This is Halloween

part 2 of the post:

For the most part, it was a great Halloween! I loved walking around campus while seeing the different costumes. There was a dementor with 3 guys standing on top of each other with a large black cloak covering them. There was a  shark with a guy's legs dancing out of his jaw (one person was standing upside down with his legs out inside the costume to look like he was being eaten. There was a 'sexy saxophone player' that ran around shirtless playing the saxophone. Oh my Halloween is just so great! haha

Tonight we had our ward trunk-or-treat. I was dressed as a nerd on Saturday but I had to wash my costume from the dance that night, so I went with being a cowgirl tonight instead :) I loved getting candy and we all enjoyed hot chocolate, but here is a story, which I will skim through because it was so embarrassing and humiliating, but it happens....
So once upon a time Rachel Marie decided to try making chili. Even though she cooks often, she thought she would give this a shot. Since the crock pot was not cooking fast enough, she put it in a large pan and turned up the heat before heading off to the trunk or treat (very very very stupid idea). She lost track of time until she decided to go turn down the heat (finally) when she ran into her roommate who said something along the lines of "you almost set the house on fire, and the smoke alarm almost went off"as Rachel ran into the room and yes it smelled awful. She about broke down when a calm, reassuring voice came in her head, "Rachel, I know you have been stressed. It's ok. The Lord knows how you feel and you don't need to prove him as much because he knows how you feel and that you are trying your hardest." I then realized how stressed I had been after not doing well on tests, complications with peers, along with taking Tobi for a couple of weeks to keep away the deadly common cf bacteria pseudomonas that I've been fighting off. I'll be honest that it has been stressful with hour long treatments twice a day, cleaning pieces once a day, and usually carrying 2 gallons of water from the creamery to wash the pieces with because of our hard water, along with the awful taste (sort of like rubbing alcohol) and my voice being very hoarse and not sounding the same. I have especially been paranoid lately because a few days ago I heard of a local 20 year old Cyster who passed away about a week ago. I remember thinking how incredible she is for all that she has done and for her passion of dance and following her ambitions despite CF. I felt more than honored when I saw her at a state drill team competition. My determination to survive has become even stronger since I heard of her passing, but I am having to trust the Lord in everything and remember his promise that if I try my hardest to follow every medical directive then my life will be extended.
Anyways, the point is, this horrible experience was an eye opener at the same time. I know with a sure knowledge now that our Savior does know how we feel and wants to help us. He cares for us and is concerned with how we are. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves and wants to help. Tobi will not be for much longer and it's really not that big of a deal, since a lot of CF patients take it. In fact I am so grateful for it because it really has extended the expected lifespans for cfers. It amazes me what technology is doing and it doesn't stop getting better! :) So yes it was a stupid story to talk about, you know, a girl who almost set the apartment on fire because of chili because she didn't realize how stressed she was, and how it was an eye opener. Luckily I can now look at my pan and laugh while saying "Wow that looks awful!" but otherwise...
Happy Halloweeeeen! I hope you all had a great one :)

MJ at trunk or treat-NBD :)

cowgirls

love these girls

Rod and I

I think I'm FALLing in love

There is nothing like fall time. I love the feeling while walking on campus while being so close to the mountains while watching the colors of the leaves change. It's stunning and there's nothing like it. :) Not to mention that I've been falling in love with choosing cute outfits in the mornings to go with the slightly chilly weather and almost everything that has to do with pumpkins. Unfortunately I haven't carved a pumpkin this year, but you can't go wrong with seeing jack-o-lanterns and smelling pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the oven. It's horrible to think how much I have become addicted to pumpkin flavor.

