6 Days...

I can't wait to start my happily ever after...

It seems like I always write a big blog during finals. Awesome



Anyways. Life is crazy sometimes. And sometimes there is so much to do and each day goes by too fast , but still not fast enough. And 16 days seems like an eternity. But then you remember back when you were counting down from 58 days and it's not that bad after all. And then you remember when you were stuck in California a million miles away and you realize that this is such a miracle. I can't wait.

Today I am tired. And all I can think about is how tired I am. But that's okay, only 14 more days of school! And then I can rest. Today was awesome because: first I took a ten minute nap, but my alarm clock didn't go off so it turned into a 20 minute nap and I woke up just as my class was starting on the other side of campus. I got to class and instead of lasting three hours like usual, it was only 40 minutes long. Nice. So I came home and wrote an essay. Which means I will probably get to bed early tonight. Awesome right?

Kay, so. Just FYI, I am marrying the most amazing guy ever. He does so much for me. We are going to have so much fun, like a party every day. I love him so much. I can't wait to be Mrs. Betts.

I just realized that I have been wearing my sweater inside-out all day.

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

See that guy up there? His name is Ben Betts. And he's great. He proposed to me October 8, 2009 and we are getting married December 19, 2009. I am so excited :)

Ben and I have been friends for a while now. He took me on our first date in September of 2008. And it was so akward. After that we decided that we would just be good friends. So we did. A few months later we started doing everything together. We went grocery shopping, out to eat, and to the movies. But of course, we weren't "dating." Ben was my best friend and I had a huge huge crush on him but I was leaving for Europe and he was leaving for an internship so we didn't want to get into a relationship or anything. We just became really really good friends instead.

Fast forward to Paris, France. I get an email from Ben! It was so exciting! I told everyone in the internet cafe, even strangers. Soon we were emailing everyday and it was great. And when I got back to California we started talking on the phone everyday. For five whole months we talked on the phone for hours and emailed back and forth. It was the longest summer ever. I just wanted to be with him so bad.

And then I came back to Rexburg, ID! And we decided that we wouldn't talk about marriage for awhile because we hadn't even really dated in real life. But then one day we were like "Kay, why are we waiting? We know it's going to happen anyway!" So we started talking about it. And then we realized that it either had to happen in December or in April, and I cannot wait until April. So then we got engaged :)

And now we are getting ready to be sealed for all eternity :) I'm so lucky to be in love with my best friend.

p.s. There are many more details to this story obviously including: A phone call at the airport, becoming official through facebook, and a spontaneous trip to Utah...but those will have to wait for another time.

My life is fabulous right now. That's all :)

<3 Rachel Marie

I wish my lunchbags were this cool...

http://lunchbagart.tumblr.com/post/160269434/scarlett-zeroes-in-for-aunt-becky

If I really cared about Twitter then this is what today would look like...

yah, that's my uncle

-Rocking out in my car...
-Got a voicemail for a man named Michael. His computer is fixed and ready to be picked up.
-Poor guy, his computer is gonna cost him like $179 and they are only holding it until monday...
-Sitting at my desk eating goldfishies. Not really excited to start these phone calls.
-Totally just found a goldfish that looked like a shark. No lie.
-I secretly like it when people don't answer their phones and I get to send them a postcard...
-My uncle is blasting Phantom of the Opera from his office. Haha.
-My uncle just walked over and asked me what I plan on doing when I get back to Rexburg. Oh man.
-How am I supposed to work when I am so excited??
-Spilled water all over my shoe.
-Luncheon at Roundtable next week? Sorry, I'll be busy...
-Suprise lunch for my last day at work! How exciting...
-And I get my own chocolate cake. Today is the best :)
-More phone calls
-Gonna break into the sun chips
-"Hi this is Daren Anderson State Farm! My name is Rachel, how can I help you?"
-Yay, I got to make a payment.
-40 more minutes until I'm done
-20 more minutes until I'm done
-Why does it get busy like, 5 minutes before I leave??
-They let me take my cake home!
-Home home home home, a few days to relax and then I'm off to Utah/Rexburg!
-So excited right now
-Heading to the Fair, can't wait for my corn dog, night y'all.

