Life's Short, Eat Dessert

Q&A

2011-10-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hi fancy friends -

I've had lots of people asking me questions lately (e.g.: what the heck is going on with your CD? weren't you supposed to be on BYUTV? why did you move to Rexburg...????) SO I thought writing on this little blog might be a nice way to get aaaall the info out!

Question 1: What the heck is going on with your CD?
Answer: I knew from the onset of this project that I wanted to land a distribution deal with Deseret Book. My awesome team of helpers and I underestimated how long the process would take, however :(. The album has been done for months, but it looks like it'll be another couple months before it is available for purchase. The latest and greatest news from Deseret is that they'll have an answer for me on October 19th. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding whether or not they'll carry my album - so any happy thoughts or prayers you can send my way over that would be GREATLY appreciated :). I'd l-0-v-e love to make another album, but I need $$ to do that...aka a distribution deal...so. There ya go.

Question 2: Weren't you supposed to be on BYUTV?
Answer: Yes! I started filming with a fun group of talented singer/songwriters this summer for a program called StarBiz. The show started airing a couple weeks ago BUT the producers have run into some editing issues so...now we're all waiting to see if/when the show continues to air. You can watch Episode 1 at www.byutv.org. I had so much fun filming and I'm REALLY bummed the schedule has been moved all around. Haha guess that's my life lately. I'll let you all know ASAP if anything new happens on this front.

Question 3: ...did you really move to Rexburg?
Answer: Holy moly, people, holy moly. First Utah...now Idaho?! Have I completely lost my senses? What has happened to my innate desire for warmth and sunlight?! My aversion to all things cold and wet?! Woah...I guess I'm supposed to be answering questions, not asking a bunch more. Continuing:
I did move. Because I am insane. I am giving this answer because I can see snow out my window right now (well...I COULD see snow if I didn't have the blinds shut tight to try to block out the harsh reality of where I've chosen to spend this winter). ALSO: 30 degree weather makes my ears hurt when I walk outside. ALSO: It was 70 degrees here two days ago. Seriously. What the heck??
I may or may not be boycotting the snow by planning to not get out of bed for the next several days. Except to make myself hot chocolate. Obviously.

In other news: I am working at Sammy's. It makes me feel weirdly old hearing a 21 year old, fresh of the mission boy talking to his friends about how he's SO over dating and just wants to get married. Haha. Ooh dear...oh, ohhh dear.

In other OTHER news: have you tried a Robi's South of the Border from Sammy's?? I mean...have you?! Please try one. It is my new favorite and I just can't get over how yummy it is. Also cupshakes and seasoned fries. Also chocolate cherry shakes. Also I've gained ten pounds since moving here and I can't figure out why.

Ok. I'm off to brave the elements (really!) and walk a block to the bank. Honestly, a block! How cute is Rexburg sometimes?! Answer: snow is never cute.

I bought mittens yesterday.

Love you all! xoxo

The Waiting Place

2011-08-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick update for everyone!

My CD is officially DONE! I'm back home in California for a couple weeks to celebrate! You've all been so patient and supportive - I really can't express how much every word of encouragement has meant to me. I love you all so much :)

Now what?? WELL - the album will be available on iTunes in the next few weeks. I'll make sure to update you all on the exact date as soon as I know. The physical CD will be available for purchase by mid September via my website OR (fingers crossed!) Deseret Book!

For anyone who hasn't already, check out my music Facebook page and "like" it! I'm starting up my Twitter (...am I the only person NOT on Twitter at this point..?) and will be blogging about all my fascinating music adventures <--I can't promise to deliver on the 'fascinating' part. Haha. I'll try though :)

P.S. ...I may or may not be making an appearance on BYUTV this fall! Starting the last Tuesday in September thru November. "Starbiz". Check it out!!

Once upon a time...

2011-06-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

I was very sleepy. The end.

Haha the story of my life lately, people!! Why, you ask? Honestly I have no idea. Compared to what my schedule was like for the past two years, hanging out in Utah is c-a-k-e. For some reason I just can't get enough sleep, though. Maybe its because I fall asleep watching The Devil Wears Prada every night? And wake up at half hour intervals reciting the lines from memory? Haha jk I don't do that. Or do I..? ...you'll never know...

In other news: I believe in inspiration. I also believe that Heavenly Father sometimes lets us stumble around in the dark for a while before turning on a light somewhere. Last night my testimony of that was strengthened as I struggled to complete a song for today's studio time.

Back story: I've been having a hard time knocking out the last four tracks for this album - mostly because I only wrote six tracks initially and thought "meh, no big deal...I'll just magically come up with the other six tracks along the way! let's sign a contract! woo!" (not the brightest move, right?). Needless to say, I've been stressed out about finishing the remaining songs. This project means so much to me, I want each track to be special and meaningful and awesome - but Heavenly Father hasn't exactly been pouring angelic songs into my ears as I sleep at night.

After much struggle and prayer and pleading and concern and worry for days I found myself awake last night at 2am still unsure of what I was going to bring to the table for tracking today in the studio. (To help explain: going to the studio without solid ideas, melodies, lyrics, etc...is like going to class when you have a presentation due and having NOTHING to present [cue nightmare fuel]. Plus imagine you had to pay a bunch of money just to sit there and not present anything. Not fun/gives me panic attacks.) I finally just sat back, shut my eyes after my fifty millionth prayer and just...listened.

Guess what? I finished the song. And today when I tracked it? My producer & I both got choked up because of the spirit of it. I felt humbled and grateful and it reminded me that I'm not doing this for myself - I'm trying to be a mouthpiece for Him...which means taking more time to listen to Him. Life lessons.

Eight tracked. Four to go.

Thanks for your love & support :) Love you all.

Not a Fluke.

2011-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

You didn't think I was coming back, did you? INCORRECT. Here I am. Victory!

The last few days in the studio have been awesome/challenging/scary/slobbery. Sounds exhausting, doesn't it? It is.

Awesome: Heading to write and record every morning instead of heading to work! If only Ashlynd were in the studio all day everyday with me it'd be bliss. Miss that girl. Anyways. Hearing tracks I've had bouncing around in my brains for months being played through speakers after the incredibly talented Aaron Edson has made those ideas reality? Double awesome.

Challenging: Realizing that my ideas aren't as complete as I thought. Collaborating is hard stuff, people!! God gave me lots of gifts, but playing instruments is NOT one of them. This means that I have to verbally communicate my ideas to my producer which - luckily for me - typically works out just fine (choosing a producer who understands you is KEY)...but what happens when I can't seem to communicate what's in my head to him..?? That's when things get tricky. Dr Pepper comes in handy during these moments.

Scary: Some of you may not know the premise of this project (I'll post about it soon in more detail). This album is ultimately about my experiences with God and faith in the context of my family, trials, and the past couple years with my sweet Mom. Because all of those things are incredibly personal and intimate, I sometimes get nervous thinking about exposing myself to critiques by making a record about them. Everybody has an opinion, right?? Not all opinions are very kind. I've definitely felt more responsible for the weight of my words over the past weeks as I've started to realize that anyone who makes an album must feel like that record is their baby...a piece of themselves. I was talking to Nikki about those feelings a couple days ago and she started singing, "And I feel like I'm naked in front of a crowd...cuz these words are my diary screaming out loud...and I know that you'll use them however you want to." What a brilliantly perfect line. Brilliantly perfect and terrifying. Scary stuff.

Slobbery: I got to hang out with Molly in the studio on Monday. Molly is a lab mixed with...something? Ooh dear I fell in love with her pretty much immediately. I got a little choked up when she put her head in my lap and wanted some love. I miss Tucker and Lou SO much! Geeeez those dogs and their beards! I can't wait to see them soon.

In other news, I was up freakishly late last night stressing out over things that are completely and totally out of my control (why do I do that??) which means I'm absurdly tired right now. Studio in the morning! We're tracking two new songs...wish me luck!

xo love loves

Testing 1, 2...

2011-05-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hi friends.

Remember that one time that I stopped blogging completely? (I know my Grandma did. Hi, Grandma!)

Well...lots of things have happened since then. For starters, I quit my job and moved to Utah. Insane, right?? Forrealz.

I know what you're thinking...You're thinking,"Calee...you hate Utah. You think Utah smells worse than Tucker's beard after he & Lou have been locked in the kitchen all day together and there's mysteriously no Lou poo on the ground when everyone gets home." And you know what? You're right.

BUT do you know what's IN Utah? (Enter jokes about fake tanned/enhanced women, lots of weird pest control salesman type dudes, and waaay too many crazy, caffeine-drinking jackmormons [i drink dr. pepper sometimes. don't hate]). Dreams are in Utah. Dreams that look and sound like me finally writing & recording a Christian album. Dreams that feel like my first summer since I was 18 that I'm not going to a 9-5 job. Dreams that smell like Dexter trying to smother me in my sleep. (Dexter is Nikki's overly affectionate cat). Dreams, I tell you. Dreams.

So I packed up my little Civic as full as it could get (technically Dad did the packing) and drove to Lehi, UT yesterday.

Today I met with the producer I'm working with to get this record done.

Tomorrow we start laying tracks.

So...if you're interested, I'm going to be blogging/tweeting/fb updating with all the joy, love, and pain that comes along with this awesomely exhausting process.

P.S. Feels good to be back.
P.P.S. Send me creative-try-to-not-screw-this-up-vibes.

love loves.

Update

2010-12-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

I was so happy this morning, dancing around my room to Miley Cyrus and Blue October, until I thought about you. Then I felt frustrated and sad and bothered.

Everything is alright as far as my last post goes - ultrasound & business - so don't worry your pretty little heads over it.

Moral of the story: I'm going to listen to Ryan Innes (have you heard?! do yourself a favor www.ryaninnes.com <--you'll thank me) and feel happy & dance around again. No more frustrating, sad, or bothered thoughts. I'm too cute for all that mess. I'm too cute for you.

Love love loves.

P.S. This Sunday we're inviting all ex- or current voice students (children's chorus or otherwise) to come sing for Mom at 5pm. Her health is continuing to decline, so please come sing for her and let's give back a part of the gift she's given to us. For details - email CarolingForRita@gmail.com.

Weird

2010-12-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

this picture has nothing to do with the post. wasn't he a cute puppy, though??! flip I love him.

I'm going to Kaiser today for an ultrasound. Weird, right? I mean, shouldn't I be pregnant before getting an ultrasound? Irony may or may not be throwing things in my face lately. Boo.

I had a nightmare last night about said ultrasound. I was full of dinosaur eggs. Haha.

Extinct-reptile-egg-filled-business aside, it should be a pretty routine ultrasound (I guess??).
According to my doctor, they just need to see a few things that are on my insides - so they're going to go look around with their sweet machinery. Nooo big deal.
...unless they find Barney babies in there...in which case it would be a huge deal...

So why am I still nervous? Maybe I can talk Tucker into coming with me...

I know you're all just DYING to know what happens, so I'll make sure I update you upon returning from Mission Gorge (groooooooossssss drive, right?! ick).

Ludo. Down.

2010-09-21T10:28:00.001-07:00

It just hit me that I haven't even announced my newest best friend to the world yet. And he has been my best friend for almost two months now. Terrible.

I think I was waiting until he stopped pooping on the floor so I could really say he is the world's most perfect freak-alien-dog. But seeing as that hasn't happened yet, he will instead be the world's most perfect freak-alien-dog who poops on the carpet like a very naughty freak-alien. And yaps, nay, squawks, every time I leave the room. And never can figure out how to put his tongue all the way in his mouth. And has defied the laws of nature by somehow finding a way to have a stinkier beard than Tucker.

Although they had a rocky start and still get their feelings hurt sometimes, they are almost best friends. But since neither of them have their manhood and dogs are technically man's best friend... Poor dogs. Only half-men. Ludo still has his stitches in from that awful day. And probably nightmares. And he has to wear this:

It's all very disheartening for the poor pup.

But he is still my favorite and licks my face and growls like a cat purring and only falls off the bed sometimes.

Oohhhhh little lulu!! I love you, you little freak.

Kristina

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Craigslist shmaigslist

2010-09-11T22:48:00.001-07:00

Know how Kyle sold his movies and put the money in the Mom-iPad-fund like the sweetest sweet tart in the land?

Well we decided in our brilliant minds that we would continue to grow the iPad fund by wisely investing in a bunch of iPhones from craigslist and then fancy them up with my hacker-loving-abilities and then sell them on eBay for hopefully a little more than we got them. Voilà. iPad for the sick mom.

Genius!

Except not genius at all.

Kyle found a 3Gs for $275 and we were so excited until we found out he was an hour away in El Cajon. Boo! But worth it. So Kryle haggled him down to $260 and made the drive. (Btw - why do we haggle for like ten dollars? Just for the thrill of it? Or because we like spending money if the amount was our idea instead of theirs? Or we just like to argue with people? Curious.)

Sweet, kind, loving, handsome Kyle then did a not so brilliant, genius, bright, smart thing and handed over the money to the kid even though the phone was in recovery mode. Meaning you have to plug it into iTunes to make it work.

And also meaning we didn't realize it was really a 3G not a 3Gs and we had been ripped off until after he got to Escondido and the kid had probably spent the cash already. Haha. Oops.

We tried to text/call him and say it was an honest mistake and let's just trade back again... No response. We email the link from craigslist... No response. Of course not. Little punk.

By this time (about two hours later) Kyle is truly dejected, and I'm feeling very sad for him. So I bust out my aforementioned hacker skills and find out info about this kid. It takes me a few hours and quite a bit of trickery and online searching, but I find the sneaky thief's first and last name, high school, brother's name, brother's place of employment, and FINALLY, in spite of every privacy precaution possible, his Facebook.

So I quickly change my profile picture from one of me and Kyle to one of just me, and add him as a friend, crossing my fingers that my cute-girl-ness wins over my random-stranger-ness. And it did. He added me within the hour.

He has creepy pictures holding guns and stuff, kind of terrifying. But we fb chatted him, started out nice, ended telling him we would call the police if he didn't meet us for a refund. He blocked me. Kyle left a terrifying legalese-filled voicemail on his phone. He got scared and promptly came back on and said sorry, he'd meet us the next day. I stupidly tried to be nice and say we could leave it jailbroken/unlocked it for him if he wanted. We thought all was well. See you tomorrow.

Kyle gets a message from shady thief's sister the next morning saying our jailbreaking it is illegal and voided the warranty so we aren't getting our money back.

Kyle's response: (skip this paragraph if you're easily bored)
"Either you or your sister or parents can call me back, but here's the deal. I'm entirely within my rights right now. Searching public records is not illegal, jailbreaking is not illegal and even if it was I just called apple and your warranty is expired anyway- and even if it was a factory restore- which we did- will erase any evidence of one, and calling and complaining about a breached contract is not illegal. We were looking around craigslist yesterday and found that you've had that phone up for a while. It was originally described as a 3G, but later you advertised it as a 3GS, which tells me that you knew exactly what it was. Now larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. Through fraud and misrepresentation you came in the wrongful possession of my $260- which is not protected by the risks generally associated with craigslist. I've never called the Nonemergency police line to report fraud, but like I said I'm a law student, and i'm not above doing it, and I'm curious to see how the process works. My offer still stands, I can be
at the Wal-Mart at 12, if you're there we'll consider it a miscommunication and no harm is done. If not, we'll take the legal route and the protections craigslist offers against scammers. Should I plan on being there or not?"

(oh, please. law school much?)

...no response.

Ugh. Are you over this story yet? Us, too. Kyle filed police reports today but that's it. The end. We got ripped off by a stupid kid and there isn't anything else we can do. Even though we know exactly who he is. And Kyle learned to not trust people on Craigslist, and check it before you pay. And D-Bag McGee learned at 16 years old that you can lie and steal from people and get away with it. And have your older sister enable you. FAIL.

Well guess what?

HIS NAME IS MARTIN BUT HE SELLS THINGS ONLINE UNDER THE NAME TONY. HIS PHONE NUMBER ON CRAIGSLIST IS (619) 249-9132. HE LIED TO US AND STOLE OUR MONEY.

There. Maybe the next time someone tries to google his name/number after he rips them off, they will have an easier time getting a hold of him. If you are one of those people, email me and I will give you the other info I have.

You're welcome, universe. I hate you, thief/Martin/Tony.

...anyone want an iPhone 3G? Yeah me neither.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:The hospital. Where else?

Breakfast?

2010-09-11T10:47:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crazy Old Man & An Angel Named Antonio

2010-09-10T08:08:00.001-07:00

Hi, friends. Been a while, yeah? Yeah. I've been avoiding blogging on purpose because I doubt my frustrations would come out as cute as Kristina's last post. And I have no happy picture with a boy who loves and takes care of me to put at the bottom. Therefore, I've spared you. You're welcome.

I do have a couple stories, though. Want to hear them..? Ok. But only because you asked so nicely.

A couple days ago a lady BURST into my office with arms waving and SCREAMED, "I NEED SOMEONE TO COME OUTSIDE WITH ME RIGHT NOW! I NEED A WITNESS!"

I was in the back office and thought to myself,"...wtf?"

"There's a man EXPOSING HIMSELF out here and PEEING on the SIDEWALK!" she screamed.

I have to admit, I laughed. This is my life, people. Mom in the hospital dealing with everything that could go wrong under the sun, boyfriend of a year dumps me for greener pastures at BYU-I right in the middle of it, my dog has the worst gas in American and insists on sleeping with his otherwise cute and inoffensive rear end pointed directly at my face - and now I have to go deal with a random dude who felt like taking a whiz on the sidewalk.

