Thursday, December 2, 2010

December 1st

December 1st was a much anticipated day in the Christensen home. It was the first day that Dental schools could send out acceptance letters. Ehhhh nerve racking? Absolutely. However, if he didn't get in on December 1st that didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't get in at all. The schools have all the way into the Spring to fill all the seats for the class of 2011, but Jord reeeeeeally wanted to get in on the first day. Ease the burden a little ya know? Well, luckily for him (and me) he did it!!! He was accepted by TWO schools yesterday. Both UNLV in Las Vegas, and University of Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. Two opposite ends of the country, and we couldn't be more thrilled! Out of the 6 schools he interviewed at, he was accepted to 2, waitlisted at 2 (Louisville and Midwestern in AZ), and then we haven't heard from the other 2 in Southern California. We both sighed a huge breath of relief and are so excited for next year. Lets just say I'm a very proud wifey today. Life is good :)

PS, to top off an already excellent day, Jordan's intramural flag football team won the upper division championship game last night. After a few years of playing together, and most of the teams last year in Provo, it was a great win. So not only was Jordan's future career as a Dentist solidified, but he is now a BYU intramural champ. Woo!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Quick lil' Mesa trip

This last weekend we made a quick weekend trip down to Mesa. Jord had an interview at Midwestern's Dental school down in Glendale so we decided to make a trip out of it. It didn't turn out to be much of a vacation for Jord. He ended up having to be in Cali part of the weekend for a different interview as well, so his vacation time was short lived. I had a nice relaxing weekend however spending time with the fam, and enjoying the 80 degree weather. Unfortunately I only left with 2 pictures of the trip (courtesy of Libby).


Me and Libs took Maddy and Kate mini golfing (i like to call it goofy golfing, but according to the hubs, thats not what its called!) Anyway, Kate, the cutest first grader in town, had perfect attendance last month so she had a free round of mini golf coupon. We took advantage of the free round and had a blast at the good ole Golfland.


Then on Saturday we went to my cousin's baby shower. She's prego with twin girls. Thats 2 babies people! I was seriously overwhelmed by the amount of clothing those babies are going to have to wear in their short infant lives. Here's a quick snap shot of the Kerr girls at the shower.

Other than that, we ate at all the favorite AZ restaurants, attended a MVT football game (don't ask), did a little shopping at Scottsdale Fashion Square, watched Toy Story 3, took family pictures for the Christmas card (always a pleasant experience), and just hung out. It was a fun trip. And we even get to go back in a few weeks for Turkey Day.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

New Jobs

We're excited to report that both Jordan and I have new jobs. Yes, we're still employed at our old ones (Sammy's and the MTC), but we've both recently started working two jobs.

Ali: I've been casually searching for a job in the nursing field (hospital, doctor's office, nursing home, rest home, pretty much anything I could get) for hmm about a year now. I finally got a job offer at an assisted living facility in north Orem called Summerfield. Its a really nice facility, and I was very relieved to get an opportunity to get my foot in the door in the Nursing field. My weeks of training went well and I was feeling confident to be working on my own. However, these first few shifts on my own have been.... well, challenging. A CNA is quite possibly the most underpaid/grossest/physically hard/rewarding jobs out there. I mean seriously, I'm certainly not strong enough to heave 400 lb people from the bed, to the wheel chair, to the toilet, back to the wheel chair alllllll day long. Yet, somehow I manage (most of the time). And really, as the oldest of 6 kids, I'm used to changing baby diapers. But changing big people diapers is a WHOLE different story. 9 bucks an hour seems hardly worth it. But then there are those moments, when they so appreciate all the help I give them, and nothing is better than that sincere smile and look that says, "I couldn't do it without you". Those are the moments that make it worth it. And not to mention the many life lessons I've learned in these first few weeks, which include:
1) I dont want to get old. I'd rather die young. Being old is miserable.
2) If i do get old and dont die before I become incontinent and confused, I'm going to remember to be kind, grateful, and laidback. These are desirable characteristics in anyone, especially the elderly in a rest home.
3) Life's too short to not live it to the fullest. Many of the people I take care of feel like they don't know where there lives went. I want to end this life knowing I lived a good, happy life.
Anyway, despite how hard the new job is, I'm grateful for this opportunity. The experience is worth it. Well that's what I tell myself at least, cause heaven knows the pay isn't :)

Jordan: As if my hubby isn't busy enough with school, applying/interviewing at dental schools, volunteering, and work, he decided to get another job as well. Aside from the 20 hours a week he spends enlightening the missionaries at the MTC, he is now employed by Alice Lane (that cute furniture store on the corner of state street and university parkway, next to the In-n-Out). His friend's sister owns the store, and if you haven't been there, its worth the trip. A little pricey for poor college kids like us, but reaaaaaally cute stuff! Anyway, He spends approx. 10 hours a week doing manly things at the store, like moving furniture, hanging heavy things, etc. He enjoys the mental break from school and work at the MTC. I think I can speak for him in saying that, like me, he's grateful for this opportunity at a second job as well.

