ode to megs and benits : 2009 style

For those of you who don't know, Megan Smith and Benita Marie Bates are two of my bestest. But I am very blessed to have many. 2009 has been a very crazy year, and has brought about a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of in-betweens, and an awful lot of kiboshings. I am so so grateful to have them in my life, and the wonderful examples they are to me! They have no idea how much I've needed them this year.

Many times, Megs and I have joked 2009 just sort of happened at us. Out of our control. And left us more than one time with no words, and an awful lot of laughs.

I took a total of 51 credits, starting in January, ending in December. Megan ran her first full marathon in Salt Lake City, which is where Benita ran off to after becoming a college graduate in August. Cami got married, Megan, Benita, and I, didn't. We took a road trip to Reno/Tahoe in May, and my sister Holly and I took another one to Pasadena in July, followed by a beach house vacation in August. Thanks to Facebook, Megan's picture taking, and texts, we have a lot of this documented. Here is our Year In Review.

Dax flame...Sunday Denny’s with Les and Elaine...

19 feet of snow at Highland Park, and not being able to leave the complex.

Ants on your face. And in your room. (Thank you for trading me!)

Test. Test. Project. Bachelor. Test.

Ox. Hoops. Dr. Quinn. Rox in the mire.

Pistachio salmonella...Monday date nights....Highland Park Air Force Base.

Swindled by John Can’t Stand Ya into 4 hours of Reaganomics.

Sunday afternoon naps in the sprinklers...Mule kicks at kickboxing...

Enrique Iglesias and Monday night grocery shopping...Get over here You sassy little minx.

All those chassis at Tahoe...I’ve been waiting for nonfat yogurt my whole life, and it’s finally here!

Are you drinking today?...I hate this part right here....FML.

Fisher price dishes and Finding Nemo fruit snacks. Do I live with a child?

"Is it on the wagon, or off the wagon? You've been off the wagon for two years. "Off the wagon"? I think it's off the wagon. I think it's "on the wagon". One small slip and you could fall right off the wagon. See? Told you."

Smart cars...Kiboshed.

"You’re going to be a gymnast. A journalist? That’s what I said."

FiberOne bars and Diet Cokes...Walkie Talkies...Seven peaks.

TLHAPFM. (The Lord has a Plan For Me)

Honeymoon pillows...Dungeon dwelling...Shoe carnival? Freak show of shoes.

Awooooo!!

This workout brought to you…by Diet Coke...Fraggle and Scraggle.

Charla Nash. Charla Nash. Charla Nash...Google "chimp ate my face".

Boyz II Men.

And finally…NOT getting blindsided.

2010 is going to be an amazing year...because we said so.

christmas miracles.

I have so many things to be grateful for all of the time, but most particularly this season. My life has been so blessed this year, and continue to be astounded by the Lord's tender mercies. Andre', Holly, and I drove from Provo to Reno right after finals (Andre' basically left from the testing center, barf.) We didn't leave for Reno until about 8:30pm, meaning we arrived around 4:30MST. Long. And awful. And heavy fog the whole way. The only ones missing for Christmas are Jaclyn & Ben.We typically have weather similar to Utah, but it has been super cold here recently! We arrived in Reno to about 2 feet of snow on the ground, and hasn't melted yet. It wasn't exactly a white Christmas by the time Christmas finally got here, more like a grayish-blue.

Since being home, we've done nothing but eat, sleep, shop, and watch movies. Even the 'rents stay up until 2am visiting and chatting with us. I love being at home with siblings. Carmen has gotten verrrry savvy with that DVR, and has taken the opportunity to DVR all of her favorite shows, including 6 episodes of TLC's Cake Boss recorded for us when we got home. Thank goodness. We watched those with her in a hurry.

A LOT OF SHOPPING.

We also went to go see the new movie Avatar (Andre', Holly, Hunter, Samantha, Carmen, and myself). Sort of like Fern Gully meets Dancing with Wolves meets Surrogates. So weird. And about 2 1/2 hours too long.

Robbie: this movie was NOT "epic".

But fun to watch anyway. I splurged on large popcorn and Diet Coke. Always tastes better at the movies. Tuesday night was Blindside, round 2. I loved it just as much the second time. And on a second note, Andre' thought it would be fun to have a "Harry Potter" marathon every night since we've been home. I'm not sure why everything turns into a marathon, but at least we know he can't do anything halfheartedly.


Christmas Eve dinner was supposed to be Thai, but they happened to be closed. We've postponed until New Year's. Instead, we had lobster, crab cakes, green beans, lion house rolls, and baked potatoes. So good.


On a last note, I LOVE being at home with family during the holidays. We are so blessed to have the home and room to have all of our family stay, as well as tacking on two more families of 4 and the missionaries this year. That brought the Christmas Joy total = 24. It wouldn't feel like Christmas unless it was a full house.

Back to Provo on the 5th...

semester in review.

this semester was awful. it's over now. as of 5:00pm.

I can't believe it's christmastime. christmas always sorts of sneaks up on me with finals and everything, summed up by the sign on the library door:

"god rest ye merry gentlemen...after finals. until then, we're open until 2 a.m."

freak. they do not mess around. last night was my last night of studying for finals. holly met me at the library with a $5 pizza from little caesar's. food is not allowed in the library, so we decided to stick it to the byu security man. we wrapped the entire pizza in paper towels, put it in my backpack, and brought it inside. it was delicious. the bad part was when I drowned my phone in pink strawberry gatorade. it was phone number genocide. nothing could be saved. that's my second phone this year. we're leaving to go home tomorrow, finally!
here is the list of things I am grateful for, and that got me through this heinous semester:

1. best find: hanes v-neck teesthese little gems really saved my life. 8.99 for a back of 5 at Target or WalMart, and fit just like the American Apparel regular v's. I wear them to bed. I wear them to school. I wear them to the gym. (not all the same shirt guys. I change in between) These have been such a huge part of my life, my blog title was inspired by them. And also a little bit by Megan, who greeted me "oooooh haaaanes" when approaching her at the gym. the best/worst moment of my life when I realized I should probably stop wearing them so much.

