Rachel

Summer Travels!

2010-07-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

After finals were over in early May I drove with my best friend and roommate to her home in Fernandina Beach, Florida to stay 2 weeks with her and her family! This was my fourth time to visit Fernandina and I absolutely love it!! Her dad had tickets to The Players Championship golf tournament that was in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Here we are on the ferry on our way to the tournament!

They don't allow you to take cameras inside, so I only got a picture of the golf courses sign, but believe me the course was beautiful! We saw Tiger, whose game has definitely went down hill and we also got to see Phil Mickelson!

Barbara Jeans is a restaurant in Fernandina that is right on the marsh and is so good! I love it because you can sit outside and they seriously have the best sweet tea I have ever had. We always have to eat there at least twice when I visit! Alisia, Me, and Ashley after church about to eat at BJ's.

Ahhhhh, our fave, BEACH TIME!! Ashley only lives about 3 minutes from the beach, so we try and take advantage of it! It's so nice just to soak up the sun and read a good book!

On the pier at the north end of Amelia Island.

It's really long, but I think that it's so pretty to walk to the end! We saw a lot of people fishing off it.

One day we drove down to St. Augustine, FL which is the oldest town in the U.S. I loved all the history! We went to the outlet mall there, ate some really good fried shrimp, and toured the fort. Us in front of the fort!

I always have such a wonderful time with her and her family. They really are like my second family! Ashley and I at the airport before flying home to AR!! I will be back in August and I cannot wait!

A few weekends after I got back from FL I went with my cousin, her husband, and their son to Kansas City! It was my first time to go to the Kansas City zoo since I was a kid and it was so fun!

My cousin, Jessica and I in front of the rhinos!

I love them so much!

We ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory at the plaza and enjoyed walking around looking at all of the stores.

This summer I also took a road trip down to Plano, TX to visit my other roommate for next fall, Rachel!! We went to the Galleria and shopped, swam at her pool, and hung out with some of our other friends that are from the Dallas area! We had such a good time! :)

For my mom's birthday I went with her to Petit Jean State Park!! She had meetings one of the days we were there and on the days she was off we went to the pool and went to the waterfall look out at the park. It was so good to have some quality mother/daughter time!

The waterfall from the lookout!

At dinner at for her birthday!! I love you Mom!!

I just got back on Saturday from vacation with my wonderful parents! We went to Southern California to visit family that we have there! We went to Hemet, Newport Beach, and Santa Monica! I will post pictures soon of that trip! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Busy Spring Semester!

2010-04-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

Sine I talked to you guys last I had a wonderful Christmas, went on a trip to Memphis with the Marching Band to the Liberty Bowl, started my spring semester of my sophomore year of college, had a few fun snow days with friends, went ballroom dancing, took a trip to Branson to go shopping, and went on a wonderful spring break ski trip with my family and some friends!! Life has been busy and I would like to apologize for not blogging as much as I would like to.

My friend Rachel, myself, and our section leader Allison with the mascot Sue E. at the Liberty Bowl game. This game was freezing! I seriously don't think that I have ever been that cold in my life. The Hogs won, so that was a great ending to football season! The Liberty Bowl parade was fun also along with going to Beale St. to eat dinner and listen to all of the live music.

This is a view of the field from where the band was sitting.

The first big snow that we had in Fayetteville! This was right before Ashley, me, and our friend Haley met up with some of our guy friends to go sledding down the Dickson Street hill! I would definitely say this was one of the most fun snow days I have ever had. After we went sledding we walked all the way back to our apt in the snow, which was a good 3 or 4 miles. Hahaha!!

Ashley enjoying the snow!!

Friends all warming up after being in the snow for hours sledding! We drank tea and sang, haha! It was a lot of fun!

We went Ballroom dancing with a big group of our friends in Bella Vista! Bella Vista is a retirement community, so it was fun going dancing there. We think that they like a bunch of college students coming to their dance!! :) hehehe!

