[life in technicolor.]

still winter.

2011-03-22T19:01:00.001-07:00

this is how i feel about the fact that it is still snowing in the end of march.

[me after freezing while riding home on the scooter--i used my scarf as a facemask.]

cattails.

2011-02-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

my best friend alex and i went exploring in south provo the other day.

WE DISCOVERED THE GREATEST THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

cattails.

they are seriously the most magical thing in the entire world! if you break off a part of it, they EXPLODE in your hand! [see for yourself in the videos below]

the seeds feel like the consistency of clouds.

alex and i were amazed.

she took these sweet photos of my hands and the cattail "wishes", as we called them.

the videos below kind of capture what we experienced.

i'm grateful that such a little magical thing like this could bring so much joy to us.

red rocks.

2011-02-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

blake and i went to st. george a few weekends ago because he is training for his IRONMAN triathlon which he's doing in st. george on may 7th. so, he came down to train on the real course and run a half marathon.

and then we explored.

(cute face, blake...)

[ps] we found one of THE BEST pizza places i have ever been to in my life. we were driving out to this place called veyo pies because we heard that it was really good (overrated, in our opinion), but we needed dinner and so we stopped at the new pizza place in veyo. SO GOOD. if you are in st george, drive out to sunny's pizza!

we ended up talking to the owners (3 guys in their late 20's) for over an hour since we were the only ones in the store at the time. interesting story. apparently they were playing video games and making pizza one day, and had an epiphany--they should make pizza and make money off of it. they quit their jobs and started the restaurant! it has had huge success in its first month. go them!

i love people's stories. i love entrepreneurship.

i also love the red rocks of st. george.

we downloaded this cool app that lets you take 360 degree pictures--if you have an iphone, get it! it's great. we took this picture.

for mom.

2011-02-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

i thought my mom's last blog post was funny.

so, i made her a new iphone.

2o1o in a blog post.

2011-01-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

2o1o was an interesting and fun year.

in january,

i came back and was reunited with my best friends after not seeing them for 4 months while i was in italy.

mat kearney, one of my favorite singers, tweeted to me.

we also discovered the new cocoabean cupcake cafe. yum.

in february, i turned 2o. i also became smitten with this boy. we started dating.

in march,

in april, winter semester finished. i unknowingly said goodbye to my kitty india. i started spring semester and moved to king henry (with the help of kenna.) blake moved to denver for the summer.

in may, i went to visit blake a lot and was swamped with spring classes. blake and i gchatted a lot.

in june, i was an efy counselor some weeks. we went to memphis too.

in july, i was also an efy counselor. went to visit blake too.

in august, we went to hawaii.

in september, blake finally came back. we were reunited at the john mayer concert. i also started the accounting junior core.

AND WE GOT A SCOOTER. then sold it for a profit a few weeks later. THEN GOT A BLUE ONE!!

in october, we carved pumpkins. we dressed up as nolan and his ancestor for halloween (TYTYTYTY) and went to las vegas for blake's half ironman triathlon. blake found some stray kittens and let us keep them for a week or so at his house!

in november,we went to the state capitol in utah for blake's work party. i went to new york. then home for thanksgiving.

in december, blake turned 25 and we had a mexican fiesta. it was also christmastime.

bring on 2o11!

love is in the air.

2011-01-03T21:33:00.001-08:00

i am thrilled to come back to provo and see three of my very favorite people in the world who got ENGAGED over christmas break. it's so weird to have engaged friends. i am growing up! ah!

i am so terrificly happy for you, angela, kenna, and alex.

i can't wait to see the amazing lives you create with alex, dalton, and nate.

update coming soon.

2010-12-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

life in technicolor will be updated soon.

i think one of my 2o11 resolutions will be to blog once a week.

anonymous thank you!

2010-10-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

yesterday, the funniest thing happened.

i was walking out of the library, waiting for blake to pick me up, and i stopped in brigham square (right outside the wilk) and was just standing there looking at my phone.

i saw a boy walking with flowers and, just like i usually do when i see a boy carrying flowers, thought "oh, how nice. i love it when boys bring flowers to girls."

didn't think anything else.

continued to stand there.

all of a sudden, someone taps me on the shoulder.

"excuse me?"

i turned around and it was flower boy.

i said, "yes?"

he said, "can you hold these for me? my arm is getting really tired." he proceeded to put the flowers into my hands, and walk away. i started to laugh and stood there in the middle of brigham square, looking around me to see if anyone had just seen what had happened.

the note read as follows:

so, to "tanner"-- thank you for the flowers! i love them and they smell great. i am flattered, but don't be offended that i don't give you a call. i'm taken. :)

ps--probably the funniest part was seeing blake's face when he pulled up and i was carrying a vase of flowers from another boy.

i officially suck at blogging.

2010-10-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

but it's okay! i'm coming back.

get ready for a stream of updates.

first off, this summer i received this email, which was exciting. (and what i am currently doing)

but this email in reply to the earlier one may have made me feel even better.

update... sorry...

