Matt+Rachel Taylor

Glory Days

2012-02-09T21:48:00.001-08:00

As we walked the halls of Rigby High going to the basketball game last night, we came across this gem!

This is Matt, senior year. He won state in the 200m.

And his hair is nappy.

He has just gotten back from a Mexican cruise where he got his hair "braided". It wasn't what he was expecting to say the least.

He also set a few records which still stand to this day in the 200 and 100.

Speaking of random gems, I found this CD at Target. I remember making my mom buy this so I could listen and dance to My Heart Will Go On over and over and over.

Rae's Bachelor Breakdown

2012-02-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

I have 4 things to say about last night's Bachelor episode.

1. Ben F. is by far my LEAST favorite Bachelor. I'd rather watch Jake Pevelka over him. His humor and personality bore me to death.

2. I LOVE KACIE B.! I picked her from the first episode to win, and I hope she does! I'm 3 for 3 picking the winner from the first episode!

Did ya see Kacie's shorts from the group date?

We are TWINNERS. She shops at Target, too!

3. Blakely is by far my least favorite contestant. Homegirl, you are THIRTY FOUR. It's time to move on. And those tats? C'mon.

3. This face KILLS me! LOL! My mom and I could not stop laughing at how many times Courtney did this.

4. I am beyond excited for Emily's season coming up! She is so stinkin cute!

When Mama Comes to Town

2012-01-31T19:48:00.000-08:00

Juju came to visit us in Idaho over the weekend! It was BEYOND a blast, and we were able to do so many fun things. My mom hasn't been here since we got married in 2008, so it was nice to change thangs up and have her come here. We missed you, Dave!!

My mom got to our house before we got off work. She sent me a text while I was working that said, "This is the first time I've ever just RELAXED!" I should've known she wasn't relaxing. She organized ALL of our kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. I am sooo grateful, because they were a chaos zone! THANK U!

The organizing didn't stop there! Closet time! *Not pictured is all the bathroom drawers re-organized.*

Yay!

Juju's first night ended with us going to Zumba. It was mom's first time, and she killed it!

Next, came the arrival of Toad and his girfriend, Cass. They stayed the weekend with us, too! Here we are trying to hang a picture that eventually never got hung :) It was QUITE the adventure.

These guys served in my Texas home ward when I was in highschool/right before I left for college. My mom literally fed them twice a week or more. These boys are her sons for real.

Here we are at Sam Jensen's farm up in Firth.

Me shooting the AR-15.

These two will be getting hitched soon.... :)

All of is after a delish dinner at Famous Dave's!

Mom's roast she made for us before heading back to SLC. I swear it was just ten times better knowing she made it.

Taco Ring! Beans, beef, bell pepper, cheese, and corn all wrapped up in crescent heaven.

I always leave notes in different places when I leave Texas. Julee left us this note where she knew we would find it!

We loved every second of you being here, Mom!

Diet

2012-01-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

The following post is a testament to why a diet was in immediate effect once I got back to Idaho.

1. Pappasito's fajitas. BEST fajitas in Texas.

2. Pancho's. It's kind of like "Mexican" food. But not. It's been a familia fav since its conception.

3. Dave HOOKED IT UP on breakfast before I had to go to the airport. DELISH!!

4. Mom's brisket sandwiches, beans, fries, and bottled Coke. Heaven and angels sing.

5. Zio's Artichoke Spinach classic. My BFF, Liz, and I have split this dish since middle school.

6. I found my all time favorite childhood cereal! Honey Nut Clusters!!!

7. Mom also found her favorite childhood cereal! Weed cereal! Jk mom :) A video of this picture will be coming soon.

8. Pei Wei Mongolian beef and fried rice.

9. Matt's favorite: Thirsty's straw/banana smoothies. Wanna keep Matt happy while shopping? This is the trick.

10. Grandmommy's Christmas dinner. This takes the CAKE! Turkey, rolls, baked corn, salad, & loaded mashed potatoes.

11. Los Cucos fajitas. Second to Pappasito's for sure.

13. Asian city hibachi grill. Steak, chicken, fry ry ^_^, and veggies. I've been waiting over 3 years to go here, and we finally made it happen!

YUMMMM!

Our Life Lately from the Hipstamatic App

2012-01-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

1. Flew back to Idaho after the Christmas break. More to come on those adventures soon!

2. We have been playing A LOT of Monopoly lately. Too much actually. It's the electronic banking edition which is actually pretty fun! You have your own little debit card and everything. I never played Monopoly growing up because my family has the board game attention span of a 3 year old. :)

This property, aka BrownTown, caused a lot of controversy...

