A Visit From The Parents

This past week, we had a wonderful visit from my parents! We had so much fun showing off beautiful Southern California to them, and they loved soaking in the sun and escaping the rain.

The night they arrived with started off quickly by showing them the pier.  The next day we went down to the beach again for a warm and sunny afternoon. For Valentine's Day they headed off to Santa Barbara and Luke and I enjoyed a great night at Huntington Beach.

The next day my parents returned and just as they came, Luke had to go out of town for a business trip.  We found out a week before they came that Luke had to go to Northern California for the week.  So we made the best of the time we had with him.

Right after Luke headed off, we went to Anaheim to see our dear friends, the Bruncks.  They've been our friends for over 17 years, and Michelle and I did ballet, soccer, softball and practically everything together when we were younger.  They moved away quite a few years ago but we've all stayed friends and it was so great to be reunited with them all again!

My parents and I headed out to Palm Springs for four days. We had a wonderful time with my mom's aunt and uncle.  They spoiled us with amazing food and fun as always.  Hours and hours were spent lounging in the pool.  One morning my parents and I went hiking along the San Andreas fault.  It felt a lot like hiking in Southern Utah.  A trip to Palm Springs wouldn't be complete without a trip to the golf clubs.  We spent the majority of one of the days at PGA West and also toured 6 magnificent model homes. If only...

Delicious dinner at The Cliffhouse with our Aunt Linda and Uncle Don

Nothing is boring with them

PGA West

We returned back to the LA Basin and the next day I took my parents up to Hollywood to give them the full turn that I am getting quite good at now. I took them to Burbank where we say Warner Brother Studios with the iconic water tower, and pointed out the church from Gilmore Girls to my mom, a show we always watched together when we lived in Switzerland. 

From there we drove all around Beverly Hills to see the big houses on the hill, something I hadn't done myself yet.  Grifith Park was also a first for me with some of the most beautiful views of the Hollywood Sign, and LA. There are so many hiking trails through those hills that I would definitely like to do.

The highlight of the trip to Hollywood however was Hollywood Boulevard. I forgot that the Oscars were coming up, so just one day before the first ceremonies, we got to see everything all set up, some of the red carpet still rolled up, and even got to walk on some of the red carpet! I also may have put a thread of the red carpet in my pocket for funsies. We followed the red carpet all the way up to the Dolby Theater as we watched camera crews set up, reporters do their thing and watched the oscar statues get their final gold pain touch ups.  It was a unique experience that we didn't plan, which made a great memory.

My debut on the Red Carpet

Walking into the Dolby Theater

Ready to Roll Out

Luke came back late that Friday night, and that last day all together was spent nice and relaxed on the beach.  We spent quite a bit of time at Huntington Beach and enjoyed delicious ice cream on the pier.  We completed the day by driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway to check out Newport Beach.  If was a full week to share all the goodness this area has to offer with my parents.  I miss them already, but am so glad I'll be in Washington with them in just under a month.

We Found Heaven

We're in love. Well yes, with each other, that's old news.  But we have recently fallen in love with Southern California. We seriously feel as though we have died and gone to heaven.  Moving around every 6 months for two years my be rough, but there are so many treasure and blessings that we have found along the way. And living here has definitely been a treasure.

Luke and I arrived on January 1st and Luke had until the 12th to "settle" in his new location before he started working again at his next location.  Well that week had as much fun as we could pack in, and definitely no moving in.  That wasn't our fault though. It wasn't our fault that the movers decided to come a week later than planned. So we took advantage of it and just did all we could that week.

First off, we live half a mile from the ocean. HALF A MILE. We are spoiled.  We love going down to the beach. Even in January, you can go to the beach in flip flops and a T-Shirt and splash your feet in the water.  Seal Beach (where we live) is this cute little tucked away town in Orange County. It's just north of Huntington Beach, and it still has a small town feel.  We are close to everything, but as soon as you get west of Pacific Coast Highway (Or PCH as we've learned all the locals call it) where we live, it's a quaint and quiet beach town.  We are so blessed that it's a safe area.  The company almost put us in an apartment that's in Downtown Long Beach which would have been very nice, but not in a safe area. So we are grateful for a quiet beach town with cute shops, restaurants, and a beautiful pier.

