Something Grand

It's Day 05 ya'll... Today I will be sharing with you a place I have been to... Hence, the title:

Some of you who will read this have been there too, but I honestly never thought I would go here when I did. Last February (?) for Presidents' Weekend, me and some good friends of mine decided to take a short trip to the GRAND CANYON (and VEGAS!). And grand it was! Actually, I think "grand" is somewhat of an understatement. This place is so immense and massive, one could probably have a heart attack! ...Okay that's an overstatement... but seriously. This place takes your breath away. It took mine. But I got it back, thankfully. Ha! I learned a lot on this trip--about myself, about my friends, about Heavenly Father. I mean there have been few places where I have felt so close to Him.. and this was one of them. There's just this crazy energy that comes from this place. Like you can do absolutely anything. It's intense. I also metaphorically learned about standing on the edge--pushing your boundaries--and not in a good way. Haha. Anywhere it said "do not cross" or "stay behind the fence", I wouldn't follow. I did what I wanted. And when I said metaphorically earlier, I mean that in life, sometimes we have to be careful about doing the same thing. I think that's what rules and guidelines are meant for. They are meant to be broken, yes, but you have to be careful as to which rules you choose to break. Anyway, this trip was sick. I hope I can go back!

Eden is more than a Garden...

I know I've already posted today, but I feel inspired!

Here is my inspiration:

The lovely strawberry blonde in these pictures is my good good great friend, Eden Olenslager. Who, as of tonight, is now Sister Olenslager. Because she is reporting tomorrow to serve in the Dakotas. Exciting, huh!? I'm really happy for her and I love her so much. She is such a good person and is one of the most Christ-like persons I know. I really will miss her but I'm so proud of her decision to serve. I know she will do a lot of good out there. She is an incredible example to me and she makes me want to be a better person. I wish her the best of luck out there, and I pray that she will be safe and hope she has the best time out there. :-)

Love you Eden.

A Habit I Wish I Didn't Have...aka Day 04.

I actually have a couple of these I'd like to share.

1. I'm usually always late. Whether it's to class, or to work, or to church, it happens. This semester I've been a lot better about being on time to class (I've really only been late like 3x total), but I'm still late to church. It's a work in progress.. and I really think I'm getting better.

2. I text wayyyy too much! People who need to call me, usually text me first because they know I'll get it. There's never really a time when I don't have my phone. My family gets way pissed at me. The upside is, I don't text in class. I don't text on dates (not like I even go on any). And I'm getting better about not texting in other situations when it's not appropriate. But, I still text. A lot. (Disclaimer: I don't always receive texts from real people. 75% of the time, I'm reading a text from ESPN. Yes. I receive text updates from ESPN. )

Many of you might be a little bit surprised that I'm even openly admitting this... but they say it's the most important step to recovery and rehab. Haha. 

Day 03...A picture of me and my lovely friends.

Soooo I'm a little behind on this one, but oh well.

Pierina, Me, Jenna, and Mellie

From my trip to Cali
Erin, Jake, Alissa, Me, and Mariah

I love these ladies :)
Julie, Me, Ashley, Jessica, Eden

Jessica, Ashley, Me, Julie, Eden

Me and Kortney

At Pierina's Wedding
Me, Carly, Pierina, Alyssa, Shelly, Maegan

Me and Alyssa :)

Me and Mellie!

Love her!

Dia Dos.

Welllll... it's the second day of my 30 day challenge. And I'm supposed to tell you why I chose to name my blog "rachael". Haha.

It's pretty simple really. My aunt, Abby, was telling me about her blog (which is so lovely by the way) that I had started following. She told me I should start one. I'm not really one for bandwagons (I say that even though I have a blogspot, a facebook, a tumblr, a stumble upon account, and am contemplating a twitter), but I thought hey maybe, but I wasn't really sure how to do it. Because let's be honest. Sometimes we look at blogs (at least I do) and think ohhh my heckkk--this looks so cool and complicated! But Abby told me and showed me how easy it was. She even set up an account for me (after I gave her permission, haha) and we even made it pretty. I During the account process, I had to come up with a name. I couldn't think of anything cool, so I just said "rachael" since I can always change it whenever I want. I've had it for 3(???) years now and I haven't changed it. So I dunno if I ever will. I'm open to suggestions though. And it really won't hurt my feelings.