Cree was feeling a little overwhelmed. You are a Monopoly virgin no more!

James got really screwed owning only BrownTown and 2 airports. But he's still smilin.

3. Sleeping in with our warm yawning pup is fantastic. She can sleep in later than me-which is very impressive.

4. Wrestling matches in our living room. This picture cracks me up.

It's funny how guys in their mid twenties will turn into 12 year olds as soon as a wrestling match is provoked.

Some questionable things going on here....

Ali vs. Bryan again...

It's crazy how a robber hat can look totally different on two different people. Ali looks like a serial killer...

while Bryan looks like the nicest human to ever live.

5. Scary horse mask that Matt has been unsuccessfully trying to scare people with since he bought it.

6. It finally snowed last night. Don't worry, Mom, it will probably be melted by Thursday.

Juju comes on Thursday!!!!

7. Spinach smoothies. In an effort to stop drinking soda and eat healthier/workout more frequently (and after eating out for 2 weeks straight in Texas), we have added these bad boys to our diet. Yes, they look like green baby poo, but they're decently good! I used ice, water, 2 bananas, frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen spinach, and maybe a little sugar. Blend it, and you gotta healthy breakfast! Thanks Mofrad's for this healthy idea.

Rachel's Raves: 2011 Edition

2011-12-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

My RAVES this year:

Mio Water Enhancer. Takes your water bottle to delicious, calorie-free fruity heaven. Thanks Matt for the recommendation!

Michael Angelo's frozen dinners. I am a fan of FAST and yummy lunches. These things hit the SPOT! THE best Italian frozen food. My favs are the chicken parmesean and egg plant parmesean.

Milani Liquifeye Pencil eyeliner. I can only find these online, but it's worked well for me...and I have the worst luck with eyeliner that won't stay put.

GAP CLEARANCE section. Let's just say they had an addtl. 40 percent off their clearance today. Amazing. And they always have cute stuff if you're willing to dig thru the chaos.

Unity by Carlos Santana boots. I have them in both brown and black and they're super comfy and match with everything.

Ipod Shuffle. This thing is so cute and tiny, and it clips right to your shirt(I tested it out today on the treadmill, and it stayed put). I hate lugging around my phone at the gym for music, so I love the ease of this lil guy. For 40 bucks, you can't beat it.

Sony EX headphones. AMAZING sound quality, and they do NOT fall out of your ears.

MEXICO popsicles=POPSICLE CREAMY HEAVEN. You can find these at Wal-Mart. Seriously, the best things ever.

Parks and Rec. This show is HILARIOUS. Matt and I LOL at least 5 times watching it. If you've never seen it, you should watch starting at Season 2. The first season isn't so great, but Season 2 is so so funny. We both agree it's funnier than the Office.

BODY FANTASIES: Vanilla Spray. I know it sounds like a strip club, but I've used this stuff since the 6th grade! It is just heavenly and lasts all day. I get compliments all the time from it.

Secret Fresh Effects. Smells soooo great, and you will never have B.O. It is seriously magical.

Top 11 of '11

2011-12-20T17:20:00.001-08:00

Here's our top 11 highlights of 2011...in no particular order.

What are YOUR top 11 of 2011?

Our pup, Murphie turned 3 years old!

Matt started his accounting internship at his work. As you can see, he gets a LOT done. Here's Mikey and Matt dressed up as Siamese twins for their work Halloween party.

Mikey and Cree got hitched!

Matt started his videography business. He even booked an out of state wedding in Texas his first year. Way to go!

We were fully converted to Iphones November this year. Matt has black and I have white. We will never look back.

We finallyyyy were able to head down to Draper, UT to visit my BFF Mary Fishsticks and her awesome hubby Taylor. We almost didn't make it due to the CRAZIESTTT blizzard we drove in for 3 hours. She's having a baby boy in THREE weeks. SOO happy for you guys!

While we were there, Matt got to meet his hero, Jimmer, at a BYU game.

We celebrated our THREE year anni! Time flies when you're having fun! :)))

Cooked our first kabobs on the barbi! LIFE changer.

Finished student teaching, and graduated college!

Added two new vehicles to the familia. I think we like white cars.

Upgraded from sleeping on an air mattress to a REAL bed!

