Brett & Amy Update

Wow. I haven't blogged in forever. I sort of reached that point where I hadn't blogged in so long that the amount that I needed to fill you in on was so overwhelming that it was almost easier just not to blog...but then more things accumulate to blog about, and the problem doesn't go away. So I will write one post to fill you in, and then resume normal blogging.

Brett & I went to San Diego for about 9 days. We had a lot of fun, saw a lot of sunshine, family, and old friends, but we are happy to be home again.

For a while it didn't seem like we were going to make it home. We arrived at the airport for our 4:50 flight to Denver (from San Diego) at about 2:30. When we got there we learned that not only was there bad weather causing flight delays into and out of Denver, but the plane we were supposed to be on was having mechanical issues as well. So, the flight was postponed until 7:10 which meant that we would miss any connecting flights to Moline on Sunday, and due to all of the weather issues they couldn't even guarantee us a seat on any flights on Monday... So needless to say going to Denver was not an option.

Because the Quad Cities has such a small airport, we can only fly into it from San Diego via Denver or Chicago. Chicago was having weather issues as well, but theirs was just high wind. Lucky for us, a flight to Chicago from San Diego that was supposed to take off at 1:50 got postponed until 6:30, so we were able to catch that one. We wouldn't arrive to Chicago until after midnight, but we had been guaranteed seats on the first flight to Moline the following morning.

This is the part where I need to remind you that we are supposed to be moving the following morning, so we absolutely HAD TO be home by Monday.

After landing in Chicago, Brett & I made ourselves comfortable for the long night we would have to spend at the airport. At one point during the night Brett got up and happened to check the departure board. When he did he discovered that our flight to Moline had been altogether canceled!!!!! The next flight to Moline wasn't until 2:30 pm, and of course they couldn't guarantee us a seat on the flight until we could talk to the booking agent at 5:00am (this all happened at 2:30 am).

At this point we decided we could no longer rely on the airlines to get us home, so we rented a car and by 4:00 am we were in a rental car on our way home.

The next day we moved into the fabulous new house we rented. We are really enjoying having more space and lots of peace and quiet. Lots of things are still in boxes right now, we are hoping to be able to get things a little bit more organized this weekend.

Last weekend we went up to see Brooke & Joe for Brooke's baby shower. We had a really fun time. We also managed to squeeze in a much-needed trip to IKEA on our drive home. We must have been quite the sight to people though, because we had such a long drive ahead of us it was truly a speedy IKEA run....more like an IKEA sprint (haha)...we were pretty much plowing through all of the casual IKEA-browsers, but hey- we were on a mission! :-)

We really don't have too much new and exciting coming up, but we are enjoying that right now. The weather here is finally warming up, so hopefully that will lead to some better blogging opportunities.

Adventures in Iowa: Currently Posting in San Diego

Hello faithful blog readers. It's been a while since my last post. Brett and I are currently in San Diego visiting family. It is a beautiful 80 degrees here today and we are not missing the snow and the cold one little bit. I really haven't had the opportunity to take many pictures of our adventures in San Diego, but there will be plenty of pictures in a few days including some of our fantastic new house, so come back soon!

~Amy :-)

Moving Madness

Oh boy. That's pretty much what our apartment looked like when we moved in, only now we are doing the opposite. Brett and I were laughing at ourselves the other day over the fact that we can't ever seem to do things simply. Two years ago we were getting married, moving, living on our own for the first time, going to an unknown place with no jobs and to an apartment that we had leased sight-unseen. Sometimes when I hear people complaining about how hard it is to plan a wedding I secretly think to myself, "Try planning it in 6 months and moving at the same time!"

Well, here we are in 2008 and once again moving under crazy circumstances. We had planned our upcoming trip to San Diego back in October... little did we know that we would be moving at the same time! Our lease actually begins while we are out of town. We will land at 12:30am the day we return from our trip and be moving that same morning! So now we are packing not only for a trip to San Diego, but for our move as well. All of this insanity is actually a good learning experience. It reminds us that we can't always micro-manage every part of our lives, and to just roll with it when life's craziness comes your way.

So we just pack like crazy, laugh and say to ourselves "One day we will move like normal people."

Today my fortune cookie said: You will do well in you. Personal Affairs.