Anyway, it's almost the weekend! Which  means it's almost HALLOWEEN! YES! haha. Me and my BFF Mellie went to this "Zombie Apocalypse Walk" for the city of Rexburg. It was pretty epic. I mean, I think it might have been. We got there late. But we looked amazing. I took some pics on my fisheye, but I will post them soon. If you want to see them before then though, click on the link above cuz I'm sure they'll be on her blog soon. Ha.

You asked for it.

So many of you have probably been wondering how my lovely lil date went... so here's the story!

Intermittently during the day, we were making plans on what was going to go down (my friend asked me to go to a haunted house and I invited him to come along), who we were meeting up with and when, etc. I didn't really think it was going to be a real life date just because I asked him, and it was a big group thing, and yeah. So I was planning to pay for myself and we were just going to meet up with everyone by ourselves. Like we weren't going to go there together. Dumb I know. Anyway, the time came to meet up and my friend Stephanie (the girl who invited me int he first place) calls and says hey can you get a ride to this place. I was like ummm I don't think so because I don't have a car (I didn't want to ask Ben because I didn't think he would drive and again, I was the one who had asked him in the first place). But, I called him, and he was totally okay with it. During all this, my friend Liz came over cuz we were all supposed to meet up together anyway, and I knew she didn't have a ride so I told her to ride with me and Ben (which was totally okay in case any of you readers are wondering). So anyway, we meet up with Ben. We drive to the Haunted House (called Haunted Mill) chatting all the way. We get there and I'm already scared! But I brought these glow stick bracelets, which was awesome, and I even shared them with people. :-) Remember how I said I didn't think it was a date? Well I was totally prepared to pay for myself, but he just up and pays for both of us! *gasp* You can imagine how happy I felt inside. Haha. So we proceed through the entrance into everything frightening and spooky and he tells me to hold onto him and grabs my hand and links my arm with his. Ask me if I got butterflies. Yes. Yes I did. 100% added to my already enormous adrenaline rush. Is it bad that I wished a haunted house would never end? Because seriously, that's what I wanted. It was the closest thing I had to intimate physical contact with him. It was almost tortuous though because I knew it would end soon. Anyway, as soon as we got out, it was like my mini wonderland dreamworld was over because he let go of me and we drove home. I thanked him, and we parted ways.

I see him in class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That date was like the beginning and the end of all things. My hopes of being Ben Burke's first girlfriend are gone. And I have given up. I now wave the white flag.

On a happier note though, my Halloween costume got finished over the past weekend, and I must say... I have outdone myself...

me and my roommates
(Aubrey, Stacie, Jacqueline, ME, Mellie)

Me and my friend Liz

There will be more to come :-)

PS--My BFF Mellie is doing this 30 day blog thing... and she told me I should do it too, so I am. 

DAY ONE: The most recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

(My recent picture is posted above)

1. I really love Halloween.
2. I have an addiction to diet pepsi.
3. I really love my bed. It's so comfy!
4. I love hot chocolate.
5. I now own a pair of yellow cat eye contacts (people get really creeped out by them haha).
6. I love Colorado more than any other state.
7. I picked up longboarding over the summer (and I love it).
8. I wish I had a green thumb, so I could grow one of these.
9. My favorite flowers are lilies and orchids.
10. I have a tumblr.
11. I think I have tendinitis (or tennis elbow, whichever you want to call it).
12. I want to travel. everywhere. SO BADLY.
13. I want to be a physical therapist for the Boston Red Sox.
14. I make friendship bracelets.
15. I love Steve Nash. He's a babe. and a baller.

HOPE.

A friend invited me to read this. I've never met the author, but he delivers a powerful message. It hurts my heart trying to imagine what these boys went through in their last moments of life. Knowing that people are so cruel to those who just want to be themselves, to those who are children of God—whom He loves so much—it’s devastating. I hope we all can learn from these boys, and learn to love one another and be accepting to everyone despite their beliefs, or sexuality, or even race.