I Heart New York... for reals

I went to New York for a business trip back in October and I am just now getting around to posting them. It was the best trip ever! My sister Julia came out and stayed with me plus my parents came out as well because my Dad had a business trip, too. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back.

Our hotel was right next to Bryant Park so I have lots of pictures there. We went to the library, the Museum of Natural History, and the Met. Then there's a picture of the dessert I had at dinner that night. We went to Mary Poppins, which was great, and the last is the picture of my mug that actually has a sticker on it rather than real writing - very disappointing. Guess I'll just have to go back to get another one!

This one's for you, Kristy Lynn Phelps Tibbs!

I suppose it was only a matter of time before I gave in and did one of these...

What are your middle names? Bernece and Douglas... I'll let you guess which belongs to who...
How long have you been together? Around 4 years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? It took me 2 and 1/2 years to convince him he wanted to date me.
Whose siblings do you see the most? Probably mine just because they're more mobile.
Do you have any children together? Not yet...
What about pets? I want a cat really bad but John's allergic.
Did you go to the same school? Same college.
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Anywhere we have a coupon for! Or Jack in the Box.
Where is the furthest you have ever traveled as a couple? For Christmas one year we drove from St. Louis to Orem. There was a big blizzard in Colorado though, so we had to take the long way around. Turned into a 32 hour drive... I was behind the wheel for all of 4 hours...
Who does the cooking? Rachel does most of the cooking unless John is in the mood. He is a really good cook and enjoys it but school has just taken up too much of his time.
Who is more social? We're both pretty social - we love hanging out with our friends. But I would have to say John is more social just because I get in moods where I just want to stay home and I don't think John ever feels that way.
Who is the neat freak? I like things to be neat but I hate cleaning so John is sometimes the one who has to say something...
Who is the most stubborn? John. No. Contest.
Who wakes up earlier? Rachel. No. Contest.
Where was your first date? IHOP - John had his waiter friend make me a napkin flower.
Do you get flowers often? I have gotten flowers three times in the 6 years I've known John, including the napkin flower.
Who sings better? Rachel, but only because John is so shy about singing. He actually has a great tenor voice but doesn't like people to know it...
Who does the laundry? Rachel - laundry is my nemesis.
Who is better with the computer? John - electrical engineer, you know. (Actually the two are only somewhat connected, but everyone thinks he knows more than he really does.)
Who drives when you are together? John - he gets nervous when I drive which makes me nervous.
Who picks where you go to dinner? Neither of us. We have the hardest time deciding where to go so the choice is usually made based on coupons in the drawer or friends we're going with.
Who is the first one to admit when they are wrong? Usually me, but John has had his moments.
Who wears the pants in this relationship? John. But they sure look good on him!
Who eats more sweets? Rachel. John would rather have another burger for dessert...
Who cries more? Rachel - big surprise!
What's your best day together? Sunday.
Where did you honeymoon? Park City, Johnson Mill, and Keystone, CO. We had a week in between 2 receptions so we did some traveling.
Favorite date night? I have a lot of favorites because John is really good about making time for me. I like going to baseball games together - John loves it and I like them because they're so relaxing.
Favorite TV show to watch together? Frasier
I tag: Whoever wants to volunteer!

New Apartment Happiness

Here are the pictures of our new apartment as previously promised. The first is our second bedroom, which I have setup as my writing room. All the office boxes are neatly stacked in the closet so the room looks really spacious. The next picture is of our bedroom but it doesn't show the lovely walk-in closet with all the extra space I can't fill up. So great. The last picture is the throne room. We are in the handicap-accessible apartment so this bathroom is HUGE. I don't know how to even begin decorating it so that it doesn't feel so cavernous.

This is home for at least the next 10 months and I love it!

Lights in Las Vegas

The weekend before John started school while Mom and Dad Zincke were here we took a trip to Vegas. Steve and Jessica happened to be there the same weekend, too, so we had fun hanging out with them. We walked the strip, watched the fountain show at the Bellagio, stayed at the Stratosphere, had breakfast at Palace Station, and then saw more of the hotels. Things sure have changed in the last three years since we were there last and they will change even more when the City Center opens by the end of this year. It looks to be pretty impressive, too, so we might have to plan another trip back! And now, the pictures:

Catchin' Up

We are finally settle back into the swing of things, I think. John's already bogged down with school work and this week has been up and down for me at work. The best part is that we have a new home! I haven't taken pics yet, but I'll post them soon.

Meanwhile, here are some pics of our end-of-summer adventures. Mom and Dad Woodbury came to see us in CA and we went to Sea World - my favorite!

Grandma Tripp came with us, too, and we all had a great time watching Shamu, seeing the flamingos, dolphins, sharks, and the cute little VW Shamu Beetle! (I can't make these look good...)

