Short Update

Not a whole lot has happened this past month.  For a while the weather was nice, then it turned cold & rainy (50 degrees in mid-June!), and now we are having a record-breaking heat wave.  Zack has been enjoying his new job, more or less.  He's had some run-ins with clouds of mosquitoes (one day he came home & his arms were covered in bites, ugh), a tick here or there and only one major sunburn.  He's actually quite tan!  Work for me has slowed down, as the schools are on break.  August and September will definitely be busy, though.  I got a new chair for work, which I know doesn't sound exciting, but I was pretty pumped for it.  I made Zack come along with me as I tried out a bunch of different types of chairs at Staples & Office Depot.  Then I found the one.  It's a Tempur-pedic (I didn't even know those existed!) and I fell in love on first sit.  So I ordered it the next day and it arrived within a week.  And I put it together all by myself!  And now my back doesn't hurt (as much) after work. :)

A few weekends ago we went camping with Kandace & Gabe on a beach by the river.  We took Penny with us, who proved once again, that she is just an amazing and well-behaved dog.  It was her first experience with water and at first she was a bit nervous.  We think it was because the sand/silt would change as she moved through it.  My favorite thing she did was run alongside the water as waves from a passing boat lapped up on the shore.  She didn't quite know what to make of the waves.  We had a nice time, the weather was beautiful and we had the area all to ourselves.  The river was too cold for swimming, but it was nice to walk around in.  The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at Kandace's parents' place in Lewiston.  Her parents were camping and arrived later in the afternoon.  Then we had dinner with them, as it was Father's Day.  It was nice to be included as part of the family.  (Plus having that cute dog of ours doesn't hurt; they love Penny!)

Here are some pictures from the past month:

I rode in the back w/Penny while we drove around, looking for a campsite

on the way to Albion to visit friends

happily sniffing the air

50's housewife Penny

:)

cautious little pup

panoramic view of where we camped

new chair!

Blur of Updates

I know I've been bad about updating the blog with our life happenings, but the past two months have been absolutely crazy for us. We are just now getting back into the pace of life and catching our breaths. Here are some of the major happenings:

Digilent to National Instruments
I don't know if I've even mentioned it on the blog, but long story short, the company I work for, Digilent, was recently bought by National Instruments.  The deal closed at the end of last year, but changes didn't start happening until April.  Despite all the prep work we supplied NI (mountains of paperwork: benefits, employee stock plan, life insurance, 401(k), etc), they still haven't gotten everything completely figured out and squared away.  It has been very frustrating.  We are supposed to be getting access to their intranet this month, but that's debatable.  I still love my job, though, and am finally feeling confident in my position and have undertaken more responsibilities that will hope my advancement in the company.  Also, I'm getting a new chair soon, so that's great.

Zak's new job
Zak recently started a new job as a laborer for the WSU grounds crew.  He is already enjoying it; he gets to ride on the 4-wheeler, spend time outside, do physical work, and get paid decent money for it.  I am also thrilled because we get to carpool to and from work together!  This job will last until mid-August, and then he will return to his school-year job at UI.   


Rachel the semi-runner
I decided to give the Couch to 5k program another shot, once the ice had gone away.  For the first few weeks, Zak and Penny came along with me, but eventually I went at it on my own.  Not that I didn't want their company, but Zak had several other obligations and priorities, and running by myself with Penny still isn't something I like to do (she's so strong! and there was too much for me to focus on), so I went rogue.  Last week I finished the program!  Today was my first 'free run', and it was my best time yet.  I can now run 2.65 miles in 30 minutes and to me, that is HUGE!  I am going to work on improving my time, and I would love to do a local 5k run by the end of the year.  I have been surprised with how much I've enjoyed getting up early and running through our neighborhood.

First emergency
First off, everything is fine and we are all ok.  On the second day of Zak's 2-week camping trip for school, I got a call from him from the hospital in McCall, ID.  I quickly left work (everyone was so kind and supportive throughout all of this) and Jenna and I drove to pick Zak up.  It was an 8-hour round-trip and I would not have been able to survive that day if my sister wasn't with me.  Zak had an urethral stricture and was prescribed 2 types of antibiotics, Vicodin, and had a catheter in for the next week until his surgery day.  For a week he basically laid or sat on the couch, depending on what was comfortable, and took his pills and tried not to complain too much.  The day Jenna flew back to CA was the same day as Zak's surgery at 6am.  Jenna's flight was at 6:40, so after our farewell, I rushed back to Moscow to wait until the surgery was over.  It was successful and Zak woke up in the recovery room talking about how his head felt like macaroni & cheese.  We actually had a very pleasant experience with everyone at the hospital.  The nurses laughed at Zak's jokes, were funny and personable.  After an hour or two after the surgery, I took him home and took care of him.  He had to have a catheter in until Friday, and once he took that out, everything has been great.  He has a follow-up appointment on Wednesday, but he feels great, so we should be good to go. 

