Oregon, Fall Break.

Bryan and I had an amazing time in Oregon for Fall Break again this year. 

We had so much fun becoming "athletic" at a football game, hiking, going to a pumpkin patch, visiting Portland, watching comedian Jason Hewlitt, making 1000+ videos of us singing different variations of "rounds", our tradition of chili and corn bread and watching The House at the End of the Road (or something like that… I recommend it, it was way scary!) with apple spice cider and carmel apples! 

It was so fun to see my sisters and their families again.  It's terrible living so far away from them.  We miss it and can't wait to move there (ha just kidding… kinda) and go back again for Thanksgiving this year! 

 but like I always say… "wouldn't it be chilly with no.skin.on?"

KOL. Mechanical Bull Tour 2014. Las Vegas, NV.

I know I'm not being dramatic when I say that last weekend was the best weekend of my LIFE! 

I have been waiting to see Kings of Leon live for over 3 years! Last time, they were all addicted to drugs and went hiatus, but they made a come back with their latest album, Mechanical Bull. 

I have always loved Kings of Leon, but we have started to listen to Kings of Leon so much more since we have been married, that they just remind me of Bryan and our summer together.The best part is Bryan loves them basically as much as I do (maybe more, if that's possible) so it was SO FUN to see them live! concerts just are not as fun if you aren't with someone who knows, loves, and appreciates them as much as you.  We spent the next 30 minutes debriefing the entire concert… what we expected and didn't expect, what parts made us cry, etc.  

The concert was so amazing. Usually after a concert I want to give everyone the entire play-by-play including what their opening song was, their encore, what they were wearing, etc.  But honestly, I haven't been able to give anyone the details.  It was literally like a sacred moment in my life that I only want for me, Bryan, and kings of leon. 

Thank you Kings, for giving us the best night of our lives. 

Also, if you want any advice in life at all…

Download ALL of Kings of Leon's albums

watch Talihina Sky on Netflix. 

but like I always say… "I don't care if you don't care"

Hobbies.

The other day I saw some meme that said something along the lines "nothing puts me into a bigger panic than when people ask me what I like to do for fun"… this got me thinking… WHAT THE HECK DO I EVEN LIKE TO DO FOR FUN? Like, an OFFICIAL thing I like to do for fun.  Something I can report back to people when they ask! And I thought… and came up with nothing.

I feel content with just talking to people.  Maybe that's why I haven't invested in my hobbies.  Because unlike boys who go golfing or something hobby-esque when they hang out, girls just go to lunch and chat.  Am I right? 

But it's a common questions, almost anytime you meet someone new… "so, what do you like to do for fun?" It's an ice breaker.  or a total stressful 3 second identity crisis asking- who you really are and what you really do in life. 

like I said…people ask me what I like to do, or what my interests are. This is what I've come up with.

Whales. Obviously. 

The Ocean… the whales home.  Obviously. 

Serial Killers… thats creepy.  I don't like to just tell people that.  But seriously, a good True Crime or murder mystery book/movie/tv show and I'm hooked.

I have a small interest in Health… enough to like to learn new things, not necessarily enough to do any of them. 

Diet Coke is an interest.  I could have an extended conversation about that. 

I love traveling! (But that's become more difficult with a real job and 100% more bills than last year).

but I mean, there are more interest than classified "hobbies", right?

Most of my life I haven't had any real hobbies... I danced in Jr. High and sang a bit in high school. Other than that I've enjoyed watching basketball games, hanging out with friends, cleaning my room, crashing parties... None of these considered "hobbies".

You see… I've TRIED a lot of different things. but I'm not GOOD at anything.  Doesn't that just kinda suck? It mostly just sucks when I am on Instagram and I see people who are extremely fashionable or even models, painters, singers, athletes, world travelers, etc.  (Note: I am aware that Instagram portrays only the parts of these people's lives that they WANT to show and to look awesome-- but I can't even do that!)

