Funny Story.

Let me give you some background on how our school was built. Our school was built on a hill that has 2 lanes going up and only one going down. We all joke about how one day we are gonna get stuck on the hill since there's only one way in and out. We all predicted it would be because of a fire, but today we found out that was wrong.
At the bottom of this hill there is a ton of construction going on. I mean a bunch of new houses, road widening, and shopping centers that are all in the making(it takes about 30 minutes just to get to school).
Today we are just casually taking notes in History when the Principal speaks over the loud speaker and says "The construction workers hit a natural gas line on the corner of La Pata, Ortega, and Antonio. This means you can't leave until after they fix the repairs which could take a few hours."
Aghh. The whole class sighs. This basically ruined our whole day. All I can say is that we are still stuck in class, and we all just want to leave.
I guess I should be grateful that I have a car to drive home so when we finally get to leave I won't have to make my mom wait in a bunch of traffic just to get here. Also now the waterpolo game is canceled so I may be able to actually make my friend's last game. I am trying to find joy in the little things.

On another note, we have our stake Halloween dance tonight and I get to decorate the whole thing which I am beyond excited about. Here's a picture of our Pink-out football game supporting breast cancer:

(Matt, Me, Trevor, Andrew, Ryan, and Skyler)

Joy from Babysitting

Joy to me is not being able to describe the love you have for kids.

It's when you stop caring about the money from babysitting.

It's when you realize you don't want Summer to end 

because you will miss "your" little kids.

It's when children are the only ones to make you truly happy.

It's when the kids start doing things because they know you'll love it.

It's when the children you babysit start to notice your love for them.

It's when you honestly miss the kids.

It's when you choose to babysit over hanging out with your friends, and there isn't one part of you that longs to be with your friends. Because you love the company of children. And because you recognize how much they have changed your life already.

Once Upon a Time...

I cut my hair ALL off. I don't know what I was thinking because seriously I would never do that today. I was in 4th grade, and I remember being really bummed because nobody really noticed it was different. The reason I bring this up now is because apparently its the "cool thing" to have shoulder-length hair right now? A few people have asked me if I'm going to cut my hair since it's long, and I just say "Do you think since I've been trying to grow my hair back out since 4th grade that I would cut it off..?" No matter how annoying long hair gets(although I have it pretty easy because my hair is naturally straight and doesn't really frizz), I remind myself of 4th grade when I cut my hair short.

At least it was for a good cause though, right?

I cut my hair for Locks of Love. An organization that takes people's hair to make wigs for cancer patients. You can check out their whole non-profit organization page here.

My hair before(How cute is that shrug? HA.) 

The process of cutting it off

My face when I first saw it(I was just surprised it wasn't longer)

My hair in the end(Notice the stain on my shirt please. I think
it reminds me why you don't wear plain white tshirts)

Life Lately...

Has been pretty exciting. Before school started, I tried to fit everything in that I was going to miss. It was a very successful movement, and I can honestly say I am so much happier because of it. 

We definitely had to fit in some late nights at the cousins house in Carlsbad just having dinner, talking, and of course making smores. The weather was so nice then(now it's seriously soooo hot). 

Just making smores with the family

 Obviously with our passes finally working again(after a long Summer of them being blocked) we had to make a trip to Disneyland. My mom and I went together after a long day of a choir rehearsal and we met up with a few of my friends. It was a very fun last-minute trip!

Me, Emily, and Annie

Can't forget the mustaches

LOTS and LOTS of dancing.. We embarrassed Annie, but
that's okay because we were having so much fun

And me and my friend Rachel had promised our friend Rebecca we would come visit her at work close to the beginning of Summer, and we never got to it so we went and indulged in delicious food and visited her. She works at Bruxie which is a belgian waffle sandwich shop... Oh my heck it is beyond delicious! If anyone is ever in the area and wants to go on a lunch date there then I will always be open, I need an excuse to go ;)

Rachel, Rebecca, and Me(We look black in this picture)

Sometimes...

I choose to pull out my $3 animal print skirt from a thrift store. And then I choose to take a crappy picture of my outfit so you get the idea. Now excuse me as I go spin around in my flowy skirt.

My Life's Notes

My recent choice of morning wardrobe. My sister informed me a picture was necessary.

Sisters a few years ago in Hawaii

Dear Captain America,
You are by far my favorite super hero. I know you don't have the coolest powers, but you have the nicest body and you definitely use your powers to defeat the evil sources(does that even make sense??)

Dear Ma(trek mom that is),
Thanks for the workout today! Considering the fact I haven't worked out that hard since November, I know I will be sore tomorrow.

Dear Mothers who I worked out with today,
You are all definitely a lot more in shape than us 3 teenagers who were dying the whole time.

Dear Kiddos who I see every Monday and Wednesday,
I love you. And I love when you get into messes because it makes my job more fun. Especially when you love bouncy balls at each others heads, I seriously love it and will miss it when I go back to school.

