Episode 57: In Which Jessica Has Pictures to Post

This is my first time writing a blog strictly around pictures, but I am willing to bet that once it has been posted, people will want me to do it more often because it will shorten my posts....maybe. haha. Anyhow, I have a lot of pictures that don't really make up one blog entry, but put together represent our summer so far, and what fun it has been!

 We got season tickets to the outdoor movies at the Scera this summer. Best value ever. There are 8 movies and I think it was only like 3 or 4 bucks for each of us. There are 2 every month and one in september and I think 3 in July...or august. Anyhow, there are 8 total, whenever they are. It's great to be able to have something to look forward to regularly and the weather has been great. I'm a little nervous for next week because thunderstorms are forecast for the week but we'll see.

BYU also has an outdoor movie tonight that we want to try for. It seems like if we wanted, we could see an outdoor movie every week because there is always one playing SOMEWHERE and I don't think I've seen the same movie advertised twice! It's great to live in a state with nice weather in the evening and places to sit that you won't get a cactus stuck in your butt! =P

 This is Andrew and Jared finishing up the rebuild on the Celica. It's been great fun but it has been even more fun to drive it! Admittedly, Andrew drives the car more than I do. He takes it to work every day. I'm more inclined to ride my bike when I have to do errands but its good to know I can now go further than University Parkway and not have to ride my bike up that dumb hill to Orem. =P

 This is less a post about a particular event but just to illustrate that chamagne flutes and sparkling beverages can make any meal special...even top ramen. (Andrew might like you to know that he is not eating top ramen, it's shin ramen and its korean. You can tell by the color why I may not choose to eat it but if you can't...it's HOT!)

 On the 2nd of July we boycotted Stadium of Fire (WAY too many people) and went for a drive up the canyon. Andrew wanted to try the car out on the twisty canyon roads. Even though it was 10pm, I packed a picnic dinner and then we pulled off the road somewhere and ate under the stars. :)

 I mentioned that Andrew and I had planned all of July's meals in advance. I'm proud to say its working WONDERS for my stress level. We planned 4 Japanese meals for the month and this was our first. Soba is eaten cold and dipped in tsuyu (in the bowls). It's SO refreshing when it's hot and humid out. As a side, we made vegetable tempura. Next time we'll make less because as you can see, it was a lot and the zucchini isn't even pictured here! It was delicious and with soba packing 8 grams of protein per serving, this was undoubtedly our most healthy meal to date!

We've been having some nice thunderstorms lately and its nice to open up the house and let the cool breezes blow through. The whole world turns into a giant swamp cooler and since our AC isn't the greatest/I refuse to turn it on, its a welcome relief. Not to mention its beautiful. This was the storm on Tuesday. As the sun set it cast that beautiful orange glow on everything. I wish I could have gotten the mountains but I didn't have my camera when I went out front and there was a huge tree blocking the shot anyhow. Between the blue-gray sky and the orange sun, the greens just POPPED and the shadows were so perfect that every texture on the mountain was accented. Add to that a rainbow and lightning striking at the top of the mountain and wow. Just wow.

 Here they are! My first tomatoes! I've been waiting all season, watching them carefully, for them to turn red and now they're finally getting there! And in the hot humid weather, the whole plant has exploded in growth. There are about 30 more tomatoes starting to grow and many more blossoms!

This is about what my garden looks like. I'm proud of it, even if some things didn't end up sprouting. I suspect a lot of the seeds got eaten by the birds but a lot of stuff survived anyhow and I've learned tons for next year. I tried to start small, with only a few plants, but now I have the confidence to grow a larger variety and the knowledge of general yields so I know how much of what to plant. I tasted my romaine lettuce yesterday and it tastes pretty good. Those are watermelons in the foreground, carrots behind that, romaine lettuce and strawberries followed by the tomato plant and coriander/cilantro. It bolted and went to seed so I am going to harvest the coriander later. I have a healthy cilantro plant inside anyhow.

 

You've already seen these pictures before. We've gone backpacking and we barbecue pretty regularly so I had to put them in here as our summer so far. Plus they perfectly represent Andrew's hilariously expressive...expressions. What do they say to you?

