The Gospel

You know, I just wanted to say how thankful I am for the gospel in my life. It has molded and shaped my life and is so much of who I am today. When I look at my life, and those close to me I can see how the gospel has brought so many blessings. Those who have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel, Heavenly Father's plan for us, and the atonement of Jesus Christ have an inner strength and peace.
The gospel of Jesus Christ provides a solid foundation for us to stand on when the storms in our life are raging. It is so amazing to be standing in a moment where things are crumbling all around you and just when you are about to lose hope a light will break through those clouds and you know you're not alone and that "this too shall pass". One of my favorite stories in the scriptures is at the end of the Book of Mormon with the Brother of Jared. I love that story, and have turned to it so many times in my life.
I love the Book of Mormon. I love the insights we gain when we read and study the writing of the prophets. I'll be the first to admit that I don't read my scriptures as much as I should, but it's something that I'm working on. When I puck up my scriptures it's like reuniting with an old friend. There are so many things that we can learn about the gospel through those inspired words. It's amazing to me the peace that can come into our lives from five minutes of reading everyday.
I love the plan that Heavenly Father has set out for us. It's so simple to understand. It breaks my heart when people refuse to accept or even learn about that plan. It's amazing to think that our Heavenly Father knew us before we cam to this life. He loved us, and he desired that we could experience all the Happiness that He had. He created this earth for us so that we could acquire physical bodies. Here on earth we have the blessing of experiencing good and bad, happiness and pain. He gave us apostles, scriptures and prophets to help us to know what we needed to do in order to get back to him. One of the greatest gifts He has given us is agency. We have the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and bad, and whether or not we will follow what He has asked us to do. He knew that not all of us would make the right choices, and because not one of us are even close to perfect, He sent His son.
The atonement is the most incredible act of mercy, charity, and love in the history of the world. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, came and did everything that his Father asked him to do. He set the example, taught a higher law, called apostles and gave them the priesthood. He established a church, but most importantly he willingly sacrificed his own life for me, for each one of us.
I would like to say a few more things about this life before I move on. Since the church has been established people have been asked to sacrifice. Sacrifice is something that is so important in the gospel. Christ sacrificed his life, many of his apostles and followers did the same. Christians were slaughtered for their beliefs. Fast forward to Joseph Smith and the early saints of the restored gospel I could spend pages talking about the sacrifices they made so that this gospel could move forward. Their faith was amazing. Today we are required to make different sacrifices. It is amazingly easy to get caught up in the things that the world says are good. Who doesn't want a nice house, a nice car, and the "freedom" to do whatever you want. It condenms marriage and children and makes those things seem restricting and would like to make it seem like those who are married and who have children are unhappy. You see people who get caught up in money, alcohol, and other things that can end up destroying their lives.
These may be more extreme examples but it's amazing how Satan will sneak them into our lives. We accept one little thing then another, then another, and after some time passes we may find ourselves on a completely different path. When we tolerate even the tiniest sin and make excuses for ourselves it is so much easier to ignore those promptings of the spirit on bigger and bigger things.
Heavenly Father has surrounded us with things to help us in this life. He constantly has His hand stretch out toward us no matter how much we are or have rejected him. He asks us to make covenants with him throughout our lives, and to obey a few simple things. I know that when we keep the promises we make with God, and we do what He asks us to do, He will pour out blessing on us.
I have a few people who I love very dearly who have made these covenants and promises with our Heavenly Father, but who are choosing not to keep them. If it breaks my heart to think of the promises the are breaking and the things that they are missing out on I can hardly imagine what our Heavenly Father thinks. Some of these friends read this blog, and others do not. I wish they could see what they are missing out on...but because they have so much they don't feel like they are missing anything. I wish I could help them to understand how the gospel can bless not only their life, but everybody around them. I hope and pray that one day they will understand.
After this life we will be judged. We will have to look our Heavenly Father in the eye and talk with him about our life. I imagine He will give us a very in depth kind of interview. He will know the intents of our hearts, and when we come up short...because we inevitably will...our Savior will step in. If we have repented and applied that atonement in our lives and are completely sincere we will be forgiven of those sins. We will be perfectly clean and pure and ready to live with our Father in Heaven again.
I know this isn't the most eloquent of explanations of the gospel, nor is it the most detailed. It's also probably just a jumble of thoughts and words but I needed to say it. I don't get to say these things as much as I would like to, but I just felt like I needed to get it off of my chest today.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints contains a fullness of the gospel, even the very gospel that Christ taught to his apostles, and that has been taught from the very beginning. I know that God is in the very fabric of our lives. He knows us, and loves us. He has given us everything we need in this life to return and live with Him. We have Families, priesthood leaders, scriptures, apostles, prophets, and so much more. I know that the atonement can be a very powerful thing, and that if there is something that you need to take care of, just talk with your bishop. If you do, I promise that a weight can be lifted off of your shoulders. Heavenly Father wants so much to be apart of our lives, and is just waiting for us to reach out to Him. I know that even though there may be times where it seems like too much to live the gospel and be obedient to the commandments, it is so worth it. If you incorporate into your life the standards of the gospel you will feel a renewing energy, and peace enter your life. You will be grateful, and your posterity for generations to come will be grateful. It is so easy to forget and to seek happiness from the world, but the happiness that you will find is only temporary...things of this world are only ever temporary. Things of God, however, are eternal. When we seek for those eternal things, and live by eternal principals, separating ourselves from the world, we will find eternal blessings and happiness.

