My Most Embarrassing Moment

Day 10: Describe your most embarrassing moment

I live on Mormon time. You read that right. When you have children, you are never late for church by your definition, it is called Mormon time meaning you are lucky to be there even if it happened to be the middle of sacrament meeting. So, I snuck into the overflow (back of the room) with my 5 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old. My one year old decided to show off her escape artist skills and ran as fast as her little legs would take her down the aisle towards the front of the chapel. In an embarrassed rush, I ran after her, scooped her up right before she made it to the stairs of the stage, and as I was picking her up, I stepped on the hem of my dress and as I stood up, I showed off my half moon. Oh yes. I managed to pull my skirt up with one hand while holding my daughter with the other and I kept my head down. For the rest of the day I avoided eye contact and told myself, "It's ok Rachel, it was just a dream." It made me feel better until I saw the hole in my hem when I got home :/

My 5 passions

What are 5 passions you have?

1) I'm passionate about my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and my callings.

2) I'm passionate about being a mother, especially a Stay-at-home-mother. I am available when my kids are home. They are my life!

3) (These are not in any particular order, some may say my husband should come first). I'm passionate about being a wife, an eternal companion to my best friend who chose me 17 years ago.

4) I'm passionate about going back to college to earn a degree because my husband and I are showing our children how important it is to further their education.

5) I'm passionate about caring for other people and showing them how much they mean to me.

10 people who influenced me

List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

1) The first person that has influenced me is my mom. My mom raised nine children, sewed our clothes, canned our food, baked fresh bread, and has always been there to uplift me.

2) The second person who has influenced me is my husband. He has shown me that no matter how little you have, you make the best of it and go with the flow. He never passes by anyone stranded on the side of the road or an accident without stopping to help even if that means he will get hurt in the process.

3) The third person who has influenced me is my sister Alli. She was always like a second mom growing up and she set a good example for me growing up. My husband and I chose Alli and her husband to be our children's godparents because we know they would raise our children with as much love as my husband and I would.

4) The fourth person who influenced me is my sister Sarah. She does not think twice if a family member is in need. She makes room in her house if someone needs a place to stay until they get back on their feet. She is also a very hard worker.

5) The fifth person/people who have influenced my life is my children. My children have influenced my husband and I by helping us learn patience, humility, sacrifice, and love. They are amazing and each have their own unique personalities and talents that they portray. 

6) The sixth person/people who influenced me would be my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I may not be able to see them but I know they are watching over me and guiding me. They put people in our paths to help us learn and grow and also modern day prophets to lead and guide me. They provided a way to return back to them.

7) The seventh person/people who influenced me is a woman and her husband that my husband and I met when we lived in Idaho. My husband, children and I would not be an eternal family if it weren't for this loving couple.

8) The eighth person who has influenced me is my Uncle John. He took my whole family in after my house burnt down the summer before my sophomore year of high school, until my mom could find a new home. He was always like a second dad to me and has shown me how to love unconditionally.

9) The ninth person who has influenced me is my Uncle Roger. He not only saved my life when I was around 10 years old (I almost drowned in Lake Michigan), but he also provided a way for me to see my grandmother after eight long years.

10) The tenth person/people who has influenced me is my church family. They have been there whenever my husband and our family needed a meal because we were down from surgery or sickness. They are truly our family and teach us so many lessons in life that helps us grow.

Pet-Peeves

List 10 pet peeves you have.

1) I can't stand an unorganized desk where I do my schoolwork.

2) Crumbs on the kitchen floor that I walk over with bare feet.

3) When I'm frustrated and someone laughs.

4) If cabinet doors are open in the kitchen.

(Those are the only ones I can think of for me.)

My husband's pet peeves

1) Squeezing the toothpaste from the middle.

2) A cluttered house.

3) A dirty kitchen when he goes to cook.

4) Blinds closed.

5) If anyone else uses his deodorant (like our son).

10) When our bed isn't made.

A day in my shoes...

Describe a typical day in your current life

A typical day for me starts at 6:15 in the morning when I drag my lazy butt out of bed to see my 13 year old son and 12 year old daughter off to school. Then I spend time with my 10 year old daughter until I drop her off at her bus stop an hour later. Then, I usually lay back down for an hour to an hour and a half. I usually eat breakfast sometime up until this point. After I wake up, I wake up my laptop and look at assignments for the day from my online school, Ashford University. I usually study for about an hour or so then I take a 15 minute break. I do this cycle of studying/breaks until my children come home from school. My kids end up talking over each other telling me about their day which gets a little chaotic. My husband gets home shortly after, he makes dinner (I can' t cook... the cupboards always look bare...don't judge me...). We eat then my hubby and I usually go into the office while the kids are doing their schoolwork and I'll continue on with mine because I'm obsessed and have to read and highlight everything! Before you know it, we watch a show together and that's all they wrote! 

We're quite the boring family :)

My 5 Weaknesses

Describe 5 weaknesses you have

Hmm, this is a tough one. I just asked my husband what would he consider a weakness. He said it could be anything that you feel you are weak about like a craving, things you can't stop doing, like compulsive shopping, etc.

So...

1) I love to go to Flea Markets and Goodwill (or Big-will as my kids call it). The second I go into these stores, I go straight to the book section. I love the great deals on books where I don't have to spend over $2! Some may be confused about how this could be a weakness. My problem is that once I buy them, I feel overwhelmed looking at them and wondering which to read first so it takes me a few days to a few weeks before I even start one of them!

2) I put way too much time into studying for school. This may seem like it is impossible or that it can be good to do. But, when I say study, I mean the preparation time, organizing, printing, highlighting, etc. By the time I have started studying what is required, I've already wasted a day on just preparing to study! I literally put about 40 hours into schoolwork. This makes me feel bad because I'm still not done preparing or studying by the time the kids get home.

3) I don't know if this is a weakness but I have a mental illness. I was diagnosed recently with a mood disorder which two years ago another doctor said it was clinical depression. I have suffered with this from the time I was 13, but it has gotten worse in the past 10 years. Some days I do really well, others like today, I cannot go an hour without crying. I hate this and wish I was normal. (What is normal???).

4) When I'm bored, or winding down from the day in bed, I look forward to the little envelope sign to pop up in the top of my phone meaning I have a message! I love to text more than I like to talk on the phone. This is a major weakness!

5) I am a homebody. I don't get out of the house much at all which doesn't help my weight. I know I'm setting a terrible example for my children! I want to eat healthier which is hard to do on a tight budget of one income since I am not able to work due to my disability. I put too much off on my husband like the cooking, and grocery shopping but he always tells me he doesn't mind.

So these are a few weaknesses I have come up with. If anyone has any helpful suggestions, I am all ears...or eyes?! Whatever.

My 5 strengths

Describe 5 strengths you have

1) One of my strengths is that I am a good listener, but not always great at giving advice!

2) Another strength is that I am patient which means I get taken advantage of especially by my kids who say I'm too lenient.

3) I make friends easily because I set an example and others notice.

4) My hard work pays off in college allowing me to make good grades even though I have been out of school since graduating high school in 1995.

5) My husband just told me I'm caring, loving, a good listener, kind-heated, an awesome wife and mother...Aw, I'm tearing up now...

5)