We also had Mom and Dad Zincke come out for a visit. They helped us move and I really couldn't have done it without them. Then we went to Vegas and took some awesome pictures which I will post shortly. This is just a teaser.

The Battle Commences

John had his appointment with the apartment manager lady today and went in fully armed with documentation and plenty of support to back his case. Problem was, the surprise was ruined and she saw him coming. So she went on the offensive right away and didn't give John a chance to even speak his piece. When he did get a word in edgewise she wouldn't listen and maintained the position that she was right despite the fact that she was in direct opposition to the law. It was like a smack in the face when she handed him the 30 day notice to vacate.

So I get a call from John while I'm at work and he says "we're movin" which I thought was a joke at first since we've been saying that for a month. Then I freaked out when I realized he was serious as he told me this story. Fortunately by this time he had already been out and seen a couple of other complexes and had an idea of what was out there. He picked me up from work and we went to see a place that is closer to campus, way nicer, way bigger, and much newer. Plus, they were running a deal right now so the rent was great. So we have an application in and we'll hear from them tomorrow.

So, you ask, who is the victor? One could say the manager witch, I mean lady, wins because we are in fact vacating the premises. Or, as I am choosing to see it, we win because we don't have to stay in a place that neither of us really liked, we don't ever have to see her ugly face again, and she lost a tenant that paid on time and kept the place nice because she was belligerent and rude right from the start. Yeah, the only cookies she's getting from me will be thrown through her window. You decide who you think wins. But I'll tell you what, I cannot wait to move into this new place because it is luxury after this hole!

You Complete Me

Yes, I am complete once again with my other half home with me from California. I flew out last Thursday and we stared packing up John's stuff and cleaning the room and bathroom he was living in this summer. John was glad to be done, but he had a good internship experience.

My parents actually came in to town on Friday night to start their anniversary vacation. We met up with them and had dinner together which was so much fun! I've missed them the last couple of weeks so it was nice to catch up.

Saturday morning we woke up, packed, and loaded up the car. We said goodbye to Sue, who has been just great this summer, and headed off to my Grandma's house to meet up with Mom and Dad again. Then the 5 of us drove down to San Diego and spent 5 wonderful sun-filled hours at Sea World. It was crowded and hot, but it was so much fun, too! At least, I thought so. We didn't do any of the rides and just went to the shows and animal exhibits. I will admit that the Shamu show brought tears to my eyes - I love those whales! Then we got to go see my Uncle Dale and Aunt Teri and visit them in their new house which is just beautiful.

Sunday we had a lovely waffle breakfast that Grandma made us and got to go to church together. We came home and had some dinner then John and I had to leave to drive home to Arizona. The drive was uneventful, which I think is the best kind.

I'm so glad to have John home again - it made it easier to get through the day and I was so excited to come home! So welcome home, honey!

Apartment Update & Other Fun

So we are just a few days away from signing our renewal contract to stay at our apartment complex. And John has been furiously researching and making calls about this program that supposedly says they will kick us out if we make over a certain amount. Let me just tell you, this is war.

John has found out that not only did the apartment manager lie to us on several occasions in this whole situation, we could sue her for the things she's told us. John has all the supporting legal documents and policies which he will bring when we go to sign the contract. And I don't know if I want to be there because it's going to be rather awkward. But John's excited... The manager is just lucky we're not litigious people or she'd be in real trouble. As it is, I think I might make her cookies just to ease the sting a little.

The lessons I've learned from this is to always be as honest as you can, don't be afraid to say you don't know, and be careful when dealing with people because you just never know who you might be offending.

On a fun note, I discovered this blog last week and it made me so happy. First, because I love baking and cakes, and second, because it is freakin' hilarious. Check out Cake Wrecks.

On an even better note, John has only a few more days to go at his internship and I'll be bringing him home with me this weekend. It's almost over! Yay!

And then I think about all the things I was going to do while John was gone and realize that I haven't done hardly any of them... but I'd rather have him home. I will be a happy wife next week.

M.A.S.H.

If you are even close to my age it is likely you have played the Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House game. On the four sides of a square you write MASH, names of boys (or girls) you could marry, number of children, then a city or place. Based on a number you pick the choices are eliminated until you have one of each. I always thought a shack would be the worst type of habitation, but I am quickly learning that an apartment isn't much better. At least, not one owned by someone else and 'managed' by some random assistant.

It is time for us to renew our contract so we can keep living in the apartment we've been in for the last year. It is not my favorite place, as most of you probably already know, but the price is right, the location is good, and the pool is close by. When John and I went down to the office last weekend to sign our new contract we were surprised by a 'bond program' we apparently signed on for last year. We remember signing the papers, but the office girls who explained it to us neglected to tell us that if we exceed a certain income we would have to move out of our apartment. That's right, I make too much money so they were going to kick us out. Seriously?! Seriously.

