Chicago

There will be pictures to follow for sure, but for now here are my impressions of The Windy City, which is actually not Windy and was named that because of political tormoil which Chicago is famous for. Political Corruption and Democrats are in an abundance.

1) First of all Chicago is gorgeous. Kind of scary, but still beautiful.
2) I got stuck on a train coming back from the city because we ran over a limo that got stuck on the tracks. Funny at first, but I just felt awful for the guy afterwards.
3) Noah's family is amazing and have been incredibly good to me.

Tonight we went out for sushi, which I love. That's just a sneak peek folks. Probably update ya'll when I get into MD. Happy New Year!

The Intricacies of Wonderful Winter Weather

I'd like to begin by making a pros and cons list of snow.  Let's begin by listing the negatives so as to end on a good note.

Cons:

1.  Frederick is out of commission again.(see number 7 of "Pros" list)

2.  It's cold.

3.  I fall often and look ridiculous.

4.  I have to ride the bus, which is expensive and takes longer to get to work so I get less sleep.

5.  If I miss it, I have to wait half-an-hour for another one to come.

6.  It's dangerous.

7.  I'm broke.

Pros:

1.  It's beautiful and while cold is not quite as cold as it normally would be without the cold.  Doesn't make sense really, but it's true.

2.  It provides extra exercise for my legs.

3.  It covers the world in a beautiful white blanket that makes everything quieter.

4.  You can build things in it, like sea turtles, snowmen.

5.  You can fight with it.

6.  No room in the freezer?  Stick things outside to keep them cold. :)

7.  I've made great new friends by bumming rides off of others and off of the UTA bus system.  We have a love hate relationship.

8.  I'm not really as cold because I'm not riding the scooter.

9.  It makes the office very quiet.  Gives me time to think.

On that note I'm exhausted.  Noah leaves at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning for 5 days.  Lame.

Directly from The Office

Today I'm writing from the office.  I've been designing an ad for the office in the phonebook and have a computer with internet on it.  So here I am, just sitting.

Some good news, I have a new job!  Woo hoo!  The catch is I'm actually staying on part-time here at the office.  Never thought it would work out like that.  Luckily for me the scooter has been starting pretty ok and the snow has refrained from sticking for which I am very, very grateful.  The hope is I might be getting a car.

Lucky for me, Ruth's friend is selling hers for $2300 and I might just go ahead and buy it...that is if I can come up with a loan and then sell Frederick.  How sad.  I will always remember the good times Fred.

The Mexican

I believe I'm obsessed with the color red.  So when I waltzed out into the living room sporting my red lipstick I'm sure it didn't come as a surprise.

Noah and I have this issue where we don't take very good pictures.  At least we look like we like each other.  Please note the big fat one I laid on him.  Above and below.

He's not Mexican, but he does speak Spanish...

Reporting from Castle Dale

I didn't bring my camera with me so don't expect any photos from this historic Thanksgiving. I don't believe I've had so much good food in so long. I've recently become obsessed with Noah's Aunt Liz's shortbread cookies in combination with Aunt Shelley's raspberry freezer jam, which gets to come back with Noah and I. I'm pretty sure I was the only person who had their own bed, there were like 23 people at Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun being with his family who love playing Mafia. I got through every game as either Mafia or a Detective. The funniest part is that it's a personal insult if you kill someone. I'll have to go into more detail later, but I'm pretty sure I'm coming back from the middle of no where 5 lbs. heavier.

Miracles Can Happen

Bedtime very shortly but I just had to brag....

MY SCOOTER WORKS BETTER THAN EVER!!!!!

($350 later that is...)

Violent Revelation

Yesterday marked the second bike accident occurring in exactly the same way in 2 years.  Last time the bike accident got me a job.  This time it made me realize I hate my job.  Funny how that happens.

I bruised my knee pretty good this time around and landed a nice bump on the head.  Noah brought me a gift later in the form of his bike helmet.  So after all that's been happening to me I've realized how grateful I am.

Things to be grateful for:

1) I didn't bust my head open even though my face skidded on the ground and miraculously didn't really even leave a mark.

2)My roommates to the rescue and then fixing me dinner (which was delicious).

3)Noah for bandaging my wounds, fixing the twisted handlebars, oiling my bike chain, adjusting the brakes, and screwing my front wheel back on.  All done without me asking him.

