Rachel's Got a New Job & Our Ceiling is Leaking!

We have had a wet March around here. And I don't just mean the random snow and then rain and back to snow every few days. Our downstairs bathroom has been leaking a lot as of late. In the past week & a half we have collected almost 9 1/2 quarts of water--I haven't emptied the bucket because I plan on showing our manager and the maintenance worker. Luckily, we do have a great apartment manager who has been helping us out with this. She quickly got the roofers here to get an estimate, e-mailed the bids to her supervisor and now we're just waiting for the contractors to give us a time and date--and have the weather be steadily nice, for once! There are a few leaks, and sometimes near the bottom of the surrounding walls will leak. It could be worse, like when we had the apartment kind of flood about a year & a half ago. It is mostly just inconvenient and frustrating. The manager still has to get it approved, but she said we most likely won't have to pay rent this month, as a way to help us out.

But now for the exciting news: I got a new job! It's at a local, small law firm downtown. And I'll be working 9 - 5, Monday - Friday, with a good starting pay rate & promises for raises once my probationary period ends. Zak sent me the ad he saw on craigslist about a week ago, so I wrote up a cover letter (the ladies said it was the best one they had read for the job!) and sent off my resume. About a day or two later, I got an e-mail back asking for a good time to schedule an interview. On Monday I had my first interview, with the gals who held the position previously. It went really well, we had a good back & forth and it felt very natural. I convinced them I could definitely get the job done and be a great fit for the office. An hour after the interview, they called to set up an interview for Tuesday.

When I got there, the two ladies in charge were still interviewing the only other person for the job. So I sat and chatted with the girl I met the previous day for a bit. When I was called in, I knew I had a good chance of getting the job, they responded really well to my humor, personality and there was very comfortable feeling in the room. We mostly just chatted, they told me I got a glowing report from the other ladies and complimented my cover letter and resume. And told me they thought I'd be a great fit for the office, and how important it is to have personalities that work well in such a small office. So we talked for about 30 minutes and then they asked when I could start! I told them I'd talk to my current manager and then call them back. I could not stop smiling as I drove to the mall to tell Zak. And then I recapped everything that happened. I walked down to Smoky Mountain and told my manager that I got a new job and asked what the procedure was for leaving--I just had to fill out a form that said when my last day would be. He's hiring some new servers and wanted me to help train them this weekend, so I will work this weekend but that's it. I am starting my new job on Monday!

We are so excited. It's pretty much a perfect fit for me. It's a small, quiet office and I actually like office work. I'm only a little bit nervous that I won't live up to the expectations, but Zak has reassured me I will because I am awesome. So now we will be doubling our income, so I can justify buying some new work clothes!

On not-as-exciting-but-still-good-news, Zak is on the reserve list for fire crew. We're not exactly sure how big the list is or how big a possibility of him getting on the crew is, but he'll find out soon. I'm pretty sure training starts in May, so we have about a month to find out, I think. It was a pretty big blow to find that out, especially since Zak did everything in his power to make a good impression and talk to the guy in charge. But it's almost certain that they picked the guys with experience first. So that's been hard to let sink in. But it's not a definite no, Zak still has a chance. He's trying to get some other things in motion, back-up plans and the like. Hopefully he'll be able to find something that will be related to his field.

We've started to look at other apartments. It's not solely because of the recent leak problems, but we feel it might be time to move. We've lived here for 2 years and while we have liked it, we feel like we should let someone else who needs the nice, government-subsidized place have it. My biggest priority is having a washer & dryer, I've gotten really frustrated with the laundry facility here. There are a few places that we would like to move into, so we are putting out feelers for them. We have to give our apartment manager a month's notice, so we are trying to figure something out soon and hopefully move mid-May. At least we have a truck now, so it'll make things easier!

So, a mixture of good and bad news for us. School is still going well for Zak, he is doing great in his classes and all that jazz. I've been good about working out 3 - 4 times a week and eating better. I'm almost to the point where the next size down in clothes will be comfortable and not as tight. So close! And I've gotten a lot tanner, so hopefully by the time I head to California, I'll be brown Rachel again! That's all I have for now, I'll try to write a new post soon--about my first week of work and whatever happens with the roof.