And finally, who can forget Andrew and Jared blowing things up on a Saturday morning. This is becoming a fairly regular thing as we are scheduled to do it again tomorrow. I've yet to shoot more than pictures, but I don't think Andrew will let it stay that way for long.

There you have it. Our summer so far in pictures. :)

Episode 56: In Which Jessica is Under House Arrest and is Most Likely Guilty of Murder

I think its ironic that on the 4th of July we celebrate freedom and independence...but...I'm currently under house arrest. That's what you get for living 2 blocks from University Avenue I suppose.

Since last night, From Center to Bulldog, the streets have been lined with people camping out to get good spots for the parade. This morning, we had to take a mile and a half detour just to get Andrew to work and then it took me 45 minutes to get home (usually a 15 minute drive). By the time I got home, our recently empty street was lined with cars and stragglers who didn't camp out were walking towards the parade in droves. With all the streets blocked off and people everywhere, I can't really go anywhere, so I'm under house arrest.

Why am I not at the parade? Because I'm not 10 feet tall, I wouldn't see anything anyway.

I guess it doesn't matter, its the 4th of July...where would I really go anyway? Everything is closed.

At least its overcast and cool today. I spent the last half hour in the yard watering my garden and FINALLY transplanting my basil. I doubt it will do much NOW since the tomato plant has flowers all over it...the basil won't really infuse the tomatoes with anything...but I had to cut it back somehow. I still have half of it growing inside but the heat outside was wilting it so I brought it inside. The only window we have to put it in faces north so there isn't much sun but it was doing well. Unfortunately, the plants on the inside weren't doing so well and when I rotated the pot, everything wilted. So in a last ditch effort, I transplanted half of the basil to the area surrounding my tomatoes. Hopefully, the tomato plant will help keep the basil cool.

In the meantime, I tried to be gentle when I transplanted it...but I'm afraid it might die anyhow. I should have taken a clipping and bloomed it in water....but this is a learning experience. Next year the garden will be better.

I'm going to go eat granola and clean the house now. When Andrew gets off work we're going to the airport to pick up his sister! :)

Episode 55: In Which Jessica Gains 20 Pounds and Loses Three Overnight

Well, I'm back. We got off the mountain about an hour or so ago and now we're just relaxing at home. Andrew is playing Metroid Prime and I'm blogging! We were gonna take a shower buuuuuuut...the landlord came over and he has to shut the water off for about 2 hours to fix someone's AC. So much for that idea.

SO! Backpacking! It was splendid! I can't tell you how much fun I had but I shall try. And PS. Something I didn't mention in my post yesterday because I didn't realize it until about 10:30 at night...Yesterday (July 1st) was the day Andrew proposed to me last year! :)

My favorite picture of andrew yet. :)

Ok back to camping.

Andrew and I got kind of a late start, I think we started up the mountain at about 8ish. We got to the top of the Y at about 9, just in time to sit and watch the sunset, then we headed back into the canyon. We still had about half an hour of decent light after the sun went down and then we pulled out our new headlamps. (We figured we'd better buy some since we'd inevitably be hiking in the dark. It wasn't too much of a problem since the trail is well established.

So yeah...I know this isn't a sunset picture. oh well. =P

We got to our destination just before 10 at night. We hiked to a meadow in the canyon back behind the Y. Setting up camp in the dark isn't the MOST fun thing ever, but our tent goes together in a snap (like literally, I think it takes 2 minutes). The hardest part was finding a level surface...which we mostly succeeded in. Andrew got the lumpier side of the tent but my side was ok. We were on a slight slope though so I think most of my energy last night was spent shimmying back up to the top of the tent. =P

We pulled out the sandwich that andrew had bought before we left and ate dinner in our sleeping bags in the tent. We had fruit gummies as dessert but when I was looking, andrew ate mine. WHY DOES HE ALWAYS EAT MY FOOD WHEN I'M LOOKING?! And more importantly, WHY DON'T I NOTICE!? He did this with my otter pop too. *sigh*

Tired morning faces

My new sleeping bag performed admirably well. I'd say it was anywhere between 35 and 45 degrees up there and my sleeping bag kept me so warm that I poked my arms out halfway through the night and slept with the top of the sleeping bag around my chest. I retreated inside again later as the temperature dropped, but that wasn't until about 5am.

