2010

image via.

6 changes

‘It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.’
~ Confucius

once again. thinking about resolutions. loved this article from zen habits and plan to do it differently this year. plan on changing my habits.

choosing 6 changes to make every two months in 2010. although they may sound overly simple. i like them and have thought long and hard on which 6 changes i want to make.

overall goal, big picture: love who i am.

1 change: exercise every morning (even if it is just for ten minutes)
2 change: eat 2 fruits and 2 vegetables everyday (seriously people, this is a goal)
3 change: drink 8 glasses of water everday
4 change: floss everyday (i know . . .)
5 change: meditate everyday
6 change: begin writing book (no i will not tell you what it's about, yet.)

will document my journey of these 6 changes here.

here i go. like bob from 'what about bob,' taking baby steps. :)

as far as the normal resolutions go. i love some of the ideas from here. and will implement some of them, even if they are not everyday habits.

how are you going about your resolutions? or am i just a resolutions freak this year?

tracking santa

just found this fabulous site that is fun for adults and kids. start tracking santa now!

have you guys heard of this site before? so cute! happy christmas!

whew!

finally done with this semester . . . haven't been doing much else besides projects, cases, reports and tests. so this explains my absence.

i am so excited to have 3 whole weeks to do what i want after work. :) i have already got a list of books i want to read, recipes i want to try and movies i want to see.

not that i am trying skip over christmas, but i have been thinking about new years resolutions and way's to become more productive and happier, basically more balanced. i tend to stretch myself out and need to start incorporating some "me" time into the mix. i liked this site to get me going.



cute. and inspiring. i can find balance with small differences.

what i really like doing is writing a list of things i want and things i want to have happen in 2010. my favorite is looking at it after the year has past and seeing how the year turned out. i got this tradition from my daddy and haven't really kept up on it in the last few years. no better time to start than now! :)

what do you guys do to prep for the resolution writing??? and do you stick to them?

long, lovely weekend

this thanksgiving weekend was much too short for my taste. i was enjoying my lazy mornings and my productive days and hanging out with my mom, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, nephew, and boyfriend. :) i added the bf because with my crazy schedule we barely see each other, so it was nice to have a moment to hang out.

a random list of items from my grateful list:
blogs
gummy bears
learning
sleeping in
connecting with family again
new laptop {happy christmas to me!}
a clean house
a water heater that works again {never realized how grateful i am for it, til now.}
vol. 25 {totally on my christmas list}
flight of the conchords

**yes, i did go to best buy on black friday. jeff and sara braved the crowds and cold night with me in our tent, on my trusty air mattress {with me on many the adventurous occasion}. we had fun and then crawled into bed until the afternoon.

beckend designs @ tom & lucy's art shoppe

headed off to northern utah for the weekend for beckend designs first boutique. come visit us! it's going to be a party!

Tom and Lucy's Art Shoppe - This weekend: 3 Day Holiday Boutique - (Nov. 19- Nov. 21) Lehi, UT

beckend designs

i am excited to announce something my sister-in-law and i have been working on for the past few weeks: beckend designs! we have been working our tails off to get these babies ready for the boutique that we are participating in this weekend. {more to come on that soon}

beckend designs is our design shop and our first creations are coasters. I gave you a little taste in july and now we are really introducing our shop!

here are a few of our designs that are available to choose from:

more to come soon! for more information visit us here. or email us at beckenddesigns(at)gmail(dot)com!

which one is your favorite?

german spritz cookies

made these lovelies for my final presentation in int'l biz. they were a hit.



it was fun to make them and finally use my cookie press that i have had for so long and never used! i think i will make more for christmas and involve the nieces and nephews in the fun.

sand mountain

took the family on a fabulous hike a couple weeks ago. it was a gorgeous day in st. george, but when we got to sand mountain it was super cold and windy. michael fixed our mom a "coat" out of a blanket that was in the car and we were set. it warmed up as we hiked, but was still pretty windy. we took my mom's little dog, sophie, and she did awesome! so cute to see her hiking right along with with us.

