Sweet Snippets

My adorable cousin, Megan, found this cute idea on a blog she reads. I love reading Meg's Pocket Post, so here's my version.

Dear TJ Maxx,

I love my new dresses. More importantly, I love how much I paid for them.

Dear Cap'n Crunch,

I wish I could eat you everyday.

Dear Zumba,

I hope I get to visit you again soon. If you weren't so much fun, I wouldn't have sprained my ankle and had to miss the last month of class. It's all your fault!

Dear High Heels,

I can't wait until I can wear you again without limping.

Dear Channing Tatum,

I could look at you all day.

Dear Glee,

You make me smile.

California Dreamin'

A fine blogger I've turned out to be. I'm done making promises, but I will TRY to blog more often.

If you know me well, you know that my memory pretty much sucks. Trent likes to tease me about the time I told him I counted limousines on a post-it when I went to California as a teenager. It was actually something one of his mission companions did. That was humiliating, but I really believed it was me. {Pretty sure I've got early onset Alzheimer's.} I used to be really great at journal-keeping. Not so much these days. My intention in starting this blog was for it to be like my journal. A way to help me remember things that ACTUALLY happen to me. So, it's important that I get back to it, even if I don't catch up.

A few exciting things have happened this week.

1. I got an A in Microbiology! Cool, right? I really didn't enjoy that class like I have some of the others I've taken. The lab was awesome; growing stuff like E. coli and staph was really pretty interesting. The lecture class was the hard part. Our teacher was fairly young and new to teaching. It was obvious that she knew her stuff, but had difficulty explaining things clearly. I found my mind wandering frequently. It's amazing how much difference a good teacher makes.

I was planning to apply for UVU's nursing program in March, but when I went to their website to fill out the application I saw that all of the requirements had changed and I needed a 2 credit hour class to finish my prerequisites. Major bummer. Major melt down. Can I just say that I have the most incredible husband? He totally knows how to handle freak-out-phase-Kacie. So, thanks to him I've come to realize that it's not the end of the world to have a setback. In fact, we've decided that I won't be taking that class this summer either, which is a total relief. Further setback, but I'm looking forward to being a mom this summer.

2. I sprained my ankle doing Zumba. In case you don't know, Zumba is the most awesome aerobics class ever. It's a lot of latin dance, shake your hips type stuff -so much fun and right up my alley. On Wednesday I was absorbed in my own little world, shaking my butt and working hard, when my left ankle rolled out from under me. I went down with a thud, bruising my tailbone in the process of spraining my ankle. My foot and ankle are really swollen and my butt hurts. I had to wear flip-flops to church today because they're the only shoes that fit my giant "cankle". It's bruised up and ugly, but it doesn't hurt too much. I'm hoping to get back to Zumba soon. I really miss it!

3. Our trip to California is booked! Got a killer deal on a hotel through priceline.com and I bought our Disneyland/Universal Studios/SeaWorld tickets on Friday. Trent is not thrilled about this vacation, but after a long, uh...discussion, he's being much nicer about it. I'm so excited! In case you missed it on FB, I'm posting The Woodledge Mama's version of California Dreamin' for your viewing pleasure. California Dreamin' is what I'm doing. I can't wait!

Make a Smilebox invite

Gavin turned 14 this month. Boy, do I feel old! I'm so grateful for him. He's such a good kid (most of the time.)

Pink Day (a.k.a. Cklog #1)

This is the first of {hopefully} several 'backlog' blog posts. I've affectionately named them "Cklogs" {that's backlog, minus ba, in case you didn't notice} because they are clogging up my desire to blog and making me feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I've put off blogging about. Since this is my form of journal-keeping these days I want to post them, but will be making an effort to post current events among them. I hope you don't get too bored.

Anyway, on to Pink Day. It's a pretty dang cool Christiansen family tradition. I wrote about it last year, but in case you're new, here's the scoop. Pink Day was founded by my Grandma Chris when I was young. She invited all the girls in our family to a party at her house. We all wore pink clothes and ate pink food. I don't really remember much about the original Pink Day, but I know we had a good time. Check out this photo. It's totally retro. {Thanks, Julie!} Can you find me? I look HOT!

When my Grandma passed away, my Aunt Rene' and her daughter, Cori, brought Pink Day back and we have been celebrating it ever since. This year, we all headed to Ferron, where Pink Day was hosted by Marie & Glenys. We always play silly games and exchange gifts. {Check out Julie's awesome gift-isn't she lucky?} Grandpa had the honor of being the only boy invited for this year's big event. He brought 2 pairs of Grandma's pajamas to give away. I was fortunate enough to win a pair. I love little things that make me feel a connection to her. She was such an amazing woman. Happy Pink Day! {Just a little late.}

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I've been playing around with blog signatures (thanks, Heather!). Just checking it out to see how it works.

WARNING

Prepare to be inundated with photos, stories and news from the last 8 months. I have been MIA, but I'm back with a vengeance!

My Favorite Night

You may not know this about me (seriously, if you don't, what kind of friend are you?), but I ♥ ♥ ♥ Dancing! Every year our stake holds a dance for Valentine's Day and it is, truly, my very favorite night of the whole year. It is NOT Trent's favorite (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it is his least favorite), but he knows how much I love it, so he humors me. I always make sure that we arrive at the precise moment that it starts, which I realize makes me a dork-but who cares about being cool when there is dancing to be done? This year, especially, I made sure we were on time since the old fogies in charge decided that 2 hours was long enough. (I think I'll volunteer to help on the committee next year. Really, 2 hours!?!) 

We started our night by going to dinner with some friends at the Texas Roadhouse. Good food and even better company. (Note to self: When preparing to go dancing, limit Diet Cokes to 2.) We arrived at the dance at 6:58 PM, just in time. When the music started, I dragged Trent to the middle of the floor. The one other couple that was dancing was barely on the dance floor at all. I proceeded to dance like the free spirit that I am when moved by music while Trent rocked back and forth, feeling self conscious about the people watching who were at a dance, but not dancing. The friends who went to dinner with us arrived sometime later (they are not up to speed on the whole dancing-is-better-than-being-cool thing). They joined us in the middle of the floor and some of us had a fabulous time. Some were just counting the minutes until the torture ended, but they were good sports.

At some point, our friend, Aaron, accidentally stomped on my foot (which was bare because of a whole "Footloose-kick off your Sunday shoes" thing). That really hurt. And left several small bruises. Then my left knee started screaming, "You are too old for this!", which I did not appreciate. (Note to self: Don't go running the same day as the dance.) By the time the dance ended I was in rough shape. I don't know what was wrong with my knee-it seems to be fine now. I guess 2 hours was long enough after all, but I will still be pushing for more next year. They usually take pictures, but didn't this year. Bummer.

Valentine's Day is quickly becoming my favorite holiday. I love being surprised, but sometimes it's hard for Trent to think of what I might like for Christmas, my birthday or our anniversary. For some reason, inspiration seems to strike for Valentine's Day. I have gotten fabulous surprises for the last 3 years. This year he gave me a day at a spa to prepare for our cruise. Last year he surprised me with my iPod and the year before that I got my very own nickel-plated, pink-pearl grip .22 pistol. I gave him a can of nuts and a bag of M&M's. Aren't I thoughtful? I guess I'm claiming this as my day.