2010-04-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

well well well.

i'm REALLY happy.

but i haven't blogged in forever. and i just realized i have barely taken any pictures this semester!

agh!

everyone is stressed for finals right now, and typically i am true to the part of my personality that is type a and totally stressed, but this time, i'm not worried at all. maybe italy mellowed me out... speaking of which. I MISS IT EVERY DAY.

let's see.

since last time i blogged, a lot has happened. i have learned a lot this semester. and it has gone by so quickly. seriously. where did march go?!

highlights...

surprise, surprise, of course as soon as i held the freaking iPad i fell in love with it. i REALLY REALLY want it but don't quite have a NEED for it... we'll see if i cave in and get it. i'm trying to stay away from the apple store.

i LOVE my job at the kennedy center (i'm a facilitator for the italian internships and study abroads.)

going to my first bridal shower... they're dropping like flies!

celebrating Holi at a temple in spanish fork. fond memories of doing this in singapore! it's always a blast to throw colored chalk on random strangers while dancing.

before...

after....

during...

me and kenna BOTH won free pizzas this semester. what are the odds?

i went to general conference! it was amazing.

sleeping in at my second home (SB apartment 214) with alex sorensen and waking up at 1:00pm looking like this...

i'm bitter that my whole family went to memphis without me :[

things i am looking forward to...

-going home to california next week!

-SPRING SEMESTER AND EVERYTHING IT INCLUDES--warm weather, picnics, bike riding, hikes, swimming, kite flying, roller blading, etc.

-applying for the accounting program at BYU

-being an EFY counselor this summer (i got hired) :]

-GOING TO HAWAII

ps... i got surprised with turquoise flowers for the first time.

brilliant. my favorite color.

things that i don't understand.

2010-03-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

today i was reading a couple of articles for my accounting class. one was talking about taxes and how baseball players wanted to get their bonuses and file their taxes for 2008 before obama was inaugurated. it stated that the MINIMUM salary of an MLB baseball player is $400,000 a year.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCIETY?!

i mean, i love baseball (go red sox!), but i just fundamentally feel our society has it WRONG. in terms of money, we value entertainment, sports, and the media so vastly more than jobs that i feel are far most important and influential.

education being perhaps the first. teachers get paid NOTHING compared to that. what about firefighters? doctors that don't own their own practices? police officers?

we were also reading how around 3.3% of government spending goes to education. paying interest on our country's debt alone is around 27% of total spending. AGH! that is almost ten times as much money as we spend on education. on interest to others.

i'm grumpy about it.

on an unrelated note, we had a dessert party on sunday and it was really fun. here's a pic.

twenty.

2010-02-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

i actually feel older this time. it's weird.

i'm in my TWENTIES.

AH!

thank you to the very best of friends who made my birthday special.

i love you all.

sad day.

2010-01-27T11:40:00.001-08:00

dear steve jobs,

i am disappointed.

yes, the iPad is pretty and the interface is really cool, but WHY would i buy an iPad when i have a macbook and an iPhone? it would just be another thing to add to my backpack.

there was no new mindblowing technology. in my opinion, it is just a jumbo iPod touch.

you would have gotten me if you had at least included:

-microsoft word with a stylus to take handwritten notes with

-a front camera compatible with ichatting

-free 3g (like the kindle has)

-an option for eink paper (like the kindle has) or backlit screen

-longer battery life

-flash compatibility

super disappointing. so much hype. usually you guys deliver.

oh well. i still love you.

sincerely,

mckelle

AH!

2010-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

i haven't posted in forever. i'm sorry! i will soon catch up on things... i didn't even finish posts about italy.

but i am back in provo, at santa barbara apartments, trying to adjust to life without half of my huge freshman group of friends (all the boys went on missions.)

things i am thoroughly enjoying right now:

1. my new room/photo collage.

(i probably should have made my bed for this photo)

2. this water bottle. anyone who knows me well knows i love straws/chewing on things... hence this is the best purchase ever.

3. new gold's gym membership and classes with my best friends... and every muscle in our bodies aching after pilates!

4. catching up with old friends i haven't seen since last winter semester!

5. SNOW

6. this video

but i am missing this...

arezzo.

2009-11-09T03:57:00.001-08:00

a few weekends ago, we went to arezzo.

sorry i didn't take too many pictures because at that time i still had THE STYE.

this is the town where life is beautiful, one of my favorite movies, was filmed.

we were lucky because it just happened that on that day, they were having an international food festival! we got to try authentic food from all over europe.

NUTELLA IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.

gulasch was amazing.

more AWESOME translations.

