Kelsey Breaks the Wagon

Hello all! I hope you had a most relaxing and calorific Thanksgiving holiday.

I spent most of last week in good ole Lost River. Wednesday morning I helped Mom make pie crusts and I made the first layer of my pinata for the next day. Trisha and Mitzi arrived and we ate wonderful pie and watched several movies that night.

On Thanksgiving I helped Mom make dressing while we watched The Proposal. She had everything ready by 10:00AM! Our family is so weird with Thanksgiving. We eat it between 11:30 and noon every year. We all complain to my mother about how early we always eat it, but at the same time we really like it. We can have left overs for dinner the same night, and while the men folk get their dose of football, the rest of us nap (unless you're me, in which I am busy putting Christmas decorations up all afternoon).

But this year was different. Thanksgiving happened to fall on the 24th this year, and that's my big brother's birthday! The week prior to Thanksgiving I was preparing what I would do to celebrate.

First: the pinata. I only did one layer of the newspaper-flour-water goo, so it was pretty pathetic. As soon as I popped the balloon inside, the outer shell likewise deflated. But I was not to be discouraged! I painted it to look like a rainbow trout (because Chase is big into fishing) using silver, red, green, and blue paint.

yes, that is my rainbow trout pinata. Can you see it? ...me niether

When it came to actually hanging the pinata: forget it. Once filled with the contents of the candy and his gift from me, it couldn't sustain the weight without ripping. So much for my brilliant idea of blindfolding my nieces and nephews and letting them bust it up with a bat. I suggested maybe the grankids could kick it around until the contents fell out, but I sensed everyone just wanted to get to the candy inside, so I took the finished product down to Chase in his signature position on the couch and let him "open" it. Sure, there was great candy, but I also got him some boss headphones which he liked.

I finished my book Ender's Game that afternoon, and that night we watched three movies back to back: What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Super 8, and When Harry Met Sally. The first movie, I hate. I hate that movie so bad. Give me How to Train Your Dragon or something with a happy story. Super 8 I liked. There was a lot of language, but I was sure jumping at all the scary parts. I seemed to be the only one so engrossed because I let out a few squeals while everyone else in the room seemed lethargic. When Harry Met Sally... I loved it! And I'm surprised we actually watched three movies back to back. That never happens.

On Black Friday my dad took me across the desert to Best Buy to get me a new phone. Last Friday night (as my friend Katy Perry will tell you) after playing the Spartans, my phone cracked out and died for good, so it was time for a new one and what better time to get one than on Black Friday with all the sweet deals? I got an HTC Android Thunderbolt 4G for free! I don't know how a $700 phone was free, but it was. Dad paid for a protective screen, a protection program, and their buy back option where they will buy back the phone two years from now for 20% of the retail price. Translation: in two years, Dad makes $140 off Best Buy. I don't know how it works, but that's how it works!

As for me, I had 19 text messages waiting for me once my phone was activated, and I love it to death! Merry Christmas!!

We also bought Christmas lights for our white tree. I'll tell you what....putting together our tree is mega frustrating when on every string of lights, only half the lights work. At the top you can tell where I started using those lights...don't worry, once I took the pictures I fixed the problem. ;)

I put up our other Christmas tree with my nephew Corbin the night before. There was once a time when I was Corbin's favorite, but over time Keaton (twin brother) has won the hearts of all my nieces and nephews. Oh well; I'm over it.

Saturday I was home alone with my parents. I read Bill O'Reilly's book all day long. What a treat! I loved it. I would recommend "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity" to those who are inclined toward O'Reilly's bold, fresh way of thinking.

I also strawed down the cows with my dad. He had me drive the huge Case tractor instead of the Oliver, and I was having issues shifting gears in that thing! I helped Dad load the straw onto the wagon and then I drove the tractor through as he emptied the straw out for the cows to stay warm.