I woke up and my shirt was still completely wet from sweating the day before and now it was freezing because it had been sitting outside all night so I opted for the change of clothes that I was now thankful that andrew had suggested I bring. In dry clothes, I was quite a bit warmer. (and no, I didn't sleep in the wet clothes, I had pajamas)

Our campsite

We snacked on breakfast (peachies and welch's fruit snacks =P) and left base camp for a short romp in the forest. We hiked in about 1/4 of a mile, found a "spring" (it was a pipe with water coming out of it), and turned around to pack up camp. Taking down camp is my least favorite part of camping but it didn't take long at all. Longer than set up, but not too long still. After eating some granola bars, brushing our teeth, and putting on sunscreen we were on our way.

What took us about 2ish hours to do the night before, took about an hour and a half coming out, maybe just an hour. We made it down the trail from the Y in less than half an hour, andrew was timing us. Thanks to my new hiking boots, I didn't worry about running down the trail because I had more traction than I do in my tennis shoes.

We got off the mountain at about 11:15.

Just a few of the wildflowers we saw

I saw lots of fun stuff while we were out. We saw a snake (I think it was a garder snake but we didn't touch it just in case) and there was a mayfly that spent the night in the tent with us. We didn't know until the morning. There were some deer on the edge of the forest in the meadow this morning, or I think they were. I didn't have glasses on and it was only semi light out, but that's all I can guess they were.

Sego Lily

Hiking out in the day, we saw all the things we didn't see coming in...namely wildflowers. I took pictures of all of them but I only saw one wild rose and didn't get a picture of that one. I did see a sego lily though!

All in all I had a blast! And I'm super proud of myself. It was my first time backpacking and I think I did really well. My pack was probably about 20 pounds so it wasn't THAT heavy, but I think I did well with it. I got really tired the first night about 50 feet before the meadow. I told Andrew "I don't remember the meadow being this far" (We hiked there on our first date) and then almost immediately after, walked into the meadow. =P

This morning, even though my pack had lost about 3 pounds due to water consumption...just so you all know, Andrew just ate all my peachies in front of me...and I didn't notice til just now. Anyhow, even though my pack was probably a bit lighter, it was hard to get on because of the bruises on my hips from the day before. The first half mile of the hike was just killing my hips, but then they got used to the pain and I was fine after that.
I'm definitely looking forward to when I get my backpack, because it is specifically built for women, so hopefully the comfort around the hips will be a little better. I'll probably still get bruised, but I'm still hoping its better.

Coming out of the canyon. What fun!

Bruised hips, sore shoulders, tired legs, hot feet (yes, hiking in wool socks and hiking boots makes your feet hot). Was it worth it? Of course it was! :) I just went camping on fourth of july weekend and didn't have to fight the crowds! Besides one other tent, we were the only ones in the meadow! And even when you have neighbors when you're backpacking...they like to be outdoors and so they're nice. Not like in campgrounds where you have stupid people that stay up all night being loud and playing catch phrase or something.

I highly reccomend it. :)

and just so you can be proud of me mom and dad, I packed out all my trash AND any trash that I found along the way. :) I'm a good camper :) And also I actually helped take down camp =P

If you want to see more pictures, you can look at my backpacking set on Flickr.

Episode 54: In Which Jessica Successfully Makes a Menu Plan and Eats Fruit

Sometimes, the days seem to drag on forever. It's usually like that near the end of school...like your finals can't be done fast enough (which they can't). Thankfully, this is not one of those "finish your finals fast" things but when you're looking forward to something time ALWAYS moves slower.

Tonight, Andrew and I are going camping! I'm super excited and so work seemed to drag on forever! And now I'm sitting here waiting for Andrew to get home and that also seems to be dragging on. After I'm finished posting this, I'll go forage in the fridge for fruit. (I'm apparently into alliteration today...and its brought to you by the letter f. 10 points if you can figure out what I'm talking about)

Andrew and I went shopping yesterday. We've been living off top ramen for the last couple days because I refused to go grocery shopping until we got paid. Well, pay day finally came and we went grocery shopping so there is an abundance of deliciousness in my fridge (and some not so delciousness *cough* failed rice cake *cough cough*).

