Rainy Nights and a life of [insert word here]

*Random thought of the day: "Being Happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look upon the imperfections." This is my quote for the week, that I'm going to try and remember. I need to remember it because its truly the only way I can carry on through my life, no matter how tough things might get sometimes. The End.* In the words of my roommate Katie, "OH Life...." Basically that can sum it all up believe it or not. I have been annoyingly busy. So much that I finally really stressed out for the first time this semester. I know-good thing I waited til mid semester right? Well, I just had a little breakdown this weekend, due to everything piling up, having the emotions of a girl, and totally losing control of my prioritization skills. Happens right? Of course right! But hey, I got a little help from a wonderful Priesthood blessing tonight, and I'm thinkin I'm gonna be ok:) My classes are just crazy as usual. I love the things I'm learning though, and really trying hard to do well and focus. And work. Ah good ol' Kmart....I continue to work part time there-often consisting of closing one night and opening the very next. And mostly weekends, but I still get much of my weekends free to play. I mean uh...do homework...and clean and do laundry....BA! Yeah right. Only sometimes! Well anyway, lets get to the gist of some of the "fun" stuff i've been involving myself in...Yes. I'm wearing flip flops and my winter jacket. I can't stay away from the flip flops!!!!!!!!! Its an addiction.... What you see before your eyes above, is probably not what you think it is.....yeah. We had a shaving cream fight for Family home evening. We rule.These are from a date me and Laine went on...with two boys...not each other:) We went to a creepy haunted straw maze. ah....good times...though scary! Guitars unplugged-show at BYUI of different bands...some good, some bad-good times though with my friend Anthony!Well besides having a grand ol time at BYUI......I carry on doing nothing else and trying to make it alive through this semester! Have a GREAT week everyone! TTFN!

Reasoning with my Life in General...

*Random Thought of the Day: "If you work hard, you'll be happy. If you don't, you'll go to Hell."- Brigham Young. Well said Brigham! A little to the extreme, but point made. The End."

Well all you people who just love reading my blog. Update you say? Here it is!
I've been having the time of my life at BYUI! Ok, so i'm in over my head with my crazy schedule, but I'm hangin in.....my classes are crazy. I'm writing a paper one day, taking a test the next, and practicing one hour, and studying the next. It's nuts...oh and of course working 2-3 days a wk for a least a few hours a shift. But, I have managed to keep a social life, involving my sport of raquetball and keeping up with my awesome tv shows! Ah... I don't know how I do it all.
Here's some of my latest adventures......
First of all, I got to hold and see my very first Idaho Potato...big ones too!
Yeah. I know right? They tasted delish! Now, you can all call me potato girl.

Other adventures.....got to go to conference last weekend which was excellent! I really truly love Salt Lake City...minus the getting lost part, which, always seems to happen....but hey-it was fun hanging out with my cousins-Sheree and Brent and of course Aunt Kathi and Uncle Ray and the rest of their fam!Girls night during priesthood session.....um....I wont even explain....:)

I also loved being on Temple Square! Its truly one of my favorite places to be!
Something really exciting that happened Saturday Night.....while in the Joseph Smith building hanging out with my friend Reed, we were on the top floor and were getting ready to go back down the elevator when someone very special came walking down the hallway......
I'm serious. Neil A. Anderson, from the quorum of the 12 apostles was in the JS Building. He was with his son and a couple of other people and Reed and I recognized him right away. We shook his hand, introduced ourselves, and then rode the elevator down with him, having a short conversation. SO awesome! I recently made a bucket list, and on that list was "meet and have a conversation with an Apostle." SCORE! It made my whole weekend! And its something I wont forget!
It was a really fun weekend and we got to go to the Saturday Afternoon Session live. I also ran to some old friends from EA around temple square! It was awesome! Good times.....
Well, nothing too much else is happening. I'm loving it here and doing my best! Hope you all are great! TTFN!

One day at a time...