Olema 2009

This past week was spent in Olima out near Point Reyes. I love this place. Our family has been gathering here ever since I was a little girl. There are memories at every beach and on every hike. Here is a list of discoveries and memories that were made this summer:

-Cacaw...caCAAAW!
-Max and Tyler falling in love with sand...and sporting some stunner sand mustaches and beards
-Racoons...everywhere
-Courtney getting pinched by a crab
-Playing Nertz like crazy people...and winning $20
-Aunt Marcia becoming one with the ocean...
-Slow Down!
-Everyone watching Elche as she slowly fell off her chair...everyone was to stunned to help haha
-Getting in trouble because our dog's bark was annoying
-"We drive so fast because there are no flowers to look at!"
-Tyler's joke
-Aunt Marcia's skit
-Pelican's diving into the ocean
-Sticky
-Roasting Oreo's
-Girls night in Katie and Ciara's tent
-Finding our true laugh
-Talent shows
-and so much more...can't wait until next year :)

Things I learned while painting...

So this week was spent cleaning and painting my brothers room. I'm a perfectionist plus I have a hard time sitting and painting for hours on end so it took me awhile to finish...but I'm finally done! At least until my mother gets home and points out all the mistakes ;) Anyways, so here are some things I discovered while inhaling paint fumes for the past week:

-Alex and Samuel's room is like 15 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Why? No one knows.
-Painter's tape is amazing!
-Getting little boys to clean under their bed is harder than it seems. I should have just done it myself.
-CLEAN OUT YOUR PAINTBRUSH!
-80's Music totally get's me in the painting mood
-Little boys love to paint...take advantage of it.
-I love painting while lying on Alex's bunk bed...I feel like Michelangelo...until paint drips in my eyes and ruins my contacts
-Paint in the morning. That's when the house is quiet and cool.
-Twitter breaks are the best
-Phone call breaks are even better
-Especially if they are from Idaho
-I need one of those cones my mom always talks about...especially when I'm painting behind the door and someone try's to come in.
-Alex and Sam are so entertaining
-They can also be a little annoying...but I can deal with that :)
-Samuel is way good at picking out color combinations.
-Alex is a way good painter...on walls and on canvas

And that's all. Two days until The Fourth of July, be excited :)
Rachel

Summer

Right now my dad is installing our bright shiny new dishwasher. How exciting. I will miss doing all the dishes though. I used to hate doing dishes but I've come to realize how fun and exciting it can be. Our sink is pretty much in the center of our house. While sitting there with my hands in suds I can hear my family all around me. I can hear my dog going in and out of our screen door, one of her favorite past times. I can hear Julia playing her guitar and my parents playing cards at the table. And plus, who doesn't enjoy have their hands in warm water...it's pretty much one of the best things ever.

Our whole house fan is almost a definition of summer. As soon as it gets cool outside, my mom cranks it on and lets it run all night. It is one of the loudest things I have ever heard. Since it is right outside my (Julia's) bedroom door, I can't hear anything else in the house while I'm in there. It's like I'm in my own little world. Plus, since it's so loud, it puts me right to sleep...wierd I know. It's like sleeping on an airplane or something.

Anyways,
Rachel

California Dreamin....

Soooo, I'm back....in California....finally. Europe was amazing of course. If you want to hear all about it, give me a call. Forreals you should cause I think my family is way tired of hearing me talk about it....and I can't stop talking about it :)

Here's a few highlights of my vacation so far:
-Sleeping in
-Homework finally being done
-Going to Oregon and seeing my best friend and all my cousins!
-Watching lots and lots of movies
-Eating Happy Cherries!!!!
-"I love magic."
-Cleaning Julia's room
-Washing lots and lots of dishes
-Rocket Mania + Cheerios
-Ovaltine
-Driving to Chico
-Seeing my cousins in Chico
-Zombies!
-Fresh berries everyday
-Feeding my Mr. Tortoise
-Tap Tap Revolution
-My hammock

and that's all.
Rachel :)

Today...

Just got back from seeing "The Phantom of the Opera"!!!! It was amazing...seriously...we sat right under the chandalere (sp?). When it fell it was so scary! We also went to the British Museum today where I got to see the Rosetta Stone and mummies and stuff...it was great. Wellll....I don't know when I'll have internet access again so consider this a rare gift, haha.
Love you all!
Rachel

