In honor of Mother Nature....

8 Crazy Nights!!

Did anyone really see that movie?? I didn't. Ha! So, Rach tagged me... and these are my crazy 8's!

8 of my Favorite Books:

1. Twilight (these each get their own slots!!)
2. New Moon
3. Eclipse
4. Breaking Dawn (if anyone couldn't have guessed that then... ha!)
5. THE ENTIRE HARRY POTTER SERIES (I've read them all multiple times :D)
6. Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Bible
7. The Count of Monte Cristo
8. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (.... I'm a reader....)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Went to work.... alone :(
2. Checked everyone's blog :)
3. Went to Market Street Grill for lunch with Jami :D
4. Drove home from work.... alone.
5. Went to a wedding
6. Went to the dollar store (I love that place)
7. Went out on a date with the hubby (CHINESE FOOD... MMMM!!)
8. Read "The Hobbit" in bed while Patrick read his "Wired" magazine, and Lilly slept on my lap.

8 Things To Look Forward To:

1. Christmas!
2. Swedish massage from Breathe Day Spa on the day after Christmas
3. New Puppy coming soon!
4. 2009
5. Starting our family ;)
6. Nicaragua home getting finished next year
7. Dinner tonight with all my girlfriends!!
8. Mishayla's surprise.... I'm gonna be an aunt-ish!

8 Things On My Wish List:

1. Lose weight
2. BMW x5.... :D (Anyone need a car?? FOR SALE!)
3. Master's in Accounting
4. Get my house painted and decorated
5. Become a master chef... or just learn how to cook (either one)
6. Get Patrick's salon up and going
7. Have children
8. Maybe getting a washer and dryer... maybe... well... nah!

8 Things I Love About Winter:

1. Christmas... duh!
2. Snow!
3. Christmas music, actually it's my favorite! Make music your favorite!
4. .... Christmas movies ....
5. Story of Christmas
6. The Forgotten Carols
7. oh yeah! ...... MY BIRTHDAY!!
8. snuggling with Patrick and Lilly on the couch wrapped up in a warm blanket by the Christmas tree!! MMMM!!

8 To Tag:

1. Mishayla
2. Angie
3. Katie P.
4. Katie B.
5. Victoria
6. Beverly
7. Elise
8. Joni
9. Celeste
10. Sara
11. Cortnie
12. Silvia
13. Oooppsss!!! I went over board... like always!

Dear Santa...

This year has been crazy, but BOY have I been a good GIRL a little OCD, but that's totally OK! Wink, Wink! I wanted to fill you in on everything that has been happening to prove to you I've been good! SO...

I volunteered at Ellie's debate tournament being a judge. It was completely out of my element (being the Choir Geek that I was in high school) but it was so much fun! I actually really really enjoyed it until I realized I couldn't debate myself. Now, I know that's not the point of the judge. If I wanted to get involved I should have done something about it in high school, but seriously!! I was sitting in a room with a bunch of kids listening to them speak. Half of what they were saying was FALSE and they other half was STUPID! I just wanted to have my turn to give a speech and let them know where it's at! HA! Well, I definitely let them have it on paper but it's just not the same. I love these debate tournaments. It gives Ellie and I a chance to hang out and do something together and it's an invigorating activity! Some of these kids are really smart and impressive and others.... well.... :D

So, Christmas is coming and Beki's getting fat! Ha! Seriously!! There are treats EVERYWHERE!!! It's so hard to resist the temptation! Right now, at my work, there are 2 HUGE boxes of bread goodies from Great Harvest, a basket of cookies from Ms. Field's Cookies, and another barrell of... some weird stuff (I can resist that), and then everyday someone brings in more goodies that are homemade. Seriously, guys! STOP!! I can't handle it anymore. But that doesn't mean we're not in the Christmas Spirit! See we put up our tree last week!!

BEFORE:

DURING:

Lilly helping.... kinda...

