Aunt Lynn and Uncle Kurt

I love my family. More than anything in the world. I love love love being with them and I really can't find anything happier. Last night I drove up to Salt Lake City and had dinner with my Daddy, my Grandpa Stuart and my Aunt Lynn and Uncle Kurt. Aunt Lynn is my grandpa's sister so technically is my great-aunt. They live in Conneticut but were here for the week. The rest of my family is spending the weekend up at Grandpa's with them but I just didn't have time to get up there so they came down saw some old friends and then spent the evening with me. My dad was down here for some medical business meeting thingy and my Grandpa brought Lynn and Kurt down to me and picked up my dad up and we all had dinner together. It was bliss. I love hugs. I need multiple hugs everyday and my family has learned to oblige me. I love curling up with my daddy's arm around me or walking hand in hand with him or grandpa. I feel so safe and protected and loved. They tease me too, of course, but they are so wonderful to just be with. So first thing was getting hugs from everyone. Aunt Lynn was so so sweet... she just looked at me and gave me the sweetest compliments. When she asked How I was and I told her I was very happy she told me that she could hear that in voice and see it in my face. My Aunt Lynn is sensational. She is simply enchanting and I have never met anyone quite like her. She is perfectly sincere in everything that she does but also speaks what she truly feels. She has so much emotion and love for life. She lives everything to its fullest. She raved when I told her I will be in London this spring and told me about all of the amazing things I have to go and do and see. She was impressed with my choice of major and complimented me on everything I said. You can't be around her without feeling incredible happiness and joy and love for life because she radiates it. When I was growing up I remember her telling me that sometimes people, like flowers, bloom late, but that when they do they are the most beautiful and last the longest. She was talking about me. I was in an ackward teenage stage and didn't know what I was doing. But she never let me talk about discouragement. She knew the time would come when I would find out who I was and be myself and she was right. Here I am today, happier than I could've ever hoped to be and it was worth the wait. My Uncle Kurt is so funny. He grew up in Switzerland and so still has a definite accent but he always listens so well. And he takes amazing care of Lynn. She hasn't been doing as well lately and is walking with a cane now but it was so sweet to see the two of them together. They have lived amazing lives. I hope that I can have as sweet and tender a relationship as they have when I get old. I got to sit between my Daddy and my Grandpa just like when I was a little girl and they poked and teased and made me squirm but I haven't been so happy and loved. I am so excited for next week... Grandpa is driving me home. 6 hours in the car with just the two of us. I love talking to my Grandpa. He is so patient and lets me jabber away but then he also gives his opinions and advice and always respects mine. He is always teasing but that is one of the ways that he shows me how much he loves me. Finding knots in my sweatshirt and clothespins on my shirttail reminds that he cares. At the end of the night I sorta lost my car and my daddy helped me to go find it. I love my dad. A lot more than I can explain in words. He is optimistic (where I learned it from), patient, empathetic, kind, loving, has the quirkiest sense of humor, and has a strong testimony. He loves and respects my mother and works very very very hard to see that my family's needs (and wants) are met. I cannot even descibe to you the example my father has been for me. It was an amazing night. I left feeling incredibly happy and had the drive back to Provo just to think and reflect. I really don't like driving in the dark or being alone but sometimes it is just the best to be able to sit and think. And I realized how amazingly blessed I am. I am indescibably grateful for what I have been given. It really was an AMAZING night. Pure bliss for a happy girl. I love my family. (And I can't wait until Tuesday when I will be home for Thanksgiving break... MORE family!!!!!!)

When I got back to Provo I went straight to the library. I studied with Heather Jean for a while and then we took a break to fill our waterbottles. On the way back in we ran into Sean (from our ward) and had a good talk about our days and some things to come. He is such a nice guy. I'm so glad to be making friends with boys again. As happy as I am for my boys on missions I miss having guy friends to talk to or get a hug from. Then it was back to the books and I stayed until the music kicked me out. I'm not going to lie... It was pretty exciting. :) I got home and stayed up with my insomniac roommate for a while and then crashed. I love my bed. I love to sleep!

