Single Digits!!!!!

Only 9 more days until I get to marry my best friend in the whole wide world...how did I get so lucky?? He is so stinkin amazing, funny, handsome, charming, and wonderful! I feel like I am so unproductive because all I can think of is him and how excited I am to marry him!
I never thought I would be the girl who is pathetically in love, but I have to admit its getting the best of me...
Wedding plans are almost all finished(thank goodness) and next week all my friends and family come into town!!! I cant wait to see everyone!! Its gonna be a good week, with the best ending:)

Coming Soon...Rachel Coons!

Well. I think it's about time I write an update on what is going in my life and how my plans have done a complete 360. I owe it all to one person. Bradley Coons:). Here's the story:

Starting in January of this year I decided I wanted to go on a mission. I prayed a lot about it and decided it was what I wanted to do and I knew that the Lord would support me in my decision. I completed my papers and received my call on March 9th to serve in the Sau Paulo Interlagos Brazil mission and would report to the MTC on August 3rd. (Which turns out to be the same mission my dad served in...but dont worry, he's happy about me getting married:)) I was ecstatic about my call and could not wait to serve the Lord and preach the gospel in Brazil. Coincidentally on that same day, March 9th my best friend Brad Coons returned from his mission in Australia... We had been best friends since my family moved to Danville, CA my freshman year of high school. Throughout high school I always secretly had a huge crush on him but we never dated and so I wasnt expecting anything when he got home. About 2 hours after I opened my call I get a phone call from Brad and we talked on the phone for a while. It was amazing how easy it was to talk to him and how nothing had changed. We were still best friends. Little did I know that the next couple months would be the craziest/happiest time of my life.

To make long story short, he decided to come up to Provo the last couple weeks of the winter semester which turned out to be a great idea because we started dating on April 3rd. At first it was a little rough trying to change from being best friends to dating each other, but over time it has been great that we know each other so well. Because he has been my best friend for 6+ years I trust him with anything. After winter semester I decided to go home for the spring semester while he stayed out to take some classes. The distance stunk, but it really made us realize how much we care for each other. I realized I never want to live without him. We got engaged the day he got home on June 17th:)

Its all been a whirlwind of decisions and planning, but I know that this is the right decision. We will be getting married on August 20th and then heading back to good ol' provo for the fall:) I cant wait to spend the rest of eternity with Brad. I absolutely adore his whole family and I cant wait to become a Coons in 1 month!

TEMPTATION

Someone make me these

....ok thanks

Me and Forest Gump Would Get Along

A lot of people have been asking me about my recent obsession with running and how I got here. I really believe that ANYONE can become a runner. If I did it anyone can. I used to HATE running and always thought people who ran marathons were crazy, but I've seen the light, been converted, and I will never go back.

Yes. There was pain. In the initial runs I got blisters, muscles soreness, and my toenail fell off...gross. I know. But now I run more than I ever have and I dont get any of these things!

Here are some of the things that helped me love running:

1. Read the book Born To Run. It's inspirational. My sister and I have always had a blood oath with each other that we would never run a marathon. You read this book and want to go run 10 miles. Literally. It happened to me. Basically the book taught me the only thing not making me not run was my mental incapacities.

2. Start small. You can't expect to run a marathon or any crazy distance unless you train. A long time. Sometimes I get impatient with my body, but you just have to remember the end goal and stick to it. Some days stunk. Some days were awesome. Expect to have both, but just keep running. When you do feel the pain, that's where you need the mental strength to keep you going.

3. Pick a race date and sign up. Make sure you have time to train. Running is fun. Running in races is amazing. The energy and excitement on race day will make you never want to stop.

4. Download some podcasts. This was my lifesaver. I listened to endless hours of the podcast "how stuff works". I am now full of tons of useless knowledge...but it gave me something to get my mind off the hard miles:)

5. Set a schedule and stick to it. You can look up different schedules on google depending on what race you want to run. I adjusted mine to make it work for me.

6. Eat healthy. It changes your runs. It changes your body. It changes your life.

So I finished my first marathon last month and I still love running! I definitely want to do another, but right now I am just enjoying running for fun. I run about 10 miles 3 times a week, something I never thought possible for my body...but it is! Try it! Go out and run today, just for fun, and see how you feel. If you want someone to get way too excited about your new running craze just talk to me. I would be glad to tell you how awesome you are and how much you are going to change your life:)

"4 years old! 4 years old!"

