Everyday's An Adventure

I am contemplating starting a blog for the business. And making mine private. I want people to see the progress we make but i want to remain professional and don't want to accidentally say something on it that would offend anyone, IE the previous management. Chris' grandpa is kind of paranoid about that. I didn't understand at first but after a month of living here, I can understand because it's such a small town. Living in a small town has it's perks though. I know that talking to people about our plans will be told to other people and spread around. Word spreads fast.

Today I went to a meeting for the Rotary Club. I had no idea what it was. The board was having a meeting before the real meeting was supposed to take place. So I got to over hear a little bit about it. They explained later that they do a lot of international relief stuff and local things. They are currently sponsoring a girl (who was at the meeting as well) to go to Argentina and represent their local club and do service while she learns more about her field which is nursing. Clubs from other areas sponsor many different people from many different fields. Last year locally, they built a concessions stand for the high school. I saw pictures of it online after I got home. It looks awesome! It allows the school to efficiantly earn more money fundrasing. I think a portion goes to the rotary club. I was invited to speak about buying our business, why we did it and what our plans were. It was basically people telling me how gross it was and that they haven't been there in 10 years!!! Hahaha. That's all I hear. It's gotten funny. Maybe I've said it before but our new motto between Chris and I is, "yes we know we have potential." I think it will be AT LEAST 2 years to prove to the community that we will stay and make it nice, before we see real growth.

I'm dying to get outside and clean and paint to make this place more presentable, but it's too cold. Today I cleaned the bathroom floor in the kitchen down stairs. WOW it needed it. Every inch of this place needs it. The best part is that it can come clean. Even the spray paint that is around the floor of the sink cabinet (yellow) came off the floor. The people who did it did not even bother to tape it off. I really need my camera!! This bathroom, which I assume was used for employees, is Sponge Bob themed!!!

I'm going backwards. This morning before all of this we worked on painting the apartment. I was a dummy and poured the white paint. We painted 3 walls before Chris realized we had the wrong color. The walls were supposed to be a very light blue. I waisted a whole gallon of paint. I said we should just consider it primer! But Chris wasn't amused. In my defense it was poor lighting.

What?!

Wow. We are still not unpacked and I'm going crazy. Everything is everywhere and I am limited to what I can do in the kitchen. I wish I could tourch the place and start over. When we "clean" it's just relocating the clutter. Right now, it is in the kitchen. But we'll be done painting soon and I will be sane again.

I've filed my taxes three times tonight into three different systems. HR Block, Turbo Tax, and Tax Act. All three say different results and I'm irritated we will owe money. I think if they are taking stuff out of my check, isn't that enough? Do I need to pay more just because I'm alive. Just because I don't have kids or a house, I owe a ton. Why do they take it out of your check and then charge you more just for living in this country. I thought that's why I filled out the W4 when I started working so they would take out the right amount. agh! Unfair. Yay I love paying for others to live while I bearly get by. I'm preaching to the chiors, I know. I just wanted to get that out. It's not even that much compared to some people but lately it just seems to be one thing after another. A brick wall I can't tear down faster than it's being built.

Kooper is doing great though. He's an awesome dog. He only barked once while he was alone. The last few days he goes crazy if he's not constantly getting attention. Maybe he realizes we will come back.

Yesterday Chris' mom made awesome cinnimon rolls. I love when she makes those. I watched 4 episodes of pawn stars and sat around and talked. It was a good day off. One guy on pawn stars thought his great grandfathers civilwar journals were worth $20,000. HAHA that was after an expert told him and the pawn guy that they were of no significance and would be great in a museum (meaning not worth anything). The pawn guy told him he would give him $100 bucks for each. I don't think he would have made any money on them and was being nice. I would have taken the cash but the owner was hurt by his low offer and stormed off. Another guy had a rare poster from the movie "Bullet" signed by the cast. The poster was so rare that it was worth $1000-$2,000 but the signatures were fakes so it was worth nothing. Maybe I'm one of the few that like that show.

