2011 was epic! Watch out 20-twelve!!!

Wow! I can't believe I am actually posting something! This seems to never happen anymore! But I thought, hey, why not? It's a new year! 2011 seemed to have flown by sooo fast! I can't believe I am going to be 25 this year! ekkkkkk! So I better remember my 24th year!

A lot of things have happened this passed year. Some good, some bad, but overall 2011 was ggrreeaaattt!! Recently, a friend asked me what makes me happy. I thought about it for a minute and realized, it's people. People make me happy! Spending time with my amazing family and friends is what brings me the most joy. So here is a quick overview of some of the wonderful things that happened to me in 2011 and some of the amazing people I got to spend them with!

*Graduation!

Oh hey, I graduated from college! It was only 6 years in the making... but it finally happened! All of my family was there (which was fantastic!) and my BFF Rachel Smith was there too! It was sure a great day! One to remember for sure! Weber State, Weber State, Great Great Great!!!

All of my mom's side of the family!

Dad & Marina

With Grandma Jenkins

Rach & Rach showing off my honor cords!

*Texas!

Me and some friends ventured on down south for a little vaca in September! Ezra was in San Antonio for Army training and we went to visit him for a couple days! We hadn't seen him in almost 6 months, so needless to say we were all SUPER STOKED to go! It was me, Cristi, Tatum, and Dave and we all had a blast! But now it's good to have Eze home again!

We got some pretty legit friend pics on the boardwalk!

At dinner right after I threw up at Six Flags...

The crew with Tweetie! Love Cristi's thumbs up btw.

Me, Ezra, Cristi and Dave about to dominate The Rattler.

Oh Ez, we missed you!

Ah! Scary lion!

*Europe!

So you know how I graduated college? Well, my super nice papa took me on a 10 day jaunt around Europe! I got to pick anywhere I wanted to go, so I tried to fit as many countries in as I possibly could. We started in Prague, hit parts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland! It was fantastic! The only downside was after being in Texas for 4 days I was home for less than 12 hours before I had to repack and go on vacation again. I know, I have such a hard life. :) But I was a little traveled out by the end of the trip! But we had so much fun!

We're on a plane! About to leave the states!

Swiss Temple! I love this pic!

Europe photo collage!

We had TONS of tasty treats!

At Prague Castle!

Me and pops in Prague!

*New BFF's!

Don't get me wrong, I love ALLLL my friends! But I was able to meet some new ones earlier this year! Around May all of the singles wards along the Wasatch Front were split and reorganized. I was devastated! I loved my friends and I loved my calling! I DID NOT want this to happen, so in turn I was being the biggest baby about it for the longest time! It wasn't until someone gave me a verbal slap to the face that I changed my attitude about it. And I am so glad I did because it was one of the best things that could have happened to me! I met my sister wives Leah and Makenna! (Leah and I literally are sister wives. There are scriptures that proves this!) These girls are seriously the greatest! I've known Makenna for about 15 years (wow, that makes me sound old), but over the summer is when I really got to know her and we became legit friends. And Leah and I have become besties super quick. She is the RS Prez in my ward and I remember looking at her and thinking, "Oh great. She's skinny, tall, blonde, and beautiful. I secretly want to hate her, but I can't!" ha ha I love her. She can seriously get me to do anything! (sing karaoke, bake, sing in church, get up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the gym!) I adore them both! So lucky to have them in my life!

Showing off friendship bracelets I got them in Texas!

lol! I love this pic!

Leah and I making homemade pizza!

One of our MANY girls nights!

Leah and I at our ugly sweater party!

Awkward friend pictures!

It's hard to write about all the things that happened. So here is a super quick list!

*Papa got married! Only 5 years in the making! :)

Me and my boys looking snazzy!

*Lots of summer BBQ's!

*Yogotogo almost daily! Love frozen yogurt, yep even in the winter!

Mom and sisters first frozen yogurt experience!

*Lots of karaoking!

Girls after a night of singing our guts out!

*Indiana Jones Adventures

(post coming soon!)

*Dating! (I am always open to more potential suitors! ;))

*Started playing soccer again for the first time in 12 years! It's exhausting and awesome! I love it! Plus I get to play with some of my besties so it's great!

Our first team name and adopted mascot!

*Concerts!

I have been a slacker concert go-er, but was able to go to a couple great shows!

Maddi and I at the Sara Bareilles & Sugarland show! Love!

Rach and I rockin' out to Bono at the U2 show!

*Themed Book Club!!

Sounds odd, but it is awesome! We dress up and make food depending on the book we read! Love it!

