Nothing Like the Holidays!

"I just love this time of year. All the red. And green. "

Isn't it the best? Well I wanted to write a post because I'm excited about Christmas and I'm procrastinating homework. So win/win. Since I just keep making lists on my blog I decided to make some more! Yay!

Best Christmas Movies: (order is still debatable)

1. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
3. Meet Me in St. Louis
4. Muppet Christmas Carol
5. White Christmas
6. Elf

Best Christmas Songs:

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
3. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - Nsync (yep I just went from Crosby to Nsync)
4. All I Want for Christmas is You - Mariah Carey
5. Christmas Eve - Celine Dion

Best Christmas CDs:

1. Handel - The Messiah
2. Jenny Oak Baker - O Holy Night
3. Kurt Bestor -Kurt Bestor Christmas
4. James Oneil Minor - Christmas Dreaming
5. Josh Groban - Noel

Best Christmas Treats

1. Hot Chocolate
2. Peppermint Ice Cream with Hot Fudge
3. Candy
4. Candy Canes
5. Candy Corns and Syrup

Best Christmas Traditions:

1. Caroling as a family. So many memories from this!
2. All sleeping in the same room on Christmas Eve. I look forward to that this year. Think all 16 of us will fit?
3. Opening presents one by one Christmas day. Similarly, opening a present on Christmas eve.
4. Decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. The first few hours of this are quite fun.
5. Christmas card pictures! They're kind of always a pain to take, but I love them. My favorite Christmas decoration in the house is the big frame with all of our Christmas card pictures in it. There are some pretty bad ones. Like this beauty below. My mom wanted to do a scarf/turtleneck theme. Well Jessie didn't own any turtlenecks so she's wearing Sara's and Sara and Chrissy are wearing my mom's. Benjy's scarf has pink on it, so that's why it's tucked under. I just love this pic so much. David's backstreet boy stance is probably my favorite. I'm still trying to figure out how this one didn't get picked.

These are just a few of the reasons why I'm excited for Christmas. I have 16 others though! My whole family is going to be together for Christmas this year. Here's a picture of our last Christmas together. Add 4 1/2 and you've got my family!

Does she think she's going to end up with the fictional character?

Not think. Know.

Welcome to the post that reveals Becky's celebrity crushes. Okay this post is going to embarrass me completely, but that's okay. You know why? Because everyone has these ridiculous crushes, and don't you even try to deny it! I know you do. So let's bring mine out. Starting with actors....

James Marsden. I think this picture says it all, but in case you need more excuses here it goes...James Marsden is awesome because he is versatile. From Enchanted to Hairspray to 27 Dresses (which I actually hate except for the parts with him) to X-Men to Saved by the Bell (he's in a few episodes) to horror movies that I don't watch he can do it all. Plus he's got a great smile and gorgeous eyes. Oh yeah and he can sing. So he wins.

Gene Kelly. The gentleman. The singing. The dancing. The smile full of dimples. Maybe I've had a crush on Gene Kelly since I was a little girl and watched Singing in the Rain. I just love his voice, it's so simple but still

gorgeous. Then he starts to dance! Just when I thought he couldn't get any better I saw this clip: Gene Kelly. (It gets good 2 min in.) Okay so maybe there's all this gossip that he wasn't nice and maybe he's dead. But come on, can't a girl dream?

So of course I have plenty other little crushes on actors, but I think these two are the biggest and the ones I'm least ashamed of. Now let's move on to my musician crushes. Turns out Lance from NSYNC is gay, but that crush was so 10 years a go and these men are way cooler.

Meet Benton Paul. I first heard him when he opened for David Archuleta. I really like his simple style of music and I love his lyrics. I may or may not have heard him live 5 times. Not because I'm a crazy weirdo fan, but because it's always cheap and convenient. Here's a picture from the other day when he came to Rexburg to do a show. Here's one of my favorite songs: I Only See You.

William Joseph. I first heard his music when Chrissy and I were driving to a concert about six years a go. Now I have both of his CDs, and one of his books. I think his music is just so beautiful. I was so excited when I found out he was coming to BYU-Idaho last fall. Best. Concert. Ever. Seriously it was incredible! I hope he comes again. Here's one of my favorite songs of his: A Mother's Heart.

