Apparently I don't live here anymore.

Dear Weber State,
It seems we have a bit of a misunderstanding.
Let me get this straight. You're charging me non-resident tuition.
Excuse me?
I've lived in Utah my entire life. I've never moved more than 40 miles away from the city I was born in. I've never taken a few extensive month long vacations, I've never done ANYTHING that would warrant you thinking I am not a resident anymore.
Honest mistake? Some one put it in wrong? I would take that answer gladly. An apology would be nice. Sorry we screwed up, let us fix this immediately, it will show that you are a resident in 2 business days. Is that what happened though? No.
This is the lovely conversation I had with your staff today:
Me: Hi, So I'm looking online at my tuition right now, and it's almost $7000, and all my charges say non-resident tuition in front of them. I'd like to know why?
Cashiers office dude: Tuition is a lot more expensive for non-residents.
Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I should have specified... I AM a resident. I have been my entire life. I'm just not sure why that's changed now...
Cashiers office dude: Let me transfer you to admissions. They take care of that stuff.
Me. Oh...ok, thanks.
*ring ring*
Admissions lady: Weber State Admissions, how can I help you?
Me: Hi, I was just checking my tuition online and I noticed that I'm being charged for non-resident tuition... But I'm a resident. I was wondering if you could help m-- (she then kindly cuts me off)
Admissions lady: You need to go online and go to the residency tab on the home page, there's a form you need to fill out to request residency.
Me: I'm sorry, what? I need to fill out an application to request residency in the state that I've lived in my entire life?
admissions lady: Yes, you need to fill it out so we can process it, is that all I can help you with today?

Seriously, Weber State? I'm already paying you a ton of money, but screw that I guess. Thank you for being absolutely no help and for your employees treating me like I was an idiot and a burden to help when it was YOUR mistake to begin with.
No one asked me "Can I get your name and student number so I can look you up and see what's going on?" No one bothered to ask if I'd ever been charged non-resident tuition before or even tried to help me. No one checked my records to see that the last 2 years I've been paying resident tuition. NO ONE BOTHERED.
So now I guess I get to actually come in and fight with you because there is no way I'm filling out an application to request residency in a state that has always recognized me as a resident because I HAVE NEVER LEFT.

Sincerely,
Kirsten Mortensen
P.S. GO AGGIES! UTES! COUGARS! ANYWHERE BUT WEBER!

Something I have to say.

December 7, 2012.
Tonight I lost a very dear friend.
She was almost 16 years old. And that's pretty old for a cat.
Spring 1997. I was five years old when this story began. My mom and I were out on a walk with my baby brother.
We lived in an area that was pretty friendly, but there were some guaranteed weirdos mixed in there.
One of those weirdos was standing out in his yard.
You look like 'cat people', he said.
MOM! We ARE cat people!
She tried to shut me up but it was too late. Creepy beer-gut smoker man had heard.
He had some kittens he was looking to give away.
So, of course, mom went with the 'I have to talk to my husband' excuse.
Well, I held her to that.
I begged for at least a half an hour (that's like FOREVER when you're five), and dad finally gave in.
So we went to the strange man's house and picked out the newest addition to the Mortensen clan.
Dad liked her because she had four white feet.
I insisted that she be named Katie. It only made sense to a five year old why Katie was obviously the only thing to name a cat. Duh, parents. Katie the Kat.
I got better at spelling later.
Dad wanted to name her Scarlett but I was whiny enough that I got what I wanted.
And so it came to pass that Katie Scarlett Mortensen joined the family.
Katie was beautiful, and a little weird. She had a very special bond with my youngest brother, and even though he was born 2 years after we got her, I think she loved him the very most.
We had nearly 16 wonderful years with her. And she really was family.
I'll miss you, Turkey. You are my sweet girl and my first baby. I'm sorry Max squeaked at you so much. I love you for hiding under my bed every morning when we were both younger, waiting to attack my feet the moment they hit the floor. I love you forever and ever, baby girl.

It's absolutely horrifying!

That's right. I am HORRIFIED by just how healthy my dinner was. What the heck.
Sounds like a stupid thing to be afraid of, but I'm serious. Let me explain.

I hate healthy food.

