Yay, our first major maintenance problem!

AUGH.  This morning I woke up around 4 or 5 to use the restroom, came back to bed and right as I was falling asleep, I heard just loud DROP DROP DROP DROP DROPDROPDROPDROPDROPDROP.  I couldn't figure out what was causing that noise, because it was louder than just hearing rain against the window.  So I sleepily got out of bed and turned on some lights, and lo and behold, the door frame in the second bedroom was dripping water.  I didn't know what else to do, so I grabbed some towels to put on the floor and tried to go back to sleep.  Granted, I was mostly asleep, so I didn't think to tell Zak, and besides, it was like 5 AM, what could he have done?

Well, Zak woke up around 8, and I mumbled to him that the door frame had been dripping.  He got up to look and I could tell from his tone that something was wrong.  The towels I had put down were soaked all the way through, and water was starting to gather in the carpets.  It looked like the water was dripping down the wall in our linen closet and quickly dispersed.  Zak quickly got into action and moved stuff away from the walls.  But then we came downstairs...

Half of the tile in the kitchen was covered in water, about a centimeter deep.  Just a big, glistening lake in the middle of the floor.  It was a bit overwhelming because I was thinking, 'HOW are we going to clean this up?'  Thankfully, nothing was damaged (his computer was on the half of the table not covered in water), but we moved everything away and placed some buckets and pitchers down to collect the water falling off of the light fixtures.  I used our remaining two paper towel rolls and placed them down on the floor while Zak called our landlord.  She said she would send over the maintenance guy soon.

What a lovely morning, n'est-ce pas?  Needless to say, we are pretty on edge and are dreading the cleanup, especially upstairs.  Here are some pictures and I'll update* if anything else happens.  Happy Halloween, everyone!

 upstairs bedroom

before & after paper towels

at least we have a lot of things to collect water falling from the ceiling in?

*UPDATE:  The maintenance guy just drained a LOT of water from off/on/in the roof.  I recorded some video of it, because the noise was so loud and it went on for a good 10 minutes.  Also, the stream of water was impressive.  I said to Zak, 'You never think of water being so destructive, until you see SO MUCH OF IT at one time.'  We then used the wet-dry vacuum (16 gallon capacity), and Zak filled about a third of it up.  The cleaning crew came and got out about 90% of the water.  He said our place happened to get most of the water, a few other tenants got some as well, but we were the majority share holder.  They left a big black fan that's blowing on the carpets, and hooked up our box fan as well.  They will be back tomorrow, and maybe a few days after that.  Here are some more pictures and the videos.

so much water

Zak got about 5 gallons out of the carpet

I know it's not much to look at, I took this one for the noise

A Walk in the Arboretum

This weekend Zak and I went on a walk in the U of I's Arboretum.  I didn't sleep well the night previous, so I was already up.  Zak came downstairs a few hours later and I pitched the idea of going on a walk while it was still early and cool out.  He suggested the Arboretum, so off we went.  We drive past it almost every day, but only see a slight glimpse of the whole block of land.  It's huge.  H U G E.  It's basically a really long rectangle.  It was divided so there were trees and plants from four different sections of the earth: Asia, Europe, Western North America & Eastern North America.  Of course, we didn't see that sign until after our walk, so we'll keep it in mind our next time we walk there.

I haven't really experienced fall that much, so I was having the best time looking at all of the beautiful colors!  I took my camera with me so I could take some pictures.  It was nice to be outside, with the cool air reddening our noses, as we explored the Arboretum.  We were mostly alone, except for a little family (and one really upset toddler, that I couldn't help but giggle at, his poor parents) and a few walkers, so that was nice.  I think I could really get into this season, it's quite lovely.  I couldn't help but take a lot of pictures, and I'm going to post them below.  Enjoy! 

 these trees reminded me of ones that van Gogh would paint, or possibly Klimt...

 my excitement for fall has no bounds, it seems?

 I loved all the different colors in a single leaf!

 this picture just makes me smile

view of the Arboretum from afar

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

A happy surprise!

