A long adventure in a lovely, chaotic month (longest post ever)

Well it's been a while and there's been quite a bit going on! At least as far as our simple lives go.  Lets see, where to begin...I guess the beginning of the chaos would be a good place, huh. That would be about a month ago. Probably the better part of the chaos even. Riley's brother Parker came to visit us for about two weeks in the ripe beginnings of May. It was wonderful. We barbecued, went on numerous hikes (training for another part of the chaos), Riley and Parker rented some video games that I otherwise would ban from the house and had a few late "man-nights", Parker and I went shoe shopping and then all three of us headed up to Lehi to play house for a week while my Aunt and Uncle were away on a cruise with my parents. I suppose this was the real chaos. And also wonderfully pleasant! Let me paint you a picture of about how it went, in a one day summary ( Get ready, this is done in one heaping hot breath );






LEHI ( WATCHING THE COUSINS) 


6:30 comes around and Riley is up and ready and about to run out to door to make it to work on time with the 25 minute commute, while I start the long process of opening my eyes and rolling out of bed to wake the 1st round of children (16, 13 and 13)  to get ready and go to school. Then I start making lunches for the 2nd round of children (12, 10 and 7) that are not yet awake. Hounding and homework questions are fluttering around as the 2nd round of children start trickling out of their caves with halo's of fuzz surrounding their precious faces asking for breakfast and what treats they got in their lunches. The fuzz of the child on my lap is being brushed at the table as round one of children report that shoes are missing or sweaters are lost and because of this they will need a ride to school. SO. I pull on my slippers and pull my hair into some poor display for someone who is supposed to be going to cosmetology school and, bra-less mind you, I rush to drop off the kids at school and try to remember my way home so I can get the rest of the kids off to their school in time. I rush in the door and have to tell poor Abby that "I'm sorry, but no you can not wear that tutu to school because it's a little too short...yes it is just a lit...oh yes when you walk it shows your bum and it's rather see-through, I'm sorry dear you just can not wear it to school. You can wear it at home with leggings or shorts or over something, but you can't go outside like that. " and then making sure homework and lunches are gathered and everyone is off! Then a few hours to tidy up and then they start trickling in and home and chores are thrust on the children, and Riley gets home and there's complaining about who's turn it is on the computer and there's no toilet paper in the bathroom and.....what is that smell?.....What is that sound?..... Where is that coming from?......Is that coming from the cupboards under the sink?.....Wait is that.....is that water coming from under the sink?!?!?!?  And yes of course it was. And yes of course the pipes broke. And yes of course that meant chores including dishes and the kitchen were postponed (with gratitude from the children). And it meant a trip to home depot and an incredible brother in law who volunteered to fix it! Friends came and went, dinner was miraculously made without the use of the kitchen sink and seemed to produce twice as many dishes as we had  used (at least that's how it seemed as there was no way to wash them ), jokes were made, scriptures were read and then the battle to getting all the kids to bed. I think the day ended somewhere around 1:00am after the last minute semester-long-project-procrastination was dealt with AND SOLVED and we finally got to bed to do it all over. As crazy as it was it was a lot of fun and I didn't want to leave...and I am also very grateful that children only come one at a time and they start out as babies with very little to deal with outside of their natural needs and all of what comes with being a new baby. And that is that bit of wondrous chaos. 






GRAND CANYON BACK-PACKING


After some reaaaaally long naps and a shower, Riley's parents came into town! It was short, but very nice to have them here. We hiked some more and played some games and all of this loveliness and then they went home leaving us to plan for our Back-packing trip to the Grand Canyon, on the Thunder River trail, with some of Riley's friends. It's a pretty intense bit of a hike. We were a little worried because Riley had blown out his knee the last time he did this hike and it's somewhere around 25 miles, and 3 days long. But we diligently trained and about 3 days before we left I pulled my hip flexor pretty good. So we took it easy and I stubbornly insisted we still go. And It was wonderful! For the first 9 miles of the first day anyhow. At that point my hip started giving me problems and Riley's knee started acting up.

We hiked down the Red Wall (of death)...

...to get to the esplinade. Then we made it down
what is called the white wall...

...to this place called Surprise valley. It  sure is a surprise.
A surprise hit to the legs! It was endless!

