The Green Room, Part 2

So when I left you we had a giant pile of mess down in the ex-Green Room. We cleaned that all up, and now we have a giant stack of drywall in the garage, and for a while Scott couldn't fit the Mustang in the garage so it had to be in the driveway, so in the cold mornings it wasn't happy and refused to start, so I've been driving Scott to work sometimes.

Anyway.

Once we got everything stripped to the studs we had to do some electrical work. Ok, a LOT of electrical work. Before there had been only one (ugly) light in the ceiling, and we kinda have a thing for can lights, so we wanted to install some in this room. We bought six, but when we were deciding where to put them we decided to just do four (which turned out to be plenty bright), so we have two for when we finish the basement. We had to do some fancy wiring, because we have two on one switch and two on another switch, so there are three ways to light the room, and you can have less light or more light for whatever you're doing.

Here's Scott working on the switches:

At one point while Scott was sorting out all the electrical weirdness that was already in the walls, we came across a bundle of wiring that was for...? It was a giant bundle, and we couldn't tell where it led or what it was for, so we had to turn off all the breakers for the entire house to work on them safely, so Scott had to work by flashlight for a little while:

Here's a shot of one of the can lights:

Obviously, it will look nice when it's finished. The four are in a perfectly symmetrical grid that fits perfectly in the center of the room. We love this.

Remember that giant mess of wires we found in the wall that had been taped together? Fixed!

So here are a few shots for a view of the room all ready for insulation and drywall:

Note the Buster sighting.

Here's when we started to get the insulation put back in:

Note the Buster tail sighting.

Almost 20 Questions

Magnolia tagged me, and I needed something to write, so here you go!

1) If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?
Since we're not planning on having kids, Buster is a member of our family. He's our baby. And we spoil him accordingly. Lately I've been giving him meat trimmings while I'm cooking (sort of) and now every time I go into the kitchen he follows me and looks at me expectantly. I also give him too many treats without making him do tricks. He doesn't want to eat his regular food as much anymore, so maybe this is a problem. He's not starving, so I think I'm good.

2) If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
There are a lot of things I would like to see happen, and most of them I actually wouldn't want to happen because they would change fundamental things in my life that I'm extremely happy about. For example, I would love to own my own yarn/craft store, but that would mean giving up my job, which I love, and giving up chemistry, which I really love.


3) What is the one thing most hated by you?
"easy. willful ignorance." I copy this. If you don't know about something, that's fine, because you can learn something and rectify the situation. But there are so many people who are content to be ignorant, simply striving for mediocrity, and that, my friends, is the real meaning of stupidity. The worst part is, most willfully ignorant people despise those who would learn and grow. Almost my entire extended family on Mim's side are like this. It makes family reunions so interesting.

4) What would you do with a billion dollars?
Pay off my house and Mim's house, buy Kwiddens a house, set up trust funds for Em and Jorg and Nyah, buy everyone cars, start my own business (and one for Scott, too), etc. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to use up even a million of it before I ran out of ideas.


5) What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
Scott can usually pull me out of a bad mood, but if not, there's always yarn. Unless I'm having a panicky sort of bad mood, in which case I take Klonopin, then use the yarn.


6) Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
How about both? It sucks to be at one end of only one of those. On one, you feel hopeless that the other person will ever love you, and on the other one you feel like you're being creepy-stalked.


7) What is your bedtime routine?
Take medicine and brush my teeth, change into pajamas, turn on my electric blanket and climb into bed with my lappie, surf the internet while Scott surfs the internet on his side of the bed on his lappie, or maybe read a bit of a book, then I start trying to fall asleep while Scott drinks his chocolate milk and eats his crackers.


8) If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
Hot Or Not. No joke. We were both on there just for funsies and we said hi and started talking online here and there (this was my sophomore year of college) and then we started talking like every day in November of my Junior year, and then he came out to Utah for a funeral (he had been living in Colorado) and while he was there we met and had a great time together, so when he got back to Colorado he packed up and moved back here (he was originally from Bountiful) and that was that.


9) If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?
I don't like watching people come up with things. It takes time. It's like watching paint dry. I'd rather see the end result.


