New Jersey News
The Ocean Chronicle - No. 12, Volume 11, January 1st, 2009
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WINTER □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ LET IT SNOW ■■
2008 did not bring very much snow. Lin found a great spot for an early tanning. First visitors of the year were the Fischer's from
Denmark who stopped by on their way to Florida. There was still time to visit
New York and see Mamma Mia on Broadway.
■■ CHS WINTERBALL 2008
■■
Communications High School's sophomore class hosted their first semi-formal
dance: Winterball. Lin and her friend, Ana Santos volunteered to take the formal
photos at the dance with the proceeds going to the Class of 2010 prom.
FEBRUARY □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ VALENTINE’S DAY
■■
Per Ole surprised Kirsten with a formal dinner at
Wispers Restaurant in Spring
Lake followed by a romantic stay at the
Sandpiper Inn at the Jersey Shore.
■■ LUCY’S BABY SHOWER
■■
With a due date in March Lucy had her shower at Bob & Mary's in February with
lots of people, food, and gifts.
■■ MR. CHS 2008
■■
Lin and her classmates Meghan, Paige, Kaitlyn, and Sam founded the CHS Dance
Club and spent hours during and after school to choreograph and rehearse for their performance at the Mr. CHS
Pageant.
■■ SPICE GIRLS CONCERT
■■
Both Lin and Krissy have been Spice Girls fans since Denmark, but were too young
to attend a concert when the Spice Girls were still together. When they heard
the Spice Girls had a reunion tour they immediately bought tickets to see them
live in Newark, New Jersey. Lin, Krissy and her friends fulfilled their
childhood dreams: to enjoy the Spice Girls live.
MARCH □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ ELLA IS BORN
■■
On March7th Lucy gave birth to beautiful baby Ella and James became a big
brother. Lucy and Paul are now the perfect nuclear family.
■■ EASTER
■■
Upholding tradition we hosted an Easter Luncheon complete with an Easter-egg
hunt which James and Julia enjoyed.
■■ LIN MANNEQUIN
■■
As part of Lin's new model training at
Barbizon Modeling in Red Bank she volunteered to stand in the Barbizon
window as a mannequin for local Breast Cancer Day. Her friend, Ana Santos
came by to capture the event. Lin started modeling classes to gain experience
and knowledge in the fashion industry as part of her interest in fashion
photography.
APRIL □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ QUALCOMM, SAN DIEGO
■■
Per Ole attended a Qualcomm management
training course in San Diego and Kirsten tagged along for a few days of vacation
in beautiful La Jolla and Coronado Island. Part of the experience was attending
an art auction where we won a few great paintings.
■■ 10 YEARS IN NEW JERSEY ■■
On April 1st we celebrated our 10-year anniversary of living in New Jersey. Our first nights were at the Hilton Hotel in Long Branch which is now Ocean Place. Naturally we revisited it for a brunch.
■■ RENT ON BROADWAY
■■
Both girls are big fans of the movie RENT. When we learned that RENT was about
to retire from Broadway we made sure to experience it there before it was too
late.
MAY □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ KRISSY’S 18TH BIRTHDAY
■■
On May 10th Krissy officially became an adult - and got her unrestricted
driver's license. To celebrate her birthday she and her friends "embraced
adulthood" by spending the weekend at Girl Scout camp with a team building ropes
course.
■■ KRISSY’S JUNIOR PROM
■■
May 16th was the big day: Junior Prom. Accompanied by Cris Belfer Krissy had a
terrific evening which was followed by a post prom at the Sheraton Hotel
together with her friend Kelly and boyfriend Avi.
JUNE □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ KIRSTEN’S 50TH (FIF-TEA) BIRTHDAY
■■
On June 10th Kirsten celebrated her 50th birthday in Las Vegas at the
World Tea Expo. Later in June friends
and networkers from Shore Women gathered
for her Fif-Tea with a garden tea party and donations to
Three Cups of Tea.