As I walked outside and turned the corner I could see an older man with his pants undone, belt flopping in the breeze, doing a skip/hop/run away from the puddle he left on the ground (I guess the sound of the door startled him and he figured he could make his escape unnoticed by just running off with his pants down...?). I laughed again.

I assured the lady I'd get to the bottom of it, figured out who he was (thanks Margie at the Rec Center [<--where he tried to hide from me!]) and wrote the HOA a very concerned email. I guess this guy has peed several times like this in our VERY nice, private gated community in Rancho Bernardo. I can't believe there haven't been mobs of outraged housewives and their doctor/engineer/accountant businessmen husbands calling for blood over it. I mean...these people raise hell when a lightbulb goes out for crying out loud?? Whatever.

Second story. I'll make this one shorter, I promise. (I always get frustrated when I'm reading some gnarly long blog and there are no pictures. Believe me, I wish I had snapped a shot of the old guy running away for you - but, alas, I was ill prepared.)

I broke a drawer in the kitchen. I actually kind of ripped it to shreds, but I'm pretty sure I blacked out before it happened so the details are a bit hazy. I was upset (understatement) and when I shut the drawer politely the first time it bounced back open at me. After screaming at it for at least a straight minute (haha I swear I don't usually do that), I slammed it shut to show it who's boss. It had the GALL to bounce back open again. (Physics, you say??? YOU DIDN'T SEE THE LOOK IT WAS GIVING ME). So I slammed it again and again - this time I had no intention of shutting it, but punishing it - and when I regained my senses it was in several pieces in my hands. Then I cried for about an hour.

By the way, does anyone want to set me up with their brothers after reading this...? Thought so.

Anyways. I called Dad, bawling my eyes out (which luckily won me the sympathy card instead of a huge lecture). Fast forward to yesterday. I've been trying to fix it, but I'm absolutely unable. No glue was doing to undo the damage I did to that drawer. Especially since the only kind I readily have available to me at the house is a glue stick or glitter Elmer's glue. I even tried to petition my maintenance supervisor at work to fix it for me - BUT he's been out for a week with bronchitis and now walking pneumonia...so...boo.

I finally went to Home Depot, fully expecting to walk around for at least an hour trying to find someone to listen to my story and take pity on me. I wasn't above flirting at that point, people. That's how desperate the situation was. After walking around for 30 minutes asking every person I could find for help (even people who didn't work there but who looked like they might've murdered an innocent drawer or two in their lifetimes) I finally came upon Antonio.

Antonio took the drawer, went straight back to the lumber department, identified the wood, cut the wood, took out the screws from the shredded mess I handed him and put everything back together. In 15 minutes. And it cost me $2.00. And I almost started crying for joy. ANTONIO! You SAVED me!! This guy went out of his way to help someone when he really didn't have to. He could've just showed me where the wood was and left me there. BUT he didn't.

I tried to tell him how grateful I was, but he just looked at me like I was starting to freak him out. I wanted to tell him how stressed out I've been and how I don't have a boy in my life to ask for help anymore and how my mom's in the hospital and I broke the drawer because I was having a break down and how I'm going to pray for his health and success every night for the rest of my life because he was so nice to me when he didn't have to be. And now I'm sitting here crying again as I'm typing all of this because I feel so grateful that there are people out there who are willing to help.

So, that's all. Those are my two stories for today. Maybe I'll blog again and tell you about me chasing Ludo down the street with wearing pajamas that were absolutely unfit for public consumption, or my new love 26, or how we all almost died last night from gas inhalation. Sound good? Maybe if you're lucky I will.

And now I'm going to be late for work because I'm sitting on the couch in my pajamas blogging with my gassy dog (who is trying to cuddle me to death) instead of getting ready for work. Meh. I have five minutes. Ready? Go.

Things I hate

2010-09-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Cancer
Bugs
Scorpions
Sweating
Tumors
Hospital cleaner smell
The weird techno-music brooke listens to
Plastic hospital pillows
Nurses who roll their eyes
The elevator that's long enough for a gurney
The cafeteria guy who knows my name
Going through the ER entrance and seeing all of the sad people
Everyone in the hospital who doesn't have a visitor
That nurse who wouldn't let us take up the flowers
IV wires
Walking past the ICU to get to her room
All of the happy people going up to the maternity ward. I'm terrible.
The CNA's who wake her up in the middle of the night to take her vitals
The green button on the PCA
Dog poop on the carpet
Chemotherapy
Laundry
My dad's bird
Car insurance
Bill collectors
Books that have to ruin things by saying the F word
Immodest clothes
Kyle's Listerine toothpaste
Tucker's sad face when I leave
Mean nurses
Weeds
Nerve pain
That guy who killed Chelsea and Amber
That guy who shot the Bishop in Visalia
Bills
Cars with no air conditioning
When my favorite pants get a hole
Blood clots
Glasses
Broken plans
Not having my own place
Ludo's non-neutered-status
Paying for Gas

I'm actually having to think in between each of these. I thought I would be able to just spout off a million things and get it off of my chest and feel better.

Really, all I needed was the first one. That's it.

And the guy who killed Chelsea and Amber. I hate him.

...keep reading below for a not-so-negative-and-crabby post. Well actually I guess it is kind of negative. Keep browsing to your next blog for a not-so-negative-and-crabby post.

Kristina

Life sucks, Eat Dessert

2010-09-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Ha ha. That title makes me laugh a little bit. Life really does just plain suck sometimes. I don't think there are many things that EVERYONE in the world can agree on, but I think cancer is one of those things. We all hate it.

The good news is that I've been so busy/crazy/whirl-windy (Kyle loves when I add random y's onto words... not.) that I haven't really had time to feel sorry for myself. Lots of time to feel sorry for my sweet lovely mother, though. She is one strong lady. But don't tell her that, she might yell at you. Aunt Trudi can attest to that.

The other good news is that I am totally 100% crazy in love with my lover-man Kyle. He has seen me with the ugliest non-made-up face and non-brushed-non-washed-hair and even non-brushed-teeth (f'reals) and he still checks me out when he thinks I'm not looking. Seriously? This boy must be crazy. Or maybe he just likes me, too.

He takes my stinky, pooh-beard dog home and snuggles with him and washes him. He does my dishes while I sit at the counter and stare out the window because I'm just so dang tired. He picks me up from the hospital early in the morning when he is nervous about me driving after not sleeping all night. He tells me to throw away the sweat pants I'm wearing because I'm only a few steps away from walking through Wal-mart in those sweats and a wife beater with my muffin top hanging over the sides. Ha ha. Gross.

He takes my face in his hands and kisses me hard and says, STOP FUSSIN', when I start to get especially down in the dumps. And he tells me that I need to pay my tithing or I will just stay poor forever. He makes me his specialty dinners when I'm not feeling good (like Uncle Noodles and Grilled Cheese and TCTs) and reminds me that I need to eat so I don't get headaches. He throws away all of his R-rated movies and doesn't whine about it at all. In fact he sells them all and puts the money into an "iPad fund" for my sick mama. He laughs when I say I feel like a mummy and reminds me that I probably mean zombie, but then starts saying mummy all the time anyway because he thinks I'm so funny.

He pulls all of the weeds and sprays all of the bugs at my mom's. Prunes the trees and rakes the ground. He drives the 40-minutes-one-way every single day to see me because I can't come down there when it's so crazy up here.

Oh, and he is a full-time law student. Woops.

Tell the truth - how awesome is he and how totally UNawesome am I in this post? Oh man. I don't know why on earth he is still around but I'm sure glad. I would be a major mummy if I didn't have him. I'd have a mummy-mental-breakdown.

Thanks, Heavenly Father for sending him to me. I needed it.

-Kristina

I tried.

2010-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, Mr. Taco.

- Posted from Kristina's iPhone

Buzzing

2010-06-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

The blogger buzz is back in my brain. I don't know where it went for so long, or why it has returned, but I suddenly feel the need to say ridiculous things in a public forum so that semi-random-aquaintances and the older ladies in my ward can keep up on the surface-level details of my life and then talk amongst themselves about those Schroeder girls and how they just need to get married already.

Wow. Horrible sentence. In a lot of ways. But so very true.

Maybe I am feeling this way because I finally got a job and I'm currently answering phones all day and all night. Okay actually only like 6 hours a day. But now that I'm all productive and responsible it gives me a lot of time to think silly things in my brain instead of just saying them out loud. So they get locked up inside and then I just need somewhere to purge.

Today I am feeling extra silly because I got very little sleep, mainly due to the fact that Kyle and I lined up at the Apple store at an obscenely early hour for the iPhone 4. (I had to turn my headlights on when I drove there. That's how early it was. Oh and about halfway over there I tried to remember waking up and putting on my clothes and getting in the car but I honestly couldn't remember doing those things. Yep.)

We made lots of friends. The lady right in front of us had bright pink hair and told us about all of the times she has camped out for things. Disneyland passes, Chik-fil-a, Wii, you name it. Everyone was jealous I brought Jack in the Box for Kyle. We all laughed and shivered and became lifelong buddies. (A lifetime probably equals about 3 hours in this instance.)

So we waited and waited. And waited. But don't worry, we sure didn't get the phones. They ran out 8 people in front of us.

Oh and don't worry, only about 10 people cut in line ahead of us when they moved the line. No big deal.

I wish I got a video of Kyle's depressed Charlie Brown walk when we were leaving. If I had an iPhone 4 it would be in HD. So. That would be cool, wouldn't it?

Also, I just pushed the Insert button on my keyboard accidentally instead of Backspace. And apparently the person using this keyboard before me had some kind of sticky-substanced finger problem, which is now my problem.

Sweet.

...miss me?

-Kristina

Toddler Beds for Sale

2010-06-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Most of this last week I have been sitting on the tailgate of my love's truck, playing the only three songs I know on my new guitar and watching him slave away on his latest project. (He happens to be an expert carpenter. It's pretty manly and rugged. Not gonna lie.)

He has a way cool design for these toddler beds that is durable and strong but also incredibly light - and they fit crib mattresses! Oh, and they are adorable. And they're for SALE.

DEETS

28.5" x 60"

19" headboard

10.4" footboard

Absolutely NO visible screws

Solid white pine, paintable/stainable (Kyle will paint, just ask)

Durable but VERY light, strong enough for an adult to sleep on. A tiny adult.

Handmade with extra care for your sweet little toddler

Very low to the ground - no worrying about your little one getting hurt rolling off the bed!

Kyle is selling these hand-crafted beds for only $150, with free delivery to your home. (And none of those confusing, do-it-yourself-putting-together get ups that the toy stores are offering.) BUT - he told me that he would give them to my friends for a discount, (what a gem) so you guys get 10% off if you go through me. I got your back, guys.

Only $135 for these beauties!

Send me an email at kristinaschro @ gmail.com or leave a comment, and we will get you set up.

Oh, I can just picture these sweet little kidlets all excited for their first bed and having one of these! Precious.

Long time.

2010-06-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

Okay it's been a LONG time. I'm sorry. :( We got a family blog and so most of our posts are going there - we haven't really been good at doubling our posts up, though. Hopefully that will get better!

Life is good for me right now. I'm starting my MBA program August 17 and will be moving up a week or so before then. Still don't have housing or a laptop... working on both. But I did get a SWEET guitar from my sweet man for my birthday - and that's kind of taken over my life lately. I love it so much.

TDH and I are going strong and I am pretty much totally twitterpated. He gets more and more awesome everyday and it gets a little bit harder to think about leaving him in the fall. :( Boo. We play and watch Arrested Development and sing sweet songs and talk about our made up futures and listen to the ocean waves outside of his window. Yesterday we went to the fair and he tried to win me prizes while I ate a corn dog and we laughed and watched pig races and held hands.

We are kind of living those little sappy 1-minute sequences in movies where the lovey couple is on swings and making faces and laughing and talking on the phone and shoving ice cream in each others faces.

It's pretty awesome.

That's all really. Except for the above post. Make sure to look at that.

Kristina

Hi ho, hi ho, avoiding work we go

2010-04-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Utah tomorrow for an amazingly long period of time (don't I always?) and I have so much to do beforehand and so little motivation to do any of it.

I told the man-friend the other day (as I was sitting on his couch, watching my 14th episode of the office in a row and looking up to watch him choose his blasted schoolwork over me, yet again) that it is a bit odd how on days where I do very little, I have NO motivation to do anything else. But on days where I start off busy, it's like you can't stop me. I keep having things pop in my brain that I need to finish and so I just keep going and going and going until my body caves in. (I just grossed myself out by writing that.)

That day was definitely one of the former type. I sat on his couch all day, and when he wanted me to go pick up a pizza for him, I really had the thought, "Um. Pizza places deliver. Hello," run through my mind as I snuggled in a little deeper to my blanket and stuffed the headphones in a little closer so I could hear Dwight's silliness all the way to my brain stem instead of just my ear drums.

And then I laughed at myself and said of course I would go, but made him come with me. And then conveniently left wearing a ridiculous outfit that he was ashamed of, so he had to either get out of the truck and go get the pizza, or be embarrassed of his ragamuffin non-girlfriend. Oops.

Anyway... I wish today was one of those busy days where I accomplish more than one human being should be capable of accomplishing in one rotation of the earth. But since it's 10:30 and all I've managed to do so far is devour a delicious peanut butter cookie the size of my face and write a ToDo list and snuggle up next to Tucker and send hilarious, yet unappreciated texts to TDH and feel depressed looking at my bank statements and annoyed at my sisters for not answering my awesome email that I sent almost 11 hours ago...

I'm guessing it won't be.

DANG IT KYLE WHY DID YOU ONLY PUT ONE SEASON OF THE OFFICE ON THIS IPOD!

-Kristina

Law school

2010-04-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

really, really sucks.

And that's today's installment of Kristina P's&M's about everything. Talk to me on Saturday and I definitely will not be whining.

...for at least a whole week until his summer semester starts.

-Kristina

P.s. If I can't even handle him being in school - how the heck am I going to handle starting my MBA program next fall? Especially considering the fact that I'm supposed to sign this:

Okay, the picture is really bad. Blame my terrible blackberry.

Basically I am signing a contract saying that I will have no life outside of school next year. No activities, no classes. No food or sleep. Okay that part isn't in there, but I'm no dummy - I can read between the lines.

Can't wait!

Unnecessary Quotes

2010-04-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have blogged about this before, and I told TDH (I will not let you bully me into changing, Brooke!) about it last week for some reason - but I love unnecessaryquotes.com. It is so funny to me.

I submitted a picture about six months ago, and then earlier this year she emailed me to tell me that my picture was going to be put on her blog! Yippee!

Apparently it was exciting enough that I forgot about it until my conversation with the man this week. Oops.

Anyway, here's the link: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/2010/01/trigger-point-eh.html

I was at a job fair thing and this guy was offering "Trigger-Point" "Massage." And a wellness sceening. Ha ha.

Oh people of the world, you are so funny. And I'm famous!!

-Kristina

Sniffer Mc Snifferson

2010-04-19T13:28:00.001-07:00

I don't know how many of you readers were at Amber's birthday dinner a few months ago at Hard Rock, but Calee made an outrageous claim that night that led to a really silly evening this weekend.

She said she could sniff a glass of soda and tell you if it was diet or regular.

Since then it has come up multiple times - and it's escalated from not only diet vs. regular to diet coke vs. regular coke vs. diet pepsi vs. regular pepsi. I know what you're all thinking -- NO WAY CAN SHE DO THAT JUST BY SNIFFING.

(As a credit to Calee: Our family has been known for having extraordinarily sensitive sniffers. My mom's sniffing is so distinct that I can even hear her doing it if I'm not looking. I know when she is sniffing something - like a truffle, for example, perhaps to tell what the filling is or how old it may be. Taylen can smell a piece of candy from a different room, even as Nikki is trying to open it as softly as she can to sneak a bite. And our newest member, Sam, fits right in. Go ahead and ask him his own sniffing tales. Ha ha ha. But maybe only do that if you don't have a very strong gag-reflex.)

I told Tall, Dark and Handsome, about this, and he has been just as amazed by it as I have been. So,TDH and I planned out this elaborate testing system last night and finally made Calee put her money where her nose is.

I wish we took more pictures but this is all I've got:

Note that she isn't holding the glass up to her mouth, but her nose. No tasting allowed.

We set up 16 glasses holding either Pepsi, Coke, or their diet alternatives. Except glass A2, which was the wildcard, Dr. Pepper. (A2 refers to the detailed numbering system that TDH wrote on his meticulously designed scorecards. I'm not sure if it's incredibly awesome or incredibly scary that I've found someone who gets as obsessed with/into stupid crap like this as I do.)

Verdict? She sucked. Ha ha ha. We determined that her percentages were low enough that her correct answers could not be proven to be more than chance. And that TDH and I are really ridiculously stupid.

Case in point:

-Kristina

Dear Calee,

2010-04-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

You should post about Woofstock. Thanks.

-Kristina

P.s. I need a summer internship. Please help.

Ooohhhhhhhhhh.......

2010-04-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

I want it so bad.

Oh Victoria's Secret. I love you so much. And if I had the money I would buy these so fast it's not even funny.

Oh man. I am coveting so badly right now. So bad.

-Kristina

Mmmmmboy.

2010-04-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when my days are poopy, and I'm feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, I like to come home after working out and snuggle with this little man:

And watch mildly attractive Dale perform surgeries with Kristina:
(Ooh Thursday nights...you are so good to me...)