Long story short, we've figured it out, but it has been a huge hassle every step of the way. If one more thing had gone wrong or if they had made me jump through just one more hoop we would be moving somewhere else. As it is, John and I are both bitter about the whole thing now. Fortunately, we aren't planning on being here much longer than a year so we won't have to go through it again. Hopefully. You never know...

Visitors Welcome

That's right, Lauren and Julia came to visit this last weekend. I always have a fantastic time with my sisters but this time was great because it's been so long since we've all been together. We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill (it was dark in there and the pic didn't come out great), helped Lar with her A1 Sauce contest entry, went shopping where John found some awesome shoes, and had fun just hanging out. It reached record highs here in Phoenix this weekend, but they didn't mind - Ju said the heat was 'exotic.' They might think differently if they actually lived here, but maybe not. I was so glad to have them here - I absolutely adore my sisters. We really are three peas in a pod although maybe differently shaped every now and then. We're hoping to get together again the end of August cuz fun like this needs an encore. There's no one like sisters!

Happy 4th of July in CA

It was so nice to be in California for July 4th because the weather was lovely. We got to see Srun and Harry, too, which was fun. We went to an Angels game and they had a really good fireworks show afterward. It was even better than the show we saw the next night at Disneyland. We also went down to Laguna Beach and John got to go swimming in the ocean for the first time. The lifeguard actually came down to make sure he was okay after a really big wave.

On the holiday we visited with Srun and Harry and their family which was so much fun. We sat around talking and ate great BBQ. John got his pic taken with a monster truck and we watched fireworks. It was actually quite cold out and I had to wrap up in a blanket while we ate chocolate pudding snack pies. It was a great weekend.

Thanks Srun and Harry! And thank you California!

Visit to San Diego

This last weekend John and I did some exploring in San Diego. I hoped to go to the famous Zoo but when John woke up feeling sick and I woke up with a headache we didn't get up in time to make it worth the admission price. So we started at Balboa Park and figured we'd see what it was all about. And it was awesome! I loved the architecture and all the museums plus we saw a guy playing the diggery-doo (or however you spell it).

After the park we went to a Padres game. Petco Park is absolutely beautiful, probably the nicest one I've been to. It was great to just hang out together and watch a ball game. Unfortunately, traffic was horrible on the way home and we got back pretty late which did not help John feel better. But he's doing better now. Side note: he's almost halfway done with his internship now.

*I discovered Picasa and I think I like it... what do you think of my collage?

It Was a Happy Birth-week

Yes, I am another year older. My only consolation is that I am still younger than John!

I feel like I've been celebrating my birthday all week, which I am definitely not complaining about. The actual day was Wednesday the 10th but some of the girls took me out to dinner on Monday. Annika couldn't come on Monday so she and I went to dinner at Tipps 88 Thai (my absolute favorite thai restaurant ever) on Tuesday night and had a fantastic time. Thanks again to all my friends for remembering and making me feel so special on my birthday week!

I woke up Wednesday morning thinking "Happy Birthday, Rach." (Yes, when talking to myself I do use nicknames). And, guess what? It was a very happy birthday! My coworkers all remembered and we celebrated with ice cream novelties (lovin' the eskimo pies) and a lovely card they wrote to me. I won a gift card to Wildflower Bread Co. and free tickets to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on stage at the Gammage by entering contests on Twitter. Then the lovely ladies a church took me to dinner and ice cream. When I got home after all that fun I had to quick do laundry and pack for my trip to California. My Mom called me from Hawaii and the family all sang me a little ditty over the phone which just made me miss them terribly. And I talked to my husband who also had wonderful birthday wishes for me.

I have fantastic friends, loving family, great coworkers, and an amazing husband. What more could I want on my birthday!?

Nothin Special

The last few weeks have been pretty normal, for me anyway. This last weekend John flew out to Arizona since I had an event for work on Saturday. I was actually a little sad not to be able to go to California and missed the lovely weather, but I was glad to have John home. I worked a half day on Friday so that gave us some time to run errands and hang out with Brandon. We went to a movie that night at the real theater. We usually only go to the cheap theater but since our friends were going to see the new X-Men movie, and I really wanted to see it, we tagged along. I liked it, so I was glad we went.

I worked the morning on Saturday and it wasn't too bad. Our event went great and John got to come up at the end and have lunch since there was food left over. He helped me clean up then we went to a movie at the cheap theater (State of Play was pretty good) and shopping at the outlet mall (I got 2 new pairs of jeans and shoes - Happy Birthday to me!).

Sunday was a very lazy day, but we had a wonderful time together. John left that evening and I had the apartment to myself again. It was strange this time because the weekend made me feel like things were back to normal and then John had to go back to California. So it was kind of a hard goodbye. I really shouldn't complain, though, because not all of the MBA wives get to see their husbands so often.

