UTAH!!!

It seems like I never have the time to get on here an post an update... but here goes.

I finally finished my crazy work in Alaska! Spent a week packing up my and Jared's life there... (as we are not going back...) and left.

I flew home on Friday, Sept. 30th!!! It was a bittersweet moment... Jared took me to the airport and I had a really hard time saying goodbye. But I had to... and it would only be 11 days until we saw each other again... and then a few days after that I have ETERNITY with him. But it was still hard. I got home that night... weird to be back in Utah. Still is.

But I'm HOME! I'm happy to be back, and I got to spend the conference weekend with most of my family so it was really nice.  But I miss Jared A LOT!

Have a lot to do in the next 11 days to be ready for the wedding and everything. But I'm so excited!

In 11 days, I'll be here:

With my best friend and the love of my life to be married for ETERNITY! 

Been waiting my whole life for this moment... and it can't come soon enough! 

I'll post again soon. Right now I gotta go Skype with my Man. :)

Much Love,

Rachel Lynn

A day off....??? What?

So today is my first day of in nearly 3 weeks.

Hooray. I love my job.

So in the time that I have not been working... which is not a lot, I've been attempting to plan a wedding... and I really have no idea what I'm doing. On top of that Jared and I are trying to decide where we are going to live... We had previously planned to stay in Fairbanks, but Jared is really ready to get out of Alaska and I really don't want to be 3,000 miles away from my family any longer that I have to... 70 days left til I go home to Utah! Although I LOVE my job... and I really do, I'm not just being sarcastic... I miss my family so stinking much. Just ask Jared, I've had a few meltdowns... I think I freaked him out a little bit.
So aside from all the headaches from working so much, and not getting enough sleep because I work so much... I'm enjoying my time here in Alaska. I have today off (July 21) and I have the rest of the weekend off too! I'm going to Anchorage with Jared and his parents to see his brother who is up from California for work! I'm really excited because Jared and I are riding the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks... it'l like a 12 hour ride. It will be fun! My first ever experience on a train... YAY! So we're looking forward to a long and relaxing weekend. Then it's back to the grind.

With that said, how about a few photos...

This is what I do... :)
See how big that thing is... and this is one of the SMALL ones... :)

This is Jared... and me of course.

And again...

And, this is my dress... :) I'm so excited!

Much love,
Rachel Lynn

ALASKA!

Well, I am here. And I am alive and well. The hard part is finding time to walk or bike down to the Library to use the internet to give you an update! Well, after a 10 days I finally found some time!
Things here are fantastic. Training is going really well so far and it only continues to get better. In no time I will have my CDL done and I'll be hauling loads of people all over Fairbanks, and down into Denali too.
Here's a basic run down of what's been going on since I left Utah:
Both my flights were FANTASTIC. Which probably isn't saying much because it was my first time flying. But, I thought they went really well, and it was TONS of fun. Flying into Alaska was the coolest thing ever, because once you get over the state you come down to a lower cruising altitude and you can see the mountains really well. And it's COMPLETE mountains from the shoreline to Fairbanks. It's crazy. But super cool. My flight got into Fairbanks about 10:30pm local time on Sunday May 15th... which is 12:30am Utah time. The weirdest thing was I could see out the windows of the airplane and airport... because it was not dark. It doesn't get dark here in the summer. The sun 'sets' at 11:45pm. It rises at 4:15am. Between those times it's not really dark because the sun never drops low enough below the horizon to make it dark. So when it's 12:30am the light level is comparable to when it's 7:30pm at home. And it's like that for the 5 hours of 'night'. Once the sun rises it's back in full force, and it's bright by 5am... so bright that you need sunglasses. It's super weird. And my body and brain are still not used to it... but we're getting there.
Anyway, I spent the next couple days getting settled in. Grocery shopping... on bikes, when Wal-Mart is 2 miles, across town... it's difficult. Luckily there is a Fred Meyer's; or 'Freddies' as the Alaskans call it, just about 1 mile from my house. I also went to work to check in with my boss and get set up for training and got that all worked out. Then started training that Wednesday... it was an all day in class session, which was hard. But I learned A BUNCH of stuff that I never would have thought about before... :) That's the point of training right? So since then I've done some behind the wheel training out on the skills course (in a BIG parking lot). And it is A LOT of fun. I love it so much, and it may just be that I am so small; officially 5' 1", I found out at the doctor for my DOT physical... :) Yes, I continue to break records! I love driving big, huge, monstrous, behemoth size vehicles. It makes me feel like I have just a bit of power. Ha.
Anyway, so training is going well. Other than training I've mostly just been catching up on sleep, because for some reason I'm really tired all the time... which is only going to increase because I will be working 70-80 hours a week. YAY... But that also means I won't have a whole lot of time to go out on my own to do things... which I think is okay. I will be going out to Denali enough that I will be able to get lots of photos. And I'll be around town enough that I'll be able to go out once in a while and do fun stuff... like bowling, movies, etc.
Anyway, Sunday... YAY! My favorite day... and it just keeps getting better everywhere I go. :) Church was AWESOME! My branch... yes branch, (singles branch at that) is a little over 70 people. I would guess, I mean it could be less and it certainly could be more. BUT, it was fantastic. I met a lot of really cool people and a lot of the people I work with are in my branch. So it's nice to see some familiar faces in a sea of unfamiliar. All the talks were really good, and very much inspiring (which I was in desperate need of). The lessons in both Sunday School and Relief Society were also very good, and spirit filled. Which I LOVE! Anyway, the I went to Branch Choir practice. :) haha, I know it sounds funny... but we are doing some really beautiful songs and I'm excited for it. Anyway, despite the fact that we meet in the Institute building which is a good 3 miles away... one way,  we bike to church. In our skirts and all... :) Fun times. I'll have to take some pictures of it sometime. But, I think I am going to really enjoy going to church. (I'm not saying that I wouldn't anyway... just saying...)
This week has also been full of training and getting the hang of checking in at work, and the logistics of pre-tripping a coach, and the details of filling out my log book... etc. It's been a crazy roller coaster, and I did have a day where I completely fell apart (just ask Audrey!)... but I got through it and I'm feeling like gold! :)
So the rest of the week will be more training, and going out and shadowing (following another driver) to all the different destinations and learning all the routes... that is what I'll be doing for the next two weeks... It's crazy fun.
Other than that! I hope this has been an adequate update... I might not get the chance to get another one up soon, so don't fret if you don't hear from me! I'll be taking A LOT more pictures in the coming weeks, so be prepared for those.