To paint a picture (ha, not literally)...I almost failed my pottery class once.  I'm almost too embarrassed to try to draw a circle or a straight line in front of preschool kids.  I've never been on a team sport.  I'm not musical, (meaning although I have tried guitar lessons, I don't know how to play).  I can't quilt/sew.  I can only cook in a crockpot.  and I can't blow a smoke circle, do the splits, or tie a cherry stem into a knot. 

My day consists of: gym, work, clean, dinner, and some activity (netflix, pinterst, reading, preschool prep, etc.) Except I'm not sure any of those are considered "hobbies". Everyone does those things basically.

let's take the gym for example… I go 4 or 5 times a week.  but a hobby? I'm not so sure that counts. 

Backpacking... I've done that once an almost died but still had a good time. Does that count?

I started cooking and that has become really fun for me. Not because I'm an excellent cook, but Bryan treats me like I'm the amazing inventor of all delicious foods, and that feels pretty good. But all I do is throw it in the Crockpot and come home 5 hours later and it's done! (If that's considered a hobby, i recommend it because it's the most simple thing in the world!)

Reading? That could be considered a hobby right? I do love a good book.

When we first got married everyone told us to get a hobby...

I'd probably have to say Bryan and my new hobby is shooting guns! I mean, we certainly don't do it everyday... But enough times and made the commitment to make it a pretty permanent thing. 

And my favorite hobby would have to be corn hole. hands down. and riding the scooter.  because it's just amazing. 

I guess I can just feel pretty insignificant in the hobby area because when you're married to a man who can try anythig the first time and it turns to gold...

I'm not kidding. 

The man has made me multiple wood works, including our corn hole set AND the cutest whale tissue box ever! Sewed a perfect Buff Headband, has the eye and skill for photography, can sketch or paint anything possible, and can freaking weld new handlebars onto his fixed gear bike!!! 

I guess what I'm trying to say is… I think I'm a good person.  I'm open to try almost anything.  It's just too bad I'm not da bomb at anything I do.  The bottom line is… if you have any hobby suggests, please comment below.  and commit to doing it with me. 

Backpacking Kings Peak.

This weekend I seriously did one of the hardest things I've ever done. 

I've never backpacked in my life, but one Sunday Bryan's cousin and her family invited us to go backpacking with them.  Just casually hike 30 miles to the highest peak in Utah, and we agreed! 

here are some of the weekend's highlights...

My Green Pants (STOP HATING ON THEM to all my h8rs)

In fact… my green jumpsuit

seeing two MOOSE!

seeing that "giant bunny"

waking up to frost inside of our tent

hearing animals outside of our tent

eating freeze dried food

still smelling like a campfire

not getting any blisters!

almost puking off the side of the peak

becoming "one with nature"

hiking 3 miles in the total darkness

pretty sure seeing the northern lights…

seeing the most amazing night sky

having sore ankles, hips, shoulders, knees, thighs, and butt.

living to tell the story.

Bryan was such an amazing support. Seriously, there were probably 3 times I thought I was on the brink of death, and he did everything to make me warm, comfortable, and strong enough to make it (aka he carried basically everything for me).  he is amazing, and I love him.  It was so fun going backpacking for the first time with each other! It was such a fun adventure and definitely something we will look back on miss the "good old days" when we are 90 years old.

a new hobby perhaps… who knows.  it's too soon to say for sure. 

Huge shout out to the Robinson's for inviting us! We love your crazy family.

but like I always say… "are we there yet?"

confession.

I've been pretty hesitant about this post… but I can't seem to shake it off of my mind.  
Quite cliche, but the topic of Body Image, Weight Loss, Health, etc. 
There are 1 million blog posts about this, and it makes me wonder why... 

At this point in my life, I'm really struggling with wanting to be "fit", but also eating ice cream every day (but face it, who doesn't?)  I've never wanted to be "skinny"… that's just not my body type and really not something I want.  I like my curvy body, and I have for most of my life… but not always. 