Pretzels & Crafts

Welcome to March!  Today it briefly snowed and hailed and it has been cold and windy all day.  So much for spring!

But we have been making the best of it all.  Zak has been doing well in school; midterms are next week and spring break is the following week.  I have been doing my best to keep busy and have been pretty successful this week.  I created a new weights routine and have done it the past few days.  It takes about an hour to do it all, but I put on a few episodes on Netflix and it flies by.  I find myself even enjoying it!  I don't even mind waking up sore!

On Monday night, we both had the hankerin' for soft pretzels.  But it was about 8 at night and we weren't feeling up to going outside, so I looked for a good recipe online to make our own.  It actually was a pretty fun experiment, and we will probably make them again.  I got the dough ready, and Zak formed them into their pretzel shape.  It was pretty cute to watch him, he had some good moves!  Together it went really smoothly and we devoured the pretzels once they came out of the oven.  They were so yummy and we have been brainstorming ways to make different varieties of pretzels.  Here is the recipe entry on it: http://rachelrecipelover.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-soft-pretzels.html

look at the beautiful pretzels Zak formed!

you knew this picture was coming, right?

delicious, perfect pretzels

My latest accomplishment has been planning our entire month's meals.  With our new car payments factored into our budget, I decided I needed to take some time to really budget our finances.  I don't mind, it's actually kind of fun for me, which is weird.  Once I picked about a dozen recipes I wanted to try or make again, I wrote down all the ingredients needed for the recipes and figured out what I'd need to buy and what we already have.  Today I went and bought all the ingredients we need for the month and came in under budget!  The second half of my accomplishment was to make a 'meal calendar'.  I've been doing some art stuff with paint chip samples I've scored from Wal-mart (once they're all done, pictures and a blog entry will go up), and had some leftover.  I've seen some cute ideas online and just went for it today.  I am actually really pleased with the result, but I need to invest in a good, fine-tipped dry erase marker.

my calendar!

with flash

yes, two calendars but: 1 is for work & school

That's all of the news for this week!

We Bought a Truck! (+ other things)

Zak had Wednesday & Thursday of last week off from work, and we had a couple of great days together!  We have been thinking about buying a truck for some time now, and we figured that we'd put our tax returns towards it, and hopefully getting a decent trade-in for our car.  The Lumina ran fine enough, but there were some problems that worried us, and after talking it through, we decided a truck would be a practical choice for us.  When Zak gets a job in the forest service, it'll be good for that, I'll be more confident about driving in the winter, and we won't mind being the 'friends with a truck' to help move people.  So Zak has been checking out Craigslist and local dealers for the past month or two, trying to find something for us.

On Thursday we drove down to Lewiston to check out a place.  The first place kind of deterred us, and we went across the street just to browse another lot.  By happenstance, we found a truck we liked.  It was a bit out of our price range, but the salesman was actually really nice and helpful and we soon found ourselves in his office, talking numbers.  I was a bit more nervous about everything, but when we had some time alone, Zak and I talked through our budget and came up with an absolute limit, and talked everything out.  He was sure we could make it work, and once I thought about it long enough, I came around and agreed.  We planned with our current budget in mind, and if Zak or I get better jobs this summer, we will be able to make bigger payments and hopefully knock off some time in the long-run.  Zak was really good while we were discussing numbers with our salesman; he commented on how it was interesting to be on the other side of the table.  We lucked out an had a guy who wasn't overly pushy; Zak told him what we could afford and was strong.  I was a bit flustered, but trusted Zak.

After a few hours, we got everything worked out.  And we became the new owners of a white, '99 Chevy Silverado 1500.  WITH cup-holders (long story short: I broke every one of our cup-holders and attachments for holding cups within the first few months of owning the Lumina. I now am on my best behavior)!  It has a big enough cabin to sit three comfortably, a nice toolbox in the back, and a nice stereo--we just have to find our old CDs and something to make new ones with.  We drove home on a cloud; it was such a nice feeling to get rid of our old beater, and have a vehicle we were confident and proud of!  So far we just love it; I never thought I would own a truck, but I am finding myself eating my words, because I actually really love it.  It drives really well, and will last us for a long time.  We are over the moon about it.  It was our first big purchase together, and it was a bit intimidating, but we are so glad we did it!

