meh

dear blog,

i have written (okay, started to write) 4 blog posts and not finished any of them. i feel like since i'm not in school my brain is taking some sort of hiatus and i actually feel less intelligent. i attempted to read a book aka i checked a book out of the public library (three actually, but books 2 & 3 were not even touched.) let's just say that my bookmark only made it to page 8. i am actually embarrassed. also, i find that i am impressed with myself when i think clever things or can contribute to (semi-) intelligent conversation, whereas before i was disappointed whenever i couldn't. i spend my days sleeping, going to basketball games, playing with 2 year olds. even at church i am in the primary the whole time. i'm afraid that i am losing my ability to interact with human beings. i used to be so social and i used to love to go out and meet new people and whatever, and now... okay, today for example. i was early for babysitting and so i found a parking spot and then went to the bookstore and while walking around i ran into 4 or 5 people that i know and now i am just sooo socially drained. WHAT THE?? i talked to FOUR PEOPLE and i am SOCIALLY DRAINED??? WHO AM I??? anyways, its probably just because i spend so much time alone. and the rest of my time is spent with my family or with babies. i am so boring. like, literally i am bored of myself. i try not to think too much because i just get sick of myself. that sounds bad. its not like i hate myself or anything, my life is just so BORING and it's my own dang fault!

in other news, richie goes into the MTC in a EIGHT DAYS!!! i'm kind of freaking out. i had a break-down when my visiting teachers came over, i think i freaked them out. his farewell is on sunday, you are welcome to come!

much love,
rochelle

excited?

dear blog,

this is my last week of my undergraduate career. and to be perfectly honest, its a little anticlimactic. i feel like my whole life has been leading up to this point,but it feels just like any other finals week in any other year. yeah, after this i will be done with school (possibly) forever, but after this i will have nothing. i'll be jobless, school-less, living with my parents.

everyone i talk to asks me "what are your awesome grown-up plans!?" "how are you feeling?"  "are you excited?!"

world, I DON'T KNOW.

first off, i kind of have plans, but not really.
second, i'm feeling sad. happy. excited. anxious. nervous. nostalgic. grateful. overwhelmed. annoyed. blessed. accomplished. preoccupied. intelligent. inadequate. normal. but today, mostly sad.

i'm not JUST excited. why should i be? i have been in school for my entire life as far back as i can remember. i happen to love learning and school and classes and tests (go ahead, judge me). i love the people i've met and gotten to know and grown to love because i have been at school. i love buying school supplies. i love sitting in a classroom with people you've never ever met and learning together. i love getting an assignment back and seeing your work with a big fat gratifying A on the top. i love walking around campus with a big fat backpack and waving and smiling at passers by. i love the stressed out nerdies that frequent the hbll. i love the awesome and unlimited opportunities that students have. i love getting discounts with my BYU id. i love making friends in the cougareat and random interactions with strangers.

being a student has been a major part of my identity, and now i feel like that is being taken away from me, but not being replaced with anything else (yet).

by graduating, i am leaving this all behind. and yeah, i will still have the friendships that i've gained, the knowledge and skills i've aquired, i'll still be able to make new friends and learn and whatever, but it simply will never ever be the same. even if i end up going back to school eventually, it won't even be the same.

anyway, that's how i'm feeling. but mostly when people ask if i'm excited i just say yes.

love,
rochelle

p.s. this is me, back in the day. HA... i guess not much has changed.

if you don't like my driving...

dear blog,

today i was driving around running errands with my momma and my sisters and there was tons of holiday shopping traffic. well we were just driving merrily along and this stupid huge truck thing was driving like a crazy person and kind of cut me off, nbd, but i was just like "what the HECK do you think you are doing!?" (because they can hear me, obviously,) and then we were stopped at a red light and i look at their license plate cover and it says "if you don't like my driving... you should see my butt."

needless to say, my day was made.

love,
rochelle

p.s. what it REALLY said was "if you don't like my driving, you should see me putt," but their car was so dirty that it looked like it said "my butt".

senioritis

dear blog,

how about i drop out of school right now and become a professional blogger?

....YEAH RIGHT.

buuuuut, thanksgiving canNOT come soon enough.

love,
rochelle

p.s. harry potter last night: UH-MAZING. also, lola and i made an awesome christmas tree on the wall tonight.
p.p.s. shout out to carmencita-- thanks for the best email ever. sure love you!

will you feel better better better?

dear blog,

i've been kind of a debbie downer lately (in real life), and that's dumb. and i wrote an incredibly negative post yesterday-- a list of things i don't like. who does that? (don't worry, i deleted it.) instead, here is a list of things i DO like.