I wrote a post on my more personal blog, and decided it should be posted here for everyone to read.  It's a bit more personal/emotional than my normal posts, but I wanted to share.  The original post is here.  But I'll cut and paste what I wrote below.

It's been kind of weird having my little brother half a world away this past year (and continuing onto next year..).  He's been out of my parents' house since last July and physically in Sweden since last September.  He has been serving a mission there and has loved it.  Every single e-mail we get is so positive and uplifting, it's been great to see Kenny's attitude and personality shine through.  My family only gets to talk to him once a week, through e-mail, and then twice a year on the phone--Mother's Day & Christmas.  Last Christmas, Zak & I were in Connecticut so we were up 3 hours earlier than my family in CA, and then Kenny was like 9 hours ahead of their time, so it was an interesting conference call session.  I briefly chatted with Kenny on Mother's Day, er the day before, on my way to work.  Lately he's been really busy with everything, so his personal family e-mails to us have been short and I think we all wish we could hear more from him.

This morning I had a big surprise--he was on-line and instant messaged me on Google Chat!  Awhile ago he said we could use that now and then to talk, but so far it hadn't really worked out.  I had logged on to read his weekly e-mail when a message popped up from him!  They had some extra time on the computer, so they were uploading pictures and writing more e-mails.  We talked for about 40 minutes and it was so nice.  He is still my dorky little brother and I am still his weird older sister.  It was great to chat about just everyday things; I told him about Moscow, the annoying neighbors kids, he told me about the people they teach there, the weather (apparently it's already getting cold and wintry).  I texted my family that I was talking to Kenny and they were all jealous (ha!), but I copied our conversation and e-mailed it to them so they could see our interaction.

Anyways, it was sooo nice to be able to talk to my little brother, half a world away.  I never think about how great technology is until something like this happens.  To think that I can talk in real-time to Kenny in Sweden and not on a phone, is pretty cool.  And it'll get me through to Christmas, when we all get to talk on the phone with him.  I don't often think or write too much about Kenny, because it's kind of emotional for me.  For instance, I started tearing up when we were first talking.  It just made me understand and realize how important family is.  And how much I love and miss them.  Sometimes it's hard for me to be away from my family for such a long time, since I grew up having my extended family around all the time.  So sometimes I feel kind of lonely.  And it was really nice for me to be able to have some time with my brother to just talk and catch up...it really meant a lot to me.  It's rough being away from family, but it's not like the love felt is any lessened.  I'm thankful for my family, and especially my baby brother, and the chance I have to be their Rachel.  And now I'm crying again.

This is happening.

Aside from Zak's birthday, we haven't had anything major happening here in Moscow.  However, I feel like I should write at least something about our past month or so. 

1.  We got another hamster.  His name (yes, it's a boy, we are not into breeding dwarf hamsters) is Viscount Tesla von Roborovski.  He is slightly larger than Vladimir, and much quicker.  He has zoomed off Zak's hand a bunch, so we are careful with him.  Our friend Erika donated all of her hamster accessories to us, which is mostly why we decided to get another hamster.  Erika gave us a larger cage, some food bowls, dust bath bowls, rolling balls, a wooden house, a few wheels for the cage, a water bottle, and some connecting plastic maze things.  At first, the hamsters were unsure about each other and there was some fighting and what have you.  But after the first day, they seemed to have gotten along with each other.  We often find them snuggled up together in their house.  It's really quite adorable.  One of the funniest things they do is run on the wheel together, one following the other.  It's very funny.  Zak also put them both in a rolling ball, which was fun to watch them figure it out together.  They are very cute and we are happy with them.

