Whirlwind

Our lives have been crazy the last month or so.  It seemed like everything happened all at the same time: I got a new job, Zak lost his job, we decided to move, my aunt passed away, my brother came to visit, I went home for a few days, Zak got unemployment benefits, Zak got a new job, we moved, finals week for Zak....It's hard to believe that it's May, and we are in our new place that we just love.  April absolutely flew by and we are still trying to maintain any semblance of normalcy and structure in our lives.

Let's see, I've already talked about my new job, which is still going well.  I've mostly got the hang of things, but I'm constantly learning something new every day.  But I enjoy it for the most part, and it's a good job, so can't really complain.

Zak was told he was let go from his job about two days after I got the final word about my job.  I was pretty shocked, and so were all our friends.  We initially suspected it was because of Zak's numbers lately, and he had been pretty apathetic for the past few months while he was focusing on finding a job more related to his field and school.  I was pretty annoyed, because the company is run so poorly that if it was because of his numbers, why wouldn't they have given him a months' notice or something?  Surely, a man who has spent 2 years at the company, got certified in diamonds and gemstones and has been a foundation to the store is worth the company's time.  But, nope.  And what even angered me further is that Zak's boss, and our ex-friend Mat seemed not to even care or have fought for Zak at all.  And Zak was always supporting Mat, defending him when other co-workers complained.  Zak was a great friend who always had Mat's back.  But it seems like Mat didn't feel the same way.

Well, after a week or so, Zak was contacted by one of the Department of Labor workers, who notified him of the real reason he was let go: Harry Ritchie's claimed he stole about 5 - 6 books of stamps.  Ridiculous.  True, Zak has used stamps in the past for personal letters, but it wasn't a big deal--even Mat and the former manager were fine with that practice, everyone has used company supplies for personal reasons at one time or the other.  It turns out that a few days before Zak was let go, Mat accused him of taking the books of stamps, he said there should be 5 or 6 books and that there were only 2.  Zak was closing that night and took a picture of all the 6 books of stamps, and a piece of paper with the date and his signature, and asked the new girl to witness the picture.  He sent it to Mat and it wasn't brought up again.  So, having found out the real reason Zak was let go, the agent told him if he could get some letters from former co-workers verifying the use of stamps for personal use now and then, he would do his best to get Zak his unemployment benefits.  Luckily, we have awesome friends who wrote some great letters backing up Zak, saying he would never steal from the company, and all of that.  Two days later unemployment was granted, BOOM.  What we think happened is that the branch manager and Mat conspired to get Zak fired, which is actually something they would do.  Mat has no back bone and has completely changed in the two years we've known him.  Obviously, we are no longer friends with him or Erika, as I am still in rage mode whenever I think about this.  They have been crappy friends for the past year and we don't need them.  The friends we do have would never betray us and in short are awesome.

So then the day after Zak got unemployment benefits he got the word that he got a job!  It is at a seedling nursery that is an extension of the U of I, and will be great for his future career.  He'll be growing and taking care of trees and doing forestry-related things.  I'm really excited for him.  The nursery is about 2 miles out of town, but he will be able to ride his bike there, in normal clothes, so that is good news.  They will also be able to work with his school schedule for the fall so he can work part-time.  His first day is the 14th and we are really excited!

This past week we moved (I will expand on a different post) so it was another week of craziness for us.  We were able to move a day before, so we actually slept at our new place a night before our lease started.  We mostly spent the next day cleaning our old place.  It's funny how this move has affected me and Zak differently, he was much more relaxed and for some reason, I was really stressed.  I think it was because I couldn't control a lot of the packing and cleaning since I was gone all day, but I knew he would do a good job.  He did do a good job and I was so glad he took care of most everything.  It's like releasing a big breath, unpacking and setting up our home.  I can actually go through boxes and get something.  I'm still adjusting to everything, mostly the kitchen and bathroom, but I love it here.  We both do.  I think I did like, 5 loads of laundry our first night, I am so stoked to have the washer and dryer!  Pictures and further elaboration will come later this week.

In short, we are in a happy and good place right now.  Things have started looking up and it's a good feeling to not have so many things hanging over our heads.  Things to look forward include: actual spring weather (beautiful skies, but with wind and 50 degrees simply doesn't cut it in May), bbq with our friends this weekend, Zak starting work and ending school, and planting things in our backyard!  Hope this update helped fill the gap in your hearts for information about our lives!

