Just One More...

I'm almost done with finals. I think I aced the first three. Yay me! They weren't hard. Just one more, and I should do fine if I could get myself to study just a little bit...but I don't want to. I decided I really dislike Biology. I just have to keep reminding myself that after this final I don't have to deal with this class anymore, ever. And then I'll go home and it will be spectacular!

Last night improv class was SO funny. One of the best ones I've been to in a long time. Particularly funny was the concept thrown out that people could "name drop" famous people that they don't know. For instance, "Hey guys, in a few days, I'm going to be celebrating the birth of Jesus." Or, (at a fantasy convention) "Hey guys, I just read this great book by J.R.R. Tolkein." Like that would impress someone. Ah, cracks me up. If you guys want to see some clips of the USU improv club, go to www.youtube.com/theanticsimprov. There are even a few of me (see 1,3,25).

Can't wait to get home! I'll see some of you soon.
Rachel

Anybody ever seen this movie?

Hey I'm back. My goal for December is to work on journaling and stuff. I stopped blogging because I got busy, and then I didn't want to start again because I was overwhelmed thinking about catching up on everything. So I'm not gonna catch up. Sorry if you missed the last 6 or 7 months of my life.

This post is appropriate, because my last one was about what a good cook I was. I totally lied. If I don't eat at the cafeteria, all I eat is Easy Mac and Cup O Noodles. I just ate a Cup O Noodles a few minutes ago. It was really gross. Last night I went to a holiday pot luck dinner with the AgComm majors. I made deviled eggs cuz I thought it would be easy...it took me an hour and a half and they turned out kinda gross. My professor said they were good, but I'm pretty sure she was just lying to make me feel good. I actually felt more like Mulan.

So has anyone ever seen this movie, "Alan and Naomi?" I had totally forgotten about it until I had a nightmare about it last night. I used to watch it at Granny's house when I was really little. That is not a good movie for little kids! In case you ever want to watch it (or you're Matt) I'll put spoilers in blue and you can highlight to read them: The whole premise is that Naomi is crazy because she saw her dad die, and Alan has to befriend her. It shows, in the movie, her dad's head with blood streaming down it, that's what I had the nightmare about. After Alan befriends her everything is all well and good until something violent happens and Naomi goes crazy again. The end. What a weird show. Kevin Connelly is in it too, as a little kid. Bizarre. I kind of want to watch it again now that I'm older just to see if I still think it's so creepy. You should watch it too and tell me what you think. But don't show it to anyone under the age of 15.

Finals week- better get back to studying.

Rachel

And my sisters say I can't cook...

Last night I made myself dinner. I documented all of it, so I'll post pictures later. It was the most delicious meal ever. Here's the recipe:

2 hot dog buns
Nutella
Creamy Peanut Butter

Broil the hot dog buns in the oven. Put creamy peanut butter on one side and Nutella on the other. Eat it. It's soooo freaking good.

See, I told you I was a good cook! And also, I made lunch today. Turkey salad with grapes and apples and walnuts (I imagined them, because I couldn't actually find them) in a pita pocket.

...so with my skills, I'm really not too worried about feeding myself. :)

Weally Wierd

So this is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while. I feel really bad for this interviewer. It's pretty long, so listen to the beginning, then skip to around 5:10. It's weird in the middle there, but it gets really strange around 5:10. There is a little bit of colorful language to watch out for, but not too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw

Listening to Music

The UAF Jazz Festival was last weekend. It was my fifth (and last...) time going. It was so much fun, as usual. I learned a lot, mostly I just remembered how much I really like jazz. I've been focusing a lot on classical voice and piano lately, so this was very refreshing. It also made me want to focus on music a lot more. Not necessarily on playing music- I devote a lot of my time to that- but to listening to it.

My brother Calvin does this all th time, and I always think he has the worst taste ever. But I'm not very proud of my iPod selection either- most of it is just catchy crap on the radio. And to be honest, there are a lot of songs that I listen to on Calv's iPod that I think are so bad, and then later end up liking them (Tom Waits and Zooey Deschanel from She and Him, for instance). So I've decided to start listening and trying to find some good music. I bought a ton today, Laura Caviani (a jazz pianist at the festival this year), some older Michael Buble stuff (I think his older stuff is more jazz and less pop influence), Diana Krall, and some country. I heard a song on the radio today called "Til the Last Shot's Fired" by Trace Adkins. At first listen it's a hokey soldier song, but it has a really neat full classical chorus at the very end that really changes the piece. It's very surprising and refreshing.