2.  I got my hair cut this week.  It was kind of random, but at the same time...I've been wanting to, but just haven't felt the need.  But the day I went in, I had straightened my hair and flat-out was like, 'no, this won't do', so I got it cut that afternoon.  I was very nervous because I honestly don't remember the last time I've had my hair cut in a studio.  Someone from church, my mom, or my friend from BYU-I have cut it in the last decade+, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  And, not to be sexist or whatever, but a man was my hair dresser, which added to my nervousness.  However, I let myself relax and tried to be clear with my wishes.  And it turned out really well, he took his time (well, I have a ton of hair) and I am pleased with the results.  I didn't want a whole lot of length off, just some new layers and bangs, and it is very cute.  I even had a customer ask if I had it cut yesterday.

not the best picture, but trust me, it's shorter and cute

3.  We bought a new couch.  Er, sofa.  Well, I have hated our current couch for awhile (we got it a second-hand shop and it hurts my back), and we have been looking into getting a new one for our Christmas present.  It's just that .. Christmas decided to come early for us!  We had found one we liked at a store in town and tried to financing for it (it was a $440 couch, like $40/month payments, no biggie, right?), but we weren't cleared for it.  It upset us for awhile, since we have pretty decent credit history.  So we put that idea on the back-burner for awhile until we decided to go to Pullman on a mutual day off and look at a place.  It was basically good furniture for a cheaper price, I think the website is like extrafurniture.com or something.  Anyways, we found two sofas we really liked, and they were both cheaper than the store we had tried previously (since our price range was minimal, we had a limited selection).  After trying them both out, back and forth, we settled on the one I really liked (sorry, Zak!--he does like it, he just liked this moss/olive green one that was more fabric-y.  I didn't like it as much because it didn't support my back as much as the one we got, plus it'd be more difficult to clean), a mixed leather one.  I never thought we'd end up picking out a leather sofa, but there you go.  It's comfortable and nice, and we are pretty psyched about it.  The other day we wandered around Bed, Bath & Beyond to look at accent pillows and whatnot, because we'll finally have something nice, and then we can create a 'look' for the room.  It arrived in Pullman yesterday, but Zak's friend Mat is helping Zak pick it up tomorrow (since we don't want to pay $50 to ship it to us).  Here is a few pictures of it:

 fresh from the factory

 we got the pillows from Bed, Bath & Beyond; the tiger one Zak got in Nepal

4.  I got extremely praised at work yesterday.  Our corporate execs were visiting (they do so every 8 weeks, and I have always missed out because I normally don't work on Wednesdays) our store and since I've been kicking butt the last couple of months, I was called out by my district merchant lady.  I was surprised and caught off-guard...and also pretty embarrassed.  I don't like to have a lot of attention focused on me, not at work, not when I'm opening birthday presents, I just don't like it.  But whatever.  My numbers have been really good lately, and I am proud of that, but I don't feel like I'm doing a whole lot more at work.  I am definitely more confident with my products and what to suggest to people, and I greet/meet customers more.  But I don't think I've been doing something so progressive.  But whatever, my managers think I'm awesome, so we'll leave it at that.  I also have a really low return rate, which I didn't know.  The corporate lady said that implies/infers (?) that I find out what my customer wants and I get it for them and they leave happy.  So that was cool.  Oh and I got to be in a meeting with some of our 'elite' selling team, talking about our new way of selling and why it's great, etc.  I don't know, I'm proud that I've been doing so well, but now I feel like I have to continually keep it up, so I don't disappoint everyone.  I'm working on it.

5.  The weather is starting to get cold and crisp, and we both love it.  Some of the trees on campus have even starting to turn color!  I'm getting really excited, because we are going to have fall here!  Of course, it's nothing compared to back east, but it's more than I've ever experienced, and for that, I am excited.  I'm also excited for these things:
-pumpkins, carving, eating, etc.
-caramel/candy apples
-apples in general (ooh, apple crisp!)
-scary movies
-watching leaves/rain fall, while bundled up in blankets with Zak
-trick-or-treaters this year!
-soup--clam chowder, potato, minestrone, tortellini, ravioli, I think I might try homemade chicken noodle!

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but we are both (Zak more than me) excited for winter, because it'll be beautiful here.  I'm happy to have autumn for awhile, however.  I'll post pictures of the leaves as they start to turn even more.