2009-11-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

i think these are self explanatory.

cinque (5) posts for the cinque terre. [#5]

2009-11-03T00:43:00.001-08:00

sorry it has taken me so long to catch up on this!

a lot has happened in the time between my last post, including midterms, so i've been busy!

here is the last post of cinque terre.

the last day we went swimming, walked around the different towns, and got some DELICIOUS gelato.

we all fell asleep on the trainride home.

it really was a perfect trip.

cinque (5) posts for the cinque terre. [#4]

2009-10-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

that night was SO much fun. we took the train to levanto, another beachy town and took some sweet pictures on the rocky beach while the sun was setting.

then we bought a jar of nutella to eat for dinner.

yum.

we headed back to riomaggiore, got some gelato, and since there wasn’t a train back to corniglia, decided to stay there for a while.

we heard loud music and decided to follow it.

we came across a wedding reception at a restauraunt right below the walk of love.

we walked up the stairs and had our own dance party right outside via dell’amor.

it was so fun.

then we decided to walk to manarola through the via dell’amor.

there weren’t lights and kenna and I were kind of scared but Barbara wasn’t.

when we made it to the tunnel with all of the graffiti, it was lit and it looked awesome!

we sat on the cliffs and looked up at the stars, which were INCREDIBLE, listening to the waves hit the rocks.

finally we took the train home.

we decided to put a mattress outside and sleep on the balcony under the stars.

it was perfect. A bit cold, but otherwise perfect.

watching the sun rise over the pastel colors of corniglia was an experience I will never forget.

cinque (5) posts for the cinque terre. [#3]

2009-10-16T03:33:00.000-07:00

this just deserves its own post.

while we were on the hike, we passed some stray cats on the side of the trail.

there was an orange bucket that said something like, "please donate for the homeless cats".

however, right next to the bucket, there was a little cat sized tent.

barbara said, "they obviously aren't homeless. they have a tent!"

we all agreed and thought it was hilarious.

homeless? really?

cinque (5) posts for the cinque terre. [#2]

2009-10-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

we were so excited to do the 9km hike between the towns.

the next day we woke up early, bought our cinque terre hiking passes, and headed out on the trail.

corniglia is the middle town, so we decided to hike to the two southern towns first, then take the train to the most northen town, then hike back south to our middle town.

the hike between corniglia and manarola was easy and beautiful.

*note* i apologize in advance for the fact that most of my pictures, i am wearing sunglasses! i’ve had this stupid stye for the past week, so they are masking my unsymmetrical eyes.

between manarola and riomaggiore, is the famous “walk of love.” it is a fun atmosphere, full of graffiti and lover’s locks (legend goes that if you write you and your lovers’ names or initials on a lock, attach it to the fence, and throw the key into the ocean, you will be together forever. thousands of locks line this walkway.

after riomaggiore, we took the train to monterosso. it was cloudy (which we LOVED because the hike would have been awful otherwise) but mckenna and I really wanted to go swimming in the crystal clear blue water.

so we did.

we just ran for it.

we were the only ones swimming on the whole beach. literally.

people must have thought we were crazy. (barbara did)

but it was worth it.

it was exhilarating.

the last two parts of the hike were a lot harder than the first two, but the views were just so stunning that it was worth it.

cinque (5) posts for the cinque terre. [#1]

2009-10-12T02:53:00.000-07:00

this past weekend I took a trip to the cinque terre with kenna and barbara (german student we also live with.)

for those of you who haven’t heard of them, they are five (cinque) little towns (terre) on the ligurian coast. they are just gorgeous.

i was worried that because of all of the great things I have heard about them, they wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but it was actually the opposite. the cinque terre EXCEEDED my expectations in charm, beauty, and overall loveliness.

i am also super glad that we went during this time of year. i don’t think i would have enjoyed it as much if it had been jam packed with tourists. there weren’t many people and it was so nice to have the beautiful towns almost to ourselves.

pictures really don’t do it justice, honestly, but it will give you a bit of an idea.

friday we took three trains and arrived in corniglia, the middle town where our weekend apartment was, at 4:00pm.

the apartment we ended up renting was very affordable so we weren’t expecting it to be very nice, but as the lady walked us up to the apartment, we were BLOWN AWAY. probably because this was the view.

we had a kitchen, nice bathroom, bedroom, and this beautiful balcony.

it was perfect.

kenna and I are the first americans that Barbara has ever been friends with. She was so excited to come with us!

I will never forget those first few moments of being in our apartment, looking out over the breathtaking view, and jumping up and down with barbara, squealing with excitement.

Then she said (in her adorable german accent),

“This I will never forget, my whole life!”

that night we walked around the main beachy town, monterosso. the sunset was unbelievable.

i am so grateful to be here.

i couldn't be luckier.

life in italia.

2009-10-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

this is where i live.

this is the gate we walk in and out of every morning and night.

this is my roommate/best friend.

this is the vineyard right near our house.

these are the grapes we may or may not pick from the vineyard...

this is the vespa i desperately wish was mine.

took this in the fields near our house.

unedited.

this is bliss.

this is what the sunsets usually look like. every night.

this is the city i live in.

sigh.

a tragedy: they had NEVER had chocolate chip cookies!