In the north corral I went to turn around too quickly for Dad's liking. He whistled at me and signaled me to straighten out. Since I was basically at the end of the fence, there was no room to "straighten out." I turned and gave him a look that communicated that, along with a look that said, "You should just let me turn it around now, but whatever." To straighten out he motioned for me to back up. I did that, but once I pulled forward again, the part where we hitch the tractor to the wagon busted off. It must've got twisted or something for it to break like it did. Dad looked at the wagon, then the tractor, back at the wagon, then up at me and declared, "You broke my wagon!" Haha. I just laughed while he ordered me to keep the cows away from the wagon of straw while he got a chain to temporarily fix our problem.

A cow snuck out of the corral on our way out, so we also had the joy of herding it back. It's a delicate art, because our gates swing wide and it takes careful timing to get the cow back in without letting more cows out. Maybe that's why I was so good at the press in basketball in high school. =] Good bonding, I'll tell ya!

I'm so mad I didn't take my camera for all this. I love doing farm stuff and proving to my friends that I do indeed live on a farm with cows and poo and hay. Just because I don't wear wranglers and speak hick doesn't mean I can't be a farmer's daughter. 

That pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving break. Oh--one more important thing. My friend Grace went to NYC during the break, and she brought me back the BEST GIFT EVER! She bought me the cutest scarf in the whole world. She surprised me with it and I almost cried I was so excited! I decided I get really excited when I get surprised with gifts because all growing up I never got surprised with gifts. In my house, we heard, "Pick out your own Christmas because I'm not surprising you with anything." I don't blame my parents; heaven knows they tried their best. But me, being the picky child that I am, never liked what they picked out, so after so many years they gave up! Now that I'm older I can be mature about it, but let's just say, it may have had a permanent affect. I wonder what I'll be like the day I get proposed to...=] Here I am sporting my new scarf.

And I don't know if I want to dye my hair or not. I want to, but then I don't, and I just don't know! I think my hair looks great now...but it could look better. But which way is better? Dark, or highlights? Is it worth the risk? The world may never know.

Ultimate Frisbee Playoffs!

I had my last week of competitive Ultimate Frisbee this week! I'm excited to write about it, but I have a few things to write about first.

Earlier in the week we had a Relief Society activity that was a lot of fun. We did a scavenger hunt all around campus that had to do with gifts and talents. For example, in the Snow building there was a quote about the gift of music. By the library there was a quote about the gift of academics. On a basketball court there was one about the gift of athletics. It was a very uplifting activity that made me feel good about myself, and it helped me think about the talents and gifts Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

I registered for Winter Semester 2012 classes. I'm so excited to get back to school. Don't get me wrong; I've really enjoyed my off track. I have an awesome job, I've been able to play Frisbee, and I get to enjoy the fun YSA life in my singles ward and other events on campus. There's just been TONS of stupid boy drama that wouldn't be such a big deal if I had my school work to focus on. So I can't wait to have homework: the kind of stress in my life that is worthwhile...not all this romantic stress that makes me want to shoot up with a tranquilizer.

Thursday night after practice I hosted dinner for my team at my apartment. I invited Chase and Conrad, and one of my teammates brought her boyfriend. We had quite a crowd! I made crock pot lasagna and my teammates brought salad, bread, and drinks. I thought it would be a good team bonding activity before our playoff game. Most of the girls on my team were able to make it, so that was great.

Friday was our playoff game against the Spartans! We beat them earlier in the semester (9-7) and then tied with them the week before this (3-3). I was anxious about this game. But my fortune cookie that day said, "You are a leader. Soon others will need your inspiration." How awesome is that?!

*Reasons for my anxiety: I am a handler. There is one other girl on my team who also handles. Most teams have three decent handlers, and guy teams will have three or four, but I only have myself and one other girl. Now for the punch line: the other handler for my team told me the night before that she couldn't play. This made me anxious, because I really rely on my other handler to watch my back in games. If I'm having a bad day offensively, she can take the lead and give me time to get my confidence back, and I do the same for her. Because she couldn't be there, I would be the only handler, and their defense would definitely recognize that and plan accordingly. I couldn't afford to have a "bad day" offensively.