If you have read this far, thanks for letting me get on my soap box. I hope that I didn't offend anybody with this post, but I felt like I needed to put it out there. The majority of the people who I was thinking of while writing this most likely won't read my blog, but there are a few who will. For those people, I love you. That's why I said these things. I'm here if you need somebody to talk to, or even if you just need a friend. I hope you have a great sunday!

I am a Princess....

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Amazing Dinner

So it's weird, growing up I hated cooking. I somehow always got my little sister to do it for me. You know the old trick. You put on your best puppy dog eyes and you say "but you make it so much better than I do." Even though it was usually something like chicken noodle soup or Raman Noodles it still got the job done. Karma must be a real thing because now Chris gives me the same look and says the exact same thing, and even though I invented this trick, it still works on me. lol. Anyway back to what I was saying. So since I've been married I actually enjoy cooking. I'd like to think I'm pretty decent...but it's just in my own mind and Chris doesn't dispute it.
So I'm always looking for good recipes and my mom kind of invented this one and it's become the new favorite in our house. I should have taken a picture to post on here...maybe next time. Anyway, it's really yummy, colorful and actually good for you. Oh and the best part it takes 15 minutes. It's kind of a throw together what you want recipe, but I thought I'd share it with you so you all can enjoy it to! I call it:
Mom's Chicken Tortellini ( I know, super creative)

What you need:
2 chicken breasts
1-2 cups spinach (de-stemmed)
1-2 Roma tomatoes
1-3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup red onion (cut up)
1 pkg Tri-colored Tortellini with Cheese (Macey's, frozen section)
1/3 cup Olive oil
1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
Basil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper
Any vegetable you like (zucchini is really good in this)

Grill the chicken and when done cut into 1" cubes. While the chicken is cooking de-stem the spinach. Dice the tomatoes into small pieces. Chop the garlic up as small as you can, or use a garlic press. (I have one of those chopper things that I throw the garlic into. But if you use a chopper don't use it for the onions, trust me on this one.) Cook tortellini in boiling water. ( put a little salt and oil in the boiling water with the pasta, apparently it's an old Italian secret). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until hot. Add the garlic and onion. Sautee for 2 minutes or until garlic is barely golden brown. By this time the chicken should be done. Drain tortellini. Add spinach, chicken, tortellini, mozzarella, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, tomatoes, and any other vegetables to the skillet. Cooke on low to medium heat until cheese is just starting to melt. Serve with fruit and whatever else you want. We like it with watermelon, a peach shake, and croissants.

So that's my yummy recipe. Try it. It's impressive. People will think you are an incredible chef. Really you can just throw whatever you want together. I don't like tomatoes very much so I don't add many, but I love onions and spinach so I load up on those. Oh and just so you know I usually chop up 3 garlic cloves, but I like it with a little more garlic flavor. My mom only puts one to two and uses a garlic press, but for me the flavor is a little dull. Try it and let me know what you think.