So it's back to normal life again - work and stuff. John is working hard out in Cali on his projects and I'll get to see him again in a few days. Meanwhile, I went out with the girls last night for dinner at Pita Jungle, which was awesome. I got this amazing salad that was so big I brought home 3/4 of it for lunch today. And I had a great time with the girls (thanks Mel, Kristy, & Jen!).

I'll be sure to take more pictures in CA this weekend - I think we might explore Laguna Beach some more. Mostly, I'm just grateful I get to see John as much as I do and that life is treating us so well right now. Thanks life!

Memorial Day in CA

Since John and I both had Monday the 25th off we decided to spend it exploring more of Orange County. I left work an hour early and hit the road heading to CA. This was the first time I've done a road trip on my own since college but I wasn't worried because I used to do the drive from Provo to Denver all the time. I will admit this was a little scary, though. It was a holiday weekend so there were a ton of people on the road, plus the normal California traffic, so it was pretty stressful for the last couple of hours driving in the dark. I was so relieved to reach my destination and so tired that we just went to sleep.

Saturday we ran some errands and got John set with more groceries and fresh produce. We had lunch at a pizzeria in Lake Forest called Empanada Man which turned out to be really good and decently priced after our Restaurant.com certificate. For our Saturday night date night we found the Irvine cheap theater and finally saw Taken - great movie by the way, and I love Liam.

Sunday we went to church and then had a very quiet day at home. Sometimes it's nice to be lazy.

Monday we went down to San Juan Capistrano mostly because John found a BBQ joint and got a certificate to eat there. But I'm glad he did because it is such a great place! We drove over to Dana Point, took some pictures by the Marriott resort there then walked down to Doheny State Park to stroll along the beach. It was a great time and John had fun taking pictures of the beach and the water. He's still really excited about the beaches out here. We headed over to Bad To The Bone BBQ in San Juan Capistrano for an early dinner and it was awesome. The picture is of the pulled pork nachos we got - awesome. And we came out with tons of leftovers - also awesome.

John went back to work on Tuesday and after sending him off I drove back to Phoenix. But it was a short week and now I'm back in Irvine! I feel like I have two different lives right now; one in Phoenix where I am a single woman working full time and one in California where I am always on vacation and have great weekends with my husband. And we have 10 weeks to go...

Welcome to Irvine, California!

That's right, John is living in the O.C. and I think he fits in great. In fact, I think we both would and would love to move there!

I took a furlough day last Friday to get everything ready and have one last BBQ with all the friends then we left on Saturday. We drove most of the afternoon and arrived in Irvine at about 5:30pm. The house where John's staying is beautiful and the people who are letting him live there are wonderful. We had a great time getting to know them and I feel really good about how it all worked out. John is only about a 10 minute drive from his office and their house is close to shopping, grocery, and Laguna Beach. We had a fun time Saturday evening driving around to find all the places John will need to know about for the next couple months.

His first day of work went well, I think. It's only been a couple of days so John's doing a lot of orientation and meeting new people. He's still getting the info on the project he'll be working on, so I guess we'll so how it goes. So far I think he's most excited about having a tv in his room that gets cable - he's already watched 3 baseball games and caught up on all the Fox News.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get used to living by myself. With 4 younger siblings and then always having roommates in college I have never lived by myself. Sometimes I don't mind, like last night when I decided I didn't want to do dishes and that I wouldn't feel guilty about it. But it's also really hard - the worst is waking up in the morning and getting ready in an empty apartment. It's going to be a long summer. Fortunately, I've got some great friends who are here alone this summer, too. I foresee some quality girl time going on!

If anything, I have a great excuse to go on vacation every weekend! I'm driving out this Friday for the long weekend since John and I both have Monday off and I was able to get furlough on Tuesday, too. It will be an amazing weekend, I'm sure, and it can't come soon enough!

Bittersweet Endings

John leaves for California next Saturday so this was his last weekend here in AZ with me until next fall. On Friday we went to a dinner organized by his school and got to see lots of friends. I took some pictures but none of them were very flattering so I won't post there here. And I forgot to take pictures of the Chinese food which was the most interesting. We had lots of new things and I have to admit not all of it was to my liking. John wanted to go get something else to eat after we left but when we got home I crashed. I was just going to lay down for a minute and next thing I new it was dark and the clock read almost midnight! I felt bad that I wasted so much time on our date night, but John didn't wake me up so he couldn't complain. We watched some Frasier together and went to bed late. Saturday was good - we got some things done and then had BBQ with friends. It was fun for all of us to get together before parting ways. We're hoping to do something this next weekend but we'll be driving to CA this Saturday so I'm not sure if we'll get to see everyone. We stayed up late again on Saturday night. I was reading a great book plus my stomach was pretty woozy and I had a headache. It still hadn't gone away by the next morning so we stayed home from church.

