FIRST SNOW

Last night I got a knock on my door from a very excited friend Annie X.  She ran to my window and we looked outside.  It was SNOWING!  Later she said she came to me first because as a fellow Gilmore Girls fan I would understand the importance of the first snow.  Isn't it magical? Well we ran outside with some other enthusiasts and there were about 100 other Freshman taking it in as well.  You could definitely tell who had and who hadn't seen snow before. 

You may think the girl in the purple had never seen it before and didn't know what was coming, but no she's an Alaskan....she's that used to the cold.

 It had mostly melted by the time I went to bed....but this morning I woke up to this:

view from my window

ok,ok, it doesn't look like that much but trust me it's better in person.  I accidentally left my camera at home so I had to take a picture with my phone.

So to celebrate, I am getting ready for the day while listening to Christmas music.  As SheDaisy says in their song The Secret of Christmas, "Christmas is in the air!" At least it is for me.  Snow is magical and I absolutely love this time of year and not just because my birthday and Christmas are coming up.  But because of everything that the Christmas season entails.

WELCOME WINTER!!!!  (but I'll miss FALL, since we never really had one)

I know I've already posted but I found this post from a long time ago but I thought it was kinda funny.

*****

September 13:
      "Now I get to sit in my room and listen to my next-door-neighbor talk on her phone about how girl squirrels are smart.  Weird...but at least it's entertaining."


....and boy was it entertaining

*****

oh and today my family woke up to this shocking sight:

One of the two old trees in front of my house couldn't handle the wind anymore and decided to attack my sister's Rav4 and Audi on its way down.

I loved this old tree.  I have many childhood memories of this tree.  [Mostly] no one will understand this list but this tree makes me think of shopping carts, drive thru windows, dogs, and sledding.

The only person outside of my family (or at all) who I think has the same feelings for this tree as I do is Annie T.

I know the view from my window won't be the same anymore.

R.I.P old tree.

Even though you caused much damage to some cars in your last living moments, I still love you and will miss you dearly!

1 year ago today

Exactly one year ago today these were taken by my cousin Ashley at Brooke's mission farewell

Barker Family
Isn't my dad one lucky guy?!

Brooke w/ Grandma and Grandpa Franklin

I can't believe it has already been a year since Brooke's farewell.  It seems like yesterday.

The Rachels

So you all probably know (since probably only my family reads this) that I have a roommate named Rachel

Courtesy of Facebook

....and a sister named Rachel.

When I am with one of the Rachel's I have to distinguish which one.  People will ask me "Rachel?"  To which I reply "roommate Rachel, not sister Rachel" or "Sister Rachel, not roommate Rachel" depending on which said Rachel I am talking about.


I feel like I've been saying it so much lately that I make Rachel Barker sound like a nun because I always say "Sister Rachel."  But if Sister Rachel was a nun, she would't be able to kiss on a burning level and the kiss-o-meter would be lying.


Sorry Sister Rachel, I probably should come up with nicknames for both of you.  
Should I start calling you Chol again?


I've been saying "Rachel" so much that I used it 13 times in this post.

Todays thoughts:

• I love home cooked meals, especially at the Barker home. Thanks mom!!!!
• I love Fall.  I don't want it to snow, yet I can't wait for Christmas
• ....and everything that Christmas entails
• I love Salt Lake.  I never want to live anywhere else (even though I'm in Provo for the time being)
• Although teaching Sunday School is hard, I actually had fun preparing my lesson yesterday
• I'm glad Rachel and Ana gave me an excuse to leave the library, and took me Fork Fest yesterday to see Paul Jacobsen who we know from our home ward

Picture of Paul stolen from Rachel's blog

• I'm glad Allison and Lauren invited me back out to Fork Fest last night to see Joshua James
• I'm excited to start listening to Christmas music in TWO weeks, after Halloween
• I have exactly one month and one week until I have my last -teen birthday
• I love rain

Today is my defining moment

I am a sucker for any inspirational video.  This message is just what I need for a little motivational boost to make me study and push myself more than I ever expected.  School is hard but I know that I can progress here, it just depends on the choices I make today.  I need to give it my all because like Bronco Mendenhall says, "people are counting on me to be great."

Is this what tear gas feels like?

Isn't this stuff just suppose to clean my makeup off my face?
Well it use to.
The new and "improved" kind now cleans my makeup off AND gives me a bonus....
It burns my eyes too.
Aren't their tests to ensure that there is no burnage in the facial cleansing process?

Christmas Craze

My family always makes fun of me for listening to Christmas music early in October.  

Some of my friends tease me because I use to listen to it back in July.

Well today my roommate and I started talking about Christmas.

We talked about:

Traditions

Music

Festivities

Decorations

etc.

I just got so excited for the Christmas season that I had to look up Christmas stuff on google.

We also started planning our dorm room decorations for the upcoming season.

This is probably unhealthy for me since I'm already jumping the gun on the holiday season.

I'm looking forward to this Christmas so I can take more pictures like this one.

....and I'm excited to see Rachels (roommate) reaction when it begins to snow

 (she's from Southern California.  need I say more?)

Why are Thursdays so good?

For as long as I can remember Thursdays have been my favorite day of the week.  It's because the week is almost done and the next day is Friday.  I love my Thursdays down here in Provo.  Today I woke up went to the library for about 10 minutes then came back down because Rachel and I were headed to Costco and Walmart.  We spent about 2 hours out and about and then I came home and walked back up the hill to the library where I remained until my 2 o'clock (and only) class.  My class got out 20 minutes early today so I headed back to the library and finished my homework by 3:45.  Right when I walked inside my dorm it started to downpour!!!!  oh and it sprinkled on and off all day.  Now I am going to sit down, listen to the rain, and catch up on the General Conference talks that I missed on Saturday.  Can Thursdays be any better than today?  I declare they cannot.

Enjoy your Thursday.  I know I will.