idaho, provo, and cookies

Welp. I'm back in Provo. It's only been about 8 months since I've done school so like, no worries about that. Yesterday I attended what a fellow ward member and neighbor termed "Runway Sunday," which is the Sunday of first impressions. The rule is that you must look your best in order to attract those of the opposite gender, thus opening yourself up to dating opportunities for the remainder of the semester. It's a defining event with consequences that have the potential to influence your eternity, thus making it the most important day of the semester.

And I forgot to shower.

So we'll just put a big old "awesome blossom" stamp on that and start brainstorming things I'm going to do in the next 3 months other than date. I'm thinking African dancing because can you picture anything better than a Weiler trying to do that? Me either.

That's about all I have to say, so here are some pictures from the spontaneous Idaho tour my dad and I did last week. Oh, and one video because I mean...cookies.

And that's that. Eat some cookies. Or bring them to me. :)

peace and pepperidge farm
rrw

oh hey tuesday

There's a lot I could potentially complain about today, and to be honest my fingers and brain are itching to just unload. But, from experience, I know that that really only creates more problems and makes me feel even worse. My attitude about it today is that you solve the problems that you can and then when it all becomes like a Sudoku puzzle (which I'm not very good at) you set it all down and think, "Hey, at least I'm not stuck in a cage of lions with raw Zebra meat strapped to my body, while having to do Sudoku."

I mean, that would just be really bad.

So today I'll give you a song that I'm kind of liking recently, an old picture of me being Taylor Swift and singing about my sadness and age 20 points if that made any sense to you, and call it quits. I was going to do this whole list of good things about today but that just seems like overkill right now.

 

Oh Tuesdays, why can't we just get along already? At least there's music.

peace and watermelon

ohmygosh that's some good fruit

rrw

to the happy couple!

As I have mentioned before and as everyone who doesn't live under a rock has realized wedding season is upon us! Photos are up. Temples are booked. Decorations are being planned. Announcements are arriving. Dresses are being hemmed. Travel arrangements are being solidified. Twinkle lights are selling like Lays new Chicken and Waffles flavored chip. seriously, i have not been able to find me a bag of those...ever! and i've desperately wanted to taste them.

Last Friday I was teaching a friend how to drive stick shift and convinced her to take the practice out on the streets of Provo. We ended up near Rock Canyon Park. Our eyes were drawn to a house up on the hill that was so lit up I think Matthew would have been proud. (Matt 5:14). We decided we wanted in on whatever it was that was happening there and, serendipitously, we were already wearing our Sunday best. So we parked the car and walked right in, trying to appear like we belonged among the rich and famous.

It was one of the most beautiful wedding receptions I have ever been too. The home on the hill overlooked all of Provo. probably because the people who own the home own most of Provo too. second to the LDS Church, of course. The man-made creek was perfectly accented with pictures of the couple and lit with lovely little candles. Trellises and awnings were softly glowing with the perfectly placed lighting. The wedding dresses of the mother and grandmother hung in places of honor, connecting the generations of family together with class.

The view from the incredible infinity pool was breathtaking, only paling in comparison to the delicious ice cream sandwich bar, where caterers took your order and made a personal treat just for you. The selection of cookies ranged from chocolate chip to snickerdoodle to caramel apple. One could mix and match the top and bottom of their cookies, filling the inside with dependable vanilla or branching out to mint or toffee or strawberry or chocolate. The unlimited supply of bottled soda was surprisingly delicious, forcing me to the conclusion that they must have paid to put a heavy dose of happiness in each of them.

It was a wonderful atmosphere. It was a delicious treat. It was the perfect dancing playlist. The couple was beautiful.
if only i'd known who they were....

I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

The best cookies I have ever tasted.

But I kind of think every cookie I eat is that way soo...

Wait, was this wedding for me?

I'd swim in that.

I don't know what is was but these root beers were just magnificent.

So now that I've decided to take up wedding crashing, you better watch out for me at your next big shindig. I'll probably be there, whether you invited me or not.

And if, on the off chance that someone from this wedding reads this, thank you for being the kindest hosts to the two girls you didn't know.

peace and tulips.

coming up in the next post.

rrw

that awkward moment when

First off, is that ^^ phrase completely overused and entirely out of date yet? Either way, I'm using it as my title for this post. If it is a thing of the past, then I guess this is just another awkward experience that I can add to the following list of moments from my life that have made me and others stop and do a double take.

*Totally tried on a pair of bright green pants no, that's not the awkward part that I am pretty sure were made for left handed people. I abstained from purchasing them simply because I was not ambidextrous enough to get the zipper up.

*Batted my eyelashes ok, just saying that deserves it's own bullet point but oh well at the attractive cashier at In-n-Out only to sit down with my friends and realize I was probably flirting with a high school student. What IS it with me and the younger guys people?

*Walked into a maintenance closet on campus because I thought it was a bathroom. come on, BYU used the same door for EVERY DOOR. 