When we got home from Lewiston, we ran and got bagels; we had left home without eating anything at all, and by this time, it was near 5 pm.  Nothing has ever tasted so good!  We had a few hours to relax at home, and then we were off to Pullman for a concert.  One of Zak's favorite (I like them too!) bands, Cursive, was playing at a small venue in Pullman.  He saw them a few years back in CT with his best friend and was thrilled when he saw they would be in town.  The venue is an old church-turned concert hall, and was really neat.  There were big stained glass windows and great acoustics.  Little did we know that there would be a ton of hipsters there, but Cursive is a bit of an indie rock band, so go figure.  We had a great time 'hipster-watching' and made up names and stories for some of the best ones.  The two opening bands were actually both good, which was a nice surprise.  Cursive had a great set, there was a good mix of old and new stuff.  Their encore was amazing, and we left around midnight just elated.  What an excellent day!

In other news, Zak was a sweetheart and bought me 100 tanning minutes at a local place for me for Valentine's Day.  I've been griping about looking paler than normal (guess that's what I get for living in a place with actual winter), and he thought this would help me feel more normal.  I called on Monday and talked to the owner, who was so sweet and answered all my questions, and when I went in, was so helpful.  I had a great experience, and went two more times this week.  I got a little pink on my tummy, because I normally don't tan that...at all.  But I am actually really surprised with how much I've enjoyed tanning in a salon!  And it's nice to feel more like myself; for me tanning is less of a 'tan is hot' mindset and more of a 'this is what I normally look like' thought process.  So this has already helped my self-esteem, and hopefully by the time I go to CA in June, I will look more like the Rachel everyone is used to!

That's about all the news there is to report on.  I've been making progress with my weight loss/healthy eating habits/working out, etc. regiment.  I've lost a few inches off my waist, 6 pounds, and have built up a fair amount of muscle since I started in January.  I've been a lot better about tracking what I eat, and eating healthier snacks.  It's been a pretty good experience so far!  Next month is Spring Break for Zak, but there are no big plans at the moment.  We don't have a lot planned out, but we are just enjoying life.  It's already been a really good year for us, and I'm sure it'll just keep getting better!

Our 5th Valentine's Day

Last week we had two fancy meals; on Sunday it was the 5th anniversary of us as a couple, Tuesday was of course, Valentine's Day.  On both days Zak had to close at work, but we tried to make the most of it!  It's hard to believe it's already been 5 years, since so much has changed, mostly for the better!  We were originally going to spend the day together, get a couple's massage, but it was really difficult to get an appointment for the week, and plus Zak had to work.  So we decided to still do that, just at a later date, and just exchange small gifts and cards.

On Sunday I spent most of the day in the kitchen.  It was a bit of an 'off' day for me, I don't know why, but I kept making small mistakes or not thinking things through.  But nothing huge and disastrous happened, and everything did eventually work out in the end.  I started off with making lemon chiffon individual heart cakes.  I was dying to use my heart pan, but I was disappointed when the cakes didn't turn out as pretty as I hoped.  But they at least tasted good and I managed to save a few intact heart cakes for dessert, and whipped up some lemon whipped cream to place on top, yum!

cute, but a pain to get out of the pan, even though I sprayed it w/Pam!

The next recipe was pretty adventurous; I made sweet corn tamale cakes, a copycat recipe of the Cheesecake Factory's delicious appetizers.  My mom made them for us in December, and they were a huge hit, so I vowed to try them out myself soon.  The salsas and sauces went just fine, using the hand blender was a huge help, but the corn cakes themselves were a bit more challenging.  We don't have a food processor, so I tried pureeing the corn with the hand blender, and spent the next ten minutes picking up pieces of corn from the counters, floor, stove, etc.  But in the end, they turned out alright; Zak told me next time to just make them with little mini corn cakes on the side.  He really loves this recipe.  I also made us a really good garlic & brown sugar chicken dish with mashed potatoes.  Everything was delicious, and we were sufficiently full afterwards.

tamale cakes, so delicious!

