NERD CAMP

around january my mom mentioned a prestigious camp called "governor's honors academy" and suggested i apply. it supposedly built character,  plus it came with a sick scholarship, so i summoned my inner yolo child of 7th grade went for it. 

after a grueling application process, (lets just say there was an essay)
i was surprisingly accepted! (lets also just say my essay sucked)

in my head, i fully expected everyone at this camp to be complete nerds. don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against nerds, i just don't know enough about coding to keep a conversation going for very long. nevertheless, i refreshed my knowledge of harry potter and headed to governors honors academy, or rather (as i had labeled it in my head), 

nerd camp.

looking back, i realize i was only 50% right.

i was right about most the people there being freaking genius and the rest of them being undeniable quirky, however, i was DEAD WRONG, about thinking i wouldn't be able to connect to them. 

I HAVE NEVER LOVED PEOPLE SO MUCH IN MY LIFE!!

from sam, who firmly believed that communism was our future, to makayla, who writes poetry so deep it gives me the chills, to heston, whose swing dancing skills still got me dizzy.

you don't necessarily have to have anything in common to connect with people.

 connection is about stepping in someone else's shoes and walking around in them, and if you're really feeling it, maybe even taking a light jog. it's about seeing things from other people's perspective. 

it's about not just tolerating other people's perspectives, but accepting them.
not necessarily agreeing, but accepting.

this week also reinforced my belief that PEOPLE ARE SO FASCINATING.
 i had the opportunity to meet 61 of the most passionate kids in the state of utah, and just thinking about it inspires me. PASSION IS CONTAGIOUS. whether you're passionate about the biological arms race between pac rats and rattlesnakes or the NBA finals, passion spreads like a freaking disease.
HAHAAH alright. one example of passion is seen in my good friend heston. the third day of camp he told me he was going to marry me. i assumed he was joking, right?  soooo i told him i would marry him if he could learn "bust a move" by young MC by the end of the camp (which by the way is literally impossible, it took me almost a whole summer to learn it). but he actually tried to learn it!!! the more he came up to me and started rapping it, the more i was afraid that i had unwisely secured my future. i mean, i'm a girl of my word! the kid learned like 2 whole verses!! he didn't quite reach the goal, but hey thats dedication! shoutout to you, my almost husband.

and now, i'd like to introduce you to some of the characters that i met this week.

heston: the man, the myth the legend.

gavin: plays guitar like a boss, which is v attractive. also, his dad is the lt. governor.

ethan: the epitome of the song "humble and kind" by tim mcgraw.

my "personal development group" aka my family for 9 days.

ammon: genuinely the funniest man alive. also, he was my counselor but that's just a minor detail because we were bffffs.

william: funniest kid. on. the. earth. enough. said.

jaaaaames: another counselor/ homie. 

makayla: poetry wizzzzard!!! she is seriously the next robert frost!!

noah: well i went to fiji with noah last summer so we were already pretty tight.

wyatt: a classy mix between a genius and a gentleman. i sat by him during the shakespeare play and asked him what was going on every .5 seconds

corbin: he can do the entire "paper people" poem in a british accent. that is a long poem guys. it's insane.

and now..

 introduuuuciiiiiing....
MCKELLLLLL FROST!!!

remember how i said i didn't have a lot in common with most of the people there? haha PSYCH. me and my girl mckell literally had everything in common from our hobby of videography to our brothers coming home from their missions the same week to being lactose intolerant. it was insane. 

she is my souuul sistaaa to the max.

 the three musketeers

the space in-between my two arms is the friendzone. haahah sorry hess.

my mom and dad

MCKELL PT. 2

 MCKELL PT. 3:
a series ft. boi throwing pine cones @ us

also, we went to zions so that was fun

oh, and bryce canyon too!!

alright i know, i know.

 i need to stop with all the pictures and obsessively talking about people. i'm done i swear. 

buuuut you have to understand how hard i love these people!!!! 

 we were all so different. but yet because we all had a common goal of making the world a better place, we became a family.

this camp reaffirmed my belief that joy is found through people and your relationships with them.

