MasterCraft X45

Master Craft X45. Pump-Up Music. Dried-Mangoes. Blue Skies. GlassyWater.   

Everyone's list should look like this: 

MUST DO LIST:

 1. Go Boating with the Garrett Family

The Garretts are boating MASTERS AND they invited me to go on their first trip out this year-how lucky am I? 

Why are they “masters” you might ask…

Carson lives, eats, and breathes boating. He is a PRO.  This was his FIRST time going boating since his two-year mission in Poland.  He whipped out these tricks like they were his day job. SERIOUSLY....HE IS AMAZING. The funny thing is, he would never tell you.  He was out of the water more than he was in it.  I kept thinking to myself, how did I find him? He is the most fun-loving person I know.  It is impossible not to be so joyously ecstatic while boating with Carson...he is surely in his element. 

(Notice the snow on the mountains.)

I am convinced that Phil Garrett can teach anyone to do anything. A tantrum? No problem.  And better yet, he can actually show up a lot of these young-able bodied teens. He is patient and into the latest and greatest of boating.

Kenna is positively the sweetest woman you will ever meet. If you’re cold, she’s got you.  If you’re hungry, she’s got you.  If you need a sick trick-pic, she’s got you.  Even if you need a fan to do some high-class modeling, she’s got you. 

So naturally, I had to be on my A-game if I wanted to keep up :) 

They zipped me up in a wet suit and I was good to go!

 

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t on my A-game one time…and it was kind of funny :)

 

 

 

 I laughed and laughed and laughed

 

Until Next Time...

A Roller Coaster Ride

It’s official, I just survived what I would like to call a “death semester.”  I had it coming…like stepping onto a wild roller coaster at an amusement park...I loaded up my schedule with extremely taxing classes, perfectly placed myself in the midst of a disaster of decisions, and chose to stand next to loved ones who are also at a peak of intensity and devastation in their lives…and I was off. 

The gospel was my seat belt…the only thing that could keep me sane and safe.

  

At times, all I could do was hold on.  I definitely had my ups and downs.  I cherished the moments where I could spend time with the people I loved the most.  As the semester progressed, these moments dwindled, becoming few and far between.  As finals approached, I spent every night, sometimes until midnight, in the library studying.  My study groups became my social life (especially my economics study group).  I refused to let Economics 110, the most failed class at BYU, be the end of me.  I competed against the hundreds of competitive men and women applying for the Business program in a CURVED class.
  

With little sleep and food, I quickly caught a hold of a sweet-little sickness.  Timing was perfection, as I had a voice final that same week. Through a power higher than my own, I was able to overcome the nasty, enduring cough to belt out four songs.

I do not regret this semester, for I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities. Similarly, I am so grateful for the angels in my life who enabled me accomplish and fulfill my responsibilities.

Call it crazy but I am back at it again. Four semesters in a row…Spring Term officially starts today.  It’s kind of funny how it works, after all is said and done, we walk off the rollercoaster and realize how exhilarating it was and get back in line to do it all over again! 

However...

I am hoping this semester will be a little more like the swings or the chair lift :) 

Forever in My Heart

A year ago, today, I returned home from one of the most sacred journeys of my entire life, an opportunity to live in Jerusalem for four months.  Easter will forever mean something different to me because of my time spent there.  The Easter Bunny, the baskets, and the wild-eggs hunts are all wonderful and particularly enjoyable for the younger children but it has become of little significance to me now.  I remember walking into Sacrament meeting in my home ward last year, tired from jet-lag and 48 hours of traveling, to a simple rendition of “He is Risen” being sung by my ward choir.  Immediately my eyes welled up with tears and I was overcome with a powerful yet peaceful spirit.  I had just sung that hymn in front of the Garden Tomb three days prior…in the closest location to where Jesus, the Christ, literally did rise.

What a beautiful and sacred series of events we are celebrating.

A year later…it is a typical Saturday night and I am looking forward to spending Easter morning with Chelsea in our quiet duplex.  I cannot believe a year has come and gone.  Chelsea is teaching gospel doctrine tomorrow and so I decided to stay to support her and learn from her.  She was showing me some of her Jerusalem pictures as we discussed what she should share.  I could not help but crack open my own “dusty” files containing thousands of pictures from my time well spent in the Holy Land.  I am trying to remind myself of what the places, that I will here of so much tomorrow, look like.  I am trying to remember the feelings I experienced at each one of those places.