These are my wonderful best friends and roommates for next year. Ashley and I are roommates now, but our friend Rachel will be joining us next fall! We are all really excited about it!

Blake with the two Rachel's!! Blake also went on my family ski trip last week during spring break!

These are all of the college students that were there when the dance ended. We are looking forward to the next one! :)

Ashley and I at our apartment when we got home! We love the timer!

Ice skating at the Jones Center in Springdale! We were in the mood to ice skate since when we went the Winter Olympics were on! There were lots of speed races and figure skating attempts, haha!

Ashley driving Daaz (her bug) and us to Branson for a fun filled day of shopping!

Rachel anxiously awaiting our arrival to Branson!

This truck we saw in the parking lot at the mall was parked in two compact car parking spaces. We thought it deserved a picture.

Shopping at the outlet mall! We had such a good day, even though it was rainy and yucky outside. We got a lot of good deals on Lucky jeans, Nike tennis shoes, and some other things!

Hahahaha, we saw this dinosaur on the side of a building on our way home, so we HAD to stop!!

I have A LOT of pictures from our ski trip that hopefully I will get up next week! I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday tomorrow! Jesus has RISEN!!!

Christmas Cookies!

2009-12-15T23:30:00.000-06:00

My family made a trip to the Fayetteville square to see all of the Christmas lights. My granny and I were very excited!!
Reindeer!! It was huge!
Family picture!
Ashley and I made Christmas cookies for some of our friends!!

Here are all of our supplies.

Ashley cutting some cute Christmas shapes!

I got flour on my nose and Ashley thought it was hilarious!
Finished product!!

The cookies were very delicious and our friends really enjoyed them, I think almost as much as we enjoyed making them!

Twilight and Horseback Riding

2009-11-23T21:01:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday night was the Twilight New Moon premier. Ashley, Cowan, and myself bought our tickets about a month ago. Here we are waiting in line outside of the theater! We were so glad that it wasn't very cold. We didn't have to wait outside long before we got to go inside because theater was ready! We waited inside for about 3 hours....oh but it was SOOOOO worth it!

Ashley SUPER pumped to be going into the theater! Cowan even brought her New Moon book to read while we were waiting. She wanted to make sure that her memory was up to date, HAHAHA!
Cowan and I had been talking about taking a day and going horseback riding for a while now, so after church on Sunday we decided to head to Eureka Springs, AR.
Here I am all saddled up ready to go on the trail ride!
Cowan's horse was sooo big!
All ready to ride! You can see our trail guide in the background. He told us that he used to be an Indian chief and now he has 4 pet wolves....but, he was very good at telling us about the scenery and what to do on our horses when we were going down hills and things.
Cowan on the trail. The sun was just setting. It was truly beautiful.

My horse, Dusty! :) He was very handsome!

We had so much fun horseback riding and will definitely be back in the spring to see all the trees green and the flowers bloomed.

P.S. I am reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks right now and you guys need to read it! It is SOOO good!

Idol Smiles Photo Shoot

2009-11-22T21:29:00.001-06:00

The Idol Smiles photo shoot was a blast! Before the shoot they had professional hair and makeup artists there to do our hair and makeup.

Brushing our teeth right before the shoot!
Hahahahahaha, she liked "the poof!!"
Janice and I posing.
Mrs. Pickard asking "get to know you" questions to me. They are going to do little biographies of us on the website.
Janice, Aricka, and I having fun!
Me, Aricka, Dr. Pickard, and Baylee!
Baylee, Aricka, and I after a wardrobe change.
Hahahaha, Me and Bryan acting like we're dancing!
Voted #1 orthodontist in NWA pictures!

HAVING FUN!!!
Six of the idols came on Saturday and the other six went on Friday.
These were the six that were there on Saturday.

Bryan, Janice, Aricka, Joni, Me, and Baylee! These people are so much fun to be around!

They looked absolutely adorable for the prom pictures!! :))

Retainer pic!
All of us from the Saturday crew with Dr. Pickard!