Let me throw it back to my baptism.  I don't remember how old I was when I started wearing a bra, but let me just say, I DO remember putting on a bra before putting on my baptism dress.  I was always really tall and looked much older than my age.  I started wearing make up at age 11 and have had the same body since about 8th grade.  Don't let us forget that I was once referred to as "rack attack"… talk about bullying.  

In high school my body weight maintained around 147-150.  I was much bigger than all of my friends in high school, and considered myself "the fat friend" sort of joking… sort of not. That was a title I didn't LIKE of course, but I was used to it.  I just thought that was how it was.

I'm not sure what started it; I know that the issues are usually much deeper than thinking you are "fat" and they are usually about control, but I started binging BIG time (we're talking like an entire sleeves of Oreos, and anything else that was in sight), and eventually purging.  I didn't think it was a big deal… I mean, "I didn't have like an eating disorder" I'd always think to myself.  But when I look back, how was that NOT an eating disorder?  

I've come a long way since then.  I never got any help for it because I was in complete denial that I even had one.  To be honest, I think that the reason I stopped was because my freshman year in college there were 6 girls and only one toilet and I was so ashamed of what I did, I didn't want ANYONE to find out.  So I just stopped. 

In college however, I had the habit of still binging, so my weight increased every year.  By my senior year in college (after I returned home from Africa) I weighed 163.  I remember when I stepped on that scale I started to cry.  Why?  When I look back, that year I was pretty depressed.  Nothing drastic, but I was certainly not as happy or positive as I had been before (or I am now for that matter). After graduating and moving home, it was easy for me to lose weight without hardly even trying just because I wasn't going out to lunch and getting "treats" with my friends on a daily basis. 

I know that statistically, millions of girls across America have eating disorders, and want to change something about the way they look.  At girls camp this year,  I heard one of my Young Women say that their biggest fear was "getting fat" (this girl is no more than 100 pounds).  Ouch.  Hearing things like this hurt me deep. Another thing that I hear seriously on a DAILY basis is "I'm so fat" by friends or family members that are clearly at least 20 pounds less than me. Ouch again. All I can think of when they say things like that is "Oh you're fat at 120 pounds? what does that make me?" You know, I can honestly say that I haven't purged in about 5 years… but when I hear stuff like that, it's a trigger.  When I hear people talk about other people's weight, or when I see mean things people write on other people's pictures on instagram, it's a trigger.  Not that I'm going to go do it again, but the thought crosses my mind, "oh it would be so easy to…" 

However, with that has come a major brain change I can't decide is good or bad...

I started working out with Bryan when we got married.  Honestly, because he would go EVERY DAY and I just wanted to hang out with him, so I would tag along.  It then got to the point that I didn't necessarily LIKE going, but I knew it would be good for me… for survival reasons of course.  Meaning, if the world ended and zombies were taking over I would be able to outrun them (at least to climb up the nearest tree or smash their head in with a shovel or something) OR so that if I was falling off of a cliff, I would be able to hold myself up long enough until Bryan could catch me and save me.  (I'm serious… these are the scenarios going on in my head at the gym).  But 9 months later, and I'm going to the gym 4-5 days a week and I actually LIKE going! I'm seeing muscle on my body that I have NEVER seen before.  That feels pretty good!

However, there have been 2 separate occasions I've been at the gym and these girls have approached me and said "Oh my gosh! Rachelle, I didn't even recognize you! You look so skinny, you have lost so much weight!"
….. uh, how am I supposed to react to that? Was that supposed to be a compliment? After that I lit'rally felt like the winner to the Biggest Loser or something.  I hadn't lost a life changing amount I thought… just about 20 pounds.  That's pretty good, but that was pretty hideous of them to "compliment" me like that… wasn't it?