Chris helped me clean a room today and we got it done in a third of the time I normally take. I'm going to drag him to help me more often!

Favorites

I sat on the computer for almost 8 hours running the front desk today and worked on the new website. To be honest it's probably not very good but it's better than what it was. And! I'm working with what I have. Then it all came to a screatching deathly hault when The program froze as I saved it. I couldn't close it, save it, delete objects, add pictures. Oh, but I could move stuff around and edit text. The only way to get out of it was to shut down the computer. That was after 45 minutes of troubleshooting and following intuit's very poor troubleshooting suggestions on their website which took 10 minutes to find. I have always hated that company. I read through their facebook comments and I'm not the only one. Then I gave up after rebuilding the site for another hour which I hope was saved. I was cheered up by Christina's comments on facebook about what Jane said at the dinner table. That was my second favorite part of my day.

My first favorite part was when Chris was out getting groceries (getting groceries was a bonus!! and I didn't have to:), He picked me up pretzel mnm's to cheer me up. We haven't eaten out in a week and a half. I think that's a record. We are pretty good at not spending money on useless stuff. But paint and light bulbs have sure added up! This weekend we're pretty booked so I'm excited. I'm almost all prepared for 60-80 scouts!!

We built a bridge. Or rather we repared a bridge that goes over the pumps to one of the pools. Chris did very well. I'm proud of him. We had to use a skill saw and that was scary. I cried before we started because Chris was making jokes about taking off his leg. Those things scare me to death!! I prayed the whole time nothing would go wrong. We were safe and Chris was nice and stopped making the jokes. I've only used a jigsaw in highschool to cut 2 boards and it was very simple and my hands were very far away from the blade.

I had a dream I saw my old art teacher Mrs. Fox. Oh it took me back. When I had time to just sit for hours and draw or paint. Now I maybe get a good hour. And I am sooooooo slow. But sometimes things turn out. The only thing I get to paint now is my apartment. It's changing from an awful brown to a "breath of blue."

Quick Update

All is well. We showed up and our apartment was waaaaayyyy smaller than the picures we had only seen. It was dirty and they painted the walls a really bad brown. I was really really discouraged and then Chris pointed out something I thought was a little meaningful. He said we could clean it and throw some paint on it but we skiped a lot of this stage in our life. He was right. We've always had it easy. We fell into a really nice apartment when we were first married. We moved into an even better one with the Georges. It was sad to leave it. Eventhough they raised the rent on the new tenents, Chris said just the day before that he would even pay the new rate. I told him Cathy said they were thinking about turning it back into a 2 bedroom, and he said he didn't want to move anymore.

OK I've never moved before, or remember moving. But it is a lot harder to get that stuff out of the truck than in!! Not to mention there were stairs. I've never delt with those before. I thought it would be the other way around. Nothing is set up or really put away because we got right to work. This place needed a lot of initial cleaning. Nothing has been used and half the stuff is broken but if people are still comming, imagine the posibilities! We will just work with what we have and then add on.

WhoA!

Ok I’m determined to post. This might be a long one, or I’ll give up soon. There is sSOOOOO much going on I’m barely handling it. First was our trip to Texas. It was awesome and the best trip I’ve had down there in a long time. We went to the Aquarium and saw stingrays, sharks, and my personal favorite, the lion fish. Chris really liked the sea horses. We are aquatic nuts. We wanted to see everything so I’m grateful my sister put up with us. It was one of Chris’ favorite things we did there. I want to take my nephews Ty and Jimmy back sometime in the summer to the water park. I went there when I was in 8^th grade and loved it. Even though I was really shy and listened to SR-71 almost the whole time instead of playing in the water. We got to take a picture in an overpriced booth. I need to scan the photo to save. I also got the boys pressed pennies. I’m sure they are lost but it was fun to let them make them. When we went to the zoo later on, they saw those machines again but Aunt Anna was out of quarters.

