I've been waiting to post anything until the front room is painted because I've promised pictures I don't know how many times. Sorry. It's still not painted. I'm not going to say when I'll have it done this time. We'll see if I have better luck accomplishing something that way.

We planted a few things in our garden this week. We bought two raspberry bushes, one black raspberries and one red. We also planted tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, and serrano chilies. We transplanted our potted herbs outside, too. So far, the basil looks the best. I can't wait to start cooking with it.

We took a little drive over to Rexburg on Saturday to see the newest addition to the Todd fam. She's really cute. She looks a lot like Sadie to me and she was so tiny. I could never get tired of holding her. Sadie was pretty dang cute, too. I love the way she says my name. Caitlin is kind of a hard one for them.

I tried a couple new recipes recently and thought I would share them. This Vegetable Chowder turned out to be really good. I wasn't sure because I don't like red bell peppers that much but it was really tasty. We also tried Orzo with Chicken, Corn and Green Beans. This one was really easy and quick. I made it once with one of those rotisserie chickens but the second time I quickly cooked a couple chicken breasts in the oven and I think it turned out better.

Oh, and just so you can stop worrying, Russell fixed my car (is there anything he can't fix?). The leak was coming from the oil plug. He got it off and it looks like Jiffy Lube stripped a few threads from the inside, not the bolt. Luckily it wan't too bad and he fixed it with some teflon tape. Also, we have recently joked about buying a boat instead of any more furniture. Just wanted to let you guys know so you won't be completely shocked if it happens. We might not have any place for you to sit when you come to visit but we'll have a practical movie theater in the basement and Lucky Peak Reservoir is just 30 minutes from here.

I hate the feeling you get when you know something is wrong with your car but it hasn't yet been diagnosed. Terrible, terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. I took Otis for a walk this morning. This is something that I haven't done since we moved. I parked in the back by the garage. Also something I never do. Russell parks back there, he didn't yesterday because our baseboards were delivered. I was walking back and I noticed a big puddle under my car, you know, the car with the big FOR SALE sign in the back window. I get down and dip my finger in the puddle. Oh, crap. I check the oil - it's off the stick. I walked down to the gas station and bought a couple quarts of oil and it seems like everything is okay - I have a huge leak but it's still running. Man I'm glad I went to church this week...

So, I planned on painting this weekend. Russell wants to put the baseboards in first. They get here Monday and we are doing it Monday! It's going to look really awesome. At least I picked the paint color - it's Squash.

This is what we did instead and the fact that Russell actually smiled for the picture should tell you how excited he is. He got a projector! He's been talking about this for a long time. Otis is the only one not very excited about hanging out in the basement.

Ah, I can't tell you how good it feels to get my tv off the top of a box. We found this awesome funky entertainment center. It closes all the way up so we can pretend like we do better things with our time than watch tv.

Russell and I walked down through Ann Morrison park last night - almost the whole way to school (how awesome is that!?). Then after, we went to the library. Russell checked out a couple fly fishing videos and I checked out a book about a kid who was a conjoined twin and was separated and survived - the other twin didn't. Also, I have committed to walking a half marathon with a couple of ladies from work in a month - a month.

I'm painting this weekend and our new baseboards will be here Monday. Yay!

I have a confession to make. Prepare yourself. I have not yet begun training for the half marathon. Well, actually, I've begun a couple times. Usually Monday and Tuesday and then that's it. I'm hoping that the comments of disgust that I am sure are to follow this post will motivate me to maybe do something tonight. Can I just say for a second though... It's too hard. I don't want to. Okay, okay that's enough.

This blog is cracking me up.

"Boys don't make passes at girls that pass gasses."

Ah, Sunday afternoon. Don't you love it? I do. I went to my new ward today. It's pretty small but everyone was very friendly. The clerk caught up with me right after Sunday school - pretty good, huh? First week. Anyway, when I told him that we bought our first house, he literally shook me and repeated what I said. Apparently, there are quite a few apartments in this ward. So, who wants to take bets, how long will it be before I have a calling?