Or maybe watch this Casey play his guitar and sing me a love song:

And if Casey's too busy, then Caleb

will sometimes serenade us...

And if we're really lucky, sweet little Archie will come sing us a song, too. Don't you just want to squeeze him!? And listen to him sing EFY songs?!
Goodness gracious.

Only on poopy days, I promise.

Loves, Calee

Interesting Nugget

2010-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

from President Hinckley:

"Now I wish to say something to bishops and stake presidents concerning missionary service. It is a sensitive matter. There seems to be growing in the Church an idea that all young women as well as all young men should go on missions. We need some young women. They perform a remarkable work. They can get in homes where the elders cannot.

I confess that I have two granddaughters on missions. They are bright and beautiful young women. They are working hard and accomplishing much good. Speaking with their bishops and their parents, they made their own decisions to go. They did not tell me until they turned their papers in. I had nothing to do with their decision to go.

Now, having made that confession, I wish to say that the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve are united in saying to our young sisters that they are not under obligation to go on missions. I hope I can say what I have to say in a way that will not be offensive to anyone. Young women should not feel that they have a duty comparable to that of young men. Some of them will very much wish to go. If so, they should counsel with their bishop as well as their parents. If the idea persists, the bishop will know what to do.

I say what has been said before, that missionary work is essentially a priesthood responsibility. As such, our young men must carry the major burden. This is their responsibility and their obligation.

We do not ask the young women to consider a mission as an essential part of their life’s program. Over a period of many years, we have held the age level higher for them in an effort to keep the number going relatively small. Again to the sisters I say that you will be as highly respected, you will be considered as being as much in the line of duty, your efforts will be as acceptable to the Lord and to the Church whether you go on a mission or do not go on a mission.

We constantly receive letters from young women asking why the age for sister missionaries is not the same as it is for elders. We simply give them the reasons. We know that they are disappointed. We know that many have set their hearts on missions. We know that many of them wish this experience before they marry and go forward with their adult lives. I certainly do not wish to say or imply that their services are not wanted. I simply say that a mission is not necessary as a part of their lives.

Now, that may appear to be something of a strange thing to say in priesthood meeting. I say it here because I do not know where else to say it. The bishops and stake presidents of the Church have now heard it. And they must be the ones who make the judgment in this matter.

That is enough on that subject."

- Priesthood session, October 1997

On my mind today.

That's all.

-Kristina

The men in my life

2010-04-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

I like them dark and cuddly and nerdy.
Tuck has taken a liking to Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. Can you blame him?

Happy Easter :)

Soggy

2010-04-01T16:58:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Tucker was at Fiesta Island. He ran and played and jumped and barked. He made some friends, and sniffed lots of things...not all of which are appropriate to be named on this blog...

While there, a goose honked at him from the water. Tucker was immediately offended and rushed into the water and started swimming after it!

The thing that makes this picture delightful to me is that Tucker does not like water. AT ALL. He will frequently howl in the bathtub and look at you as if to ask..."What did I do to deserve this?? Why do you HATE ME?!" Haha. Him and his little stinky beard.

Moral of the story: geese must be shown who's boss. Or maybe its that things we dislike seem less unsavory if we just focus on the ultimate goal. Or maybe its that small, bearded dogs who hate water hate geese more than said water.

Either way, I love this picture. He looks truly bedraggled.

Have a happy conference/Easter weekend, friends!

Literally on Cloud 9

2010-03-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am about to write another post that gives you all a complex. Sorry. I was going to link to my previous posts that have done the same thing, but I didn't want to go overboard with the guilt.

(Sidenote: Calee and I talked about the possiblity of blogging this, and I asked if I should be worried about people getting a complex about it. She said no but I should be worried about looking like a B. ....Hm. My mind didn't even go there. Don't judge, people. It's all in good fun. Fun = mocking your habits that you're unaware of. Didn't you know that?)

Oh my goodness. I wanted to post a funny video right here to show what I'm talking about, but it just proved my flipping point for me. I put "literally" into youtube hoping for a silly snl or madtv skit about the ridiculous overuse of the word - and there came up about a MILLION listings. How many of them used the word correctly? Not many.

Which brings me to my next point.

I CAN'T HANDLE WHEN PEOPLE SAY LITERALLY WHEN THEY OBVIOUSLY DON'T MEAN LITERALLY. I just really can't. It makes me twitch. I told Calee about it a month or so ago and she just rolled her eyes and told me I was elitest and that it doesn't happen that often. But now that she's aware of it?? We hear it all the time together and she laughs at me while I fall into convulsions on the floor because my brain can't take it anymore. Literally. (See what I'm saying? It's annoying right?)

Some recent ones I've heard -

On the news: We are literally moving heaven and earth down here to find out...

Oh really? Literally moving heaven and earth? Wow. That must be some pretty intense equipment down there.

In an email: She was literally on cloud 9 after...

I sent this one to Calee and her response was, "Maybe she was standing atop a Cloud9 shuttle after the lesson? Literally."

Oh, Calee. You are a B, too.

Calee in the car (this one was a joke but still annoying): I was literally dancing up a storm.

She then laughed and pictured herself dancing and a storm being created. However if you were literally dancing up a storm, you would be moving vertically while boogying into the storm's abyss. That is literally dancing up a storm.

I can't even give you more examples because I am getting so cranky right now thinking about it. I've decided I'm going to start saying "metaphorically" or "figuratively" all the time. Just so people realize there are other adverbs out there that can be used in a more appropriate manner. Or hey, maybe you just don't say an adverb? Weird.

I'm going to go eat some chocolate or something to help with my frustration.

-Kristina

P.s. Who honestly doesn't like chocolate? I owe somebody brownies and asked if I could make these divine chocolate cupcakes instead with my mom's mouth-watering frosting. The answer? "Eh. I don't really like chocolate. Only milky ways and three musketeers and brownies. I don't know, I guess when I'm craving something sweet I want like a really good orange or something."

... WOW, really??? I can't even process that statement. It's like the Brian Regan sketch where he's reading the pop tart label and it tells him to place it vertically into the toaster and his brain explodes from the difficulty of it. That's how I felt. There must have been some kind of brainwashing involved during childhood; it's the only explanation I can think of. It's a sick, sick world we live in, people. Go hug your chocolate.

Holding Hands

2010-03-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about the comforting ability of hands. I know that sounds weird but hear me out. I've had some awkward or uncomfortable situations lately, or even just moments of stress and panic. It's been interesting for me (especially since I've been thinking about it so much) to notice how my spirit can be calmed with just the touch of a hand.

Examples from lately?

I had a really heartbreaking conversation with someone really close to me last week. We looked at each other with tears and he put his hand on my cheek. I immediately felt understanding and kindness in the midst of a difficult situation.

At Nikki's house this weekend, I was jumping on the trampoline with the two sweetest little girls you will ever meet. Ryah bear got a little spooked at a particularly big jump, and her scared face was the cutest thing I've ever seen. In her moment of pure terror, she reached her hand out to me and I reached right back and saved her from falling on her face. She squeezed my hand hard and looked up at me to laugh once she realized everything was okay. I thought I would burst right then from how sweet and tender the little moment was.

I went to visit a friend at school and felt a little bit awkward since it was his element and not mine. I was surrounded by lots of strange faces and felt a little worried about what was going to happen. He reached down for my hand to lead me through the people, and I felt safe and secure and even a little silly for being so nervous.

Driving in the car tonight, there was a little silent moment that normally wouldn't be a big deal, but with my insecure and stressed brain right now everything gets blown out of proportion. I was starting to feel worried when he reached his hand across the seat and rubbed my knee for a minute. All of my stupid, misplaced worry went right out the window and I felt security and peace again.

See what I mean? It's cool. And it makes me think a lot about Jesus Christ and His pierced hands, and how they are the ultimate source of comfort and love.

I looked up "hands" on lds.org tonight and found this gem - it is so so fitting with my life right now. I love it.

The Lord Thy God Will Hold Thy Hand

The Savior's figurative and literal hands are where I need to place my trust. I have no reason to worry or stress, because ultimately He is in control. I have so many more experiences where I have felt total comfort, love, and protection from Him - just like those stories above. (Okay not just like. But you know what I'm saying.)

How grateful I am during stressful times like this to know that I am a part of a plan. A plan created by someone much more powerful and wise than myself - thank heavens. My plans definitely have not been the best ones so far. I know He is guiding me, slowly but surely, with His loving, broken, gentle hands.

I hope you read the article. It's a good one.

-Kristina

No Subject

2010-03-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

We are going to Sacramento today and I am really glad. I need a sisters weekend, definitely. It's been a super emotionally draining week. I know we are always light and silly on here lately, but don't you remember the good old days of my depressed posts? I feel a bit that way today.

I don't really have anything to say other than that. Send me a nice text, will ya? I could use it.

-Kristina

Playlist

2010-03-18T10:29:00.001-07:00

I'm currently listening to music. And it is making me very happy. I humbly suggest the following playlist to perk you (and your co-workers) up. Dancing around the office is strongly suggested. Strongly.

Mr. Roboto (Styx) <--I recommend putting this one on repeat. DDR.
Come Sail Away (Styx)
Walking on the Sun (Smashmouth) *Don't judge!*
Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)
Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen) <-- might want to close the office for this one. worth it.
Big Girl, You are Beautiful (Mika) <--while the office is closed.
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (Police)
Billie Jean (MJ)
Can't Touch This (MC Hammer)
Paradise City (Guns N' Roses)
Holding Out for a Hero (Frou Frou)
Cold As Ice (Foreigner)
Friday I'm in Love (The Cure)
Hungy Like the Wolf (Duran Duran)

Add anything from your Sin Bandera collection and you're golden. Is this list cheesy? Yes. Is it completely appropriate for the office environment? It depends, I guess, on what industry you're in and who your co-workers are.

My co-worker just walked in on me doing the robot to Mr. Roboto. He told me Styx jumped the shark on that song. I told him I'd light him on fire if he ever bad mouthed Styx again.

Repeat is a beautiful thing.

Loves, Calee

P.S. I've got a secret that I've been hiding. It's under my skin.

This stuff really happens to me

2010-03-18T00:44:00.000-07:00

I went to dog beach today with Jacob and Tucker. It was honestly the perfect day as far as the weather goes. So gorgeous. Don't worry that I got absolutely NO sun for some reason. My skin looks the exact same as it did yesterday. Bleh.

Those of you who have dogs know that when you go to a dog park or dog beach or some other dog gathering (like there are a lot of them?), you make friends with really random people. Usually you know all of the dogs' names and none of the people's names. Like "Oh! Molly's mom told me the cutest story the other day..."

It's weird. And I'm one of those people.

Today was no different. I met another Tucker and his mom, and we had a good laugh over the dogs getting confused at who was being called when. Then a boy starts asking me about Tuck (who wouldn't? He is seriously so adorable) and starts telling me about his puppy. We get through all of the normal dog questions and to the point where we normally would just sit and laugh at how cute our pets are, when things took a turn for the worse.

"So, uh, do you go to school around here?"

Oh jeez. Good line. I'm actually here with that cute boy surfing out there and totally uninterested in talking with you about anything other than your dog. Oh wait, I'm still inside my head at this point. Guess I better answer your question.

"Nope, I'm actually done with school."

I enjoyed his look of disbelief for a short moment, because it still to this day makes me a little tingly inside that I'm done with my BA. That tingly feeling immediately vanished with his next comment.

"Wait...you're already done with high school?!"

........................... WOW.

"Uh. College, actually."

....

We stopped talking.

Yep. Really happened.

-Kristina

I'm blogging over Calee right now

2010-03-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

and I totally know it. The worst part is that I don't even really have anything to say, but I'm doing it anyway. Oops.

I really like boys who know more about music than I do.

Scratch that - I actually just think I really like boys who know more than me in general. Ha ha. I almost made a joke about that being impossible but then erased it so I don't look like a self-obsessed freak. But then I just retyped that so we all could see how humble I am. Not sure who wins, there.

I thought that I typed "ha ha" with a space because my phone made it hard to do it without a space. But if that is true, then why do I write it like that on this blog? A lot? Perhaps it's time to admit that I just like writing it like that and making people read it to themselves like they are the caterpillar in Alice and Wonderland.

Also - we should put a little thing on the side of this blog that lets people read either all of Calee's stuff or all of my stuff. But I don't know how to do that. And heaven knows Calee won't do it. She just figured out how to work the dashboard of Blogger. Thus, the awkwardly placed Nat the Rat button to my right, on top of any of our profile info.

You know how they say good girls like bad boys? I used to think that was true about me, too. And when I say 'used to' I mean 'yesterday'. Turns out my rockin hot bad boy is actually not bad at all. Pretty squeaky clean, actually. Totally not disappointed about it, either.

Okay, wow. I am in a really odd mood and need to stop this before anything more ridiculous comes out of my brain.

Sorry Calee for blogging over you. (Shaking head no while I type that.)

-Kristina

Dear Self:

2010-03-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

You are very silly.

Very, very silly indeed.

Love, Calee

p.s. The people at Google have an incredibly sneaky operating procedure in place for anyone looking to buy the Nexus One. It goes a little something like this: Make it virtually impossible for anyone to get it at the discounted rate, frustrate them with long hold waits, underinformed customer service representatives, and conflicting policies. With any luck, anyone trying to purchase it will just get irritated enough to purchase it at the retail rate! Weee!

Not me, though. I take frustration like a champ. BRING IT.

Well, kind of. I'll let you know on Friday.

Wow.

2010-03-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

I wish I could give full details of my dating life on here so you could all laugh along with how silly it all is. And post pictures, so you could drool over the hottie mc hotties that have strolled into my life lately. And divulge all of the details of the several incredibly awkward situations I've found myself in, so you can smile and shake your head as you hold your baby on your lap and thank your lucky stars that you're not me. Ha ha.

Oh well, too bad.

Maybe just a little taste:

Yesterday I'm leaving church with Calee. As we're walking, we see Hot Girl run into Hot Boy's arms for a little parking lot rendezvous. Hot Boy happens to be the same boy I was out with the night before.

It was like a slow motion scene of awkwardness.

Cherry on top? He sees us, looking over her shoulder as she's clinging to him like a flippin wetsuit. A side-wave, and a half-hearted "hey guys" to the two of us completes the picture.

.... kill me.

Where do I sign up for a mission, again?

-kristina

What happened??

2010-03-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

When did my posts stop being so funny and witty and entertaining?? I've been sitting at work going through old posts and I really feel as though we've reached a sad state of affairs on this blog. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just not as clever and saucy as I was six months ago. And YOU, poor readers, are the ones who are suffering (...assuming, that is, that anyone still reads this blog...). Horror!

I would like to make a promise that I will do everything I can to achieve once more my sassy blogging status. Are you excited? Do you love it? Did you say, "Billy, I love you?" Movie trivia.

P.S. Last week the fam sat around having a nice little convo about whatever, and the conversation turned to perfumes. Nikki, apparently, wears the new Ed Hardy fragrance. (Go ahead. Judge. I know I did.) Sam asked me what I wear while I was busy stuffing my face with crackers and mustard and slices of ham (mmmmm!!!!!!!). Instead of swallowing and trying to speak like a normal person, I rushed to say "Viva la Juicy" with my mouth full. To my chagrin, however, "Viva la Juicy" is NOT what came out.

I informed everyone within hearing distance that I wear "Viva la Douchey"! Haha!! And when I rushed to correct myself and say it properly?? ...Yeah, I said it again, only the second time MUCH louder. I think I kind of screamed it, actually. Awesome. Just thought I'd share.

Have a good weekend :)

Peas in a pod. Sort of. And a phone.

2010-03-12T13:14:00.001-08:00

Tucker loves Shaun. Shaun loves Tucker. This is Shaun stuffing Tucker up his shirt to experience what being pregnant might feel like. Tucker was so comfy, he didn't want to come out! Not even poke his little puppy head out. He just sat there like a little lump, content to be snuggled in a rather suffocating way.

Tucker was rather disgruntled over being forced to stick his head out of his warm cuddle spot for a picture.

Friends, you've all been very good sports over my poopy-quality BlackBerry photos. I have wonderful news for you all!!

THIS BABY:

will be taking my camera phone pictures from now on

...well, starting next week...

::hopefully::

I'll fill you all in as soon as I get my hands on my new Nexus One!! WOOO!!

loves - Calee

PROOF

2010-03-08T13:01:00.001-08:00

That I am a grandma.

In addition to this lovely non-matching masterpiece, I'm also making a baby blanket for a friend's baby shower this weekend. Just in case it turns out hideous and I have to purchase something to replace it with I won't say who that friend is. Of course, I don't have that many friends so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out if you really wanted to...and if that sounds like something fun you'd like to spend time doing, I'd suggest you find a hobby. Like, crocheting large, mismatched, scratchy blankets.

I'm j/k. It's not that scratchy. It just has those little fibers that itch your nose if you cuddle with it too close to your face. I call the blanket pictured above my LOST blanket. That's roughly seasons 1 & 2's worth of crocheting. If you look closely, you can see where it gets tighter in some spots (these are moments like Jack almost cutting off what's-his-name's leg, or the creepy 'Make your own kind of music' montage right before Kate gets eaten by the hatch...ick).

Anyways. Just thought I'd share.

p.s. the "Splash into Me" parody of Dave Matthew's "Crash into Me" (about a bidet) does NOT belong on my ipod's 'Muy Espiritual' mix...

