you can do it too? I was really hesitant at first, but now I love it. If you want to try it out, go to http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/beckerecka. If you sign up, I get more swagbucks. Please and thank you!

Oh PS-- Married life is the best!!

!

So my life is great!

It's the month of Halloween!!!

AND it's the month of my birthday!!!!!

I'm officially a hater...

...of all things parade. Why do they have to shut down the whole entire town for a silly parade. Yeah, Independence Day is great. I love a good celebration, but c'mon!

I left for work an hour early today to get some stuff done that was absolutely necessary to do before I taught my class, but I didn't get there until about 7 minutes before the class was supposed to start. Goodie. The reason? A parade. They shut down everything! So I detoured and thought I could make it a different way, but guess what? There's a 5K going on so I can't go that way. I was really frustrated. I called my boss and asked her for advice on different routes and I finally made it, but I failed to get some things done.

Parades. Are. Stupid. This hatred didn't just arise today. I haven't ever really liked them. They're boring, to be perfectly honest. And there is way too much traffic.

Go home parade goers.

Ok. Thanks for letting me vent.

PS- I do NOT hate the Fourth of July. I think it's a great holiday and I'm grateful for my country and everybody who serves it. I just don't like parades.

Some fun things

This summer has been AMAZING so far. It's finally hot here in Utah and i'm loving that. Here are a few things I've done so far(in no particular order):

*warning: some of the pictures are sideways, but I was too lazy to switch them.

Mary and I went hiking with some friends from our ward. We went to the Spanish Fork hot springs. It was really fun, but a little smelly.

These are the guys: McKay and Micah. I have no idea what McKay is doing...

The womenfolk. Mary's all about the peace.

All of us together. Aren't we such a good looking group of people?

Dave and Mary and I went to DI to get Dave some books one evening. Dave then had a brilliant idea to find the epitome of old men outfits and buy it for Andy. Andy looks like he's enjoying it way too much.

So we all road tripped down to AZ for Suzanne's farewell. It was a really fun trip and we all got to go to the temple and do baptisms.

Suz met up with us later to take some pictures. Man, I miss her. She is doing great in the MTC.

Oh how we love these boys. Best. Friends. Ever.

I took Aspen to the zoo, along with my roommate Aubrey. Aspen likes giraffes, so here is her with a giraffe.

PENGUINS.

Aubrey and I thought this was pretty funny.

Giraffes are pretty cool. I like them.

Aspen and I on some animals. It's not such a good picture of either of us, but it was bright that day, okay? No judging. AND it was the only picture we got together.

Other events to note:

Becky came home!!!! I love her and i'm so glad she's back.

Matt came home!!!!! He's the bomb and it's been great to have another male around to balance out the estrogen.

Mary got her mission call!!!!! She's going to Detroit! She'll be awesome.

HELLOOOO!!!!!

I've come back from the grave, everyone! Hip hip...Hooray. Due to the highly stressful nature of this past semester, I have shut almost everything else out of my life besides school and work. My blog has suffered because of this, but hopefully this summer will be full of some fun stuff.

I am finally on my much needed break from school and it is GLORIOUS! I don't have to think about tests, quizzes, homework assignments, nothing for 3 months!!! Sweet. Of course, being the nerd I am, I have already studied a little bit these past two weeks. C'mon people. What else do you expect me to do? Most of my roommates left me for the summer (Suz for a year and a half...sad) and the other ones have work all day long. AND I have boards coming up in a year. I have nothing else to occupy my time. Well, besides Tony and Gilmore Girls.

Tony needs some explaining. This is Tony Horton:

Yes, people, this is the man I spend an hour and a half with every single day. He is the P90X instructor. He's quite annoying, looks like he had plastic surgery, and kicks my butt. P90X is the most intense workout I've ever done, but I like it.

So.....I am in serious need of catching you all up on my life. First of all, I was chosen to be an Alternate Student Delegate at the ADHA Annual Session in Las Vegas!!!

If you don't know what that means, just know that it's a HUGE DEAL in the Dental Hygiene world. I get an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas. I haven't been filled in on all of the little details, but I'll be attending the House of Delegates. We vote on policies and such for Dental Hygienists. Not to mention, I'll have a great opportunity for networking. I'm way excited.

Here's a fun picture of "the gang"

Yes, this is us in all our glory. This particular night was Festa Italiana! Back row: Mary, Matt, Lanae, Sam, Dave, Suzanne. Front: Me, Andy, and Becky. We were all really tight this past semester. We still are, don't worry. We all are kind of separated for the summer, but we'll be back together eventually.

This same gang (minus Matt-he's in D.C. now) all went camping at the end of the semester for a last HOORAH!