10) What kinds of books do you read?
Knitting books, my favorites over and over (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Leven Thumps, I know I'm one of those dorks), and sometimes I make it to the library and check out a classic, like something by Jane Austen. I used to read a lot more, but I find that I enjoy knitting more lately.


11) How would you see yourself in ten years' time?
Probably roughly where I am now, but older and richer.


12) What's your fear?
SPIDERS. I hate them. They're gross and creepy and scary. I'm also afraid of losing people, and losing my sanity.

13) Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?
Space isn't cool; all that's out there (within reach) is space junk. BORING. I love ice cream too much.

14) Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Married and poor wasn't too bad.


15) What's the first thing you do when you wake up?
Hit snooze. And again. And again. Then I let Buster outside.


16) If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner, what would it be?
I wish he recognized his brilliance and potential. He's down on himself a lot of the time and I wish he had the same amount of faith in himself that I have in him: a TON.

17) If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
Don't wanna.


18) Have you ever been betrayed by a family member? What did you do to get through it and go on with life? What made it better? Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
Well, I've touched on this in the past. I have been betrayed. I'm still in the middle of it with someone. Getting through it involves getting together with people that understand the need to trash talk and trash talking the crap out of this person. I don't really mean it (well...most of it) but it helps to rant. I can never forget, but in other cases I've been able to forgive. The thing is, I'm going to have a hard time forgiving if the person would never even admit he's done anything wrong, let alone apologize for it.

19) If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?
My first instinct was ice cream, but then Magnolia said salad and it hit me: there are so many more varieties of salad! And I wouldn't feel like crap all the time! I had some salad at a great salad bar the other night with Kwiddens, and it always hits the spot.

Reverb 10: Healing

December 19 Healing


What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?

What a loaded question.

I've been healing for years now, from all sorts of things. It's always a long process. It's always a difficult process. It may never end, but I'll keep trying.

I think the biggest single thing that healed me (of what, I don't know) this past year was blogging. It's been a little surprising to me how much I've learned about myself while I'm writing. It's good to think about what's going on in my head. It's weird in there, for sure, but there are some good things floating around in there as well.

I think having a place to write whatever I want, or whatever I need, sometimes, is so healthy for me. I mean, yes, a lot of the time my content is just about daily life, or pictures of Buster or The Best Baby Ever, but sometimes when something's really eating at me I can write a bit, and I don't write much, but for every word I write there are five more in my head that I didn't share with you all, and putting some of it down helps me sort out the rest. Trust me, you're glad I have a filter (I'm freaking nuts, remember?).

So this is gradual. It's slow. And I'm ok with that.

So how would I like to be healed in 2011? Well, the biggest thing I'm constantly worrying about right now is my crappy emotional eating problems. I don't know if I'll ever be able to heal the emotional roots of this problem, but hopefully this coming year I can at least break the cycle and find another way to express those emotions. Who knows, maybe I'll change from an emotional eater to an emotional marathon runner. I'd have great legs, for sure...

Reverb 10: 5 Minutes

December 15 5 Minutes

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

Well, first of all, I'm ditching the time constraint. I checked to see what the prompt was for yesterday and I've been thinking about it for about a day, and I'm not going to take only five minutes to write. So there.

I want to remember:

• The times I was shown extra appreciation at work. This past year, with our new instruments, our lab has exponentially increased the number of chemical tests we do. It's amazing. We're working hard to keep that going and pull more business in, so it's nice to receive a Thank You.
• The times I felt amazing at the gym. I'm going to go more this next year (I totally slacked off in December...but planning on picking it up again after Christmas) and I kinda want to try actually running. I actually ran track when I was in school, and I kinda sucked at it, but I do remember enjoying it so much that it didn't matter. We'll see if my knees can actually handle it...
• That one time Kwiddens had a baby. AMAZING. It's a life-changing experience, and I got to go through it without the pesky pain.
• Holding said baby in the few days after she was born. SO SNUGGLY.
• The feelings of satisfaction every time Scott and I finished a project on the house.
• My visit with Li. We did a ton of fun things and I always love when she stays with us.
• Sunday mornings. We always sleep in, and then when we wake up we get Buster up on our bed and play and snuggle with him and just lay in bed, all lazy and warm, and talk all about everything.
• Time with my family. Holidays, birthdays, just-hanging-out-days, etc. It's the best.

