Dance Audition Videos!

So, as you can tell by the title, the heat is steadily increasing over here. It literally feels like your moving around in an oven! The mornings are still pretty good, but by the time I get home in the afternoon I am sweating profusely! I usually just feel like putting my head in the freezer. Mom laughs when I come in, plop down in the armchair in front of the AC and sigh. I'm hoping that this blaring sun will result in a nice tan by the time I get home! :) (With my luck I'll probably still be whiter than everyone else!)

Anyway, I had an interesting experience in my history class this week. We were watching a video about the Soviet Union and what the culture was like back then. Well, unfortunately the movie was filled with nudity. I of course did not like this at all and for a while just occupied myself with surfing the net. But I kept getting this feeling and voice in my head, "Are you just going to sit here and pretend not to watch it? Stand up!" I didn't want to pretend to watch something I shouldn't, and you never know who is watching (if only Heavenly Father). So, I eventually mustered up the courage and finally grabbed my bag and said, "Mr. George, I'm leaving. I don't appreciate this." And I walked out. He didn't really say much. It didn't take long for the whole 28 people in my grade to hear what I did. There is one boy in my class who is extremely aethiest and negative about Mormons. In one of my classes he said (very degradingly) that "Mormons live under a rock". I then calmly asked him why he thinks that. To that he replied, "well, I don't know. your so shielded from everything". I think I said something to the effect of, "I don't know why you would think I live under a rock just for not wanting to fill my mind with nudity" (I knew he was referring to history. It was an interesting day. All I can say is that I'm glad I stood up for what I know is right and I felt good about it. 

On Friday and Saturday, mom, dad, and I went to the church to film my audition video for BYU's contemporary company. There wasn't any AC which made me look even better as I was dripping sweat while introducing myself :). Oh well! I feel like I did pretty good and I'm happy with it. (The video is at the end of this post).  I'm super glad to have that crossed off my list, although it was fun to do. 

I gave my first lesson in Sunday School this week. It went pretty well I think. I could feel the Spirit, so I hope they could. I really enjoy teaching and being able to bear my testimony and experiences to these teenagers. I hope that I will be able to help them with experiences that they may encounter. It's a little tricky with only two very quiet people, but it turned out fine. I'm really enjoying preparing a lesson for Easter too!

That's about it for this week! I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, kenzie

Sorry the videos won't work, so go to this site to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h9zTYtD3C8

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hi! How is everyone? I hope you all had a Happy Wednesday!! :) It's great to hear from all of you! Shea, I love the pictures!! 

We've had a fun St. Patrick's Day! I made green eggs and ham and tried to make green scratch pancakes that turned out kind of gooey. They weren't very good, but mom and dad were good sports and ate them anyway! I've really started to like all holidays because they are an excuse to make lots of fun, festive food! Mom found unsweetened baker's chocolate deep in the freezer and I am SO excited! That's impossible to find here,  and it's the last box, so I'm going to cherish it! Mom also made green chocolate chip cookies today that we're going to take around to the missionaries. 

So, I got a calling at church today! It was extremely unexpected. I was walking down the hall to Sunday School, and the Branch President was walking behind me. Then he calls out and says, "Hey Mackenzie, do you want to be the youth sunday school teacher?" (there's just 3 of us and our recent teacher moved) I was like, "what?!" and I told him that if he wanted me to I would. Then he said, "Okay good, you'll start next week." So there you have it...I'm the youth sunday school teacher (yes, I am still a "youth" :). It was really odd to have him call me like that, and I don't know that it was totally appropriate, but I'm excited to do it. It will give me the opportunity to learn a lot more, and hopefully teach the other 2 kids on a deeper level than before. Although, it would have been nice to know that the calling came from God, and not wonder if it came simply cause I was walking in front of him :). I know it's from God though. It will be a challenge, and probably slightly awkward teaching kids my  own age, but I will pray and I know that Heavenly Father will help me. 

