Another day, another dollar

Well, it's Friday again. Boy am I glad! This has been a busy week. Last Saturday, Zak and I got up early and went to Taylor's football game in Morgan. That's about twenty minutes east of Layton. Or west. I forget which. Anyway, Tay played a great game, got three touchdowns (even though two were called back for penalties) and had an awesome interception (that led to one of the called-back touchdowns). It was a fun game to watch, and the team won, 28 to 6!!
After the game, we went to Britt and Kurt's for a barbecue (v.g.) and then several of us went rock climbing. I should clarify what I mean when I say "went" rock climbing. I "went" and watched everyone else climb...I decided to forgo the pleasure of actually doing it myself. Zak and I then took off for Provo so that we could be at Carolyn and Jake's open house. Let me tell you, it was junk food HEAVEN. (Translation: MY heaven) The selection of food was so varied and enormous, it was wonderful. There was pizza, Taco Bell tacos/chalupas/etc., Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers from Wendy's, another kind of burger from Wendy's, and loads of chips and cookies and soda. The only sad part is that I have some self-restraint, and limited myself to one burger and a handful of chips.
After we enjoyed the hospitality of Chez Wall... or Kiwanis Park... we met up with my old roommate Jamie and her husband Jeff. We played some games with them for a few hours, and that was rather fun. I learned how to play dominoes for real, keeping points and everything. I rather enjoyed it, and I think Zak did, too. It was also nice to visit with Jamie and Jeff.
Sunday we spent mostly at home, except for going to church, and it was so nice to relax and not do a whole lot. We did go to our ward's Linger Longer after the block of meetings (that was a momentous occasion, as it was the first time we have ever attended a ward activity...baby steps, right?). I had the day off on Monday because I am working Saturday this week. I got so much done! I cleaned my house, and did the laundry, went grocery shopping, and finished some projects I've been working on. I was quite pleased with myself.
That's about all there is to report for the weekend. I did attend the Taste of Home Cooking School on Tuesday night with lots of the girls from Zak's side of the family, and that was really fun. Lots of new recipes to try! It has been a good week, despite being busy. I am looking forward to going home tonight and putting my feet up.
Tomorrow is Taylor's last game of the season (Go, Mountain Crest!) and his birthday. I think it will be a fun-filled day! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

A little under the weather

I'm feeling a little bit sick today. Cold season approaches quickly... I had an IRA training yesterday in SLC and that was good, I guess. Work has been plenty busy today, which has been good, especially as it keeps my mind off of how yucky I am feeling. To all you moms who still get sick and still have to take care of your kids, no matter what, my hat's off to you! I can barely take care of myself when I'm ill, let alone several small kids who are full of energy. Zak just has to fend for himself, poor thing.
I have been eating lots of chicken soup and saltines. Yum. It does make me feel better, though. Well...as fascinating as it must be to read about my illness, I think I'll stop now.
I was going to share something else very important and interesting, I'm sure, but it's left me now. I should probably go help get things closed down. It's about time for that today.
Oh! I know what I was going to write. No one ever comments on my blogs anymore, and that's okay, but I'm wondering if it's because I started getting spam...so I put a secure thing on there so that comment spammers can't just throw all kinds of junk on my blogs. So not very important after all. Ah well.

I'm noticing a trend...

It seems I have the most time to write these blogs on Thursdays. Interesting.
I have had a really slow week at work. I don't know if it's just because school is now in session, or what.
Well, here's the update for the past week:
I can't remember what Zak and I did Friday after I got off work, but Saturday morning, we went to Taylor's football game and enjoyed that. As usual, Tay played well. Saturday afternoon was spent doing laundry. Nothing unusual there.
Sunday we went to church and went over to the folks' for dinner, which was very good.
I am really blanking out. I can't remember what we did on Monday night. I know that Tuesday morning, my parents drove up to Logan from Lehi, where they were staying with my brother Scott and his family. They spent several hours with Zak and me, just talking and enjoying being together. The only not-so-good thing about the visit was that they got a parking ticket! This was really my fault for not knowing that you need a permit to park on the street between 7:30am and 2:30pm. I should've had them pull into my driveway... Darn. Dad is appealing the ticket, so hopefully the Logan Parking Authority will let it slide. We will see.