ALMOST DONE:

DONE:

(kinda, we didn't get the rest of the ornaments up for another week or so. :D)

See Santa!!! We've been good! Slow, but good!! Braxton's brithday was also this month. It's crazy that he's ONE!!!! I forgot to take my camera to his brithday party but it was so much fun. He's starting to walk and it's so funny to see him try.

He's getting so big! I can't wait till I have kids of my own to watch grow up! Then Braxton will have cousins!! Anyway, Christmas is just around the corner, so don't forget about us cuz you know we won't forget about you! We're the ones on the corner with no lights outside and a crazy dog!

Your FRIEND,

Beki Jo

It's funny....

...because I really have no excuses. I'm not in school, I'm a 40 hour a week work junkie, and I haven't taken on any projects since the last one I didn't finished. :) I deserve a round-house kick to the leg (not the stomach or the face because that might possibly hurt). I know I should post more. I'm sorry. I'm sorry {shameful tone}. There really are some pretty cool things that have been going on. SO....

This isn't me... But just pretend :D

Beep beep beep beep beep.... Coming up on the Raymond Blog...

CHRISTMAS TREE EXTRAVAGANZA

D-D-D-DEBATE TOURNY

BRAXTON'S BIRFDAY

AND MORE! :)

Anything below the border is an OCD Mexican... Kinda

I have to post this because it's HILARIOUS!!! More power to the "speech impaired"... Right dad!? Plus, we all know my family is obsessed with "Brown" jokes, a.k.a. tHe FrAnCo FaMiLy!!

The Good, The Bad, And The Expensive!

So Thanksgiving was extremely interesting to say the least! Goods and Bads.

Good: We had Victoria again.
Bad: She left early.
Good: Football game.
Bad: How the football game ended.
Good: Food.
Bad: It didn't seem like anyone ate.
Good: Lots of leftovers.
Bad: Some things shouldn't be leftover.
Good: Black Friday Shopping spree.
Bad: Woke up way too early.
Good: Pretty much done with Christmas shopping.
Bad: Spent way more than I expected to.
Good: Great quality time with Patrick.
Bad: ????? There's nothing bad to tag along with that. :)

Depression is a sick feeling.

So last weekend rocked!! Sort of... First the roses then Twilight!!! I'm not one to watch a midnight premier so we went to that Friday night's movie (still sold out might I add!). I loved it. I know I haven't said much about it or given my review but that's because...

a. I didn't want to spoil it for anyone and I want to give everyone their fair share of expectations. Some people didn't like it and some did, but I think "to each his own." Everyone should see it with a clear view of what's in store for them without any preconceived notions. If you didn't like it, keep it to yourself. If you did! Awesome!! I totally fell in love all over again except for the five minutes that I almost walked out of the theater, not because I didn't like the movie (It hadn't even started yet). I started to panic as soon as we sat in our seats because this was it. I didn't want it end. I felt the same way I did when I finished Breaking Dawn. I was so incredibly sad that I almost left. Almost. Like I'd really walk out on Twilight! HA!

b. I'm just so busy. I start a post and can't seem to finish it. (Just like every other project I seem to start. :D)

c. The game... The Big Game... I really don't want to talk about it.

All about the bubbly!

So yesterday was a criizzazzyy day! Work seems like it's just chugging along for the both of us. Patrick had the day off to take a test so was home most of the afternoon. 3 major things happened:

Numero uno: I got my Jim Brickman "Christmas Themes" book in the mail. I had been waiting for it for a week or so and was so incredibly excited to get home and break it in. For those of you who don't know, Jim Brickman is an AMAZING pianist!! He plays a lot of music and I'm sure you've heard his stuff especially around this time of the year with Christmas and all coming up. Every year around this time I try and reward myself with new Christmas sheet music for the piano. This year I went all out and bought a whole book. I figured it'll give me more to play during the rest of the year. I love it!! Ah!