2009-10-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

here in siena, we all have host families. i live with mckenna and our host mom and another student named barbara.

my "host mom" is named manjola (think magnolia in english) and she is wonderful!

barbara is from northern italy, but german is her first language! the town she lives in speaks german because of the world wars and everything. she came to siena for her senior year of high school to learn italian better.

between german/italian, it is very interesting communicating every night at dinner!

anyways, mckenna and i love both of them and we were talking the other night and realized that they had never had chocolate chip cookies!

of course we had to make some for them.

this is when we realized that we would need to convert the recipe into the metric system. so we found a recipe and it told us to convert it to mL. we were so excited that we had figured it out and everything, and then when we got home, we realized that it needed to be in grams! but we had no access to the internet, or any sort of encyclopedia to figure out how to convert it! it was crazy. i exploited every resource i could possibly think of, dictionaries, travel books, blah blah blah until i finally found the converter function of the calculator application. so we converted our mL recipe into fluid ounces, then from fluid ounces to ounces, from ounces to grams! it was crazy, and our brains hurt, but it was worth it!

zucchero=sugar

they don't sell chocolate chips here so we had to crush chocolate bars into little pieces!

barbara loved the cookie dough (as did i!)

the first six or so were burned, but then we got the hang of it!

the final product--a success! they LOVED them!

manjola and barbara enjoying their first ever homemade cookies.

isn't it interesting to consider all of the things we take for granted? not everyone has had a chocolate chip cookie!

observations in italia. [#1--excellent translations]

2009-09-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

here are just a few of the FANTASTIC italian translations we have run into so far...

these are real.

PISA.

2009-09-28T03:25:00.001-07:00

this saturday we went to pisa.

i loved it!

climbing the leaning tower is quite the experience. you can really feel yourself leaning... as dumb as that sounds.

it made me dizzy.

sorry these pictures aren't the best quality. the internet (as i have mentioned before) IS RIDICULOUS. so i'm putting up smaller versions.

GO SIENA!

2009-09-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

last night was great!

we went to an italian calcio (soccer) match!

it was incredible to be in that atmosphere.

the fans are so enthusiastic.

at american sporting events, it seems like fans leave early a lot of the time.

but not in italy!

every fan remained in the stadium until the end of the game.

the final score, unfortunately, was 0-0.

they had some pretty sweet shots on goal though!

[you may be wondering why i am wearing a black and white SIENA jersey in the first picture, but not in the second. kenna and i tried to find jerseys at the last minute (we thought they would sell them at the game) but couldn't find any. in the end, a friend let us borrow hers to take pictures! but we were kind of glad we couldn't find any because we still got the picture and the jerseys made the players look like referees. by the way, the refs had to wear bright pink.]

ps.

2009-09-21T02:12:00.001-07:00

the internet is so ridiculous here!

we can usually only get internet in one spot of the whole school!

rain.

2009-09-21T01:36:00.000-07:00

it has been raining.

a lot.

but it's great.

recap.

2009-09-18T02:47:00.000-07:00

soooooo.

today is my two week anniversary of being in italy!

i'm sorry i haven't blogged very much but the internet at our school is pretty slow and inconsistent. you never know when it's going to work well or not work at all.

just as a brief recap, we spend the first 4 days in rome, exploring and really getting to know the city. we had a lot of group activities (museums, etc) but also a ton of free time which was really nice.

next we went to pompeii and herculaneum and ended up in minori which is on the coast. we spent three nights there--which i will elaborate on soon!--and then headed to siena, our hometown.

there are 19 girls in our group! i think the reason why lots of boys at BYU don't choose to do study abroads is because they get to go on their missions to all these exciting places. we also have aaron rose, our program director, and his wife and three kids. his daughters are seriously BEAUTIFUL. i will post pictures soon.

this is just a brief overview but i will go into detail soon!

i am loving every minute.

where to even begin??

2009-09-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

so much has happened since i last blogged that i honestly don't even know where to start!

i will slowly start to upload some pictures and videos!

for now, i am in siena at our school. i love siena! it's beautiful.

here is a sneak peak of a few things i have seen so far.

fragola/mango.

2009-09-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

my first gelato.

i am so happy.

rome rome rome rome rome.

2009-09-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

i've already had adventures and i've barely been in rome five hours.

when i landed at the airport, i walked out with Silvana and we got our

bags then said goodbye.

i bought a train ticket to the termini station, then wandered around the station trying to find the right metro, bought my metro ticket, took the metro to the hotel's stop, wandered around the piazza trying to find the right street, asked a friendly italian for directions, and finally trudged to the hotel.

all in the dark.

but i made it! i'm proud.

and this picture was on the back of the italian newspaper i was reading on the plane... and i thought, "i think i'm going to like italy."

[also listen to the song "rome" by phoenix.]

i'm off!

2009-09-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

thursday night i left LAX with my pillow, backpack, green suitcase, and overnight bag.

on my first flight (to frankfurt, 10.5 hours) i was supposed to be cramped in the middle of the middle section because everything else was full, but luckily managed an aisle seat where i met Silvana.

she's an italian who has lived in LA for the past sixteen years but is an italian native. she works at some really prestigious shoe store in beverly hills is good friends with celebrities including reese witherspoon. she told me to come visit her in LA. i will! she was beautiful! i was so glad i ended up with her because she was going to rome too, and it was crazy, on the next plane she was only one row ahead of me! so we spent the whole day together, went through customs and security together, then finally hugged goodbye. she was meeting her boyfriend in italy whose name was, of course (mom), giovanni.

i also spent time talking to this other lady with her 9 year old son. her husband had just died of cancer and they were going on a trip to italy because he had always wanted to go there but never made it. i almost cried.

a dream come true.

