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Coming to Bookstores Everywhere! So our shark drawing from Kid Pix has got me thinking... Pretty soon here, this whole Twilight mania is going to wear off, kids can only be interested in vampires for so long. Then they are going to need something bigger, scarier, toothier, and romantic-er! I have come up with the answer, the next teen romance craze! TIDE LIGHT Can true love change a bad-boy, murderous carnivore into a mild mannered, devoted boyfriend? Find out! In the newest teen romance series to hit the shelves, TIDE LIGHT!

Seriously, This Time I was not Exaggerating So, way back in June of 2008 I wrote this blog post about my giant mutant hands . I wrote the post because I wanted an excuse to draw a tentacle arm. Little did I know that would become the most popular post on my blog! Since it was posted some people have cast aspersions as to the real size of my hands. (I am looking at you Bella of the sarcastic quotation marks usage!) So to put this to rest I have been prevailed upon by Jessica, who writes a blog all about ladies with large hands , to post a picture with a ruler. BAM! I told you so! I expect you Bellas out there will soon be demanding a picture of me proving that I am 5'4'', but you are all just going to have to trust me on that one. p.s. Also as you can see from pictures, Handsome Bryce is a foot taller than me. Which means if I were much taller than 5'4'' he would be pushing 7 feet, which means he would be an NBA player, which means I would not need to be looking...

The Game Probably most of you know about BYU's game last Saturday. We lost the football game, but Bryce and I won our own personal game that we play. It is called: "Outwit the Orange Shirts". The Orange Shirts, also known as the Events Staff, are humorless, radio carrying, people. They do not watch the game, they only watch you. BYU can make the greatest play of ALL TIME and their faces register no joy, only the steely glare of enforcement. Their favorite thing to do is to confiscate things, especially food and beach balls. So we have undertaken a vendetta against them, to foil their food stealing ways at every turn. With each game our smuggling will be more extravagant. This week we smuggled in: Homemade beef jerky. (I made this in my smoker for the first time, it was tasty, but there are some things I would do differently next time.) And giant ginger cookies. (I would not do anything different on these next time!) The Orange Shirts inspect your bag surprisingly thoroug...

Kid Pix Monday By popular demand Kid Pix is back! (aka Bryce and I liked making the other Kid Pix drawing so much that we decided to do it again.) Perhaps it can become a tradition? This week's Kid Pix was inspired by this article at CNN. Apparently sharks are in danger of extinction because they have delicious fins. I wouldn't know about the fins. I eat cows, and chickens, and pigs, and tofus because I am pretty sure none of them can eat me back. (Okay, pigs probably could eat me.) Sharks however, could easily eat me, so I don't want to provoke them. Perhaps Kid Pix Monday should also be weird coincidences in Rachel-and-Handsome-Bryce's-childhood-day. As kids both of us were pretty obsessed with drawing pictures of sharks. Probably many people are fascinated by sharks, but did most people turn in homework depicting a feeding frenzy in the margins? It's just that sharks are so powerful and terrible, like a torpedo of death that swims and jumps, and has magical pits...

Wide Load Revolution When I was in elementary school and junior high I had a purple/blue bike with mustard colored accents. Now that I think about it, the colors were terrible, but at the time my main concern was the seat. It was one of those wide seats with springs on the bottom. I remember feeling certain that people would look at the bike seat and decide that I must have a big bum. (It didn't occur to me that people could look at my actual hind quarters to determine their size.) I have been using Trent's bike for a while now. It is classy blue and silver, but oh man, the seat is terrible for me! I used to wonder what it would feel like to be "rode out of town on a rail", and now I know. It is a pain in the-but it looks so slim and athletic! So I have suffered. However, as Handsome Bryce and I were riding this week I had an epiphany: Correlation does not imply causation! Having a wide seat does not make you have a wide rear! Of course a wide seat is nice when you do...

Flatty Flat Bread Looking for a job stresses me out. There is one thing I can always count on to cheer me up though, making bread. I like to make bread anytime, but I especially like it when I am feeling out of sorts. I love the way the warm dough feels, and the miraculous way it rises, (even after I punch it down with violence). It is comforting to me because even when there are so many things outside of my control; I know that if I just follow the directions, and apply them to my little bowl of ingredients, I can make one thing that is perfect. Also, I can have a snack after all my perfection making. Also, my magnificent sister, Sara, gave me this beyond awesome apron: Now who can stay grumpy in such a fabulous getup? *p.s. The flat bread recipe I used is here. The pictures might be misleading, because I did not cook the bread in the microwave. After cooking the bread on the stove I moved it to the microwave because I wanted it to remain soft and flexible. Normally I would move it t...