Numero dos: (That means Number 2 :D) When I got home last night I had a huge suprise waiting for me. Roses and dinner!! Even though Patrick had a bad day and hasn't been feeling well lately, he went out and bought me roses and made me dinner. What an amazing person he is! I love him so much! It's nights like these where being married totally beats being single! Some of my work friends are single and have asked me before why I got married so young, or I didn't date enough or I missed out on a lot of good times, but then I think of all the times like last night and I'm glad I'm not single!

Numero tres: This didn't really happen last night but I had to throw this in there. I got our Twilight tickets! I know. Its da bomb!! :)

P.Track with his awesome apron on!

Candlit and Flowers: My Favorite!

Set up and all!

Sparkling Cider!! I could drink that stuff like it was Dr. Pepper! HA!

Premature I know! So BITE ME!!

I had to! I just had to! I'm sure you can tell what my "OCD of the Week" is (Even though it's early this week instead of late). I've been giggling like an infatuated teenage girl all week! Enough said!

Update:

So I'm posting this spoof video for my husband. He thinks this whole Twilight thing is el stupido and I rather laugh it off then get offended. :)

T-T-T-Tater

So OCD of the week is a little late.. My bad! Well, when I told Patrick this was my topic for "OCD of the Week" he questioned whether or not tater tot cravings can be considered an OCD. Well, all I have to say about that is, whateva! My OCD can be on whatever I want it to be, right? It's all about controlling your OCD.... :) kinda. Anywho, I think I've gone through 2 full bags of tater tots in the last week/week and a half. I know I know. Tater tots every other day probably isn't the best thing to be having for dinner, but seriously, Yumm!! I love them like a fat kid loves chocolate! (I've always wanted to say that!) They are so good and so easy! I can even give you the recipe:

1 bag of tater tots

some salt

ketchup

a bit of cheese (every once in a while)
(sometimes mayo for some fry sauce baby)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (the bag says 450 but I burned them once on that. Too Hot. Don't want to waste perfectly good taters by burning them!) Dump some (maybe a lot) of taters on a cooking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes. (If your in a cheesey mood, when the tots are nice and done, pull cookie sheet out and immediately sprinkle cheese on your taters for an extra cheesy umph.) Salt 'em up, and dip away!!

Man, now I'm hungry for some tater tots!

Give me a PO! Give me a LYGAMISTS!!

What's that spell?!! POLYGAMISTS!!

EErrriiiitttttt...... REWIND!

So I'm gonna try and hit all the high points of the last few weeks. Since the last post that had anything to do with Patrick or I was when he graduated, I'll start from there.

Conference Weekend - It was full of awesomeness. Now, there were some downers attached to this weekend. One being I had to take the GMAT. It sucked!! Not the greatest test in the world but what can you do? We had the great in-laws in town and I had an awesome time catching up with them and hanging with VICTORIA!! Our mall trip during the priesthood session was a sight to see! Let's just say we ended up with a bunch of shirts, a Sonic run, a crave for taters, and big garbaged mess!!! Long story short, the tots with cheese was a brilliant idea!!

More about Patrick - He had a busy month in October. First he graduated, then he took his written test for his license and passed, THEN it was his birthday. Crazy!! We had a full on birthday weekend which has become tradition during birthday season. We had multiple dinners all over the Salt Lake Valley! To start it off on Friday, we hit up the Red Robin's (Patrick's favorite spot for a salad!), then Victoria and her mom came up from P-ville on Saturday and we invaded Applebee's! On Sunday, we went over to Garrick and Emily's (Garrick is Patrick's bro) and had dinner there with his mom. It was so cute looking at old pictures of the boys. Monday (the day!), Patrick made an awesome dinner and we had my familia over along with his best buddy Colby! What a night!! He got a nice array of gifts throughout his weekend: some cologne, a chisel set, a wok, and money, money, money. :P What a happy boy!