My sincere thanks for our family and friends for all their help and support with this.  Special shout-outs to:
-Reilly parents, who took care of getting the truck fixed (it stopped working 2 days before Zak left), it helped so much to know that was taken care of
-Gabe, for lending us the Jeep for a week
-Jenna, for being incredibly helpful, sweet and supportive.  She is truly the best sister anyone could ask for, and I'm so so glad she's mine :)

Jenna's visit
Jenna spent 2 weeks with us!  It was a great trip, with lots of fun adventures and food.  I was lucky to get several days off, or work 1/2 days when she was here.  I especially loved having our friends meet Jenna, who have heard about her for 2 years but have not met her.  Likewise, she was excited to meet our friends (& their pets); all the times spent together with friends were fun and I'm so happy everyone loved her/she loved them!  She was thrilled to meet Hampton the pig, who is now a PIG (he's so big!) as well.  We played games, had a marathon of Daniel Craig as James Bond, went camping, made food, and rode roller coasters at Silverwood.  It was really fun for me to have her around, because she is such a delight and always willing to help.  After driving almost 9 hours in Gabe's Jeep to get Zak, I collapsed once we got home.  She made us dinner and it was amazing.  Penny loved her, and loved snuggling with her on the couch.  We all loved having her here and can't wait for her next visit!

Wedding season
There are 3 big weddings this summer!  Zak's sister Delaney is getting married in Boston in August and a few days later, my brother Kenny is getting married in California.  We are still trying to finalize flights and trip details, but it's an exciting time!  Our great friends Chad & Bryan will be getting married here at the end of July, and we are both in the wedding party.  I will also be helping Chad's best friend Emily with her wedding at the beginning on September--I am going to be in charge of the food, etc.  We are so excited to be a part of these weddings, as we love all the people involved! 

General/Penny
Penny is about a year old!  We still love the crap out of her and she still loves us!  With all the chaos in our lives lately, she probably has been acting out a little.  We have come home more than once to find a hole (or two) she's dug while waiting for us to return.  We've been told it's probably separation anxiety, so we are taking actions to fix that.  Now that the weather is nice, we leave her out in the yard on a tether.  The cord is long enough that she can rest in the shade by the bushes or the shed and get to her toys, etc.  So far it's been a bit of trial and error; we came home one day to her waiting for us at the gate...which is NOT accessible if she's on the tether.  She had dug it up.  Of course.  We've also come home to her wrapped around the bushes or poles by the patio.  It's funny because she's a very smart dog, but she can't figure out how to unwrap herself?  We have also been working on some new tricks, like balancing a treat on her nose.  She has not gained the composure yet to accomplish that, but she is getting good at waiting until we say a command. 

Most nights she sleeps with us, sometimes she leaves in the middle of the night to go to her bed.  I usually go to bed earlier and will read until I get tired.  It's very cute because she will watch me pull and rearranged the blankets and wait until I get into bed and then she hops up on and cuddles with me.  She loves to sit/lay next to me, but it's better if she can have most of her butt on me in someway.  It's really silly, but sweet.  She is getting really good at jumping to catch the Frisbee, it's so fun to watch her!  It doesn't seem like her leg is bugging her at all.  She runs, jumps, plays just fine.  She's a very happy, loving dog.

Other general updates...we are currently working on some ideas for the yard.  A few weeks ago I acquired some heirloom tomato seedlings.  I was on a run and there was a sign saying they were free, so I ran home with two of them...and then drove back to get a few more.  They are in a big pot inside, but we are about to transplant them to the window box by our bedroom.  I have seeds for squash, cucumber and lettuce, and while I have hopes for all of them to do well, I'm most concerned about the tomatoes.  I have some flower seeds that I'd like to plant in a different section of that yard.  Zak wants to build a little stone patio, we have started to look around to get ideas on what will work the best.

I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I have a bunch from Jenna's visit, but they are also on Facebook, so you can view them there.  I think that's everything for now! 

Zak's Birthday Weekend

*note*: sorry I have been so bad about posting this--I keep meaning to and then life happens!