Not to mention that it's great to have your voice go hoarse from screaming while watching scary movies with friends or getting a good ab workout from laughing while watching scare tactics :)

It's also enjoyable to see some of the most fantastic costumes in public once it reaches Halloween time, like this guy we saw at Wendy's dressed as David Bowie. He even bought his coat from Europe and his brooch is an antique! Some of the costumes we have seen have been a little too much to handle but it's funny at the same time :)

And yesterday I was able to go over to Kara's fiancé Kasey's house, where we made some of the most delicious caramel apples for the first time

I am excited for Halloween tomorrow and the homework I have procrastinated is calling my name so I will post more later

Natural Highs

Things that I discovered are a few simple natural highs (no particular order):

-A bowl of BYU ice cream (yes, I finally trying to use a tiny cup to cut down on the amount I have each time)
-Seeing the fall colors spring up with perfect weather. We have had some crazy weather this past week and today was beautiful :)
-Making a new friend
-Temple Tuesdays
-Shuffling to Rock Party Anthem
-Doing better on a quiz
-Getting a good score on an essay
-Passing an exam
-Washing the pari treatment pieces in distilled water and vinegar every once in a while. They look stunning after being washed in the terrible hard water!
-Trying a new recipe and it turning out delicious
-Even better: having people come over do share left overs so I don't have to dump them out
-Yes, as a CFer it is nice to digest food well. You cfers would know what I'm talking about :) Otherwise it can be a little painful and distracting when trying to study
-Sleeping in on a Saturday morning
-A call from family telling good things going on at home
-A call from my grandma or grandpa just asking how my day has been
-Buying a new pair of comfy shoes
-Laughing to videos on youtube with friends as your abs hurt
-Catching up with old friends you don't see as often
-Curling up in sweats after coming home
-Sipping hot cocoa and talking with girlies from down the hall after a cold night

There are many things that are simply satisfying, especially as a college student. It's surprising how many small things you can miss while in college, so the small natural highs make life even better :)

Love me some general conference

I hope this doesn't sound like a Sunday talk or a soap box, but conference time has become one of my favorite times of the year. I am so grateful for the chance we have to listen to our incredible prophet Thomas S. Monson. I know that he is the leader who is there to help us in these latter days. I look to him as an example with as he strives to reach out to people around the world with a smile. I was also glad for his talk he gave today. We must keep the commandments and keep a strong relationship with our father in heaven.

 I am so glad to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to stand as a witness of our Savior and Redeemer of the world. As M Russel Ballard said, "He broke the bands of death. We need to stand as a witness of him at all times, in all things, and in all places." 

I also loved Robert D Hale's talk. There have been moments in college lately where even though it's BYU, I sometimes have felt life has thrown me buckets of lemons. So many of us feel this way, where we can't control what life throws at us. I hope I can strive to be more charitable, loving, forgiving, and patient during times that seem very difficult to endure. As Robert D Hale mentioned, tribulation worketh patience, and we continue in patience with a perfect brightness of hope. And as Carl B. Cook had said, it's always better to look up and obtain optimism, wisdom, always be willing to seek those in need, and have an attitude of can do and will do. We must look up and cheer up because God wants us happy :)

I promise I have been happy in college, but everyone has their moments of hardship. I thought some trials from my senior year would go away, but they haven't, and I know the Lord is trying to teach me something. There have been several times during conference where they have mentioned we must remember our Savior's life and example, his patience and love during hard times. This conference has helped me have a mindset to keep trying and never give up and that we are not alone in our Gathsemane's. We need to be real in every aspect of our lives and pray often to become closer to our Father in Heaven so he can guide us more easily. I really liked J Devn Cornish's quote, "Much like medicine, prayer only works when used as directed."I hope everyone who has watched it has felt the same as they have felt the strong, testifying spirit this weekend that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church to lift ourselves and each other up to become closer to Christ, and we have a prophet who loves and is there to help us. The ancient prophets Book of Mormon fought diligently to always stand as a witness while serving and obtaining hope.  We also promised to be charitable, always stand as a witness, keep the commandments, and be guardians of virtue as we go forward in our lives. 

I have two personal goals that I am going to try to work on: Work on family history more often (it sure helps that we are learning how to index in FHE) and visit the temple once  a week. I am bummed that this conference is already over because it has been awesome :)

family+friends+food+football = :)

This week ended up being superb. Yesterday was my 19th birthday, and I feel so privileged to have such an incredible family and friends.

