naptime

seen on the 4th floor of the HBLL...
Looks like finals week is getting to that guy...

Welp, finals week is half over at the Brigham Young University. It's about this time when crazy things start happening... I still remember sitting in the computer labs my first semester here and witnessing the girl next to me start shaking and then pass out on the keyboard. Yes, she legitimately passed out. It was kinda scary actually. According to the medical people it happens all the time during finals week though... so, don't worry :)

But I have successfully finished 3 finals!! Wa.hoo. I just came out of one where I got EXACTLY what I needed to keep my 94% (BYU uses A minus's and I hate it.) I could miss 10 questions to keep my A, and you better believe I did just that! Such an amazing feeling. Want to know a not-so-amazing feeling?? I still have 2 finals left. One of them being STATS. And I gotta take them both tomorrow.

Ugh.

Looks like my time here is done blog. Aaaand back to studying.

Over&Out

finalsshhminals

I just successfully used all the ink out of a pen... I'm fairly confident that this is the first time this has ever happened to me. Wa.hoo. Oh I sure do love finals! So what do I do? Take a break from my note cards and  blog instead. 

What a wonderful solution.

But remember that one time last week I stayed up until 6 in the a.m. working on a group project? 

And then woke up 1 hour and 10 minutes later to go to class??

Yeahhh. Me neither. 

I don't know how I am still alive. 

Probably because I got 11.5 hours of sleep the next night. 

Thank goodness.

Remember that other time that me and Nate went to Salt Lake 3 times 2 weeks ago? 

That was fun!

We love

*The Pie*

*Temple Lights*

*3rd row seats to BYU basketball games (go cougs)*

*Pat's BBQ (as seen on Diners Drive-ins and Dives. Oh yes.)*

and

*Christmas Devotionals*

sadly we only got pictures at the Christmas devotional. 

Which was wonderful p.s.

Yeah, I know, We are just the most good-looking people out there. It's a real thing :) I had to restrain myself from posting everyyy picture we took. So I just put half of them! I just can't help it.

But good thing 2 weeks ago was so great, because these past two weeks have been consumed by finals and um, studying for them.

BUT come friday I am off to the Pirates of the Caribbean to spend a week cruising around with my lovely family.
Some sunshine and warmth will be much appreciated after this week :)


Well, study break over.

Happy Finals Week everyone!!!!

Stay Classy

There is nothing classier than eating Mac&Cheese out of the pan with the same wooden spoon you mixed it with... Now picture me, in an over-sized sweatshirt, leggings, sprawled out on our couch doing just that. Yep. My life is great I swear... But I just needed to bake some gooey butter cake and fill my famished stomach with some ultra high class (but filling) Mac&Cheese. Who needs retail therapy when you food therapy is 10x more effective :)
I just needed to take my mind of finals and wedding planning for a bit.

Did I just say wedding planning??!?

Um yep. Sure did. You see my dear blog readers... the reason why I have neglected this blog is because of this guy.

Yep. We dated. And yep, we are engaged!!!!

I just didnt feel like posting about our dating-ship on this blog because yeah... I didn't feel like it.

And probably mostly because if I'm not at work or school, I am with him.

Who is this "him" I am referring to?

The one and only Nathan Anderson.

sooo excuse me for blogging significantly less for the past oh, 6 months :)

Maybe someday I will write down our story of how we dated, why we dated, when we dated... blah blah blah...

haha but for now I will give you the very condensed version of how he proposed :)

On Saturday, November 19th we went horseback riding.

It was a beautiful day.

and BAM Nate proposed.

I was shocked... and had no idea it was coming.

Well, I had an idea. But I thought it would be coming in like the middle of December-ish...

...little did I know :)

So yep! There ya have it.

I'm engaged.

Getting married on Feb 18th 2012.

...and I couldn't be happier :)

Once finals are over and I am home from the cruise I will update more... I almost said I promise i'll update more, but I can't promise that... I hope finals aren't to crazy for everyone else!!

Amazing...

Watch this. Now. 

