Moab Adventures!

I had the opportunity to take a quick trip from Idaho down to Moab, Utah. Thank you to the Jones family! The two days I was there is filled with many, many adventures! It was Thursday morning at 11:20 and I had just walked into my apartment from working out and my phone was ringing. The conversation went like this:

Angel: Rachel! I found a ride to my house and then I'm going to drive to Moab where my family is on vacation! I'm just going to do it! 

Me: No way! That's going to be so fun!

Angel: And you're coming with me, our ride leaves at 11:30.

I had the worlds fastest shower and packed a bag. The drive there was so much fun! Angel and I missed the exit in Provo (by the way, always super weird driving through Eric's mission) and took the "scenic route" there. We were just fine with it! With each new canyon we drove through and as we came around each bend to see a beautiful view our reactions went like this, "Oh my gosh!!".. "Seriously!".. "Is this real life?" We got to Moab that night around 9 and went out to eat for mexican food. It was the best mexican food I've had since leaving Texas, so I was very happy haha!
Now the real adventures begin. Mostly told through pictures :) 
We had a lot to fit in the one full day we were there! We started out by visiting 'Dead Horse Canyon.' The story goes a stamped of horses ran off the side of the mountain into the canyon. The views were absolutely breath taking. umm... not any views of dead horses haha.

Love this shot

Angel and I became true tourist and bought hats and t-shirts.

 

Getting these last two shots was a little tricky.

I told myself just go sit on the ledge! How many times are you going to get to hike to the edge of the mountain and sit for a while and look at Earth's beautiful creations? Make the most of life's moments. 

Next we went to see the national arches. There is just so much to see and do. There will definitely be another trip to Moab to spend more time here and hike to the famous 'Delicate Arch.' 

Balanced Rock. I don't want to be there when it falls.

In the afternoon we took a hummer tour. We weren't quite sure what we were getting into... We were just told that we absolutely had to experience it. At this point I thought this was the craziest thing I had ever done. We spent 2 hours climbing over all the mountains and exploring. It was crazy!

Our hummer.

Taking on Hell's Revenge course. Wish us luck!

Climbing our first mountain, the 'Devils backbone'. 

This mountain here is called the 'Lions back'. It doesn't surprise me that some people are dumb enough to drive their cars up and down it! There used to be lines of people in their cars waiting to try it. A few years ago they finally put a stop to it.

*WARNING* 

this video is a little frightening, but the couple in the car came out with a broken wrist and ankle. 

(search 'moab crash' on youtube for more videos)

found all the dinosaur tracks.

Just one of the mountains we climbed. 

See?! Absolutely crazy! But so much fun! Definitely better than a roller-coaster! Our tour guides name was "Crazy Mike"! The scariest moment was when we were about to go up another mountain, our tour guide says "We've been up so many similary mountains. Why don't we do something different?" We say all right, sure! Thinking we would take another route. He then turns the hummer around, puts it into reverse and we go backwards up the mountain! I did a lot of screaming on this trip. But it was amazing the things that are big hummer could do. 

We're on top of the world!!

We ended the hummer tour by doing donuts in an empty parking lot. I've always wanted to do that haha. Here are some videos from the tour. 

That night we had a delicious dinner.

 Watched some of the Olympics opening ceremony and waited for it to get dark for our last adventure. We set out for night swimming and cliff jumping in the canyons! It was me, Angel, Marley (Angel's sister) and a friend named Ryan. I got to wear one of those fun lights on your head haha. We had that light and the light of the moon! We hiked about 3 miles into the canyon. It seemed like it was taking forever! We passed a beautiful waterfall. But that wasn't where we were supposed to be. We kept hiking. I was thinking this jump better be stinkin awesome! I was about to just pick a rock and jump in off of it. But that probably wouldn't of been very safe. FINALLY we were at the spot! The spot was so pretty, it was worth it. Perfect place to jump. There was a great little, deep pool of water and then a mini water fall and at the top was the cliff to jump off of. So we decide to climb the mini waterfall to get to the cliff. Now, I know you're probably thinking this is completely unsafe. And you're probably right. Especially at night! ha! But you're only young once! :) First up went Ryan, then Angel, Marley and me. Ryan pulls Angel up onto the cliff. Next was Marley, but she slipped on a slippery rock and the waterfall caught her and down she went. I felt so hopeless not being able to do anything. There was no where I could go but continue going up. Marley hurt her ankle really bad when she hit a ledge of rocks at the bottom of the waterfall. Now Angel, Ryan and I are on top of the cliff. It normally would of taken me about an hour just to get myself the courage to jump, but we didn't have that time because we needed to help Marley! So I just JUMPED! In the pitch black. Off a cliff. Into the water. Scariest, craziest thing I have ever done! It was awesome! I would do it again! We spent the next couple of hours getting Marley out of the canyon. It was a long 3 miles, but we were all in a good mood and focused. We had one encounter with a scorpion. None with snakes, thank goodness. It was a huge adventure for sure!

