Five Photos that I Feel Beautiful In

I can never participate in "Facebook games", you know the ones. Someone posts a picture or a meme and tags you in it to complete the same challenge they did. I've seen this done with surveys about yourself, photos with a theme, and even asking to do a certain status update. I don't participate.

It's not that I'm stuck up or think I'm too good for those games. When I DO try to participate the result is much longer than what the game is requiring. I complete the survey, but my answers are far too detailed or thought out. I choose the photos with a theme but have to explain each one. My status update turns into a mini blog post, so I end up writing it here anyways. I'm just not good at the short to the point post that the game wants you to have.

So I'm playing a Facebook game: Five Pictures of Me that Make Me Feel Beautiful

#1. This is a typical "selfie", taken when you feel like you're looking good and better capture it. I chose this one because it's one of my better selflies. My hair turned out cute, my eye make up was spot on, and my expression was different than just my regular smile. I felt beautiful. I think this is what most people think of when they choose their profile picture. I don't think selfies are wrong, but they aren't the only way we can feel beautiful.

#2. I love this picture. I was visiting some of my best friends in Idaho and we were just cracking each other up. I don't even know what we were saying, but as I was laughing my friend snapped this shot of me. It captured the moment perfectly. It was one of the best weekend get aways of my life. I feel beautiful when I'm surrounded by unconditional love.

#3.  I believe I'm most beautiful when I am just myself; being weird, crazy, or just funny. I had made this face and Andrew found it so funny he made me recreate it so he could take a photo. True beauty isn't always about the perfect pose or right look.

#4. Beauty doesn't always come when you are trying. I had hard day at work and told Ashleigh I was coming by to snuggle with Henry. It was so relaxing that we both fell asleep. Of course someone took a picture, thank goodness my mouth wasn't open or anything. 

#5. This was taken in college on the Rexburg Temple grounds. I always feel beautiful in the House of the Lord. It was always a nice walk up to the temple and this moment captured that peace that came from just being on the temple grounds. 

I've captured at least five ways that I feel beautiful for many different reasons. I could continue the list, but thankfully they gave a limit on the number of photos. When do you feel most beautiful?

Beautifully happy,

Arica

Women: How to be TRULY Attractive

I subscribe to a weekly email that talks about relationships and more. It's always so interesting. This latest article was fascinating to me! Stephen Hussey describes what I believe makes someone really attractive, I'll add my two cents at the end. 

Dating advice is starting to irritate me more and more.

I’m so bored of reading about that ‘Irresistible First-Date Kiss That Will Keep Him Hooked Forever’.

I’m fed up of click-bait magazine articles telling women how to create a steamy night of passion by lighting a scented candle and whispering something into his ear about not wearing underwear, or wearing matching underwear, or whatever the party line on undergarment etiquette happens to be that week.

I’ve read enough about ‘Body Language That Tells You It’s True Love’ and ‘Sexy Positions He Secretly Wants His Girlfriend To Do In Bed’ to last a lifetime.

So I’ve decided to list some of the sexiest traits I find in a woman that go beyond the usual magazine fodder.

Some are universal to all guys. Others are my own personal preferences.

It’s not an exhaustive list, but these are the things I feel REALLY MATTER, the things that click in my head and set off my “she’s amazing, keep her!” alarm after a few months into dating.

15 Unconventionally Sexy Traits In The Woman I’d Love To Date

I’ve separated the specific traits into four general areas.

Put these traits all together and a girlfriend (at least to me) becomes so sexy – so incredibly attractive – she’s basically irreplaceable:

1. An Intelligent/Beautiful Mind
* A girlfriend with a rich intellectual life, who is engaged in lifelong learning and reads good books for pleasure (think One Hundred Years of Solitude rather than Fifty Shades Of Grey).

* A girlfriend who is genuinely open-minded about new experiences and is capable of changing her opinions, rather than the woman who thinks ‘open-minded’ means ‘believing in everything’, from the power of healing crystals to Dowsing.

* A girlfriend who is a critical thinker and questions everything, embraces doubt, and isn’t dogmatic about her views.

2. Intimacy and Thoughtfulness

* A girlfriend who learns my likes and dislikes and shows that she factors them into her decisions without complaining.