So great :)

Ps... yes I still exsist... Just let me make it through this week, kay?

hello world

Let's talk about how it's already October... Okay, it's already October!! It's basically Christmas already... But up here in Provo life is splendid. I realize that I have a plethora of pictures that I need to post but I am have been lacking the motivation to do so. 

Anyway, so here goes...

I made these probably 2 months ago... But I still can't stop thinking about them. 

There is a special something about mini-cupcakes...

Anyway, so this fall I have been up to lots of fun adventures

Like, going to a super awesome cabin for the weekend...

I was verrry social and read Calvin and Hobbes for an hour before falling asleep on the floor.
That's my kinda Friday night :)

Love these Girls

aand I went to the Provo temple for the first time with Val before we went back to AZ!

Me and Nate biked up to Bridal Veil Falls.

Also, Arizona needs to get on the Waterfall bandwagon. Because they are incredible.

Love me some football games and that Cougar roar of course.

They love it.

The family came up for conference and we got to sit 9 rows back for the Saturday Afternoon session.

I loved watching President Monson sleep :)

It was sure good to see this girl... Even if it was for only a day and a half.

And lastly.. I spent all day one saturday volunteering/participating in a 5k obstacle course run thing. It was actually quite fun, But I never ever want to see a little white flag ever again. I had to bend down and pick up every flag that was marking the 3 mile trail. There were wayyy too many of those white flags for my liking :)

Anyway, Provo is treating me well I suppose... School is good, work is good, life is good. Although I am definitely not ready for this thing called winter that is coming... I'll be living off of soup and comfort food. What is comfort food you ask? Well that usually changes day to day. Last week it was Ramen and Cheetos.
I eat great. I know :)

the circle of life

So here at BYU you tend to hear the same quotes, by some of the same great people all the time. One of them being by Karl G. Maeser about his word of honor... and for all of you who don't know what I am talking about, it really is a great quote and they have it posted all up over the testing center and the Library to inspire us failing college students not to cheat. I love it.


Ready?

“I have been asked what I mean by ‘word of honor.’ I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls–walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground–there is a possibility that in some way or another I may escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of the circle? No. Never! I’d die first!”

Karl G. Maeser knew what it meant to stand by your honor.  Do you?

Classic.

Anyway, I came across this picture that someone out there in the internet world posted on the facebook and I sure did get a good laugh out of it. So I downloaded it, added a little Photoshop fun to it, and voila!


Enjoy your Tuesday :)

flow

I'm currently writing an essay/paper thing.

and I am almost done...

good thing it's due at 9:30 in the a.m.

I started it tonight.

some say I procrastinated.

I may or may not have pracrastinated... and I may or may not be right now! 

But really I just want to think about anything and everything besides school and leisure theories right now...

cause you guys, life is so good :)

these guys

T-MINUS 3 DAYS UNTIL GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!

and do you know what that means?

... I get to see this crazy girl :)

She may or may not be my sister.

 

 

and I may or may not miss her a lot.

okay, I definitely miss her a lot.

 Also,  most of these fantastic people are coming up as well....

I sure do love General Conference... and that it brings my family up to see me :)

forget me not

 

Because I was stuck in Ogden until about 7:30 in the night, I missed the Relief Society broadcast. Good thing I love technology and technology loves me and I can read it online while I am sitting here at my 3 hour shift at work this morning. Anyway, I loved it. I especially loved President Uchtdorf's talk. That guy is great. Anyway he used the forget-me-not flower as a metaphor for his remarks, President Uchtdorf talked about that although the flower is small in size, and easily unnoticed among larger flowers, it is still beautiful and vibrant. Ha, I feel like the in the Relief Society broadcast they are always talking about how awesome the women are and how we are so strong and beautiful and amazing and just oh so great. But in the Priesthood session they always slam on the guys how they need to respect their priesthood, respect women, avoid sin, and the classic, get married. Don't get me wrong, I agree with all of those things. I just kind it a little bit funny... Although I secretly love it :)

Anyway here's a little outline and some quotes I loved from President Uchtdorf 's talk.