On one of our first days we headed up to Hollywood, which both of us had never been to.  We got to see the WB Studios and the water tower, Disney Studios, Universal Studios, the famous Hollywood sign of course, and then ended it by walking down Hollywood Boulevard.  The highlight was getting to see Robin Williams' star, and getting to put my hand in Matt Damon's hand print (anyone who knows me knows how much a love Matt Damon).

We live less than 30 minutes from Disneyland, yeah I know, it's like the happiest thing about this place (no pun intended).  We've literally been every week since we've been here. This week we've gone twice. It's an addiction. Locals can get very discounted passes that pay for themselves after you've been only twice.  And we definitely are getting our money's worth.  Our first week here when Luke still had work off, we went to Disneyland for the whole day.  Luke had been to Disney World but never Disneyland (considering the fact that he grew up in Atlanta) and so I was so excited to show him all of Disneyland! Our first day was the last day of the Christmas Season at Disneyland so we got to see the castle all decorated, Haunted Mansion, Jungle River Cruise, World of Color, Main Street and several other things all set up for the season! It really added a lot to the experience.  After a full day, we decided to go home, get some sleep, and turn right around and come again! We got to spend two full days just the two of us. Since then, we've gone a few times.  We usually come in the evenings for a few hours to go on a few rides, or to catch a show or two. It's nice that with these passes, when we got for the evening, we don't have to feel like we need to cram everything we can in.

My Aunt Linda and Uncle Don live in Palm Springs which is only about 2 hours away. We took a couple of days to go and see them, and they just spoiled us.  Good food, good games, greater company.  Palm Springs is beautiful and hidden away in a sun attracting valley. We will definitely be seeing a lot more of them!

Luke had a business trip in Alabama, and so my best friend/freshman roommate can to spend about 10 days with me! We started our time on a Mexico cruise! You can get them dirt cheap this time of year, and the port is only a few miles from our home (so close that we took a public bus home from the cruise).  We had a great time the two of us stuffing our faces and getting tan.  Catalina Island is one of the prettiest places I've been.  So quaint and beautiful, and we never even left LA County! Mexico was also fun with lots of shopping and bartering.  We really miss the food, especially the croissants.

My fun continued with Kellee by thrift store shopping through Orange County (local rich people + local thrift stores = amazing finds). We spent all day and it was worth everything.  Kellee purposely brought an extra suit case for this very event and she needed it.

A few days later I took Kellee to Hollywood where we did what Luke and I did, but we also got to watch an outdoor filming of a Jimmy Kimmel sketch when J.J. Watt came and got some coffee for Jimmy. It was pretty cool to see all that goes in to getting a production as short as that all ready.

And then... Disneyland with Kellee. What a day! Best day at Disneyland because... there we NO LINES. NO LINES. And it wasn't even rainy. It was perfect weather, it's just that January/February are such low seasons. We walked right onto Indiana Jones twice in a row, and walked right on to most of our rides.  It was great. Luke joined us after work and we just used up every moment we could.

Kellee actually got me to go on a roller coaster though... I hated every second of it as the picture below describes, but am honestly glad I did to check it off. I have now done every single big ride at Disneyland/California Adventure, which is saying a lot for this baby.

NorCal- 1 Down, 3 To Go

The past 6 months have seemed to have just flown by! I can't believe we have already one rotation down with three more to go.  Between both of us working full time and all the little day trips we've done, it's been a packed rotation here in Modesto, but we have been so grateful to be here! We've done it all here.  The Sierra Foothills, Yosemite, Sacramento, San Francisco , The Oakland Temple, hiking among the towering California Redwoods, the beaches (a handful of times), and Luke completed another marathon in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Living in the valley is great because you are near everything! And for a lot of it, we had my awesome Aunt Candace to go on adventures with! Living near so much family has been especially precious to me, and it really will be hard (is hard) to leave all of them, but I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with all of them.

Luke is finishing up his first rotation this week. He's done a great job implementing lean changes to the Modesto location, along with drinking out of a fire hose regularly. He's really enjoying working for Parker Hannifin and we are so grateful for the opportunity. He especially loved getting to have his own office at this location. There will be lots of changes that he will need to make when he starts at his next location in Southern California, but he's excited for the challenge!

