A Place To Call Our Own

It has been fun living for free, eating for free, doing laundry for free and even having two cars, but it seems as though our time is up, and we are embarking on "our" life here in California. We put a 72 hour deposit down on an apartment after we attended the ward in which we would be in. We went to two different wards on Sunday after we found 2 apartments that we really liked. We had a hard time deciding because the rent just seems so insane, but we keep reminding ourselves that Devins paycheck is going to be huge compared to what it used to be and that we can afford it even though it seems insane. The apartment is in Rocklin and will be about a 15-20 minute drive to get to Devins work depending on traffic and lights. We will see if we can make a decision, just wanted to give a quick update.

My Husband is Officially A California Resident!!

Just really quickly, we made it to Roseville safe and sound. The drive was extra long because we towed our car behind the moving truck so Devin was very cautious. My mom so kindly told me a story of an accident she saw involving a truck towing a car and that got us a smidge worried. Anyway, we are here with all of our stuff in my parents garage sleeping in my little sisters room. Thankfully not on twin beds anymore since we were able to bring all of our beds with us. We put one up there and moved hers out. Devin started work today, Tuesday, because yesterday we had to take a trip to San Ramone, the bay area, to pick up some furniture my aunt and uncle gave us before they move at the end of this week to Atlanta. We have been blessed to have been given several great pieces of furniture and hopefully all we will have to buy is a table for our tiny apt. kitchen and a couch of some sort. We are glad to have IKEA close and lots of discout furniture stores around. We will see what we can fit in our apartment. I hope to find us a place soon and will begin my search today. If any one knows of any great complexes in Roseville or Rocklin, let us know. We are so excited to be here, but we keep talking about how weird it feels to actually live here because for 3 years Roseville has been were I go on vacation, and all Devin has known of Roseville is vacation. So I am excited to get settled and start feeling like we actually live here!! Love you all. Thanks to all of the Christensen side who helped us move and to my family who helped us fill up the garage. XOXO!!!

Mummy Kids

Sunday was rather slow and we all started getting really bored and sleepy around 7:30. Lucky for us we are moving and Michelle handed me the plastic wrap to put around our furniture so that it stays in one piece. GENIUS Mich. I decided to wrap Jacob in the stuff, and then the other kiddies wanted in on the fun. It was so funny and they were trying to jump all over the place and they got all sweaty. it was so funny. We were dying laughing!

Our Girl

I realized that most if not all of my friends do not know anything/much about Chantel so I thought I would just give a little info about her life and about Rett's Syndrome. Mom C, if any of this seems innacurate, please let me know so that I can be right. :)

Devin's oldest sister Chantel has what is called Rett's Syndrome. I am not positively sure of when she was actually diagnosed, but I think that it was sometime in her youth. Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopment disorder that began to become noticeable in Chantel when she was about 2 I think. Her brain development began to slow and Mom and Dad C knew something was wrong, although many doctors did not know what the cause was. Rett syndrome is very common among girls because the gene for it is on the X chromosome.

Chantel has many outward signs of Rett syndrome, although in her heart I am sure she just laughs her head of when people act like there is something terribly wrong with her. Some people will talk to her very loudly, although she can hear perfectly fine, or they will act like the things that she does that are normal for her, are signs of something wrong. It is so funny to hear stories of how people who don't know her act toward her. Anyway, Chantel wrings her hands, grinds her teeth, avoids eye contact with others, shows a lack of interest at times, has scoliosis, and other things. If you ever saw Chantel, chances are she would have a chew toy, preferrably her hamburger, in her mouth to preven her from grinding her teeth or chewing on her wrist.

Chantel has been such a tremendous blessing in my life for the short period of time that I have known her. While there are times when she could care less whether or not I was around, there are other times when I know that she loves me and cares about me with all of her heart even though she can't tell me with her words. She has taught me so much in this past year that I have been able to grow close to her. I am really going to miss her and being able to laugh with her and see her smiling face when I show up with a new shirt with lots of pictures or detail. She always pays attention to my shirts if they aren't boring. She is always making us laugh, which she just gets a kick out of. It will be so fun in the next life to hear in her words what it was like for her when she teases us all. She is such a sweetie and is so close to our Father and I just treasure that about her. I know it was so hard for Mom and Dad C to leave her behind, but she is in such great hands, and we can tell all the time how happy she is. We all adore her and would do anything for her. Love you lots Chantelly.