2009-09-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

i'm not exaggerating when i say that ever since i was thirteen and my family went on a trip to italy, i've been in love with italy. i've always known i would do a study abroad there during college.

and it's here.

i'm literally living one of my life's major dreams.

for the next three months i will be living in italy.

i couldn't be more excited.

1232 potomac school road.

2009-08-22T13:04:00.001-07:00

it's still weird to go to my grandparents' house in virginia without grandma.

and tiger.

i miss the real her.

and i hate alzheimer's.

butterfly.

2009-08-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

IMG_0223

i took some pictures today with my new camera.

here's one.

it links back to my flickr page.

things i learned this weekend. [with mom :]

2009-08-12T20:52:00.001-07:00

1. never ever, EVER, do an illegal u-turn while on your way for a slurpee at 7-11, even if it looks like no one is watching.

because they might be.

and they might pull you over.

2. best buy price matches with amazon! hello, beautiful new canon 50d for the same low price as online [without the wait.]

3. if you're going to sneak subway sandwiches into a movie theatre, make sure you unwrap them before the movie starts.

4. if you wear a sleeping eye mask for the first time, it may make you snore.

[according to my mom sleep talking at 2am]

5. sometimes your expectations don't always match up with reality.

(500 days of summer.

creative, but not as good as i'd hoped)

6. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A CREDIT CARD WHEN YOU HAVE NO CREDIT BUILT UP.

which leads me to the question, how will i ever build up my credit if i can't get a credit card?

i hate the economy right now.

if you haven't seen this, you should watch it.

2009-08-05T22:47:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

because i still find it so cool.

party animals.

2009-08-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

this was taken senior year after our senior class' day at knott's berry farm amusement park.

we didnt know the picture was being taken.

it was uploaded on facebook by someone who used the caption, "party animals."

my favorite comment was "cutest couple o8."

it will NEVER stop making me laugh.

clayton.

2009-07-29T13:37:00.001-07:00

i found this from thanksgiving. i like it.

mr. b

2009-07-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

from his wheelchair, he proudly pointed to the faded photograph in the silver frame.

"see, i told you.

i married the most beautiful woman in the town."

sixty eight years later, these two people were still married, still in love.

his wife said, "you don't see that kind of commitment anymore, do you?" she pulled me close and said, "you want to know the secret to making it this far?"

i nodded.

"keep the lord in your lives every single day."

magical.

2009-07-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

i just found this picture from about a beach picnic i had about a year and a half ago.

it's kind of magical.

meet autumn.

2009-07-23T14:16:00.001-07:00

i probably shouldn't think this is funny, but oh i do.

don't worry, she's only an 83 pound beagle i met at a customer's home.

protecting families.

2009-07-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

so.

this summer i have an incredibly random job. installing home security systems for apx alarm.

in roanoke, va.

i'm working extremely hard to pay off my study abroad to italy in the fall, and am so grateful for this experience.

every day i get to interact with new, fascinating people. humans are honestly so interesting. we all have our own stories.

i'm going to share some of the experiences i've had, things i've learned from these people.

oh, take me back to the start.

2009-05-06T22:32:00.001-07:00

freshman year is over! i can't believe it! it was one of the best years ever.

i'm going to miss it.

why i love my name.

2009-04-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

today--

gate attendant looks at ticket of passenger and says "Thank you, Alice. Welcome Aboard."

next passenger walks up

"Thank you, Jerry. Welcome Aboard."

next passenger walks up

"Thank you, Mark. Welcome Aboard."

i walk up. she looks at my ticket/name.

"Thank you. Welcome Aboard."

updates.

2009-02-24T21:50:00.001-08:00

three updates since i last blogged [22 days ago...]

#1. i've been snowboarding--as much as possible.

#2. i started dating my best friend--which is still weird.#3. i turned nineteen.

slumdog millionaire.

2009-02-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

slumdog millionaire is one of my favorite movies, ever. i loved all of it, from the soundtrack to the cinematography to the storyline.

i don't want to ruin it by saying anything else.

[but] you have to see it.

ps--the girl in it is unbelievably GORGEOUS, don't you agree?

another fun weekend adventure.

2009-01-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

this weekend, my adventures took me to laughlin, nevada.

my friend rachel's dad is a lawyer who is extremely good at truck off roading racing [it's been a hobby of his for about 30 years!]. he had a race this weekend at the score offroading desert challenge and invited rachel and her friends to come watch. it was WAY intense--they go off these jumps and you think they're going to die for sure!

so 5 of my girlfriends and i went and had a blast! he got a hotel room for us for friday and saturday night. we had so much fun roaming the city [if you can call it that, it's like 10 hotels and that's it!], pool hopping, going to in n out, laughing, riding in a rhino [basically an offroading golf cart!], watching the races, meeting nascar racers, and stalking sandra bullock [she was there with her husband jesse james who was also racing!]

it was a fantastic weekend.

here are links to more pictures, from my facebook.

click here

and here

i've been tagged.

2009-01-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

cherilyn tagged me in her blog so i guess i have to do this! but i modified it a bit... and i'm not tagging anyone...

