Rachael’s Rant of the Week (ok, month… ok, year… ok, it’s not even really a rant)

Hello all. This blog has been sadly neglected for the past year. And while I have been posting on mine, I haven't really been keeping up with all you Torrey Chums. I intend to remedy that. This post is one way in which that shall happen. Incidentally, if you feel like giving me a call to chat I would love to talk. I would call you guys, but my phone which lasted for 7 years went swimming in the ocean a year ago and I lost most everyone's number.

Okay, on with the show.

Tamales: Last year I went to our family’s annual tamale making day. I helped make a ton of tamales and in return I got to take some home. This year I am making my own from scratch (okay, I’m using some canned sauce too, but I am making my own sauce and supplementing with the canned stuff).   It’s just as long a process as I thought it would be, but it feels good to be productive and learning something at the same time. Maybe next year I’ll take orders and make some for friends (for a price, this is a LOT of work). The meat smells so good. I can’t wait to eat them!

Spanish: Speaking of learning. I am learning to speak. Spanish that is. I took 4 years in high school, but it didn't really stick with me. In high school it was really easy for me to use translations.com or some other site like that. I also didn't practice. It's still hard for me to practice today, but I have some people I know who speak it, so I bite the bullet and embarrass myself in front of them as often as I can. I am getting better so I guess it is worth it. It's also so worth it to go to community college just for how cheap it is per unit compared with how much Biola would charge me per unit. I wish I could patronize Biola, but I'm not made of money so I'm doing the best I can.

Jewelry: Every time I go to street fairs, or even nice shops at the mall I see jewelry that looks ugly. Or there’s something that isn't quite right about it. And of course the price is usually ridiculous. My personal aesthetic (not ascetic (a mistake I made in Don Rags once with Miss Howington and Dr. Peters both there to witness my shame)) is much more dainty and refined that what is "in" these days.

So, I decided to start my own business as a hobby. It’s pretty cool. I get supplies cheap online, but they have been of an excellent quality. Then while I’m watching movies with father I pull out my jewelry making stuff and go to town.

I haven't sold much yet, but some of the stuff has been selling so I’m not too discouraged. I did get a commission to make some bridesmaids’ necklaces for a friend’s wedding (pictured above). That was really awesome and she loved them. (p.s. shameless plug time: my site is decayintodust.etsy.com you know you wanna support me or at least tell your friends about me)

Road Trip: This summer I went on a road trip. It was a ton of fun. First stop was my friend Jonna’s in Utah. I did a lot of things there. One of which was that I was in a driving study. They put an EEG cap on my head and I look really funny :D (see above picture).

I also went on something called the "Living Room Hike". It's a two mile hike and when you get to the top the flat rocks have been arranged like chairs and a couch in a living room. And you get to look out at the whole valley of Salt Lake City. It's super awesome at sunset. But beware, it's a major couples' spot. There was a couple there when Jonna and I arrive that were having a DTR. They didn't even have the decency to talk quieter when we were there. Let me tell you, I heard things I never. NEVER. want to hear coming from the mouth of any boyfriend of mine.

Oh yeah. I went swimming (and floating) in the Great Salt Lake (aka Lake Bonneville). The water was salty and stung my eyes. But the gross part were the billions and billions of brine flies. The sand looked black. Until you walked on it and all of the black rose from the ground by an inch and flew out of your way, making a ripple of flies before you. It was cool from a "I'm parting the flies like Moses parted the Red Sea" point of view. But Moses was a lot cooler than me for sure.

On our drive around the lake we saw buffalo. Okay, they're really bison. But they were pretty cool.

Anyways, I'm sure there are other things I can write about, but I can't think of anything at the moment. Oh yeah, I bought a street bike last year and I got my learner's permit this summer. By the end of the year I will have taken the CHP course and will have gotten my full on license. 

Okay, I keep thinking of more things to write, but this is starting to get really disjointed even for me. So I'm going to end the post here. I expect ALL of you to share the awesomeness that has been your lives for the past year.

~Rach