Week of Friends

It has been quite a week! Some friends are returning after being gone all summer, while one is leaving.

Some friends of ours, Kyong and Emi have been gone for a month now. When I got to work on Monday I had a note on my door from them saying hi! In fact it made my day because Emi wrote in Japanese! I am so excited for them to be back in town. We have a great time together cooking, playing cards, camping, and so much more. They are great cooks too. I have actually been anxiously awaiting Kyong's return because he brought some amazing Tiramsu over just before he left (yes he's Korean, but it was the best stuff I've ever tasted)! I want him to teach me how to make it. They are also supposed to be teaching us how to make one of our favorite dishes, Mabo Tofu, and Emi promised to show me how to make dumplings. We like to exchange dinners and recipes (if you can't tell). Well mostly I like their recipes, although I think she's probably got some stuff on her list that I need to teach her. I can't wait to spend time with them and eat together again! I am so glad they are back, and can't believe how quickly the time has gone by!

Our other friends from Saudi Arabia, Khalid and Rheem, will be coming back next week. Khalid has just been gone for the summer, but Rheem has been gone since last Christmas. They had a baby in November, MD's his nick name, and we haven't gotten to see him in almost eight months! I am sure we wouldn't even recognize him, if not for the picture updates that we've gotten over the time. Jon sent Khalid an email saying that we would be happy to pick them up from the airport and added that he is anxious to see his "nephew." Khalid and Rheem said that MD will know us as his American aunt and uncle. So clearly we are dying to see him and to get to know him a lot better!

The bittersweet part of this week is that I also just found out that one of my good friends, Jesse, from work will be moving in two weeks. I am so happy for her because her fiance was finally able to get a good job, but it is all the way in Maine! I am pretty bummed out just because she is one of the semi-sane ones in our office. She is so blunt and while most people think that's bad, I admire that quality in a person. She always comes in and makes me laugh, and I will miss her terribly! She is quirky, opinionated, and a little on the liberal side (okay, maybe a lot), but I was always given a new perspective when we talked. She, Michell, and I had the best conversations and really enjoyed "picking" on each other. Michell and I just won't be the same without her. So while I am so excited for her and for the new life that she's embarking on, those that are left behind will miss her. I am also looking forward to taking her up on her offer to visit, since I have always wanted to go to Maine in the fall. Maybe some day!

In looking at this week's events so far (all of this in two days!) I have to step back and see that we really do have a great life here. I get frustrated all too often about living here, but it really is good. The Lord was good to us in providing friends, even though none of them are believers. We truly do have a full, blessed life.

Four Years Today

Well today Jon and I celebrate our anniversary. Four years seems like such a long time, yet so short at the same time. I was thinking about it over the weekend, and found that we have been friends/known each other for almost seven years! Now that's a long time!

I love our anniversary. It is quite possibly my favorite day (or week--we celebrate for a long time) of the year. Needless to say I was quite disappointed when Jon called me at work on Monday to tell me that he would be going to Riverton all week (about four hours away). He is doing an internship right now and they decided that they needed some extra help, so he would be going. He was to leave first thing the next morning. I was so bummed out! I mean we had already made plans to celebrate over the weekend, but for some reason the thought of sitting at home on our anniversary was a little depressing to me. Okay, really I was ticked! Ticked that the company was making him go, more than anything!

Well I was talking to my mother-in-law on the phone and was telling her about how I was upset about it. She said that she couldn't blame me, and that she would feel the same if she had to be alone on her anniversary! So we were talking and she said, you know you should just go up there. He's got a hotel room so I wouldn't have to worry about that, and then we could just go out for dinner or something. I thought this was brilliant! Why hadn't I thought of that?! So I mentioned it to Jon, and he thought it was a good idea too, so I am off. Well not just yet, but this afternoon. I am taking a much needed day off from work tomorrow so that I can drive over this afternoon. Then I will just find something nice to do tomorrow (which will most definitely include some much needed sleep) and maybe a pedicure, and then we will drive home together! I am so excited about it, and am continually thanking Cindy for the great advise!

While Riverton isn't exactly the coolest place to visit (pretty sure the population is only a few thousand), I am looking forward to a little exploration tomorrow, as it is close to a really beautiful area called Sinks Canyon. It's supposed to be beautiful, so I figure it is about time I check it out. I might also get to have some lunch with the grandparents-in-laws, because Thermopolis is only about 50 miles away (trust me that is really close to us!). Should be a nice day to include lots of "me" time tomorrow and some good quality hubby time tonight!