Anyways, while I was at Jazz Festival, I bought a CD called "Family" by Kelly Rossum, so here's my review:

First of all, if you aren't really into jazz, give this album some time to grow on you. I love jazz, and still, some of the more modern tracks are a little drawn out.
My instant favorite is Track 3, Mr. Blueberry. I don't know what kind of jazz you would call this tune (almost bop, but not really...?) but it's really catchy. It has a more defined tune than the others, and the muted sound of the trumpet is really clear. The piano also stands out- it's simple but it's really hip.
Track 4, Pure Imagination, is a really fun chart too. It's really abstract, so don't get too distracted if you can't always find the melody. Again, this piano player is really great. Underscores the trumpet well, but still isn't boring.
Generally, the album gets better as it goes along. Just don't get discouraged by the first two charts. I'll write more about it when I've listened more to it.

Check him out at www.krossum.com

Peace,
Rachel

It's Been A While...

My life is boring, and yet busy and hectic at the same time. I don't want to write about homework or scholarship applications or FFA state convention stuff. Instead I'll just post some fun pictures.

A Few from the Church History Tour...






Headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagra Falls, Ontario.








Taking a break from driving to Missouri! Only long enough to figure out where we were going, but still!












Freezing Cold Wagon Ride in Nauvoo











A Few from "Hello Dolly"...



This is my backstage food, yo. I love that there's hairspray sitting next to it.











Epic









<--A Racist Bear Ritual


















And a Few From School Prom!








What a good lookin' group












Me and My Hotty Prom Date- except I broke his bouttinierre!









Alright, its getting late and I have SO much to do! Save me some of tha corn for later!
Rachel

Insanity

My life is so hectic right now. Where to start...three terrible IB Essays, two excellent weekends of "Hello, Dolly!" performances, a trip to Juneau to lobby for FFA, and kind of a new guy (I know, wow :))

I cannot wait to get away from all this madness when we leave for our roadtrip on Saturday, it will feel soooo good. I probably won't blog for a while, because of all of that. But here's a picture to tide you over.

Alright, I know this is from a while ago, but I got my pictures of my camera, then never

posted them, and by the time I thought of it, it was already really late. So here are the grandkids (minus Louis) at Universal Studios. This picture actually worked out...it took a couple tries to get them all to stop fighting. You can see Daisy and Avery are matching :) The boys are matching too, but Dane and Ty have their jackets on so you can't tell.

PS- Does anyone else ever google their name? It's fun. And for me, I'm really the only Rachel Kenley around, so all the results I getare actually about me...until recently. Apparently, ANOTHER Rachel Kenley exists, and is popular in cyberspace. As if this weren't bad enough, she's an author of erotic literature! Seriously, ew! I feel like someone's stolen my name and ruined my reputation!

Meet the Future

That's me everybody!

www.adn.com/talkdirt ...you should check it out.

Happy National FFA Week y'all!

Taking a Break

Taking a break from working for a minute. I know what you're thinking, "It's President's Day, and it's 9 am!" But for me, it's productive day, and I've been up since 7. I still haven't gotten too much done, just Physics and a little history really. But I already need a little break- pathetic really. But I need an excuse to post some pictures of my recent life.

I'm really tired because I didn't go to bed late. I had to contact all my out of state friends: I wrote Elder Blackett a letter (more like a novella, actually), called and talked to Morgan for an hour or so (she's ENGAGED), and then called and talked to Micah for a looong time. But it was worth it.