best part of the hike was running down the sand mountain. here are mike, jeff and sara . . . mom took a little longer and so didn't make it on the video. :)

subtle sexuality

i probably love the office even more now.

this is it

saw this movie last night. my brother got a bunch of us to go which made it all the more fun. we were probably the obnoxious ones, but not once the movie started. i didn't think i would love it as much as i did. it was way cool to see how involved michael was in his concert as a production. he was a perfectionist and totally weird. :) but in a good way. you sort of have to be eccentric when you are that famous. it showed his talent in a whole new dimension for me and i loved it.

the dancers were amazing, the guitar chick was amazing and michael was amazing. i am amazed at what he could still do so well - dance and sing! :) it also made me think about how weird death is. it really sucks that he died. he really was all about the love. the talent that came from him was one of a kind and this concert would have been crazy awesome to go to.

our favorite move of the night is at about second 11 of this video.



go see it.

image via.

busy signal

is there such a thing as a busy-aholic. because i'm pretty sure i am one. i am so busy this week/month, but especially this week.

this is how i feel.

and i'm not really sure which paper to pick up first and start with.

the thing is . . . i do it to myself.

i work a ton, i go to school a ton and then i volunteer to judge my little brothers debate thing this weekend and i sign up to make 50 sets of coasters for a boutique in november.

i am actually really excited about the boutique, i just can't believe that i signed up for it. i mean, come on becky.

so if you were wondering what i am doing and why i don't blog more, this is why. i want to blog more. so maybe i will just add it to my list.

better yet, i will do this on my breaks.

a chance to vent and/or be creative.

look for more posts about the trip i am going to plan when this is all over. i am in need of at least a two-week adventure in some far-off place in this world.

image via.

baking with ar mel's

here are the pics from my baking extravaganza with my two sista's. amy has an amazingly delicious bakery she started about a year ago and it's getting bigger and bigger. :) she had a huge order to do and asked for my and sara's help. it was a good excuse to go up and hang with my sister and her family even if we didn't get much sleep.

we were so busy baking that we sorta forgot to take pictures. here a few. the gift bags we made included: amazing brownies covered in cream cheese frosting and ganoche, snickerdoodles dipped in chocolate and chocolate chip cookie bars with chocolate and peanut butter topping. yum! 128 gift bags later . . . whew.

later that weekend we did a little day trip to tracy aviary in liberty park and the old spaghetti factory. i had never been there and it was fun!



fun sisters! we missed you cam!



thanks ame! love ya.

michael buble

why did i not know he was this cute?? love him. and love this song.



michael. i'm right here. you can meet me now. ;)

did you know he was this cute?

thanks cindy!

early morning glee

i got about 2 hours of sleep thursday night. {due to a huge bakery order that i helped my sister with and will post about soon.} so i fell asleep at about 6:30pm friday night, thinking i would sleep through the night just fine. nope. totally woke up at 2am wide awake and ready to start the day. after an hour of trying to force myself back to sleep, i gave up and did some catching up on the episodes of glee that i have missed.

i love glee. i think it's the inner nerd in me that wishes life were a musical and it's sort of like that on glee. this clip is from one of the three shows i watched that morning and i LOVE it.



i am almost obsessed with the original by beyonce and this one just makes me smile. seriously. are you watching glee?

if not, go to hulu and do it up!

dominic's quilt

finished this fun quilt for sabrina and aaron's new son dominic! it was so fun to make and fun to remember how to embroider again. now i just need to get a picture of the cute little guy in it.

solo

i went to see this movie all by myself. i think this is the first time i have ever been to the movies alone.

let me just say that going solo was perfect, especially for this movie. it was sorta freeing walking in there alone. and it was a good thing i was alone because i was crying for an hour straight. tears streaming down my face, for an HOUR! i couldn't believe how much i cried. i don't really cry in movies either, not that i think it's dumb to, i just don't. i had to hold back the sniffles and sorta wished i had rented it and was home on my couch so i could sniff all i wanted. i read the book {thanks to jana!} and loved it and it made the movie that much better.

