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! 

Jumping Off Waterfalls! + other fun (3 year anniversary, too)

This has been a really fun & exciting summer.  We finally feel like we are 'home'.  Our friends are great, we hang out with them often, we love our new place and both have new, great jobs. (Zak just started a new job for the school, he'll be working part-time doing A/V set up.  He's really excited about it, and it'll be a good fit with our schedules!) 

We have had a lot of fun adventures this summer and made a lot of good memories.  A few weeks ago Bryan & Chad got engaged and we had fun celebrating the love they share.  We are all really excited and happy for them.  The day after the party we went hiking with them and Kandace up in Elk River, about an hour/hour and a half away.  It was seriously beautiful and amazing to be in the forests.  We hiked for an hour or so and then sat and ate lunch with a beautiful vista of one of the three waterfalls in the park area.  We saw some people swimming in the lower falls area, but couldn't figure out how to get there; it was really steep and no clear path.  We then decided to go back to the first waterfall and try to get to that to swim in.  The hike back was definitely more taxing, a lot of hiking uphill and plus it was still really hot out.  But we made it to the upper falls and quickly got in the water.

Kandace & Bryan leading the way

 

Chad & Zak have a fun bromance

Zak talking about the cabin he wanted to build there

 

hiking hiking hiking

upper falls, where we swam

 

middle falls

lower falls, wish we could've figured out how to get down there, but oh well

beautiful vista

you can't really tell, but it was super steep and we foraged a crazy (dangerous) path down to the falls

excited to go swimming!

where we went swimming, we climbed up to the top area

 The water was a lot warmer than we had expected, but it felt glorious.  The current from the falls was pretty strong, but there were plenty of rocks and ledges to hang onto.  I was having fun just swimming around but then the boys decided to climb up the falls.  The next thing I know I was nervously climbing up some rocks, but luckily the guys helped and made me feel safe and got me to the top of the falls, where there was a little pool to relax in.  But that wasn't enough, because then they decided to go over the small falls in that area and go into the next pool, where there was a place to jump off.  Zak did it, without us really knowing, but thankfully he didn't get hurt at all.  He even convinced me to jump off the top of the waterfall.  I was fine until I got to the top of the rocks and had to position myself to jump, but man once I did, it was so awesome!  It was so much fun and I was really proud of myself for doing something new and a bit scary.  I felt like a warrior woman for conquering the waterfall. 

We had a great time in the woods with our friends.  We are planning on going back sometime soon and hopefully camping overnight.  And I definitely want to try jumping off that waterfall again!

On Tuesday the 7th, Zak and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary.  Man, the time has been flying!  It's hard to believe it's already been three years.  Since it was on a Tuesday, we both decided to work and just go to dinner after.  It was actually to spend a quite evening at home, and not be somewhere else dealing with a hotel, etc.  We went to Sangria, a Peruvian inspired place.  It's really good; we've been a few times before and every time we have been there, our food has been great.  Zak had a chicken dish with rice, onions, and some other things--it was really yummy.  I had two appetizers: crab cakes and a crunchy spinach salad, both were excellent.  It was a nice evening.

Zak starts school on Monday, he has a bit of a weird schedule but he is planning on going to the gym or doing homework in his free time.  We are hoping to go camping sometime soon.  Tonight is the Lentil Fest in Pullman, which we are going to with Chad & Bryan.  We haven't been before, but it's apparently really fun and a big deal, so it should be a good time. 

Summer Adventures

We are having a pretty good summer so far.  We love having a backyard to relax in!  It's been nice to have dinners or early morning chats out on our lawn furniture.  Lately it's been really hot so we've been using our previous tenant's kiddie pool to soak our feet in while tanning (well, tanning for me, sitting in the shade mostly for Zak).  It may be a bit "white trashy" but it feels amazing.  Our friend Chad comes over often and we sit outside and tan for a few hours.