* A girlfriend who will hug me when I’ve been beaten up (emotionally) by everyone else instead of making me feel like less of a man for being vulnerable.

* A girlfriend who will let me hold her when she’s suffering without accusing me of being patronizing.

* A girlfriend who is a problem-solver and works out difficulties together. She doesn’t shut down or hide in moments of conflict.

* A girlfriend who tells me the truth without making me feel judged, and corrects me without making me feel like an inept, hopeless child.

3. Integrity and Rounded Character

* A girlfriend who decides for herself what is important for her mind to focus on, instead of parroting whatever her celebrity-filled twitter feed tells her is big news this week.

* A girlfriend who loves socializing for fun and enjoyment, not because she wants validation and attention.

* A girlfriend who can debate without turning it into an argument.

* A girlfriend who adapts to situations. She can drink beer and play pool, go running together in the park, be elegant and charming at a dinner party, work on our laptops in the evening, and wear sweats and eat pizza when we relax on the weekend.

4. Long-Term Thinker

* A girlfriend who invests in her long-term skills and potential instead of desperately trying to hold onto superficial things through her twenties/thirties/forties.

* A girlfriend who takes pride in being able to take care of her own life, and doesn’t secretly dream someone will come and fix it for her.

* A girlfriend who builds a future she loves, instead of trying to recreate a past that is already behind her.

Dating advice tends to focus a hell of a lot of What To Do, and not much on Who You Are.

Tips and techniques are great – but relationships are really defined by what happens when the initial charm and best intentions of the first dates wear off, when people really start to see what lies behind the self you present to the rest of the world.

Want to keep a guy?

Forget lighting candles and wearing matching underwear. That’s just the neat, glossy cover that surrounds the book. And nice covers are great. They are the icing on the cake. They look impressive when you show them off on your coffee table. It’s much more pleasing to have a book with a beautiful cover than an ugly one.

But it’s the rich content inside that makes you never want to put it down.

- Stephen

The only thing I'd add to this is that women also should have a strong faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that being able to guide others onto the straight and narrow path, not forcing them to choose the right or making people feel guilty, but leading their life in a way that exemplifies righteousness.

Me? The Bride to Be?

Lately, if I'm just sitting around I'm constantly thinking, 'There must be something I could be doing for the wedding.' This morning I outlined my whole reception. I felt accomplished.

After a productive morning, I headed over to my old friend Marie Hildreth's house for her to help me with my make up. Now, I did NOT need my make up professionally done for my bridal shower, I was getting tips on how to do my make up on the actual wedding day. She helped me look amazing and was such a patient and helpful teacher. It was so fun to talk make up. Look her up: here. She'd be great for prom, weddings, or just a great tutorial of what make up brands work and how to use them. It was a fun morning.

I headed over to the bridal shower at the Baker's house a little early. I was promptly told that my job was to sit down and look pretty. I did my job well. When people started showing up, things got real. I realized that I was the bride of the bridal shower! It was a strange feeling to have all of the attention on me, I'm not usually good at that type of thing. It all worked out great because as each person came through the door it was a someone that loved and cared about me. That made it easier and I relaxed a little bit. It was still a little surreal. I was at my bridal shower.

We played a short game, Ashleigh asked Trevor 15 questions and I had to answer them, either trying to guess what he said or to see if he got the answers right. I think we only missed like 2 questions. We're ready. ;)

Then came the presents and I am so thankful to everyone! Registry gifts are always a good choice, I really appreciate practical gifts. The funny gifts were as can be expected, funny but a little awkward. I wasn't sure how to act, but I think I took it in stride. Then some gifts are just not what you expected at all. The last present I opened was a combined gift from I'd say half the women at the shower.

They bought me and Trevor….A HONEYMOON. 

Not just any honeymoon, we are going down to Florida to visit: 

 We cannot be more excited! I can't believe I'm going, heck, I can't believe they did this for us. For the big nerds we are about HP:

this. is. perfect. 

(And I usually hate putting periods after each word, but nothing else would do.) 

More than the HP honeymoon, I'm so thankful for the love I've felt from so many people, to make my bridal shower, my wedding, and my honeymoon special (and possible)! I have so many blessings to be thankful for and I'm counting them one by one. 

