bored.

Jayne and I were bored today. So we decided to put on our favorite outfits and take pictures.

Burke Gilman

This morning I absolutely had to get outside. I have been inside since Christmas, and today was the first minorly sunny day of the year. (Actually the gray has lasted since about the end of November). Lucky for me, I have this cousin who happens to be an amazing biker, and who happens to live in my same abode.
We hit the Burke Gilman trail with our neighbor Paul, and of course I didn't bring my camera because... who has time for picture taking when you're biking?

So I downloaded some of these beauts from la interneta

We hit an average speed of 17.8 mph

This trail is about a mile or so from my house, and it goes from Redmond to Seattle, and all over in between. It was stunning today in the sunshine.
I look forward to more training for my STP endeavor, and feel so happy that I get to live in such a crazy great biking community.
I am so happy here :)

TOK

Last week I started working at a little place called Toyota Of Kirkland.
Because I wasn't busy enough?

This is my lovely desk. Aint it hawt?

This is me reading at my desk. Because I have nothing better to do for 5 hours in my jail-cell-colored office every day :)

My year of freedom

Yesterday marked my one year anniversary of NO KISSING!!! WAAHOOO! Best year of my LIFE!
I celebrated by watching Back To The Future with a box of Apple Jacks and my new favorite water, Voss. Voss is great. Plus the bottle is glass, which makes me feel fancy. And the water is from Norway, and it's con gas.

Yep.

La Mia Camera

(my title means "my room" not my camera... just so you know. I don't think you're dumb. I just... like to clarify?)
Hey! How are ya! So here in the 7-people Christensen Household we use our laundry machine for about 10 of our 13 waking hours. It is ALWAYS going. Our poor machine is notorious for eating itself from the inside out, which is always an absolute tragedy. This time was no exception.
but..........
Beauty can come in all shapes and forms. Luckily for us, we have an innumerable amount of amazing neighbors who line up to have the privileged of doing our smelly laundry!

I have this neighbor that is so amazingly giving and great, and she picked up my laundry, washed it in amazing smelling goodness, folded it, and delivered it with a card on top telling me how great I was.
I should break the washer more often.

I am questioning the ok-ness of this post... but Jayne requested it. I have to put her strangeness behind me and just obey sometimes.
Love you Jayne :)
Anyway, here is my living quarters. Lovely overly-comfy bed... (I'm thinking about making it not so comfy because it's hard to get out in the morning.)

My always-changing but usually entertaining dresser top

Bella Bestia just chillin

Intermission!
NEW SHOES!!! ON CLEARANCE!!! Sorry Hanna, they didn't have your size. But they are legitly hairy and everything. Love em.

And we're back. My poor skis get to sit in the corner all day, crying for me to take them out. One of these days I'm going to bust town and go ride them. Hard.

And here is my lovely window (complete with baby monitor, which is totally normal for a teenage girl's room, right? I hope not). I love my window. Right below those trees is our backyard and a pond... so pretty. Especially when it's all misty in the morning.

I love Seattle.
:)

Bella Bestia

When I arrived here (almost 4 months ago, crazy!) there were only a few words said between Seth and I before he asked me if I brought my bike. Holding back tears I told him I had sold my dear bike (remember Guinevere? So hawt) to move to Italy. He gave me the craziest look. What was I thinking?!
The next day he emailed me a bunch of possibles that were on craigslist, but the thing is... I have very stubby short legs. And arms. And torso. So finding a bike to fit my dwarf self proved to be somewhat of a battle.
We went on many bike hunting sprees, but it was about 2 months before we found....

Bella Bestia

I met a lot of short people on my short bike hunting journey, and the lady selling this bike was no exception. She was great though. Anyway... I HAVE A BIKE AGAIN!!! I haven't posted about her till now because she has been hanging above Mora in the garage for a couple months waiting for a sunny day to be ridden. Those don't really happen here. So she got stuck on the trainer. My creative brain has reached its end, so... I'm done.
Thanks Seth for this great bike, I loves it :)

Not to resolve, only to achieve

I love Family Nights here. They remind me of the Family Nights when I was growing up. So simple, but so important.
Last week we learned about Goals, and the importance of setting them. It got me thinking about the difference between a Resolution and a Goal. Of course they are different, but why is it that so many people make New Years Resolutions instead of New Years Goals? I couldn't think of any resolutions because I'm too proud to admit that I have things that need resolving, so I made goals for this new year. I wouldn't normally share them, but I figure if people know what they are, they might help me along.

Goals for 2011

- Read/record thoughts/study the scriptures every day

- Raise $7,000 for school by August

- Find a test (ACT, SAT, or something along those lines), study, and NAIL IT for scholarship purposes. (Don't know if this is possible, I'm kinda old and I know nothing about standardized testing, but it sure would make all these applications easier)

- Train for the Seattle To Portland (i.e. ride my bike HARD at least 4 times a week)

- Keep a Mission on my mind and prep for it daily

I'll have to say, I'm already impressed with myself. Of course I am, I'm just ending week one. Isn't everyone impressed with them self after week one?

Hm. I'll keep you posted.

A long trip.

We have just returned from a two week sabatical in Utah.

Pretty sure this picture says it all. 20 hours in the car does wacky things to our already messed up psychies.

Growing up I remember skiing on Christmas eve and sometimes Christmas day at Nordic. So being able to go with these guys was so funny and awesome.

Ellie is a natural. (Even though that helmet might have started her battle with lice.)

Jaynie was also a pro

The rest of my vaca was spent with the second nut on the left

We were going to head somewhere warm, but... we couldn't get there from here. So the incredible 'rents sent us skiing! The fireplace(s) at Basin were warmer than any island in the Caribbean.

Twas a bit nippy

Something about the unicorn/princess helmets made us...........
yeah.

Italian food at 8900 feet in a posh lodge in the Utah Alps is kinda the best.
(just go with it, ok?)

So posh, I took a wee nap.

I think she got in a fight with a troll. What else could explain such an expression?

Or behavior?

Overall, one of the funnest days of skiing I have had in an uber long time.

I love these peeps. (Sorry about the zombie face, Tess!)

Love.

Moving on... What could be better than a hardcore pedicure after a day of skiing? Christmas just kept getting better.

AND BETTER!!

Ladies and Gentlefolk, what you are looking at is Utah Professional Hockey's future. That's right. The Christensen family has officially claimed their sport.

I think we were the only people in the audience who weren't related to one of the players.

Check him out. The top of the goal is at his WAIST. I think I can stand up inside that thang.

We party.

Seth called me on the 30th and asked if I was done with Utah. Yes. So we left the next morning, spending our epic new years eve party in a hotel room in Boise. Bring on the popcorn and Gatorade!

1 degree in Idaho!

1 degree on 1-1-11! And lots of Dorito fingers!

Amy: "This desert is balmy"

It's nice to be back :)