Just one more thought... I LOVE the weather. It has been GORGEOUS for a good week now. It is perfect fall weather... exactly the way November should be... brisk but not cold and sunny! Mmm... walking to campus has been a delight!

Oh and one last thing just in case I don't post again before 4:00 tomorrow.... GO BYU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Library Update.

I may have to retract a few statements I have previously made about the library. Heather Jean and I went up again last night and I actually got A LOT done. I worked really really well. Probably more efficiently than if I had been at home. So. I guess there is just a time and a mood for using the library. Last night was definitely one of them. I think I might actually survive these papers and have some fun before I get to go home. But I still have A LOT to do so needless to say I'll be at the library again tonight. This time I think I'm going to stay until it closes. It will be a new experience, an adventure!

Wednesday.

It is Wednesday. Already. My weeks just fly by. I have so much to do before this one is over. I don't know how I am going to do it all. Bleck. Why can't my papers write themselves???? I tried going to the library last night with Heather Jean. I think I figured out why I dislike it so much. The library is TOO quiet. It is unnaturally quiet... almost eerie. And because it is so quiet ANY noise at all is distracting. A bump against the table, a book, a paper tearing, a dropped something or a whisper are LOUD LOUD LOUD when you are in the library. And I just don't like that. I'm too distractable. I actually do better at home. The sounds there are familar. The dishwasher, the fridge, the heater, a car in the street, someone in the stairwell, even a roommate are all things that I can block out because they are part of the environment. And it's so much more comfortable to be at home. You can curl up with a blanket or in bed and just work. Supposedly though the library helps to get things done so so much faster. So against all my common sense I am going to go try again tonight. Because I have A LOT of things that need to get done FAST. I'll take music so it won't be so quiet and I'll curl up in a chair instead of at a table this time. And we'll see what I can do. Normally I go to the library to sleep. I love people and a little bit of motion or sound actually helps me focus better. But we'll see. I need something effective if I'm ever going to get home for Thanksgiving. On a happier note when I couldn't study anymore last night in the library I pulled out my missionary letters and wrote to Tylor and Craig. I love missionaries. They are amazing. And reading letters from them is such a joy. Craig is doing fantastic. He has been called to be district leader and loves serving. He descibed his schedule with pray every other word but is so happy. I can't believe he is gone... and that we are that grown up. I never never thought that the missionaries would be mine. Oh I love them. We actually all got missionary letters yesterday and Eva's included a dating application (a joke) that made us laugh SO SO hard. I think I will take a page out of the missionary's book and work really really hard, making every minute count for the next few days... and hopefully I will have "A" papers to show for it. Here I go... happily back to work!

Wordle and Gratitude and Me.

I found this really fun site that will analyze text or your blog etc... and see what words are posted most and then make this really fun picture of it. I really love it. I was especially happy when it put together mine because it was all the things that I want to portray in my blog. Happy, love, home, amazing, pictures, best, fantastic, love... those were a few of the most used words. And those are how I feel.


Click on it and you can see it bigger.

You can go here to make your own.

On a totally different thought... I think I need to write down the essence of a conversation that I have basically every single day, if not multiple times a day and some thoughts that I have because of that conversation and other experiences:
I am unbelievably grateful. I have been blessed beyond my comprehension. I have three of the most amazing roommates ever. They bring me the most joy and happiness. I cannot imagine life without them. We are all so so different but we are kinda like a square... four corners that perfectly complete eachother. I need each one of them for different things at different times and I cannot thank them enough for everything that they are and do. Eva gave me the biggest hug yesterday and said Guess What? I asked What and she said it is going to be the BEST day! I asked why? and she said Because I love you. And she does. And it really does make all the difference in the world to me. We have a clean apartment where the spirit can come, it is peaceful and full of love and there isn't contention. I couldn't ask for anything more. All of this is such a strength to me. I could not do the things I do without them. They are a pillar of support behind me and I can always always fall back on them when I need them. I don't know why I have such great blessings but they are here and I don't have the words to descibe how grateful I am because of them. I am also so grateful for my family. I can call home anytime I need to and talk to my mother. She is always, always willing to listen and give advice and laugh or sympathize. She is patient and so wonderful. I also could not be the person I am without her. The rest of my family plays a big role as well. It never fails when I am on the phone that I get told many times how much they love me each in their own way (Guess What; Brat; Rachel, Rachel, Rachel). The knowledge that my family is eternal, because my parents were sealed in the temple means everything to me. Then, in addition to my roommates and family I have the rest of the amazing people that surround me. These are my friends, my coworkers, my classmates, my ward memebers. And all of these together they are my examples. People that I strive everyday to become more like and people that I try to do something each day for. These are people that I try to become better for, that I try to see the needs of and help, people that I try to be ready to help. I am Rachel because of all of these.

