We Appreciate Cows

I LOVE CHICK FIL A. It's a serious addiction that I have. I would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I was a millionaire. Unfortunately I'm not a millionaire, I'm a poor college student. And since I don't have enough money to pay my rent, let alone buy fast food, I look for all opportunities that provide me with free Chick Fil A. About a month ago I got an email from my favorite restaurant informing me that  Friday, July 8 was cow appreciation day. What is cow appreciation day might you ask? Well if you dress up like a cow and go to your nearest Chick Fil A, they will give you free food. This was my dream come true. So for the past month I have been anxiously awaiting cow appreciation day and it finally arrived.

I told my roommates that it was a fantastic idea for us to dress up like cows in order to get free food. It didn't take much convincing that's for sure. With the help of  some black construction paper, and black eyeliner, we transformed ourselves.

Ashlena transforming Elise

Ashlena mooooing for the camera

Me and Betsy

We love our free food! Ash was very excited about the cool ketchup packets.

Don't we look utterly amazing?

Needless to say it was probably the best Friday of my life and I will be attending cow appreciation day EVERY year until I die.

I love swimming pools and Happy Brithday America.

On Saturday, Ashlena, Amanda, and Kelsie came and rescued me from the ten thousand degree firework booth and took me to their friend's house for a little swimming get together. Dang this boy had a nice house. Swimming pool, slide,  hot tub with a TV, pool house, awesome swing set, house, mini golf, and fire pit were our options for the night. I just might have to marry this boy. Seriously. It was a blast!

Then on Monday was the 4th of July!!! Now this was my first holiday away from home and so I was a little nervous that it wouldn't live up to the greatness that my family enjoyed during this day. Don't even worry though. My roommates and I definitely know how to party. It was a FANFREAKINGTASTIC day.

In the morning, Ashlena, Elise, Liz and I did the unthinkable. WE RAN A 5K. Yeah that's right. WE RAN OVER 3 MILES. WITHOUT STOPPING. It was a great way to start off our day. 

And this is me crossing the finish line.

One of the bonuses of being the last one to finish is that I am the only one with a picture of me completing the race:)

After the race, we went and found us some one of a kind patriotic outfits.

We were a little disappointed that no one gave us an award for the "most patriotic outfits" because we were the epitome of patriotism.

I mean come one. We had red and blue nails for crying out loud.

The only downside of the day is that Jamba Juice apparently doesn't believe in being patriotic, because they made me work that day. That's okay though because nothing could have ruined our amazing day. We ended it with a few games of sand volleyball, dinner at Wingers, and beautiful fireworks.

Thank you America for having a birthday, because it gave us a great reason to wear matching outfits and act like crazy people.

Yeah that's right. I live in an old sorority house. Don't judge.

So there is this old sorority house on 8th North. It's in between two fraternities. It got shut down because the girls were involved with someone dying of alcohol poisoning and they were doing sketchy rituals in their crawl space. This is where I am living this summer. NBD.
I love this sorority house with every fiber of my being. It is the place where I spend time with my 9 new best friends, aka roommates. We bake cakes, cook magnificent gourmet dinners, paint our nails, watch chick flicks, have dance parties on chairs, spy on awkward first dates, take naps in the backyard, have sleepovers, laugh our heads off, and die of heat thanks to the fact that there is no air conditioning. It has giant rooms filled with couches that we use for napping, jumping, sleepovering, nail painting, and hair wrapping. It has a pole-for dancing of course. There is a creepy crawl space in one of the bedrooms that is GIANT. Inside the crawl space there is a ditch with black garbage bags filled with who knows what. Sheets divide it into sections, and the walls are lined with candles and covered in writing. The dirt floor and low ceiling adds to the creepy effect. One day we will watch a scary movie in there and play murderer in the dark.
This house has a piano that allows Elise to play beautiful music. Our kitchen is on the smaller side, but it is big enough to house all of our food, and of course, my beloved bonsai trees. This house has a humongous old school TV provided by Betsy. The dining room has enough table space for a banquet, and one day we will serve one on it too. This house has a giant window in the front room that allows us to spy on all the people walking by, to and from campus. It also allows us to spy on our fellow roommates when they get picked up from dates. The door has a hardcore key pad lock on it that you have to open with two hands. This house gave me a giant room all to myself. Its big enough for all 5 of my Justin Bieber posters, ketchup lava lamp, and for me and four of my roommates to sleep. I have four closets and two dressers. If only I had enough clothes to fill all of them. This house has a creepy boiler room that the sorority girls supposedly lost their virginity in. This house may or may not be haunted. We're praying its not.
This house makes me happy. Very very happy. I am so glad that it is where I will be spending four months of my life. I live in the old Chi Omega House. NBD.

My Lightbulb Moment

I CAN DO HARD THINGS. I CAN DO HARD THINGS.
I CAN DO HARD THIGNS.
I CAN DO HARD THINGS.
I CAN DO HARD THIGNS.
I think i'm acutally starting to believe it.