The drive back to Layton, Utah was it's own adventure. Angel and I decided to go back home the way we came because the views were so beautiful! We stopped at EVERY view point, and there was one about every 1 mile. (It took forever to drive the 100 miles through the canyons) We should be banned from all Southern Utah view points. We ignored all "stay on designated path" signs and went for our own hike and explored.   

I'm really grateful for the opportunity to go on this mini vacation. It was such a fun time, new experiences and it really feels like summer now. Angel and I should be more spontaneous and just go! I've seen lots of rocks for now, I'm ready for a beach now:)

It's time for an Update:)

I haven't blogged once this whole semester & now I'm going to do it right before the week of finals! Ha!

I am currently sitting in my favorite section of the library. 

Eating my favorite bagel from Freshins. (Asiago bagel, with garden veggie)

Listening to Spotify. 

This is a normal routine. 

I'm in that one mood, the one that says "I only have 9 days of school left!!" 

I don't want to cook. I don't want to do laundry. I really don't want to actually attempt to get ready for my day.

BRING ON THE SUMMER! 

Hair always up, no make up, shorts, t shirts, sun burns, bathing suits, lake! 

A spring semester at BYU-I is one of a kind

My advice: Only take easy classes during the spring. 

You'll fully get to enjoy playing and the fun things to do! 
And I have a 4.0 for the semester.

Idaho has been growing on me so much, I've decided to continue living here! Surprise!

Sorry Texas :(   
And I'm really missing all my friends from home!!

I've been blessed to get a job working on campus in our Student Health Center! (a little mini doctors office/hospital) 

So I'll be living here in Idaho and working as a Medical Receptionist during our summer break from school. 

I feel like staying here and not moving back home during the break is a little out of my comfort zone. 

I'm excited/nervous, but it's going to be a good experience!

 Plus, I have my best friends staying here with me and we have so many fun things planned! :)

Within the next 2 months I'm moving twice. I'm excited!
I'm moving out of my apartment complex that I've been in for the past year for forever!

Great times, but I will never pay for my laundry again. Stupid quarters. 

I'm a Junior in college now! 

I turn 20 in two months & I'm stinkin excited for this!

My best friend has been gone 8 months on his mission!
I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th!

Happy 17th Birthday to my Sister tomorrow!

I have been so thankful for this semester and the decision I made to come and the goals I set for myself before the semester started. I've felt the love that my Heavenly Father has for me numerous times. This semester has been very laid back and a perfect time for me to grow and learn who I really am and who I want to become as a person. I have a testimony of prayer and the importance of it. I've had the most amazing experiences and fun this semester. I am so excited for Fall 2012 because I can already imagine how much fun it's going to be, the new experiences I'll have and the memories I'll make!

Life is good.

:)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Today has been a wonderful day! 

I know that my Savior lives!

The linen which once held Him is empty.

It lies there,

Fresh and white and clean.

The door stands opened.

The stone is rolled away,

And I can almost hear the angels singing His praises.

Linen cannot hold Him.

Stone cannot hold Him.

The words echo through the empty limestone chamber,

“He is not here.”

The linen which once held Him is now empty.

It lies there,

Fresh and white and clean

And oh, hallelujah, it is empty.

-Emily Harris

You can watch videos of the life of Christ here

"Easter is that sacred season when the heart of each devout Christian turns in humble gratitude to our beloved Savior. It is a season that should bring peace and joy to all who love Him and show it by obeying His commandments. Easter brings thoughts of Jesus, His life, His Atonement, His Resurrection, His love. He has risen from the dead." -Richard G. Scott

I taught my last class in primary. Because of Easter and families traveling and having plans, I only had two kids there. But we had so much fun! We had a little Easter egg hunt and went outside and played "Simon Says" aka "The Holy Ghost says" We should always listen to the holy ghost but sometimes Satan will try to trick us and we have to listen really carefully. It worked out perfect! 

I've finished working at one job and this Tuesday is my last day at my other job. 

