goodbye to the dingle

The dingle was a time of laughter and good memories, we will forever remember every moment spent in that piece of crap. RIP dingleberry, some parts of you will be missed, not including the broken door handle and the whistle in the air conditioner, flashing seat belt sign, the torn roof top, the life threatening passenger seat belt, the go-cart sound you made just sitting in park, or the haunted house sqeeking door noise when you turned the steering wheel, but to top it off, i will never forget your sensual mildew scent that made all of us gag in enjoyment.

We love you<3

archangel records

i know, i know

i'm the worst blogger ever

boy oh boy have i been busy

this past week not only did i work six 12 hour shifts in a row, but i was performing in a 2 day concert in Orange County for archangel records.

victoria and gary produced an album featuring multiple artists. it's even on itunes.

how cool is that??

so, the first day of the concert was Friday, December 16th

we sold about 250 tickets. not a bad turn out.

Saturday, December 17th was day number 2.

around 500 tickets sold. a very nice turn out.

even got to see my very favorite high school choir teacher, mr. elg (i'm kicking myself for not getting a picture with him. what a joy it was to reunite)

overall the concert was a hit. not only did i get to sing, but i got to see tons of people who've supported me over the years. love them all.

a huge thank you to those that came to the concert. my sister, blupid blore, for doing my hair and make-up for both days. she even stuck with me through my rehearsals. david, for taking us all out to dinner afterward, and aldy for driving all the way from temecula and bringing me flowers.

outfit #1

outfit #2 (a bit more casual)

duet with tandy shields . . . "put you under my tree"

haven't seen ms. alison in over 6 years. she's the exact same. . .cute as ever!

david, me, and blupid blore. they're the best.

aldy drove all the way from temecula to come support me. best branch member ever!

beautiful lillies.

so so tired after the concert. this was at like 11 pm. probably shouldn't have had a full meal at bj's that night.

our dessert

thirty seconds after the dessert came to the table

and ps. . .

here's a little video for those who couldn't make it to the concert. it's almost like you were there :)

best brother of the year award

this letter was waiting for me to come home from work. so sweet.

my 15 seconds of fame

padres v. dodger game

vip field seats near dodger dugout. ps. field seats are definitely the way to go.

kemp hit a home run on his bday giving the dodgers a win.

and. . . . look who was on t.v!

can you see me?? blue striped shirt and padres cap? that's my brother sitting on my right, and one of our friends.

p.s. i am obsessed with baseball hot dogs. i swear they taste better at the game than anywhere else. i had to physically stop myself from getting another because they were just that good.

uhhh scusi, bopadaboopi?

my sister picked out this italian chef's hat from a local italian store so of course we had to perform the infamous family guy episode of "scusi bopadaboopi" . . . needless to say i can never do anything without laughing. the videos are proof.

the cat's out of the bag now

I GOT A JOB!!!

I thought the day would never come. After applying to literally 40 different new graduate positions I finally was hired by PPH in Escondido, CA.

I work the DAY SHIFT (still don't know how I landed that!), and I am full time on the Medical/Surgical Oncology Floor!


here's the story for journal purposes . . .

***About four months ago I was having breakfast at OHOP with a friend. As we were about to leave, I hear a voice say, "Rachel?" I turn around, and it's my previous preceptor from PPH who helped me during my days as a nurse intern. She helped me gain confidence as a nursing student with my skills. There was some small talk and she asked me if I had found a job. I told her about my difficulty in finding a position because most hospitals stated that I had not enough experience (even though I was applying as a new graduate). She told me to not worry, but to focus on studying for the NCLEX. She asked for my number and I nonchalantly handed her a napkin with my name and number written down, thinking that she wasn't going to call....(i don't think it was by chance that I ran into my preceptor on a weekday at a local restaurant at 8 AM. I definitely see the importance of me being at that restaurant at that specific time. I'll never forget how helpful she was in my quest for a j ob)