But, secretly I'm not sure exactly who I am. I don't know exactly what you would call my "identity." I'm not athletic or particularly musical. I'm a good student but not brilliant. I try to work hard but I'm not the employee of the month. I study my scriptures but I feel very inadequate in my gospel knowledge compared to the RMs I sit next to. I'm not popular or really outgoing. If I try to define myself by those kind of things I fail. There is always someone better. Someone I can't measure up to. There will always be another test I didn't quite get an A on and another thing that I just can't do quite right. I can't label myself as anything. I'm not really an anything. I'm just me. So who is me? Who is Rachel? I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me. There. That is a big part of who I am. I have a divine potential to become like him. I am a happy person. True. I decided that a long time ago and am going to keep fighting to be happy as long as I live. Fighting to be happy? Yes. Everyday, Satan wants to try to pull me down. Wants me to become like him... miserable, selfish, sad. And it is easy to feel that way. There is so much sorrow in the world. But there is so much to find joy in. I woke up this morning at 7:15 and I was curled up in a quilt my grandmother made for me and the sun was starting to shine through my window. I thought about the day that lay ahead, the 12 pages of papers I have to write and 300 page book I have to read before next week but instead of thinking poor me I took some words from Heather and said How lucky I am to be at school here at BYU. I thought about how beautiful the fall day would be with sun and climbed out of bed ready to face the day. Find joy in the simple things. Finding joy in the journey. (Which is in fact an amazing talk given to us by a prophet of god... you can read it here.) So I am a happy daughter of god. Good. But that can't be all that I am. I love people. Simple as that, I love people. And so I reach out to them in anyway that I can. Often I find myself in the right time and right place to be a cheerful smile and comforting hug. And seeing what happiness that brings to other people brings more joy to me. What else makes me Rachel? Why am I different from anyone else? I am not very patient, I love to listen but am not very open about myself, I grew up on a farm and know the value of hard work. I trust people and I have faith in Jesus Christ. I know that prayers are answered. I am trying to become a healthier person. I can sleep through anything. Messes are stressful to me. I do not like to drive at night. I think I have somewhat liberal political views (at least when i talk with Eva :D...) I love music. I like cooking. I don't know if that is really who I am... but those are things about me. Those are things that make me a unique person. And I guess what makes those things me is that I love myself for them. I recognize my faults and I work on improving them. I know my strengths and I play off of them. When I make mistakes I don't beat myself up, I stand back up and try harder. So I guess that is what it comes down to... it doesn't really matter who I am... as long as I love myself for that.

That ended up being a lot longer than I expected but I have just had a lot of those thoughts running around in my head and it really helps to write them all down. It really can clear your mind. And I think not only does it help things make sense right now but it is so important to be able to come back to your thoughts later. So there are all of mine... poured out in the random order they came into my mind and all combined into one blog post... wordle and gratitude and me.

Tag!

Jordan tagged me! :D

The task:

Use Google image search to answer each question. Post the first image that comes up. (I cheated a little bit... because sometimes the first picture was a little bit iffy.)

First Name: Rachel

Middle Name: Ann

Last Name: Augustus

Age: 19

Favorite Food: Smoothies

Favorite Object that you Own: My Kiwi Green Ford Focus

Favorite Color: Yellow

Favorite Animal: Pig!