8 favorite tv shows:

1. frasier

2. lost

3. flight of the conchords

4. arrested development

5. the office

6. oprah

7. brothers and sisters

8. i'd MUCH rather read...

8 things i did today:

1. laughed at pictures from my weekend road trip

2. played in snow so powdery that you could literally roll a ball down a hill and it would accumulate on its own

3. read a book (one of my new years' resolutions is to read at least a book a week)

4. went to economics, geology, italian, b.o.m., and art history class

5. talked to my mom on the phone

6. got a letter from a good friend

7. finally finished the lost season premiere

8. went to work

8 things i'm looking forward to soonish:

1. ITALYYYYYY study abroad... fall 2009

2. getting a 4.0 this semester too!

3. spring coed intramural soccer

4. getting better at snowboarding this season

5. getting a rad camera

6. seeing my family in april

7. working on my friend's election campaign for BYUSA

8. my 19th birthday!

8 things i want to do before i die:

1. write a book

2. speak another language (italian)

3. go sailing

4. go to graduate school (harvard)

5. get married and have a family

6. travel to all 7 continents

7. have a pug

8. live in new york city

sundance film festival.

2009-01-21T20:00:00.001-08:00

this weekend my friends and i stayed in park city and star gazed at sundance! we saw, met, and got pictures with a few. [black eyed peas, walt from lost, peter gallagher, paris hilton {i hate her}, zooey dechanel, emmy rossum, matthew gray gubler, alan cumming, christopher macdonald, rob mcelhenney, benjamin bratt, damien rice, and kevin bacon]

overall we had a fantastic time, it's so fun to be up there during the festival--the atmosphere itself is just exciting.

one of the highlights was seeing one of my favorite artists, damien rice, perform. it's actually a funny story. we were all bummed because we wouldn't be able to go to the concert because you had to be 21, have a ticket to the show, and have a film festival pass. however, my friend jason [whose hair is dyed a ridiculous bleach blond color] and i were there early, and while we were waiting for our friends i spotted who i thought was damien rice himself.

i was like "AH!" so jason and i went and stood over by him on the stairs. he was talking to a group of people but we kept staring at them and they stared at us back. we thought they were thinking we were such creepers! after looking at every picture of him on google from my iphone, we were finally convinced it was him and got enough courage to go talk to him [well jason did and i tagged along.]

jason goes, "are you damien rice?"

and damien rice said, "i am."

we laughed and i told him how much i liked his music and apologized for being creepers and staring at his group. he laughed again and said, "actually, we were the ones that noticed you. dude, your hair is sweet!!" to jason. all of the people he was with agreed and we all laughed again. so they hadn't been thinking we were creepy just admiring jason's outrageous hair! we ended up talking to him for a few minutes before the show started.

we were on the stairs outside the tent, desperate to get inside. we could hear him playing and wanted so badly to be among the few lucky to be in there! there were still a ton of people waiting outside the tent who wanted to get in.

nick tried to sneak in and of course, was unsuccessful. however, he befriended a bouncer guy and begged him to let him in. the bouncer said, "are you alone?" and nick said, "yes! please let me inside!" and right at that moment [i had no knowledge of what they were talking about] i yelled "NICK! COME HERE!" and the bouncer was like, "oh yeah, who's that girl?" and nick apparently said, "no one." hahaha i laughed about this. anyways, i blew his shot of getting in so i said to the bouncer, "were you really going to let him in? my friend is super mad at me now [he wasn't actually] so can you just let him in?" and he did! except like 5 of us followed inside!!

AND THE CONCERT WAS AMAZING. sooooooo good. his voice is amazing. my favorite part was during the song "volcano" when he had the crowd broken into different parts and we all sang along. it was unbelievable.

after the show, we all got to talk to him [it had just been jason and i before] and of course, thanked the bouncer for his kindness.

great fun, great day, great weekend. check out damien rice!

goodbye, friends!

2009-01-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

my friends that are boys are all going on missions! last week we said goodbye to two of our group's best friends, robert and mckay. i have a couple of other really good friends who are on missions as well. i don't know what i'm going to do next year when ALL of them are gone! bahhhh. i'm proud of them but will miss them a lot!

why my mom is my best friend.

2009-01-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

my mom is probably the most amazing person that i know.

i know it's not mother's day or anything, but i'm just so grateful for her because i don't know what in the world i would do without her! so this is a THANK YOU. hopefully i won't embarass you!

a few of the gazillion reasons why she's so great...

1. she is brilliant.
-i'm pretty sure my mom knows something regarding just about anything. i love getting advice, reading recommendations, and opinions from her and i would probably bore anyone else with my endless questions! my friends love to laugh at me because they know how i always ask her for advice and i'll be like "well, my mom once told me..." or "my mom says that..." and they'll reply, "oh! in that case, since the all knowing mckelle's mom has spoken, it must be true." it sounds like sarcasm as i'm typing this and while it is sarcastic, they mean it kindly and have seen a million times how her advice always ends up being right. thanks for all the last minute paper edits!