The gist of it was that he told us women 5 things that we should not forget.

First: Forget not to be patient with yourself

“God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal,”
“It is OK that you are not quite there yet. Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself. “
“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others... Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

Second: Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.
He defined an acceptable sacrifice as giving up “something good for something of far greater worth.”

Third: Forget not to be happy now
I love the example he used from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Riiight up my ally
“In their anxiousness, people began to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket,”
“The lesson here is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.”

I love that. Don't get caught up in looking for the Golden Ticket and forget to enjoy the chocolate we have right there in our hands :)

Fourth: Forget not the “why” of the gospel
He reminded us that the gospel is not an obligation, but a pathway leading to happiness and peace in this life and “glory and inexpressible fulfillment” in the life to come.
I love that.

Fifth: Forget not that the Lord loves you
and the classic quote that brought us all to the forget-me-not's
“You may at times feel a little like the forget-me-not—insignificant, small, or tiny in comparison with others, I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet.”

 Man, I cannot wait for conference.

it's my birthday...

yep. It's here!! I'm 20 and my golden year is over... I'm leaving my teenage years behind me. I can't decide if I am happy about that or not, but I think it is a good thing. I can no longer be classified as a teenager! YES. But that means I need be mature and people might actually start taking me seriously. I am not allowed to be annoying, fail tests, or not be responsible and blame it on my teenager-dom... I'll have to find some other super legitimate reason for coming up short in life :) But being super responsible and smart and amazing just automatically happens once you turn 20... right?! That's what I hear at least! Ohh welll.... I think the perks of being 20 will far outweigh any perks of being a teenager. Wait, what am I saying, are there any perks of being a teenager??! Probably not. But I am still getting a little nostalgic thinking about how fast I am growing up... These years need to slow down a little so that I can enjoy them.

But now I say ciao to my teenage years. To the years of sneaking into the Stapley pool and playing hide&go seek in WalMart. To the years of running around the halls of my Junior High School in silly outfits and joining a million little clubs in High School just so I get out of class more. Here's to food fights and detention. To high school dances and all day track invitationals. Here's to night games, best friends, drama, and crushes. Well, it looks like not much has actually changed, but my teenage years were definitely the best.

...man, those were the days...

via

Here's to my 20's! Let's start off these next 10 years with a bang, yeah?

yeah.

Tucano's here I come :)

Misc.

 

• I'm soo tired. But that doesn't stop me from being happy!! Life is so good :)
•  I don't want it to snow. Ever. I love walking around with green trees everywhere and pretty flowers all over campus. I'ma miss that.
• Jack Bauer has stolen my heart.
• My Birthday is on Monday! Holller back :)
• If it's 7 in the a.m. and all the food places in the WILK are closed and the Custodial people are still cleaning all the buidlings, it is DEFINITELY too early for the labs to be open... and me to be working in them...
• I miss my sister.
• and my brother
• and my dog.
• ... and the rest of my family too :)
• All I want to do is make breaded chicken.
• I'm really tired.
• Blogging doesn't make sense sometimes.
• Someone bring me some chapstick, please?
• why can't sleep have rollover minutes?!
• I think I should make cupcakes when I get home.

 one day.

happy happy joy joy!!

You guys would not believe this. Okay maybe you might... But if you know me, you are aware that I love food. It's a disease I'm sure. I droll over food blogs daily and get more excited about perfectly baked cupcakes than getting an A on a test. It's probably getting a little out of hand...

ANYWAY, I brewed up these little pretties a week ago, and they are legitimately all I have thought about ever since. Shocking.

ready?

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes.


ps. disclaimer - this is not a food blog. so don't except it to be as supergreatawesome as a lot of those blogs out there.... discaimer #2 - all of these pictures were taken on my extremely (not) high-tech phone. I forgot my camera. Don't hate me. Disclainer #3 - I am not a food photographer nor a food decorator. So these may look like a 3rd grader took them...

Okay now that that's outta the way.... picture time!

this is the happiest moment of all baking. 