Power Yoga

I can't believe they snapped this of me when I told them not to! :) Ok, so I'm pretty sure I would snap in half and end up paralized in a hospital if I even attempted to attempt this one.
So one of my mission companions, Blanca, and I decided to take up power yoga. We go every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half class. I love it! It's been five years since I took yoga, and I'm really rusty, but it feels so good to be stretching and moving in those ways. My favorite are the sun salutations and of course the relaxation/meditation part at the end. Not to be stereotypical but it's so...cleansing. It's something I definitely plan on doing for as long as I can.

Princess Fashion Show

Chris's little sister got a bunch of Princess stuff for her 6th birthday from her cousins. She was so excited to show us, I decided to turn it into a fashion show. We got a little carried away. Linley definitely pulls the look off the best...but Chris doesn't look too bad himself. lol.

I never knew that my tough guy had so much...pizzaazz...lol.

He loves it!!!

So there is our fashion show. Hope you enjoyed it!

One Year of Pics

So we finally loaded up our pics from the last year of our marriage. I thought it would be fun to post some of them.
Our first ginger bread house.

We spent our fourth of July at a wedding for our good friend Cory. This is a picture of her reception at the Huntsman Cancer Center. It was beautiful and over looked the fireworks at the U. Saturday mornings are spent with Chris playing soccer. I love watching him play.
Me Saturday morning after cleaning.
Chris and his brother playing soccer in Montana while we were camping.
It took us a total of 10 hours to get to our camping site in Montana. This is Chris's excited face.
A quick pic ofc us at Mary's graduation.
My sister and my mom. They grow up so fast!
Me and my beautiful sister. I can't believe she's 18, and done with school.

For Halloween Chris and I had a contest to see who could make the best pumpkin. It turned out to be a tie.

Here's us in Las Vegas out side the Bellagio, waiting for the water show.
Us in Disneyland. We went in October and it was perfect!!!
Here's what our room looked like when we got back from our honeymoon.
Us trying to navigate our way through Seattle.

So there you go! My goal is to take a lot more pictures this year.

Good CD!

So I rarely buy cds, and when I do it's because it has three or more songs on it that I LOVE, not just like, but LOVE. You know, the kind that are so wonderful that you could listen to them over and over and over again, and still not be tired of them (even though everybody else is). So my latest discovery is

Little Voice by Sara Bareilles. I LOVE this CD! I think I've listened to it 50 times in the last week. I know Love Song gets over played on the radio, but it's still a good song. I've added some of my favorites from her cd to the very end of my playlist. One of my current favorites is Love on the Rocks, Oh, and Gravity, oh and Fairytale, oh and...well just listen to some of them. They're really easy to listen to. But please, don't take my opinion, check them out for yourselves.

Also I've got a lot of pics to post on here, but I can't find the cord to put them on my computer. Hopefully I will get that done soon, especially because I'm completely out of space on my camera, and I want pics to go along with my descriptions of our camping trip and other fun stuff we've done in the last couple weeks.

But yeah, this cd...totally worth the money.

Got Tagged

Emily tagged me, so here goes . . .
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People that are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post tag 8 people and include their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment on their blog to tell them they've been tagged, and to comment back and read your blog for the whole story.
1. I'm a stair counter. I can't walk up or down a set of stairs without counting them. It's something I've done since I was little. You'll probably rarely see me taking stairs two at a time...it throws off my count.
2. The sound that drives me nuts almost more than anything in the world is the sound of metal hitting teeth. When I'm eating with people and they bite down on the silver ware I feel like I'm crawling out of my skin. So if I have the option I'll pick plastic over metal. A few weeks ago we were at Chris's family's house for dinner, and afterwards we were all just sitting around the table talking and laughing. His dad picked up his fork and used it to pick something out of the back of his teeth. I couldn't handle it. I had to turn my head away and just try to handle it. Chris knew why I was cringing so he started laughing. He told his dad how much it bothered me and thankfully his dad stopped but everybody thought it was hilarious. If you want to get under my skin, bite down on your fork at dinner.
3. You know when you call somewhere and you have to press one for english, two for spanish? It's a pet peeve when people complain about having to press one for english. Are you really that lazy? Like it's takes a lot of effort to press one for english. English is not even the official language of the U.S. infact there is no official language. I hope that it become spanish, then let's here them complain about it.
4. So I have only discovered this since I've been Married. If I don't get enough time with my husband I get really grouchy. I mean really grouchy. And the funny thing is I usually end up taking it out on him. Luckily since he is so sweet and wonderful, he'll grab my hand and say "let's go for a walk" or he'll suggest something else where we can just spend some time together. Then once we have been able to escape the distractions and chores of the world for even 30 minutes and just get to enjoy each other's company I'm happy again.
5. I get really mean when I'm working on math, and I don't get it. In fact Chris refuses to help me with it anymore because I become so mean. I guess I yelled at him the first couple times so he learned his lesson. Nobody believed him until one night some friends were over here doing homework and I had Chris helped me and with in the first 5 minutes I snapped at him. His friends just looked at each other and said "whoa, he was right."
6. If I could do anything in the world, I would be a photographer. It's been a dream of mine for years, but I've never really had the opportunity to start. My goal is to get all the equipment and take a few classes in the next two years, and just start it as a hobby. Who knows what will happen.
7. At night I have to sleep with one leg outside of the covers. To regulate body temperature.
8. I can't say no to people. I always feel so guilty. Like for example when I go to the store and they ask me if I want to donate to...whatever...I can't say no. I will almost always give at least a dollar. If I say no, I feel like I'm a terrible person.
One more random fact. I love power. I love to be in charge in some situations, and in others I hate it. Most of the time, I just like to have all the power! lol.