2. she's unbelievably kind and cares about everyone.
-i'm sure you all know this one already because kind is pretty much synonymous with her name. but she has embodied these aspects most recently by taking care of my grandma coleman (see post below for picture) as she is in the early stages of alzheimers. grandma can't really be left alone so taking care of her is a full time job! my mom is so sweet to her and i'm so grateful that she's willing to serve my grandma. she never complains or would even think to complain, even though it's a strenuous job.

3. she is patient.
-though i'd love to consider myself a patient person, sadly it is probably one of the last words you could use to describe me. my mom is always there to support me, guide me in the right direction, and even sometimes just to let me cry. she puts up with me even when i'm being ridiculous (which is quite often.) thanks for all of the crisis aversions the hour before the formal dances!

4. she is beautiful!
-i don't think i know anyone more beautiful than my mom. even though i was slightly embarrassed in 8th grade when the song "Stacy's Mom" was popular and the rendition at my school became "McKelle's Mom has got it going on...", i'm so proud that my mom is beautiful. everywhere she goes, everyone says to me, "your mom is so pretty!" over the christmas break she met one of my best friends jason and one of the first things he said afterwards was how beautiful he thought she was.

5. she is fun!
-we have so so so much fun together. the trips we've taken recently (last year to new york city and this summer to europe) will always be some of my favorite memories. i can still laugh when i think about some of the experiences we had on these trips. my mom is always up for an adventure and i love it.

6. she is my hero!
-i hope that i can be close to as amazing as she is when i grow up. though she has all of these traits, she's humble and thinks she has so much room to improve. however, i like her just the way she is! she's a great role model and a wonderful example for me. she helps me become a better person, and i really don't know what i would do without her--she always keeps me going when i'm feeling down.

to sum it all up, i wouldn't want any other mother in the world.

i love you mom and i admire you more than you know!

christmas break.

2009-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

it was so nice to go home for christmas! i had a great time with my family and friends.

i love my family's christmas traditions, from how the house is decorated to the christmas tree to the food we eat. this year we had fun combining three sets of gingerbread house making kits into one and making this enormous monster of a gingerbread house, if you can call it a house. it ended up looking more like a factory.

i really enjoyed spending time with my grandma coleman who is staying at our house for a while. she is hilarious! i love her so much. (doesn't she look like mrs. claus in this picture?? haha)

maddy and i and some of my friends from college took another road trip to arizona for my good friend robert's missionary farewell. he's going to chile! it was great, only a 6 hour drive, and we shocked everyone because we didn't tell them we were coming. (this is with aj, me, robert, and nick)

for new years' eve, all of my california college friends met up at disneyland where we spent the day together. it was such a fun day. we celebrated the actual countdown at the beach near one of my best friend nick's house. a few of us ended up staying the next two days at nick's house. ps my friend lauren is not actually in a wheelchair, they are just the same price as a locker and you can carry your stuff with you/push eachother around when you're tired!

overall, the break was wonderful but i was still excited to come back "home" to provo life!

41 hours later...

2008-12-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

i have been awake for 41 hours. finals week got me. mostly because i procrastinated the majority of the assignments for my honors writing class. but i did it. i got a's on all of my finals, and a's in all of my classes. i've never been so exhausted, but never more relieved either.

i can't wait to fly home tomorrow.

and until i can finally shut my eyes.

help!

2008-12-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

so i had this crazy assignment for my writing class... to sell a useless, lame item on eBay through a persuasive paper. here is mine--the pencil i used to take the ACT. i need to sell it!!! if you know anyone who is in need of such an item, please persuade them to bid on it! i want an a!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250341188336&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

hehe.

2008-12-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

so coldplay is facing a lawsuit from a random guitarist named joe satriani... check out these links. do you guys think they are similar enough? i think they're similar, but not identical. i kinda like the part of the youtube video where the two songs overlap! overall, i think it's really funny.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b72019_coldplay_whos_really_writing_their_songs.html

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b72084_coldplay_jams_with_joe_satriani_sorta.html

you know finals are coming up when...

2008-12-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

...you've spent 6 hours in the library.

today.

...you run into your friends and they just look at you and say, "McKelle, what's wrong?"

...no one is outside.

...you are dreading christmas break because you have so much to do before then.

...everyone looks grumpy.

...you've bitten off all of your fingernails.

anyways, back to work.

once again, coldplay blows my mind.

2008-11-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

my favorite favorite band is coldplay. i was lucky enough to see them in concert this july and even got to meet them! their show was amazing, and so when i found out they were coming to utah as well, i desperately wanted to go! my friend josh got tickets and we went this saturday. it was epic, once again. i can't contain my excitement when it comes to coldplay! in july i went with maddy and my mom, and maddy and pretty much lost our voices because we were screaming so loudly. people must have thought we were crazy! this time i was not as openly crazy (i didn't want to freak josh out!), but sang along to every word and was basically squealing when they came onstage. though it's the same show (the viva la vida tour), they mixed up some of the songs, the lighting, and even the way they sang some of them was different. it was just as good of a show, but a different experience which i liked a lot. one of my favorite parts was during a brief 5 minute intermission the stadium blasted this remix of Viva la Vida and EVERYONE in the huge stadium was on their feet dancing, so hyper off of the amazing music of coldplay. the lights were off and so everyone was waving their cell phones in the air and it looked like a sparkling sea of stars. i was laughing so hard, it was so so so fun.