And now I'm continuing this blog a day later... Kind of ruins my whole "trend" theory, but that's okay. Let me just finish up with a note about our plans for the weekend. Tomorrow morning Taylor has a game in Morgan, Utah, which is close to Ogden--so Zak and I are going to go spend the night at the Lewis house and ride down in the morning with them. Should be fun! I think we'll take our laundry tonight and get it done. That will be quite fabulous! I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

The Weekly Update

Today didn't start off really well. I put on a white shirt this morning, preparing to walk out the door to an early work meeting, and promptly spilled my Carnation instant breakfast down the front of it. If it had been the vanilla flavor, maybe I could've gotten away with wearing the shirt still, but alas, it was the rich milk chocolate flavor and very brown. Then I put on another shirt--this one was too small and I couldn't get it buttoned (time to clean out the old closet). The third shirt I put on was far too wrinkled to wear to work, Zak told me. So then I just gave up and pulled on a t-shirt so that I could get to my early meeting. While I was gone, Zak kindly ironed my shirt so that when I got back I could change quickly and get to work.
The past week has been rather quiet, but I have a few fun things to share from the weekend. Saturday night Zak and I went to the house of a couple in our ward, had a backyard BBQ (v.g. - very good, for those Bridget Jones's Diary afficianadoes out there), and went miniature golfing. This was my first experience with mini-golf, and I quite liked it. We had a good time with James and Juli, and Zak was almost par for the course! It was a par 49 course, and he got 50 (v.g.). I, of course, was more like 62.... (n.v.g.)
Sunday night Zak decided that we needed a little fresh air, so we went for a "walk" around Hyrum Dam in the south end of the valley. Apparently (and unbeknownst to us) the water had been so high earlier in the summer that the pathway around the lake was washed out. We exited the path before we got to that point, however, because anytime we are near a somewhat large body of water, rocks must be skipped. I stink at this, but Zak is very good at skipping rocks. We couldn't find the path again, so we continued our walk along the rocky shore - it has so many rocks that it can't be called a beach. It's just shore. We walked quite a ways around the water to a jutting piece of land called Big Toe. (Looks just like its name.) At this point, it was beginning to get dark, and thunder had been threatening ominously from the other side of the lake for about 20 minutes. We found a way up the back of Big Toe to the road. It was just about straight up, so that was fun and athletic. Good thing Zak has me keep a pair of running shoes in the trunk of the car for occasions just like these - I am almost always to be found in flip flops during warm weather.
We finally got to the road by walking through someone's back yard. Luckily it was pretty big, so no one noticed. As we began the trudge back to the car, it began to rain. We were next to a church building when lightning struck PRETTY close to us. I couldn't begin to estimate how close, but I could smell a burned smell in the air, so that's PRETTY close. We didn't realize the storm was moving so fast! We ran into the building and waited the storm out for a few minutes. Luckily, it was unlocked and we could use the restroom and get some water. Then we finished walking back to the car just as the rain let up. All in all, while not being something I care to repeat, it makes a fun memory.
On Monday Zak and I slept in very late. I love sleeping in, and get to very rarely these days. We went over to Zak's parents' house and did laundry. We also went back into town with Burke and Rhett for a few hours while the laundry was going. We test-rode some beach cruiser bikes (that's the kind I learned on - I'm sure many of my siblings will remember the green bike with the cushy white seat --or denim covered seat-- and pedal brakes) and enjoyed that.
That night, we all watched in amazement as Burke fit 5 (yes, FIVE) McDonald's double cheeseburgers into his mouth at one time. It was without a doubt, the grossest thing I have witnessed in person to this point in my life. But quite amazing, all the same.
Work has been very, very quiet this week. I didn't even close a loan until this morning. I just discovered that an old co-worker from a prior job has been hired at the CU, so I am excited to see her around.
That's about all the news...except that we got cable yesterday!! It's just the basic, ten-dollar-a-month variety, but I am pretty stoked. We haven't had tv at all this first year of marriage. So it will be fun to have that once more.
I hope all of you are doing well and that things are great! Love to hear from you when you have the time.

Gas prices

Gas prices jumped to $2.89 by the time I went home yesterday. I hear they will go above $3.00 a gallon this weekend. That is just too bad.
Work is really busy today! Lots to do, no time to do it all. I work tomorrow also, my first Saturday. I hope it won't be too terribly busy. Have a good weekend everyone!

