Well kids, I am very disappointed that none of you told me what to get you. I guess nothing is the answer. I'm excited to see most of you tomorrow in LA and mommy on Christmas Eve. Life is good. Finals went well. Lots of snow outside. Makes driving disgusting, so I'll be glad to be in the sun for a bit. I am really happy right now. Life is so good. Are ya'll excited to meet him on the 26th? I'm excited about it. He's great. Love ya

Mom's Wish List

I really don't have many wishes, except red pots and pans, I really do love all the gifts you guys give me, my best gift will be seeing everyone on Christmas, LOVE YA

I think everyone should put up a christmas wish list in order to ease shopping for other family members. Here is mine. Please disregard this if you've already done your shopping....
-License plate cover
-black stone earrings
-salt scrub
-new wallet....the type that boys have

Christmas Letter- Please advise changes??????

December 2008
Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Holidays from the Martineau’s !!!

This year has been exciting for us, capped off by buying a house in Fairfield, a nice house near the high school. The kids were all home Labor Day to help patch holes, paint, clean and move. Everyone who stopped by got to help; it was a real joint effort. But it is fantastic to be home !!! With the house came the addition of two lovely dogs, Dorian, Mark’s golden retriever and now Brutus, an English bull dog (Matthew’s dog).

Christine is in Chico, continuing her studies to be a teacher. Can you believe middle school, or high school? I teach 3rd and that’s as far as I can handle. Christine has a new fascination with cycles and drives an adorable, though tough, scooter around Chico.

Marie just got some exciting news; she is going to spend the month of May in Ecuador nursing. Then she has one more year in the nursing program at BYU. The family spent Thanksgiving in Oregon, really freezing, though Marie thought it was lovely.

Mark is finishing his second year of college and is presently home going to Solano College. Believe it or not, he still wants to teach high school?? Once again 3rd graders max my patience, how will he do it?

Matthew is doing well in his sophomore year in high school, playing football (defensive line), and presently basketball. He is very close to driving, so I will be totally out of usefulness. Oh well, I will have to think of some hobbies…..

Love to all, Louise, Christine, Marie, Mark and Matthew

THANKSGIVING WAS WONDERFUL !!!

I had an absolutely grand time with all my wonderful, beautiful children this week, thank you for coming, you guys are the best ever !!!

pictures from thanksgiving

hey all,
I was just wondering if people could post or email or put on facebook or something all of the pictures from thanksgiving. I would really love that.
It was so nice to see all of you. See you again in just three weeks!
christine

Booted

May I express my disgust at towing companies. I walk out to my car at 5:50 this morning only to find it booted and undriveable. Luckily, Mary Jo was willing to drive instead and we made it to clinical on time. When I called the towing company, they told me I had the wrong permit and that we had updated our permits a few weeks prior. I did receive a flyer about the change, its true. But I assumed it was given because other residents had not gotten the new permit which was issued in october. I never imagined we would get new permits two months in a row. Frankly the idea of that is ridiculous. I was gonna fight it. I called the condo board and left a couple messages and emailed them, but after waiting 4 hours with no reply, I decided I might as well get my car back. Some other annoyances were: the flyer the towing company put on my car said $50 which was blacked out and $65 was written in. The driver commented that they already had about 300 of the flyers, so they didn't feel the need to print new ones with the right price. How much is it to print 300 flyers? Honestly!! Also, they don't accept checks and who wants to give cash or credit for something that could possibly be shady. And I had to stand outside for 20 min while he filled out paperwork. He was so freaking slow, and did not talk to me at all. Perhaps he could tell I was pissed. Anyways, that is that. I will have to get a new permit sometime in the near future. If only the condo association would call me back....

Anyways, I am excited about seeing you all in a few days. We are going to have so much fun together. I miss you and I love you and I will see you on Sunday.

Verizon Update

First of all, LOVE THE PICTURE MARIE !!!!!

Thought I would detail the bills here so everyone can see:

Christine - share plan minutes used, out of 1400 total allowed, 418. Free in calling 1364, Free nights 210. Free texts 968, in texts 1137, pix 52.

Louise - share plan minutes used, out of 1400 total allowed, 229. Free in calling 560, Free nights 110. Free texts 14, in texts 634, pix 9.

Marie - share plan minutes used, out of 1400 total allowed, 374. Free in calling 701, Free nights 683. Free texts 579, in texts 294, pix 18.

Mark - share plan minutes used, out of 1400 total allowed, 129. Free in calling 482, Free nights 183. Free texts 385, in texts 2431, pix 129.

Matthew - share plan minutes used, out of 1400 total allowed, 52. Free in calling 137, Free nights 65. Free texts 3397, in texts 598, pix 19.

Love to all !! Hope we all get together for Thanksgiving !!!!

Hello Family,
I hope the housewarming party went well. I'm coming to Oregon to see ya'll in about a week. I'm pretty excited about that. I am ridiculously happy lately. Life is going great. School is almost over, and I only have 2 days of clinical left. I am happy with the way life is going. I would like updates from everyone...PLEASE!

P.S. This photo is Landes and I at a Halloween Party. My face is painted white...I am not just pale

I'm headed out for clinical in a few minutes...just waiting for my preassessment to print. Life is going well. I am really busy lately. I worked the last two nights, got my window fixed yesterday, have a test this week. Clinical today is going to be 12 hours again so that should be fun. I'm planning on going to bed earlier tonight hopefully, but I do have to read a novel and write an essay about it for tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

New mini sofa came this morning!
U R Loved!

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Never Give Up Hope

Never Give Up Hope
Boyd K. Packer
General Conference 9/30/95

Some years ago I was in Washington, D.C., with President Harold B. Lee. Early one morning he called me to come into his hotel room. He was sitting in his robe reading Gospel Doctrine, by President Joseph F. Smith, and he said, “Listen to this!

“ ‘Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ. We are called to this mission.’ ”

“There is never a time,” the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin.”

And so we pray, and we fast, and we plead, and we implore. We love those who wander, and we never give up hope.

I bear witness of Christ and of the power of His atonement. And I know that “his anger kindleth against the wicked; they repent, and in a moment it is turned away, and they are in his favor, and he giveth them life; therefore, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen

Things are going okay here... Don't have a masters program or a hot boy or amazing organizing skills or fumble recoveries, but still am doing good. Time is seeming to go by pretty fast these days, that's good I guess. I still like Chico and love the people here. I am extremely blessed in all that I do.

I'm looking forward to elections being over...

I can't wait for Thanksgiving and getting to see everyone. It will be wonderful!!!


Matthew-- can I use you for an intensive case study for one of my classes? I know that may sound scary... But I was thinking maybe you could just draw for me for five hours during Thanksgiving break sometime. Like when you're stuck in the car and I make you. Just kidding. But it's for my art class and we're supposed to do research on where people of different ages are in their development of artistic skills. I would love it if you could.

Have a good day everyone!!!

Marie - so cute!!

