we got locked out recently

I got your back, Tim.

Kneaders fail

This morning we went to Kneaders. I was really, really interested in getting their all-you-can-eat chunky cinnamon french toast.

And despite our goal this month to not eat out on our own dime, I was feeling extravagant on this holiday weekend. What is Thanksgiving if not indulging in gluttonous impulses? Proof of this holiday's meaning to me: All I have been doing lately (besides preparing a Thanksgiving meal Wed/Thurs) is eating, sleeping, and thinking about food.

So we drove out to Fort Union, ordered two of all-you-can-eat french toast, got some water, and sat down to wait. Approximately ten minutes later, Tim stood to see what had become of our order. We had also heard a Kneaders employee saying they were out of chunky cinnamon bread. Whaaaa? That is what MAKES the french toast what it is. Travesty.

When I joined Tim at the register, he passed along the news: they had lost our order and they were in fact out of the chunky cinnamon bread. We got our money back and left.

Then we drove out to the Kneaders in West Jordan. But then we thought about how we didn't even get a free cookie from that last disaster, and we thought about our goal to not eat out, and we saw the parking lot and how crazy-crowded it was there, and we didn't go inside.

Our goal to not eat out is inadvertently kept. Maybe next month we can avoid purchasing premade foodstuffs (this is our working definition of eating out) due to our immense self-control rather than Fate thwarting us.

I do have to say that we've made a lot of improvement in this area. Tim and I got in the habit of "eating out" a lot when we were dating and engaged. It remains a weakness, though we've severely toned it down. It's a good thing, too, because we're pretty poor.

pasta pasta

So I have been on a pasta-making kick recently for reasons unknown.

Last week I made gnocchi:


Last night I made . . . ravioli? Tortellini? Some formless sort of stuffed pasta. That's better.

The dough was so easy to make, and when I was rolling it out, I said to Tim, "I should make all of our pasta myself!" But by the end of it all I no longer wanted to make all our pasta myself. It's laborious.

Formless, see?

I made a filling with ground chicken, spinach, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese, which sounds better than it actually was, but the best part was when I put two chicken breasts in the food processor to grind them up. I should have cut them into smaller pieces probably before I put them in the food processor, because when I turned it on, the lid came unscrewed due to the crazy balance in the bowl. The chicken shot up and out of the bowl and slammed into the wall, knocking out a tealight candle on its way.

I really want to see this moment recorded, but unfortunately this part was not caught on camera.



Still fun though.

had an itch

I hope by this point that Tim doesn't feel embarrassed for doing this, because I think it is HILARIOUS and just had to share.

Yesterday Tim was reading and had an itch on his arm. He scratched his arm with his pen but did not realize the pen was not clicked off (an honest mistake—those little clicky pens can be deceiving). The picture depicts the result. (Poor Tim, he looks so ashamed!) The best part was when he called me to come into the room and he confessed all. (I wish you could have been there.)

After laughing hysterically, I pulled out my camera to document it. Suspecting I would put it on my blog, he protested, saying it was embarrassing because he was actually conscious for "this one," as opposed to the other funny, random, and amazing stuff, which happens when he's only semi-conscious (and which you don't know the half of, unfortunately). On that note, can I just say that I love early mornings with Tim? I'm usually somewhat grumpy and he is the most hilarious human alive.

I love him because he let me post this.

We're moved in!

We had to get a dresser, which we ordered online, so it took a while for us to get actually moved in, but I think we're finally there!














(Living room)














(Kitchen)














(Bedroom)














(Tim hard at work, as always)

Winnebago, Schminnebago

I have decided that instead of this, THIS would be so much better. Like IKEA meets Winnebago. Or something.

Hair Cut #2

For everyone who remembers this fiasco, Amanda cut my hair this past weekend and it looks really good! She has come so far!

I'll see about getting some picture to post.

some before and after

So these are some pictures of our new apartment. They are really terrible pictures, but I will make do. I forgot to get pictures after we painted before we started moving stuff, so that explains the bulk of the issues. I am not the best photographer, either, especially when it comes to interiors. Also, I used Photobucket for the first time to upload these and they cropped weird, so if you want to see the whole picture, click on it. (Anyone know how to fix that?)

