.inspiring.

i want to watch this all day

i want to take dance classes

i want to move

i want to always feel as calm as i am when i watch this

(i just watched it again after posting it and i just had to add.......the styling! the moustaches! the art direction! the lack of facial expression! i loooooove!)
(yet i'm still so calm inside...)

Cancun Overload

Living in a bathing suit with your only concern being pool or beach, and when to eat second lunch, is not the worst way to spend 10 days.

So check it out.......

Becca came from Utah to play with us! 

It was magnificent to be able to spend so much time with her!

(especially because she became to group guacamole connoisseur)

We went to Tulum to look at the ruins and in the market area we came across this performance

Yep. That happened.

Nate was a wonderful tour guide. He lived in the area for several years and has visited these ruins many times. Megan was the official interpreter for absolutely zero deaf people.

LOVE this lady

Note to self - wear more clothes when taking pictures with this beauty

so happy together

Everyone! It was hot as sin, check out the sweat on Nate's shirt front. Homie, the other guys got the white shirt memo......

I have no idea what was happening here. It's kinda gross but I also kinda love it

Melissa and Megan - my favorite M&Ms

Not from a travel brochure, this was our life for 10 days!

Chilling under these mini cabanas was the best!

Megan was a little obsessed with that coconut meat

These little animals ran all over the resort. I have never seen anything like them! The first few days we only saw the adult sized ones and then the babies came out!!! They have a name that none of us (except Nate) can pronounce so we called them chimichangas. In our defense, the native word sounds a teensy bit like chimichanga.

I wanted to bring 7 home with me. No joke.

They like ice cream.

Chimi babes! Josh and I saw one riding on his mama's back one day.....can we say animal lover dream come true?!

Everyday we would come back to the room and find towel animals waiting on the bed. Our final day we got this little lady. Creeped me out.

At the airport, breakfast of champions. Hamburgers and Starbucks!

All in all, I will have very fond memories of this trip. There was an incident pretty early on that really threw a wrench in my time with my friends and if I could go back, I would react quite differently. Oh well, cest la vie! I adore these people and my love for each of them deepened considerably.

Time to start planning for next year!

Trip By Numbers

Flights: 4
Couples massages on the beach: 0
Times I was offered drugs: 1
Friends sick from eating mystery meat: 5
Skinny dipping: 1 (mom, I just had to)
Ice cream cones: the limit does not exist
5 Hour Energy consumed: 6
Nights of dancing: 6
Books read poolside/on the beach: 2
Naps taken: 11
Precious, darling children I wanted to bring home with me: 17653072
Megan's new novios (boyfriends): 4ish
Victims of heat rash: 3
Tongue tacos: 4
Viewings of The Avengers: 1
New nicknames: 1.5
Lessons learned: 2, but I expect that to increase
Pounds lost: 0
Pounds gained: 0 (I mist be a wizard or something!)
Trips to Wal*Mart: 3
Trips where I saw a tray of chicken feet and gizzards at checkout: 1

Pictures coming soon!

Away We Go!

I'm off to Cancun for 10 days! I don't think we have any internet access so this little blog will get seriously neglected because I also failed to ask anyone to guest post for me. Winner, right here.

My friends and I have seriously been planning this since New Years and I am thrilled it is finally here! I have never really counted down to anything like this before, is this what waiting for a wedding is like? I have gone on my fair share of trips before but I have never with such a large group of friends (9 of us!), so I have always been the one to do the countdown. The past week I have shrieked and squealed more than I have in my entire life. Any time I see or talk to anyone who is going we becoming like the shrieking eels on The Princess Bride. Except that we're cuter.

And don't you worry, I have worked out a total of two times in the past month so I'm pretty sure I'm as close to beach ready as I'll ever be. This is where a sarcasm font would fit nicely.

Welp, have a wonderful week and Memorial Day, see you soon!

Let's Clear Things Up.....

Today I learned that ambiguity is one of the hardest things for us to deal with. We enjoy the stability in relationships, work, home life and try to avoid anything unknown in these areas. Ambiguity causes us to over think and in some cases make assumptions about the other party. That's dangerous, y'all.

And that's why dating stinks. The first couple dates in a potential new relationship are drowning in ambiguity. The possibility of a misstep is enormous so every text is fretted over, every outfit is chosen with the upmost care, every physical contact, no matter how slight, is analyzed to the nth degree.

If you can't tell, I really don't like the beginning stage. It can be fun (from what I've heard) but more often than not it's just plain awkward and the anxiety makes me break out. Which makes me self conscious. Which makes me act differently. Which makes him not ask me out again.