Maybe that's just the hungry side of me talking. She's not all that happy right now.
I've gotten a little too used to the "starving college student" role. And, by the way, that is a total misconception. What it SHOULD be is the "I can't afford to actually eat healthy because crap food is so much cheaper and easier to cook than healthy food so I'm going to put on 20 lbs my freshman year" student. If anyone has ever lived away from home for college then you get what I'm talking about. But I think we start to become accustom to, maybe even prefer, unhealthy food. Which is probably why I have a pack of Oreos sitting in my bedroom staring at me right this very second.

Sneaky little things.

Getting to my point (in a rather round-about way), I went to the gym today and ran my butt off. I wheezed my way through a couple of miles while the staff probably had paramedics on stand-by. It felt good to work out though. Especially when my work out playlist consists of Paramore, All Time Low and LMFAO's Sexy and I Know it. I left the gym sweaty, but feeling good. And I decided I didn't want to cancel that out by eating more junk food. So I went to my local grocery store and bought myself the makings of a salad.
Maybe I put too much dressing on it. It was lite raspberry vinaigrette though, how bad can a little extra be? And maybe the only reason I could choke it down was because I dumped a whole lot of craisins (yum) on it, but who cares? The point is that I ate it, and I haven't slipped and had something that isn't good for me... yet.
It was horrifying to see just how hard it was to get me to eat healthy, even for half a day. It was horrifying that I had to actually go out and buy healthy food because it is practically non-existent in my home.
I like that I feel good though.
It's like I just punched the obesity epidemic in the face.
Feel free to join in, America.

IT'S TIME!

Well, it's getting close to November. And this isn't one of those years where I can happily bypass any concerns I might have in this world because next month I get to stuff myself full of turkey and mashed potatoes and celebrate that I still have the metabolism of a 14 year old boy. This year I actually have something to worry about and it's unavoidable... THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (dun dun dun!)

Now, this isn't my political rant about who you should vote for or who I'm voting for (coughcoughromneycough). BUT to all those people that are saying things such as "I'm not voting because it's not like my opinion even matters", or "I'm not voting because I think we don't have jack to choose from" this is my rant to you! PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BUTT AND VOTE! What the heck is wrong with you?! If you think we have "jack to choose from" you are wrong on two accounts! ONE- Jack is not running for president! I don't even know who this "Jack" guy you're referring to is!

This one? 

image from google image

Guys, he died. Of course we can't choose him.

If you're referring to jack as meaning "nothing", which I'm willing to guess is what you meant (just say 'nothing' then. Seriously? We can use grown-up words), then you clearly must stand for nothing. So educate yourself and pick a side. You only believe that we have nothing to choose from because you're too lazy to research what's going on. You don't have to vote for Romney or Obama, there's always third-party candidates. And if after you've done your research and still think the country would be better off if no one won the presidential election then please move to Canada because we don't want you here. If you don't care what happens to the country for the next four years, get out. Apathy doesn't get you anywhere. 

And that ties into our first excuse! I know that here in Utah the vote is decided. I know that mind-set of "my vote doesn't matter." That is a pitiful excuse for you to be lazy once again. My heck, I registered to vote online. How hard was that? Not. I did it while I was on break at work. So time consuming... if you're a fly and have a lifespan of a day. Honestly, you think people would have fought the Revolutionary War if they had known that we would sit on our couches come election day and say "my vote doesn't count"? Do you think women and African-Americans would have tried so hard if they had known this would be the outcome? We have the opportunity to play a part in our government, and yet you are going to choose to shrug and say "oh well, not my problem"? Oh, it is your problem. So get off your butt and stand for something. 

And just to make it even easier for you here's the link for Utah voter registration: https://secure.utah.gov/voterreg/index.html

Happy registering! And I'll be seeing y'all November 6, 2012 when we vote :)

Like a Freakin' Adult!

This has been a big week for me! This has been the week where I became an adult!  I have walked around with my head held high doing random tasks and then saying to myself "LIKE A FREAKIN' ADULT!"
So what exactly have I done this week that makes me feel like such an adult?