My goal from the beginning of the semester has been to play in the championship game, so competing in the championship play-in game had a lot of emotion behind it. Both teams played with heightened amounts of intensity. 

Snow and wind at the upper fields of destiny!

We pulled (kicked off) with the wind and got the first easy point. But I told my team from the beginning that the team that scored into the wind was the team that was going to win, so we needed to push a point now. We scored the next point into the wind, and then scored another easy point with the wind. With a 3-0 lead the other team's morale started declining, and we pushed another point into the wind making it 4-0.

My team's defense is really what sets us apart from other teams. Offensively strong teams have a hard time scoring against us. With that said, our defense slacked off and they scored three points on us in no time. At half time the score was 5-3. I gave my team a little pep talk during the half. I have this strategy where we break the game into ten minute parts. That way nobody gets caught up in the anxiety of how the game is going to play out or how much longer they're stuck in the cold and wind. I told them, "We are winning the next ten minutes! We need to get points into the wind and win these next ten minutes." Chase watched my game and called me Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because I'm all fired up and passionate about this sport.

The second half we were able to pull away with a win. My handling was one of the best I've done all season. I had six of the eight assists. The weather was cold, but the wind wasn't terrible. I was able to use the wind to make the disc curve in different ways to avoid defense (outside-in throws), and really, it was just a wonderful day of handling. The final score was 8-6, making us qualified championship contenders! I was so happy! Oh I just love this sport. I'm grateful for the athletic abilities the Lord has seen fit to bless me with, because it brings me one of the greatest joys in my life.

I love this

That night my best friend Kelsey and her sister Kristi drove from Utah to come see me for the weekend. We ate sushi and watched a chick flick after my game. Oh my I felt like a million bucks.

Saturday morning was the championship. I hardly slept the night before. My heart was pounding all night and I couldn't stop thinking. I got up at 8 and got myself ready. I watched some of the guys championship game on my laptop (they broadcast it live on the internet) and then at 10 I headed down to the stadium. We watched the Titans beat the Hurricanes 15-14-- a very close game! Then it was the Hawk's and the Viking's turn to play.

Before we started I gathered my team together and told them that I felt like we had already won the championship of the world by making it to the championship. Some of you might be thinking "oh big deal--her team made top two of four teams." But my team only has four girls who have any Frisbee experience. I mean ANY! And I've only been playing a few months. For the other six girls on my team, this semester was their first time playing, and we made it to the championship. The other teams had majority veterans. The Spartans had one or two girls who had never played before. All others have semesters of experience under their belts. The Vikings only had one girl who had never played before. So yeah...it's a big deal!

We scored the first point, followed by a Viking point, with a pattern of "ok, you're turn to score now" up until half time. At half the score was 4-4. The wind was blowing hard from the south preventing both teams from scoring in the south end zone. Whoever managed to score there was going to win. The second half the Vikings were able to score two points in the wind, and then they scored with the wind so we were pretty down. With four minutes left the score was 5-9.

I lined my team up after a particularly heated point for the Vikings, looked them in the eyes and said, "You girls have four minutes of Ultimate left for the semester. Give it all you've got and you won't regret a thing." We managed to score two more points (one of them into the wind) making the score 7-9. Time ran out, but we had to play through the final point which they scored making the final score 10-7. We lost, but I huddled my team together and told them all how proud I was and that really it wasn't a defeat for us. We managed to score seven points against a stacked, veteran team. My little team of rookies really gave them a run for their money, and I was happy with how we played. I had five of the seven assists and four knockdowns.

our #1 fan!

Chase's roommate Kris interviewed me after the game with his video camera. He asked me to talk about my season and stuff, so that was interesting. I bet it was for a class or something, but I'm not looking forward to having my face show up anywhere as I talk about Frisbee. Another guy from The Scroll asked me a few questions about how I felt about the game, so we'll see if I end up in the paper this Tuesday.