Dear Businesses,
Sorry, but I am sticking to babysitting for a few more years for money. It's way too fun!

Dear Lauren,
Don't leave me again. You just came back after 3 weeks, and now you are going to HAWAII! No fair... I want to go too

Dear US Open,
I might have considered attending if I wasn't so dang white! But I guess that isn't your fault I can't tan..

Love,

Kenz

Do you hear the voice?

We hear the voice!

 EFY this year was absolutely amazing. I went to Santa Barbara with my sister and her friends, but I roomed alone in order to meet new people. We rode the train to Santa Barbara and back after the week was over, and I think the train made it so much more fun.

 My roommate's name was Margaret and she was pretty cool. She was training to hike the grand canyon rim to rim, and she completed it on Wednesday of this week. 

All of the girls in my company(which usually consists of 13 girls age 16-18. There are a lot of companies to make up one group)had come alone which made it easier to make new friends and not be cliquey. It ended up being super fun! One of the girls in our company pretended she was Russian the first day and I totally believed her the whole time until they made her tell the truth.

It ended up being a fantastic week filled with lots of fun/random events!

Escorting is a big deal for EFY... Everywhere you go you basically have to be
escorted by someone of the opposite gender haha

It was my counselor Greg's birthday the week before on the 4th but we celebrated it again

Funny story about my guy counselor: The first day we had our "welcoming" meeting where all of the counselors dance and sing, and basically make it seem like they are really cool(even if they aren't, but they usually are). He was sitting next to me during one of the videos and there was a beat playing in the background so he started free styling and coming up with his own words making sure that only I could hear. From that point on, I knew he was going to be the best.

The food was delicious...

This is my friend Max, he and I matched almost everyday but it wasn't on purpose

Ice cream every freaking meal. Mmmm

Before getting on the train to go to Santa Barbara

Reenacting Breaking Dawn

The girls in my company. They were all so amazing

My favorite girls, Courtney and Lora(she was the girl with the Russian accent )

This was basically all we did on the train because Brigham is super talented

Courtney and I with our counselor Cali on the last day

A bunch of kids during free time.
(From left to right: Jessica, Hunter, Emily, Me, Max, Lora)

We go crazy during lessons
(From left to right: Lora, Taryn, Hunter, Me)

No explanation, but we match again

We didn't know each other before this week but we had learned a bunch
about each other before from our friend Brandt, this kid's name is Blake

My roommate Meg. We almost forgot to get a picture together

Kory taught me some cords on the ukelele. He felt really cool

Some of the boys from my company
(From Left to Right: Max, Bailey, Me, Cole)

This kid became one of my favorites on the last day. His name is David
and he wants me to let you all know that he has swag

Winter in Summer?

What the what?? Lately it's been so cold, and it doesn't burn off!! I mean normally this is great, but when it's summer time and you want to tan at the beach, it's not cool when you leave fried because it's overcast. Especially since I'm pasty white.
Yesterday I was watching my siblings while my parents were at work and we decided to go to the park an get our free bagels from brueggers.

Top-Old Navy Leggings-H&M Jacket-Thrifted Boots-DSW
 Socks-My Mom's Drawer Tank Top-Aeropostale Watch-Bahamas Bag-Swap Meet

So small, yet so worth all of the pictures and video we took

Meet my New Family Member

This was a long wait for me, and I seriously was counting down the days, but we finally got him!!!

 Name: Eugene

Why we named him that: In Tangled(one of my families favorite movie) Eugene, or Flynn Rider, takes Rapunzel on all of her adventures. I am a huge fan of adventures, and I already know that Eugene will take my whole family on adventures. He is one nice looking car.

Here is our families THIRD car:

It's a 2004 VW Jetta GLS 1.8 Turbo Engine

(Which means I'll be driving it to school in the Fall, suddenly excited for school)

My Life's Notes

My EFY Counselor from last year was on So You Think You Can Dance this year

Just a preview of Girls Camp from all last week

Dear Meredith(my sister),
I am so super jealous of you since you were able to sit directly behind Zooey Deschanel during the taping of SYTYCD that you went to. She is my girl crush, and part of my crazy obsession of 500 Days of Summer.

Dear Dirt,
I'm finally free from you!! Long, hot showers are amazing.

Dear Summer,
I finally feel like it's Summer. Which, I am so very grateful for.

Dear San Clemente,
It was nice to visit you again, I miss my old friends.

Dear Large Whiteboards,
You provide hours of entertainment.

Dear Church Leaders,
You are AMAZING!!! I am so grateful for everything you did to help put camp together this year and make it beyond wonderful.

Dear 10 Fingers Game,
I had to play with 5 fingers last night because my friend and I already know too much about each other.  We still never finished the game in 2 hours...

Lots of Love,

Kenzie

Destiny? Fate? True Love.

DISCLAIMER: I am a Mormon. I believe marriage is eternal, and that it is absolutely perfect to be married in the temple to the man you know is right for you.

