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!

movin' on out

So Tim and I are moving to a new apartment for the spring and summer. We move sometime next week. It's a large apartment complex normally just rented out to single students, but during the summer, they open it to families/couples, also, for cheaper than you might find elsewhere. Depending. We feel this is a good choice for the following reasons (as well as the aforementioned low, low price): Tim's excited for (1) the second bedroom that he have for an office/music studio . . . I'm excited to have (2) air conditioning and (3) a kitchen that doesn't have carpet. It's only about a block and a half from where we live now, so we don't expect the move to be very difficult (also good). In any case, we've been packing up stuff in boxes and are currently in a halfway state.

But first we had to find boxes, so we've been dumpster-diving (this activity may have questionable legality, perhaps) for those at various retailers in the Provo/Orem locale. On Saturday, after a glorious trip to Costco during which we tested all the office chairs they had, and during which Tim mournfully sighed that he would like an office chair (knowing the implausibility of the purchase) since he only really has a stool now, we were perusing the dumpster behind Office Depot and found this beaut:



And guess what? I found it for $249.99 here! Hot dog, what a find. (Happy Anniversary to you, Tim. This may or may not be my gift of love.) Ok, so maybe it's not worth that much anymore, but it's good as new to us. Almost. As you can see, someone had the good sense to slash it and desecrate it with permanent marker first. (Who does that, anyway?) And, as you can see, we thought duct tape might be just the thing. But we reconsidered, and now I've taken to stitching the gashes with ole-fashioned needle and thread. After hours of stitching, Frankenstein is almost complete (yeah, I'm no pro, but whatev). I also used a Magic Eraser to remove most of the permanent marker, although it didn't come off completely. They are truly magical: when I wrote in permanent marker on my fridge freshman year at Heritage Halls, they worked perfectly.

The end of the very long post.

ouchie

Glasses for Tim's failing eyes: $167.50
Car insurance (for a year): $538.10
2 new tires for Jetta: $163.19
Deposit for apartment contract + application fee: $535 (Because we are moving, so if you know anyone who wants our apartment, let us know.)

Total unexpected/abnormal expenditures this month? $1403.79

Yeah. Ouch.

But in good news, in an effort to scale back spending on groceries, we have spent only $67.22 this month! This is not a completely accurate reflection, though. I did have one Costco trip subsidized. Thank you to the parentals.

Wishbone incident

After having just finished pulling all of the meat off of a rotisserie chicken (purchased from Costco--Amanda's favorite place), Amanda exclaimed, "look! A wishbone!" She held up one end of the deceased bird's furcula and urged me to take hold of the other. "Make a wish!"

For some reason, at that moment, just as the stressing bone was about to snap, the word "death" popped into my head. Yes, I had accidentally wished for death and before I could do anything about it the bone snapped.

Luckily, the wishbone broke on my end and Amanda had the bigger half. I breathed a sign of relief, realizing that her wish would come true and not mine. More than just dodging a bullet there, I think that I may have bought us some extra time.

Weird in the morning, episode 2

Amanda: Tim, do you want to wake up?

Tim: No.

Amanda: Oh. (Or something equally unremarkable.)

Tim: If you'd like to submit a formal request, I will respond in three to five business days.

It is too ridiculous!

Pens, pens, and more pens.



Now I just need to figure out which ones work and which don't.

Apparently not all of them were honestly obtained, strictly speaking. (I did work there, does that help?)

I also collect chapstick . . .

Hair cutting is hard!/Clipper Catastrophe!

T: "Hey! You could cut my hair tonight!"

A: "Yeah! I've never cut, especially boys', hair before in my life, but that shouldn't matter, should it? How hard can it be?"

T: "Of course not! It will be so easy. You just take the clippers and start clipping and then you cut the top with sissors!"

A: (Starts cutting. When it doesn't go so well, cuts a bit more. It takes a long time. It is very messy--hair gets everywhere.)

T: (Looks in the mirror. Panic begins to set in.) This is not even. Oh my gosh! Why is it so short here and so long back here?!?! (In his panicked state, Tim runs into the bathroom and proceeds to buzz his head with a shorter clipper attachment.)

(He's mentioned this desire before, just to see "how bald I really am." Amanda has been against it. Baldness should come naturally. We all know it's inevitable, so why speed the process?)

Discovery: Tim is getting pretty bald, but at this stage, it's patchy thinning. Buzzed head maybe isn't the best hairstyle choice? Good thing hair grows.


Oh and just for comparison purposes, let's just see an old picture of Tim from who knows when . . .

P.S. This incident also involved the only time that I actually have witnessed Tim crying.