My first star sighting!!!

And I didn't get a picture!! Last night, I was at Rubios eating my fantastic mango shrimp taco (SOO GOOD!!) and I am informed that there is a real life TV personality just at the other table outside...guess who? (Krystle you will appreciate this:)

It was ALI AND ROBERTO from ABC's "The Bachelorette"! Yes, they were sitting there in their jeans, button up shirt, hoodie, just hanging out in front of Rubios. Those of you who watched the show know that they moved to San Diego. From the fact they walked away, not drove, I'm assuming I can figure out the general neighborhood they live in. I think the magazines would be disappointed to see how happy and in love they looked, no trouble in paradise there! The ring was still on, so looks like this couple might make it at least a few weeks after the show.

Pearl showed her age this weekend:)

Oh Pearl, such a great car. I bought Pearl in 2002, the year after I graduated from BYU. Pearl (OZ rally edition, yes I wanted a little more sporty) is a great little car, who drove me to roommates and friends weddings, up to Idaho to drop Brittany off at BYU-I, back and forth to Utah, down to San Diego in 2005, up and down the California coast, interior and even more times to Utah. She's closing in on 100,000 miles. Yup, she doesn't look her age. Except this week, when her engine decided to show it's age. Oh, so not fun to go into the mechanic and have them tell you, "your timing belt, water pump, idle valve and O2 sensor need to be replaced." I knew the timing belt and water pump were coming, I was bracing for that. But the other stuff, geez. Pearl had to be kept in the shop for 4 days, Saturday-Tuesday. I got to rely on others to drive me around, so fun! I forgot how much I don't like not having my own car to drive around town in.
So,instead of a possible new car in a year or two, Pearl will be mine till she dies. She's now got about another 80,000 miles on her, with a newly cleaned engine, new parts and soon, new brakes! It just keeps getting better:)

Just a little tired...

I don't think I've ever been so tired, IN MY LIFE! What I wouldn't trade for those long nights of studying in college. For whatever reason, those seem more manageable than my life does right now. Sorry, this is a little bit of a venting post. I've struggled over the last year with how to balance and prioritize. It's a little hard. I'm amazed at my family, extended family, and friends that are able to have spouses, kids, and jobs and seem to do it all. I have me to take care of, and can't seem to do that. It makes me a little nervous to try to add one more person into my life. I think Heavenly Father knows that, cause nothings coming ;) In any case, I have a feeling this is a life long struggle, that it doesn't go away with a spouse and kids, probably just a different kind of prioritizing.

On September 3rd, I will be leaving this tired life for a couple weeks to go traveling with a few friends. We are headed to:

then here:

here:

a little castle:

and further east:

a little down:

and ending:


BRING IT ON LIFE, BRING IT ON!!!!

Passing of June

I can't believe it's been two months already. It's been a crazy 2 months. It was filled with family, friends and a little bit of stress, not big deal though:)

In June, my Grandpa Christensen passed away. I was able to attend the graveside service with my dad and sisters up in Pocatello, along with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and many other extended family members who I met for the first time. It was wonderful to be there and feel the love people had for my grandpa. It was a sweet experience to feel the spirit there and know that families are eternal and grandpa will be able to flick the back of my head still.

The week following, my mom's side had a family reunion down in Zions National Park. I drove down with my sisters and we had some adventures on the way. Mariah decided to present us with her new talent, getting sick in the car. Joyous times, but luckily, we made it through the demonstrations.

While in Zions, we hiked, played games, bbq'd, took pictures and stayed in a magnificent house. It was great, large guest rooms, large kitchen and dining area, large porches, ping pong in the garage and the adventures of might mouse. Yes a mouse got loose one night and decided to chomp away on some of our bags of food. Luckily Shelley was courageous enough to show it who was boss**

I drove back to San Diego after being gone the whole week, on Sunday. Back to work, back to Relief Society, back to all the joys June Gloom here in SD had to offer. Yes folks, today, was the first day the Sun came out and it stayed out for about 2 hours!!! It's not covered again. This marine layer is really a damper to my SoCal tan!

Mormon Helping Hands....Manual Labor La Jolla Style

So, yesterday was the State of CA Mormon Helping Hands day. Each ward was assigned a park to clear out. My ward, the La Jolla Singles ward went to town on our project, which was the removal of Arundo (bamboo like plant) from a creek bed. It had choked up the creek and there was trash and yucky stuff stuck in a forest of this stuff. Our mission: to remove the plants, leaving a 6-12 inch high stalk, which will be chemically killed later. Operation helping hands is a go!



and some pics of the event:

in the arundo forest


the size, this was just one end of the forest, we actually went down the path to the other end and worked from there to be closer to the dumpster.


the work crew

what will the mail deliver today?

Today, I went to pick up the mail downstairs in the basement of our building, like I normally do everyday. Over the last few days, there have been different mail persons there to help me. Yesterday, was a new guy who wanted to see my ID so he'd be sure he was giving the mail to the clerks office. Not a bad idea but the other guys know who I am and we don't have to go through this procedure.

Today, the mailman was a very LARGE man. It was a sight. He was late first of all, but then his shirt was only buttoned halfway up, not what I wanted to see today. Next, I sign for the certified mail and he says, "L Christensen, you don't live over in North Park do you? I deliver mail in that area to an L Christensen." Luckily, I could truthfully say, nope I don't live in that area. And, sorry Mr. McCreepy, but why would I confirm where I live to a US postman who can't seem to fully dress himself?

The last fun event was going through the mail we received today. I found a letter that actually had been misdirected to the Clerks office, should have gone to IRS. But the sender put his address on the back of the envelope as, "I live under the bridge in La Jolla, near Genessee." It was sad to see that, but of course then I wondered how this mail would get back to the gentleman, if it had been misdirected. Maybe I should have asked the postman in the mail room what he would have done in that situation and had a good long conversation about where everyone in San Diego lives.

A whole lot of shaking goin' on!

So yesterday about a 1/2 hour after general conference, I guess nature decided to pipe in with it's own power:) A pretty good sized earthquake struck about 120 miles away from San Diego in Mexico. Luckily, here in SD all we really experiences was about 30 seconds of shaking and rolling. It was actually more like rolling, like being on a boat going over waves. It was a weird sensation. In any case, we are fine here. I came into work this morning and our lights were out, apparently the earthquake had shaken connections loose in the whole federal building, our elevators were down and out for the count and our courthouse annex in El Centro, about 30 miles from the epicenter was damaged so court from out there moves here today. Good times.

I have to say, after watching conference this weekend, I did come away with a greater sense that I need to DO more. So if the feeling wasn't enough, the earthquake was a jolt to do. I am purchasing more food storage and water this week. I have my 72 hour kit in my car and will rotate that food out this week too. I am going to purchase water for my car. Maybe it's a little extreme, but after watching my bosses and others in the federal court go into emergency mode to make sure our El Centro folks are okay and that the normal processes can go on, I am impressed by their calm and quick manner to DO something. So I will follow, don't need to shake me twice!