I seems that science has finally paid off for me. That's right, all the general advancements of the 20th (and now 21st!) centuries have all come together to create the ultimate in modern luxuries:
Personal Ice Cream!
That's right. I had heard about this place in Orem called Subzero Creamery that makes personal ice cream upon order. Now you might think, "Oh, but there are many places where you can order your own personal ice cream"
Not like this my friends and family. Not only do you just pick your flavor and mix-ins, but the ice cream is actually fresh. He mixes the liquid cream and then the flavors and mix-ins, and then the ice-cream maker walks over to a huge vat of liquid nitrogen and proceeds to flash freeze the crap out of your order. Within seconds and a huge cloud of....steam?...nitrogen smoke?...evaporation?...(whatever it is, I'm no chemist), your soupy mixture becomes fresh, completely frozen ice cream. It was delicious and super cheap for specialty ice cream.
The best part was that we had a coupon for two for the price of one. Add on to that where everything is 50 cents cheaper if you go before 9pm so it was about a quarter of the price of going to coldstone. Go us!
Also I have finished Harry Potter 7 and thought it was a great book. The ending was fantastic. Crystal hasn't finished it yet so I won't say much more, but I will say Jeff and I were similar in our thoughts beforehand.
That's a quick update from us. I hope everything is well, and Crystal will post about work soon.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
What a week so far....
There isn't much to say about my new job. I just sit in one class room from 6am to 2pm with a lunch break from 11-12pm. All we've been really focusing on are qualities we should have to work in the role that we were hired for. For example, today we had to make posters about 5 different qualities... my group got the "problem solver". The tasks are tedious and I feel they could go more smoothly if we stayed on task. I am enjoying it though- it's fun. I just wish that there was more of a schedule that we went by. Oh well, it's alright.
One really good thing that I discovered this week is that my job is down the street from the Jordan River Temple. I never saw it until I got to work when it was really dark out and it just stuck out like a sore thumb. I got really excited and went exploring my first day when they gave us over an hour lunch break.
So, for the next 6 1/2 weeks I will be going to sleep at around 8:45-9pm and getting up at 4:00am and leaving the house at 5am and getting home at 2:40-3pm depending on traffic. It has been pretty busy and I am exhausted already! Heh, and all I do is sit all day... I'm starting to feel pathetic. ;-) Like Jon always says... "Go benefits!"
One really good thing that I discovered this week is that my job is down the street from the Jordan River Temple. I never saw it until I got to work when it was really dark out and it just stuck out like a sore thumb. I got really excited and went exploring my first day when they gave us over an hour lunch break.
So, for the next 6 1/2 weeks I will be going to sleep at around 8:45-9pm and getting up at 4:00am and leaving the house at 5am and getting home at 2:40-3pm depending on traffic. It has been pretty busy and I am exhausted already! Heh, and all I do is sit all day... I'm starting to feel pathetic. ;-) Like Jon always says... "Go benefits!"
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Oh! So it's Chicago that is the windy city!
We spent the entire last weekend with our ward.
On Thursday I took off early from work and Crystal and I went to the temple for our ward temple night for the month. There's not too much more to say about that. It was great but rather crazy. You see, the following temples are all currently closed for repair and cleaning for the rest of the month: Salt Lake, Jordan River, and Provo. That means we all funneled into the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Knowing this, we planned ahead and left way early. Crystal and I got into the chapel a little over an hour before our intended session and we nearly did not get in when we planned.
The Friday and Saturday of the weekend we were on a ward campout. We had planned to go to Black Hawk campground (I don't know if I spelled that right), but apparently a recent string of vicious bear attacks there greatly worried our bishop and his wife. Two days before the campout we received phone calls saying that the location of the campout was being moved to Woodland Hills (small city on the mountain). Apparently our bishop has his house on the mountain and owns a good portion of land that we could camp on. Turns out the Bishop's intuition (inspiration?) was correct because a bear was sighted wandering around Black Hawk on Thursday so the campground was closed for the weekend anyways.
True to form we showed up early and we, along with the 3 or 4 other on-time/early couples, fought for one of the few spots of flat ground to pitch our tent on(we were on a mountain after all). Don't worry, we were not greedy or pushy. Everyone single early/on-time couple had the perfect spot they wanted. The late stragglers though had to find open ground in the woods around the bishop's house. We had a great night and turned in ready for blissful slumber.
That was when we experienced what it must be like in Chicago for it to be dubbed the windy city. At roughly 1 in the morning we were startled awake by a shaking tent. The wind was ripping through the trees and pushing our tent to and fro. We were well-staked and stayed put, but that didn't stop the wind from causing our rain fly to flap on the sides, making slapping noises, and the sides of our tent to bulge in from the gale.
The interesting part was how with the wind roaring and us just laying in our tent how alone you felt. We couldn't hear any other couples and initially wondered if they all fled into the house for shelter from the rainless tempest. I got up and went outside to check the stakes and rain fly just in case and saw a completely different world. We were definitely not alone. At the time that I went outside to check on my tent, almost every husband of every tent that I could see was also doing the same thing, so we were definitely not alone in our suffering.