We also had our Branch Conference today. Mom and dad spoke in Sacrament meeting. Since the International branch is part of the mission district, dad is the "stake" president. Both he and mom gave absolutely wonderful talks! Mom spoke about keeping ourselves "tight like unto a dish" and fixing our "leaks". Dad spoke about keeping our covenants and having the faith to accept the Lord's will (faith to not be healed). The Spirit was so strong and I'm so grateful for parents who are so in-tune with the Spirit. 

Kind of a funny, only-in-cambodia, type of experience happened on Thursday night. I went to dance and the power was out! The entire neighborhood was out of power. The studio only had one little battery light, so we were dancing in the dark. It's amazing how much a change in lighting can change your equilibrium! I didn't think the lights were so bad, until I realized the the fans were not working. Let me just tell ya', dancing in Cambodia without AC is NOT fun. It felt like a sauna on full power. Thankfully, about 20 min. into class the power turned back on. It was just one of those funny experiences that brings a little ray of sunshine into your life! 

Mom, Dad, and I had a really nice Friday night. We went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant and then we walked along the riverside for a long time just talking. The riverside is always a fun, touristy, lit up part of town at night. We stopped at the night market for a little bit, got a yummy fresh fruit smoothie from a little stand owned by an American (he makes anything anyway you like!), and then we headed home. It was really nice just to spend some time together (and not watching a movie like I do every weekend!). I tripped on a clump of concrete on the way home though and got a huge blood blister on the top of my toe. It was really strange though, because by the next night it was completely gone and you couldn't even tell it was there. 

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you have a week filled with many rays of sunshine! Good quote: "Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, "I will try again tomorrow". So true. Never give up. The Gospel is true! I love you!

Love, 

Kenzie

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!

Hi! Just wanted to remind you that it's
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a great day because it's WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!!!

Did you know it's a holiday? Yep, that's right, it's a holiday!!!! Do you know why?

Well, a holiday is a day of festivity and celebration.

You all have something you can celebrate over: YOUR ALIVE!!!!!!!!

You have two legs, two arms, eyes that can see, ears that can hear, and the list goes on and on!

So, remember that today is HAPPY WEDNESDAY, a holiday to celebrate that you woke up this morning and took a breath! Isn't that great?!!

I hope you have a happy, happy, Wednesday!
 Love, Kenzie

P.S. Don't forget to raise your eyebrows 10 times! :)

Senioritis

Hey all!

Well, I hate to admit it, but I'm sick. Sick with senioritis that is. It's funny because last year I looked at all the Senior's and thought, "I'm sure I will never catch Senioritis." I guess I was wrong. I have absolutely zero desire to do homework. Luckily I haven't had very much homework this past week, but I'm going to need to step it up in the coming weeks. I want to finish strong!! 

I got the results back from most of my exams the other week. I got several 5's, a couple 6's, and one 7! In letter grade a 5=the B range, 6= the A range, and 7=A+. So, I was very pleased with the scores. Hopefully with even more time to study I will do even better in May. 

We had a half day off school on Thursday and then no school on Friday. Mom and I went fabric shopping for my "prom" dress on Thursday and then again on Saturday. My school doesn't really have Prom, but they do have a High School Formal dance. It's not a bring-a-date dance and it sounds like most of the seniors don't go, but my friends and I decided we'll go. We would rather not go to the after school senior dance (not school related) involving alcohol,etc. I'm really grateful I've found good friends with good values here. It's been a huge blessing! I'm having a dress made by a local tailor because that is a lot easier than having to try to find one. It kind of makes it kind of fun! We found the fabric in the market surprisingly fast and then went to a tailor that my friend told me about. It was an interesting experience. When we got there we found out that no one could speak English and then when we asked one employee, who could roughly speak, if they could make the dress they just kind of shook their head blankly at us. Then they just kind of left us standing there in the middle of the store. So, we ended up leaving a little frustrated at the lack of help. We went to another tailor after that who was, refreshingly, a really good, professional business woman and very helpful. The dance is at the end of the month, so I guess you'll just have to wait until then for pictures!