■■ LIN’S BALLET RECITAL
■■
June 17 was the day of Lin's ballet recital, Sleeping
Beauty. After 10 years of dancing at the Margery Carroll School of Ballet, Lin
has become an experienced dancer. Lin's friends Gianna, Meghan, and Ana (who
took pictures of the show) came to support Lin's performance.
SUMMER W. GIRL SCOUTS □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ GIRL SCOUT TRIP TO HAWAII
■■
Lin and Krissy embarked on their first Girl Scout wider-op trip to the Hawaiian
islands of Oahu and Kona. The trip's agenda had a nice balance of sightseeing
and relaxation. Not a sight was left unexplored, including some of the top
beaches in the world.
■■ GIRL SCOUT TRIP TO EUROPE: GERMANY,
FRANCE & SPAIN
■■
Four days after returning from Hawaii Krissy and Lin were back to traveling with
the Girl Scouts, this time on the other side of the world. Traveling by
bus through Europe, the girls visited Munich and Heidelberg (Germany), Paris and
Nice (France), and Barcelona, Madrid and Toledo (Spain). The trip was not
as much a vacation as it was a cultural experience, spending only a few days in
each city. The bus rides allowed time for good friendships to develop.
SUMMER @ HOME □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ GARDEN WORK & LANDSCAPING
■■
After completing the sunroom and deck last fall, the areas around the deck
needed a total new landscaping. Loads of topsoil were spread and plants found
new homes. The left side of the garden became a 'world' experience with a
Mexican, English and Asian garden.
■■ NEW GAZEBO
■■
To complete the 'new' backyard a gazebo was added. It arrived from Pennsylvania
on a truck, ready to be placed in the garden.
■■ JAN’S VISIT
■■
With the passing of old Uncle Erik in Pitman cousin Jan came over to take care
of the estate. Kirsten had the opportunity to meet the Tran family and to help
with the challenging house clean-out.
■■ JEANETTE, JESS & JARED VISIT
■■
Cousin Jeanette came down from Canada with Jess and Jared to enjoy some good
days with the family. The whole group helped Per cut down trees in the backyard,
an exciting activity for everyone! Jeanette, Jess, Jared, Lin and Krissy spent a
day in New York City, where they visited the Statue of Liberty and saw a
Broadway musical -- Avenue Q.
■■ QUALCOMM/FLARION FAMILY PICNIC
■■
The whole family attended the annual
Qualcomm-Flarion picnic in Forest Lodge, Warren, NJ. Traditionally Krissy
and Lin spent a good amount of time at the Nascar mini racecar track. We all
enjoyed the games, food and company.
SEPTEMBER □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ LIN’S SWEET 16 – ISLAND GETAWAY
■■
On August 10th Lin turned 16. To make it "sweet" she celebrated it with a house
full of friends. The theme was inspired by the summer's trip to Hawaii, but had
to be held inside, due to a tropical storm ironically ravaging the same day. It
was staffed by Krissy's friends: Jon Whitehead who bartended, and Kelly Dobrin
who photographed the evening's events.
■■ LIN GETS SICK!! =(
■■
Presumably because of all the excitement and stress of the summer's many
activities, Lin unexpectedly had a seizure and fainting
episodes. A hospital stay and many doctors' visits didn't give any explanations,
but after a spending the first week of her junior year in bed, she slowly gained
her strength and made a stellar recovery after having made up for all the missed
school work.
OCTOBER □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ HALLOWEEN
■■
As high school students, Halloween is now more of a social event,
gathering candy and spending a fun night together at friends' houses.
Unfortunately, not many children showed up at Pal Drive this year.
NOVEMBER □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ LIN GOES TO NYLC IN WASHINGTON DC
■■
On election day, November 4th, Lin had the exceptional opportunity to be in the
nation's capital for this exciting day when Americans elected their first
African-American president, Barak Obama. The week was spent with other scholars
at the National Young Leaders Convention
exploring Capitol Hill and U.S. government.