Luckily, we survived the night. In fact, our little on-sale-$20 tent performed absolutely perfectly in the maelstrom. We stayed perfectly staked in the ground and not a single latch or hook on our tent came undone throughout the hurricane. Way to go Criddles!
There was one couple who had about a 12 person tent (they said they never wanted to buy another tent after having a family), but their shelter was so huge that it acted like a sail in the wind and they were picked up by gusts and slid all over the side of the mountain, stakes and all. They only moved 5-10 feet, but when you're in a huge tent that is sliding around I'm sure it seems like more.
All in all we had a great time camping, though we may rethink camping on a mountain in the near future.
One last note, we were by far the fastest couple in pitching our tent because of the practice we had a couple nights before. Most of the other couples were reading directions as they went on confused and others just skipped the directions and experimented on their own. Let's hear it for preplanning.
On Thursday I took off early from work and Crystal and I went to the temple for our ward temple night for the month. There's not too much more to say about that. It was great but rather crazy. You see, the following temples are all currently closed for repair and cleaning for the rest of the month: Salt Lake, Jordan River, and Provo. That means we all funneled into the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Knowing this, we planned ahead and left way early. Crystal and I got into the chapel a little over an hour before our intended session and we nearly did not get in when we planned.
The Friday and Saturday of the weekend we were on a ward campout. We had planned to go to Black Hawk campground (I don't know if I spelled that right), but apparently a recent string of vicious bear attacks there greatly worried our bishop and his wife. Two days before the campout we received phone calls saying that the location of the campout was being moved to Woodland Hills (small city on the mountain). Apparently our bishop has his house on the mountain and owns a good portion of land that we could camp on. Turns out the Bishop's intuition (inspiration?) was correct because a bear was sighted wandering around Black Hawk on Thursday so the campground was closed for the weekend anyways.
True to form we showed up early and we, along with the 3 or 4 other on-time/early couples, fought for one of the few spots of flat ground to pitch our tent on(we were on a mountain after all). Don't worry, we were not greedy or pushy. Everyone single early/on-time couple had the perfect spot they wanted. The late stragglers though had to find open ground in the woods around the bishop's house. We had a great night and turned in ready for blissful slumber.
That was when we experienced what it must be like in Chicago for it to be dubbed the windy city. At roughly 1 in the morning we were startled awake by a shaking tent. The wind was ripping through the trees and pushing our tent to and fro. We were well-staked and stayed put, but that didn't stop the wind from causing our rain fly to flap on the sides, making slapping noises, and the sides of our tent to bulge in from the gale.
The interesting part was how with the wind roaring and us just laying in our tent how alone you felt. We couldn't hear any other couples and initially wondered if they all fled into the house for shelter from the rainless tempest. I got up and went outside to check the stakes and rain fly just in case and saw a completely different world. We were definitely not alone. At the time that I went outside to check on my tent, almost every husband of every tent that I could see was also doing the same thing, so we were definitely not alone in our suffering.
Luckily, we survived the night. In fact, our little on-sale-$20 tent performed absolutely perfectly in the maelstrom. We stayed perfectly staked in the ground and not a single latch or hook on our tent came undone throughout the hurricane. Way to go Criddles!
There was one couple who had about a 12 person tent (they said they never wanted to buy another tent after having a family), but their shelter was so huge that it acted like a sail in the wind and they were picked up by gusts and slid all over the side of the mountain, stakes and all. They only moved 5-10 feet, but when you're in a huge tent that is sliding around I'm sure it seems like more.
All in all we had a great time camping, though we may rethink camping on a mountain in the near future.
One last note, we were by far the fastest couple in pitching our tent because of the practice we had a couple nights before. Most of the other couples were reading directions as they went on confused and others just skipped the directions and experimented on their own. Let's hear it for preplanning.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Living Room Campout
Here is our living room right now:
We are going on a ward campout this weekend and needed a tent. We've been watching tent prices at big 5 (my favorite sporting goods store EVER!!!) and got this beauty on Tuesday. It is a 3 person tent, 7 X 7 feet, and Crystal can almost stand up straight inside. We got it on sale for a whopping $19.99 (reg $50).
Now we didn't want to use it for the first time at the campout and look like fools as we take it out of the original package:
With rain cover:
Without rain cover:
After setting up our little tent we realized that you simply cannot set up a tent and not use it. Thus began our plan for our living room campout. The tent was conviently open towards the television (roughing it!) and we got our sleeping bags and pillows and settled in for the night. We had a great time and are really excited for our upcoming campout. Especially because the grass will be far softer than our carpet. Our bony backs need a vacation now.
We are going on a ward campout this weekend and needed a tent. We've been watching tent prices at big 5 (my favorite sporting goods store EVER!!!) and got this beauty on Tuesday. It is a 3 person tent, 7 X 7 feet, and Crystal can almost stand up straight inside. We got it on sale for a whopping $19.99 (reg $50).
Now we didn't want to use it for the first time at the campout and look like fools as we take it out of the original package:
"Okay now take the smaller pole out and insert end 'B' into the slot on side...uh...'R'...or something...the picture of this part kinda looks like a duck, is that supposed to be our tent?!!?"It didn't go like that at all, but we just didn't want to risk it. So we decided to set it up in our living room to make sure we could do it just fine. It went perfectly without a hitch. We're just expert...uhh...tent pitchers.