About a month and a half ago, I received a call from my preceptor saying that her nurse manager had sent out an email to the staff notifying them of 4 open new graduate positions on their med/surg oncology floor . . . the same floor that i had been a nurse intern. My preceptor told me to go on the website and apply, and that she would talk to the nurse manager. Sure enough my preceptor, as well as some of the other day shift nurses that I worked with, talked to the nurse manager and spoke about my time as a nurse intern on their floor. My preceptor and the nurse manager told me to apply to all four positions online. There were 3 night positions and one day position. Once the positions were available to the general public, I went online to apply only to find that there was 1 night shift position available. I was so bummed. Night shift? Oh well, I guess every new graduate has to put in their dues with a night shift position. So I applied to the only night position available. After I applied to the night shift position, I called the nurse manager to ask her why the other positions were not available online. There was some technical error. I asked her how I would be able to apply to all of the rest of the positions and she said, "Oh don't worry about it! I already put you down for the day shift position because your mentor is going to be your old preceptor and she works days! So just come in to the hospital tomorrow and we'll have a quick interview and I'll tell you all about the program!" Shocked I told my dad that I thought I got a job, but the manager didn't say the actual words "You have the job" so I didn't believe it.

The next day I went in for the "interview" and the nurse manager said that she received so many good referrals from the day shift nurses on the floor and they said that the nurse manager had to hire me onto the team. She mentioned the dates that she would like me to start working, and sent me on my way with her business card in case I had any other questions. She was such a pleasant lady and I'm looking forward to working with her more.

After hearing from HR today after receiving a generous offer, I can actually officially say that I have a full time job as a registered nurse at a hospital. It's going to be a new change and experience for me, but I'm excited to start my career. I've worked so hard in school for this, and I'm ready to get started. I'm working at the older facility currently, but in 6 months our floor is moving to the brand new hospital (PMC WEST) in Oceanside. It's going to be incredible and is already labeled as the "hospital of the century". So neat.

if there's one thing that i've learned from this experience is the importance of patience and perseverance, and TIMING. this is the most perfect timing.

picture this . . .

(this picture doesn't do it any justice)

you're styling your hair 30 minutes before you're about to leave for work

you've just blow-dried your hair and now it's time for the round brush

you section off some hair and roll it around the round brush

as you try to remove the round brush . . . it does. not. come. out.

so in order to remove the brush in T Minus 15 minutes, your dad decides to spray detangler.

not working.

mom thinks pouring the whole bottle of conditioner will remove the knot right?

not working.

mom thinks vegetable oil. . . of course! why didn't we think of that? so now at this point I have in my hair. . .

1) detangler

2) conditioner

3) vegetable oil

not working.

by this time i'm going to be late for work. so what did end up removing the knot?

breaking the handle of the brush, cutting the brush, and chopping off quite a bit of hair.

never again will i be round brushing my hair.

jigga's wedding

the wonderful thing about going to salt lake city for your friend's wedding (besides the wedding) is eating at all those places that you've missed and loved so much.

take for example kneaders. my word i don't think i've tasted better french toast in my life. i even went back for seconds and that never. happens. oh well. sooo worth it. then i got to try moochies (guy fieri's fav in slc) and ordered a philly cheesesteak. . . the bomb. of course we also had some costa vida and the cocoa bean. best cupcakes EVER. i swear im sounding like the biggest fatty, but im a foodie. . . what can i say :)

jigga 1 and jigga 2 (by association)

amanda and brad

love this one of her. totally captures her personality.

it's always a joy and honor to be asked to sing someone's wedding song.

a great mother's day

look at her long red hair. here's some of the family skyping.

the tag :)

patty's duck face!

thank you to whomever developed SKYPE. chatting with patty on mother's day was the greatest ever. we got to chat for 51 minutes and we could have chatted for even longer!

she said she LOVES the area and hopes her brazilian visa gets lost on the way to to North Carolina :) the visa IS on it's way to NC and she should be off to Brazil very soon. she mentioned that they've had a lot of scary weather storms and was even caught in a small tornado.

who knew my dad was such a poet?

this was sent to patty who is currently on a mission. who knew guato was this good of a poet?