loved the movie and loved that i was alone.

does anyone else go to movies alone sometimes? i think i might do it more often.

gold's gym, anyone?

so my friend, maryann, who used to be my room mate and used to live in utah, is selling her gold's gym contract for CHEAP! she lives in indiana and can't use it there because the one she bought is from a utah franchise.

here are the details:

**price is $300, upfront for 16 months! that works out to be $18.75 per month and you don't have to pay startup costs or the lame bi-annual fee of $15. she already paid for all of it. {i believe new contracts are starting at $27 per month}

i wish i would have known about this before i renewed my contract, but i didn't so it's your gain. let me know if you want to buy it from her. it really is a great deal and then we can be gym buddies! i really need one!

feather headbands

i saw feather headbands in bella donna {a little boutique in ancestor square} a couple weeks ago and can't stop thinking about them. i am in love with them.

i found more on etsy here.

and here.

aren't they so cute!? i think i am going to search for feathers and try to make them myself, but if i can't find the perfect ones then i will cave and buy one of these lovelies. i love the ones with the peacock feathers . . . and maybe a little less big. i've got to work up to it.

kundalini yoga with benja

over the summer while talking to my aunt steph, the subject of music came up. i'm not sure what exactly we were talking about but she handed me her ipod and pressed play. i loved the song playing. instant connection. :) she says that she listens to this song and it makes everything right in her world. :) i can totally see why.



i thought about the song off and on. mostly when i would go to yoga classes and would contemplate buying it, but i would forget. then i heard it in my first kundalini yoga class taught by benja peterson. {who owns benja thai and i absolutely love the restaurant and love her.}

i love it when things like this happen. hearing something or about something and it keeps showing up in my life. needless to say, i loved the class. it was different than any other yoga class i have taken. and i have recruited family members to come to it every monday at 5:30pm with me. so if you want to come . . . email me and i will let you know where it is!

she ended class with this song. loved it.



so thanks steph, for introducing me to this beautiful music!

back to school

and a schedule. school started monday. wow. this marks the first semester, since i got my associates degree years ago, that i will be a full-time student. {only this time i will be working full time, as well} one of the reasons for this switch from part to full-time is because if it helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel a little faster. :)

so i've been purchasing books {ugh}, and other school supplies.

whenever fall comes around i think of the scene in you've got mail where they are emailing about "bouquets of sharpened pencils." love the idea of this. and love tom hanks and meg ryan.

i think this would be the perfect first day of school present. so cute. :)

the schedule has been crazy so far and i feel like i have been living out of my car, running from one place to the next, but i hope to have everything organized by next week. i may actually be able to fit passengers in my car then. :)

do you have any first week of school tips to help in organization or even staying sane?? i could use the help!

p.s. i am actually taking 13 credits and the 13th one is my favorite. kundalini yoga. i love it so far and have more to share on that front so stay tuned.

image via flickr.

quilts and such

finally finished my sweater quilt that i started, no kidding, probably 3 years ago. i made it from bright sweaters that i used to wear in my high school days and then i crocheted the binding. that's why it took me so long. there are more like this one here. :)

kind of bright, but oh so cozy

on another quilting note i thought i had plenty of time to make a baby quilt for sabrina's soon to be born sweetie, but her baby came 5 weeks early! so i had to hurry and get going on it. i'm still not quite done and with school starting it might take me a little longer, but hopefully not too long. here is a peak at the fabric we chose together. :) so far it is really cute!

cute little dominic. he is tiny and so sweet! congrats sabrina and aaron!

handmade for me!

this pay it forward {handmade} thing was way more fun than i would have expected. i sent out these and got this and now this cute new clutch. it's always fun to get something in the mail and handmade is even better. i am amazed at how talented robyn is! thank you so much!

fun inside material!

cool design on the back. :)