Grammar and punctuation have not been edited. Either way, let's hope it's right. :-)

It Was Bound to Happen Eventually

Brett has a little bit of a reputation when it comes to accidentally spoiling gift surprises. It all began when he was a little kid, carrying a gift for his Grandma into the house, proudly handing it to her while announcing "It's a wallet!" Now it is a family joke to say "it's a wallet" before someone opens a gift, but that's not the point of this story. The first time that Brett inadvertently revealed a gift to me was around Christmas time. He wanted to tell me about something funny that happened while he was at Target, and he began the story by saying "When I was at Target today getting your game..." He had gotten me the classic edition of Clue for Christmas, and now I knew it.

Well, yesterday was my day to blow the surprise. Our 2nd anniversary is Monday, and we had agreed not to really exchange gifts this year, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to just get him a little something. I was few minutes early picking Brett up from his class this weekend, so I quickly went in to the Palmer bookstore to pick up a business card holder that I knew he has had his eye on. I managed to beat him back to the car and thought I was in the clear.

While I was in the bookstore I noticed that they had these cool spine keychains back in stock that they had been sold out of for some time. When Brett got into the car and we started talking I blurted out "OH! They have those cool spine keychains in the bookstore again!" But I managed not to blow my cover by quickly adding "....yeah, I noticed that a few days ago." Phew! That was close. It is very important that Brett not know that I went in to the bookstore because I have no reason to be in there and he will know that I am up to something.

I also noticed while I was in there that they had pink sweatpants back in stock, the very pink sweatpants that my friend April was looking for a while back. After I got back to the car I excitedly sent her a text message just to say 'hey, they have those pink sweatpants you wanted.' Naturally, a conversation ensues, and we text back and forth for a while while I was waiting for Brett to get out of class.

While in the car I got another text message from April. Since April is pretty much the only person that I text on a regular basis, out of curiosity Brett said "What did April say?" And like an idiot I say "Oh, not much. I just texted her to let her know that they had pink sweatpants in the bookstore." He looks at me and says "Oh, you went into the bookstore?!?!" And the look on his face says 'you are totally busted.' And the look on my face says 'yes, I AM totally busted."

That, my friends, is the story of how I finally blabbed a surprise to my husband. It was bound to happen eventually. :-)

Meet Eskimo Amy

BRRRRRR it's cold! As I passed a bank this morning on my way to work the sign outside it flashed -8º!!!!! That my friends is AIR TEMPERATURE and does not take in to account the wind chill, which in our area is currently anywhere from -25º to -40º. Not only is that the coldest it has been since we moved to Iowa, it is by far the coldest I have ever been in my entire life!!!!!

Nothing to Report

I don't have much to blog about this week, so I guess that means it's time for another funny:

Silly Google

I linked this new super-cool hit counter thing to my blog through Google Analytics. One of my favorite features of it is that it shows you a map of the United States that shows where in the country everyone is reading your blog from. Upon further inspection today, I noticed that Michigan was looking less mitten-shaped and more blob-shaped than usual. In addition, the Florida Keys are looking more peninsula-like than archipelago-esque.

(as always, click to enlarge)

Silly Google.

P.S. I have not had any hits from the greater San Diego area in quite some time. That means that all y'all are totally busted. :-P

My New Toy

I finally got the time to test drive one of my new toys I received for Christmas this year. It's a cool graphics tablet that allows me to use a special pen that acts like a mouse. I'm really quite excited about it. :)

Stand and be Counted

Yep. That's pretty much all there is to it. Brett & I both went and Caucused today, and it was quite an interesting experience. We silly Southern Californians had no idea how the whole process worked. I had assumed that it worked just like the primary elections that I am used to. You know, where you show up at your polling place sometime throughout the day, bubble in your little circles, and go on your merry way. Caucusing is nothing like that at all. Here's what happens:

Everyone shows up at your polling place at the same time. Yes, the street we live on was a zoo and there was NO PARKING whatsoever. So we parked several blocks away and walked in the sub zero temperatures. How's that for patriotism? :-P

Once you get inside you basically stand in the designated area for your candidate (or in the undecided area if you are undecided). After everyone is in (doors close at 7:00) one person from each campaign goes around and counts how many people are standing in each candidates area. Any candidate that does not have at least 15% of the people present in their area gets eliminated. The people who were supporting that candidate have 30 minutes to decide on another candidate. During this time the campaign people do their best to persuade these people as well as the undecided people to come to vote for their candidate.

