SUMMER TIME!!

Alright, I wrote most of this at the end of April, and was wanting to post pictures so I procrastinated posting it. But now, finally, I shall update you on our lives for the past few months. Let's start with this older post:

Hello! Happy end-of-April! Ok, life is so crazy and great things are happening right now! Let me prove this point by sharing a few arguments as to why this is the case:

Exhibit A. Allie Barrett got called to Nicaragua!!!!! WOO!! Congrats! I love all these sister missionaries lately! Another Aly friend of mine is going to Dominican Republic. Hoorah for Sister Aly/Allie's!

Exhibit B. Autumn is having a baby! Holy cow, my best little friend since before we could cross the road by ourselves is having a little baby of her own. She's a blue eyed blond freckle face, and her husband is hispanic-that baby is destined to be adorable. Congrats Autumn. :) Heather Paulsen is also having a baby! Babies everywhere! She is due in October, and is one of the first few from my close friends in high school to have a baby. I'm so excited!

Exhibit C. Winter Semester is OVER! OH MY HEAVENS! Fall and Winter Semester were the most difficult semesters of school in my life. Fall didn't go so well, but Winter...3.96 baby. All A's and one A- (which I totally don't understand, but I'm not gonna go fight a teacher on an A vs. an A-, I'm content with the little minus sitting there next to my A). I have NEVER done that well at BYU. I had 18 credits, 10 classes, I worked 18 hours a week, and it was my last semester before students teaching and awfully difficult (in my opinion). I am quite proud to boast about my 3.96. I think it's due to the fact that I discovered the power in doing what you don't really want to do first-so it can just be done and you will have plenty of time in case it takes longer than planned- and then you can do the things you want to without the guilty feeling of homework hanging over your head. I wish I could have learned that back in Jr. high...I've always been a procrastinator. In the words of my friend Megan, "You just do it and then, WOAH! It's DONE!" said with a tone implying "and now you can do whatever you want since your done with what you HAD to do". Well, it worked well this semester, we'll see if I can keep it up.

Exhibit D. Kyle left for Mississippi a few weeks ago! He's heading down there for the summer to sell security systems with the guys he sold with before his mission. We were able to go to the Timp temple before he left since we'd never gone together before. It's funny, I forgot that two people our age together at the temple on a Friday morning makes everything think we are getting married, or we are married. As we were walking down some stairs quite a few of the temple workers were giving us these huge grins and you knew they were thinking we just got hitched. We're twins, but we don't look alike enough for people to assume we're siblings, they just always assume we're married. It's happened quite a few times since he got back from his mission actually. Anyway, he's awesome, and he'll do great in the humid, fried-food, spanish speaking south.

Exhibit E. Steve is still my husband. And I still like him. We just celebrated our Octo-versary last month! Ok, well I celebrated our Octo-versary, Steve kinda rolled his eyes at the fact that I came up with the word "octoversary". But I ate some ice cream for it, so that was celebration enough for me. :) And soon, well like tomorrow, is our Nonaversary (9 months!). Anyway, we've been living in the same little cave/shire/bombshelter-like basement that is the Hansen home together as the Hansen family for a whole eight months. How cute is that? I am a wife, so I get to remember things like octoversaries. And Steve is wonderful and remembers things like EASTER when I don't! I woke up sick on Easter and Steve had gotten me an Easter basket complete with candy and the Father of the Bride Duo set. And I, I had failed to think of doing anything for Easter for him. I'm awful. Our family never really did Easter baskets or anything, so I didn't put much thought to it. He got me a basket, was super nice to me while I was sick, and we went and ate dinner with him family-it was great. So, now I need to find an obscure holiday and do something cool for him for it so that he can feel like I really do care about him. Just kidding kind of, since he is golden hearted and wasn't expecting anything in return-but seriously, I still want to do something. Or I guess Father's day? Eh, we'll see. I'll come up with something great.

Exhibit F. MCAT Mania is happening at our house. Steve has been studying his brains out for a long time. He is taking it May 20th, which is just a few weeks away and has been spending every waking moment studying. He's covered pretty much every scientific subject you can imagine. He even posted a whole bunch of formulas that look like Greek alphabet soup up in our shower.


Exhibit G. I love this quote.

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. -Margaret Nadauld

I have ALWAYS had a huge admiration for Margaret Nadauld. She was a wonderful YW General President when I was in Young Womens, and I've always wanted to be like her.

So it's summertime now right? That means I've been able to let the craftiness inside me finally be free! I just want to paint things, and decorate things, and clean things.
I made a cool birthday calendar! So now I won't forget so many birthdays.

I made some picture board squares to spice up our bedroom a little.

I have a whole list of other things I'm hoping to get to. I love summer time. It's so much more relaxed. AND I get to wear sandals. I. LOVE. sandals.

