and i slept and i slept and i slept

i know, my grammar is terrible today.

but honestly that conference weekend wasn't nearly long enough for me. so i am going to have bad grammar just this once (and i'm even de-capitalizing the i's. de-capitalizing probably isn't a word, either. for shame!).

i did successfully make the pumpkin pancakes with nutmeg whipped cream. here's the recipe (don't deny you want it)...oh and I used buttermilk instead of milk+vinegar. just fyi. the nutmeg whipped cream was a mixture of whipped cream...and nutmeg (so much for the element of surprise), plus a little bit of sugar and vanilla extract.

i did enjoy every conference talk, most especially D. Todd Christofferson's, President Eyring's, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf's. They were speaking right to me, I think. But isn't that how is always is?

oops. i deviated from my bad grammar streak. sorry, i know you were enjoying it.

i did go to the annual familiy photo shoot, but alas, the leaves had not yet turned so we didn't go up the canyon. that and everybody seemed to be in a hurry. but that's how conference weekend is when you have to get back to rexburg by sunday night. noodles (kenzie-slang for "dangit").

one thing i did not seem to have the easiest time doing this weekend was sleeping. and i really needed to catch up on sleep (remember the whole part about me being in college? ok, just checkin'). monday morning came and i still hadn't caught up. i usually take a nap in between my 10am class and my 11:30 class. guess when I woke up?

11:30.

consider this my first and last missed class of the semester. i really hate missing class, honestly, i do! but i think i just needed that sleep. my nap lasted for a glorious 2.5 hours. i could make a list of everything i might have accomplished in that amount of time, but i think sleeping was what i would have ended up doing anyway.

alas, now i have a little bit more energy than i usually do at 4:30 on monday afternoon, so i think i will go and sweat it out before the rain really comes bustin' out of the clouds. yep, the weather finally realized it was october and changed its mind about being 70 degrees all of the time.

i can't say i'm disappointed. see #3 on happy list below.

today mcfrenzy is happy because:

1. she said the blessing on her and chelsea's food in spanish. hasn't done that in awhile.

2. she imagined herself at the top of a mountain overlooking Puebla, Mexico. good image.

3. she walked home from the library enjoying the musty smell of rain, leaves, and autumness.

4. she wore her purple striped shirt with the buttons and everybody complimented her on it.

5. she rode her bike to the grocery store for bananas. there's something very fulfilling about riding your bike to the grocery store in autumn.

6. she fell asleep reading her book of contemporary american poetry and felt like spending the whole day writing poems. but don't worry, she didn't. she just slept some more. :)

7. she decided to write an entire happy list in 3rd person.

8. she listened to mister jack johnson sing "imagine" and realized she liked it better than the original. sorry, john.

9. she found the most amazing scripture in Ether 12:4, please go read it.

10. she woke up and realized she missed her family a lot. she just saw them, what is wrong with her? oh well.

11. she got to sit in the park above the valley and talk to TP on Saturday night. only thirty minutes, but she just really likes that girl and that park, so the combination of the two made the short amount of time worth it. oh and elder greene, he's the bee's knees.

12. she saw a picture of griffey that was really old but made her smile so hard she almost cried. her parents liked it too. and yes, she hijacked it so all of you could see it. thanks, TP.

happy monday :)

is that a harmonica i hear?

( it's a friday piksha...oh and it reminds me of catherine creek )

It's kind of early (translation: I'm pretty dang tired). This morning my alarm beckoned at 6 am (still getting used to it) for scripture study. Which was very good, by the way. Did you know that we get to have a member of the Godhead with us all the time? Try and deny how awesome that is.

My original intent after getting out of Spanish early today was to do some homework in the library until 9, when I have a tutoring sesh. But of course I got sidetracked by the harmonica coming from someone's cubicle in the east wing. I guess if that's how they're gonna celebrate their Friday, more power to 'em. If only I had brought mine, we could've had a duet!

On Conference Weekend, Rexburg empties like my fridge sometimes empties onto the floor...slowly and subtly, but then all of a sudden you trip on the puddle and...oh wait, that has nothing to do with people leaving Rexburg. But you know what I mean. More than half of the students in Spanish were m.i.a. Part of me wishes I was on the road, too, but I know that half of the journey is the getting there. And holy moley, that was really deep for a Friday morning. I can almost hear your applause.

Friends, I have approximately 1 hour of class, 1 hour of work, and (maybe...maybe...maybe) 1 hour of nap to go. The 4 hours of driving time, well, that's part of the fun cause I'll be with the Goppster.

your devoted harmonica-playa,

mcfrenzal

p.s. happy anniversary to my parents! you make me want to be lo mejor.

autumny food and other ramblings

ok, random question: do you say autumn when talking about the space of time between mid-September and mid-November? Or do you take the easy way out and say "fall"? Personally, I dig saying "autumn." I think that it could be an onomotopoeia, if it really wanted to. You know what that means, right? It's when the word itself sounds like the meaning, er...something like that. Autumn sounds like autumn. Are you all in agreement?

