Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Obligatory Fall Pics



















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Preschool class field trip to Martin's Apple Orchard.  We love this place!

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Learning about that green thing from Mrs. Katt

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Roca Berry Farm Pumpkin Patch
 

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Sunday, December 8, 2013

AVanBoeningMHT...No More! (#305 and #306 on the life list:)

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Hello, internet.  Its me, Allison.  Remember me?


Yep.  You recognize me with a martini, right?  Well, I have a lot of words for you.  Its my last night of being an employee of the hospital.  My last night of being someone else's employee, period!  I'm kind of a mess.  Let me elaborate, as you must be bored, if you are reading my blog.  First of all, I'm downright sad to be leaving the hospital.  Much as I can't stand the way our program is being run these days, I have always had such good, close friendships with a good chunk of my coworkers.  I'm not sure if its the fact that we work in mental health and therefor have similar personalities or sense of humors or what but I have formed some really great friendships here.  This has been my employment home since I graduated from college.  Eleven years.  That's one third of my life thus far.  For about 8 of those years, I came here for more than 40 hours a week.  I got attached.

Aside from missing my current coworkers, I'm really going to miss the kids.  Its a pretty rare opportunity that we have in our program, to spend time with kids who are in crisis.  Since I started working mostly night shifts, I haven't spent a ton of time with the kids and I miss them.  It will be so strange not to have that connection to youth any longer.  I have to say also, that doing this job felt sometimes like I was actually making a difference.  Obviously I got paid, its not like I was volunteering.  And more often than not, the kids don't seem to visibly take much stock in what we say, but there were those rare moments that I saw kids improve and learn and smile and laugh because of something that our team of people did and that just kind of gives a different meaning to a job than just being the place that signs your paychecks.  Our cleaning job is hugely rewarding as well, but its for much different reasons.

And the biggest question of the night...AM I MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE?!?  I think I've said before how much I hate grown up stuff, like retirement funds, insurance anythings, blah blah blah.  I might be the most immature 33 year old that exists.  But when you work for a company big enough to take care of most of those things for you, it doesn't really matter how immature you are.  When you ARE the business owner, you have to start figuring those things out.  You have to learn about IRAs and mutual funds and The Affordable Care Act and, like, budgeting.  GROSS!!!  Can we please just go drink martinis???  Somewhere in my brain, I just always assumed I would have the hospital job to fall back on, if cleaning didn't work out or didn't quite pay the bills.  Or heaven forbid, I get injured.  I mean, my business largely depends on my physical health!  Poop!

Now that I have deep breathed my way through my 43rd panic attack of the last 24 hours, maybe I should focus on what is good here...I will have more time for my family and friends.  There will be no more scheduling around my night shifts for a family or social life.  Or holidays.  I have worked at jobs since about 1997  that have required me to work holidays.  It will be so awesome not to have to miss out on festivities because of work any more.
I will have more weekdays on which to clean.  I am freeing up 6 weekdays per month for cleaning and that is pretty huge, considering how much Tosha and I can get done in a day.  Hopefully more time for us to work on the side of our business that we currently neglect like marketing, paperwork, other grown up things.  I think I am rubbing off on her in the area of immaturity:)
I can sleep like a normal person.  The girls that I work nights with and I have had many a conversation about how NO MATTER WHAT, your sleep is never good enough when you work nights.  And most of the time, you only allow yourself a few hours of the crappy sleep and that is just so bad for your health.  So bad.  I am certain that an improved level of health and energy will come along with my new schedule, which leads to so many other positive changes like more exercise, more cooking, less snaking on junk food just to stay awake.

While I know that this is a very good decision and the natural progression of things for my business/career, I am nervous about the next few months.  I need to buy a new car and its been years since I have had a car payment.  I have never before had to make health insurance payments.  Its the winter months, so Brad's paychecks are leaner than they are when the weather is nice.  I may have to drink fewer martinis.  They are expensive.  But I am thankful.  I also need to thank my little family for allowing me to participate in my own little experiment of being solely a business owner.  Well, I go back and forth between wanting to thank them, and wanting to take Brad by the shoulders and shake him really hard and scream, "Don't trust me to do this!  We will be homeless by June! Who allows their wife to quit her job when they need a new roof???"  If I did, I'm sure he would just calmly tell me, as usual, that it will all figure itself out and be fine.  

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Brad and I had dinner at Jack and June a few weeks ago before we went to Catching Fire (which was an AWESOME movie).  This is my food.  Maybe its lame to take pictures of your food, but this was a caramelized onion grilled cheese and roasted Brussels sprouts and soft pretzels with blue cheese dipping sauce.  So there.