I LOVE THEM ALL.

i've been waiting for today for a while, as their new EP, Prospekt's March (an extension of Viva la Vida,) came out. i love every song.

i'm such a nerd for coldplay. VIVA LA VIDA!
ps--i took this picture at the concert!

quantum of solace.

2008-11-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

epic. and intense.
ps- daniel craig is super attractive.

CHEAP GAS!

2008-11-13T23:34:00.001-08:00

hooray! today i saw gasoline prices had dropped to 1.99! this isn't the exact gas station but it's not like i could take a picture while i was driving... but i was very excited. it seems like it hasn't been that low in forever! hopefully it will keep going down or at least stay low!

road trip.

2008-11-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

this past weekend, 18 of my friends and i took a road trip to phoenix, arizona. some of the kids in the group i hang out with are from there and we thought it would just be a fun get away from provo. we had a blast! highlights included a dance party at robert's house on friday night (themed "the great depression"), going to in n out, singing backstreet boys, staying up way too late, and stopping at an indian trading post on the way back! i regret not taking more pictures... but here are a few.

hope?

2008-11-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

It seems like this election process has been going on for an eternity... much longer than any other I remember from the past--but probably because I was younger and didn't pay as much attention to the news.

In complete honesty, I wasn't excited for this election. I didn't feel a burning passion to pledge my support to either candidate. I don't classify myself as strictly a Republican or a Democrat, as there are elements of both parties which I support and elements which I oppose. I agree with the founding fathers of our country who strongly discouraged the formation of political parties.

I can't help but feel pessimistic towards politics in the United States. I took an AP Government class my senior year, and as I learned more about how our country is run, my distrust and disappointment in the government furthered. Primarily, I don't understand how we can even bring up the idea of raising taxes when many of the leaders we elect spend so much pork on useless endeavors for the sole purpose of incumbency.

I voted for John McCain. I don't particularly care for the man, but have respect for him as a person. The real reason I checked the box next to his name is because I know my parents will suffer as a result of Obama's tax plans.

In spite of all this, I think today is SO exciting for our country. I got chills multiple times watching the coverage of the election, thinking about how my grandparents and even parents wouldn't have believed the day that an African American would let alone run for President but be elected would come so soon. It's exciting, yet hard to believe, that the next President's name is Barack Obama. Today is truly an historic day, a milestone for our country. I feel proud that the American people have embraced change and were open to such dramatic results. I'm proud that we had higher turnout rates than ever before, and that Americans were responsible citizens in voicing their opinions.

I felt respect towards John McCain during his concession, and hope as I watched our future President deliver his acceptance speech. I continue to feel hope that we can change the direction our country is headed. I know it will be a hard, long road for him in the presidency, but hope that the country can rally together, regardless of political affiliation or who we voted for, to support him in his efforts to really change America for the better.

she's here!

2008-10-30T23:39:00.001-07:00

we are so excited! and this weekend is going to be amazing... you can already tell...

I CAN'T WAIT.

2008-10-30T00:29:00.000-07:00

until tomorrow, because maddy is coming to see me!

two week anniversary.

2008-10-30T00:18:00.001-07:00

so yesterday was my two week anniversary with my glorious new macbook. the rumors were right, and it was worth the wait. i'm in love. the first picture is the first page of the owner's manual, and i completely agree. this last picture is during its first few moments of life. oh my gosh, i am so lucky and love it! i want to say thank you to everyone who sent me graduation money, you made this happen! thank you so so so much. i'm ridiculously happy :)

one week...hopefully.

2008-10-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

as much as i adore my outdated iBook G4 (seen above, yes i colored on it), since graduation i have been counting down the days until the new MacBooks come out. i knew that if i bought one and then they came out with an updated design a few months later, i would be ridiculously frustrated. i am a complete apple nerd, and macrumors.com is one of my "favorites" in firefox and i literally check it several times a day, waiting for new info on when the new ones will come out. since it is all speculation, they've been convinced that they would come out in july. then late august. then early september. the newest, more stable, rumors point to october 14th as the date for the release of the newest lineup of MacBooks. i can't wait.

so seven days and counting... fingers crossed.

pictures.

2008-10-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

i have been meaning to put up pictures in my room foreverrrrr. it's been at the top of my daily to-do lists every day for the past month (yes, pretty much the entire time that i've been here at BYU.) so yesterday i finally got a bunch of pictures printed. i have three large green bulletin boards and dedicated an entire one to pictures of my family.

my mom was right, the ones that matter above everyone else will always be my family. i miss them the most. they have always been the constant in my life, and i'm really happy here, but lonely without them.

hopefully having this in my room will help with that.

welcome to my...blog?

2008-10-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

hi. my name is mckelle.

i'm not really sure if i have anything to say, but this might be a good way to keep my family updated on what i'm doing and thinking about. so... welcome to my blog.

at least i know my mom will read it.