Favorite Store: Smith's

Best Friend: My little sister, Megan.

First Job: Farm Girl!

Bad Habit: Hitting Snooze

College Degree: Human Development

Place You've Been Recently: Arizona Grand Resort

Place You Want to Visit: LONDON!

Place Where You Were Born: Provo, Utah.

What You Are Doing Right Now: Wasting Time



I tag: Allie, Beth, and Lauren.

My life lately... in pictures.

I know.  I'm a little bit late.  Okay a lot bit late but... uploading pictures onto blogger takes a really really long time for some reason and time is not something that I usually have to spare.  But this week was a good week.  I got a lot of things accomplished and did really well with the thing that I needed to get done so I decided that I could take a few minutes to write down what has been going on in my life and share all the pictures that I have. (I have a lot!  And they all have stories :] ...) So here we go.  Some of these match up with other things that I have already posted... things that I have already talked about... but I'll try to keep it sensical. :)  (If that is possible for me).

The first sets of pictures are football games.  We have had a GREAT season.  Mmm.  I love love love football.  And BYU is amazing.  We have had so so much fun at the games.  I have kinda talked about the games as I have blogged along the way a little bit... and basically BYU rocks. (Just in case anyone forgot BYU 59 - UCLA .... 0!)   So these are from football games... We've had hot (boys need to learn to sunscreen their necks) and cold games.  Best of all was beginning of October... Craig came down to visit and I had an extra ticket so he came to the game!  I miss that boy.  He is in the MTC now... going to Belgium speaking French... and is doing amazing I guess.  He's been made district leader and is actually in the same district as my roommate's sister (who is going to Geneva).  She says that he is "a very dedicated missionary" and is very impressed.  So point being... here are my football pictures!

Okay, the next pictures are pictures that have to have a story which I already told in this post.  So just look and laugh and go read about the bean war in this post.

The next set of pictures are from a fun activity that we had.  Our ward did a service auction for FHE and our apartment's was "The Five Days of Increasing Fantasticness."  A really great apartment of guy's bought us... and we had SO much fun.  These pictures show all the days activities and projects up to the grand finale.  It was a BLAST. 

 Day #1 : Balloons filled with confetti and words that said Day #1, 6:00pm, Saturday, Be Ready, From the Girls of Jamestown #33.  They were weighted down with a bag of candy.

Day #2: We wrote letters inside a phonebook and gave them clues of how to find them.  We wrapped it in saran wrap and foil and then frosted it to look like a cake.  We put cookies around the outside edge to take away the harsh rectangular look and so they would have something yummy to eat.  It looked pretty legit.  Honestly if I didn't know I'd have thought it was a cake.

Day#2 continued... later that night someone rang our doorbell and when we opened it there was a birdcage.  Yes- a birdcage. :) We brought it inside and were about to open it when Eva yells “WAIT!” She ran and grabbed her camera. Then we opened it. Inside there was a medical glove blown up like a balloon with a head and wing drawn on it. There were notes too. On the little bird perch there was a note that said “We are so glad we “perchased” you at the auction.” In the little feeder boxes there were notes that said “We’ll come for “chirp”.” And one that said “We “canary” contain ourselves.” And then in the bottom was a wheel and a comb and a note that said "Wheel Comb on Saturday."  How clever.  We laughed and laughed.  Seriously we couldn't have asked for a funner group of boys to get to know.

Day #3: We did homemade fortune cookies.  So much fun to make. 

Day #4:  We partied so much this night and the boys had a dance party at their apartment so late so we didn't do much... but we made sure to tell them to meet at our apartment at 6:00 tomorrow.

Day #5: We sent them on a scavenger hunt that led them back to our apartment where we had a picnic (the weather wasn't so good) and played curses (funnest game ever).  It was SO SO much fun.  The boys in the picture are Mark, Sean, Brad and Sean.  (Their other two roommates Wesley and Dan couldn't come). They are fantastic and we had the best time with this activity.