Welcome Fall!

2009-10-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

A dear friend of my family, Lisa, lives in Newport Beach, California. My aunt Betty that also lives in California was here visiting. Lisa had never been to Arkansas, so she came for a few days and then flew back when my aunt Betty did.

We took her on a quick tour. This is us in front of Razorback Stadium! This is a random picture of my friend Rachel and I. I am so glad that I met her and became very close friends with her. She is a freshmen this year. She is in the band and also plays the piccolo. :)
My high school friend, Hayley got married last weekend at a beautiful glass chapel. She looked gorgeous! Her husband is in the marines, so she is moving to Washington D.C. to be with him! Such a sweet story!
Hayley and I at the reception.
These are a few friends from high school that were at the wedding. I am bummed it came out blurry.

THANK YOU so much to all of you that voted for me on Idol Smiles! I actually ended up winning! You guys are the BEST!!

Everyone have a good rest of the week! I have a busy week ahead, two tests and a presentation.

HOGS vs. Texas A&M- Southwest Classic 2009

2009-10-05T19:18:00.000-05:00

This weekend was the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game in Dallas!

These are 5 of the 7 charter buses that the band went down on.The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium that the game was played in!
Walking down into the underground tunnel that is beneath the stadium.
My friend Rachel and I waiting to go inside the stadium.
The view walking into the stadium! The stadium is HUGE!!!
The MASSIVE tv screens!
Me, on the field :)
Rachel, Me, and Jessica before the game started.
Jerry Jones
A view from where we were seated.
SOOOO happy the hogs WON!!!!
Singing "O Lord It's Hard to be Humble!!!"
I had a BLAST this weekend and was so proud of my hogs!!

BYX Unlimited!

2009-10-01T20:56:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to the BYX Unlimited function with my friend Chris! BYX is a christian fraternity on campus! It stands for Brothers Under Christ. It was held at Powerhouse and I had A LOT of fun! The theme was BYX Unlimited, a kick off of Ducks Unlimited. That's why we all have camo on.

My very dear friend Tracy and I. You can kind of tell here, but I got REALLY into it and even painted my nails orange, hahaha! She is a lot of fun to be around.
Yes, that is a rubber turkey! Someone brought it as a prop and I just HAD to get my picture taken with it.

People DANCIN'!!
My friend Chris and I!
Tracy and David. They put the targets on their shirts! SO cute!!
Me and Tracy

After dancing the night away!! Woo Hoo!!I leave tomorrow for the Texas A&M game that is in the new COWBOYS stadium! I am soooo very excited!!!

GO HOGS, BEAT THE AGGIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bikes, Blues, and BBQ 2009!

2009-09-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend was very busy!! Bikes, Blues, and BBQ weekend is always a fun weekend!! My roommate Ashley, friend Brittni, Dad, David, and Uncle Les all rode in the parade. It was so much fun! We threw out candy and waved a lot. It was Ashley's first time to ride in the parade and she really enjoyed it! On Friday night I babysat for the Campbell's and on Saturday night Ashley, Brittni, Lilly, and I all went down and looked at all of the pretty motorcycles. On Saturday after the parade we had some REALLY good BBQ!! It was called Big Boned BBQ. They had one tons of awards and I can definitely tell why!

This is the group before leaving to go to the parade!!

My mom, aunt, and granny all watched the parade on campus!

Brittni and Uncle Les
Ashley and David
My Dad and I
After church and going out to eat with family today my mom and I headed to the mall! I got a dress that I had been wanting from New York and Co.! I was so excited that it went on sale!! My mom actually bought it for me in this blue color and in the black and white color! I also got a really cute purse on sale, but unfortunately I can't find a picture of it online. It looks like it is made out of leather snake/alligator skin.

The Hogs play Texas A&M in the NEW COWBOYS stadium next weekend and the entire band is going!!! Ahhhhhhh I am so EXCITED! Everyone have a happy Monday tomorrow!!

