general conference

twice a year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds what is called General Conference. during general conference, we have the opportunity to hear our prophet, apostles and church leaders speak. the sessions are broadcast on saturday and sunday, and these sundays are the only two sundays out of the year where we don't physically go to church. i love general conference. i love hearing our prophet speak and i love being able to completely block out an entire weekend to just watch and hang out with nic. it's the best. we heard some amazing talks this weekend and really felt the spirit. it's like a breath of fresh air and really pushes me to make changes in my life, to do better and to be better. basically, it was a great weekend.

lately

so life lately has been pretty straight-forward. working. eating. working out. going to church. and studying. well, i'm not studying. but nic is. nic is in the depths of the series 7 financial test. and it is litterally sucking the life out of him. i feel so bad, i'd take it for him if i could. a lot of people have asked what the series 7 is, so i thought i'd define it here for you. or at least steal wikipedia's definition for you:

The General Securities Representative Exam, commonly referred to as the Series 7 Exam, is a required exam to become a Registered Representative of a broker-dealer in the United States.

The exam is a six-hour, 260 question test (250 of which count towards the final score) that is owned, maintained and administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which covers a broad range of investments including stocks, bonds, options, limited partnerships, and investment company products (e.g., open- and closed-end funds). As of November 7, 2011, candidate must answer at least 72% of the questions correctly in order to pass. Upon passing the test, one is granted a Series 7/General Securities license.

The Series 7 license is the most comprehensive of several securities licenses that permit an agent to communicate with retail investors. For this reason, many account managers, analysts, and other executives in the employ of a registered Broker/Dealer hold Series 7 licenses. To satisfy the securities dealing requirements of some states, Series 7 license holders must also hold either the Series 63 license or the Series 66 license, depending on the state the licensee works in as well as the state his/her clients reside in.

Typically, the average score of test-takers is around 73%, with around 66% of test-takers achieving a passing score. While one can study from the content outline provided by FINRA, many choose to use the materials of a third-party training vendor.

a new camera...

ok, so besides my obvious laziness and lack of desire to blog, there's another reason i went for so long without blogging. we had a horrible camera. like a really really bad one. and in true nic and bekka fashion, we like to suffer through stuff for a long time before we actually go out and buy something new. like when we shared a car for two years. or when we used a very old fridge from an old person's trailer (whom we didn't even know) for 2.5 years. stuff like that. not that we think it's a big deal, but people definitely give us a hard time. but i digress. so according to nic, blogs without pictures are boring. so i always feel the need to post pictures when i blog and since the pictures we were taking were so horrible, i just didn't blog. so we've recently replaced our 7 (SEVEN!!) year-old cannon point and shoot with a new cannon point and shoot. haha. that's totally us. you'd think if it took seven years to buy a new one we'd at least get one to be excited about. but whatever. look at the difference...i'm sure you'll be able to tell which one is the new one. i took this with full zoom out and from the exact same position.

we loved it

i mean, absolutely positively loved it. it felt like everything one would want out of a movie that is being made based on a book you are in love with. as we sat there in the most amazing movie theatre i've ever had the opportunity to experience (more on that later) we were in awe at how well they were able to transport the feelings of and action from the Hunger Games book into a motion picture. i highly recommend it to all. even those that haven't read the book. nic loved it and he didn't read the book. ah. i already want to see it again. we went to the midnight showing with our normal midnight movie cohort, marni. and we were actually able to convince maria to join us. it was a great night.

so this movie theatre we went to was called Island Cinema. seriously check it out: http://www.shopfashionisland.com/Movies/. we took some high quality blackberry pictures which are showcased below. the most awesome thing about the theater is that you are able to reserve your seating. no waiting in line!! we went online two weeks ago and bought the tickets through fandango. at that time, we actually picked the seats we wanted to sit in and and were given assigned seating. this means that for a highly anticipated movie coming out at midnight on a work night, naps after work and before the movie are possible. which is exactly what we did. our nap from 8:15-10:30pm was just enough to get us through the 2.5 hour movie. so going to bed at 3:30am just wasn't as bad as it could have been. and it was totally worth it!! seriously.

The Hunger Games

The title of this post should speak for itself, but I know there are many out there who have yet to be captivated by this amazing book. Look, I know I’m 28 now, but when I read, I want to be swept away and entertained. Some people do that with movies or TV. I do that with books. Which is why I read things that don’t make me think too much; I like books that make me excited, interested and anticipate what is coming next. The Hunger Games series is that exactly. I loved it from the minute I started reading it and have read the entire series many times since. I have actually forced this series on many people, and have never had anyone not like it. To say that I am excited today is an understatement. Because tonight at midnight, I will be watching The Hunger Games. I’m literally jumping up and down.

Now please don’t start comparing this to Twilight. There is really no comparison. The movie has attracted so many amazing actors, there isn’t a chance that it will be cheesy. The only question will be whether or not it captures the spirit of the book and captivates its audience in the same way. But seriously, how can it be cheesy when people like Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks and Donald Sutherland are staring in it?

For those of you who don’t know about The Hunger Games, here’s a really good intro:

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

i've totally thought this before

austin, tx...feb 26-28, 2012

so i just got back from austin, and as usual it was awesome. my work meetings were great; i honestly have a great job and it's meetings like these that i need to remind myself of when i forget. but on to more pressing matters: austin has proven once again that the best thing they offer is food. some say it's the constant live music and amazing vibe. but i say it's the food. during this trip, i ate at three amazing restaurants: the roaring fork, perry's steakhouse and restaurant 1886. i am talking a kettle of verde pork and warm buttered tortillas...pecan pie...fried asparagus topped with jumbo lump crab meat...and most crazily, Perry's Famous Pork Shop which is cured, roasted, slow-smoked and caramelized, then served with homemade applesauce. it was truly rediculous and glutenous. i was almost a little angry at the craziness of such a large entree. then i got over it and just appreciated the amazing flavors.

4 of us ordered this crazy monstrosity, not having any idea what it would be like. the 4 of us could have literally split it and been just fine. the only good thing that came of it was that we put all of our uneaten food together and took it to the homeless shelter a couple blocks away.

as always, the best part of any trip is when i step off the plane in orange county and into nic's arms. ah, he's just the best.

now having said all that, i think it's pretty clear what i'll be doing over the next week...increasing my work-outs for SURE.