I tried something new this month by planning all the meals for the whole month the day before we went shopping. From that plan, I made my grocery list and it all worked amazingly.

I know you're probably thinking "Jessica, the whole month!?! are you insane!?"

Probably. But it really wasn't that hard. Instead of planning meals all at once, I started with themes. Here's how I did it.

1. about a week before the month ended I went through my calendar and wrote down the days:
• we were having company over
• we had an activity planned in the evening
• any day that I felt like having a certain cuisine (we knew we wanted Japanese food once a week, so I penciled that in)
• and finally, the days that I historically feel tired on and don't want to cook. (those became planned leftover days, or "quick and simple" days)
2. The day before shopping I sat andrew down and we looked at the calendar (I did this all on my gmail calendar) and decided on actual meals based on the themes I had written down. Here are some examples
• on a sunday night, I knew I wouldn't want to cook, so I wrote "slow cooker" down. Then when we planned the meals, I chose slow cooker spaghetti.
• On a friday or saturday, I knew I would want to use the grill so I wrote "grill" and then decided that teriyaki chicken fit very well into that theme
• Usually on Thursdays I feel like I just can't make it to the weekend and so I wrote "simple and quick" or "leftovers"
• on days I wrote leftovers, I made sure that the days before it, were meals that made larger portions...or I wrote "double" on the chosen dish
• For days I knew we were going out, but dinner wasn't included (like outdoor movies) I wrote "portable" and then later on, decided on an easily transportable meal like sandwiches
• You get the idea, right?
3. After I was finished I looked at the first two weeks of the month (until the next paycheck) and decided what I needed to buy for those meals. Then I put them into the grocery list. I was surprised to find that despite the fact that we had only been eating top ramen for the last week, the list of needed supplies was NOT that long.
4. The day of grocery shopping I pulled out all the circulars (the grocery ads) and found out if anything on my list was on sale and I wrote those stores next to the item. I knew I had to go to costco and so I planned to visit the stores in between here and costco to save on gas. That allowed me to shop the sales at different stores. 
5. While I was out shopping, I double checked the prices. Even though broccoli was on sale at Smith's, it was still cheaper at Macey's so I saved myself the trip to Smith's and a couple of cents.

In the end, the result was a plethora of fresh fruits (apples, strawberries, watermelon, grapes) and veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and jicama for well under what the budget is. And who says you can't eat well on a budget? :)

The Costco trip admittedly pushed us over a bit but I have to keep telling myself that Costco is a once a quarter trip and now I will have chicken on hand for the next 3 months, so the next few shopping trips will balance the budget out. That's what I'm hoping anyhow, because I'm trying to debate if its worth it to renew our Costco membership...

If you read all that, otsukare-sama (you're a hard worker). I promise though, that as much work as that sounds like, it wasn't really. It probably took me about an hour and a half total. Once you have the themes in place, its much easier to figure out a dish you want to make and the calendar makes it all visual, so you don't end up having spaghetti followed by alfredo the next day. =P

If I was REALLY good, I would be able to plan the menu by taking leftovers and making a new dish with them...but I'm not America's Test Kitchen.

The other benefit of this menu is that with all the meals in place, we really only will eat out when planned (Yes, date nights were planned into the menu) so hopefully this will keep us on track with the grocery budget AND the dining budget.

I find food is what throws me off budget EVERY time. But its ok because the Lord has really blessed us with what we need and even though the budget is in the red most months, it always turns out ok and we never have to take money out of savings to save ourselves. Still, its a good idea to continue trying to keep us in the black. :)

So with that all said, I'm going to go eat strawberries now. I'll let you know how camping was when I get home!