*Random Thought of the Day: How did, the monkey get across the road?He jumped on the chicken's back! Haha. The End.*
Well Well, I'm sure you all are interested to know how things up here in Idaho are going. And if you're not interested, that is a serious, personal, problem!
Things are fantastic I guess I should say. I'm staying really busy and trying to keep up with it all. My classes are pretty great. I'm learning alot. I especially love my vocal production class. I have TONS to keep up with in it alone. 5-6 hours a week of practice, studying the voice, etc....but I love it! The things i'm learning, will not just improve my voice, but also is giving me the knowledge to really be able to teach voice lessons someday, which I think I'd like to do at some point. It's great!
I also started working at Kmart this week. Yep-I'm there again. This time though, I'm a supervisor, working at the Customer Service Desk. However, here, the kmart is not only smaller, but things are alot more "lax". And not to mention boring. Basically, I literally just stand there and "supervise" lol. Well, I do returns and "supervisor" type things, but I just stand there and look cute or important haha! Ah...its a job....

I'm enjoying the friends I'm making and my roommates are fun.

L-R: Rachel, Karen, Lalenia,Me, Katie, Ari

Good times......
Also, I am recieving a calling tomorrow in my ward as.....guess! No don't guess, I'll just tell you. I'm the ward music chairman...yet again. haha-but I LOVE IT! I'm really excited! I loved doing it in Thatcher last year. I love having the opportunity to put together special musical numbers and such. Should be great! My ward is awesome!

Well, that's all I have to say this time. Hope everyone out there is doing great! TTFN

Just call me potato girl!

*Random thought of the Day: Fact #1-Idaho is the potato state, but I have yet to see any potatoes. Fact #2-BYU Idaho is probably the biggest part of Rexburg, ID, and somewhat overwhelming. The End.*I'm officially a BYU-Idaho student! Just call me potato girl?! Actually. Dont. Anyway. I arrived here Monday, September 6th at 11am! It all began with getting a key to my apartment, and unloading everything and taking it to the THIRD, yes THIRD floor.
Short version: LOVE my apartment! Everything is pretty much settled and my roommates are GREAT!
Me and two of them-Rachel is the blonde and the one I share a room with-yep-I said Rachel. The other is Laine.
View from my room!
Mom even organized my closet for me:)I've already got to take part in some fun activities! Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband came and performed here. If you havent heard of them-you tube or itune them-they are way good! I'd seen them once before in concert, but they gave a great show on Wed night and I only had to pay $2 for it!Also had the opportunity to go on a hike with my "I-team" which was pretty fun! And beautiful!Life is going good. I'm making friends and my classes so far are alright. I haven't made it to all of them yet since we randomly started on Thursday. However, I only have 2 classes on tues/thurs and ONE class on Fri! Woot! Its nice, but I already have lots of HW to do!
I'm taking 2 child care classes, Business 101, Family Foundations-religion,Vocal Production, and thats it! But will still be lots of work! Ah!
On another note, here are a few pics from last weekend. I drove as far as Provo last saturday and got to visit with some friends and cousins! I love Andrea and Levi!
Good times. Well I hope you enjoyed my spew of pictures and love!
Have a great week everyone!

Ready or Not

*Random Thought of the Day: Today's random thought is about Emma Smith. I love Emma Smith! I want to meet her someday! She was one amazing woman! I think about the trials I have gone through and am going through, and then I think of her. She "weathered every storm with a queen's grace". She lost many of her children, and finally her husband Joseph. Many people have had hardships similar, but she just handled it to the best of her ability, as she stood by her husbands side. I hope to have the strength Emma Smith had in all my days!Ready or not....BYU-Idaho is calling my name! I leave Saturday morning, early, to first go spend a couple of days in Provo. I'm way excited for that because I get to hang out with my cousins Andrea, Levi and Samantha! So happy! Girls night with Andrea and Samantha is definantly on the list! I'll probably catch up with some old friends up there as well! I'm thrilled!
On Sunday, mom and Duane will drive up to Provo, stay with some cousins, and then we will follow each other up to Rexburg!
Ah...I just can't believe Summer is practically over. Its been a REALLY LONG SUMMER, but SO quick at the same time. I know thats contradictry, but hey, its what I do. I cant even SPELL contradictory? contradictary? contractidery?