This past Fourth of July was the first one we've both had off together.  We got up and had homemade breakfast burritos (our latest obsession) and had a nice discussion for a few hours.  Around noon Chad came over and then Kandace and eventually Gabe.  We all just hung out, listened to music and tanned with our feet in the pool.  It was pretty perfect.  We had burgers, watermelon, homemade cookies & cream ice cream and lots of fun!  Bryan came over for a little bit and then  we all ended up in Pullman for the fireworks show.  It was a really fun day!

me & Kandace soaking up the sun

Chad, Gabe & Zak moving the pool

me & Bryan

Kandace & her fluffy dog we love, Simon

Gabe, Kandace & Bryan waiting for fireworks

a goofy picture of Zak, Chad & me

One day Chad came over with Hampton, who had 'stress-pooped' in his kennel on the way over, and was covered in poop.  Chad ended up power-spraying him with the hose while Hampton squealed and ran around the yard.  It was pretty funny.  The rest of the afternoon Hampton took to the bushes and reverted to 'wild pig' and only came out when he was offered food.  We tried to put him in the pool but he hated it and in the process of desperately escaping, stepped his little high-heeled hoof on my foot.  Ouch.  Zak tried misting him, but he was unhappy.  That pig just makes me laugh, he is always fun to play with.

the exact second he was in the pool

the only way we got him out of the bushes

look how cute!

We have been enjoying hanging out with our friends often; we have a great group of friends and it's made our lives really fun this past year.  This past weekend we went down to Lewiston and went tubing on a small part of the Snake River with Kandace and her parents.  It was so much fun.  The weather was in the upper 90s and the water felt amazing.  We floated down the river, had sandwiches, cookies, chips, drinks and enjoyed soaking up the sun and yelling at passing boats.  Everyone except me got a pretty red sunburn, despite the huge amount of sunscreen put on.  Oh well.  It was really fun, we want to do it every weekend!

Later that evening we hung out with Kandace and her boyfriend Gabe and played video games.  We got a hankering for KFC and drove over to the KFC/Taco Bell only to discover that chicken stopped at 9 PM.  It was 9:10.  We waited impatiently for 10 minutes behind a suburban from South Carolina that ordered, I kid you not, 6 full bag of Taco Bell.  That needed 10 minutes to put together.  We parked at Safeway, determined to find another option to dinner.  I headed to the bathroom, on the way I saw some kid (kid A) walking out of it.  Whatever.  I was washing my hands and noticed a backpack in the garbage.  We have been watching a lot of Weeds lately, so I immediately thought it was a drug deal.  I quickly felt around and check the pockets, but it was unzipped and felt empty.  I walked out of the bathroom and saw this kid with a goofy hat (kid B) sitting a bench, waiting for the bathroom while kid A was nonchalantly walking around the area; he even asked a clerk where the chips were, although they were obviously on the next aisle.  I practically ran to find Zak and pulled him back towards the bathroom, explaining what I had seen.  We waited and Zak took his blood pressure, and a few minutes later, kid B came out of the bathroom wearing the backpack!  We are convinced we saw a drug deal happen!  Amazing.

Tonight Chad came over & we ended up cutting the boys' hair!  Well, Zak buzzed Chad's hair and Chad gave Zak a mohawk because, why not?  They are pretty cute together.

buzzing Chad's hair

buzzing Zak

pre-product Zak (note his sunburn from this weekend!)

these boys are pretty fun

Zak profile 1

Zak profile 2

Other than that, Zak has been having some long, hot days at work.  He comes home, takes a shower and sits under the fan and relaxes for a bit.  I left my job at the attorney's office because it was seriously the most stressful I've ever been in my life.  It was too much work for just me, and she never had the time (or priority) to train me.  I was expected to be up to date on over 100 clients, had no one else to check things with and a few times a week I came home and just cried to Zak.  It was pretty bad.  I've been job hunting, with some mild success.  I have a few job interviews lined up and expect to find something soon.  It's been a bit of a trying time for us, but are hanging in there, trying to enjoy ourselves and make ends meet.  One day we'll look back on this time fondly, right?

Anyways, our plans in the future involve meeting up with Zak's family, who will be in Coeur d'Alene at the end of the month with the rest of the extended family for Zak's grandparents' anniversary.  It should be a really nice weekend.  Zak is looking forward to impressing everyone with his facial hair, slight tan and muscles.  Our 3rd wedding anniversary is during the week in August, but we don't have any plans just yet.  So that's our life for now!