  In case you're curious about how "Obamacare" is affecting my insurance shopping experience (and since I can't ever resist giving my completely uninformed political opinions), I will say that it seemed shaky at first.  There was not a singe insurance agent who could give us any information for a few months.  And the quotes I got seemed high with very high deductibles.  It was frustrating, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be left at that.  And low and behold, I spoke with my agent just the other day and she said we needed to meet asap, as provisions were being made, policies were getting cheaper, deductibles lower and so on and so forth.  I also had to remind myself that up to this point in my life, my insurance has always just seemed free to me.  It comes out of my paycheck before it ever reaches my pocket and in my limited little brain, that means its free.  I am very confident that The Affordable Care Act will undergo enough revision and tweaking that it will do what it was intended to do, and have little more than the normal rate increase impact on folks who already have insurance by the time all is said and done.  I will be the first to admit it if I'm wrong though.  I do really think we need to give it a year or so and see how things are in 2015.  Rome wasn't built in a day, kids.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

#232 Matt Frazier stopped in Lincoln!

On my List of 1,001 Awesome Things To Do Before....list, #232 is to attend a book tour/signing by an author that I love.  I did that!  I intend to do it any time I get the chance, but I think this is the first.  No, not true.  I met Isa Moskowitz at a bake sale in Omaha and she signed my Vegan Cookies cookbook, but that was a few years back, way before I had The List.  Plus, its on the list to meet her again (maybe when she gets her vegan restaurant open?!?)

Matt Frazier writes a blog that I read regularly called The No Meat Athlete and his book, Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self just came out a few weeks ago.  On his book tour, he made a stop at the Lincoln Running Company and Willa and I made sure we could make it!  Matt is an ultramarathon runner who just happens also to be vegan.  He spoke about his training, what he eats, what he wears, goal setting, strength training...all kinds of good stuff!  He was very informative.  I haven't read the whole book yet, but I did just try out one of his recipes (for buffalo hummus) and it was so good.  I don't know why I hadn't thought to put buffalo sauce in hummus before but it was genius.  I am very excited to try the rest of the recipes.  Aside from recipes, there are also training plans for various distances in the book.  A great read for anyone who is thinking of getting into distance running or anyone looking to replace some meat with some healthier options in their diets.  He doesn't get in your face at all about the ethics of a vegan diet, as some vegan writers do.  He makes some good points, for sure, but he also acknowledges that even just a reduction in red meat consumption can make huge positive impacts on your health and your training.  If you're curious, you should check it out!  I'll loan my copy out after I try a few more recipes:)

Monday, October 21, 2013

A goodbye (for now) to Grandma Christensen

I had been working on a post that was fairly whiny and boring the other day about how I am going to quit my job at the hospital and how much of a pain it is to find your own insurance and how much I love my cleaning business and so on and so forth.  I was all set to finish it at work this weekend and then something very sad and very unexpected happened.  Friday evening, my grandmother passed away.  The one that was married to the grandpa that passed away in May.  It was time for them to be together again.  It seemed to happen very quickly, as we had just seen her on the Sunday before and she seemed very happy and able to get around and I wouldn't not have suspected for one second that she wouldn't be around the very next week, which is why I think that truly she is gone because Grandpa just needed her.  She will be missed immensely.  I'm sure most people think their Grandma's are the nicest, sweetest people ever, but mine may really have been.  THE nicest and sweetest.  I wish that Willa had had more time with her Great Grandparents, but I do think that she will have memories of them.  One day, she and I were chatting about ways to keep yourself healthy and strong and I said something about living a long life if you kept yourself healthy.  She pointed out that Great Grandpa lived to be very old and I said yes, that he kept himself very healthy and she said "No, Great Grandma did that for him."  She really summed it up well.  My Grandma was the ultimate caregiver, the epitome of selfless giving.

It has been a tough year for those of us that are left of the Christensen family, and we all miss Uncle Bob, Grandpa and Grandma very much.  I am a person of great faith, but the concept of heaven is very hard for me to grasp.  I think it is just too huge.  Too unknown.  Until now, as I can picture my Grandparents there and I know just what they are doing and how they will welcome me someday.  We will hug and kiss, we will play cards and have freshly squeezed orange juice.  Grandpa will mow his lawn and later we will check out the horse races.  Then, on an especially heavenly evening, there will be a big party with a band and dancing and drinks and love and everything will be right with the world again.  Until then...















Sunday, October 13, 2013

So, school started in August. Weird.



