Ten Things Tuesday 9/6/11

SOOO, we're back in school...again (will this ever end?!), and becuase of that, I'm afraid that there will be a lack of posts for the next little while.  School seems to have a way of taking control of your life and all aspects of it.  I don't want my blog to die completely, so in an attempt to keep this bloggy blog going while in school, I have decided to implement a thing called "Ten Things Tuesdays".  Each Tuesday, I will post a list of ten "things" that I have been on my mind that week.  This way, I'll at least have something posted each week.  Even if it's just a vent sesh or mindless drivel.  Feel free to join me. 

1.  It's September.  What???  Where did Summer go? 
2.  We're back in school.  :(  Ugh.
3.  We're back in school.  :)  Graduating in the spring. 
4.  We're back in school.  :(  Ugh. 
5.  The older I get, the less I like board games.
6.  There's a dead spider in the bathroom at my office.  It's been there since we moved here (last December).  Who knows how long it's been since it died.  Gross, I know.  I can't possibly be the only one that's seen it...I think we're all just waiting to see who is going to throw it away.  It WON'T be me. 
7.  Having a dishwasher in our apartment is awesome.
8.  Having a washer/dryer in our apartment is awesome. 
9.  I HATE crickets.  They're not soothing, they're annoying. 
10.  No matter how "delicious" or "filling" my lunch or dinner is, I always crave somthing sweet afterward. (and NO, fruit is not my definition of sweet.  Unless it's drenched in chocolate).

North Shore Hawaiian Ice

We got gym memberships last night at the Bountiful Rec Center.  On our way out, we saw a snow cone shack, and decided to try it out.  (Probabaly not a good thing, because now I'm going to have to get a snow cone everytime I go to the gym...just a little counter productive).  But, this is no ordinary snow cone.  It's Hawaiian shaved ice...and it's awesome.  When we pulled up, we noticed a woman walking away with her snow cone and chuckled becuase it was seriously the size of a basketball.  I had to laugh and remarked "Wow.  She REALLY likes her snow cones."  Little did I know, it was a regular sized snow cone.  Becuase when Dave ordered a medium blue raspberry, this is what we got.....

Dave was beside himself...

I ordered a small for obvious reasons. 

 And it was still ginormous. 

They were soooooo good.  Softest ice i've ever had. They're kind of pricey, ranging from $2.50-$4.50, but it's worth it, and makes for a lovely date night at the park.  :) 

 I had no trouble finishing mine (of course), but most of Dave's ended up in the grass. :) 

So, if you're hot and in need of a yummy treat, go to the Hawaiian Ice shack in the Bountiful Rec Center's parking lot.  It will not disappoint.  Just order a small...trust me.  :) 

Worst Weekend Ever

So, remember my last post and how excited I was about going camping with my family?  I was going to fish, hike, sleep, eat, and relax???  Yeah.  Didn't happen. 

Don't worry though...we still loaded up the car, made the three hour drive up to Bridger Lake, unloaded the car, put up the tent, and made the bed.  Then, an hour later, we Dave loaded everything up and headed home.  

I was SICK.  As in like SUPER ill.  I won't go into details (NO, I'm not pregnant).  But I was miserable.  We ended up going to the ER in Evanston, WY...which was an experience in and of itself btw.  There's nothing like walking into the ER and hearing a cow moo not fifty feet away at the same time.  They were bailing hay across the street.  Awesome. 

 It actually was a very nice hospital.  I just found the podunkiness of it all rather amusing.

I had a kidney infection.  Lovely.

About an hour later we were back on the road on our way home.  Worst drive ever.  I managed to not upchuck all over myself the whole way.  And then we drove out of Weber Canyon and merged onto Highway 89.  You know that on-ramp?  How it's a huge swirlydoo?  (That's the only word I can think of to describe it).  Well, upon driving on said swirlydoo on-ramp, I lost it...and all my work of keeping the little food I had in me down was gone.  Good thing the Wendy's bag from earlier was still in the car.  Ugh...gross.

So instead of my lovely relaxing weekend, I spent my days on the couch and in the bathroom with my head in the toilet.  Joy.  

Poor Dave...we took Friday and Monday off from work...and spent it doing nothing.

We're back at work today, and of course I'm feeling FINE now.  Ugh.  I'm glad I'm not so sick anymore, but seriously.  WORST timing ever.  Good thing school starts in less than two weeks!!!  Can you tell I'm having a bad day?  Such is life.          

Busiest Week Of My Life...Thus Far

This past week, I...

Packed and packed and packed some more

Made a wedding cake
Attended wedding and reception

MOVED..in ONE day

Deep cleaned my old apartment...in said ONE day

Attended a 1st birthday party...

along with the normal work week and such.