PS. If anyone wants to try to take on the task of menu planning as I outlined it (or has any questions), let me know how it turns out! Admittedly, I stole the idea from another blog (and the accumulated wisdom of my mom), but I don't remember where so I can't credit it. All the same, let me know. And if you have other ideas, also let me know. I'm a bit of a crazy when it comes to family management. =P

Episode 53: In Which Jessica Visits the UK and Has a Tea Party

This weekend, Andrew and I took an international trip to Salt Lake City.

I had made plans to go see my friend Kaylynne, who is currently going to the U. We got up around 10 and after getting dressed, went out clothes shopping for Andrew (who is in need of new shirts). We found a couple, but I got frustrated at the fact that nearly every shirt we looked at was branded...usually with a skating brand. He managed to find some breathable golf style shirts which, despite my apprehension seem to look good on him. I was afraid he'd look like some weird 50 year old golfer...gross. He wanted them more for hiking because he wanted a light breathable fabric. *sigh* they're his shirts...I'm not so into hiking that I can't just wear a t-shirt personally =P

After that we went up to Salt Lake and after searching forever to find the visitor parking near Kaylynne's dorm, we were on our way into Salt Lake for lunch.

We tried a hawaiian place that came highly recommended on Yelp but turns out it was no longer there and I was sad. I wanted me some hawaiian food. So instead, we went to the Red Iguana. Everyone raves about the Red Iguana and it was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on the food network. It really is a good place, this being my second time there. However this time I ordered the "machaca chimichanga" instead of a regular one...and having not read the description was saddened to find scrambled eggs in it. *sigh* luckily, I didn't notice until I was almost done when I happened to bite into a large chunk of egg. Seeing as I was almost done and getting full, I focused on my beans and rice and decided to forgo the rest of the chimi.

My pina colada was AMAZING though. Best pina colada I've had yet! I think. Anyhow, a wonderful blend of pina and colada. If you're ever in the neighborhood, I would recommend the Red Iguana...if you're not there for a main meal time. The last time we went we waited for an hour, but this time, since it was 2pm we got right in and seated.

After lunch we went to Decades, a vintage store on State Street. The place is huge but I've heard terrifying things about the owner. The owner wasn't in on Saturday that I noticed but there were signs like "don't play in the damn hats" that made me think maybe the rumors were true. Rumors being that he's grumpy. The rest of the staff is nice though and we did play in the "damn hats" thanks. =P Actually, we were looking for a fedora for Andrew, but they were all too small. Too bad....why were people 30 years ago so small!? I looked at a size 6 gunny sax dress and it looks like a CHILD's size 6!

My favorite find was the vintage lingerie which made me slightly sad that I didn't know anyone having a bridal shower any time soon because I seriously wanted to give someone some pioneer era "lingerie". =P

After playing around in there, we decided it was time to go take photos and visit the little British gift shop and bakery across the street from Trolley Square Mall.

I don't know much about British food or imports so while the gift shop was fun, it wasn't like walking through an asian grocery store...I was quite able to resist spending impulses. I do however think that anyone familiar with the UK at all would enjoy that shop.

We took some pictures outside the shop in front of the mini cooper and then had a mini-photoshoot, using Andrew as our model. He makes a very attractive model, if I do say so myself...and his yellow shirt looked fantastic against our chosen backdrops. The weather was splendidly overcast that day (nature's softbox) and so exposures were easy.

Once we were done taking pictures of Andrew, we walked to the bakery next door. It was such a cozy little place with a row of pillows on one wall. Kaylynne quickly claimed her spot there. I would show you a picture but I'm ashamed at the composition. We weren't originally going to stay for tea but the ambience of the whole place (and the friendly staff) compelled us to do so. Andrew and Kaylynne ordered two pots of herbal tea and Kaylynne and I giggled like school girls when we saw the cute little teapots come out in their fun colors. The giggles stopped quickly as cameras came out and we both tried to arrange the cup and teapot in a manner that lent itself to its photograph.

When we finally settled down, we all enjoyed our tea (did I mention it was herbal tea? I probably should have mentioned that) and our treats. Kaylynne got something called a chocolate crunch, I got an almond tart with raspberry, and Andrew got something called a midnight tropical brownie. It looked like something you'd find in a See's chocolate box.