And that's probably not everything. If I tried I could probably think of more but I'm too lazy right now.

It's Almost Useful!

When we had our cabinets delivered we stashed them in the garage, but the night before we wanted to start on them we pulled them all upstairs and they completely filled my living room so I couldn't get to anything, and for a little while we had Buster trapped in the corner (don't worry, we let him out eventually...ha). 



The first order of business was getting the upper cabinets on the walls. First up we had to fasten them together, so we put two or three together on the floor before we got them up onto the wall.

You have no idea how hard it is to get these things up properly. They have to be perfectly level and corners and sides have to line up perfectly or else it won't work. One trick Scott had for making them level was to build a ledger underneath where all the upper cabinets would be. We made the ledger perfectly level, and that made it WAY easier to hold the cabinets level while they were being screwed into the wall.

We had a bit of a problem when we went to put in the solitary cabinet by the window. I wanted an equal amount of wall space between the window and the cabinets on each side, but I also wanted the very end of the upper and lower cabinets to align vertically. That didn't add up, however, so I had to make the very difficult decision to have the ends align instead of equal space around the window.

Ugh.

So here we are with the large section of upper cabinets installed (sans doors). At this point it started to look like it might actually turn into a kitchen at some point.

After we got all the upper cabinets in we started on the lower cabinets. We started in the corner by the window. It took a long time to get it level and such because our floor is not level and our walls are not straight. But, we got there.

Next up was the sink base. This one was tricksy. It seemed that no matter how we arranged the shims it just wouldn't work. We worked on this for TWO HOURS. Two. Finally Scott and I were getting really really frustrated and we were starting to get snappy with each other and we decided we should take a break and go get snacks at Maverik. Scott and I went and left Mim at the house, and by the time we got back she had magically shimmed it HERSELF. In ten freaking minutes. Anyway, it was a victory.

Then we decided to double check our measurements before we moved on. Um. We were like 1.5" off...and the sink base was off center under the window. Thank you Home Depot, for giving us incomplete plans. There was supposed to be a spacer between the corner cabinet and the sink base...so we had to cut a spacer, take the whole sink base out, and start again. It was...disheartening. There was something awesome, though: once we got the spacer in, the sink base was centered under the window AND once we moved the upper cabinet to align vertically on the side, there was the same amount of space on each side of the window! Happy! Fortunately, after that the rest of the cabinets were a cinch.

After a long, LONG day, we got to the point where we could finish by ourselves, so Mim went home. I wanted to just quit for the night, but Scott thought that he might be in too much pain the next day (stupid back spasms) to get much done, so he wanted to do as much that night as possible.

Here is Scott, expressing how tired he was at this point. He will probably be mad that I posted this picture of him. That's too bad. It's funny.

So Scott started putting doors on the cabinets, while I put shelves inside them (and took pictures, obviously).

Just look at that gorgeous cherry color!

The next day we put hardware on, and that's about all we can do until our countertops get installed. So here's the (semi-) finished kitchen:

The appliances, eventually, will be stainless steel, but that's a long way in the future. We need to get a floor put in first!

The countertop dude came this past Friday and made a template for the countertops, and they will be delivered and installed this coming Friday. I'm really excited to spend that weekend organizing and cleaning up my kitchen!

Halloween: Buster And Nyah

Here's a picture of our little Nyah in her costume:

Best little Jack O Lantern EVER.

And, because animal cruelty is always funny*:

Buster as a hot dog. Oh yes, we did.

*Animal cruelty is never funny. And this isn't cruel. Well, not very cruel.

Check Out All The Pix!

I finally got off my butt and transferred a ton of pictures to baby pink lappie, so HERE WE GO!

A few weeks ago Scott and I finally got around to buying a new bed. RC Willey was having an amazing sale, with a couple hundred dollars off plus a free headboard, a free sheet set, free pillows, and a free little HDTV:

Scott's been using it as a computer monitor (surprise, surprise). It actually died on him the other day, but when he brought it back in to the store they were happy to replace it so no harm done.