1. b.n.i.
2. basketball
3. water
4. lists
5. my mother
6. the book of mormon
7. spanish.
8. my phone
9. seeing roy on campus.
10. seeing andrea on campus.
11. seeing blake on campus.
12. seeing anyone i love on campus actually.
13. the number 13.
14. sleepovers.
15. pogs
16. making fun of people.
17. ice.
18. cardigans.
19. isp backpacks.
20. ditching soc 330
21. cuddling with my puppies.
22. long voicemails.
23. being right.
24. finding out good unexpected facts about my friends.
25. wednesday lunch.
26. blogging.
27. my phone.
28. my family
29. successfully using chopsticks.
30. CLOUDS
31. when i'm listening to ingrid michaelson at work and people (boys) pretend like they know who it is, but they are always wrong because they actually have no idea.
32. not shaving my legs.
33. shaving my legs.
34. hugs (but not from everyone, only good/non-awkward hugs from people i like).
35. happy texts.
36. flirt texting.
37. MAIL.
38. getting my hair played with.
39. making new friends.
40. making ugly faces.
41. making ugly faces behind people's backs.
42. hearing my voice and realizing that it's SO ANNOYING, but that people are still my friend.
43. low key dance parties
44. mexico.
45. men's socks.
46. men's clothes.
47. pulling leaves off bushes when i'm walking and playing with them.
48. wearing tights with tennis shoes.
49. dresses.
50. wearing dresses with tennis shoes.
51. waterbottles with flippy lids.
52. getting calls from ellen.
53. that one time my dad texted me.
54. giving harriet wet willies
55. cuddling.
56. yelling at people out the car
57. the color yellow.
58. october.
59. lowecase letters.
60. seattle (and the people i love that live there)
61. when people meet my family
62. meeting my friends' families
63. free anything
64. laughing
65. chuckling
66. giggling
67. snickering
68. hot tamales.
69. linford 5.
70. linford 1.
71. freshmen.
72. black eyes (on other people duh. not like i give them to people i just like them. i think they're cool)
73. comida yucateca
74. bows.
75. christmas.
76. singing REALLY loud.
77. screaming.
78. tights.
79. facebook.
80. candid moments with strangers on campus.
81. staring.
82. taking notes with a pen.
83. and drawing awesome doodles.
84. jesse mccartney/justinbeibs/miley. don't judge.
85. fresh chapstick.
86. twilight woods.
87. being barefoot.
88. realizing that people like you more than you thought.
89. singing songs with lyrics i made up and nickie gets mad.
90. movies.
91. RAIN.
92. snow.
93. sun.
94. wind.
95. casette tapes.
96. harvey.
97. taking pictures and then remembering
98. heritage halls
99. crying.
100. helping people with their homework.
101. laughing by myself.
102. cinnamon cookies.
103. FLOWERS
104. upbeat music
105... and the list goes on...

love,
rochelle

p.s. this list totally helped (getting un-sick also helped) and i feel A LOT better/less grumpy today.

potty mouth.

dear blog,

my life's been a little listless the last little while (get it? lacking in lists and listless?) so here's a list that will add a little bit of hilarity to your everyday and mine. (um, this is a teensy bit embarrassing, buuuuut i think that breaking social norms is HILARIOUS (that's not the embarrassing part,) and what BETTER place to do this than in a public bathroom?)

these are some of my favourite ideas of things to do when you're in the public restroom:
1. start singing at the top of your lungs. (any song will do, celine dion preferred)
2. write "more please?" on half a square of toilet paper and pass it under the stall.
3. ask the person in the stall next to you for dating advice.
4. talk on the phone really loudly about something completely inappropriate (like your period cycle or something as if its not weird that you are talking about this in a public place)
5. when most of the stalls are empty, knock on an occupied one and ask for them to hurry up.
6. you and a friend, sit on either side of an occupied stall and have a conversation.
7. knock on the stall next to you, say its an emergency and ask if you can borrow their phone.
8. write other notes on toilet paper and pass them under-- such as "i like your shoes" or "hi, my name is sam, can we be friends?" (i would caution against using your real name).
9. compliment their shoes or socks outloud.
10. put a chair outside of a stall and be sitting there waiting when the occupant comes out.

oh boy, i need to stop because i am laughing too too hard.

it's almost thanksgiving!

love,
rochelle

p.s. i am not at all brave enough to do any of these, but the idea of doing it makes me laugh just as much.

b.n.i.

dear blog,

saturday night was too cold for a bonfire, too lazy for the hot springs, and we got ditched by caleb (so he could go rockclimbing alone: nerd) and eric (who went to velour barf).

so we (ho, lola y yo)...
1. had a low key dance party (pretty standard-- blacklights, hair whipping, the works)
2. parked at 7-11 to watch people and make a list of all possible ideas of things to do (literally ALL-- every idea makes it on the list, no matter how stupid).
3. decided to check B.N.I. off of our fabulous list.

what is b.n.i. you ask?

BRIDAL NIGHT IN
duuuuuuh
(it went from a Girl's Night Out to a Girl's Night In to a B.N.I... don't ask, because i do not even know how this happened)

how do you make a b.n.i. you ask?

ingredients include:
wedding treats (i.e. pumpkin cupcakes-- it's a fall themed wedding duh, and bread and cheese)
miscellaneous bridal attire (i.e. veils and garters-- this is not a crucial ingredient, but it does enhance the experience)
one+ bridal magazine (magazines with lots of dresses are the best kind)
one "chick flick" film with bridal plot/wedding scenes (we chose "when in rome" because it was on netflix instant replay)
b.n.i. is best when everyone is wearing their jim jams, candles are lit, and lots of cuddly blankets are involved.
b.n.i. is not for the desperate or lonely (or else it would be pretty depressing)
b.n.i. is only to be shared with best friends.

until the next b.n.i.,
rochelle

p.s. eric joined us half way through and i quite loved it.