(Repeat as often as necessary to remember why you left on a Mission)

A Lamanite Lymerick

There once was a Mia Maid named Bub

Who filed her small toe to a nub

Cananites always Rap

"________" she did slap (name omitted for privacy)

Sasquatch really loves "Circus Crap"

When she left she needed a big hankee

Because waiting at home was her blankee

Pechanga was scared

The Bubster was prepared

I love Joseph Smith! she'd declared

To Brazil comes Bub, "The Thong Fightin Sister"

Because wearing them can cause "a big awful blister"

Evil Doers will run

Because she looks like a Nun

Portuguese is a real "Tongue Twister"

Her family is minus the second child born

Her Mom, her Dad, her family is torn,

Why the Bubster did leave, and cause them to mourn

But waiting they will, and the Devil will burn,

The greatest Missionary ever,

Soon will return!

Written by the Quorum of 9.5

(carried to the nearest decimal point)

just another day at williams-sonoma

who knew that i lived in a town where you could see two celebs in one day. i sure didn't.

i saw 'the power of love' crooner (he also sings 'cruisin' with gweneth paltrow)

huey lewis

and...

#30 terrell davis. former rb for denver broncos.

(nicest/most handsome guy ever)

he even signed a ws gift card (lol).

patty's bom viagem party

before patty left for her mission, our family wanted to throw her a 'bom viagem' party or a going away party in portuguese. we were able to have her party at the castle, a previous b & b in wine country.

patty. sister borcherds. keith.

sister borcherds has to be the sweetest most courageous woman i've met in a long time. she went through the most horrific event of her life, but she still continues to carry on and put a smile on her face. she was so gracious enough to let us use her home with such short notice. she also has the cutest accent (she's south african).

dad and some of the kiddies

some of the desserts.

i ordered 4 different kinds of cupcakes from a local bakery that i heard was outstanding.

well, they seriously didn't disappoint because they were AMAZING.

we had red velvet, carrot cake, boston cream pie, and strawberry shortcake

my g-ma also brought beautiful edible arrangements that were so delicious! they added the perfect touch to the table.

and onto the cake. . .

this cake was a.maz.ing. i am not a cake lover, but this was definitely worth every penny and mile driven. the bakery, flour power bakery, was all the way in el cajon which is really far from my house. the cake is a soft white cake with bavarian cream and a thin layer of raspberry and lemon. the frosting was whipped cream with shaved white chocolate. i had them put the brazilian flag on top and have it say "boa viagem irma ricchio!" or "good journey sister ricchio!"

2 of the kiddies eating le lasagne. for the food we had two large lasagne trays, sandwiches, pasta salads, antipasti trays, and salads.

the bar

we had to add the brazilian flag

a beautiful day in la

spent the afternoon in LA today with some friends. the best we could do with celeb spotting was this guy. . .

.larry king.

i have to admit, i was hoping for someone better. lol.

on the other hand, this was a pleasant surprise to stumble upon. it took me a second to realize what it really was!

the la temple. so pretty.

beautiful fall morning

one of the cool things about living near the wineries is the plethora of hot air balloons that fly around our house. they take off really early in the morning and then fly over the multiple vineyards and end with a delicious breakfast at South Coast Winery. i have yet to take a trip in one of the balloons, but it's for sure on my bucket list!

quite a sight!

john legend concert

well how do i begin . . . let's start with the fact that we were 8 rows from the stage and i was sitting on the end of the isle. i traded seats with my sister because i was in the middle. BEST decision i made that night. why?

oh because once the concert started, john legend came from the back of the theater and made his way to the stage. on the way down i just happened to stick my hand out and he grabbed it for about 5.2 seconds. ps... i know i was wearing high boots, but john legend is LITTLE!

so, back to the concert. AMAZING. the guy seriously didn't hit a flat note. everything was live. super good pianist.

me and david getting ready for the concert to start

of course i didn't take any pictures of the concert, however david shot a video so i may post that if it's good quality.

siblings

literally 5 minutes after this picture was taken, we were waiting outside for our car when i turn around and see this guy and his family. . . .

barry bonds

he was surprisingly not as tall or big as i had thought. his publicist was going about 90 mph trying to get people away from taking his picture because he was with his family. didn't grab a picture but saw him nonetheless.