Quick Update

I know I haven't posted a lot lately. It's not that we've been overwhelmingly busy, but there hasn't been a whole lot to report on.  We haven't had snow that's lasted for more than a few hours, which is nice.  We're crossing our fingers that the roads to Spokane will be clean and easy-going.  Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving to spend a week in California!  I'm so excited, I can hardly wait!  Zak has been trying to get in enough hours so it will balance out him being gone for a week.  I had a few busy weekends at work (both college graduation weekends without my co-hostess partner, major craziness!), but am happy to have a little time off.  Zak is relieved to be done with school for a few weeks.  We've been spending time with our friends, we even saw the new Muppets moving with Zak's co-worker/our friend, Kandace the other week.  We are definitely feeling like we're a bit more settled now.  It's nice to have a good group of friends to hang out with.

Yesterday I spent the entire day making treats for our Moscow friends.  I will post the recipes soon, but I'll tell you what I made: chocolate (semi-sweet and white) cookie bark, Oreo truffles (both peppermint and 'original), and my mom's Christmas cookies.  I had to be a bit creative this year for gifts, and budget things out.  And I figured our friends wouldn't mind treats, they love when I bring goodies in for the office.  I actually made the cookies for a party at Chad & Bryan's, and there were a bazillion left over, so they just set them out at work for the customers.  They were gone in one day and everyone raved about them.  :)

That's been about it for us.  We've just been trying to make it to Christmas and now it's almost here!  We are so excited to see our California family, it is going to be a great vacation.  Merry Christmas to everyone, I'll update this once we get back to Moscow!

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!

Other Things that Happen + Pictures

May has been super quick, it's hard to believe it's almost June! The weather certainly doesn't feel very summer-y, we have had thunderstorms, hail, and massive amounts of rain this past month. It's frustrating, because all we want to do is enjoy the windows being opened, the sun and warm weather, and not using the heat until the fall. As far as job hunting goes for me, it is still rough. I had some interviews that sounded promising, only to get our dreams crushed a few days later. Some days it's definitely hard to stay positive, but I keep trying and trying. Zak has been great at supporting me and motivating me to keep trying. Hopefully I'll get something soon and life will be a bit easier.

One morning Zak woke up very early, which in turn woke me up. We couldn't go back to bed, so I suggested we go for a walk. We didn't go as far as I would've liked, because it was actually quite chilly. But I took some pictures so you can see the trail we walk on. Also, there were some beautiful tulips and some cute bunnies along the way!

a river

down the hill from our place

Zak thought it was cute that I was ecstatic to see wild baby bunnies! They were so cute!!

pretty tulips

sorry it's blurry; you get the gist of it, though, right?

walking back from Safeway trail

One major complication that happened with me this week involved not only a job, but my nose and its ring. I had an interview at the Best Western last week about a busing/cashier job that sounded decent enough. Their policy is no piercings except for ears, and I figured, ok no problem. I had the second out of a possible three interviews a few days later and Zak suggested that since I knew the policy, I should show up without my nose ring in. I took it without any problems and went about my interview, and the following one I had at a daycare place. Zak talked me into getting a small hoop for my nose, with the idea that it would be easier to take out and put back in if I got the job at the hotel, and plus, he thought it'd be really cute for me. We got a decent one and came back home after all our errands.

Too bad the next several hours were awful. I can't remember exactly what happened, in the correct order, but there was a lot of blood and pain on my end. For starters, the hoop was a little bit thicker than my stud with the screw end. For second, the inside hole in my nose had more or less closed up. I had never taken out my ring just for fun, a few times it's been yanked out (OW), but I don't play with it because I'm nervous about it closing up. And putting in the screw end ring is difficult, because it feels different than it looks in the mirror and after 30 minutes of me getting frustrated and convincing myself to just let my holes close up permanently, Zak stepped in. He sterilized a safety pin so we could 're-pierce' the inside hole in my nose. We let that sit for a few hours and then we tried again. It appeared that I would not be the one to do it, so Zak bravely got the hoop through my nose.

yes, we only had GIANT safety pins...good times...

my poor, sad, little red nose :(

And then to my utter & total frustration, I didn't get the stupid job where I'd have to take out my nose ring. Thanks! So for now I have the hoop in my nose, and I clean it at least twice a day and try to move it around so it won't get super gross. It sure doesn't help to blow my nose with a sore nose, but that's life. I'm still not 100% sold on the hoop, but people tell me it's cute, so go figure.

