Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Haircut!
I've been wanting to get my hair cut for ages and finally got around to doing it today. It's been long for the last few years and I decided to go shorter for the summer. Not short like when I was younger, but just not halfway down my back. Here's what it looks like straightened from the appointment today. I'll post a curly picture another day.
Monday, April 27, 2009
A Plague on Delta and Travel Agencies
Bill and I had plans to fly out to Cancun last night for our honeymoon that we didn't really have when we got married in January. We've been planning it for months and were so excited to go. When we got to the airport, we found out my ticket was made in my maiden name and when I changed my name with Delta's records, they failed to change the ticket. They wanted to charge us $200 to make the change, which is absolutely absurd. They gave us no service and wouldn't help us at all. We ended up getting our tickets refunded and headed home rather dejected late last night. The hotel we were staying at in Cancun was a free deal that we got by going to a presentation while we were engaged, so we thought we'd lost it by not being able to get there on the flight. Needless to say, last night we didn't feel so happy or great.
However, when we woke up this morning, we found out that all non-essential flights to Mexico have been cancelled because of the swine flu that is going around down there. It's really bad and over 100 people have died from it in Mexico. If we had gone last night it probably would have been a very bad idea. There's a good chance we wouldn't have made it out of Atlanta where we had a stopover scheduled or something else bad might have happened.
That being the case, we called the travel agency that had booked the hotel this morning, hoping to get the trip transferred or at least our $100 deposit back. Their response? We could change it to a specific date if we wanted, but only make those changes today, and it doesn't matter that we don't know if the swine flu will be over by whatever date we pick. Oh, and if we want to change it, we have to pay $350 to do it. And no way can we get our deposit back. That's final regardless of if the state department has basically told everyone not to fly to Mexico. Does that travel agency care? Nope!
This hasn't been the best start to this week. Definitely not.
However, when we woke up this morning, we found out that all non-essential flights to Mexico have been cancelled because of the swine flu that is going around down there. It's really bad and over 100 people have died from it in Mexico. If we had gone last night it probably would have been a very bad idea. There's a good chance we wouldn't have made it out of Atlanta where we had a stopover scheduled or something else bad might have happened.
That being the case, we called the travel agency that had booked the hotel this morning, hoping to get the trip transferred or at least our $100 deposit back. Their response? We could change it to a specific date if we wanted, but only make those changes today, and it doesn't matter that we don't know if the swine flu will be over by whatever date we pick. Oh, and if we want to change it, we have to pay $350 to do it. And no way can we get our deposit back. That's final regardless of if the state department has basically told everyone not to fly to Mexico. Does that travel agency care? Nope!
This hasn't been the best start to this week. Definitely not.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Camping and Canyoneering
Bill and I headed down to the Goblin Valley area with some friends to go camping and canyoneering this weekend to celebrate the end of the semester. We left Thursday and came back Saturday afternoon. It was such a fun weekend! It's always great to get out of Provo for a few days, and we had tons of fun doing this canyon, Baptist Draw. We would have done another one, but we got rained out. Oh well. Good times all around!
This was how most of the canyon was. It was so narrow and so many pretty spots.
I love Bill's face in this one. It screams, "Who are these people and how the heck did I get into this canyon?!"
This was the first place we had to span to get across. It was a little too wide for me and to be honest, I was scared of falling, so my friend Adam came and gave me a hand. That's Adam Read from Colorado Springs, Tori, if you're reading this. Small world.
After getting out of the canyon we headed down to Goblin Valley to play on the goblins. This shot looks cool, but really it's me being too scared to stand up on the goblin because it was so windy. :) See the clouds? That's why we didn't do another canyon the next day.
Isn't Goblin Valley cool? I highly recommend making a trip down there for anyone in Utah. What a fun place to explore!
This picture is all for Hillary. Manpris and chacos, all of her favorite things.
It looked like a saddle. What can I say? It was a great weekend.
Oh, and one more thing. For all of your viewing pleasure, this is Bill showing he's 5 popped collar cool.
This was how most of the canyon was. It was so narrow and so many pretty spots.
I love Bill's face in this one. It screams, "Who are these people and how the heck did I get into this canyon?!"
This was the first place we had to span to get across. It was a little too wide for me and to be honest, I was scared of falling, so my friend Adam came and gave me a hand. That's Adam Read from Colorado Springs, Tori, if you're reading this. Small world.
