My hands hurt.

It's been a long time since, I've posted, yes? Have you missed me?

Today's topic... washing your hands...
Washing your hands. Vital to your health, or so we are told by our parents and our doctors, and the signs in public bathrooms. It is the best way to prevent the spread of disease. At summer camps, hand sanitizer is ever prevalent, and even restaurants are starting to provide the alcohol smelling wonder that kills 99.9% of germs. I am a huge fan of hand sanitizer, but at my restaurant, I do not get the chance to indulge on my love of hand sanitizer. I get to wash my hands. All day long.
Recently, due to the fun sickness that has decide to infect the nation this summer, my restaurant has implemented a heavier hand washing rule. Now, I'm not going to tell you that I'm against health and sanitation. I think it's great. But take a dive into a 6 hour shift for me for a moment. We're required to wash our hands for exactly 20 seconds. Not 15, not while you sing the birthday song or your ABC's. We wash our hands for a stop watch timed 20 seconds. Not so bad? Well, the other thing we're required to do while at work is pre-bus all of our tables. Everything that isn't a glass, silverware, or paper, must be off the table before the bussers come to clear. (What do the bussers have to do then? I ask myself the same question every day. Don't get me wrong, I love our bussers, it's just a hassle right now...) So, as we take the other things, plates, baskets, appetizers, etc, back to the dishwasher, we have to wash our hands. I'm usually working with 3-6 tables at a time, and I average 2 trips for a pre-bus and I generally get through a table in 45 minutes. 2x6=12. Every 45 minutes I'm washing my hands 12 times. For 20 seconds. My hands already looked like an 80 year old woman's!! They're drying out. They're cracking! I hate washing my hands! The ritual has become a miserable experience for me! Right next to the sink in the back, there's a glorious hand sanitizer dispenser that I do not get the priviledge to partake of. It sits there laughing at me while my hands get washed raw.
Now you know. Red Robin workers have really clean hands. Well, at least I do. And I hate it. Appreciate your watiress. If you look at her hands, and they look like mine do, tip her a couple extra bucks, and feel sorry for her.

I try to avoid the online journalish feel for my blog. I mostly do it to give myself a kick once in a while, but I have had a lot of great things happen to me in the last little while that I'll fill you all in on. I got the chance to be an EFY counselor this summer, and it was incredible in every aspect of the word. I loved every minute, and am so grateful that I was able to do it. I got to go to Lake Powell for a week with Jordan and her family, and I loved it! It's so beautiful there! I went to the Lady Antebellum in St. George, also with Jordan, and we lived it up!! Lady A was amazing, and Charles Kelly is intensely good looking.
Rach

The Joys of Siblings

The Saga of La

I have three older brothers. Josh is 8 years older, Jesse is 6 years older, and Dan is 4 years older. When I was younger, my brothers developed an extensive and elaborate story about a sister they once had name La. She was the best sister in the world. She would do anything and everything for my brothers. She was the sweetest and the brightest, and no matter what I ever did, I couldn't live up to what a great sister she was. Of course, in the beginning, this provoked questions in my young mind about what happened to her. Well, my brother's explanation was simple. Arnold Schwarznegar chained her to a post, and ran over her with a Corvette. This, naturally, was terrifyling to me as a young girl, and the very thought of that big, scary, muscley man shook my very sould. Anytime that my brothers were baby-sitting me and bagan to tire of my energy, they would run to the window and scream, "Rachel, Arnold is coming, run!! Go hide in your room!" This would immediately bring my tiny little mind to tears, and I would run to my room and hide in my colest for a half and our. Not only was this effective to get me out of their hair, but anytime that were too lazy to do something for themselves, they had a wayto coerce me into doing it for them. If they wanted a glass of water, but didn't want to get up to get it themselves, they owuld ask me to do it. I would reply with asmart and childish no, but they would lay into me about La. They would tell me what a grea sister whe was and that she would ahve done it for the. I wouldd immediatley feel guillty and run downstiar sto get them a drink of water. Often times they would even go as far as timing me, telling me that La could make a sandwich in 15 seconds. Every single time, I wasn't fast enough, and they woudl tell me once agian that La was a better sister than me. You may be asking yourself how exactly my borhters got away with this. Yet another one of their ploys. They would explain to methat I could never tell my mom and dad about La, becuase if I did, it would bmake them cry, and I didn't want that. So, this is how I lived out the majority of my childhood; in hear of Arnold, and consisitenly in the shadow of a nonexistent sister.
Several years later, when I was about 16, I had my family at home for some type of holiday. We were all standing in the kitchen, and like a WWII flashback, the horrors of La came back to me. I gasped remembering what my brothers had done, and I began to pour out the story. My mom was in shock, and my dad laughed for about 10 minutes. My mom couldn't believe that my brothers had gotten away with it, and that I had never told her about it. To this day, I am still teased about La, and what a great time my brothers had with it.