Thank you again. 

Love, Arica 

A 26 Year Old Baby

My younger sister (Arin) and I lived together in college for a semester. It was a blast! She's very patient with me, as is my whole family, but she really could put up with what I call my "fake whining." It happens from time to time, especially when I'm stressed. When it does I make a face…Arin started calling it my "baby face". On these occasions when I whined about having to do homework (or just get up and get myself some milk) Arin would show me this picture:

It cracked me up! It still does. 

I just realized last week, that's me. That's what I am. I am a 26 year old baby. Nothing has changed since college. I also believe that's what a lot of my generation is these days. (And congrats if you don't fit this mold.)

We run from anything deemed hard, too much work, or inconvenient. 

I always justified my messy room, eating out every night, or my list of undid "to do's" to that mentality….'I'm an adult I can do what I please when I please', when really we're all just acting childish.

Being an adult doesn't mean anything about shirking responsibility, it means rising up to those less than exhilarating jobs and doing them anyways. Let's just face the facts…refer to the list below.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can watch whatever show or movie that is out there because "I'm mature enough", it means saying no to viewing things that will drive away the Spirit and making the better choice with what goes into my mind and how I spend my time.
There's a lot of justification that goes into this one…

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat out whenever I'd like because "it's my money", it means making a true effort to save money by grocery shopping and actually using the groceries you buy.
My new grocery shopping day is Thursday.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat whatever I please, it means taking care of my body (especially my type 1 genetically passed down diabetes) in a way that will allow me to spend my time on the earth doing good for others. 
I'm hitting the gym 5 times a week…so that just happened last week, but I plan to keep it up!

Being an adult doesn't mean I can stay up until all hours of the night, it means having the discipline to say "I'm going to bed." even when everyone else is still having a good time.
Man this one is difficult for me. I'm writing this at O-Dark-Thirty.

Being an adult doesn't mean I put off laundry until I have no more undies to survive, it means making an effort complete a load a week, this includes all of the steps. Wash, fold, put away. 
A work in progress. Do not come and inspect my room, please.

Being an adult doesn't mean I always get to do what I want, it means rising up the responsibilities placed upon me by my job, my family, or my God.
It isn't always going to be conducive to my schedule, and I need to be flexible.

Being an adult doesn't mean things are going to come easy to me just because I try to be a good person, it means working harder to maximize my potential. 
I could do well at so many things if I just put in more effort. 

Being an adult is letting go of the baby face, getting up and getting my own milk. It's about putting off the natural man and becoming a saint. (Book of Mormon- Mosiah 3:19) It's about being, not just physically, but spiritually mature.

Let's grow up.

Of course through the course of my adulthood I expect there to be fun, laughter, and adventure…there's no doubt about that. Maybe I'm a little hard on myself from time to time, but I have goals. I believe if I can grasp onto the idea that I  just need to be an adult, I can accomplish most of what I stated above.

So the question stands to be answered, are you an adult?

The Script of the World

Hello World…I'm still alive. Alive with thoughts. Yes…what has brought me back to the blog game? Nope, not my wedding plans.

Michael Sam.

I grew up watching professional football. It's actually a family past time. As the years went by and my love for baseball took over I realized…I didn't have a team I really cared about in the NFL. I lost interest. I didn't even watch last season. I'll watch a game here and there, I'll even get into it, but I don't follow it.

 I am a current fan (and have been for a while) of Jimmy Fallon. I can take a joke. Even when it's about my race, religion, or politics. I can take it. I don't get offended. If you don't believe me, head on over to this post. If you can't make fun of yourself then you're not living.

I like to hear Jimmy's monologue on The Tonight Show at the beginning of each episode. In Monday night's episode Jimmy made reference to Michael Sam.

Here's the clip. 

(Watch it here because it will start at the right time.)

Sure, sure everyone's excited that an openly gay man has been drafted and accepted into the NFL. Yay for being different! Yay for standing up for what you believe in! Yay for equality!

Wait…shouldn't we be saying that about Tim Tebow?

Being "Different"
I am so sick of society throwing things in our face over and over and over again and calling it…"different"!