Hiking Mount Timpanogos This weekend Handsome Bryce, Kason, Ryan, and I all hiked Timp. I was really proud of us, because this is the fastest we have ever climbed it. (Only 3.5 hours to the saddle!) I have to say, Tony Little, your exercise machine gave me GAZELLE POWER. I bounded up that mountain and never felt like I needed a break! (Ok, I did need three breaks on the second to last switchback, because it is super steep with loose dirt, and one time to take off one of my pairs of socks, but that is all!) Ryan took all of these pictures, that's why they look good. In the past we have hiked in August and it has been chilly, but this time it was Fa-ree-zing! That's why I am dressed like a baked potato. I know I am looking like a hobo in these pictures, but seriously, I cannot impress upon you how cold it was. I am wearing seven layers in these pictures and I still would have totally gone for a trash bin of burning paper and those fingerless gloves hobos have. Summit! Goat! The ...

Kid Pix Sara and I used to spend hours playing with a kids drawing program called "Kid Pix". Our kid pixing mostly revolved around an elaborate story about Carmen Sandiego, and the blundering side-kick we invented for her, named Bow-zie. I was pretty excited to learn that Handsome Bryce also spent many of his formative years hypnotized by Kid Pix. It has a feature called "draw me" where it describes a...thing... to you and asks you to draw it. This creation was a dual effort between Bryce and me: Beautiful isn't it?

Desert Dessert We are going to a party tonight, generously put on by the professor Bryce is working with. Everyone is supposed to bring a dessert. At least that is what I am guessing we are supposed to bring, because the invitation actually said "Desert Social! Bring your favorite desert!" Now, I know a lot of you, out there, often wonder if you have what it takes to be an English major. If the concept of a "Desert Dessert" amuses you for more than three hours it is highly possible that you might have what it takes! Here's how I made it: First I made a giant vat of vanilla pudding. You can use boxed pudding, but making pudding from scratch is almost exactly as hard as making pudding from not-scratch, and it is cheaper! I'll put the recipe below. I put some graham crackers at the bottom of my pan. Then I mixed half of the pudding with a container of Cool Whip. Spread that on, and then added another layer of graham crackers. My dad taught me that while it is p...

Today I caught a giant Katydid today. I gave him a baby tomato. He poo pooed it, literally. I also got a call to interview for a job on Monday. I poo pooed it, figuratively. PSYCH*! I am totally excited! *Psych about the me poo pooing my interview, the Katydid poo really did happen. P.s. Katydids are not too good for bok choy.

I Wish I was on a Cruise It takes me a long long time to adjust my emotions to match a situation, longer than it does for most people, I think. I lost my job yesterday and today it hit me, I am pretty bummed about it. So instead of moping about it here are some pictures of our happy vacation, and some things I am happy about: I am happy that Handsome Bryce has more than just good looks going for him, he is also a genius and I am thankful that he has a position as a research assistant so we don't have to pay tuition. I am happy for family close by, and far away, to commiserate with and to tell me not to worry. I am thankful for Mt. Timpanogos for being there so I have a super fun hike to look forward to. I know he already had a turn, but I really am thankful that Bryce McEwen married me, and that he will cuddle, and pray, and play Wordwarp with me all day when I lose my job, even though he has homework to do.

Hooray for BYU! This Saturday was the first BYU football game of the season, and man, it did not come a moment too soon. Handsome Bryce McEwen and I have been, so far, unable to get interested in baseball so we refer to the end of summer as the "sports drought" because of the lack of football and basketball*. (The Olympics are the only remedy to the sports drought.) The first football game is like taking a cold swim in a non-sticky fizzy beverage, after a 2 month walk through the desert. We were so excited for this game, excited to see who the new quarterback would be, excited to see all the new recruits who replaced our old favorites; but mostly excited to just be back in the stadium screaming and yelling and jumping on the bleachers. Game Day Toes This game did not disappoint. It was exciting down to the last play. Best of all BYU beat Washington, with Jake Locker who is supposed to be the best college quarterback in America. Also hooray, maybe people will stop saying that ...

Living Room Redo A couple of months ago Handsome Bryce helped drive his brother, Trevor, to an internship in Detroit. Bryce was gone for 2 nights and 2 and a half days. In case you don't know I am a major pansy about being apart from Bryce, and I knew I needed something to keep me busy while he was gone. So Sara and I hatched a plan to redecorate my living room while Bryce was gone! As soon as Bryce stepped out the door, (and as soon as I got finished sniffling) I moved everything out of our crowded living room, and set out to find a fabulous rug for our floor. I called my mom and told her about my plan. She said "You should look at Lowe's they have nice rugs." I said "Pbbssssh! Lowe's! They have only hideous rugs!" Then I went to every furniture store in Utah and hated all of their rugs. So I finally trudged to Lowe's where I found the perfect rug and it was marked down 40%! I know, I know, your mother is always right. The rug was an important part ...