John was studying for finals off and on over the weekend but other than that it was pretty relaxing. He had a final this morning that he did well on and then he has a presentation this afternoon. Just a few more tests to go and he'll be done with his first year of Business School! And then he'll be gone to California. Bittersweet to say the least.

Free KFC 2-Piece Meal

By now everyone's probably heard about the free KFC coupon that Oprah somehow has been able to offer. A free 2-piece grilled chicken meal for every family in America. Well, John and I have redeemed our coupons and I have to say it was a very interesting experience. I almost wish I had taken pictures to post here.

There's a KFC right down the street from us and I had printed the coupons yesterday (see unthinkfc.com) so we drove over a little after 6 last night. The small restaurant was full but not over-crowded when we got there and we figured it was worth the wait. The wait ended up being 30 minutes, but I'm not complaining because it was free. And the people watching was prime!Not all the customers felt the way I did about complaining, however. There was one rather interesting gentleman, who I will call 'Mr. 74,' that was in quite a rush. When we ordered they were calling out orders in the 50's and we were #82. Mr. 74 couldn't stand still as he was just so excited to get his free chicken! He flitted from one side of the counter to the other, watching the employees in back carefully and constantly asking how much longer until order number 74. When it finally arrived Mr. 74 had to make sure that they had gotten his order right so he pulled everything out and examined it on the counter. John and I just smiled and shrugged - free offers bring all sorts of people out of the woodwork.

There were several families there as well as your standard poor college student crowd. And by the time we got our meals it really was a crowd. I felt bad for the people who hadn't heard about the offer and just came in for some good old traditional crispy fried chicken - they actually paid for their food but still had to wait just as long. But mostly I felt bad for the dear KFC employees, bless their hearts. Mr. 74 didn't help their stress levels one bit and I'm sure they're already sick at the sight of grilled chicken.

John and I walked out with a total of 4 very small grilled chicken pieces, two biscuits, mashed potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, wedges, and two drinks. I was quite impressed with it on the whole - like I said, can't complain when it's free - but John was still hungry. All that standing in line made him hungry!

I think the deal is you can print 4 of the coupons before 9:59pm tonight so we might have another free KFC experience before the week is done. Next time, I'll take pictures, promise!

Tucson in May

I can't believe it's May already! Only a couple more weeks until John starts his internship - he's nervous and I'm a little sad because I'm going to miss him lots. Silver lining: I'll get to visit California a lot this summer! And maybe Sea World... still working on that.

John's parents were visiting Dave & Charity in Tucson for the last week so we drove down to participate in the fun both this last weekend and the Saturday before. It's a decent drive of about 2 hours (this coming from the person who slept in the passenger seat most of the way there and back) and well worth the trip both times. The thing I love about my in-laws is that we have the most fun just hanging out talking. We eat occasionally (thank you Charity for fantastic meals) and then we talk some more. And laugh - I love the laughter! It was a nice and relaxing weekend and John and I both came home feeling a little better about life. Isn't that what family is for, after all?

Work has been busy but good for me - we had a couple of events last week that went really well and I have another one this week. I still like it well enough and it definitely keeps me busy.

School has been stressful for John - he pulled another all-nighter last week working on a Real Estate project and he has another one, the last, due tomorrow. Then finals coming up and a big move and a new job. Poor guy - it's going to be a hectic couple of weeks! We found a lovely older couple in California who are letting John use an extra bedroom that's off their main house for the summer. We're lucky they had it available since the house is so close to John's office and they are charging a very reasonable rate, especially for California. We'll be driving out May 15th and he starts on the 18th.

So happy May, everyone! And, by the way, today is Star Wars day. Not sure why, but happy Star Wars day, too!

Easter Weekend

We had a lovely yet simple Easter weekend. On Saturday Dave and Charity came up to visit and we all went to lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant (if you're in Tempe you have to try Tipps 88 Thai). We had a nice chat and wonderful lunch plus, we all got sparkled by Ellie's princess wand! It's nice to live close to family so we can see each other more often. But the word is that they might not be in Tucson for much longer. We wish them well wherever they end up.

Easter Sunday wasn't a huge deal for us since we don't have little kids to do an Easter egg hunt or anything. I have to admit, I kind of miss hiding the eggs and then watching the kids find them all. We weren't sure what to expect from this holiday here in AZ since we were so surprised by the huge celebration in St. Louis. Easter is a big holiday out there - they close school on Good Friday and the kids get serious presents from the Easter bunny. It's almost like Christmas all over again. I thought it was kind of neat how much they celebrated this holiday, but it was a little unexpected. It is also kind of a big deal here in Arizona, but not so much as in Missouri.