ANYWAY....currently, this is what my room looks like....... As circled, I have to step OVER boxes and stuff to get to closet or through my door:)

Oh well. This is just what happens. My life is often like this MESS of boxes:)
Well, here's the point of this blog post.
I want to list some things that I learned this summer. Maybe some won't make sense to my readers, but well, here goes anyway!
*I have learned to become a professional diaper changer. Yeah.
*Most people, after working at a daycare for so long, really don't want kids of their own. Well, I want kids even more now. I always gotta be the opposite one:)*I have learned that I need to be more open minded about things.
*I learned more about non-lds members lives, and the uniqueness of them, and what good people they are. Not that I didnt' think that before, I just saw the "opposite" life up close and personal.
*I learned, and am still learning, that I shouldnt care so much what people think.
*I learned the true power and strength of the Atonement and the mercy of God, even when I didnt fell I deserved his mercy.
These are just a few lessons I learned. I'm sure I learned a couple more, but I'm still thinking it through:)
As I always say, "Learn while you live, love what you learn."I wondered why I was coming to New Mexico for the summer. All I knew is that there were better jobs here and I'd have a little more space living with my dad(mostly). But now I know that I really had some things to learn. Some lessons harder than others, but worth learning.
I hope that all of you reading this, can remember to..." learn to learn from your learning experiences!" :) Yeah. I just made that quote up.
Well, wish me luck as I venture out for this last week of summer!
I'll blog again once I get to Idaho!
TTFN! I had to take advantage of the sunflowers and my camera!

Mixed Up cRaZy Summer!

*Random Thought of the Day: Sunflowers. The new theme of my blog. I LOVE sunflower season with a passion! They are one of my favorite flowers and just make me want to share the sunshine of my life! The End.*

Ok Ok. I know you've all been wondering if i've become a facebook junkie now instead of a natural blogger, but guess what-I'm not! I love FB, but I just havent had anything exciting to blog about this past month or so. But now its definantly time for an update!
I've been working, working, sleeping some, eating, and working so so much this whole summer! Ah! Can't believe how fast it's gone by already. I am putting in my 2 weeks notice at both my jobs this coming week. Wierd. Its been quite an interesting summer.
I've really gotten attached to my kids at the daycare. Particularly the babies, and 1 yr olds-which is where I spend most of my time. I LOVE my babies!

This is me and my little redhead, Donika-for some "odd reason", I just bond well with this one:)It's nice when I have them all content in swings too!And when konked out like a drunken child, thats pretty funny too.I'll miss my kids when I leave!

Kmart is treating me well. I mildly enjoy it lol. They have even trained me a little bit in customer service-woot!

As Labor Day weekend approaches, I will then leave for Idaho! Wow. I'm really pretty excited to start my life there! I'm not entirely ready for summer to end, but it will be good to get up there and get settled.This wknd, I have had the opportunity to be in Arizona! Its been AWESOME! I started the wknd in Thatcher...yay! I arrived Friday afternoon and was at Emily and Dereks-where I stayed. I went and visited a lady from my ward down there, then...met up with my best boys! Stephen and Jason! Woohoo! Stephen just got home from his mission so I hadnt seen him yet. Pretty much, I was with them for the rest of the day and night! Ok so they kinda drove me crazy but they are boys.... It was amazing...see pictures:)Saturday consisted of a baby shower for Emily! See more pics on Facebook! She's due with her baby boy in a few weeks!

I visited more friends and went to my friend Adri's wedding reception Saturday night.
Today I got to come up to Show Low to see my family, and also went to 1st ward-which i was in from age 11 to when I graduated! So I got to see alot of old friends and such! Good times! Its been a really great break having the weekend off. Now i just get to make it the next few weeks of summer, and move to Idaho! Woot!
And that my friends, is the recent story of my life!
Have a great week! Word....

Independence

*Random Thought of the Day: "True Independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right." -Brigham Young. We all have our independence. Especially as a young adult, I do. So basically, as long as I'm doing what I feel is right for me-I'm good to go! Right?! :) The End.*

