Our Weekend Away

Last weekend, Zak had his custom design shows in Coeur d'Alene and Spokane. I was allowed to go with him, but couldn't hang out in the store/around it; basically I was to be a ghost. But I was ok with that, because I got to be out of the house and with Zak in the mornings and evenings. It was not exactly the most relaxing trip, but we did have a decent time.

We drove up Thursday night to Spokane. We walked into the hotel, and were pretty impressed and excited. Too bad the guys at the counter told us they couldn't find our reservation, or that they didn't even have a corporate account with Harry Ritchie's. Right as my brain started to fry, they asked if maybe the reservations were at the hotel in Spokane Valley. We didn't know, so they called and said yes, we had reservations at that hotel.

the nice little lobby

our room

figuring out all the channels

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived and were still impressed, it was a pretty nice hotel; plus they gave us evening reception drink vouchers, breakfast vouchers and there was a pool/hot tub/sauna/steam room. We knew what we were doing that night.

sweet desk and coffee table

the view from our room, we were on the 4th floor

We got dinner and then headed down to the pool. We had it all to ourselves, and enjoyed swimming and the hot tub. Zak really loved the steam room. It was pretty neat, but so weird to breathe in, because the air was hot. I couldn't last as long as he could in there, so I swam around for awhile.

before heading out that morning

The next morning, Zak woke up with swimmer's ear. We had ran to the local Safeway the night before, so we knew where we could quickly get something for him on our way to Coeur d'Alene, which was about a half hour drive from the hotel. We were doing fine, until we had gotten back in the car, and Zak started reading the instructions for the ear drops. They were homeopathic, and if you know Zak, he is 100% against that stuff and insisted we exchange it quickly. That would've been fine if, in the hurry and scatter-brained-ness of my head, I hadn't locked my keys in the car. And Zak's were back at the hotel, about 5 - 8 minutes away, over the interstate. We ran back into Safeway, I exchanged the drops (the lady was awesome), while Zak contemplated between breaking the window/calling a mechanic or someone/to finally calling a taxi. And then the taxi took about 10-15 minutes to get there, and by then we were running late. $25 and 10 minutes later, we were on the road, with Zak holding cotton balls against his ear, and I driving as quickly and safely as possible in unfamiliar territory.

Zak wanted to be there at 9:30, which is a half hour before the store/mall opens. We got there at 9:40, so still not bad. But man, did I feel awful. I have never, ever done anything like that, and of course! it's on a day where we don't have time for that. But thankfully we had each brought our keys, so it could've been worse.

I spent some time in Target, thoroughly enjoying myself (we don't have one that I can hang out in nearby; Zak doesn't get it), and I bought Tina Fey's book Bossypants, so I would have something to do while waiting for him, when I got bored later. I also walked around the mall for awhile, and then went to the downtown part of Coeur d'Alene. CDA is really pretty, it's on this huge lake, and it was a gorgeous day out, so I was happy to walk around the downtown section. But everywhere was construction, so I had to keep my wits about me as I drove around. Right as I was ready to head back to the mall and see if I could steal Zak away for lunch, he called and said he'd get a break in a little bit.

the Coeur d'Alene resort

walking around the resort

a boat was about to pull into the dock

I guess there is the longest pedestrian water-bridge off of this area? I don't know, I just took some pictures and didn't venture too much further.

I quickly drove back, stopping at Jamba Juice (another place we don't have around us, for some dumb reason), and met him for a little bit. His day wasn't too bad, he at least had people show up, and made a sale...with one of the girls who worked there. But a sale is a sale. I spent the last few hours laughing and reading Tina Fey's book (I finished it), and then picked up Zak and drove back to the hotel.

I couldn't help but take a picture at a red light; those spikes were super tall!

I found this cute pin at the antique store

where I read Bossypants while waiting for Zak

Saturday was a little bit better, since no keys were locked in the car. And we knew Spokane a lot better, so it wasn't as nerve-wrecking getting there. Once I dropped Zak off, I headed to the park and read for awhile in the sunlight. I ended up getting some color on my body, so that nice, too. Then I hung around in the mall, and shopped for a little bit. Then I read (I started & finished Return of the King that day) and now and then, Zak would step out for a break, or get lunch with me. He had a sale early on and a few that he was very confident would come back. After all, $3000 is a big decision, I can't blame some lady for waiting to talk to her guy before going for it. By 7, Zak was pretty burned out. It didn't help that he had apparently OD'd on caffeine pills, either. We headed back to the hotel (his regional manager called earlier and told him if we wanted to stay another night, we could) and got a pizza. It was nice to relax and to be done with the stress of the past two days.