table w/corn cakes

On actual Valentine's Day, Zak had one class, but it lasted about half an hour.  After I picked him up from school, he suggested we go out for breakfast.  We haven't been eating out for awhile, so it was a real treat!  We lucked out, it was about 10 in the morning, so the Breakfast Club wasn't super busy when we were there.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast; Zak had a big skillet-type platter, and I got 'french toast eggs benedict', delicious!  Stuffed, we lazed about at home for awhile, and I admired the beautiful, colorful rose bouquet Zak got for me.  Eventually, Zak had to go into work, which was a bummer, but gave me time to prepare dinner.

my favorite rose colors: peach, pink, pink-tipped white!

so pretty :)

I made chocolate covered strawberries as a surprise dessert.  I was so excited, I haven't really done them too much, and I wanted them to look really pretty.  About half way through I decided to do half with milk chocolate as the base, and the other with white chocolate.  They all turned out really well; Zak was super impressed, he kept telling me how beautiful they looked.  He said they could pass for professional, so that made me feel really good!

ready to go into the fridge

I made us each a plate, totally worth it!

As far as dinner went, it wasn't overly complicated.  I tried out another new recipe, it was called the 'hasselback' potato; it's supposedly a Swedish version of a baked potato.  That went alright, but I'll make some modifications for the future.  I bought steaks for dinner, as a treat, and cooked them on the George Foreman grill I've had for a few years.  I used a fancy rub we bought for them, and although I was nervous initially, they had just the right amount of flavor and deliciousness!

table set, ready for food!

yum!

Zak came home and we had a lovely dinner.  I really enjoyed making special dinners for us, rather than going out.  It's more personal, and romantic!  So that was our Valentine's & Sunday dinner for last week.  Next year we hope Zak won't have to work, but we'll see how it goes.  We have made it work before, and will continue to do so.  All in all, I would have to say this might have been the best Valentine's celebration so far!  I have such a great Valentine; Zak is a very wonderful husband and provider who always loves me and tells me so.  He is a bit of a goofball, but it only makes our lives more exciting!  He is always trying to make me smile or laugh, and is a great supporter of my dreams and wishes.

Oh, I begged Zak to take a nice picture with me to put up here, since 90% of my pictures involve food now (I'm really trying to make my recipe blog nicer).  They're not the best pictures of us, but you'll have to forgive us since we were super hungry and we took them before we ate!

take 1

take 2

Winter

Last week winter hit us, and it hit us hard.  In the period of like, twelve hours, we got at least a foot of snow.  Last Wednesday Zak ended up walking to and from school because we could not get the car out of our parking spot, let alone the parking lot.  The roads had not been touched since it has been snowing constantly, and it was still snowing hard.  Zak had quite the walk to school, as he had to forge the way most of the time.  I thought by the time it came for me to pick him up, the roads would be better or it would stop snowing, but I was wrong!  So Zak walked home and enjoyed the rest of his afternoon with me, snowed in.  U of I cancelled classes on Thursday, so Zak and I had a lazy, snuggly Thursday.  The snow had slowed down, but it was still snowing most of the time.  Zak ended up going into work for a few hours, by came home early.  I drank lots of cocoa and was grateful that our power only flickered a few times, and not go out, like some of our friends' had.

Friday it continued snowing hard, and it took us about 20 minutes to get the car out of its spot.  It had only moved once, when Zak went to work, and it was a difficult situation.  The guy plowing the snow had created a pretty big hill for me to back up over.  So we had to shovel and salt and shovel some more, and eventually, Zak helped push the car out!  It was scary getting out of the parking lot (why is it that parking lots are always, no matter what, awful? I don't understand why it's so difficult to keep them decent), but the rest of the roads were ok.

 A week later and almost everything has melted!  It feels almost too good to be true, as I'm sure it is.  But it's nice to drive places normally again.  Now we have rain, so whatever!

Other than that, our lives have been about the same.  We're getting adjusted to Zak's new school and work schedule.  At least his earliest class is at 8:30 and not at 8, like last semester!  His labs are in the morning or early afternoon, which is a nice improvement from his 7-10pm lab from last semester.  This weekend we are pig-sitting again for our friends, yay!  Chad will often bring him over when he comes to hang out.  We love having Hampton around!!