Miss Celestial Kingdom

On Sunday evening, we were all going stir crazy so we decided to take a walk up to the temple. While we were there, Chantel was being so funny and super cuddly with me. I was loving it because I love it when she acknowledges me. She was laughing and hugging me and was just so happy. She wasn't thrilled that she couldn't get into the temple, but she got over it. I wish we had gotten it on video so that everyone could have seen it, but it was really fun to be there with her and the rest of the family. I love that girl!

Here We Go!!

Well friends we are very excited for our first big move as a family. We are heading to Roseville, CA. Yup my hometown. Devin got a job in Granite Bay so we are leaving Rexburg on July 25th for our first big adventure. I must admit that it has been a little bittersweet imagining the things that we are going to be leaving behind here. Contrary to popular belief, I enjoy Rexburg most of the time, just not in the -25 degree weather and when winter lasts until June. While there are things that I don't love about Rexburg, there are other things that I love and that I am really going to miss when we leave. I have already started crying thinking about what we are leaving behind, which isn't saying much since I cry all the time, but still. So here is my tribute to Rexburg/ Idaho. I hope it makes my Rexburg boy proud to be my husband. :)

1. I am really going to miss Michelle. This is one of the things that makes me the most emotional. She has really been my closest friend the entire time they have been here. She has always been there for me and I just think the world of her. Plus Chantel of course. She is so funny. It takes time to get to know her but once you do, you just adore her. She is so great! Love you girls. Oh and Ace, I don't have any pictures of you, but I will miss you too! Who will harass me when I am gone. Certainly not my siblings. We just have a relationship that will be hard to match with anyone else. Ha Ha.

2. I am totally going to miss these kids. We spend just about every day playing with them and it will be sad to not see them anymore. They are so dang funny and they make us laugh all of the time. We love you so much guys.

3. I am going to miss the river. It is so beautiful and you can see it everywhere you go because it just meanders all throughout the state.

4. I am going to miss having the temple right up the street. While we should have gone all of the time since it is within walking distance, it is just so re-assuring to see it from throughout town and to see a reminder of the Lords love for us.

5. I am going to miss all the land. In California, every bit of empty ground gets developed quicker than you can believe. Everytime I go back home there is more being built. Here there are huge farms and fields forever. So many people live on big pieces of land and that is definitely a dream of mine that would never happen in California.

So there are things about Idaho that I will miss, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't so dang excited to go to California with Devin. I think he is going to love being there and I am so excited for us to live there together. YAY! Well so long Idaho, you are loved.

My Wonderful Hubby!

My 23rd birthday was on Friday and Devin totally surprised me by taking me to a Chukkars game. I have wanted to go for a long time and was so excited when we walked closer to the field and I realized that we were going to a ball game. I love baseball and the weather was absolutely perfect for baseball watching. Then we walked around the green belt in Idaho Falls and went to dinner at one of my favorite places, The Sandpiper. It is right on the Snake River and you can sit out on the patio and it really is so serene and tranquil, not to mention romantic. However, our romance was ruined by a spider that came crawling out from under Devins plate and our dinner was over. LoL. We are not spider fans at all. Whenever I see one I just yell for Devin to come and kill it and every night Dev checks the bed just in case any spideys think they can have a sleepover with us. Anyway, so my birthday was great. Devin made me crepes with strawberries, raspberries and mangoes and gave me a purple little i-pod shuffle and sent me gorgeous flowers at work. It was such a wonderful birthday. I sure love my man. And just look at how dang cute he is. Ha ha. This trick had me rolling everytime he would make a different face. What a goober. Love him!!

Califorkneeya!

Family.... isn't it about..Time?

After a lot of chaos here in Rexy, we took a much needed break and went to play with my family in Roseville. It was so awesome and such perfect time for a vacation. I have never needed one so bad ever. We left on Thursday night at 7:30pm and arrived to surprise my family the next morning around 5am. Insanely enough Devy drove the whole way and drank only 1 Mountain Dew. What a maniac right?! We did so much while we were there and had such a blast. We got to go to Tahoe for a few days and learned just how much we love the outdoors. We had almost forgotten since it had been such crummy weather here. We even got tans! Yahoo.

Tahoe was gorgeous and we had the most perfect weather while we were there. It was so great. We hiked, biked, and jet skiied even though the water was dang cold. Tahoe certainly is the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It is so big and so gorgeous, but the water is soo clear. It was just amazing. From the trip I was inspired to get two things. Well three. A pair of Chaco's, a mountain bike or cruiser bike, I really want both, but I think I should just pick one, and a bike for Devy. We can be outdoorsy as long as the weather cooperates with my tastes right?!

Are we cool or what?

Sissas with Sass

Ry was tired so he wanted to find nice meadow

or a hollow tree and one just popped up!