Oh, I also cut some of our lovely tulips and brought them inside to cheer me up. I had always thought they were red, and they kind of are, when they're really open in the sunlight. But inside and closed up, they are pink, and that makes me even happier! Our pretty blue hyacinths are dead, but what can you do.

Other news includes how much we love the bread machine. It is so easy and I have found a great basic, white bread recipe for it. I need to try a few others to compare for wheat, or specialty breads, so if anyone has some good ones to contribute, please e-mail me! And we continually enjoy our hamsters and how cute they are. They hardly fight anymore, and we catch them doing cute things, like sleeping on top of each other in a random corner in their cage.

Vlad very much enjoyed being in Zak's pocket

hello!

...normal Zak

these guys LOVE the colored pellet pieces, he was chewing on this forever!

hehehehe they are sooo cute :)

Next weekend Zak has shows up in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. I will most likely go with him, so that will be fun for us. His first round of the custom design shows didn't go well, which was really hard on him. :( No one showed up in Moscow or Lewiston, but at least that's better than people showing up and leaving without purchasing anything. He's trying to stay positive, but this is a test to prove that not only can he do it, but be the best at it. There are 3 computers and 4 people qualified to do this job, and he wants to be one who gets to keep the computer locally. I know he will do great at these next shows because they are bigger volume stores with clients that have more money. Moscow is more or less a college town, with humbler folk around here, and kind of the same story for Lewiston. Spokane and Coeur d'Alene have nicer stores, products and richer customers. Plus, the weekend after this round of shows, Zak will fly out to Oregon to do shows at the top stores in the company, so he will kick butt at that. It has been fun to watch him create and design things, even silly ideas I suggests, he'll make look nice. He has a good eye for design and I just want him to be successful, because he can definitely do this--it's not his fault customers haven't shown up. So it's just hard to prove himself without an opportunity. So think of Zak and wish him luck these next few weeks!

Harry Ritchie's Jewelers Takes us out to Dinner

May marked Zak's one year anniversary with Harry Ritchie's Jewelers. To our happy surprise, he was told the company would pay for the two of us to go out to dinner to celebrate! He was also told he could choose between a gift certificate to a chain restaurant (which he turned down, since we basically only have fast food chains and...Applebee's, no thanks!) or be reimbursed $50 for dinner. So I got to work on researching some places to go, since there are a few places we haven't been to yet, and we wanted to go somewhere a little nicer than our usual spots. I ended up choosing the golf course club restaurant, and made reservations for us.

It was a beautiful night, the sky was clear and we had a lovely view of the rolling green hills, with the comfort of sitting inside. Our waitress was great and the food was amazing. We both had steaks and boy were they tasty! We also split a yummy flaky pastry dessert with cream and strawberries, mmmm. It was nice to go out and dress up for dinner, and to enjoy HRJ picking up the tab for us! Here are some pictures.

some cool clouds on our way to the restaurant

our view

tasty!

I got the filet mignon...and it was worth it!

the heavenly dessert

Spring is Almost Here!

Spring is more or less here, which means the birds are singing, the sun is shining and the neighborhood kids are yelling as they play all day long. It's a magical time, the weather is fairly stable and some of our plants are starting to come alive again. Even as I sit here, the windows and back door are open to allow the soft wind creep into the house. It's nice.

What have we been up to? Oh, a little of this, little of that. I have been looking for work, sending our resumes and e-mails. I even had an interview for a nanny position that would have totally rocked, but they ended up going with someone who had previous teaching and nanny experience. Oh well. I've been communicating with the local art gallery director about volunteering there, doing docent tours with the K-12 kids that come through. So I'll hopefully be starting that up soon in the next little bit. But other than that, I've been doing my best to keep busy during the days, especially when Zak's at work. Sometimes the hours pass soooo slowly and I am so unmotivated that I end up watching t.v. longer than I probably should. I have been doing yoga and watching what I eat (it's certainly hard being home all day and not eating everything, so this is kind of a big deal), and so far it's been going well.