London

Soooooo, I'm here...and it's amazing. The keyboards are wierd here....so sorry in advance for any weird misspellings haha. The flight from Cincinnati was long but I was able to sleep for most of it. We got here around 9am....1am your time lol. Driving into London I was in shock and how different everything was from in the States. Outisde of London, everything looks just like it does in "Babe"...you know the movie about the pig? it's so cute haha. Today we walked around the Parliment Building (the most beautiful building ever!) and saw Buckingham Palace (not really all it's cracked up to be). We walked thorugh St. James Park which is beautiful. There are tons of little parks here that are so cute! Just like the ones in Notting Hill, if you've ever seen that movie. After our walk we checked into the Hostel and then my friends and I headed out for a little adventure. We are staying right near the Victoria Line Station so we went there and bought metro tickets...it was a little intense...but we figured it out after a few tries haha. For dinner I bought a chicken and vegetable pasty...it's like a hand-held chicken pot pie...so good! After eating we got on the metro and headed to St. Paul's cathedral. It's the same cathedral where they sing "Feed the Birds" in Mary Poppins...so we had our own little musical party. The cathedral is huge and you can see it from everywhere! Then we walked to The Globe Theater, a replica of the theater that Shakespear's plays were originally performed in. We had some time before the show started so some of us walked around down random streets to see what we could find. We found this awesome street thing that was lined with cute little restaurants and a huge hat store. Then we went and saw "Romeo and Juliet" at the globe....it was amazing! We were standing right in front of the stage. The actors were way good and the show was really good. I didn't stay for the whole thing because I was exhausted and really gross from being on planes/shuttles for over 24 hours. So my friends and I headed home. Tomorrow we are headed to the British Museum and the Tate Modern! And then I get to see Phantom of the Opera! I'm soso excited. London is a beautiful city and I can't wait to come back again to explore more!
Love you all!
Rachel

Soooo...

Yup...in three and a half hourse I will be on my way...I'm so excited...and so nervous...but mostly excited...and tired...and hungry...hmmm...this time tomorrow I will be on the other side of the planet...that's really far away...I'll miss you guys soso much!...but don't worry...I have a phone card...and I might check my e-mail like once...we'll see...so if you don't hear from me anytime soon...don't worry...this blog will be updated just for you when I get back...but yah, you guys should leave me comments so i'll be suprised when I get back...anyways...I'm gonna take a little nap...Love you all!
Rach

This one’s for Ben…

So I've been asked to blog more…as usual. But there isn't really much to say that this person doesn't already know about me Lol. I'm just going to school during the day and having fun all night…as usual. Classes are going very well. I'm in this travel studies class that is so fun! Pretty much all we do is talk to two hours a day about the different works of art we each want to see or travel tips we have for each other. I still feel way unprepared for this trip, but I figure I will never really feel totally prepared until I'm an experienced traveler. There is just so much I want to do while I'm there and not nearly enough time! My friends and I had a meeting yesterday to plan out what museums we wanted to go to and we had to make two lists: a "This Time" list and a "Next Time" list. Sadly, our "Next Time" list kept growing longer and longer….I guess that just means I'm destined to go back!

So if any of you know me…you know I love Anne of Green Gables. She has red hair, what can I say :) There's a couple parts where she acts out the poem The Lady Of Shallot:

Anyway…I'm way excited because I get to see an amazing painting by John William Waterhouse that depicts the Lady of Shallot floating down the river…to her death…how sad. She also has red hair in the painting so that is pretty sweet.

Soooooo…tonight was pretty fun. I got some Taco Bell with this pretty awesome person and then we went to [fake] Disneyland…gah! It was so cute! And then I got to play Fill It! for a little bit, but I wasn't really at the top of my game since I haven't played in awhile. Then we watched HSM2….which was framazing….as usual. And then I got lots of new music! Yay that's always fun! It was great.

Kay, wow long post. now I have lots of hw…wish me luck mi amigos
Luvs
Rach

And the Countdown Begins...

One more week.

-Rach

p.s.....this is amazing.

I Say Goodbye, and You Say Hello....

School School School School. Oh man...this weekend was my only break between semesters...but it was way way fun. I went grocery shopping, learned I want to be a mechanic, ate/made lots of good food, learned how to twitter, took multiple naps a day, watched "Taken," flew a helicopter, ate lots and lots of candy, got googled lol, listened to lots of music, watched HSM3, and prolly much more stuff that I just can't think of right now.

So I just had my first meeting of the semester for the European Tour. I can't believe I leave in two weeks! Gah, it's coming to fast...there's to much to do before I leave that I don't wanna do. My classes should be fun though. The teachers are hilariouse! I can't wait to finally be in Europe. I've been waiting so so long!

Kay welllll...I don't really have anything exciting that I want to share with the world right now. So I guess I'll end this here. I hope everyone had a fun Easter, I missed you all!
Love,
Ray

Deja Vu

Save me. I'm back. In the dorms. This time I'm armed only with a microwave and a teeny-tiny fridge. You can only imagine how excited I was when I saw my bunk bed...I thought I had excaped from those. Other then that though...there's nothing really to complain about. Since I'm the first one here I got to pick out which bed I wanted and which fridge I wanted...haha. Luckily I had this amazing guy here who was able to help me move my stuff...and my fridge :) And being here means I'm just that much closer to Europe! So exciting. Kay, well, I better get back to organizing my new life here at Chapman Hall. Love you all!
Ray

It's That Time Of Year

Finals week. Here we go. So pretty much this semester has been framazing...and now I'm paying for it in my Spanish class. But whatever...it's all about personal growth right?

