I've now reached a point in my adulthood when going to bed at 11pm is "early" ew

I've been looking for an excuse to post this somewhere

Lest you think I have completely fallen off the wagon (ha, what is that phrase), I'm still writing. Mostly poetry. For my thesis. And I've been reading. Mostly poetry. For...yeah, you guessed it.

Other things I've been doing besides blogging:

• walking to and from the grocery store and exercising my arm muscles but mostly getting those weird sweat driblets from my arm crease? Woof.
• hammocking on Old Main Hill. The right side of the hill is immaculate and beautiful, while the left side is totally gross. It's a funny story. During the school year, someone put weed killer all over the newly planted grass instead of fertilizer. Hence, now there are dead, brown patches and other parts with weeds growing like they came straight outta Jumanji. It's bad. So I hammock on the right side, obviously, for aesthetic.
• driving to Idaho. jk, Houston drove to Idaho. but I was in the car. and it was my idea. also, Idaho isn't that far from Logan (try 20 minutes). I could probably suggest a trip to Sudan and he'd be like "sure, why not?" everyone should have someone like that in their life. well, not someone who would willingly go to Sudan. merp.
• eating my weight in string cheese and hummus. when summer comes, I no longer want meals-- just snacks. it's weird.  and it's not a weight thing. srsly.
• re-watching The Office. for some reason I never actually watched the episode when Michael leaves? Now I know why. Cry-fest.
• starting to work in the temple again. technically I don't start until next week but I got set apart and after that they said, "Welcome home!" :''''')

and now, pictures! I should probably put these first so you guys are lured into the blog post and then can leave whenever you want. whoops.

mi amor, Kyrbo, taking a pic of the sunset #candid

that rock I'm staring at in the distance=Angel's Landing. yeah we hiked the mountain ABOVE it, which is nothing short of hellacious, mostly because there's no shade and it's 8ish miles uphill. but we dID IT, amen.

me on the last day of school picking up thesis books from the library. I have been to the library three more times since then. YEAAAAAAAAA 

on the way home from St. Jorge, we got caught in a storm

on the Idaho border, woo

SHMAE came to visit!!! We went to Morty's, the D.I., walked around campus so I could convince her to come to USU (it worked) (I think), and then went up the canyon. Houst was a great third wheel.

me: "ugh, I look so short."

houston: "yeah. I look so...tall." 

me: -_-

♫hellloo from the other siiiide, I like potatoes that are friiiiieed♫

It's me!!! I'm alive. Fresh out the womb...of...spring break. Well. I'm never going to say that again.

Say what again, McKenzie?

Womb. Or "fresh out." In the same sentence together.

Speaking of Spring Break, let's take a moment of silence for it, yeah? BYU schools don't get spring breaks, and that's why Heavenly Father led me to USU. Probably.

p.s. half these pics have already showed up on other social media platforms (haha, what a dumb phrase), but...well, I actually don't have an excuse for this. I thought I would think of one while I was writing the sentence but it didn't come. Anyways.

FLAGSTAFF. Flagstaff, Flagstaff, Flahfsgsftaffffff. Luh you.

When we first got out of the shuttle and looked down it was really overwhelming

BUT IN A GOOD WAY

We left the trail for .5 seconds to take this pic #sorrymom

You think it's dumb that I'm wearing a hoodie AND a denim vest but it wasn't warm

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

oh and then the storm clouds came and I just wanted to hug the Grand Canyon even though it's not possible at all

my hair looked so good with the GC color palette

this is very corny and I know it

YEAH CAN YOU EVEN HANDLE IT

blorp

we went into that hole in the ground (again, #sorrymom)

these hikers don't even have face 

we underestimated how long the walk to the lava caves was (it was 9.5 miles) (HAHA)

bonus pic for the people who are still reading this.

you're like, wow what a great reward.

That's all I have for now. In approximately one month I'll be done with school and I know my brain will be mush. So I'll see you then.