We painted in the bedroom and in the living room over the wood paneling. We are probably going to do the bathroom at some point, too, just not sure when. It was my first time painting and it's pretty fun, I guess. Takes longer than you think. The colors did not turn out how we thought they would. But we think it looks decent and will work. Plus we are just renting. :)


Bedroom (old)

bedroom old

bedroom old

bedroom new

kitchen old

kitchen new

living room old

living room new

living room new

living room new

bathroom old and unchanged

hallway old and pretty much unchanged

I just started composing a post to share Tim's graduation announcement and the fun I had making it, but then realized I had already posted about that. Oops.

Gradjeeating

I made this graduation announcement for Tim. It was fun. Tim bought me InDesign for my birthday last year, and I'm sad to say that I haven't really used it a whole lot. But I'm using it now for this!

We're making the most of his graduation, what with this announcement (fancy). And he's going to be walking, obviously. I didn't do those things when I finished school over a year ago . . . weird. My graduation wasn't a marked event: I just received my diploma in the mail one day, and when I did, it was surreal because there was absolutely no pomp and circumstance. Maybe it's nice to walk so you actually feel like you have graduated. I kept fearing that I hadn't until I got my diploma, which took its time coming, and even when it came, the resolution was anticlimactic.

This won't be the actual picture. We'll have to take a good one soon so we can send these out to a few folks!

weird in the morning, episode 3

You'll of course remember this and this. Well, this morning was one of those mornings.

Tim: I had a dream about how horses were brought to the Americas.

Amanda mulling about, getting ready, while Tim lies in bed. Tim raises his hands in the air to signify a touchdown (?).

Tim: Goaaaal!

Amanda looks questioningly at Tim.

Tim: That is what the refs do.

This time he does a few different motions.

Tim: In baseball, they do this. You're ooouuuut!

P.S. Tim wanted me to tell you that he's not crazy, he's just tired when he wakes up.

rad baby skull!

So I did a baby shower for my dear friend Andrea recently. I was pretty nervous about it, but it turned out well, or at least Andrea thought so. She got some good presents for the youngster, so I guess that's all that matters.

We did onesie decorating (not an original idea, lest ye think I'm creative), and in an attempt to work out some of the logistics involved, I bought an old sheet from DI and cut it up so Tim and I could practice on it.

This is what resulted:



All of my fears about what could go wrong at the actual shower were of course quenched by the sheer genius of this creative work. I don't know if you remember this, but it's obvious that Tim is the one who wears the artistic "pants" in this relationship.

He was just sad that he couldn't actually decorate a onesie for the baby. I don't know if Andrea is too sad about that, though . . .

P.S. Yes, it is tacked onto the wall in our apartment. Pictures do not deceive.

recycling

Exhibit A: Recycling.

(As mentioned here, I have boxes full of all kinds of stuff, but mostly everything from all of my classes throughout my entire secondary schooling, it seems. And so I have been going through it, and with Tim's help, sorting it into appropriate piles for recycling.)



Exhibit B: Tim.

Notice that Tim is wearing a shirt and tie. Today is the Sabbath, so we're "resting," which means that we don't carry all of that recycling the long distance down to the car. We come up with some genius method that involves less work to accomplish our goal.

So we're really righteous, basically. Either that or we're lazy? Or bored?


Exhibit C: Rope.


Exhibit C: Pulley mechanism.


Exhibit D: Rope is hooked onto carabiner, which is attached to bag, which contains recyclable materials.

Tim lowers it over the railing.




Exhibit E: For the cardboard recyclables, a new system is devised. Through the handles on the box, Tim threads webbing tied together with a really beautiful water knot, which is hooked to the carabiner, which is hooked to the rope, which is . . . you get the idea.


Exhibit F: The pulley method is modified.

Notice that the rope has been removed. This improvisation dramatically improves the speed of the process.


