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.

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.

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

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

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

My Life's Notes

Weren't we cute as kids??

Dear Weather,
I seriously dislike you. I want it to be sunny, not gloomy and dreadful.

Dear School,
Please end. NOW.

Dear Friday,
You cannot come soon enough.

Dear Grass,
I so not appreciate the cuts i have all over my legs from ice blocking on Saturday.

Dear "Don't Drop That Thun Thun Thun",
You may be a fun song to dance to, but when it comes to everyday life, you suck. It isn't even a good song children.

Dear Freshmen,
Watch out because this girl is a part of LINK CREW next year. Yep, that's right, I will be giving you your tours and all. Enjoy it, please.

Dear Music Lovers,
Watch this and die of love:

Sincerely,

Yours Truly

P.S. Only 4 days of Seminary left, and 12 days of school(not all of those are full days either). 

My Life's Notes

Dear Everybody,
Me and my friends are freaks. Just watch the video to believe me. If you don't know me and my friends, then you won't know how well this describes our friendship, like seriously it's ridiculous.

Dear STAR Testing,
One more year left. Now that's all I have to say about that.

Dear Girls Camp,
Be here ALREADY!! I am soooo stoked to teach all the youngins' about some cloud formations and how to tell if you have a broken bone. Seriously stoked, especially for the indian face paint.

Dear Disneyland,
I am so happy to finally have a pass again! I mean, it had been 2 months since I had been.

Dear Neighbor,
Thank you for watering your bushes in such a "neat" way on Saturday, you really add to the video^^

Dear Life,

I'm finally really happy

NOW GO WATCH THAT VIDEO!!!^^

Much Love and Consideration,

Kenzie

My Life's Notes

Sister

2 story hotel rooms without parents rock

Dear Me,
Stop eating chocolate while you write this. You aren't even a fan of chocolate.

Dear Sunday School teacher,
You are pretty cool. And the fact you were on Broadway with Les Miserables is so freaking awesome.

Dear Weather,
LOVE

Dear Chocolate milk,
Every morning I am woken up by the deliciousness that you are. So basically I love chocolate milk with a large passion.

Dear Disneyland passholders,
Boy am I jealous of you right now. I seriously just want to go to Disneyland and enjoy the rides and pretty scenery with everyone, but then I have to remind myself: "Mackenzie, you are broke. It isn't good to want things, especially a Disneyland pass, when you have no money because then you get sad"

Dear Debate partner,
You'll probably win considering I am just browsing the internet when I should be coming up with great arguments, so I'l just say your welcome now :)

Lots of Love,

Kenzie

My Life's Notes(Late yet again)

I have extremely hot friends

I got a spray tan once... It looked good for about 2 days, then I was scrubbing hard

Dear AP Students,
Thank you so much for having a bunch of AP tests this week. Since I'm in advanced classes, but not AP I am able to take it easy and sleep in class. Heaven.

Dear Seminary Sub,
You are really cool, and you will be even cooler if you bring your wife in on "bring your wife to seminary day" created by Maddie.

Dear Boys,
I be loving me some bow ties. The end.

Dear Hair,
You really annoy me a lot.

Dear Pinterest,
Boy are you my favorite. I'm addicted to pinterest and instagram. Follow me at @kenzibrooke for instagram and kenzibjones for Pinterest.

Dear Skin,
Stop being so white. It's embarrassing, and I'm ready to have pretty, tan legs.

Dear Everyone,
Live in the present, and forget the past.

Sincerely,

Kenzie

Welcome to Utah(AKA Land of the Mormons)

Last Tuesday on April 24,2012, My aunt passed away from cancer after a long battle. Even though we knew she was going to pass away soon, it was still really sad to the whole family. Her husband, wrote a lovely little blog post about her passing here if you would like to read it, and her whole battle experience is written here.

A short summary would be that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and from her radiation she got a brain tumor which ultimately was what caused her passing. Through all of the trials she stood strong, and was always positive. Her journey is one of strength. She left behind her husband, daughter, and 3 sons.

This weekend though, my family went to her funeral in Centerville, Utah on Monday. It was a beautiful service.

Here is my Aunt's casket at the Cemetery with her husband, daughter, and 3 sons

At the luncheon after the funeral

Since we drove 11 hours to Utah, we found all the time we could get to go visit some of the newly remodeled areas in Salt Lake City. Here are some pictures in the new shopping center that was recently remodeled:

Everyone, but Mom

My sister and I

Our whole family in front of the Salt Lake City Temple

A cool water feature that makes it look like you are standing in the water

Temple again

The car ride home consisted of LOLLIPOPS

We had a 2 story Hotel room... No Biggie

We did think it was pretty cool though, especially because our parents were on the other side of the hotel ;)