After getting out of the canyon we headed down to Goblin Valley to play on the goblins. This shot looks cool, but really it's me being too scared to stand up on the goblin because it was so windy. :) See the clouds? That's why we didn't do another canyon the next day.
Isn't Goblin Valley cool? I highly recommend making a trip down there for anyone in Utah. What a fun place to explore!
This picture is all for Hillary. Manpris and chacos, all of her favorite things.
It looked like a saddle. What can I say? It was a great weekend.
Oh, and one more thing. For all of your viewing pleasure, this is Bill showing he's 5 popped collar cool.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Finished Decorating House Pics
Save for a few pillows and a set of curtains in our bedroom, the apartment is as decorated as it's going to get. I think it turned out quite cute. Here's a few shots of the living room:
From the "dining room". Good shot of our new rug.
View from the front door. And yes, that's Bill's legs, standing on our kitchen counter. You can do that in your own apartment you know.
Our more artsy wedding photography
A few fun photos at the temple after our wedding right next to our front door
We got a bunch of pillows from IKEA that we really like. Oh, and Bill really likes to jump on the bed, since there's 3 inches of foam under that amazing down comforter. Here's him levitating.
From the "dining room". Good shot of our new rug.
View from the front door. And yes, that's Bill's legs, standing on our kitchen counter. You can do that in your own apartment you know.
Our more artsy wedding photography
A few fun photos at the temple after our wedding right next to our front door
We got a bunch of pillows from IKEA that we really like. Oh, and Bill really likes to jump on the bed, since there's 3 inches of foam under that amazing down comforter. Here's him levitating.
What an awesome weekend it's been!
This weekend has been fantastic. Yesterday was super busy and tons of fun. Bill started the day early with a 7AM dance final. That part wasn't so great, but I was asleep, so no worries, right? :) I got up shortly after he got back and we made pancakes for breakfast and then headed out to Kohl's and then to a piano store to play some different digital pianos. How awesome would it be if we could afford a $2300 Clavinova? I'll settle for something for about half that price that will fit into our living room. That is, in about 6 months when we've earned enough to buy it!
Next we went to see Monsters and Aliens with a gift card from our wedding. It was at that new theater in Orem, which is so nice! It took us about 5 seconds to get our tickets at a kiosk before we went in and then we walked right into the theater. How cool is that? No lines! By the way, it's a really cute movie. It had some great one liners and lots of laughs.
After that we headed to Paradise Bakery in American Fork for lunch and then on to meet a couple friends to go shooting on the other side of Utah Lake. We had tons of fun, though Bill and I completely forgot ear protection. Stupid, I know. He stuck some 38 specials in his ears and they worked just great, but my ears are a little small for those. :) I stuffed some tissue in my ears and hoped for the best. That didn't work out so well as my right ear started ringing after the first shot and it's still ringing today. Oops! It's a lot better now, but it's still going to take some time for my hearing to come back all the way. Not my most intelligent moment.
After shooting it was off to Guitar Center in Salt Lake to play a few more reasonably-priced digital pianos and then a quick stop off at IKEA to pick up square pillows to go inside the cute pillow covers we bought last week for our bed. I'll have to take a picture and post it.
We stopped by Chili's on the way home for dinner. It was one of our last wedding gift cards. Sad day! We've done lots of fun things these last 3 months on other peoples dime. Thanks everyone!
We've been training for over a month now for the St. George Marathon. It was a little hard to get out on long runs these last few weeks when I was so sick, so yesterday we promised ourselves that we'd go on our planned 8-mile long run. That turned into leaving at 10:40pm to run and running somewhere between 6 and 7 miles. Close enough, right?
And that was the day! Crazy busy and never a moment to stop and breathe, but so much fun!
Next we went to see Monsters and Aliens with a gift card from our wedding. It was at that new theater in Orem, which is so nice! It took us about 5 seconds to get our tickets at a kiosk before we went in and then we walked right into the theater. How cool is that? No lines! By the way, it's a really cute movie. It had some great one liners and lots of laughs.
