promise I didn't forget about you

(finals week last fall, i barely survived that one)

It's that time of year again!

No, not Christmas, geesh. Don't get ahead of yourselves, folks.

It's finals week! Otherwise known as "must eat all the food I have left in my fridge which consists of milk, carrots, and flaxseed" week. Or "spend all my free time that I really don't have in the library eavesdropping on funny conversations" week. Or "lose all hope of sleep for the next few days because you ain't gettin' any" week. Or "sad because the semester went way too fast even though I kind of wished it upon myself" week. Yeah, that time of year.

I have approximately 2 hours of studying, 1 hour of exam-ing, and 1 hour of potluck-ing to do before Spring Semester 2011 is officially adjourned. Oh sweet relief.

In the meantime, here's a happy list I've accumulated over the past few days. Yes, it is huge. I call it the "the giant happy list of epic proportions and awesomeness." It's been stuck on the wall by my bed for the past week, and every night I pencil in a few things that made me happy. I can afford to waste just one more piece of paper. It's for a good cause, you know. Sanity always is.

6/10

• talking to Alyssa MC, she is the bomb.
• overnight oats with blueberries
• the moon outside my window
• singing primary songs @ a ward fireside

6/11

• Erin's hugs
• watermelon (an insane amount, I tell you)
• getting an unexpected A- in piano class, whaaa?
• my fan. I'd die without it.
• building on The Rock

6/12

• poetry readings (mine was about Prefontaine, baby)
• the smell of rain on hot pavement
• not having to turn in an assignment I lost
• re-painting my nails
• mango/pineapple/banana smoothies, ohmylanta
• not wearing makeup and then rubbing my face
• cleaning apartment #5's kitchen and living room, for no reason besides happiness
• "Surprise Homecoming" show on TLC. It's a tear-jerker, kids.
• Bike fixed at last!!!!!!!!!!!!

6/13

• yummy food all day
• park + Sisterhood of the T-Pants w/ Amy (yeah, I just said T-pants, I dunno where it came from)
• pre-bed showers
• summer breezes
• talking to Ikey

6/14

• napping in the Ricks Gardens
• temple w/ Amy
• being baptized for Mexicans (one was from Puebla!)
• homemade popcorn
• patriarchal blessings
• Isaiah 17:10

6/15

• Harry Potter 7.2 (now what do I do?!)
• Reese's Pieces
• laughing at certain movie trailers about certain vampires

6/16

• Craigo's with Apt. #5, my adopted apartment this semester
• Zac Efron and 17 Again, ahhhh
• funny girls in my ward

6/17

• ward potlucks
• my mom
• knowing all will be well in the end
• naps
• Falafel!
• Sunday night walks

Next time I see you, it will be in American Fork! Or if you are not a member of my family or a friend from my hometown...keep lurking! I'll be back with more when this is all over.

feeling reminiscent? check out my blogs about finals week last summer here and here or last fall

draggin' my feet

Sorry I've been off the grid lately. It was kind of intentional, you know, to make you guys miss me.

Did it work?

Don't answer that.

I have some saweet posts coming up, but for now, I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive, still crankin' out 8 hours of homework a day (who has time for eating and sleeping, I mean really, who?!), still wanting to be outside all of the time but sadly I didn't sign up for that class ("that" class being the nonexistent one where we just hang out in the mountains all day long), still living in the dadgum library.

For now I'll leave you with the weirdest ad that has ever come up on my Pandora station:

Obnoxious lady voice: "A bra is a lot like a friend! It's hard to find a good one that supports you just right, but when you find do, it's a great fit for-ev-er."

Is this for real?

finals week: a series in 8 parts

day 1: wednesday, december 8th (in library from 8-11:30 pm)

song that kicked us out: sweet home alabama

pieces of gum chewed: 1

other interesting tidbits from this evening in the library: gave away a mango, taught someone a secret handshake, stuck my feet up on the heater 'til my shoes started to smell burnt, changed my hairstyle twice, wrote 8 emails to Chelsea while she sat right behind me.

day 2: thursday, december 9th (up doing homework 'til 11pm)

today I fell asleep in class three times, took one 1-hr nap which felt like 5 minutes, and ate an ice cream cone to get me through the evening. I obviously haven't learned the basic formula...sugar+kenz=crazy/crash. Sigh.

day 3: friday, december 10th (stayed in library from 3:30-6pm)

My original plan was to stay in the library until my research paper was done. But the only spot open on the 2nd floor with a plug nearby was also right up against a brick wall. It was mildly claustrophobic.

So, after a few pieces of gum, a piece of string cheese, and exactly 1 page of my research paper, I booked it out of there before my brain melted onto the floor.