Opening up the oven and seeing them baking perfectly!!! I squeal like a little kid walking in the gates of Disneyland for the first time when I saw these little guys growing up all amazingly :) 

Good thing I went to Nate's and made them, because my oven at The Colony is a big o' piece of junk. And can barely bake potatoes without screwing them up.

{Oh. My. Amazing.}

Haha.... Oookay... So putting up the pink towel to make these cuppycakes look even more divene was definitely Nate's idea... don't judge :)

These are incredible...

Seriously, that graham cracker crust... the cream cheese frosting... I die. So much tasty in one cupcake.

Okay now that that is over go out and make them! I promise you, they will change your life. Or woo that man you are trying to win over...

Also on Sunday the roommates and I made these one Sunday but the mini version!! I personally like the mini-cupcakes better... much easier to eat, and perfect proportion in every bite. Oh, so good.


Oh, and here is the blog that I got the recipe from. This girl is awesome. Take a look at some other things she has made, you will die and go to food heaven... http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/07/strawberry-cheesecake-cupcakes.html

The Old Man

So I have many fun things to blog about coming reaaaal soon... but for now I am blogging about my incredible father! Today is his 50th birthday. 50!! My dad has lived 50 years of amazing life. Honestly I have never met a human being who does not completely love and respect my dad... and well and animals too. We all know dad is our dog KC's favorite :) But I honestly don't know how he does it! He was an incredible bishop to the ward and patriarch to our family. He always knows exactly what to say to help me get through stressful times and is the most amazing example to me. I honestly could go on and on about my love for my dad... But I won't :) My dad is an incredible man and it is crazy to think that he has lived for half a century... 50. Whoa.

Love ya Dad :)

early bird

these 7 am Wednesday shifts are going to be the death of me... seriously. I don't even know how I am going to make it through them week after week! Somehow.

But, good news! The semester has started!! My schedule has already changed like, oh 17 times, but that's okay.

I love the first day of classes though... I always sit there, listen to the professor read off the syllabus and then I get all excited and think to myself, "Oh boy I am going to read everything this semester and stay on top of things and be such a responsible student!!" But we all know that the excitement will wear off... and who am I kidding! I'll read, and i'll stay on top of things... But I won't be excited about it :) I mean, it's only the second day of classes and I am already figuring out what assignments I will and won't have to do... the longest procrastination time possible... how much breakfast I need to eat to last me until 6:30 pm... and that if I wake up at 6:09 I will have 2 minutes to spare to be on campus by 6:50.

Perfect :)

I love college!

I have this problem...

So here's the deal. once I get up to provo/college/myownapartment... My eating schedule and habits go down the drain. No joke. I don't know what it is, but I just can't do normal eating. Or I can.. I just don't. Hmm, weird.
For example:

Monday: I woke up. Drank some juice. Mowed gpa's lawn. hurried and packed everything up. Moved in. Ate In-n-Out at 2.... ate 3 Mini Snickers at like 11 pm. Went to bed at Midnight. Whoot
Yesterday: Woke up around 10, ate a sandwich and salad from Zupas (um, YUM!) with Kelc and Chels from home. Ate 4 churros at like 9:30. (hey, they were free... alright?!) Got to bed around 2 am.

Okay and much more. But what happens is that I usually only eat 1, maybe 2, meals a day. And eat like crap. Somehow I live off of one meal and 10,000 pounds of sugar. Honestly I don't know how I ate 4 churros last night, but it happened! And it felt oh soo goood... or maybe that was the FREE factor kicking in. Regardless, I ate like 12 dollars worth of churros. Oh baby :)

But here's to college. It's starting on Monday and I think I need like 1 more week of nothingness. I would love that :) But Monday is coming and I get to be a responsible person. Yay college. YML. ha. Okay the end. End! End Rachel, no one likes to read a rambling blogger... Alright.

P.S. I hope all you other college students don't die from your weird eating habbits like I probably will...