So we went to the Larsen's for Easter dinner. It was awesome - Jen went all out with a ham, potatoes, rolls, and Danielle brought a fantastic multi-layered strawberry shortcake. It was so fun to hang out with friends and I don't think we should wait for another big holiday to do it again! Thanks again, Jen!

Overall, it was a nice and relaxing weekend, which we really needed after so much work and school stress. And now we only have few more weeks of school to go before John moves out to California. It goes by so fast...

Just Keep Breathing

The craziness is over at work for a while. Our event last Saturday went well but it was a long time to be at work on a Saturday. Since this was the first time I had experienced this particular event I learned a lot about how my work group handles these big events. It was a good experience overall but I am glad it's over now. We all felt a little thrashed on Monday but there was more work to do so we took a deep breath and got back to our jobs. I feel exhausted and I'm really looking forward to having my weekend to myself.

Meanwhile, John is struggling through classes. His Real Estate class is taking a lot of time and we've been spending a lot of time on campus because we drive together. I'll go home for a couple of hours after work until he gets hungry then I'll take him dinner and hang out until he's ready to go home. I'm starting to feel like the business building is my home and my apartment is just somewhere I sleep occasionally. But we knew it was going to be busy and tough. And I'm just glad I get to see him at all these days no matter where we're seeing each other.

Upcoming news: We'll get to see Dave and Charity and Ellie this week because they're coming up to attend the temple. It will be fun to see them again and catch up. Also, Mom and Dad Zincke are coming down to visit at the end of this month so we'll also get to spend some time with them since I still have some furcation days.

That's about it for us this week.

More of the Same and then Something Totally Different

So I went to get the car registered again yesterday. After an hour and a half wait I got to the counter only to learn that I couldn't register the car because my name isn't on the title. I had several other errands to run and my frustration just kept growing. I picked up John at school along with a friend and we were headed to meet some other friends but got stuck in rush hour traffic. Then the person in front of me was suddenly stopping way faster than I thought. I stopped in time but the two people behind me did not. My first fender bender... not sure that I'm all that proud of it, of course. We were stuck on the side of the road for two hours waiting for the police to show up and then waiting for them to fill out all the paperwork. It was awful. But no one was hurt and the damage to the car wasn't really that bad, so there is definitely a bright side.

Today was better, though. John had time to go get the car registered and stop by the insurance office to get things straightened out with all the claims for the accident. I was busy at work getting ready for another big event we have tomorrow and then John stopped by to tell me that my new laptop had arrived while he was at home!! YAY!! So I had something to look forward to. The day passed fairly quickly and now I'm home getting to know 'my new best friend.' It's so cute and I know I'm going to love it!

So while one day may seem like the worst ever, the next day will inevitably be better. Cheer up - the sun really will come out tomorrow.

Car Registration Frustration & Life

So since I had most of the day off from work today because I've been working to much on the weekends I thought it would be a good time to get the car registered. Ok, honestly, John asked me to go get it registered - I didn't really want to. But I just have to wonder if there is a better way to accomplish this task.

First, I have to get the car inspected, which I did today. But I had to sit in a line at the emissions place for an hour and a half. By the time I was out it was too late to go next door to the DMV to actually register the car because they stop doing visual inspections 2 hours before the office actually closes. So I have to go again later this week and get that inspection done. Then I'm going to have to wait in another line and when I finally do get to the window it's likely that I won't have all the right paperwork... I've done this a few times in the last couple of years.

In this world of technology and instant knowledge, there has just got to be a better way to register your car in a new state. I'm just venting here - I know many of you have had similar experiences. Some day, hopefully, it will change.

In the meantime I will spend another couple of hours at the DMV later this week to pay them a lot of money in exchange for a piece of paper that shows I own the car and have let the government know about it.

In other news: my first work event went really smoothly. We had a reception and dinner last Friday night and then our guests visited campus on Saturday for sample classes. It went great and I am so pleased. Even if I am exhausted, too.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Yep, it's John's birthday today and he's hanging out at home on Spring Break. Spring break so far hasn't been great; he spent a full day yesterday working on a project for one of his classes that is going to take him forever to finish. But today is his 28th birthday so I'm taking a half day of work so we can play and celebrate. And as much as he claims he's not a dessert person, I'm making brownies!

Happy Birthday, John - I love you, no matter how old you're getting!

Furcation

I've just been reading blogs and realized that I haven't posted on my own for quite a while. This is probably because there isn't much going on with us right now. John finished his second trimester and had a week break last week. I figured I would take some of my mandatory furlough days while he was off so we could hang out - thus the term 'furcation' which I snagged from my coworker Jen.

It is early March and the weather here in AZ already feels like summer. Since I had last Thursday and Friday off, we spent some time outside and actually got sunburned. We went to a spring training game with friends last Friday and sat on the lawn in the sunshine for over 3 hours. I think I'll be buying some sunscreen on the next trip to the store... and some aloe vera gel!