This is a shirt my friend made me for my birthday last year. I love it.

Every once in awhile I freak out because I don't know how I am feeling. I'm not trying to sound like some freak who has to be aware of everything at all times, but usually I at least like to know how I feel.
 
Today I am feeling romantic? I don't know what word to use. Now this isn't some "Oh my goodness I love you because you are the perfect boyfriend" kind of feeling, partially because I don't have a boyfriend so that wouldn't really workout. But today I was discussing with one of my really good friends about Destiny, Fate, and True Love.

He and I have always had a connection with these words because for some reason we used to believe that we were perfect for each other. Oh our innocent minds. Frequently, we like to discuss what went wrong in our "relationship" but today we discussed why he doesn't believe in destiny or fate anymore (It's because of me. He even told me if i had asked him a year and 2 weeks ago he would have still believed. Side note: We broke up a year ago last Saturday). He still believes in true love though so he hasn't been completely brainwashed by reality. As for me though, I still like to believe in fairytales(yes, I do know and believe it is completely wrong for me to compare boys to books and TV but I get over it because I want to be a kid again).

I could give you full details as to why my male friend and I are just friends now(which would help you understand why he doesn't believe in destiny and fate anymore), but that is a story that I kind of like to keep secret. Either way though, our relationship went sort of along the same idea as 500 Days of Summer.


Destiny, as most of us know, is believing that something happened for a specific reason. Fate has the same meaning, but he and I have always considered it to have a different meaning, when in our heads the meaning is the same.

Up until recently, he has believed that destiny is meeting the person you were predetermined to be with, then fate would be the part where you get married and finally experience true love. But considering all of the divorces and horrible marriages, he now thinks we choose who we fall in love with.
I still believe there are certain people we are supposed to become matched with. It's destiny that you finally meet "the one", it's fate that you fall in love, an it's true love when the couple decides to work on the relationship for the rest of eternity in order to stay together.

Based off of divorces though, I infer that people forget what it's like to love their spouse as much as they did the day they got married. When we don't remember the happiness, it's hard to stick around for the difficult parts. It's scientifically proven, but I think everyone should work for an eternal marriage and constantly remind their spouse of their wedding day. I'm positive it would help.
I'm pretty sure nobody actually knows, but at the same time, my friend and I are both hopeless romantics who obviously have no lives(considering we were debating this for 2 hours).

What are your thoughts on Destiny? Fate? True Love?

Summer Bucket List

Me Last Summer with Scott Stephan carrying Me across a river on our Stake's Pioneer Trek

Every year I love to do a bunch of random things over Summer, but this year I have been really into going on spontaneous adventures. I mainly go on my adventures with my friend Hayden, who is going up to BYU for college in August. In order to send him off properly, I am determined to go on the most amazing adventures with him before he leaves. I started making a list of things I will do over the Summer, and everyday I have pretty much added something new. I only have 7 days to add new things though!! Here is a preview of a few things I am going to complete:

1. Take a picture in front of Mackenzie St.

2. Wear something belonging to a male figure all day

3. Have a board game party

4. People watch at Disneyland

5. Go to the park and swing on the swings

6. Play a large game of Hide and Go Seek

7. Go to the beach and color with a coloring book and crayons

8. Give a man a manicure

9. Get a milkshake really early in the morning

10. Have a cupcake decorating contest

11. Ride a city bus

12. Have a picnic

13. Go on a Scavenger Hunt

14. Give a random guy a ring pop and ask them to marry you

15. Have a fake marriage at Ikea

16. Go to Old Town Orange

17. Dress up in gnarly costumes and go shopping

18. Go goth far a day

19. Go Fast Food Hopping

20. Go roller skating

These are just a few of our wonderful ideas! I hope they are as fun as they sound.

HA I'm ready for school to end (My 8th grade year, I got voted as most likely to sing on Broadway. Oh and by the way, I made the Chamber Choir at my school next year!!!)

My Life's Notes

Me and My Friends are the coolest/weirdest.. Whichever you prefer

Me as a young babe, It looks like I have orange hair

Dear Last Weekend,
I loved that I could hangout with all of my friends and babysit 3 separate times. I fit everything into my Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday I got my special Joseph of Egypt award at Seminary Graduation.

Dear Girls who are going on their 4th year at girls camp in my stake,
I have some rad things planned for you. Seriously though, you will wonder why everyone thinks the first years are immature, when really it's my friends and I.

Dear School,
I'm really grateful there is only a week left.

Dear Summer,
I would say come faster, but you're coming fast enough... So don't slow down!!

Dear Laundry,
Is there a way you could finish yourself? I would appreciate it.

Dear Baby G,
I died over your cheeks last night even though you did drool and spit up all over me. It was most definitely worth it.

Dear Rube Goldberg Project,
You're dumb.

Dear Everyone,
Have a great week!! And go eat some Waffles.

With much excitement and joy,

Kenzie