"What small pole? There's only one pole. How can there BE a smaller pole if there's only one pole?!?!"
"Uhh...lemme study these directions more closely."
With rain cover:
Without rain cover:
After setting up our little tent we realized that you simply cannot set up a tent and not use it. Thus began our plan for our living room campout. The tent was conviently open towards the television (roughing it!) and we got our sleeping bags and pillows and settled in for the night. We had a great time and are really excited for our upcoming campout. Especially because the grass will be far softer than our carpet. Our bony backs need a vacation now.
Color Me Mine
Last week for date night, we decided to go to Color Me Mine. For those of you who don't know, it's a shop/studio where you can pick out already made pottery items from cups to frogs. You then pick out your paint and go to town. When you're done, you leave your items there for about 4 days and they are cooked... I know the word for the process, but I can't think of it at the moment- I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. It's a family business and they have different music artists come every Friday night to perform. You can reserve a table and you pay a "studio fee" + the cost of your item. Saturdays is a 2 for 1 studio fee + the items.
Anyways, we went on Friday and the owner gave us the Saturday cost- which was very nice of him. These are our creations. :-)
This was a really fun date and when we got to pick up our things 4 days later, it was exciting to see the outcome. It's a perfect idea for those who aren't married or engaged. It's a guarantee for a return date!
Anyways, we went on Friday and the owner gave us the Saturday cost- which was very nice of him. These are our creations. :-)
This is my bowl.. I know, a real masterpiece!
It's cute, I promise.
It's cute, I promise.
This is Jon's plate. His colors didn't turn out how he thought
they would be, but the design is cool.
they would be, but the design is cool.
This was a really fun date and when we got to pick up our things 4 days later, it was exciting to see the outcome. It's a perfect idea for those who aren't married or engaged. It's a guarantee for a return date!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
This Ring was Made for Breakin'
As Crystal has previously described, my tungsten ring broke. It is one of the hardest metals which makes it scratch proof. The only problem is that because the metal is so hard, it is also completely unmalleable and very brittle. That means a little too much weight and you now have two rings.
The day it broke Crystal and I went to buy a new one. My plan was to buy the cheapest type, which is titanium. Usually they run between $90 and $150. I found one and was ready to say "okay" when the salesman said "Hold on a second, lemme check something".
My first worry was "Used-Car Salesman tactics!!" Then I remembered that I was at Wilson's which is nicely respectable. He came back with a similar looking Tungsten ring and said that with the discount, the tungsten one is actually cheaper for me. I had forgotten that if you buy a woman's engagement ring there, you get 40% off your first men's band from there, except for titanium. I didn't buy my original ring from there so it still counted as our first men's band, only 7 months late. So with the discount I spent less for the Tungsten one (apparently the price for Tungsten has dropped mucho recently).
Tonight we picked up my new bling and here is a picture. Forgive the darkness, I couldn't get a brighter looking picture. Just use your imaginations.
Now for the title:
What really sold me on buying tungsten again, aside from the fact that I love tungsten for its unscratchiness, was their warranty. For the rest of my life, as long as I remember where I got my ring from and can look them up on the internet, I can feel safe about my ring. If it ever breaks again, needs to be resized, or just even gets a scratch on it, all I have to do is give it back to them and they will replace it for free for the rest of my life. That means I really don't have to stress about protecting my ring all the time. If anything happens, Wilson pays, not me.
We love good deals in our family, and I just couldn't pass this one up. As the saying goes, "tungstens are forever!"...or was that diamonds?
The day it broke Crystal and I went to buy a new one. My plan was to buy the cheapest type, which is titanium. Usually they run between $90 and $150. I found one and was ready to say "okay" when the salesman said "Hold on a second, lemme check something".
My first worry was "Used-Car Salesman tactics!!" Then I remembered that I was at Wilson's which is nicely respectable. He came back with a similar looking Tungsten ring and said that with the discount, the tungsten one is actually cheaper for me. I had forgotten that if you buy a woman's engagement ring there, you get 40% off your first men's band from there, except for titanium. I didn't buy my original ring from there so it still counted as our first men's band, only 7 months late. So with the discount I spent less for the Tungsten one (apparently the price for Tungsten has dropped mucho recently).
Tonight we picked up my new bling and here is a picture. Forgive the darkness, I couldn't get a brighter looking picture. Just use your imaginations.
Now for the title:
What really sold me on buying tungsten again, aside from the fact that I love tungsten for its unscratchiness, was their warranty. For the rest of my life, as long as I remember where I got my ring from and can look them up on the internet, I can feel safe about my ring. If it ever breaks again, needs to be resized, or just even gets a scratch on it, all I have to do is give it back to them and they will replace it for free for the rest of my life. That means I really don't have to stress about protecting my ring all the time. If anything happens, Wilson pays, not me.
We love good deals in our family, and I just couldn't pass this one up. As the saying goes, "tungstens are forever!"...or was that diamonds?
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