Aug 01

Just Call Me An Antique

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Wahoo! Today I’m celebrating. Well, actually I’m celebrating all month, because that’s how I roll. I highly recommend that when you have a birthday, you celebrate all month too. I can’t take credit for that brilliant idea. It’s a suggestion I got from a friend of mine a long time ago and it means the month of August totally rocks every year. I’ve officially reached “antique” status. For those of you who don’t speak the language of my 2.0, that means I’m now 25 years old. Don’t fault her for the whole “antique” thing – she’s only 11, so 25 is bound to sound ancient.

There are so many blessings in my life! In honor of turning 25 today, I thought I’d list 25 things that I’m grateful for. Yep, this is going to be a long list. Deal with it – it’s my party, and I’ll write what I want to.

  1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my membership in His Church
  2. Mom
  3. Dad
  4. Alisha
  5. Logan
  6. Jessie
  7. Reece
  8. Wade
  9. Sam
  10. Cassie
  11. My law degree from BYU
  12. Running my own law firm
  13. Living in KCMO
  14. Cute running clothes
  15. The color blue – that totally bright, really happy blue.
  16. Cupcakes
  17. Country music - Trace Adkins, Carrie Underwood, Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, Jaron & the Long Road to Love… all those good people.
  18. Four Inch Heels
  19. The Piano
  20. Scented Candles
  21. Calla Lilies
  22. Italian Food
  23. Texas Roadhouse Rolls
  24. Men who open doors
  25. Big dreams. And little dreams. Just all sorts of dreams.

I picked up a card a little while ago. There’s a quote on it and it’s how I’m determined to live. “This is your world. Shape it or someone else will.”

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May 21

Meet My Namesake

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Meet my namesake. Yes, I know Reece said I was nothing like a cow. Obviously he didn’t realize that TODAY, a little cow would be born at the Shatto Dairy Farm that WOULD BE NAMED AFTER ME. Like in my honor. Can you even believe it? Me either.

Well, I sorta can. You see, my sister Jessie’s been working at Shatto for a year and she’s in charge of the newborn baby calves. And she gets to help name them. (It’s starting to make sense now, right?) Now you’re wondering what took her so long to name my cow, aren’t you? Actually, she’s only been working with the calves for a little while, so I’m feeling especially honored. I wasn’t even expecting it!

Before Jessie was the Calf Girl, she was the best bottle washer Shatto had. I can confidently say that – she was the ONLY bottle washer they had. She’s a fantastically hard worker, and she washed Every. Single. Bottle. Speaking of their bottles - I love them. Have you ever read the back of them? Hilarious. Actually, ALL their packaging is wonderful. Whoever is in charge of it is a genius. If you haven’t checked it out, Go. To. The. Farm. They do tours. Jessie does tours. You would love it. You would love her. Even if she doesn’t name a cow after you. (Please, everyone can’t have that honor.)

Anyway, back to my cow. Technically, she’s not a “cow” yet – she’s a “calf” or a “heifer.” Jessie tried to explain the difference to me. It was lost on this city girl. I was loyal to Shatto before. If I hadn’t been before, I think it’d be impossible not to be now.

Look at the two of us together – see a resemblance? (Really, that’s a rhetorical question. No need to answer it. Mom.) And yes, I realized when Jessie named a cow after me, she could be calling me one. But Jessie loves cows – after all, when she looks at cow faces, she thinks of Barry. I’m guessing she loves me too.

PS – Shatto’s Family Farm Day is coming up soon. You should go. And meet Leila. The Cow.

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May 05

Life With The Christensens

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Sometimes my family surprises me. Well, “surprises” is probably not quite the right word. I know them, after all, and nothing that comes out of their mouth is that unexpected. Some days those phrases are lucky enough to turn into entire blog posts… other days, I write them down and save them for later. For example:

  • “What are those, pigs?” – Mom, the country girl. Not. We were driving past a field with a lot of GOATS in it when she asked the question. Granted, Mom was driving. But how do you get PIGS confused with GOATS?
  • “I see all the cow faces and it reminds me of Barry.” – Jessie (19), the REAL country girl, aka NOT Mom. Jessie works at a dairy (where she sees cow faces) and Barry is her boyfriend. Barry’s on a two-year mission in Fresno, California. Maybe he should be worried if Jessie’s reminded of him when she sees COWS. PS – Barry is not nickname-protected because Jessie has his real name on her own blog. Plus I don’t know what nickname we would use for him. “Jessie’s COWboy” would maybe work, given that she sees cow faces and thinks of him.
  • “You are not even CLOSE to a cow.” – Reece (16), the king of compliments. You know him as the Cowboy Casanova, but he can have more than one title. I was trying to figure out how much our cows weighed… when I said 125 (which is what I weigh) he informed me of the above “fact.” Oh – and at the time I said that, our cows weighed probably 300-350 lbs. Maybe 400 lbs.  Maybe I have a misconception about how 125 lbs looks. (And maybe Jessie should take a cue from Reece so that Barry doesn’t cry when he realizes that Jessie thinks of him when she sees cow faces.)
  • “When you turn 25, then you’ll be an antique!” – Samantha (11), commenting on my upcoming birthday in August. I wonder what that makes Dad (who hit the big 5-0 last October).  How do you get better- or older-  than “antique”?
  • “Dad, when you’re too old to remember, I’m going to sell the house and buy an RV. Then I’m going to take you all sorts of places.” – Cassie (almost 10), when talking about her “assignment” as the youngest child. That assignment? She’s taking care of them in their old age. We all voted, and she got the job. Maybe Dad should rethink that one. Unless he wants to go all sorts of places.

Can you see why I’m always laughing? Oh. Maybe you didn’t realize I’m always laughing. Trust me, it’s hard to stop with a family as fun as mine. I totally love them. And I’ve gotta admit – it’s a real relief to know that I’m nothing close to a cow, even if I’m going to be an antique soon.

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Apr 27

Reece’s Last Stand

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I totally took down Sam tonight. Okay, maybe bragging about taking down an 11 year old should be above me. “Should be” is the key phrase. We ARE almost the same height, if that makes any difference. But she’s fast – I was pretty proud of myself for catching her. We all played capture the flag tonight – Logan, Jessie, Reece, Wade, Sam, Cassie and I. It’s so nice having a family big enough to play a game like that. (And personally, I think the “little kids” are awfully lucky that they have such bad apple older siblings who are willing to play with them. “Little kids” is what we used to call Reece, Wade, Sam and Cassie. Now that Reece and Wade are both bigger than me – and the 2.0s are getting close! – it seems like it doesn’t really fit.)

Let me lay it out for you – Reece, Wade, and I versus Logan, Jessie and the 2.0s. We had a definite strategy on our team. (Of course, laying it out here might put us at a disadvantage for next time, but I’m pretty sure that they caught onto what we were doing.) Basically, I guarded OUR flag and the boys went after THEIR flag. And we captured their flag three times. It was when we varied from that strategy that we ran into problems. (It could have had something to do with the fact that Jessie wasn’t around for the first two games either, but Logan and the 2.0s should have been able to take us.)

You see, I’m not faster than Logan. Have you seen that man? What was I thinking? Of course, at the same time I was thinking that I could be faster than Logan, Wade also thought he was faster than Jessie. And most of the time Wade is. But somehow Jessie caught him. (Don’t worry Wade, I’m sure it was a fluke.)

Enter Reece’s last stand. Surprisingly enough, he lasted for quite awhile against the four of them while Wade and I watched. Finally I got up and took a few pictures – totally against the rules, but really, what were they going to do about it? He did look a little crazed by the time they were done with him. See his picture above if you don’t believe me. And see the rest of our pictures to see how much fun we all have together. (ALISHA, this is reason number 2491.)

PS – Notice that Sam and I ARE really close to the same height.

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Apr 21

Pineapple Makes Me Happy

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The 2.0s can be bought. Or at least it appears they can be. Take a look at the happy campers enjoying the fruit that T2 sent to my office this week, along with the addition of a little melted chocolate. Their verdict? “He’s got MY vote.” And I thought they were so picky. Who knew?

T2 managed to surprise me all the way from England when he sent a fruit basket from Edible Arrangements to my office. When it arrived, I was out of the office in court. After I got out of my hearing, I had a message from one of the other lawyers in the office letting me know I’d “found a keeper.” Thankfully, everyone waited for me before digging into it…nice of them, don’t you think? Once I got back, we opened it up to share. And hardly made a dent in it. Even with five people. One of the gals at the office is really hoping that T2 “stays in the UK a LOOONG time so that ‘we’ can continue getting gifts like this.” Personally, I’d prefer he was here, but that’s just me. Since he’s not, I’ll content myself with eating pineapple. It was my VERY. FAVORITE. PART. I think I ate more of that than anyone else. I feel totally justified about it, don’t worry. After all, it WAS addressed to me. Despite the “we’s” and “us’s” that I heard about “our” gift.

After we tried (and failed) to finish it at work, I decided to take the rest of it home to my family. I knew they’d do their part to make sure that it didn’t go bad. They did not let me down. It seems that they all felt T2 sent it specifically for them. (And I’m going to let them think that.) Jessie summed it up best. “I’m glad T2 loves us so much.”