loading that huge box into the car for the drive home

We headed back the next morning, and Zak set up his early anniversary gift. He has wanted a chair forever, and he couldn't really find anything he really liked that would be within our budget. But the last time we were in Spokane, we were at Cost Plus World Market, and he found what he wanted, and what our wallet wanted, too. So while Zak was working, I headed over there and picked up the chair and some fun pillows (and assorted treats for us) for him. He set it up and relaxed for awhile when we got home; he keeps telling me how much he loves it! It's a pretty nice chair, and comfy, too.

pretty sweet, huh?

Overall, not the best weekend, but not the worst either! This weekend he is off to Oregon to do his last round of shows. The stores he'll be at are some of the nicest in the company, so wish him luck! Unfortunately, he has to fly out of Spokane tomorrow at 8 AM, and doesn't return until noon on Sunday. So I have to find something to occupy my time!

Jenna's Visit!

Having Jenna here was so much fun. Unfortunately, it was not long enough, so we tried our best to fill up our sister tanks so we can last until July. Like I mentioned in the previous post about Easter, we got home around 9PM, after some scary weather on the way home from Spokane. We goofed around for a bit until we needed to go to bed. Zak had a 6:50 AM flight out the next day for his second round of training in Portland. I figured that we would go and take him, and then have breakfast at the European restaurant we love over in Pullman.

We dropped Zak off, and had just pulled up to the restaurant when he called. I said, "He's calling to say he didn't get on the plane." Jinx. He hadn't got on the plane, so we raced back to pick him up. It turns out, although we had dropped him off with plenty of time (it IS a small, municipal airport...when he flew out of it in March, we waited 40 minutes, then 10 minutes before the flight was to take off, security was started up. We figured it would be no problem at a 6:50AM flight on a Tuesday, so he was dropped off about 35-45 minutes early.), the airport people/morons told him the flight was full and/or TSA were just being lazy jerks. It was mostly the latter. But Zak had no bags to check, and it's frustrating that the stupid TSA couldn't have briefly scanned the bag, but apparently it was the day to be jerks.

goofing around at Walmart or somewhere

But it's ok, because Zak and Jenna got to spend more time together and he got to have a delicious breakfast with us. The next flight out was at 11AM, so we had to kill some time. Well, breakfast was scrumptious. I love having Jenna around, because our tastes are so similar, that we often split dishes. She had the omelet I got once (spinach, bacon, swiss cheese, avocado, tomato-it's like it was made for us!), and I had the breakfast cake platter we love (Swedish crepe with cream filling & strawberries, aebleskivers with huckleberry filling, buttermilk pancakes (just like Grandma's!), and German potato pancakes). Zak had the Hungarian goulash (tomato, cheese, potatoes, eggs, peppers, onions). Everything was perfect, and thoroughly enjoyed. Afterwards we poked around in the Super Walmart. Zak had the brilliant idea to get my dad an airsoft gun for his birthday, so we got one....and so did Jenna! She and Zak goofed around in the aisles, making me relieved that I wasn't the one being teased and tortured for a bit, hahaha. Eventually, we killed enough time and dropped Zak on. He got on the plane and through to Seattle just fine. He had a layover there, and got into Portland around 4PM. Luckily, he didn't miss a whole lot of training (plus, he's pretty smart, so he got caught up quickly), and everything was fine on his end.

sissas

Meanwhile, Jenna and I came back and I found our airsoft guns in the closet. We bought my dad a fully automatic one, but Jenna (and me, Zak, Kenny) just got the pistol. I made a shooting target for us and we got to work. It was pretty fun, even though the bb/pellets were going everywhere. We made sure to cover the hamsters, and take caution with the electronics. We did that for a bit, and then watched the goofiest movie, Mega Pirahna. It was almost not even 'so bad it's good'; it was simply ridiculous. We also decided to make bread, because, why not?, so we made some white bread. It was fun to make Jenna get her hands 'flour-y', but she loved it. The bread was delicious and I converted another follower to the wonders of homemade bread. I think she'll be an advocate for it more at home now. Afterwards, we played Lego Harry Potter, shot some more, made dinner, watched Dancing with the Stars and the A's game. The weather was yucky, so we just stayed inside, all bundled up.

yummy bread!