Zak's grandpa Terry gave him the gun on the left (9mm..?). So now he has 2 handguns. He's happier than he looks.

Well, I think Zak had a pretty good birthday weekend!  He wanted to go camping, so camping we went!  Bryan & Chad were out of town (in Italy, lucky ducks!), so our number of buddies shrunk, but we managed to have a pretty fun time.

delicious, delicious quiche

Friday night I made Zak a birthday dinner quiche--it was really good!  Caramelized onion, bacon & tomatoes, so yummy!  On his birthday Saturday, I got up & made blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  My favorite part was after we were done eating, Zak said, 'I have syrup in my mustache...that's how I know I had a good breakfast.'  My birthday gift to Zak was an hour-long massage at the newly opened massage therapy place at the U of I (it was easy because Zak came home a few weeks ago w/a flyer about it, said he wanted that, so I made it happen), he said it was very nice and relaxing & that he'll make sure to get me in there sometime soon.

campsite...ours is the smaller tent, haha!

Zak & Gabe with their (very useful) headlamps

After the massage, we packed up and went off to camp with Kandace & Gabe.  The place we went was only about 20 minutes away, past Troy, at a place called Spring Valley.  It was nice, and we had a sweet little campsite that was secluded.  It would've been nice to have one by the water, but the seclusion was nice.  We had a fun evening, complete with s'mores, hot dogs and the greatest invention by Zak: s'mores hot dog: hot dog + bun + toasted marshmallow.  It was seriously better than you'd think!  And we got the huge marshmallows so it was quite messy!  I had a few giant s'mores and at one point just ended up with a huge handful of marshmallow-chocolate mess and laughing.  There were lots of cute little chipmunks running around, threatening to take our food.  One had successfully ripped through the bag with the chocolate-covered raisins in it!  We put out a giant marshmallow for them, and a few minutes later, saw one eating this huge marshmallow, slowly but surely.  It was pretty cute.

about to try the wonders of hot dog + toasted marshmallow!

survey says: not bad!

my giant marshmallow mess

how cute is this?!

We had a really fun night, despite the cold.  The next morning we got up and decided to go to brunch.  We went to the Best Western Sunday brunch, complete with free drinks, omelets, crepes, all kinds of pastries, meat dishes AND a chocolate fountain!  We had a great time and stuffed ourselves appropriately.  Kandace and I then went to get pedicures because despite scrubbing my feet for 10 minutes in the shower, my feet were in bad shape.  We had a lovely, relaxing hour being pampered.  A few hours later we met up again, with the addition of friends Margret & Ian and had birthday cake: yellow cake with peach puree and raspberry frosting.  It was good and we had a fun time.

birthday brunch!

Kandace & Gabe

this picture is cute

my (lack of) decorating skills

birthday!

Oh yeah, so Zak got a hammock with some birthday money. He's in love. He loves it a whole lot and practically lives in it now. One night he even slept outside in it...voluntarily! It is really comfy, now I want one!!
 

so cozy

ah yes, relaxing is wonderful

Camping Inside & Rachel gets a Job

A few weeks ago, we talked about going camping for the few days Zak had off of work. But then we decided to just camp inside because there was a thunderstorm. It was fun; we moved the furniture and set up the tent and got all the blankets out. But then around 2 AM we woke up and decided that the air mattress wasn't super comfortable and went upstairs to our comfy bed.

I got a job! Two weeks ago, Zak was talking to the manager of the pizza place in the mall (Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill), who mentioned they were looking for some new people. The next day Zak & I went in and filled out an application, and when I turned it into the manager, he said he'd call me later about setting up a time to do paperwork, and that I'd be the hostess, starting off at part-time for the moment. It was so sudden and almost difficult to believe, but there it was! So a few days later I went in and filled out all the papers and talked to him about the job. So far I'm working part-time as a hostess, and most likely getting full-time soon (Rush for the colleges starts next week, the week after both universities start back up, so I'll be working a lot more), and eventually will be a server. I'm a bit nervous about being a server, but I'm glad that, so far, my job is pretty easy at the moment. I basically stand around, look pretty, seat customers and help bus tables or roll silverware, tidy up if it needs to be done. My only complaint is that I have to wear a black polo and tan pants, yuck. And I have to cover up my nose ring. I put my diamond stud back in, and just cover it up with a band-aid for the few hours I work.

It's nice to be back in the mall and close to Zak, scheduling will be easier with both of us working there. And everyone I've met so far is really helpful and nice and easy to get along with. And they've been patient with me, not only because I'm new, but I'm also new to the food service industry. So I'm not complaining, because a job is a job. I'm still going to see if maybe I can find another part-time job in the future.