Mr. Postman

2010-03-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

My dad came in the house today with a huge pile of mail. Apparently my mom has always been the mail-getter, and since she's been sick that hasn't happened a whole lot lately.

Either way, I never get mail down here. Mainly because I didn't change my address and I'm sure there are a lot of annoyed girls living in my old apartment where all of my (and all of my ex-roommates') stuff shows up. Ha ha. It is a long tradition of no one who ever lived there changing their address when they move. We used to get stuff from people who had lived there as long as ten years before us.

It's part of the secret code. The girls living there now have my permission to not change their address when they move out in April. You're welcome, girls.

Because of this, I was very surprised when my dad threw two huge envelopes on my lap. I'm actually not sure if they qualify as envelopes or packages. Packvelopes of goodness.

The first was very exciting, and something I've been meaning to tell you guys but just haven't gotten around to. I think the Scarlet Fever had something to do with that.

Excuse the poor quality photo. My excitement made me shake a little bit and so it's fuzzy:

And my new keychain which I am really excited about for some reason:

Woot woot!! That is fun news.

The second Packvelope? Ha ha. You guessed it, loyal blog-readers. The day we have all been waiting for is finally here. It's a few copies of the March 2010 New Era, of which I am a proud contributor. And when I say proud I mean, I was too embarrassed to send a picture in to go along with the silly, ridiculous article I wrote when I was 12. (See history of this by clicking here.)

I didn't even sign the paperwork and send it back in because I was so embarrassed. Turns out they published it anyway. It's just that good, guys.

Not.

Just in case you missed the name though, I got a close up.

Ohhh what a silly day. I wonder what the mailman will bring tomorrow?

-Kristina

Chelsea King

2010-03-03T01:36:00.000-08:00

Unless you're living in San Diego, I don't know if you've heard much about Chelsea King. We have all been glued to the news the last few days, waiting for updates on this missing high schooler from down here, and it's just been on my mind so much that I wanted to interrupt our silly posts with some reality for a minute.

Here's an update, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about:

Huge community search effort hits sad end

My mom's group, Children's Chorus, is based in RB/Poway and meets Thursday afternoons at the RB Rec Center. We've been going there for years, now, every single Thursday. We started getting/forwarding emails and calls as early as Thursday night with pictures and details, asking anyone who remembers anything to call the police immediately.

Knowing her car was right in that parking lot that I've parked in every week, and that she was involved in so many of the same things my friends and I were involved in during high school - this hit so close to home. Watching the community rally together in love and support for the Kings has been so incredible, but so sad at the same time. I can't get her sweet face out of my mind, and everyone down here has felt the heaviness in the air as the search continued.

I honestly can't even fathom what her family is going through right now, or the terror that poor Chelsea felt when she realized what was happening to her. My heart has had one continuous prayer for the sweet girl and her family this whole week.

Is it just me or does it seem like this kind of thing happens WAY too often in San Diego? It's such a devastating story with the worst possible ending.

Blah. I don't even know what the purpose of this post is. I guess that I would hope that we can all take the time to say a prayer for her family and the detectives/FBI. I hope we can hug our families a little tighter and feel grateful for the sun on our faces and the breath in our lungs.

Most of us have grown up living with a feeling of total safety and stability, and situations like this totally shake our foundations. But most people in the world haven't grown up feeling that way - they are very familiar with feeling danger and uncertainty. We are so blessed.

May the Lord's spirit bring comfort to sweet Chelsea's family during this impossible time. He's the only one who can help at this point. Nobody deserves what they are going through right now.

Rest in peace, Chelsea King. You deserve better than this evil world.

P.S.

2010-03-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

Want to know what food I'm NOT allergic to?

YOGURT COVERED PRETZELS.

I can't express the will power it took for me to actually take this picture prior to gobbling this pretzel up. Notice how it's the last one...in a bag which may or may not have been 1 lb when purchased initially...and my stomach may or may not hurt...a lot...

AN EQUATION:

YOGURT COVERED PRETZELS

SITTING IN MY OFFICE CHAIR ALL DAY

=

MY BUM
FEELING LIKE THIS:

Mm mm...is it lunch time yet?

loves, Calee

Saucy

2010-03-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have a certain niece named Bubba.

Bubba is a very nice baby who has some very nasty food allergies. As in, you name it, she's allergic to it. She's started to grow out of some of them...but the mental scarring they've caused remains. I present for your consideration, Exhibit A:

NOTE: Sweet Bubba munching on a cinnamon twist. Normal, right?

Exhibit B:

Note: Because she's never been allowed to dip vegetables, chicken nuggets, etc...in normal sauces (like, Ranch = allergic), she thinks it's a good idea to dip things into other 'sauces' (like, vegetables in ketchup -gag-, or cinnamon twists into her water). Mmm mm delicious.

Exhibit C:

Note: We've moved on to pizza now, and mmmmboy...it's sure tasty dipped in Sprite!

(for anyone who is saying to themselves that their kids/cousins/nieces/nephews dip their food into weird things, too, then congrats! Bubba and your kids can be strange together.)

Exhibit D:

Note: Sprite + Pizza = delicious.

Exhibit E:

Sweet Bubba, the least picky sauce-picker in the world.

Just in case you were missing Tucker...

2010-02-26T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures off my Blackberry of my little chocolaty muffin lovie puff! Mmm mm I love his little face!

This is what Tucker looks like in the morning when he wants me to pet him, or roll over so he can snuggle in the warm spot behind my legs.

This is what Tucker looks like when he's done snuggling and is concerned about a noise in the hallway so he barks like a lunatic and wakes everyone in a four mile radius up.

This is Tucker's new BFF. (Condolences to Kristina who lost that spot in his puppy heart when she ran away to Utah for a month.) Note: He is literally spooning Shaun. And growled when I tried to move him. Awesome.

This is Tucker sprawling spread eagle and asleep while Kristina rubbed his belly. I thought it was funny, so I went to take a picture - but Kristina didn't think it was appropriate to post pictures of his puppy parts, so she censored them. (*it may look like her hand is physically touching what she's covering, but I promise it's not. haha gross.)

Things I love about Tucker:

-He gets so excited when anyone comes home! Jumping and whining and doing his silly little wiggle :)

-He's so sneaky!! He'll wait until he thinks you're not watching, and then veeeery carefully pick up the thing you don't want him to have and starts backing away...slowly...while watching you. Haha little stinker.

-He growls if you move him while he's sleeping. Oh my heavens I'm laughing while writing this just thinking about it. Schnauzers sleep anywhere from 14-18 hours a day, and if you mess with his sleep cycle he'll let you know! Kristina gets growls more than anyone, but I'm pretty sure that's because she'll WAIT for him to be asleep and then go move him just so he'll growl! I'm sure it sounds ridiculous, but it really is cute.

Things I'm not so stoked on lately:

-Tucker has recently discovered that bunny poop is delicious. We have like 4.7 trillion bunnies that live in the field adjacent to the house, so there's a plethora of fresh fecal matter every morning for his consumption and delight. Gross, right? The worst part is, it makes his beard smell AWFUL. Like, really, really bad. And when I want to kiss his cute little face, it makes me gag a little. Ew.

-Along with bunny poop, Tucker finds yarn very tasty. What does this mean? It means that while I'm working on any given project, I'll feel a tugging on my hook - look up - and find that my small black dog is completely tangled in yarn...rolling around...growling...eating it...and once I untangle him from it, I get to crochet with slobbery yarn. Not fun.

All in all, still my favorite. Love him.

Calee Update

2010-02-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Soooo I'm getting my Grandma merit badges early in life by becoming a crocheting pro. I figure I'm way ahead of the game in case Y2K was off by a couple decades and we revert back to the 1800's. If that happens, you can contact me via smoke signal and I'll make you a lovely tunic. One size fits all, guaranteed to be scratchy and way too hot. I'm actually sitting at work right now wishing I had my hook and yarn here so I could get ahead on some granny squares - haha. I'm so weird.

Shaun brought over a puzzle for us to do together, since he was feeling a tiny bit neglected (if you're wondering why, re-read that first paragraph...). It made me laugh thinking about how we both enjoy doing such weird things - puzzles, crocheting...he's five and I'm ninety :). Not literally, though. I'm only 26.

I ended up paying $1006.00 to register my car. Holy moly. I almost vomited on the nice DMV lady's desk. HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT??! is what I wanted to ask. Buuuut I didn't. I just paid her and went on my merry way. Don't worry, I only STOOD in line for two hours this time. Oooh standing...standing is less fun in heels than flats...and gets less fun the longer you have to do it. I guess there are lots of things in life that are like that. Work...running...eating vegetables...

You get the picture.

Sam and Nikki are coming down this weekend with their cute little babies! Woo! So stoked.

Kristina may or may not be bailing on the family reunion (immediate only, Grandma, no worries) due to her fever of the scarlet sort. At least she's less swollen now. That's a win.

I'm almost done with my degree!! I have one week left of this class, then only two more to go!! Goodness gracious I'll be one happy camper when I'm all done :) Yay yay yay for education.

Dreams this week: Kristina and Shaun snuggling (and the beat down that ensued), a rabbit appearing out of a dead beetle and telling me I'm pregnant, me and Hurley from LOST hugging and crying because he was about to go onto a submarine that would never surface again, and Tucker turning into a marshmallow and Dad accidentally eating him.

Moral of the story: Rabbits are liars.

loves -Calee

Scarlet Fever

2010-02-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, I do have scarlet fever. Before last week, my only understanding of scarlet fever was that sometimes it would kill one of my players on Oregon Trail in fifth grade, which resulted in an "Awwwwww, man!" everytime.

Let me assure you, the real thing definitely deserves a similar reaction. Times a million. I thought I was just kind of sick last week - I got the whole headache and sore throat thing. I got to the 'really sick' point where I would normally go to the doctor's office, but I don't have health insurance right now and didn't want to spend money on something my body could do for free, right?

I thought that was right until Sunday night when my face was red and puffy and swollen and I thought my ribs were going to cave in. Turns out I was wrong. And I have scarlet fever. Ha.

It's sucked.

And that is about all of the energy that I have right now to update you. Bring me a chocolate blast from baskin robbins and maybe we can talk more.

DMV Blues

2010-02-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

The DMV makes me so bummed. I got an appointment last week for this Tuesday (today) and figured I could be in and out on my lunch break. Makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, I HAD AN APPOINTMENT. I even got there early, stood in line, made it in just before my appointment time....and then was given a number.

A NUMBER?!

People. I have ONE hour. Which is why I made the appointment. WHAT IS THE POINT OF HAVING AN APPOINTMENT IF I HAVE TO WAIT JUST THE SAME AS ALL THE PEOPLE WITH NO APPOINTMENT?! Good grief. Don't worry though, because the average wait time was only 3 hours. On a Tuesday afternoon. Shoot me, please.

I didn't stay. I had notices that need/ed to be delivered. And so now I will make another appointment (probably for next year sometime, if I'm lucky) and hope that I don't get pulled over and thrown in jail for driving an unregistered vehicle.

That's all. Just venting.

p.s. Kristina has scarlet fever. Not kidding. Come bring her ice cream & a back scratcher and she'll be your best friend forever. Just remember to wear your quarantine gear.

love, Calee

Sign you have an iPhone:

2010-02-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

You cry when you find out that you ruined it.

... yesterday was a bad day.

Meet my new phone:

Seriously. I might cry again.

-Kristina

Yep

2010-02-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

I was joking with my friends this weekend that you can tell when my life gets interesting by how much I blog. Lots of blogging = boring life. Not so much/no blogging at all = probably lots of juicy drama and details. Ha ha. Sorry guys.

This most recent vacation from blogging is no different. My life is officially complicated and busy and adventurous and exciting right now. It is awesome. (And stressful. But I'm learning to let go of that.)

I'll give details of what I can, but most of it will stay right inside my little heart.

Public knowledge?

- I was recently called to be the Laurel advisor in our ward! I ALREADY LOVE IT SO MUCH. And it's only been a few weeks. And I've been out of town two of those weeks. But I tell you what, there is something about those girls that I already am totally addicted to. Oh I can't wait for the fun we'll have.

- I had my interview with the Marriott School at BYU this last week. I don't know if I wrote on here that I had officially decided to get my MBA - but that's what I decided. My interview went a little differently than I had expected; I'll give you the run-down in a few weeks when I hear back from them.

- I've been spending so much time with my sweet Ashley lately, and I am loving every minute of it. She is one of my very favorite people right now and we have seen abnormal amounts of each other lately - especially considering the fact that we live in different states. Bless you, sweet volleyball team, for playing so much in California and giving my best friend an excuse to come see me! She is the greatest.

- Speaking of Ashley, I am kind of in love with all of my (ex) roommates and their spouses. Excluding Kristen on her mission (miss you!), all of my old roomies have done a pretty darn good job of finding their perfect other halves. When I moved and everything was changing, I thought it would be so hard for me to spend time with them and their husbands/fiancees. But it is the exact opposite! I love to sit with them and just soak in the love that fills their homes. They don't have perfect lives but they are doing just about everything they can to still be blissfully happy in spite of the hard things, and it is (as cheesey as this sounds) inspiring to me. And it makes me marriage-hungry. But who does that surprise right now? Ha ha. And I can't wait to be a part of Ri's wedding. I kind of teared up yesterday when she asked me. <3 Love you, girl.

- I was in Utah this week for Nikki and Sam's reception that they canceled. Ha. But it's okay because my interview was that weekend, too. And I got to visit and play with friends. We all went up to Ash's family's cabin in Park City and had such a fun Valentine's date! Jake and I were the only two there that were not eternally-committed to each other. Awkward? Not a chance. How could you be awkward with this face?

- I saw Nikki and Sam on Friday night, we did a little mini-double-date action and saw a movie together. And then headed over to SAMMY's for half-pie-shakes. If you live in Utah and have not been to Sammy's yet, you need to go. I can't go up there without satisfying that craving. It is so delicious. And the new onion rings did not disappoint. Pickle and Sama Lama Ding Dong are just as adorable as they were on their wedding day. It was so fun to see her glowing like that.

- I missed my family and I'm happy to be home.

I can't really think of anything else that I am allowed to write on here. Ha ha. Except that all of my friends/family are loving living through my dating life right now. They love the drama. And I am learning to just sit back and smile and take it one day at a time.

I should start an anonymous blog where I can just get all of these juicy stories out!

... nah.

-Kristina

Update

2010-02-08T15:12:00.001-08:00

Hi friends. I haven't been great at blogging. Ever. Haha.

Here are some low quality pictures from my phone - enjoy :)

I finally SOLD THE TRUCK! (WEE!!) And bought this cute little 2006 Civic Coupe! Mm mm love it lots. It gets great gas mileage, has low miles on it, and it pretty cute to boot! (I figure I should stop purchasing vehicles with carseats in mind because - let's face it - that probably won't be necessary for a few more years.)

Here's cute little Bubba with cute little Kristina riding the train at the mall. $5.00 for 15 minutes of Thomas the Train soundtrack?? Probably the best possible way to spend your money at the mall (when you have kids with you). P.S. To the nice lady who thought giving her Happy Meal toy to my four year old neice was an awesome idea: NEXT TIME BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR SIBLINGS. Thanks. One toy + two little girls who are acutely aware of what is (and what is NOT) fair = melt down.
Thank heavens for Thomas the Train.

This burrito is huge. And I almost ate all of it. Impressed? Or grossed out? You can tell me the truth.

Not a whole lot other than that. And my uterus(es) hate(s) me. <-- never got the ultrasound/sonogram for that. Thanks for returning my calls, Kaiser. Not.

Hope you all had a very merry Monday. Here's to a great week! Weeeeee.

Lost in your eyes

2010-02-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Sawyer,

You know, people may criticize us for taking such long breaks - but when we see each other it's always back to normal, and I know we're meant to be. I can't believe that it's been more than 8 months since I've seen you.

I can't wait to see your little hair tosses and random mood swings, and enjoy your sassily pithy comments and nicknames. I'm sure you've been working out a ton, what with lifting heavy things and cutting down vines and such, so I'm definitely looking forward to the no-shirt situations.

Can we talk about something really quickly though, just to get it out of the way? What the HECK is your deal with Kate? I mean, sure, she's got a rockin bod. And I was just as amazed as everyone else at how hot she looked in the scenes she actually got to wear make up. But other than that? Really? Talk about a whiney, can't make up her mind, blame everyone else, kind of girl. I just don't see it, Sawyer. She's burned you before, and she'll do it again, dang it! Plus - am I the only person who thinks she resembles some kind of small woodland creature?

I'll let the Juliet thing pass since I think she is freaking awesome and a total Bad-A. And may or may not be dead.

Anyway... I'm excited to see you. It's been way, way too long. Let's not do this anymore, okay?

I'll see you tomorrow. ;)

-Kristina

Sweet Nike Free

2010-01-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last semester I got lazy. REAL lazy. I was suuper sick a couple of times, playing with Amber before she banished herself back to the tundra (aka Rexburg), and generally lethargic. That means my workout regimen went right out the window. To remedy all that, I decided to purchase myself a new pair of running shoes! WOO motivation!

As I was looking around for something to replace my old Nike Structure(s) <--love Love LOVE these shoes, I came across the Nike Free. It doesn't look like your typical exercise shoe, and it definitely doesn't FEEL like it either! The shoe feels light, extremely flexible (the sole flexes completely open! and it's fabric - so my fat little foot doesn't feel constricted! wee!), and almost makes you forget you've got them on to begin with.