Life is busy at the Christensen home, but life is good :)



Saturday, August 28, 2010

Samoa Cookies Anyone


Is anyone else obsessed with the Samoa girl scout cookie? I am, and I came across these puppies at Walmart the other day. They're delicious. Taste just like the girl scout version. Check em out!

Monday, April 12, 2010

The Past Few Months...

Sometimes I forget I have a blog... I knew I'd be bad at this whole blogging thing, but I didn't think I'd be THIS bad. Oh well. I guess it just means I'll have to do king sized updates with lots and lots of pics. So... Here it goes!

We had a wonderful holiday season with both our families. We spent Thanksgiving down in AZ with my family. Then for Christmas break we drove to California to be in San Clemente for my cousin Spencer and his cute new wife Taylor's wedding. We spent the next few days before Christmas in Oceanside with Jordan's family who met us there. We went to Disneyland, the U of U bowl game in San Diego, hung out by the ocean, did some mad go-kart racing, and of course shopping. It was so much fun! Here are a few of the pics from that trip







After Cali we headed to Arizona for Christmas. Mesa brought us a little sunshine, time with family and good food (pretty much all we do on vacation is eat). It was a blast and we're lucky to have the two most wonderful families. A few pics from AZ...



Sadly we had to return to real life of school and work. We've both been pretty busy this semester. Jordan has a mile long list of things he's doing including too many hard classes, studying for the DAT (which he takes in June), shadowing a few dentists, research, volunteering at a dental clinic, and working at the MTC. I started my nursing program at Provo College and have loved it so far. I still work at Sammy's and enjoy the pie shakes too frequently. :) In between we fit in some date nights and spending time with friends and family. We've taken a few trips down to Richfield with our friends Jake and Kalei, which is always a blast. My family came up for springbreak and we enjoyed a few days a skiing at Deer Valley with the my fam and the Zaharis clan. Thats always a blast as well! Life is busy, but great.

Now... For the real reason I even decided to blog in the first place. We just got home from a trip to San Francisco this last weekend and had the time of our lives! San Francisco has a Dental school at the University of Pacific that both Jordan and I are hoping he gets in to. Its one of the top schools in the nation and has a strong clinical base emphasis early on in the program, which is definitely a plus. My neighbor growing up, Chad Curtis and his wife are in Dental school at Pacific right now and when Jordan talked to Chad he suggested we try and get out to San Fran to visit the school and meet with the dean. After he very generously offered to let us stay at his apartment, we decided to make the trip. Jordan got to meet with the dean and tour the school while we were there. Meanwhile, we got to see the beautiful city of San Fransisco and had tons of fun.
San Fran is probably the coolest city I've ever been to. It rivals NYC for me. Its so unique and beautiful. The architecture and homes through out the city are unlike any I've ever seen. There's so much to do and see, I just couldn't get enough. There's like a million yummy restaurants to eat at and cool shopping on lots of the streets. We ate at this bomb breakfast place called Mama's. If you're ever in San Fran, I highly recommend it. We went shopping down at Union square and boy was that an experience. Its a tad bit on the scary side down there, to say the least. I saw more cracked out homeless people, sketchy looking men that I swear were dealing drugs in broad daylight, and an abundance of homosexuals than I've ever seen before. Parking is slightly ridiculous downtown so after about an hour of searching the streets for a free meter, we decided to ask a cop where the best place to park was. His response: "Not here. You're car will get broken into." followed by a chuckle. He apparently thought that was funny, while I was a little more on the frightened side. When we finally found a parking garage, across from the Hilton hotel where all the employees where on strike, Jordan asked the man at the gate if the car would be safe there. His response: (in a Hispanic accent) "If a man comes in with a gun, what am I supposed to do?" Comforting. Luckily, we got to do our shopping and returned to our car still in one piece. I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation and appreciate the change of scene from my sheltered Mesa/Provo life.
In the short 2 1/2 days we were there, we saw the Golden Gate bridge, visited Sausalito, visited Fisherman's wharf and Ghiradelli square, where we enjoyed a delicious 9 dollar sundae, went shopping, ate at yummy restaurants, saw the Painted Ladies (the Fullhouse houses), went to Farmers market, and drove around the city admiring it's uniqueness. Here's a few pictures from the trip. Unfortunately it happened to be windy every time we tried to take a pic... therefore hair in the face. Oh well.