Tim Tebow made it known, whether publicly or not, that he was waiting until marriage to have a sexual relationship. Isn't that different than society? Why weren't people jumping up and down, crying, or celebrating that the Broncos had drafted a virgin?

Standing Up for What You Believe In
Any time…ANY time…a Christian stands up for their faith they are made fun of and belittled for being "old fashioned", "close minded", or "judgmental". If Michael Sam is standing up for what he believes in by stating his sexual orientation, then more power to him. My issue is, Tim Tebow is constantly made fun of for how he stands up for his position while Michael Sam is revered.

Equality
Everyone wants to be equal and treated the same, but the truth is no one ever actually treats each other that way. The world only wants equality for people who are different in the way they deem worthy. You can't seek equality for one group of people but not for another…what's that called, what's that called?…oh yeah! A hypocrite.

The hypocrisy is evidenced over and over again. 

This same thing happened back when Jason Collins came out.

In conclusion, I am still a Jimmy Fallon fan, but it made me realize that most-if not all-of what is shown on T.V. is just views of the world. It's a script. It's all written the same.

When it comes to the NFL draft, shouldn't they focus on football anyways?

The end.

How to Produce Magic

I've often professed to be a nosey person. But this is not true. I'm inquisitive. I like to learn about people. I like to know their stories. I try to grasp their minds. This is why I've seen a pattern in my life. First off, I paint myself as a very open and extroverted person. (Honestly, I have a blog…can we say quite literally "open book".) The pattern is this; I meet people who are shy, introverted, or stubborn and they become some of my dearest friends.

How? I slowly but surely chip away at their shuttering shyness, their introverted independence, or their stern stubbornness. I bide my time and then…BOOM…they suddenly tell me their life story and all of their feelings. Oh the feels!

It reminds me of this from Parks and Rec:

(Let's hope not…)

Or a good ole quote from The Office: (I can't find a video!! Grr)

"Every success I've ever had at my job or with the lady-folk has come from my ability to slowly and painfully wear someone down." ~Andy Bernard

Why are you still reading this??? 

Why listen to Arica talk about how wonderful she is at making friends???

BECAUSE I'VE LEARNED SOMETHING! Stay tuned…

It's been proven time and time again, that people of this very nature are amazing. (See it's not all about me.) They are! Here's why they are amazing…it's because not many people know them very well…they wait and wait until someone takes the time to dig deep enough to get what I'd like to call...the magic. The magic…being themselves; their personality, their humor, their weirdness…THE MAGIC. Most people miss out on the magic by taking things at face value.

We all have the magic but we all show it differently. It's not bad that I'm a little more outspoken, loud, openly funny, or even that I'll kindly but honestly tell the waitress my food was wrong. My magic is a little more out there. Is that all there is to me though? Because I express myself openly is that how deep I am?

ABSOLUTELY…..NOT! 

The moral of my story is this: People have more to them than what you see.

The movie/book Flipped has this same message, when this quote is said a father is telling his daughter about painting…later the protagonist tells of how we can relate this to people.

“A painting is more than the sum of its parts,' he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow by itself is just a cow, and the meadow by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light, but put them all together and you've got magic.” ― Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped

All people, introvert and extroverts alike, are more than the sum of their parts. 

Just a reminder.

Arica and The Birthday….

I turned 26 this week. I don't believe I'm old. I still feel like I'm 20 with a little more life knowledge. And let's face it, age is relative.

Let's make a list!

Old Arica

I'm teacher of young children...

My knee would try and me think I'm old because it gets tight after I run…

Cracking my neck multiple times a day

Starting my day off with a breakfast essential shake

Watching Fox News and caring about politics

Living on my own, paying my bills, and being responsible…(sometimes kicking and screaming…)

Young Arica

My messy room complete with a clean clothes pile and a dirty clothes pile, that sometimes intermingle

Eating cereal at or after midnight with my roomie

Staying out/up late when I have to work in the morning

Using emojis in my text messages

I'm Fergalicious, my body staying vicious…I be up in the gym just workin' on my fitness…he's my witness….

I can quote Fergie.

Technology doesn't scare me yet!

I always try to have my nails painted.

I will strive to seize the year of 26! It should be a good one!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." 

~Ferris Bueller~