2. cheapest pick-me-up: crest diet cokes

okay everyone. I need to have a diet coke everyday, and I am okay with that. there are worse things, they kept me awake, and comforted my soul.

3. most convenient breakfast: Fiber One Bars / Zone Perfect Mint Chocolate Bars

I ate these for breakfast, it'd be very safe to say everyday. they are delicious. and 9g of fiber.


4. quickest fix: shampowder dry shampoo

this dry shampoo can be picked up at target for a measly $15. it works wonders. and I guess what I'm trying to say is: I didn't have a lot of time this semester. including always washing my hair. so sue me.

5. best laughs: seinfeld dvds


I own seasons 1-9. for those who don't know, that's all of them. I don't really watch them anymore, but like to listen to them while I'm studying. and by listen, I mean quote them to myself and laugh like I made the joke.

6. always good, never not good: subway 6" veggie on wheat

let me just say first, that there are a lot of things wrong with this picture. I HATE meat sandwiches. there is something very strange about meat on bread. texture or something. so this is not an exact depiction of what my lunches every tuesday-thursday look like. (the other pictures looked disgusting, you should be thanking me for searching for this gem.) I probably spent a lot of money there this semester, but it was worth it. plus I went with my gorgeous sister Holly right before our crazy reporting class started. by the end of the semester they knew our orders. not my brightest moment.

7. best read: the hiding place

I read this book for the first time in highschool, but it's so good. I started reading it again about a month ago, after my Dad decided to gift all of his kids a copy. so good. I promise, if you haven't read it, READ IT. you will not be sorry.


8. best jams: semester in a playlist

1. Meet Me Halfway (Black Eyed Peas) good job Ferg.
2. 3 (Britney Spears) catchy. especially when my 3 year old nephew sings it.
3. I Can Transform Ya (Chris Brown) I think he's pist about Rihanna.
4. Down (Jay Sean)
not my fave, but inevitably became the theme of the semester with a 1/4 chance it was going to be on the radio.
5. Body Language (Jesse McCartney)
6. I Look So Good (Without You) (Jessie James) totally girl power. it was a phase.
7. Who Says (John Mayer)
8. I Got You (Leona Lewis)
9. Lollipop (Lil Wayne) guilty pleasure. creepy voice. never gets old. thanks meg.
10. Blame It On The Girls (Mika)
11. 1901 (Phoenix) whole album is amazing.
12. She Wolf (Shakira) awooooooo
13. Marching On (Timbaland & One Republic)
14. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To (Weezer)
15. Motownphilly (Boyz II Men) throwback to my first cd I ever owned.
16. Lean On Me Remix (Swisha Cutz)
17. Bang! Bang! (The Knux) best running song ever.
18. Haven't Met You Yet (Michael Buble) okay I might still be in the phase. plus this song is darling.
19. You and I (Ingrid Michaelson)

my happenings as of late,

I'm not a blogger. I'm convinced I have nothing interesting happening, and if it does happen it happens with this lady, and gets written on her blog. But I don't keep a journal. So I'm trying this as an alternative.

Today, I'm studying for finals. As I have been for the past week. For those wondering, I'm alive. For those who didn't notice, good riddance. I took 18 credit hours this semester. I probably won't do it again. I don't know much about numbers, but don't think that it's been a good ROI.



Today, I went to In-N-Out with James Sukhan. As if that weren't fun enough, there was nowhere to sit. (Utahns have taken this In-N-Out thing a little too seriously, and the line has been out the door since it opened last month). We decided to take up seats next to a lovely couple named Don & MaryAnne. They assumed James and I were dating...so we decided not to argue. A short excerpt from the conversation went as follows:

Don: "So how did you cute guys meet?"
James: "Well, that's an interesting story. Roxy?"
Me: "Funny you should ask. About three years ago, in the same ward, he was dating my good friend."
MaryAnne: "Oh, how is your friend?"
Me: "Oh, just lovely. She's fine."
Don: "How long have you two been in love?"
James: "She actually doesn't know we are yet...I was going to tell her at Christmas."
Don: "Ohhh..I'll make sure not to mention it."
MaryAnne: "Are you guys dating?"
James: "Not yet."
Don: "Look at how darling she is. Why aren't you dating her? You'd better snatch it up before someone in your ward does."
James: "I know, right? Look at how the sun is hitting her hair. She looks like a Christmas miracle."

It was amazing. I love having the opportunity to meet new people and find out their stories. Right now, my sister Holly and I are in the library on campus. Story of our lives...with an extreme case of giggles. It's probably not that funny. I hope she knows how much I love her, and it's been so fun to have her on the same campus as me all year!

And to sign off, here is an amazing way to sum up how I feel. Good work Danielle.

{my prayer}

Now I lay me down to study,
I pray the Lord I won't go nutty.
If I should fail to learn this junk,
I pray the Lord I will not flunk.
And when I lay me down to rest,
I pray I'll pass tomorrow's test.
If I should die before I wake,
that's one less test I'll have to take.
Amen.