Prayers Needed

2009-09-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, Tony Collins that is in the piccolo section with me is in need of prayer. Doctors found a brain tumor last semester (Spring 2009) and he had brain surgery to have it removed. He had to leave school for the entire semester and do chemotheray and radiation therapy. He was doing much better and got to return to school for the Fall 2009 term. He went into the doctor yesterday and they found another brain tumor. It's bigger than the last one and going deeper into his brain. He had to drop out of school and is going to Houston for surgery.

Please pray for him.

Celebrating my 19 years of life!!!

2009-09-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

My family and I went bowling on Saturday night and went to Geraldi's, a local Italian restaurant to celebrate my birthday.Bowling with my family was so much fun!! My parents and aunt and uncle said that they hadn't bowled in years! It was pretty entertaining. My uncle Leslie even found his bowling ball and shoes from the league he was in from college!

The whole gang outside of Geraldi's.

Jessica made this bag for me to put my piccolo and band things in. The RMB stands for Razorback Marching Band. She is so crafty!
The Betsey Johnson watch that my parents got for me!
My cousin Jessica's birthday was last week, so we had a joint cake! It was yummy!
Jessica and baby H.
I love my Granny!
My aunt Betty was in town form Newport Beach, CA. I was so glad that she was able to come!
Papa Harold and David.
My wonderful parents!!
My best friend and roommate Ashley.
Rachel and Ashley at Bizy's for my birthday.
Victoria, Me, and Tracy.
Me and Ash. Don't you love the button?? haha
Victoria, Ashley, and Tracy.
Me and Rachel. I call her Lilly because I think she looks just like Lilly off of Hannah Montana.

It was a GREAT birthday weekend!!! I love my friends and family so much! They are very dear to my heart!

Everyone have a good week! I am going to study for my psychology test I have on Tuesday.

Taylor Swift!

2009-09-16T18:18:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you guys watched the VMAs, but if you did I'm sure you saw what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift. In the middle of her accepting her award Kanye took the microphone from her and said that Beyonce had the best video of all time. It was so sad. But, then when Beyonce was accepting her award she let Taylor come out and finish accepting her award. That was very sweet of Beyonce!!

The picture below was taken about 3 years ago. Taylor wasn't "big" yet so the tickets to this little concert were only $5.00!! There were only about 100 people there. After the concert me and my friends waited in line for about 30 minutes to take a picture with her and get her autograph. I went 2 years later to one of her concerts and the person that gave me those tickets payed a lot more then $5.00. I just love her!!

Arkansas vs. Missouri State

2009-09-13T00:31:00.001-05:00

Last Weekend the Razorbacks played Missouri State in Little Rock. I think the Little Rock games are really fun! The band takes charter buses down to Little Rock on Friday afternoon. The picture above is of my friends Kelsey, Kenna, and I in our hotel room. We had a few hours to hang out before we had to be ready for the RazorRock pep rally that was held on the river.

Rachel smiling big!
This was taken while the band was parading to the Traveler's baseball stadium from the RazorRock pep rally.
We played the national anthem at the Traveler's vs. Natural's baseball game.
We had to wait in line for what seemed like forever to get dinner at the baseball game. These are my friends Allison, Rachel, Tracy, and Jamie. They are all so much fun to be around!
Papa Harold and me at the Traveler's game. My parents rode with him to Little Rock to go to the Traveler's game and the Razorback game. I was so glad that he got to come!
My parents!
Game day rehearsal in War Memorial Stadium.
Me with my parents getting ready to parade to the stadium! Don't you love their Razorback Marching Band t-shirts?? I do!!
Doing the march around the stadium before pre-game!
This is my friend Allison and me. She is the piccolo section leader! We also both lived in the same dorm together last year! She makes me laugh so much!
Half-time Southern Rock performance. We played Proud Mary, Train Train, and the southern rock anthem...Free Bird!!

Geoff, Ashley, Me, Brittni, and Michael after the game. They were waiting for me to get my things off the bus.