On Wednesday my dad carried on a tradition of taking the son/daughter having a birthday out somewhere the night before their birthday. He traveled down to Provo that night and picked me up from my dorm. We were going to go to Olive Garden since I was craving Italian food, but then he said, "Why don't we get real Italian food? We googled restaurants in the area that are not chain-linked, and found one that received good reviews. We ended up going to a small, but fantastic restaurant named La Dolce Vita owned by a family that had lived in Napoli for a while. It was at the very end of a small road so not many people know about it. Mama mia the food was spectacular! I was able to try minestrone soup, cannellone (very much like a rolled up lasagna,and the noodles were homemade), and Italian soda (who knows if it really exists in Italy, but it was sooo good!) My dad and I felt as if we ate an elephant by the end of the night. 

Peach Italian Soda

My birthday was incredible on Thursday. In between my classes, my mom decided to drive down to Provo to take me to my absolute favorite restaurant-Tucanos!! We enjoyed a delicious salad bar and unlimited meat. Oh, and you know that humiliating feeling you get when the servers come up to you with instruments while they sing? Yep that happened. They came right up to our table playing bongos and singing loudly, and handed me a tambourine to shake. At least when it's your birthday they give you a dessert.

Once again, I was as full as ever, but I love my parents so much. It was very thoughtful of them to come down to Provo to wish me a happy birthday and take me out for a treat :) When I came home after some study time, girls from my ward were there to wish me a happy birthday with a  few treats. And after I came home from my 7 o clock class later that night, my fhe family was there making cards and had a chocolate cake that we all enjoyed. I know I just talked a lot about food, but nobody can argue that food is just so good! But it really was such an incredible birthday and I cannot even express my gratitude enough for such wonderful friends and family around.

As for tonight, BYU won against Utah State, and we were able to storm the field after. This weekend I am headed back to my good hometown to watch General Conference, which will most likely turn into another blog post on here. It's been grand and that's all for now :) 

What the September??!

Since when is September cold season? For some reason a whole bunch of sickness has flown around, and I'll admit I started to fear for what may come later this fall and in the winter.
Which is why I have already started to:

Use hand sanitizer every couple of minutes
Stock up on yogurt for the probiotics
Set a goal of eventually doing 3 treatments a day, and keep up with active cycles in between each 10 minutes
Set a goal to get more sleep
Run more often every week (I haven't been keeping up with exercise)
Taking in more vitamin C every day
Not touch my face so germs don't spread
And have my nurse and pharmacy on my contact list

Yes, This is what happens when a cf girl hears sniffles everywhere, blowing noses, coughing, and much more. I feel for those who are sick but am praying I don't end up in the hospital this fall or winter. This morning I read a scripture I had posted on my bulletin board earlier-Joshua 1:9:
Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord God is with thee withersoever thou goest.
It was a simple answer. By reading this I was given the comfort and assurance that everything will be ok. There may be hard times coming, but it will only be temporary and the Lord will help out as long as I do my part. This can apply to anyone, so as long as we try our hardest, the Lord can help us when we need him.

It's been 5 years

Sept 17-the 5 year mark.
A day to remember the good times we had, whether it was dancing around in your basement to "I drove all night" by Celine Dion. There were times I would show up at your door and we would work on a craft or eat junk food until we about puked.
And then there was Beehive Camp when all the girls stayed in tents, but we stayed in a luxurious cabin, and we believed that were rattle snakes in the bushes in the back
I won't forget the time you made Alicia and I believe your elevator really shut down, so there we were, eating Doritos in your pitch black elevator for 2 hours, until you told us it never broke down...
And then we would play on the XBOX
And have debates over which was better-Harry Potter or A Series of Unfortunate Events
The times we talked about our trials and helped each other smile
And the many more times, but during these past 5 years you still have been one of the best friends I could ask for as I have felt your presence during hard times in my life.
Time has gone by and I have moved on, and I am definitely not the same person I was, but looking back at it, a lot of it was because of your influence in my life.
Shanna I still wear your necklace you gave me on my birthday that says Smile, which was the song you were known to sing.

So I am amazed how fast time has flown by. I am loving life but I still think of you Shanna and you will always be remembered :)

Love, Rach