On Wednesday we got up, had homemade bread with eggs and fruit, and watched Shark Week stuff on Netflix. I used to watch Shark Week stuff all the time, but have since forgotten about it. A sad thing indeed, because Shark Week rules! We watched a segment about sharks in aquariums, and it was actually really fascinating. Now we know all about sharks, aquariums, and the like. And we will tell you about them if need be. We went to the bagel place because it is the best place for lunch around here. So yummy...We also watched the A's game and did some silly $1 dinosaur puzzles Jenna had brought. It's funny how easy working on puzzles can go from enjoyment to utter despair and frustration. One day we also watched that Tangled movie, from Disney. Jenna had brought us the blu-ray copy, since my family doesn't have anything to play it on. It was actually really cute!

shooting nervously

we are children, ha

Jenna also had brought us tons of goodies, including several different types of Easter candies. Mostly chocolate, like Lindt mini bunnies and Dove eggs, mmm. AND THREE plates of cookies (Nutella, oatmeal raisin, cocomacs). We have been slowly eating them, and savoring the delicious treats. It had turned cold and rainy again, and Jenna wasn't feel her best, so we went to Safeway for soups! I have never had their soups before, but they weren't bad. We watched tv some more and made shooting targets while waiting to get Zak. The poor guy had a four hour layover in Seattle, but it was either four hours there on four hours in the hotel, after he had to check out. He was a good sport about it, though. We picked him up around 11PM, and also picked up his HUGE METAL BOX with the laptop, extra computer screen and other misc. gadgets, wires and whatnot that it came with. It was seriously, a huge, huge box. We couldn't fit it in the trunk, so Jenna had to sit with it in the backseat. He was so cute and excited to show us the custom design program. We made hims design a pretty ring for Jenna and an ugly one, just for fun.

he was so excited, haha

The next day we went to the mall to attend to some jewelry business. My parents had sent with Jenna some pieces that needed to be worked on. And why not pay way less, with a family member in the business? My dad's wedding ring needed to be sized up a lot, because he had smashed his knuckle months ago, while playing basketball. I had been after them to get his finger sized for weeks, and they finally did, so we knew what we were doing. We also needed to fix a pretty diamond necklace of my mom's. And plus, Zak wanted to bring in the huge metal box and show everything to Mat. Jenna and I looked at rings and jewelry, and tried a bunch of stuff on. That's always fun. By the time we had gotten everything figured out, we were all starving, so we went to our new favorite restaurant: Tokyo Seoul.

It is utterly delicious. Their teriyaki, beef or chicken, is so amazing. And their sushi is good too. I have progressed a lot in the last few years, in the world of sushi. I haven't gotten to nigiri or sashimi yet, but I plan to, soon. Their rolls are so good, and we made Jenna try them. She's not big on them, but 'choked' down a piece of the roll we got (eel, spicy tuna, cream cheese, crab, some other yummy things), and a few pieces of the California roll that came with her bento lunch. We stuffed ourselves and relished the delicious food we had. After that, it was back home to quickly pack and leave for Spokane. Jenna wanted to get some ice cream I had told her about, so we made a quick stop to get some, and then it was off to Spokane. We got there without any major hiccups. The weather did go crazy for awhile, but we survived. We got her safely there and checked in and through security. It was sad to say good-bye, but it was easier knowing we'd be together in July, which is very soon!

The rest of the pictures can be found on my Picasa album. Click here! Or cut & paste this into your web address bar: https://picasaweb.google.com/rozeharten/JennaSVisit?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuW6IGzzJOMew&feat=directlink

Easters

We had a nice Easter. Zak's grandparents invited us over, so we left mid-morning to arrive for the feast. Our drive was mostly uneventful, the weather was beautiful and calm. There was a really obnoxious/dangerous driver that tailed us for about 10 minutes. She was even given half a dozen opportunities to pass us, but didn't take them. I was driving and trying not to hit the car in front of us or have a collision with the moron behind us. Eventually, she passed us, and then tailed the car in front of us. We watched them do that to a few cars, and almost get into an accident. A+!

I brought a cake to contribute. I got the recipe from my mom, who had made it a few weeks previous. It was a very delicious white cake, with strawberries mixed in with whipped cream for the filling and topping (the recipe is posted on my recipe blog, here is the direct link). I made the cakes the night before, and mixed us the whipped cream and cut the strawberries that morning. We filled an ice bag and put the whipped cream in there, and when we arrived, it was not as stiff as I had hoped it would be. I threw it altogether and put it in the fridge to set up for a few hours.

not as pretty as I hoped, as I was a bit rushed, next time it will be prettier!