After we got through the valley we went down one more cliff face and ended up in this little haven
called Thunder River Falls!

We managed to drag ourselves to the loveliest place where I have ever unknowingly taken a nap and missed out on. How, you may ask? Well we stopped at this incredible waterfall that goes for about a mile, fiercely for the whole mile, and ate lunch. After we filled our water bottles I plopped down on a patch of weeds under a shady tree 5 feet from the mouth of this enormous waterfall and apparently fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall. I didn't think much of the fact that I was no longer in shade by the time I got up ( as the sun had moved quite a bit)  But as far as I can remember it was a lovely 2 hour nap! At least I felt lovely afterwards, I don't actually remember falling asleep. HA! 

On day two, yes the previous portions were all the first day, we hiked to Deer Creek.  There were water falls along the way, boulders to climb over as far as the eye can see and then forests of reeds that we went through to get here. These are the narrows. A river had cut it's way through to the falls. If you looked down from the top there were sections that it had cut down 100 ft. and you couldn't see the water, but you could hear it raging below you. We had to walk along a narrow path against a cliff face along side the narrows to get to our next destination.

This is Deer Creek Falls. Many river rafter just get there on their rafts, but we  hiked down  yet another cliff to get there with our packs and proudly jumped in fully clothed to feel the cool mist coming off the falls. It was a beautiful place.

The rest of the trip was great as far as company, food, jokes and scenery go. Riley and I took turns being in pain as his knee was no good on the downhill and I had to hoist my leg by my shorts to climb anything, but we got out alive and we are glad that we went! 




UTAH FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

To top off the last of the month, last weekend the BYU Bookstore held a festival that I was on the committee for planning. It's something we've been working on since January and I am glad to say that it was a huge hit and it's over! I was in charge of pictures, costumes and some other little tid-bits here and there. The costumes were a big hit and I was actually complimented by some of the people at KSL that had done the festival in previous years and was contacted by a lady who is doing the Festival at Uof U about tips and advice for doing costumes at their festival this September. All of the people that volunteered to wear the costumes were fabulous and we had a lot of fun. Riley even came and participated. He volunteered to be our Winnie the Pooh and every woman I worked with told me I was incredibly lucky to have a husband like Riley. I enthusiastically  agreed and told them I already knew that :) Afterwards we went out to Olive Garden to celebrate and now here we are.  I will try and get some pictures of everything soon. I realize blogs as wordy and long as mine usually require pictures to be even mildly entertaining, so I shall get some soon. Hope you're all doing well! Much love!




Disclaimer - I do not claim to own rights to these pictures, I'm just sharing in the beauty. Here are the links for each of them

-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=9t8Ml_oj0FXRPM:&imgrefurl=http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np-image.grca8468.html&docid=ABl8evC61nFbqM&imgurl=http://www.terragalleria.com/images/np-plateau/grca8468.jpeg&w=576&h=393&ei=YQAfUIy7KciKiAKKqYDIDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=127&vpy=265&dur=432&hovh=157&hovw=229&tx=175&ty=95&sig=104894272154253102036&page=2&tbnh=131&tbnw=190&start=21&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:21,i:144


-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=xv0aR-Mr7z3RrM:&imgrefurl=http://learningfromdogs.com/2012/01/16/the-grand-canyon/&docid=t2uzfW_wQwIp5M&imgurl=http://learningfromdogs.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/grand_canyon_snow_color_rocks1.jpg%253Fw%253D700&w=298&h=420&ei=kgAfUPbRJen6iwKirIDoCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=124&vpy=101&dur=11&hovh=267&hovw=189&tx=109&ty=117&sig=104894272154253102036&page=2&tbnh=134&tbnw=116&start=21&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:21,i:141


-http://www.google.com/imgres?start=22&num=10&um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=fpAB3GnHD20Y5M:&imgrefurl=http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np-image.grca8479.html&docid=kYrI7KhrGFHoXM&imgurl=http://www.terragalleria.com/imag


-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=QwYgw_ecuUgsEM:&imgrefurl=http://www.flickriver.com/photos/alanenglish/sets/72157600162962748/&docid=ZHAOMAFO4h2IEM&imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/491920359_358d772053.jpg&w=500&h=375&ei=XAEfUPLTHKmViAK3roCoCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=513&vpy=190&dur=443&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=112&ty=124&sig=104894272154253102036&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:82