The down side of having so much time off is that John totally messed up his sleep schedule and then I got sucked into the craziness, too. So we've had a hard time adjusting to normal hours this week and we've both been really tired the last couple of days. It's probably not going to get much better, though, because John has Spring Break next week. And I'll have more furcation on Monday and Tuesday, too! Woot!

Other news:
My laptop died for good a few weeks ago and since it takes an emergency to pry John's from his lap I haven't had much computer time at home recently. Thus the lack of blogging, but I know it's no excuse.

I sang in a Relief Society program last Tuesday - I was really nervous for my solo, but it went ok and everyone was really impressed.

John won a competition and got a cash reward that finally showed up in our bank account last week. But it will probably just go to pay taxes since it looks like we owe quite a bit this year... boo taxes! And we won't even get into the horrible things that are going to happen on that front in the next few years...

We finally made it through all the seasons of Frasier we got for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad Zincke!) so we'll be starting over on those in a few weeks, I'm sure. I finished watching the second season of 24 and started on Heroes yesterday. It's a nice way to unwind after work and now I know what everyone's been talking about.

So that's life for now. Just chuggin' away and hangin' in there.

Crazy Happenings in Tempe

It has been a long week and it started off kind of rocky.

We went to bed at a decent time on Sunday night but I woke up to strange noises at about 2am. There was someone yelling outside our window. I wasn't worried at first - we live on the second floor and it was Super Bowl weekend so I figured it was just some late-night party people wrapping things up. So I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Then I heard gunfire.

I started listening closer and it was a guy yelling to someone to let him in. He was pounding on a door pretty hard but I couldn't tell which apartment he was harassing. He shot his gun again and by this time John was awake, too. I'm so glad he was there because I was pretty scared. We laid in bed listening to what was going on and hoping that he wouldn't feel inclined to come upstairs and knock on our door. He shot his gun a couple more times and kept yelling at someone to 'answer the door.' Then we heard the police sirens and the guy got really upset. He yelled some threats about hunting someone down then we heard him take off running.

The police showed up a couple of minutes later and we heard our downstairs neighbors filing the report. An officer knocked on our door a little while later to make sure we were okay and then everything quieted down. Except my stomach which was still in knots.

There hasn't been any follow up incidents this week so we're hoping the problem was resolved. It's strange how just a few minutes can strip you of your feeling of safety for days afterward. But I'm so grateful that the police showed up.

So that was the most exciting part of our week. We have a pretty open weekend with not too many plans and it will be nice to relax.

2 New Discoveries

I have recently made two new discoveries that I have been having a lot of fun with: Twitter and iGoogle. As you can guess, I've been spending a lot of time online...

I've heard of Twitter before but wasn't sure exactly what it was. I've finally been catching up on all my blog reading since the holidays (not that it really needs catching up on) and Neil Gaiman (author) mentioned it numerous times. I absolutely adore his blog, by the way. So I decided to check it out and I think I'm being sucked in to the world that is online communication. It's basically a simplified version of facebook and focuses on the "what are you doing now" part combined with blogging. You have your homepage where you can post your entries and your friends can 'follow' you. You can also sign up to 'follow' other people. You can post from the web or from your phone via text messaging. My thread isn't that exciting, but I'm following Neil Gaiman and it's pretty entertaining. He's just won the Newberry Medal award for his recent publication The Graveyard Book and he's also involved in all the hype over the movie Coraline coming out next month (he wrote the original book the movie is based on). So he's been doing lots of interviews and phone calls, all of which are documented on his Twitter posts. Kinda fun and a little addictive.

My second discovery is iGoogle which is not so new but I've just finally got on board with my google account. You basically customize your own homepage with links and windows to your gmail, blogger and other google products as well as news feeds from various organizations, games, animations, pictures, etc. I like it because I can now easily access most of the websites I visit everyday all from one page and it gives me other important information like the weather forecast, top headlines in the news, quotes of the day, and even a gadget for Twitter. If you have a google account you should check it out and if you don't maybe it's time to think about joining everyone else on Google. They are going to take over the world, just accept it as inevitable.

Just Breathe

John and I had a laid back weekend, which was so nice after all the hustle and bustle. Our holidays were wonderful and we so enjoyed visiting family and friends. But this weekend was much needed.

Friday night we went bowling with some friends. I am the first to admit that I am awful at the much-loved pastime of rolling a ball down a wooden lane to knock over the pins, so I did not play. I figured it would be silly to pay for me to do something I probably wouldn't enjoy, especially since I was only there for the socializing anyway. So I did a lot of visiting and I got to hold Jocelyn who is almost 3 months old now. After the game, I don't have the slightest idea of who won, we went to Chipotle for a late dinner. And late it was... they politely let us know it was time to leave by putting all the chairs on the tables. When we got home we watched a few episodes of Frasier (we're on Season 7 of 11 now) then went to bed.

