Camping at Carpinteria Beach

Kyle and I have been wanting to go camping for the past couple of months, so we got reservations at Carpinteria Beach near Santa Barbara, packed up the truck and headed out for a three day weekend.
Our little campsite, and I mean little. These ones available for tent camping are very small and very close. But we had fun.Our first night there we were woken up at 3:30 am by the sound of something scavenging through our food. With flashlight in hand Kyle unzipped our tent to find about 6 raccoons in our ice chest and Tupperware bins where we were storing our food. We chased them off, got rid of the crumbs and wrappers they left behind so they wouldn't come back and waited for their return so that we could throw stuff at them. These were pesky and persistent little suckers and we quickly learned to lock up all of our food in the truck.

You can see their grubby little hand prints on the edge of the cooler.

Enjoying the nice sun and warmth down at the beach. We took lots of naps and just relaxed this whole trip.

We drove the 12 miles to Santa Barbara for a half day where we walked the pier, Paseo Nuevo mall district and had dinner at a Thai restaurant.

Mt Baldy

The owners of the Boot Camp that I go to every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning have started a hiking club and our first hike was this past Saturday. We hiked Mt Baldy using the Ski Hut trail and it was a good one.View from the top
Me and my mom at the summit of 10,064 feet altitude.

Some of the group passing over what is known as Devil's Backbone.

BYU 38 vs SDSU 28

So Friday after work Kyle and I headed down to San Diego where we spent the night at the Courtyard Marriott in Old Town. Saturday morning we headed up the I-5 to the place where we were married and sealed for time and all eternity- San Diego Temple.
We then headed over to La Jolla where we had brunch at a yummy cottage restaurant and then walked around the La Jolla Cove area.

We then headed over to the Qualcomm Stadium where BYU kicked SDSU butt 38-28.

HELP....

As you can see I have attempted to change my background, but not everything switched over and I cannot for the life of me get rid of the green on this page. I have tried on the layout page to change the colors but when I view blog it is still green.

What do I do?

Our New Callings

Well, yesterday in our new ward we were sustained to our new callings...

Kyle- Sunday School teacher to the 14 & 15 year old. He had 18 students in his class and already figured out who he will have to separate next week.

Cheryl- Activities Committee, a calling I have not yet had.

I'm just glad it is not Primary, and Kyle is glad his is not Elders Quorum.

How To- Etch Glass

Materials:

Armor Etch etching cream (not cheap)
Contact Paper
X-acto Knife
gloves
Q-tips


1. Cut contact paper to 8x11 size to fit in printer

2. On Word Document, use font and size you want and type up last name

3. Print document so that the ink is on the paper side of the contact paper

4. With X-acto knife, cut out last name (or whatever you choose to etch) to create a stencil. I found that doing this from the plastic side is MUCH easier than slicing from the paper side

5. Peel off paper and attach contact paper to bottom side of clean glass (name will appear backwards)

6. With gloves on, use a Q-tip to spread ethcing cream on stencil

7. Let stand for 10 minutes, then rinse off with warm water

Etching Craft Project

This past week I have busy etching my new last name into all of my glass casserole, pie and salad bowls that I received from the wedding. This way I will always (hopefully) get them back after a ward function or when I take food to a family in the ward.

Being Married Means.....

Being married means........

upgrading from a full sized bed to....

a California King!

Being married means........

doing one load of laundry a week to........

doing 2-3 loads of laundry a week:(

Being married means......

not just cooking a little bit of food but......

cooking a whole lot more.

Idaho Family Reunion

Kauai Honeymoon

I'm A Married Woman!

So, we got married, had a fabulous reception and just returned from a wonderful honeymoon in Kauai.

Check out our wedding day photos at: Brody Dezember Photo. The passcode is lauritzen and then just put in your email to view the images. Enjoy!









(Holly, I copied these photos from your blog seeing that I wasn't using my camera, obviously.)

4 July 2009

This was my first 4th of July with Kyle, seeing that I was in Ireland last year, and we had a great time. Family came over to swim, bbq and watch the fireworks.

Kyle's nephew being thrown across the pool, as usual

First time in the pool for lil' Kory

Kyle and Cheryl

Fun with glow sticks and long shutter speeds

Fun with sparklers and long shutter speeds

Can I Get a Hallelujah?