I finished up my 6 month position with Grupe Real Estate on the 19th.  It was a wonderful 6th months, working with some of the best people ever.  I also drank out of a fire hose, but learned so much that will help me at any future work environment, but most importantly learned a lot about real estate that will really help Luke and I out when we buy our first home in the next few years. Getting to have lunch with my grandparents everyday, who live down the street from the office, was definitely the cherry on top.

The San Francisco Ballet

You can never get enough of San Francisco.  Luke and I have now been to this beautiful city 4 times together, and it never gets boring.  We were able to go with my dear friend Kellee once when she came out to see us, and went again two weeks ago to celebrate my birthday. For my birthday we went to enjoy sushi (thank you Kellee!) and The San Francisco Ballet's The Nutcracker. It was incredible, the best Nutcracker production I've been.  Even Luke loved it (he was mostly amazed by the incredible set design and how it seemed to move so flawlessly).  The tourist spots are great, but I just love being in the heart of the city.  You can never lose interest in observing the people of San Francisco, such a fun city!

For Christmas we had to stay in the area due to our move. It's tricky having to move during the holidays and with the headache of scheduling the movers (at one point they were going to have to come on Christmas Eve) we had to pass on going out to Kansas be with with Luke's family who were getting together at Anna and Cameron's at Kansas State.  My family in the area was mostly going to be out of town for the holidays, so we decided best to escape and go to Santa Cruz for Christmas.  It was perfect! The weather was great, there were no crowds, we had a cute hotel, and really enjoyed getting to spend a quiet Christmas together. The Monterey Bay is breathtaking, and before we headed home, we made sure to drive along Highway 1 a little bit to catch a few peeks of those beautiful views of the ocean. California really is beautiful.

Santa Cruz, CA

Monterey, CA

Bixby Creek Bridge, one of the many treasures along HWY 1

Over New Years we head down to Orange County! We'll be living in Seal Beach (Between Long Beach and Huntington Beach) with an apartment half a mile from the ocean. How can it get much better than that?

Big Kids

Well, we've graduated and moved on in life.  It's been a VERY busy last couple of months.

EUROPE
The day after graduation, we moved out of our adorable college house (I still really miss it, it was so cute) and stored stuff at Luke's grandparents for the next two months.  Days later we flew to Europe, where we had an INCREDIBLE three-week trip in Switzerland, Rome and Paris. Saw the Pope in Rome, and had a romantic time in Paris. Seriously, the trip couldn't have gone better.  Perfect memories :) It was really special to have Luke meet my friends in Switzerland, and to show him the country I lived in, including the beautiful Alps.  We are so grateful to the friends and family who were so hospitable to us, especially my dearest Swiss friend, Linda.

Lake Lucern, Switzerland

THE PACIFIC NOTHWEST
When we came back to the US, we flew to Portland to spend about a month in the most beautiful corner of the country.  It was great for Luke and I to spend so much time with my parents, and to just relax and have almost no cares in the world (except for going through the process of finally changing my name and countless calls with the movers and corporate HR to get our move to California all under control).  But it was so great to spend so much time with my parents! Day trips included Mt. St. Helens, Seattle, the coast, and several hikes, and of course, Saturday's Market.  We did it all!

PARK CITY

Next we flew back to Utah for a week, this time to spend it with Luke's family that had gathered for his mom's wedding.  Luke's mom rented a house for all 18 of us to stay at in Park City, and it was tons of fun, filled with lots of little nieces and nephew time, cards, bowling, junk food, hiking and hot tub time! 

Christensen Family Hike

WEDDING!!!