I BOUGHT STAMPS! That's right, my very own stamps. Elder Connor Anderson is all set for the first half of his LDS mission, cuz I purchased stamps like an adult! They have trees on them!
And then I proceeded to take one of my new stamps and place it on an envelope bound for Provo, Utah! Like a freakin adult!
Don't mind my creepy eyes, I'm just excited about my stamps.
Then to make thing more intensely adult-like I got my very first piece of mail addressed to my apartment, and it wasn't junk either! It was paperwork... but hey, at least it wasn't addressed to "resident" right?

That's not all though! To add to the fun, I had to buy business appropriate clothes for my new job at US Bank! I have to dress like a freakin adult! To push me even further into the realm of adulthood I had to learn how to "hand-wash cold" because the new fancy clothes are apparently too fancy for the washing machine. So I washed a new shirt by hand in my sink like a freakin adult/pioneer! No big deal, I just googled that crap.
I don't know how long I'll like being an adult though... I mean, besides the stamps, those are cool.

Feed Me or Die- A Legitimate Threat

Have you seen 'The Avengers'? For my sake I'll just assume you all said yes. Well, it's a pretty awesome movie. I will admit that I was not a fan of the Hulk. I mean, seriously? I guess the animation was cool, but I found that actor to be lifeless and just not entertaining--at all. I just rolled my eyes at him most of the time, until he smashed Loki into the floor (oops, spoiler alert). Then I had a little respect for the guy.
So what exactly does this have to do with my "legitimate threat"? WELL... I feel like I need to go to some sort of anonymous meeting because... Hi, I'm Kirsten, and I have had blood-sugar issues for the last 18 and a half year. It runs in the family I guess, my mom and my younger brother also have this problem. I think everyone does in some sort of moderation, but I'm a little bit different. My sugar issues first made an appearance when I was about 18 months old, and they've stuck with me for my whole life. Most people that have low blood-sugar issues get sad, or just kind of shut down when their levels get low, but I'm not like most people. Now, this is not a serious problem, I'm not diabetic or hypoglycemic or something such as that BUT if my sugar-levels get low...

That just about sums it up. I mean, I don't turn green, but I will kill you. I get angry, and there is no talking me out of it. Only thing that fixes it is sugar, so keep jell-o on you at all times if you want to live.So there you have it. I'm the Incredible Hulk. Any questions?

The Reasons I Hate You.

Wow, how's that for a title? Don't worry, this isn't directed at you. Unless of course you are a crappy driver. Chances are, even if you are a horrible driver you don't even realize it... which is a huge problem with people these days... anyway!
As I was driving down the road today, some idiot did this:

What's so stupid about this you ask? It's supposed to look like this:

Signal. Duh.

And that would be the first reason I hate you. You're a bad driver, Mr. Blue-Car. Did you hit anyone? No. But do you want to know what happened because of this? Here we go.

There were this many cars behind you: SEVEN AND A HALF. Smart car doesn't count as a whole car. So when you didn't signal the car behind you slammed on their brakes because they couldn't tell what you were doing and all the sudden you stopped to wait for the oncoming traffic to get out of your way! I was behind that car. I'm a good driver and was watching everything so I avoided rear-ending the car behind you. Well little Miss I-can't-be-without-my-phone-for-15-minutes-so-I'm-putting-everyone's-life-in-danger-as-well-as-my-own driving behind me did just as her name implies. Somehow, and I'm sure this is a miracle, she happened to look up from the text she was sending leaving her enough time to hit the brakes, narrowly miss hitting me, and was lucky enough to not cause a pile up behind her. Everyone had to jump on their brakes, and a few had to swerve out of the way because there simply wasn't enough time to stop without running into the car in front of them.

                                        

I watched the whole thing in my rear-view mirror.

So I hate you because you couldn't take the time to signal before you just stopped in the middle of the road. I hate you because you are texting when you should paying attention to the road. I hate you for being so self-absorbed that you can't even bother to make sure you're not endangering yourself and others. I also hate you for hitting cute animals because you drive an SUV and its not worth the trouble. I hate you for not checking your blind-spot. I hate you because you didn't bother to find a ride home that night you drank.  I hate you because you are an inconsiderate, dangerous driver... Come on guys, we're better than that :)