 So here's our beautiful, soft, comfy, BIG, king-sized bed:

Buster has been getting really good at holding treats on his nose until we say "ok".

The gorgeous Em has gone platinum blonde! She looks amazing:

She and I have similar coloring, so that makes me wonder if I would look good blonde...hmmm...

When we went to Maddox with Li I took a picture of the rolls, because YUM:

I bought a new purse, and it totally makes me think of Indiana Jones. I love it and it smells so good:

I took a picture of the swelling on my ankle last week:

Fortunately, it's getting much, much better. I think I might be back in the gym by tomorrow!

When Scott gets sad (say, when we spend $4600...) he hugs Buster, even though Buster doesn't like being hugged:

We found a new mask for Scott to wear under his cloak when he passes out candy this Halloween:

Of course, we had to put it on Buster, who was not amused:

And that's it!

Vacationy Things

So these past few weeks have been quite busy! On Wednesday the 8th I picked Li up at the airport. I left for work the next morning and didn't see her before I left. She and Scott hung out all day on Thursday (Scott was able to get more days off than I did) and when I got home we talked and made dinner and watched videos on YouTube. It was just really relaxing and fun. Friday she was picked up by a friend, and she spent the next several days with friends in Provo, and then with her sister in Plymouth.

The following Friday, the 17th, I had taken the day off work so I got up in the morning, went to the gym (and got a great workout in!) and then went to pick Li up in Plymouth. Scott suggested we go to Maddox for lunch, so he came along with me. Lunch was SO TASTY. We almost never go there, since it's such a long drive, but it was on the way home from Li's sister's house. I had forgotten how good their rolls were! I ate WAY too much, but we only go there every couple of years so it's totally ok, right?

When we all got home from that Li and I hunkered down on the couch with munchies and watched movies for the rest of the night. Saturday morning I brought Li along with me to the gym, then we showered and headed down to Salt Lake for the State Fair. We went first thing in the morning, so there weren't too many people, and we didn't have to wait in line for anything until we were about to leave. It was pretty hot, but there were shady spots where we could sit down so it wasn't too bad. We had put on sunscreen, but both of us forgot our chests, so now I have this weird sunburn with my purse strap across it.

I was really excited about fair food. A fair is like the one chance I get all year to eat cotton candy and funnel cake (although we didn't end up getting either of those; we settled on fresh mini-donuts with sugar, a slushie, gyros (the best I've ever had, I think), and fudge). We rode rides, too, which was very fun! I forgot how much fun it is to act like a kid. I also forgot how nauseating some of those rides were...my stomach could handle more than Li's, though, so when Li wanted a rest I would go ride one she didn't want to ride (she doesn't like up and down ones where she feels like she's falling). After we had been there about four hours I was definitely done. I was tired, hot, sick, and thirsty. We headed on home and got frozen custard from Nielsen's on the way, and when we got home it was JAMMIE TIME! and we sacked out on the couch for the rest of the night, watching more movies and some Bones.

Sunday morning Li wanted to go to church, and I didn't want her to have to go alone, so I went along. We went to the building that's only a few blocks from us. Since I'm a heathen, I had no idea what time church was supposed to start, but everywhere I've lived there has been a meeting at 9:00, so I figured that was a safe assumption. Well, there was a meeting at 9:00, but it was a Tongan ward...oops. We figured we were already there, so we stayed. The service was half in English, half in Tongan, which, it turns out, is a very pretty, melodic sort of language. There was a translator, so we weren't totally in the dark, but it felt a little awkward all the same.

We came home, changed back into pajamas, and set up a LAN. For the rest of the day the three of us played Warcraft 3 (nerdy!), since it's sort of a tradition that we play every time Li visits.