So there are 8 random facts about me. I did this instead of studying for my math test. But I needed a little break. I've been studying for it for two days now...and still it's not clicking. Oh well. It will probably be the one test that it dropped. lol.

I tag Amber, Melissa, Laura, Sharly, Tiffany, Natalie, Natalie, Nicole, and Cory.

Who's going to win...

Chris and I made a bet to see who's going to lose the most weight by September 1st. If he wins he gets to buy a new cologne that he wants. If I win he does laundry, housework and dinner for two weeks. Needless to say we're both pretty determined to win. I'm definitely looking forward to kicking back for two weeks and doing absolutely nothing.

A Ditzy Moment...

Due to a Ditzy moment I had on Saturday I now have a new embarressing moment. Now I'm sure you are all gasping and thinking to yourself "Rachel have a distzy moment? Impossible!!!" But I assuring you, my friends, that although I may seem verly nearly perfect, I do have some flaws.

So on Saturday I decided to go running at the gym. So I grabbed my ipod and a magazine. I use the magazine to cover the amount of time I've been running (it always messes with my head). Miraculously, it wasn't very busy that day so I have my pick of just about any machine. I think divine inspiration led me to the last row of treadmills. Behind me are only 5 or 6 people on other machines. So I start my run. I'm trottin' along listening to Wicked. (I always get so into wicked. I love that music.) Well apparently I got a little too into it. I guess I was moving my hands to much, and my left arm caught the wire to my head phones. My ipod went crashing to the floor of the treadmill, and my automatic response? If you didn't guess, I'll enlighten you. I STOPPED RUNNING and BENT OVER to catch it before I stepped on it. Somehow, it never crossed my mind that I'm on a treadmill, and even if you stop...the treadmill doesn't. With in a fraction of a second I realized that it was either me or the ipod, so I let the ipod fly off the back of the treadmill. I tried to save my dignity, and stand up...but the problem is it's really hard to just begin running again once you're down...So there I am at the gym, holding on for dear life, both hands on the bars attempting to regain my footing and failing miserably. My arms aren't even close to clong enough to reaching the speed control (darn my genetics). (And it wasn't until today that I found out that there is an emergency stop button for such an occasion). So it was inevitable. I knew there was absolutely no way around it. I was going to be shot of the treadmill. I figured I may as well try to save some face so I dropped to my knees and let it throw me off. Luckily, my ipod wasn't hurt...and other than a severe blow to my pride...I wasn't either.

I didn't bother looking around to see if anybody had noticed. I knew they were laughing probably just as hard as I was, if not harder. I'm sure it was a sight to see. After sitting there laughing at myself for a moment, I jumped up, grabbed my ipod, pressed pause on my machine, got back on and commenced my run.

It's interesting that just a week earlier I saw a commercial on tv where a guy gets thrown off a treadmill and I thought to myself "You must be a pretty big idiot to get thrown off a treadmill." So I guess it's karma. What goes around comes around. Now I know it's really not that difficult to get thrown off a treadmill, especially if you stop running without stopping the treadmill. Can you believe I got an A in physics? I think the most important lesson I learned is to not use my ipod to hold my magazine down. It's too dangerous.