It turns out that these sweet kicks are excellent for toning leg muscles and are exceptionally comfy to work out in (even on the first day!). I'm really stoked that I bought them! I buy gym shoes about once a year -and I was pleasantly surprised at the price tag! Woo for new shoes and new resolve :)

p.s. Tucker and I went for a run this morning before work. No blisters! The ankle has nooo support, however, so if you're prone to rolling them maybe opt for a shoe with more support...still way comfy. love love. mm.

I blog about Tucker

2010-01-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

because everything else is too complicated.

MYSTERY: I walked out to my truck this morning and there was an earthworm on my rear view mirror. Yep. Earthworm. He was surrounded by some dirt, and I was truly perplexed at his presence there. Earthworms don't climb, do they?! I've never even seen one climbing over a crack in the cement, let alone up an entire vehicle and onto a rear view mirror.

He looked a little bit slimy and sad - and I figured he was dead - so I decided to let the wind knock him off as I drove so I didn't have to scoop his little cadaver off into the rocks where I park. I drove a couple of blocks, stopped at a stop sign, checked my rear view mirror and he was WAVING AROUND FRANTICALLY!! what the HECK!? He was ALIVE! And FREAKING OUT!

I guess I'm partially insane because I couldn't just let him fly off with the breeze now that I knew he was alive. What did I do? I completely pulled off the road, found a patch of grass, and scooped him with a scrap of paper off my mirror (and temporarily onto the cement - sorry, dude) and finally into said grass.

I felt totally bizarre. Why couldn't I just let him blow away? Why couldn't I just have flicked him onto the cement and forget about it?? I have no idea. I'm neurotic? I care too much? Who knows. All I know is that I was worried sick about driving too fast until I was able to pull over and put him in the grass. Haha wow.

P.S. One time I gave a snail that I rescued from a puddle mouth to mouth with a coffee straw because I felt so sad that he had drowned because of the rain. How old was I? Old enough to know what mouth to mouth was, and waaay old enough for it to be really weird that I'd feel so compelled to save a snail.

Sooo my only question now is: ...are you sure you still want to marry me, 34?

And I guess I should blog at least a little about Tucker: he has really nasty gas. Haha. (direct quote from Kristina today.) I decided that a miniature schnauzer was the best choice ever for a puppy - and if I ever get another dog, it's going to have a really hard time living up to the standard he's set. Even though he sometimes pees on the carpet, and continues peeing after I pick him up and set him in the kitchen. And regardless of how he wants to sleep directly on TOP of you, and begs shamelessly, and cries/screeches/howls in the night if he wakes up and he's not cuddling with someone. Still the best. Mmm mm love him.

Dear Life,

2010-01-26T10:41:00.001-08:00

Thanks for being so weird. Weird keeps me on my toes. I never really know what's coming next...which is a little bit irritating, but I guess I've gotten used to your wiley ways. Willey? Willy? Haha no...definitely not willy. Anyways.

I'm still not ok with the dreams, Life. Seriously. Stop it with the acid-tripping dreams.

Thanks. Til next time, xoxo Calee

iWltk

2010-01-07T16:46:00.001-08:00

Umm Hi Kristina. Remember ME?! Your CO-BLOGGER who you have COMPLETELY ABANDONED?! Yeah. Sad.

I was waiting until today to blog because I didn't want to blog over your post yesterday, so imagine my (haha I seriously just typed 'muff' there and then sat here and laughed for ten minutes trying to figure out why on earth 'muff' was what came out!! hahaha)...let's try that again: so imagine my surprise/irritation when I just looked at our blog and you BLOGGED again today! So TOO BAD, Martha-baby, I'm blogging right over you. DEAL.

I'm really getting tired of having the convenience and ease of your vehicle just sitting around for me to use at will, and not having to share ice cream that I bring home with you is frustrating. I'm sick of only have to fight Dad about not watching football ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT instead of you AND Dad. Tucker's undivided attention is really getting old - plus, not having to fight you & Tuck for the big couch at night is just infuriating.

Basically, you should come home. Mom was apparently on drugs when she told you to WAIT for Brooke to come home!! (p.s. she totally accused me of stealing her oxycontin this morning hahaha that's a story for another posting, however...) <-- no, I did not steal any.

In other news: Mom found two black widows on the green blanket that I cuddle with on the big couch every night. That was pretty disturbing. Turns out there's a big web behind the couch. Yep. Gross x 50,000.

AAAAND I have yet to find a cute dress to wear to Nikki and Sam's wedding. Any ideas? Anyone?

Wow I guess this post wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. My bad. I'm still going to post over you in protest of this driving home on the 14th business.

p.s. I showed Shaun Seriously So Blessed last night and was amazed at how funny he thought it was :) Show your boyfriends/husbands. Pretty funny slash sad. You've never heard of it? {frownsmile} SAD. We have a link on the left hand side of our blog. You're welcome.

WYLTK part II

2010-01-07T11:49:00.001-08:00

I don't have a computer up here, but since I have the best phone ever created, it doesn't really matter. :)

So after Sacramento, I flew out to Utah with Pickle. And when I say "with" I mean, we got to the airport at the same time, her direct flight landed at 3, she went and played with Sam while I was flying to Phoenix and nearly missed my connecting, and then they picked me up at 7:30. Yeah. Thanks Southwest.

We played. Had New Years. Kissed at midnight? (wouldn't you like to know!) and slept way too late. My mother had the brilliant idea of me just staying in Provo until Brooke drives down for the wedding next weekend... And so here I am!

I love all of my old roomies and their (future) spouses. It's been so comfortable and normal to be with them. I feel very much like myself right now. Isn't that nice?

I think so too.

My theme song for this trip is "Brand New Day" by Joshua Radin. You should look it up, and feel my content feelings right now.

Thanks to big time for the introduction.

I'm going to go clean now. Little miss Ashley is in Santa Barbara and could use a little less stress in her life right now. I think a fresh clean apartment will help, don't you? Glad you agree.

- Kristina

-- Post From Kristina's iPhone

Wouldn't you like to know?

2010-01-06T00:48:00.001-08:00

I have been gone. It's been a seriously crazy week(ish) since Christmas and if I gave you all the juicy details this would be quite the popular post.

But I'm not going to. Haha. Sorry! You have to be my real life friend for that. Give me a call and I'll spill it!

I will tell some stuff though! Wow there is a lot to catch up on. I am on a super weird sleeping schedule though so I can do it now. :)

Pickle and I drove up to Sacramento last Sunday with her sweet babies. I kind of had a mental breakdown in the morning because it was kind of last minute and I don't handle spontaneity very well - but that passed. Thank heavens. Here are cute babies:

We got to Sac and had silly moments and happy days. Minus a few fiascos, including one that inspired this text from my mother:

"Nikki told me about your face. Sounds horrible!"

Ha ha. Thanks Mom.

I also was deathly allergic to her kitten. A fact I've known my whole life, but apparently Pick doesn't care about me enough to know these things. Haha just kidding. But seriously.

This cat could sense my disdain. His name is Dexter and he would rather sleep on my face than anywhere else. He would not leave me alone!!! And he purrs louder than Jan snores. That is pretty loud, people.

One afternoon I was feeling particularly out of it from the allergy meds, and was trying to sleep. Dexter kept ending up on my face, and in my half-asleep state I probably pushed him off of me 20 times before I yelled "leave me alone!"

He did leave me alone, barely. I had to take a picture of what happened next.

That's my arm with the gray sleeve. Hahaha. Oh Dexy.

And this post is To Be Continued...

-- Post From Kristina's iPhone

Christmas Happenings

2009-12-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Kristina & Calee and our adorable blog!! Weee! Here are some high quality photos from my blackberry which document some of our Christmas frivolities. Enjoy.

Here's Tucker eating wrapping paper, tape, stocking candies and pretty much everything else he shouldn't be eating all while wearing ridiculously cute doggie pajamas and trying to snuggle while we wrap presents for Bear, Bug & Mo.

(p.s. thanks Mom for the cute Paul Frank pj's!)

I walked out into the living room and heard Kristina laughing really hard. Apparently Tucker had climbed onto her chest while she was reclining on a quick present-wrapping-break and was just standing there staring at her. He didn't move as I walked past to grab my phone, knelt down to take the picture, laughed, called him...he just stood there. Staring at her. I think someone needed some attention...
Shaun and I were playing Wii and Tucker thought it would be a good idea to use Shaun's shoulder as a pillow. He fell into such a deep slumber, however, that he started slowly sliding down his chest...this is him 100% unconscious...front legs dangling off the couch, little puppy head and chest on Shaun. Haha I wish I would've gotten a side shot, too - it was so funny.

I thought I'd include a picture of my mortal nemesis - the dreaded DESK CANDY. We currently have some raspberry creme Hershey Bliss squares (these taste every so subtely like crayons smell...delicious), mint Hershey kisses, and peanut butter, fudge and carmel filled Christmas bell chocolates. I won't even begin to guess how many of these I've consumed today alone. ick/yum.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas & have a GREAT New Years! I can't wait for my family to be together again in a few weeks for Nikki & Sam's wedding! Yay yay yay!!!

Title-less.

2009-12-19T00:32:00.000-08:00

I'm just about finished with my Christmas shopping - although Calee's present still requires some work/thought. It started as a good idea but I'm concerned it won't end that way.

Today I went to Fry's and stared at the fish. Then to Nordstrom Rack where I waited 30 minutes to buy one little thing. Which I just typed but then deleted because the recipient reads this, and it is not Christmas yet. The lady kept apologizing and apologizing for making me wait so long but I wasn't angry at all. Why do we get angry at waiting in line, or sitting in traffic? I don't really know. I've been that person before, though, and my non-angry waiting was a much more pleasant experience today.

Target was nice, too. Although I bought something I was really happy about only to find that it was the wrong size for what it's for. Yet another return before present-opening even begins! Disappointing.

Did you know that 7 sweet potatoes cooked and mashed will only yield about 5 cups? I learned that today. For some reason it was surprising to me. Nobody at the ward party noticed - they gobbled up my sweet potatoes so fast that I didn't even get any. We sang, too. And Calee hit the high note that she was scared of and I was happy for her, and again, not surprised.

I want to sleep but my insides hurt. Literally and figuratively. I am jealous of Ashley's happy pregnant state because she doesn't have to deal with this for another 9 months.

and I haven't heard from you. And I haven't reached out, either. Because I'm really tired of you. I bet you didn't think that could happen, huh? Me neither. Falling out of love sucks.

Our blog is in desperate need of a make over. It is too too busy. It makes my head hurt. I don't know how to fix it though.

I'm not going to sleep but the laptop sitting on my body is not pleasant right now. At least Mom will have something to read at 3 in the morning when she can't sleep. Hi Mom. See you bright and early for choir practice. I hope I don't mess up on the piano.

7 more sleeps till Christmas.

-Kristina

Dear Day:

2009-12-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Please stop dragging. I understand that you have to keep to a schedule (the whole 24-hour rule or whatever) but HONESTLY...you cannot tell me that I've only been awake for two hours?! You're OBVIOUSLY prolonging yourself. Have you forgotten what tomorrow is??

I'm only going to ask you one more time, and then we're going to be in a fight: start flying by. Whizzing, even. These past couple weeks have been crazy and full of bizarre stressful things, and I need equilibrium restored. I need to remember what it feels like to feel normal, and have things in their proper order. If you could talk Life into making sense again, I'd appreciate that, too. (I'm pretty sure you and Life hang out, right?)

Anyways. If you and Life and Fate could come together to make tomorrow get here faster, I'd appreciate it. I need a little more of this guy in my life:

Scratch that. I need a LOT more of him in my life. Right. Now.

Think you can handle that?

Thanks :)

xoxo - Calee

Excuse me while I gouge my eyes out

2009-12-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

Dating is so ridiculous. Remember that phase a while ago where I was wanting a knight in shining armor really badly? The lonely part of me still wants a husband. But I would honestly rather hurl my body off a cliff than start looking for one right now.

I think it's kind of funny that mr. football is a dating machine up in Provo and I am avoiding it like the plague. That probably sums up our two varying experiences with our relationship.

Anyway. I have a story about how annoying dating is. I hope this poor kid doesn't read my blog:

I was set up by a friend. Actually a friend of my sister's. And she didn't even really know this boy very well, or me very well - but she thought it would be a good match. It was right during all of the Jan-drama, so it took a while for us to actually start talking. But start talking we did - mainly via facebook.

After quite a bit of planning, we finally figured out a time to go out. He knew I was pretty fragile from the whole situation, and was pretty open about being okay with that. We went out. It was fine. A little forced and uncomfortable sometimes, but welcome to first dates, right? Right. I patted myself on the back for actually going out.

Texting ensued, which was nice. Sometimes you just need somebody to say nice things to you every once in a while! I appreciated it. Then he wanted to hang out again but things just kept not working out. We finally made tentative plans... but my sister came into town unexpectedly. I canceled. He FREAKED out. Like, called me on the phone to "talk about things." It was a smidge confrontational. I was more than a smidge confused of why on earth we were having this conversation when we had only gone on one date, and my sister was here. Is there really a question there of who I'm going to hang out with?

... A few weeks pass. We text here and there, but I am busy with the stresses of things here and I'm already forcing myself to try and be social as it is, so not a lot of other plans are made.

Then last night he tells me on facebook that I didn't answer his text he sent me this weekend. I apologized, and figured it was probably during one of the many hours that my mother was feverishly playing bejeweled on my phone. Did I tell him that? No. Why do I have to explain things like that to somebody I barely know?

Then instead of asking how my day was, or whats new, he asks if I am "ready to date". Um whooa. Really? I say "No." Ha ha. This is my 'cool-dating' filter I was telling you guys about earlier. If you can't handle the truth, don't ask the question.

He kind of laughs it off, tells me he appreciates my honesty, and then asks "Do you like talking to me?" Um. How do I answer that? I told him he was a little too intense for me sometimes and our conversations tend to stress me out. Haha seriously I did.

He proceeds to freak out at me some more. Uh, bro, didn't you just tell me you appreciate honesty? No...? Oh okay.

He even at one point went on a tirade and then said "BYE" right in the middle of it. I said, I'm so sorry if I hurt your feelings. I'll talk to you later. ..hoping that was the end.

But no.

He comes back and wants to have a normal conversation after that, now that I am still talking to him after the fit he threw. What in the world? I told him that having conversations like this was weird to me when we've only been on one date. And that he stresses me out. And I'm sorry if that bothers him.

So then he asks about work, and chats like things are normal. Tells me he has to go and says "sorry for the creeper status earlier. i'll work on it. night night!"

...uh. Night?

........................................................... I am going to stay single forever. It's decided.

-Kristina

we will, we will, stalk you.

2009-12-15T17:40:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends:

Please start blogging more frequently. IMMEDIATELY. I'm really starting to question whether we're on the same level of commitment to blogging or not, people. Do you want me to start out-blogging you? How embarrassing.

I hate to make demands, but more pictures of your adorable babies would really spice things up. I'd also like to read more stories about your holiday plans, your ridiculous husbands (or wives), in-laws, out-laws, pets, etc.

I'm getting tired of no new posts. Working over time? Family in town? STOP MAKING EXCUSES.

Sorry if I sound harsh - but tough love is in order. I only say these things to help you become the bloggers I knew you can be.

Soooo I'll be ramping up my stalkerage starting tomorrow. Don't disappoint me.

Love, Calee

we are here We Are Here WE ARE HEEEERE

2009-12-14T19:22:00.000-08:00

Haha terrifying animated film trivia.

And Kristina - Missy Elliot. Shameful. And to think you're being published in the New Era. Tsk TSK!

haha jk I love Missy.

Anyways. I just thought I'd blog real quick and let you all know that I am still alive. I know, you were worried about it weren't you. It's 7:30pm on Monday night and I'm NOT AT FHE. Go ahead, judge me. I had to come back to the office to make sure I had turned off my space heater so my maintenance man wouldn't chop me into tiny bits tomorrow morning for leaving it on. (Our candle heater was accidently left on over the weekend and I thought his brain might explode this morning as he related how irate it made him. wow.)

The good news is - I remembered to turn it off before I left :) The bad news? I'm not sure I have enough gas to get to the station anymore. At least the office won't burn down. I could always just hitch hike. There are all kinds of friendly drivers on the I-15, right?

Tucker has horrendous gas and has been throwing up today. Poor guy. It's really not his fault that we all feed him whatever we're eating. I think he actually eats the majority of every meal I eat at home. (I bet Kristina is REALLY offended right now reading this and is probably yelling at the screen "I DON'T FEED HIM ANYTHING! I LOVE HIM MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS FAMILY DOES! ::to Tucker:: Don't I, buddy? Yeah...we're friends." Seriously. I bet someone $100.00 that she just said that EXACT phrase. I win. Send me your money.)

Other than that...I love Ashlynd Wilson. She's my new assistant in the office. Well, not NEW new anymore...but she's great. I love how sweet she is. Maybe the sweetest person I've ever met. Not a mean bone in that girl's body.

And I wish someone would buy my truck without me having to work on selling it. Haha. But seriously. Anyone want a 2001 Nissan Frontier? It's really cute...yellow, super clean, with a rack thing on the top and four doors...runs great. I'm the second owner. Non smoker. 100+ miles. Blue books for $6000....I'd sell it for $5500...obo...leave the B.O. at home, though please... :)

looooooooooooooooooove xoxo Caleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

Copywritten, so... don't copy me.