This weekend was so fun. I had a date, watched conference, went to Idaho Falls and bought new pants and new shoes. Ate lots and lots of good food. Got to see Norman, Nathan, Adam, and Kyle! That was way exciting. And now the weekend is over...and reality is kicking in. In four days Melissa is leaving me! And I will be leaving Greenbriar...one of the coolest places on this planet. I just found out that I have to get out of here by Friday...not cool...and I'm moving back to the dorms...woot. Luckily I know some amazing people that are letting me crash at their house when I need a kitchen.

Guess who got into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program!! That's right....I did. It was really exciting and so scary at the same time. I was so nervouse to open the letter...I almost didn't open it. And then Lezlie made me. As soon as I saw the word "Congratulations" I did the most amazing happy dance you will ever see...right in the middle of the parking lot. So now I don't have to worry anymore. I have the next few years planned out for me. So exciting!

I leave for Europe in three weeks! I'm so excited...but also so nervouse. What if I get sick in another country, on another continent! I guess I really shouldn't worry about that...but still. Gah, that reminds me of how much I still have to do to get ready.

Anyways...there is so much more I could write about right now...but I have printmaking class in 27 minutes....and yah. If you wanna be awesome you can call me and I'll tell you more about my exciting life.
Luvs
Ray

Digital Painting

I don't get life sometimes. Like everything's going great and fine and dandy and then finals week comes along. Not only are there finals but there's social life issues....not necessarily bad issues...just stuff that feels more important than school. And I don't wanna lost that either. And then once things start going good there...something else comes up that you used to be waiting for so you feel like you should take advantage of it...but it doesn't seem as important anymore. And then you have your BFA portfolio waiting to be picked up because you're art teachers already reviewed it and are deciding you're fate. And by the time you get home you're roommates are asleep so you just have to stay up until 2am trying to figure everything out on your own.

Thanks for listening to me rant and rave for a second there. Now here's what I really wanted to blog about

For anyone who's taken photo classes or anything, you know how much of a joke filters in photoshop can be. They look cheesy and never really give you the feel you want. But if you can blend them well and figure out how to work then together you can get some really cool images that look digitally painted. Here are a couple pictures that I worked on this morning. The feet one took like an hour and the metal one took about two hours. You might not be able to see them very well here, but if you can click on them and expand them you can see how they look digitally painted.

Photo Illustration

This past week in my digital photo class we've learned a lot about photo illustration. The photo above is by Jerry Uelsmann. He has hundreds and hundreds of pictures that he likes to arrange in cool ways. Everything he does is created in the dark room. He must have amazing burning and dodging skills. All his images are very dreamlike and sometimes creepy (be careful when you look him up...there are some scary images...I warned you).

What I love about his work is that there is no concept whatsoever. I think that sometimes people get to caught up trying to explain what a piece of artwork means that they miss how beautiful the piece really is. It's very rare that any of my pieces have hidden meanings or back stories. They are usually just an idea that I've had rolling around in my head that finally came out on a page or in a print.

Here is my most recent print. I've had the idea of people standing on books for awhile now...don't ask me why...it's just an image I've had in my head. So I went through all my pictures and looked for images of people standing in cool positions. As soon as I saw this picture of Samuel and Dana that I took out at Sea Ranch I knew I had to use it. Then I photographed a stack of books, trying to mimic the lighting that was on the kids...I wasn't very succesfull at that, but whatever. I originally planned on making the covers of the books look like puddles of water...but that didn't really work so I just extracted the riverbed along with the two kids and placed it on top of the books. The next thing to do was choose an environment to place it all in. Looking through my pictures I found all these images of clouds that I took last semester...so I figured: why not have them floating through the skies? But seriously, wouldn't that be so fun? Floating around on giant books is my new dream. Anyways, after everything was finally put together I decided to take all the color out so it wouldn't be so distracting. It took me 5+ hours to do...but I had so much fun! This is for sure my favorite print I've done. Let me know what you think!

