Black Friday and House Repairs

What do you normally do on your day off?  Sleep in?  Lay around the house?  Watch some movies? All of that would be nice, but that is not how it works when you are married to Rob… :)

We started the morning at 4 am when we woke up to our alarm.  We quickly got dressed and headed to Fry’s an electronic SuperStore.  We had one goal in mind.  A 46 in Plasma Screen TV.  We arrived at the store at 4:30 am.  The Line was HUGE.  It wrapped around outside the entire store.  But I do have to give it to the Fry’s crew.  They had everything very organized.  There was no cutting in line, which kept the customer outburst to a minimum. 

When we got into the store, Rob and I went separate ways looking for the TV line.  I stood in line while Rob tried to inch his way a little closer.  He quickly made friends with a man toward the front of the line and stood in line with him.  It’s a good thing that he did to, because they quickly ran out of the TV we were looking for. 

After we got our ticket for the TV, we had to stand in another line, to actually have a sales person place our order for the TV.  After we stood in that line, we had to stand in another line to check out.  But we did it.  We got the TV we were looking for and an LG BlueRay player as well.  We got amazing deals on both so I guess you can say that it was worth it.

Our new TV!   Rob is sooooooo excited about it!

Eventually the TV will go above the fireplace, but we have some work to do before it gets there, like get a mount, paint, and install in wall wires for speakers, etc.  This is Rob’s big project for the next couple of months.  :)

After Fry’s, we headed over to Bed Bath and Beyond.  They were offering 20% off your entire purchase.  We had about $200 worth of gift cards, so we decided to make the most of money.  We got a lot including a new garbage can that I have been wanting for the kitchen.  I love it!  I can throw stuff away with dirty hands and not get everything else dirty.  It’s the best. 

The garbage can fits perfectly at the end of my island counter.

After we got back from Black Friday deal hunting, we spent the rest of the day on house repairs.  Fixing and cleaning gutters, fixing trim, putting up outdoor lights…the list of small repairs goes on and on and on.  Owning a house is a lot of work!  But so far we love it.  :)

Viva Las Vegas!

Last week, Rob and I went to Las Vegas for a few days. I had been there before, but I have never seen as much of the city as I did with Rob. We went everywhere, visited every casino, watched all the free shows and ate at several buffets (eating this way, one meal a day was more than enough!). Rob even talked me into playing the slot machines a little bit. I had some pretty strict rules. I never played anything that cost more than 25 cents to play and I never played more than $5 at a time. I would also cash out as soon as I doubled my money. It turns out that I'm pretty good at choosing slot machines and abiding by my rules worked out pretty well. I told Rob the key was waiting for the machine to choose you instead of you choosing the machine. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazier than ever, but it worked for me! I did need a little coaching from Rob. The machines are crazy. Going up, putting in a quarter and pulling arm no longer exists. There are so many options. Half the time I didn't play because I had NO IDEA how to play.

Me at my first slot machine with my winning voucher. I played $5 on this penny machine and came out with $32! (it was really just dumb luck, because I had no idea what I was even playing for on this machine.)

We got free admission to a car show at the Imperial Palace. They had cars from all years and all types, including concept cars that were never actually produced. Some of the cars were worth $3,000,000. This one, for obvious reasons, was my favorite.

Rob and I also decided to check out Circus Circus. I had never been there, but he had childhood memories of begging mom and dad for money and being let loose to play all the video games and play all of the carnival games for prizes. He even one me a few prizes...

Prize Number 1: A teddy bear. Rob won this by rolling a ball in to holes at the end of a lane and making his horse move forward. He won on the first try!

Prize Number 2: A Horse. Rob won this by making 2/2 baskets in the basketball hoops.

Prize Number 3: A Monkey: Rob won this one by rolling a ball with amazing accuracy and accruing the right number of points. Anything over or under wouldn't have one. He won this one on the 2nd try.

Prize Number 4: The coveted Bob the Builder Pillow. This one took a few more tries, but he was bound and determined to win it. He won this one by scoring a certain number of points on Skee Ball.

I am the luckiest wife ever. I knew I was marrying an amazing man, but I had no idea that I was marrying a man with so much skill in winning carnival games. I can't wait until next fall when the state fairs return!

Boating in October... BRRRRR....

Stephanie Bishopp is my friend who lives in New York City. She loves it out there, but misses being so close to a lake with access to a boat. In October, Stephanie turned 30 and with that, her insanity was multiplied. One day, in September, she called me and said tickets were really cheap from NY to SEA and she wanted to come home one weekend in October. We chose Oct 17th as the best date. The plan was to spend all Saturday morning on her family's boat, wake boarding and enjoying the Indian Summer that Seattle was experiencing.

We woke up on Saturday morning, not to a nice, warm indian summer day, but to pouring down rain. And I mean pouring. On the drive to the lake it was difficult at times to see the road ahead of you. It was really coming down. Stephanie was not to be deterred. She had come home to enjoy the lake and the boat and that was what she was going to do. Rob and I did our best to support her in her pursuits.

Here is Stephanie and I bundled up and ready for a freezing and wet ride. We did our best to dress warmly. I was dressed head to toe in my ski gear. I figured it would keep me the warmest and the driest.

Rob decided to get creative in his wakeboarding outfit. He didn't want the rain hurting his eyes, so he decided to wear ski goggles. We were afraid the ski goggles would sink, so he tied an empty pop bottle to the goggles. It worked like a charm.

Rob being brave and trying out the FREEZING water first.

A beautiful rainbow that graced us with it presence as the weather started to clear

Stephanie showing off her moves and getting some BIG air!

Thanks Stephanie for sharing your birthday insanity with us! :)

Utah Bridal Shower

Back in October, I flew to Utah to find a wedding dress. While I was there my sisters threw me a shower. We had a ton of fun and it was a mini Bellevue 3rd Ward reunion. It was fun seeing and catching up with old friends. Here are some pics of the day.

Me and my niece Halle. She was an excellent help when it was time to open the presents. :)

RuthAnn LeBaron, Mary Braun and Finch Braun. These ladies brough cinnamon rolls that were to die for (the secret ingredient was Nutella! Yum!)

Angela Escamilla. We used to be neighbors during Middle School and High School

Sherrie, Sherri, Julie and Courtney.

Bellevue 3rd ward ladies, Terry, Allison, Dawn, Tracy, Billie and Tiffany

Nieces: Danielle, Meg, Lexi and Lauren.

Thanks ladies for a wonderful day!