I'm studying like crazy now and I'm taking my State Exam this Friday to be a certified nurse aide! I would greatly appreciate the prayers! I'm heading back to good ol' Rexburg on Saturday. I'm feeling every emotion about this new semester coming up.

I'm ready to fly...

I'm all packed and ready to fly to Idaho... I mean I could just fit in my suitcase. 

Countdown: 8 days!

The Hunger Games Movie

The Hunger Games was awesome!
There aren't much words to describe it. 

JUST GO SEE IT!

Actually, if you haven't read the book then you should do that before you see the movie. 

I feel like if you saw it without reading the books 

then you only really enjoyed... 34.2% of the movie. 

I had really high expectations from reading and loving the book

 and the movie met those expectations. 

The movie just made the books that much better. 

We made shirts for the midnight premiere.

Shirt making 101: spray paint doesn't work very well, haha. 

"Keep Calm. May the odds ever be in your favor."

A few other notes:

 To the people who fell asleep and were snoring, how embarrassing.(especially in THE HUNGER GAMES!)

 Don't see midnight movies.

And to the woman who was SOBBING when the certain sweet character died,

 maybe you should of read the books so you would know it was coming!

 On our way home we looked up when the SECOND movie is scheduled to come out. the date is NOVEMBER 22, 2013

woot!

Allow me to catch you up

-This was my life for 6 weeks.-
Classes 3 nights a week for 4 hours
And 24 hour clinicals at a facility.

I graduated from the CNA program March 1st! In case you were wondering, being a CNA is not all about emptying bed pans. I've learned SO much. I practice all the time. It's such an important job, it's been a little overwhelming at times. I hate the feeling of disappointment. But, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! I'm planning to take the State test to be certified on April 13th. 

I'm one step closer to nursing school!

-I had a new first. I went stethoscope shopping. 
-I've been employed by Six Flags working at Ben and Jerry's.

ugly highlighter uniform
It's actually pretty fun!

- I have a SECOND job at a pdo (parents day out) I watch the most adorable kids!
basically I have two of the best jobs ever. I get to play with cute kids and eat the best ice cream ever!
- I experienced the scariest night of my life. Something I never want to experience again.
- I am a true pinterest junkie.
-I don't know how I even have time for this post.
-I really miss playing the french horn. I wish I could pick up a horn and play Nocturno by Strauss again:(
- I have a dream now to completely renovate a house.
-I'm always listening to this song. I love it.
- I "very, very closly follow" the crazy talented Haugen Creative. It's run by brother and sister, Trevor and Hailey Haugen. Beautiful Videography. Every week they have a new fun/creative/interesting video coming out. You can follow those videos and watch them here.

-My plane leaves April 14th to Utah and I'll be in Rexburg that night. 

- I am BEYOND excited.

Well that's all for now. 

Not much, but I feel super busy!

Until next time:]

Our President's Day Weekend...

Amazing food

Great company

Adorable babies
Lovely Arkansas weather 

Shopping (gotta hit those president day sales)

Exchanging stories

Did I mention amazing food???

and SHOPPING!

Meet Easton

This was actually one of the best pictures of little Noah. 
As you can see he was always on the run,
 making it a little hard to catch a picture.

These two little boys were so ADORABLE! I love babies. They definitely kept us entertained. 

Sandwiches anybody? 

So like I said, amazing food. My favorite is this delicious soup that my Aunt makes. SO GOOD! AND I get the recipe! I ate a bowl of it all weekend. The weather was perfect to curl up and have a delicious bowl of soup with good company. 

Cousin Billy, Felicia, Noah and Aunt Sharon. 

My family decided to take a small trip to Arkansas to visit my great aunt.(my mom's aunt) My great uncle Jim passed away on December 5th 2011. He had been battling cancer for years. I was in school in Idaho at the time and I was really upset there was no way I could come home for the funeral. The rest of my family went, but I wanted to go again since I was home. And boy, was it a wonderful trip. I loved every minute. We enjoyed sitting around telling stories and remembering memories. So much fun. It was a really nice "break."

When it comes to shopping I have a huge addiction. I reason with myself and if it's on sale, I buy it. Well that's some bad news if EVERYTHING was on sale. But I am proud to say that I SAVED more than I spent. That definitely counts for something. So 6 new shirts later, a cami, cardigan and new belt later I am very, very happy :) I got some of the cutest shirts! gah I'm really excited! I love shopping with Aunt Sharon. It's been something we've done together basically every time we've been there. I always remember setting aside a day to shop!

Great Aunt Sharon and I.