We all look so good, eh? This was the morning after we woke up. Those boys are too good to us. They gave us their warm sleeping bags to put in our tent because we were cold and meanwhile they were freezing in their own tents! AND they cooked breakfast and kept the fire burning. Too bad Sam had to leave in the middle of the night because she was sick... :(

Here are some fun pictures us girls in Down House took the other week.

Proof that EVERYone makes fun of me!

What does everyone look cool except for me?

Anyways. Sorry this post was kind of random, but that's how I roll. There will be more this summer. No worries!

Uncomfortable

So for one of my classes, we went on a field trip to a nursing home and cleaned everyone's teeth and dentures (gross, by the way) for free. It all went great until the very end. We went to the alzheimer's building and finished them up last. Right as I was about to open up her mouth and look in (I was really close to her face) she roared at me! Seriously, like a lion. Then she proceeded to cackle. It scared me so bad, but was pretty hilarious at the same time.

Mmm Hmmm

Kinda cheesy, but I'm all about that.

Search "Michael Buble- Just haven't met you yet" on YouTube.

It's worth it.

Oh Fall, I love you

Leaves are my favorite part of fall. I love stepping on crunchy leaves. In fact, I make it a point to step on as many as I can. Another fun thing is jumping in a HUGE pile of leaves like this:


Today I watched a six year old boy laboriously rake all the leaves in his front yard. At first I thought it was his chore for the day and I admired him for doing it willingly. However, after he finished raking up a big pile, he ran full speed and jumped in! It made my heart happy. :)

Happy Halloween

It's the last Halloween my roommates and I are going to spend together, so we decided to really live it up! We had such a great weekend together!! Take a look at us in all of our glory.

So this is us on Halloween Eve at our ward party. Sesame Street style. Evan is in our ward-he's Furby. Suzanne is Ernie, I'm Burt, and Mary is Big Bird.

So we wanted to change things up for the actual Halloween night, so we decided to be restaurant icons. I'm Colonel Saunders, Suz is Wendy, Mary is Ronald McDonald in a bathrobe, and Lanae is Jared from Subway. We thought we were pretty clever.

Fundraising can be cool

Especially when your loved ones help you out.

This is an official plea: PLEASE buy something from me. My program told me I had to fundraise at least $50 in profit every semester. These things are really great and way cheaper than if you bought them online or in a store. I have toothbrushes and toothpaste available and crest whitestrips. I can't advertise them online, so if you want a list of the merchandise with prices and pictures please leave your e-mail in a comment. Or you can e-mail me at beckerecka@gmail.com

Thanks in advance to all of you buy stuff from me :)

New school, new outlook

I started my Dental Hygiene program at UVU last week. I love it! The other 13 girls in my program are awesome and my classes are bomb. I'm totally in my element.

So I love my program and my classes, but what about the school itself? I wasn't so keen on leaving BYU, but it's actually really nice. The campus is really pretty and the people are really chill. So far I have received 2 free T-shirts and 3 free meals (I actually don't think I was supposed to have that last one. There was like a Business Major fair or something and there was a free BBQ for the students. I just stood in line and they gave me food so I'm happy).

Another thing I love is Institute. It's the best. It's a place for me to forget about school. Unlike BYU, the classes are not ones where you have to take tests and do homework. There are just a bunch of people who actually WANT to be there. They also give me free food sometimes.

So far UVU is great!

Out for Lunch

Many businesses have these:


It's not uncommon. The other day, however, I saw one that made me laugh. There is a new BBQ place in Provo and as I was walking by one day I saw a sign like that. I almost laughed out loud. Why do these people need to go out to lunch? Don't they have food to eat there? And won't their new business struggle if they aren't even open during lunch?

Just thought I'd share this hilarious oxymoron with you all.

Never done packing

I feel like this poor girl:


I HATE packing. So much. There are many times in a college student's life where he/she must pack up his/her whole life only to move down the street. I have packed up my life 4 times in the past 2 years. Today I find myself packing up for the fifth time. Bleh. It's only been 4 months since I did this.

Good thing that I only unpacked less than half of my belongings this time around. It'll be MUCH easier. Now the problem is that I have a gap of 5 days where I am completely homeless. I have to move out of my house the 22nd and I can't move in until the 27th (just for the record--that is after I start school and work). Oh joy. I am not looking forward to it.

Though I absolutely loath packing my things, I love to unpack and get organized. There is something about meticulously putting everything of mine in my own space and have it organized exactly how I want. I quite enjoy it :)

Quote of the week:

"Becky bought a cruise!!!!"

Why yes, yes I did. Courtesy of Caribbean Cruise Line.


Why? I have asked myself that question many times since Monday, the day the deed was done.

