On to the next phase...

So after five years of living in Logan, I have finally moved on.  I moved on September 1st to Sandy.  I was really sad to leave Logan, it was such a great place to live and I am going to miss it! SOOOO....., Here is a virtual tour of my new place! It is a cute little basement apartment in Becky's backyard neighbor's house! It is great to be so close to them and have little Randy come and knock on my door to visit!

 

 I recovered the kitchen chairs! Aren't they so cute!?!

 I decided to have a cowgirl bathroom! So cute!

 And my FAVORITE room of the house...........
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Isn't it fantastic????

So come and visit me! Of course, for the time being you will have to sit on the floor since I don't have a couch... BUT, I would still love visitors!

Now What??

Well, I FINALLY graduated (it's about time)! So the big question is....Now What?  Well, I don't know, apply for jobs and hope something works out... This was all worth it right?  All I can say is, it better be.  So here's to hoping that I get a job soon and can figure out what the heck I am supposed to do with my life now, because as of right now, it is blank...

And the winner is...

It was a GREAT weekend! I went to Billings, Montana with the team for our last few horse shows in the region!
My friend Kelsey gave me this! Isn't it awesome? I can't wait to hang it up!
We had three shows at Rocky Mountain College as well as Regions. I took 1st place in the first show, and 3rd in the next two.
Just having some fun at the show! With, Alisha, Carly, Camille, Me, Lexi and Diane!
Regions was for the people who pointed up to the next level during the year. Kelsey pointed up in both the rail and reigning. And she won both of them! So she will be going to semi-finals as an individual in Florida!
This is the USU Equestrian Team! Region Champs!
But not only did Kelsey and others on our team qualify individually, WE WON THE REGION CHAMPIONSHIP!!! It is such an amazing feeling! Because we won, the team qualified to go to semis in Florida as well. But our coach will only pick one person from each level to represent the team... So I have a 50/50 chance of being chosen to go. I REALLY WANT TO GO! So we will see what happens.
This is me and Cruz, this is the horse I won on...
We went to Johnny Corrino's for a celebratory dinner, and this was my really yummy dessert.
Me and Camille at dinner
My ribbons from the weekend!
Look at those pretty ribbons. It is such a good feeling to look at those and see the proof that I accomplished something really great and was part of something that has changed and influenced my life forever. A lot of hard work, anxiety and tears went into winning that blue ribbon and being a part of helping my team come out on top.
Here is another picture of the team... Back row: Courtney, Tina, Diane, Carly, Lexi, Alisha, Me, Sydney. Front row: Camille, Elyse, Marie, Mandy, Jason (our coach), Kelsey and Austin.
I have made some great friends this year through the team and have learned so much. I have learned that I really can do hard things and if I work hard I can come out on top. I have started to learn how to work through my anxiety in stressful situations, and what I can do to help calm myself down. For example, at our first practice back from Christmas break, I had a major panic attack at practice while we were prepping the horses and having a team meeting. I was having a hard time breathing, both my eyes were twitching and I was super dizzy. All I wanted to do at that moment was run and cry and I was very close to walking out the door and quitting the team. (I AM SO GLAD I DIDN'T DO THAT!!!) I decided to just stay and keep breathing and to see how things went. We went out into the arena and I watched as half of the team rode and I was still struggling. It was finally my turn to ride, and after one lap around the arena, I was completely calm. It was amazing how just being on the horse and walking around calmed my nerves and anxiety so much. I really wish I knew more about horses and stuff because I think it would be amazing to use my psychology degree and be able to work in a horse therapy type of program, because I know it can work. A person can learn a lot and heal a lot with out even realizing it when they are learning how to ride a horse. You can make a connection with a horse that is unique. I have friends who say that their horse knows everything, because when they are frustrated and struggling, they can ride and just work it all out there and talk. I know when I have had a bad day, I love going out to Kelsey's barn and ride. It is amazing what it does for me. I love it, and I am so grateful for Kelsey and Jason for really introducing me to world of horses because it has changed my life and built my confidence.
I hope that this last weekend wasn't my last time showing with the team, but we will see. Even if it is I am so glad I did it and I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me through this! Who would have ever thought that the girly hairdresser would turn into a cowgirl? I sure never saw that one coming! Now I look at Ariat cowboy boots and bling belts instead of heels and purses! Hahaha! So to sum it up, It has been an AMAZING adventure, and I hope that I can continue riding for the rest of my life!

Aaaarrrrg

Today at college, I learned how to act like a pirate..... I am taking a Young Adult Literature class and we are currently reading this:
So my teacher decided for our quiz we needed to be creative and do group presentations that had to do with the book or pirates.... We could write and advice column, eulogy, sing a song like yo ho ho and a bottle of rum...., or whatever our creative little brains could come up with.... My group decided to do a:

We told jokes like:
1) "What is a Pirates Favorite Letter?"... people respond Arrrrg... "No it is P, for Pirate!"
2) "Why is the ocean always angry?".... "You would be angry too if you had crabs crawling all over your bottom"
3) "How much does a Pirate pay to get his ears pierced?"... "A buccaneer!"
And last but not least... The Pirate Pick up line...

If you were to have a parrot, would you like him to sit on this shoulder (touch person's left shoulder with left hand) or this shoulder (wrap other arm around and rest on other shoulder)?


Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirate's life for me.... Shiver me timbers...

My LAST first!!!!!!!!

Today is my LAST first day of school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can you tell by the amount of exclamation points that I am excited?)



On May 5, I will officially be a college graduate. It only took me 8 years to get there, but hey, I am done!!! Okay, so it is a little early to say I am done, but I am almost there! Now I just have to find a job... Crap...

This semester is going to be even more insane and busy than last semester, so lets all hope that I will stay sane, and alive. Especially since Agatha (my car) died on January 1 right as I was pulling in to Cache Valley on my way home from St. George. Yeah, I made it from St. George to 10 min. away from my house. Oh well. I have a new car now, thanks to Sara and Neil, but I was not planning on having a car payment until AFTER I graduated and got a job.... So, I had to pick up more shifts at the salon... Don't you just love how life seems to work out opposite of how you plan? Well at least mine does!
This is what my new car looks like. I LOVE it! I do have this fear though that it is going to die on me. Every car I have ever had has been at the very end of its life, and so they pretty much have all died on me :( it kind of makes me think that I am cursed to kill cars. Hopefully this is not the case with this new one! I need it to last me a LONG time! I need a name for her too... Any ideas?

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!!!!