The zoo was one of my worst experiences ever. It was hot and windy and I saw a monkey do THE GROSSEST thing ever which I won’t even say. Animals are kind of nasty. That’s why I like fish. But it was fun going with the boys. Before we got to the zoo we went to visit Chris’ cousin for the afternoon which ended up taking the whole day because we got lost. The GPS kept taking us on toll roads. Finally we were out of money. We were at the last toll road and there was no one to take money, it was correct “change” only, no bills, or an ez pass which we didn’t have. I was in my brothers car, whose on a mission, and didn’t want to run it just in case my parents really got a ticket. I was afraid it would be a lot. So I put the car in reverse and backed up over a ¼ of a mile till I could get back on the main road. Luckily there were no people behind us. I was so shaky after backing up for so long Chris was kind of worried about me. I was so scared someone would come driving up behind me, or worse, a cop. Who knew Texas toll roads charged you 1.50 every mile! Ridiculous.

We went to the lego store, and the board walk, road some rides. It probably wasn’t worth the money but the boys had a good time and that’s what mattered to me. On the last day Chris and I went across Houston, to Katy and picked up some fish for my dad while he was sleeping. Heehee. We wanted to surprise him with a gift he would really enjoy. It’s one of the few gifts I’ve given him (worth$$) but I guess he liked them because my mom said he rarely acts so excited. It was soooo fun going to get them. Chris really wants a pond like that. My dad made such a good point about the pond. It is little to no up keep! Not like our fish tank. We have to do weekly water changes, and feed them every day. I’m glad we could make him smile. They do so much for us. Thanks mom and dad for such a great trip.

Oh and then there were the nightly games. Sitting around the table playing rummy kube. Is that how you spell it? We also played phase 10. Wow that game took forever. But I’ve never laughed to hard. Or tried to keep such a straight face…

Alright. Currently.

We put up our Christmas tree and decided it took up too much room so we only put ½ of it up. We put it against our big sliding closet door so we could still get to our movies. Chris and I decided and agreed on decorations for the first time. I’ve never liked the colored lights but we got LED ones like my dad. We kind of went overboard using 9 boxes… on half a tree! Chris learned a great way to put on lights watching my dad do it this year. Layer on branches, then lights, then repeat. We went with light blue, silver and white ornaments. And we have a star on top.

Now for the big news.

We bought a Resort. Not a zoo, but a Resort! They’ll probably make a movie of this one too. We got a great deal for our first business and we take over at the start of next year. We’re really excited for the next phase of our lives. It has hotel rooms, hot pools, a jr. Olympic pool, an RV park and camping spots. The best part about this adventure is that it’s OUT OF REXBURG!!!!!!! I’m going to seriously miss my job at Jimmy Johns but this is MINE MINE MINE. Well and Chris’. My sister Christina is excited, she’s already built a Lego RV with Jane. And Angela’s boys are coming up with things we can sell at our concession area. Chocolate Covered Bananas, called “Tyler on a Stick” and drinks called “Jimmy in a Cup.” James wants to come up and help. Chris’ parents live an hour north. I think that’s as close as I want to live to them. It’s the perfect distance. They are great though. Ben is going to help run it and it will give him more of a future than the farm. Chris’ dad has been great about everything through this whole experience of deciding to buy it. I do love his family. They really care about us. We’ve already had some hiccups. But we will work them out. My goal was to own my own business before I was 25! The last guy who tried to take this place over ended up putting everything on his credit card and then bailed. Too much too fast. Luckily we have Chris’ other relatives to get advice from who all own successive businesses. Plus our experience isn’t so little. I’ve learned a lot at my other jobs and in college. I do give a little credit to college.

I’ve got 2 weeks (starting today), left at JJ’s. It’ll be kind of sad to leave but Oh good riddance Rexburg.

Although, can you believe it is December 13^th and there is NO snow on the ground?!?! NONE!! I’m L-O-V-Eing it. I can’t tell you enough. I think every day, “today is the day we will get dumped on.” 3 years ago, it all came at once. 2 days straight and I had to shovel myself out of 3 feet at my door! It’ll probably happen when we’re trying to pack everything in the U-haul.

