race weekend. . .

on saturday logan & i got to salt lake with the help of our
friends caleb, chris & jordan.
logan has been best buds with these 3 gentlemen since freshman year.
we all drove up to the big s-l-c friday night around 9:00pm
after caleb's soccer game.
we rolled into my neighborhood around 10 and i already felt
like death on wheels.
logan & i pretty much go to bed around 9 every night.
needless to say, 10pm felt like 2am to me at this point.
we got settled and watched some TV.
then the boys discovered we had a hot tub at my house and convinced me to let them get in around 11:30pm.
they all had fun soaking it up in the hot tub while i watched TV
and was dozing off.
about half past midnight we thought it was a good idea to make
pizza and ravioli.
we all had fun in the kitchen cooking the food while caleb was in the living room
playing the piano for us.
after eating we watched more TV, and by 1:30am i couldn't keep my eyes
open any more.
i was the first to go to bed and the boys stayed up for at least
another hour or so.
it was a pretty fun night, but as soon as my alarm went off at 6:45am to
wake up for the race i immediately regretted the "fun" we had the night before.
my mom has organized the east high running of the leopards
for the past 3 years.
it was a fund-raiser race she started when she was on the PTA at east high when my youngest brother, James was still a student there.
so every year for the past couple of years my siblings and
family and friends have all participated in this race!
the race starts in salt lake at the hogle zoo and finishes on the east high track.
it is only a 5k, but it's the "fastest 5k in utah" because its basically all down hill.
driving to the race we were pretty much all zombies.
we all rolled out of bed, got in the car, got our race numbers, and piled
into a bus that took us up to the start of the race at the zoo.
it was freezing.
we ran around the parking lot a few times and ended up cuddling around
each other to keep from freezing.
logan & i had talked about our strategy for the race this year.
last year when we ran it we stuck together the whole time, and
ended up with a time around 24 minutes.
this year logan really wanted to get under 21 minutes.
he talked about pacing himself and not running too fast, etc.
i knew this would all go out the window the second that big east high
leopard mascot was raised high above the start crowd in a cherry-picker.
the second that big leopard mascot shot that gun logan took of like his pants were on fire.
i was fine with him leaving me in the dust.
i didn't want to hold him back.
i like running in races but i also hate it.
i hate it because i always feel like i have to keep up with people around me or pass them.
i end up running way to fast at the beginning and get burned out.
within the first 50 steps of this race i knew i was going to hate my life for the next 3 miles.
with each step i took i regretted staying up till 1:30am.
i regretted eating pizza.
i regretted eating ravioli.
basically i wanted to run off the race path and dive into
the nearest bed that i saw.
but i didn't want to stop because that would have been embarrassing,
so i kept on going.
i knew i was running fast at the beginning, probably in a feeble attempt to keep up with logan and the rest of the boys, but wasn't sure exactly how fast until
i passed the first mile marker.
the man standing there with a timer yelled out "7:22!"
i wanted to die right then and there.
i can't even remember the last time i ran a mile in under like 10 minutes.
needless to say, i slowed down a bit after that 1st mile.
logan and the boys were nowhere in sight.
the rest of the race i tried to just imagine how nice it would be when
it was over and i could take a nap.
i know it was this thought that kept me going.
i was pretty tired by the time i could see the finish line at the east high track.
they say when you run a race it can be a mental blow
when someone passes you.
i couldn't care less if a grandma on a scooter passed me at this point.
i just wanted to finish.
at the last moment, as i could see the finish line a few yards ahead of me,
a dad in his mid 40's passed me.
he was pushing a stroller.

as you can see, the look on my face reads:
"please just let me finish this race and i promise i will never stay up past 1am
and eat pizza ever again".
you may also notice there is a man who looks like a grandpa to my
left who is clearly beating me.
i finished the race in 23:50.
logan and his buddies finished around 21:20.
you can see logan in the right corner of the pic cheering me on.
he was bummed he didn't get under 21, but he was pretty
happy about sprinting
to the finish and beating out a lady that was apparently in her mid 50's.

the picture that caleb took of jordan is by far my favorite.
i like it because of the way he fashioned his hood as a shield from the cold and the wind.

after the race we had fun eating the bananas and bagels and oranges set out
on these huge tables.
i didn't think i would want to eat anything after the race but after
eating 1/4 a bagel my body was screaming for more.
as in years past, we took pictures by the finish line.



this year the race had about 1,000 people registered.
it was a fun experience and everyone had a good time!

when we went back to my house the boys got in the hot tub again.
i crashed on the couch for a nap.
2 hours later the boys were out of the hot tub and i was awake from my nap.
we spent the rest of the afternoon lying around and watching TV.
it was a pretty relaxing weekend, minus the whole running
a 5k on minimal sleep
and a stomach filled with italian food.
can't wait for next year!