Exhibit G: Box passing second floor.


Exhibit H (not pictured): Recycling is loaded in backseat of vehicle and disposed of in a proper manner.

In the summertime . . .

. . . we like to climb.

(If you zoom in on the photo, Tim has a really funny expression on his face. Ha!)

(I have the most terrible form. And it's not flattering.)

a picture story

One fine Saturday morning, Amanda and Tim opened the door to their apartment to enjoy the fresh summer air.

All was fine and well: The birds were singing happily; the kitchen window near the door was closed; the pictures on the sill remained in their usual place.

Then a gigantic bee came into the apartment! No one knew what to do. Tim and Amanda stood by and watched the bee menacingly buzz around the closed window, no doubt made exceedingly angry and bloodthirsty by this turn of events. After a moment of hysterics that lasted perhaps longer than necessary, Tim finally grabbed the broom.

After a grueling battle, the bee was overcome.

Destruction was wrought.

Though Tim received no physical wounds, the broom was mutilated. Reeling from the trauma, Tim bemoaned, "Amanda, I'm shaking!"

In order to calm her agitated husband, Amanda retrieved the vacuum to dispose of the bee's corpse. Then, she took the vacuum repository to the dumpster to remove all reminders of the incident.

As she was emptying the repository, the filter fell out onto the dumpster floor. "Oh no! It must be retrieved!" she cried.

Then, Amanda encountered a problem. Try as she might, she could not get out of the dumpster! The walls were too high!

As Amanda was chillaxing in the dumpster, Tim searched out items with which to rescue her. "I know," he thought. "I'll get one of the end tables from our living room and some rope. Brilliant!" At first, Amanda didn't know how this would work. But she cooperated nonetheless. What else could she do?

Tim handed the table over the edge of the dumpster, Amanda set it down and hooked the rope around its legs. Then she stood on the table to climb out!

"Oh happy day! I am saved!"

Then Amanda and Tim rescued the end table from the clutches of the dumpster/dungeon with the rope. Success!

Yeah, this was completely embarrassing. And to make it worse, our neighbors (whom we've never spoken to) were watching pretty much the whole time. We still haven't spoken to them.

The end.

winnebago dreams

I am thinking about buying a Winnebago and living in an RV park, or wherever really. We'd be wired for all of our needs. As for Netflix (Tim and I acquired Netflix recently, and it's a tremendously exciting development), we'd have a post office box nearby.

Sounds like a good option! What a great place to raise a family, don't you think? It's gotta beat renting. How sweet would this be?

anniversary no. 1

So we went to the same place we went on April 23, 2009, which was that day we got married last year: Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City.

I think the addition of the hot tub this year was worth it. Unfortunately we don't have pictures of that part. We didn't remember about taking pictures until we were on our way out--that explains why the pictures look like this:




What do we do when we go to a 5-star hotel? What any lower middle class person would do, of course! We take what we pay for (which actually isn't that much, comparatively, because of their Spring Renewal Package promotion--dinner included). So we are now the proud owners of the following complimentary items:

Box of tissues
Potpourri*
Shampoo, Conditioner, Soap
Exfoliating scrubber
Nail files
Individual packets of q-tips and cotton balls
Dish soap**
Sponge
Hot chocolate
Coffee***
Pen
Stationary
Postcards

*My favorite. Who does that, honestly?
** I wasn't going to grab this, but then we used some of it, so I figured it was better in our bag than in the garbage.
***We don't even drink coffee. I brought it with me to work today in the hopes that someone who does drink coffee appreciates it.

We talked about taking the TV (we don't have one), but I guess we thought that would be a little too conspicuous.

To show our appreciation to the nice people at Stein Lodge, we made it easy for their housekeeping folk by doing some work for them. We bundled our garbage and dirty linens, washed our dirty dishes, and we even left our leftovers from dinner in the little fridge (that one was an accident, actually).

So, happy anniversary to us. Also, I wish to publish abroad the fact that Tim is planning on the U for grad school. Yippeee!