All Hallows Eve - Halloween was fun this year. Patrick dressed as his usual Doctor, and I spruced it up a bit with my Ugly Betty Costume. My work was swarming with new people. John McCain and Sarah Palin graced us with their presence, Mr. Incredible stopped by, the communist party stuck around for a bit (try dressing up as a whole political party and see what you come up with!). Later that night we did Sloppy Joe's at my mom's house!! Tradition. Of course. I changed into the best costume of the night. Ellie! That's right! I dressed up as my little sister. I could have won something in that get-up! I even had the laugh down.. You know.. The "throw-your-head-back and laugh really loud and hard" laugh. :)

Ugly Betty

Ellie Franco (right!)

Mr. Incredible

Sarah and John!

Watching my OCD

I haven't posted this week and I have a whole bunch of stuff to post about, but for now... My OCD of the the Week. Football. It's fall and when this time of the year comes around it totally gets me in the football mood. I grew up watching up football and love love love watching. I'm one of those that when football is on, I'm a-watchin! It doesn't matter what teams are playing, I just love watching it. We do, however, have our favorites. Patrick's favorite NFL team is....

Seattle Seahawks

My favorite NFL team is...

Minnesota Vikings

But we both love...

OCD

So, I've had this conversation with my mom before... "I think I might have a slight case of OCD. Seriously." At any given point in my life, I have been slightly OCD about something or another. In high school, it was my school work. Seriously I obsessed over it. I always had everything done and for the most part it was always right. Maybe that's why I was pretty much a loser when I was in high school. Since being married the OCD's tendencies have changed. I know this is probably extremely hard for most of you to believe, but it's true. One of the funniest moments Patrick and I have had is when he noticed one night, while we were still living in our apartment, that, before I went to bed I went around and made sure all the light switches were all down. I'd work it just right so that all the lights were off and all the switches were down. It really bugs. I know what your thinking. Head case. Crazy person. "Coocoo's nest, coocoo's nest!" :) (That one's for you Josie!) I'm getting better. I'm not totally anxious about things that I used to be. Like the radio in the car. When I had my little Honda Civic, the volume on the radio was measured in numbers. I always left the volume at like 20, but Patrick turned it down one time to talk, which was totally fine by me untill he left it at like 9. Uh uh, not cool. I had to turn it down one more notch till it was on 8 (an even number). Phew! I know. I know. Say what you will but I'm working on it. I don't even care any more. Maybe that's because the G6 doesn't have numerical volume control, but what can you do!

I bring this up because every Friday, I'm gonna post about my OCD of the Week. Starting with this one. This week my OCD was actually a certain blog. I found it a week or two ago and read the whole thing from the very first post till now and was sucked in. I seriously would check it for a new post every single chance I got. I'm realizing now that being obsessed over someone elses sad love life is silly. Now, I know some of you read it too and know now that it's totally fictional. When I found that out, I wasn't mad. I was even more anxious that she'd stop writing. She didn't even finish the story. It's like watching a very intense, action-packed movie and the power going out like 10 minutes before the movie ends. You don't ever find out what happens and it tears you up inside! Thankfully, she's gonna keep going and finish. I'm so happy because it's such a heartfelt story. For a person with some anxiety issues, cutting the story off where she did could cause me some problems. Read it and you'll totally understand. Hopefully I can break the habit of checking it like 25 times a day. :)

Be there or be square!!

I totally just bought my tickets for Twilight. That's right TWILIGHT!!! AH!!!!!!!

Oh to be young again!

So last week, sitting at home, hanging out with Patrick and Lilly, I turned the T.V. on to see if there was anything interesting on. Yeah, I think the last of the Presdiential debates was on, and a few more interesting shows, but we ended up watching.....

Yup that's right. Aladdin. ALADDIN!! I know I know. Odd. But as we sat there at watched it, my entire day seemed so silly. I wasn't having a rough day. In fact, work had gone fairly smooth and quick, just how I like it and we had just gotten back from a somewhat frustrating but enlightening trip to Home Depot, but nothing can put a brighter childish smile on your face than a disney movie. We talked about memories from being a kid and how we wanted to be Aladdin and Jasmine growing up. I would totally recommend throwing on an old school disney movie and talk about the good ole' days where nothing mattered but Prince Ali and Abu.