Marie you look so happy and cute, in all the pictures - Landes added me as a friend so I looked, are you going to dinner on Sunday? Details woman, details..... Love ya

Hello Family,
Life is going well, its busy. I don't have time for all I want to do. I started dating a really nice boy and am still trying to get perfect grades and work more, so life has been pretty busy. It was nice seeing Dad...lots of good food and such. Here's a photo of me and Landes. I think we're pretty cute together and I am excited about the future.

Mom update

So it was fabulous to see Christine this weekend !!! Matthew recovered a fumble !! Mark has been working unbelievely hard to get the house cleaned up - my life is awesome because of all of you. Marie had a great weekend with the other parental units. I can see an end in sight in my masters program, C's, but I am okay with that. One class is pass/fail, and I WILL PASS !! Life is good, I have discovered that when I stress, my sugars go high, nobody wants to be around me and life is unpleasant, so NO MORE STRESS !!! Love to all, MOM

This week

Hello all....

am going to try to keep up with y'all and update here so I don't feel inept.

Life is going okay. I've spent the last few mornings helping Sam with her paper route. Remember the good old days of the paper route? Good heavens. Remind me never to do that. Anyways, it's okay, and it brings back memories. Sure can mess with an already screwed up sleep schedule though!

The scooter is still pretty fun. I will reach 1,000 miles in the next couple days. I need to wash it. It is getting quite dirty, but I don't really know how to wash it. Like what can get wet and so forth. I don't know what I'm going to do when it rains.

I went to a Proposition 8 rally today at the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. There were about 750 people there, all getting fired up about Prop 8. It was an interesting experience. It was interesting to see so many people of different faiths uniting for a cause though. I just hope that as people support this cause they don't alienate or offend people. I guess I still have problems with it sometimes and it's hard to understand why things are the way that they are, but just have to go on faith that this is the right thing today because that is what the Prophet has told us.

I registered to vote today. I registered with the Libertarian Party. I've read a lot about it, and I seem to like most of the things that they believe. Some of their social policies (such as abortion and gay marriage) I don't agree with, but I guess there are things about any party that someone wouldn't agree with. There are many things that do sound like what I believe, such as welfare, national debt, taxes, free market, and their position on war.

My hair is getting longer. Enough to hang in my eyes and be annoying, but also long enough to put part up with the help of a few bobby pins. It is also completely my natural hair color now, which is probably the first time in like seven years. Yep, back to a dirty blonde/brown indiscriminate color. Whatever. :)

I love my roommates a lot. Kalo is freaking amazing. Kaelynn is cute. And I love Alicia and she is such a wonderful friend. I really am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life in Chico. And such an amazing family of all of you guys...

I am super excited about Thanksgiving. I saw Nancy this weekend and we were talking about it. Yeah, I'm just really excited. When are we going? Can I ride with you, Mom? Do you want me to come down to Fairfield and meet you?

School is busy and I'm just plugging away. I'm really enjoying my art class. I'll have to take more advantage of the opportunity we have to just have open studio time. That is when you can go into the classroom when class is not going on in there and you can use all the art supplies like paint and paper. I really love art. I think I forgot about that. I am also enjoying my Physical Education a lot, which is surprising because I was kind of dreading it for the past four years.

We have a few more softball games this season. Softball is pretty fun. We haven't won a game yet. I know that winning is not that important, but it sure would be nice not to lose all the freaking time. :(

I just wanted to say that I'm really thankful for the fact that we have cell phones and that we are able to just talk to each other whenever we want. I appreciate that so much. Thank you mom. And thank you for everything that you do for us. You are amazing and I don't think we tell you that often enough.

Well, I think I'm going to study a little for my math test before I go to sleep tonight. I have a midterm tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!

Love you all... Good night.

christine

Mom - trying to post weekly, Yeah Marie !!!

So I feel better, but I have my regular after a cold - cold sore!! Bummer. Well, we had our first guests over, the Bonner family. I made a 6 pound meat loaf, tons of mashed potatoes, and yummy apple crisp (from apples we got at Apple Hill), and brownies. They are a nice family, we played games. Of course, Mark won every game. My first observation (by the principal) went okay this week. I have lost 4 students in my class, not due to my own failures, but none the less, the district needs me have more students, but I don't know how...... make a few 8 year olds??? So it all begins again in 7 hours..... love to all!!!!!!!

The World of Me

It has been a crazy week schoolwise and workwise. I studied all day Monday to prepare for Tuesday. Then carved a Frankenstein pumpkin at FHE. Tuesday, I had class from 8-11, listened to a former South African president talk about how the U.S. can improve the world situation, then went to more class from 1-4. I had to work at 5. It was a really good night for driving, lots of deliveries but not too far away and some really good tips. Wednesday, class from 8-9, then a flu shot clinic. It was really fun. I got to give about 30 flu shots to some screaming children and some calm adults. Although roles were switched for some. One man about 50 tried to grab my arms so I couldn't give him the shot. There was a 6 year old boy who stiffened his lip and took it like a man. He grimaced, but didn't make a sound. So cute. He was really happy when he got a sucker. It really makes up for the pain in most cases. After the clinic, I drove up to Murray to pick a patient, then to the Salt Lake City library to do my writeup, and prepare the presentation I had procrastinated. Janice was supposed to get off by 6 and I was supposed to be done so we could have lots of fun. But alas, at 7:15, I finally decided I needed a dinner break. So I met her outside and we walked to her house, got my car, and drove to a little cafe. Good salad and cookies I must say. What an odd juxtaposition for dinner. Then we went to the Halloween store and I got some fangs and countess makeup so I can dress up if I so choose. After, we went back to her house and I worked on the paper for another hour. Then I found out no one in the house had a printer so we made a run to Kinko's. Next time I visit a friend, I will try to be fun instead of just nerdy, but I enjoyed visiting her. I left for the hospital at 6am and once again tried to prepare a presentation. It was a busy day at clinical. I had the nicest patient. He had been a principal and told me to feel free to practice on him. By lunchtime, my presentation was not fully prepped, but I had to give it anyways. It went OK. I didn't quite take enough time and may have poorly explained the methods in one of the research articles. Oh well. I am so relieved to had that over. I left the hospital at 4 and drove straight to work in Provo. (yes I did change in the bathroom at work) I made really good tips, but I was so tired. I'm not sure I can work Thursdays. I slept in til 10 on Friday which was really nice, met Mary Jo at 12 to work on the take home pharmacology test. Had SAM lab fro 1:30-2:30, then studied history until 5:30. Then I went to a Scholarship dinner for nursing and met some of the donors. Nice, fancy dinner. After, I studied history for another 30 minutes and went to take the test. I got home before 10 and watched Enchanted...cutest movie ever. Then I hung out with Landes for a while and went to Bridal Veil Falls. I've been studying for my Med Surg test most of the day today. although I did take an extended rollerblading break. It was a gorgeous day. I saw an otter in the river. It looked like a giant rat. Came back and studied more, then went to a "Bar Party." Amy(downstairs) just passed the bar exam so it was a business dress party with delightful hors d'oeuvres and sparkling cider. Too bad I still have tests Monday and Tuesday.