I just wanted to say a little somethin' about autumn. Because it's almost October (!!!) and I already miss this time of year. Strange because it's not over yet. It's kinda like in November, right around Thanksgiving time, when you start to miss Christmas even though it hasn't happened yet, because you know that it's going to come and go just like that. Then you'll miss it.

recently I have been perusing my favorite food blogs, and they are full of recipes like roasted vegetable soup, pumpkin waffles, and apple cake. They kinda, sorta, make my eyes water out of sheer longing. Uhh, that made zero sense. But you get my drift, right? My chilly, crisp, autumny drift. Sorry, I just had to say it.

After class today I decided to try my hand at roasting nuts. I've never done it before. Queue (cue?) the sad music. I burnt them. All. Well, all of them that fit into an 9x9 pan. If you know me, you know how much I love nuts. And to sacrifice them to the Heat Miser gods, well, that just made me wish for Friday to come faster.

Friday is the day I go back to Utah. I intend on not only watching conference while eating aforementioned pumpkin waffles/pancakes, but I also plan on taking a drive up Alpine Loop and maybe buying some more nuts (sad face yet again).

How are you going to spend this weekend?
btw, it's hump day. Hump day=Wednesday=halfway through the week.

here's a few of my autumny-eye-candy favorites via the interestingness.

best for last. mmm-hmmm.

it's monday. you know what that means.

this is me. this is courtney (see item #4). circa november 2008.

1. getting in an epic car wreck (it was my FHE bro's fault...don't worry mom) and living through it. cuz now i get to sing "I'mma survivor! I'mma survivor!" with more empathy. I've always wanted to sing Beyonce with more empathy.
2. A certain movie known as "The Emperor's New Groove." It's, like, 10 years old. And, like, so am I, apparently.
3. speaking Spanish with an RM who went to Portugal and teaching him Spanish. In all my life, I never thought I would teach a return missionary a language. W to the hoa (and I now realize that when I separated that word it sounded wrong. oh well).
4. sittin on courtney gopp's bed with courtney gopp talking to courtney gopp about freshman year. in case you were wondering, it was a good year. er...three months. need proof? here's a little memory from my first week in rexburg.
5. this talk, probably the most amazing talk ever. until this weekend when i contradict that statement. um, yeah, just read it.
6. peanut butter toast. why do i talk about peanut butter so much? ok, let's nix this one. yeah, i even made a tag just for peanut butter, how pathetic am I?
   
7. having home teachers for the first time in 2 years.
8. taking off my socks before i go to bed. better yet, taking a shower before i go to bed. that way my pillow is wet from my recently shampoo'd hair, not sweat. sorry for the graphic details. it's strangely hot in rexburg right now. nothing to do with me, i swear. wink-wink.
   
9. not just winning, but dominating at the game "i have never," thus earning the title of "loser who has not done/experienced anything, but thanks for being my friend anyway." :)
10. FRIDAY=UTAH! (i know this has nothing to do with monday. but hey, you can't have fridays without mondays. now go find some lesson in that statement.)

love, mcfrenzizzle-brizzle-izzle...
(that trend of adding "izzle" onto the end of things,
it never worked for me. hmm.)

it comes and goes in waves

{hello, good morning}

This morning when I headed off into the sunrise on my bicycle I made sure that 1) I was fully awake and 2) that it was really Friday. I could tell I was awake because my bike was moving, strangely...and I knew it was Friday because people walking to class were smiling more than usual.

On Sunday I had a strong feeling. If you read my blog a lot, you know I get this feeling a lot. A lot a lot a lot. Well, this time I felt like I needed to start studying my scriptures earlier. Much earlier. For most of my life I've done it before bedtime.

You see, for the entire first week of school I felt like I wasn't getting as much out of my scribber study as I could. Sometimes you think you are doing the best you can, when really you are only doing the "good" or the "better" part. My professors were inadvertently dropping hints about the merits of early mornings all week. So I knew what I had to do. Not to mention that other member of the Godhead. Sometimes He is persistent.

On Monday morning, the alarm went off at 5:30 AM. As of last week, "AM" just stood for "A Mistake," and I went back to sleep. But not this time, baby. I've been going for 5 days now and I can truly say that it was the best move I've made in a long time. However, none of the credit should go to me.

The amazing thing about getting up this early is the effect it has on the rest of my day. I don't usually need a nap, even though on days that I got up at 6:30 just to get ready for school, no scripture study included, I needed a nap. Now I get up an hour earlier and I don't need no nap. Better yet, I pay attention pretty well in my classes and actually participate. Imagine that.

On Monday, day one, my journal entry looked like this:

"Here's what happened today as a result of this amazing thing called fervent scripture study:

I got everything+then some done on my To-Do list in a good amount of time; managed time wisely

Was able to understand what went on in Spanish class, and I liked it

Asked the right questions

Ate healthy, exercised, no problem, mon

Went to work and loved it--did I mention I have 7 students and I got a raise?!

Wanted to smile at everyone and I think I did...

Couldn't litter...haha. "My conscience was pricked" as the gum wrapper fell...