There are my musician crushes. Justin Bieber made a close third. Just kidding. Next section - dancing crushes. So normal people wouldn't have a section for their favorite dancing celebrities, but since when have I been normal? Plus when you watch So You Think You Can Dance faithfully you're bound to get a few crushes. So here are the dancing men crushes:

Twitch. Twitch was probably my favorite dancer ever on So You Think You Can Dance. He always had the coolest solos, he did pretty well in all genres, and he had an awesome personality. Plus since the show he's actually gone places! He was on Hairspray, Step up 3, Stomp the Yard 2, and an episode of Bones. (I can't believe I suffered through that. What a boring show.) I just love watching Twitch dance. Also "I want to bake cookies on his stomach." (Please know what I'm quoting.) Here's a sample of why he is awesome: Twitch Solo.

Neil Haskell. Neil is my second favorite dancer (maybe 1st?) to be on So You Think You Can Dance. You want to talk about awesome personalities? He wins. Seriously he was so funny and oh boy he is an amazing dancer! Since the show he's been on one awesome movie (The American Mall), now he just needs to be in more! I couldn't find one dance that was my favorite of him and showed off his talent completely, but I think this is a fun dance: Neil and Sara disco.

So there you have it. My celebrity crushes. Am I embarrassed? Extremely, but I know you have them too!

We have so much, that we can share!

In light of my favorite holiday coming up I thought I'd write a thankful post. A whole post without sarcasm? Well I'll try. I was going to write a list of the things I'm most thankful for; the gospel, my family, my friends, school, America, etc. However I hope you all know that I'm thankful for those things, so here are some random things that I love (and I'm thankful for them):

1. Getting letters in the mail. Barbara's always have hilarious stories and awesome aliases, Bridget's include games, Christine's are always longer than 10 pages, and missionary letters are just awesome!

2. Sitting by the fire reading Christmas stories. (Bonus = hot chocolate)

3. Waking up Sunday morning to a clean house.

4. Big, baggy sweatshirts. I have this routine where as soon as I'm done with school the sweater comes off and the big hoodie goes on.

5. Tootsie Rolls. Best. Candy. Ever.

6. The electric blanket in my bed. Love it.

7. Puzzles.

8. Sleeping in fresh, clean sheets.

9. Hot cars. Maybe Jessie and I will sometimes just sit in the carport postponing getting out.

10. Hearing the nieces and nephews say my name.

11. Bookstores. I hate shopping, but I could spend hours in there.

12. Skype.

13. Family dinners at Aunt Margaret's. Perfect meat, mashed potatoes, rolls, and plenty of desserts. Oh yeah, good company too.

14. Singing with family. I have so many wonderful memories gathered around the piano learning our new caroling song, or the song we were going to sing in church, or making up our own Sound of Music medley (oh boy that was embarrassing.)

15. The love of traveling that was passed down from my grandma, Mutti, to my mom, to me.

16. Beautiful fall days. Fall is the best season. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

17. "The nice feeling I get in Sunday School."

18. Phone calls with siblings. Recently I was especially touched when my little brother called me because he heard I was having a bad day. What a gem.

19. The end of really productive days. Even though they may seem hectic I love sitting at the end and thinking, hmm....I just accomplished a lot.

20. Babysitting. It's like playing mom. I'm especially thankful the Nelsons always let me watch their kids. I've loved babysitting for them for almost 7 years! I love watching them grow up and I'm glad I get to be a small part of their lives.

21. Beautiful scores. Also, Handel's Messiah.

22. Coloring. I have this recent fetish with coloring. It's a little weird.

23. Random memories of Jerusalem that pop in my head.

24. Watching Disney movies. Preferably animated.

25. It waited until yesterday to snow. I'm very thankful for that.

Halloween. Meh.

I don't love Halloween. I mean it's better than St Patrick's Day and April Fools Day but not by much. Let's just say I'm not going to be nominated holiday chair mister for this holiday. However, I'm trying to have a good attitude because my roommates are tired of me being a cotton headed ninny muggins about it. Here's are some of my thoughts on Halloween and only 1/2 them are negative!