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T19:04:00.001-08:00

Jump for joy...it's Thanksgiving!

We spent the day with Matt's lovely parents and the rest of the Taylor's. I made my Grandmommy's corn casserole. Thanksgiving isn't complete without it.

This year we:

Watched the Cowboys win. Yay!

Played Quiddler and Call of Duty

Ate lots of course

I have a lot to be grateful for this year.

What comes to mind is:

-finished with college 4.ev.er

-super supportive and loving parents

-a cute pup

-tony romo did NOT choke tonight

-TWO awesome families (miss yall in Texas!)

-a hubs who's too nice for words

This is such an odd picture.

The Taylor Gang

I decided that I will make some college grad announcements to send out to friends and familia. Matt took a few pics of me for it! I'll be a teacher someday--hence the books.

Sister-in-laws!

The wind was out of control.

Finished!

2011-11-18T19:00:00.001-08:00

Words can't describe how happy I am this day to be finished student teaching! For over 16 years I've had pretty much the same school routine, and now I don't. It's a strange but awesome feeling. My last day in the fifth grade consisted of a field trip to the Festival of Trees and a popcorn/pop party. Yay!

Quality over Quantity

2011-10-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

BYU-Idaho isn't exactly your typical college.

And I definitely didn't have the "typical" college experience.

Example 1: There's no sports here. Only intramurals. LAME. So basically there's absolutely no school spirit.

Example 2: People are just straight up crazy here. Walking through the Gardens today, I came across the knights of the round table. Literally. They were all speaking in Olde English accents. I had to sneak a picture.

Freaky.

Example 3: I got married after my second semester of school. Not that this is a bad thing, but I didn't get to form a lot of close girl friendships that I had imagined in coming to college. But, there is 6 lovely ladies that I just love and I'm so grateful for our friendships. And most of their names all start with A's!

Anyways, I kinda feel like I'm in middle school where you make lists of your BFF's but I honestly feel like we don't tell the people we care and love what we feel enough in life! So...Ashley S., Alyssa W., Alex W., and Ally M., Amanda W., and Monica A., thanks for making my college experience so fun!

We might not get to hang out as much as we would like, but you girls are sooo sooo great and I love you!

I'll take quality over quantity any day :)

I got to have lunch with Alyssa and Ashley (and her adorable baby, Ledger) today! Alyssa teaches Zumba in Canada, and Ash and I taught her our favorite Zumba routine in the parking lot. I'm sure we looked ridiculous.

Maybe WE are the weird ones?

LOVE yall!

Logan, UT Trip!

2011-10-15T17:15:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago, we made the 2.5 hour drive down to Logan, Utah to visit Cree. Well. The main reason was to see Matt's favorite college football team, the Colorado Buffs, play against the Utah State Aggies. Matt was pretty stoked, we booked the hotel (that had a bombdotcom breakfast...eggs, sausage, bagels, yogurt, waffles, juice....yes pleassee! I actually called the hotel to make sure they had a waffle maker before I booked it. I'm serious about my breakfast.) for the weekend, and we were on our way.

As we spent time in the lobby, we saw lots of people with Colorado Rams attire on. Turns out the Buffs weren't playing.

Thanks, Cree. =)

The game was fun nonetheless. It was Utah State's homecoming weekend so the game was PACKED! It went into 2 overtimes, which meant the game was over 4 hours long. AND we stood in the student section. The Aggies lost sadly, but it was fun to pretend to have school spirit for a weekend! We will def be back soon, Logan!

The lovebirds at the volleyball game.

All of us still smiling after the heartbreaking loss.

LOVE the fist pump at the bottom of this picture.

So emo right now.

Mikey and Cree's Engagement Film

2011-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Matt (the videographer in the family) shot this video for Mikey and Cree. They're getting married December 17th this year!

We wanted their film to tell their story. Mikey and Cree wrote letters back and forth for two years while Mikey was on his mission. They both love to read, so we incorporated their letters and books into their video. I love the way it turned out!

Blog Header

2011-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

By the looks of our new blog header, it might seem like we are a little full of ourselves.

We aint. :)

That is a real shirt I found online (minus the picture of us on it).

It's hilarious and awesome.

Sincerely not cocky,

Matt+Rachel

My birthday, Bar J, an engagement, and a wedding

2011-10-09T20:27:00.001-07:00

On 9/9/11 I turned 22! Matt made the day extra special with pretty sweet gifts! This year I received: Jordan basketball shoes, a tennis racket, and some PROOF sunglasses (they're sunglasses made of wood!) Check out the ones I got here!