a series of unfortunate events. . .

so i'm not the biggest BYU basketball fan who
has ever lived, but i'll admit it has been a fun season to watch this year.
unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months, you
would know that BYU has had an incredible season, mostly due to one man:
jimmer.
i remember the first time i heard his name.
i thought it was lame.
but i guess if you are going to have a lame name you should be good at something.
good thing this kid can play ball.
thursday night jimmer and the cougs lost to florida in the sweet 16.
so sad.
whenever BYU loses a big game provo is so depressing.
to make things even more depressing, it snowed today.
big time.
in fact, it is still snowing as i type this post.
weather in utah is so random.
one second it can be sunny and 65 degrees, and an our later it will be a blizzard.
to add insult to injury, i got in a car accident today as i was leaving work.
perfect.
for the record, the accident wasn't my fault.
a young teenage driver was trying to speed across the intersection and swerved to miss another
car that was coming really fast in the opposite direction.
they missed the other car. . .
but in their attempt to miss the speeding car they hit me instead.
my poor car has been through so much.
i'm not sure how much longer it can take.
the little silver convertible beetle has kindly been referred to as the "mare-bug" for years now.
don't worry-it's in the shop and will hopefully be fixed up in no time.
the other car hit me and damaged my front tire/light area.
sorry for my lack of car terminology.
for the mean time, logan and i are car-less.
we had big plans this weekend to go to salt lake and run in a 5k race that my mom organized
a few years ago.
it's called the east high running of the leopards for anyone who is interested.
today is also our 7-month-i-versary!
we planned to go to dinner in salt lake and all sorts of grand things.
now we just have to figure out alternate means of transportation.
don't be surprised if you see us along side of I-15 on our tandem bike.
we will get to salt lake if it kills us!
sorry for the posting of this series of unfortunate events.
on the bright side, logan & i won our intramural soccer game last night!
4-1!
that means we are headed to the 2nd round of playoffs!
we will let you know how that goes!
here is a pic of the "mare-bug" when i went to AZ to visit Britt and Paige.
those were the good old days:)

golden birthday. . .

it was my little sister's golden birthday yesterday!
22 on the 22nd.
by "little sister" i mean that she is 14 months younger than me, therefore she
isn't that much "littler" than me, but whatevs.
we headed to los hermanos for sara jayne's birthday celebration.
in true christiansen fashion, john, ashley, alli & tanner made SJ a giant cupcake!

you may or may not remember the giant cupcake they made ME on my birthday.
it was delicious!
it was also devoured by logan and i in about 1.5 days:)
the birthday celebration at los hermanos was fun.
before we even got our food SJ opened the present from logan & i.
and by logan & i of course i mean the present that
i went to the mall and picked out by myself but it is also technically
from logan because his money also helped pay for it.
anyways, i like to buy people birthday presents that
i would like to receive.
therefore i am just letting anyone out there who would like to be really nice
to me know that i would love this headband:

i found it at nordstrom for a really great price.
therefore, if anyone wants to buy me a
random gift-i just gave you a great idea.
SJ loved the headband so much she put it on and wore it for the rest of dinner!

as a birthday treat, SJ ordered a tasty drink that i can't remember the name of.
this is what it looked like though.

dinner was good, and the rest of the night we were laughing at the awkward
painting behind SJ's head to the left.
you can tell that it is a painting of the david. . .
however in an attempt at modesty as well as an attempt
to make this italian work seem more mexican to fit with the restaurant, there is a
delightful blue blanket draped carefully over the bottom half of the painting.
only in utah county.
there was a couple sitting directly underneath this lovely work of art.
my brother john told me he would give me $10 if i walked over to their table,
said "excuse me", and lifted up the blue blanket to see what was underneath.
i declined the offer.
after dinner i made logan take a photo of SJ & i.
i wanted to try and find a picture of us when we were little to put on here
as well, but i couldn't find one because they are all up
at my house in salt lake.
just imagine us like 15 years younger wearing matching outfits (mine in
purple and hers in pink) and you get the idea.
we have basically been wearing the same outfits since we were 2
because of my mom.
she would get us matching laura ashley dresses for Easter every year.
i guess this tradition has followed us subconsciously.
you will notice that we both wearing gray shirts and black cardigans.
this wasn't planned.
we also have lovely red eyes that match eachother in this pic.

twins!
overall it was a fun birthday celebration!
after dinner we went up to our grandparents house and ate some
apple pie that SJ made that afternoon in her cooking class.
it was delish!

happy birthday SJ! hope you had a wonderful golden birthday!

chocolate chip cookies and justin beiber. . .

