most embarrassing moment of my life

do you guys read busy bee lauren? i'm sure you do. isn't she so freaking hilarious? she really has the best stories. anyway, i just read this post on her blog, and i have to say....i feel for lauren.  because her story reminded me of a similar experience i had. and mine for sure isn't as bad....but it was humiliating. 

so i got hooked up with this really sweet job at steiners....it's a rec center in salt lake. i knew someone who worked there and was able to get me a job working at the front desk. this is awesome for three reasons. 1) i have a bunch friends who go to steiners, so i could see them all the time. 2) there wasn't a whole lot of work involved, i just sat around answering phones and swiping cards and talking to friends. 3) i got a free gym pass. great, right? well, i went in to training once and then a few days later, came in for my first shift. my boss wasn't there, and i remember trying to find him so that i could talk to him about spring break in a month. my family was going to europe and was there any way i could find people to cover my shifts then? well, he wasn't there, so i left him a note and put it in his box. a couple days later, i walked in and there were already three people at the front desk, which is weird, because only three work at a time. so i had someone look up the schedule online and i was not scheduled for that day. or for the rest of the month. boss wasn't there again, so i called him to ask him what the deal was.

me: "hi, (insert name here). how are you? i have a question about the schedule. it shows that i'm not on today or for the rest of the month, but i remember we talked about me working--"
boss: "yeah. i left you a message on your home phone. i said to not come back ever again because you high school kids are so hard to schedule around. you think that everyone will just work around you and your vacation. that's why i don't like hiring high school kids."
me:....................................

and then i'm pretty sure i mumbled an apology and a THANK YOU and hung up. and then the three other college employees asked me what he said (and remember that this is my second shift).

"oh, um.....he fired me, but it's really no big deal. it's just a conflict with scheduling. it's fine. thanks for looking up the schedule for me."

and then one of the random employees asked me for a ride home. embarrassing? yes. i waited till i got home to cry. because it most definitely was NOT fine. and i was humiliated. i was too mortified to work out at steiners for a few months, but i slowly made my way back.  luckily, i don't think any of those employees work there anymore. boss doesn't have a clue who i am, but when i'm running on the treadmill and he walks past, i glare daggers into the back of his head, and it makes me feel a little better.

(and i won't say i gave back my employee gym pass right away, either. just sayin'.)

a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils

oh, hi. it's me, rachael. the owner of this blog. that i haven't been on in weeks. speaking of blog.....my mom gave me a groupon for my birthday to get one of those blog books online. so yesterday, i found the site, made myself the cutest little book, and had them ship it to rexburg, idaho.....but i put my salt lake zip code on there.

dummy!

what does the mailman even do when he get's something like that? where does he send it? my blog book is going to get sent to some random family who will be traumatized to read about my stories of scooping poo out of chinese toilets.

anyway, i really wish i had an amazing first week of school story to tell, but i don't. have i told you how much i love fall semester, though? because i do. it seriously makes me so happy. i am excited because...

a) i think i finally know what i'm going to major in. this is exciting for me because i have been lame and put off deciding how to go about starting my life. so. i am majoring in health science and minoring in international studies! all i know is that i love medicine and i love traveling and i love the non-profit field and i have always wanted to do something that combines those things. but i'm pretty sure i have a lot more schooling ahead of me. oh, and i love my classes. i'm taking a middle east class that i can't even stand i love so much. sometimes you just don't know what's going to matter to you.

b) the weather rocks my socks.

c) ben is coming home in SIX WEEKS!

oh, on saturday night, i went with some friends to watch the big game on a huge screen on campus. there were, like, 600 people there wearing their BYU garb and then there was me....decked out in red. and i got lots of hate comments. but i turned it around and smashed victory in their faces like a big banana cream pie. and then some guy on campus said to me today, "hey! you're that utah girl!" uh huh. 

away with the summer days

i would like to submit that summer nights make me happier than anything in the world. (ok. i take that back. even summer nights can't make me as happy as christmas.) and i'm not a huge fan of summer. the heat irritates me and i get bored without school fast.

but summer nights. 

they are a thing of legend in my mind. 

the heat makes me want to stay inside all day, but once the sun goes down, i run outside to do the nighttime dance with the moon. (sometimes we krump when we're feeling extra crazy.) 

i love the temperature. it feels perfect in shorts and a t-shirt. i love the stars. i love the overbearing noise of the crickets in august. i love the feel of concrete and grass under my bare feet. shoes are not allowed when doing the nighttime dance. (p.s. when i wrote that, i thought of the fat-lipped redhead lady on the delta airline video that says "smoking is NOT allowed." does anyone know who i'm talking about?) anyway, i really love when the sprinklers come on at night. i love running around the golf course. i love swinging at the park at night. i love it all. i love just taking walks. 

when i was in rexburg this summer, i would go on a bike ride almost every night and it was almost always the best part of my day! now that i am home, i haven't forgotten the dance. running, laying on my back and looking at the stars, playing my ukulele, watching the sun set at the park. 

but now it's september and it's kind of chilly tonight which reminds me i don't have many more summer nights! but then i remember how fall is my favorite season and how excited i am for that. crisp temperature, bright leaves, halloween, cute clothes, and school starting again! and then i'll probably be sad when the leaves fall off the trees, but then i'll remember how much i love thanksgiving and christmas and skiing and fires in the fireplace and snuggling and hot chocolate. and then winter will give way to cheerful spring and once may turns to june, the shoes go off and the nighttime dance starts all over again. 

happy birthday, indeed

as of thursday night at 8:23 (eight minutes after my brother, ben), i am 21! ben's been on a mission for almost two years now, so we couldn't celebrate it together, but we've had a crazy two decades together and many more crazy ones to come. so here's to you, ben! happy birthday!

anyway, do you wanna hear the most magical 21st birthday story ever? yesterday i woke up, got ready, and walked out the door to go to lunch with my mom and cousins. there was a little envelope in the mailbox (weird. the mail doesn't come that early.) i picked it up and it was addressed to

Miss R. Ely

The Bedroom off the Kitchen 

and then my address. i turned it around and there was a wax stamp with a hogwarts seal on it.  my mom asked what it was while we got in the car......i knew what it was. i have been waiting for this for ten years. i opened it and right there in my lap sat the most magical piece of mail i have ever received..... 

my hogwarts acceptance letter!!!!! along with a list of books and equipment for first year students and a train ticket from london to hogwarts departing from platform 9 3/4. 

i did the only logical thing and burst out in tears. don't laugh and tell me you wouldn't cry if you found out you were a witch. i've always known this about myself. 

please notice that i have been crying

so that basically made for the best birthday ever. but it gets better. after the usual good birthday stuff (lunch, pedicures, dinner, cake and ice cream), my mom announced that there was a package for me outside. i went out and saw that there was a cheap flimsy trunk with a bow wrapped around it sitting on my porch. i brought it inside, opened it up and saw what i was suspecting (only because i told my mom i wanted this a few months ago)...my own set of brand spanking new harry potter books. now i don't have to share with those stinky brothers. i'm not even going to read them right now. it just makes me happy to know that i have my own set.

jacob's mad, who can blame him?

it was a magical birthday. and it will be a good year. because who can't have a good 21st year knowing they're a witch?