Monday we slept in, then watched more Bones while we waited for it to be time for our SPA APPOINTMENTS, OH YES. We went to a spa I had never been to before, but will definitely visit again, because for only $65 we got our hands, feet, backs, arms, and faces massaged and exfoliated and steamed...we were soft like buttah. We smelled good, too! After that we went to Zupas for lunch, where we had the most awesome salads and sandwiches, and we even split a brownie, but it wasn't as tasty as it looked. When we got home we decided that we should watch Pride And Prejudice (the BBC version), so we started that, and we were only half watching it while we talked about boys and such. Around 7:00 the three of us decided we were hungry, so we went to Olive Garden for dinner, and then when we got home we finished our movie and then went to bed.

Tuesday morning I drove Li to the airport, after which I went to Nyah's three-month doctor appointment with Kwiddens and Isaac. Poor Nyah had to get shots, and she was NOT happy about it. We all went to lunch, and then at that point I was really starting to feel sick, so I headed home and napped.

So that was my mini-vacation with Li. It was really fun, and so nice to see her, and now the next time I see her will probably be next summer, when I'll fly out to Boston for a change.

Other, semi-related or un-related things:

Taking three days off work is apparently a really really bad idea, since I came back to utter chaos and a giant pile of samples. I'm not even close to caught up. It doesn't help that we had people cleaning in the lab today, so we didn't have use of the hood until around noon (usually I start working in there around 9:00...so you can see how far behind I was). I'm sure I'll get a lot more done tomorrow, and I'll probably be completely caught up.

I've been slowly getting sick over the past week or so. Whatever it was, it hit Scott and Jon much harder than it hit me, thank goodness. I think it's just a mild flu, but I really lucked out, since all I have is a very sore throat, a stuffy/runny nose, and body aches. I can deal with that and still go to work.

Buster desperately needs a bath, but I'm too lazy, so I'm thinking about just spending the $35 to have it professionally done.

I found a really good deal on a heart rate monitor watch. It has a calorie counter thing in it, too. I'm really excited to try it out, but I'm going to have to wait until I don't feel like I got hit by a bus to go back to the gym.

I finally got a new purse last week while Li and I were shopping. It's from New York and Company, and it was on clearance for only $10. I win. It looks like a slightly more fashionable Indiana Jones bag. It smells lovely. I love the smell of new leather.

I think now is a good time to go collapse into a hot bath, then drag myself to bed early. I hope I can beat this bug, and soon. I want my voice back.

Just Some Thoughts On A Friday

I got a haircut the other day, and the stylist gave me the longest, most relaxing scalp massage ever. I double tipped her.

I hate nearly all reality TV. But I LOVE Pawn Stars. Chumlee's freaking hilarious.

My neck has been all weird for the last few days. I think I slept on it wrong and now it hurts to move around. Then, my lower back started hurting. I think my nerves are pinched. It's getting better though.

I read Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh. Oh wait, I didn't read it, I devoured it in two days. It made me want to be a mathematician.

We have all these yellow patches on our lawn. We've watered it enough, as there are lush green patches as well. So we had the lawn guys come over and they took a look, and we have grubs. $40 got us some insecticide, and now we're supposed to water lots and lots until the lawn grows back. I hope it works. We usually have the best-kept lawn on our street.

I had my company's summer party today. Scott met me there after we were both done with work early for the day. There was tasty food, and we got to just sit and relax and get paid for it. It did get boring after a while, though. I don't actually know and talk to very many people in my company at all: the lab people I see every day, and the couple people I bring paperwork to in the mornings, and that's it. So I sat by the people I know and we were getting bored...and then they started drawing for prizes! And guess who won a home theater system? Yes, that's right. Surround sound speakers and a new DVD player. I win. We have them hooked up now and we're watching Aliens. Subwoofer. Oh yes. Buster's not sure what to make of it, though.

Scott turned 26 this past Tuesday. Em's birthday was the same day, so last weekend we all met up for dinner. It's so rare that Kwiddens, Isaac, Nyah, Em, Jorg, Mim, Scott and I ALL get together. We're all so busy and we have schedules that don't mesh very well, plus we all live at least an hour away from each other. Then, yesterday, Kwiddens and Isaac had some things to take care of at Hill AFB, so she stopped by and I got to hold the baby. I can't believe how big she's getting. She can almost hold herself up!

I want...ice cream.

And that's about it.