You want to know another thing I love? I love going out to eat on Saturday night and then eating your leftovers for lunch on Sunday. I also love getting a new pair of jeans and a new pair of shoes (two other things I did this weekend).

Has it been a while or is it just me? Man. Not too too much going on here. We bought a funky rug for our front room and Russell had to snap another picture of the dog. He was so excited to have something other than the hardwood to lay on. It was pretty funny. Sorry, sorry. Off track - what do you think of the rug? I can't decide. It may be a little too granny-ish. Help me out will ya?

It has been pretty chilly here this week and this afternoon we're supposed to have thunderstorms but it was delightful at lunchtime today. I tried repeatedly to snap a little self portrait and this was the last one before I gave up. It's been too long since I posted a picture of an actual person so I figure this is better than nothing.

I gave blood today at work. I think the guy was new and he had a little trouble finding my vein. It's a crappy picture but this is about 4 hours later, a little bruise. I've been thinking about bruises ever since Kimberly mentioned them on her blog. I'm going to have to agree with her. I like them. Is that weird? Whatever, you are.

I know this is a little random but this is the tree in our backyard. I like it, I think. It's just started to get green the last couple weeks and I'm wondering if it'll flower. I have no idea what kind of tree it is. Anyway, this isn't the point. The power lines to our house go through the tree. Hello? Scary to anyone else? Thank you! I keep wondering how we're going to trim it and Russell keeps trying to assure me that it will be no problem. I guess we'll see. It doesn't matter. It's not a project for this weekend - rain in the forecast. I think we're going to paint the kitchen cabinet doors.

I know, I know. It's looking a little neglected right now. We bought a lawnmower and a trimmer and a few other essentials and so hopefully we'll have some new grass in the bare path from the house to that shack in the back we call the garage. I am determined. I'll even get one of those spreaders if I have to. I'm telling you, don't push me.

Anyway, not really any other news around here. Otis' allergies are under control right now, he's scratching but not tearing himself apart so that's good. I just looked at the schedule for school. Only about a month left and then I should find out about Nursing. That's about it. Oh, we still have no furniture. I'll let you know when that changes. If you're curious, just call us. You hear the echo, you'll know.

This is what we did most of the weekend. We were all pretty tired. On Saturday morning we picked up the kitchen table and chairs and the desk and we finished cleaning up the apartment. We managed to get the kitchen and most of our clothes unpacked. I baked a loaf of bread, some bread bowls and made some peanut butter squares.

Otis doesn't seem to be a big fan of the cold wood floor. He hopped up on the couch and made some room for himself. I had to take a picture - it looks like he has his arm around Russell.

Can I tell you something? I am dang tired. I'm not sure I've ever been so tired. Can I tell you something else? My wrists and hands hurt. Dang moving. We moved everything except the desk and kitchen table and chairs to the house and I am so glad it's over with. The thing about it is, it's only just begun (oh, that reminds me of a song). Now we have to unpack. At least I can tackle that at my own pace, no deadline or anything. Is it weird that I can't wait to do yard work? I'm going to have the greenest grass you guys have ever laid your eyes on.

This tree reminded me of Popcorn Popping...

So, last night we finished the floor. I can't believe it's done. After work we went and got some power food. You know, chili cheese dogs from Sonic. We swept and mopped the floor and then went for a walk down to the Greenbelt while it dried. Guess what we saw! Mule deer. Right in the middle of the dang city. Isn't it so weird? It is to me.

Anyway, here is the finished floor. We like how it turned out. The hallway is my favorite part. We are moving everything in tonight after work and after we're all done cleaning and getting out of the apartment, then we'll think about base and paint.

Have I mentioned that I am totally wasted?

So, we're still sanding. Russell went to work way early this morning so he could try to get it all finished tonight. I'll start moving some boxes tonight and start cleaning up the dust. I wanted to do a wax finish but you have to refinish much more frequently when you use wax so we settled on a waterbased finish, no stain. The plus side - each coat only takes two hours to dry. We should be able to move in Wednesday!