Triplet/Friendship/Three Amigo Tuesdays

One of my favorite things about my Freshman year was Triplet/Friendship/Three Amigo Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, Sarah, Brant and I would go toour favorite place called Twizzleberry and get frozen yogurt. On the way there we would listen to Taylor Swift, and occasionally go tanning and to Taco Tuesday. I looked forward to the "T" filled day all week long. It was a time when the three of us would stop whatever we were doing and just take some time for ourselves to have fun. We became regulars at Twizzleberry and when they started "double punch tuesday" for your frequent yogurt cards we couldn't have been happier:)
Today is the second Tuesday of the summer and I'm in Logan without Sarah and Brant. I miss them and they had more impact on my life than they'll ever know. They made me laugh. They made me cry. They loved me for who I am. And they made me happy. I love you Brant and Sarah and I hope you two have a great Tuesday:)

This little thing called CHANGE

Dear Change,
YOU SUCK. You cause me anxiety. You make me cry. You make me miserable. You put me out of my comfort zone. You scare the living daylights out of me. I dread you. At the same time you make me stronger. You teach me things about myself that I never would have learned otherwise. You cause me to grow. You cause me to be happier than I ever thought was possible. You cause me to be independent. You have made me realize what is important in life. You have caused me to have a stronger testimony. and for those things, THANK YOU.
Love, Kinsey

Hardly anyone actually jumps for joy at the thought of change. Change is hard. Change means that everything is going to be different. I means that you are going to have to start over. I have found that I dwell on the negative parts of change. It is a lot more easy to be negative and positive. It takes less brain cells. Even though change is rough, a lot of good things come from a change of pace. Moving up to college was the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I have never been at a lower point in my life. But guess what? I have never experienced anything more rewarding either. I learned things about myself that I would have never learned if I stayed in my comfort zone. I realized I am stronger than I thought I could ever be. I made some of the best friends that a person could ever hope for. I laughed harder than I have in my entire life. I gained a stronger testimony. I excelled in my church calling. I got good grades! I not only survived my freshman year of college but I thrived. As much as I hate change. I am trying to embrace it because I know great things are going to come of it, even if it sucks at first. You just have to endure to the end! Even though this summer in Logan is unknown and scary I'm going to make the best of it and embrace the change that it has brought into my life.

We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday!!!

I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. I especially love MY birthday. I start counting down the days until April 15 all the way back in January, and I let everyone I know the exact count every single day. One of the reasons I like my birthday so much is because it's the one day of the year that I feel loved anyone and everyone. You hear from best friends, old friends, family members, bishops, stalkers, missionaries, and random people that don't know you, but are super friendly and they hear other people saying it, so they join in with them. My birthday is a big deal to me. If one of my friends forget that April 15 is the day I was born, I have a hard time not being offended. That is definitely something I need to work on. But in my defense I start the countdown about 100 days prior, so they have a lot of advance warning that its coming. :)
My nineteenth birthday this year was INCREDIBLE. I have never felt more loved, or special ever. I couldn't help but think how blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life. My friends definitely took care of me and made me feel special and loved.
Hayley- Hrob my bff was right in the middle of finals down at BYU so she couldn't be here with me, but she definitely took care of me from three hours away. She sent me two of the funniest birthday cards I have ever encountered. Seriously you would pee your pants if you saw them. They were accompanied by the cutest earrings ever, and a my favorite kind of sucker. She called me later and I have never been happier. I love Hrob, she knows how to make me smile:)
Sarah- My dear Sarah had to be out of town on my special day, but she took good care of me before she left. Her family took me out to Olive Garden for a fabulous dinner. She gave me a super cute pink shirt, and a darling pair of earrings. I also received a wonderful call from her that day.
Bret-  My darling Bret came over and played Jenga with me while we reminisced of all the fun we had last semester and laughed our heads off. I miss you Bret!
Garrett the Hippie- Garrett is the best thing that ever happened to USU. He is a legit hippie and I am so glad that I overcame my fear of him and became friends with him. He made me a birthday bracelet made out of hemp, gave me a huge hug, and introduced me to his smoking friends.
Zach Kitty- He came over and visited me, and we played some games, talked, laughed, and he came to cafe rio that night even though he had eaten there for lunch. Now that's true friendship. I received the funniest card ever from him. Thanks husband:)
Michael Zajac- This great kid made me a chalk drawing that said, "Happy Birthday Kinsey Crabb" surrounded by balloons, right outside the entrance of my building.
Alvaro- This kid called me while I was in Walmart and made my cry because I was so happy to hear his voice. I miss Alvaro.
Kylie and Annie- They bought me another cake mix, after Taylor spilt the first one. They hung out with me all night and made me laugh:)
Alex Meadows- He gave us some entertainment by allowing us to forget him at Walmart. He also called me Crab Cakes all day and told me to do whatever I wanted because it was my birthday.
Kylee and Evan- They gave me some fabulous Justin Bieber merchandise and some hilarious cards.
Brent- Took me out to dinner on Wednesday and gave me some candy and a JB poster.
Taylor- Spilt my birthday cake, but made up for it by the great birthday present.
Peine Tree- Michael Peine spent a good part of the day with me. He made sure that I felt special and had a great day. We painted animals magnets, listened to Justin Bieber, hung up my new posters, ate Andie's mints, beat Alex in pool, and he gave me a fabulous birthday present. I got this print that I absolutely loved when we went to an art show. He also teamed up with Tay to give me a JB poster. and of course all of this was accompanied by Andie's mints, and a great card:)

Girls on my floor wished my happy birthday, gave me chocolate and strawberries, left cute cards on my door, and gave hugs all around.

The day started out by waking up to birthday texts from friends and family that couldn't be there with me but wanted me to know that I was loved. I got calls from my parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends that were far away. I spent the rest of the day with my amazing friends, eating Cafe Rio, going to Walmart, making cake-twice, and watching The Princess Diaries. I have so many incredible people in my life and I am so grateful for all of them.

Saturday my family came up and we ate amazing food, saw Source Code, went shopping, swam in the pool, ate birthday brownies, opened presents, watched The Food Network, laughed until we cried, attempted to fix Alejandro, and experienced the wonders of Logan. It was the best weekend I could have asked for. Thank you everyone!