today

dear blog,

today in primary the clarks were gone so they hired brother litchfield to teach the lesson. i didn't realize how many kids were in the class, but today they were ALL there PLUS a new kid PLUS TWO visitors. final count: THIRTEEN. can you please just pause and imagine thirteen squirmy 5 year olds in a half-size classroom with not enough chairs? yeah, it sounds like H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS... but in reality, i had the time of my life.

poor brother litchfield

the visitors were from england and bro. litchfield was asking if anyone had ever gotten a priesthood blessing and this little girl just YELLS out... "MY DADDY DOESN'T BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST" hahaha i'm not quite sure why, but it was hilarious.


later on we visited grampa in slc. he is such a crack up. we went to gramma's grave and and all the kids were taking a picture with grampa and maddie hollers "gramma is tickling me!" ahahah CREEEPY! she actually said grandpa but it just sounded like that... i love that we can laugh at this.

overall it was QUITE a lovely day...
despite the fact that i have work at SEVEN IN THE A.M.

love love,
roche

p.s. erik told me he was engaged today and it was a BIG FAT LIE. (except i totally believed him... que oso)

p.p.s. sorry i'm failing with the "i love my friends" posts. i guess my friends aren't as awesome as i thought... JOKE. they DEFINITELY are... i've just been tres busy.

p.p.p.s. RICHIE GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL! (post about my amazing bro to come)

p.p.p.p.s. i got a pedicure last week and it was HEAVENLY. i was with harriet and i was like "what should we do?" and she was like... "get a pedicure!" (you see, harriet is deathly afraid of feet/having her feet touched, so this request seemed UTTERLY ridiculous) i didn't actually believe her until we were leaving the nail salon with shiny toes good as new. (post about ho ho to come)

p.p.p.p.p.p.p.s. i lost track of the number of p's that i'm on... i want to go to africa. SO BADLY. also, i want to go to mexico, or more like i miss it A LOT. or more like i miss my AMIGoS a lot (jessica and lanae are on missions, sarah is married and colson is soon to be...i dont even KNOW what the deal is with everybody else... katie, if you are reading this, let's do something NOW)

... i guess i should quit the post scripts because i think they are longer than the actual script... woops.

locks of love

dear blog,

did i mention that i cut off all my hair?

before:

 after:

 (okay fine, i didn't cut it myself...)

i am donating it to locks of love. donating my hair is always something that i have wanted to do. it's one of those things that i can cross of my bucket list or whatever. however, i reallllllly miss my hair. A LOT. i don't know how to handle my new do. its puffy and short and i look like an old lady-- not like super-old as in cute, like middle-aged as in burnt out soccer mom. which is funny because i think it looks so drastically different, but hardly anybody notices and most people say it looks exactly the same just shorter (which is FALSE). normally when i get a haircut it obviously takes some getting used to and that normally happens with in a couple hours or a day, but i have had this new cut for an ENTIRE week and i still don't like it. aaaaanyways...

excuse my vanity. who really cares that i kinda don't like my hair, when lots of people don't even have hair! some lucky cancer patient is going to be fortunate to have a wig made out of my nasty pelo. haha

on a different note, last night some sis's and i plus ricardo were watching the bachelorETTE and laughing hysterically! i love how they are all "i'm already falling in love" and then it cuts to steamy kissing scenes with multiple different men. EWWW. i just think its ironic that this is their perception of what love is. it makes me sad really. but rich and i were joking and we kept saying "i'm in LUST!" haha "i lust you so much!"... it was hilarious... but it really shouldn't be hilarious because that is their reality. 

oh well....

on days like today i just think the whole world is corrupt.

maybe i should be more like this little girl in my newest favorite youtube vid:

love,

rochelle

p.s. if you are interested in joining me in my misery, (misery loves company, am i right?) here is the link to the locks of love website: www.locksoflove.org

4: maddie sue

dear blog,

tonight i came THIS close to writing an angry hate post about my sister/roommate madison. sometimes she just makes me SO FRUSTRATED!


... buuuuuut...


most of the time she is just a delight.
seriously.
who would not LOVE this face?:

haha

but in all honesty, although maddie is 5 years younger than me, i feel like we are the same age (most of the time) (also, i think this has something to do with her "maturity" but a lot to do with my immaturity.) anyways, if you have met my sister you know that she is a doll. maddie is so sweet. she is so kind and loving and super spiritual. not to mention she can be super silly and really fun to be around. madison is the perfect mother in the making. babies love her, she is already a cleaning, cooking and laundry MASTER and she is so nurturing and patient. did i mention that she is only FIFTEEN??

