Lots of new things!

So today was the most exciting day of my life! I ran home from work (one of my ways of getting some of my runs in is by riding my bike to work, then running home afterwards, then the next day I run to school and ride the bike home. Somedays I run both ways. It's 3 1/2 one way) and when I got home Eric showed me a flyer from on our door. We got a recycling bin! Actually its a recycling DUMPSTER! I asked our manager for our apartments if it was possible to get one and we got one! I am so happy!

Then we went on a hike a little while ago. Here are some pictures from that. We went to bridal veil falls.


Look how high the water level is for the Provo River! Its really deep and fast right now.

Next, for my inside garden. Here are one of my little plants from last week.

And then from this week. They grew a lot!

And then for my garden that I worked on for about 3 hours on saturday. I planted zucchini, yellow crooked neck squash, green beans and yellow beans, peas, okra, bell peppers and tomato. Only one plant is not from seed (tomato) because already established plants were too expensive. And the onions in the garden were already there so I left them so that I can eat them.

And last but not least, I splurged and got a 0 degree sleeping bag so that I hopefully won't freeze on my camping trips anymore. Also you notice that little thing in my hand? Its my new jacket! Im so excited about it. I have wanted one for a really long time and they finally went on super sale. Im real sad though because they only had one left so I wasnt able to get one for Eric. Hopefully soon though. Its a rain/ wind jacket that only weighs 4 oz and is perfect for backpacking, camping, hiking and traveling. I hope to use it a lot.

And then here is a picture of Eric from our date night to Nickel City. Eric did really well on this game. Of course he did well on all of them actually. At least much better than me.

Our finished puzzle.

And a bonus picture.

Puzzles and a Garden

So here is my garden room as of late. Indee helped me to decorate my tomato plant holders and I hung them up to the ceiling.

I just put some seeds on the soil on wednesday night and they are already sprouting.

Today our neighbor was having a yard sale and I went and talked with her because they were selling the cutest little miniature pincher puppy and I had to just sit and play with it. Anyways, I commented on how its cool that she has a bunch of square foot gardens in her back yard and she said I can use one of them to plant my own garden! Sweet! I think Im going to take her up on it. It looked like it was about 6 x 6 feet. So the big question is... what should I plant in it? any suggestions?


So it looks to me like this picture must have been taken early in the morning. Eric and I (but mostly Eric) worked on this 500 piece puzzle for a little while this week. Took us about 5 days to do it. It was tough because of all the snow. I've had the puzzle for about 5 years, but this was the first time it has ever been put together. We got two new puzzles from our neighbor Julie's sale as well. They look like they will be more fun than this one was. We have some finished product pictures, but they aren't on the computer yet. We'll see if I remember to put those on later.

Summer + fun books that aren't for school = happy

As my way to celebrate the beginning of summer/end of the fall semester, I read a book. Not just any book, mind you: a neverending one. Apparently the term "neverending" really just means about 380 pages. If that's the case, I've read LOTS of neverending books.

I was excited to read this book because the movie was one of my favorites growing up. I cried along with Atreyu each time Artax died in the Swamp of Sadness (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because wouldn't Atreyu die too because he's crying?) and ran with him as he bolted past the Sphinxes with the electrifying stares. Boy, was I in for a letdown.

Luckily, life goes on, because "NeverEnding Story" by German-born author Michael Ende (or is it Neverende?) was a waste of my life, which could have been wasted learning Ryu's upside-down kick on "Street Fighter II". The movie follows the book pretty closely, up until where the movie ends. The book doesn't end there, in fact it goes on for an extra 200 boring pages. Overall, the book gets a low "C" grade while the movie stays up on my list with a shining "B+".

And, for anyone who has seen the movie but still has no idea what name Bastian yells out at the end (I always thought it was his mother's name, but I guess not), the name is: Moonchild. Explain that one to me, Atreyu.

Nephi's Car

Nice Sunday Activity!

April fools!

The weather tried to play one last April fools joke on us this morning. We woke up to snow!


Then I also wanted to show you my tomato plants. Here they are soaking up some sun.


And here is the first version of the garden room. I still have some work to do on it.

It looks much better than last week. It was a storage room, but then Eric's friend Caleb needed a place to stay for a bit and I felt bad that he was so crowded in the room, so I organized and put basically everything in the closet. Then moved the dishwasher in there since we dont really use it and the washer and dryer now take up its spot in the kitchen. More updates to come on that room.

Additions to the house

So we got our washer and dryer! Can you tell where they go?
We already did two loads and there were no leaks or other problems. I think Im in love. We got a really good deal. Only $100 for the set! The lady gave us this pedestal looking thing to make the dryer higher and we werent sure we were going to use it because the dryer would have to stick out further, but it turned out really good that she gave it to us because the cord didnt reach the plug without it! And Im already happy because it means less bending. And we were really lucky because with the pedestal it was a tight fit, but the washer fit without needing to take out a saw.

Anyone have any decorating ideas on how to make the wood from the pedestal nicer looking or covered up?

As for the living room I thought Id show you what it looks like with the lovesac.

I did a little rearranging. Its a little like stadium seating. What do you think? Does that make you want to visit?

Ok here it is!!!!

So I thought, "its been quite a while since a post". This led me to want to post something, of course! Well it just happens to be perfect timing to let the big secret out. But lets see if you can guess it first with these clues.

1. Why in the world would Debbie buy a nice new pair of shoes as seen in this picture?


Nope, I didn't buy them to be comfortable in Romania and Hungary!

2. Why are Eric and Debbie getting a washer and dryer?

(We got a whopping deal on it! But we don't get it til Tuesday.) Well to tell you the truth we have hook ups for some and we are getting tired of running low on clothes before we go up to Layton and mooch on Eric's parents and use their washer and dryer. But that's what parents are for, right?

3. Why does Debbie feel like her toenails are about to fall off?
(OK OK, sorry for the picture. My foot almost cramped up taking this picture because I didn't want to get the camera out. But luckily my toenails are painted, so they don't look super ugly. But you may have noticed the blisters and calluses on my feet? Maybe? Don't worry about looking too hard.)


4. Why did we rearrange our living room? (Well,You'll just have to believe me on this one- Cant get a good angle for a picture. But just so you know the answer to this question is because we got a giant lovsac for the summer that takes up half the room)



Answer:
Well if you guessed that Debbie is running in a race you were right (great clues huh?)

Yep. I'm not known for being a runner really at all, but I decided to go big or go home and my first race I will ever race in will be the Utah Valley Marathon on June 11, 2011. Yep. A marathon. Today I ran 16.4 miles. Plus I paid the $80 fee for the race so I'm for sure doing it. Its a life goal and I thought, now is as good as ever.


So mark your calendars! Everyone is welcome to come and cheer me on!