4)My FHE group who made me "get well" cards.  They were very creative and involved bloody depictions of the accident.

5)My parents and my grandmother who have offered to help fix Frederick.

6)A good knock in the head to realize I'm not cut out to be a legal receptionist.

The Office

Two days ago I was a witness for a will. I've never done that before.

I've discovered that paperclips are one of those things that get caught in EVERYTHING. You find them everywhere--the little devils.

Chris found me on my hands and knees vacuuming. He told me I shouldn't have to do that, (the hands and knees part, he had asked me to vacuum). I'm hoping it gets me a raise.

The cursing that come from both the clients and the attorneys, (especially Guy, "Those damn files weren't organized when they were open, but now that they're closed damn it, the will be." *Note: Guy's favorite pastimes are family history and canning), is really funny. I've actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It's made me feel like I'm back in Maryland again.

I wore Megan's skull earrings to work and showed them off to Chris after he told me I looked nice.

Chris thinks I'm crazy because I majored in art and wanted to know what I planned on doing with it. I still have no plans as of yet for that degree of mine. :)

*Notes: Still biking to work, Frederick now starts, but he only goes 5mph, (see previous post).

Prayers

I've decided that I'm going to need to be more specific next time I pray.  The Lord answered my prayer; the scooter starts in every condition, cold or warm.  One small problem--he doesn't go above 5 mph.  Imagine my friends me traveling up 700 East at that whopping speed.  I got gas and laughed all the way home where I hit a top speed of 10mph.  Then I laid down in my driveway, called Noah, and cried.  

Cried because I'd have to go to work on my bike again the next day, because I'm a slacker, because I spent $75 to fix the problem that never got fixed, because I make $9 an hour at a job that I kind of like, but kind of hate, where they are talking about not letting me go full-time.  If they don't, I don't really know how I'm going to live.  I mostly cried because I felt powerless to fix it, and Noah sat and listened and then made me laugh.  

So today I'm not crying and I'm still hoping that one day Frederick will run again and I can sell him (which really might make me cry) and get a car.  I'm just happy it didn't snow and I can still see the leaves and I can still bike to work.  Happy I can still pay the rent and my tithing.  Such is life, it's really not so bad. :)

A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

I suppose it's time for an update on the life of Becky Freaking Whipple.  This weekend Noah and I went to Laura's opening reception which had excellent food, people, and extremely excellent artwork.  We had a good time at the other show as well where I pulled a flyer off of the wall to participate in.  Interactive exhibits are my favorite and mine is number 64:

Put on a puppet show for your friends about a story from your childhood.

I have a whole bunch of tube socks I'm really excited to cut apart.  What story I'm going to tell, I'm not sure yet.

Work at the office is good.  I interviewed for another full-time job, but it pays partly as commission and I've decided I make more at my job right now.  Rumor is the other secretary might have another job and that means I could go full time baby!

Some other exciting news...I'm going to Chicago for Christmas to meet Noah's family.  I'm pretty excited, I've never been to Chicago for an extended period of time.  Plus, I won't have to go a whole two weeks without seeing him.  I know, you think I'm pathetic, but well what can you do?

Also, I'm thinking about starting up a wedding invitation business via the Wilk Board.  Noah and I were brainstorming ideas, but I'm open to anything anyone has to say about what I should name the invite business.  I thought Inventive Invites...let me know what you think.  Well that's all for now.  Hope life is good in your neighborhood.

A Disaster of a Natural Disaster

So I was thinking the other day of all the places I'd never want to be if there were a natural disaster:

-the bathroom

-naked anywhere

-on top of a very tall building(unless there was lava, then, I don't know)

-Wal-Mart(You might think this is a good place to be with food and such, no, the mass panic that would ensue will turn Wal-Mart into a boiling bed of destruction)

Places I'd actually like to be:

-On my scooter(just because if I were to die I'd like to go while I was riding around on it)

-Outerspace(this is would be a very opportune time to be an astronaut)

-Watching General Conference or Attending the temple

Spider attack at the Halfway House

So Esther and I , on our way back from our Smith's adventure, discovered this on our doorstep:

Needless to say, we tried to swipe at with a broom with no success and it's still there.  So guess who had dreams about spider bites?  I woke up twice in an hour because I was afraid I was going to get bitten.  This adds to the dream I had earlier about a spider on me.  I'm still convinced that was not a dream.  In the meantime, the spider plague continues.