■■ LIN’S BARBIZON GRADUATION
■■
After six months of training and learning about the modeling industry, Lin
graduated from Barbizon. Lin's hard work on creating her Model Magic Magazine
paid off: she was awarded the trophy for the best MMM. Over the previous
months her career expanded as she was chosen to be represented by two companies,
Highlite Models and
Industry Model & Talent Studios.
■■ CHRISTMAS BAZAAR 2008
■■
Traditionally the whole family volunteered at the annual Christmas Bazaar in the
Danish Seamen's Church in Brooklyn, NY.
Again this year the candy booth sold for thousands of dollars helping to achieve
the highest amount raised for the church at the bazaar. Krissy's friend, Ian
volunteered his day to learn about the Danes and their special traditions.
■■ LIN IS INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL HONOR
SOCIETY
■■
In November Lin and her best friends were proudly inducted in the
National Honor Society at her high school. As a
senior, Krissy and her class were active in the induction ceremony.
■■ THANKSGIVING
■■
The four of us celebrated a quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving at home this year.
We preserved our family traditions, including cranberry sauce made my Kirsten,
stuffing made by Krissy, and this year, two chickens prepared by Lin.
DECEMBER HOLIDAYS □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ CHRISTMAS
2008
■■
December is the always a special month in the Kristensen family. We all
participate with a variety of chores leading up to our traditional Danish
Christmas celebrated on December 24th. Everyone enjoyed a relaxing and long
holiday at home having plenty of time to watch movies, read, eat out, go
shopping, and 'play' with Christmas gifts.
KRISSY’S COLLEGE PROCESS □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ SAT SCORES
& COLLEGE VISITS
■■
As her senior year approached, Krissy began to prepare for college. Krissy took
the infamous SAT Reasoning Test three times, each time trying to increase her
score. She finally reached her goal of scoring over 2100 when she took them in
October. To celebrate her score of 2140, Kirsten, Lin, Krissy and Kelli had a
hibachi lunch after school. In the spring, Krissy and her friends took a day off
from school to visit colleges in New York City, touring Columbia University and
New York University. Throughout the year, Krissy visited more schools, including
Stevens Institute of Technology, and Montclair State University.
■■ MSU ACCEPTANCE & SCHOLARSHIP
■■
In the fall Krissy applied to Ramapo College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, Stevens Institute, Columbia University, Yale University, and Harvard University. Krissy had picked Montclair State as her favorite school, and hoped to receive a scholarship to attend. On December 16th, she received her acceptance to Montclair! The family celebrated college-style: with pizza and soda in the bedroom. Then on December 26th, she got a letter in the mail postmarked on December 24th, informing her she was getting a full scholarship, including room and board, for four years! An incredible Christmas present -- Krissy is now officially enrolled in Montclair State University, anxiously awaiting fall 2009.
TEA4U □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □
■■ TEA TIME ■■
2008 was a year of education for Kirsten in her tea business, Tea 4 U, LLC. After attending the World Tea Expo for the fourth time, this year in Las Vegas, she became certified at the highest professional level in White teas and later in Pu'erh teas in New York, arranged by the Specialty Tea Institute of Tea USA. Many tea parties - educational and entertaining - some for fundraising, were held for an audience of tea exploring children and adults expanding their knowledge of tea varieties, health, history and culture. A few tea related articles were published in Tea A Magazine, see: www.tea4u.com/tearesources.html. Tea 4 U also got a blog.
■■ 3CT COMPLETE
■■
June was the official end of the "Knowledge is Power, Three Cups of Tea"
fundraising project at Brookdale Community College, spearheaded by Kirsten.
After numerous fundraising teas, mailings, collections, and other events the
goal was reached: $35,000 for an elementary school to be built by Greg
Mortenson, Central Asia Institute in
Pakistan/Afghanistan. Thanks to all of you who supported us and made this
project possible. Together we did it! Asalaam Alaikum: Peace be with you!
This wraps it up for the year of 2008 for the Kristensen family.
Please visit us on Facebook to stay up-to-date
■■■■■ Happy New Year To All! ■■■■■
Lin, Krissy, Kirsten & Per Ole Kristensen