Dinner/lunch was yummy. Ham, potatoes, even jello salad! It was nice to be around Zak's family and share the holiday with them. We stuffed ourselves and then relaxed for awhile, while waiting to enjoy the cake. The cake was indeed, delicious. And worth every bite! I quickly made sure a piece would be saved for Jenna, and stored it away. Everyone loved the cake and we ate the whole thing up!

yum!

Zak and I stayed the night, so we wouldn't be driving so much; Jenna was arriving in Spokane the following night. It was nice to relax, talk to his grandparents and walk around their property. It was fun to listen to Zak's stories of his childhood, running around with his cousin, all of the animals and machines they'd play with. Zak's uncle Rick has a chicken coop, along with some other animals. There were some rabbits, baby chicks, a few chickens, a turkey, and a peacock, that had apparently just wandered onto their land! He let the turkey out, and although it was supposedly friendly, it got a bit too close for comfort for me. I admired the animals from afar. Their cat followed us around like a puppy, it was very funny. He loved having some attention. We also wandered around the orchard and took some pictures of the pretty cherry and peach tree blossoms. Too bad there were no fresh fruit to pick just yet! Hopefully we'll be back later for some peaches and cherries.

two chickens & a peacock
stare-off with the turkey
our new 'pet'
mrow

peach tree blossoms

The next morning we left for Spokane. The weather had turned fairly nasty, but the driving to Spokane wasn't horrendous. It was pretty easy to get there, though, so that's something. We had a few hours to kill, so we wandered around Northtown Mall. It was nice to be in a mall with more than one story? We did a bit of light shopping, lots of window shopping, and spent some time in our favorite store: the reptile store. It is awesome. We spent forever in it last time we were in Spokane, back in the fall. I just love looking at the huge pythons and boas! I want to have enough money to buy one of those $600+ snakes, along with a feeder for it. That'd be pretty sweet.

Zak's newest animal friend; if it wasn't $70, we would've come home with it

We quickly grabbed some dinner and headed to the airport to pick up Jenna. The drive home turned out to be pretty scary about halfway home. The weather just got horrible, with heavy, rapid rain and low visibility. Plus, we were in the middle of the Palouse, so the roads are windy and unlit. We had to slow down a lot, have the wipers on full blast, and turn the hi-beams on just to make sure we wouldn't crash. It was definitely the scariest weather I've ever witnessed inside of a car. Thankfully, it only last about 10-15 minutes, but those were the longest, most silent minutes of the drive. Zak did an excellent job and didn't allow anything bad to happen to us, the car, or anyone else. It was a relief to be back home safe.

There are a lot more pictures from our trip that I uploaded to my Picasa account. I just figured it out (kind of) and you can view those pictures by clicking on these words, or by cutting and pasting this URL into your address bar: https://picasaweb.google.com/rozeharten/Easter?authkey=Gv1sRgCNOY0-i_1-_1iQE&feat=directlink

this was taken after I realized I needed to 'un-zoom', so it's the best we could do after 4 pictures

The Concert!

On Sunday we went up to Spokane to go see one of our favorite bands, Coheed & Cambria in concert.  We decided to get there a few hours early and spend some time exploring Spokane.  We both were curious to see what the Macy's & Harry Ritchie's Spokane branch stores looked like, so we checked them out.  It was nice, I guess, to be in a mall with more than one level!  Ours is one long mall, and the one in Idaho Falls is a small, one level mall.  So we haven't been around a lot of stores in the same place in one time.  Isn't that weird how nice that feels?  I was thrilled to spend some time in Williams-Sonoma, just looking around.  And Spokane has two malls, the one in the downtown area and one about 10 minutes away, in what appeared to be Immigrant Land (totally joking, but seriously, a Chinese/Indian/Mexican restaurant every block).  That other mall looked awful on the outside, but was a lot nicer inside, and we found our favorite store ever. 

It was this awesome reptile store that I was hesitant to enter, but it was totally awesome.  There were all kinds of lizards, geckos, turtles, snakes, etc.!  There was even a black-light room with fluorescent scorpions and frogs.  The scorpions looked like they were about to battle, but nothing happened.  There were some huge tortoises, just walking around; Zak loved them.  It made me remember being in kindergarten; my teacher had-at least one that I can recall-an ancient tortoise, and she would let it wander around the classroom all day.  It was awesome.  There were two big ones in the store and a smaller one.  But my absolute favorites were the huge, H U G E pythons/boas.  There was a gorgeous yellow 16 foot long one that I could not stop staring at.  I was just utterly amazed that that thing existed and I was half a foot away from it.  I don't remember seeing a snake that big before in my life...maybe at a zoo, but there were several very long, very big snakes, huge thick snakes in one cage.  And if we had, oh, at least $700, I would have bought it.  Because a snake that big is just awesome.  I don't know, I'm not scared of snakes (but those spiders...especially the ones that eat birds (they had some at that store!), ugh), I mostly find them fascinating.  And if I encountered one in the wild, sure I'd be scared, but they don't freak me out to look at them.  They are rad.  And ones that are thrice the height of me are truly epic.

