Oh Mexico How I Miss You!!!

Since it has been been like two months since we have been home I figure it is time to give you all a recap of our Amazing Mexico Trip!! I am just going to warn all of you who read this that there are tons of pictures, and in no way will the pictures do justice to portray the awesomeness of this trip! Rach and I were given the opportunity to go down with the Flannery Family (anyone who doesn't know them is missing out, they are awesome people) to take engagement and bridal photos for our friends Shanae and Josh! This trip was more than we could have ever expected and I can't wait to get back to Akumal, Mexico some day! So enjoy the pictures.

I promise I really was more excited about the trip than this picture may suggest. But after 4 hours standing in lines to get through customs I was about ready to kill someone, and I think everyone else was right there with me.

Finally we are here!

Josh and I checking out the stingray. I was freaked out, Josh not so much.

Everyone reading on the beach

Our first adventure of the trip was visiting a ruin called Tulum! We really enjoyed visiting the ruins to feel the connection with an ancient world that was quite similar to our own.

Check out the awesome stair case and the amazing beach.

Welcome to Casa Savasana! This is the Flannery's home in Akumal and it was where we stayed for the first few days of our trip. This house was totally awesome!

The Casita where Rach and I stayed

One afternoon we sat and watched this amazing artist paint this mural on a cement couch.

Our second home away from home was a resort called The Hacienda. This place was really neat because it wasn't over the top fancy, but it was really nice and the grounds were absolutely beautiful!

Emily, Kellie , and Shanae

(Some of our friends who we went with)

Quite possibly the coolest part of our trip was the fact that we were able to get into Chichen Itza to shoot pictures for Shanae and Josh. Don't tell anyone but we had some hook ups who got us in way early so we could climb the main temple :) It was truly a once in a life time experience! (there will be another post documenting our visit to Chichen Itza. There were just too many pictures for one post!)

Watching the sun come up over the jungle was way cool!

Heights aren't exactly Rach's favorite thing but she made it up and down the 100 ft+ temple like a champ! No problem whatsoever!

Rach doing her thing

My favorite part of the trip was going to visit the amazing people who live in the village of Santa Rita! Shanae's dad Kevin heads a foundation that does humanitarian work for the people in this village, who literally have nothing. It was such an awesome experience to be able to interact with these people who are so truly happy and have so little. It helped put into perspective how blessed we are to have what we have!

Josh and Shanae and kids

Unloading the goods that we brought for the people

When we got to Mexico, Kevin heard about a blind man who lived in the village who used to be in a Mariachi band. One of the villagers said that more than anything he wanted a guitar. So Kevin went out and bought him a guitar. I think the pictures portray how truly appreciative and happy this man was for this gift.


The kids who lived here were awesome. They truly are an example to everyone about how to have a positive look on life. They are all so content and happy with what they do have.

All of the kids absolutely love Kevin

Yes this is me getting my butt kicked by a bunch of Mexican 12 year olds when I tried to play soccer with them.

Our next stop was to a ruin called Ek Balam. All of the ruins were very interesting because there were certain things about each of them that tied them into history and stories that we read about in the Book of Mormon. This ruin was amazing to see how this all tied together and the place had almost a certain spirituality about it.

Of course Rachael found a puppy she wanted to bring home.

Kellie, Emily, and Rach at our authentic Mexican Barbecue.

Some of the people we met on this trip had us over to their house where they brought in a taco vendor who made the most amazing tacos that I have ever eaten in my life. And I ate way more than I should have! It was way cool to be able to do this and mingle with locals and get to experience real Mexican life. I prefer this kind of travel instead of the Tourist, sit on the beach trip!

Daniel, Yenny, and Carmen. Daniel works with Kevin. He and his awesome family hung out with us all week. It also helped because he drove us around everywhere!

Our final home away from home, Ikil. This place was way nice, Minus the scorpions in the shower ha ha. Rach and I were put in the honeymoon suite and it was really nice.

