Crazy Busy Times...

This has been the craziest Semester. Here are a few things I have been up to since November....
I raked up all the leaves in my front yard and then my landlord called and got mad at me because I raked them to the wrong area of the yard... yeah, I know...

On 11/11/11 my good friends Kelsey and Jason (my equestrian team coach) got married. I was one of their bridesmaids and I was so happy to share in their special day. They got married at Sundance and it was gorgeous!


Me and Kelsey at the Receptions
Me, Kels, and Jas
My bouquet and necklace (Kelsey made it. Isn't it pretty?!)
These were taken at the rehearsal dinner the night before in Heber.

The next weekend (I think, I honestly don't remember) we went to Bozeman, Montana for a horse show at MSU....
Just chillin watching the show.....

The next few are of the second show..... We had to wear helmets for this one. Yeah, gross.





but hey, I took third! This is cheesy, but this is the first ribbon I have ever won! Go me! haha

Then Lindsey Brown came up for a visit. We had a ton of fun doing everything on her list....
Ice Skating with cute Samantha...



Riding horses... This is Kelsey's horse Sassy. She has had her since she was 5 and is a good old horse to give some lessons on.... But I still made Lindsey wear my practice helmet... She did a great job and even got comfortable enough to ride without me holding on the reigns leading her around. She LOVED it! She is even wearing a pair of my cowboy boots, and she kept commenting on how funny they felt on her feet. I don't know what she is talking about :) Once you get them stretched out, they are SO comfortable. I already new I had a shoe problem, but that has now extended to boots... I am always looking at them and there is this pair I want SOOOO bad, now to find the money....


Then we went to a movie and got hot chocolate at Village in after. It was a great visit and it was fun to have her up here. I can't believe she is getting so old!!!

And finally... Christmas with the roommates. We had a little Christmas night and took some pictures in front of the tree :), but now they are both moved out :(. One graduated, and the other is getting married. When they sell their contracts, I will be up to 34 roommates... yikes, I am think I am done. If I could afford it, I would buy their contracts so I could live by myself. Please pray that I get normal roommates.
I just had to throw this cute one of little Gracie in. She is so funny. I got a text from my mom the other night and she said that while she and Gracie were driving around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights she randomly said, "Rachel cut my hair, it was beautiful". That made my night :) It is the best when your nieces and nephews are at the age when they remember who you are even when you live far away and don't get to see them very often.

The semester is FINALLY over!!! It has probably been one of the busiest semesters I have had with school full time working 2 jobs 40 hours a week, and joining the equestrian team. I have been exhausted the whole time, and kept thinking, I need to give something up. The problem is, I didn't want to give any of it up, so I just kept on going and going.... like the energizer bunny. And hey, I still managed to pull off fairly decent grades (thank goodness). Now I don't have to think for three blissful weeks. I plan on resting up and getting a lot of sleep so that I can make it through my last, yes that's right my LAST semester of college!!! Hallelujah!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

RED!!!

So I decided to just go for it. I have been wanting to go red for a long time, so I thought, what the heck, I have been every other color. Might as well try this one too. And I kind of like it! Kind of crazy, but hey I just joined the equestrian team, I think crazy is becoming my middle name :) What do you think??

Giddy up little horsie, giddy up, woah

So... I have been up to some interesting things lately... It took my family a long time to believe me and some of my friends who have found out what I have been doing have said things like, "I feel like I don't know you anymore"... Don't worry, I am still my girly me who likes makeup, doing hair, and chick flicks. But I have started a new adventure... :)

A couple of months ago, I started going to my friends barn that she and her fiance lease and board and train horses. I started riding with them and fell in love with it. My only horse experience I ever really had was once a year when we went to Canada to visit my grandma and grandpa on the farm, but it had still been about 11 years since I had been on a horse. I learned to trot and lope within my first day of riding with them, and I kept coming back. It was kind of fun to be a cowgirl and ride all those pretty horses.

This is my friends 4th year on the USU Equestrian team, and her fiance is the coach. So after a lot of bugging, and begging, and convincing, they finally got me to try out for the team. I thought that there was no way in the world I would actually make it. I mean, come on, I don't do things like this. But I beat out 4 other people and secured a spot on the team. CRAZY? YES! I really didn't think he would let me on... but he said I have a really good seat and am a natural rider. So after a bit of freaking out I called my mom and told her the news, she kept saying to me, "Rachel, its not April fools day". I decided what the heck, I am going to step out of my little box and do something different, when in my head I was thinking, who in their right mind at 25 years old and in their senior year of college who already works 40+ hours a week decides, hey I am going to join the equestrian team? Well, that would me, why not add one more thing to my insane life?

I wanted to go home and cry after the first practice, I have NEVER been on any kind of team or had any kind of coach, unless you count my choir teacher.... so It was a completely new experience for me, and unlike most of the people on the team, I didn't grow up around horses and competing in horse shows my whole life. But I decided, to give it a shot and keep on trying. the second practice went MUCH better and the next day we were on the road headed to our first show... YIKES!!!!!

We show for IHSA in Western showmanship riding. We are the only school in Utah with a team so our region is Idaho and Montana. We are judged on how we are sitting, where our legs, feet, and hands are, our posture and so on. And then on how well we can control the horse and do what we are told. I am not that competitive of a person, so this is so weird for me.

Our first show was just this last weekend at UMW (University of Montana Western) in Dillon. We left Logan on Friday afternoon and got there that evening. There were 2 English riding shows on Saturday, so we watched and supported them. Then on Sunday was the show for the western team.

So we have to be completely decked out. Bedazzled shirts, belt buckles, boots, hats, chaps and all. (by the way, I LOVE my boots, they are black and pink!) So these are some pictures of me before and during.... warning to all, I look like a hippo trying to disguise herself as a snake... it is bad, but oh well... I could barely walk the chaps were so tight, and getting on the horse, well, lets say it was a darn good thing they had mounting blocks cuz I could barely move my legs!


This is me with a couple of my teammates. Aren't our outfits um... interesting?We have to have our hair pinned back so that nothing is moving, I think I would have looked a lot better if my hair was down. But this is me all decked out and ready to go. weird huh? Never thought I would be seen in something like this!!

These are a a couple pictures of me riding...
You can kind of see my boots in this picture! Here is a better picture. Aren't they beautiful??



So yeah, that is what is going on with me.... pretty crazy but really fun!