That Friday was the beautiful wedding of Bob and Laura. It was so sweet and special and so wonderful to have so much family gathered around.  We had it at the Lion House on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Great food, and even better dancing.  Apparently my brother-in-law, Jonny, practices dancing to Beyonce too much. The entire day was so special, and we are SO happy for Luke's mom :)

CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP AND CORPORATE TRAINING

Days later, Luke flew to Cleveland for a week of corporate training with Parker Hannifin, and with our car and stuff already on its way to California with the movers, my mom and I took a road trip through Southern Utah and Las Vegas on our way to see my aunt and uncle in Palm Springs.  It was heaven there.  Four hours in the most perfect pool, eating and talking. Luke had an amazing week at corporate where he had lots of training and wined and dined with executives, vice presidents and the CEO of Parker Hannifin. It's such a great position to get to work so closely with corporate at such a young age! 

OUR NEW JOBS! (aka DINKS)

A few days later we arrived to our new home! Well, almost.  All of my mom's family lives really close to where we live in Modesto, so we stayed with my grandparents until we could move into our apartment on the 30th. Luke and I both work full-time, which makes us a term I've recently learned: DINKS (dual income, no kids). I started my new job working in the real estate office that my grandpa owns.  I love my job! I work the front desk, but they have me doing a lot of administrative stuff like working on the escrow closing docs and property listings.  I love my job! I am learning a lot and real estate is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.  And I get to work with an AMAZING group of staff that's so fun!  And getting to go to my grandma and grandpa's every day for lunch is definitely a highlight :) I love the people I work with and am learning so much about real estate.  Luke also loves his job.  It's an amazing job within Parker Hannifin that has him in management training.  He is working hard and learning lots! We are both so busy, but nothing will ever be as busy as BYU. 

NEW CAR

In the mean time, Luke and I bought our first new car!!! We couldn't believe it.  We had been looking into getting a used car, since it was time to own two cars instead of one.  But we found an awesome deal on a 2014 Ford Focus that was in the end cheaper than buying used, and so couldn't be more excited! We get around 37.8 MPG and love having bluetooth in the car! 

OUR NEW HOME

We love our apartment too.  It's in a gorgeous apartment complex that's gated and in a really nice part of town.  Since we will be living in corporate housing for the next two years, we don't get to pick where we live, but luckily the company picks nice and safe areas for us to live and we are really pleased with where they put us.  Free juice bar, gorgeous pool to lay out at, amazing gym and a nice place to live :) We love it here!

3 Rather Important Things I've Learned at BYU (outside the classroom)

Well, I sit here with no homework and no motivation to keep packing to move to California.  So I sit, and I ponder, and I ponder about the last 4 years of my life here at BYU.  When my parents took me here as an eight year old, I still remember how much I fell in love with the campus.  It's so vivid in my mind that I can remember the exact locations that my parents took me to and I smile still every time I walk past them while rushing off to my next class. For ten years I worked so hard.  I remember coming home from school as  a fourth grader telling my mom I did so well on a test because I pretended I was taking it at BYU.  BYU drove me.  For that I will always be grateful for.  Everyone needs something in their lives that makes them want to be better, and better, and for me that was BYU.

When I got accepted, I cried so hard I couldn't breathe (seriously, while trying so hard to breathe my parents repeated to me that I made it in, just in case I read it wrong).  Life was surreal.  After a whole decade of dreaming of going to this amazing university and working so hard in high school, it was all worth it.  I remember giving the most grateful prayer to my Heavenly Father that night.

And now, as these four years come to an end, it's suddenly over.  But really it's not. That's the beautiful thing about my four years at BYU, it's not just a center of learning to get a piece of paper, it's a place to learn for life (please excuse every cliche things I say in this post).  BYU's motto is "Enter To Learn, Go Forth To Serve".  I feel that my time here has been a learning ground for me to not only better my own life, but to learn how to serve others the best that I can for the Lord (and the fact that I studied nonprofit management here).

So here are the three overarching things that I learned here.