Raymundo

Hola

Soooo, I've been getting some complaints since I haven't posted a blog/called my family in awhile. But don't worry, I'm not frozen in a gutter somewhere like some people thought :) Be excited because I plan on posting some of my work for this semester in the next couple of days! While you're waiting...watch this awesome video:


Raymundo

When my love is away...my cover is blown...

http://www.maggietaylor.com/
Check out Maggie Taylor. I love how each of her pieces tells it's own little story. The closer you look at each picture, the more you find! She has a really cute collection called "Almost Alice" with images from "Alice In Wonderland." The colors she uses are all very vibrant. I just think everything she does is amazing!

I haven't blogged in a long time! Sorry about that. Life here in Rexburg has been fun. The snow has started melting...wierd huh? This time last year I wouldn't have left my house without a hat, gloves, long johns, and a scarf. Today I hardly even needed my big jacket! The snow is starting to melt so walking down big hills is like walking through a waterslide.

School this semester has been weird. I've missed so much class because of being sick/traveling that I feel like I'm always trying to catch up. I'm dizzy almost constantly now and the ringing in my ears doesn't stop. Luckily, my teachers are amazingly understanding and have helped me out so much!

So you guys wanna know something awesome? For Valentines Day my rommates and I watched all six hours of Pride and Predjudice. No breaks. It was A-maz-za-zing. We laughed, we cried, we cheered. By the end we were all emotional wrecks, we had to watch a manly movie before we could calm down and get some sleep.

Anyways, that's all I'm gonna write for now. If you wanna know more...call me.
Love: Rachel

p.s. I'll be 20-years-old in less then a week. I'm excited :)

Colors

A sugar crystal magnified by like a million

"Color is my day-long obsession, joy, and torment"

-Claude Monet

Even though the snow is beautiful....I miss colors.

Free Music Video of the week on Itunes

My 2008/2009 Weekly Academic Planner

This is how I live! My planner doesn't look that clean though. I take my planner everywhere, even on vacation! It's covered in notes and lists and random locker combinations. I have lyrics to songs taped on the inside and a big picture of Rosie the Riveter telling me "We Can Do It!" taped to the outside. I have a list of favorite songs and songs I have to buy. A list of ideas for photo projects. The back page used to be the plan for the rest of my schooling here, but over time it's just turned into a bunch of illegible scribbles. Near the end is a log of meditation sessions I did las semester and a list of books I need to read. Some pages have "STAY AWAKE!" written across them, obviously those were written during an art history class.

Love You Grandma

Born September 20, 1934 in Oakland to Nicholas and Helen De Lucia, Diane passed away at home, in Rancho Cordova on Jan 17, 2009 at age 74. She devoted her life to her family, her church, sewing, painting, teaching dance, and directing theatrical productions. Of note, Diane choreographed for the Elk Grove Strauss Festival for many years. Lovingly cared for during her long illness by her husband Willis Boyd Jensen, she also leaves children Marcia Harris, Michael Jensen, Stephen Jensen, Caryn Stapp, Sarah Blair, Rachelle Anderson, Jared Jensen and their spouses, 34 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, her sisters Susan Rosenquist and Marian Brown, and brother Thomas De Lucia. She is preceded in death by her parents and brothers Nicholas and Andrew De Lucia. Services will be held Friday, Jan 23 at 11 am at the LDS Church, 2400 Cordova Lane, Rancho Cordova. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer's Association.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

Sooooo, my roommates and I descovered the coolest game this weekend...Crayon Physics Deluxe. Ummm, I will be downloading the demo shortly. Until then, enjoy this:

http://www.crayonphysics.com/

Bolt

So I saw Bolt today. It was pretty much fra-mazing. You go see it now.

This is my amazing sister. I love her!

Winter Break

First things first: I FINALLY finished "Gone With The Wind." I was dragging it out as long as possible cause it was seriously the best book ever....furrealz. I got to movie for christmas so I'll be watching that next :)

The winter break is almost over. I leave tomorow around noon. This has seriously been the best break ever...I was absolutly, completly, wonderfully lazy the whole time...which is why there are hardly any pictures to post here...but here you go!

Samuel the Lamanite is showing baby Jesus where to take the "donkey" in our annual nativity play on Christmas Eve.

Homemade Almond Roca+Pride and Predjudice=Love!

A giant Cheese Ball.

Christmas Crafts :)

The Boys Are Back! Samuel in his costume for his tap dance recital.

Alex...the teen in our house.

The king of Cheese Balls...lol

Julia taught ballet this year!

Julia, our beautiful dancer

Tough Guys.

I photographed the recital for the Opera House.

Julia's class...they are adorable :)

Anyways...all in all the break was amazing. I watched a lot of movies, ate a lot of food, and bought a lot of clothes. My next post will be from Idaho!

<3 Rachel