Look!  Its Willa!  And she is repeating preschool!  It must be really sinking in her little melon this time, because she wrote the words "cat" and "bat" the other day.  Then she jumped straight to "Halloween".  No joke.  She said, "Mom, do you know how to spell Halloween?"  I said yes, of course.  And then she proceeded to write it on her little notepad.  I think I almost fell over.  I asked her how on earth she knew how to spell Halloween and she said that Uncle Chris told her once.  Yikes.  Everyone is always telling me how much trouble I'm in with her, since she is already obviously smarter than I am and I think I'm finally starting to understand that.  Needless to say, school is going well.  Although, the stinker really misses her friends that went to kindergarten this year, especially Jerusha.  The other day she even made popscicle stick puppets of Jerusha.  I told her that wasn't AT ALL creepy.  

Monday, August 12, 2013

It was time.



We finally found the perfect dog.  It was a long time comin.  It is just a few days from the 2 year anniversary of Luther's untimely death and lately we have really been craving a dog.  A big dog.  A good dog for our location and for kids.  We've always kind of wanted a lab, so we've been keeping our eyes open but not finding much.  Mostly I check the Humane Society, and if they have labs at all, they are typically older or have a health condition.  So we had really started branching out and looking at other bigger dog breeds, but I think in our hearts, we knew we wanted a lab.  So, dearest friend Tosha tagged me in a Facebook post on the Lincoln Pet Exchange group and that's how we wound up with Chopper.  It hasn't been 24 hours yet, but it seems that we have made a good choice.  He is so sweet and well mannered and soft and charming and brown and has such big paws....and he already loves Willa.  I think they are going to be bestest friends.  Stickers is mad and jealous and hissy/growly, but he will get over it.  Bailey hasn't really come out of her hiding place to meet Chopper yet, but she will.  I did have to leave last night before bed time, so I'm not sure how he did, but I'm going to pretend that he was a perfect angel, and went willingly into his kennel and slept all night there without whining or peeing.  Yep, I'm sure that's how it went.  And, he is going to want to sleep all morning with me, too:)




See?  Only a best friend would share a space this small with you and still love you.  

Monday, August 5, 2013

#280 and #93 Progress, people.


My box:)

I realize that my original list of Awesome Things To Do In Life didn't go as far as #280, but I have a little notebook that I carry around with me that I add to pretty frequently and it has a #280 which is: Find a line of grown-up skin care that I like.  In other words, stop just using whatever happens to be on sale at Target and do something really good for my skin!  And #93 involved pinning down a good shade of lipstick for myself.  I am happy to report that I am working on both of these things.  I recently purchased the anti-aging line of skin care from a good friend who is a representative for Rodan and Fields, and have also tried a few of their other products and am really liking them.  If you are in the market for any type of skin care, I would definitely recommend them and put you in touch with Tiffany.  She knows her stuff.  I can't wait to be able to purchase the machine that sucks the dead skin off your face.  (Really do talk to Tiff.  She doesn't say things like "suck the dead skin off your face."  She knows words like "exfoliate" and "peptides")

As for the lipstick situation, I've not actually found IT yet.  But, I have found a really super fun little service that sends samples of high end skin care/cosmetics/hair care/etc to your home every month for $10.  I'm in love with it and I've only gotten one!  Its called Birchbox and I think they should be paying me to say nice things about them, as I've managed to work them into 98% of my conversations since I received my first box.  If you're curious, my first box contained, I believe, 5 different items (a mineral foundation, organic sunscreen, self tanning towelettes, lip cream, and leave-in conditioner for sun damaged hair.)  All of these things were great!  I can't wait till I get a box with lipstick.  Or perfume.  Or really anything.  I just love getting stuff in the mail.  If you want to make my day, put all your old bread sack twisty ties in a tiny box and mail them to me.  That's how easy I am to please.  But in all seriousness, if you are in the market for anything for your skin or just to treat yourself to something fun, check out Rodan and Fields and Birchbox.  You won't be sorry:)

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Bored, bored, bored


No real point to the picture, except that I freaking love it.  That's right. I said it.  I like something that I created, even if its just a photograph.  And any part of it that appears creative actually comes from Afterlight.  But whatever.  I'm in a mood.

I've been at work all night.  This isn't weird.  I work 2 nights a week.  Normally I either have a coworker who is TOO enjoyable that I can chat with all night, or enough with me to read to keep me busy.  Or there's always Pinterest.  I exhausted Pinterest.  I finished my book. (The Great Gatsby.  Somehow, I missed reading this book all through high school and college.  It was fine.  I dunno.  I was much more excited about the previous 3 books I read: Let the Great World Spin, Help Thanks Wow, and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.)  And the lady I'm working with is perfectly lovely, but we just haven't clicked.  I mean, we've never drawn one another pictures of butt holes in bags, or slow danced, or watched Miley Cyrus videos together.  Maybe we'll get there someday, but someday isn't tonight and I'm bored.  Plus its my birthday weekend, so I'm feeling extra reflective.  Not like you would want to wear me on a night bike ride, but just maybe thoughtful.  Its been a rough couple of weeks.  I've said it before and I won't quit saying it, even to newly married/engaged friends.  Marriage is hard.  Its another full time job.  Honestly, I think its the hardest thing.  For me, anyway.  But we're still pluggin' away and I'm going to try to stop being a lazy, easily irritated spouse.  Either that or just start drinking more.