Observations made on a sunny day in April...

Really short shorts that are too small and thick legs usually don't make a great combination

Being alone for a long time can be lonely

Paying 80 bucks for a parking pass and living in a camper in the UV parking lot seems kind of financially savvy

Warm fresh air and snow on the mountains makes me smile

When your backpack is the size of your body, it might be time for a new backpack, 0r a new body

Sleeping in feels good sometimes

Twilight is a great watch any time of the day

The green grass grows all around all around, the green grass grows all around

Opening your blinds makes your room look messier

Even if you shove them to the very back of your throat, steroids still leave a nasty taste in your mouth

Holding hands is picturesque

Some days jeans don't fit as well as they're supposed to

Thoughts of summer make me exhale

Today, spring is here, and that's reason to be grateful

Hands

Today I developed an appreciation for something I took for granted only a few hours ago. As I sat at the UVU/BYU baseball game tonight with my hands inside my sleeves because it was FREEZING! I thought to myself... What would life be like without fingers? What if I had to live each day with nubs!? How very grateful I am that I have fingers... So, I decided to writed a tribute to fingers, and all the amazing and wonderful things that can be done with them.
1. I can wear rings on fingers. Someday, many many days from now, I'll be married. And with nubs, I wouldn't be able to wear a pretty wedding ring.
2. If someone else didn't have fingers they wouldn't be able to pick their nose. And for someone else, not me, that would be a tragedy. A happy and not gross tragedy.
3. Fingers allow me to scratch my arm, or my leg, or my back. If I didn't have fingers I would remain uncomfortable, and that would probably escalate to lots of frustration.
4. Fingers let me type on my blog. Something I like to do from time to time. Such as now.
5. Picking things up is a heck of a lot easier. And dialing the telephone. I tried both of these things with nubs. It's tough, give it a try.
6. I drop stuff a lot. A lot. If I didn't have fingers, I imagine this would be alarmingly more frequent.
7. I like to eat suckers. Without fingers to hold onto the sucker stick, I would probably look rather foolish holding a sucker, and would probably stop eating them as much.
8. Fingers let me poke people. I tend to be a little annoying, but I can't even stop myself most of the time. Poking and prodding is just so much fun.
9. I can run my fingers through, well get my fingers stuck in my hair.
10. And the last thing thing that I'm grateful for fingers... is holding hands. I like to hold hands.

HMS Smiter...

There's a new, fun, little game going around on Facebook where you find out the name of your would be band, first album, and the cover art.
My band name would be the HMS Smiter. The album would be called Cause for Prejudice by Noon. And the picture to your left would be my album cover...
Sounds like a political heavy metal band to me...
Well, I'm going to need to learn to scream. And I'll need to buy a decent distortion pedal. Wish me luck.

Rachel's Dictionary

For my Adolescent Literature class we recently read a book called Freak the Mighty. I give it about a 7, but that' s besides the point. One of the main characters writes his own version of a dictionary, and as an assignment for the class, I did the same. It ended up being pretty funny, cause let's be honest, I'm hilarious. So, I thought I'd go ahead and post it...

Achmed the Dead Terrorist- a really funny puppet
Bologna- a silly spelling for disgusting sandwich meat
Clammy- a word for gross hands
Deja Vu- frustrating repeats of your day
Ehnic- something I wish I was
Fur- how Utahns say "for"
Grenadine- fancy way of saying cherry flavoring
Hick- name for people from Spanish Fork
Idiot- someone who's hard to talk to
Jamboree- some secret camp that all boy scouts go to
Karma- boomerang effect
Liverwurst- the worst of a liver, something very bad
Moun'ain- the way people from Utah say mountain
Normal- something that no one is
One- the loneliest number
Phat- me: pretty, hot, and tempting
Quarter- something that will buy you bubblegum
Rachel- coolest name ever
S-word- naughty word
Thermos- a magical instrument that keeps things hot or cold
Unicorn- they exist.
Viagra- something that my mom won't tell me about
Wadder- the way we pronounce "water" for some weird reason....
X chromosome- the thing that makes you smart
Y chromosome- the thing that makes you less smart
Zylophone- the way xylophone ought to be spelled..