Chewy

Sorry the picture is so small, but I had to share it, because my dog totally looks like Chewbacca.
I've been feeling un-bloggy lately, so that's all you get.

Buster In A Basket

We got some really cute shots of Buster, so I thought I would share them with blogland!

Here's puppy in a basket:

Some would call this animal cruelty, but I would call it ADORABLE.

Buster in an ugly scarf (it's ugly because Scott's ex made it for him, and I can do it better):

And Buster giving Scott some LOVE:

So cute!

America Rocks My Socks

This year we decided to celebrate Independence Day at my house with a barbecue/movie night/fireworks display. $70 doesn't go very far when it's fireworks we're talking about:



But we ended up getting a few hours out of them all, even doing more than one at once.

Mim's bithday was on July 1, and we decided to add a little bit of birthday cheer to the festivities. I went to the store to get a cake, and they had some really cute ones, but they were all chocolate, and Mim doesn't eat chocolate, so we settled for a blank one and decorated it ourselves:

Obviously Mim did not turn 24, but we have this joke that we're twins separated by time (we're like the same person, I swear), so I'm 24, so she's 24. I think it was funny. Maybe you had to be there. Please note the frosting tower I made. It tasted excellent.

Here's a picture of all of us, sitting around with food and watching Ratatouille (LOVE that movie) and then Sahara. Also notice that Em's hair is very very blue and she has amazing shoes on.

Everyone got Nyah-holding time, including Jorg, who is NOT a baby person, so he felt really awkward holding her. But I did manage to get a picture of him holding her, and Scott holding Buster (he was not happy about this)( sometimes I wish he were a snuggly lap dog):

Anyway, after the movies Kwiddens and Isaac and Nyah had to go to Isaac's family's party, and at that point it was starting to get dark so we went outside and started the fireworking.

Jorg with a giant sparkler:

We found these really cool fireworks that you nail onto something and they spin around, so we nailed one to Scott's sawhorse (and totally burned it):

Em and Jorg lighting things on fire:

Anyway, we went until about 11:00 and then they all slept over because Mim wasn't feeling well and we didn't want her driving all the way back home.

Awesome party!

Back Door!

Having a new deck does you very little good if there isn't a door leading onto it. So, where the larger window in the kitchen was, we decided to put a new sliding door.

Here's the old window:

Scott is glaring at me...

At some point we decided that since we were going to rip that wall out anyway we should make Buster a doggy door:

He had a really hard time with the concept, but after lots of coaxing he finally understood and had a blast running in and out and in and out!

So here's the giant hole, before we managed to get the door in:

And after we put in the door, it looks so good from the outside, even though it's not finished until the siding is back on:

And we can't finish the wall until the inspector comes in to look at the deck and the framing around the door, so the inside still looks unfinished as well:

But I LOVE the door, and it makes the whole front room/kitchen look so much bigger and brighter, and this is just so exciting for me! I love getting things done and being able to see the progress and getting another step closer to having a beautiful house (that we will later sell for mucho moola)!

The Idiot Box

I have been feeling BLAH lately, so even though I have posting material (Buster pictures, Nyah pictures, and of course, July 4th stuff) I don't feel like it, so I will just show you something amusing.

This is the Idiot Box:

This box is on Mim's front porch. One day when they were coming home Em (I think) tripped over it and said "I hate that idiot box!" and forever after it was known as "The Idiot Box".

CORRECTION: Kwiddens has informed me that it was she who named it. Oops.

Ramble Ramble Ramble

Tuesday we came home and there were weird red spots on the carpet in the living room. It was pretty late so we didn't worry about it until the next day. It turns out, Buster threw up his (red) dog food all over, and then ate it, so all that was left were smelly red spots. Fabulous. So Wednesday Scott went and rented a RugDoctor, and we cleaned the spots the best we could, and even though it didn't get the stain out the nasty junk was out of the carpet so we were ok with it and we returned the cleaner and went to bed.

We got up in the morning and everything seemed fine, and we both headed off to work. When we got home and opened the door the stench was overwhelming...bleh. I think the RugDoctor just kinda spread around the nast instead of totally sucking it up, and to top it all off it didn't pull out enough of the water in the carpet, so it got mildewy and gross and smelly (so pleasant) while it was "drying"...so that was a complete waste of $30.