Other than that, our gladiolus bulbs I got from Wal-Mart and planted in May are finally flowering! I planted them on a whim, not expecting too much, but lo and behold, most of them grew up nicely! We've had some pretty pink ones, as well as purple, and right now there is a new yellow one and a beautiful white one. I'm happy! But in other garden news, our vegetables really aren't doing well. This summer was weird, we had cold snaps and then heat waves, so maybe next year we'll stick to all flowers.

Coming up on the next blog entry: our anniversary in Seattle! Keep on the look-out for it!

Impromptu Camping

Zak had last Wednesday and Thursday off from work. Around mid-morning on Wednesday, he suggested we go camping that night. I agree, since, what else do I have going on?, and we spent some time looking for a place to go and making a list of what we needed to buy and bring. We checked out the local Tri-State store and then went over to Walmart to compare prices. As usual, Walmart won out because we aren't exactly wealthy currently. But we found great deals on a tent, camp chairs and a cooler that we both agreed on, so it was a successful trip. We quickly picked up some drinks and food from Winco, packed everything up and headed out on an adventure.

We drove about 30 - 40 minutes NE of Moscow, into St. Joe's National Park. The first campsite we tried was almost all full, lots of kids, campers and RVs; not what we had in mind. But we found a map and decided to try a site a bit further into the park. We totally lucked out and had the entire place to ourselves, plus it was just what we wanted! A quiet, heavily wooded campground with a fire pit, benches, a bathroom and a table. Once we got to our lot, we realized that although we had brought the air mattress, the pump for it had gotten left behind. I was a little annoyed, but we had enough blankets that it wouldn't be a completely horrible experience.

We got the tent set up and Zak got a fire going. I enjoyed being there with him, since he likes to camp and is good at it. I am good at making lists and bringing things, and taking care of the food, haha. We had gotten there around 5 in the evening, so we just relaxed and talked for awhile. We did explore a little bit, but I forgot my camera. And we didn't take pictures later or in the morning like I was planning (you'll soon read why), but we are planning on going back to the same place the next time we go out.

It was a really nice, relaxing night. We had hot dogs, grapes, chips and chili and beans. As we were unloading food, I realized that I forgot the new utensils we had gotten. I had washed them earlier and they were left in the dish drainer. Zak decided to experiment and started whittling some thin pieces of wood. He whittled them down into a semi-spoon shape and we wrapped the ends with foil and they worked, more or less! I was proud of him, because I had no idea what to do.

By the time we were getting tired, clouds had started to roll in, which was a bit disheartening, since the weather had been beautiful all day. I asked Zak to put the rain tarp/cover over the tent, because I'd rather it be on there before bed, then get wet and angry and make him do it in the middle of the night. It was a good thing he put that thing on, because it did rain a little during the night. Not a ton of rain, but everything sounds amplified from inside a tent. Zak slept pretty well, he said. I, on the other hand, struggled a bit. My allergies have been keeping me up and waking me up a lot lately, so I've been downing every kind of medicine I can find in the hopes of zonking out and staying that way until morning. I did not have one of those rare, uninterrupted nights. I woke up a few times, tossed and turned, shivered and tried desperately hard to fall back asleep. Let's just say we will not forget the air mattress pump ever again.

We woke up to the smell of rain and decided to just get a move on, since the rain was on and off. Too bad we didn't realize that it was 5 in the morning. But it was ok, we quickly packed up and drove home, and then passed out a few hours later.

But we had a really fun time, and for those of you who know me, camping isn't really my thing. But I had fun. I liked being out there with Zak. I figure if he's going to be a park ranger, I better start warming up to the idea of camping, etc. We plan on going camping in a few weeks, and as often as we can this summer, since we had so much fun. Next time we might even going hiking! Here are pictures. I meant to take some more in the morning and/or of us in our cute tent, but when morning came, I was doing my best not to be a total grump. So next time, there will be more pictures.

Zak buckled up our $5 oil (?) lantern. Adorable.

Almost there!

Where we stayed, obviously.

Our campsite.

Don't fool yourself, I helped with this too! Just wanted one of him, since he was so proud and happy.

Weird fungi/mushrooms on a old tree stump.

The first impromptu spoon Zak made.

Oh great Fire Master...

Whittling away.

With his creations. We're both still impressed they worked so well.

Being goofy.

Putting the rain shield cover on.

Trying out the spoons at last!