I make me laugh. :)

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Abi who attended the Burley Institute every Wednesday night.

This Wednesday seemed to be just like any other (besides the fact that Jason Alma was teaching a very awesome lesson) until something happened.

Abi decided to fix her hang-nail.

And it didn't work.

You know those ones you're trying to fix, and when you bite them to pull them off, it rips all the way along the side of your nail.  >Abi and everyone reading this cringes<

*shudder*

Yeah, one of those.

Needless to say, it hurt.  Bad.  But it quickly stopped bleeding profusely, and Abi and Kaleb were once again able to pay attention to the wonderful lesson Jason prepared.

The next morning...


This girl named Abi was getting ready to go to a long, hard day of making granite countertops, and in her preparations, she decided it would prolly be a good idea to bandage that nail.

Good idea, right?

So she did.

And she worked and worked and worked some more

And sometime (about 7 hours into her work), Abi decided that that bandage was a hindrance and that she didn't really need it at all.

So she took it off.

And lo and behold!  She had bandaged the wrong finger that morning.

The end. :)

Made. My. Day. :)

Sometimes doing granite work makes life a little interesting.

Like, I have scars, blood-blisters, and callouses on my hands.
Or I always come home covered in epoxy and mud.
OR sometimes I have very interesting conversations with customers.  :]

Hehe!  This is a good one. ;)

Background:  Dad and I are installing kitchen countertops for a small, sweet, white-haired, couple.  The wife is very sharp, neat, and detail-oriented.  Her 86-year-old husband has a hard time hearing and a harder time understanding.  He is also somewhat suspicious of the newcomers (us), and he falls asleep from time to time.  They sit and watch us the whole time we are installing.

We started working, and all the time, the husband was interrogating us--trying to figure out who we were.  Sometimes the conversation would go like this:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Dad:  Forty-eight.
Grandpa:  Oh.......(long pause)......
                Where are you from?
Dad (with a smile):  Out at Springdale.
Grandpa:  Where??
Dad (louder): Springdale.
Grandpa:  Oh.  My family used to live out there.  ...  Did you know my great-grandfather?
Grandma (cutting in quickly):  No, he didn't know your great-grandfather.
...........[pause]........
Grandpa:  ...They built the Church out there on our family's land. (Dad nods) ....They used to call it [insert family name]'s Church.
Grandma (cutting in even quicker):  No they didn't either...

He he he  :)  BUT my favorite conversation happened while Dad and Grandma were outside:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Me (loud, with a smile):  Nineteen.
Grandpa:  ....Do you have a boyfriend?
Me (smiling bigger):  No.
Grandpa (jumps, raises his eyebrows incredulously, and drops his jaw while saying...):  What?  (taken aback) Nooo...  Why not?
Me (trying not to laugh at his reaction): ...
Grandpa (grinning):  I took Mom (his wife) on our first date to a sweet shop, and I came home and told my parents, "I found the girl I'm going to marry."  And they...(shakes his head and face-palms (demonstrating)).  Back then, we earned 50 cents an hour... and I took her on a date for 50 cents.  You could do that back then, too.  A movie cost 10 cents a person, and then I'd take her to the sweet shop.  We'd get hot-dogs for 10 cents each, and some candy with the last dime... (He trailed off, reminiscing, and shortly fell asleep.)

Hahaha!  It was so cute and funny!  I loved it!  I'll be honest, I'm kinda jealous of those 50 cent dates.  Sounds pretty grand to me! :D

:)

The Coolest Thing!

Sooooo, you wanna know what it is????  Do ya? Are you suuuuure???  Okay, I'll tell you.  It's.....

.......drum roooooollllllll............

MISSIONARY WORK!  Tah-DAH!!!

I'm just really excited about it, okay???

For those of you who do not know, I am a member (and avid fan, I might add) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Yeah, it's really up there in the list of coolest things EVER.  Fo' rizzle.

So!  What event makes this wonderful proclamation of fan-ship so suitable at this very moment in time?  FIRST, I am writing two missionary letters right now.  I'm writing them on old-school stationary.  It's exciting okay?!  Hahaha!  Well, it's exciting to me anyways....

Second, the two missionaries I am writing  are Elders Thomas Olaf and Craig Hunter.  As I write, I have been thinking about all of my friends and family members who have gone on or are going on missions.  I've made a list (as part of their letters) of all of these people, and it just keeps growing!  Granny and Grandpa Christensen got their call to serve this week even!  Everyone is going to a different place.  I know people going to Europe, Pacific Islands, all over in the U.S., Mexico, Russia, Africa, Austrailia--actually, I know of someone going to every continent (excepting Antarctica :] ). Most of them are speaking different languages from any of the others.  BUT even though they are all in different places, in different circumstances, receiving different blessings, talking to different people, meeting different challenges, speaking different languages--they are all out there doing the same work.  They are serving their brothers and sisters around the globe--helping them, loving them, and sharing the Gospel with them.  They are bringing to them the good news of Christ's life, love, sacrifice, and goodness.