Rode my bike uphill to class and smiled for most of it

Acted like my crazy self, and that's OK

Gave a spiritual thought for FHE which really wasn't from me, if you know what I mean

less sarcastic, more loving

got on the Jamba Juice wall! Alright, this has nothing to do with my morning scripture study. I just had to say it.

High self-esteem

More sincere prayers

Made my bed! This is epic for sure. "

some habits come and go in waves.

we stop biting our nails off, but we keep chewing them.
we give up sugar, but not chocolate (yeah, right).
we resolve to make more friends, but then we just smile at people.
the gym fills up in january, then gradually empties by march.
we say our morning prayers, but then by friday we're sleeping through them.
every week we promise to remember Him, to take upon us His name, but every week we have to be reminded again.

it's ok, because it's human nature.

But I also know that our Creator intended for us to become something. We're made from the same mold as diety. Remember? So we should be able to do this kind of stuff, getting up at 5:30.

I'm pretty sure God is a morning person, anyway.

Let's hope this habit comes and stays.

happy list monday

i hereby start a new tradition....and i shall call it "happy list monday" and it shall be mine. (also, did you notice i am not capitalizing my "i's" like normal?! this is about as much rebellion as I can muster.)

1. the smell of pumpkin bread in october (it has to be october, ok?)
2. blowing bubbles with gum while simultaneously riding bike uphill to class
3. sitting under a tree to study and having leaves fall onto your books
4. the smell of the taylor building (it smells like Temple Square, HONEST)
5. getting up at 5:30 (!!!) just to read scriptures...I think maybe I could become a morning person after all.
6. putting on that edible lip gloss just so you can eat it (what? I get hungry)
   
7. ripping the "frazz" off of notebook paper and rolling it up into little balls
8. sneezing a bunch of times on the 2nd floor of the library (it's the quiet zone, so people glare at you more for breathing loudly. it's fun.)
9. homemade guacamole, need I say más?
10. becoming friends with siblings of people you met freshman year who are now on missions. co-inky-dinks galore!
11. talking to mom on the phone
12. finding out that my roommate also applied to go to Mexico and also got accepted to Puebla. like WHOA!
13. sitting in the art gallery, just for kicks.
14. having people not-so-subtly try to read this over my shoulder and imagining what they would write on their happy list

mondays really get too much flack. and guess what?

I don't even know what that phrase means.

anyway, make a happy list and the
badical-ness of Monday will soon fade away.

lurv, mcfrenzy

i am the one who....

...who only eats french fries if they're burnt.

...who loves to ride her bike all over the place.

...who can't sleep in past 9 when I'm in school.

...who looks at this website regularly for inspiration.

...who has always lived within {at the most} 2 hours of a temple.

...who has red hair in the summer, brown hair in the winter.

...who sometimes listens to Yo-Yo Ma to go to sleep.

...who cooks without recipes (sometimes it works, other times not so much).

...who is afraid of car accidents, natural disasters, and big hairy spiders on the ceiling.

...who regularly listens to classic rock with that Yo-Yo Ma. Mm-hm.

...who is in a Spanish class full of return missionaries and sometimes doesn't have a clue what's going on.

...who normally wears a t-shirt and basketball shorts around the house.

...who shreds the ivory for Relief Society and recreation purposes.

...who also likes to shred--really shred--on snow.

...who isn't above drinking milk straight from the jug.

...who likes getting up early on Saturday morning when everyone else is asleep and making breakfast.

...who drives her car with the windows down and the music turned up really loud on road trips.

...who thinks that nothing is more beautiful than the entire stretch of coastline that runs along Highway 101.

...who wants to keep her freckles for-ev-er.

...who still watches Disney movies for my own entertainment.

...will take rain over snow any day.

...who really loves grocery shopping at Costco. Especially on Saturdays (you know why).

...whose eyes water when she's scared.

...who wants to learn to play the guitar someday really soon (Gabby if you're reading this, teach me!!)

...who currently knows one song on the harmonica, but can improvise if I really want.

...who thinks ice cream is the greatest invention since the wheel and the written word.

...who can easily get stuck in a book for hours and lose track of time...and the need to use the bathroom. Just kidding! Almost got you, huh?

...who should probably stop writing this post before you get bored. But I really like writing on this blog.

...who is an English major but still loves to learn about the body, history, languages, and music.

...who, like my madre, can't go to bed with dirty feet. Not in a tent, not in my apartment, not ever.

...who thinks Adam and Eve were onto something when they invented camping.

...who has been a pizza-saucer, a sandwich-builder, a late-night custodian, a tutor, a babysitter for 1-6 kids, and a full-time student.

...who would also try crab-fishing in the Arctic ocean, whitewater rafting in the Colorado River, cage-diving with sharks, and surfing the pipeline on the North Shore.

...whose hair, since birth, has been a little bit cuh-razy.

...who will put peanut butter/almond butter on almost anything (including carrots).

okay, seriously, I"ll stop now. I'm just avoiding homework.

peace, love, and hawaii.

{how's that for a parting shot?}