Sunday, June 28, 2009

Home Improvement

The following is one of those stories where the events individually would have been fine, but put them all together and it was pretty annoying.

We needed to replace the door to our spare room due to a large crack in it. We actually took the whole door to Home Depot in order to match it up exactly, since the other doors in the condo were all the same. The employee immediately told us they wouldn't be able to match it because they no longer made that style of door. Perfect. Now we have to buy 3 doors. But since we hadn't planned on that, we hadn't taken the necessary measurements. So we drove back home and took the measurements. Justin needed to head out to school that evening and since we weren't sure how long it would all take, he stayed home while I went to get the doors.

I also needed to get some paint for the doors so that was also on my list of things to do/get there. Luckily I had already matched up the paint color for a previous home project (don't ask but it involved a big hole in our shower ceiling due to a leaky shower in the unit above us). I dropped off the paint color and request first so they could mix it while I got the doors. The paint mixer man gave me about a 15 minute estimate for completion of the mixing. I proceeded to the doors section, had an employee load up 3 doors, and then headed to the van/truck rental place. See, we have 2 sedans, not big enough to haul around 3 doors, so I needed to rent a vehicle for an hour. The renter guy said I could go get the rest of my supplies, purchase everything and then fill out the paperwork for the rental.

I went back to the paint section only to see they hadn't even started the requisition. There was one guy back there, and he was new. And getting a little behind. He called for back up which arrived pretty quickly. There was still 1-2 jobs ahead of ours, but they were taking forever. And then apparently one of the lids wasn't on securely and he put the can in the mixer machine. Guess what happened! Paint everywhere. It was pretty ridiculous. And messy. They finally got to our order only to find out they didn't have a gallon of the type of paint I needed. So he asks me if its ok if they give me 4 quarts for the gallon price. Great. Now I am going to have to carry around 4 little cans of the same paint. But fine. So they finally get it all together and I headed back to our doors. I ask about the van/truck and guess what. There weren't any available for rental. The last one had just left. So now I have paint, doors, and no way to get them home. I am put on a waiting list for a rental, purchase the materials and then leave everything at the exit. They estimate a rental vehicle will be available in 30-60 minutes. Super.

So I head over to Fred Meyer and waste nearly an hour waiting for the stupid truck. I actually meant to take a picture of the truck, but forgot due to my frustrations. It is about time that a truck should be back so I head outside and one is pulling up. I get it, they load it up, I rush home since Justin is waiting there to help unload everything, we unload, he leaves for class and then my little helper joins me for the ride back.




Now we get to paint them. And have them installed. Good times.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Another Odom Wedding

Congratulations to Jon and Stephanie! Jon is Justin's younger brother and he and Stephanie exchanged vows on Saturday, June 20th at Sacred Heart in Bellevue. We then headed over to The Woodmark Hotel for a beautiful reception with great food and a fun band. The weather was great and the location on Lake Washington was beautiful. Congratulations guys and enjoy the honeymoon in Hawaii.




Thursday, June 11, 2009

Our First Anniversary

I can't believe it has been a year since our wedding. The time certainly has flown by. Justin and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and do a whale watching tour. We left Friday afternoon and took the ferry from Anacortes.


Here we are on the ferry, a really beautiful day.


We stayed at the Tucker House Inn Bed and Breakfast, a very quaint historic home.




That afternoon we explored the port and had some dinner and ice cream by the water. On Saturday we ventured out on the Sea Lion with San Juan Safaris and were able to see a bald eagle, several porpoises, seals and 2 resident Orcas from the K Pod. I have always been fascinated by whales, especially Orcas, so was pretty excited to see some in their natural habitat.


It was tricky to photograph them since they'd only surface for a few seconds at a time, but Justin got some good shots.







We really enjoyed the whale watching tour and supposedly lucked out since this was the first day in 12 days that there had been any whale sightings. We did however underdress. It had been so hot in Seattle that week, we didn't expect such a significant drop in the temperature. We obviously knew it would be cooler on the water, but not that cold. Thank goodness the boat had blankets for everyone. Later that evening we had a romantic dinner and celebrated a beautiful 1 year anniversary. Many more to come! Here are a few more photo highlights.



Friday, June 5, 2009

The Trail That Wasn't

Last weekend Justin and I headed out for our first backpacking trip of the season. We spent the week prior checking our gear, getting our food, and making sure we had everything we needed. We were both pretty excited and headed out right after work. The plan was to do the Dingford Creek Trail. About 5 miles outside the trailhead, we encountered a washed out bridge and road closed. Guess we should have done a little more research. No big deal, we back tracked about a mile to the Middle Fork Trail. We checked out the map, did a quick little sketch with some landmarks and turns, and were set to go.


Right off the bat we tried going the road less travelled. There was definitely a trail, but it got pretty rocky for awhile and then ended at the river bank about 15 minutes later. We turned around and headed off in the other direction. About a mile or so into it, Justin unfortunately twisted his ankle pretty badly and went down. Generally this wouldn't have been too bad, but being the super strong and manly husband he is, he was carrying most of the weight in his pack (80-90 pounds) and went down. We had to undo the pack so he could get up. But alas, he persevered and managed to hike on another 3 or 4 hours. Then comes the washed out trail.





We spent the next hour or so crawling all over these felled trees looking for the other side of the trail but to no avail. It was pretty hard work and poor Scout got a little stuck a few times. Luckily he was wearing his pack that has a handle on it and we were able to grab it to help him along. At this point, Justin's ankle continued to swell and throb. We decided to turn around, head back to the trailhead and find a nice little beach spot to set up camp for the night with the plan to leave in the morning. We got settled in and kind of doze on and off for a couple of hours. We were sleeping in a 2 man tent to begin with, but add a 90 pound dog to the mix and it makes for even tighter, hotter quarters. And Scout always loves to lay his head or part of his body on our legs so we in turn become "puppy paralyzed." And then at about 1:30 in the morning, we were awakened to the sound of drums. It was a ways off, but definitely audible and somewhat ritualistic sounding. Outside of being "a little concerned," we didn't really verbalize our thoughts on this strange sound. It wasn't until the morning we both expressed our thoughts that it could have been some weird cult looking for human sacrifices!
At this point we made some oatmeal, broke camp, let Scout swim in the river for a bit fetching after his tennis ball, and then headed out to enjoy a delicious Burger King breakfast to reward us for our hardships ; - ) !! All in all, we did enjoy some beautiful scenery and some quiet time away from the hustle of our daily lives. And Scout was pretty worn out, slept the rest of the day (on his new bed by the way). Here are a few more pictures. And Justin's ankle fared pretty well. It was pretty bruised and sore for a few days, but is definitely on the road to recovery.







































Thursday, June 4, 2009

New Bed

So we have been thinking about getting a thick foam cushion for Scout's crate. He is a big dog and prone to orthopedic issues so we thought having some more cushion would be a good idea. We went to a fabric store to see about getting something we could cut to size. We were quite surprised at the high cost and thought it was a little ridiculous. We were right next to Petco so decided to see what they had to offer. Turns out there are actual orthopedic dog beds. These were pretty nice, with a removable fleece cover. But more expensive!! We decided to go ahead and get it, even though it was more than what we were just complaining about. I had planned to do a little internet searching once we got home to see if I could find something comparable, but cheaper, and then return the one we had already bought. But as soon as we got home and tried it out in his crate, there was no turning back. He walked in, sniffed it, and immediately layed down. This was strange since he usually only goes in there when we leave, and never does he go in just for a nap. But for the rest of the day, he slept in there. He'd come out every few hours to check in, and then would turn around and go back in. Too funny, and cute. Check him out on his new bed!