My roommates/friends and I went to Idaho Falls that afternoon. I bought a cheap scarf and a new wallet. I also went to a Verizon Wireless booth to see what they could do about my phone. The back cover of my phone got lost during Halloween, and Friday night it finally decided to clock out. I am phoneless, so don't text/call me on my cell phone...it doesn't work!

new scarf!

I had a date with this guy Bill that night. He is tall, cute, athletic, and tons of fun! We went treasure hunting...he made a map with directions, but the whole time he played up this story of how he got the map from pirates, and we had to be careful because pirates might try to sabotage us on our way to the treasure. Sure enough, two of his roommates were stalking us on our way! They drove by and shot us with air soft guns, and when we were at Porter Park they jumped out of bushes and shot us again! I covered my face and ran hoping they wouldn't hit me in the eye! But we made it to this bridge where we had to look for the treasure. It was under the bridge in a black garbage sack...for those of you who've seen The Uninvited you can understand how this eerie black plastic bag sitting on ice under a bridge in the dark was a little ominous. We retrieved it and when we opened it up, there was candy, pop, and a gift card to Taco Bell inside. Genius!

It was such a fun date! It was creative, original, and he played it up so well! Even though he totally did the whole thing, he kept saying, "Man those pirates are good!" and stuff like that. We played a game of ping pong and decided to set stakes for the winner. If he won, I had to let him give me a kiss on the cheek. If I won, he had to take me with him the next time he spent the rest of his Taco Bell gift card money. In a nutshell, he whooped my trash! The final score was 21-6. I complained that he didn't even try to fake like he was bad at ping pong to let me sort of win and then come back and beat me. He replied that the stakes were too high for any nonsense. Hahaha...so he gave me a kiss on the cheek and took me home. It was a lot of fun.

I went bowling with Kelsey and her friends Jake, Chance, and Cora. We went to Kiwi Loco and Kelsey and I got 25% off our yogurt for singing karaoke! We sang "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry. Win!

Sunday was a chill day. We ate enchiladas for lunch and then Kelsey and her sister left. I made cookies in the afternoon, and that night I curled two of my roommates' hair and watched Grey's Anatomy. I really enjoy my roommates. Lauren and Thea are great friends, and I was so happy I got to hang out with Kelsey for a few days.

They're all trying to convince me to dye my hair darker. Your comments on this idea are welcome. Here are my thoughts: I like this idea because my hair color is in between brown and blonde. It's pretty, but I like the idea of having a rich color. We'd dye it brown and then when it faded it would just be a little darker than it is now.

Reasons I like this idea...well there's really only one: It would make my eyes stand out BIG TIME. Dark hair and blue eyes is just hot. And I have the complexion to pull off darker hair. I won't look like a vampire because I have tan skin. I think I could pull it off. But there is always the drama with having to keep dyeing it, so I'm still looking into it. It may happen, it may not. If it does...you will know!

That was my week. Sorry I wrote so much about Frisbee. I understand that probably 100% of you don't care about all the details of how it all played out, but it was my last post about it for the season and it was a big deal to me...and this is my blog so if you don't like it-leave! Haha. =] Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

11.11.11

I titled this post 11.11.11 even though I did nothing significant whatsoever on 11.11.11. At 11:11 PM on 11.11.11 I was killing zombies, but that story comes later.

This week has been great! Monday night for FHE our group played wallyball in the Hart. It's like volleyball, except you can use the walls (minus the back wall). We play them in the courts where they play racquetball, and it is a blast every time I play. Only six of us showed up to play, but we made it fun with just three on three. I had a couple sweet plays with my feet that I am rather proud of. Keaton would be delighted to know we even played "Smeagol style" for a few minutes. Really it was just a great time for all of us to act like goofy goobers and hit a ball at each other.

I'm one of the activities coordinators in our ward. My partner and I planned a ward skating activity for Tuesday night. It's too bad we made all the arrangements before we checked the weather, because Tuesday night was cold!!!! I showed up at 6:20 so catering had someone to meet when they showed up at 6:30...

