I’ve discovered it’s easy to keep the title of “BEST SISTER EVER.” No, I did not give myself that title. I totally earned it. Just ask the little girls, who proclaimed it today. (Sorry Alisha and Jessie. I’m the oldest, and I’m likely to keep it.) Today, the rest of our family (minus Logan, who had to study, and Alisha, who is busy in Utah compiling reasons that she should NOT move to Missouri) headed to Nebraska today to attend the Winter Quarters Temple. (Alisha, you can’t count the long drive to a temple as reason number 1309 because we are getting a temple in KC. Scratch that off your list.) Once a temple’s dedicated, you need a recommend to attend it, and little kids can’t get recommends.  You can find out more about temples here or here, if you’re curious. The temple in KC will have an open house for whoever wants to come see it before it’s dedicated.

Since Sam and Cassie can’t go yet, someone had to keep an eye on them. I volunteered and we decided we’d make a girls day of it. It was SO fun! The 2.0s put together a soundtrack for our adventures (iTunes is a wonderful thing), we put it in the CD player, and we were off to Kansas City. They got to check out my new office (loved it!), went to Union Station (to pick up my mail, but they thought it was the coolest building ever), to the Nelson-Atkins (my favorite museum in KC, which is now their favorite too), and to Miller Park (where we ate the picnic they prepared and they ran around for ages). It. Was. Great.

And the whole “best sister ever”? Don’t tell the girls, but I already know who really has the title. Here’s a hint – it’s a tie between four people. Alisha, Jessie, Sam and Cassie have me all beat. For now though, I’ll claim it. After all, isn’t that the point of being the oldest?

I’ve always been jealous of that light eyes, dark hair combination. My 2.0 got lucky with some gorgeous hazel eyes and hair that’s getting darker as she gets older. Me? I’ve got Boring. Brown. Eyes. Such is life. My mom was a sucker for brown eyes – said she could just get lost in my dad’s. Guess that’s part of why I got so lucky. I can hardly complain. After all, it’s nice to have parents that like each other, and since she’s still getting lost in those eyes, I’ll deal with my own. Besides, my hairstylist says they’re my most captivating feature. I’m not convinced – either way though, Manuel Garcia at Naturally Salon gives a great haircut and a fantastic head massage. So barring a way to make my brown eyes blue, I’ll settle for silky hair. Kind of like these puppies.

You know, I ought to be used to this sort of thing by now. I grew up in Utah – Missouri shouldn’t feel that different. Here’s the catch though – I was born in Southern California. I think when you’re born there, you get an automatic gene that says “I. Love. Heat.” Whatever it is, I’ve got it.

All my love for heat can’t stand in place of my family though – and they live in this freezing place. In fact, this is part of their front yard. “Yard” is kind of a misnomer. They’ve got 25 acres of “yard.”

This beautiful place can be kind of dangerous sometimes. You know how I was supposed to take the Iowa Bar Exam this week? Well, it didn’t happen. Winter storm warnings, combined with actual winter storm conditions, made the risk just too high to travel the 3+ hours to Des Moines on Saturday, Sunday OR Monday. (The Iowa Bar examiners are pretty inflexible about “mandatory orientation” held on Monday. There is no getting around it. Even if you’ve taken 3 bar exams in the last 2 years and it would have been your 4th. If you can’t make Monday’s orientation, you won’t be allowed to take the Tuesday exam. You’re simply out of luck – and money.) At any rate, I made the choice to stay put. So you know what I did? I had that virgin mojito early.

Regardless of the accuracy of Reece’s claim, my weekends sometimes involve cows, even though I don’t wrestle them. Ever heard of the Westport Flea Market? One word. Burgers. Go there next time you’re in KC. Trust me, you won’t regret it. As long as you don’t run into Bob Berdella that is. (And you shouldn’t – he’s dead now.)

This weekend I spent a little time in the books. It doesn’t sound anywhere as cool as wrestling cows, I know. I am simply not as cool as Reece. Get over it. I’m taking bar exam number four this coming Tuesday. Crazy, right? But I registered for it back when my office was less than 30 minutes from Iowa, and since I paid for it already, there’s no reason not to take it. I’m not overly stressed about it. If I don’t pass it, it’s going to cause some damage to my ego but not to my career. So Monday I’m off to Des Moines (mandatory orientation beginning at 1:00) and Tuesday I’m writing a bunch of essays. I don’t have to take Wednesday’s portion (the multiple choice section). Small blessings.

Let’s not call it a bar exam. Let’s call it a mini-vacation. (Normally I’d pick a different destination than Iowa, but I’ll take what I can get.) I’ll let you know how it goes. If I don’t pass, let’s have a virgin mojito together. If I do pass, let’s have a virgin mojito together. (You see, either way it’s going to be good!) Cheers!

