Sep 01

September Is For Lovers

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They say Virginia is for lovers, but I’m a little more geographically inclusive. Call me crazy, but Virginia is a little small for my liking. Besides, I’d say I’m more a West Coast girl anyway. I know, here I am in the Midwest – don’t ask me how that happened. Well, you could ask, but you already know. The word is “family.”

Regardless of where you’re at, I’m telling you – there’s something about September. Especially when it’s rainy. Like today. How could September get off to a more perfect start? This month begs for soft touchable sweaters, layers of beautiful scarves, and curling up in an oversized couch to enjoy steaming hot caramelized apple cider from Scooters. Or gourmet french vanilla hot chocolate at home. Also in an oversized couch.

This month, make yourself a playlist and fall in love. It doesn’t have to be that romantical kind of love (though that’s a great kind of love to fall into). Just fall in love. You know, with yourself – with your family, your friends and your LIFE. After all, no one is going to live your life as well as you can. Your playlist can help remind you of how great love is. Need a few song suggestions? I’ve got a couple. You’ll notice that they’re all songs by country music heartthrobs. What can I say? Men with great voices help my mood.

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Jul 17

Alisha Looks Like A Birthday Party

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I just looked at the calendar. It’s the 17th, can you believe it? How did we get to the 17th with only ONE blog post for the month?! Maybe it’s time to create a blogging schedule. I’d say I don’t like schedules, but my mom might call me a liar. After all, I’ve always had some sort of long term schedule going – but I call them “plans” so it doesn’t feel quite so rigid. So maybe what I need is a blogging “plan.” Whatever we call it, I think I need something so I can avoid facebook messages of “get crackin’ on your blog!” Yes, that is a  direct quote. Sort of. From Alisha. Really though, I could blame the lack of posts this month on my darling sister Alisha.

My youngest sister Cassie turned 10 this month. That’s right, there are NO Christensens left in the single digits! (Actually, I’m sure there are, but none in OUR immediate family. Christensen is a pretty common last name after all.) Alisha came all the way from Utah to be Cassie’s birthday surprise. Kind of fitting, seeing that Cassie is Alisha’s 2.0. (Yes, Cassie, when you look at Alisha you can see yourself in 12 years. Count your blessings.) It was so much fun to see Alisha, and then she left. Meanie. We are still working on that list of reasons why she should move out here. If anyone wants to add to it, PLEASE do. We can use all the help we can get. If you’re looking to add to a list of reasons why she shouldn’t move, please keep those comments to yourself. No one wants to hear them.

While you think of reasons for Alisha to move, I’m giving you a few more… Alisha, please pay attention.

  • Dad built you a boat. Yes, I’m sure it was all for you, even if he’s been out fishing in it every day with the 2.0s. It would be rude if you didn’t use it at least weekly, and how are you going to do that living in Utah? The boat is obligated to stay on the family pond – it sinks otherwise, I’m sure. Especially if it’s in Utah.
  • Yogurt! is more fun to play in Missouri. For all of you people out-of-the-know, Yogurt! is a weird game Alisha taught us when she was out here. You know the game “Slug Bug”? Yogurt! is kind of like that, except you don’t hit people. You just call out “Yogurt!” when you see a yellow car. Infinitely more fun than Slug Bug. (Or maybe I just think that because I’m better at Yogurt! than Slug Bug.)
  • You can play the guitar in my postcard ANYTIME you want to. I know, I’m so generous.
  • KC has the coolest old houses.
  • UCM has your program. At least close to your program. So you could finish studying close to me.
  • I will make you cupcakes on your (real) birthday. AND on your fake birthday. But I won’t make them so often that you get fat.
  • And finally…. I love you! We all love you! All of us now-double-digit Christensens LOVE you! And we miss you already. So come home soon.


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Jun 20

Love My Daddy Best

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You know, you’re not really supposed to have “favorites” when it comes to love. Our family had a whole FHE lesson on how loving children was like loving candy bars with unlimited money – you wouldn’t just pick one, and you’d love them all. It’s not like you would be limited to loving one candy bar. Yes, seriously, we really had a lesson like that. Reece maintains that he must be the favorite child, given that he was actually NAMED after a candy bar. How embarrassing then, that we spelled his name wrong. So much for the favorite child. You’d think that parents who give that kind of FHE lesson would apply the same sort of idea to parents. You’d be surprised.

I’m the oldest kid in our family, and I didn’t come along until my parents had been married for 3 years. They thought they’d maybe never get to have any kids. (Bet you’re surprised about that one, eight kids later!) When I was little, I was definitely a daddy’s girl, and my Dad knew it. Just in case anyone else forgot it, he taught me to say “Love my Daddy best.” So much for the whole candy bar theory, right? Thank goodness my Mom was patient with him.

Cassie’s got me beat though.  This week, she made “Love my Daddy best” seem like very. small. potatoes. She and Dad were doing dishes this week when I walked in on their conversation.

Cassie: “Dad, I’m going to be SO spoiled when I’m looking for a husband, because I’m going to want him to be as good looking and as hardworking as you. I’m not going to find ANYONE like that.”

Dad: “Well, it’s not time for that yet. But when it is, you’ll find someone.”

Cassie: “Oh, no I won’t. I will be too picky because of you.”

On Father’s Day today, I’m counting my blessings that I’ve got my Dad. He’s the best man I know, hands down. So even though Cassie’s got me beat, I’ll say it today – I love my Daddy best.

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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 30

Just Wait ‘Til We’re Out With Someone We Actually Want to Kiss

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Normally I don’t blog about my dates. I consider it bad form. You see, my family has to deal with the fact that I blog about my life. (Yes Dad, I’m still going to blog about our family, much to your chagrin.) I don’t think dates sign up for that kind of intrusion.  So great dates, bad dates, bleh dates, good dates, mediocre dates, horrid dates, fantastic dates… I leave them all alone when I’m blogging. Even if I could tell some great stories. ;)

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.

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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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