Needless to say, this makes me proud of my boys.  I wish I was out there, right now, serving with them.  It's a very great and exciting opportunity to be called by God to go and share your testimony and love of Christ with people all over the world.  I love getting letters from them.  Reading their many adventures is exciting to me, and learning about the sweet people each of them come to know has been a highlight.  I can't get a letter without smiling.  Their love of God and of Christ is so strong, and their love of the people they are serving is so evident in all they write.

And it's then that I realize that I can do what they are doing, kind of.  I love God, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel, and I want to share it with people too!  Sometimes, I feel so inadequate, though.  So, as part of a cousinly-challenge (Thomas and I have lots of those ;)  ) I decided (and was encouraged) to read and study Preach My Gospel (the missionary study guide/manual).  It's been a great experience, and it's fun to know that I am doing at least one thing like my brothers (and cousins, and sisters...and....everyone) out in the field.  :)

So, here at least is a part of my efforts.  I've told you, and if you have any questions (any at all) I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.  It's an exciting thing, and I hope it makes you as happy as it does me! :)

Just some things... :)

Today, I thought I would share some things that have been making me happy.  :]

• I pick up on things relatively quickly.  
• I helped make most of four granite countertops today.  I understood what I was doing, and I didn't mess up.  That is an accomplishment for me.
• Fingernail polish that changes color in the sunlight! :]
• It's my new favorite thing.  Instant joy and happiness right there!
• My little brother needs me.
• He needed something cut today...and he didn't know how to use a chainsaw.  I did.  And it made me happy.
• "I think the vorpal sword was a chainsaw.  They go 'snicker-snack!'" --Max
• This made me burst out laughing and almost drop Melvin (he wasn't running yet)
• P.S. Meet Melvin Stihl the Chainsaw.  His wife, Victoria, is a weed-wacker.  They've been my good friends for a while now.
• And yes, I am wearing color-changing nail polish in that picture :D

• My skills come in handy sometimes. 
• I cut this pile of wood with a chainsaw last summer.  I didn't think I'd be needing that skill so soon

• Shopping at DI
• I found a cute dress that fits me like a glove...for $8.  I'm quite pleased with myself.
• I can sew
• The other day, I ripped a 5" hole in my jeans.  Thanks to my handiwork, you can't even tell...unless I point it out to you...which would just be awkward... ;)
• Family--They're just the greatest!
• I get to work for at least 8 hours a day with the best daddy I could ask for
• My siblings are silly/happy/funny/goofy/loving/cuddly/cute/wonderful
• My mother loves to sit and visit with me all the day long
• We watched Nacho Libre for FHE...it was much needed family-laugh time
• I painted nails and braided hair with a bunch of girl cousins yesterday
• Petey and William ran to give me hugs yesterday
• I laid on my grandparent's floor and visited with them
• My eyebrow trick makes Blake (my nephew) giggle
• Waking up to a text from Alissa Fred
• British comedies
• Playing the grand piano and singing along.  Could my house be more beautiful for that?  I submit that it can not!
• The sunshine!  It finally showed up! (Which made my nails and earrings change colors which brightened my day just that much more!)
• Thinking about Alissa Fred, my Chumbley family, Miiiiichael ALAN, Eric William Mordecai Archimedes, and my Crookshank family all having a BLAST at Disneyland today
• Marie Morgan making Elder Craiggory a Funfetti cake :]  Brightened my day a ton!
• Letters from Tommy from Chuuk!  (P.S. If ANYONE knows ANYONE who can translate Chuukese...'twould be a great help!)
• Watching Nacho Libre and thinking about Larsen serving a mission there.... Hehehehe!
• Watching Nacho Libre and thinking about my practically sealed FHE family--especially Craig, Christel, and Kirby.  I love all our jokes! :)
• Figuring out how to play the guitar.  It's a pretty fun pastime.  I enjoy it a lot.
• Feeling so sore, tired, exhausted, and completely un-lazy.  It's perfect just before you go to bed. Goodnight everyone! :)

My New Favorite Possessions :)

Hello!

I think y'all should know....I'm easily pleased and entertained----very easily.  So, this week I have bought/received two things that I should have had loooooong before now.  After all, I am from Idaho. ;)

The first is this:

I bought myself a true blue (gingham) cowgirl-cut shirt from C-A-L Ranch Stores...complete with snap buttons.  I love it!  (That's only to be expected, though.  I love anything in gingham. It's perty much the greatest! :] )

The second is something everyone in my home-town has.  I, actually, have never owned them until now:

My very own...

IRRIGATION BOOTS!

BUT, my friends, not just ANY irrigation boots.  These are steel-toed, insole laden, super-duper irrigation boots!  Now, I know what you're thinkin'.  I didn't get these just for the fun of it.  I need them for work because I work here!

For my dad, in a granite shop.  :)  And heaven knows you don't want nasty, wet shoes.....or crushed toes from dropping a countertop on it.  Yikes! :]  Yes, my new companions are warranted, and it's a little silly how happy and proud I am to own them.

I promise I don't dress like that at work....and that I do more than sit there and model my boots.  Heh heh... ;)