The next picture is from an FHE activity.  We went up to a campground and had s'mores.  Mmm.  I want to go camping!  This summer... I am not working intensely.  I am coming home from London and staying home.  I want to be with my family.  I want to go camping!!! Anyways the picture is me with Eva and Heather.  I love them SO much.

The next pictures are from my 19th birthday.  It was really happy!  I was kinda homesick... just because birthdays are a time to be home... but I love love love my friends.  They made my day just the best.  Especially Eva and Lauren.  Eva made me smoothies and phissinger (a Czech desert - the chocolate one in the picture) and put in a lot to make sure I had a happy day.  And Lauren came over with the sweetest present - a frame with the two of us in it  (pictures really are my favorite things) and a key chain.  And she just drove around with me.  And I love love love her.  She takes such good care of me.  Anyways from the pictures you can see just how much I am loved.  :D

Next I got to go home for a weekend.  It was an amazing trip.  Anthony drove with me so I wasn't lonely and he even took over on the way back when it got dark (I secretly don't like driving in the dark at all... I'm good at it... I just don't enjoy it.)  And I got to surprise Megan and the little boys.  I had kept it a secret from them that I was coming so when I came I went into their rooms and kissed them and hugged them to wake them up.  Megan gave me the biggest hug and when I asked how she was she said "better now" and started crying.  Karl wouldn't wake up to me.  He just wouldn't respond.  Luke's was the best.  I was hugging him and said "Luke who am I?"  He didn't answer so I asked again and he finally opened his eyes and he put his hands on my face and got this look of shook and said "Rach?!?"  And then just hugged me.  Oh I love my family!!!!!!!  It was so great to just be home.  Grandpa and Mari and her boys were there too.  I just relaxed a lot and then I got to go Meg's band competition.  And then I got to go out with Drew and Jaron.  I miss Drew.  Jaron not so much... he was kind of a jerk.  And church was amazing.  Craig was giving his farewell talk.  Wow.  He is grown up and AMAZING.  But Karl and Dad spoke as well and I sat with Grandpa for Sunday School and then sat with Beth for Relief Society when Grandma taught.  :D  Home is bliss.  But it is so true you can never go back.  I'm not the same.  Neither are they.  And that's okay.  Just different.

When I came home my roomies had a happy surprise waiting for me.

These next pictures are a couple that I stole from Allie ( The last picture is of the two of us... I love her more than anything!).  They are of the night before Tylor went into the MTC.  It was so wonderful to be with him again.  I miss him so so so much.  It's funny how you miss someone more once you are with them again because you remember why you love them so much.  It was such a good night.  Very emotional but very good.  He is going to be an AMAZING missionary.  

Next are Halloween pictures. I'm not really sure what we were. We all did our hair and dressed up in crazy fun colors. Maybe we were whos or coneheads or alyssa suggested bugles. Probably we were just ourselves. :D We had so much fun at the Halloween party though! I LOVE OUR WARD! We seriously have the best people EVER!!!!!! It is AMAZING.  We had also done a practice run for our hair a few days before so those pictures are here too.  Halloween day we went to the temple according to tradition.  (Last year Alyssa invited all of us to the temple and it was the first time we all hung out and therefore is indirectly a cause of our amazing friendship and so we decided to make our Halloween temple trip a tradition).  So we went to the temple.  It was the most BEAUTIFUL fall day.   Gorgeous.  I love the temple and the spirit and peace that is there.  That night (I don't have pictures... sorry) we drove up to the house of one of the boy's in our ward for a movie night.  Sean drove up with us... he is a super fun guy.  And we had a lot of fun.... even we we had to run inside to get out of the rain.  

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These last pictures are from my trip to Phoenix.  It was AMAZING.  I had so much fun with Megan and my parents. We stayed at a beautiful resort and just relaxed.  Saturday we went shopping and saw High School Musical 3 (so fun. :D ) We went to dinner and just talked.  I LOVE my family.

So that's life lately... in pictures. I am very very happy.

P.S. A couple other side thoughts... I got a 97 on my human development exam today. And Jordan and I leave for London 23 weeks from today!!!!!!!! :D :D :D