The Mystery of the Garage Door Opener

So this morning I was all ready to go to school. Lunch was ready, coffee was made, breakfast eaten, and I grab my keys and...my garage door opener was gone. We keep our keys and such in a small wooden bowl on our counter, and it was no where to be found. I checked my purse, my book bag, some of Doug's shorts on the floor, my computer bag, everywhere. But it was no where ot be found. I called Doug and he said he didn't have it. He was at work so he couldn't come help me then. So I missed my first class of the morning. Doug was gracious enough to come give me his garage door opener so I could get my car out of the garage, so I did make it to my other two classes. Now I just don't understand where it is though...

Welp, Reagan, Devonna, and Joe are here! And we've had so much fun already! Reagan skyped with Nana and Papa yesterday. He did puzzles for them, he showed them his toys, he tried to feed Nana with a shovel through the computer screen, and he said hi to Gigi.

Reagan skyping with Nana and Papa

Showing Nana and Papa his blow-up duck.

Sitting in his duck.

Playing Trucks. He loves smashing them together.

He had just woken up from his nap not long before we started skyping. He was hungry but didn't know what he wanted. We asked if he wanted french toast, grapes, strawberries, crackers. Nope. He wanted chocolate ice cream. So he got it! (What are aunties and Mimi's for?)

It was a bit too cold for him though. He kept spitting out the ice cream whenever he got a big bite. He reverted to just drinking the melted ice cream.

Yum!

Cool dude.



Playing trucks

Bye! He's giving Bobby a ride

Later that night he ate his pasta while sitting in my mom's straw chair. He looooves this chair!

It looks like he's crying, but he's not. He's showing us the food in his mouth and going "Ahhhh!"

Then we had fun playing and showing off his tricks :)

This morning he watched "Finding Nemo" and cuddled with his bear

Then we went outside where he played in his new car. You have to hold a button on the steering wheel to make it go, and he's not really into that. So he only made it about 50 feet before he was done.

And now he's running back.

We went and visited the Murphy's. They gave him magnets, he petted the bearded dragon, listened to Jacob play the violin, and played with a toy catapult. He also played a recorder.

More fun to come!

First day of Fall!

Welcome Fall!! According to my student calendar, the Autumnal Equinox is tomorrow...so I assumed tomorrow was the first day of Fall. And I was wrong! So bummed I missed it! But! I got an awesome welcome sign yesterday at Target for cheap! I looove decorating for seasons (especially Fall and Christmas). Now I just need to wait for Ralphs to get Pumpkin Spice Coffeemate! I'm thinking about calling and requesting it. Hmm...

On another note, the new Halo game came out, so Doug and I have been playing that. Christmas came super early and my parents surprised Doug with it. I think it's my favorite Halo game so far. They changed just enough to make it interesting, but also enough so that you get frustrated when you meant to reload and that button control changed...

This week's been a busy one with a lot of tests for me and a lot of working hours (which I am soo thankful for!). But Devonna, Joe, and Reagan are coming to visit and I am so excited for that. I love when they're here! Plus, it's almost Reagan's birthday, so we're planning on having a party for him. I just found pictures from the last time he was here and we painted...

What a goober :)

Hair Cut!

Doug's been needing a hair cut for a while now. His hair grows so fast and he was tired of getting it cut at Supercuts, being that it's a hit or miss place. He thought I should try cutting it, and we could save some money at the same time. I'd cut my own hair before, but boys hair is totally different!! He had to promise that he wouldn't hate me if I messed it up (plus I would've just blamed Supercuts anyways...).

Before...

Doug explaining how to use the clippers. He had to do his own ears too, I just couldn't do it lol.

Using the clippers on the back of his head

ahhh!



Finished with the side, now just to cut the top with the scissors!

Annnnd...ta-da! Not too shabby!



His hair is sooo thick and there was so much hair on the ground. It got everywhere!

I got a new pair of slippers out of it though haha.

First year of marriage

It has been sooo long! Being that it is fall and the time of change, I figured that I needed to change my blogging habits, from not to doing. So here is the latest of our lives and an update of the Christiansens!

We just celebrated our first anniversary and went to South Carolina to visit my grandparents and to take some time for ourselves. We had so much fun and it was definitely an adventure getting there!

We spent a lot of time in the Last Vegas Airport. On the way there, we spent the night, and on the way back we almost had to spend the night again (luckily we got on the last flight out of there! Praise God!) We fly standby cause it's cheaper and we can, but the flights were way overbooked this time. We'd never had that much trouble flying to South Carolina!

That's where we slept...mostly I slept, and at least there was free internet!

Our first night there we went for a golf cart ride and took in the beauty of the neighborhood. It felt so good to actually be there!

Train museum in Savannah, Georgia

The old engine

On the train tour

Us on the executive train

The old Smokestack

The inside of the smoke stack

A grass flower that Doug bought from me from a guy.