P.S. for those of you who were wondering, I did put Primary Children's as my first choice for clinical. Hopefully I get it and it's fabulous.

Mom Update

I am so sick - - - - my head feels like it might explode, and I can't breathe........ oh well, I love the house, the boys put up some curtains so the house is warmer, maybe by Christmas we will have everything put away, but as I was talking to friends I do have like 30 years to get the house in order. I can't wait until Thanksgiving to see everyone altogether!!!! Have a super day my darling children!

Hello

Today has been a pretty good day. This morning I rode my bike to the park with one of my friends from church and we read some church articles and stuff. We are going to have a little weekly reading group. It should be pretty cool I think. Then we went to the Saturday morning farmers market. I bought some Pluots, plums, and a couple pomegranates. Later today I hung out with Kalo, and we went to the movies. We watched Lakeview Terrace, but it was not very good and we actually just left before it was over. Ate some pretty delicious Mexican food. Came home and took a nap. Went to the observatory at about ten, but I guess it is too foggy tonight so it was closed, which was disappointing, but okay I guess. I went to the Observatory last night and looked through the telescopes. (I think the Observatory is my new favorite place :) ) Did you know that you can see another galaxy with your naked eye? It's crazy! And through a telescope it just amazing. We also looked at the moon through a very strong telescope and it was probably the most awesome thing that I've ever seen.

Tomorrow choir is singing in Sacrament meeting. Sorry that I didn't tell y'all sooner. I will have to be more on top of things and let everyone know so that you can come. I love visitors, you know.

I got an email a while ago about an interfaith fast for Proposition 8 that is happening tomorrow. So yep, that's what I'm doing.

I hope all is well with everyone. I can't wait til Thanksgiving next month when we can all be together. I'm SO excited!!! :)

I just wanted to inform you that although invited, I will not be visiting you this weekend. As it turns out, I have classes and stuff and it just doesn't seem feasible. But ya'll better be in Oregon for the week of Thanksgiving because I am planning to visit the heck out of you. I'm working on my nursing preassessment right now. Hopefully I picked a pretty good patient so tomorrow will be interesting. He has multiple fractures due to a car accident. My weekend with the Canadians was pretty uneventful. They were in Salt Lake for most of the weekend, but they did leave us lots of candy. Yay for Aero bars. Life as a pizza delivery driver is going pretty well. I like the people I work with and its nice to be making money again. Remember to tip your drivers. Tonight should be fun. After I finish this paper, I'm going out to dinner with Janice, Ashley, and Meagan. Then hanging out with Sergai and going to the fireside for Californians which I assume you all will be watching via broadcast. Have a very pleasant day my delightful family!

Emilee and i at unity conference a few weekends ago. It was really fun :)

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This is Mohito, my new pet. Megan got him for me and he really fit the mocktail party theme. So cute. Thanks for the flowers Mommy. They are beautiful

Who are you guys voting for? I don't really like McCain in the debate : (

Heroes

So, I have a new addiction....Heroes. I have watched more than half of the first season this week and let me just say I highly recommend it. I have my 1st test tomorrow...so studying is my plan for tonight...when I get done with this episode. Then in the evening, we are hosting a mocktail party. I watched some surgeries this week and got to scrub in for a hysterectomy. I am excited about life....and being 21!

This one is actually funnier...

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!

This video cracks me up. I've seriously watched it twenty times and laughed out loud just as much each time.

3rd

hey lifes rough when your the favorite child,,, sorry if you guys didn get the memo but im finally numero uno, i work a lot go to school more and then hit the good 8 hrs of church during my week but when im not doing that i chillax with essijane or dorian...

Birthday list

I am feeling something glamorous for my birthday this year. We are throwing a mocktail party on Saturday and hopefully its a good turnout. There will be guitar hero and cupcakes as well as drinks in plastic wine glasses if anyone is interested. Here are some things I might enjoy for my birthday:

• Decals for my car windows, preferably flowery or butterflies
• Car air freshener(it smells like vinyl in there)
• Gift certificates to a restaurant or to the movies so I don't feel guilty spending money on fun
• A car cd player(I hear Markie has one handy, dad's coming up in a month if it would be cheaper to send it with him)
• Nice chocolate
• Cards, perhaps someone could volunteer to be my penpal
• I want to see more photos of the new house all finished
• Fridge magnets with words
• Dangly earrings

Thanks, I love you. And thanks Mommy for posting. Good luck with your masters papers

Boring MOM

So I wish I could be exciting, but I am so busy..... and so tired.... maybe the monavie juice will help. Mondays I grade all papers, Tuesday meetings and night school, Wednesdays usually sac state class - I have a literature review due this semester, Thursdays night school, Fridays football - Matthew is doing awesome!! and Saturdays I run all errands. This Saturday I forgot to grocery shop so guess what FHE is? Yes, a trip to the store. I feel like I will never get the house together..... oh and on Sundays I am suppose to work on my other masters class, and I have about 4 hours tonight, so I've got to go. First ward was nice today, friendly. Have a great week. LOVE TO ALL, MOM

I know no one has posted after me, but I check every day, and it seems that no one ever will. Its been a busy week. I spent 2 days in the hospital this week. It was really cool, but exhausting. I spent half of the first day in the cath lab. Got to watch a cardioversion(which had to be repeated many times because it did not at first bring him out of atrial fibrillation.) I saw an angiogram which is a sterile procedure, so I had to watch from behind the glass. The heart x-rays were so cool. For the second half of the day, I watched colonoscopies. I placed an iv for one patient( I'll need a little more practice for that one to be perfect), and watched them remove several polyps from another. The RN is mainly in charged of sedating the patients. The physician explained to me all the parts of the colon and what we were looking for. Very cool indeed. After 9 hours in the hospital, Christina and I chose patients for the next day and gathered info about their conditions. We arrived at her aunt's house at 6pm and proceeded to work on our preassessments. Along with various breaks for eating and talking, we finished around midnight. At 6:30, we left for another day at the hospital. I got to change dressings, flush iv lines, and pass medications, along with charting a basic assessment. It was a good day, but a full day and I was so exhausted I went to bed at 9pm. Yesterday was good. I watched Mariya's kids for awhile and as I was walking around campus, I realized that people probably thought they were mine. That is a wierd thought in and of itself. Meagan went to fall fest with me in the evening where we got free cotton candy and waited in line to play guitar hero even though we have several versions at home. My flying trip has been cancelled today which is slightly disappointing, but now I can go to the ward olympics. Also, I'm having a mocktail party next weekend to celebrate being 21 if any of you would like to come ; )

We went crawdad fishing at strawberry reservoir on Friday night. Amy, Nancy, Daniel and I ended up with a whole sinkful of crawdads. We tied raw chicken to strings and scooped up the crawdads with a net. It was really fun. Afterward, we ate them with a chinese sauce that Amy made. I brought the smallest one home to be my pet...bought him a bowl yesterday and gathered some river rocks, but I think he died this morning. I'm sad. I was excited. He was so cute, moving rocks around with his claws and trying to eat his hot dog.
It's been a pretty good week. Clinical was good on Thursday. I met a man who helped discover hepatitis C and gave him a shot. I also watched a lady who had had nothing by mouth for a month take her first sips of orange juice. Next week, I am probably going flying up to Idaho in a 4 person plane. I am so excited.