(the above photograph is supposed to show my claustrophobia. didn't really work)

day 4: saturday, december 11th

I tried to wake up at 8, I really did. But my body wouldn't allow it. So I slept until 9am (shocking, I know!). Our elders quorum made us breakfast (think lots of bacon and sausage), which was at noon. We tried to call it a brunch, but they said, "No, it's breakfast."

Alrighty then.

I have now progressed to page 5 of my research paper.

And I've only eaten 1 piece of gum.

Thank you, thank you.

The glasses are supposed to help me study,

or something like that.

day 5: monday, december 13th

(yeah, I skipped Sunday because it's the day of REST, a word which isn't really synonymous with finals week)

ran my final 1.5 miler for science class and beat my time by 1:15. I heard that the new track is supposed to make you run faster...pshh, it was all me!

Then I spent the entire rest of the day on the couch in the living room writing my research paper, finishing my shakespeare project, and starting my spanish project.

for some reason the lighting in this picture makes me look like I have highlights.

p.s. i feel kind of conceited for taking a picture of myself every day. that's all.

day 6: tuesday, december 14th

yes, i recognize that my hair is wavy-crazy in this photo, but what's more is my face. it must be day six of finals week...oh snap.

that there on the right is my lovely amiga Niki, who was studying for an English test with me when this was taken.

Interestingness of the day: I was fed by others for every single meal. Breakfast party in Shakespeare, lunch party at work for which i made the famous brownies, closing ward social with yet another free meal.

I could get used to this free food thing.

Also, I found a new favorite spot in the library (of course the last day I'm in there!)...the only problem is that it's right above a heater and it makes me sleepy.

day 7: wednesday, december 15th

I am quite disgusted with myself in this picture, but this is kind of like a day-in-the-life kind of thing, so I had to stay true to my school. What? Yeah, I dunno what I just said. Confession: I did not wash my hair today. Thus the hoodie.

As for schoolio, well, today was my last day of actual classes. I have exactly 2 tests left to take and 1 project to turn in.

Tomorrow I'm makin' pumpkin muffins for breakfast because I CAN.

And I still have pumpkin leftover...agh.

I have been sitting in this chair for 6 hours now. Six. Hours. I probably could've woven a basket in that amount of time! Think about it!

p.s. is it just me or are the entries for each day getting progressively longer???

oh dear.

day 8: judgment day (did project from 12-2, studied for science test from 2-5)

that's AIGHT, people, I did it! I finished my sixth semester at this place (technically it was my 5th, but I came in with an extra one, so cha).

I can't tell you the bliss I felt after walking out of the testing center at 6:15 PM this evening. What were you doing at 6:15? Did it feel that awesome?

It was like a 100-lb anvil had been lifted off of my head. That's right, it was on my head. But now I'm FREE! Next time I set foot in a classroom, I will be the teacher.

I'm guessing it will be just as hard as school, but in a different and equally amazing way.

now I'm going to have some pizza and watch a movie with my roommates.

p.s. Elder Bednar, Elder Nelson, and Pres. Eyring are in this city RIGHT NOW. With me!!!! Well, not with me with me, but you know what I mean!

PSYCHE!

20 for 31

my personal fave

20 years old for 31 more days, to be exact. Actually, it's more like 30 days now, because day one is almost over and I have spent almost 75% of it in the library. So that doesn't really count as an actual day, right?

When I first walked into the library after Thanksgiving Break, it was like coming home. You'd think that when I first walked into my apartment, I would feel that way, but no. It was the library. Sad.

I've learned a lot this year and I wouldn't trade any of the trials I went through for anything else. God obviously knows what He's doing and He gives me these experiences for a reason. So I'm just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even though a lot of the time I don't know where it's going to land.

As for these next 30 days, I plan on making the most of them. After all, when the clock strikes 11:18am on January 1st, I will be a "legal adult." Whatever that means...

mcfrenzy's 30 day plan o'action:

go to taco bus uh-gain

make sure my students know they're awesome

get to the middle of the Book of Alma

write a poem and leave it somewhere in this blasted place

stop saying blast and wretch

make a snowman/snow angel

make pumpkin cookies un mas tiempo, to give away of course

update the quote wall before we have to take it down

make those tie-dye shirts we've had since forever ago...

write a note to at least 1 person every week

small acts of service

try to stop listening to this song

go to the Rexburg Temple at least 1 more time

talk to the Bishop 1 more time

bear my testimony (hold me to this)

say hi to a stranger

avoid falling on the ice/snow

wink at somebody. what? I just really gotta get it out of my system.

forget myself and GO (to mexico, that is)

melancholy monday

{the snow just doesn't know how to ask nicely}

What, you think I can't have a happy/sad day? Well, I can. And I did. But no worries, it was 75% happy, 25% sad. See if you can guess which part of the list goes with which emotion. C'mon, I'm in the mood for games, guys.