Now I've come to my point - I'm ready for my arranged marriage. Any time now. 

sleep eating

I completely understand the desire to power through sleepiness to finish your cone

summa time

it's coming....do you feel it?

summer is on it's way and i couldn't be happier about that!

i have zero plans this year - no checklist except lots of bike riding and a few trips back home

sounds pretty delicious right about now!

i think i'll kick off the summer with a trip to cancun next friday

yeah, that sounds like a good idea

Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh’ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don’t let someone steal your tenderness. Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it’s a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all – look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love. 

- Zooey Deschanel

And Then I Hated Becca

I was  home in between jobs yesterday when I heard the doorbell ring. Let me tell you something about our place - it's kind of in the the middle of nowhere so we all get VERY suspicious when someone shows up unannounced. I almost didn't answer the door.

Good thing I did because I got to meet the delivery driver from Georgetwon Cupcakes who was at my house to deliver a dozen cupcakes to me. I was SO confused! Who was sending me cupcakes? Or maybe they were for my roommate who has the same first and last name as me (seriously, we mix up our mail all the time).

I checked the order form and it was definitely for me, it had my phone number on it.

And then I looked at the love note attached and immediately knew who they were from -

Becca wants to fatten me up before Cancun! I'm telling you, this is straight out of the movie Bride Wars! Becca is an evil genius.

How could I not indulge?

So I did. That girl kills me. My revenge shall be swift and oh so sweet.

Everyone needs an enemy like Becca.

(Next week, Becca! We go next week!!!)

Saw this on A Cup of Jo last week and I was thrilled! This is my school!! Thank goodness they did this after I graduated because I just know I would have been caught up in this!

Now who wants to do a little No, Not YOUing with me this weekend???

Trust Your Struggle

The last few months have been difficult, to say the least.

I saw this on Pinterest today and it took my breath away.

There has to be a point to all this and I need to trust that there is.

More than that, I need to own it.

I'm so grateful to the friends who have allowed me to be what I need to be during this time. A very wise friend of mine (Becca!) said to me last night, "you are changing, and you are changing into who you want to be. Your friends will embrace that or they won't, but the important part is that you like who you are becoming".

This struggle has been so important. I'm not always grateful for it but with the right friends and making this quote my mantra, I think I can overcome anything.

Lately on Instagram

(this post is mainly for my mom and sister's benefits because they have neither facebook nor instagram)

top left: Presidential section of the American History Museum

top right: school group unfurling a flag at the same museum

bottom left: a secret spot on the Potomac

bottom right: National Harbor at sunset

top left: statue "The Awakening" at National Harbor

top right: statue of Einstein at the Academy of Arts and Sciences

bottom left: part of our backyard

bottom right: sandstone from the Nauvoo LDS temple in the American History Museum

BFFs

Wouldn't it be interesting to gather all your best friends in a room and see how they interact with each other? Oh, first I should mention that I'm a believer in multiple best friends - sure, "best" suggests something singular, however I don't think that limiting people who want to be your good friend is ever a bad thing. 

I digress. Think about it! Think of all the people in your life who you love and cherish and JUST TOTALLY GET YOU, and then put them in a room together. This room should most likely have good temperature control and delicious snacks, at least that's what my friends would want.

I think most of my friends would hit it off nicely. Many of them already know each other but they would probably adore the ones they don't. Hopefully. It would very extremely loud and we would laugh our guts out and hopefully everyone would leave with a couple phone numbers or promises to add each other on Facebook. You know how you have best friends from long ago that you don't keep in super good contact with but it's because someone moved or you're at different stages in life? I still think of y'all as my best friends (*ahem* Julie and Kristy). I've always known that I have the privilege of having the best people in my life at pretty much all times and I dream of a time when I can get us all together!

I hope to see you there!

Favorite Songs

This is from the Karate Kid 2 soundtrack and when I was a little girl there was nothing quite as romantic as this song. And that was before I ever saw his fabulous feathered hairdo! The fool for romance that still resides inside me keeps this song near the top of my favorite songs list.

A close second for pre-teen Rachel was Careless Whisper. I'm pretty sure that George Michael is the first ever gay man I fell for - it started a pattern, for sure. This was my #2 song for a LONG time! What an odd song to be obsessed with but for some reason I believe in embarrassing myself as much as possible on this blog.

My buddy, Mike, dressed up like sexy sax man for Halloween last year. There is truly nothing more endearing to me! So creepy, right?

But now - my all time favorite song! I listen to it several times a week and I just sway and smile all the way through it. When Jerilyn and I went on our cruise a few years ago we ended up on a shuttle taking us back to the boat and somehow we and the other passengers broke out singing this song. I love it! Listen to the lyrics, there are few that are as sweet as these -

The awkwardly dancing white kids in the background are such a fantastic bonus!

Another!

So great!

So so so great!