Watch out Webster...
Rach :')

It's My Birthday!!

That's right. I am shamelessly telling myself Happy Birthday, and I'm ok with it. Happy Birthday to me. How will I celebrate? Maybe I'll get a little extra crazy and drink a Sprite tonight. Maybe I'll go to Vegas and walk the strip. Maybe I will buy an underaged kid some bubblegum. Who knows, the possibilities are endless. Really though, it's already been an amazing day. I've had 1,000 little kids at Snow Springs Elementary scream Happy Birthday, my sweet family has called at wonderfully early hours of the morn, my amazing roommate decorated my bathroom, well wishes, cheek kisses. And Heavenly Father has blessed us with incredible weather that creates smiles all around. Happy Day.
21, who would of thought I'd be doing the exact things that I'm doing today. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you everyone. I'm blessed to have each of you in my life.

Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Tell someone that you love them today.
Even if it's by force.
Heck, boost the economy and buy someone flowers. :)
Enjoy the day.
Rach

TMI Via Rachel

Ah, yes. I am putting this horrendous picture on my blog. Why? Because I think it's hilarious.

So, this time I though I'd rip off an idea from one my favorite blogs to read, written by my good friend Nate. Apparently it's some sort of game that's been circulating on facebook. Gist of the game, you write 25 random things about yourself. So exciting. But really... Nate deemed the title of his list "Dejunking Bag's Head." I like that. I've decided to call mine..

TMI Via Rach :)

1. I have an unusual fetish with white and black plain t-shirts. I have like 13.
2. I also have an unusual fetish for jeans, but I won't tell you how many pairs I have...
3. My mom is my hero. She's more than i could ever ask for.
4. For some reason, I get a real kick out of candy suckers. Especially Tootsie Pops. Maybe it's because they make me feel like a kid again.
5. I hate jello. Please don't ever talk about it. If you try to feed it to me, I may puke all over your face.
6. I only have one dimple. But you know what, I have found out that it's not that weird. Lots of people do.
7. My hands are as wrinkled as an 80 year old woman's. On the top, and on the palms. I have met only 4 other people with this condition. One is my brother.
8. I'm a straight up sucker for 3 things: apple pie apples from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Bun ice cream, and my mom's carrot cake.
9. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, but I'm ok with it. I pretty much only have two emotions though. Really really happy, or really really sad. Not too much gray area for me.
10. Little kids are beautiful, and I love them, but I'm not very good with them. Especially naughty ones. I don't have much patience. I will learn for my kids though. No really, I will.
11. I love music. I listen to it anytime that silence isn't required. I've even started to listen to classical while I read my textbooks. It makes me feel cultured.
12. I've had the opporunity to go to some amazing places in my short almost 21 years of life. And for that I feel grateful and spoiled.
13. I have 3 older brothers that love me, and I have a little bit of each of them in me. I brag about this at will because I love them too.
14. My mom is a speech therapist, and as a result of that I have little or no tolerance for people with speech impediments(other than a stutter, cause that's not really fixable, nor do I consider it a speech impediment...ha). It's cruel yes, but it's like nails on a chalkboard to me when a 25 year old man has a lisp and can't say his R's. There are specialist that can fix that you know.
15. Dance is my true form of expression. My soul smiles when I dance.
16. I would take the mountains over the beach any day of the year. Even today, when it's cold outside.
17. The guys I have dated have all been insanely different from each other. I don't think I could even put them in a category together. I haven't decided what that says about me.
18. My first kiss was before I turned 16. I admit this shame-faced.
19. There are only a few things in my life I wish I could take back or do differently. My way of coping with this is to tell my kids and hope they don't make the same mistakes.
20. Something in other people that I have a hard time with is when they blame their personal problems or difficulties on other people. I really believe that you can only solve problems if you first look at yourself.
21. Ms. Rush, my 12 grade AP Literature teacher, is still to this day, the best teacher I've ever had, and is a large inspiration for my career.
22. I want my future spouse to learn to be handy like my dad. It has saved my parents thousands and thousands of dollars throughout the years.
23. When I get married, I want my wedding dress to be the size of my house.
24. Smiling makes me happy. That's why I do it so much.
25. I wear a bracelet everyday, for more than one reason, that says "Happiness is the key to success." I live by that.

There you go. Too much information. Take it or leave it. Love.