Please try not to be jealous.

My schedule

Well, to follow Marie's example, I thought I'd post my schedule here too.

Monday:
11:00-11:50 ENGLISH
12:00-2:00 ART
5:00-7:30 WORK
7:30-8:30 Family Home Evening

Tuesday:
11:00-12:50 SCIENCE LAB
2:00-3:15 MATH
5:30-6:30 Work
7:00-8:30 Institute
8:30-10:30 Work

Wednesday:
11:00-11:50 ENGLISH
12:00-2:00 ART
4:00-7:00 KINESIOLOGY
7:00-8:30 Institute Womens Association
8:30-11:30 Work

Thursday:
11:00-12:50 SCIENCE LAB
2:00-3:15 MATH
Evening: Softball (games starting at six or seven pm)
Work sometime after softball

Friday:
11:00-11:50 ENGLISH
12:00-1:00 Friday Forum at the Institute

Weekends: Work sometime...

Sunday:
12:00-1:00 Choir
1:00-4:00 Church



Yep, guess that's it then.

I'm going to Unity Conference this weekend. I'm pretty excited, it should be fun :)

Love to all....

christine

Call Me

Here's my schedule:

Monday:
8am-9am History
7pm-8pm FHE

Tuesday:
8am-11am Nursing Care of Adults with Acute and Chronic Illnesses
11am-12pm Devotional
1pm-4pm Pharmacology

Wednesday:
8am-9am History
Sometime in the afternoon preassessment for clinical

Thursday:
6:30am-4pm Nursing Clinical
7:30pm-9pm Institute

Friday:Volunteer 11am-12pm, Nursing lab 12:30pm-2:30pm
8am-9am History
11am-12pm Adaptive Aquatics
12:30pm-2:30pm Nursing Skills lab

I miss talking to you. I know you're not accustomed to calling me because of Canada, but feel free to. I hope everyone is having a great week and getting everything done. I hope the house is gradually settling down and such. Please post pictures of the finished product : )

Matthew and his birthday cake :)

a camera phone isn't really good at birthday cake pictures, sorry. Anyway... We had some cake and ice cream for Matthew's birthday tonight over at the new house. It was delightful. Matthew's pretty much an aged old man at this point, i guess. I did notice he had some strapping muscles though. I was amazed. Happy birthday matthew! By the way, what do people want for their birthdays? MarK's would be way late, Matthew's would be a little late, and Marie's may be just on time. You people should tell me so i can get you something and not feel like such a lousy sister. Thank you and have a nice day.

My week

It has been a long week my friends. We drove all day Monday, got a flat tire around Wendover, and arrived in Provo at 9pm. It was fun driving with Laura. She serenaded me with her guitar as we rode. Tuesday, I had class from 8-11, had lunch with Laura, and had another class from 1-4pm. Afterward, we found out the flat tire had to be replaced because of a bad hole in the wall. On the way back, my electric window stopped working, so I may have been really angry. Wednesday, I had class from 8-9am, then decided to do my "adult errands." I talked to someone about parking permits, waivers to live in non-approved housing, and applied for student loans. Then I went and got my tire replaced and bought a bookcase. I got most of my books put away, then proceeded to my "front loading lab" from 1-5pm. I learned how to scrub in for surgery so you are a sterile person. Also, how to put in and take out ivs. I missed her vein though and the teacher dug around. Hers was perfect on me, but hurt a bit and gave me a nasty bruise. Laura took me out for dinner afterward and we went on a walk through the cemetary. Then we visited Rachel and Bruce. This morning, I awoke at 5:25am and met people at school for a carpool 20 minutes later. The IMC in Murray is a really nice hospital and I am excited about working there. It should be pretty fun. We mostlty just walked around today. I learned how to do charting on the computer and observed iv hanging. I also assesed iv sites. Soon I will actually give them. We got to change into surgical scrubs with hats and booties and walk around the OR. We looked through the windows of several operations which was awesome. I get to be inside the operating room on september 24 and 25 so that should be fun. Megan and I went to institute today and I met some of the ward. This year is old testament and the teacher is way intense. I hope to learn much and hopefully not any false doctrine. Tomorrow, I just have class from 8-9am, then I am free. There's a nursing luau in the evening, but I plan to relax away the rest of the day. Also, I found out today that I got a pell grant and a subsidized stafford loan. Thank heavens I asked about it. I hope you are all doing well. Please post pictures of the house when everyone is moved in so I can see.

new roommate, embarrassing story and new email address

I am getting a new roommate!! Her name is Kalo. She's from LA, and she's twenty eight. Her family is from Tonga. She graduated from BYU-Hawaii. She is coming to Chico State to get her masters degree in social work. She seems really nice. She served a mission in the Dominican Republic. I feel like all these sentences are just short and choppy, sorry... Anyways, I am very excited. And I've almost got my room clean....

I had a wonderful time last weekend camping with some of the Ungers on the coast. We camped in the Redwoods. Went on a BEAUTIFUL hike. Played on the beach. Went to this really cool old cookhouse. Anyways, next time I see y'all, which will be in a few days, ask me about it and I'll tell you all about it. It was so fun!!!

So, I was at work last night/this morning. It was actually about 5 am. I had gone into one of the bathrooms to clean it, and then came out and the only thing I had left to do was take out the garbages and then I could go home. So I'm going around emptying them, at which point I got bored and felt like singing. Good idea, no? So I was just singing away at the top of my lungs the song Marie and I sang in sacrament meeting when we were like eleven and twelve. A nice little song about Jesus loving us. :) It was lovely, and I was really getting into it. When you're in a big building like that your voice kinda echoes off the walls, which makes you want to sing louder, obviously. So at this point I'm pretty much singing as loud as I feel like, about Jesus, and I stop for a second to remember the words to the next verse when I hear a computer mouse clicking in the next cubicle. You've got to be kidding me!!! Some guy had come in to work during the two minutes I was cleaning the stupid bathroom. Here I'd been serenading him with some primary-sounding song for like a good ten minutes!!! So I'm completely embarrassed, but still need to empty his garbage can so I had to go face him. On the bright side though, he said I sang very nice and it was a good way to wake up in the morning. It was a good start of the day. Good heavens.... Yep, that's my story for today.

I've also started to use my gmail email account. The address is martineau.christine@gmail.com.

Love you all and see you soon!!!!