After we walked around the malls, we had dinner at a place called Cyrus O'Leary's in the downtown area.  It was a fun, affordable dinner.  I randomly decided on a guacamole burger (so worth it), Zak had great coconut chicken.  We passed on dessert and hoofed it to the concert venue.  It was at this place called the Knitting Factory, and I guess they have several locations all over the U.S.  We had gotten our tickets online last month, and had to pick them up at will call.  Unfortunately, we had to wait 30 minutes to do that, and had to watch lots and lots of people with tickets-in-hand pass us by.  Right as we got to will call, one of the guys who worked there was shouting instructions and was all, 'You know you guys can print tickets from home, right?'  I was mad because there wasn't even an option for me to do that, or else I would've!  I hate waiting in line when people get to pass me; that's why the Fast Pass at Disneyland is the greatest invention, it makes you feel superior to all the dorks who wait there forever.

Well, we ended up getting in just fine, and since I did not (heavy on the 'not') want to be in the mosh pit area, Zak graciously suggested we go find a place on the balconies.  We found a spot on the first tier, right next to the light board, in the center.  We didn't have anywhere to sit (my poor feet), but at least the spot was great.  And there was a schedule for the night next to the light board, so we knew when everything would start.  The opening band was called 'The Wild Orchids', or the 'Wild Orchid Children', but either way they were...awful.  The drummer and guitarist were both great, but there were 3 or 4 auxiliary percussionists.  Oh, and the singer mostly scream/sang into the microphone, so everything he said was undecipherable.  And there were too many bongos/congos...and a gourd?  And there were American flags tied to the microphone stands, and I said to Zak, 'Um...didn't Aerosmith do that whole 'scarf tied to the stand' thing?'.  Yeah.  Their energy was good, the music was fine, but there was just too much going on.  It seemed like they were trying way too hard to be hipster/scene/something.  It was definitely not what I would've picked to be the opener, and about 97% of the crowd agreed with me, because there was no movement from anyone, and only applause when necessary.  After 40 painful minutes, they exited the stage.

While we waited for COCA, I amused myself by watching the people in the mosh pit area below us.  There was a trio that just made me laugh.  There were two guys and a girl with pink short pigtails, who thought they could shove everyone in order to get near the front of the crowd.  They tried it once and annoyed enough people that they moved to the other side of the room.  Awhile later, I looked down to see them trying it again, and there was almost a fight, but someone in the crowd got a security guard's attention.  Basically, the whole crowd, and most of the people in the balconies pointed at the obnoxious trio and cheered when the guards dragged the three of them away.  And two minutes later, Coheed & Cambria came on.

I have loved this band since I was a sophomore in high school, and the same goes for Zak.  Zak went to concerts a lot when he was in CT, and I have been to one concert that I really wanted to go to, the others, eh.  But despite all of his concert guru-ness, he has never seen COCA in concert before, so he was so pumped for this.  I was a bit nervous that I would lose my hearing or just not have that much fun, but I was really wrong.  Before we started dating, I remember Zak came over for one of my apartment's 'dance parties', wearing a Coheed & Cambria shirt.  When I expressed my love for them, he snootily asked if I had liked them before they 'got big', and I fired back that I was listening to them for 'x' amount of years, so yes.  Of course, he fell in love with me on the spot and the rest is history. ;)

Anyways, the concert was truly awesome.  We sang and screamed along and had a huge amount of fun.  What is cool about COCA is that they are so technically proficient, but you can tell that they love to play, and aren't just showing off their skills.  They played a great selection of songs from all of their albums, including some of our personal favorites.  It was 90 minutes of bliss, basically.  And for the second encore, the main singer/lead guitar pulled out the double-necked guitar and blew us all away.  I was so impressed with how fast everyone's hands moved up and down the guitars, and the drums.  It was just awesome.  We made a quick exit once the house lights came on, and I discovered my hearing was mostly out and my throat was very sore.  We headed for a gas station to get an energy drink for Zak, and some water for me, and headed home, hyped up from the concert. 