PEOPLE ARE SO COOL.

now i'm gonna go to bed before i get tooo scatterbrained.

i genuinely love you, whoever you are reading this. let's be friends, k?

peace love and blessings

katie jane

father's day

unfortunately, right now I am at a leadership camp so I didn't get to spend father's day with my daddio. he truly has made me who I am today, for better or for worse.. (hahahah just kidding, dad, love ya)

from him I devolved my love for music as my extreme sweet tooth.

from him I developed my love for the great outdoors and wholesome recreation. 

from him I developed my love of people and love of God.

he has been the greatest example in my life. 

for example.. today at my leadership camp we were asked to think of the most serviceable person we know and why we thought of them. of course, I immediately thought of my amazing father. I swear to you this man will go to the ends of the earth to make sure his family is happy.

or as I learned last summer, at least the ends of the United States. it was the end of July and I was headed on a humanitarian trip to Fiji with a friend. after a short flight from Vegas to LA , we met our group of about 20 kids in LAX. upon preparing to leave for Fiji, however, I was not able to board the plane because of passport complications. my whole group, including the counselors, left to Fiji and I was left to fend for myself, or at least I thought I was, until I called my dad. my dad did not even hesitate to start driving to LA to help me. just knowing that my dad was on his way let me sleep in peace as I hid in that LAX bathroom lolol. he was my rock through that entire experience and I will never forget the sacrifice he made to make sure that I made it to Fiji and that I was okay. 

I love him with all of my heart. 

happy father's day dad, 

you're my #1.

love, KJ

ESTROGEN CAMP!!

hahhahahhaaahehehahah i can't even go to girls camp without doing an impromptu photoshoot i need help

girls camp is a place for lds girls to bond and build their testimonies. i have affectionately renamed it "estrogen camp" because of the routine overload of hormones that takes place there.

believe me, everyone cries sooometime during the week.
if you're a beehive, it's probably
because another beehive stole the yarn you wanted and apparently that hurt your feelings.
if you're a miamaid it's probably because you have a serious migraine from dealing with the annoying beehives.
if you're a leader, it's probably because you can't open your mouth to talk about anything vaguely spiritual without watering like a can.
and if you're a laurel (like mahself) it's probably because you were woken up in the middle of the night to a soaking wet sleeping bag and a rude realization that you forgot to put on the rain fly on so you have to run out in the pouring rain to try to put it on but it's a serious struggle because its dark and wet and cold and you can't see a thing because you don't have your contacts in and the little claspy thingys are really hard to work and then you can't get back to sleep because you can't find your earplugs and you are soaked to your underwear and everything smells like wet dog.
(yes that is a true story. yes, it is actually hilarious)

but other than that, girls camp was actually really fun this year. it is my last year, so it was kinda bitter sweet. haha, but mostly just sweet. i hung out with the leaders most of the time and talked about adulty things like nail beds and how amazing salsa is. i also crushed my YCL (youth camp leader) duties by certifying the heck out of the beehives. if girls got merit badges, after 6 years of girls camp (YEAH, 6 WHOLE YEARS ERROBODY) i would have all of them ten times over. if someone dropped dead right in front of me i could save their life by doing CPR to the glorious rhythm of "ah-ah-ah-ah stayin' alive, stayin' alive," and you already knowww i could tell you the difference between posion oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.
but what i'll remember most about my years at girls camp has nothing to do with identifying plants or constellations. what i'll remember most about girls camp is the spirit that i felt there. you can't throw hundreds of christlike women into a forest without creating a vortex of good vibes and inspiration. if i've learned one thing from my 6 years of girls camp it is that righteous women are strong and powerful and an amazing force for good.
WE ARE DAUGHTERS OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WHO LOVES US AND WE LOVE HIM.
this knowledge makes my world go round.
the church is true.
amen?
katie jane powell.

take a dump

no, this post is not a step by step guide of how to properly poop.

i'm so sorry, i know you were pumped about it.
i have neglected this blog for 2 lil weeks, and yet more has happened in those 2 weeks then probably my whole junior year combined! so i thought i'd drop in for a hot minute and dump my pictures on this handy dandy blog here. also, i'll throw some anti-jokes here and there because i'm just in that mood right now.

why is helen keller a terrible driver?

because she is dead lolol

why did the boy drop his ice cream?

because he was hit by a bus.

what do you call a fish with no eyes?

a fsh

i am a noob and you are my favorite for making it all the way to the bottom of this post.

virtual kisses your way.

xx

kp