I did it.\u00a0 I finally pulled the trigger.\u00a0 I have enrolled in a class at Mesa Community College.\u00a0 It is TEC 111, or \u201cClothing Construction\u201d.\u00a0 I’ve been thinking about enrolling in a college class for quite a few years now, and I have actually enrolled several times both at ASU and MCC.\u00a0 Each time I chickened out, or decided that my schedule is too busy, or it\u2019s too expensive, or it\u2019s not really a class I want to waste my time on.\u00a0 This year things changed however, when the Feenster, the baby of our family, headed off to all day kindergarten, taking most of my excuses with her.
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I already have a degree from BYU but I have been dissatisfied with it for many years now.\u00a0 I’ve even referred to it as a \u201cstupid degree\u201d on more than one occasion.\u00a0 You see, when I went to college I had a major problem that caused me to make a few pretty lame decisions.\u00a0 My problem was this; I was 18 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rushed through school as fast as I could, choosing a degree that I thought would be \u201cmarketable\u201d. \u00a0Which turned out to be true if I wanted to work as a grunt in the mental health profession.\u00a0 It turns out I didn\u2019t really like doing that.\u00a0 Weird, right?<\/p>\n
Now, after a few years I feel like I know myself a little bit better and I might be ready for college.\u00a0 Before I enrolled I did some deep internal digging to figure out what classes might be the most interesting and engaging for me.\u00a0 I applied and was accepted to the ASU art department to study jewelry design, was accepted, even talked to a college advisor, and then withdrew.\u00a0 Then I applied to the ASU anthropology department, was accepted, poured over the catalog and dreamed about which required study abroad course I would take (Geoff could deal with the kids for 3 weeks), and then I withdrew.\u00a0 Before you get too impressed just remember that ASU has a 95% acceptance rate.\u00a0 Next, I enrolled in a pottery class at Chandler\/Gilbert community college and eventually withdrew.<\/p>\n
I took a year or so off from enrolling in classes, it was exhausting, and dug even deeper to figure out what would light the intellectual fire in Kristen J.\u00a0 What were some of my goals and dreams in life? Here are a few: I would like to figure out a cure for cancer, end world hunger, and be a key player in negotiating peace in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Finally, after many hours of meditation I found the answer deep within me.\u00a0 All that I really felt that was missing in my life was a decent pair of jeans.\u00a0 I have looked for many years and I have never found them.\u00a0 I have found jeans that are too \u201chooker-ish\u201d with their 2 inch zipper flies and I have found jeans that are too \u201cmom-ish\u201d with their 12 inch zipper flies.<\/p>\n
I have found jeans that are too tight and binding that make you want to scream and run out of the room after you\u2019ve been wearing them for about an hour.\u00a0 I have also found jeans that are loose and comfortable but make you look like you are carrying a load around in your pants.\u00a0 None of these jeans have worked for me.<\/p>\n
Now, I have heard tales of the perfect jeans that go by names like \u201cTrue Religion\u201d, or \u201c7\u201d and I have even taken a look at some of them.\u00a0 I\u2019ll admit they certainly are fine looking pants, if you like big white threads running all over your behind, but they have one huge thing wrong with them\u2026their price tag.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how perfect the pants are, once they goes over the $40 mark they have\u00a0knocked themselves off the list.<\/p>\n
After all of this I\u2019ve decided that I what I really wanted was to learn to sew and alter clothing, and construct my own patterns for me and the rest of the women caught in fashion limbo.\u00a0 I\u2019ve decided that the best way to accomplish this is enrolling in the fashion design program at MCC, at least until I get bored with it.\u00a0 I\u2019m about halfway through my first semester and I love it even though most of my fellow students are young enough to be my children if I got pregnant at a very young and tragic age.