1. currently in the library, poppin' gum and listening to Fleet Foxes/Mumford and Sons/Wiretree
   
2. shoes are soaked through because it has been snowing all day and I really need rain boots
3. granola bar for dinner, time for another grocery trip
4. no bike ride today (remember the snow part)
5. zombie-eyed-ness isn't attractive, right? I guess on certain people it could be (like if Paris Hilton was ever in a slasher flick, she could probably pull off zombie and still look semi-good. Which is really twisted if you think about it. I wouldn't want to be known as a "hot zombie." Just sayin'.)
6. early-morning conference talk reading
7. my hair is kinda like Ariel's today (and by that I mean it wasn't frizzy and crazy, but smooth and sane....just forget about the power bangs, people. I would never go there.)
8. wearing a giant scarf that looks like an albino boa constrictor from far away...or...uhh... just a really long scarf....
9. saturday happiness: playing in the leaves
10. best friends are leaving me (CB Scent made a big decision which I dunno if I am allowed to say on this blog...but anyway, you'll find out eventually.)
11. seeing my breath stream out in front of me....oh coldness.
12. not once looking at CNN's website today. The comments section is usually the most entertaining part (seriously, go read it if you need to laugh), but the news part is usually depressing.
13. imagining walking home from the library, my current home, to Apartment 7, my other home with my bed in it, and getting into that bed, and sleeping in it.
14. meetings with Bishop Cramer. Oh man is he funny. I've never laughed so hard in a Bishop's office before.
15. the whiteness of snow against the still-yellow leaves
    
16. writing this post on time for once

trapped in the library

I'm being held hostage against my will. The criminals aren't wearing masks. They aren't holding water guns to my face (I didn't want to be graphic. Who knows how many kids read this blog). It's almost 8pm on a Friday night and guess what? I am surrounded by homework. But at least I have good music playing and a never ending stash of gum. Tomorrow, just to spite this chair which has confined me for so long, I am going to attempt to run 7-8 miles. Heheheheheheheheh.... What, you don't think that I can, Mister Chair? [don't judge me for talking to inanimate objects...remember...I'm in the library. on a friday]

Well, I'm gonna.

Good night and good riddance.

Pray that I'll get to leave this place before the music comes on. :)

from wednesday to monday, yessiree.

this is something like a "weekend update," only not the seth myers kind. because #1, I'm not seth meyers, and #2, his w.u.'s are much more abbreviated and probably funnier.

right now I'm on the third floor of the library, which always smells like burning plastic. there's a guy behind me whose voice is...um...really loud. but it's the third floor, so nobody is giving him the the hairy eyeball. at least not from where he can see [as I hunch even lower behind my computer screen...].


I decided to include Wednesday in this post only because something rather scandalous happened to me on that day. In a certain shiny, white building on the hill. Don't worry, it gets better (only what could be better than that last sentence, I submit to you?).


I had just gotten "done" (which is a relative term, you will come to realize) getting dressed in my lovely jumpsuit before doing baptisms. I walked out to the vanity to put my hair up in a ponytail. Work that up-do. Anyway. It's a good thing Chelsea Ann Bedke was there, too, so she could point out something I had missed.


A little something called the zipper.


Many of you have underestimated the importance of the zipper until you are standing in front of a group of people (be it the Elders' Quorum, Relief Society, or any congregation bigger than 1 person....) and all of a sudden you feel a breeze....where you shouldn't be feeling a breeze. Then you try not to be conspicuous as you conduct the entire rest of your speech/lesson facing the chalkboard.


Well, when you're wearing this kind of jumpsuit, the baptism kind, the zipper kind of makes the outfit. If you forget it, you (and everyone else around you) will pay for it.


Chels: "Uhh, are you gonna zip up that jumpsuit?"
Me: "Huh?" (Looks down and sees zipper....really far down. I'm not going to be very descriptive for the children's sake who listen to this blog as their bedtime stories)
Chels: "Yeahhh."
Me: "I knew I was forgetting something..." (Zips up jumpsuit. About 5 minutes too late.)
We laughed all the way down the hall and when we got to the chapel. Eventually Chels had to excuse herself because we were making a disturbance. Sometimes I think I laugh too much.

Phew, glad I got that off my chest.


