Good, Better, Best

The past month has been kind of crazy, but I have learned a lot. I have learned that if I try to make things happen that it usually does not work out the way that I want it. I have learned to put my trust in my Heavenly Father and allow Him to guide my life. I know He will not make decisions for me, but if I listen to His council, I will helped in making the choice that is best for me. Some of the decisions I have had to make have not been easy. It can be really hard to give up something good for something better and even harder to give up something better for the best thing. I love this quote from Elder Oaks, "As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all." That last part really speaks to me at this time in my life. I know that I am doing my Heavenly Father's will and even though it's hard, it will all be worth it in the end. I am so happy right now and I am being so blessed because I have chosen to do what Heavenly Father knows is right for me instead of what I want to be right.

Happy Holidays!

I just realized that I completely skipped over Halloween in my blogging! Halloween was the best! Me, Seth, and Seth's roommate Sean dressed up as Little Bo Peep and her lost sheep. We went to Seth's ward's Halloween party and we won the costume contest!! Then we went to a dance that another ward was having. Seth and Sean would go hide from me and start baaing and I would go try to find them. Everybody loved it! Anyway it was so much fun and definitely the best Halloween I have ever had!

Seth surprised me with Thriller tickets

Carving Pumpkins!

Making pumpkin seeds

 

Little Bo Peep and her lost sheep

After all the partying so we're kind of frumpy looking.

Christmas was so much fun as well. I still made Munchie and my parents get up early and open our presents. I  got some really cute clothes and a few other things. Then after church my brothers and their familys both came down. It was so much fun watching the little kids play with their toys. We spent the day laughing and playing games.

Connor playing with Carter's toy car

Carter!

Connor and Millie reading books and opening presents

Munchie, Connor, and Millie sword fighting

Johnny and Mikey sword fighting

Me and Carter in front of the Christmas tree

Connor did not want to sit still for a picture

Connor and Grandpa

Carter and Munchie

Mom, the baby whisperer, calming Carter down

For New Year's Eve, I went up to Centerville and hung out with Seth and his family and his friends. It was so much fun to see everybody again! I got to see his niece, Kate. She is just a few weeks old and simply adorable! We played games with his friends and just had a really great time!

Next holiday was my birthday! I turned 22 years old. I'm getting old... But 22 is my lucky number so hopefully this year is the absolute best! My entire family came down for my birthday and we went to dinner and Red Robin. I love my birthday!

Millie dumped the box of cheerios out and then said "I did it!"



Thanksgiving!

It was so nice to take a break from school and work this week to just sit back, relax, and spend time with my family. We had Thanksgiving at my house and it was pretty crazy! My family is 11 people, my grandma makes 12, and then my uncle's family came so the total was 18 people at Thanksgiving. I know lots of people have more but I'm used to it just being me and my parents in this house so 15 other people was madness. We spent the day getting playing games and of course eating food. It was so much fun! I love that my family can get together and have such a good time. There were lots of laughs and not too many tears (just from the babies). I am so grateful for my family. They are the best! Thanksgiving is also special to me because it reminds me of my heritage. My ancestors came over on the Mayflower and so I love hearing about what it was like for them. It makes me feel more connected to them. I love it!

Thanksgiving weekend highlights: Me carrying 4 chairs up the stairs while my dad carried 2 and my grandma and sister carried 1 each. Thanks for all the help guys! We laughed really hard about that one. Eating lots and lots of delicious mashed potatoes! My mom makes the best kind! Playing rock band, pool, and foos ball with my family and cousins. Ganging up on my dad in Hearts with my sister and Grandma. He still beat us but at least it was a little bit closer. Beating my dad and sister at pool. Longest game ever, but I did it!!!! Playing with the babies is always so much fun! I have the cutest niece and nephews in the world! Also I taught Millie to say "Go Jimmer!" so that was fun. And we put up our Christmas tree!!! I think that's a record for us! Usually it's like the week before Christmas. My mom and sister were just excited about their new decorations. And it looks fabulous! Overall it was a great week!

General Conference

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend. The messages that will be shared are what Heavenly Father wants us to know right now. We have a prophet on this earth today and he is going to talk to us. Sometimes I think that it would have been amazing to be alive when one of the prophets in the scriptures was alive because then I could have heard him speak. Well, I get to hear a prophet of God speak every 6 months. What a wonderful blessing. It's sad, however, that more often than not people of this church don't listen. Or if they do listen then they don't remember or apply it to their lives. What did the prophets and apostles speak about 6 months ago? They are receiving revelation of how we are to live our lives. We need to listen and continue to study and apply their messages until they speak again.