Another exciting Thursday

Hello again, everyone. I hope all of you are well. It's Thursday and it's been pretty quiet at work. I have to find things to do to amuse myself. I'm not having a lot of success in that department.
It's September! I can't believe how fast the year is flying by. Next thing I know it'll be Christmas! Also, gas prices are making me positively sick. Maverik, the cheapest in the valley, is now up to $2.77 for regular unleaded. It's just not right.
Zak started school again on Monday, and we are both a little overwhelmed at the sheer amount of reading and homework that he has. Regardless, I know he will do just fine. He's such a smart kid! He has two psychology classes (then he's done with his psych minor) and two English classes, and also a general science class. I may have already shared this, I don't remember. The classes sound pretty interesting to me, but I guess that's because I don't have to take them.
It's time for lunch and I am going to have an egg-salad sandwich, courtesy of Zak. What a good husband he is!

Everybody's Working for the Weekend...

...including me! Zak and I had a really good weekend and we're already looking forward to the next one. We went to Taylor's football game Saturday morning (Taylor is Zak's little brother for those who don't know). Mountain Crest didn't win, but Tay played great as a running back. We did laundry on Saturday afternoon -- that's always fun.
We now have early church on Sundays. I really didn't think I would enjoy it, but I do! I like going to church at 9:30 and getting home by 12:45. We made lunch, took a nap, and took it easy. I talked to Nikkol and Janet Sunday evening. That was really fun! It's nice to stay in touch with family. We had some friends from the ward over to play Scattergories. They are a fun couple to hang out with.
Work has been very busy today, and I love it when it's busy. The time goes by so fast!
I'm talking to Zak on the phone as I write this, so I'm going to go so that I can give him my undivided attention...more later!

The Island: The Longest Commercial Ever

Zak and I went to see The Island at the cheap theater last night. While the story was somewhat interesting, the blatant product placement was a little disappointing. The first movie sponsor to show its face was Puma (maker of running shoes, for those of you who don't share my immense love of foot couture). Then came a string of additional sponsors: Aquafina, X-Box, MSN Search, Dodge, Honda, Hummer, Chrysler, and many others. There was even a part of the movie where I thought I was literally watching a commercial. Picture a close up of a blue and white bottle. You can read the label clearly (though I no longer remember what it said, so I guess it wasn't that effective) for about ten seconds, and then the actor comes along and picks up the bottle and the commercial's over.
Anyway, that was how we spent our evening--going to the movie and then to the grocery store.
Today work is very quiet (not unusual). I wish I had more exciting stuff to say! That's about all. I hope everyone's having a great day!

Back to Business

The wedding in St. Louis went well. I had a fun time hanging out with family, seeing friends, canoeing on the Current River.... It's also good to be back at home and at work. I missed Zak a LOT, so it is nice to be back. On both flights, the one out and the one back, it was SO crowded on the plane. That is never fun. I sat in the middle of the row both times and had to be sure I wasn't invading anyone else's space. I read a few of the books that Zak will have to read for his Young Adult Lit class this fall. They were pretty good.
This morning I have been busy at work, catching up on everything that needs catching up on. I am doing great on my quarterly goals, so that is a blessing.
Tonight will be a laundry and grocery shopping night. I am excited! I hope you are all having a good day.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

In just a few hours, I will be on my way to St. Louis! I am leaving work in just a couple of minutes. It was a quiet morning, which was wonderful. I am excited for the wedding and to see family and friends. It's time to go. I will try to post while I'm in St. Louis, but I don't know how much time I'll have. I'll miss those of you in Utah (especially my Zaky), and hello to those of you in St. Louis!!

One Down, One to Go

Well, everyone survived the wedding on Saturday. It was a really nice day. The temple was beautiful - I have never been to the Bountiful Temple and it was just gorgeous. And HUGE! I've never seen a bigger temple. The reception was also very nice. It was nice to rest and relax on Sunday. I leave tomorrow for St. Louis and I am very excited! I got a call last night and now I'm going canoeing on Saturday! I am really excited. It will be nice to get outside for a day.
Work is a little slow (knock on wood) and it's gloomy and cloudy outside. I love it! The rain smells so good! It's needed, too, since it's been so dry lately.
I don't have anything else too exciting to report, so I'll end for now.

6%

Yep, yesterday was a better day at work. I had my bi-yearly review and got a 6% raise!! Hooray! It was very nice.
Last night was the big pre-marital fireside with Britt and Kurt's families. Kind of a different idea. Everyone shared advice and we sang a few songs. It was a nice thing to do, kind of reminds us all of what's important--not so much if the napkins are folded right and the food is perfect. The temple ceremony is the most important.
Today is Friday, which is always a great thing! Happy Friday, everyone!