(ages ago trying on mum's wedding dress)

(with our cousin's baby at our other cousin's wedding)

i love this girl quite a lot.
and yes, sometimes i want to kick her in the face.
and yes, sometimes i do kick her in the face.

but my favorite thing ever is that one minute we will be fighting and yelling and screaming and throwing stuff. and the next minute we are hugging it out and apologizing. then the next minute we are staying up way too late discussing the complexities of life.
maddie is a rockstar and even though she can be a brat sometimes, she really is an awesome example to me. she is hardworking and she knows what she wants. when it comes to her convictions she will never waver. i wish i could be as brave as her.

(visiting gramma's grave)

(celebrating carly's birthday)

(being weird at the kennecot copper mine)

yeah, i know. you wish she was your sister too.

love,
rochelle

p.s. i failed to mention above how maddie is a rockin basketball SUPERSTAR! (i may have failed to mention this because she kicks my booty any day.)

p.p.s. maddie is NOT perfect. she steals my shoes and loses them. AND she likes chicken little-the worst movie ever made.

3: rebeca lopez

dear blog,

this is my dear friend beca:

(this is on her 19th birthday a couple years back-- we surprised her and she was soooo happy!)

i love her so much!
but i didn't always. when i first met her my freshman year i thought she was just straight up ridiculous and annoying-- but she is really so much more! (she may be a leeeetle ridiculous though.)

(swingin on a star)

but seriously, beca is so silly, which i love, but she knows how to be serious too (if ABSOLUTELY necessary,) which i also love. beca is the kind of friend that you can bring to hang out with ANYbody else. she could get along with anyone. she genuinely LIKES everyone. beca can and does see the good in everyone. she trusts people, has faith in them. she looks at people and sees their potential. beca has had a rough life, but you would never guess because she is so positive. she's not afraid to be cheesy or seem stupid at the expense of a greater purpose. becs doesn't care what others think. she is so selfless. probably more so towards other people than anyone that i know because she doesn't stop to weigh the personal costs of helping others, (which sometimes makes her look reckless to others) but this is such an awesome trait. like one time beca stayed up all night helping me write a spanish paper that i had procrastinated. i think i even fell asleep a couple times, but she sat by my side the whole time. beca is my sister (figuratively) and i am so grateful to have her in my life!

("studying")

(us after a chocolate cake WAR)

 (being sillyyyyy)

(an early morning visit on MY birthday)

love,
rochelle

p.s. beca, if you read this... i hope you make it through your day :)

sleep deprivation

dear blog,

you know when you don't sleep very much over time that the tiredness just builds up until you get super-duper silly?

yeah, i was definitely like that today.

i fell asleep in a seminar class (EMBARRASSING),
i was chatty chatty chatty,
and i watched an episode of modern family with levi and i laughed the ENTIRE time--- nothing is that funny.

i think its time for bedddd.

much love,
rochelle

p.s. i apologize for the non-friend update today. maybe i'll be not so silly tomorrow hahaha
p.p.s. i'm going to see alice in wonderland tomorrow and i am already scared...

2: grace

dear blog,

growing up we were kinda crazy. who was our favorite babysitter? this beauty:

Grace LaBass.

Grace is 4 years older than me or so. she babysat us before i was old enough to babysit us. when i was a freshman in high school grace and co. let me be friends with them even though they were seniors. grace taught me that being cool does NOT mean being rude, or stuck up, or wearing the same thing as everyone else. grace taught me that it is okay to be your own person, to be unique, and to still be normal. grace taught me that no one is too cool for school. grace is kind and loving, talented and fun to be around. she is the kind of person that would never intentionally make you feel bad about yourself, and goes out of her way to make you feel good. she is humble and she served a mission! i love grace. she is so amazing!

love,
rochelle

1: mother

dear blog,

i thought i would start with my mother, the woman who labored epidural-less to bring me into this beautiful world. because, let's face it-- without her i wouldn't even be alive, let alone have friends!

seriously though,
she is probably my favorite person EVER.
whenever i need help or encouragement or love or directions or a wake-up call or advice or a friend or someone to scratch my back or a good cry or virtually anything else, momma is always there. (well, almost always.. she sleeps sometimes.)

she is such an intelligent, diligent, experienced, spiritual woman.
she is kind, she is loving, she is hard-working.
she is educated, she is charitable, compassionate, fun.
she is the perfect mix of serious and silly.
she is beautiful inside and out.
i am SO SO SO blessed that she is my mother, and even more blessed that she still loves me haha!
i pray every day that i can become half of the woman that she is.

i am so grateful that she is not only my mother, but my best best friend.
love you momma!

love,
rochelle your belle :)

p.s. here are some photographic tributes:

back in the day with President Kimball-cool huh!?:

dancing in the car- she always does this dance to coldplay- it's so funny!

high school graduation:

us recently at one of maddie's basketball games:

friends

dear blog,

i've been thinking a lot about friendship today.