Here's the thing; nobody showed up until 6:50! Including the skating rink employee! Hello people...I have a ward of almost 200 that will be here at 7, and you think we can set this all up in 10 minutes? Ooober frustrating. We quickly set up tables for the hot cocoa and doughnuts and pretty soon everyone arrived. We skated from 7 to 8:30 and it was so fun! Even though it was a whopping 27 degrees, we were able to have lots of fun playing tag and taking pictures.

Ultimate Frisbee practice...brrr

gotta look hot for YSA ward activity for sure ;)

The coordinators

nailed it!

I voted for mayor and city council and went to the doctor that day as well. I was the 333 voter! The doctor said my hand was going to take time to heal up, but that in the meantime I should stop using it. I told him that was unacceptable because there are two weeks left in the season. He told me, "Well good luck!" I'm happy to report that it is basically healed now, so no big deal. Oh, and when I was driving the company car that day, it got a flat tire. Of course when the temp drives the company car everything goes wrong. Turns out my boss knew it needed fixed but left it in the parking lot looking compatible for me to drive. I parked the car at a company on 2nd East and walked sheepishly back to our office to report the flat. People were nice about it, but I still felt like an idiot! Here's a picture of my hand at it's peak bruising stage:

There is a nature park in Rexburg  I like to go to often. I've been going there at least once a week either after work or during my lunch break to just walk around or read my scriptures or something. I've really been eating it up because pretty soon it will be all snowy and I won't want to go. Here are some pics:

A grandpa with his two grandkids feeding the ducks...precious!

Thursday was a big Frisbee day. I had practice, and since our season is almost over I took turns meeting with each girl and I basically gave them each their own personal motivational speech. They loved it! I love my team. We are all just a bunch of underdogs that are exceeding expectations! After practice I tossed with my Frisbee friend Brett at the I-Center for an hour. I had another rec dodgeball game and it was rough! We totally lost. I'm horrible at dodgeball. My throws have no mustard on them; they get caught every time!

When I got home, Bill, my roommate's volleyball coach (6'6" cute RM) texted me and asked me to get ice cream with him. I got cute super fast and we went to DQ. We had our dessert and then sat and talked there for almost an hour. We went to his apartment after that and played this board game. It's a zombie board game that is surprisingly fun! That was really fun to hang out with him. He is a very nice guy, and he's a lot of fun.

In other news, I totally got a straightener, and my hair is *fantastic these days. I LOVE it. Check it:

sometimes I like to take emo pictures of myself.

Friday night I had tickets to a mystery dinner put on by the university. I asked a friend I met from the summer break to go with me, and we had a lot of fun! He was the right kind of guy to ask because he was getting way into character. The setting was a 1950's theater and the characters at my table did such a good job. The inspector had a cool accent, and the two girls who played the actresses were acting like total snobs...it was great! I picked the right character for myself: Sandy, the girl who takes people's tickets and smiles at them. When the girls would say something snobby to me, all I knew to do was laugh and that fit my character description. Lucky!

The idea of a mystery dinner is someone is killed, and throughout the dinner we act like our characters and get letters with instructions to try to find out who the murderer is, so we question each other throughout the whole thing. It was a lot of fun, and the best part was dressing up. I bought lipstick and wore bright red nail polish and everything! My roommate helped me do my hair. it looks a bit like Princess Leah...but hey, we tried!

those heels make me 5'10" and make my legs look fan-freakin-tastic

That night I played the zombie board game again with Bill and his roommates. I came so close to winning! It is a really fun game because you think you have a plan, but everyone has cards that hurt other people. I thought I was about to win but then all these cards were played that killed me! It was a lot of fun.

Saturday we played the Spartans for our Frisbee game. It was windy as heck. By far it was the worst weather I've played in. It started out extremely windy, and then the hail started. We set a time cap (so we weren't stuck there for 2 hours like last time) and time ran out with the score 3-3 so we called a tie and went home. I had three assists and three knockdowns, so I'm glad I was still able to get work done in that blasted weather!