Addendum

Zak wanted me to be sure to mention that he got stung by a wasp during the whole secret fence-fixing operation. We have several little wasp nests on the fence, so it was inevitable that someone was going to get it from those darn things. Unfortunately, it was Zak. Poor kid. I think he will live.
The wedding is approaching ever more quickly. We are all excited for it, but I think we will all be glad when it's done, too. There's so much to do...and then I fly to St. Louis on the 17th for Carolyn's wedding. It will be fun!
That's all I've got for today.

The Secret Society of the Fence-Fixers

I think this title sounds like a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book, don't you? Let me tell you about the secret society of the fence-fixers. It all started, naturally, with a fence. We have a wooden fence on the east side of the half of a house that we rent, kind of by our "garden" area (aka the muddy patch on the side of the house). We think the fence belongs to the neighbors on our east side, but it's hard to tell, since we're just renters and not owners. It has been falling down and looking really junky since we moved in last summer. (Junky because their backyard is a plethora of garbage. Charmed, I'm sure.) It got significantly worse during the winter with all the snow. This spring, a few sections of it fell down completely and the neighbors put those sections on our lawn/garden area. Rude of them, I think. It's not our fence! Well, anyway, in the past few weeks, Zak has been saying that he's going to fix the fence. He's gotten tired of it being in our yard and so have I.
I didn't really think he was going to do it (sorry, Z) but he actually did! It's the manner in which he went about fixing it that is funny. He decided that it was best to do it under the cover of night, so the neighbors wouldn't ask questions if it really is their fence (we are pretty convinced it is). I thought it would be harder to do something like that at night instead of in the broad daylight, and if the neighbors don't like it, then they can fix it. Well, needless to say, the plan proceeded in the way Zak wanted and he secretly started fixing the fence last night. Our friend Spack came over and helped for a little bit, and Zak was nearly done when the neighbors came outside...dun dun dun! They did not, however, speak to him at all about the fence or anything else. They were just enjoying the cool night air and their Budweiser.
Zak came inside, very alarmed at this turn of events. He couldn't keep working if they were out there! I told him he could get up early the next morning and finish (the neighbors were sure to have hangovers the way they were drinking, and therefore sleep in--sound logic, right?). So that is what we did. He got up at 6 am I think, and I got up at 7 am to help him lift the last section of fence into place and to hold it while he used the drill to secure the supports. The fence is now back in place and we are not answering our door in case the neighbors come over to complain...
Happy Tuesday, everyone. ;)

Ah, female bonding...

Last night I went for ice cream with mom-in-law Barb and sisters-in-law Candyce and Britt. It was Britt's fiance's bachelor party, so she wanted to have a little girls' night. Plus, Zak was studying. It was a good time--found out some fun secrets. Nope, not sharing. Suffice it to say that all of us have done some wild and crazy things, and that sometimes boys aren't (weren't) nice to us (or weren't before we were married--our husbands are very nice) and so we aren't (weren't) very nice to them. The temperature was perfect - just cool enough that you didn't need a jacket, and there was a nice breeze. Lovely. The butter pecan waffle cone was pretty tasty, too.
Now I am sitting at work, enjoying the air conditioning. It's Friday, which is always good. I only hope the day goes by quickly. I have no appointments, and we have two tellers, so it doesn't bode well for a speedy day. I'm sure I'll find some way to occupy my time.
Good luck to Zak on his final. I hope that it is going well. He is taking it as I write...
Tomorrow is laundry day, oh joy of my life. Then Sunday is the last 1pm church starting time we'll have for at least a year. We'll have to sleep in and really enjoy that. Change is inevitable. At the ice cream place last night, there was a cup with a sign on it that said, "If you fear change, then leave it here." And I think I'll close with that thought...

I'm no good at catchy subject lines

So don't expect to get any from me. I'll do the best I can.
Today was very quiet at work. Sometimes that's a welcome break, but mostly I wish that there was a little more to do.
Thanks, Nicole, for correcting me on the number of children born in 2002. I don't know what I was thinking. Probably that the two nieces I forgot were born in 2003. Sorry about that!
Last night I attended an Enrichment meeting about self-defense with my mom-in-law Barb and two sisters-in-law, Britt and Candyce. I learned some cool moves, but I don't think I ever quite worked up enough anger to make my punches very meaningful. There was a guy from the sherriff's office there and he had some pads that we had to practice punching. It was probably a good thing to learn, though one hopes it is knowledge that never needs to be used.
Tomorrow is Zak's final, so tonight we are studying. Translation: tonight Zak is studying and Sarah is watching a movie. Then school is out for three weeks. Hooray!
I've been reading a book called The Two-Income Trap. Its basic premise is that most people who have children and are middle class will go bankrupt, simply because they have children. After the first two chapters, I decided to stop reading. It's kind of a hopeless outlook that's being presented, and since I don't agree with the main idea, I ceased and desisted. Back to the Wheel of Time series, I think. That's fantasy...much better than economics!
I hope this blog is worth the time spent writing and reading it. I struggle a little with what to write, but I usually just let my fingers do the walking and something ends up published. It's not usually very good or very interesting, but whatever. C'est la vie. More later!