I'll leave you with a couple photos from my flights. :)

Mt. Timpanogos on the way to SLC airport on Sunday May 15th at 2pm. GORGEOUS!

Sunset at Sea-Tac Airport, from  my window seat on the airplane. :)

And this is what flying over Alaska looks like. :) Mountains, and GIANT rivers. It's gorgeous.

More info and updates to come as soon as I can get to it. :)

Much love,
Rachel Lynn

I made it alive!

Hello all!!!! 
I just thought I would post a little something to let you know I made it to ALASKA! Both my flights went really well, and for a first time.... It was just about this coolest thing EVER! I officially want to be a pilot... Or marry one, that might be easier! :) Anyway, I got in to Fairbanks around 10:40pm local time... which is 12:40am for you Utah-n's. So my body is off by a couple hours, and It doesn't really get dark here... it's more like dusk for 4 hours. I started unpacking today and getting settled in, but I mostly rested up from the travel. I will be going into my work tomorrow to get paperwork finalized and get signed up and ready for training!!! I'm super excited and happy about being here, and even more excited about driving a big bus! I'll be sure to keep you all posted! 


Much love.


p.s. how 'bout a photo! 
This is Fairbanks... Those mountains out there, the big one is Mt. McKinley. :)
I'll be here ALL summer. :) 

Yeah, you're so totally jealous. ;)

New adventures await...

So it's been a while.

It seems like I can never keep up... and I think I say this every time I write. But life is crazy, and it continues the spiral upward toward the MORE crazy. However I have exciting news!!!

In 12 days... I will be venturing out of Utah... I will be working for the summer in another state... this state however is nearly 3,000 miles away! 2,907 miles to be exact Which kind of freaks me out... but I'm going to learn to drive a bus! Which I have always had the hankering to do, and now that I'm 21 I can get my CDL! I'll be a tour guide of sorts... entertaining people as I haul my bus down the highway, through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the WORLD!

I will be in ... pause for effect...

wait for it...

ALASKA.

That's right... I said A-L-A-S-K-A.

I'm super-de-duper excited! And at the same time anxious, nervous, and emotional... super crazy emotional.

The whole getting the job process took all of two days... yes 2. A friend from my ward was going up and said that her company was still hiring for the summer... Seeing as how it has been on my list of Top Ten Places to see in my life, it was a no brain-er decision. Of course figuring out if it is what I am supposed to be doing... that is the stressful part. However, I feel really good about the whole thing. It is going to be an amazing adventure! Not only will I be working, but on my days off I will get to go on the cool tours and do all the awesome fun stuff that our guests get to do! Whitewater rafting, panning for gold, hot springs, train ride, scenic vistas and amazing photography!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In other words... I will be in heaven for 5 months.

I will be in Fairbanks, which is about 10 hours from Anchorage... I never realized how HUGE Alaska is until now. Fairbanks is the 2nd largest city in the state with a population of nearly 35,000!!! Which means it's bigger than both Mapleton and Springville by close to 3,000 people!! Crazy! I'll be living with my good friend Beth and her sister Mariel. Some friends of Beth's are going to lend us bicycles so that we can ride to work. So it's going to be a randomly filled adventure of a summer for me!

The thing that has been hard for the last few days is that I leave so soon... I mean, 14 days to prepare to move across the country! I'm insane.

Anyway, aside from going crazy with excitement, separation anxiety, restlessness, and nervousness... I think I'm doing well.

Today I read my friend Hailey's blog and I'm going to snag something she shared... It made me laugh so stinking hard. :)

Random Thoughts of People Our Age

Written by the hysterical Aaron Karo at his website RUMINATIONS.com

1. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me. (insert Brian Regan clip here... begin at 3:05. Classic.)

3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

4. I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when someone has invented the lighter?

5. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

6. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

7. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

8. Do you remember when you were a kid playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no Internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.

9. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

10. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

11. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

12. How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

13. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

14. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

15. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

16. Was learning cursive really necessary?

17. Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scan tron test is absolutely petrifying.

20. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.

21. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

22. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)…ummm…Goonies” (insert another classic Brian Regan clip... now.)

23. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

24. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.

25. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

26. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

29. Bad decisions make good stories

30. Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

31. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

32. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

33. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn't be a problem….

34. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

35. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

36. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to fall after leaning your chair back a little too far.

37. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

38. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

39. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Crap!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

40. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

41. When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light Internet stalking.

42. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

43. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…

44. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

45. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

46. Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.

47. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…

48. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

49. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than with Kay.

50. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself.

Good laughs... :)

And of course... like always, a photo. Or several.. I did a shoot for my baby sister a couple weeks ago... :) LOVED it.