♫on the ooother siiiiiide♫

IS IT NOT WINTER YET

The club cannot even handle me right now.

Every time the temperature sneaks up into the 40's and I peel off my winter coat, the snow comes back the next day and emotionally dropkicks me into outer space. ENOUGH. My hammock is actually starting to gather dUST?! So I've actually started to shave my legs again, as if to make some kind of unspoken deal with the weather.

me: "Ok, I will shave my legs--AND my kneecaps--if you promise to stop snowing. Please."
weather guy in space: "LOL NAH but good luck keeping your legs warm now that they're naked like mole rats HAHA"

SIgh.

The semester is already kinda half over, which is vry bizarre. Last semester seemed to drag on and on like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. But I guess this just proves that whole "if you've already been there, it goes faster" theory. You know how when you go on road trips and the getting to the destination always feels longer than coming home, because when you come back you've already seen everything? #deeperthanblackholes

Picture dump time, because I have nothing else to say right now. Come back later. Maybe when the sun comes out my brain will get reactivated.

haha yeah right.

This was  taken a month ago when I was still enjoying winter. 

same house, different season

 you can't see but there's a weird statue of Groot on the porch (all year round)

Hello NcKenzie is my name (at a dating fireside which was rly good)

nothing makes me look more pale than red lipstick WINTER

At one point during this hike, Houston took some random shortcut "trail" which was actually not a trail at all and I said "You are dead to me now" like 50 times while trying to get up this hill covered in snow thx Houston but really THANKS cuz the view was gr8

We spend vry much time and not vry much money at the D.I. (but rally this D.I. is like the Taj Mahal of Deserets Industriez)

a girl runs into a guy at a party and you'll never guess what happens next!

He broke his toe.

I got this bruise.



That's what happened. I think we're engaged????

In lieu of a ring he just gave me this bicep-shiner. YEAH A BICEP SHINER IS A THING NOW BE QUIET.

Man, I could never write clickbait articles. I'm so glad I figured this one out early, though. Can you imagine if I went through all this schooling only to resign myself to a life of writing clickbait?

people might as well project this on the wall at every party ever bc that's how I feel when I enter the room

Instead of diving headfirst into the twelve foot pool which is grad school (that sometimes feels like it's three feet deep and you feel like you're concussed when you dive in), I decided to be social this week. As you can see from dat #bicepshiner, it's been going great.

*leans head out window*
*yells loudly to my mom so she'll hear me two hours away*
"MOM! HEY MOM! I'M GETTING RIGHT TO WORK ON THOSE GRANDKIDS, OK?"

Anyway.

this picture makes me wanna go get a burrito.

...maybe I'm just hungry.

I left my car in American Fork until I figure out what to do with it. This was the last time I drove it (hopefully forever). We went up the canyon cuz it's our fave place. Ok mostly mine because yeah my car is definitely an inanimate object. 

MOM IT'S WATER PONG NOT B**R PONG 

See? Houston/Dennis doesn't look drunk at all.

student: hey so I forgot about ___ assignment, can I still turn it in even though it would be late and your syllabus says you don't accept late work?
me:

Well, that's my life. What are you guys up to? Found any good trendy clothing boutiques recently? I've been looking for one all over Utah but I can't seem to find any. So weird. Also, if you happen to find a company that sells wooden sunglasses or peplum swimsuits, hit me up. I can't find those either.

*~over and out~~*

WTT?! (what the Twinkie) It's almost 2016.

Hi hello it's me, back from the grave for one last post. Nope, not the grave. But it sounds cooler to say I came "from the grave." The only other time that can be accurate is if I show up in public before 7am. Then I am allowed to say "I just came from the grave." ALRIGHT ANYWAY.

We've heard enough about my emo year I think. At least, I have. But there were good things, too. And I'm going to list them for you here, in case your New Year's Eve hasn't officially started yet and you need something for your transparent corneas to stare at in the meantime (what, I just went to the eye doctor, sue me).