2009-12-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

Song trivia. Actually it's a super inappropriate song. Let's forget I said anything. ((How did we listen to that stuff in high school and not get how bad the lyrics were? Or was that just me? Oblivious, much?))

Last week I got home and there was a fat letter for me from the church sitting on the counter. I was feeling a little confused/scared/excited/idon'tevenknowwhatemotionitwas. My mom pointed it out and asked me if I had been working on mission stuff without telling her. Of course not! Actually for all of you waiting on a mission update, I really don't think it is going to happen. A lot a lot went into that... but the bottomline is that I just feel really hesitant to make that decision. So. That's that. Maybe it will change in the future. I'm definitely going with the hubby one day, but possibly the single-sister mission isn't out of reach just yet.

Anyway, the answer was no. Which brought me no closer to understanding the contents of this letter. Are you dying of suspense right now? This is what it said:

"Dear Kristina:

We have an Instant Message on file from you entitled "Standing up in History." We would like to print your article in the March 2010 issue of the New Era. A check for $25.00 will be mailed to you upon return of the attached agreement. If this is acceptable, please return the agreement within 30 days."

And then it continues on to explain copyright laws and publication regulations.

Bahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

This instant message they are talking about? A two-paragraph story I wrote for a mutual activity - TEN YEARS AGO. I still have it actually, because it was all scrap-booked and cute. I remember having my feelings pretty hurt that they didn't publish it! But I figured our leaders never actually sent them in, they just told us that. The date on it? Seriously - 1999.

Way to be on top of that, guys.

They sent me a copy of the story and it is maybe 8 sentences long. Not cool in any little tiny way. It is so lame and boring. They want me to send pictures for when they publish it.

Ha ha. Oh man. I am still laughing about it. For some reason it just tickled my funny bone. I think it's hilarious.

So make sure to look for a picture of my 12-year-old self next year in the magazine. I'm definitely not sending a current photo, you can bet your bum. Walking out of class when the teacher turned on an R rated movie probably won't go over so well when they realize I'm a BYU student. Oh my BYU-grad. I am old. And $25 richer. And published.

-Kristina

P.s. I'll sign your New Era next March, if you're lucky.

This week

2009-12-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

I had an unfortunate event happen with a coworker. I'm not angry with her, nor angry at my boss. But sadly, some personal boundaries of mine were crossed and I will not subject myself to further abuse by continuing to work with her.

We had a mediation yesterday, where my boss sat down with the two of us and tried to work things out. It's sad to see a fully-grown woman maintain such nastiness and stubbornness that she can't even participate in an exercise to find a solution without resorting to name-calling and finger-pointing. My boss was trying to be neutral beforehand, but the blatant bad behavior and mistreatment that happened in front of her own eyes changed that. She was in total shock at the way things happened, especially right in front of her. She could only imagine how it was the day she was gone. She gave me a hug, apologized for nasty lady's behavior, and told me to go home so I didn't have to deal with it anymore.

I feel very sad that it all had to happen at all, and bewildered thinking of what I possibly could have done to avoid such a run-in.

It's not really part of my nature to just say someone is a nasty person and leave it at that. I don't think she is a nasty person. But she has a very nasty way of handling stress and of treating people.

Since we planned on this position being temporary at the start of it, I volunteered to be the one to leave so we didn't have to leave this poor woman job-less right before Christmas. Do I still think it would be best for the practice to no longer have her as an employee? Yes, I do. But that's the doctor's decision and I'll be interested to see what they end up doing.

Either way, I will no longer be working there.

Sad week, right? I know. Very draining. I think I will just sleep this whole weekend. And play the piano. I would say a manicure/pedicure/massage... but I'm currently out of a job. So that isn't exactly in my budget.

-Kristina

Rain rain go away

2009-12-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

but do not come again another day.

I have had WAY too much rain this week. I can't handle much more of it. Seriously.

-Kristina

I just got in my car

2009-12-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

and this is what I saw:

I'm so sorry, sweet Tucker. I'm sure you are a very sad puppy today without your best bud. We never should've taken him with us yesterday to run errands!

I hope your new squirrel friend is keeping you good company while cow-pig is away.

We will be home soon.

-- Post From My iPhone

Holler.

2009-12-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hi friends. I'm glad you missed me. Calee, I wanted to give your post the maximum amount of face-time before I blogged over it. I almost blogged over it that day as a joke, but figured you wouldn't think it was funny. :)

Life is terribly wonderful right now. I am super happy and busy but my down moments are getting the tiniest bit longer as the days go on and holidays come and go. I think I've figured out my plan and what I'm doing, but I'll hold off a few weeks before sharing it. Some things are in the works and we will see what happens with that. As a side-note, I may be looking for work! If you know of any openings, (I'm even okay with a little secretary job somewhere - prefer it, actually), then let me know. Either in San Diego or Utah.

Here are some recent iPhone photos for your enjoyment:

I seriously took this because her bum looked cute and I wanted to send a picture to Shaun. Ha ha :) This is in the dressing room at the Poway Performing Arts center before my mom's big show. We sang and it was not as terrible as I thought it would be. So that's something.

We took tucker to Balboa Park for my mom's show, and he started FREAKING out for no reason at one point. I turned around, feeling confused, until I saw this guy. He is oddly similar-looking to somebody.
... haha. :)Tucker was so excited and on sensory-overload that day at the park. He saw so many people and smelled so many smells and barked at so many other dogs. It was such a fun day for him. After we got home, he plopped on the couch and slept ALL DAY. Seriously! Our little ball of energy. He is so cute.

The beautiful stage with the cute little kids singing! They were awesome and adorable. Every year Balboa park has a huge event during December with all sorts of booths, food, performers, etc. You also get into museums for free on certain nights! It is sweetness. You should really check it out if you're in SD.

Kara's hair, as I was sitting behind her at the multi-stake choir practice last night. I want mine to do this, but Calee says I need lots of layers. Is my hair too thin for this? I want it. What do you think??
(P.s. The choir is LEGIT. Seriously. The show is going to be so incredible this year. For tickets, go to the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. They are $6 each, there will be two shows on 12/22. I hear there are still good seats available for the 8 o'clock show.)

That's all really. (Calee you need to put up pics of Tuck's bday party.) I don't have much going on right now, besides Christmas presents prep and work, and church stuff. Blah did you see that the vegas bowl is on the 22nd? So much for that. :( Same night as the multi-stake Christmas concert. Bah. I wanted to go.
I can't get this to stop doing center-alignment and it's bothering me.
Anyway. Good to catch up. I missed you. I am in serious need of a distraction or two - so if you have any distractingly-good-looking men, please send them my way. For real.

Thanks.

-Kristina

Dear Kristina

2009-12-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Our blog misses you. It's been almost a week! wth.

Thank you for letting me eat your PF Chang's leftovers (even if I did eat more than you originally intended...).

I think you might have died of hypothermia in the other room...this house is realllllly cold right now. I'm going to go check.

Love, Calee

I'M IN LOVE I'M IN LOVE AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!

2009-12-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, MOVIE TRIVIA!

Second, I am. And I don't :) I want everybody in on it!!! This post is about to get LENGTHY people. Consider yourselves warned.

Want to hear an adorable story about how I got ENGAGED over Thanksgiving?? READ ON.

Once upon a time, a young man named Shaun Reed decided to ask his sweet (extremely good looking) girlfriend to accompany him to Montana to meet his family for Thanksgiving. She was excited aaaand a little bit nervous about the snow situation...buuuut, ultimately willing to brave the snowy weather for a little R&R with her man. They'd been dating since summer and figured it was about time to get cozy with some extended fam.

Had they talked about getting engaged? Yes. BUT he was in school (and, as most of us know, being a full time student doesn't exactly lend itself to tons of time/money for ring searching/buying/etc...). So she was expecting a proposal would come to fruition ~ January or February-ish.

Shaun's 30th birthday was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving - BUT his grandma forgot and came in with a birthday card on Friday morning that had a cute little poem about him as a little kid -AND- a clue for a scavenger hunt to find his birthday present!

OK ENOUGH OF THE WEIRD TENSE/THIRD PERSON NONSENSE.

I LOVE scavenger hunts (especially when they end with presents!) so I pulled on my boots & coat and went dashing out into the misty Montana morning (aka FREEZING) after Shaun. We went to the garage first (clue #2), which directed us down to the playground (yes - they have a playground [cute!] - clue #3), which lead us to the dock/fishing rock (their house is right on Flathead Lake [amazingly beautiful] - clue #4), which landed us *finally* in the playhouse (complete with electricity and folding bunk beds - also directly on the lake - beaaauuuutiful).

There, on the playhouse table, was a big box wrapped in birthday paper. He'd been asking me the entire time what his gift was, and accusing me of being behind the whole thing! I told him I had NO idea and that I WISHED someone would've clued me in because it was such a great idea and I would've LOVED to have been a part of it. He opened the box and found another box - also wrapped.

He unwrapped it. Another wrapped box was inside. Then another. He was getting REALLY excited and kept saying - 'It's car keys! I just know it! They bought me a car!!' - which made me super excited for him! The smallest box was in his hands, and was just big enough to carry a set of car keys...

...or, a small jewelry box.

When I saw the shiny wood box inside the final gift wrapped box, I thought to myself, "Oooh...sad...he REALLY wanted car keys, and they bought him cuff links instead!!!" (haha, wow, Calee). He looked at it...then looked at me...and turned the box toward me.

"Open it! Open it!" I said. As he did, he got down on one knee. I thought I was going to pass out. What the heck?!?! How the?! What the?!?! THAT is NOT a CUFF LINK!!

He choked up a little bit as he asked me to marry him. I couldn't believe it!! What a sneaky, wonderful, perfect surprise!!! I'm looking at my beautiful engagement ring RIGHT NOW as I type this post!! I love it. And I love him. And we're getting married!!

Here are some pictures from the day after he asked...

I have no idea why the I is blue...BUT this is where he knelt in the playhouse and asked :) Tender.

This is my ring :) He picked it out himself! And I l.o.v.e. it.

This is the diving board on his grandparent's dock - the water was so clear and pretty! And it was freakishly cold outside. This is my sweet, thoughtful Shaun.

(p.s. check the hair length! woot! what did I tell you, people?!)
Photo credits to Joe Johnson. Good eye, my friend.

I absolutely love this shot. Isn't it sweet? Haha we are really ridiculous.
Not sure if you gleaned this from the rest of the post, but I am so so happy and in love with Shaun Robert Reed. Just thought I'd throw it out there in case you missed it.

p.s. are you still wondering if I purposely made a specific typo earlier? hahahahaha

for pickle

2009-12-01T22:19:00.001-08:00

This is the video I told you about Nik. I am not a cat fan but I wouldn't mind having this one.

Tuuuuuuuuuuck

2009-11-30T17:00:00.001-08:00

We are having Tucker's birthday party tonight after FHE!

And Calee is home.

And I don't work till 11 tomorrow!

It is a good day.

Look how cute he is right now. Seriously he is sleeping like this.

... need some attention?

-Kristina

MVP!

2009-11-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write about this for a while now, but have been either a) too busy or b) too embarrassed. But the truth will set you free, right?

My confession is that I have an unhealthy love for Rubios. I'm sure you'll recall my previous posts about how excited I was when one opened in American Fork - I wanted to go all the time. I just love it, it is delicious. Fish tacos, Chicken Big Burritos Especial, the salsa bar, and the best part: vanilla coke in the soda fountain. It's always been a must-have when I come home to visit.

So you can imagine my delight when I found out that my office is located JUST ACROSS THE STREET from one. And so I started going there for lunch... a lot.

At first I was a little embarrassed to be going so much, because I started to recognize the people. But then it didn't seem like anybody was noticing me, and I always was there at lunchtime so there are tons of people and I'm just one of the masses. I would even smoothly switch up what I ordered every time so they wouldn't catch on. I stopped being embarrassed after a while because no one knew. And I didn't go THAT much. ...right?

Wrong.

Last week I went in, and realized that she gave me my receipt before she asked for my name. I looked down and noticed she had already written my name there - with a K! Not even CH like everyone usually writes. I figured she must've been super sly and looked at my credit card, and I walked over to the soda fountain without thinking anything more about it.

Until I was filling up my cup with ice and the worker man who was wiping the counter leaned over and said, "Oh, sorry, we are out of Vanilla Coke right now." Before I had made my soda selection!! I felt slightly embarrassed for a moment, but figured it had to be a coincidence. I mean everyone loves Vanilla Coke, right? I'm sure he had been telling everyone that day.

... and then my heart stopped. Because three workers were approaching me with little smiles on their faces and one had his hands behind his back. It was the perfect storm. All of the little coincidences were suddenly very clearly NOT coincidences at all and I was about to be exposed! I froze in humiliation as they, loudly, informed me (and EVERYONE IN THE RESTAURANT) that I am their most loyal customer and that they would love to present me with these free meal cards for my unwavering support. "You can use these for next week," said one of them.

WOW.

Seriously that SAME day on my way home from work I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some chips/drinks for Calee's birthday party, and the lady at the register knew my name and asked how my enchiladas had turned out last week.

... maaaaaaybe I need to start switching things up a bit. You think?

-Kristina

P.s. Why does blogger put random spacing in all of my posts? On my "compose" section of the blog it looks like even spaces. Then I get out here and it's all weird. And I'm too lazy to fix it. Sorry but not really.

AWEGPIJAWEIAWEITJAWERI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

I am quite the stressball today. Which makes absolutely no sense because Jan and I aren't even flipping TOGETHER anymore.

When we were dating, Friday nights were the worst nights ever during the fall. He was locked away in a hotel, and always super focused so our conversations were definitely not enjoyable. I would hardly be able to sleep because my stomach would just be in such crazy knots and the next day I would be so tired and crazy and tense! (Seriously, I would usually try to sleep for a while but then end up watching the Mtn. for most of the night. High quality entertainment there. Not.)

I would joke with him after the game that I was the one that needed a massage because my muscles were sore from being so stressed out. I don't think he thought that was as funny as I did. ha ha :)

Anyway, today is flipping the Utah game. Not only that, but all of those sweet seniors' last time playing at LES. How freaking huge. I am completely in knots today. Shouldn't I be over this? Yes. That's the answer to that question. Am I? Apparently not.

Thank heavens the season is almost over and I can desist with the nonsense.

GO COUGS! In honor of BYU v. Utah day, please enjoy this photo from BYU v. Utah day 2007. What a different life that was.

-Kristina

P.s. Happy Birthday sweet Tucker! We will have your birthday party on Monday so Calee can be here.

P.p.s. Oh and Happy Birthday to No-Name! I was going to write your actual name here but then I remembered Calee made up some schroeder-sisterly-nick-name like the others have. But I can't remember what it is. So...

Speaking of he-who-must-not-be-named, I believe Calee has a fun update to share. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's just me and the parents today - Pickle and Sam will be here later tonight.

I am thankful for my mother on this Thanksgiving. And for the majorly intense game of scrabble we enjoyed on my iPhone this morning while watching the parade.

And for the incredibly awesome word "wavy" that could not have come at a more clutch time. She was killing me the entire game - that word alone? 64 points. WHATS UP.

... I think she is still mad. :)

BTW - Words with Friends is a legit game on the iPhone. Tell me if you have it so I can battle you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Miss you wags and boogie!!!!

-Kristina

Late. Again.

2009-11-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

I was late on Boog's birthday post and now on Waggles. Sorry friends. I don't really consider myself a late person usually. Am I? Weird.

Yes, I did leave flowers and balloons on her car. And I'm glad you couldn't see the writing in the picture because it was not cute and fun it was scrawled and rushed. I only had like 2 seconds to decorate before I had to speed back to work.

... Sorry.

The good news? Calee is extremely laid back. So she liked it anyway. :)

And now for my what I love about Calee post. In honor of her 21st birthday. Or is it her 22nd? Ha ha. :)

I was going to just write normally, but I will create a list in honor of Calee's favorite blogging style. At least 75% of her posts are a list of some kind. Here is your birthday list:

1. Calee is one positive chick. She has this weird silly giggle that she has had since she was a little little girl and it is awesome. She is just genuinely happy most of the time and is not afraid to guffaw (ha ha! inside joke) and laugh and perhaps even squeal in order to show her delight. It rubs off.

2. You all know this but I have to say it anyway - she has the voice of an angel. At any given moment she will burst into song or sing harmony w/ whatever I am humming. Or perhaps we will spontaneously begin a three-part rendition of Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek in the kitchen w/ boog. Who knows? Either way she is awesomely talented and I love that part about her. Every once in a while I will sit at the piano and she will sing and we will jam for a while. Yes I did say jam. Although usually it is some type of EFY arrangement and I'm not sure if that really counts?

3. She worries about the weirdest things and it just makes me laugh. If any of you know Cal, you know that she has like a supermodel body and is gorgeous and funny and cool - pretty much has everything going for her. But randomly out of no where I'll catch her sniffing herself, or doing a butt check in the mirror, or she'll pull me aside and ask me some random self-conscious question. I'm usually like, "Um. You look like a barbie doll and smell like a flower. And your thighs are not cheesey. And no, I cannot see wrinkles around your eyes, but you are crazy, so that's something." Or something to that effect. It is hilarious that she of all people stresses about that stuff.

4. She loves to sit on the couch with me and do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING sometimes. It is so nice. The weird anti-social part of me has really needed that lately, and after a long day at work she is more than willing to oblige. It is delightful, but still entertaining as she makes sassy comments and teaches me to knit.