It was literally 80 degrees in our house hence the pant leg.

We went with the Taylor Gang to Chili's for my bday.

This is the one and only reason why I choose Chili's every year. The chocolate molten lava cake. My fav dessert on earth!

Mikey bought me a gift card to DownEast!

We also went out to eat to our favorite steak place, Stockman's with the Ash's.

Most peeps blog really cute pictures of themselves. Not us.

Every summer, the Taylor/Briggs family heads up to Jackson Hole, WY to go to the Bar J. It's a dinner and show place. They feed you a great steak dinner and then they have a singing/comedy show after.

Out of the kindness of his heart, Grandpa Briggs pays for ALL of us to go each year.

Speaking of Gpa Briggs...he was re-married this summer! This is pure proof that love is ageless! They both lost their spouses a few years ago and said they'd never re-marry...until they met eachother. It was only the 2nd "for time" marriage they've had in the Rexburg Temple.

And these two lovers got engaged this summer, too! Who would've thought Mikey would get married in the same year as his Grandpa?!

Texas Summer Trip

2011-10-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

Over the summer we visited my Texas family. We ALWAYS have the best time in Houston, and I HATE leaving.

We were excited about seeing this goober.

My lovely friend, Hollie and her hub, Matt with their new baby girl, Gracie.

This dog is my mom's favorite child now.

My cousins, Nikki and Lisa, gave birth within 3 weeks of each other. Meet baby Sophia on the left and Lily on the right! Love these girls!

BFFs since birth! <3

My mom's two children...

Meet Miss Beasly.

This is my mom's doll from when she was a child. It's freaky.

Matt and I were sleeping in my parent's room because Granny was using my room. When Matt awoke in the morning, this scary doll was staring at him. In his drowsiness, he thought it was my mom looking at him. It took him about 10 seconds to unfreak himself out and realize it was only this cute little thing. So the next day, we were all talking at the table. I snuck away and grabbed Miss B from my mom's room. I placed her face right next to Matt, and he about died. That doll scared the crap out of him...again.

Priceless.

This is his Miss Beasly impression.

We had a DELISH mexican dinner with Dave's side of the family. Even though Dave is my "step" dad, these lovely people have always been SO loving and giving to me and my mom. I could not ask for a better family. LOVE YOU GUYS!

Later on in the trip, we headed to the beach to stay in this haunted 100 year old mansion. It was legit haunted. We spent most of our time chillin in the pool.

Needless to say, nighttime was scary time. NO one wanted to be left by themselves. I'm just so glad there were over 10 of us staying there or else it would've been a LOT scarier.

We discovered Julee's inner Beiber!

This was definitely not as good as I remembered as a kids :(

Dave and baby Lil.

Prince Arnie.

Somehow a lot of arm wrestling matches broke out? Oh P.S...John F. Kennedy had a presidential meeting right where those two are arm wrestling. Pretty cool!

This match was a tie. They stayed in this position for about 3 minutes! Very impressive, Mom!

The room Matt and I stayed in.

A quarter of a century!

2011-07-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

My lover, Matthew Arnold turned the big 2-5 on 7/27! Making a blog post on his actual b-day crossed my mind at least 5 times, but it didn't happen & I'm sorry!! It's crazy to think that he's half way to fifty :) This is the time of year where we are 4 years apart in age, and I can say I love older men haha

Some of my top 5 things I love about this cute guy:

+Remember that one year you bought me an Xbox I never asked for for Valentine's Day (so you could play Madden?) Later that year, I bought you a memory foam mattress pad you never asked for for your birthday. These were bitter moments in our marriage, but now we laugh about it...kind of. :)

+Your love for your brothers. He would do anything for those 2 boys, including joining a professional tennis league this summer with James when they've never played beyond recreational tennis.

+He works and goes to school full time to take care of us.

+Matt hasn't bought a single piece of clothing (besides his coveted John Wayne & Lil Wayne shirt) since he's been home from the mission. This means I get to buy all of his clothes. Which I L.O.V.E. to do!

+I honestly haven't met someone who doesn't like Matt. His witty humor & easy going personality are really admirable traits.

Here's to many more quarter of centuries to you my love!

The pile has begun

2011-06-22T20:09:00.002-07:00

In 11 long days, I will be sippin pina coladas with my ma on the beach and dancing my butt off in the disco with Michael in Edy in COZUMEL, MEXICO!