Best of 2015:

• Best TV show(s): The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Blacklist, Parks & Rec
• Best concerts: Ben Howard + Great Good Fine Ok
• Best movies: STAR WARS DUH, I can't think of any others right now but that feels right
• #1 screenshotted items: Poorly Drawn Lines comics, baby animals, weird textversations

We found this famous waterfall accidentally, and also, I almost peed my pants. I almost peed my pants many times this year. INSTALL MORE PUBLIC BATHROOMS ALREADY, AMERICA. (And Europe)

I still think about that concert. I didn't get spit on ONE TIME and that's never happened btw.

I moved. It was depressing at first, until October came. 

This is 4 Trent. (Also s/o to this map for getting us around Scotland, luh you bye)

The Highlands be windy. Why did I even bother fixing my hair. Oh wait I didn't. 

Can't even handle. 

LOOKIT.

I think about this breakfast a lot. And the chocolate milk.

I still don't know how to be in front of a camera.

Right before the gypsies tried to pickpocket me and I said "LOL I HAVE NO MONIES! I'M WEARING VANS WITH SOCKS, YOU ABSOLUTE PANCAKES!"

getting choked up just looking at this, sry.

So many good bun days in Europe, when it didn't matter cuz there was nobody to impress. 

After Euro timez, I wanted to explore Utah s'more cuz I knew there was beauty I was missing out on. I was right. 

Willow Lake, baby

Calories

Every summer I hike Timp and every summer I'm like "I don't wanna do this ever again" but then I do. WOULDN'T YOU, THOUGH.

That's stinging nettle. Whoops.

If you think Y Mountain is hard try going all the way up because actually don't do that.

Hey girl.

What the heck am I doing. BUT THE SUNSET.

I finally got to do a session here, with my bestest friend Liz.

Lots of people stared at my car (and subsequently, me) this year. At least I gave them a good show.

I finally saw this, and I think I'll call him Archie. That's very original.

This is Shmae, we met in July (hiking Timp) and have been inseparable since, except for when I moved. :(

This was a very bad day until Trent rescued me. I did like 50 headstands on that floor (not a good idea) while he fixed his truck. Trent, did you ever fix it? Just wondering. Hey look! Matching!

A pick of Nae on the day we met. It was a...great...day.

The best 20 dollars I spent all year.

The worst picture of me taken all year (Sorry Shae) (Yeah that's Shae). 

If two girls accidentally match and you don't take a pic, did it really happen YES IT DID ACTUALLY

Logan greeted me with this sunset so I wouldn't feel as sad. 

It looks super pretty but really that hill is not nice. Not nice at all. 

  

This is a picture of me on the day I taught a college course by myself for the first time don't I look ravishing don't answer that please

Here I am on the second day. Got way better. (Not)

This happened a lot of timez, gosh why/how is this blog post still going???

I BECAME FRIENDS WITH MADELINE YESSSS

I'M SORRY KYRIE PLZ DON'T KILL ME.

We were great good fine, ok?

Hairy. Harry. No! It's Trent!!

Hey Shae did you frame this yet?

I had insomnia which perfectly coincided with school. 

Let's go back to the Euro posts for a sec. 

In the summer I spent 95% of my time in the mountains and IT WAS WORTH IT yeah I'm still single but who cares (I do, sorta)

HEY REMEMBER WHEN I SAW BEN HOWARD IN THE FLESH AND HEARD HIM TALK AND HE PLAYED MUSIC AND I WAS LIKE 50 FEET AWAY FROM HIM

Colorado is nice I guess, but the roads are a hellscape.

I finished working at the Provo Temple, but I told them I would be back. And I will, goshdangit.

The Best Selfie of 2015, no doubt.

Best Sunset of 2015.

Best (Unsafe) Photobomb 2015.

Longest Distance Traveled 2015.

WOOF.

Ok, that was cool. Probably I am the only one who read this all the way through, but I. Don't. Care.