what exactly is it? and why does it matter so much? why do some people mean more to us than others? why are there some random people that we just click with? and others that we are around all the time, but have no desire to get to know? why do some people have a hard time making friends? and others seem to have an unlimited supply?

i think that all of these questions have different answers that i honestly don't have time to answer right now because i need to finish all of my reading still for tomorrow, not to mention i have a test in my class at EIGHT A.M., but its really interesting to think about.
(side note- i totally just demolished a bug on my computer screen--sick!)

i have so many-- seriously SO MANY-- wonderful friends and people who influence me and have made a greater impact on me than i think they realize, so, without further ado, i am going to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite bloggers, and do some tribute-blogging. (i've wanted to do this for awhile, but i've been to scared or lazy or something.)

i promise i'll try my BEST to do one a day, but no guarantees. also, please don't be offended if i don't blog about you-- although, chances are if you care enough  about me to read this blog, you have probably helped me in one way or another.

affectionately,
your friend,
rochelle

i am so thirsty you wouldn't believe it

dear blog,

school is SO HARD. why does it have to be this way? i have aNOTHER paper due this week for my writing class, and a huge assignment + reading due for 424 tuesday. i'm sitting in the secret sociology computer lab all by myself trying to figure this assignment out but i really have NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING.

maybe i just feel so overwhelmed because i barely slept last night AND i am so thirsty but ALL of the drinking fountains are under construction on this floor and it is probaby 95 degrees in here.
i WISH 95 degrees was here.
now i'm just being weird.

good news: humphrey bogart double feature tonight with trex-becs. woo hoo!

love?
rochelle

p.s. my friend dan the man is home from his mission! isn't he a cutie?

thoughts

dear blog,

i just have a couple things on my mind...

1. an ADORABLE boy winked at me in english class today.
2. now that i missed 307 we talked about something important that i have absolutely no clue about.
3. i need to watch glee.
4. and do about a million other school things.
5. i talked in spanish tonight! con mujeres de peru Y mexico! que awesome no?
6. i bought a new scrapbook today. it's beautiful. and it was 40% off.
7. today i got told i look like an easter egg and that my hair is unbelievably frizzy..
8. i am beginning to realize that december is coming up SOOO fast.
9. also, i love my family. a lot.

love,
rochelle

p.s. this is my new favorite song. (ignore the video... just listen to its wonderfulness).

sick.

dear blog,

i have a cold & it's miserable.

i wish that i could stay in these all day:

and then do this:

and i wish one of these:

would bring me some of these:

and some chicken soup... and a box of SOFT tissues wouldn't hurt either.

but lo and behold today i had to get up and wear clothes and go to school and to work. all day. and my cold medicine wore off at 1 o'clock and my nose is raw from being blown so much, and i have a paper due tomorrow.

being a grown up sucks.

love,
rochelle

shine bright shine far

dear blog,

happy mom's day!

today when we were driving home from visiting gramma dowd we may or may not have sang this song and made up our own lyrics that involved making fun of each person in turn.

it. was. awesome.



i can't remember the last time i laughed so hard.

love,
rochelle

p.s. i love that even my dad knew the words. hahahahah we are such nerds!

old for my age

dear blog,

often times i get referred to as an old person.

maybe it could be that i have glasses that look like this:

(remind you of anyone?...)

maybe it's because i drive a car that my grandma picked out:

maybe it's because i say things like "good grief!"

or maybe it's because of my love of cardigans:
exhibits A, B & C:

maybe it's because technology hates me.

maybe it's because i like "old people music."

maybe it's because i like whole wheat toast... plain.

maybe it's because i love tradition.

maybe it's because i am a cheap-skate.

or MAYBE it's a little bit of all of the above...

love,

rochelle

lately

dear blog,

wellll... it has been A LONG TIME since i have written you. forgive me?
has anything exciting happened you ask?
well, let's see...

finals completed/dominated?
check

finished my LAST winter semester possibly EVER?
CHECK

worked A LOT?
check

gotten patronized by the ID center because my ID picture is "inappropriate?"...

check

given away a laptop to a complete stranger in need?

check! (i AM oprah!)

started spring term? 

check

had a dream where i was painting the walls and woke up with paint on my knuckle? 

weirdly enough, check

reunited with my amigo erik after TWO whole years!? 

check

gone to maddie's basketball games? 

check

--also, i may or may not have taken a wonderful nap on the bleachers with three basketball games going on at the same time, is that talent or what?!--


Started my scrapbook?
check

chilled, laughed, cried, gotten a sun burn, watched a movie or two, walked in the rain, played pool, napped at the park, cuddled my puppies, walmarted, worked some more, cried some more, laughed some more?
check, check and check.

phew! life is good. CRAZY but goood.

love love love,
rochelle