'Beauty' book club!

*My BFF Rachel spoiled me for my birthday (which I loved!) she took me for a night on the town! Thanks Rach!

The big 2-4!

*Broke my wrist snowboarding.

I wish I was doing something awesome, but I was only getting off the lift... ya... I'm sooo cool like that!

There is a cast on my arm...

*Spending almost everyday with my wonderful friends!

Me, Tatum, and Cristi!

Friend pyramid at the park!

Michaela, Rach and I at Sundance!

The Adventures of Rachel and Rachel!!

Three years ago I met my friend Rachel Smith while working at Sego Lily Spa! We hit it off since day one. Literally! While she only worked there for a little over 3 months I knew immediately that she and I would be good friends, and to this day it has remained true! We have so much in common, including our names and natural hair color! We love the same TV shows, books, music, so on and so forth. Pretty much if I don't see or talk to her for more then a couple of days, I kinda go insane.

Well the point of this blog post, beside pay homage to my BFF, it is also

to let you know some of the exciting things that have been going on in my life. And a lot of these events have included Rachel.

To start off, a couple days before the big U2 concert, my friend Jessica informs me she she is selling tickets for $20! Seriously! Tickets were selling for over $100 where we were sitting and we got it for only $20! So of course I call Rach and tell her the screaming deal! And to my delight she and her dad were totally on board. So the 3 of us had a little evening out on the town. We went to get a bite to eat at the tasty Paradise Bakery, waiting for about 45 mins to get on tracks up to the stadium, and then went to see The Fray, Bono and the Edge rock our faces off!!

Besides being absolutely FRREEZING, the concert was AMAZING! I was so glad I got to experience a U2 concert with my bestie and her papa! Totally worth the 20 bucks!

Waiting for the show to start! Look how excited we are!

We thought the stage looked ridiculous, but it sure

ended up blowing our minds when it lit up!

See what I mean....

Just another fun and crazy night with my BFF!!

Next on the list of Rachel and Rachel nights out, comes my most favorite time of the year, that's right, the international holiday known as my birthday! Rach knows that I love attention and birthdays and planned accordingly! She surprised me with dinner at a great Italian place at The Gateway called Biaggi's. Yummy food, bad customer service, although it was hilarious. I highly recommend the canoli's. Actually I recommend the canoli's anywhere you go... Next she took my to Barnes and Noble to buy me a book. We walk in and she pretty much says pick any book you want. While that is super exciting for any book lover, I have to be honest in saying it was a little overwhelming. I have a problem with indecisiveness. I get anxiety when trying to decide which place to eat let alone having a whole store of possibilities. But don't worry, I made a decision. :)

We then got some cookies and chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and ate them while watching Selena Gomez frolic around Europe in Monte Carlo! Yep, that's right! Selena Gomez....

It was a good night. Rach definitely spoiled me that is for dang sure! Thanks friend! :)

Dinner!

It tasted as good as it looked!!

She gets that excited about most food!

My girl Rach. She's the best for sure!

Chocolate....yummmmmm....

And last but certainly not least Rach is able to make me do things that no one else can make me do. No joke! Sometimes just by asking, sometimes by threatening me. Either way she gets the job done! This occasion was no exception. Threatening came in to play here. We recently joined a book club! A themed book club mind you, where we dress up depending on the book we read! It sounds kind of lame, and it probably is ha ha, but we love it!

The threatening came in when we were deciding what to wear. She made me wear (although I secretly wanted to) beautiful gowns to book club. We read Beauty by Robin McKinley (not my favorite) and dressed as princesses! My fellow book clubbers did an amazing job with treats and decorations (shout out to Karen and Anna woot!) and it totally set the mood! I can't wait to see what our next meeting has in store! I'm sure Rach will make me dress up in some crazy outfit again, and honestly, I'm stoked! :)

The book club crew! Yes, we all dressed up!

Rach and Rach and Schmenrich... the unicorn!

I Gradumicated!!!

Me and Mike, my radio co-host for the last 2 years!

So a crazy thing happened, I graduated college! Can I get a woot woot?! It was so exciting and emotional and crazy and all sorts of other things. Pretty much any major emotion came to me at some point throughout the day! I am the type of person who makes a big deal about special occasions. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. etc... So I was really excited when my entire family and my BFF came to support me at my graduation.

I have been working my behind off in the grown up school since I graduated high school, and it is so surreal to know that I am done! Finally!! 

The morning started off with no hot water, which made for a miserable shower!!!! Then on to Commencement where I almost passed out! (That was a good time. Note to self, eat a hearty meal before the next big occasion.) and we did the whole move the tassel from one side to the other thing. Pretty much almost started crying at that point. 