This past week I have been nannying for a family in my ward whose parents went to Italy for 12 days. It has been a blast. I dont have many friends home, so I've made knew ones...they are a 13 and 9 year olds...

You might think im super pathetic, but there are many perks of hanging out with girls that are a decade younger than you. They are: 1)I get to hear all the middle school drama and dont have to stress about it. 2)I am ALWAYS the coolest one there just because I am so much older and "wiser"...they have no idea that I am actually kinda weird. 3)I get to be boy crazy again and it's totally normal 4)Best of all, I get to listen to as much Justin Beiber as I could ever imagine (I might have to purge myself from him for a while after this week.)

In New Zealand my friend and I always got made fun of for acting like we were 4 years old...I am now coming to grips with the fact that that might actually be true:)

Nature Calls

I have this thing about the outdoors...we have a very intimate relationship. I'm not one of those "interesting" people that only wear chacos and Patagonia, but I definitely consider myself "outdoorsy". One of my favorite places to go is up on a mountain near my house to a place called Rock City. It's only a 25 minute drive from my house and it's oh so beautiful. There are rocks like these everywhere that people can climb on:

What is there not to love? If you haven't tried loving nature, you should probs give it a try...

My Sister is Famous...and I love Rugby

Click here to see why

I decided at the beginning of winter semester to not continue playing rugby and a lot of people ask me if it's hard to see my team make it this far and not be on it. Honestly. I still love rugby but I will never regret the decision to quit. BUT, you better believe I will be the loudest fan on the sideline Friday and Saturday. Bring. It. On. Penn. State.

Too Much Free Time

So Im pretty sure no one actually reads this blog, but I am home for the summer again and find myself having way too much free time. Last summer I babysat the BEST kids in the entire world and I cry every time I think about working for someone else...its pathetic. I dont really want to talk about my new job other than the fact that I am getting paid. And they have lizards. And the house is a dump because the lady is a hoarder. But I am grateful. Promise.

As for what I do during the other part-time I dont work my life consists of these things:

1)Gym, gym, more gym, and running-Call me an addict...

but hey, there are worse things to be addicted to

2)Play Dance Central-The day has come. Im obsessed with a video game.

3)Hang with Banana-Little sisters are the best thing that happened to this earth. Enough said.

4)Cook-I could do it all day everyday if eating it all didn't make me look like I went back to New Zealand. I just made these for my family and everyone loved them:)

and finally....

5)Talk on the phone. Way too much. Long distance relationships stink. More than anything. Thank goodness for cell phones and unlimited minutes.

I probably should look into making a couple friends? All my friends are either at school, married in Idaho, or in stupid London. I know I know, the Single's Ward is always very promising...

Did Ya Miss Me?

K so I figured this blog would just be a journal to keep people updated while I was in New Zealand, but im rethinking my decision. Im bored and need something to do. I figured "blogging" is a complete/amazing waste of time, so why not?

I'm home for the summer anticipating my return to Provo in the fall. I cannot WAIT to see my best friends again. Roomates/New Zealanders/teamates/family. You

never realize how many people you care about until they are out of your life for 9 months. Im working this summer for a family that lives nearby. They

have 5 children, 2 of which are the most adorable baby twins. Half of my photo album on my phone consists of them. Ill share only if you agree to think they are as cute as I do:

Dont worry...they're not always naked...we just swim a lot:)

I absolutely LOVE this family. I LOVE my job. I LOVE the kids. I feel so blessed to be able to have it. Im learning so much and will probably cry my eyes out when I have to go back to school. Is it possible to have baby withdrawals?

Other than that I am just hanging out for the summer and loving being home:) Im excited for August because I get to see BOTH my bestest friends and play A LOT.

Ok I know you wanted them so heres more pictures of the babies

New Zealand Poem

This last weekend we had a ward talent show featuring all the BYU students. One girl wrote a poem about our New Zealand trip. There's tons of inside jokes, but its still pretty funny so I decided to post it.