Sillyheads

First to describe the title. My dear friend Peter uses this term quite a bit. I find it endearing for more than one reason. First, I love Peter, and he himself makes me smile. Second, because it seems like a term a 4 year old would use. Third, because it's seemingly harmless, and a lot nicer sounding than the word I'm usually thinking. Last, because its uses can be all encompassing, and you can call anyone for just about any reason a sillyhead, thus making the term incredibly useful.

Today, I'm going to use the term to describe some of the people in attendance of one of my favorite pass times... country dancing.

Now, my following description does not by any means describe all guys that I know, nor does it describe all guys that go country dancing. It does however describe a select handful of guys that seem to find themselves in Salt Lake City, at Studio 600, on Thursday nights. (Oh, and just a side note, the boots in that picture are hot, and I wish they were mine,) So, as I mentioned, country dancing is one of my favorite pass times, and I go probably about 3 or 4 times a month. I've been doing that for a while, so I've gotten to get into a pretty good swing of things. One thing that never ceases to throw me off are these great group of young men that I will categorize as SILLYHEADS.

These sillyheads don't always have a reputation of being the greatest dancers, which is fine. Not everyone can be expected to be a great dancer. But the thing that throws them into this category is the incredible things they choose to say... a few examples, not all examples by any means, only the great quotes I can remember at the moment. And of coarse, I've had help from friends, because I can't get to all the sillyheads on my own...

"Hey, did you know that you have really curly hair?"

"You have a really strong...body."

"You have really nice teeth."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, my whole family is in the plastic surgery business."

"Did you play soccer in high school?"
"No."
"Oh, it's just that you have really thick legs."

"Wow, it looks like you've been dancing a lot tonight.."

And this one may be my favorites so far. This was said to my dear friend Abby this past Thursday..keep in mind, this is while music is blaring, while they are dancing...

"Do you prefer Smith's or Albertson's?"
"Um...Smith's I guess."
"Really, why?"
"Uh, because it's closer to my house."
"Really? That's the only reason?"
"Um.. yeah, I guess."
"Well Albertson's has a really great produce section. Their salads are really cripsy."

Sillyheads.
I understand it's not always easy to come up with conversation, but that's one of the beauties of dancing. You don't have to talk! Anyway, bless their hearts. Sillyheads.

Unsolved Mysteries

What do you see when you look at this picture? Well, as my dear friend Jordan put it best, I see, "A bunch of tiny little men running around on a field." That's what I see, yet, somehow, most of the men that I know see hours and hours and hours...and hours of entertainment. This to me, will remain an unsolved mystery.
Jordan and I ate at Ernie's Sports Deli this morning. Oh so very delicious. As usual, Ernie's had ESPN on, and that struck up a conversation between the two of us. How in the world do guys enjoy watching ESPN all day? Especially when it's endless sports clips. How is it that most guys know exactly what's going, what team is playing, and how that ten second play effected the entire game. All I see is nonsense and hours of boredom. My brothers in particular can watch sports highlights for a longer amount of time than I can spend on my hair, which is impressive. More than ESPN, the channel that captivates a man's attention in an inexplicable way is...
How in the world can guys watch sharks for four hours? Why is it interesting to watch elephants spray each other with water? How is it enjoyable to watch people from foreign countries eat bugs? What makes Bear Grylls the man? Why do you love to watch super geeks blow stuff up? Why is Planet Earth the greatest show ever created?
Almost every guy that I know over the age of 21 makes his first big investment by purchasing a nice big TV. Why do they do that? So that they can watch ESPN and the Discovery Channel.
Maybe the key to it all is that women just aren't supposed to understand....

So if you eat as much candy as I do, you begin to learn some things about different types of candy. One of my favorites things I've come across are the silly messages inside the wrapper of Dove candy. (And by the way, why is it that the same company that makes the soap and lotion I use on my skin makes the chocolate I put in my mouth. They had better be two separate factories my friend.) I recently had the pleasure of enjoying a bag of caramel chocolates that my dear friend Jordan purchased. Here were some of the Dove-isms from this time around...

• The most enjoyable experiences are often free.
• Let chocolate warm your soul.
• Think without limits.
• Patience is a virtue.
• Make a pledge to get 8 hours of shut eye.
• Think without limits.
• Success is the sum of many small efforts.
• Think of someone who makes you smile.

Profound. Certainly not. Entertaining? Sure. Worth putting on a blog? Probably not. But I did it anyway. Yay for post #2. :) Rach

Suprise!!

Who ever thought I'd see the day that I made myself a blog.... ha. This should be fun.