Laying out for a disc...if I would've caught this, we would've won! But it was too far ahead of me. It was almost a point into the wind which would've sealed the deal. No way was the other team scoring into the wind. Blarg

that's me in the middle, fighting for possession!

the weather 30 minutes after my game

sidewalk on campus, downhill from the upper fields where we play

I was able to go to the temple that afternoon, and it took a good two hours. It was nice to have chill time in the temple. I love the Holy Spirit I feel there every time I go.

Saturday night we had stake conference, and it was a really good meeting. I went by myself because none of my roommates were going, and it's not like I have many friends to go to conference with. Almost all my FHE brothers are engaged, and the ones that aren't were working and stuff, so I was semi put down about that. I mean...who wants to go to church meetings alone? Whatever...I went early so I could get a nice soft seat, and it paid off because one of my Frisbee friends Brett from the spring (6'2" cute RM...;)) was there. His roommates skipped out, so he was alone too! We sat by each other and it was a surprisingly good time. For one thing, the stuff they talked about was great. I took lots of notes. They talked about preparing ourselves for our meetings to set the tone inside ourselves to invite the spirit in, and then they really emphasized the importance of being worthy of and sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and how the Holy Ghost is a gift God has given us. For another thing, Brett was being way funny and he had me laughing almost the whole meeting!

He went to Broulim's with me after so I could buy a roast for Sunday dinner, and then he came over and we played a game of Settlers! While we waited for our third person to arrive, we played Pictionary with the two of us. He's a really good artist...I'm just horrible at guessing! You should've seen me try to guess "night light"...ridiculous. He also tromped us at Settlers. He prolonged the game to try to get as many points as possible because Chad and I were so far behind. I had six points at the end of the game, all settlements and victory points. Those games are miserable! But it was still a lot of fun...that doesn't make any sense. Whatever.

Sunday has been great. We had stake conference again and Brett sat by my roommate and I. Someone's phone kept going off seriously, like every three minutes. It was a substantial "beep beep beep beep" noise at regular intervals. Brett and Lauren were getting so annoyed at the noise, and I just wanted to know where the heck it was coming from! It sounded so close to us, so every time it went off we did our best to turn our heads with, "Seriously, if you're going to text, turn your stupid phone down" looks on our faces. An hour into the meeting, it went off and Brett whipped around to the guys sitting behind us and asked, "Is that your phone?" They both said no, and he turned back around to me and asked (for the 10th time), "Are you sure that's not your phone?" I told him I was sure and he sat there with this perplexed look on his face as he tried to figure out whose phone it was. Then...like a light bulb, he got this "Ah-ha!" look on his face and then said, "Wait...is it my phone?" He pulled his phone out and turned it off...and there was not another "beep beep beep beep" noise the rest of the meeting.

Maybe it was just really coincidental timing, but I teased him for the rest of the time about how it was very likely that it was his phone that was making him so mad the whole time, while he blatantly replied, "You can't prove anything." So funny.

My home teachers came by on Sunday. One of them has his own bee farm thing, and for a treat he let us try honey that his bees made. It was the best honey I've ever had!

Sunday night was a lot of fun at our apartment. I made roast for dinner, and we had seven boys over!  Seven boys and three girls? Yes I feel great about that. Lauren, Thea, and I were the girls and then I invited Chase and Conrad plus Brett, Bill, Travis, Eric, and Winston. We devoured my roast and enjoyed mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and rolls. I made peach dessert, and then we played Pictionary! Brett and I were partners and we rocked the house! After that we watched How to Train Your Dragon and went to stadium singing.

So basically that was my week. This week is Frisbee playoffs, so I'm totally stoked! I'm very nervous to be driving now that the weather has turned icy. I'm not worried about my driving...I'm worried about the other idiot drivers. I've driven by at least three car accidents already. Oh my...well, that's all I have to say about my week. I'm hoping to get a bunch of Frisbee victories this weekend, as picture below.

All I do is win win win no matter what!