After that we headed to Paradise Bakery in American Fork for lunch and then on to meet a couple friends to go shooting on the other side of Utah Lake. We had tons of fun, though Bill and I completely forgot ear protection. Stupid, I know. He stuck some 38 specials in his ears and they worked just great, but my ears are a little small for those. :) I stuffed some tissue in my ears and hoped for the best. That didn't work out so well as my right ear started ringing after the first shot and it's still ringing today. Oops! It's a lot better now, but it's still going to take some time for my hearing to come back all the way. Not my most intelligent moment.
After shooting it was off to Guitar Center in Salt Lake to play a few more reasonably-priced digital pianos and then a quick stop off at IKEA to pick up square pillows to go inside the cute pillow covers we bought last week for our bed. I'll have to take a picture and post it.
We stopped by Chili's on the way home for dinner. It was one of our last wedding gift cards. Sad day! We've done lots of fun things these last 3 months on other peoples dime. Thanks everyone!
We've been training for over a month now for the St. George Marathon. It was a little hard to get out on long runs these last few weeks when I was so sick, so yesterday we promised ourselves that we'd go on our planned 8-mile long run. That turned into leaving at 10:40pm to run and running somewhere between 6 and 7 miles. Close enough, right?
And that was the day! Crazy busy and never a moment to stop and breathe, but so much fun!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wish I could get to Texas
So my brother and his girlfriend eloped recently and are having a wedding reception the first weekend in May. My mom and 2 sisters all got tickets to head down for a quick 1-day trip to be there for it. I want to go too! The $325 plane ticket just isn't fitting into the new student budget Bill and I are on these days. Sad! Anyone want to buy a plane ticket for me? :)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
I got a scholarship!
A couple weeks ago I found out the bad news that the government thinks Bill and I are made of money, so we don't qualify for pell grants. This week I got much better news. I found out Monday that I got a scholarship from my program! $2000 for both Fall and Winter semesters. It doesn't pay for the whole $5000 price tag of one semester of grad school, but it does take off the edge. I'm quite pleased.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Feelin' Domestic
So I love headbands but they always give me such a headache, so when some of my coworkers found this place that sells headbands that tie underneath, I was so excited! One problem. They're $15 or so bucks, each. Yeah, seriously. Who can afford that? Well, I probably could before I got married and got into grad school, but not these days! Well then at Christmas time my coworker gave me an adorable green one of these headbands and I found out that she made them herself. Second round of excitement for me! I have a sewing machine thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, and they really don't look hard to make. So I've been planning on trying my hand at this project since January and finally got to it this weekend. My sister and her roommate helped me pick out a couple cute squares of fabric at WalMart last night and I started working on them today during the afternoon session of conference, which was amazing, by the way. :)
Below are a few pictures of the result. I'm so pleased with how they turned out! They have a couple really great features. One, like I said earlier, they tie instead of having an elastic band. You can make them as loose or tight as you want. It's awesome. Two, if you look close at third picture you'll see that there's little velcro tabs on them. It helps them stay in place in your hair, so if you want to wear them with your hair in a ponytail, you don't have to pin it in. What a great little feature!
Anyway, here's the breakdown on cost. Piece of material, $1.50. It made 4 headbands. Ribbon for tie, $2.00. I still have some of both left and could make several more with it. Velcro tabs, $2.50 for a pack of 20. I used all those up. So the final price, including tax? $1.27 each. I made 8 of them in a few hours. It would take me less time now that I know how to do it. I made up the pattern from the finished one, so it took a little while at first to get going, but was super fast once I got into a rhythm. Anyone want the pattern?
Below are a few pictures of the result. I'm so pleased with how they turned out! They have a couple really great features. One, like I said earlier, they tie instead of having an elastic band. You can make them as loose or tight as you want. It's awesome. Two, if you look close at third picture you'll see that there's little velcro tabs on them. It helps them stay in place in your hair, so if you want to wear them with your hair in a ponytail, you don't have to pin it in. What a great little feature!
Anyway, here's the breakdown on cost. Piece of material, $1.50. It made 4 headbands. Ribbon for tie, $2.00. I still have some of both left and could make several more with it. Velcro tabs, $2.50 for a pack of 20. I used all those up. So the final price, including tax? $1.27 each. I made 8 of them in a few hours. It would take me less time now that I know how to do it. I made up the pattern from the finished one, so it took a little while at first to get going, but was super fast once I got into a rhythm. Anyone want the pattern?
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