Ashley's grandparents live in Camden, so we decided to go visit them after the game since we didn't have school on Monday. We ate A LOT of good food, watched t.v., and rode 4-wheelers!!
Me, Ashley, and her cousin Michael about to ride!!
I love 4-wheelers!!
Ashley being a dare devil! I had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

I went to dinner and went bowling with my family tonight for my birthday. I will post pics soon! It is off to bed now so I can celebrate more birthday fun tomorrow on my actual birthday!! Woooo Hooo!

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!! :)

2009-08-31T22:34:00.000-05:00

Every year, Arkansas Orthodontics have their patients submit a photo and the employees pick the top 40. From the top 40, the public get to vote for the top 12. Once the top 12 are selected, they get the opportunity to participate in the advertising for Arkansas Orthodontics! This year, I decide to submit a picture just for fun. I got selected in the top 40!! I really think this would be a super fun opportunity!

To vote for me, all you have to do is go here:
http://www.arkansasorthodontics.com/index.php?subcat=idolsmilesform2007

Enter your e-mail address, scroll down till you see my name and face, check the little box beside it and then click submit my vote!!

You can only vote once per e-mail address, so if you have more than one it would be great if you could vote with those other e-mail addresses also!! :) Please tell everyone that you know to vote!

Thanks everyone!! You're the best! I love you all!!!

By the way, this is what my picture looks like that you will see when you vote for me! :)

Babysitting and tie dye!

2009-08-30T19:33:00.000-05:00

I love babysitting for the Campbell's! They have two girls, Taylor and Weslynn. Taylor is four and Weslynn is three. They went out of town, so I got to watch the girls for the weekend! We had so much fun!Taylor in the car ready to go to McDonald's and the park.

Weslynn was happy about going to McDonald's!
They love taking pictures! Notice Taylor's band-aids all over her arms. She thinks they are stickers. :)
Weslynn is a sweetie!
Kenna is one of my friends that is also in the piccolo section in the RMB! We tie dyed shirts and socks one night last week at her apartment. I think they turned out super cute!
Ashley and I cooked chicken lasagna for our first meal at our apartment! It was good!
Ashley and I sitting on our little porch about to eat dinner.

Hahaha, Ashley had made some cookies and was bringing my laundry in my room last night and I thought she looked adorable with her apron on!
The Razorbacks first football game is next weekend, and boy am I excited! GO HOGS!

I LOVE Fernandina Beach, Florida!

2009-08-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

One of my best friends and roommates, Ashley lives in Fernandina Beach, Florida. She also goes to the U of A so I flew to Florida at the end of the summer to make the drive back to Arkansas with her. The picture above is when she picked me up from the airport. We had both missed each other a TON this summer!

After she picked me up from the airport we went to Boston's to have lunch. Ashley got new sunglasses this summer, so she was showing them to me.
Me at Boston's! They have really good wings and burgers.
As soon as we got done eating lunch we headed to the beach to meet Ashley's dad, brother, and cousins. We didn't have time to change into our swimsuits, so we just left on our skirts and dresses. :)

Ashley's cousin, Michael was playing frisbee.
Ashely's brother, Stephen coming in from boogie boarding!
Ashley's dad loving the umbrella!

Sailboats are so pretty!

We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some stuff for our apartment!
This was my food from T Ray's! It is by far the best shrimp I have ever had!! Yummm!
At the BEACH!!
Pretty Ashley

Me swimming in the Atlantic ocean!
Morgan and Ashley

We made spaghetti for dinner one night!
It was yummy!
At St. John's town center they have a yogurt shop called yoga berry! It is sooooo good! This was our ice cream!
We also went shopping. :)
Fernandina Beach is on Amelia Island. This is a sign for some of the resorts.
Downtown Fernandina sign.
Downtown Fernandina
Showing off our Tarina Tarantino earrings!!
We went to the beach one last night before we had to leave!

Our shoes!

We had a little photo shoot with a lifeguard stand!

I love her!