The staff was super friendly and we enjoyed talking to them but here's the best part of the whole day. The owner came out and saw our cameras and asked if we were taking pictures. I was nervous because usually that is followed with a "no pictures allowed" but instead she enthusiastically told us to take all the pictures we wanted and to post them everywhere we could. She even offered to take things out of the display case so we could get better detail shots.

As soon as Kaylynne and I were done, we ran around taking pictures of everything. I spent most of my time trying to photograph a west facing window before realizing it was futile in the afternoon...but oh well. You live and learn. I still got some good shots. I'll endulge you here. It was so fun!

I'm an expert at self-criticism. WHY DIDN'T I MOVE THAT SPOON!?!

An example of the aforementioned "west facing window" shot

Andrew, purposely getting in the way of my shot =P

So there you have it. My trip to the UK :)

Sunday was a laze about day. That's not a good thing. My back is STILL recovering from it. Nothing like getting sore from staying in bed all day and feeling physically ill because the only thing you ate was bagels and waffles. After taking a hot bath, taking some Aleve, sleeping on a heating pad, working in my garden, eating grapes and carrots I'm FINALLY feeling normal.

I guess this is God's way of giving me a testimony of the Word of Wisdom.

PS. Our ward is lame. They didn't give the fathers ANYTHING for father's day at church. What the crap!?! There are the wards like ours, and there's wards like my parents where the dad's all get root beer floats. What gives!?

Episode 52: In Which Jessica Attempts More Regularity in Blogging and Gets New Shoes

Well, its been another week and another weekend. June started and the rain stopped. I'm kind of sad but at the same time, it was drowning my poor garden. Of course, when its raining the birds are half as likely to find your strawberries. I think I might hate birds more than I hate snails. Unfortunately, you can't just kill a bird and not have it eat away at you for the rest of your life like a snail. Too bad they don't have consciences like human beings do...then they might die of guilt for eating the strawberries you were so excited about.

I'm sorry, I got carried away. Let's see, what happened this last week?

Well, the first weekend in June...which I am well aware was NOT this last week but deal with it k? Andrew and I went on vacation!

Where did we go on vacation to?

Lehi, UT.

Where is Lehi, UT you ask?

About 30 minutes north of here.

What is in Lehi, UT you ask?

Ummmmm...Cabelas?

That's right, Lehi is not really a vacation destination but its also not Provo and that is what we were counting on.

Since I get home earlier than Andrew everyday, and since our stuff was already packed, I went crazy cleaning up the apartment. My mom used to tell me to clean my room before we went on vacation and I thought she was crazy. Why would I do that? Well now, I'm all grown up and I know why. No one wants to come home from vacation to a house that needs cleaning!

We left as soon as Andrew got home from work that Friday and drove up to Lehi. After checking into the hotel, we were hungry so we walked across the street the Teppanyaki restaurant. As soon as you walk into a Teppanyaki restaurant in the middle of Lehi, UT you know not to get your hopes up, especially since Teppanyaki restaurants here are usually called "Japanese steakhouse". What? There were steakhouses in Japan?! Why was I not informed of this!? The food there can't even be considered REMOTELY Japanese. I would venture to say Tex-Mex is more authentic cuisine than this place, but it was still a lot of fun and slightly cheaper than Beni-hana. :)

I got Yakisoba (aka spaghetti with teriyaki sauce on it) and Sukiyaki (thinly sliced steak that has nothing to do with sukiyaki at all) but it was still good. Andrew got fried rice and filet mignon and salmon. When he got his filet mignon I stole a piece and the chef warned me that if I ate it I wouldn't like my food...and he was right. The filet mignon was soooooo tender it literally melted in my mouth. I was hard pressed to finish my regular steak after that.

It was lots of fun watching the chef throw his spatula around and light things on fire and stuff like that. At the end of the meal he flipped shrimp into everyone's mouth. Not only did I catch mine, I ate it too. I mean, it was already in my mouth, what am I supposed to do? Spit it out? So down it went and thankfully, down it stayed. =P

After dinner we changed into our swimsuits and sat in the hot tub for a while. Andrew alternated between the hot tub and the pool but even though the pool was indoors, I didn't feel like shocking my body like that and I stayed in the hot tub.