OK, Fast forward a long time to Today! May 26th!

So we headed out to California last week!

It was an interesting trip. Our plan was to leave wednesday, stay the night in vegas, drive to California on Thursday, Steve takes the MCAT and we go to the beach and party on Friday, then go to our good friends wedding all day Saturday. Then we would drive home Sunday.

Well our car died in fillmore on the way down. An hour and a half into it our stinkin car dies! I had just gotten it all checked out and the oil changed and everything preparing for our trip. So, this nice guy named Joe towed us in, and luckily they had a rental car place in Fillmore so we got to drive a 2011 Altima for the weekend (SUCH a nice car!). They were gonna fix our car and then we'd pick it up on the way back. So we get to vegas and I was feeling sick, and Steve was stressed about his test, and our car was pooped out. Not quite as planned.

Well they called the next day and apparantly there was no compression in the pistons and our car was just dead. Boo. So we're currently on the search for a new car-which really is kinda fun, getting our first car together. :) We got to California the next day and went to Rattler's BBQ. Steve's whole family raves about it like crazy, but I thought they were all just overreacting. They were not. It's incredible. Every stinking thing. Their rolls, and their steaks, and their onion ring things. Wow. So good. Steve took the MCAT successfully the next morning and we'll find out his score mid June. David and Jess's wedding was absolutely wonderful! It was so happy and so pretty and I maybe cried even just a little cause weddings are the sweetest thing ever. I'll post some pics of it all. Overall it was a pretty good trip. It was nice to just be with steve for four days straight since we barely see each other with our random work schedules. AND I did absolutely no homework, so I guess that counts as a vacation to me! I hope you're all enjoying your summers!

It's not fair to keep good things a secret.

If I found a really great ice cream flavor, I would tell you about it.
If I found the best sandwich I would tell you-Oh, wait, I totally have-The 'steak and everything' at the Italian Place. Best cheesesteak of all time.

Ok, so here's the thing. You tell you're friends about great things!
So why has no one every told me about asparagus?
Oh my gosh.
How did I know not how amazing asparagus is!!???

For anyone that doesn't know, this is asparagus....


And it's delicious.

So here's my recommendation- put a baby bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper on a couple stalks, then rub them together with your hands to spread it around and BAKE, yes BAKE them for like five minutes at 350. It was so good. You'll love it. If you are a veggie liker. But, if you don't like veggies then I don't really hold too much hope for you and this idea because it still tastes like veggies. Also, asparagus is only $1.59 a pound at Macey's. I got a bunch like that picture above for like a $1.20. And it's lasted like four days of me eating it. yum.
I hope you eat some asparagus soon. :)

WANTED: summer.

Ya know those "lost puppy" signs, or the "wanted: outlaw" signs? Or even the "Missing: Have you seen me?" signs up at walmart that make you feel so sad?

I have a sign I would like to make kind of like those. It would go something like this...

MISSING: SUMMER!

Description: Bright, lovely, sunshine, sandals, shorts, sunsets, swimming, popsicles, palm trees, vacations, sunburns, ponytails, flowers, ice cream, trees, running in shorts, weddings, painted toenails, playing with friends, bonfires, picnics, happy.
Last seen? August, 2010
Reported sightings as of late: March 22-24 in Utah and Salt Lake Counties
Reward: SANITY and HAPPINESS!!
Alleged Kidnapper(s):

Snow E. Flakes

Rain Drops

Please report any information you have to the National Weather Service.





Do you think it would work? Would summer come back? I miss it.

Sun, please come out. We all miss you...

March.

I have lately been obsessed with three things. Let me give you a pictoral representation of said things.

Exhibit A.March Madness is INSANE! How have I never realized this before?!? Brackets are incredible! They give you that same feeling you get when you go down a big drop on a roller coaster.
I filled one out this year and I just need to do better than Steve. All the games are these incredible buzzer beaters or total blowouts it seems. It's incredible. I'm pulling for Pitt to win it all over Ohio- You?

Exhibit B.


SCHOOL! Ah, holy cow my brain has been overcome by school. I dream about it every night without fail. I'm in Newman Elementary in Salt Lake, and my class is so awesome, and the teacher whose class I'm in is INCREDIBLE! I could not have been placed with someone more perfect for me to learn from. She is incredible at explaining everything, organizing and following through, she is THEE most consistent teacher I think I've seen in management and expectations. But she isn't a stress case or a grouch. She is fun, and she is realistic. It's a HUGE blessing to be in such a good situation for this semester since I've had this terrible taste for school and a bad case of "I want to change my major quicker than my next pair of socks" syndrome for the past couple months. So this is making me feel a little better about it, and thinking that I might enjoy it more than I have been thinking. It's still incredibly overwhelming and intricate to be able to do all that's asked from the university program as well as just of teachers in general, but I'm starting to figure out how to get a handle on it all. It's WAY scary, don't get me wrong, but I think a good way to fight scary is to stare it in the face till you figure out how to fight it down...