Ketchup

man I am bad. so bad at blogging. so bad that yesterday I got a text message from my seestar saying:

"I have checked your blog 3 times today hoping for a new post. do not disappoint"

Or something along those lines...So I must blog. If only for my sister :)

But its been too long. So I need to do a major majorr catch up. Its gonna be fun. Real fun. 

Okay where did I leave off.

This summer was reaaal good to me. After lake powell and the family reunion I did a lot of hanging out with Tara and the occasional horse back ride with Nate :)

Me and Nate went on a double date with Tara and Josh. They were oh so excited to go horse back riding even though it was just in the little arena, they loved it!! Seriously I have never seen two happier people. So that was super fun. Great company, great times.

But the summer ended and here I am. Up in Provo. All moved in and loving life and my new roommates. I can tell this year is gonna be good to me :) Real good! But looking at my schedule I am scared. and nervous. I have work at like 7 in the a.m. twice a week!! Holy moley. I am going to have to grow up and be a responsible person... But 7 a.m??? Gross. Not excited for that at ALL. At all.

But oh well. I know this actually wasnt the hugest catchup of all time... but I dont really feel like telling you all every single detail of my life... hmm weird? Nah.

So here we are. Starting a new year at the BYU. And i am pretty dang excited!! 

Now I just need to buy my books... ugh... 330 dollars out the drain... 

MIA

I know, I have been a terrible blogger... Shame on me. But not because I don't have anything to blog about, thats for sure!! I still need to blog about how amazing lake powell was, the beautiful mountains in southern Utah, Horseback riding in Payson, my obsession with Masterchef,  how much I love my sister... You know, pretty much my super awesome life!!

Sooo... if I am ever dropping off the face of the blogging world (like right now) then don't fret. It's not because my life is incredibly boring. It's most likely because I am having the time of my life :) Ha.

But I will shortly be in provo... aka, FRIDAY... and then I will have a whole stinking week of no class to update all 50 of my lovely readers on this super great life I have, because these next 2 days I am going to be busy. So extremely busy. But the good kind of busy, so it's all gouda :)


Ps... aren't we all??

thermopolis...

2 weeks

Currently I reside in Mesa Az, In 2 weeks I will be moving to back Provo, Utah.

YES.

Seriously, I love it here... Love everyone here... Love my family... But Provo is calling me.

I need change of pace. I crave my super busy, super crammed scedule. I love being surrounded by 20-25 year olds. Its like one big party. One big party full of lots of trips to the library and the testing center. Hurrah!

Anyway, I am stoked. To go party at the Colony with Lynz. To have irregular eating patters like starving during the day and over eating at night. To stay up late and wake up early. To make new friends and learn some new stuffs about life :)
 It's gonna be great!! Big room or no big room :)

 

Plus, I plan on doing a whole lotta this in provo.

:)



PS. This weekend was great as always... but wasnt long enough! Shocker. I think I could spend every night watching food network with Tara. Best Friday night ever. But now it's monday.
That dreaded monday...

backstreet's back {alright!}

Okay, so the Backstreet Boys are definitely not back... But I am! Back from a lovely vacation to Lake Powell and the Stratton Family reunion.

But that is not the moral of this post.

Moral of this post is...

See this cuppycake?! Yes I know, crappy quality. It was taken from my phone that is most definitely not smart and edited on picnik.

But i'm okay with it

Anyway... So today one of my most favorite coworkers brings this over to me!!!

She just stopped by this amazing cupcake shop called,  Mind Over Batter. (aka better than Sprinkles) and decided to get all 5 of us girls in the Tax Department a cupcake!

Yes, she is fantastic, I know :)

Just thought I'd let you know I enjoyed it thouroghly. Which I was nervous about because I have been sick lately... I know... weird. And last night the weirdest thing happened...

Someone gave a a fresh outta the oven, homemade, delivous smelling and looing brownie smothered with some vanila bean ice cream... aka one of the best desserts EVER aaand i couldn't even stomach it.

are you even kidding me?!

Here's the story: So I take one, and excited to devour it although my stomach feels a little weird, my throat hurts, and head is tired... and I just... dont feel great. But its a brownie and ice cream! There is no resisting that!