Dearest family,

I am excited to see you all on Thursday. Tomorrow is my last day of work. We are planning office olympics during lunch and I made some raspberry bars to share. After work, I'm going out with Yolanda and her family. Tuesday, my roommates and I are going to the largest indoor waterpark in the world. It should be great fun. Going out for dinner may be involved also. I'm going to Utah on Wednesday, so call my cell anytime. I will be at Rachel's wedding festivities though. Then, I will be home on Thursday night. I hope you are planning to spend some time with me because that is prettymuch all I plan to do while there. I also will need to take a trip to Redding to visit Grandmom, and to buy a car at some point.

Janelle, Josh, and I being dirty at work on Friday

I took this smart car convertable for a test drive on Tuesday

Only a week left : (

My time in Canada is coming to a close. I'm kind of sad about that. It has been an incredible experience, but I will be glad to see you all again. We looked at Smart cars today. It turns out they are manufactured by mercedes-benz and are about $20,000. We are test-driving one on Tuesday. I'm excited for mom about her writing test and for Christine with her new scooter. I'm glad it goes real speeds, I was worried. I have 6 more days of work, yeah. No more getting dirty for me. Keep your eyes open for cars I should buy.

I can write!!

As some of you know I had to take a writing exam at Sac State to stay in the masters program, and they think I can write, I scored an 8 (out of 12), but an 8 passes, so YEAH!!!!!!

Marie this has been a worrying week, we had a long talk last week - what's up? I love you!!

Christine, I might be able to find a gun for the car (?) - the scooter looks great!!! Please sleep at night !!!!

Love to the boys, doing good!!

Kent is moving in on the 13th - I am going to be his "care giver" nothing formal since Carmen and I worked it out, but I get to go to the doctors and school, lucky Kent!!!

Someone from the bank that owns the house has agreed to carpet the big room that was unfinished, so it looks like the house is a go!!! (not yet 100%, but getting closer - the carpet has to be put in first)

LOVE TO ALL!!!!

my day

Partly cause I feel like I have stuff to write, and partly because It is now 4:55 am and I know how much mom loves it when I post at these hours...

Anyways, today I woke up a bit late, much like the lazy bum I am. Kari and I ran today, and today was the first time I'm pretty sure in my entire life that I've run a whole mile without walking. It's called "Best Shape of Our Lives 2008" and I'm learning a lot from it, even more than just about exercise. Yep, ask me about it sometime and I'd love to enlighten to you all. :) My mile time was 12:13, which isn't that fast at all, but it is an improvement. My goal time is nine minutes. I will kepp y'all updated.

I think my scooter is supposed to come soon. I am nervous, excited, relieved, and a whole bunch of other emotions. I still need to buy a helmet and go over to the DMV and get a permit and all that.

Tonight after Sports Night I went to work. Fairly uneventful, but okay. As I was walking out the door to go home I noticed a flash of lightning in the distance, which was pretty freakin awesome. Got into the car and turned the key, and alas, nothing happened. I have no reason in the world to be surprised by the car randomly not working, and I guess I really wasn't. So I got the battery charger out and plugged in my car to an outlet in the office building I clean. Walked over to the dumpster and threw away the garbage. There were a couple old computers out on the ground by the dumpster, and for lack of anything better to do for the next hour I picked them up and carried them back to the building. I found a screw driver on someone's desk and proceeded to take one of the computers apart. They've always fascinated me. Anyways, took one of the CD rom drives and put it into my car, then carried the computer carcasses back to the dumpster. By this time it was POURING rain. Went back to my car, unplugged the charger, rolled up the cord, and started the car. Made it about a mile or two down the road when quite suddenly the headlights dimmed to a faint glow and the car started jerking around. Barely made it into the church parking lot, where the now dead car rolled into a parking spot. Our building now has a keyless entry system that uses a code to get in, which I have no reason to know but just do anyways, thank goodness. Went into the church, where I plugged my car charger in again. This time I planned on giving the car more time to charge so I could actually make it home. I played the piano in the Relief Society room from about 2:00 am to 3:20 am. Very fun, a little weird, whatever. It took everything I had to not go outside and dance in the parking lot in the rain at three in the morning. The lightning was magical, the thunder was majestic, and the rain was just cool. After I had been playing the piano for a while and I felt the car had charged enough to at least make it home, I decided to commence on the journey yet again. The car worked just fine til about two miles from home. I drove with the headlights off for a bit of the way, and thankfully made it home, even though it was yet again a dead car rolling into a parking space. Very blessed though, if you ask me. Couldn't have broken down better places today. :)

If anyone would like to just give me a car, I'd greatly appreciate it. I really am excited about this scooter though. Hopefully it will at least be dependable. Or if not, I guess it won't be anything new.... It's all good.

Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all!

p.s. If anyone comes across a motorcycle helmet someone is giving away or at a garage sale or thrift store or something, I would love it...

I did it!

Well my dear family, please say hello to the first moped/motorcycle owner of the bunch. I just bought online the original moped that I had been thinking about that I had a link to on an earlier blog post. Well, same moped, but I found one for 100 dollars cheaper... As Mom and Markie know, I saw some guy selling mopeds in a parking lot today, and dang I almost just bought one right then and there! Mark did have a point though, they were really small and didn't go very fast. I think they were only made to carry up to like 175 pounds anyways. So this one was a few hundred dollars more, can carry more weight (like me and one of the boys), can go faster, and looks more legit. I am terribly excited. I've been looking on ebay for motorcycle helmets. I will go to the DMV monday I guess and take the test to get a permit or do whatever. Mark went to the DMV about a motorcycle license or something... Did he get a permit?

Yeah, I'm really excited. And nervous. But I do think that this was a good decision. :)

Love you all. Have a happy Fast Sunday!

bean

That is an awesome carrot my friend. I'm a little jealous. I can't believe its already August. This summer has gone by so fast and it's been so much fun. I'll have to take you here someday. Work was hard this week. I spent 7 hours spraying castlestone panels with color and sealer. Then we paked and loaded them. After arriving in Lethbridge, the buyer noted that many panels were broken and that the color came off when rubbed with a damp cloth. What a disappointment. All that time wated, plus I did a lot of bending and lifting that day which is why I've been so sore this week. I'm going to Will's family reunion today. Hopefully that's pretty fun. And contrary to the belief of you mother, I am coming home for Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday to celebrate with ya'll.

cool carrots

On the bright side though, i did find this cool carrot. :)

moped

Family,

I am considering buying a moped... I have looked a lot, and found this one... Just wanted to know what y'all thought about it.

http://www.scooterdepot.us/Moped-Touring-150cc-Deluxe-Air-Cooled-p-318.html

I have looked it up on mapquest, and found that I can get from Chico to Fairfield in about three hours (which is less than an hour more of what it would take to drive in a car...) This is avoiding going on the freeway, which I think might be legal to do but just seems too scary.

I would need a motorcycle license (scary, huh?) and insurance... But, driving a moped would be way more dependable than I've experienced with these cars, and I'll spend about a quarter as much in gas each month.