Mom and I went out for breakfast on Friday at a small, natural/organic cafe near our house. It has excellent food, and we were both very happy with our food! There's just something about going out to breakfast that brings me warm and fuzzies on the inside! :) That evening my friend, Holly, came over to our house before we went to a birthday dinner for my other friend. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty awkward. We just sat and played boardgames for a couple of hours because there's nothing else to do, which, to our family is fun and entertaining, but I sometimes get the feeling that to the rest of the world they are boring and childish. Oh well-such is life. Chantelle you'll be interested in this: I tried Japanese food for the first time! My friend had her birthday dinner at a Japanese BBQ. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling too well, so I didn't try everything, but the stuff I did was very good. I decided I love Japanese BBQ's. They're so fun! The tables have a little grill in them and they bring you out thinly sliced raw meat that you dip in eggs and then BBQ. It has a really fun atmosphere-very social! 

I was reading from one of mom's books about attitudes and really liked this quote, "When we choose not to focus on what is missing in our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present...we experience heaven on earth." -Sarah Breathnach  Attitude is everything!

I love you each so much and hope you have a good week! 

Love, 

Kenzie

 

Perfect French Bread (no oil, butter, or sugar!)

 Hey there!

I'm super excited about this recipe! It's not a creation of my own, but just the fact that it worked makes me so happy! I found this recipe in an old, Relief Society cookbook of mom's and I knew I had to try it. Ever since discovering I have IBS, I've been eating LOTS of french bread. It's great on my stomach because it is made of soluble fiber and is easily digested in my stomach. Now, I'm not saying that I like it more than whole grain/whole wheat bread because that is not the case. I wish I could eat wheat bread, but for now I'm sticking with the nice, soluble, fiber that easy on my stomach.

Anywho, as I was saying, we've been buying lots of french bread recently. It's a good thing we're in Cambodia because they have nothing but french bread! People sell it in HUGE baskets on the street (we get it from the stores!). So, when I saw this recipe I thought, "hey, why not give it a go? It can't be that hard." So that is exactly what I did (I conveniently didn't have school today!).

 I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous while making it because I tend to not have huge success with making bread-y stuff. They usually come out done on the outside but dooey on the inside.

But that is not the case today! They turned out PERFECT!! Or in mom's words, "better than perfect!"

 In order to make them a little more nutritious, I replaced the oil/butter with Greek yogurt. Yep, that's right. There's protein in this bread!! I thought it would make it more dooey, but I was wrong! There is no trace of yogurt in the texture whatsoever. There is a trace of the yogurt in the flavor, but it is a very yummy trace. The Greek yogurt makes it have a mild sourdough-ish taste. I love it!! It's great for those of us who 1) don't have time and/or 2) are unsuccessful at making sourdough bread.

I also cut out the sugar. The recipe said 2 Tbsp. but I thought I would start out not using it. I thought it would make it not work, but again, no trace of it's absence in taste or texture!

Artesian beauty!!

Perfect French Bread (adapted from Ruth Pexton's recipe in "Village Sampler")

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt
6 c. flour, divided
corn meal
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
sesame or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions:

Mmmmm! Long, crusty, golden goodness!

Pour warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top to soften. Add salt, yogurt, and 3 cups of flour. Beat well. Add remaining flour, stirring well with heavy spoon (it's okay if it looks lumpy-it will smooth out in the rolling process). Leave spoon in and allow dough to rest 10 minutes. Stir down and rest 10 minutes. Repeat for a total of 5 times. Turn dough out on a floured board and knead 2-3 times. Divide dough in half. Roll each into a 9x12 inch rectangle with a rolling pin. Roll dough up and place, seam side down, on corn meal sprinkled baking sheet. Cover lightly and allow to rise 30 minutes. 