So I took one bite and immedately felt nasueaous. From a stinking brownie and ice cream. Someone tell me what is wrong with me?!

 Ha, It was at this point when I was really really reallllllly sick of being sick.

So I ate half of it... only half! I know. Sad. And I wanted to finish it to be polite as well.. but my stomach was just so unhappy. And I didnt want anything disasterous to happen. So I let the other half just sit there and watched the ice cream slowly melt away. It was a traumatic experience I tell ya.

The end.

so THAT is why I was nervous about this cupcake!!

But, I must be on the upside of this sickness because I defintely ate the whole thing!!!

Hallelujah

crazy girl

FYI
I leave to Powell TOMORROW. Oh tomorrow, tomorrow, I sure do love you, tomorrow.

Stoked. So so stoked.

I can't even wait for all the family to be together having a grand ol' time. It's going to be wonderful

Also, my heart is torn. Torn I tell you!! I am so excited to go back up to provo... like you have no idea so excited... BUT i know I am just going to miss everyone down here. Aka my familia. But that's okay. Because I'll be so incredibly busy up in ptwon that the days will fly by. Right? Right.

Well yes. The more I tihnk about it, the more I can't wait for an unbelievably busy schedule and to be surrounded by people I am sure I will come to love! So excited!



ps, I can't wait for that ^^ to happen to me :)

oohh lake powell.. here I come :)

It'll kill ya...

Ohheyy. So I definitely cannot move for the life of me. Last night I played soccer/did physical activity for the first time in a looong time! I knew I was in for trouble, but I didn't know I would be this sore... Oy... Anyway so I played some coed soccer last night, just played on a randome league that needed more girls and it was fun! Seriously, soccer is the best. Always and forever.

So on this coed team I met some of the most interesting people ever there... Specifically, Felipe. Or as the ref guy called him... Flip-a.
Now, Felipe is quite the guy... Sheridan-dan told me he was interesting, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Well, this is felipe: He puts his water in a Jack Daniels bottle, and smokes. Now he doesn't smoke like a normal smoker. No, he smokes A LOT. He smokes before, after, and always inbetween the game. I mean really, he would get subbed out, smoke for maybe 5 minutes, then go back in. I honestly don't know how he plays soccer while smoking. That is insaaane!!! So much smoking. I bet his lungs are about ready to give up on him...

ALSO  last night I basically almost had a goal that was abby wombach status!! NO LIE. But the stinking crossbar stole it from me. It would have been one of the most beautiful header goals of my life, perfectly placed... the keeper wouldn't have had a prayer... BUT the stinking crossbar stopped it for him. So close, but yet soo far.

Good thing we still won :)
Anyway, soccer is great. It brings people together. liiiike Sheridan, Em, Diamond, and I... Who I seriously miss so much. So last night was great, and I highly recommend getting together with people you havent seen in a while and do something you havent done in a while! It's happy :)

4th of July Weekend

I know, I am aware that the 4th of July was like a year ago... but Becky finally put the pictures up on Facebook so I could steal them :)

4th of July spent with some of my most favorite peoples :)
Me, T, Shawn-Hee, Becky, Jamie, and Jess.
Love them all

we missed the fireworks so me made our own. and took ridiculous picture like this! I don't actually remember what this picture is all about. Except SIDENOTE, why the heck am I so white?! I like in Mesa Stinking Arizona!
I need to quit my job and swim all day every day. Simple solution :)

oh heyy shauni!

we also went shopping and Tara was trying to teach us how to be models... obviously she is the best at it.

and I fail.
Are we even related?!

Ha, while we were shopping we went into Victoria's Secret... we may have been in there longer than planned having way to much fun at the make up stand... I went in there wearing little to no makeup and came out wearing so much I felt plastic, or like a barbie or something... How do people do it?!

Anyway, the end of my 4th of July. We LOVED having Becky in town and she needs to come back... soon! Or move here, either way :)

I just can't help myself...

 

I don't think I am ready for this to end...