Zak has been working and will be working for like, 10 days straight or something silly. They finally got a fourth person at work, so he won't be working as much, but the scheduling is still getting hammered out. I try not to complain, because he's bringing home more than I am (but may I add, the unemployment kind of rules? I don't mind getting paid for baking cookies or reading, but I am mindful that one day it'll end). The new C.E.O. (who likes Zak, so that's great) came by yesterday on a visit (he's visiting all the stores, it seems). Zak's district supervisor told Zak that she's secretly been getting every store to make the C.E.O. Sean's favorite cookie, milk chocolate chip cookies. Zak volunteered to make them with me, because he knows how great a cookie baker I am. So on Wednesday, we made cookies together and boy, did they turn out perfect. Zak texted me after Sean left to tell me he loved the cookies and was really impressed. Maybe I'll start my own cookie shop, since I apparently rule.

the most perfect cookies I have ever made

We also found out yesterday that Zak's new position not only comes with a bonus for the shows he does, but also a pay raise. We were expecting one or the other, but we are pretty happy that he'll be getting both! We don't know how much yet, but hey, more money is more money. He signed up to do his diamond certification class this week. The way it works is, he pays initially to do the program, and, upon completion, the company pays him like 75% or so back. And he'll be Diamond Certified and everything, so his resume will be superior. He's also thinking about becoming gem certified, which he plans on doing after the diamond course. So he will just be all kinds of fancy soon.

We finally got some new fish. Unfortunately, we grew a bit neglectful of the fish tank. We started out with a bunch of guppies, all different ages. And we went through a few generations of fish and then, slowly, just down to one, lonely pretty guppy. And about 3 dozen snails. Zak bought something like 10 snails for a buck or whatever to get something to clean off the algae on the tank glass. Well, those 10 turned into a lot of snails. So we had a ton of snails and one fish. And we decided that needed to change. So down to the local pet store (Pets R People Too) to get some fish. We ended up getting a pretty black platy (I think), a red male platy, a female orange/white platy (hopefully they'll mate), a funny orange fish, and a 'red-finned shark'. And some fake plants (the snails were eating the live ones/I hated them) and a background. So now our tank is pretty again and I tried to get some pictures of the fish. Please excuse the blurriness, they are kind of fast. Next month we're planning on getting some more. Or next week.

the fish, more or less
Zak loves this one, he calls it 'trumpet face'

well, the guppy is on the far left, the shark is the one most clear, the red one is somewhat visible

I have been pretty pumped for baseball season. I grew up surrounded by baseball and I've really come to miss it. For awhile I just didn't really have access to watch games, and this week I finally broke down and got the official MLB app for my iPad. So at least I'll have something, because our cable is basic and probably won't feature the A's a lot. I also really hoped to go to a game when we go home to CA, but of course they're out of town the weekend we arrive and then it's the All-Stars week. Just my luck! I guess I'll have to wait until next year's trip to CA...

Oh yeah, we finally got our plane tickets for California! We will be there for a week, and will be in time for Kenny's arrival home from Sweden. I am so excited I can hardly wait. I am pretty bummed we won't be able to go to L.A. this year, but at least we'll be home in the Bay Area. We talked it out and the main points for the Bay Area included: less sunburns, San Francisco, my brother's homecoming. I am dying to go to the City, and Zak is, too. He loved being in L.A., but he is just not a beach-y person. So I've decided the day my family is in Disneyland, I'm listening to the soundtrack and watching the movies to keep my spirits up. But anyways, we are excited for our trip.

We are also excited for Jenna's visit at the end of the month. Already I wish she could stay one day longer, but we'll have to survive. Zak may have his additional training that week, but we'll make it work. I am so excited to have my sister here! I don't know what we'll do first, or rather, eat first. Moscow has so many great local places that we have come to love and I want to share it all with her. It's something like 24 days until her visit!

This year we are going to make a garden. Seriously. The tulips bulbs are already coming up, so we are for sure keeping those, but the rest is fair game. The lady before us had a nice place, but we want to make it ours. We have just been waiting for a day off for Zak without rain and cold and it looks like his next one'll work. I better start planning what I want...

this is what it looks like now, so prepare yourself for when it looks better

Sorry this is a bit of a long post, but I just felt like writing today. I know it's been awhile since I updated, so I thought I'd give as much information as you could handle. Now here are some pictures with some captions.

a cute hamster

we finally got a full-size ironing board and Zak was so excited, he ironed all of his work clothes in one night while we watched t.v.

one of my tassels fell off my slippers, of course this happened

...and then this...