In other news, I am going to California in June for about a week!  Zak most likely won't be able to make it, especially if he gets this fire crew job--we have no idea what his schedule would be like.  If he can make it work, he'll come with me.  But we're both ok with me going by myself.  Plus, I get to fly out of Pullman, which will make it easier on Zak, not having to drive to and from Spokane twice.  I get to be in L.A. with my family, and my dad on Father's Day!  I'm excited--we couldn't make it to CA last year and I'm still having a bit of a hard time transitioning from that vacation.  And it'll be Kenny's first trip since he's been home from Sweden.  It's going to be a good trip.

Here are some pictures of the snow.  Blah.

from our bedroom

same location

our car on the right, after we failed to get it anywhere

the parking lot during a brief lull in the storm

while Zak was at work

January Update

We don't have a whole lot going on, and until last night, didn't have snow that lasted for more than a few hours. Well, we finally have some snow on the ground and it's starting to feel like winter has come.  Oh well, it had to happen sooner or later and I'm grateful it took as long as it did!

As some of you might know from Facebook, I had a rough week with my back.  I've had some back problems before in the past, and since I've been working out and doing yoga, they have stayed, more or less, at bay.  But last week was a first for me.  It was the worst pain I've been in and what is frustrating is that I am not 100% what even happened.  Last weekend I had a busy few nights at work.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just some big parties and running around busing and cleaning, etc.  Just like I always do.  When I got off Saturday night, I went to hang out with Zak for the last 30 minutes of his shift before closing.  I remember he rubbed my back and shoulders a little bit.  Then we came home, and I noted that my shoulder area on my right side hurt a bit, so I had him pop my back and rub it a little more.  He had some plans to start networking for a job he wants this summer (more on that in a minute), so he went over to a friend's house for the night.  I didn't mind, and decided to read on the couch for a few hours.

The bad part came when I tried to get up.  I could barely move.  And the pain was so bad I was taken aback.  I had never felt like that before.  It was like my entire right side of my back, and some of my side, has frozen up.  It took me awhile, but I finally willed myself upstairs.  And of course, Zak had forgotten his phone at work so I was on my own.  I tried to brush my teeth, and even that was an ordeal.  I took some pain killers, painfully and slowly change into my pajamas and crawled into bed.  I remember a lot of crying, praying and wondering what had happened to make me some immobile, so defenseless.  It was awful.  I couldn't think of anything and started to worry that I had maybe done something that was irreversible.  I don't know how, but I eventually fell asleep, half paralyzed and rigid on the bed.  When Zak came to bed a few hours later, I woke up and told him how scared I was and he rubbed my back, put some icy-hot on it and helped me get into a less painful position to sleep in.

When I woke up the next day, he suggested I take a hot shower to relax my muscles.  It helped immensely!  I hobbled downstairs and found the Tylenol and Zak put some more icy-hot on my back and I tried to sit in a position that wouldn't hurt.  The next few days showed slight improvement.  I took a hot shower before bed and in the morning, went through almost a whole bottle of ibuprofen, and a lot of icy-hot.  When I could bare it, I did several types of stretches.  All throughout the week I talked to my dad about my insurance predicament.  Since we live where we do, there isn't really anything Kaiser can do for me, short of treating me at the ER or urgent care.  By the time we got it sorted, my back was considerably better and I was so frustrated I decided to not even bother.  This is why we need simple, universal health care, people!  But he sent me some of his pain killers to help me out, and they really improved the state of my back.  It was a really rough week and now I am almost back to normal.  I can move and do almost everything I used to do without it hurting.  So I am thankful I didn't ruin my back, and that it eventually healed.

So that was my week.

Zak's week was more interesting.  Well, like I said, he wants to get on one of the local fire crews for the summer.  His co-workers have a brother and friends that are on the crew, so Zak has been networking with them lately, hanging out and the like.  If he got the job, it would be a life changer for us: at least 2 times more money than he makes now, it would help with future job placement and for his major, and he would be doing something that interests him.  We're crossing our fingers.  He has to make an appointment for mid-February, when they start hiring.  It looks like he'll have some of the guys' recommendations, which will be very helpful.  He's really excited about it, and we both hope he gets it.  It'll be nice for him to be out in the forest instead of behind a jewelry counter.