Now for the glorious weekend update.

friday:

a trip to WinCo: in which I bought enough produce to feed a slew of farm animals for weeks. or maybe just one really hungry farm animal. me.

a spontaneous dance party: while doing the dishes at 12am. Didn't know some of my roommates could move like that, but I guess Michael Jackson can do that to you.

a discovery: high-fiber cereal that tastes like cardboard tastes a lot better when it's on top of some zoi and covered in nectarines and almonds. delish.

saturday:

a good morning: scripture study in Moroni 7 and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I simultaneously lowered my cholesterol and my desire to judge others.

a bike ride: pedaling through a very beautiful, autumny rexburg for almost 2 hours. I discovered a bridge over the South Fork Teton River and sat there for awhile, notebook in hand. Don't worry, Dad.

a second showing: Inception. It's true that it's better the second time. Plus I now understand that wonderful ending a little better. And I want to sleep more. But how is that any different than my life before? :)

a new talent: popping popcorn on the stove. besides, i like it burnt.

sunday:
an ivory shredder: that would be yours truly, playin' hymns for Relief Society that nobody knows. I like to employ the element of surprise in my calling. Who says the pianist can't lead an exciting life?

a flashback or two: watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers & Meet Me in St. Louis, basking in the pieces of my childhood which I always remember when I watch those movies. And I think that a BYU-Idaho alum must've written the song "Bless Your Beautiful Hide." Just sayin'.

a roommate potluck: my roomates are good cooks and even better sharers. Chels, as she took a bite of her pot roast, "We are going to be such good wives." Go Chelsea go!

a group study session: in Preach My Gospel, a really cool book. You should read it sometime.

monday:

an early morning: scripture study, learning about consecration all week long.

a class: where we studied one of my all-time favorite talks. no, I'm serious guys. We watched it because watching this man talk is an experience in and of itself.

an exam: an oral exam, to be exact, speaking in spanish with my teacher one-on-one for an allotted amount of time. the prognosis: I am about as good as any return-missionary. Oh, ok. Wait...what?!

a rainy bike ride: getting soaked while coasting downhill never gets old.


and now, I'm in the library, still listening to that guy practically shouting behind me. that was an epic-ally long post. I don't blame you for not reading it. but for those of you who did, it was awesome, was it not (my weekend, not the post)?

p.s. I am a little bit poor but I am determined to go to Mexico in January. For those of you who have helped so far, there's no way I could thank you enough! But expect a thank-you card, anyway. :) If you would like to help even more, just click on this link. It will make you take a survey about your school. I know some of you aren't in school anymore, but just pretend you're still in college and write what you remember: http://collegeprowler.com/survey/mckenz22/

{what happened to my brain}

5pm, June 24th: Doing homework in la biblioteca.

5:05 trying to write proposal for research paper

.....nodding...nodding

5:07 outside to get some energy from the sun

5:08 sun makes my shirt stick to my skin

5:09 eat apple, dream of swimming pool

5:10 shirt is getting stickier

5:15 go back into the library

try not to cry about it

5:20 wander around library looking for someone

5:25 give up looking and sit down

5:30 stare at computer screen

5:31 realize I should be doing homework

5:32 upon this realization, I direct my attention to

this video.

5:34 start laughing out loud in library

5:35 a few people glare at me

5:36 laugh some more, get some more hairy eyeballs

5:40 go back to Spanish homework

5:45 wake up 5 minutes later. Wait...wake up?

5:47 realize I need a nap

5:50 sleepwalk home

6-7 sleep

*dream*

somewhere in here, I woke up and ate something

8:45-10 go back to library to finish what I never started

10-11 go home, journal

11:30 help Niki write her cover letter

11:45 decide a shower is in order

12 am: turn A/C in room to 60. Sink all the way down into my sheets

Did I mention I shaved my legs?

Have you ever shaved your legs and then

gotten between cool sheets?

Try it sometime. It's comparable

to eating lots of chocolate & then

taking a longgg nap.

12:30 read some Junie B. Jones to Chels & Niki

12:45 Good, bad, funny, something you don't know about me

*sleep again, dream again*

June 25th, 8:50 a.m. Woke up, looked at clock

8:51 realized it was morning

8:53 threw on a skirt, popped some Stride

8:55 thought about striding to work

8:56 forgot about brushing hair

8:57 changed my mind about striding to work

8:59 asked Chelsea for a ride

[sidenote: Chelsea is a gooood girl.

You wanna know why? She had a towel on her head.

& she still said yes.]

9-10 am: taught student about strong verbs.

What's your verb?

I have a few right now:

sleep

eat

sleep

study

What? Sleeping is a verb.

10-11: go home, actually get ready

brush teeth

brush hair

lots of brushing

11:30-12:20 library...again

So now you know why my brain looks like this:

I need to go back to bed.