Let's Rewind for a Minute

Hello blogging world!

Wow...it's been a LONG time since I've had extra time to write! Needless to say, my life has been all kids of chaos between December and now. Here's a (not so) brief update on my oh so exciting life. And once again, I think the best way to do that is through pictures. LOTS of pictures.

Here goes!

DECEMBER 2011

I got accepted to the Athletic Training Education Program at BYU! I was also assigned to my first clinical (kind of like a built-in internship) at Maple Mountain High School in Spanish Fork, UT. It was a huge relief to get applying to the program all taken care of so that I could focus on finals. My grades were really good last semester!

On December 16th, 2011, I headed back home to St. Louis for the first time in four months. It was so great to be back home with my family!!!! On my first Saturday home, my dad signed up the three oldest kids and himself for the Reindeer Run 5k in Tower Grove Park downtown. It was cold but so fun!

Me and Ali feeling legit because of our time

The sibs (Erik, Me and Ali)

Christmas was a little funky at the Steele house this year. We had the same Christmas Eve traditions (fondue for dinner, pajamas, etc.) but on Christmas Day, we (my family and all of my mom's extended family) went to Disneyworld and Universal Studios! Best Christmas present EVER!

Christmas Eve Fondue. Yum!

Rachel's Christmas Tom's

Our rental house in Orlando for Christmas!

The whole family arrived in Orlando on Christmas night, so we got to be together on Christmas! It was really neat. Since this will be the last Christmas with the whole family for a while (Erik left on his mission on January 18th, 2012), it was good to be with everyone.

Day One: Epcot

Before I continue, there's something you all need to understand. My family is obsessed with Disney. Movies, theme parks, everything. Therefore, we know how to work the Disney Parks. We WILL get on every ride we want to and we WILL have the best time ever. Never fails. Go big or go home, right? Right. Hence all of the kids racing to the entrance of Epcot in the picture below.

Because Disney is awesome, we also got All Access Guest Passes (which meant that we got to go to the fast pass line for every ride). Jack and my Papa are diabetic, so they got special privileges at all of the Disney Parks. I think they deserve some Disney magic benefits for everything that they go through every day!

EPCOT!

Ali's so strong

All of the grandkids and the Soarin' California sign

My favorite part about Epcot is all of the different countries that you can visit. Of course, we had to stop for a while in France! However, shortly after this was taken, my Dad decided to be...well...my Dad. All of the workers at the different countries are generally from those countries. And you know what that means? It means that my Dad tracked down workers from France to test my French knowledge. Awkward. But I passed with flying colors! They said my accent was very Parisian!

Of course we had to stop and get pastries, baguettes and fromage!

China

Morocco

Nana and Papa + all of the grandkids with the Epcot Christmas tree

Yes, the grandkids are Chinese

And Mexican

Day 2: Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Since both of those parks are pretty small, we decided to hit both of them up in one day. Totally manageable! Everyone had a blast at both parks.

African drum jam session at Animal Kingdom

Still jammin'

The tree of life! And the grandkids

Waiting in line for Expedition Everest. Love that ride!!!

Christmas tree at Hollywood Studios

Probably my favorite picture from the whole trip. Daddy, Jack, Erik, and I on Rockin' Roller Coaster. Like father, like daughter, right?

Tower of Terror. Notice how Dad, Mom and Uncle Jason are attempting to comfort the two youngest grandkids - they were terrified. Haha.

Christmas lights at Hollywood Studios! It was a crazy light show and it "snowed" (it was soap).

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

This was my FAVORITE day of the whole trip! Magic Kingdom is my family's favorite park at Disneyworld. Probably because it's just like Disneyland in California. The only negative? We were there on the most crowded day of the YEAR. There were so many people that they hired workers to stand in the middle of the pathways and tell you to stay to the right or left. It was crazy! There was a 2 hour wait for IT'S A SMALL WORLD. That's just messed up. But, thankfully, we had our All-Access Passes and those saved us. The park was also open until 2am and that meant some late night magic at Disney!!!! (For the older kids, at least).

Let the Memories Begin! Ali and the entrance to the park.

Best day ever.

Making a wish at Cinderella's wishing well (any guesses what it was??)

Splash Mountain (only the first 6 are part of my fam). Notice how my Nana hit under her poncho before the boat even went down the drop.

All of the girl grandkids. Love Ali's face! Haha.

Adventure is out there! I was a little too excited for Adventureland...

Me and Ali after Pirates of the Carribean - my most favorite ride!!!!

Nothing is more magical than Disney

The castle at Christmas has so many lights, it looks like snow is all over it!

We came off of Space Mountain to find Nana with Mickey Mouse ears that lit up for each of us and a firework show. MORE MAGIC! :)

We were about to leave after 1am when a worker announced that there was no line to see Tinkerbell. Earlier in the Main Street Parade, Jack thought that Tinkerbell was "totally hot." So, naturally, we had to stop in to say hello to her! But he was too shy to stand next to her.

One last picture of the castle before leaving

Me, Jack and Ali

On a run, my Dad stumbled across a town called Celebration that he thought was neat. Turns out, it's a Disney-owned community! We had dinner here after a day at the parks and on their Main Street, it "snows" every hour. I don't know what it is with Orlando and soapy snow. Enjoy your beautiful warm weather!!!! Sheesh.

Papa and all of the grandkids

Ali, Maddie and Me in the "snow"

Day 4: Universal Studios

There is only one picture from this day...mostly because it was a low point for a lot of us in the week. After an amazing couple of days at Disney, how could Universal even compare? We did, however, get a cool picture with the Universal sign.