-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=XWOSF5ddYoU7rM:&imgrefurl=http://www.zecherphoto.com/gallery.asp%3Fc%3D6%26cn%3DNature%2520Scenic&docid=pCSjXITyfSX_rM&imgurl=http://www.zecherphoto.com/uploads/NPGC13_Deer_Creek_Falls.jpg&w=497&h=744&ei=vgEfUKKMIsn9iwLdsIGABg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=840&vpy=214&dur=10&hovh=275&hovw=183&tx=108&ty=189&sig=104894272154253102036&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=88&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0,i:122


-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=600&tbm=isch&tbnid=hRJo1_tmArIVEM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php%3F33051-Grand-Canyon&docid=7-OPdhIieOgLXM&imgurl=http://www.danransom.com/slideshows/NorthRim/gallery/11.jpg&w=333&h=500&ei=MQIfULLMF8LNiwLVj4HACw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=345&vpy=71&dur=363&hovh=186&hovw=124&tx=106&ty=157&sig=104894272154253102036&page=2&tbnh=134&tbnw=90&start=25&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:25,i:181

Operation Backsplash - Completed

Well we said we were gonna do it and now it's done! We finally covered up some of the nasty brick in our apartment. I feel kinda silly doing it as a how-to, so I'm just gonna post some pictures of our awesome new kitchen and if anyone has questions I can deliver that information elsewhere.

So I just need to take a minute here and say it looks so much better than before. Sometimes I forget that we did it and I walk into the kitchen and before I can do anything about words like "This looks so good!" or "Man, we have a great kitchen" start gushing out of my mouth. These things are quickly followed by a "I know!" from the other end of the apartment from Riley or simply laughter. But really, it turned out to be a wonderful activity for Riley and I to do together. We had a lot of fun puzzling it out and fixing our blunders and just spending the time together. I think my day is going to be filled with finding another activity like this that we can do... but I digress!
Here are some pictures of the mayhem and the transformation.

Now we don't have the best camera so you can't see all the lovely shade variation in he back splash, but it looks so much richer and relaxing. Anyhow, this is our new kitchen, and we love it! 

Life's Simple Transformations

I find it is a wonderful gift that when one thing comes to a close there are usually other events beginning to bloom into existence to fill the void.  I have a few examples in mind from the events of this last month or so;

-It is the close of a school year, which comes with finals and in turn the beginning of relaxation for my dear sweet Riley.

- It is the beginning of the close of the 3 dimensional life of "wife-working- homemaker" Rachel into the 4 dimensional life of  "wife-working-STUDENT-homemaker" Rachel .

-We have recently finished one of our favorite T.V. shows on Netflix ( Bones ) and another season is airing and will be Netflix-ed before the year is out! 

-We attended a Mission Reunion for Riley's mission in this early month that was full of reminiscence, and going full circle, have just been informed that Riley's brother Parker is due to report to his mission in two months, to serve in the Spokane Washington Mission!

-My hours at work have been slightly cut back and I was just contacted about a short-term nannying position that falls perfectly in line with my summer itinerary.

I find that life is a beautiful thing, continually moving and shifting it's shape, becoming not just our history, our present reality and our future dreams, but also our character, our love and a balm to continue to our future dreams and another reality totally unique to us and our lives. It gives me great awe to know that this perfectly harmonious and infinitely varied existence was all composed this way. And it gives me greater awe to know who is responsible for that and that I have a personal relationship with him. My Father in Heaven. I know more than anything that all these good things happening in my life are the proof of his hand in my life and that he is so Great that he can even take all the bad things I experience and turn them into something good too.

So, I'm realizing this started out as an update on what's been happening in life and turned into something 

much different. I can't decide if it's a result of my being overly in touch with my emotional side ( highly likely), or just....no it's probably that. Well regardless, this is what life has had in store for us recently. It's been eventful and full of love and learning and we couldn't be happier.  