Then, everyone gets counted again (if you're lucky, just one more time), and that determines how many delegates get sent to Des Moines for the state caucus. The numbers from our precinct were as follows: Obama 198, Hillary 80, Edwards 70. Biden, Dodd, and Richardson all did not meet the 15% requirement.

All in all it was a very interesting experience, and Brett & I are both glad to have had the opportunity to experience the Iowa Caucuses. What is interesting about it is that it takes the anonymity out of the voting process. Typically you go in to your little booth, fill in your bubbles and walk away and nobody knows who you voted for. This is quite different because you stand in a room with all of your neighbors and everyone sees who everyone is supporting. One thing I kind of like about the process is that if you do vote for someone who doesn't make the cut, you get the opportunity to go on and vote for someone who is still in the running. I like that because that way everyone's vote really matters, and you don't get the feeling like your vote didn't make a difference just because your first choice didn't have enough support.

We don't have any pictures from this adventure, mostly because we were crammed into the school gym like a herd of cattle, and picture taking was a little difficult to manage. That, and a picture of a room full of people just isn't all that interesting. :-)

Happy New Year!

Here is the story of our day, told with (lots of) pictures:

It was very snowy yesterday. The crazy weather people only called for "about an inch." Well, we got a little more than an inch. More like 3-6" depending on your area. The roads were snowy and icy, so we really didn't go out much. Here is a peek of our winter wonderland:


Here is my MooseCat doing what he does best by hanging out under the tree:

And here he is looking particularly handsome:


Around 3 o'clock I got a crazy craving for French Toast, so Brett made me some. :)


Later on, we hung out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We played Battle of the Sexes:


And then we rang in the new year:


Aren't they cute?


Then we tried to take a group picture using some of my new camera toys. Here's how that went:
Maybe a little too much flash?


Is it working? Hmmm, maybe if I point my remote directly at the camera....oops!


That's better. :)


Happy New Year!

Move Over, Roentgen

After much anticipation, my boards scores and radiology certificate finally arrived in the mail. I am now officially a Registered Technologist in Chiropractic Radiologic Technology and fully certified by the American Chiropractic Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ACRRT), AND I've got the certificate that proves it.

Now I am fully certified to take x-rays in the vast majority of states (any of the ones I would live in, at least).

~Amy C.T., R.T.(ACRRT)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love,
Brett & Amy

'Bout Time for a Blog Post?

My apologies for my recent lack of blog posts. I have been very busy with work, Christmas, yada, yada, yada... That, and we really haven't done anything interesting lately. ;)

Yesterday, however, we had a great time hanging out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We went and took some pictures in front of Palmer College & Capri College (where Michelle goes to Massage Therapy School) for their Christmas frame ornament collection. After that we went to their place for 2 exciting rounds of Settlers of Catan, yummy dinner, and good conversation. :)

Today, Brett & I decided to partake in the Christmas ritual of sugar-cookie baking. In our house, Christmas just isn't Christmas until we have baked some sugar cookies.

Other than Christmas cookies, an exciting lunch at Applebee's and a trip to the grocery store, our day pretty much consisted of watching movies. We watched 1/2 of Superbad (if you want to be disgusted, rent this movie) and Pirates of the Caribbean- At World's End (long, but good). Last night at Dean & Michelle's we watched Ocean's Thirteen (also good).

I am sure I will have more to report tomorrow. Merry Christmas Eve!

Ice Storm, Round II

Today, Brett and I had a snow day. Well, I guess it was actually an ice day. Either way, schools were closed, and I opted not to drive 20 miles to work on ice-covered roads.

Remember those snow-covered red berries from last week? Well, here they are in their current state.

They are now completely covered in ice. Last week I had to stand on my toes and use my zoom lens to take a picture of them. Now, thanks to ice weighing down the tree branches, they hang just a few feet off the ground. A grand total of 1/2"-1" of ice accumulation is expected. Other than stepping outside to snap a few pictures, I think Brett & I will be staying in for the rest of the evening.

Since I'm Pretty Sure My Brother Never Reads This...

...And even if he does, I'm REALLY sure my nephew never reads this, I thought I'd share my latest quilting creation. This is the Charger quilt that I made for my nephew, Zach, for Christmas. Thanks to our recent ice storm, I actually had time to complete it today. :-)

Again, I swear that the edges actually are square, it's just the angle that makes them look slanted.

And with that, I retire from the baby quilting business. :-P