I feel like I'm at a cross roads and have to make some decisions here soon. But guess what? I don't really have to make big decisions when it comes to colleges anymore! I'd say right now I'm about 95% sure I'm going to go to BYU (or as Rita would say, UYB) Provo. Because I got accepted. And I told myself the deal breaker between BYU and USU would be monies....and BYU gave me a full tuition scholarship! So I'm really excited about that. Suddenly, it feels like college is a reality. I have to start thinking about dorms, and food, and classes...and I'm like, really? Do I really get to finally go? So psyched for that. Plus it feels like all my hard work is paying off. If I do well on my IB/AP tests this year, I can get up to 25 credits at BYU. So I'm satisfied that my mind has kind of been made up for me.

So now, pictures of what I've been up to:

This is Hello Dolly Practice. This scene is the longest scene ever, and for me, it can get boring, as I think you can see by the look on my face. I'm tired of practicing, I'm just excited to perform!

This is our Homer Take Off Group from last weekend. So fun!

Fealess State Officers

Alright, I'm out. I gotta run do the chores, and then continue being productive. After play practice today I'm going to Camp Challenge for the 4-H retreat. It's a Jurassic Park theme, should be fun.

Sparknotes has gotcha covered

I've learned recently (today) that Sparknotes holds more knowledge than just English tips.
My new favorite quote, by Stephen King:

“‘Both [J.K.] Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn…’”\

So true. I'm glad someone decided to make that distinction.

Another entertaining video from them: Valentine's Day How Tos.

http://www.sparknotes.com/valentines_day_2009

Hope that helps!

Salsa Dancing

I've been filling out scholarship applications all evening. I'm sure some of my friends think that all I ever do is fill out scholarship applications and my response is: yeah, pretty much. That and FFA. And Hello Dolly. And occasionally I'll do some homework.

I did get the opportunity to stretch my horizons last week: salsa dancing! Here are some of my favorite pictures. Scott was quite the dancer :)

Group Photo!

And this nice/creepy gentlemen grabbed me and started teaching me the tango! Poor kid did not know what he was getting into though, I was a terrible student!

Scott lost faith in me while I was dancing with man in black, so he started dancing with Josh...

It was cold outside on the snow mountain!

Our next adventure- swing dancing! But it will probably have to wait until the beginning of March. Cuz that's when Dolly is over! :)

This time, I'm going to Homer for real...

At least I hope so, if the weather's good, we'll head out this Friday to do the Take-Off. I can't wait to see Corinne and all the Homer kids, and it'll be nice to take a trip. Then, on the 22nd I take off for Juneau to talk to some important people down there. That's a three day trip, so I'm really excited for that. Not so much for the missing a huge amount of physics, but whatever. My life right now is the same. Filling out scholarship applications like crazy mostly. I went salsa dancing yesterday though, and that was awesome. I'll post some pictures later, I gotta do some calculus right now. Peace.

Ready for the New Week

My cousin Katie Hampton posted an interesting article about Elder Ballard and Elder Uchtdorf attending the inaguaration. I'd post it to, but that would be copying, so here's a link:
http://babyhampton.blogspot.com/

This week has gone by slooowly, but its been okay. I was really bummed out last week, because our trip to Homer got cancelled because of bad roads. But they are the same bad roads that gave me two days off of school, so I guess I can't complain. On the other hand, now I'm paying for those two days off because certain teachers, like Mr. Fry, are running us ragged with tons of work! I think the amount of blog posts reflects how on top of Physics I am, this last week I have been behind and that's why there has been a drought. We re-scheduled the take-off for Febuary 5th, because the CTSO conference was also re-scheduled. So it all worked out in the end.

Play practice has been long lately, but I think the play will come together. Or it won't. But usually it does, so I'll keep my hopes up. :)

Class Act sang at Colony Middle's Festival of the Arts, which used to be a big deal, but there was practically no one there. It was fun anyway. I just found out we got paid $200 for singing at the Mental Health Conference, and we've been invited to sing at a Racial Edjucation Conference (or something) this Wednesday and they're going to pay us again! It should be a lot of fun, but busy because...

Tuesday and Wednesday I get to go to Honor Band. I'm really excited, I get to play first chair French horn and I only have to miss Physics once! Speaking of Physics, I've got a whole set of problems I haven't even looked at, so I'd better run.