I don't know. I just need feedback and for someone to tell me if it's a good idea or a dumb idea.

Tahoe Bracelets

Matthew, grace and me with our totally cool bracelets we made while in Tahoe. It was such a fun trip! :)

Happy Birthday Markie Moo!!

Coming Home

Hello family,
I just want to let you know I will be flying to Oakland on August 21st. I arrive at 7:55pm. Be there or be square. I will possibly stay until the 31st. I'll be in Utah the 20 & 21st and hope that will be enough time to prep my apartment and my self to get back to school. I'm planning to buy a car while in California so be on the lookout for good deals or whatever. I want something that's cute and completely reliable....preferably with a spoiler. They're pretty cool you know. My life update will probably happen tomorrow. It's kinda late and the "washrooms" finally open so I can get ready for bed. Love to all. I am jealous that you took a vacation the one summer I was away : ( but happy that u=it went well

Mark

i went to tahoe this week with mom but as you can tell by her post she was a lil more excited for bean. ;). it was fun, im working much at the kingdom, lifes pretty swell now

Tahoe Relaxing

Here I am sending my weekly BLOG.... The car will probably be fixed in a couple of weeks, way too much money to discuss, but my deductible is $500 only. I am in the process of trying one last time to get a loan for the house, but the mortgage rate went up again.... bummer...... Tahoe is very nice, Mark came for a couple of days, now Christine, YAH !!!! I feel very terrible, but I am going to the doctor on Monday, hopefully my diabetes will get more under control.... Love to all....

Now Marie is coming home the 21st of August for a couple of weeks, do we want to plan anything exciting? Or just a Sunday dinner? Please lets discuss schedules? I have school, but nothing in the evenings, maybe Matthew has a football game?

too good to be true

The stupid green car left me stranded at a gas station.

Mom's Car Accident

weekly update

I know it's been more than a week. Sorry. I just realized that if I waited until something cool happened that I could report on, then I would never write. So yeah. Don't have much to say.

Sara is spending the night tonight. Church is tomorrow. It should be good.

I have the green Karmann Ghia again. It has run for three days now, which is pretty good cause the first time I had it it broke down that same day. Frustrating. I think I hate cars.

Everything else is going okay in life. Some days are hard, some are okay. Life is just an adventure and we're here to learn I guess.

Something that I am learning lately:
Sometimes I guess we make right choices, and then decide that since we did that that everything should work out perfectly and we'll be happy (after all, we did do what we knew was right...) But sometimes we make right choices, make sacrifices, decide to choose the right even though it seems like it would be so much easier to just do whatever, and things don't just work out. Life just stays hard, things don't fall into place, and there's still pain when it seems like it would only be fair for Heavenly Father to make us be happy since we just gave up something for Him that we thought might make us happy. If choices were like that, where things just worked out perfectly after we did the right thing, then we would just do the right thing all the time. It wouldn't really be a matter of free agency anymore. I think it shows how much faith we have in Heavenly Father and how much we love Him when we do what He wants us to do, and still continue to do what He wants us to do even when life just stays the same or even gets worse. We have to be willing to sacrifice everything we have. He'll bless us and help us, maybe not in the ways that we want or expect or think should be, but in the way that we need. And life really is so short when you try to fathom eternity. I guess a little pain right now, a little sacrifice, won't really hurt that bad in the very grand scheme of things.

Okay, that's all for now I guess. I love you all and miss you all!

bean



"If it were easy, then everyone would do it..." (that's a quote from A League of Their Own.)

Photo Update Kids

Bareback Bucking Broncos: my favorite event at the Penoka Stampede

Penoka Stampede

Cardston, Alberta Temple

U.S.-Canada International Border from a boat on Waterton Lake

Pretty waterfall right in Waterton.

Cameron Lake, Waterton Park. The most beautiful place ever! Also, I almost got eaten by a bear here.

Panaramic overlook of Rockies north of Waterton (Click on photo to see it bigger!)

Cooking Lake, last weekend. Mud up to my knees; I lost a sandal.

Before the mud incident and the thunderstorm.

My 1st Canada cake. I finished it around 1 am : )

Markie's haircut

Mark's new hair cut. This is what mom says is the reason why never to make any decisions after midnight... But i think It's hot, and so does Alicia. :) plus It's growing super fast.

ree ree

thanks for finnally letting me be part of the family

We won our softball game

We won our softball game tonight. :) i had a lot of fun. Now We're going over to the church building to clean. Love you all!

Fom Mark

kingmark12 said...
since i cant write my own blog and i wanted to convey a msge to ppl or persons i dont see on a regular basis.. ree ree my birthday is coming up,, Hint hint http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3139532&cp=2811795.2811809
July 2, 2008 3:36 PM

BEAN is soooooo cute

Loved your post, you are so cute.....

From my phone

Wouldn't it be cool if this works? If You're reading this, then it did! Yahoo!

weekly, even if my life's boring and I have nothing cool to say...

So, writing here weekly is hard, as I am not doing anything such as roofing a house or falling in love with a Canadian. Alas, you shall just have to deal with it.

Yesterday I went to the Butte Humane Society and spent some time with some dogs. It was fun, and I felt good after. Yahoo! :) Life is good when you find something productive to do. I kind of want a dog now though...

Sara is coming over any minute and we're going to go on a bike ride or swim or something like that. I am not sure yet. I am very grateful that I have such wonderful friends in my life right now. Like really, it is such a blessing. :)

I'm thinking I'll graduate not this december but the next, in '09. Hopefully financial aid will pay me to go to school for that long. Oh well.

My apartment is kind of lonely these days. Amanda has moved out. And Alicia has an internship in Sacramento this summer at an accounting place (or some other boring financial type business) and is only in Chico on the weekends. So now I spend my days just playing with Kari and other Chico friends (thing like swimming and bike rides), working, and doing church stuff. With student wards you can stay pretty darn busy. Tomorrow we have a softball game (last week's was cancelled because of the smoke). It is pretty fun to be on the softball team.

Brandon texted me yesterday and wants me to get a passport. He says that you can get it expedited and get it in fourteen days or something.... Kind of tempting.

I am excited to help fix up the house this summer and fall. I will do some research and learn how to spackle, and then we'll spend time painting walls very classy colors. It will be wonderful. It is a beautiful house, and I am very excited about it. And don't worry mom. It shall be wonderful and we will be together and it will all work out. It's great!

Good luck everyone with everything. Mom, I will try to post more often. And somebody, please show poor little mark how to post on the blog....

Love you all!
bean

p.s. I really think that it's cool that we had that huge game of Scramble on facebook with everyone. How fun was that?!?