I know that the gym is only 20% and what I eat is 80%, and I know that I'm supposed to drink x amount of water, and I know that I should be eating smaller portions and more frequently.  I know all of this, because like all women I read about it because I want to look good… I want to be attractive! But with that has come a great price. When I'm thinking about trying to lose weight, it literally consumes my entire brain! I can't hardly THINK about anything else.  Is that healthy? I don't think so! I think about my mom (I love her dearly), but growing up her example of yo-yo dieting.  She has tried EVERYTHING imaginable… Constantly dieting.  What does that say to your young daughters? Your body isn't good enough, so you need to change it.  Do I want to reflect that onto my daughters? 

Does anyone actually LOVE their body? And for the people that do, do they have other important priorities in their lives (trust me, because I think that there are about 50 people who pretty much live at the gym that LOVE themselves).  Maybe it's just because I go to Gold's Gym, but I feel like people who are OBSESSED with fitness are the most annoying people ever! It is obvious that that is the main priority in their lives.  The kind of people that when they get invited over to dinner, they bring their own vegan side dish to eat all alone because "they can't eat that".  They are constantly working out to look good, but are the biggest tool heads and self-obsessed people ever!
I don't want to be like that! I want to care about my health and appearance, but not obsess over it! I want to care 

more about how loving I am to my husband, how I'm a teacher and helping shape children's futures, how I'm a young women's leader and an example to these young girls, how I'm a great sister and loyal friend, how I have goals that are much deeper than "lose 5 pounds". 

Like I said, I feel better now than I ever have in my life! I am working on trying to find the balance with exercising, eating for health (without obsessing), and occasionally indulging (without guilt) 

And of course,  not only accepting myself at my thinnest, but also LOVING myself through all stages/phases. 

The most wonderful time of the year.

This summer has been nothing short of perfect.  I'm serious.  

Since my preschool job is only hourly, I technically "don't have a job" for the summer…

Luckily I completely established my swimming lessons over the past 7 years so we weren't left hangin'

Swimming lessons is the BEST summer job I could ever ask for.  I wish I could do it all year round.  Although I don't love being in the pool all the time (because I get WAY sunburned and it dries about my hair and my body is a complete raisin at the end of each day…) it is the best job ever! I am so grateful for all of the support and referrals I got this summer that made it possible for Bryan and I to eat and pay our rent this summer.

Bry did summer school all summer, so although it wasn't "ideal", it actually pretty much was! It was so much fun! Neither of us had full time jobs so we both worked in the morning and were able to spend the rest of our days together. He did a lot of studying, I did a lot of reading… so it worked out!

Our first summer together has been pretty dreamy.  If you recall, last summer Bryan was at summer sales (aka hell) last summer so we weren't able to spend much time together.  This summer is a completely different story.  I have loved every second of working hard and playing even harder these past few months.  

I'm already foreseeing my future of when I'm an old lady and reminiscing back on this summer and how when I look back I'll think about... 

all the times we laid in the hallways under the vent of our swamp cooler to keep cool

and how we laid in our bed for at least 1000 hours watching Netflix and got smart off of documentaries

our "scaring" phase where we scare the crap out of each other when the other person was in the shower or coming home from work

I'll think about working together, and how we would walk all over SLC delivering flyers.  This really was one of my favorite parts.

I'll think about our midnight scooter rides around the city

and watching horror movies at noon

and drinking diet coke for any occasion.

watching our friends fall in love and attending weddings.

our trips to Cedar

buying your knife

 shooting guns

going to the golf range

and all things manly. 

I'll think of all of our trips up the canyon, and your amazing grilled burgers and chicken

and the time you visited us up at girls camp
and we went to Youth Conference together.

and our 24th traditions of fishing, and "Bucking Bull Wars"

I'll think about our first time REAL camping, in a real tent

watching so many fireworks

and how the mountain caught on fire

I'll think of the two solid weeks were were so sick and how we took care of each other

and ate hot soup in the middle of July.

the time we did a cleanse together
almost killed ourselves after 2 1/2 hours at the gym
and the nights we ate entire bags of Riesens in one sitting.

visiting both of our families as they came into town and visited us. 

I'll never forget our addiction to "Hungry Shark Evolution" and Cornhole, and how you built us our own set with your bare hands.

wearing whale socks

so many hours of swimming together.
going to the drive in movies 
Bees games

and the night you made a new best friend in the hot tub.