Well I think that sums up what’s going on, I made it. I apologize for disappearing for a while. I just wish I was back in Texas. The best part about everything that is happening is that with this new place we’re buying, people can come see us! We won’t even charge you full price. JK.

Sup? Per.

For dinner tonight we had sirloin steaks with garlic butter, mashed potatoes and bacon wrapped Parmesan asparagus. I don't know if Chris will like the asparagus but it's worth a shot. And wrapped in bacon no less. I'm getting quite fancy. I always thought cooking took too much time and made too much of a mess but it's getting easier and easier. I save all the recipes and write down what I can make. A lot of it is what we have already. I don't buy stuff unless I can make at least 3 things with it. We don't really have steak/beef much because I'm not a fan but this recipe just looked sooooooo good!


My dinners usually make more of a mess. I mean not a huge mess but more dishes. Besides the George Forman, this was it! I hope Chris likes it. I just dished it up and he should be walking in the door any minute. Tonight I washed AND folded ALL the laundry. Chris will be proud. And with so few dishes to wash, the house will be clean in no time. I always use foil when I cook anything in the oven.

Let's Play Catch

wow I missed August. I'm a failure at blogging. But really all we do is work! I saw We now because Chris has a job! He's back at the Walmart Vision center. They call him "the new guy" and it drives him crazy because he's not new, just new to them. He wears fancy clothes and looks really nice all the time now. But he works till 7 which means he's home at 8ish. That kind of stinks because I go to bed at 9 since I wake up at 5. Lately I've been going in later than I should but I still finish on time.

We had a manager meeting a few days ago and now I am inspired more than ever. My boss gave me some awesome advice that I'm trying out and hopefully will carry on to forever. I'm more positive and will try very very hard to maintain that attitude. So far so good and I'm leaving work at work at 4 pm, not staying late so that I don't stress myself out even more. I know that I can't do it all. I'm really nervous though because on Wednesday my boss will do a performance evaluation. I legit, real, all out review. I really hope he says I'm doing well.

I did a group interview with 19 people. I read in our training book that it was a good option. After a little research I made a plan and we executed it today. We narrowed down 19 people to 5! It was so effective to see who is good on their feet coming up with creative things. Whose articulate and outgoing. Although Jarom pointed out that he would have been shy in an interview like that and he's the most outgoing person I have on my staff. It took him a week or two to come out and be as fun as he is now.

Tonight we are replacing our fish tank stand. To be honest we were debating getting rid of it all together and say good bye to Robert, Brandon, Jordan, The Georges, and the new Angels which have no names. Also, there is a cat fish that never was named. But we just couldn't part with them yet. Robert is SOOOOO big! He started out just 3-4 inches, maybe smaller. And now he's over a foot long and healthy. And our kissing Goramies kiss all the time. We heard it was rare because one's a male, and one is a female and they usually take out the females to breed. They even laid eggs once. But we thought it was an oil film from the cans we had just moved them in. so we scrape them out. Yes we felt like murderers. I'll post pictures of that soon.

Also, Chris FINALLY got a new motorcycle helmet. I'll be sending the bill to Tyler for that since he broke the other one when he was 3. Just kidding. But I'm sure he still owes Christina a shirt for staining it. I'd give that kid the world if I could. Well... I'd give him half because Jimmy's a stud too.

We are currently watching Parks and Recreation and it is SOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOooo funny! It's all I can do to wait for Chris to be home to watch it. I want to be Leslie Knope. I just watched the Dinner Party episode. I won't ruin anything because it is so good!! Usually I love a good end ruining. At one point an Indian Chief is describing how a chief was shot by white men 100+ times and Tom with big eyes of wonder said "did he die?!" Hahaha!!! You have to watch it.

Oh and Chris and I officially decided to renew our contract after 5 years of marriage. He's awesome. Chris is my best friend and it's probably not healthy but he is the only person I socialize with. He's so fun and even after 5+ years, I still can't wait to see him because He is the first person I want to tell things to, and the only person I can't stand NOT to be around. I guess you could say I love the guy.