The Cenote

(This was like an underground swimming hole, it was really pure water and it was beautiful)

That about wraps up our trip. It is a trip that I hope I am able to make again some day! To finish up I would like to throw out a special thanks to Josh and Shanae for getting married and giving us a reason to go on this trip!
And I would like to make an extra special thanks to Kevin and Tammy for making this all possible. We are truly grateful for the opportunity that you guys gave us to come along with you and get to know you and your awesome family! It will be hard to top this trip!

Chichen Itza

Well the main reason we went here was to shoot Shanae & Josh's groomal photos. We woke up at 5am to walk over from where we were staying to the ruins & were let in and taken to the main temple where we climbed to the top (terrifying for me who is deathly afraid of heights). If any of you know much about this temple you know that they no longer allow you to climb it because it is one of the seven wonders of the world.. well shhhh.. DON'T TELL! We waited for the sun to rise and then quickly started shooting so we could finish before the place opened to the public. Tourists seeing a girl there in a wedding dress would be a BIG NO-NO.

I must admit that I felt extremely rushed & wished I could have spent more time there, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity & I am so grateful to Shanae, Josh & her parents Kevin & Tammy who gave me this chance. It was an unforgettable adventure!

Here are a couple photos from their session & then the rest are of the ruins when we actually visited the day prior. If you'd like to see more photos from their shoot check my photography blog. (Should have them up asap!)

The cenote at Chichen Itza

If you look REAL close you can see Tyler & I standing in front of the main temple.

This is the observatory, I thought this looked way cool!

I love this shot because this kid was so cute & it really shows Kevin's personality. His name was Miguel and as our friend Abel, (who is practically family to the Flannerys & also works as a guide at Chichen Itza) was telling us all about the temple , Miguel was trying to interrupt and sell us things- he was so persistent! Kevin started teasing him of course trying to make him smile which was obviously easily achieved as this picture portrays.

This photo reminds me of the movie Road to Eldorado, if you've seen it you know what I mean!

There were people EVERYWHERE selling things. I had to take a picture of this guy because he had hand carved everything you see plus more that wouldn't fit in the photo & he is sitting there carving more. Everything was so detailed and intricate it was simply amazing.

Sorry for the sudden LARGE images. Here is the whole group posing for a pic together at Chichen Itza.

Kevin, Tammy, Josh, Shanae, Emily, Kellie, Me & Tyler

Tyler and I just before entering the ruins- it was HOT!

While we were walking over to the ruins we spotted some cool animals. There were iguanas everywhere though it was kinda crazy. This guy was sunbathing on a rock & was HUGE so I had to snap a pic.

Because of the humidity, it took my camera a little while to quit fogging up so this image of the peacock is kinda foggy. But it was cool to see this wild peacock & even cooler that he showed us his beautiful feathers!

Thought I'd throw this last pic into the mix.. it was taken in Akumel but I think it's beautiful!

Since Tyler got to express his gratitude to the Flannerys in the last post, I thought I would just conclude this by saying thanks again to them & that I am so grateful that they trusted in me & chose me to be their photographer. It was a once in a lifetime adventure & I feel so lucky. I am so thankful for the friendships I've made because of this trip & I had the time of my life! You guys are like family to us now! Counting the days until we can go back--THANK YOU!!

Ogden Marathon 2010

It's kinda surreal to think back to exactly 2 weeks ago & think about this experience. It almost seems like it didn't happen at all!

I woke up at about 4am to eat and get out the door by 4:30am. Tyler was a sweetheart and drove me to Ogden so early in the morning & then he went straight back to bed while we loaded a bus that took us to the starting line. It was freezing cold so I was grateful to find lots of bonfires to use to stay warm before the race. We waited around for what seemed like forever (really probably only an hour and a half) before we were told to head towards the starting line & wait for the gun to go off! At this point I had a million emotions going through my head- mostly excitement- I was running my first official marathon!

We heard the gun go off & we all cheered with excitement-- although it still took us about 5 minutes to cross the starting line. The first 5 miles were funny to me because you just look to the sides of the street and find clothing everywhere that runners are shedding as they are warming up.

I was lucky enough to have a running partner, Cameron, who runs at the same pace as me. We kept each other going the entire race.

Some of you may have known already, but one of my knees had been giving me grief when I got higher in miles. In preparation for this on race day I brought along some Tylenol & took it at the half. I didn't have any pain at all the whole race! It was definitely my only fear of what could cause me to not finish, so I was very grateful.