To preface this event, I must let you know I was having a HORRIBLE day. I had to wake up before 7 in the morning. Then I rode 3 buses all the way to American Fork to teach some morning classes. The classes were chaotic. Kids are cute, but sometimes they are a handful. Then I rode 3 more buses home. It take over an hour to get there, by the way. When I got home I was tired and cranky. I went to the store and had to endure some really annoying Napolean Dinamite-esque cheesy organ music in the store. It really ticked me off for some reason. I'm not sure why.

Well I got home and checked the mail. To my surprise, I got a letter that said I won a free cruise!! Immediately I thought it was just some stupid things, but I decided to call for some reason. It turns out that the cruise wasn't completely free. It actually cost $597. It also turns out that I bought that cruise. I was feeling excited until I got of the phone. I felt stupid for taking it. I mean, I just took out a loan for school and now I blew 600 dollars on a stupid cruise? Idiotic.

I called Heather and she convinced me that I had been stupid. Thanks, by the way. She told me to call and get my money back; I told her not to tell Mom and Dad. The only thing- the cruise was non-refundable. I had a pit in my stomach and felt like crying for the next 18 hours. What had I done?

My roommates thought it was the funniest thing. They kept saying "Becky bought a cruise" and then laughing hysterically. Needless to say it didn't make me feel any better.

The next day I called anyway and had to listen to 4 different people pressure me into keeping the cruise, but I held strong. I got my money back!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a relief!!!!!

I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down!

This summer I have really beat myself up and tonight was no different. We were playing some night games up on campus and I fell face first to the ground. Lovely. Then later we all decided to slide down a wet hill on our stomachs. I was going to do it, but got scared half way down to the ground and awkwardly bent my body to that I had to roll down the hill. I looked like a dream. The bad part-i'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle. Cool. People are going to ask how it happened and I'm going to have to say "I tried sliding down a hill." Plus, I was supposed to go hiking tomorrow. Cross that one off the agenda. And the slip and slide planned for the afternoon? I'm thinking that one goes too.

Some of the other things I have done include, but are not limited to: Falling while hiking and completely destroying my left leg. Going to the lake at night in shorts with no bug spray and getting at least (I kid you not) 50 bug bites on my legs. Tripping over absolutely nothing on level ground. Running into people and falling over due to the force of impact (this mainly happens during sports).

I've always been clutzy--always. Example: I can be standing up not even walking or anything and fall over. I'm used to it by now. However, it's getting out of hand lately. By the time this summer is over I am going to have more scar tissue on my legs than normal skin. What can I do?

Option 1: Refrain from physical activity of any kind.

Option 2: Have someone follow me around so he can catch me if I fall.

Option 3: Do what I normally do and try to tend to my wounds as best as I can.
Ding ding ding we have a winner!

Even though I get really tired of being in pain and being embarrassed to show wear a skirt or shorts in public, it's worth it. This summer I have made some of the best memories ever. I like to view my battle wounds as reminders of all the good times I've had.

Are you sure this water's sanitary?

This past Saturday evening, I got asked on a date by my friend Bret. He is a big fisher, so we went fishing with one other couple up at Silver Lake. It's beautiful up there (Look at my camping post from the 3rd of July). I had never been fishing before, so I was pretty excited! It turns out i'm pretty good! I caught 2 fish within the first 20 minutes and then one more at the end of the trip. More than anyone else there. I was pretty surprised, but it was way cool! We kept the three I caught and I even helped cleaned out the fish. GROSS!!

Look at that! I named him Steve.

Up close and personal.


Me cleaning the fish. It was SO slimy! At least it wasn't wriggling around. I tried to hold a live one and I couldn't hold on to it.


Look at those guts! Bleh.


This is Bret!

It was a really fun date. On Sunday, I went over to Bret's house and we cooked my catch! It was actually pretty good.

Happy Moon Day!

On July 20th it was the 40th anniversary of the US landing on the moon. When we found this out, of course we threw a themed party. Why not?

Cheerio, dahling.

Us girls at the Arch House love to plan fun things to do. Last Sunday was no different. We planned to have a tea party!!! Now maybe it's because we had watched all 6 Harry Potter movies the week before, but we decided that we would only talk in British accents. And of course we had to wear our dresses from church. What is tea time without the proper attire? (Weird...as I'm writing this, i'm thinking in a British accent).

Our party was complete with crumpets and story-telling and even a poem recited by Mary Vance herself. We felt oh so proper during the occasion. It was funny to hear Mary talk because her accent changed every five seconds or so. After tea time we watched Persuasion. Only Suzanne was persuaded to stay awake though (Dad, that joke was for you. You would say something like that). We had a jolly good time together.


Jen

Tayla

This is my home teacher, John. He happened to come visit as we were preparing for the party and he stayed.

Yours truly

Suzanne

Monica

Mary