My family is having our Tate, Hodges, Sanchez, Taylor reunion at an all inclusive resort. Ohh yess. My goal was to get in ultimate beach bod shape before this trip by Zumba-ing twice a week with Alex+basketball. But having two sprained ankles for the past 3 weeks has not helped the cause. I'm super sad because Dave and Matt won't be able to come due to work. :( But I could NOT miss out on this. My uncle is trying to convince me to go sky diving. N.O.T. going to happen.

The clothes-going-in-the-suitcase pile has begun! I called Granny, and she said she's been packed for 3 weeks already! Love that lady :)

My blogging skills have been lacking since I now work at least 55 hours a week.

The breakdown is: 40 hrs. a week nannying+5 hrs. a week cleaning a house+1 to 2 photo shoots per week+hours editing pictures=tired Rachel.

My inability to sleep at night has magically been cured. I hit the pillow, and I'm out! Lately, Matt has been building his viodegraphy portfolio. He comes with me to my engagement shoots and weddings, and records videos for my clients! We are building an empire basically :)

We are speaking at church on Sunday AND teaching teenagers about dating on Saturday at Youth Conference. Woooo!

Ok. I'm tired.

11 more days...

Memorial Weekend

2011-06-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, we have gone up to Matt (and now Mikey's) boss' (Dale) cabin over Memorial Weekend. Mikey got to join the club because he is currently dating Cree, Dale's daughter. It was freezing, so the extent of our outdoor activity was going 4-wheeling. After our 4 wheelers got stuck in the SNOW 4 times, we decided it was time to head back to the cabin. There is never a dull moment with the Phillips family. From late night talks about ALL of our first kisses to dancing to J.Bieb, it made for a hilarious weekend. Just to give you an idea what their fam is like: Dale and Jackie adopted 5 black kids...and let's just say I'm pretty sure we were all friends in heaven.

In addition to the cabin, the Phillips' take us to the PlayMill in West Yellowstone. The PlayMill is a theater where they put on 2 musicals and one comedy play every year. We saw "High School Musical" over Memorial Weekend and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" last weekend. If you live within reasonable driving distance to W. Yellowstone...go to the PlayMill! You won't regret it!

Just got back from riding! Our matching green hoodies were legit.

Isn't Cree's hair awesome???

We take the same pic in the same spot each time we go to the cabin.

This is year #3!

Mud in the contacts=not fun.

Now these two will have to carry on our picture tradition! Cree wrote Mikey his entire mission, and now they are inseparable!

Before each play, the emcee asks if there's any birthdays in the house. It's usually Matt who has to go up (even though it's not even close to July 27th), but since Mikey was the newbie, it was his turn. Besos!

Pregnant in Heels

2011-05-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, no I'm not preggo. And I actually don't own a single pair of heels. It's a sensitive subject.

Flipping through the channels, I stopped on this show, "Pregnant in Heels" on BRAVO. Basically, this lady is a maternity expert, and gets paid load of mula to give advice to preggo ladies.

Today's episode literally blew me away. This couple paid to have a team of 10 "experts" ranging from poets, fashion designers, writers, bloggers to come up with a baby name for their unborn boy. The team had to present the names and the picky couple decided on their favs.

Some of the chosen names were: Bowen, Tucker, Asher, Holden ?, Steven?, Bode, and Miles.

This was one of the members of the expert group. Fabulous!

THEN, if that wasn't enough, they gathered a large focus group, and the focus group picked their favorites.

All of this for ONE baby name. I'm sure they paid thousands of dollars for this service. Now, don't get me wrong, I've had my first boy and girl names picked out since I was 7, but America, this is over.the.top.

But yet I watched the entire episode :)

...nooo she d'int!

Recently

2011-05-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

So I try not to use my personal blog get all businessy with my photography work. BUT if you have 5 extra seconds, check out my photography blog HERE. I did a shoot with my friend, Alex. Pretty much the BEST pictures EVER because she is so gorgeous. She is hilarious and you should follow her cute blog HERE. THANKS AGAIN SOOO MUCH ALEX!

Oh! I got a job nannying. FINALLY! I'm nannying 4 black kiddos, and they are just so cute. I start tomorrow! I haven't woken up earlier than 10am since April, so we'll see how this goes!

Here's my favorite picture from our shoot this weekend. Hands down.