The saddest news of the year

Today I came home from work and Riley and his friend Xander were here playing video games. They told me an idea they had about making an epic game making fun of all video game cliche's  in the book and how awesome it would be even down to the packaging, which would come with a snack. I suggested caprisun's. THEN I got an even better idea and suggested Squeezits. You remember. Those fruit drinks sold in a plastic bottle with a twist off cap and a cartoon face on the bottle. I got so excited about it I started salivating over the idea of twisting off that diamond top and slurping out that blue/purple/red goodness. So excited I needed to show the boys a picture of delectable drink so I could share my joy. The first site I checked had a great picture as well as a short, yet interesting article attached. Apparently this scrumptious treat was discontinued. In 2001!!! I was so sad I almost cried. I even looked on amazon to see if some crazy collector person had some left over to sell. I was so desperate for a sip of this Squeezit I was willing to drink a 9+ year expired drink. It's true. And, admittedly, if someone were to offer one to me right now... I would take it. And I would drink it with a smile so big my face would break. Literally. On the bright side the site also had a petition. And yes, I signed it. With vigor and vim, I typed my name on that line and left a comment proclaiming my love! Lets just pray that my efforts will go rewarded. I could really use a lift from one of those silly faced bottles. I have lovingly attached a picture for those of you that do not recall...and the sit for the petition if anyone else is feeling particularly nostalgic and and are as sad as me. To the rest of you who feel that this is silly, you can ignore the link :) Much love to all and to all a good night.

Mmmmmm... Nothing says love better than a good squeez(it)

Image and blog link - http://www.phoodie.info/2010/09/09/another-beverage-we-may-or-may-not-want-resurrected-squeeze-its/

Truly, This is News

Well life has been eventful this last week. Riley is getting anxious as the last two and a half weeks of school approach. This marks a rise in our activity for the year. General Conference is around the corner, Riley's Protest the Hero concert comes next, then  we will celebrate his birthday the following weekend (yay!) and then it's finals, the end of school and onto the endless party! At least until June 28th.


Yesterday I received an e-mail telling me about a special offer going on at Taylor Andrews Academy of Hair Design, a cosmetology school I had been looking into for the last little while. Well what was this great offer, you may ask? Half off tuition. What? That's right, half. The only stipulation was that we had to pay it in full by March 2nd. Thankfully, I have a wonderful family that has been watching out for me. My parents gave me a portion of money that my Great-Grandpa Josephek put aside for me to go to school and it covers almost 3/4 of what I would need to put down. Riley and I discussed it and decided if I am going to go to Cosmetology school that this is the time to do it and I wont likely be able to get a deal like this at another place with such a prestigious name tied to my degree, or almost anywhere, so we're gonna do it! I'm still kind of dumb-struck with it all. I'm excited, but I don't really know what to do with myself yet. Go crazy, and blog about it I guess! By the way I'm gonna brag about Riley in all this, he is the most encouraging, kind and loving man in the entire world. He is nothing other than perfectly supportive and uplifting about all this. I almost wonder if he's more excited about it than I am, ha! So there you have it. The partying will take a small break for a while when June 28th arrives, and off to school I go. Here's the link to their blog, if any of you are mildly interested. Hooray for life!

http://www.taylorandrew.com/about/bio/

Well, much love to you all, and we hope life is loving you as much as we are loving it. Till next time!

Learning- A Life Long Recurring Confrontation.For the Best.

This last week I was asked to give my thoughts at a Relief Society activity regarding the phrase "Love life and Learning" in the Relief Society Declaration. This was nearly an entire week ago, but I can't stop thinking about it. When the assignment was first given I was really taken aback that they would ask me to do it. For one, I'm not in school and not really doing much learning. In the last few months the things I've learned best are cooking, cleaning and how to be a better wife. But as Riley and I are the youngest and almost the newest married couple in the ward, sharing those things would seem kind of lost to the air by the time I spoke them as everyone else there has learned these thing, likely, much better and have known them far longer. Needless to say I was a little discouraged. Not only for this reason, but the glitch in the logic was something that had been bothering me for a while now. I didn't feel like I was learning anything. I didn't feel like I was expanding in any way and I didn't feel like I had anything of value to add to conversation or relationships. I've sort of made myself a recluse recently and hadn't recognized it until I was given the responsibility of teaching on something I decidedly had no knowledge about, something that had been the crux of my most developed current weakness, and I had to get out of my shell and face people to do it. 