Years from now if I am ever feeling sad
I can look back on this trip and all the fun we had
From arriving off the plane with eyes oh-so-wide
To immediately start exploring the scenic country side
We traveled along in the vans so trusty and true
Green machine, white trash, red rumbly, and smurf—that one’s blue
On we went from the Tip Top of the island way down to the Deep South
Loving each flavor we put in our mouth
Within five minutes at each campsite we made a tent city
But were gone the next morning, lickety-splity
There was so much to do just in Rotorua, I recall
Some rafting, some sledging, or rolling in a big ball
In a Hamilton evening we reached a spiritual height
Much different than Manganui we saw at that morning light
Hamilton also gave us the chance to make a new friend
For some of us girls though… we wish the contact would end
Our minds were blown as we saw each wonderful sight
Blown almost as much as on the ferry where we almost took flight
The perils of Mount Doom we did check off our list
The journey was so bad, Julianne cut her wrists
Some highlights of early on we remember
Frisbee, black water, avoiding bad weather
The long daily drives, Adam wouldn’t stop singing
And Christina just couldn’t seem to stop eating
Of course there was Alex and her blue suit
And Carly’s poor legs were to big for her boot
All Rachel and Tressa wanted to do was play touch
But Rusty couldn’t join because boy/girl would have been too much
We had no time to hinder though a suitcase and sleeping bag were lost
Luckily, Jas was still clothed but Van’s top half while sleeping is what suffered the cost
Soon we made it to the end of our two week route
But I guess it wasn’t complete without seeing Cromwell’s big fruit
Invercargill, finally, we made it at last
No one was safe from a biker riding past
Arriving didn’t mean we had time to slow down
There’s a beach, mating seals, and head to Queenstown

There we found bungy is not self-inflicting murder
And celebrated after with a juicy Fergburger
In town we biked to school and church, even in rain
But at least now our butts are not in so much pain
Church was a treat with Bro. Naunau’s leading-slash-dancing
But Matt and Erica did not notice, they were too busy romancing
Classes did have to start, but not too much dismay
Jennie just taught us naughty words… that made it ok
The rest of our classes we had it sooooooo rough
Except for kayaking…. Which actually was tough
Remarkables was a trip some also found as a trial
Becky even sprained her ankle, to fly out in style
However, the learning in these classes would have been in vain
If it wasn’t for reflecting, 8 minutes in pouring rain
Speaking of which while I reflect on the awesome bushwhacking we do
I guess it taught me; I can do hard things too
Climbing, tramping, and surfing were not the only things to cheer our mood
How could we ever forget about all the delicious food?
There was plenty to make anyone’s taste buds shout
Of Cadbury Chocolate, and finding out what hokey pokey really was all about
And finding even more to get your arteries in a jam
“fush and chops” followed by a Tim Tam Slam
Eating, playing, even sharing lice helped us get to know eachother so well
Perhaps too much as now we can even distinguish flatulent smells.
As the trip went on the closer we got
All I remember is when – I – fought
But now as it about time for us to all take flight
I wish you all never receive another sand fly bite
And that we can think of our time we did spend
Laugh, and look back, because SIT did happen

It Was A Flow Experience.

Best thing to do on Saturday night when there is nothing to do in Invercargill.....movie hop. Alice and Wonderland came out and of course we wanted to see it, but movies here cost you an arm and a leg so we saw 2 instead of 1! After a full day at the beach me and three girls that I hang out with a lot went to the movies. We got our lil popcorn and diet coke and "movied" the night away. The next movie we wanted to see was Valentines Day(totally trash, dont see it) but we had to wait for it to come on so...naturally we waited in the bathroom in between movies. Yes that's a toilet we're sitting on
When we were walking out of the second movie I found a FULL box of popcorn sitting right on top of the trash as if it were a gifts from the Gods. It was perfectly hygienic. I swear. It took a little bit longer for everyone to catch on about how cool it was, but they eventually did. We got a little outta control and im sure the locals were freaked, but we were flowing the whole time:)
20 points for anyone who can guess who were imitating in the picture above....

SIT happens

SIT (Southern Institute of Technology) is the school that I go to here in New Zealand. We have the wonderful pleasure of taking our outdoor classes from them. Every other week they teach us a new section in outdoor recreation like surfing, kayaking, backpacking etc. Then on our off weeks we go on a trip to “experience” our new skills.

Our teacher, John Kapa, aka fun sucker, makes us do debriefs after every single thing we do. I like to call it our testimony meeting of the outdoors.There are 35 of us. It takes a half an hour to hear about everyone’s feelings. People say things like "At the beginning of the day I had a bad attitude and hated it, but then I decided to be happy and I was!" Or "I have learned so much about myself through this experience and I wouldnt change it for the world." Its super hard to take it seriously and not laugh the whole time. The best part is when someone gets choked up talking about a piece of grass they found and how it has made them such a stronger person...