AHHHHH!!!!!!

Amazing! That's all I have to say is AMAZING!!!

Pray for him!

So Patrick graduated last week. We've been waiting for this day.... well, for about 2 years. We had a pretty fun day. At 5, his mom and I went down to his school and were able to witness the "ceremony." It's not really a ceremony but more of a "testimony meeting all about Patrick." What happens is, at the beginning of their day, all the night students get together for a pow-wow. During this pow-wow, the graduate gets to stand in front of all his peers and everyone has the chance to "face" him, or in other words, they have the chance to say something to him or about him in front of the entire class. It was really cool to see how many friends he'd made and how many people he'd helped along the way. Many people talked about when they first met and how great of a friend he's been since. He is really a helpful guy and loves cutting hair so much that he's totally willing to give his expertise where needed.

After that was finished, he had to stay and finish up signing some papers so I took off to Emily's place (my sister-in-law). We hung out there with Braxton and Patrick's mom untill it was time to go to dinner. Barry and Taffee (Patrick's step parents) were flying in for the weekend and took us out to dinner that night. We totally went to Chuck-a-rama. They love that place. I'll admit, we love it too. Their salad bar is the best and I'm a scone person! I'm totally making myself hungry now. Anywho, Patrick's parents are hilarious. They showed up with giant sheers and an extra large comb. I guess they decided Patrick needed a hair cut. I'm so proud of Patrick and can't wait to see what he'll be up to next. He received a bunch of offers to go work at salons. He even got one to help open up a salon and give the Patrick Raymond feel to it, but we're still weighing all of our options. Right now he's just filling up his own personal books with appointments. It seems he'll be just as busy now then he was when he was in school.

Hot Stuff!

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If you win one, I want to see it!

My Best Friends Wedding!!

It all started with that one phone call.... "I'm engaged!" The adventure began, I had to get my best friend back! {Intense background music should be playing now.} I had to do everything I could, even though her husband-to-be is a great guy and super nice, that wasn't important. I "flew" out to her place for the wedding and was intent on my plans. The Wednesday before the big day we had a girls evening and went and got our mani/pedis. Throughout our time there, I had to be discreet about my plans {Insert evil laugh here}. We chatted about old times and "good" times to come (If only she knew!) It was a great night! The next night was a dinner held in the couple's honor. It was good food, good company and we had some good laughs. The audience was supposed to go around and tell of a good memory of the person they knew, bride or groom. This was my chance! I was running out of time. I had to think of something so embarrassing that he would go running for the chapel doors. I couldn't think of anything. She's not an easy person to embarrass and even if I could have thought of something horrible and no good, something that is usually kept between best friends, he wouldn't have gone anywhere. You could tell. Dang it! I lost. I know most people say, "You haven't lost a friend, but gained another." Yeah right! He was gonna take her away and never come back! Ok, ok, maybe I'm being melodramatic, but as happy as they were, I knew things were never gonna be the same.

One of my favorite movies of all time is "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts. I wanted to make this a suspensful, and exciting post, but there is no way I was gonna kiss my best friend at the end. :) We just don't lean that way.

The next morning, the day of the wedding, I got ready in hurry and nearly missed the ceremony. It was beautiful though. I wanted her to know how excited I really was for her and that the true "best friend" had won. She was so happy. My best friend is married! Shayla, I'm so truely excited for you. This is going to be the best time of our lives! We're going to be "Best Married Friends" now. A force to be reckoned with!

Mishayla and Daniel Lindeman!!

Shayla's Hawaiian Bouquet

Yahozzerrss!!

I know you don't like this pic, and that's probably why I love it!

Married friends rock!

Her Hawaiian Wedding Cake!