lately

dear blog,

here's some proof that i do more than sleep and blog:

did i blog about this? becca and i threw a 50's inspired bbq the other day.
carly, lauren and lindsey

best dressed

best friends

jeff's blown away by me

because she needs the extra inches of height

classically ghetto cactus shirt i found in the back of my dresser

models

provo at sunset

this is a little piggy bank that belonged to aunt jo. so cute!

maddie and i made this spanish tortilla- yum!

i was on campus and some lady gave me these for free!

father's day was super fun. but carly was at burn camp :(

my feet were swollen for 3 or 4 days and then they stopped...
word to the wise, webMD will not ease your mind.

we got cherries and apricots and honey and squash from our neighbors' yards. 

carl's excited for the family reunion by far.

jamie paid me to hold ellie so she could prep these lovely flowers
(btw holding ellie is payment enough.)

just chilling playing catchphrase

jeff needs a haircut.

love,

rochelle

p.s.

least girly

dear blog,

yesterday my mom said i am her least girly daughter. maybe she actually said maddie was the most girly and then refused to acknowledge that i am girly at all. what does that even mean? "girly?" do i want to be that? what makes me not girly? is it the fact that i don't do my hair? or wear a lot of pink? or wear lots of makeup? is it because i am intelligent? or because i don't mind wearing sweat pants in public? i love chick flicks and dresses and babies and flowers and other girly stuff.


...so what is it then?


but seriously, these questions are not rhetorical.


love,
rochelle

aspen grove

dear blog,

nickie is working as a camp counselor up at aspen grove for the summer. the last year while nickie was "away" at school we somehow got a lot closer and having her really away up in the mountains has been rough. i miss her a lot! and when i get to see her for 10 hours on the weekend she's tired and just wants to relax (and sometimes see her friends,) which is 100% understandable. but on thursday maddie and i went up and spent the evening with her up there. it was heavenly! we got to see where she works and hold some babies, we got to eat dinner with her-- cafeteria style, she showed us all around, she bought us ice cream and introduced us to her friends. plus we got to see the closing show for the camp and go to the dance with all the campers/counselors. it was so fun to spend some quality time with her and it was amazing to see her in her element. nickie has grown so much as a person the last year and i am so blessed that i get to be her sister!

i wish carly could have come, but it was still a blast!

love,
rochelle

coconut macaroons

dear blog,

happy father's day! last year i wrote all about my daddy and you can read that here if you want. this morning we made breakfast for him (okay, mom made breakfast...) but it has been super weird because nickie is up at aspen grove, rich is in canada, carly is away at burn camp and this is dad's first week home from his BYU ward. all in all a pretty weird morning. nevertheless, i sure love my daddy.

in other news we're going to gramma and grampa dowd's after church today and we are supposed to make cookies to take so i made a double batch of my everyone's favorite coconut macaroons so i thought i would share the recipe (from real simple.)

enjoy!

chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons

ingredients
1  14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut (about 5 cups)
4  large egg whites
2/3  cups  sugar
1/3  cup  all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
1/2  teaspoon  pure vanilla extract
6  ounces melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

Directions
1. heat oven to 325° F.
2. in a medium bowl, combine the coconut, egg whites, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla.

3. drop packed tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart.

4. bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until lightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes. cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

5. when cool, dip the bottom of each macaroon in the chocolate and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. refrigerate until firm, 20 to 30 minutes. store the macaroons in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days (this direction is unnecessary because there will be no leftovers.)

just a note: the original recipe says that a batch should make 32 and one batch of mine makes a little more than half of that because i make them too big. also, these are all probably a little underdone. also, they are just as delicious plain as they are with the chocolate.

love,
rochelle

summerloving

dear blog,

i know it's summer because...

school's out

swimsuits are unpacked

all the good fruits are in season

and all the good flowers too

camping is cool

there are kids in the street all the time

even this kid

we all stay up late together

there are wedding receptions all the time

games are being played

and good food is being made

there are free rooftop concerts

and sleeping in and sunburns

forts and movies

flirty waiters at the olive garden...

and an overall sense of care-free in the air.

in case you couldn't tell, i sure do love it (and instagram too).

love,

rochelle

p.s. 

my mom is the coolest person in the universe.