My Life in Pictures!

I got this neat thing from AMY!!!! You try to figure out the answers by the pictures!! (most are pretty self-explanatory) :)


1) My age:

2) Place I would love to go:

3) Favorite Place:

4) Favorite Thing:

5) Favorite Food:

6) Favorite Animal:

7) Favorite Color :

8) Place Where I Was Born:

9) Where I Live:

10) Past Pet:

11) Past Love:

12) Best Friend's Nickname:

13) First Name:

14) Middle Name:

15) Last Name:

16) Bad Habit:

17) First Job:

18) Grandma's Name :

19) What College I went to:

20) What am I doing right now :

LoOk WhAt I dOnE!!!

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30.Ridden a rollercoaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Driven a bus

Oh Lagoon, My Lagoon!

So, last Saturday I went to lagoon with some friends. I really don't like lagoon because I really don't like roller coasters or being in large crowds or being really hot and sweaty or waiting in line or paying a lot of/any money to doing any/all of those things. So, when my best gal pal invited me and Chase I really didn't want to go but I knew Chase really did, and he was letting me decide, so I kept changing my mind about what to do.

Finally! Chase and I argued about it because I had decided he should just go without me but he really didn't like that idea. So, because I love Chase and I DO like the tilt-a-whirl, we went to Lagoon and....IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!

The group of people going started out being huge but the people that actually ended up coming were me & Chase, my best buds (besides chase) Laurie & Keith, and then Keith's friend Nick and Chase's friend Brandon. Have you ever just had a bunch of people get together that don't really know eachother that well but it seems like they've all been friends all their lives? Well, that's pretty much what this was!

Everyone got along with everyone else so well! We were paired off every way imaginable and it was SO FUN! I didn't even get to go on the tilt-a-whirl and it was hot and I was stinky and we did have to wait in line BUT I got a discount to get in and chase brought lunch and water and I wasn't the only one not going on all the rides and everyone was so AWESOME!

My favorite part were the western pictures I made everyone take!

It didn't seem like anyone wanted to at first, but my camera was dead so I wasn't going to have ANY pictures! But they all said they had fun! And we got the CD with all the images for free! :) The guys were outlaws and Laurie and I were saloon girls!! Brandon picked the sombrero and had me draw a mustache on him with my mascara and all the guys had to have shot-gun shells across their chests and guns. Only Nick got the bag'o'money though!

There was the really MEAN one where everyone looks like they're goign to kill you:

The WEIRD one where no one knows what they are doing...which is the one they chose to print out...for some reason:

The SMILEY one where Brandon and Chase look like cartoon characters:

The COOL one where everyone looks...well, cool:

And the SILLY one with everyone shooting Nick...but Chase:

Wedding Log stardate 7.28.2008 AKA: the dress

I think I have found my dress!!!! I have to see if they can do the kinds of alterations I'm wanting though.

There have been other dresses that I thought were "the ones" before though. And I've only been engaged for a month! :) (I enjoy fashion.)

Dress No.1

This was one I saw online and liked immediately. It was summery and flowy and simple but elegant. And the back of it is really cool! It's an X across your back and then ties together at the ends and the tail falls down the back of the dress. It was a little low cut but it looked so beautiful on the model I figured I could make it work. Unfortunately I have quite a bit more chest to fit into the dress... So I cried when I tried it on because I THOUGHT it was my dream dress and it ended up looking kind of trashy on me. :( So I moved on from that dress and tried on....

Dress No.2

It was from David's Bridal and I had a picture of it in a magazine that I carried with me so I had shown pretty much everyone. I tried this one on before Dress No.1 and it was still flowy and summery and very simple but more modest. And we were going to see if we could put a similiar back strapping as Dress No.1. When we left that is the one I wanted...UNTIL I saw....

Dress No.3

This is one I just saw in a Bridal magazine. It was very similar to Dress No.2, which at the time I was attracted to because of it's simple beauty, but it was a little TOO simple and Dress. No.3 was more interesting. It was flowy and and I LOVED all the detailing. Too bad they don't sell it anywhere in Utah. You can ONLY order it online. I was a bit weary of ordering my WEDDING dress online and it was also a little low cut. I'm sure we could add some fabric to the bust or something but it would end up looking very different I think. It's perfect just how it is and it just may not be for me. Luckily I found....

Dress No.4

THE ONE...at the moment. It is more grand and fancy than what I originally had in mind but it's still really light and the top comes up to a modest but comfortable height. And it's still interesting enough for me with the diagonal pleats. It looks grecian, which I love, and chase will too. I'm going to look into getting different detailing on it, maybe lace or some type of flowery design because, as weird as it is, I feel like the diamondy detailing might be a little too fancy for me. I dunno! We'll see. But right now, this is the one! :) Shout out to MARY'S BRIDAL!

Wedding log stardate 7.28.2008 AKA: the proposal

So. I am getting married. To pretty much the most wonderful guy ever...yeah. I will be Rachel Norton by this time next year! And I am so freaking excited!!!!

For those of you who haven't heard, which isn't many, Chase proposed to me at church on June 22nd 2008.

He got up to go to the bathroom right before the end of the sermon, nothing suspicious. When the pastor finished up and after we prayed he said "Okay. We have one more announcement and I think you'll all like it." Then Chase walked out onto the stage from behind a door with a bouquet of red roses and pink lilies.

(Now I had decided Chase was my one a while ago but every time I asked him about getting married he explained that he just didn't know what would happen in the future and wouldn't be proposing for a while, if at all. By this time I had accepted the fact that I was just going to have to wait and see what the future would hold for us. And from what Chase said it seemed like it would be another decade!)

So. my first thought was that he was doing something special for his mom because she had been sick for a while. (although he did look especially nervous!) And I just sat there staring because a little voice inside my heart said "HE'S PROPOSING!" but another little voice inside my brain said "NO HE'S NOT! YOU HAVE ANOTHER DECADE!" so I just sat there staring, secretly hoping he was proposing, until he said "Rachel, would you come up here?" And I shakily stood up, and when I say 'shakily' I mean sh-a-kil-y, I shaked up on the stage, only vaguely aware of the entire congregation watching, the whole time the voice in my brain shouting that he WAS NOT proposing so that I didn't get my hopes up and have them dashed against the rocks if he didn't. When I got on the stage I stopped with my butt facing the audience so Chase gentley moved me over by the microphone. Then he said something about me being his best friend for the past year and a half and how he's had a lot of friends come and go but he wasn't going to let me go because he was lucky to have me in his life at all and wanted to keep me in it forever. (That wasn't it exactly but, sadly, it was all kind of a blur. An exciting, totally awesome, lovely blur.) Then, he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring!

That is when I started bawling and said yes.

We got up and hugged and were engaged happily ever after.

Blog virgin

Wow. My first blog. I always thought I would wait until marriage but I couldn't help it. It's hard to avoid what everyone around you is doing.



It's different than I thought it would be. You always have this picture of what it will be like but you can never be fully prepared. It's not all like it is in the movies. More awkward. But I feel so grown up. Like, before I blogged I was a child. Now, I'm a WOMAN!





*music note* Like a blogvirgin! Bloggin' for the very first time! *music note*





Well, enjoy!

More to come...