Then later in the day was Convocation. Where I officially became a graduate of the College of Arts and Humanities. I have my degree in Communication - Electronic Media with a minor in Criminal Justice. Yep, I'm legit! Later that night my dad and marina and I went to eat at Ruth's Chris. Omg best steak ever. Seriously like ever!!! Amazing!! 

It was so much fun to be able to celebrate with my family and friends! I am so grateful for all of their love and support. It would not have been possible without them! Here are some pics from the big day!

Me and my little sis!

Me and the sibs!

My mom's side of the fam!

Me, dad, Marina, and Grandma J in the background.

We got better pics with them, they just weren't on my camera! :)

RachAel, me, and Anastasia. Aka radio peeps.

Meygood friend Kara, whom I met in the most boring class ever!

My BFF Rachel Smith was a trooper and sat

through the entire drawn out process! And I totally love her for it!

And last but certainly not least,

me and my beautiful mommy! Love her!

The Justin Bieber Experience

Hello all!

Long time no see! There has been no new blog posts from in me months, because, well... you see... I'm graduating from college in 3 weeks and I have been a little preoccupied. Sorry!

But alas, I did make time to bring you this special treat. I have many loves in life and among those loves are my friends, playing guitar, and Justin Bieber. And what happens when you combine those 3 loves? PURE MAGIC!!

So here is the KWCR Justin Bieber Experience. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty sweet. This was filmed in 1 take with myself on lead vocals and guitar. We all dressed in J.B. attire as well, because let's face it, it's a must when playing one of his songs.

So without further ado, KWCR does "Baby" aka the Justin Bieber Experience. Enjoy!!

Where is Rach Cakes?

So, I am SUUUCCCHHH a slacker. Actually, I have been so super busy that I have completely neglected this thing. Somedays I don't have time to finish my homework, let alone post a blog. And I know I keep saying I am going to be better, and one of these days I have every intention of keeping that promise, but for now this short little update is all you get.

Pretty much I love my life! Things are going really well (for the most part)!! School is coming to a close (one more semester then I'm outta there), my church calling is a lot of fun (gotta love being in the RS prez), my friends are AMAZING (ALLL of them), and my family just cracks me up!!

My 2 bestest friends just had their birthdays, and the celebrations were awesome!! Gotta love the good times with Smith and MJ around! Sooo much fun!

School is difficult, I mean I'm a senior in college, it really shouldn't be a walk in the park this far in. But it is almost done, which makes me feel better. And getting 100% on a criminal courts exam sure makes a girl feel better about her efforts! :)

My little sis Michelle is playing all sorts of sports, which of course makes her sporty older sister super proud! I am trying to teach her everything I know. In soccer, basketball, and maybe even softball over the summer! She's such a mini me sometimes and I love it!

Not to mention work is in there too! Like I said, super busy, but I am always able to make time for the things I care about, family, friends, temple visits, basketball games! :) Gotta love life somedays right? Even though I am super stressed, and an emotional wreck sometimes, I am super duper happy! WOOOTT!!! :)

Bubba and a birthday, and momma and a birthday!

So this post is REALLY old, but that is ok.

In my little Rachel world, birthday's are a pretty big deal. Like A BIG DEAL!!! So when sister was turning 10, that's right 2 whole hands, I of course planned a big surprise celebration.

I put together a big scavenger hunt for her to go on, I even got all of the fam to help out with it too. We met at different locations and give her certain things. Let's just say it was pretty much awesome.

Then it all ended with a surprise party that all her friends showed up to. Here are some pics to take you along for the ride with us. Happy Birthday Bubbs!

One of the stops was get ice cream at

Artic circle where Mel met us.

The boys met us at the Build a Bear workshop

where she got to pick out a little outfit.

This is the map I made to show her

where the treasure is.

She found her treasure!!

All her friends showed up for a

surprise swimming party!

My beloved mother, who is AMAZING btw, had a pretty big birthday. Yep, the big 5-0! While she pretty much refused to have a birthday party, I said it was required.

Me, being a dutiful daughter, planned and executed a nice birthday party for her... I know... I am so nice. :)

But I think it was a lot of fun. We got to mingle, eat food, and just have a full out blast. I also wrote my mommy a song. :) I am not the best singer, but I do enjoy writing. So here are some pics and a clip of the song I wrote. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy birthday to my mommy! I love you so! :)

Me and my beautiful mommy!

Mom and Laurel could not stop laughing!

Too funny!

Zach was really excited!!!