Sleeping in on Saturday was absolutely glorious. We didn't get up until about 10:30. Of course, staying in bed that long came with the usual dose of guilt over being lazy on a beautiful sunny day, bit I managed to push the feelings aside as I argued with myself that a lazy morning was long overdue. And the day ended up being mostly productive anyway - we ran a few errands, did some grocery shopping, tidied up the house, and made a lovely dinner. We also managed to get more Frasier in (I know, big surprise) and some 24. I did spend a few hours reading, too. I've started on a new fantasy book and I had forgotten how much I like being immersed in a fun adventure.

Sunday was also pretty relaxed so it was a lazy and enjoyable weekend all around. One thing of note: John was persuaded to buy fish at the store on Saturday and we had it for dinner last night with rice and acorn squash. Yes, John ate fish... willingly. This health kick of his must be serious indeed!

Go AZ Cardinals!!

Phoenix is all a buzz about the Arizona Cardinals football team - they're going to the Super Bowl! Last week was pretty exciting as everyone jumped on the bandwagon and became instant fans when the Cardinals made it to the NFC and played on Sunday. Everyone has something to say about it and everyone I've talked to watched the game on Sunday - even the lady at the department store who claimed she doesn't like football. John and I were in Tucson visiting Dave and Charity this weekend so we had someone to watch the game with and then celebrate with when our team won. It looks like John and I bring the sports luck with us wherever we go - the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team won the World Series when we moved to St. Louis and now the AZ Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. Maybe it just has something to do with Cardinals...

This will be one of only a couple years that I watch the Super Bowl for the both the game and the commercials!

Work and Play

I'm now in my second week of working at ASU in the MBA Admissions office and so far it is going really well. Last week was kind of overwhelming as I met everyone I would be working with and then all the other people associated with the MBA programs. I met with each of the Admissions team members to get to know them better and so they could get to know me, too. By Thursday I was starting to feel more comfortable and settled, almost like I belong here. This week has also been good - I've started working on some projects and I realizing just how fun its going to be to work with all these people. So this change that I was so nervous about has turned out to be a good one as far as I can tell.

Last Friday John and I flew out to Salt Lake City to attend a couple of weddings. John's younger brother was married to Jessica in the Temple on Saturday. We were able to go to the wedding and then we stood out in the cold for a while before taking pictures. Then that afternoon we went to another friend's wedding - Joseph Golden - at the same Temple. I'm so glad we were able to go to both and celebrate with our friends and family. It was a good day, but very long and very cold. We thought we would have some time to visit with the family on Sunday but our flight left at 3 so we didn't get as much time as we would have liked. Brandon and Andrea had us over for dinner that night, which I was grateful for, and then we went to bed early after a long and busy weekend. I've been struggling just a little the last couple of days because I don't really feel like I got much of a weekend. Thank goodness there is a three day weekend in just a few days!

Meanwhile, John doesn't go back to school until next Tuesday so he's been vegging at home. He is recovering from a cold, so its probably good that he's resting up and getting plenty of sleep. I'm just jealous... He had a quick one day trip to California last week to meet the people in the office where he will be doing his internship. He was a little nervous but it turned out just fine and he's looking forward to spending a few months in California this summer. I, on the other hand, will be here in Arizona missing him terribly. But we'll deal with that when the time comes.

With all our traveling and vacations over for the holiday season we're finally settling back down into the regular rhythm of life. Routine is nice after so much craziness, but it was fun, too! So back to business for everyone!

Happy 2009!

(The pictures I've promised of our holiday parties and visiting with family.)

Surprisingly I've been ready for 2009 since the end of September - I caught myself writing 09 instead of 08 several times in the last few months. And now it's here! Happy New Year!

John and I are still in Utah enjoying the snow on the ground as long as it's not in the road. It has been pretty chilly and I'm about ready to get back to Arizona and warmer weather. Christmas at the Zincke's was so fun. We had a late start but that was okay because then the Christmas morning magic lasted even longer. Our activities in the last couple of weeks have included lots of Frasier, lots of food, and lots of shopping mixed in with a few movies and meals out. We have a couple more days here in Utah before we drive back down to work and school.

We spent last weekend in Colorado with my family, which was wonderful. Paul (my younger brother) gave a lovely farewell talk in church and we had a great time playing games and visiting with the Woodbury's. It was short, but it was fun and I'm so glad we got to be with the family for a couple of days before Paul leaves on January 7 to go into the MTC. It will be about 3 years before we can all be together again as a family because of my brother's missions.

Our holidays were happy and we're looking forward to a new year of more friends and family.