It doesn't seem like much...but trust me.  It was.  Although it was super busy, it really was quite fun...besides the moving part.  I'm certain that we moved on what was and will historically be the most humid day in Utah ever.  Not fun.  But, I enjoy being busy.  It makes me feel accomplished.  Especially since, (let's be honest), this has been my most lazy summer ever.  

The wedding cake was a lot of fun because it was my first cake made with the cricut cake...an amazing machine btw.  It had its stressful moments.  (I'm waiting for a time when I DON'T have a stress out moment with one of my cakes...it hasn't happened yet so I'm not holding my breath).  But, as always, everything worked out and I loved it. 

  I'm hoping I'll have more opportunities to mess around with the cake cricut.  It was a lot of fun and the possibilities are endless! 

Moving was chaos, but it will be worth it.  We found a place that is very close to where we are living now, but it has a dishwasher, washer/dryer hook-ups, it's a little bigger, AND, it's the same price.  Woot!  Did I mention that it has a dishwasher....a DISHWASHER!!!  Dave and I are in heaven.  :)  I'll get some pics posted once we get all settled in.  I know you're all dying to know what it looks like.  

Up for this week...

Dog sitting at the in-laws

Un-packing...oh joyous!

Packing for camping trip...

Camping trip at Bridger Lake...

fishing, hiking, and RELAXATION! 

Favorite Teachers and Such

So, this is super random, but interesting nonetheless.  Dave and I were talking yesterday, as we often do... :)  and we discovered something.  Most all (as in like 9 out of 10) of our favorite High School teachers and College professors have the first name Michael.  He brought it to my attention that this was true for him and as I was going through mine, we found that mine were named Michael as well.  It was funny...and weird.  We've found a glitch in the Matrix....  :)

On another completely random note, I was searching on deviantart for a new desktop background when I found this picture:

And it freaked me out a little.  I'm fairly certain that the artist of the drawing snuck into our bedroom and used us as his/her muse.  This is SO us!  It even looks like us.  You better believe it's my new background.

Bear Lake Weekend

We spent this past weekend up at Bear Lake and it was awesome!  We haven't been up to the cabin for a month or two, so it was nice to get away for the weekend and relax.  We spent our time at the beach, eating shakes, fourwheeling up the canyon, and MUCH of the weekend was spent playing around with the airsoft guns we just purchased.  I'm pretty sure there are over a thousand bb's around the cabin, and surrounding forest.  :)  Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

 

 We spent the day Saturday at the beach. 

 It was insanely crowded.  A fifteen minute wait and maybe a few "arguments" with other beach patrons later, and we had found a great spot on the beach. :) 

 Dave reading "The Beach" on the beach.  Clever...

 Jolynn and Kaitlyn enjoying the water.  It was actually warm!

 Mike and Big Dave. 

Dave and I spent the majority of the time sitting at the shore with our feet in the water. 

I did spend quite a bit of time in the water, and it was awesome.  Then, the snap on my swimsuit broke and I nearly flashed the entire beach...that was the end of that.  Good thing I have fast reflex's.  :)  AND, to make things worse, right when it broke, this kid kept squirting me with a water gun...in the face.  Some peoples children....

We spent Sunday up the canyon fourwheeling. 

 Check out this awesome picture of a butterfly.  I'm awesome...I know. 

This bug was HUGE and disgusting.  Dave and I were watching it fly around and saw it pee in mid-air.  Eww.  Then it landed and Dave shot it with his air soft gun.  Even more eww. 

The water is really high this year and so the mosquito's and gnats were horrible.  I have bites all over my legs and thighs.  One of the bites on my thigh left a bump the size of a silver dollar.  Gross.  Yeah, my skin is not a fan of  bites.  TMI??  Besides that, the weekend was great.  Our summer has been so wonderful and we're hoping to soak up as much of it as we can.  School will be here before we know it!  

No AC = creative ingenuity

Our AC went out on Monday and our apartment has been 85 degrees since...even with the windows open.  Can you say GAG?  After two nights of little to no sleep (due to that fact that it felt we were sleeping in Hell), it was time to get serious.  So, last night, it's midnight and we're both sweaty and sick of this no AC stuff.  (How did the pioneers cope!?  I was definitely born in the right time).  I'm laying in bed, wishing I was on a beach with a pina colada, and I hear Dave messing around in the kitchen.  And then, I see him walk in our room with this...... 

Fan:  check

Dish drying basket:  check

Otter pops:  check

Bungee cords:  check

Towel:  check

Get all of these things and you've got yourself a white trash creative air conditioner.  And believe it or not, it actually worked pretty well...for about 30 minutes.  And then the Otter Pops melted. 