 Before I share what I've learned I'll quickly share that it was difficult to start, and unfortunately I procrastinated dealing with the issue until the day or so before the event. Usually this would mean I fell short and learned nothing but as this was such an important task I was blessed. God is gracious and knows me far better than I do, and knows the women I was to speak to far better than I do. He really went to town on me when I finally sat down to mull the issue over and study up on what I was going to say. And somehow in the middle of all my confusion and inadequacies he taught me one of the best lessons. A lesson everyone needs regardless of the point of education you are in, your age, your gender or career; be it mother, politician, student, doctor or anything else. Learning is good. 

Learning is a life long recurring confrontation, in all the best ways.  There is something that ignites within us when we are learning and when we are teaching. There is something about opening the mind to let in something new, that will uplift and shape who we are that  magnifies the awe, enthusiasm and passion with in us. Learning literally makes us better. And anyone can do it no matter where they are in life. Maybe that was the most important thing God taught me. That every single thing we do, every habit we form, confront or live by, and every word we speak with another person, every item our eyes can fall upon, every idea we imagine is a learning moment. Sometimes we just forget to let it develop that far and really teach us something. But all of those things were given to us in this life as lessons to learn. What is this life if not a learning period? To learn what's right and wrong. To learn kindness and charity to expand ourselves and lift others in friendship. To learn how this world came to be and all other forms of fact and science. To learn how to communicate or make processes and life better or simpler. To learn how to imprint a full life's knowledge on a growing mind of a child you love. To learn of God. If we can learn to look at everything in this world, everything in this life as a lesson we are yet to learn how exciting would that be? I know when I make connections in typical everyday things that I never thought of before I feel like the whole world is at my finger tips and that I can accomplish anything, even if in not as many words and in a smaller form of joy. It makes me love life all over again! I don't know. I guess what I'm getting at is that I've rediscovered a wonderful truth and it's made my world brighter. And that's something I want to share  with you all. A lesson from one curious mind to another. 

"The wisest mind has something yet to learn"

-George Santayana

Spring Singing and Spring Cleaning

Well hasn't it been a while? Somewhere within a whole week, I think. At least it's a change from the near month long hiatus that was our habit before. 

Well it's finally happened... I caught the spring cleaning fever! I've never had the urge to gut and clean everything before, but this was the year. The last three days have been a cleaning extravaganza, and  it looks as if it will continue until every last inch is scrubbed clean. In example; We finally took down the Christmas lights on the patio we never used because it was far too cold (and now that we're able to walk out on it again, it was time to take them down.) But this is not all. I also cleaned out every cleaning device in our home and washed every cloth, sock, sheet and cup and then cleaned out the cleaning devices again! It's been a productive couple of days to be sure.

Not only has it been a cleaning week though, we also had a fun little night in there to celebrate St. Patties day. We cranked up the Flogging Molly, Whipped up some colcannon and made ourselves some corned beef brisket. It was Riley's first sampling of the dishes, my first time cooking them, and it was a success! We topped it all off with some festive green pot holders, a scrumptious juice (As festive as we are we did substitute the ale) , and ate ourselves into a coma. It was splendid!

It seems the cooking mood has persisted in our home about as much as the cleaning too. This more morning we spoiled ourselves with sleeping in late and spending more time on breakfast than the full, arduous minute it would usually take to pull out the milk, a spoon and  a bowl. No, this morning we piled our plates high and decided, with this sort of treatment, we should open a bed and breakfast! Although, as we're not really in a position to house many occupants we might have to limit that to guests in the mornings, and family that comes to visit and set up camp in our living room. Hear that Mama and Papa Lake? Hear that Mamo and Papo? We have decided that all guests get the bed and breakfast special of piled high plates! A demonstration? Well of course. I wouldn't dare deny you an example! 

Looks good enough to eat right? Well that's sort of what we did. pretty sure I paced a few good ones on after these last few days. But we enjoyed pacing em on, so it was worth it, right? To put things into perspective, this was us the whole way through the morning. 

Definitely a great morning. Ha ha, and just for the record, this was the biggest orange I have ever seen in my life. Pretty sure the thing was falling out as we were taking the picture it was too big to keep in.Well, this has been the Monson week. Hope yours has been as exciting. Till next time.

 Goodnight and Good luck.