It's totally official or as Russell would say, "we've got prospects."

The crappy thing about Russell's job is that we never know what he is going to have to get done in a day until the night before. That makes this whole moving thing kind of hard. We're worried that we're just not going to have enough time to get everything done - this is what we did this weekend...

Here is the kitchen. It's yellow and red and black. Sort of a retro feel. There is oak hardwood under that floor. I can't wait to pull it up.

We have a yard!

Look at this stink face. The dog hates tape. Isn't that weird?

Hallelujah! We are done with that dang class! I cannot even describe for you the torture we were forced to subject ourselves to. Okay, Russell doesn't hate anybody and he could not stand the lady who was in charge. Couldn't stand her. She kept interrupting the guest speakers when people had questions and he just kept saying she's so rude. He was giving her stink the entire three hours for the entire three days. When we left on Wednesday he said, "You can write about this on your blog all you want. I hate this class and I don't care who knows it." I was cracking up.
Anyway, we are going at 1pm today to close and we will officially be homeowners on Monday. The alarm went off this morning and Russell was barely awake saying, "we're buying a house today." Whoa. Weird, huh? Did I tell you that we can't wait to get settled in so we can roast a pig underground in the backyard? I love watching PBS on Saturday mornings. We watched Mexico One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless and he roasted a pig underground in his backyard and I think it has been our motivation ever since.

Well, I've been talking about packing up my bookcase for awhile now - I guess I'm going to have to start doing that this weekend...

Sorry about the wrinkly old hands comment. Annie and Gramps sent me these and it got me thinking - I really have no room to talk about wrinkly hands, do I?

It's a view that we won't be seeing much longer. It's been really cool living practically downtown. Our new house is on "the bench." I don't really know what that means. I think it's just up higher. Someone at work said, "if terrorists blow up Lucky dam, you won't have to worry." Dark, huh?

Anyway, bummer, I didn't get the driver's license job. I know, for some of you, the thought of me yanking those driver's licenses out of those wrinkly old hands was almost more excitement than you could handle. Sorry to disappoint. It's okay. I know the lady that got it and she's awesome and deserves it.

It's raining today. I thought Spring was here but it was just an area of high pressure. It's cold again and I'm sad.

Okay, I forgot. This week I got in the shower and there was a big black spider in there. So, I tried to coax it down the drain without touching it and then covered the drain with my facecloth to make sure it couldn't come back up. Done, right? Oh, no. This week I have had two spider dreams. Just last night, one was crawling on Russell's face. It was so real it was enough to wake me up and start slapping him to get it off.

I don't think Otis remembers Las Vegas. This weekend got up to 75 and he's panting like it's the middle of the summer. I don't think he remembers. I think most of you guys already know, but Otis isn't sick, he just has allergies. The allergy specialist (yes, I just said allergy specialist) gave us a couple options but both are pretty expensive so I think we're going to try a holistic approach and maybe get a puppy and see if that helps first. At least he's not sick. Look on the bright side, right?

So, Russell and I are going to have an insane week this week. We have a class to go to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6:30 to 9:30. The crappy thing is that Russell probably won't get all his work done before the class so he'll have to stop, go to class, and then go back to work. That won't be very much fun. It'll be worth it though because hopefully by Friday we'll be homeowners! I am getting so excited. I'm sure we'll have a lot more to tell you guys about once we start getting moved in. Have I mentioned that I can't wait?

I applied for a transfer position at work. Eight other people also applied from within and I have only been there for about 6 months but the interview went well. My job is so boring. I don't have enough work to keep me busy and the day drags on and on and on. It's really terrible. So, I was reading my book for school and my boss' boss came up to me and wanted to make sure I was on a break. Meanwhile, the girl in the cubicle across from me is watching back to back episodes of CSI. Whatever! It made me mad. Anyway, this new job is in driver's services - it's the medical desk and they revoke driver's licenses from people for medical reasons. It sounds interesting and I think it's a lot busier. We'll see.

So, hopefully by the end of the week, I'll have lots of house pictures for you...