With a very sharp knife, cut 3 gashes at angle on top of each loaf. Brush with an eggwash of the egg white and water. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Bake in preheated 400 oven for 30 minutes or until brown. Makes 2 loaves. 

 My favorite topping (the only one I've tried :)) -  prune jam with feta cheese. So French :)

 This is my favorite picture! The loaf on top is the store-bought french bread. The bottom loaf is my homemade loaf. Now let's be honest, I'm pretty sure we all know which one looks more delicious. :) Homemade always trumps store-bought.

Way more surface area on the homemade-clearly the winner! :)

See ya!!

New News

Hi there! So as you can see, I've changed things up a little. I don't know about anyone else, but I welcome change from time to time. My aim in the long run is to get my own logo/header, but as I am not very tech. savvy, that might take a while.

I've decided to change the title of my blog to "The Mixing Bowl" to reflect more about what I want my blog to be about. No worries, I will still post my adventures in Cambodia and such things about my life. I am also going to start (hopefully) posting more about food, original recipes, and nutrition, as this is what I'm passionate about!  I love to create old favorite recipes or create new ones with as much nutrition as possible, while catering to my IBS needs at the same time. I hope someday to get my name/blog more known around the food/health blogging world as a place for people to come get nutritious recipes and ideas.

So join me as I create balance in my life and throw whole foods, whole mind, and whole spirit into the mixing bowl of life!

-Kenzie

Happy March and End of Exams!

Hello! 

I hope all is well! I know this is cliche, but I can't believe it's March! I only have 30 more days of being a child. That is really weird. I know, I know, your probably all thinking,"What! the little baby is all grown up and savin' China!" (Mulan) :) 

So, this week was not very fun. Sorry to be all johnny rain-cloud, but it wasn't. We had mock exams all week. So basically, they squeezed 12 exams (that really span over a period of 3 weeks in May) into 1 week. They are also pretty much all essay writing which is definitely not my strong point. Your probably all thinking, "whoopdidoo, that's college finals for ya", but hey, I'm still in high school so I can complain! :). Let's just say I am VERY glad to be done with the week. After my last exam on Friday I wanted to jump on the rooftops and shout with jubilee! 

That being said, I had a VERY relaxing weekend. I didn't do any homework or anything even remotely related to school which was so nice! I desperately needed a break! On Friday, after all of our exams were over, some of my friends and I went out to lunch at a sushi restaurant. I then went to the grocery store to get some badly needed groceries. Mom and dad have been crazy busy this week. They've been on a mission tour doing zone conferences all week. They were still in Phnom Penh doing conferences with the missionaries down here for the first part of the week, and then on Thursday they left for the other provinces. It was a little bit of a lonely week without seeing them hardly at all. That, combined with Elder and Sister Wilson from the Area being here, is the reason our food supply was dwindling by the end of the week. I can't really complain though because I absolutely LOVE going grocery shopping. This is going to sound really off the charts (I might have already mentioned this), but it's almost relaxing for me to go grocery shopping! Okay, weird I know. By the time I got home and washed all the food I was a sweaty mess! The temperature has shot up just in the last week. When you walk outside you get that feeling similar to when you open a hot oven, and it feels like your walking around in an oven! I don't know how the missionaries do it all day because I was drained by the time I had come home from the store. 

That night I made some "ice cream" with greek yogurt that I've been randomly craving and so happy I found, and pigged out as I watched a chick flick. What can I say?! That's my life! :) On Saturday I had institute and dance. I spent the rest of the day cleaning my room, baking zucchini bread which didn't really turn out :), and washing dishes. I also read a non-school book which was so fun, and did some cross-stitching as I watched another chick flick. Now that I'm writing it, it doesn't sound very relaxing at all, but just not doing any school work made it a nice weekend for me! 

Well, I think that's it. I'm sooooooooooooooo sooooooooo excited for mom and dad to get home tonight!

I love you all so much and miss you tons!

Love,

Kenzie