THAT my friends, is why I love my husband.  :) 

Catch Up

Summer is in full swing and can I just say, IT IS AWESOME!!!  For the past little while I've been boasting to Dave that so far, this has been my best summer EVER.  (It may have something to do with the fact that I went to summer school last summer, causing the worst summer ever).  Dave and I have been very blessed to be able to choose our work hours this summer so we've been able to sleep in and spend a lot more time together.  I've decided that life is just better when you're not in school.  For this reason, I'm doing my best to not think about the upcoming semester this Fall.  Ugh....not thinking about it...moving on.  We've been pretty lazy, but pretty busy as well and here's the pictures to prove it.  

 I made this wedding cake in June and was really pleased with it.  I'd never used fresh lilies on a cake before, but I think it turned out pretty good. 

 I started my garden a few months ago and the strawberries were a success!  The jalapenos are another story...I'm still trying to figure out why they aren't producing.  I've still got all summer right?  :) 

 Made this cake for a family bbq.

 Lemon cream cake with raspberry and lemon cream filling...with fresh whipped cream frosting and raspberries.  This cake is to die for.  And, I made it all from scratch.  Go me!  :) 

 Dave and I spent the July 4th weekend camping with my family at the Weber Memorial Campgrounds.  Here's Luke, Dave and Carlie playing Scrabble on the Ipad. 

 And, you can't celebrate the 4th without sparklers. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer as much as we are!

Oh....and one more thing.

A squirrel has decided to take up residence in the attic above our room. 

He likes to run around at night and every morning. 

Just another nuisance of apartment living.  :) 

Time to vent.

I know that oftentimes my post's turn into mini vent sessions, and that must become tiresome to read.  But, this is a long time coming. 

There are two things as of late (ok the last 10 months..I told you this is a long time coming), that have been getting on my nerves just a little bit. 

Exhibit A:    

Screaming children.  But not just any children.  The toddler that lives below me.  If you have talked to me at all the past few months then you know exactly what I am talking about.  I've vented about this certain individual previously here.  I'm not exaggerting (ask Dave) when I tell you that this child screams every night.  And I'm not saying that all sarcastic like.  I mean it.  EVERY night.  He's like an alarm clock.  11:30 pm.....ding!  Time to start screaming!!!!  He cries, he screams, he wails...for 20-45 mins, and I've had enough...it's as simple as that. 

Dear toddler/spawn of satan:  I know you want attention.  I understand that.  We all do.  But do you know what I want?  SLEEP!!!!  We can't all sleep in until 11:00 am everyday.  We don't all get to have naps and sippy cups of milk all day.  Trust me, you have it good.  I've got plenty of things to cry about...and your incessant screaming everynight is driving me insane.  Trust me, you don't want to see me lose it.

Dear parents of screaming child:  I don't have kids, so I can't imagine what it's like trying to soothe your child while he's screaming.  I had sympathy for you....until you came up to my door and told me to ignore your childs screaming because you're trying to train him to self-soothe.  NEWS FLASH for you:  You live in an apartment complex!!  You share your walls with other people.  You live in a community.  You NEED to be courteous of other people.  It's NOT ok to start training your nearly two-year-old TODDLER to self soothe while living in an apartment.  That self-soothe business should have been started a LONG time ago.  So, instead of just sitting there and talking to eachother like nothing is going on (yeah, I can hear you), go PICK UP your screaming child and soothe him!  Cuz right now, a war's a brewin' and trust me...if you want a noise war.  I WILL WIN.

Just to clarify, I am well aware that by living in an apartment complex, I am giving up some of my privacy/sanity if you will.  :) I know it's unrealistic to think that I'll never hear my neighbors.  But I truly feel that Dave and I are very good neighbors and do our best to be courteous.  And I think that letting your child scream, fully aware that your neighbors can hear him is flat out rude.  

Moving on.....

Exhibit B:           

Barking dogs.  Clarification:  Barking dogs that bark at EVERYTHING!  Our parking area of our complex shares a fenced "wall" with our neighbors yard.  These neighbors have two BIG dogs.  I know one's a lab...not sure of the other.  That's beside the point though.  They bark.  At everything.  All the time.  It's as if every person, animal, or blasted blade of grass that moves is a mass murderer or something.  I've never seen the owners outside and they never do anything to stop their dogs.  Last night, they barked from 11:00-11:30 non-stop.  And then this morning...for another 30 minutes straight.  When they woke me up, I layed in bed dreaming about suffocating the stupid things.  

(I think it's pretty clear that I've lost it).  I haven't had a good, sound, uninterrupted sleep since last August.  And, it's starting to show. :)  Thanks for the vent...I feel better now.  Not looking for sympathy.  Just needed to get that out.