Anyways…Our first trip we went to Borland lodge to go kayaking and I wrote about it in a previous entry. It was an enjoyable trip even though I strongly dislike kayaking but it was still a good experience. The next trip was not as amazing. It rained the whole time and we had to kayak again but it only lasted for three days so it was bearable. Our last trip that I just got back from was a three-day backpacking trip up in the Remarkables. It was beautiful. I didn’t take very many pictures. Thank you google images for the second one...It rained a little on the second day and we almost froze our bums off the second night when it snowed, but all in all I loved it. Our last trip is in two weeks and we’re going rock climbing. Im excited:)

Dunedin

So since I have a car we take advantage of this possession quite frequently. Road trips galore. One of our favorite places to go is a city 2 hours North of us called Dunedin. The world’s steepest street is in the city. We decided to drive up it in our little ghetto car. Bad idea. We almost died. The pedal was on the floor, I was in the lowest gear, and I screamed my lungs off. Don’t worry Tressa got it on video. Getting to the top was only half the challenge. I decided that on the way down the only way to not die was to carve the hill. So we didJ. All the Asians took pictures of us. I know they don’t do justice to how steep it actually is, but here it is:

I am an angel:)

So I wrote in a past blog about going to the” meat market” in Hamilton. Well….there was this interesting guy I met named Jase. I got an email from him a couple weeks ago and this is what it said:

Hi Rachel!
Hello angel from the land of California where the sun just keeps on shining! It’s me Jase; you met me at church in Hamilton. How about that, we used to be in Heritage Halls together! I hope your summer is going well for you! It must be very exciting going on a road trip around New Zealand! I wish I could go on a road trip; although I am from here I’ve never seen the entire country! Lame sauce I know. You will have to tell me all about your adventures!

Rachel, since you are going to be here for the whole semester, I wanted to know whether you would like to go on a date with me. I thought dating would be a perfect idea since you are studying in my country and would also like to get to know someone indigenous as well. My guy friend would like to come as well, so we could go on a double date, perhaps with one of your friends. I know you are travelling around a lot, but I thought it would be a great idea, I don’t suppose you would get a lot of dating opportunities while overseas here and I would like to see you again.

I’ve included a pic of me in this email in case you don’t remember what I look like. Are you on facebook?

Again, it was a pleasure to meet you Rachel!
Jase.

Angel from the land of California?!? The first line did me in. I was crying by the end. I wanted to reply just to see what he would say back to me….but I decided my safety/virginity probably isn’t worth it. A free meal isn’t even worth it. Who is this kid? I know all of you are probably dying to see the picture so here it is….dont judge:

Top Ten Invercargill

Since I havent had time to write very much Im gonna sum up my last two weeks in Invercargill with a list of awesome things I’ve done:

1. Kayaking trip: One of our classes while we are here is an outdoor adventures class. Our first section was learning how to white water kayak. We took a three day trip to a river nearby and kayaked everyday on the river. It seems that it would be super easy to stay afloat going down measly rapids…but…its not. Plus once you get flipped you are stuck in the kayak until someone in you group comes to save you…while you’re going down rapids. Scary scary scary. It actually was a pretty good experience and I learned a lot, but kayaking is NOT my new favorite hobby.

2. Queenspark: Best part about Invercargill-there’s a huge park in the dead center of it. I mean huge. We go there as a group all the time and play ultimate Frisbee and touch rugby. Its perfect, convientent and awesome

3. Mags: Mags is Tress’s and my homestay mom. She’s an older widow, but it one of the most amazing ladies I have ever met. She cooks us the BEST meals I’ve ever eaten every night and she’s so wonderful!

4. Rugby: Its everywhere. I love it. Tressa and I got on a touch team our first week here so every Thursday night we get to go play with some of the locals. Its not super intense but its so much fun

5.Trip to Curio Bay: Tressa and I and our good friend Rusty decided one day to take a trip out to Curio Bay which is like an hour and a half away. Im not gonna say how we got there because my mom might freak….but lets just say our thumbs were important for the trip. It definitely made things interesting We also stopped by the southern most tip of New Zealand.

6. Surfing: Its my new addiction. Best thing I've ever done in my life. Im not very good yet....but its still so awesome.