For Amanda

Goober

Good News

I have employment!  I'm working at a legal receptionist now!  It's kind of intimidating, and I'm only working part time, but it's most certainly a job.  $9 an hour with 25 hours of work a week makes up enough to pay rent I think.

In regards to the rest of my life, while graduation was fantastic, the aftermath isn't quite what I had hoped for.  My personal life is probably what's keeping me afloat at this point.

Noah stuck around on Friday instead of going to SLC to catch a plane to Chicago, Saturday morning.  We went to Alex's, "Scoop the Stoop" with Katie(Brandon's blind date and my friend as well as Noah's) and Brandon(Noah's roommate).  Loaded with root beer and ice cream we took off for campus to attempt sliding down banisters.  We gave up after a few attempts and explored the JFSB.

After discovering that the balcony was closed and after studying the diagram of campus we sat out in the courtyard on the grass until the sprinklers went off.  It was at that point that I got shoved to the side by Noah and pushed to the ground.  Luckily for him, he came back for me.  I was sorely upset. :)  However, after that he made some grilled cheese sandwiches so I was mollified.

Besides that it's been a little lonely this weekend with the roommates MIA.

Frustrating and Not so Frustrating Moments

I would like to start this off by saying that I have been very blessed.  In all of those extremely frustrating moments where you don't have a job, no one is hiring full-time, and you'd like to cry yourself to sleep at night almost every night, there is still a ray of sunlight somewhere.  I'd like to start with the list of good things that are happening in my life:

Friends-These are excellent.  They are very wonderful and have been keeping me alive.

Boyfriend-He's the best.  Seriously.

My Family-They still love me after all.

A Place to Live-I still have this, at least until next month.  Then I'm broke, officially.

Food-My roommates have been providing fresh goods.  Told you, they are excellent.

The Gospel-Still there.  I still have a testimony and I know that's what's going to be key.

Clothes-Still wearing them.

So you see I've been very blessed.  I'm just lacking employment.  I have a college degree, I can do this!  Also, Frederick is sick.  Luckily there is a man coming to look at him tomorrow to fix him.  Oh I really hope he fixes him.

Sweet Newish Clothes

Basically, I am the queen of alterations.  Er, well maybe not, but still I freaking fixed like 5-6 shirts today.  

Remember how I lost 34 lbs. and my pants and shirts which are still in great condition no longer fit?  Well, no worries, I just took em' in a little bit with my handy-dandy sewing machine that  I got last Christmas and never used until this September.  

Took me a year, but yes it came in handy while I continue to sit at home on my couch applying to millions of jobs I hope I get.  Good news is at least tomorrow I have an interview.

Also, this whole weight lost thing has given me the excuse to buy a new skirt for the interviews I'm going to be going to.  Sometimes, losing weight gives you excuses for many happy things.

Saturday's Recap

Today I decided that making many posts about a significant other is lame.  So, here I am trying to make amends.

This was the score just as half-time finished at the BYU v UCLA game.  42 to 0, BYU's winning.  Seriously, it was amazing.
I love Marie!  You can tell by this picture.
Look, the freshmen wardies plus Jamie and Lindsey's friend and Shannon all together again!  (Not Pictured: Alex)  

And for all of you who care to know after the game, I got a new duvet cover from Ikea. :)

Down With Boredom

I have about an hour to keep myself busy so here I am giving you an update of my week.

Mon-BORED

Tues-BORED

Wed-BORED

Thurs-BORED

Okay, so I'm exaggerating.  I was mostly bored most of those days, but in the evenings I've been pretty occupied with my dear boyfriend Noah.  Besides that, no job, no life.  I have to admit for the past two weeks he's done a pretty darn good job of keeping me from going insane and being transported to the mental institution just up the road.  Another week of this and I think I might just take up residence there voluntarily.

On Boyfriends

There are serious perks to dating someone.  Let me list a few:

1. Kissing, holding hands, the whole thing is just...awesome.

2. Free stuff.

3. Someone to tell you jokes, often.

That's as far as the list goes for now, but I'll keep ya'll updated.