Exhibit C.
SANDALS!!! I just want to wear sandals!!! It's getting warmer and feeling like spring!! I have a pair of sandals from last year that I love with all my soul but they are kind of breaking. Well, ok they broke completely apart, but I bought a hot glue gun! I attempted to stick 'em back together, and it works for about two days of wearing them and then it comes apart again and I have to re-glue. It's becoming a sad reality they may not be able to be around much longer. I can't find any like them anywhere though! The minute I do I shall purchase them. That much is sure.


I hope you're enjoying March! Happy day after St. Patrick's day.
P.S. The tulip festival at thanksgiving point is April 15-30th...I totally want to go to that. Has anyone been? Is it incredible!??

Scaredy Pants.

Yea, it's the truth.
A lot of times I'm such a scaredy pants. I let fear creep it's way into my head quite a lot. Do you ever feel like a wimpy little scaredy? Or am I the only one?

Do you ever get scared of things that others tell you are silly to be scared of, but they seem scary to you? Like for example- health, or careers, or being a little too chubb-o, or rising grocery prices, or people not liking you or being offended by you, or failing at something you work way hard at, or losing friends, or just not liking your daily work, or cavities, or I don't know, any of those daily things that you just get worried about? I think I get scared of some of these things when I know I shouldn't, I really should just look a little more logically at things.
But that's why I'm Kellie. I'm made up of a lot more percents of emotional than I am of logical.

That might be why I married ol Steve-o. He is quite logical. But he is also male. I feel this is a large contributor to the emotion/logic discrepancy between us. But good thing we have each other to balance, right? and this blog. So that I can tell you that yes, I'm kinda scaredy pants a lot of times, but there are these fabulous men called Prophets and Apostles that give us little gems of wisdom that just speak to our hearts and let us know that you know what? We don't need to fear.

Yes. That is correct Kellie Hansen and anyone who reads this. We have reason to safely put fear aside and not let it rule our lives. How great is that? Here are some fabulous supports of that statement. I hope they speak to your soul like they do to mine.

Romans 5:1-5
1Therefore being ^ajustified by ^bfaith, we have ^cpeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2By whom also we have access by ^afaith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3And not only so, but we glory in ^atribulations also: knowing that ^btribulation worketh ^cpatience;

4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5And ^ahope maketh not ashamed; because the ^blove of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Mark 5:36

"Be not afraid, only believe."

"Faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."

-Elder Holland, The Best is Yet to Be (Jan 2009)

D&C 68:5-6

“Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.

“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.”

Because of Christ there is hope smiling brightly before you, and you need not worry too much about sickness, death, poverty, or other afflictions. The Lord will take care of you. Your responsibility is to keep the commandments, feast upon the words of Christ, and stay in the path to your heavenly home. -Julie B. Beck



Mosiah 2:41
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a stat of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."




"The atoning love of the Savior includes his willingness to bear not only the burden of our sins-which would separate us forever from our Father-but also our day to day burdens of fear and anxiety-which would deprive us of peace and joy. As Sister Patricia Holland explains, giving our burdens to the Lord sometimes requires us 'to make that leap of faith toward His embrace when we are least certain of His presence...When we hand our fears and frustrations to Him in absolute confidence that He will help us resolve them, when in this way we free our heart and mind and soul of all anxiety, we find in a rather miraculous way that He can instill within us a whole new perspective-He can fill us with 'that joy with is unspeakable and full of glory'(Hel. 5:44)" -Jan Underwood Pinborough


So I've kind of discovered this pattern. If you're trying your best, and you're doing good things, you're taken care of. It's a goodbye fear, hello faith kind of thing.
Ok, no more scaredy pants, no more scaredy pants, (say it with me...)

Oh hey!!!

Hello! Ok first off, remember how Christmas was about a month ago? Here are some pics from that!

Our first little Christmas tree in our first little apartment.


Steve was happy with some of his new Lakers presents.

We spent a lot of time playing with Cardon, Noah, and Annie-our niece and nephews.

This was at my Dad's house on Christmas Eve.

I hope you had a fun Christmas!! It was the nicest break I've ever had. I totally needed those two weeks off from school. Thank heavens for Christmas.

So, I haven't written anything since December? Who am I?
Well um, what do I say now? Here are fun things that have happened lately...

I learned to use Skype. Thank you Syl! That's kind of crazy you can do that. Technology nowdays is amazing. I'm not so great at it though. I admit it-I still don't know what a podcast is. But I just downloaded Itunes! That's progress.