Hello my fellow people! I'm blogging once again! I just can't find time to update lately, plus, I have nothing to UP-DATE...most of the time. Well, here's the latest anyway!
Work continues to keep me busy. Kmart has me 5 nights a week-hopefully more soon just cuz I need the hours. The daycare is lacking in hours but i've been able to get a couple days a week of work. I still stress out when it comes to watching 1 and 2 year olds. Ugh. What a pain. I mean seriously, SOME PEOPLES CHILDREN! Then there is the baby room, which I'm finally liking a little more, no matter how boring it might be sometimes. And I have a child in there that cries all day. No really. I mean he literally cries ALLLLLL DAYYYY! This kid cries while he eats for heavens sake. However, I've learned to be more patient and calm with crying babies. And then of course I get attached to my favorites sometimes. Particularly dear little Natalie:) Oh what a drama queen! If she weren't so cute, I wouldn't put up with her! And sometimes I don't, but she just has the cutest face and is a pretty good baby. Good at entertaining herself and being happy, until she gets hungry, tired, or needs changed-then she is a normal baby and cries. Oh and she certainly has a high pitched voice-she may just become a soprano someday:)
Anyway, I just continue working lots. I try to be social lol. I've been hanging out with my buddy Shane alot. I work w/him at Kmart and we've become really good friends-so its good to have someone to hang out with for the summer.Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take a few days off and go to Aspen Grove for the Downey Family Reunion. It was awesome! I really wanted to stay for the whole week, but work needed me back after a few days. And i'm pretty sure like 30 seconds after I got back, I was working hardcore again. I went from Saturday to Tuesday. And-I made it there by myself! What a miracle. 6 1/2 hour drive there with no GPS, but about 15 calls to my stepmom, who knew the road well, and an atlas and mapquest that I somewhat followed:)I got lost once on the way there, just an extra 20 minutes added to my trip because somehow I missed a turn and was heading BACK to New Mexico.
I arrived in Provo and met up with my family at the BYU Campus Creamery. I also got to meet up with my dear friend Curtis Gardner, as well as Tiffany Millit Marcy and her husband Spencer-all attending BYU currently. It was fun catching up with them!Aspen Grove was BEAUTIFUL, as always! I loved being there and seeing all mom's family that I never get to see! Me and Sheree-best friends!
I dominated in paintball-pictures of that when I get some. Ok, so I didnt dominate, but Uncle Frank helped our team win both times, but capturing the flag! Woot! But it was fun. I also took the ridiculous opportunity to do the "ropes course". Ok, so skip the ropes part, I climbed up and immediately repelled down, due to my fear of heights worse than I thought.
This is me being happy before I started climbing and wanted to cry.
This is me starting to climb, and still happy, before I got too high up, and once again, I wanted to cry.
This is me repelling down because no matter how tied down I was, I was too scared to try and walk on the ropes because well-you guessed it-I probably WOULD have cried. I'm just not fond of the feeling of falling, no matter how roped up I am. I felt like SUCH a baby, especially when there were two cute byu boys helping with the ropes course. Pathetic lol! Oh well. I can check that off my list of things I've done in my life lol. If u want to see all my pics-check my facebook albums! All on there, and more to come for sure!It was a fun few days and relaxing up in the beautiful mountains.On my way back, I had the adventure of taking nearly 8 hours to get home, instead of 6 or so. Why? Because I'm Rachelle. And though i'm a warrior princess, my sense of direction is not the best. I blame my mother for that:) Heck-I blame my dad too. I mean hello-I called my stepmom a million times for directions and even my stepdad on my way back. How nice lol. Anyway, for starters, my truck really just wanted to be in Utah or go back to Arizona. While leaving Provo, I missed a turn again and was heading to AZ. I Knew I was in the wrong direction because I was almost to Nephi, and I happen to know that road because I've taken it from AZ to Provo a few times. Where is my best friend Emily when I need her-she has good direction!So, I went 35 miles out of my way and had to turn around. So finally, I was on the right highway and i'm driving along and see a sign off on an exit that says Moab-the town I'm supposed to go through. But it wasnt the way I came, so I call Anne and ask if I should go ahead and get off there. Not knowing exactly where i was, she said go ahead. After a long time of being in the middle of no where, I found myself driving along the beautiful Colorado River. The "Scenic" route.
Yeah. So I'm just driving along, hoping and praying that I'll see another sign for Moab soon. And I did. 20 more miles. So I get to Moab and then Montecello-beautiful temple there by the way-and I'm good to go.Moral of the story? When I got home, my dad pointed out that I had gone 100 to 150 miles out of my way by going the way I did along the CO river. Only something like this would happen to me. :)
This weekend was of course the 4th of July-Happy 4th to everyone! I of course had to work most of the weekend at nights. But, Anne's family was all here-tons of kids and such! So I've got to hang out with them some.
I was also lucky enough to see some fireworks last night. I was working, but my boss is cool and let us go out to the Kmart parking lot to watch some! Its my favorite part of this holiday! So it made me happy!

Well, this blog has gone on and on. OH! PS! Everyone go see the newest Twilight movie-Eclipse! Pretty good I must say. Totally didn't follow the book in some parts-and the acting is a LITTLE better as far as Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are concerned-but only a little.Have a wonderful week everyone!