Nana and Papa took us out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. The food was awesome and they gave us champagne and strawberries for free. There was also a guy playing piano live.

Us with our strawberries (which we figured were probably from Oxnard. Nana said their grocery stores get their strawberries from us.)

The dessert up close. Soooo good.

One Year!

The Dock near Nana and Papa's house. We liked going here in the evening when it was a little cooler.

The view from the dock of the river

At the beach!

Doug blowing up the rafts. We loved just going in the ocean and floating. It was too hot to stay on the beach for long, and the water was warm enough that you could just jump in. If anything, the ocean was a little too warm.

I just couldn't get enough of the clouds. They're so different from ours.

Charleston.

We drove up to Charleston for the day. It took us twice as long as it should have to get there cause we got lost haha. But when we did get there, we went for a horse carriage ride through parts of Charleston.

Getting ready to leave the stables.

One of the many church steeples in Charleston.

The awesome old houses. The architecture was so cool. I love that old style.

Over looking the river. I believe Fort Sumpter is behind us...

I loooove this picture. I think it's my favorite scenery picture that I took. I love the sailboat under the impending thunderhead, yet the sun rays shining down on the boat brings it some peace and hope.

Papa sitting on a bench waiting for us slow pokes

I wish we had parks like this. One of the best things about the South is the greenery and the trees with the Spanish Moss.

Us under the trees

There's monuments everywhere in the South. I forget who this was for, but they had all the facts over it.

The building where the constitution was ratified by South Carolina.

This explains the building better than I can.

The old dungeon where pirates were kept.

Nana, Doug, and I in the dungeon.

An old prison that is supposedly haunted. They're renovating it currently so we couldn't go inside or anything. We just walked around the outside and peeked in the windows.

Doug peeking in the window

On the drive back we got a downpour and the after effects of the clouds was amazing.

The thing that I think we were looking forward to the most was riding bikes on the beach. It's such a weird concept because you can't do that at the beaches around us. I think the nearest place where it's possible is Pismo. So Papa rented us some bikes and we spent a couple hours riding 12 miles all over Hilton Head Island.

Us with our bikes right outside the shop. There's also trails all over the Island, so you don't have to ride in a bike lane or anything.

Riding on the beach!

Sooo cool! And when we got really hot and sweaty we'd just stop and jump in the ocean, and then keep going. We also got slushies at a resort down the beach.

Us on our bikes on the beach.

Just riding around.

We went probably 6 or 7 miles on the beach? I'm bad at estimating that sort of thing...

Smile!

Now we're on the trail going back towards the bike shop. We found lunchables at a little marina shop about half way through our trip. And gaterade!

Such a pretty trail. And it was nice cause we could stay in the shade most of the time. It helped us from getting overheated.

We tried several times to get this shot and this is the best one. I love it!

More clouds on the way home. Like I said, I couldn't get enough of them!

I wish we had clouds like these.

When Reagan went to visit Nana and Papa with my mom, I told them that he had to have Papa's pudding. So when we went, we got plenty of Papa's homemade pudding!

On the last day there we went miniature golfing. We don't keep score, so it makes it fun for me. And the course has real water traps and dirt traps, much different than Golf 'n Stuff!

Go Nana!

Here you can see the water and sand traps

And of course a trip to South Carolina wouldn't be complete without a good thunderstorm. Doug and I were watching Rugrats on our computer when the storm started, and after a while we decided we needed to go enjoy the storm on the porch. Doug wanted to go out to the front yard, but I didn't think that'd be a good idea...

As for our lives:

I'm back in school at Cal Lutheran and just started my senior year. Come next May I'll be a college graduate! I'm also still working at American Eagle Outfitters.

Doug is still working at Epic Ministries and is helping out with our Church's youth ministry. He loves both! He just applied to Cal State University of Channel Islands and is also looking at possibly starting at CLU in the spring (so he could get his bachelors and teaching credentials at the same time.) We're seeing what doors God opens and closes and looking for the opportunities we're provided.

We just got internet, so we've been enjoying playing Halo online, watching Netflix right on our TV, and enjoying the radio station on our xbox. Of course, it does make procrastinating homework A LOT easier!

We've been cooking full meals a lot more and trying out new recipes.

Breakfast is still our favorite meal to cook, especially for dinner!

We're living in the same apartment and really love it here. We recently filled all of our photo frames (finally!).

We've discovered that folding laundry/putting it away is the least favorite chore for BOTH of us. Thus a lot of times we live out of the laundry basket. Although Doug is a lot better at putting it away than I am. I'm so thankful for him!

We're starting a marriage enriching class on Saturday night. In premarital counseling, our counselor recommended going to counseling once a year for a "tune up." You wouldn't wait to bring your car into the shop until it's broken, so why should it be different with a marriage? Our church advertised the class and our counselor and her husband are the ones leading the group. We're really looking forward to it!