Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hello! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! This years day of love passed by pretty normal. They did make a big deal of it at school though. They were selling roses and chocolates for $1 the week before and they would be delivered on Valentine's Day. I was not expecting to do anything because normally people just do that for their lover, but that is not the case here. I guess it's normal to give them to your friends as well. I didn't order any in time so instead I took brownies mom made the night before. I wanted to give my friends something since I knew they would give me roses, etc. Mom, dad, and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day today since Thursday was busy as usual. 

There has been a lot of studying on this side of the globe. I have mock exams coming up in a week, so I've been studying in any spare moment I have. I spent 8 hours between Friday and Saturday together making science notes to study with. Let's just say, by the time Saturday night came I was ready to explode!! These mock exams are just practice for the real ones in May, but they do count on our grade so I want to do the best I can. Fortunately for me I only have to study 7 months worth of material whereas everyone else has to do 1 1/2 years worth (IB diploma is a 2 year program). I am pretty nervous for them because basically all of the tests are essays ( I'm sure your all thinking, "yeah, there essays...so what?" But Hey! I haven't been to college yet!). Anyway, you'll hear more about this in a couple of weeks. Mom also kindly reminded me yesterday that these won't matter in the long run. She's exactly right, and it helped me to keep perspective and not stress too much. 

I've also been getting a lot of blood tests done throughout the week. I'm going to Hong Kong with mom and dad later this week to talk to a gastrointestinal doctor to hopefully figure out what the problem is with my stomach pain. It's safer to do it there plus the testing/knowledge available there is a little better. The doctor there wanted us to get some blood tests out of the way before we came though, so I've been pricked and prodded not to my liking! It was okay the first time, but then the guy who did it the second time on Saturday hurt SO bad!!! I think he nicked a nerve because it still hurts to twist or bend my arm. The end of this tale is good and bad. We found out that all of the tests were normal, which is good, but at the same time, I'd almost rather there be a specific problem that we can fix. Nevertheless, I still have hope and am praying that the doctor in HK will figure something out. 

This has been a fun week at dance. A guest teacher from the Royal Danish Ballet came and taught all of our ballet classes. She was really fun and I really enjoyed her classes. I like her classes more than my normal teacher because she goes quickly and doesn't spend a lot of time talking or demonstrating. My regular teacher will show a combination like 5 times slowly before we even do it. I usually know the steps after the first time, so then there's a lot of time for my thoughts to wander. After the guest teachers classes though I realized that I had not thought of anything except ballet for the last 11/2 hours. It was nice!! We had a workshop with her on Saturday as well. It was okay, kind of boring though. 

I gave a talk in church today as well. I spoke  about how the scriptures can bless our life. It was kind of a hard topic for me at first, but it ended up being fine, and I felt pretty good about it after. 

Well, that's all for this week! I love you so much! Have a very merry day!

Love,

Kenzie