Quick Trip to Boise

Zack and I spent a quick weekend in Boise for a concert. And this wasn't any concert, this was a BIG DEAL concert to Zack; his favorite artist since he was in high school who recently resurfaced to tour. This was Jeff Mangum, of Neutral Milk Hotel, an indie folk band from the late 1990s.  When Zack heard about the concert a few months ago, he emailed me immediately and said we must go to the concert.  AND tickets were going on sale that day!  So, being the dutiful awesome wife I am, I waited until the tickets went on sale and snatched up two of them for us. 

As the date got closer and closer, I decided to make this trip extra special for Zack, since he did describe this concert as a 'bucket list item' for him.  I wanted to make sure we did what he wanted, had food and music he liked and to make the weekend as memorable as possible.  I had a fun time planning the music, food and ideas for the trip.  After we had gotten everything ready, dropped off Penny in Albion, I told Zack to sit back, relax and enjoy the trip.  We had a nice drive down, the trip took about 6 hours.  And it's a really pretty drive!  It was nice to have some time just to ourselves, and have discussions and conversations about almost everything. 

Dropping off Penny--her head is in my lap, she can't stay away from me sometimes...

McCall, ID

We only had a few hours before the concert by the time we arrived in Boise (even with ALL of my prep work, I had forgotten that Boise is on MST than PST, so we lost an hour!), so we quickly scoped out downtown Boise and got dinner at a place called Fork.  Everything was really delicious and it was so nice to walk down the block to the theater! 

Pretty for dinner!

Lest you forget how silly Zak is..

It was weird explaining to the waitress that we were here for a concert, not an anniversary?

Zak's delicious BLAT sandwich & salad

This was my face the entire time I ate my dish of salmon with pasta and a basil/caper sauce.

As one might imagine, the line was 99% your typical hipster 20-something college aged kids.  I felt a little out of place, because it seemed like everyone there had the same obsession and intensity about the concert like Zack.  I just did my best to make the night enjoyable for both of us.  The theater was this really neat Egyptian-themed theater.  And when I said themed, I mean the entire stage and columns were covered in Egyptian-style scenes of people, activities, animals.  It was pretty cool! 

Before the line formed

!

Awesome, right?

I loved these pillars

The opener act was ok, but very slow and quiet.  I took a mini-nap in the seat (nice movie theater ones, even)  By the time Jeff Mangum took the stage, the excitement in the room was noticeable.  He put on a very excellent show and encouraged the audience to sing along.  I hadn't listened to him that much previously (mostly when Zack had it on in the house), and it's not really my taste of music but I was thoroughly impressed with the concert.  He is very talented and passionate about his music.  I'm pretty sure Zack was singing along to every song.  I even sang along to the ones I knew!  It was an excellent concert and I'm really glad we were able to make it.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures, but I did manage to record the encore on a voice memo for memories.

Proof we were there. And unsure of where to look for the picture.

Really wish we could've taken off with a poster, but it wasn't an option.

The next morning we didn't have to leave immediately, so we had a leisure-filled morning of watching Rambo on the hotel tv and eating breakfast.  Once we checked out, we briefly explored the Gem & Mining Museum and then got back on the road. 

ROCKS AND THE LIKE.

Definitely 'not touching' the mining explosive thing..

Where I would've been sent in the early days of Idaho history...

Black-light room

 

Drive home

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!

The Concert!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

look how awesome

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

 Zak's new best friend

 'Buddy' trying to get out of his habitat

these lizards just looked really funny