What a Kodak moment with all the guys.

The water was freezing, but it was so fun!

UTARDS!!

About a month ago, we got to spend the weekend in Salt Lake for a job interview. We had so much fun just relaxing. It was the first time we had gone ona trip and just spent the time by ourselves (for the most part) since our honeymoon. It was so much fun. We were so lucky to be able to meet up with my Dad while he was in town for a wedding and had lunch with him. He even let us take the car that he had rented for the trip. We discovered that PT Cruisers are really small cars that are not very comfortable for grown men. Who would have thought. We got to go shopping and went to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point that were absolutley beautiful. My favorite part were these gorgeous plum colored tulips. The gardens inspired us to spruce up our yard a bit. (We just planted flowers in our planters.)

Devin even took me to Cabelas! It wasn't that exciting to me, however the humongo fish tank really made me want to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We also got to spend some time with Devins mission trainer Jason and his wife Cassie. They were great and showed us how weird they are with their surgery game on the Wii. Ha Ha. JK guys. But really it was a weird game. However, it was such a fun weekend and I really enjoyed all the shopping and R&R I got to do!

EATIN SOME GOOD GRUB!!

So I have turned a new leaf and decided that I am going to learn how to cook some new things that are deliciousand moderately nutritious. I have created some of my own dishes and mooched off of others, but regardless we ate good last week. Here are some of the recipes because the food turned out great and it was all pretty easy.

Homemade Mashers: Cut up desired amount of potatoes and boil them until soft. Add green onions, milk, salt, sour cream and cream cheese if you want to make them really fattening. Just use however much you want of all of the ingredients. I rarely measure, I just use whatever amount looks good. These mashers taste delicious and are way better for you than the boxed kind plus they are pretty easy to make.

French Dip Sandwichs: I got this recipe off of a friends blog, so she gets the credit, but it was delicioso and Devin ate it up as though he had never eaten anything in his life. He LOVED it so much that when we went grocery shopping again, he picked out all of the stuff to make it!

2 Tbsp butter

1 shallot, chopped

1 Tbsp flour2 cans beef stock, or what I used2 bouillon cubes dissolved into 2 cups of water

1 1/2 lbs. thin sliced roast beef

Grill seasoning blend for steak, salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme

sourdough bread-I used San Luis

In a large skillet over moderate heat, melt butter. Add shallots to butter and saute 2 minutes. Add flour to butter and shallot and cook a minute longer. Whisk in beef stock in a slow stream. Bring sauce to bubble and allow to simmer over low heat until ready to serve sandwiches.Pile meat loosly across your cutting board. Season meat. Set cups for dipping sauce, plates and sourdough. To assemble, using kitchen tongs, dip meat into loose au jus sauce and pile across sourdough. Set cups with extra dipping sauce.

SouthWestern Pita Salad: I had originally wanted to make something along the lines of Pita Pit, but when that idea failed, I ended up with this delicious salad that I think I could eat every day. I call it South West Pita Salad. It was really good with tomatillo ranch dressing, but when we ran out, I just had it with salsa and sour cream and it was still amazing!! Check it out!

Tomatillo Ranch Dressing

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)

2 tomatillos (tomato like vegetable with a husk around them)

½ bunch of cilantro

1 clove garlicJuice of

1 lime

1 jalapeño (Use the seeds too if you like it spicy. You could substitute a few drops of green tobasco for the jalapeno.)

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Make the dressing before hand so that you wont have to worry about it.

For the salad, I used 1 head of green leaf lettuce cut into small strands like shredded lettuce would be. Then I added a bit of red onion, some corn, tomatoes, cheese, black beans and avacado. Put cheddar cheese on the pita as you would a quesadilla and put in the oven at 350 until the cheese is melted. Grill up some chicken to your liking. I just use the George Forman because it is really quick with a little PAM and garlic salt. It works well.

Put the salad mixture on the melted cheese pita, then the chicken, add a bit of salsa and sour cream and then use the dressing if you want to.

Roasted Potato Salad: I made this for a bbq that we had. I was a little wary of it because I am not a Miracle Whip fan, but it turned out delicious and we hardly had any left overs even though I doubled the recipe. It was relatively easy to make and very good hot or cold.

4 large potato, peeled and cubed

1 C miracle whip

2 boiled eggs chopped

2 slices bacon, diced and cooked

1/4 C green onions

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425. Place potatoes on baking sheet sprayed with PAM and bake for 30-35 minutes until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Stir once. Mix Miracle Whip, crushed bacon, onions, eggs salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add potatoes and stir together.