He also started school this week.  He is taking: biology, economics of natural resources, forest conservation and physics this semester.  So far, his classes seem interesting and comprehensible enough.  His MWFs are stacked, and he has one of his two labs on T and TH.  His friend from last semester's chemistry class is in a few of his classes, so that's nice for him, too.

That's been our life for now.

The Gun

So Zak has been ruminating the idea to purchase a gun in his head for months.  This is just how he operates: he thinks about it, does some research, thinks about it some more, weighs the pros and cons, thinks, budgets it out, convinces himself, and then--tells me, which surprises me.  When he told me he had seriously thought about buying a gun and figured out the costs and logistics, I was definitely caught off guard and immediately wrote him off.  I was, and am, still kind of anti-gun.  I didn't grow up in a family where there were guns, never really liked the idea of having a gun, or the need.  And having lived in Idaho for the past few years, seems to have only solidified my position of not owning a gun, since everyone here has at least A gun, if not more.  And they are realllllly into their guns.

the gun. it has yet to be named.

Well, with that being said, Zak bought one anyways.  He used his Christmas money and bonus from work to buy the pistol, a "Ruger Security-Six".  Initially, I wasn't too pleased, because it happened too quick for me.  But once it happened, I did come to the realization that Zak would actually be a very responsible gun owner.  He's smart, and will teach me and our future kids about the dangers and safety precautions.  He won't be one of those redneck white trash people that live nearby, drunk and waving a gun in the air on July 4th.  So that helps me feel a bit better about having a gun in the house.  It's still a weird thought and difficult to adjust to, for me, at least.  He is thrilled about it.  And once he brought it home, I knew it was the gun for him.  It's totally his style, very sleek and simple.  I like that it doesn't have a clip, and that it's easy to check if it's loaded or not, there is a roll-out barrel with six slots for the bullets.  So that helps calm my nerves.  It's a nice looking gun and he's pleased with it.

look how happy he is to go shooting with the boys! and in his new vest!

He went shooting with his guy friends a few weeks ago.  Our friend Chad also bought a gun; I have no idea what type it is.  Their co-worker, Kandace's boyfriend Gabe has recently returned from his third tour in Iraq and has several types of guns and knows the area well.  So they took off and had a morning shoot out past town in the woods somewhere.  I was a little upset I didn't get to go the first time, but he told me they wanted to take me the next day.  I've never been shooting before, so I was a bit anxious.  And I was happy to have Kandace there with me, who hadn't shot a gun before, either.  

gun + bullets

We went to the same place the guys went the day before, about 20 minutes north of town, off some backwoods road, in a nice open area.  It was actually a very nice day, especially for January, temperatures about 45 degrees, clear blue skies with wisps of clouds, no snow or ice on the ground.  The boys bought some orange targets and set them up on an old tree stump for us to shoot at.  My reaction to shooting Zak's gun was interesting.  It didn't kick as much as I expected, but still enough to freak me out.  I was glad to have ear plugs in because it was way louder than I thought it'd be.  But it handled nice enough.  It wasn't bad.  Gabe brought (and I'm quoting), a "spring-field arms 1911 and .45 cal" and a "Smith and Wesson .40 cal".  We all took turns shooting the different guns.  The two Gabe brought kicked really hard and were a bit more frightening to shoot.  I wasn't a fan.  

shooting round 1

my first time, very concentrated

unsure of how I feel after my turn was up

posing only

the target on the right is all Zak

shooting some more

where we went shooting, on a very nice day!

Zak had a fun time.  He shot several near and in the bulls-eye on one target, so that was neat.  Kandace and I both shot all the guns, and decided Zak's was the nicest to shoot.  And after our afternoon of shooting, it didn't solidify or change my opinion about guns.  It was an experience, but it wasn't my favorite or least favorite thing in the world.  Zak's so cute, he bought a gun cleaning kit with a gift card and is meticulous about cleaning it, storing safely and now is looking online for a nice holster.  He tries to tell me that if he's working in the forest this summer, it will be helpful to have, in case of bears or large predators.  I still am not convinced, but whatever, right?  Zak has joined the circle of gun-owners and there's no going back.  I guess my only hope is to not let him get another one anytime soon, so we'll see how well that goes...