6.  Zak is finally getting back to full-time and 40 or so hours a week.  Meaning I don't have to pick up a shift or two every week if I don't want to, because Zak will have more hours than me, hahaha.  One of the girls quit this past week (and is now working in the shoe department at Macy's), so it's just going to be four people (including Zak) at work.  Which is good for the hours and information will be easier to consolidate, but bad because of scheduling.  I'm hoping we get at least one day off a week together.

7.  We are going to Spokane next month to see one of our favorite bands since high school, Coheed and Cambria.  Zak has seen many bands in his day, but never them, so he is really pumped.  I'm not a huge concert person, and I've only been to a handful (well, 3, but I was chaperoning 2 of them, the only one that was my choice when I was 16, Rufus Wainwright in San Francisco--win), but!  I love this band too, so I am excited.  In fact, before we started dating, Zak was over at my apartment for a big dance party thing, and he was wearing a Coheed and Cambria shirt.  I told him I loved them, and he asked if I liked them before they got big, and I was like, 'Duh, since I was 15.'  He then fell in love with me right then.  No, I'm just kidding, but I guess it made me e v e n cooler to him.  More to come on the concert, but we are getting pretty excited for it!

8.  I'm pretty sure that's all that has happened/will happen.  Right now I am home sick (blah), and need to do some dishes or something.  It's like they never end...That's all for now--ttfn--ta-ta for now!

Zak's Birthday!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Zak's birthday.  He turned 22, big man moving up in the world!  For breakfast, we went to this really neat place in Pullman called the Old European Restaurant/Breakfast House.  Zak's parents got us a gift card to there for our anniversary, but we didn't really have the time to go.  It turned out to be a really awesome place, and we will definitely choose it again over Denny's.

We had lovely fresh-squeezed orange juice and split a warm cream cheese cinnamon roll.  Zak got 'Hungarian Traditional Goulash', which consisted of potatoes, onions, eggs, cheese and tomatoes.  AND it was a huge, heaping pile of it all.  He also got a side of German potato pancakes with applesauce.  He got through about a third of the goulash before deciding it'd be slightly disgusting if he could he the entire thing in one sitting.  We have leftovers of it in the fridge.

I got the 'Scandinavian Breakfast Plate', which came with a German potato pancake, two buttermilk pancakes (mmm, just like Grandma's!), 3 huckleberry-filled aebleskivers (Zak had never had them, he loved them) and a Swedish crepe (thicker than a French one) filled with sweet cream and topped with strawberries.  Everything was delicious, and we happy to take boxes of food home.

Then we came home and opened presents.  My theme for his presents was 'classy guy'.  I got him the Ocean's 11 trilogy pack, a stand for his razor and brush, some cool walnut and almond homemade soap, and sandalwood aftershave that matches his shaving soap.  His parents sent him a box with some random stuff, a nice new shirt and tie and a gift card to the Home Depot.  We then watched Ocean's 12 and had a lazy afternoon.

For dinner, Zak wanted steak and mashed potatoes, so we got some small steaks from the Co-Op.  We both have minimal experience cooking steak, but together we got it figured out.  I made the potatoes and we had some biscuits on the side.  Everything was delicious!

 what a goof

But my favorite part was his cake.  I really wanted to make a cake for him this year, and after he picked out the flavors, I started to get a little nervous...because I've made several different types of desserts, but never a cake by myself.  My family always has homemade cake for birthdays and my mom is a cake master, in my opinion.  So I was hoping I got the cake making gene.  Zak wanted a chocolate cake, so I decided to make a cake that is a favorite in my family.  For years we went to this place called the Nut Tree in CA, but it closed down when I was like 8.  They made a delicious chocolate cake and we have the recipe in our family cookbook.  I called my mom and got some good tips and clarifications and got to work.  And everything seemed to go well, so it looks like I got that cake making gene!

So we had our friends come over for cake and ice cream.  The cake was delicious, although it wasn't as moist as I had hoped for, but still, very yummy!  I was super proud and everyone loved it!

wax on the cake :( at least it came off easily

It was so nice to be able to spend the day with my cute husband.  We both had a fun time; I love giving him presents and yummy food.

Zak, I love you!  :)

  in his new shirt & tie combo from his parents, cleans up nice, huh?