5. She is all happy and in love right now and it makes her super pleasant. Ha ha! Not that she isn't always pleasant. But lately she lets everything just slide, compliments everyone, and is always really cheerful and sweet. It makes for a very happy atmosphere in our lovely home.

6. She has the same weird obsession with Tucker that I have, and it makes me feel slightly less weird.

7. Let's not forget her own language, as well. Just like mom and dad. Hers consist of "Huh!" "I know, right?" "Hideoderous" hahaha oh my gosh I almost just wrote a few other ones but I think they are way too inappropriate. Sorry. My grandma reads this. Maybe next time.

8. She is a work-out-aholic, like crazy obsessive fitness person, but can put down food with the freaking best of them. She inspired the title of this blog with her constant need for dessert. (She cannot go to a restaurant and not get dessert. When the server asks if you saved room for dessert she looks at them like they are an alien. Saved room? Really? Why would you even need to ask that?) She is obsessed with salty things - ie. french fries, chips, french fries, cheese fries, and more french fries. And she loves to eat cold left-overs for breakfast. For real.

All list-worthy notes aside, Calee is one of my best friends. We are really different in a LOT of ways, but that just makes it better. I love that we can have our little shared blog here, or at least will have until she bails on me and goes with her man. I'm so thankful that she has been here for me through my horrendous break ups and get back togethers and break up agains. She never thinks I'm being too dramatic or too whiney or too anything - she just understands and lets it go. She and I shared a room her last year and my first year of high school, and I think we formed a bond that year that will never go away. She's one of my favorite people ever in this world and I am just so darn glad that we could celebrate one more year of her awesomeness this week.

Love you wags.

Let's see if I can pull up some embarrassing growing up pics.

So bad. I'm sorry for the hideousness. I tried to stop it but I couldn't.

Love you!

Kristina

P.s. I think that picture of us dancing should be our header-pic. Yes?

Birfday

2009-11-18T20:57:00.000-08:00

This morning I went to work because my boss feels like having 30 hours left of sick time this year isn't quite enough to take time off.

I figured it wasn't so bad, right? Slow day. My hair tie snapped and my cute birthday girl hair went flying everywhere. So much for trying to look appealing on my birthday haha.

It's ok though because I met Amber for a smoothie and I ate the first solid food I've had for three days. Panera's Vermont white cheddar mac and cheese goes down nice and smooth, if any of you have sore throats :) mm mm delicious!

Then I met my sweet mom who bought me some cool jewelry from a friend of hers who makes it! I'll post the link to her website later - her stuff is so cute!!! Here's a pic of me wearing mine. (Please remember I've been sick - no judging!!!)

Thanks, mom :)

While I was picking out jewelry - Kristina snuck over from work on her lunch break and left some pretty flowers and balloons on my truck! She wrote on the windows, too, but the picture doesn't show it well. It was really sweet of her :) Haha the GIGANTIC Belle balloon made me laugh. Nice random touch.

I figured since I was able to muscle down mac and cheese at lunch, I could also handle some delicious bundt cake from Everything Bundt Cake! (that's a lot of nuts!! haha) Anyways. Mom got mini cakes so we could have lots of flavors - pumpkin spice, lemon (deLIcious), chocolate chocolate chip, pecan & praline, and white chocolate raspberry (also delicious). She bought more vanilla ice cream, too, because I totally forgot Kristina had JUST picked up some for me the other night haha. Sooo now we have two tubs of low fat vanilla - anybody want some?? It's all yours.

She also made me some lasagna for dinner :) So nice.

Sooo all in all not a bad day.

p.s. my mean boss sent me home early today (not in a nice way. gotta love management.), sooo I went to the DMV and renewed my license and replaced my license plate stickers because some crapmuncher STOLE them. If I were cool I'd link the word 'stole' to my previous blog, buuuut I don't know how to do that. Yay for the DMV.

That place is naaaaasty. For realz.

Love love love to all of you.

And a happy birthday to me.

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-11-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've been dreading this week for the last 350-and some odd days. I don't care to go into detail, because the dred has not fully passed yet; however, I'm exceptionally thankful for the items listed below during this birthday week:

1. Lidocain. This blessed potion supplies a relief from stinging, burning, horrid pain which only cold sores on top of strep throat can bring. I LOVE LIQUID LIDOCAIN. Seriously, it makes me so happy. Sooo so happy.

2. Antibiotics. Holy moly what did people do back in the day before antibiotics?! I can't imagine continuing to get worse for days before getting better. It's already been FIVE days TOO LONG. So so thankful for antibiotics, and for a Heavenly Father who knew that me and my weak immune system would NEVER make it in a time period without it. Ever.

3. VICODIN. 'nuff said.

4. Sweet friends who call/text to make sure I'm ok. Thank you for being concerned :) Your funny, loving texts have made me so happy!

5. Kristina - thanks for picking up some ice cream for me and for asking me if I need anything - you are really good that way :) I appreciate that a lot. Mom - thanks for letting me eat your yogurt...I hope you're not mad because I'm pretty sure you haven't noticed yet...sooo I'll buy you more...and don't worry, I haven't eaten any of the nasty key lime flavor. I promise.

Here's a picture of my new best friends - haha. Buuuut for real.

I figure Heavenly Father got sick of listening to me freak out about getting older, so He mercifully blessed me with a distraction :) sooo instead of freaking out about THIS and giving Him an opportunity to bless me with ANOTHER distraction, I'll just be thankful for health insurance ($10 perscriptions makes needing four of them much less painful), for sweet nurse practitioners who listen to me cry as I describe the pain and give me intense painkillers to combat said pain, and for pain meds in general.

p.s. if my grammar is awful in this post, I apologize. I may or may not be under the influence of those pain killers....they are awesome in some ways, buuut make thinking clearly a little difficult.

p.p.s. watching The Office with mom is so funny - you should all try it some time :) haha

p.p.p.s. This is the cute little face I woke up to this morning. Barking. At the top of his lungs.

Love him.

Haha I really do, though. We've been snuggling a lot since I've spent so much time in the last few days laying down. It really makes a person feel better when a little cute creature is all cuddled up snoring on them. SO CUTE. I'm going to go snuggle with him right now.

This post is not happy.

2009-11-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit under the weather for a few weeks now. Noooo fun. Nothing too intense, just a headache that doesn't stop for more than a couple hours at a time, congestion, sore throat here and there, a couple fevers - the basic 'weather is getting colder so Calee feels like crud' yearly happening. (seriously, happens every year...the good news is I'm pretty sure I've qualified to SKIP my Thanksgiving flu tradition based on this last week alone...)

So here's a happy story about me being sick:

Ok, wait. That's a lie. It's not happy. I'm just sick and cranky and thought I'd blog about it to vent a little. Moving on.

Thursday night my throat got sore.
Friday morning I felt like I had something stuck in my throat. Liiike a needle. Or a sharp pointy rock. Or maybe a tiny demon munching away back there. Who knows. I called the doctor to see if I could get in to see him (which takes FOREVER already, heaven help us if Obama gets his health care wishes...) ANYWAYS. I told them my throat had been bleeding a little that morning after I poked it with my finger to see if I could locate the exact place where the pain was coming from. Yes, I did say it was bleeding. Gross, huh? Painful, too.

So I go in, talk to the doc. He does a strep test, although I've had strep before and it doesn't feel like strep to me. He says I have blisters on the back of my throat (joy) and that he's pretty sure they're cold sores. (by the way...how the HECK do I have COLD SORES on my THROAT when I've NEVER even had one on my LIP BEFORE?! WHOOOO KNOWS. Just lucky, I guess.)

Then he comes back a couple minutes later and says that in addition to the blisters on my throat, I have strep throat as well. WOW. So he gives me a prescription for penicillin, tells me to try to get some sleep, and sends me on my merry way.

Fast forward to Monday (today). Wake up in the middle of the night because the pain in my throat is so intense I can't sleep anymore. I'm pretty sure I have an ulcer from the amount of ibuprofen, Tylenol, etc...that I've taken over the last few days. Wait til 8AM. Call the doctor. Wait on hold for 30 minutes (<--not an exaggeration. I checked the call timer. Ridiculous.) Talked to a nurse. I felt like I was in a Brian Regan skit - 'How would you rate your pain?'...

When she asked me if I could touch my chin to my chest, I tried. I could do it on Friday when they asked, even though it really hurt. Today, however, no dice. Tried again. Thought I was going to pass out. She kept asking me if I was doing it yet - and why I couldn't do it after I tried the third time. I don't KNOW, lady!!! IT's JUST NOT WORKING!! Holy beans, people, can I JUST SEE A DOCTOR ALREADY?! Flip.

'My opinion is that you see the doctor today,' said the nurse.

I WANTED to yell: 'REALLY, LADY?? REALLY?! WHO ARE YOU. JUST TELL ME WHEN TO COME IN ALREADY.' -deep breath- I was so frustrated that I may or may not have started crying. AAAH hahaha oooh my gosh. This morning is NOT my morning.

Whew. Sooo now I have an appointment to see a nurse this afternoon - because, apparently, my swollen, blistered, bleeding throat doesn't merit a meeting with my actual DOCTOR.

Brilliant.

Thank you, Kaiser. Thank you.

For the record

2009-11-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

I did not mean to do that. And I can't be held responsible for the fact that we are so on the same page that we even think about blogging at the same time. Seriously.

-Kristina

And P.s. I even thought about writing about knitting, but thought it would be too weird. So thank you for doing that for me. And I may or may not have sat in my car during my entire lunch making a little progress on my scarf. And I guarantee the faces were happening again, but nobody was there to enjoy them.

It really stresses me out

2009-11-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

when I get letters and emails from MBA programs, talking about my GMAT score and letting me know about application deadlines.

It's like I have to face my decision over and over again and it makes my head hurt a little bit.

PLUS - some of the classes I need at Palomar are ALREADY full. And I can't even register yet! Is that so annoying? That stresses me out, too.

And my mission papers are burning a hole in the envelope.

Am I really going to start a 5 year road toward a doctorate degree? I mean really? Right now? I could start an MBA program next fall and be done in two years. Plus I could live in the land of plenty as far as potential husbands go. Or I could just go on a mission and be done. But I've been really leaning away from that decision lately and I don't know why.

These are things I would really like to discuss with the man they will affect for the next few years.

Wait, I don't have one?

... Stress.

Knitting MANIA

2009-11-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

The other night Kristina and I were in CRAAAAZY moods and so we decided to do some CRAZY things...

liiiiiiike
1. Discussing how adorable Tucker is
2. Watching The Office, Greys, SYTYCD, and Oprah. while making and eating scrumptious brownies.
3. TEACHING KRISTINA HOW TO KNIT.

Kristina may or may not have concentrated so hard that we both ended up in tears laughing over the ridiculous face(s) she was making.

Aaaand she's obsessed now. (You're welcome.)

Amber came over last night and we all had a knitting/crocheting party. Tucker even joined in by stealing Amber's hot pink ball of thread and wrapping himself in it like an adorable, mischevious mummy. Mom came limping through the living room and commented how how we all looked like a bunch of old ladies haha :)

p.s. My throat is hurting REALLY badly right now and I've been on hold with the doctor's office for 15 minutes waiting to make an appointment. Really, people? Just tell me what the schedule looks like. It doesn't take you 15 minutes to pull up the calendar. Seriously.

p.p.s. They just told me to go to Urgent Care because it could be serious. This is me having no faith in the medical community and ignoring that piece of advice.

p.p.p.s. If I die because I ignored their advice, I would just like to tell the blogging world how fun last weekend was. I went up to Rexburg and surprised 34 (haha this is my lame attempt to follow in the footsteps of my blogging sisters and their bf nicknaming ways [see: Boy Wonder and Mancandy]) a day earlier than expected! We had breakfast bagels, ate lunch with my grandparents, got sick from the breakfast bagels WHILE eating lunch with my grandparents (Ooohh embarassing...), was saved from freezing to death by his sweet roommate Derek (thank you again for the gloves and hot cocoa) while watching his football team kick booty (thank you BYU-I for tackle football when it's NEGATIVE 50 MILLION DEGREES OUTSIDE), caught up on some TLC, hung out w his sweet sister in SLC, and retouched Brooke's hair with a travel toothbrush and a dish from a girl she lives with who is mean to her. Haha! Oooooh Brooke. Only you. Love love it.

Sooo I may or may not like this boy a lot. Ok...whooo am I kidding? I like him A LOT. A lot a lot. (said in Lindsay Lohan's voice - movie trivia...). And I'm pretty sure he likes me back. Which makes me really, really happy. And I'm singing happy songs. And I get warm inside when I'm around him, and my tongue swells up (movie trivia again :)) haha. Ooo it is enjoyable. This is my favorite part of dating...when everything just seems to fall into place. It's magical. I hope you're all happy, too <3.

The end.

p.p.p.p.s. Ummm SERIOUSLY, Kristina?! I know you didn't REALLY just propose we go our own ways on our BLOG instead of in person. This blog deserves an explanation. After all we've been through?! Apologize immediately.

Re: Blog Wars

2009-11-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

Calee, you always blog right after I do! I leave the blog empty for days, giving you the opportunity, and then a few hours after I post - there it is.

That was a total accident but I'm glad you know how it feels now!

I didn't think it would happen in a public place like this,

...but maybe we should consider going our separate ways.

-Kristina

P.S. Utah was awesome. Three straight days with the ladies of Number 3. (With Kristen in our hearts, of course!) It was delightful. Snuggle sessions were just as good, Sunday Dinner was just as good, boy talks were just as good - actually they were much better. The marriage debacle wasn't that bad after all. So good to know.

Thanks Utah, for continuing to deliver on much-needed play time. Although getting on a plane and coming back here felt a little surreal - I don't live there anymore? Weird.

Blog War

2009-11-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

Sooo I got cut off on my last blog by some important phone calls about emergencies or some blah blah like that - totally irritating when I'm TRYING to BLOG, people. Save your emergencies for Saturday when Ashlynd works! (haha jk...I LOVE Ashlynd. She's my new favorite :)).

Anyways. When I reopened our blog page to re-read what I had posted, I was shocked to see that Kristina ONE UPPED me by posting RIGHT after me! Ugh! Now everybody has to SCROLL DOWN to see what I wrote! No fair. Hence me writing a completely new blog instead of just editing my old one. Haha I swear I'm an adult. Sometimes.

7. Shaun: thanks for thinking I'm funny and smart, for killing me at Scrabble but always saying nice things when I make a good play anyways. Thanks for sharing my love of ketchup and for not being too mad when I purposely sent you MY ipod instead of yours back (your music is so much better than mine! sorry...buuut not really. haha!). Thanks for encouraging me to hang out with Amber and have fun while you're gone, even when you choose to opt out of social events to get studying done/plan your next Scrabble move so we can talk on the phone when I get back. thanks for always making me laugh, for always seeing the bright side and helping me see it, too, and for practicing piano. I think you're awesome. And I'm glad that now everyone else knows I think so, too. 2.

p.s. I love you, Kristina! :) I dare you to blog again today haha <3

L O V E - it's a mystery

2009-11-05T13:23:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting in my car doing the usual lunchtime ritual of fully enjoying sunshine, food, and dr. Laura.

She talks so much about Love. And it fits in with a lot of my journal entries and thoughts lately.

I love being in love. But not only that, I love other kinds of love too. My mom admitted last night that she secretly misses me following her around the house all the time. :) That is a nice way to say you love someone.

I love that Calee had my back the other night when I needed a friend. That is a good love too.

I love Tucker's super excited run and happy nub wiggling when I get home. He's just a puppy but I can feel his love.

Even love for random strangers. A patient came in today and chatted and laughed and goofed with me the whole time we were getting ready for the doctor. Does he know me? No. But he is a loving person. And I could tell. And it made a difference in my day.

Part of my short term plan of happiness right now is working on being more loving to everyone, including myself. Doesn't that sound like a good plan? I might have stolen the concept from somebody else's plan of happiness.

And it's working well for me so far.

-Kristina

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

I took my acrylic nails off a few weeks ago to give my nails a break - it's been about a year since I last took them off. Aaaand my nails are TORN UP, lemme tell ya. Goodness gracious they're like thin little pastry papers just waiting to catch and snag whatever I'm wearing/as I'm fixing my hair/my chair upholstery at work/etc...it's lovely. <--that's sarcasm. P.S. Jimmy at Professionail off Nordahl in San Marcos is the BEST NAIL GUY EVER. Seriously. Just ask Amber. He'll do a full set that won't chip, crack, or lift AT ALL for at least six weeks. I went almost 10 weeks once. He's amazing. And totally funny. And gentle. He always makes fake crying faces when he takes my nails off to do a fresh set (like every 4th visit or so, yeah?) and calls me a baby. Haha. He's awesome. I miss him :(

Anyways - totally not the point of this post.

I am thankful for the following items today:
1. My job.
2. My sweet Tucker puppy who was curled up in mourning on Dad's pillow this morning when I woke up. He left on a business trip this morning, and seeing Tucker's little black body snuggled up to a shirt on Dad's pillow made me all warm and fuzzy and sad at the same time. BFF's.
3. The flashlight/headlamp gift from my maintenance tech this week. Haha he's so funny sometimes. And he makes BOMB pulled pork sandwiches, and always shares. Oo B Dog.
4. WhiskeyMilitia.com. Nuff said.
5. Amber: You're my best friend (other than Shaun), did you know that? And I'm not just saying that, either. You're the best. I don't know what I'd be doing with myself if you weren't texting, calling, and hanging out with me all the time. Thanks for always reminding me to stay positive, and that even crazy, impossible things are possible.
6. My silly mom who always says the weirdest, most awesome things.
7. Shaun.