I wonder what my 33rd year will have in store for me...I can't stop looking at profiles of pit bulls on the Humane Society website.  And mastiffs.  And labs.  Maybe a new dog?!?  We still haven't paid our taxes, so maybe a visit from the IRS?  Just kidding, I don't think they would waste their time with us, but it does raise my blood pressure a bit.  For real, I went in to donate blood on Wednesday and they told me my blood pressure was too low and they gave me a few minutes before they retook it, all I had to do was think about the damn taxes and whaddaya know.  Up it went!  Hoping for maybe a long weekend vacation, even if its just to Johnson's Lake or Mahoney.  I need a few days of nature and fresh air and minimal technology/interactions with other humans.  I need a girls' trip, as well.  One that is a little less nature-oriented maybe.  (Maaaayyybe one that involves a city with an IKEA.  Hint hint.  Wink wink.  Coughamynebesniakimhintingthatireallywantyoutoplanatripcough.) Who knows what will happen!  I'll get a little older, there will be surprises.  That's what is both great and horrible about life, right?!?  For now, I DO know that I have a birthday weekend to look forward to and it starts in just a few hours.  And it starts with a bachelorette party for one of my favorite people.  So, cheers to being 32 for one more day:)


Pics from my mom's bday a few weeks ago:)

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Willa is 4. F.O.U.R. Seriously.


I'm not going to lie, I turned into a weepy, blubbering mess at the end of this long birthday weekend.  And all because my little monster is 4 now and is turning into such a pretty, grown-up, monster.  I've said it before, but how on earth is she so pretty?  I ask her that about every other day.  And she just says "Moooo-ooom."  (Imagine that is a voice just like a whiny teenager.  Because that is what she sounds like all the time now.)  One day a few weeks ago, we were sitting on the couch together and she crawled in my lap for a little lovin.  I asked her what I was going to do when she was too big for me to hold her like that anymore and she said, "I will still sit by you and hold your hand."  I fought back tears that day, too.  What a great 4 years it has been, getting to know Willa.  If you are curious, she is really into singing these days, the movie Pitch Perfect is just about her favorite thing, she is awesome at puzzles, she knows her right from her left (thanks to Uncle Chris), she can quote movie lines like nobody's business, she likes hamburgers but not cheeseburgers, and she would love for us to get a big dog.  Oh, and she usually farts first thing when she wakes up in the morning, then giggles and tells me that she is just farting out the rest of her sleep.  Just when I start to wonder whose kid she really might be, she proves that we are, in fact, related.

And now, some pictures from all the fun...

Prepping for the outdoor movie







Brad figured out a fancy-schmancy way to play a movie outside on a screen that he constructed.  So, we had a gaggle of Willa's friends over...late...and fed them a bunch of candy and pop and gave them face paint and silly string and glow sticks and then had them watch Wreck-It-Ralph and then sent them home...late...with their parents.  Your welcome, parents.  It was fun.




On Sunday, the day of the actual birthday, we gave Willa a trampoline and some tiny cupcakes.  I consider buying a giant trampoline a mark of my adulthood.  I wanted one for our yard SO BAD so I made the executive decision that Willa would get one for her birthday.  It was either that, or a big dog, and I'm not quite ready for another pet.  I...I mean, WE, are in love with the trampoline.  And don't worry, we put the safety netting up after these pictures were taken.  Willa just kept telling us "safety first, guys."  She is a much more confident bouncer with the net up.




The Monday following the birthday, we slept in, and then took a trip to Grand Island to visit Grandma Van Boening, Great Grandma Christensen, and Island Oasis Waterpark.  I figured it was about time to introduce Willa to the place that shaped her mother's young adult years.  We had a great time at the water park.  And I am proud to say that in the absence of the '95-'02 crew, the I.O. still seemed to be running smoothly and very well maintained.  And, all the lifeguards appeared to be no older than 13.  

That was Willa's 4th birthday, in a nutshell.  She has yet to receive a pet snake.  She is ok with that.  Her Uncle Chris promised to buy her a snake for her birthday.  It drove her nuts when he would talk about it.  One day, he asked her what she was going to name her pet snake and her response was, "Knife.  Because that is what I'm going to kill it with."  Hmmmmmm.