After we were sufficiently relaxed, Andrew took a nap while I took a shower. After I was done with that we drove up to the Timpanogos Temple. That's the one that we got married in! It was about 11pm so the temple was clearly closed, but we sat in the car in the parking lot talking. It was so nice.

Since it was past midnight when we got back to the hotel, we went to bed and woke up the next morning in time for free breakfast. I think I've only gotten up in time for free breakfast like 3 times in my whole life, its not a regular occurrence =P

After packing up and checking out, Andrew and I headed up the freeway to Cabela's! Cabela's is really cool, but still a little far from home to just go to randomly, but since we were in the area... =P

Andrew and I spent a couple hours wandering around Cabela's. He looked at guns, I dashed his hopes and dreams of owning them. Not because I don't want him to have a gun, he already has one...but because no matter how you look at it, we can't afford the 1200 dollar shotgun. Sorry. =P

We looked at backpacks, sleeping bags, and camp stoves....couldn't afford those either. We looked at knives and fishing poles...couldn't afford those either. But it was still fun to just look. And at the end, we were able to afford fudge. :)

Andrew found these sunglasses on sale at Wal-mart for $20.
Originally, they were 70 :)

After we were done at Cabela's we headed home. We stopped at Wal-mart to get a chimney starter for the barbecue and then we just kind of relaxed at home. After taking a short nap, we got up and made hamburger patties because we had friends coming over for a barbecue.

We barbecued hamburgers and played Ticket to Ride afterwards. It was really fun. I'm glad we have board games and friends to play them with because without them, my life would be empty. =P

Monday, for Family Home Evening and in honor of our "Almost Anniversary" (meaning almost 6 months since were married and almost a year since Andrew proposed) we took a break from fixing the car and Andrew made roast beef tenderloin. He's been wanting to for a long time now but do you know how much a tenderloin roast is at Costco (which is NORMALLY the only place you can get it?) 96 dollars! That's how much! But every once in a while Macey's has roasts in for 7 or 8 dollars a pound and so we got one.

I made a wilted spinach salad and we bought sparkling cider. It was a lovely meal...especially because Andrew made it and not me. :)

Due to scheduling conflicts we actually didn't get to work on the car that much and when we did...we kept finding we had forgotten an essential part or tool so it was a good week off...except that we had to do laundry. Gross. Laundry and dishes...2 things that are NEVER done. This time we put it off long enough that for dinner we made a quick yakisoba bento and ate it at the laundromat. mmmmmmmmm. :)

Last weekend, we got up early to head to the REI in Sandy. They were having their "Garage sale" and selling stuff for cheap. We went to look for a backpack for me but we got there too late and they were all taken. We did find a great pair of hiking shoes though and honestly, I'm glad we got those instead of the backpack. They will allow me to do things and go places more immediately. Had we gotten a backpack, I would still need shoes or the backpack would do me no good.

Andrew and I are looking at hiking Mt. Nebo. It's the tallest in the Wasatch Mountains. Timp is the second tallest by just a tiny bit....like not even 1000 feet. We did that one last September but I didn't have good hiking boots then and swore I would never summit another mountain without them.

After coming home, we had some time to kill before the service project we signed up for so we played frisbee  outside and then went on a bike ride. It was GORGEOUS outside. We came home, ate mac and cheese for lunch, put on sunscreen and went to our service project.

We volunteered with Habitat for Humanities. It was a good way to kinda get to know people in our ward and there is nothing like physical labor to make you feel good. We tore up the existing flooring and Andrew got to crawl under the house and jack up the support beam so we could redo the foundation. He got nice and dirty =p

After that, we came home, showered, and headed off to the Japanese session at the temple. It's the first time we've been to it together since the first time we saw each other after our missions. It was kinda funny because we were the only white people there. We even ran into the Hosoya's son. The Hosoya's were a very nice family in Koiwa (the area where Andrew and I met). Their son has lived in Utah for a long time now so we never met him, until  Saturday. It's a small world.