*Went to my ward for the first time in a month and a half and everybody thought I was a new girl. The not so awkward and mostly awesome part? Getting to reinvent myself to people that knew me last semester. My name is Rachel. I'm originally an Inuit from Alaska with the dream of designing better igloos for my native people using the recycled glass of Mason jars. (That'll make it big on Pinterest) I also enjoy fish calling in my spare time and occasionally travel to Antarctica to compete in polar bear plunges. I'm attending BYU on a full scholarship and Cecil is my uncle.

*Went to my last 7am cycling class this morning and got worked but in a good way and then was given a Krispy Kreme by someone from the class. Entire workout undone in 7.2 seconds. But oh, the joy. The joy. 

*Almost fell asleep standing at the testing center counter because the woman behind the desk had such. a. soothing. voice. Weird? Yes. That's the point.

*Was hugged by a young man 5 minutes after meeting him for the first time at ward prayer again, everyone thought I was a new girl. I think I stepped on his foot on accident. Sorry, I'm just not very good at hugging.

*Army crawled through the grass, mud, and bushes while trying to sneak a few read 176 photos of a proposal. Stained jeans are totally worth that happiness. #shoutout. #youknowwhoyouare #marriageforever #imsingle #iwonderwhy #especiallyafterthispost #hashtagsforever

*Went shopping in the hopes of finding some cute, new, Spring clothing and walked away with sweaters and jeans. Come on, when Banana Republic says "$3 sweater" you say "yes."

*Sat at T.J. Maxx holding a ceramic teapot for a good 13 minutes trying to convince myself that buying it would make sense, because I could serve milk in it with fresh baked cookies. Or juice in the morning with homemade bread. Or just let it be a center piece on the table because the bright colors are just so dang cute. Or I could use it to water my little seed that decided to sprout, proving that I will be a good wife hey boys hey. again, #imsingle. But then I realized that I don't ever make freshly baked cookies let alone bread. who do you think I am, freakin Martha Stewart?!, that my refrigerator has 0 space for a teapot, and that my little-buddy-seed would drown if I were to water it with a teapot. So I held it for another 6 minutes, saying goodbye and fiercely eyeing anyone who came near it. I will find you again, little teapot.

*The fact that I just talked to a teapot right up there ^^^

peace and prayers for Boston.

rrw

fridays in provo. so they do exist...

Fridays are my free days. If you can ever arrange your schedule to not have school or work on Fridays, do it. And if you had to wait for someone to tell you to do so, there might be something wrong with you.
Alright, on to the point of this post! tell me if you find one.

Yesterday I spent my first Friday in Provo in about 5 weeks. Between Salt Lake, St. George, and Logan, I have spent very few weekends in Provo this semester. yeah, i'm one of those girls. sorry r.s. prez. The thing is, every weekend before this I have had reasons to leave. It was family birthday party weekend! Easter weekend! Conference weekend! That one kid I kind of knew in high school's homecoming weekend! I need to see Lindsay weekend! I wonder if that bed in Salt Lake is still as comfortable as I remember it being weekend! Well, I sat there on Wednesday (which is when I usually come up with reasons to leave for the upcoming fri-sat-sun) and realized that I had none. NONE. Sure, next weekend there's the Canyon Rim Arts Festival that my mom is in charge of and that I'm taking pictures of can't wait to see that CAMEL, and then there's the Boys and Girls Club Gala that I just can't miss and that homecoming where I actually do know the man speaking. guy? boy? boi? are they men once they come back? weird...

But this weekend? Nothing. So I stayed here. I talked with Lindsay on the phone, committed her to try to maybe get work off for a road trip we're hesitantly planning for around May-ish yeah, we're off to a good start, slept in, debated whether or not to go running for so long that I could have gone running and come back in the time I spent debating, actually DID go running beautiful day up Provo canyon, showered, watched a few guilty pleasure TV shows, went shopping at the outlets with two super cool girls, ate a burger animal-style and protein-style, watched Life of Pi, and then spent the next 20 minutes reading all about Life of Pi on sparknotes. how do people come UP with this stuff? i wish i had an imagination.

While running, remember? i bolded it up there just in case you didn't catch it. I was forced to think my own, actual thoughts because my earphones don't stay in. worse than it might seem due to my lack of imagination mentioned right up there. I wish I could tell you all about my philosophical conversation with myself, but the only thing I can remember was this mantra that kept coursing through my mind.

"Run, run, run, as fast as you can. You could probably catch me because I run like a gingerbread man."

Yep. After three months with walking pneumonia i was unofficially diagnosed over the phone by my Lindsay-friend-nurse-student and i'm going with it I have found my body to be completely unable to move at the speeds or distances I desire it to. Pleasant people, also running, would smile or say hi as they breezed past me. I could only respond with a wild look and a growl as I peered through the sweat dripping off my brow into my eyeballs. What can I say? I'm a beast. just not in the way it's usually used - that of referring to prowess or power in a specific field.

So thank Provo on the weekends. Maybe I'll see you again in about 6 weeks.

peace out

rrw