My Garden

My little "porch garden" is finally producing and beginning to bloom, so I thought I would take some pictures of it. I hope you like them!

Zinnia plant. Zinnias are colorful little flowers, perfect to cut and put in a vase. I will have to post more pictures once they fully bloom. Currently there are at least twenty buds on this little plant, so I am very excited!

Not the best picture of my strawberries, but they are there none-the-less. They are small but tasty!
More of the strawberry plant. I've already picked at least a dozen of them.

This is one of my sunflower blooms. They are just starting to open up and I really look forward to them. Sunflowers are some of my favorite flowers to have indoors.

The whole sunflower plant. Several blooms already!

My peppers. They are a little funny looking, but they sure are tasty. The other day some new blooms came out, so there are still more to come!

A Good Weekend!

We had a great weekend. Friday night we got to hang out with Jon's mom, Cindy and the girls. They stayed in town, while on their way to the Denver airport. We ate at probably our favorite restaurant in town. We definitely think it's the best restaurant in town, but then again we might be a little bias. Anyway, Cindy and Mike love the restaurant too because of the memories from their college days in Laramie. It's where Cindy's parents took them for special occasions back in the 80's and so Jon and I, of course, love it when they suggest dinner there! So that was great...the girls were a ton of fun. They were giggly and borderline obnoxious, but I loved it, because they weren't too cool for us. Being 14 and 12, they often think that they are too cool for us "old people" so it's always a treat when they relax and have fun.

We ate breakfast with them the next morning and then they were off! Jon and I did a whole lot of nothing, especially since it was stinking hot (we don't have a/c here) in the house. All motivation to do anything left! It was actually quite nice, and I believe needed. Sunday we went to church, and it was a great service. They just hired a new pastor, but he and his family are in the process of getting moved, so one of the elders (I think) shared. It was a great lesson, which I will probably share more of later.

One our way home, Jon and I started talking about some things in our apartment that are driving us nuts. Little "projects" that we would like to do and furniture that we would like to move. So, rather than just plan this time, we ate some lunch and got started. What started out as a plan to move the desk in our guest bedroom to the garage, ended up being a total revamp of both our bedroom, the guest bedroom, and our two spare closets! We threw away about two bags of junk that we had been keeping, but either never used or that didn't work. For instance, we had five cell phones, mostly of which were for companies that don't even exist anymore, a good pile of "junk" shirts from Jon's closet, and old snow boots that not been worn since Oklahoma. It felt great to get rid of all that junk and I look forward to seeing the trash can overflowing on trash day tomorrow!

Before we knew it, it was almost 6:00 and we were starving. Over dinner we decided that it was definitely worth all the work, and as a bonus, we both slept great last night!

Laramie Has Been Taken Over by Crazies!

Ok, not really. Well at least not in reality, but in my dream it was very real. Laramie was taken over by some crazy people...I think it my dream they were similar to the Taliban. I was at the gym with my good friend and gym partner, Michell. We don't actually work out together anymore because I go to a different gym now, but we still see each other everyday because we work together. Anyway, for some strange reason, which actually felt strange in the dream, she and I were working out at my gym, which is actually here on campus.

Anyway, they made an announcement over the PA that the place was shutting down, effective immediately. The machines stopped working, the music got turned off, and the electricity went out. Michell and I, along with other people got really freaked out. We went back to the locker room and heard lots of yelling and gun fire. We freaked! We went to hide in one of the showers or a locker or something like that. Somehow, we found out that Laramie had been taken over and that people were trying to leave but couldn't. We decided to wait until the crazy people left the gym, so then we would be able to sneak out. My car was parked about a block away, so we would be able to go out one of the emergency exits and make a run for it.

When things finally seemed to calm down, we snuck over to the exit. We knew that the alarm would sound and that we wouldn't have much time. I told Michell the code to get into my car, because she's faster than me and would get there sooner. I also told her where the keys were and then we were ready. As we ran for the door, one of the men saw us and started to come after us. We went through the door, the fire alarm sounded, and the sprinklers started going off. I ran as hard and fast as I could, but Michell still beat me to the car. She jumped in and picked me up just before the guy chasing us caught up to me. She peeled out and tried to get out of the parking lot. We had to go off road a bit because the crazy people were at all of the exits. Fortunately we were in our new car and it has four-wheel drive. We made it.

