Hey, do you like Russia??

BECAUSE I DO!!! :)

For those of you who answered yes to the above question, here's some info about Russia.

Country information-from the Church

The Russian Alaphbet...yes...it's quite different from the English. If you are like me after listening to it you will have to lift up your jaw that just dropped to the floor.

Temple

I was able to go through the temple today. This is a day I have been looking forward to all my life. It was a very special and sacred experience. I am so thankful for the temple and all that it means.

If you want to learn more about the temple, click here.

Stepping it up!

Sister missionaries have had the reputation of being frumpy. This is unfortunate and not all where but I am glad that the church has really stepped up their game when it comes to the outline for the sisters dress and grooming. It made me really happy. I was floored (good floored, of course) when I was looking at the updated website. Go check it out! They've really go it all cover. Lots of pictures to show examples and even make up tips. It's really important that all missionaries remember that they are representing the Lord and we want to look our best. Check out the website here!

Just to do a little compare and contrast I will show you some old and new photos of what they send out to you when you get a call. I stole these pictures from another sister missionaries blog! :)

Old...



New...

I love the color yet professional look. I will definitely be looking for clothes like there when I shop for my missionary clothes...although you won't be able to really see them under my THICK jackets!!

I am going to RUSSIA!!!

I have been called to serve in the Russia Novosibirsk Mission!!!

Let's just say I was pretty surprised! I am excited and know it is where I am suppose to go but I am definitely shocked!!!

Well you know I am most excited about this for sure ;)

I hear I will be riding this quite a bit, it's the Trans-Sibera Station. Where the train is. See that sign...one day I will know what it says.

This looks pretty neat. I'm gonna love the old architecture!

So for those of you who will google where Novosibirsk is let me tell you , yes, it Siberia. If fact translate it's called "new Siberia" sooo I'll be cold! Well I guess I don't know if the whole mission is called Siberia but at least part of it. Who would have thought that there would be missionaries in Siberia!?! Well I'm gonna be one of them!!!!!!

Where in the world will Rachel go?

Alrighty folks, I don't really think anyone reads my blog besides my family, if at that. But I thought I'd post this on here anyway!

I AM GOING ON A MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to serve as a full-time missionary for our Father in Heaven! Annnnnd....my papers are officially in!!! Pretty crazy to think that I could go just about anywhere in the world!! So just for fun, go ahead and take a stab at guessing where I will be going!! You get one state side guess and one foreign! If you guess right your prize will be a nice big hug from me! :)

Thanks for your support!

Love this...



We handed this out to the girls at girls camp! The wonderful Lindsay Bell made it!

Projects

So my best friend Ashley is having a baby boy soon!!! I'm so excited! My creativity kicked in gear as I got ready for her shower. I pretty much wanted to make everything I saw in pinterest! haha!!! I ended up making a diaper clutch, tutorial found here, and then a hooter hider, also know as a nursing cover (I personally like the other name...adds a little flavor to life), tutorial found here. (Both great tutorial, very easy. I'd recommend them) I am very proud of my work. I am mostly proud that I didn't have any melt downs during these projects. Usually when sewing, I mess up, get frustrated and very nearly quit the project. I usually end up hating the site of it. However, this one I took pictures of. They do no good sitting on my computer (other than when I look at them and remember that proud moment) so I thought I'd share!

Congrats Ash! Can't wait to meet little Matix!! He just needs to come already! You will be a great mother!

New obsession

So lately I have come across this awesome website called Pinterest. It's a virtual pinboard. It's lots of fun to play and waste time on :) That's always good right? Anywho! I just thought I'd share some of my finds...

Source: makemestfu.net via Rachel on Pinterest

Oh boy did this make me laugh or what!

Source: imgfave.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Haha!!

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

need to make this someday!

Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest

i want taylor hair!

Well that's all for now folks!

Now Mrs. Ashley Bell...get pinning!!!!

Oh I also have an obsession with this show....

Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I just love it so much! I'm slightly depressed though because the season just ended and it's not coming back until NEXT summer! LAME! Anywho, I can just watch what I have saved on my DVR. I also really like this other new show but I'm embarrassed to I'm admitting to what it is! :)

Big Judds

It had been so awesome to have my cousins the Williams here is Rexburg!! I have loved having more family around and been able to get to know them better! When their Grandpa and Grandma Bird came up for a visit we all went to Big Judds! It was so fun and yummy!

After Big Judds, I was going to Battle of the Dance at the school and Jason and the kids thought it sounded fun so they came too. And it WAS soo fun! I think their favorite was the cloggers! :)

Our Best Bites

Each semester BYU-Idaho host the Newel K. Whitney summit for Business and Communications. They always bring awesome speakers from the business world to speak to us. This year one of the speakers were the bloggers from "Our Best Bites" Sara and Kate. They spoke about building a thriving web-based business. They were great to listen to and I really enjoyed it. After the summit these ladies had a book signing in the bookstore. They have a great cookbook and I couldn't pass the opportunity to get an autograph copy of!