Weekly

Matthew thank you for an awesome blog.... I think everyone should post at least weekly. I am signing the papers to accept the house inspection today, and yes the house has some problems, but that is why I can afford it. Summer school is over, but I still have 2 days of my masters classes.... love to all, Louise

At Dad's

Hey everyone. So I"m at dad's, and it's Monday the 30th. The roof is about half dome but we should be able to finish by Wednesday. I've already made 267 dollars, and will probably make about 80-100 more. I will finally have money. We went Go-Kart racing today. My best laps were better than Dad's and I beat him the first time, even though (and don't tell him this, but I want to be boastful) I let him catch up so it would be a race. The second race I did the same thing because I was smoking him, and he crashed me into a wall. Then I passed him and led for a few laps but wanted a race so I slowed down and passed me right before I saw the checkered flag. I was kind of upset and spun myself out after we finished and the worker, when he was helping us out, asked why let him go by and noticed that it frustrated me that I lost. But Dad is still proud of his win, and I'll let him be. I love you all, Marie have fun in Canada, Mark with all your women, Christine with your awesome life and delicious meat loaf cakes, and Mom with the house - I hope it doesn't stress you too much. Bye

More about Canadia

• Bag is pronounced beg, other -ag words are also said this way
• Tim Hortons is a donut/coffee place and is everywhere. I walked 6 blocks and passed 2
• Moose are more delicious than deer, but have very lean meat (lunch discussion one day)
• Everyone must own a plaid jacket according to Josh. Have I seen many? No. It's the middle of summer and is like 27 degrees out.(in celsius which I have yet to completely understand)
  
• The capital is Ottowa
• The last letter of the alphabet is pronounced zed
• English and French are on all the labels and French is not allowed to be printed smaller
• As a country with 2 national languages, children must take French in elementary school
• Will thinks changing the country's name to Canadia will increase the demand for secretaries because they'd have to change all the letterheads, but I think it would sound prettier
• I went to Dollarama the other day and their makeup brand is aziza, same as the Dollar Tree. There were also many Canadian souveniers there and some lucky brother may receive a tie in the somewhat near, somewhat far future.
• Donairs are sold everywhere. It's a turkish sandwich similar to a greek gyro and is delectable. We had some yesterday.

Marie - need address

Where is your address kid - where exactly do you live???? Love ya

Meatloaf Cake

THANK YOU MARIE

Well, today I put 1% down on the house, thank you Marie. I drove by the house and some other people were looking at it - kinda scary..... oh well, what's meant to be is meant to be - know what I mean? XOXOXOXOXO MOM

Dearest family - I need a money loan

As the title indicates I am in need of a loan. The bank that owns the house wants 1% down, which is truly reasonable. I have enough but it leaves me with $1 for the month. So I was wondering if anyone - mostly my girls - could lend me $500. I will be paying you back on July 31st. Please let me know ASAP - as we would like to go into escrow and move in July. LOVE TO ALL, XOXOXOXOXOX MOM

HELP MARK

So I was trying to get Mark on the blog, he has read it, but cannot get on.... on his own, Marie did you set us up? Or whomever did please reset up Mark, poor baby is feeling left out of the family. HAVE A GREAT DAY - loved the video Marie. XOXOXOX MOM

Time Lapse Video Fun

This is a video Will made while we were at his parent's place on Saturday. It's done with a TI-83 programmed to make the camera take photos at 30 second intervals. Really cool I must say : ) Perhaps Christine and Will should be friends.

Strep Throat

Well kids, It's been a pretty crappy weekend. I had strep throat. Came down with it Wednesday, and am currently taking penicillin. I'm not sure I have ever been in so much pain. It was ridiculous, but I am feeling better now. I even went to work today. Will took good care of me when I was sick, even gave me a priesthood blessing. I finally broke down and spent $120 to go to the doctor...disappointing but completely worth it at this point.

Also, I have a problem. Will has a 6-year-old brother who cries and gets his way all the time. I cannot handle this and thus cannot be nice to him. I think Will's dad is starting to dislike me because of it. I must remember that its not my place to parent and it won't be my problem when their child remains a spoiled brat.

I love you all and hope life is going well. Also, I'm thinking about being home from around August 22 until the 30th. What do you all think of this plan?

NEW HOUSE

The bank accepted my offer today on the house, mid July we will probably be moving, there is still a chance of problems though....

Marie, how did you almost die at work? BE CAREFUL !!!!!

Sorry I don't call more Beanie. I was worried about using your minutes if I call during the day, and I am often busy at night.

Life is going quite well, besides the fact that I think I have strep throat and almost died at work today. Too bad I didn't buy traveler's insurance.

I spend most of my time with Will these days and it is amazing. I think this next school year will be uber hard without him nearby, but I will try to make the best of it.

P.S. How do you get to your saved blogs that haven't been posted yet?

update

I do sign on here almost daily. Often I think about writing something about my life, but then I remember that it is boring and I therefore have nothing to write. :(

Oh well.

So, I've spent a lot of time at the Nelsons' house lately. Great people. Kari and I finished recording a song. Well, pretty much Kari finished recording a song, I was just tagging along. There is a cool violin part that is in it though, so at last my violin has some sort of purpose to its existence. I think it would be great if y'all could listen to it.

I would love to talk to marie more, but I don't really know how.

Hope that the summer is going well for everyone. Momma, good luck with summer school.... yep, just a few more weeks. You can do it! We believe in you.

Love to all,
bean

WEEKLY !!

So, I think everyone should have to post weekly - letting everyone know what you are doing.... sound good? Love to all, MOM

This week I am really working on controlling my blood sugar. My real problem time is 10 - 11 PM, so maybe I will start going to bed instead of eating.....

Summer school is tough..... I really needed a day or two off, but it is only 15 days, no more complaining, no more complaining, no more complaining, and I will start to enjoy every moment!!! That will be my new philosophy.

SO, SO TRUE

SO, SO TRUE -

"Remember: the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth."

--Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "A Matter of a Few Degrees", Ensign, May 2008, 57–60

I am going to the Jimmy Eat World concert on July 11!!!

Marie

Sorry, I haven't checked this in a long time, but Marie, what is your favorite number? 8 or 21?

new house ?????

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fairfield/529-Princeton-Way-94533/home/2557554

Please check out the above link - I really think I am going to make an offer on this house. Note that ariel view, the back does look right into the Fairfield High parking lot. Big house, fun..... Nice neighborhood. I think I am happy about it, I will pray and make the final decision on Monday.

EVERYONE WILL HAVE A BED, SO PLEASE PLAN TO VISIT OR STAY AWHILE !!!!!!

Martineau Family Reunion

Mel Heywood just sent me a link to the Martineau Family Reunion Blog. The address is
http://www.martineaufamilyreunion.blogspot.com/

You should go look at it... It looks cool!

Hope everyone is doing well....