1. There is so much more to a person than grades- You have to learn this in order to survive at BYU.  With a 3.9 GPA in high school, I thought for sure college would be a little harder, but I could handle it.  I wish someone slapped me across the face when I said that out loud once while a senior in high school.  BYU is HARD.  It's competitive.  You get here and you realized that everyone else is as smart as you and that makes you feel small.  I have struggled pretty much my whole time here with academic self confidence.  In other words, on BYU's campus I've always felt dumb. I let myself feel dumb for too long.  It honestly was not until my third year at BYU that I realized that your academic ability isn't all that defines you at BYU.  When I realized that, life seemed to go better.  It wasn't that I let myself slack in my classes, but as you value yourself more as a person you seem to do better all aspects of life. 
2. People are in your life for a season for a reason- That wasn't meant to rhymed, but I'll take it.  I remember the end of summer term at BYU.  I had grown so close to so many people in my hall and ward, and we were all moving to our fall dorms, meaning that we would no longer all be together.  I cried and cried when the greatest summer of my life was over and I realized things would never be the same with everyone.  My aunt picked me up and brought me to her house and helped me feel better.  She told me then, "You need to get use to change, there is no escaping it while you are here at BYU." It is so true.  Every semester your world is altered and each time you move, and people get married, and people go on missions, people leave your life.  I always thought that great people in your life are meant to stay for ever.  But I've learned that the greatest sometimes are the once who aren't meant to be around forever, but just for a season.  There have been several people that I have learned to love.  Friends I never thought I could grow so close to.  People from freshman year who I thought I'd know until the day I die.  But life happens.  A wonderful life happens. We all go our separate ways, and you realize that the good has been had, and it's time to move on.  There are people who I haven't talked to in three years that I still have fond memories with and cherish the friendship we had.  But we grow and we move on, but it doesn't mean that those people weren't in your life for a reason.  
3. No matter how hard you plan, the Lord shows you where to go- Ask me in 2010 where and what I thought I'd be in 2014,  it'd be nothing like I am now. But tell me how happy I will be in 2014, and I will cry with joy.  It's true.  My "planned" path while at BYU took a sharp turn several times while here at BYU.  If anyone knows me well, they know I am a planner and a worrier.   I have to have my life planned out.  I was definitely smacked a few times trying to do that.  Each time I felt I needed to change course, it didn't feel comfortable; it didn't fit my "plan".  But I look back and am so grateful that I wasn't more stubborn than I already was.  I let the Lord take my feel out of the sand and move me in the direction that I needed to be going, not the direction that I had planned to go. Because of the Lord's direction, I am where I am today with my husband and my career path and couldn't be happier.  

THANK YOU BYU

Our Future is Clearer: California, Ohio, Alabama

Yes, in the next two years, Luke and I will be living in California, Ohio and Alabama.  Let me back up. 

Luke has accepted a full-time position with Parker Hannifin.  It's a large company (#211 on the Fortune 500 to be exact) specializing in motion and control technologies. They make anything from filters to parts for Boeing airplanes.  Luke has taken a position within their "Lean Manufacturing Management Program". For two years they will train him in four areas of lean manufacturing engineering.  Some aspects will be heavily focused on engineering and others on the business side of operations.  It's an amazing opportunity to become well rounded in the field by a very well respected company.  For these four areas of training, comes living in four areas of the country.  Every six months we will move to a new location. Although we don't find the order of our locations until May, our locations are Modesto, CA (an hour from SF and 30 minutes from my grandparents); Los Angeles, CA (beach, Disneyland, sun, fun); Sylacauga, AL (an hour from my Aunt in Birmingham, southern fun); and Toledo, OH (Right on Lake Erie, an hour from Detroit). We are so excited to experience life at these locations! And moving won't be a burden either.  The company packs us and pays for each move and provides a fully furnished corporate apartments that we pay almost nothing for.  We couldn't be taken better care of.  At the end of the two years, we then choose which of the four will be our permanent location.  Luke will continue to work on from there.  Luke also plans to get his MBA, and the company will pay all his tuition and books when he does that after the two years, a benefit which we all know will save us thousands.

The past few weeks Luke and I have just felt... blessed.  A lot of other opportunities that didn't work out would make us discouraged.  We were learning to really trust in the Lord as he guided us to where we needed to be.  One day I found an anonymous quote that reads, "When God gives you a 'No', give him a 'Thank You'. He was protecting you from less than his best." Those were words I lived by.  We trusted with each disappointment of the long process of recruitment, there was something still better out there.  And we found what was the best for us.  We are still amazed how amazing of an opportunity this is and do not wish at all that we were anywhere else.  It's perfect for us and we are so excited for the adventures we'll have and the people we will meet and learn to love in these four new cities.