All in all, a really fun day spent together in Spokane.  It was really nice to be able to do something that we both had a vested interest in.  And now Zak can check Coheed & Cambria off his concert list.  As for me, I may go to one here and there, but I do want to have most of my hearing intact when I'm 30, hahaha.  And sadly, I have no pictures of the venue or the show, because we only took our IDs and keys, but it's ok.  Without the camera, we were both really able to enjoy the show.  But here are some awesome snake pictures!

look how awesome

 I tried talking to it, like in Harry Potter. It ssseemed to ressspond well to me...

 Zak's new best friend

 'Buddy' trying to get out of his habitat

these lizards just looked really funny

Year One: Success

Saturday the 7th was our anniversary.  It's hard to believe that we've been married for a year.  But it was a pretty good year with some nice changes and events.  We got to celebrate Christmas with both our families, on opposites on the country, Zak's 21st birthday, my 22nd, my graduation from BYU-Idaho in April, our move to Moscow, and our first summer vacation to California with my family.  We have loved every minute of it, the good and the bad, and we both think we're doing a pretty good job at this whole 'being married' thing.

So to celebrate we decided to leave Friday afternoon and spend the night in Spokane, and then Saturday there.  We found a cool hotel called the Hotel Ruby to stay in.  It was right in the heart of downtown Spokane (complete with all of their one-way streets, that we had no idea about...), and seemed like it had been recently bought and refurnished.

our room

our view of the train from the room

We walked around after we checked in, looking some of the restaurants, and tried to decide where to eat.  We finally ended up going to a place I had heard good things about, the Steam Plant Grill.  It had originally been a steam plant to provide steam heat & electrical power to Spokane, and did so for about 70 years, until it was no longer economically feasible in the 1980s.  Then it was bought by some people and turned into a really neat restaurant, with most of its original features still intact.

hamming it up

less than perfect picture of our view from our table

walking back to our hotel, which was down a few blocks

Anyways, it was a great choice for dinner, because everything we had was absolutely delicious.  Zak had great fish & chips, and I had heavenly cheese raviolis with basil, shallots, a cream sauce on top of a tomato herb sauce.  I devoured the entire plate, because I haven't had such good raviolis in a long time.  Yum!  For dessert, we split a slice of huckleberry ice cream pie (the Northwest region we live in is crazy about huckleberry, but we don't mind).  Everything was perfect!

yum!

heaven

he was actually that excited, haha

The next morning we got up to a beautiful day and went to the Riverfront Park we had looked up online a few weeks before.   I thought it would be a fun thing to explore, since it was our first trip to Spokane.  We had a really fun time, and the weather was perfect.  We rode on the cool skyride thing, which took us on a lovely tour of the Spokane Falls.

on the skyride

in our gondola

Spokane Falls

We then went to the Imax theater to watch a really cool movie about the Hubble space telescope.  After that, we played a few rounds of mini golf, which Zak mostly dominated, with his three hole-in-one shots.  I got one hole-in-one, on the last hole on our last round!  We had a nice lunch and walked over to the famous Looff Carrousel, which has been around since 1909.  After a little bit more of walking around, we headed back home and had a nice night relaxing and watching a movie.

'be more excited!'-Zak

being more excited with my horse

I don't want to forget to acknowledge my anniversary gift from my wonderful husband.  Zak got me a beautiful 1/4 carat diamond necklace.  Ever since he bought me my beautiful diamond earrings for Christmas, when I would wear them, I'd say it's my '21 Diamond Day'.  So now when I wear all my diamonds, it's my 22 Diamond Day.  So I have as many diamonds as I am old.  For a few months, anyways.  Zak is a very thoughtful and great husband, who may spoil me a little more than I deserve.  Part of his reasoning is that he's going to get me jewelry while he's in the job field for it, with the discounts, etc.  He jokes that when we're old, he'll have gotten me all of the jewelry, so then he'll get me, what, sweaters?  Anyways, I love my necklace, and wear it a lot. :)

Zak's present was a Citizen watch he picked out months ago.  He even had it transferred in from another store so he could wear it at work before we officially bought it.  He is very happy with it, and wears it all day.  I also got him, what I think, is a fun take on the traditional 'first paper' gift: a year subscription to National Geographic.  He was surprised and is excited to have something interesting to read (and so am I).

So it was a great anniversary, sorry it took a bit to post this.  I wanted to have all of the corresponding pictures to go along with the words, so here you go.