1. Worst Candy: Sweet Tarts, Caramel Apple Suckers, and Bottlecaps. Maybe Jessie and I pretended Bottlecaps & Sweet Tarts were vitamins and we forced ourselves to eat them so we could finish off all our candy. Or we'd put them into water to make 'tea'. They didn't make great tea parties.
2. Favorite Candy: Butterfinger was my favorite candy during my trick or treating years.
3. Worst Halloween Movie: All of them.
4. Favorite Halloween Movie: I don't like Halloween movies. The Halloweentown High movies are okay, but that's it.
5. Worst Halloween Song: Monster Mash
6. Favorite Halloween Song: The Ghost of John, Halloween Cat, and the one that goes, "Stir it in my witches brew. I got magic. Ala-kazam-akazoo!"
7. Worst Tradition: My mom made us this soup every Halloween. It was horrible. We couldn't go Trick or Treating until we had eaten all our soup. No wonder I hated trick or treating. That and the whole part where I had to beg people for candy. AWKWARD.
8. Favorite Tradition: Whenever we got home from Halloween we emptied out our pumpkin bins and counted. I still can't figure out how Benjy would always get more candy. Maybe he's cuter? Next we'd make displays of our candy, I usually made a big house. Then we'd open the market and switch our candies around. Marie drove an especially hard bargain.
9. Worst Random Memory: I was a cowgirl one year (yeah, real original I know) and I realized half way through the day I was sneezing because Benjy's hat I had borrowed had horse hair all over it. Unforunately there was a greasy mop in it, so I had to leave it on.
10. Favorite Random Memory: Doing cha-cha to the Monster Mash in the Wakefield's basement. Todd (my partner) was not pleased, but his mom was loving it. She had us dance to all of the songs on this Ballroom Halloween CD. That's it! I've figured out what I'm getting David for Christmas.
11. Worst Costume: I was a cheerleader in 4th grade. I might be extremely ashamed of this.
12. Best Costume: That would have to be Halloween 2008. My roommate, Katelyn Hanny and I dressed up for Halloween. We were Pearl and Mildred. Maybe I made this whole post as an excuse to show you the following pictures. Don't even try and tell me we don't look awesome:

How many licks does it take?

First off I hate this phrase. What patient person actually has the willpower to only lick a tootsie pop? Not me, I usually last 10 seconds before I'm chewing the tootsie roll. So let's ask a realistic question.

How many licks does it take to eat a whole jar of peanut butter?

Well I don't know how many licks it takes me, but I know that it takes me less than 1 1/2 months! Yep, that's right. 1 1/2 months. You're probably horrified right now, I know I am. But here's the thing, I don't actually lick the peanut butter out, I eat it on a variety of different things. Here's how I emptied my peanut butter jar:

1. Peanut Butter on Saltines.

2. Peanut Butter on Celery.

3. Peanut Butter on Carrots.

4. Peanut Butter - Jelly sandwiches.

5. Peanut Butter - Jelly tortillas. Yep, that's right. Delicious!

6. Peanut Butter - Banana sandwiches.

7. Peanut Butter Cookies. See? I didn't eat all the peanut butter! Half a cup of it was distributed into cookies. Which I ate. Dang it.

Fine. I might have an addiction to peanut butter.

It's a Ruff Life

I never thought I'd have a blog post with that title. Ever. But there is a good reason...

Friday night Jessie and I wanted to get a movie from Redbox. So we got online to look at our options. As we were scrolling down we became quite distraught at the surprising amount of dog movies. What on earth is going on? Is there a shortage of actors/actresses? Are dogs taking over? Do people actually enjoy watching movies where real life animals talk? Because they shouldn't. It's creepy.

So let's talk about these movies. Here are a few of the treasures I found:

1. Marmaduke A talking dog is a no. A talking dog with sunglasses is a BIG no! Even if Owen Wilson is his voice.
2. Cats and Dogs ...as if a movie with just dogs isn't bad enough let's add in some cats. We'll make Homeward Bounds for this generation because they didn't suffer through that.
3. Soccer Dog Of course a hopeless soccer team would recruit a dog. Brilliant?! If there had been a dog playing soccer when I played in elementary school I would've gone nuts.
4. The Gold Retrievers Maybe if it was about Gold Labs I'd watch it. But probably not.
5. Chestnut The dog's name is chestnut. And he wears sunglasses. Enough said.
6. Cop Dog Everybody's favorite cop is a dog. Great. What a hero.

I guess I should be glad no Beethovens were at Redbox at the time, but still. I think this poster sums it all up. It's supposed to make me go "Aw." But oh boy it makes me mad.