Day 5: Islands of Adventure (at Universal Studios)

My family loves Disney, but we also LOVE Harry Potter!!!! The sole reason we went to Universal was to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. Can you say magical? Because it was. A

Waiting in line for "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey." It was a TWO HOUR wait, but it went by so fast! This was after about an hour and a half and look how happy everyone is! You got to walk through Hogwarts and you seriously felt like you were in the movies. If you get motion sickness (I do, but I was somehow okay), you'd probably hate the ride. But it had the COOLEST effects I'd ever seen. You have to go at least once!

Welcome to Hogsmeade!

So magical!

Yes people. That's the Hogwarts Express.

You know, I never did get my letter from Hogwarts when I was 11...maybe it got lost in the mail? Yes, we'll go with that.

Zonko's Joke Shop

Ollivander's Wand Shop! And yes, I got a wand too. I just got caught up in the moment!

Hogwarts!

This, my good friends, is Butterbeer. And it was delicious. Was this mug 10 bucks and way overpriced? Yes. Did I care? No, not at all actually. I was just too wrapped up in Harry Potter land to care.

The Three Broomsticks. We ate lunch here and I had (more) Butterbeer and fish n' chips. Delish!

Inside Honeyduke's Candy Shop!

For those of you who are fans of ABC's "Once Upon A Time," do you recognize this fine fellow? Why yes, it IS Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) from the TV show! We were about to leave The Three Broomsticks after lunch when I saw him sit down at a table. Puzzled, I (not so) calmly ran to get Ali to see if she thought it was him. We walked by 2...or 3...times to make sure it was our Prince.

And then we walked away.

But how many times do you get to see a TV star, let alone from your favorite TV show?!?! Ali just couldn't live with herself if she didn't ask for a picture with him. So, she went up behind him, politely tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me sir, are you Price Charming from Once Upon A Time?" To which he replied, "Yes, yes I am." She internally spazzed out for a few seconds and then kindly asked if we could get a picture with him. He said, "Yeah, totally! Do you want one with Snow White too?" Oh. My. Heck. Ali about peed her pants when he said that. We said of course and he said he would get her after we took a picture. Such a gentleman!!!! And in case you were wondering, yes. He did put his (very muscly) arm around me and pulled me close to him. Coincidence? I think not!

He thanked us for watching the show and then went in to grab Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin!). She was so nice! I didn't know what to do, so I just stuck my hand out and said, "Hi, I'm Rachel. I love your show!" And she shook my hand and introduced herself as "Ginny." Then she went to my cousins and sister and introduced herself to them too. She was such a sweetheart! Definitely a class act. Ali thanked them for "being so nice to us" and was in a lovestruck daze for the rest of the day. It was hilarious!

Maddie, Ali, Livvy, Ginnifer Goodwin and me

This "wanted poster" for Sirius Black actually moved. SO COOL!

It was definitely the best end to our Christmas vacation that we could have asked for. Thank you Nana and Papa for taking all of us!!!!

Our flight was scheduled to leave on New Year's Eve. We checked out of the house, went to Orange World (it had delicious oranges!!!!) and grabbed lunch after some shopping at the Outlets. The weather was a FABULOUS 80 degrees and we didn't want to leave! I, however, started coming down with a nasty virus...and slept through the New Year after getting home.

January 2012

Roomie Update

Roommate New Year's Resolution: NO junk food. This was us celebrating our last day of junk food by eating a whole dish of brownies.

Missionaries

A few days/weeks after school started, I got these from my lovely missionary in Argentina:

Can you say BEST DAY EVER??? Because that's what it was. That fabulous boy sent me three letters, a postcard, pictures, and a package with an Argentinian scarf and a tape. I was in heaven! He also informed me that this is his favorite picture of us:

It was at our Book of Mormon night class Freshman year. We were both dead tired, wearing sweats, and I was makeup-less. Why is this his favorite? Your guess is as good as mine.

I also had the (mis)fortune of taking my little broseph Erik to the MTC on January 18th, 2012. I missed all of my classes and picked him up at the airport with my grandparents. We went to breakfast at Kneader's and then Erik and I headed back down to Provo. We got to spend the whole day together talking and running errands. I took him to the Bookstore to buy a tape recorder so that he could send the family tapes. The afternoon passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time for him to report to the MTC. That process is TORTURE. We pulled up, some other missionaries helped him grab his suitcases out of the trunk, we hugged and I love you-d, and he walked away.

And the waterworks attacked.

He had been saying all day (like the little brother that he is) that he wanted to see me fall apart before he left. It took everything I had to hold it together until he left! You know me, I'm stubborn. But once he was in the rear view mirror, I lost it. I started cursing the vicious process that took away the people I loved for two years. It was pathetic. And in retrospect, I'm sure I looked like a fool blubbering behind the steering wheel all the way home. But needless to say, I'm gonna miss this little bro of mine. He'll do great things in Salt Lake City!!!!

Love ya bro

We also had a sweet ward activity called "Food Olympics." Complete with marshmallow capture the flag, shaving cream and cheetos, and feeding a partner ice cream with your eyes closed, it was hilarious. And messy. Especially with our friend David there.

Eventually, it turned into a food fight. And lemme tell ya, it SUCKS to have ice cream dry onto your hair and skin. SOOOOO sticky!!!!

But there you have it. A not-so-brief update on my ever so busy life. Until next time!