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Mar 06

The Animals Came Alive

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Just kidding. The animals didn’t come alive – the 2.0s and I were smart enough to go to the museum during the day. (What, you’ve never seen Night at the Museum? Well, WE have and WE played it safe.)

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?

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Feb 19

A Girls Night… PLUS “The Man”

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I was on kid duty tonight. A voluntary thing, let me assure you. I like spending time with my siblings. Since Mom, Jess & Logan wanted to go see “Dear John” (I already saw it and enjoyed it – I LOVE Channing Tatum), I offered to watch the kids. Reece was away on a camping trip (who goes camping in the snow anyway?), so it was the 2.0s , Wade and I. Dad is in Brazil, but he gets back soon, wahoo!

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?

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Feb 10

I Heart You

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Yes, I said “heart.” NOT “hate”! Please make sure you’re listening. (Ahem. Reece.) For all of you that are oblivious to the month of February, Valentine’s Day is coming up. At FHE this week (you’ve heard about FHE before), our family talked about L-O-V-E.

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?

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Jan 27

160 Characters

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That’s how many characters I can send in one text. (20 more than a tweet!) My sister Jessie and I have a “feel good” sort of thing going right now. We came up with it during a girls’ night (so normally it’d be top secret), but I’ll let you in on what we’re doing. (I’m so nice.)

Every day, both of us will text the other something nice… anything nice, but it always includes “I love you and…” Here are some examples from the past week.

  • “I love you and your beautiful eyes.”
  • “I love you and your beautiful singing voice.”
  • “I love you and your luscious long hair.”
  • “I love you and admire your guts.”
  • “I love you and think you’re an awesome bottle washer.”
  • “I love you and your luscious long legs.”
  • “I love you and your deep brown eyes.”
  • “I love you and your smokin’ hot booty.”
  • “I love you and how nice you were this morning.”

Now, it’s just a little thing – you’ll notice that all of these things are LESS than 160 characters. I actually think they’re less than 140. (So you could send them in tweets too!) But what a great way to have a connection with your sister! It takes about 10 seconds – more like 60 if you text like my dad – and makes you both smile. Don’t you think it’s worth your time?

Today, I’m issuing a little challenge… well, more like throwing down the gauntlet. Yeah, that’s right. Throwing down the freaking gauntlet.

Text someone. Think of someone you care about, and let them know. It’s easy – you could even copy one of our examples. (Use the “luscious legs” text judiciously please. And the “smokin’ hot booty” should only be used for those people that you are super close too. Trust me.)

Oh? And before all the rest of my siblings start being sad that this is a Jessie/Leila thing – I texted you this morning. Because I love you all too. And your luscious legs.

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Nov 24

HAPPINESS… a byproduct of gratitude

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Cassie, Me, Mom, Dad, Sam, Reece, JessieFirst off, Happy Thanksgiving!!! (And I know I’m a couple days early, but I’m celebrating all week.) I hope you eat lots of turkey, if that’s your thing. My personal weakness on Thanksgiving is crescent rolls. I can skip the turkey entirely (but I normally don’t) as long as I have crescent rolls. My all-time favorite crescent rolls are made by Alisha. Unfortunately, I will have to settle for not-quite-my-all-time-favorite crescent rolls this Thanksgiving, because she will be stuck in Utah. (Collective *sob* from the entire family.)

At Church this week, the speaker talked about how happiness is a byproduct of gratitude. It’s really made me focus on all the things I’m grateful for – after all, I LIKE being happy! It’s totally worked. It’s been a good week.

I started to write a list of all the things I’m grateful for. It got too long. Like, crazy long. So instead of boring you with all the details (like how grateful I am for the brilliant blue bathmats I have in my bathroom, complete with matching towels), I thought I’d share some thoughts I’ve had about the things I’m grateful for.

Me & CassieI realized that the things I am most grateful for in my life can’t be bought. They actually aren’t “things” at all. They are people. And people are irreplaceable. There is nothing that beats being able to be the big sister who comes home on the weekends to curl your 9 and 10 year-old sisters’ hair. Or being able to play cards with your crazy family until midnight and not even noticing the time. Or being able to watch your brothers grow up and learn to be men. It’s fantastic to have girlfriends who you can laugh (and cry) with. It’s so nice to have guy friends you can dance with (and who will move furniture for you). It’s amazing to have professional associates who will send you examples of things you’ve never done before. People rock.

Things are just that – things. Even though they might make life more enjoyable sometimes, they don’t love you back.  And yes, I hear some of you saying your Audi loves you back. Trust me – it’s got nothing on the people I know.

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