So this past Friday I attended the funeral services of a counselor from my school that passed away after a year long battle with cancer. The interesting part was that it was held at a prominently black missionary Baptist church, so there were a bunch of "Praise the Lords", "Hallelujahs!", and hands swaying back and forth. It actually was a very nice service but made me realize that I really didn't know much about this lady and that it seemed as though she had two lives/identities.

At school and in the district she was know as Ms. Daniels, where she has worked for 36 years. But the program had her last name as Daniels-Guerrero, and the pastor and all others who spoke, referred to her as Sister Guerrero. From small conversations I have had with her over the past 3 years I was under the impression that she was divorced, but pictures in the program and comments made led me to believe otherwise.

This all just struck me as weird and made me reflect on my life. Am I the same person at home, at work, at church, in all of my interactions with people? Do I have one persona during working hours and a different one for nights and weekends? The answer is No, I'm pretty much the same all of the time and am true to myself and convictions.

Camp Pendleton Mud Run

After much pain and discomfort this past week from the 1/2 marathon, Kyle and I finished the week with the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. This is a 10k run (6.2 miles) through the hills and swamps of Camp Pendleton in San Diego, with some mud pits, a resevoir, 2 walls, a tunnel, a steep muddy hill, and other obstacles to maneuver.

We had a great time and already are planning for next year. Any takers for a 5 person team?

My 1st (and possibly last) Half Marathon

Saturday, 6 June 2009, I participated in my first Half Marathon in Fontana, CA. It started at the Applewhite Campground in Lytle Creek, and was a downhill 13.1 mile run where we ended at Fontana City Hall on Sierra.

My goal time was 2 hours and 30 minutes. My actual race time was 2:08:30

Kyle and his mom did the 5K

Worth doing once, but the pain in my knees and left foot are killer.

Work Bridal Shower

So, last Wednesday a co-worker threw a Bridal Shower for me at work. I got your normal and basic house/kitchen stuff...

But I also got some fun, lacy, sheer, frilly stuff....
And I also got some yummy smelling/tasting things, items that are edible, and Glow-in-the-dark items which you can play various games with...like ring toss.

Wedding Website

Check out our wedding website:

kyleandcheryl.com

Help from my Nauvoo Peeps

I am trying to hunt down the addresses of a few more people from Nauvoo. So, if anybody has info on any of the following people, email me at sisterlauritzen@hotmail.com

1. Sarah Tanner
2. Patrice Pederson (Knudsen)
3. Ashleigh Braithwaite
4. Haylie Redder (Coats)
5. Cindy Niederhauser (Donnell)

State STAR Testing

I somehow had a lack of judgment and signed up to be the testing coordinator at my school site. So, top reasons I don't like the STAR test:

1. found out the day of staff meeting and 3 days before testing that the CAT 6 tests had been eliminated, which messed up our whole testing calendar.
2. found out that our principal was informed about the elimination of the CAT 6 but never bothered to inform us and even approved our testing calendar.
3. not receiving enough CMA test booklets
4. having to scrounge up enough boxes of pencils and then sharpen all of them
5. stupid teachers who don't read scripted instructions
6. teachers who are rude and demanding about changing the schedule to accommodate her
7. same rude teacher who was testing coordinator for the past 2 years and should know how difficult it is to change the schedule last minute
8. same rude teacher who put her answer documents in the scratch paper pile, which ends up getting thrown away in the end
9. stupid teachers who send students to the office during testing instead of having them finish and then disciplining them after the test
10. teachers who forget to turn in their test material at the end of the day
11. teachers who don't show up to school and don't tell anyone they were in a car accident or in jail for a DUI. Subs cannot proctor tests so when a teacher does not show up it makes us scramble
12. students who come to the Library for more time on their test but really are just taking advantage of the the situation so that they can be out of class
13. aides who show up to work late everyday which prevents them from escorting students to the Library for testing

Now that we only have one day left of actual testing I'm enjoying it and am getting into a rhythm.

I Love Engagement Pictures

If you want to see all of our engagement pictures go here and then type in my last name for the passcode.