That One Dreaded Week

I've never been one to stress over finals. Until this year, when Influenza A took me over the week before and I was left with 5 days of makeup work. And it's my first year with 6 classes(I usually have 5) so I already wasn't prepared for 6 tests.

To start this week off right, some friends and I decided to hit up Bonzai Bowl for some healthy energy and to celebrate our friend's birthday. Bonzai Bowl is this delicious place where you can get acai and other fruit bowls topped with granola, fresh fruit, and honey. It's as good as it sounds.
Here are some photos from this wonderful kick-off finals/celebrate Mik's birthday trip:

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)

My Cray Cray Mind

Our family pictures from this month

Dear Sweater Weather,

Isaac, Trevor, and I decided you are almost here. It's the best time of the year so I would hope you will stay for awhile.

Dear Rain, 

I absolutely loved waking up to you on Saturday, and I didn't mind sitting outside in the rain that night either.

Dear Sickness,

Go away please, and don't come back. Also, maybe you could fix my immune system because it seems to not be very good.

Dear San Juan Football Team,

The difference is amazing. I love how we actually have won most of our games this year. And also you better destroy Capo on Friday.

Dear Elder Shipp,

Your letter made me laugh out loud during seminary today. Can't wait to have you home in less than a month. You are the older brother I never had.

Lots and Lots of Genuine Love,

Kenz

Life in the Lately

Now that school has started I have been crazy doing nothing. Literally, I get HW only on the weekends(which is actually pretty ridiculous and upsetting). But during the week I am too tired to sit down and write about the past few amazing weekends I have had.

Or the fact that I wish I was going to Six Flags for the first time ever with my friends on Saturday. 

Or that Spanish pretty much is the end of my high school career(and I was convinced this would be my first semester in high school with straight A's). 

Or that I have the funniest friends.
Or that in Anatomy we have our little group of 4 people and we sit around and  play LIFE when our teacher gives us time to talk(we are pretty competitive too).
Or that my seminary teacher is the best guy to ever come to this earth.
Or that I get scripture or christmas songs stuck in my head all day(The joys of being in choirs and having a cool seminary class).
Or how I have the PSAT on Saturday
Or how stressful, but beyond amazing life is with all of its challenges
Or how I wish it was Fall, oh if only I lived on the East Coast where seasons weren't unheard of.
BUT that doesn't get said much by me(even though I wish it did).
I guess you will have to do with just pictures of the past few amazing weekends in my life.

Oh you know, just a typical Friday night.
 Pooped from Seminary and school and sleeping at a party after our Homecoming
 football game. Damon and I were dead asleep while Krista chose to model on us.

Our Anti-Homecoming Adventure. Free Backstage passes to Hurley's Back to School concert,
 Escorted by the lovely Connor and joined by Kyle and Emmy. Twas' a fantastic night.

Beach Evenings with some Pedro's Tacos and my
best friend Lauren. We are some Hot chickas.

Also some late night parties with Sam, Will, and Lauren

Awesome thrift store finds with Madalyn and Krista

Madalyn, Krista, and I went to a concert to see the none other than Paradise Fears

This Merch seller was pretty amazing

An overview of the entire night

 

The lead singer from Paradise Fears with me

I basically made Madalyn's entire life by bringing her to this concert and
having him ask her to marry him. Just sayin' no big deal.

After we enjoyed a tee-peeing trip with my cousin and his friends

We saran wrapped the car too, it was a very grand job

General Conference. Nerds.

Oh you know, just typical excitement in Anatomy with Mason and Dylan

And a Friday night Disney trip

The lil' sis and I were twinners. So presh, and so many comments of "how adorable you two are!"

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.

Our School Spirit..

Used to be horrible. Like you would think there were maybe 100 kids at most that went to our school because no one went to any games at all. This was really upsetting, but this year something changed.

We got BLEACHERS, which means we can actually have true home football games.

We got a POOL, which means we can have home water polo games.

AND

We got an actual TRACK, which means we can have track meets at our school.

So at the end of August we had our first ever Home football game. It was glorious. Actually it was more than that, it was the most amazing thing to happen to me. It was so great that I lost my voice.

So basically my school never wins ANY Football games, we kind of gave up hope awhile ago, but we WON!! And it was a beautiful thing.

Before the game with Cassidie and Yovanna

OUR turf. OUR team. OUR year. GO STALLIONS!

Yovanna and I all spirited up for the game

That day was a very long day because for the whole day before that we had LINK crew, which is a group of kids who teach leadership through helping Freshmen adjust to high school. We were paired up with one other leader and we each had 10 freshman that we taught different team building games to. We then shared our own "high school stories". We shared different struggles we have had to get over, and helped them realize that high school isn't as scary as they may have thought it was. It was a great experience and I am so stoked to be apart of the group for the rest of the year.

Cassidie and Yovanna through Jackson's sunglasses

Jordan, Yovanna, Cassidie, and Me

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)

This is "that" post

School started. It's not bad yet. Notice how I say yet though because it only gets worse. I'm taking easy classes though so that's always a plus.

Here's my crappy first day picture:
I had to wear my Link Crew shirt for the Freshman to be able to find me to ask me questions. It made for an easy transition to school clothes(mainly because I wore this all summer).
In my hand is the car keys, my phone, and of course my chocolate milk because I can't go to school without it.

Below that picture is my carpool for today. We have one other lovely lady that is supposed to fit in between the 2 of them(although it might be impossible). Wish us luck next week!

P.S. I might start some more fashion posts now that I will actually get dressed for the day. I'll keep you posted

Close to the End

As Summer is quickly coming to an end, I've decided to compile some pictures of my first day of school since 6th grade(Well I think I'm missing 7th or 8th, but I'm not sure where it would be). It's weird to see how much I've changed. I have no idea why I would wear my hair up in a pony tail on the first day of 6th grade, mainly because I rarely do that even today. Oh well, I guess I'll never understand my thoughts when I was younger.

6th grade

7th or 8th(I can't remember)

9th(We had to wear our volleyball tshirts for our first game that night)

9th grade second day outfit

10th grade(Over the years we stopped being able to figure out how to stand for pictures)

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

WHAT TIME IS IT?!?!

SUMMER TIME! IT'S OUR VACATION...

Last night, I was driving home from Disneyland with my sister. We were wishing it was already Summer, and that we would not have to go back to school today when I yelled out "What time is it?" with the response of "Summer time!". We continued to sing a beautiful rendition of the song throughout the quick trip to the store as everyone stared at us. Obviously we are a little excited to be out of school.

This school year though was the best. I learned new things about myself, as well as made friends with people I once disliked for no reason. I mean, I'm good friends with a TALL asian. How many people can say that? Ha. Anyways, through difficult teachers, boredom, and some personal struggles- I came out alive and am ready for a wonderful Summer to prepare for Junior year!

For my first official day of Summer, I'm starting it out with a trip to the temple and I might go try out a new waffle place around us called Bruxie. I'm pretty freaking stoked.

Me during my Theatre Days- Hairspray

Tonight we have our seminary party, and I'm singing at Graduation!! If any of you know me, then you know I used to sing in quite a few choirs and also performed in musical theatre, but through the years I dropped it to pursue sports. Now with a lot of random struggles going on in my life, I have found that singing is my favorite. I'm back to singing in a church choir called OCMCO, you can read what my mom wrote about our concert here. And I am also in my school's chamber choir, which requires that I sing at graduation. Whoop! Now I'm gonna go memorize our new Alma Mater before the big show, the joys of having a semi-new school.