7. Winning a car!!!: Since when do I win things? Well....my luck has changed:) 5 of the people in my group entered in a competition for our school oreintation week. The task-keep your elbow on the car as long as possible. Easy peasy. The competition went from 5pm-8am when they were going to draw names for whoever was still on the car. Only 3 other students entered with us. What a joke. Our strategy? Pay off the other people. All 5 of us BYU geniuses chipped in 60 bucks and bribbed the students to bag out. Us Americans know how to play the game...So now we have a car to take trips on the weekends and whenever we dont have class. Were gonna sell it when we leave so hopefully we can make back what we spent on gas. I love my life:)

8. Zipline: We found this sweet park near our house that has a zipline! Lets just say I’ve almost peed my pants multiple times.
9. Blue man suit: So one of our friends here has a straight up alien suit. Our new favorite thing is to go to queenspark and just mess with people. A couple of us are all thinking of buying different colored suits so we can all go crazy together. They are kinda expensive….but ive decided you cannot put a price on the ability to do outrageous things and not have anyone know who you are. This suit will come in handy.

10. Bungee Jumping: Holy freak. Words cannot describe how amazing it was! Our group took a trip to Queenstown last weekend and group of us went together off the fourth tallest bungee jump in the world!!! I have a sweet video of my jump that ill put on facebook when I get the chance. Mom you might not wanna watch it....just remember I lived!!! This picture was taken before I jumped....

Day 12, 13 and 14 –Greymouth, The Glaciers, and Cromwell

The rest of our trip was basically just traveling from one place to the next. In Greymouth we stayed on a beautiful beach. Our whole group watched the sunset together.

It was here that we were introduced the Satan’s best friend….sandflies. Let me just put it in perspective for you. First off, they are the worst thing that happened to this earth. Sandflies make mosquitoes look like ice cream on a hot day. Not only do they eat you alive ALL over your body and make you itch like crazy, it hurts sooooo bad when they bite! The best part of it all…they aren’t afraid of insect repellent. So whatever you do, they will find you and they will bite you.

After we left Greymouth we drove through the Haas pass. We stopped and hiked to a gigantic glacier and it was awesome! The river that came our of the glacier had huge ice chunks in it.

Cromwell was a dead town. There honestly is nothing to say about it minus the fact that we slept there.

Day 10 and 11-Christchurch

I think Christchurch was one of my favorite towns because of the huge park that was in the center of the city. On Sunday afternoon our whole group went and explored the park. We found these awesome swings that are like teeter totters and spent about 30 minutes on them

Then we went and checked out the botanical gardens. The flowers were so beautiful.

The day before our adventures in the park our group explored the city. Tressa and I found this huge poster that had the countdown to the rugby world cup and almost freaked. We took tons of pictures by it and went crazy cause we were so happy. We miss rugby so much!!:(

Day 7 and 8-Wellington

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and was an awesome city. It was our last stop on the North Island. There wasn’t much to do so one night sp we spent a night on the town and had dinner in the city. My friends and I chose a delicious Asian restaurant that was cheap but some of the best food we’ve had here. My best friend here named Tressa is OBSESSED with food. She was drooling over this meal for days. Here it is at night:

While we were walking down the streets we saw a street vendor selling bracelets and doing hair braids so I got these:

The next day we took the ferry that left from Wellington and took us to Picton. It was bad windy and freezing, but we still had lots of fun.

Day 9-Picton

After we got off the ferry we drove less that 2 miles to our holday park. We stayed right on the water and it was beautiful. The town was like population 1000. Two of my friends and I decided to go for a night walk up in this forest near the beach and explored around the town.

We only stayed one night in Picton then drove to Kaikora. This park was right on the beach as well so we got to spend the whole day exploring the rocks and hiking on the coastline.

Day 6- Tangariro Crossing

After our caving experience we drove to Tangariro crossing and happily found out we were staying in cabins, which means BEDS! Everyone was so excited to not have to sleep on the ground for a night, which was super nice.

Our main event here was to climb the mountain called Tangariro Crossing….also known as Mt. Doom from Lord of The Rings. This was one of my highlights of the trip.

It is a 12-mile hike roundtrip, but you can choose to summit, which takes an extra two hours. The reason it takes so long is because it doesn’t have a trail...you have to go straight up the mountain. 45-degree status. We didn’t realize that we would be stepping in loose gravel either so it would be on our hands and knees the whole way. I vow never to go on another stair stepper again after the hike. It was cloudy when we got to the summit so we couldn’t see in the crater but it still felt good to be there.

By the end of the day we were utterly pooped but it was a great experience!