Here we are at mile 17 just about to enter the Ogden Canyon! I was feeling great & even better when I saw my Coach, Dave & he ran with us for a while keeping us motivated.
This is at mile 23 I believe & we had just finished running through the canyon. My family was there it was such a surprise & encouraged me to keep going!
They made me signs that went along with the song Unstoppable by Rascal Flatts. It was so thoughtful, Rascal Flatts is one of my all time favorites so it meant a lot to me!
Here we are at the finish about to cross the finish line! The last stretch down Grant was probably my favorite part of the whole race. Your body is screaming at you to stop yet you can see the finish line in the distance & your body fills with excitement and you push yourself to keep going.
Our official time was 4:44 & we were very happy with this considering our goal was under 5 hrs & crossing vertically :)
My family came to greet me at the finish & it was extremely emotional for me. As you can tell by the pictures I was crying. I hugged my Dad first and he asked me if it was hard & I just started crying and said Yes! I knew that I would cry at the finish, it wasn't a surprise to me at all. The night before I told Tyler I knew I would because even then just picturing myself crossing the finish line I got teary-eyed.

I was extremely grateful that my family came out to support me. It would have been a lot harder to finish if they weren't there. They made me feel extremely special for completing this goal of mine & I love them so much!
Me hugging my brother Aaron. He told me he was inspired by me & he is now training to complete his first 1/2 marathon along with me, Tyler & our little sister Karli in Disneyland this September! We are extremely excited to say the least & I am extremely proud of them for committing to doing it.
Me with my biggest fan :)
Karli giving me a victory hug :) I'll be giving her one when we cross the finish line in September!

Tyler's Mom, Amy, came along with Carson to cheer me on! Thanks you guys :)

Me with my parents!
Me and my niece Emerie
Me with my brother Tim & sister in law Megan
Me with my beautiful sisters, Devanee & Karli.

I am definitely grateful for the opportunity I had to run this marathon & I couldn't have picked a better course for my first. It was extremely beautiful the entire way & very well put together. I am also grateful to have found Team in Training to help me train & prepare for my first marathon. It gave me the opportunity to give back & raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma. Thanks to all those who donated money, I raised more than my goal! A few donations have trickled in even after my race & right now the total raised is at $1,815! So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for supporting me in this endeavor. It was an unforgettable experience that I will cherish forever. One of my life long goals has been accomplished but I don't think I'll be retiring from running anytime soon.. next up.. 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland this September!

Yep- It's true - I'm running a marathon!

The Ogden Marathon to be exact. When is it? May 15th - ya less than 2 months from now! Am I freaking out? Um.. not so much.. because I have been training since the beginning of this year with an awesome team. Some of us are running the Ogden marathon & some are running the Vancouver marathon. This team was formed through an organization called Team in Training. What is Team in Training? It is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) groundbreaking charity sports training program. All of us on the team are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives. I am running this marathon in honor of all those who have battled or are battling blood cancers.

I have committed to raising $1700 to support this cause & I have barely passed the halfway mark. With less than one month left to collect money, I need your help! Your donation will help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission of finding cures & saving lives. What's more, it's fully tax deductible.

I am so grateful for all the support that I have received so far in my training and in raising money for this great cause & I appreciate every little penny you can give, because it makes a difference!

Donate securely by clicking on the link below to my fundraising page:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ut/ogden10/rgapinski

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
[♥Rach]

P.S. Enjoy a few pics from some of my "long runs" with my team

St. Patty's Run - 18 miles

A great friend and I after our first 8 mile run back in January

My first 10 mile run back in February

An awesome girl I met through this team and I posing next to a lifesize cardboard cutout of our coach Dave! We thought it was pretty funny :)

...Contest!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let ya'll know that I am giving away a FREE photo session in honor of this month of LOVE! Head on over to my photography blog for details on how to enter! CLICK HERE

xoxo Rach

Keep yo hands off my mama

Tyler and I came across this hilarious commercial for Doritos. We can't stop watching it! Check it out here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MRTjS3YO0A