We made crepes with Scott and Lorren. It took us like ten minutes to make about eight, and it wrenched my heart in gratitude for the saintly women who spent hours making hundreds of crepes so that we could serve them at our reception. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I cut stevey's hair. We bought some clippers and it was my first time cutting his hair. Wanna see just how bad he needed a haircut? Here you go.

Ya he looks like the 80's, does he not?

Mother Wentz is back in Utah. It's been nice to see her again. She keeps trying to get me to eat this organic soup she discovered- Wolfgang Puck is what it's called I guess? huh, organic has just never been my cup of tea. It's funny. Hello mumsy if you're reading this!

The blogger editor thing now has cute new fonts! I love good fonts.

I have decided to still be a teacher. This is a whole internal conflict that's been going on that I think I'm figuring out, but thank you Mrs. Moedl, and Kim E., and Brittany C. :) You people have lifted my heart more than anything.

I just want to make valentines crafties so so much. I have lots of ideas, now I just need to make them! I shall supply pictures when they are complete. I made cute sugar cookies! Check them out.




I want to run a half marathon. How bout the one in June, the Utah Valley one. Anyone want to do it with me?

Um, some exciting news....a certain member of the Hansen family (My in-laws who are Lakers fans and hate country music- aka how sad is that?) asked me for some country CD's. She claims that she likes Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, but wanted to see if she liked any of the men singers.
So, you know how they say that that one drug is like the gateway drug that makes you want to start doing other drugs? Well, all drugs aside, Carrie, Taylor, Brad, and Rascal Flatts are "gateway country singers". Those who claim they hate country music might listen to Taylor Swift without meaning to since she is on more than just country stations. This is the same with Rascal Flatts and Carrie. You start listening to them, and you start liking them. Then, you start getting curious and you start listening to other country singers-such as Brad Paisley. That's what got me on country. Brother Kunz got me onto Toby Kieth and that led me to Brad Paisley. Kyle got converted by starting out with Brad Paisley, and now he goes country dancing all the time. This is the Kyle who said that "If idleness is the devil's workshop, country music is what he plays over the loudspeakers."
And my mother. She now loves country music. That's partly because of Dierks Bently, and party because we changed all the presets in her car to country stations and she doesn't know how to change them so it was forced upon her. We are still waiting for papa Wentz' conversion, but the only music he really loves is like the Beach Boys and Barry Manilow.
So, now there is a Hansen family member (who I was asked to keep anonymous) who is requesting some quality music. I am so excited to share the joy that is country music.

Well. That's all. See you later.

How to Not Hate School: A Pictoral Field Trip

Tips for Not Hating School That are Mostly for Myself, But you Might Like Too in Case You are Having Your Mind and Self Esteem Blown by Finals Also

1. listen to brad paisley while doing homework.

  

2.  Eat Chocolate chips while studying.

 

3. Try not to get angry at teachers. Try really really hard. but if you do, remember that you only have to be with them for a few hours a week, and don't let them ruin the rest of your life. Try really really really hard not to let them but a damper on your spirits. Think about the great teachers you have that try to understand you.

4. Sometimes you just need courage. School is scary, especially when it is determining your future career. If you botch it up a little bit, just pick it up, be more dedicated, have courage to do better and know you can do better from now on.

5. When writing a paper, or a study guide, or anything typed, that is SUPER boring, change the font to one you love, or that's more cute. You can change it back to boring when you print, but why not work with a more fun font?

6. Be patient. Wait for your work to pay off, cause it probably will. Wait for things to work out. In conference Elder Uceda said that patience was also “having the quality of enduring evils without murmuring or fretfulness” or “calm under the sufferance of injuries or offenses.”  

 So wait, and if while you're waiting someone is just a total rock in your shoe, then try not to "murmer" and stay calm.  All of these really hard things to do combine into what is called patience. 

One of the hardest things ever. 

7.  When you are struggling to be patient, or have courage, or not be angry-try and keep your lips zipped. It might keep you out of trouble. 

8. Work really really hard. Sometimes that's all you've got left that you can control. President McKay said, ""The privilege to work is a gift. The power to work is a blessing. The love of work is success." You might not love it now, but maybe someday down the road you might start to. Any progress is good, right?

9. Remember how it good it feels when you DO do well.  Think about that awesome feeling when you know you have mastered something, and you look back at all you have learned, and you know you are smarter now than you were before.  Learning does feel good, it's just hard to remember that amidst mediocre scores and while at BYU, where you just can't ever seem to do as well as you'd like. Grades aren't everything. 

 

 10. Someday you won't have school anymore, and maybe you'll miss it. So enjoy what you DO like about it now. Even if it's the social life. I think that that's ok. 

THE END. Good luck!