Love ya!

christine

Notes about Canada

• It's supper not dinner
• They really do say eh a lot
• They get U.S. tv including memorial day commercials
• There are long weekends in May and August. The May Long weekend was almost 2 weeks ago and was for Victoria day
• Kraft dinner, not mac and cheese
• The first a's in pasta and garage are pronounced like the a in dad
• Hockey is a big deal, football is not
• Fast food pays $10 an hour
• Cereal is normally $6-8 a box

West Ed

I went to one of the biggest malls in the world today. It has an aquarium, the world's largest indoor amusement park, miniature golf, and a huge waterpark. Also, themed sections like Bourbon Street, Chinatown, and the European section. I also went to H&M. If any of you recall, Laura really wanted to shop there I believe. Anyway, it was kinda cool. We have Stake Conference tomorrow. President Monson is going to speak to the Saints in Canada...he loves Canada according to our institute director. It's being broadcast from Toronto.

So, I'm watching Remember the Titans right now. It's weird that one of my favorite movies is about football. About my favorite number, turns out that was just another thing I copied from Christine. I'll change it to 21 though. I'm reaching it soon and once there, I can prettymuch go and do whatever I want wherever I want. Not that there's much I would want to do that's 21+, but I like the freedom. Also, I made chocolate chip cookies today and just want to tease you about how you got none. Love ya

Marie - please check in....

Marie, it has been a few days, call!!! I understand you got paid - YEAH!!! Do you still need my check? I have allowed $400 so no problem. Also I have not yet deposited your last paycheck, $87.92, I will try to do it soon. LOVE YA, hope all is going well......

My favorite number

My favorite number is 9 - always has been. When I couldn't sleep as a child I would just think of the number 9, nothing else till I was too tired to stay awake. Love, MOM

8

My favorite number is 8. Just so everyone knows. My favorite number has been eight since I was about six years old and I knew that I could get baptized when I turned eight. So now everyone knows my favorite number. Take that.

In other news, I am going to trade cars and start driving Marie's car and dad wants to sell my car. I think it will be hilarious when it runs fabulously for me and never has a single problem and Marie will be left wondering what she ever did wrong... (Insert maniacal laugh here)

Happy Monday everyone!

Question

What is everyone's favorite number? Don't ask why I'm wondering...it's complicated.

a video of my clean room

Sorry, I know that it's silly to post a video of my room being clean, but it really is like a huge deal, you don't even know.

First I show you the bathroom then my room. Kari helped me clean it and be brave enough to throw stuff away. Life is awesome! :)

Love you all.

today

Sorry about the phone bill... that's dumb. :(

So, today I went on a date. the end.

no, just kidding. I went on a double date with Alicia. It was fun(ny)... Alicia went with Clint, and I went with Aaron. We went to Logan's Roadhouse. Just thought y'all would like to know. :)

In other news, my room is clean! Hooray! I will post a video of it or something. The best part about having a clean room is that now Alicia comes to visit me! You guys can visit me too, if you feel the need.

Alicia says hi and sends her love to you all. She is in my room right now, and wanted me to add that.

Um, this week is finals week, but I am excited about that because that means it is almost over and I am so ready for school to just be over. Alicia says amen.

So, does Mark read the blog? If so, he should post what A's games he is planning on going to so I can come too. I have friends who might want to come as well. :)

It is freaking hot here. Alicia says amen again. It is currently 87 degrees outside, and it's a quarter to midnight! We did turn on the AC today for a little while.

I got a sunburn today...

Verizon Bill

Love the pictures Christine and Marie...... you are both so cute.... Thanks for posting them.

The verizon bill is usually $165 or so, but this month, $254, details to follow..... but please be careful... LOVE TO ALL !!!!! By the way no problem I have the cash.....

Minutes used...... 6590 152 minutes
3541 177
1811 383
6849 427
5822 211
9168 89

So that is only 1439 which is 39 minutes over, no Canada stuff at all.... the problem was when Christine changed her number, they pro-rated from that day and said we were 241 minutes over, the end of the month we were 202 minutes under usuage, but they do not average. The bottom line is that all changes should be made on the 9th or 10th of the month in the future.

I got my first paycheck yesterday. WooHoo!! At least twice as much as any previous paychecks. Tonight, we have a temple baptism trip at the Edmonton temple. After, we are driving down to Calgary. Victoria day is on Monday, so it's a long weekend. We are going to Golden, British Columbia where Will's dad is working. And going through Banff and Jasper which are national parks. It should be fun times. I'm excited.


This is me really dirty after work. It was much worse yesterday though









Will and his younger brother Alex(18) trying a thiz face. (Matt may need to teach that boy a few things)











The Hoodoos near Drum Heller. Very cool geology. We also went to the dinosaur museum that day, but the pictures are on Will's camera : (



I love you all so so much.

some pictures :)

Me and Alicia



Amanda, Alicia and Me (Roommates rock!)



My blessing/curse (aka my car)




The most wonderful mom in the world....

Call Me More

Dearest Family, to actually everyone,

Sometimes when you call I cut you off short, it is because I am tired and grumpy. I have joined weight watchers,,,, so I plan to eat better and have more energy. I apologize greatly if I have offended anyone..... I love you all so very much

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother I love you, mother I do.

Father in Heaven sent me to you.

When I am near you, I love to

hear you whisper so sweetly that

you love me too.

LOVE TO ALL

LOVE TO ALL, everyone is so busy, working, finals, stuff, me too. ENJOY LIFE !!!!

Marie is mixing cement

Life is going well in Marie-world. Today was my 4th day at Featherstone, making decorative rock. It pays 14 an hour and at 35 hrs a week, I might get rich quick, or not. Its an interesting job. I mix cement, pour it, vibrate it, and demold it. I also prep the molds and put accent colors in them. Mushroom and charcoal are some of our base colors. Accents include meadow sweet and brushed leather. It's hard labor, so perhaps my arms will become quite muscular and hot. We can only hope. So, I think I like him more now, just for everyone's info. We are going to take dance lessons every week. I learned salsa yesterday. Also, I am going to drum heller this weekend which has a supercool dinosaur museum I heard. Wish you were here. Love always, Marie

fabulous christine

Hello family,

Things are going okay here in Chico. It got hot kind of quick though- today was 90. School is going okay, only three more weeks. :) The conference in Oregon was fun, and it was nice to have my testimony built a bit. I'm trying to keep busy. Nothing really new is happening lately. I really love my friends in Chico, they are freaking amazing. I've really been blessed with good friends (and roommates!) Maybe this weekend I am going to go to Fort Bragg with a friend. Or maybe not. Life's just an adventure all the time and you just do what you do, I guess. I am looking forward to the summer time.... Well kids, I am so tired that I cannot write coherent sentences so I guess I'm off to bed... Love you all!

Mom - just being me

Well, the doctor said I could come there for the next 6 months or so and they could tell me to lose weight, after I pay $15 to them, $5 to gas and $4 to the bridge...... and I will usually cry and usually get lost on my way home, tonight it only took about 75 minutes to get home, 30 to get there..... then maybe I could have surgery. Presently I think I am going to join weight watchers and work out with Matthew.... and Mark in 7 days.... Love to all.... more details please from everyone !!!!!

At American Idol, Chico Student Ward Edition

At the legislature