I called Jon to find out where he was at and he said he was outside of town, at a river, where there was a boat taking people to safety. He told me which direction to go, but couldn't be too specific because the people had tapped into the phone lines. He figured we were probably okay because we don't have a local number, but wanted to be vague just in case. I told him we would be there as quickly as we could, and asked him that he just make them wait until we got there. I told him not to leave us. I think Michell's husband was with Jon too, so we both felt better. We got to the edge of town, and again the crazy people were there and would not allow people to leave. I was so glad that Michell was driving because I don't know if I could have done what she did. We just went off the road, again, and drove through a pasture. We were far enough away that they couldn't do anything, but close enough for them to see us and get really mad. So we were just hauling it as quickly as we could through the pasture. We stayed in there for a while and dodged cows and antelope. It was all exciting but scary at the same time. Suddenly Michell took a sharp turn and there, out of the blue was the river and our husbands. They were anxiously waiting for us and begging the people on the boat to wait just a few more minutes.

The boat captain was removing the ropes and picking up the anchor, when Jon saw us. The captain simply apologized and said he must keep going. He would get us on the next trip. Well Michell and I were pissed about this, so we used our super athlete skills and took off running. We were going to jump on...and we did. Safe into our husband's arms...terrified of what was going to happen next. The dream ended with us on the boat, trying to figure out where we were going and what was still to come for Laramie.

So, if you can't tell, I have very vivid dreams, hence why I needed a good cup of coffee this morning to get going! This is not to mention the fact that I was apparently running for my life all night long...I was exhausted! So who knows why I had that dream, but looking back now I find it quite entertaining, although that was not the case when I woke up at 5:45 this morning!

Super Old Office Building Can Be Good

I work in a building that is somewhere around 100 years old. While it's been re-modeled a hundred times, there are still things about it that are frustrating. Our internet is slower than the rest of campus, one of our offices is an old bathroom (that was remodeled), the offices are awkward in sizing, and there is always construction of some sort going on.

A little event today reminded me to look on the bright side of working in such an old building. Thunderstorms. Inevitably when lighting even thinks about striking within a fifty mile radius of Laramie, the electricity goes out. Now a lot of people get frustrated with this, but I have actually learned to enjoy it. So you loose everything you were working on...So you could have to re-do some stuff...So you loose good "productive" time...at least you get a little break.

Today a little thunderstorm rolled through. The lights kind of flickered once, so I decided to go ahead and save the important stuff that I was working on. It began thundering and raining, and then of course the electricity goes out. Sweet! I wanted to watch the rain anyway! And after communing together about the fact that we had no electricity, and decided that we therefore could not work because of our dependence on computers, a couple of girls and I walked to the end of the hall and sat on the stairs. The door was open and we just sat and talked while enjoying the rain. I have to say it was delightful!

The electricity stayed off for about thirty minutes, which is actually faster than I expected because it was really coming down. The rain began to let up, the sun came out, and we went back to work for the remaining hour that we had left. It was the perfect pick me up to the usual long Monday afternoon. I just hope it rains again this evening so I can read a book and really enjoy it!

Ergonomical=Intense

I got a new chair today at work. We had some money to spend out before our fiscal year ended, so I got this super-duper fancy little thing that goes nicely with my office furniture and matches nicely with the other chair I have in my office. I have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival for the last six weeks, and was all but enthused when I found out that it had come in this morning. This thing is intense! I put it to the side so that I could respond to all the emails and phone messages that I received while I was out of the office. Finally mid-late morning I looked at the chair. There was a tag hanging off of the bottom, so I assumed that would tell me how to adjust it. Indeed the tag said "Leap:adjust the leap chair to fit you." Sweet, this shouldn't take too long! Boy was I wrong! Apparently you are actually supposed to be able to adjust the twenty knobs on the chair and then when adjust just right, it will be like sitting on a cloud, or maybe a lazy-boy. Anyway, I started to look at it and to make some adjustments, when I quickly gave up. I need some serious help! How am I supposed to know what to do with this stupid thing? Plus I have to sit in it to see what's comfortable, and then remember which knob needs to be turned in order to make it fit better? So I assume that my afternoon will be spent adjusting my chair, with a good deal of frustration. Hopefully I can get this thing figured out so that I can get some work done! Wish me luck!