 An immediate flood of love, gratitude, and a burning testimony for the Savior fills my heart and my soul every time I look at my pictures.  From the smiling faces of my friends to the red flowers accenting the Garden Walls, I know Jesus is the Christ. 


He lives. He lives. HE LIVES.

Two Photos By: Kaitlin O'Connor

I think I watched this movie twice a day for a month straight when I got home. 

I did not want to ever forget.  

Little did I know, it would forever be in my heart.

O' Jerusalem.

Video By: Ashley Christ

OUR LITTLE STAR

Eliza has put in countless hours of hard work for the junior high play, AIDA. 

We all came to watch and support her on the closing night.  

She was absolutely spectacular and looked unbelievably stunning.  

Eliza had quite the collection of flamboyant costumes.  

Random Fact: The cast was required to get spray tans regularly to look like Nubians…it was fun to see orange junior high kids! :) Eliza looked like a different ethnicity, however.  

She tans like it’s her day job.

We all had a little too much fun trying on one of her headdresses...

Hahaha Of course, we forced my Grandpa to try it on. He is such a sport. 

My parents are and will forever be the number one fans of anything we do.

80,000 people w/ chalk...

Hare Krishna. 2012. 

Below: My Cousins, Sarah and Natalie, My Fabulous sisters, Austin Snow And Carson. 

Ha. My cousin snapped A cute picture of Carson trying to help me put on my swim cap. 

 Is he not the sweetest?

Refusal to miss an incredibly good time + ChEls and I had a hair appointment right after and did not want Permanent hot pink hair=swim cap time 
(It looks absolutely ridiculous. we look like baldies)

Warning: You will inhale an insane amount of colored chalk….but, in my opinion, it is well worth every dry heave. 

 I am glad I got to spend the afternoon with such crazy-hilarious-loved ones.  

Weekend of Hope

My semester is one of love, laughter, immense growth…and unexpected stress.  I am in the midst of my hardest semester at BYU while simultaneously bombarded by many personal and imperative decisions.  After my second round of midterms, I spontaneously ditched the rest of my classes, jumped into the car with my sister and my cousin, and headed to Midway to attend my mom’s retreat.  [In correspondence with my mother’s recently published book, “Be Well,” Beneficial International hosted a four-day retreat.  Individuals from all over the country came to recommit to a happier and healthier lifestyle...recommitting to a better life.  

This retreat consisted of numerous classes/seminars each day on various chapters of my mom's book. 

My mom is a bomb teacher.  I love her SO much.

Food curtailed around the Candida Diet...aka vegetables. No fruit, breads, flour, sugar etc. Everything I eat=prohibited. Good thing for Grandparents who smuggle in sugar for a few of us who were not anticipating it nor quite mentally prepared for it. 

Reflexology. 

My Grandma is brilliant professional and helps countless numbers of people come to understand the body every day. One day she gave a entire demonstration on reflexology and I was lucky enough to "help her out"...yeah baby! 

(Below: Chels workin' on Natalie's feet. Look at that concentration)

Meditation in the Crater

Evil Twin :)

One Obsession: The Yoga sessions. 

One Evening: Candle-Light Yoga:

(Sweet picture of Emily, our instructor)

Yoga gave me an excuse to “step outside” of my life, my insecurities, and my stress to channel my energy and my focus entirely inward.  For the first time in years, I took the time to hear myself breathe… to literally focus solely on an action I subconsciously do every second I am alive.  I could feel the slow rising and falling of my stomach, like a small balloon inside of me…the steady beat of my heart…the serenity of the silence.  Our bodies are sacred and beautiful creations; it does not matter the size or the shape, they are all unique and all beautiful.  I love my body.  I recognize it is a glorious gift from God.  I felt an unbelievable closeness to Him as I detached myself from the world and centered my focus on Him and giving me the gift of life on this earth.  The silence was a blanket that protected me from the bombardment of responsibilities and allowed me to fully channel my thoughts on me, who I am as a person, Rachel Jackson.  A light and energy radiated within my soul as I realized how blessed I am to be alive.  Happiness consumed every part of my body.  Gratitude quickly brought me to reality as I contemplated how lucky I am to be alive.  I can see, I can hear, I can love, I can laugh, I can run, I can talk.  I have only one life to live and every second wasted worrying, hating, and stressing is a second snatched away from really loving it.  I am realizing the importance of living in the here and now.  I must not take another day for granted.

We all had positive affirmations lying beside our mats, defining and bringing hope to our individualistic situations.  My affirmation card stated:

 “Today is a very exciting time in my life. I am on a wonderful adventure and will never go through this particular experience again.”