I felt like we were busy running around all summer

but now that I think about it, all I remember is laying around and cuddling with you.

I know summer isn't even over quite yet, but I feel like I'm already out of time. I go back to school in just a couple weeks.
Thank you for making this the most fun and memorable summer of my life, i love you Bryan!

Love your choice.

It feels like pretty much my whole life (well, since high school) my sisters have had me in "Wife Training". I would pretty much always blow them off because I never thought about marriage. I never thought about my wedding, I didn't think about my colors, the flowers… anything.  I just figured I didn't want to imagine it until I could imagine WHO it would be with.  

Despite me trying to ignore their advice and miss their house cleaning and cooking lessons "practices" at their house, I eventually got sucked in when I could begin to see myself getting married in the not too distant future.  

I do remember this one time in particular my sister was giving me advice on the kind of person to marry.  These four things have stuck with me since I was probably 20 years old, and I would like to share this bit of life changing advice.  

1. Marry someone who is nothing less than OBSESSED with you.  She told me this because over the years of being married, honestly, your spouse will pretty much get used to you (it sounds sad, but yeah I'm sure its true) and eventually be a little less obsessed with you.  It's sad, but it's true.  So… you should marry someone who is OBSESSED with you before you get married.  Someone who is willing to do anything and everything for you at the beginning, because if that slowly goes away over the years, can you imagine how someone would treat you if they were never obsessed with you in the first place? 

2. Marry someone who won't dunk your head in the pool if you ask them not to.  This one especially applies to us Webb girls because we have dated a nice variety of boys over the years and of course, invited them to swim in our parents pool.  Do you know how many times in my life I have asked a boy NOT to dunk my head? 1. because I HATE the feeling of being dunked and 2. maybe because I have an important event later that day and I won't have time to re-do my hair.  Yeah, you can say that once that person pushed my underwater even though I specifically asked them not to, I was done with them. Obviously, this applies in many different areas of life.  The bottom line of this is just respect.  Marry someone who will respect you and your requests, even if it is as simple as not trying to drown you in the pool.  It seems like a simple request to me, but you would be surprised how difficult it can be for some "men" to honor that.  

3. Marry someone who will drag you out of bed and get you to church.  There are absolutely Sunday Mornings when I wake up and church is pretty much the last possible place I want to go (anywhere other than my bed is the last place I want to be).  You want to marry the kind of person who will encourage you and help you to get out of bed and go to those meetings, 1. because it's the right thing to do and 2.  because deep down you really DO want to go to church, it's just you need that extra push to get you there. 

*if you aren't a church-goer, this could apply to other things that are important to you, like perhaps the gym or a committee meeting or club or whatever.  

4. Marry someone who will defend you NO MATTER WHAT. It's always awkward to be with a couple who loves throwing each other under the bus. Marry someone who will defend you even if they know that you are dead-wrong in a situation. Someone who even if they knew that you were in the wrong when you cut that person off while driving, that is was so rude of them and uncalled for them to flip you off! A very… "us against the world" type of person. The person who will acknowledge the reality of your feelings… even if they can be a bit outrageous at times (i.e. crying for LITERALLY no reason)

I feel like we are getting to the age that everyone we know is getting engaged and married.  I have heard stories where to me, it sounds like some of these people are just getting married because they found someone who they COULD be married to, and they want to get married, so why not marry the next person they date? DON'T LET THIS BE YOU! Wait for the person who does these 4 vitally important things for you, as well as your own personal list of spouse-esque wishes.   

I still am the girl who loves love and believes in it above all other things.  I route for all marriages to work out, especially when things are really rough (come on keep trying! this is just a moment in time! you can work it out!). But don't start your marriage off by settling or convenience. 

I am so grateful to have a husband who is all of these things and more for me.  You have taught me so much in these short six months of marriage.  I am so in love with you. 

But like I always say… "Choose your love, love your choice"