PS- I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Hanna this week, it has been really fun. We really haven't gotten to hang out a lot in high school, and I have missed it. Anyways, here's a picture of us from sophomore year, just being weird. Warning: tiny bit of backdriff. I'd put a black bar over it, but I don't want to waste the time.

I don't do school/Off to Homer

I'm only really going to one day of school this week, because we've had an inservice, then two ice days. So I went Tuesday. I'm not sure if we'll have school tomorrow. Even if we do, I'm leaving at 10 for HOMER!!! I'm really excited as you can tell. FFA trips are my favorite. So I'd probably better get packing.

More vid and a wonderful day

Here's another video from California. We're stuffing six kids in a Weaver Nest, (thought it would be a good photo op) and then of course they started fighting.

Had a spectacular day on Friday, Jazz Choir and Class Act sang at the Palmer Art's Council's Annual meeting, and for some reason, even though I had a cold, the quartet sang really really well! It was so flattering for everyone there to be freaking out about us, it was really awesome. Makes me excited for the next time we get to sing. And it made me think about how great it is that I've been able to participate in that quartet in high school. I have to thank Apryll Walker, who helped us so much starting my Freshman year. And the girls I sing with are my best friends: Irene, Sara, Madison, Kendra, and Morgan, I love you guys so much! Thank you for always being there for me. And Randy, of course, our current director, is fabulous as well. I am blessed to have such a neat opportunity. Now for some pictures through the years...

Our first fair performance...I had forgotten how I much I love those striped polyester shirts!

Field attack

Another very memorable uniform.

Friday Fling and Irene's first appearance.

Our CD Cover "Alaska Girls Have Class"

Singing at the Madrigal

Alright, here's the last one, the only group photo I managed to get when we sang for the PND Party. You can tell from this picture that we are insane. Sorry Irene, you're only half in the picture, haha. I'm sure the Moss' have some nicer ones. (HEM HEM Madison you should send them to me :) )

Well, I just accidently burned some cookies, so I'd probably better go. Plus, I have a lot more bragging about myself to do filling out these scholarship applications. That gets really annoying. Anyway, peace out.

Two blogs in only two days...must be some kinda record...

I should be working on scholarship applications. I think I figured out how to put movie clips on here, so here is a taste of California for you: This first one is at our house, in the pool where we spent a lot of time. There's Melissa on the side, James holding screaming Louis, I am holding Daisy, Calvin's holding Andy, Keith's got Ty, and Richard has Avery. I think that's everyone in there. My favorite part, "You don't want to jump? Just c'mere then"

Back to the Freezing Cold

Well California was wonderful, but life must go on, right? I'll do a post later about the trip, when Mom gets back from Utah and I can (if I'm tech savvy enough) download a few video clips. Mom got bumped in Utah twice, Rita three times, so while I have to go to school, they are loading up the cash. No fair!

My goal this semester is to be much more optimistic. Although I'm doing okay, I must admit that it sounded easier when I was not in school. During Physics I almost lost it completely. But I'm so close to being done, I just love to think, "one more semester...and I never have to take high school English again." That really cheers me up.

I finished Beyond the Chocolate War over break. It wasn't that spectacular, I was bummed. It wasn't bad, but compared to the first book it was disappointing, so I don't reccomend it. I do reccomend The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It's a short, quick read but I really enjoyed it. Micah gave me a compilation of C.S. Lewis works for Christmas, so I'm excited about working my way through them.

Another positive thing about my life is that we're actually studying poetry that I enjoy and appreciate in English class. The poet is Elizabeth Bishop, and she writes about real issues, using real words that people can connect with, like "dentist's office" or "oil-soaked". No namby-pamby poetry abstract garbage, which is nice. She reminds me a lot of Sophie Hannah, I love her stuff as well.

I get to go to Homer for thier Take-Off next weekend, and I am SO excited! They've even invited me to their dance. This sounds weird, but I'm really jazzed to put my official dress on again, it feels like it's been forever. I love FFA trips.

I really need to go to bed now. Class Act is singing tomorrow at the Mental Health Conference, should be good. It's a pretty big gig, we get to skip school and go into Anchorage and everything.

One photo tonight, just to practice putting pictures up in the right spot.


Alaska State Officers with a California delegate at the Wrangler Dinner