Isn't that always the way?

Yesterday was not a fun day at work. It was really busy and we had a float teller filling in who didn't know what he was doing, so I didn't get home until 7pm. Zak decided that I need to go watch tv and have some dinner at the folks', so that's where we went. We ended up taking a short bike ride (well, I rode a bike, Zak rode a scooter) and then playing with a frisbee until it got dark. Zak decided it would be easier if we both sat down on the grass and threw the frisbee. Whenever it fell too far from either one of us to reach, he would yell, "MOM!! MOM!" and she came running to pick it up and hand it back to one of us. She is such a good sport. It was fun to play.
We had some rain last night, which made for perfect sleeping conditions with the window open and the fan going. I love summertime, but I love it more when I have air conditioning in my house. Zak has his final on Friday and then three weeks without school, which he is really looking forward to. He is taking five classes in the fall, two psychology, two English, and one general science class. One of the classes is young adult literature and he's got about ten books for that one -- we're going to buy them on half.com for about $50 -- and the books sound interesting. I will have to add them to my booklist from the other day.
I hope that everyone else is having a good summer. I hear that Karen and David got moved in to their new house okay. I also didn't remember that Karen was pregnant, so that was exciting news. Three boys in 2005, three girls in 2002. What an interesting pattern!
Well...it's almost lunchtime, which is always good. Today has been very quiet at work, and I'm not complaining one bit. I've been reading The Last of the Mohicans online at pagebypagebooks.com. It's a good book. I am steadily working my way through the list of books offered on that website. It reminds me to be thankful for the job that I have--it's not every job that I could sit and read most of the day and still get a paycheck on a regular basis!

A brand new month

Well...it's the first of August! I am glad that the summer is winding down, if only for the fact that I do not have air conditioning at home. I am so glad that I DO have it at work and can enjoy that during the day when it's blazing hot outside. It was a very quiet weekend. Zak and I spent time at his folks' house on Saturday doing laundry and such. We were on time for church yesterday, which was amazing. Church was nice, as it usually is, and we spent a little more time at the folks' house that evening. Work is going along swimmingly this morning. Someone called in sick and my boss has a new employee to take to lunch, so Stace and I are holding down the fort. It's pretty fun to have just two employees running a branch of a credit union, especially when I have members at my desk and Stacy has a line out the door... It's an exciting life. More later.

All I've got is time and a book list

I don't know about anyone else, but for me, Fridays are the looongest day of the week. I have been watching the clock since I got here this morning and it isn't going any faster now than it was at 9 am. I have been working on making a list of books I'd like to read, with the help of a website called FantasticFiction.com. It's two and a half pages already and still growing...
I'm looking forward to lunch in ten minutes. After I get back from lunch, it's all downhill from there, thank goodness.
I think tonight will be spent either reading a book or hanging out at the parents' (which means Zak's parents' house in Millville, for those of you not familiar with that particular piece of lingo--it is also referred to as the folks', the Zoo, etc.) and watching tv. My life is certainly exciting... :)
Zak reports that his rat has not been behaving very well. He has a lab for his summer psychology class and the idea is to train the rat to perform various tasks. His rat is being rather recalcitrant. I guess it works for the first ten minutes, and then it's done. Zak was pretty excited at first at the thought of working with rats, but I think the excitement has worn off a lot... More later.

Hello!

This is my first entry, obviously. I thought this might be a good way to keep in better touch with my family, primarily, and also friends who I don't see too often. I don't have much to say except that this has been a very quiet week at work. Zak is finishing up his last two weeks of summer school, and is almost done working for Louise at the copy center, thank goodness. He hasn't enjoyed copy center 2 as much as he does copy center 4.
I am currently reading book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, and enjoying that. His books seem to get longer and longer, and the print smaller and smaller. I guess that's about all. I'm looking forward very much to going to St. Louis August 17th for Carolyn's wedding. I love going home to St. Louis. I know Cache Valley is home for now, but I think St. Louis will always be home.
I hope all of you guys are doing well. I need to start closedown at work... See you!