I know that I have not been very good at this, but I've determined to be better. I have made the decision to download all the sessions of conference and listen to it in my car. I started this yesterday afternoon and I've already listened to the first session and President Uchtdorf's talk twice. I was previously using this time listening to a bunch of junk on the radio. It was amazing how happy I have been. Yesterday was a really frustrating day, but I was happier than I have been for a long time. I know that studying the messages of General Conference and really making an effort to push out the gunk of the world and to bring the spirit into our lives will make a huge difference. I encourage everyone reading this to listen to the prophets and apostles of God this weekend and over the next 6 months to make an effort to apply what they have said to us. I promise that it will only bless your life. Enjoy Conference!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Today is the beginning of my absolute favorite time of the year: BYU Football season!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!! I think I get more excited than most guys that I know. It is so great! I would so much rather watch a football game with the guys then get my nails done and watch a chick flick with the girls. It's going to be such a great season! I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!

School started this week. Man was it tiring! I have class at 7:00 AM on MWF and 8:00 AM on TTH. For some people that would be no big deal, but I am sooooo not a morning person. I am taking conditioning, dance and health, somatics, history of dance, methods of teaching ballet, ballet, and pointe. So far I am liking my classes. Somatics is brutal, but hopefully I'll get used to it. Also I haven't done pointe in a long time so I am so weak. It's really frustrating. But I get to do what I love every single day so I can't complain. I have already made so many friends. I love all of the girls and guys in the dance program. They inspire me so much and they are all so nice and humble. I love my major!!!!!!

I have also started teaching again. I love teaching so much! It is so rewarding to see my students succeed. I love passing on the things that I have learned and continue to learn on to my students. They are all so sweet and so willing to do all that I ask of them. I couldn't ask for better students. I can't wait to get to know all of them even better and to see them accomplish even more this year.

Crazy July

I didn't realize that it had been over a month since I last posted! Where the heck did July go?? It has definitely been a crazy month. First of all, my family moved from Taylorsville to Mapleton. That was pure madness. I definitely miss my old house and my old neighborhood and my old ward. We lived there for 18 years so it's the only home that I can remember. It's weird living somewhere else and not knowing anybody who lives around me. I'm still adjusting to it. Hopefully I will like my new ward and hopefully I can get motivated enough to finish unpacking my room...

Two days after we moved I flew to Virginia to visit Jake and his family. It was so much fun to see them again. I had a lot of fun boating and just hanging out. They are some of the greatest people that I know and I'm so glad that I got to see them again after two years.

The day after I got home from Virginia Jessica and I drove up to Bear Lake to be with Seth and his family. It was so much fun and so good to see Seth again. Munchie tried wakeboarding for the first time and got up on her very first try!!! By the next day she could go out of the wake and back in. Why is she so good at things like that?? After months of being practically begged to try it, I finally got up the courage to try wakeboarding. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I, Rachelle Snow, tried wakeboarding. AND I got up a couple of times for about 3 seconds. It was fun but I don't know if I'll do it again. After I went, Seth went and was trying to land the tricks he had been working on. He landed a 360!! He's really good. Then right after that he crashed doing another trick and was face down, unconcious in the water. Talk about giving me a heart attack. Luckily he only got a minor concussion. I was really scared for a little while though.

So those were the biggest moments of my July. It's been super crazy, but so much fun! Now I just have a few more weeks before school starts and still a million things to do! Sounds like it's going to be a busy August but hopefully not as crazy as my July.

4th of July Weekend

Happy Independence Day (yesterday)!!!!!! I love this time of year! I love going to see the firework shows and parades that different cities have. It's pretty much the only time that an entire city gets together to celebrate something. Last weekend we got to celebrate Taylorsville Dayzz. So much fun! And this weekend I got to go up to Centerville and celebrate the holiday with the Randalls. We had a lot of fun watching fireworks, going to the parade, going to the park, going to see the Green Lantern, and just hanging out. I had a blast!

Sunday and Monday weren't the best days though because I was sick. :( What's worse than being sick on a holiday??? So I just spent the day relaxing. Half way through the day my family started playing games. If you know us at all, then that does not come as a surprise at all. And we don't just play simple games. Our games are complex and take forever. But it's what we do and I love it! The best part was that Seth came down and played with us Monday night. He doesn't really get the whole playing crazy complicated games thing, but he was a good sport. The worst part (besides being sick) was that my brothers and their families didn't get to come. I sure did miss my babies!