normally i would say that chocolate chip cookies

and justin bieber are alright in my book.
however, both of these things together every weekend for 2 hours can
quickly escalate into a very very bad thing.
i have had the blessing/curse of incorporating chocolate chip cookies and
justin bieber into just about every weekend for the past couple months.
if you are asking yourself how that could even
be possible, i have one word for you:
nuvia.
nuvia is my adorable little 9 year old friend that i have been mentoring for
about the past 6 months.
logan has mentored nuvia's older brother, wilbert for about the past 2 years.
every saturday we pick up wilbert and nuvia and take them to do
basically whatever it is they want to do.
every week i ask nuvia what she wants to do on saturday.
almost every time i receive the same response:
"i want to make chocolate chip cookies".
thats fine. i am not ashamed to admit that i love any excuse to eat cookies.
when we get to the house, i ask nuvia what she wants to do while the cookies are baking.
"i want to go on youtube and watch videos of justin bieber".
this was cute the first few times.
but after eating chocolate chip cookies and watching every video of bieber ever
made on the face of the earth, i'm thinking i won't be giving nuvia the option of cookies and justin
any time soon.
the look on nuvia's face as she watches the videos of the j bieb is both hilarious
and heartbreaking.
all the hopes and dreams of a 9 year old girl wishing he would jump out of the screen
and pick her up while singing 'baby' can be seen in the eyes of nuvia as she
stares at the screen and softly sings the words to his songs.
part of me says 'yes' whenever she asks to watch videos of him just so i can see the look
on her face as she gazes upon the screen in longing.
here are some pictures from 2 weekends ago, when nuvia and i made chocolate chip cookies.

its not just justin bieber that nuvia loves.
ohhh no.
she also loves hannah montana.
now, i will admit that i have maybe 2-3 hannah montana cd's in my car. . .
but in my defense only one was purchased by me.
the others were given as gifts.
every time we pick up wilbert and nuvia, they scream and beg for the duet featuring
ms. montana and the famous david archuleta.
the song is called "i wanna know you".
logan and i always talk about taking the cd out of the car so we won't be able to play
it for them, but we end up forgetting.
therefore, we hear "i wanna know you" every saturday.
and these kids don't just want to hear it once.
ohhh no.
they like it on repeat.
it takes about fifteen minutes to drive to their house each saturday.
the song is about 3 minutes in length.
we listen to it on the way to our house or wherever we go that day, as well as on the way back.
therefore, logan and i hear "i wanna know you" about ten times during the round trip.
every.single.saturday.
part of me wants to just break the cd in half and tell them we lost it.
the other part of me thinks its hilarious to look in the back seat and see each of them
staring out of the car window while softly singing all the words.
maybe they imagine that they are running around with hannah and david holding hands
running through a big field while singing the song.
in all honesty, i think its pretty dang cute.
i'm willing to sacrifice some of my time to make wilbert and nuvia happy for a while.
i'm sure our hannah/david/justin/chocolate chip making days aren't going anywhere soon. . .
but i'm glad they are only interested in cookies and pop idols, those days won't last for long!

the quilt is complete. . .

my quilt i have been making with the help of grandma doris is finished!

it has actually been finished for about 2 weeks now. . .i just haven't been good
at keeping this old blog updated.
nevertheless, it is complete!
once again, i will try and explain how i finished the quilt, but my
sewing lingo is limited.

first we had to put together the quilt top & batting & the bottom and
pin it on these wooden frames.
this literally took us over an hour because it was hard to get it stretched out and tight.
after the joy of trying to get that thing put together, we hoisted it up onto
the backs of some chairs like so:
the purpose of putting it up here was to place pins in every single
square to make sewing easier.
anything we could do do make this quilt easier to make was fine by me!

next i sewed along each and every single square of the quilt.
every.single.one.
im not going to lie.
after sewing around each and every single square, i was ready to call it
quits with this quilt.
but i persevered through the agony and after this step it looked like this:
i trimmed away the extra batting around the edges and then we cut the fabric
i wanted to go along the edge.
we cut the fabric on the bias and then sewed one side along the edge of the quilt.
i then had to fold over this edge piece and hand sew it to the other side.
this part also took a couple hours.
my fingers hurt really bad by the time i was finished, and some blood
may or may not have been shed, but i think it was worth it in the end.
so far everyone i have shown it so says that it looks like a quilt for a baby girl.
im fine with that.
ill give it to my first daughter and when she asks how i made it i will
tell her of the 10+ hours and bleeding fingers i endured.
perhaps she will appreciate it more when she knows my blood sweat and tears went into it.
i have found myself wondering if i will make another quilt anytime soon.
for now the answer is no.
i would like to continue sewing, but perhaps take on some smaller projects.
i am very grateful however for the time i got to spend with my amazing grandma doris.
she is truly a renaissance woman in every sense of the word.
i couldn't have made this cute little quilt without her!
thanks grandma!
and happy quilting to all!