So today we called around and found a guy who could do the whole room and the stairs for $50, which is a pretty awesome deal, and he was able to come over an hour and a half after we called, which was also awesome. So, now our carpet is very very clean and smells NICE. He even got the traffic spots out.

Moral of the story?

RugDoctors suck. A lot. Don't bother.

Today I was reading some chemistry history (nerdy...) and I was talking to Scott about it and I was saying how if there's an afterlife with a heaven or maybe even a Chemist Heaven (and when I said that Scott about died from laughter...) the guys up there must be like, "I told you and you guys totally didn't believe me!" and they must feel so...vindicated. What a nice feeling. Good job, Avogadro.

I am getting better at playing Plants vs. Zombies. If you haven't played this game you MUST. It is SO MUCH FUN and SO CUTE and THE PLANTS HAVE FACES. I mean, come on. What other game lets you throw butter and popcorn kernels at a zombie to kill it?

Scott and I are now both on fatsecret.com. It's a daily food and exercise diary that keeps track of calories, portion sizes, and all the exercise you do. If you're dieting, it's definitely worth checking out. We're both in love with it. Scott's phone even has an app for it, so when he scans in a bar code on whatever food he's eating it automatically logs it in his food diary. Very cool.

Mim and I are going to go to a family reunion up in Sandpoint, ID later this month. We'll see how that turns out...either way we'll get a band saw out of the deal (more explanation later). The fam is also coming up to our house for July 4 for fooding, a movie, and fireworks (the little baby ones that are legal in this horrible state).

There were several other things I thought about today that I wanted to write about but I've completely forgotten them. I suppose that's what I get for not writing things down.

Anniversary Time!

So Scott and I have now been married for three years. Our anniversary was this past Tuesday, May 11.


These three years have been amazing and crazy and happy and sad and stressful and peaceful and always an adventure.


When we first got married we were broke, I was sick, and my family was exploding. Yet Scott stood there with me. He laughed when I laughed, held me when I cried, and took me to the doctor time after time until we figured out what was going on.


After things with my family calmed down and I found a job (and stopped getting sick-turns out anxiety can physically cripple you), things got really good. Scott and I were still learning about each other and learning to live with each other.


We made smart decisions and we were careful. We dreamt of so many wonderful things for our future together, and soon we began to make them all come true. We bought a house, we got a dog, we started living. Actually living.


My family is still insane and dramatic, and I'm still a basket case, but I'm properly medicated now (WOO) and so we have gotten into this rhythm where we are almost always perfectly in sync with what we want and how we feel. And we always love each other dearly.


Scott is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. He is kind and caring, never selfish and always generous. He has always put me, my health, and my happiness first, even though I don't ask that he do so. He's goofy and sweet and just seeing him smile makes my day. He's strong, physically and emotionally, and he's been there for me whenever I need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on.


He treats me like a queen and values my opinions at the same time. I'm his sweetheart and his equal, in perfect harmony. We have inside jokes and favorite shows we quote at each other all the time. We jokingly make fun of each other, and in our family that means "I love you".


It's been a good three years, even through the bad times.


Here's to another three years. And three more after that. Etc.


So here's the stack of anniversary presents I got from my Amazon wish list as per tradition:




There was also some Vanilla Lace lotion from Victoria's Secret, but I forgot to put it in the picture. The funny thing was, even though Scott ordered "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith, they sent us this weird old movie called "The Pursuit of Happiness", and when we asked for an exchange, they just gave us our money back and told us to keep it. So Scott re-ordered that one for me.


We went to a nice dinner at Corbin's, a more upscale steakhouse close to us. The atmosphere was fun, our server was amazing, and I just felt like it was an extra special meal. We got some amazing crab stuffed mushrooms:



And since I'm on the no carbs phase of the diet I could only stare longingly at this:

Sourdough. Oh yes.


But the most special part of this anniversary was the real present Scott got me:

New wedding rings with more sparklies! And check out that paper cut on my middle finger. Oh yes.