At first we said we’d have a “girls night plus Wade.” He quickly corrected us – we were going to have a “girls night plus THE MAN.” And we did – a little popcorn, a movie, cupcakes and some nail polish. (The Man skipped out on the nail polish.)

This isn’t the first time this week that Wade has cracked me up. Mom and I were hanging out at the table while all the boys were being their usual crazy selves.  I said we needed to think of a word to describe them – without skipping a beat, Wade had one. “Sexy.” And then he walked out of the room.

Can I just tell you I love my life? Really, how could I not?

My first memories of Valentine’s Day involved special Valentines on our kitchen table surrounded by great treats. (Thanks Mom!) For a couple of years, I didn’t realize that Valentine’s Day was a “romantic love” sort of holiday – I just thought it was a day where everyone made sure to tell the people they loved that they loved them. Really, you should be doing that on a pretty regular basis – how sad would it be if you saved all your telling for one day a year?!? I know that I’d never have enough time to make sure that everyone I loved knew it.

In the spirit of the holiday, this Monday night my siblings, mom and I spent the night making hearts for each other. (Dad is in Brazil, or he would have been making them too, don’t worry. He still likes us. Why on earth do you think he goes to work every other month?) We put them up on the doors in our house so that we’d all remember how much we love each other. (Kind of like texting - except better.)

Here are a few of my favorites…

Is it any wonder I heart my family?

If you’re here visiting, let me introduce myself.* My name’s Leila Shea Christensen and I’m the owner of Leila Shea Law, LLC. I practice exclusively in family law, and I’m licensed in both Missouri and Kansas.  (I’m licensed in Nevada too, but I do all my work out here in the Midwest.) I grew up in Utah, went to Brigham Young University (for both undergrad and law school), worked in Vegas, and then moved out near Kansas City. And no, I did not get a serious case of wanderlust in order to move here – my parents and six (of seven!) siblings up and moved on me, and I finally followed them. (We’re working on getting my last sister out here, don’t worry.) Oh – and I am the oldest. My brothers and sisters will tell you that I never let them forget it. Now that I live here, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.  Kansas City’s a gorgeous place and I love it. I especially love it when it’s warm – this whole freezing thing is not really me.

I’m crazy about great food, working out, salsa dancing, speaking Spanish, and making cupcakes. Reading’s one of my favorite things, and I’m always in the middle of a book. I love all sorts of music, think art museums rock, and enjoy going to movies.

My law firm’s located just a block from the Family Courthouse in Kansas City at 2526 Holmes, Kansas City, Missouri 64141. Reach me at 816-471-1000 anytime.

*The “official version” of my bio can be found at www.leilashealaw.com. You’re getting the informal version if you stick around.

This morning, we were doing the deed – Cassie had asked me to take care of her unibrow at the same time I was annihilating mine – and I told her that “Sometimes it hurts to be beautiful.” Almost instantly she responded, “Then I don’t want to be beautiful!” Fortunately for her, she’s beautiful both ways. Unfortunately for her, at the same time she was yelling, I took her unibrow right off.* Distraction is everything. Besides, sugaring doesn’t hurt nearly as much as waxing. Don’t ask me why – I have no idea.

*Before you think I am into inflicting cruel and unusual punishment, Cassie’s been sugared before. She totally knew what she was getting into.

This week I am making an exception. I went on a date that I have to blog about. And I went with not one, but TWO handsome guys. We didn’t do anything expensive. We didn’t drive very far. But man, we had a great time.

These are the gentlemen:

Flattering pictures of both, I know. You recognize them now, don’t you? Logan and Reece. AKA Manly Men.

So how’d I end up on this date? Well, first of all, I hadn’t eaten much all day. I had a caramelized apple cider for breakfast/lunch and wheat thins for dinner. Caramelized apple cider is fantastic. And I am addicted to it. But it is not very filling. Wheat thins are not a very good dinner. When my stomach was contemplating all this (and loudly protesting the day’s events) I announced to my brothers that I wanted to go someplace and eat something totally unhealthy. So we went out. They opened the car door (after fighting about who got to do it), let me pick the music in the car (easy, because we all agree on loud country music), and didn’t mind that I had the heater full blast (in Missouri, I am always cold). We went and picked up some beautiful greasy cheeseburgers at Sonic. And then we drove to Wal-Mart and ate in the parking lot.

Classy, I know. Reece is the one who coined it “date night.” We hung out and laughed our heads off. And then Reece made the observation of the century – “This is so fun already! Just wait until we’re out with someone we actually want to kiss!”

The. Date. Was. Awesome. And maybe one of these days we’ll all go out together – with people we actually want to kiss. But if we do, you won’t hear about it. Remember? I don’t blog about those dates.

PS – I promise to blog more later. This weekend is full of boxes and moving. Normally, I wouldn’t plan for anyone to move their apartment AND their law office all at one time, but when you live above your office… It’s going to be a busy weekend.