The Japanese session was HARD. My Japanese kinda sucks now anyhow....but next time I think I'll get the headset because it is NOT basic Japanese that they use. My head was spinning by the time the whole thing was over. =P

Sunday, Andrew had to work so I had to go to church alone. I hate those days. But Andrew was home when I got home and Nate came over soon after. We made chicken pot pie and Andrew practiced his drink mixing. It was a very nice weekend. :)

Episode 51: In Which Jessica Cannot Think of a Title...

So, we've been rebuilding the engine for my 1984 Toyota Celica. We've now taken the entire thing apart and are waiting on parts which are on order.

Currently, it looks something like this:


After working on it for about 4 hours a day, you get tired and need a break so...you go shooting! duh!

Well, Andrew and Jared went shooting. I shot them shooting with my camera. It was a TERRIBLE day for photography and that little "shutter priority" mode that I was so fond of before I started doing full manual, I forgot about it. Could have saved me a lot of pain.

But Andrew and Jared had fun. Jared has quite the collection of guns and Andrew took full advantage of all of them. They used soda cans as targets and by the end of the day, Jared's truck was covered in soda. They shot rifles and handguns...but mostly rifles. They took turns spotting for each other for long distance shooting  and just in general had a lot of fun. I got some good pictures despite the changing light. (the sun went in and out and in and out of the clouds CONSTANTLY)

My favorite part honestly was just riding in the truck. 4 wheel drive! It's like nature's roller coaster :)

Here are some more shots from our adventure.

Now you see it

Now you see it EVERYWHERE =P

After shooting, Andrew and I went over to his Aunt and Uncle's house to see everyone there. His mom was visiting as well as several of his extended family members. It was crazy busy with kids running everywhere and all the adults sitting around the table playing Canasta. All the adults except me. I suck at cards. Like...badly. It's ok though. I'm a good watcher.

We stayed for dinner (hamburgers and hot dogs, yum!) and for a bit after that. It was a lot of fun! Just a small amusing anecdote for you, while Andrew's uncle was trying to secretly make root beer floats, one of Andrew's cousins asked for some root beer. The root beer wasn't chilled and she complained that she didn't like warm soda, however, with all the people in the house, the ice was gone. Andrew's uncle suggested that she could put some ice cream in it, and showed her the tub of vanilla ice cream he had been trying to conceal.

"EW GROSS! NO THANK YOU!" she exclaimed, but after thinking for a moment followed it up with "unless...you made like a root beer float"

...yes, that is what I thought the point of the ice cream was. =P

We went home and went to bed and got up early the next morning. We went to Music and the Spoken Word up on Temple Square. It was gray and rainy (my favorite weather) and a little bit chilly. Luckily, I had my umbrella and we didn't have to wait in line TOO long to get in. It was my first time sitting in the Tabernacle for an extended period of time and I have to say President Hinckley was right, "the seats are just as uncomfortable as they were before [the tablernacle's renovation and restoration]" Not that I know what they were like before, but my back thanked me for standing up after the broadcast was over.

That being said it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning. It's not my first time hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live, I've gone to conference before, but it's my first time hearing them in the Tabernacle. Plus, it was the memorial day broadcast so there was a wonderful arrangement of patriotic songs accompanied by video montages that made me want to go camping in a national park.

Oh, yeah. We were suppposed to do that...kind of. One of my mission companions was supposed to come visit around Andrew's birthday. Utah isn't the most exciting place to visit if you're a foreigner, though church members DO find more excitement than most I am sure. All the same, I think its kind of sad to come to America and not really see it...so Andrew and I were planning on driving up to Yellowstone with her. It's only about 7 hours away so we were gonna leave early in the morning and come back late at night. But she didn't end up coming cuz she got sick and couldn't fly :(

Someday.

Andrew and I did, courtesy of his parents, get tickets to Seattle though! We are going in July and I'm so excited! I love Washington. Though I loved Oregon too when I went and I also love California...so I have to just say I love the Pacific Northwest...and California. =P  That picture is neither by the way...its Utah. I just like it. I took it while we were shooting on Saturday. =P

That's about all...because as usual I've taken forever to write this post and now I've forgotten much of it. =P