5 Random Pet Peeves

1. "Whinny do nothings that don't deserve either one of them." (If you don't know what I'm quoting do yourself a favor and go to the following link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/114945/saturday-night-live-lab-partners) I'm talking about Bella, Katniss, and all those other girls in movies and books that drag along two boys because they can'd decide which one they like. Girls you need to stop doing that. There aren't enough boys for each of us to have two, hey there aren't enough for each of us to have one. So you're being selfish. If you need help I'm available and I'll take Gayle or Jacob. Keyword: OR.


2. Back scratchers. Seriously I love it when people scratch my back, but there's a time and a place. Unfortunately not many people know when that is. I've sat in class behind so many back scratchers just growling (I'm growling, not them) as they caress, pause to whisper something and smile at the person, and then continue in their scratch. AH!!!


3. Bare feet in class. I guess shoes get obnoxious in class or something, so boys and girls will take them off, set them aside, and just sit there in their bare feet or stocking feet. Sometimes they even walk around like that.This drives me up a wall. I think it shows a huge lack of respect, and more often than not it doesn't smell that great.


4. Mickey Mouse. He drives me crazy. Have you heard his voice? Yes, I know that Walt Disney did it for a while and so I'm a horrible person. Still I have to be honest he just really bothers me. Him and Winnie the Pooh. I don't care three straws about either one of them.


5. Unsharp pencils. Is there anything more painful than hearing someone write with a dull pencil? I have chills just thinking about it. I mean I know pencil sharpeners basically don't exist anymore, but still is it that hard to sharpen a pencil?

So there you have some of my ridiculous pet peeves. Laugh all you want, but I'm sure you've got weird ones too.

Dear Jewelry Loving Men,

1. I don't understand you. Jewelry is for girls. You should know that, but some of you don't. Some of you just have to wear jewelry. Well I'm here to help you out to guide you on your jewelry wearing path. Here are some simple guidelines to follow.
2. Earrings are gross. I can't believe I even have to explain this. The diamond stud is especially disturbing so lose it. That means you Mitchell Musso.
3. Necklaces are a no no. I don't care if it is an arrowhead, lucky charm, small ring that doesn't fit on your finger, elephants tusk, silver chain, or homemade rope necklace. Don't wear it. just don't.
4. Easy on the wrists. Watches are pretty attractive so let's just have those be the only things on your wrists. Bracelets are for girls, but some of you insist on wearing them. Fine. Just don't let it be silver or gold chains. Wear one of those rubber bracelets that show your patriotism or one of those weird rope looking things. Don't wear rubber bands on your wrist because then I just want to come up and pull it.
5. Absolutely no toe rings. Okay so I have never seen this one and I doubt I ever will, but I just wanted to throw that gaggy image out there. Can you think of anything more slimy?
6. Rings. Your third finger and your fourth finger are just fine. And if you're married by all means please wear your wedding ring so I don't have a crush on you for two minutes before I find out you're married with a kid. That's just awkward.
7. Pointer finger rings are pretty bothersome. They aren't horrible, but they're kind of ugly. And they distract me when you're teaching a Sunday School lesson and keep using your hands to talk.
8. Thumb rings are worse than pointer finger rings. Don't do it. These are ugly and horrible but they aren't as bad as...
9. Pinky rings. Is there anything as ugly as a pinky ring on a boy? Okay so this isn't very common these days, but it was common back in Jane Austen's time. And unfortunately, I watch movies about Jane Austen's time and I fall in love with her men. There will be this beautiful scene then the boy's hand comes into the picture and he has a pinky ring. Uh. Totally ruins it. Just look at this picture and try and tell me the pinky ring doesn't destroy it.
10. In order to obey rules 1-9 just do the following: Don't wear jewelry unless it's a watch or wedding ring. Thanks a lot!

Love, Becky

When you grow up in a family with mostly girls:

1. You dress your little brother up as a girl and name her Benjalina.
2. You don't get any Star Wars or Lord of the Rings jokes.
3. You think action figures should remain as just toys. Of course you didn't read the comic strips so when you watch the movies you get super confused. Seriously, no more action figure movies!
4. The best part of any TV show is the romance. Whether it's Chuck and Sara, Jim and Pam, or Shawn and Jules their part in the episode makes or breaks it.
5. You get a blister on your thumb after playing Mario Kart for 1/2 an hour. Seriously. A blister. 1/2 an hour!