Me driving Ashley's car on our way back to Arkansas. It is an 18 hour drive!! We love road trips!

ARKANSAS!!!
We saw a helicopter on the back of a truck!

Macbook Pics!!

2009-08-02T01:45:00.000-05:00

Brad and I LOVE taking pictures in Photo Booth! It's sooo much fun!

So happy together!

Hahaha!

Summer Sun and Fun

2009-08-01T09:57:00.001-05:00

I was so happy to get my haircut last Saturday. It really needed a trim! This is me right after I got it cut. I was in the parking lot at JcPenney about to go inside and get some new things for my apartment. I move in next Saturday!! I can't believe summer is coming to a close. I am SUPER excited about Marching Band and classes starting back up! I fly out next Sunday morning to Florida to meet one of my best friends that lives there. I am going to spend a few days there with her and her family and then we are going to drive back. Her name is Ashley and she also goes to the U of A.

On Thursday night I had some of the girl lifeguards over to my house for dinner and a sleepover! We had a lot of fun! This is Hannah, Caitlin, Me, and Morgan. My dad fixed hamburgers on the grill for us and they were delicious!

After we ate we decided we wanted to go to the movies.

Morgan and Caitlin

Hannah and Me

My Bichon Frise, Tilly got groomed on Friday morning so I decided to snap a few shots while we were on our way home. She is so fluffy and cute!

Amanda and I went to a bon fire Friday night at a friend from high school's house. It was nice seeing a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while. It is fun talking about high school memories and new memories we have all made since going off to college.

Amanda has been one of my best friends since we started cheerleading in the 6th grade. We were neighbors growing up and we always have a way of making eachother laugh!!
Some of the boys putting wood in the fire. We also had s'mores, yummm yumm!! They were good!
HAPPY SATURDAY!! :)

Happy Birthday Aunt Karen!

2009-07-24T22:03:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday afternoon my family and I decided that we would go on a quick motorcycle ride to Branson, MO for my aunt Karen's birthday. My dad, me, my cousin Jessica, her husband David, and my uncle Leslie all rode on the motorcycles. My mom, my Granny, my aunt Karen, and Jessica and David's son Harbor all rode in the car.

Me, my uncle, and my dad ready to ride!
My cousin Jessica and I. The sun was a little bright!

Harbor all ready to go!

Jessica, Granny, and my mom! ....oh and little HW in the background :)

Here we come Branson!

Getting ready to eat at Olive Garden...yumm yumm!!

Me and HW...he is SUCH a happy baby! I love seeing him smile!

HAHAHA, the hat is a little tradition for our family when someone turns the 5-0!!!

After lunch we headed over to the Tanger Outlet Mall!!

Harbor loved his car stroller!

It was a fun trip!

Pool Madness

2009-07-20T21:07:00.001-05:00

It is so fun getting to work with co-workers that are all my same age. We have SOOOOO much fun together! These are just a few of the 22 lifeguards that I work with at the pool. We took these pictures the other day when we were waiting for the pool to open.

Hannah, Me, and Brooke!
Hahahaha, they're crazy!

Brooke and I taught Level 1 swim lessons together last session. She is such a bubbly person to work with! Sometimes swim lessons can get a little stressful when you are trying to teach 5 three year olds how to float and put there head under water. Anyway, we always made it a good time!

We love taking pictures!

A Good Fight

2009-07-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

The band A Good Fight was playing at Fast Lanes on Wednesday night so Brad, Brandon, Taylor, and myself decided to go see them. Here are some pictures from the night!

Here is Brad on our way to Rogers.

Taylor and I with our glow in the dark "necklaces" haha!

The stage was set up in the middle on the bowling lanes!

Everyone have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Getting Started!

2009-07-18T00:57:00.000-05:00

Hello all! I am new to blogging and I am very excited to get started! I have had an amazing summer so far! I have been lifeguarding and spending time with family and friends!

This was taken at the aquatic park I work at by one of my co-workers. I really LOVE the sunshine in the background!