Blues

2009-11-03T15:32:00.001-08:00

Rhapsody in Blue, to be exact.

Yesterday I went to this lovely location. First time since I moved back.

Oh it was delightful. I went to go get books for a new student, but of course was immediately distracted by all of the beautiful instruments around me.

I used to sit in there and play for at least an hour everytime I went. It was fun to relive that, minus the fact that I suck now.

Anyway, I got my student's books and was getting ready to leave, and of course the wall of classical music had to be conveniently placed on my way out.

And do you know what was peeking out at me?

Gershwin.

Rhapsody in Blue has long been my favorite piece of music ever created. It is freaking awesome. I've always had a little joke goal that I would play that with an orchestra behind me before I die. :)

But you know what? I bought it. I got the book and I'm going to become awesome at it no matter how long it takes.

Then I'll worry about the orchestra. And I'll invite all of you to come.

-Kristina

-- Post From Kristina's iPhone

Vomit.

2009-11-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm going to throw up.

Haha sorry for all of you out there with weak stomachs.

Soooo this morning I got pulled over on my way to work. RIGHT on the onramp (thank you, Mr. Policeman for picking the most embarassing spot EVER to pull someone over and leave all your blinky lights on for twenty minutes). I was driving carefully, so I had no idea why I'd gotten pulled over (which I hate more than KNOWINGLY breaking the law and getting caught!).

So Mr. Po-po asks me why my tags have been expired since last May. "Umm...I JUST re-registered this summer, sooo...the tags should be current." I showed him my registration. Sure enough, I'd registered! *BUT* some THIEF STOLE MY TAGS!!

Thanks a LOT, KLEPTOMANIAC, for embarassing me AND forcing me to SIT AT THE DMV for the REST OF MY LIFE to get NEW TAGS!!!! Lame.

BAD KARMA ON YOU INDEFINITELY.

That's the good part.

The bad part was when he handed me back my license, and pointed out that it EXPIRED yesterday. Lovely.

Oh Monday. How I love you.

P.S. Don't ever fly United if you might ever need to change your flight. $150 'service charge' fee??? What service, exactly, are you providing for that cash? Paying a data entry kid $8/hr to switch my NAME on your flight list?! Is it REALLY going to take him 18.75 HOURS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT TASK?!

Goodness.

I should've stayed in bed.

Monday = Funday

2009-11-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

I don't work Mondays. Weird, right? Or awesome. Either one.The girl I work with sends me sad texts on those days (she has to be there to answer the phone) because she goes crazy with boredom. I feel bad, but only a little, because I thoroughly enjoy having three day weekends every single week. It is fantastic. I think we should officially change the weekend to include Mondays forever.

My week is especially short this week - with the lack of Monday workage and then half-day of work on Friday so I can fly back out to my beloved Utah for Round 2 of non-stop laughter and playtime. So fun. So needed. Talking to Steph and Ash yesterday made me so excited to see their sweet faces and even their sweet husbands. I will put aside the betrayal for a weekend. :)

I should charge my camera so I can take photos of all of my loves. This blog is a pretty wordy and non-picturey blog isn't it? Sorry guys. Taking pictures requires quite a bit of effort. Calee has a bunch on her camera right now but the card doesn't fit in my laptop, so we can't get the pictures off - that's including photos of my ridiculous costume. (Wags did you leave the adapter at your office? I just thought of that. Don't you take it to work sometimes? Maybe worth a look.)

What I'm trying to say is - this week is already shaping up to be quite delightful. San Diego is so freaking awesome! Everyone should move here. And not work Mondays. And we can all frolick in the happy goodness of life.

I have officially reached my computer-time quota for the week. For real, halloween photo albums on facebook? Leave me be. I have wasted far too much time perusing your hilarity and skankiness (oh ladies. i dont even really have anything to say to you. you make it hard to compete and be good at the same time. sad sad.)

I'm going to go run errands with the windows down, music blasting, hand in the sunshine outside. You're more than welcome to come with, although I'm assuming the happy monday-addition to the weekend doesn't apply to your situation. Boo. Sorry friends.

-Kristina

P.S. I already have a Post PTSD mix in my posession. I'm loving the fact that I'm already being safely led out of my PTSD stage, even if only via music. Or is it? We will see. Either way, I'm okay with it. <3

Dear Blogging World,

2009-11-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

I appreciate your happy feedback to my silly, complain-y post from the other day. Thanks for spending the time to read my ramblings, all two of you who read this. :) Your comments combined with a few conversations with friends I've had lately have made me realize how whiney I have let myself get lately. I really don't mean to, and it's for sure something I need to work on.

(Although, I reserve the right to let loose on this blog and whine all I need on bad days. Just keep movin along if you have a problem with that haha.)

I'm happy to report that contrary to popular belief - I don't think all of my problems will go away once I'm married. Nor do I think that life gets suddenly less hard and emotional problems are any less painful. I'm also actually really content to be right where I am right now. Am I a little anxious and nervous about future plans and figuring out what I'm doing? Yes. Haha. And that will probably never change for the rest of my life. It's just part of who I am. But I love my family, and I love San Diego. And I am loving the new friends that have come into my life lately - Big Time. ;)

I will say this: I am so completely 100% looking forward to the day when my whining can be about a husband that wants to have sex more than I want to. Haha! (Although in my single and non-sex-having state, that is hard for me to imagine at the moment. ...TMI? Okay, my bad. Sorry Grandma.) See Nikki's blog to hear what I'm talking about, and what started this whole discussion.

For real though. I am excited for the time when my problems and hardships with my man are supported and cradled by an eternal covenant, bond, and endowment that is leading me toward a celestial goal with my husband. What a blessing and a comfort! That's the goal. That's what I'm excited for. And I don't think it's so wrong that I really honestly CAN'T WAIT for that man to stroll into my life so we can get started on a brand new set of issues. Together.

For now, all I can do is serve the Lord and reach my eternal potential on my own. Kind of a bummer, but kind of exciting. It's a cool time to learn about myself and prepare for the temple, and grow closer to the Savior. Hopefully all of that brings me closer to my knight in shining armor, right?

Usually my posts are a little aloof and silly, or just complainy and vague - but I felt like it was time for all of us to have a heart to heart. Thanks for caring enough to say something. You guys are the best.

-Kristina

P.S. You are going to die when you see my halloween costume. I think I've officially lost my mind. Ha ha ha. And so did the boy I was with, I'm sure. Remember that whole "too open and honest" thing? Yep. Take it or leave it, people!!

Photos coming soon.

Post Tramautic Stress Disorder

2009-10-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

That's the name of my playlist I made the other day. I thought it was quite fitting. I'm still accepting contributions, so feel free to suggest. It's already helped a ton - there as been a lot of dancing and singing wrong words very loudly in my car this week. Ha ha. Love it.

I'm feeling really under-the-weather and I'm not at work today. Something about being sanitary and not spreading germs or something. LAME. So I have time to blog. But my brain is fuzzy so I don't have much to blog about.

Let's just go with this - Dating is hard. Especially after you've felt what it's like to just be with somebody and feel grateful you don't have to date anymore. And then get thrown back in? It blooows. I used to be such a gamer! I could flirt with the best of them. I'm so not that way anymore!! I think I'm a little too honest and open. You're supposed to be all sly and closed and keep 'em guessing. Totally not me.

Nikki's blog has all these little happy married women talking about sex and how hard it is to keep your husband happy and have those moments of emotional connection. Guess what, people? At least it's an option for you! I think they should all step back a minute and be so grateful that at the end of the day, their best friend is in their bed with them. And they don't have to sit and look at a text message and try to figure out what it really means, or if you're being too forward for texting back too quickly, or heaven knows whatever other dating rules there are. I don't even know the rules. So stupid.

I am a rules-less dater. If you can't hang with that - move along, my friends.

Also - I'd like to apologize for all of the poor boys who ever got caught up in the dating net of pre-Jan Kristina. I was such a playing, gaming, silly, nightmare. And I am feeling your pain right now. Everyone that gets post-Jan Kristina? Maybe you should send him a thank you note. He has made your kristina-dating-experiences much more pleasant, with much fewer headaches.

Which reminds me. I have a killer headache right now. I'm going back to bed.

-Kristina

P.s. I'm coming back to Utah to play next weekend. Call me and we'll make plans. Or am I not supposed to say that? I'm supposed to just hint slightly and tease with a little winky face like this ;).

Oh puh-lease.

Dear Kristina:

2009-10-28T16:22:00.001-07:00

Remember that one time you called me and asked if I wanted to go to the UK with you? And so we booked our tickets that day and had one of the bombest trips ever?

Remember when we lived in the same house but only saw each other late at night to catch up on House, So You Think You Can Dance, or Grey's?

Remember when our entire social sphere was made up of Mom, Tucker, and occasionally Amber?

Remember when all the boys were named Jason, and all the girls were named BRITTANY??

Just wondering. Thanks for letting me sit on your lap at the Grey's on Sunday night.

Love you. -Calee

p.s. Brooke, Nikki, Sam & the girls: come visit immediately. thanks.

Happiness is Long Hair.

2009-10-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Soooo anyone who knows me well, knows that I frequently have nightmares. When I say frequently, I mean every night. Every now and then, however, I'll stumble across a good dream (hallelujah!) and bask in it's glow until another REM cycle hits and the trauma starts all over again.

In tracking my dreams (to try to solve the mystery behind all the unpleasant ones), I've run across something interesting/entertaining about my GOOD dreams: I ALWAYS have long hair! Flowing, blonde locks cascading around me like a halo (aaand I'm typically in a wedding dress haha).

Now, if you know me - you know that I've had a VERY difficult time leaving my hair alone the past few years. I'm always coloring it, lightening it, chopping it off, adding extensions, coloring it again, etc... which makes growing it out EXCEPTIONALLY difficult. So I pretty much attributed the long hair/happiness correlation to my subconscious telling me that happiness is/will be exceptionally difficult to attain.

This morning I woke up a little early (odd), and decided to put a little wave in my hair and wear it down. I had to sprint out of the house because - shockingly - I was late after curling it SO I didn't have time to really look at it. Wow this post is really long I'm realizing...

Anyways. This is what I saw in the mirror after arriving at work this morning:

It's GROWN!! And it's looking surprisingly familiar...all that's missing at this point is maybe another inch or two aaaand the wedding dress...haha

That means I have another 3-4 months, and happiness is MINE!! Woo! Wish me luck :)

Today is a Blah day

2009-10-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

I said earlier that I've been having good constants with bad moments every once in a while - which is really a relief from the opposite situation.

I'm having one of those blah moments today though. I had another nightmare last night and it just has me in the strangest mood.

My heart is tired. And my insides feel a little lonely.

and I know that you had a hard weekend. And normally I would feel a little vindicated and hope that hard weekend made you miss me more and feel stupid for not having me there to support you.

But I don't feel that way.

I just feel sad for you. And sad for us.

We were thinking about getting married this weekend while you had a break. Isn't that weird? Instead we will both be going on dates with strangers, pretending like we are normal.

Not that I would change it. I'm glad we aren't getting married. It's just a really sad story.

That's all.

And by the way - I am normal. I just have not normal moments like this one. How nice that they are simply moments. I don't think you are there yet. I don't think you'll be there for a long time, actually.

I'm going to make a new playlist to get me out of this funk. Any suggestions? I need fun songs that I can dance to in my car while I drive to work.

Thanks.

-Kristina

Give said the little stream

2009-10-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Pickle brains, my delightful sister, is having a giveaway on her blog - have-joy.blogspot.com.

And I want it.

Doesn't that look delicious?

I might share with you when I win. Or I might not. Who knows?

Last night was very NORMAL and RELAXING and NICE. Whew. I have definitely turned a corner. I don't know how long the street is that I just turned onto, but that's okay. It's really nice to be there at the moment.

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am so busy. And so loving it. Having full days keeps everything running smoothly and a smile on my face! I just don't even really have time to think long enough to stress about anything.

Thank heavens!!!!

I was going to write a full blog right now but I am honestly just tired and all I want to do is watch The Office and Grey's Anatomy. So that's what I'm going to do.

Oh and I can't wait for tomorrow night. :) Details later.

-Kristina

P.s. I am feeling pretty. dang. good. about some things that have been happening lately. Just FYI. :)

I'm Alive.

2009-10-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Woo! I'm alive! Here's what's happening in Calee's life (in case you were wondering):

1. I've been eating lots of delicious food. I love cold meatballs, meatloaf, pizza, and spaghetti for breakfast.

2. I've been wondering WHY ON EARTH it costs so much to fly to IDAHO FALLS. $450?? Seriously?? Flip.

3. I've been listening to Shaun's ipod religiously at the gym. He has these sweet Nike ear buds with little arms attached to keep them from flying off your head when you run/do cardio. He's mad. I'm feeling more in love with running than ever, though :) Thanks for leaving your ipod in Kristina's car <3.

4. I've been reading a book called The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I really like it. Thanks for the book, Brooke :)

5. I've discovered that Diet Pepsi tastes like dirt. Does that stop me from drinking one everyday? Of course not.

6. I've become a complete stalker of wedding/engagement photos - facebook, myspace, blogs, whatever. I don't discriminate. I've even gone so far as to ADD people I've never MET on facebook (sometimes they're not even friends of friends...it's just sad) so I can look at their wedding photos because their profile pic is cute. Haha you'd be surprised at how many people will just add without knowing/caring who I am. Thank you for the trust & access, new friends!

7. I've been counting down days to November 25th. GET HERE. Thanks.

Work, school, taking Tucker to the park, doing hair here & there...the usual.

P.S. Does anyone want/need their hair done? Sometimes I miss doing hair everyday. Maybe I should do a giveaway? Maybe a partial? Thoughts?

P.P.S. I am REALLY excited for the following things: Amber's birthday this weekend, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Shaun's birthday, Christmas. The end.

Sunshine in the Soul!

2009-10-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Some days I wake up and feel so dang good!

It was a good weekend. No, a great weekend. I can't help but feel like things are on the upswing for me, and that is enough to make me smile. It has been gorgeous here in San Diego, birds are literally chirping outside of my window right now, life is good.

We saw the Cougs win on Saturday. (Point of interest: The only two games I've attended this year have also been the only two games that the Sackmaster has managed to live up to his nickname. Interesting.)

Brookie is coming this week - hopefully tonight! So fun, so needed. She is one of my favorite people in this world.

Church was great. Choir was great, and the piano is hard enough that I'm going to have to practice. What the heck! It's about time I had to put on my big girl pants and play something out of my comfort zone.

Going to UCLA tonight for a lovely dinner with a person who thinks I am lovely.

Tucker is still just as cute as ever. He is snuggled up next to me right now in an adorable little maneuver which somehow allows his feet to be on top of his face.

Saw the old in-laws after the game. Is it silly to think of them as that? Perhaps they weren't legally my in-laws, but it felt that way. Turns out it was much better to see them than it was to see him. Interesting, yet again. Lots of hugs and cheek-kisses, a few tears here and there. Overall a lot of love and kindness.

I talked to the ex-roomie Ashley for a whopping 2.5 hours on the phone on Saturday. Bless you, free weekend minutes. Love that girl. She is hilariously awesome. I just want her to get pregnant already. ha ha. :)

....

And I may or may not have gone on the best date I've been on since the break up.

Thank you, world, for being so sunshine-y and bright this weekend. It was definitely appreciated.

-Kristina

Mission...

2009-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Have I decided yet?

No.

But I just got my papers. (Yes, we will e-file once/if they're completed!)

Yep. I got 'em.

The happs

2009-10-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

I don't have time really to blog. Here are my random recent photos from my phone.

The rainbow that God made just for me. I was having a lousy day and He knew I needed it.

This is the story I have definitely been avoiding telling you. We may or may not have run out of gas 3/4 of a mile from St. George. A kind old man with brand new knees picked us up from the side of the freeway and told us he didn't have to watch conference now since he did a good deed.

Cute cute Tucker with his head out the window. He stands up on the seat so he can reach, because if I open it any wider he will jump away to freedom and certain death.

Miss the Pads already. The Dodgers? Really???? Ugh sometimes I hate baseball.

Okay. Back to work for Kristina. Have a good day friends. Did you find my prince yet?

-- Post From Kristina's iPhone

I'm a Damsel in Distress

2009-10-13T15:40:00.001-07:00

Everyone goes through different phases. Usually I am really independent, strong-willed, probably even stubborn, etc. Especially being now-single, my initial reaction was to be a bit of a man-hater and be on my own and fine on my own for a long while.

That phase did not last long.

I am officially in damsel in distress mode. I want a big handsome prince to come save me from my misery and sweep me off my feet. So random. So retarded. So completely taking over my brain.

I even had a dream about it last night. One of my Provo man friends was in my dream, literally sweeping me off my feet and saying romantic things and whispering sweet nothings about commitment. For real.

We may have even shared a cheesey love movie kiss as we rode off into the sunset. I had to laugh at myself this morning as I texted him the story and told him that unfortunately we wouldn't ever be able to kiss in real life now as it would only be a disappointment after the moment we shared in my subconscious last night.

Moral of the story: I have completely lost my mind. I mean seriously, sandman? That's the kind of dream you are placing in my brain right now? I am so special.

But if you happen to know any handsome princes, send them my way.

I'm dead serious right now.

-Kristina

-- Post From Kristina's iPhone